Liliana fought the grin on her face as Gunner's large hands pawed at her wide hips. He was sitting on the couch in his office, long legs spread wide and taking up half of the damn sofa. He grabbed at her while talking on his phone, or rather just mumbling a few 'mhms' and 'uh huhs' as the other person did all the conversating.

Liliana was visiting Gunner. She had made a habit to since it was over a week since their dates. Since they were both busy they made mini dates out of visiting one another at work. She tried to show Gunner how much she appreciated him, reciprocating his energy and investment effortlessly. So far, these little visits had been highlights to her days. Gunner showered her with affection that she'd never received from anyone unconditionally. Thinking back, she was beginning to realize just how hard Gunner had been trying without expecting anything in return. The thought made her toes curl with excitement for what was to come, her reservations were becoming a small thought in the back of her mind.

Finally, with a squeal she muffled behind her back, he wrangled her into his lap. He grinned widely as she perched atop him, kneeling across his hips. Glancing down at how she braced herself, Gunner knocked one of her knees out and watched her plop all of her weight down.

Gasping, Liliana looked at him like he was crazy. Feeling his solid arm wrap around her hips, she was unable to squirm away to take some pressure off of him.

Gunner narrowed his eyes at her and watched as she pushed her pouty bottom lip out at him. His breath caught in his throat and he didn't bother stifling the needy groan erupting from his mouth right into the phone.

"Gunner are you craz-?" Her whispered question was cut off as the blonde biker gripped her jaw. Pulling her down sternly, Gunner mashed their lips against one another. Both of them could hear the man on the phone asking questions as their lips smacked against one another.

His tongue darted out to trail over that same pout she poked out at him haughtily, nipping it with a rogue bite meanly. Liliana's small mewl made his mind spin and her fingers digging into his shoulders desperately made his dick twitch.

Pulling away to let her breath, his mouth hovered over her lips still, barely giving her a centimeter of space before he spoke up.

"Yer breakin' up, man."

"What? What the hell do you mean-"

"Can't hear a word- damn. That's such a shame-" Gunner hung up the phone as he tossed the phone aside. Liliana laughed with her brows up in surprise, feeling him bombard her face with countless kisses. "Fortunately I can put my efforts into something much more important." Gunner smirked as he cupped the back of her neck. His other hand rubbed at the plush curve of her ass over her shorts.

His low lidded eyes flickered over her in her entirety as he slowed down for a moment. Pinching her chin, Gunner sighed almost dreamily. "Pretty as sin, y'know that woman?"

Lily's entire body flushed at his low, rasped voice and the sincerity in his words. Hiding herself in his neck, she tried to tamper down the excited flutters in her stomach. "You're not so bad yourself," she whispered against his neck.

He frowned when she pulled away.

"Unfortunately, I need to grab something to eat before I leave," she pushed at his chest with a teasing tilt to her mouth.

"Yer really gonna leave me?" Gunner huffed as he lifted his head and watched her squirm on top of him. He was reluctant to simply let her go.

"Yeah," she grinned up at him. "Don't be clingy."

"Clingy?" The biker gasped. He'd never been called clingy by a woman he'd been seeing. Ever.

"Well where the hell are you goin' that makes me so clingy for asking about, huh?" He was only half joking as his hands flew to his hips and he watched her sway towards the door.

Liliana, who was leaving to go pick up Rowan from the daycare, sighed. She was planning to tell Gunner about her baby this weekend. It'd be two weeks of official dating at that point and she could confidently say she thought Gunner was fairly serious about her—and the lying was making her stomach hurt by now.

Just a little longer, she told herself. But for now, she told him:"My other boyfriend's house," with a roll of her eyes.

Immediately, Gunner's face dropped and he pointed at her while she laughed heartily. "I don't find that funny, baby."

Liliana stifled her giggles, leaning over him one more time and pecking him gently. The kisses were addictive.

"Got shit to do, hasn't anyone told you you're distracting?" Liliana raised a brown at him.

Sighing dramatically, Gunner watched her hover over the door to run to the kitchen before abandoning him. "It's a blessing and a curse."

