by Debra Kayn
"I used to say yes to a lot of things I wouldn't do anymore," she mumbled.
"Remember that time by the river." He chucked the empty bottle toward the fire and watched it roll to a stop. "I forgot to turn the lever off on my bike, and it wouldn't start. I ended up calling Merk to bring me some gas."
Tiff caught her bottom lip between her teeth. He rubbed her back, enjoying the pleasure that swept through her. She remembered.
"I was too drunk to be embarrassed that he caught us in the middle of having sex." She laughed.
"His damn headlight blinded me and my boot got caught in my jeans," he said.
She leaned into him. "You fell smack on your ass."
"With you on top of me." He cupped the back of her head, pulled her to him, and kissed her temple. "Good times, baby."
"Yeah," she said on an exhale. "We were so young."
He removed the bottle from her hands, twisted the cap, and offered her a drink. Her head tilted back. He gazed at her slim neck. His cock hardened. Under the moonlight, the heat from the fire warming the front of him, he could almost forget about the years he was away.
Almost.
He had no time to win Tiff back, to force her to remember what they had when they were together, and she'd believed in him. She had to either embrace her obligations or he'd force his hand.
"What's stopping you from walking back to the motel room with me and having sex?" He took the bottle from her and drank. "Don't give me any bullshit about changing or how you think too many years have gone by or throw out your hang up with Lola at me. What's stopping you?"
She sucked in a breath. "I'm not one of the Moroad women."
"That's no reason. I know who you are and your position in my life."
"Fine. The truth is sex with you would be a one-time thing." Her lips puckered, and she stared at his chest. "We have too much history for me not to get hurt when it's over, so I can't have sex with you."
"What if it doesn't end?"
She heaved a sigh. "It has to. I run Silver Girls now. Moroad obviously knows I'm running illegal prostitution upstairs since you found out, and I know Cam. He'll use my occupation against me. He's never liked me. If I give him one excuse to come after me, he'll call the Feds. I'll lose everything and end up in prison. We...I've worked too hard to lose it all."
"What if I promise you that I can guarantee Cam will soon have no say in what Moroad does?"
Her gaze snapped to him, and her expressions rapidly changed as his words sunk in and she met his eyes with guarded confusion. "What are you talking about? Cam's the president. He's your father."
"We've been talking for the last couple of years. Los Li has kept their distance inside and out. Blues and Reds have no power against Moroad. While I was in prison, I..." He gazed out at his MC brothers. His hand tightened around the bottle, and he put it down on the ground without drinking. "Baby, I can't talk about it all out here. We can go in the room, or I can take you for a ride, but we're going to talk."
"The room." She slid off his lap.
Good fucking choice. He grabbed her hand and walked her through the crowd. After the talk, after he tore apart her reasons for distancing herself from him, after he let her know club business and made her feel secure again, he'd bury himself so far in her, she'd have no doubt of her place in his life.
Chapter Ten
Jeremy flipped the light on in the motel room. Tiff stood inside, watching Jeremy closely as he placed the only chair in the room in front of the bed. The seriousness of the conversation outside by the fire put her on edge.
He'd always taken a more relaxed, non-judgement stance with the club, never questioning or showing any emotion one way or another toward their activities. Loyal to a fault, he backed every decision Cam made for him. Goosebumps broke out on her arms under her hoody. Never had Jeremy talked about overpowering Cam in any decision. Far as she knew, nobody ever tried to go against the president of Moroad Motorcycle Club.
She sat in the chair, shoved her hands between her thighs, and leaned forward. Jeremy sat on the bed, his legs encompassing hers, trapping her in place. She couldn't get up if she wanted to.
He pulled her hands loose and held on to them. "You can't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you."
"Okay," she whispered, too curious to deny herself the information.
"Serious, baby. You leak the information, and you'll end up dead." Jeremy held her attention.
Her throat closed. She remembered the threats about going against the club, talking about what happened at the parties at Cam's house, and how each of the women who belonged to the club had the fear of Moroad planted firmly in them. The same fear titillated each of them and gave them something to hold on to that made them feel special. Wanted. Needed.
Out of practice from hanging around the club, she wondered if she even had the ability to hold Moroad's actions to herself. She puckered her lips and exhaled slowly. Who was she to question them when she ran an illegal prostitution ring?
"I promise, I won't talk," she said.
Jeremy's gaze hardened. "That includes talking to the Sheriff."
Colby had turned into her confidant. She went to him with her problems, both in business and in her personal life. Through working with him, she also knew without a doubt that Moroad's activities were not the same as what the Sheriff dabbled in.
"Okay." She squeezed his hands.
A part of her grasped the dangling diamond in front of her to know more about Jeremy. She wanted the closeness she'd had with Jeremy years ago, even though her head told her to step away and distance herself.
"A few years back, Cam brought up the subject of stepping down as president with the intentions of putting me as the head of Moroad Motorcycle Club." Jeremy put one rough hand on the back of the chair and kept the other on her thigh, efficiently trapping her in place. "It only took me about a year in prison to realize I wanted control of the club, and I spent my time on the inside becoming the man I needed to be to see me through the transition. So, by the time Dad approached me with his idea, I expected the news. I was ready."
