These were times of peace, though. Spring 2001. Perhaps she would know only adventure and not conflict.
Finally, he saw the glimmering gold bar, sparkling in the sunlight at it bobbed up the stairs to the wide stage. Her long chestnut hair flowed rich and loose under her cap. Even through four years of ROTC, she’d refused to cut it, preferring instead, while in uniform, to braid it and bind it to her head with pins. Lilli, beautiful as she was, had few vanities, but her hair was certainly one of them.
She was standing on the stage. Then he heard her name echo robustly over the sound system: “Lillian Filomena Accardo, Bachelor of Arts in Renaissance History, Bachelor of Arts in Middle Eastern Studies. His daughter, his only child, strode confidently across the stage, veritably buried under sashes and cords and medals for her accomplishments during her studies. She accepted the folder that would hold her diploma, shook hands with a short line of men and women, and then, before she descended the stairs at the other side of the stage, she turned and scanned the audience.
Johnny stood, alone in that sea of seated people, and waited for her to find him. She did, and, smiling brilliantly at him, she made their sign, the one she’d made every day before she entered her school building, the one he made every time he left for a business trip. Thumb, forefinger, and pinky extended in the sign language for “I love you,” she laid her hand on her heart.
He did the same.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Lilli felt relaxed, resting against Isaac, her head on his shoulder. His cock was still mostly hard inside her, and she liked the full feeling of him there. She liked everything about this moment: the press of their bare chests together, still heaving from their exertion; the weight of his head lying on hers; the soothe of his hands on her back, his fingers combing through her ponytail. She felt . . . cozy.
She sat up. He looked like he’d been even more relaxed than she; his eyes were heavy as they met hers. “What’s up?” he asked, his voice no more than a low rasp.
She’d been furious at his intrusion—he really was just about stalking her now—and more than half expecting him to have come on a dark errand. After his “visit” in the morning, feeling threatened, she’d taken two handguns out of the Camaro and placed them, and the one she’d already had inside, strategically through the house.
She’d also sent a coded message asking for intel on the Night Horde and its leader. She hadn’t been especially interested before, but his acute interest in her meant her own security needed offense as well as defense.
When he’d rolled up at nearly midnight, she’d been ready to kill him. But then he was standing on her porch, and the threat she felt dissipated. She didn’t understand it. She was attracted to him, sure. Very much. But it was more than that. Her reading of him rested on the thin blade between danger and appeal, and it perplexed her.
Now, straddling him like this after another bout of hot and unexpected sex, she shook her head. “You have to stop dropping in unannounced, Isaac. It’s not cool.”
“It’s the country way, Sport.” He traced a lazy circle around her nipple. “And it seems to turn out pretty well here, more times than not.”
She rolled her eyes. “I don’t care what way it is. It’s not my way. Next time, I’ll just put a bullet through your eye and be done with it.”
He tightened his arms around her with a force a couple of steps beyond friendly. “Now who’s making threats? You want to be careful, Sport.” The balance between danger and appeal tipping decidedly toward the former, Lilli pushed to get off him, but he held her in place.
She gave him a look that meant she’d dance if that’s what he wanted, and he smiled and relaxed his hold. “Tell you what. Give me your number, and I’ll call first—when I can.”
She considered him. There was a twinkle in his eye, and his expression could best be described as an amused smirk. He was still inside her, his cock beginning to harden again. He was enjoying himself. Rather than make her angrier, though, his mood relaxed her.
“Your guy’s not good enough to find that out for you?”
“Sure he is. Better if you just give it to me, though, don’t you think?” He winked.
With another roll of her eyes, she nodded and pushed again to get up. This time he didn’t obstruct her, though they both groaned when he slid out of her.
She gave him her cell and her landline, writing them out on the back of her grocery receipt. When she turned around, Isaac was standing right behind her, his jeans closed again, but his kutte and shirt off. Jesus, he was hot—huge and muscular, with beautiful ink, those leather cuffs around his wrists, the medallion around his neck. It looked something like an upside-down cross, but not exactly.
Lilli handed him the paper, and he took it with a lift of his eyebrow. As he put it in his wallet, she reached out her hand and lifted the medallion. “What is this?”
“It’s Mjölnir.” Lilli didn’t recognize the word, and she wrinkled her forehead at him. He laughed. “Thor’s Hammer. You know Thor, right?”
“Yeah, I know Thor. I just wasn’t expecting you to say a word like that.”
“You really think I’m an idiot bumpkin, don’t ya?”
She didn’t. She knew he was smart. But he was more worldly and well read than she’d given him credit for, that was true. “No, I don’t. It’s just—”
He cut her off. “It’s fine. Underestimate me all you want. Just makes my job easier, figuring you out. A lot of us around here, me included, have Norwegian heritage. I like mythology, and, well, Norse god of thunder, Harleys, seemed like a fit to me. So, Mjölnir.”
She smiled. “Viking stock, huh? Explains your size.”
Grinning, he put his hands on her hips, and she realized she was standing there naked. “Like my size, do ya?”
She shrugged. “It’ll do.”
He reached back with one hand and tugged on the band holding her ponytail. “Take this out. I like it loose.”
