Chapter 12
Lauren
I woke to the sound of water being turned on in the shower. Startled into alertness, I raised my head from my pillow, then flopped back down with a groan as I remembered the events from last night.
Beau…the email threat…Trick.
Trick, who was in my shower right now.
Naked, with hot, steamy water streaming down over every inch of his bare skin, muscles rippling as he –
My disturbingly vivid fantasy was disrupted by the most off-key singing I’d ever had the misfortune to hear.
“My balls are always bouncing, my ballroom always full, and everybody comes and comes again.”
Apparently giving zero-fucks that he couldn’t carry a tune, Trick sang with gusto as he belted out the lyrics to an AC/DC song that had been a hit at least two decades before either of us had been born.
He was so committed to his performance that he even used an inflection on some words – sort of a strange hybrid of posh, upper crust Brit mixed with Australian – in a poor imitation of the band’s lead singer.
He would be lucky if Bon Scott didn’t come back from the great beyond to haunt his ass for butchering the song so badly.
Elvis, roused from his bed in the corner of the room, jumped up on my bed and stared at me with his back arched and his tail standing straight up.
There was no mistaking the “what the fuck?” look on his face as his whiskers twitched when Trick hit a particularly flat note.
I pulled the sheet up over my face and giggled uncontrollably as Trick finished with a flourish.
“I’ve got big balls, dirty big balls, but we’ve got the biggest balls of them all.”
The musical assault on my ears stopped at the same time as the shower turned off, and my laughter died out as I pictured Trick reaching for a towel, with droplets of water running down over his wide shoulders, tight abs, and then lower.
My naughty imagination was interrupted again, this time by Elvis. He pounced on me, landing on my stomach as he made his displeasure known. Loudly.
Sadly, his yowling was more melodic than Trick’s singing had been.
“All right, I’m getting up,” I muttered, scooting him off the bed so I could fling back the covers.
Since I slept in only a tank top and panties, I needed to take a few minutes to pull on some clothes.
I reluctantly reached for a bra, hating to strap myself into one this early but knowing that I didn’t dare walk around in front of Trick free-boobing it.
My nipples would be standing up and waving hello if I did.
I finger-combed my curls in a futile effort to tame them, before giving up and piling my hair on top of my head in the messiest of messy buns.
“It’s not like you’re trying to impress him,” I lectured myself sternly.
I left the bedroom a few minutes later, clad in an oversized T-shirt, and a pair of leggings, my glamourous look completed by the gradually fading pillow crease on my right cheek.
I shuffled down the hall to the kitchen, stopping short at the sight of Trick wearing nothing but a towel precariously knotted around his waist as he fixed a cup of coffee.
In that moment, two things became glaringly apparent.
One, I’d been right about my nipples, because they were currently trying to fight their way through the light padding of my bra.
And two, a nearly naked Trick – with all that tanned skin on display and only the important bits covered by a towel – was a sight every woman should experience at least once in her life.
Of course, I reminded myself snarkily, at the rate he ran through women, there were probably thousands who’d already had that experience. That thought was enough for me to rein in my wayward libido, for the moment, anyway.
Elvis trotted by, swishing his tail against my leg in a bid to get my attention.
I greeted Trick, then studiously ignored him as I filled the cat’s food and water bowls.
Elvis, ever the refined feline, tried to snarf down the food mid-air as it dropped into the bowl, as if he hadn’t been fed in a week.
“Morning, babe. I hope you don’t mind, but I helped myself to the coffee. Do you want a cup?”
I started to answer but got distracted when I glanced at him again.
I had to force my eyes away from his washboard abs – eight deliciously defined grooves that I wanted to trace with my tongue.
The towel rested low on his hips, giving me an incredible view of his Adonis Belt, which I’d never actually seen on a real person.
I snuck another look. Good God, no wonder women turned stupid when they got a look at that V-line. It was like a flashing arrow, pointing straight at his cock.
“Lauren?”
“Huh?” I roused myself out of my Trick-induced stupor just enough to realize that he’d called my name, and probably not for the first time.
“I asked if you wanted any coffee. You were too busy staring to answer me.”
Heat flooded my face as he flashed me a satisfied smirk, and I once again hated the fact that my fair complexion telegraphed my embarrassment so clearly. I had never been able to bluff my way out of humiliating situations because my blushes gave me away every damned time.
