“Don’t push me,” I mock him, digging through my handbag looking for my phone.
He sighs.
I look up when I hear someone approach us. A woman stands next to Arrow, but not too close, and licks her lips. “Hi, I was wondering if you guys were having a party tonight at the clubhouse. My friends and I would like to come.”
She sticks her chest out and I watch Arrow—but he doesn’t move his gaze from her face.
“Why don’t you go in the bar and see if any of my brothers are interested,” Arrow tells her, sounding bored.
“Oh,” she says, face falling. “I was kind of hoping—”
“Do you not see me standing right here?” I ask loudly.
She turns to me, as if only just noticing I was there. “Oh, I just assumed—”
I step closer to her. “Right, well, next time don’t assume. I’m not in a good mood, and it would be a shame if I had to take that out on you, wouldn’t it?”
“Anna,” Arrow snaps, stepping closer to me and grabbing my arm. “Cut it out.”
Blade pulls up at that moment, and Arrow all but throws me into the backseat. He gets in next to me and closes the door.
“Hi, Blade!” I greet him too loudly.
“Hey,” he says to me, twisting his body around, then looks to Arrow. “Clubhouse?”
“Yep,” Arrow replies. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem. Good night?” he asks Arrow.
Arrow glances at me, then replies, “Could have been better.”
“Mine could have been better too,” I add sulkily. “Much better.”
Blade chuckles until Arrow tells him to shut up.
The two of them talk as I close my eyes, the motion of the car making me feel slightly nauseous.
“You okay, Anna?” Arrow asks. The car comes to a stop and he carries me into the clubhouse. The place is still loud, with music and laughter being heard as soon as we exit the car.
Gently he lays me down on my bed. “Stay here. I’ll get you some water,” he says, then disappears. I use that time to clean up and use the bathroom, then strip down to nothing.
I walk out of the bathroom and scream.
Tracker stands there, grinning and staring at my naked breasts. Realizing he isn’t going to leave or close his eyes, I grab the sheet and cover my body.
“Okay,” he says slowly. “You don’t look anything like Rake.”
I purse my lips. “You pervert! You could have turned around.”
He holds his hands up. “I was just coming in to check on you. Now I’m leaving before Arrow—”
“What the fuck?” comes the growl from behind us.
Great.
“Just leaving,” Tracker says, leaving in haste.
“How come every time I turn around that bastard is with you?” Arrow asks, his jaw tense.
“He’s my friend. Who puts my feelings first,” I can’t help but add.
“Fuck, you’re stubborn,” he adds, handing me a cold bottle of water.
“And you’re an asshole.”
“Never claimed I wasn’t.”
“I’m going to bed,” I say after I take a sip of water. I get comfortable, then turn to the side and close my eyes.
Arrow slides in and curses. “You’re fuckin’ naked under here and Tracker was in here? I’m going to kill that fucker.”
I inwardly roll my eyes.
I’m about to fall asleep—in that dreamy state just before you lose consciousness—when I hear him say in a soft voice, “I know you didn’t say or do what she said. You’re not a liar, Anna. But she’s all I have left of Mary. I feel responsible for her.”
His voice wavers a little when he says her name.
TWENTY-ONE
WHO was that man you were talking to at the bar?” I ask Arrow the next morning. I am still angry with him, but I am also curious. My curiosity wins out.
“You didn’t recognize him?” Arrow asks me. “He’s famous.”
“Nope. Who is he?”
“He’s a local legend. Rock star. Before your time, I suppose.”
“So you were with him the entire night and couldn’t even send me a message?”
He cuts his eyes to me at my tone. “We had some issues; I was busy. Now cut it out.”
“Cut what out?” I ask in a sugary-sweet tone.
“Being a bitch.”
Well, then.
I narrow my gaze on him. “Trust me, you haven’t seen me be a bitch yet.”
He rolls his eyes heavenward.
“God isn’t going to help you,” I mumble under my breath.
