by Jani Kay
Logan laughed. “You’re cute, but your accent sucks.”
I shrugged. “I’m always fascinated when my cousin Rebecca speaks with her Aussie accent, and I’ve tried to sound like her since we were kids. I guess I’d better give it up if you’re honest enough to tell me I suck at it.”
Logan looked flustered. “No, I didn’t mean it like that at all. But I’m fascinated with your Californian accent, so what I really mean is that I prefer to hear you speak with your native twang.”
“Okay, it's a deal then. But promise you’ll teach me some of the Aussie slang. I used to laugh my head off when Ratbag told me some of the funny things Australians say.”
At the mention of Ratbag’s name, Logan’s face fell, but it only lasted for a few seconds before he smiled sweetly. “Yeah, I miss the fucker. He was always the larrikin.”
“See? There’s one of those Australian words. I have no idea what it means.”
“Ahhh . . . larrikin means a mischievous type of person who makes you laugh.”
“Yeah, that describes Ratbag. I miss him, too. He had such a gentle heart, even when he pretended to be tough.”
I stared at Logan for a minute. He was a handsome surfer boy, tanned and muscled with a wholesome glow about him and not a tattoo in sight. He had women falling over him. I’d heard the evidence of his threesome through the thin walls, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
“So Logan, why are you still here at the club? I don’t mean to be rude, but you don’t really fit into this whole biker thing. You should be out there surfing the waves, not hanging around here.”
Logan ran a hand through his blond locks and pushed his hair off his face. “I know. But believe it or not, I feel as if I fit in here even though I’m from another country and not a biker. The guys are just so welcoming, giving me my own room until I find my feet again.”
“Yeah, they’ve always been good like that. They like collecting people like stray cats,” I said, bemused by Logan’s sentiment. Must be how Ryder felt when he had nowhere to go as a kid.
“Do you surf?” His gentle blue eyes brightened up. “I mean, being a Californian girl I’m sure you can handle some mean waves.”
I laughed. “Actually, to be honest, I haven’t been out on the waves for a very long time. My brother, Harrison, and I used to go surfing all the time, but then he threw himself into his work and I just lost inspiration to go by myself. But hey, when we’re allowed out of the prison again maybe you and I should go and hit some waves, yeah?”
Logan grinned. “That would be awesome. I’d love to hang out with you.”
Ryder’s deep voice spoke up behind me. “Hey surfer boy, you better not be coming on to my woman if you value your balls.” Ryder’s voice was jovial but from the way he lifted an eyebrow and smirked, I knew he wasn’t exactly joking. Warmth radiated from my heart. Ryder was as possessive as ever, staking his claim to me clearly, and that made me feel good.
I turned and swatted Ryder’s arm. “Actually, Maxwell once told me that you guys used to go surfing all the time. I bet if you didn’t become a biker you’d probably be a surfer boy, too.”
Ryder threw back his head and laughed. He placed his good arm around me protectively and pulled me to him. “So, baby, would that turn you on? Me out riding the waves?”
I closed my eyes for a few brief seconds and imagined Ryder in a different life. With a body like his he could do anything he liked. I could just picture him, hair tied back in the ponytail he loved to sport, but instead of his leather cut with the Scorpio Stinger MC emblem, he’d be wearing a tight-fitting wetsuit that was unzipped in the front to display his magnificent muscled torso, and a surfboard tucked under his arm.
I could so go for that version of Ryder.
A familiar warmth flooded my core. “You bet,” I said in my most flirty voice, batting my eyelashes at him. “I’d be your groupie.”
“Get a room, you two.” Logan laughed. Ryder and I looked at one another and smiled. Ratbag used to say the exact same thing to us.
“Now that you mention a room . . . I have something to show you, baby. Come with me.”
“See ya later,” Logan said with a chuckle.
Ryder’s hand slipped down to the small of my back, and he guided me back inside. But instead of turning left down the hallway to his room—our room—he steered me toward the right.
