by KB Winters
There was one person I could call who would understand and offer advice. With a smile, I dialed her number.
“Hey Haze, what’s up?”
I smiled as I always did at the sound of Jessie’s voice. These days she was always in a hurry, either running after kids or cattle, or shuffling them from one activity to the next. “Is this a good time to talk?”
“Is it ever?”
I could hear the smile in her voice, and if I closed my eyes, I could see her shaking her head, long hair brushing her shoulders.
“No, but you’re my person I call when I need to talk.”
“Kids are quiet. What’s up, girl?”
I sucked in a deep breath and told her about Saint. “He asked me out on a date and it was a great date, Jess. But it was a last minute thing, which makes me wonder what the real reason was.”
I told her about waking up alone and being disappointed. “I’m fucked, aren’t I?”
Jessie was quiet for a long moment before she laughed. “Pretty much, I’m afraid. Is he good? Does he treat you right?”
“He is good, Jessie. But he’s screwed up, too. I don’t know if it’s his screwed up-ness calling out to me, or if it’s him, as a person.”
If anyone understood, it was Jessie. She’d been there for everything.
“The fact that you’re worried about it tells me it’s him you like. Not his problems.”
“I know,” I told her impatiently.
“Just sayin’,” she said in a sing-song voice that usually made me want to strangle her. Today I just wished she was close enough to hug.
“Shit, hang on!” The phone went silent for a long time and then Jessie was back.
“Sorry Haze, I’ve gotta go before my kids electrocute themselves and knock out the power, but listen, give this a chance. You could get hurt or you could hurt him. Either way, I love you and there’s always Oklahoma.”
I rolled my eyes. “If you love me, why would you wish Oklahoma on me? That’s not love, girl.”
She laughed. “Because it’s where your family is, dummy. Hey! Gotta go. Love ya!”
She ended the call before I could say it back, which was just as well anyway. Jessie’s life was busy, most days too busy for anything but tending to her family and the ranch. I needed to get used to leaning on myself more. That meant I needed to save money and to do that, I needed to keep my job.
Another strike against Saint.
But once I was in the shower, washing hours of dust and muck from my skin, all I could think about was how Saint felt with his warm body pressed against mine, his cock invading my body, his hands making me purr like a kitten. When I closed my eyes and saw his smile, that dark intensity that always gripped him during sex, all I wanted was him. Consequences be damned.
It didn’t stop me from making myself come in the shower with images of his tongue deep inside my pussy. It probably wouldn’t stop me from finger fucking myself to thoughts of him again later. For now, I grabbed the latest romantic thriller I’d got from the public library and curled up in bed with an aluminum bat at my side.
Halfway through the second chapter a knock sounded at the door. I reached for the bat, ignoring my need to cover up my body for whoever was on the other side of the door, because they wouldn’t be getting inside. I tiptoed to the door and peeked through the peephole. It was Saint. I pulled the door open and gave him my best bored look.
“Saint. What are you doing here?”
“You left,” he growled and barged in, kicking the door shut behind him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Saint
Hazel stood there with a bored as hell look on her face, one hand wrapped tightly around a baseball bat.
“You left first.”
“I did.” My gaze roamed over her rainbow-striped tank top that hugged her tits and her small waist, nipples hard through the little strips of white between each color, and as my gaze slid lower to the strip of skin revealed before the tiniest goddamn scrap of fabric I had ever seen, my cock stirred.
“I had some business that couldn’t wait, and I hoped to come back, maybe pick up where we left off. But you were gone.”
And I had to find a way to stop my dick from trying to bust out of my jeans on the drive to town.
She shrugged, rolling her dark eyes as if it didn’t matter. As if none of it mattered. Then again, maybe it didn’t matter to her. Maybe one dirty fuck was as good as another.
“That was hours ago. Must have been important business.”
Her tone said she didn’t think it was, that she thought I was full of shit.
“You didn’t need to come down here to check on me, Saint. You didn’t make me any promises, and I’m not upset. Looks like my place was cleared by the cops so I’m home now.”
Was she out of her mind? I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair before I said something to piss her off.
“It hasn’t been cleared. If it had, the police would have told you. Plus, those guys are still out there and in case you didn’t notice, they didn’t finish ransacking your place.”
I knew I scared her with those words but dammit, she needed to see reason.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because I’m not an idiot, Hazel. You and Peaches came back here to get whatever you were worried about. She told Gunnar so don’t deny it.”
“I don’t need to deny anything since I don’t owe you an explanation.”
My lips spread into a slow grin at her angry tone. Goddamn Hazel was tough, but right now she was also being stupid.
“No, you don’t owe me an explanation, but chances are, these guys are gonna come back here to see if they missed anything. I’d rather you not be here when they do.”
Cruz and Slayer were on patrol tonight but these guys were good at staying invisible.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Of that, I have no doubt, babe.”
She glared at the endearment, which only made me laugh. And push in closer.
“What were you gonna do with that bat?”
“Kick your ass.”
