His gut twisted. She was lying to him. “Princess...”
“Slade, I’m tired. I just want to sleep.”
Slade sat up and looked down at her. “No. Fuckin’ somethin’s up an’ you need to be straight with me.”
She pushed herself to a seat and held the sheet up to her chest covering herself, something she never bothered to do before. She had a great body, awesome tits, and she’d never hid that from him before. They’d only been sleeping together for the past few weeks, but even from the beginning she had never been shy about her body. Not once. She’d strut around her cabin wearing nothing but her long, dark hair many a night.
So something was off.
“You regrettin’ givin’ me a key?”
When she didn’t answer, he wondered if that could be it. That maybe she thought giving him a key to her place was a mistake, a step toward some sort of commitment that neither of them were ready to take.
“That it, Diamond? You want your key back?”
She blew out a shaky breath and he certainly didn’t miss it.
“Thought we were havin’ a good time, but maybe I was wrong.”
“We were having a good time,” she repeated softly.
He wished the room wasn’t dark, wished he could see her face, see her eyes. “Were?” he asked and forced his Adam’s apple back down into his throat.
He’d ended up in a lot of different beds over the years and not one had he ever had a hard time rolling out of. Not one.
Until now.
Until Diamond.
The reason he pushed her away last summer wasn’t because she could be a bitch. That wasn’t it at all. That was just a good excuse.
He did it because he knew he could drown within her blue eyes. That he could get sucked in that pit where he couldn’t escape. That she could capture a piece of his heart. That she could be the reason he stopped moving, stopped searching, and ended his nomad lifestyle.
“Want me outta your bed, Diamond? That what you want? ‘Cause ain’t stayin’ where I ain’t wanted.”
“Yes, Slade, that’s what I want.”
All the oxygen left his lungs. Until she said those words, he had some hope. But now...
He didn’t realize how much it would kill him to hear her say that. He didn’t realize just how deeply she was burrowed under his skin.
What he thought was them having a good time together wasn’t just that. It had become more.
He didn’t want anyone else in her bed or her life. He didn’t want to ever share the woman that sat next to him on her bed. The one that opened herself up to him.
Blood rushed into his head as his temper soared. “What fuckin’ happened?”
“Nothing.”
Again, lying.
“Fuckin’ lyin’ to me an’ I have no idea why.” He dropped his legs over the side of the bed and stared at her shadowed figure over his shoulder. “I do somethin’?” He couldn’t quite tell in the dark, but he thought her eyes were closed.
He counted five breaths before she answered.
“No... I did.”
He twisted to face her. His breathing quickened, and his heart began to race. “Whatdya do?”
“I... uh...”
“Princess,” he whispered, trying to keep the anxiety from his voice. What did she do that she’d want him to leave her bed?
“Slade, maybe it’s best you just go.”
“Fuck that shit. Tell me what you did.” He rubbed his bare chest because a sharp ache was building there.
“Fuck,” she muttered.
Fuck!
“Diamond, askin’ you one more time...”
“I fucked Rig, okay?” she screamed then slammed herself back onto the bed and covered her face with her hands, her body shaking enough he could see it even in the dark.
“What the fuck?” he whispered, his heart now pounding in his throat, a vein throbbing at his temple.
“I’ve wanted him for a long time and he always resisted... until... It... just happened,” came muffled reply from behind her hands.
“Just happened? When?”
“Earlier.”
His mind raced, and he jumped to his feet. “I was there after him?”
She didn’t respond.
“Diamond! Fucked me after him?” he shouted at her.
She pulled her hands away from her face and shouted, “Yes! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”
“Didn’t mean to? Just happened? Been wantin’ him? What the fuck, Diamond? Thought we had somethin’—” he broke off before he revealed something he shouldn’t. “He know we’ve been fuckin’?”
Because if he did, him and Rig were going to have a conversation. It was going to be a short conversation and there wasn’t going to be a lot of talking. Brothers didn’t fuck other brother’s women. They just didn’t.
