Retribution: A Motorcycle Club Romance

by Valentine, Sienna

  Will followed her into the living room as his gaze took in the surroundings. The place looked very much like it was owned by a man of Owen’s age. Even though he visited often, Will was not close with the bartender, never in a particularly chatty mood whenever he found himself at Swashbuckler’s. The man was nice and kept a clean, quiet establishment. From the looks of his house, he lived a comfortable but modest life running the bar, though his décor was stuck somewhere between the late 80s and early 90s in all the worst ways. Among all the earth-tone furniture and tacky kitsch accents, Eva in her delicate form looked like a rose bursting out of decaying forest undergrowth.

  Arms folded, she eyed him warily. “So, what do you need to talk about?”

  Will rubbed the leaves of some plastic flowers in a vase between his fingers, and then brushed off the dust from his fingertips. “Listen, we need you to stay up here for the time being, until this is all over.”

  “What do you mean?” she said.

  “Every person in that bar is a potential casualty when this shit goes down, and obviously we don’t want you among them,” said Will. He tried not to hold his gaze so long on her face, but he couldn’t help himself. “So it’s best if you just hole up here until it passes.”

  “Oh, is that what you and my brother decided was best for me?” He could tell by the tone in her voice that he had struck a deep nerve. “Just keep me locked up like some princess in a tower until you heroes figure it out, is that it? No, thank you.”

  Will scoffed. “I don’t remember mentioning you had a choice.”

  Eva’s jaw dropped, and so did her arms. She walked up close to Will and stood in front of him, close enough that he could smell some wickedly divine scent of lilac and jasmine floating over her skin. The anger he saw in her eyes didn’t do a damn thing to change the lust that was rolling through his veins. If anything, it made it worse.

  “Your apology sure didn’t last long. Just who the hell do you think you are, anyway?” she said, locking eyes with him. “You saved us, thanks, and I’m fine with you doing it again, but you do not get to come in here and tell me what to do.”

  Will took a step closer to her, narrowing the distance between them. Eva didn’t retreat. She let him stand mere inches in front of him, close enough that he could feel her crossed arms brushing against his chest. Eva began to breathe a little heavier.

  “I think I get to tell you what to do if it’s going to save your life,” said Will.

  “I’m not a child,” she said in a voice just above a whisper.

  “No… you’re not,” he said, making it clear he approved as he ran his eyes over her body while she glared at him. He saw blood rush to her cheeks. She licked her lips impulsively, and some part of him knew he had her right where he wanted her.

  This is not your best idea. This isn’t some stripper taking side jobs, hungry for cock and cash. This woman looks like she stepped right out of a 1950s public library. And that’s speaking nothing of her grumpy big brother…

  “Are you done staring at me like that?” said Eva, breaking his train of thought. Her words said she was angry, but the glint in her eyes and the rise and fall of her chest told Will a different story.

  For good measure, he gave her another once-over, fully aware that she was watching him do it. Still, she stood silent, her jaw clenched until he was done and took a few steps back. The heat between them slowly dissipated once there was more distance between them, like some supernatural force had left the room.

  “Stay out of the bar, or I’ll drag you back up here myself,” he said to her. “Understand?”

  “I understand you’re delusional, if you think you can tell me what to do,” said Eva. “I’ll speak with my brother before we decide any course of action, thanks.”

  “Your brother has deferred all power to me,” said Will, and he couldn’t help but give a teasing half-grin when he said it. “So, if you please, stay out of the bar so I don’t have to bury your tight little body in the field out front.”

  Eva went to reply, but seemed taken aback by the covert compliment and dropped silent. She blinked at Will a few times, then shook her head and walked around him for the hallway. “You’re a prick, you know that? You and my brother should date.” She didn’t wait for a response, but entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and slammed the door behind her.

  Will watched her walk away, lust burning through his veins. He had the vague instinct that bedding Eva wouldn’t be what he imagined, and not just because she was different from his usual fare. Yet another reason to stay away.

  He took another look around the living room, and at the uncomfortable-looking sitting couch that sat in front of a char-black fireplace. “I guess I’ll just sleep out here, then? Or should I crawl into Charlie’s bed?”

  Eva didn’t respond, of course, but that didn’t stop Will from laughing about it anyway.

  ~ NINE ~

  Will only saw Eva twice more that evening before he finally crashed on the uncomfortable living room sofa, and both times she passed by him without a glance, her lips pursed. She was angry, and Will knew she’d only be angrier if she realized how cute he thought she looked when she was mad. Once, he almost told her, but it was late, and he decided he’d rather not have the adrenaline rush of engaging with her. Instead, he just enjoyed the view as he lay on the couch with his hand behind his head.

  Eva passed by to go to the kitchen in a short bathrobe that showed even more of her beautiful thighs than her dress had, and Will didn’t try to hide his interest. On the way back, she couldn’t resist giving him a glare. He looked her up and down and gave her a half smile as she huffed back to her bedroom and shut the door.

