Chapter 11
11
E xcitement bubbled just under the surface as I entered The Tropics for my shift the next night. Even my father was pleased with the way I played Smoke last night, and he didn’t give out praise freely.
I had the next step of our plan all worked out and if my guess was right the big, bad biker would be eating out of my hand. Or at least falling for my scheme to take him and his buddies down.
Only one problem, since I’d gotten here I hadn’t seen Blood or Smoke, although there was a new face who was introduced as extra security after last night’s robbery. I discreetly asked one of the other bartenders where the bosses were but she didn’t have any information either.
The night progressed with the steady flow of regulars and tourists. At one a.m. I took a short break hoping I might see Smoke by the offices or in the back hallway, but no such luck. I did run into Blood coming out of the office with his usual expression set in stone. Some of the other girls had a huge crush on Blood, but I steered clear since he obviously looked out for Smoke and never seemed very friendly. Not an asset to my plan .
I pushed through the back door and collided with Bolt, the new bouncer.
“Ohhh, sorry, hun.” He reached out his thick palm to steady me, then opened the door wider.
“Thank you.”
“Coming out for a smoke break?”
The question threw me for a second. “Ahhh, yes.”
I’d tried smoking on a dare from Manny in my early teens while home on break from Santa Catalina. I inhaled way too much smoke, choked and felt nauseous for the rest of the day. Not a habit or sensation I wanted to revisit.
Bolt pulled out a lighter in an attempt to light my cigarette, and I stared at him blankly. “Ohhhh stupid me, I left my smokes behind the bar.”
“No, problem.” He slipped a pack out of his pocket, knocked one out and offered it to me.
I stuck it between my lips and he touched the lighter to the tip. I drew from my end praying I wouldn’t repeat my one and only smoking experience. I inhaled feeling the burn of the smoke while controlling my urge to cough. On the exhale the smoke miraculously flowed out of my mouth without incident although my head did spin a bit.
“So, how’s your first night going?” Maybe this block of a man could shed some light to where Smoke was tonight.
“Not bad.” Bolt lit his own cigarette, and a huge cloud of smoke billowed around his lips. Obviously more proficient than me. “Much better than busting my ass and sweating my balls off at that fight club.”
“Fight club?” I was familiar with the movie starring Brad Pitt. What female wasn’t, but I had no firsthand information.
“Yeah, I was throwing fists over at a club about fifteen minutes from here. Not bad, but this gig is much better.” Bolt shot a look over his shoulder. “Sandoval don’t believe in giving the fighters any extras.”
I clenched my teeth and schooled my reaction. For a millisecond I thought Bolt guessed my real identity.
“At least here I got a room upstairs with air-conditioning that actually works and I’m not getting my face busted up.”
He grinned and it accentuated every scar on his roughed up face and again I marveled at how people were so different than they appeared. Had I seen this man coming toward me on a dark night I might’ve crossed the street just because of his bulk and appearance. When in reality his voice was soft and his mannerisms were almost gentle for such a large man.
“Smoke gave me a good deal, so don’t you worry. If I see anybody giving you or any of the other girls a hard time, I will bust them the fuck up.”
“Nice.” I returned his smile. “About Smoke, have you seen him tonight?”
“Ahhh, yeah. Him and me were moving some liquor stock, and a bottle of tequila fell and broke all over him. Probably went upstairs to change.”
“I see.” I kept flicking the ash of the cigarette in hopes it would burn down on its own.
“You like working for them?” Bolt asked. “They seem like good guys.”
“Oh, they are.”
Except for the ones who invaded our home and gunned down my mother in cold blood. Scarily, it could’ve even been Smoke who pulled the trigger that hellish day. They all wore black ski masks so I’d never know their true identity, but it really didn’t matter because whoever the individual, it was definitely the Royal Bastards who did the deed.
Bolt crushed the cigarette under his shoe. “I better get back. They’re paying me to keep the bullshit down, not talk to a pretty lady.” Bolt hit me with that grin again, and for a split second I forgot he was probably going to be one of them too.
I smiled and held up the butt of my cigarette. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
The back door closed behind Bolt and I immediately stomped on the offensive cigarette. I sniffed my fingers and wondered why anyone even started such a repulsive habit.
I waited another few minutes, entered the back door, and made a bold decision. I glanced up and down the hallway, then escaped up the stairs leading to the second floor where Smoke had a room.
Time to put the second half of my plan into action. I gazed at the ceiling and said a silent prayer hoping for divine intervention. Although expecting help from a higher power for what I was about to do went against most religious teachings.
At the top of the stairs, I faced a long hallway the length of the building below with doors spaced out along the way. Since the others who lived up here were all downstairs I’d knock on doors until I found Smoke’s room.
I raised my fist, knocked on the wooden door directly in front of me and waited. A second later I heard the shuffling of feet on the other side of the door. Maybe a divine power was on my side after all, unless?—
What if he was entertaining? What if I was faced with a half-dressed woman, or a naked woman? Or a naked Smoke. Shit, where did those thoughts come from?
The door eased open and luckily only Smoke filled the doorway, although he was half dressed. Friend or foe, the man’s chiseled body took my breath away. My unruly gaze fell to his jeans half undone and hanging dangerously low on his narrow hips. He’d developed a tan from the strong Tijuana sun and it only emphasized the definition of his muscular chest and a long scar from his shoulder to his rib cage. Along with the scrolling tats covering his upper body announcing him as a Royal Bastard.
The visual of his outlaw tat jolted me out of my sextasy bringing me all the way back to the real reason I was here.
“Hey.” He seemed genuinely surprised and confused. “Is everything all right?” The concern in his voice jarred me—same as last night.
“Oh, yes.” I lowered my gaze. “I wanted to . . . I mean . . . I just . . .” I raised my eyes and stared directly into his.
