The Keeper (Silent Phoenix MC #5)

Chapter 4

FOUR

PIPER

Ivy & Piper’s Guide to Life Rule Number Twenty-Nine:

Wash your face every single night.

I vy paused in the open doorway to our hotel room and cleared her throat, clearly expecting me to follow.

“Go on, I’ll be there in a minute,” I assured her with a grin, likely giving away my true intentions.

She shook her head before disappearing inside, leaving me alone with Dane in the quiet hallway.

The air buzzed with electricity, and I was hyperaware of everything from the distant ding of the elevators to the rise and fall of his chest. Some part of me knew I needed to commit this moment to memory. My heart pounded like a drumline in my chest as common sense warred with impulsivity.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed the front of the T-shirt Dane had thrown on when we left the pool and tugged his mouth down over mine.

His lips lacked the softness from before and moved against mine with the desperate urgency of a man shipping off to war. I twisted the material of his shirt beneath my fingers, anchoring myself as much as preventing him from pulling away.

Anyone could walk out of their room and see us, but I was too far gone to care. Nothing else existed outside of the hands braced on the wall on either side of my head and the insistent press of his lips to mine.

“God, I wish you didn’t suck at giving advice,” I confessed, peering up at him through heavy-lidded eyes.

Dane ran his tongue over his bottom lip as if he was still tasting me, his breaths coming in sharp, shallow pants. “Oh yeah? Why?”

“Because...” I hissed as his hand trailed down the side of my throat.

“Because?” He tilted his head to the side as if he didn’t know exactly what had caused my sudden lack of focus. “You wanna elaborate on that?”

My stomach rolled like the loose change on the floorboard of my car as I admitted, “Um, I don’t—I don’t kiss on the first date ever, but I just broke that rule with this guy I just met.”

His laugh was low and husky. “Scandalous.”

“And now, I want—” I sucked in a breath as his fingers skimmed along the halter strap of my bikini before stopping just above the swell of my breast.

He nodded, encouraging me to continue. “And now you want...”

“I want more than a kiss goodnight, but I’m not sure if I should.” Saying it out loud felt like stepping off a ledge without looking down first, which was admittedly a terrific way to end up dead— and, oh my god, why was he smiling like that?

“More, as in you serenading me with ‘My Heart Will Go On’ and recreating your favorite scene from Titanic ?” Dane’s eyebrow arched suggestively.

I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up in my throat. “First off, you would be so lucky,” I said primly. “Second, there was room for both of them on that door, and I’ll die on that hill.”

He shook his head with a smirk. “Fair enough. So, the private concert’s out. What else could there possibly be?”

“I was thinking of something a little more hands-on, if you know what I mean. ”

Dane’s eyes darkened, his pupils expanding until only a sliver of brown remained. “What kind of hands-on are we talking about here?”

I made a show of glancing up and down the hall before crooking my finger. “Come here. I don’t want anyone else to hear.”

He obediently lowered his head, and I leaned in, my lips brushing the shell of his ear. “I was thinking maybe we could read together.”

“Reading together,” he repeated, slowly shaking his head as if waiting for the punchline. “That’s more intimate than kissing?”

Even confusion looked good on him. It wasn’t fair.

“Mm-hmm.” I fought against the insistent twitch at the corner of my mouth, trying not to give myself away. “You don’t do that with just anyone.”

Dane pulled back with a nod, dropping his hands to his sides. “Okay. We could see if there’s a bookstore nearby.”

“That’s not necessary. I have plenty of books in my room.”

“Sure. Sounds good,” he agreed, masking his disappointment well.

Unless he wanted to sit and read romance together...

I licked my bottom lip, noting how his jaw tightened as he tracked my tongue’s movement.

Oh, this man definitely wanted more than a book in his hand. And as much as I wanted to draw it out, I was suddenly more interested in a different form of teasing.

“It’s not Titanic , but I was thinking we could read a few of my favorite scenes, preferably while your hands are on my body. Then, if you’re up for it, we could recreate them.”

“Christ, woman,” he growled, his voice rough with want. “You’re killing me here.”

“So…is that a yes?”

Dane gripped my hips and pulled me up against the unmistakable evidence of his arousal before asking, “What do you think?”

My breath caught. “That feels like a yes.”

“It’s a hell yes,” he murmured before nodding toward the door. “But how are we going to make this work? Your friend’s in there.”

My mind raced as I considered our options. The hallway was out for obvious reasons. Duke and GQ likely occupied his room, and while I loved reading about it, I wasn’t comfortable having sex with an audience of bikers .

“Once Ivy takes her sleeping pill, she could sleep through a train driving through the hotel,” I said, the words tumbling out before I could second-guess the entire thing. “Meet me at the patio door in an hour?”

“You’re sure?” he asked, searching my face.

I nodded, my heart racing with a mix of nerves and excitement. “I’m sure.”

