by Nicole Snow
I didn't regret a damned thing about tonight. Dad and I were safe, and I'd finally found someone worth opening my shell to. Someone who fought and killed for me.
I closed my eyes, standing next to my car, letting the warm breeze blow by while the stars twinkled in the sky. Those same stars watched us when I freaked out and ran. Now, they were going to watch me embrace the answers to my prayers.
When Rabid came stomping toward his bike, his boots and leather were dusty. He'd put his riding gloves on, but I could see a few reddish blood stains going up his arms.
“It's done,” he said. “You're safe, Christa. I kept my promise, and I'll extend it anytime some asshole's stupid enough to fuck with you. You're mine, dammit. Nobody gives my woman a shred of shit unless they want to buy their souls a ticket straight to hell.”
My ears pushed pleasant tingles through my body as his growl surrounded me. His hands hooked around me, tugged me to his chest, and we embraced for a long time, just listening to our heartbeats and soaking in the moonlight.
“Rabid...” His name was like a whirlwind on my tongue. If only he wasn't still spotted with the dead man's blood. “You can't go back to the clubhouse like that. Follow me to my place. I'll help get you cleaned up.”
He pulled back to look at me, quirking an eyebrow. “You sure you're ready for that? This shit's a lot to take in tonight, baby. We don't gotta rush anything – but you know I'm dying every fucking day I don't have you under me.”
My lips trembled. “I'm ready for anything after tonight.”
“Good,” he rumbled, sliding his hands down lower. I gasped when they caught my ass and squeezed – hard. “Because there's no fucking way I could wait another night without going off like a nuclear warhead. I'll get the blood and dirt washed off, and then we're going to bed. We're fucking tonight, baby. I'll give you the ten minutes it takes on the road to think about that. Let it sink in. Let it curl that pretty red hair. If you can handle it by the time we get to your place, then you'll handle the same goddamned way my dick's gonna be slamming you tonight.”
He squeezed me again, this time so hard my hips rolled forward. Big mistake. That V between my legs rocked into his hips, and I felt the massive ridge beneath his jeans I'd sensed a couple times before.
He was big, hard, and eager as all hell. All for me.
His lips crashed against mine. Hot, fiery, insatiable. His teeth sucked in my bottom lip and bit so hard he almost drew blood. I moaned into his mouth, craving his hurt, everything he wanted to give me.
He's right, I thought. No more bullshit. This is what I've bought, and I'm ready to pay for it with every inch of my skin. It's not an obligation. I wouldn't want him so bad if it was.
How long has it been since I've had a man? Years?
How long since it was a man like him? Never.
With a feral snarl, he released my ass, sliding one hand up my spine and fisting my red locks at their tips. “Give me another taste for the road, babe. I'm gonna be thinking about how wet and tight your pussy gets the whole way home.”
We kissed. Explosively. Desperately.
The cauldron on my lips that was quintessentially Rabid melted me from the inside out. His tongue found mine and pushed hard, pouring his seething lust into me, igniting my own – I withered. Surrender never felt so fucking good.
“Get in and go, babe. I'll be right behind you if the fucked up tire gives out. We gotta leave now, before I take you right here. Trust me on this. I'm wrestling my own fucking dick with every heartbeat to make sure our first time's not happening in a shithole like this. I won't allow that fucking travesty, but I can't hold back shit for much longer.”
Just then, a trashy looking couple stumbled through the parking lot, laughing. They slid by us, and I could smell the stink wafting off them. Worse than the dead man we'd left in the dumpster. They'd just helped him make his point.
I tore myself away from Rabid before anything else could happen. The car started up and moved without too much more destruction on the tire. Too bad I couldn't leave the POS here. Rabid was right behind me the whole way home.
It wasn't a stretch to feel his eyes melting through my car. Almost as bad as the non-stop ache between my legs. The heat, the wetness, the swelling made it hard to focus on the road. Lucky me it was a short trip.
I'd never been in heat before until now. He'd reduced me to an animal, nervous and tingling with anticipation.
