Down & Dirty: Books 4-6: Dirty Angels MC Box Set 2

by St. James, Jeanne

  Lola turned her head and spat blood onto the ground. “Fuck you, Slade. You want that biker cunt? She’ll have your balls in a vise and you’ll get sick of her bitching.”

  Diamond jerked forward in Slade’s arms, practically growling. He tightened his hold by wrapping his arms around her chest and walked backward, dragging her with him.

  “Diamond, quit it,” he said in her ear.

  “That bitch is out of here!”

  “Yeah, it’ll get handled,” he assured her, hoping that he didn’t trip while walking her backward. If he loosened his grip on her even the slightest, he was worried she’d tear back after Lola, who was pushing to her feet and brushing herself off.

  “I was waiting for you and you’re fucking down here getting your dick sucked!”

  “Not now,” Slade said quietly. “Gonna come with me calmly? We’re goin’ inside. Don’t need you tusslin’ with her, got me?”

  “I can take her,” Di snapped.

  Slade fought back the chuckle that wanted to escape. She could take her. After the little bit Slade saw, he had no doubt Diamond could do it.

  He turned them around and released her, except for the firm grasp he kept on her wrist. “Inside,” he told her.

  With a huff, Diamond moved toward the side door that went into church and when they finally got through it, he steered her toward the stairway.

  “Your place or here?” he asked.

  She didn’t answer for a minute, instead she just stood there, still breathing a little faster than normal.

  “How about you stay here, and I go home,” she finally said then moved toward the back door to the parking lot.

  Slade reached out, snagged her wrist again and hauled her back to him. “That ain’t gonna happen,” he muttered, staring down into her eyes still flashing with anger.

  “Think I want you with skank spit on your dick?”

  Slade caught his bottom lip in his teeth and closed his eyes for a second, just long enough to let the irritation run through him so he didn’t say anything he’d regret later.

  He released her wrist. “Fine. Fuckin’ go, then.” With a shake of his head he moved toward the stairs. He didn’t look behind him, but he knew she remained in the same spot and he could feel those blue eyes of hers burning holes into his back. He expected her to call out, to stop him before he reached the bottom of the steps, but she didn’t.

  He sighed in relief when he heard her yell out, “Where are you going?”

  Without turning around, he said, “Upstairs to wash ‘skank spit’ off of me, then comin’ over to your place to fuck you good. Be ready. Better be in sweet Diamond mode, too.”

  Then he stomped up the stairs not waiting for her response.

  * * *

  Slade brushed a lock of hair out of Diamond’s face as it rested on his chest. Their breathing was finally back to normal after the rough and tumble sex they had. He was surprised they hadn’t broken her bed, because that’s how badass it was.

  He was beginning to appreciate the fact that Diamond’s cabin was isolated. Otherwise, Ace, or the any of the others living on the farm, might bust in thinking he was killing her.

  The fucking woman had a mouth on her, but he was not one to curb her enthusiasm. Hell no, he wasn’t. Speaking of enthusiasm...

  “Where’d you learn to fight like that?”

  Her blue eyes tipped up to his and suddenly something ran through him that he didn’t recognize. Something he wasn’t ready to figure out, either.

  “You should know what the club motto is,” she answered.

  “Yeah. And?”

  “I know how to get down and dirty.”

  “That you do. Don’t fight like a girl, though.”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  Her bare shoulder lifted and fell back into place. After a long hesitation, she finally said, “I’ve done some kickboxing.”

  He shifted until he could see down into her face a little better. “No shit?”

  She nodded, a small smile curling the corner of her lips. “No shit.”

  “Damn. Gotta tell you, princess, that shit was hot.”

  “Yeah, well, I saw that patch whore on her knees while you were tucking your dick back into your jeans and it...”

  “Pissed you off,” he finished for her. That unrecognizable feeling swept through him again.

  “Yeah, it pissed me off. Unfortunately, I forgot to remind myself that no man’s worth fighting over.”

