Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
L arissa watched as her two sisters disappeared into what she assumed was a restroom. Thank goodness it was Priscilla’s turn. She had never been good at dealing with someone with a sick stomach.
Rising, she went to stand by the restroom door in the hall just in case they needed her.
“Lana okay?” Winter asked from the chair she was sitting in.
“I think so,” Larissa answered.
Standing, Winter walked over to tap on the door. “Can I get you anything?” she called out.
“No. We’ll be out in a minute,” they heard Lana reply over the sound of wrenching from the other side of the door.
Both she and Winter made sympathetic faces at hearing how sick Lana was.
“Damn. I hate being sick to my stomach.”
Larissa grimaced in agreement. “Me, too. Priscilla has a stronger stomach than me. If I were in there, I would be barfing up next to her.”
As she talked, Larissa felt the cold air come in from the door but didn’t turn because she could hear Lana start to cry.
“I’m so embarrassed.”
“It’s okay.” Larissa pressed her face to the door so Lana could hear. “No one is listening.”
Focusing on her sister, she didn’t turn around to check who had come through the door. When no one walked around her, she just assumed one of the women had decided to leave.
Winter pressed her face to the door, too. “That’s true, Lana. Most of them are in the same shape you’re in. T.A. had to go to the other restroom downstairs.”
At the sounds coming from inside the restroom, Larissa didn’t think Lana was paying attention to them.
As she straightened from the door, an uncomfortable feeling struck her. Trying to ignore the pressing need in her bladder, she bit her lip, wishing Lana would hurry up while she looked around to see if she could spot T.A.
With the need becoming more urgent, she glanced at the door. “How are you doing?”
“She’s still heaving,” Priscilla answered for Lana.
Winter stared at her. “Are you getting sick, too?”
“No. I just need to use the restroom. I’ve been drinking water all night.”
“Oh …” Winter’s eyes turned to the group of women, and Larissa guessed she was searching for T.A. to see if she was back, also.
“Is there another restroom I could use?”
“Um …” Winter’s gaze turned apologetic. “Sorry, but …”
Larissa gritted her teeth, feeling as if her bladder would explode any second.
Winter’s gaze softened into compassion. “Sure. Come on; I’ll show you.”
Hurriedly following Winter up the steps, Larissa prayed she would make it in time. This is what you get when you put off going to the bathroom until your bladder is ready to burst , Larissa scolded herself.
“Here you go.” Winter opened a door near the end of a long hallway. Turning the light on, she moved aside so Larissa could enter.
A loud yell from downstairs and a crash had her and Winter staring at each other. Larissa recognized the woman’s yell.
“That was Crazy Bitch …” Winter moaned.
“Yes … I think so, too.”
“Viper is going to kill me.”
Larissa wanted to know what happened downstairs, but she needed to use the restroom first.
“I need to go see what she did. Can you find your way back downstairs?”
“Of course.”
“Okay …” Winter seemed to hesitate before moving out of the way so she could close the door. “Just make sure you come right back downstairs. Guests aren’t allowed upstairs unless they have a club member with them,” she explained.
“I won’t be long.”
“All right, I’ll see you downstairs.” Winter rushed off at another loud crash that Larissa could have sworn had the house shaking on its foundation.
Larissa closed and locked the door before she relieved her aching bladder.
Poor Winter. From her expression, Larissa surmised Viper was not going to happy about the impromptu party in The Last Riders’ clubhouse. The way they had to wait in the car until Winter had come to the end of the porch and waved before everyone got out of their cars and into the house reminded her of the time her sisters and her had thrown a party when their mother was at work.
As she washed her hands, Larissa decided she would grab Lana and Priscilla if they were out of the restroom and leave. She really didn’t want to get caught in the middle of an argument if Winter’s husband showed up and found his club had been invaded by a group of women who were drunk off their asses.
When she left the restroom, she noticed one the doors along the hallway was open and the light was on. There was no way to get to the stairway without passing the open doorway. Remembering Winter saying no one was allowed upstairs without a club member accompanying them, she hoped to rush past and hit the stairs before whoever was inside caught her.
