Chapter 8
NOELLE
What had I done?
I shifted on the mattress, easing my feet slightly away from the warm legs pressed against mine.
My body ached with the deliciousness of being pleasured beyond what I thought possible.
I’d done things and had things done to me that defied logic and turned my brain to mush.
The comfortable bed—and the arms draped across my stomach—held me in a state of sleepy satisfaction.
I closed my eyes, only for them to fly open again.
Shit.
Hours of sex and I’d completely forgotten about my meeting with Craig.
Not that I’d been looking forward to it.
In fact, I dreaded it so much, I’d rather eat scoops of snow off the asphalt after the snow plows had churned it up than talk to the misogynistic asshole of a detective.
Of all the people for Captain Delaney to have me report to, Craig was the worst.
The sleepy satisfaction turned to exhaustion as the meeting loomed over me.
I sank deeper into the cozy haven Rafe, Ash, and Bishop created around me and tried to ignore my responsibilities.
Ash lay in front of me, his blond hair rumpled from my hands and what little sleep he’d managed.
They were all asleep, their soft breaths loosening the knots in my stomach.
Rafe moved his leg behind me, his toes running up the back of my calf and then to my knee. “Are you all right?”
The deep, husky notes of sleep softened his gruffness.
“I’m not sure how to answer that.” I gave him the truth since it was one of the few times I could. “Last night and this morning were incredible.”
We’d moved from the pool table to one of the bedrooms sometime in the middle of our fun times.
I raised my head and took in our surroundings.
Dark paneled walls and a large four-poster bed took up most of the space.
Everything else muddled into shades of brown as Bishop rolled over and turned on a small lamp on the bedside table.
The light cut across his face, highlighting the crags and smoothing out the hollows of his cheeks.
I eased around Rafe and stood.
“Where are you going?” Ash sat up with a yawn and scrubbed both hands down his face.
Bishop cracked his neck by shifting his head from side to side. “She’s a grown woman, Ash. She doesn’t need a babysitter.”
“Thank you, Bishop.” All my clothes were still out in the clubhouse.
I almost grabbed the comforter from the bed to wrap around my body, ready to slip away into the hidden part of invisibility I preferred.
The role I’d been forced to play shifted last night, and I didn’t know if I’d ever find that middle ground again.
If the other detectives found out what I’d done, I’d never earn any respect.
Was that even possible considering how they already felt about me?
Bishop stood when Ash poked him in the ribs.
He stretched both arms over his head.
The move put his beautiful body on full display.
The taut lines of his abdomen lengthened, the scars on his arm standing out against the warm light.
He caught me staring and winked. “But if you ever want to be looked over, I’m right here.”
Bishop, Rafe, and Ash showed me what it was like to be desired.
Even as I took a step away from the bed, I felt their eyes on me.
Their desire thickened the air in the room, squeezing my lungs and tempting me to crawl back into bed to start all over again.
Instead, I headed toward the door. “I’m going to get my clothes.”
“I’ll help.” Ash rolled to his feet with far too much grace for the early morning.
His smile beamed, and he flicked his tongue against his teeth.
He did that a lot when he didn’t have anything in his mouth.
I’d come to realize just how deep his oral fixation went last night.
He couldn’t keep his mouth off me.
Heat lingered in my belly and threatened to carry me into that land of oblivion where all that mattered was the magic the four of us created together.
I opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
“I’m fine.” I tried not to think about them watching me walk away and kept my head high.
The front windowpanes rattled when I reached the front room.
Snow pelted the glass the same as it had since it first started snowing.
Drifts had built up along the lower edge of the window, and the entire world outside blurred in shades of white.
The lights we’d left on last night flickered and went out.
I shivered and buffed my arms.
“Here.” Ash draped a blanket over my shoulders. “I would have brought your clothes to you.”
Light bloomed over the pool table as the electricity surged.
The hum of electricity raised the hair on my arms.
Or maybe it was the way Ash looked at me like I was something worth treasuring, someone worth loving.
No.
That was impossible.
They would never love me.
I didn’t want them to.
I was a detective determined to make my mark on the world.
The motorcycle gang they operated created a conflict of interest between our two worlds.
It was better for everyone if I remembered my job and why I’d come here in the first place.
Ash rubbed my shoulders. “Noelle? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.” I cleared my throat and bent to pick up my shirt and bra.
Our clothes were scattered across the entire room in a vivid display of last night’s activities.
Ash made his way toward the pool tables, gathering his and the other men’s clothes as he walked.
