Chapter 76
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
“ Y ou were the one who thought he was Moon,” Larissa said in a stricken whisper.
“ Me ?” Killyama waved at the necklace on her neck. “I’m not the one who earned that chunk of gold.”
Train’s head went back and forth between the two. “Did I miss something?”
“Oh yeah,” Killyama told Train with a know-it-all look.
Beseechingly, Larissa silently begged her not to tell.
Killyama gave her conspiratorial wink. “I got you.”
Braving another look in Moon’s direction, she saw one of The Three Musketeers had asked him what the hoop was for. Then everyone moved out the way so he could give them a demonstration.
Moon twisted his hips, sending the hoop spinning around his waist. Of course, none of the women were looking at the hoop; their attention focused solely on Moon’s body.
God had to be a sculptor, because when He created Moon, He brought His finest achievement to life. The physical perfection wasn’t marred by the few tattoos he had chosen. Instead, they made him human. The angels in heaven had to have shed tears when Moon had been sent to Earth.
It was why she was so afraid of losing him. She knew how bad it was going to hurt when he left.
Killyama, resting her arms on the bar, watched Moon’s exhibition as she swiped Train’s beer away from him. “Damn, bitch. Now I understand. It’d be hard not to love a man who can move his hips like that.”
The cords in Train’s neck bulged out as he snatched his beer back before Killyama could take a drink.
Killyama nodded toward the hoop Moon was using as a jump rope. “I’m buying you one of those motherfuckers.”
“I’m not going …”
Oblivious to the arguing couple, Larissa slid off the bar stool, attempting to sneak out of the kitchen door before Moon could reach her.
She only made it as far as pushing the door open before Moon’s arm circled her waist.
“Where are you going? The party is just getting started.”
Did he know it was her, or was he hitting on another woman?
Like you have the right to criticize after what you just did , she thought hysterically.
Maybe if she could slip away without talking to him, he would never know she’d been there. She irrationally forgot that several Last Riders knew she was there and what costume she was wearing. It didn’t matter, anyway. Moon kiboshed the hastily formed plan before it could even be enacted.
“I just got here. Papa needs some me time with Mama before heading home. What’s the rush? Sexy-as-fuck costume, by the way. Lily came by the factory to meet Shade. She told me how fantastic you looked, but damn … fantastic doesn’t do you justice. I have a few better adjectives I would have used.”
“I don’t want to keep Mom out so late,” she lied huskily. Fearful that her expression would reveal more than she wanted it to, she kept her back to him.
“I just talked to Kendra; they’re good. Jace is already asleep, and she’s going to bed. We’ll be home before Jace wakes up for his next feeding.”
She wanted nothing more than to turn in his arms and confess what she had done, but she couldn’t bring herself to admit that she had made another colossal mistake while at the clubhouse.
She promised herself that if she didn’t break down in tears, she would lock herself in and never leave her house again. Well, other than to go to work. She wouldn’t even go grocery shopping. And she would confess to Moon … once she got a few beers in him.
With his chest plastered to her back, her stomach quivered in longing. How could she want to drag him upstairs into his bedroom after the stupid mistake she had just made? She didn’t know; only that she did. The big ass had the ability to turn her insides into a big marshmallow. All she could focus on was burning the warlord’s image from her mind.
Cut it out, Larissa. You’re losing it , she thought hysterically. At least she wouldn’t have to worry about Moon being upset about what had happened. He would just rub it in that she had only gotten one vote while she was here.
Dismally, she pleaded with him, “I’m not in the mood anymore. I want to go home.”
“I can’t put you in the mood?”
How was she supposed to resist his seductive murmur in her ear?
Moon’s muscled arm holding her around the waist tightened, pulling her back until she could feel his hard sex against her bottom.
In the background, she heard the song “Human” by Rag’n’Bone Man.
“Come on; dance with me.”
Oh, sweet Lord, give me the strength to resist the dark promise I can hear in his voice .
