“Sure. I got in a knife fight about ten years ago. Sonofabitch was asking for it from the moment he walked into the bar. I was in Pueblo hanging with some buddies I used to go to high school with, and a couple of assholes started shit up with me. I was wearing my cut, and they kept asking me if I was a badass biker.” He shrugged and took a drink of beer. “I showed them I was. Believe me, their scars look worse than mine.”
“Did you get arrested?”
“Nah. The owner of the bar was a good friend of one of my buddies. He waited to see how things played out before he called the badges. By the time they got there, I was gone. When I got back here, I crashed at the rez and the medicine man fixed me up.”
“What happened to the two guys?”
“I heard they ended up in the hospital.”
“So you got in a fight because they challenged you?” She put her fork down.
He shook his head. “No, I cut them when they touched my colors. They’re just lucky I didn’t kill ’em. I would have, but my buddies stopped me.” He scooped up the green chili with a chip, then plopped it in his mouth.
“Your colors? Refresh my memory. They’re your logo, right?”
“They’re more than a club’s logo. They’re the club’s identity. It’s the patch that full members wear, and it isn’t earned easily. Someone disrespects your patch, they disrespect you and the whole brotherhood. In my world, respect will be given, or it will be taken. I know brothers who are serving time for killing someone who disrespected their patch. It’s everything.” He clenched his jaw. Just thinking about the fucking assholes who disregarded his colors made his blood boil. Fucking morons!
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I guess I shouldn’t have been so nosy.” She placed her fork down and when he raised his eyes they met hers.
“I’m not upset. My world is pretty simple. We see things as black or white. A person gives respect, he gets it back, but if he doesn’t he becomes just another victim.” He pushed his empty plate away and leaned back, his gaze scanning her tight face. “Easy.”
The corner of her mouth went up slightly, and then she began arranging the sugar in the ceramic holder. After she finished, she started organizing the various hot sauces by size.
Steel looked on in amusement. “They’re just gonna get all mixed up again.”
She glanced at him, her cheeks reddened as she pulled her hands toward her and then clasped them together. “I’m a compulsive organizer,” she scoffed.
“You told me your old man was a biker. You shouldn’t be surprised about what I just told you. It’s our world.”
“I know. I guess I didn’t know all the particulars of it. I mean, I guessed about a lot of stuff, but I wasn’t privy to the ins and outs of it. My dad was rarely home, and when he was, he was consumed with my mom. He basically ignored us. The only attention we got was either his threats or his leather belt against the back of our thighs. Nice man, huh?”
“Sounds like my old man. Fuck them. We survived in spite of them. You want another drink? You look like you could use one.”
Her smile warmed him. He didn’t want their night out to be clouded by fear, hate, and loathing.
“Are you trying to get me drunk so you can take advantage of me?”
The coy expression on her face made him go tight in his jeans. What the fuck’s wrong with me? She had such an effect on him, more than any woman ever had. When he’d been with Mika, she’d been his first love—and he was sixteen with raging hormones. But in all the years since then, no woman touched him past his lust for that moment. The social worker sitting in front of him did crazy shit to him. He didn’t know how she was doing it, but deep stirrings that he’d kept buried for years began to surface. What had been a delicious distraction was fast becoming an obsession.
“Well, are you?” Her voice brought him back.
“Am I what?”
“Trying to get me drunk?”
He chuckled. “I don’t want you drunk, baby. I want you stone-cold sober when I run my hands over your curves and give you what we’ve both wanted for a while.”
She picked up her margarita. “And that is?”
“A good hard fucking. One like you’ve never had.”
“You’re pretty confident about your sexual abilities, aren’t you?”
“The only complaint I get is that the woman is too sore the next day from our fucking. Or sometimes their voices are gone from screaming so much.”
She poked at his hand, giggling. “You’re so full of yourself.”
“I’m not bragging. I’m just telling it like it is. You need to find out for yourself.”
