“Madwoman.” I wink and the corner of her mouth twitches with a hint of a smile.
Her head tips back and she closes her eyes while her face washes over with defeat. “I’m so lost.”
My chest painfully restricts when I hear the torn emotions in her words. I wrap my arms around her. “You’re not lost. Not when I just found you.”
Our eyes lock before our lips merge. Her body leans against me as our kiss turns into a passionate comfort.
CHAPTER THREE
– MAYVEN –
A kiss is just that, a kiss. Lips connected while teasing one another for the next step. Which leads to finding release one way or another. But when Ledger kisses me it’s as if he lights my body up with unstoppable heat.
He creates awareness of my nipples, tingles spreading low in my belly, while my pussy softens and starts to beg for attention from this man. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced and it makes me crave for more to explore how it would be if he actually slides inside me.
I was so pissed when he mentioned the easy lay part. Tactics might not be one of his strong points, but he does get extra points for being up front about wanting a relationship instead of a one-time thing. I don’t think I’ve ever met a guy who pushed back making out or having sex because they wanted to have a “let’s get serious” talk.
My brother is a biker and it makes me very aware how different they are. Possessive. Overbearing. Dominating. Taking no bullshit while their word is law. Like Colt mentioned to Ledger, he’s warned me loads of times if I was ever to come over and visit him.
And I guess he wasn’t overreacting either. Alfie with the urge to get inside my panties. Ledger here stating his claim within hours of knowing me. But the way he kisses drains away all of my worries until there’s only the here and now; his mouth, our lips, our tongues battling while my heart flutters.
A groan rumbles through his chest when he pulls away, gripping the back of my neck while he places his forehead against mine. “Just so you know… Best. Fucking. Kiss. Ever.”
I’m still stunned when he creates distance between us as he laces his fingers with mine and takes me with him inside Colt’s house.
“One or three scoops, sis?” Colt asks as he strolls into the living room.
I would like to say one seeing all the extra scoops always go straight to my ass, but I could really use the sweetness.
“Three,” I grumble.
“Good. Otherwise I’d have to fix you another cup.” Colt shoots me a grin and places the mug in front of me as I sink down on the couch.
I swallow at the emotion clogging my throat. “Thanks,” I croak and I can’t help but add, “I missed you.”
Colt leans over and places a kiss on the top of my head as he murmurs, “Missed you too, sis.”
Ledger strolls out of the kitchen. “You could have made me a cup.”
Colt ignores him and keeps his eyes locked with mine. “Now, start talking. Why were you at the clubhouse of your roommate’s MC while I specifically told her not to bring you there?”
Specifically told her…he what? “When did you talk with Kay?”
Colt gives me one of his self-absorbed smirks. “Kadence didn’t mention meeting me, did she?”
Something clicks inside my head and I seriously need to take a deep breath and not think back when my roommate asked me about, and I quote, “my sex-on-a-dynamite-stick brother.” She’s eight freaking years younger than him for crying out loud.
“Checking into my personal stuff wasn’t enough of an intrusion? You needed to threaten her too?” I hiss through clenched teeth, knowing very well how my brother used to stomp all over my personal space.
“MC princess, May. You didn’t pick a normal roommate, so I didn’t have a choice,” he sighs as if all of this is my fault.
“She didn’t drag us there to party in case you’re assuming something like that. Her father died, it was the day of the funeral. A funeral, dammit, and I left her there. Though, she was with her mother. And I did mention I would leave early so she wouldn’t have to worry about me…she could stay with her mother, but still…I left her.”
“Watching someone kill another person gives you the right for self-preservation, May. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. But I do think you need to call Kadence to let her know you’re with me. Not to give her any suspicion and you could even use the funeral as an excuse for the need to have your own family close. You know, missing me ‘cause I’m lovable and shit.”
“You’re annoying, that’s what you are,” I grumble. “And it’s Kay. No one calls her Kadence. She’d punch you in the balls if you call her Kadence.”