She wore her best tough girl look. I took another step forward.
“You really think you can?” My lips quirked up in a grin.
Her dark eyes gave an expert roll but she took one step back and then another.
“Yeah, probably not. So, what? Are you here for another round?”
“No, that’s not why I’m here. Not yet, anyway.”
Sparring with Hazel was some of the best parts of my day and I didn’t even want to think about what fresh hell that meant. Though I was sure Mitch would have a field day with it, if I told him.
“We’ve been monitoring the situation in town with the robberies, the fire, all of it. We think we know who they are, and we’re trying to track them down.”
Even that was too much, but I knew telling her nothing wouldn’t get her to do what I wanted her to do.
“We as in your gang?”
“Club, but yes.”
She snorted and rolled her eyes, a move that might’ve been annoying if she weren’t damn near naked.
“Bikers with a heart of gold?”
Her sarcasm was palpable, and I tried hard not to be offended.
“Don’t be so bitchy just ‘cause you’re scared, babe.”
She glared even harder, and I my smile grew wide.
“Look this is serious shit, Haze. What do you think they’ll do to you if they break in and find you like this? Because I can tell you what I’d like to do to you right now.”
Her eyes lit with challenge. “Tell me.”
“I’m being serious.”
“Me too.”
She placed her hand on her hip but she never set the bat down. “Tell me what you want to do to me, right now, and I’ll listen to what you have to say. I promise.”
“First, you need to drop the bat. Then, I’ll peel that tank top off and wrap my lips around those nipples that’ve been aching for my m
outh since you opened the door. I’d lick and suck those gorgeous tits until you arched into me with that sexy mewling cry you do, until I could smell your arousal in the air around us, and then I’d keep sucking until you came.”
She swallowed with a nod; her eyes now darker with desire.
“And then?”
My dirty girl wanted more, and I was happy to give it to her.
“Then I’d push you down onto that chair right there and put your ankles by your ears, lapping up all the juices dripping down your leg, coating your pussy lips. I’d lick it all up until you were a hot, trembling mess and then I’d let you fuck my mouth until you came again.”
She let out a shuddering breath that told me she liked what she heard, before slicking that pink tongue across her bottom lip.
“Good to know,” she said, trying her damnedest to appear unaffected and failing miserably.
“You sure you don’t want to know what I have in mind for that pretty ass of yours?”
“Not if you ever want to say what you came here to say.”
Her honesty pulled a laugh out of me.
“Right.” Damn woman knew how to twist me up good. “These guys are reckless and dangerous, with a violent streak. The crimes, as far as we can tell, are mostly for fun. Nothing major is stolen just enough cash to party with for a few days.”
That meant there were no stakes other than what they created and soon, they would up the stakes of these crimes. It was a story I’d seen and heard in the military time and again, on both sides of the war.
“Shit, you really have been tracking this.” With a nervous, half-absent nod, Hazel scanned her apartment. “You really think I’m in danger?”
“We’d already be fucking if I didn’t.”
I hoped she could see the truth of my words because if she waited any longer, we’d be fucking anyway.
“Right. Let me grab some stuff.” She set the bat down as she brushed past me. “You know who these guys are?”
“We have an idea.”
“And what do you plan to do about it?”
From another woman the question might have sounded prodding, but I knew she was just curious. I didn’t know how I knew, but I did.
“That’s the part we’re trying to figure out. Gunnar wants to teach them a hard to forget lesson and most of the guys agree, but Holden agrees with me that prison would be just as satisfying.”
“Please try not to kill anyone in my apartment, or else I won’t get my deposit back.” She appeared in the doorway of her bedroom dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt with a very red bra underneath and biker boots on her feet. “I could use that money.”
“Going somewhere?”
She shrugged. “Not now, but I find it’s best to always be ready to hit the road.”
To prove it, she had two medium sized duffel bags all packed and ready to go.
“That’s it?”
“It’s everything I need. We ready? I gotta work tonight and sometimes my boss can be a real asshole.”
I laughed and grabbed one of the bags from her, expecting a protest but she put up none. “It’s probably how he keeps you in line.”
She snorted and pulled open the door, motioning for me to go out ahead of her.
“In his dreams.”
“Wanna hear about those?” I leaned in and whispered the words in her ear while she locked the door and that little intake of breath sent a sliver of desire straight to my cock.
“Maybe later.”
We had a long night ahead of us so I wasn’t worried at all.
***
“You guys really went all out for this theme.”
It wasn’t the first time Hazel had said those words, but now we were alone and I had the time and interest.
“Gunnar liked the idea and the members seem to love it.”
Not that I was all that surprised since I pitched the idea, telling him that these rich Texans saw themselves as modern day Romans so the excesses and indulgences felt like their due.
“What do you think?”
“It looks incredible, just like walking on the set of Spartacus. Complete with oiled up sex slaves.”
Her teasing tone and her eyes full of desire told me she’d enjoyed it as much as every other woman tonight.
“It was a good idea.”
“Who said it was my idea?”
