Owning Beauty (Taking Beauty Trilogy 3)

“I’m twenty-one,” she replied defiantly, jutting her chin out a little. God, it was fucking adorable. My cock twitched in my jeans and I reminded myself to keep my cool.

“You sure about that?” I asked, taking note of the way she glanced off to the side.

“Fine. You win. Two weeks.”

“Two weeks?”

“I’ll be twenty-one in two weeks.”

“Why were you in that bar?” I asked, thinking that was the last place she should have been, and not only because of her age.

“It’s a long story,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Listen, I appreciate what you did. Really, I do. But I need to go home. I left my purse behind, my phone, everything…not to mention my car. I just need to get back to it and I’ll be on my way and leave you alone. Thank you…” she looked up at me, and bit her bottom lip, “…for getting me out of there.”

“Well after seeing your moves with that bar stool, I’m thinking you probably didn’t really need my help after all.”

She laughed and threw back her head, her laughter echoing through the forest behind her. Her tangled hair blew in the wind around her face.

“My brothers taught me how to fight,” she replied with a smile. “But yes, I definitely needed your help.” She laughed again, then grew serious, biting her lip again. “Thank you. Seriously.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure seeing those assholes get what they deserved.”

“So?”

“So, what?”

“So, will you take me back now, please?”

“Oh, no, that’s not gonna happen,” I said, turning on my heel and walking into my cabin, leaving her behind.

Gabby

“Oh, no, that’s not going to happen.”

My hair to stood up on my neck as I watched him turn and walk away.

No?!?

I stood there in the dark, feeling naked, alone and helpless. I turned back and glanced at the only road leading in, which was very long and currently very dark. The idea of walking occurred to me, and just as quickly, I dismissed it. My gaze landed on Dante’s bike, and for the first time in my life, I wished I had let my brothers teach me how to ride. I’d never been interested, or more accurately, I’d been totally intimidated by the huge, loud, dangerous bikes, even if I was a little intrigued by the culture.

Obviously. I’d gotten myself into quite a predicament because of that intrigue. Fucking Bella, I thought again to myself. If only she hadn’t gone on and on about them. I made a mental note to give her ten tons of shit about this next time I saw her.

Hell, if I ever saw her again, that is.

Slowly, I put one foot in front of the other and walked towards Dante’s cabin, praying to St. Christopher that I came out of it alive.

I was six feet from the door when a huge blur of movement burst through it, hurtling straight for me, knocking me to the ground in a whirlwind of black fur, drool and muscle.

I tried to scream, but my face was being frantically assaulted by the biggest, wettest tongue in the whole fucking world.

“Bear!” Dante yelled, as I tried to cover my head. The licking stopped, the crushing weight that was on my chest lifted, and hesitantly, I peeked through my arms that I’d thrown up over my head to try to protect myself.

Through my clouded mind, through the gut-wrenching fear, in the back of my mind, I was trying to figure out why Dante had a fucking bear in his cabin. When I could finally focus my eyes through all the remaining drool on my face, I saw it wasn’t a bear at all.

It was a bear-sized dog. Or, more accurately a monster-sized beast of a dog.

“Sorry about that,” Dante said, although the smirk on his face told a different story. “Should have warned you about him. He’s very friendly.”

“Friendly? Is that what you call it?” I asked, sitting up and wiping drool from my face.

“Inside!” Dante demanded, snapping his fingers and pointing at the door. The dog whimpered, wagged its giant, furry tail and with a hanging head, wobbled slowly back into the cabin, looking like the complete opposite of the vicious beast that had just attacked me.

Dante turned back and offered me a hand and I reached out to take it as he pulled me to my feet.

“You okay?” he asked, looking down at me with concern in those mesmerizing eyes of his.

“Yeah, I think so. Maybe a little dusty,” I said, pulling my hand from his and wiping the dirt from my ass.

“Come on in and clean up,” he said, grabbing my hand again, his grip a little firmer this time.

“I just want to go home, really,” I replied, my heart racing as I tried to push away all the worst-case scenarios that were running through my mind.

“And you will. We’ll talk about it,” he said, smiling and squeezing my hand gently. “Right now, I’m starved, so unless you wanna see how angry I can get when I get hungry, you’ll let me make us some dinner.”

I smiled. There was something familiar about Dante. Something about him that reminded me of home. I looked up at him, into those dark eyes, drinking in his handsome ruggedness and sighed. I had no choice but to trust him. “I guess a little dinner couldn’t hurt…” I murmured, letting him lead me into his cabin, the warmth of his hand surrounding mine.

Dante

I was only half-lying when I said I needed to eat. The truth was I wasn’t about to leave the safety of my cabin for a while. Not without my crew.

I knew the Iron Godz were surely looking for me…for both of us…by now. I wasn’t naive. I knew I’d have to face them eventually, but for now, until the dust settled, the girl was safer here with me for a while.

The girl…hell, I didn’t even know her name.

“What’s your name?” I asked as we walked into the cabin. Bear raised his head from his bed by the fireplace, a big trail of drool hanging from his droopy lips. I walked over and began throwing logs into the fireplace. He shook his head and I groaned as thick strings of drool flew through the air, landing on the wall and floor.

“Gabby,” she said hesitantly, almost so quietly that I didn’t hear her.

“Gabby,” I said, letting her name settle in my mouth. “I like that. You look like a Gabby. Why don’t you get a couple of beers from the fridge, Gabby? Relax a little, while I get this fire started.”

She stood watching me silently for a second, her eyes raking over my body. I stared back, taking in her curves. She was fuckin’ hot, that’s for su

re. Unfortunately, she looked scared as a rat who’d wandered into a snake’s den.

She finally nodded and then turned towards my small kitchen and walked away. I watched her ass sway in her tight jeans, holding my breath until she’d disappeared around the corner. I shook my head, trying to clear away the fogginess. I needed to think more about protecting her than fucking her right now, but the way those jeans hugged her hips made it damned near impossible to achieve that feat.

I finished lighting the fire, warming my hands as it began to grow, the orange and yellow flames flickering and dancing in the dark room. I hadn’t bothered to turn on many lights, which was my usual routine. This was our official clubhouse, but I was the only one who lived here. Unless there was a party or other business to attend to, I had the place to myself. I spent most of my nights staring into the flames with nothing but the sounds of the night and Bear’s incessant snoring as company.

Gabby walked back into the room holding two opened beers in her hands. She handed one to me and sat down on the old, brown leather couch, her eyes glued to Bear warily. I sat down next to her, taking a big swig of the beer, downing half of it quickly.

“He’s harmless,” I said.

“Right,” she whispered, tentatively turning her head to meet my gaze while keeping one eye on Bear.

“And what about you?” she asked.

I laughed. “Guess that depends on who you ask,” I replied, with a wink.

“I’m asking you,” she said, flashing her green eyes at me. My cock swelled, reminding me once again that it was impossible to ignore it when a girl like her was sitting in front of me.

“You’re safe with me, if that’s what you’re asking,” I replied somberly.

“I guess that’s all that matters,” she said with a slight smile. “So you’re a biker. A president? Does that make you some kind of criminal?”

“It’s not really like that sweetheart.”

“No?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Then how is it?”