A/N: It's been way too long since I uploaded anything. Figured I might do just that with this story. Thank you and enjoy.
"""""
"So you and Trevor, huh?"
Karen looked up at the men sitting in the office. Between the two of them, she wasn't quite sure who was more surprised.
"I guess you could say that," she mildly said.
"You guess?" Franklin scoffed out. "Man, me and M would have never guessed your ass would go for Trevor."
"Why not?" she questioned, sealing an envelope to be mailed out.
"Maybe because we didn't take you as a mentally deranged person," Michael said. "Seriously, Karen, you might want to consider some medication."
The door bust open, the familiar gravelly voice traveling through the air.
"Seriously, Michael... There's nothing wrong with her."
Trevor slowly walked into the office space, looking around between his three companions.
"You might want to reconsider talking to my woman like that."
Karen smirked at Trevor's comment, steadily continuing with her work.
"It all makes sense now," Franklin put in.
"What does?" Michael asked curiously.
"The Cheval."
"The Cheval?" Michael repeated? "What Cheval?"
"The one that I've been driving around for a couple of weeks now, shortly after the club's first reconstruction started," Karen answered. She turned her attention back towards the work at hand, muttering under her breath. "I really don't know why they consider you to be their decisive leader."
"Speaking of leader," Trevor said. "I'm not paying you guys to sit on your asses while Karen handles all the paperwork."
Franklin sucked a breath in through his teeth. "Man, you not paying us at all."
"Hey, this entire club's under total construction. Do you think I'm spending my days lazying around? No! I'm getting shit done, my good friend."
Karen turned in the chair she was sitting in to face Trevor. "I have those applications for the new girls. I told them that I'll contact them once I get your approval."
"You don't need to run anything by me, Kar," Trevor said as he approached the desk.
"Yes, I do," she said boldly. "This is your club."
He took her hand into his, lowering his frame to kiss it. "I trust you."
"I'm getting the fuck outta here, dude," Franklin called out before heading towards the back exit. "You coming with me to get some lunch, M?"
"Yeah," Michael lazily agreed. "Some lunch would be good right about now."
Karen waited for the two to leave out the door before letting out the laughter she was holding in. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
"If it meant that we'd be the only ones left in this joint, then yes."
He pulled her up from the chair, his arms circling around her, and his nose immediately nuzzling into the side of her neck.
"You still mad at me?"
Her question took him by surprise and he pulled away from her. "Mad? Kitten, I don't think I could ever be mad at you."
"Oh-ho. I'm glad you think I'm so innocent."
She twisted, attempting to continue on with her work, but he stopped her.
"Forget about it," he told her with a kiss.
"I need to get this done, Trev."
He pulled her towards him as she tried to get away from him again. "I said forget about it. This place is empty. I plan to have fun."
"But... these permits... "
Trevor knew he had her when she moaned, a paper slipping from her hand. Her arms locked around his neck and he gripped her thighs, opening them so he could wedge himself between them.
"I think we need to say a goodbye to the old club and welcome the new."
"""""
The morning sun peaked through the curtains that lined the window in her bedroom. The previous night was a total blur to her. Champagne toasts, pizza, and a bit more booze was to blame for the dull ache she felt in her head. Not too bad, she thought as she turned over in the bed. But she quickly sat up when she failed to see the one person she expected to be next to her. A clattering in the kitchen pulled her thoughts away from getting another hour or two of sleep. She was tying her robe loosely around her waist when she heard what sounded like a skillet drop and Trevor's gruff voice cussing like a sailor.
She took in the sight of the stove covered in pans as she walked past the kitchen table. Trevor, still cussing, was running his hand under the kitchen faucet.
"What happened?" she asked him. "You alright?"
"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving her attention away.
As she reached into a cabinet for the first aid kit, she noticed the splashes of an egg mixture strewn all over the counter. One of the heavy cast iron skillets was crooked on the stove top, half hanging off a heated coil.
"You have to be careful with hot cast iron, Trev," she said as she gently tended his hand. "There's silicone handle covers, or you should use an oven mitt or a towel at least."
He stood there like a child with a boo-boo, a pout on his face that brought a slight smile to hers.
"I just wanted to make you breakfast," he sadly said.
"Breakfast?" she repeated. "It's nearly lunch time."
"I guess I shoulda made some sandwiches or something. Would have been easier."
