by Marie James
She bites her lip and springs off of the bed. Relief washes over me when my door closes behind them. Her squeal of excitement ensures my secrets are still safe. For now.
Chapter 20
Briar
Banging on my door makes me jolt in my bed.
“Open the fucking door!” The banging continues.
A quick look at the door and I realize it isn’t locked.
My eyes are darting behind me on the bed, finding it empty when the heavy wood swings open and crashes against the wall behind it. I’m relieved when I look in the direction of the bathroom and see the door standing open, and the light turned off.
“You act like you’re confused you’re alone,” Lynch sneers at me. “Something you need to tell me, Brother?” He’s asked me that question more in the last couple of weeks than he has over the last ten damn years.
“Got wasted last night,” I confess running my hand over my face. “Don’t know how I got in here.”
I won’t mention the ache in my balls and saying anything about Molly will only end in bloodshed, so I keep my fucking mouth shut to that end. I’m a smart man when there isn’t a tempting little blonde in my bed.
“Get the fuck up. We were supposed to leave thirty minutes ago. You’re making us late.”
I know my time with her wasn’t a dream when I walk into my bathroom. The heaviness in my balls and the reluctance my cock gives me to piss are both sure signs of my orgasm.
“Fuck,” I grumble as I step into the shower.
If Lynch had opened that door while his little sister was still wrapped around me? I shake the thought away because I don’t think it's above him to murder me in front of her.
The shower takes longer than I initially anticipated because fuck if I can get on my bike with the memory of her hot cunt against me without jacking off. The release is less than satisfying.
My go-bag is packed, so after dressing, I grab it and head out.
“How’s the headache?” TJ intercepts me in the hallway, turning to keep stride with me as I walk past him.
“Manageable,” I mutter as we cross the living room and make our way out the front door.
“I figured Molly would’ve bitched you to the moon and back when you woke up.”
Just as the foolish words leave TJ’s mouth, my eyes meet Lynch’s. He’s standing just off the porch, glaring in my direction.
“Molly is inside?” My president’s eyes dart between TJ and me as he waits for one of us to answer him.
“Not that I know of,” I answer with a shrug.
His mouth opens, but before he can grill me his phone rings. His eyes stay on mine as he holds the phone to his ear, grunting out a “What?”
“Saved by the bell,” TJ hisses in my ear as he pushes past me to climb on his bike.
“No, baby. I didn’t realize it was you.” Lynch walks away to talk to Zoe in a more private location when a couple of the guys begin chuckling at his apologies.
I don’t bother to look anyone in the eye as I tie my duffle bag to my bike. I know it’s not the end of the conversation. Lynch doesn’t get distracted and forget things. We’re merely putting off the inevitable. I’m certain the topic will be revisited when we’re alone in Detroit.
I’m looking forward to having my ass on my bike for the rest of the day. The only thing I want in my face is the wind for the next several hours.
***
Nine and half hours on my bike isn’t long enough to clear my head. Lynch didn’t make eye contact with me once during the three stops we made for gas, but I feel his stare on the side of my face when we pull into the hotel.
“Careful,” TJ warns when Lynch disappears into the lounge to grab key cards for everyone. “He seems on edge.”
“You need to get off my dick,” I hiss in his direction.
TJ chuckles, the knife in his hand twisting against his skin. “Speaking of your dick—”
I walk away from the whole crew, leaving them to wait for our president. TJ knows. Well, he must suspect. It isn’t the first time he’s made off-handed comments about Molly and me, but even as jokingly as he brings the subject up, he never flat out asks me about her. As cool as he thinks he is with the idea of Molly dating someone from the club, I’m certain he wouldn’t be as blasé if he knew the truth.
No. He’d be just as murderous as Lynch if he was privy to the details of what happened in my room last night. If he had a window into my thoughts about what I’ve imagined doing to her, he’d kill me on the spot and smile when the cops arrived to arrest him. He’d do his prison time with a smile on his face.
Knowing that is why I refuse to engage with him. He hasn’t said anything to Lynch, but I know it’ll happen eventually. There’s no turning back after hearing her soft moans as she came apart under me last night. I thought about it the entire ride down here. I mulled over every reason to stay away.
“Am I not worth dying for?”
Her words bounced around in my head for the better part of the day, and the only answer I could admit to is, yeah you are, baby girl. The only thing that makes me pause to consider a different outcome is leaving her alone, dying and risking her feeling like it was her fault. The guilt should rest solely on my shoulders. She shouldn’t be tainted with it.
I regret not opening my eyes, not watching her mouth when she told me she loved me. I regret not saying it back, because I’m an idiot not to admit it to myself. Denial is something I’ve been clinging to for weeks, but it’s another thing I refuse to continue. Keeping her safe is my only concern, but doubt of my own restraint is a huge factor in doing anything further.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, but I walk a couple more blocks before pulling it out to check the message.
Lynch: You’re with me. Room 134.
“Fucking perfect,” I mutter.
My feet keep moving, carrying me further and further away. I opt to stay gone for hours instead of ending up in the room with him while he’s still awake. Before Zoe arrived, he’d be up at all hours of the night, never able to get a real night’s sleep, but since she showed up and rocked his world, he sleeps like a fucking baby. He’s admitted it to me more than once. I’m gambling on that when I don’t go back to the hotel for another couple of hours.
