by Jamie Begley
Rachel gaped at Lily’s blunt comeback. She seemed surprised by herself, blushing bright red.
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Rachel laughed. “So, what’s the big secret about Friday nights?”
Chapter 29
Rachel was bagging a customer’s purchase of clothes when the door to the church store opened. She looked toward it to meet Cash’s furious gaze. As he stalked toward her, she paled.
Birdie Jacobs, her current customer, was the biggest gossip in town; anything Cash said would be repeated and spread around town within minutes.
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” Rachel tried to forestall the confrontation she saw coming.
He ignored her silent request. “What the fuck, Rachel? What time did you sneak out of my bed last night?” He crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a malicious smile at Birdie’s avid interest.
When Lily and another customer stopped talking to listen, Rachel silently pled for her help and received an eye roll for her effort; both women knew there was no stopping Cash.
Pasting an injured look on his face, Cash played to his audience. Rachel gritted her teeth, preparing herself for the show.
“What kind of woman takes advantage of a man then leaves him? I feel so used.”
Birdie’s mouth softened in commiseration.
“I thought we had something special, then I woke up, and you were gone.”
“We’ll talk about this later.” She handed Birdie her bag, but the nosey woman made no effort to leave.
“We need to talk about this now. Lily can watch the store for you, can’t you?”
Lily walked behind the counter. “Of course. I can see you two have a lot to talk about.”
Rachel threw a glare at her friend, who gave a negligent shrug in response. “It’s almost quitting time anyway,” Lily reminded her.
Giving in only because she didn’t want Birdie to witness her murdering Cash, Rachel reached under the counter to pull out her purse, angrily leaving the store with a farewell to her traitorous friend.
She ignored Cash once she was outside, going to her car and opening the door. Cash’s anger hadn’t evaporated; he grabbed her arm, keeping her from getting in.
“Get on my bike.” His order grated on her already-sensitive nerves.
“Go to Hell. You’re ruining my life, Cash.” Rachel angrily swung back around to face him.
Before she could utter another word, she found herself marched to his motorcycle where a Cash she didn’t recognize stared down at her.
“I’m ruining your life? I wake up and find out you’re gone. How did I know what happened to you? How did you get home? I fucking doubt you called one of your brothers to come and get you. And you can’t get a cab in Treepoint after twelve a.m. because that’s when it closes. So, how did you get home?”
“I walked,” Rachel admitted reluctantly.
“In the fucking dark? Someone driving on the road wouldn’t be able to see you.” His hand on her arm tightened.
“I didn’t walk in the road; I walked through the woods,” she snapped unwisely. She admitted it might not have been so smart when he literally shook her.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? If you had fallen and hurt yourself, it would have taken us days to find you. You didn’t even have your cell phone on you.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out her phone before handing it to her.
“Thank you.” She thought she had lost it in the woods. She was relieved to have it back.
Cash looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “Get. On. The. Fucking. Bike!”
“Okay!” Rachel yelled back at him before angrily climbing on.
Cash stared down at her, his face ridged. “You’re lucky we’re not somewhere private, or I would set that fine ass of yours on fire.” He got on the bike, handing her the helmet.
When he started the bike, pulling out onto the road, Rachel expected him to drive recklessly, to take his anger out on the road, but instead he drove carefully. Rachel wanted to go back to Mag’s, but he drove past her house, despite her yells at him to stop. He simply kept driving toward his clubhouse. Rachel didn’t want to return there but was given no choice as he pulled into the parking lot, cutting the motor.
“I wanted to go back to Mag’s.” She refused to get off the bike after he did.
“You can go back later. We need to talk.”
“We can talk there,” she repeated stubbornly.
“No, we can’t.”
“Why?” Rachel couldn’t understand his insistence they talk here.
“Because I can’t fuck you when we’re done talking.”
Rachel had a fierce temper when roused, and this man was lighting her short fuse. “I’m not going to have sex with you anymore. It’s counterproductive.”
“It’s what?” Cash’s confusion brought a vindictive smile to her lips. Rachel thought it was past time Cash got a taste of his own medicine. Cash Adams wasn’t the only man in Treepoint.
“It means I don’t get any benefits from having sex with you when I’m looking for a serious relationship with a man who will eventually be my husband,” she explained.
“It seems to me you benefited from me fucking you last night when you came on my dick.”
Rachel waved her hand airily, dismissing his boast. “The man I pick will be just as able to provide me with sexual satisfaction.”
“No, he won’t.”
“Yes, he will. You’re not the only man who can give a woman an orgasm.”
“I’m telling you he won’t because I’ll kill any motherfucker who lays a hand on you without my permission.”
Cash’s expression gave Rachel pause, but her temper didn’t heed her internal warning. “So, it’s all right for another man to touch me as long as he has your permission?” Rachel screeched.
She started walking toward the road, only to find herself thrown over Cash’s shoulder.
“What are you doing?” She hit at his back with her fists as he packed her up the long flight of steps.
“Quit! Do you want to make me drop you?”
“Yes.” Rachel hit at him harder, not stopping when he carried her in the front door and continued upstairs. She lifted her head to see Bliss, Train, and Rider staring up at her from the living room.
