Marked By The Devil Read online

  Next, I would cut out some thin slivers and shapes to add a darker wood. It had to be perfect because I wasn’t a fan of slathering wood glue all over the place. As soon as I got some other wood, anyway.

  It had to be just right.

  I hadn’t thought about Molly in almost five minutes! I congratulated myself and then realized I was thinking about her again. The way she’d looked in the kitchen. The sweet way she smelled. And the sexy noises she’d made when she came.

  I groaned, thinking about how Molly had felt on my fingers. She was so shy, she wouldn’t even let me kiss her sweet pussy. She’d nearly collapsed after I finally let her come. I could still taste her from when I’d licked my fingers clean.

  She was so sweet. So pure. So goddamn tight. I had a feeling she might squeeze my dick off. I’d been so close to coming in my pants that I practically ran out of there.

  Yeah. Me. The man who could stay hard for hours. I’d nearly busted a nut with her barely even touching me. One stroke. Through my pants.

  Oh, I was a dead man.

  I smiled grimly. I would get her, eventually. I would get her and I would blow her mind. Give her so much pleasure she never wanted to leave. I just had to be patient.

  I’d seen a show late one night about training falcons. I watched weird shit when I came home from the clubhouse sometimes, especially when I’d been partying. You didn’t force a falcon to do your bidding. It was a seduction. You let the bird get used to you, then you trained it to your hand. You never actually tamed the bird. It was always a wild thing. It was only tame for you.

  That’s how I had to do this. Not that she was wild, but she was different. She wasn’t a girl who’d been with a hundred guys or knew the ropes. She was special. Beyond special.

  She was perfect.

  I knew Molly would be more than worth the wait. I grimaced and adjusted my aching package. I would tame her to my hand. I just had to live long enough to survive it.

  “Speak of the devil.”

  I smiled without lifting my head. I looked over my shoulder to see Jack pull into Whiskey’s driveway. The roar of his ride was unmistakable. We all knew the sound of each others’ engines. It was like a fingerprint, but for club guys.

  Jack walked in and looked at us. Without a word, he picked up a tool and started working on a half-finished bookshelf Whiskey was building for his little girl’s room. A lot of the baby stuff was getting moved into the smallest of the bedrooms for the baby who was on the way.

  “Callaway’s gone soft, Jack.”

  Jack grunted. To my ears, it sounded like approval. He didn’t preach or dole out advice, but I could tell when he thought I’d gone too far. Which was pretty much all the time lately.

  Jack, for one, would be happy if I could get this to work with Molly.

  Not as happy as me, of course. And definitely not as happy as my aching cock.

  “She took me back. Well, kinda.”

  “She’s holding out on him.” Whiskey snickered, clearly enjoying having me at a disadvantage. He was getting laid. Everyone was getting laid except me. Lucky had picked up the slack with the club girls since I’d stopped putting out. Even Mac hooked up now and then, though he was pretty fucking quiet.

  Again, Jack’s chest made a low rumble of approval.

  “I need to find her a job. One where nobody is going to paw at her. Or whack off while she’s taking a nap.”

  That might make other guys pause, but Jack just nodded. He made an adjustment to a shelf that wasn’t quite fitting and stood up.

  “Okay. We’ll handle it.”

  He didn’t mean he would take care of it. He meant that we would. As a team. We all worked together like pieces of a machine. We were all cogs. Big, fucking scary-looking cogs in Jack’s case. But without each other, we were just individuals. Together, we could move mountains.

  I took a swig of my beer and smiled.

  It was going to be okay.

  We were going to handle it.

  Chapter Ten

  Molly

  I pressed a kiss to my brother’s forehead, smoothing his hair back. I looked calm outwardly, but inside, I was devastated. I wasn’t going to be able to cover the cost of keeping him here. Not even close.

  I should have known this wouldn’t work. Even with two jobs, I wasn’t going to make the monthly cost. But I had hoped I might be able to squeak by. My brother had Medicare, but a fancy place like this required supplemental insurance for a long-term stay.

  I was still trying to figure it out, but since I didn’t have a laptop, I was doing it all on my phone.

  I felt my phone vibrate and pulled it out of my purse. I smiled when I saw who it was. I hardly ever got texts. You needed friends to get texts. You needed a person who gave a crap. It had been a long time since I’d had that.

  But I had someone now.

  Callaway.

  And he was right on time.

  I’m outside.

  How he knew what time I got off every shift was beyond me. The man was simply there, looking after me. He had been, pretty much from the moment we’d met. I blushed a little, thinking about yesterday afternoon in my kitchen. I was well-rested for the first time in weeks.

  But I was also . . . curious.

  I was going to lose my virginity to Callaway. It was inevitable. I knew that now. Even if my brain was certain that he would disappear on me one day, my gut was telling me something else. And my heart, well, I wasn’t ready to even think about my heart.

  I squeezed Tommy’s hand and stepped to the window, using the reflection to adjust my clothes and hair. I even put a little lip gloss on. I had never been particularly vain, but having a gorgeous guy around definitely brought out my girlie side. Then I went outside to meet Callaway.

  As always, my heart did a little flip-flop when I saw him.

