“Fuck, Kickstand. Don’t you have somewhere…?”
Lana cut him off. “Thanks, Kickstand,” she said, breathlessly. “I’m good. I’ll let you know if I need something.”
“I’ll tell you what you need.” Tally came up behind Lana and slid an arm around her waist, drawing her away. “You need to come and meet the other old ladies. After that little display of tongue gymnastics, we want to know all about you and Ice.”
James made a move to follow them and Tally glared. “Girls only.”
“I’ll be okay.” Lana brushed her soft lips over his cheek and gave him a half smile. “For some reason, I’m not afraid anymore.”
Squaring his shoulders against the pulse of want still raging through his body, he leaned in and whispered, “I promised to stay with you. I don’t go back on my word, even if it means spending an hour listening to hen talk.”
Lana snorted a laugh and her eyes sparkled. “Hen talk. Nice. Very chauvinistic and fitting with your new persona. I’ll add that to the list of misdeeds for which I’ll be knocking you off your stool later.”
James pressed his lips together until she was out of sight and then allowed himself the luxury of laughter.
“Kickstand.” James motioned the starstruck prospect over to the bar with a sharp jerk of his hand.
“Sir?” Kickstand almost flew across the patio to get to James’s side.
“Keep an eye on Roxie for me. But don’t let her know you’re there. She doesn’t know the clubhouse. I don’t want her getting lost.”
A grin split Kickstand’s face. “Yes, sir.”
James grabbed two bottles of beer and joined Ryder under a tree within view of the main door.
“You can relax.” Ryder took one of the bottles from James. “I’m looking out for her like she’s my own and now you’ve got Kickstand licking at her heels. Rex won’t get near her.”
“Don’t know what’s up with Rex,” James said. “He knows he’ll lose respect if he messes around with my old lady. It’ll kill his leadership as fast as a bullet to the heart.”
Ryder took a swig of his beer. “Bullet to the heart doesn’t always kill. Seen a guy survive it once, but it wasn’t pretty.”
James gave him a sideways glance. Ryder had often hinted about a dark and troubled past, but he’d never talked about it and James respected his need for privacy.
Gravel crunched under heavy boots, and Bones and Diesel joined them in the shade.
“How did the weapons move go?” Bones stared at James unblinking and then flicked his gaze to Ryder.
“I couldn’t believe the arsenal in that old guy’s trailer,” Ryder said. “Punch’s dad has got to be at least eighty but cool as ice. He unloaded machine guns, grenades and automatic weapons from the storage compartment under the bunk beds his grandkids sleep on when they come to visit and threw in a teddy bear for free.”
James gave a thin laugh. “Hell yeah. I thought we were going to pick up a couple of pistols, not three hockey bags worth of weapons. And those grenades…when he tossed one to us I thought it was all over. I told…”
Bones cut him off. “Where did you hide the weapons?”
James’s blood chilled. As he had expected, the DEU had confiscated the weapons as soon as Ryder drove away, leaving him with three hockey bags full of dick-all and a ticket to an early grave.
“Friend of mine,” he lied. “He’s a trucker. Lives alone. Has no problem keeping stuff for a fee.”
Part two of his plan was to stall when Rex asked for the weapons by saying his friend was out on a job and not due back for however long he expected it to take to think up a new excuse or get the hell out of town.
“Convenient.” Bones’s eyes narrowed and they locked gazes for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally, Diesel asked Bones a question, drawing Bones’s attention away.
Sweat trickled down James’s back. He knew Bones was suspicious, but he hadn’t anticipated him coming this close to an outright confrontation. If he wasn’t careful, he might wind up being the one with a bullet in his heart.
“Anyone seen Rex?” James asked. “He hasn’t been around this afternoon. Not like him to miss out on a party.”
Diesel frowned. “He was getting his chopper serviced this morning. Maybe he got held up.”
“I thought I saw him in his office.” Bones tossed his beer bottle in the trash. “And he wasn’t alone.”
Rex was inside. And so was Lana. Anxiety ratcheted through James and he shot Ryder a worried glance.
