23. Kevlar
Kevlar
As though Kevlar’s bike had a mind of its own, it ate up the pavement and went where it wanted to go. He shouldn’t even be driving, but damn, those Dixie fucks had some fine tequila. The booze hit him fast and hard. Now, he risked laying his bike down to go where he shouldn’t.
If there ever was a case for calling him a goddamn idiot, this was it.
Somehow, he managed not to draw attention to himself and got to the apartment complex in one piece. He’d arrived just in time to see Kelsey exiting her car.
She jumped, hand on her chest, turning toward him the moment he pulled in. The rumble of his bike must’ve startled her. That was the thing about a Harley-Davidson, it was loud as hell. He couldn’t surprise anyone with a loud-as-fuck engine between his legs.
Since his arrival wasn’t a secret, there seemed no reason to hide, so Kevlar pulled into the space beside her and cut the engine.
“Jesus Christ,” she hissed as she approached him. “I thought you were Pete.”
“Who the hell is Pete?” Kevlar snarled.
If some other asshole showed up, he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t put a bullet in him.
She waved a hand and rolled her eyes. “That biker asshole who can’t keep his hands to himself.”
His eye twitched, and he flung his leg over to get off his bike. Now standing, he closed the minimal distance between them. “Did he touch you?”
Kevlar had thought he’d made it clear to Yogi. Kelsey was off-limits.
She blinked wildly.
He didn’t see fear in her beautiful ocean-blue eyes. Though there was a hint of hesitation. He didn’t like her looking at him like that. Anyone else? Sure, but not Kelsey. Not his Kitten.
“A little,” she whispered.
He furrowed his brows. “A little?” he repeated. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Ire pulsed through him, tightening his muscles, making the veins on his arms protrude. Curling his fingers into fists, he ground his teeth and stepped away from her, desperate for something to punch.
She was not an acceptable target. Neither was her car nor the brick walls of the apartment building. Still, the urge to pummel something surged through him. No one could hurt her. Not even Kevlar. The fact that anyone had the nerve to lay a finger on her had him enraged.
What he wouldn’t give to know where the Scorpions were hiding. He’d head over there now and burn that shit to the ground. End the war before it even started.
Stopping his angry pacing, he glanced in Kelsey’s direction.
She stood watching him, chewing on her long acrylic thumbnail.
This had to stop happening. He couldn’t be around her all the time. He had shit to do, but tolerating Yogi near her wasn’t an option either. There had to be a solution to this while he built his club, gained numbers, and could take out the trash.
Charging toward her a bit too emphatically, he thrust his open palm at her. “Give me your phone.”
She stared at his hand as though she’d never seen one before. “Why?” He wiggled his fingers. Kevlar wasn’t accustomed to people questioning his orders. “You need to tell me when that cum stain is near you.”
Tightening her lips into a thin line, she hesitated.
Fuck him sideways. Kevlar hated that expression on her face. Hadn’t he proved himself to her twice over? Why didn’t she trust him?
Maybe because he looked like an insane murderer. He couldn’t help it. The Bloody Scorpions weren’t only sticking their noses into his territory; they were now trying to stick their dicks where they didn’t belong. Kevlar would allow that over his dead body. Yogi and all his cohorts were not welcome.
Kevlar’s mission was to make sure they knew that.
Slowly, she opened her purse, pulled out her cell, and tapped the screen. Once unlocked, she handed it over to him.
He nodded in an attempt at reassurance while typing his personal cell into the device. “I don’t care if you simply smell him nearby, call me.”
She stepped closer to him when he offered her cell back. “Why?”
He cocked his head to the side.
Fair question. They were practically strangers. Fucking each other once wasn’t a commitment. Why had he invested such an interest in Kelsey?
He scanned her impeccable features for the answer, and his dick twitched.
He reached for her, cupping her jaw, his thumb grazing her cheek, and his fingers resting beneath her ear.
As he got closer to her, she tilted her head upward, toward him, and the scent of her delicate floral perfume filled his nostrils.
She was heaven.
“Because, Kitten,” he murmured, lowering his lips to hers. “No one touches what’s mine.”
Before she could rebut him, he crushed his mouth to hers. His hand slid to the back of her head and tangled in her soft curls.
She didn’t resist. There was no struggle. Kelsey melted against him. Her plush body molded to his as her hands skimmed along his waist.
Fireworks popped along his skin from her touch. He swallowed her moan as she kissed him back with equal passion and clung to him as if he was some sort of savior.
Kevlar was anything but a good man. For Kelsey, he’d do what was right.