by Jayne Blue
“You think I planned for it?” I stood back and leaned against the wall. I kind of loved watching her like this. Flustered. Unsure of herself. She sputtered out a thousand reasons why we were a terrible idea.
“Your lifestyle, it’s not. I don’t even know how to … I’m a creature of habit, Angel. I’m probably totally boring to you. And I get it. This was probably a fun challenge for you. I mean, admit it. I’m not the kind of girl you normally go after. I mean ... am I? I don’t have the luxury of just playing around. I mean, for fun. But you were ... you are ... so ... you. I mean, you’re big and bold. Larger than life, in a way. I never let go like that. There’s a reason. I just can’t afford to …”
I couldn’t take it. I went to her; putting my hands on her upper arms, I turned her to me. Her cheeks were flushed and that little pulse in her temple thumped wildly.
“You can’t afford to what? Go slumming?”
“What? No! That’s not what I meant.”
“Well, let me tell you what I mean. You’re right about a lot of that. You’re not the kind of woman I usually go for. But that’s because I don’t think there is another woman like you.”
“Please,” she said, rolling her eyes. “You want to tell me you’re not used to getting any woman you want? I’ve seen those girls down there. Hell, my sister aspires to be one of them. I don’t.”
“Maura,” I said, dropping my voice. “Let me make myself clear.”
She stopped breathing for a second. “You’re …”
“That’s right. So get used to it. I’m not like your daddy. I’m not your monster. What I am, is all in. You’re right. I wasn’t lookin’ for this. But I know what I want when I see it. And what I want is you. You can take your time getting used to it. You can even tell yourself you’re not ready. But I know what that was the other night. I felt you. I felt the way your body opened for me.”
“I was horny,” she said.
I smiled. “And you’re horny now. But that’s not what I mean.”
“What ... what do you mean?” Her eyes flicked over my face. She was scared, but not of me. She was scared of what was going on inside of her. I guess I was too, but I meant what I said.
“You know exactly what I mean, baby. I want you. All of you. I mean to make you mine. You can take all the time you need. But it’s going to happen. You know what you felt. You know what you crave.”
“Angel,” she gasped. She was strung so tight. Her cheeks colored. The blush spread down to her breasts. I slid a hand around her waist then curved it under her ass. She let off that little hitch in her breath.
“Say it,” I said.
“I don’t ...”
“Say it,” I said again. “I told you I know what I want. I’m not afraid to go after it. Right here. Right now. So say it.”
“Y-yes!” It came out as a breathless whisper. Maura flung her arms around my neck. I lifted her off the ground and once again, she wrapped her legs around my waist.
I lay her on the bed. Everything we’d done the other night had been hurried, almost frantic. I didn’t want that now. I wanted the lights on and Maura’s eyes wide open. I peeled off my cut and threw it on the chair. Maura wriggled out of her pants. Fingers trembling, she opened the buttons of her blouse and let it fall away.
“Yeah,” I said. “Like that. If you want me, take your clothes off and show me.”
She did. She slid off her panties then took off her bra. God. She was beautiful the other night. Here, in the light, she was downright stunning. Her little pink nipples stood on end and I saw how she glistened for me between her legs.
“Show me,” I commanded. She did that too. She spread her thighs, offering herself to me. I took off my shirt and came to her. She reached for me, unzipping my fly.
“Lie back,” I said, catching her wrists in my hand. “Lie still.”
“Angel,” she gasped. “I’m ... I’m scared.”
“Of what, baby?”
I kissed my way down her neck, still holding her wrists above her head. She trembled beneath me and arched her back. The instinct hit me like a thunderbolt. I acted on it. I kept a length of rope coiled in the junk drawer behind me. I took it out and lashed Maura’s wrists to the headboard. Her mouth dropped open but she spread her legs even wider.
Oh yeah. This. I ignited a fierce desire in her. One she probably never knew she had. After that, it was as if her mask slipped away.
I worked my way down, licking her stomach and her inner thigh. “Angel, oh God!”
