I smile at the kid. The one who knows how precious time is after losing his mother in a tragic way. Everything can change in a second. When I’m taking my last breath, the last thing I want to feel is regret.
“What if they never forgive me?” she whines into her arm, being overdramatic like the rest of us.
“Uncle Mike and Aunt Mia will forgive you, Lily. They love you more than anything in this world. Just give them a few days to get over the shock, and they’ll be fine. You’ll see,” Gigi says to her, pushing Austin’s hand out of the way, glaring at him.
For once, he wasn’t trying to get fresh. He was just being sweet, something he does often, but it’s usually covered by a flirt because it’s easier on his heart and better for his ego.
Gigi leans forward, bringing her face close to Lily’s, talking in a soft, soothing tone. “Your mom was a big-time doctor at the hospital, but she quit, following her dream to open a clinic. Your parents know what it’s like to want something else, something better. You’ll see, babe. It’s all going to be okay.”
“She always like this?” Mammoth asks before sipping his beer.
“Not always,” I lie.
We’re all dramatic. Even the guys in my family are over the top about the smallest things. Tough guys? Sure. Attention whores? Completely. It’s part of our DNA. We do nothing small, even drama.
“We’ll all end up at Inked someday. It’s our legacy. You’re not going to sell hot dogs to hot construction workers, Lily. You’re going to be with me, Pike, Austin, maybe Tamara.” Gigi looks at me when she says that, always hounding me to work at the shop even though I refuse. “And now you. Our parents need to retire. Imagine all of us together every day, working, talking, living the best life we can. It’ll be like old times.”
Mammoth’s hand is on my shoulder, stroking the skin on my neck, making me ache for him. “It’s still a no for me. I haven’t figured out what I’m doing next week, let alone for the rest of my life,” I say, but my voice is deep and husky because he’s distracting me with his touch.
Austin and Pike give each other a look before turning their eyes to Mammoth, passing some ESP shit back and forth about us. It’s like men are special, unaffected or unworried about shit in life. They act like they’re never dramatic, but hit their bike with your car door and watch them turn into the world’s biggest crybabies.
“No one knows what they’re doing for the rest of their life. Shit, we’re too young for all that,” Austin says, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand as he stares down at his soda. “I mean, I never thought I’d be sitting around a table in a bar with my three girls, sipping a freaking Coke, instead of boning some Betty in a bathroom, drunk on vodka in the backwoods of Tennessee.”
“Some Betty?” I raise an eyebrow.
Austin nods. “Listen.” He smiles, dropping his hand from his neck to the table. “I’m a guy. I’m not overly picky either.”
I gag a little, covering my mouth because the thought of him boning anyone makes me a little sick. “You’re going to get a disease if you keep sticking that dick into anything that moves.”
He shrugs, the smirk not leaving his lips. “Gotta live life on the edge, but I always, and I mean always, wear a rubber.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Pike mutters. “Last thing you need is a kid.”
“Shit. As soon as I’m old enough, I’m getting a vasectomy.”
“Shut the fuck up, you idiot,” Lily finally speaks up, still cocooned in the safety of her arm. “You’re not going to do that. You’re going to want babies someday.”
“You want babies with me, Lil?” Austin asks, scooting a little closer to her and covering her hands with his. “I’ll keep my balls intact for you, sweetheart.”
She doesn’t even lift up her head. “Um, I’ll never sleep with you.”
He pats her hand. “Keep telling yourself that.”
She groans, ripping her hand out from under his like his skin is burning her. “Vasectomies aren’t easy to reverse. How many times do you want them to cut your balls open?”
Austin pales immediately. “Maybe a vasectomy is a little too drastic after all.”
“Uh-huh,” Lily mumbles.
Austin keeps his gaze on her. The boy has been head over heels in love with Lily since the moment he laid eyes on her. He’s scared of her too. Even more scared of her father, but that doesn’t stop him from dreaming. “See, Lily baby. Look at how you just changed my life. I would’ve had fucked-up balls, and we would’ve had no kids if it weren’t for you talking sense into me now.”
