“Fuck, Cece,” he said, jerking back a little.
I shot out my tongue, tasting a little bit of blood. He watched the action, and I smiled at him, feeling the evil bitch rise from within.
Jordan stared down at me, still gripping my chin in his strong hand, and I knew he could see the change. That I wasn’t the same girl he left back in South Dakota. But the lust didn’t diminish from his gaze. Instead it turned darker, harder, like the devil come to take my soul to the depths with him.
But that wasn’t going to happen, not this time.
His hand gripped my neck, ready to pull me back to him, but I shoved him back. As always, my strength was no match for his, so his body stayed flush with mine. It only served to make him stop the kiss.
“Get out,” I said firmly, pushing him again. “Get out or I will scream.”
I felt his grip on my waist tighten to almost bruising before he stepped back, nearly shoving me into the wall behind me as he let go.
“It’s not safe here,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t care,” I responded.
With a snarl, he turned to the door and unlocked it. But before he opened it, he looked over his shoulder at me and said, “Stay the fuck away from Rafe.”
Then he was gone. I backed up until my ass hit the sink counter, and I gripped it for stability. My whole body was shaking from the kiss, the anger, everything. But as my breath settled, I found myself smiling, almost laughing out loud.
Jordan still wanted me. I could feel it in his hands and his kiss. He tried to push me away by saying he didn’t want me. But then he tried to command me away by claiming that I still belonged to him. He couldn’t seem to make up his mind, and I planned to take full advantage of his indecision.
It was a small victory, but the battle had only begun. I still had a lot of ground to cover. I would see this through if it killed us both.
Jordan had fought like hell for me once. I’ll be damned if I won’t fight for him.
Chapter One
Cece
Clayton, SD
Four Months Earlier
“Come on, babe. Open the door.”
I glared at Greg through the passenger window, my anger about to burst out of my chest. I had been looking forward to tonight. My first real date. Dinner, dancing, romance. Greg and I had been doing the group thing for a while with a few make-out sessions here and there but no real dates. So, you could imagine my excitement when he asked me to go out with him alone.
I wore my best dress, did my hair and make-up, even put on heels. I wanted to dress up because I felt tonight was special. Not necessarily because of Greg. I liked Greg, but I had no idea if we were lasting couple material. I was more excited that he saw me as the type of woman he wanted to take out, like he needed to woo me before diving into my pants. It felt good to be that type of girl. As opposed to the other type, the type I was raised by.
The dinner had been perfect, romantic and sweet, but my heart dropped into my chest when he drove us toward the southside of town. There was only place on that side of town that we could be going: the Aces MC clubhouse.
My first date glow had faded away into a red haze of anger and disappointment before he even put the car in park.
“No. You are an ass and a liar,” I yelled through the glass at Greg.
“How did I lie?” he said with a muddled glare.
“You said we were going dancing after dinner.”
“They have a dance floor here,” he responded with a smirk.
I shook my head. Greg was a bit of a jackass, always depending on his good looks to get him anything he wanted. I’d admit that, like most of the girls around town, I was taken in by his steely blue eyes, perfect teeth, and the bad boy attitude. He moved to Clayton just before our senior year of high school and worked the mysterious “new kid” angle for all it was worth. He was also taller than most of the kids in our class and had the muscles of a man ten years older by the time we graduated.
While I had been aware of Greg in high school, he hadn’t known I existed until a few months ago. Most of our class had moved on to college, and now there was only a small group of us left. After being relatively unpopular in high school, I had been more than a little surprised when he began pursuing me.
But I had been stupid. Instead of being flattered by the attention, I should have run the moment I found out his brother was an Ace.
Most people knew that motorcycle clubs could be dangerous, especially the one-percenters like the Aces. Any rational human being would want to avoid them. But I had my own reasons for avoiding them.
Greg put his hand above the window and looked down at me. His perfect cheekbones and chiseled jaw looking remorseful. “You're right. I'm sorry. I should have told you.” He gave me a gentle smile. “I just really want my brother and the other guys to meet you. I want to show off my hot girlfriend.”
I rolled my eyes because this kind of flattery was a waste of time. I wanted to go on a date because it made me feel like he respected me. But taking me into an MC to impress his friends made me feel like a prized horse.
“Please, Cece. Ten minutes and then I will take you dancing somewhere else, I promise.”
I looked around, considering my options, and found that I really didn’t have a choice. If I refused, he may just leave me here and that could be dangerous. He might just take me home, but I didn’t want to chance it.
I pushed open the door of Greg’s Toyota truck and held my dress down as I stepped out. “Ten minutes,” I said. “And do not leave me alone in there.”
“Of course. You're the best,” he said before giving me a brief kiss.
“Yeah,” I murmured as he wrapped an arm around my waist and we started walking toward a side door. Greg opened the door for us, and the smell of sweat and weed hit me like a wave, forcing me to breathe through my mouth. It was an industrial size room with high ceilings, and I could see metal stairs leading to a second floor at the back. While it was a large space, there was barely enough room to walk there were so many people packed in. The voices were almost loud enough to drown out the classic rock music playing from several speakers around the room.
