by Lynn Burke
“What made you that way?” I asked, needing to fill the silence, needing to end the sexually charged atmosphere choking me.
“Long fucking story that’s none of your business.”
Grumpy much? At least his abrupt words eased the unbearable ache between my thighs. “Is your name really Austin?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your last name?”
He hesitated a moment before answering. “Butterbaugh.”
The name didn’t match his badass biker sexiness one bit, and I found myself wanting to giggle. “Are you really from Texas?” I asked what Hannah had already told me.
“Yes.”
I nibbled on the inside of my lip again, unable to help from ogling his massive chest as he studied the apartment around us as though desperate to keep from looking at me in his bed. “What brought you to D.C.?”
“Another long fucking story.”
I frowned at his disinterest in elaborating. “Are you always this closed off?”
“Are you always this nosy?”
I huffed and considered turning away, but he dropped the damn towel and slid under the comforter before I could move.
Blinking didn’t erase the image of his semi-hard cock hanging low between his thighs I’d caught a quick glimpse of. So much for the desert mouth. Drool flooded, and I swallowed. “You could at least put on some boxers,” I managed to croak as if I had zero desire to have his naked ass in bed with me.
“I don’t wear underwear.”
Lovely. The thought boiled my blood -- and also pissed me the hell off. I didn’t want to be turned on by the mountain of a man whose care I’d been placed under. I didn’t want to be all wet, warm, and willing for his huge cock to plunder all three holes of my body.
Scratching the itch won’t hurt. I scowled at the ceiling at the devil’s voice in my ear.
“Close your eyes and sleep, Cadence. You’re safe.”
Safe. I held in my snort. Perhaps safe from the senator for the time being, but certainly not from my libido.
Austin’s breathing leveled out long before I managed to snag some sleep.
Chapter Three
Austin
Cadence finally drifted off, her light snores almost as cute as her damn blush when I’d dropped my towel. I had forced myself to relax, slow my breathing, but sleep wouldn’t come. I sure as fuck wanted to come. Again.
I’d busted a Goddamn nut in the shower, imagining those blue eyes peering up at me while I shoved my dick down her throat. Fuck. My dick swelled again, and I forced my thoughts on how to take care of the senator so Cadence could go free -- and get the fuck out of my head and bed.
I didn’t want to fall for her. Didn’t want to lose my heart. Didn’t want to be vulnerable again and risk losing her.
She sure as fuck wanted me, no doubt about that. Pulse thrumming in her neck, pupils dominating the blue -- damn goose bumps breaking out over her skin every time I grumbled a reply to her nosy-ass questions.
Unable to help myself, I shifted, trying to relieve some of the tension in my balls. I grabbed my cell off the bed stand and shot off a text to Val, our tech wizard, letting him know that I wanted him to meet me downstairs in the morning. He and another of our brothers, Drac, lived in the apartments above the club, and I knew we could brainstorm a plan over coffee.
Once we got the go-ahead from Gunner, I would end the shit clogging my head.
Try to get it up again for one of the club whores and forget about Cadence.
Even though she’d used my soap, I could still smell the sweet scent of her shampoo on the hair spread across my pillow. I longed to wrap my hands in the long strands and yank her head back while taking her tight ass.
God damn it. I pinched the bridge of my nose, fighting off erotic images of her tied to my bedposts -- spread eagle, sweating and panting, her tits jiggling as she fought for breath, begging and pleading for me to fuck her harder. To give her every inch of my cock.
Sleep played the bitch, and a long fucking time passed before I finally passed out.
* * *
I woke to warm curves pressed against my side, my palm on a curvy ass, a thigh across my groin. The T-shirt Cadence had borrowed rode up, and her bare pussy pressed against my hip.
A million curses flitted through my brain as my morning wood took an interest in the silky skin against it, swelling to the point of jabbing into her thigh.
She stirred, but I kept my handful of flesh, holding her tight against me. A soft sigh escaped her -- and she tensed a second later. “Let go of me,” she said, her voice husky and sexy as sin.
