All of a sudden, Lily jumped from the bed, making a run for the bathroom. She didn’t make it, though. Halfway there, he had her around the waist, lifting her from the floor.
“Oh, no you don’t.”
“Don’t you dare touch me!” Lily yelled.
“I am going to do more than touch you. I’m going to teach you a lesson that you will never forget, Lily,” Shade promised.
She was about to scream, terrified, when he sat her down on her feet in her corner and took a step back.
He could feel her fear. She should be afraid, he thought grimly to himself. She had pushed him past his limits, but she was more than able to defend herself against him; she had proven that earlier. Therefore, it was time she faced her fears head-on, and come what may, he was going to rip away the barriers she used to protect herself from him. She needed to see the real Shade or as much of himself as he could show, anyway.
He pulled the chair to face her, taking a seat. “I think it’s past time we straighten out a few things.”
Her hand went to the rubber band as she pressed back against the wall.
“Cut it out. You’re in your safe zone, and I won’t touch you when you’re there.” Shade leaned back against his chair.
“I joined The Last Riders when I left the military. There are eight original members. When we started the club, we decided women would be members, too. Both the men and women have rules as to how they can join. The men, if they want to enter and we want them as a part of the club, pick four of the eight original members to go up against. If they can handle themselves, they become members. The women need six votes from the eight original members to join. To get the votes, the member either fucks them or has an orgasm as a result of their play.”
“I don’t want to know,” Lily moaned.
“Lily, you’re going to hear it all. No more pretending. Now, to continue, Beth and Winter earned their votes differently. They earned markers. That’s not to say they didn’t earn a few votes the normal way, just not the majority of them.” He kept his voice dispassionate when he discussed Beth and Winter.
“I really don’t want to hear this,” Lily said, turning her face to the wall.
“After they gain their last vote, the women can get their tat with the date they earned it and became a member.”
Lily turned back to face him. “Beth doesn’t have a tattoo.”
“I believe Beth and Winter both had their tats placed where no one would see them. I wouldn’t know. I gave them both my marker. I also have never participated in any of their fun with the club. Diamond, also.”
“Why?”
“Because Beth is your sister, Winter is your friend, and Diamond because I could tell that, when you eventually spent more time with her, you would become close friends. I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable around them.”
“I don’t understand.” Lily shook her head.
“Yes, you do. You don’t want to admit it, but you do.” He stared directly into her eyes.
“No.”
Shade sighed, realizing she was going to fight acknowledging any attraction between them.
“Lily, I’ve wanted you since the first minute I saw you coming out of the diner with Beth when we first moved to Treepoint. I took one look at you and knew you were mine.”
Lily shook her head, still not facing him.
“Razer, unfortunately, made his move with Beth first, and I had to lie back and let him see where it was going. I also knew you were young and wanted you to have some time to yourself. I never intended to wait this long for you, but I let Winter convince me to let you finish school. So, I waited.”
“You didn’t suffer waiting, did you, Shade? With a club full of women at your beck and call,” Lily snapped.
“I am no saint. I’ve enjoyed every woman here at the club, but they weren’t you, Lily. Never you. I would fuck them for hours, trying to get me through the night so I wouldn’t get on my bike and come for you.” His voice was unintentionally harsh as remembered those lonely nights he had spent with the women, giving them his body while his heart and soul was already with her.
“You can’t seriously believe I would have gone with you.” Lily stared at him in astonishment.
He saw the moment when understanding finally began to dawn on her—that he wouldn’t have given her a choice. She started shaking. Hell, he wasn’t going to give her a choice now. That time had passed, and it was time to lay all his cards on the table.
“I am no longer going to hide anything from you, and you are going to have to learn to deal with what you can and what you can’t. You have your safe space, and I gave you the summer to get to know me.”
“I got to know too much: that you’re bossy, you’re mean, and you have sex with too many women.”
“I’m no cowboy,” he mocked, her words ripping his insides to shreds.
