She had a really bad feeling about this. With a clenched stomach, she walked down the hallway. The opening strains of AC DC’s Shook me all Night Long came from the room.
She hesitated halfway down the hall. Maybe this was a bad idea? What if she saw something she regretted? He hadn’t made plans with her because he wanted a night with his brothers. Maybe she should walk right out of here.
No.
She had to know what was going on. She finally reached the door and with a trembling hand, pushed it open… to find a porn fantasy in progress.
A group of nearly naked men were draped over large easy chairs, pinball machines, end tables, and pretty much everywhere else. Naked hellions crouched in front of them or bent over them handing out blowjobs like Halloween candy. Except for a couple, who were getting screwed over the arms of couches or sitting down on bikers’ laps, riding them.
Ugh.
Worst of all, Ryker danced on a small raised platform at the end of the room, two naked hellions on either side of him. They ground against one another in a sort of vertical threesome. Both slutty girls had bleached blond hair, big asses, and even larger bare breasts. He held a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and he’d taken off his shirt. Both his face and chest were smeared red with lipstick kisses.
“Holy shit!” The words left her mouth, before she could draw them back. She clamped her hands over lips, still staring at him.
The Horsemen turned to her, just now noticing her presence, and no wonder since even Hugh Hefner would find the place distracting. They hooted and hollered at him. Mocking him.
“Uh oh, your woman is pissed!” Shepherd teased as he brushed past a hellion trying make a grab for his crotch.
She blinked. She wanted to run from the room, slam the door, but somehow her legs wouldn’t work.
“So what? She ain’t my old lady,” Ryker growled. He made no move to get away from the hellions. He stood there between them, glaring at her.
The guys cheered him on, toasting him with drinks. “Fuck yeah, show her whose boss, Ryker!” one of them called.
He vaulted off the platform and stalked towards her. “I told you I was fucking busy tonight. What are you doing here?”
She shook her head, disgusted with him and even more with herself. She’d had enough misogynistic crap for one day. She narrowed her eyes. “Apparently, I’m wasting my time.” With that, she rushed out the door. Stupid hot tears spilled down her face and she brushed them away.
When she reached the bar, her bravado crumbled. She glanced back, but the door at the end of the hall stayed firmly shut.
He didn’t care enough to even chase after her.
What an asshole. Scratch that. A slutty asshole. Yep, this was officially the day from hell. She really couldn’t take any more. Ryker dirty dancing with skanks and Carl trying to get in her pants. And she was an idiot with a steel sex toy lodged up her behind. She glanced up to see Miss Edna putting away some beer glasses and she decided to take it out on her.
“You could have warned me,” she cried. She slumped down in a chair by the bar, halting her retreat for the moment.
The woman shrugged. “Yeah, I could have, but I thought you needed to learn a lesson.”
She stared at Miss Edna like she’d gone insane. “Like what? What to do when your boyfriend likes sluts?”
Edna whistled. “Ooh. There’s some spirit! I didn’t think you had it in you. My son needs a woman with some grit.” Then, a bright smile lit up her face. “Honey, do you realize you just called him your boyfriend?”
“That’s a figure of speech,” she growled.
“Some people would call it a Freudian slip. Here, you look like you could use something to drink.” She retrieved a couple of beers from the fridge. “And don’t kid yourself, honey, all men like sluts.”
Elizabeth sighed. “Yeah, tell me about it.”
“How do you feel about my son?
“Right now?” she raised a brow. “I feel like slapping him”
The older woman grinned. “You know, the opposite of love is indifference. Not hate.”
She didn’t even want to think about that right now. She took the beer Miss Edna offered but didn’t open it. “I can’t stay, I have to—”
“Storm out? All hurt and offended?”
Well, now that she mentioned it, it did sound a bit stupid. “Um, well, yeah.” Wasn’t that protocol for this sort of situation?
She raised her eyes skyward as though asking for help. “Dear Lord, both of you need some lessons on love. Don’t ever do that, honey, it’s too predictable. You let a man know that he has control over you. We never cry and we sure as hell never run away.”
