****
Gash peeled back the banana conscious of Angel’s gaze on him. He didn’t know why she was staring, but it was starting to bug him. Yes, she was a sweet, sexy woman and he could see why Lash had fallen for her. Who wouldn’t? But the point was, if she was so sweet and sexy, why did she keep looking at him?
Biting into the soft flesh of his fresh fruit, he returned her gaze. She started to look down his body then back up again.
Seriously? He’d seen her with Lash and knew this woman wasn’t the kind of woman to stray. Why was she staring at him then?
He’d been trapped inside four walls with no women for over five years. Angel was beautiful, and he wouldn’t have any problem banging her.
“What?” he asked, not liking his own thought. He snapped the word out so she didn’t have a choice but to answer.
She jerked, turning those big blues eyes on him.
“You keep staring at me as if you want to f**k me. I’m tired of it and I like Lash, but there’s only so much eye f**king I can take.”
The way her face instantly changed, Gash knew he’d gotten it wrong.
“I don’t want to have sex with you. Far from it.” She wiped her hands on a dish towel and threw it at him. “Ew, how could you think that? I know some other women cheat on their husbands, but I’m not one of them. Don’t ever make that mistake with me. I love Lash, and I don’t want any other man but him.”
Okay, he was way off base and knew it.
“Sorry, babe, look at it from my point of view. You were giving me some serious eye action. I was simply responding to it.”
“Well, don’t. There’s nothing going on, and you can stop thinking there is.” She stepped up close to him, taking the towel.
“Then why are you staring at me if you don’t want to f**k me?”
“You’ve been in prison for five years, and I know you’ve had to take care of yourself. Lash told me that prison life isn’t as straightforward as it sounds. You have to fight back to show who is in control.”
“Lash tells you a lot,” Gash said.
There was fire in this woman’s eyes, a need to prove herself. He knew there was a reason he liked her.
“He answers my questions, but he doesn’t tell me club business. I don’t need to know what goes on. I’m his woman. I’m not a club member. I was staring at you because I’ve been thinking about asking you for a favor. A non-sexual favor that I need you to keep between us,” she said.
His curiosity was piqued. “Not even Lash?”
“Especially not Lash.”
“Okay, what do you need that’s so secret you don’t even want Lash to know?”
She took a step back and ran her fingers through her hair. The blonde locks glistened in the sun spilling into the room. The dress she wore molded to her sexy, beautiful curves. Lash was a really lucky man.
None of the sweet-butts he’d f**ked had left him feeling content. Their bodies were so thin that he was scared to let loose and give them a hard f**king. He needed someone to f**k hard and know they could take what he could give.
“I want you to teach me how to take care of myself.”
Gash had been expecting something a lot different.
“What?”
“The club used to teach us all how to take care of ourselves. It stopped with every new enemy we’ve met. The training, it stopped. Lash didn’t like me going, but I want to learn how to protect myself.”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t like this. Lash has a reason for doing what he does.”
“Yes, he does. He loves me, and he doesn’t want to think that I could be hurt.”
Gash made to move away, but Angel grabbed his arm and placed his fingers inside her shirt. His c**k was not as good as his brain, and he responded to the feel of her silky skin. There was no interest in her eyes at all. In fact, she was treating him like nothing more than a girly friend. This woman couldn’t be for real. All of the women he’d been with were all about greed and sex. Angel was pure deep into her soul. Lash had picked himself a good woman.
“Do you feel that?” she asked.
What was he supposed to be feeling? A few inches lower and he’d have her entire tit in his palm.
“Erm, what am I supposed to be feeling?”
“I got shot three times because I stepped in front of Zero. I’ve been attacked and hurt during my time in The Skulls. I don’t want to be the reason Lash loses it.” She released his hand, and it took every ounce of strength inside Gash to remove his fingers. “He can’t be there to protect me every hour of every day. It’s not fair to anyone, and it certainly isn’t fair to me.”
“What happened when you got shot?”
“I almost died. I was told that I flat-lined on the operating table. Lash had to be sedated. He was destroying the hospital, and he wouldn’t calm down. He lost his mind. For all of our sakes, I need to learn how to protect myself. I’m not asking you to teach me how to wield a knife or fire a gun. If you could simply tell me a few pointers that will help, then I’ll be grateful. Please, I really need this to help my man.”
He stared at her knowing he should turn her down. This was between her and Lash. Thinking about his other brother, he knew it would be hard for him to let Angel go through something like this. Lash was completely devoted to Angel, but she made a valid argument.
“If I agree to this then you’ve got to do everything I say,” he said.
“I’ll do everything you say in a non-sexual way. I just want you to know I’m not going to sleep with you or anything. I love Lash.”
“Then he’s a lucky guy. There’s a lot of women out there who wouldn’t care and sleep with whoever the hell they wanted.”
“I’m not most women. I took my vows to Lash, and I take them seriously. No other man will ever know me in the bedroom. My love for Lash is why I’m asking for your help. I want to be able to protect myself when he’s not around. Will you help me?”
“Yes, I’ll help you.”
Gash didn’t know why he’d help her, but he did have a lot of respect for her. Lash was a lucky man.
****
The following day Eva was sat at the clubhouse while Rose watched over the children. The strain in Rose and Hardy’s relationship had started to show. They hadn’t turned back up at the clubhouse for a few days. Eva was worried about them and asked Tiny to phone them back so she could see for herself that they were fine.