“May and Kay. Roomies. You two sure rhyme. And no, she didn’t punch me in the balls when I repeatedly called her Kadence. In fact, I’d say she would rather lick my balls instead.”
“You did not just say that,” I growl and snatch a pillow from behind me to throw at my brother’s head. “You’re way too old for her you pervert.”
“You should inform your little friend. I could tell by the look in her eyes she’d like a ride from this cowboy, and not the horsey kind either.”
I close my eyes and try to shove the last moments of this conversation out of my head.
“Enough, old horndog,” Ledger snaps.
I feel the couch shift and an arm wraps around me to pull me close. Ledger’s scent–spicy with a hint of leather–wraps around me.
“Tell us exactly what you saw,” Ledger says as his thumb slowly strokes my hip.
I take a deep breath and start to explain, “I needed to go to the bathroom. I took my purse with me and when I walked out of the bathroom I stupidly made a wrong turn and ended up in the backyard. Everyone else was inside the clubhouse but when I walked outside I actually liked the breath of fresh air. Until I saw two people arguing. One had the other at gunpoint. I saw the gun. I didn’t hear a shot but I know he killed him. I saw the other guy’s body jerk and go down. I couldn’t move. I recognized the killer, he’s the VP. Kay’s brother. He spat and cursed, kicked the man he shot. The man was on the ground and didn’t move. That’s when I turned and left. Everyone in the clubhouse was focused on Kay’s mother who was crying hysterically. They didn’t notice when I slipped out the door. I ran for two blocks until I was at the bus stop. I wanted to call you but then I realized Kay had my phone. Thank fuck I had my purse with some money.”
Colt grabs his phone from the table and holds it out to me. “Do you know Kadence’s number? You should send her a text. Tell her you felt too emotional with the funeral and had to visit me.”
“Smart,” Ledger states.
I can only nod. It sounds acceptable, maybe she’ll believe me. “She must be worried,” I muse and thumb off a message with exactly what Colt said, also adding the fact I’m using my brother’s phone.
She instantly replies back and I voice it out loud to let Colt and Ledger know, “She understands but misses me. She asks if she can visit too, she could use a short vacation.”
I quickly type a reply how I miss her too and will talk to her soon.
“How did her father die?” Ledger questions.
I shake my head. “I have no idea. She didn’t tell me. Like Colt mentioned, she didn’t visit the clubhouse all that much. She did visit her parents at their house but would never discuss club related stuff. Besides, like me, she was also focused on classes and life, you know how it is…I would call Colt once or twice and then some months, nothing. That’s probably how it was for her too. Though she was close with her mother when it came to text messages.”
“Take her into the new cabin we finished building last month,” Colt says. “I don’t want her staying in a cabin this remote and if you’re close to the clubhouse it will give the tight security we need right now. I have no clue if the VP saw he had a witness when he started shooting, but I won’t take any chances either.”
Ledger nods. “You got it.”
“Do you think they’ll come after me? I don’t think he saw me,
though.”
“You turned your back and went inside. It takes a fucking second to see your back or hear a door slam behind you if you went inside. You suddenly leaving, her brother killing someone and hearing you left without a word…it raises suspicions. Better safe than someone coming for my sister.”
“Agreed,” Ledger growls through clenched teeth.
Colt’s phone indicates he has an incoming text message. I reach out to see if it’s Kay but Colt snatches up the phone before I can. “My phone, May.”
I jump to my feet, knowing exactly what he’s doing. “You leave her alone.”
“Relax, sis. I’m not going to do anything. She knows you’re here with me. But what I am going to do is get into the background of that MC and see what’s going on with those guys. With their Prez dead, the VP killing someone on club grounds, I’d say shit has hit the fan. But you’re going to relax and leave it to us. Now, with Ledger here claiming you…it gives you food for thought. Food. Hey, this means I finally get you close and you’re going to make delicious things for me every day, right? And before you start to protest, think shit through. And seeing you’ll have time on your hands, how about you and I train the horse you were handling when you got here?”
