"One last thing." Reaching under the bed, I pull out the last gift. "It's not the fanciest out there, but it's a professional one. It'll get you started."

"Fuck, Wyatt." Tears are running down her cheeks, and I reach up to brush them away.

"I hope those are happy tears, Angel Face."

"Yeah," she sighs.

She takes the bag and looks inside. "Those lenses can be used even if you decide to upgrade in the future." I have no clue about cameras and didn't have much time to figure it out, so basically once I decided on the camera, I picked out one of everything I thought she could use. She looks up and grins. "Jeez, I'll have to take a class just to learn how to use all this stuff."

I love seeing her smile like that. "Good, you must be so bored sitting around with my invalid ass all the time."

She walks over to the desk and sets the bag on top, carefully pushing it away from the edge, then returns to me. "I never get bored of you."

I cock my head at her. "Really?"

"Well, not yet anyway," she teases, running her fingers over my head.

Wrapping my arms around her waist, I tug her down to me. "Did I surprise you?"

"You have no idea."

"You like?"

Tears shimmer in her eyes again. "Yes. I can't even Yes, Wyatt. I like everything. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, babe. You're really talented, I know you'll do well."

She sniffles and rolls out of my arms to stare at the ceiling. "You have no idea what that means to me. I felt so freaking stupid sharing that with you."

Rolling over and propping my head on my elbow, I reach out and trace my finger over her cheek, until she looks at me. "Why?"

"I don't know. It seems silly. Insignificant."

"It's not silly if it makes you happy and you enjoy it. Nothing about you is insignificant."

Wrath believing in me enough to figure out what I needed and going to the trouble of buying everything for me?

I have no words to explain how grateful I am. For his generosity, yes. But also for his faith in me.

It's mean, but I can't help teasing him a little. "So does that fancy camera mean you're going to be my cover model?"

His eyes go round with surprise, but then his sensual mouth curves into a smile. "Maybe. We'll see if I ever get this cast off."

That was not the answer I expected at all. "You mean it?"

"We'll see," he says again with a teasing laugh. He picks up a chunk of my hair and runs it through his hand. "I really like this."

"Thank you."

As if he suddenly remembered something, he sits up, grabs my shopping bag and hands it to me. "Show me what's in the bag."

I reach in to take the garments out but his hand over mine stops me.

"No. Show me." He raises an eyebrow so I get his meaning.

Heat shoots straight through me. My nipples perk up, my clit throbs.

"Okay," I whisper.

Safely hidden in the bathroom, I take my time getting ready. Just like I did in the store, I can't get one of the hooks. I almost sob in frustration. This is why I don't bother dressing up or wearing sexy things.

Opening the door a crack, I poke my head out. "I need help." This is mortifying.

Wrath's face breaks into a smile and he beckons me closer.

"Close your eyes."

Of course he has to roll his eyes before closing them. Then he sticks his hands in the air, opening and closing like a blind boob-grabber.

As I approach, I grasp his hands and pull them down to my leg. "Hook that for me."

"I need to open my eyes to see what I'm working with."

"Fine."

He keeps silent while he slides the hook into place. "This is so embarrassing. I needed Hope to help me with it-"

"You two were trying these things on together?"

"Well, no. I just-"

"Stop. Please." He holds up his hand and pushes me back. "Let me see you."

I don't realize it, but I'm standing there staring at my feet.

"Trin, look at me."

Slowly, I raise my eyes to meet his stare.

"Turn."

My throat's suddenly so dry. His fingertips graze my thigh as I turn for him. Despite my growing nervousness, that gentle touch is enough to ignite my body.

"You're so pretty, Trinity."

His rough hands slide down my bare back, over my hips, then sneak under the filmy fabric of the garter skirt.

"What made you get this?"

"I-I" I don't know how to put it into words. "I never do stuffwear stuff like this for you, so" I trail off.

Behind me he's silent, setting off my nerves. I take a step and Wrath's hand circles around my wrist.

"Where you going?" His voice, low and heavy with desire tips me from embarrassed to aching with need.

His arm hooks around my waist, pulling me into his lap. My body trembles as he kisses my shoulder, up my neck and then sucks at the tender flesh below my ear. "Every time I look at you, I can't get over how beautiful you are. But I like this too."

"Thank you."

"You were thinking of me?"

"The whole time."

"You my girl?"

I don't even have to think about it. "Yes."

He drags me backward and to the side, until I'm flat on the bed staring up at him. "I love when you say it without hesitating."

"I like saying it," I whisper.

And I mean it.

"You awake?"

The contented mmmmm sound from her throat totally makes me want to thump my chest with both fists.

