Red Eyes MC Books 4 - 6

by Blair Grey

  But really, all my focus was on the way he pressed into me again and again. The way his body moved against mine as his thrusts sped up, until he was rocking into me with incessant fury, the stress clear in the straining muscles of his arms.

  We came at the same time, as I stared up at the stars, my head thrown back in utter ecstasy. I barely knew where I ended and he began. We were totally entwined now, mind and body. I groaned as the last wave of passion flushed through me, making me shudder with a hint of overstimulation. He pulled out, laying a soft kiss to my temple.

  And then suddenly, he went alert, his eyes staring off down the beach. “Hurry, get dressed,” he hissed, pulling his pants back on even as he grinned down at me.

  I glanced over where he had been looking and saw the bouncing beam of a flashlight coming toward us. Police, maybe. Because we were outside, where anyone could see us, having sex. I felt a blush spread across my whole body, tingling with the aftereffects of pleasure. I knew I shouldn’t want to get in trouble, but at the same time, I had to admit that if we got in trouble for this, it was probably worth it.

  Still, my fingers furiously worked to do up the buttons of my shirt and fix my jeans. Braxton caught my hand and pulled me to my feet, dragging me down the beach and into the shadows of one of the piers. He cradled me close against his body, and I barely dared to breathe as we watched the flashlight beam get ever closer.

  But then, whoever it was stopped, scanned the beach for a minute, and then headed back up the beach in the direction from which they had come. I breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing against Braxton’s broad chest.

  He slipped his fingers under my chin and tilted my face up, kissing me gently. I giggled and pushed away from him. “We should probably get out of here, just in case they come back,” I whispered. “Anyway, we have a nice bed in the penthouse that we could be cuddling in.”

  Braxton laughed. “You’re right,” he agreed. “Let’s go.”

  “This has been the best week of my life,” I blurted out as we walked back to the hotel. I couldn’t help it. I knew that the whole reason we’d ended up having sex on the beach was because I didn’t want him to tell me what he was feeling, because I was afraid of what that might do to us.

  But now, I just had to let him know that I didn’t want this night to end. That I wanted to stay here with him forever. Suspended outside of time. Outside of responsibilities. He did things to me that I didn’t wholly understand. All I wanted was to explore what we might have together.

  Fortunately, Braxton didn’t go into his thoughts from earlier. Instead, he just bumped his shoulder against mine, smiling down at me. “We’ve set the bar pretty high, but I guess it can only get better from here. We’ll have even more fun on the next trip.”

  “The next trip,” I echoed. He sounded so certain. But where earlier, I’d been nervous, thinking about those possible future trips, now I couldn’t help but feel excited. I wanted to head home right now and get to work planning the next one. Where might we go? What else might we learn about each other?

  29

  Braxton

  I honestly wished there was some way that I could drag out the drive home with Mia. I just wasn’t ready for this little trip of ours to end. I hated the feeling I had in my gut…that now that we were back to reality, maybe things would be different. Maybe this had just been a vacation fling, and now she would move on.

  I didn’t want to believe that would be the case. But then again, we hadn’t revisited the idea of a relationship. When I had tried to bring up my feelings for her, she had interrupted me, making it very clear that she didn’t want to talk about it.

  It was damned frustrating, to be honest. I could tell that she had developed some sort of feelings for me. I couldn’t be imagining the way that she looked at me or the way she folded her body into mine. She fit so perfectly against me, almost as though we were made for each other. I couldn’t be imagining all of this. And I couldn’t believe that she would just move on to sleeping with someone else, not just because we were back in Las Cruces.

  But I still didn’t know just what to do about her ex, and I knew that she wasn’t going to commit to anything with me until she had sorted out things with him. Until she didn’t have to be afraid of him.