His ramblings throw a storm of thoughts lose in my head. Old Lady. Moving here. Work. Horse. Crap. One moment in time and my life has turned upside down.
“Come on,” Ledger says and places his hand on the small of my back. “Let’s get you settled first. You don’t have to think about anything but a shower, some food in your belly, and a bed to sleep in.”
Colt is engrossed in his phone. That’s a first. We leave him to it and I let Ledger lead me out the door and to his bike. They are right. I came here for help, knowing I couldn’t go back. I don’t know if Kay’s brother saw me or not but when I left without letting Kay know, it made it obvious something was wrong. I wrap my arms around Ledger and hold tight as we head back to the ranch.
When he’s parked the bike and we stroll past the stables, I can’t help but be concerned. “Mind if we check on Coffee first?”
“Toby?” Ledger chuckles. “Sure.”
The horse is clearly dozing but when I grab the bars, he quickly steps aside in an effort to move away from me.
“Are you guys training to sell him?” I question, sliding my hand through the bars and just keeping it out to let Toby see I’m not forcing anything.
“Most of the horses we have here we’ve either bought or bred ourselves. We train them and when they’re ready they’re sold. Though some stay or when one of us likes a certain horse they can claim one.”
I tilt my head toward Ledger. “How many have you claimed?”
A sly smile spreads his face. “Besides you?”
I roll my eyes in an effort to play it off as a joke. But my cheeks heat with the realization he actually meant it. Shit. How could I forget the fact this man claimed me as his old lady? A relationship. Though it might be insane, any woman with a good pair of eyes in her head only has to glance at him and they would beg to have his cowboy boots underneath their bed every night.
I direct my eyes at the horse in front of me, who is now stretching his neck in an effort to sniff my fingers, when I softly rephrase my question. “How many horses have you claimed?”
“One. I don’t have the time or need to have more. Roper, my VP, who you’ve met when you came here, he has several. Weston has a few but only because he likes to have an older one for easy and slow rides, one with spunk, and one he knows can handle the livestock if we need to herd them to change pastures. But we sometimes use our bikes to move them too.”
“What?” I gasp. “You’re not serious, are you?”
A grin slides on his face. “Dead serious. Our cattle are used to our bikes.”
Toby’s nose is so freaking soft. “I’ve missed riding. I miss having horses around.”
Ledger steps away and I watch how he grabs something from a shelf and comes back. He squats down and starts to write on Toby’s stall. Curious to see what he’s doing, I come up behind him and feel a smile spread my face.
“Are you serious?” I repeat, but on the inside my heart is filling with joy.
“That’s twice now you questioned my words,” he murmurs and stands to cup the side of my face. “I’m always serious, Mayven. You and I are serious. Me giving you this horse is serious. And everything else I say or do will always be fucking serious.”
“Well, excuse me for hardly believing the kindness I’m being overwhelmed with. I’m not used to it, okay? And I don’t even know you. We have barely spent half a day together and you’re ready to shove a ring around my finger and–”
“I said no marriage. You’re my old lady,” he easily corrects me.
I must be out of my mind to ask this, but I guess curiosity almost killed me the last time so why stop now? “Why don’t you want to marry me?”
The man actually winces as if the thought is horrendous.
“Okay, I might not be a girl who has always dreamed about the perfect wedding and made scrapbooks filled with pictures from magazines with flowers, dresses, freaking churches, and whatever. But I did think somewhere in the back of my head that I wanted to end up with a man who values me the way I value him. And to take me off the freaking market. But it's written all over your face how the mere thought of us linked in the name of the law repels you. Have a nice life, Ledger. Clearly, we do not match after all, no matter how much our bodies light up when we touch.”