  He stifled a chuckle, then became more serious. “Just to be clear, didn’t break the rules,” he murmured.

  “I know. That’s the only reason why you’re in my bed right now.”

  “Fell asleep. Woke up to...” No point in making her relive it and get her temper flaring again. “Thought it was you,” he finished softly.

  She sighed, her warm breath blowing across his still damp chest.

  When she remained quiet, he added, “Wished it was you, princess.”

  And that was true. What they had going on right now was a good thing. And he didn’t want to blow it. Whatever it was, worked for them. For the past couple of weeks, they’d gotten together whenever they could, usually in her cabin, and the sex was fucking amazing. Mind-blowing.

  No matter how rough he got with her, she ate that shit up. And she gave as good as she got.

  So yeah, he could definitely see her kickboxing. But her form was... really, really good. It made him wonder where she learned to kick box, why she never mentioned it until now and whether she was still doing it. But mostly, he wanted to know why.

  “Got in a lotta scraps when you were a kid?”

  She mumbled something against his skin.

  He lifted his head. “What?”

  “No,” she mumbled. “I started doing it after Pierce cornered me.” She hesitated, then blew out a breath. “I needed to find a way to protect myself.”

  He stilled. Fury begin to bubble up from his chest. Not at Diamond. Hell no. But at that piece of shit former DAMC president. That man needed to stay clear of Slade if he knew what was good for him.

  He tried to push away his rage at the thought of a fifteen-year-old feeling so vulnerable around an adult like that, she felt the need to take steps to protect herself. Most teenagers would have run to tell someone, not Diamond. Instead, she took it upon herself to solve a problem in the best way she could think of.

  He sucked air into his flared nostrils, trying to lower his blood pressure. “Nothin’ surprises me ‘bout you, princess. nothin’. You abso-fuckin-lutley impress me with your courage.” She really did.

  When he looked back down at her she was smiling, which made him blink in surprise. It had to be his compliment making her eyes twinkle like they did when she was happy. He loved seeing her like that. Content and happy. Especially when she was sprawled over his chest after a bout of a sweaty session of knocking boots.

  Since she just gave him a little insight about herself that he didn’t know, he decided to do the same.

  “Boxed in the Marines,” he admitted.

  “Were you good?”

  “Yeah, enough to make some good scratch at it.”

  “Didn’t want to continue with it?”

  “Not good enough to go pro.”

  She traced a fingernail around his nipple and a shiver ran down his spine. “How long were you in the Marines?”

  The question was innocent enough, but Slade knew once he started answering questions about his time in the military, she’d want to know more, and he just wasn’t ready to talk about it. Or at least some of it.

  “Eight years.”

  “Eight?”

  “Yeah, six active, two reserves. Did my time, got out.”

  When she opened her mouth to ask the next question, he pressed his finger to her lips. “Done talkin’ ‘bout it. Wanna know more ‘bout you.”

  “What about me?”

  He asked the first question that popped into his head. Especially since Lola had called her C
ubic Zirconia earlier. Which wasn’t funny at the time but was now that he thought back on it. “How’d you get the name Diamond?”

  “You know my mom’s name is Ruby, right?”

  He nodded.

  “Mom made a deal with my dad. She got to name any girls. He got to name any boys. Jag was born first and since Dad loved the Rolling Stones, he named him Mick Jagger Jamison.”

  “Mick?”

  Di snorted. “Yeah. He hates it. Only Ivy gets away with calling him that and only in private, if you get my meaning. She says it’s a way to make Mick only hers, when the rest of us get Jag. So anyway, Mom went with a theme for Jewel and me, obviously.”

  “Like your name?”

  She shrugged against him. “Doesn’t bother me. Jewel doesn’t mind her name, either. So, I guess we’re luckier than Jag.”

  “Princess Di,” he murmured, stroking the back of his knuckle down her cheek.

  “Mmm. Classy lady. I’m nothing like her.”

  Slade chuckled. “Don’t want classy. Like that you can get down an’ dirty. Got some spunk, woman. Turns me the fuck on.”

