He left the building and hopped on his Harley-Davidson Super Glide. He'd flown in from D.C. and rented a car for the week he'd planned to stay. But as soon as he'd hit the garage, he'd traded in the rental keys for his bike. He didn't have much opportunity to ride in the District, with work keeping him busy and the city's abundance of bad drivers making him leery. He took the long way to the hospital, enjoying the fresh air and the freedom from confinement of a cubical or the stress of a crime scene.
He parked his bike with reluctance and entered the hospital. He hadn't seen his brother's friends in a long time. The Watchers Crew partied wild, just as wild as the Baztards had partied back when they were that young. But Prince hadn't partied for a long while, not with the new life he had.
It would be good to see all the boys of the Watcher's Crew. Just thinking about the tight-knit group of guys made him miss his own crew. He knew he should make the time to see Chief and Sully. The question was, did he want to?
One crew at a time.
He'd already talked with all four member of the Watchers Crew the previous day. But it wouldn't hurt to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Perhaps the Henchmen had aimed some of their vitriol directly at Crow. Perhaps he could get Crow to launch a civil suit. He knew none of the boys were hurting for money. He didn't ask where it came from. He didn't want to dig too deeply and inadvertently find out either.
He headed over to the reception area of the hospital. Now that Crow was out of the woods, he'd recently been moved and Prince needed to get the new room number. There was a pretty nurse behind the station. She didn't look like a real nurse. She looked like a Halloween caricature of a nurse.
Her uniform was just a tad tight. Even though she wore scrubs, there was more than a hint of cleavage showing. Her covered legs were miles long, but the cotton covering them showed their definition. When her gaze rose to meet his, Prince felt like she was giving him an x-ray and a full physical examination all at once.
"Excuse me?" he said. "I'm looking for Christopher Trent's room?"
"I'll take you," she said, her lips curled into a carnivorous grin as she sashayed in front of him.
Prince checked her out. Though his cock wasn't interested, he was still a man. She was beautiful, but she wasn't his type. She might have been his type years ago when he rode more often and ran with a rougher crowd. But even now, he didn't feel a twinge of interest.
"You one of Crow's brothers?" she asked.
"Not by blood. I'm Eagle's brother. My name's Yohaness."
"Excuse me? Did you say your name was Your Highness?"
"Pretty much," Prince grinned. "My mother believes in the power of names."
"Mine, too. I'm Cleopatra. I have two brothers; Solomon and Khan."
"She named you all after various kings and queens."
"Yeah, depending on our dad's heritage. Your mom named your brother Eagle?"
"No, she didn't." Prince smiled not giving up Eagle's given name. He could tell she was hedging. He wondered if his brother had gotten into her scrubs. It was likely. This woman looked exactly like the type to bend Eagle to his knees. Prince decided he liked her instantly.
"It's nice to meet you, Yohaness."
"No one calls me that." No one but his mother and Gabby's dad. "Everyone calls me Prince."
There was laughter coming from Crow's room. It was light and feminine with a double dose of sweetness and the slightest hint of mischief. Prince froze in his tracks.
He knew the sound of that voice. It had tickled him the first time he'd played peekaboo with her as a baby. It had made him dizzy the first time he'd picked her up and twirled her around. It had gripped his heart the first time she'd tossed her hair over her shoulder to reveal she'd grown breasts and curves. It had put his cock on ice when he heard the high-pitched scream of his name in the throes of passion.
Prince leaned on the doorjamb. Gabby stood on the far side of Crow's hospital bed. She stood there not as the child he tried to hold onto in his mind. She stood there in pinup glory. She wore a bright sundress that brought out the sparkle of her eyes. The dress was cinched at the waist accenting every curve from her breasts to her hips down to her exposed calves. Her hair was done up in curls and her lips were fire-engine red. Prince's cock jumped in his pants, pushing at his zipper to get across the room.
