I Dare You To Meet Me
Chapter 33

-You’re not getting your a*s out of that bed if I have to tie you to it. Hades threatened me as he left me on the bed in my room at the club.

-I’m bored, it’s been almost a f*****g week since I woke up and I haven’t done anything but rest, I need to walk, stretch my legs, move my muscles.

-I understand what you’re asking but that’s not going to happen, the Doc said another three days of rest before any physical activity.

The intimidating tattooed biker looked at me with a very serious expression and I didn’t doubt for a second that if I tried to get up he was going to carry out his threat.

Things between my father and I had been tense since that talk at the hospital, we both had a complicated relationship, this week we spent a lot of time together at his insistence to take care of me, although that didn’t help our relationship much, sometimes we were comfortable with each other to the point of having civilized conversations, in many others, (most), we still looked like a cat and a dog arguing about everything.

My mother was always right about one thing, (even if it was hard for me to admit it), and that was that Hades and I were identical in the way we were. I didn’t know whether to worry about it or just accept it.

-I won’t move from the bed, but only if you promise to give me a break and leave me alone for the day.

I bargained as I settled between the pillows.

-And give you enough time to plan some other suicidal idea, I don’t think so, that’s not going to happen. Don’t think I’ve forgotten all about what happened in that bar and your race against the train in the city.

My cheeks felt hot, I unconsciously lowered my gaze to the same reproachful tone my mother used to use with me when I did something I shouldn’t have.

-I can’t even stand without help, the days of riding motorbikes are far away again Hades, I promise not to do anything stupid, I just want time to myself.” A shadow passed over my father’s eyes, though I attributed it to my insistence on spending time alone.

I saw the internal debate he was having, and I bit my l*p thoughtfully.

It wasn’t that I hated him being near me, on the contrary, deep in my heart I was touched that he cared so much, but it was that if I spent another minute alone with my father I would break something over his head.

Hades had accepted, (in his own way), the fact that I couldn’t forgive him for his mistakes, and contrary to what I thought at first, that didn’t make him turn away from me. No, rather he seemed very interested in becoming my shadow.

Which was funny and irritating in the early days, but now it just felt suffocating.

-Please, just this afternoon. I really need some space.

I looked at him longingly and was able to observe the exact moment he reassigned himself to the idea.

-Okay, but I’ll be back at lunchtime anyway and you better be in that bed when I do Tasha, I’m only agreeing because I have business to attend to and because I understand that you need to breathe after all. I saw the question on his face, but as before, I pretended not to understand.

I had yet to talk to anyone but the Doc about what I experienced in that cell, and I didn’t know if I ever would.

-Yeah, yeah, yeah, don’t be a pain, it’s not like I could do much in my condition anyway. I replied rolling my eyes but smiling.

My father rolled his eyes and checked to make sure I had my medicines at hand and enough water before he said goodbye and left my room.

A sigh escaped my lips as I found myself alone, and my eyes wandered around what would be my prison for the next few days. The room was the same mess I left the last time I set foot in it. One of my suitcases lay open on the floor with my clothes all over it, while the others remained closed against the wall.

The warmth of the blankets cradled me and the urge to sleep assaulted me, but I refused. A pinch on my arm was enough to make my eyes open and with a grimace I caressed the wounded area.

I didn’t want to sleep, I didn’t want to have nightmares in broad daylight where anyone could hear me scream.

Just like Hunter did.

My mind wandered to my father’s Vice President. I hadn’t seen him since I first woke up. Unlike Bloody, Diablo, Bruno, Gael, and even Isadora who visited me often. Although the only woman I knew assured me that I always saw him at the hospital when he came to visit me, more specifically it seemed that he had set up a permanent guard outside my room.

I had joked a couple of times calling him Cerberus, the dog that guards the entrance to the Underworld, my step-siblings’ mother said he looked just as scary and adorable as the three-headed dog.

I didn’t know what to make of that,

Partly it bothered me that the idiot didn’t dare come close, and partly I didn’t want him to. The same little bug of resentment that I felt towards my father, made me constantly remind myself of the fact that Hunter had broken my trust and that I shouldn’t make that mistake again.

But at the same time, the moment our eyes connected when I was kidnapped was burned into my mind. I remember the second when everyone else was busy arguing, he kept his cool and carefully without anyone noticing, he took his knife and threw it at Xander saving my life.

They always say that when you’re about to die you can see your whole life flash before your eyes like a movie. But when I had that gun to the back of my head, feeling for the first time in my life the real threat of dying, all I could see were a pair of coal coloured eyes that seemed to want to bare my soul and brought me a calmness and peace that I shouldn’t have felt considering the situation I was in.

