She smiled sheepishly, and walked over to see her.
“Sorry about that,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’m not usually into pranking a sister, don’t worry…” she trailed off and Sarah could tell she was genuinely embarrassed.
“It’s fine,” Sarah smiled. “I’m used to my brother trying to scare the hell out of me. And he’s right, he would have known I would come blazing in here today without a care in the world, when he’s warned me plenty of times to stay away.”
“I’m sure it’s only because he’ll be worried about you,” she said as she leaned over the bar and lowered her voice to a whisper. “Things haven’t been so great around here…” she paused as if she wasn’t sure whether she should continue. “There’s been talk of closing down Tanners for good.”
Sarah felt her eyes widen, and she was about to ask why, when the girl went to open her mouth to speak again, but quickly closed it when her eyes landed on someone behind Sarah, in the corner of the room.
“I didn’t say that,” she whispered nervously, before she began to move away and went back to the other side of the bar and began to clean away dirty glasses.
Sarah was becoming more and more aware that she had walked right in on a tough day down at Tanners, and that something big was clearly going on with the bikers there. She sat and stared dead ahead, waiting for Ranger to rejoin her, and assuming it had been him that the bar girl had noticed reenter the room, when she felt a heavy hand weigh down on her shoulder.
She turned her head to the side and looked up, expecting to be greeted by the familiarity of her brother, but she was shocked to see that it wasn’t him at all.
It was someone else entirely.
Her mouth sagged open a little, and her heart did a flutter in her chest.
The man standing in front of her was as tall as a skyscraper, his muscles were ripped and defined and burst out of the arms of his t-shirt, his eyes were intense and alluring, and his smile was so wicked she felt as if it could trap her and never let her go.
She cleared her throat and tried not to look so startled. But it was hard when this stranger had taken her so completely by surprise.
He smiled at her as if they were old friends, and then he moved around to where Ranger had been sitting and sat down. Sarah couldn’t take her eyes off him. She looked him over and took him in. He was menacing to look at, and he was clearly a biker, but it was as if he had just been placed there by some divine force.
He had an aura around him that was charming and alarming, and every time their eyes met, Sarah felt a jiggle in her belly that got stronger by the minute.
“I…” she managed to say, before she looked behind her to check to see if Ranger was there, as if her new companion had gone and sat with the wrong person.
He smiled and reached up to rub his heavily tattooed knuckles across the wiry beard on his chin, before he looked up at her again and fixed in on her eyes.
“Can I help you?” Sarah asked, almost with a stammer.
The man cocked his head to one side and narrowed his eyelids, before his face burst into a smile.
“You don’t recognize me,” he said with amusement. It was a statement, not a question.
Sarah shrugged slightly and found herself looking behind herself again, just wishing her brother would materialize from out of the dark corners of the strip club.
She could feel herself blushing.
This man was so fucking gorgeous. She was pretty sure she would remember if she had met him before.
“I’m sorry,” she managed to croak. “I don’t think we’ve ever…”
She was about to continue when he held his hand up to silence her.
“It’s the beard,” he said as he traced his fingers over it again. “I didn’t have it the last time you were here…”
He trailed off and looked into the distance.
Sarah tried to cast her mind back to when she and Nicole had come to Tanners a few months before, when they were looking for Ranger. Now that she thought about it, there had been another biker there that day. One who had appeared and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.
“Snake,” he said strongly, as he held out his hand.
There was a little flash of recognition somewhere inside her. The name certainly rang a bell way in the depths of her memory.
“Sarah,” she whispered as she held out her hand to shake his.
“I know who you are, babe,” he grinned. “You’re Ranger’s kid sister.”
He took her hand in his, and her whole body quivered at his touch. She looked away and tried not to react, as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes before he clamped one between his teeth and lit it with the flick of a silver lighter.
“I think we met the last time I was here…?” she tried, as she noticed the look of amusement flash over the bar girl’s face as she watched them out of the corner of her eye.
Snake nodded his head slowly, before he exhaled, and a plume of smoke billowed out into the air around them.
“Very good,” he smiled. “Albeit briefly.”
Sarah tried to recall the details, but it was all too much of a blur. She remembered she had met someone who was hot, but she had been so distracted in her quest to set her brother and Nicole up, she had been in all of a fluster.
She let her eyes travel up him again, and she took in the details of him.
He was incredibly good looking, and even hidden behind the beard, she could make out the sexy chisel of his jaw and cheekbones. His eyes were dark and had a depth to them that was intoxicating, and his hands were so big and masculine, they made her bones shake just by looking at them.
He was sexy as hell, but she knew she shouldn’t be looking at him that way.
He was a biker.
Her brother’s friend.
She shook her head and cleared her throat before she slipped down from the stool and looked over her shoulder, as she willed Ranger to come back into view.
