He sat there on the bed, taking the blows that she directed towards his body. She was pissed and they hurt, but he would take whatever she could dish out."Stop making decisions for me, I am my own person and I can make my own decisions," she cried out, pushing him back on the bed where he landed with a thump."Then start making them," he goaded her.She realized he was right. She hadn't made any kind of decision really without talking it over with someone since her attack. Doc Jones, him, Denise. Someone always had to be a sounding board before she made her decision or plan of attack. It stopped tonight, it stopped right now."What are you doing?" he asked as he caught the glint of defiance in her eyes."Making my own decision," she thrust the words out at him.He watched as she kicked off her shoes and then reached down to the button of her jeans. Within moments she'd unbuttoned them and stripped herself of the heavy material, along with her underwear. The long sleeve shi
She walked over to where he sat on the bed, his mouth hanging open in awe. Maybe he hadn't expected her to be so forward, but she enjoyed the fact that he seemed to be speechless. Running her hands over his cut, she slipped it off his shoulders and set it with care on the chair that sat near the bed.As she turned around, she saw his hands go to the hem of the thermal shirt he wore."Uh uh," she shook her finger at him. "I get to do this.""Then by all means, don't let me take anything away from you," he told her, dropping his hands and then using them to lean back with. "Do whatever you want."Putting her own hands at the hem of his shirt, she ran them up underneath, feeling the warmth and smoothness of the skin there. As she ran them up, she caught the material of the shirt and took it off as she ran her hands up to his shoulders. Appreciation colored her cheeks."I never see you work out, but you really do have the body of a God," she complimented.His laugh was a little
Meredith was running through a dark alley. The ground wet with a recent rain, the smell of garbage pungent in her nose. She didn't know where she was going, she only felt an urgency that she had to get there quickly. Footsteps were coming up behind her, but she didn't know if they were friend or foe. Turning her head to the side, she tried to see behind her, but all she saw was darkness. The feeling of panic began to overtake her. She could feel the person gaining on her, causing her to break into a full-on run. Her arms pumped at her sides, her hamstrings and calves screamed as she pushed herself to go even faster. She looked around everywhere in this never ending alley, trying to find a door to go into. Just as she saw one up ahead, a hand clamped down on her shoulder and she screamed."Mer? It's me, you're okay," Tyler cooed to the woman in his arms.She had awakened him moments before while thrashing against the sheets, her arms and legs moving like she was running from someone
"How have you been since our last session?"Meredith sat forward in her seat, a huge smile on her face. She had never been this excited to talk to Doc Jones."Tyler is no longer sleeping on the floor."Doc Jones clapped her hands together, excited for her patient. "That's a huge step. How have you been handling it?""Not too bad if I do say so myself. I had a nightmare last night, but I don't think it was necessarily because we had sexual intercourse. I think it was something else.""Define something else.""I recently decided I want to find out who did this to me."That was a bomb if Doc Jones had ever heard one. The progress Meredith had made was substantial, but this was more than she'd ever hoped for."Are you really sure you're ready for this?"Meredith nodded, crossing her legs. "I'm as sure as I can be. I'm sick of living with this hanging over my head. Tyler has promised to help me, and together we're doing this."Carefully, Doc Jones sat forward. "I caution
"Not that I'm not happy to have you here, but what the hell is goin' on with you?"Meredith looked up from her phone, not sure how long she had been staring at it. Obviously a long time since Denise looked seriously pissed. What Tyler had thought would be an amazing idea had really started to backfire on her."What do you mean?""You're tense, edgy, distracted. And you keep looking at that damn phone. What the hell is goin' on?" Denise demanded.Pasting on a happy smile, Meredith shook her head. "I'm not sure what you're talking about.""Don't use your reporter face on me. Seriously, is something wrong with you?"It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Denise everything. She wanted to badly. The two of them had confided in one another over so many things since their rough beginnings of friendship. But she just couldn't do it. Not with this. It would put this woman right dead center in the middle of whatever was happening."I had a nightmare last night. My first one in a l
"That must be either Liam or Tyler," Meredith commented.She and Denise had taken up their favorite spots in the house. Out back on the screened in porch. Being November it was a little cool, but Liam had outfitted a space heater for the area and blankets kept them plenty warm. It was beautiful, especially with night falling."Could be both," Denise yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.When the front door opened, they heard a virtual stampede of feet on the hardwood."We're back here," Denise yelled.In an instant two teenagers and two bikers were also in the back room."Hey, baby," Liam greeted. He leaned down to give Denise a kiss. With a soft touch, he caressed her abdomen before straightening to his full height. "So I was tellin' Tyler that it would be a good night to cook out with everybody here.""Oh that would be fun," Meredith smiled.The kids seemed to be in agreement as well."Why don't you two do your homework real quick and take your showers. I can sm
