“Baby, your face shows everything and you look like you’re in a shit ton of pain.”
I tried to stand taller, hard to do when being held tightly by a demigod and using crutches to stay upright. “First, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me baby. Second, whether or not I’m in pain is really none of your concern. Now, if you’d please release me, I have work to do.”
“Jesus,” he whispered.
“Jesus doesn’t really factor into this,” I sassed. “I’m the one who’s going to have to navigate the auditorium steps.”
“Lyric!” my sister called. I craned my neck and she frowned. “You okay?”
“You’re asking me now?” I retorted. “After I nearly fell flat on my face?”
“You were never gonna fall,” Lincoln countered. “I had you.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You also do not factor into this, Lincoln.”
“She’s good,” Lincoln called out. “I’ll help her inside.”
“No you won’t.”
“Yeah, I will.”
“Jesus,” I hissed.
He smirked. “Jesus doesn’t factor into this.”
I rolled my eyes as he turned my words back on me.
“Ready?” he asked.
“I can—”
“Need you to let me help you, Lyric, ’cause if you end up flat on your gorgeous ass, I’m gonna have a problem with that.”
“You think my ass is gorgeous?” I asked, then immediately added, “Don’t answer that.”
He scowled again. “I think everything about you is gorgeous.”
“Stop,” I hissed. “Just help me inside and leave me be.”
“Your wish is my command.”
He took one of my crutches, wrapped his arm around my waist and helped me down the shallow auditorium steps.
“What the fuck is that?” he grumbled.
“Melody’s rehearsing,” I answered.
Melody stopped dancing and frowned. “Are you okay?”
I nodded, but I could tell she didn’t believe me.
“Let’s take five,” Melody said, and jumped off the stage, rushing over to me. “You look really pale, LiLi.”
“I’m fine,” I lied.
“Who are you?” Melody asked.
“Doom.”
“What kind of a name is Doom?” Melody demanded.
“It’s his club name,” I provided. “You can let me go now, Lincoln.”
He settled me in one of the chairs and stood, crossing his arms. “How long ago did you take a pain pill?”
I checked my wrist which was void of a watch. “Oh, about five o’none of your business.”
“Did you take one at four?” Melody asked.
“No,” I said.
“Why not?”
Again, this came from my sister.
I sighed. “Because I need to be able to think tonight.”
“You won’t if you’re in pain.”
This came from Doom.
“Yeah, what he said,” Melody retorted.
“Both of you need to walk away right now.”
“And if we don’t?” Doom challenged.
I forced back frustrated tears as I took several deep breaths. I needed everyone to stop fussing over me. I hated fussing. It put me on edge.
“Oh, shit, my sister is going to cry,” Melody informed Doom. “And if Lyric cries, the world ends, so I’m going to find Harmony and get her some pain meds that she is going to take, even if I have to force them down her fucking gullet.”
She stalked away and Doom hunkered down in front of me. “You gonna cry, Angel?”
I glared at him. I couldn’t handle him giving me a sweet nickname while he was standing in front of me looking positively edible, because he was right, I did want to cry and that wasn’t in my M.O. “I don’t cry.”
As if to prove I was lying, he swiped his thumb over my cheek and gently wiped a tear away. His touch scorched me and I leaned back. “Don’t.”
He slid his thumb into his mouth and sucked on it, staring at me as he did it, and my girly bits contracted with need. I was pretty sure he knew exactly what he was doing to my body and I had to look away.
I hadn’t had sex in close to three years and my body was suddenly in dire need.
“What’s this about not taking your meds at four?” Harmony demanded as she arrived with Melody in tow.
“I need to be on point, NiNi. I can’t be foggy.”
She handed me a bottled water and a pill and leaned down. “Take it.”
“Ni—”
“Take the damn pill, LiLi.”
“First, I’m not an errant child—”
“If you don’t take the pill voluntarily, Lyric, I’m gonna make it my mission to make you,” Doom warned.
