by Nicola Jane
“Just one won’t hurt,” he whispers, his mouth almost touching mine. I still don’t move. I can’t have him reject me again; he needs to make the first move. And then he does. His lips gently press against mine and we pause, joined together by lips only.
Ace tilts his head slightly and he swipes his tongue against my lips; instinctively, I open my mouth and Ace doesn’t hesitate to close his mouth over mine, thrusting his tongue inside. I feel light headed, like I’m floating as his hands move to each side of my face. They settle in my hair and tug gently as our tongues do a merry dance. I’ve been kissed, but nothing ever felt this good.
Ace begins to stand, pulling me with him and keeping our mouths joined. He walks me backwards until I hit the wall. Standing with him towering over me like this is a huge turn on. He keeps one hand tangled in my hair and the other travels down my body. His fingers lightly stroke along my ribs until he gets to my ass. He grabs my butt cheek, gently squeezing it and pulling me against him. I feel his erection between our bodies and I have to refrain from wrapping my legs around him and grinding against him shamelessly.
Suddenly, Ace pulls away. His breathing is labored, as is mine. We stare at each other panting. “Shit,” he mutters. I don’t want to give him a chance to reject me, so I stand on my tip toes and place a gentle kiss on his cheek, and then I turn away and head back inside.
I smile all the way back to where the rest of the girls are. At the table behind them is Angel and Scar. They both stare at me as I pass, but I’m in too much of a good mood to speak to Angel right now. I’m about to take a seat next to Piper when Angel shouts my name. I look back and Scar is hissing words in her direction. He doesn’t look too happy. I keep my smile friendly because I don’t want to give her a reason to be a bitch when I’ve just experienced true happiness. I’m not ready to let that feeling go yet.
“You seem awfully happy for a girl that just got rejected,” she says coldly.
“Rejected?” I repeat. I’d love to tell her just what rejection looked like for me but it’s private; between me and Ace.
“I assume Ace told you where to go. Or maybe he’s too nice?” She tips her head to the side. It’s a typical mean girl move, so I brace myself for the next blow. “Well, I’m not nice so I’m just gonna come out and tell you. He is embarrassed by your stupid little girl crush on him. Stop throwing yourself at him. Stop lingering wherever he is and, for goodness sake, stop mooching after him like a love sick puppy.”
I process what she’s saying, hoping desperately that Ace hasn’t told her everything. Why would he do that when there’s nothing between them? Nothing real anyway. “What are you talking about, Angel?” I snap.
“He told me about your confession.” Her smile is cruel.
Scar leans closer to Angel and whispers to her. I can make out the hiss of his words. “Shut the fuck up.”
“He told you, too?” I ask, and Scar looks guilty. “Oh my god.” I groan out loud and cover my face with my hands. I’m so embarrassed that I've been the hot topic of gossip and I didn’t even realize.
“Mae, come on, we’re all friends here. You don’t need to feel embarrassed,” Scar says. He doesn’t see that us being friends makes everything even more embarrassing for me.
“He’s trying to be nice about it, Mae, but seriously, he’s the fucking President of the Rebellion MC. Do you honestly think he’d look at you in that way? He needs a real woman to handle his shit.” Angel smirks.
I take a deep breath, not sure what to say about any of it and then I turn and rush for the bathroom. I can’t be here with them looking at me like they pity me, and I feel like I need to vomit the humiliation into the nearest toilet.
Why would Ace do that to me? I thought he was a private person, but for him to tell them what I said is just cruel. I brace myself over the toilet and close my eyes, picturing them all laughing at my expense. The humiliation burns deep.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ace
I lean against the wall watching the street below me. What the fuck did I just do? One minute, me and Mae are talking and the next, I have my tongue down her throat. I growl and bury my face in my hands. I have never looked at Mae like I did tonight, and I don’t know if I have the makeover to thank for that or the fact that I know how she feels and that’s opened my eyes. Either way, I’m screwed. I push myself off the wall and head back inside to the others. I’ll figure it out.
I see Mae running away from Angel’s table. Scar goes to run after her, but Angel grabs his arm and stops him. That can’t be good. “Everything okay?” I ask when I’m close enough. Scar glares at Angel, raising his eyebrows in a judgmental way. “Fuck, Angel. What did you do?”
