by S. Nelson
Even with the impending possible blowup between the two of them, I wished I had a father in my life I could go toe to toe with occasionally. Someone who cared about me, even when we didn’t agree on shit.
“What do you think of Tag now bein’ a prospect?” Kaden sidled up next to me as we walked back toward the kitchen, Linc remaining behind to talk to our newest member. “This has never happened before,” he said before I could answer.
In the past, the only way to become a member was to either be related to someone in the club or have grown up with another member, such as was in my case, me having gone to school with Kaden and Linc, them a couple years younger than me. If someone was from outside, such as with Brick, they had to prove their loyalty, and while it used to take years, if they were deemed worthy, they were prospected, then eventually patched in sooner.
“I like the guy. I can’t imagine what’s goin’ through his mind with all this, though. I doubt he wants to be a member of a club that strapped him to a table and cut him up before stabbing him, but like Marek said, it’s either this or death. What I don’t understand is why make him a member and not just let him go?”
“Probably so my ol’ man can keep a close eye on him.” Kaden raked his fingers through his already disheveled hair. “Who the fuck knows.”
I stopped him with a harsh grip on his arm. “You okay? That was a lot to take in.”
He nodded before shrugging away from me, his eyes hooded in exhaustion. “Yeah. I just wanna get outta here.”
“I couldn’t agree more, brother.”
Miles, Nash, and Rez gathered in the front room. I had no idea if they were gonna stop by the clubhouse tomorrow or leave right from here to go back to Laredo. I didn’t bother to ask because bluntly put, I didn’t care. I liked all three just fine, but it had been a long night and all I wanted to do was get as far away from here as possible.
Linc walked up next to Kaden and me, as we made our way out of the house. Tag lagged a few feet behind him. “You ready to go?” His question wasn’t directed at anyone in particular as he shoved past us, pulling his cell from his pocket and mumbling under his breath as he typed out a message. He disappeared into the garage, Kaden following next. I stopped and turned toward Tag.
“You okay?”
“I don’t even know how to answer that question.” He walked slowly, wincing every now and again before continuing toward me.
I pointed toward his side. “Who patched you up?”
Tag shrugged half-heartedly. “Some guy. I think he was a doctor, but I was so out of it when he worked on me, I couldn’t be sure. All I know was that he gave me some good shit to help. I wish I had more of it.”
“Linc’s mom is a nurse. I’m sure she can get you something for the pain once we get back.”
His teeth harassed his bottom lip and for a moment he gazed off in the distance, looking like he was busy contemplating something, but he never said another word before heading toward the van.
Once the four of us were settled in, Tag in the passenger seat and Kaden behind the wheel, we left, the entire ride back to the clubhouse in silence, save for the radio Kaden kept on a low volume.
When we were close to home, I shot off a text to Chelsea. I didn’t expect a response, seeing as how it was nearing three in the morning, but I sent her two more anyway. Debating on whether to show up unannounced at her house or to go home and pass out, I was startled when Kaden spoke. The first words uttered in almost an hour.
“Tag, you should stay at the clubhouse tonight until we can figure some things out. I don’t think you want to go to your mom’s house lookin’ like you do.”
“You’re probably right.” He turned to look out the window, his head shaking slightly side to side. Then I heard him sniff right before he raised his hand to his face. Kaden realized the guy needed some show of support, so he rested his hand on Tag’s shoulder. But nothin’ any of us could do or say would change anything that happened to him. He’d still have to deal with his physical wounds as well as the emotional scars that were already forming.
When we finally arrived, Kaden threw the van in Park and jumped out, rounding the front and opening Tag’s door to help him out in case he needed the assistance. Turned out, he did. I heard him groan twice on his way inside, which spurred me to stop Linc before he walked too far ahead. I realized as soon as he walked in there, he’d make a beeline straight to Maddie’s room.
“Hey, do you think you can ask your mom to come and look at him tomorrow morning? He’s gonna need some more pain meds and from the way he’s still wincing, he’s gonna need ’em like now.”