I took the pill.
It wasn’t lost on me that my sisters couldn’t stop looking between me and Doom, a bit like they were watching a tennis match, and I decided I’d had enough. “I’d appreciate it if y’all would fuck off now, so I can get some work done.”
“Jaxon’s carrying everything into the dressing room, so I’ll go grab your laptop,” Harmony offered.
“Thanks,” I said, and my sisters went their separate way.
Doom, however, lingered.
“You can go too,” I said.
He leaned down. “Open.”
“Open what?”
“Your mouth.” He crossed his arms. “For now.”
I shivered even as I wrinkled my nose. “I will not.”
“Did you cheek your meds?”
“What?” I snapped. “No.”
“Open so I can see.”
“Oh my god, Lincoln—”
He leaned in, almost nose-to-nose with me, and whispered a sexy threat, “If you don’t want me to kiss you, and investigate personally if that pill went down your throat, you better open your goddamn mouth.”
Call me crazy, but I suddenly wanted him to kiss me.
Instead, I opened my mouth and raised my tongue.
Doom looked as disappointed as I felt as he stood again.
“Doom!”
We both looked to see a woman waving him over. I didn’t recognize her, but I deduced it was one of Wynn’s assistants. Wynn was organizing the auction and I know she’d asked several firefighters to help her with it.
“Fuck,” he breathed out. “You good?”
I took a deep breath. “As I’ve said, multiple times, I’m fine.”
“Well, yeah, damn fine, but are you okay?”
“Doom!” she called again.
“Goddammit.”
I cocked my head. “You better go.”
He nodded and walked away just as Harmony returned with my computer. “Who is that?”
“He was the man who rescued all my stuff from my car after the accident.”
“He seems to like you.”
“No he doesn’t,” I ground out. “He’s kind of rude.”
Actually, demanding was more accurate, but that made me like him a little, and I didn’t want to like him at all.
“Oh my god, LiLi, that dude is into you,” Melody breathed out, flopping into a chair next to me.
“Don’t you have work to do?”
“Yep. But not for ninety seconds.” She faced me. “Now, tell me about the hottie.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I said, opening my laptop.
“Oh, there’s something to tell,” Harmony countered, taking the seat on the other side of me. “Spill.”
“We have so much to do. Can we please shelve this?” I begged.
“No,” Melody said.
“Yes,” Harmony countered, with an emphasis on the ‘s.’
“Killjoy,” Melody grumbled, and headed back to the stage, while Harmony leaned down and kissed my cheek.
“You have a reprieve until tonight.”
“Whatever,” I retorted, and went back to my list.
Harmony chuckled and walked away.
Lyric
“YOU LOOK GORGEOUS,” Harmony crooned as I shuffled out of the dressing room.
I smiled. Melody’s make-up artist and stylist had worked wonders, weaving my long blonde hair into an intricate braided bun on the side of my neck, leaving a few wisps of hair to fall around my face. My makeup was light, but he’d done a daring smoky eye, a light blush and a nude lip which complemented my Zac Posen gown perfectly.
The sleeveless, deep blue gown, had a plunging v-neckline, and the front was knotted, which hid my small pooch (I loved milk duds, sue me). It had a mermaid silhouette, but the tulle skirt was flared, so my leg brace was hidden. I wore one of my Loubouton peep toed heels, but I was regretting this choice slightly, because my crutches had been measured based on my natural height, not with a four-inch heel on.
But they were Loubouton. Fuck my crutches.
I followed my sisters to our table and saw that Wesley O’Neal and his CFO, Charles Alder, were already seated and I smiled. “This is not your table, sir.”
Wesley and I had been friends for a few years. He owned quite a bit of Savannah real estate and beyond, and I’d represented his firm when a rival company had wanted to buy one of his properties. The problem was, they wanted to do it illegally, so they paid a low-level guy in the city building inspector’s office to plant evidence that Wes had been less than honest in how he’d procured the building originally.
