“I’m with you there, except I told Cade I would use a gun on certain delicate parts of his anatomy.”
“You can hurt a man worse by breaking his heart,” T-Rex said. “We’re not made of stone. Take Zane, for example. He was hurt so bad, he can’t even look at a woman.”
“He doesn’t have a heart.” Tank snorted a laugh. “It was ripped out, rubbed in salt, stomped on…”
Laughter rang out around them as the brothers shared their impressions of Zane muttering about the inconstancy of women.
“We need to get him out to a strip bar,” Tank said. “He doesn’t even go to Peelers and Cade’s got a table—”
T-Rex cut him off with a sharp, indiscreet jab to the ribs, but Dawn forced a laugh.
“I know about Peelers. And was thinking I might get some of the ladies to join me over at Lucky Larry’s on Thursday nights. They have free booze and male strippers, and for an extra twenty dollars we get a private dance.”
“I’m in.” Arianne licked her lips and grinned. “I wonder what Jagger will do.”
But her smile faded when Cade staggered into the room, his face bruised and bloody, and his shirt torn.
“What happened to you?” she said.
“Ambush. But we managed to take a prisoner. Zane’s locking him up downstairs.” His gaze flicked to Dawn and his mouth tightened. Aside from the fact he’d been badly beaten, Dawn could tell right away he’d overheard the conversation, and he wasn’t pleased. The cords in his neck were standing in sharp relief, and he looked like he wanted to punch someone.
She hoped it wasn’t her.
“You’re here.” His voice cracked and in that moment she knew this wasn’t meant to be a good-bye. But knowing where he’d spent the night, she wasn’t about to jump into his arms.
“You summoned me so nicely, I couldn’t say no.”
Seemingly oblivious to her sarcasm, he gave an almost imperceptible nod and then his face tightened. “No strippers.”
Dawn swallowed hard. Well versed in biker politics, she knew she couldn’t challenge him in front of his brothers. Not even a lady could do that. But despite her lack of status, this was their first public interaction and everyone was watching. She couldn’t disrespect him, but she didn’t have to toe the line either, especially if this was their last time together. Arianne would never have tolerated Jagger sleeping with anyone else.
“I don’t go to watch. I’m just there to drink and talk with the girls.” She threw his words back at him, then stood and closed the distance between them, working her dress like she just couldn’t wait to get him into bed. “Watching all those sweaty, ripped guys, dancing and showing off their tackle, makes a girl all kinds of hot.” She breathed out the last word and ran her hands along her curves, then looked up at him through the thicket of her lashes. “We wouldn’t want that, now, would we?”
Cade’s heated gaze drifted down her body, then up again. He licked his lips and beckoned her toward him, his voice dropping to a husky growl. “How hot?”
She slid one hand over her hip, her fingertips dangling suggestively over her mound, and trailed her free hand down the vee of her dress to the crescents of her breasts. “Ditch the panties and take care of business in the restroom hot.”
Tank and T-Rex whooped in delight. Arianne snorted a laugh. Cade choked back a grunt, and then his lips thinned. “You wanna go see strippers, I go with you.”
“What are you going to do in a bar full of male strippers?” she teased, stopping close enough for him to appreciate the low-cut neckline, but not close enough for him to touch.
“I’m gonna be there to fucking take care of business.” He reached for her and she turned out of his grasp, giving him a naughty glimpse of her bare back before facing him again.
“So does that mean when you go to Peelers, I can come, too?” She met his smoldering gaze and licked her lips. “Just in case there’s business that needs to be taken care of?”
Cade growled low in his throat and then he pounced, yanking her against his chest. “You got business to take care of right fucking now.”
Dawn pressed her hips against the bulge in his jeans. “If you’re wanting something,” she said softly, “and I feel you are, maybe you should have turned down the hospitality last night.”