Her prayer went unheard as she bonelessly allowed herself to be turned in his arms and propelled to where the furniture had been moved aside and everyone was dancing.
Maintaining his firm hold on her, she nearly slipped away from the trance Moon’s body had lulled her into when he turned her around in his arms.
The music switched from “Human” to “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon, which snapped her back to reality for a split-second until Moon drew her back close to him. The sensual movements he had exhibited with the hula hoop were nothing compared to how his body moved against hers as they danced.
Like a drowning victim, she gasped for air when one of his hands cupped her bottom, making her uncoordinated movements flow in unison with his.
Making one last-ditch effort to save herself, she wedged her arms between them. “I think we should go.”
“If you’re thinking, then I’m doing something wrong.” With one of his hands, he gripped the back of her hair, tilting her face up, and then Moon tucked her head into the crook of his shoulder.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Larissa”—Moon dipped his mouth to hers—“shut up.”
The erotic pull of his voice engulfed her again. This time, she wasn’t strong enough to fight. Instead, she willingly gave in to his erotic kiss.
One song blended into another as they swayed together. She was so oblivious to what was going on in the room, it wasn’t until Moon stopped dancing, sliding an arm over her shoulders and steering her to the staircase, that she came back down to earth.
“Where are—”
She forgot what she was about to say at Moon’s throaty growl as he nuzzled the curve of her neck.
This amorous Moon, she had never dealt with before. He had aroused her to the point that if he led her off a cliff, she would willingly jump. Having all Moon’s attention focused directly on her, as if his only goal was to get her in bed, was a heady emotion for a girl who had become used to being called a freak before she was six. As she grew older, the taunts and name-calling had gotten even worse. Boys her own age didn’t tend to be kind when their developing masculinity was threatened by a girl who was taking college level courses while they were just learning the basics of algebra. Lana and Priss, who had similar issues, had been her only friends. If not for them, she truly didn’t think she would have been able to bear the isolation she had gone through.
They had been there to let her cry on their shoulders when those she trusted betrayed her, and they were still constantly watching over her. Their sisterly bond had only strengthened with time.
“You owe me big time.”
“How?” Confused, she lifted her eyes to him. The carnal way he was looking at her made her reinstate going off the cliff with him.
“It was everything I could do not to fuck you with everyone watching.” Pausing only long enough to unlock his bedroom door, he then pulled her inside the darkened room. Not bothering to turn the light on, Moon shut the door with his foot, already turning her fully in his arms. “I deserve a big reward.”
“What do you want?” she whispered softly, willing to give him anything he asked for.
“You.”
Her head fell back weakly as his mouth covered hers. As she clutched his shoulders, all she could do was hold on when she was lifted off her feet. Reality slipped away as he pressed her onto the soft bed, covering her body with his.
“This time is going to be for you.” Parting her thighs, Moon slightly shifted his body weight until his mouth was blowing warm air on the crotch of her panties. “I’m going to be so good to you.”
Arching into his mouth when his tongue slid under her satin panties, she tried to smother the erotic cries that he was inciting by biting down on her hand.
His tongue transported her into another realm of desire, one she didn’t think she’d survive when she came back to earth.
“What is the big reward you wanted?” she managed to get out between shallow gasps, trying not to be distracted by what he was doing.
“I’m going to fuck you in ways you didn’t know you could be fucked, and you’re going to let me.”
S hifting out from under Moon’s arm, she scooted to the side of the mattress to slide out.
“Where are you going?”
She thought he was sleeping, so she nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke.
“I’m trying to go to the bathroom,” she explained, waving her hand to the side, hoping to touch the lamp to turn a light on.
“What’s the hold-up?”
“I can’t find the lamp—”
Light filled the room before she could finish her sentence.
Looking in his direction, she saw he had turned the lamp on that was on the other nightstand.
“You good now?”