“All because I don’t give a shit about a piece of paper binding two people together? My mother hopped from husband to husband until she was too old to switch. I think she would have liked to be buried in a wedding dress, but I guess the husband that killed her gave shit about that choice because he had her cremated before they arrested his ass for murder. My real father? I have no fucking clue who he is. So, no. I don’t value marriage at all. I’ve seen enough wedding dresses due to my mother and enough weddings she made me sit through. Vows are lies and empty words. Those who commit do it for themselves, not to show the world who they belong to. My president and my VP both have an old lady. Every action, every thought is always made with their woman in the back of their mind. There’s a world of difference and you might not understand values the way I do.” His chest is heaving and he inhales deep before slowly letting his breath slide out. “My VP asked his lady to marry him. She didn’t want to marry. Because the first man who asked her to marry him only did it to steal the one thing she held dear: her horse. In the end they killed the fucking horse and she was not only deceived, betrayed, hurt, and robbed, but marriage held no value to her either. Actions and words ring louder than a piece of paper with a signature.”
Now it’s my turn to wince. “Sorry.”
“You didn’t know. Now you do. And for the record? Roper and Cassidy are married. I helped give her a little nudge. The woman was in labor but refused to give birth until he put the ring on her finger. They’re fucking happy. It’s not because of a slip of paper or some metal around a finger. For them it was a bonus, a crown on top of what they already had.”
“Noted.” I give him a small smile. “Any other things you repel, hold dear, or will run for the hills over?”
He leans closer and I feel his hot breath as he whispers, “So much to say. So many things to know, but we’re better off to get to know each other going head to head like we did just now.”
“Fine. But if you think the whole speech about ‘I’m never going to marry’ switching to a happy ending for Roper and Cassidy leaves me holding my breath wishing there’s a chance you’ll change your mind…You’re wrong. You just screwed up my whole marriage dream,” I huff and act as if I need to wipe away my nonexistent tears.
His eyebrows scrunch up and there are emotions sliding through his gorgeous eyes while his thoughts clearly mull over my words.
“I’m kidding!” I squeak. “Ugh. Pay attention. I just mentioned I never had the whole marriage dream. I just don’
t like people who shove a big fat no down my throat without giving me the option to swallow. In other words…communication is the key. We should talk more, assume less. And eat. I’m hungry. And thank you for the horse. I don’t think anyone has ever given me something so thoughtful and endearing. Honestly, from the bottom of my never-to-be-married heart, I thank you.”
His raspy chuckle makes my belly flop. “You’re something, Mayven. But me giving you the horse is utter selfishness. It’s another reason to keep you tied to this place.”
The self-assured smile he gives me, the longing look in his eyes, and those full lips which feel so damn good, give me a solid reason to stay right here. For now, I have no intention of leaving. With what I witnessed in the blink of an eye I know tomorrow can be gone with a twist of a finger.
“Many reasons to leave, many reasons to stay,” I tell him and shamelessly admit on a whisper, “But there’s no place I’d rather be than exploring this moment with you.”
His mouth crashes against mine, giving me another reason never to let go.
CHAPTER FOUR
– LEDGER –
“And where is she now?” Weston asks as he crosses his arms in front of his chest.
I glance in the direction of the hallway where my room is located. “Taking a shower while I get you up-to-date. Colt will give you a full briefing but you also need to know I claimed her as mine.”
Weston raises his eyebrow and the way his eyes narrow while his lip twitches, I just fucking know he’s going to aggravate me. “Just like that? She walks in and you figure she’s ripe for the picking?”
Anger spikes and I try like hell to shove it down. “With all due respect, Prez, you don’t know her. And the little time I spent with her was enough for me to know she’s everything I want in a woman: I’m sure she’s mine. And she’s Colt’s sister for fuck’s sake.”
“My point, Ledger. You’re not the type to jump in the middle of something and take lead. You’re the silent, watch from a distance, sneak up and kill them without blinking type. From what I’ve seen and heard you staked claim even before Alfie tried to make a move.”
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