Vendetta Road

by Christine Feehan

  “You saw Savage and Storm slip out after them. Alena can handle herself, but just in case, they’ll follow. It’s hard to spot them if they don’t want to be seen.”

  It took a lot to force herself to offer, “I can leave, Ice. I put all of you in a very bad position, and that’s the last thing I wanted to do. Your sister was very sweet to me. All of you have been.” She looked around as if trying to spot the door. She didn’t really know what she was going to do if he told her to leave. “If you need to go after her . . .” She trailed off.

  Ice slipped his arm around her. “Alena can take care of herself. She’s like Lana. They trained with us in self-defense. If Pierce decided to be so stupid as to throw a punch at her, she’d wipe up the floor with him. Two of her brothers went to ensure she is fine just because we do that sort of thing with one another. They’ll spend however long it takes on a rooftop watching over her.”

  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have brothers, a family who would stay on a rooftop for however long it took just to watch over you? She would never have that, but she was glad Alena did.

  She tried hard not to let Ice see her sigh of relief. She had a chance of seducing him. She knew he was thinking he was going to get her drunk and get lucky. She was all for that. All for it. She wasn’t about to tell him she just didn’t get drunk. She didn’t. She didn’t know why, but for some reason, it didn’t happen. But she could get to the feel-good stage, and she knew how to make it all work. She’d let him think she was getting there so he could have the fun of seducing her and she could reap the benefits.

  She’d have to be very, very careful not to let herself go beyond sex though, despite her longing for more. Just think sex. No prenup signings. No wedding chapels. No I-give-the-best-blow-jobs-in-the-world and you’ll-want-me-every-morning-for-the-rest-of-your-life-biker-boy claims. She was going to die soon. Winston and his friends would find her and kill her. She couldn’t involve someone else or they might kill them the way they had Kevin. She couldn’t be that selfish and take a chance. Just enjoy one night doing what she’d always fantasized about. That shouldn’t be too much to ask for.

  Ice tapped out code with his fingers on his thigh, letting the others know this woman was his. The one. And he was taking her home. First, seduction. He’d started without her being aware of it. They’d been trained in seduction. They were very, very good at anything sexual. The first step was to get to know what she wanted most. He only had a few hours to pull it off, but he was certain he was up to the task, if his body would leave him the hell alone.

  He’d never seduced a mark when it mattered to him. Seduction, as a rule, usually led to assassination. He was always in full command of his body, so it was easy to concentrate on the mark. One didn’t make a mistake if one wasn’t emotionally or physically involved. They could use any means necessary if their bodies were in control. This was the first time in his life when he didn’t have the control over his body—or mind—he needed.

  It pissed him off and yet at the same time, he was intrigued and exhilarated. He had to have her consent. Once she gave it, the club would expect her to keep her word, and he would enforce it. One didn’t ever go back on one’s word. It was their code. She would have to abide by the code no matter what happened.

  Maestro handed both of them another glass of whiskey, gave Ice a faint grin and slipped away, although, like the others, he didn’t go far, shielding Ice and his woman from other bikers in the main part of the bar.

  Soleil stared down into the glass, swirled the liquid and shook her head. “I’m beginning to feel this. Maybe I shouldn’t drink any more.”

  Ice gave her his reassuring smile. He was a good-looking man and he knew it. Women threw themselves at him. He’d never gone without female attention. “No worries, princess. I told you I’d look after you. In any case, we’re going to dance, and you’ll work it off.”

  “We are?”

  “You said you liked to dance. Or at least you were swaying to the music, and it seems like a good idea.”

  He led her toward the door but paused just inside the game room. “What is the one thing you want most in the world?” He leaned against the wall, pulling her close, so the two of them were cocooned in their own little world.

  Just before she answered, Transporter jostled her back, nearly pushing her into Ice. He immediately swung her to the wall and positioned himself in front of her protectively. He placed one hand close to her head and leaned close.

