by KB Winters
Baz stood. “Nice to meet you, Kyla. Try not to let this grumpy bastard get to you too much.”
She grinned, and I scowled. “Grumpy? I’m a ray of fucking sunshine, goddamnit.”
Kyla patted my chest in a move that shouldn’t have been erotic but set my body on fire anyway. “Yes you are, but you’re also a little bossy.”
Baz chuckled and gathered his drawing supplies. “I’ll see you guys later. Holler if you need anything.” I walked him to the door and returned to the kitchen.
“You guys have a weird way of relating to one another.”
“What do you mean,” I asked with a scowl.
She shrugged and pulled two more beers from the fridge. “You’re obviously close like brothers, but you talk to each like frenemies.”
I laughed. “That’s just how we are.”
“I haven’t said it enough, Torch,” she emphasized, and dammit, I liked the way my name sounded on her lips. “But thank you for taking me into your home. For protecting me.”
“No problem. How’d you get mixed up with this Chase character, anyway?”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t anything special. We had a couple classes together and became friends. One night we got a little high and ended up in bed together. It was just physical, but we were friends.”
I hated to hear that shit, but it was in the past. “Did you know he was dealing?”
“Of course. He had the best pot on campus.” I gave her a sideways look, and she laughed. “What? It’s legal.”
“Not judging, just not how I pictured Darlington’s daughter acting.” Then again, no one would believe a senator’s son was the enforcer in a motorcycle club.
“He had to pay for school somehow. If Mom hadn’t died and left us a shit ton of money, I might have had to do the same. Or maybe turn to stripping.”
Shit, that was the last thing I needed to think about, Kyla taking her clothes off and gyrating on a pole. Swinging on the pole, showing off her sweet little pink pussy. Those long legs wrapped around me as I fucked her hard and fast. Everywhere.
“Whoa. Your thoughts just turned very wicked, Torch.”
I blinked, and she came back into focus. “Happens when a sexy woman is around.”
She leaned back and sat on the table, laughing. “Well now I need to know what you were thinking.”
I laughed. “Sweetheart, you couldn’t handle it.”
She laughed and leaned forward, giving me a perfect look right down her top. “You have no idea what I can handle. Try me.” I told her and watched her skin flush pink. Nipples hardened to stiff peaks under her tank top. “You like my legs?”
“Fuck yeah,” I growled.
She kicked her legs up and slid off the table. “Good to know,” she grinned and left me standing in the kitchen, imagining those damn legs all over again.
Chapter Four
Kyla
“Torch, please! I need to get out, just for a little while.” I knew I sounded like a whiny ass brat but seriously, cabin fever was no joke. I’d spent the past few days in nothing but a bikini, either lounging beside the pool or doing enough laps to burn the delicious meals Torch cooked for us.
He looked up at me, those ocean blue eyes seemed to see everything, and his jaw clenched. “Where are we gonna go with you dressed like that?”
I huffed out a sigh and crossed my arms, hoping he didn’t notice the way my nipples puckered at his heavy gaze. “Eyes up here, Torch.”
He smiled and that dimple made me squeeze my knees together. “Yeah, but I’ve been looking at your eyes for a week. This is all new territory for me.”
I shivered at his words. I didn’t know if it was the intensity of the situation or the man himself, but every day I found myself more and more attracted to Torch. He was probably old enough to be my dad, but there was something primal, sensual about him that called to me. He treated me like an adult, like a woman, and every time he ordered me around all I could do was picture his mouth doing all sorts of twisted things to me. “So is that a no on going out?”
“Yes.”
My gaze narrowed. “Yes, we’re leaving, or yes, that’s a no?”
He grinned. “You figure it out, princess.”
“Damn you.” I moved past him, prepared to stomp my way inside just to prove a point when a thought occurred to me. If he didn’t want to leave, that was fine, I understood the need to be safe. Cautious. But I was bored and there was a big man I wouldn’t mind climbing and getting dirty with trapped here with me. Pulling the strings on my bikini top and then my bottom, I let them fall to the ground and walked to stand right in front of him before turning and diving into the pool. I floated on my back without casting another glance his way.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Kyla.”
