“All in?” he prompted. “You’ll give me everything.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
“I’ll give you everything you want or need, or do my best to make that happen, and I want the same from you. I swear to you, I’ll give you everything I am.”
She could do that. She already wanted to please him. She just needed to know all the things he wanted so she could make it happen.
“I think that’s very reasonable, Ice. I’m all in. I’ll do my best to give you everything that I am and everything you want or need. I don’t know any other way.”
“Better than the bullshit the preacher was throwing out during our wedding ceremony.”
He sounded happy. He looked happy, his expression lighter. That made her glow inside. She wanted him happy. He’d saved her life, and more, he’d given her the best time of her life. He might say he didn’t know about relationships, but it wasn’t true. He knew, and he offered her everything she could possibly desire.
“Come on, princess, let’s christen the bed. I’ve been thinking about how I want you on your hands and knees right in the middle of it. Not a stitch on. You can look outside into the night and see if you can find a star. See if you can keep your mind off what I’m doing to you, because you can’t move.”
He was in the mood to play. A shiver went through her body. She loved that he liked her body and wanted to use it for his own personal playground. She benefited every time. She walked to the bed and climbed on, conscious that he was watching her. His eyes on her made her feel sexy and desirable. There was something about the way he looked at her that always reminded her that she was feminine and he was very male.
She deliberately took her time crawling across the bed to the middle and positioning herself on her hands and knees.
“Widen your legs, baby.”
He hadn’t moved. She could tell by his voice that he was still across the room. The tone he used when he ordered her to widen her legs only made her hotter. She complied. She was already slick with need for him.
“Go down to your elbows, princess.”
She did so slowly, and her bottom was up in the air. Her breasts were smashed on the mattress. She felt sexier than ever. The cool air on her inflamed clit only fanned the fire hotter. She stared out into the night, shocked that the storm was gone and she was looking at a night sky. No stars that she could see, not with the wisps of white clouds moving fast with the wind.
Then he was there. Surrounding her with his scent. She felt the light brush of his fingers first. Just that barely there touch. Stroke after stroke, caress after caress. A sudden lick and then his fingers again. It was the start of a very long, beautiful, sexy night with her husband.
ELEVEN
“Stop fidgeting, princess, they’re going to love you. You know most of them anyway. We’re just going to sit in the common room and have a kind of roundtable discussion. Everyone will throw out ideas or they’ll just react to what you’re telling them. Names, descriptions, that sort of thing.”
His woman was nervous. That was a little shocking to him. She was wearing one of the little sundresses he’d purchased for her from the boutique in Vegas and she looked like a million dollars. The dress was a pastel pink. She wore darker tights, a mauve color, she’d said when he’d asked her. She’d grabbed several pairs of tights at the shop when he’d told her to. He found himself grinning when he remembered how he’d stopped her from arguing about money with him. Just the thought made his cock come to attention all over again.
“I can’t help being nervous, Ice,” she pointed out, giving him one of her snippy looks.
He loved when she went all haughty on him. It was that “princess” look he loved so much. She rubbed her hands over her arms and he immediately realized she was cold, not just nervous. He preferred the cool coastal air in comparison to Vegas’s heat, and she was from San Francisco, but she didn’t have enough clothes. She needed sweaters and jackets. He’d have to get on that, especially since she never complained.
He took his jacket off and had her slip into it. Immediately she got that look on her face, the one he loved most, as if he were her white knight, the only one in the world. She looked at him as if he were a decent man. He’d even confessed that he’d been sober when he’d married her, that he’d deliberately plied her with liquor, and she still looked at him like that. She insisted she’d been the one to trick him into marriage. He was falling harder every day for her.
Ice threaded his fingers through hers and pulled her closer since she was reluctant to take a step away from the motorcycle. “Come on, baby, you’ll like everyone. They might look a little intimidating, but you’re family. Once you’re in, you’re not ever out. They’ll all accept you. You’re the one who will need the open mind to accept all of us.”
She nodded, but he could still feel the tremors running through her body, telling him her nerves hadn’t settled. Now that he knew more about her, he understood. She hadn’t felt a lot of acceptance in her life. Maybe that was what had made her more tolerant than most people. No one would ever believe a woman with her kind of money would settle for a biker. She had no real idea of their wealth—or where it came from: Code had stolen most of the money from criminals.
They moved in sync together as they walked from his motorcycle to the entrance of the clubhouse. He couldn’t help placing his hand on her bottom as she walked. He loved the way the muscles in the cheeks of her ass bunched and released. It was sexy as hell. He’d had her three times in the night. The first time he’d held her on the edge for over an hour. It had been a long hour for both of them, although they’d both gotten the benefit of prolonging the time before the explosion came. When it did, it had been more than spectacular.
He loved that she didn’t object to his touch ever. She wore a thong under the dress, and he felt the curve of her bare cheeks as she walked up to the clubhouse. He felt very connected to her. As he reached around her for the door, he rubbed her bottom, trying to convey strength and solidarity to her. He was there with her. For her. He wasn’t about to leave her on her own.
