“So you gonna help her?” He propped his feet up on the railing.
“Mmm, sort of.” His brow rose in question. “I’m going to ask her to come back with us.”
The grin that broke out over his face was contagious. “Good. It’s about time. Just let me know what you need help with. That’s why I’m here.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I’m gonna run down and move the bike from by the cathedral to the parking garage, then hit the hay. They’re staying, by the way. You cool with that?”
My friend stood, pulling me into a hug. “Of course. Just don’t let me hear moaning and bedsprings squeaking. But I’ll go get the bike. I need to make a few calls anyway.”
“You sure?” At his nod, I thanked him and slipped quietly back into the room. Ty was still crashed on the couch, his little arm thrown up above his head. It hit me in the heart because I remembered Tyler always slept like that.
Hacker left the room with a soft click of the door, and I headed to my bed where my enchanting little fairy was snuggled, already sleeping. Making a quick detour to the bathroom to brush the taste of cigarettes from my mouth, I made a promise to myself to try to quit for good this time, then stripped out of my boots, jeans, and socks, leaving them in a pile by the bed.
As quietly as I could, I climbed into bed behind her. I lay there thinking about all the shit that had transpired today, none of it anything I had expected. Knowing I probably didn’t deserve her, I still couldn’t let her go. Vowing to cherish her and treat her the way she deserved to be treated, I pressed a soft kiss to that tender spot where her neck and shoulders met, causing her to shiver and press back into me.
As I drifted off to sleep, I prayed I wouldn’t have any nightmares tonight.
“How I Could Just Kill a Man”—Cypress Hill
KAYDE AND I WERE making love in the middle of a huge green meadow. Bluebonnets stretched as far as the eye could see. His gray-blue eyes stared into my soul, and he languidly slid into me. Pleasure flooded my body, increasing with each stroke. With a jolt, timed with a powerful thrust of his hips, I woke. It was so warm and comfy, I didn’t want to wake up. I wanted to go back to my dream. Trying to fall asleep again, I realized I wasn’t dreaming. When Kayde’s big, warm body that was cradling me from behind moved and his thick cock glided back out of my soaking wet pussy before he seated it within me again, my eyes rolled in my head.
Arching my back to allow him a better angle, my half-drowsy mind basked in the ecstasy of our joined bodies. His sleep-raspy voice rang out like a thunderclap in the quiet room. “Mmm, damn, what a way to wake up.”
Gasping, I was afraid we were going to wake his friend in the bed next to us, since it seemed early. “Shhh! And you said we weren’t going to do this with him next to us.” My words and my actions were at odds, because my ass pressed back against his pubic bone as he made another deep push forward. He was turning me into a wanton, because once again, I had a hard time caring if we were caught. It just felt too damn good to quit.
Those magic lips on the back of my neck sent shivers down my spine in the best way. His words blew across my skin. “Hacker took Ty down to the breakfast buffet. If we hurry, we can join them. But when I woke up with my dick in you, I couldn’t just hop up and tell him, or you, we were joining them without finishing what our bodies started.”
“Jesus, please don’t. You feel so fucking good. I was dreaming about this.”
His chuckle preceded his long, thick fingers sliding around my hip and slowly circling that bundle of nerves with his name written on it. Ripples of pleasure inundated me until my every sensory nerve was on overload. Every muscle tensed as the explosion I felt coming built until the crescendo burst and rolled over me in waves of euphoria. Eyes rolling in my head and unable to form words, I continued to meet him thrust for thrust.
“That’s it, Tinkerbell. God, yes, that’s fucking it. Fucking, fucking fuck!” In a blinding-fast movement, he had me on all fours, shoving the T-shirt higher to grab my ass and pound relentlessly into my still-pulsing sheath. The only sound in the room was our panting breath, the erotic slapping of our bodies, and a random grunt from the god-like man fucking me like an animal. Though I thought I was done, he proved I wasn’t. Each slippery stroke in and out created the best friction in the world, and before I knew it, his fingers were digging into my ass cheeks and I was done. White flashes exploded in my vision, and my core clenched with vise-like spasms rocking my world before leaving it tilted on its axis.
