Liam pushed his way in between the two of them. “We need him, Layne, don’t fuck him up, buddy.”
“What do you need me for?”
“A banker is always a good friend to have,” Liam smiled slowly. “You’re free to go.”
“Are you sure?” Thomas asked, not quiet believing what was happening.
“Unless you have more of those nude pictures,” Layne interjected. “Then I want them.”
“You think you’re a bad ass don’t you?” Thomas asked.
“I know I am. Now give me the fuckin’ things before I forget that I respect the man standing beside me. There’s no reason for you to have any control over Jessica anymore. If I hear of you bothering her, you will answer to me and I will do to you what I just did to him,” he pointed to where Jackson still lay on the floor in his own pool of blood.
“What about you?” Thomas called back to Dino.
“What about me?”
“Why are you here?”
“I’m here for a little protection,” Dino smiled—the words that Thomas had used to the members of Heaven Hill coming back to haunt him. “We all want you alive for our own individual reasons, but I’m telling you now, you try to play us against each other and we’ll find you, cut you up, and get rid of you. Just like we did with Raymond Tucker. You got that? Now give him the fucking pictures.”
Thomas swallowed hard against the bulge in his throat and pulled a disc out of his coat pocket, handing it to Layne.
“Money hungry is not a good look on you,” Layne told him.
“You’re free to go,” Liam said, smiling when Thomas looked at him like he was an idiot.
“I am?”
“You are.”
They watched as he leaned down on the floor and picked up Jackson as best he could, dragging the other man out. He never once turned his back to the group of them.
“He’s gonna be scared to death all the time,” Tyler laughed.
“Good,” Layne told him. “He should be, but why did we let him go again?”
“Rooster called in a favor, and we owe him one,” Liam answered cryptically.
Before anyone could question that, Liam turned, heading towards his bike. “Let’s go, boys. It’s fuckin’ hot in here, and I’m ready to get home, take a shower, and enjoy some time with my family, as I’m sure the rest of you are too.”
Steele hadn’t said anything, but he wondered just when his family time might come. He’d done nothing but think about Christine Stone since she’d left Wet Wanda’s in a flurry of flying hair and the smell of the perfume she’d left behind. He rode along the back roads on the way back to the clubhouse. He hadn’t been in a hurry like the rest of them. He had no one to get home to, all he had were his computers and the cameras he kept watch of for the guys. As he rounded a curve on Hydro Pondsville, taking the back way, he saw a car on the side of the road. He could see long dark hair poking out from a raised hood, smoke rolling out of the radiator.
“You need some help?” he asked after he came to a stop and shut his bike off. Walking around to where he could see the driver, he stopped dead in his tracks.
“Yeah, I do,” Christine Stone said, her voice wobbly and tears threatening to overflow from the waterline of her eyes.
He didn’t know how to approach her; he didn’t want to scare her off. “I’ll help you if you need it.”
“But you can’t tell my brother,” she whispered.
She was asking him to keep something from another member of his club. He had never done that before, but without a second thought he agreed to what she asked. After several minutes of looking the car over, he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to fix this. “Can I take you somewhere?”
She nodded slowly. “Crisis.”
The battered women’s shelter. “C’mon,” he held out a hand for her. “Let’s get you there.” Reluctantly she took it and followed him onto the back of his bike. As they drove off into the sunset, Steele knew that his life had just changed. There was only one question—was it for the better or for the worse.
Chapter Thirty-Five
“Are you sure Wanda said it would be okay for me to do this?” Jessica asked as she looked over at Bianca.
She had waited a good thirty minutes since the club had closed down, waited for everyone but Jagger and Layne to leave.
“She did, she said just make sure you two lock up when you’re done. Layne knows what to do.”
“And you’ll make sure to take Jagger with you?”
Bianca giggled. “I will, Layne is obediently sitting in the chair in front of the stage, waiting on you, since you texted him.”
“Okay,” she breathed easier. “Thank you so much for all your help.”
“Don’t even mention it.” Bianca said as she started to walk out of the private room Wanda had allowed Jessica to use. “I’m looking forward to you sticking around here, Hollywood,” she winked.
“Me too,” Jessica agreed. It was true too; she really was looking forward to making this town her home, putting down roots and starting a life.
Bianca left and Jessica waited a total of five minutes before hitting the remote on the club’s sound system. A sultry song filled the speakers, and she slowly made her way out onto the stage, walking in time with the rhythm, her hips swinging to the beat.
“What the fuck?” Layne mumbled as the house lights dimmed and the stage lights came on. The sound system played an erotic tone as somebody walked out on stage.
Tilting his head to the side, he saw that the woman wore a corset, garters, fuck me stilettos, and sheer hose. He could tell just by the way she carried herself that this was Jessica, even though he couldn’t make out her hair. She’d conveniently placed a fedora over the red hue.
