Challenged (Vipers Creed MC#1)

by Ryan Michele

  “Cade, I really think you should go now,” she said firmly, her eyes soft yet worried.

  “Get in bed. Let’s sleep, and we’ll deal with all this shit tomorrow.” I pushed her lightly to the bed, tearing the towel from her body.

  “Hey!” she exclaimed. “I was drying off!”

  I smiled. “Bed. Sleep.”

  She glared at me, hands on her hips. It took everything I had to hold back a chuckle.

  “You’re awfully bossy.” She may have thought that, but she climbed into the bed, anyway.

  “Babe, you have no idea yet.” I lay down beside her and gathered her into my arms.

  She attempted to pull away. “You might be bulldozing your way into my bed, but I am not cuddling with you.”

  “I’m holding you,” I declared as I pulled her back to my front again.

  Her body was tense. I knew she thought she wanted space from me, but I couldn’t give her that. No more space. However, I could compromise and let her face away from me if it was what she needed.

  It took a long time for her to relax and fall asleep. Then, a long while later, deep in sleep, Trixie rolled over toward me as I was still replaying the night’s events. Her arm crept across my chest, and she tucked her head under my own, a small sigh leaving her lips.

  Fuck, this was how it was supposed to be all those years ago.

  She had no clue yet, but I wasn’t letting this shit go. Still, I knew my Trixie would be a challenge, though a challenge I would win.

  I WOKE TO a very cold bed. My hand reached out, touching nothing. I listened, but I didn’t hear a sound. It surprised me. I usually slept lightly, never knowing when I needed to be on guard. Something about being in bed with her, having her cuddled up to me, had me sleeping like a fucking log.

  Rolling out of bed, I grabbed my pants and shirt, throwing them on along with my cut, socks, and boots. I walked down the hall of the little ranch house.

  “Trixie?” I called into the nothingness.

  I looked through the house, but she was nowhere. The little minx jumped out on me.

  A piece of paper on the table had a large scrawl on it.

  Spook,

  I had shit to do. Lock the bottom lock when you leave. Please don’t come back.

  I chuckled. Woman had no fucking clue who she was dealing with. Oh, I’d be back … tonight or this afternoon. I hadn’t decided yet.

  “FUCKING HELL.” I tossed the papers down to the desk.

  Nothing was going right today. One of the guys scratched a custom paint job on a tank, costing me a shit load to redo it. The phone rang off the hook, but I passed that shit off to Stiff. I needed to let go of some of this work and pass it to the other guys, but even after all this time, the mess my father had made had me leery to relinquish control. Although I didn’t have many fears in life, seeing my club go back down the shitter was one of them. That was why I worked my ass off every damn day: to make certain it didn’t happen. However, it was starting to wear on me. There had to be a better way. I just needed to find it. I needed more help.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t trust my brothers. I didn’t trust life.

  “What’s going on, boss?” Boner asked, coming into the office.

  “Too much shit and not enough hands,” I told him, running my fingers through my hair.

  He took a seat in front of my desk. “It’s about time you delegate,” he said calmly, pulling out a smoke and lighting it. I grabbed mine and did the same. “Gotta let go of this shit.”

  I rubbed my hand over my face. “I know, man. Let’s start figuring out who can do what. Then we’ll bring it to the table.”

  He nodded. “How was your piece last night?”

  My blood lit at the mention of my piece. Trixie was anything but.

  “Don’t bullshit me,” I growled. “You of all people know the history, so don’t play fucking stupid. She’s fucking mine, and I’ll do whatever I have to in order to get her back.”

  He held up his hands, his palms facing me. “Still hot for her after all these years, bro?”

  I said nothing, and he whistled.

  “Damn, Spook’s ready to turn in his house mouses.”

  After being inside Trixie, no house mouse could hold a fucking candle to her.

  I was fucked, but for the first time, it was a fucked I liked.

  “YOU GET ANYWHERE with Cade?” Jett asked as she plopped down in the chair in front of my desk. She had a beauty that pulled everyone in and curves that made me insanely jealous. Her long, dark hair laid pencil straight, and her eyes were a blue that looked almost gray in different lights.

