by Zoey Parker
The shower was nice and big, leaving plenty of room for the two of us. I was surprised, not for the first time, at the level of comfort this clubhouse featured. A nice bed in Vince’s room, good quality sheets and towels, big bathrooms, that stunning lounge with its video games and pinball. A lot of money had been spent to make this a home away from home.
And I was grateful for every penny as I stepped under the hot shower spray. I felt the stress and strain of the last twenty-four hours wash away, just as the heat helped my muscles relax.
Vince stepped in behind me. I smiled when his arms encircled my waist. I leaned back, resting my head on his broad chest. I wished we could stay like this forever, just the two of us. No world to hold us back or get in our way. Just us being together in our little bubble. Hadn’t we earned it yet?
I sighed as I reached for the soap. No, it wasn’t that easy. I remembered something my grandmother used to say, something about the best things only coming as a result of sacrifice. Nothing in life was free, she used to say. The more you paid, the more you were rewarded. She was full of cheerful pearls of wisdom like that one.
If that was true, Vince and I were in for one stellar future.
Vince washed my back with his hands. At first he was all business, efficiently soaping me up. It didn’t take long for his hands to slow down, though. He was clearly getting a little too much enjoyment out of sliding his hands over my soapy skin. Not that I wasn’t enjoying it just as much—if not more.
Just that fast, everything changed. We went from taking an innocent shower to groping each other. Be honest, I thought. It was never an innocent shower. Nothing between us would ever be innocent. It took nothing, just the slightest touch from him, to spark my need. And my need was bottomless. I’d had him twice already. I came more times than I could count. I needed more.
I leaned against him while his hands cupped my butt and gently squeezed. I felt his hardness against me back there, and I slid over it. He groaned, squeezing me harder.
Then, his hands slid around to the front. He cupped my breasts, kneading them. My nipples hardened, and he flicked them with his fingers. I was always so sensitive there, and he took advantage of that. The louder I moaned, the faster he worked me over. My head fell back against his shoulder as I whimpered and begged for him to never, ever stop.
One hand slid down my front. “Have to make sure you’re clean,” he whispered in my ear. I shivered when he found my soaked, swollen lips. Then he dipped his fingers inside to stroke my button. I gasped, writhing against him.
Vince’s tongue traveled up and down my throat, while his hands drove me wild. That, and the urgent hardness pressing against my butt, were all too much. When he started gently thrusting against me, breathing hard in my ear, I came with a shuddering cry.
I wasn’t even finished yet before he turned me and pushed me against the wall. I felt his knee between my thighs, spreading them, while his tongue plundered my mouth. All I could do was give in to him. There was no sense in trying to fight it. I didn’t want to anyway.
Instead of impaling me with his thickness, Vince surprised me. He fell to his knees between my legs, then draped one leg over his thick shoulder. At the first touch of his tongue against my lips, I gasped. My entire body tensed. Pleasure washed through me, all centering there, where his tongue lapped at me.
I held onto his other shoulder with all my might, my knees going weak the longer he went on. He flicked my bud, then sucked gently on it before flicking it again with the tip of his tongue. I stood completely still, focusing on the pleasure. “Don’t stop,” I begged. “Please.” I didn’t want to move, it was so exquisite. Water ran over my body, trickling down my skin, filling the room with steam.
The faster he went, the higher he pushed me. I dug my nails into his skin, making him hiss through his teeth before going back to tormenting me with his mouth. I went higher, higher, the pleasure building to an almost unbearable tension the longer he licked me. Then, when I felt his fingers slide into me and start pumping rapidly in and out, I lost it.
“Vince! Yes!” I arched my back, whispering my relief as I came. Even a whisper echoed through the bathroom, and I struggled to hold back the cries that wanted to come out.
It was even more difficult when I realized he was still fucking me with his fingers. He was a blur, slamming his knuckles against me with every thrust. I moaned softly, urgently, building again, begging him to go faster and harder.
But he slowed, and I was so surprised I opened my eyes and looked down at him. He only grinned up at me before curling his fingers toward himself and massaging me inside. It was like a bolt of lightning zigzagging through me. I rode his hand, fighting against the urge to stop because the pleasure was so intense. I wanted to see where he would take me. I trusted him.
I leaned against the wall, moaning endlessly as we worked together. I felt a deep throbbing in my core that only got stronger the longer we went. It spread throughout my body, pulsing, building, running through me until I was totally enveloped in bliss. I didn’t know if I was coming, or just at the edge, or somewhere in between. The pleasure never seemed to end, it just went on and on without peaking.
Then, just when I was sure I couldn’t take any more, my muscles suddenly clamped down around Vince’s fingers and I screamed. My whole body started shaking, and he held onto me as I rode it out. I couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but feel. It was the most intense orgasm of my life.