Agh, my conflicting feelings for the bikers in my life were wreaking havoc on my mental health.

Something was definitely wrong with me if I couldn’t even decide whether or not I wanted to see the VP anymore.

I was mentally debating that when a knock sounded on my door, I spoke loudly to let whoever it was in.

And I had to bite my tongue when, seemingly summoned by my thoughts, Hell appeared on the threshold of my room.

-Hello, doll. He greeted me softly as he entered, the air felt heavier and that connection between the two of us became present.

-I don’t understand why you can’t just call me Tasha like everyone else. I muttered a little irritated as I looked him over.

The man looked so much better. His clean hair was tied up again, his skin was already coloured and the dark circles under his eyes had disappeared. That day he was wearing dark green military-style trousers, black combat boots, a white short-sleeved V-neck T-shirt and, of course, the black leather vest with the black leather buttons on the front. The black leather waistcoat with the club logo and patches.

-You answered that question yourself, beautiful. A small smile tried to break across my face but I didn’t let it.

-Thank you for rescuing me. I blurt out, looking at him with all the gratitude I could muster, “I probably wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t intervened in time.

I watch as his shoulders twitch as he takes a sharp intake of breath, and then slowly lets it out. Slowly he starts to move closer to my bed which makes my heart race with the memory of what we’ve already done on it.

Damn it, Tasha, this is no time to be thinking about that, wake up.

-Don’t thank me. He spoke softly as he sat on the edge of the mattress, a few inches away from my sound foot, I frowned unfocused by his words and his closeness.

-You saved my life Hell, of course I should thank you. I retorted and saw something akin to annoyance cross his expression.

-Don’t call me that. He replied and my brow furrowed even more, I cocked my head to one side as I looked at him curiously.

-What, Hell, I thought bikers preferred their road names to his.

-I told you I don’t like doing what everyone else does. You’re the only person who calls me by my name and I’d like to keep it that way. I swallowed hard and tried to breathe normally after that answer.

-I still don’t understand. I crossed my arms in an attempt to look annoyed.

The biker looked at me with a half smile before shaking his head and mimicking my posture.

-I’d rather you call me by my name because it drives me crazy the sound of your voice when you say it. Saliva catches in my throat and I start coughing.

The biker hurried to give me some water that my father had left nearby, I took it without any effort and then looked at him reproachfully.

-You can’t just say things like that on the air. I exclaimed, and he had the nerve to smile with satisfaction.

-Why not, it sounded especially sexy when you m****d it in my ear several nights ago.

I ignored the stupid tug on my lower belly and just squinted.

-I told you to forget about that night, Hell. I emphasized the nickname, the smile disappeared from his face and he adopted a more serious pose.

-That’s not going to happen in a million years Tasha.

He said in a hoarse voice that only annoyed me.

-A gentleman has no memory. I said curtly.

-Good thing I’m not a gentleman princess, just a biker.

I clenched my jaw with that stupid nickname, I closed my eyes and counted to ten mentally, I wasn’t going to let Hunter ruin my calm afternoon.

-Why can’t you leave me alone for once? I asked tiredly, although I didn’t expect an answer.

And much less the answer he gave me.

-Because I love you.

I opened my eyes and saw him with his mouth open.

-Excuse me? I said now with a high pitched voice.

What the hell did he say, was he out of his mind, or had I misheard him?

But no, the onyx-eyed man didn’t seem the least bit affected by the bombshell he had just dropped, indeed, he seemed more relaxed even, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

He locked his piercing gaze on mine and for the first time I found myself unable to hold it.

I lowered my face as I bit my l*p, trying to control the blush that threatened to give away my feelings.

I heard him make a sound that reminded me of a dog growling.

-You heard me right, I’m not going to stop telling you doll because that’s how I see you. Even with all those wounds and bandages you look beautiful, you’ve got a killer body that’s driving me crazy even right now. Your lips, your nose, your cheeks, your whole body looks like a precious porcelain doll crafted to be beautiful, even more so with those bewitching green eyes that reflect the whole world. – He takes a moment to lick his lips, and I’m left dumbstruck by the action, “I won’t stop remembering the moment when I was the luckiest bastard in the world because I was able to see that your skin is as smooth as it looks, that despite the scars and tattoo ink it bristles with ease when my tongue runs over it, when the taste of your lips became my personal aphrodisiac. And above all things, I will not leave you alone because I made the biggest mistake of my life when I did your father’s bidding and left you alone when you needed it. At that moment I didn’t know if the emotions that ran through me were of indignation, or of something else?

