Crossroads

by Chantal Fernando

  Although, I won’t be going anywhere without Jo. I wonder how she’d feel being on the back of my bike. Fuck. I can’t wait to get her on there. Maybe I can talk her into taking a little trip with me.

  • • •

  When she returns to the hospital room I’m still thinking about her. It’s like she never leaves my mind. She stays and chats with Elizabeth for a while, and even brought her food even though Elizabeth didn’t end up asking for anything. My baby is thoughtful, that’s for sure. I wait until we get into the car before I bring up what happened tonight.

  “I understand now,” I say as I pull onto the main road. “The reason why you were so weird about the Elizabeth thing.” I cringe when I remember asking her if she was jealous. “What do I do?”

  “What did she say to you?” Jo asks, eyes going wide. “I don’t know what to tell you to do. She’s just been rescued, and I don’t want to tell her that I accidentally slept with the guy she thinks is her soul mate.”

  “She said that?” I say, suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic. “Fuck. I really didn’t see this one coming.”

  “Stop being so hot,” Jo grumbles under her breath, making me grin.

  “I think it’s just the Chase girls who think that,” I say, unable to help myself. When I see her scowl, I add, “What? Too soon?”

  I take her putting the music louder as a yes. “Controlla” by Drake fills the car, and I turn it down a little, glancing at her from the corner of my eye. “She’ll get over it. I think we just need a little time before we tell her that we’re together.”

  “We’re together?” Jo asks, voice going higher. “Since when?”

  “Since I first laid eyes on you in that biker bar,” I say, smiling and bringing my hand to her thigh. “Stay in denial all you want, I don’t mind. I know the truth and that’s all that matters.”

  She releases a breath, acting put out, but I don’t miss the small upward curve of that beautiful mouth. “The whole situation is out of control.”

  “We’ll rein it in,” I say with confidence. “Let’s get her back to her normal self and see where we go from there. I don’t want to see her get hurt any more than you, but, babe, I truly have no idea where this soul mate idea came from. We were close friends, yes, but never did I think those words would be falling from her lips.”

  A memory hits me, and I push it away. That’s not something I want to deal with, because if it comes to light it’s going to bring a shit storm along with it. I squeeze Jo’s thigh and move my hand down to her knee.

  “There’s also the cop-and-biker thing to deal with,” she adds, sighing.

  “One problem at a time,” I say, then ask, “Are you hungry?”

  “No, I’m good. Are you?” she asks, staring at my profile.

  “Not for food,” I say, pinning her with a hungry look before returning my gaze to the road.

  She shifts on the seat, then reaches her hand out to rest it on my pec. “What exactly are you hungry for, then, Ranger?” She purrs in that hot-as-hell voice of hers.

  I run my hand up the inside of her thigh, wishing she was in a skirt instead of jeans. Still, I run my fingers over the material covering her pussy. She spreads her thighs for me. I like a woman with a little bit of wild in her, and I’m fuckin’ thrilled that she’s not telling me to get my hand off her right now. If she were wearing a skirt I’d slip my finger inside her panties, and slide it inside of her. I’m about to undo her jeans button and see if I can get her to pull her jeans down a little bit when she stretches over and does the same to me, undoing my zipper slowly and then reaching inside to grab my cock.

  “Fuck, Jo,” I grit out, glancing down as her hand starts to stroke me, then raise my eyes back to the road. By the time I park the car at the hotel I’m so hard it’s actually painful to put my cock back inside my jeans. I manage to get it in there, hard against my leg, and practically run to the elevator. When the doors close and we’re alone, I push her against the mirrored wall and kiss her hard. I’m past the point of caring where we are, or who sees, I just want to be inside of her at this point. I cup her face and press myself against her, wanting her to feel how she makes me feel. Her hands go under my T-shirt, running up my back slowly. I lift her up, and her legs wrap around me just in time for the elevator to come to a stop. I walk with her in my arms to my room, sliding the card in and then opening the door. No one saw us walk through the hallway, but even if they did, tough fuckin’ shit.