  My stomach fell at her question, reminding me of last night. I couldn’t believe I fucking slept with him. Not just fucked him, but showered with him, fell asleep with him … woke up in his damn arms. Sneaky bastard.

  I could still feel him between my legs. Hell, I even had phantom feelings of him inside of me. He’d had a lot of practice. I knew he had because I had heard all about it. And I wasn’t any better than one of those paid hookers.

  Fucking moron. My reasons had sucked before. They meant shit now.

  I wanted to pass off the night as being just another booty call, a way to fuck each other out of our systems, but both were a flat out lie. Last night was so much more than anything Taylor, or any of my other weak-ass booty calls, and I had ever been.

  The rawness in his eyes captivated me. God, his eyes … I could see so much more in them last night. More than I’d ever thought I would see. But I was just fooling myself. I wouldn’t go back fifteen years to fall for the bad boy again, just to get my heart smashed all over again.

  Mortification didn’t even cut it when it came to describing how I felt. Weak. Pathetic. I gave in, letting him have that power over me with his smooth talking and fantastic bed skills. Plus, he had looked sexy as hell in his leather and jeans. To see him on a motorcycle, too, was just a recipe for disaster. And I had just spread my legs, begging for him to give it to me. Dammit.

  Although I was dead serious in the note I left him this morning, it felt really odd to leave it for him in my own house. Nevertheless, I couldn’t stay and deal with the morning after shit. One look and I would have let him inside my body again. I would have let him take me over and over until I really couldn’t walk. Now that I knew how much he had grown, let alone changed in the bedroom, it would be more difficult than ever to say no to him.

  I had to remember Cade crushed me. My first love left me to pick up the pieces of my torn heart. I couldn’t go back to the me from that time.

  “He doesn’t know if Nanette is there.” I decided to leave out the whole him fucking my brains out bit. I wouldn’t open up that can of worms. I told Jett all about Cade one night after way too many shots of tequila. Regardless, the less people who knew about the now, the better.

  Her brow rose. “Is he gonna look? Surely, the clubhouse isn’t that big.”

  No. He could have looked while I was there a couple of nights ago, but no. Why would he make this easy? That would be ludicrous.

  “The bottom line is, I’m gonna have Ike on her. The chances of me getting my money back are slim, but I won’t stop until I find her. I knew better. I’m taking it as another lesson learned. Now I deal.” I grabbed a pen on the desk and placed the cap between my teeth. Old habits were hard to break. Chewing on pen caps seemed to relieve some of my tension. The crunch of the plastic between my teeth always helped me focus.

  “What about the girls?” she asked, concern blazing in her eyes.

  I bit down harder. “I’ll deal with that if it comes up. I’m not gonna worry about it, because it might not even be an issue. If, by chance, it is, I’ll take care of it then.” Because Hell would freeze over before I went to Cade for anything else.

  She shrugged, calmness coming back into her features. “Your problem, boss lady.” She shook a manila folder she held in her hand. “Gotta go over these.”

  For the next two hours, we went through numbers.


  I kept everything on point with my business. My father didn’t have a loving hand. Instead, he taught me the hard way through lots of tests. Some, I passed; most, I failed. I never knew when an assessment would start or end. Therefore, I treated everything like one. That way, I did my best no matter what. The sad thing was, almost everything he did was to evaluate me and see my worth, which hadn’t been much to him.

  I leaned back in my chair, relieved. “Thank God that’s done.” I tossed the chewed up pen onto the desk.

  Jett’s lip curled with disgust. “Gross, throw that away.”

  I rolled my eyes and tossed it into the trash.

  A loud thump came from the other side of the door. Then a “you motherfucker” was heard, followed by another loud crash, the sound of flesh meeting flesh, a man’s heaves and gasps for air …

  Jett looked at me, her eyes filled with concern. I grabbed my 9mm from under my desk, clicking off the safety.

  “Over here,” I whispered to Jett.

  She did as told, getting behind me, while I held the gun up to the door as more thumps and groans could be heard. Then the knob to the door began to turn.

