“We don’t need anything like a safe word. You know me inside and out, Rev. I know that you’ll never expect more of me in the bedroom than I can give, even if it means I have to convince you I’m ready to take things to another level. It’s just one of the many reasons why I love you.”

Her words caused my chest to tighten. I had never experienced absolute trust with a woman like I did with Annabel. I knew now why Mama Beth had said it was the most important thing in a relationship. After all that Annabel had been through, her giving me her implicit trust was one of the greatest gifts she could ever give me.

I had her heart, her mind, her body, and her soul, and she, in turn, held me captive in the palm of her hand.

Although sunlight streamed through the hotel curtains, I refused to wake up. I was having the most amazing sex dream of my life. Silky wet lips traveled up and down my hard dick. I groaned, bucking my hips. As I was suctioned into her warm, inviting mouth, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven.

And then my eyes flew wide open. This was no dream. This was all wonderfully fucking real. Gazing down, I watched as Annabel drew me in and out of her mouth. When she looked up at me, I fought not to blow my load right then and there.

I started to ease her off me, but she refused. Instead, she kept right on bobbing up and down, her tongue swirling around me. “I’m about to come, Annabel,” I muttered. That statement only seemed to fuel her to go faster. Gripping the sheets with both my hands, I let myself go, jerking my hips off the bed as I came into her mouth. “Annabel!” I cried.

Once I had finished, she crawled up my body to lie beside me. “Good morning,” she said with an impish grin.

I chuckled. “Good morning to you. That was a hell of a wakeup call.”

“You were so attentive to me last night I wanted to repay the favor.” She brushed her hand up and down my chest, her fingertips raking through my thick hair.

“I will always attend to you first. That’s just the kind of man I am.”

She giggled. “You’ll get no protests from me.”

Ducking my head, I leaned down to kiss her gently. When I pulled away, I stared intently into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Deliciously sore in all the right places,” she replied.

I cupped her cheek. “Although I’m always concerned with your body, I think you know what I mean.”

She sighed. “Yes, I do. And I’m fine.” When I gave her a skeptical look, she countered, “Do you think I would have blown you this morning if I was emotionally fragile about us having sex?”

My eyes widened. “What a naughty mouth you have there, Miss Percy.”

Annabel grinned. “You have firsthand knowledge of my naughty mouth.”

Relief filled me that she was okay emotionally. I didn’t know what it might be like for her in the light of day. We seemed to be moving at warp speed since last night, considering she’d run away with me and now we had taken our relationship even further by making it physical.

“I missed waking up next to you these past four months,” she said softly.

“I missed it, too.”

Annabel stared up at me. “What was it that made you finally come after me? I mean, the way you showed up at the party was like something out of a movie. After all those months, I thought you had forgotten me.”

“You really don’t get it, do you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. Strong, beautiful, kind, caring, and funny. No man in his right mind could ever forget you.”

Her lip trembled at my compliments. “You really mean that, don’t you?”

“I sure as hell do. As for me coming after you, I was pretty much miserable on a daily basis, but it was Willow who really helped me see the light.”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. “She did?”

“I swear that kid is one hell of an old soul.”

With a smile, Annabel said, “I can’t wait to see her again.”

“She’ll be thrilled to see you. Everyone will. They love you as much as I do.”

“And I love them.”

I brought her arm up from my chest to kiss her palm and then her scarred wrist. “I’ve been thinking,” she said.

“Mmm,” I murmured as I continued kissing along the scar.

“Since I’m going to be a biker’s old lady, I think I need some ink.”

I glanced up from her hand in surprise. “You do?”

“All of the girls have a tattoo but me, even Alexandra.”

I was once again surprised. “She does?”

Annabel nodded. “It’s somewhere hidden by her clothes. Somewhere only Deacon can see.”

“Mmm-hmm, and is that the type of ink you plan on getting? Something somewhere that only my eyes will see?”

“Not exactly.” She held her wrists up for both of us to look at. “I want to get the scars made into something beautiful. Maybe a butterfly on one wrist and angel wings on the other.”

I smiled, since it was obvious she had been giving this a lot of thought, even when we were apart. “Why those specifically?” I asked.

Annabel pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Well, a butterfly has a beautiful rebirth when it comes out of its cocoon, especially since it seemed like its entire world was over.”

“That’s true.”

“And then angel wings because it felt like at times I had an angel watching over me.” She smiled. “Or maybe you’re my angel.”

I laughed. “I think I would be more of the fallen angel variety.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I think you getting ink would be wonderful. I have just the guy to do it for you. I can make you an appointment when we get back.”

“Thank you. I would appreciate that.” She stared up at me with hopeful eyes. “Will you go with me?”

“Of course.” I pushed a strand of hair out of her face. “We’re a team now.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” She reached up to kiss me tenderly. Just as we started to get hot and heavy, my cell phone rang on the nightstand.

When I pulled away, she protested by gripping me tighter. “I need to get that,” I murmured against her lips. “Tell the boys where I am.”

“Okay.”

I reached over and grabbed the phone. “Yeah?”

“You’re in Virginia?” Deacon demanded.

“Are you tracing my phone now?”

He snorted. “No. But as your VP, I was just informed by a prospect that a very angry-sounding man by the name of Senator Percy called the roadhouse wanting to speak to you.”

With a groan, I glanced over my shoulder at Annabel. When her brows rose questioningly, I said to her, “You need to call your parents.” Then it was her turn to groan.

“Thanks, brother. I’ll take care of it.”

There was a moment of silence on the line before Deacon asked, “So you went after her finally?”

I smiled into the phone. “Yeah, I did.”

“It’s about fucking time.”

With a laugh, I said, “I assume that means we have your blessing.”

“It sure as hell does. Just get your ass back here ASAP so we can celebrate.”

“We’ll be there as soon as we can.”

“Later.”

“Bye.” I then handed the phone over to Annabel. “Deacon sends his love.”

She grinned. “He does?”

“Yeah, he’s glad I finally came after you.”

“That makes two of us.”

When she crawled across the bed to wrap herself around me, I shook my head. “Call your parents.”

“Then will you make love to me again?” she asked, her breath warm against my cheek.

“Babe, you don’t even have to ask.”

NINETEEN

ANNABEL

Getting home to Georgia took a little longer than we had expected. While I had bought some warm clothes and boots to make the drive, it was still blistering cold to be on the back of the bike for any length of time. But even with the extreme cold, I grew to enjoy riding with Rev. It didn’t take too long to see the allure that it held for him—the freedom, the adrenaline rush. More than anything, I enjoyed wrapping my arms around him and squeezing him tight. Although I’m not proud to admit it, I might’ve played on his sympathies a bit with worrying about me and the cold. The truth was I wanted nothing more than to stay in bed with him for a few days.