Heart of Steel

by Cathleen Cole

  Once Bridget’s sobs died down, I leaned over and grabbed a box of tissues. I dried off her eyes and handed her some so she could blow her nose. She did, then sighed. We settled back down, me behind her, arms wrapped around her again.

  “Someone saw me with Gunnar and told my mom and dad.”

  Oh shit.

  “They told me to come over for dinner last night after you left. Then they ambushed me about him.” I tightened my embrace, silently showing support.

  “Dad was such an asshole.” She said quietly. “He wouldn’t listen. He just kept saying Gunnar was a piece of shit and that he was using me.

  “God, I’m sorry Bridge.” I felt awful for her. I knew if Uncle Caleb ever found out about Steel, he’d be saying the same things, so I was outraged for her. “Why does everyone judge people before they get to know them?” Bridget shrugged and wiped the back of her hand over her eyes.

  “I thought mom would at least have my back. But she just sat there. She just fucking sat there while dad told me I couldn’t see Gunnar again.” I sucked in a breath. I figured that was how Mr. Jordan would react, but it still sucked.

  “How are they going to keep you from seeing him?” I asked dryly.

  Her voice cracked as she answered. “He threatened to have Gunnar arrested if I see him again.”

  I frowned. “He can’t do that! Can he?” I leaned over and looked down into her watery blue eyes.

  “My godfather is the Chief of Police, Remi. If daddy asks him to look into Gunnar’s background and dig something up, he’ll do it.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah,” She said miserably.

  “What are you going to do?” She and Gunnar had been getting along great. Bridget had been deliriously happy for weeks. Where I had been indecisive and hesitant, Bridget had moved forward full throttle. It had been so nice seeing her so in love because whether she’d admit it or not, she was in love with Gunnar.

  “I broke up with him last night.”

  I sucked in a breath and sat up on the bed. She sat up too, and we faced each other. “How did he take it?”

  She grimaced. “Not well. He was pissed.”

  “Well, it’s just for a little while, right? Until you guys can figure out what to do about your dad?” She shook her head, sadly.

  “He wouldn’t even let me explain. I tried, and he just exploded. He started yelling at me about being a princess and a coward and then left.” A tear dripped down her face. “He thought I was worried about dad disowning me or something, even though I never said anything about that.”

  “So, he had no idea it’s because you’re worried about the whole Austin Police Force coming after him?” She shook her head. I sighed. “Jesus, why do guys always refuse to communicate?”

  Bridget looked up and smirked at me through her tears. “This coming from the queen of putting her head under the covers?” I grimaced. She had a point. As a kid, whenever they’d try to talk to me about something that made me mad, I’d stuffed my head under the covers and put my fingers in my ears. I may not do that anymore, but I still had an unhealthy habit of bottling stuff up until it was either ready to explode or I did.

  “Good point. I have no room to talk.” But Bridget was a great communicator. This must be killing her, to not be able to explain to him what had happened. “What are you going to do?”

  She shrugged. “Let him cool off, then try talking to him again.”

  “Will you get back together with him?”

  The heartbreak on her face was agony for me. I wished I could fix it. I pulled her into a hug. “Any way I can help, just let me know.” She nodded, and we sat there silently for a while.

  Chapter 32

  Steel

  I watched with interest as Remi stretched. She was wearing yoga pants. She insisted they were leggings, but I didn’t care what the difference was, just that they hugged her ass. She bent over and touched her toes. I grinned and silently thanked whoever had created them. She straightened up and looked at me over her shoulder with a smirk.

  “It’s not healthy to work out without stretching.”

  I shrugged. “Conflicting information. Some experts say you shouldn’t stretch cold.” Her eyebrows went up, and she laughed. She went back to her stretches. The door to our clubhouse gym opened and Rat froze when he saw I was in here with Remi.

  “Sorry, Steel. Uh… I’ll come back.” He was already trying to back out the door.

