“Yeah. Make that happen.” Did she want me or her eyes on Stone?
“No matter what we can’t take him when he’s surrounded by his club,” I warned her again.
“I know, but I need to be there. If I lose this contract, I’m done.”
She was done either way but I wouldn’t be the one to burst her bubble of denial.
“Look, I’m gonna send you a pic. If, and that’s a big if, I work you in then you best bring some scissors when you come. You need to get the shirt from my saddlebags and make it look like it does on the bitch in the picture. You come in any other way and I’ll send your ass packing.”
She gulped and I waited for her to open the pic.
“Really?” she whispered.
“Totally, that’s the most any girl will wear tonight.”
“Okay, got it.” Her voice was smaller now.
I felt like a fucking jerk, but she’d been the one to shove her way into my world. “You don’t need to do this. I can’t even cut you out.”
“I need to be there.” The kick-ass defiance rang in her tone now. “Make it happen.”
I walked back into the bar. Charlie’s shrewd eyes followed me and a troublemaking smile met me when I sat down and drained two glasses of whiskey.
“Where’d you go?” He elbowed me.
“Business.”
“Chick business. The same one who screwed you over.”
“Let’s just say we disagreed and I walked.” I poured more Johnnie Walker. “Now she wants me back, made all kinds of wicked promises.” I swallowed the whiskey. “But man, we got plans so she’s in the cold.”
He narrowed eyes and studied me. “I’ve never seen you look twice at a chick you’ve fucked. This one got a golden pussy?”
“She’s got something, and all my good sense says to run the other way.”
Charlie laughed loud and all eyes rested on us. “Who says it has to be one or the other? I’d like to meet the girl who gives you the cold sweats.”
Damn. Part of me wanted Charlie to dismiss Elle. Elle. The woman had dug under my skin and infected me with a bad case of lust.
“Brother, I’m good hanging with you. She had her chance.”
“Give her another.” He drew a drag from the cigarette that never left his mouth.
“I’ll make her earn it.” I pulled out my phone.
Send me a picture of your tits and all is forgiven. I hit send. Let’s see how much she really wanted to be on the back of my bike.
Chapter Eight
Elle
Today had been craptastic. When I’d returned home I’d checked my email to find the rules of engagement, at least that’s how I thought of them. My father had detailed the conditions of our agreement—a hasty, anger-filled moment that now defined my existence.
The conditions were simple, all the more brutal for their simplicity. There were four simple conditions on raising the $500,000: I had to raise the funds with bounties or completed bond contracts, so I couldn’t bond my way out of this deal. All contracts for bounties had to be in my name. The money had to be collected by sworn contracts by five p.m. April 17—only twelve days left to raise another three hundred thousand. All expenses, including any Jackson Bonds labor, must be deducted from the revenue raised. I’d considered flying out to try and grab another couple high bonds, but the costs would eat the profit fast.
In short, I was fucked.
I had opened the bottle of wine before I’d even read the terms he’d set for the marriage. I had no words to describe how small I felt at having my father dictate terms of marriage. What fucking century was this anyway?
My phone buzzed. And I was buzzed, the thought made me giggle. I was definitely tipsy. The message was from Rebel. What had I gotten myself into with him? I swiped his name and the message made my head swim.
Send me a picture of your tits and all is forgiven.
Disbelief and anger swarmed together building momentum in me, a lethal combination mixed with the wine. Who the hell did he think I was? I was not some biker babe with no sense of self-worth.
My fingers tapped against the screen as I typed out my response. Fuck you, you misogynistic bastard. My thumb hovered over send.
Then sense flooded back into me. He wasn’t my rat bastard father, and this wasn’t his idea of fun. Okay, maybe it was, but this was my undercover assignment—the one I’d begged him for. I deleted the words and stared at the screen.
