Temper: Road Roses MC

by Ada Stone

  She was pregnant.

  It was startling. It shocked the hell out of me and left me reeling, but it wasn’t like she had cancer or something. And once that worry that there was something seriously wrong had left, the desire had returned. That pretty little corn silk blue dress. That bouncy ponytail. Those little kitten heels. And those tits. Full, round, perky and shaped in the most perfect heart I’d ever seen. I wanted to hold them in my hands, to squeeze them and weigh them in my palms. I remembered them being soft but firm, the perfect feel.

  Though I could tell she was turned on, too, her panic over the possibility of this baby was greater than her desire. And now…now I knew she wanted to get rid of it.

  I didn’t know why it bothered me to hear her say it. Until about five minutes ago, I hadn’t even known her name. Lia. It was a sweet name. It suited her blonde hair and her blue eyes, but I had the feeling it was short for something. It was one of the long list of things I didn’t know about her, but found myself wanting to know. I told myself that my interest wasn’t all that serious. I was infatuated because she was one of the best lays I’d had—certainly the best I’d had in years. And that lingering familiarity from the bar, I reminded myself. She was familiar and maybe I didn’t like mysteries or feeling as though I didn’t have all the information. I told myself it was because she was hot and I was horny and stressed out. I told myself it was all kinds of things, and maybe it was, but there was a basic, primal attraction there that was mixing with an unusual urge to protect her.

  My hands lingered on her full hips. Birthing hips, I thought, though I didn’t share that with her. I didn’t think she’d appreciate it just then.

  “I see,” I finally said, not sure what to say.

  Her delicate eyebrows pulled into a frown. “It’s the right choice. I mean, it’s not like you want a baby and I have school in the fall…” She broke off abruptly, like she was trying to work through her own issues with the whole situation.

  Of course she is, you idiot. She’s pregnant from a one-night stand!

  Clearing my throat, I tried to help her out. “Look, you don’t have to get rid of it. I mean, there are…options. And I’m here.”

  Her eyes widened a bit and for a moment, I had shocked her speechless. “You’re here?” she repeated incredulously. “What do you mean by that? And options? What? To raise my baby here with you? Like you would want us.”

  My hands slipped from her hips to her rear, pulling her closer to me. I caught the tiniest of gasps, telling me that she noticed, but otherwise she didn’t make any note of it. “I’m just saying that you don’t have to get rid of it. Maybe you should think about this a little bit. Consider other options.” I squeezed her perky ass, unable to help myself, wishing that we weren’t talking about getting rid of an unwanted pregnancy and instead doing the very thing that had led to it.

  This isn’t about sex, I admonished myself, but even as I did it, I couldn’t deny that I wanted her. It was like I had a one track mind when it came to my sexy little Lia.

  Her expression spoke volumes about what she was feeling, the conflict written across her lovely features. She sucked in her lower lip to worry at it with her teeth. It drew my attention immediately, desire coursing through my veins, but my reaction was more tender and less lustful, a surprise for us both.

  I took one hand from her rear and moved it to her cheek, cupping her face. My thumb moved slowly and gently stroked her lip, freeing it from her teeth. I looked at her in all seriousness and said, “Don’t make a decision yet. Take some time. Think it over.”

  She looked at me as though maybe she’d never seen me before, seriously considering what I was telling her. I thought for a moment that I’d won her over and convinced her, but then she shook her head. She pulled away from me, planting her hands firmly on my chest and pushing. She got up off of my lap, her absence immediately noticed and greatly missed, my hard-on throbbing with want for her.

  Shaking her head, she played with the end of her ponytail, reminding me that though she was a woman, she was young, too. Very young. “You don’t understand. It’s not really about what I want—I don’t know what I want. But I don’t have a choice anyway. My father would never be okay with this. He would disown me as soon as he found out about the baby! I’d be kicked out of the house with nowhere to go.”

  Her voice was raising in volume, the panic plain in it now. Her eyes were rimmed in red and I could see tears brimming. Instantly, I was up and off of the couch. Crying women were not my strong suit, but I could remember my mother and comforting her when things all seemed to go wrong. I could remember that sometimes just having someone there was enough.

  I hoped it would be now.

  I went to her, placing my hands on either of her delicate shoulders, stepping close enough to her that I could feel her body heat radiating off of her. She smelled sweet like flowers, reminding me of our night together and how desperately I had wanted her.

  A baby was not what I had planned for my future. Even though I’d been considering settling down lately, this was not what I’d had in mind. I’d been thinking a partner and maybe eventually a baby, but not all in one fell swoop. And certainly not in the shape of a nineteen-year-old woman. She was barely a woman at all! Old enough to screw, but not old enough to deal with the consequences, I realized belatedly. But while I was lucky enough to have the option of just walking away from the whole thing, she did not. She was stuck, bound by her situation, and I was starting to realize that all her family’s money—because I knew they had it, even if I didn’t know which family was hers—wouldn’t fix the mess she’d gotten herself into this time.