“Holy shit,” I finally whispered when my breath came back. It seemed like an understatement, but it was all I could get out. I didn’t know up from down, right from left. I was completely sated.
But Vince wasn’t. He was breathing hard, heavily. He pressed his body against mine, kissing me again, and I felt his hot hardness against me. I wrapped one leg around his hip, inviting him into me.
When he first slid home, I had to grip his shoulders to stay standing. I was still quivering from that last near-death orgasm, and his thrust set me off again into little aftershocks. I gasped, my mouth against his throat.
All I could was hold onto his strong, tight body as he took me. I felt his need driving into me, deeper, deeper, so hot and thick. There was another need. The need to lose himself. I needed that, too. I wanted to get lost in him. I didn’t want anything else around us to matter.
“Yes! Yes! Erica!” His cries overwhelmed me. I held him close as he exploded. His voice echoed around the room when he roared.
So much for discretion, I thought, giggling to myself as I kissed Vince’s neck, shoulder, face.
I wondered if it would always be this way. I knew relationships inevitably cooled down after a while. Even the hottest, most passionate sex life petered out when life and family and responsibilities got in the way. Would that happen to us?
Then a bolt of fear stabbed my heart, and my arms tightened convulsively around him. Would we get the chance for that to happen?
Suddenly, the steamy water felt very cold.
Chapter Seventeen
There was no guessing whether or not everybody heard us. I saw a lot of half-hidden smiles when Vince and I went downstairs for dinner. I had the feeling that if it weren’t for the death stare Vince was shooting his guys, it would have gotten a lot worse.
I made a quick exit to the kitchen, but it wasn’t much better there. The girls were grinning ear-to-ear. Even Brett.
I turned my attention to what they were pulling from the oven. Chicken parmigiana. Pasta was cooking on the stove. Steam billowed up from three thick loaves of garlic bread.
I pouted. “You guys. I feel so bad. I should have been down here helping out.” I hated feeling like a lazy guest. I needed to earn my keep somehow.
“Please, this is nothing for us,” Tyler said, draining one of the two pots of spaghetti.
“Besides, you were busy.” Samantha giggled.
I couldn’t play it cool any longer. “Oh, God. Please tell me we weren’t obnoxious.”
Brett shook her head, auburn
hair flopping back and forth in the hairnet all the girls wore. “Oh, no. Not obnoxious. We’ve had to listen to some obnoxious sex before.” She rolled her eyes.
“Ugh, like Frankie.” Samantha shuddered, and the other two stuck out their tongues.
“Is he really that bad?”
“Oh, my God, you’d think he was calling a hockey game. Total play-by-play. I’m coming! I’m coming!” Tyler made a sound that was a cross between gagging and choking. “I always want a shower after I hear that. Or just a quick ice pick to the ear drums before he gets started. One or the other.”
“What about Chip?”
The three of them burst into hysterical giggles.
“Why? What’s he do?” I helped toss the pasta with sauce. It took elbow grease—there were four pounds in all. Enough for an army. Or a motorcycle club.
Brett shook her head in sympathy. “Poor Chip. He’s still new, ya know. He hasn’t been a member for more than, like, six months.”
“And before that, he was a prospect. That lasts a year,” Sam explained.
“So he was maybe sixteen when he first started hanging around. He was a little…shy,” Brett continued.
“The kid was a virgin.”
Tyler nodded when she saw the look of shock on my face.
“He’s so cute!” Blonde hair, blue eyes, all-American smile. “I would think the girls would be clawing each other’s eyes out to get next to him!”
“I know, right? Imagine our surprise,” Tyler said. “When the guys found out, they made it their sworn duty to get him laid.”
“Oh, come on. They couldn’t have tried very hard. I could see if he was ugly.”
“They didn’t have to try to convince the girl. It was convincing him that was the problem,” Sam said. “He was raised in a really Christian home. Joining the club was like his way of rebelling, I guess. But when it came time to have premarital sex, he couldn’t do it.”
“Not that he couldn’t get it up,” Brett explained. “He flat-out refused.”
“Poor kid. I bet they didn’t make it easy for him.” I jerked a thumb in the direction of the lounge, where most of the members were hanging out.
“It was a sin,” Tyler agreed. “I actually told Onyx and Vince to leave him alone after a while. They wouldn’t let him live it down.”
“What finally happened?”
The three of them smiled. “We had a party when he got patched in. He got good and drunk. One of the girls from outside the club—they just come to parties and stuff—pulled him into a closet.”
Brett giggled. “He was sort of a screamer that night.” We all laughed, though I felt guilty for it.
“Since then, he’s been fine. Once he saw what he was missing, he got over the Christian thing real quick.” Sam grinned, pulling out the hairnet and shaking loose her blonde curls.
