1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Fourteen

by Kristen Ashley

  Of course, that would leave me doing the walk of shame in a micro skirt and nothing else.

  You should really keep extra panties in your purse, Wonder Woman suggested helpfully. A girl never knows when she’s going to need a fresh pair of star-spangled briefs.

  Well, I guess she would know.

  I found my purse and dug out a brush, attacking my hair. I knew my makeup had to look like shit, but I could clean that up in the bathroom, wherever the hell it was. Then maybe I could borrow something to cover my ass and head home.

  The door opened and Shade stepped in, holding a ceramic mug. He was fully dressed in jeans, shirt and leather Reapers’ colors, and had clearly been awake for a while.

  “Thought I’d let you sleep,” he said, holding out the mug. Coffee, God love him.

  “Thanks,” I replied, feeling that same awkwardness from last night falling between us. He looked past me, his eyes catching on something. My bright pink panties, which I’d dropped on the bed. Shade raised a brow, questioning.

  “They were down on the floor and it’s icky,” I admitted. “I didn’t want to put them back on. I don’t suppose you have anything I can borrow to wear home…?”

  He took a step closer, into my space.

  “Yeah, this isn’t gonna work.”

  “What?”

  “Give me the coffee.”

  “But I want the coffee.”

  “Give me the fuckin’ coffee,” he said, his voice a low growl. I handed it over. Shade lifted the mug and drank deep, throat moving as he emptied the cup. Holding my eyes, he dropped it. Then he reached out and caught me by the sides of my skirt, pulling me into his body. I had just a second to realize what he was doing before his hands were under my skirt, cupping my bare ass. Our mouths connected and he pushed me back onto the bed with a bounce. My hands reached for his jeans as he grabbed a fresh condom.

  Then he was inside me again.

  Half an hour later, I rolled over and stretched in satisfaction because who needed coffee with a dick like Shade’s to wake you up? Leaning up on one elbow, I studied his body, rubbing my hand over his bare stomach. His skin was slightly darker than mine, with just enough tan to tell me he worked outside sometimes without a shirt, and his muscles were all lean and rippled. He could’ve been a model.

  Maybe I should give the friends with benefits thing a try…

  No! Bad Mandy! shouted Wonder Woman.

  Shade caught me with his arm and tucked me into his side, oblivious to my mental battle for self-control.

  “What’s your plan for the day?” he asked.

  “Heading home,” I told him, because Wonder Woman was right. I was being a bad Mandy and I needed to behave myself. “I have to work tonight. What time is it, anyway?”

  “Just after one,” he said. “They’re setting up for the barbecue outside. You should stick around for a while. You already know some of the club from the bar. Might as well get to know them a little better.”

  His eyes held mine steadily, his face unreadable.

  “Um, wouldn’t that be weird?” I asked, hating the fact that a small part of me was all excited because he wasn’t ready for me to leave yet. “I thought we weren’t doing anything like dating or whatever.”

  “It’s not a date,” he said, his voice relaxed. “It’s hamburgers with a bunch of bikers. Beer. Maybe even some kids. It’s a family event, at least until later tonight.”

  “Will Rebel’s club be here?”

  “Maybe. We invited the support clubs. Although it’s not a mandatory event, so they aren’t required to show up.”

  “About Rebel…”

  Shade rolled me up onto his body, sliding his hands down to my butt and squeezing.

  “Really like this ass of yours,” he said. “Usually I go for the boobs, but with you it’s a tough call. Let’s not talk about your ex-boyfriend. I don’t like thinkin’ about him fuckin’ this ass.”

  I stilled. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

  “Just a second—” I said, pushing against his chest. Shade ignored my puny efforts, gripping me tighter. His cock twitched and I realized he was staring at my breasts. “No—stop! We aren’t doing this anymore. First, this is a one-night stand and it’s light outside. That means it’s over. And not that it’s any of your business, but Rebel didn’t fuck my ass. We had a lot of fun together, but I’ve never actually done that and I don’t like the idea of him going around talking about our sex life.”