"I don't know," she said looking to their side. "French toast is a good brunch."
"It would have been better if I had made it without melting off the skin on my hand."
"It's okay, baby," she soothed as she took to wrapping his hand. "I appreciate the thought."
Trevor remained quiet as she finished tending to his hand. Karen left a kiss on his fingertips after she was done, Trevor turning towards the refrigerator when she let go of his hand.
"What's that?" Karen asked, seeing a rectangular bandage taped to the side of his neck.
"What is what?" he questioned, then saw her stare at the hidden surprise. "Oh, it's something I had done."
"More ink?"
"Yeah," he said. "For you."
She suddenly felt the intensity of his stare on her. "Me?"
He continued staring at her, taking in the wonderment in her eyes.
"You want to see it?" he finally asked.
Tilting her head, her gaze lowered to the bandage once more. "Did it hurt?"
"Not more than usual," he said, beginning to peel away the tape. "But I'm more than used to the sting of a needle etching into my skin."
"I don't want you hurting for me, Trevor," she said quickly. "For any reason."
"You're worth it, Kitten."
The nickname sounded through her mind even more when she saw the very word branded on his flesh in an outlined cursive trail.
"Trevor," she gasped. Her hand trailed over his arm before it suddenly dropped to her side. "That's where you were yesterday. When you said you had something to do."
"I did," he said plainly. "Making sure you were engraved into my flesh."
"But everyone was there, Trevor," she said, a hint of sadness to her voice. "I thought you'd be there too."
"Hey, you had fun without me, right?"
"It wasn't the same."
"Well, according to the state of you when I picked you up, you were pretty okay with me not being there," he said, twisting his neck as her fingers daintily replaced the bandage over his tattoo with new gauze and tape. "You know, by the way, I had to carry you out of Franklin's house, into the car, carry you back out of the car, and into the house. I say you were having loads of fun."
"I wasn't drinking like you think I was," she stiffly defended. "I had a couple of heavy drinks and it knocked me out." Closing the first aid kit, she hastily placed it back into the cabinet. "When you called and said you weren't going to come, I kept to myself with a few cocktails."
"Ron wasn't there," he reminded her.
"He didn't want to be there because you weren't. You know how dependent he is on you. Besides, he's not you. It didn't bother me he didn't come." With an oven mitt in hand, she moved the cast iron skillet to the back burner. "You didn't have to do that."
Trevor's brows furrowed. "Are you mad at me for getting the tattoo?"
"I don't want you to regret getting it."
"Babe," he said, wrapping an arm around her curvy waist. "I'll never regret anything for you."
When she blew out a harsh breath, he held onto her arm, pulling her even closer to him.
"Hey, I mean it. I'm fucking loyal to those that I care about."
"You also mentally abuse some of them, too." At his crooked glare, she added, "Wade and Ron? They're scared of you, Trevor. I don't like it."
"Is it my fault that they don't know their asses from their elbows?"
"Maybe not, but you don't help it either. Plus, neither one of them know how to do much of anything on their own. Don't you want to be able to depend on them to act based on their good judgment and not the fear you've put into them?"
"I want to rely on the fact they do what I tell them to do."
"That's not how it should be," she said as she began cleaning up the breakfast mess.
"Hey," he said, stilling her hand with his. "I still want to cook for you."
"It's okay, honey," she told him. "We can go out to eat."
He nodded his head, giving into her idea. As he put away some items that were sitting out, he slowly turned to her.
"Speaking of going out... Lamar was there?"
"Last night?" she questioned, rinsing off the dishes. "Yeah. Why?"
"Did he... try anything with you?"
"No. Why?"
"Because if I hear that he asks you out on a date one more time, I'm going to kill the little shit."
"Trevor," she began. "You have no real issue with Lamar."
"I didn't," he said truthfully. "Until I kept hearing that he claims to have slept with you."
Karen placed a dish onto the drying rack. "Total fib. That guy has liked me since I first came here. I swear, he can't control himself."
"Well, he better fucking learn before I put a bullet between his eyes."
"Stop it, Trevor. There was nothing ever going on between me and Lamar."
"There better not have been."
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because if I meet an ex of yours, I just might be liable to chop his body up and serve him to the homeless."
"You do know that I have dated guys before you, right? There are exes, whether you like it or not."
"And I'll kill them all," he said, moving away from where she stood cleaning.