Nodding with a knowing hum, she watched as he got another phone call. Gunner ushered her to come back but she pointed towards the kitchen persistently. He groaned while answering the call reluctantly.

Smiling to herself, Liliana was growing familiar with the biker compound. Luckily, she was able to make it to the little kitchen in record time. Gunner had shown her his own personal stash away from the stockpile of food where she grabbed a granola bar.

Flipping the bar over, she read the ingredients on the back as she meandered her way back to Gunner's office.

Or at least she tried. Because as she did so, there was a bustling around her. Bikers were always in and out of the club, but it was eerily quiet except for the one making a commotion.

She didn't recognize the one that pushed his way in front of her. Her dark eyes fell to his leather vest, her head tilting when she didn't recognize the patch on the leather cut.

Liliana glanced around and saw mostly prospect bikers for Mayhem Men that she was beginning to recognize; they all looked around nervously at the foreign biker. He was burly, his dark hair was curly atop of his head as he grinned down at her.

Sliding her eyes side to side, she ticked up her brow at him. Just as she opened her mouth to ask him why he'd moved himself in front of her, he cut her off.

"So this is the girl everyone's been talkin' about?" The man's grin was still intact as he leaned forward. Lily's eyes once again dropped to his vest and she saw his name was Drifter. Her lips quirked down at the name, squinting in distaste.

"Gunner always picks the pretty ones, eh?" Drifter tilted his head as he looked her up and down. "But he always get bored, huh? And all the bikers around get the scraps. Think I could join the party, pretty?"

Liliana's mouth immediately fell open, furrowing her brow as she stumbled back and he pushed in closer. Her back bounced off the bar behind her.

Swallowing hard, Liliana tried to steal her nerves. "I doubt he'd be happy about that, I think you should walk away," her voice came out softer than she would have liked it as nerves stifled her confidence.

Drifter attempted to lift his hand to brush his fingers along her rounded cheek. Liliana flinched back abruptly, shoving at his wrist instinctively while stepping to the side.

His face flushed at the blatant rejection and before she knew it, Drifter's hand fell to her shoulder and she was shoved back against the bar. Exhaling through her nose harshly, Lily lifted her hands up and met his angry eyes. "Let me leave, please," her voice cracked under her heavy fear but she tried to shove it deep down.

"Is the little birdie scared?" Drifter chuckled. "Listen lady, I didn't come here to cause trouble. Just came to confirm business with Gunner and maybe get a look at the leftovers I'll get a stab at. Look at ya, your little hands are shaking."

His voice was taunting, Liliana squirmed when his touch drifted down her bare arms all the way to her dainty hands.

Fisting her hands together as her teeth grit painfully, her skin began to crawl. Liliana wasn't able to take it anymore, abruptly shoving both of her fists into the unfamiliar bikers chest. With the opening, she tried to skirt around him to Gunner's office.

Seeing the beeline, Drifter tried to grip at her waist to slow her down. His nails digging into her skin painfully. Momentary panic struck him when he realized Gunner wouldn't take kindly to any interruptions caused by him.

Feeling his dirty hand on her hip, Liliana wound back without another thought and felt the harsh smack of her palm slapping across Drifter's cheek.

Whirling around to run back to her biker, Liliana collided right into Gunner who heaved as if he'd been running. Gunner's soft, gentle hands held her arms as his wild green eyes scanned her.

"Did he touch you?" he rasped even if he knew the answer after seeing her hit him. He felt nauseated at the thought.

The way her lips parted with hesitation was all the confirmation he needed but still he tightened his grip on her arms, pulling her into him even harder.

"Did he fuckin' touch you?"

The look on his face wasn't one she'd seen before. But, Liliana was no liar, so she nodded once.

A low snarl was her only response and he was on the move.

Behind Gunner, Taz had run up after a prospect came to retrieve him. But it was too late.

Taz came up to her side, asking her if she was alright in a rush with his hands hovered over her. But Lily couldn't even spare him a glance as Gunner rounded on a stuttering Drifter.

"Ya like putting yer hands on women, pussy? My woman? I knew you were stupid but not fucking suicidal."

