The Outlaw Stakes His Claim (9 page)

Before she could say anything, if she even would
have, the waitress came back with their food. Hope had never been more thankful
for quick service than she was right then.

“Did I make you uncomfortable?”

She glanced up from her plate and looked at him.
“Yeah.”
She wasn’t about to lie, because no doubt he would
be able to smell it. He was a bear shifter after all.

He smiled and chuckled softly. “I haven’t laughed in
what feels like a really long time.”

Without thinking, because she felt his pain as if it
were her own, Hope reached across the table and placed her hand over his.
Instantly she felt him tense, but he didn’t pull his hand away and neither did
she. What Hope did feel was this spark move along her fingers and right up her
arm. They stared into each other’s eyes, and she watched as his pupils started
to dilate and swallow up the light green of his irises. Right in front of her
he started to change, only small, subtle things, but she noticed them
nonetheless. He started breathing faster, had curled the fingers of his other
hand into the table hard enough that his knuckles were white, and she swore she
saw his muscles swell beneath the material of his dark shirt.

“Do you feel that, Hope?” His voice was low, but
there was a distinct animal quality to it.

Hope knew at that moment that she wasn’t just
talking to the human side of Dallas, but to his bear, too. That should have
frightened her, because although the world was made up of shifters and humans
alike, she had never actually seen this kind of transformation before, had
never been this close to one, and certainly had never desired one like she did Dallas.
Her town had been small and closed minded, and the few shifters that she had
seen had only been passing through.

“Feel what?” She had spoken aloud, but those words
had been so soft and breathy that she grew embarrassed by how needy she
sounded. Oh, she had felt it, but actually telling Dallas that was a lot harder
than it should have been.

He placed his other hand over hers, so now hers was
sandwiched between his huge ones, and just stared at her. “You feel it, Hope.”

God, she liked when he said her name. He leaned
forward even further until she smelled the mint flavor that laced his breath,
the leather that he wore, and the sweet, slight aroma of what she knew was
marijuana. All of those scents shouldn’t have been arousing, but together that
filled her nose, invaded her head, and had her embarrassingly and uncomfortably
wet.

“Yeah, you feel it, too.” He closed his eyes, and
his nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply. “I can smell you, Hope.” When he
opened them again his pupils had completely taken up all of the green of his
eyes.

“This is insane.” It was like there wasn’t anyone
else in the diner besides them.

“Yeah, it really fucking is.” He growled out the
words.

“Are you guys okay? You need anything?”

Hope blinked back this haze that had covered her vision,
and turned to look at the waitress. The little nametag pinned right over her
huge boob said Ashley. “We’re good.” Hope cleared her throat and took her hand
away and placed both of them in her lap. Once they were alone once again she
forced herself to relax. The way she felt may not be what she had ever
experienced, but that didn’t mean she had to let it make things even more
uncomfortable. Dallas was still staring at her, but the way he looked at her
was a combination of desire and something else … annoyance maybe.

He sighed, scrubbed a hand over his face, and shook
his head. “You really don’t want to get involved with a guy like me, Hope.” The
way he sound was almost like he was trying to convince himself of that instead
of her.

She glanced down at her lap and let his words play
through her head. Maybe he was right, but that wasn’t his point to make. Hope
was sick of people trying to tell her what was good for
her,
or what she should stay away from. Sure, they had just met, and sure there was
this darkness inside of him that he couldn’t hide because she saw it plain as
day. But he was hot and then cold, acting like he wanted this the same as she
did, but then telling her he was not someone she should get involved with.

“You don’t know me, and I don’t know you.”

He was leaning back against his chair, watching her,
but not saying anything.
Good
.

“You asked me if I felt something when we touched.”
She held his gaze with her own. “And you’re right, I do feel something, did
when we first met.” She swallowed the lump in her throat that threatened to stop
her from talking. “This town is new to me, and these feelings are, too, but I’m
trying to start my life over, Dallas.”

He sat there, still looking unaffected, but she saw
the way he had his hands tightened into fists.

“I can see there is this pain inside of you. I have
my own kind of pain, and although it may not be the same kind you deal with, I
still know what it feels like.” He didn’t respond right away after she spoke,
but she hadn’t said it to garner a response. “What I do know is I’d like to
spend time with you.” This was probably the most forward thing she had ever done,
and although she had been an introvert her entire life and let others dictate
what was right and wrong with her, she couldn’t lie and say it didn’t feel damn
good saying those words to Dallas. She did want him, was even scared of how she
felt, but she had promised herself when she decided to move to Steel Corner
that she would have a fresh start and a new life. For a few moments he didn’t
say anything, but even after only spending a small amount of time with him Hope
knew that Dallas kept more to himself then he let out.

“You know nothing about me, Hope.” He spoke softly,
but there was no bitterness in his words. If anything she sensed there was
actually a small amount of acceptance.

“And you know nothing about me, Dallas.” Her hands
had since stopped shaking, and she placed them back on the table and slowly
moved them toward Dallas again. His irises were no longer swallowed up by the
darkness of his pupils, and the light that slashed through the front window had
the green color looking like cut emeralds. “But isn’t that how people get to
know each other? Don’t they have to spend time with one another in order to see
if something more could happen?” This was certainly one of the most unusual
conversations she had ever had, but not because she was expressing how she
felt. “I’d like to be your friend, Dallas, and I’d like to know who you really
are.” She smiled, hoping that he saw that she was being truthful. “I think you
and I have a lot in common in reference to our feelings and the pain that we
hold inside.” This lunch hadn’t meant to be anything more than repaying his
kindness, but no matter how many times she had told herself that, she always
came back to the reasoning that she wanted to just see him. Hope wanted to
explore what this attraction was between them and why it seemed to take over
her entire body and mind.