“Uh, yeah, coffee would be great, thanks,” I mumbled, making my way over to the cabinet that held the mugs. Trick reached for one at the same time, and our fingers brushed. I couldn’t hide my gasp at the rush of electricity that sparked along my skin.
“I’ll get it for you, darlin’,” he said, his voice low and smooth and too damned sexy for this hour of the morning.
“I have to leave for the gym soon, but Rod is on his way. He’ll keep an eye on things until Brick gets here.”
“If you really think that’s necessary, I won’t bother trying to argue.”
He handed me a cup filled almost to the brim with the dark, life-giving brew I depended on to be able to function each morning. I reached for the sugar, adding two generous spoonfuls before getting the flavored creamer from the fridge.
“Hopefully, Bull will be able to pin down the source of those damned emails today and we can put a stop to the threat. Until then, babe, someone will be with you at all times.”
My eyes widened and I almost choked on my first sip of coffee.
“Seriously?”
He arched a brow. “You just said you wouldn’t argue,” he pointed out.
“That’s when I thought I would just have a babysitter until the alarm was upgraded this morning,” I protested, sitting my mug down on the counter hard enough to slosh a bit of coffee over the rim.
He shook his head. “Sorry, you’re stuck with one of us until we neutralize the bastard.”
“It was one email, Trick,” I stressed.
“You’re arguing again, and it was a series of emails that escalated to a threat of physical harm, Lauren. That, combined with the stalker bullshit he pulled in Pittsburgh means that Beau is a little unhinged when it comes to you.”
I dropped my head in defeat.
“OK, I get it,” I conceded, remembering his confession about his abusive father. I felt like a bitch for pressing the issue, even though I was about to crawl out of my skin having him here. I wouldn’t last for days on end. I didn’t have that much willpower.
He sat his empty mug down next to mine, then dropped a kiss on my temple.
“Good girl,” he murmured, and I couldn’t stop the shiver those words elicited since I had a bit of a praise kink. Fuck me, this was going to be torture.
“I’m gonna get dressed,” he tossed over his shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen, shooting me one of those winks that normally set my teeth on edge. Right at this moment, though, my lady bits and I didn’t mind it at all.
Elvis was crouched near the kitchen doorway, and the flapping edge of Trick’s towel apparently caught his eye because he lunged for it. Before I could call out a warning, the claws on his front paws caught in the terrycloth of the towel and tugged it loose.
Trick realized a second too late what was happening. He tried in vain to grab for it as it fell to the floor, and then I was treated to the sight of his bare, stark-white ass for the second time in my life.
It was every bit as impressive as it had been the first time. Even better, his dick wasn’t buried in a club bunny this time around, so I got a fleeting glimpse of it as well. Trick didn’t bother picking up the towel. He just laughed and strutted down the hall, whistling that damned Big Balls song.
It took a moment for my heart rate to return to normal, and even longer for my body to stop tingling.
“Damn, I really, really need to get laid,” I whimpered, reaching for my rapidly cooling cup of coffee.
I glared at Elvis, who was now playing with the discarded towel.
“This is all your fault,” I hissed.
In typical cat fashion, he ignored me, then sat on his haunches, lifted his leg, and tried to lick the space where his balls used to be.
I spent the next twenty minutes hiding in my bedroom like a virginal, Victorian maiden, waiting on Trick to leave.
“Rod’s here. See you later, darlin’,” he called out, giving my door a quick tap as he passed it. The rumble of his Harley a few minutes later signaled that it was safe to leave my room.
I peeked out the living room window and spotted Rod walking across the front yard, so I opened the door, and invited him in.
“Thank you, but no, ma’am. I’ve got my orders. I’m to walk the perimeter and keep my head on a swivel.”
I blinked slowly, completely nonplused by his answer.
That seemed a little over the top. This wasn’t a war zone, for God’s sake. I was quickly learning, though, that most things involving the MC were intense, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that Trick, and likely my uncle, too, were taking things to the extreme.
I grabbed a quick shower, then ate a microwaved frozen waffle for breakfast – Trick and his healthy eating tirade be damned.
Since I had a little time before the security guys were to arrive, I sat down to read my Kindle for a bit.
Elvis jumped up on the couch next to me, walking around the cushion in a circle until he decided he’d found the perfect spot to curl up.