I chuckle. Nothing really gets past that girl, does it?
I don’t argue as Hulk leads me up the stairs and to his room. He opens the door, ushering me in, and then shuts the doorquietly, locking it. When he turns, the mask is gone, and there’s nothing but pain. A deep pain that has my heart lurching in my chest and my gut clenching. “What happened?” I ask softly. I don’t know what he needs right now. A hug? Just to listen?
He scrubs a hand over his face, and he curses softly. “It’s so much fucking worse than I thought, angel,” he finally grits out.
Fuck it. I step forward, cupping his face in my hands. “Tell me,” I order gently. “Tell me what happened and what I can do to help.”
His eyes search mine, but I have no idea what he’s looking for. I guess I have to hope he finds it. Finally, he closes his eyes and leans his forehead against mine. I lower my hands from his face and wrap my arms around his neck, just holding and breathing him in, stroking and massaging the back of his neck and the lower part of his head. Neither of us says anything, and I try to give him all the comfort I can. Sometimes people don’t want words, they just need the connection.
Eventually, he pulls his head back and presses a soft, gentle kiss to my lips. When he pulls away, he murmurs, “I needed that.”
I smile. “Yeah, I guess I did, too. I was annoying the kids waiting for you to come down to get us with my pacing and muttering to myself the entire time. I really needed you to be okay.”
“It takes a lot to kill me,” he jokes lightly, pulling away.
I drop my hands and step back to give him a little space. “Yeah, I’ve seen that,” I reply with a smirk. “Though I’d like to point out that without me, that might not have been the case.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, true.” Then he reaches out, grabs me, and hauls me up into his arms, and I wrap my legs around his waist. He walks us over to the bed, sitting down and keeping me perched in his lap. “You want the long story or the short one?”
“Whatever you need to tell me.”
He nods and starts talking. I don’t interrupt, taking it all in. The entire story of the day they found out the Russians were in town, because of the man that they were going to send the kids to—the former SEAL—to finding out one of their own was a mole and traitor, until now. The deaths, the loss, the moments of panic at almost losing the women that they all love so much. I’ve yet to meet most of them, but Sage, Izzy, Quinn, Syn, Eden, and Sadie all sound like amazing women to me. Not to mention, I really want to meet the Macy and the hell hounds. It sounds like some kind of amazing TV show or something.
When he finally finishes, I feel like I’ve been on a freaking rollercoaster. Holy shit. This club has been through the ringer. Wow. Traitors, deaths, and now finding out that one of the men they trusted with everything about them betrayed them and is, for all intents and purposes, a Fed. Yeah, I can see why he’s feeling so many emotions.
When he finishes, I blurt out, “Do you want me to sic Isla on him since the other girls aren’t here to do that? She can be just as bad as the dogs if we really wind her up.”
Hulk blinks, then laughs. A full belly laugh, and I can see some of the tension leak out of him. It takes a minute for his laughter to trail off, but then he grins at me. “I actually believe you. Put her with other women out there, including the other Old Ladies or whatever they are, Glitch and Karissa, and I’m sure the lot of them could come up with some interesting punishments.”
“Yeah, we need to talk about them, but we’ll do that later. Right now, I need you to hear something.” I cup his face again, giving him a firm stare. “I’ve seen your MC, and I’ve seen the way you guys operate. You’re a unit. A team. I get that losing members of that team and then finding out that members of said team can’t be trusted, can make things hard. It can make you question everything you’ve ever seen or been a part of, but all Isee is a group of people who are going to come back stronger. You’ve lost a lot. Your friends, your businesses, but you’ve also gained things that they can’t take away from you. You’ve seen just how strong and tight-knit you are. Sometimes you have to walk through the fire to realize just what you can handle, how strong you can be. And the Devil’s Soldiers are a fucking strong group that will get through it.”
“And you? Are you part of that?”
A heavy question if I’ve ever heard one, but I won’t lie to him. “I don’t know. I want to find out, though. Knowing that you could be killed, seeing you hurting now, I know that I’m pulled to you in ways that I don’t understand. Maybe we won’t work out, but I’ll still be here to help you and the club in any way I can. Rose and Thea have become two very good friends, and they love the kids. You, Theo, and Crypt are good influences on Sawyer, and I want him to see good male role models because you’re right, I can’t give him that. I can help you rebuild at the very least, and help out where I can.”
I can’t tell how he feels about my answer until he answers, “I can accept that. I want to see what we’re like when all this is finally finished, Avery. I want the two of us to spend time away from the club. I want to spend time with Isla and Sawyer and get to know them. I want us to do shit together, all four of us, and I want to spend the night with you and hold you close and know you’re mine. Know that when we wake up, we don’t have a bunch of Russians after us and wondering what the hell is going to happen that day. Is that what you want?”
I nod slowly. I really want all that. I mean, it’s clear the kids like him, so it’s not going to be something hard for them to accept. “I haven’t been in a relationship in a very long time, so I’m rusty,” I warn him. “I’m probably going to screw this up and get mad about stupid shit.”
He smiles. “Then we’re in the same boat. Though I don’t get mad often. So we’ll balance each other out. You call me on my shit, I call you on yours, and we spend as much time in bed having make-up sex as we can.”
I laugh. “That sounds like a damn good plan to me. And speaking of sex…” I drop my hands, run them down his front, lift his shirt, and slowly undo his belt. “You’re filthy, and I learned in school that after you’ve been through a really emotional time, one of the best ways to release all that tension is some really good orgasms. I think we should give it a try, don’t you? See if what they said is true. I can start by sucking your cock—” I let out a laughing screech as he swiftly gets to his feet, still holding me in his arms and he walks quickly to the bathroom door. Looks like he agrees, and I want to wipe out any of the last shadows in his eyes. It’s going to be a heavy couple of days, I can feel it, so if this is what I can offer for now, I’m good with that.
And from the orgasms he gave me before, I’ll be offering it as often as possible.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
AVERY
The man is a genius at giving orgasms. Lucky me.
The shower wallis cold against my back, but I can’t seem to give a damn about it because Hulk currently is on his knees, mouth between my thighs, and my legs thrown over his shoulders. I grip his hair tightly in my hands as I arch and grind into his face. God, I love his mouth. His tongue, especially. The things that he can do with it are magical.
I moan loudly as he sucks on my clit once more, making my entire body shudder with the force of desire that rushes over me. “Hulk, fuck,” I hiss, grinding myself into his face. I probably should be a bit more careful, but screw that. This is too good. I’ll fix him up later if I have to.
He gives another low growl, the vibrations on my clit sending me even higher, and pushing my orgasm even closer to that edge. More. I need more. Thank God this man seems to know exactly what I need because he thrusts two fingers inside me, moving them as fast and as hard as he can, until I come all overhis face and my entire body shivers and quakes. I don’t even bother to try and hold back my cry of pleasure, vaguely hearing it echo off the bathroom walls.
“I love the taste of you,” Hulk rumbles, nuzzling against my inner thigh, making me shiver at the sensation of his beard against my skin. “I could do this all day every day.”
