Beyond Reckless

by Autumn Jones Lake

  Since we’re talking about my sister, the suggestion that she earned her patches by providing the club with sexual favors pisses me the fuck off.

  “We vote,” Murphy says, reaching out, and pulling Heidi into his lap. He wraps his arms around her, fully staking his claim.

  Merlin seems to ignore the death glare coming from Murphy. “Wrath must be a tough one to convince.”

  I snort because if Wrath was going to block an old lady, it would have been Hope. Even though he busted Rock’s balls over her, she got his yes on the first try. Wrath might have thought my sister was a brat when she was younger, but he also knows how much she loves the club. He never would’ve voted Heidi down.

  That’s how little the Wolf Knights know about how we operate.

  “Where is that big, scary bastard anyway?” Merlin asks.

  “He’s around here somewhere.”

  Murphy whispers something in Heidi’s ear and gives her a nudge. She pats my shoulder on her way past me.

  By the bar, I notice Trinity walk up and put her arm around my sister. Together, they chat up a few Wolf Knight ol’ ladies.

  Someone’s hand lands on my shoulder and I don’t need to look up to know it’s Wrath. He drops down into the chair next to me and raises an eyebrow. I give him a subtle nod and he turns his attention to Merlin.

  “You and Whisper make up?” Merlin asks, like the bumbling moron he’s known to be.

  “We’re cool,” Wrath says in a tone that conveys nothing. He could be cool with Whisper or Whisper’s mangled body could be in a dumpster out back. Hard to tell with Wrath.

  This entire night is giving me a headache. Why am I even here?

  Because Rock asked me to do it for the club.

  Now, to find a halfway smart bunny in this dump. Preferably one who spends most of her time tending to the guys in this clubhouse on a regular basis.

  Christ, the thought already has my skin crawling.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  My gaze strays to my sister as she flits from club girls to old ladies. Making friends with everyone.

  Murphy catches my eye and the corner of his mouth lifts. I don’t have to read his mind to know he’s proud of her.

  I scan the crowded clubhouse, disgusted by how many sexual acts are taking place right out in the open. Not that the same things haven’t gone on in our clubhouse, but at least it’s usually behind a door of some sort. Something about this clubhouse feels seedy and makes me want to take a shower.

  Who knew I was so uptight?

  Ulfric fucked up toward the end of his presidency, but at least he never ran the Wolf Knights this way. They’ve gone downhill under Merlin’s “leadership.”

  Ignoring the conversation around me, I scan the room again. Trying to find a bunny with a brain who hasn’t already fucked half the guys in the room tonight might be a challenge.

  A flash of pale skin and red hair catches my eye.

  No way.

  Impossible.

  It can’t be. She hates bikers. No way she’d be here.

  I’m seeing things.

  My struggle to pull myself off the ancient couch goes unnoticed at first. After my first attempt, Wrath glances over with a raised brow.

  “I’ll be right back,” I mumble. Behind me, Merlin’s fake-concerned voice asks one of the guys if I’m doing okay.

  No. I’m not okay at all.

  I lose sight of my prey, but then pick her up turning a corner.

  It’s not her. It looks like her, but this is the last place she’d ever be.

  She stops to talk to another girl. Now this girl looks like she belongs here. She also knows the one I’m pursuing and uses her name.

  Son of a bitch.

  When the other girl leaves, we’re alone in the hallway. She still hasn’t noticed me behind her, so I make my move.

  Sneaking up as fast as my bad leg allows, I wrap my arm around her waist and lean down to whisper in her ear, “You dirty little hypocrite.”

  She struggles out of my hold and turns. Her jaw drops but no sounds come out of her mouth.

  “What are you doing here, Charlotte?” I growl at her, taking her by the elbow and steering her up against the wall.

  “Get your hands off me,” she snarls back, slapping my hands away. This is a whole different side of Charlotte. Not the cool, calm professional I saw a few days ago. Almost makes me wonder if she has some evil twin sister in the universe and I just ran into her at a rival MC’s party.