-Hunter, what the hell are you saying? I managed to say after a few seconds. My pulse quickened to such a degree that I could feel it in my ears.

-Tasha, I know you have no reason to believe me. F**k even I know it’s weird, I know we’ve only known each other for a short time, and that I screwed up a lot, but you have no idea how crazy I’ve become in the last three weeks that you didn’t show up,” I opened my mouth to interrupt him, “Wait, let me finish, before you arrived my life was the club entirely, I was in business and all the shit that the Vice President is in charge of. I drank and chilled every now and then with my brothers, and even got laid once in a while, with the occasional sweet a*s. But it wasn’t something that really caught my attention, I’m kind of a hermit here if you haven’t noticed. Even Toro lives with the rest more than I do. My life was monotonous and routine, until you showed up at that bar.

-You caught my eye right away, like a moth in the light. Me and more than half the brothers, but it wasn’t just your body, when you saw me in the middle of that room, when those emerald eyes found me, I felt as if you were able to see my whole soul and I saw yours. You can’t deny me the connection you felt between us every time we were close. You were like a puzzle I needed to solve. I watched you every moment, I enjoy discovering every little layer of your personality and I know there are still many parts I don’t know yet.

But the last few days when we were unsure if the next time I saw you you would be alive or if we would only replace your corpse threatened to make me lose my sanity. Just imagining that my life would return to that routine, without your screams, without your claims, without your carefree laughter, without your wild ideas that cause me to go grey, without your lopsided smile, without the sparkle of defiance in your eyes, made me realise how important you were becoming to me. Little by little, without me realising it, you crept into my life.

-Since the second I left you alone in that basement I’ve been thinking about the best way for you to forgive me, and after the f*****g scare of seeing you being kidnapped from under my f*****g nose without being able to reach you or do anything about it.” An angry sigh came from Hunter, his lips turned into a line before he continued, “After I felt my soul leave my body when I saw you so hurt, kneeling, with a gun to your head, I decided that if life gave me life, I would never let you go. I decided that if life gave me the chance to tell you what I was feeling I would take it. Because f**k, I have no idea what might happen next, and I refuse to let you back in any situation without you knowing that I love you, I love you and I’m not afraid to say it.

You don’t have to thank me for saving you because I would do it a thousand times if necessary, and you don’t have to believe my words if you don’t want to, because I’m going to show you how much I care about you for every f*****g second until I see you disappear on a plane back to Russia.

I have to open and close my mouth several times because my brain can’t process a logical response to everything Hunter just told me.

Was it all real, I’m not dreaming?

I must have an astonishing look of disbelief on my face right now.

-I… I don’t know Hunter… I know that… I know I’m going to sound childish, but it really hurt me that you left me alone just when you said you wouldn’t. I don’t know how many times people have left me alone. You don’t know how many times people I care about have told me they’ll always be there for me and then something happens to take them away from me, I’m tired of being left alone even though I don’t know how I intend to be.

You said it yourself, this club is your family, your life, your world, and f**k I’m selfish Hunter, because I want to have someone that I am your priority, I want your world begins and ends with me, I want to be able to blindly trust that person. And I’m not saying it’s not true that there’s a certain spark between the two of us, only a stubborn or stupid person wouldn’t realize how much you make me feel, and I’m neither. But biker, trust is the hardest thing to gain and the easiest thing to lose, right now you don’t have mine. And I would like to believe everything you told me, but I simply can’t. What will happen the next time my father gives you an order that contradicts what you tell me, what will you do when your back is against the wall again, I’m the one who has the most to lose in this story? I said sad and angry at the same time.

And also a bit excited.

-I didn’t want to leave you alone. A lump rose in my throat and my lips trembled with that statement full of sadness.

-Then why did you do it?

I asked tiredly, and the tattooed man averted his gaze to the wall behind me.

-Even though you were born here, you didn’t grow up in this world. I think you’ve realised how different we are to normal people and it’s not something I expect you to understand, most people don’t and that’s fine. But unlike you, I was born and raised following the values of an MC and it’s not easy to let go of them.

That reminded me of my talk with Hades and my doubts: how had this man come to my father’s club and become its Vice President?

Again with his ability to read my thoughts he answered me before I asked the question out loud.