I’m exhausted. I can feel the wear and tear of the ride clear to my bone marrow, but it’s late by the time I get back to our hotel.
Noticing my bike is the only one on the north side, I crank it and park it on the other side of the hotel. When Smalls makes room reservations for us, he knows we always need the ground floor with outside entry. Grumbling to myself when I enter the hotel, I nearly lose my shit at the pimple-faced idiot at the desk who refuses to give me a key card. I can’t blame the asshole. If I didn’t know Lynch, I wouldn’t hand over a card on the off chance that my president wouldn’t be happy about it, either.
“I’m the VP,” I hiss, pointing to the patch on my damn cut.
“And you could be fighting with him.” He takes a step back when I growl. “How do I know you don’t want to go in there and hurt him?”
“You.” I point at him, but standing here arguing won’t make a damn difference. I just didn’t want to have to knock on the damn door. Waking Lynch up with the door opening isn’t as bad as making him get out of the damn bed. If I wasn’t on his shit list before tonight, I will be by morning. “You watch too much fucking TV.”
He’s grumbling something about Juice betraying Jax when I walk away. I just hold both of my middle fingers in the air as I walk away.
“He was the intelligence officer. Never the damn VP,” I mumble as I close the distance between my cautious feet and the door to room 134. “I don’t think Jax would’ve hurt the man his sister loved.”
“Jax didn’t have a sister.” I nearly shoot TJ for sneaking up on me. “Where have you been? You missed dinner.”
“Walking,” I say as I pull my hand from the steel in my waistband, still not one hundred percent sure that I won’t need to
use it. “Why are you creeping around the hall?”
“Getting ice.” He holds up the bucket before slamming his knuckles on the door marked 134 and disappearing into the room across the hall.
“Motherfucker.” My head snaps up when Lynch pulls open the door with a scowl on his face.
“You don’t have to pound on the door like the fucking police.”
I catch the door just before it clicks closed again. Shifting the weight of my bag on my shoulder, I walk in behind him.
“I’m back, baby,” he says after picking up his phone off the bedside table. His eyes find mine as he walks toward the bathroom. “You showering tonight?”
“Naw, man. It’s all yours.” I undress quickly before falling into bed, praying that he doesn’t kill me in my sleep.
Chapter 21
Molly
“I still don’t think this is a good idea,” Zoe mumbles as we pull up to the closed gate. “Pete’s not going to let us out.”
“There’s one thing you need to know about Pete,” I begin as I roll down the window.
“A little late to be heading out, don’t you think?” Pete crouches down, frowning when he sees it’s only the two of us.
“Tampons.”
“What?” He cringes, his nose scrunching up as if he smells something foul, and I’m barely able to hold back a laugh.
“We’re out of tampons.” I bite my lip until the urge to grin ceases. “There are five of us that are flowin’ big time, and we need tam—”
“Fine,” he grunts. “Fuck. Quit talking about it.”
“Hush,” I hiss when the blanketed form in the backseat giggles.
Pete opens the gate, and even in the dim moonlight, he looks green. After waving us through without any more trouble, he closes the gate right behind us.
“See? The one thing you need to know about Pete is the mention of any bodily function grosses him out.”
“Good to know,” Kai says as he pops up in the backseat. Smiling at me in the rearview mirror, he has a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Lynch is going to kill me,” Zoe mutters.
“You’re the one who wanted to do this in the first place,” I remind her.
“I mentioned it in passing,” she clarifies. “I didn’t mean right this second.”
“No time like the present.”
“Lynch is going to nut his jeans when he sees his mark on you,” Kai adds.
“And what is Professor going to do when he finds you gone?” Zoe turns in her seat to look back at our partner in crime.
“Delicious things, sweetheart. Filthy, devious things.” He sighs loudly. “I can’t fucking wait.”
Zoe and I both chuckle.
“Are you getting a tattoo tonight as well?” Zoe already knows my answer, so I wait for Kai to respond.
“Not a damn chance,” he responds indignantly. “I know which buttons to push with Professor. He’s adamant about being the only one to mark my skin.”
“He does tattoos?” Zoe asks with the innocence my deviant brother still hasn’t managed to fuck out of her.
I don’t know what look Kai is giving my best friend because I’m pulling up to a stop sign, but it’s enough to make her gasp when she realizes what he’s talking about.
“He hurts you?” Kai doesn’t respond. “You like it?”
“Why do you think I’m so naughty all the time? Don’t look at me like that, Zoe. Pain can be pleasurable.”
“Really?” The curiosity in her voice surprises me. “Maybe Ly—”
“Nope.” My hand shoots up between us. “We are not talking about my brother spanking you, whipping you, or any other form of sexual activity. Hard limit.”
“Maybe Br—”
“Not another word.” I glare at Kai in the rearview mirror.
“What do you think he’s going to do when he sees your tattoo?” Zoe asks softly, only partially changing the subject.
“Can we not talk about our guys—” I grit my teeth before continuing. “The guys. Tonight is supposed to be fun.”
