by Debra Kayn
She placed her hand on his thigh, leaning into him. A possessive need to hold on to her and never let her go came over him, and he held her tighter. Not one drop of alcohol tainted his mind. Everything he tasted was pure one-hundred proof Madison, and she made him want to sit here with her for the rest of the night and grin like a stupid drunk.
He pulled away slowly. "Yeah, you're awake."
She stared at him with the same doped arousal he felt. He took one more small kiss. "Let's drink, eat, and ignore how I want more of you than I can have, and how I plan to have you, all of you, the second you're free from Red Light."
Her brows lifted, and she whistled softly.
He chuckled, rubbing her back as he removed his hand and dug into his pie. She mimicked him and brought her fork to her mouth.
On his second bite, he stopped. Madison wiggled in her seat pointing at her mouth and rolled her eyes in pleasure.
"Good?" he asked.
She nodded and brought her hands up in front of her and spread her fingers. He agreed. Pie solved any immediate problems. He only wished it was that easy to fix Madison's fear of letting go and believing she deserved whatever she wanted.
Chapter Twenty
The purple stained plates, all that was left of the huckleberry pie, sat in the middle of the table. Madison sipped her drink and leaned into Bear, content with her surroundings and head over in heels in lust for the man who worked miracles to take her out on a date.
She lazily typed on her phone. "What's the first thing you do when you get up in the morning?"
Bear played with the ends of her hair. "Start my bike and let it warm up. Then I grab something to eat. You?"
"Roll over and wish I could keep sleeping." She continued tapping on the phone. "Worst job?"
They'd communicated with back and forth questions since ordering their third drink. She yawned. There was so much she hadn't known about him.
He admitted to being a loner, preferring to keep to himself, but depended on his club. She'd seen a different side of him. While he never told her the number of women he'd been with, he confessed to never loving someone special before.
The drinks relaxed her and made her daring. She even talked him into telling her about the scar almost hidden by his thick eyebrow, and she had to cover her mouth to laugh when he admitted a woman busted a bottle over his head years ago. Normally, violence warned her about a man's tendency to lose control, but Bear retold the story with laughs and the stitches he gained came from an accident and not on purpose.
"It had to be when I was a dishwasher at a Chinese restaurant when I was fifteen years old." He kissed the side of her forehead. "Should I guess yours?"
She wrinkled her nose, knowing he believed prostitution would be the worst. "Housekeeping in a nursing home. Don't ask. Haha."
A bell rang in the bar, and Claire announced, "A half hour until closing time. You all have time for one more drink, but the kitchen is now closed."
Madison laid her head on Bear's shoulder. She wasn't ready to end the night.
"Everything closes at two o'clock, including Silver Girls." Bear tapped the table with his knuckle. "We better get out of here."
Bear helped her out of the booth and held his coat out for her to put back on. She moved slow, stalling and reluctant to leave Bear. Half afraid tomorrow she'd wake up and the closeness they'd enjoyed tonight would disappear.
Several other couples she hadn't even been aware of during her date got up from the tables with the same idea of leaving, and they all walked out at the same time. Bear tucked her under his arm, and she held onto his vest. She'd stay awake all night and forget about her precious sleep to hold on to all the wonderful memories Bear gave her tonight.
A familiar voice she failed to pinpoint came from behind her, and she shifted, gazing over her shoulder.
She stumbled at the sight of the mayor of Federal with an older woman his age. The shock doubled when the mayor recognized her fully dressed and away from Red Light, glaring at her to keep her mouth shut.
"Everything okay?" asked Bear.
Her body awkwardly jerked as she tried to put one foot in front of the other and keep her composure while her heart raced urging her to run. She nodded and stubbed the heel of her shoe on a crack in the sidewalk.
Bear held her tighter. She clung to his vest, wishing he'd whisk her away. She'd entered the mayor's world where she was not wanted or needed. Her place was in Red Light away from those who judged her.