Lily lifts her head, mascara streaming down her face along with tears. “We’re never having kids, Austin. Got it?”
Austin rocks back, the sight of Lily’s face all splotchy red and makeup a complete disaster scaring him and everyone else at the table. “Got it, love. A guy can dream, yeah?”
“Jesus,” Gigi grumbles. “You’re a mess, Lil. Let’s go to the ladies’ room and give the men a few minutes of silence.”
“Thank fuck,” Pike and Mammoth whisper under their breath, almost in unison.
The glares that turn their way as the three of us stand are nothing short of ice-cold. “You better hope we come back,” Gigi tells Pike, poking him in the shoulder with her pointy-ass fingernail.
“Darlin’, you’re coming back,” he tells her, cocky smile on his face like he knows she can’t get enough of him.
“Hurry your pretty little ass back, princess,” is what I get from Mammoth, who opts to cut me off before I have a chance to make a crack about his comment.
“We’ll see.” I shrug. I don’t make it two feet before he wraps his arm around my waist, hauling me backward and into his lap.
His lips are near my ear, breath warm against my skin. “I know you’re testing me. I know you’re trying to push my buttons. But let’s remember, if you want to play the game with me, I’m gonna win, Tamara.”
My body shivers when he says my name, but that doesn’t stop him from talking.
“You play hard to get, I’ll chase. You pretend you’re walking away, I’ll follow. You want to meet the real Saint, I’m ready to play, princess.”
I turn my head, our mouths so close I can smell the sweetness of the beer on his breath. Our eyes are locked. His gray to my hazel. My body’s humming in his lap, begging for more than just a simple touch. “I’m game, baby. But just know, I always play to win.”
His hand comes up, cradling my face. “I never back down from a challenge.”
“Me either,” I whisper, sounding a little less confident than I wanted.
“Gonna tame you yet.”
“You can try.”
“Fuckin’ cute,” he says against my lips before taking whatever smartass thing I was about to say and completely erasing it from my mind.
The man has a way of doing that. Making me stupid. Making me forget I’m the badass chick who takes no shit from anyone and gives people hell. He makes me someone else. He makes me want things I never wanted to want before. Damn it.
“Hey, asshole, you comin’, or you sucking face all night?” Gigi asks behind me.
I wave my hand, lips still locked on Mammoth’s mouth, taking the air he’s giving me.
“Such a whore,” Gigi says before the sound of her boots and Lily’s high heels pound the wooden floor, growing softer.
“I gotta go.” I pull back from Mammoth, breaking the kiss. “I have to be here for my girl tonight. But tomorrow, I’m all yours.” I smile, staring into his fiery eyes.
“Don’t write checks your ass can’t cash.” He smirks, his eyes sliding down my body. “I always follow through.”
“Baby.” I slide off his lap, keeping my hand on his shoulder as I gaze down at him. “I’m a sure thing, but we’ll see who tames whom in the end.”
Mammoth smiles as I walk away, and I quickly turn my back, mouthing dumbass to myself. I’ve never said such stupid shit to a man before.
Never.
“What
the hell is wrong with me?” I ask as I push open the bathroom door, finding Lily and Gigi standing near the sink.
Gigi laughs as she carefully wipes the mascara from Lily’s face. “You’re in love or at least lust.” She glances at me as I flinch like I’m having an allergic reaction to the very thought of being truly in love.
“How did this happen?” I cover my face and shake my head. “I just don’t understand.”
“Magical cock, babe,” Gigi replies even though I wasn’t really looking for an answer.
I groan and stare at myself in the mirror. “It’s the piercing, isn’t it?” I glance at Gigi’s and Lily’s reflections in the mirror and wave my hand in the air. “It’s like one of those medallions magicians wave in the air to hypnotize a person.”
“Oh my God. His penis is pierced?” Lily’s mouth falls open.
I nod with a stupid grin on my face. “It sparkles, Lil.”
