CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Tink’s mouth fell open. “What?”
“People talk, Tink. You ought to know that. Did you think that wouldn’t get back to me?”
“Damn Skylar and Jessie! Who told you?”
“Ghost, but don’t try and sidetrack the conversation. Why the hell would you think I slept with her? Which I did not, by the way.”
“I saw you together at the gym.”
“Is that suppose to explain it? You saw us together, so right away I must have banged her?”
“Well, she was hitting on you!”
“Babe, a lot of women hit on me; doesn’t mean I’ve fucked them all.”
“You don’t know my sister. Raven gets what Raven wants.”
“Tink, look at me. Do I look like the kind of man who lets the chick run the show?”
Her eyes dropped down his body. Aside from the fact he was a patched member of the baddest club in the state? No, he did not.
“Alexandra?” Now he was just rubbing in the fact that he knew her real name.
“Bodie?” She gave it right back at him.
He grinned. “So, we got that straightened out? You gonna stop avoiding me like I’ve got the clap from now on?
She couldn’t hold the snort in, but she didn’t reply.
“Babe?”
“Okay, fine.”
“Good. Glad we got that cleared up.” He stopped at a light. “So, tell me something. You come from that neighborhood. How in the hell did you end up hanging around the MC?”
“I was in a bar and grill with my date. It was New Year’s Eve actually. My sister showed up. She hit on him, and next thing I knew he was leaving with her.”
Hammer gave her an incredulous look. “You’re kiddin’, right?”
“Nope.” She looked out the window. Last thing she wanted to do was talk about Raven.
“Hey.” He put his hand on her knee, and she met his gaze. His palm was big and warm, and she liked it there. Suddenly all she could think about was that hand moving higher up her thigh.
A flush of heat radiated through her body. “What?”
“Talk to me. I want to know who you are.” His voice was deep and low in the confines of the truck. It felt intimate and warm.
“There’s not much to tell.”
“Bullshit. Finish the story. Your sister do that crap to you a lot?”
Tink ran her hand down her jeans, brushing away invisible lint. It was hard to admit her own sister treated her that way. “Sort of.”
“Sort of?”
“If I’ve got something, she wants it. Always. Doesn’t matter what it is. I don’t know why; she’s the prettier one. Anyway, that night—”
Hammer held his hand up. “Stop right there. She is not the prettier one.”
Tink glanced away, letting his compliment roll off her back. Why should she believe his words? He was just being nice. “Anyway, after they both left, Shades approached me. He happened to be there of all places. Guess he saw what happened. Asked me if I wanted a drink. I told him I was too young to drink. I was only eighteen at the time, so he said he knew a party where I wouldn’t have to worry about getting carded.”
“The clubhouse,” Hammer filled in the details.
“Yeah.”
Hammer glanced out his side window, his jaw tightening. “I remember that night. The club’s New Year’s Eve party. That was back before he got the VP patch.”
“I guess.”
“That was the first time I laid eyes on you. I remember thinking you looked young, younger than the girls Shades usually brought around.”
“We never slept together, if that’s what you’re wondering. He was nice to me, that’s all. I don’t know why exactly, but he took me under his wing, like a little sister.”
Hammer nodded. “That he did. And you kept hangin’ around after that.”
“Yes.” She lifted her chin. “Didn’t you and the guys want me around?”
“We wanted you. That was the problem. No one was allowed to touch you. Well, at least at first we weren’t. After awhile—I guess it must’ve been once you turned twenty-one—Shades pulled that restriction off you.”
“Hmm, I guess that explains it, then.”
“Explains what?”
“Why no one hit on me, then all of a sudden”—she turned to look at him—“you were the only one. Why?” He ran a hand down his face, exhaling heavily. “Hammer?”
“I kinda claimed you.”
“Claimed me?” She couldn’t believe this.
He shrugged. “I warned ‘em all off you. I was interested, and I didn’t want you sleepin’ with my brothers.”
“So, they backed off?”
“Yup.”
“Because of you?”
“Fat lot of good it did me, huh? They gave me hell for the way you kept blowing me off.”
She shut up. She didn’t want to get in an argument with him, and she sure as hell didn’t want to bring up the fact that she’d been so stupid all this time.
He picked up Red Mountain Expressway and took it up past Vulcan then down the other side into Southside. A pretty view of the city lights came into view as they came over the mountain.
“Sixteenth Street is one-way. You have to go down and turn left at the next street and double back.
Hammer glanced at the bar on the right as he slowed to make the turn. They could hear the music of a band radiate out onto the street. He lifted his chin toward it. “Zydeco’s. Ever been there? I saw Tab Benoit play there a few years ago. Great show.”
She shook her head. “I’ve never been.”
He made the turn, zigzagging back up the hill as she directed. He slowed as they came down the street. The wipers still swished across the windshield, and he peered out, checking out the neighborhood.
She wondered briefly if he was memorizing the way to her place.