“Who’s playing?” I knew he had far more experience than I did simply because of his age, but I didn’t care. He was hot and yeah, a little dangerous too. But mostly it was his body and that mouth that had my body strung tight like a bow. Hell, the way he looked at me was enough to bring me to the brink of orgasm so I couldn’t help but think of how I’d go off if he touched me like he meant it. Tasted me. Damn. “I’m bored, Torch. If we can’t leave, then we can find other ways to stay entertained.”
“Kyla,” he growled in warning.
“Torch,” I shot back, pitching my voice a little lower. Breathy.
“I’m trying to keep you safe.”
“And I appreciate it. Really.”
“So why are you being so damn difficult?”
Was I being difficult? Maybe, but I didn’t care. “I’m feeling stir crazy. I haven’t slept through the night since it happened and even with your protection I feel anxious all the time,” I told him honestly.
“And fucking me is going to help?”
I grinned and nodded. “It’s not like I don’t want to fuck you, Torch. I do. I mean, you look like a guy who could put me right to sleep. Besides, you want me too, so why are you acting like a blushing bride?”
His head fell back and his laugh echoed in the enclosed pool area. “No one has ever accused me of that before.”
“Give me one good reason and I’ll drop it. I swear.”
His dark brows—brown, maybe jet black—dipped low as his thoughts swirled. “I can’t be distracted while trying to keep you safe.”
Damn, that was a good reason. Still. “We haven’t left this house in a week, so I don’t see how I could possibly distract you.” Then I thought of something else. Maybe all this was because he liked looking at me and that was it. That thought stung, but I was used to it. Guys liked to look at me, but the thought of all this woman naked beneath them, not so much. “You know, Torch? You’re right. I’m sorry,” I mumbled and hurried from the pool, looking less than graceful. I bypassed the towel, slipped on my sandals, and went inside without another word.
Just my luck to get stuck with the one biker with a damn conscience.
Chapter Five
Torch
Kyla was torturing me, and the worst part was she wasn’t even doing it on purpose. I wanted to fuck her, of course I did. But she was Ethan’s kid and that just felt wrong, no matter how much my cock begged to slip inside her. And the fact she didn’t pout because I wouldn’t fuck her the other day, only made me want her more. But now she met me with nothing but a polite façade as she spent all day by the pool. Reading. Swimming. Lounging.
The worst thing of all was she’d taken to wearing nothing but her seemingly never ending supply of bikinis. And nothing else. She came down to breakfast wearing it and as far as I could tell, she didn’t change until she went upstairs for bed. Damn, those curves fucked with my head. Big round tits, at least a D cup, a slim waist and long, shapely legs perched upon a round ass that was such a thing of beauty it could bring a man to his knees. Make him beg. Today she wore a green bikini that was little more than three triangles held together by tiny ass strings. I wondered what color nipples that green fabric hid from me. Pink, proba
bly. Not like a strawberry but maybe dusty like a rose.
I should just take her out. Maybe to Black Betty’s just to shut her up, but Mick had called last night to tell me there were a few unknown faces in town and advised me to lie low for another day or so. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” I roared when I stepped outside to find that green top on the chair beside her.
With all the innocence of a nun, she lifted her sunglasses and blinked. “When else will I get a chance to tan without having lines?”
I didn’t hear one damn word she said because my mouth watered at the sight of those big pretty tits, shaped like teardrops with pink—dusty pink, thank you very much—nipples, hard and ripe for my mouth. “Put some damn clothes on!”
“No,” she answered with pure calm, sliding her shades back over her eyes and leaning back once again like I wasn’t standing right there.
“Then I’ll see you when I get back,” I said without thinking about it.
She jumped up to her feet, making those beautiful tits bounce hypnotically. “Where are you going?”
I shrugged and didn’t even bother to hide my open gaze at her tits. “Felt like some fried chicken at Black Betty’s and thought maybe you wanted to come. But if you want to sunbathe fine, I’ll have one of the guys drop it off later.” Her hand went to my arm and squeezed. I flexed my fingers to avoid reaching out to her.