It wasn't just the man he'd killed for me stirring my blood red hot. Every time we got close, my skin hummed like a magnet, drawn to him no matter how much my head resisted. The heart knew what it wanted. So did my wicked body.
I wanted to throw myself at him, tear off his clothes, and slide my tongue all over the glorious ink I knew he had on his chest. I couldn't stop thinking about what he'd feel like when his hard body shuddered between my legs, giving me the full inferno I'd only tasted in his fingers and his lips.
When we got to my place, I lingered in the car, trying to collect my wits and my breath. This was it. It had to be.
Rabid walked up and tapped on the window. “You coming, or what?”
I shut off the engine and got out. Something about the way he took my hand in his caused the fire to burn higher than when we'd kissed back in the parking lot. Raw sex took over everything like a rising wave, drowning whatever fears or doubts I had left.
We barely got through the door when he took off his cut and then the shirt underneath it. Jesus. If I thought he was a mountain, then he was actually a full range of rock hard peaks and wild, masculine edges. His muscles were packed together tight, whole slabs forming tight, delectable canyons in his abs. His chest was big and broad and hard enough to hold up the entire world.
The ink ran as wild as the rest of him. He had the roaring bear on his chest like all the other guys I'd seen in the club. The stripes rippling up his arms swung over his shoulders and formed dark flames around his neck. He was a walking canvass, painted like some bright jungle creature deadly to the touch.
There was no mistaking it – this man was dangerous as hell. I'd seen what he could do first hand. I refused to let myself be afraid. We were well past fear.
“You gonna gawk all night or help me wash this fucker's blood away?” he asked with a smile.
I smiled back, then tiptoed into the bathroom. “Just give me one minute.”
Sweet Jesus. One minute. Sixty seconds until I lost my mind if I didn't run my hands all over that gorgeous body.
I swept the shower curtain aside and started running the water. He would've been content with a hot shower alone, but I was going to do him one better. I filled the tub with water and grabbed a washcloth.
When it was halfway full, I cracked the door and looked at him. He was sitting on my bed like a tiger resting after a successful hunt.
“Come on in here. I'm ready.” He stepped past me, into my small bathroom. “Sit down. I'll do the rest.”
He didn't argue. I watched as he took a seat on the toilet, wringing the excess water out of my rag. He let out a low, satisfied throaty sound when I swept it over his neck, starting there and working down his arms, paying special attention to the rusty blood stains near his wrists. Little spots of the bastard's blood lined his entire arm, the last evidence of our crime to wipe away.
“Can I ask you something?” I whispered, hoping the question I had in mind wasn't too much for right now. He nodded. “How did it feel to kill him?”
“Almost as good as when I see you, babe. That's because he was your kill. Ours. I sent his ass to hell and I'll have to face the music with my brothers soon. I did it for you, and I don't regret shit. I'd do it all over again.” He looked at me, eyes burning bright.
“Nobody rides your sweet ass but me from now on. Besides, Ed had it coming for the club. You just helped speed things along. They'll all see the light sooner or later. 'Til they do, it's you and me. That's all I ever needed besides this patch.” He thumped his chest with one fist. “Killing for you's the same
as killing for my brothers. Not something I think about after the job's done, unless I wanna add another mark to my skin.”
He pointed to his right bicep. There were rows of jagged lines tattooed there, sets of five. Four lines cut with a diagonal slash, like something a kid would do to keep tally. I started to count, but after about eight, I decided I didn't really want to.
“I get it. Dad did his share of dirty stuff for the club too.” Rabid looked up and gave me an understanding nod. “I just never understood how it could come so easy. How much I'd want it to happen. Not until you showed me.”
Rabid snorted, leaning into the warm rag as I swept it over his shoulders. Oh, God. Those shoulders looked like something to grab and hold onto while we fucked with my feet off the ground. They were going to be the death of me, if every other inch of him wasn't first.
“Come on. Give yourself some credit. We oughta celebrate having that piece of shit dead. Don't tell me it was all me who opened your eyes.”