Bear guided her around the corner of the building. She looked back, and the mayor no longer followed them. All her energy gone, her body shook, and she held on to Bear. The damage to her evening unfixable.
Her happy ending dampened by the services she provided. She failed to recoup the warmth and excitement she'd gained tonight. She only hoped Bear had missed her reaction and failed to connect her to the mayor.
Bear sat on his bike. She moved to climb on behind him, and he lifted her and set her in front of him on his thighs. Balanced on his legs, she grabbed his shoulders.
"We've got an hour until the crowd leaves Silver Girls and I can take you back." He slipped his hands inside the coat she wore, spanned her waist, and brought her closer until they were chest to breasts.
She looped her arms around his neck. Holding her phone in her right hand, she twined the fingers of her left hand in his hair. Out in the open, aware of her vulnerability, she shivered. At any time, one of her customers could stroll by or pull up beside them. How would she defend herself against accusations and guilt thrown at her?
"Hey." Bear hooked her chin with his thumb and lifted her gaze. "Your mind is wandering. Where did you go?"
She shook her hair behind her shoulders and sighed, giving him the best smile she could muster.
Bear's gaze dropped to her neck and his gaze softened. She froze in place, afraid to breathe. Around Bear, she usually wore casual clothes that covered the base of her neck. Her low scooped dress hid nothing.
She'd spent her whole childhood trying to explain why she had a scar across the width of her neck. Rumors started in high school that she'd tried to slice her throat and failed, making her mute. The stupidity of others amazed her. She'd protected herself by not caring. Whatever was said and spread had nothing to do with her. At least, the stories were better than the truth.
Bear looked into her eyes. "You weren't always mute."
No, she used to talk. She sang. She screamed. She cried. She whined and pleaded, and once in a while, she laughed. There were times she could hear words spoken in her voice if she pretended to talk. Many nights, she'd stayed up wondering if she was going insane, hearing her voice when others couldn't hear her.
She remembered how to form words. How the letter S vibrated her tongue when she spoke her name. How she could laugh hard enough, she snorted.
"What happened?"
She lowered her arms and typed on her phone. "My vocal box was crushed when I was twelve years old. Surgery to try and fix the damage caused scarring that grew/spread until I lost the ability to speak."
"It's not fixable?" he asked.
She shook her head and tapped out her answer. "Another surgery would add more scar tissue and could do more damage. I'm fine with the way I am, and there's no pain."
Bear smoothed back her hair and forced her to meet his gaze. "How did you crush your vocal box?"
She shrugged. She couldn't go there tonight and ruin everything.
His brows lowered at her refusal to answer.
She rolled her eyes, typed on the phone, and held up the message. "Let's not talk. Let's kiss before I have to go back to Red Light."
"You're determined to break me down, aren't you?"
She grinned and mouthed, "No..."
"Liar." He grunted and brought her forward.
She tugged his beard, meeting him halfway. His tongue swept hers, and the warmth came back. Her thighs clenched, and she deepened the kiss, wanting to rub her body against him to satisfy the arousal that
came instantly at the taste of him.
Bear lowered his hands, cupped her ass, and jerked her against his cock. Her throat spasmed in recognizing the silent moan caught in her chest, never to be set free. Her nipples constricted, and she pressed herself against him. The deep ache for him pulsed between her legs.
His fingers kneaded her hips, her ass, her thighs. She arched, biting his lower lip.
His whiskers tickled her face. She broke away and stared down into his eyes.
"Yeah, it's right there for our taking, sweetheart." Bear's voice thick and aroused.
Closer to finding pleasure than he knew, she dared not move. Her pussy, wet and warm, wanted her to keep moving to ease the ache and find out how everything would end. She'd gone too long without finding a release. Her body screamed with years of pent up sexual frustration, even though she had sex every fifteen minutes for four hours, four days a week.