He leaned down to press his lips against her ear. “I’m right here with you. You feel afraid, you just look to me. I’ll take over until you feel safe again.”
She pressed back into him, her cheek in the palm of his hand, her eyes suddenly meeting his over her shoulder. Those eyes held something soft and tender. For him. He was asking her to meet the others, to trust them when she had no cause to, yet she gave him that look. Inside him, there was a curious melting sensation, and he knew he was falling harder than he’d ever thought possible. This woman could break him when nothing that had come earlier in his life ever had.
The common room held all the members of the club. Ordinarily, they would meet in their conference room, but Soleil wasn’t part of the club and she’d be much more comfortable in a less formal setting anyway.
Ice took her hand again as they went inside. Immediately he felt the squeeze of her fingers as she walked in with him. She looked regal, very much like the princess he called her, but he could feel trepidation pouring off her in waves. He wanted to wrap her up and carry her out of there.
Alena detached herself from the group and rushed to her side. “Soleil! How are you? Is my brother behaving?” She hugged Soleil to her and gave Ice a look over her shoulder. She felt his wife trembling and instantly blamed him. “Everyone’s here to help. We’ll find these people and make certain none of them ever come near you.”
Then Lana was there. She hugged Soleil as well. “I can’t believe you’re married to Ice. No one thought any woman could ever tame him. Is he treating you right? I can put the smackdown on him if you need me to.”
Soleil laughed and looked at him again, that same soft, tender expression on her face. He hadn’t let go of her hand, not even through the enthusiastic hugs of the two women who had full privileges in their club. F
or a moment he had resented them for taking her attention from him, and then he was grateful to them. The trembling wasn’t nearly as bad, and she was still looking at him as if he’d been the one to give her that reassurance.
“There’s no reason for a smackdown, although it’s nice to know you could deliver one if needed,” Soleil assured Lana.
She smiled at both Alena and Lana. Ice could see it was genuine.
“He’s incredibly good to me, although I can’t believe he got me to agree to stay married to him.”
“He can be very charming and persuasive,” Lana said. She looked all sweet when she was facing Soleil, but when she turned to him, she gave him her fierce “you’re dead” face.
Ice grinned at her. After all, he had the girl. “Had to get you drunk,” Ice reminded Soleil without a hint of remorse.
“I got you drunk,” she denied. She twisted the laminated paper ring she hadn’t taken off her finger.
Alena caught her hand. “Ice, is this what you’ll be making for her? It looks intricate.”
“Ice will make for me?” Soleil echoed.
“Didn’t he tell you? He’s a jeweler. His work is awesome and very coveted. No one really knows who he is, so that makes his custom pieces all the more sought-after.”
Soleil’s eyes widened when she turned and looked at him. “You’re Ice.”
He shrugged. “That’s what people call me.”
“No, you know what I mean. The designer. I actually have a pair of your earrings.” She touched her ears. She wore only small diamond studs. The rest of her jewelry, including the one-of-a-kind Ice earrings, was locked away in the safe at the hotel in San Francisco she resided in.
“I’ll make you a dozen pair of earrings,” he promised. “But first, our rings. I’m wearing one as well.”
“That will be good,” Lana said, an edge to her voice. “When you’re at parties, it will warn the women that you’re taken.”
He knew a threat when he heard it, and he couldn’t blame Lana. He’d orchestrated his seduction of Soleil, step by step, and stolen Lana’s little chick out from under her safety net.
“I’ll know I’m married, Lana,” he assured. He glanced at Absinthe, who was standing next to him. The man was a human lie detector. Ice couldn’t reassure Soleil using him, but he could Lana. He extended his arm to Absinthe, waiting until the pads of his brother’s fingers were on his pulse. “I am not ever going to cheat on my wife, Lana. I married her because she’s the one woman I know absolutely without a doubt is mine.”
He didn’t know how to put it any differently. He knew. It was that simple. Keeping her might be a problem because he had no clue what he was doing, but if he lost her, it wouldn’t be for lack of trying—or because he cheated.
Lana hadn’t been the only one watching. His brothers had gone silent and had watched his declaration. He wanted them to hear it. He needed them to know how important Soleil was to him. And he wanted them to always take care of her if he wasn’t around.
Storm came from behind them, wrapping an arm around both. He kissed the side of Soleil’s cheek. “You’re taming the beast, woman. Glad to have you as a sister, although the girl club is getting too big, now that Reaper has Anya and Steele, Breezy. And there’s Blythe.”
Alena nudged him with her foot. “Alena and Lana,” she added, glaring at her brother.
“You don’t count. I’m pretty sure you’re half—”
“Don’t you dare say it.” Alena shoved him. “Don’t fall for anything he has to say, Soleil. He thinks he’s charming.”
“I am charming. Now that Ice is taken, I’m going to be the hot one.”
“You’ve always been the hot one,” Ice said hastily.
Soleil had tensed, just a little, when his twin had wrapped his arm around the two of them. Ice was certain it was because she hadn’t liked waking up thinking she might have been with both of them. Storm had relayed what she’d first said when she’d woken. His twin had thought it was funny, and he had as well, but now she was uneasy in Storm’s company and he didn’t want that—not ever.