“Where are you taking me?” I’d never been in this part of the building. It was off-limits, and even though I’d asked Ryder about it in the past, he’d been tightlipped so I’d never bothered to ask again.
I’d heard from some of the women that this was the area where Mrs. Malone had stayed and that Chopper Malone had closed it up when she left and gave strict orders that nobody was to go there.
“Always so impatient.” Ryder smiled. “I have a surprise for you, and if I tell you now it won’t be a special, will it?”
Thrilled because I didn’t know what to expect, I sucked in a deep breath, waiting for the moment when all would be revealed. Ryder’s surprises weren’t like anyone else’s so I never knew what was coming. All that I did know was that he usually blew my mind. Not that I had any idea how he would be able to do that in this godforsaken place.
We stopped in front of a door, and Ryder pulled me to his chest. His free arm enveloped me and with a quickening breath, I met his gaze.
“I want you to be happy, Princess. This is my attempt at making you feel at home. I hope you like it,” he said with a sheepish grin.
I reached up on tiptoes and brushed my lips over his. “I just want to be with you.”
Ryder sucked in a breath. “You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear you say that. I needed that from you, Jade.”
“Well, it’s true.”
Ryder rested his forehead against mine and we stood there in stillness for a few moments just savoring our togetherness. In his arms I felt safe, nurtured, and protected. His arms were my home.
“Ready to see what’s behind this door?”
“Hell yeah,” I said with a nervous giggle.
Ryder unlocked the door and pushed it open. “Step inside your new temporary home. I hope you like it.”
The first thing that hit me was the sweet aroma of flowers. Ryder pulled me inside the room, as excited as a child to open his gifts on Christmas morning.
“Oh, Ryder!” I swallowed the lump in my throat. The room was filled with flowers on every possible surface, and in the middle stood a large bed with rose petals strewn all over the covers. By the window was a comfy couch and beside it stood a bookshelf filled with some of my favorite titles.
The room was triple the size of the one we had occupied till now and even had a decent-sized kitchen counter with a microwave, fridge, and basin. A small desk with my laptop and a beautiful old lamp completed the picture.
“Do you like it?” I could sense the anxiety in Ryder’s voice as his gaze met mine.
“Like it?” I closed the distance between us and threw my arms around his neck. “No, I fucking love it. You definitely managed to surprise me.”
“Anything for you, baby. Anything to make you happy.” Ryder’s grin widened, and I reached up to caress the small crinkles around his eyes.
“You make me happy.”
Ryder’s lips burned down on mine as he walked me backward towards the bed. As the back of my knees touched the mattress, I let myself go, free falling with Ryder following me down.
He let out a groan as he collapsed on top of me.
“You okay?” I breathed, worried about his injury.
“Yeah, it’s nothing,” he said. “I’m a tough fucker, remember?”
I caressed his cheek as I smiled up at him. “You are,” I agreed, deciding to play along. “My tough bad-ass biker boy.” I pulled him down for a kiss. “Thank you.”
So this was what Ryder had got up to when he’d left our other room. The faint smell of fresh paint still hung around even though the windows were open and the aroma of fresh
flowers filled the air. I’d never imagined he was spending his time doing this for me, especially when he had so much on his plate already.
“Words are cheap, Princess. Show me. Show my cock how much you love me.”
12 — Jade
Pulling the earphones from my head, I turned on my side to face Ryder.
He was propped up against the pillows beside me, flicking through screens on his tablet. I lazily opened one eye and glanced toward the clock. It was close to midnight and I’d kind of dozed off while listening to soothing music, but as usual, my bladder had woken me.
I needed to get up and go to the bathroom, but first I wanted to steal a glimpse of my man. His expression was serious, and he had a deep frown between his brows, his jaw working as he clenched down on his teeth.
My hand ran softly over his hard, ripped chest. He turned his head and smile down at me.
“Hey baby, I thought you were asleep.” His voice was low and oh so sexy.
I rubbed my eyes and smiled at him. “I can’t believe how easily I fall asleep these days. Must be my body adjusting and working on growing our babies.”