  “How many one-night stands have you had?” Shade asked, his voice curious. I was too busy trying to wrap my head around the fact that Rebel had told Shade—of all people—that I was into butt sex to answer the question. Jesus. What a fucking douche.

  “Mandy.”

  “What?”

  “How many one-night stands?”

  “Um, counting this one?” I asked, trying to focus. His hands were starting to wander, which made thinking even harder.

  “Yeah.”

  “One,” I admitted, wondering if he’d laugh at me.

  Shade nodded, his face serious.

  “I’ve had a lot more than one,” he said. “Which means of the two of us, I’m the expert on random fucking. I know all the best practices and shit. And I’m tellin’ you, buying a girl breakfast before taking her home is just the decent thing to do.”

  “Taking them out to breakfast probably makes it easier to get rid of them, too,” I blurted out. Shade laughed.

  “I’ll plead the Fifth on that,” he said, shifting me slightly to the side, casually raising a knee between my legs. One hand started up my back, his strong fingers finding my muscles and massaging them. It felt good. Really good. “Where I’m going with this is that we missed breakfast, but as a good one-night stand, I still owe you some food. Stick around for a burger before work. You can go to the barbecue, eat and have a good time without fucking up the one-night thing. Then I’ll take you home in time for work.”

  I shifted against him, considering. Biker barbecues were fun, at least the ones I’d gone to with Rebel. And if I was going to keep working at the Pit, I’d have to get over seeing members of his club. Speaking of…

  “Okay, I know this is crazy, but you didn’t kill Rebel, did you?”

  Shade burst out laughing this time, his entire body shaking. My face burned and I groaned, feeling stupid. Of course he hadn’t killed him. Not over something as stupid as a girl.

  Technically it would’ve been the $500 and not you, Wonder Woman reminded me.

  Bitch.

  “No, I didn’t kill him,” Shade said, still laughing. “I may have swung by his place with some of the brothers and shared my feelings about what he tried to pull, but that’s it. His own people were smart enough to kick him out before the Reapers had to take action. You’re the one who destroyed his truck, not me. Last I heard, he was catching a bus to Boise.”

  I buried my face against his neck, wondering if I could just make myself disappear.

  “What, you can’t tell me you regret doing it?” he asked. I shook my head.

  “No, but the guys in his club—you’re sure they aren’t pissed at me? Amelia said it was okay, but what if someone gets me alone and wants revenge?”

  “One, you’ve been watching too much Sons of Anarchy,” Shade said, and while he wasn’t laughing out loud anymore, I could tell he was still amused. “This isn’t a violent, bloody revenge barbecue. It’s the peaceful kind, where you eat burgers, drink some beer and hang out. But even if it was, it wouldn’t be about you. It was never about you, babe. This was a thing between Rebel and the Reapers. His club knows that, which is why he’s out bad. Dishonorable discharge.”

  Pushing back up, I stared at him, embarrassment fading back into outrage. “Of course it’s about me. He tried to trade me for part of a motorcycle. A hunk of metal. He had no right to do that, and that’s very much about me. You’re just the guy he tried to trade me to.”

  “No.”

  “Yes!”

  “Nope. That�
��s not how it works,” Shade said, sliding his hand up into my hair. “It was about a member of a support club lying to the national president of the Reapers. He tried to cheat me out of five hundred bucks by promising something he didn’t own. We can’t let guys like Rebel get away with that shit. Wouldn’t matter what it was about, the principle’s the same.”

  “There are so many things wrong with that statement that I don’t even know where to start. I…I literally can’t figure out what I want to argue with you about because it’s all wrong. All of it.”

  “It’s how our world works,” he said, rubbing up and down my lower back. He might’ve been trying to soothe me but my thoughts were spinning too fast. “There’s good and bad. Part of the good is that when you belong to someone in a club, it’s not just his job to protect you, it’s the whole club’s. I’d die for Dopey’s old lady and I don’t even like the bitch. He’s my brother, though, and she’s his property. It is what it is.”

