Nothin' But Trouble (13 page)

What.
The.
Fuck.
This kid was off his rocker, but before Court could even respond the kid was
charging forward. The stick was still in his hand and raised high above him. He
intended to kill Court with a stick? The kid continued forward, but Court held
his ground, and when he was an inch away Court reached out and slammed his fist
into the side of the kid’s head. He fell backward, and although that should
have knocked his ass out he was wasted and flying higher than a damn plane. He
pulled himself up and weaved on his feet.

“That
bitch didn’t want to give me her soul, and so I did her over real good. Next
time she won’t think about whether or not to sacrifice herself for the God of
Darkness.” He lifted his arms in the air and tilted his head back. The yell
that came from him would alert everyone in the surrounding area to where he was.

Court
was running on his rage and couldn’t control himself. He charged forward and
slammed his body into the kid’s. They fell to the ground, and Court straddled
him, reared his arm back, and connected his fist into the human’s head again.
But just when he was about to hit him once again, release all his anger on this
piece of shit, someone wrapped their arms around his chest and hauled him off.
It was a bear shifter because no one else would have had the strength to remove
him, but then he smelled Dallas and tore away from the other male.

“Court,
this is not our fight. We are just here to find him, not kill him. That is for
Lucien and The Brothers of Menace to handle.”

Court’s
chest rose and fell, and although he knew Dallas spoke the truth, trying to
control
himself
was fucking hard. But the sound and
scent of the other Grizzly members, and Lucien and his men coming forward, had
Court forcing himself to relax. Taking this away from Lucien wasn’t right,
because if someone had killed the bastard that hurt Lilly—aside from Roan, that
is— he would have wanted blood from everyone. He took a step back just as
everyone came through the thickness of the woods. Lucien stalked toward,
reached down and wrapped his hand around the kid’s throat, and hauled his ass
up.

“You
are about to experience a world of hurt, boy.”

The
kid started laughing, and it was this crazy sound.

“But
don’t worry, we will let you sober up before we give you what you deserve for
hurting one of our girls,” Lucien said and turned to look at Court and the rest
of The Grizzly MC. “Thanks for helping out.”

Court
nodded and watched as The Brothers of Menace made their way out of the forest,
dragging that fucker out with them.

“Think
they will kill him?” Stinger asked.

Court
didn’t know, and honestly, if Lucien hadn’t come when he did Court probably
would have twisted his head off with his bare hands. After all this, and
knowing what that kid had done to a female, made Court want to go see Lilly and
hold her tight even more than he normally did. But it was late, and he had
tomorrow to look forward to. It was funny what love could do to a male, and he
loved Lilly with a ferocity that startled even his inner animal.

****

Lilly
looked at herself in the mirror and knew this was a bad idea. The bruising in
her face was horrendous, and the swelling wasn’t completely healed. She also
felt like an idiot for the dress she had on—the yellow one with the blue
flowers that Court had told her he remembered her wearing all those years ago.
But she had wanted to surprise him, and thought it was a good idea until she
had the damn thing on and saw her reflection.

She
had been a thick girl in high school, but had gained some weight over the past
five years. Her tits, especially, were larger, and her cleavage was so
prominent it was like her boobs were trying to eat her dress. She turned to the
side and glanced at her ass. “Shit, it really has gotten bigger.” Yeah, that
had grown, too. How in the world had she not realized how big her butt had
gotten? There was a knock on the door, and she called out, “Come on in.”

“Lilly?”
Roan’s voice was deep and curious, and when he pushed the door open all the way
and stepped inside, she faced him fully. He did a double take, and his eyes
grew wide. “Wow. You look great.”

She
couldn’t help but blush. “Thanks.”

He
knitted his brows.

“What?”
She smoothed her hands down her dress and looked at herself in the mirror
again.

“Nothing,
it’s just … I should probably put on the big brother act seeing as you’re about
to go out with this outlaw biker.”

For
a second she thought he was serious, and her cheeks heated even further. But
then a smile broke out across his face, and she breathed out in relief. Okay,
he was so joking with her. “Do I look okay? Is the dress too much?”

He
blinked a few times and shook his head. “No. I mean you look great, but don’t
you think it’s a bit revealing?” He cleared his throat and moved his hand over
his upper chest.
“Like in the northern hemisphere?”

Lilly
couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing.
“Oh my God.
I’m embarrassing you by my cleavage.”

Roan
groaned and closed his eyes. “We are not talking about cleavage or anything
else. Court’s downstairs.” Without looking at her again he turned and left her
alone in her room. She looked at her reflection once more, and turned to grab a
cardigan from her closet. Her boobs may look good, but that didn’t mean she had
to walk out there with them hanging out for all to see. Once the blue cardigan
was in place and she had the middle button together, she grabbed her purse and
headed out.

Court
and Roan were by the front door talking, and her mom came out with a glass of
lemonade. It was funny to see Court and Roan standing side-by-side, both of
them huge, whereas her mother was small and petite.

Maybe
it was the sound of her heels clicking on the wood floor, or maybe he could
just sense her, but Court snapped his head up and locked his eyes right on her.
There was this low noise that came from him and had Roan and her mom looking at
him with their brows knitted. Then they turned their attention to her. Okay, so
that was awkward, but at the same time Court was giving her this very heated
look, one that made her feel like he was on the verge of ripping her dress off
when she stopped right in front of him. Her pussy instantly became wet, and her
nipples hardened. Thank God she wore the cardigan, because a bra was a no-no
with the dress, and she knew the tight peaks would have been visible through
the thin material.

