by Ali Parker
I cupped her breasts in my hands and bent over her to suckle her nipples. She clung to me and buried her fingers in my hair. Her hands balled into fists as I slammed into her over and over. She released my hair to cup my face and guide me up to meet her mouth for more kisses. Her mouth was as warm and wet as her pussy, and the way she lifted her ass off the couch so I could push in deeper left me powerless to her.
I moaned into her mouth when she pinched my bottom lip between her teeth. Then she nibbled her way down my neck and back up to my ear. Her breath on the side of my neck, her perfume filling my nose, and her euphoric sighs every time I filled her sent a white-hot shock of need straight to my cock.
I was going to come, but I wanted her to orgasm one more time.
I gripped the back of her neck in one hand and pressed a thumb under her jaw to lift her face upward. She obliged, giving me space to kiss her throat. I felt her swallow under my thumb and turned her face to the side to kiss and nibble her ear.
She hooked her legs around my waist and used her heels to encourage me to fuck her deeper.
Somehow, I managed to bury myself farther inside her. She let out a cry of pleasure, which I muffled by sealing my mouth over hers. I kissed her until she couldn’t kiss me back. Her whole body tensed, and she moaned into my mouth as she came once again.
The fresh wetness inside her made it impossible for me to hold on to my own orgasm. I followed her lead and let go, giving in to the lust and letting it roll over me with my climax.
When we were done, I pulled out and climbed up on the couch beside her. She pushed herself up and curled under my arm as I leaned against the back of the sofa. Our bodies were warm and sweaty, but it didn’t keep us from cuddling up to one another. I pulled her closer with a hand on her shoulder and trailed a finger over her shoulder.
“I’m here for you, no matter what you need,” Angela said after a while. She turned her head to look up at me. “No matter what.”
I appreciated the offer, and I wanted to take advantage of it, but I knew I couldn’t. “I don’t want you getting too close. This was probably already a bad decision.”
“I’m already close. We’ve been pretending to be engaged, Sabian. How do you think that looks from the outside looking in?”
“Like we’re actually engaged,” I muttered. I hadn’t really considered that side of things. I had been trying to push her away while she and I were working to convince people that we were planning on getting married. If the Black Hearts caught wind of that—if they hadn’t already—Angela was already in the exact spot I wanted to avoid. “Fuck.”
“It’s all right. We’ll figure it out.”
“I never should have let you talk me into this nonsense.”
“Nonsense?” she asked, sitting up straight and looking back at me as I remained draped over the back of the sofa. “It hasn’t been nonsense to me. It started off as a goofy lie, but I don’t know. I’ve found myself wishing it wasn’t a lie at all.”
I blinked at her. “You deserve better than a fake engagement, Ang. I should have said no. I shouldn’t have taken that moment from you.”
“You didn’t take it from me,” she said defensively. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Have you not?”
I contemplated lying to her and telling her the whole thing had meant nothing to me; that it was just for shits and giggles. But I was no liar. Not to her, anyway. “I’ve enjoyed it.”
Her expression softened with a warm smile. “This whole thing may have started as a lie,” she said. “But this? You and me? We are good together. It feels right being with you. I want—” she broke off and looked away. “I want to say we’re together out loud, and I want it to be the truth. I want you in my life, Sabian. I really do.”
Angela Cooper was telling me she wanted things between us to be official. She didn’t want to play games, and she didn’t want to tell lies. She wanted us to be together, and I knew that I wanted the same thing. I had wanted it since she first set foot in the shop when she moved to New York City.
“Do you want to be with me?” she asked, resting a hand on my chest.
I closed my hand over hers and nodded. “More than I’ve ever wanted anything.”
She smiled, and it was like the office was suddenly filled with sunshine. She nuzzled back into my side and rested her head on my shoulder. “I can’t believe I’m dating a guy in a motorcycle gang. What would my parents think?”
“Club,” I amended.
“Sure. Club. It’ll mean the same thing to them. They’ll freak out.”
“They don’t need to know those details. Not yet at least. And you have to promise me something, Ang.”
She looked back up at me. That same sunny smile was still playing in the corners of her mouth. “Anything.”
“If Axel or I tell you to do something, or not to do something, you have to listen to us. I won’t be the one responsible for pulling you into this mess and getting you caught up in something that’s over your head. Because if I’m being honest, this whole mess is over all our heads. Even Ryder’s.”
Her eyes flicked back and forth between mine, and she pursed her lips. After only a moment of hesitation, she nodded. “I promise.”
“Good,” I said, kissing her forehead.
“But you can’t keep me in the dark. I can handle the truth.”
“Deal.”
“Then let’s start by you telling me everything that happened this week. Don’t leave anything out. If we’re going to do this thing, we’re going to do it on equal terms. Okay?”
Telling her everything would be difficult. Talking about Hyde and the woman who I suspected had tricked him into following her to his death would make my blood boil. But Angela was right. We had to be a united front.
