Atonement (Angel's Halo MC 5)

He had been trying to feed me every chance he got over the last few days. If one of the old ladies was cooking, he made me a plate. If Aggie offered to make sandwiches, he stole two

of them for me. I felt like I stayed full because of him.

I refused to admit that I liked how he was taking care of me. Everyone was noticing it. I figured his MC brothers would have given him hell for it, but if they were, they did it when I wasn’t around.

“Raven suggested you try eating a few crackers before you get out of bed in the mornings. She told me it helped her out a lot when she had bad morning sickness.” When I still didn’t take the cracker from him, he lifted it to my lips. “What’s the harm in trying?”

Sighing, I opened my mouth just enough to nibble on one of the corners. Salty things were my least favorite food, but I had to admit that, right then, the taste wasn’t that bad. I slowly chewed, ready to make a run for the bathroom at any second.

A few moments passed with nothing happening, so I took another small bite. Raider held the cracker the entire time, feeding me like it was the most natural thing in the world for him to do. When the cracker was gone, and I was starting to feel a little more human, he pulled out another from the package and fed that one to me, as well.

Five crackers later, I thought I might actually survive the morning without throwing up.

“Better?” The concern shining out of his eyes right then pulled at every heartstring I had.

“Better,” I found myself whispering. “Thanks.”

Raider rubbed his thumb over my lips. “You have a crumb … right here.” Bending his head, he kissed the corner of my mouth.

Every cell in body came alive. The thought of morning sickness was a million miles away now.

He started to lift his head , but I couldn’t bear to have him break such a sweet kiss. I brought my hands to the back of his neck, holding him in place as I opened my mouth, silently asking for more.

Our first kiss had been marred by the sudden attack that had followed, but this, I wanted to savor this second kiss. It was just his lips, brushing so carefully over mine, that had tears burning my eyes. He didn’t try to deepen it, didn’t attack my lips, and fuck my mouth with his tongue. No, this kiss was tender, as if he were trying to tell me something with each butterfly-soft caress.

He pulled back, but didn’t leave me, pressing his forehead against mine. I stroked my fingers over his hair.

“I love you.”

It wasn’t the first time he had said that. It wasn’t even the tenth. He had said it every chance he got. He had said it loud enough for the entire clubhouse to hear it. He had whispered it in my ear as he drifted off to sleep beside me.

I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t help holding myself back.

A knock on the bedroom door pulled us apart, and Raider got out of bed to see who it was. As he crossed the room, he grabbed a shirt, covering his delicious chest. His only other clothing was his boxer briefs. I let my eyes linger on his amazing ass as he pulled the door open.

Tanner stood on the other side, a frown on his normally smiling face. “I stole Matt’s keys. Raven asked me to go by the house to pick up a few things for the kids. Figured I would ask if you wanted to go with me to get your girl some more clothes.”

Raider glance at me from over his shoulder. “Babe, you need anything? I’ll go get it if you do.”

I slowly sat up in bed, still not completely trusting the crackers to stay down. When they did, I nodded. “I need a few things. Are you sure you don’t mind?”

“I’m here to serve you, sweetheart.” He winked, and my pussy clenched at the wicked look in his eyes. He turned back to Tanner. “Give me five.”

“Sure. I’ll be outside.” Tanner leaned around Raider, wiggling his brows at me. “See you, Quinn.”

Raider pushed him out the door, then slammed it in his face. Locking it, he returned to the bed and started pulling on his jeans. “Can you text me a list of what you need? I’m not that good at picking out what a girl needs. If you don’t tell me exactly what you want, I will probably end up just bringing you underwear.”

His honesty was starting to become endearing. I loved that about …

I stopped the thought before I could even finish it. No. No, I didn’t love it. I didn’t love him.

With my heart now beating me to death, I forced a smile for him. “Yeah, sure. Thanks again.”

He leaned over the bed and pressed a quick, but still soft kiss to my lips. “I love you, Quinn.”

He left before I could open my mouth again. My mind wasn’t on where he was going. It was scattered all over the place at what my head and heart had been trying so hard to deny.

For several long minutes, I just sat there in bed, trying to tell myself all the reasons it was a stupid idea to still love Raider Hannigan. Nevertheless, my heart didn’t care, and my head wasn’t letting me make the same arguments it had taken so long to drill into it.