by Zoey Parker
“Well, whatever you two are doing, it’s awesome. You guys are killing it together,” Shift said, looking at both of us again. There was something in his eyes when he mentioned us as a unit. Any time he mentioned us together, it was like he was thinking about us together, like a couple or some shit.
“Don’t be getting any ideas, Shift,” Maria cautioned him in her almost playful tone. She chuckled. “We work great together, but it’s not like that. I’m not big on being tied down.” She cut her eyes to me and smirked.
“I can second that,” I agreed. “I’m also not good at tying people down, as I’ve discovered.”
Shift stared at us with an utterly clueless look on his face, making us laugh even harder. No one knew about the way we’d started our business relationship, and we preferred it that way. It had become an inside joke.
“Well, whatever the hell it is you’re talking about aside, keep up the good work. I’ve got to get going, but here’s this,” he said, pulling cash out of his wallet to help with dinner.
“No way, brother. We’ve got this,” I told him. And by we, of course, I meant I had it.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Maria said. “We’ll take care of the ticket.”
“You know, you keep up the way you talk and act around us, we’ll have to give you a name just like everyone else,” Shift said to her. “Now, I need to borrow my little brother for a moment if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” She slid out to let me out.
“You’ve got the company card, right?” I asked her as I got up.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I’ll only be a sec.”
“I mean, damn, Brawn, just kiss her and get it over with,” Shift teased.
I shot him a look and started to walk outside with him. Once we got outside, into the night air and under the city streetlights, I turned to him and asked, “all right, what’s up?”
He gripped my shoulder and walked me away from the front of the restaurant. “Hey, I know things have been going well for you, and I’m glad. Don’t get me wrong. I couldn’t be happier for you guys, especially if you’re able to pay me off this quickly and not be hurting for anything.” He patted the envelope in the inside pocket of his jacket.
“I’m waiting on the but,” I told him, urging him to get to the point.
“Well, the thing is they’re talking around the clubhouse,” Shift continued.
I groaned. “Talking about what?” I asked. I already knew what he was going on about, but I wanted him to get to the point, spit it out. Stop beating around the bush like he was trying to protect his little brother.
“Well, you know, they want to see you around the clubhouse more. They want to see you involved with the MC more,” my brother told me, his tone low and serious. There was an urgency behind his words, like there was more that he wasn’t telling me.
“I’ve been busy with work, Shift. You know this,” I argued. “What was I supposed to do, drop everything to go hang out and drink a few beers with the old-timers and wannabes?”
He chuckled. “That’s a bit harsh, man. What about guys like Mark, and me? We’re not old-timers, and I’d love to see you call Mark a wannabe or poser to his face. Hell, I’d pay good money to see that.”
“You know what I mean, man. There are a lot of guys down there who don’t need to be.”
“I get it. I do. That’s why we need guys like you, who have been around for a minute, to come down and show these kids the ropes. Show them what it means to be a Twisted Ghost. Hell, you know Shank isn’t hitting on shit, and James is too damn old to do much more than call the shots. We need more young-bloods to be active. Now that you and Maria are established, and you’ve got me paid off, you can relax a little bit, bro. What good is success if you don’t enjoy it a little bit?”
“All right, I’ll see what we can do,” I told him.
“Good deal. Take it easy.” He clapped me on the back and walked over to his motorcycle. I stood there and watched as the engine roared to life and he pulled away from the curb.
What I had neglected to mention to Shift was that I was also trying to make as much money as possible so I could help send Maria to nursing school, so I wasn’t the only one getting to live out their dreams. We were a team, and that meant I had to look out for her as much as I looked out for myself. I felt like I didn’t have a lot of time left for the MC after work. Maria had practically twisted my arm to get me to take Shift out to dinner to celebrate paying off the last installment of the loan we’d taken out from him.
I took a deep steadying breath and walked back into the restaurant, trying to leave all the MC bullshit on the sidewalk where I had talked to Shift. Maria stood up as I approached the table. She was the epitome of class and beauty with her wavy hair swept up and back and an elegant black evening gown that complimented her body perfectly. Her earrings dangled and sparkled in the light of the room. She looked delicious.
“Is everything okay?” she asked as I walked up to her.
I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her. I wanted to feel her against me. I wanted to show all my appreciation for everything she’d done, but I knew that wasn’t the right way to handle our relationship. We weren’t romantic. There may have been a chance for that if we hadn’t ended up as business partners. Even that was temporary.
“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I told her. “It’s just MC business.”
She reached out and put a hand on my arm. Her gentle touch was the most reassuring thing I’d ever felt. I knew that with Maria by my side there wasn’t anything to worry about, whether with our business, the MC, or anything else.