Her eyes rounded. What is this ‘we’ nonsense? She had no plans to become an old lad. “We don’t?” she asked tiredly, opening the beer and gulping some of it down. It didn’t help. Ryker was an asshole and she hoped he got a case of crotch crickets from the skank twins.
“Nope, we get even. Men aren’t like us. They think with their dicks, so you gotta make them use their brains. You aren’t running. Instead, you are going to sit here with me and tell me what happened and we’ll figure out what to do.”
She hesitated, glancing over her shoulder.
Miss Edna seemed to read her mind. “He isn’t coming after you, not for a bit anyway, so we have some time. Come on then, give me the gory details.”
“Um, I don’t know. They were having sex, in front of everyone,” Elizabeth whispered, with a shudder. Sure, a little hedonism could be fun, but this was like some sort of creepy Roman orgy. God, she had thought watching Carl and Lisa swap spit at the wedding had been bad.
“And Ryker?” she prompted.
Elizabeth bit her lip. Damn. A fresh stab of pain. “He was, uh, dancing with two naked women.” She had been an idiot. Shepherd had tried to warn her about Ryker, but had she listened? No.
His mother didn’t seem surprised. “Yes, that’s the Horsemen for you. They like liquor, fighting, and easy women. Usually in that order.”
She made a face. “I take it this happens often?”
Miss Edna shrugged. “Not as much as you’d think. Duke got paroled and they wanted to welcome him home in style.” She sighed. “Personally, I would bake a cake, but they prefer to express their love with lots of skanky vag.”
She gaped at her, tripped up by a couple of things. Girls as party favors and the parole part. Who were these people?! “You know, this isn’t a very good pep talk,” she grouched.
“Who said it was a pep talk? I’m giving you some truth, honey.” She paused a moment. “I haven’t seen my son date a girl since his high school prom so I am hoping you will think about it. About him. This could be more than a cheap fling.” She rounded the bar and hopped on the stool beside Elizabeth.
“I wouldn’t send out the wedding invitations just yet. Your son sent me two D cup memos reminding me this is a fling.”
She shook her head. “No. He had to save face in front of the brothers. He’s a complicated man. Actually, both my sons are. Axel and Ryker had it rough growing up because my husband went to prison after a drug sting and then he died in jail after a throw down with another inmate. Ryker’s seen some shit and that makes him cautious about letting people in.”
She winced in involuntary sympathy. He’d led a hard life and so had his mother. “I’m sorry. That must have been tough.” She couldn’t imagine growing up without both of her parents.
Miss Edna shrugged it off. “That’s all in the past and it worked out. Me and the rest of the old ladies, we kept it all together and the hard work’s done now.”
She sighed. “I don’t belong here. I like him, but this isn’t my world.” Elizabeth didn’t even know if she wanted it to be her world.
“But it could be. I know you have feelings for him.” She opened her mouth to set Miss Edna right, but she cut in. “No, don’t protest. I can see it all over your face. You care about him and I know he cares about you, despite being a jack ass toni
ght. Sensitive shit like sharing feelings doesn’t come to him naturally.”
“Maybe that is the problem. He doesn’t follow society’s rules. ” He didn’t seem to respect boundaries and she liked living inside the lines, for the most part. An occasional wild adventure had its benefits, but could she live like that? She didn’t think so. Maybe this experiment had run its course.
“That’s where some people make the mistake. They assume outlaws don’t have any rules. But we do.”
She thought back to the club officers and the structure they seemed to have. “Maybe, but he obviously doesn’t want to settle down.”
“He is getting older and he might not want to admit it, but he is getting tired of chasing tail. It's wearing on him. I think he’s ready to cash all that in and settle down with someone real. Someone like you, honey.”
Elizabeth had no idea what to say about that.
“Let me bottom line it for you. My son comes with a lot of strings, but if you were his? He’d do anything for you and something like that is rare.”
Somehow, she sensed that about Ryker. Despite his bad boy vibe, he was a good man.
Miss Edna continued. “Trust me, I’ve only had that kind of love once and I’ve lived a lot longer than you.”
