“A club is different than a gang,” Dixie explained. “It’s basically a group of guys who like to ride and have similar beliefs and lifestyles. They watch over the community, stop bullying, help people in need, that sort of thing. It’s like one big family.”
“Wow, you’re even more perfect for Jace than I thought,” Jayla said, looking at Jace with a pushy expression.
“Jayla, cut it out,” Jace warned.
“I’m just noting a fact,” Jayla said casually.
Dixie nudged Jace’s arm and said, “Relax. She’s just giving you a hard time.”
“Do you go to Bikes on the Beach, too?” Mia asked. “Jace goes every year.”
“I’ve been going so long, I know most of the local bikers around the Cape, including your cousin Justin Wicked’s family and most of the Dark Knights,” Jace explained.
“That’s not surprising. Their community is closely knit, like Peaceful Harbor,” Dixie said. “My cousins go every year, but I never do. Those events are like one big drinking fest, and I get enough of that working at my family’s bar. But I do hope to go to the drive-in theater while I’m there. I love drive-ins and there aren’t any where I live.”
“Jared told me about the drive-in. It’s on my to-do list,” Mia said. “I want to hear about your family’s bar. How cool is it to own a bar? What’s it like?”
“It’s kind of a biker dive, but I love it. During the day it’s family friendly, but at night it can get rowdy.” Dixie’s whole face brightened as she told them about the bar, and the auto shop, and what she did for each of the businesses. The pride in her voice was inescapable.
“You handle the books and administration for both of the businesses and waitress part-time?” Jennifer asked. “That sounds like a lot. How do you find time to date?”
“Or read?” Mia asked.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “You and your fictional romance.”
“Dating is a touchy subject,” Dixie said. “Because of my brothers’ reputations for protecting me, most guys stay away.”
She looked pointedly at Jace, and he knew she was thinking about how he hadn’t backed down. If he was reading her expression correctly, she liked it a hell of a lot.
“I rely on fictional romance more often than I’d like, too,” Dixie confessed. “But I’m part of this great online romance book club. We have members all over the world, but the girls who started it live in Wellfleet. I’ll probably see some of them when I go for Justin’s art show. We’re reading an erotic romance right now.” She looked tauntingly at Jace and said, “I love erotic romance.”
His interest piqued.
She rubbed her leg against his under the table, and he shot her a warning look. She feigned an innocent smile as she ran her fingers along his outer thigh.
“I want in on that book club,” Jennifer said.
Jace ground his teeth together. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about the book club, but he wanted in on Dixie, and hell if he was going to let her get him hot and bothered in front of his family. It was time for a little payback. He palmed her bare thigh, schooling his expression as her flesh heated. He felt her muscles tense as he slid his hand along her silky skin, beneath her skirt.
She finished her sangria in one gulp.
Pleased with her reaction, he left his hand there, feeling the heat radiating between her legs. He speared a piece of lasagna with his fork, as if he were just enjoying dinner as the girls chatted. He could practically feel Dixie’s heartbeat pulsing in the air around them.
“I want to join the book club, too!” Mia exclaimed. “At least that way I’d have friends to talk about my fictional boyfriends with.”
Jayla looked playfully at Rush and said, “How can we sign up?”
Jace scanned his sisters’ faces, making sure they were clueless about his furtive touches. They were so busy talking about the book club, no one missed a beat—and neither did he. As Dixie talked about forums and FaceTime meetings, he brushed his fingers higher, feeling the damp heat of her panties.
She squeezed her legs together as she said, “I’ll give you all the details after dinner.” Details came out breathy. “The book we’re reading right now is so good. The hero is totally alpha. He takes what he wants, but he really gets off on giving pleasure, too.” She looked at Jace as she said, “There’s nothing hotter than a man who knows what he wants and goes after it.”
“Yes,” Jennifer agreed.
Rush leaned in and kissed Jayla. Then he said, “My wife can attest to that.”
