Red Eyes MC: Books 1 - 3

by Grey, Blair

  Leila laughed and shook her head. “Not going to lie, I feel kind of silly,” she said, plucking at the leather chaps. “This definitely isn’t anything I would normally wear.”

  I shrugged. “It’s good to get outside your comfort zone sometimes, right?” I said philosophically. “Come on; I’ve got plans.”

  I led her down to my bike, and she swung on behind me. I liked the feel of that, too, having her arms looped around my waist. She held on a little too tightly, but I didn’t complain. Instead, I started the engine, knowing she would relax as she got used to it.

  Sure enough, by the time I reached the mountain pull-off, she had the biggest grin on her face. “Was that okay?” I asked teasingly.

  “Okay, I can totally see why people love motorcycles now,” she said, taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair. “That was fun.”

  “Good,” I said, grinning.

  Leila headed toward the edge of the lot, looking out over the city. “What an amazing view,” she said. She looked back over her shoulder. “So this is just a pit stop and then we keep going?”

  I laughed at her enthusiasm. “Something like it,” I told her, fishing in the panniers. “But I thought maybe you might want some lunch. I brought a picnic.”

  “You’re the best,” Leila said, smiling at me. A moment after she said it, she looked embarrassed, and I wondered if that was one of those things she had meant to keep inside her head, not to say out loud. But I didn’t tease her about it. Instead, I grabbed the things I had packed and led her away from the parking lot, along a winding path.

  The view was even better up here, and more secluded. Like it was just the two of us, alone in the world. I spread out the blanket over the reddish dirt, and we both sat down.

  “So I have to admit something,” Leila said as I started taking out the lunch things. “That wasn’t my first time on a motorcycle.”

  “Oh really?” I asked, even though I had suspected as much. Once we got going, especially once we were headed up the twisty mountain road, she’d started to lean into the curves with me. There was something too natural about her movements. I’d had a feeling she had done this before. But I waited for her to explain.

  “Yeah, my dad used to have a motorcycle,” she explained, running a hand back through her hair. “He used to take me out on drives with him when I was a kid. But he was nowhere near as smooth a driver as you are.”

  I laughed. “Thanks for the compliment,” I said. “I do get a fair amount of practice at it.”

  Leila looked like she wanted to say something, but whatever it was, she shook her head and kept it to herself. I wondered about her father, but I didn’t want to spoil the day by asking about things she would rather not talk about.

  But if she had grown up here in Las Cruces and her father had been a motorcycle guy, there was a pretty high probability that the man had known Ray, once upon a time. Even the guys around town who weren’t part of the MC but who had motorcycles all tended to know one another. Their bikes were serviced by the same shops, and they just seemed to cross paths. They had similar interests.

  Her dad and Ray would be about the same age, I figured, enough so that they would have crossed paths, more than likely. I wondered how it was that she and I had never met before.

  I gave a mental shrug and pushed those thoughts away. We had met now, at least. I smiled over at her and handed her a plate. “Dig in,” I said.

  “So how did you find this place anyway?” Leila asked as we ate, gesturing out at the view. “It’s pretty incredible, but I don’t think I would ever have noticed the signs for the pull-off.”

  I grinned at her. “I’m about to admit something really weird, but I’ve actually been to every single scenic overlook in the state,” I told her.

  “Really?” She laughed and shook her head. “What, do they have maps for that?”

  “They do,” I told her. “And when I was first getting into riding bikes, I always felt like I needed a destination.” I paused. “Now, it feels like I can just head out the door, get on the road, and go, and it’s like the road is enough of a destination for me. But it wasn’t always like that. I’d feel like I was wasting an afternoon by hopping on the bike and just going for a drive.”

  It had been a weird time in my life, back when I’d been a teenager. I’d gotten my first bike just before I went off to college, and I’d had this feeling like there was more that I should be doing. It felt like I’d spent my whole life suspended between what I wanted to do with my life and getting involved in Red Eyes like everyone expected me to. Once I got that bike, it seemed like everyone thought I had chosen the MC.

  Really, I’d just wanted the bike. I’d grown up around them, and there was something comforting about everything from the sound of it to the feel of that power thrumming between my legs.

  I gave myself a little shake. “Anyway, I made it my goal to visit every single scenic overlook. I can tell you all the best ones. But this is one of the best ones that just also happens to be close to Las Cruces.” I grinned at her. “You know, if I’d known you were such a seasoned rider, we could have taken a bit of a longer ride.”

  Leila laughed. “I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a seasoned rider,” she said demurely. “I haven’t even been on a bike in years now.”

  “Well, you at least didn’t knock me over.”

  “At least there’s that,” Leila agreed. “Have you ever left New Mexico?”

  “Of course I have,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Tell you a little secret; I’ve even left the country. Not bad for a big, dumb goon like me, huh?” I said it as a joke, but I could tell Leila was embarrassed at having asked.

  “Sorry, I know it’s a stupid thing to ask,” she said. “I just feel like there’s a lot of people from Las Cruces who have never left.”

  “I’m just teasing,” I said. “But yeah, I like to travel. By bike, especially, but I’m a fan of planes, too.”