"Do you recognize any of these numbers?"Meredith looked at the numbers that Tyler had written down on a piece of paper the next day, trying to remember the numbers she had used in her investigation. She pointed at one. "This one looks vaguely familiar. They were all disposable prepaids, I'm sure. I had them written down in one of my notebooks. It would be in my desk if I remember correctly."They went to the room that housed her stuff. She made a beeline for the desk and reached into the bottom drawer, pulling it out of the wood structure. Reaching inside, she engaged a lever and a false bottom opened, revealing some paper work."That's pretty hot that your desk drawer has a false bottom," Tyler grinned. "Means you're mysterious and dangerous.""If only," she giggled.Going through all the information she had, she pulled out a small black book. "This has all the phone numbers I used. Let's see."She went through them as he looked over her shoulder. "There," he pointed. "Th
"Meredith, I'm surprised you called me so soon."The next day she was in Doc Jones' office, breathing deeply and trying to control the emotions that had plagued her all night. "I was too, to be honest with you.""What happened?""You cautioned me about trying to find who did this. You told me that I may not like the answer and that it may bring up other things. I foolishly thought you were just being overly cautious," Meredith explained, tears already coming to her eyes.In the past eighteen hours, she'd tried to stop the emotions. She had tried to stop the crying, but she just couldn't. She couldn't deny the depths of the feelings she had for Tyler and how it had broken her heart that she'd left him."I take it you found out something that has been difficult for you to comprehend?""What we talk about here is privileged, right? You don't discuss this with other people?"Doc Jones took her glasses off and sat forward in her seat. "I'm bound by federal patient confidential
The temperature in the cab of the truck was downright frigid as Remy drove to Tyler's house to drop off Addie first. Tatum refused to meet his gaze and that flat out pissed him off. If she was going to give herself to another man and then have the balls to sit in front of him like this, she should at least have the decency to meet his eyes when he looked at her."Am I going to have to explain to Tyler why I'm dropping you off at one in the fucking morning?" Remy glanced in the review mirror of the truck, looking back to where Addie sat in the extended cab."No," she shook her head, looking about as tired and unhappy as he felt. "He's at the clubhouse. He and Mom had planned to stay and they took Caelin with them."Well, thank God for small favors, because the one person besides Liam he didn't want to face off with tonight, was Tyler."You're lucky I don't call him and tell him where the hell you've been. How could you let her go up there with him?" he questioned her, the irrita
Tatum's heart beat through her chest as she followed Gavin upstairs to a much quieter part of the house. Her mouth was dry – the result of her nerves, or the alcohol she'd consumed – she wasn't sure which. Her hand gripped Gavin's tightly, but she knew it wasn't because she was excited, it was because she wanted to yank on it, and stop him from leading her into the empty bedroom. Part of her wanted to put a stop to it, the other part wanted to go through with this so she could throw it in Remy's face. Those stubborn traits she'd inherited from her dad were alive and well tonight.She glanced over her shoulder, spotting Addie pulling out her phone and making a call. The worried look on her friend's face told her all she needed to know. Addie was probably calling in reinforcements and her time had suddenly become very limited."You feelin' good?" his deep voice questioned in her ear, causing her hair to stand up and goosebumps to appear on her arms. This time it was different than wh
Remy was in a piss-poor mood, had been since the night of the Christmas party and everything that had gone down with Tatum. He bit off the head of anyone foolish enough to ask if he was okay. He'd been eating lunch by himself, and overall had been a miserable fucking loner. Even right now, while everyone else was partying their asses off, his big date was being in the gym and beating the ever-loving shit out of a heavy bag. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him the last few days.Hearing his fists connect with the bag felt good, even if it was muted by the gloves he wore. His arms burned, his shoulders and back ached, his chest heaved, and sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes; making them sting. The sting felt good though, because it distracted him from the guilt he felt for the way he'd treated Tatum. And that guilt was pressing down on him like he was trapped under a thousand-pound boulder.He'd felt every emotion on the spectrum since she'd walked out on him