  I kick the door shut, then practically throw her onto the bed. She bounces twice, laughing, watching as I put down my restricting jeans, which are currently my enemy, almost tripping on them as I try to get them off my ankles in haste. Jo starts laughing, which I ignore, removing my boxer shorts and lifting off my T-shirt.

  “You won’t be laughing in a second,” I growl, grabbing her ankle and pulling her down the bed so her legs are hanging off. I undo the button of her tight jeans and start peeling them off her legs until they join mine on the floor, then slide off her white panties. I lick my lips as I take her in, lying on the bed, her bottom half bare. Her eyes are heavy as they watch me, silently letting me take my fill. I hope she feels beautiful right now, because all I see is her beauty. Her shapely legs, her pretty pussy that is just begging for attention, and the simple, sensual beauty in her face of a woman who is about to get pleased and knows it.

  When a woman gets turned on, she forgets the usual things running through her head. The insecurities and the doubts. She doesn’t think—she just feels. At least if the man is doing his job right, and trust me, I’m going to. I cover my body with hers and kiss her deeply, our tongues tasting each other, our skin pressed against each other. I lift up her top, exposing her breasts covered in a white cotton bra. I don’t give a fuck that it’s not some fancy shit. Jo looks sexy in anything. I gently bite down on a nipple through her bra and reach my hand down to play with her pussy at the same time.

  I’m just getting started.

  TWENTY

  Johanna

  I WISH I’d brought some sexy lingerie with me, but seduction wasn’t on my mind when packing for a last-minute rescue trip. Ranger doesn’t seem to mind though, going by the way he looks at me, like he wants to eat me whole. His finger slides inside me then, up to my clit, and I gasp as he starts to rub it in a circle. I’ve never been with someone who knows exactly how I like things, and who actually pays attention to my body language and works out what I need without me having to give verbal commands. Ranger never misses a thing. I never even knew a man like him existed. I remove my top completely as he kisses down my stomach, the stubble on his cheeks prickling my skin, but in a good way. He spreads my thighs and flashes me a dark look before lowering his head, his tongue on my flesh. I remember how hard I’d made him in the car and wonder how he has so much restraint to take the time to go down on me first instead of just slamming into me. Suddenly he stops and lays back on the bed. I think he wants me to ride him, but then he says, “Sit on my face.”

  I get up on my knees and move to straddle his face, facing the same way as him so I can take him into my mouth too. I want to please him as well; I want him to love fucking me and to always want more. I lean forward and take his cock in my hands, stroking before lowering my head and taking him into my mouth as far as I can. I bob my head up and down, licking and sucking, his moans turning me on even more. He grips my hips and holds me down onto his mouth as I feel myself come, removing my mouth from his cock so I don’t accidentally hurt him as I fall apart.

  “Oh my god,” I whisper, as Ranger keeps licking my clit, prolonging my release.

  When he rings the last wave out of me, I’m about to crawl down and take him back into my mouth when he lifts me off him and rolls me over onto my back. He lies on me and slides inside of me with one deep thrust, his mouth slamming down as he slides in and out of me, almost desperately, and it’s in this moment I know that his patience has come to an end. I score my nails across his back, not hard enough to leave any marks, th
en kiss down his jaw and suck on his neck. I want him to come, now, but I know he’s going to want me to come a second time before he succumbs to his own pleasure. I know I’m right when he brings his hand down and starts touching my clit again.

  “That feels so good,” I breathe, allowing my eyes to close. I lift my hips to meet his, thrust for thrust, the two of us so in sync it’s like we’re made for each other. I open my eyes and look into his to find him already looking down at me, a sheen of sweat on his brow. I’d never admit this out loud, but he looks like a god right now, like a dark Adonis, his hair falling out of its restraints and framing his handsome face. It’s not long before he has me coming again, but this time he joins me. He really was waiting for me to come once more before he allowed himself to do the same.