“It was nice to meet you properly this time,” she smiled at Snake, trying not to look too embarrassed or fazed by him.
He didn’t say a word, but kept his eyes locked on her, as if he was either trying to figure her out, or willing her to disappear. He had the kind of demeanor that was impossible to deconstruct.
Did he want her?
Or did he hate the sight of her?
She started to fidget nervously.
“Your brother’s out the back on a call,” he said as if he could read her mind. “He won’t be back in for a while. He asked me to come and sit out here to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble.”
He reached out and clicked his knuckles so loudly it made Sarah wince.
“This isn’t the kind of place for a girl like you,” he said sternly.
And Sarah felt her cheeks blush red again.
She scratched the back of her neck and fidgeted with the strap on her purse.
“I better get going,” she stammered as she took a step backward and moved toward the main door of the club.
Snake sighed and heaved himself down from the barstool as he began to follow after her. Sarah waved to the girl behind the bar, and just wished she had kept on driving.
Already being back in her hometown was causing more drama than she had bargained for.
When they reached the exit and Sarah pushed the door open and the desert sun hit her head on, she squinted and turned back to Snake who was watching her from the doorway. He crossed his arms over his chest and held the cigarette clamped between his lips.
He scowled at her as the smoke drifted out around his eyes.
“I didn’t need to be seen out,” she said cockily.
“I had orders,” he shrugged. “You shouldn’t be coming around here, Sarah,” he said.
She felt herself becoming embarrassed again and just wanted the ground to open and swallow her whole.
“Okay, I get it,” she said as she raised her arms. “I fucked up. And now I know
for next time… Sarah isn’t welcome at the big bad biker’s club. Okay?”
Snake’s lips twitched into a smile and he reached up to pull the smoking cigarette from his mouth, before he tossed it onto the ground.
“People are just looking out for you,” he said sincerely. “There’s a lot going on around here, and the likes of me and your brother are trying to keep people we care about out of the crossfire.”
He raised his eyebrows and leaned back against the doorframe.
“Can you tell Ranger I’ve gone,” she asked with a hint of attitude. “I’ll be going to stay with our parents, and tell him not to worry, I won’t be coming around here again anytime soon.”
Snake raised his head and considered her as she walked backward.
“Nice to see you again, Sarah,” he said with a glint in his eye.
“I wish I could say the same,” Sarah said cockily as she turned her back on him and made her way back to her car.
When she opened the driver’s door and slid in behind the wheel, she finally took a breath and closed her eyes.
Now she remembered why she didn’t make a habit of returning home to Slate Springs…
Because it was all kinds of fucked up.
4.
The darkness enveloped her deeply, and the heat she had been trying so hard to deny was creeping over her. It was licking at her skin, teasing her and caressing her. She was being carried from one cloud to the next, but it wasn’t light and airy where she was laying. It was as if she were being moved on a thundercloud through the fires of hell.
She moaned as she let her head fall back and she felt a pair of rough, strong hands work their way from her ankles, up to her knees where they traced hot and heavy fingerprints into her skin. When they reached her pussy, she was already a quivering wreck, but she opened her legs for them, and wished for them to touch her even more deeply.
“Please,” she whispered as she bit her lip.
Her whole body was burning with desire, and her nipples were hard and sore, just begging to be touched.
“I need you,” she whispered, as the hands worked their way onto her, stroking her clit, and as one slipped inside her wet and engorged pussy, she gasped and let them explore her as she muffled her own cries of ecstasy and tried not to give herself over to the incredible waves of pleasure that were being roused within her.
She couldn’t see his face, but she knew it was him.
He was so big and strong, and he pinned her down as he maneuvered her expertly and made her feel things she had never known before.
This man was experienced, and he was confident.
He gripped her thighs before he dipped his head between them, and Sarah threw her head back even further and gripped onto the railings above her.
Oh… my… god!
She gasped and panted as she felt his tongue find her. He teased her with it, flicking her lightly and lapping at her pussy greedily.
She had never felt anything so intense or incredible, and as she reached down to take hold of his head and pull his face up to hers, she shuddered as she came in a crashing wave.
She lost control and felt herself spiraling back into the darkness.
But he was with her.
He was holding her tight, and she knew he was never going to leave her side.
He’d found her again.
And they were meant to be there together.
No matter what anyone said…
***
Sarah sat up with a start and clutched her hand to her racing heart. Her breath was rapid and shallow, and her skin was slick with sweat as she looked around and realized she was in the darkness of her old bedroom.
She was at home in her parents’ house.
It had all been a dream.
She caught her breath and let her body collapse back onto the soft mattress beneath her, and she ran her hands through her hair as she cleared it out of her face and tried to regain her composure.
She had never had a dream like that before.
It had been so real.
All of it had felt as if it were actually happening.
