Boxed Set: Steel: Blacthorne MC Romance (24 page)

I
knocked
on Nick’s door, and he opened it so quickly, I thought he must have been standing right by it.

Before I could say anything, he pulled me inside and wrapped his arms around me.

“Ella.” As he murmured my name, he ran his hands gently up and down, caressing my back.

I wanted to have a serious conversation with Nick and be truthful and honest with him about how I felt, but his fingertips stroking me like that were definitely a distraction.

My body tingled in response to his touch.

“Nick…”

I swallowed the rest of my words as his mouth pressed down on mine. His lips felt so soft as they moved over mine.

Then he lifted his head and said, “When I thought something had happened to you, Ella… I just…” He closed his eyes. “I couldn’t have lived with myself.”

He dipped his head again, trailing kisses along my neck down to my collarbone. I tilted my head back to give him easier access.

“I want to be with you…” I whispered.

“I want you, too,” Nick said, not understanding what I was really trying to say.

His hands travelled up the side of my waist and then dipped below my tank top, cupping my breasts.

I suddenly lost the ability to think straight. All I could think about was the sensation buzzing through my body as he circled my nipples with his thumbs, teasing them into tight peaks.

Afterwards
, I told myself. I would talk to him
afterwards
.

T
hree hours ago
, I had been terrified I would never see Ella again, and now she was here in my arms, moaning as her body pressed against me, searching for pleasure.

Her soft, sweet lips kissed the corner of my mouth, and her hot tongue flickered softly against my lips.

“Ella…” I said, desperately trying to get the words out as my body tightened in response.

Christ, I wanted her. But I didn’t want to take her yet.

I wanted to tell her how sorry I was and that I was going to make everything all right.

But as Ella looked up at me, her face was flushed, and her eyes looked wild. The blood rushed straight to my groin as her fingers closed around my belt buckle.

“I wanted to talk to you first,” I started to say, although the words I’d been carefully rehearsing in my mind five minutes ago had now deserted me.

“Nick, please,” she whispered “I need you.”

I hesitated, but only for a moment. I needed to feel her beneath me.

“We’ll talk afterwards,” I muttered half to myself as my hands cupped her breasts.

“Yes,” she panted as she loosened my belt.

She stepped forward so her foot was in between mine, and then pressed herself against me, so she was practically straddling my thigh. I could feel her heat pressed tightly against me.

“Christ, Ella,” I said as I felt the bulge in my pants straining against the denim. I wasn’t going to last long at this rate.

Her hands were busy unbuckling my belt, and then unzipping my jeans. And then a moment later, her hot hands encircled me, and I breathed in sharply.

I kissed her deeply as she rubbed herself shamelessly against me, and moved her hand up and down my length.

I’d planned this differently.

I wanted to talk to her and apologize before taking my time to tease and pleasure her, but I couldn’t wait any longer.

I slid my hand beneath her jeans, stroking the wet lace of her panties, and heard her moan in response. I slid my hand lower and pushed her panties to one side, so I could feel her slick heat, loving how she gasped as I slid a finger inside her.

Her hands felt so hot as she stroked me. I wasn’t going to last long. I could already feel the pressure building.

“Wait, Ella.”

I pulled away and stripped her of her jeans, followed by her panties.

I lifted her up, and she wrapped her legs around me. I felt her wetness pressing against me, rubbing against my length in a way that almost had me coming too early.

I carried her across the room as she kissed me, her sharp teeth nipping at my lower lip.

Her legs tightened around my waist, and I could feel her sliding up and down me.

Holy shit
. That was so hot.

I needed to somehow get back in control.

I dropped her down onto the mattress and then slid my hands down her body, spreading her thighs wide, ready to take me.

I pulled off my own clothes as she watched me, her pupils dilated and her chest moving up and down rapidly as she breathed hard.

I grabbed a condom and rolled it on. I was sure I had never been so hard in my life.

I slid into position between her legs and felt the tip of my hardness probe her wet folds. But still, I held back.

“Please,” Ella said, and her hands gripped onto my ass, trying to pull me into her. “I need this.”

She was looking down, at the point where our bodies were almost joined, watching me tease her.

“Look at me, Ella,” I said, tilting up her chin and forcing her to look me in the eyes. “I’m going to take you now, and I’ll give you everything you want, but before I do, I want you to know that I love you. I know I’m not the right man for you, but I love you with everything I am.”

I saw the shock in her eyes as her hips stilled beneath me, no longer moving against me, trying to tempt me.

She opened her mouth to reply, but I crushed my lips against hers.

I knew what she was going to say. That this was just sex. I knew I could never live up to her expectations, but I just needed her to know how I felt before I took her.