As she passed the open door, she cast a quick glance inside, nearly stumbling over her own two feet when she saw a couple inside having intercourse. The man was lying on his back, and the woman was grinding herself up and down on his shaft. The woman’s back was toward her and blocking her sight of the man as she stood there, gawking at them.
The uninhibited way they were having sex shocked her. Plus the fact that they had left the door wide open, uncaring if anyone could see what they were doing. Since she had never been around any bikers personally, the only impressions she had of them came from the news, or books. Both conveyed they were wild, violent, and sexually easy, but Larissa, nor neither of her sisters, based their opinions on anything other than how they were treated. One thing was for sure: she would be giving Lana a heads-up before she went pursuing the man from the bar.
As she stood frozen in place, her heart lurched when she noticed a door next to the one she was staring in begin to open.
Blankly, she watched as the door started to open wider. Then, like an anxious rabbit caught in a headlight, she reacted without thinking.
Frantically, she spotted a door on the other side the hallway that was partially open with the lights off, and she rushed inside and closed the door behind her.
Pressing her face to the door, she listened for who had come out the bedroom to leave so she could make her way back downstairs.
“Do me a favor and take my boots off.”
Larissa barely managed to cut off the gasp of dismay with her hand at the low voice coming from behind her.
Frozen in place yet again, she lowered her hand from her mouth to the doorknob.
“Come on.” His grave voice sent tingles down her spine.
Tightening her hand on the doorknob, she prepared to sling the door open and take off running in a ten-second dash.
“Fuck it. Just turn the light on, and I’ll do it myself.”
As she turned the knob, she heard voices outside coming from whoever was in the hallway. The low timber of two males’ voices and a woman’s plaintive cries of sexual ecstasy had Larissa wanting to melt in embarrassment.
“Are you going to turn the light on or not?”
There was no way she was going to step into that hallway, nor was there any way she was going to turn any lights on either.
Left with the only option available to her, she followed the sound of his voice, moving toward where she hoped he was. She bumped into what she assumed was his bed and ran her hand over the cover until her fingers felt denim and what she thought might be the hardness of his knee. Swallowing hard, all the while telling herself she was out of her ever-loving mind, she ran her hand down his denim-covered leg until she felt leather. She cupped her hand under the hard sole, then used her other hand to wrap around the back of the boot to pull it off. The boot slid off easily. Relieved, she searched blindly in the dark for his other leg. Her hand landed on a hard, muscled thigh underneath his jeans. Shakily, she slid her hand down his leg to find the boot.
“Hurry up, Ember. My feet are freezing. I should have worn thicker socks.”
Desperate to get out of the room, she removed the boot then started to heave herself to her feet so she could make her escape. Surely, the couple across the hall would be finished.
As she started to straighten, the man wrapped his hand around the nape of her neck.
Bent over, she was so close to him that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips.
“Thanks. My feet are so cold I couldn’t get them off.”
She grew concerned despite wanting to get out of there, and her healing instinct wouldn’t let her abandon him without making sure he was okay.
Going back to her knees, she found one of his feet. Whoever he was, he wasn’t exaggerating. The sock was damp and freezing. Removing the sock, she searched for his other foot and removed that sock, too, then tucked a chilled foot between her thighs to warm it while she started massaging the chilled flesh of the other.
His hand tightened on her neck before she felt his fingers comb through her long strands.
“My bad, Echo. I thought you were Ember. You should have said something.”
Remaining silent, she switched his feet out, rubbing the one which was between her thighs until she felt the warmth returning to the clammy skin.
“Is that why you’re giving me the silent treatment?”
Drop his foot and get the hell of here before he finds out I’m not either of these women, she told herself frantically.
“How about I make it up to you?” His voice turned into a seductive timber that grabbed her by her ovaries, holding her still. The hand on her neck pulled her closer until his parted lips were pressing against hers. The tip of his tongue traced her bottom lip, sending her into a tailspin of desire she had never experienced before.
“Baby, how do you want me to warm you up?”