This Savage Love: A Bad Boy Romance Boxed Set

by Kathryn Thomas

  I should leave him here, let him do something dumb, she thought. But she knew that would never really happen. Even if Bobby did do something stupid or illegal, his daddy would only cover it up. That kind of money bought a lot of damage control. And you love him still, she chastised herself, even if it’s a different love than the one he wants from you.

  She managed to wrestle his keys out of his pocket while he flopped into a chair and went inside to grab one of the bartenders, a guy she knew from high school, to help her wrangle him into his car. She silently cursed Bobby every step of the way but didn’t correct John when he said, “Good luck with your fiancé,” as he deposited Bobby in the passenger seat of the white SUV.

  She had always hated when Bobby drank whiskey, not only because it turned him into a strange, junior version of his father but also because it meant she had to drive the Escalade. The vehicular monstrosity was far better suited to Bobby’s six-foot-three frame than her own five and a half feet, and as she adjusted the seat and stretched her toes toward the pedals she cursed aloud.

  When she finally pulled into her driveway, exhausted and frayed around the edges after taking Bobby home, she was surprised at her disappointment when she didn’t see the gleam of chrome in her headlights. You’re ridiculous, she thought. You told him it was a mistake. Why the hell would he be waiting for you in your driveway?

  She paced the floor for the next hour, trying to get up the nerve to call Alejandro, but every time she remembered how she pushed him away at the Ridge she knew she couldn’t. Stupid, stupid, stupid, she cursed herself. He will never trust you again after that.

  And I can’t trust him after he left me brokenhearted ten years ago, she thought. So I guess we’re even.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Alejandro was surprised when Benny told him there was a woman looking for him at the front counter of his father’s shop. He walked out and there she was, those long tanned legs he was so crazy about showcased beautifully in a short skirt and cream-colored cowboy boots. She looked a bit nervous to be there, though she smiled graciously at the prospect when he brought her back to Alejandro. He noted with some satisfaction that Benny didn’t dare openly gawk at her, though he snuck several glances when he thought Alejandro wasn’t looking. Keep dreaming, you little fucker.

  She leaned in for a hug and he took in the clean, floral scent of her, every inch of her soft and squeezable beneath his hands. But he wasn’t going down that road with her again. The ache in his balls from their ride together three days before still hadn’t quite subsided. He hadn’t stopped daydreaming about the grown up, sensual Ali who’d replaced the lithe teenager of his dreams. He hadn’t stopped wondering how far he could take her without one or both of them regretting it.

  When he’d driven her home the other day, she was still sweet and friendly, but whatever floodgates of sexual tension had opened on the Ridge had been firmly closed to him. Her eyes had been haunted by regret and shame. She’d seemed suddenly fragile, and he had ached not to fuck her but to make sweet love to her until he erased the doubt and sadness from her eyes.

  Here in the garage, though, she didn’t look vulnerable. He knew women well enough to realize she was there with a purpose. And from the looks of her outfit, the purpose was pretty clear. His gaze skimmed down the wispy nothing of a top and tiny skirt. He could see the pulse fluttering in her throat as she stared back at him.

  “I wanted to apologize—”

  He grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s go somewhere more private.” He noted with satisfaction that her fingers clutched his immediately as he led her to the empty bay.

  When they were alone she began again. “I’m sorry, Alejandro. For the other day.”

  “You don’t need to be sorry. What are you sorry for?” He looked at her closely, trying again to count those damned gold flecks, hoping it would keep his eyes off her tits.

  “For…” she ran her hand through her hair before answering. “For not being straight with you.”

  He folded his arms across his chest. “Straight about what? I knew you were engaged when I kissed you.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not. I called the wedding off. And that’s not what I meant.”

  “You what?” He took a step closer, tipped her face up to his with two fingers. “When?” He noted with some satisfaction that her pupils darkened her eyes and she was trembling slightly.

  “The day before. But I was still deciding whether or not that was a smart idea.”

  “And was it?”

  She swallowed nervously and nodded.

  “But kissing me wasn't such a good idea?”

  “No.”

  “Because you want to get back together with him?”

  She shook her head, and he stepped closer still, sliding his fingers down her neck.

  “Because of what I do for a living?” She paused, then shook her head again. Alejandro leaned close to her. With his forefinger, he traced the ridge of her collarbone from the hollow of his throat to her shoulder and back. He watched her eyelashes flutter and droop at his touch.

  “Tell me.” There was no more soft coercion in his voice, just heat. “Why'd you do it?”

  “I don’t trust how I feel with you!” she cried. “You touch me and everything we had comes back. But then what? You'll just leave again the next time your club needs you to do something.”

  He felt a bit guilty about touching her when she was clearly struggling to resist him, but the guilt was quickly assuaged as his fingers slipped under the tiny straps at her shoulders and eased them down on her arms. She sighed and he dipped his head to kiss the soft hollow of her throat. His tongue delved into the little divot and he felt her whole body quiver against him.