Gabby giggled as Crow waggled his eyebrows at her. Prince hadn't heard what the blond man had said. But he looked at the injured man laying impotent in the bed, and he wanted to break his leg.
"Keep talking to my baby sister like that and I will hurt you," Hawk growled.
"Do I look like I'm stupid enough to make a move on your sister?" grinned Crow. "My fiancé aside, I don't have a death wish."
"Can you imagine what it was like growing up with two guard dogs?" Gabby punched Eagle.
"Don't you mean three?" Eagle looked up to find his brother framing the door.
And then Gabby cocked her head. It was a delicate move, like a bird sensing a shift in the wind. She took an inhale, like a lioness scenting that the king of the jungle was near.
Prince had the insane desire to run away like a deer in fear for its life. At the same time, he felt the urgency to hold still like a bug on the wall. Maybe if he didn't move, she wouldn't spot him. If she didn't spot him, she wouldn't be able to crush him with that wide smile of hers. She wouldn't be able to pin him with those sparkling eyes.
Gabby turned her head to him. Her eyes skated over him, brief and efficient. Her smile was all her mother's; a socialite at a party, making nice with an acquaintance she hadn't seen in some time.
"Yohaness," she said, her voice a trickle of polite airiness. "I didn't know you were in town."
Prince's lips pressed together. His eyes narrowed. Gabby never called him by his given name. She never stood still when he came into a room. She'd always light up, squeal, and make a mad dash into his arms.
Not today.
Today, she stood prim and proper in a dress straight out of the fifties. It outlined her bust in the shape of a heart. It cinched in her tiny waist before flaring out along her generous hips. And still, she stood there immobile, smiling politely at him with a friendly gaze.
Prince couldn't find his voice. He couldn't feel his tongue. He couldn't blink.
"I'm surprised you weren't the first person he called," said Hawk. "He's always been wrapped around your little finger since you were born."
"I don't have his new number," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes. She turned back to Crow and gave him a wide smile. "Listen, I'm going to get out of your hair." Gabby leaned over and gave Crow a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad you're well, Christopher. Maybe slow down next time."
"Ha-ha," grinned Crow. "You coming to my homecoming party tonight?"
"No." Hawk, Eagle, and Prince all said in unison.
"Just like old times," said Gabby with a giggle. She turned to Nurse Cleo. "I wasn't allowed in their fort as a kid either, but other girls were."
She turned and headed towards Prince. Prince weaved away from the door frame and braced for impact. But her gaze was trained on the floor. Her steps were slow and even. Her hands were down at her side.
He tensed as the scent of her neared him. And then he realized, as her gaze didn't connect with his, she was going to walk right past him.
And she did.
She walked right past him and out the door. Prince turned and stared at her ass as it moved up and down beneath her dress. She was about to cross the threshold and she hadn't even touched him.
But then, she paused and turned. "It was nice to see you again, Prince."
"You too, Gabby."
It was only a two second stare. None of the other people in the room caught it. Then Gabby flipped a stray curl over her shoulder and walked out.
"Prince, you're coming to the party tonight, right?" said Crow.
"I'm too old to be going to any of your parties," Prince said.
His eyes were still latched on Gabby and her long legs
. She'd always had long legs, but had they always moved like that? Like she was strutting because she knew she had sunshine between her legs. Prince knew for a fact that there was sunshine between her legs. He knew because he'd been so cold for so long outside of their warmth.
"How long are you in town for?" asked Hawk.
"Not long," said Prince as he watched Gabby pause and push the button for the elevator. She smiled at a man in a white coat as he came to stand next to her. "I just have some questions to ask you about the race."
"You think you can prosecute those dipshits for a hate crime?" asked Crow.
Gabby stepped into the elevator with the doctor. The man leaned down and said something to make her laugh. Prince grit his teeth as the doors closed them in.
"Listen," Prince said to Crow without turning around. "Can I give you a call and talk about the case later?"
"Sure thing," said Crow.