“All right.” I nodded. “Let’s get dressed and go back to my place. I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
It was just my luck that things would go well for me when a psychopath murderer was hunting us down and threatening us in broad daylight.
Chapter 22
Angela
When I got to work the following morning, my mind was reeling from the information Sabian had dumped on me the night before. We had stayed up well into the morning hours talking everything through. As soon as the words started coming out of him, he was unable to stop, and there was no way in Hell I was going to tell him to save it for another time so I could get some sleep. He needed to talk. He needed to have someone to listen to everything he had suffered through over the last week and offer him some support.
I couldn’t help but feel that the MC was also supposed to do that for him, and I was angry that they hadn’t.
Then again, they were all grieving as he was.
I sat down at my desk with my large coffee in hand and sighed. I had only managed to get about three hours of sleep at Sabian’s house, and I was wearing the same thing I had worn to work the previous day. I hoped nobody would take notice as I opened my internet browser and started doing some research.
Sabian didn’t want me getting involved, but I was a journalist. Getting involved was what I did. And there was a huge story just waiting to be blown open under everything he told me. The Black Hearts were making bold news, and no one was talking about it in the media. This could be my chance to be taken seriously in my field, and maybe blowing it wide open would help Sabian and the other Lost Breed members somehow.
Or it would make everything worse.
After spending the first three hours of my day scrolling through old online articles about motorcycle gang activity in the city, I came up with nothing. More than a little frustrated, I made my way to the break room to brew my fourth cup of coffee of the day and eat a biscotti. As I stood leaning against the counter, dipping my vanilla glazed biscotti in my black coffee, one of the other journalists in my office came in and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
She was a middle-aged woman, and I knew her name was Amber. Her last name was lost on me. She had curly
red hair and was dressed in a black business skirt and white blouse. She gave me a friendly smile as she leaned up against the counter and unscrewed the cap on her water bottle.
“You’re the new columnist, right?” she asked. She tipped the bottle back and took a sip. “Angela Cooper?”
“Yes,” I said, forcing myself not to roll my eyes. It wasn’t her fault my position was being tainted by John. “I’m actually a journalist, but John has me starting on fluff pieces.”
Amber gave me a knowing smile. “He did the same to me. When you come in here and you’re young and pretty, he can’t see past the visual presentation. If you can, just keep grinding. A story will come across your desk one day, and you’ll have a chance to prove yourself. Trust me. I know firsthand.”
“Really?” I asked before popping the last bite of my biscotti in my mouth. It was nice to have found someone who could potentially be an ally in this place.
Amber nodded. “Yep. I was writing an opinions column for thirteen months before I got my big break. I was at a club when a drug deal was busted. The facility managed to keep it hush-hush, but they didn’t know I had been there for the whole exchange. I exposed them three days later in the paper, tipped off the cops, and then moved from writing opinion pieces to front page news reports. Just don’t give up, new girl. You’ll get your shot.”
“What if I might already have that shot, but I just don’t have any resources yet?”
Amber cocked her head to the side curiously. “Oh?”
I nodded. “I can’t say too much, but let’s just say I caught wind of some details about the murder that happened last Wednesday. The man who was beaten to death.”
“The cops are keeping that one close to the vest, that’s for sure. The person you heard this from is reliable?”
“More reliable than anyone I know.”
Amber pursed her lips. “Then, if you want professional advice, pursue it until you have enough material to write a story. Then bring it to John. He’s a shallow prick, but he knows how to spot good journalism.”
“That’s the problem,” I said. “I don’t know anything about this city. I’m new here, and it’s working against me. History that other people might be familiar with is lost on me.”
Amber popped out her hip. “I’m New York City born and raised. I’ll help you, if you like. Us girls have to stick together in this place.”
I considered her offer. There was always the chance that she was manipulating me. But I needed answers, and if she knew anything about MC activity in the city that wasn’t online, it was a risk I was willing to take.
“What do you know about the Black Hearts motorcycle club?” I asked.
Amber’s eyes widened a little with surprise. The direction I was leading her was clearly not what she was expecting, based on the homicide from last week. She shrugged a shoulder and took another sip of water. “They’ve been active in the city for as long as I can remember. The last few years have been pretty rough. Lots of tension between them and other clubs. After everything went down with their last leader—”
“TJ?”
Amber smiled. “Yes, Timothy Johnson.”
That was the first time I’d heard his name, and I doubted even Sabian knew the name of the deranged man who had wreaked havoc with a machete as his weapon of choice.
“Johnson was brought down by another club. If memory serves me correctly, they go by the name of the Lost Breed.” Amber looked at me like she was watching to see if I reacted to the name of Sabian’s club.
I didn’t confirm or deny her words.
“Things have been quiet for the last year or so, but I’ve heard from a few of my sources on the street that the Black Hearts’ time of lying dormant is over. Apparently, the club is being run by a woman now. Naturally, there are a lot of naysayers out there about this who refuse to believe such a notorious club could be run by a woman.”
