Chapter 13
Demon stood in the doorway of the storeroom and listened as Ronnie went into the bathroom a few steps away and closed the door. He closed his eyes and let his head fall backwards to prop against the door he leaned against as he willed his cock to behave.
By the time the bathroom door reopened, he had himself under control. He stepped into the hall, turning off the light and pulling the door closed as she did the same for the restroom.
"Ready? "Demon asked.
"Yes. But I can walk out to my car on my own, Joe. You don't need to walk me out."
"First, either I walk you out or one of the others out there do." He motioned to the door to the bar proper. "Second, my name is Demon. Only Nan calls me Joe anymore." He opened the door to the bar and held it so she could go at first, but she wasn’t there.
"I don't even know where to start," she said as she started moving again. This time she didn’t make a point to avoid brushing against him as she walked past.
He pulled the door closed and went to the drawbridge in the counter and hit the catch out of habit as he lifted and held it up for her.
"I'll be right back," he said to Puck before lowering the countertop into place and hurrying to beat Ronnie to the door.
Together they stepped out into the cool evening air. Beside him, Ronnie shivered. Demon had to resist the need to pull her into his arms, to run his hands up and down her arms to warm her up. Instead, he walked beside her to the parking lot and to her truck.
"Well," her voice shook slightly, and Demon wondered if she regretted coming in tonight. "Here I am."
"Here you are." He looked down into her face, waiting to see what she would do or say next.
"I’m having a hard time believing anyone who would willingly go by Demon." She didn't unlock her SUV, but propped her ass against the side and looked up at him.
"I do." There were two words he'd never planned to say, but here they worked.
“But..." She seemed at a loss for words. "Why?" she said after several seconds.
Demon shrugged, and didn't bother to tone down the amusement in his voice. "Why do they call me Demon?"
She tucked both hands behind her ass as she leaned against the truck. She nodded as she looked up at him but never looked away.
"I used be a bit of a hothead. Something pissed me off one time, I don't even remember what it was, but I'd learned to channel it by then. Anyway, I was in the gym working off a rage. Anyway, another jarhead who’d seen me in there later asked what was up.
He wanted to know why I was going after the heavy bag like I was possessed or as if I was fighting off demons.
" He shrugged again, not telling her the rest. "It stuck. "
No. He’d adopted it on purpose to remind himself that he was in charge of what haunted him. He'd decided that day that he would no longer allow the things he’d seen, the things he’d had to do, and the guilt and anger he felt over them to control him like that.
It hadn't been the easiest thing he'd done, and sometimes it was a fresh battle easy day.
Still, it was better than letting other people's poor decisions rule his life.
"Really?"
"No lie," he said, and he meant it wasn’t a lie, it just wasn’t the whole truth. It was the partial truth he told every time he was asked that question, which thankfully was not all that often.
"That's not so bad, I was afraid it was for something else." She stared up at him but made no move to unlock or get into her SUV.
"Firecracker, I could stand out here with you for hours. but fair warning, two things are going to happen."
"What?"
Her voice had gone husky making his dick stand up and beg for attention. He ignored his cock as she moved to brace one forearm against the door to her truck as he leaned in, boxing her in.
"I’m going to kiss you again, for starters, maybe more if you respond like you did before."
"And what's the other thing?"
"What?" he asked. He'd been so busy watching her thoughts cross her face, and there had been so many of them that he'd forgotten where he was going with this.
"You said two things would happen. What is the other one?"
Demon blinked twice then remembered where he was going.
"At some point, Puck will come looking for me. What he finds will depend on that first one." He dropped his gaze to her mouth, those full lips tempted him to taste them again.
When she didn’t move away, even after his warning, he lowered his head until their mouths met.
This time he wasn’t as gentle. He’d gotten a taste of her once and he wanted more.
It didn’t take but a moment to coax her lips apart, then he lost himself in her taste, in the heat of her body pressed against his, in the way she fit against him as if she was made to be there.
Her arms came up around him, one hooked around his neck while the other snaked around his waist, curling along the edge of his jeans, under his kutte.
He had just enough presence of mind to shift his hips away from her before she reached the middle of his back, putting just enough distance between them that her seeking hand wouldn’t find the pistol in the holster in the small of his back.
It didn’t matter that this was a constitutional carry state or that he had no criminal record.
The only way it was legal to have possess a firearm in an establishment was to have a concealed carry permit, which he didn’t have.
Putting a permit like that in his name would not look good for the image the Souls were trying to protect.
There were other things in effect to keep them from being targeted for stupid shit like being armed in a bar.
Since she was kind of, sort of, law enforcement adjacent, he didn’t want to cause problems where there didn’t need to be any.
He cupped her cheek with his free hand, then buried his fingers in her hair. The silky strands seemed to wrap themselves around is fingers and hold on tight.
There was something he needed to do, somewhere he needed to be. The knowledge bounced around in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t remember what it was and since he couldn’t recall, it couldn’t be that important, could it?
“Demon, what the hell?” Puck’s voice behind him brought him back to the present and what he should have remembered. He pulled back, breaking the kiss.
“I’ll be right in,” he called over his shoulder to Puck, then turned his attention back to Ronnie.
She had loosened her hold around his waist and dropped the arm from around his neck, but she still leaned against the truck, staring up at him with half-lidded eyes as if the kiss had affected her as much as it had him.
“Damn, I told you he’d be out here if we weren’t careful.” He gave her a wry grin as he disentangled his fingers from her hair and straightened. “Come on, firecracker, in you go. Give me your phone real quick.” He made a come hither motion with one hand while she dug in her pocket.
She frowned, but thumbed the screen to unlock it before handing it to him. “Why?”
“Because I’m giving you my number.” He pulled up her texting app, entered his number and sent himself a message so he’d have her number, then edited the contact so she would know who it was when he messaged her later.
Then he hit the home button and handed her the phone back.
“Here. Now you’ve got no excuse not to text and let me know you made it home safe.
Don’t forget that name and address so I can see if he’s there for you.
” She’d opened the door and climbed up into the driver’s seat.
She took the phone, plugged it into the cord already plugged into the dash then turned back to face him.
“Thanks. I’ll send it to you as soon as I get home.”
“Good. I’ll be in touch.” He closed her door then stepped back until he was in front of the truck and out of the parking lot. He waited until she’d started the truck and pulled out of the lot before going back inside.
“About damn time,” Puck said as he stepped inside. “Didn’t know you were getting some though, I would have left it longer before I came to get you.”
“Are you telling me that Puck cock blocked you?” Maverick asked from where he stood against one wall, Dana beside him while they waited his turn at the pool table. Right now, Snake was taking his shot.
Demon shook his head. “No. I was not screwing her against the side of her truck in the parking lot.” What the hell?
Did they think he had absolutely no sense?
For starters, could they not see that Ronnie Darq was not the average piece of ass looking to brag that she’d banged a biker?
On top of that, if he was going to do something like that, it would have been while they were in the back of the bar and no one could see them, not in public against the side of her truck.
He wasn’t opposed to outdoor sex, but not in the parking lot of his job, in the middle of a city where anyone could happen by, where they could get arrested. No. If he was going to do it, he would find somewhere rural, where they were the only two around.
The ribbing continued for a few minutes, as he took his place behind the bar, sending Puck away with a drink in thanks, then refreshed anyone who needed it.
It didn’t last long though, because he refused to give them what they wanted, a reaction, a denial, or anything.
Instead he kept his mouth shut, at least about Ronnie or what they’d done while she was here, while he went about the rest of his shift.