“I did what you should have done. I told her to grow the hell up and stop chasing someone who is clearly not interested.”
“That wasn’t your damn place!” I yell, and she looks stunned momentarily. “You’re forgetting your place in my club, Angel. You are a club girl, a whore. How the fuck dare you go about making decisions for me and upsetting my club members?”
“I was doing you a favor.” She huffs, folding her arms over her chest like a defiant teenager.
“You were stepping out of your box. Get the fuck out of my sight right now.” Angel pouts, grabbing her clutch bag and pushing past me as she leaves.
“I tried to stop her, Pres; she runs her mouth wider than she spreads her legs,” explains Scar.
“I’d better go and smooth things with Mae,” I sigh.
“Pres, can I ask you something?” says Scar. I nod, waiting for him to continue. “Do you like Mae? ‘Cause I don’t wanna step on your toes by going on a date with her.”
I laugh, patting him on the shoulder. “Firstly, you couldn’t step on my toes because I’d chop your damn feet off and secondly, Mae is a friend and part of my club. She’s not my old lady and she’s far too young for me.” I ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach as I say those words. I have no place feeling like this.
The bathroom is busy. As I step inside, a few of the girls that are waiting bat their lashes and smile suggestively. “Mae,” I growl but she doesn’t answer. “Mae, get out here or I’m coming in to get you.”
“I’ll be a minute or two,” mumbles Mae and I swear she’s crying. It twists my heart, knowing it’s because of me.
“I’m counting. Five, four, three…”
“Damn it, Ace, give me five minutes!” she yells from behind the second stall. I apologize to the ladies waiting before lifting my heavy boot and kicking the door. It pops open and Mae looks up in surprise.
“Two, one,” I finish with a smirk. “Let’s go.” I hold my hand out to her expectantly.
“You need to get out, Ace,” she growls. Mae never growls; she doesn’t get angry, she's a talker. You can be pissed as hell and somehow, she just calms you with her sensible words and her soothing tone. But sitting before me now, she looks anything but cool and calm. She stands suddenly and moves a step closer. “How dare you humiliate me like that?” I’m aware that the girls waiting for the toilet are now all staring at us. Mae shoves me in the chest. “You tell me nothing can happen,” she hisses, shoving me back another step. “And then you give me that hot, toe curling kiss.”
I smirk. “Toe curling?”
Another shove backs me against the basins. “And then you go and tell a club whore that I’m crushing on you!”
A few of our audience gasp and I roll my eyes; talk about dramatic. “Seriously, girls,” I say, glancing around the room. “It wasn’t like that.”
“I’ve listened to you. I’ve been there for you. I’ve helped you so many times, and you repay me by being a total ass and humiliating me.” Mae shoves me again but this, time I catch her wrists and pull her up against me.
She’s pushing me too far. “Let’s just remember who you’re talking to, Mae,” I warn, raising my eyebrow.
“Pull the President card now, bad ass. I don’t give a fuck.” She pulls her wrists free and leaves the bathro
om.
“Ouch. You really hurt her,” says one of the girls in the line. Like I don’t already know. I shake my head in annoyance and then follow after Mae. This is another reason why I don’t date. I always fuck it up somehow and then I have to deal with the drama that follows. I don’t have time for this shit, nor the patience for melodramatics.
I see Hulk looking just as pissed off as me. “Have you seen Mae?” I shout over the music. Hulk nods in the direction of the dance floor and I see why he looks so pissed. Mae and Piper have been joined by Tyra, one of Lucy’s friends, and they are dancing with a group of men. “I need a drink.” I sigh.
Sitting back at our table, I pour myself a whiskey. Looking around at all the sweaty bodies dancing to the heavy beat of music, I realize why I hate nightclubs so much. Give me a good, quiet bar with decent conversation any day over this. Hulk joins me, looking tormented. “Ignore her, she wants a reaction from you,” I say.
“She’s gonna get one if she touches that guy’s muscles again,” he growls.
