by Lilly Atlas
“Huh,” she said. “I’ll have a vodka and club.”
Zach chuckled. “Such a girl.”
“Hey!” Toni bumped him with her shoulder. “I think that’s something you’re supposed to like about me.”
He raked his gaze over her, lingering on her tits and ass. Bad idea. Now his dick was hard all over again. Seemed to be a constant thing where she was concerned. “Oh believe me, baby, I like it.”
“Zach.” The protest was weakened by the heated look on her face.
After ordering their drinks, Zach guided them back outside, to a large clearing behind the clubhouse where a roaring bonfire at least a story high blazed away.
They drank and mingled for about an hour. Toni had met many of the men at the diner and she seemed to hit it off with the women as well. Sure, a few of the Honeys shot her death glares, but that was par for the course when one of the guys brought around a woman they were serious about.
Shit. His mind was running away with itself. Zach was not serious about a woman. Any woman. Even Toni. This was purely a sex-driven mission. Once he got her into bed, they’d stoke their own fire until it burned out as it always did.
That was more than enough for Zach.
After Zach introduced her to the woman of the hour, Viper’s wife Jacy, Copper caught his eye and summoned him with a chin lift. He had yet to fill his prez in on the clusterfuck with Bones. Most likely, Copper wouldn’t be thrilled that Zach shot out the guy’s knee, but he’d understand. As long as there wasn’t any blowback on the club, Copper gave Zach a long leash as far as his role of enforcer.
“You okay if I leave you for a few while I talk to Copper, sweetheart?” he whispered in Toni’s ear. Try as she might, she wasn’t able to disguise the hitch in her breathing when his lips brushed the shell of her ear.
“Take your time.” She wouldn’t meet his gaze. More evidence that she felt what he did but was battling it for all she was worth. “I’m fine,” she said.
And she was fine. Completely at ease in his world. Which was surprising. She wasn’t fazed by the loud pounding music. A fight that broke out between two idiots barely made her radar. Even the poorly hidden fucking they witnessed only twenty feet away hadn’t set her on edge. In fact, Zach caught her watching out of the corner of her eye more than once. He’d also noticed the prominent points of her nipples visible through her top.
“Won’t be long,” he said letting his need bleed through his voice. He dropped a kiss on her naked shoulder and pretended he didn’t notice the way she tensed or the scowl she shot him.
No one came to a biker party for the first time and didn’t have some sort of surprised reaction. Even if they liked it. There was still a level of shock.
Not for Toni.
Which meant she was either the best damn actress he’d ever seen.
Or this wasn’t really her first biker party.
Chapter Twelve
It was official. Toni loved hanging out with the guys in the MC and their women. Most of the women, anyway. The ones shooting daggers at her with their heavily made up eyes she could do without, but the ol’ ladies were fantastic.
After Zach wandered off, the guys had her laughing until her sides ached. Stories of stupid stunts Zach pulled as a prospect could have kept her entertained for hours.
All around, it was a great night.
Which was bad. Poke your eye with a mascara wand bad.
Everyone she met treated her as if she was Zach’s woman. As though they were a new couple and the guys gave their approval of the match. Keeping space between her and Zach was growing impossible in both the mental and physical sense. A lot of that had to do with Zach’s inability to keep his hands off her. Especially her open shoulders.
With Zach occupied, she tried to use the time to collect herself and steel her spine. He was her ultimate temptation. He was chocolate, wine, shoe shopping, and cheese all wrapped in one orgasm-promising package. The hardest test of her strength. Zach was everything she wanted in a man physically, and as it turned out, he had so many other qualities she admired. Loyalty, strength, responsibility, respect.
He lived in a world that drew her. A little dark, a little dangerous, a little out of control. Damn her libido for finding that such a draw. But it didn’t matter how attracted to him or his life she was. Toni knew first-hand how rotten it could all turn, and she’d vowed to stay far away from the realm of gangs for the rest of her life. And while they called it a club, it still paralleled gang life.