  That made me want to go after him with fists swinging. Actually, it made me want to do worse than just knock him around a little. I could tell that he had scared Mia, and it made me want to beat him until he was a bloody pulp. But I remembered what she had said about him having both the money and the connections to get me locked up. The sheriff had already been pretty unhappy with Red Eyes since his election, having promised the town that he was going to clean up the illegal acts going on around Las Cruces. So he would be more than happy to have a reason to get rid of me.

  If I couldn’t just fight Darren, I didn’t know what to do. But I knew that I needed to talk to Ray. Hell, maybe Red Eyes will have made some progress on things already, I thought. Maybe those guys that Grant and I had beaten up were really the cause of this whole problem and they had left town before things got really ugly.

  I could only hope so. Even though I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that would just be a little too easy.

  I glanced over at Mia as we drove into Las Cruces. “Do you want to come back to my place?” I asked her.

  Mia raised an eyebrow at me. “Still can’t get enough of me?” she asked teasingly.

  I laughed and shrugged. “Can’t help it,” I said, reaching over to squeeze her knee. But my look quickly turned serious again. “I just didn’t know if you’d feel safe, going back to your place on your own. If you’d rather stay with me, I’d understand. We don’t even have to sleep together. I could make up the guest bedroom.”

  Mia shook her head. “I honestly never felt like I was in danger to begin with,” she said, putting on a brave face. “Darren sure is crazy, but I don’t think he’d get violent with me. He doesn’t want to hurt me; that would be counterproductive. He just wants me to go back to him.” She shrugged. “I think I’ll be okay on my own.”

  I wanted to argue with her, but I knew better than to try to make her decisions for her. She wouldn’t appreciate that, and things between us were already tenuous. The last thing I wanted to do was to inadvertently screw something up. So I obediently drove her back to her place.

  “Thanks for this week,” Mia said, smiling tiredly over at me when we pulled up. “I’ll see you again soon.”

  “See you soon,” I agreed. She was out of the car before I could give her a kiss goodbye.

  I watched as she walked up the front walk, trying to memorize the way her body moved. Then, I drove straight over to the Red Eyes clubhouse, hoping that Ray would be there.

  “Hey, you’re back!” Ray said when I walked in. He sounded surprised. “You could have stayed longer, you know.”

  I sighed and shook my head. “Why didn’t you tell me about Darren?” I asked, dropping into a chair across from Ray.

  “Mia told you about him, huh?” Ray asked. He shrugged, looking unrepentant. “The truth is, I trust you, Braxton. But I know you can be quick to get angry, especially when you’re looking out for someone you care for. And without Landon here to calm you down, I was afraid you might do something that you’d end up regretting. I wanted to gather some more information first. But I was just trying to protect you.”

  I wanted to protest. To tell him that I could have kept my temper in check if one of them had just told me before we went all the way to Sarasota. But I knew that Ray and Mia were both right, probably. If I had been here in Las Cruces when I found out that Darren was an issue, I would have torn the whole city apart to find the man, and then I would have torn him apart as well. It was because of the drive back from Sarasota that I felt like I could think rationally about all of this now.

  “What did you find out while we were gone?” I asked.

  “Well, Darren’s definitely a problem,” Ray said, rolling his eyes. But he didn’t go into th
e details. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at me. “But listen to me, Braxton. I don’t want you getting involved. I’ll have someone else take care of it.”

  “Do you know where the fucker lives?” I asked, anger coursing hotly through my blood. My knuckles were white where I gripped the arms of the chair, but I just couldn’t force myself to relax. I knew Ray’s style all too well. If I was sometimes too quick to get violent, Ray was the exact opposite. Sometimes, even when violence was justified, even when it was the only choice, Ray refused to get violent. He wanted to solve every problem honorably, to give people what they deserved. But he never believed anyone deserved a good ass-kicking.

  I had to hand it to Ray; he’d led Red Eyes through some difficult times and still somehow brought us out intact on the other end. But in this case, I couldn’t let him just sit back and do nothing. Not when Mia’s safety was at stake.

