Game Changer (Hell's Saints Motorcycle Club)

by Marinaro, Paula

  I felt myself go hot and pink again thinking of the word Gino had used when he did something that made me want to stop…cock teaser. An ugly word that I hated, but in this case was probably true.

  This was uncomfortable for me, and I pulled my arms around myself.

  “Hey, you in there.” His voice was light and teasing.

  “I’m sorry.” Me not looking at him.

  “Too much?” Him looking right at me.

  I nodded. Really nice that he got that.

  His hand was still on my stomach, inches away from where I was holding myself together. He put his big hands on my clasped smaller ones.

  “Shit, honey I’m the one who’s sorry, Raine. Should not have gone there. Next time, you want me there, you find a way to let me know. Otherwise, we stop at what’s not too much.”

  I took a peek at him then and his eyes were soft and warm. “I’m sorry.” Me not looking at him.

  “Too much?” Him looking right at me.

  I nodded. Really nice that he got that.

  His hand was still on my stomach, inches away from where I was holding myself together. He put his big hands on my clasped smaller ones.

  “Shit, honey I’m the one who’s sorry, Raine. Should not have gone there. Next time, you want me there, you find a way to let me know. Otherwise, we stop at what’s not too much.”

  I took a peek at him then and his eyes were soft and warm.

  “You liked me kissing you.” His tone was teasing.

  He had me there. And because he was being so incredibly sweet about this, it was all really nice again.

  I smiled at him, and nodded.

  “And when I played with your hair, I think that was okay, too.” His fingers were back to lifting small strands of hair and wrapping the long strands gently in his hand.

  “That was okay, too.” I colored a little.

  “Hmmmm, let me think…” His eyes were on the strands of the hair he was gently thumbing.

  “When you kissed my neck.” I said too fast.

  His eyes were on mine in a flash. His smile brighter than sunshine now.

  I turned crimson. Then started smiling too.

  He kissed me once in all the places that were not too much, tucked me in, turned out the light and was gone. For my part, I fell into a long heavy sleep and dreamt I was able to fly.

  *****

  Holy fuck. If Raine had known how close he had come to throwing her down, tearing off her clothes and pushing himself deep inside her, whether it was too much for her or not, she would have been half way across the country right now. He had never met a more skittish piece of pure woman in his life. He felt like he was in goddam high school again. No. Not true. He got laid in high school all the time. All the time.

  Diego wasn’t a man who generally took his time. Oh yeah, he saw the job got done and he made sure he got them off, but he never ever let them decide. That was his job, his right. Women wanting in his bed, they played by his rules. He didn’t get any complaints. Wouldn’t have given two shits if they did complain. Women could be on their way if they didn’t like his play. But this one, she was leading him around by the balls and she wasn’t even trying.

  Raine hadn’t had it easy. He had learned all about her… what the fuck did Prosper call them? Her formative years. No white picket fence there. Dead mother, drunk for a father. No family. Practically raised herself and her sister and then had put herself through school. Kept to herself, then didn’t and picked the wrong asshole. The asshole Gino Abiatti had raped and beaten her. Raped and beaten her. A sweet thing like Raine. Jesus. Bastard was gonna pay. Diego just hadn’t had a chance to finish up with that. But, oh, he would.

  How could a man do that to a woman? Diego just never got that shit. Sure he liked what he liked in bed. He could and had been turning no’s into yes’s since he started bedding the bitches. But he had never ever forced himself on someone who didn’t want him. The hardon came from turning it around. That’s what made a man a man in Diego’s book. Trick was and always had been finding a woman who was worth the effort. He had found that once a long time ago and thought never to have it again. Fucking biker whores like Ellie had been good enough for him for a long time.

  Raine. She turned herself inside out whenever he looked at her, or moved in too close to her and when he kissed her he wasn’t sure she knew exactly what she was doing. Oh, it was hot alright. Her tongue moved with his in all the right places but there was just something so sweet and naïve about the way she hesitated. And she whimpered. Fuck him if she didn’t make these little mewing sounds when he was turning her on. It made him so hard he was going out of his mind. For the first time in a very longtime he wanted to take his time with a woman.

