Unbridled Heat [Men of Iron Horse 1] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Morgan Fox

  “Wow, this is awesome,” Layla muttered. She might be able to spend a little something on herself this month if the tips kept coming in like this.

  Sam moved up and placed her arm around her shoulders. “You’re getting better and the regulars are noticing. Keep it up.”

  Layla smiled, and for the first time in a long time, she felt good. Real good. “Thanks. I will.”

  As they locked up and headed toward their cars, she spotted Luke sitting on his motorcycle, the only one left in the parking lot. He waited for her. Alone. No tall blonde in sight.

  With a quick intake of breath, her brain clouded up. He’d looked good coming into the bar earlier in the night wearing his dark denim jeans, black combat boots, maroon T-shirt, and black leather jacket. Now, straddling his motorcycle, he looked even better—like oh, shit, I forgot to wear panties and it’s a good thing better.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Sam grumbled. “Is he waiting for you?”

  The heat that had once settled in Layla’s loins was drenched by the icy chill of Sam’s words. She swallowed hard, hating that she felt as if she were being scolded. Again. “Yes. I offered to buy him a drink for helping me out last night.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I warned you about him. I told you he’d be back.”

  “I know you did, but I’m twenty-five, not twelve, and if I want to have a drink with Luke to thank him for his help, I will.” She faced Sam, conjuring all the courage she could muster. “I appreciate your concern, but I won’t do anything I don’t want to do.”

  Sam blew out a hard breath. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” She waved her hand dismissively through the air as she stalked toward her car. “Don’t come crying to me when it all blows up in your face.”

  Layla stiffened her chin. “I won’t,” she argued, knowing that wasn’t true.

  Sam was her go-to person right along with her sister Liza and when she needed her, she’d go right to her regardless of what she’d just said. Sam was protecting her and she appreciated that. But she wasn’t some naive little girl either. She also wasn’t fool enough to think that anything would happen between her and Luke. She wasn’t easy and he didn’t seem like the kind of guy that wanted to waste his time trying to get into her padlocked panties. So what was the issue, really?

  Sam and Zerina left, leaving her standing in front of Luke. “Hi,” she said, feeling a bit first-date nervous.

  “Hey,” he replied, his voice buttery smooth and dangerously sexy. Shit. “I hope you don’t mind that I waited out here for you. I figured you needed me out of your hair while you closed up.”

  “We closed up pretty quick tonight with three of us working. I’m also surprised to see you out here. I figured you and that blonde chick would be long gone by now.”

  Stop that! You sound like a jealous girlfriend.

  His mouth curved into a crooked grin. “Tracy? She’s not for me.” He put on his motorcycle helmet. “Are you ready to go?”

  She eyed him curiously. “Where to?”

  “How do you feel about my place?”

  A knot balled up in her belly. Was he serious? His place was the worst place possible. “What?”

  “Most bars are closed now so the only drink we could have together is—”

  “Right,” she drew out, cutting him off. She would’ve invited him to her place, but it was a mess and she didn’t have anything to offer him to drink. It would’ve been safe there. She could ask him to leave if things got weird.

  He chuckled. “Why do you look like you swallowed a fly? Would you feel better if we just took a ride together?”

  A wave of relief moved over her. That sounded like a great idea. Anything to keep her from testing her sexual willpower. Then again, how did she feel about sitting on the back of a motorcycle with a man she just met doing God knows what kinds of speeds?

  This is such a mistake.

  “I’ve never been on a bike and I don’t have a helmet.”

  He reached back and unclipped his saddlebag, pulled out a helmet, and handed it to her. “I have one you can use. My mom’s a big lover of motorcycles, but she won’t buy one of her own. I have dinner with her every Sunday and we go for a spin.” He clasped her hand and pulled her closer to place the helmet on her head. “She loves it and it gives us a little mother-son time together.”

  She sighed. Why the hell did she just sigh? “That’s very sweet,” she told him, eyeing him through her dark lashes. “Your dad doesn’t mind?”

