by Joanna Wylde
Shade shook his head slowly. “I’m only interested in one girl tonight and I’m pretty sure she’s not a whore. Hell, considering all you went through, I think you earned the money fair and square. Just don’t expect any more after we fuck. You already made it clear you aren’t for sale and I can respect that.”
I raised a hand to slap him, but he caught it, deftly twisting it around behind my back, pushing me forward into his body. Then his mouth took mine, teeth nipping at my lips until I opened for him. His other hand grabbed my ass and then I completely forgot why I hated him so much.
Shade
Watching Mandy twitch her butt and flirt with every man in the whole fucking bar was pure torture. She’d worn a jean skirt so short it just barely skimmed the top of her thighs, practically begging me to jerk it up and bury my cock in that tight snatch of hers.
I remembered how it tasted.
Couldn’t sleep at night without jerking off, that’s how much I remembered it. Nearly killed me, but I’d given her space the last couple days. She was skittish and I knew I’d lose her if I didn’t play the game right.
Tonight, though…tonight I’d had enough waiting.
I’d come to the Pit with every intention of claiming her and I’d be doing it, too. When I’d followed her out onto the back porch I’d planned to kiss her, maybe tease her a little. Get her off. Then I’d convince her to hop on my bike and I’d show her what a man like me had to offer.
The instant I tasted her, though, I forgot all about taking it slow. She had no fuckin’ clue how sexy she was or that she could have any man she wanted. Somehow that made it even hotter when I finally shoved my tongue into her mouth.
Watching her settle for that limp-dicked fuckwad, Rebel, had nearly killed me.
It’d been bad enough when they’d still been together, but once I’d had a taste, I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk away. Not until I’d had all of her. Repeatedly. With some women, once was enough. You got the itch, you scratched it and then you lost interest. Mandy was more. I had no fuckin’ idea why and I didn’t care, because that wasn’t how I lived my life. I took what I wanted, enjoyed the hell out of it and then moved on.
I wasn’t under any illusions about the situation.
I’d be leaving soon, swinging back through Portland for a few months in my role as club president, and she’d stay in Violetta. Girls wanted flowers and roses and forever. I wanted the road under my tires and something new on the horizon. Never understood why so many of my brothers were willing to settle down in one place.
I wasn’t that guy.
Never had been. Never would be.
But Mandy…I was starting to realize I wanted more than a quick roll in the sack with her, even if it meant delaying for a while. The itch was bad and it’d take time to scratch it right. Time I fully intended to spend buried deep inside that tight little pussy of hers.
Time I’d only get if I stuck to my strategy, a fact I completely forgot as I grabbed her ass, jerking her tight into my body. Her skirt was up around her waist and the only things separating us were a few thin scraps of fabric. My tongue filled her mouth, thrusting deep like I would with my cock.
Goddamn that was good.
Fuckin’ turn-on from hell, actually. So was the fact that I could do whatever I wanted with her out here. Nobody could stop me, not with my brothers watching my back. Might make me a bastard but that was the reality.
Reaching down, I slid my hand between us, finding her clit, rubbing and circling it as we kissed. My cock was so hard it hurt and my balls were drawn up, tight and ready to go. I still held one of her hands tight, but she pushed the other one between us, catching my fingers and shoving them into her panties.
Holy. Fucking. Hell.
I pulled away from her mouth, staring down as she worked her clit, using my fingers like she owned them. I let her other hand go. She reached around to fumble with the fly of my jeans, tugging at it, desperate for my cock. Catching the fabric, I ripped it loose, shoving down my pants as her fingers wrapped around the hard length of my dick.
I’d never been much of a believer, but in that moment I saw Heaven and it was glorious.
Mandy wasn’t gentle, squeezing hard as she worked me, jerking her fingers up and down so fast that she’d make me come unless I stopped her. Hooking one finger in her panties, I jerked the soft fabric to the side, clearing a path before plunging my cock into her cunt, hard and deep.
