The Sinner’s Tribe Motorcycle Club, Books 1-3
Page 42
“I’ll call.” Dawn moved to stand, and Cade helped her from her seat.
Chivalry. From a biker. Fancy that.
“Anytime,” Doug said. “You have my number.”
Dawn made her way to the door after a farewell wave. Yes, she had Doug’s number, but she suspected the reminder wasn’t entirely directed at her.
Friends since meeting at Doug’s self-defense class at the community college, she and Doug had met up for coffee every few weeks for the past year and often bumped into each other at the monthly get-togethers with their self-defense class. Doug made it clear early on he was interested in more than friendship, but Dawn turned him down again and again. He was too nice, too straight, too rigid, too … good for a girl with a wild side and a résumé that included aiding and abetting a criminal organization, and stripping in some of Montana’s seediest clubs.
“Is he still watching?” Cade slid an arm around Dawn’s waist and pulled her into his side.
“There was no need for a pissing contest,” Dawn said. “Doug understands that I just want to be friends. I’ve made it clear to him on several occasions.”
“Ha.” Cade barked a laugh, and they descended the concrete stairs to the main level under the watchful gaze of Cade’s police escort. “No man understands when a woman wants to be friends. All a man hears when a woman says that is, ‘I’m not gonna fuck you right now, but maybe later.’ That’s why he hangs around. For a guy who isn’t getting some on a regular basis, ‘maybe later’ is a chance not to be missed. Not that I’ve ever had that problem.”
“Of course not.” And she would be wise not to forget it. Cade wasn’t a one-woman man. But what if he was? What would it be like to be with Cade? She amused herself as they walked down the sidewalk, imagining how many jobs she would have to go through before she found a boss he deemed acceptable, and how many sheriff’s deputies he would cow into submission with the fierceness of his scowl. And then she imagined how it would feel to be under the Sinners’ protection. Jimmy would never have dared take her children if he had to face Sinner justice. Nor would he be able to threaten her ever again.
“I thought we were friends,” she teased.
Cade stopped and pulled her to the side after they exited the station. “Aside from Benson, any of your friends want to fuck you?”
“Um … no. Not that I’m aware.”
“Well, I do,” he said. “Means we’re not friends.”
She tugged him forward. “So what does that make us?”
“Still trying to figure that one out.”
The light turned green and Cade led her across the street, his eyes darting from side to side as if he expected a vehicle to blast through the intersection at any minute. Always keeping me safe. He probably had no idea how much those small gestures meant to her.
“The police can’t help you,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “You got a biker problem; you got to deal with it the biker way. Look what happened when you got the courts involved in your custody dispute.”
“Easy to deal with things the biker way when you are a biker. Not so easy when you’re a civilian.”
Cade slowed his steps and stared at her, his face thoughtful. For a moment she wondered if he was thinking of asking her to join the MC, but when she saw his bike parked in an alley near the bus stop, she figured he’d been leading her this way. Always in control, but in a subtle way. She liked it. Maybe too much. She didn’t have to sweat the small stuff when she was with Cade. But what if he took that control too far, the way Jimmy had? She had learned the hard way that in the biker world no one would be there to help her.
“You don’t have to take the bus to work.” He gestured to his bike. “I could give you a ride.”
Dawn’s lips tipped at the corners. “Last time you gave me a ride, we wound up in your bed.”
“That was a good night.”
“A very good night.” She turned to face him. “But it’s almost dark and I have to work tonight, so I think the bus is my safest bet.”
He stroked a warm finger along her jaw. “You’re probably right. Made me hot when you told me ’n’ Benson off in there. Don’t think I’d be able to take you to work without a detour.”
“Are you joking?” She gave him a quizzical look. “I thought alpha male bikers who show up in police stations and do everything except pee on the floor to mark their territory wouldn’t like being told to stand down.” Her cheeks flushed, but she wanted to know. Was he really so different from Jimmy?
Cade pulled her into the alley beside his bike and wrapped one arm tight around her waist, rolling his hips against her. His erection pressed into her stomach, and she bit back a moan.
