by Brook Wilder
He didn’t want to be there. Hell, he didn’t want Lori to be there. He understood the need, but that sure as hell didn’t mean he had to like it.
The music was still too fucking loud to hear everything that was being said at the other table, but he had no problem picking up the sudden anger that had Lori sitting ramrod straight in her chair. He leaned forward enough to hear the tail-end of Rocko’s words.
“What the fuck did you say to me, bitch?”
“You heard what I said.”
Lori was shouting and Tex’s brows furrowed forward as he glanced around the table. He wanted to tell her to calm down, that she was about to set the whole god-damned place off. But, before he could get a word out, Rocko was talking again.
“Whip, why don’t you help teach Carrie’s friend here some manners? Maybe she wouldn’t talk so much if she had something else to occupy her mouth with.”
The guy sitting next to her, the one with the buzzed head, the same one who had smirked at him earlier, leaned way too close to Lori, reaching out to grab her. She pushed his hand away, rising to her feet with anger written starkly across her heart-shaped face.
“Don’t touch me asshole.”
“Oh, honey, I haven’t even started to touch you,” the big guy said, reaching out to grab her again, this time holding onto her left wrist as he tried to tug her into his lap.
In the blink of an eye, Tex’s vision went red. Fury filled him and he jumped to his feet. But, before he could move closer, Lori pulled back her right arm, her hand curling into a fist, and she let it fly, straight into the other guy’s eye.
All Tex could do was watch, frozen in place by surprise at the sudden burst of violence from the petite blonde, as the other man staggered back from the blow. A second later, Rocko and his cronies were all leaping up, anger twisting their expressions into snarls.
His own hand clenched into a fist, aching to do the same thing that Lori had just done. His eyes were all on her, so he didn’t see the buzzed head asshole lift his hand to slap her until it was almost too late.
Tex moved faster than he knew he could, putting his body in between the man and Lori, and grabbing his raised wrist in an unbreakable grip.
“I’d think twice about that,” Tex growled.
He was still pissed, and he hadn’t even gotten to hit anybody. Behind him he could see Lori shaking her hand, examining her bruised knuckles, but it had been a small price to pay to see the black eye that was rapidly swelling on the guy’s face.
Tex was sorely tempted to give him a matching one on the other side, but his first priority was to get Lori the hell out there. Tex knew just how precarious the situation was. Shit! Here he was, breaking up a fight, and he didn’t even have Porky there to blame it on.
“Now, let’s all just sit the fuck back down and pretend like this never happened,” Tex said, throwing in a sarcastic grin for good measure.
The guy bristled, tugging his arm free. But Tex didn’t move from his spot, planted in front of the big guy, with Lori behind him.
“I’m going to show that bitch a lesson.”
“I’ll teach you a lesson, asshole!” Lori shouted from behind him. “Oh wait, I already did.”
Suddenly, Tex was wondering just who he was keeping from whom.
He threw a silent wide-eyed look of warning behind him, hoping that she would catch his message and keep her mouth shut until he could get them out of there.
Tex had to work at forcing his own anger down, while at the same time pushing Lori further back behind him, shielding her with his body, even though he could still hear her trying to shout insults at the guy.
“Jesus, sweetheart. You got to calm down for a minute,” Tex threw over his shoulder.
But Lori just snorted.
“I am calm. I’m perfectly calm. And I’m going to calmly beat the shit out of this guy.”
Tex rolled his eyes, suddenly fighting a grin at the image of Lori, all five feet nothing of her, going against a guy at least twice her size. She did have a hell of a hook though, he’d give her that.
“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” he told her, meaning every word, before turning back to the fuming guy in front of him.
Tex threw his hands up in the air in the universal gesture of peace he hoped would help to calm the others down. They were all still standing, glaring in Lori’s direction.
“Listen, guys, you know how emotional chicks can be,” he pleaded, even adding in a roll of his eyes at Lori.
She snorted but, thankfully, didn’t say anything else.
“I’m sure Lori would be willing to apologize for causing all this fuss. I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it, right darling?”
“I’m not your darling,” Lori said sulkily.
Tex elbowed her in the ribs. She glared at him but finally gave in with a shrug.
“I’m sorry for the…fuss.”
“There, that’s better,” Tex said, on a grin that seemed to do the trick, because the next minute they were all taking their seats again.
He resisted the urge to wipe off the sweat that beaded on his brow, but only barely.
“See? She didn’t mean any, really. I’ll make sure she learns some proper manners.”