She bit my shoulder, moaning as I stilled for long seconds, savoring the sensation. Then I pulled back slowly and slammed into her again. I wanted to stay there—frozen in time—but my cock had other ideas. My hips started moving until I was pounding hard.
Jesus Christ but that was good.
Too good, I suddenly realized. How the hell was I gonna pull out at the last minute? I hadn’t rubbered up, but I sure as shit wasn’t ready to be a daddy. Her muscles were slick, squeezing me so tight it should’ve been painful, but instead it was perfect.
Better than perfect.
It felt like coming home.
Reaching down, I started working her clit again, sensing what she needed by the way her body bucked and jerked against mine. Then her back arched and she screamed, clamping around me like she wanted to rip my dick off—a sacrifice I’d probably be willing to make under the circumstances. Mandy’s orgasm rippled around me, her inner muscles squeezing again and again as she moaned my name. I thought my head might explode from the need raging through my body. At the last second I managed to pull out, shooting my spunk on her thighs instead of where it belonged, gasping like my world had just ended.
In a way it had.
I’d fucked a lot of girls, but never like this. Never dreamed it was even possible. Mandy might be stubborn and annoying and a pain in the ass about money, but holy fucking hell.
For the first time in my life, I couldn’t imagine riding out for the next city without taking a woman with me.
You fucked up, man. This is gonna get complicated.
Chapter Twelve
Mandy
“Wow…” I said, slowly blinking my eyes.
Shade was still between my legs, his pants wide open and my skirt up around my waist. We’d just had the best sex of my life and my brain wasn’t quite ready to start working again. Still, it felt like there was something really important I’d forgotten.
Condom, Wonder Woman pointed out acidly.
Oh my God, I was so stupid. That was the curse of the McBrides—men made us so fucking stupid.
“‘Wow’ is good,” Shade murmured in my ear, giving me a soft kiss. “Holy fuckin’ shit works better. What the hell just happened?”
“I don’t know, but I kind of want to do it again,” I admitted, mind racing. “Next time with a condom. I have some in my purse. Does that make me sound slutty? Never mind, I don’t care. I totally want to do that again. A lot. But only if you don’t have a disease. I can’t believe we didn’t use a condom.”
Shade shook his head slowly. “Me either. I always suit up.”
“Thank fuck for that,” I said fervently, the filter between my brain and mouth completely overloaded. “That was really good sex. Like, the best sex. I remember that I’m supposed to be pissed at you but right now I can’t remember why. Oh, and I’m disease free too. For the record. And I’ve got an implant, so there’s that.”
No fucking way I wanted to end up like my sister.
Shade reached down, tracing the edge of my face and then trailing his fingers down between my breasts. My push-up bra and tank top served them up on a platter, but we hadn’t had time to go there yet.
Did I want to go there?
Yes. Yes, I did. He might be a pig and all sorts of wrong, but the damage was done. I was only human—not even Wonder Woman could hold out forever, not in the face of that kind of chemistry.
Shade’s eyes darkened as he found my nipple. I shivered, wishing I’d brought my purse out with me. Then the music from the bar suddenly got louder, breaking the sp
ell. Must be the band starting their next set.
Band.
Bar.
“I’m still at work!” I shoved Shade away as I sat up, grabbing the bottom of his T-shirt to wipe at my wet, sticky thighs. Oh my God, I really was a slut. A dirty bar slut. Even worse, I was a bar slut who had to go back to work with a biker’s come all over my legs, because that’s how I rolled. “This is a new low for me.”
Shade snorted. “What’re you so worried about? You’re with me—your boss won’t have a problem with it. Let’s get the hell out of here and do it right. You know, in a bed with a little more privacy.”
“Tempting,” I told him, which was the truth. “But that’d be screwing over Suz and Sara, and I’ve got a feeling that in a month you won’t even remember my name. Then I’ll need one of them to cover a shift for me for something important, like taking care of my nieces, and they’ll tell me to fuck off. Unless you plan to stick around and take care of my nieces?”