When she came closer, he caught her eye and grinned slowly, watching as she made a big production of gripping the pole with her hand and swinging around on it, clasping her leg to it, so that she could slide. When she tilted her head back, the fedora fell off, exposing her hair, a mass of red curls that he wanted to sink his fingers into.
Onstage, she danced for him, meeting his eyes when she did certain moves, and he almost came out of his chair when she threw off the corset. It left her stomach bare and she teasingly slid a hand down her stomach and into the lace of her barely there panties, before glancing back up at him and taking her hand out. This time, she ran her hand up her stomach and skimmed it over her breast.
“C’mere,” he called to her.
She shook her head, smiling as she turned her back to him and hooked her leg around the pole again.
“Please?” He tried having a nicer tone to his voice this time. “Please, Felicity,” he teased.
She giggled, throwing her head back. Instead of going back to the pole, she carefully descended the stairs, sauntering over to him with the confidence of a seasoned stripper. “You like?” she asked as she stood before him.
He grasped his hands around her waist and pulled her down onto his lap, allowing her to straddle his mid-section. “Fucking love,” he complimented. “This place is closed up tight, right?”
“Jagger and Bianca left, and Wanda just asked that we set the alarm when we leave,” she confirmed on a breathless sigh when he ran his hands down her back.
“So is this just for me or is it research?” he asked, putting his mouth against her neck, leaving soft kisses there as she squirmed against him.
“Little bit of both?”
His hands cupped the cheeks of her ass as he brought her more fully against him. “Thank God, I have you in my life, wanting to do research with me all the time,” he breathed against her.
She ground against his body, adding a little twist to her hips. Taking his hands off her back, she put them in her hair. “I like it a little rough sometimes,” she smirked, before standing up, and turning so that she placed her hands on the edge of the stage.
The heels she wore gave her just enough height in order for them not have to adjust much. Sticking the
bottom half of her body out towards him, she threw a look over her shoulder. “I’ve always wanted to do this.”
He growled, yanking slightly at the hair that he had threaded his fingers through. “You sure about this?” he asked, as his other hand trailed over her stomach and up to her neck, bringing her face so that he could see it.
“Very sure.”
Without another word, he let the upper half of her body go, pushing her down. His free hand went to his belt, unclasping it, along with the button on his jeans. Pushing his clothes down, he breathed a sigh of relief once he was free of those bonds and then unceremoniously ripped the side of her lacy thong, moaning when he pushed into her body. It was soft, sweet, everything that he knew her to be, but she had told him she liked it a little rough tonight and that set him on edge. This time, though, it was the good kind.
With a hard thrust, he shoved deeply, causing her to gasp, a breathless sound against the music that still vibrated against the room. He pounded into her from behind, for the first time not worried that he would scare her or hurt her. Completely letting himself go, he untangled his fist from her hair and ran his hand down her back, tilting her hips so that he could get a better angle, moaning when he went even deeper.
He was hot, so hot, sweat pouring down his face, but he couldn’t make himself even stop to take his cut off. The fabric of his t-shirt stuck to his chest and abs, almost caressing him, adding to the forbiddenness of the encounter.
“Layne,” she called out, her voice hoarse, breathless against the way he used her body.
“Jess, you feel fucking amazing,” he ground out between teeth that he had clamped tight against the sensations roaring through his body. This was a train wreck, and he knew they were coming to a crashing end shortly. Her giving him carte blanche over her body was too much. Snaking a finger around her middle, he strummed it against her center, begging her in his head to fall apart, so he could too.
“Oh,” she gasped, almost as if she were surprised. The tightening of her body around his told him all he needed to know. Within minutes he’d allowed himself to let go, gasping for air as he laid his body against hers.
She ran her hands up and down his tattooed forearms, gasping right along with him. “Thanks for being my research assistant.”
He puffed out a breath against her neck. “You ever try to get another one and we’ll have some problems. Anything you want to research, I’m up for the challenge.”
Epilogue
“You okay?” Layne asked as he had a seat next to Jessica.
She was sitting in the seat that Steele normally occupied, but he had given her free rein in his cave for the afternoon. He’d been leaving every afternoon for the last two weeks, and no one knew where he was going. It seemed to be important to him, so no one questioned it. Next to the laptop sat precise instructions on what she needed to do to upload her book to the various online vendors that sold self-published ebooks.
“Yeah,” she breathed heavily. “Just nervous. I mean, one day people are going to know that Felicity Heart is Jessica Shea, and that’s fine, but it still makes me nervous.”
Layne leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. “Felicity Heart is one smokin’ hot erotic author. I’d like to try out some new scenes for her tonight if that’s at all possible.”
She giggled and pushed him away. “Stop, you’re distracting me. I have to make sure this actually works. Ya know, I’m not a Hollywood starlet anymore, I need to learn how to make my own money now.”
He wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder. “You know I can take care of you, right? You don’t ever have to lift a finger again if you don’t want to, but if writing is what you want to do, then I’m more than happy to support you in it.”
“I know,” she told him. “And I love you for that, but I want to make my own way. I want to prove to my dad I can do whatever I want to do and I don’t need his approval. I want to prove to myself I can budget and make a business happen. This is really important to me, Layne.”
He lifted her hand to his lips. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”
They were quiet for a few minutes, but then he spoke again. “You’re coming with me to Doc Jones’ today, right?”
“You asked me to, and if you want me there, then I’m there. Same thing that you said to me. If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me.”
Layne relaxed at her words, wondering why her words and no one else’s had the ability to make him calm, had the ability to make his heart beat normally. “Did you think we would be here when you called me to ask to come to stay with an outlaw biker gang?” he asked out of the blue.
She was busy filling out some information on a website and held up her finger, clapping her hands when she was done. “I did it! I uploaded my first book! Now I hope that people buy it.” She stuck her thumbnail in her mouth and bit on it.
“I’m sure that Meredith already purchased it,” he soothed her nerves. “And Bianca won’t be far behind.”
They sat there for several moments before she opened her mouth again. “To answer your question, no, I didn’t think we would be here a few weeks ago. You were so dead set on fighting everything out in your head that you weren’t interested in anything I had to say or anything I wanted. It was pretty frustrating.”
He pulled her to him so that she sat in his lap, and he rested his chin on her shoulder. “But was I worth it?” he asked.
Jessica couldn’t help but grin and turned to face him. She leaned her forehead against his. “Yeah, baby, even though I wanted to kill you with my bare hands at times—you were completely and utterly worth the battle.”
The End
Acknowledgments
To my family and friends, I appreciate your support more than you will ever know!
Allison, thank you for always being honest with me and holding my hand through all this. And for definitely always being enthusiastic, no matter what my hair-brained scheme is.
To my wonderful friend, Foul Mouth Freda, you’re gonna make it through this and we’ll be having margarita nights at El Maz before you know it!
To the ladies of the El Maz margarita night group, we need one very soon!!!
Special thank you to Dawn Bourgeois, you made this story better!
To my silly husband, I promise to try and keep you in the lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to. I love you!
Kari and Lindsay, I couldn’t do this without the two of you either, thank you!
Book Five
Dirty Little Secret
Heaven Hill Book #5
By Laramie Briscoe
Dedication
To the people who work with me on every book…you make this just as exciting as it was the first time I pressed “publish”. Thank you to Lindsay, Kari, Paul, and the newer two—Mandy and Dawn. I truly appreciate everything that you all do to help me.
Summary
Sister
Lone survivor
Scared, but tough
Christine Stone has lived through a lot since the day she was born. Her older brother left her without a backwards glance, leaving her with parents who wanted to use her to better themselves in their cult-like religious sect.
Days after legally becoming an adult, she’s given to an older man for an arranged marriage that will change her life forever. Escape is the only way her life can be saved. When she succeeds and sets out to make a new life for herself, she meets Travis Steele—communications and security officer for the Heaven Hill MC.
Loner
Protector of secrets
Level-headed and steady
Travis Steele has been on the periphery of the Heaven Hill MC for a long time. Quiet, he takes his job seriously. He is the protector of the group, in charge with keeping family and friends safe.
When one meeting with the sister of his friend turns into more, he struggles with where to draw the line. She needs a friend, and Travis prides himself in being
what other people need, often sacrificing himself for others. As he discovers the life that Christine has been forced to live, it opens up old wounds, new wounds, and secrets that everyone thought long buried.
Turning a chance meeting into love is hard, especially when everyone has a dirty little secret.
Chapter One
“Where the hell does he keep going?”
Jessica looked up from her laptop, her eyebrows drawn together in question as she looked at her two friends, Bianca and Meredith. “Who?”
“Travis,” Meredith answered, turning around from the window. She leaned against the counter and folded her arms over her chest. “Every couple of days he leaves here like his motorcycle boots are on fire. He can’t get down that drive fast enough, and then he doesn’t come back for hours.”
“Maybe he’s got a woman.” Jessica shrugged, turning back to the screen of her laptop.
Bianca snorted. “Leave it to the romance author.” That had become the running joke on everything related to love, sex, and secrets. It was all Jessica’s fault.
They shared a laugh as Tyler made his way into the kitchen. “What are you ladies cackling at?”
“Jessica seems to think that Travis’s got a woman,” Meredith grinned up at her husband.
“Oh really?” He grabbed Meredith around the waist and pulled her to him. He leaned against the counter, his big body providing a comfortable perch for his wife. “Why do you say that?”
“He’s leaving here every couple of days, and he doesn’t come back for a few hours,” Jessica explained. “Plus, the other day when he was helping me switch over some of my metadata on my book, I caught a whiff of perfume off him.”
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