"I don't say anything about anyone you've been with," she challenged.
"That's because I haven't been with anyone," he told her. "In quite some time."
"Oh yeah? But you have liked a few ladies. Perhaps one named Molly?"
"Hey, she was totally coming on to me," Trevor defended.
Karen let out a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, I'm sure. She was so totally into you." She wiped her hands dry on a kitchen towel, eyeing Trevor as he sat down heavily onto the couch. "Anyway, Franklin asked me to do a thing with him today. So you'll be able to have a breather without me for a few hours."
He twisted to look at her. "What thing?"
"I, uh, don't know. He didn't give me any details."
"So you're just going to go on a job without any information?"
"You know Frankie wouldn't actually take us anywhere without us knowing what was going on if he could help it. I'm sure he'll let me know when I get to his house."
"You're going to his house again?" At her nod, he asked, "Why didn't you just stay the night there?"
"And have you question why I did? No thank you. Besides, you picked me up without me even knowing it. He told me early yesterday morning when we were preparing for the party that he had this thing to do and asked if I wanted to help him."
"Lamar going to be there too?"
"I don't know," Karen answered him as she cleaned up the counters. "My guess would be probably. You know how they are."
Trevor grunted. "I know how he is."
Karen gave him a dull look. "Again, nothing has ever happened between me and Lamar."
"I don't like how he looks at you," Trevor pressed.
"I don't pay attention to how he looks at me," Karen quipped, and continued talking so he wouldn't have a chance to say anything more about Lamar. "I'm going to take my shower now. Did you want to go eat, or can I just be on my way?"
"I'm going with you either way," he enthusiastically said. "So your choice, sweet cheeks."
"Oh, are you now?" she questioned, her brows raising.
"I sure am."
"And why is that? I'm sure you have things that you need to do. Why would you waste time following me around?"
Trevor was on his feet, his hands gripping around her before she could realize it. She could feel his fingers dig into her sides in a possessive manner.
"Because you're mine," he said in a low growl. "And I'm not having you go into something that you don't know anything about."
"It's never killed me before," she said, her voice almost a whisper.
"If you're going to do this thing, then I'm coming with you. End of story."
Her lips scrunched into a smile she was trying to hold back. "Fine, but don't cause any problems, Trevor," she said, pushing her hand into his chest. "It's not necessary."
"Probably not," he said, taking a hold of her hand and pulling her toward the bathroom. "But I am going to take care of you and watch out for you. I've been doing this for much longer than you have."
Karen began tugging off the clothes she wore as Trevor turned on the shower. His hand was under the shower spray, his eye catching the flowing fall of her robe, and then they locked onto her naked form. He couldn't have wanted anyone more perfect or asked for anything better. When her eyes noticed him staring, she tried to push her way into the shower, which only allowed him to take a hold of her once more.
His fingers filtered through her hair as their lips met, his hand holding her still. She moaned against his mouth, the palm of her hand pressing against his chest. For a brief moment, Trevor thought she was denying him, but then he realized her hair was soaking wet, as was the side of his shirt. She stood naked against the shower wall, the spray of the water beating down on them.
Quickly removing his soaked shirt and the other clothing he wore, he joined her, immediately resuming his kiss. His fingers gently found her center and the gasp that escaped from her made him burn even hotter.
"Put your leg on my waist," he mumbled out as he felt her hands squeeze at his stomach.
She nodded and nestled her thigh right above his hip. Crooking her knee around him, she felt his strong hand grip the side of her leg.
"I don't want you getting hurt," he told her. "I'll kill anyone who hurts you, Kitten."
"No," she gasped out.
"Yes," he reinforced harshly as his hand continued to work her. "I'll give you everything that you've ever desired."
He placed himself even closer to her, and she felt the head of his shaft at her core's entrance. Taking her other leg in his grip, he slid into her, and she locked her legs around him. The expression on her face looked pained, but Trevor was causing that pain and he reveled in the moment. Her lips were parted, her eyes had closed, and she had thrown her head back against the tiled wall.
"I fucking love you," he said with a pump of his hips. "You understand me?" Another pump. "Huh?"
The first hard thrust caused her eyes to fly open. "Yes!"
"That's a good girl," he grunted out as he continued the plundering of her body. Lowering his mouth to her ear, he nipped at it before telling her, "You belong to me, Kitten. You're mine."