  “Where’s the best place you’ve ever been?”

  “Now there’s where I show my true colors, I guess,” I said, winking at her. “My favorite place is New Mexico. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here anymore.” I shrugged. “My whole life is here, you know? My friends, my sort-of family. This is home. I love going other places, but I always love coming back, too.”

  “That makes sense,” Leila said.

  “What about you?”

  She shrugged. “To be honest, I haven’t been to too many places,” she admitted. “I was always so focused on school. And now that I’ve got my job, I’m so busy all the time. I could probably ask for some time off. But I would feel like I was letting people down.” She paused and then gave an embarrassed laugh. “I guess it’s hard to compete with a view like this, anyway.”

  “Maybe we’ll have to make this a thing,” I told her. “I’ll show you all the best scenic overlooks in the state.”

  Leila laughed. “I’d like that,” she said. She dusted off her hands and leaned back against them. Then, she turned her head to the side, eyeing me. “You know, I’ve never had sex outdoors before.”

  She said it casually, almost as though it were just a comment. But from the look in her eyes, it was more of a challenge. Fuck, she wanted to do it right here.

  I kept my eyes on her as I slowly and deliberately packed away the lunch things, setting them aside. Then, I reached for her across the blanket.

  26

  Leila

  Monday

  I felt like I should be ashamed of myself. For this, more than sleeping with Marcus on the first date. Sex outdoors, where anyone could come across us. This totally wasn’t something that I would normally do.

  Not that I was complaining, as he lay me down on the blanket and covered my body with his. For a while, all we did was make out, and I wondered if there was something holding him back, if there was some reason that he wouldn’t take me while we were out there. Maybe he didn’t think I was serious. I wanted to start stripping him down, to show him just how serious I was, but
just as I had that thought, he pulled away, kneeling and flipping me around so I was on all fours.

  He covered me again, grinding against me as his hand found its way to the button on my pants. He tugged down my pants and my panties, exposing my bare ass and the fleshy mound between my legs. For a minute, though, he just kept grinding against me, and I turned my head back for another kiss. I shivered at the feeling of his jean-clad member pressing against my entrance, a low whine emanating from my throat.

  Again, Marcus pulled back, and I could hear him fumbling with his belt. He freed his hard, erect dick and pushed into me all in one go, with little foreplay. But I was ready for him, wet and needy, and I immediately started moving against him, trying to get him deeper inside of me, to feel him buried all the way to my core.

  He caught my hips in a bruising grip and began to thrust, hard and fast, a steady slapping sound hanging in the air as his thighs met my ass over and over again. He pushed my knees out wider, changing the angle so that he was hitting even deeper inside of me, the same spot over and over again until I could barely breathe with how good it all felt.

  There was something naughty about doing it out here like this. And I liked that in a way I had never expected.

  Suddenly, Marcus slowed down, really letting me feel the drag of each movement, as he pulled nearly all the way out and then pushed back in again. I sobbed, reaching around to grab his hand. I was so close, I just needed…

  Marcus continued to toy with me, though, his movements drawn-out and gentle. His fingertips rubbed my clit, and he used his other hand to brush my hair away from my neck so he could kiss a mark into my skin, claiming me as his own.

  Slowly, he started to pick up the pace, thrusting into me with meaning again. It took only a couple of good, hard thrusts to that spot inside of me before I was spilling over the edge. I cried out noisily, heedless of who might overhear us. He groaned as well as my inner walls milked him for all he was worth.

  He leaned heavily against me as he spent himself inside of me. Even as I came down from my bliss, he pressed another kiss to my neck, tender until the very end.

  I couldn’t help but laugh as I rolled away from him on the blanket. I lay there for a moment on my back, my legs akimbo, still exposed to the world. “You’re going to be the death of me,” Marcus groaned good-naturedly.

  “Other way around,” I insisted breathlessly.

  We both straightened our clothing, and Marcus pulled me over toward him on the blanket. “Come here,” he said, kissing me again, chastely this time. “Was that what you were looking for?”

  I laughed again. “Yeah,” I said. And it was. God, I didn’t know what it was about him; I just couldn’t keep my hands off him. But I liked the breathless excitement of it all. The unconventional relationship that we had. I had never been like this with anyone before. Fooling around had always been something kept strictly to the bedroom. This was exciting and fun. And I wanted more.

  But wanting more meant wanting a future. Was I ready to broach some of those serious subjects with Marcus?

  I looked up at his face, trying to gauge his current emotional state. If I asked him if we could keep this up, what would he do? I was dependent on him for a ride back home; I didn’t want to make things uncomfortable.

  The truth was, I really wanted to tell him about the clinic. About my consultation, and about the fact that I wanted to have children. Not because I wanted to tell him I wanted to marry him and have him help me raise those children, but just because I wanted him to know all the big details of my life. I wanted him to get excited for me.

  But I chickened out before I could tell him about the clinic, but not before I asked, “Have you ever thought about having kids?”

