Maybe a motherfuckin' ride, with the full throated roar, the fuckin' beauty of his Harley between his legs, would clear his head and the doings of his emotions.
Which were all because of her and their play of the night before.
Of just Ryley.
But not before he filled his belly with all the good eats the Honey's had provided after he'd scraped the fruit shit off. And as soon as his fork was pulling up the ribbons of paper on the paper plate, he was on his feet.
But his way through the tables went by Leif who stood with feet planted and arms crossed.
"Need to get by, brother," Dare mumbled and took a step to the side that the other man copied.
"Leave Ryley alone," came Leif's low growled warning.
"Think that's her decision, not yours, dude," Dare challenged with a chin lift. He was in no fuckin' mood to be told what to do. Especially when those instructions came on the heels of Gus demanding his fuckin' cut, for Christ's sake. "Outta my way."
It took a few seconds of glaring before Leif turned enough for Dare to move by.
And out the goddamn door.
*.*.*.*.*
With my fingers clenched on the thin rail behind my ass, I automatically smiled at the different brothers who thanked both me and the other Honeys for the food they were piling onto paper plates. Their sweet words of acknowledgment of the efforts we'd made calmed me right the hell down and settled me in some way.
Until I saw Dare in line.
How had I forgotten how tall he was, how wonderfully big? And so damn handsome that it took my breath away. Knowing in the fullness of the room that somebody somewhere had their eyes on me, I tried to keep my admiration and heated thoughts to myself. But all bets were off when he shot me one of his lopsided, cheeky grins after stuttering over my name.
I couldn't resist a bit of trouble as Dare stepped along the line away from me. It was time for me to step up my game if I wanted to gain the prize. So I allowed all the desire and passion he'd created to shine in my eyes as I slowly licked my lips.
I knew it was wrong to do when I did it. But the shocked look on his face and the flare in the depths of his eyes made it more than worth the trouble I'd borrowed in doing it. And his reaction caused another hard throb to begin to pound within me.
That was until I heard Wanton say, "who's the cock-tease now, huh? And right under March and daddy's noses. Tsk-tsk, princess."
My head whipped towards the black haired beauty on my left who was wearing a smart-ass grin. A look I wanted to slap off her beautiful face. But her eyes moved from me to the line of men stepping slowly down the length of the bar as they filled their plates.
Leif frowned at me as he moved by, only four men away from Dare's position and then slid his eyes to March, and I couldn't help follow my brother's gaze. But my soon-to-be-former fiancé's eyes were not on me. They were drilling a hole in the back of Dare's skull, letting me know he also had witnessed my bit of play.
Who else had seen?
Even though my pops was more than ten men back from Leif, the scowl he wore told me he'd seen my little bit of sexy sass and wasn't happy. His look told me I'd be hearing about it later and in a way to insure I wouldn't easily forget. My mind touched on a couple of the hellacious arguments we'd gotten into over the years even as I continued to smile and chat with the men still filling their plates. Some of those fights had been bad, damn bad.
But never as awful as the first one. The one where I'd seen, had actually watched my place in my pop's heart change.
The scowl never left my dad's face even as he took his full plate to a table.
I shook my head, pushing that memory as far away from me as I could. But it didn't want to go and I could feel the pressure building inside me.
Fuck! Would I ever fucking get my own life? Get to live it my own damn way? Why couldn't my dad just let it the fuck go for god's sake?
And as soon as the questions had fully formed in my head, I'd had enough! I needed to get out and gone just as quickly as possible. Grabbing my jacket while stepping in front of the other Honeys, I raced towards the exit and pushed the heavy door open so hard it hit the stucco of the outside with a bang.
Or would've been heard if it hadn't been for the low growl of the motorcycle that idled three feet from where I stood in the doorway. I saw an arm reach towards me, a hand beckoning from the seat of the throbbing machine and as I raised my eyes, I saw Dare.
My Dare.
The only man I'd ever truly wanted.
Chapter Twelve
He'd idled the hog in front of the clubhouse door as he argued within himself. To go in and grab her or just motherfuckin' leave?
But as soon as he'd seen the door begin to open, he'd known, he'd fuckin' known, who was going to come striding out.
Ryley.
And the sight of her, even with the deep frown she'd worn, had filled both his vision and his heart. To feel her jump on behind him, to press that sweet pussy against his ass as her arms had clutched his waist while she'd screamed at him to 'just fucking ride' had been like something out of a dream.
Reaching to slide a hand across the length of her thigh pressed against him, he gunned the machine and had taken off, no real destination in mind other than 'away'. But after seeing the sign for highway 93 north, he knew where he wanted to take her.
As they traveled the road that took them higher and higher into the mountains, he found himself letting go of the frustration and stress he'd been carrying ever since he'd watched her lights disappear the night before. And he knew that she must've been doing something similar from the way her arms went from a hard clench to a gentle hug around his waist.
Even the press of her head on his back seemed to soften, and he was aware she'd begun to look around as they rode instead of planting her face between his shoulder blades. He couldn't resist another thigh-stroke and felt a squeeze around his middle in response.
And just like the night before, Dare found he didn't want their time together to ever end.