Tension hangs in the air for the rest of the drive into Worcester, and I feel like an asshole for snapping at them. My confusion and uncertainty about my situation isn’t their fault.
“Look, guys—” I begin when I pull up to the tattoo shop and put the car in park.
“Don’t worry about it,” Kai interrupts. “One day we can speak openly about all the things, but I understand now isn’t the right time.”
Smiling weakly at his kind words, I turn my attention to my best friend. Knowing her as well as I do, I know her narrowed gaze means I’m not off the hook for long. She may not demand answers in front of Kai, but eventually, she will force me into talking about what’s been bothering me, and the few scant details I’ve given thus far won’t be enough next time.
“Come on,” Kai urges as he opens the back door to climb out. “Let’s get into some trouble.”
Zoe and I follow him out and stand in front of the shiny new building.
“I thought tattoo shops were kind of grungy,” Zoe says.
“The artist here is the second best in town.” Zoe grabs my arms, stopping me from moving toward the door.
“Second best? You want to get something permanently etched on your skin by the second-best guy in town?”
“Viper over on Main knows my brothers. He’d never ink me without their permission.”
“Girl.” Kai glares at me. “You are a grown ass woman. You need to stop letting those boys dictate your life.”
“Remind me exactly which tattoo you’re getting tonight.”
A smile spreads across his face. “Touché.”
“Come on. The Yelp reviews on this shop are fantastic.” I loop my arm through the one still angled on Kai’s hip and sweep my other one around Zoe’s shoulders. “This is going to be so much fun.”
I’d seen pictures online, but the thumbnails on my phone didn’t do this place justice.
“It’s like the waiting area of an expensive hotel,” Zoe whispers when we step inside.
We’re met with lush leather couches, glass tables, and designer lamps rather than the normal setup in tattoo shops. The only hand-drawn art on the walls are in massive frames with overhead spotlights. The air smells of vanilla, and although the girl sitting at the front desk has purple hair and more holes in her face than I have time to count, she’s giving us a genuine, welcoming smile.
“Welcome to Main Street Ink.”
My brow furrows. “Viper’s shop is on Main Street. You’re on Webster.”
She winks, the metal in her right eyebrow catching the light overhead. “Great marketing strategy, don’t you think?”
“And you haven’t caught any blowback from Viper?” I’ve heard he’s pretty vicious, although I’ve never met the man myself. Most of the guys from the club get their ink at his place.
“Nope,” she answers with a grin. “Viper wouldn’t lay a hand on me.”
“Why are you talking about your shithead brother?” A huge guy, covered in ink everywhere but his face, walks up from the back, but there’s no heat in his voice with the question.
She doesn’t answer, merely holds her hand out to me. “I’m Jade. This guy is my husband, Dawson.”
After releasing her hand, I shake her husband’s.
“What brings the Raven Queen and Princess here tonight?”
“How di—”
My mouth opens and closes several times without sound coming out.
“How do you know who we are?” Zoe’s voice is sure, challenging, but I don’t miss the step back she takes.
I’m a great judge of character. It comes from being around all sorts of people growing up in the clubhouse. Most that walk through the doors are amazing people, but there are always a few bad apples in every group. I’m not getting any type of sinister vibe off of either one of these people.
“That’s not necessary,” Dawson says to Kai.
Looking over, I see a glint off of the stee
l tucked into his waistband. Call me surprised, but Kai didn’t seem like the type of guy that would carry a weapon. I should’ve never underestimated him.
“You gals are pretty famous around these parts,” Jade says without a hint of fear in her voice. “Especially you.”
I follow her eyes to my best friend.
“Me?”
“It’s not every day that one woman could bring a man like Lynch Quintal to his knees.”
Dawson snorts behind her, leaning down to nuzzle his nose against her neck. “You did the exact same to me, devil woman.”
“I like her,” Kai says near my ear.
“So.” Dawson claps his hands as he steps around his wife. “You guys are here to get some ink?”
Zoe and I nod.
“And you didn’t go to Viper because he’d turn you away without getting the prez’s permission?”
“Fuck,” I mutter and turn toward the door. I’m not even going to bother waiting for him to refuse us service. Arguing has never helped me in a situation like this before.
“Hold up, Princess.” I snap around at the name.
“Don’t call me that.”
As if surrendering, he holds his hands up near his ears. “Didn’t mean anything by it. I’ll ink you.”
“And me?” Zoe sounds hopeful.
“You too,” he agrees instantly. “Do you know what you want?”
An hour later, Zoe’s tattoo, a sleek raven with a length of rope in its claws, is complete, and I’m on Dawson’s table with half of my goodies below my waist hanging out. My solid black raven is complete, and he’s adding the finishing touches to the vibrant watercolors surrounding it.
“Oh shit,” Kai gasps, and it pulls me from my semi-sedateness.
“What?” I turn my head just in time to see Professor and the new guy Virus walking through the door.
“Dawson,” Professor snaps just as the tattooist pulls the needles from my skin and wipes over his completed work. “You think inking her is a good idea?”
“All done, gorgeous,” Dawson says with a wink before even looking at the man interrupting his work.