“Yes.” Glancing around, she spotted what she was looking for, almost obscured under a blanket that Moon must have thrown to the floor.
She gathered the dress and put it on before moving toward the door.
“Don’t leave the door open.” Moon’s mumble came from under the pillow he had put over his head.
She opened the door but almost closed it again at seeing The Three Musketeers having sex with Saffron at the same time across the hall. Averting her eyes, she hurried to the bathroom to relieve herself.
Three at one time? Jeez.
Washing her hands, she then kept her eyes downcast on the way back to Moon’s room. Inside, she closed the door behind her to lean back against it.
“What’s going on in that room should be illegal.” Fanning herself, she tried to cool her heated cheeks down.
Moon, who was still under his pillow, leaned up on his elbows, dislodging it.
She started to fan herself harder at the sexy display Moon was unintentionally giving her with the sheet only covering one masculine leg and his lower groin area. His other leg was bent and sprawled out on the bed in a decadent position, which had her wanting to crawl back in bed.
“What’s going on?” Interest filled his expression.
“Saffron is having sex with The Three Musketeers .”
Laughter glittered in his eyes. “They did say, ‘All for one, and one for all.’”
“She’s a better woman than me.” She stared at him with unbelieving eyes. “If I hadn’t seen it, I would never have thought it was possible. I mean …” She raised her hands in disbelief. “How?”
She almost fled at the sexual grin he gave her.
“Come here, and I’ll show you.”
She shook her head. A herd of horses couldn’t drag her closer to that bed. “No, thanks.” She waved her hand expressively toward his body. “Besides, they have three … dicks; you don’t.” God, she hoped he hadn’t been holding out on her, and he was some alien from outer space. Was that why they had nicknamed him Moon?
“Come here,” he coaxed seductively. “I’ll improvise.”
“We should be going home.” She braved a step away from the door, poking around for her shoes. She found one under Moon’s sweatpants. Picking it up, she continued searching for the missing half.
“Looking for this?” he asked innocently, the shoe dangling from his fingertip.
“Give it to me.”
“Come and get it.”
Warily, she stood on the other side of the bed, holding her hand out. The next instant, she was getting hauled onto the bed.
“Moon, we should … go.” Crawling on her knees, she halfheartedly fought getting drawn toward him. “I need to talk to you about something when we get home.”
As Moon pulled her toward him, he started lying back on the bed. Unable to resist, her eyes went to where his cock was getting harder, her gaze inadvertently landing on the mark on the inside of his thigh.
Red-hot fury smashed through her skull, as if a nuclear explosion had been set off.
“You son of a rat, I’m going to kill you!” she screeched at him, hitting him with the shoe in her hand.
“Have you lost—” he yelled in surprise when she managed to land a whack before rolling to get away to avoid her flaying arm.
“Fuuuck!” he cursed when he became entangled in the sheets, sending him falling into the nightstand before dropping to the floor.
Vindicated, she crawled to the edge of the bed to glare down at the rat bastard.
Shoving the lamp off his chest, he glared back at her. “Woman, what in the hell has gotten into you?”
“I’m going to kill you!” she screamed at him. “The court will find me mentally incompetent because you have driven me insane!” Pointing the tip of the shoe at his thigh, she dangled half-on and half-off the bed, trying to hit the bite mark she had made when they’d had sex in the basement. “You made me think—”
Too late, she realized it was a mistake to get so close to the edge. Unexpectedly, his legs came up to pull her down to him.
“ Oof !” Hitting him, she wasn’t able to prevent him from pinning her under his body with her hands in his. “Get off me!”
Moon’s hand covered her mouth, allowing only outraged gasps to escape. His scowling face hovered over hers. “Listen to me. I was going to tell you it was me when you told me . I’m going to remove my hand, but keep your voice low. I don’t want anyone to hear,” he muttered under his breath. Then, slightly lifting his hand, he allowed her to talk.