  He rolls over onto his back with his cock still inside of me, so I’m on top of him. I push his hair out of his face and kiss him deeply. I can’t pretend there’s no emotion between us in the sheets, because there is. It’s a part of what makes the sex so amazing, so addictive. It’s that connection, the one thing everyone craves the most to find. I don’t think I’ve ever felt a connection so strong as the one Ranger and I share.

  It’s a dangerous thing, because I don’t know how far I will go to keep it.

  He kisses my forehead and lingers there, while I close my eyes and wonder how the hell this happened. I have no logical answer for it. We were meant to be enemies, yet we fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. I don’t really know him, yet I know him so well. So many contradictions. The only thing I know is that right here, with him, is a place I don’t want to leave or lose.

  “I’ll be happy to get home tomorrow,” he says, moving his lips back to mine. “I want you in my own bed.”

  “At your clubhouse?” I ask, wincing. “I don’t think I’ll be welcome there, Ranger.”

  He laughs softly, then says, “It will be fine. I’ve got another house I could always move into if it’s an issue for you.”

  I pause, suspicion taking over me. “How did you pay for the house? What illegal operations do you guys do anyway?”

  I don’t expect him to tell me, but he should probably know that I’m not okay with it. It goes against everything ingrained in me. Am I going to have to turn a blind eye to all this shit?

  “Relax, Jo. I make money from stocks and investments. All legal. I can show you, if you don’t believe me. And I have enough money for both of us to never work again from this day forward. Anywhere you want to travel to? Hawaii? Portugal? We can leave tomorrow.”

  I roll my eyes, but I’m kind of impressed he’s been able to do so well for himself. If he’s telling the truth, and he did all this on his own, he must be a very intelligent guy, which I’ve seen for myself. I’m sure his start-up money came from the club though, but I can’t really use that against him, can I? He is who he is, and I am who I am. I don’t know how it will work, or if it will, but it’s worth the try. He’s worth it.

  “I have to go back to work,” I say, amusement filling me. “Rain check on Hawaii.”

  “Done.”

  I lay my head on his chest and close my eyes. I don’t want to ruin this moment by letting any guilt hit me, but I do feel it. Elizabeth is going to hate me, but I’m too far into this now, and Ranger doesn’t feel that way about her anyway. Does that make it okay? No, but why should both of us not have him? I run my hand down the side of his stomach, feeling his rigid muscles. I’m hoping she forgets about her infatuation over him and just concentrates on getting better. I never would have done this if I knew who he was, and that is the honest truth. I’m not a bad person, I don’t think, and I value loyalty and honesty above all else, so this is really killing me.

  Yet I can’t stay away from him.

  That’s pretty fucked-up in itself. If there is any time to bail, now would be it, before we return home and bring each other into each other’s daily lives. Lines will be crossed, and someone is going to get hurt. Elizabeth doesn’t deserve to be hurt any more than she has, she really doesn’t.

  “Stop thinking so hard,” Ranger says, kissing the top of my head. “We’ll sort it out, okay? And don’t even think of being some fuckin’ martyr and leaving me because of it. It won’t work. I’ll just keep coming after you.” He pauses, and I can hear the smile in his voice as he adds, “I do like a challenge.”

  “I just feel like such a bad person,” I try to explain to him.

  “You’re not,” he says instantly, his hands roaming to cup my ass. “And if you leave me, then you’ll hurt me. So that’s not even an option.”

  “You can handle it,” I mutter, sighing softly. “The difference is, I don’t think she can.”

  “We just need a little time,” he says, sounding so sure that I want to believe him. “We’ll keep us to ourselves for now, and when the time’s right, then everything will be fine.”

  He makes it sound so easy. Stressing isn’t going to fix anything though, so I try to push everything out of my mind and just enjoy the feeling of my skin against his. I haven’t had something like this in so long, I forgot how good it can be. Bikers . . . who would have thought?

  “Can we stay at my house instead of the clubhouse?” I ask him, my mind going back to that.

  His chest shakes as he laughs. “You already planning sleepovers, Jo?”