  He shrugged. “Wouldn’t know. Never met the guy.”

  “Oh,” she breathed, her tongue thick in her mouth.

  He finished fastening the buckle under her chin. “Hop on.”

  Grateful for the chance to switch topics, she moved to stand beside him and her eyes roamed over the bike. She wasn’t sure how to mount it without looking like a dork and he must’ve noticed her hesitation as he slanted her a glance.

  “Place your foot on the peg and then lift it over the backrest. There’s a foot peg on the other side to rest your foot on.”

  She did it, feeling a bit sexy as she slid up behind him. He was firm as she placed her hands on his hips and as she inhaled his masculine scent, her body stirred with lust-filled thoughts and needs. She exhaled, trying to keep her inner thoughts from turning into something she wasn’t even sure she wanted.

  No. He’s not for me.

  Okay, that wasn’t exactly true. She’d love nothing more than to spend an erotic-filled night being pleasured by Luke Mackenzie. Problem was, she wouldn’t know what to do with him if he came with instructions. She’d been a dud in bed with her past relationships. The idea of sex excited her. Just not when it came to the actual act of doing it herself. Fantasies were a much safer bet and less complicated.

  He would want a sexual partner who knew how to sexually satisfy him and even though she had all the right parts, her skills were lacking. She didn’t know how to give a blow job, didn’t even know if she’d like it. She’d never done anything but missionary. What if he wanted to take her from behind or what if he wanted her to ride him? Once again her body shook with nervous tension. She really was in over her head. Maybe she should rent some porn to build up her confidence. Then she wouldn’t feel trapped in the stone ages of her sexual dysfunction.

  “Hold on tight,” he told her from over his shoulder.

  As the motorcycle lurched forward, her grip around him tightened. She wanted to press her cheek to his back and squeeze tight, but she didn’t want him to know just how fearful she was. A daredevil she was not and riding on the back of a motorcycle was the last thing she ever expected to happen this evening. She figured they’d end up at some late night diner drinking coffee.

  Boring, right?

  Well, to her, it sounded nice.

  Real conversation wasn’t something she experienced often enough and talking to a man like Luke would be nice for a change. Sure, she had her sister, Sam, Zerina, and Brynn at the bar to talk with, but they had their own lives and she didn’t want to bother them. And technically, the last time her arms had been around a man had been six months ago when she’d hugged her dad before heading to Dallas. And he didn’t feel anything like Luke—hard, dangerous, and exciting.

  He placed his hand over hers and a startling warmth shot up her arm and straight to her pussy. She gasped at the powerful surge and then pressed her lips together to keep the moan of need from escaping.

  “You doing okay back there?”

  She choked down the lump in her throat and stammered, “Y–yes. I’m good.”

  Liar…

  Before she realized where they were, the bright lights of the city were fading away. He’d taken her off the main highway and onto some back roads that gave her a clear view of the night sky. A million stars exploded from above. The sight was breathtaking. Within a short while, he was slowing down and coming to a stop. He helped her off the bike and joined her, taking off his helmet.

  “Where are we?” she asked, scanning the
open field.

  “My property,” he explained. “I have a trailer on the other side, but this side is amazing for stargazing.”

  “This is all yours?” She looked around into the empty space consumed with trees and grass.

  He nodded. “I always wanted to have a place to run away to when the city got too overwhelming…which it does.”

  “So you have a trailer up here in case you need a place to crash?”

  He nodded again. “Not exactly the Ritz-Carlton, but it’s mine and I like it.”

  “It’s perfect,” she exclaimed with a sigh, missing home. “I miss my parents’ horse farm back in Kentucky. I used to ride every day.”

  “So you like nature, huh?”

  “More than most girls, I’m sure.” She grinned. “I grew up shoveling manure and not caring so much.”

  He chuckled. “Just think, at the bar you get to shovel a different kind of shit for jackasses.”

  She laughed. “You know, I never thought of it like that. But you’re right.”

