Chapter Fourteen
Consequences
I wasn’t a neat freak by anyone’s standard, so when we moved from the garage into the kitchen I didn’t worry about the coffee mug and plate left in the sink from this morning. And I didn’t care there were file boxes on the dining room table that had come home with me from work. What I cared about was the faint half-smile playing around Shiloh’s lips as she looked around and took my home in. Whatever this place was, good, bad, or indifferent, it was all me, and I wanted to share it with her.
“I’m beginning to think I like being surprised by you.” Her expression was relaxed, even happy, and about a million light years from the freaked-out upset I saw in her when I first got to Buzzby’s. “I like your style. It’s kind of American traditional with a heavy nod to Sporty Jock Mancave.”
“Sporty Jock Mancave sounds about right.” Watching her take in her surroundings was even more fun than I thought it would be. “Whenever I have people over, we usually wind up out back hanging out around the barbecue pit. First snap of warm weather we get, I’m firing up the grill and throwing on some steaks and ribs.”
“I hope I’m invited. I make great sides, and I have a brisket recipe that would make you cry.” She came to a stop in the middle of the living room, her face flushed and eyes glittering in a way that made my body tense in hungry anticipation. “You know what else I’m good at, at least when I’m with you? Sex. I’m awesome at sex.”
Hell, yes, she was. “Nice segue,” I murmured, slowly circling around the loveseat on my way to her. My gaze never left hers, and the sense of stalking her, my delicious little prey, built the excitement to a fever pitch. “Real smooth.”
“I’m not good at playing games. Like everything else when it comes to sex, I’m afraid you’re going to have to teach me how it’s done.”
“That’s one lesson I’ll never teach you, because I’m never going to play those kinds of games with you. And I sure as hell don’t want you playing those games with me.” I rounded the coffee table covered in motorcycle magazines, before coming to a halt just in front of her. “Between the two of us, it always needs to be real. Can you do real, Shy girl?”
“With you, I can do anything.”
She melted into me even as I lowered my head to take her mouth. Devastating sweetness bloomed in my mouth, my head, my soul. Every part of who I was came alive whenever I kissed her, touched her, as if she held some magical ignition switch that fired up my entire being. My skin tingled with invisible fire, and I wanted to be burned alive with it as her arms came to twine around my neck.
The way she clung to me felt so good, so fucking right, but it wasn’t enough. While keeping her mouth fused to mine I bent, locked my arms under her ass, and lifted her off the ground. The way her legs immediately wrapped around my waist sent my pulse into overdrive, a fact I couldn’t ignore since the throb of it centered in my hardening cock. My head swam as I headed down a short hall to the open door of my bedroom. I paused just long enough to turn on the overhead light, because there was nothing better than looking into Shiloh’s eyes when I entered her. That was my addiction, and I planned on indulging in it until I fucking OD’d.
We didn’t talk as we worked each other out of our clothing. There was an odd urgency thrumming between us, feeding off the other, until it felt like the world would end if we didn’t get flesh-to-flesh right now. Then it was happening, her nakedness sliding against mine as I coaxed her back onto the bed before following her down. I paused just long enough to retrieve a condom from the bedside table before returning to her, and my head all but exploded when she wrapped both her arms and legs around me in wholehearted welcome. I settled into the cradle of her thighs, and I knew I was home.
“I’d give everything I owned just to be where I am now.” The words left my mouth without any conscious direction, but that was okay because they were true. There were some things in this world that gave a man purpose, that made him believe there was a reason he’d been born. If he was lucky enough to find that purpose—the way I was—there was nothing left to do but hold on to that purpose with everything he had. “I might fill you, Shy, but I swear to Christ you fill me too, in ways I didn’t even know existed.”
“Fill me now,” she whispered, her half-lidded eyes looking right into mine. “Fill me, Romeo.”