  She straightens up and pokes her finger in my chest. “My uncle is a member. You keep manhandling me, you’re going to get your ass kicked.”

  Once the information sinks in, I drop my hold on her and stagger back a step. Not because I’m worried about an ass-kicking from one of these old fucks, though. “You’re family to the Wolf Knights?”

  Her face scrunches into a scowl and she taps her chest. “Yes.”

  Distracted by her tits—from what I remember, they were fucking beautiful. A nice overflowing handful that I really want to put my mouth on—I don’t notice what she’s actually pointing out. Her Wolf Knights MC T-shirt.

  “How the fuck did you become a lawyer?”

  “None of your business.”

  Something worse occurs to me. “You use my sister to get information on my club?”

  “What? No!” She shoves her hands against my chest, pushing me back. “No, you asshole. I didn’t even know you were a King until your grandmother’s funeral.”

  Of course she didn’t. Heidi’s tighter-lipped about the club than I am. The anger inside me dials down a bit. Remembering my night with Charlotte, a slow smile spreads over my face. “How is that even possible?” I turn, lifting my shirt to show her the Lost Kings MC tattoo that takes up almost my entire back. Got it on the two-year anniversary of patching into the club.

  When I face her again, my meaning sinks in and her cheeks turn rosy pink. “It’s not like I pegged you.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind.” She smacks me in the chest. I’m really starting to enjoy her hands on me, even if she is totally pissed off. “I never saw it.”

  I step into her again, basically pinning her to the wall. Her hands flutter between us, probably to push me away, so I take them and pin them to her sides. Her breath hitches. That’s right, I haven’t forgotten the way she likes it. “So, what do we do about this?”

  She stares at me, eyes widening, chest heaving. “Do about what?”

  “This. Us.”

  “There’s no us.”

  The distinctive click of a gun cocking next to my head freezes me in place.

  “Take your fucking hands off her.” The low-spoken words come from my left.

  “Carter, knock it off,” Charlotte says, wriggling free of my hold.

  Careful, in case this crazy fuck has a slippery trigger finger, I raise my hands and take a step back.

  Turning slowly, I almost laugh when I see the punk holding the gun. This can’t be her ol’ man. No way. He can’t be older than twenty-two or three. “Easy,” I say, hoping to calm him down.

  “Chill, bro. It’s not even loaded,” he says, dropping the hand holding the gun and laughing.

  Quicker than the kid can track, I rip the gun out of his hand and flip open the chamber to confirm it’s empty.

  “Marcel, don’t,” Charlotte begs.

  Tucking the gun in my waistband, I move in and throw a punch right in the kid’s smug face. He lands on his ass, grinning like an idiot.

  “Never point an unloaded gun at someone, asshole. Good way to get yourself killed.”

  The little punk actually laughs. “Oh, I like him, sis. Big improvement over—”

  “Shut up, Carter.”

  The kid—Carter, I guess—holds his hand out and I lean over to help him up. He’s not wearing a Wolf Knights MC cut. A T-shirt, similar to Charlotte’s, identifies him as family. He’s still laughing and brushing dirt off his pants when I glance at Charlotte. “He all there?”

&nb
sp; She sighs. “Some days I’m not so sure.”

  I raise an eyebrow, hoping she’ll explain. She blows out a frustrated breath. “This is my brother, Carter.”

  All traces of humor vanish from Carter’s face. He pokes a finger in my chest, over my Lost Kings MC patch. “Listen, King. You hurt my sister, and next time the gun will be loaded.”

  I laugh because this is probably some sort of big brother karma biting my ass. “Understood. It’s Teller, by the way.”

  The kid lifts his shoulders like he doesn’t care what I want him to call me. “Your crew bring any chicks with ’em?” he asks. Damn, this kid is one brazen little shit.

  “Yeah, my SAA’s ol’ lady and my little sister, so stay the fuck away from both of ’em.”

  “Text me,” he yells to Charlotte before darting away.

  “You brought Heidi here?”