Dixie’s eyes never left Jace’s face. He’d thought he’d shocked her, but she was enjoying every second of his secret touches, probably feeling like she won. That was hot as sin, but he’d played right into her skillful hands.
Needing to turn the tables, he withdrew his hand, earning a harsh glare from Dixie.
Oh yeah, kitten, bring those claws out.
Jace leaned leisurely back in his chair and said, “So, Rush, tell me about the new training program Jayla mentioned.” The heat of Dixie’s stare seared into him.
Over the next two hours, Dixie brought those kitten claws out, taunting and teasing him and getting frustrated when he wouldn’t play along. It was killing him not to react to her sexy double entendres and seductive glances, but if he touched her again, he wasn’t going to stop. As if that wasn’t torture enough, everything else she did during the evening drew him deeper into her, from loving up Thane to giggling and whispering with his sisters in the kitchen, spearing pieces of chocolate cake as they whispered behind their hands. She looked feminine and joyous, like she had nothing to prove.
Dixie almost always looked like she had something to prove.
Witnessing this side of her was so captivating, Jace felt spellbound.
She got teary eyed when she told them about the night Truman found his baby siblings and again when she told them about her father suffering a stroke and her mother sticking by him night and day, nursing him back to health. She’d gone on to tell stories about each of her family members, and she even told them about what had gone down at the auction. It was easy to see how much her family meant to her, but when she told them what it was like to watch Finlay fall in love with her gruffest, most closed-off brother, Jace noticed something special about how much Bullet’s happiness meant to Dixie. Her love for her family clearly outshined the hard feelings she had about living in her brothers’ shadows.
As they got ready to leave, all the girls pumped up Dixie for the photo shoot, telling her how fantastic she would do and wishing her luck. They exchanged phone numbers, and apparently Dixie’s book club was getting three new members. After hugs and promises from Jace to send them a few pictures from the shoot, and from Dixie to keep in touch, Jace hailed a cab.
“Your family is amazing,” Dixie said as the cab pulled away from the curb.
Her skirt was hiked up so high, his fingers burned with the memory of brushing against her panties. He gritted his teeth so hard he was sure they’d crack.
“I wish I had sisters. The dynamics are so different between your family and mine. And Thane?” Dixie sighed, pressing her hand over her heart. “He’s so sweet. I don’t know how you stand it. He’s going to be a heartbreaker, just like his uncle…”
She went on about how much fun she’d had and how his sisters and Rush had helped calm her nerves about the shoot tomorrow. Jace tried to focus on what she was saying, but he couldn’t take his eyes off her long legs. His mind was a whirlwind of Dixie laughing, taunting, and challenging. While she talked about tomorrow, he struggled with how he was going to make it through the night.
Family and loyalty were the two things Jace held closest to his heart, and as all the newly discovered parts of Dixie came together, he realized she was unknowingly finding her way there, too.
He thought about that as he helped her from the cab and ushered her inside the building and into the elevator. She stopped talking, and her eyes found his. He should have taken the stairs, because he felt himsel
f getting lost in her.
“Did you hear a word I said?” she asked softly as the elevator doors closed.
He stepped in front of her, and those green eyes went dark as a forest, reeling him right in. He ignored her question, needing her mouth on his, and said, “We both know I’m not the guy you need. I don’t answer to anyone, Dix, and I can’t give you forever. Hell, I can’t give you next week. You want to make your own decisions? You’d better make it fast, kitten, because I’m one breath away from feasting on you.”
“You’re the guy I need right now.”
She grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged. His mouth crashed over hers, and her back hit the wall hard. He ground against her hips, letting her feel the effect she had on him. She tasted sweet and sinful, like all his favorite things wrapped up into one delicious package. He pushed his hands into her hair, fisting them and angling her mouth beneath his as he took the kiss deeper. He was rough and greedy, and she was just as eager, rocking her hips, clawing at his arms, back, and head. Blood pounded through his veins as their tongues tangled fierce and hungry. He tugged her hair, eliciting a moan that shot through him like lightning. The elevator doors opened, but he refused to release her. They stumbled into his apartment eating at each other’s mouths, and he backed her up against the wall without breaking their connection. Years of repressed desire surged inside him. He wanted to touch all of her at once, to taste her, to feel her come on his mouth, his hands, his cock. He groped her breast with one hand, his other hand pushing beneath her skirt as they kissed.
