4. DIESEL
DIESEL
The fake claim was the dumbest idea I had ever had.
Not because it wouldn’t work.
Because there was already nothing fake about the way I wanted her.
Eloise stood in my bathroom doorway holding the loosened wedding dress against her chest. Her bare back was exposed, her hair falling over one shoulder, and every protective instinct I possessed was tangled up with thoughts that had nothing to do with protection.
“What does with you mean?” she asked.
“To the Black Thorns? Means you’re claimed by an Iron Flames brother. Anybody touches you, they answer to the whole club.”
“And to you?”
“Whatever you want it to mean.”
Her expression sharpened. “That sounds suspiciously reasonable.”
“Got hidden depths, princess.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.” I stepped closer. “I say you’re mine, Rafe stops seein’ you as an easy asset. Preston comes after you again, it becomes an attack on the Iron Flames. You don’t owe me anything. I don’t control where you go, what you do, or who you talk to.”
“How long would we have to pretend?”
“Until the deal’s dead and Rafe knows he can’t use you.”
“And how exactly are we convincing Preston?”
My gaze dropped to her mouth.
Her breath caught.
“Might have to kiss you.”
“Might?”
“Depends how stubborn he is.”
“And if I say no?”
“Then I think of somethin’ else.”
Eloise studied me for several seconds before disappearing into the bathroom.
When she returned, she was wearing the clothes Mara had brought. The jeans were a little too big, the black shirt clinging to her breasts and ending just above her hips. Her feet were bandaged, her hair loose, and the bruise on her face no longer hidden beneath makeup.
She looked more beautiful than she had in the wedding dress.
More real.
“Do it,” she said.
I swallowed. “Do what?”
“Claim me.”
The compound gate remained closed when we reached it. Preston stood on the other side with a sheriff’s deputy, a gray-haired lawyer, and the two men who had chased us from the venue. One of them had a black thorn tattoo tucked beneath his shirt collar.
Good.
Rafe would hear every word.
Hawk, Chains, Reaper, Gunner, Knox, and Axel spread out behind us. Nobody reached for a weapon. Nobody needed to.
Preston saw Eloise and stepped forward.
“What the hell have they done to you?”
Eloise stiffened beside me. “They kept your men from shooting me.”
“I didn’t authorize that.”
“You chased us with armed men.”
“I was trying to rescue you.”
“From what?”
Preston looked at me. “Him.”
I smiled. “Careful, pretty boy. Starting to hurt my feelings.”
The deputy stepped closer to the gate. “Ms. Bradford, your family reported that you were taken from the venue against your will. Are you here voluntarily?”
“Yes.”
“Have any of these men threatened you?”
“No.”
Preston’s face tightened. “She is frightened and confused. She has been under enormous emotional pressure.”
“I’m not confused.”
“You ran out of our wedding and climbed into a criminal’s truck.”
“Best decision she made all day,” I said.
“This has nothing to do with you.”
I put my arm around Eloise’s waist. “Got everything to do with me.”
Preston stared at my hand.
Eloise went rigid for half a second before leaning into my side.
That tiny movement nearly ruined me.
“What are you claiming?” Preston asked.
“Not claimin’ anything.” I pulled Eloise closer. “Telling you. She’s mine.”
The Black Thorns man touched two fingers to the phone in his pocket.
Message received.
Preston laughed, but there was no humor in it. “You met her less than an hour ago.”
“Didn’t take that long.”
“Eloise belongs with me.”
She flinched.
I felt it.
My hand slid to the back of her neck. “She don’t belong to you.”
“And she belongs to you?”
“No.” I looked down at her. “She chose me.”
Eloise’s eyes locked on mine.
“Sell it,” she whispered.
I kissed her.
I meant to keep it controlled. One convincing kiss for Preston, the deputy, and the Black Thorns bastard reporting to Rafe.
Then Eloise grabbed the front of my shirt and opened beneath me.
Every careful thought disappeared.
I pulled her hard against my chest and took her mouth properly, sliding my tongue against hers while my fingers tightened in her hair. She tasted warm and sweet, and the soft sound she made went straight through me.
Her arms wrapped around my neck. She rose onto her toes, pressing closer, and the kiss stopped being a performance for anyone outside that gate.
My hand slid down her back and gripped her hip. I wanted to lift her against me. Wanted those legs around my waist and her mouth saying my name, except she didn’t know the right one yet.
Preston shouted something.
I barely heard him.
Eloise pulled back first. Her lips were swollen, her eyes dark, and her breathing as rough as mine.
The entire compound had gone silent.
Axel let out a low whistle.
“Seemed convincing from here,” he said.
“Shut the fuck up.”
Preston gripped the gate. “This is not over.”
I turned toward him while keeping Eloise against me. “Yeah, it is. You come near my woman again, you won’t have to worry about a wedding. Won’t be enough left of you to fit in a suit.”
The deputy ordered Preston to step back.
His lawyer pulled him toward their vehicle, but Preston kept his eyes on Eloise.
“You will come home.”
“No,” she said. “I won’t.”
The Black Thorns man climbed into the SUV and immediately made a call.
By morning, Rafe Maddox would know Eloise Bradford was under Iron Flames protection.
By then, I needed to figure out how the hell I was going to keep pretending.
Eloise said nothing as we returned to my apartment.
I closed the door behind us and watched her walk toward the kitchen. My cut still hung around her shoulders, the hem brushing the backs of her thighs. She touched her fingertips to her mouth.