Bear's gaze stayed on her eyes. He spread the front of her coat and cupped her breasts through her dress. She'd gone braless, and the warmth from his palms penetrated the thin material. She let her head fall back and closed her eyes, pushing him to continue and never stop.
To feel, to breathe, to be herself with Bear healed her soul.
He removed his hands from her breasts and held her waist again. Her heart pounded, and she dropped her chin to her chest and sagged against him, laying her head on his broad shoulder.
"Gotta stop, sweetheart. It's getting uncomfortable sitting here with a hard-on and knowing there's not a fuck I can do about it." Bear moved her away a few inches, pulled her coat together, and growled in frustration. "I see what I'm doing to you, and I like it. Like it a lot."
The warmth in her stomach traveled to her neck and up to her cheeks. She blew out the corner of her mouth to remove the hair hanging down into her face and out of her vision.
"Are you up for a ride around town, and then I'll take you back to the Sterling Building?" Bear smoothed down his beard.
She nodded, sliding off his legs, and climbed behind him. Four long weeks until she had the freedom to keep going. Bear wouldn't have to stop. She'd come to him clean of any other man's touch.
Chapter Twenty One
The sky crackled with thunder above Madison's balcony, and she flinched, burying her face in Bear's neck. He kissed the side of her head. The weather had changed fast. Ninety-five degrees all day and he could almost smell the sauna-like rain in the air waiting to dampen down the dust.
"Look." He repositioned her on his lap, pointing to the nearest mountain peak. "Watch that spot. The lightning is getting closer."
Madison laid her head on his shoulder. He tightened his arms around her and propped his feet up on the railing of the balcony. Summer storms were a common occurrence in the Silver Valley, and he enjoyed the night show lighting up the sky.
Thunder boomed.
Madison jerked her gaze toward him. He stroked her face. "It's only noise. The storm is too far away to worry about the lightning."
She ducked her head and tapped on her phone. "The storm is loud here."
"It's because of the mountains. Thunder hits between the peaks and echoes in the valleys." Bear gazed off into the sky. "Years ago when I was in prison, I would hear the storms late at night. I used to lay there wishing I could go outside to look up at the sky."
She held the phone up to him. "You like storms?"
"Yeah." He chuckled. "In a way, I always thought the sky was angry when it blasted the air with thunder and the sky flashed with light. Made me feel powerful."
She typed on the phone. "You are powerful."
"Nah," he whispered. "Just a man who thought he deserved more."
Madison scooted up on his lap while typing more. "Tell me about your family. Not your biker family, but your parents and how you grew up."
"Both of them are dead. Dad died in a mining accident when I was thirteen years old. Mom died from cancer when I was twenty-four. They moved to Federal when I was about eight years old, and Dad went to work in the silver mine. They were good parents and deserved a better son." He shrugged. "My mom used to say I was born with a chip on my shoulder, thinking the world was unfair. Maybe I did, and that led to the choices I made in life. Nothing I can do about my past. It's behind me now."
She held up her phone. "You're lucky to have a family in the club you're a part of."
He nodded. "I'd probably be dead myself if not for Moroad."
Madison's brows pitched together, and she typed without looking up. "They keep you safe like the Network does with me."
"Two different kinds of family, sweetheart. Moroad is..." Bear looked toward the sky at the clap of thunder. "It's getting closer."
She motioned her hand in front of her requesting he finish what he was going to say before the noise distracted him. He rather not discuss his position in Moroad. There were things she wouldn't like knowing about him and rules he couldn't break. "There's safety in numbers and Moroad has men who watch each other's back. It's a hard life on the outside for a felon. There are jobs I'll never be hired for and people who will keep their distance. With Moroad, nobody judges me, cash flows, and I don't worry about what I'm going to do tomorrow. It's a good life."
"I know all about being judged." She smiled at him sadly and continued typing. "Do you ever think about what you would've done with your life if you had made other choices or your limits weren't a factor?"
Bear hooked her hair behind her ear. "Maybe I'd be a business owner if I had kept myself on the straight and narrow. I always liked the idea of running a bike or car shop, setting what hours I work, and using my hands to stay busy."