She moaned into his mouth, rocking her hips as he slid his fingers beneath her panties and cupped her sex, feeling her wetness against his palm. The heat of her desire branded his skin as he dragged his fingers slowly along her swollen sex, drawing out her neediness. Another long, hungry sound sailed from her lungs to his, and he quickened his pace, teasing her with his fingers as his thumb found its mark and she gasped. He drew back, needing to see her beautiful face as he claimed her. God, she was gorgeous.
“Open your eyes,” he demanded. Her eyes fluttered open, and the passion welling in them burned through him like hot coals.
Biting back the words perched on the tip of his tongue—you destroy me—he ground out, “Fuck, Dixie,” and yanked her top and bra up, exposing her breasts. He continued teasing her down below as he lowered his mouth and dragged his tongue over and around one taut peak. When her eyes fluttered closed, he said, “Open,” and stilled his hand between her legs. Her eyes flew open, and he held her gaze as he simultaneously sucked the peak into his mouth and thrust his fingers into her velvety heat.
She gasped, her fingernails digging into the backs of his arms, using him for leverage as she fucked his fingers and he sucked and licked, bit and teased her gorgeous breast. He rose, grinding his cock against her hip as he reclaimed her mouth, and sped up the strokes of his fingers. She whimpered into the kiss, a needy, sexy noise that spurred him on. He kissed her rougher, thrust his fingers faster, until her muscles flexed and her orgasm claimed her. Her sex pulsed around his fingers, her hips bucked wildly, and a stream of lustful sounds poured from her lungs. The sight of her coming apart, the sounds she made, and her alluring scent, were magnificent, but they still weren’t enough. He wasn’t normally such a greedy bastard, but Dixie changed everything.
She came down from the peak, breathless and panting. His body was on fire. His muscles burned with restraint as he searched her eyes for, and found, the green light to take them further. Lust shot through him, and a rough noise rumbled out as he shoved her skirt up to her waist and tore her panties down—and off. Kneeling in front of her, he planted his hands on her thighs, spreading them wide, and sealed his mouth over her sex, taking his first real taste of her. She was sweeter than honey, more addicting than any drug. If euphoria had a taste, it would be Dixie.
She buried her hands in his hair as he took his fill. He lifted one of her long legs over his shoulder, angling her hips so he could delve deeper. He fucked her with his tongue, teased her with his fingers. Her body trembled and shook as she inhaled sharp little gasps, moaning and pleading for more. He took her clit between his teeth, using his fingers to stroke the secret spot inside her that sent her soaring again.
“Jace!”
Hearing his name sail from her lips in the throes of passion made him want to hear it again. He withdrew his fingers from her slick channel and feasted on her sweetness again.
“Ohgodohgodohgod,” she panted out as he worked his magic, catapulting her back into oblivion.
He stayed with her, savoring every moment through her very last aftershock. He trailed a series of lighter kisses over and around her sex and along her inner thighs. Each touch caused a sharp inhalation. That sound spiked through him like a gift. Her trembling hands clutched his arms as he rose to his feet. He felt different, as if he’d experienced something life altering. He told himself it was just sex, but the pleasure and approval in her eyes tugged at something deep in his chest. He reclaimed her luscious mouth, rough and wicked, trying to chase those unnerving sensations away. But when she wound her arms around him, pressing her hands to his back, holding him like she never wanted to let go, something inside him shifted. His efforts slowed. He wanted to be held by her, to be wanted for more than the pleasure he’d give, to be needed by the woman who needed nobody. His tongue stroked hers sensually, meaningfully, different than he’d ever kissed another woman.