“You climbed onto me -- your fault.”
“Let. Go.”
I didn’t listen, but she didn’t pull away, either. Her hot breath caressed my chest, and I kept my eyes clenched shut while fighting the need to roll her beneath me and thrust my dick deep into her pussy, claiming every inch of her damn body.
Slowly, the tension left her, and she relaxed against me, shifting her thigh the slightest bit. I didn’t bother biting back my resulting groan.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For?” I managed with a gruff voice.
“Offering your protection.” She expelled a hot breath over my chest again. “For sharing your bed.”
“It’s not a hardship.” Fuck, I sounded like a strangled buffalo. “Trust me.”
Cadence giggled, her damn thigh shifting over my aching dick again, and my Goddamn heart cracked open.
That’s all it fucking took -- a mere giggle to break down my walls. Weak-assed pussy, I told myself, but I couldn’t find a fuck to give. I rolled Cadence under me before she could blink, the back of my hard-as-fuck dick pressed against her silky heat.
“Oh.” Her lips parted as I stared into her eyes, trying like fuck to see what she wanted from me -- how she wanted it. “Austin…” She breathed my name, but more a warning than encouragement to shift my hips and fill her with one thrust.
“You’ve been driving me insane since I first saw you, Cadence,” I said, brushing my thumb across her cheek. “My dreams. My day dreams.”
She wet her bottom lip with a flick of her tongue, but again, I didn’t feel she meant the action as a tease.
“Want to know what I think about?” I asked when she didn’t speak, lowering my voice to a ragged whisper.
“No.”
That, she didn’t mean.
A shot of adrenaline coursed through me, and I smirked. “I think about you bound to my bed, to a chair, to a damn table, your pretty pussy dripping because you need my dick so damn much.”
Her breath caught.
“I think about burying my tongue in your asshole, my fingers in your pussy.” I brushed my nose along her jaw line, down toward her neck, fighting like fuck to not thrust into her. “You smell so damn good.” I inhaled, filling my lungs. “I’ll bet you taste even better.”
Cadence whimpered, and I ground my dick against her clit, bringing her hips off the bed.
“You’re torn about allowing me to fuck you,” I mumbled against her collarbone before licking up to her neck.
She shuddered beneath me, but didn’t answer.
“I understand why.” My whisper brushed her earlobe. I pushed up onto my hands and knees, my dick leaking and heart pounding. “I’m not him. I won’t fuck you over.”
Cadence peered up at me, indecision warring in her eyes, in the way she worried her lower lip, flaying me wide-fucking-open.
“But.” I lowered my face, brushing my nose along her jaw once more, “as much as I want to, I won’t push. It’ll be up to you to make the first move.” I held still, waiting.
“Damn you,” she whispered and turned her face toward me.
Our mouths came together in a rush, and stars burst inside me, lighting me up and drawing a deep groan from my chest.
Sweeter than any strawberry, more refreshing than a juicy watermelon…
Fucking perfection, better than I’d imagined.
She grasped my shoulders, pulling me down against her, and I went willingly, the softness of her curves and skin rolling another rush of adrenaline through me.
I rubbed my dick along her folds, mimicking what I wanted to do inside her body, and she lifted her hips, whimpering her need to be closer, thighs tight to my waist, her heels digging into my ass.
“Fuck.” I tore my mouth from hers, burying my face into her neck, so damn ready to fuck, my insides trembled. Wetness coated the back of my dick, every flex of my ass sliding me up over her swollen labia to the hard, hooded nub I wanted between my teeth.
I wanted to beg her to make a move, wanted to encourage her to say what she wanted from me.
Lifting my head, I stole her gaze. She peered up at me with wide pupils, her lips parted. The pulse thrummed in her neck -- but hesitation lingered in her eyes.
A million curses ran through my head, but I wasn’t about to fuck things up with Cadence. I’d given in to my lust -- my need to have her -- and nothing would stop me from getting what I wanted no matter how long it took to make her admit she wanted me.
“How about some coffee?” I forced myself to ask.
She swallowed and jerked her head up and down.