"Shit," she whispered. "You got inside your dad's head and figured out how he keeps the largest group of felons under his control?"
He nodded.
She pushed up on the arms of the chair, but Jeremy forced her to stay seated. Her thoughts whirled. She never imagined Jeremy would go in the direction of running Moroad, of putting himself so deep into the organization he practically signed his death warrant.
She'd always known he was smart. Her head pounded, and she pressed her hand against her forehead. The shock of his news freaked her the hell out.
"Oh my God." She leaned forward. What did his plan mean for Red Light? For her?
For all her fear of dealing with Cam, he gave her space and the freedom to run Red Light and Silver Girls on her own since she'd bought the Sterling Building. He'd turned a blind eye toward her other business running the bordello, and so far she was safe.
Jeremy was different. He was on a personal mission to hold on to her.
He'd do anything to make sure she had no other option than to rely on him.
She had nothing, absolutely nothing, to protect herself against him if he was in control of Moroad Motorcycle Club.
Her body vibrated for him. She reached out and cupped his bearded face taking the initiation for the first time. The impact of what he planned was bigger than anything he'd shared with her. If the Moroad members had no idea change was coming to the club, and only Jeremy, Cam, and her knew what was going to happen, he'd put her solidly in his life, right after the club. Exactly where she wanted to be fifteen years ago.
"I...I'm happy for you." She closed her eyes an extra beat and looked at him again.
He'd changed in appearance, grew bigger, harder, scarier, but when he gazed in her eyes, she saw the young man she loved with everything she had. The one desperate to find his place in the world.
"Baby, I need you by my side for everything to fall
into place," he whispered.
Everything she wanted sat right in front of her. She curled her fingers into her palms and dropped her hands to her lap. She hated that the years were stripped from them being together. The unknown obstacles in their path overwhelmed her.
"I don't think I can," she said.
"You don't have a choice, baby. You've always belonged to me, and I'm not going to let you go." He picked her up out of the chair as if she weighed nothing.
"I have a life—"
"Don't you see what you've done?" Jeremy pressed his forehead against hers. "You ran from me, thinking you were separating yourself from Moroad."
"I did," she said, breathless.
"No, baby. You jumped neck-deep into the criminal lifestyle that I live." He exhaled. "You need me."
She moaned in confusion. Everything he said made sense. In her rebellion to prove herself independent and capable of surviving without him, she'd gone down the same path. The thrill of running prostitutes in a small town, the danger of living a secret life, the satisfaction of helping the women gave meaning to her life.
"You want this, too. Nothing is stopping you from taking what you want. You gave yourself to me. I've had fifteen years without you and only my hand. Give me what I need."
She'd betrayed him.
When she hit her lowest and was ready to leave town, throw everything away, and start over, she'd gotten drunk. The tourist she threw herself at comforted her and she'd taken all the attention he gave her, needing the physical release, the push to put Jeremy behind her. In the end, she broke herself. She'd sunk lower than she could pull herself up.
Then her mom had died. Death played with her thoughts. She dwelled on her fucked up life and mourned for the perfect life that never came her way. She'd taken a miner to bed and woke up alone. That last time changed her, and she fought back from the blackness suffocating her.
She learned women had the ability to separate love from sex, until touching another person masked the hurt inside. For a little while, sex numbed the emotions that were ready to rip her apart. She never slept with any of the customers that visited Red Light, but there were a few times she'd numbed the pain of missing Jeremy with one of the regular customers who came into Silver Girls.
The pain never stopped. Her love for Jeremy remained.
"Don't ask me to give up Silver Girls or how I run Red Light." She laid her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled the scent of him that always reminded her of the outdoors when the wind kicked up.
"What you do works for me. Desiree owns a bar in town and her life has never come between Merk and Moroad." Jeremy's hand wandered over her hip. He kneaded her ass. "Bantorus Motorcycle Club has relaxed on holding on to their boundaries. Trouble associated with Moroad has stayed away from Federal. I have the gangs inside the penitentiary contained so that I can control the outside. There's nothing that stops you from running your business."
"Except the danger of running an illegal bordello," she said against his skin. "Give me the worst case scenario if we try and make this work."
God, what was she thinking? The situation was impossible.
"We will make this work," he said.
She needed more. She needed convinced. She needed Jeremy to make everything right. "Just tell me the worst thing that can happen with us being together."
She'd ruin his life. Already a felon and carrying a reputation as a killer, he wouldn't stand a chance if the Feds linked him to her for illegally running girls.
Jeremy's mouth found her neck. "The Feds discover what you're doing, because they have their ears and eyes on me, and I risk losing my baby. That's the worst thing that could happen, and you'll have to trust me that it won't go that far. I will shield you with my life. I will do everything in my power to keep you protected and safe. It's damn time Moroad had your back, and you can't turn away. You're mine."
She closed her eyes. He had her. If she doubted him and his intentions before, he'd proven himself by thinking of her first. His only concern was her and not about him going back to prison or losing his freedom.
"I'm scared," she whispered.