  I hadn’t been looking for someone to take care of, but here she was on my doorstep and I couldn’t turn her away. “Lia, give me a week. Don’t tell your father, don’t tell anyone, but give me a week. Let yourself think about this and let me show you that there are other alternatives.” Even I wasn’t sure what they were at this point, but they were there, and there was a strange stirring within me that made me want to tell her that I was one of them.

  I couldn’t be sure, but I had to find out and to do that, I needed time.

  She was shaking her head. “You don’t understand, if my father finds out—”

  “He won’t,” I interrupted, firm and decisive. “He won’t find out and you won’t stay with him anyway. You’ll stay here, with me. Until you decide.”

  She stared at me then, surprise written across her features. She seemed unable to figure out what to say in response to that. But I could see her mind working, considering, thinking it over. Uncertainly, she asked, “Why are you doing this? Why would you want this baby?”

  I hesitated. I wasn’t really sure that I wanted this baby—in fact, I probably didn’t—but I didn’t want her to get rid of it either. It was my responsibility either way, and if in the end she decided she didn’t want it, then I would support her, whether I liked it or not. But I didn’t want her to make some rash decision because she was scared. Maybe if I could get her away from her father for a little bit, she might have some space to breathe and think. Maybe she could realize what she really wanted, whatever that was.

  As for me, well…if it came down to it and she kept the baby, then maybe I’d keep her around. Maybe she could be my ticket to making the Road Roses view me as the kind of leader they wanted to follow. Maybe she would be the “settling down” image that I needed. At least for a little while. Once I got things under control with them, maybe we could figure out a different arrangement.

  You can’t use her like that, I thought, berating myself, but I figured I was as much entitled as she was. She’d used me that night and she was here only because she wanted money, nothing else. I would do her a favor; she could do me one, too.

  “I just want you to have a choice,” I finally said, pulling her to me so that we were pressed together, reminding me of the need she always seemed to bring out in me. “And maybe I want you to think of me as one of those choices.”


  She thought about it a moment longer, then she put her hands on my waist and stood on her toes so that she could reach me. She pressed her lips to mine and kissed me, uncertain and gentle. I was the one who turned it to passion. I held her close to me and pressed my mouth against hers hungrily, sliding my tongue along he lips to ask for entrance. When she parted them, I dove in to taste her again, her flavor just as sweet as I remembered.

  When we broke apart, I told her, “Stay with me. Just for a week. Then, if you still want to get rid of the baby, I’ll take you to do it.”

  She nodded her head once. “Okay. I’ll stay, just for the week.”

  Chapter Eight

  A week could take a lifetime or it could be over in the blink of an eye. When I’d talked Lia into staying for seven days, just to think about the baby—my baby—and what she really wanted to do with it, I had figured by the time those seven days were up, I’d want her gone. I figured I would be so sick of her that any reason to not be home with her would be worth it.

  Thus my surprise to discover that I found myself liking having her around. She brought with her a softer touch to the little house that I called mine.

  “You can sleep in here,” I told Lia, taking her down the hall to the spare bedroom I had. It wasn’t the nicest place in the world, but it was clean, had a bed, and she wouldn’t be disturbed by anyone else. “The bathroom is just across the hall.” I pointed back over my shoulder with my thumb.

  Lia fidgeted. She crossed her arms beneath her full breasts and propped herself on one hip. “Are you sure about this?” she asked me, worrying at her lower lip. The urge to use my own teeth on that lip was pretty intense, but I ignored it. There would be time for that later, I promised myself.

  “Yeah, why not? No one else is using it.”

  She looked over at me, considering. “I should at least pick up some clothes from home,” she says, sounding uncertain. “I didn’t really bring anything. I wasn’t expecting this.”

  I thought about that. Of course she was right. There was no way that she could wear the same clothing every day for a week. That was downright ridiculous. A sly smile spread across my face as I thought of alternatives to that. Most of them involving her not bothering with little things like clothing. I was pretty sure that I could find some things for the two of us together that wouldn’t require any sort of attire.

  Clearing my throat, I reminded myself that this was about the baby and giving her enough time to think about what she really wanted.

  And what I really want, I added silently.

  A baby probably wasn’t it, but how could I just ignore the possibility after my lieutenants all but ordered me to go knock someone up and then low and behold I do just that? And she shows up on my doorstep, making me think that maybe someone somewhere out there is trying to not so subtlety tell me something.

  Or maybe it was just all in my head. Either way, I just needed a damn minute to think things through. Probably, I wasn’t going to want to keep it, and neither was she, but a week was a short time to give yourself for a little peace of mind later on.

  “I can get you some things,” I said finally, finding both my voice and my filter. I didn’t want to say anything that was going to send her packing before she’d even unpacked, so to speak. “It’s not like you need a lot. It’s only a week.”