“That kiss,” she said.
“Yeah.”
“Was it part of the performance?”
I could have lied.
Probably should have.
“Not after the first two seconds.”
She turned.
“Good.”
One word, and my cock went hard.
“Eloise.”
“You told Preston I chose you.”
“You did.”
“Then stop looking at me like you’re waiting for me to change my mind.”
“You’ve been through a lot.”
“I know.”
“Adrenaline can fuck with your head.”
“So can being controlled by every man you’ve ever trusted.” She walked toward me. “Today, I ran from a wedding. I abandoned my family, climbed into a stranger’s truck, got shot at, and learned my father sold me into a deal with a motorcycle club.”
Her hands settled against my chest.
“This is the first decision I’m making because I want it.”
I covered her hands with mine. “You sure?”
“Yes.”
“If you tell me to stop, I stop.”
“I know.”
That trust hit harder than it should have.
She reached for me, but I caught her wrist.
“One thing first.”
“What?”
“My name’s Damian.”
Her eyebrows lifted.
“Damian Jenkins,” I continued. “Diesel’s what the club calls me. If we’re doin’ this, you get the name underneath the patch.”
“Damian,” she repeated.
My control nearly snapped from hearing it in her voice.
She smiled slightly. “Now kiss me.”
I did.
This kiss was rougher than the one at the gate. No audience, no performance, nothing holding me back except the bruises I knew were hidden beneath her clothes.
I backed her against the wall, fisting one hand in her hair while the other gripped her ass. She moaned into my mouth and pushed against the hard length of me.
“Feel what you do to me?” I growled. “Been hard since you climbed into my truck.”
“You were making jokes!”
“Was tryin’ not to drag you across the seat.”
She pulled my shirt over my head. Her hands moved across my chest, tracing the tattoos covering my skin before sliding down my stomach.
I caught the hem of her shirt.
“Can I?”
“Yes.”
I lifted it slowly, giving her time to stop me.
Bruises marked her upper arm and one side of her ribs. My anger surged, hot and violent, but Eloise put her hand against my face.
“Don’t look at him when you’re touching me.”
My gaze returned to hers.
“Only you, princess.”
I dropped to my knees and pulled her jeans and underwear down together. She stepped free, bracing one hand against my shoulder.
“Fuck,” I muttered.
“What?”
“You’re beautiful.”
I hooked her leg over my shoulder and pressed my mouth between her thighs.
Eloise gasped.
Her fingers sank into my hair as I dragged my tongue through her wet folds, tasting her before circling her clit. Her thighs shook almost immediately.
“Damian.”
“Say it again.”
“Damian—fuck.”
I pushed two fingers inside her, curling them as I sucked her clit harder. Her head struck the wall, her hips moving against my mouth.
“That’s it,” I growled. “Use me.”
“I’m going to come.”
“Good. Want it all over my tongue.”
She came with my name breaking from her lips, her body tightening around my fingers while I held her against the wall and worked her through every shudder.
Before she had caught her breath, I stood and lifted her.
Her legs wrapped around my waist. I carried her into the bedroom, laid her across the bed, and stripped off the rest of my clothes.
Her gaze dropped to my cock and stayed there. A curved silver barbell pierced the thick head, catching the light as I moved closer.
Her lips parted. “You’re pierced.”
“Like what you see?”
“I don’t know yet.”
I grinned. “Could let you investigate.”
She reached out and traced one fingertip carefully over the smooth metal. The contact pulled a rough groan from my chest.
“Fuck, princess. Keep touchin’ me like that and this’ll be over before I get inside you.”
Her eyes lifted to mine. “Will I feel it?”
“If I use it right.”
She opened her legs wider. “Then come here and use it right.”
I grabbed a condom from the nightstand and rolled it carefully over the piercing before covering her body with mine.
“Last chance.”
She gripped my ass and pulled me forward.
I pushed inside her.
Slowly at first, giving her body time to take me. Her mouth opened on a breathless moan as I sank deeper.
“Fuck, you’re tight.”
“You’re big.”
“Told you the crown was royal property.”
She laughed, the sound turning into a gasp when I thrust the rest of the way in.
“Still funny?” I asked.
“Not remotely.”
I pulled back and drove into her again.
Her nails scraped down my back. I caught both her wrists and pinned them above her head, watching her face as I fucked her harder.
“There she is,” I murmured. “My runaway bride.”
“Not your bride.”
“My runaway, then.”
“Damian.”
The way she said it wiped every joke from my mind.
I kissed her and released her wrists, sliding one hand between us to circle her clit. Her legs tightened around my waist.
“Come for me again.”
“I can’t.”
“Yeah, you can.”
I drove deeper, rubbing her clit in time with every thrust. She buried her face against my neck, moaning my name until her body clenched around me.
“That’s it. Fuck, squeeze me just like that.”
Her orgasm pulled mine out of me. I buried myself deep and came with a rough groan, my forehead pressed against hers.
For several minutes, neither of us moved. Then I disposed of the condom and pulled her against my chest. Eloise rested her cheek over my heart.
“Hell of a fake relationship,” I said.
She pinched my side.
I laughed and kissed the top of her head.
My phone buzzed on the nightstand.
HAWK: MOVEMENT AT brADFORD SOUTH. TWO TRUCKS JUST WENT IN.
I read the message twice.
“What is it?” Eloise asked.
I looked down at her.
“Wedding deal’s happenin’ without the bride.”