Jagger jerked back, the belt in his hand. His face creased in consternation, and then he dropped the belt and pulled her into his chest, enfolding her in his arms. “Shhhh, sweetheart. I would never do anything you don’t want me to do.”
She buried her face in his shoulder, gulping in her breaths as she tried to slow her hammering pulse. “I didn’t know I didn’t want you to do it until you did.”
He stroked her hair, soothing her fear, but not her fire. “You’ve never been restrained before?”
“Not with a belt.”
“I’ll make sure to cross that one off the list.”
She looked up and smiled, her panic fading in the face of his humor. “You have a list?”
“A long one. I add to it every day. It’s called, ‘Things I want to do to Arianne.’”
Her smile broadened. “What else is on the list?”
He kissed her, then caressed her breasts, rolling and pinching her tender nipples until the last vestiges of her fear had disappeared beneath a need made more fierce for having been denied for even those few minutes.
“Tasting you.” He leaned down and took her nipple between his teeth. “Licking you till you come in my mouth. You want my mouth, Arianne?”
Arianne cried out softly as his heat burned her tender flesh, her core tightening with every rasp of his tongue. “Oh, God. Yes.”
“Good girl. Like to hear those words.” He tugged the shirt over his head, and she leaned forward and kissed his scar.
“Do I get to find out what this is from?” She smoothed her fingers over his naked torso.
“You gonna tell me why the belt made you panic?”
“No.” She bit her lip as her cheeks flushed.
“Then we’ll both keep our secrets a little bit longer.”
The heat in his eyes made her smolder inside. Every minute she spent with him made it harder to imagine walking away.
He eased her back on the rough wooden surface of the table, positioning her feet on the lip, then slid his hands along her inner thighs. “Spread your legs for me.”
Her mouth went dry. Too intimate. Too vulnerable. “Someone might come out.”
“Texted Wheels when I got here.” He settled in the chair in front of her. “Told him to make sure no one comes out. And Zane’s at the front gate. He knows no one comes in. No one will bother us.”
She pushed herself up on her elbows. “Why didn’t you just tell them you were planning to seduce me and fuck me on the porch?”
“Not their business. They do what I tell them to do. Now, relax, sweetheart. I want this. I want you. And I want to hear you come.” Pressing her legs apart, he leaned in and licked along her folds.
Arianne groaned and fell back on the table as he tortured and teased. Any hesitation she might have felt disappeared. Every flick of his tongue heightened her need until her thighs trembled beneath his palms. “Can I scream now?”
“Soon.” His tongue slid inside her as he parted her labia and stroked his thumbs along her sensitive inner walls. Her hips bucked against him and she cried out at the intense sensation.
“I love your body,” he murmured. “Wanted to taste you this way since the day we met.” He lapped at her clit as his thumbs stroked deeper, drawing her closer and closer to her peak. She’d never known pleasure like this, never been with a man who understood her body and could give her what she needed.
A cool breeze ruffled her hair, soothed her burning skin, and a bird chirped overhead. She felt at once cherished and dirty, outside in the dark, spread open on the rough wood surface, with his mouth licking her pussy as his brothers partied only a few meters away.
He alternated soft flicks of his tongue on her clit with the firm pressure of his thumbs against her sensitive tissue until she was coiled so tight, her body shook with need. Threading her fingers through his hair, she pressed his head down and moaned. “Make me come.”
It took only one more lick. Arianne covered her mouth to stifle her scream as she arched off the table, her orgasm zinging through her body, making every nerve ending overload. But he didn’t stop. He lapped at her clit and thrust two fingers deep inside her, curling them to press against her sensitive spot, a relentless stroking that made her buck and writhe on the table. She didn’t know whether to plead for him to continue or push him away.
“I want you inside me.” She panted her breaths, only a heartbeat shy of begging.
“And I want to watch you come again.” His eyes glittered in the dim light. “Come all over my hand, and you can have my cock.” He bent down and drew her clit between his teeth, nipping with the lightest pressure.