My father had led me to this desperate situation by backing me in a corner. His terms for raising the money were impossible but his terms for my marriage were easy in comparison. Except I never wanted to marry, never planned to marry, and sure as shit didn’t do it for business. Of course he knew all that, which is why the conditions hadn’t been nearly as harsh. They sounded so very simple. I must show proof I was married before he retired on June 30 and remain married for 60 days after I received the company. The final condition wasn’t so hard either—I had to live with my husband while married.
All my life women had traipsed in and out of my house on the arm of my father. He collected them like others collected figurines. Always in love, he’d married three of the multitude, of course none of those marriages had lasted long. Janice had stuck it out five years, Beth had lasted two and Megan was at the six-month mark.
Of course he and my mother had been married ten years before I was born. A complication from her pregnancy had ended her life the same day mine began. I think he truly loved my mother, and his response to the grief was to find a replacement, but none of them had ever lived up to her memory. I’d shunned the idea of love before I’d reached 15. After the third marriage, I’d sworn to never marry. Marriage was supposed to be forever, but it wasn’t, no one stuck around forever. Besides love was for suckers like Daddy. Love broke people, like it had him, and I never wanted to experience it. I’d lost enough.
I refocused on my phone. I’d spent precious minutes fuming when I needed to act. He’d said there was a time limit and I was running out of time in every facet of my life. Did I back down? Trust him to do the job right?
This was my life and I was in control. I’d take a hundred pictures of my breasts to keep that control. I stripped off my top and unfastened my bra leaving it behind on my couch. I headed to my bedroom and full-length mirror. How would a biker chick do this? Probably with fuck me eyes and a pretty pout.
I could make fuck me eyes. I could do anything. Thinking of what I’d already said to Rebel, this wasn’t really a big deal. Hadn’t I promised to have sex tonight? And good God I wanted him in the worst way. I remembered the way his eyes burned into me, claiming me even before I knew who he was.
After I snapped a few pictures, I picked one in under a second and sent it off to him. Not giving myself time to process that I’d not only taken, but sent my first nude picture. I hurried into my closet and found a skimpy strapless bra I’d worn with a sundress. I hoped it’d work for the T-shirt thing he wanted me to create. My phone pinged. Rebel had sent an address with a warning to be there in thirty minutes. Thankfully it was only ten minutes from my place. I called a cab then focused on makeup. Red lips, dark liner and mascara. That was all I had time for. I stuffed my driver’s license and cash in the skin-tight shorts I’d packed myself into. Finding some high-heeled slides, I slipped them on my feet as the cab honked in my driveway. Hoping I’d done enough to be a biker’s girl, I headed out.
The bar where Rebel was hanging out had been part of a reclamation project in midtown Dallas. The neighborhood had gone from blight to trendy bars, night clubs and a few shops. It was all part of the effort to bring more people back to the heart of the city. I’d moved into one of the early rehab projects and I loved my townhouse, it was cute and close to everything, especially work.
Work brought me back to the night in front of me. Wh
at had I signed up for? I considered calling Jess for advice but rejected the idea. I was a big girl and if I was going to earn the cash I needed, this wasn’t the last time I’d be crossing into foreign territory.
Rebel territory.
My spine tingled with anticipation and my nipples poked out of the tight half shirt I wore. One of the reasons I hated skimpy bras, they had no nipple protection, but then tonight that might be the least of my worries.
Committed to my new undercover assignment, I tried to get into character. What would the others expect? I knew sexy, right? Right. The catty voice of self-doubt called bullshit on my answer. I’d spent lots of years suppressing sexy so others took me seriously. A blonde with double E’s didn’t inspire confidence, so I’d strapped my breasts down just like I had the sexy side of me, the side who wanted Rebel to do naughty things to me tonight. Heat burned in my cheeks and I banished my fledgling desires to the dark pit of my mind. I had exactly ten minutes to deconstruct his shirt and get my ass inside. I gave the driver some cash and booked it to his bike—flashy with fire and skulls painted on it. No other bike looked like his and somehow that fit the little I knew about him. No one would ever forget him.