The bellow that burst from behind me had me glancing over my shoulder. “Goddamn it, you feel so fucking good!” He was glorious in his lust-induced frenzy. When his hand smacked my ass, the combination of the fire it left behind and the nirvana he was building inside had me coming again with a silent scream, hooded eyes still watching his every movement. Muscles straining, tendons stretched taut, sweat glistened across his forehead and chest as he fucked me with wild abandon until he threw his head back and I felt him flood my pussy with his cum. Satiated for the moment and utterly drained, we both collapsed to the bed, where we dozed.
When I woke, it felt like hours had passed, but glancing at the clock on the bedside table proved it had been mere minutes. Untangling myself from his heavy limbs, I tried to be careful not to wake him. Padding to the bathroom, I started up the shower and stripped off the white T-shirt that hung to my knees. Pressing it to my face, I sniffed it, as I had the night before when I slipped it on. It still smelled like him today. I wanted to steal it and keep it for when I was missing him, which would probably be every day.
So engrossed in the enjoyment of his scent was I that I didn’t notice the door had opened until I heard him roar. “What the ever-loving fuck!”
In surprise, I spun around, holding his T-shirt against my chest like a shield. “I was just—” I began, but I never got the chance to finish because he had spun me back around and his fingertips grazed along my back, tracing the gruesome pattern I had almost forgotten was there. With each gentle touch, I winced. Not in pain, but in humiliation. The bruises I knew were ugly the day before must’ve been hideous by that time. The next words out of his mouth were spoken at a low and barely perceptible growl.
“I will kill that motherfucker.” The look in his eyes told me he meant it. The cold-blooded killer standing before me was not the little boy I had grown up with. No, this man was the highly trained, accurate and deadly warrior he must have been in the Marines Corps. Cultivated in part by the scars I saw on his body last night when he grasped the back of his T-shirt and pulled it over his head to toss my direction. Vengeance seeping from his pores, he was no less daunting than he was magnificent. Whatever he had done and endured in his military career must have been so much worse than my naive mind had imagined over the years.
“No.” My whispered reply was so inadequate for the level of horror I felt at the thought of Kayde killing Lawrence. Not that I would mourn the vile piece of shit, but because I knew that if Kayde actually killed him, he would go to prison. There was nothing concrete to prove Lawrence was an evil beast, and Kayde would go down as a cop killer. They would throw the book at him so hard he would never see the light of day again. I couldn’t let that happen. “No, please, Kayde. Think about this. He’s a cop. You would never get away with it, and the thought of you being locked up for life absolutely kills me. Please, baby, don’t go off half-cocked.”
Tears welled in my eyes as he slowly uncoiled and stepped closer to wrap me in his arms. Strong hands smoothed my hair and soothed my skin, which had grown icy cold. Deep breaths continued to raise and lower his chest against me as he worked to contain the bloodthirsty beast raging within. “Goddamn it, baby, I’m so sorry. So fucking sorry. I should have taken you from there the night of Tyler’s funeral. Then none of this would have ever happened to you.”
“Stop. You had no way of knowing any of this would happen back then, and neither did I. What was it you said about things happening for a reason? Maybe this was just my penance for b
eing foolish all those years ago and choosing Tyler. Maybe it was—”
His lips cut off further words. With hands framing my face, he rained featherlight kisses on my lips, cheeks, nose, and anywhere he could reach. Then he buried his nose in the hair over my ear. “Sera, I swear on my abuela’s grave, he will pay for this one way or another. But I also swear to you that I won’t go acting rash and stupid. Okay?” Nodding my reluctant agreement, I glanced up into the storm clouds of his eyes. “Let’s take a quick shower and see if Hacker is still down there with Ty.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
When he joined me in the shower, his significant bulk made the small shower seem miniscule. Reverently, he soaped and rinsed my back, placing kisses on every bruise and the few small scars. After he finished worshipping my body, because that was the only way to describe his touch, I took the washcloth from him. Filling my hand full of body wash, I ran my soap-slicked hands across his skin, tracing the tattoos on his rib cage, wondering what they meant to him. As I soaped his back, I traced the Latin words that arched across his upper back. “What does it mean?”