“I’m going to kill you!” Rachel threatened.
Cash didn’t answer, remaining silent until he packed her into his bedroom and tossed her harshly down on his bed. Rachel bounced to her knees, ready to fight him tooth and nails if he so much as laid a finger on her.
“Will you calm down so we can talk reasonably?” Cash suggested unsuccessfully.
“You practically kidnap me from work, bring me here without my permission, act like a freaking caveman, and you want me to be reasonable?”
Cash’s amusement at her tirade had her losing what control she had left. Reaching toward his nightstand, she picked his alarm clock up and threw it at him. When he dodged it and she had no further ammunition, she threw herself at him. While Cash tried to catch her flailing hands, her knee made contact with his nuts, giving her a burst of satisfaction that was short-lived as she found her feet swept out from underneath her and she fell backwards onto the bed.
Cash jerked her legs apart, his hands going underneath the side of her panties, burying his finger in her in one swift stroke. Rachel moaned, wrapping her legs around his waist as Cash’s mouth went to her neck underneath her ear. The bastard had learned her most erotic spot, sucking the flesh into his mouth and nipping it with his teeth.
“Is every Porter a hothead?” he grunted, raising his body off her long enough to unzip his jeans and pull out his cock.
The argument forgotten, Rachel turned her head toward him, seeking his mouth with hers. Cash let her have his mouth at the same time he ripped off her underwear then plunged his hard cock into the tight warmth of her pussy, pounding his length into her.
Rachel groaned at the pleasure of being pinned underneath him as his bod
y took control of hers, bringing a clenching need to feel him deep inside that had her hips lifting to his with each of his strokes so he could slide further inside her.
“Harder, Cash,” Rachel demanded. She didn’t feel defeated by succumbing to him; hell, the man could make any woman give it up.
He tore at the front of her dress, exposing her bra. Then he pulled out of her long enough to pull off her dress and bra before pressing her back down into the mattress.
“Cash, you need to get a condom.”
“Don’t worry, you won’t get pregnant. I’ll use the rhythm method.” His cock filled her slowly, his movements gradually building until the bed was shaking from the power of his thrusts. Just as she was about to come, he slowed, bringing her budding climax to a low simmer.
“I…” Rachel licked her lips. “I don’t think this can be considered…” He began thrusting harder once again, building her climax until it was within her grasp and making her forget what she had been about to say.
When she ran her hands up his sides, bunching up his t-shirt, Cash let her pull it off him. She tossed it to the side as her mouth found one of his nipples, biting it softly before exploring his chest with her tongue, liking the salty taste of him.
Cash’s fingers found one of her nipples, pinching it until a stinging sensation had her gripping his hips harder with her thighs.
“Like that?”
Rachel’s only answer was a soft moan, which gradually rose as his touch became more erotic while his hard cock slid in and out of her.
“Cash…” As he released her nipple, the sting as the blood rushed back to the tip had her screaming her climax.
“Your nipples are so sensitive.” His tongue laved the still-tender tip as he stroked out his own climax while Rachel’s teeth found his nipple, biting down.
She was rewarded when his hands went under her ass as he fucked her with a strength and wildness he hadn’t shown her before. Rachel could feel his loss of control as she widened her legs, letting him have what he needed. She watched his taut expression, fulfilling a need she had been unaware of.
Afterward, he lay on top of her, pressing her into the bed, and Rachel smoothed her hands across his back, giving him the softness she had kept carefully hidden.
He moved to her side, splaying his hand on her firm stomach, his thumb playing in her fiery curls at the apex of her thighs. It didn’t last long; his pleased expression sent warning signals off.
“Satisfied?” Rachel turned her face away.
“What do you mean by that?” Cash’s hand on her jaw forced her eyes back to his.
“Another woman bites the dust. You win, Cash. You’ve proven that I can’t resist you. Are you happy now?” Rachel couldn’t prevent the bitterness from entering her voice.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Don’t play games, Cash; you know exactly what I mean. Remember Lisa Finley? How long did it take you to get her in your bed? Two or three weeks? Tanya Estes? A month? Robin Wagner? Four weeks? Sola Brown? A year? I sure as hell didn’t break any of your records, did I?”
She tried to slide out of the bed yet found herself pinned under his heavy weight with his serious face gazing down at her.
“You broke all the records, Rachel.” His soft voice gave her hope that something more was there. “You’re the youngest girl I’ve ever looked at and wanted. I had to leave town to make sure I didn’t go to jail over you. You’re the woman I’ve wanted the longest. I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you standing on the porch when Lily was lost. You’re the first woman I fucked that I couldn’t walk away and forget with another.” He ignored her hurt gasp at being reminded of Cheryl and Bliss and God knew how many others.
“I live a life I don’t know if you can accept. That’s going to be up to you. I tried to stay away because I like living the life I lead. Razer, Viper, Knox, and Shade have shown it can be done, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to work for us. I’m willing to try if you’ll quit busting my balls over my past.”