“I’m going to get another case of beer from the kitchen,” James stepped away from the group. “Looks like Dawg is running low.”
“Think I’ll join you.” Ryder clapped a hand on his shoulder and lowered his voice to a hushed murmur. “Can’t let you go hunting for trouble alone, and I had something to ask you before we were interrupted.”
They crossed the patio to the clubhouse. James pushed open the door and paused to let his eyes adjust to the low light.
“I’m leaving in a couple of weeks.” Ryder kept his voice so low James could barely hear him. “I’m taking ten guys and starting a new club. We’re going to run it clean. No drugs. No gun running. No serious illegal activity except for some vigilantism, the odd beating—but only guys who deserve it—and we might misappropriate goods, but only from those who stole first. There’s no one I would rather have riding beside me than you.”
Nausea roiled in James’s gut. Damn. He’d known this was coming, but he hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. Ryder had butted heads with Rex so many times no one would be surprised to see him go, but taking ten brothers with him turned his defection into a rebellion. And James couldn’t afford to be in the middle.
“I’m honored. Let me think about it. Kinda preoccupied right now.”
Ryder nodded. “Take all the time you need, but I’m gonna keep riding you until you say yes.”
“That why they call you Ryder?”
The door slammed closed behind them and they walked through the workout area toward the lounge.
“My name is a whole different story,” Ryder said with a grin. “The day you ride up to my new clubhouse is the day you get to hear it.”
As they crossed the lounge, Tally and the girls headed toward them. No Lana. A chill wound its way up James’s spine. He called Tally over and she left the group to join him.
“You seen Roxie?”
Tally shrugged. “She skipped out to the restroom when we started doing each other’s nails. Didn’t come back. I thought she was with you.”
“What about Kickstand?”
Tally shook her head. “Haven’t seen him either.”
James’s heart pounded against his rib cage. He should never have let her go in alone. He had made her a promise—to keep her safe—and he had spent the last half hour drinking beer and shooting the breeze while she was alone inside with Rex. Dammit. He just couldn’t do right by her.
“We’ll find her,” Ryder said, his face tight. “She might have got lost.”
“She might have got caught.”
“If she did, make sure you leave a piece of him for me.”
Chapter Eight
Crap.
Crap. Crap. Double crap.
A shiver of fear slithered up Lana’s spine as she watched Rex strip off Portia’s clothes. Why hadn’t she just stayed in the doorway to get the pictures? Why had she felt it necessary to creep into Rex’s office? Her new lipstick camera had a zoom. Jackie could have blown up the pictures. She could have taken a few snaps of them lip-locked together and gone back to the party.
But no. Stupid Lana had to try for a better shot. Clumsy Lana had tripped. Terrified Lana had dived into the storage locker reeking of Rex’s unwashed gym clothes. And now, Peeping Lana had a front-row seat to a show she did not want to see.
A fully clothed Rex lifted a naked Portia and settled her on his desk. He barked a few words and she parted her legs and leaned back on her hands. Lana’s stomach clenched. Voyeurism w
as so not her thing.
Well, since she was here, she might as well make use of her time. She pulled out her lipstick camera and slid it through the crack in the door. She took a few shots of Rex fondling Portia’s breasts and sighed. Breast fondling was good but her 15 percent bonus hinged on Rex’s full nudity. She silently urged Rex to get on with it, not that she wanted to see him naked, but why waste time?
Sweat trickled down her back. Did the locker have its own heater? Even her palms were slick. She twisted in the locker and repositioned herself to get a better angle and a breath of fresh air. The camera slipped from her sweaty fingers and crashed to the floor. Lana squeezed her eyes shut and willed the ground to swallow her up.
Boots thudded across the concrete floor, and the locker door banged open, sending a rush of cool air over her heated cheeks. Seconds later, a hand clamped around Lana’s arm and yanked her out of the locker. She fell forward, landing at Rex’s feet.
“Wildcat.” The pure-carnal delight in Rex’s voice turned her knees to jelly.
