by A. Zavarelli
“Get off me, motherfucker,” I rasped as I fought him, kicking and clawing with every ounce of strength I could muster. He wasn’t relenting, and I’d run out of options. My fingers clamored around in my jacket pocket, frantically trying to get a grip on the pepper spray I carried. The Taser was in my purse, but there was no way I’d get to it in time. Already, blackness threatened the edges of my vision.
With what felt like my last breath, I secured the canister in my hand and yanked it up toward his face, pulling the trigger.
“Fuckkkkk!” Joe released his grip on my throat as the torrent of liquid annihilated his eyes.
White-hot pain pierced my lungs as I dragged in my first free breath and shoved him away, bolting for the door. But just as I turned the knob, fingers twisted in my hair and wrenched my head back. My heeled shoe flew back into his shin, and he collapsed to his knees.
“Fucking bitch!”
“That’s right.” I jerked the door open and turned to face him one last time. My hands trembled as I fished the damning photos of him from my purse, tossing them onto the floor. “I’m not a little girl anymore. So fuck you, Joe. Come near me again, and I will ruin you.”
I folded the last of the baby blankets, tucking them into the diaper bag before glancing around the hospital room to make sure I didn’t miss anything. Gypsy was already in the wheelchair, my nephew securely tucked into her arms as Lucian stood behind them. His face was a mixture of awe and disbelief, and admittedly, I found it difficult to look away from them.
When he stormed into our lives a little over a year ago and strong-armed my sister into a deal through means of blackmail, I hated him. I swore I would hate him until the day he died. But looking at them now, everything had changed. Gypsy was softer. She’d become a mother and a wife. Two things I never thought I’d see. Her days of conning were far behind her, and I didn’t know exactly where that left me.
As part of the negotiations, Gypsy begged me to leave Las Vegas. She wanted me to move somewhere safe and go to school and make a better life for myself. But she had no idea Joe had crash-landed back into our lives. I ensured she remained blissfully unaware of the evidence that could unravel us because I didn’t want her to worry. But the worry never left her eyes when I was around.
All day, she’d watched me as I fussed over her. She smiled, but it was sad. Her concern for me was well founded, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Our past wasn’t pretty, and it had finally caught up with us. But mostly, it had caught up with me. I didn’t want to drag her back into the nightmare she’d fought so hard to protect me from. She deserved to be happy. She’d taken care of me, and now it was my turn to take care of her.
I kneeled to stroke my nephew’s cheek and then took Gypsy’s hand in mine. “I’m proud of you, Gyps. You know that? You’re going to be an amazing mother, just like you always were to me.”
Tears sprang to her eyes, and she looked so wracked with guilt, I couldn’t wrap my head around it. “Don’t say that, B. I should have done a lot of things differently.”
“No, there weren’t,” I argued. “You did the best you could. You did more than anyone else would have. And you don’t need to worry about me anymore, all right? Everything’s going to be okay.”
She pulled me in for an emotional hug I chalked up to hormones. She’d just given birth, and the last year hadn’t been easy. It had been more than any one person should bear. But she managed it with dignity and grace, just as she always had.
“Ace is going to give you a ride back,” she choked out the words. “Okay?”
I nodded, tossing a glance at the brooding biker lurking near the doorframe. The man who took me hostage at the Venetian hadn’t changed much. He was still decked out in his jeans, boots, and a flannel cut off beneath his leather vest. His beard was a little longer, maybe, but everything else was the same. Including the fact that whenever I looked at him, a million tiny fireflies lit up my belly.
I didn’t know why, because he was never happy to see me. Ace looked at me like I was a math problem he couldn’t quite figure out. I was lucky to get a grunted response, if he responded to me at all. He was aloof at the best of times and surly at the worst. I didn’t think he’d had a day of fun in his whole life, and I wondered why. There were so many questions I had about him, but I never voiced them. It was better that way. The smartest thing I could do was squash my curiosity deep down inside and ignore it. The last thing I needed was to get tangled up with emotions I didn’t understand.