  And damn it if she didn’t make him work for it. Gonna be a full fucking time job getting laid by Raine Winston. This stop and go shit had to stop. Had To Stop. This little cat and mouse gig she had going on with him that he was convinced she didn’t even know she was playing.

  Just like Prosper said. Complicated.

  Part little girl, all woman when it came down to it. Damaged and brave and beautiful and scarred and scared and tough and so fucking complicated.

  She was made for him. Now he was just going to make sure she knew it. And if it took him stopping when the only thing he wanted to do was keep going…then he was going to stop. For now.

  Chapter 20

  I woke the next morning to a bright sunny day. I went from fast asleep to wide awake and felt my heart beating hard in my chest. Something had jarred me awake. For just a second I didn’t remember where I was and two seconds after that was a hard knock at the door.

  “Raine? Darlin’ you up?” It was Prosper and then I remembered

  I looked at the clock and it was almost noon. “Coming.” I shouted

  I ran to the door, dragons pulled tight and opened it wide. Still sleepy with tousled bed head and sleepy eyes.

  “Yeah, sorry Prosper, just woke up.” I was a little breathy from having woken up literally a minute ago and running to the door. Because it was late and I had taken over Prosper’s rooms and what if he needed something from them?

  Prosper took one look at me and cleared his throat. Jules was behind him grinning madly. Then he was looking at me slowly from head to toe. By the time his eyes returned to my face, that grinned had turned into the closest thing I had ever seen to pure lust everrrrrrr.

  “Do you need something?” I asked Prosper.

  “Oh yeah,” Jules muttered behind him.

  Prosper turned to look at Jules and growled. Yes. He. Did

  Then he reached past me to close the door and said “Sorry, honey. It can wait. Get dressed and come get something to eat when you’re ready.” Then the door closed on me.

  “Okay.” I said to the door. I threw my hair up on top of my head and went to take a quick, hot shower. I really didn’t want to delay being in the room. Prosper and Jules must have needed to get something. I was determined to be of no trouble whatsoever.

  Besides, I had washed my hair just last night, or really just a few hours ago. The hair thing brought back some other memories and I pushed them aside. I noticed in the mirror I was pink again. Sweet Jesus, I had to stop blushing at the mere thought of that man. I lathered on some more of that great berry lotion then threw on a fresh pair of clean and really worn button fly jeans. My lucky jeans. Then I added a soft pink light V neck tee. I redid my hair, pulling it together and wrapping it around to form a loose bun at the nape of my neck. Some pink lip gloss, soft black eyeliner and mascara. Pretty silver dangling hoops and the same pair of low biker boots. I was out the door in twenty.

  Diego was at me before I fully closed the door. The smile I greeted him with died on my lips when he grabbed me close to him and snarled. “Raine, you’re not in some cottage at the end of the woods anymore.”

  “I know that.” His tone made my stomach hurt.

  “There are thirty rooms in this bunk and at any time they’re filled with bike
rs. Sometimes those men are alone. Sometimes with their women. Sometimes with their whores. Depending on who, depending on when. Sometimes brothers. Sometimes guys visiting. You hearing me Raine?” His eyes were hard and he wasn’t talking quietly.

  I nodded.

  “You hearing me Raine?” He was getting louder.

  “Yes.” He was making me feel horrible.

  “So now you know this, you never EVER open that door again without having SOME FUCKING CLOTHES ON.” He was furious.

  I swallowed hard. I had clothes on but I was getting that my pretty light blue kimono with the silver dragons on the front, maybe didn’t count.

  “What do you never ever do Raine?” He was acting like a total asshole.

  I glared at him and he glared back.

  “Open the door without being fully clothed.” I said softly. I was humiliated and all the sweetness from the night before had been pushed right out of me. I felt the sting of tears burn behind my eyes.