Ryder laughed. “Must be your thing when you’re pregnant. Remember last time? Every time I switched the TV on you fell asleep on top of me. Not that I’m complaining . . . it’s kinda cute.”
Peanut. I rubbed at the pang that speared my heart before pushing the memory of losing that baby away for the moment. This time I’d keep my babies from harm.
Resting my chin on Ryder’s chest, I looked at him from under my lashes and grinned. “Yeah, and what about the strange cravings? Do you know what I’d kill for now?”
“No. I’m sure you’re going to tell me, though. What’s it tonight, baby?”
“Wanna guess?”
“Hmmm . . . let me think. You want my cock all night long—that’s right, isn’t it?”
“Cock is okay, but it would be so much better with Ben & Jerry’s ice cream all over it so I can lick it off.”
Ryder’s lips parted slightly as he stared at me. “Fuck. That just gave me a raging hard-on. I’d love for you to lick and suck my dick, and I don’t mind it being covered in ice cream. It’s kinda kinky.”
“Well, biker, what are you going to do about it? That is the question. No ice cream, no cock-sucking.”
Ryder pushed the sheets to the side. He wasn’t joking. His cock was long and hard and throbbing. I licked my lips and reached for it, but before I could touch him he’d rolled out of bed.
“Hold that thought. I’m going to be right back.” He grabbed his jeans off the back of the chair and hopped on one leg and then the other as he pulled the denim on, groaning as he pushed his erection down and pulled the zipper up.
I stifled a giggle until it hit me that he was getting dressed. “Wait. Don’t go. I was only kidding.”
His back was turned to me as he pulled a T-shirt over his head and then grabbed his leather cut off the back of the chair. He turned to face me. “Well, I wasn’t.”
My eyes widened. The length of his erection pushed up hard against his pants, every inch of him clearly visible through the denim. Warmth gushed to my core, and I squeezed my thighs together. I wanted his cock inside me, and instead, he was making plans to leave me all wet and wanting.
I bolted upright, the sheet dropping to my waist and exposing my naked breasts. These days they were getting heavier and fuller, and I’d already gone up one bra size.
“Ryder, you’re not going out of the compound . . . It’s too dangerous. We don’t need ice cream.”
Ryder stared at my chest with a wide grin, not even trying to hide the fact that he was checking out my tits. “Oh yes, we do. I like when my Princess goes all kinky on me, and I ain’t missing this for anything. I bet you’re wet already.” He leaned over me and fucked my mouth with his tongue while he pinched my nipples. “You just rest so your sweet ass is ready for me when I get back. I expect to be rewarded for my efforts.”
I reached for him and tried to pull him back into the bed, but he just sidestepped me with a laugh and moved toward the door, sliding his feet into his biker boots before blowing me a kiss.
“Can’t wait to taste Ben & Jerry’s on those tits and your pussy. Hmmm, I can just imagine what it’s going to be like. We’ll have our own private little midnight feast.”
God, I was so easy. Of course I was wet and throbbing and ready to take anything Ryder gave me. My joke was turning into reality, and I had to admit, it turned me the fuck on. But still, I worried about his safety outside the gates.
“Hurry back. This is waiting for you.” I rolled off the bed and stood naked, wearing only a smile and come-to-bed eyes.
Ryder swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing, as if it was the first time he’d seen me in my birthday suit. I loved the way he reacted to me. My hand covered my mouth as I tried to hide my amusement.
“Fuck,” he groaned as he stroked his length through the fabric of his jeans. “How am I going to ride my bike with this thing in the way?”
I gave him big, round innocent eyes as I tweaked both my nipples.
“Jade, I’m warning you. If you want Ben & Jerry’s you’d better stop, or else I’m going to strip my clothes and fuck you before I go and then again when I get back.”
“Okay, okay, just go,” I said waving him off with a hand. The quicker he went the quicker he’d be back. I loved that he cared enough to want to make me happy, but I’d worry the whole time he was gone.
Ryder threw back his head and laughed. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you? But you know me, baby—once I make up my mind about something . . .”