  “I thought I was too bitchy for you. I assumed that’s why you pushed me away last summer.”

  “Keep you full of dick an’ that bitchiness disappears.”

  “So, you’re sacrificing yourself for the good of the club?”

  His lips twitched. “Yeah, babe, I’m sacrificin’.”

  She whacked his arm.

  He continued, “But you still have enough fight in you to make the sex interesting.”

  “Interesting, huh?”

  Slade flipped her over and covered her body with his. “More than interesting.”

  She smiled up at him and his chest tightened. When the woman smiled she was lose-your-breath stunning. A woman that might make other men jealous because she didn’t belong to them.

  But she didn’t belong to Slade, either. Not now, maybe not ever.

  Though, he was happy for Z going down that road of claiming an ol’ lady, putting a ring on her finger and then creating a family, Slade wasn’t so sure that was for him.

  He had shit he needed to do, to get off his plate, before even thinking of settling down.

  Settling down.

  Fuck. Did that phrase even enter his head?

  He sucked in a breath.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked him, her eyes worried.

  “Nothin’.” He slipped to her side and pulled her against him, her back to his front, strumming his thumb absently over her nipple. He tucked his chin into the crook of her neck and inhaled her scent.

  And again, that fucking feeling that he couldn’t identify rushed through him. His heart began to pound against his chest and he closed his eyes trying to beat back the panic.

  Months ago when he landed in Shadow Valley, he didn’t plan on staying. He was only there to poke around for a little while and then move on. And now, here he was a fully-patched member of the Angels and had a DAMC woman in his bed. Or her bed. Whatever.

  He wasn’t here to put down roots. That wasn’t his intent.

  But the nights he ended up with Diamond in his arms, he felt those roots growing, spreading, sinking deeper into the ground.

  He couldn’t let that happen. He needed to fight it.

  He’d be smart to roll out of her bed, her place, and go back to his room to forget she ever existed. Then he needed to do what he came to do in the Valley and get gone.

  But as much as he knew that needed to happen, he couldn’t pull away from her. Not now. Not today.

  Maybe tomorrow. Or possibly the next day.

  Because today he was staying put. Her bed was warm, Diamond was hot, and at this very moment, there was nowhere he’d rather be than the exact spot he was in.

  And, fuck him, that scared the hell out of him.

  “Slade,” she said softly.

  “Yeah, princess?”

  “I can feel your heart pounding.”

  “Yeah,” he breathed and pressed his face deeper into her neck.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  Fuck no, he wasn’t sure.

  He wasn’t sure at all.

  Chapter Nine

  Diamond sat at her desk in the office at Shadow Valley Body Shop and stifled a yawn. These late nights with Slade were kicking her ass. But they were definitely worth the dark circles under her eyes and her constant exhaustion.

  In the beginning, he was showing up a night here and there. Lately, it’d been almost every night. The only time he hadn’t made the effort to drive out to the farm was the couple of nights he closed the bar and didn’t get done until three or four in the morning. But normally he showed up around midnight and they’d bang one out. Or two. Then they’d talk for a little bit. Never about himself, though. Never that. He’d tell her the crazy stuff that happened at the bar that night or he’d ask about her day. They talked about nothing of importance.

  Then they’d fall asleep. And since she had to wake up a lot earlier than him, when she’d leave for work, he’d still be crashed in her bed. Every morning that happened, she’d stand in the doorway as he slept and watch him for a few minutes.

  And she felt it creeping in. Every morning that feeling got stronger as she studied him, even though she knew she shouldn’t let it, that falling for him might come back to bite her in the ass. But no matter what she told herself, it kept creeping. Not like an avalanche but more like lava flowing from a volcano.

  What Crow said about Slade being a rolling stone was lodged at the back of her mind, but her heart ignored it. And that was a dangerous thing.

  Problem was, when Slade mentioned about how he didn’t like her leaving the door open at night for him since she was usually asleep when he first crawled into bed with her, she offered him a key...