  After both she and Charlie had retired he took a shower, letting himself air-dry in the bathroom as he thumbed through magazines. For a moment, before he put his clothes back on, he contemplated masturbating to the thought of Eva. Imagining her on his lap, as naked as he was, got him as hard as a rock, but knowing she was just down the hall made him only want the real thing. So instead, he dressed and returned to his makeshift bedroom, flopping down on the couch.

  Right before he fell asleep, he had the thought that he was playing with fire, but his typical answer to that familiar feeling echoed in his head—I don’t care.

  Only this time he wasn’t sure how true that answer really was.

  The night passed fitfully and he woke up sore. He could hear Charlie in one of the bedrooms snoring louder than he’d ever heard anyone snore, and that was counting the old timers at the MC. He was almost impressed. Sounded like he was revving a Harley in there.

  Will groaned and rubbed his neck with his hand. The light coming in from the windows was beautiful gold, but low and dim, that special glow that only happened in the earliest morning hours. Morning birds had already begun their songs and he took a moment to enjoy the rare tranquil moment in a life that had turned so recently into such chaos.

  As he stood and stretched, he realized something was different about this morning—aside from, obviously, waking up in a strange home without being next to a hot piece of ass. It took him a few moments, but then it hit him: he wasn’t hung over. Between the adrenaline of the fight, the prep work with Charlie, and his tense dance with Eva, Will hadn’t even had time to think about needing a drink to dull the pain. It was an uncomfortable realization for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.

  One-off day, I’m sure, he thought. Though if this plan doesn’t work, I’ll probably be dead, anyway. What does it matter?

  He twisted around, cracking his back muscles as he walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Will came to a stop when he saw Eva already sitting at the kitchen table in her bathrobe, one hand around a big cup of steaming coffee, the other flattened over an open book on the table. She looked up when he came in the room. Her anger from the day before was nowhere to be found.

  “Oh,” said Will. He shifted his hips a bit when he realized he hadn’t quite lost his morning wood yet, and the sight o
f her barely covered thighs was not helping. “I didn’t hear you get up.”

  “I was trying not to wake you,” said Eva in a quiet, tired voice. She nodded toward the counter. “There’s still coffee, if you want some.”

  Indeed he did. Will opened a few cabinets until he found an empty blue mug and served himself a cup of black java. The warmth sang down his throat. Eva had gone back to her book, her index finger running a slow pace as she devoured each line. He could see her eyes moving back and forth along the page, momentarily jealous of the familiar but long neglected feeling of being lost in another world. How long has it been since I’ve read a book? There was a time when that was his favorite hobby, passed down to him from his grandparents’ own love of reading.

  Will grabbed his cup and joined her at the table. Eva had taken the head of the table so he took the seat at her right hand that gave him a great angled view of her legs when he leaned back. When he sat, she peeked her eyes up at him without lifting her head.

  “What’re you reading?” he asked, resting his coffee in his lap.

  “Coriolanus,” said Eva, again without looking up.

  “Shakespeare?” said Will. He smiled to himself. “I haven’t read any Bard in a long time.”

  Eva snickered into the book.

  “What?” said Will. “Is that you laughing at the idea of me reading Shakespeare?”

  Eva finally looked up from the book. He expected to see that same fire in her eyes she’d had all night, but instead she actually looked confused. “Oh, no I… I really did think you were joking.”

  “So, you really do think I’m just some dumb meathead who doesn’t read.” Will had been treated that way by friends, enemies, and strangers alike for most of his life—but this time, it actually stung. He kept his face still, because he didn’t want Eva to know that. Not that he could really blame her.

  Eva shook her head. “I didn’t say that.” She paused. “Actually, by the way you picked up my book yesterday, I knew you had to be a reader of some kind.”

  Will had forgotten about that. “Oh, yeah?”

  “What kind of meathead would even notice I dropped a book, let alone care enough to pick it up?” said Eva. “That’s only something people who love books would care about.” When she finished, she smiled at him in a soft way that seemed different.

  I guess she’s got me there. “I do love books. Or, I did… I haven’t read much in a while,” he said.

  Eva tilted her head. “Why’s that?” Her pale skin looked so beautiful in the golden morning sunlight, even looking at her made it hard for Will to focus.

  Will shook his head and looked down at his coffee. “Sometimes, I have trouble concentrating.”

  Eva didn’t reply. When he looked up, he saw sadness on her face, but not pity. As if she was sad he couldn’t read anymore.

  “I wasn’t really a big Shakespeare guy, anyway,” he added, feeling self-conscious. “When I was a kid, my grandfather would read to us while my grandmother baked in the evenings, and he always insisted on using this British accent when he read Shakespeare—a terrible one. We could never finish because we were laughing too hard. It basically ruined my ability to take him seriously.”