I thrust forward and plunged inside her as my control reached breaking point.

She was so hot and wet. I felt my balls tighten against my body and knew that it wouldn’t take long. As I thrust into her again and again, I slid my hand between our bodies, feeling the slippery nub at her apex and stroking it with my fingers in a way that made her gasp.

She moaned my name as her hips jerked up to meet mine.

I sucked hungrily on her breasts, and my whole body tightened. I tried to hold back the powerful climax that I knew wasn’t very far away. I could feel Ella’s breath hot against my cheek, as her inner walls clenched around me. I knew she was close.

“Come for me, baby,” I said, increasing the speed of my thrusts as I continued to stroke her.

Ella called out my name as she came, and that used up every last bit of my control. I came hard inside her as she milked me of every last drop.

A
fterwards
, I lay in Nick’s arms basking in the afterglow of my orgasm and enjoying the feeling of being cuddled up to his warm body.

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” I whispered.

“You would have been crazy to trust me,” Nick said.

“What’s going to happen now?” I asked.

I figured we’d have to head back to Blackthorn MC soon. Victor would be going crazy when he found out we were missing.

Nick shifted beside me and pushed back the sheet to expose the top part of my body. His fingers slowly and lightly traced the swell of my breast, before circling my nipple which puckered beneath his fingers.

It made it quite hard to concentrate.

Nick had said he
loved
me, but that was probably because he’d been caught up in the heat of the moment during sex.

I guessed it really didn’t count. Pity, I thought, staring at his strong jaw. I could get used to waking up to his handsome face every day.

But if he did have feelings for me, then in time, maybe they could grow and ...

I sighed. I was scared to confess how much I cared about Nick. I’d promised myself if I managed to get away from the Venom MC, I would tell Nick how I felt.

I’d decided I didn’t want to live my life without him. All I had to do now was tell him...

I turned so I was facing him and looked up into his eyes.

“I want to be with you, Nick, so I’ve decided…”

He traced my bottom lip with the pad of his thumb.

“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to feel pressured into doing anything. I just needed you to know how I felt. I love you, Ella. I tried not to, but I can’t control it.”

My heart pounded in my chest. He’d said it again. This time we weren’t having sex, so it counted, right? He must really mean it.

“I’m sorry I was such a fool before. I was a coward. But I’ll go with you,” Nick said. “I’ll leave the club. Let Victor do his worst.”

My mouth dropped open. “You’ll come to New York with me?”

I could hardly believe my ears.

He nodded and then smiled at me. “If you still want me to.”

My eyes filled with tears. I wanted that more than anything.

“Yes,” I managed to say as I held him so tight I could hardly breathe.

When I finally released him, he looked deep into my eyes and stroked my hair. “I never want you to feel you can’t trust me again. Knowing that you’d run off like that tore me apart,” Nick said. “I know I deserved it. You had no reason to trust me.”

“Well, strictly speaking I didn’t actually run off. Jackson covered my head with something and bundled me away in the back of a truck.”

The change in Nick was instantaneous. He sat up, his eyes flashing with anger.

“He did what?” He flung back the sheets and climbed naked out of bed.

“It’s okay,” I said, sitting up. “He was trying to help me. He thought by dropping me off at the sheriff’s office I’d be able to get home.”

I bit my lip as I realized I might have put Jackson in a difficult position now. Nick would be wondering why he helped me.

I didn’t want to give the game away and endanger Jackson’s undercover work.

“I should have known. God damn interfering cop,” Nick growled before sitting back down on the bed.

I blinked in surprise. “You know about Jackson?”

Nick looked at me suspiciously. “I found out a few hours ago. When did you find out?”

I shrugged. “After he’d taken me.”

Nick obviously thought better of confronting Jackson at this time of night and climbed back into bed beside me.

“I’m so sorry for putting you through all of this,” Nick said, stroking my cheek.

“It’s okay,” I muttered sleepily against his shoulder. “Everything is going to be okay now.”

“Damn right,” Nick said. “I’m going to make sure of that.”

I smiled up at him as he looked down at me with such an intensity it made me swallow hard.

He took my hands and pinned me to the bed. He shifted his position, using his leg to part my thighs. He was already hard again, and I felt my body respond instantly as he pressed his hardness against my core.

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his as he showed me every emotion that was swirling inside of him.

I felt my eyes start to prickle with tears. He lived the kind of life where he could never trust anyone enough to tell them what he was really thinking.

He’d never allowed himself to love, or to let someone care about him.

“I love you, Ella. Do you want to be with me? Don’t say yes just because you think you’ll hurt my feelings if you say no.”

My throat ached, and I swallowed hard again as my gaze drifted to the wound on his shoulder. It had practically healed now, but it was a sign of everything he’d been through, everything he needed to get away from.