“Yes,” he replies, suddenly sounding amused. “I’m starting to see that.”
I pick up my piece of toast and devour it.
“Will you take me home, please?” I ask him once I’m done. Rake walks in, looking like he’d had a wild night.
“Is that a hickey on your neck?” I ask him. “Who were you with? A sixteen-year-old who wanted to show off that she’s sexually active?”
He isn’t amused. “Anna, not so fuckin’ loud.”
I smirk. “You want me to make you some breakfast?”
He sets his puppy-dog eyes on me. “Would you?”
I stand. “Yes I would. Go take a shower. You stink.”
He leaves the room.
“Yeah, for him you’re sweet,” Arrow grumbles.
“Yes, well, Rake didn’t ditch me last night,” I snap. I remember the words he said to me last night about Janet being all that he has left of Mary, but I still feel like he shouldn’t have treated me the way he did. I also feel like Janet knows how guilty Arrow feels and is using it to her advantage.
“Anna, I told you—”
“What did you drop off with Janet that day we stopped at her house?” I ask him, wanting to see if my theory is correct. Janet is using Arrow, and I’m sure he’s been supporting her too.
“Why?” he asks, like it’s of no consequence.
“Answer the question, Arrow.”
He shrugs, playing it off. “She was behind on her rent.”
Aha! I knew it.
I turn my back on him to hide my expression and start to fry some eggs for Rake. Arrow comes up behind me and presses his front to my back. “You need to curb your jealousy, Anna.”
I scoff. “Like you can talk.”
“I’m a man.”
He is a man.
A man with a currently hard cock pressing into my ass.
But that is no excuse.
“Are you saying that just to piss me off?” I ask, purposely rubbing my ass against him.
“Darlin’, don’t fight with me for the sake of fighting, because you’re going to lose,” he whispers in my ear.
Two women walk by and Arrow calls them over. “Can you finish this breakfast off for Rake? Anna is about to become very busy.”
They nod.
Arrow leads me to his room, leaving the women to the task of feeding my brother. He slams the door behind him and sits on the bed, lifting me on his lap so I’m straddling him.
“Stop being angry about last night. I wasn’t choosing her over you, okay? She was Mary’s sister so I keep an eye on her, because I know Mary would want that. You’re strong, baby, she’s not.”
“I don’t deserve to be anything but first place, Arrow,” I tell him. “Janet lied. I would never say anything bad about Mary. I’ve only ever heard good things about her, especially from Faye. Janet is a manipulative bitch, and I’m not going to put up with her shit just because you have a soft spot for her.”
He licks his bottom lip. “You are my priority, Anna, and I’m sorry I’ve made you think otherwise. I’m telling you now, you’re who I want; I’m not fuckin’ touching anyone else, and I don’t want to. Janet doesn’t mean shit compared to you. If I’m honest, it was my guilt taking care of her, since it was my fault Mary died.”
“It wasn’t your fault,” I tell him. “She knew what she was doing, getting involved in an MC.”
He ma
kes a deep sound in his throat but doesn’t reply. I know he doesn’t believe what I’m trying to say; I guess it’s something he’s going to have to figure out for himself.
“I’m serious,” I tell him.
“Don’t know what I did to deserve you, Anna,” he says softly, our eyes connected.
“Then don’t fuck it up, Arrow,” I whisper back. “Treat me how I deserve to be treated.”
“Quinn was right,” he muses. “You are a firecracker.”
Quinn? The older man at the bar last night?
“Well,” I say. “Are you going to kiss me or not?”
He slides his hand up my thigh. “Where do you want to be kissed, Anna? Your mouth, or your pussy?”
My cheeks flush.
I clear my throat. “Maybe we can do both.”
He grins, then slams his mouth down on mine.
* * *
A few days later, I’m having the day from hell.
After missing the bus from campus I call a cab. The one day I need an escort, and no one shows up.
Typical.