She heard murmurs of appreciation from behind her, male and female, and her lips quivered with a repressed smile. Damn this was fun, but she had a point to make, too. She might not be an old lady, but she wasn’t a sweet butt, either, willing to sleep with any of the bikers in exchange for their protection and a place to stay. And if they were to have any sort of future together, which it sounded like he wanted, but which she still hadn’t decided was a good idea, she wanted the kind of respect she hadn’t had with Jimmy. And that respect wouldn’t come if he thought it was okay to spend the night in another woman’s bed.
Cade’s arm tightened around her, almost cutting off her air. “What happens on the road, sweetheart…”
“Isn’t anywhere near as good as what could have happened upstairs in your room, honey.” She arched her back and hooked one arm around his neck, her breasts lifting for his viewing pleasure, and then she lowered her voice to a soft whisper only he could hear. “But maybe you weren’t interested in seeing what’s under this dress. I love lingerie, but some men just don’t get off on red lace garter belts—”
“I didn’t fucking touch her.”
Yes!
“I’m happy to hear that.” Dawn leaned up to kiss him, but as soon as her lips brushed over his, he lifted her and threw her over his shoulder.
“Time to take care of business.”
TEN
I will give respect only if I get respect.
SINNER’S TRIBE CREED
“You don’t go out without me. You do not go to see male strippers. You don’t see other men. No clubs. No dates. No drinking. No Benson.” Cade barked out each rule as he mounted the stairs leading up to his room. The chandelier overhead rattled with each step he took, but upside down, over his shoulder, the only thing Dawn was in a position to appreciate was the worn wooden floor, and Cade’s very fine, tight ass.
He pushed open the door to his room, and then slammed it closed and dropped her lightly to the ground. “You answer the phone when I call or text. You don’t hang with the brothers dressed in the kind of dress a man wants to tear off you.”
Dawn gripped the door handle to regain her balance as Cade stalked across the floor to the window. The room pulsated with the intensity of his emotion, or maybe something was alive beneath the piles of clothes, pizza boxes, bike gear, and magazines. At least it didn’t smell as bad as it looked, just a tad … fetid, but laced with the fragrance of his cologne.
“Don’t you think you’re taking this too far? I mean, Jimmy’s not about to grab me from a bar or a club. At heart he’s a coward. That’s why he’s always approached me in the dark or from a distance.”
“This isn’t about him.” His puzzled frown almost made her laugh. “You’re mine.”
“I’m not yours.” Dawn folded her arms. “But since we’re laying it on the line, and if you’re wanting me to stick around, I have terms, too. You don’t go to strip clubs, even for a drink. Nor do you let sweet butts wriggle in your lap. You don’t flirt with women or bring them back to the clubhouse. You’re a one-woman man unless you want a woman who isn’t me, and then I walk out this door.”
Tension coiled in the room between them. He stared at her for so long she was afraid she’d crossed some hidden line and nothing would ever be the same again.
“I guess now that we have that straight, I’ll take care of those cuts and bruises,” she said to fill the silence. “You got a first-aid kit in here?” Her gaze swept over the room, bare of any decoration save for the detritus, a gritty contrast with the huge four-poster king-sized bed and heavy dark wood furniture, remnants from the days before the country house had become the Sinner clubhouse.
Cade scowled. “I’m not finished
saying my piece.”
Dawn wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the rest of his “piece” if it involved any more one-sided rules and restrictions. She studied the room again for any sign of first-aid equipment, trying not to look at all the empty condom boxes or the shiny wrappers strewn across the floor or think about what they meant.
“I got something else to say.” Cade’s voice held an uncharacteristically sharp edge. “What are you looking at?”
Her cheeks heated and she scrambled for words. “Lots of … pizza boxes. What kind of pizza do you like?”
“Pizza?”
“I don’t know that much about you. What kind of pizza do you like?”
“Meat.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Can you be more specific? Pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon—?”
“Just meat. Lots of it.” His brow creased. “You?”
“I’m kinda into veggies. Not that I don’t occasionally indulge in a Slim Fred’s Meat Feast when I’m hanging with Banks at his place watching the fights, but usually I like to keep it healthy.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “What else you want to know?”