Shade stared at me, blinking. I realized it was probably the first time a woman had ever talked to him that way.
Good girl, whispered Wonder Woman.
“Don’t get me wrong,” I said, tugging my skirt into place. Ugh. I seriously needed to wash my hands. “Theoretically, it’d be great to do this again, and that part with the bed sounds nice. I just really need to get back to work right now before I get in trouble. That whole thing with Rebel was bad enough—I don’t want to make the same mistake twice. You’re just getting laid but this is my life. I can’t afford to let you fuck it up.”
With that, I hopped off the table and left him behind.
“Are you okay?” Sara asked, slapping her tray down on the bar pass-through. She’d watched me come back from my break with anxious eyes, but it’d taken half an hour before we managed to run into each other at the bar. “I saw Shade following you outside.”
“Three more pitchers and a round of shots for table seven,” I shouted at Bone before answering her. “Yeah. We totally had sex on the picnic table.”
Sara’s mouth dropped. “Seriously? I mean, that’s what I was imagining, but still…are you okay? He’s hanging with his club and you’re waiting tables. Shouldn’t you guys be talking or something?”
“How much time did you spend talking with Bone after you guys did it?” I asked her, feeling sick to my stomach. All that empowerment I’d felt on the outside was fading fast, now that he was back to flirting with the college girl groupies. Sara rolled her eyes.
“He didn’t even offer me a ride home,” she said. “And yet I keep working here.”
“Where else are you gonna work?” I asked, shrugging. “We’ve got the bar, the grocery store and the gas station. The gas station’s drug central and the grocery store’s full up. This is our reality.”
Bone came over with two pitchers, setting them on the pass-through. We both glared at him.
“What?” he asked.
“Fuck off,” Sara snapped, walking away. Bone stared at me, eyes full of questions, and I offered him a tight smile.
“She’s on the rag. We all are. Permanently.”
“Jesus, what did I do?” he asked.
“Not a damned thing,” I told him. “That’s sort of the problem. Where are my drinks? Table seven wants their booze.”
The rest of the night flew by.
I half expected Shade to up and leave with one of the college girls. That’s what men did, or at least what the good ones did. The bad ones got you arrested while they robbed liquor stores. Instead he stuck around, waiting patiently as the bar cleared out and I finished cleaning up my tables.
As for me, I was conflicted. The sex had been good. Really good. I wanted more of it, and given the fact that Shade was still here, he did too. This was something I could wrap my head around.
What I couldn’t wrap my head around was voluntarily letting another man in my life at this point, even casually.
One night won’t kill you, Wonder Woman said, surprising me.
But I thought we hated men?
No, we hate being traded for motorcycles, she replied. And with your track record, a one-night stand is the best bet. Doesn’t mean it can’t be a hell of a night, though. One time Batman and I—
“You ride your bike?” Shade asked, his lips brushing my ear. He’d come up behind me, pinning me against the bar with his hands. Bone had already given the last call and the lights were up. Most of the customers were gone.
“I ride it every night,” I said, still torn. “Don’t worry—it has lights. Nobody’s going to run me over.”
“Leave it here,” he said. I felt his breath against my cheek. Smelled him all around me. My legs shifted restlessly, remembering how he’d felt deep inside. “Come back to the clubhouse with me.”
I knew I should say no. Tell him I had to watch my sister’s kids tomorrow, but for once Hannah didn’t need me. She had the day off. My Saturday was totally free until six that night, when my next shift started. We’d already had sex—the damage was done. Why shouldn’t I have some fun along the way?
“Okay,” I said slowly. I turned in his arms, determined to set some firm boundaries. Unfortunately, this meant my breasts were pushing up against his chest and his strong thighs brushed mine, which was distracting. “But there are a couple things you should know first.”
“What?”
I took a deep breath.
You can do this, Wonder Woman reminded me.