  “Get back in here, Rat.” I motioned over to the treadmills. “You won’t bother us.” Rat never lifted or sparred. He was a thin, pale kid and could use some serious muscle building, but he wouldn’t ever let us work out with him. The kid could run fucking circles around us and never break a sweat, despite smoking a pack a day though.

  Running seemed to be an escape for him. I knew it had a lot to do with his childhood and growing up on the streets. We were pretty close with Rat but there was only so much he’d tell us about the time before we’d found him, or he’d found us rather. Cade and Riggs knew everything he knew about his past, which wasn’t much sadly. They knew about every member of our charter, but no one was forced to share it with anyone else.

  “Hi!”

  I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face. Remi was a naturally outgoing, friendly person and her overly enthusiastic greeting just made Rat’s face go even paler. I didn’t think it was possible for skin tone to go translucent, but it just had. He mumbled something and hurried over to the treadmill, shooting Remi quick glances over his shoulder. Remi gave me a confused look, and I just shook my head, indicating that she should drop it.

  It had taken most of us years to get Rat to relax long enough to stay in the same room with us, let alone talk or touch us in the simplest of ways. You’d think that a kid that started out in a biker club at twelve years old would be a cocky shit, but Rat was the exact opposite. With his skills and smarts he had every right to be an arrogant asshole too, but he never was. It was one of the reasons the rest of us were so protective of him.

  Remi just shrugged and pulled an arm over her chest, using her other arm to stretch out her shoulder. The little tank top she had on covered all but a small section of her stomach. With Rat in here, I was going to have to focus more on the sparring session than what I’d originally had in mind when she’d pranced in with those clothes on. I’d tried to get her to come out to the clubhouse and stay the night with me last night, but she’d had to work at Mackenzie’s and didn’t want to drive out afterward. I think she was just trying to create a little space, something I wasn’t about to give her.

  Yesterday had been the day after our date, so it would have been back-to-back nights of her spending time at my place. She was making me work for this, but I was enjoying it. I’d convinced her to meet me this morning, to work out together. There wasn’t much going on at the shop today and Riggs said I wasn’t needed. He preferred being there alone as much as possible anyway, besides having one of the guys in to run the front counter. If my brother didn’t have to answer phones that was best for everyone, especially our customers. Riggs wasn’t known for his tact and customer service.

  Remi turned and placed her hands on her hips, eyeballing me as hard as I was her. The sexual tension was thick. It was going to be hard not to cut this lesson short and just toss her over my shoulder and bring her upstairs. I could hear the rhythmic pounding of Rat’s feet across the room. My eyes swept down her body before meeting her eyes. She slowly let hers do the same, then met mine in challenge. I folded my arms over my chest, a smug sense of satisfaction filling me when her eyes instantly dropped to them.

  I was wearing a t-shirt with the sleeves cut off and basketball shorts. I hadn’t missed the looks she’d been giving me when she thought I wasn’t looking. But I had a purpose for this training session today and needed to stay on track. I knew she and her friends had been training with Sergio in self-defense. I’d called him a few days ago to check in and see what they’d gone over so far. I needed my girl to be
able to take care of herself. My life was dangerous and as much as we all tried to keep club life from spilling over onto our families, sometimes it did.

  It was important to me that she knew at least the basics on how to throw a punch, kick, how to do a little ground wrestling, and a few moves to get out of holds. I would teach her as much as she’d be willing to learn. She had an athletic body and seemed game for it, so I was hoping over the years we’d get her to a place where she’d be a threat to anyone who’d try to take her on.

  “Show me what you’ve learned with Sergio so far.”

  Her eyebrows pulled together. I walked over to the side of the room and tossed her some MMA gloves. They were lighter than boxing gloves but didn’t provide as much padding while punching. That was fine, in the real world if you hit someone there wasn’t any padding, I’d rather she get used to fighting with less than more. She pulled the gloves on but just waited. I raised a brow and waited as well.

  “Aren’t you going to get some focus mitts?” She asked.

  “No, just hit me. Show me what he’s taught you.”