Yet, here she was. Drinking, and laughing, and generally having a rocking time.
“Toni! I had no idea you’d be here.” Shell practically bounced over to where Toni stood by the fire talking to Maverick, his date, and a scary dude named Rocket who’d said all of two words.
“Shell!” She threw her arms around her friend and nearly took them both to the ground.
“Whoa, girl, had a few drinks, have we?” Shell’s uninhibited laughter was always nice to hear. She had so much responsibility on her slender shoulders.
“Yes! I was just going to have one drink, but Maverick gave me this,” Toni held up her red cup full of something heinous Maverick poured from a flask he kept in his pocket.
“Oh, Mav.” Shell shook her head at the shitty grin on his face. “Sorry, honey, he makes that crap in his garage. It’ll give you one hell of a hangover. Good news is it will also burn all the hair off your body so you won’t have to shave for a few days.” She laughed and waved her hands in a keep-away motion when Toni offered her a sip of the cup. “No way in hell. I’ve made that mistake before. Took me days to recover.”
Toni shrugged and took a sip. “Hmm. It’s starting to taste better.”
“That means you’ve hit the sweet spot,” Mav said before lowering his lips to Missy’s neck. His date seemed to have gotten over whatever issue she’d had at the beginning of the night and was now practically humping his leg. Toni gave it five minutes before they found a dark corner to go at it.
“Shut up, Mav. Get out of here, your date looks like she needs some attention.” Shell made a shooing motion with her hand and somehow managed to make the word date sound like a disease.
Completely unoffended, Maverick threw back his head and laughed. “I think you might be right, Shell. We’ll be over there.” He pointed to the side of the building. “Shield your eyes, ladies. You especially, Toni. Don’t want you to feel like Zach can’t live up.”
“What the fuck are you running your mouth about now?” Zach wrapped his arm around Toni from behind, cupping the ball of her shoulder in his warm, rough hand. He pulled her flush against him, his forearm banded across her chest.
Damn him. The press of his insanely toned body so snug against her was more intoxicating than Maverick’s mystery booze.
A minute. Just one minute she’d allow herself to soak in the warm male vitality flowing from him. Then she’d push him away.
“Everything okay?” she asked.
The conversation between him and his president had been fraught with frowns, shaking heads, and clenched jaws.
“You worried about me, sweetheart?”
“What? No. Of course not. Just making conversation.”
Zach laughed, and Shell snorted. “As much as I’d love to stay and see this play out, I’ve gotta run,” she said.
“What?” Toni asked. “You just got here.” She’d been looking forward to spending more time with Shell.
“I know. But I had to work my second job, and my sitter could only give me an extra hour tonight. We’ll hang out soon, okay?”
Toni nodded and accepted a kiss on the cheek from Shell. She laid one on Zach as well before making her way toward the parking lot.
“She works too damn hard,” Zach said sounding disgusted. “Fucking Copper. He needs to pull his head out of his ass and start something up with that woman. Then she wouldn’t have to work herself to exhaustion.”
Toni searched the crowd until she found the Handlers’ president. Not surpr
isingly, his focus was one hundred percent on Shell as she walked out of the party. Toni couldn’t decipher the expression on his face, but whatever his thoughts, they were deep. He looked tormented. Like a man who wanted something with every fiber of his being but knew it would never be his.
“Wanna head inside? It’s getting chilly out here.” Zach unwound his arm from her shoulders and grasped her hand, tugging her toward the clubhouse before she’d answered.
The night air might have been cold, but be it the alcohol, the warmth of the fire, or heat from the man beside her, Toni wasn’t chilled in the least. The more time she spent with Zach’s hand in hers or his body against her, the hotter she grew. If something didn’t give soon, she might just combust.
“Let me ask you something,” she said to distract both of them from the growing need. “How come you don’t have a nickname?”
“Huh?” Zach stopped walking and faced her, still holding her hand.