  Soleil’s eyes went wide and shone at him. “Thank you, Ice.” Her voice was breathless. She was looking at him like he was a knight in shining armor. She didn’t see the killer everyone else saw. She didn’t see his black soul or his need for the kind of dirty, kinky sex nice girls would run screaming from.

  He had to be careful not to fall under her spell. She was sweet. He’d never had sweet in his life. “Tell me the one thing you really want out of life.”

  “A family.” She regarded him over the rim of her glass. “I’ve never had a family.”

  “You had parents.”

  “They died when I was very young, and I spent most of my life in boarding schools or hotels for holidays.” She smiled, but there was sadness in her eyes. Reality. Truth. “I think I’m really that proverbial poor little rich girl.”

  So, she had money. He suspected as much, or she wouldn’t have been insisting on a prenup with that suit bastard who was going to die. He deliberately took a sip of his whiskey and she followed the action, but she didn’t really take that much of a drink.

  “My club is my family,” Ice said softly and leaned in closer when Maestro stepped back and bumped him. His face was almost in her shoulder, his lips sliding along her skin as he spoke. She had the softest skin and she smelled liked heaven.

  He kept his voice deliberately pitched low, intimate. “My brother and sister are my family. Never had parents that I really remember. Czar, our president, was my parent when he was ten. Looking for a woman who wants to make a life with me. Have my children. Make us a home. I’d die for my club, but I want my own woman, one worthy of living for.”

  There was so much there to intrigue a woman, especially a woman who craved and needed a family and protection. He felt the shiver run through her body at the touch of his lips on her bare skin. “Been lookin’ a long time for the right woman. Not too many women want a home and family anymore.” She was compassionate. She hadn’t wanted to leave, but she wanted Alena safe.

  Her eyes widened. “Ice, that’s not true.”

  He shrugged his shoulders and inched forward, just enough to press his chest against her tits. They were soft. Full. He ached to pull the front of her dress down and expose those beauties, so he could feast on them. She moved her body, and her breasts moved seductively against his chest. His entire body shuddered in reaction. Hell. He was never going to pull this off if he couldn’t control himself.

  “It’s true for me, princess. I talk rough. I am rough. I don’t know how to talk right to a woman.” He ran one finger down her cheek to her chin and then pretended to take another sip of his whiskey. “Torpedo Ink has a code. Once in, once you give your word, you’re held to that. Scares the crap out of women. They think all sorts of things.”

  She pushed at the bottom of his glass and he had no choice but to drink it.

  She smiled and put her glass to her lips and took a healthy drink. Her face was flushed, and her tits were rising and falling with every breath she drew, nipples hard little peaks, pushing at the thin material of her dress, scraping across his chest. To Ice, they felt like flames, burning through his tight tee to brand his skin. It was all he could do not to strip her bare and take her right there against the wall. He kept reminding himself he was in this for the long haul. This was no game. This was for life.

  “Well,” she said softly. An invitation whether she knew it or not. “What does it mean?”

  “It means you’
re family. A woman takes me on, she’s family to the club. All the way in. She’s mine. All the way in. Whatever it takes to work it out.”

  “No one’s like that anymore.” Suspicion edged her voice. It was there in her eyes. The hope. The disbelief.

  He took her glass and handed it behind him. One of his brothers took both glasses. He was a little surprised that his glass had been empty as well. He put both hands on the wall beside her head and leaned in, creating an even more intimate cocoon.

  “Unfortunately, I’m not the greatest catch. None of us are. We’re outcasts for a reason.”

  She was nearly holding her breath. Not quite, but enough so her breathing sounded ragged. He liked that sound. Knew he would hear it when he fucked her brains out. It was all he could do not to take a bite out of her. Her lashes fluttered, drawing his attention to her eyes.

  Soleil was staring up at him and his heart accelerated. His cock hurt. Actually hurt. Fuck. He was losing it because he couldn’t control his body. He had to get a lock on that immediately. He loved it and he fucking hated it.

  “I hear about clubs. They share women, don’t they?”