  She looked unconvinced, but lifted her shoulders. “Okay. Well, I need panties and bras and a couple pairs of pants and shirts…” She continued to list off what she’d need, clothing, toiletries, the whole nine yards, but I wasn’t listening. I’d gotten lost somewhere around bras. The bulge in my jeans was straining again, reminding me that I hadn’t taken care of it earlier, despite my increasing desire to do so. I hadn’t wanted to scare her off downstairs or make her change her mind about the week, so I hadn’t pressed our kiss into something more, but it wasn’t for a lack of desire.

  “Hey, did you get all that?”

  I blinked at her, focusing on the here and now. She was waving a thin, delicate hand in front of my face to get my attention. I might have been a little embarrassed if she weren’t blushing a little, like maybe she’d figured out what I was thinking.

  “Why don’t you make a list,” I suggested rather than admitting that I’d zoned out imagining her in bras and panties and then nothing all over again. “Include sizes,” I added, letting my gaze drop down the length of her body, focusing on her full breasts and those hips that were not in the least disguised by that pretty little periwinkle dress of hers.

  She straightened herself up, then nodded. “Fine.” She turned then to head into her new room, but paused, lingering in the doorway. Looking back over her shoulder at me, she asked, “Are you sure you want to buy all of this stuff? I mean, I have all of it at home…” She trailed off and shrugged.

  It was true, she had all of that at home. And probably her clothes were going to cost a small fortune thanks to how women’s clothing worked these days, but I’d rather pay it than her go home. It seemed stupid, but I had the sense that if she went home there was a very real possibility that she wouldn’t come back here. She’d end up talking herself out of our little one-week deal, probably come clean with daddy dearest, and get rid of the baby in a matter of hours.

  And when I thought of it like that, it seemed a fairly small price to pay.

  “I’m sure,” I told her firmly, leaning against the doorframe, watching her. “In fact, I think we should get you settled in here and then you should come with me to go shopping. Forget the list. You can go and try things on.”

  Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, but I felt a grin spread across my lips. This was a great idea, I suddenly realized. If I took her shopping with me, then she’d get the chance to try everything on, and maybe if I snuck into the dressing room with her…I imagined pressing her against the wall in the dressing room. There’d be mirrors and I could watch her as I drove myself inside her. Definitely an enticing thought.

  Yes, that was definitely what I was going to have to do.

  “You want to take me shopping?” she asked suspiciously.

  I nodded. “I do. I probably wouldn’t pick out the same things you would and I want you to be comfortable.” I also want the chance to fuck you in the dressing room, I thought, but didn’t say out loud. I had a feeling I’d have better luck convincing her to do something like that when we were there, rather than here and now where she would have a chance to be more reasonable.

  She mulled it over in her head, then shrugged her shoulders. “Sure, I guess.” She hesitated, then said, “Can we go to that mall over in Wilmot? I know it’s a bit of a drive…”

  I shrugged. “Sure, that’s fine.” In fact, now that she’d suggested it, I thought it was a really good plan. Around town, people knew me. The wrong kind of people. Although I was trying to debate whether or not I wanted her in my life—or the family and the stability she promised—I wasn’t sure if I wanted to throw her to the wolves. There were dangerous aspects to being the head of the local motorcycle gang and I wasn’t interested in passing those on to her. Not if she wasn’t going to stick around.

  She asked to use the restroom to freshen up, then we headed out. We took her car, because she insisted. “There’s no space on a bike for shopping bags,” she had told me, and I conceded the point, though I was suddenly uneasy about just how much she was intending to buy.

  Wilmot was half an hour outside of town. It was one of those oddball places that was between one tourist town and the next. Mostly it was a set of chain restaurants set up to look like old timey tourist traps, and a few strip malls with overpriced clothing. Some of the shops were really decent, I’d been told, but I never cared for shopping enough to deal with the drive, the tourists, and whatever else went along with that. Now that I was thinking about it, I wondered vaguely why she was so interested in shopping there. It wasn’t exactly a super rich kid kind of place, though they had a few nice shops. And Lia definitely seemed like the super rich kid kind of girl.

 
We pulled into the parking lot behind Cece’s, some clothing store that Lia recognized. I didn’t, which was probably a good thing.

  I walked into the store and was instantly grateful that I hadn’t dressed in all leather like some of the guys did. The place wasn’t the ritziest place in the world, but they were already eyeing the tattoo on my arm and the stubble growing along my jaw. As soon as they saw Lia, however, they were all too happy to smile and be polite.

  “Hello there, Miss—”

  “Lia,” interrupted Lia beside me. Her voice was sharp and urgent.

  The sales woman looked thoroughly surprised, causing me to glance at the beauty beside me curiously. What was that all about? I wondered, but didn’t comment.

  Lia laughed a little, waving her hand dismissively. “Sorry. I’m feeling a bit off today.”