Smoke opened the door wider and motioned for me to come in. I jerked my head over my shoulder, then tentatively entered the fully furnished, extremely neat space. The furniture was obviously new, since they’d redone the entire building including the second floor, but the neatness floored me.
Manny had a living space twice this size at the villa and it was strewn with clothes over the floors and dirty cups and glasses throughout. I often felt sorry for our cleaning staff tasked with straightening his rooms. Even my father left things laying around knowing someone would pick up after him.
I’d unfairly clumped all men into the untidy category but clearly Smoke didn’t fit into that box.
He pointed to the leather couch and I perched on the edge of the butter soft cushion, then played with the hem of my booty shorts.
Smoke settled on the chair opposite the couch keeping perfect eye contact with me. Because of his height and the length of his legs when he leaned forward our knees were almost touching.
“What’s up, you look rattled.”
“I was just working tonight and I got a little shaky. I started worrying about what happened last night, and that it might happen again tonight.”
“And you came looking for me?”
“Not really. I mean, I told Gina I was taking a break, so I went outside for some air, but it really didn’t help. Then I realized I never really thanked you properly last night so I asked Bolt and he told me you were up here.”
Smoke’s lips quirked up at my rambling. Perfect.
He jerked his chin at the t-shirt dangling from his fingertips. The one I hadn’t noticed while I was ogling his pecs. “Dropped a bottle of tequila in the storeroom and it smashed all over me. If you’d come two minutes later you would’ve caught me without my jeans.” He smiled full out and my ridiculous heart thudded against my ribs.
“Lucky me, or unlucky me.” I awkwardly cast my gaze to the polished wood flooring.
“I’m just happy you didn’t get hurt last night cause of that bullshit.”
“I assume the new guy you hired was because of what happened.”
“Exactly. I also have a pretty good idea who set it in motion and I’m taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Really. Could it be other club owners on the street who are jealous of your success and don’t like you stealing all their business?”
“Could be, although I doubt it.” He laid his large palm on my bare knee. “But like I said, you got nothing to worry about so you don’t have to be afraid.”
“I appreciate you saying that because I really like working here.” I drew in a deep breath to stretch the thin material of my tank top lower.
Right on cue, Smoke’s eyes zeroed in on my hard nipples poking through the flimsy material. He lingered, and then, like he caught himself, he jerked his gaze away and stood.
I stood with him and now our bodies were only inches apart. The air in the room seemed to evaporate. Sucking out all the oxygen. Now or never .
“This is so interesting.” I pointed to the tat on his bare chest then traced the evil Royal Bastard insignia with my fingertip. “Tell me what it means.”
His breathing caught and his heart skipped under my touch. “I don’t think you really wanna know.” He covered his hand over mine.
His heart beat faster, and the warmth of his skin sent jolts of electricity down my spine.
“Oh, but I do.”
He grabbed my other hand and placed both of them on his shoulders. Then he palmed my ass and hauled me to his taut body. I gazed up at him willing him to succumb, willing him to kiss me.
The gentle touch of his lips surprised me. We stayed connected for a few minutes then he shifted increasing the pressure and separating my lips with his tongue. Just like last night I marveled at his sensual moves. I’d expected and prepared myself for forced aggression, but instead he took his time and my body melted into him.
His hand snuck between us and he palmed my needy breasts, then freed them from my tank top, tweaking and rolling my nipples between his fingertips. I moaned into his mouth pushing my body closer to him. The skin of his bare chest burned and pressed against my exposed breasts.
My insides flamed as my core pulsed. Without warning my hips ground into his and he cupped my ass harder, then effortlessly lifted me until my legs were wrapped around his waist.
He broke away from the kiss. “I think you know where this is going,” he mumbled against my lips then dove in capturing me in another searing kiss.
Was he asking permission? Another trait I didn’t expect from an outlaw biker.
“Yes.” I huffed out the single word between pants and gasps. His and mine .
In a few large steps we were at the foot of his bed, and in another second he dropped me onto the center of it as he ripped at the zipper of his jeans. I stared up into his hooded eyes and full lips. What a shame such a beautiful man was wasted on a devil biker.
“You probably also know we shouldn’t be doin’ this.” He pushed his jeans to the floor and my eyes widened. The man was huge—like XL huge. He crawled up the bed until he was hovering over me. “I think we knew from the first night in my office this would happen.”
“Absolutely. I hoped it would happen that first night.”
Truth, I had gone to bed that night fantasizing about him taking me on top of his desk.
“Fuck, babe.” His middle finger and thumb found my clit. “Do you know how many times I dreamt of bending you over my desk? Fuckin’ you from behind while I got a full view of your perfect ass became my number one fantasy.”
“Well, let’s save something for later.” I grinned around my words, then arched my back for him.
He withdrew his fingers and licked them. “Hmmmm, I knew your cream would be sweet.”
“I have a feeling your buddy, Blood, wouldn’t approve.” I had to know exactly where the chain of command fell between these two men.
“Fuck, him. I’m a grown ass man, plus I’m his prez, so if he don’t like it too fuckin’ bad.” He nudged me over onto my stomach, wrapped his arm around my waist and hoisted me to my knees. “I can’t wait. I gotta see that perfect ass of yours right the fuck now.”
He slid his hard, amazing large cock between my ass cheeks and I bucked against him loving the pressure. He grabbed my hips holding me tight to him, every thrust igniting my clit, teasing me to the point of no return. Almost there, but not quite .
Sweet torture, but I forced myself to stay in the moment. He hadn’t opened a condom yet and the last thing I needed was a pregnancy with the devil’s bastard. Wouldn’t that be a perfect irony? Having a baby with the man responsible for my mother’s death.