Greg pulled me toward the bar, and I was forced to brush up against several people on our way there. Most of them looked to be bikers, some with cuts proclaiming their club, some without. And there were quite a few women in the mix, some with clothes, some without. I just tried to keep my head down and not to focus on anything for too long. From what I heard about the Aces, sexual acts in public were a daily ritual, and I did not want to risk seeing something that would haunt me later.
We made it to the bar, and I relaxed a little, gripping the wood counter like a lifeline.
“Hey, Toad,” Greg shouted to the bartender. He was a young kid, maybe younger than I was, with blond hair shaved close to his head and dark brown eyes that looked sad and tired. “Where's Jordan?” Greg asked when the kid came closer.
He shrugged. “Maybe he’s out back with Rem and Izzy.”
I actually whimpered when Greg pried my hand off the bar and led me back through the crowd again. We went through a bunch of foul-smelling people and a couple of doors until we were outside. I was never so grateful to be outside when the fresh air hit my nose and lungs, replacing the stench and smoke. I was taking big gulps of air as Greg led me to a picnic table where a couple sat. A handsome man with short, dirty blond hair sat behind a small woman while they both straddled a picnic table bench seat. She was leaning back against him, and he was whispering in her ear as we approached. As we got closer, I noticed his hands were molded over her slightly rounded belly.
“Hey, Rem, Izzy. I want you to meet my girlfriend, Cece,” Greg said.
“Hi,” Izzy said with a smile while Rem looked a little annoyed. Izzy had long blonde hair that was tied back in a ponytail and large brown eyes that seemed to invite me closer. I noticed they were both wearing leather cuts that had the Aces’ patch. Izzy’s was much smaller than Re
m’s, but Izzy was much smaller than Rem in a lot of ways. Even with them sitting down, I could see that Rem had at least a foot on Izzy in height, and she looked very petite when Rem wrapped his arms around her.
“Have you seen Jordan?” Greg asked.
“He was in his office last time I saw him,” Rem said.
Greg turned to me. “Why don’t you wait here while I go look for him?”
I was about to protest, but I really didn’t want to go back inside. While there were other people sitting at tables and standing around talking, the atmosphere was a lot calmer and a lot less smoky outside.
“Okay,” I said and sat down at the table across from Izzy. I heard the door close behind me and smiled at Izzy.
“Is your real name Izzy?” I asked, trying to hide my hatred of being here with some small talk.
She giggled a little. “No, my name is Isabel. Izzy is just a nickname.”
“How far along are you?” I asked, gesturing to her stomach.
She lifted a brow. “You think I’m pregnant?”
My mouth dropped open, and my face reddened as I realized my mistake. I was about to apologize when Rem cut in. “She’s just fucking with you. She’s pregnant.”
“Oh,” I said and let out a little breath of relief.
“I’m sorry. Since I can’t drink these days I have to have fun some other ways,” Izzy said with a mischievous smile.
“Like we don’t have fun?” Rem asked as he pulled her back against his chest.
“Yes, but that is the kind of fun that got me this way in the first place,” she said.
“Better get used to it,” Rem growled before he nipped at her ear.
I looked away, a little embarrassed by their blatant display of affection. I noticed that they both had on wedding bands, and it made me a little curious. I never would have thought to find a happily married couple in an MC. I always thought it was just single guys and whores.
“Rem, why don’t you get us some waters?” Izzy said, seeing that I was a little uncomfortable.
He cupped her belly and kissed her cheek. “All right but don’t move from this spot.” Then he looked at me. “Make sure she does not move.”
“Okay, okay,” Izzy said, waving him off as he headed to the door. “Sorry about that. Rem can be overprotective,” she said.
I shook my head. “It’s okay. It’s really sweet. And I can tell he is excited about the baby.”
Izzy’s hand wandered down to her belly. “Yeah, I know. He loves to tell anyone who will listen that he put this inside me. Now that I’m showing, he just simply points at it and says, ‘that’s mine.’”
I smiled. “The kid is lucky to have a dad like him.”
She studied my face for a moment and then leaned over the table to speak a little closer. “By the look on your face, I’m guessing you weren’t so lucky.”
I shook my head and shrugged. This wasn’t the time to talk about it. In fact, I never liked to talk about it.
I decided to distract her by asking her about names for the baby. Soon, I had her talking about all the other preparations she had to make before the baby came in December.
It wasn't until Rem came back out that I finally took out my phone to check the time. I'd been here for fifteen minutes.
“Did you see where Greg was?” I asked Rem when he retook his seat behind Izzy.
“At the bar,” he said as he pulled Izzy into his arms again.
While I liked Izzy, I wasn’t about to let Greg break his promise. “I'm going to find Greg,” I said as I stood up.
“Okay. But come straight back out here if you don’t find him at the bar,” she said quickly.
I gave her a curious look.
“Just to be safe,” she explained. “I’m not worried about the members, but there can be some real assholes at these parties.”
“Okay,” I said, having no trouble believing her.
When I went back into the club, things had devolved even more into hedonism. Just from my view by the door I saw at least two couples having sex and another man enjoying fellatio.