*.*.*.*.*
He pulled the bike into a conveniently located gas station situated at the southern-most tip of Flathead Lake, just outside of Polson and I got off to stretch my legs.
"So what was up with your big speech last night?" I ventured as he pumped gas into his machine's tank. Since his reaction to my prompting about the week we'd shared was so lighthearted as we'd gone down memory lane, I felt safe in my question.
"Speech?" He was frowning at the traffic whizzing by and I wondered how drunk he'd really been if he couldn't recollect what he'd said to me.
"Yeah, you know." I dropped my voice to try and sound like him. "I get you alone, sugar, it ain't gonna be for fuckin' talk. Have wanted you for too goddamn many years, jacked off to thoughts of you too fuckin' much to goddamn talk, Ryley."
The look he shot me was one of disbelieving incredulity. "I did fuckin' not!"
Oh yeah he did! And I remembered every fucking word of that damn speech too, playing it over and over as I'd tossed and turned while half-listening to Lock and Blaze do their thing on the other side of the thin wall after I'd left him.
"Did too! How'd you think you convinced me to join you on the picnic table, stud? On just your good looks?" I was laughing so hard I could barely speak. Which beat the hell out of crying and was the thing my heart really wanted to do. He didn't remember, didn't fucking remember the words that had embedded themselves inside me. "Uh-uh. Takes a bit more than a pretty face and an awesome bod to get this girl alone!"
"Oh yeah?" He was wearing a smirk as his head turned towards me. "Then why the hell are you on the back of my fuckin' bike now, sugar? Huh?"
I blinked a couple of times, realizing I'd talked myself into a trap. Shit! "Yours was the first available ride, asshole!"
"Aw, babe. Now that was just fuckin' weak." He took a step closer to where I leaned against the pump and lowered his voice. "Need a do-over?"
"Fuck you, Dare!"
"Still weak but an in
teresting idea," he said with another bark of laughter and a sidelong look my way. He hung up the nozzle and recapped the tank before shooting me a sharp glance. "You up for it?"
As his words sank in, it felt as if my body had been plugged into an electrical socket. My heartbeat zoomed as all my systems went into 'go' mode, hardening and moistening in all the right places. Did I really want to?
"You're kidding, right? That's your play?" I questioned, keeping my voice as teasing as it had been before. "The Honeys said you got your fair share of pussy around the compound but, damn, Dare. With cheesy-ass lines like that, I don't see how."
That shut him right the fuck up and wiped his stupid smile off his face. Got him to step back from me as well.
"They were talking about me?"
"Yeah, while we were cooking. Got a real earful this morning on all your methods between the sheets. Really interesting stuff," I said. I wanted to sound victorious, like I'd won our duel of words fair and square but that wasn't how it came out. It sounded more like lament to my ears.
"Shit!" Oh yeah, he wasn't happy and I may have caused a problem with my admittance. "Fuckin' bitches don't know when to keep their goddamn mouths shut!"
"And the brothers do? That's a laugh," I said with a snort, feeling myself starting to get pissed off at his attack of the girls, my girls. "You fucking guys gossip more than any woman I've ever known."
He didn't respond except to give me a glower, letting me know I had, indeed, crossed a line before he stomped off towards the cashier to pay.
I could've kicked myself. I'd wanted to keep up the fun, the banter but had gone too far. Or had he started it when he'd asked me if I was up for 'it'? Was that when our conversation had turned?
But he wasn't stomping when he returned to the pump where I'd stood and I felt it was up to me to repair the damage. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…"
He held up the fingers of one of his hands before slinging his long leg over the seat which I figured was his signal to me to just shut up for a while.
So I did.
And just let him ride in peace.
He pulled into the lot of a hotel before parking his big motorcycle close to the restaurant on the side. "Need food," was all he growled before he offered me a hand as I lifted a leg to get off the large bike.
I didn't think I was dressed quite right for the place he'd brought me to but since he'd removed and stowed his cut, I thought I might be able to swing it. I did try to smooth my hair and bring my top down to the top of my leathers, but saw I was right about the dress code when I looked around at the other patrons. Seemed they were still in the fancy threads they'd worn to talk to God in earlier.
But, the little piece of fluff that escorted us to a table didn't seem to care that Dare was only wearing a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. In fact, her smile and widened eyes let him and everyone else know she wouldn't have minded him naked. Which seemed to be the theme of that particular place, if the waitress's fawning over him throughout our meal was any indication. I idly wondered how they advertised for new employees, as in did they start the ad with 'Attn: Sluts!' or did it end with 'only Sluts need apply'.
"What the fuck are you rolling your eyes about now?" he rumbled, his elbows on the tabletop and his fists covering his mouth after putting his credit card in the leather holder that held our bill.
"I didn't roll my eyes," I protested, letting my eyes drift over the other diners.
"You've been fuckin' making faces and sighing your pretty little ass off the whole time we've been here," he corrected. "What's on your mind, sugar?"
I thought quickly to come up with something that would be in the honest venue. "Just worried about how much trouble I'm going to get into about taking off like I did." Which was partly true. I already knew I was gonna get a lecture from pops. I just wasn't certain how much of my ass would be chewed in the process.