“That’s what I’m here for.” I kissed her long and deep before hooking a hand behind one of her knees and bringing it high up against my side. Her other knee joined it on the other side of me, her pelvis tilting upward to meet my cock’s first thrust. Her moan mingled with mine as I plunged into her wet, hot depths, and my entire nervous system shivered in mindless delight at the tight, sweet fit. I paused, my climax trembling on a knife’s edge. Only when that roaring need for pleasure receded to a manageable level did I allow myself to move, sliding carefully in and out of the hot flesh gloving me.
“You need to get there quick, Shy girl.” I kept my eyes locked on hers, instead of closing them and drowning in pure sensation. I concentrated on her, because she was more important than my own pleasure. “I can’t hold back.”
“I don’t want you to hold back.”
“I want you with me.”
“I am.”
“Not the way I want.” I took one of her hands and slid it between us where our bodies merged. “Touch yourself and help me get you off, baby. I want to come, and I want you with me when it happens.”
“Sweet man,” she said, looking into my eyes as she moved to do as instructed. “You’re too sweet and good to be real.”
“I’m none of those things in the real world.” The stroking motions of her hand between us was an exquisite torture, and the mindless bliss began to eat away at my consciousness despite my best efforts to hold it back. “But for you, if that’s what you need, I can be good and sweet all damn day.”
Her movements became more uncoordinated, more urgent. “For me, you can be sweet?”
“For you, I can be anything.” Whatever she wanted, needed, I’d find a way to give it to her.
“I just want you.” At last her eyes squeezed shut and her breathing shallowed out, telling me she was close. I tried watching her as rapture came to claim her, but it already had me, a willing slave, in its grip. With a groan I closed my eyes and gave myself over to the wild force that was pure pleasure ballooning inside me. Mindlessly I thrust into her—brutal, wild, as out of control as I’d ever allowed myself to be, and it was fucking glorious. I was safe with her, safe enough to simply let go and feel everything without holding back or guarding myself. That was a luxury I didn’t have in my adult life, but with Shy, it was different. I was different. I couldn’t hold back for her any more than I could touch the moon.
Her sudden cry dragged my eyes open long enough to see her press her head into the mattress. Her hips slammed against mine as she chased after that blissful insanity, and her frantic movements kicked off my own. I let go, coming so hard I shouted with it, and as I heard my own voice echo around the room, I realized that it was her name I shouted.
It took a long time for the world to come back into focus, but eventually I realized it was still winter in Chicago. Gently easing out of her, I tucked her under the covers, then dealt with the condom before returning to her. When she rolled over to snuggle up against my side, laying her head on my shoulder while her arm came to rest around my middle, the universe quietly clicked into place.
“Will there be consequences after tonight?”
The soft sleepiness of her voice closed around my chest like a velvet glove. “Hell, yeah, there are going to be consequences.”
I felt her duck her head. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m talking about the consequences they’re going to pay for stalking you, Shy girl,” I said, tightening my arm around her. “What happened tonight with Marvel and Radar rolling up on you is unacceptable. You’re a civilian, and they damn well know it. They don’t have a right to even cross your path, so when I say consequences, I’m not thinking about the beatdown I put on Marvel’s worthless ass. I’m talking about how Hades and his crew are going to pay for daring to close in on you.” And they would pay, by God. I’d see to it personally.
*
Shiloh
With the sun high overhead in a noonday sky, I leaned into Romeo’s back, wrapped my arms more securely around his waist, and watched the world fly by as his bike roared through the manmade canyons of Chicago. For someone who’d just lost their job, I was almost insanely happy, and it was all because of Romeo.
The day had started off with a surprising lack of awkwardness, considering I wasn’t used to waking up with anyone in my bed. In point of fact, I’d never done it before in my life, not even during slumber parties when I was a kid. But this was no regular sleepover. This was naked-sleeping, legs-tangling, cuddled up for warmth and comfort with the man who knew how to make me come my brains out with ridiculous ease.
How lucky was I?
