“He did?”
“Were you going to tell me?”
“I only found out this morning.”
She stared at him and he gritted his teeth.
“I’m thirsty.” She turned her back and he watched her go.
What the fuck are you doing? Just ask her to come with you.
“What’s happening with your shop?” he asked.
“The lease is nearly up. I’ve canceled all my clients before they have a chance to. I’m free. I’ve got nothing to take with me. Most of this is going either into storage, or I’m thinking of donating it. Then I’m done.” She smiled at him. “Where do you think you guys will go?”
“I don’t know. The open road. Destination is always unknown.”
“Sounds like fun.”
He stepped up toward her and she tilted her head back. “It is a lot of fun. You don’t know when your next stop is going to be. No bathroom. Just rest stops if we’re lucky.”
She smiled.
Sinking his fingers into her hair, he tilted her head back. “It’s not a place for a woman.”
“Piper deals.”
“I know.”
“What are you trying to say?” she asked.
He slammed his lips down on hers. As he slid his tongue across her mouth, she opened up and he plunged inside. She tasted fucking exquisite. He couldn’t get enough of her. One taste was never going to be enough. The past week and a half weren’t enough.
Going to her jeans, he opened the catch and slid the fabric down her thighs. After tearing off her panties, he picked her up off the floor and placed her on the counter, spreading her thighs.
He slid his zipper down, pulled out his cock, grabbed a condom, and rolled it over his erection.
Within seconds, he was inside her, filling her tight cunt.
They both groaned, the sounds they made surrounding them.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and he cupped her ass, fucking inside her hard and fast, taking her.
“Fuck, you feel so good.” He growled the words next to her neck. He pulled out of her and slammed inside.
The counter wasn’t good enough, so he held her in his arms and moved her toward her bedroom. Dropping her to the bed, he pushed her shirt up and cupped her heavy tits. The red nipples were already hard. He pinched them, and she cried out. The small bite of pain was what she needed.
He dropped his hands down to her hips, holding them as he pounded inside her tight pussy, watching her open up beneath him. There wasn’t going to be another woman quite like her.
So thirsty for his cock. Open to his sexual appetites. When he’d gone into her shop and saw Calum with his hands on her, he’d nearly lost it. There was no one else he wanted to see. Was this what Colonel was talking about? The possessive need that overtook all common sense? He wasn’t used to feeling this way about a woman.
He’d never experienced love.
The only feeling he had was on the open road and his club. Women had always come into his life and left so easily. They didn’t matter to him.
Yet, he couldn’t think of a night without Charlotte. She’d gotten under his skin. Could he really invite her along? What if she hated it? What if this was just moments of passion because they both craved something they knew they couldn’t truly find with one another?
He pulled out of her, flipped her over onto her knees, found his way inside her again, and wrapped his fingers around her neck, tilting her head back, and kissing her hard.
The angle was odd but he delved between her thighs, stroking her clit, wanting to feel her come all over his dick.
He was obsessed. This kind of feeling wasn’t healthy.
There was no way he was going to ask her.
“Please, Ape,” she said.
He fingered her pussy, teasing her to the point of release and only when she couldn’t take another moment, he pushed her over the peak, following her into orgasm. All the while knowing the choice he had to make was one he found difficult.
You’re a fucking coward.
You could have Charlotte and keep her.
Even still, as he pulled out, he knew he wasn’t going to ask her. Watching her walk away or her hating him, that was just too hard for him to bear.
****
Ape was gone.
Charlotte had no job. No home. No anything.
She glanced up at the shop one final time and smiled. It was time for her to move on. Calum hadn’t sued Ape, which was a good thing, seeing as he wouldn’t have gotten very far.
With her bag high up on her shoulder, she turned toward her car. She had no idea how long it was going to last, but so long as it got her out of town, she didn’t care.
Throwing her bag into the back seat, she climbed into the front. Each second that passed, her heart broke a little more.
Love was supposed to take a long time to develop. There was no possible way she could love a man she barely knew. Ape wasn’t hers to love. He wasn’t hers to do anything with.
Now he was gone.
Tears filled her eyes and she hated the feeling. Despised it more than anything in the world. She turned over her ignition, fired up her engine, and took off, heading right out of town without looking back. There was no sense of direction. She had nowhere else to go. No one waited for her. No one cared about her.
She was free.
Only, she didn’t feel free.
She felt like she was dying inside.
Why did Ape have to come out of nowhere and do this to her? She wiped the tears away, trying to pretend they never existed, but no matter what she did, she knew. In a short time, Ape had come into her world, and now she wanted him around. Loved him. It wasn’t just sex, but she could continue to kid herself it was all there was. It wasn’t. There was so much more between them.
“Stupid!” She slammed her palm against the steering wheel, hating herself more than anything.
She’d fucked up so much in her life, but this, this went beyond anything she’d experienced before.
“I’ll get over him. I’ll find a new life, one far away from him. One where I don’t care at all. There are plenty of other men.”
But the truth was, none of them were Ape.
She’d given herself a few seconds to believe there was more between them, but there was nothing. Ape was gone. Riding off with his biker club without a single care in the world, but what did she have? Nothing.
Nothing but heartbreak.
The sound of a roaring bike pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked into her rearview mirror to see a bike coming toward her. The man on the bike slowed down and rode near her window.
Winding it down, she glanced out to see Ape riding along beside her.
“Pull over,” he said.
“What are you doing?”
“I said pull the fuck over. I’m not going to ask you again.”
“Fucking asshole,” she said, screaming.
She found a safe spot and pulled over, keeping the engine ticking over. Climbing out of the car, she glared at him, hating that he’d see her tear-stained eyes. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Me? What about you? Fuck.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I have nowhere to go. You knew I was heading out of town.”
“Well, I didn’t expect you to go so freaking fast!” Ape glared at her. “Damn it, Charlotte. I was coming back for you.”