“No.”
His lip curled, and he ground out, “You fuckin’ goddamn whore.”
“We weren’t serious!”
He shook his head and found his pile of clothes where he dropped them earlier. “What the fuck, Diamond? What the fuck.” He yanked on his boxers and his jeans in one pull. Snagging his long-sleeve thermal, he tugged that over his head. Then he found his boots and socks in the dark and pulled them on. His cut was hanging on the door knob, but at the moment, he didn’t have the stomach to wear it.
One of his brothers just fucked him.
The woman still in her bed behind him fucked him.
He needed to fucking puke.
He stormed from her room, jerked her key from his pocket and tossed it onto her table as he headed toward the door. After rushing through it, he slammed it shut behind him.
But that didn’t make him feel any better.
He never should’ve rolled into Shadow Valley. He never should’ve rolled into Diamond’s bed.
He should’ve just kept rolling.
* * *
“You fuckin’ bitch!”
“Hang the fuck on, Rig,” Jag growled, putting out a hand, her brother’s eyes narrowing.
“I’d never fuck a brother’s woman. Ever.”
“Know it,” Diesel mumbled.
“Why’d you use me?” Rig turned wide eyes on Diamond, who swallowed hard.
“I panicked. I needed an excuse to get him out of my...,” she closed her eyes for a second, “house.”
“So, you couldn’t come up with some random guy? Make up a fuckin’ name?”
“Sorry. After our conversation yesterday in the office, your name just popped into my head. Had to pick someone not attached.”
“Great,” Rig shouted, throwing his hands up. “Now I gotta worry he’s gonna hunt my ass down.”
“Ain’t gonna do shit,” Diesel muttered.
Rig turned wide eyes to D. “Yeah, right. Fucking former Marine. Can probably slip into my room an’, an’ break my neck without me even wakin’ up.”
“Everyone just needs to keep cool,” Zak announced to the small group that was standing around in one of the garage bays at the body shop. It was the best place to meet to do damage control, a place to talk where they wouldn’t risk Slade overhearing them.
“He’s a former Marine, not a damn ninja,” Jag said.
“Don’t think D’s crew can do that? They’re all former military,” Rig exclaimed, yanking on his beard in agitation.
“That’s different.”
Rig continued, “We don’t know if he has any special skills...”
“He was a boxer in the Marines. Was good at it from what he said,” Diamond said softly.
All eyes turned to her.
“Great,” Rig muttered and shook his head. “I’m a lover not a fighter.”
Jag snorted, but quickly stifled it.
“Does anyone even know where he’s at?” Z asked.
Jag shook his head. “Hawk checked his room. Was empty.” Her brother’s eyes landed on her. “What time did he leave your place?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe one or so.”
/>
“I’da known you were gonna do it last night, woulda got one of my crew to tail ‘im.”
Diamond bugged her eyes out at Diesel. “You told me to break it off.”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah! So I did that. Think it was easy for me? Think I liked lying to him?” D just looked at her and she threw up her hands in disgust. “Not everyone’s a cold, unfeeling bastard like you, D.”
Diamond didn’t miss it when his body went solid. But he didn’t disagree with her. Out loud, at least. Nor would he.
She knew the truth about Diesel. What he showed her sister, Jewel, versus what he showed the rest of the world. But still... right now she felt the need to hit him where it hurt. Because she was hurting badly, and she wanted him to feel a little bit of that pain. He was the one who wanted her to break it off with Slade. Not her.
It was possible that she and Slade could have come to an understanding about their fathers. Their fathers weren’t them. She didn’t kill Slade’s father and he wasn’t the reason Rocky was in Greene for life. Maybe they could’ve moved past that somehow. But now there was no chance of that at all.
None.
“So I know the fuckin’ details if I’m confronted... when did we do this?” Rig asked her with a frown.
“Yesterday.”