“Are you sure?” she asked me, looking into my eyes. There was more than just a friendly concern in them.
“Yeah,” I said, shaking my head, shaking off the worry my brother had planted in my mind. “Are we done here?” I asked her, dismissing her caring look.
“Yeah, I think so. I’ve paid the check and everything. Are you sure you’re all right, Brawn? You seem like something’s bothering you,” she said, running her hand along my arm. She was standing so close to me I could feel the warmth from her body.
“You know what? Let’s celebrate tonight,” I told her, putting my arm across her shoulders. I couldn’t ignore my desire for her any longer.
“Are you sure?” she asked suspiciously. “What are we celebrating?”
“Being out from underneath my brother. I don’t know about you but I’ve been pretty worried about it. I hate being indebted to people.”
“I’ve noticed,” she said slowly.
“Let’s get a room, get a bottle of champagne, and drink until morning,” I said.
“Brawn, I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not? If we get hungry we can get room service. We can watch movies. Or we can just sleep on a really comfortable bed until we wake up in the morning instead of having an alarm go off.”
“I think we should get you home,” Maria said.
I took her in both of my arms and held her to me, leaning down so our foreheads met. “It’s like my brother said tonight. What’s it worth if we’re not going to enjoy it? We’ve done really well for ourselves, and I sure as hell couldn’t have done it without you. You have worked just as hard as I have, if not harder. You need this as much as I do, Maria.”
“But I know you, Brawn. I know how you think. I know how you operate.” Her hands pressed on my chest through my shirt. She looked down.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I warned her. “Come on.”
I took Maria by one of her thin, feminine hands and pulled her with me to the front desk of the hotel attached to the restaurant. I secured us a suite near the top floor for the night. I pulled her into the elevator with me, but I didn’t pull her to me. I didn’t put her against the wall and start making out with her the way I would have done anyone else.
Maria Kelly was a different kind of woman. She wasn’t someone I co
uld just use and take advantage of. I felt like we’d both earned a break, a chance to let our hair down, over the last few months, working together. I knew what she expected from me. She’d known me long enough to know the type of person I was, but I wanted to show her it didn’t always have to be that way.
The elevator doors opened, and we walked into the hall. I checked the room number on the key card and stepped off the elevator. She followed. I was no longer dragging her by her hand but letting her come with me of her own free will. That told me whether or not she wanted to be there. She could leave whenever she was ready.
Chapter 9
Maria
“Here’s to making an unstoppable team.” Brawn held his glass of champagne up to mine. We clinked our glasses together and drank. He was in a mood to celebrate, and despite my initial hesitation, I wasn’t really in a position to try to stop him.
We did make a good team. There was no denying that. As the bubbles from the champagne tickled my throat, I thought back on the last few months. I had never imagined I would be working in another office, working for someone other than my father in a position that essentially amounted to being an office manager.
“Let’s put on some music,” Brawn said, pulling out his phone. He tapped the screen a few times, and classic rock filled the room. It was Kansas. Brawn started to sing along.
I laughed and drank some more of my champagne as I watched him. Some stereotypes were true, I guessed. I had noticed that Brawn really had a thing for the classics, everything from Elvis to Aerosmith. If it had a guitar and some attitude, he was all over it.
It felt good to see him letting his hair down for a change. He had been right about how much he’d stressed out over the money he owed Shift and the amount of work he expected of himself. We often worked from before dawn to well into the night. If he was there, I was there. Someone had to watch out for him and make sure he didn’t work himself to death. I was sure he would have if no one had been around to stop him.
“What?” He caught me standing next to the bed staring at him. He stopped singing and walked over to me.
“I just don’t think I’ve seen you in this good of a mood as long as I’ve known you,” I told him.
“Well, I have you to thank for it,” he said, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me to him.
“No, I think you have those beers you drank at dinner and the champagne up here to thank for it,” I teased him.
“Okay, it might be helping a little bit,” he admitted.
Our faces were close enough that I could almost taste his breath. I could feel his heart pounding and his chest heaving through his shirt. My heart raced with his, pounding out the same beat in my chest.
He pressed his hips against me, and I could feel his hardening desire through his jeans. He pressed his bulge hard between my legs, sending a surge of pleasure and longing through my body that took my breath away.
In the time that we’d worked together, I had started to develop feelings for him. Watching him work every day, the care he put into everything he did for his clients, it was hard not to fall for such a dedicated, hard-working man. At the same time, he was able to maintain the manner in which he usually treated me. He was still respectful towards me no matter how much he had worked.