“Does that feel like joking?” He licked his lips and stared down at her. “I don’t joke about serious things. Painful things.”
Dawn leaned her forehead against his chest and laughed. “Well then, I’ll try not to call you out in public again. I wouldn’t want to cause you any more pain.”
He cupped her jaw in his warm palm and tilted her face up until she met his gaze. “That kind of pain I can take.” His voice dropped, softened. “When it’s ’cause of my sexy girl.”
She was ready for his kiss. Knew it was coming before he lowered his head. And as his lips touched hers, she threw caution aside and pressed up against him, twining her hands around his neck to pull him close so she could feel every inch of his hard body against hers.
“Christ, you’re so fucking hot,” he murmured against her lips. “You’re like a fucking drug. All I was thinking about at the police station was how sweet you’d look naked, and bent over Benson’s desk with my cock in your pussy.” He deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking firmly inside, devouring her. Dawn’s body flamed, sweat trickling between her breasts, and she pulled him down for more.
“I love it when you talk dirty.” She ground her hips against him, pushing him deeper into the shadows, seeking even the smallest bit of friction where she needed it the most. “Talk dirty some more.”
“Fuck.”
“That’s a start.” She nuzzled his neck, frowning when he pulled away. “What’s wrong?”
Cade drew in a ragged breath, his gaze focused on something behind her. “We got trouble. Brethren. Two of ’em. They’re watching us from the other end of the alley. Goddammit. They aren’t supposed to be in town. Jagger and Wolf are negotiating a patch-over but the rules haven’t changed.”
The Brethren patching over to the Sinners? She couldn’t imagine the two clubs had anything in common, and from what she’d seen they didn’t share the same ethos. The Brethren bought, sold, and traded women; they prostituted their sweet butts and turned a blind eye to abuse. The Sinners might be misogynistic, but that kind of behavior didn’t go on in their MC. Jagger and Arianne would never have allowed it.
Dawn followed Cade’s gaze and her heart skipped a beat. “It’s Jimmy. He’s with Trey. They’re always together.”
“Trey is one of the guys who grabbed me,” Cade growled. “Jesus Christ. This is too fucking much. Wanna shoot them dead right here, right now. Trey is fair game, but Mad Dog … I had to agree to let him go. Looks like he’s decided to rub his ‘untouchable’ status in my damn face.” He grabbed her hand and yanked her toward his bike. “Hop on, sweetheart. We’re gonna run them out of town.”
She hesitated, her gaze flicking from Jimmy to Cade and back to Jimmy. If she got on the bike, she would be as good as telling Jimmy he was right about her and Cade: She’d hooked up with a biker, and she was totally and irrevocably finished with Jimmy and the Brethren. But more than that, she would be doing the one thing she’d promised herself she would never do. Was she really ready to get involved in the biker life again?
The bus pulled up at the stop outside the alley, wheels squeaking as it ground to a halt. The door slammed open and Dawn watched the people mounting the stairs into the warm interior. Ten steps and she could be on that bus, warm and safe, and on her way home.
“Come.” C
ade straddled his bike and held out his hand. “I can’t protect you if you’re not with me.”
How could she resist an opportunity to finally stick it to Jimmy and run him out of town? She’d never been on the offensive before. Even when she left him, she was running away. And how could she refuse the protection of the man who made her heart pound and her knees weak?
With one last look at the bus stop, she threw a leg over the bike and wrapped her hands around his waist. “Let’s ride.”
Cade cranked the throttle and the engine of his modded Harley Fat Boy roared to life, the sound echoing down the alley. Jimmy and Trey turned their bikes and sped away. Cade raced after them, veering out into the traffic and accelerating after the fleeing bikers as if there were no other vehicles on the road.
Dawn had ridden pillion on Jimmy’s bike, but she’d never experienced anything as breathtakingly exciting as riding with Cade. They flew through stop signs and traffic lights, wove in and out of traffic, and sent pedestrians scurrying off the sidewalk. Dawn clung to Cade as if she were a first-time rider, barely able to keep her balance when the bike tipped on hairpin turns that sent her stomach plummeting. The wind whipped through her hair, the motorcycle vibrated between her thighs, and the world became a blur once they hit the open road. She had never been as exhilarated in her life.