“Yeah, you know…Maverick, Viper, Rocket, Jigsaw. Those clearly are nicknames. And you’re just called Zach.”
He cocked his head and snickered. “Zach is my road name, babe. Well, not really a road name, but a nickname given to me when I was in middle school. The club didn’t bother to change it.”
“Wait? Really? I always thought Zach was your real name.” She searched the back recesses of her mind but couldn’t come up with anything. “Well, you’re a few years older than I am so we’d never really talked. And it’s not like our parents were friends. I’m sure I knew at one point, but I don’t remember now. Eek, that sounds horrible.” Her face heated. What a selfish bitch he must think she was.
He laughed and tugged her near, slipping his arm around her waist. “My name is Jason.”
Once again, the feel of him so close threatened to overtake her senses. Especially when she felt a stiff bulge bump her lower abdomen.
Ignore his hard cock. Ignore his hard, large cock.
“I, um…” She swallowed. “Why, Zach?”
He rolled his eyes and slid his hand from the base of her spine to the very top, where her blouse dipped and left her upper back bare. “My cousin gave me the name when I was about eleven.” He traced his callused fingertips along the neck of her shirt making little goosebumps rise all over her back. She wanted to rip the thing off and beg him to touch her everywhere, but somehow, she found the strength to resist.
“H-how come?”
His gaze was intense on her face, absorbing her every reaction. She was pretty sure he could see straight through her mask to the needy woman hiding underneath.
“Because he said I looked like Zack Morris from Saved by the Bell.”
And the spell was broken. “Oh, my God.” Toni slapped a hand over her mouth in a vain attempt to muffle her laughter. It was so true. He looked exactly like an older and extra buff Zack Morris.
He scowled and gave her hair a gentle tug when her laughter only grew. “I loved it when I was a kid because all the chicks dug him.” He winked. “When I got older, I fucking hated it. Being named after a freaking pretty boy teen? Fuckin’ joke. Copper tried to help me out by spelling it with an H instead of a K. Then he tried to pretend the name came from some other Zach. But that never worked. Everyone in town already knew.”
“I-I’m sor-sorry.” She could barely speak she was laughing so hard. “It’s not funny. It’s really not. If it makes you feel any better, I had a big crush on him growing up.” Trying to make the hilarity stop, she worked to turn the laugh into a cough. “I’ll stop now.”
And then she snorted. Her eyes flew wide and heat rushed to her face.
How mortifying.
Now it was Zach’s turn to laugh, but his amusement turned lustful after a moment. His clear blue eyes darkened and he tightened his hold on her hair, tipping her head back until their mouths were mere inches apart. Against her stomach, his hardness seemed to grow. Something she wouldn’t have thought possible seconds ago.
“Zach,” she whispered. Her body was screaming at him to close the distance and claim her mouth while her mind fought for control and the strength to stop him.
Fought and lost.
He leaned in at the same time he drew her closer with the hand on her head. Fractions of a second before their mouths met, Toni’s stomach flipped. And then he was on her. His large hand cupped the back of her head, holding her where he wanted while his mouth slanted over hers.
Warm, firm, insistent lips pressed against her, leaving hers no choice but to open to him. Somewhere in the distance a woman moaned in pleasure. Maverick’s date no doubt about to be fucked against the outside of the building.
She should be horrified. Turned off. Disgusted.
Anything but turned on.
But apparently, she was some kind of perverted voyeur, because the knowledge that another couple was getting their rocks off just feet away ramped up her desire. Moaning into Zach’s mouth, Toni grabbed fistfuls of the back of his shirt and hugged him close.
There was no mistaking his desire for her nestled against her stomach. As though she no longer had any control over her actions, she rubbed against his erection.
Restraint lost, Zach growled and the kiss turned ravenous. His free hand dropped to her ass, squeezing her cheek and trapping her as he ground his dick into her stomach. The feel of those strong fingers so close to her sex flooded her panties.
