Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
SILAS
I gritted my teeth as I strained at the wrench with all my might, the bolt refusing to give as I worked at the old beat-up Ford that had been brought in for restoration.
“Motherfucking piece of shit.” I grumbled it beneath my breath as I fought for a cool that had evaporated like steamy mist. All thanks to one fiery brunette who had proven fatal to my sanity.
The bay doors were rolled open, and sticky, late-afternoon heat saturated the air.
Sweat slicking down my neck and back.
But it was the fire inside that was about to consume me after another illicit interaction with Brinley this morning. Unable to fucking help myself.
Irritation bubbled in my guts as I put all my energy into getting the rusted bolt loose, my insides a stir of mayhem that promised I was one minute from snapping.
I leaned my full weight into it.
The wrench slipped off the bolt.
Of course it did.
And, of course, it sent my knuckles bashing into the undercarriage of the car.
“Ah, fuck!” I shouted as I dropped the wrench. Metal clattered to the cement floor, and I grabbed my wrist and flapped my injured hand all over the place.
Dancing around like an idiot as I swore a hundred curses under my breath.
All of them directed at myself.
It was my fault, asking for this. Inviting more trouble than I already had onto my property.
Forty-eight hours and I’d already allowed myself to get fucked in the head by the woman in the office who had somehow managed to wedge herself right under my skin.
She might as well have taken a blade to it and carved me open wide.
My guts in fuckin’ knots and my mind devolving into the indecency I kept threatening her with.
Couldn’t believe I let those words fall from my mouth.
All but confessing every depraved way I wanted to tear her apart when she was the last woman on earth I could get dirty with.
Hate sex was my favorite, which I rarely had the privilege of, considering the patch bunnies were all too eager to get on their knees or on top of my dick.
Every single one of them had the unfortunate delusion that one day it was going to land them the coveted spot on the back of my bike.
It was never going to happen, but it didn’t stop them from trying.
I didn’t fault them for it.
Didn’t judge them for it.
We all had our needs and desires.
But I also never led them to believe there would be a different result.
“Someone is awful surly today.” Trevan drew it out with that low amusement that told me he thought he had me pegged from where he stood beneath a late-model BMW that was hoisted on a lift.
Problem was, the asshole always did.
“Just fucking peachy,” I rumbled, giving another shake to my hand, fisting it once to make sure nothing was broken.
He laughed, pushing on like I’d responded in the affirmative. “Wouldn’t have anything to do with the fiery brunette who’s been glaring daggers at you through the window the whole day, would it?”
“She’s never even crossed my mind.”
What bullshit.
She was the only thing I could think about. Wondering exactly how I was supposed to keep her safe when she had hazard stamped all over her.
Far too eager to put her nose where it didn’t belong.
Knew she wasn’t about to settle for the vague warnings I’d given her, and I figured it was no less than a miracle that she hadn’t tried to escape again in the middle of the night.
“Well, she sure crossed mine.” Dice rocked his hips. Kid cracking up like he thought the shit was funny.
Dice was a prospect who wasn’t older than eighteen. Trevan had found him begging for a dime on the streets and had dragged him back here to give him a chance at becoming one of us.
He was kind of clueless and a whole lot reckless, but he had goodness woven in there somewhere, too.
Still, I was grating low, “You want to die today?” as I strolled for the wall of tools, deciding I was going to have to cut off the bolt. “Already warned you she is off-limits. Looking at her included.”
I should take my own damned advice considering every time I glanced her way, a bolt of lightning shot straight to my dick.
Phoenix, my sergeant at arms, stood and wiped his hands on a rag. My enforcer was a wall of muscle. Even in the light of day, covered in gloom and shade. Black hair and eyes that were somehow a fraction darker.
A canvas of tattoos covered his light skin.
A demon who wasn’t so much in disguise.
“Told you this whole thing was a mistake,” he said, the back of his left hand flashing the tattoo with the crow in full flight, a skull dangling from its talons.
Every patched-in Crow had the same one. A permanent badge of the oath they had made.
At the accusation, unease skimmed the already tense air.
Phoenix voted no on bringing Brinley here. Had warned it was bound to make things uglier than they already were.
Complicate the complex.
Sure after everything went down, we were going to have to bring Dereck to his end and the lines would get skewed.
Protectiveness swilled through my senses. A whirring of foreboding and dry heat.
“She’s getting us closer to where we need to be.” I rumbled it like a warning.
He scoffed and raked his teeth over his bottom lip. “Seems like she’s nothing but a distraction to me.”
It was his own warning.
“A distraction she is. Pretty sure every damned jaw dropped to the ground when she came waltzing up to the bonfire last night.” Wasn’t sure why Trevan found it in himself to stir the pot.