  “Stop right fucking there!” I yelled as the door flew open without pause, my finger on the trigger. I aimed at Cade who looked as calm as could be with the end of my barrel on him. “What in the sam hell are you doing!” I screeched.

  “Put the fucking gun down, Trixie.” His deep voice echoed throughout my office.

  Behind him, I saw Ike laid out on the floor.

  “What the hell?” I slipped on the safety then put the gun behind my back before pushing past Cade. I knelt on the floor, seeing Ike had cuts with black and blue marks beginning to form. “Are you out of your fucking mind?” I questioned Cade from the floor.

  He shrugged. “Fucker wouldn’t let me back here.”

  I was a bit astonished that he didn’t even have sweat on his brow because the beating he dished out to Ike had to have taken some serious effort.

  “I wanted back here. End of story.”

  “So you beat the shit out of him? You couldn’t have just called?” As soon as the words left my mouth, I wanted to smack myself. I knew he’d snap at me about it.

  “I could’ve, but I’m sure you wouldn’t have answered.”

  I shook my head, turning my attention back to Ike. “Are you alight?”

  He gave a muffled groan.

  “Shit. Jett, call our guy. See if he can come and take a look.”

  Jett pushed past Cade. “Who’s that?” she asked within ear shot of me.

  “That asshole is Cade. Oh, wait, sorry, Spook.” Her eyes widened as I felt Cade’s presence above me. He grabbed my arm, lifting me from the floor. “Hey!”

  “Deal with that,” he ordered Jett then shut the door behind him as he released me.

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I barked, really thinking of grabbing my gun and shooting him in the damn leg for being an ass.

  “You ran,” he said as calmly as could be, yet his eyes were blazing mad. He didn’t like me leaving him. Well, too damn bad.

  I fed off the anger filling my veins. “I did not. I had work. Anyway, it was one night, Spook. That’s it. One booty call to scratch an itch.” Even as I said the words, my pussy clenched from remembering Cade inside of me, wringing orgasm after orgasm out of my body.

  He stepped forward. I stepped back. The air in the room electrified as it bounced all around us, causing the hair on the back of my neck to rise in excitement.

  My ass hit the desk, halting me, but he didn’t stop until his face aligned with mine, his tobacco exhales caressing my skin. Fuck, I loved his smell.

  “Trixie,” he whispered so softly it caught me off guard, and my eyes flew to his. “Let’s get a few things straight.” His tone changed, becoming harsher. I didn’t care for it much. “First, you do not leave a bed we are sleeping in and sneak the fuck out.”

  My mouth got the better of me. “Don’t worry; it won’t happen again.”

  He leaned back, a devilish smile crossing his utterly handsome face. “Wildcat, if I touch between your legs, you gonna be wet for me?”

  I involuntarily closed my legs, not wanting him to feel, because he was fucking right. He didn’t need to be told that, though.

  “Yep, hot, wet, and ripe for me.” His hips pressed against mine, the ridge of his steel cock demonstrating his arousal. Damn, I loved that he had that reaction to me. “Enough talking.” His lips crashed onto mine, and my stupid body gave in wholeheartedly. Again.

  He tilted his head, and I threaded my fingers through his hair. God, I loved the feel of his hair, so damn soft.

  A loud crash came from behind me. I pulled away to see all the contents of my desk spread across the floor.

  “You’re cleaning that shit up,” I told him.

  He chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”

  “I’m serious.” I looked over at the huge-ass mess. “You’re …” I tried to argue, but his lips came down on mine again in a punishing kiss that sent me into a fog.

  He pulled away. “Only way to shut you up is to kiss you or fuck you.”

  I opened my mouth to retort, but again, he covered my mouth with his while using his hands to roam over my body with urgency.

  Wetness coated my panties as I did exactly what he said—I shut up, giving in.

  He didn’t tell me to strip this time. No, he knelt down in front of me and undid my pants, pulling them from my body. The gun clattered to the floor. The dumbass I was, I let him because each touch of his hands on my legs as he went only amped up my arousal for this man. How could one man turn me on this much?

