Chapter Twenty-Six #4
Casey’s stomach dropped. “Rags…” she whispered, already stepping into the hallway.
She moved down the stairs, the sound of tables slamming, chairs screeching echoing through the space as JT’s voice cut through the tension.
“You fuckin’ think she’s gonna be true to you? I didn’t know you were that stupid, Rags. She’s a whore, fuckin’ any biker she can find. When we used to go to the rallies—” A crash cut him off—the sound of a body hitting metal hard.
“Shut the fuck up!” Rags’s roared. “You’re not a man, you’re a weak-ass pussy. Who leaves his woman buried in debt, then slinks off like a gutless bastard, leaving her to clean up his mess?”
For a long heartbeat, everything went silent, then the crack of flesh meeting flesh.
“Rags! Saber! Stop this shit!” a deep voice shouted.
She reached the bottom of the stairs and peered into the large room.
The crowd had formed a tight circle. Shouts bounced off the walls, boots scraped across concrete, and guttural grunts filled the air.
She caught sight of Rags, blood trickling down the side of his face, as his fist slammed into JT’s jaw.
JT fired back, snapping Rags’s head with a sharp uppercut.
They tore into each other. Punches flying, bodies slamming into table, and glasses shattering across the floor.
“Break it up!” a voice boomed.
Casey saw an older man with blond hair and striking blue eyes push through the crowd.
In one swift move, he dragged them apart: Rags by his shirt collar, JT by his Nomad cut.
JT lunged again, blood streaking down his face.
The older biker drove a hard kick into JT’s gut, dropping him to the floor.
Rags jerked free, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
A hush fell over the room, and Casey knew the biker was someone important in the club’s hierarchy. The president.
“Enough! This is a party with brothers and this shit stops now!”
Rags glared at JT, who was pushing himself up from the floor. “Stay the fuck away from me and my woman!”
JT laughed, wild and furious. “She was mine first, and that ain’t ever gonna change!”
Two broad-shouldered men Casey recognized from the Fall Festival grabbed Rags as he surged forward again. Others held JT back, their voices low and urgent, though his glare never left Rags. Rags stilled, chest heaving, eyes locked on JT like he wanted to finish the fight.
“Break it up. Get some Jack, find some pussy, and get the damn music going,” the president said, his gaze darting between Rags and JT.
Rags turned and his eyes locked with Casey’s. All at once, his violent expression shifted. He shoved free from the guys holding him and strode straight toward her.
“We’re done her,” he said, grabbing her hand.
She walked beside him, her gaze fixed straight ahead.
The cold air hit her hard as they stepped outside, the chaotic noise of the clubhouse fading behind them as the door slammed shut.
Rags didn’t say a word. He helped her up into the SUV, rounded the hood to the driver’s side, and cranked the engine pulling out of the gravel parking lot without looking back.
They drove in silence. Casey watched the dark road stretch ahead and the snowflakes clinging to the windshield. The steady thump of the wipers matched the slowing rhythm of her pulse, the heat of the fight fading into the cold night.
Rags reached over, his hand closing around hers. “You good?”
She nodded, watching the swirl of snow.
“I didn’t want you to get caught in all that.” He exhaled. “I’m sorry, Case.”
She shook her head. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
He lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I lost my head, but I couldn’t let him get away with that shit.”
“I know.” She leaned against his shoulder. “And thanks for wiping that smirk off his face. It’s bugged me for years.”
Rags laughed. “Anytime, darlin’.”
When they walked into her townhouse, Casey punched in the code for the alarm. A small smile tugged at her lips as Rags checked the windows and doors.
“All good?” she asked, sliding her arms around him from behind.
“Yeah.” He grasped her hands. “I’m gonna take a quick shower. Get the stench of Saber off me.”
“It’s funny. I never called him Saber.”
“I noticed that. How come?”
She shrugged. “He introduced himself as JT. I didn’t even know he was in an MC for months.
Hell, I didn’t even know what an MC was.
He didn’t want me in that world very often.
I thought it was to protect me, but now I know he just didn’t want anyone knowing he had a wife.
” She shook her head. “I was so damn na?ve.”
“Like you said, he’s a jerk. As long as I’ve known him, he’s been a nomad. He used to be a member of the Gypsy Jokers’ chapter out of Boise.”
“He was, but he went nomad about a year after we got married.”
“Did you ride with him?”
“For over a year. I tried to make it work, but it wasn’t for me.
Looking back, I know he was cheating the whole time.
” She shook if off. “That’s all in the past.” She smiled.
“Now I’ve got a sexy”—she pressed a warm kiss to his cheek—“handsome”—her lips grazed his other side—“and damn good biker I respect and care about.” She kissed him fully.
“Damn, babe,” he muttered, pulling her close. “You’re one fine woman.” He ran his hands down her back, resting them on her ass. “Let me wash up, okay?” He nipped her bottom lip lightly with his teeth.
“Okay. I want to get out of these clothes and shoes. My feet are killing me.”
“I’ll help you get out of them.” He winked.
She laughed and swatted his arm. “Upstairs.”
Casey sat on the bed, scrolling through her phone.
She smiled at the muffled drumming of the shower, and a warm, cozy feeling settled over her.
The wind whispered through the cracks in the frame, and she tugged the afghan blanket across her legs.
