Page 8 of The Vow

But there was a noise from behind them. Rita yelled.

The bar doors slammed open.

“Lyle!” she said, rocketing toward the door, where a sheepish but healthy looking Lyle stood.

“What the fuck, we were expecting you at lunchtime…?” Colt stood quickly and strode over to the guy.

Jared came around the door, with a grin on his face. “I went early, before dawn, told them I wanted him ready to go first thing-”

“Papa Bear,” Ash’s voice now, sounding like he was greeting an old friend.

Nix whooped and pounced forward, punching Lyle playfully in the ribs.

“Oh my God!” April glided over, as much as a pregnant lady could glide, holding hands with Penny. “We haven’t set anything up, we were going to put up bunting-”

“Aw, I don’t give a crap about any of that-” Lyle began to say, his eyes dancing as he watched Penny approaching him.

Penny smiled happily, arms up, going straight for the embrace, lips locking immediately.

“Welcome home, Big Papa Bear.”

Carmelo watched as everyone welcomed Lyle back with open arms and smiled. Even baby Chase bumbled forward shrieking with joy. Shadow the cat trotting along behind the kid with urgent little steps to pull his cat wheelchair along, too.

All previous animosity forgotten, forgiven. Instant warmth, welcome kindness.

Carmelo felt a bittersweet sting as he slinked out the door, to crawl upstairs and find a bed to crash out. He had none of this, he didn’t belong here. As Carmelo passed Colt, Colt braced him with a palm on Carmelo’s chest. Carmelo held his breath to avoid crying and leaned into Colt’s hand for a second.

“That’ll do, pig, that’ll do.”

6 months later

Carmelo

She was pretty. She was kind. She could cook like a fucking Italian Nonna. She giggled often and looked cute doing so. Carmelo Rossetti had been dating her for three months now. They’d eaten out, they’d gone to the cinema, they’d gone for walks with Carmelo’s dog, Cal.

They’d kissed. Like properly with tongues, and had a cheeky dry hump grind session on her doorstep once. But that was it.

Carmelo was dying to fuck already.

He’d held off because it had felt like the right thing to do. He wanted to properly date her. He wanted to treat her like a lady, she was a wholesome Italian girl. Her family were immigrants, just like Carmelo’s father, they had an Italian deli in the next town, he’d met her at a farmer’s market and they’d had a long discussion about whether black olives or green olives were better. He’d asked for her phone number and they’d started messaging each other. He’d offered to take her out for coffee, and things had blossomed from there. It was all very normal, very much what other people expected of him. The Police Sergeant and son of an Italian restaurant owner in Northern California. She was the kind of girl you dated properly, exclusively. She was not one of the MC strippers Carmelo had had previous dalliances with. He’d wanted to move away from them, they were no good for him, that lifestyle was no good for him. He’d partied hard one too many times at the Black Coyotes clubhouse and had vowed to turn over a new leaf. No booze, no sex. He’d taken the advice of one of the new MC members, a tattooed jailbird, Nix, who had advised him the best way to remain celebate is to get his cock pierced. Carmelo had laughed in his face at the time but it made sense, it enforced abstinence. So he’d gotten a Prince Albert done, and had to stay off sex for six months while it healed.

The perfect detox.

And now, six months later, he was ready to seal the deal again. He was excited, nervous. Keen to fuck again, aware he had to treat her differently that what he was used to, but desperate to try out his new metal. The blood pumping in his veins was making his self control waver.

“Carmelo, do you… want to come inside?” she had asked him on the porch earlier that evening, after a pleasant evening out. He knew what that was. An invite. To come to bed with her.

Yes, he wanted to come inside. Inside her house, inside her pussy. He wanted to come so bad it hurt.

So here he was, maneuvering her into what he could only presume was the bedroom in her condo, kissing her, hands roving over her body.

“Oh fuck, baby, I need you so much.”

She was making little mewling sounds of shock and desire that were driving him wild.

He came up for air, looking into the room. Yeah, it was her bedroom. He picked her up, straddling her legs around his waist, and heaved her onto the bed. “Oh God, you’re going to look so good on my cock, I can’t wait to-”

“Carmelo!” she breathed, surprised.