Chapter 12 Iron-Clad
Iron-Clad
Ryan
I woke up again to my fucking alarm at five o’clock. My back felt stiff. I stretched an arm out and encountered cold sheets.
I bolted upright and saw a strip of light at the bottom of the bathroom door. My eyes closed as I sighed.
What was Ivy doing to me?
I didn’t get worked up over a woman this way. We hardly knew each other, but there was a bond between us that seemed iron-clad. Part of me never wanted to let her go, but I would have to soon. We couldn’t get closer.
She didn’t need to get involved with me.
I lived for bar fights, and even before prospecting, I loved causing trouble with Killian.
She didn’t need a man with my temper. Hell, I’d jumped to all the wrong conclusions about her – I didn’t deserve someone like her.
The bathroom door opened and she padded back to the bed. “Is that the last alarm, Nickel?”
I sighed. “Yeah.”
The bed jostled while she got situated. “Good. Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Yesterday, how did you know a second blow could be seen as premeditation? You were so certain. Did you go to law school or something?”
I chuckled. “Or something. Mom’s a lawyer. She started as a public defender, which is how she met Dad.”
“Was she his lawyer?” she asked, her tone full of interest.
“No. Not at all. It’s a long story, but now she practices family law.”
“I see. What’s your dad do?”
“He paints custom art on bikes and the occasional car.”
“Really?”
“Don’t get excited, the business is owned by the Biloxi chapter.”
“Oh, so… why aren’t you with the Biloxi chapter?”
I had to shut this conversation down – for her sake and mine. “Do you really want to chat or are we goin’ back to sleep?”
She gave a dejected sigh and I felt like an ass. “Sorry. I’m just curious.”
“No, Ives, I’m being’ an asshole. Mick came out here for school and me and Kill didn’t like the idea of her being so far away.”
“I only met her once, but she seems like she can take care of herself.”
I laughed. “Yeah. It’s the men she attracts who never know how dangerous she is.”
“Dangerous?” she scoffed.
That made me smile. “She stirs up trouble better than you do.”
“I don’t stir up trouble! Whatever. I’m still surprised you didn’t start with the Biloxi chapter.”
I shook my head. “My family is incredibly close, but I knew we needed to break away from that. Us moving gave our parents time to focus on our sister.”
“But she’s here.”
“No, our younger sister.”
I heard and felt her shift in the bed. “Your parents didn’t have their hands full with you three?”
My body shook with my silent laugh. “Fuck if I know. Things happen. We love Mabel to pieces… and sometimes I think that’s why she’s so spoiled.”
“But it isn’t,” she murmured.
It threw me how well Ivy could read me.
“No, it isn’t. I don’t know what happened, but she’s been a handful for the last five years. Now… she’s gonna be twenty-one soon and I’m not sure she’ll ever get her act together.”
“That’s sad. Why not stay in Biloxi to be there for her?”
I scoffed. “Dad would have liked that. He accused me and Killian of taking the easy way out.”
“Why would he say that?”
It struck me that I hadn’t even talked to Killian about this shit. After a beat, I said, “We saw how the VP’s son was treated when he prospected. Dad thinks we were trying to avoid that.”
Her brows drew together. “Were you?”
My head wobbled. “Not many people seek that shit out, and no question that Block, Tiny, Brute, and Cynic would love giving us shit. Even more than we take here. Bottom line, we came here because of Mickayla – and that’s the worst part of it. Dad doesn’t see that it’s harder being out here.”
“What about your mom, though?” she asked.
“Mom thought having us a day’s ride away from home would be good for everyone. Mabel was fourteen then, and I guess we all had hope. Since then, Mabel’s shoved the three of us away.”
She slunk further under the covers. “I didn’t mean to bring up something that was a downer.”
“Don’t sweat it,” I murmured.
“Sleep well.”
I let it go at that for a beat. She wiggled around next to me, the sheets moving with her, and I had to speak up.
“Ivy. Are you for real right now?”
“What?” she whispered.
“Get your sweet tush over here. I’m not fightin’ you for sheets… and you don’t want me to, believe me.”
She sighed. “Take your sheets. I don’t think we should snuggle sleep because there’s plenty of mixed signals between us already. Sleeping like that makes it worse.”
Dammit. Her logic couldn’t be argued, but hell if I didn’t want to argue anyway. Not to mention I wanted to clear up those mixed signals by kissing her breathless, but that flew in the face of my earlier decision.