Ice leaned into her and put his lips against her ear. “I don’t share. Storm would never touch you. He thinks of you the way he does Alena. You’re mine, Soleil. Storm will love you like a brother, but you’re my woman. My wife. He knows and respects that. They all do.”
Some of the tension left her body. She smiled up at Storm and shook her head at the teasing his sister was giving his brother. Ice slipped his arm around her and led her to Czar, the president of their club.
Czar had been the ten-year-old boy who had masterminded the plan to keep them all alive in the hell they’d grown up in. He’d given them hope in their darkest times. He’d driven them to perfect their abilities. Czar had always believed every human being had some small psychic talent, but they hadn’t just worked on developing them. He’d made each of them work on theirs daily for hours.
Along with sharpening their assassin skills, he’d had them practicing whatever talents they had, small or large. He’d organized them to work as a pack, much like wolves, each with his or her job, so in the end, they’d turned the tables on their brutal instructors. They’d been children, but they’d been lethal. Now, as adults, they were even more deadly.
“Czar, Steele, this is my wife, Soleil. Soleil, Czar is the president of Torpedo Ink and Steele is the vice president.”
She smiled at them both and offered her hand, again looking like a princess. She made Ice’s heart stutter.
“I understand you just got married as well,” she said to Steele.
He nodded. “My woman’s name is Breezy. She’ll be excited to meet you. She’s home at the moment with our son. He picked up a bug while we were gone. Nothing scary, just the flu, but he’s definitely uncomfortable.”
Ice knew it was a sacrifice for Steele to leave his son when he was sick, especially since Steele was a doctor. He liked both his wife and his child close if possible. He was still getting used to having to allow Breezy out of his sight.
“That’s terrible. I hope he’s better soon,” Soleil said.
Czar took her hand and smoothed his fingers over hers. Ice had seen him do that many, many times in the past. Czar was somewhat of an enigma. He had many talents, but Ice didn’t know what all of them were. He found himself tense, wanting to snatch her hand away from Czar, but the man had always been the one who led their way. Ice had no idea why he felt so protective of Soleil in that moment.
Czar looked gallant as he smiled down at Soleil. “So, you’re the woman who stole Ice’s heart.” The president of Torpedo Ink suddenly looked straight at Ice. Those eyes hit him hard. Penetrated, like an arrow, warning Ice not to ever hurt this woman. Whatever Czar could read by taking her hand, she had his approval. Ice let out the breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. His club had his back, which meant they were all going to be vetting Soleil.
“I understand you’re in a little bit of trouble, Soleil,” Czar said. “I think we can help you with that.”
Soleil gave a slight shake of her head and took a step back. Ice’s heart dropped. All of them were rough-looking, scarred and products of their childhood. He couldn’t imagine how afraid she must be surrounded by complete strangers, all of whom looked like what they were—killers.
“I know you all think you can help me. Ice said the same thing. I really appreciate your kindness. I’ve never had anyone be so generous to me before as all of you have offered to be. It’s just that when I overheard them talking, I could tell they’d killed many times. I wasn’t going to be their first. They definitely killed my lawyer, and I have no idea how many are involved. I do know they have at least one cop and probably more than one. I tried to tell Ice, but he’s adamant that it doesn’t matter.”
She looked up at Ice, and that softness was there again. The look that said he was the only man in the room. Per
fection for her. He wanted to melt at her feet. He looked over her head to Czar, hoping his president could see why he was falling for her so fast. It wasn’t all sex like they thought. Like he thought. She was getting to him, getting under his skin and twisting around his heart.
Czar’s gaze held amusement. “I can see why you’d be concerned.”
She nodded. “All of you are very nice, and I don’t want these people to find you. I have no idea what they’d do to you, but I can imagine they would manufacture evidence and throw you in jail or something.”
Czar glanced around the room. Ice followed suit. Lana and Alena looked amused, in the same way Czar had. The rest of his brothers looked shocked, the way he felt. He was beginning to know her, and he shouldn’t be surprised, but he was. His little princess was determined to protect them. Protect his entire club.
“You’re all very important to Ice. You’re his family. The last thing I want is to be responsible for any of you getting hurt,” she continued.
Ice pulled her back against his body, his arms locking around her. He dropped his chin on top of her head. He had to hold her, or he’d carry her off to one of the rooms in the clubhouse and bury himself deep in the haven of her body. In his wildest dreams, he hadn’t conjured up a woman anywhere near as good as Soleil.
“I understand your concerns,” Czar said and waved them to the chairs. “But I think we can handle this group of con artists. We’ve had a little bit of practice in that area. Since they seem to be working out of San Francisco, that even makes it easier.”
Ice got the silent message and led Soleil to the armchairs that had been set up in a loose semicircle. The other members sat as well, with the exception of Reaper and Savage, who separated and positioned themselves in the shadows near the walls where they just seemed to blend in. Maestro remained behind Steele, draping himself against the wall as well. It was no coincidence that Absinthe sat on the other side of Soleil.
Vendetta Road Page 24
