A Tender Touch

Smoke still hung in the garage like a bad memory, but the fire was out and the Reapers were gone. Colossus hadn’t let go of me since he’d dropped Blade outside like yesterday’s trash. His arm stayed locked around my waist, big hand splayed across my hip, thumb tracing slow circles through my shirt like he needed the reminder that I was solid, breathing, still here. “You okay?” he asked for the third time, voice low and rough against my hair. We were alone again — the club had cleared the perimeter and locked down the gate, but he’d pulled me into the far corner of the garage where the half-built chopper sat untouched except for a few new dents. I tilted my head back to look up at him. Even after a fight, the man smelled like leather and safety. “I’m better than okay, mountain man. You didn’t lose control. You held back. For me.” His gray eyes softened, that rare crooked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “You keep saying s**t like that and I’m gonna start believing I’m not the monster I thought I was.” He lifted one massive hand between us, turning it palm-up like he still expected it to prove him wrong. “These hands almost—” I caught it and pressed my lips to the center of his palm, right where the calluses were thickest. “These hands just saved my chopper and my ass. They’re my favorite hands in the whole damn state.” He let out that low, surprised laugh I was getting addicted to — the one that made his chest rumble under my cheek. “You’re dangerous, wrench girl. Dangerous and perfect.” Before I could tease him back, he bent down and kissed me like the world wasn’t on fire around us. This one was slower, deeper, full of everything we’d almost lost tonight. His beard scraped my jaw in that perfect way that made my toes curl. One rough hand slid under my shirt to rest against my bare lower back — warm, steady, no longer trembling with fear. The other cupped the back of my neck, thumb stroking the spot that always made me shiver. I melted into him, fingers fisting his cut, pulling him closer until there was nothing but heat and leather and the steady thunder of his heartbeat. When he finally pulled back, forehead resting against mine, we were both breathing hard. “Stay in my room tonight,” he said, voice husky. “Not because of the Reapers. Because I want to wake up and see you there. Grease on your cheek and all.” I grinned, nipping his bottom lip. “Only if you promise to keep being all gentle giant and zero monster.” “Deal.” He kissed me once more, quick and fierce, then rested his chin on top of my head. “But first we deal with the mess outside. Marco’s still bleeding in the infirmary, and your mom’s been blowing up the gate phone.” The guilt tried to creep back in, but his arms tightened around me like he could feel it coming. “You don’t owe them anything,” he said quietly. “Not after what they put you through.” “I know.” I traced the scar on his collarbone with one finger. “But old habits die hard. Kinda like you and that fear of yours.” He huffed a laugh. “Touché.” We stepped out together. The compound was lit up like Christmas — floodlights, brothers on patrol, Jax running around with a shotgun like he was living his action-movie dreams. Marco sat on a cot in the open infirmary bay, gauze on his face, looking smaller and meaner than ever. Mom hovered nearby, mascara streaked, clutching a cup of coffee someone had forced on her. “Lena,” she started the second she saw me, voice wobbly. “He’s your blood. The Reapers said they’ll kill him if you don’t—” “Enough.” My voice came out steadier than I felt. Colossus’s hand stayed at my lower back, rough and warm and grounding. “I’m done paying for his mistakes. He stole from me. He sold me out. You chose him every single time. I’m choosing the people who actually protect me.” Marco sneered through his split lip. “Big words for a girl hiding behind a freak who’s gonna snap one day. You’ll come crawling back when he crushes you like he crushes everything.” Colossus didn’t move. He just stared Marco down until the smaller man looked away first. Then, in that calm, deadly voice I was starting to love, he said, “She’s not hiding. She’s standing right here. And if you ever talk to her like that again, I won’t need the Reapers to finish the job.” Mom started crying again, but it was quieter this time — the kind that comes when someone finally hears the truth. Viper appeared at the end of the hall, arms crossed. “Marco stays locked down until we decide what to do with him. Your mom can leave at first light. Lena, you’re club now. That means family doesn’t get to bleed you dry anymore.” I nodded, throat tight. Colossus’s thumb stroked my hip once — silent support. Later, back in his room, the door locked and the world shut out, he pulled me onto the bed without a word. We didn’t rush. He stripped my vest and shirt off slowly, hands mapping every inch like he was still learning he could touch without destroying. I did the same, tracing the scars on his chest, whispering how safe I felt when those rough hands went gentle for me. When he finally settled between my legs, big body braced above me, the look in his eyes was pure wonder. “Still trust me?” he asked, voice wrecked. “Always.” I pulled him down, legs wrapping around him. “Now show me what those hands can do when they’re not scared anymore.” He did. Slow. Thorough. Reverent. Every touch was rough and soft at the same time — calluses scraping, palms soothing, that low laugh rumbling out when I teased him about being “all mountain, no mercy.” We moved together like we’d been waiting years for this, not days. When I came apart under him, whispering his name like a prayer, he followed with my name on his lips, forehead pressed to mine, breathing like I was the only oxygen he needed. Afterward he held me against his chest, one massive arm curled around me like a shield. His fingers traced lazy patterns on my bare back. “You’re stuck with me now, wrench girl,” he murmured into my hair, voice sleepy and content. “Giant, scars, overprotective growling… all of it.” I smiled against his skin. “Good. Because I’m keeping the mountain.” Sleep was pulling us under when his phone buzzed on the nightstand. He ignored it at first, but it buzzed again — then again. He reached over, frowning at the screen. “It’s Rogue. Reapers just hit the south fence again. They’re asking for you by name… and they’ve got your mom with them.” My stomach dropped. Colossus’s arm tightened around me, rough hand now steady and sure. “They’re not taking you. Not tonight. Not ever.” But as we dressed in the dark, the chemistry between us still humming under our skin, I knew the real storm wasn’t the Reapers outside. It was the one inside — the one where my past and his future were about to collide, and the only thing holding us together was the trust we’d finally built in each other’s hands.