She nodded.
"What about you?" He caressed the slope of her cheekbone.
She shrugged.
"Come on," he whispered. "I told you. Let me know what you always thought you'd like to do."
She scooted off his lap before he could stop her. He gave her room, even though she remained two feet away. The balcony afforded little space, especially with the awning stretched down on one side, blocking them from any of the other rooms on the second level.
Used to her pulling away when he directed questions toward her, he needed to work on getting her to trust him more. He asked because he cared, not to hurt her more.
Lightning lit the air, pushing Madison back toward him. He pulled her onto his lap. Goosebumps covered her legs, and he rubbed her chilled skin. Her obvious discomfort came more from his question than the weather.
"I'm not going to force you to answer me." He squeezed her thigh right above her knee.
She pitched forward, rolling into herself, and typed on her phone. "Ticklish!"
He chuckled, squeezing her leg again. "Here?"
Her mouth came open in silent laughter, and she nodded, smiling.
"Ah, good to know." He moved his hand up to her ribs determined to regain their easy conversation. "How about here?"
She shook her head.
"Anywhere else?" he asked.
She lifted her arm, pointed at her armpit, and clamped her arms down to her side with a lift of her brow warning him about trying to tickle her more. He chuckled. "I won't torture you."
She pointed at him.
"Me?" He lifted his boot off the balcony. "Just the bottom of my feet but my boots rarely come off, so your chance at testing to see if I'm lying will never happen."
She leaned into him and kissed his lips.
He burst out laughing. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you're trying to get me out of my clothes in the hopes I'll take my boots off."
She pushed his chest, turning her head, and he caught the smile before she could hide it. He relaxed though his body stayed aware of her sitting on his lap, letting him hold her.
Thunder rumbled quickly followed by lightning. A raindrop landed on his arm. He looked up, and sprinkles landed on his face.
Madison held out her hands, palms up, and looked at him. The last thing he wanted to do was leave her early. He still had a good ho
ur before Silver Girls closed and he had to escort the dancers back to the Moroad Motel.
"What do you think about staying out here in the rain?" He pulled her back against his chest.
She curled against him and held her phone to his stomach to type out of the rain. "It's hard to type on a wet phone. I won't be able to talk to you."
"You don't need to talk. Most of the time when people talk its only empty words. I'm happy just holding you." He lifted her legs higher, letting her curl her body against him as the rain increased. "Feels damn good to cool off after the heat today."
She nodded against him. He watched a raindrop land on her upturned knee, grow heavy, and roll down her thigh. His balls tightened, jealous of the fucking rain and the places it landed.
Madison shivered.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
She shook her head, lifting her face to him, and kissed his mouth. He cupped her head, holding her close, and dipped his tongue. The refreshing rain no competition for his overheated body. She had him hot enough to sweat.
Madison nibbled at his bottom lip, exploring the corners of his mouth, his upper lip. She pulled away grinning and rubbed the area below her nose.
"Whiskers tickle?" He watched her tongue moisten her lips.
She nodded, leaning into him again. Obviously, she enjoyed his beard.
He kissed his way from her mouth to her chin, to her neck. Opening his mouth, he swiped his tongue against her smooth skin, tasting the warmth of her. His pulse accelerated, and he ran his hand up her bare leg, rubbing in the rain. He couldn't have her yet, but he wanted her more than anything.
He dipped and rested his lips against hers, sending a warmth straight to his cock to match the heat of her mouth.
Visions of her soaking wet, arching toward him, grabbing him, filled his head. If they were away from Red Light and she belonged to him, he'd strip her naked and take her in the rain while the sky exploded above them.
He growled against her skin knowing he had to stop. Pulling away from her was one of the hardest things he'd had to do in a long time. He cupped her face, making sure he stopped kissing her. In a world of hurt from holding back, he forced himself to wait until she came to him freely.