  I laid my head down on his shoulder, fuming. Fucking stupid men, ruining everything again. Except Shade hadn’t actually ruined anything for me. Yeah, he’d taken a night with me in trade, but I guess technically it was acceptable within the rules of the club. He’d definitely thought I was on board with it. More importantly, he’d stopped when he learned that I’d been set up.

  I raised my head again.

  “Is that really true? What you said about Dopey’s old lady?”

  “Naw,” Shade said, smiling. “I like her okay.”

  “Seriously,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You’d die for some woman you hardly know, just ’cause she’s with this guy who’s part of your club?”

  Shade’s smile faded and his face turned serious. “Yeah, it’s really true. I’d die for her because Dopey’s my brother and that’s what it means to be a Reaper.”

  “Rebel and his club aren’t like that, are they?” I asked, the magnitude of his words finally sinking in.

  “No, they aren’t. They’re great people and they’d do a hell of a lot for each other, but at the end of the day they aren’t an MC. And that’s perfectly fine—this life isn’t for everyone.”

  “But it’s for you.”

  Shade nodded. “Yeah, it’s for me.”

  “Okay, then,” I told him.

  “So, you wanna go eat burgers with some guys I’d die for and their women?” Shade asked. “I’m not trying to influence you either way, but I hear there’s gonna be cake.”

  “Well, if they’re serving cake, I guess it’s only polite,” I replied. “I wouldn’t want to fuck up my very first one-night stand by being rude.”

  “Fantastic. I’ll go see if I can find you something to wear. Let’s go.”

  With that he gave my bare ass a smack. I shoved at him and he rolled me over, kissing me deep.

  After that we needed another condom.

  Shade

  The barbecue was a mixture of fun and sheer torture because Mandy’s almost-naked ass was hanging out the whole damned time, taunting me.

  I liked having her around, but I wasn’t a big fan of the looks she was getting. I hadn’t been specific enough when I asked McClane’s old lady, Pepper, to find her something to wear. It wasn’t Pepper’s fault that she was a couple sizes smaller than Mandy, but I’d never seen a pair of cut-offs cover less skin. The fact that I knew she wasn’t wearing anything under them wasn’t helping. Throw in the push-up bra, and my new girl might as well be in a bikini.

  Not that she realized I’d claimed her, although everyone else at the fucking picnic sure as shit did. Wasn’t sure how long we’d last, but while she was sleepin’ with me, she wouldn’t be sleepin’ with anyone else. No fuckin’ way.

  One-night stand?

  Like hell.

  She’d be back in my bed, and damned soon, too.

  “Just got word, boss,” said Dopey, sitting down next to me at the picnic table. He held a beer in one hand and a disposable cell in the other. “The brothers down south said they got eyes on Rebel. Want to know if we’re done with him.”

  “We’ll see how he settles in,” I replied. “They can keep an eye on him, make sure he understands that going out bad isn’t a temporary state of being. He’s dead to the MC world.”

  “Oh, I think he figured that out,” Dopey said, offering me a feral smile. “I thought you showed restraint, all things considered. None of the damage was permanent.”

  I shrugged. “Doing more could’ve caused trouble for Mandy. Wasn’t necessary, which is a fuckin’ pity. I’d have loved to slit his throat.”

  “Your girl seems to be doing all right for herself,” Dopey said, nodding toward a gaggle of women clustered near the food tables. Mandy might’ve been nervous about sticking around, but she’d managed to find a place for herself. She had an energy, a sense of busy-ness that I’d noticed before. I’d figured it was related to her work as a waitress. Now I saw there was more to it. She didn’t like sitting around or waiting for someone else to do the work. She’d volunteered to help with the food as soon as I officially introduced her to the old ladies, and not in a showy way. I’d caught several approving looks shared between Pepper and Jen, Dopey’s old lady.

  They liked her.

  Rebel’s club liked her, too. I’d been telling the truth when I’d said that it wasn’t about her—it really wasn’t. But if they’d only been tolerating her for his sake, they wouldn’t be so friendly toward her now that he was gone. Mandy might’ve joined the biker community by hooking up with Rebel, but more than one man here would be looking to pin her down when I cut her loose. I saw the way their eyes followed her, and I didn’t like it. Didn’t like it one damned bit.