She bit her lip and tried to replay the details, but she felt herself blushing and she had to sit up and take a sip of water from the glass on her nightstand.
“Welcome home,” she whispered to herself as she shook her head in shock. “What the hell was that…?”
She let her legs dangle over the side of the bed, and slowly got to her feet and stretched.
It was early in the morning, and she could tell her neighborhood was barely even awake. She crossed the room to the window and threw open the curtains to see the sun rising over the desert with a pinkish glow.
She smiled.
It had been such a long time since she had seen that view, and it still gave her goosebumps.
“Beautiful,” she whispered as she moved over to the door of her adjoining bathroom.
She turned on the shower and stepped inside, letting the cool water pinprick her skin and wake her fully.
She had been in such a deep sleep, and now she was having trouble stepping out of that incredibly realistic dream, it was as if she didn’t want to wake up.
After she had washed her hair, she climbed out and wrapped herself in her silk robe, twisted a towel in a knot on top of her head, and sat down at her dressing table. She opened a bottle of lotion and found her make-up before she started to make herself feel more human and ready for the day.
By the time she had finished and had chosen her outfit, her hair was drying by itself over one side of her shoulder and was falling in delicately subtle waves. She scrunched it up in her knuckles and added to the curl, and then she spritzed on a spray of perfume before she headed toward the door to the hall.
When she had arrived back at home the previous day, she had sat and chatted with her parents for what seemed like an eternity. It had been such a long time since she had seen them. It felt good to be home and back in the fold, but she also couldn’t shake the feeling of nervous dread that had followed her around since she had set foot in Tanners.
Why had Ranger and Snake been so strange with her? It was as if they were trying to hide something…
She wandered down the stairs, passed by the living area, and moved down the hallway toward the kitchen.
She could already smell the delicious scent of her mom’s homemade pancakes, and there was the intoxicating aroma of strong coffee in the air.
“Good morning,” she beamed as she stepped into the kitchen and saw her mother sitting at the central island.
“Good morning, dear.” Her mom smiled as she looked up and motioned to the awe-inspiring breakfast spread out in front of her.
She had laid out fresh fruit, toast, pancakes and syrup, cereals, jams, fresh juice, and a big pot of coffee. Sarah grinned and rubbed her hands together with delight.
“I’d forgotten how good it was to eat here on a morning,” she said happily. “I think I’ve been neglecting myself at college.”
“Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less,” her mom smiled. “It’s not like you’ve got a proper kitchen there, is it?”
Sarah shook her head. But she knew, secretly, that even if she did, she wouldn’t have put it to good use.
“Sit down.” Her mom smiled as she started to fill a glass of juice and then a mug of coffee for Sarah and she slid them across the island to her. “Help yourself.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Sarah grinned. “You didn’t need to go to all this trouble.”
“Well, it’s not every day my daughter comes home,” she said affectionately.
Sarah loved her mom with all her heart, and it felt so good to be there with her, just chilling on a morning, eating lovely food, and relishing in the comfort of her family home.
“Well, you will have another daughter in a few weeks’ time,” Sarah said with a wry smile. “Mother of the Groom…”
She winked, and her mom laughed.
“Yes, it came as quite a shock to your dad and I,�
� she admitted. “But you know Ranger, he lives by his own rules, and he’s more than old enough and ugly enough to look after himself.”
Sarah laughed.
She couldn’t imagine Ranger ever listening to a word anyone would have to say when it came to advice on how he should live his life. That just wasn’t how he and the rest of the bikers rolled.
It was their way, or no way at all.
Sarah sipped her coffee and began to load up some pancakes onto her plate before she dowsed them with syrup and fresh fruit.
“How long are you home for?” her mom asked as she turned the page on the paper she was reading.
“I don’t know,” Sarah admitted. “At the moment, I don’t really have a plan. All I know is I’m back to be bridesmaid at this wedding, and then I was just going to see where I fancied going next. Maybe back to the city…” She trailed off and winced, waiting for her mother to lecture her on the dangers of city living.
“Well, it’s lovely to have you back for a while,” she smiled. “You know I’m long past trying to convince you to move home.”
Before Sarah had left to go to college, her mom had always tried to tell her about the dangers of the big, wide world. But now it appeared as if Sarah had navigated them quite well on her own, and she was clearly doing okay in life.
She smiled at her mother and took a bite of the pancakes.
“Wow,” she grinned. “They’re still as delicious as I remember.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere,” her mother winked. “But in the meantime, you can help me tidy the kitchen once you’ve finished.”
Sarah laughed and rolled her eyes.
Maybe things hadn’t changed much around there after all.
***
She walked down Main Street with a spring in her step as she took in the sights and sounds of home. It had been such a long time since she had been there, wandering the streets of Slate Springs, that it was almost as if she had stepped into a time warp.
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