  Marcus looked down at me in shock, his whole body going tense. Slowly, he sat up, turning to face me, and I sat up as well, even though I’d much rather be burrowed against his arms. “You’re not…pregnant, are you?” he asked carefully. “I mean, it’s okay if you are.” He ran a hand back through his hair. “We’ll figure it out. But—”

  “I’m not pregnant,” I said before he could get too worked up about it. “I’ve had an implant since I was twenty-two. Can’t get pregnant until it gets taken out.”

  To be honest, I had had my implant taken out in preparation for the artificial insemination process. But there was no way I could be fertile again already. My cycle would take some time to normalize.

  “Right,” Marcus said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

  And that was when I knew I couldn’t tell him about the clinic consultation, even before he continued with his thoughts on having children. He clearly wasn’t comfortable with the idea of it. Any of it. And I couldn’t force him to be.

  He looked out over the hazy city and shrugged. “I guess I’ve never really thought much about having children,” he said.

  “Haven’t met the right person, or you just don’t think it’s for you?” I asked. I couldn’t help it; I couldn’t keep myself from asking. Even though I was afraid that the more I asked, the more chance I had of screwing things up between us.

  Marcus glanced over at me and shrugged, but he didn’t seem upset or weirded out by the questions. “Haven’t met the right person, but I guess I also just don’t think it’s in the cards for me.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, wondering if he was infertile or something like that.

  “My life is just complicated, I guess,” Marcus said, frowning. “Maybe when things settle down more, when I settle down more, I’ll be able to think about it. But I don’t know when that’ll be.”

  “And the clock is ticking,” I said quietly. Because that was the way I’d been feeling lately.

  “Yeah, exactly,” Marcus said. He shook his head. “I guess when it really comes down to it, I have nothing against having children; I’ve just never really pictured that stage of my life. That chapter.”

  And that was fair enough. I couldn’t argue with him, couldn’t tell him that he should be thinking about it. Especially because I didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. I didn’t want him to think that I was asking him to have children with me.

  We didn’t know one another well enough, not yet. Not anywhere near well enough. I still didn’t know what kind of business he had gotten himself tangled up in. There was something deeper to him, something darker than what he was allowing me to see. I couldn’t get too involved with him.

  He would make a good dad, though. I was sure of that. And I wanted to say something along those lines, but before I could, he was getting to his feet. “I guess I should get you back,” he said. “I’ve got a thing I have to go to this evening. A get-together with my buddies.”

  “Oh, sure,” I said, trying not to feel disappointed. I hoped this hadn’t ruined things between us.

  I should never have asked about kids. But I was still so sure that I wanted to go back to the clinic, regardless of what Marcus’s thoughts were on the matter. If it ruined things between the two of us, then I would just have to deal with it.

  We walked back to the bike, and Marcus drove me home. He caught my wrist and pulled me into one last kiss before I could go inside. “I’ll see you soon,” he promised.

  “Okay,” I said, breathless from just that simple kiss. “See you soon.”

  He was halfway down the street before I realized I was still wearing the leathers he had lent to me. It made me smile a little as I headed inside. I supposed that even if I had made things weird between us, he would have to see me again at some point. At least so he could get them back.

  27

  Marcus

  Wednesday

  On Wednesday, I met with Ray for lunch. “I’m glad to see that you haven’t been up to anything stupid this week,” Ray muttered as we looked at our menus.

  I grinned crookedly down at my own menu, not choosing to comment on that. The truth was, even though I still wanted to sort things out with the Unknowns, more so now than before even, since I didn’t want them to have a chan
ce to come after Leila, I was being more cautious than I had been. Thinking things through. The last thing I wanted was for them to catch me by surprise.

  Not least of which was because I doubted Leila would continue this thing with me if I showed up bruised and battered at the hospital or cut open again. And I could try to go to a different hospital so that she wouldn’t find out about whatever injuries I might sustain, but she had proven that she was smart, recognizing exactly what had been used to cut open my arm. As soon as she got me naked and saw my injuries, she’d be able to diagnose any of them just as easily.

  It made me want to be better, for her. I didn’t want to stop whatever it was that she and I were doing.

  I was really getting tangled up in my thoughts about her, too. She’d started asking the big questions. Kids. I didn’t know if she thought we were somehow already at that stage in our relationship or what. I had to figure it just had something to do with something Rachel had said to her or some thoughts that she had about Gavin.

  But all the same, it had gotten me thinking. I meant what I said to her. I wasn’t at a stage in my life where I could have kids, not right now. I could picture having a family with her, though. No matter that I didn’t know her nearly well enough to be thinking like that; I could picture it.

  So I hadn’t gone after the Unknowns again, not yet. I would wait until the time was right.

  I was starting to understand where Ray was coming from now. When you had something to lose, it changed your perspective on these things.

  We ordered our food, and then Ray sat back, folding his hands on the table. “Honestly, I think the sheriff’s proving to be more trouble for us than the Unknowns,” he said.

  He’d come to my place over the weekend, the morning that I’d come back from Leila’s, needing me to tell the guys to steer clear of the clubhouse. It was more of what he’d said the previous week during our club meeting, about needing to go on vacation. But now he wasn’t just asking us all to quit doing any sort of business; he was asking us not to meet up with one another unless it was crucial. I didn’t like it, but I understood it, so I’d spread the message.