She lived in an older section of town. The hill on the left was steep, and the homes had cement stairs that climbed up from the street. Some had tiny garages carved into the hillside, so narrow only a Model T or some other car from long ago could have fit into them back when the homes were built. “It’s down on the end. There’s the drive.”
Hammer slowed and looked up at the two-story red brick building. It sat up on the hill. “How old is this place?”
“It was built in 1920.”
“Cool.”
“Not really. It’s kind of run down and the rooms are tiny as hell.”
“Lord, do you have to climb those steps every day? There must be at least thirty of them sons-a-bitches.”
She glanced at the stone steps, illuminated by the lamppost. They led up from the sidewalk to the front door. “I use the back entrance.”
Hammer looked at the driveway. “Damn, that’s steep.”
“Yep, but the view’s worth it.”
He turned in and gunned the engine to get to the top.
“Be careful. Once you get up, there’s not a lot of turning room.”
They made it to the top, and he spun the wheel hard to the right. There were a line of cars parked. “Christ, it’s tight up here. Am I gonna have to back this beast down that hill?”
“You can back up onto that gravel area. It’s the neighbor’s, but we all do it.”
He looked in the rearview mirror, then his side mirror. “Can’t see shit with the rain.”
He pulled forward, blocking in all the other cars, and shut off the engine. “So, tell me something—you hanging out at the clubhouse—what’s that about?”
She unbuckled her seatbelt. “What do you mean?”
“I mean I just got a look at where you live, where you come from—hell, babe you’ve got a fucking library in your house. What the hell are you doing hanging out with me and the boys?”
She looked out the rain-streaked window; they were already starting to fog, and she traced her finger down it. “My parents always had expectations of me, you know—things they knew Raven would never give them.
” She turned to him. “You saw my dad, Raven, the portrait of my mother—I’m not like any of them. I don’t look like them, I don’t think like them, I don’t see the world like them. Sometimes I feel like I was dropped into this family.”
“Where does the MC fit in?”
“I thought I could have a part of me there Raven couldn’t touch. Maybe I could reinvent myself, be the me my parents don’t understand—the girl I always was on the inside. There I’m free, with no expectations to be what my parents want—nurse, good girl, smart girl. They always wanted so much from me; while Raven was the pretty one who got away with everything, and they never expected anything from her.”
Hammer listened without comment, without trying to fix it for her like some guys did. She liked that.
“I guess I just need to figure out my path in life. That’s one thing I admire about you, Hammer. You know your path; it’s rock solid. You’re so sure about it.”
“Yeah, now. Wasn’t always that way, babe.”
“No?”
He shook his head. “Growing up, my dad was an asshole, treated my ma like shit, treated me like shit; I was a big disappointment to him.”
“What did he do for a living?”
Hammer huffed out a laugh. “Gambled mostly.”
“Really? He made a living doing that?”
“Nope. My ma’s family had a car dealership.”
“Right, Besserman Cadillac.”
“Yeah. Well, when her parents died and left it to her, my father took over. Wasn’t long before he ran it into the ground. Gambled away almost all the money she’d been left. When that was gone, he drank himself to death. Only thing Ma had left when he died was the house she still lives in and that piece of property where my house is built.
“That’s sad.”
“Yup, but it’s not the worst. Found out after the old man died he’d been abusing my sister all these years. I suppose it’s the reason she ended up doing drugs and hooking up with a string of men.”
“That’s horrible.”
Hammer slouched back against his door. He blew out a slow breath. “I wish I’d known. I would have killed him for her.”
Tink studied him. He was a good guy who loved his mother and sister. She wished she’d taken the time to get to know him sooner.
“Are you worried about her?”
He nodded. “She’s done shit like this before, but she’s never taken off for this long without even calling to check on her son. That’s not like her. I mean she should never have had a child, not with the life she’s leading, but deep down I know she loves him. She’s just… got some problems.”
“You’ll find her.”
“Yeah.” He straightened. “This is a depressing conversation we’re having.”
She let out a soft laugh. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I guess nobody’s life is a fairytale, huh?”
“I guess not.”
He studied her. “When I kissed you the other night—”
She cut him off. “Let’s just pretend that didn’t happen and go back to the way things were. Please.”
Hammer frowned. “I’d do anything for you, especially when you turn those big green eyes on me, but I can’t give you that. I don’t want to go back to the way things were. I want you to let your guard down. I want you to tell me how you really feel.”
She glanced out the window and feigned ignorance. “How I feel about what?”
He grasped her chin and turned her to meet his gaze. “About me. Look, I know you’ve been hurt and you’ve got your guard up. That you somehow believe that I’ve done you wrong. But I also think there’s a part of you that’s still drawn to me, and I need to know… Am I right about that?”
She shuttered her eyes, suddenly too shy to meet his.
“Babe, look at me.”
She swallowed and did as he asked.
“I never slept with your sister, Tink. I want you to know that.”
She nodded, but words stuck in her throat.
He dropped his hand. “Do you believe me?”
“I guess so.”
“You guess so?”
“I do.”
“Now that you know that, do you think you could give me a shot?”
