Big Timber (Royal Bastards MC: Flagstaff Chapter #7)

Chapter 3

Talia

Thankfully, I had time for a hot shower and am just putting on my pajamas on when I hear the motorcycles roaring again. Instead of drying my hair, I head downstairs to see Tarak unwrapping his ankle.

“Can I help you with that?” I ask him.

“Nah, I’m putting you out enough as it is,” he replies with a grimace, and I slide a throw pillow his way for some padding between his leg and the coffee table. “If you don’t mind me rummaging through your cabinets, I can take care of myself.”

“I’m not really a spur-of-the-moment type of person, so I’m sorry if I overstepped by bringing you here,” I say, sitting on the bigger couch to his right.

“Talia?” he quietly says my name and I smile at the way it slowly rolls off his tongue as he leans back and stretches his arms over the back edges of the sofa he’s on.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you sitting all the way over there?”

My eyes snap up from the fringe of the pillow that I’ve been playing with and my jaw drops open at the heated look he’s giving me.

So much for not being a spur-of-the-moment type of person, I think as the lopsided grin and tilt of his head have me walking around the coffee table to sit in what little space his frame leaves on the loveseat.

As soon as I sink into the cushions, his left arm curls around me and his large hand intertwines with mine.

“What?” he asks when I let out a nervous laugh.

“I didn’t expect your hand to be so soft,” I honestly answer him, bracing myself to look up at his face when his body shakes with quiet laughter.

“Considering how you ditched me when your family showed up, it’s nice to know you’ve been thinking about how my hands would feel.” The teasing look in his eyes makes my pulse speed up, a fact that isn’t lost on him as he runs a finger over my wrist.

“I didn’t ditch you. But I was flustered since my entire family immediately decided that we’re sleeping together,” I answer, trying to justify my actions.

“My family does, too,” he replies, and it takes me a second to realize he means the men from the Royal Bastards who just left.

“They were really worried about you,” I whisper, realizing the truth behind my statement. “Do you have any real, um, other family?”

“Two siblings that I’m in touch with.” His eyes are suddenly guarded, telling me not to push this line of conversation today.

“How long have you lived here?”

“More than a year, less than two.” His next answer is as vague as his first, so I’m relieved when he continues. “I used to bounce around Royal Bastard chapters, but things just really clicked with Declan and these guys, so I threw in with them.”

I’ve never lived anywhere but here, or even considered leaving Flagstaff for longer than a vacation so I can’t even fathom what his life has been like. He shifts next to me, and I realize that my wet hair is probably annoying, so gathering it together, I pull it over my shoulder.

“I almost didn’t recognize you earlier,” he says, reclaiming my hand as soon as I let go of my hair. “Between the helmet and the gear you had on the other day, I had no clue how small you are.”

“And yet, I’d be able to pull you out of a burning building,” I snap back my usual remark when people comment on my size; immediately groaning as I remember his friend. “I’m sorry. It’s just that my whole firehouse teases me over my height, but I passed all the same tests they did.”

“You look plenty tall when you’re standing next to your mom,” he says, softly placing his lips against my temple before nuzzling my hair. “You smell good.”

“I hate the showers at the firehouse, so I always take a long one when I first get home,” I nervously blabber away, enjoying the warmth from his body. “Can I tell you a secret?”

“Mmm-huh,” he murmurs, stroking my leg.

“Rick removed the flow restrictors from the shower heads, so the water pressure here is amazing.”

While initially met with dead silence, Tarak eventually throws his head back to release a bellowing laugh. I frown up at him, annoyed at his reaction, especially since I was displaced from the warmth his body was emanating.

“Just you wait until you try the shower!” I say, pulling his arm back around me and cuddling into his side again.

“That does not count as a secret,” he replies, toning down his laughter.

“It does so! It’s against federal regulations,” I insist, knowing that should end the conversation.

“Honey, telling me you never wear panties is a secret. Bragging about your shower heads is right up there with saying you’ve never cut a tag off a pillow before.”