She did as he asked, nodding toward him. “You, too, then. I like yours loose, too.” He did as she asked.
He combed his fingers through her hair, fluffing it around her shoulders, laying it over her breasts. “You got sheets on that bed now?”
“I do.”
Trailing a finger down the middle of her chest, he murmured, “I want to take you back there and fuck you in your bed. Take my time. What d’ya think?”
Lilli shook her head. “I’m not much for a sweet fuck, love.”
“I said I wanted to take my time. Didn’t say I wanted to be sweet.” The gleam in his eyes was feral.
“Then I’m in.”
~oOo~
Lilli woke with a start and got oriented quickly. The room was bright with sunlight. Crap. What time was it? She reached over and grabbed her phone: 9:38. Jesus. She had no idea when she’d last slept so late. She lay back and let herself wake fully up.
Then she noticed the bed was full. She looked to her left and saw a broad wall of back and a mane of sable hair. Isaac. He’d spent the night. How the fuck had that happened?
No, she knew exactly how it happened. She and Isaac had essentially fucked each other unconscious. Holy shit, that had been one for the books. She was realizing that she was sore virtually everywhere now.
He was sleeping on his stomach, the pillow gathered under his head and chest. The sheet and light blanket were pushed down low, only covering his legs and the bottom of his ass. She reached to shake him awake and then stopped. She wanted to look for a minute. She’d not seen his bare back until now. That seemed strange; they’d been naked and enthusiastically intimate two of the four days they’d known each other, and he’d showered in her bathroom, but somehow she’d missed this view.
Inked across his muscular shoulders, one side to the other, starting just below the pieces that ran from his shoulders down his upper arms, was the word HORDE in thick, black letters six inches tall. He had no other ink on his back. The only other marks were several—maybe as many as a dozen—long, livid scratch
es. She looked at her hands and saw blood under her fairly short nails. She also noticed bruises forming on her breasts and belly. Arms, too.
It had been a wild night, definitely. She sat up, groaning at the sharp soreness between her legs. She’d grown accustomed to wanting more than the man she was with could or would give her. She’d had some encounters that had gone quite badly when the guy couldn’t find the line between rough and brutal. It looked, though, like she’d met her match. It also looked like they’d perhaps lost that line together.
She remembered every second of it, of course. She just hadn’t been aware they’d crossed a line. What she remembered was wild, unrestrained, enduring passion. Her throat was sore from her screaming. Remembering, she felt herself getting wet. She was far too sore to do anything about that, but she indulged a stray whim and stroked the beautiful, broad planes of Isaac’s back.
He flinched at her touch and rolled quickly to his back. She watched his face move from alarm to confusion to understanding and back to confusion. He took a deep breath and blinked several times.
“Damn. Sorry—I didn’t mean—I don’t—sorry.” He sat up, wincing.
Enjoying that he was at a loss—and that he, too, was sore—she let him swing for a few seconds. Then she smiled. “If you’re trying to apologize for still being here, don’t. It’s fine.”
He reached out and lightly stroked her upper arm, where a large bruise in the shape of his hand and fingers was flowering. “Anything else I need to apologize for?”
She reached out and grazed her hand over the open bite marks on his neck and shoulder. “Seems to me we’re even.”
“Damn, Sport. I don’t want to sound all flowery, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a fuck like that before. You’re somethin’ else.”
She grinned and stood, making sure not to react to the discomfort throughout her body. She thought today would be a good day to skip a workout, though. She combed her hair back with her fingers and pulled the elastic band from her wrist to make a ponytail. “You want breakfast? I’ve got eggs and bacon. You like over easy, right?” She hunted around for her boxers and tank, then remembered they were in the living room.
Isaac leaned back against the headboard and gave her a look that she didn’t feel like interpreting. “That’d be great. Thanks—and yeah. I like my eggs over. You mind if I take a shower?”
“My well water is your well water.” She turned and walked naked out of the room.
~oOo~
He walked up behind her as she was frying the bacon. “Was kinda hopin’ to find you in here naked,” he growled.
She laughed. “That’s how very unfortunate cooking accidents happen.” She’d dressed in last night’s boxers and tank when she’d found them in the living room.
Wrapping her ponytail around his hand, he gently pulled her head to the side and kissed her neck. The gesture was sweet and possessive, and she turned a quizzical eye on him. He only smiled and stepped to the side to pour himself a cup of coffee.
Dressed again completely but for his kutte, his wet hair braided, he stood looking out the sliding glass door, coffee in hand, while she finished breakfast. When she set the plates on the table, he turned and joined her.
They ate in silence for most of the meal. As Isaac was sopping up the leavings from his eggs with a piece of toast, he said, “You should come with me to Tuck’s place tonight. Saturday—there’s live music. You dance?”
She was surprised. “Do you?”
He clucked. “There you go, underestimating me again. Yes, I dance. But I asked if you did.”
“Are you asking me on a date? Won’t the town gossips have a field day?”
“Baby, they started hearing wedding bells when they saw us at Marie’s. I’m not known to feed my fucks. There’s nothing we could do to stir them up more—unless I knock you up, which I have no intention of doin’.”