  “You must have his address, right?” I growled. “Give it to me. I’m going to take care of him. I promised Mia that I would.”

  Ray shook his head, though. “I think it would be best for someone else to handle this.”

  I laughed derisively. “Who?” I asked. “Grant? He’s not ready for something like this, not on his own. And you know it. Cameron? He’s a great treasurer, and I guess he’s good at making plans. But beating someone up or driving him out of town, neither of those things are exactly his forte. There’s no one else. I have to do this.”

  “No,” Ray said flatly. “And don’t ask me again.”

  I stared at him for a long minute, my thoughts whirling in my head. What should I say in response to that? Should I call him out for not looking out for Mia? He had already proved that he cared about her, as evidenced by the fact that he had sent her away and had paid for such an extravagant penthouse suite for the two of us to shack up in while in Sarasota.

  So why wasn’t he trying his damnedest to make sure that this Darren guy wasn’t going to be an issue anymore?

  I shook my head. “You know that if you don’t give it to me, I’m just going to find it some other way,” I warned Ray.

  “Mia’s not going to give it to you,” Ray pointed out. “I’m sure she wants you to stay out of trouble just as much as I do.”

  “Then I’ll find some other way to get it,” I snapped. “I’m not going to just let this guy get away with bothering her!”

  “Braxton,” Ray said.

  For the first time in my life, I didn’t want to listen to him. No, this was just too much. I could understand wanting to be cautious and know all the facts, but if he knew Darren was definitely trouble, then it was time for action. I wasn’t going to just sit around like him, waiting for something really bad to happen.

  I stood up, glaring icily at Ray. “Let me know if you have any other information I might need,” I told him, sarcasm dripping from my voice.

  I expected Ray to say something else, or to follow after me as I stormed out of his office. But he let me go. I wondered if he thought I was going to change my mind or something. Hell no, I thought. I had told Mia that I was going to take care of this problem, so that was what I was going to do.

  I nearly bowled Grant over as I was on my way out of the clubhouse. “Hey, Braxton!” he said in surprise. “How are you? How was your trip? Ray said you went back to Sarasota. Was that club business, or just to see Landon? How’s he doing anyway?”

  I stared at the kid, trying not to let my exasperation show. “What is this, twenty questions?” I asked.

  Grant had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just been a pretty boring week around here.” He paused. “We should get a drink sometime.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said distractedly.

  “Cool!” Grant said. “Tonight?”

  I stared at him and then shook my head. “Not tonight,” I said. But I could tell he was disappointed. “I just got back,” I told him. “All I want to do is rest.” That was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that. “Maybe tomorrow, though. I’ll let you know, okay?”

  “Okay,” Grant said, still sounding disappointed, but I could tell that he understood. Jesus, what a kid.

  I shook my head and left for home, still thinking about the Darren situation. I had to find that guy. I wanted to make sure that he would never bother Mia again. If no one else was going to do anything, that had to be my top priority.

  I knew that Mia didn’t want me getting mixed up with him, but there had to be some way that I could do it where it couldn’t be traced back to me. After all, I had been one of Red Eyes’ top enforcers for a long time, and I had yet to get any sort of warning from the sheriff. I just had to be discreet about it.

  Maybe I wouldn’t even have to ever let Mia know. Maybe I could just deal with this problem, make sure she knew that she was safe, and move on with my life with her. I liked the thought of that.

  Even if Ray insisted on disapproving.

  30

  Mia

  I flopped down on the couch as soon as I got home on Monday. I knew that I needed to do some chores. Take out the things that I had brought to Florida with me and do laundry for one. I was still finding sand everywhere, all through my bag and all through my clothes and all over my body even though I’d showered multiple times since the last time I’d been on the beach.

  I grinned, remembering that last time on the beach. That had definitely been fun.

