“I don’t have to make you disappear, King.” Shade held the promise in his eyes while his features remained emotionless.

“I see, like how the two bikers who nearly killed Lily ended up at the bottom of Black Mountain?”

Shade let the stony silence fill the room. Then an ironic smile came to his lips.

“I understand your desire to protect Lily from me, but I will never hurt Lily—I would die for her. You, on the other hand, have always placed your own needs above hers. You were the one who left her in the care of a mother who sold her. You were the one who placed a child molester in her home. And you were the one who nearly got her killed three weeks ago. Lily needs protection from only one person—you.”

King crushed his cigar out. “You don’t need to remind me of the mistakes I’ve made with her. I plan to do better by her.”

“The only way you can do better is by staying out of her life. You’re not going to fix your past mistakes now. It’s too late.” Shade went to the bedroom door.

“You’re not going to keep me out of her life. You’re wrong for her, and we both know it. When I prove it to her, she’ll leave you behind. You don’t frighten me, Shade. It’s been a while since I’ve had to get my hands dirty, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten how.”

“Go home, King.” Shade went out the door as quietly as he had entered.

He hadn’t wanted to confront King yet, believing their battle could wait. After all, he was leaving tomorrow. However, King’s stunt at the church had proved he would use any dirty method to break him and Lily apart. He had used Evie and Lucky to start a fight which Lily would witness in order to draw sympathy toward himself. It wouldn’t work. Lily and Beth were fiercely loyal to those who had earned it, and Evie had.

Walking back to where his bike was hidden a block away, Shade climbed on and then rode home.

He put away his treat in the kitchen then found Lily in the bedroom, packing their clothes.

“I thought you were going to help me pack.” She stared at him with mock frustration.

“I will.” He crossed to the chest, pulling out three pairs of jeans, a handful of T-shirts, and some socks. Tossing them onto the suitcase, he then lay down on the bed to watch her. “I’m done.”

“Jerk.” Lily smiled down at him as she refolded his clothes and continued placing hers inside the suitcase. “You’re going to get the comforter dirty with those boots.”

“Take them off.” Shade stretched out on the bed, placing his folded arms behind his head.

Lily paused then reached down to tug one then the other off.

“Come here,” Shade said as he saw her nipples peak under her thin gown.

“I need to finish packing…”

Shade rose one foot, kicking the suitcase off the bed. “Come here.”

Lily trembled, licking her bottom lip. She placed a knee on the mattress then the other before crawling forward until she was above him. Shade brought his hands to her hips, bunching the material up until it was at her waist and exposing her ass. With her over him, her modest gown hung down, showing her tits.

Shade took his hands away from her waist, going to her shoulders where he slipped the capped sleeves over her arms. Lily raised her hands one at a time until the gown hung from her waist, her tits as bare as her ass.

Shade lifted his head, sucking a nipple into his mouth.

“Shade … I really need to pack,” Lily panted.

His hand came out, placing a hard smack on her ass. “I’ll finish packing for you when I’m done fucking you. Unbutton my pants.”

Shade took Lily’s nipple back in his mouth, torturing the sensitive tip with his teeth while Lily bit back a moan, her fingers unbuttoning his jeans and pulling his zipper down.

“Take out my cock.”

As Lily slid her fingers inside his jeans, it brought an exquisitely painful sensation to him, especially as she took out his engorged cock.

He stared up at the beautiful woman staring down at him. “Do you have any fucking clue what you mean to me?”

Her lips lost the seductive smile playing across her lips, turning serious. “I want to be the woman you want me to be. I know I’m not as experienced in how you like to make love, but I’ll try, Shade—”

Her words broke off as Shade lifted her, rolling over until she was the one underneath him with him above her. Taking her hands in his, he raised them then pressed them down into the mattress above her head.

“Shut up.” He slid his thigh between hers, wedging himself between her spread thighs, his cock brushing her shaved pussy. “I enjoy making love with you any way I can get you to give it to me.”

One of her legs curled over his hip, pressing him down to her, as her anxious eyes stared up into his. “If you want me to do something, all you have to do is ask.”

Shade frowned. “Why are you talking about this? Usually, you avoid talking about sex like the plague.”

“No, I don’t,” Lily denied anxiously.

Shade frowned down at her, arching a brow.

“I won’t anymore,” she hastily clarified. “We can talk about it now, if you want to.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now. Right now, I want to do it.” Shade smiled gently down at her.

“Oh.” Her eyes filled with disappointment.

“Lily…?”

“You were at the clubhouse a long time … last night.”

“Yeah, so?” Shade said.

She remained silent.

Understanding dawned on him, and his smile widened. “Angel, I needed to talk to Lucky and Evie.”

Relief had her sinking deeper into the soft mattress.

“Why did you wait a whole day to say something?” Shade ran a finger over her cheek.

“I needed to think about it first.”

“You mean you needed to worry about it.”

Reluctantly, she nodded.

“Can you do a couple of things for me? Actually three, now that I think about it?” Shade asked.

“Of course. What are they?”

“The first is, you need to trust me. I’m not going to fuck around on you. I’m going to be at the clubhouse a lot when you’re not there. I’m telling you I won’t touch, and I’ll keep my word. Okay?”

Lily nodded.

“The second is you need to tell me when something’s bothering you.”

“I will, some of the time,” Lily partially agreed.

“All the time,” Shade corrected her firmly.

“I can’t tell you every time something bothers me. That’s ridiculous.”

Shade tightened his lips. “All the time, Lily. You thinking about shit isn’t good. You come up with crazy ideas, like me fucking around on you. You worried about nothing for a whole night and day.”

“All right, I’ll confide in you more.”

“Cool. Now the third thing is the most important, and I want you to give me your full attention on this.”

“All right.”

“Stay still; I’ll be right back.”

Shade got off the bed, going into the kitchen then coming back within a couple of minutes. Lily hadn’t even turned her head to watch him leaving and entering.