Dana leaned with her head against his shoulder. Her hand slid under his shirt again, and she left it on his warm stomach. He was so sweet, so honest. So different from Maddox. The thought that he was so serious about what was going on between them and his will to cherish it, made her eyes wet. What would her life have looked like if she'd never met Maddox? Would she have had a normal relationship with her brother? Would she have met Juice years ago? Or would she never have become the woman she is now, the woman he'd fallen in love with?
Someone knocked at the door. "Dane? Got your stuff."
She left the bed, walked to the other side of the room and opened the door. Happy observed her from top to toe. "You okay? Heard what happened..."
"I'm fine. Just a lil shaken."
Happy nodded, though he looked over her head, to Juice. She was relieved he was still clothed, she rather not imagined what Happy would have done otherwise. The bed cracked, Juice was on his way to the door and a moment later he took her hand in his.
For a few seconds the two stared at each other. Dana's mouth felt dry. Should she say something? The features of Happy's face were harsh, but they always were. Eventually it was Juice who cleared his throat.
"I didn't forget your threat, right after we'd seen Dana for the first time." Even though Happy was a foot taller than he, his voice sounded firm. "But I'd come to love her. So do whatever you need to do as her protective brother. I'll do anything for her."
The look in Happy's eyes was inscrutable. Dana held her breath.
"Then pull down ya pants, huh?"
Juice's fingers moved in her hand, and Dana squeezed them. He wasn't that much of an idiot that he would do something so ridiculous, right?
Happy stepped forward, raised his arm. For a moment she believed he would hit Juice, and the way Juice was freezing showed her he thought the same, but then Happy put an arm around him in a brotherly hug. "Why she wants an idiot like you is beyond me, but she picked bigger assholes in the past."
Dana exhaled in relief, then she started to smile. Happy let one hand rest on Juice's shoulder and he put the other on hers.
"Congrats, I guess?" For the first time in days it felt like he really looked at her. "He ain't that bad, this time." He turned to Juice. "But if you cheat on 'er, I'ma cut off your balls."
"Thought that would be up to me," Dana answered drily.
Her brother smirked. "Fair enough."
He slapped Juice's shoulder and stepped back. "Tomorrow at the table at ten, Ortiz." Then he looked at Dana again. There was something wild in his eyes. Smouldering wrath. Opie must've told him what Danny had said to her. "And you don't leave the clubhouse without your man and an extra guard. Tomorrow at Cara Cara at four, I'ma learn you how to shoot."
After these words he closed the door. With a satisfied smile she looked at Juice. He looked really relieved now he had Happy's acceptance.
"Well, I'm upgraded to your personal guard right away."
Dana liked that thought, even though it gave rise to her fear as well. The idea that someone outside the club would see that they were together, that Maddox would hear it... she started to doubt her decisions again.
"Don't," he said. "Don't go ruminatin'. Nobody needs to know I'm more than your bodyguard. Within these four walls, however..." With a grin he lifted her up and carried her to the bed. He laid her down on the blankets and hovered over her.
She sighed softly when she felt his lips again. She still hadn't get used to the warm glow that filled her when he touched her. It was amazing, and it flushed away all the thoughts in her head. He was able to make her forget about everything and she realized now she wasn't the only one who was longing for that oblivion.
She pulled his shirt over his head, let her fingers run over the muscles underneath. "This was all I could think of since the moment you put out your shirt, that night I stayed at your place," she whispered to his lips. She left his mouth and trailed kisses along his neck, the tattoos on his chest, his stomach. She smiled against his skin when his breathing sped up, and he curled the strands of her hair with more force around his fingers.
When she reached the skin right beneath his navel, she felt a bad memory push against her mind and she quickly raised her head. As if he'd felt how she tensed, he pulled her in his arms and held her close.
"Maybe we should go to sleep," he suggested after a while. He pressed his lips against her temple. "It was a hell of a day, for both of us."
Dana nodded. He was right. It must be after midnight. It felt like the funeral of her mother was much longer ago. She stood up, opened her bag and took her toiletry bag.
After Dana had removed her make-up and they'd both brushed their teeth, they returned to Dana's room. She put on her nightie and cuddled up to Juice. He laid his arm around her and she used his chest as a pillow, dreaming away while listening to his heartbeat.