She almost forgot to stifle her moan, covering her mouth seconds after the orgasm hit, a deep pulsating sensation unlike anything she had experienced before.
With his gaze firmly fixed on her, Jagger grabbed a condom from his pocket and sheathed himself. “Gonna fuck you now,” he said. “Hard and fast over the table while I imagine my mark—the Sinner mark—tattooed above your ass.”
Her brain still fuzzy with lust, she didn’t catch his meaning until he helped her off the table, only to spin her around and press her back down on the wooden surface, still warm from her body.
“Open.” He kicked her legs apart and held her down with his broad palm against her lower back.
And then he was inside her, driving deep in one fierce thrust, filling her so completely, her eyes watered at the delicious sensation.
“Oh God.” Arianne braced herself against the table, the worn cedar planks scraping over her hardened nipples and sending tiny darts of pain straight to her clit.
He took her exactly as he had promised. One hand twined through her hair, pulling her head back until she arched against him, the other on her hip, holding her still as he pounded into her with a raw animal need. Dirty, rough, and wild. His total control of her body sent her over the edge, and she let go, rapturous pleasure searing her veins.
“Jesus, Arianne. You feel like heaven.” He fucked her hard, driving her hips into the edge of the table with each forceful thrust. She’d never been so hot, never imagined she would be overcome by such a deep-seated visceral need to be taken, dominated.
And yet he was there for her even as his control cracked, angling himself to hit her most sensitive tissue, tugging her head to the side so he could kiss her even as he pumped deeper and harder inside her. “I’ve never been so hard. I want to sink into your pussy so deep, you can’t let me go.”
He grunted dirty words, filthy words, putting images in her head that sent her arousal spiraling out of control. Her back was slicked in sweat, every nerve alive with the erotic sensation of Jagger sliding over her skin. Finally she peaked, gripping the table when she climaxed, hard, fast, and with shocking intensity.
“Yes. Fuck. Squeeze me, sweetheart.” His fingers dug into her hips, making her eyes tear, and then he hammered her until he stiffened and came, his shaft thickening and pulsing inside her.
“Oh my god,” she whispered, as he collapsed on top of her, taking his weight on his hands. “That was hands-down the best sex I’ve ever had.”
“What about last time?” Jagger panted his breaths against her back.
Arianne laughed. “Last time was good. This time was better.”
He pushed himself up, taking her with him, enfolding her in his body to beat away the chill. “Gimme a minute, and I’ll show you best.”
“Only a minute?”
Jagger clasped her hand and slid it down between them, folding her fingers around his semi-erect cock. “Maybe less than a minute.”
“Impressive.” She looked up at him over her shoulder, and he bent down to give her a kiss.
“You do that to me. Even if you’re across the room.”
He held her until even his warmth couldn’t beat away the chill. And then he reluctantly drew away, settling her on the bench as he gathered up their clothes.
She watched him as he dressed, drinking in his powerful thighs and the mouth-waterin
g cuts of his hip bones, unaware of his intentions until he held out his hand.
“What about me?” Arianne pointed to her clothing bunched in his other hand.
“No point puttin’ on your clothes when all that’s going to happen when we get upstairs is me taking them off you.”
“Is that supposed to be romantic?”
Jagger chuckled. “No, sweetheart. It’s efficient. Also saves me from tearing your clothes to shreds ’cause I’m ready for you all over again.” He grabbed a blanket from the railing and wrapped it around her, then lifted her in his arms and walked across the porch.
“Um.” She tensed in his arms as he neared the front entrance. “How are we going to get upstairs without anyone seeing us?”
Jagger kicked the door open and stepped inside. “We won’t.”
FIFTEEN
Every member of the Sinner’s Tribe MC must ride an American bike.
The nightmare tormented her. Lucid dreaming, imprisoning her between sleep and wakefulness. Her heart pounded wildly as she tried to rouse herself, but her body was pinned to the bed, a heavy weight on top of her.