“Babe. Grab my gun from the holster,” Cade shouted over his shoulder.
Tightening her free arm, Dawn reached beneath his cut and removed the weapon, sliding it across his chest. She held it in front of him, but Cade shook his head.
“Going too fast to ride and shoot. You gotta do it. Shoot ’em.”
Dawn sucked in a sharp breath and pressed herself tighter against Cade’s back. Her legs clamped around his thighs when he suddenly changed lanes to accelerate past a truck. “I can’t shoot,” she yelled. “What if I hit someone?”
“That’s the idea. If you don’t, he’ll just keep coming back like a fucking roach.”
“I hate Jimmy, but I can’t kill him.” She slammed the gun into his stomach, her arm tightening around him to keep her balance when he hit a bump.
Cade grunted. “Well, then shoot out their fucking tires.”
Tires. I can do tires. How much harder could it be than trying to hit the tiny targets at the shooting range where Arianne had taken her for her birthday? She hugged Cade with one arm and peered around his side, aiming her weapon at Trey’s tires. Then she pulled the trigger.
Crack. The recoil almost threw her off the bike. The bullet pinged off the rocks and ricocheted overhead. Cade’s weapon was nothing like her .22. And clearly, she’d missed her target because Trey and Jimmy were still speeding ahead.
“Again,” Cade shouted.
Dawn’s hand shook as she tried to aim the gun, but with the wind whipping around her, and Cade leaning so far forward she could barely hold on, she worried her aim was off. And if the bullet hit one of the men instead of the bike … “You need to get closer.”
“What the fuck do you think I’m doing? They’re almost at the border.” He kicked up the acceleration and Dawn gave up any further thoughts of shooting out Trey’s tires in favor of making it through the ride alive.
But although Cade was fast, he wasn’t fast enough. Jimmy and Trey shot across the Conundrum border and Cade slowed his bike, pulling up in the empty parking lot behind Big Bill’s Custom Cycles and Paint. CLOSED ON SUNDAYS.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Dawn’s heart thudded against her rib cage, the beat matched by the throb of the pulse at the juncture of her thighs and the heated rush of blood through her veins.
When she was able to loosen her fingers from Cade’s cut, she slid off the bike. Cade followed suit, and then he turned to face her.
“What the fuck kinda shooting was that?” His voice rose in frustration. “When I give you an order, I expect it to be carried out right away.”
Shocked by his anger, a curious mix of adrenaline and desire boiling through her veins, she answered him back with the same vehement tone. “Don’t shout at me. I spent two days at a shooting range with Arianne. That’s all the experience I have. I couldn’t get a clear shot, and I didn’t want to take the risk I’d hit one of them. And I don’t take orders from you.”
His eyes glittered in the setting sun, his body quivering with unspent adrenaline. “If you’re gonna ride with a biker, you’re gonna have to suck it up. The man is the boss. And you’re gonna have to learn how to shoot in a straight fucking line.”
“I did the biker thing,” she spat out. “You saw how that turned out. I don’t know why I got on the back of your bike, but I’m sorry I did. I should have just taken the bus.” Her voice rose in pitch as she struggled against the conflicting needs to slap some sense into his thick, chauvinistic skull, and to tear off his clothes and soothe the ache between her thighs.
“Jesus Christ.” Cade whirled around and thudded his boot into the brick wall of the store. “Don’t be so damn difficult. I’m just trying to keep you safe.”
“Difficult? I don’t spend my time taking shooting lessons because I don’t want to shoot anyone. And this ride was a onetime thing. I’ve never been in position to act against Jimmy before, much less run him out of town. But it wasn’t an invitation to be bossed around.”
Damn it felt good to shout and stand up for herself without being afraid of the repercussions. Jimmy would have beaten her for much, much less. But Cade stared at her, feral hunger in his gaze, burning her with its intensity.
Then he turned and walked away.
“Where are you going?”