The nurse that had been on shift today walked in, Gypsy’s discharge paperwork in her hands. She was pretty. I’d thought so the first time I saw her. Long chestnut hair, bright green eyes, and perfect, glowy skin that looked completely natural. I couldn’t find a single thing I didn’t like about her. But that changed the moment she looked at the man beside the door and recognition sparked in her eyes.
“Ace?” Her lips tilted at the corners, face brightening as he nodded in her direction.
The way she said his name with such familiarity bothered me. Who was this woman, and how did she know him? My eyes turned green with envy as claws I didn’t know I had sprouted from my fingertips. How ridiculous. I was not a jealous woman. Never in the history of ever had I cared one iota about what a man did or with whom. I’d never even had so much as a boyfriend. And Ace definitely wasn’t my boyfriend. So why the hell did I feel this way?
I studied him for a reaction, noting the way his eyes grazed over her with a recognition that made my stomach squeeze. Ace had mentioned to Gypsy once he had a girlfriend, but I was certain he was either lying or delusional. I’d seen him many times at Lucian’s house and on the random occasion he decided to pop up in my life on a whim, but I’d never once seen him with a woman. I didn’t even think he had the time for a relationship, given how involved he’d been with helping Lucian recently. Now, I couldn’t be sure. This woman looked like she knew him on a personal level, and I didn’t like it.
Heat soaked into my skin as I tried to find a steady piece of ground. Why did I feel so shaky? It was like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. She leaned up on her toes and whispered something in his ear, and he nodded. His eyes moved to me, and I licked my lips. My mouth was drier than the scorched earth of the Nevada desert.
Kylie, the nurse, walked over to Gypsy and started prattling on about her discharge, but my eyes were locked onto Ace. I couldn’t pry them away if I tried. The familiar sting of betrayal pricked at my nerve endings. It made no sense, though, because Ace wasn’t mine. In the grand scheme of things, I barely knew him. He had been nothing but a roadblock to my freedom. A grunting beast of a man hell-bent on ensuring I had zero fun in my life. So why did it feel like I’d been stung by this development?
I didn’t know if he could sense the roiling storm of emotion brewing inside me, but those feelings only amplified when he studied me. Eyes that were normally as smooth as cognac bled into a shade of hot dark whiskey. They were animalistic, predatory. A threat and a promise. But when Kylie spun on her heel and headed for the door, her step faltered as her gaze moved back and forth between us. My eyes collided with hers, and the slightest flicker of surprise flashed over her face as she took me in. A torrent of emotions sped through her pale eyes so quickly, I couldn’t keep up.
Did she see me as a threat?
Before I could find the answer to that question, she regained her composure and disappeared down the hall.
“We ready?” Ace grunted.
Lucian nodded, disengaging the brake on Gypsy’s chair before he wheeled her toward the door. I followed in a daze, not quite certain of anything. My eyes were glued to the expansive back of the man leading the charge, his stride steady and certain. Ace walked with the confidence of a man who could handle anything the world threw his way. There was a noticeable swagger in his step, but it wasn’t fueled by arrogance. He was intense by nature, a consistent one hundred and ninety proof. But I doubted he was even aware of what he must look like to everyone else. I doubte
d he even cared. He was in his own world, completely untouchable by everything else around him, and for that I envied him.
At the end of the hall, we piled into the elevator and descended in silence. The space smelled like disinfectant with a hint of leather and diesel. I knew the latter notes were all Ace, but as my eyes drifted to the bronzed skin of his throat, I wondered what he smelled like there. And worse yet, what he tasted like.
I forced my gaze away as the elevator signaled our arrival to the ground floor. Gypsy’s eyes teared up again as we said our goodbyes, and she demanded a hug from me even though I’d see her in a matter of minutes.
“It’s all right,” I assured her.
She nodded, her attention diverting to Ace. “Drive safely.”
He jerked his chin before his eyes landed on me. “Ready?”
“Yep.” I turned and gave Gypsy a little wave. “See you soon.”