Hmmm. A rare insight into Cade and what made him tick. She wanted to know everything, but from the way he was looking at her—focused, intent, like a predator sizing up its prey—she would have to be judicious with her questions. “Music.”
“Mostly ’seventies legends like Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers and hard-rock bands like W.A.S.P. and Great White.”
“Typical of a biker and not very revealing.” Dawn sighed. “I don’t suppose you harbor a secret love for Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift?”
Cade’s nose wrinkled. “Girl crap. Don’t listen to it.”
“I like ‘girl crap,’ as you call it. I also like jazz.”
“That’s ’cause you’re a girl.”
“I’m a woman.” She lifted an eyebrow in censure and he gave her a smoldering, sensual look that made her instantly wet.
“That I fucking know. And ’cause of that, there’s no hanging out with Banks, ’cause he knows that, too.” He crossed the floor toward her, eating up the distance between them with easy strides of his long legs. “You want to listen to girl crap and hang out and eat pizza, you do it with me. And forget the veg. How are you gonna keep those curves if you’re just eating green shit?”
He was so close now she could feel the heat radiating off his body, breathe in his scent of leather, crisp spring air, and the sharp odor of blood. “You like my curves?”
“Love your curves, babe. Couldn’t have made it through that fucking ambush if I didn’t have these curves to think about.”
Dawn took a step back, and then another. She hit the door and he slammed into her, momentum melding their bodies together, sparking a firestorm in her blood so hot she thought she might combust.
“Did you…” She shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help herself. “Kill anyone?”
Cade’s face softened. “Club business, sweetheart. But I know this is something that bothers you so I’ll let you know it’s never easy taking a life. We do what we gotta do to protect the club. Rusty had a gun on Shaggy, so Shaggy lived and Rusty died. It wasn’t meant to be that way, but that’s the life we’ve chosen to live.”
“It’s a violent life.”
“It’s a life where I protect the people closest to me the best way I know how. Being part of the MC means I don’t worry about rules or laws or orders when my brothers are at risk. It means I can do what needs to be done to protect what’s mine. It means I can live a life without guilt or regret.”
Cade wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. For a long time they stood in silence, hearts beating together, and then he brushed his lips over her forehead and pulled away.
“You okay with that?”
“I don’t think I can handle it,” she said. “I saw too many things when I was with the Brethren that still give me nightmares. I don’t want to be part of that life, even if we’re just hanging out and having a good time.”
“What I do with the club doesn’t come back on you, sweetheart.” His voice tightened. “It doesn’t touch you. And what Mad Dog did to you is not something I would ever do. Yeah, I may be violent, but it stops outside that door. I don’t need to hit a woman to feel like a man. I don’t get off on dominating a woman until there’s nothing left but an empty shell. I am always in control.”
Dawn released the breath she’d been holding. She hadn’t realized just how much she needed his assurance. But more than that, he seemed to understand abuse at a fundamental level. Almost as if …
The door vibrated under the pounding of someone’s fist. “Jagger wants to see you.”
“Fuck off.”
“He said now.” She recognized Tank’s voice and T-Rex’s low chuckle. God, this was like being in high school all over again.
“I said fuck off.”
“You busy in there, Cade?” Tank knocked again. “You need any help taking care of business?”
Hmmm. Not as busy as they should be. And since everyone already assumed they’d be at it by now, and she could see her way forward through the forest of the biker world, maybe they should get on with the program.
“You wanna lose a fucking hand?” Cade barked.
Dawn slid her hands under Cade’s shirt and pushed it up and over his head, grimacing at the four white bandages on his pecs. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his chest. His skin was warm and dry, tasting slightly salty, deliciously male.
She felt the low rumble of his pleasure at the juncture of her thighs and yanked open his jeans. Oh God. He’d gone commando. She wrapped her palm around his shaft and he let out a groan that made her mouth water. The floor outside the door creaked and footsteps faded down the hallway.