After paying the cabdriver, who smiles at me with no teeth, I can’t get into my apartment because I can’t find my keys. I knock on the maintenance man’s door, but he isn’t home. I sit on the front step, and then it starts raining. I try to call Arrow again, and luckily this time he answers.
“Anna?” he says as he picks up.
“I’m locked out of my apartment,” I tell him.
“I’ll be right there,” he says, then hangs up.
Five minutes later he shows up, dangling my spare set of keys in his hand.
“Hi,” I say, wrapping my arm around his torso. “Looks like Rake having a set came in handy.”
He kisses the top of my head. “I know. Come on, let’s get you inside.”
When we’re in, Arrow starts packing some of my things.
“What are you doing?” I ask, as he grabs my suitcase from the spare room.
“You’re moving in. Rake and I decided,” he says. “You’re at our place most of the time anyway, Anna. And if you don’t want to stay at the clubhouse, then I’ll move in here with you. Your choice.”
I look around my crummy apartment. “I don’t know, Arrow.”
“You want me to buy us a place?” he asks casually. “And you need a car too. Rake said he offered to buy you a car and you said no. What’s up with that?”
“I’m saving for my own car, I don’t want anyone else to buy it for me,” I say.
He scrubs a hand down his face. “Of course you are. You need to choose your battles, Anna.”
I arch a brow. “Looks like you need to take your own advice right now.”
He stops packing and closes the space between us, a smile playing on his lips. “You’re something else, you know that?”
He lowers his head and kisses me gently, taking it slowly like he has all the time in the world. “I want you to live with me, this is what I’m asking you.”
“That’s what you should have started with,” I tell him, smiling. I wrap my arms around his neck, using his body to lift me up, and wrap my legs around him. “Why don’t we stay in the clubhouse for now, and see where we go from there?”
He looks relieved. “Okay. Fuck, I’m glad you agreed. Rake told me to call him if we had to kidnap you.”
I place a kiss on his neck. “I can be agreeable sometimes.”
“Good to know,” he says, his breath hitching as I trail openmouthed kisses down his neck.
“You know, we’ve never fucked on a kitchen table before,” I say, glancing behind me at the table.
Arrow palms my ass, gripping each globe. “No, no, we haven’t. You’re insatiable, Anna.”
“Are you complaining?” I ask, running my fingers through his hair and gripping it.
“Fuck no,” he replies, walking back with me and leaning me on the table. “You’re more than I imagined, Anna.”
I smile as he kisses me, a warm feeling in my chest at his words. Could Arrow love again? Could he love me?
* * *
Later that night at the clubhouse, I find Arrow’s side of the bed empty. I wander into the kitchen to get a drink and hear the men in the game room. As I’m about to enter the room, I hear something I’m obviously not meant to hear.
“It’s safer for her here. Thanks for getting her here, bro,” Rake says.
Did Arrow want me to move in? Or was he just doing my brother’s bidding?
“I think you should tell her who ransacked her house,” I hear Arrow say. “Knowledge is power, Rake—it’s wrong to keep her in the dark.”
They know who did it?
“I’m her brother.”
“And I’m her man,” Arrow inserts. “I’m all for keeping her safe, but she needs to know, so you have a couple of days to tell her or I will.”
“Fuck you, Arrow, she’s my fuckin’ baby sister and you know her history. Now I’m able to protect her from a lot of things. She’s smart, educated, and beautiful. She has a good life going for her, even though you’re in it—which wasn’t part of the plan by the way.”
Arrow grunts. “She’s safer with me, and you know it. No one with half a brain fucks with me, Rake. You need to tell Anna the truth.”
Rake’s cold voice stops me. “Trust me, Arrow; you of all people don’t want me telling Anna the truth.”
“Why?” Arrow asks, voice booming.
I open the door and step in. “Tell me what, Rake?”
Two pairs of guilty eyes look my way.
TWENTY-TWO
RAKE shoots Arrow an accusing look, then looks at me again, his green eyes softening.
He sighs. “Come and sit down, Anna.”