  “If you don’t want to do this,” he growled against her throat, “Then tell me and it'll be over.”

  “Alejandro,” she moaned, and her tone said it all. He pulled her against him and covered her mouth with his own, and she wrapped around him as eagerly as she had on the Ridge. Her top shifted to expose the tops of her breasts, which were firmly ensconced in a lace push-up bra. He freed one creamy globe from its constraints and brushed the nipple with his thumb. She cried out and he did it again. Then he clamped it between his fingers and watched her mouth drop open in ecstasy.

  Her cheeks burned bright pink as he latched his mouth onto the candied nipple and slid his hand under her skirt. Between her thighs her panties were soaked and slippery, telling him she wanted the same thing he did. But a quick gaze around the garage told him there weren’t many options, not with the way he wanted to make love to her. He could bend her over a sawhorse, but that wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind. The workbench was heaped with FedEx packages, and he couldn’t even fuck her against the wall because every surface was too grimy. The tightness in his balls telegraphed a frantic signal to his mind and he groaned in frustration.

  “Not here,” he murmured into her neck, hating himself even as the words slipped from his mouth. “Fuck, Ali, I want you so bad, but not here.”

  She wasn’t having any of that. “Please…” she breathed, “Please, Alejandro.” His name on her lips, the way she begged him, made him forget all reason. He hefted her onto the workbench, shoving the packages back with the force of his movements. He reached between her legs and yanked away the damp silky garment that covered his prize. They fluttered down, the darker sheen where they’d cradled between her thighs landing on the toe of his boot. He could smell her and it nearly paralyzed him with lust.

  Before him Ali parted her thighs wide, wriggling closer to him, and his hands instinctively slid back between her legs, seeking her welcoming heat. When his fingers brushed over the soft curls on her mound she whimpered and dropped her head back, closing her eyes with a satisfied sigh. His fingers began an exploration of her beckoning delta, teasing her swollen lips, flicking the sensitive bud nestled in her folds. He touched her as if he were a blind man trying to draw her by touch, no inch of her unexplored as he probed and stroke
d and flicked and teased.

  Her sighs grew louder as he strummed a rhythm on her clit with skillful fingers, alternately squeezing the sensitive nub between his fingers and dipping his fingertips into her slick channel. With his other hand he yanked down the neckline of her tank top and easily popped the other breast out so both were propped obscenely by their lacy cups.

  She leaned forward; her gray eyes glazed with lust, and thrust her breasts at him. Spurred on by her desire, he lashed one rosy tip with his tongue and delighted in the instant response from her body. The other nipple hardened into a twin candied peak and he rubbed his face through the small valley between her breasts as he traveled from one to the other. Her soft floral scent surrounded him as his lips closed around the crinkled bud of flesh. Between her thighs, his fingers never stopped their rhythmic coaxing.

  Ali’s hands raked through his close-cropped hair, cradling him to her breasts. She groaned softly as his tongue traced down her cleavage and under the gentle swell of one breast. All the while he rubbed her clit until her erratic panting told him she was close. Then with a wicked grin he slowed his fingers until they just barely danced against her, loving the way her eyes darkened with irritated greed.

  “Alejandro… Please…” She clutched at him, her face flushed with unfulfilled desire.

  “You want to come?” His fingers slid lazily over her and she squeezed her thighs together in desperation. She thrummed in his arms, a live wire of sexual excitement, and as he thrust two fingers into her, Ali swiveled her hips in a maddeningly tempting measure and stared him dead in the eye. The look she gave him told him he wasn’t the only one who could play the teasing game.

  Her soft fingers sought and found his straining bulge and he gasped as her fingernails scratched lightly over the denim. Sparks sizzled down his spine as he involuntarily bucked his hips toward her. Damn that little minx. Fuck, that feels so good.

  He was going to give into her.

  Her fingers paused for only a fraction of a second on his zipper before tugging it slowly down over his swollen cock. Her mouth was willing and luscious, and for a moment he considered taking her that way until his fingers thrust inside her molten pussy. So fucking hot and wet. That’s what I need. Ali writhed on his hand as she worked the pull down inch by inch. He thought he might come in his pants like a teenage boy before he ever got inside her tantalizing heat.

  Then, from behind, he heard a set of boots clomp into the garage. He groaned aloud, hastily pulling Ali’s top up and smoothing her skirt back over her thighs. His erection throbbed miserably in his half-opened jeans and he practically snarled as he heard Benny’s voice calling, “Hey, Shakespeare? You got another visitor.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “What can I do for you, Prospect?” Alejandro’s voice was deadly calm.

  The kid’s face reddened as he took in the scene: Ali gasping for breath on the workbench, her lips swollen; Alejandro planted between her thighs, unwilling to turn around; the telltale scrap of coral-colored lace signaling from across his boot. Benny’s eyes flickered back to Alejandro’s and he stammered, “Uh… Dobie’s here.”

