by Jamie Begley
“If she does, you can always come to my room. My door is always open,” she said, gliding her fingers up his arm with a sultry look to her face.
Shade walked around her, opening the door. “The only door I’ll be walking in is the one she’s behind.”
Jewell walked up to him in the doorway. “I guess the other brothers will have to pick up the slack,” she joked.
“I think Rider can handle the job himself.”
“I think so, too.”
As they laughed together, Shade noticed Lily’s eyes kept glancing over to them. He thought he might have seen a spark of jealousy, but he couldn’t be sure.
He walked across the room to her workstation where Raci was talking to her.
“Ready?” Shade asked, coming to her side and touching her arm.
Lily jerked away from his touch. “Yes.”
Lily turned to the door, ignoring him. Oh, yeah, she was jealous.
She went to the front door and he followed behind her, watching her flouncing ass as she went up the path angrily. He still couldn’t believe she was jealous. Maybe Raci had said something?
On their way to the clubhouse, Train and Kaley were standing in the middle of the walkway, blocking them from passing. He could hear Kaley’s big mouth as he walked up the path.
“Please, Train, talk to them.” Her voice was pleading against Train’s stony face.
Shade frowned. Viper was supposed to make it plain and simple that she wasn’t ever going to become a part of The Last Riders.
Lily tried to pass the arguing pair, and Kaley’s reaction at seeing her wasn’t pleasant.
“This is all your fault,” she said hatefully to Lily.
“Excuse me?” Lily asked, coming to a stop.
“Shut up, Kaley. It’s not Lily’s fault you didn’t keep your mouth shut,” Train said.
“No one would have cared if she hadn’t been nosing in, like my sister.”
“Miranda was worried about you,” Lily protested.
“Miranda was just jealous. I was getting plenty of sex and she wasn’t.”
Her harsh words had Lily taking a step back, coming into contact with Shade who had moved closer to her. When his arm slipped around her waist, Lily tried to move away, but he held her still.
“That’s not true,” Lily tried to reason with the angry woman.
“It is true. Neither one of you would know how to have sex other than lying on your back and spreading your legs. And I doubt if you would even lower yourself enough to do that, Lily.” She nodded at Shade. “He’s fucking wasted on you, but he’ll get tired of your shit, and when he does, he’ll go back to fucking anything with a cunt.”
“Lily, go on up to the house,” Shade said calmly, his arm leaving her waist.
Shade waited until Lily was out of ear shot before he turned his gaze on Kaley. “Why are you here?”
“I wanted to talk to Train. I like it here, Shade. If you want me to stay out of Lily’s way, I will. I’ll even pretend to like the stupid bitch if you want me to. I don’t have to become a member as long as you guys let me hang around. I’ll do whatever you want.” She ended with the seductive promise.
“You want me to handle this?”
Train hesitated. “I brought her in, so I’ll take care of it.”
“Do that, before I do,” Shade said grimly.
He didn’t turn around when he heard Kaley’s sharp cry. The stupid bitch had underestimated Train. He always fooled everyone into thinking he was the easy-going one, which was true, but he had a button which shouldn’t be pushed, and Kaley had pressed it a long time before. Train wouldn’t lay a finger on a woman, but he would have no problem taking out anything she cared about.
One time, a prospective member had grown too attached to Train and had given Raci a black eye after she had seen Train fuck her. When the Last Riders had thrown her out of the club, everyone had thought Train wasn’t even angry at the woman. Shade had known different and wasn’t surprised when he heard her two brothers and cousin were in the emergency room with broken ribs and lacerations. Each of them had both of their eyes blackened after he had broken their noses. They never heard from her again.
Shade opened the door to the basement to see Lily already on the mat, working out in black leggings and a T-shirt which actually fit. He was glad to see he had gauged her size correctly, although he had asked Winter to buy them for her, knowing she wouldn’t take them from him.
“I’ll be right back,” he told her as he went to get changed.
When Shade returned, she got into position. They always did a set of maneuvers, switching it up occasionally when she became bored. Shade made one of his practiced moves and Lily responded with more force than usual, almost managing to knee him in his privates.
“You’re getting better. You almost got them that time,” Shade complimented her, well aware she wanted to make him a her.
She had been trying to knock his nuts off since they had begun her defense lessons. He often wondered if it was all men in general or if it was only his nuts she wanted to hurt.
Lily gritted her teeth as she circled the mat, trying to get behind him. “You haven’t seen anything yet.”
Shade lifted his brow at her assertion, but he decided to take it easy on her. Lily’s newfound confidence was hot as Hell.
That time, when he came for her, Lily responded unexpectedly, using a move he sure as shit hadn’t shown her.
She used both of her fists to hit him between the shoulder blades after he let her wiggle away from his hold.
“What the hell?”
“I’m supposed to pretend you’re attacking me, aren’t I?” she asked snidely.
Shade’s good humor disappeared. He was going to paddle that ass, which was driving him crazy, when he managed to get ahold of her.
“Yes, but I want you to learn to stop an attacker, not piss them off.”