Lana’s pulse raced and her mouth went dry. “I…got lost on my way to the restroom, and was just leaving when I saw you coming, and I panicked and hid. I’m sorry. Really sorry. I’ll just be on my way.” Her words tumbled over each other in a garbled rush of sound. She scrambled backward, crab-walking at top speed across the floor. Not fast enough. Rex grabbed a fistful of her hair and hauled her to her feet.
“I knew you were wild,” he hissed in her ear. “And I know why you’re here. Ice isn’t enough for you. You want a real man.”
She pressed her lips together, willing herself to be silent while all manner of sarcastic retorts tumbled over her tongue.
He jerked his chin at Portia. “You. Out.”
Portia shot Lana a dirty look and tugged on her clothes in less than a minute: a bra, a white spandex dress and a pair of four-inch white stilettos. Lana made a mental note to wear less so she could dress faster in the morning.
“Wait.” Lana tried to free her hair from Rex’s grip and succeeded only in having him twist it more firmly around his hand. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll leave you two alone.”
Portia rolled her eyes and gave Lana a derisory sniff before she sashayed out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
“Don’t fucking play games,” Rex growled. “You came to me.”
“I told you. I got lost and panicked. Let me go or I’ll…scream.”
Rex laughed. “I’ve wanted to hear you scream since I first laid eyes on you. Go on. Scream. No one will hear you over the music. Or maybe you’re waiting for Rex to make you scream…”
“Ice will come looking for me.” Her voice rose to a thin whine.
Rex dragged her closer and yanked her head back. “No doubt. And when he finds you jumped ship, he’ll cut you loose.”
Lana’s throat tightened. “You don’t know him very well. My guess is that he’ll go crazy.”
Rex leaned closer and pressed his lips against her ear. “I hope so. It will give me an excuse to put him in his place. He’s been getting a bit of an attitude.”
Lana closed her eyes and took a few deep, calming breaths. She wasn’t helpless. She had taken self-defense classes as part of her private investigator training. Motivated by a desire never to experience the type of powerlessness she had suffered with Levi, she’d practiced until she could do the moves in her sleep.
She crouched down, shifting her center of balance, and laced her fingers over her head, trapping Rex’s hand. A quick spin and Rex lost his grip.
Success!
Her freedom was short-lived. Before she could make a run for the door, Rex grabbed her and slammed her into the locker with a bone-jarring crunch.
She struggled against him, but his massive thigh pinned her legs, and his hands easily held her arms down by her sides. Her attempts at head-butting him were rewarded with laughter and the faint whiff of stale beer and cigarettes.
Racking her brain for a self-defense move to escape being crushed against a locker by a mammoth, she was suddenly barraged with unwanted memories. Another room. Another clubhouse. Her hands pinned. Unable to move. And pain. So much pain.
Her heart thundered in her chest. Her pulse pounded in her ears. Lost in her memories and a barrage of emotion, Lana screamed.
Crash. The door splintered off its hinges and skittered across the floor.
James stormed into the office with Ryder on his heels. Taking advantage of Rex’s momentary distraction, Lana wriggled free. James grabbed her and shoved her into Ryder’s arms.
“Take her,” he barked at Ryder.
Lana turned and caught movement at the door. Bikers jostled in the hallway for a view. Of course. No biker worth his salt could resist a good fight, and she could smell a good fight coming the way her grandpa could smell a storm.
Rex folded his arms, his mouth tightening into a thin line. “She came to me.”
“Doesn’t matter if she did. Doesn’t matter if she didn’t.” James’s voice was low and dripping with fury. “She’s mine until I say she’s not. You don’t touch what’s mine, and in particular, you don’t touch her.”
Rex glanced over at Lana. “Tell him you want to be here.”
Lana frowned. Was he delusional? Had she given any indication she was interested in him at all, besides following him down the alley into Carpe Noctem and hiding in his gym locker?
“I’m with Ice.”
Rex’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t have to be afraid of him.”
He was delusional. “I’m with Ice,” she said in a loud, slow voice, emphasizing each word.