-I think you may have found out for yourself that I am not a member of the Black Ravens because of my family. My original MC is called Satans Nightmare and is located in Kansas, my father was the enforcer and my mother was his old lady. I didn’t know my grandparents, but I always knew they were members of the club like my parents. And unlike the Black Ravens it’s not a nice place where the members are a family that looks out for each other- Hunter cracks his knuckles and his gesture changes to an indecipherable one that turns my stomach- When I was fifteen I was like every other teenager, overconfident of myself and thought the world would bend to me if you wanted it to.

I loved spending time with my dad and his Prez, watching them ride motorbikes, sorting out club business, how people would go out of their way and keep quiet when they spoke. I wanted that, I wanted that so badly for as long as I can remember, and my father told me that when I turned eighteen he was going to support me to become a club prospect, and I counted the days until my birthday.

-That same year my MC got into a small war compared to the Crows and Dragons with another club but just as serious. I don’t remember why, but I do know that the Satans were the ones who started it all. The other club in revenge for our actions broke into the house when no one noticed and took the old ladies who were about eight or ten, including my mother – His voice is full of pain and I can not help but gasp, by the gods, I did not expect that – My father and all the members went crazy as you can imagine, we looked for them everywhere, even under the damn rocks. But they were nowhere to be found, days turned into weeks and weeks into months. Until we finally found them after almost a year.

The beautiful black eyes glaze over and the biker clears his throat, I follow my instinct and slowly move closer to his body until my legs are on top of his. Hunter’s hands begin to caress them and I struggle to hold back my sigh, it’s too serious a subject to distract him.

-She was one of the few still alive, I wasn’t there when they took them out of the brothel where they kept them and I only saw her in the hospital,” A m**n of horror escapes my lips and the biker’s hands squeeze my skin, “The sons of bitches were forcing them to prostitute themselves, they drugged them every day to keep them docile and willing, they made them dependent on that shit. And not only that, they also beat them. My mother had an abortion while she was in that hell, some bastard got her pregnant and then beat her until she lost it. Or at least that’s what the doctor who treated her told us.

My father and I were devastated, my mother didn’t seem like herself, she lived in her own world, she didn’t recognise us and just stared at the walls. We took her to psychologists and psychiatrists and they all said that it was her body’s way of protecting itself from the trauma she had experienced and that she just needed time. But time did nothing, my mother didn’t come to, and my father became more and more lost in alcohol, he said he couldn’t live with the guilt of seeing her in that state. One night the President ordered him to get his shit together or he would lose his waistcoat, my father told him he was fine and left the club on his bike, despite being completely intoxicated.

Hunter blinks several times and the threat of tears disappears, though the melancholy is still etched on his skin.

-Later the hospital club called, at first I thought it was news of my mother but it wasn’t. My father had an accident. My father had an accident because he lost control of the bike, he wasn’t wearing a helmet and in the impact he broke his back, he had to undergo emergency surgery, but he couldn’t stand the surgery and died- I hold Hunter’s hands and squeeze them trying to give him strength to continue -I didn’t know what to do, my father died and my mother wasn’t in any condition at all. The Satan’s Prez helped me at first, he gave me money and supported me in everything. I worked at the club to pay off the debt and the clinic where my mother was hospitalised.

But as time went by, the more I was demanded and the less I was paid. The president would claim every chance he got how grateful I should be to him for allowing me to stay with them, to have a roof over my head and food on my plate. And I’ll be damned if I wasn’t grateful for that, but it didn’t seem fair that he threw it in my face every chance he got, apart from his f*****g shitty attitude that I didn’t deserve. I held it all in silence until I turned eighteen, then I stood up to the club officials and formally asked to be given the opportunity to be an official part of the club. And you know what they did?

I shook my head.

-They laughed, the sons of bitches, the President said that he couldn’t have a useless brat in the club, that I didn’t know how to do anything and that I would just be a burden that he didn’t want to carry. He said I could keep working there at half the pay I was earning if I wanted to, but that I would never even be a prospect and not to waste his time again. I bit my tongue again and said nothing even though I wanted to beat their faces in, they didn’t know how much I had learned from watching them, how much I knew about how to run the club, how to solve problems, everything I learned from my father before he lost himself in his grief. They underestimated me and that was their mistake, that meeting was the straw that broke the camel’s back, I realised that my life in that place had stopped making sense from the moment they took my mother away and a week later I took all the money I had saved, my father’s motorbike that I had secretly repaired and I left.