  She looked at me like I was crazy, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. She’d probably be horrified if she saw any of the sparring sessions between me, Cade, Riggs, and Gunnar.

  “You can’t expect me to just hit you.” Those fists went back to her hips.

  “I expect you to hit anyone who attacks you.” The humor was gone. The idea of someone coming after her filling me with a cold fury.

  “Well, you haven’t…” She broke off with a squeal when I lunged at her. I didn’t go full speed but put enough in the movement to make her work for it. She was quick and managed to dart to the side and out of my grasp.

  “I wasn’t ready.” She huffed as I lunged at her again, and she had to sidestep to avoid me. She’d just barely managed to get out of the way.

  “You think someone coming after you is going to wait while you set up?”

  I circled her, and she narrowed her eyes. I was satisfied to see her drop into a fighting stance as she circled me, though. Once her brain clicked into fight mode, it came to her naturally. She bent her knees slightly, her weight on the balls of her feet, arms raised, fists in front of her face. She glared at me but didn’t respond. She was focused now.

  Feigning to the right, I jabbed lightly but quickly with my left, toward her. She blocked the light punch with her right forearm and returned her own jab. It was too soft. I would never punch her at even one-quarter of my strength, but I didn’t want her holding back during our sessions.

  “Don’t hold back, hit me. You won’t hurt me. The guys and I spar at full strength a few times every other week.” I saw the surprise on her face. A look of determination crossed her face and her fist shot out in a surprisingly strong right hook. I laughed and rubbed my chin where her glove had landed. She laughed with me, but we kept circling, looking for openings.

  For the next thirty minutes, we exchanged punches and a few kicks. I noted the areas she needed to work on for her boxing, but for the most part, I was happy with where she was at.

  Now for the fun part.

  “Alright. We’re going to work on getting out of some holds and then work on your ground game a little.” She had a light layer of sweat shining on her skin and it was sexy as hell. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her. All in the name of self-defense, of course.

  Chapter 33

  Remi

  “What would you do if someone grabbed you from behind? Like this?” One of Steel’s thick arms slid around my waist, while the other came around my neck. He gently tugged me back against his body. He didn’t tighten his hold to where I couldn’t breathe, but it took the barest shifting for me to realize he wasn’t going to let me go anywhere. I could feel the heat of his body seeping into mine and every muscle from chest to thigh. Seriously, it should be a crime for a guy to be this ripped.

  Shit.

  I struggled but quickly stopped when his hold tightened more. If he were a bad guy that would just get my air cut off. I couldn’t throw an elbow because the band of his arm wasn’t only around my waist, but had my arms pinned to my sides as well. I crunched my foot down on the top of his as hard as I could and was rewarded with a grunt of pain. It was satisfying, but he didn’t release me. I didn’t even have enough leverage to throw my head back at him so I could headbutt him.

  “I don’t know,” I muttered, irritated with myself. That feeling fled quickly when his lips came down and brushed my temple, running down the side of my face until he was nibbling on my jaw under my ear.

  Who knew that spot was so sensitive…? Or could get that reaction by kissing there, my inner voice added with a sigh as liquid heat pooled low in my belly as Steel flicked his tongue over the lobe of my ear. I shuddered, and he chuckled softly at my reaction.

  “So, you’re going to raise onto your toes. At the same time, you’re going to want to slide your hands between your neck and my forearm. Raising up is going to create enough space to get them in there.” He was still speaking low into my ear, and I was having a really hard time concentrating on what he was saying because I just wanted to rub backward against him.

  “Then you’ll squat a little and turn. You’re going to want to get your hip anywhere into me that you can. Using your legs you’re going to be able to lift a bigger guy like me, especially since you’ll be doing this all in one motion so the momentum will help.” He waited until I’d gotten my grip and stance right before he continued.

