Chapter 5 #2
He laughed, and she tried to push him off–except he wasn’t moving.
“Please, Ben.”
“Nope.”
Annoyed, she attempted to kick him off. “We don’t need the extra bad luck.”
On cue, Hawk yelled at someone outside the window, and more gunshots fired in the distance.
“Look at me.” Steel lined his low voice, and she peeked at him. “This superstition isn’t true.”
“But–”
“No.” He nuzzled the soft space between her breasts. “If we’re not going to be defined by our pasts, we’re not going to obey ridiculous customs no one knows the origins of.”
She closed her eyes again. “We can’t risk it.”
“Yes, we can.” He slid off of her. A moment later, he said, “If you want to play this game, we play my way.”
She opened one eye. “Where did you get that?”
“There’s a stack of clean ones in the closet. Probably thanks to Izzy.” He held up a red bandana, and his smile held a secret. “Now let’s keep your eyes closed.”
She bit her lip and nodded. Once he tied the bandana around her head, she touched the smooth cloth covering her eyes. “Neither one is supposed to see the other. This only takes care of half of the problem.”
“I make my own luck.” He kissed a trailed down from her neck to her waist. Somehow, her dress and panties disappeared. Then she felt his scratchy face against the inside of her thigh. Her stomach clenched, and she gripped the quilt beneath her.
She wanted to give him a witty response, but all she could manage was a weak, “Please, Ben. More.”
While she lay on the bed in the dark, with the violence outside, his mouth and hands took control. They skimmed over her body, loving and adoring her. When his mouth found her nipples, they tightened.
Suddenly, he moved lower, between her legs. His hands slipped beneath her bottom, and his thumbs met her soft folds. His breath promised paradise.
“Say it,” he commanded in a rough voice.
“I want you.”
His mouth descended, sending her flying. The strokes of his tongue, his thumbs massaging the sensitive skin, and the feel of his scratchy face against her tender thighs shook her with such force he had to hold her hips still while he continued his intimate invasion.
Finally, her body shuddered, leaving her tingly and numb. His tongue gave a final caress, and he moved his body over hers. His erection felt hard and hot against her stomach.
When had he removed his clothes?
Their bodies moved rhythmically against each other, both seeking and pulling away at the same time. He lifted her hips, and his ragged breaths told her he was close to the point of no return. The rough feel of his skin, combined with his musky scent, almost sent her over the edge as well.
“Sophie?” He took a hard nipple into his mouth. He teased and taunted with his teeth until she grabbed his head.
“Yes.” She wrapped her legs around his waist. When he entered her, the force sent her up the bed until her head banged against the headboard.
His long strokes pounded into her, and she surrendered to his powerful thrusts.
His hard back muscles clenched beneath her fingers, and she loved the perfection of how his body fit into hers.
Everything exploded at once. An orgasm ripped through her, and she screamed his name. He arched above her as his powerful body drove into her three more times before collapsing. Then a burst of noise, light, and chaos from outside broke the bathroom window.
“Sorry!” Cali’s voice, laced with laughter, came from outside the bathroom.
She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry. She wanted to cover herself with a sheet in case anyone entered the room.
But all she had the energy to do was take off the bandana.
Ben padded naked across the room, slammed the bathroom door shut, and found a blanket in the closet.
By the time he covered her naked body and returned to bed, she was mostly asleep.
The war outside didn’t matter. She was safe and loved within the arms of her groom.
Sophie rolled over and reached for Ben, only to find the bed empty.
She sat, bringing the sheet up to cover her bare breasts. Noises came from the bathroom, but since the generator was still off, there was no light. The cheap bedside clock told her it was only one a.m., and for some reason the battle outside had gone quiet.
“Ben?” she whispered.
Ben appeared in the bathroom doorway, holding his phone with its light on. He wore his jeans and boots, but his bare chest shone with sweat. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I was cleaning up the glass so you wouldn’t cut your feet.”
She scrambled out of bed, arranging the blanket around her shoulders, and rushed into his arms. “I was worried. What’s going on outside?”
He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her close. Then he rested his chin on her head. “There’s a pause in the fighting.”
“Why?” She had no idea how anyone fought anything, so she truly didn’t understand.
“Sometimes you need to regroup and reload.” A soft rumble beneath her cheek told her he was laughing silently. “Sometimes a man just needs to take a piss.”
She pushed him away. “Don’t be crude.”
Now he laughed out loud. “Yes, ma’am.”
Annoyed at how unworried he seemed, while her insides were twisted up with anxiety, she went toward the window until he pulled her away, toward the bed.
“I need a garbage bag for the broken glass.” He kissed her cheek. “And I’ll get you some water.”
She nodded and tightened the blanket around her shoulders.
Once he’d left the room, she moved back toward the window, making sure to stay off to the side so no one could see her.
Not that it mattered. Nothing outside was moving.
Darkness had eaten up the earlier shadows, and the only light came from the red haze in the distance.
“The fires are still burning?” She glanced at Ben when he returned to the room.
“Yes.” He handed her a water bottle, along with a bunch of granola bars, and went into the bathroom with the trash bag and a dustpan and brush.
A few moments later, he came out and dropped the bag with broken glass outside the bedroom door.
“The smoke is getting worse. That’s affecting the fighting as well. ”
She opened her bottle and took a long drink. “Have the Black Jacks gone?”
“No. They’ve—”
“Ben! Look!” She pointed at a man running from behind one of the lodge buildings to the tree line. Yes, it was dark, but he carried a small flashlight and she recognized that uneven gait anywhere. “Is that Monk?”
When she’d been dating Trig, Monk had been the Black Jack’s Road Captain. He’d been injured while in the military and had a pronounced limp/hobbled walk. He was also tormented by serious rage issues.
“Yeah.” Ben drew her behind him and took his turn to peer out the window. “He’s here with his twin brother Rat.”
She tugged Ben’s arm. “Did you know that Monk is terrified of fireworks?”
“No.” Ben glanced at her. “So?”
She hurried to the closet, opened the door, and pointed at the boxes of fireworks.
Since outlaw motorcycle groups needed steady cash, they had other businesses outside of the regular rounds of drug and arms dealings.
Including, but not limited to, owning strip clubs, pawn shops, car repair shops, and selling legal and illegal fireworks.
“I would bet money I don’t have that if you set off a bunch of these…
” she paused to pick up a package of bottle rockets, “that Monk would run faster than if being chased by a black bear.”
Ben rubbed his chin with his fist. “And where Monk goes—”
“Rat always follows.” Because the twins were inseparable. “You’d be down by at least two Black Jacks to help even the odds.”
Ben grabbed the boxes and piled them on the bed. “Even if they don’t run, setting these off could cause enough confusion to distract them.”
“And I suspect,” she pointed toward the buildings outside the window, “the club has more fireworks stashed elsewhere.”
“You’re brilliant.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m going to lock you in here. Try to get some sleep.”
She frowned, but nodded. She wasn’t stupid. She had no part to play in this battle, other than maybe having given them the final tactic they needed to win. “I’m going to shower and change, though. Just in case we need to leave quickly.”
“Good idea.” He picked up the boxes. As he left the room, he said softly, “I love you, Sophie Sinclair. You’re the bravest woman I know.”