  “Apparently I am,” I grumble, kissing his chest. It’s like my common sense fails me when he’s involved. He makes me blind, weaker and stronger at the same time.

  I don’t know how that is.

  But I think I’m done trying to figure it out.

  TWENTY-ONE

  “HAVE you been talking to other women?”

  “Yes . . . but it’s not important.”

  I ignore the couple sitting next to me as we’re waiting to board the plane, and their ridiculous argument. What did he mean it’s not important? I look at Ranger, who is watching my facial expressions and smirking. I narrow my eyes and silently warn him that I don’t care how big and bad he is, if he ever says that to me, my gun will be drawn. He laughs, which garners Elizabeth’s and Helen’s attention.

  “What’s so funny?” Elizabeth asks, looking between the two of us. She and Helen are seated opposite us. Our aunt and uncle caught the earlier flight home because there weren’t enough seats left on this one.

  “Nothing,” Ranger says, looking over his boarding pass, a smile still playing on his lips. The two girls watch him, both intrigued, but for different reasons. Helen is probably fascinated by the man who has her sister so enthralled, while Elizabeth is probably wondering if Ranger is the same man that Cam was. I look away from all three of them, and pay attention to my phone. It’s so easy and natural for me to be around Ranger, for us to laugh and joke and tease, and with them here I feel like I shouldn’t do that. It’s a tell. They shouldn’t know how close we are.

  It makes me sad that I have to hide the first good thing to happen to me in a long time, but there’s no alternative. I can’t be selfish. Not yet. There are more important things that need to be handled first. We all board the plane, and I count down until I can be home.

  • • •

  After we get Elizabeth settled, Ranger and I head back to my house. Luckily for us there were no cameras or TV crew at the airport, and we were able to quietly get out of there with no one noticing us. I watch him as he walks inside and looks around my house, wondering what he thinks of it. It’s nothing fancy, a three-bedroom two-bathroom brick house that I’ve owned for a year and a half. It’s home. I’ve decorated it sparsely, and there isn’t much clutter or bright colors. It’s tidy, simple yet classic. At least that’s how I think of it.

  “There’s beer in the fridge if you want,” I offer, putting my thin jacket down on the countertop. Ranger sits on one of my stools and shakes his head.

  “No, I’m okay, thanks.”

  Feeling tired, I let him pull me onto his lap and bury my face in his neck. “So it’s all over now, hey?”

  “I guess
so,” he murmurs, kissing my forehead. “I have to get back to the clubhouse and check in with everyone. When do you have to go back to work?”

  “Officially tomorrow, but I’ll drop by the station in a bit too,” she says, yawning. “Do you want me to drop you at the clubhouse, or will they run out with guns the second they see my squad car?”

  “Don’t you have a non-police car?” he asks, sounding amused. “Perhaps we should take that so the men aren’t running around and flushing the drugs down the toilet when they spot your car.”

  I playfully slap at his chest. “That better be a joke. Yeah, I have another car, I hardly use it though. My life is pretty much work and home.”

  “Are you inviting me to sleep over tonight?” he asks, nibbling on my earlobe. “I’ll bring dinner for us. And then if you’re good I’ll take you for a ride on the back of my bike. I think it’s time the two of you met.”

  I roll my eyes at that. “Okay, sounds good. Do you need to leave right now?”

  “No. Why, what do you have in mind?” he asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “One-track mind.”

  “When it comes to you, yes,” he agrees, placing his lips against my neck. “You’re just too sexy, and you smell so good, and fuck . . . you’re perfect.”

  “No one is perfect,” I correct, but still smile at the compliment. If anyone were close to physical perfection it is him. He’s the perfect one, well, minus the whole biker thing, but that’s a part of him too. “And I don’t have anything in mind . . . except maybe a shower.”

  “Hmmmm,” he rumbles, kissing my neck. “A shower with you sounds good. I know it’s kind of selfish considering the circumstances, but I’m so happy to be alone with you.”