I became a sort of nomad, paid for my mother’s clinic in advance and took to the road. As fate would have it, I ended up on the doorstep of one of the Black Ravens clubs. I met your father, who was going through hell at the time, and immediately there was a trust between us, I stayed in a hotel in the city and looked for a job to continue sending to the clinic. A few days later I met him again and we talked better, he gave me a job in one of the mechanic workshops and in a few days I became someone he trusted. We both became a kind of confidant for each other and a couple of months later he asked me to be his vice-president.

I make a noise of surprise because I didn’t expect that.

Rather, I didn’t expect any of what he was telling me.

Hunter looked at me with a compassionate expression and stirred nervously.

-I know it’s not an excuse, but your father was the person who somehow gave me a purpose, gave me a family, gave me a path. The club went over his head when he made me that proposal, I was an unknown who came from another MC that had a bad reputation, apart from being a simple 18 year old brat, everyone called him crazy but Hades didn’t take back his word, at first I refused, and he didn’t say anything, he kept treating me the same way, a month later he made me the same offer again and I asked him why he insisted, do you know what he told me? I shook my head – He just shrugged his shoulders and replied “I am a man of instincts, and something tells me that you need him as much as I do”, I asked him for time to think about it and the next day I accepted.

All in all, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain. The atmosphere was hostile at first, I got into several fights with some of the brothers because they did not accept that an outsider had taken the second most important place in the club in a short time, I did not go through the patch of prospect or member as I should have done, so I earned respect in other ways. Your father never doubted me or my abilities at any time, and I promised to do my best for this place and not let him down, after ironing out the initial kinks the Ravens accepted me and I slowly became a part of them.

-Tasha, you are right that this club is my family, a family that accepted me when mine turned their backs on me, this is my world and I am unable to leave it. But now that I know you I can say that you have invaded every space and corner I know, and that without you this world is no longer the same. I promise you that I will do my best to balance the club and my personal life. You’re right and you don’t deserve to be anyone’s second choice, you’re too much of a woman for that, and I’m not asking you to. I am a biker, a Vice President and I have a lot of responsibilities in this club, but I am not like your father, and I will not make the same mistake twice, I will not wait until it’s too late to make things right. I lost your trust because I was an idiot, but I’ll get it back. The first chance is given, the second chance is earned, and the third chance doesn’t exist. And I intend to make sure I earn it so I never lose it again.

Our hands are caressing each other and I bite my l*p thoughtfully. I wasn’t a spiteful person, my mother raised me with the thought that everyone had the right to change and to try again.

And what better example than the biker in front of me right now looking at me with the most honest eyes of regret I have ever seen.

But at the same time a thorn of mistrust born of jealousy that my own father chose a club over me didn’t let me be sure at all.

-I don’t know… I finally replied, ducking my head and letting my hair create a curtain between us.

-Tasha, look at me. I heard Hunter’s voice soften as he saw my internal struggle.

-I don’t want to. I didn’t mind sounding like a little girl, if I saw him I was going to give up, I knew it, my body was already falling prey to his.

I was weak when my skin was in contact with his. I cursed myself for it and at the same time I loved it.

Hunter didn’t insist, instead his hands left mine and grabbed the sides of my legs, carefully and gently pulling me down until my thighs were on top of his. My ribs g*****d but I dared not say anything as he yanked me fully onto his lap, our h**s aligned.

Heat flooded my cheeks and I stirred restlessly, the swirling in my belly only growing more intense.

One of the biker’s hands worked up and down my back sending electric currents throughout my nervous system while the other caressed my cheek, careful not to touch the wounds I had there.

I felt ridiculously inexperienced, small, and vulnerable. The biker had lowered all my defences with his story and I didn’t know how to react with all the information I had about him, even more so after the confession about his feelings.

A gasp escaped me as his fingers gently caressed my lips, and my skin burned where his hand on my back stopped.

Gently but firmly he took my chin and lifted it, forcing me to look directly at him. The air escaped my lungs when I saw him so close to me. The memory of Hunter’s lips devouring mine made me swallow my saliva, eager to feel them again.

His onyx eyes promise me the entire universe, and his expression is a mixture of regret, resolve, and longing.

He wants to k**s me and by the burning hell I want him to k**s me.

But at the same time I want him to give me time to think and process everything.

Because my body has decided what it wants, but my heart and mind aren’t so sure.

Since that morning when I woke up in his arms all sorts of feelings have been swirling around inside me and I haven’t been able to put them in order.

I bite my l*p harder, undecided by my conflicting desires, Hunter lets go of my chin and his fingers free my l*p from the pressure of my teeth.

-Natasha… he whispers in a dark voice.