“I was going to tell you when we got home.” She burst into tears. “You did that to pay me back, didn’t you?” She turned her face away so he couldn’t see how badly he had hurt her.
He forced her face back to his. “I had to for the votes.”
The unexpectedness of his answer made her mouth drop open. “Huh?”
Moon raised his hand and closed it in a fist. “My vote, which you already had.” He raised one finger. “Killyama.” Another finger rose. “Train.” Another finger rose. “Both said they would give you their vote for delivering their baby. Everyone believes it was Wizard in the warlord costume.” Another finger rose.
“I only need two more, then?”
Moon slowly shook his head from side to side. “Not exactly. There are cameras in the basement, which are viewed in the security room. There were two Last Riders monitoring the cameras tonight. They gave you the last two votes.”
Slowly understanding that he had deceived her to get the votes from The Last Riders, she felt better … marginally. But at least she no longer wanted to kill him.
“At least it was dark, and no one could see. Who were they?”
Conflicting emotions crossed Moon’s face. “The cameras are infrared.”
His hand hastily covered her mouth when she parted her lips to scream at him again.
“They didn’t see much, not where the cameras were situated. They mainly got sounds of us having sex. You have the votes now to be a Last Rider.” Meeting her eyes, he removed his hand. “You cool?”
“No,” she grumbled. “I wish you would quit doing that. I’ll stop yelling.” Then she told him in a furious whisper, “I’m so angry at you, but I’m going to restrain myself until I get you in the car.”
“That’s fair.”
When she pushed at his chest, Moon warily lifted himself off her. Clamoring to her feet, she ignored the hand he extended to help her up.
“I don’t understand why you went this far for me to become a Last Rider. I told you—”
“You had to become a Last Rider.” His face had turned into a mask of determination.
Quizzically, she stared at him as he sat on the bed. “Why?”
“If anything happens to me and you’re not a Last Rider, they will check on you and do what they can, if you ask for their help.”
“That’s nice—”
Moon shook his head. “You’ll basically be on your own … But if you’re a Last Rider, they will watch over you. You will be protected as if I were there, and so will Jace.”
“Ahh, now I understand. You want Jace protected.”
“I wanted you both protected.” His hand came out to pull her between his thighs. “One of The Last Riders will become my backup if anything happens to me. I want you and Jace to have that safety net. My life changed after my makuakane died. I won’t leave my son unprotected the same way.”
“Nothing is …” She wanted to assure him that nothing would happen to him, that he would see their son grow, but she couldn’t. No one was guaranteed tomorrow, not even a Last Rider.
He slid the dress down over her hips. “I don’t exactly drive the safest mode of transportation.”
“You do have a car.”
“Which I hate driving. I’m not meant to be cooped up.”
She had to agree with him there. “No, you’re not.” Winding her arms around his neck, she didn’t struggle as Moon lowered them back onto the bed.
She cupped his face between her hands as she stared into his eyes. Moon would never be an easy man to love. The more a woman sought to chain him down, the more he would struggle to be free. It not only pertained to women but to anyone who sought to claim his loyalty. The Last Riders even only took what he was willing to give them, nothing more. Anyone who attempted to push past the invisible line that Moon had set to keep himself isolated would find themselves grasping air.
The only one who stood a modicum chance in hell of getting past Moon’s guard was Jace. That was why he was so overprotective of his son. Jace was his kryptonite.
Helplessly, she let him lure her back under his spell. In the last year, he had made concession after concession for her—buying a home, not attending the parties—and as far as she knew, he hadn’t cheated on her, other than that kiss and one bike ride. He had even confided in her why he wanted her to be a Last Rider. It gave a woman hope that maybe, just maybe, he was starting to care for her … starting to love her.
Holding that hope to her chest, she let go of the last of her fears and gave him the final vestiges of love she had been holding back. Opening her soul to his … She’d worry about getting it back another day. Tonight, it belonged to Moon.