When I shifted my gaze back to his eyes, I saw a vulnerability there that I’d never seen before. He’d lowered the shield he normally used to hide his true feelings from the world.

I realized for the first time that he was actually scared that I might reject him. He needed to hear those words from me.

“I love you,” I said, and I saw the relief in his eyes as he exhaled and lowered his head so it was pressed against my forehead.

“I’ve never felt like this about anyone, Ella. I love you and the thought of losing you kills me. I can’t live without you.”

He kissed me softly as he slid inside me, making me inhale sharply and push my hips up to meet him.

My arms tightened around him, pulling him closer.

“You make me feel like my future is worth living,” Nick murmured as he moved slowly inside me. “If you take a chance on me, I’ll do my best to be the man you want me to be.”

“You already are,” I said, trying to smile at him, although the tears I was desperately trying to hold back were threatening to spill down my cheeks.

I felt a pulse of pleasure between my legs as he took me slowly and tenderly.

“I love you, Ella,” he said. “Always.”

T
hree months
later

“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Nick said, grinning at me as I stepped in the front door and shrugged off my coat. He seemed on edge, but excited at the same time.

I grinned back at him. The past three months had been the happiest of my life. We’d moved into my tiny apartment in New York. I’d started the new semester, and Nick had managed to get a job working in a local bike shop.

My friend, Claire, had hooked up with Jackson. I worried about her because Jackson’s work was so dangerous, but she seemed happy. Jackson was a good guy, and I was happy for them both.

I was so in love. As sappy as it sounded, I wanted everyone to be as happy as me.

I stepped out of the hallway, to see that Nick had laid the small table with a pretty white tablecloth and scattered it with rose petals.

My cheeks flushed with pleasure when I realized he’d done all that for me.

“You know, if Chad and Tom ever saw you doing stuff like this, your reputation would be ruined,” I teased.

He took a stepped towards me and rested his hands on my hips.

“You’re probably right, so you’d better keep it secret.”

“And if I don’t?”

His eyes glinted as he leaned down to kiss me, leaving me breathless. “Then, Ella, I may have to punish you.”

I felt a tingle between my legs as I remembered the last time Nick had “
punished
” me. He’d held me over his lap and spanked me until I was begging him to take me.

Just remembering that night made me clench my legs together.

“I might enjoy that.”

Nick growled as he pulled me against him, so I could feel exactly how his body was responding to me.

I lowered my hand to his waistband, but his fingers encircled my wrist. “Not yet…”

He put his hands on my shoulders and directed me to the table, sitting me down.

“Dinner first.”

I pouted. I wasn’t interested in food. I wanted
him
.

Still, I couldn’t help being touched by all the trouble he’d gone to for me. Who would have thought my tattooed, bad boy, would be cooking me dinner?

He’d even put those old fashioned metal domes over the plates, the sort you used to get in fancy old restaurants.

“Where did you get these?” I asked, smiling and reaching for the one in front of me.

Nick’s expression tightened a little, and I realized he was nervous. I vowed to myself that however bad his cooking was, I would still eat it and tell him it was great.

When I lifted the lid, though, I didn’t see food. In the middle of the white porcelain plate was a glittering, diamond solitaire ring.

In my shock, I dropped the metal dome on the floor, and turned to Nick, who had now dropped to one knee.

I was too stunned to do anything, so Nick reached over to pick up the ring and took my hand.

“Ella, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

I nodded and managed to say, “Yes.”

My eyes were shining with tears as I gazed at my beautiful biker. We had left Blackthorne, but he was still the same Nick Steel. Hot, sexy and stubborn. He would never be a suit kind of guy, but I didn’t care. I loved him exactly the way he was.

He slid the ring on my finger, and I gazed down at it. I could hardly believe it. I was going to be Mrs. Nick Steel.
Holy crap
.

He stayed on his knees as he reached up to put a hand behind my neck, pulling my mouth to his. The way his soft lips moved against mine, and the way his tongue explored my mouth made my whole body heat up.

“What about dinner?” I asked.

Nick frowned. “It’s just a stew. We can heat it up later.”

I grinned. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“Besides, I need to work up an appetite,” Nick said as he pushed the lace of my bra aside and lowered his mouth to my breast.

I let my head roll back as his tongue flickered over my tight nipple.

Building up an appetite sounded like a very good idea to me.

I threw my arms around his neck as his hands unzipped my jeans. “I can’t wait to be Mrs. Steel,” I whispered. “I want you to …” I lowered my voice and whispered in his ear, telling him exactly what I wanted him to do to me.

Nick grinned. “Your wish is my command, Ella,” he said.

And he did just as I asked.