“Talk to me, Mate.”
I swallowed hard, my hand sliding over the smooth skin of his stomach to rest on his chest over his heart. What if he hated me?
“Shyla, please, tell me what’s wrong.”
Sighing, I lifted up so that I could look him in the eyes. He deserved the truth about who he was mated to. Deserved to have me face him as I broke the news to him. “I should have told you this before we bonded, Griff. I’m sorry.”
“Told me what?” he asked, running a hand gently down my hair. “Shyla, you can tell me anything.”
Tears pricked my eyes, but I refused to let them fall as I whispered, “I’m not a good person, Griff. Not really.” When he raised his eyebrows as if waiting for more, I shrugged. “My stepdad kicked me out of the house when I was fourteen. I’m not really sure why, but I must have done something wrong since I haven’t spoken to him or my mom in the past sixteen years. I tried. I called, so many times, always leaving messages. Until they changed their number. I used to be close to my mom, so I must have done something really wrong for her to not return my calls.”
“Their loss,” he growled, wrapping my thick hair around his hand and holding me still as he placed a kiss on my lips. “They are the ones in the wrong. Who the hell kicks their kid out at fourteen?”
I wanted to believe him, but I couldn’t. “I did things I’m not proud of after that. It started out with stealing. First it was food because I was so hungry, my belly ached constantly with emptiness. Then, it was money, or things I could sell for money. It was cold. I was freezing, and needed clothes, shoes, a place to stay.”
“Shyla, stop,” he growled, cupping my cheek and making me meet his gaze. “You did what you had to do to survive. That isn’t on you. That’s on your parents.”
“There’s more,” I whispered, swallowing hard. He waited patiently for me to continue, tilting his head to the side as he watched me intently. “When I was around eighteen, I began to realize that I had a gift for finding things. I was really good at it.” Biting my lip, I looked away from him. “Really good. It didn’t matter what it was. Information, an object, a person. At first, all I did was find them, and I got paid decent money for it, but then it started becoming something… more.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s just say I skate on the edge of the law, Griff,” I whispered, lowering my head to look at his chest. “Dipping below the line on occasion. Sometimes, way below that line. I’ve done so many things I’m not proud of, but most of them I wouldn’t change.”
“What are you getting at, Shyla?”
I had to tell him. There was no other way. Stiffening my spine, I raised my head and looked him the in eyes. “I’ve killed before, Griff. Many times. All evil bastards who hurt others, but I am still responsible for their deaths. There are people out there, family of those whose lives I’ve taken, who would come after me in a heartbeat if they knew.”
Griff’s eyes narrowed on me, and he said gruffly, “Shyla, you just shot and killed at least five men that I know of at the bar. Did it look to you like I gave a shit?”
I paused, my tongue sneaking out to wet my lips as I thought about what he’d said. “No,” I murmured.
“I’m a member of an MC, a fucking enforcer, Shyla. We steal, we sell illegal weapons, you saw me tear out Mad Dog’s throat myself.” When my mouth opened slightly and I struggled with what to say to that, he growled, “You are a fucking survivor, Shyla. You did what you had to do over the years to survive.” When I licked my lips again, his eyes heated up and his tone turned to a deep growl. “You are a survivor, and you are mine. I protect what’s mine. I don’t give a fuck what you did in your past. If any of those bastards come after you now, I will eliminate them. Plain and simple.”
I sat up, throwing my leg over his waist, and leaning over him to place my hands on the bed beside his head. “You really mean that, don’t you?”
“Hell yeah, I do,” he growled, his eyes going to my lips again. Grasping my hips, he moved me down so that the tip of his cock teased the center of my pussy that was already wet with need. “And, I will spend the rest of our lives proving it to you.”
I moaned as he slid inside me, gasping his name loudly, wondering how I’d gotten so lucky.
“We better make this quick,” he rasped, slamming his hips up to bury himself deep. “Brady will be back soon.”
I grinned, moving my hands to cradle my full breasts. I began to move, playing with my nipples as I moaned loudly.
“Jesus, baby.”
I cried out when I felt his hand go to my clit, pushing on it and then I lost my breath as he began rubbing it in quick circles. My cat pushed to the surface, my fangs punching through my gums as my eyes went to the mark on his shoulder. “Mine,” I snarled, leaning down to sink my fangs deep.
Less than an hour later, Brady was back with food for us. This time, when Griff pulled me down on his lap, I went without