I couldn’t believe we were here, in the hotel room, alone, a couple of drinks in our hands, music playing in the background, and pressed together in the middle of the room like the rest of the world no longer existed. It was just the two of us.
“Is this okay?” I asked him.
“What do you think?”
I licked my lips. I didn’t know what to think. We had been successful together at work. We had been living together since that night in the cabin. We were just supposed to be business partners. We weren’t supposed to be lovers. I was just supposed to be working with him until I got into school. He had even mentioned using the business to help me get into school and to help me get through it.
I was starting to question what I really wanted. I wanted to be a nurse, but I also found fulfillment in working closely with Brawn to run his business. I felt like I had a purpose, and that purpose was helping him succeed. I was also finding I had other desires, other wants I never would have imagined.
I tilted my head and pressed my lips against his. Our mouths locked together, and the arm that was around my waist slid up until Brawn had a hand on the back of my head, holding me into the kiss as our mouths opened and his tongue pushed into my mouth.
He tasted like champagne, but even if he hadn’t, his kiss still would have been intoxicating. I put my glass down clumsily on the table next to us and took his face in both my hands. Suddenly, all the desire that had been locked away deep inside over the last few months unraveled and exploded. I couldn’t contain myself.
My thighs trembled, and I ached for him. I grabbed him by the vest and turned around so the bed was behind me. I sat down on the thick, soft mattress and pulled him with me as I scooted back.
His hands were on my thighs, pushing up the skirt of my dress. His lips gently touched my shoulders and neck while his hands reached my hips and his fingers wrapped around the top of the lace panties I was wearing.
I let go of his vest and grabbed the firm, flexing muscles of his upper arms while he kissed down my neck to the skin between my breasts, just above my bra. His hands pulled my panties and slid them down my legs. His touch was soft and smooth, but the way his hands moved commanded my attention.
I spread my legs after he pulled my wet panties past my feet and dropped them to the floor. I wanted to give myself to him. I wanted him to take me right there on that bed.
“You should have done this that night in the cabin,” I whispered up to him.
“Why is that?” he asked with a playful smirk on his face.
“It would have been perfect,” I told him. “Claim me as yours.”
He ran his hands up my sides and brought them around to my breasts, running his palms over me before gripping me with those strong fingers. He squeezed me through the fabric of my dress and my bra.
He sat back his knees. I whined as I reached for him. I rocked my hips up at him, begging him to come back down to me. He smiled down at me as shrugged off his vest and pulled his shirt off over his head. Then, while he worked off his belt and his jeans, I pulled my dress over my head and unclasped my bra.
His body was perfectly sculpted. I wanted to touch his chest and stomach to feel the contours of his flesh. I looked down between his legs and saw the prize waiting for me, long and hard, stretching out for me.
He pulled a condom out of his pocket before he let his jeans fall to the floor and tore open the packet. I watched as he rolled it down his solid shaft. Then, he grabbed wrapped and arm around my waist again, lifting me up off the bed.
He pressed himself against my wet lips, and my body shivered. My muscles contracted, trying to grip him, trying to beg him to enter me.
“Please,” I moaned up at him. “Take me, Brawn.”
He pulled me onto him, pushing himself deep into me. Then, with his hands on my back, he pulled me up until I was straddling his lap with his cock pressed deep inside my center. My lips quivered as I tried to breathe.
He rocked me, thrusting himself back and forth in me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and started rolling my hips against him. My muscles trembled with ecstasy as his shaft stroked them inside me.
“You like that?” he asked.
I bit my lower lip as I rolled my hips slowly. “I want to make you cum,” I told him, whispering in his ear.
He grabbed me by shoulders and pulled me down as he shoved his hips up against me. I threw my head back and cried out. Then, his lips were on my neck. I loosened the grip my arms had and allowed myself to lean back, against his arms. He kissed my chest, and continued to move his lips down to my breasts. His lips slid down to one of my nipples and gently wrapped around it.
I rocked my hips, rocking him inside of me while he sucked on the
tender skin hardening to a point on my breast. His teeth grazed me as his shaft rocked against my g-spot. I moaned and pressed my hips down harder, drawing him in deeper and deeper still.
I could feel him growing harder, straighter, stiffer inside me. He grabbed my shoulders again and pulled me down, forcing me to grind myself against him, running his length deep inside me.
I could feel him getting closer and closer to orgasm. He grew harder and his body seemed to hum with ecstasy. He grunted – almost growled – as he held me down on his hips and rocked himself into me. He moved faster and faster, his thrusts growing more and more intense. Soon, he was pounding himself into me. He pulled me back against his chest and held me to his firm, flexing muscles.