“Maybe I will.” She winked at him and his dick twitched. He wanted nothing more than to grab her, kiss her deeply, lay her down on top of the tiled table, throw her legs on his shoulders, and fuck her deep and hard.
Her phone rang and she leapt in her seat, then slipped her hand in her purse and took it out.
He saw her expression go from hopeful to disappointed in a matter of seconds. “Are you expecting someone to call you?” His tone was edgier than he meant for it to be, but he couldn’t help but wonder if she was seeing someone.
“I am. My brother, actually. I haven’t heard from him in a few days. I worry about him.”
“He’s the one using?” She nodded. He blew out a long breath. “That’s fucking tough.”
She wiped the corner of her eyes with her napkin. “It is.”
The busser cleared their plates, and Steel ordered a sopapilla à la mode with two spoons. As they ate, they laughed and talked about everything from the biggest gossips in town to the economic state in the county.
When she slipped her arms around his waist on the ride back, it felt natural to Steel. It was like she belonged on the back of his Harley. He helped her off his bike when they got to her house, then walked her to the front porch, bent down, and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Every nerve in his body burned; he had to hold himself back from slamming her to him and plunging his tongue deep down her throat while he rubbed his hard dick against her. He knew if he pushed it, she’d be pissed, so he forced himself to act like a gentleman even though all his instincts were in overdrive.
Breanna unlocked her door and then paused. He caught her blue orbs when she looked over her shoulder. “Do you want to come in for a beer?”
Fuck yeah! I’m in. “Sure. That’d be cool.” He sauntered in, laying his jacket on one of chairs in the living room before he went over to the couch and sank down.
“This is just for a beer, you know that.”
“Yep.”
“Okay. I don’t want you getting any wrong ideas.” She headed out of the room.
“Don’t have any.” I’ll play the game, babe. For some reason, women felt it was important to let him know that they weren’t really thinking about fucking when that’s exactly what they were doing. Besides the club girls who knew they were at the club to fuck whichever brother needed their womanly attentions, women were always telling him that they’d never done something like this before if it was a one-night stand, or that they just wanted to talk. Then twenty minutes into their “conversation,” he had his tongue down their throats and his fingers in their wet pussies. He sniggered, thinking he’d give Breanna maybe twenty-five minutes before they were all nice and cozy.
“Here you go,” she said as she handed him a beer.
He took a deep drink. “You’ve got a nice place here. I like what you’ve done to it. Do you own it?”
“No. I wish I did, but on my paltry salary, I’ll be lucky if I can ever buy a place.”
“Is that why you’re moonlighting at Cuervos? Do you wanna save up for a house?”
“Not exactly. I need to pay off some debt, and I help out my family, especially my brother Nicholas.”
“He doesn’t have a job?”
She shrugged. “He told me he does. Who knows?” She turned toward him and tucked her feet under her. “If you get your own place, I’m pretty sure Che
noa will be able to stay with you. I haven’t heard anything yet, but my supervisor seemed pretty hopeful. You really should lock that up. I can add an addendum to my report.”
“I was gonna look for a place this weekend. I want Chenoa with me.” She nodded. He patted the empty spot beside him. “Why the fuck are you so far from me? Come over here.”
“Are you going to behave?” The way she looked at him from under half-lidded eyes drove him wild.
“Of course.” He grinned. She moved closer to him and he put his arm around her. “That’s better.” Under his touch, he felt her relax and press into him. He twirled a couple strands of her soft hair around his finger, the delicate scent of apricot and powder curling around him. I want her so fucking bad.
She craned her neck and looked up at him; desire heated her gaze. He bent down and gently kissed the lips that had been tempting him all evening. She looped her arm around his neck, a soft moan escaping her. The sound of it flared his lust and he yanked her closer to him, then took her mouth in a deep, wet, claiming kiss.
He slid his hand over her shoulders and under her crop top, the feel of her soft skin playing havoc with his cock. As he stroked his hands over her tits, he pushed his hard dick against her thighs. She sank deeper into his hold and he kept kissing her, breathing in each of her tiny moans and whimpers. “You make my blood boil. I can’t fucking get enough of you,” he rasped between kisses.