“It’s Latin.”
No kidding. My eyes rolled at his non-answer. “What does it mean?”
Turning to face me, our chests touching in the close space, he slid his hands around me and down to span my lower back, pulling my hips close to his. I felt his erection pressing into my lower belly, and my eyes widened.
“What? You’re surprised you do this to me?” The corner of his mouth tipped up in a wry smile.
My face flaming, I tipped my head back and rinsed my hair out. This was all new, this sexual chemistry that exploded between us, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it in the light of day.
Once we had both finished, we stepped out of the shower and he patted me dry with the big fluffy white towel. When he moved on to himself, I wrapped the towel around my hair and went to get a pair of clean underwear from my purse. After stepping into them, I slipped yesterday’s green dress over my head, letting it glide down over my hips.
My boobs were thankfully still pretty perky, despite having a baby, so I didn’t need a bra. However, when I looked up from towel-drying my hair, I questioned the sanity of that decision. The heat in his eyes had my nipples hardening to diamond-hard peaks, my clean panties a ruined mess. As he stalked toward me, a panther in a white hotel towel, I held my hand out in a feeble attempt to ward him off from the mission I saw in those turbulent eyes.
“Kayyyyyde. No. Kayde. We just showered. Kayde. This is my last pair of clean panties! Kayde!” My protests fell on deaf ears as he scooped me up and tossed me back on the tousled bed. Between the kisses he dropped along my skin as he worked his way up to the apex of my thighs, he muttered, “I’ll buy you a hundred new pairs today.” Kisses. “I shouldn’t.” Kisses. “You should never wear underwear.” Kisses. “It ought to be a damn crime.” Kisses.
Needless to say, we didn’t make it down to breakfast for a while.
We passed Hacker and Ty on our way down. Ty was riding on his shoulders and giggling like mad. When I asked if he wanted us to bring him with us, Hacker shrugged and said he was good and to enjoy our breakfast. The look Kayde had on his face made me laugh and ask what was up.
“Umm, you just have to know his history. Kids and him aren’t really a thing. I mean, he would never in a million years hurt them, which is why I knew he would be okay with Ty last night, but he was sleeping, so I figured it would be all cool. I never thought I’d see him actually wanting to be around a kid.” Shaking his head, he grabbed my hand and we continued down to the breakfast buffet.
It was pretty cool, as it was in the old bank portion of the hotel and the seating looked down over the lobby of the bank turned hotel. It was so beautiful with the sun shining in the stained glass window. Of course, I had to whip out my phone to take pics, but belatedly realized I didn’t have a phone anymore.
“You forget something?” Kayde sat down at the table with his plate heaping with food. Oblivious to my shock, he began eating.
“Damn, hungry much?” My eyes were huge at the sheer amount of food this man was prepared to consume.
“Hey, I’m a growing boy, and someone worked the dog snot out of me this morning.” The smug smile he gave me as he bit into a blueberry muffin had me laughing.
“Ohhhhh, okay. Sure. And nah, I just went to take a pic of the stained glass window and remembered I left my phone behind with everything else.” For the hundredth time, I questioned my decision to leave everything behind. But literally everything I had at that house had been bought since I had moved in. None of it held any sentimental value at all. Lawrence hadn’t wanted the photo albums from my wedding and the time Tyler and I were married in the house because he “hated to see me sad,” so thankfully they were at Marla’s.
“Babe, after we finish eating, we’ll go up and get Ty, then do some shopping, okay?”
Nodding as I mentally calculated how much money I had and what I could spend today, I finished up my plate of food. Not bad eats for a free breakfast. Guilt swam briefly in my head at the thought that I wasn’t really a paying guest here and so I shouldn’t be eating, but I shrugged it off and drank the rest of my orange juice.