“Yeah. I’ll call her first thing. Now I gotta deal with Maddie.”
“Hey.” I smacked him on the back. “At least you can honestly tell her we didn’t kill Pike.”
“There’s that.” He stretched his arms behind his back and cracked his neck. “I’ll see ya tomorrow, man.”
I jerked my chin toward him right before he walked away. Not needing to go inside, I headed toward my bike, making the decision that I was in fact gonna pop by Chelsea’s. I needed to see her. As I kicked over the engine and fastened my helmet, I prayed she wouldn’t turn me away after the night I’d had.
The route I chose to her place gave me time to rehash everything that had taken place less than two hours ago. As the wind whipped against my sweatshirt, the smell of impending rain nestled in the breeze gave me a sense of peace, although life was anything but serene right now. The closer I got to Chelsea’s, the more everything rushed over me, from my anger at having Pike show up at our club, to him then later dying in the basement of the safe house. And there was no way I could forget the look in Linc’s eyes when he’d been set on shooting the Reaper in the head only to have the guy die from the bullet his club gave him, but not before Linc made a fuckin’ promise to look after the prospect’s family.
Then Sully and Reece showing up where they were definitely not wanted, interfering with our business, to the showdown between Kaden and his ol’ man to Marek telling Tag he had to become a prospect for us or choose death. Every piece of the jagged puzzle eventually fit together, but I was still left wonderin’ what life was gonna look like come sunrise.
I’d appeared somewhat calm on the outside, standing back, consumed with watching everyone’s reactions, listening to their outbursts, questions, and demands. I hadn’t offered much in the way of my opinion back there, but then again, no one asked for it either. But now that I had time to process the severity and the weight of the events, I mentally became stagnant. I didn’t know what to think, what to feel, which was exactly why I needed Chelsea. She’d make me forget, either with her sassy mouth or her tight pussy. I hoped for the latter.
6
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Groaning and flipping over to my other side, I reached for my pillow and held it over my head, pressing it close to drown out the incessant pounding that woke me from one of the best dreams I’d had in a long time.
Ace and I had snuck off for a quickie soon after we arrived at some party, and I was happy because we weren’t at each other’s throats for once. He’d slammed me against the wall in a downstairs bathroom, and once he turned me around to look at myself in the mirror, him hovering over me from behind, telling me to brace myself, the noise started, jolting me from a dream where I was gonna get some action back into the reality that I was alone in my bed.
My cell jumped around on top of my nightstand, startling me when accompanied with the annoying vibrational sound. Then I heard the noise again.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“I swear to God, someone better be dying,” I grumbled, kicking the covers off but continuing to lie otherwise motionless, praying for sleep to suck me back under. But I had no such luck when the cobwebs of my dream were completely wiped away with another round of incessant pounding, a thumping that was accompanied with the rattling of my cell.
There could only be one person at—I turned to look at the alarm clock—three o�
�clock in the freakin’ morning knocking, no, banging, on my door.
It took every ounce of energy I had to lift my legs over the side of the bed and push myself into a standing position. I tripped over one of my shoes on the way out of my room, stopping in the hallway when I realized I was naked. My room ran warm, so I often slept in the nude, but answering the door in my current state wasn’t such a good idea, even if Ace was the one who would be greeting me.
Reaching over the back of the chair in the corner, I snatched my short, burgundy silk robe and pulled it on as I walked toward the annoying noise of his fist, lazily tying the sash so the majority of my body was covered.
“What are you doin’ here?” I whisper-shouted as soon as I saw him standing in the doorway, surprised Riley hadn’t come out of her room with all the noise. Or was it just super loud to me because I wanted to remain lost in my dream, irritated I didn’t have a chance to finish?