The words fell out of his mouth in a rush and the guys sitting around the table all laughed, breaking a little bit of the tension at least. But, as he turned to shoot another warning look at Lori, his own grin faded. She looked like a bomb just about ready to explode.
Because of him, or because of the other assholes, he wasn’t sure. And he damn well wasn’t going to stand there in the middle of the club and have a fucking discussion about it.
With a deep breath, he turned to Carrie, who’d been watching the whole scene unfold warily.
“Uh, Carrie, I think we should probably go.”
He threw a sidelong look in Lori’s direction, in case she missed his meaning, but she just shook her head.
“You guys go ahead,” Carrie paused for a moment, biting her lower lip, “I’m going to stay here and, uh, make sure that Rocko calls Solomon. I’ll catch up later.”
“If you’re sure…”
Tex looked at her for another long moment, not liking the idea of leaving her alone with those guys. All it took was one look at Rocko’s face to know what was on his mind, and it sure as hell wasn’t facilitating a business meeting.
“I’m sure,” Carrie nodded, her expression brooking no more argument. “Don’t worry. I’m good here.”
“If you say so.”
Tex still wasn’t convinced, but it was obvious he wasn’t going to be able to talk her out of it. And maybe she really would be able to get ahold of the drug king. Stranger things had happened. Like Lori, facing down a table full of touchy bikers to defend her friend.
Tex was still shaking his head at that as he turned and shuffled Lori ahead of him out of the bar. He didn’t stop until they were outside in the parking lot, walking as quickly as possible towards his bike.
When they were finally safe, he turned on her.
“What the fuck were you thinking?!” he demanded angrily.
He was still shaking from rage at that asshole who’d tried to lay a hand on her. It didn’t matter that she’d defended herself. All he could think about was what would have happened if he hadn’t been there to break things up. He couldn’t even bare to imagine.
“What does that mean?”
“You know what it means, Lori! Were you trying to get yourself killed in there? Going up against that guy?”
“Who, Rocko? Did you hear what he said to Carrie? I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing.”
“So, you decided punching one of his buddies was the best option, huh? Was that it? Because I can’t fucking figure it out!”
“Why are you so pissed? It wasn’t your ass they were trying to grab!”
Lori blew out a deep breath, Fury raged through him all over again at her words. At the images they conjured. He walked away, because he h
ad to.
“Get on the bike,” he growled, his throat tight with anger.
He didn’t wait for her. He just threw one leg over and started the engine.
“Why?” Lori asked, still glaring at him.
“Just get on the fucking bike.”
The words snapped from his lips as he shoved a helmet at her. Neither of them spoke again as she crawled on behind him. Not even the feel of her sweet body pressed tight against his back was enough to take the edge off the anger pumping through his veins.
With fury pushing him on, he revved the engine and gunned the bike out of the parking lot and onto the highway.
Chapter 16
A short drive later, just ten blocks past Lori’s own house, Tex pulled into the garage of his apartment. His anger hadn’t cooled one bit. If anything, the torture of having Lori pressed again him had only added more fuel to the fire raging out of control inside him.
He’d barely parked the bike before he was off it and stalking towards the door to his place. He was so focused on his own anger that it took him a moment to realize that Lori wasn’t following him. She was still sitting on the back of his bike.
“What are you doing?” Tex growled, spinning around to face her, his arms crossed over his chest.
It was either that or walk over there, pick her up, and physically drag her inside.
Lori met him glare for glare, her eyes flashing a cloudy blue in the dim light.
“Where the hell are we, Tex?”
“My place.”
“Why are we here?” Lori cried, her voice just as tight with fury and left-over adrenaline as his own. “Take me home now!”
“No.”
His answer was short, the word like gravel rasping his tongue.
He turned to walk back inside, leaving the door open behind him. He couldn’t stand out there anymore, not with her wearing that short, sinful dress. The way her legs straddled his bike made the hem ride up even higher. She looked like a wet dream, straight out of one of his fantasies. Another match was struck and added to the inferno inside him.
“No?” she said, jutting her jaw out defiantly. “What do you mean ‘No’?”
“I mean no. I won’t take you home.”
It took everything in him to keep his expression casual as he finally turned back to her. She’d slid off the bike and was now huddled inside her leather jacket. A part of him, a big part of him, wanted to rush back out there, pull her into his arms and promise her that everything would be okay. That he would protect her. The unfamiliar feeling jolted him, and when he spoke again his voice was harder then he meant it to be.
“Now, are you coming inside or are you going to stay outside all night?”
“So, you’re just… kidnapping me?”