“I’ve never seen a pierced penis,” Lily admits, and neither of us is shocked by this because it’s Lily.
“And that’s surprising how?” Gigi asks, moving Lily’s head back so she can finish cleaning her face.
Lily sighs. “I’m going to die all alone, never seeing a pierced penis, surrounded by a hundred cats. Aren’t I?”
“Never,” I tell Lily. “You’ll always have us.”
Gigi nods in agreement, dabbing the Kleenex against her tongue, which is just gross, but Lily doesn’t seem to care. “And if you come work with me at Inked, I guarantee you’ll see plenty of pierced penises.”
Lily pushes Gigi’s hand away from her face. “I know you’re trying to sell me on Inked, but I don’t know if it’s a good fit or what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
After tossing the Kleenex in the trash, Gigi leans her hip against the counter and crosses her arms. “None of us know what we want to do with the rest of our lives, but for now, you can work there. Learn piercing and spend a little more time with your dad while you’re training. Once you figure out your life plan, then you can move on. But—” Gigi pauses and grabs on to Lily’s shoulders “—imagine the fun we’ll have for a little while until you figure shit out. Izzy and I could use another girl around the shop. There’s a little too much testosterone.”
“Yeah,” Lily murmurs. “I guess I can.”
“See.” Gigi smiles. “Things aren’t so bad, are they?”
“Well.” Lily winces. “I don’t have a place to live, I don’t have a degree, I don’t have a man.”
Gigi shakes her head and places her finger against Lily’s lips to shut her up. “You have us. You have a job. You have…”
“Yeah?” Lily tilts her head when Gigi pauses. “And?”
“Us,” I repeat. “Who needs anything more?”
“I love you guys,” Lily says without tearing up.
For the first time since stepping foot in the bar, I think she’s ready to face her future, and so am I.
18
Tamara
One Week Later
Mammoth pulls off his boots, looking massive in my small dorm room. “I think I should stay the night.”
I stand in the doorway to the bathroom, wearing nothing but his T-shirt I snagged during the week and claimed as my own. “You can’t,” I tell him, wishing things were different. “I’ll get kicked out.”
His arms are out before I get to him, pulling me to stand in front of him. “Well, at least I know there won’t be any other men staying in your bed, princess.” He slides his hands up my thighs, finding me bare underneath. “I’m going to miss this,” he says, stroking the crease under my ass cheek with his thumb.
I tangle my fingers in his hair, soaking in his touch. “Is this the end of us?”
We’ve only known each other for a little over a week, but I feel like I’ve known him longer. I can’t imagine him not in my life at this point, and I’m more than a little freaked out by that too.
He tips his head back, staring at me with soft eyes. “Do you want this to be the end?” he asks, not answering my question, but deflecting.
“No, baby. I don’t want this to be the end.”
The roughness of his palms squeezing my ass has my body swaying, wanting him. “Then this isn’t the end.”
I crave him, and after a week of him avoiding sex, I’m ready to pounce. “But do you want to see me again? This relationship, or whatever it is, is a two-way street.”
He pulls me down, positioning me in his lap so we’re eye-to-eye and I’m straddling his legs. “I’ve never wanted anything more.”
“Yeah?” I smile.
One of his hands is up the back of my shirt, caressing my spine, and the other’s still firmly planted on my ass. “Yeah. I haven’t had my fill.”
Does that mean there’s a limit to our relationship? Once he’s had enough of me, enough pussy, enough time, he’ll leave and never look back? The very thought has my stomach flipping. “When will you have your fill?” I ask, figuring I might as well know now so I don’t set myself up for heartbreak later.
“I’m not sure I ever will, princess,” he says softly, and the flipping of my stomach intensifies, but for very different reasons.
I shift my hands on his shoulders, finding his hair and burying my fingers in the softness. “This is kind of crazy, ya know?”
“If someone would’ve told me two weeks ago I’d be crazy in love with a chick, I would’ve told them they were fucked in the head.”
I swallow, suddenly breathless. “You’re in love with me?” The words almost stick in my throat.