Making quick work of the shirt, I cut up both side seams and stripped the shirt of sleeves. I cut around the neck then put it on to see how deep the vee would have to go. The picture he’d sent me showed off lots of boobage. By the time I’d murdered his shirt it was literally tied together. Brotherhood flashed across my chest. The back still showed the Jericho Brotherhood clear enough, which I figured was the point of this whole shirt thing. Or maybe he just wanted me to dash across town like a crazy woman.
Inhaling deeply, I straightened my spine and stuck out my chest, leading with the assets. I didn’t text him, I was here because a part of me, an important part of my feminine core, wanted to see his reaction to me in his shirt.
Tonight I’d put myself into his care completely, while I trusted him to keep me safe, I didn’t know if we were on equal ground in the attraction department. I hoped my entrance showed me just how much he wanted me.
Swinging open the door, I felt eyes on me. A large group of guys staked claim to the center of the bar, so I walked in that direction. Our eyes met a moment later and the stark lust in his gaze almost made me trip.
Damn. He definitely wanted me. I don’t know if anyone had ever stared at me with his kind of heat, but I lit up, burning hotter by the second.
He scraped back his chair and strode to me. His gaze traveled up and down me in the seconds it took for us to meet.
“Fuck, baby.” He claimed me in a kiss. His mouth devoured mine as if he was a starving man and I was the first meal he’d had in weeks. I wrapped arms around his neck and let him plunder me, surrendering to the pleasure cascading through me with an intensity I’d never even guessed existed. Lost to his touch, my body sagged into his, my knees quivered and toes tingled. Kisses really did make your toes curl.
He cupped my ass, pushing me up against him. I gasped and he deepened our kiss with his tongue dancing across my lips and back inside. I rubbed against him, my body seeking more of the delicious sensations rocking my world. He slipped back from me, not even an inch, but the space left my intoxicated senses demanding more heat, more delight.
I blinked and tried to find myself again but the yearning to be connected stole my reason. His hands slid down my arms until he grabbed my hand, turning and tugging me behind him. I followed still in a drugged haze from his touch.
A wolf whistle penetrated and I glanced around. Every man in the place stared at us with hunger in his gaze. I glanced down catching sight of Rebel’s fine ass moving forward. But then every part of him was more than fine.
He sat next to a Hispanic guy with long hair and a grin splitting his face then pulled me down onto his lap. His erection pressed into my ass. Flutters of heat moved through me. He definitely wanted me and oh boy did I want him. In fact if he kissed me like that again, he could do anything he wanted to me no matter who was in the room. I understood a whole other kind of physical attraction, one that surpassed my wildest imagination, skyrocketing past any experience I’d ever had. I was almost thirty and had my share of lovers, but nothing even compared to his hello kiss. My mouth went dry. What would it be like when we had sex? Suddenly, I had to know, and soon, hours felt like eternity and knowing became more important than anything, even spying on Stone.
“So you’re the woman tying my boy in knots?” The Hispanic guy took me in from head to toe but his eyes met mine. Points for him, most guys talked to my boobs.
“Who, me?” I had no idea what he talked about. Rebel might want me, but I’d be a distant memory the next day or maybe the day after that. He didn’t have a relationship vibe.
“Blondie, this is Charlie, pay no attention to the stories he tells.” Rebel smiled.
My God, the man had dimples and my heart flipped in my chest.
“Elle, this is Charlie, everybody’s friend, but nobody’s friend more than mine.” Rebel’s words confused me, but I smiled at Charlie.
“Oh, honey, your smile is so sweet. You new to our life?” Charlie blew out smoke rings.
Smoking was illegal but no one seemed inclined to stop him. A quick glance confirmed half the guys were smoking. Not sure what to say, I just nodded. We hadn’t created a cover story, but new, yeah I was new and no way would I convince anyone otherwise.