One last brush of my lips across the soft cushion of hers, and I backed off the bed. Hard as fuck. Aching like fuck. Hating that I could still be a southern gentleman.
* * *
Cadence
Austin strutted across his apartment to the kitchen in nothing but his skin, his huge cock covered in my arousal leading the way. Back to me, he got the coffee going and disappeared into the bathroom, every flex of his ass like a shot of lust straight to my aching pussy.
I blew a breath between my lips, overheated and confused as hell. Want for him, his touch, his damn delicious mouth, had wetness coating my thighs and heart racing. Nothing wrong with a quick fuck -- but I’d thought that a few times before, too.
You’re done making bad choices, I told myself, closing my eyes. I’d thought fucking a senator would be safe. A badass biker would be ten times worse.
The shower sounded, and seconds later, a hushed grunt came from the bathroom, racing fire over my skin. I’d heard plenty of men moaning and groaning while fucking, but nothing -- nothing -- compared to Austin’s low rumble licking my ears.
I touched myself. Couldn’t help it.
Fingers in my pussy, I plunged deep, the other hand’s fingers rubbing my arousal over my clit in rapid movement. I imagined his ass beneath my heels as he thrust into my needy pussy, his thickness stretching me with a luscious burn.
One long groan from Austin, and I bit my lip as my climax raised my back off his bed. My pussy clenched on my fingers as wave after wave of almost-bliss shivered over my skin and tingled my toes.
Fuck. I lay like the dead, heaving for breath, enjoying every last shiver, my fingers still in my pussy, face turned into Austin’s pillow.
The shower quieted, and I still didn’t move. Knowing I needed to hide the evidence of what I’d done before he exited the bathroom, I forced myself to half-roll, pulling the top sheet over my waist.
The door creaked open, and Austin came into view, a towel slung low over his hips again, giving me an eyeful of gorgeous muscle and that damn V I wanted to trail my tongue over.
Without meeting my hungry gaze, he turned his back, dropped the towel, and pulled on a pair of jeans he’d grabbed from the bureau’s bottom drawer.
“You’re staring,” he said without turning and pulling on a T-shirt.
“Can’t help it,” I said. “You’re hot as fuck.”
He strode to the coffee pot and poured two cups. “Cream and sugar?”
“Mmm.”
He finally looked me full in the face when he sat on the edge of the bed beside me, one cup held out in offering.
I shifted to sit against his headboard, and took the coffee with one hand. He grabbed the other, the one I’d had buried inside my body. Blinking, a fresh rush of arousal rising between my thighs, I stared as he lifted my lip hand to his mouth -- and sucked the two fingers I’d fucked myself with into his mouth.
The twinkle in his eye said it all. He knew I’d heard. Knew I’d taken care of myself. My pulse thrummed and lips parted as a low moan rumbled in his damn chest.
Fuck, that noise…
He winked, dropped my hand, and sipped his coffee.
I sat and stared, unable to move, unable to think past the energy rippling off him.
“I gotta meet Val downstairs,” he said, standing as though unaffected by the sexual tension strung tight between us.
“Oh.”
“Make yourself at home, but don’t go anywhere.”
I nodded as he turned and walked out, leaving me alone -- and confused as fuck.
* * *
I took a shower, rubbing myself off again as the scent of his soap filled the steamed stall. The T-shirt I pulled over my nakedness still smelled of his laundry detergent, and I found myself holding the cotton to my nose and sniffing while pouring another cup of coffee. My mouth watered for so much more than the potent brew in the pot.
Sighing, I glanced around the studio apartment. He didn’t even have a TV, I noted, meandering around the room. Hardly any personal items, either. A few chopper pictures, one sunset, and another close up of some sort of engine parts hung on the off-white walls.
The kitchen revealed the man couldn’t cook beyond box mac and cheese and canned beef stew. But at least three dozen eggs sat in the fridge. Protein for a weight-lifting beast, I knew, considering the shape of his body. I found a frying pan and made myself some breakfast, but the silence ate at me.