“Wound up too tight,” he muttered. “And you … that fire … those green eyes … your hair wild around your shoulders … fucking beautiful when you’re angry … too damn hot. Need to cool off.”
Caught in a maelstrom of emotion, adrenaline, and lust, Dawn heaved in a breath. “Cade Raider Tyson,” she shouted. “You get back here and fuck me right now.”
He stopped.
He turned.
And in less than five seconds he had his hand twined through her hair, his body pressed against her, his thick thigh between her legs, and his tongue down her throat.
She loved that about him. No questions. No second-guessing. No uncertainty. She wanted him and he was with her all the way.
“You don’t know what you’ve unleashed, sweetheart.” He sank his teeth into the sensitive spot between her neck and her shoulder and Dawn shuddered at the exquisite sensation.
“Yes, I do.”
He yanked open her jeans and shoved her up against the cold, brick wall, his face almost fully obscured by the lengthening shadows of the forest behind him. “Not gonna be gentle. Not gonna take my time. Need you so bad, I’m gonna fuck you hard and fast, so you’d better be ready for me.”
“If I wasn’t ready for you, Cade, I wouldn’t have asked.” She eased her jeans down over her hips, toeing off her boot to slide one leg free. God, if anyone came out here … But why would they? The shop was isolated and, thankfully, closed.
Cade pulled a condom from his back pocket and shoved down his jeans. “Didn’t hear much asking. Heard a sexy girl telling me she wanted my cock.”
“I didn’t…”
He grabbed her hair, tugged her head back, and cut her off with a kiss. Fierce. Demanding. Possessive. His tongue delved into her mouth and she tangled it with her own, savoring his taste.
With a low growl, he pulled away and sheathed himself, then slid his hands over her ass, cupping her cheeks as he lifted her against him.
“Open for me, sexy girl.”
Dawn couldn’t contain the moan that escaped her lips, deep, hungry, and full of need. She’d been with other men since Cade, but none was as rough, driving her past all restraint to touch the wild side she had buried long ago.
“Seems you can’t help being bossy.” She nuzzled his jaw, prickly with a five o’clock shadow, and then braced herself against his shoulders to wrap her legs around his hips.
&nb
sp; “Only ’cause I know you secretly like it.” Cade slicked a finger through her folds and groaned. “So wet and ready for me.”
“It’s the whole vibrating motorcycle, chasing bad guys, pressing up against you, dangerous speed, shooting at people, shouting at me, being sweet, and fucking me in a parking lot thing. It turns me on.”
Cade growled his appreciation. “You were fucking made for me, sweetheart.”
“It’s just chemistry.” She buried her face in his neck, breathing in his masculine scent, laced with leather and crisp mountain air.
“Fuck, yeah.” He yanked her down, his cock thrusting deep inside her slick, wet heat. Dawn groaned as he filled her. So hard. So thick. So … perfect.
His fingers tightened on her ass and Dawn trembled. Cade had no limits in the pursuit of sexual pleasure, and after two nights with him neither did she.
“You promised me hard and fast.”
“Christ. You’re killing me.” Cade gripped her hips and hammered into her with a primal intensity that took her breath away. Passion burned between them. Her head smacked against the brick wall, and the rough mortar dug into her back, but she wouldn’t have traded this moment for anything. Only Cade could drive her wild.
“Come for me. I wanna hear you.” He slid a thick finger between them to stroke over her clit, and her arousal peaked. She screamed as her orgasm ripped through her body, a pleasure so intense she could only hang on for the ride.
Cade pounded into her, fingers digging into her skin. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he rode out her orgasm, prolonging her pleasure, before his body finally tensed and he came with a groan. His muscles bunching beneath her hands, cock pulsing inside her. Then he fell forward, cradling her against him with one arm, bracing himself against the wall with the other.
He held her as they came down, chests heaving together, hearts pounding in unison. Then he released her, and they straightened their clothes in comfortable silence.
“Maybe sometimes it’s okay if you’re bossy,” Dawn murmured as he fastened his belt. “Especially if it means chasing after Jimmy and having hot sex in a parking lot.”