Chapter 16
Naomi
It’s been three weeks since the guys and I gave in to our desires.
Three weeks of the most incredible, mind-bending sex, punctuated with the stress and anxieties of being at war with a rival club and helping my brother kick his addiction.
I suppose that’s why at the end of every day we’re tearing at each other’s clothes and fucking our worries away.
Ironically, the only thing keeping me together is them ripping me apart as I fracture under orgasm after orgasm.
Eli gets out of the rehab clinic today. Against all of our wishes, he’s insisted that we hang out at the clubhouse tonight to celebrate.
“I’ve never had a problem with alcohol, and you know it, Mouse.
I just need to be around other people and feel normal.
Please?” he’d begged. Eventually, we gave in and agreed, on the condition that I could decide when the party was over.
“I’ll be as good as gold. I promise,” he said with a wide grin, a glimmer of the man he was before all this.
I hope that I can get my brother back, the old Eli, before he ever crashed and met the Rusted Scythes.
Eli is going to stay with us for a few days until he can move into his new place.
For obvious reasons, neither of us can go home.
Eli assumes I’ll be moving back in with him.
I haven’t found the right way to tell him I want to stay here yet.
The guys have made it clear that the choice is mine, but I’m more than welcome to stay living with them.
Although nothing will be changing, it feels like a big decision.
Would that mean I was officially moving in?
That we’re in a relationship and this is more than just sex?
I need to talk about this with them all, but I don’t know what to say.
While I’m excited that Eli is coming home, I can’t say I’m looking forward to having him in the house.
He doesn’t know about the guys and me yet, and I can’t imagine we’re going to be able to hide it from him for long.
The idea that Eli’s presence is going to force us into celibacy for a few days is one that none of us is looking forward to.
My suggestion that we’d just have to be quiet was met with amused expressions.
“I’d say that’s impossible,” Cash said. “Unless we gag you.” The suggestion held so much sexual promise that it made me tingle and my toes curl.
I know Cash has a darker side to his sexual fantasies that we’ve not yet explored.
I decided to wear a dress tonight, which is unusual for me.
I spend most of the time in jeans or shorts in the summer.
Basically, anything I can ride my bike in.
The dress is one of the few I now own. A slinky black number with spaghetti straps and a low back.
It falls mid-calf and has a split that rides up dangerously high.
Because I’m not the kind of girl to wear heels, I pair it with my trusty boots.
The surprised yet appreciative looks I receive from the guys tell me I look good.
I’ve even blown my hair out and curled it slightly for that Fifties Hollywood pinup style.
With the colored streaks in my hair and my lack of curves, I’m a far cry from Marilyn Monroe, but the guys react as if I’m a sex goddess, making me feel like one.
“You look amazing,” Gage says as I open my bedroom door and invite them inside. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me in for a quick kiss.
“Thank you. You clean up well yourself. You don’t even have engine grease under your fingernails,” I gently tease.
None of them has dressed up for the occasion, but they still look sexy as all hell in their jeans and tight t-shirts that show off their muscles.
“You look very nice,” Ace says. He’s not the best at compliments, so I appreciate his effort.
“Good enough to eat,” Cash purrs, making me blush, remembering how only a couple of hours ago he had buried his head between my legs. When he kisses me, I can still taste myself on his tongue.
I can feel the sexual tension in the air, and I know that if we stay here any longer, we’ll crack and fall into bed. The thought of Eli downstairs, hearing everything, is enough to stop me. Just. “Let’s go,” I say, weaving past them toward the stairs. They reluctantly follow.
Eli is waiting in the living room, looking better than I’ve seen him in a long time.
His pale blond hair has been combed into submission, though already a couple of strands are sticking out at odd angles.
He looks clear-eyed and freshly shaven. He wears a crisp white shirt and jeans.
He’ll stand out like a sore thumb at the club.
But I know everyone will welcome him regardless.
“Wow, what have you done with my tomboy sister?” he says.
“Shut it, you,” I reply with a smile, pulling him in for a hug. “Let’s go introduce you to the club.”
Apprehension flickers across his face. “Maybe this was a bad idea after all. Everyone will hate me. They’ll see me as one of the Rusted Scythes, or worse, as a coward who couldn’t protect his sister.”
“No, they won’t, Eli, you’re one of us now,” Ace replies. I feel stupidly grateful for him.
***
The evening has been going better than I could have hoped. Ace was right, everyone has been very welcoming to Eli and me. Just like last time, the bar has a warm, friendly atmosphere. It’s a place where people can blow off steam and hang out with their friends.
Cash and Eli are busy chatting about computers and how Eli can help Cash more effectively run the club’s books.
The rest of us got bored with that conversation very quickly and started chatting amongst ourselves.
We’ve been swapping motorcycling stories and making each other howl with laughter at our foolish escapades.
We’re so deep in conversation that we don’t even notice Cherri, Ace’s ex, sauntering over until she’s standing right by our table, clearing her throat dramatically for attention.
“Hey, Ace,” she says, flicking her hair. “Get me a drink?”
Ace seems genuinely baffled by her attention.
It’s clear to me that she’s jealous. Under her scrutiny, I realize how close we’re sitting together, Ace’s arm lazily draped over the back of my chair.