Then I’d remembered that I owed Romeo an orgasm, so I slid down his naked length, trailing tasting kisses down his beautiful, sculpted body to his cock, already semi-hard even in sleep. I stroked him first, alternately squeezing and caressing his shaft before fondling his balls. His low groan brought my attention up to his face, only to find his sleepy eyes slitted open and fastened on me as if I were the only person in the universe. Then I took him into my mouth, because I’d loved that sound he’d made, and I wanted to hear him make it again. And again. I was so determined to make him cry out his pleasure that I didn’t stop until I’d paid him back the orgasm I owed him, with interest.
After that we showered together—another first for me, but hopefully not the last—before I made us a simple breakfast of eggs, bacon and toast. He put the coffee on, then hung out in the kitchen with me, helpfully pointing out where things were, seemingly content to enjoy my company rather than do whatever it was he normally did when he was by himself. It was shocking, how companionable it was between us, and I had the feeling he felt the same way, considering he didn’t seem too eager to be rid of my company.
That had to be a good thing.
I never thought I’d enjoy Romeo’s company as much as I did. In fact, I never thought I would enjoy anyone as much as I enjoyed him, from his smile, to the sound of his voice, to his dirty sense of humor, and most definitely the sex. Everything about him clicked with everything in me, and I wasn’t in any hurry for it to end.
That was why I didn’t balk when, after checking the weather forecast, he announced that he wanted to go for a ride with me on the back of his bike. For years I’d hated anything having to do with motorcycles, but Romeo had changed me. Motorcycles weren’t an evil thing, and the prospect of hanging on to Romeo while the world flew by made delighted anticipation bubble through my veins like champagne.
Everything about Romeo spawned that response.
I was surprised when he didn’t take the turn leading to Buzzby’s, where my pickup was still parked, but I couldn’t exactly ask him where we were going while roaring down the road. Then he turned into a large lot fronting an even larger metal warehouse-like building, except there were massive display windows on either side of the door showcasing the fanciest motorcycles I’d ever seen. The lettering over the door read Ride or Die Choppers, and I knew without being told this was one of the Gravedigger businesses Romeo had talked about.
“Ready to see your new workplace?” Gallantly he helped me dismount, then took the helmet from me to hook it on the handlebar. “I’ll be your personal tour guide.”
“I still don’t know if this is the right job for me,” I warned as we headed indoors. I blinked, pausing a moment so my eyes could adjust. What I saw was a professional-looking showroom done in sophisticated grays and whites, with several bikes up on platforms, or spotlighted in long rows. There were a few people strolling through, clearly looking to buy while a salesperson with long hair tied back and sleeved-out arms watched them with a faintly bored expression. Hand in hand, Romeo and I walked down the center aisle toward the back, when the man I knew as Tyr came out of the office and made a beeline for us.
“Hey,” he said by way of greeting, then folded his arms in front of his chest as he locked his gaze on me. “Heard you had a run-in with my cousin.”
“Your cousin?”
“Hades’s boy. Marvel. You had a run-in with him?”
“I guess it could be called that.” I took care in choosing my words. I had no clue how much trouble Romeo could be in, so brevity with zero amount of detail seemed to be the best bet.
He lifted a brow at Romeo. “She’s a careful one, I’ll give you that. But that means I’m not getting what I need out of her, so talk to me. Run-in or coincidence?”
“No fucking way was it a coincidence,” Romeo said at once, his voice hard enough to slice through steel. “Marvel had Radar with him inside the restaurant, and another one of Hades’s guys, Hacksaw, was planted near my Shy girl’s truck in the parking lot.”
A block of ice slipped into my stomach. “I didn’t know that.”
“Why do you think I told you not to make a run for it?” Romeo let go of my hand to put a protective arm around my shoulders. “Marvel coming into the diner by himself might have been a coincidence, but when you told me he had Radar with him, that sent up all the red flags.”