Scanning him from head to toe, scuffed boots, dark denim, a white T-shirt beneath a gray sweatshirt, topped off by his leather cut, he looked delectable. His brown hair was messed, a few days’ growth shielded his strong jawline and his eyes were red-rimmed in exhaustion. Plainly put, he looked like he’d had one hell of a night, which made me that much more curious as to why he stood two feet from me right now. I smelled the air lingering between us and there was no odor of alcohol present. I’d shared many a drink with Ace, sometimes too many, as was evident when I accused him of wanting to have sex with Natalie. I may or may not have thrown a few items at him. In the light of day, I’d been pissed at myself because I’d broken my favorite lamp in the middle of my drunken meltdown.
“Are you gonna invite me in or what?” he asked, his left brow arrowing up in wait. His gaze darkened when he perused me, lingering a few seconds longer than normal on my mouth before taking in the flimsy state of my robe. The sash had loosened as I’d walked to the door but instead of tightening the belt, I left my arm propped against the door, tilting my head and pursing my lips. Contemplating on whether I wanted to let him in, I released a heavy breath before finally stepping aside.
“By all means. I wasn’t doin’ anything except sleeping.” I’d meant to sound more sarcastic but failed, my tiredness only partly to blame. Every time I saw Ace, I wanted to wrap myself around him, sink into his body, and inhale his scent, but I kept my distance most of the time, physically as well as emotionally, the latter of which seemed to irritate him more than anything. He’d called me closed off, secretive, and untrusting a few times, and while I’d argued I was none of those things, the truth was, he was right. Out of the two of us, he should’ve been the one who was untrusting, growing up in foster care most of his life, but Ace had this outlook on life I didn’t understand, an outlook I was sometimes jealous of. That’s not to say he wasn’t a moody sonofabitch from time to time, but so was I.
“I can see your nipples through your robe,” he uttered, his arm brushing against the side of my breast as he entered the small foyer. A tingle shot through me at the contact, but I kept my expression steeled, not wanting him to know he’d affected me in the slightest way.
“It’s not like you haven’t seen them before.” Flicking a strand of my hair over my shoulder, I closed and locked the door, still waiting for Riley to make an appearance. Keeping my voice low, I followed him as he walked into my kitchen, rooting through my fridge before retrieving a beer.
He twisted the top off, the hiss of the carbonation amplified in the space. “Do you mind?”
“Kinda pointless to ask after you opened it.” He chugged half the contents before setting it on the counter, his attention quickly returning to me. “So?”
“What?” He leaned his hip against the edge of the small island.
“Are you gonna tell me why you’re here? I haven’t heard from you in two days, and now you just show up on my doorstep at an ungodly hour.” Allowing the sides of my robe to fractionally separate, I kept my eyes pinned to his while I tapped my foot. Okay, maybe I wasn’t actually tapping my foot, but mentally I did the equivalent.
“The last time I came over, you fucked me, then kicked me out.”
“Are you looking for a repeat?” The time he referenced I’d had a couple glasses of wine in me, my hormones ravaging me the moment I saw him, all sexy and fuckable. We barely said two words to each other before our clothes were on the floor of my bedroom. Afterward, I wanted to be alone. Ace tried to convince me to let him spend the night, but I’d had a shitty day and wasn’t in the mood for company.
Ace lowered his head while keeping his eyes on me. “It’s not the reason I’m here, Chels. I just needed to see you, be with you.” The vulnerability laced in his voice erased all thoughts I had that he came here for a late-night booty call, even though I was okay with him showing up for sex. What I wasn’t okay with was how often I hoped he’d rap on my door, praying he’d chase me, grab me, pin me underneath him. I was insanely attracted to Ace, and while I tried to pretend I didn’t need him, or anyone else for that matter, I’d come to rely on the interactions between us, both physical and emotional.
No one was privy to the long talks we had, discussing our childhoods and all the events that led us to the people we were today. It wasn’t as if we had these in-depth conversations all the time because we didn’t. But the few that occurred had worked to change something inside me, my guarded wall had been cracked, and while I tried to patch that bastard back up, I wasn’t as pigheaded as I was before I met him. If I asked him to agree with that statement, he might refuse.
