by Silver James
Her head jerked up, her look steely. “What are you saying?”
“What’s the last thing you remember?”
Leigh considered. “Work. Three of us went to the Eight Ball. I had a couple…” She paused, rubbed her temples. “Three. I had three beers. I ate.” Her forehead crinkled. “A cheeseburger. Fries. Diet Coke. I stopped drinking alcohol.” Now she looked puzzled.
“Someone bought you a drink.” I worked to keep my voice even. I didn’t like leaving punishment in the hands of Rook and his Wolves. I wanted to taste the bastard’s blood. No. I wanted to taste Boner’s blood.
“Oh. Yeah. A preppy looking guy, only not. He was trying to do this biker grunge look.” She looked up, her expression clueless. “Why can’t I remember?”
“He roofied you.”
Color drained from her face and she stopped breathing. I waited. It took almost a minute before she sucked in air and her face flushed with anger. “What did you have to do with it?”
And here was the tightrope I needed to walk. “Drugging you? Nothing. Finding you and beating the crap out of the guy? Everything.”
Her nose crinkled and I wanted to kiss it. “You…rescued me?”
Sort of. “Yeah.”
Her expression morphed into one of disbelief. “How did you find me?”
I reached out, snagged her arm and reeled her into my chest. “I can find you anywhere, baby.” I whispered the promise into her hair and my wolf settled down. Our mate was safe.
She pushed against my chest. “Wait. Did he…” Her face blanched. I cupped her cheeks and rubbed my thumbs over her skin.
“Shhh. No. I got there in time.” Rook had called to say the kid had admitted he didn’t penetrate her, that he’d prematurely ejaculated on her, not in her. I still had to explain I’d found her naked. “I gotta be honest, Leigh. The bastard was trying. You were completely unconscious. He was stoned out of his mind and having trouble.” I had to leash the wolf to keep my claws from erupting. “You were assaulted but not raped.” I rasped out the words and she tensed.
“The police…I need…”
“No, babe. I took care of it.”
Her eyes widened. “You didn’t…” She didn’t finish the sentence but I caught her thought. …kill him?
“He’s alive.” Beat to hell and back but alive. And according to Rook, the kid had learned his lesson. He’d returned to his former life as a frat boy college student. Turned out he was only hanging out for the free drugs and pussy. Little asshole. “He won’t ever hurt another woman, Leigh.”
“I still—”
“No cops, babe. That’s not the way we do things. I took care of it. Took care of you. That is the way we do things.”
I saw another thought enter her head. “Two days?” she screeched. “I…work…oh crap.”
This time I laughed and it was a relief. “Shhh. You’ve totally lost track of time. Check your calender.” I turned her loose and she wobbled down the hallway to her kitchen. She looked at her watch to double-check the day and time, then the calendar with her days off circled in red.
“Whew,” she breathed. “I forgot.” Then she fixed me with a narrow-eyed glare. “I’m hungry.”
Leigh
SMOKE TOOK ME out to eat at my favorite BBQ place, Red’s. It was a step up from a hole in the wall but the guy manning the smoker was a pro, they’d never had a health department citation, and you got mountains of meat. I didn’t know why I was craving protein but I wanted those mountains. Ribs. Brisket. Fries. And a sauce meant to be licked off your fingers.
While I stuffed my face, I studied the man sitting across the scarred wooden table from me. I had the feeling Smoke knew more about what had happened to me but just like I’d known the first time I crashed around him, I was positive nothing horrendously sexual had happened. And it bothered him that I’d been in that predicament. I didn’t doubt for a minute that he’d avenged me in his chest-thumping caveman way. He was an outlaw biker.
Beyond that, I also had the sense that Smoke had made it his mission to keep safe. I should have been freaked out but instead, the idea settled me. I should be on the phone right then calling in a report on the my assault. Ignoring law and order wasn’t like me. I looked up into his eyes, and got lost. I belonged to Smoke, but he belonged to me, too.