  “She’s with Murphy. She’s fine. Good for her to get out of the house once in a while.” The lie rolls off my tongue easily. Not like I’m going to explain that my president was hoping Heidi might overhear some dirt.

  “Murphy will watch her?”

  “Fuck yeah. Never takes his damn eyes off her.” Part of me is amused and touched that she’s so concerned about my sister.

  Part of me also wonders what the fuck she’s worried will happen in her uncle’s clubhouse.

  Jesus Christ, she’s related to a Wolf Knight.

  Our clubs get along. Sort of.

  Lately though, we’ve had issues with them. Getting involved with Charlotte could either be a good way to gather intel or my most reckless act yet.

  Getting involved. For fuck’s sake.

  I brush back a few loose strands of her fiery hair and tuck them behind her ear. “So this is the reason why you were so scared at my grandmother’s funeral?”

  She blinks a few times and turns her head. “Yes.”

  “I wish you’d told me.” I lower my voice. “I’m sorry I threatened you.”

  Her head turns so quick, she almost hits my nose. “You’re what?”

  “I felt like an asshole. But the stuff you said about my club…about us being a gang…I was worried you’d make trouble for my sister and I couldn’t—”

  “I never would have—” She shakes her head. “I’m not crazy.”

  “Hey.” I brush the back of my hand over her cheek. “It was a really bad day for me.”

  “I shouldn’t have said what I did.” Her expression softens and her body relaxes. “I overreacted and I felt terrible afterwards.” Finally, she meets my eyes. “It rattled me.”

  Goddamn. This woman excites the hell out of me. Feisty and fighting me one minute. Soft and sweet the next.

  My leg’s starting to burn like a bitch, but no way am I letting Charlotte leave or showing any weakness in this clubhouse. Instead, I brace my hands against the wall, caging her in. “Now, what are we going to do about this?” She opens her mouth, probably to tell me off again. The thought fires me up. For some reason, I want to give her all kinds of honesty. “I think about you a lot, Charlotte.”

  Her face locks back into her fierce expression. “Oh, please.”

  I grit my teeth as her gaze darts down the hallway. No one else better interrupt us.

  “I’m shocked you even remembered who I was.”

  “You’re impossible to forget.” No, I’ve had lots of thoughts about Charlotte since the last time I saw her. Regret for threatening her. Never figured we could work because we were too fucking different. This? Tonight changes everything. “Haven’t stopped thinking about you since the other day.”

  “Bullshit.”

  I’m not used to being challenged so damn much. From Charlotte, I kind of like it. “We ran into each other tonight for a reason.”

  “Are you serious? What kind of biker says shit like that?”

  Fuck, she’s hot when she’s all pissed off. I lean down, pressing her tighter against the wall. “This one.”

  Her hands land on my chest. To push me away I think, at first. Instead, her hands slide up and over my shoulders. Bracing myself with my elbows against the wall, I brush my lips against hers.

  She pulls back as much as she can with me right up in her face. “We shouldn’t do this…This is a bad idea.”

  “I’m full of bad ideas.”

  “I bet you are.” She flattens her palms against my chest, pushing me back a fraction of an inch. “If you came to hook up with some muffler bunny, I’m sorry to disappoint you.” She tilts her head toward the main room where the party’s in full swing. “I’m sure you can find someone else for entertainment.”

  I brush my lips against her ear and enjoy her shiver. “I’m not interested in being entertained. I’m interested in you.”

  “Bullshit,” she whispers.

  “Tell me you never think about me and I’ll go back to the party right now.”

  This can’t be happening.

  Marcel—Teller—in front of me.

  Claiming he still thinks about me.

  That he’s sorry for the way he acted at his grandmother’s funeral.

  When I’m the one who should’ve apologized for being such a rotten bitch that day.

  I can’t deny that in the back of my head I’d wondered, maybe hoped a little that he’d be here tonight. I didn’t let myself think it because I know damn well it would be a disaster.

  This is a disaster.

  “Charlotte?” he prompts with an edge of exasperation.

  This needs to end before one of us gets hurt.