But the man sounded far away. Prince was already headed to the stairwell. He bounded down the stairs until he got to the ground floor. He yanked open the exit door and looked around the parking lot.
He didn't see her car. He didn't see her. Until…
Prince walked over to his bike. Gabby ran her hand over the handlebars. She pressed her palm into the leather of the seat. She turned when he approached.
"Hey," she grinned, her eyes sparkling up at him. "You think I could get a ride home?"
Chapter Six
It had been the right dress. Gabby was never a fan of miniskirts. Her mother had taught her that skirts, longer skirts, gave a hint at the treasures beneath. That long, winding road made men want to do whatever it took to get the prize at the end of the journey.
She watched as Prince's eyes strained. His pupils dilated as he looked at her bare calves. His eyes traveled up and got a nice view of her knees, but cloth obstructed his view any farther.
He took a step forward. "Didn't you drive?"
"A friend dropped me off," she said. "But it's okay. I can call an Uber if you're still mad at me."
Gabby pulled out her phone and gave a few taps to get to the ridesharing app.
"Uber?" Prince took another step towards her. "You get into strangers' cars? What did I tell you about strangers?"
"That I shouldn't talk to them. Or get in cars with them." She tilted her chin up to meet his stern gaze. "So, can I get a ride from you?"
Prince pinched the bridge between his nose and sighed like he used to when she beat him at Connect Four. He excelled at complex mathematical operations. But he never saw the blind side that came from easy, simple calculations.
With his eyes closed, Gabby had a chance to take him in. There were bags under his eyes. He looked thinner, but still fit. It was as though any ounce of fat had melted away from him in the last three years, not that there had ever been any. Prince had always been a fine specimen.
He wore the bottom half of a suit. The top was a crisp white shirt with a tie beneath his motorcycle jacket. She was used to seeing him in jeans. Seeing him in the tailored suit pants and the creamy shirt against his cocoa skin set her body humming.
It didn't take much for her to remember the fireworks he'd set off in her three years ago. The tiny sticks of dynamite still fizzled in the core of her. And now that the match was so close to her, she felt ready to ignite again.
"You're wearing heels."
Gabby blinked at Prince's words. She looked down at her shoes. "Should I take them off?"
She slipped out of her right heel. Prince closed the small amount of distance remaining between them and put his hand on her hip. It wasn't meant to be sensual, but upon impact Gabby felt as though she would spontaneously combust in the middle of the hospital parking lot.
She grasped his shoulders for balance. Her thighs brushed up against his. He inhaled, sucking the breath from her parted lips. Gabby licked her bottom lip to restore some of the moisture there. Prince watched the action with a hooded gaze.
"Keep your shoes on," he said. "It's the skirt that's going to be a problem."
Gabby's lips parted into a slow grin. "I'm sure you don't want me to take that off. Or do you?"
Prince shivered as though she'd thrown water in his face. He let her go in a fast, thrusting motion. But at the last second, his touch gentled and he gripped her hip as though making sure she was steady before he let her go.
"You should wait for your brother," Prince said. "He can take you home."
Gabby shrugged, leaning back against the leather of his bike's seat. "Hawk's headed to his place for Crow's party. So…"
Gabby didn't know much about her brother's social life. But she did know that he'd played the field; a big wide open field full of women. And she knew that he still frequented that field, even though he was in a relationship with his girlfriend Ellie, whom Gabby and her family adored. Gabby had heard whispers in high school of her big brother being into something called polyamory. She hadn't known what that meant until she went to college and people actually told her things instead of hushing when she came into the room.
Prince grit his teeth as she let the silence between them stew. He obviously knew more about Hawk's proclivities than she did. That's what she'd counted on. Although she didn't want Prince to treat her with kid gloves anymore, if she could use it to get her way, she would. And it looked like that tactic worked.
"Okay." He said it more to himself than to her.