  “Hard and fast. I’m taking what I missed this morning.”

  I gasped as he turned me around, pressing my chest to the desk. I yelped as a slap came to my left ass cheek.

  “You fucking hit me!” I growled, feeling the burn of the blow grow and settle in the V of my legs.

  Thwack. Thwack. Two more blows.

  I tried to move, but he held me with his arm across my back. I could have kicked, but the heat coming from his smacks felt so good.

  “And you have five more coming. You leave the fucking bed again like that, this shit is doubled. Do it again, and I’m getting the fucking belt.”

  I began to protest just as three consecutive slaps came, only giving a slight pause before two more.

  My entire backside burned, and my pussy throbbed and ached. I wanted to come—no, strike that. I needed to come.

  Fuck. My brain turned into a pile of mush.

  While I knew I should be yelling at him for hitting me, that I should be furious, my head floated to a place where nothing mattered, except the feelings in my body.

  A pounding came on the door. “Trix, you okay?” Jett called out, obviously hearing us.

  My mind semi-kicked in. “Yeah, take care of Ike,” I yelled back, half-dazed.

  “Okay.”

  I closed my eyes, letting the groans purr in my throat, as his heat blanketed me. His jeans rubbing over my burning ass made me jolt.

  “Do. Not. Leave. The. Bed.” He said each word so damn fiercely a shudder rippled through my chest. “You. Do. Not. Have another guy over to your house and give him my pussy.” My brain ignited with that one.

  I started to squirm, liking the happy place much better than this … whatever it was.

  “I’m not yours,” I told him, trying to wiggle away, but his weight overpowered me.

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Trixie. You’ve been mine for a long fucking time, and it’s about time we right a wrong.”

  His words made no sense to me. He was the one who had disappeared from my life, not me. I was so damn infatuated with him I gave him the one thing I could never get back. And I wasn’t talking about my virginity. No, my heart. He would never get that again, just so he could turn it to dust. No freaking way.

  “You’re talking out of your ass. Let me up,” I demanded then kicked, barely missing his le
g.

  “Fucking kick me, and I’m tying your ass to the desk.” He shook me gently. “Don’t think I fucking won’t.”

  I settled. The last thing I wanted was to be tied to the damn desk and have Jett or another employee come in. Fuck that.

  “What is it you want, Spook?”

  “It’s Cade to you.”

  I shook my head. “You haven’t even told me how you got your name.”

  “We have a lot of shit to talk about. My road name isn’t one of them right now.” He leaned toward my ear, his nose barely touching the outer shell, sending goosebumps down my neck, and answered my previous question. “You. All I fucking want is you.”

  My heart stopped. I couldn’t speak. No sounds. Nothing would come from my lips. He had shocked me into utter silence. But then I shook my head.

  Sex. He wanted sex. That was all he wanted. All he had ever wanted.

  “You got your fill, so just leave me alone.” My confidence came out in my words, filling me with pride.

  He tsked. “Fill? No, wildcat, I have had nowhere fucking near my fill.”

  My heart did a little flip, and I wanted to scream at it to stop it. Sex. That’s it. As long as I remembered that, I’d be fine. I went with just sex with Taylor for months. I could do it with Cade and not let my heart get involved. I could, but the question was, did I want to risk it? After last night’s feelings started to pull from me, no, I didn’t. The hurt before was too much. If I stayed on this path, it would be worse.

  “Too bad. Your fill is officially over.” All at once, I grabbed his arm, bucked my ass, and moved with a speed I didn’t know I possessed. Then I darted across the room, out of Cade’s reach. “Now you can go.” I pulled down my shirt, knowing my thong was hanging out there, but fuck it. I owned that shit, running my fingers through my hair as if he hadn’t just ripped my pants off.

  “Games, games, games.” He whistled deeply. “Told you I don’t play fucking games.”

  “This isn’t a damn game, Cade. This is my fucking life. I came to you to get one of my workers, not fuck you. This is my business, and you just beat the shit out of my guard. Enough is enough.”