He bent down, kissing her, and when Lily parted her lips his tongue entered her mouth, searching its depths. Her tongue timidly touched his, and he sucked it into his mouth, sliding his own against hers, tempting her to explore the warmth of his mouth.

When her arms slipped around his shoulders, Shade raised his head, breaking off the kiss.

“When I kiss you, it’s like touching perfection.” Shade placed soft kisses on her neck.

Lily’s arms dropped to her side. “I’m not perfect,” she replied, turning her face away.

“You’re perfect for me,” Shade corrected her.

“Shade…” Lily began hesitantly.

“Not tonight, Lily. Tonight, I want to hold you in my arms, knowing that you’re taking one breath after another. That, when I wake in the morning, your beautiful face will be on the pillow next to mine, and tomorrow night, when I go to bed, you’ll be by my side again. Day after day, night after night.” Shade’s vow expressed how seriously he had taken almost losing her.

Lily’s lips smiled against his throat. “What about when I snore?”

“Angels don’t snore.”

Chapter 58

“What’s going on?” Shade asked, coming up behind Lily. He had seen first Beth then Winter go downstairs, followed by Razer and Viper.

He was glad she was standing and talking with the women in the kitchen. He had been worried about her when she had acted strange as Lucky had come into the diner after church, wanting to leave in a rush. She had worked on her course work in the bedroom upstairs while he had helped the men in the basement. By dinner time, she was fine, his concern for her leaving when the women had started talking about their ‘dream weddings.’ The other brothers had tuned out, but he had listened carefully to Lily’s idea of a dream wedding.

“There was a wedding in December and it was snowing just a little bit. They got married in the backyard of a tiny church. It was beautiful,” Lily had breathed with dreams in her violet eyes for once.

“What kind of dress?” Evie had asked.

“My mother’s. I have it packed away. It’s stunning with long sleeves made of lace, but they’re off the shoulder, and it has a long, lace veil.”

Afterward, Lily and Beth had left to go see Beth and Razer’s house for the first time. They were finally back, and everyone was standing around, talking.

“She told Beth about your shower and then Beth told Winter. Winter’s been wanting to redo the bathroom in Viper’s room. Want to bet he’s going to be shelling out some cold hard cash?” Evie answered.

Shade looked down at her, and Lily gave him a mischievous smile which had his dick getting hard.

“You’re not causing trouble, are you?” His arm went around her shoulder.

“Can I help it if that shower is a work of art?” Lily said jokingly.

Winter and Beth came back upstairs with determined expressions on their faces. Viper and Razer, on the other hand, sent accusing looks toward Lily who unsuccessfully tried to hide her laughter.

“I can’t blame them. That shower has given me many pleasurable moments,” Jewell joked.

Shade’s instincts told him his night was headed for the shitter. Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea for Lily to become friendlier with the women.

“Me, too. That rainfall showerhead is gold-plated,” Evie agreed. “Shade designed it himself when he moved to the basement after Beth moved into the club.”

“I love the music that plays to the beat of the water,” Dawn shuddered.

Lily stiffened at the second comment, and by Dawn’s, she had pulled away from him; all her amusement had died. Yep, he was right. The shitter.

“It’s getting late. If I’m going to work tomorrow, I need to get some sleep,” Lily excused herself without looking at him. “Night, everyone.”

The members mumbled their goodnights to her as she left.

Shade glared at the women. “Thanks.”

Jewell shrugged. “Are you honestly going to blame us? We weren’t alone in that shower,” she reminded him.

Shade ran his hand over his head. “Next time, think before you open your mouth with comments like that. She might know I’ve fucked you all, but she doesn’t need to hear the details about it, either,” he snapped.

“You haven’t fucked me,” Evie said, opening a beer.

Shade folded his arms over his chest, glaring at her.

“Me, either,” Beth laughed.

Shade frowned in her direction.

“Me, either,” Winter spoke up, biting into a brownie.

“Anyone else have something to say?” Shade asked snidely.

“No, I think you fucked everyone else,” Raci giggled.

Shade jerked his head at Viper. “You’re not going to help a brother being ganged up on by the women?”

Viper took the brownie away from Winter, sitting down at the table next to her. “Nope. I have problems of my own to deal with, unless you want to pay for the new shower Winter is going to make me put in. You do that, then I’ll have your back.”

Shade looked at Razer who raised his own hands in the air. “I’m going to have to keep Beth from ripping out a perfectly good shower which my woman was happy with before she saw yours, so no. Sorry. I can’t open my mouth, anyway.” He placed an arm around Beth, giving her a wink before turning back to him. “I’ve fucked more women here than you have.”

Shade flipped the men off as he left the kitchen to go upstairs.

Lily was hanging her new clothes in the closet when Shade walked into the bedroom. “What are you doing?”

“Hanging up my new clothes,” Lily replied, stepping back from the closet and closing the door.

“Why didn’t you hang up the rest?” Shade asked, eyeing the numerous bags still on the floor.

“Because I’m not keeping them.” Lily turned away from him, going to the dresser to brush her hair.

“Why not?” Shade asked, confused.

“Because I can’t afford them.”

“I paid for them.”

“Exactly. You paid for them; I didn’t.”

Shade’s mouth tightened. “If you’re angry, that’s fine, but you’re keeping the clothes.”

“No. I. Am. Not! I’m taking them back.” Lily went to the chair, picking up the nightgown and robe before going to the bathroom.

Shade wanted to go back downstairs and yell at the women, but he was afraid they would kick his ass.

“Fuck this.” Shade emptied all the bags on the bed, hanging up all the clothes in the closet and putting away the rest in the drawers Raci had emptied out for her.

He was placing the shoes in the closet when he saw the price tags on them. He almost thought about letting her take those back until he opened the boxes then thought, She definitely needs to keep these. Giving a wicked smile, he finished stacking the boxes in the closet before closing the door.

He went to the bedroom next door where Raci was about to climb onto the bed with Rider when he walked in.

“I need to keep these in your closet for a while.” Rider and Raci both looked at his arm full of shoes.

“Help yourself.” Rider motioned toward the closet while reaching for Raci.