  He took a breath as something dark and ugly swept over him. “Any man touches my woman, he won’t be on this earth long. That scare you, baby?” He tucked another stray strand of her hair behind her ear with infinite gentleness. “She’s protected. My club will protect her. Every single man. They know better than to touch her.” He touched the bruise on her face, just a gentle brush of his fingers. “I don’t hurt women or children. That is something you can always count on. The bastard who put these bruises on you had better run. If I find him, he isn’t going to be standin’ for very long.” Ice poured the sound of truth in his statement. He meant every word.

  “That doesn’t scare me, Ice,” she said.

  He stared at her mouth for far too long. This was a slow seduction, not slam her against the wall and fuck her until they both couldn’t move. That would come much later. He had to make certain she fell hard, fell for everything. Hell. He was falling hard. He didn’t even know what was happening to him.

  “Come on, baby, they’re playing my kind of dancing music. Nice and slow so I can hold you tight.” He took her hand, brought it up to his mouth so he could brush a kiss across her knuckles and then led her to the small dance floor, hoping to distract her, or him—he wasn’t certain which.

  He didn’t know shit about dancing, but he could hold her close and move around. The music had slowed down, which was good. He drew her into his arms, pulling her tightly against him so that he could feel her soft tits against his chest again. He was addicted to the feeling. His body reacted of its own accord, and he felt the savage ache move through him like a wave. His blood pooled hotly in his groin. He fucking loved it. This woman could do what no other woman in all the years since he was a young boy had been able to do. His body chose her.

  Her arms slid around his neck. She linked her fingers at his nape, swaying with the music. He caught the rhythm and they were moving, locked together in a haze of lust and whiskey. Her head settled on his chest, ear over his heart, and he wondered if she could hear it pounding. She surrounded him with some unidentifiable fragrance, and he was lost in it. She smelled like paradise and sin.

  Neither moved when the music stopped, just swaying on the dance floor until the next song started. This was slow as well, and he knew one of his brothers had selected the song for him. He dropped his head to her shoulder, nuzzling close, his breath against her neck. She didn’t stop him, not even when he tasted her skin.

  Her breath turned a little ragged, and he allowed one hand to slide down her back to the curve of her ass. He loved her ass and the way it swayed when she walked. Looking at her walking away gave him the hard-on of a lifetime. But then there were her tits. She had them, more than a handful on her small frame. Soft. Her nipples were hard and pushing into his chest. His hand slid lower, shaping the curve of her ass. He rubbed gently. Little circles. His palm cupping and then once again rubbing.

  His tongue found her ear and traced it. “You’re so beautiful.” He whispered it, meaning it. “You have the prenup that asshole didn’t sign with you?” He felt her heart jump and then pound hard right through the thin layer of her dress.

  Her head tipped up until her mouth was against his throat. “In my pocket.” Her lips slid along his throat.

  “That’s my girl.” His teeth closed over her earlobe and tugged gently.

  He crowded the edge of the floor closest to the game room. His brothers moved around him, forming a wall so they could sway together. So Ice could continue his slow seduction, because this woman was his. She didn’t know it, but she was coming home with him.

  “You want another drink?” He tipped her face up to his and took her mouth because he couldn’t stop himself. He was rough. Demanding. She tasted sweeter than anything he’d ever had. Once he started kissing her, he found himself lost in her taste. Wanting more. Slightly obsessed.

  She was pure fire, pouring into him. Sugar. Spice. Cinnamon candy. He tried to tell himself to stop, that it was the whiskey, but he dragged her closer until they were nearly sharing the same skin. If he could have gotten their clothes off right there, and still kept her, he would have stripped her naked and laid her out right on the pool table. Instead, he slid his hand under her jacket, sliding it up gently to first cup the soft weight of her tits, his mouth on hers, lighting a match to all that whiskey.