But was it really a decision?
The next time I woke up, I heard Ivy speaking in a low voice and it sounded like she was in the bathroom. I opened my eyes and saw the door was open just a crack.
My head didn’t hurt half as bad as it did yesterday, which I took as a good sign. This pain could be knocked out with a couple Advil. I tossed the covers off, and pulled on a pair of gym shorts. I wandered toward the bathroom and overheard snippets of Ivy’s conversation.
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll be at the closing. That’s definite, Belinda.”
She went quiet, then said, “No, a doctor didn’t tell me I had a concussion, but my gut tells me I should take it easy today.”
That almost sounded convincing, but the pitch of her voice shifted enough that I wondered if her boss was calling bullshit on her excuse. Then again, I knew she was lying.
“Right. I’ll be back at it tomorrow, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience.”
She said her goodbyes after that and I backed up and sat on her side of the bed.
Her eyes widened a touch when she came out and saw me. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were up.”
“No need to apologize. What did you tell your boss? Sounds like your lie didn’t go over so well.”
She shrugged and my eyes darted to the hem of the t-shirt rising up on her thighs. “I said I had an accident and bonked my head on a cabinet when I fell.”
My lips quirked to the side. “Rookie mistake. Never give more detail than necessary.”
Her head tilted. “You’re a skilled liar, huh?”
I dipped my chin. “Wouldn’t say that. I know how to get out of things when necessary.”
Slowly, she nodded once. “I see. Well, the bathroom’s all yours.”
I stared at her, and if she were any other woman, I’d have told her to climb on my lap right then and there, but as she’d already pointed out, there were plenty of mixed signals between us.
“Um, are you okay? Or just not awake? I can’t tell if you’re staring at me for a reason or just in a zombie trace.”
I almost smiled. “Not a trance.”
Her brows arched. “Is there a problem?”
Aside from my growing hard-on, no, but I either had to shower again to give myself some relief… or I had to figure out a way to flirt with her.
She stepped closer. “Would you mind checking under that pillow? I think I left my hair tie somewhere in the bed.”
And… there was my opportunity.
“I’m not stopping you from checking.”
She blinked. “You’re kind of in the way, Nickel.”
“Ryan.”
She gave a slight frown. “I thought I was supposed to call you by your road name.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “I like it when you use my real name.”
Her eyes slid to the side and back to me. “Okay. Are you going to scootch over, Ryan?”
“Nope.”
She narrowed her eyes for a beat, shook her head, and moved so she could step between my leg and the nightstand. I widened my legs to stop her and she put a hand on my shoulder.
“What are you doing? It’s almost like you’re flirting with me or something.”
I wrapped my hands around each of her thighs. “Would it be a problem if I were?”
“Last night you said it would be.”
“It’s funny what happens when you sleep on a decision.” I slid my hands up an inch. “Is this okay?”
Her eyes held a sultry heat. “I’d tell you if it were a problem.”
I slid one of my hands higher while tugging her toward me. She bit her lip and climbed onto my lap. My hands glided up her soft thighs and I felt the edges of her panties…no, thong if I wasn’t mistaken. To verify, I let one hand drift around the globe of her ass – her bare ass.
“Thong,” I whispered.
She inhaled pressing her tits against my chest. When she exhaled she settled into me more.
“You gonna kiss me?” I asked.
“Was going to ask you the same thing.”
I pulled my hand that wasn’t at her ass out from under her shirt and drove my fingers into the hair at the back of her head. She tipped her face down while she rounded my neck with an arm and cupped the back of my head with her hand.
My fingers clenched in her hair and I gently tilted her head before I pulled her lips to mine.
It made no sense to me, but I swore I felt a charge run through my body.
I opened my mouth to touch my tongue to her lips.
She opened and I traced my tongue along her lips and further into her mouth.
Her other hand slid along my chest and around to my back while she pushed her weight forward.
Before she could push me to my back, I semi-stood, twisted, and planted her on her back on the bed. Neither one of us broke the kiss. I kneaded the globe of her ass, making her moan. That sound went straight to my rock-hard cock.
Her tongue surged forward into my mouth. I let her have her way with that. Then she heaved up and rolled me to my back, breaking our kiss.
She had a triumphant smile on her face, her cheeks were slightly pink, and I wanted to take her picture – she looked so fucking hot.
“That was some kiss, Ryan.”
“Yeah, so why’d you stop?”
