I almost want to laugh.
He swings one long leg over his bike and steps into me before I can decide if I’m stepping back. His hands land on my hips and he pulls me into him. The kiss is immediate. Deep, possessive and desperate. Like he is pouring in everything he doesn’t know how to say into this kiss. He breathes me in like he’s memorizing my scent, like he’s been starving.
And God help me, I soften. Because this is the version of him that made me fall in love. Not the enforcer or the Dawnbreakers brother. Not the man who always seems to choose the club first.
This one.
The one who rests his forehead against mine afterward and closes his eyes like I’m oxygen.
“I hate waking up without you,” he murmurs. And he sounds younger when he says it. Less guarded, like he’s letting himself be vulnerable.
My resolve fractures slightly.
“Declan…” I whisper.
“I’ve got a prospect driving your car back,” he says, already moving, already planning. “You’re riding with me.”
“I didn’t agree to that.” I snap, trying to step back.
“You belong with me.” he growls, holding me close.
Belong.
I know he doesn’t mean ownership. Not in the way some assume… But something in me still hates the term.
He reaches up and slides my helmet over my head himself, without further discussion. His fingers brush my jaw gently as he fastens it.
He’s careful with me. Always careful in small, subtle ways.
He kissed me through the helmet opening before swinging onto the bike and because I missed him too… I climb on behind him and wrap my arms around his waist.
The engine roars to life beneath us, vibrating through my thighs. For a moment, pressed against his back, I let myself pretend. That what is going on between us is only because of the stress. It is just a temporary rough patch.
Once Four is cleared…
Once I give Mara enough time… I can tell him… explain…
Once the club settles…
I shut the thoughts down because I know if I think too hard on this I will see the truth.
There are even more men outside when we arrive at the compound.
The air in the clubhouse feels stifling.
A few of the club girls go quiet when I walk past and whispers follow. Kori is leaning against the bar, arms crossed, one hip cocked. She looks at me like she’s assessing something. Like she is judging something or waiting. I meet her eyes and she looks away first.
Clutch squeezes my hip once when Axel calls him over.
“I’ll find you,” he says.
And just like that, he’s gone and I am alone again in a place I don’t feel safe or wanted.
But he doesn’t see that as he’s pulled back into strategy, into the club hierarchy… Into the circle I will never fully belong to.
I stand there a second longer than I should, feeling like I should have just stayed at the hospital. I take a deep breath and turn toward the stairs.Two brothers are posted near the stairwell, which is new. They have never had guards in the clubhouse. I smile and nod at them as I pass and see Razor’s door open. He’s inside, watching the hall. Our eyes meet as I pass his room and he smiles, but it doesn’t touch his eyes. It feels like he knows something I don’t or maybe like he wants me to think he does.
I hate waiting for Declan in our room and I decide to go tell him that I am going back to the hospital. He asked me to come back, asked me to be by his side, but then he left me alone…again.