Tatum's blue eyes took in the party-goers around her. In different parts of the room, she could see members of her graduating class, some kids that were now seniors, and a few college kids. God, this had never been her thing, she'd never found high school or college parties worth anything to her. She could see everything that went on at them and more, at the club parties. Plus, this was a mob mentality – everyone here went along with everyone else, and it was so boring. Nobody had any individuality. Normally, she'd have tossed the invitation in the trash can and not even thought twice about it. She would have spent the night at the club's New Year's party and have an actual good time with her friends and family.Tonight though, she was on a mission."Do you see anybody?" Addie asked as they surveyed the room.Tatum took a drink from the bottle of Strawberry Boone's Farm she carried in her hand. It was the bottom shelf stuff, guaranteed to get you loaded in the least amount of tim
Tatum had never felt anything like the all-consuming lust that blasted through her as soon as Remy grabbed her hip and pulled her deep into his body. She'd thought she had but damn, she was wrong. Her fingers grasped at his shirt, trying to ground herself in the feelings, when she felt his bare palms slip up under the hem of her dress. The sharp intake of breath, and the way he nipped at her lip indicated he'd discovered she'd worn a thong."Fuck, Tate," he moaned as he pulled his lips from hers.She almost cried as he abandoned her lips and smeared his mouth down her neck. She felt the sharp nip of his teeth down to the core of her body. It caused her nipples to tighten further against the lace of strapless bra, and before she knew what she was doing, she was rubbing up against him."Please, Rem," she gasped out when she felt one of his hands on her ass venture back over her hip, and closer to the wetness and heat she felt between her thighs."Has anybody touched you?" he grow
He knew the second she walked in, just like he'd known when she'd entered the bakery. Even seven shots of Pappy in, he could feel her, he knew she was there by the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up, the goosebumps he got on his arms and the way his dick stirred to attention. He wasn't sure what kind of hold Tatum Walker held over him, but it was strong, maybe dangerously so, like some sort of Jedi Mind Trick he'd never be able to resist. And dammit if his hand didn't shake as he took his next shot."Too much for you?" Drew asked as he noticed the slight tremble of the other man's hand.How did he tell the man sitting beside him, he was hard up for his little sister? Easy. He didn't."Nah, I'm good, but I gotta hit the head. Be back."Plan number two when plan number one didn't work? Run and hope she wouldn't follow. As much alcohol as he had consumed, he wasn't sure he could push her away this time. After all, he was only a man and he wasn't immune to the way she lo
He should have brought a date. Those were the first words Remy thought when he walked through the door of the clubhouse. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and all he wanted to do was turn around and head back to Cash and Harper's. Normally, he lived at the clubhouse, but he'd had dinner at their place tonight. He could relieve the babysitter watching Maddy, and he wouldn't have to worry about keeping his guard up.Couples were paired off, which meant anyone without a plus one would be inevitably thrown together. Looking up, he saw mistletoe was hung randomly around the room. Shit. Since he was the youngest, he seemed to be one of the few without a woman on his arm. Sure as the world turned, he'd find himself thrown toward someone tonight.Gazing around the room, he didn't see Tatum and for that he was extremely thankful. He'd been able to avoid her since the day at Harper's bakery, but it'd hadn't been easy. Not that she'd gone out of her way to be around him but they were in the sa
Remy told himself to slow down as he grasped her neck, hauling Tatum closer to him. He cautioned his lust-drunk body not to make a fool of itself. He warned his libido not to let this go too far. They were in the middle of the bakery, in the middle of downtown. Anyone could walk through that door from some dumbass off the street, to her brother, to her dad. But he couldn't stop, couldn't force his hand not to trail down her body and grasp her tight ass in his fingers. He wanted desperately to pull her lower half into his, wanted to shove his thigh between her legs and feel the heat he knew would be there. His tongue was forceful as it made its way into her mouth, testing how far she'd let him go.Turned out she'd let him go as far as he wanted to.His brain tried to warn him that this was progressing too quickly. It was getting too out of control, too fast. If he didn't watch it, he'd be picking her up and putting her ass first against the nearest wall. He was losing his mind, losi
Son of a bitch. Something in the way Tatum's gaze met his made him think he'd said those words loud enough she could hear them. But fuck, she looked amazing. Even more than she usually did. Tatum had been gorgeous for a long time, but with her hair in this new cut, she looked sexy, and almost… sophisticated. But this was Tatum. She'd never fully be a lady, not really. She didn't do dresses unless she had to, she didn't do caked on makeup, and she could hang with the guys – no matter how raunchy it got."Do you like it?" She asked again, this time looking much more unsure than when she'd started out. Very slowly, she ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a tousle.Remy cleared his throat, not sure how honest he wanted to be, but at the same time knowing he couldn't help but be honest. If he lied to her, she would know, and it would do nothing to help the situation they seemed to always find themselves in. The two of them always seemed to be either pushing or pulling at each ot