I grin. “You know you can stop all this by just claiming her,” I suggest, but I already know the answer. He takes after me. He doesn’t want to settle down, and who can blame him? He grew up listening to the raging arguments between me and his mom. “I kissed Mae,” I blurt out. His expression goes from anger at Piper to shock at my confession.
“Wow, thought you didn’t like her like that. Good way to mix the signals.”
“And then Angel told her that she knew everything and now she thinks I’ve talked trash about her to the club girls.”
“Who cares what she thinks? She doesn’t mean anything to you, not like that. If you were trying to make a go of things with her then I get why you’d try and make it up to her, but…” He shrugs and then adds. “She’s a bit hurt, she’ll live.”
I sip my whiskey. “I guess,” I mutter.
I watch Mae dance. The way her hips sway and the way she throws her head back to laugh. It’s little things that I didn’t notice before. She has a habit of reaching behind her back and touching her long hair almost as if she’s checking it’s still there. She taps on her bottom teeth when she’s listening to someone talk. How did I not notice that shit before?
She laughs at something a guy says to her and then wiggles her ass. They’re sharing a private joke and it pisses me off. She touches her hair again and I wonder if it’s a nervous habit. The guy touches her hair too and then runs his hand to her ass, pulling her against him. She places her hands on his shoulders and stands on her tiptoes to speak into his ear.
“Let’s go,” snaps Hulk, standing abruptly. “I can’t sit around and watch her with other men.” He’s talking about Piper, of course, but the words hit home with me, too. Until then, I hadn’t realized that my hands had balled into fists and when I look back over and see them in a deep kiss, it hits me harder. Mae put herself on my radar by confessing her feelings for me, and now she’s opened all kinds of feelings in me.
I follow Hulk from the club, a fire inside of me raging. What the hell has she done to me?
We get back to the club and I drink a few shots. It does nothing for me. I can’t get her out of my mind, no matter how much alcohol I drink. I try a cold shower, but again, it does nothing. I wander around the club. It’s quiet tonight. I hate it when it’s quiet. I like it full and buzzing with life.
I stop outside Mae’s bedroom door. Maybe I should wait up for her to make sure she’s home safely. I shake my head; that’s ridiculous. She’s a grown woman. I turn to walk away and then change my mind again. I could wait and smooth things out with her. Before I know it, I’m in her room.
It’s nice here. Clean, bright and very girly. She has a four poster bed and she’s wrapped fairy lights around the top. I turn all the lights off apart from the fairy lights. They illuminate just enough of the room so that I can see her when she gets in. I take a seat by her window in an old armchair that she likes to curl up in to read.
And I wait.
Almost an hour later, I hear giggling and stumbling outside of the room. I tap my fingers on the arms of the chair impatiently. The door opens and she practically falls into the room laughing, followed by the guy she kissed earlier tonight. I grip the arms of the chair tighter, digging my fingers into the worn leather.
“Get naked,” he orders.
She giggles again. “So bossy,” she swoons, and I roll my eyes. She hasn’t seen bossy yet.
“Come on, baby, stop teasing me,” pants the guy. He reminds me of a dog in heat. Fuck, he’s like a horny teenager.
“I’ll get something for you to tie me up with?” she suggests excitedly, and this surprises me. My little admirer likes a bit of kink.
Mae holds up a rope from her dressing gown. I shake my head. If he uses that then he’s an amateur. He takes it, just like I knew he would. Mae lies on the bed and lets him tie her hands together before securing them to the bars on her headboard. He leans over her, moving his clumsy fingers to her tank top.
“I wouldn’t do that if I was you,” I growl. They both turn in fright to look at me.
“Shit,” shouts the guy as he steps back from Mae and holds up his hands. “Is that your dad?”
“Fuck, Ace. What the hell are you doing?” snaps Mae, tugging on her restraints. “Let me out of these,” she orders the guy. He goes to move toward her, but I stand and he freezes.
“Get out,” I murmur. He gives Mae an uncertain look. “Didn’t you hear me?” I say with more force in my tone.
Mae sighs. “It’s fine. You’d better go. I’ll call you.”
“You won’t,” I say, folding my arms over my chest and glaring at him. He backs out of the room, using the wall to feel behind him for the exit and then he practically runs out.