  Shit. “Be right there. Give me a minute.”

  The kid couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It would’ve been hilarious had it not been for Ali, clearly even more embarrassed than Benny had been to be caught like that. She wriggled out of his embrace and snatched her panties. “I should go.”

  “I won’t take long, Baby. I’ll text you when I’m done.”

  She nodded, but her smile was forced as she tucked everything back where it belonged and finger-combed her hair.

  Fuck. She regrets it. Again. He grabbed her wrist and tugged her back to him. Thankfully he met no resistance when he pulled her against him, and her eyes blazed with lust again as he cupped her jaw and brushed his lips over hers. “We’re not done here,” he breathed against her mouth, reaching for her damp panties. “I’ll hold onto to these until later.”

  If her head was telling her no, it was the only part of her sending that signal. She melted against him, exquisite temptation, and they kissed breathlessly as he tucked the delicate fistful of fabric into his pocket. He was still distractingly hard. With a final soft kiss, she left him, passing Dobie in the doorway.

  The older man eyed her appreciatively, leaning to watch her walk out of the garage, and Alejandro had to suppress the violent urges caused by Dobie’s lecherous stare. “She’s mine,” he said, a little too forcefully, when Dobie turned back to him and wiggled his bushy eyebrows.

  “Old lady?” The admiration in his voice was obvious.

  “Not yet.” But she sure as hell should be.

  “Feel like sharing?”

  Just the thought knocked the wind out of him, and he forced himself to sound like he was joking to keep the violent haze at the back of his brain. “Not a chance, you horny bastard. But let me know if you want any pussy, I can find you plenty around here. Lots of beautiful women in Arroyo Flats.” But that one’s off-limits.

  “So I see.” Dobie took the hint and didn’t press further. “Listen, Shakespeare, I’m here because I’m worried about the Berserkerz.”

  “Talk to me.” He pulled two bottles of beer from the fridge and handed one to Dobie.

  “There’s some infighting,” Dobie began, taking a swig of the cold ale. “Normally it wouldn’t be anything to give a shit about, but they’re our link to the DEA. Specifically, Crockett’s our link because his cousin manages to keep the feds off our backs.”

  “So what’s going on with them that affects us?”

  “Their Prez told me he thinks Crockett’s going to split off, form his own club. If he goes, that’s another club after a piece of our pie and we no longer have the benefit of that connection.”

  “If Spidey told you that it must be all but a done deal. Fuck.” He rubbed his head in frustration and paced the floor.

  “Fuck is right. We can’t afford either loss. Any thoughts?”

  “We’ve still got Hennesy in our pocket.” Though the local police had the Padre Knights on their radar—a fact not lost on Alejandro, who knew Dawson money secured police loyalty—the sheriff’s department took another stance. They played both sides of the fence as and when it suited them. Sheriff Hennesy was a local boy with a taste for very young whores, and that knowledge had proved beneficial for the Padre Knights in their dealings with him. Although Alejandro despised that aspect of the business, he also knew it was the cost of keeping things running smoothly. When he thought of the money that flowed back into his community to people like his parents, who’d worked hard all their lives to be crushed under the heels of rich white pricks like Carmac Dawson and Police Chief Terry Anderson, he felt perfectly justified if a few prostitutes were part of that bargain.

  “For now. If ATF shows up, though, we might be fucked.”

  “Are the warehouses ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is Haji ready with those passports?”

  “Yep.”

  “So we’ve got six million dollars of cocaine coming through on six undocumented illegals and now we don't know if we’re safe from the DEA? Jesus...”

  “For now we’re safe, but once Crockett goes…” Dobie threw his hands up.

  “Fuck. Nothing can happen to Crockett, you hear me? Maybe we can work something out. I’d hate to split our take three ways, but if it’s gotta be done…” He took a swallow of beer, swore, and took another swallow. Fuck. What a mess.

  Dobie nodded.

  “Thanks for telling me. When do we have to meet Haji tomorrow?”

  “Four o’clock. The other guys already know. We’ll meet at Turk’s house and go from there.”

  “This handoff tomorrow has to be perfect. You hear me?” He pointed the bottle at Dobie. “Flawless. Make it happen.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  When Alejandro and the others pulled up at the old industrial park it was far too quiet. The rumble of the bikes hadn’t so much as disturbed a pigeon
. He gestured to the others to kill their engines and huddle.

  “Something’s not right.” The hairs rose on the back of his neck, but he kept his voice calm. “I can feel it.”

  Pitbull nodded. “Shakespeare’s right. It’s never this dead around here. I got a bad feeling.”

  Fuck. He texted Prez. Truck on its way? Pitbull already had his hand on his gun. They exchanged glances. “I’m holding the truck.”