  “Once you’ve got my feet unbalanced, you’re going to lean forward, drop the shoulder that is closest to me, and shove. This will send whoever is behind you flying or sprawling to the ground, depending on their weight. Here is the important part.” He shifted so that our eyes met. His gray eyes were serious and intense. “Don’t fuck around. Don’t check to see how they are. You run. Got it?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure why he’d gotten so serious all of a sudden, but I wanted to lighten the mood, so I leaned forward and brushed my lips over his. He froze for a moment, so I took the opportunity to explore the silky-smooth texture of his lips. Turning in his suddenly loose arms, I wrapped mine around his neck and slipped my tongue into his mouth. He groaned but didn’t take over the kiss. I unwrapped my arms and slid my hands down his chest, then over his sides, feeling all the bulges that attested to many hours spent in this room.

  Speaking of bulges…

  Wickedly, I thrust my hips forward, grinding against him. He bit my bottom lip, and I sucked in a breath. Steel’s hands came up to my shoulders, and he shocked me when he suddenly spun me around and jerked me back and up against him. We were back in the position we’d started in, both breathing hard. I could feel his hard dick against my ass and I pushed back against him. He was breathing hard, but he laughed then nipped my shoulder.

  “Let’s practice this move. Then we’ll finish what you just started.” His voice was husky, and it turned me on to hear how obviously hot my kiss had made him. I felt him shift, so I looked up at him. He was looking over at the corner of the room and I glanced over and felt my face flood with heat.

  Fuck. I’d forgotten the other guy was in here. He was looking down at his treadmill; it told me there was no way he’d missed what we were doing. I wasn’t really into voyeurism, so I appreciated that Steel seemed to have kept his wits about him a bit better than I had. We practiced and about the time I was getting very irritated and wanted nothing more than to move the party along upstairs, Steel finally seemed satisfied with my progress.

  Seriously, I didn’t think he was actually going to hold out until I was a pro at the move.

  Rat had left somewhere in the middle of one of the times that I’d tossed Steel to the floor. Well, tossed wasn’t the right word. He was really heavy. But I’d managed to break his hold and get him off of me, anyway. It was just me and him alone in the gym again. Steel stood up, a dangerous look in his eyes. It triggered some kind of instinctual reflex in me because my eyes darted around as I looked for a way to e
scape. It was weird how he could bring that feeling out in me. Like I needed to run away, in more ways than one. It was hard to explain.

  I tried to dart around him and reach the door that led upstairs. I didn’t make it more than three steps before he tackled me from behind. Steel twisted as we fell, and I landed on top of him. Before I could even catch my breath or figure out what had happened, he rolled and pinned me to the mats. The smug tilt of his lips had me glaring at him. That was another thing he excelled at. He made me want to kiss him and throttle him, often at the same time. His lips attacked mine as though I was the last sip of water in a desert, on a hot day.

  Those huge hands were roaming everywhere along my body, making my breath hitch. Steel nibbled lightly at my lower lip and shifted his hips until he was lying between my thighs. When he ground himself forward all I could do was gasp and move with him. One of his hands tangled in my hair and pulled my head back and to the side so he could lick his way across my neck.

  “Ew. Steel, I’m all sweaty.”

  “Mmmm,” He growled and just kept tasting my skin. It was strangely arousing. Suddenly, Steel disentangled himself from me and stood. I lay there, panting, staring up at him in surprise. He held a hand out to me and pulled me to my feet when I accepted it. I expected him to take me upstairs, but he pulled me through a door at the opposite end of the room.

  It was a locker room. I laughed and shoved him. “What are we doing here?” He pulled his shirt off and the smile fell from my face.

  Holy— my thought was interrupted when he jerked me back against him again and kissed me hard. Somehow, we managed to strip in between kisses. That’s tough when you didn’t want to take your lips off each other. I watched his bare ass as he walked over and turned one of the showers on.

  I walked over to him and slid my arms around him from behind, pushing my breasts into his back. Letting my palms slide up and down his chest I rested my cheek on his back. I loved his body; it was so sexy. My hands trailed lower, and his body tensed. The shower was starting to put steam out into the air. I wrapped my hand around his cock and his head dropped forward. Moving my palm from base to tip, I experimented with my grip and pace before I stroked my thumb over the tip.