James and Rex locked gazes. No one moved. Tension hung thick in the air.
“You gonna fight me over a piece of tail?” Rex unfolded his arms and cracked his knuckles one by one. How lame.
“Last thing I want to do.”
“Last thing you want to do is the last thing you’re gonna do.” With a roar, Rex charged. James met him with a punch to the gut, sending Rex reeling backward. Ryder pulled Lana into a corner, and a few bikers pushed their way into the room, giving James and Rex even less space to maneuver.
Fast, furious, dirty fighting ensued. James moved with economical grace, his moves purposeful and consistently powerful. But Rex absorbed each blow, meeting him punch for punch. Hades’s leader had to be able to defend his position, and he clearly had the skill and strength to put down most of the bikers she’d seen in the clubhouse.
But damn, James could fight. His pecs rippled beneath his shirt with every punch. Biceps twitching, quads tensing, tendons pulsing, he was a vision of an enraged, red-hot alpha male.
Despite the fact he and Rex were doing some serious damage to each other, Lana’s mouth watered and lust, raw and ragged, swept through her bones. Badass biker Ice was even more of a turn-on than dangerous, crusty cop James.
The bikers cheered every time Rex landed a blow, but he tired quickly. His punches became slower. His leg sweeps were always a second too late. For a heartbeat, Lana thought James would win. And then, inexplicably, James dropped his guard.
Taking advantage of James’s exposure, Rex lunged in with a punch that sent James clear across the room. He bounced off a shelf and fell to the floor. Ryder called the fight for Rex and dispersed the crowd. He released Lana and they raced across the room to James.
“You kicked up a shitstorm, darlin’,” Ryder murmured as they knelt down beside a groaning James.
“Didn’t mean to.” She brushed her finger along James’s jaw, prickly with a five o’clock shadow. Her jaw tightened as she took in his closed eyes and the gray pallor of his skin.
“Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?”
“Just need a minute,” he rasped.
“You’re not looking so good.” Tears prickled the back of her eyes. “I really think you need to go to a hospital.”
“Shhh, babe. I’m okay.” He squeezed her hand and she wiped a rogue tear off her cheek.
Ryder patted her on the b
ack. “He has a hard head. Takes more than a little bump against a shelf to do any serious damage to him. Hell, he once got his head slammed in a car door when he was chasing down some druggie who tried to steal the chrome from Rex’s bike. Didn’t slow him down. Neither did the two-by-four the druggie’s friends beat him with. I actually felt for the druggie when Ice caught him. I think he’s still on crutches.”
Lana shot Ryder a sideways glance. “Ah…thanks for that. I guess I’ll just leave him then and go have a beer until he gets up off the floor. Or maybe I should hit him with a two-by-four first, just for kicks.”
“I’ll go get one.” Chuckling, Ryder left them and went to check on Rex.
James snorted a laugh and Lana frowned. “You better damn well be unconscious after I shed a tear for you. Those tears are hard to come by.”
He opened his eyes and a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I was wondering what it would take to get your attention.”
“You had my attention outside. You’re a difficult man to ignore, especially when you’re engaged in a public demonstration of French-kissing and naughty behavior.”
But was it real naughty behavior or was it just for show? The question burned in her brain, but this wasn’t the time to ask. Still, the memory of that kiss sent her heart racing again. How could a kiss like that just be for show? He felt something for her, just as he had accused her of feeling something for him.
“I like naughty behavior,” he murmured, bringing her back from their moment of passion on the patio.
“And I like James not beat up.” She paused and gave him a sultry grin. “Although watching you go all alpha crazy on Rex…knowing you are all sorts of badass dangerous…”
“You like dangerous.” He shifted his weight and groaned. Then his eyes shuttered closed.
Lana’s heart stuttered in her chest and she looked around frantically for someone to help.
“Ice.” She shook his shoulders and her voice wavered. “Ice…” She leaned over and pressed her lips to his ear. “Yes, I like dangerous and you’d better open those damn eyes and give me some.”
Barely Undercover: Legal Heat, Book 2 Page 8