She brought her face closer, her lips a millimeter away from mine while reaching back to my hand. “I’m thinking you can put this hand to better use… elsewhere.”
She kissed me, and guided my hand around her hip and inside her thong. I groaned because feeling her wet heat set my cock to throbbing. If she wanted me to put my fingers to good use, I wouldn’t deny her. I started with my index finger and played with her while she plundered my mouth.
Fuck.
I could get used to this.
I felt her get wetter and I added my middle finger to the mix.
She broke the kiss with a satisfied sigh. “Yeah.”
“Sit up and ride that, Ivy.”
Her eyes were heated and almost glittered at me. She sat up and began to ride my fingers, but then I watched her hands move down toward her thighs and she whipped my shirt off.
“Oh, fuck,” I muttered at the sight of her firm, round tits. On autopilot, my free hand reached up and fondled one of her breasts.
She put her hand over mine and bucked her hips. “Yes, honey.”
If she was going to come, it wouldn’t be on top of me. Not like this. I wanted to watch her do that with my cock deep inside her. I rolled and had her pinned under me in no time, my fingers still inside her sweet pussy. I pulled them out and she mewled.
“Ryan, I was so close.”
I yanked my tank off. “I know.” I leaned down and kissed her. I’d meant for it to be short, but she hiked a leg around the back of my thighs, and I kissed her long and hard.
She pulled back, while grinding her hips into mine. “Then why’d you stop?”
Her hip action made me buck once and I loved feeling her tits against my bare chest. “Because the first time I make you come, it’s gonna be on my tongue, woman. I want to watch and taste you.”
“Oh my God,” she muttered.
I pulled her thong off and spread her legs. At the sight of her glistening pussy, I licked my lips. Then I sprawled on the bed, slid my hands under her legs to her ass, and flicked her clit with my tongue.
She gasped. “Oh, God. Do that again.”
I chuckled, then gave her what she wanted. She squirmed. I lapped at her pussy, loving the salty-sweet taste of her.
It didn’t take long before she was practically riding my face. I liked that she was completely uninhibited. That I’d made her lose control.
“Ryan,” she moaned.
I hummed against her.
“Yes,” she hissed.
A knock sounded at my door, and her whole body went stiff. I lifted my head and looked toward the door, willing whoever was on the other side to go away.
Another knock came, this one even louder.
“Go away!” I hollered.
“Wake up call! Officers want everyone up and at ‘em.”
“Fuck,” I whispered, and knifed off the bed.
I opened the door an inch, using it to keep most of my body out of view. A prospect stood on the other side. “Got your fuckin’ message. Now, leave.”
The disappointment and fury rolling through my body couldn’t be denied, and I slammed the door shut.
Blowing out a breath, I turned to face Ivy. She looked so damned good in my bed. Her green eyes were warm on me, her teeth were sunk into the corner of her lower lip, and she’d closed her thighs.
I wandered back to the bed. “You all right?” I asked.
“Yeah, that was just… unexpected.” She looked at me like she was trying to hide her disappointment. “I’m guessing we have to cut this short.”
I pressed my lips together. “You guessed right. I’m gonna hit the bathroom.”
I dressed and went back to the bedroom.
“Do you regret it?” I asked.
“No,” she chirped then she added, “I mean, I hate that we were interrupted. That was so freaking hot, it’s not funny. Nobody has made me so—”
“I was there,” I said with a smile, trying to ease her rambling.
She sighed. “Right. But we’re going our separate ways after this morning.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. I wanted to be certain the threat had passed. She kept talking before I could refute her.
“And, I’m sure you’d rather have a woman who’s more accustomed to your world.”
“I didn’t say any of that, Ives.”
She made a fine point, though. It would be easier if I found a woman who understood the club dynamics, but the bigger issue was my work. The bar would always be my mistress, and Ivy struck me as a woman who would be all about family. I wouldn’t be ready to build a family for a good long time.
She nodded. “Yeah, but we probably shouldn’t have done that after all.”
“You’re the one who suggested it.”
“Last night.”
I thought that was splitting hairs, but at the same time, I got it. Something about kicking the day off with a bang was different from ending the day like that. It felt raw and couldn’t be blamed on lowered inhibitions because of alcohol or some shit.
“If you’re hungry, we probably have some eggs downstairs. Or I can get a prospect to run out and get something for you.”
She shrugged. “I’m good with eggs if it’s not a problem.”