Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
AUSTIN
The wind blows through my hair as the bike moves through the streets of Corpus Christi.
I never liked this place much, even though it was where I was born and raised.
I couldn’t wait to get out, but maybe that had more to do with my mother than anything else.
Because right now, I can see why people come here.
When the bike stops, I open my eyes and look around, except I have no idea where the hell I am. We’re no longer by the ocean. Instead, we’re in the middle of what I can assume is nowhere because there is nothing except a concrete block building in front of me.
“Where are we?” I ask once the bike’s engine is off. Adam swings his leg over the seat, then stands to the side and holds his hand out for me, palm facing upward.
“We’re at the club. Although it’s not my club, it’s a window into my life and what you’re getting into by being with me.”
I’m not sure what all of that means, but I place my palm on his and climb off of his bike anyway. He guides me into the concrete block wall building, and when I step inside, it’s like I’m transported to a whole different world.
There is a bar, and someone around my age stands behind it, serving drinks to the several men perched on barstools. There is also a pool table, a sofa, and several pub tables with chairs. The music is also loud, blaring seventies rock from the speakers.
My gaze moves over the room, and instead of taking in the furniture, this time, I take in the people. All older men, all bikers, and three women in what I would guess is their early forties. All pretty and all very scantily dressed. It surprises me.
Then, one of the women walks by a man playing pool, and he reaches out. I watch as he slides his arm around her neck and brings her to him. He kisses her, his hand sliding down her chest as his fingers curl around her breast.
She leans into him, melting into him. Adam’s hand presses against my back, and I turn my head, tipping it up to look at him. His chin is dipped, his eyes focused on mine. My heart jumps in my chest as he lowers his head, his lips finding the shell of my ear.
“My club has a much different age demographic,” he murmurs with a chuckle. “On the whole, we’re about twenty years younger. Most of us are even younger.”
Laughing softly, I lift my gaze to meet his. I’m not sure what I’m feeling right now or, instead, what he wants me to feel. All I know is that nothing about this situation makes me feel uncomfortable, and it’s because I’m standing with Adam.
“What do you do here?” I ask.
“This is where our business is conducted. Meetings, schedules, and then parties.”
“Parties,” I whisper.
He hums. “Parties. My dad is the president of the original charter club, which is where I usually am in Pineville.”
“And this place?” I ask.
He chuckles. “This is a place that was started for members to retire. A bunch of the original members came here to live by the beach and just enjoy their later years. Except they got bored or were horny old men, I have no idea which. They opened the strip club.”
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to respond to that. A bunch of old guys opened a strip club, but at the same time, it wasn’t a seedy place that I knew of. It was actually better than I thought it was going to be when I first started.
I think about the girls who were having sex with Bugsy, but I think that they wanted that because he never gave me the ick, and he never tried anything.
Or maybe I just put on the bitchy do-not-touch vibes, I’m not sure.
Which is fine with me because I wasn’t going to be sleeping with anyone anyway.
Adam brushes his lips across my cheek, then takes a step backward, holding out his hand for me. I slip my palm in his and follow behind him to a staircase. He stops in front of a closed door.
My heart slams against my chest, beating so hard that I would be shocked if it stayed in my chest. Adam turns to me. He lifts his arm, his hand cupping my cheek. When his thumb slides across my bottom lip, he leans forward and touches his mouth to the place he just touched.
His lips kiss across my jawline, making their way toward my ear.
His teeth tug on my earlobe before he whispers something against my ear.
I have to really concentrate on making sense of the words because I’m pressing my thighs together so tightly that I can’t think of anything else at this moment but that.
ADAM
I can tell that Austin is somewhere else. Her eyes are pinched closed, and her breathing is labored. But she still looks sexy as fuck to me. Instead of asking her again if she’s sure that she wants this, I decide that the fact she’s unable to speak means that she, without a doubt, wants this.
Opening my bedroom door behind me, I take a step backward, move into the room, and hold out my hand for her. This is where she can choose. If she takes my hand and walks inside, there is no turning back.
If she leaves, I’ll still pay her shit off and let her live her life without me because no matter what, she doesn’t deserve an ounce of what her mother did to her.
Austin takes one step, then another. When she’s past the threshold and into the room, I watch as she closes the bedroom door behind her and then flips the dead bolt into place. Reaching for the hem of her top, I watch as she peels it off, tossing it somewhere on the floor.
That is the only signal I need. Her chest rises and falls rapidly. Her eyes search mine almost wildly, and then her nostrils flare as she moves toward me. I’m not trying to be an asshole, but she needs to come to me this first time.
I need to know that she is making the choice herself without me doing or saying anything to persuade her. When her hands move behind her back, I stifle a groan as she unclasps her bra. I watch as she glides it down her arms and stands bare-chested in front of me.
My control is…
Going…
Going…
Gone.
Unable to wait another second, I close the distance between us. Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her close to me, slanting my head to the side. I touch my mouth to hers. Slipping my tongue inside of her, I taste her and swear to fuck that my life flashes before my eyes.
My present. My future. My whole fucking world—it’s all filled with her—Austin.