  He reached up and unfastened her helmet strap, his fingers brushing over the skin of her neck, sending a shiver of awareness through her system. She was alone in the dark with a very sexy man, a man she was dangerously attracted to.

  She stepped back. “Thanks.”

  “Don’t mention it.” He reached into the saddlebags on the other side of the bike and pulled out two bottles. “I took a chance and brought you something diet to drink.” He cringed. “Was that wrong?”

  She smiled. “No. That’s perfect.” Then she realized what he’d done. “Wait. Did you have this planned all along?”

  He closed the distance between them, standing close enough that she could smell his musk scent. Her fingers itched to touch him, to see if his chest was as firm and hard as his hips and back had been. She cleared her throat, easing back.

  Damn, she had to stop thinking like that. Had to keep a safe distance between them.

  “It was my backup plan.”

  Sam’s haunting words assaulted her and instantly she assumed he was only trying to get laid. “Why?” she questioned defensively.

  “Why what?” He sat the drinks on the seat.

  “Why would you need a backup plan?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, once again moving closer to her. “I like you. I wanted to see you. Make sure you were okay.”

  She shook her head, darting around the bike, keeping it between them. “Maybe I’m overacting, but you should know that I’m not like the girls you were playing darts and shooting pool with. I don’t wear clothes that make my boobs part of my ears and I never sleep around.” She licked her lips, watching his expression soften. She didn’t know what to make of him. “Luke, I’m not easy. I don’t—”

  Before she had a chance to finish her ramblings he was around the bike, his hands clasped to her shoulders. “I know,” he said sternly. “It doesn’t change that I like you. And maybe it has everything to do with the fact that you’re nothing like those women.”

  “Oh,” she whispered.

  Warning bells were buzzing in her ears, but no matter how much she knew she should heed them, she had to admit that it was wonderful to hear that he liked her and that he’d noticed just how different she was.

  “I had hoped you’d take a walk with me,” he said, letting his hands slip from her shoulders, he reached back to the bike and picked up the sodas he’d placed there. “I won’t bite. I promise.”

  I doubt that.

  She took the drink from his outstretched hand. “Thanks.”

  “I’m sure you’ve gotten an earful from Sam about my past. I wouldn’t trust me either.”

  She froze. “So you don’t deny that your reputation is that of a man whore?”

  He frowned. “Man whore? I wouldn’t call me a man whore. I’ve just dated a lot.”

  She took a sip of her diet drink to moisten her dry mouth. “And how many of these dates occurred more than once?”

  He faced her. “Look, Layla, I won’t lie to you about my past. I’ve dated a lot of different women. My job makes settling down hard and I’ve never been interested in being tied down. I’m not the guy who promises forever. So if that bothers you, I understand.”

  Wow. That was not what she thought he would say. She assumed he’d make up a line of crap to get her to think he was some charming prince who’d been wrongfully accused of being bad. But that wasn’t Luke. He was bad and admitted it.

  What the hell was she supposed to do with all that?

  He stepped closer and her throat tightened. She couldn’t even swallow. All she could do was stare up into his eyes.

  “I never lie, Layla. Ever.”

  God, he was gorgeous. All six-foot-something of him. She bet even his toes were pretty. She moved to touch him, but something stopped her. Sanity.

  “So this is how you do it. You lay all your cards out in front of these poor women and then once you’ve…you’ve…made it with them, you can walk away without regret. After all, you told them up front that you don’t want to settle down and you’re not interested in being tied down. You can’t be called a liar.”

  He brushed her hair behind her ear. “You make me sound like a jerk.”

  She shimmied away from him. Why did he keep doing that to her, closing in on her like he hoped she’d forget her morals in that one embrace or innocent touch? There was nothing innocent about Luke. He was pure male and primally charged. And that sort of scared the hell out of her.

  “Adding to your number of conquests just because…yeah, you’re a jerk.”

  Chapter Four

  Layla was going to be the death of him. Each time she moved and her sweater tightened over her supple breasts, he wanted to reach out and touch them, hold them, and caress them until her sweet little nipple beaded against the palm of his hand. Then his mouth watered and he wanted to do so much more than touch her.