The thing about Wes was, he was honest to a fault. Not a pushover, mind you, but always told the truth and his handshake was his bond, real old-school stuff. It took over a month to find the evidence, but we did, and it had solidified our friendship outside of a professional relationship.
He grinned wide, standing and making his way to me before leaning down to kiss my cheek. “I know, but I was stuck with Gordon Snyder and I just could not sit there all night and listen to the wonders of six hundred CCs versus two hundred CCs. So, I secretly switched tags with Marvin Aikers.”
I grimaced. “Well, I’d like to know who the hell Marvin Aikers thinks he is, because he wasn’t originally sitting at my table. Sneaky little bastard.”
“You’re welcome.”
I laughed. “My hero.”
“Come, sit,” he ordered and nodded to my injury. “Tell me how this happened. I’m assuming it was while you were doing some kind of ninja move on a perp.”
“I’m a lawyer, Wes, not a cop.” I chuckled and nodded to Harmony. “That’s NiNi’s thing. She’s FBI. Oh, by the way. Harmony, meet Wes. Wes, my sister Harmony and her husband Jaxon. You probably already know Melody.”
We spent a few minutes greeting each other, then a server arrived to take our order and open bottles of wine and take alternate drink orders.
Before I knew it, dinner was over and it was time for me to do my ‘thing.’
“You’re up,” Harmony said, waving to the podium and I nodded, heading to the stairs at the side of the stage.
Wes helped me up them, then I made my way to the middle of the stage and leaned against the podium. The room was packed, every table bought and filled, and the cash bar already running out of red wine. Jaxon had taken a couple of Doom’s brethren on a wine run, once again saving the night.
“Hello everyone,” I said, glad I’d been forced to take a pain pill earlier. There was no way I would’ve been able to stand there without it. “Thank you so much for coming tonight. I look forward to all of you giving generously in our various auctions. I have it on good authority the firefighters who have graciously donated their time are going to be well worth your donations. Even I have been kept in the dark, so I’m just as excited as you are.”
* * *
Doom
“I want to take a moment to thank…”
I tuned out Lyric’s obligatory thank you speech as I stood back stage and waited for my personal hell to begin. Jesus, I should have just murdered Alamo, hid his body, then pretended I never got signed up for this shit.
Part of my hell came in the form of Lyric Morgan and the gown that begged to be slowly removed from her body. I’d spent most of the evening forcing my dick to behave every time I caught a glimpse of her legs (boot and all) in the short shorts she’d been wearing earlier, and now her evening gown. Jesus, she was stunning.
“I really hope some old lady doesn’t bid on me,” Rabbit lamented.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m hopin’ no one bids on me, period.”
He grinned. “Have you seen the sheer number of high-class pussy out there? I’m good with anyone under the age of forty-five.”
“That’s because you’re young, dumb, and full of cum.”
Rabbit bobbed his head up and down. “Hell, yeah, I am.”
“Jesus,” I hissed as I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“I’m going to turn the evening over to Wynn Porter, she’ll be introducing your auction items! Please give her a warm welcome.”
The place erupted with applause and Wynn took her place on the stage. Wynn was gorgeous. She was probably in her mid-thirties and spoke softly, but confidently. She’d always been cool to me, and even though I hadn’t known her very long, I got a good feeling from her.
Rabbit got called up and I watched as he jogged onto the stage like a fuckin’ Labrador puppy, all legs and stupidity. In the end, some woman, well over forty, bid five-grand on the boy, and Wynn hit the gavel down and it was done.
To Rabbit’s credit, he covered his disappointment like a champ and headed off the stage the opposite way, right as Wynn caught my eye. She smiled slowly and I shook my head.
Well, shit.
“Ladies, we have a real treat for you tonight.”
I tried to keep a scowl off my face as I made my way out of the dark.