“Hi.”
She was ready to get out of here, because even if Court had plans for them to
have a quiet evening talking, she was in the mood for something that she had been
craving for the last five years. Was she pretty to look at all bruised up? No,
and that might be a deterrent for him, but honestly she also wanted to be with
him sexually because she wanted another memory—this one far stronger than them
kissing on her bed—to take away the image and feeling of that man above her. “Are
you ready?”

Court
nodded, but took a sip of the lemonade and watched her over the rim of the
glass. Lilly made her way to the front, and right away her mom gave her a hug.
This certainly wasn’t like she was going away and never coming back, but when
she looked her mom in the face and saw the smile there, she knew her mother had
hugged her because she was happy for her.

“You
look so nice, sweetie.” Diera took her hand and squeezed it, and then turned
and opened the door for them. “Okay, have fun, and Court? Look after my little
girl.”

Court
turned and looked down at her mom.
“With my life, Diera.”
She patted him on the chest and smiled before ushering them out the door.

Once
the door was closed Lilly looked at Court. “So—”

But
he didn’t let her finish speaking because he had a hold of her hand and was
pulling her toward his truck. When they were by the garage, where there were no
windows and Roan and her mother couldn’t see them, he pulled her toward his
chest. Her breasts pressed firmly against him, and he leaned down to take her
mouth in a brutally possessive kiss. For several drugging seconds that was all
they did. The sun had yet to set, but there was the dusky feeling in the air.
Lilly wound her arms around his neck and slipped her hands in his hair. The
blond strands were longer, brushing the top of his collar, and giving her just
enough length to hold onto.

He
broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers. “We need to stop, or we
will most definitely create a scene in front of the neighborhood.”

Lilly
pressed her mouth to his again and ran her tongue along the seam of his lips.
“Let them watch. I don’t care.”

Court
groaned, but she felt him smile against her mouth. “Baby, you can’t say stuff
like that.” He placed his hands on her hips and rubbed them up and down.
“You’re still healing, and I don’t want to rush this or push you too far.”

She
shook her head and used as much of her strength as she could to push him back
against the garage door. There was a moment of surprise on his face, but he
didn’t say anything. “I’m healing just fine, but I don’t want you to treat me
like I’m porcelain and you’re afraid I’m going to break.” She stared into his
light green eyes, willing him to really understand her. “Roan treats me like he
is afraid I will go off the deep-end, and I won’t.” She took a deep breath. “I
just want to forget what happened. I want to move on, and I want to do that
with you. I want you to replace those god-awful memories with new ones.”

He
lifted his hands and gently cupped both sides of her face. He stared deeply
into her eyes and then slid his gaze to the side of her face that was bruised.
He ground his teeth and closed his eyes for several seconds. “I want to help
you forget, want to replace that nightmare that you endured, but I’m afraid
that I’ll make it worse.”

She
shook her head and smiled up at him even though he still had his eyes closed
and couldn’t see her doing the acts. “I love that you are this big biker, a
bear shifter on top of that, yet you are afraid of going too fast with me.” She
doubted there were many times he thought about going slow in his life.

“Lilly,
there is a lot I missed out on with you, and a lot I want to experience with
you. I’m not in a rush.” He pressed his lips to hers, and just when she would
have taken control of the kiss he pulled back. “Make no mistake I want you.” To
emphasize his point he took hold of her wrist and brought between their bodies.
Pressing her hand to his crotch told her he was hard as steel.
“So, yeah.
I want you really fucking badly, Lilly.”

Her
heart slammed fiercely against her ribs, and if she had her way she would have
let him take her right here against the garage. But she wanted privacy, and
certainly wasn’t going to get that right here.

“Come
on, I have plans for us.” He led her to the truck, the same one that he had
taken her virginity in, and it felt almost surreal and nostalgic in a strange
way. After he helped her inside and was in the driver’s side seat, he started
the engine and pulled out of the driveway. Trees passed by on either side of
them as he headed out of Steel Corner, and she was curious as to where he was
taking her.

“Where
exactly are we going?”

He
looked over at her and grinned but didn’t respond to her question.

Lilly
used that moment to take in his appearance. She could have when she had seen
him standing in the entryway of her mother’s home, and could have when they
were outside, but she had been focused on his face and had tunnel vision
because of her desire for him. But now she had as much time to look at him as
she pleased. With that strong, square jaw, lightly
stubbled
cheeks, and light green eyes, he wasn’t handsome in a clean cut, classic way,
but more so in a brutally hardcore manner. He made her think of sinfully wicked
things.

He
reached over and turned the radio on, but to her surprise he didn’t blast classic
rock. That had been his favorite music of choice back in the day, but instead he
put on an oldies station. He adjusted the volume so it was barely audible, making
it more background noise than a filler.

Lilly
looked at the thickness of his biceps. They were huge, and his t-shirt was
formed perfectly to the smooth flesh and hard muscle. He wore his cut, but she
liked that he always had it on. It made him look dangerous, and what girl
didn’t want a man that looked like Court, that poured potent masculinity, and
didn’t have to even say anything for people to know that he was deadly? His
jeans were loose, but still showed off the thickness of his thighs, ones that
looked powerful, like trunks of massive trees. When she moved her eyes back up
to his face her cheeks instantly heated when she saw that he looked at her.

He
glanced back at the road, but the corner of his mouth kicked up. “You know how
to make a male feel wanted, Lilly.”

She
scoffed, but couldn’t help but smile. “Don’t act like you aren’t used to women
looking at you the way I just was.” Although she was embarrassed that he had
caught her checking him out, there was this familiarity between them, and it
made the air lighter.