Sapphire's Dangerous Sin

1. Sapphire

SAPPHIRE

Crunch! I throw the punch as hard as I can. The chick’s nose breaks with a loud pop, blood spurting everywhere. She immediately drops her guard, hands flying up, and she screams. My grin widens. “What did you think? I was just gonna high-tail it and run?” I mock.

“You’re gonna pay for that!” she screeches.

Her old man comes in behind her, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

Okay, that’s a complication. I’m not stupid enough to think I can take him because he’s one hefty motherfucker, but I do know where a dude’s weak spots are.

As he charges for me, I lift my knee and swing it into his balls. He drops like a sack of spuds.

“Holy fucking shit!” he yells, grabbing his junk as the people around us in the bar cheer.

I don’t even have time to celebrate my win when I hear a deep voice behind me. “Sapphire?”

I turn and stare into the chest of fucking Sin.

Sin is the Sergeant at Arms for the Backroad Bandits, and my brother Reaper’s best friend.

I know it’s him because a: I’d recognize that voice anywhere, and b: I’m at eye-level with his patch.

I’m visiting Reaper but because I refuse to stay at their clubhouse, I rented a room in the pub above. But I can’t say the standards here are much better.

Sin stands at six-five, a mountain of a man; his huge chest defies logic, along with biceps that shouldn’t be legal. He has dark hair and a beard, but he keeps it trimmed. Sin also has the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen. Pretty. Too pretty for a biker.

“Sin.” I roll my eyes purposefully. “No doubt I’d find you in this cozy little bar. I hear the whores are real cheap here, which is certainly up your alley, right?”

We have a love-hate thing going on and have for years. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and I can’t say our bickering has gotten any better with age.

He gives me an aggrieved look, his patience clearly wearing thin. “We need to get outta here. Now.”

“Why?” I thumb behind me by way of explanation.

“I think those two are gonna be going to the emergency room. Take it from me; that was a pretty hard knee to the nads, and her nose may need reconstruction. By the looks of it, I did her a favor.” I glance over my shoulder, then holler behind me to the man moaning in pain. “Hope you didn’t wanna have kids, bud!”

Sin grabs my arm—something I don’t appreciate—and yanks me toward him. Dragging me through the crowd, he doesn’t stop till we get to the double doors.

“What the fuck?” he demands when we’re outside, heading around the corner where his motorcycle is parked.

I shove him off me. “Long time no see, sweetie.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Reap know you’re here?”

“Of course, I left my motorcycle in the lot at the clubhouse because he’s fixing the pipes.”

He folds his arms over his massive chest. “So, why are you here in this sleazy bar?”

“I’m staying here, if you must know. What? Is a woman not allowed to drink by herself without the Spanish Inquisition?” I huff.

I don’t miss the way his gaze skates down my body, or the way I get a cheap thrill when he does it. I may dislike him a lot, but that doesn’t mean I’m immune to him.

“My eyes are up here,” I remind him when his assessment falls to my breasts, and he doesn’t answer me.

They deliberately linger, then his gaze slowly lifts. “You wear that tank top and you think nobody will notice your tits, honey?”

“No. I like people looking, just not you.”

“Clearly, you don’t know who they were,” he mutters, leaning back on his motorcycle, his palms pressed against the leather seat.

“Shock me.”

“Scumbags who know other scumbags—we’d better not linger. There will be more of them lurking.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you. I have a room upstairs.”

“Not now you don’t.”

“I’m not going,” I reiterate, my hands on my hips. It’s not like he can make me.

“You have no choice, Saph. I can’t ensure your safety if you stay here.”

“You don’t need to. I’m a big girl.”

“We’re not gonna fight bout this,” he grunts. “You’re in my territory now. Plus, Reap will kill me if he finds out I left you here.”

Silence falls between us.

The man talks sense, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to just jump on the back of his motorcycle just because he told me to.

“Sin, I don’t have to do anything. I’m a grown-ass woman and?—”

“There she is!” a voice booms behind us. Suddenly, the giant is back, still cupping his balls as he points at us, a couple of angry-looking dudes beside him. One has a fucking baseball bat.

“Shit,” Sin mutters, pushing off the bike. He moves so fast; in all of two seconds he’s hopped on his Harley, and the beast roars to life, deafening the voices. “Time to go. Sapphire, jump on. Now!”

I’m no dummy. I grab his shoulder for support and swing my leg over as he maneuvers a screeching U-turn with ease and takes off down the alleyway. I turn, giving them all the middle finger as we fly into the night.

“Fucking troublemaker,” he says loudly over the engine so I can hear him. “Hold on. Don’t need you fuckin’ fallin’ off.”

He acts like I don’t have a motorcycle of my own. Asshole.

