Blood & Bones: Ozzy (Blood Fury MC 9)

She needed to learn to do the same.

While she had set her feet on that path, sometimes she still stumbled.

In the past she had let what others think cause her anxiety or influence her decisions. Even if that decision wasn’t best for her. But she was thirty-eight now and no longer twelve or fourteen.

She reminded herself often that she and she alone held that power. She was in control of it. She had taken a huge step toward empowering herself when she returned for her class reunion back in August.

Now, here she was again.

In Manning Grove.

The town she grew up in. The town she might settle in permanently.

But was she ready for that?

She hoped she was.

Because, yes, despite everything, she loved him.

She just needed time to discover if that love was strong enough to conquer everything else.

Two weeks ago, she had moved back upstairs and into his place. That night, she moved back into his bed.

While they had sex for the first time in a month, she had pushed everything out of her head—the past and even the future—to concentrate on him and solely him.

But still… the emotions she’d been trying to sort through had bubbled to the surface. Afterward, she ended up hiding her tears and muffling her cries into the pillow. He had heard them anyway, got up without a word and slept the rest of the night on the couch.

To give her space and more time.

The next night started out the same, but when she cried, she didn’t hide it and he didn’t leave.

Instead, he held her. Simply wrapped his arms around her and kept her close, nuzzling his nose in her hair and stroking her back until she fell asleep.

While he said nothing, she knew her reaction caused him grief and pain.

The third night, the only time she cried was when his name was on her lips as he made her orgasm several times.

He held her after that, too. Again, she fell asleep in his arms, feeling protected and loved.

Newborns bonded with skin-to-skin contact. She truly believed adults did, too.

The more he held her, the more the cracks in their connection healed.

But today, the time he asked for was up.

She needed to decide if her love for him could outweigh everything else. Whether she could stay or walk away and not regret either decision.

Sometimes she caught herself being angry at her father. For his deception. For what he’d done to Ozzy’s mother. For how much his actions had affected Ozzy’s life. And, in turn, affected hers.

But if she could still love her father no matter what he’d done, why couldn’t she still love Ozzy?

She could.

She would.

The power was in her hands. So was her future.

A future they could build together.

Two broken halves coming together to make each other whole.

“I gave you the time you asked for.”

Ozzy glanced up from drying off his sled. It would be the last bath he gave his girl for the season since they were heading into blue ball weather.

Her face didn’t give away her thoughts or feelings. She wore that damn blank mask she donned way too fucking often. The one he’d wished like fuck she’d stop wearing.

Shit between them had gotten better but it wasn’t where he wanted it to be. Not yet.

Her seeking him out made him realize she might have decided she wasn’t willing to get it there.

While he was thankful as fuck for the chance she gave him, he doubted it had been enough.

When he woke up earlier, she was already gone.

He figured she had gone on one of her long walks she had started taking every morning to clear her head. To be alone to think. It had been like that for the last two weeks. They might fall asleep wrapped up together, but come morning he always woke up alone.

Every time he’d wake up and find her gone, he’d get a pit in his stomach and check to make sure her shit was still in the closet and her Lexus parked out back.

It always was.

That didn’t mean it always would be.

He was afraid one morning she’d wake up and realize she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t completely forgive him or want to live a life with him.

He was willing to give up everything for her.

The sweet butts, the threesomes… Even his club.

All for her.

He stood and used the rag in his hand to dry them. After tossing it on the seat, he turned to face her. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” she repeated softly.

He set his jaw. “Gonna tell me, or gonna torture me a little longer?”

“I said it might take me more than a month, but I was wrong.”

Christ. “Thanksgivin’ is only next week. Club’s gonna have a big spread. Even if you don’t wanna be with me, you belong there at that dinner. With the rest of them. No matter what happens between us, you’re the daughter of an Original. You got Fury blood runnin’ through your veins.”