Rafe (Inked Brotherhood 5)

Can’t they all go home so I can grab my girl, shove her against the wall and bury my face between her legs, eat her up until she screams…then sink into her, make her come so hard she never wants to leave.

Oh fuck…

“Excuse me a sec.” I retreat into the corridor, and step into the bathroom, my head pounding. I brace one hand on the wall over the toilet and take the piss of the century as I try to figure out what’s rattling around inside my head.

I don’t want her to leave. I want her to stay. With me.

Fucking hell, I can’t be thinking this way, feeling this way, because…because…

Christ. Wait. Because what? I’m not going into the fight club. Nothing dangerous about being with me now. As the revelation sinks in, I close my eyes, waiting for my head to clear. For the facts to line up.

My plan has failed. I’ll tell the police what I know about the guy with the hand tattoo, but chances are he’ll vanish before the cops turn up. Guys like him smell cops a mile away.

On the other hand…I could have Meg.

If she wants me, that is, and that’s not a given. Who’d want to be with a basket case like me, anyway?

But God, I wish that. To go to sleep with her every night, wake up in the morning with my arms around her, talk and shower and have awesome sex and go out to eat… Look after her, hear her laugh and let her remind me how bright life can be.

Sounds so good. Makes me feel so light I could float right off the ground.

Scares me to death. So much easier to get used to pleasure than to pain, and then, when the pain returns, you can’t take it. I know. I’ve been there. I lost everyone. And now I can’t live only on pain anymore.

She was right. Now I want more.

“Rafe?” Her soft voice startles me. She’s right behind me, wrapping her arms around me as I tuck myself into my jeans. “Morning. You slept forever, clear through the day and the night.”

“What’s everyone doing here? Why’s Zane so damn happy? I…”

Something is nagging at my mind, something I should be doing… Something to do with Armin.

“They were looking for you.” Her curves press into me and jeez, I’m half-hard already, my body only too happy to have her close, even if my mind is going around in useless circles. “Zane said he had something to tell you. Good news.”

Good news.

Damage Control.

The memory hits me like a sledgehammer. Armin saying he won’t sell it, that he’ll leave it to me.

Breathless, I turn around. “We’re keeping Damage. Meg, we’re keeping the shop!”

“Keeping it?” She frowns, and yeah, of course, she didn’t know about this, as I never told her.

Zane. Tyler. Goddammit, I have to tell them, right now.

I pull Meg to me, and kiss her, long and hard. Her eyes are glazed when I finally draw back, her breathing uneven. “We need to talk. Later.”

God, I hope I’m not wrong about this. Hope she wants to be with me. Can’t remember ever wishing for something so hard.

As I walk back into the living room, Meg’s hand in mine, I hear them talking about Audrey and Asher. Apparently she’s still at the hospital, and a sting of worry jabs me.

Later.

“We have Damage,” I announce to the room in general, and grin, waiting for their response. “Armin agreed to leave it to me. I signed the authorization and he’ll pass it on to his lawyer.”

Silence stretches.

How fucking weird. No shouts of joy. No laughter. No smiles. Not sure what I expected, but this…