15. Melody
MELODY
God, I thought Shadow was going to kill me right there at the table. Bikers don’t screw around when it comes to protecting their own, that’s for sure.
Mad Dog lives on the second floor of a huge housing extension off the back of the warehouse.
I don’t know how many guys live here, but it’s like walking through a hotel, room after room marked with names instead of numbers.
Apparently the houses are mostly reserved for the families, and the single guys live either in these rooms or across the street where they own the building and have apartments.
“Is it safe to come out?” I ask through a crack in the door, a towel wrapped tightly around my chest. In spite of everything, Mad Dog still feels safe, but I’m not interested in giving anyone else a show. I already feel like I’ve been stripped down and examined enough for one day.
His room is basically a studio apartment.
Small bathroom, kitchenette on one wall.
There’s a bed pushed to one side, a sitting area with a couch, and some basic furniture.
Some photos are tacked to the wall, and an odd frame with a bullet in it.
Otherwise, it’s very much a guy’s room, all function, no form, but it’s clean and the bed is made.
“Just me out here. If you think that’s safe, then yes.”
I push the door open. The cool air outside the hot bathroom raises goosebumps on my arms. “Rebel’s not back yet?”
“No, he has a couple stops to make first.” Mad Dog hands me a T-shirt and a pair of boxers that I’ll probably have to roll up at least a few times so they don’t slide right off. “Here. This’ll keep you covered for the moment.”
As expected, the clothes are way too big, but he’s right. It’ll work for now, even if the T-shirt hangs almost to my knees. I carry my dirty clothes out of the bathroom. “What should I do with these?”
“Do I look like your maid?” He grins but takes the pile from me. “I’ll toss it in with my stuff later and get it back to you.”
“Don’t worry, even if you wash my socks I’ll still remember you’re one of the guys who might kill my dad.” I say it as a joke, but the truth in it lands like a brick. “Sorry. Too soon?”
Just shut up, Melody!
“Fuck.” Mad Dog’s hand scrapes over his stubble. “Baby, I can’t guarantee it won’t happen, but I can promise it wouldn’t be done lightly, and I won’t be the one to do it.”
“Is that supposed to be comforting?” I snap back before I can stop myself. Mom used to yell at me all the time for not being able to just keep my mouth shut. She told me that eventually I’d say the wrong thing to the wrong person and regret it. I guess she was right.
“Does being a bitch make you feel better?” Mad Dog isn’t yelling, but this man who’s been so freaking steady and supportive has clearly reached his limit.
“Guess what? The whole situation is fucked, and you didn’t ask for any of this, but neither did we.
If you think we’re monsters, remember that we didn’t drag you into this world.
Your daddy and his asshole friends did. I want you to think real hard and tell me if you think he’d be as forgiving.
We’re all just trying to do the best we fucking can right now. ”
I gape at him.
He puts his finger under my chin and closes my mouth. “So do you want something to fucking drink or no?”
I burst out laughing, and it doesn’t stop until I’m sobbing on his couch, curled into his side.
He sits with me the whole time, his hand warm on the back of my neck and soft words murmured into my hair.
When I finally pull myself together, it feels like a wound has been lanced. Not healed, but better.
“You’re right.” I wet my lips. “Thank you.”
He throws me a weird look. “For what?”
“For trying. For saving me from the people at my house. For standing by me even though I’m a mess.
I wish I could say I’d do things differently if I could go back, but all of my options sucked.
I picked the ones that felt the least wrong at the time.
I don’t know what I would’ve done if you three hadn’t been here to help.
If it were up to Shadow, I think I’d be back in the Pit. ”
“It’s not personal, baby. He’s not a bad guy. He just has a lot on his shoulders right now. His old lady will be devastated if Lightning doesn’t pull through, and Lightning’s twin brother is also part of their family.”
I’m so confused. “If it’s not my business, just tell me to butt out, but explain their family to me like I’m five.”