“You should know.” Tyler smirked. She and Brett laughed, taking trays of food to the dining room. Only I saw the way Sam blushed. There wasn’t time to ask her about it, though, since Brett announced dinner was ready and the dining room was immediately flooded with hungry men, all elbowing each other for a place at the head of the line.
I helped the girls dish out the food, piling each plate high with spaghetti. I noticed how none of them would meet my eyes, except for Axel. He seemed to know so much about so many things, and he was happy to let you know he knew. I didn’t think he was mean, though, or scheming. I gave him an extra helping. He was a big guy, after all.
The other person to look me in the eye was Onyx. He had a funny little smirk on his face. I knew he and Vince went way back. I wondered what he thought of me. Most girls only have to worry about meeting a guy’s parents, and siblings if he has any, I thought. I have two dozen brothers and three sisters to win over. Well, the sisters were a done deal. I knew they liked me, and I liked them right back. They were a little rougher around the edges than I was, but they were sweet and kindhearted, plus a lot of fun.
The men, on the other hand, I wasn’t sure about. Onyx was intimidating, point-blank. I knew he must have positive qualities, or Vince wouldn’t be so close with him. The girls seemed to like him, too. Maybe he just didn’t like me very much. Or maybe he saw me as a threat to his friendship with Vince? A lot of guys got that way when the bromance was over. Just the same as girls got. Jealousy was weird like that.
Then there was Vince. He kept catching my eye as he made his way down the line, and I couldn’t help but grin every time we made eye contact. I was sore from all the sex, but it was that pleasant kind of soreness I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. Every time I felt an ache, I remembered why I was feeling it and would smile to myself.
He was adored. It was obvious. His men looked up to him. A born leader. He had charisma, and could get anyone laughing without trying too hard. He had a way of completely listening when somebody spoke to him, like they were the only person in the room besides him. That was rare. He had the intelligence, too, though he tried to hide it. He was a young man—Frankie was obviously older, and I thought a couple of the others were as well. Yet he was the president. That counted for something, too.
And he wanted me. My heart swelled with pride at the thought. He wanted me as his woman. No, as his old lady. He would tell the world I was his. This special, charismatic, talented, infuriatingly stubborn man with a heart of gold he tried to hide from the world.
I fixed a plate and sat down with the girls. I wished I could sit with Vince, naturally, but he was already surrounded. He had a lot on his mind, and he and Onyx were deep in conversation. I wished I could be part of it. For some stubborn reason I knew he would hate, I needed to know what he was getting himself into. Already, so much of me was tied up in him. It scared me a little.
I looked away from Vince, and my eyes fell on Sam. She had just glanced over at Chip, who was pretending to casually glance over toward her at the same time. I looked down at my plate, smiling. It was sweet. Now I understood what Tyler was getting at. Sam struck me as a little older than Chip, but not by much. I hoped they would get together.
A cold chill ran through me again, just like it had in the shower. I rubbed my arms.
“You okay?” Tyler noticed me and placed a hand on my back.
“Yeah. Goosebumps, out of nowhere.” I shrugged it off with a smile. There was no way to tell her that I’d gotten a bad feeling. Whenever I thought of a future for the club, I had that same sense of foreboding. It wasn’t just me and Vince. It was anyone sitting in the dining room with me. I felt that way every time. Like there was no future.
Something was coming. I wished I knew what, so I could warn them.
Chapter Eighteen
Vince
We were just finishing up dinner when my phone rang. When I saw it was Randy calling, my heart jumped. I sent him out to get a feel for the word on the street. I hoped we could get our hands on Erica’s attacker by the end of the day.
I got up from the table and hurried out into the office before I picked up. “What’s going on?”
“Vince? I heard something,” he said.
“Tell me.”
“There are three Wolves hanging out in front of one of their safe houses, on the other side of town from our place. One of my buddies out here saw them. He went by twice to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. They were still there. He said they looked like they mean business.”
“Like they’re guarding something?”
“Or someone. They’re not just hanging out. Too tense, too aware of what’s goin’ on around them.”
I scribbled down the address Randy gave me. “Good job. I’ll let you know when we head out.”
“What’re you gonna do?”
“I’m not totally sure yet,” I admitted. “I have to get in to talk with the guy they’re guarding, though. That much I know.” I hung up with him and took a minute to get my thoughts together.
Now that I knew where to find the fucker, I was practically jumping out of my skin. I wanted to go, I wanted to lo
ok him in the eye. I wanted him to tell me what he had done and why. Most of all, I wanted to know the deal Alexander made with Lance. What was it that was sweet enough for him to go against all of us?
No matter how many times I told myself not to get wrapped up in why Lance did what he did, I couldn’t help needing to know. A small part of it was personal, but mostly I wanted to be sure it never happened again. I wanted to trust my crew, and I wanted to keep them happy in the club. Dissention was what started all of this. What sort of bullshit deal was Lance offered?
Had it been offered to anybody else?