"I need you," she whispered against his throat. "I need to feel you."
He set her on her feet and shrugged off his vest. As he removed his shirt, she took off her top and bra. The moment she was free, she pressed herself to him, cheek against his bare chest, counting the seconds as his strong heartbeat pounded under her ear.
Every minute mattered. Every breath, every inch of warmth.
Kodiak lived in a hard world. Anything could happen. Life was fragile. She wasn't going to waste a second.
His strong arms wrapped around her possessively. She closed her eyes, soaking in the heat of his body. So much of hislife was now clearer to her. He and her dad. All the late hours. All the serious looks passed between them.
Back then, she'd never understood why her dad kept such strange hours. Why would he nod off at the table only to get up fifteen minutes later for a phone call that took him out the door and had one of the other bikers coming into their room and crashing on the couch, babysitting her, so she'd get enough sleep to attend school the next day?
He always said the same thing when she asked where he was going."Just a little Royalla business, princess. Nothing for you to worry about."
She'd trusted him. She'd believed in the strength of his hands, the careful way he peeled apples for her, the way his Harley always waited outside her school so he could pick her up and take her back to the compound—because the school bus wouldn't stop at the gate.
One fall evening, when she was around ten, she came into the garage where he was working, looking for her bicycle, and found her dad crouched next to it, patching a flat tire with fingers that were scraped and stained with grease. He hadn't heard her right away, and she found herself studying her dad in a new light. He'd looked tired. Older. Somehow different.
When she spoke, he startled, then smiled. That soft, tired kind of smile only a parent gives.
She swallowed hard, still able to hear him say,"Hey, princess. Just fixing your ride."
She'd knelt beside him, watching."You always take care of things," she said.
His hands had stilled."Someone's got to, Roma. Someone's always got to."
Now, curled against Kodiak's bare chest, that memory felt like the sunshine taking away her darkness. Her father hadalways known the danger, yet he still chose it. He decided to shield her from it, to the best of his ability.
But nowshewas the one who had to make the choice.
Choose whether she could carry that fear of losing Kodiak throughout her life. Choose whether she could fully love him, knowing the world he belonged to could rip him away from her at any moment. She'd already learned about the gut-wrenching grief that came from loving someone who chose freedom and brotherhood. But she couldn't imagine a life without Kodiak.
"I miss my dad," she murmured, muffled words against Kodiak's skin.
"Me, too, baby girl," he said, voice rough with emotion.
She held him tighter, as if her grip alone could keep him there.
One more minute. Then another.
Then forever.
She pressed herself to him, needing the contact as much as she needed oxygen to keep her alive. His warmth, the solid size of him, reassured her in a way nothing else could right now.
"I can't stop thinking," Roma whispered. "What if...what if next time, it's you?"
Kodiak's arms tightened around her, like he could feel the quake inside her body. "It won't be."
"You can't know that."
"No," he said quietly, "but I can control who's around me. Who's aroundyou?"
She looked up at him then, her eyes searching for the guarantees she needed. "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm done pretending everyone's worth trusting because they wear a patch," Kodiak said. "Nate—he wasn't one of us. Not where it counted. I only want Royalla people behind me. People who understand what loyalty fucking means. That's how I keep you safe, Roma. By cutting out the weak links. I'm notgambling every time someone approaches me, looking for a club to join."
Her breath hitched, but it wasn't fear this time. Beneath the hardness in his words, she heard dedication and truth. His choices were made. He took the devastation and turned it into a stronger conviction for Royalla.
"You're going to close down the club," she said softly.