I slam the door closed and flick the lock. Turning back to Mae, I shrug out of my Kut and lay my gun on the bedside table. “Let me out of this,” she snaps, tugging her restraints.
“You bring a stranger back to my home. You let him tie you up. He could have done anything to you and you wouldn’t have been able to stop him.” I keep my voice low and menacing. It’s hard to keep the anger at bay as I stand over her.
Mae smirks. “Kinda the point.”
“He’s an amateur. He would have fucked you for all of two minutes, got himself off and left you unfulfilled.”
“Well, I guess I’ll never know now, will I?”
“I bet he’s still having wet dreams,” I mutter.
“Ace, let me out of this,” she snaps, pulling again on the fluffy pink dressing gown cord.
“You ever fuck a real man, Mae?” She sees the change in my stance. The predator in me steps forward and she presses her thighs together. I push my finger against her ankle and slowly drag it up her body. “Someone who takes his time to enjoy a woman’s body like it should be enjoyed.”
Mae shakes her head back and forth, keeping her eyes fixed to mine. I stop my finger on the robe tie and then give it a tug to unfasten it. “Don’t move your hands, Mae,” I say firmly. “Not an inch.” I remove the tie and Mae keeps her wrists together above her head. I’m impressed that she followed my instructions. “Take off the top.”
Mae half sits, pulling the tank over her head and dropping it to the floor. “Now the bra,” I say firmly. She hesitates for a second, but then removes the bra too. Her erect nipples silently beg to be licked. “Hands up again.” Mae raises her arms above her head and holds onto the metal of her headboard.
Mae
I grip the cold metal tight in my hands as Ace leans closer and swipes his tongue over one of my erect nipples. He gives me a side glance, smirking. “I’m going to tie your hands above your head using my belt, Mae,” he says. “Is that okay with you?” I nod. My inner goddess is dancing around screaming yes, yes tie me the fuck up. Don’t even ask me.
He unfastens his belt. It’s slow and meticulous. He doesn’t take his eyes from mine, which makes the whole thing hotter. He wraps the belt through the metal bars and then around my
hands, keeping them together. “Now, you need to stay real quiet because I’m gonna pop and get something from my room and if you make a noise, someone might come in,” he says, backing towards the door.
Ace opens it wide and I glare at him. “Someone might see. Close the door!” He responds with a smirk, pushing it wider and walking out of the room. I hold my breath, praying that he’s just kidding and he’ll close the door any second but then I hear his footsteps moving away. “Ace,” I whisper hiss. “Ace, this isn’t funny.”
He doesn’t come back and I lay staring out into the hall, listening for any sign of someone coming. It feels like hours before I hear his footsteps return when, in fact, it’s been less than two minutes. He reaches the door and then I hear Bear call his name. He winks at me and turns back to look at Bear. “You okay?”
“Yeah, Pres. Are you coming down for a game of poker?” Ace glances into my room like he’s thinking about it. I shake my head, no. If he dares to leave me like this, I’ll scream the place down. At least then Angel will know he tied me up like this.
“I’d love to, Bear…” He pauses, glancing at me again. “But yah know what, I promised Bernie I’d have a chat with Mae about her crazy moods lately. Maybe I’ll join you when I’m done.”
“Okay Pres, your call but Scar is so drunk right now and he’s betting crazy money.”
Ace laughs. “It’s tempting. Let me see how this goes first.”
He waits until Bear leaves and then steps back into the room and closes the door. “Do you like the thought of getting caught, Mae?” he asks. I think about it for a second, I guess it was thrilling waiting to see when he’d be back. I shrug my shoulders and he grins. “If I check your panties, will they be wet?” I blush; I’m not used to men talking to me like this. Lucy tells us all the time that Tag loves to dirty talk. I never saw the appeal until I heard Ace do it in that deep gravelly voice of his.
Ace pulls out a blindfold from his back pocket and dangles it in front of me. “Let’s make this fun.” He carefully places it over my eyes, tying it in place. “Have you been blindfolded before?” I shake my head no. My sex life hasn’t been an adventurous one.