“Looks pretty rough out there.” He nodded toward the windows.
“Yeah.” I sighed and pulled my leggings from beneath the table where we’d played poker. “Too bad. I needed to go to town today.”
“Why?” Ash’s long legs ate up the distance, and his naked body threatened to distract me from my mission.
I didn’t have an excuse ready.
I’d tried to come up with something believable, but everything blurred after last night.
The blanket slid off one shoulder, and I dragged it back up, grasping it beneath my chin to ward off the chill.
“I can think of a lot of things more fun than driving in that.” Rafe appeared from the hallway.
He strolled to the bar and poured a drink.
Bishop walked in next, gave me a lingering look, and grabbed his clothes from Ash.
He didn’t bother putting them on, and the sight of all three of them strolling around casually naked made my pulse race.
Rafe handed Bishop a glass full of amber liquid, and he tossed it back in a single gulp.
“We can keep you occupied until the storm blows over.” His smirk did funny things to my stomach, causing it to flip in a constant loop.
We hadn’t discussed what happened afterward, but apparently, they were not done with me yet.
I held my clothes to my chest. “I didn’t think you’d want me to stay here. I’m just a reporter.”
I almost tripped over the title, and Ash stared hard at me.
He’d been suspicious from the beginning, and if I didn’t watch it, he’d figure out the truth.
“I need to use the bathroom.” What I needed was my phone, and I’d stashed it with my purse in the small bathroom on the other side of the room.
I hurried that way, closed the door behind me, and grabbed my purse from the tiny closet.
There was no way they’d let me leave without a reasonable explanation.
I had no choice.
Standing in the middle of the bathroom, I typed out a text to Craig telling him it wasn’t safe and I couldn’t make it to our meeting.
The bathroom door opened and Ash stuck his head in. “Hey.” His eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”
“Messaging a friend.” I cringed internally at the lie. “I was supposed to meet them for coffee this morning, but…” I gestured toward the door and the snow-filled windows behind him. “You know, you made such a compelling reason to stay.”
His lips quirked in a hint of a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
He snapped a hand forward. “A friend, huh? Anyone we should know about? Boyfriend?”
Damn it.
Had he seen Craig’s name on the screen?
I leaped backward, hugging the phone to my chest. “Pretty sure that one night with you doesn’t give you the right to go through my phone.”
Too much.
Too harsh.
I risked making him even more suspicious.
Sell the lie.
I lowered my arms and dropped my phone into the pile of clothes I’d left on the floor. “It takes at least two nights for that right.”
“Yeah?” Ash looked me over, then dropped his gaze to my phone. Indecision flickered in his eyes.
I pressed my hands to his chest and stood on my tiptoes.
My nipples hardened when they touched him. “You offered to distract me from the storm.” I kissed him while pushing him backward.
He spun me around and held my back to his chest while walking us into the main room where Rafe and Bishop sat at the bar.
His hand wrapped around my throat, and he skimmed his hand over the pulse point. “Your heart is racing.”
“I guess that means you’re doing your job of keeping me occupied.” I rubbed my ass back and forth over his cock, which had grown erect.
He groaned in my ear and slid his cock between my legs. “You’re playing a dangerous game, tempting me like this.”
“Oh?” My voice squeaked, but I refused to back down.
I knew what they were capable of.
They’d proven that last night.
I turned in his arms. “You know what you’re tempting me with?”
I wrapped a hand around his cock. I’d never found the skill to be brazen in the bedroom—or out of it—but last night changed everything.
“What’s going on?” Rafe’s question worked through me.
God, I loved the depth of his voice, the rich timbre that rattled my bones and made me want to melt all at the same time.
I grinned up at Ash. “You all promised to keep me distracted. I’m taking you up on the offer.”
I stroked Ash’s cock again and brought his head down for a kiss.
He dragged me against him with a growl and walked me backward toward Rafe and Bishop.
I slammed into Bishop’s chest, instantly recognizing it from the breadth of it and the heat that enveloped me.
He was so warm.
So big and warm and quiet.
When he spoke, it was pure poetry.
“A distraction, huh? I can do more than that.” Bishop held my hips with both hands and brought my ass backward.
I couldn’t wait to have them inside me.
The foreplay was incredible, and I looked forward to every touch.
Guilt closed my throat and gave me a moment of doubt.
Sex might not mean anything to them, but I’d always tried to make it meaningful.
Until last night.
Last night, and today, I’d let it be a distraction to maintain my cover.