“Breaking her in to our life? Man, that’s a tough job, but you have compensations.” Charlie met Rebel’s gaze and something passed between them.
“I deserve hazard pay.” Rebel pulled me back into his chest.
I liked it there against his hard muscles. The scent of whiskey and leather surrounded him and I’d tasted the whiskey in our kiss. “You want a drink?” He murmured in my ear.
The tickle of his breath in my ear created an ache low in me. I wanted him to bite my ear, suck my neck, and kiss my body they way he’d taken my mouth.
“You keep giving me those fuck me eyes and I’m taking you before we go.” He growled in my ear.
My chest swelled and I wanted him. Against the wall, right here, what did I care?
Get your shit together, Jackson. I tried to shake away the fog of sex that had descended on me when his lips touched mine.
“Your girl made it just in time, compadre. Let’s hit it, boys.” Charlie stood and the rest of the table followed his lead.
Rebel set me on my feet and stood behind me. “You look perfect in my shirt. Stay glued to me.”
Charlie grinned at Rebel. “Boy, never seen you have it so bad. Never thought I would.” He smacked Rebel’s arm and walked around us.
Rebel didn’t follow, he waited until the other guys moved before he led me out, trailing maybe twelve other bikers. Some of the guys found bikes and headed out. Others waited on their motorcycles. Rebel walked over to his bike, parked right next to Charlie’s, I think they called that kind a chopper. He threw a leg over and waited for me to get on behind him. So no helmets. Totally legal in Texas. Was that against the biker code? I had no clue but filed it away to ask him later.
“Don’t get lost.” Charlie threw the words over his shoulder before he revved his bike and pulled out of the lot. Rebel laughed then zoomed out behind him. We were moving fast, and it hit me, Rebel had been drinking for who knows how long. Shit. Was he safe to drive? Let alone drive this fast?
I swallowed my fear, deciding I’d just have to trust him. I’d all but begged to be part of his world tonight, so I’d take what came without questions and hopefully without fear. For once in my life, I wanted to be wild, to dig into the long-denied part of me and see what surfaced. Bubbles of excitement fluttered through me. I have no idea if it was the freedom of being on his bike with the wind in my hair, if it was this thing building between the two of us or if I just needed to let loose. I’d kept myself
contained, in control, all my life, but tonight if I was brave enough, I might give up my control and live wild. What could it hurt for just one night?
When we slowed, I caught where we were, an old stockyard in one of the less desirable parts of Dallas. A part where taxis never ventured and cops tried to avoid. My first step into the wild.
Rebel parked next to Charlie. I slid off the bike first, once he stepped off his bike he drew me to him. My chest hit his. My softness against the hard planes of him. Breathless, I let my hands roam over his chest, wanting to feel his skin against my skin.
“We’ll catch up.” He spoke over my shoulder.
A laugh was the only answer.
His lips met mine and this time I did the kissing, pressing my mouth to his, my tongue exploring. He groaned before he took control pulling me under with a touch. His hands found my breasts and squeezed. I moaned even as his mouth moved from mine to nibble at my ear. “You are so fucking hot it’s killing me. You don’t stop tempting me I’m taking you here.”
Wasn’t that the plan?
“Baby, I’m trying to be the good guy here, wait until we make it to my room, but damn, you in my club shirt is stirring me up.”
I let my hand run down the smooth surface of his stomach and grabbed his erection. “We don’t have to wait. Not sure I can.” And that was the damn truth.
“Fuck.”
Pain shot through my ear. He’d bitten it hard and while it brought me out of the fog, it turned me on too.
“This way.” He stepped back from me, then wrapped an arm around me. We walked up the line of bikes toward a dark corner at the far end.
Were we going to do this? I’d never had sex in public, I mean this wouldn’t be like having sex in front of someone, which he’d warned me about and I wasn’t sure if I could do that, but sex where we might be discovered, I was up for that. Or maybe I was so turned on I was up for anything.
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