is just how things are.”
“I’m not Kenny,” I mutter. “I can control myself. I spent decades fucking without commitment. Now I’m looking to spend decades fucking you.”
Lana sighs. “It doesn’t matter.”
“If it didn’t, you wouldn’t be crying in the middle of the night.”
Her blue eyes find me, and she looks so young. “I don’t want to get ganged up on.”
“Is this about Barbie?”
“No, the bunnies.”
“How are they ganging up on you?”
“The Wild Turkey thing. I have to get wet. People are going to laugh.”
I know Lana’s not really upset about the hazing shit. She has to know I won’t let something happen that’ll hurt her. This is about her feeling on the spot, under a microscope, and out of her element. I sense she’s accustomed to hiding behind women like Shelby Campbell. Now she has no protection from the scrutiny of what are still strangers.
“It’s harmless, but I’ll tell them not to mess with you for a year. Give you time to settle in, so it doesn’t feel as if you’re being attacked in what’s essentially a dumb hazing stunt.”
“But then people will be mad that I get special treatment.”
Sliding her nightgown’s strap from her shoulder, I kiss her throat. “We already talked about how you’ll get special treatment just like my girls do.”
“Where did you go today?” Lana asks, clearly craving an argument.
Kissing her softly, I slide the rest of her nightgown down until her perfect breasts are bare.
“I went to threaten Kenny,” I say, kissing her right nipple.
Lana doesn’t ask why. She knows who I am and what he is. Of course, I threatened him.
She stares at the ceiling, fighting the heat I feel between her legs when my fingers tease her clit.
“I want you,” I say, kissing her lips. “Not the bunnies. Just you. And no one is ganging up on you, or I’ll gang up on them. You’re not poor anymore. Or a defenseless kid. You’re mine, and I love you.”
Finally, her gaze finds mine. “I want you too.”
“Prove it,” I say and adjust in bed, so I’m propped between her legs.
Lana cups my face and stares in my eyes. “I’m overwhelmed with living here.”
“I know.”
“I love you.”
“I know that too.”
Wrapping her legs around my hips, she exhales deeply. “I’m afraid.”
“Of me or this life?”
Lana’s face loses its blankness, revealing her panic. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Just lie under me, and I’ll do everything.”
Fighting a smile, she still looks ready to cry. “I’m going to embarrass you.”
“I’m never embarrassed, Lana,” I say with complete seriousness as my cock strokes her slit. “Not since I was ten years old, and some boys threw rocks at me for being dirty. I decided I would get angry instead, so I rushed them and knocked out an asshole’s tooth. Since then, I’ve never been embarrassed once. I do what I fucking want. I love who I want to love. If anyone doesn’t like that, well, fuck them.”
Lana exhales again, seeming calmer this time. Her gaze warms and loses its fear. She’s fully focused on our bodies now. I love how her lips part and a small sigh leaves them as my cock fills her body.
We’re one now. She doesn’t feel that fact as much when we’re out of this bed. For most of her life, Lana believed she was alone. I suspect she often still believes that lie.
But we’ve only been together for a few weeks. Uncertainty lingers about our future. Not always. She often talks as if she’s on vacation. Other times, she understands this is her home now.
For me, everything is set in stone. I’ve found my woman, and I’m never letting her go.
LANA
Over the next week, I struggle to be Bronco’s old lady rather than just his woman. I’d rather focus on getting Desi’s room decorated and learning more about Summer, Sidonie, and Bronco. The family stuff is where I feel the happiest.
But the club is Bronco’s extended family. They bow to him but also expect to be part of his world. I can’t keep them away and hide in the house where I’m most comfortable.
So every day, we have new people over for dinner. I don’t have to clean or cook. There’s no preparing for their visits. I just have to show up and learn names and faces.
Lowell and Topanga join us many nights. That’s their job, I guess. They act as backup. While Bronco doesn’t need Lowell’s help during these dinners, I’m relieved for Topanga’s big mouth. She keeps conversations moving while I try