I tap him on the shoulder when we hit the highway, and out of harm’s way.

“My stuff,” I protest.

“I’ll send a prospect,” he tells me.

Luckily, I didn’t unpack, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for them.

The last thing I expected was to be wrapped against Sin tonight, not that my arms reach fully around him because he’s so massive, but I’m also not complaining. While we may have had a heated rivalry over the years, we’ve never boned.

The girls rib me about him all the time. I deny it, but heck, I wouldn’t mind fucking him once, just to see if he’s any good. I don’t mind admitting I’ve fantasized about his cock on more than one occasion.

His body is solid and warm. His scent—musky and masculine, mixed with oil and grease—sending my pussy into overdrive. I admit this man does it for me on some carnal level that I don’t fully understand. An unhealthy level.

The fact I have my thighs squeezed around his hips only heightens the discomfort brewing between my legs, especially with the thrum of the straight pipes rattling my core.

Sin rides the motorcycle with ease, and I feel safe on the back of it. He turns slightly, looking over his shoulder, and I swear to God I hear him growl something. Probably cussing me out, nothing new.

When we get to the clubhouse, the prospect immediately opens the gates, and we roll in.

After parking in the shadows, Sin kicks the stand down and turns the engine off. We sit there in silence for a few moments.

“You good?” I ask when he doesn’t move. “Did those little boys in the alleyway scare you, Alexander?”

I know he’s trying to compose himself, but he didn’t need to step in. I was perfectly fine.

I’m a goddamn Enforcer. Okay, I’m not a dude, but I just took one down. What more do I have to prove?

Sin’s spine straightens. I’m one of the few who know his real name, and I use it from time to time to taunt him. Not that there’s anything wrong with the name Alexander; I think it suits him. But knowing it irks him gives me a sick sense of pleasure.

“The fuck you say, woman?”

Oops. I’ve poked the bear. Oh, well.

I slide my leg over the seat and dismount. Still straddling the motorcycle, like the big hulk he is, he turns to glare at me. “Could’ve caused a damn riot back there, you’re not invincible, Saph, you know that, right?”

Okay, he’s annoying me now. “Someone has their panties in a twist. What’s wrong, pretty boy, did I spoil your fun? Or are you just turned on because you’d like a kick in the nuts, too?”

His eyes seem to darken, but it could just be me. I step back when he rises slowly, then jumps off the Harley. He shouldn’t be as light on his feet for a big guy, but he’s fucking stealthy. Sin is a trained boxer, someone who knows how to fight, and he fights dirty.

“Don’t test me, woman.”

“Or what?” I challenge. “I didn’t ask you to rescue me.”

“You know what you are? An ungrateful little brat.”

“Now, now, Alex, there’s no need to name call?—”

He steps closer. “You’ve been in town all of two seconds, and you’re already testing my patience, Saph. Enough already.”

I think his glare is supposed to frighten me. Unlucky for him, it doesn’t.

“No thanks to you, I’ve left my two-hundred-dollar moisturizer back in the room and the matching serum, plus my clothes, earplugs, headphones, and my favorite pajamas.”

With his eyes still on mine, he slides the phone out of his back pocket, then he punches one fat finger onto the screen, and it lights up.

“Skunk? Yeah, it’s me,” he grunts. “Need you to go to the Iron Stone tonight to grab Sapphire’s shit from one of the rooms upstairs.

I’ll leave the key with Squirrel at the gate.

Bring it all back to the clubhouse intact.

In fact, take Screwdriver with you, just in case you have a problem.

Get in and out, got me? Don’t dawdle, don’t talk to anyone.

” He waits a second, then hangs up. To me, he says, “Happy now?”

Skunk. Squirrel. Screwdriver? These men are hilarious.

“Ecstatic, though I wasted fifty bucks on that dive of a room.”

“Who spends two hundred dollars on fucking face cream?” he sputters.

“Someone who looks like me.”

I’m no stunner by any means, but I do okay. I’m blonde, have clear skin when I actually use that moisturizer and the night serum, plus my eyes are literally the color of sapphires. Some people think I wear contacts, but I never have.

He grunts, “Inside.”

“Are you just going to bark orders at me all night?”

“No, I’m going to get you through the fucking doors so you can tell me what happened back there.” He holds out his hand. “Room key.”

The Iron Stone doesn’t have fancy cards like nice hotels. It has a big brick of a keyring that doesn’t even fit in my purse. Nevertheless, I fish it out and drop it into his palm. “My skincare routine thanks you.”

A few moments later, Squirrel jogs up from the gate, and Sin tosses the key to him.

When the prospect’s gone, Sin points in my face. “You owe me.”

“I don’t owe you shit.”

He shakes his head. “Get in there before you do any more damage.”

This night totally fucking blows.