“You’re no cowboy,” Lily agreed.
“It doesn’t matter what I am or not. I will be the one whose bed you will be in, who puts my ring on your finger, my baby in your belly, and you will let me, Lily,” he told her with finality.
“No.” Lily shook her head, denying his words.
“Yes, Lily, you will. You won’t be able to help yourself. I’ll make damn sure of that. Since I want to make sure there are no more secrets between us, I’m going to tell you that Penni is my sister. Actually, my half-sister, but she says that doesn’t count.”
As Lily sucked in a deep breath, Shade knew it cut deep, and he felt bad for that. He was already on the path he was determined to take, though. He was going to make her open her eyes and see him. He might not be what she wanted, but someday, hopefully she would see he was what she needed.
“Beth didn’t know, and Penni thought I asked her to transfer colleges because of Beth. She has no idea of my interest in you.” He gave that lie to protect Penni, not himself.
With her finally getting over Beth’s betrayal, if she found out Penni had known, she would cut off all ties with her. Truthfully, Penni hadn’t known all the machinations he had committed, so technically, it was only a half-lie.
She refused to look at him after that confession.
“Lily, look at me.”
She turned her head to look at his grim face.
“I know that this is a lot for you to take in. You don’t do well with surprises; however, there is one last piece of business we need to take care of.
“You have pushed me all week. After I told you that you had earned a spanking, you deliberately tried to raise my temper. I don’t lose my temper, unlike you; instead, you have earned several more strokes. I will give you a chance to explain yourself, and you may be able to lessen your punishment if it’s good enough. Otherwise...” Shade shrugged.
“I will not take a punishment from you. I’m not one of your women who actually care to please you. You can go to Hell. I’m leaving. If you lay one hand on me, I’ll call the police.” Lily frantically looked around his room.
Shade saw where she was looking and got up from the chair, walking across the floor to the phone and picking it up. Walking back, he handed it to her before going to the drawer, opening it, and then handing her an envelope. Afterward, he resumed his seat.
“Before you make a call, you should open that envelope.”
Dread filled her eyes as she slowly tore the envelope open, pulling out the papers and then looking through them. They were ownership papers of The Last Riders’ land, the factory, and the house. It showed all the separate names of the corporation.
Her eyes lifted to his, not understanding.
“My name is John Hunter.”
Her eyes went back to the papers, going through them once again. Shade could tell from the horror on her face when she realized what the importance of the papers were. While the name of all the assets were divided equally among the members, the property everything was built on, including Beth’s and Razer’s new home, was owned by him.
Lily looked back up at him.
&
nbsp; “When we all got out of the service, we wanted to start the business, but they had no capital. They had the ideas; I had the money. My money combined with what they had managed to save was invested in the business. The land, being in my name, was to ensure I wasn’t left without anything since I took the most risk,” he explained.
“Beth and Razer’s home ...”
“Is on my property,” Shade confirmed. The money hadn’t meant anything to him—he had told the brothers that—but they had insisted he take the property as collateral.
“Oh, God.”
“There’s no need to be upset. I have no intention of taking their home from them … if we come to an agreement,” he clarified.
“What do you want, Shade?” A lone tear slid down her cheek.
He could have used that as leverage months before, but he hadn’t. He could have found something when he had first met her to force her to his bed, but he hadn’t. He had waited until she had almost died and lost her forever before he had realized he needed her, and by that point he wanted her more than the air he breathed. The only thing keeping him from being a true psychopath was his love for her. Without her, the empty void, which was his soul, would consume him.
“You.”
Lily shook her head. “You can’t be serious. You have to know this just makes me dislike you even more.”
“Lily, you don’t know what you want. You want a man who doesn’t exist. One who will never touch you, pretend you don’t have something seriously messed-up going on inside of your head, and be willing to put up with you constantly in some kind of trouble.”
“I am not,” Lily snapped.
Shade lifted his brow at her response and her inability to deny the truth of the other two statements.