by Grey, Blair
“Fair enough,” I said. “So I take it you don’t go on many dates?” Not that this was a date. But I wanted to gauge her reaction to that.
Sure enough, she blushed. Interesting.
“It’s been a while,” she said evenly. If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of a challenge there, like she was daring me to impress her. Game on.
The truth was, I could honestly see myself going out on a few dates with her. Nothing serious, just for fun. I liked that she seemed to understand me and that she was so fiercely independent. She definitely was her own person. But there was just too much drama going on at the moment for me to do that. She had already had one visit from Lex. I couldn’t draw her into the rest of it as well.
“What about you?” Tara asked. “You biker guys are total players, right?”
I had a feeling that she was testing me with the question, and I wondered what she expected my response to be. I shrugged one shoulder, glancing over at her. “If you hadn’t noticed, I don’t exactly fit all the biker stereotypes,” I finally settled on, and I was pretty sure I could see something triumphant in her gaze. I wondered if that meant I had said the right thing.
Maybe her friend, Maddie, was still filling her head with stories about all the dreadful things that Red Eyes members were supposed to do, and she was wondering how much of that was truth for me.
“How did you even get involved with Red Eyes? If you don’t mind my asking,” Tara said as we sat down to dinner. “To be honest, you don’t really seem like the type.”
I laughed and shrugged. “The thing is, when you see bikers on TV or in the movies, they’re pretty much all one type of dude, right? The kind of guys who go out and beat up other people for the sake of getting money. The bad guys. But it’s not like that in reality.”
“So what is it like?” Tara pressed. “I’m really curious. To be honest, I don’t really know anything about Red Eyes, just the stories that Maddie told me. I want to hear it from your side. So that I can figure out what you’ve gotten me involved in.”
I winced. “I really am sorry that Lex stopped by earlier. If I’d thought that he was going to come after you guys, I would have made sure that you were protected right from the start.”
She waved that away. “What’s done is done,” she said. “But come on, I want to hear your story. Convince me that you’re not the bad guy.”
“All right,” I said. “I got into the MC because of Ray. I was working this stupid, dead-end job at the time. Didn’t really have much of a future ahead of me, and it was just driving me crazy. Same thing over and over again, day in and day out, and not something that I really wanted to be doing either. Ray saw right through me. He knew that I wanted something more, so he gave me an opportunity. I didn’t fit in with the rest of the guys, not from the beginning, but when Ray told them that I was going to be the club’s treasurer, no one questioned it. And I’ve been the treasurer ever since.”
“So what do you do as the treasurer?” Tara asked.
All the questions put me sort of on edge. I suddenly wondered if maybe Tara wasn’t what she seemed. Maybe she was trying to get all this information out of me so that she could take it back to the police. It wouldn’t be the first time that we had a rat in our midst.
But then again, I was the one who had approached Tara about handling the funeral, and I was the one who suggested that we get dinner together. I just needed to relax a little.
Still, I didn’t want to tell her all of the club’s secrets. I shrugged. “It’s honestly not very interesting,” I told her.
“Fine,” she finally said, keeping her tone even. “So Ray was the one who brought you in? I guess that’s why you’re so upset about losing him. It must feel like the whole club just isn’t the same anymore.”
“It’s not.” I sighed. “That’s just it. Ray was like a father to me—and to most of the other guys in the club. I didn’t really realize it at the time, but he was the glue holding all of us together. And now that he’s gone, things are falling apart.”
I might have said too much, but I wanted to tell her the whole story. I took a deep breath. “See, Ray wanted one of the other guys to be president of the club after his death. And everyone agreed on it. But now that Ray is gone, that guy is having some second thoughts, and one of the other members of the club thinks that he could do a better job.”
“And meanwhile, you’re the one trying to keep everyone together,” Tara said slowly. “That must be tough.”
I stared at her in surprise. “How did you know that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “It’s pretty obvious,” she said. “I’ve seen how stressed you are. It’s why you wanted the funeral done as soon as possible, and it’s why every time we talk, it seems like you’re only halfway here in the conversation. The other half of your mind is somewhere else. Wondering what to do about the club, I’m sure.”
I was dumbfounded at the depth of her understanding. It made me wonder if maybe I really had said too much, that she was a rat and that things were going to get around town about how there was infighting at Red Eyes and now was the perfect time to take us down. Whether she was working with the police or working for Lex, which could be catastrophic.
But for some reason, I trusted her. I didn’t think she was asking these questions because she wanted to take us down. I really thought she was asking these questions because she was trying to understand me better. And because maybe, just maybe, she was a good person who wanted me to tell my story.
It meant that I owed her something as well. “So the guy who came to visit you today, Lex.”
“Yeah, tell me more about him,” Tara said. “How does he fit into all of this? Is he the guy who thinks he would do a better job at being president of the club?”
“He probably does think that, but he’s not the one that I mentioned earlier,” I said grimly. “This isn’t the first time that we’ve had trouble with Lex. I don’t know if you read some months ago about a whole gang network that got busted because they were found to be dealing drugs from one of the abandoned buildings over in the western part of the city?”