He kissed the edge of her mouth and bowed his head beside hers, their bodies still pressed together. Her heart pounded rapidly against his chest, her hands slid down his back, clutching his ass. His hips thrust involuntarily. The depth of their connection tripped him up, and warning bells sounded in his head. Jesus fuck. If he felt like this from just going down on her, what would it be like when he was buried deep inside her?
Hating what he was about to do, when what he really wanted was to carry her to his bed and claim every inch of her, he closed his eyes, savoring the moment, and said, “You’ve got a big day tomorrow. You should get some sleep.”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
He stepped back, fixed her shirt and skirt, and retrieved her panties.
Black silk.
Fuck.
He placed them in her shaky hand and wrapped his fingers around hers, bringing her eyes up to his. Another unfamiliar blow from within nearly bowled him over. His head spun. If he didn’t put space between them he’d end up keeping her up all night, and she had had him in such a tizzy, Lord only knew who he’d be in the morning.
He pressed his lips to hers in a slightly angry kiss and said, “You’ll do great tomorrow,” and headed for the bar on the opposite side of the room.
He watched her walk upstairs as he poured himself a stiff drink, wondering just how many cold showers a man could survive.
Chapter Nine
“DAMN THOSE STONES and their magical mouths,” Izzy said to Dixie on the phone early Monday morning.
Dixie stopped cold in front of her bedroom window. “What do you know about the Stones’ magical mouths?”
“Um…”
Her stomach sank. “Isabel Ryder, have you and Jace…?”
“No!” Izzy snapped. “I might have hooked up with Jared once or twice. I knew him when I lived in Boston. I worked in restaurants, remember?”
“Holy shit. You never told me! That’s why you were so pissed when Jilly won him in the auction.”
“I wasn’t pissed, and you didn’t call to talk about me this morning. We need to get your head back in the game.”
She was right. Jace had blown Dixie’s mind last night. She’d loved every single second of being close to him—every scintillating kiss, every rough touch, the way his beard scratched her mouth, cheeks, and thighs. Delicious! She’d walked upstairs feeling like she was floating on a cloud, her body humming and her hopeful heart craving more. She’d slept better than she had in years, and she’d woken up in the best mood, full of energy and ready to conquer the photo shoot. Bu
t as she’d showered and dressed, she’d relived their night over and over again, and no matter how many ways she tried to rewrite it, the last time Jace had kissed her had been markedly different from all the rest. It had felt mad or spiteful, something far from pleasure filled, the way all the others had felt. That reality had brought her confidence crashing down. She’d gotten herself all worked up, wondering if he could have regretted getting together that quickly and had finally given in and called Izzy so her friend could talk her off the ledge.
“Yes, let’s focus. I’ve got to leave in twenty minutes for the shoot, and I can’t bring myself to face Jace. Everything was so incredible all the way up to that last kiss. But that kiss…” A pain sliced through her.
“You’re the toughest woman I know, Dix. You’re going to ice down your heart, pull up your big-girl panties, and pretend last night didn’t matter one way or another. You were in it for a good time, just like you told him.”
“Tell that to the nest of bees in my stomach,” Dixie mumbled.
“Fuck the bees. In fact, embrace the discomfort and use it to fuel your confidence. There’s no way he regrets being with you. You’re awesome and he knows it. The man laid down forty grand for a date with you.”
“Charity donation,” Dixie reminded her, although he’d stood up to Bullet and he’d revealed how long he’d wanted to be with her, so maybe she was overanalyzing that last kiss.
But what if she wasn’t?
“That’s still a lot of money, Dix. You know men would line up to be with you if your brothers would let them.”
“You’re right.” Dixie strode over to the mirror, giving herself a once-over. She looked damn good in her jeans and tank top. She stood up taller, tossed her hair over her shoulders, and forced her confidence to the forefront. “Nobody fucks with Dixie Whiskey.”
“There’s the girl I know and love! You’re going to march downstairs, look that big stud in the eyes, and act like last night was just one in a string of good times in which men have pleasured you.”
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