“One hour,” he confirmed before crushing his lips to mine.

Slightly dazed, I forced myself to pull away before I could revise my stance on hallway sex.

With a final heated look, Dane turned and strode down the hallway. I lingered where I was for a moment, admiring the way his T-shirt stretched across his wide shoulders before slipping back into the room.

Ivy was already in her pajamas and moisturizing her face when I entered the bathroom. “That was more than a minute,” she observed dryly.

I shrugged, aiming for nonchalance. “We got to talking. You know how it is.”

“Uh-huh,” she said, reaching for her toothbrush with a bemused smirk. “Last I checked, talking doesn’t usually lead to a wicked case of beard burn.”

It wasn’t just my face. My skin tingled everywhere he’d touched me. But I wasn’t sharing any of that with her.

“What’s going on with you?” I asked, pivoting to Ivy’s least favorite topic. Herself . “What’s all this?”

“What’s all what?” she mumbled through a mouthful of toothpaste.

I gestured vaguely at her reflection in the mirror. “This. One minute, you’re laughing it up in the pool with two extremely attractive bikers, and the next, you’re all pissy and want to go to bed.”

She spit out a mouthful of toothpaste and rubbed her brow like she did when she had a headache. “I’m not pissy. Just annoyed.”

“Because they failed your little experiment?” I asked, cocking my head to the side. “Come on, astronauts in space saw that one coming. You’re a hottie. They’re hotties. Everyone’s going back to their regular lives tomorrow. Of course, they’re going to try to shoot their shot.”

Ivy gave a noncommittal response and took her sleeping pill before replacing the medicine bottle lid. I watched as she meticulously repacked her things, seemingly looking everywhere but at me.

My mouth went slack. “Holy shit!” I exclaimed. “They didn’t try to take advantage of you, did they? They passed, and that’s why you’re so grumpy.”

“Fine. They were perfect gentlemen. Are you happy now?” she snapped, her lips pressed into a thin white slash—like it pained her to admit she was wrong. “Why aren’t you getting ready for bed?”

I shrugged, trying to keep my expression neutral. “Oh, I’m just waiting for you to finish up so I can grab a quick shower.”

Ivy’s blue eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You’re not planning on sneaking out, are you, Amelia Piper Kelly?”

“What? No, of course not,” I said, choking on the saliva in my mouth at her use of my full name. “Why would you think that?”

“Because I know you. And I know that look in your eyes.” She folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the counter. “Remember Rule Number Eleven? No hook-ups on vacation. It’s not safe, especially this close to Houston.”

“You think Dane’s going to try to traffic me?”

She studied me for a long moment, her gaze sharp despite the sleeping pill starting to take effect. “I think leaving this room to meet a stranger for sex is incredibly stupid and dangerous. We may have spent several hours with these guys, but we don’t really know them.”

I held my hands up in surrender. “Relax. I’m not going anywhere. I just want to wash all the chlorine off before bed. You know how sensitive my skin is.”

“Okay,” she said after a long pause. “I’m heading to bed. Don’t stay up too late.”

As soon as the bathroom door clicked shut behind her, I let out a relieved breath before turning on the shower. I didn’t feel good about lying to Ivy, even if it was by omission. She saw the darkest sides of people on a daily basis and had every right to be wary.

But I needed to do something to shake myself out of my dating rut. Even if it was a one-night stand with a biker, who was the polar opposite of the men I typically dated.

I waited until clouds of steam billowed over the glass shower door before getting in. The spray of hot water cascaded down my body, washing away any lingering doubts about what I was about to do.

As I lathered up with my favorite candy apple body wash, I couldn’t help but imagine Dane’s hands gliding over my slick skin instead. I took extra time, shaving my legs and underarms until there wasn’t a hint of stubble, pleased I’d had the foresight to get a bikini wax before the trip.

After drying off, I wrapped myself in a fluffy white hotel robe and padded over to the vanity to brush my teeth and touch up my makeup. Nothing too crazy—just enough to feel confident. I brushed the tangles from my damp hair before pulling it up into a messy bun, the best I could do without waking Ivy.

Satisfied with my reflection, I crept into the bedroom to grab some clothes, only to stumble to a stop. The closet doors were firmly shut, with all our shoes and luggage stacked precariously in front.

“Goddammit, Ivy,” I muttered under my breath while weighing my options.

Navigating the makeshift barricade would require waking her up, which was clearly her intention when she set it up. Of course, she’d seen right through my plan. That was the problem with knowing someone for almost two decades. You knew all their tells.

I studied the obstacle course before me, debating whether to crawl into bed and admit defeat or find a way to reach my clothes. Unfortunately, a quick glance at the clock on the nightstand between our beds confirmed I was out of time.

Bathrobe it was.

Not ideal, but infinitely better than a wet swimsuit.