"From your dad? Or are you worried about goddamn March?" he drawled, draping his beefy arms over the top of the big booth we were in.
Wait…what?
How'd he know about March? I'd made a point of leaving the ring back in Spokane and I didn't think anyone from our group had said anything.
'Yet!' my head screamed. 'They haven't said anything YET!'
Ignoring it, I tried to laugh. "Since when would a brother ever take me to task over any sort of shit?"
Dare canted an eyebrow at me, not even taking notice of the cleavage our waitress put on offer as she picked up the holder from the table. Seriously? She needed to lean that far down just to grab something she could've snagged with her fingertips from the straight up, standing position?
"Saw the fuckin' little grabby-hand play he made last night. Looked to me like the man was staking a claim."
"So you must've also caught my rebuttal to said grabby-hand play too," I shot back. I turned my head away but could feel the heat in my face. Fucking swine! "Hey, wait! You remember that but you don't remember your speech…"
"Thank you, pretty girl. Good eats and excellent service," he interrupted, giving the waitress the thrill of a lifetime with his wide smile and admiring stare that swept her from top to bottom.
What. A. Fucking. Dick.
But as we crossed the asphalt on the way back to the bike I remembered something I had forgotten. How Dare liked to poke and prod just to get a reaction from people.
It was definitely not one of his finer qualities.
One I needed to keep it in mind going forward if I was going to protect my heart.
And guarding my heart, my emotions was definitely in order because for whatever reason Dare did it for me on every level. I turned my eyes to watch him walk across the hotel's parking lot, allowing my gaze to take in his tall, broad-shouldered handsomeness. Though it wasn't just his looks that held me enthralled.
It was his sense of humor, that ability to laugh at anything and everything. His way of teasing people to get them to grin at their own seriousness.
And his loyalty to his club, his brothers. That steadfastness spoke volumes about Dare's heart and his devotion to those he considered family.
He stood next to the bike, waiting as I took my time walking to him. "You work it out in your head yet?"
Wait…what? He knew what I'd been thinking? My confusion must've shown because he didn't wait for an answer.
"Yeah. I think you did. You're not wearing your-panties-in-a-bunch face anymore," he said with a grin.
"My panties weren't in a bunch," I shot back, stopping two feet away and shading my eyes with my hand.
"Then what would you call it, gorgeous?"
"It was my Dare-is-being-a-dick face," I huffed, hitching up my leathers. "I mean if we gotta give it a name and everything."
That got me a full belly laugh, the kind where he threw back his head and let the sound out. Which was followed by a hand to the back of my neck as he pulled me closer until our lips were just barely touching.
"I'll keep that in mind, sugar," he mumbled with smiling eyes before he slanted his head and briefly but thoroughly made love to my mouth.
*.*.*.*.*
As they'd gotten closer to Missoula, Dare considered his options.
He could just take Ryley back to the clubhouse and drop her off. But that was immediately discarded. Mainly because he didn't fuckin' want to.
Lock's? Nah. The talk from the brothers earlier told him that Blaze was staying with the pretty Missoulan Honey and he didn't want to interrupt the couple's Sunday afternoon delight.
Only one place was suitable to take his girl, and he pointed his big bike back to his apartment in the hopes she'd get the idea of what was in store by just their destination.
In order to do that though, he knew he needed work to repair the damage their earlier convo and shared lunch had done. He'd known he'd fuckin' blown it the minute the words had come out of his mouth when he'd tried to slip a little bit of naughty into their teasing banter.
'You fuckin' up for it?' Goddamn! She was right, it had been a c
heesy-ass way to broach the subject and whatever had been building between them had stalled as a result. And he was sure his kiss hadn't smoothed everything over. Well, not all the way.
Dare glanced at his gauges as he joined with the 35 going south. It was gonna take them a couple of hours to get back to Missoula. Was that enough time to repair the damage he'd done? Maybe get back in her good graces?
The question about March and then the bit of doing he'd done with the waitress had been stupid as shit. He had no real interest in either one but had just pulled them out of his ass to get a reaction. Something he'd been known to do when he was uncomfortable.
But his squirms had started much earlier than the restaurant. Had, in fact, started the night before when he'd heard her trying to dismiss the importance of their week when she'd asked him if he remembered.
Fuck! How could he ever forget it?
That glorious motherfuckin' week that had changed his life. How the light in one special girl's eyes had made him feel like he could do fuckin' anything.
So why'd he played it off earlier? Oh, yeah. Because she'd treated it like it hadn't meant fuckin' nothing.
Time to shut that shit right the fuck down and get his cards on the table.
He snuck a glance at his right rear-view mirror and saw her head was turned towards the lake. Maybe if he let her know how he really felt they could get back on track.
The only track he wanted to take with the only girl he wanted to be with.
Chapter Thirteen
The place he'd driven me to was on the outskirts of town and consisted of a long driveway that by-passed a big, old house with most of its lights on in spite of it being only on the edges of dusk. Winding the bike along a long curve, we went another hundred or so yards until a two story building came into view. Which turned out to be a garage with an apartment over it.
Taking a Dare - A Hellion MC Novel Page 9