He chuckles. “You saw Emily’s house. She’s King, Wild Child and Hero’s old lady. Same thing, but one more guy. Harper belongs to Shadow, Outlaw, Lightning, and Thunder.”
“Lightning and Thunder?”
“Twins,” he supplies.
Huh. Lucky girl. “I would’ve thought you big, strong alpha males were too territorial to share.”
He snorts derisively, making his opinion of so-called alpha males pretty damn clear. “Did we look like we hated sharing you?”
No, they definitely did not. The memories of how they shared me flash through my brain. They worked like a well-oiled team, no jealousy or competition—unless you count trying to be the one to first get me to go over the edge.
“Rebel told you about how we work in teams, right? It was before my time, but Emily was the first to be claimed by all of the guys on the same team. It wouldn’t work for every group, but it makes a lot of sense.
The ladies love it, for obvious reasons.
” He winks. “But it’s practical for the men, too.
Women, families, they can divide a brother’s attention.
If all the guys on a team share the same woman, they stick together and can share the responsibility of keeping the family safe.
As devastating as it would be if Lightning died, Harper wouldn’t be alone. ”
When he puts it that way, it makes a strange sort of sense. I pull my feet up and into the huge shirt. “Would you guys do it? Hypothetically speaking.”
“Right, hypothetically. I don’t know. The opportunity hasn’t really come up.” He shrugs.
“If it did?”
“Then I think I’d want to give it a shot, yeah.
” Mad Dog’s grin is hard to resist. “Shit, it’s hard to believe I said that.
I was a fuckup for a good long time before I realized I had to choose something or the world would do it for me.
I was a snotty little asshole, and I nearly washed out of my prospect period here at the club. ”
“Really?”
“Nah, I just like lying to make myself look bad in front of pretty women.”
“Interesting technique.” I struggle to keep a straight face. “Does it always impress the girls when you tell them that?”
“I don’t know, this is my first try. Is it working?”
“It’s not not working,” I admit.
He stands up and walks over to the frame with the bullet that I noticed earlier.
“I prospected for the Eagles because it sounded fucking cool. Ride all day, do whatever the fuck we want, sexy women on tap. I learned fast that nothing is free. Becoming a member of the Screaming Eagles was the first thing I’ve ever really had to work for and I don’t regret it for a second.
” He taps the frame. “Earned this defending one of our women. Violence is part of our life, but when something happens like with Lightning, in a place that promised safety, and for no fucking reason, we have to hit back hard or we’re all at risk. ”
When he comes back, he sits down right next to me. Right up close.
And despite what I’ve just been through, I put my hand on his thigh for comfort. “I understand. I wish I wasn’t caught in the middle of it, but I get it.”
“For what it’s worth, I doubt your father was the shooter. It doesn’t feel right. You don’t get to his position by making moves like this.” His voice is low and a little rough. He’s so close that it wouldn’t take much for him to kiss me.
Maybe the right thing to do is to pull away, but there’s no part of me that wants to.
“Now that’s definitely not a great pickup line.” I smirk up at him, feeling silly.
“How about this, then?” He kisses me, pressing his surprisingly soft lips against mine. “That work?”
I don’t know what it is about these guys that has me willing to drop everything for just another touch. “Pretty good.”
“Come here.” He rises and pulls me with him in one motion. As soon as we’re standing, he pulls me into another kiss as he walks me backward until the backs of my knees hit the bed. Our lips never lose their connection as he follows me down onto the mattress, his body bracketing mine.
I break the kiss for a moment, just enough time to get out, “This doesn’t change anything, right?”
“Right.”
Mad Dog slips his hand up underneath the T-shirt, across my thigh, over the boxers and up to my side. His callused fingers are rough and needy, exploring me as I moan into his mouth. I want to feel his inked skin under my fingers, to get to know every inch of him by touch alone.
“Fuuuuuck,” he groans.
He sits up enough to help me work his shirt up his torso and over his head, messing up his hair as it comes off. His mossy eyes are clouded with lust. “Do I really get to fucking have you?”