Kyla’s smile lit up her face. Hell, that smile was the only thing that could tear my gaze from the rest of her. She pushed in close so those naked tits brushed against my chest and pressed a soft, chaste kiss to my cheek. “Thank you, Torch.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I bit out.
She giggled and searched my face. “I think the words you’re looking for are you’re welcome.” She pressed in again, this time I could feel her hard nipples against my chest, and I wanted to grab them and taste them. Fuck them. Her lips pressed against mine, slow and sensuous even though no tongue was involved. I was rock hard when she pulled back, growing harder as I watched the sway of her plump ass while she walked away.
“Fucking trouble,” I mumbled but couldn’t hide my smile. Kyla Darlington was nothing but trouble, but damn she was exactly my kind of trouble. By the time we were seated in a back booth inside Black Betty’s, I had my body under control. Mostly. But Kyla was doing nothing to keep my mind off the things I wanted to do to her body in a tiny ass denim skirt and a light blue t-shirt that showed off those beaded little nipples. “What do you want?”
“I feel like something substantial, maybe meatloaf and mashed potatoes. You’ll let me have a bite of your fried chicken, right?”
I grinned and shook my head. “Absolutely not.” Her gaze turned to the menu while I looked over her shoulder at the unfamiliar face lurking just outside the diner. He smelled like trouble even from here. “Be right back. Stay here.” She nodded without argument, and I should’ve been surprised, but Kyla was smarter than people gave her credit for.
I leaned against the brick façade in front of Black Betty’s and pulled a cigarette from behind my ear. I hated the fucking things, but in times like these they were the perfect prop. The guy with a close cropped brown hair and a fucking earring approached me. “What’s up?”
“You know Kyla Darlington?”
Dumbass. “Yeah. I do. What do you want with her?”
He blinked. “She your piece?” I said nothing. “We went to school together, and I’m passing through and thought I’d stop by to say hello.”
“Really?” He nodded, doing his best to look like an eager college kid, but everything about this greasy asshole said tweaker. “I’ll call her and tell her you’re looking for her. What’s your name?” He didn’t like my question, and I saw it in that flash of rage in his eyes. I wanted him to pull it. Hell with all the sexual tension building up inside of me, I wanted to p0pound this motherfucker into next week and kick his ass all over again when I got there.
He flicked his cigarette against this building, still burning. “Do you know her or not, asshole?”
“Oh, I know her. The question is, do you?”
He got in my face, brave considering I was a good seven inches taller than him and with at least thirty more pounds of muscle. “Don’t make me hurt you, old man.”
I barked out a laugh. “You can try, but you better make it good.”
Surprise flickered in his gaze and then challenge. Dumb shit projected that fucking right hook from a mile away, making it easy to sidestep and bring my fist down across the side of his face with a satisfying crunch. He grunted, and I grinned. “Bastard.”
Oh now I was good and warmed up. I wasn’t the club enforcer by accident. Pounding dickheads like this with my fists was my jam. “Come on, tough guy, we ain’t done yet.” I flashed a smile and suddenly he looked real fucking worried. Good. He threw another punch that grazed my cheekbone, leaving his face—and more importantly, his nose—wide open. Another direct hit and blood started spewing from his nose, dripping on me when I hit him again right in the ribs. The chin and then smashing my fist against his ear, he fell to the ground with a grunt. “Had enough, asshole?”
The fucker got to his knees and rushed me. Fucking crackhead strength. My back hit the front of Black Betty’s with a thud, but my fists pounded his back and kidneys, hammer-fist style. He started to gas out, but my fists pummeled him until he gave out and fell to the ground. “Shit,” he said and spit out a mouthful of blood. “Motherfucker!”
I knelt beside him. “Who sent you?”
He smiled a bloody grin my way. “Doesn’t matter. I ain’t the only one, and it’s fifty grand for her dead body. Seventy-five if we make it hurt.”