“No offense, but I have bad taste in men,” I said, staring at the little dip at the bottom of his throat. Shade was tall. Big, too. Muscular. There was no way to forget the difference in our sizes or how much stronger he was than me. Not up close like this. “Really bad taste in men. That’s why I’m absolutely, positively not looking for another relationship. Rebel might’ve been my boyfriend, but I was very clear with him. We had no future together and that was the way I wanted it…and even that turned out to be too much. He asked me to do a favor for him and you know how it ended, so whatever we do, I’m not going to be your girlfriend or even your friend with benefits. This is strictly about sex. One night only, and we’re using condoms this time. Oh, and a ride home. I need a ride home after the sex. But that’s it.”
Next to us a man snorted with laughter. I glanced over to find Dopey, his club brother, listening in. Delightful. I decided to ignore him, turning back to stare steadily at Shade’s throat because I didn’t quite trust myself to meet his eyes.
“I think that’s the strangest thing any woman’s ever said to me,” Shade finally replied.
“I’m just being straight up. I know myself and I know what I don’t need, and that’s a man. They always cause trouble in my life. Always. History doesn’t lie.”
“Okay, then I’ll be straight up, too,” he replied. “I think you know this already, but I’m the national president of the Reapers MC. Technically I’ve got a home base—an apartment up in Moscow, at least for now—but I spend maybe eight, ten weeks a year there. The rest of the time I’m traveling, spending time with different chapters. These men are my brothers and I’ll do anything for them. I don’t have time for playing house with a woman or picking out china patterns. I just wanna fuck you again.”
Nothing he said surprised me, but the words still caught me off guard. Even after my little speech, I still hadn’t expected him to be so honest. Rebel hadn’t been honest with me. Neither had Trevor or my dad or any of Mom’s other husbands. Randy had lied his ass off to Hannah.
“All right, then,” I said, hardly believing what I was doing. Anticipation flared and I felt almost giddy as I looked up, finally meeting his gaze. “Let’s do it. Let’s go to your clubhouse and have one night of crazy monkey sex and absolutely not make any promises to each other.”
Dopey started laughing again and Shade flipped him the bird, offering me a slow smile.
Riding through the darkness with Shade was amazing.
This time I didn’t worry about whether I was holding him too tight or what might happen aft
er we got there. I knew exactly what would be happening. We’d go to his weird little room in the bunkhouse and fuck like bunnies. So what if people gave me knowing looks and smirks? This time I wouldn’t give a shit because I was in control.
When I’d ridden with him before, I’d wondered what he would feel like buried deep between my legs. I’d felt the hard muscles of his stomach and speculated.
Even had a few sex dreams.
The reality would be even better, which I knew for a fact because we’d already had sex. Me and him. Down and dirty. Fantastic, raunchy Sexual Intercourse with a capital “I” and zero strings attached.
I’d blow him off afterward like a gangster, because that’s who I was.
A motherfucking gangster.
Well, more of a gangster/waitress hybrid, with a strong sense of responsibility, but still fairly badass as these things went. Not that I had any delusions—if I allowed myself even a hint of feeling toward Shade, he’d destroy me. This was clear. That was why I’d be keeping emotion out of it, a decision that was surprisingly liberating.
This is why men avoid relationships, I realized. Because they’re full of baggage and baggage is heavy.
By the time we pulled up to the Reapers’ clubhouse in Cranston, it was after four in the morning and everything was quiet. There were a few bikes parked out front, but not many.
“Where is everyone?” I asked Shade, who threw an arm around my shoulders. Dopey unlocked the door for us.
“Home,” he said. “Home or in bed. They’ll be back this afternoon for a barbecue.”
“Oh,” I said, vaguely disappointed. The last time I’d been here the place was a full-on den of debauchery, and I’d been scared shitless they’d expect me to join in. Now I was ready to join and they weren’t even here.
“Don’t worry,” Shade said, leaning over to give me a long, slow kiss. “You won’t be bored. I promise.”