I shook my head. “No. He was threatening to kill my dad. That's the real reason I put up with his threats for so long.”
Rabid's hands formed fists on his thighs. His muscles rippled, swelled, amazing as watching a cobra coiling itself up for a strike.
“Motherfucker! I hope the devil's got a lotta bears, hungry and ripping his ass to pieces 'til the end of time. Killing him once in this lifetime's not enough.” Rage hissed out his nostrils. “Figured there was something else eating you. You're not the kind to take shit from anybody, Christa. I like that.”
I swallowed. Never knew it would be so hard to take compliments from a shirtless man chiseled like a god.
My eyes caught my own reflection in the mirror. Seeing the scars on my face threatened to kill the buzz running through my blood.
Seriously, now that I had him next to me, bare chested and beautiful, what did this man see in me?
Okay, I had the goods in the right places. But he was perfection, muscles and looks meant to draw a pretty face and a rocking body. And after what Fang did, I'd never have a pretty face again.
“You're a good man, Rabid. Killer or not,” I said sadly. “There's not much here I can see worth liking. I treated you like a total bitch and I tried to run away like a coward until things got too hot. Then I ran to you, pulled you into my problems. You have no idea how grateful I am for everything, but doing charity must get pretty fucking –“
Tiresome. He never let me finish my thought.
He shot up like a bullet, ripped the rag from my hand, and threw it against the wall. It hit the water in the tub with a splash. I twisted in his arms. I knew he'd never hurt me, but it was scary as hell to see him looking at me with the same killer look he'd given Ed before he rammed the knife into his throat.
“Babe, you better close your little mouth before I shut it for you. I'm not gonna listen to a second more of this shit.” He grabbed my head, jerking me around with more precision than a chiropractor. “Is this what you're worried about? This?”
He pointed to the long jagged scar arcing up my cheek, toward my right ear. I was too stunned to answer. He shook me again, vigorous but gentle. Commanding.
“Answer me! Is it?” Slowly, I nodded, turning against his hands in shame. There was no escape here. Rabid leaned down, pouring breath like fire into my ear. “I never thought a girl who's smart enough to tutor kids for a living could be so fucking blind. I see I'm gonna have to start from ground zero with you.”
I blinked, steadying myself as he loosened his grip. “What's that supposed to mean?”
The iron grip was back, holding me in a death lock with one hand, then running the opposite over my face in a gentle caress. I squirmed, hating when he touched my glaring imperfections. Why couldn't he focus on the parts of me that weren't so fucking damaged?
“Means you don't know shit about me, and I'm gonna have to ram it home to make you understand.” He rocked against my hips, harder than before, making me feel the full swollen outline of his hard-on against my ass.
God! Just give it to me or kill me now. My brain was on fire. No, make that everything, alive and burning with need.
“If I didn't think you were beautiful – every fucking inch of you – my dick wouldn't be like this. I wouldn't be thirty seconds away from shredding your clothes and smashing my face between your thighs 'til I suffocate.” He shook me again, one fierce jerk, making me flail for a second before he caught me. “Baby, you'd better believe I'm gonna fuck those rocks right outta your head. And I'm not gonna stop 'til you're breathless, too damned tired to think about anything except how good my cock feels when it's balls deep inside you.”
“Rabid!” He clapped one hand over my mouth and grabbed my hair with the other one.
He walked me out of the bathroom half-stooped over, stopping when we got into the bedroom. I tried to struggle, bite him, anything to make him understand this was crazy. Not how I ever imagined this going.
Rabid had other plans.
He swept me up into his arms, threw me over his shoulder, and carried me the last few steps to the bed before flinging me down. His weight held me down while he did what he promised, ripping my shirt off over my head, then working on my pants while he reached to pop my bra behind him.
I struggled for a second, but when his rock hard chest flattened my breasts, I couldn't think about anything at all. Nothing except how good he felt pressed against me.
His face rubbed on mine, scratching me with his stubble. He twisted his face, focusing on my scar with his kisses, burying it in lips and tongue.
