Luna nodded. “I’m just gonna grab a nap. Tanya was scheduled for the late shift tonight, and I slept like shit last night.”
She walked out of church in much less dramatic fashion than her entrance earlier. We all got that Luna was frustrated and concerned, but she needed to just chill for a second ‘til we figured out what was happening.
“We’re really starting at square one, aren’t we?” Frost sighed.
I grabbed the gavel and held it. I had been wanting this for years. The weight of the wood in my hand and responsibility that went with it.
Now that I had it, I wondered if I was going to be able to do the job as well as King had done over all the years.
“What’d we miss?”
Zig and Zag stood in the doorway looking like they had been ridden hard and put away wet.
“Look what the fucking dog dragged in,” Easy hooted.
“How did comforting the girls go last night?” Frost asked.
They both stumbled into church and sat down in their chairs.
“You wouldn’t even believe it if I told you.” Zag shook his head. “I don’t know how it happened, but I somehow ended up in the backroom with Tanya, Shelly, and Bey.”
Zig snickered. “I would have had Bey if you hadn't grabbed her before she made it to the bathroom.”
I slammed down the gavel and stood. “You assholes have fun telling fish stories and while you’re at it, have Frost fill you in on church.”
Frost nodded to me.
I had a couple of phone calls to make and didn’t want to be sucked into hearing about Zig and Zag’s escapades. There was a definite reason why they had gotten their road names. The way they zigged and zagged through women was sometimes more than a guy needed to hear about.
The guys could have a little fun right now, but come tonight, we were going to get down to business and try to figure out who the hell had killed Bunny.
*
Reva
“Hair of the Dog. Reva speaking.”
“Sunshine.”
A thrill coursed through me at the sound of Hero’s voice. “I wondered how you were going to call me when you didn’t have my phone number.” After I had gotten out of the fog of Hero’s kiss, I realized he couldn’t call me later since he didn’t have my cell number. I hadn’t thought he would call the shop.
“I meant to get your number this morning before I left but…”
“Yeah, same,” I laughed. It was nice to know I wasn’t the only one who had been wowed by our kiss this morning.
Hero’s low chuckle rumbled through the phone.
It was half past four, and I was just finishing up the last dog for the day. One of my clients had to reschedule at the last minute so I was actually going to finish early today.
“You got plans tonight?” he asked.
I ran my fingers through my hair and tried not to squeal like a schoolgirl. “Um, no, not really.”
“I was thinking of coming over tonight but some stuff came up with the club.”
My heart sank. “Oh, I get it. I know how it goes.” I didn’t really, but it sounded good.
“You wanna come with me?”
“Uh, with you?” I replied slowly. I was allowed to be there with club thingies?
Hero hummed. “Well, I don’t see why not. Pretty sure they let anyone in as long as you pay your cover.”
Now he really had my interest piqued. “Cover?”
“Well, if you’re with me, you won’t have to pay a cover.”
What in the world was he talking about?
“You ever been to Sultry Knights, Sunshine?”
*
Chapter Ten
Reva
It was official. I had absolutely no clothes that were suitable to wear to a strip club.
At least, I didn’t think I did.
Hero had told me to just wear what I normally did, but I didn’t think a vintage shirt and jeans were really going to cut it.
I grabbed my black skinny jeans off the floor and tossed them on the bed. Whatever I wore, I knew those were going to be on my legs. They made my ass look good, and they were high-waisted so they sucked in my pooch.
In exactly eleven minutes, Hero would knock on my door, and I was standing in front of my closet in my matching black lace bra and panties. I had sexy bras and underwear because I had an addiction to the silky, lacy, see-through garments. Plus, it gave me an extra boost of confidence to wear the sexy little things under my drab and boring clothes.
This would have been the moment I called my best friend to have her come over to help me find a killer outfit.
Problem was, I didn’t have a best friend.
Hell, I didn’t even have any friends. Let alone a best one.
Through high school, I had a small core group of friends, but I was always the outsider, just on the fringes. I just never really met anyone I gelled well with. I had acquaintances, but not one I could call an actual friend.
I grabbed a cropped, black sweatshirt that had see-through lace sleeves and pulled it over my head. Then I shimmied into the black jeans and stood in front of the tall mirror I had leaning against the wall. The hem of the sweatshirt didn’t cover my waist completely. I tugged at it and wished it were two inches longer, but then I guess it wouldn’t be cropped. My spur of the moment late night online purchase was going to have to be good enough for a night at the strip club with Hero.
Those were plans I never thought I would have.
I reached up to tuck my hair behind my ear and the hem of the shirt lifted to almost my bra. I slammed my arm down to my side and sighed. Walking around with my arms glued to my sides was going to be fun.
A knock sounded on the front door. I gave myself one last look in the mirror. I didn’t look amazing, but I also didn’t look like I was headed to work. It was an improvement over what I normally wore, but it wasn’t great.
I glanced in the peephole and unlocked the door when I saw it was Hero.
“Hello, Sunshine,” Hero drawled. He leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded over his chest. His usual sunglasses covered his eyes, and he was in his standard attire of ripped jeans, motorcycle boots, tight shirt, and leather vest. Obviously, Hero didn’t stress about what to wear tonight.