She studied him with the sound of the rain on the rooftop lulling her. It was dim with just the glow of the lamppost at the end of the walk shining in a golden light. The rain ran in rivulets down the windshield, throwing wavy patterns across them.
Suddenly all the lustful feelings she’d had for this man bubbled to the surface, and this time she had no reason to deny them, and she didn’t want to. They’d danced around this long enough; she decided to find out if the spark would flare to a flame. Before she could second guess herself, she leaned across the armrest, slid her hand up his chest to cup the back of his neck, and pulled his head down for a kiss.
If he was shocked, he recovered quickly, cupping the back of her head and holding her mouth to his. His tongue swept inside, and he met her with as much hunger as she felt. Maybe more.
She moved closer, longing to feel her breasts pressed against his hard chest and his strong arms close around her. His big hands clamped around her waist and dragged her across the console and onto his lap. She was so petite she fit easily in the space.
His hands drifted over her thighs to pull her around him until her legs were spread, her pussy brushing up against his hard cock with nothing but their clothes separating them. She loved how he took control.
She ate at his mouth, both hands clinging to his neck while his hands roamed over her body until they stopped on her ass and pulled her tighter against him. He ground his cock along her sensitive pussy, and a gasp fell from her lips.
He broke off, pressing his forehead to hers and breathing heavily. It gave her a thrill to know how she affected him.
“I guess that answers that question.” She traced his jaw with trembling fingers, then over to his lower lip.
He nipped at her fingers. “What question?”
“Whether or not there’s something there,” she whispered in the intimacy of the fogged up cab of the truck
“You had doubts?”
She grinned. “I’d ask you in, but I have that report to write, and you have to get back to Ethan.”
He blew out a breath “I know. I’m not pushing you for anything you aren’t ready to give.” His hands trailed up and down her hips and waist, and his eyes dropped to her cleavage. He reached up and undid the top button of her short-sleeved blouse, then separated the plackets. She was small breasted, but had a push-up demi bra on that gave her some rounded cleavage.
He dipped his head and pressed his mouth to the valley at the center, then turned his head and sucked the flesh of one breast, then the other.
Seemed he wasn’t ready to let her go.
Her head fell back, and she arched into his touch, moaning. Oh God. She’d fantasized about having his mouth on her.
His hand slid up her spine to cup the back of her head as his mouth trailed up her neck, sucking and nipping. It was heaven, it was hell, and she wanted more. She didn’t want it to stop. She pressed closer, dragging her breasts against his hard muscles, and he clamped down on her throat, sucking hard, and she knew she’d have a mark there tomorrow. She didn’t care; she wanted it. She wanted his mark on her, to look in the mirror and see it and remember this moment and how he felt under her, holding her, kissing her.
He groaned, and she felt the vibration through his mouth and up her neck. God, it was so erotic… the sexiest sound ever. She wondered what it would feel like if there were no clothing between them, but a part of her wanted to put the brakes on—needed to put the brakes on. Everything had changed between them so quickly, and she needed time to comprehend it all. She pulled back, and he looked up at her, searching her eyes for any sign she wanted him to stop.
“I—I have to go.”
He nodded. “I don’t want to let you go, but I will. I always will, I want you to know that,
Tink. I want you to feel safe with me. Always.”
“Okay.”
He reached up and buttoned her shirt, then brushed his thumb across her lower lip and smiled. “Crawl off me, babe. Because there’s no way I’ve got the will to push you off.”
She traced her fingertips along his face and down his jaw, then brushed her lips against his one more time. “Goodnight, Bodie.”
“I’ll walk you to your door.”
She shook her head. “If you do, I’ll let you in.”
The corner of his mouth pulled up. “That’s bad?”
“I’m… not ready.”
“All right. Goodnight, Alexandra.”
She climbed off and got out. He didn’t back out until she was safely inside her door. She liked that. She liked that he watched. She leaned against the closed door and smiled. My God, he was a good kisser.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Hammer, Shades, Ghost, Griz, and JJ all rolled out of the clubhouse Friday, headed for Montgomery. There’d been some argument over the number of patches being sent. Shades argued for six, but Butcher thought that would attract too much attention from the local heat. He only wanted two and the chase vehicle that they thought might be needed if Josie was incapable of riding, which Hammer figured was a safe bet. They finally settled on four bikes and the chase vehicle.
It was mid-afternoon with just under a two-hour run ahead of them. They planned to get there in time to scope out the surroundings before dark.
Hammer drove the Cadillac behind his brothers. The backseat had plenty of room if he had to transport a passed-out Josie back to Birmingham. In a way, he almost wished that’d be the case; she’d put up much less of a fight if she were wasted.
As they traveled southbound down I65, they caught the usual stares from passing cars. Anytime someone spotted their patches, necks craned, and cell phones came out, clicking pictures. For the most part, the guys just ignored it. Unless someone cut them off, then the mood changed. Hammer had seen Shades and Ghost chase down a car that had run Griz off the road. They’d caught the guy at an exit and bashed in his doors with their boots. The asshole had taken off, cutting across the grass and median to get away.
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