I take a seat next to him, feeling nervous. “We know who messed up your apartment. It was one of the Wild Men MC members.”
“Why?” I ask, feeling confused. “How do you know?”
Would Talon let them do that to me?
Rake sighs. “Someone saw him leave your apartment. We tracked him down. It was one of the men we caught messing with our shipment, one that we traded to Talon for you.”
“I don’t understand,” I say, my voice shaking.
Rake sighs. “He obviously wanted revenge, and he was going to take it out on you. You need to be careful, Anna. We only found out everything yesterday, and that’s why you needed to be here with us where we can keep you safe.”
I look at Arrow. “So you didn’t actually want to live with me, you were just doing what you had to. I get it.”
“No, Anna, you don’t. I did want you here,” Arrow quickly says.
“Right.”
“Anna,” both of them say at the same time.
“Talon never hurt me; how come this man wants to?” I ask them.
“Talon isn’t innocent, Anna; why do you keep acting as if he is?” Rake snaps, scowling.
“Hey, you weren’t held captive by him, okay? I was. Trust me, he didn’t hurt me, and I don’t think he would.”
“So he has a soft spot for you,” Rake replies flippantly. “That doesn’t mean it’s going to be enough to save you if his men want you. He’s not the president, Anna; he’s the VP. He doesn’t call all the shots.”
“So, what? This man came to hurt me? But I wasn’t there, so he got angry and destroyed the place?”
Arrow answers this time. “That’s what it looks like. We don’t know for sure.”
“I thought you caught up with him?” I ask, frowning. “What did he say?”
Arrow flinches and Rake cringes.
“What did you do?” I yell, standing up.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” Arrow replies curtly. “Come on, let’s go back to bed.”
I open my mouth, then close it with a snap. “You two are unbelievable, you know that?”
Did they kill that man? I don’t want one of them going to prison. I don’t think I could handle that.
Arrow takes my hand, but I pull it away and storm back to his room.
“Sleep,” he whispers.
Even angry, I dream of him.
* * *
“Two vodka and cranberries please,” the young woman says. I smile at her and make the drinks while Summer takes her money and gives her change.
“When does Reid get here?” I ask Summer. It’s been unexpectedly busy, and we’re holding down the fort, waiting for Reid and Tag to arrive.
“He’s on his way,” she replies, then goes to serve the next customer.
I woke up this morning angry with both Arrow and Rake, for different reasons. Arrow because I don’t know if he truly wanted me living with him, and Rake because he was hiding shit from me. I’d crept out of bed early this morning and gone to Lana’s, then came straight to work. An hour early, might I add—that’s how desperate I was to keep busy and not have to deal with my own thoughts. I know Arrow will come to pick me up tonight, demanding that I be reasonable. I know they’re both trying to protect me, but if something involves me I have the right to know. They can keep their club secrets, but when some man is out to hurt me . . . Well, forewarned is forearmed.
Reid arrives and tells me to take a break. I check my phone and see a text from Arrow.
Want to go out for sushi after your shift?
I try and fight my smile but it wins.
I’m not that easy, I type back.
My phone beeps a few seconds later.
How about sushi followed by a bath, a massage, and multiple orgasms?
I shake my head, amused.
Putting my phone away, I head back to work.
* * *
“You can’t still be angry, I took you out for sushi!” he calls behind me as I walk into the bathroom. He holds me by my hips and stares at me in the mirror, our eyes connected. He looks down, then starts to slowly slide my pants and panties off, leaving me naked from the waist down.
“Anna,” he rumbles.
“Hmmmm?”
“I want you, darlin’. I want you badly,” he says with a throaty groan. He undoes his jeans, letting them pool at his ankles.
“Then take me,” I softly demand, tilting my neck to the side as he starts to kiss me there. He sucks on my neck until I’m squirming, then reaches his hands around to cup my breasts. He plumps them, sliding his thumbs over my beaded nipples, grinding his cock against me. Multitasking—I like it.
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