“Take me home, Smoke,” I ordered as we left the BBQ joint. “I want dessert.” I caught his quick inhalation of breath. Yeah, I knew my biker. He thought he was getting a BJ. I might even give him one after I had a bowl of ice cream.
Smoke
I WALKED through the door and halted in my tracks. Leigh sat on the couch, feet on her coffee table, arms crossed over her chest. I’d cut out before dawn, making sure her alarm was set. Heaven fucking forbid she be late to work. I’d had a decent day. Rook and I met, traded some intel and I’d tracked down a Hell Dog. He was currently sweating in the basement of the Dallas clubhouse. Digger would get the info we needed. And there’d be one less Hell Dog in the world.
Keeping my eye on Leigh, I made note of her sullen expression. What had I done to piss her off this time? “You gonna tell me?”
“Tell you what?”
“Babe.”
“Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
Leigh threw her hands in the air. “You drive me nuts.”
“Okay.”
“No, not okay, babe.”
I ducked my head to hide the crooked grin threatening my mouth, knowing it would only piss her off even more. “So…taking a guess here, babe. You don’t like it when I do that. Whatever that is.”
“Exactly.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Argh! You are such a guy.”
I glanced down at the obvious bulge in my jeans and then raised my gaze to meet hers. “Babe.”
“See?” She sprang to her feet and marched in a circle, her arms flailing. “This is exactly what I’m talking about. You say babe like it…like it explains everything.”
“It doesn’t?”
“No!”
“So…let me get this straight. I say ‘babe,’ I’m such a guy, and these two things drive you nuts. Anything else?”
“That’s enough for now.”
“Good. Now c’mere.”
She narrowed her gaze and backed off a step, watching me warily now. “I don’t think that’s a very good idea at the moment.”
“I think it’s an excellent idea. C’mere.”
“No.”
“Babe.”
As anticipated, she tossed her hands up, and I moved in before she could do anything else. Circling her body with my arms, I yanked her against my chest and sealed my mouth on hers. She broke the kiss, her hands pressed against my shoulders in an attempt to push me away.
“This is not the way to win an argument with me.”
“Babe.”
Chapter 15
Smoke
I WRAPPED my fist around her hair. I was so fucking full of hunger and this little tantrum was too cute. I should tell her what I was, what she was to me. Like so many times before now, I should give her the chance to walk away. But I couldn’t do it. Turning her loose would be like ripping my heart out.
A complicated series of expressions clouded her face and I didn’t know what to make of them. I should have been able to, given that she was my mate. But she hadn’t accepted me, accepted my wolf. Hell, I’d kept him hidden from her.
My emotions were stripped bare. My body was stiff and aching for her. Leigh shivered but before she could push away, my mouth descended on hers and I devoured her. My hands, my mouth—they were everywhere, and totally beyond my control. Touching, teasing, nipping. She arched arched against me, sucking in air. I was panting hard but I couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen.
I scooped her into my arms and carried her to bed. “Too many clothes,” I mouthed against her temple as I put her down and set about stripping her naked.
My fingers caressed the skin of her abdomen and with delib
erate intent, I nudged her panties down to reveal the thatch of dark hair at the vee of her thighs. Damn straight. I liked my bed partners natural. Bare pubes were just…not sexy. I pushed a finger through her slick pussy then inside her, pushed in a second finger as she moaned. Withdrawing, I laid those fingers against my lips and licked. I enjoyed the fuck out of the way her pupils dilated and her breathing hitched.
“Delicious.” Lowering my head, I tasted her with my tongue. I shoved my fingers into her pussy and swirled them around in her slick juices. Pulling them out, I held them to her lips. “Taste.”
The skin between her brows puckered and I leaned to press a kiss there. I brushed my fingers across her lips and had to hide my smirk when her tongue took a delicate taste.
“Get on the bed, baby, and spread your legs. I’m going to eat you out.”
Leigh
THE FEW GUYS who’d ever gone down on me did it with little relish. Smoke? He was feasting on me. And enjoying every lick and nibble. Glorious! I sank my hands into his thick, dark hair. When it seemed like he was never going to stop, I tugged. He ignored me. He speared his tongue into me and then bit my clit. I erupted. Holy volcano, Batman!