  Besides, all these guys are the same. He’s only excited to see me because he probably wants some dirt on my uncle’s club to bring back to his president and thinks he can fuck the info out of me. While I may not have any warm fuzzy loyalty to my uncle’s club, the idea of being used in some idiotic turf war between the two clubs holds no appeal.

  I poke him in the ribs. “It’s a good thing you have that big dick to make up for your annoying personality.”

  His expression shifts. If I didn’t know better, I might think I hit a nerve. Hurt his feelings. He rebounds quickly though, whispering against my ear, “Yeah, if I remember right, you liked that big dick a whole lot.”

  What a stupid invitation. Did I really think mentioning his dick was going to cool him off? What’s wrong with me?

  “Now, stop fucking around and tell me what I want to know,” he demands with the full authority of a man who’s certain of the answer he’s about to receive.

  My lips part. To tell him to fuck off, that I barely even remember his name. But that’s a whopper of a lie and if there’s one thing I pride myself on, it’s honesty.

  Even when that honesty will be my undoing.

  I meet his haunted blue eyes and my entire body screams to give him the truth.

  Before I have a chance to get the words out, he swoops in, pressing his lips against mine. His kiss is so hard and hungry, he steals my breath. My hands clutch his shoulders, pulling him closer, my fingers twist in his hair. Everything in me begs to get closer. My body remembers him well.

  “I think about you.” My whispered admission falls out of my mouth the second we part.

  “That’s good,” he says in a low voice. “Even if you lied and told me to fuck off, I don’t think I could walk away.”

  Jesus.

  The corners of his mouth curl up and he’s the devilish country boy I remember. “Now.” He dips down closer, stopping to suck at a spot right below my ear. “What do you think about?”

  “Uh.” My mind blanks. I can’t think of anything except the amazing body hidden under denim and black leather. How sweet he was even when he was rough. How demanding, but tender.

  His lips kiss and nip at my neck and jaw. “Do you think about how thoroughly I fucked you? How hard I made you come?”

  Yes, yes, yes. My body’s alive and tingling with every memory.

  It doesn’t feel like defeat to admit it. “All of that.” I keep my arms looped around his neck and he drops his foreh
ead to mine, giving me the feeling that we’re the only two people in the universe.

  Right now, I wish we were.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  The longer we stand here, the more danger we’re both in. Any second now, Murphy or Heidi could decide to come check on me. Having either of them find us together will ruin my plan to get Charlotte alone.

  “Is there somewhere else we can go talk?” I ask.

  She slicks her tongue over her top lip and I groan. I want that tongue on my cock, my mouth, and everywhere in between.

  Her gaze darts down the hall and back to me. “Did you bring your bike?”

  Isn’t that a bucket of ice water over my dick?

  “No.”

  “What do you want to talk about?” she asks.

  “You. Me. I—” Fuck, I might as well lay it all out. “After the other day, I was planning to call you or come see you. When I…” My voice trails off and I gesture at my leg. Christ, I feel like a pussy.

  She narrows her eyes, taking me in more carefully. “You’re not using your cane today?”

  I cock my head but don’t respond.

  “Rival club. Got it,” she mutters. “We should probably get out of here, don’t you think?”

  Wary, in case it’s a trap, I nod. Inside, I’m both excited and cautious.

  I want to fuck her.

  But I don’t trust her one hundred percent.

  Her uncle’s a Wolf Knight for fuck’s sake.

  “My truck’s in the parking lot.”

  She presses herself tighter against my body, then reaches around me and jams her hand in my back pocket, pulling out a gold foil square.

  “What’s this? You came prepared to fuck the first muffler bunny you saw?”

  “Yeah,” I answer honestly. “But I’m glad I ran into you instead.”

  “Ugh.” She curls her lip in disgust and I pluck the condom out of her hand, tucking it back in my pocket. “I’m not fucking you in your truck like some—”

  I place my hand over her mouth. “I didn’t say you were. That’s not what I want either.”

  She tries to shake me off. But I’m not finished.

  “I’m guessing you’d rather not have my sister see you here?”