Checking in on social media got me caught up with the few friends I had, but I made no mention of where I was. Hannah had texted me, telling me she’d be over at the compound’s lounge later on, so I at least had something to look forward to.
Austin had told me to stay put, but boredom and loneliness tangled up my brain within a half-hour. I pulled on my clothes from the night before and eyed the door we’d come through from the outside and the set of stairs at the end of the hallway. Expecting the apartments were accessible to the lounge below, I crept that way, standing at the top of the stairs. Sure enough, the filtering music grew louder from the closed door at the bottom.
I might be Austin’s ward according to him and his president, Gunner, but staying on the compound grounds would be safe enough, I suspected. Besides, he hadn’t told me I couldn’t leave his apartment. The wooden door pushed heavy, and I barely opened it a crack to peek through.
A handful of men lounged in the area from what I could see, all bikers in leathers and their vests declaring them Devil’s Outlaws. Colors, Hannah had told me they called their vests.
I pushed the door open a bit wider -- and recognized the redheaded woman from the night before at the old, wooden bar’s end. Smiling, I strode out, happy as hell to see a female in the joint. She smiled in return as I drew near, patting the stool beside her.
“I’m Shelby,” she said as I sat.
“Cadence.”
“How are you doing?” She asked, stirring what looked like a soft drink with lemon floating on top. “Did you stay upstairs at Austin’s last night?”
I nodded, turning my attention on the guy manning the bar sauntering our way. “Just some OJ if you’ve got it,” I said, even though I’d much rather have had a bottle of wine -- even if it was before noon on a Wednesday. I turned back toward Gunner’s girlfriend. “I’m bored as shit and confused as fuck.”
She laughed.
“Sorry.” I heaved a sigh.
“Don’t be. I love your frank honesty.” Still smiling, she glanced around the lounge. “There isn’t much to do around here if you aren’t a club whore, though.”
The thought of some skanky ho getting all up on Austin simmered my blood, and in the worst way possible. I didn’t do jealousy -- didn’t do relationships beyond fucking, so what the hell?
“Why the confusion?” Sh
elby’s question drew my focus back on her.
I decided to spill it all, because why the fuck not? I needed to spill. Get some insight since Austin hadn’t said jack shit when I’d laid it all out there for him the night before.
I told her about the senator -- every Goddamn thing I could remember, more than I’d told Austin, because telling a woman about sexual encounters came ten times easier. I told her about the two goons, the call, and the text from Senator MacGillroy.
“So what’s the plan?” she asked once I finished and guzzled some OJ.
“I’m not sure.” I glanced at the door with the sign reading “Office” on it, figuring Austin, Gunner, and Val at least sat inside. “The senator has the funds and connections to wipe me off the face of the Earth like I’m pretty sure he wants to do.”
“Do you have any dirt on him? Videos? Pictures?”
I shook my head, lips pursed. “He never allowed me to have my own cell phone around him.”
“Blackmail won’t work then,” Shelby said. “That’s what the Outlaws do best.”
“Yeah, Hannah told me as much.”
“Hannah?”
“Bowie’s girl. Angel.” I drank down the rest of my OJ.
“Ah. Stage name, yes.” Shelby leaned an elbow on the bar. “What else is bothering you?”
“Austin,” I didn’t hesitate to reply.
“He wants you bad.”
I jerked my head toward Shelby. “What makes you say that?”
She smirked, her blue eyes twinkling. “The way he was looking at you last night in the hallway -- the man is fucked. I told Gunner as much, and he seemed to think the same thing.”
I blew an exhaled breath between my lips and shifted on the stool, needing like hell to get out of there. Go dance off some energy. Eat a Pop Tart or three since the damn eggs from Austin’s fridge hadn’t satisfied me in the way I’d hoped.
“You are too, huh?” Shelby asked before I could think of a reply.
“What? Fucked?”
Still smirking, Shelby nodded.
“I’d like to be.” I snickered with the confession -- as did the damn devil on my shoulder -- but I shook my head. “But seeing as how my decisions these days have led to nothing but trouble…”