“I think it’s true,” I said quietly.
“As do I,” Amber agreed.
“What do these sources of yours say she’s up to?”
Amber smiled. “You ask the right questions, new girl. Apparently, she’s been focused on expanding the size of the Black Hearts organization and has been absorbing other motorcycle clubs and other criminal groups into her ranks.”
“She’s building an army,” I whispered.
“Sorry?”
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “She’s been up to this for a while?”
“Not sure.”
“Did any of these sources of yours happen to know the name of this woman?”
Amber shook her head. “No. I did a little digging of my own out of sheer curiosity and came up dry as well. She’s either fictional, or she’s really good at hiding her tracks. Regardless, there’s no doubt that the scene is getting dangerous. If you don’t figure out what’s going on, there’s no doubt in my mind that within a month or so, there’ll be a front page story about MC member deaths. The question will just be which members. Lost Breed or Black Hearts.” She shrugged. “It’s messy. That’s for sure.”
My tongue was dry as sandpaper. I swallowed. “I can’t let that happen.”
Amber chuckled. “Maybe you should have joined the police force instead of the New York Times.”
“If I can get to the truth, I can stop it.”
Amber pushed herself off the counter and faced me straight on. “You be careful, new girl. It’s a rough place out in the city, and these MC goons won’t hesitate to do what needs to be done to keep you quiet. Understand?”
I nodded.
“Also,” Amber dropped her voice and looked around. “Don’t say anything about this to anyone else on this floor. They’re wolves, and they’ll steal a story out from under you if they get a whiff that you’re working on something big.”
“But you won’t?”
Amber gave me a bright smile. “Like I said, we have to stick together. Let me know if you need anything, new girl. I’m rooting for you.”
Amber left me in the break room, and I listened to her heels clicking on the floor as she walked back to her desk.
I put my now-empty coffee mug in the sink and slipped out through the back door of the break room, out onto the smoking patio. I was happy to find it empty. Eighteen floors below, the sounds of traffic rose up to meet me as I went to the railing and pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket. I called the police precinct and asked for Dani.
The person who answered my call was hesitant to patch me through to the detective. He put up a fight, and I told him I worked for the New York Times and needed to talk to Dani. “It’s urgent police business,” I said.
“Well, if you leave your name and number, I’ll have her call you back,” the guy on the phone said.
“Listen,” I snarled. “If she finds out you didn’t patch me through and she doesn’t get the information I am trying to give her, she’ll mount your head on a pike in front of the station for everyone to see. Patch. Me. Through.” I paused for dramatic effect. “Now.”
The line went dead, and for a second, I thought he hung up on me. Then a woman’s voice filled the phone. “You’ve reached Dani at the New York City Police—”
“Dani,” I said hurriedly. “It’s Angela.”
“Angela?” She sounded confused at first. Then she remembered who I was. “Is everything okay? Has something happened?”
“No, nothing’s happened. But I have some information for you that pertains to Hyde’s murder. I think it will help your investigation.”
“Hang on a minute,” Dani said. I heard her move around her office and then heard a door click closed. “All right. What have you learned?”
I told Dani everything Amber had just told me about the woman taking over the Black Hearts and expanding her MC. Dani listened attentively and never interrupted me. I could hear her scribbling on a notepad as I went through all the details. When I was done, I was a little out of breath, and my hands were shaking. Why the hell did this whole thing make me so
nervous?
Dani sighed into the phone. “Thank you for calling me with all this right away. It’s more than we’ve had to go on since this whole thing went down. It’s nice to have someone who still has some objectivity in the matter. Ryder is…” She broke off, and I sensed her emotion through the phone. She was struggling. “Ryder is a little lost right now. I don’t know how I’m going to tell him this.”
I began chewing the inside of my cheek. “You tell him we have something that might help avenge Hyde.”
Dani chuckled into the phone, but there was no humor in the sound. “You catch on to the MC ways quick.”
“I just know how to get the best response out of people. I don’t want to tell Sabian because I don’t want him to put himself in danger, but I know how the Lost Breed works. If I want to be in his life, I have to come clean with everything I know. And telling them now is better than them finding out when this bitch makes her next move.”
“You’re right,” Dani said, and now there was conviction in her voice. “I’m going to call Ryder right now. You call Sabian.”
“All right.”
“And hey, Angela?”
I paused. “Yes?”
“Be careful. The Black Hearts won’t hesitate to eliminate anyone who poses a threat to them, and I mean anyone. Watch your back.”
“I will.”
I got off the call and dialed Sabian. Time to tell my story one more time.
Chapter 23
Sabian
“Angela,” I said firmly into the phone. “I said I didn’t want you getting too close to this.”
“It sort of fell into my lap,” she said. “Besides, this helps, right? You have an idea now of what the Black Hearts are up to. And this confirms your suspicion that the psycho woman you ran into in that coffee shop was involved in Hyde’s death. So what if the information is coming from me? It’s no different than if Dani—”