  Mandy turned to find me staring at her. I raised my beer, and she started across the courtyard.

  “Hey, there!” she said when she reached the table. I swung one leg over the bench and caught her hand, pulling her down to sit in front of me.

  “You havin’ fun?” I asked. She twisted her head to smile at me.

  “Yeah, I really am. You know, I always had a good time with the bikers. It was only—”

  She stopped talking abruptly, her face going red.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It’s stupid,” she replied, shaking her head.

  “Tell me.”

  “Promise you won’t laugh?”

  “Promise I won’t make promises I can’t keep,” I told her. She shoved me playfully, then took a deep breath, glancing quickly at Dopey. The man was pretending not to listen. Poorly.

  “Go away,” I told him.

  “Jen’s gonna be pissy that I didn’t get the good gossip,” he muttered, and I made a whipping noise, pretending to crack one at him. He laughed and flipped me off, heading toward the keg. Mandy waited until he was out of earshot before speaking again.

  “Okay, I was always sort of freaked out whenever the Reapers were around. Especially you,” she admitted. It didn’t really surprise me—we had that effect on a lot of people. Still, it took guts to admit it. “The way you were always watching me. And you kept trying to get me to…well, you know.”

  “Fuck me,” I said. “I was tryin’ to get you to fuck me. And see? I was right—it was fantastic. And we aren’t scaring you today, are we?”

  “Um, I mean you’re still a bunch of big, intimidating guys,” she said. “But you’ve been good to me. You know, aside from the whole renting me for five hundred bucks thing.”

  “Hey, it worked for me,” I replied, wrapping my arms around her waist. “In the end, I got to fuck you. Mission accomplished.”

  Mandy tugged at my hands, pretending to be pissed, but she wasn’t trying very hard. Then I kissed her neck and she relaxed back into me, dropping her head against my shoulder.

  “You’re a horrible man and I shouldn’t be letting you do this,” she muttered. “But you’re really good at it.”

  I slid my hand up and under her tank top, finding her tit and giving it a squeeze. Mandy squeaked and smacked at me again, this time for real, and I star
ted laughing.

  “You can’t stand being nice for even a minute, can you?” she asked, twisting her head back around. “People can see us.”

  “Baby, wearin’ those shorts with your legs wide open, it’s not your boobs they’re lookin’ at.”

  She looked down between her legs, and while I couldn’t see the horror on her face, it wasn’t too hard to imagine it. Mandy obviously had no clue how much they were riding up. The strip of cloth between her legs covered about as much as a thong.

  She all but spun on the bench, bringing her legs together, and I burst out laughing for real. She glared at me, then flipped me off, which made me laugh louder.

  “You’re such an asshole!” she hissed. “And it’s getting late. I need to go home and get ready for work.”

  I wanted to tell her to blow it off, but I’d already tried that last night and she’d shot me down. Mandy took her job damned seriously. I wasn’t used to that—women jumped to kiss my ass, no matter where I went. Some of it was looks, I knew this.

  More of it was the patch and the title.

  The Reapers were badass motherfuckers and I was their president. The job came with many responsibilities, but the pussy was a serious perk.

  “Okay, I’ll take you home,” I said, and I caught a flicker of disappointment on Mandy’s face. Someone wasn’t as eager to end our night together as she insisted… She sighed, nodding her head.

  “Home,” she repeated. “I’ll go grab my purse and meet you out front. I want to say good-bye to a couple people first.”

  “Sure thing,” I said, watching her semi-exposed ass twitch as she hustled back over to the girls. That’s when it hit me.

  She’d just given me an order. Holy shit. I sat back, thinking about it. Couldn’t remember the last time someone had tried telling me what to do, and now this little slip of nothing waitress was treating me like a Goddamn cab driver.

  Fucking hell.

  She was worth more than five hundred bucks, just for that alone.

  Chapter Fourteen