I found her ripe and wet, just like I knew she would be. She struggled against the bindings a little, testing their strength.
“I told you I’d make you mine,” I said. “This is just the beginning.”
I pressed her thighs flat and devoured her. Teasing her little clit. She cried out, unable to control herself. I drew her out, teasing her. Making her beg. She writhed on the bed, making the headboard bang against the wall. I kept up my sweet, sweet torture.
She gasped my name a dozen times, begging for release. But I wouldn’t let her have it. Not yet. She was so used to being in control, giving in to this lit a fire inside of her that I knew would just burn brighter the longer we went.
I rose up on my knees. Instinct seemed to drive her. Maura reached for me. I moved closer, letting her take me into her mouth. God. She nearly undid me. I curled my fist around the slats in the headboard, fighting for my own control. She saw the struggle and redoubled her efforts. My Maura could give as good as she got.
“Please,” she begged. “Angel, I want to taste you!”
She was greedy, unschooled. But it drove me out of my damn mind. I threw my head back, knowing she was about to get the better of me, no matter how this started out.
“Let go!” she commanded. Even though I had her tied to the bed, she knew she was in control.
So I did as my lady desired. I let go. She kept up with me, savoring every drop. I pressed my forehead into the wall, trying to keep from floating right off the ground. She made me feel so damn good. The best I’d ever had.
When I came back into myself, it was her turn. I had more rope. Maura’s eyes flashed with the darkest lust when she realized what I was about to do. I spread her legs as wide as they would go then lashed her ankles to opposite ends of the bed. I stood back, admiring my work. Maura squirmed, barely able to contain herself. I stroked myself. I was still hard as a rock.
“You should see yourself,” I said. “You’re so damn sexy like that. I want to take a fucking picture.”
Her eyes widened. “Angel!”
I smiled. “Relax baby, you’re always safe with me. I told you I’d always protect you.”
I knelt between her legs. She writhed beneath me, arching her back. Then I tortured her all over again. She strained at the bindings but grew wetter and wetter. She gave off erratic little pants as she got closer to her own release. She was mine. All mine. I could bring her to the edge and pull her back. I did. Over and over again. She was my treat. My feast. But she knew she had me too.
Finally, when I knew Maura couldn’t take another second, I plunged my fingers inside of her, working her there as I licked her hard little bud. She came for me, exploding from it. Her body arched like a bow. She bit her lip to keep from screaming out. I hated to tell her, it was already too late. The walls of the Wolf Den were thin. The whole club had to know by now what we were doing.
Just as she started to come, I went up on my knees and drove myself home. Her eyes popped open and she tried to close her legs around me, making the bed frame creak. I held myself still inside of her, letting her grind against me. She did. I felt her come. Her walls quivered. Her breasts shook. I took each nipple in my mouth, heightening her pleasure.
Finally, she crested down. I carefully undid her bindings and pulled her against me. She was already snoring by the time I got her free. Spent. Exhausted. Mine. All mine.
I kissed her temple as she fell into a deep sleep. “I told you, baby,” I whispered. “I’m u
sed to getting what I want.”
Chapter Sixteen
Maura
It happened so fast. I hadn’t been looking for it. Hadn’t expected it. But there he was.
Angel.
Bailey was right. I was a hypocrite. I didn’t know what it was between her and Judd. It had all the hallmarks of a bad decision. He couldn’t support her. She couldn’t support herself. She let him distract her from all the goals she’d set for her life. No, that was the problem. She was using him to keep from setting goals for her own life, just like our mother always did.
Then there was Angel. Angel and me. When he was near me, I couldn’t keep my hands off him. My skin, my very blood heated when he touched me. When he looked at me. When we made love, I lost myself in him. God. No. That was the easy thing to tell myself. It was more that I found myself in him. He stretched my boundaries, took me to places I’d only ever reached in my dreams. He made them real. He made them better. But it scared me how quickly he’d turned me upside down.