“This man was a firefighter with the Savannah Fire Department for ten years before leaving to open his own body shop. So, ladies, he both knows how to use his hose, and pound out your dents.”
I bit back a groan as the laughter filled the room.
“And don’t let his name fool you,” she said, waving me onto the stage, “because his name might be Doom, but he’ll make your heart go zoom.”
I heard a gasp to my left and followed the sound to find Lyric standing on her crutches, her mouth open in shock. I forced myself not to smile as Wynn continued to make really bad puns at my expense.
“Four-thousand,” a woman yelled, standing in the back and waving her arms.
“Four-thousand, five-hundred,” another one yelled.
“Five-thousand.”
Wynn looked like she might squeal with glee as the number kept going up and up.
“Twelve-thousand dollars!”
A collective gasp sounded, and everyone turned to try and find the generous benefactor.
Shit. It was Melody Morgan.
“Thirteen thousand.”
My head whipped to the woman who’d originally bid four, and my stomach churned. Option one was a certifiably crazy woman and option two was a woman who’d had more dent repair than Lyric’s car.
“Fifteen thousand,” Melody countered.
“Sixteen thousand.”
And so it went until Melody bid fifty-thousand and the other woman finally accepted defeat.
“Well,” Wynn crooned, fanning herself with her auction program. “I’m not sure how we’re going to top that. Melody Morgan, you’ve won a date with Firefighter Doom.”
I stalked off the stage as soon as I could, nearly ramming into Lyric. I reached out to steady her as I passed her. “Sorry.”
* * *
Lyric
“No, I’m sorry,” I rushed to say. “I was kind of blocking the exit.”
I couldn’t stop staring at Doom as he headed off the stage like his feet were on fire. Probably eager to get his date with my sister started.
“You feelin’ okay?” he asked.
“Yep. Fantastic.”
He studied me like he was staring into my soul and I dropped my gaze, unable to hold his. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Um, yes,
I’m great. I should really get back to it.”
“Okay, Angel, you get back to it.”
He still held me steady and I turned in order to break his hold. He held tight.
“LiLi, you need to get off your feet,” Harmony demanded walking toward me. “Honey, your job is over, you can relax.”
“You’re probably right,” I conceded, giving Doom a chin lift in challenge.
“You have a good rest of your night,” he said, finally releasing me and walking away.
“What was that all about?” Harmony asked.
“I have no idea.”
“Why did Melody bid fifty-thousand dollars on him?” Harmony asked. “Did you give her permission to do that?”
“Outside of the fact, this is technically charitable giving, she hasn’t spent all of her ‘fun’ money this month,” I said with a sigh. “Believe it or not, she stayed under the limit. She still has a thousand to do with as she pleases.”
I’d always had Melody on a budget, but I’d had to tighten the purse strings so to speak when her first, then third husband had tried to take her for more than the prenup. Neither of them banked on me, and they found out what hell felt like when they messed with the Morgan sisters. Husband number two scurried away like the rat he was, but I never knew where husband number four might be lurking, so I’d clamped down the flow of cash.
Jebus, maybe Doom was husband number four.
“She’s spent almost a hundred thousand already?” Harmony asked.
“Yep. She bought llamas.”
“Llamas?”
“And alpacas.”
“Jebus,” Harmony hissed. “What the hell does she need llamas and alpacas for?”
“No clue,” I said.
“Well, I’m glad I don’t have to care anymore.”
Harmony had been Melody’s assistant for years. Right up until she met Jaxon, actually. Melody had gotten out of control and since I wasn’t on the road with them, Harmony took the brunt of all of that. Melody had gone through six assistants since Harmony quit, but so far, her most recent one, Brandy, seemed to be sticking. She’d been hired two years ago and was still here.
“Lucky you,” I deadpanned, and Harmony smiled.
“This guy seems to like you.”
“No he doesn’t,” I ground out.
“Okay.” Harmony shrugged. “He doesn’t. How did you meet?”
Quieting the Biker's Rage Page 3