“I feel the same. It’s crazy but in a good way,” she said softly, and just the sound of her voice, the vibration of her lips against his, brought out the brute in him. He pulled her onto his lap, positioning her cute ass on his raging hard-on, and tugged at the hem of her shirt. Her straining nipples had been enticing him long enough; he had to suck the hard beads. Now.
Then her landline rang and she stiffened under his hands before pulling away. “Sorry, but I have to get this.” She sprinted to the phone in the other room.
What the fuck is up with her goddamn phone? I swear I’m gonna smash it.
He waited for several minutes for her to come back, but she didn’t. He strained his ears, but he didn’t hear her talking. Then he heard it—muted sobs that pierced his heart. He jumped from the couch and followed the sounds to a bedroom in the back of the house. The door was slightly ajar, and he slowly pushed it open. The room was dark, but he could see her sitting on the edge of the bed, slumped over.
“Breanna?” he whispered as he went over to her. “What’s wrong? Did you get some bad news about your brother?” He sat next to her, the bed creaking under his weight. She shook her head. “Then what’s going on?” He placed his arm around her and drew her to him. She laid her head against his chest as he gently held her. Her small shoulders rose and fell, and occasionally she wiped her cheeks and sniffled. He cupped her chin and tilted her head back, staring into her glistening eyes as he tenderly brushed the hair back from her face. “Do you want to tell me why’re you so upset?” She shrugged and placed her head back on his chest. “Please?”
She cleared her throat and, in a nasally voice, said, “I’m terrified something’s happened to my brother. He’s never gone this long without calling me. I thought it was him on the phone because he’s the only one who really calls me on the landline. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t….” She circled her arm around his waist and held him tightly.
He rubbed her back in a circular motion. “Shh… it’s okay. If something bad happened to him, you would’ve heard by now. Alina’s a small town. I can see if I can find anything out. I’ll put some feelers out and see what they bring in.”
She looked up, her gaze wide with hope. “Will you? I’d be so grateful if you could do that. I’m just beside myself.”
He swept his lips against hers. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Steel?”
“Yeah?”
“Can you stay the night with me? I don’t mean like banging each other. I just want you to hold me. I don’t want to be alone. I know that isn’t what you want, and you may think I’m weird for asking, but can you stay with me?” She stretched out her arm and reached for the box of tissues on the nightstand. Steel picked up the box and handed it to her. She took a tissue and blew her nose.
He watched her as she dried her tears with several tissues. Stay the night and not fuck? He’d never done that before with a woman. All the women he’d been with always wanted to screw; if they didn’t, they weren’t in his bed. He’d found when he was angry, sad, or worried, fucking helped give him some relief. Could he spend the night with Breanna and not touch her except for his arms around her? Would his dick make it through the night?
Breanna rose to her feet. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you. We don’t have that kind of relationship. Actually, we don’t have a relationship. I just lost my head.”
He grabbed her hand and gently tugged her back down on the bed. “I’ll stay with you. It’s cool.” I fucking hope so. Why the hell did I commit to this? Maybe it was because he couldn’t stand to see a woman cry. He never could. He figured it had to do with his mother, who’d weep over her disappointing life when she thought her children couldn’t hear. Maybe it was because Breanna was wiggling her way into his heart—a thought that terrified and warmed him at the same time.
If the brothers find out about this, they’ll never believe it. They’ll also never let me live it down.
Later that night, he watched as she slipped into bed wearing a nightshirt. He’d taken everything but his jeans off; he didn’t trust himself.
She rolled over to him. “Thank you,” she whispered in the dark. Then she gave him a light kiss and curled up next to him. He wrapped his arm around her, tugging her close to him. She smacked her lips and put her arm around him, her breasts pillowed against his chest. Her breathing grew deeper and he knew she’d fallen asleep.