  I also needed to get groceries. And I should check in with Candice and confirm my work schedule for the week. There was plenty to do. But even though the drive home from Florida had been mostly uneventful, I was pretty worn out now. I just wanted to relax, kick my feet up, and try to forget about Braxton at least for a little while.

  Because I knew that if I couldn’t forget about him, it was a sign of something else. Something way more than friendship. And I was still clinging to the idea that he and I were just friends for now until I said otherwise.

  First things first, I could at least get in touch with Candice. I pulled out my phone and sent her a text. Hey, I’m back. We should chat about schedules; when works for you? I hit send and dropped my phone on the coffee table, tilting my head back and closing my eyes.

  A little while later, after I had dozed off for a bit, the front doorbell rang, startling me. I got groggily to my feet and went to answer it. Candice was standing there beaming at me, and she gave me a huge hug. “It’s so good to see you!” she said. Then, she frowned at me. “But you look tired. Did you get any sleep while you were out there? I know the guy is sexy, but you have to get some rest at some point, you know.”

  I snorted. “I know,” I said. “And I did. But it was a long drive home. We got up early this morning because Braxton was impatient to get back.”

  “Fair enough,” Candice said. I flopped back down on the couch while she sat in the armchair across from me. “So how was it, anyway? How is Sarasota? I’ve never been to Florida before.”

  “Beaches were nice. Water was a bit cold,” I said.

  “And Braxton?” Candice asked, waggling her eyebrows at me.

  I shrugged. “He was nice too. He’s a good guy.”

  Candice groaned. “Is that all I’m going to get out of you?” she asked.

  “What do you want me to say?” I asked. “Sure, we slept together. But you already knew that. Unless you wanted me to, like, give you the details about the sex we had?”

  Candice frowned at me, and I felt bad for being such a bitch. She didn’t seem to mind it, though. In fact, a slow smile spread across her face. “Wow, you’re testy,” she said. “I take it that the two of you haven’t figured out what you’re doing just yet?”

  I rolled my eyes. “There’s nothing to figure out,” I griped. “We’re not in a relationship or anything.”

  “You’re not?” Candice asked. “Because to be honest, it sure seems like you’re interested in him.”

  I sighed. “I am,” I finally admitted. “But you know things are complicated. There’s this whole thing with Darren.”
>
  “Maybe if you got yourself a new boyfriend, Darren would realize that you had moved on and he was never going to have you,” Candice suggested. “And then he might finally move on as well.”

  “I wish,” I said, shaking his head. “But you’ve seen him at the bar when I so much as talk to another guy. He just gets so jealous.”

  “Something tells me that Darren’s jealousy isn’t the only reason you’re holding back, though,” Candice said slowly.

  I frowned, wondering just how much to tell her. She knew me better than anyone else really. If anyone was going to help me figure out what to do, it was definitely her. But on the other hand, I really needed to figure out something like this on my own.

  There was nothing to figure out anyway. I knew that I liked Braxton, and I knew that I could never be in a relationship with him. It was that simple. I shook my head.

  Candice sighed. “Honey, you can’t let the past define your whole life,” she said.

  “I wouldn’t be who I am today if it weren’t for the past,” I protested.

  “I guess that’s true,” Candice said. “But you can always change, you know. People grow. They move on.” She shrugged. “I just like the idea that you’ve found something that you don’t want to let go of. Something that makes you happy.”

  I shook my head. “It’s not a relationship,” I repeated. “It’s just not. And it’s not going to be. End of discussion.”

  Candice wisely let the matter drop. “Well, how was the rest of the trip? Did you do anything fun other than hang out on the beach?”

  “Yeah, I explored Sarasota a little,” I told her. “I did a little shopping because I realized I was woefully unprepared for the trip. We went out for dinner with Landon and his girlfriend one of the first nights we were there, and I realized I didn’t have anything even remotely nice. I’ll have to pack better if we do another of these trips in the future.”

  Candice’s eyebrows shot toward her hairline. “If you do another of these trips?” she asked in surprise.