  Surprisingly, he accepted it. It shocked the shit out of her, but she chalked it up to him being worried about her safety with the Warriors on the prowl and her cabin being secluded.

  Even so, she wondered if taking that key meant anything to him or it was just a means to end.

  No matter what, she realized that Jewel was right, as was Slade, when she was getting laid, the ragged edges of her temper smoothed out. Who would have thought all it took was a bit of dick? Maybe it was more due to the man attached to that appendage.

  As she got to her feet to pour herself her fourth cup of coffee of the day in her struggle to keep her eyes open, Crash came crashing through the door from the shop into the office.

  His nose wiggled, and he spotted the fresh brewed coffee in the corner. “Thought I smelled caffeine.” He grabbed a mug that hung nearby and filled it, then grunted after taking a sip. “Shit’s good, babe. Keepin’ you here just on your ability to make fuckin’ bangin’ coffee.”

  He was keeping her here. Right. Like he had a choice. One thing about being a part of the DAMC was that everyone had to work. Preferably in one of the club-owned businesses. For years, she didn’t since she worked at the gym.

  Di was going to have to seriously give it some thought as to opening her own gym and instructing kickboxing full-time. Maybe she’d have to drop some hints to some of the guys, like Z and Hawk. Maybe even her brother and Ace. Forget Diesel. She could see him being the most unreceptive of her going out on her own, especially with an idea like hers. With as long as she worked at the gym, she pretty much knew the ins and outs of running one.

  Even so, until that day came, she should be “lucky” that Crash was “keeping her.” Uh-huh.

  Di held out her mug to him. “Pour me some.”

  He eyeballed her mug and lifted a brow. “Right.”

  She frowned. “Seriously, Crash, I made the shit, you can’t pour it for me since your ass is standing right there, blocking the coffeemaker?”

  “Nope. Get it yourself.”

  She pushed past him and did just that. When she turned, he was staring at her.

  Did she have something on her face? “What?”

  “What’s the mat
ter with you?” he asked, wearing a suspicious look.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Just told you to get your own coffee an’ you didn’t flip out on me. Somethin’s up.”

  She took a sip of her coffee and settled back into her chair. Kicking her feet up on the desk, she leaned back and cradled both hands around the warm mug. “Why do you think something’s up?”

  He cocked a brow at her but stayed silent. He propped a hip against the counter where the coffee stuff was kept.

  “Crash.”

  “What?” he asked softly, distracted as he studied her like he’d never seen her before.

  “Do you think I’m a bitch?”

  His head jerked. “What?”

  “Do you think I’m a bitch?” she repeated impatiently and more slowly, enunciating each word clearly.

  Crash’s golden-brown eyes widened, his face got pale, and he straightened. “I... uh...”

  Their attention turned toward the shop door as Rig barreled through it, wiping his greasy hands off on a rag. “Just roll-backed in a rusty piece of shit for that total reconstruct you’re goin’ to do.”

  Crash’s eyes slid to Rig, then back to Di. “Rig can answer that.”

  Rig stopped short. “Answer what?”

  “Whether Di’s a bitch.”

  Rig took a step back, his eyes wide. “What? Why do I have to answer that?”

  “For fuck’s sake. One or both of you just answer the question honestly. Am I a bitch?”

  Rig pursed his lips as he twisted the rag in his hands. Crash stared at Rig.

  “Seriously?” she asked, then sighed. “Am I that bad?”

  “You run the office real good, Di,” Crash said quickly. “Almost as good as Jewel.”

  “Almost as good?” she asked, her voice rising.

  “An’ like I said, you make fuckin’ awesome coffee.”

  Well, there was that. What the fuck!

  “But you’ve been a lot nicer lately, gotta say,” Rig said. “You gettin’ laid or somethin’?”

  Jesus.

  “Yeah, Rig, I’m gettin’ laid.”

  Rig stroked a hand down his unruly beard. “By who?”