Nitro gave me what I needed that night. He let me settle on my side next to him and when I reached for his arms, he spooned me, wrapping me in his embrace.

He lent me his strength.

And for the first time in longer than I could remember, I slept like a baby.

17

Nitro

“Knocking’ On Heaven’s Door” by Guns N’ Roses

Something shifted between Tatum and I during the night. Our bodies were tangled when I woke up, my dick hard as hell and the desire to fuck her stronger than I’d ever known with any other woman. Aware that her ribs still gave her hell, I attempted to untangle us slowly. One of her legs was draped over my body, as was an arm. Half her body was actually on me and her face was buried in my chest. As I moved, she stirred. A moment later, her eyes met mine.

The way her body moved when she woke meant she pretty much ended up completely on top of me, her tits pressing into my chest and her pussy sliding over my morning wood. Which meant my dick screamed its need loud and clear for both of us to notice.

She’d worn only panties and a T-shirt to bed and the shirt had ridden up. My hand landed on the bare skin of her waist when she shifted. The control it took not to slide it down into her panties was immense.

“Morning,” she said with a sleepy smile as she planted her hands on the mattress either side of my body and pushed herself up so she straddled me.

“Fuck,” I groaned. “You trying to kill me here, Vegas?” Glancing down the length of my body, I took in her pussy and legs either side of me. My dick was fucking straining in his effort to get inside her. And to be hit with that smile first thing in the morning—if a man wasn’t already awake, that smile would wake him up.

“I’m pretty sure you’re invincible, Nitro.”

I raked my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. “And I’m pretty fucking sure any man who had you sitting on top of him when he woke up couldn’t withstand you.” Jesus, Tatum was the only woman I’d ever known who’d managed to make me want to flirt with her. I could have spent hours in that bed trying to get in her pants.

She grinned and it struck me that she’d had a complete turnaround in mood from the middle of the night. “You’re so much nicer first thing in the morning.” With that, she moved off me and stood.

“No, I’m nicer any time a woman shoves her tits in my face. It’s got nothing to do with the morning.”

She glanced down at me. “I didn’t shove my tits in your face. If they came anywhere near you it was accidental.”

I sat up and tracked her ass as she walked into the bathroom. The door closing behind her caused me to groan. I wanted more of that sexy banter with her. And fuck if that thought didn’t come out of the fucking blue.

My phone rang while she was in the bathroom.

King.

I answered it, “What’s up, King?”

“Need you to go for a run today, brother.”

“Where to?”

“We got a tip-off about where Silver Hell are hiding out. I want you to take some of the boys out there to check on it.”

“I’ll be ready in ten.”

We ended the call and I waited for Tatum to finish in the bathroom so I could take a shower. When she exited, I said, “I’ve gotta head out to check on something. Can you do me a favour?”

“Depends what that favour is,” she said, her tone a little flirty. Fuck Silver Hell and them getting in the way of me staying in this room.

“Can you check on Renee and Dustin for me this morning? Make sure they’re okay.” Renee was already out of bed and had left the room. She loved to watch the sun rise every morning.

Her eyes softened. “Sure.”

“Thanks.” I took the few steps to the bathroom, but before I entered, I turned back to her. “You good, Tatum?”

Surprise flickered across her face, as if she hadn’t expected me to ask. “Yeah,” she said, but I heard the hesitation in her voice. “Thank you for last night.”

I nodded and slipped into the bathroom.

I wasn’t sure what had happened during the night, but I couldn’t deny the pull I felt to her. From everything I’d seen so far, Tatum was fearless, but in the middle of the night, her nightmares had come to life. I told her she’d been crying in her sleep, but what I didn’t tell her was that she’d also been thrashing around in the bed.

I’d wanted to wake her up and drag her into my arms.

I’d wanted to take her bad dreams from her.

When she’d asked if she could sleep next to me, I hadn’t hesitated to say yes. Because if there was something I knew well, it was the nightmares that claimed your sleep and fucked with your head. I couldn’t stop mine, but maybe I could help ease hers if only for a night or two.

* * *

“Where did this tip-off come from?” I asked Kick as we stared at the empty block of land we’d been told Silver Hell were staying at.

“I’m not sure, but I guess it was to lessen the number of members at the clubhouse.”

“Yeah, my guess, too.” I’d called King to advise him to be alert.

King had sent us, along with four other members, to check the site out. Our orders were that if we found anything we were to call it in and sit tight, keeping an eye on them, rather than to take them on. King had more members ready to send if we found anyone. The site was just out of Gosford and had taken us a little over an hour to get to. I was pissed off at the time we’d wasted.

“Right, let’s round the boys up and head back,” Kick said, his expression revealing he was as annoyed as me.

Five minutes later we pulled back out onto the highway and straight into a shit-storm of bullets. We’d discussed the possibility of that happening and had been vigilant, but our enemy had hidden well. Before my brain caught up to the fact that bikers were roaring onto the highway from behind trees, one of our members copped a fatal bullet and his bike careened off the road, crashing into a tree. There was no time to think about that, though, because eight Silver Hell members were gunning for us. If I wanted to keep breathing, I needed to think fast.

Thank fuck we brought a van with us. King always insisted on it whenever we went on a run. He liked to ensure we always had extra weapons if we needed them. Blow was driving it, and when I made the signal for him to pull up, he screeched to a halt. I was the closest to him and quickly circled back and pulled in behind. The back doors opened and he threw me a rifle.