I found Greg at the bar taking a shot. Judging by the several shot glasses in front of him, I was guessing that he had been at it awhile. I tugged at his arm to get him to turn to me. His eyes were glazed, and his handsome face was relaxed.
“Greg. Can we go now?” I asked, knowing I would be the one driving.
He nodded to the guy at the bar next to him and then hopped off the barstool.
“Let me show you something and then we can go,” he said. He took me through the room and to a door that led to a long white hallway. He opened the second door on the right and tugged me inside. I couldn't see much in the dark other than a desk and some file drawers.
I turned around. “Greg—” I said, but I was suddenly being lifted onto the desk. I put my hand back to catch myself and I knocked into the keyboard. The computer screen woke up, lighting up the room with a blue glow.
Suddenly Greg’s mouth was on mine, wet and messy, and his hands were groping under my skirt, bruising my skin as they tried to go higher.
“Stop,” I said, but he didn't. Thinking fast, I put my foot against his hip and pushed with all my strength.
Greg stumbled back toward the door.
“I said stop,” I shouted.
“What the fuck, Cece?” Greg said, his mouth turning into a sneer.
“Same to you, Greg. What the fuck are you doing?”
“You’re my girlfriend. I'm not going to apologize for trying to kiss you. Why are you being so fucking frigid?” he said, his voice getting louder.
“Excuse me for not wanting to be molested by a drunk asshole,” I replied, raising my voice as well.
“Fuck you, Cece.” He grabbed the door and jerked it open. The light of the hallway flooded the room as he stomped out, leaving me alone.
I leaned back on the desk, berating myself for being such an idiot. Now I had to find a ride home. I could probably get Izzy or Rem to do it, but I would rather get an Uber before facing that humiliation.
I took my cell out of my pocket and opened the app. I was entering my address into the “Where to” box when a shadow fell across my face.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?”
I jumped a little, the deep voice making my already frazzled nerves want to snap. Both hands came to my chest, clutching the phone against my skin, trying to calm my heart, before I finally looked at the man in the doorway.
Before anything else, I saw the leather vest with the white patches, proclaiming him an Ace. I swallowed, and my heart started to pound against my ribs again. His clothing was simple jeans, boots, and gray t-shirt, but they did nothing to hide his broad shoulders and muscled arms. He was also tall, taller than Greg.
When my wary gaze came to his head, I was not surprised to find a handsome face to go with the body. His brow was a little too masculine to be considered model handsome, but his nose was straight, and his jawline was strong and angled, making him a ten in this small town. His dark hair was shaved closed to his head, as if the man couldn't be bothered with a hair style. I couldn't make out the color of his eyes, but they were deep set, making him a little mysterious and … sexy. I probably would feel giddy if I wasn't so cautious.
This large biker wanted to know why I was in his office, and I could already hear the anger in his tone. I had a history with men like this, and I had learned that rational explanations may not save you. He stood in the hallway with his hands at his sides, but his feet were planted, and his shoulders were drawn up straight, as though he was ready for a fight. His eyes looked behind me, at his desk, and I was sure he noticed things out of place.
He took a step into the room, and I shivered. His presence in the small space made it harder to breathe suddenly.
He was still a few feet away, but I felt his eyes on me like a caress. They moved over me slowly, lingering on my legs and chest. When he lifted his gaze to mine, it wasn’t hard to miss the flare of lust that
mixed with his suspicion. I couldn't seem to help my body's reaction to that look. It seemed to move in my veins, heating the areas of my body that should remain stoic. This man was extremely attractive in that he wasn't just a bad boy, but that he was the epitome of badness. Dark, dangerous, powerful, masculine. All the things that make a female cream and spread her legs in invitation.
But I couldn't give in to it. If I did, I would be no better than she was. The thought had me standing up straight instead of cowering in fear, my determination making me brave.
“Listen. My boyfriend brought me in here to,” I looked away and paused for a moment before deciding to say, “you know.”
I saw a flash of anger in his eyes, and his mouth settled into a firm line. I couldn’t fault him for feeling that way about someone having sex on his desk.
“We didn't actually do anything. I pushed him off just a few seconds after he put me on the desk.”
His look of indignation was still there, so I said, “I'm sorry that some of your stuff was moved, but I don't think anything was broken.”
“Then why are you still in here?” he asked, his voice deep and slow, moving along my skin like a warm stone.
“I couldn't go back in there alone,” I said with a gesture toward the party. “I was looking if an Uber was available to take me home.”
He didn't say anything, just kept looking at me like I was a puzzle. My annoyance rose up quickly. “Listen, I'm more than happy to leave and never come back to this shithole,” I spat, putting my hands on my hips. As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized how stupid they were.
He took another step toward me, effectively closing the distance between us so that he was inches away. I was close enough now to see that his eyes were golden brown, and they seemed like they were molten as he glared down at me. “Watch your mouth. This is my home you are spitting on,” he said with an underlying growl.
Even in his anger, I could still see the lust in his gaze, like he wanted to dominate me, punish me for what I said. It made me shiver again as heat moved down to my center, my own yearning creating wetness like I’d never known before.
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