And Bailey still wasn’t speaking to me. As far as I knew, Judd had kept to his word. Angel swore he hadn’t made Judd break up with her. I knew there was more he wasn’t saying though. At the club, he spoke in hushed whispers and knowing glances to the other club members. There was tension between them. I couldn’t claim to know the inner workings of the Great Wolves M.C., but I noticed enough. No one rode alone. Sly made sure everyone was accounted for. When we were together, outside the club, Angel checked in regularly. When he picked me up at my apartment, there was always a probie or another member hanging out across the street taking silent cues from Angel.
When I asked him about it, he would shrug it off and say it was club business. Nothing to worry about. Security at the clinic was tight now. Usually Curtis, one of the most seasoned prospects, stationed himself a few feet from the front door. He stayed out of the way, unobtrusive. My clients barely knew he was there. But everyone else did. It took no more than a week for word to get out that the Green Bluff Family Law Project was under the protection of the G.W.M.C. Angel had been right about everything. It was better than having the sheriff standing guard.
“What are you doing right now?” Angel said. I sat behind my desk working on a legal brief. Sure, I had interns to do that, but I still preferred to do it myself.
“Running child support calculations,” I answered in my most breathy voice.
“Oooh, baby. Talk dirty. Say that thing about statutory interest like you did the other day. It gets me so hard.”
I laughed loud enough to get Beverly’s attention. She gave me a discreet smile. Nothing got past her. Just the other day, she’d told me I looked truly happy for the first time since she’d met me. I didn’t know what to make of that. I hadn’t realized she thought me sad.
“You’re the worst,” I teased. “I’ve got to get to work. I’ve got to file this brief by the end of the day.”
“Then you’re all mine, right?” he asked. I’d made plans to meet him at the club. That was another change I’d noticed over the last couple of weeks. For our first few official dates, Angel had taken me out. Lately, he’d wanted to stay closer to the club.
“Sounds good,” I said. “Mo told me she was whipping up some of her special secret potato soup. She hinted she might actually show me the recipe.”
“That’s it,” he said. “That right there will officially make you the most perfect woman on the planet.”
“Oh, I wasn’t already?”
“It’s just that one thing,” he said. “I should warn you though. We’re pretty sure Mo is part witch or gypsy or some shit. She starts teaching you how to cast spells, don’t be surprised.”
“Now I’m even more intrigued.”
“Careful though, it’s not so much spells as curses. There’s one woman whose bad side you never want to be on.”
“Thanks for the tip,” I said, spinning my chair so I looked out the window. It was another sweltering, ninety-degree day. It would feel so good to climb on the back of Angel’s bike later and let the wind flow through me. “So, how do I avoid getting on Mo’s bad side?”
Angel went quiet for a second. I hadn’t meant to get serious, but before he could answer, I knew what he was going to say. You got on Mo’s bad side by hurting one of her boys. And Angel was most definitely one of her boys.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Angel said. “How are things with your sister?”
“The same. I’m still to blame for everything that’s wrong with her life. She thinks I’m the one who threw a wrench in her relationship with Judd.”
Angel let out a hard breath. “You were right about them. It was going nowhere. And Judd’s got to keep his head in the game right now.”
“What game is that?” I’d asked Angel in roundabout ways over the last few weeks what was going on with the club. My mother had warned me not to. In her brief time with Gator, that’s the one rule she said he had. Club business was club business. Don’t ask. Don’t tell. It was just hard knowing what happened to him. I knew times were different. I’d done my research. The Great Wolves M.C. made their money by strictly legitimate enterprises now. Still, that gunshot wound on Angel’s back made my blood run cold.
“Five thirty still work for you?” he said, deftly changing the subject.
“It works perfect,” I said. I looked over at the small backpack I now kept in the corner of my office. I could change into a t-shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots before he got here. It made for a much more comfortable ride. Something else had happened I hadn’t planned for. Word had gotten out. I was Angel Bishop’s girl.
