Hope's lips twitch into a smile. She takes Rock's hand and squeezes it. Her touch seems to calm him down pretty quick.

I'd like to get back to the evening Trin and I were having before we were so rudely interrupted. "Now you know why we were outside, prez," I remind him. I glance at Trinity, and she sits up and flashes a nervous smile at me.

Before we can get away, the front door flies open. I start laughing the second I see who it is. This night just keeps gettin' better and better.

"Marcel!" Heidi yells.

Teller jumps off the couch and grabs his little sister. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

And Heidi's off babbling about teenage nonsense. I try to catch Trinity's eye again, but she's giggling at the family drama unfolding in our living room.

"Hi, Uncle Rock," Heidi says when she finally winds down.

"Hey, Heidi-girl. How'd you find your way up here?"

She rolls her eyes. "I'm sixteen, not stupid." The attitude on this kid is something else.

Rock stares at her until she continues. Heidi lets out one of her famous dramatic sighs. "My boyfriend, Axel, brought me. He wants to prospect for you guys. He's eighteen. I thought you could talk to him," she adds.

Oh boy. Here it comes. Up until this point, Murphy has been doing his best to ignore Heidi. But as soon as the word "boyfriend" comes out of her mouth, he perks right the fuck up.

"Hey, Heidi-bug," Murphy calls.

"Don't call me bug, Blake," she snaps back at him. For fuck's sake they've been having this same argument for about a hundred years now.

Rock snaps his fingers in front of Heidi, clearly losing his patience. "Heidi, we don't allow prospects up here for the first year."

She pushes her lips into a pout. "Oh." Her gaze narrows on Rock's hand resting on Hope's leg. "Who are you?" she asks.

Rock makes the introduction. "Heidi, this is my girlfriend, Hope."

"Oh, wow. That's so cool. Uncle Rock's never had a girlfriend before." Nope, just lots of slampieces.

Rock gets Z to go talk to Axel. Teller and Heidi follow him out and again, I raise an eyebrow at Trinity.

"She's fun," Hope says with a laugh.

Fun doesn't begin to cover Heidi. "Well, at least in two more years she'll be Murphy's problem." I smirk at Murphy, who looks like he wants to punch me.

He shakes his head. "Fuck that, man. I'm just like another big brother to her."

Rock grins. "Please-she's been trying to take that ride since she was twelve." I find it amusing he would say that in front of Hope. Even funnier when she gets all pissy about it.

"She's a kid," Hope says.

Duh. "Yeah, which is why when she's eighteen, Murphy will sack up and put them both out of each other's misery." Why do I have to explain this to her?

She sits up and glares at me. "Are you serious? Murphy has to be what, ten years older than her?"

"Eight," Murphy says quietly.

She turns and pats his leg. "Sorry."

He flashes a grin and strokes his chin. "It's the beard."

Trinity taps Hope's arm to get her attention. "I think you're misunderstanding."

"What am I missing?"

Good grief. Mind your own business, woman.

Trinity glances at me and Murphy before answering. "They're not saying she has to be with Murphy. Or like she's promised to him or anything like that. Is that what you're thinking?"

Hope lifts her shoulders. "Well, yeah." She glances over at me, and I roll my eyes at her. God damn she's dense.

I lose track of the conversation for a second when Trinity has to put her hands on Murphy. "Although Murph will deny it, he's sweet on her too. But he won't do anything about it while she's underage," she explains to Cinderella.

"The age of consent is actually seventeen in New York." Hope educates us with her brilliant legal mind. I can't help snorting in disgust. Trinity's nose wrinkles and I'm seriously getting pissed about this entire conversation, because I gotta imagine it's fucking with Trinity's head.

"What if she's still with Axel?" Hope asks.

Murphy lifts his shoulders and lies through his teeth. "They're more worked up about this than I am. You met her, right? She's a pain in the ass. Not interested."

My hand connects with the back of his head. "Keep telling yourself that, buddy."

Hope runs out of the room and I focus on Rock who responds with a Don't start face.

"Did you know she had a boyfriend?" Murphy asks Trinity. Yeah, so much for not being interested.

Trinity's mouth curls into a smirk. "Heidi and I aren't that tight. You know that."

There I go getting all rage-y again, because I strongly suspect the reason Heidi dislikes Trin so much has something to do with walking in on something no teenager should ever witness her brother and crush doing to some chick.

Trin and Murphy are busy laughing about something-further sending my blood pressure through the roof. I turn to Rock. "You can't have your ol' lady questioning the club like that, brother."

Rock raises an eyebrow at me. "Simmer down, asshole," he growls at me.

Murph pipes up. "It's your fucking fault. Why you always gotta hassle me about Heidi?"

Trinity finally leaves Murphy's side and sits next to me. "Wyatt, look at it this way. Heidi's club family. After meeting her for five seconds, Hope was ready to stand up to your scary ass in defense of her. Sounds like perfect ol' lady material to me."

Aw fuck, she's right. As much as she bugs me, Heidi's family, and I'd do pretty much anything to protect her.