Her head spun with the combination of alcohol and Zach, a mind-altering pairing. It had been so long since she felt such strong desire. Since a man’s hands on her body made her lose her senses.
And that’s exactly what was happening. Because if she had any working brain cells left, she’d put an end to it before it went any farther.
He sank his teeth into her bottom lip and tugged it outward. As good as his hand on her ass and his mouth on hers felt, she needed more. She needed relief from the building pressure in her lower abdomen.
A shrill whistle sounded right before someone screamed. “Hey, Zach, don’t be so fucking selfish. Why don’t you let one of us have a go at her?”
It was as though someone doused her with a bucket of ice. Every sexy thought, erotic feeling, and need she’d been experiencing shut off in an instant as the comment knocked her back seven years. Memories she’d long buried assaulted her. Male grunts of satisfaction, laughter, and voices egging each other on. Multiple sets of hands on her. Humiliation. Helplessness.
Her stomach flipped again, this time turning sour.
Shit.
Shit.
She’d just done exactly what she’d vowed she’d never do again. She’d thought with her pussy instead of her mind. Gave in to lust and physical craving instead of holding out for more. And she’d done it with a man whose world too closely resembled that of her past.
“Let me go,” she said as she wriggled in Zach’s hold. She didn’t sound strong. Her voice wavered and her legs shook from residual pleasure chemicals, unfulfilled desire, and unwanted memories.
Zach released her immediately, but it was too late. The blood rushing through her veins switched from lustful to furious.
“Step the fuck back, Zach.” She threw up her hands and shoved him away. “You promised. Light and flirty was what you said.”
“Ton—”
“No!” When he reached for her she stepped back. Her heart pounded so fast her head spun. “You talked me into coming. You said you wouldn’t do this and I trusted you. Guess you’re just another man who’s a fucking liar. Stay the hell away from me, Zach.”
After dropping that bomb, she fled toward the parking lot with Zach calling after her. It didn’t matter how sorry he was, or what his excuse was. It didn’t matter that the noise level of the party dropped to nonexistent as the club members stared after her.
She needed space. Needed to get away. To breathe.
“Of course,” she muttered when she reached the parking lot. No car. Hands on her hips she scanned the lot. Shell was just disappearing into the driver’s side of her crappy sedan.
A head of blonde curls popped back out. “Toni? What’s wrong?”
By the time she reached the car she was panting and nauseated. “Please take me home.”
Shell studied her for about five seconds before she said, “Of course, hon. Hop in.”
“Thank you.” Toni slipped in the passenger’s seat and rested her head against the seat back.
“Wanna talk about it?” Shell asked.
“No.”
“Okay. But you should know, he looks pissed.”
Toni’s eyes popped open. Visible in the side mirror, Zach stood, legs spread and hands on his hips near the entrance to the bar. The scowl on his face would have scared paint off the wall.
Pissed may have been too tame a word. Irate was more like it.
This wasn’t over. He wanted her. He wouldn’t just let it die.
She could feel it in her bones.
She just wasn’t sure what to do about it.
Chapter Thirteen
“So, you aren’t able to start until the middle of September?” Toni asked the woman sitting on the opposite side of her desk. Jazmine Walker was her name. She came with restaurant management experience, a sunny personality, and claimed to fall in love with Toni’s diner on the spot.
“That’s right. I’m locked into something until just after Labor Day. Then I’ll be moving here from Arizona.”
Toni’s heart sank. She needed someone to begin August twentieth. School resumed the Tuesday after Labor Day and she planned to return to Chicago before the end of August so she had time to get back into guidance counselor mode. That meant her replacement would have to be trained starting around mid-August.
Not possible for Jazmine, who happened to be the best of the six people she’d interviewed that week. Still no manager and no buyer for the diner. Her commercial realtor had brought a developer by who was interested in the diner, only to inform Toni he planned to gut the building and turn it into a Starbucks.