Angel’s girl. I was Angel’s girl. It followed me into the courthouse. I’d get knowing glances from the deputies as I walked through security. It was not lewd or inappropriate. But some of the familiarity I’d enjoyed with them had shifted. Just yesterday, a criminal defendant came through the metal detectors behind me. He was drunk. He fell into me and called me a name I don’t usually repeat. One of the deputies intervened and quickly pulled him away from me. He spoke under his breath, not realizing I heard every word.
“What the fuck are you doing? You have any idea who she’s with? That’s Angel’s girl.”
The words cut through, sobering the poor guy up more than coffee. Angel’s girl. You don’t mess with Angel’s girl. It thrilled me and terrified me all at once. As good as it felt, I couldn’t lose myself in a man. Not even one as incredible as Angel Bishop. It’s just, I had no earthly idea what to do about it.
“Maura?” Beverly knocked softly on my door. She poked her head in. “Your mother’s here.”
“My mother?” I checked my phone. It was four o’clock. She hadn’t called. My heart raced, hoping nothing was wrong.
“Send her back,” I said. “After that, you can take off for the day, Bev. We don’t have anything else scheduled. Just the lobby lights and lock the door. Curtis should still be out there. Make sure he walks you to your car.”
Beverly blushed. “You bet your ass I will. You have to admit. He’s sure fun to look at.”
I smiled. “Enjoy yourself. And behave yourself!”
She made a little clucking noise and opened the door wider so my mother could waltz in. She looked perfect, as always, in her white skirt and pink blouse. She carried a matching pink purse and set it on one of the empty chairs in front of my desk.
“Everything okay?” I asked. “What do I owe the pleasure?”
My mother sat down. She crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap. I knew immediately this wasn’t a social call. She reached into her purse and handed me a folded packet of papers.
“I’m ready,” she said, her voice shaking. I took the paperwork. It was a motion I’d drawn up for her over a year ago. She was still technically married to Bailey’s dad. I’d served him with divorce papers for her as soon as I passed the bar. He never responded. All my mom had to do was file for her final judgment and she’d be legally rid of him. And for the last year I’d been on her case
to do just that.
“Okay,” I said. “I can set a hearing when I’m in court tomorrow. Like I told you. This is easy. You show up. I walk you through some basic questions in front of the judge. He signs your paperwork. That’s it.”
She nodded. “I know all that. You’ve told me a hundred times.”
“Good,” I said, putting her paperwork in my outbox. “The judge is setting default hearings for about two weeks out. Any date that works best for you?”
“You pick it,” she said, smiling.
“No problem. So tell me why today? What’s going on? I’ve been on at you for months to sign those papers and you keep putting me off.”
She sighed. “Can’t a mother just decide she wants to see her daughter at work? It’s nice here, Maura. I had no idea. And you look so ... you look so smart.” There were tears in her eyes. Was this pride she felt? Every alarm bell went off in me.
“You really did it,” she said. “All the things you said you would. I’m proud of you, honey.”
I wanted to believe that’s all this was. Pride. A normal mother doing normal things. But I’d been burned too many times before. Either she’d done something she needed help getting out of, or she was about to do something she knew I wouldn’t like. I sat back in my chair and waited.
“What gives, Mom? Really.”
Her eyelids fluttered. She wore perfectly applied false lashes. I think I’d seen her without them maybe once in my life. “Your sister’s gone again,” she said. “She left a note.” My mother reached in her purse. With shaking fingers, she handed me a crumpled piece of paper.
I smoothed it on my desk and read. My heart lurched. “What the hell is this?” I asked, even though I knew.
“It’s an application for a marriage license. I think the whole thing was for show. She cleared her stuff out of the house last night when I was gone.”
I grabbed the landline and called the clerk at the Vital Records department across the street. “Janine?” I asked as soon as she answered. “It’s Maura Denning. Look, this is kind of an emergency. Can you run a license check for me? Can you tell me if a marriage license was granted for Bailey Smith or a Jeremy Laneer? Also goes by Judd.”