“Christ. I fucking ache for you.” He hugged her face with his hands and took her mouth in a deep, hard kiss, almost violent in its intensity. Tongues tangled, teeth clashed. He devoured her mouth as if he’d been starving for her, giving her barely enough time to take a breath. He tasted of bourbon, and the thick, sweet taste sent her pulse skyrocketing, ripping a moan from her throat.
“Here I am.” She dropped to her knees and wrapped her mouth around his shaft, just as she’d wanted to do when he’d been standing in her kitchen. Except this time his injuries weren’t bad enough to keep her desire at bay.
* * *
Ah God. He wasn’t going to be able to hold out for long. After letting her dance that little dance downstairs in her fucking sexy dress, and seeing the lines of worry disappear from her forehead after he gave her the assurance he wouldn’t be taking his fists to her pretty face—his father’s son he was not—he wanted nothing more than to bury his cock in her pussy and drown himself in her sweetness.
But damn her hot, wet little mouth was impossible to resist.
Cade slid a hand through Dawn’s hair, pulling her forward until she took all of him in. “So fucking hot seeing you on your knees, those beautiful lips wrapped around my cock.”
She pulled away and smiled. “So fucking hot doing what I wanted to do the last time I had you injured and at my mercy.”
Cade bit his lip as she teased, licking and sucking his cock until he had to fight back the urge to pump into her mouth. In the distance he could hear the low murmur of voices, the rev of a motorbike, the rustle of leaves outside his window. In his ears he could hear the thud of his frantically pounding heart. He tasted his own blood on his tongue, and his fingers tightened in her hair.
“You keep teasing and it will be you begging for mercy.”
“Naughty.” She withdrew and gave him an admonishing look. “You should be nice when your girl has your cock in her mouth.” She cupped his balls in one hand, squeezing gently while she flicked her tongue over the swollen head of his shaft. His hips jerked forward and his cock prodded at her lips.
“My girl.” He liked the way it sounded. He’d never had a woman exclusively his. Never wan
ted one. Not since he’d left the military. But damn he wanted her, and not for just one night.
Dawn laughed and slid her hand between her legs, grinding her palm over her clit. “Maybe your girl will just take care of herself.”
Cade’s eyes locked on her hand, positioned exactly where he wanted his cock to go. “You want to touch yourself, you do it with no clothes on, and when I got a good view.”
She leaned forward and took him deep while she tightened her hand around his cock, squeezing him so hard his eyes watered. “Is that a request?”
Cade’s breaths came out faint and shallow. “It’s me telling you how it is.”
Flexing her fingers, she gripped the base of his shaft and worked her hand in counterpoint to her mouth. God, so good. But just when he felt the warning tingle in his spine, he gently pushed her away. After reassuring her that he was always in control, he couldn’t let go now. Not only that, he wanted her pleasure. He wanted to hear her scream.
“Not like this.” Cade pulled her up, and leaned down to kiss her as he straightened his clothing. “I wanna give it back to you.”
He slid her dress over her lush hips then ran his finger along the lacy edge of her underwear. Red. Like she’d promised and she wore a matching garter belt, but no stockings. There was nothing Cade liked more on a woman than lacy lingerie. Maybe this time he’d exercise a little restraint.
“Cade…”
“Shhhh.” He eased her panties down. But the second he caught sight of her golden curls, restraint went out the window. With a growl, he ripped the panties away.
“Beast. I’ll need another job to pay for all the panties you destroy.”
Cade knelt in front of her and nuzzled the soft down over her sex. “I’ll buy you a truckload of panties if it means I can tear them away.”
Her voice caught when he parted her legs. “You’re not…”
“I am. Same as you did to me.” He lifted her right leg, hooking it over his shoulder, then shifted until she was spread wide, bared for him.
Beautiful.
“Cade … I’ve never…” Her voice trailed off when he licked, his tongue parting her folds to dance over her clit. She gasped, and her hand tightened in his hair.
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