“Hola.” Just once. All I wanted was one time where I didn’t sound like an idiot.
Hero chuckled. “You ready?”
I looked down at my bare feet. “Uh, not quite. Wanna come in while I find shoes?” Ugh, shoes. I had no idea what I was going to wear. My outfit was slightly on the sexy side, but also a bit sporty since I was wearing a hoodie. I stepped to the side and tried not to freak out.
Hero stepped inside and laid his hand on my waist. “You good, Sunshine? You went a little pale when you mentioned shoes.”
It would be great if Hero would stop reading me so accurately. Might as well be honest. “I have no idea what shoes to wear.” I looked out the door at his bike. “And I just realized we’re probably going on your bike and I’ve never been on a bike before.”
Hero pulled me to his chest, closed the door, and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Breathe, Sunshine.”
My gaze connected with his, and I drew in a deep breath. “I guess you kind of take my breath away.”
Hero reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. “Pretty sure I was supposed to say that when you opened the door.” He pushed another kiss to my lips. He may not have told me I took his breath away, but his kiss made up for it tenfold.
I sighed into his touch and gripped the lapels of his vest.
“Let’s get you some shoes, Sunshine,” he whispered against my lips.
He grabbed my hand and motioned for me to go ahead of him.
“Oh, uh. I guess you don’t really know where to go,” I giggled nervously. I was about to lead Hero right into my bedroom in search of a pair of shoes.
“Your neighbor isn’t the friendliest,” Hero commented.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Harr
y?”
“That his name? He basically growled at me when I said hi.”
I laughed and stepped into the bedroom. “Harry is pretty quiet. I think he’s only said a few words to me the whole time he’s lived there.”
Hero let go of my hand and sat down on the edge of the bed. “Guy seems off, Reva.”
I scowled and crouched down in front of the sparse row of shoes in the bottom of my closet. “I think you’re overreacting a little, Hero. Harry is harmless.” I grabbed a pair of sandals and held them up. “These?”
“You just told me you barely talked to the guy. I don’t think you can really tell me he is harmless.”
I waved the sandal again.
“No. Something close-toed if we’re on the bike.”
I dropped the sandal. That seriously narrowed down my choices. I was left with a pair of chucks, black leather booties, and my work tennis shoes. “Can we take my car?”
Hero chuckled. I was really starting to like that. “We’re not taking the cage, Sunshine. You’re on my bike. No girly shoes.”
I scoffed and grabbed the leather boots. “Well, I am a girl, Hero.”
“Trust me, I’ve noticed.”
I sat back on my butt and pulled on the boots.
“You got a light jacket to wear?”
I managed to get both boots on and stood. “I’m wearing a sweatshirt, Hero, and it’s warm out.”
“Trust me. Grab a coat. It gets cold on the bike at night.”
I rolled my eyes but turned back to the closet. I had stuffed away my coats in bins on the top shelf of the closet since it was almost summer. I flicked on the light and looked up. “What the hell?”
Why was the access panel to the crawl space cracked open?
“Huh?” Hero moved next to me and looked up. “Been in the attic lately?” he asked.
I had never been up there. “Uh, it’s not really an attic. It’s sort of just a crawl space.”
Hero stepped into the closet and got under the open hole in the ceiling. “Does this run the whole length of the building or just your unit?”
“Just mine.”
Hero pulled out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and pointed it up into the crawl space. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah. When I first looked at the place, they offered to let me go up there to check it out. I stuck my head up in the hole, and there was a wall where the next unit starts.” I didn’t need to crawl around up there. It looked good to me.
Hero turned off his flashlight and tucked his phone back in his pocket. “Maybe the latch got jiggled loose over time.” He reached up and swung the square door closed. He hooked the latch and stepped back. “Let me know if it opens again.”
I nodded.
“Sunshine,” he called.
I blinked twice and looked at him. “Huh?”
“What are you thinking about?”
I thought back to yesterday when I had the eerie feeling someone was watching me in the bedroom. It didn’t make sense, though. The crawl space went nowhere. “Uh, trying to remember which bin my coat is in.”
Hero quirked his eyebrow. He didn’t believe me.
I pointed to the white bin behind him. “Uh, I think it’s in that one.”
He turned, grabbed the bin, and opened it. Thankfully, I had said the right one and my jacket was right on top.
I grabbed it and smiled wide. “Okay. I think I’m ready now.”
Hero snapped on the lid and set the bin back on the shelf. I would have needed to grab a chair from the kitchen and precariously stand on it to get the bin up and down. I flipped off the closet light and scooted around Hero to close the doors.
“Feels like you aren’t telling me something, Reva.”
I shrugged on the jacket. At least I could wear this if I felt like I was revealing too much from the crop top. “Nothing to tell, handsome.” Whoops. That slipped out.
He eyed me warily. He grunted and grabbed my hand. “Let’s get going. I told the guys I was picking you up and then I would be over.”
I dug my feet in and pulled back on his hand. “Whoa, whoa. Guys? What guys?”