He nods and splays his hand against my back, making me feel tiny in comparison. “It’s illogical, but nothing feels more right than being here with you. I’m sure people will think we’re crazy, but sometimes, the heart, body, and soul know when they find their other half.”
I lean my forehead against his, inhaling the scent that’s completely his and totally masculine. “Mammoth?”
“Yeah?” he grunts.
“I won’t share you.”
He pulls back, gazing at me with those smoky gray eyes that caught my attention the first time I saw him. “I’m not sharing you either. Let’s make that clear. If we’re in this, we’re in this. No one else. I don’t want to be in Daytona, wondering what you’re doing or who you’re doing. And the same goes for me. If I need a piece of ass, I’ll hop on my bike and be here in a flash to get a taste of my princess.”
My insides go warm and squishy because Mammoth’s mine and I’m his, but there’s a sadness too, because I don’t know when I’ll see him again. It could be months, but I pray, with his sexual appetite, it’ll be at least once a week. “Can you just stay here?”
He slowly shakes his head. “I can’t. I have shit to take care of with the club. If I ever want out, I have to start putting things into motion now. Can’t just do that on the fly.”
“Are you leaving the club because of me, because of us?”
“I knew the time was coming. I felt that deep. But now, I have a reason to go. A reason to start over. A reason to move on and go forward.”
“So that’s a yes?” I tease him, which earns me a playful swat to the ass. My skin tingles and heats from the impact, and I totally dig the sensation, especially when his palm soothes the very same spot.
“You’re a tease,” he says in that deep, honeyed tone. All full of promise and lust.
“I’m a sure thing, baby,” I tell him, moving my hands down his chest and cupping his cock through his jeans. “A very sure thing.”
“Yes, yes, you are,” he whispers, dipping his face closer and brushing his lips against mine. “How long until your new roommate gets here?”
“She’ll be here in the morning.”
“That gives me all night to get what I want and need to get me through the next few weeks.”
I suck in a breath, knowing an entire night alone with no one listening, interrupting, or trying to kill our good time is just what I need too to get me through the next couple weeks. Weeks
? He said weeks. I don’t have time to think about anything, especially time, as his lips crash down against mine, stealing the breath I’d just inhaled.
My fingers make quick work of the button and zipper on his jeans, ready to see that bedazzled cock I’ve missed for the last week.
But before I can reach inside, his fingers are at my wrists, pulling my hands away. Opening my eyes, I pull back, taking in his rugged face and the playful smirk hanging on those beautiful lips.
“Sweetheart, this night is mine just like you are. You’re not in charge now. You do as I say, and I’ll give you everything you want,” he says in such a serious tone, my insides quiver.
“I’m yours,” I whisper, not able to talk any louder because my voice would totally betray the need that’s building inside me.
“You are mine,” he repeats, and my cunt twitches in excitement. “Lift your arms.”
I lift them immediately, and a moment later, the T-shirt I’ve been wearing is gone and discarded on the floor.
His gaze never leaves my eyes even if my tits are fully exposed. “Put your hands behind your back.”
I move quickly, placing my arms behind my back, which also makes my tits stick out, moving them closer to him. “Like this?” I rasp, licking my lips.
“Just like that.” He moves one hand behind my back, capturing my wrists between his fingers.
I feel naked. I mean, I am naked, and I’ve been naked in front of him before, but I feel completely and utterly exposed. His gaze leaves my face, traveling down my neck, before landing on my breasts.
“Sheer perfection,” he murmurs.
My nipples instantly harden like they’re begging for his fine-ass lips to be wrapped around them. No other man has ever been able to elicit such a reaction from me. I’m like a bitch in heat whenever Mammoth’s around, willing to do whatever he asks.
I take a deep breath, trying to stay calm when my body’s anything but. “Am I getting the full-on Mammoth treatment?”
He shakes his head as he shifts his legs outward, spreading mine wide open. “Not yet, princess. Soon, though.”
Wildfire Page 14