His head raised and those intense eyes of his bored into mine. “I’m ready now, baby. I want it hard and rough. You up for that?”
I replied with a slow grin and a sharp jerk of my hands, my fingers still tangled in his hair. He growled—an actual growl that was so animalistic I shivered. He rubbed his chin over my clit and the rough stubble of his shadow beard scraped against already sensitive skin. The brief pain bled over into pleasure when he started to work me again with his mouth. Then he added fingers and he had to brace his forearm across my belly to hold me in place. I was bucking and screaming and had to keep reminding myself to breathe.
Good grief but this man made me feel things, made me want things. He overwhelmed me. I needed to get away from him. He was so intense, so predatory. But I knew. Deep down. If I ran, he’d chase me, bring me down. Make me his. And I wanted to be his. More than I’d wanted anything in my life. There was something about him, about us. No matter how wrong we were, we fit together so right.
Smoke
FUCK. I needed to tell her what I was, what she was to me. She needed to meet my wolf. I wasn’t completely without honor—not like my old man. He never told my mother what he was. He just got her pregnant and moved on. I was lucky. We lived around the corner from a fire station. One of the firefighters was a Wolf and he recognized what I was. He got me through my first change, mostly kept me on the straight and narrow.
What would Leigh do? I’d finally agreed with my wolf that she was ours. I had to tell her. Had to show her. But what if she walked away? My need for her was too big. She wasn’t fertile, thank the gods. Had she been in her cycle, I’d have no chance against the compulsion. I was completely moonstruck, the need to claim her imperative, especially after finding her the way I had. As my mate, she’d be protected. As my mate, there wasn’t a Nightrider in the world who would hurt her. I could claim her now and face the consequences later.
I stalked up her body, loomed over her.
“Leigh.” I gritted out her name, fighting my wolf for control. “Tell me to stop. Tell me no and I’ll walk away.” I groaned, trying to get the words out. “I can let you go if you say no, but if you say yes, this is it. You’re mine.”
Her eyes were glazed with desire and my lust spiked higher. “What’s that mean? That we’ll be going steady or something?”
I almost laughed, but the sound that came out more resembled a groan. Or something meant so much more than I could explain at the moment. Language and logic were failing me. “Yeah. Or something.”
Her slender and oh-so-nimble fingers touched my dick, her thumb rubbing through the cum on its head. “Show me what you’ve got, big guy.”
With a snarl, I jerked her hand away, lined up and pushed into her with a hard thrust. She arched to meet me, eyes focused on mine. I didn’t give her a chance to adjust to my size. I couldn’t. At that moment, my control was nonexistent.
I pounded into her, imprinting her on my soul, hoping I could do the same to hers. Fuck it. She was mine. Now and always. I clamped my teeth on the thick muscle between her neck and shoulder as I came hard—harder than I ever had.
“Mine.” I was still in human form but it was my wolf controlling my vocal chords. He howled as I started pumping into her again.
I took her three times. Hard. She was all but passed out when I rolled off her, took her into my arms and told her to sleep. A few minutes later, she was sleeping sweet but I was wide awake.
Then her phone rang.
I’ve got scars that can’t be excised. Not in this life, or the next, I suspect. Fuck all if this woman hadn’t gone a hellava long way toward making me forget I wore them. I was fuckin’ tired of running from my demons and figured I’d finally found the one woman who believed in me. But she didn’t. Not an hour ago I’d fucked us both blind. And deaf. Then her gawddamned phone rang.
“I’m on call,” she explained as she pushed me away to answer. She got dressed, cell glued to her ear, so I’d pulled on my jeans and boots, figurin’ I’d need to take her to a fire scene. She ducked out of the room, phone pressed tight, like she didn’t want me to hear.
Just nail a stupid sign to my forehead and shoot me. I fell for a fuckin’ arson investigator. There’s a reason my name is Smoke. You get three guesses why, and the first two don’t count.