“Your husband?” she asked.
She nodded, rubbing the tattoo on her wrist absolutely. “I met Joker at a party and we were inseparable after that.” A grin spread over her face. “Damn, I loved that irritating, handsome, sexy man. It came out of nowhere, like a thunderbolt, and it doesn’t go away either. It only gets stronger.”
That had the ring of truth about it.
She’d had a very strong attraction to him right from the start. Despite all of the red flags, she still wanted him. He’d gotten under her skin somehow.
She heard footsteps down the hall and perked up. Ryker? Had he come to his senses?
No. Just Shepherd. The blond biker rounded the corner, pulled a beer from the fridge, and decided to unabashedly eavesdrop on their conversation. He perched on a nearby stool, taking it all in.
Miss Edna tousled his hair, in a motherly manner. She turned to Elizabeth. ”Question is, what are you gonna do about? Walk out of here and out of his life? Or stand your ground?”
She was torn. She turned to glance at the exit.
She could leave now, get in her car and never see him again. Clean break. Not like the long slow bleeding death of a relationship she had done with Carl.
But she couldn’t quite make herself walk that last few feet out the door. Not yet anyway. She needed to hear him explain himself. And what’s more? She didn’t want to run and hide. She wanted to face him and let him know what an ass he’d been.
“I guess I’m going to stand my ground,” she said.
“Good decision,” Miss Edna approved. She looked Elizabeth up and down. “He hasn’t offered to make you his, has he? Given you anything, like a necklace or a ring? Or offered you a cut with a patch?”
She doubted some sexy clothing and a sex toy counted. “No.”
Miss Edna raised one wicked eyebrow. “Good. That gives us more options, at least until he is ready to get his shit together.”
She smiled, suddenly perking up a bit. “What did you have in mind?”
“I want you to mess with his head until you knock some sense into it.” She nudged Shepherd who watched the exchange with a grin. “What do you say, Shep? Want to help her give my son his first lesson?”
The blond man grinned. “I’d love to.”
***
Ryker had purposefully taken his time exiting the party, even though it had nearly killed him. He never wanted to be perceived as pussy whipped by his brothers, but he’d needed to haul ass after Pinky for what felt like hours.
Yeah, he’d seriously fucked up this time.
He never thought she’d show up at the club and discover him pressed up against the hellions. He’d only danced with him, let them cop a few feels. While he appreciated easy pussy as much as the next brother, he hadn’t been tempted by either of them. The only pussy he wanted at the moment lay between Elizabeth’s thighs.
Strange as hell, but why question it? His cock wanted what it wanted.
What little fun he’d been having evaporated as soon as she strolled in and found him doing the bump and grind.
The expression on her face. Pain. Betrayal. All he could think about was getting to her, explaining himself and as soon as a decent interval passed, he’d thrown open the doors and hurried down the hall.
“Fetch!” he bellowed when he reached the bar. “Get your keys and your ass over here. I need to go and I’m too drunk to drive.” Instead of the prospect, he found his mother wiping down glasses behind the bar. When she noticed him, she put on that pinched look she wore so often when he’d pissed her off somehow or another.
God damn it.
And that’s when he saw Elizabeth seated at a table in the corner with Shepherd. For a second, he sagged with relief. She hadn’t run from Perdition, from him. Maybe she wanted to hear him out before she went off on him? But, no, she didn’t even seem to notice that he’d walked into the room. She seemed much too distracted by his brother. In fact, the pair appeared way too cozy for his comfort. There chairs were scooted real close together and she played with patches on his cut, tracing the letters and gazing up at him all lovesick and moony.
What the hell is this shit?
His hands clenched into fists and he stalked over to the couple. He fixed Shepherd with a stare that would make lesser men run. But it barely made the blond man yawn.
“What the fuck are you doing with her?” he bellowed.
“We were having a drink, man. For starters.” Shepherd took a pull on his Bud. She didn’t even glance up at him, instead, she examined his Vice President patch. “But what if I had been doing something else? I don’t see your name on her.”