  I pulled away from him and walk to the kitchen area where there were about a dozen guys sitting there,all of whom suddenly had somewhere else to look. It was dead quiet. They had heard everything. I felt sick.

  Jules who looked right at me and winked.

  “You want some eggs, Raine?” He had sat a cup of coffee down on the table and had pulled a chair out for me.

  “No thanks.” My lip quivered.

  “Yeah, she does. Two over easy, bacon, toast.” Damn Diego again. Sitting his big bad self three seats down and across the table. Then he turned his back to me and started talking to the guy next to him. I glared at his back for a second wishing him dead.

  I looked helplessly at Prosper who was just folding the morning paper. He had these little half-moon glasses on, and despite my growing humiliation at being treated like an infant, I noticed them as another testimony of the passing years.

  Prosper was looking at me. “When was the last time you ate, Raine?”

  No help there. Seems Prosper was in league with Diego the Devil.

  I thought for a second and honestly couldn’t remember. I waved my hand away. I wasn’t real happy with him at that moment either. I went to wrap my arms around me and Prosper casually and not unkindly stopped me. He grabbed my hand and held it with his own at the table. Then he began introductions.

  All the guys in the kitchen house were Hell’s Saints. Most, but not all from this charter. Some nodded, some smiled and a couple actually unfolded themselves from their chairs and said their hellos close up. Two shook my hand and one kissed it in a sweet attempt at being charming. I blushed hot at that one. Pipe was the one who had kissed my hand. Reno gave me a chin nod.

  Then I met Crow.

  Crow was the poster boy for badass gorgeous. He wasn’t as big as Jules and Diego. He probably stood just about 6 ft. His skin was a beautiful light brown with subtle undertones of copper, not unlike my own. He had a wide bandana on his forehead and the rest of his hair hung loose way past his shoulders. It was a rich deep sable. His nose was straight and his nostrils flared. He a wide mouth and high cheekbones. His green eyes were like shards of emeralds, hard and sharp.

  “Yaa’ ta’ sai.’” Crow said to me in clear Apache. You’re welcome here.

  “Aheeiyeh.” I bowed my head using the formal Thank You reserved for those deserved of great respect. His greeting had meant a lot to me and I wanted him to know that.

  He met my eyes and honest to goodness it took my breath away. I felt Diego turn and tense across the table and I couldn’t have cared less.

  “You’re Apache.” I said to Crow.

  “And you’re Lakota Sioux.” He said back at me.

  I looked over at Prosper and Prosper shrugged, “He asked.”

  “You asked if I was Native?” I smiled at Crow. I loved having the chance to lay claim to my mother’s heritage. I always felt complimented when it happened.

  “No, I asked if you were taken.”

  Wow.

  His eyes left mine then and did a slow long sweep down my body. Everywhere his eyes touched burned me. No one had ever looked like that at me ever. I finally knew the meaning of that overused quote in romance books that said, “He raped me with his eyes.”

  Wow. Wow. Oh. Wow.

  Diego was half way out of his seat. Crow looked at him, clapped a hand on his shoulder and said, “That door ever opens brother.” Then without sparing me another glance he was gone.

  I was still sitting in stunned silence. I felt Diego’s eyes on me, but purposefully avoided them. Then Jules slapped a plate down in front of me. All of a sudden I had a huge appetite and it was all really delicious. Jules smirked when he saw that I had cleaned my plate. When he asked me if it was good, I told him that he had just given me the absolute best I ever had.

  Diego looked my way again and growled.

  Jules burst out laughing and reached out to kiss the top of my head. Then he said, “Doll, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  Diego looked exasperated, but this time he was looking right at Prosper. Prosper’s eyes were full of mirth. He mouthed something to him that looked like it might have been the word complicated but I couldn’t imagine why he would have said that.

  ****

  Fucking Crow. Goddam him to hell that Apache bastard. For the second time in a less than a couple of days, Diego had half risen out of his seat to take a brother on over Raine. Never in his life had he fought over a woman. Now at fucking thirty eight years old he was gonna start? No fucking way.