“WHERE’S THE HARLEY?” BIRDIE ASKED.
My eyes moved to her ass as she hoisted herself into the seat of my Ford Raptor, and I stayed to make sure she buckled in. She sounded disappointed, and I wasn’t surprised. Women liked the bike. And Birdie might not know it, but she was the only woman who had ever been on the back of my FXD Dyna Super Glide. I didn’t make a habit of taking anyone for a ride. But when the situation warranted it and I had no choice, I’d taken her.
“It’s at home.” I shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side. She was quiet for all of two seconds as I fired up the engine and pulled out of the lot.
“What’s with the nurse?”
My fingers constricted around the steering wheel. I didn’t like that she’d met Kylie, but I couldn’t really figure out why. And despite my resolve not to give a shit, I was curious what was going through her mind.
Birdie was a beautiful woman. So beautiful it hurt to look at her sometimes. With electric blue eyes and long blond hair, she could turn heads on her worst day. It was difficult not to notice the curves of her body. She was sleek, powerful, and built for speed. The kind of feminine that lured you in and held you captive. She didn’t seem like a woman who would need to harbor jealousy, but as my eyes moved over the fingers twisted in her lap, I wondered if that was what this was.
My cock bulged uncomfortably against the seam of my jeans, a response I had difficulty controlling around Birdie. Why she provoked that reaction in me, I couldn’t say. She was a brat. A misguided, spoiled, entitled brat. But beneath her high-maintenance exterior was a tragedy. There were legitimate reasons for her behavior, and what she showed the world was only the tip of the iceberg. The truth was, she reminded me of my past. A past I’d tried hard to forget over the years.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Birdie pressed.
“Why do you care?” I eased the truck onto the interstate, heading for the compound out in Moapa Valley.
“I don’t.” Birdie blew a bubble with the gum in her mouth, her Adidas shoe bobbing up and down in irritation. “I just think it’s weird you’ve never brought her over to Lucian’s.”
I didn’t respond. Trying to explain the agreement I had with Kylie would give me a headache, and it was none of her business anyway. I had to remember that. If this situation was going to work, there needed to be clear boundaries.
“Where are we going?” Birdie studied me, her eyes burning into the side of my face. I had hoped she wouldn’t notice for a while longer, but now that she had, I could tell she was on edge.
“Out to the compound.”
“What compound?” Her voice dipped. “We’re supposed to meet Lucian and Gypsy back at the apartment.”
I reached for the volume button on the radio and cranked it up in an effort to drown her out. I hadn’t given a whole lot of thought to exactly how this would go down. There was only one certainty. Birdie was coming with me, and that was it. She’d probably try to fight. She’d pout and throw a fit and become even more of a pain in the ass than she already was. But at the end of the day, I hoped she’d save the efforts because it wouldn’t change anything.
She reached for the radio with a pink-tipped fingernail, cranking it all the way back down to a deafening silence. Then she turned in her seat, eyes boring into me. “What the hell is going on, Ace? Are you kidnapping me again?”
My knuckles went white, and it must have given me away.
“Oh my God, you are.” Her voice rose. I didn’t know what she was going to do. I hoped she’d at least wait until we were at the compound to have her toddler-sized meltdown, but logic wasn’t one of Birdie’s qualities. Her heart and soul were ruled by fire.
“Goddammit.” She unlocked the door and tried to yank it open. “Let me out. Let me out right now!”
I swerved onto the side of the freeway, horns blaring behind me as the truck came to a screeching halt. Birdie was already unbuckling, door flung wide open as she tried to make her getaway. Having zero desire to chase her down the road on foot, I had to act fast. I unbuckled myself and caught her around the waist, dragging her backward with one arm. She wiggled and fought in my grasp, kicking and slapping every which way she could come at me. When she got me in the throat, it hurt like a motherfucker, and on impulse, my grip around her faltered enough for her to squeeze out of my grasp. She was crawling across the seat again, desperate to make her grand escape. This time, I grabbed her by the arm and held her firmly in place while I jerked a zip tie from my pocket. Her eyes widened when I slapped it around her wrist, and she tried to yank back, but she might as well have been trying to fight a Clydesdale.