“Call it whatever you want to, sweetheart. Gears is still stalking your place. Or did you forget about him while you were playing big bad drug dealer?”
Her brows drew down with every word and, by the time he was done, her glare could have seared him to a crisp on the spot.
Suddenly she was stalking forward, anger written in every step she took. It made her cheeks flush and her eyes burn bright. Jesus, she was gorgeous when she was pissed.
Tex took a step back, giving her room to come inside, but not enough to get by him without brushing against his body. Damn, he really was a sadist.
“No, I didn’t forget.” Lori’s voice was hard and tense, full of the same anger that burned in her gaze, and her voice rose with every word. “But you can’t just keep me here. You can’t make my decisions for me. It’s my life, damn it! I deserve a choice.”
Tex exploded at her words, his own anger reaching a boiling point, and he was moving before he’d even registered the thought. He pushed her up against the door, slamming it shut behind her, and she looked up at him, her eyes wide and startled.
His breath sawed in and out of his lungs like a bellows, his heart thumping wildly in his chest as he crowded her even more, making a cage around her with his hands on either side of her head, palms flat against the door, so she couldn’t escape.
This close, he could feel every lush curve and sweet dip of her body. He could smell the sultry floral scent of her perfume, like a garden that only bloomed at midnight and had been made only for lover’s trysts and moans of pleasure in the dark.
“You do get a choice, sweetheart,” Tex growled against her ears. “You can choose the couch or you can choose my bed.”
The words were low and hoarse, and he knew he was right on the edge of losing what little control he had left. He didn’t care.
“Is this you teaching me proper manners?” Lori whispered, her voice suddenly dropping to a husky octave and pure desire lighting up her eyes. “Because you’re the one not being very polite.”
“You want polite?” Tex growled, and the last of his control slipped away. “Here’s your fair warning. I’m going to kiss you now.”
“You forgot to say please.”
The sultry, teasing note in her voice undid him. He lost it. Tex closed the distance between them and kissed her hard.
He was lost, lost in passion as she kissed him back, lost in the delicious moan that sounded from her through, lost in the sweet way Lori melted against him. He was completely lost in her. And he didn’t care.
Tex tore off her leather jacket, throwing it over his shoulder, while she kicked off her boots. They were both mad with lust, racing to get the other naked. He needed to see more of her. All of her.
He stripped down to just his jeans. Lori was fumbling at the buttons, but he was too impatient. He couldn’t wait. He grabbed the hem of her dress and peeled it over her heard. He nearly laughed out loud at the way his hands were trembling. Like a god-damned teenager.
He couldn’t remember ever feeling a rush like this. Not with Kayla. Not with any of the nameless girls before or after. Lori was like pure adrenaline, a sugar high he never wanted to come down from.
Their lips met and parted and met again as he teased her tongue with his, in and out, in a rhythm that pounded through his blood. But it wasn’t enough.
Tex trailed a line of kisses across her cheek and down her jaw. He paused for a moment, reveling in the way her whole body shivered against him as he nuzzled the sensitive curve of her neck, nipping at her earlobe, before moving south again. His lips travelled past her collar bone and didn’t stop until he was dipping under the edge of her lace bra.
He unhooked it from the back. It took him three tries. He’d never felt this out of control. He was wild and desperate for more of her. For all of her. He wanted to take and claim every single inch of her.
As her bra fell away, Tex had to bite back a curse at the plump globes that fell into his hands. They fit perfectly in his palms. He teased her nipples until she threw her head back in a hoarse moan of pleasure. It was the most beautiful god-damned thing he’d ever heard in his life.
The little patience he’d been clinging to snapped like a twig and Tex pushed her back against a wall. He lifted one thigh to wrap around his hip with one hand and, with the other, he began to tease her. He drew small circles along the sensitive skin of her inner thigh, but her trusting hips demanded more and he was more than happy to oblige.
Holding his breath, Tex swept one shaking finger along her center and nearly moaned out loud at finding her soaked and ready for him. He clenched his jaw, telling himself to take it slow, as he teased her with one finger first before adding a second.
His breath burst out in a frantic sigh.
“Fuck, sweetheart, you’re so hot, so tight. You’re going to feel so good when I’m all the way inside you.”
The image those words conjured was too much for him. He couldn’t take any more.
“I need you, sweetheart.”
He knew his voice was rough and gravelly, but he couldn’t do a damn thing about it. He was riding the edge.
“I need you now.”
She looked up at him, so beautiful with her flushed cheeks and kiss-sw
ollen lips, her eyes so big he thought he could happily drown in them, and she smiled, soft and taunting.
“Then take me.”