I started laughing at how wild it was and tried to slap his chest. He didn't appreciate that. He reached up, pinned my wrists above my head, and maneuvered between my legs. He stared me down like the world was about to end as he rocked his hips against mine.
My jeans were halfway down, one less layer between us. God, even with his denim still in the way, he was so fucking hard against my panties. The friction in his long, rough strokes lit me up. I tried to fight him, tried to tell him to go more gently, but every thrust took my breath away.
Every thrust forced me to realize he was really into this, really into me. Scars and all.
When he was done making his point, running his tongue over my face, he moved to my mouth. Each kiss came harder than the one before. It was all hot breath, teeth, and tongue. He grabbed my bottom lip with his teeth and held it, growling into my mouth, making my whole body vibrate with rough, masculine energy.
I'd lost my shoes at some point, and my legs were folded around him now, begging him to fuck me closer, harder, deeper.
Rabid's stubble prickled along my neck as he lowered his head. He found one nipple and sucked it into his mouth. Pleasure ripped through me, and I almost came just from having this one tender part between his teeth.
His hands shifted. Now, he was holding me down by the hair with one fist. The other hand was on my left breast, warming it up for whenever his mouth got tired of my right nipple.
“Rabid...please!” I couldn't stop bucking against his dick. Clueless about what I was even begging for.
My hips rose and fell with a mind of their own. The muscles in my belly were wound so tight I thought I'd snap in two. This was a full body tease, showing me what the need to be fucked was really like.
Not want. Not desire. Need.
I reached up, hugged my arms around his neck, and rode the fiery thrusts coming between my legs. He was dry humping me into oblivion, if you could call the sopping wet mess against his jeans 'dry.'
“Fuck,” Rabid whispered, taking his face off my nipple. “I could lick this nub all day, but I know all about how greedy the rest of a woman gets. I'd be a sick sonofabitch if I let everything else suffer.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but he choked me off, drawing my other nipple into his mouth. He held me down, sucking hard and fast, swirling his tongue around and around in hypnotic, harsh loops.
I humped his dick like a mad woman. His name was Rabid, yeah, but I was the one
foaming at the mouth, completely overtaken with this need to get him in me.
“Fuck. Me!” I managed to get it out when he stopped sucking my tit. “Please.”
“Not yet. You're gonna fuck my tongue first, baby. Forget everything that happened with your tits. You're gonna see what I can really do when I've got that little clit in my mouth, slapping it with my tongue 'til you blow.”
I begged. I pleaded. I kicked my legs against him as he sank down, but he was determined.
He easily held my thighs to the bed like they were nothing, spreading them apart, opening me for him. His teeth caught my panties at the waistband and ripped. Everything came off, baring the hot wet slit to him, total proof of how sex crazed I'd become underneath him.
“Nice and pink,” he growled. “Show me how tight you get when you come. I wanna taste what's gonna be wrapped around my dick.”
I tried to brace myself for his face going between my legs. But nothing in the world could've prepared me for the thunderbolt that struck me when his mouth hit my pussy.
He sucked. He licked. He fucked me with that tongue, deeper and faster and harder than any man's tongue should. I tossed my head back, thrashing above him, losing my mind as he raced me to the edge of the cliff and gave me one last push.
Climax.
Oh, fuck. Oh, Rabid. Oh, no!
Orgasm ripped through me with wild abandon. Merciless and rough as his tongue's endless strokes through my core, slinging pure fire, wicked and hot. I pinched my thighs so hard around his head it should've cracked his skull.
But he held me open, and I only realized later he was holding perfectly still, making me fuck his mouth with wild thrusts.
When I was coming down from it, he pushed one hand in front of his face, stretching me open. Two fingers sank into my pussy, and he pivoted his mouth above it all to continue licking my clit.
“No, no. I can't handle this again. It's too soon. Rabid, I need a little –“
“Rest?” he growled, in between licks. “You'll get it when I fucking say so. I told you I'm gonna show you all the ways I want you, baby girl. And that includes showing you what your body can do when I'm in charge. The shit you'll do for me doesn't understand the meaning of 'can't.'”
