Curly (Hell's Handlers MC Florida Chapter 1)

“He burned down my kennel. It wasn’t Prick.”

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.”

“I was so stupid.” She lifted her head. Tearful eyes met his gaze. Even devastated and terrified, Brooke was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. “I thought I had to do it all myself. I convinced myself needing you and wanting you made me weak. That I would lose something of myself by giving my heart to you. Then today, when I discovered Evan in my house, I couldn’t think of anything besides how much I needed you. Instead of holding me back, you give me strength. You allow me to fly. Together we are better than either of us are alone. Curly, I love you. And if you can be patient with me, I promise I will work on my trust issues and let you in.”

He took her face between his hands. “Brooke, I think I fell in love with you the first time I heard you tell Prick off.”

She choked out a watery laugh and lightly slapped his shoulder.

What he was about to say could be the most important words of his life, so he kept her focus on him. “I will never block the light that shines from you because basking in that light is where I belong.”

“Curly…” she whispered.

“Brooke, I love you. I want to create a life with you and stand side by side as we rebuild your kennel bigger and better than before and grow this new MC into our family. I want your hand in mine and the head of our family table.”

She sucked in a breath the nodded. “I love that. All of it.”

It’d been too long since either of them felt the love and acceptance of family. She didn’t need to put into words how significant this moment was for her. He felt it in her soft smile, her gentle touch, and the love in her gaze.

“Kiss me,” he said.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

He slid his hand from her face to the back of her head, drawing her down to his mouth. Brooke kissed him with the same passion he felt for her. The pain disappeared, as did everything else. They were no longer lying on the floor in her den with her dead ex-husband on the opposite side of the room. He wasn’t waiting for Pulse to return and dress his gunshot would. They didn’t live in a world where someone had set fire to Brooke’s home.

It was just the two of them in a bubble, connecting, pleasuring, loving.

He licked into her mouth and reveled in the moan that ripped through her. The sound had his dick hardening. Fuck, it’d been too many days since he’d had her naked, and he needed to connect with her soon, or he’d lose his fucking mind. With his favorite destination in mind, he stroked his hand down her back. Once he had a handful of her ass, he squeezed, making her moan again.

“For fuck’s sake. If there’s enough blood in your body to tent your jeans like that, I’m pretty sure you’ll survive.” Scott’s humor-laced comment stuck a pin in their bubble.

Brooke squeaked and jerked back. While her lips were swollen from his kisses, her cheeks were pink with embarrassment.

Curly flipped Scott off.

Laughing, Scott turned to deal with the body. If only he’d known Curly hadn’t meant the gesture as a joke. Idiot couldn’t have given them a few more minutes of privacy?

“Think you can keep your lips off each other long enough I can make sure you don’t bleed out?” Pulse asked as he knelt next to Curly.

“For fucks sake. Dramatic much? It’s a damn scratch,” he said at the same time Brooke said, “I’ll do my best, but no promises.”

Pulse threw his head back and laughed. “Shit, woman, pretty sure you’re a perfect match for our little family of misfits.”

It was the first time Curly truly felt Pulse’s acceptance of their club.

Brooke beamed a huge smile then laced her bandaged hand with his. “Thanks, Pulse. Now let’s get him to stop bleeding.”

As Pulse set about cleaning and dressing his wound, the rest of the guys arrived. There wasn’t a way to avoid the cops in this situation, seeing as how Brooke had a dead body in her house. Soon as Pulse finished, they’d deal with it.

He noticed that Brooke hadn’t once looked in the direction of the body. That was fine by him. She didn’t need to see it and have it haunt her dreams. Evan was her past, and now they had a bright and shiny future to anticipate.

She was staring at his side with a frown on her face, so he lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the back. She smiled at him and mouthed, “I love you.”

“Love you, baby,” he mouthed back.