“I figure that’s pretty obvious who the guys are.”
I was going to meet the rest of the motorcycle club. Or, at least, some of them. “Why are we meeting them? Better yet, why are we going to the strip club?”
When Hero had told me on the phone earlier that was where we were going, I had asked why, and all he said was he had some stuff he needed to do there.
“I got some stuff to do and then I figured you and I could hangout.”
“At a strip club?” I laughed.
He shrugged. “Not exactly normal, but…”
“But you’re not normal, Hero. I kind of picked up on that.” I shook my head and laughed. “I’ve known you for four days, and somehow, I’m okay with heading to a strip club with you.”
“Then what’s with the resistance?” he asked.
“One biker dude, I can handle. A whole bunch of them?” I cringed and gestured to myself. “I’m not exactly the biker dude type of chick.” I quirked my eyebrow. I wasn’t sure that made sense.
Hero tugged my hand, and I stepped toward him. He rested his palm on my hip. “I’m not sure what you’re trying to say, Sunshine, but I can tell you right now, you’re my type and that’s all that fucking matters.”
“Hero,” I laughed. “I groom dogs for a living and have never been on a motorcycle. I’m pretty sure those two things do not line up with me being your type.”
“What do you think is my type? The girls dancing on the stage? Maybe one of the waitresses slinging drinks? Maybe one of the girls who hangs around the club and will sleep with anyone willing?”
I cringed. That was exactly what I thought. Well, maybe not so detailed, but it was the type of girls who were fearless. Who were beautiful and weren’t afraid to show it. I was wearing a crop top that covered all of my stomach except for a sliver and I was worried I was showing too much. I was not the type of girl who could walk on stage to show the world how beautiful and sexy she was.
I, Reva Dunn, was not Hero’s type. Prove me wrong.
“Uh, perhaps?” I cringed.
“You really think I’d be standing in your bedroom helping you figure out what shoes to wear and getting your coat down from the closet if you weren’t my type?”
I pursed my lips. “Maybe?”
Hero grunted, dropped my hand, and took a step back. He bent over, planted his shoulder in my stomach, and lifted me up.
“Hero,” I screamed.
He crossed the room in three long strides and tossed me on the bed. I bounced wildly and clutched the comforter beneath me. He covered my body with his and pinned my arms above my head.
“I’m not a fan of being told what I do and don’t like. That includes you telling me that you’re not my type when I just straight up told you that you were.”
I squeaked when his fingers gripped my wrists tightly and he leaned into me. His nose touched mine, and his eyes bored into me.
“You’re slightly scaring me,” I whispered. “Very intense.”
“I’ll never hurt you, Reva. I’ll die before that happens.” His words were soft yet firm.
“You’ve only known me for four days. That’s kinda saying a lot.”
“Reva,” he growled. “Are you going to disagree with everything I have to say tonight?”
I bit my bottom lip. “I’m not disagreeing per say.”
He pressed a swift, firm kiss to my lips. “Can I talk now?”
“You have been,” I pointed out.
His lips connected with mine again. The kiss was longer, and I started to melt into him.
He lifted his lips from mine. “Now?”
“Now what?” I gasped.
He grunted and sealed his lips to mine again. He shifted the hold of my wrists to one hand and the other hand trailed down and cupped my breast.
Whoa boy.
Again, he ended the kiss
before I was ready for it to be over.
“What is happening?” I gasped.
“I’m kissing you senseless so you’ll let me talk without thinking you know better.”
Well, I guess that was one way to shut me up. I couldn’t say I was completely against it seeing as I was enjoying his tactic so well. “I think I need one more kiss to be senseless,” I suggested.
Hero released my wrists and cupped my face in his hand. This was the best kiss yet. His tongue swept into my mouth, and I moaned softly. His hand on my breast slid down, tucked under my shirt, and scooted back up to palm my breast in his hand. I arched my back and pressed up to him.
He ripped his lips from mine. “You listening?” he growled.
I was in a hazy fog and just nodded.
“Whatever shit you think you know about me, forget. I’m not some guy on a TV show or in a damn book. I like what I like and that’s it. Don’t tell me I don’t like you, Reva. Don’t tell me you’re not my type. I live the way I want to, and I don’t answer to anyone.”
I didn’t open my mouth. I was still kissed senseless.
“You get me?” Hero asked.
If Hero thought I was his type, I wasn’t going to argue with him. Especially if that meant he was going to keep kissing me.
Nope, nope. I was not going to argue with him anymore.
Time to ride this for however long it lasted and just enjoy my time with Hero.
Something told me it was going to be anything but boring.
“Got it.”
*
Chapter Eleven
Hero
“You need help?”
Reva fumbled with the strap on the helmet. She lifted it to her face and scowled. “I can’t see what I’m doing when I try to do it.” She dropped the straps and sighed. “Do I really need to wear this? We’re not driving that far.”
I grabbed the straps of her helmet and snapped them together. “If you’re on the back of my bike, you’re wearing a helmet.”
She frowned and touched the black helmet on her head. “I feel a little dumb.”
Passing the Torch (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation Book 1) Page 7