Making a mental list as we walked back to the room, I ticked off a couple of cheap sets of scrubs, shoes, underwear, toiletries, and some yoga pants and T-shirts for when I was off. Most of that I could get at the dollar store. Ty could get by with a few shirts and shorts for now. Once I went in to work and changed my automatic deposit to a new account, I could get more. Luckily, I had three days off, so I had today and tomorrow to get some things situated.
We grabbed Ty, thanked Hacker—I still couldn’t get over the whole “road name” thing—and met Kayde’s uncle Javier out in front of the hotel. He was swapping out his bike for a sharp-looking older truck.
As Javier rode off, I saw all the stickers on his bike. “What does that diamond with the thirteen in it mean? I saw that on your leather vest you had on yesterday.”
Kayde looked over from where he was buckling Ty into a borrowed booster seat and said, “A diamond thirteen patch is earned. It’s a respect thing. But our club is a little different. We’re not a support club to the one percent club in the area, but we show support. It’s a little confusing, since they basically exist on their own, but it differs with every club. Essentially, they all get along and share the road, share good times, stuff like that.” It seemed like there was more to it than that, but maybe I shouldn’t ask.
“So you’re in the same club?” It was confusing because I knew he was in Iowa and this was obviously Texas. “But you’re in different states, and I thought motorcycle gangs all fought each other.”
He chuckled as he helped me get in the truck then walked to the driver’s side. “They aren’t gangs, babe. That’s first and foremost. While some individual members of different clubs out there may be a little less law-abiding, just like people everywhere, they’re still clubs, not gangs. Uncle Javier and I are in the same club but in different chapters. And by the way, my leather vest is called a cut. Just so you know.”
Yeah, I was still pretty confused. “So why aren’t you wearing your vest, uh, I mean cut, today?”
“Because we’re caging it, and you don’t wear your cut in a vehicle. It’s disrespectful to touch the patch to the seat of a cage.”
Okay, a cage? Oh Lord, time to change the subject.
“Ooooookay. So, if you don’t mind, I just need to swing by a dollar store for most of it.” Of course, he wanted to know what all I was getting. Once I told him, he was pulling up in front of a uniform store. “Kayde, I don’t have enough cash on me to get anything here. At least not and get my other things.”
“You’re not buying, so let’s go.”
Crossing my arms, I gave him my best stern “mom face.”
Instead of arguing with me, he just reached over, unbuckled my seat belt, and walked around to my side the vehicle. I tried to quickly lock the door,
but I wasn’t quick enough on the uptake. The door was open and he was resting his hands on the top of the truck as he looked me in the eye before I knew it. “Either you can get out, walk in the store, and pick out what you need, or I carry you in, in which case poor Ty has to walk.” Oooo, he was hitting below the belt bringing Ty into it. He was such a shit!
“Fine!” I huffed as I pushed him to the side and jumped from the truck. Okay, fine, he stepped to the side for me. Sheesh. Details, details.
Laughing enough to make me want to sock him in the eye, he plucked Ty from the back seat and we went inside, where he bought me three new sets of scrubs. Ass.
It went like that at every stop we made. He refused to let me pay for anything, and he just laughed at my attempt to fight him on those decisions. By the time we were done and stopped for lunch, I was steaming mad. Thankful, but mad.
While Ty sat eating his chicken nuggets, I stewed on my words to explain my feelings to Kayde. “Look, this may or may not come out right, but you made me feel like he did today by not letting me pay for anything. Nothing I had was truly mine. At least you let me make my own choices, but still, it upset me.” Poking my grilled chicken around on my plate, I chewed on my lip. When the warmth of his large hand covered mine, I looked up into his eyes.
“Sera, I didn’t mean to make you feel that way at all. I just knew you didn’t have a lot of cash on you because of the circumstances. If you want, you can consider it a loan. Pay me back when you can.”
Watching him with narrowed eyes to judge his sincerity, I finally acquiesced. “With interest.”
“No. I draw the line at paying me back, Sera. No interest.”
Kayde's Temptation: A Demented Sons MC Novel Page 12