Slider was off her in an instant. But just as she was about to protest, he pulled off the condom and threw it aside, and then he lay down, grasped her by the hips, and pulled her over his mouth. “Ride my face, Cora. Get off on me while I watch.”
“Holy shit,” she said, the words alone spiraling the arousal she already felt. And then she centered herself over his mouth and he banded his arms around her thighs, forcing her down.
With one hand on her breast and the other on the headboard, she rocked her core against his mouth. His stubble tormented her. His tongue lashed and licked and penetrated her. His teeth nipped her. Looking down, she found those pale green eyes blazing up at her. He growled against her, a wordless, masculine command. Cora thrust her hips and rolled her nipple and finally, finally lost her mind in a release that was so intense she had to slap her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming.
Gently, Slider shifted her off him and sat up, and then he pulled her into his lap. He stroked the hair back off her face and searched her eyes for a long moment. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“The man I love just told me he loves me, too. I’ve never been more okay than I am at this very moment.”
His smile was soft. “I do. I thought it was impossible for me to feel this way, but I do, Cora. I love you, and I would do anything for you.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Just be with me. That’s all I want.”
“Consider it done for, oh, I don’t know, the next forty years.”
Cora’s heart was suddenly a runaway train in her chest. Because Slider Evans was talking about forever. Forever with her. “You know you’ll be seventy-five but I’ll only be sixty-three then.” He chuckled and kissed her, and she moaned at the decadence of tasting herself on his skin. “Your mouth is a deadly weapon,” she whispered.
He quirked a grin. “I’m happy to torment you with it any time you like.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said, grinning right back.
“I’m just happy, Cora. For the first time in years, I’m truly happy. And I owe it all to you.” His big hand stroked her face, her hair, her shoulder. She felt like she must be glowing with the way his words warmed her up inside, that warmth touching places inside her she’d thought might always be cold and lonely.
“You’re the first person who ever truly wanted me, Slider. So don’t think I don’t feel the same exact way.”
He ducked his chin, a little smile on his face.
“What?” she asked.
“Will you . . . will you be my person, Cora?” he asked, somehow making her fall in love with him even more. Because she didn’t have to ask what he meant.
When no one had ever wanted you before, ever claimed you, ever valued you, all you craved was that one person who would. Who would give you a place to belong, who would love you no matter what, who would be your safe place to land.
“I already am your person, Slider. And you’re mine.”
For the first time in her life, Cora finally had a family, love, her person. And nothing could ever take the specialness of that away.
Chapter 21
Slider had taken off work so that he could keep an eye on things until the night of the fight, so he drove Cora to her shift at the animal shelter and was just pulling away when the text came in from Dare.
PI identified who did the dumping. Meet at the clubhouse in 30 and be ready to ride.
Fucking finally.
He beelined it back to the house and traded out his truck for the Cross Bones, making it to the clubhouse with five minutes to spare. Dare, Maverick, Phoenix, and Caine were already there, sitting on their bikes and ready to go.
“What’s the word?” Slider asked as he braced his heels against the pavement.
Straddling his matte black Dyna Street Bob, Dare gave him a nod. “Here’s what the PI learned. Our guys are three twenty-something punks with a long list of priors, mostly misdemeanor bullshit, but some drug charges, too. And get this—they’re fucking skateboarders.”
Caine squinted. “What does that even mean?”
Dare chuffed out a humorless laugh. “It means that’s pretty much what they do with their lives. Go around taking dares and doing tricks and skateboarding on and off of shit that wasn’t made for skateboarding.”
“So, what, on the side, they take on low-level criminal jobs to pay for this lifestyle?” Phoenix asked.
“That and shoplifting, apparently,” Dare said. “Fucking skateboarders.”
“Jesus, I think I’ve seen these guys around town,” Slider said. “Skating off of railings in front of businesses and over at the park, too.”
Dare nodded. “Well, they apparently built some sort of course, and our guy says they’re there today.”