"Yeah, I guess," I answer, not quite ready to concede all the way.

Hope returns and we all stop talking for a second. Way to be obvious guys.

Rock stands and stretches, holding out his hand for Cinderella, who eagerly runs to his side. Christ, they're enough to make you vomit. "I've had enough drama for one night." Rock points at me with his free hand. "Wrath, tell Z I'll talk to him about Axel in the morning. Someone make sure Heidi gets home. She can't stay here."

No shit.

Wrath and I are alone again.

He stands and holds out his hand to me. "Come stay with me."

I blink up at him in surprise. "Why?"

His mouth twists in annoyance, but his voice is gentle when he answers. Well-gentle for Wrath. "Tonight was kinda crazy. I want to make sure you're safe."

I tilt my head to the side. I am jittery, but he has no idea why that whole gangbang thing bothered me so much. "None of the guys will hurt me."

His jaw clenches. He points at the couch. "You slept on me last night and survived. This time we can actually be comfortable in my bed."

"You haven't wanted me in your bed in a long time."

His voice takes on a harsher edge. "Trinity, don't push me tonight."

I want him to order me up there. Boss me around like he's so good at doing sometimes. Let me know that he wants me.

But I sense he's struggling with something. Curious, I take his outstretched hand and follow him to his room. He closes the door behind us and I lower my head waiting to see how he wants things to happen.

The sound of him shuffling through drawers gets me curious and excited. What's he up to? I peek up in time to see him toss a T-shirt and pair of boxers on the bed.

"I'm going to take a quick shower. Get dressed for bed," he says without looking at me.

Huh?

Moving over to the bed, I plop down and run my fingers over the faded Harley T-shirt. Bringing it to my nose, I inhale-detergent, mixed with Wrath's unique scent.

I glance up at the bathroom door. He didn't invite me in. This is all too fucking weird. Especially after our kiss downstairs. Balling the clothes in my fist, I perch on the side of the bed and wait for him to emerge.

He finally does and my mouth goes dry at the sight of him. Bare-chest, water droplets still clinging to his inked skin. His blond hair is darker from being wet and frames his face in a way that should be captured on film.

When he notices I'm still dressed, he quirks an eyebrow at me.

My shoulders lift and it takes a second to untie my tongue. "I wanted to take a shower too."

"Sorry, I should have let you go first."

Yeah, or invited me in with you.

My fingers trace the inside of my arm, pinching lightly to make sure I'm still awake.

"I left a toothbrush on the counter for you."

Too stunned to speak, I scurry in the bathroom. As promised, there's a brand new-in-the-box toothbrush. Boy, he really didn't want to let me out of his sight. It's not like I couldn't run downstairs and grab my own toothbrush or nightclothes. I rush through my shower, quickly pat myself dry and toss on my borrowed jammies.

Wrath's already in the bed when I emerge. He turns and smiles. My breath catches. He doesn't smile a lot, but when he does it always levels me. Tonight's no different.

"Come on, it's been a long day."

I approach the bed and wait to see what he wants.

"What are you doing, get up here."

He takes up so much space, the only spot open is a sliver of mattress against the wall. He holds out his hand. When I take it, he yanks me to him, hooks his arms around me and spins me into the space next to him. Then he pulls the blankets up over us, and shuts off the bedside lamp.

"Wrath?"

"What, Trin?"

"You really just want me to sleep with you?"

"Yes, Trin."

This sleeping next to each other thing is giving me serious emotional itchies. We were close to something happening downstairs earlier. What changed his mind? Inga? Did he remember that I'm a whore just like she is? If only he knew the truth. Turning over I press up against his solid, comforting body. Everything seems to be in working order.

"What's wrong now, Trin?" he rumbles.

"Nothing." I shift again trying to get comfortable.

"Do you need to get fucked?" he offers without opening his eyes.

I scoot away so fast my ass bumps into the chilly wall. "No."

"Then go to sleep."

I roll over on my stomach. When that doesn't work, I sit up and punch the pillows.

I turn to face him. "Wyatt, if I had said yes, would you?"

He sucks in a deep breath and lets it out slow before answering. "That's not why I wanted you here."

"Then why?"

"Fuck. I told you why. I liked waking up with you this morning."

"Oh."

He holds his arms out to me. "Come here."

Finally, something I'm familiar with. But he just arranges me so my head rests on his chest. His arm curls protectively around me settling on my hip. It makes me feel cherished and protected. And weird.

Eventually, his breathing turns deep and even. I manage to drift off too.

My poor, confused cock stands at full attention the next morning. Not his fault. We haven't slept with a woman without fucking her in a long damn time. This makes two nights in a row, with the woman I want more than anything. It's not that I don't want to fuck her-one glance at the tented sheet confirms that. I just want not to fuck things up more. I can only imagine what sort of bad memories last night's events brought up for her. My plan was to make her feel safe and let her know that she means more to me than sex.

This morning, with Trinity still tucked firmly against my side, her warm breath tickles over my ribs. I inhale her fresh, soapy scent and my cock's even harder. I take a few more deep breaths and calm myself before drifting back to sleep.