Can’t move. Can’t breathe. She heard a scream and realized it was her.
“Arianne.”
The weight disappeared. Free. She rolled out of bed, her stomach heaving. In the back of her mind, she knew that voice. Safe. Warm. Not Leo’s voice. But still she needed to get away.
Goose bumps pricked her skin, and she grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around her, quickly crossing the room until she reached the window. With one shove, she pushed it open and leaned out, breathing in the cool, crisp air.
“What’s wrong?” Jagger followed her to the window, pulling his shirt over his head.
“Just a nightmare.”
He brushed his hand over her cheek. “I was holding you. Was I holding too tight?”
She raised her gaze to meet his. “No. It’s not a big deal. Same nightmare I have all the time. I’ll be fine.”
“Tell me about it.”
Arianne bit her bottom lip. “I can’t.”
Hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him. “I can’t help you if you don’t let me in.”
Her tension eased under his firm grip. “I don’t need your help.”
“Talk to me, Arianne. Trust me.”
Warmth spread through her body. No one had ever wanted to help her, Viper’s daughter. Not when the risks of incurring his wrath were so high. But Jagger neither feared nor cared about Viper’s wrath, and that made him a man to be reckoned with. A man she could trust. And she wanted to tell him. The only person who knew the story was Dawn, and Arianne had given her the version with the worst parts left out.
“When I turned sixteen, Viper threw me a birthday party.” A shiver slid down her spine, and Jagger turned to close the window, then pulled her into his arms.
“Keep going. I’m here.”
She buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on as if the past might carry her away. “I hadn’t had a party since my mother died. I was beyond excited. I thought it meant maybe Viper cared after all.” Even now she couldn’t believe she’d been so stupid, so naive, so trusting of a man who had done nothing to earn her trust.
“After the party,” she continued, “he told me my present was waiting for me in my bedroom. I ran upstairs. He’d never bought me a present before.” She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to pull away as the memories assailed her. “This is pathetic. I’m not looking for sympathy, Jagger, and I’m not looking for solutions. I’m over it.”
“Apparently not, or we’d be fucking in the bed instead of freezing by the window.”
She glanced up to see if he was joking, and her heart melted at his warm smile. “Fine. Okay. Well … Leo was there. He closed the door and told me he’d been waiting for me since I turned twelve.”
Jagger jerked, his body going rigid in her arms. She wondered if he’d already guessed, but if he had, he wasn’t letting on.
“He’d done something for Viper in the past. Something that indebted Viper to him. I don’t know what it was, but it must have been pretty big, because Viper never puts himself in the position of owing anyone anything. Anyway, he said I was the reward. My virginity. All those years, I’d thought Viper was being a semi-normal dad, keeping the boys away, but in fact, he was just making sure Leo got what he was promised.”
Jagger’s hands clenched into fists against her back. She could feel his heart pounding against his ribs.
“What happened?”
“I couldn’t believe that I had been given over like a piece of property, and the only thing I truly owned, the one thing I had thought I would save for the person I loved, was going to be taken from me. And I had trusted Leo. He was only twenty-two or twenty-three, and he was an outrageous flirt. I’d had a crush on him for years. I was so shocked I don’t think I really understood what he was saying, so when he kissed me, I kissed him back.” Bile rose in her throat at the memory of his cold, hard lips.
“He took that as a sign to go ahead, and he started pulling off my clothes. I pushed him away, told him I wasn’t ready. He got angry. Threw me on the bed. He said I was his to do with as he pleased, and although the deal was only for a night, he would make it so I would want more.”
A growl started low in Jagger’s chest, rising until it became a bark of anger, but his arms around her were tender, and the lips that brushed her forehead were soft and reassuring.
“I screamed and fought,” she said. “God, did I fight. I punched and scratched and kicked and bit. And I hurt him. Very badly. So he kneeled over me and pulled off his belt and wrapped it around my wrists, and then he tied them to the bed with my scarf. My legs were free and I kept kicking him and then he hit me so hard, I lost my breath. I thought that was it … and then Jeff burst into the room.” She held on to Jagger as years of anguish spilled out, her body shaking in his arms as he pressed his lips to her temple and murmured soothing words in her ear.