Well, I wear panties, so where does that leave me? I think, enjoying the warmth of his body and the feel of his finger tracing a circular design over the top of my hand.

It’s dark out when I jolt awake and Tarak’s body tenses beside me.

“What? Did you hear something?” his sleep roughened voice is deeper than usual, but alert, nonetheless.

“No. I don’t know,” I sputter out, trying to get some semblance of what time it is. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

“I could do a lot worse than having a woman like you curled into my side,” he replies.

“Come on, I’ll make the bed for you,” I say, reluctantly leaving him to go set up the Murphy bed.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Tarak asks from the doorway to the den, and I narrow my eyes at him, expecting him to tease me again. “I want you to stay down here with me.”

Giving myself a moment to weigh my decision, I turn my head to focus on jerking a pillowcase over one of the overstuffed pillows that my brother ... eww. I briefly consider my bed, but know that’s unfair to Tarak, given his ankle.

Without another word, I toss the pillow into place and reach down to pull my nightshirt over my head. As I’m lowering my pajama bottoms, I hear his belt buckle rattling and know that’s he’s undressing behind me.

“Shit,” he mutters, and I turn my head to look at him. “You don’t happen to have a condom, do you?”

“Are you clean?” I ask, feeling disappointed since I know I don’t have any. “I’m on the pill.”

“I am, but we’ll skip that part tonight,” he says, his eyes darkening again. “Sorry, and I do not want to offend you, but I won’t take the chance.”

Reading his expression, I pause to consider why I even made that offer to him and why his tone hardened. Kneeling on the bed, I scoot to the far side; silently telling him, I’m all right with that .

Unsure of what to expect, I’m surprised when he only removes his jeans and slides in, pulling me against him. The warmth of his body sends a cascade of shivers down my spine, my nipples tighten in response and I, again, wonder what I’m getting myself into.

His lips touch mine, softly at first, but as the minutes tick away and I wrap my arms around his neck, the light kisses take on a more demanding tone. When his tongue slips into my mouth and his arms tighten around me, I realize I haven’t been kissed like this in years.

Then I admit to myself how much I’ve missed just making out with a man.

He’s not rushing things along to get his dick inside of me.

It’s almost like a date except we’re not sitting at a restaurant asking each other a dozen questions. We’re getting to know each other as our tongues dance and explore. His hands gently stroking my shoulders and neck—even as I arch my back, pushing my nipples up against his shirt, in desperate need of some attention.

As his lips travel across my jawbone to my earlobe, I jerk in surprise as he touches a sensitive area, and he draws back, smiling down at me and brushing my hair away from my face, smoothing it out on the pillow beside me.

“You’re like a live wire, Talia. I can feel your entire body humming under me,” he murmurs the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.

“What is this?” I feel dazed and unsure as I try to understand what’s happening right now—if he’s feeling anything close to what I am.

“This is us ,” he responds after a moment. “This is your body understanding that you belong to me as it waits for your brain to process that. This is me, realizing what my brothers have with their Ol’ Ladies and knowing that you’re the home I’ve always wanted.”

“We just met—”

Those are the only words I get out before his lips crash down on mine again and the rest of the evening is spent kissing and discovering every inch of each other’s body.

Timber

I wake up with the sun in my face, knowing I’m alone. Rolling over intending to inhale the scent she left behind on her pillow, I feel paper against my cheek.

On a torn envelope, Talia let me know she ran to the store for groceries. Signed with a heart, I’m happy she thought to jot down her cell number, as we haven’t gotten that far yet.

I’m already grinning when I reach behind me to the bedside table to grab my phone. Several ideas pop to mind before I settle for the words in my first text to her.

Get back here. I want breakfast.

Just leaving the store. What were you thinking?

You. Sitting on my face.

In return, I get two emoji. One of a blushing face and the other of a runner. I’m hoping that second one means she’s getting her sweet ass back here on the double.