Shepherd always seemed to be around her. Maybe the dickhead preferred good girls? Come to think of it, he’d never seen the VP with a hellion. Too damn bad. He could find his own citizen pussy to screw. She had already been claimed. Well, sort of.
She finally glanced at him. “He’s been keeping me company.” She patted the blond man’s chest affectionately.
“Yeah, he’s been doing that a lot lately.” He clamped a hand on Shepherd’s shoulder, but then he added some major grip. “Remember that talk we had? She belongs to me and that means completely off limits to all of you assholes.”
She gasped in outrage, but both men ignored her.
He blew a smoke ring. “Yeah, I heard you call dibs,” he drawled. “But that don’t mean shit. I mean she ain’t your old lady or anything, so I got a bit of wiggle room in this here situation.”
“Excuse me?” She jumped to her feet and then got in Ryker’s face. “I most certainly do not belong to you! And I know you don’t belong to me. Where do you get the nerve to be pissed at me for talking to Shepherd when I saw you having a vertical threesome with two girls twenty minutes ago.”
“Come on, Pinky, we need to talk,” he said, grabbing her arm and tugging her in the direction of the boardroom.
She shook him off. “What the hell would we have to talk about?”
“You are starting to get on my nerves.” He gritted his teeth. “We are going to talk. Right now. But you do have one choice in the matter. You can either walk with me or I can carry you. It’s your decision, but you better make up your mind fast.”
“I am getting on your nerves? Are you kidding me with this crap?” She crossed her arms over her chest, pressed her mouth into a thin, firm line. “I’m fine where I am.”
“Like I said, your decision.” With that, he bent down and tossed her over his shoulder, like a bag of flour and carried her down the hallway to the boardroom. She yelled her head off and pounded his back with her fists.
It didn’t even faze him and no one came to her aid. After all, Horsemen looked out for their own. He sat her down on the ground, near the end of the
long table and she scowled at him.
Dammit. Other than his mother, he normally didn’t deal with pissed off women. Hellions just wanted in his pants. And his mom? Well, she usually got over it, owing to the power of unconditional love. He was at a loss with Elizabeth. She didn’t have a mother’s love and he doubted she wanted to get in his pants right now.
In short, he’ d gone up shit creek without the damn paddle.
“Well, talk already,” she snarled.
Shit. Now that he’d gotten her alone, no clue what to say. “You weren’t supposed to be here,” he grumbled.
Evidently he chose the wrong tactic, because her scowl deepened. “Yeah, well, I’m so sorry that I interrupted your threesome,” she spit out sarcastically. “But I had a rough night at work and I wanted to see you, you big knuckle-dragging jerk.”
Rough night? That didn’t sound good. Grateful for the distraction, he seized on it. “What happened?”
She shoved a hand through her hair, impatiently. “Carl dropped by the library and made a pass at me and then got a little creepy. But the point is, I came here, because, well, you were the only person I wanted to see and then I found you acting like a frat boy at the playboy mansion. Any questions?”
“Back the hell on up. That asshole put his hands on you?”
She sighed. “Yeah, that’s really not the point of the conversation. We are talking about you and your chippies.”
He saw red. “I’m gonna put him in the hospital! What’s his last name? Where does he live?” Drunk or not, he would go over to the dickhead’s house and straighten his ass out.
She backed away from him. “I’m not telling you that. It is my business. My problem. Not yours. And you aren’t going to distract me from the original topic.” She threw her hands up. “I want to hear about the blonds and what the hell you were thinking.”
It stung more than he cared to admit, that she wouldn’t let him intervene. Maybe she didn’t trust him? Or what if she still had feelings for the asshole and that’s why she protected him?
He took in several deep breaths and tried to calm down. Not easy around Elizabeth. She made him spark, somehow, bringing both the best and worst out of him. When it came to her, he couldn’t be neutral. Everything felt dire. And he didn’t normally get so involved. This emotional crap clouded your judgment, kept you from being on an even keel. In control. In his line of work, that kind of distracting shit could get you killed.
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