“Jeff was only twelve, and small for his age, but very protective of me. He knocked Leo away with a steel pipe. He must have known he had no hope of winning that fight, but the odds didn’t stop him. Leo went crazy. He grabbed the pipe and almost beat Jeff to death. Viper finally came upstairs and knocked Leo off him. Jeff was in the hospital for weeks. Because of me. I always thought I should have fought harder—”
“You were only sixteen, and Leo’s not a small man.”
“Still…” She looked up at him through lashes wet with tears. “If I’d been able to get him off me, Jeff wouldn’t have been hurt.”
“If he was only twelve and in the hospital, didn’t social services get involved?” Jagger’s nostrils flared. “The police?”
“Yes, they got involved,” she said. “On behalf of both of us. I was injured, too, and they kept me in the hospital a few days. But Viper has a long reach and a lot of money and influence. Reports were misfiled, people paid off. The social worker disappeared. Viper went to the hospital and made a big show of being a caring dad. In the end, no one could save us.”
Jagger pulled away and looked down at her, aghast. “So you went back?”
When she finally had herself under control, she tilted her chin up and met his gaze. “The day I was discharged from the hospital was the day I put a gun to my head and he let me go. But not Jeff. He said he’d kill Jeff before he let him leave with me.”
“And Leo?”
She gripped his T-shirt, afraid she’d lose herself in the memories if she didn’t have an anchor. “He never gave up. He stalked me for a while, beating up the guys I was dating. But when I got my first gun and threatened him after he broke my boyfriend’s fingers, he backed off. He still harasses me, but not so much.”
“And the nightmares?”
She shuddered. “It’s always the same. Dark. Pinned to the bed. Can’t move or breathe. Might be better if you didn’t hold me. The first night we slept together was the first night I didn’t have a nightm
are.”
Jagger hugged her face between his hands. “Do you like to be held?”
“Yes.” More than anything. But only in his arms. She’d never felt as safe as when Jagger held her as she drifted off to sleep.
“Then I’ll hold you. You deserve to be held. Not just tonight but every night.”
“Maybe,” she whispered. Just a few hours ago, she’d been happy, content, satisfied in a way she’d never been before, and now everything was an emotional tangle. Maybe one day when Conundrum was just a distant memory, someone would hold her every night and she would no longer feel afraid.
* * *
“No party.” Jagger slammed his coffee cup on the worn, wooden kitchen table.
“It’s Dawn’s birthday. I’m not going to miss it.”
Jagger stared at the infuriating woman in front of him and tried to think his way through the impasse. But quietly. Although they were the only people in the clubhouse kitchen, he had no idea who was outside.
“I don’t want you going to some sleazy bar and dancing with men who have only one thought on their minds. Viper is still a threat. Axle is hurt, which makes him more dangerous, and we might have a rat in the club. There’s no way the Jacks just found us at that hill above the ice house. Tell Dawn to come here.” He gave himself a mental pat on the back for coming up with a perfect solution. None of the brothers would dare touch Arianne, and he’d be able to keep an eye on her. Plus he would be saved the hassle of beating up strangers who touched what was his.
“I thought we had an understanding: You pretend to own me. And I pretend I believe it.”
His eyes narrowed. “There is no pretending. Especially after you told me you were going to meet Jeff and trade that piece of paper in your pocket for a passport outta town. There is no way I’m letting you meet him alone. I don’t trust him. Viper’s influence over him is pervasive. He goaded Jeff into shooting that civilian. Who know what else he’ll make him do?”
Arianne gripped her coffee cup, her knuckles whitening, and cut him off with a huff. “This isn’t about Jeff and the passport. It’s about Dawn. I’m not going to sit around locked up at the clubhouse on my best friend’s birthday, especially since it might be the last one we celebrate together.”
Rough Justice Page 20