I stalked her across the room and pinned her against the bar between the living room and kitchen. “Wanna tell me the fuck’s goin’ on?”
“You lied.”
“Never lied to you, babe.”
“Really?” The sarcasm in that one word was thick enough to cut.
“What the hell, Leigh?”
“There’s been another fire. There’s a body. Burned.” She looked down, choosing her words way too carefully. “The investigator found the trigger device. It’s…one we’ve seen before. Sort of a signature.” She crossed her arms, like she was protecting herself. She held out her cell, with a picture on the screen. “Look familiar?”
Yeah. She exuded an odor akin to road kill. Betrayal? What the fuck? How had I betrayed her? She’d promised my past was my past. I already knew the answer but said the words anyway. “You think I did it.”
She raised her chin, eyes blazing. “It’s one of your devices.”
“Only I haven’t made one.” I hadn’t used any sort of trigger or device that could be traced to me. Not in years.
“Then who did?” More sarcasm and hands fisted on her hips as she glared.
“Good question. One I intend to find the answer to.”
“The DA has issued a warrant for your arrest, Smoke. I’m taking you in.”
“Yeah? You and what army, babe?”
Chapter 16
Smoke
LEIGH WOULD BE PISSED once she untied herself. I’d face her wrath after I cleared my name. Did a lot of bad things in my life. This wasn’t one of ’em. I’d killed people. Probably hundreds when I was in the Marines. I’d killed for the club—up front and personal. Burning someone up in a deliberately set fire? That was just chicken shit.
Yeah. I’d lost my way right after I was discharged. Too many buddies blown to smithereens. Too much bad shit in the world. I went hunting in my own unique way. The Ghost. What a farce. And I damn sure hadn’t been a Robin Hood. I didn’t steal from the rich and give to the poor. I took on the dickwads of the world and handed their asses to them. I’d liberated a bunch of Eastern European girls smuggled in as part of the sex trade. I was too stupid at the time to understand the mob and the Hell Dogs had a symbiotic relationship. I sent the girls off and rigged the warehouse to burn.
My problem has always been fire. That shit fascinated me as a kid. I’d start a fire just to watch the flames, to talk to them. All my burns were controlled. I never wanted to hurt anyone. That’s how I bumped into Tony, the Wolf firefighter around t
he corner. He caught me. Taught me. I learned. After that, I was careful. But once I hit puberty, there were a lot of times the guys at the station would catch a glimpse of a stray German Shepherd around fire scenes.
I was seventeen when Tony died in an arson fire. I went a little off the rails but one of the other guys in the station convinced me to join the Marines. So I did. EOD was the perfect fit. Then came my discharge. The Ghost—though I had no clue people called me that. And the Hell Dogs. Those fuckers chased me right into the arms of the Russian, Hardy, Gravedigger, and the Nightriders. I found my family that night. And my reason for being who I was.
In wolf form, I sat in the weeds watching the fire department take care of salvage and overhaul. I needed to get close enough to the body to get a scent. I started with the R&R area. Half the firefighters were taking a break. I crept in, acting skittish. One of them tossed me half a donut. I gobbled it down, eased closer to him.
In ten minutes, I was their new mascot. Yippee. As they rotated back inside the scene, I wandered off, a familiar sight now. The body was bagged and waiting for the ME’s van to arrive. I got close enough to recognize the scent.
I immediately recognized a second scent and it hit me like a gale force wind. Leigh. Hadn’t taken her long at all. I tucked tail and ran. Would she recognize the victim?
Leigh
I STARED at the face framed by the black plastic of the body bag. Blanching, I locked my knees to remain upright. I recognized that face. Alex. He’d said his name was Alex, and he brought a Diet Coke with lime laced with drugs to my table that night at the Eight Ball.
Smoke’s words skittered through my memory.
“No, babe. I took care of it.”
Worried his definition of “taking care of things” and mine were diametrically opposed, I’d asked him if he’d killed the guy. Smoke had assured me. “He’s alive.”