The biker leans in, and I instinctively close my eyes, but it’s not long before I feel a slight pressure that causes my mind to shut down, giving way only to the sensations of the k**s.

At first it’s just a touch, a caress, but then his lips move slowly and mine respond immediately.

It’s a k**s unlike any we’ve ever had before, soft and relaxed, as if we both have all the time in the world to explore each other, and all we want is for the moment to never end. Hunter tasted of mint and whiskey, and his lips were still amazingly soft.

My sanity began to fade and soon I was craving more, but the moment I tried to move to a more comfortable position my body g*****d and reminded me that I was still in recovery and shouldn’t exert myself physically.

A hiss of pain escaped me causing the biker to tense up and pull away from me.

I complained quietly and tried to get close again, but he wouldn’t let me. I accidentally ended up pouting annoyed at ruining the moment, Hunter let out a soft chuckle before giving me a peck and pulling away completely.

-As much as I enjoy your lips I have to remember that you need rest, the doctor prescribed another three days of complete rest if I remember correctly and that’s not rest at all.

My pout changed to a grimace and I crossed my arms still sitting on his legs.

-How do you know that? I questioned.

-I know everything, you don’t think I’d leave you unattended after everything that’s happened, do you?

I shrugged.

-Since you never came back to my hospital room to check on me, I didn’t think you cared much.

The tone of reproach was clear in my voice and the biker’s arms tightened around me.

-Don’t ever believe that again, if I didn’t come around after the first time you woke up it was because you needed rest and you already had enough problems to solve with Hades without adding to them with mine. But listen to me, doll, I never, never, never, never left you alone, I was always near you taking care of you and making sure that nothing would happen to you-. The seriousness with which he said it filled my heart with tenderness and a smile escaped my lips.

-Something like that reached my ears. I confessed and now it was his turn to smile.

-Really, you were asking for me beautiful, wow I’m flattered, did you miss me that much? More heat to my cheeks, I opened my mouth in embarrassment and smacked him in the chest as he shook with laughter.

-Of course not, I was just curious, okay, don’t let it get to your ego.

I tried to sound convincing but I knew from Hunter’s smile that I hadn’t succeeded.

I rolled my eyes and turned around a bit, the biker positioned me so that I was now half lying on top of him, his hands kept caressing my back and now my legs as well.

None of them said anything and little by little I relaxed, a satisfied sigh came out of me and without wanting it I was getting more comfortable on his chest, like a little kitten looking for warmth. My eyes grew heavy and the biker’s heartbeat lulled me to sleep.

I buried my face in the hollow of his neck and inhaled his masculine cologne, it was the best scent in the world.

-You need to rest, doll. He said softly.

-Mmmhhhmm.

Another soft laugh, I didn’t want to move, it had been a long time since I had felt so comfortable and relaxed.

So safe.

I felt Hunter move with me in his arms and lay us both down on the bed before I could complain.

He positioned me in a way that none of my wounds hurt as he used his body as a pillow, I was wearing pajamas and was very comfortable, but he sure as hell wasn’t with all the clothes I was wearing, including my shoes. But since he didn’t complain, I didn’t have the strength or the desire to comment on it.

As I had already said, my nights hadn’t been the best because of the nightmares and I was having a hard time not letting tiredness get the better of me.

-Sleep Tasha, I’ll be here to watch over your dreams. He said as if reading my thoughts, again that warm feeling spread through my body.

Compression was present in my body as the knowledge claimed me.

And a wave of security swept through me.

-Hunter? I murmured more asleep than awake.

-Tell me, beautiful.

-I love you, too… I whispered so softly that I don’t think he heard me.

And it was a pity I missed his reaction because after those words my body didn’t react anymore and I let myself be carried away by Morpheus.

I loved Hunter, that biker with onyx eyes as stubborn as he was, he had made a place in my cold and closed heart.

I still didn’t trust him, but that didn’t eliminate my feelings for him.

I had no idea what would happen between us from now on but I hoped he would keep his word and show me that he was going to change.

Because the biker made me feel things that no one ever did, I felt complete by his side.

And I was terrified that I would have to walk away if I couldn’t replace a balance between me and the Black Ravens.

Invariably from my confession about loving him, I was never going to lower myself to being anyone’s second table.

I loved Hunter but I loved myself.

So I dreamed of a future where for the first time, for a change, things would go my way. Things would work out the way I wanted them to.

Peace.

As always when I slept with the biker, the feeling of peace was always present in my chest.

And in the realm of dreams I was aware that this was my new favourite place in the world.

In his arms.