“What happened today?”
“What makes you think anything happened?” He answered my question with one of his own, deflection a route he often took.
“Because you look beat down and you didn’t tear my robe off as soon as I let you in. So that tells me somethin’ is on your mind.” Fully awake now, I stood in the middle of the living room, watching every miniscule movement he made, from him swiping his fingers through his hair, to the slightly ragged inhale that puffed his chest.
“Just club business. Nothing I can talk about.” The only things Ace would tell me pertaining to his club had to do with the strip joints the Knights owned. He oversaw the activities with the dancers. Auditioning them, hiring them, gettin’ rid of them if they broke any of the rules, stuff like that. Otherwise, his lips were sealed as to what he did every day. I wasn’t keen on him spending so much time around naked bitches, but he wasn’t my boyfriend, so I didn’t mention my annoyance.
He finished off his beer, then slid the empty bottle across the countertop.
“If you can’t talk about what’s botherin’ you, and you didn’t come here to have sex, then I’ll ask you again. What are you doin’ here?”
“When did I say I didn’t want to have sex?” The cocky grin on his face told me he’d obviously changed his mind since walking through the door.
“It’s not the reason I’m here, Chels,” I mimicked, my voice deepening to imitate his gruff tone.
“Is that supposed to be me?” Again, he sidetracked my question with his.
Refusing to answer, my eyes flattened into a glare. “If we’re gonna go ’round and ’round, I’m goin’ back to bed.”
Ace propelled his body toward me, catching my hand and tugging me closer until I collided with his chest. His scent lit fire to my lust, and the intensity with which he studied my mouth sapped my good sense—as if I had any left.
He leaned down, his mouth at my ear. “Can I come with you?” My heart flitted in my chest as goose bumps pebbled my skin, my nipples hardening and straining against the thin fabric of my robe.
I tried to stall for time, racking my overactive brain to come up with something that would convince him to leave. But that wasn’t what I wanted. At least, I didn’t think it was. Either way, being this close to him rattled me, and for as strong and unaffected as I wanted to appear, his presence weakened me. Before I could decide which way to go, his mouth collided with mine, the kiss turning frenzied as he pushed
me against the wall. His hands roamed my body, disappearing beneath the hemline and gripping my ass, pushing his arousal into my belly.
“I need you,” he whispered against my lips when he broke the kiss. “Don’t make me go home right now.” He knew me enough to realize I could’ve been headed in that direction, but when his tongue stroked mine, the only place I’d be sending Ace was to my bedroom.
With my hands placed on his chest, I tried to push him. He didn’t budge at first, but when I pulled my head back, and shoved at him once more, his arms dropped to his sides, the hurt look on his face making me want to reveal that I wasn’t telling him to go. But I didn’t say a word. Instead, I stepped around him, all while continuing to face him, taking one slow step backward after another, careful not to trip over the legs of my end table as I moved in the direction of the stairs.
When he saw the upward curve of my mouth, he licked his lips and mirrored my expression. “Where do you think you’re goin’?” His slow gait toward me made my breath stutter from my lungs, the excitement of what was to come exhilarating.
“Why do you care?” One more step back, then two.
“Are you gonna run? Because I can run faster.” Another two steps toward me. “Is that what you want?”
“And what are you gonna do if you catch me?” My robe’s belt was looser, showing more of my breasts. His eyes darted to the exposed flesh before returning to mine, heated and focused.
“Run and find out,” he growled, quickening his steps until I let out a small squeal and darted up the stairs, two at a time, tripping halfway up but catching myself before I face-planted. I heard Ace laugh behind me, but the sound quickly died once I made it to the top, sprinting down the hall, all while trying not to make too much noise so as not to wake Riley.
Just when I thought I’d escaped him, I was lifted off my feet, swung around and thrown over his shoulder, his strong hand squeezing my ass cheek right before he spanked me.