His body language is pretty straightforward—she’s mine.
I feel a tingle of joy at being claimed.
That everyone here can tell I’m Ace’s. I don’t even care if they’ve also noticed Gage is similarly possessive, his hand regularly stroking my leg while we chat, or the comfortable way I help myself to fries off his plate.
I’m lucky that Eli isn’t very observant. He’s never been good at reading social cues or body language. Otherwise, he’d be able to see as clear as day that the guys and I are together just as Cherri has.
“Do I look like a fucking bartender?” Ace replies. It isn’t polite, but I kind of love him for it. He isn’t going to go running back to her when she snaps her fingers.
Cherri ignores his apparent dismissal and laughs as if he’s said something funny. “Who’s your new friend?” she asks, turning her focus to Eli and smiling at him flirtatiously.
Eli, who’s unused to being the subject of female interest, blushes. “I’m Eli, Naomi’s brother,” he stammers.
“Well, I can see where all of the looks in your family went,” she purrs. “Maybe you can buy a girl a drink?”
A flash of rage courses through my veins.
I want to rip her hair out. How dare she use my brother to try to make Ace jealous and insult me?
Poor, oblivious Eli doesn’t even realize he’s the butt of her joke.
The words ‘fuck off’ are just about to come out of my mouth when Eli replies, “Sure. I can buy you a drink.” He gets up from his seat far too eagerly.
“Perfect,” Cherri says, flashing a megawatt smile at him. Only I can tell it is insincere. She wraps her talons around his shoulder. She towers over him in her heels, and I feel like he’s a lamb headed to slaughter.
Gage gently places a hand on my leg, holding me down before I can leap up and stop them.
I’m forced to watch them walk away, heading to the bar together.
Cherri flirts outrageously, glancing over at us frequently to see our reactions.
“If she sees she’s getting to you, she’ll only do it more,” Gage warns.
“I should go stop her. Poor Eli, she’s just using him,” I say.
“Eli’s a grown man. Leave him. Cherri’s bad news but the worst she’s gonna do is sleep with him. It’s not like they’re gonna go and get married,” Ace says.
“She’s trying to make you jealous,” I tell him, pointing out the obvious.
He shrugs. “Only because Cherri’s jealous of you.”
“Yeah, because you’re here with me.”
Ace shakes his head. “No. I mean, sure, it’s part of it, but she’d be jealous of you even if I wasn’t lucky enough to have you. You’re unapologetically you, and you don’t give a damn what people think. She can’t stand anyone comfortable in their own skin.”
I’m blown away by the compliment that Ace thinks so highly of me. If only it was true. “I am definitely not comfortable in my own skin,” I say with a nervous huff that doesn’t quite become a laugh.
“How can you not be?” Gage asks. “You’re gorgeous and you’re a walking piece of art.” He traces his fingers across my tattoos, making me shiver with pleasure.
I feel like I can tell these men anything, that I can share my darkest secrets, and it won’t scare them away.
So I do. “I got the tattoos to hide my scars. I used to cut myself after my parents died. It was a way for me to control something, to feel something, any pain other than the loss of them. Eli helped me to stop, sent me to a therapist who told me to channel it in different ways. I got my first tattoo to hide the scars, and then I became a bit addicted to the pain of the tattoos. Ironic, I guess, and probably not the healthy outlet my therapist had in mind.”
Gage pulls me into an embrace, kissing my head. “I’m so sorry you felt like that.”
Ace squeezes my hand. “Thank you for sharing that with us. You shouldn’t be ashamed.”
Gage kisses the most prominent scar, still visible under the tattoo. The one that finally got me caught when it got infected, and I could no longer hide it from Eli. “Every inch of you is beautiful, scars and all.”
Tears well in my eyes. “You guys are amazing. I don’t know how I got so lucky to meet you.”
Cash has been silent throughout this, sitting in his stoic, contemplative way. “If you’ll let me, I’d like to show you my coping mechanism. My control, my way to channel pain into pleasure.”
I gulp. I know exactly what he’s talking about. Cash has already told me how he’s into BDSM. It’s not something we’ve explored—until now.
“Yes. I’d like that very much,” I reply with a gulp.
Cash nods, his ice-blue eyes glinting with promise.
“Alright, you two go now while Eli’s distracted. We’ll make sure he doesn’t leave any time soon,” Gage says, pointing his thumb in the direction of Eli and Cherri. Cherri is practically hanging off him, laughing with her mouth open wide, revealing sharp white teeth.
“You aren’t going to come with us?” I say, a little disappointed I won’t get to have them all.
Ace chuckles. “So greedy. If you’re a good girl, maybe we can join in later. For now, go have fun with Cash.” He kisses me quickly, leaving me wanting more.
Eli didn’t notice. But Cherri did. She catches Ace’s eye before making a big show of kissing Eli.
“Pathetic,” Ace mutters under his breath.
As Cash and I get up to leave, I point at Gage and Ace with a warning finger. “Don’t let my brother have sex with that woman.”
Gage mock salutes me. “Aye aye, captain cockblock.”
My stern expression dissolves into laughter, and I shake my head ruefully. “Let’s go,” I say to Cash, allowing him to lead the way through the throng of people.
I don’t have butterflies in my stomach—it’s more like a stampede of elephants.