“I vaguely remember that,” Tara said. “What, was his father one of the guys who went to jail or something? Did Red Eyes have something to do with that?”
“He was the leader of the gang. The Unknowns. They were trying to move in on Red Eyes territory. Apparently, Lex and Ray had some sort of history. Anyway, we made sure that they were neutralized, but somehow Lex managed to get out of jail time.”
“And now he’s back to bother you again,” Tara said, nodding her head. She grimaced. “And, I guess, back to bother me as well. How worried should I be?”
“Not at all,” I assured her. “Like I said, I’m going to make sure that you and your business is safe. And Maddie as well, of course. I feel bad that we’ve gotten you tangled up in this.”
Tara frowned, cocking her head to the side. “Look, I don’t mean to disrespect you, but you’ve already told me that there’s a bunch of drama going on inside Red Eyes at the moment. Are you sure that you can commit to protecting Maddie and me and my business as well, or do you need to focus on all of that? Figuring out who’s got the best claim to be leader and all.”
I made a face. “We can still protect you,” I promised her. “The MC might be falling apart, but we all still believe in the same things that we always have. And that means that we look out for our own. You might not pay dues to us, but we owe you for Ray’s funeral.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but it still sounds like you need to bring everyone back together,” Tara said thoughtfully. “Like, somehow remind everyone that you are still working for the same goals, something like that.”
“I just wish that I could,” I said grimly.
We chatted easily for the rest of dinner.
“So seriously, you build motorcycles as well as cars like this?” Tara asked as we headed out to my car afterward. She ran her hands lightly over the frame of the car, shaking h
er head. “You’re going to have to show me sometime.”
It was such a change from earlier in the evening, seeing her so relaxed like this. A pleasant change. It brought back my imaginations from before, of her curled up on the couch in her weekend attire, her hair pulled up in a messy bun. And even though I knew there was plenty of drama in my life at the moment, even though I knew it was risky to draw her even further into things, I wanted to take her home and strip her down and see what she looked like like that.
“We’re not far from my place right now,” I said quietly. “Why don’t I show you some of my stuff?”
Was I imagining the hitch to her breath? She looked sharply over at me, and I knew she was wondering what I was suggesting. I could practically see the gears turning in her head. But eventually, she just nodded. “I’d like that,” she said simply.
We got into the car, the air practically humming with the strength of the sexual tension between the two of us. I almost didn’t even want to drive. I wanted to lean over and grab her, pull her into a fierce kiss right here in the parking lot. Maybe push the seats back and fuck her right here, heedless of who might be walking by, of who might be able to see us.
But I forced myself to be patient. To drive back to my house and to get out of the car. “We’ll have to go in through the front to get to the garage,” I told her. “I’m usually on my bike, so I never use the garage door opener, and I recently found out that the battery had died.”
“No problem,” Tara said.
We were barely in the front door before she had grabbed the lapels of my shirt, pulling me toward her and crashing her mouth against mine. My arms went around her waist to steady her, one hand creeping up to the nape of her neck, angling her face so that I could properly line up our mouths so that our teeth weren’t clacking together anymore.
She pressed her tongue insistently into my mouth, and I let her have her way with me. There was something sexy about the way she immediately took control rather than waiting for me to make the first move. She definitely wasn’t like most girls.
She finally took a step back, still staring up at me with dark, lusty eyes. “We can do this one of two ways,” she said. “You can either show me your bikes and then we can go upstairs and fuck, or we can forget about the bikes for now and go upstairs and fuck. Your choice.”
I laughed, surprised at how bold she was. But really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. I knew that she was independent, and I knew that she knew what she wanted. It was just refreshing to meet a woman who was so open about her wants and needs.
I grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the stairs, not needing another moment to think about it.
16
Tara
At the start of the night, I definitely hadn’t planned on ending up here. This was just supposed to be a fact-finding mission. I wanted to learn more about Red Eyes and more about Lex so that I knew how to protect myself, my business, and most of all my son.
But somewhere in the course of the evening, that mission got derailed. Or not entirely derailed, it just took a back seat to the other purpose of the evening, which was to have fun. It had been such a long time since I had gone out on a date. I knew that I didn’t need a man in my life, especially not the kind of man that Cameron was, but that didn’t stop me from wanting him.
He wasn’t like the rest of the biker guys, and I could tell that he didn’t go out to dinner with a lot of women. At the same time, I trusted that he would respect me. If I said that this was a one-time thing, he would never call me again. After all, he had been the one to tell me that I could call him, even though he had my number as well.
For all that Maddie insisted that he was one of the bad guys, I just couldn’t help feeling that maybe there was something more to the story than we knew. As the evening wore on, things just felt so good with him, so comfortable. The conversation flowed, and I found that he was just a really interesting guy. Smart and funny, and he seemed to like my offbeat humor as well, or at least he laughed at the couple of dumb jokes I told over the course of the evening.
If I didn’t know that he was with Red Eyes, I might even consider going on another date with him. I actually kind of liked the guy. Of course, knowing that he was involved in a motorcycle gang—especially one that was going through a lot of turmoil at the moment—meant that I could probably never see him again. But I was glad that we had dinner together. It made me wonder if maybe it was time to start dating again.