"I'll take care of you."
She raised her head. "Can you start now before I change my mind?
He stood with her in his arms, turned, and placed her on the bed. In the past, they'd circle each other. One pulling. One pushing. They'd fight and make-up, stimulating each other until they came together and exploded, growing closer than ever.
Tonight, she clung to him, not giving him a chance to push her away. He offered her everything, and she'd fight, lie, steal, to keep what was hers.
"Clothes, baby. I'm not going to last long, and I'm not stopping afterward until I exhaust us both. We can sleep all day tomorrow." He shucked his vest, his shirt, and undid his belt.
She wiggled out of her jeans, taking her panties off too. Sitting up, she removed her hoodie, shirt, bra, and glanced at him again. "Did you really go without sex? All this time?"
Jeremy's hooded eyes softened. "Jacked off any chance I got to a picture my dad brought me of you."
"No," she mouthed, shaking her head in disbelief.
He stood beside the bed, fully unclothed. Her gaze lowered to his hard cock pulsating. He'd left before his twenty-first birthday and came back a full-grown man. Bigger, harder, and sexier than she could ever imagine.
"Swear on my life," he said, putting his knee to the bed
"What picture?" she blurted, scooting over.
"The one I took with my phone in the yard at Cam's house the night I told you to get your ass on my bike and—"
"I refused." She caught her lip between her teeth. God, she remembered. When she'd finally obeyed him, he'd taken her home where her mom was passed out drunk, and they'd made love up in her bedroom until the early morning.
He laid on his back. She rolled, hooked her thigh over his leg, and raised her upper body. She touched the scar above his beard on his cheekbone.
"What happened," she asked.
His gaze intensified. "Prison happened."
He'd never share the horrors he lived through while incarcerated, and she wanted to soothe the pain and loneliness he'd experienced. She leaned in, tasting his neck, sucking on his skin.
Jeremy let out a ragged breath. "Baby..."
He dug his fingers into her leg, pulling her on top of him. She nibbled and bit her way across his chest to the other side of his neck. She flicked his ear with her tongue.
"This first time is for you," she whispered. "What do you want?"
"You."
She raised her head. "Condom?"
"Nightstand."
She stretched over to the side, keeping her seat on his hard stomach. Her fingers shook as she wiggled down his body to his thighs, eliciting a groan from him, and tore the wrapper and rolled the condom on him. She squeezed his cock, unable to stop herself from feeling the difference fifteen years had done.
"Don't." He slid his hands under her armpits and dragged her up his body. "Give me your mouth. I'll do the rest."
His hand went to his cock, guiding the tip back and forth through her wetness, teasing her with the head of his dick. She captured his lips. Her outer movements remained calm, taking everything in while she verged on panic.
He grabbed her hips and pulled her down. She gasped in his mouth at the fullness. Her neck arched, pulling her mouth away from him.
His heavy breathing filled the room as he worked his thick cock, inch by inch, inside of her, burying himself fully in her pussy.
Her teeth chattered, and she hissed out her mouth. The tsss...tsss... sound coming out of her mouth rolled through her body and traveled up her spine.
Jeremy stilled, holding her in place. "I couldn't forget that sound you make when I first slide in you. Dreamed about the sound. Heard your hiss through chattering teeth every fucking time I closed my eyes."
She clamped her teeth together and moaned under the effort to keep her body from exploding. He always brought her
high before she could control herself. Her muscles rebelled. Her breathing fought against her. The tic that only happened when he was inside of her tormenting her. He wasn't the one who worried about coming fast. She'd never be able to wait for him.
He thrust his hips between her thighs. She grabbed his long hair, holding on.
"That's it." He growled low and plunged again and again.
She held on. The noises coming out of her ceased to exist. Pleasure built between her legs and her lower stomach coiled into a warm ball of tension.
"Take it." He grunted.
Perspiration dotted his forehead. She stared into his eyes as her orgasm burst and spread, flooding her body. Her loud moan echoed in the small room.
He lifted her up and plunged her down. Her thoughts drifted in fog. Her body refused to cooperate on its own, already slipping into the euphoria he gave her.
Jeremy's hips lifted, and he held her down on him, shuddering out his release. She pitched forward, burying her face in his neck. He rocked her back and forth, continuing to caress her.
He stayed hard and finally rolled her to the side of him. "Rest. I'm going to get rid of the condom and get us both a bottle of water."
"You're coming back, right?" she whispered, drawn to the tattoo of a freedom banner down his arm and the four skulls across his chest.
He kissed her hard and deeply. "Yeah."
"Good," she mumbled, letting her eyes close.
She'd rest for a few minutes and then she'd be ready.
Chapter Eleven
The last day of Tiff's five-day stay at the motel, Jeremy stood beside her outside Room 10. He ignored Tiff's sudden mood change and waited for Lola to answer his knock. The days of fucking Tiff all day long and ignoring club business were over.
Tiff planted her hand on her tilted hip, glared in his direction, and threw more attitude with her body language than normal. He refused to play into her jealousy.
The door opened, and Lola raised her brows. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided there was more to life than free pussy."