  They both ignited. Hot. Crazy. She didn’t stop him. She couldn’t possibly be that far gone yet, but she didn’t stop him even though they were right there on the dance floor. His heart went crazy, beating triple time. She was fucking perfect. Before he could blow it, he slid his fingers deftly into the pocket of her jacket and lifted her wallet, sliding it very carefully into the pocket of his jeans. His mouth never left hers, and the flames devoured them both.

  There was a roaring in his ears. A jackhammer drilling at his head. He was devouring fire, and those flames raced through his bloodstream straight to his groin. Nothing in his life had ever felt like Soleil’s soft body melting into his, or the kisses that consumed him with living fucking flames. They rushed through his body like a firestorm completely out of control.

  Out of control. His legs felt flickering flames sparking up from his toes to his thighs. His belly had a conflagration rolling in it. What the fuck? Did everyone else in the world feel this way when they kissed, because he’d kissed a thousand women and . . . absolutely nothing. Nothing.

  There was no way this woman was getting away from him. No fucking way. He had to stop before he couldn’t. Already his body was not his own. Still, she was kissing him back. Her arms were wound tightly around his neck, her body was pressed so close she couldn’t fail to feel the bulge in the front of his jeans, but she kissed him back. She poured that fire right down his throat, stroked her tongue along his, until he couldn’t see straight.

  Lightning seemed to be streaking through him, each strike directly on his cock. That particular part of his anatomy seemed to have a mind of its own. Pulsing. Throbbing. Scorching hot, just like her mouth. Like her soft, perfect tits. Hell. He had to stop, or there wasn’t going to be any stopping.

  Ice forced himself to lift his head. The best he could do was put his forehead against hers and try to breathe through the fire. She was breathing hard too. Her tits were moving with every ragged breath, the feeling like an exquisite fire, flames licking at him, threatening to devour him. It was so fucking perfect he didn’t want to let her go. Who knew the girl next door could turn into a fiery, sinful temptress? Maybe, just maybe, he was going to get it all with her. He could lead her down the path he needed her to be on slowly, but with that kind of fire, she might just put up with and even like his needs.

  “What were we doing? Do you remember?”

  Her mouth curved. He was fixated on her full lower lip. On that angelic bow. Holy shit
, his mind was chaotic, filled with all kinds of erotic images. He had a plan, and he needed to have his head clear enough to carry it out. His brothers would help him all they could, but it was up to him to seduce his woman into consenting to everything he needed her to agree to.

  “Not really.”

  “Where the fuck did you learn to kiss like that?” he demanded.

  She smiled up at him, her eyes shining bright, her feathery lashes fluttering just a little as she blushed. He loved that she blushed. He could imagine her entirely naked, her skin a soft rose all laid out for him like a banquet.

  “That wasn’t me, Ice, that was all you. I’ve never had kisses like that before.”

  God. Her innocence. Neither had he, but he wasn’t about to admit it. “Let’s get another drink and cool down. We can play pool. Alena isn’t here to challenge you, but I’ve played a time or two and might give you a run for your money.”

  She nodded. “Another drink would be perfect.”

  He took her hand and led her back into the game room and over to the pool table. She looked around, spotted the ladies’ room and pointed. He walked her over to it, stepped in first to assure himself no one was inside before he allowed her in. As she started deeper into the room, he caught the front of her dress there in the doorway and pulled her back to him.

  He kissed her again, over and over, feeding off her fire, demanding she kiss him back because he needed that firestorm rolling through his belly into his groin to show him there was something human left in him after all. He could feel. He hadn’t believed it possible, and in a short time this angelic creature had turned his world upside down. Heat rushed through his veins like a fireball. Flames engulfed him. His heart jerked hard in his chest. His arms were steel bars, a cage surrounding her. This woman. This sweet, far-too-innocent woman he was never going to give up.

  He knew it was wrong, but he just didn’t give a fuck. She didn’t belong out there in a world where she wasn’t protected from predators like him. He could do that. He could keep her safe, and she could damn well make him feel human when he’d lost that ability too long ago. Every fucking thing in the world had a price. Everything—especially safety.