  He was so strong, so handsome, and so dangerous-looking. He was not a knight in shining armor. But he was protective. He’d proven that again and again.

  And he certainly knew what he was doing when it came to kissing and . . . other stuff. He must know everything about sex. I blushed again as he pulled me close and kissed me. I sighed, trying not to melt into him. I felt like a girl in a movie. The girl the audience knew had absolutely no chance against the handsome hero.

  Or bad guy. He looked more like a bad guy. A sexy, naughty bad guy.

  Actually, Callaway was probably a little bit of both.

  He finally lifted his head, staring down at me. His gaze was so intense, so hungry, I almost took a step back.

  Courage, Molly! Don’t be a wuss!

  It was Tommy’s voice I heard in my head this time. He loved shit-talking me like that. It was probably a rule that little brothers had to do that. I closed my eyes, trying to regain my composure. Then I looked up at Callaway and smiled.

  “Where to?”

  His green eyes crinkled at the edges.

  “I figured I might feed you. Then I have a surprise.” He tilted his head to the side. “Unless you want to go right to bed.”

  My cheeks burned hot and I started stammering. I did kind of want to go to bed. But I was also nervous about it.

  Really, really nervous.

  “I–um, well . . .”

  He laughed.

  “I meant to sleep.” He took my hand and kissed the back of it, rubbing his thumb over my wrist. “But I’m open to anything.”

  I shook my head at him. He was incorrigible. The man clearly had sex on the brain, but he was so adorable about it that I couldn’t be mad.

  “Breakfast. Please. And then I have some paperwork to do.”

  The social worker at the nursing home had printed out some forms for me. She was pretty much a lifesaver. But it was only the first step in getting Tommy on Medicaid. That’s what he needed if he was going to stay in the nursing home. Otherwise, it would be another state-run facility, and I didn’t want that for him.

  Callaway just nodded and helped me onto his bike. Then he climbed on in front,
pulled me against his back, and took off.

  As always, I couldn’t quite believe I was on the back of a motorcycle. I leaned my cheek against the smooth leather of his jacket, closed my eyes, and let go.

  I let go of expectations. I let go of my fears. I let go of all the things that were holding me back.

  I just was.

  Chapter Eleven

  Callaway

  I opened the door, doing my best not to stare at Molly’s ass as she walked in. I lost the dare but managed to lift my eyes before she turned around to look up me. The innocent look on her beautiful face nearly brought me to my knees.

  I want to defile you. I want to do unspeakably filthy things to you. I want to love you.

  I stopped short, shaking my head. Love? Where the hell had that come from? I didn’t even believe in love. I was a pragmatist. Yeah, I felt protective of Molly. Yeah, she was special and had turned off my ‘bang everything that moves’ switch. It was instant. I wanted her and her alone.

  But love?

  The truth was, I already knew that I wanted a future with her, not just sex. But at the moment, it was really hard not to focus on the sex, especially since I wasn’t getting any.

  Zero sex. Me. It was hard to wrap my head around.

  This was a first for me. My dick hadn’t been this dry since before puberty. I had been completely celibate since we met. And I was going to stay celibate until she was ready. I fucking hoped it was soon, though, because I felt like my balls were so heavy they were made of rocks. I felt them pulse and turn over just from looking at her.

  Focus, Callaway. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Sex is just the beginning.

  “Where should we sit?”

  She was so sweet I almost kissed her. I slid an arm behind her lower back and guided her to a booth. I took the seat facing the door. That way, I’d see a threat before she was in danger. Not that Mae’s was dangerous. It was a known SOS hangout. And Mae was officially family to the club. No one would mess around here, but it didn’t matter.

  My protective instincts were in full effect. I was on high alert.

  That was a new thing. I was constantly scanning for bad guys when I was with her. The only other time that had happened was when I was babysitting Eliza the few times I’d been allowed.

  And usually, with someone else present. It had taken Becky a while to know I took the responsibility seriously. I didn’t blame her. I was a party animal. But I never partied around the kids. That just wasn’t right.

  But babies. I loved babies. They were so damn cute!

  I grinned, imagining Molly’s belly all round with my baby tucked safely inside. She would make an amazing mother. And she was so beautiful, I knew our baby would be too.

  There you go again, getting ahead of yourself. The girl hasn’t even touched your dick, jackass.

  But the image had taken hold. I wanted a baby with her. As soon as possible. And she had at least tried to touch my dick. That simple touch through the frayed denim had made my cock leak precum.

  Yeah, that touch through my jeans. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have skin on skin with her. I’d probably nut in two seconds like a fucking teenage boy or some shit.

  My cock got hard at the thought of it. Her tentative touch. The look of concentration on her flushed face. The way her lips parted softly, begging me to kiss them.

  I adjusted myself and tried to think about nuns. And puppies. And kittens. Nuns holding puppies and kittens.

  But kittens made me remember how soft and sweet Molly’s bare little pussy had been. Just like that, I was close to losing it. I wonder what the clientele of Mae’s would do if I tossed Molly on one of the tables and had my way with her?