He looked down, and to see this big, strong man
silent in front of her, clearly thinking about what she had just said was very
powerful in its own right. Did she think that a relationship would bloom
instantly? No, because a physical attraction wasn’t what made a solid
foundation. But this just wasn’t about getting wet and aroused whenever she was
around him. He looked back up at her, and to her surprise he reached out and
took her hands in both of his. He stared at their entwined hands for several
seconds, and Hope found herself staring back into his face, and trying to gauge
what he was thinking. The cut and bruising on his face made him seem even more
deadly, but underneath that hard exterior that he wore like a suit of armor she
saw this brokenness that reached out and wrapped itself tightly around her
heart. Maybe it was because both of them had a part inside that was ruined, and
that was why they had connected the way they did?

“What I feel around you,” he smoothed his thumb back
and forth over the back of her hand, “I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
He continued to stare down, and she wondered if he was avoiding looking at her
face. “That scares the shit out of me, Hope.” He slowly lifted his head and
finally looked into her face.

The air was sucked from her lungs at the
vulnerability she saw reflected back at her. Yes, this man had been hurt in the
past. She didn’t know what had caused him to be like this, didn’t know if that
was something he would ever share, but she did know that she wanted to help him
heal. Hope hadn’t been able to allow anyone in her life when she had been at
her lowest point, at least not anyone that had genuinely cared about her.

“It scares me, too.” She curled her fingers around
his and held him just as tightly as he held her. Was this what she envisioned
when she saw herself in Steel Corner? Not even remotely close. Sometimes the
best things in life didn’t make a whole lot of sense,
happened
so fast a person’s head spun, and made all logic and reason nonexistent. But it
was those things that made a person really feel alive, and she hadn’t even
realized that until this moment. Hope didn’t want to let go.

Chapter Seven

Dallas sat around The Grizzly MC meeting table and
drummed his fingers along the smooth wood. His thoughts were not on club
business, which they should be, but instead on Hope. Since she walked into his life
so unexpectedly she had consumed his thoughts morning and night. Perhaps it
wasn’t healthy, and it damn sure wasn’t safe to get involved with a female so
young and innocent as she was, but his bear wanted her as much as his human
side did. Dallas was also a selfish bastard, and the thought of losing himself
in her, and not just in the sexual sense, had this strange sensation moving
through his body, and had his cock harder than it ever had before. He hadn’t
been in love in a very long time, but even when he had been married to Meghan
he had never felt a fraction of this intensity in which he felt for Hope. It
was this consuming sensation, one that made absolutely no fucking sense, but
also one he didn’t want to relinquish.

They had parted ways yesterday at the diner, and it
felt like his cell was burning a hole in his pocket for how badly he wanted to
call her. Just to hear her voice eased his bear and this madness inside of him.
For the first time since the accident he had a small glimpse that he might be
able to actually live with himself. It had only taken a few days for him to
wonder if he could allow himself to be happy again after what he had lost. The
guilt ate up at him every day, and thinking about being with Hope, about
holding her, caring for her, and protecting her, had him feeling even more like
a selfish bastard. Why should he be able to have something so good, and someone
that felt so right beside him? He had been a shitty dad, hadn’t seen his son
enough, or formed any kind of bond with him over the years. Sending a check
every month and seeing
Maddix
on his birthdays was
not being there for his kid. Dallas had missed out on being a father, and that
was on him and what he’d have to live with for the rest of his life. He could
never make it up, and that was a very sad notion, and something he thought
about every time he woke up, and right before he went to bed.

“Dallas, you good, brother?”
Stinger asked beside him.

He pulled his thoughts back to the present and away
from Hope, and looked over at the other member. “I’m good.” He needed to tell
the Grizzlies what his issues had been, why he had been distant and dark
lately, and explain that he wasn’t a weakness to the club. They were bear
shifters, members of a fearsome outlaw motorcycle club, and here Dallas was,
keeping all this shit bottled up. He had
patched
in
with these men, called them his family, and would die protecting them and this
MC.
Enough
was enough. Today he would let them know
the shit that had gone down, explain why he had pushed them away and could have
very well comprised the club.

“Is there any other business that needs to be
brought to the table?” Jagger asked.

Dallas looked over at his President, but before he
could say anything Court was speaking.

“Yeah, I’m heading out for the weekend again with
Lilly. I didn’t nearly get enough alone time with my woman. You guys survived
without me before, and you’ll be good to go for a couple more days.” Court
smiled, and there was a round of laughter and good-natured curses thrown
Court’s way. “But yeah, I need to be with my female.
Thinking
about taking her to Aspen this time around.
She’s got a thing for the
shops up there.” There was a grin on Court’s face, and the clear love he felt
for his woman came from him in the form of a powerfully possessive scent.

“Hear that, assholes? Don’t get your dicks cut off
because I sure as hell am not sewing that shit up,” Diesel said on a chuckle,
which had another round of laughter breaking out from the guys.

“Anyone else have any business to bring up?” Jagger
said, but he was suppressing his laughter, too. Everyone murmured they didn’t
have anything to bring to the table. Jagger’s expression sobered. “Lucien and
his men are in for the fighting, but they want ten percent more than the
shifters get. Sticks
is
for it, though, but he’s going
to increase the bets that are called in.”