His dick hadn’t settled down since she’d come into bed. How the fuck am I gonna get through the whole night without touching her? She smelled so good, and her soft body nestled next to his was more than any man could take.
He took deep breaths and focused on the vast expanse of the San Juan Valley. He had to calm his body down.
It’s gonna be a long fucking night.
Chapter Fourteen
Slivers of light peeped through the drawn blinds, casting thin golden stripes across the Berber carpet. Breanna sat up at the edge of the bed and reached for her phone, yawning while her sleep-bleary eyes struggled to focus. She glanced at her screen and saw she had a text. She hurriedly opened it, her heart pounding.
Nicholas: Just touching base. Been super busy. I’m good. Call u tomorrow.
She reread the text at least four times before sending her “K” reply. She padded over to the window, lifted one of the blind slats, and looked out. In the distance, the mountains were silhouettes against a mango sky. There was no drone of cars or machinery, only the chirping of birds as they scattered between the trees. A cool, delicate air kissed her skin as it floated in through the cracked window. The town had the subdued quiet of dawn.
She went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face, relief coursing through her. At least he’s alive. She groaned softly when she saw her blotchy skin and swollen eyelids. She cleaned up a bit, brushed her tangled hair, and switched off the light.
As she approached the bed, she heard Steel’s soft breathing. He looked peaceful as he slept, only his angry tattoos and the jagged scar hinting at a darker side to his life. She couldn’t believe he’d stayed the night, holding her close until she’d fallen asleep. She’d expected to have awoken to an empty bed, figuring he’d slip away in the night once she’d conked out. But he didn’t, and she cherished him for it.
Breanna quietly inched toward him, admiring the way the golden pink hues of dawn lit up his finely sculpted chest and arms. Without thinking, she traced her finger lightly over his biceps and then his torso as her stomach fluttered and a low throb began between her legs. He’s so good-looking. She admired his thick, ebony hair as it fanne
d out around him, brushing his shoulders. Taking a strand between her fingers, she brought it to her nose, inhaling his earthy scent. She loved the way the wind, sunshine, and rain mingled with his leather scent. She leaned over him, her blonde tresses skimming his chest, and kissed his full lips gently. He didn’t stir. Stroking his face, she kissed him again, and then lay down, covering herself with the sheet.
She closed her eyes and was drifting to sleep when the mattress bounced slightly. Right when she opened her blue orbs, Steel’s face came into focus. Without saying a word, he pulled up and hovered over her, his hand on either side of her head. As he lowered his head, her lips parted in anticipation of the impending kiss. When his mouth covered hers, she dipped her tongue inside, the low rumble from his throat telling her he liked it.
They kissed deep and slow. The more their lips pressed together, the more her body quivered and shook until her insides turned to mush.
His mouth moved from hers and trailed to her neck and behind her ears. She moaned when he lavished a mixture of nips, licks, and kisses on one of her erogenous spots. While he ravished her ear, neck, and shoulder, his hand glided under her nightshirt, stroking the curve of her hips and the soft skin of her belly. She squirmed under his searing touch, and she ran her fingers over his tapered waist and down the corded muscles of his arms.
“You’re so soft and beautiful,” he murmured against her skin. His voice sent tiny tingles through her; it usually did. She didn’t know what it was, but his deep, rough voice turned her way the hell on. His chest hovered scant inches from her and she arched her back more, trying desperately to press her tits against him, the desire to feel his heat against her skin overpowering. His wandering fingers found her breasts and cupped the underside of them while he nipped at the soft skin on her shoulder.
As she lost herself in the scent of him, the feel of him, an electric jolt zapped through her, landing on her pulsing, damp pussy. He’d found another one of her most erogenous zones—her nipples. It was like there was a circuit from her buds to her mound, and his index finger and thumb were pinching, tweaking, and flicking her nipples to hardened, needy beads. It was exquisite, and a throaty moan fell from her lips.
STEEL: Night Rebels Motorcycle Club (Night Rebels MC Romance Book 1) Page 12