  Eva laughed with him at the memory, and Will couldn’t believe how lovely she looked.

  I haven’t thought about that in so long. And I just told it to this woman I barely know. What the hell is going on with me?

  “Well, technically, Coriolanus is only part Shakespeare. It’s actually a very old Roman story that he retold,” said Eva.

  “So we really have been doing remakes forever,” said Will as he sipped his coffee. He winked at Eva when she gave him the stink eye for his terrible joke.

  “It’s a story meant to be remade. It’s so powerful,” she said, her voice taking on a wistful quality. “The great drama of the warrior and people; the balance of peace and war.”

  “And whose side are you on?” asked Will.

  “I think they both have their merits,” said Eva. “I understand why Coriolanus is upset with the plebeians. Being in war is a difficult thing, and it changes a person. It changes the way they see things. Sometimes they can’t see normal, peaceful life anymore, because it seems like an illusion.”

  Will’s chest was tightening up as she spoke, because he felt like she was reaching right into his mind and yanking out his own thoughts; his own fears; the way he saw the world now.

  “But Coriolanus didn’t react how he should have. Being excellent on the battlefield doesn’t always translate to being excellent in other areas. He got beaten by better politicians, and then he tried to come back with violence, compelled by thoughts of vengeance and retribution, and because that’s the only way he thought he could win. But violence isn’t always the best tool.”

  Will looked at her, watching the depth in her eyes as her brain worked out her thoughtful answer. Her soft lips pursed closed as she waited for his response. For a moment, all he could think about was smashing his own lips against hers in a passionate kiss.

  Instead, he gathered his thoughts and spoke. “It’s an ancient cautionary tale. I always enjoyed him, though—Coriolanus. I enjoy his fighting spirit.”

  Eva gave him a smirk, but it wasn’t bitter like yesterday’s—this was more playful. “You, enjoying the warrior archetype? Color me shocked.”

  “And I enjoy how he doesn’t let the shitty decisions of his superiors sway him from what he knows he has to do,” said Will. As the words came out of his mouth, he realized exactly why he liked Coriolanus, really. Doing a little hero worship of yourself, are we?

  “He does have some of the best speeches,” said Eva.

  Will nodded. “So did Volumnia. Such a supportive mother.”

  Eva let out a cackle. “Supportive? She encouraged his aggression! She almost ruined him.”

  Will shrugged. “At least she understood how he felt. My favorite line from that wasn’t one of the big characters, anyway.”

  “Oh?” The eyebrow raised on Eva’s face was a challenge, Will could see. With a cocky half-smile, he heartily accepted.

  “ ‘Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it's spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children than war's a destroyer of men.’ ” He took a drink of coffee and watched with satisfaction as Eva’s smile widened with every word.

  She was quiet for a good long moment after he finished, like she was drinking it in. “Of course that’s your favorite,” she said softly. She shook her head at him and laughed, then got up from her chair and went to refill her coffee. Her bare thighs walked right by Will within touching distance, and he felt his cock ache against his jeans when he smelled her body wash.

  It only got worse when she came back and stood in front of him instead of sitting in her chair. Will had to practically rip his gaze away from the flesh of her legs just begging to be touched to look up at her face. The expression she wore said she probably didn’t even realize what she was doing, and somehow that made it sexier to Will.

  “You think force is the only way get things done, then?” said Eva. She shifted on her legs, hiking her robe up just a little bit more.

  Will bit his lip and adjusted in his seat to hide his growing erection. “Not all things,” he said. “Some things require a bit more… delicacy.” He made sure his eyes were on the skin at her thighs when he said it. When he trailed back up her body, Eva’s mouth was open, realization slowly dawning in her eyes.

  “Oh…” It was less a word, and more a sound that escaped her mouth with a breath.

  When she didn’t back away, Will couldn’t help himself. He looked up in her eyes, and then brought his left hand slowly up from his side and laid it on the skin of her thigh. When his skin met hers, it felt like a jolt of electricity running through his nerves. Her skin felt even softer than it looked.

  Eva gasped, but it was a drawn-out, heavy thing that w
as just as much relief as it was surprise. When he looked up he saw her eyes closed against his touch, her mouth half-open, taking in deep breaths. He watched her mouth widen even more as his hand softly traced up along her skin, from her knee, all the way back up to the bottom of the bathrobe. He only hesitated there a moment before he pushed up even further, palming the skin of her upper thigh, and moving around to grasp her ass.

  Eva moaned, her hips bucking under his touch. Will’s cock pushed against his jeans, already painfully erect. Just as he felt the soft skin of her ass under his fingers, the sound of a door shutting and shuffling footsteps interrupted from the hallway.

  Will yanked his hand back, and Eva went pale and stepped back until she was practically against the kitchen wall. Charlie must have been too tired to notice how odd it looked when he came into the kitchen. “Morning,” he said, heading straight for the coffee pot with a yawn.