His eyebrows popped up. “An’ he ended up in your bed last night? D’you tell ‘im after he fucked you?”
Again, all eyes landed on her. Even her brother’s. Heat rose into her cheeks and she pressed her palms against them. “Details aren’t important,” she murmured.
Rig shook his head, angrier than ever. “Makes it worse, Di. No man wants sloppy seconds.”
“We didn’t do it for real, Rig!” she yelled.
Rig yelled right back at her, “He don’t know that!”
“I’m so done with this. It’s over. It’s done. You got what you fucking wanted, D. Hope you’re happy.” With that she rushed from the shop and into her office, slamming the door behind her. She leaned against the door and drove the heels of her palms into her eye sockets to relieve the burn.
Her body hiccuped as a sob fought to escape. But she wouldn’t let it. She couldn’t. If she started, she wasn’t going to be able to stop. Not for a long time. And she wasn’t going to let those guys see or even hear her break down.
She didn’t want anyone to know how deeply she had fallen for a man who could be the enemy. She wanted them to think that she was a cold bitch and that she could shake off anything and move on.
She needed to be hard. Like a diamond. Because that was who she was.
Normally, she loved being DAMC. Today she despised it.
Chapter Eleven
“Wake the fuck up.”
A groan bubbled up from Slade’s chest, which felt like someone was sitting on him. Crushing him. His hand flopped to his chest. Nothing was there.
“Thought you were done with this shit.”
His head was too heavy to lift. It rolled to the side instead. He opened one eye. Just slightly.
“Moose’s takin’ you back to church.”
“N—” Slade cleared his sandpaper-coated throat. “No. Ain’t goin’... back.”
A few moments of silence, glorious silence, greeted him. Finally.
Suddenly, Dawg’s face was inches from his. “What the fuck you talkin’ ‘bout?”
Slade winced. Damn. Why was he yelling? Didn’t he know people were trying to sleep?
He inhaled so he could push out the words, “Ain’t goin’ back.”
“Ever?”
He closed his one eyelid when the room begin to spin.
“Slade, brother. Don’t know what you’re sayin’. Just trashed.”
“No,” he croaked.
“Yeah you are. Moose’ll—”
“No.”
“Can’t stay here.”
“Just let me sleep it off here,” Slade grumbled, burrowing deeper into the couch. Or so he thought was a couch, though, he couldn’t be sure. The bottom half of his body was pretty numb.
Dawg let out a long, loud, very impatient sigh. “Puke on my couch an’ you’re buyin’ a new one.”
So it was a couch. Slade swatted a hand half-assed in what he thought was Dawg’s direction.
“Ain’t doin’ this again. Cut off here. No more.”
Slade attempted to swat his hand again, but it just flopped back onto his chest.
“What-fuckin’-ever,” Dawg muttered and finally there was true silence. Then the lights went out.
* * *
With a deep groan, Slade sat up confused. He blinked and then shook his head to clear it.
What the fuck?
He must have fallen asleep on the couch at Heaven’s Angels. Fallen asleep. Right. The way his head felt and with how dry his mouth was, he passed out, he didn’t fall asleep.
Either way, he was surprised Dawg didn’t have Moose haul his ass out of the club. He pushed to his feet and tested his balance. He was good.
Good enough to hop on his sled and ride out of Shadow Valley, that was for sure.
He moved behind the bar and dug a bottle of water out of the cooler. Cracking the lid, he guzzled the whole thing, tossed the empty bottle in a nearby trash bin and then snagged another, downing most of that one, too. He wiped the back of his hand over his mouth and then headed toward the men’s room since he had to piss like a racehorse. As he moved along the dark and empty stage, he was overcome with sudden disappointment and disgust. In himself. For ending up here again last night. For getting so trashed he passed out. Again.
He tried to tell himself that Diamond fucking Rig shouldn’t bother him. That she was right, they weren’t serious. They were just hooking up and having fun, so she could do whatever she wanted. Or whoever she wanted. But his brain wouldn’t let him believe that lie. What bothered him more was her doing it, then not stopping him before he did her. Hell no, she didn’t.