And I had to admit; it had been an embarrassingly long time since I had had sex. I couldn’t help thinking that maybe it was time to have the rust knocked off.
Of course, I probably should have picked someone less attractive for my first time back. I had taken care of myself over the years, of course. I had my favorite toys, and I knew what to do to give myself a good orgasm or two, but having Cameron’s hands on me was entirely different.
I shivered as he ran his hands up under my shirt, and he pulled away, looking down at me with concern. “No, it’s good.” I gasped, catching his wrist before he could pull his hand away.
Cameron looked doubtful, but he put his hand back up under my shirt, sloppily making out with me as we lay on his large, soft bed.
I trembled again, squirming as he ground his pelvis against mine, and he rolled away, propping himself up on one elbow and looking seriously over at me. “If you’re not ready for this, we don’t have to do it,” he said.
I whimpered, reaching for him, my whole body feeling the loss of sensation as he pulled away from me entirely. “Please,” I told him. “I want this so badly. More than you can believe.” When Cameron continued to look uncertain, I blushed, then looked away from him. “It’s just been a really long time since I slept with someone. Like, years. I’m a little on edge.”
“On edge nervous, or on edge excited?” Cameron asked curiously.
“A little bit of both, I guess,” I told him honestly.
He rolled back toward me, cupping my cheek with his palm and looking seriously into my eyes. “I’m not going to hurt you,” he promised, and I believed him. “We’ll take things slow. And if you want me to stop, at any point, just say so.”
I grinned at him. “Even if you’re right about to come?” I teased.
Cameron groaned and claimed my mouth for another steamy kiss. He slowly started stripping off my clothes, and I moved around to help him, breaking the kiss with a gasp as he peeled off my bra and splayed his fingers across my sensitive nipples. He grinned devilishly at me and lowered his face to those dusky nubs, his tongue gliding across the smooth planes of my skin, making my back arch against the sheets.
Meanwhile, his fingers pushed inside of me, plying my wet entrance, stroking my silky core. I cried out, rocking down against his ministrations, my whole body already overcome with desire as I spilled through an incredible orgasm, my walls squeezing tight around his digits and my eyes falling shut. I could feel a warm gush of wetness between my legs, my body trying to tell him that even in the throes of climax, I needed more. I needed him inside of me. Fully sheathed.
But for now, even the stimulation of his fingers was almost too much. I fell breathlessly back against the sheets, my body twitching, my nerve endings on fire.
When I finally managed to open my eyes, Cameron was staring down at me in surprise. “Did you just come?” he asked.
I flushed, looking away from him, feeling suddenly so very young and foolish. What the hell was I doing here anyway?
“Hey, no,” Cameron said gently, his fingers gently stroking my skin. “Fuck, that was actually really hot. You just surprised me. That’s all.” He ground his member against my hip, emphasizing how hard he was, and I could feel the trail of precum that he left behind. “Trust me; I’m almost there myself.”
I smiled tentatively back at him, then gasped as his fingers brushed across my clit.
“Bet you have another in you, though, don’t you?” Cameron asked.
I slowly nodded my head. For him, I felt like
I could come a dozen times over and still not be sated. Maybe it was just that it had been so long, or maybe it was something to do with the man himself. But whatever it was, I knew that I needed this, and I never wanted it to stop.
Cameron kissed me again, this time almost sweetly, and somewhere, I heard the rip of a foil packet and the rustling that let me know he was putting a condom on. Without my even having to ask. I breathed an internal sigh of relief. Sam hadn’t been altogether planned, and things had turned out great all the same, but I definitely didn’t need another “oops” baby running around. Especially not an “oops” baby whose dad was involved in a motorcycle club like Red Eyes.
He pushed into me, and I winced at his girth. He immediately paused, letting me get used to him before he pushed in farther. When he was fully inside of me, again he let me adjust. Then, he started slowly pumping his hips, his long, hard length sliding in and out of me with the ease of animal innateness.
He caught my fingers in his, pulling my hands out to the side, driving them down into the bed as his thrusts started to speed up, going faster and faster, until I could barely tell where I ended and he began. My breath quickened, my thoughts stopped, and all I was aware of was his body over mine, around mine, inside of mine. I could feel his cock throbbing, flaming hot in my burning core, stoking the fire even more.
My whole body felt overcome with prickly sensation, as though at any second I could fly over the edge and fall down, down, down through ten thousand crashing waves of pleasure. His eyes were glued to my face, watching me, gauging my reactions, like he wanted to learn everything that made me tick, everything that made me moan.
He played my body expertly already. I couldn’t imagine that there was anything more for him to learn. It might have been a while for him, and he might not be the player that the rest of the biker gang was made of, but he certainly knew what he was doing.
My fingers dug into his skin, tugging at his tattooed back as I clung to him, shivering like a tree in a storm. I was overwrought with feeling. It was all so much. Until suddenly, it all came together, heat and sensation and desire. I screamed his name as my hands spasmed on his skin. My muscles drew tight and then released, letting me fall through those brilliant waves of pleasure.
