Page 123 of Shattered Pieces

“You rode it? What happened?”

“I can ride, I’ve just never ridden something that powerful or expensive before. It was a slow trip home,” I assured him. “Apparently, they put a fucking tracker in my neck when they first rolled into town. That’s how they kept finding me.”

“They put a tracker in you?” he growled, leaning back to look at me. “How did you not know?”

I blew out a breath, rolling onto my back. “You remember the day you brought me home and we searched the house because we thought someone was here?”

His eyes narrowed, his voice flat. “Yes. They were here?”

“Marco was. He kind of drugged me, and I woke up in bed hours later,” I admitted, his expression hardening.

“You were drugged and didn’t fucking tell us?”

“When I woke up, I figured he hadn’t poisoned or touched me, so no, I didn’t say anything. He claimed to have knocked me out just to snoop and see what I’d do, and I didn’t think more of it. He put the tracker in while I was passed out.”

“Where is it?”

“It was in the back of my neck. Marco cut it out before I left today,” I answered, his hand moving to the bottom of my shirt and sliding up just enough to brush the scars on my stomach from being shivved.

“Want me to kill them?” he offered, lifting the shirt slightly to check, probably trying to distract himself from the Devils’ bullshit.

“Hey, if I’m not allowed to, then neither are you,” I grumbled. “Hunter told me you guys changed the locks at Slash’s.”

He winced, my scars forgotten about as he held my gaze. “I had no say in that. I didn’t want to tell you in there and freak you out.”

“I’m not blaming you,” I promised, raking my fingers through his hair. “I can’t use the Mustang now though, so I don’t have a car. Don’t think Marco will let me keep the Ducati either.”

“Jensen’s going to lend you the Lambo. We were talking about it the other day,” he replied, tilting his head to kiss my arm. “I’m really glad you’re home.”

“Me too. Can I kiss you now? Or do we need to talk more first?” I asked carefully, not wanting to push him but really wanting to jump on him too.

I was dick deprived and had to keep myself under control or I’d scare him off.

His mouth curved into a small smile as he tucked my hair behind my ear.

“You don’t have to ask.”

“I do. I know you’re not wanting to rush into something explosive, so I like to make sure you’re good with it.”

“I’ll tell you if I need to slow it down. Promise. I’m not ready for sex, but⁠—”

“I’m fine with that,” I murmured, encouraging him to lean down to kiss me.

His hand stayed under my shirt on my stomach as he kissed me, his tongue encouraging me to open my mouth for him and making him groan. It was nice to just lie in bed like this, not worrying about a guard walking in or another inmate sneaking up on me.

My hand slipped under his shirt and slid around to his back, goosebumps breaking out across his skin from the simple touch. Knowing no one had touched him in years gave me a bit of an ego boost, and I loved that the small touches I gave him made him react like that.

I hesitated before sliding my hand around to his front, and he literally shuddered as I explored his chest.

“Is this okay?” I asked softly when he pulled back to watch me, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.

“I like this,” he answered, rolling onto his back and pulling me with him so that I was straddling him.

“You have so much ink,” I stated as I pushed his shirt up out of the way to get a better look, and he tucked an arm behind his head to get comfortable. His stomach was covered in the face of a skull, snakes and sparrows moving across his chest and shoulders. There was a small set of angel wings above his heart with Sasha’s name, my finger brushing it softly.

“It started as punishment for myself. I felt like I deserved the pain, but then it became a weird kind of comfort until I ran out of skin,” he chuckled, sucking in a breath as I leaned down to kiss his abs, moving higher to kiss his pec. “The Sasha tattoo⁠—”

“You never deserved the pain,” I whispered, cupping his cheek. “No matter how pretty you made it with ink. I think the tattoo for her is sweet.”