He also didn’t understand the Rig thing. Not once had he witnessed Rig and her flirting or, hell, even talking to each other all that much. At the parties, at church, at the shop. He had no indication that there had been any sort of attraction between them. Though, they did work together, so she saw him a lot more than the rest of the brothers.
Maybe something had developed between the two of them during the last few months she’d been working at the shop.
Or maybe she was lying and using Rig as an excuse to kick him out of her bed and her life. Maybe there was something else going on that she was trying to hide.
Lying or not, Diamond didn’t want him, and he didn’t want to sleep next to a snake or a whore.
Maybe he just needed a break from the club, to roll out and get his head back on straight, finish what he set out to do and then think about his next move.
He finished his water, crushed the bottle in his fist and hit the bathroom. Not even five minutes later, he was pushing out into the morning light and squinting from the pain that shot through his head.
Whenever he came to the strip club, he always parked around back in the employee parking lot. The only vehicles out there this early in the morning were his sled, Dawg’s sled and the brother’s truck. He turned his head and glanced up at the large apartment over the club. The windows were dark, and he was sure Dawg was crashed out cold.
Digging into his pocket, he pulled his bike key out and went over to his baby, the one and only thing that was a constant in his life. His Harley. He ran a hand over the custom painted gas tank and the seat that his ass had been planted in for thousands of miles. No matter what happened to him, his bike was always there for him at the end of the day.
He loved his sled, that he fucking did. And he took care of her, too. She was a beauty.
He closed his eyes and sucked in the early morning air.
As was Diamond. She sure looked good on the back of his sled last summer during the couple of runs he invited her on. She was hard-assed and stubborn enough that she didn’t bother to wear a brain bucket like
some of the other DAMC women. She’d simply slip on a pair of sunglasses and tie a bandana over her long dark hair to keep it from becoming one big knot.
Damn. Yes, she had looked like the ultimate biker chick wearing a snug DAMC tank top that showed off her generous cleavage, skin-tight jeans to hug those curvy hips and thighs of hers and sexy-as-fuck boots. And she’d have a black leather belt with the club’s belt buckle cinched around her narrow waist.
She had felt good clinging to his back as they road in the pack along the winding roads of southwestern Pennsylvania. A Harley was one of the biggest vibrators known to women and he swore that on a couple of the rides, at least one orgasm had hit her. Though, he couldn’t hear her with the wind in his ears, he could feel her reaction against his back and her arms squeezing him tighter. And if that didn’t make his dick hard...
But after the runs, he’d walk away from her, leave her alone. He wasn’t ready to get caught and sticking his dick in her when she wasn’t a sweet butt or one of Dawg’s girls could be dangerous. But the night of her thirtieth birthday party was his downfall. He couldn’t deny how much he wanted her, whether she was a bitch or not. And he didn’t mind a challenge, he didn’t. His whole life had been one, so what was one more? And, anyway, he didn’t like boring. She certainly wasn’t that.
As he mounted his sled, he realized getting involved with her had been a big mistake. Huge. Because now he couldn’t stop thinking about her... Whether it was regret at taking that step weeks ago, anger at her for fucking him over, or disappointment at being on his own once more.
He never had anyone of his own. And night after night when he climbed into her bed, he started to believe that maybe he finally would. That someone in his life would finally stick.
But now that wouldn’t be possible. And he doubted he’d open himself up to that kind of hurt again.
Yeah, it fucking hurt.
He kicked the starter and his sled roared to life. The deep rumble of his straight pipes filled the early morning air and the familiar vibration of the engine sank into his bones, bringing about the feeling of home.
Because that’s where home was. On the back of his bike.
He now was sure of that one hundred percent.
Down & Dirty: Books 4-6: Dirty Angels MC Box Set 2 Page 54