After I relieve myself, a picture in the room catches my eye and I cross to study it. It’s a candid shot of several of the extended Workman family, but I’m sure the person who took the time to print it on a canvas did so because of the threesome in the upper right-hand corner of the frame.

It’s Talia and her younger brother laughing alongside another man, and given his looks, he has to be their older brother. Tanner is shorter than Talia in the picture, which lets me know it’s from a while ago, but the playful friendship the three of them have is plain as day.

You need to call your sister a voice in my head prods my conscience. And I do. Diona is halfway through her first pregnancy, and I promised her and her husband that I would be the kid’s godfather.

Hearing the painful groan of the metal garage door, I take one last look at the photo before walking out to see if Talia needs any help, just in time to see Bill entering through the mudroom into the kitchen.

“Sorry. I thought you were Talia,” I say, feeling like an ass standing in front of him only wearing my boxers.

“Thought I’d stop by with the batteries for her garage door opener,” he explains, placing them on the counter even as he attempts to keep the frown off his face. “She never remembers to buy them.”

“Hey! Can someone help me with the groceries?” Talia calls from outside and I step forward, only stopping when Bill holds his hand up.

“I’ve got this. Why don’t you find your pants?”

I’m torn between wanting to tell him that I’m going to make his little girl my Ol’ Lady or that I intend to be eating her pussy in the next ten minutes—but I bite my tongue.

I’ve known her less than a day, yet that’s long enough to know there’s no way in hell she’ll ever be mine without her family being a big part of our lives. Just because you never had one, doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing I think as I turn to do as he suggested.

They’re whispering as they unpack the groceries, both turning to look at me when I rejoin them.

“You want to stay for coffee, Bill?” I ask, winding my arm around Talia’s shoulders and laying a kiss on her temple.

“I shouldn’t,” he says, looking back and forth between our faces. “Tiny’s dragging me out to play that damn pickleball.”

I can’t help the snort I let out, feeling his frustration from six feet away. His eyes dart over to mine as if looking for sympathy.

“It’s ridiculous. Just tennis for old people, but then all these young people took it up, and it’s all the rage,” he continues, and I immediately regret that I felt the need to mark my territory a moment ago. The poor guy obviously came here hoping to hide out.

“You said you liked it better than golf, though,” Talia gently reminds him.

“I want to play racquetball,” he nearly shouts, dramatically throwing his hands up in the air.

“Dad, you know what the doctors said.” Breaking away from me, Talia crosses to her dad, squeezing his arm.

Here goes nothing …

“Bill, I haven’t had breakfast yet,” I tentatively start, trying not to grin when Talia shoots a glare in my direction. “Why don’t you give me a minute to see what your daughter picked up this morning, then I’ll whip up something for the three of us. Maybe you could change out the batteries in her opener, and she had that other thing she asked me to fix, but I’m not sure how to go about it.”

Talia looks completely confused, just as Bill starts to look hopeful.

“I didn’t ask you to fix—” And I see the lightbulb click on behind her eyes. “Oh, yeah. It’s making a weird noise.”

“What is?” Bill asks, looking down at his daughter.

“That thing,” she says, waving her hand in frustration as she tries to come up with something. “We wouldn’t want it to be a fire hazard.”

“Okay, I’ll go change out the batteries, but you two are going to have to come up with an actual excuse or Tiny won’t let me off the hook,” Bill says, grinning ear-to-ear as he picks up the batteries he left on the counter.

The moment he’s out the door, Talia is in my arms, standing on tiptoe to give me a kiss.

“Thank you,” she whispers. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

“Damn right you will,” I respond. “Now get out of my hair—”

“You barely have any,” she sasses back before darting out of my arms when I start to tickle her. “After breakfast, you have to stay off your feet the rest of the day.”

Turning to rummage through the fridge and pantry, I think of my sister for the second time this morning. She’s the reason I learned to cook, after all. Poor thing used to cry with hunger and the local food bank only had staples instead of the microwavable dishes my mom would occasionally stock up on. I started out making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and worked my way up from there.