  I bet her pussy tastes like honey.

  He groaned. Damn it. She was off limits. Why that fired his lust into super drive, he had no idea. But she was so much more than he thought. She was direct, feisty, and smart. She called him out, using his own words against him.

  Fucking A…

  He liked her. A lot more than he wanted to admit. A lot more than he should.

  Bile rose up at the back of his throat as he watched her disgust blanket her expression. He didn’t want her to think of him as a jerk. For whatever reason, he preferred her to see him as something better.

  He raised his hands in a nonthreatening manner. “I’m sorry you see me that way, but I won’t make excuses for wanting to be with women. I like women. I like sex. And I like you.”

  “You don’t know me,” she pointed out.

  “I want to.”

  “Are you expecting to have sex with me tonight?” she asked, her brows high on her forehead.

  That was an idea he rather enjoyed picturing, but that hadn’t been on his agenda. With his eyes round and wide from her question, he had to set her straight. “Whoa, that’s not what I said. I planned to bring you out here to get to know you better. Walk, talk, enjoy a soda or two.” He crowded her, feeling the heat of her body as he did. “But know that when you decide you want me like I want you, then yes, I’ll fuck you until your toes curl.”

  Her mouth hung open at his declaration and once again he found her reaction so damn cute his chest ached. She wasn’t used to men talking to her like he was and the pigs she encountered at the bar didn’t count. They were disgusting. He was serious.

  “You’re very ballsy, you know that?”

  He nodded, staring down at her mouth. The pink tip of her tongue traced along her lower lips. He couldn’t look away. “And you’re beautiful,” he whispered, cupping her face in his hands. “I won’t deny that I haven’t thought about you in every way possible. I think we’d enjoy each other and I think you’d—”

  Shit, what was he thinking? He was about to tell her that he wanted to see her again. That they wouldn’t be a
onetime deal. Fuck. He only had onetime deals. He didn’t make promises. Layla Grey was confusing the ever living hell out of him and she wasn’t even trying.

  “You think what?” she asked, repeating his words.

  Clearing his throat, he corrected himself. “I think you’d enjoy taking that walk with me. But no more talk about other women and my”—he put his fingers up to make air quotes as he added—“conquests.”

  “Fine.”

  Luke couldn’t have asked for a better night. The light breeze was perfect for a summer night stroll around his property. He hadn’t told her about the little creek and swimming pond. But he knew that she’d appreciate it. She’d grown up embracing nature and he liked that about her. She wasn’t afraid to get dirty and she obviously adapted to change well. A sweet Kentucky girl working in a biker bar was all he needed to know to be aware of that.

  “So what brought you to Texas?”

  “My crazy, adventurous sister,” she explained. “She wasn’t really into the horse farm life and I…I wanted to be where she was.”

  “But you loved being on the farm, right?”

  She nodded.

  “Why leave all that just for her?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a twin thing.”

  He stopped walking. “Your sister is your twin sister?”

  She nodded again. “She was born first, so technically she’s my older sister. She and Sam are best friends. That’s how I got the job at Iron Horse.”

  “Do you look alike?”

  She frowned, folding her arms over her chest. “Are you going to be one of those perverts who wants to know what it’s like to score with twins?”

  He feigned shock. All men thought about having two women at one time, but twins…hell, yeah. “I’m offended you would even think that.” He chuckled as her frown deepened. “Okay, seriously. I’m an only child and the thought of siblings is cool to me, but to look like your sibling is just wild. Can you really change places and people not notice? Can your parents tell you apart? Do you like being a twin?”

  “Even though Liza is my identical twin, we’re really not identical. She has dark hair now and our faces have changed over the years. I’m still the one who can’t seem to break puberty and she’s very mature-looking and confident.” She started to walk and he followed her. “So to answer your questions: no, we never traded places, yes, our parents can tell us apart, and I never really thought about what it would be like not to be a twin.”