"Gunner I-I didn't- Y'know how women are-"

Liliana yelped at the sound that emitted from the force at which Gunner threw his fist into Drifter's jaw. It was brutal, the ache of the punch practically stung everybody in the vicinity. Gunner's back flexed as he seethed through his teeth. His mind churned with murderous thoughts that emanated off of him into the atmosphere.

She could have sworn she heard a crack upon contact but then she definitely heard a crack when Gunner gripped the man's head before he could fall too far away, slamming it into the bar top.

Liliana screeched at the crunch of the man's nose, gripping onto Taz in shock. Gunner sneered at the man, not hesitating to fall with him to the ground. Wailing on him, Gunner saw red as his body moved on autopilot. He was unable to stop, even as the man's face swelled beyond recognition.

"How's it fuckin' feel, huh?" the biker president spat. But the man wouldn't be able to hear him, he was unconscious by now. "Remember that next time ya even look at her-"

Before he could hit him again, Gunner was ripped off by Taz who'd decided Lily had seen enough. Growling under his breath, the blonde man ripped himself away.

Glancing up, he spotted the prospect who went to get Taz in the first place. Snapping, he pointed the kid over.

"Ya ran away while she was dealin' with this douchebag by herself?" Gunner asked in a deadly calm tone despite what he'd just done. The prospect, who couldn't have been older than 20, fumbled over his words.

Gunner rolled his eyes in absolute annoyance. Gripping the kid by his shirt, he pointed at the body. "Yer gonna drag this son of a bitch back to his club and while yer there tell fuckin' everybody this is what happens when they put their hands on what doesn't belong to them. More importantly when they put their hands on what's mine. Understood? Ya ever pull that shit again, yer better off dead to me."

Liliana felt like a shell shocked victim the way that she was frozen until Gunner retreated back to her. He held her delicately, skating his hand down her arms that Drifter was just groping. Both him and Taz fawned over her, trying to gather if she was alright or not.

"You almost killed that guy," Lily finally muttered as she craned her neck to see what else was happening to him. Grunting, Gunner spun them around so she no longer had any view of Drifter between him and Taz.

He brushed his hands up her waist, under her shirt to see where that man had dug his fingers into her. He saw little marks and bared his teeth in anger.

"Baby," Gunner stressed. "Tell me yer alright?"

Blinking, as if returning back to the world, she nodded again. "Yeah... he barely did anything, it's okay," she murmured. Finally, the two's eyes met again. That residual anger was gone when he stared down at her, tugging her in tighter against him. Puffing out a breath, Lily couldn't help but lean forward and press her face into his chest. The violence had scared her, but not in the way that she felt it should.

Lily should be running for the hills after seeing what Gunner did scarily easily. But instead, she curled into Gunner even more at the thought of having to leave. Because where would Gunner be when she needed his protection? Squeezing him tight, she already knew she was in too deep and without Gunner she'd drown in the small biker world she was thrust into. She needed him, especially if other bikers were recognizing her as "Gunner's".

This was a whole new can of worms.

"I'm okay," she whispered into his broad chest.

Lily inhaled his scent softly, Gunner furrowed his brow in concern, slowly resting his cheek against the top of her head while meeting Taz's gaze. Both the men watched her closely, as if waiting for her to melt down at the encounter.

But, with Gunner holding her, Liliana felt her racing heart beat slow to his own steady tempo.

Other bikers came through the doors. Shooting her head up, Lily checked the time and realized all of her time was up and she needed to leave now for her baby.

"Gunner, I really really have to go, honey." Pushing up onto her tippy toes, Gunner held her jaw gently. He was trying to search for the concerns he expected to find on her face.

Her soft eyes were solely focused on him, "Thank you, Gunner. I'll be alright," she reassured. "You were just defending me. I can't be that mad right? He was out of line."

"I know but... we should really talk about this, sweetheart-"

Snagging her bag that was left on a nearby table, she felt his fingers dig into her hip as if begging her to stay.

"Probably, but not now. I can't be surprised every time you get in a fight, baby. I signed up for this right?"

With furrowed brows and a deep frown, Gunner wondered what exactly he'd gotten her into. "I'm checkin' up on ya later."

"Looking forward to it!" Liliana rushed out as Gunner had to force himself into business mode to get his laundry list of shit done today.