Possession fisted my chest.
Fuck.
I did not like the feeling.
Trevan grinned at me, all teeth. “Mainly, you.”
“Ah, someone finally caught Prez’s eye.” Dice was rocking his hips again, the little punk.
“She’s off-limits, and I fuckin’ mean it. And that extends to every single one of us.” The growl bisected the suffocating air.
“What she is, is collateral.” Phoenix stamped it like a reminder.
I loved the guy, but I wanted to drive a chisel through his eye. Problem was, the fucker would probably like it.
The door to the shop suddenly whipped open.
And there she was in that motherfucking dress.
The lace kissed up high on her toned thighs, all that leg bare, emphasized by those mile-high heels.
Wild curls accentuated the venom on her face.
She crossed her arms over her chest and the only thing the action did was draw attention to her tits.
This riot of a woman standing there glowering at me like I was responsible for the conflict she was in.
“Since you told me I need an escort wherever I go, I need a ride into town to pick up a few things.” Her voice was throaty and sultry and honed to a point meant to cut right through me.
All too eager, Dice let the metal grinder he was holding clatter to the worktop. “At your service, ma’am.”
“Not a fucking chance.” Didn’t mean for it to whip out like a snarl, but there it was.
Trevan chuckled as he turned back to his bike, mumbling, “That’s what I thought.”
A grunt of disapproval rolled out of Phoenix.
“Oh yeah.” Dice rocked his hips again.
Doubted the kid would try it if he knew what I was really about.
“You want your ass permanently kicked from the property, keep it up,” I warned.
The exuberance on his face melted into humiliation. “Sorry, Prez. Just messing around.”
“This shit isn’t a joke. Now get back to work. All of you.”
I turned my attention to Brinley who looked like maybe she was second-guessing her request with the animosity that clogged the atmosphere.
No question about it when I angled my head in the direction of my bike that rested like a vicious chariot in front of the far bay. “Let’s go.”
Shock blustered out of Trevan.
Yeah, it blustered out of me, too.
What the fuck was I thinking?
I shot him daggers.
I didn’t need any more of his bullshit. Not when I was clearly spiraling.
Brinley huffed out in disbelief and gestured at herself. “Do I look like I’m dressed to ride on a motorcycle?”
Yeah.
She definitely did.
That and my cock.
I angled my head. “You want a ride or not?”
Agitation bristled around her.
A hurricane gathering strength.
Then she basically stomped one of those heels and seethed, “Fine.”
I peeled myself out of my coveralls then slung into my cut.
I rarely went out without wearing it. Every asshole in this town needed to know who I was and what I represented, though they never got the full inside of what that meant.
I strode for my bike.
Brinley hesitated in the doorway before she finally came scrambling to catch up.
Far too talented on those heels.
“Where are we going?” I asked, tossing a look over my shoulder.
Shouldn’t have since the sight of her nearly made me stumble.
“The store.” The roll of her eyes was so exaggerated it was a wonder they didn’t get stuck in the back of her head.
“What, you didn’t have everything you needed packed in those bags?”
“Since no one had the decency to tell me how long I was going to be here, I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to need.” She was all sass and fire.
I casually strolled toward my bike while blood surged through my veins. “Seemed to me you brought enough for five weeks.”
She’d already pulled three outfits out of those bags that were enough to bring me to my knees. What more could she need?
“Oh, I forgot my vibrator.” It was a blatant taunt, and I whirled on her, getting smacked in the face by that lust-inducing scent.
What I would give to dive in and take a long, gulping drink.
A fucking masochist, I inclined her way, voice a low scrape near her ear. “You say the word, and you don’t need one.”
She floundered for one beat before she edged back and hitched a saucy grin. “Good idea. That Phoenix guy is pretty cute.”
Possession prowled around in my chest.
And did she call Phoenix cute?
Dude looked like the reaper.
“Not gonna happen.” The words were nothing but splinters and shards.
She strode forward and brushed her fingers over my chest, murmuring what amounted to a threat. “That’s right. Not with anyone.”
She kept moving for my bike.
Her ass swayed back and forth in that skirt.
Leaving a trail of fire in her wake.
Air hefted from my lungs, and I forced myself to move, catching up to her and moving to my Harley.
I looked down at the matte-black metal that was basically my throne.
The helm from where I ruled.
I never allowed anyone to ride on it with me, save for the couple of times it’d been necessary for Elena to hop on and, of course, I’d taken Kai out for a spin or two since the kid was obsessed with motorcycles. Never going more than five miles an hour around the property.
Other than that?
Never.
It sent all the wrong messages, and the last thing I needed was that kind of drama in my life.
Trevan warned I was breaking every one of my rules by bringing Brinley here.
I figured what the hell was another.