Tyr grunted in agreement. “Sounds like they wanted to flush you out into Hacksaw’s waiting arms.”
“But why?” I shook my head, more out of frustration than bewilderment. “I’m nobody. I don’t have anything to do with their world—I mean, your world. Whatever. I’m just quietly trying to live my life. Why me?”
“It’s how Hades rolls,” Tyr said, grimacing in what appeared to be genuine distaste. “Usually there’s this unwritten code of honor when it comes to the families of our fellow brothers of the road—hands off no matter what, unless they’re in the life themselves. You’re clearly a civilian. You have no business dealings with our club or theirs. You should be untouchable. But obviously my uncle doesn’t give a shit about rules. He probably wanted to get his hands on you so he could torture you until your brother Chef cracked and promised his life away to them, just like he did the last time.”
The ice sitting in my stomach froze my blood solid.
“But this time we got to you first, yeah? They didn’t touch you this time around.” Romeo’s arm tightened even more until my bones groaned in protest. It was almost as if he were trying to shield me from the torture I’d already endured. “Better yet, we’re going to do everything we can to keep you out of their hands, no matter what shit Hades tries to pull.”
“But… for how long? I mean, how long is this nightmare going to last?” When I heard the desperation in my voice, I forced myself to take a calming breath. No need to act the helpless, hysterical woman now that I was smack in the middle of super-macho Alpha world. “Don’t get me wrong, guys. I’m grateful you were there for me when Marvel and Radar rolled in and laughed at me like I was the world’s biggest joke—”
“They laughed at you?” Romeo growled, and suddenly everything about him screamed predator about to pounce. “They laughed at you? My woman?”
Danger, danger. “Uh…”
“You haven’t claimed her yet, at least not that I know of,” Tyr shrugged. “You might want to get on that, now that I think about it. It might give her an added layer of protection at least.”
Um, what? “And, for the record, I wouldn’t call it laughing, exactly. Both Marvel and Radar just grinned at me like they expected me to fall to pieces at the mere sight of them. Though I guess I kind of did fall apart, considering the way I wound up yelling my head off at those two losers,” I added honestly, shooting a sheepish glance up at Romeo. “I was actually about to go for Marvel’s throat when you showed up and beat me to the punch.”
“Yeah?” Despite the somber aura hanging around him, Tyr suddenly grinned, and I was stupid enough to feel all giddy when Romeo looked at me with palpable pride. “Well, damn, how ‘bout that? Looks like your Shy girl isn’t shy at all when it comes to dealing with trash. That’s hot as fuck.”
“Mine,” Romeo said pleasantly enough, though there was no mistaking the possessive tightening of his arm around me. “Remember that when you see her every day here in the office.”
Tyr’s brows inched up. “Why would Shy be in the office?”
“Because Jasmine’s out on maternity leave and Ashtray sucks at filing, getting payroll done, or basically anything having to do with a computer. Shy just got fired because we pulled Chef away from Hades, so it’s on us to get her a job in a place where we know she’s going to be safe and Hades can’t get to her. Two birds, one stone.”
Tyr stared at Romeo before sighing and turning back toward his office. “Talk to Misty up as reception to get Shy’s paperwork squared away. Just remember to make sure everyone knows she’s been claimed by you, yeah? I don’t want another Tomahawk-Zee pissing contest on my hands now that we may be at war with Hades.”
“Claimed by you?” Baffled, I turned to Romeo as Tyr disappeared into his office. “Why does he keep talking about me like I’m an inanimate thing that can be picked up at the Lost-And-Found? And war? What did he mean by that? Are you guys going to go to war with Hades because you beat up his son on my behalf? Oh my God,” I gasped when he didn’t immediately answer. “Oh my God, Romeo. Is this all my fault?”
“No, and I’m not talking about this here. We’ll talk after we get your paperwork done and get you officially employed here at Ride Or Die.”
“But—”
“Not here. Not now. Later.”