“Right.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes before turning away to scan the last of the room for glasses, straws and other debris forgotten about when the mood struck.
“Well it was an inspired idea.”
Without another word she brushed past me and hustled out the door.
It took me a moment to realize she’d left, and I scrambled after her. “Hazel, wait!”
But the hall was empty. “Hazel?”
Logically, I knew she had to be somewhere, here, on the sub level with me. She couldn’t have gotten upstairs that quickly. “Hazel?”
She wasn’t in the water room or the wine room.
Or the dining room.
“Hazel!”
That left the forest room.
I stepped inside the dimly lit space, done up mostly in dark greens and browns with matching blankets nestled on the ground for ultimate member comfort. Panic rose up in my throat, and I couldn’t explain the sudden urgency to find Hazel. “Hazel, where are you?”
“I’m here, Saint.”
I heard her voice, but it was too goddamn dark, and I couldn’t see. Combined with the nascent background sounds, my chest began to pound and my hearing grew muffled. Shit, I knew what this was and my eyes slammed shut.
“Saint. Come here. Come to me.”
I heard her voice, but I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. The moment I opened my eyes, I wasn’t inside one of the rooms of The Barn Door, I was back in the goddamn desert. The sun was too fucking bright, making it difficult to see and heat emanated from every surface, at least a hundred and fifteen degrees.
“Saint!”
“Hazel! I’m coming!” I shouted out.
At least I would be when the smoke cleared. Where the fuck was all this smoke coming from anyway? Everything was all mixed up, and I needed to get the fuck out of there. Fast.
“Saint?”
My name came softer from her lips. Closer, too. And then a hand was on my shoulder, and I spun around, grabbing the throat of whoever was behind me and pushing that fucker against a wall.
“Saint, it’s me. Hazel.”
Hazel? Her words were soft but I heard the edge of panic in them, even though it wasn’t Hazel in front of me. It was a nameless, faceless body.
“What do you want? Answer me!”
“Saint, it’s me. It’s Hazel.”
“What do you want?”
“You,” she choked out, literally. “I want you, Saint.”
Soft, feminine hands cradled my face. “Look at me.”
“I…can’t.” If I opened my eyes and Hazel was in the desert with me, then it meant this wasn’t a dream. That it was all real.
“You can. Look at me. Now.”
To punctuate the words, she slapped my face, hard.
“The fuck?”
My eyes were open now. “Why did you do that?”
She shrugged. “You needed it.”
I took a step back, and she reached out to me, looking hurt when I stepped out of her reach.
“I can’t do this, not now.”
“Seems like you can to me.”
She bridged the distance between us and wrapped her hand around my cock, squeezing until I groaned.
“But you’re not in the mood and that’s fine. Have a good night, Saint.”
The fact that she could walk away so easily pissed me off, or maybe it was being in the middle of a pretty fucking big meltdown where I didn’t know if I was in the Middle East or Hardtail Ranch.
“Wait.”
“Nope, see you tomorrow.” She waved and my feet were on the move, right on her ass.
/> “I. Said. Wait.”
My words came out on a growl in her ear, my arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her in the air, tugging her back into the room.
“I heard you.”
Scanning the room, my heart still racing, I found the perfect spot to inflict a little erotic punishment on Hazel. And my demons.
“You said you want me. Did you mean it?”
She nodded, eyes wide and filled with desire but there was a hint of fear that worried me. Excited me.
“I can’t hear you.”
“Yes, I meant it.”
My lips quirked at her obedience. “I like this version of you. She’s very…good.”
Hazel snorted as I set her down in front of a façade wall with shackles at three different heights. “Not too good, I hope.”
She was breathless and even in the dim light of the room I could see her flushed skin.
“That depends. Tell me to stop and I will.”
When she said nothing, I stripped Hazel out of the thin white wrap she wore and the tiny scrap of hot pink lace, leaving her in nothing but gold stilettos that made my cock hard just thinking of the possibilities. She said nothing when I shackled her arms to the wall or when I dropped to my knees in front of her.
In an act of defiance I should have expected, she crossed her legs at the ankles, concealing that plump pink pussy from me.
“I will.”
That was good enough for me, and I grabbed her knees, yanking her legs apart and burying my face in the sweet heat of her pussy. Hazel moaned as I licked and sucked her pussy, nibbled the sensitive flesh of her pussy lips until her legs quivered. It wasn’t a gentle move, and I wasn’t in a gentle kind of mood, not with my demons breathing down my fucking neck.
“Oh, fuck!”
I smiled against her, still licking. Still sucking her swollen clit, knowing with her arms shackled there was no place to go, she had to take the overload of pleasure. And I fucking overloaded her, feeling my entire face coated with the signs of her pleasure. I sucked her clit until she came. I fucked her with my tongue until she came.
“Saint, please,” she panted as I slid two fingers deep inside her pulsing cunt, pulling another gushing orgasm from her.
She shook violently against me as I stood and pulled my cock out of my pants.
“Please, what?”