“As long as it works and I get away, that’s all that counts,” Lily said smugly.
“Is that so?” Shade said, placing his hands on his hips.
“Yes.” Lily kept facing him, not letting him have her back like she usually did.
“Did Kaley go home?” she asked, her eyes a turbulent, violet storm.
Shade had started moving toward her, but his momentum stopped at her words. “Yes.”
“Do a lot of women try to join?”
“Yes.” Shade was beginning to get her message of anger, giving her a wary look. He didn’t like the vindictive expression on her face.
“I bet that’s fun for the men. Don’t the women members resent the new members?”
“No. Why, are you interested?” Shade asked, making his move against her.
That time, her foot shot out, and she managed to nail him in the stomach, causing him to have to catch his breath from the force of the kick that had fucking hurt. He had always been careful not to hurt her, while the little witch staring back at him was filled with pleasure about doing what no one else had been allowed to get close to accomplishing.
Lily walked around the mat, gloating about her success. “You’re getting slow, Shade.” She bounced from foot to foot. “And, no, I’m not interested. You and the other men can have all the women in Treepoint who want to join your club. I won’t be one of them. I plan to find me a man who can appreciate one woman.”
“That’s a joke.” Shade said, deciding to make her angry enough to drop her guard.
“What do you mean by that?” Lily stopped bouncing.
“That you would ever let a man touch you. Tell me, how do you intend to catch a cowboy or any man when you have no intention of giving them anything? I bet Charles’s balls are blue around you, but I’m sure he finds one of his daddy’s waitresses to relieve him.”
“That’s not true. Charles is a gentleman.”
“He likes his cock sucked as much as any man,” Shade taunted.
“You’re disgusting!” Lily screamed at him, turning to leave the mat.
�
��What’s the matter, Lily? What really set off this little temper tantrum of yours?”
When Lily didn’t reply, Shade blocked her path, wanting the truth from her before she ran away.
“Move.”
“Make me. I’m already shocked as shit you haven’t run to your corner like a scared little girl,” he taunted, determined for her to face both of them with the truth. She was fucking jealous!
Shade almost shouted for joy. You were only jealous over something you cared about, something you didn’t want to share with anyone else. She had to care about him to be jealous, right?
“You’re a mean person. I hate you.” Lily slammed her hands out, shoving his chest and trying to make him move out of her way.
Shade wanted her to recognize her feelings for him; however, she needed to cool off in order to think about why she was so furious.
His foot went out, sweeping her feet out from under her, and she fell to her back on the mat.
“You lose. Again.” Shade looked down at her in triumph, unwarily standing over the woman.
He was about to reach down and give her a helping hand up when her hand reached up and viciously grabbed his balls, squeezing them in a vice. He fell to his knees as his hand went to his nuts, trying to jerk her hand away. Her hand tightened even further as she rose up on her knees, squeezing harder. Her satisfied smile widened at his pain-filled expression.
“How’s this work for taking the attacker by surprise? Are you surprised? Don’t underestimate me. I don’t like it.” Her hand twisted his balls viciously one last time before letting him go and getting to her feet.
“It’s un-cool to talk about Charles like that. It’s his private business, just like you and Jewell in your office. I don’t care who either of you fool around with,” she snapped.
Shade got to his feet, and Lily’s face paled as she came to her senses. He was done with her bullshit. He was going to keep his promise and paddle that ass, which had been tormenting him, and then he was going to fuck her to make sure his dick was still working.
She wasn’t stupid, though. She took one look at his face and took off running toward the stairs. Because his balls were killing him, the hellion managed to make it up several before he caught her ankle. He held her in a hard grip, not wanting her to get away.
Lily kicked her other foot out, balancing her hands on the upper steps and nailing him in the jaw. The surprise attack made him release her foot and she managed to escape him, going up the last steps to sling the door open. Then she ran into the kitchen and slammed the door in his furious face.
Shade had seen everyone in the kitchen staring at them before she had slammed the door closed on him. He gripped the door handle, wanting to rip it off. Instead, he turned it, opening the door with enough force it slammed against the wall.
The kitchen was full of members lined up for dinner, but Shade didn’t give a fuck. She was going to get the punishment she deserved.
He moved toward her then came to a stop when he heard a familiar voice.
“Lily?” Beth’s voice had both of them turning to the table where Razer, Winter, and Viper were looking at them in shock.
Razer and Viper both moved to the edge of their seat, correctly reading his expression.
Fuck, she was lucky.
Chapter 52
“Been working out?” Beth asked, her gaze going back and forth between Lily and Shade.
“Yes. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it.” Lily threw him a gloating look over her shoulder.
“That’s great. I was so worried about you after the diner, but I knew everyone would look out for you, and Mrs. Langley doesn’t have anyone. The doctor is going to release her in an hour. I’m going to spend the weekend with her, but I wanted to stop in to check on you.”
“I’m doing great. In fact, why don’t you stay here, and I’ll stay with Mrs. Langley? No one will think to look for me there,” Lily spoke in a rush, staring at Shade.
“Maybe when she’s better, but she needs skilled care after just having surgery.”