“It goes both ways,” I hiss.
“Noted.”
The boxers, already barely hanging on, go flying.
His jeans take a little more work, but we’re up for the task.
I pull his zipper the rest of the way down and yank his jeans and underwear together down past his hips.
His cock springs out, big, hard and glistening at the tip.
It pulses in my hand, hot blood pumping right under the surface.
My mind goes blank. All I can picture is him under me, the beauty of being stuffed full, and his expression absolutely wrecked as he watches me above him. “I want to ride you.”
“Yeah?” he asks, grinning.
“Yeah.”
He digs into his bedside table and pulls out a condom. Raising his eyebrow in challenge, he hands it to me.
Oh, this is on.
I barely recognize myself when I’m with them.
I’ve never been a prude, but until meeting them, I’d had sex with two people.
My long-term high school boyfriend, who was my first, and one of the line cooks at the diner who seemed like a good idea after said boyfriend went away to college and ghosted me.
The line cook was in fact not a good idea.
There’s just something about how easygoing they are when it comes to sex that’s like catnip to me. I can almost understand now what they meant when they were talking about the girls who hang out at the club. Almost.
He fists the sheet next to us as I roll the condom down over his hard cock, and then I kiss the tip before crawling up his body, my hips straddling his thighs. I start to pull off the shirt, but he stops me.
“Leave it. I like seeing you in my clothes.”
Heat coils in my gut. I drag my pussy over his erection, pressing it between us as I move into position. Face to face, our eyes lock as I reach between us and line him up. I take it slow, savoring the feel of being stretched open, and he seems more than happy to sit back and enjoy the ride.
“Fuck, you feel amazing,” he groans, finally breaking eye contact when I’m about halfway down.
Every slow inch is exquisite torture. I have one hand splayed open on his chest, and the other on his leg behind me for support. He grips the backs of my thighs in his big hands, encouraging me to move, but not quite demanding.
“Too slow?” I tease.
His laugh is a low rumble. “If you’re trying to kill me, just do it already.” He slaps my thigh, hard enough to sting and make me suck in a sharp breath.
I let gravity do its work. My ass hits his lap, and I feel every bit of him inside me. I lean forward for a quick, demanding kiss. The neckline of the shirt hangs low, giving him a good look at my swaying breasts. His hands explore, fingers finding my nipples.
I forget everything and start to move.
He rolls my nipples and tugs. It forces a groan out of me that’s so deep and primal I didn’t know I could make that sound. My back arches, my toes curl, and I work myself on his cock. He feels so good, thick enough to make me really feel it. I grind down when our hips meet, chasing my climax.
Mad Dog swipes one last time over my hard nipples and strokes down, one hand resting on the dip of my waist and the other pushing between us. He spreads his hand over my pubic bone and explores with his thumb until he finds my clit.
I do a full-body shudder at the sudden jolt of sensation. “Oh!” My breaths come in gasps, and as he senses the orgasm building inside me, he starts rubbing firm, steady circles while I ride his cock for all it’s worth.
Hot pleasure courses through me as I come, my heartbeat a fuzzy roar in my ears.
My hands cling to his shoulders like handlebars as I explode around him.
He lets me take what I need, but the instant I draw a deep breath and blink at him with half a thought in my head, he grabs my hips and takes over.
“Oh! Oh shit!” I gasp.
I might still be on top, but he’s the one running the show, his strength on full display as he lifts and drops me onto his length while thrusting up from below.
“Fuck! Gonna come!” he gasps out, right before slamming me down one last time with a tortured groan.
His cock flexes inside me as he fills the condom. We’re both panting, bodies slick against each other.
“That was…” I don’t know how to describe it.
“Yeah.” He cups the back of my head, mindful of where I was hit, and pulls me to him for a kiss.
What am I supposed to do when this is over? Because I can’t imagine going back to my life knowing this is an option.