The corner lamp cast a soft glow, turning the room into a warm, safe sanctuary from the cold night.
When the water shut off, Casey set her phone on the nightstand and fluffed her hair with her fingers.
“That felt good,” Rags said as he stepped out of the bathroom, a peach-colored towel wrapped low around his waist.
She looked up at him. With his freshly scrubbed face and brown hair falling to his shoulders, he was all hard lines, heat and trouble, and she couldn’t get enough of him. “Come here,” she said, pushing aside the blanket.
A grin spread across his face as he crossed the room and sat on the mattress, taking her hands in his. His hair was still damp, the clean scent of soap wrapping around her. She leaned in and brushed her lips over his.
“You smell good.” She touched her tongue to his lower lip. “And taste good, too.”
He chuckled low in his throat, one arm sliding around her shoulders. “You like it?”
“Oh yeah.” She rubbed against his bare chest. “I like it a lot.”
Rags groaned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and molded her body to his. “What are you wearing under this?” he murmured, his hand sweeping over her V-neck boyfriend night shirt.
“Nothing.”
“Just the way I like you,” he murmured.
Her gaze skimmed over his arms, chest, the wicked tattoos, then down to the towel riding low on his waist. He watched her with those hazel eyes she’d fallen for the moment she’d seen him at the nursery.
She smiled at the memory: how cocky he’d been, how snippy she’d been right back.
And now… she couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.
“Come here,” he growled, jerking her to him.
She pressed into him, her bosom flattening against his chest as his hand slipped beneath her night shirt, brushing her nipple. A moan slipped free as she shifted, giving him better access.
“Why can’t I ever get enough of you, darlin’?” he murmured, pinching, teasing.
Desire streaked through her, settling low and hot. He cupped the back of her neck and kissed her deep, their tongues sliding, tasting. She scraped her nails lightly over his shoulders.
Tugging at the towel around his waist, she leaned in close. “Take it off,” she whispered.
He chuckled, then shifted and let it drop, his gaze never leaving her face. He pushed her back onto the pillow the pillow, lifting her nightshirt. “Beautiful,” he murmured before taking her nipple into his mouth.
Casey gasped as his teeth grazed her breast, his fingers working the other one. The heat of his stiffening dick against her leg sent another rush of need through her, and she shifted, urging him closer.
“I can feel how wet you are, baby,” he said, his mouth moving over her skin, kissing, biting, sucking.
“Lower,” she breathed. “Or I’m going to have to wear a scarf for a week.” She tried to guide him down, but he caught her wrist.
“I want to mark you. I want every man to know you’re mine and to back the fuck off.”
She laughed softly. “Are you going caveman on me?”
“You know it. You’re mine, darlin’.”
She traced her finger over his shoulders, down his back, then flicked his nipple before pressing her hips against his.
His breath hitched. “Fuck, woman.”
He crushed his mouth to hers, his hands tightening on her breasts as heat surged between them. Their tongues tangled, slid over teeth, lips, each other. She grabbed his hand and guided it between her thighs.
“You want this fast, baby? Don’t want to linger?” A wicked smile curled up his lips.
“I need you,” she breathed.
“Case.” He scorched a path down her stomach.
She threaded her fingers through his thick hair. “No,” she whispered, “I want you inside me.”
“In time,” he said, his hand sliding lower.
Slow. Too slow.
“Rags,” she whimpered.
“Relax and let me take care of you, baby.”
His finger slipped into her wetness and circled her aching nub. On the third pass, he lowered his head and stroked her sweet spot with the tip of his tongue. She exploded. Pleasure tore through her in waves, stealing her breath as she clutched at him.
When she opened her eyes, his were watching her, amused. “I didn’t mean to come so fast,” she mumbled.
He leaned in, kissing her softly. “I liked watching you lose it.”
She rolled her eyes. “Great. Now you have another reason to be cocky.” She lightly punched his arm.
He shook his head, a smiled playing on his lips. “You’re beautiful, Case. So sexy, real, and…” His voice faded, and he looked away.
“And?” she asked, touching his face.
“And everything,” he said in a low voice.
He pulled up, lifting her legs over his shoulders, then drove into her. Casey gasped, clinging to him as he moved harder and deeper, her hips lifting to meet his thrusts, the heat building fast between them.
“Case,” he growled.
Her moans mixed with his grunts as they moved faster, deeper.
And then pulsing pleasure surged again, crashing through her. And a second later, he followed, his body tensing as he shuddered his release deep within her.
He collapsed against her, breathing hard.
She ran her hands over his back and through his hair.
They stayed like that for a long while, then Rags rolled off, cradling her in the crook of his arm.
She glanced up, and he swept her hair out of her face then combed his fingers through it.
He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks before pressing his lips tenderly on hers. She settled into him and exhaled.
“What have you done to me, Case?” he murmured, his fingertips gliding up and down her arm.
“The same thing you’ve done to me,” she said. A flicker of something deeper stirred, but she pushed it aside.
Her stomach grumbled and they both laughed, breaking the intensity of the moment.
“Pizza with extra cheese, sausage, and mushrooms?” he asked.
“And onions. Why the hell not?”
He pulled her close, his arm tight around her, like he had no intention of letting go. Rags knew everything now. And he was still here. Not back at the clubhouse. JT was behind her. Right where he belonged.
And for the first time in a long time, Casey felt safe.