The conversation was taking a turn Lilli had not expected at all. The whole morning was way off script. “So, what, then—we’re a couple because you bought me breakfast?”
“How about this: we’re a couple because we fuck like freight trains, and there ain’t nobody else around can handle us.” He pushed his plate away and leaned forward. “Look, Sport. It’s a small town. Staying away from each other wouldn’t be easy. And I like you. I damn sure like gettin’ you naked. I’d love it if I could come by without getting a gun pointed at my head. Here’s somethin’ else: I haven’t had breakfast with a woman I’ve fucked in fifteen years or more. I don’t sleep over. But here I am, and I’m not in a rush to go.”
“And that’s supposed to mean what to me, exactly? I’m supposed to be honored, or something?” She hadn’t woken up with a guy in years, either—and fuck, she’d made him breakfast. This was new territory for her, too. She hadn’t been in what could be called a relationship since college.
“Jesus, you’re prickly. No. It means I know I like you more than just a fuck. I think there’s something happening here. I think you feel it, too. I want to play that out a little.”
She shook her head. There had been a wide swath of hostility running through their sex last night—they had the wounds to prove it. She liked rough sex, but she wasn’t in the habit of needing first aid afterward. “We don’t trust each other. Not a great place to start something.”
He grinned as if what she’d said had given him an opening. She supposed it had—she hadn’t refused outright. “Didn’t ask you to marry me, Sport. Just sayin’ we play it out. Least I know for sure you’re hiding somethin’. You’re not hiding that.” He picked up her hand and linked his fingers with hers. “Unless you’re entertaining other offers?”
She was quiet, thinking. Something in her resisted the direction he was leading them simply because she hadn’t seen the path. It had not at all been part of her plan to get involved with anyone in Signal Bend. But she did like him. She couldn’t say she exactly enjoyed his company, because their conversations had so far been mainly adversarial. But she enjoyed his presence, she did enjoy the verbal sparring, and she was definitely attracted. Dangerously so. And it remained a good idea to keep him close, despite the entanglement.
She’d been quiet too long. He squeezed her hand and said her name. “Lilli?”
Something about the way he said her actual name resounded in her. The entanglement could indeed become a problem, but she wanted it. “Okay. I still want you to call before you come over.”
He smiled broadly. His teeth were even and white. Lilli realized that she’d never really gotten around to noticing that—she usually focused on his beard and his lips. “Noted. You never did answer my question, so I guess you don’t dance?”
“I dance. Country’s not my genre, though.” She got up to clear the table.
He grabbed her hand before she could pick up his plate. “From Texas my ass. Have you ever even been to Texas?” She didn’t answer; there wasn’t any point. He pulled her onto his lap, and she raised her eyebrows at the macho gesture. He only smiled back. “If you can move, baby, I can teach you the steps.”
~oOo~
Isaac got a call about half an hour later, after helping her clean up the breakfast dishes. Saying he’d be back for her at eight o’clock, he’d kissed her and headed out. Lilli was glad. She had things to do, and she needed some distance from him to do some thinking, too. She took a quick shower, then got on her laptop and logged on.
She didn’t have a new assignment, but she did have notification of deposits made to her accounts to compensate her for those she’d just completed. One thing about working this kind of contract work, with so much security, nothing got bogged down in “channels.” Deadlines were short, but payments came quickly.
She also had two messages from her side contact. One of them was simply coordinates. It was the update she’d been waiting for, so the rest of her day was now planned. Looked like she was going to get a workout after all. She memorized the numbers and moved to the other message: Intel on the Night Horde MC and on
Isaac, whose last name was Lunden—probably good to know that if they were a “couple” somehow, so she should make a point to ask him. She scanned the attachments, printed them off, and made a file. Interesting. Definitely material that could give her some extra security with him, if she needed it.
She wasn’t surprised that the town was kept going by the meth trade—that was the sad state of rural towns across the Midwest. She was impressed, though, to see how Isaac and his biker brothers had managed to keep the town above it even as they were in the thick of it. He moved it straight through town without stopping.
Also interesting to see that there seemed to be virtually no crime in or around Signal Bend. Nothing—not even DUIs, another thing that tended to trouble towns like this. First hand, in the few days she’d been here, Lilli had seen vandalism, assault and battery, public drunkenness, among other things—hell, even attempted murder. But none of that had been reported or investigated. Looked like the MC was the only law that mattered. Lilli admired his commitment to keeping his town alive and safe.
Isaac was careful, but Rick, Lilli’s hacker contact and, well, accomplice on her little side project, was extremely good—among the best in the world. In one day, he’d connected some dots and found some trails. There was stuff here that could hurt the Horde badly—or at least look like it could. None of it would stand up, unless she got something first-hand, but it would give her leverage, if she needed it. She wasn’t interested in hurting them—him—at all, except in self-defense.
Her own feelings about things like laws were ambivalent. She saw law and morality as nothing more than human beings’ silly attempts to order a world made of chaos. In her experience, outlaws were no better or worse than any other person. Often, in fact, they were braver, more honorable.
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