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said accepting defeat.
Jade—zero.
Ryder—one.
No, scratch that. I was definitely coming out on top. Just wait until he returned.
13 — Ryder
Walking down the hallway with a stiff cock halfway down my leg was no easy feat. Especially not while trying to dodge the guys playing pool in the games room, but I managed to get to my bike unseen.
Yeah, it was probably stupid of me to leave the compound, but Jade’s fantasy of playing with ice cream would be fun. It turned my horny little bitch on something fierce, and who was I to deny her pleasure?
Once at my bike, I called Hammer. “Hey, bro, I’m just stepping out for a short while. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Fuck, Ryder. You know the rules. No one goes in or out. Especially not around this time of night. It’s too fucking dangerous.”
Hammer had added even more security to the premises, and I’d had everyone take turns doing night watch because although it was pretty certain that Cobra alone was their target in that instance, we could never be absolutely certain that they wouldn’t return to do more damage to the rest of Cobra’s family or the club. After all, it was Mia who killed Daemon, even though Cobra took the responsibility for his brother’s death to protect her.
One leak of that information and Mia was in grave danger. Sometimes the sick bastards in the underworld liked hurting the offspring of their rivals because they knew that damage to soft targets was the best revenge ever. Killing the loved ones of an enemy had far more impact than killing the person who’d committed the crime against them.
I didn’t even want to think about the possibility of a contract on me and some of the other boys that night. Until it was confirmed, I was going to pretend it wasn’t a probability. Maybe it was the dumbest thing I’d ever done, ignoring something that serious, but I’d deal with it once we knew for sure.
“It’s an emergency—something for Jade.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“How are you going to ride with one arm?” I could hear the concern in his voice.
“I’ve taken the sling off. My shoulder is a lot better.” It wasn’t really true, but I’d let my good arm do most of the work. Anyway, I wasn’t going to allow a bit of pain to stop me from making Jade happy.
“Uh, okay then. But hurry and let me know when
you’re back.” Hammer didn’t sound convinced but he knew better than to try to stop me.
“Thanks, bro.” I pushed the bike toward the gate, using the shadows to hide. I punched the code into the security system and waited for the heavy metal gates to slide open. Only once I was outside the compound did I start up the motorcycle. I prayed that nobody would notice that I was gone.
It didn’t take me long to get to a store and buy what I wanted. Thank God for places that stayed open all night for emergencies like these, and for the fact that they stocked Jade’s favorite flavors of ice cream. I paid for the tubs of chocolate swirl and cookies and cream while ignoring the curious gaze of the chick at the checkout. Guess she didn’t think I had a sweet tooth. If only she knew.
The ride back to the compound cleared my head, and I realized what torture it was for any biker to be unable to ride freely. I hated when we were in lockdown and our freedom was restricted. Hell, that was part of the fun of being a biker—the wind in my face, my hair wild, the adrenaline rush as the beast rumbled between my legs.
All too soon it was over, luckily without incident but with two large tubs of ice cream safely tucked into the bag slung over my back. I killed the engine and got off the bike, pushing it the last few yards toward the gate. My shoulder ached but I kept going, thankful that I was nearly home.
The moon shone brightly, accompanying me on my walk of shame, an eerie stillness in the air. Every shadow held a threat and every sound was amplified, fueling my imagination of evil lurking in the dark.
This is crazy being out here. The kind of thing that happens when a man lets his cock rule over his head. I hated sneaking around, and my nerves were frayed.
Images of Cobra’s shooting flashed through my mind as I reached the exact spot where his vehicle had slammed into the wall. The paint was fucked and cracks had appeared. I made a mental note to have it fixed as soon as possible. We couldn’t afford weak spots anywhere, least of all in the barrier surrounding our sanctuary. Or Jade’s prison.
I could see how she disliked the place. She wasn’t emotionally attached to it like I was and most of her memories included bad things happening there. She’d never had to fight for a shelter where she wouldn’t come to harm from the people living in it like I had been forced to do.