Rachel didn’t know what to say or do. She couldn’t imagine living her life within a motorcycle club, yet she knew her friends were happy. Beth had children, Lily was expecting, and Knox and Diamond were part of the club but didn’t live within its walls. Each couple had found a way to make it work for them. Rachel wasn’t a coward; she was a fighter. Hell, she had a body count to her credit when she had helped rescue Lily.
She pushed against Cash’s chest until he fell back against the bed, then she raised herself over him, looking down into his handsome face. “If we’re going to try this, there are going to be some rules,” Rachel stated.
Cash made a face up at her. “More rules?”
Rachel smiled down at him. “What are the ones my brothers gave you?”
Cash recited them to her amusement. “No fucking around on you. I can’t beat you when you piss me off. You get to keep growing weird shit in my bathroom, and have strangers come by. I have to drag my ass out of bed on Sunday mornings to go to church with you, and let them turn my kids against me.”
“No fucking around on me is the one that’s most important to me.” The tips of her breasts grazed his chest as she swung a thigh over him, raising herself until she was sitting on his waist, waiting for his answer.
“I can do that. Are you going to be on my ass about trusting me here with the women?”
Rachel shook her head. “No, I’ll believe you until I catch you cheating. Then I’ll just shoot your ass.”
Cash’s chest rumbled with laughter. “Is that any way to begin a relationship, threatening to shoot me?”
“Yes, it works for me. Now, since I’m thinking about you courting me, will you answer a question for me?”
Cash didn’t want to spoil the moment by telling her they had been courting since he had gone fishing with her brothers, so he merely nodded.
“What happens on Friday nights?”
“Why don’t I just show you instead?”
Chapter 30
Rachel both looked forward to and dreaded the rest of the week. Whenever she questioned Cash further, she received a predatory look, which had her both nervous and excited. When she broached the subject with Lily, a worried frown was her only response, leading her to believe she might be better off not knowing.
Friday morning wasn’t starting off great. She had woken late, forcing her to skip her morning tea. Then she had almost fallen and broken her kneecap when she had tripped over a new end table Mag had purchased at a flea market with her neighbor, Janet. Rachel was seriously thinking of threatening Janet with bodily harm if she pulled over for another flea market.
She had finally managed to make it to her car, only to run into a ditch halfway down the mountain when she had swerved to miss a deer. Shaken, she had called Lyle, the tow driver, and was sitting, waiting for his truck, hoping he hadn’t gone on another binge and would actually show up.
Seeing the tow truck pull up behind her, Rachel got expectantly out of her car. She was shocked to see Jo, Lyle’s daughter, climb out of the big truck.
“When did you get back in town?” Rachel asked, coming to stand beside her, looking at the damage to her car.
“A week ago. Dad’s laid up with a broken leg, so I’m pitching in until he’s better.”
Rachel stared at the pretty brunette woman wearing overalls smeared with dirt and oil. The oversized overalls did little to hide the curvy body underneath. Jo had been born and raised in Treepoint until her mother had dealt with enough when Jo was a sophomore in high school. Being the daughter of the town drunk had made Jo the brunt of many jokes and the prey of the less scrupulous. Her mother had divorced Lyle and left town after a popular senior had tried to rape Jo following a football game.
She and Rachel had been friends since birth. The backwoods had been their playground and four wheelers their toys. She had missed her after she had left.
“Let’s go out to dinner tomorrow night and catch up,” Rachel said.
“
Sounds good. Let’s get your car out.”
Jo climbed back into the truck, doing a u-turn and backing up to the car, briefly blocking the road as she made the maneuver. As she worked, Rachel heard the familiar sounds of a group of motorcycles headed down the mountain. She turned bright red when The Last Riders turned the curve and she saw them. Her hope that they would pass by was dashed as they pulled over.
Cash and Rider got off their bikes, watching the truck expertly drive.
“Why didn’t you call me? We could have gotten your car out,” Cash said.
“Because I don’t need you or my brothers to handle things I can do myself. As you can see, I have everything under control.”
Jo climbed out of the tow truck, going to the back and getting the heavy chains. The men stood there gaping as the woman hooked the car up and then pressed a button that slowly started pulling the car out of the ditch. When the car was once again on firm pavement, she unhooked the chains, placing them back in the truck.
Jo went to her truck and grabbed her clipboard before coming back to Rachel.
“That’ll be sixty, Rachel.”
Rachel started to reach inside the car for her purse, but Cash had already pulled out his wallet. He handed Jo a hundred.
“Just a second and I’ll get your change.”
“That’s okay, keep the change.” Cash smiled.
Rachel watched him suspiciously, yet she saw no interest for the woman on his face.
“Sweet. Thanks.” She slid the hundred into the top pocket of her overall. “See you tomorrow night for dinner, Rachel.”
“Can I come?” Rider quipped. “I know all the best places.”
Jo’s friendly gaze turned frosty as she surveyed Rider from head to toe. “As there are only five places to eat in the whole town, I think we can manage on our own.”
“You don’t know what you’re missing out on.”
Rachel enjoyed the show of Rider making an ass of himself. Jo was no Holly, to become easily embarrassed or overwhelmed by Rider’s flirtatious behavior.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure I do. Bye, Rachel.”
“Bye, Jo.”