“Hold the fuck still,” I commanded, securing her wrist to the gear shift. It was a temporary fix for an increasingly frustrating situation.
A sigh heaved from my chest as I jumped out of the cab and walked around to the other side. She was still frantically trying to escape, fighting the containment of the zip tie and kicking at me. A few solid blows pummeled my chest before one hit me in the face.
“For fuck’s sake,” I growled, grabbing the backs of her thighs and pinning her body with mine. She wiggled again, but this time, she felt the hard flesh of my cock poking against her ass when she bounced it off me. Immediately, she stopped moving, panting as she turned over her shoulder to stare at me in disbelief. Heat rose to the surface of my cheeks, and I barked out the only thing I could think to say.
“Turn the fuck around.”
Birdie didn’t listen, but then again, she never did, and it irritated me to no end. I grabbed a mass of blond curls and dragged them over her face so she couldn’t look back at me, but she still had one arm free, and she used it to quickly untangle the hair in her vision.
I didn’t even know why we were fighting over this. She’d felt my dick against her, and I couldn’t deny it. It was the most ridiculous situation I’d ever been in, her ass hanging over the side of my truck while I held her down with my body. She smelled so fucking good. Sweet like the summer wind in my face when I was flying down the road at eighty miles per hour. That was how she made me feel too, and right now, I hated her for it. The flawless, honey-kissed skin of her thighs peeked up at me from beneath her shorts, tempting me in a way nothing had ever tempted me before.
I was uptight, and I was irritated as fuck. And frankly, I didn’t know what to do with her now. Reaching into my pocket, I dragged out a few more zip ties.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” she snarled. “Who carries those around in their pocket? Hello, serial killer.”
I ignored her and focused on securing her ankles together, but she fought me every step of the way. Just when I thought I was close, she’d yank her leg away and make me start from scratch again.
“Goddammit.” I squeezed the back of her thighs with my palms. “Quit fucking moving.”
“Or what?” she taunted. “What are you going to do about it, you big dumb biker?”
That was it. I’d fucking had it. I knew I was losing my cool, but I couldn’t help it. My palm thundered down against the jeans-covered cheek of her ass, hoping to bring her to her
senses. But instead, she just looked at me in disbelief, and then she started laughing.
“Oh, that hurts so much.” She mocked me with her eyes. “Are you showing me who’s boss now?”
A growl erupted from my throat, and without a second thought, I yanked her shorts down and bared her soft ass cheeks. She sucked in a breath, and this time, there was no laughter when my palm collided directly with the round globe.
“Ouch,” she hissed.
I didn’t stop there. I should have, but I liked something about that giant red paw print I’d left. I fucking liked it, and I wanted to leave more of them.
“Are you going to behave now?” I peppered each cheek with another slap between the words until her ass was so red it would hurt to sit down.
“All right!” she belted out. “Fine, you fucking savage. You can stop now.”
For a minute, I just stood there, chest heaving as my eyes moved over the round curves of her ass covered with my marks. If I thought my dick was hard before, it was barely tolerable now. Because as much as Birdie wanted to prove how little this affected her, I could see the glistening crevice of her pink pussy peeking out from between her thighs. She was wet for me. So fucking wet I could smell the sweet honey of her arousal.
I had an urge to pry her thighs apart and bury my face so deep in that pussy I couldn’t see the light of day. An image of her riding my beard and grinding her hips on my tongue made my mouth water. I hadn’t felt a need like this before. It was primal. Animalistic. And it was going to be a goddamned problem.
“Fuck you,” I murmured as I pulled up her shorts and finished securing the tie around her ankles.
“Fuck you too,” she shot back.
She wasn’t looking at me anymore, but her face was mottled with red, and I didn’t know if it was anger or embarrassment. Regardless, it didn’t matter. She’d learned her lesson. The first of many. And I hoped she’d think twice about pulling shit like that again.