The gifts weren't my way of getting laid. Got no complaints there. Knowing I was on her mind while she was buying that sexy, barely-there outfit to tease me with was my gift.

After we wore each other out, she brought me a pitcher of ice water, then stripped down and crawled into bed. I'm tired of having her wait on me. Can't wait for this cast to come off, so I can finally take care of her. And while I definitely enjoy playing bucking bronco for her, I've got a long list of other positions I want to fuck her in.

Her head's resting on my chest. My arm's wrapped around her, my thumb stroking her hip. It's nice and from now on I want things to always be this way for us. "Babe, I'm sorry it took us so long to get here," I murmur not really expecting her to hear me or answer.

Her head pops up and she focuses her sweet, honey eyes on me. "What do you mean? Why are you apologizing?"

I can't quite explain. I'm trying hard to work past our history, but the angry toddler in charge of my brain still thinks some of our problems are her fault. Saying that will be the equivalent of dropping a bomb in our nice, cozy nest, so I shove that thought away. "I just wish things had been different."

"You wish I'd never been part of the club, don't you?"

Shit, is that really a secret? "Well, you know that."

"Wyatt, if I thought for a second you were serious back then, I would have done whatever you asked. But we hadn't known each other long enough. If things didn't work out between us, I'd have been tossed out with no protection. I couldn't risk that. I had bad shit going on I needed to hide from."

I know this. She doesn't know I know this. This is the most she's told me about her past yet. It makes me want to push for more. I need to hear all of it from her, because she trusts me. Besides, there's one last thing I don't understand, no matter how hard I try. As gently as possible, I have to ask.

"You didn't have to make yourself available to the club."

Bombs away.

She scrambles into a sitting position and since she's still gloriously naked, I can't help dropping my gaze to her tits. Fuck me, they're perfect.

"Wyatt!" she snaps. "Rock told me it was my choice. But I don't think I really believed him at the time. And I wanted to make that decision myself not have it forced on me later. I knew how MCs treated their women."

"How did you have all that knowledge at twenty-one?"

"I already told you-"

"No, you never really have. Your dad, yeah. But he died when you were little."

"I can't talk about this." She moves to climb over me, but I catch her hand.

"Please, Trinity. I want to understand you. I want to know everything about you."

Something sad passes over her face. I'm pushing her too much. After a second of hesitation though, she settles down beside me and lets out a deep breath.

"Ask."

Shit, she's giving me the green light. I gotta take a sec and organize my questions before she changes her mind.

"Tell me about your dad."

A faint smile ghosts over her lips. "He was great, even though he wasn't around a lot. Club business, you know. His tattoo parlor kept him busy too. But when he was home, he was good to me. I always felt safe and loved."

Considering Rock told me he met Trin's Dad once, and he was a scary-ass motherfucker, it's interesting to hear her version.

"It's weird, because I can't really picture what he looked like anymore without that damn green prison jumpsuit. I cried for days when he went away. Everyone kept saying it would be three to five years, that he'd be out in a year and a half to two years. And that made me happy, because I thought he'd be out by my tenth birthday."

"Why ten?"

She lets out a soft snort. "My dad promised me he'd take me to get my ears pierced for my tenth birthday. He swore he'd be on his best behavior so he'd get out in time to take me."

"I'm sure he tried, honey."

She nods and focuses her gaze on the bedroom door. "He did at first. I think he meant to keep his promise. But the club kept asking him to 'take care of things' inside. In return, they promised to take care of me and my mom." Her mouth twists on those words and I understand why. The club did fuck-all to protect her.

"How did you know this? You were just a kid."

The corners of her mouth turn down. "My mother couldn't be without a man for a fucking day. The day my dad went in, she started trying to snare the president, Tyler Cross." She spits his name out like a swig of spoiled milk.

I hate doing this to her.

"I spent a lot of time at the clubhouse while she was busy servicing the members. Back then, they had thirty patch holders. Because I was little, they'd stick me in the corner and forget about me. As long as I had some books with me, one place was as good as any another. Besides, without the threat of my father coming home at any minute, my mother had no incentive to take care of me. I had to fend for myself if I wanted to eat and get myself to school. At least there was always food at the clubhouse and I could walk to school from there."

"That's awful."

Her shoulders lift, like it never occurred to her things should have been different. "It got worse. She started seeing Tyler seriously. He'd come to our trailer after I went to bed. One night, I must have woken up and walked in on them." She stops and stares down at her hands. Even though I know what's coming, I hold my breath. "She started tying me to my bed after that. I'd cry every night and beg her not to, but"

"Tyler didn't think that was weird?"