  Yeah, it was a good thing I was already sitting down. My cock was too big and way too fucking hard to hide. I handed Molly a menu and tried to focus on the food. My eyes kept straying to the exposed skin of her throat, and a bit lower, where the top two buttons of her shirt were undone. It wasn’t much skin, but I had a very good imagination. Plus, I’d seen her yesterday, in all her naked glory.

  Her body was perfect. Flawless. And so clearly untouched it was driving me absolutely fucking insane.

  I moaned and looked back down at the menu.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded curtly, not looking at her. I couldn’t. I was going to do something outrageous if I did. Something crazy even for me.

  And I had the very distinct feeling that Molly would not like it if I pounced on her in public.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. What do you want, sweetheart?”

  “Maybe an omelet?”

  I smiled at her, folding my hands on the table.

  “What do you want in it?”

  She chewed her lip adorably. I sucked in my breath. I wanted to bite that lip. I wanted to bite her ass.

  Right before I sank my cock into it.

  “Tomato and cheese?”

  I nodded.

  “Sounds good. You want coffee?”

  “No, thank you.”

  I leaned back and waited for the waitress. It was a new girl, one I hadn’t met. But I was sure if she worked here, she was a friend to Kaylee, Sally, Becky, and Mae.

  When you were waited on by extended family, you always tipped extra-well.

  I ordered for us both and leaned forward. I was having a coffee, black. Molly was having water and an omelet. I’d opted for steak and eggs.

  I needed my energy for the day. I had plans for the little miss. And not just in the bedroom.

  I was trying to be a good guy, but it was really, really hard not to focus on getting her alone. We had other things to do first. Things I hoped she would be glad about.

  “How’s Tommy doing?”

  She took a sip of her water and smiled at me.

  “He’s moving around a bit more. I think he’s going to wake up soon. He does it every couple of months.”

  “For how long?”

  “Just a few minutes, usually.”

  “Wow. Any idea how to keep him from slipping back?”

  She shook her head.

  “No. But the last time, he was awake for almost twenty minutes. So maybe . . .”

  She shrugged.

  “They told me to give up on him, but he’s still in there. I can tell. Sometimes, he even squeezes my hand when he hears my voice.”

  I nodded. It was heartbreaking. And what a burden for such a young girl.

  She held up a manila folder.

  “If I can get him supplemental insurance or Medicaid, then hopefully, he can stay where he is.”

  “What’s the other option?”

  She wrinkled her nose.

  “State home. They don’t have radios for music and the beds suck. And I’ve never seen them change him. I think they left him in dirty diapers for a full day a couple of times.”

  “Jesus.”

  I took her hand.

  “I’ll help.”

  She blushed a little and looked away.

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I want to. I can provide moral support.”

  She giggled and looked away. The food came and we dug in. I was happy to see that she ate well. The girl wasn’t shy about food, and she wasn’t the sort to starve herself. Plus, I really liked watching her lips as she ate.

  I decided then and there that I was going to make sure she ate well, at least three times a day. I grinned to myself. I was looking forward to plumping her up. Not that she wasn’t perfect the way she was.

  She was almost too perfect.

  I threw some money on the table without waiting for the bill. Molly protested and then gave up when I wouldn’t budge. She’d eventually get used to my taking care of her.

  And she was going to start getting used to it today.

  She held still like a good girl as I put her helmet on. I kissed her softly and helped her climb on. She was such a tiny thing, there was no way she could ride a machine like this by herself.

  Maybe I’d get her
a smaller ride, like the one Jack had made for Janet. I wanted her to be able to travel in style if I wasn’t around.

  Of course, I was hoping I would always be around. That was the plan, anyway.

  “Where to?”

  “It’s a surprise.”

  “I really do need to do this paperwork, see if I can afford to keep him there.”

  “He might be eligible for other federal and state programs too. We can look online together. Later,” I added meaningfully.

  “I don’t have a computer.”

  I smiled, even though that broke my heart. The kid really did not have a pot to piss in. Well, that was about to change.

  “That’s okay. I do.”

  I climbed on in front of her and pulled her tight against me. We were going to Janet’s dance studio. Jack had already texted me the go-ahead.

  Janet’s dance studio was on the other side of town. As luck would have it, she was looking for a full-time receptionist. She might even be hiring an office manager if things worked out. She hadn’t promised Molly the job yet, but she had agreed to meet her. And I knew she going to love the little sweetie on the back of my bike.

  It was kind of hard not to love an angel like Molly.

  Her eyes were wide when I helped her off the back of my ride. She looked up at the dance studio, which was housed in what used to be a five and dime, and then back at me.

  “Dancing lessons?”

  I smiled.

  “My friend Janet is looking for a receptionist. I figured since I cost you the last job, the least I could do was set up an interview.”

  Her pretty mouth opened in surprise and she stared at me. Then she launched herself into my arms, squeezing me tightly. I could not stop smiling as I squeezed her right back. Nothing had ever felt so right.

  “Come on, let me introduce you.”

  She nodded and waited as I opened the door for her. Janet smiled and waved when she saw us.

  “Janet, this is Molly. Molly, this is Janet.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  Janet’s smile was genuine. I sighed in relief. This was off to a good start.

  “Molly, I’ve heard so much about you.”