Gabby didn't even try to hide her grin of triumph. She turned away from Prince and ran her hands over the bike's seat like it was a favorite pet returned home. She hadn't ridden with him since she was a girl. Even then, it had only been up and down their neighborhood street. He'd let her ride when she fit on the seat in front of him. The moment she'd climbed on all by herself in a pair of gym shorts, with her feet reaching the pedals, and her legs clinching around his hips, and her then small breasts rubbing against his back, she'd been banned from his bike.
Now she turned back to Prince. His eyes were locked on her fingers as they trailed the leather of his seat.
"I finally get to be your bitch," she grinned.
Prince's hazel eyes flashed. "Watch your mouth, Gabrielleia."
Gabby rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "You keep forgetting, I'm a grown woman."
"No, you're not." Prince shook his head. "You're a lady."
He took his leather jacket off and wrapped it around her shoulders. She was engulfed in his scent, in his heat. She closed her eyes and breathed him in.
A thick finger lifted her chin, and she met with the hazel eyes she'd seen in her dreams every night. They looked at her through a haze of desire, just as they had when he'd swiped his tongue over her clit and held her gaze as she had her second climax. That one had been longer than the first one but deeper than the third one.
"I'm not mad at you, Gabs," he said softly. "I'm mad at myself. What happened between us three years ago shouldn't have. I took advantage of you."
Gabby halted her tongue. Even though she wanted to rail against the insanity of that logic. She'd taken every advantage she could get to get him alone and in that situation. She hadn't done anything she hadn't wanted to do, and she almost always got her way.
Prince knew that. Everyone in her family knew that. It was a running joke that happened to be based in truth.
She had wanted him since before she understood what wanting meant. He'd wanted her, too; a little too soon before it was prudent for him to admit it to himself or anyone else. She'd been entirely legal when they'd done what they'd done. She hadn't regretted it for a single second and she was spinning all of her wheels trying to figure out how to make it happen again.
Gabby may not have been the best academic, but she paid attention and she learned the lessons that interested her well. She was going to ace this assignment. It was her life's work. She was determined to figure out all the steps in the algorithm of making the moves to win Prince Obademi's heart. So, if he needed to believe he'd taken advantage of her, she'd work that int
o the equation.
"I'm fine," she said looking down, toying with the leather seat. "It did overwhelm me a bit."
He closed his eyes as though he were in pain and sighed. The gust of soft air met her nose. She smelled citrus on his breath and had a sudden urge for lemonade, but only if she could drink it from his mouth.
"I figured I did something wrong," she continued, "and that's why you stopped talking to me."
His eyes jerked open. "You didn't do anything wrong. It was me; it was all me."
Gabby broke out into a beatific smile. "Then I forgive you."
Prince blinked at that smile, like it blinded him.
"Do you think we can be friends again?" Gabby asked. "Because I really missed you."
He sighed again, but this time it was one of sorrow. "I missed you too, monkey."
"So we're all better?" She took a step closer.
Prince's eyes narrowed at her advance and he took a step back. "Come on," he said. "I'll take you home."
He reached for his spare helmet and aimed it for her head. It smelled new, like no one had worn it, which pleased Gabby to no end. She felt him sweep the loose tendrils of her hair back, winding the locks in his large hands, and sliding the gathered hair into the back of the helmet.
Prince put his own helmet on. Hitching himself onto the bike, he hesitated a second. But then reached for her hand.
She shifted her skirt slightly and slid one leg over the seat as ladylike as she could. There was space between them, but she scooted down closer to him. Her thighs cocooned his. Her arms wrapped around his chest. She hugged him tight.
"I really missed you," she said.
He tensed in her embrace, but only for a moment. "Be a good girl, Gabby."
She gave him another squeeze and the tension in his body relaxed. He reached back and flipped the visor of her helmet down and her world changed to shades of gray, but her plan was crystal clear.
She sat on a bitch seat wearing a ladylike dress with her thighs and arms wrapped around the man of her dreams. A good girl was the last thing she intended to be.
Smart Baztard (Baztards MC Book 1) Page 4