“Asshole,” I grunted and rammed my boot against his grinning fucking head. I sucked in a few deep breaths and turned, finding Kyla, Talon, and Mick looking on, all armed with something to jump to my defense if needed. “Aw, my squad.”
Kyla whispered something to Talon and made her way to where I stood, and I prepared myself for a lecture about fighting. “Are you okay?” Worried green eyes took in my face, caressed my head in search of a bump.
She was worried. I tried, unsuccessfully, not to grin. “Yeah, sweetheart, I’m fine, but you should probably stay inside until I come for you, then we’ll talk.”
She nodded and caressed my face gently. “Yeah, okay.” She turned and went back inside without a word, which fucking surprised the hell out of me. Mick and Ethan approached as I pulled a joint from my cigarette box and lit it and waited for the inquisition. Surprisingly it didn’t come. Ethan asked for details and twenty minutes later took the tweaker away in his cruiser.
I was ready to get home. Get drunk. And if I was lucky, maybe even get laid.
***
As soon as we got inside the house and I armed the security system, Kyla shoved the Black Betty’s bags at me and disappeared upstairs. I figured she was upset about seeing me fight since she was quiet on the drive home, but damn, I was happy she’d still placed our orders because I was starving. As I pulled containers from the two bags I realized she’d gotten more than our lunch, she’d gotten a feast of fried chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, biscuits and mac & cheese. “Hot and smart,” I groaned as I bit into a steaming biscuit.
“Well, thank you,” she smiled as she entered the kitchen, carrying a bunch of shit with her I didn’t need. “Have a seat and then we can eat. I’m starved.”
I frowned and took a step back. “What? Why?” Her gaze landed on my bloody, swollen knuckles. “It’s fine, Kyla.”
“It’s not fine, damn you! You did that because of me, and I’m going to patch you up, so just sit there and don’t argue. Sit,” she said, putting a hand to my shoulder in attempt to push me down into the chair.
I sat and she started flitting around the kitchen, filling up a metal basin before laying out antibiotic cream and bandages. “My own little sexy Nightingale?”
She arched a brow my way. “If it’ll get you to sit still for me, then sure. You ca
n even cop a feel.”
I dropped down in the chair so fast I practically tipped it over. “You should’ve led with that, sweetheart.” Her expression was serious as she carefully rinsed my knuckles and dried them. Delicate hands rubbed cream into my knuckles, and she sprayed some smelly shit on them. “Shit, what the hell is that?”
“It’s a liquid bandage,” she said, blowing gently on my sore knuckles.
It was kind of nice the way she wanted to look after me. Hell, no one had done that since Cherie, and she was nothing more than a kid and I’d been a father figure to her. “Uh, thanks.”
“No, Torch, thank you.” She held my hand and pressed a kiss to the center of my palm. Then the other. “That’s a pretty impressive punch you pack.”
I chuckled, wondering what in the hell she was up to. “Thanks, sugar. And thanks for the hearty meal.”
She smiled and packed everything away before disappearing out of the kitchen. I stood and grabbed a plate and silverware, ignoring the growling in my stomach, because there was something else I wanted even more than I wanted the delicious food on the table. The way she kissed my hands, like I was something special, affected me in a way I didn’t want to examine too closely. So I loaded up a thigh and two drumsticks and sat down to eat. “Damn,” I groaned and sat back.
“Enjoying the food?”
“Hell…yeah.” I opened my eyes and groaned. Kyla stood in the middle of my fucking kitchen bare assed naked in nothing but those damn shoes she called espadrilles. Whatever the fuck that was. “Kyla.”
“Torch, I want you and I think you want me too. So, take me to bed.” She took a step closer. “Or on the table.” She turned and leaned against the island counter. “Or right here on the counter.”
I pushed the chair back and this time it toppled over, but I didn’t give a damn. I had a different hunger that needed to be satisfied, and I pulled her into my arms, grabbing her ass and kissing her until she was breathless and practically trying to climb my body. Damn, she felt good, so curvy and warm and willing. I pulled back and looked into dazed green eyes. “You sure about this, Kyla?”