Shade smirked at Beth’s answer. His woman had thought she was going to get out of her punishment. Not fucking likely! He would bar the doors if he had to in order to keep her inside.
“I’m glad you showed up. I have another idea. Since we don’t know who was watching me, it makes sense for me to leave Kentucky. I can contact Penni and stay with her until the band she’s working for goes on tour.”
Shade lost his smirk at her quick thinking.
“I think that’s a great idea. I know you would be safe with Penni, and I can understand that it’s not comfortable for you to stay here.” Beth’s eyes went to Shade’s. She had no legitimate excuse for why she couldn’t go stay with Penni, and they both knew it.
“I need to go shower. I’ll be back in a few,” Shade said, turning on his heel as he heard Lily and Beth talking.
“I’ll call her after dinner then let you know her answer.”
“I can get Razer to drive you to the airport,” Beth offered.
Shade closed the door then went down the steps to his room. Taking out his cell phone, he made the call he was already dreading.
“Hello, bro, what’s up?” Penni answered.
“I need a favor.”
There was a brief silence. “Does this involve Lily?”
“Yes, she wants to come stay with you,” Shade said, already knowing her answer since the two had become firm friends during their time as roommates, which was what he had intended. However, the unexpected consequence was that, more often than not, she had sided with Lily against him while still taking his money.
“Cool! I miss her like crazy. I now this fun bar we can go to—”
“No,” Shade snapped. “I want you to tell her no, or better yet, make up an excuse. You’re good at that. I heard the whopper you told your mom on why you couldn’t spend the summer with her.”
“I’m not going to blow Lily off.”
He heard the steel behind his half-sister’s voice and knew there wouldn’t be any changing her mind, unless…
“You know that old bike of mine you’ve been wanting? I’ll give it to you. I’ll even teach you how to ride it.”
“Fuck.”
Shade knew he had her. He merely needed to tighten the noose.
“I’ll start your allowance back again.” Shade had quit giving her money when she had graduated and found a job.
“Dammit! Why does she want to come down? And it better be the truth, Shade!”
He decided to give it to her. “Because she wants to run.”
“If you’ve done anything to hurt—”
“I love her. I would never hurt her,” Shade admitted. If he had to confess it to the world, he would to keep her. Then he unashamedly told the biggest lie he had ever told. “I’m trying to work up my courage to ask her out, but she’s nervous about being around all the brothers.”
“Awe. I can tell her their bark is worse than their bite. Let me talk to her and—”
“No!” Shade said sharply then made his voice soften with fake meekness. “If she knows I called, she’ll get mad and never go out with me.”
“All right,” she agreed grudgingly. “But I’m going to come see her as soon as I can.”
“Thanks, Penni.”
“You’re welcome. Just don’t make me sorry I did this,” she warned before hanging up.
After showering and changing, he went back upstairs and fixed himself something to eat. Beth was telling Lily how good she looked. Shade agreed; she was much healthier than when he had driven her in from college.
“You have color in your cheeks again. I hope being here this week has shown you that they really care about you.”
“Yes.”
Beth and Razer got up from the table. “Let me know what Penni says.”
Lily stood up, hugging both Beth and Razer goodbye.
Shade was glad Lily was trying to put her hurt feelings behind her. Beth loved her and hadn’t i
ntentionally tried to hurt Lily. She had tried to protect her—they all had. It had backfired, of course, because they had smothered her with that protection. Then, when she had cut herself off from it, Lily hadn’t been able to handle it.
After Razer and Beth left, she told everyone goodnight except him before going downstairs. Shade followed behind her, giving her enough time to reach his room and make her call. He wanted her to know all avenues of her planned escape were closed.
She had a big smile on her lips which fell flat when he casually walked into the room, shutting the door and locking it behind him then leaning back briefly against it. The cell phone was to her ear, but her eyes were on him.
Shade straightened from the door, going to the dresser where he took off his shirt then his boots, placing them to the side. Walking barefoot, he went to the large closet that was against the wall where her clothes were kept. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keychain, unlocking the other side of the closet which held his neatly arranged equipment.
One after the other, he pulled out various items, testing their weight in his hands. He took out a thick ruler, which he smacked against his hand before putting it back in the closet. He then pulled out a flogger, which he slapped against his thigh before putting it back in the cabinet.
“Yes,” Shade heard her strangled reply to something Penni must have said.
Shade lost track of the conversation while he debated which toy he would use on Lily first. He knew which one he wanted to use, but she would have a panic attack, and he didn’t want that. He was going to have to start out slowly, despite wanting to give her a lesson a seasoned sub would cry over.
Shade pulled out his favorite paddle. It was thin and covered in leather. He smacked it against his palm, finding it was perfect for what he wanted. Happy with his choice, he shut the closet door then walked to the chair and sat down, staring directly into her eyes.
Her gaze tore away from his, going to the door. She was smart enough to realize she couldn’t make it. Shade wasn’t going to underestimate her again, already figuring out her next move by seeing her body tense in preparation.
“Make sure you do. I’m planning on coming for a visit.” She spoke into the phone quickly.