  He had been making his way down the hallway when he saw her fling open that door with nothing but that hip length Chinese silk shit on. Christ, that belt barely held the thing together. He could see half her left tit and the bottom opened almost to her V. And there she stood, totally unaware of it. Smiling and sleepy eyed with those big blue eyes and soft pink mouth issuing an invitation to every fucking brother in the place. How was it possible that she didn’t know that? But fuck him if she didn’t look hurt and embarrassed when he called her on it.

  Jesus. It was going to be a full time job keeping Raine safe. Safe from his brothers, from him and from her goddam self. He was going to have to make it clear who she belonged to, if just to keep her from harm’s way.

  But first he had to get his woman away from all his up in your face horny blue balled brothers. He was going to do something he had never done before. Never had to do to get a woman to share his bed.

  He was gonna get Raine on the back of his bike and take her out on a fucking date.

  Chapter 21

  Prosper and I took off after breakfast. We talked about ordinary things, trying to find our way back there I guess. Or really establish a new ordinary. There was still a lot to be settled, but we had done a hell of a lot of that already and we both needed to put that away for a while. As we walked arm and arm, I remembered how much I loved being with Prosper. That hadn’t changed and as the day wore on cemented itself in. He made me laugh, remembering little things about me and Claire. And about my mom and dad. Funny little things that not another living soul knew about us. Family things.

  It was a perfect day. Blue skies and white fluffy clouds. We sat down on a big boulder in the sun and Prosper took out two beers he had brought along in a backpack. As a surprise, he had also packed some of the cookies that Pinky had made before she left to see her family. I was still full, but we had been hiking a couple of miles and the beer and the cookies went down easy. The cookies tasted like that summer at the lake, and I brought my head down to Prosper’s shoulder. We sat in the warm sunshine, my head on his shoulder and his arm around me.

  I wanted to give him something, so I took out my little harp. The look of pleasure in his eyes when he saw it made my heart sing. I played a few little tunes for him, shy at first. When he clapped and cheered with suspiciously bright eyes after the first round, I really started to show off. Like he had taught me to do, he carried his own music wherever he went, so he reached into his pocket and we played together. I had never been prouder when th
ere came a moment, on that perfect sun filled blue sky day, that the student became the teacher. I taught Prosper a couple of new harmonies of some old songs that I knew had been his favorites. The strong clear joining of our voices singing Arcapella in perfect harmony filled me with the most perfect bit of contentment that I had ever known. For the first time in a long time, I was really happy.

  It was late afternoon when we walked back into the compound. Diego was sitting with a bunch of the guys in the yard. When he saw Prosper and I walk in from the woods, he raised his head and watched us approach. It had been a wonderful afternoon filled with good memories, homemade cookies, perfectly sung music and well, love. A perfect day, really. Because I was still feeling that and I was sick of being at the receiving end of Diego’s petal pulling game of “I love her, I love her not,” I met Diego’s eyes from across the field and smiled, big wide and happily at him.

  Let’s see what he does with that, I thought wickedly.

  The response lifted him off his chair. I just couldn’t figure him out, but just then I wanted to be happy, so I let myself be.

  Diego nodded to Prosper, then put his arm around me. “Good day, babe?” He pulled me close.

  “The best.” I answered, because I was still feeling it. And because he was being nice again and I wanted to go with that.

  Prosper did a back hand wave as he walked away from us.

  “You up for a ride?” Diego was asking me.

  I nodded happily because this was definitely going to be my day. I loved motorcycles and the thought of being on the back of Diego’s excited me. He took my hand and led me to the bike. Then he passed me the helmet. I tried to put it on but the heavy bun in back of my head was in the way. So I unpinned my hair, and shook it out. Then I dipped my head back and ran my fingers through it. I pulled the heavy strands all to the side and began to weave it into a braid. I dipped my fingers into my pocket and pulling out the cloth covered rubber band that I always kept on me for hair emergencies. I heard the sound of someone clearing his throat and looked to the picnic area where the eight guys who Diego had just left, were all sitting in absolute silence staring at me.