by Morgan Fox
As he stripped from his biker leathers, he thought back about his life before his assignment and how much he missed it. Even hearing someone call him by his real name, Reid, was something he craved.
But something was different about tonight. He’d taken a little something for himself and it had nothing at all to do with the case. However, doing so might’ve actually helped him gain a little respect with the group.
His thoughts had been jumbled since the moment she’d beckoned him into the storeroom. And when he’d sunk into the depth of her wet heat, he was done for.
Brynn.
The warm water rushed over him and each pulsing beat of the shower was a reminder of the tingling his flesh felt each time she’d touched him, kissed him. As he closed his eyes, he heard her soft moans and wondered what it was about her that was driving him mad. She was a distraction, one that he’d hoped would be a distant memory once he’d had a taste. But having her had only made his cravings more intense.
There was something wild about her, something that had him curious to discover what made a girl like her flaunt herself so freely. She had soft features, but played them up with make-up and attitude. The edginess she displayed was a total turn on, but there was more to her. Feeling her soften as he kissed her had told him that much.
He’d like to see her stripped down bare. Not just her clothing, but everything. Exposing someone’s vulnerabilities made them real. She could hide behind the illusion of her badass personality, but he’d been around long enough to know there was more to discover.
Finishing up his shower, he wrapped a towel around his hips and moved into the kitchen. Opening the refrigerator, he groaned. A can of beer, a block of cheese, and a bottle of ketchup was all that filled the shelves. He closed the door and headed back into his room to put on some clothes, dark blue jeans and a black T-shirt. Whether he liked it or not, he needed to hit the store. Lucky for him, there was a twenty-four-hour food mart just around the corner.
His hours were all screwed up now that he’d been spending more time awake at night. The club liked to hook up in the evening and party until dawn. That left him back-asswards for everything else. And to make it even better, they still opened up the motorcycle repair shop at eight in the morning.
He grabbed an empty backpack and the keys to his motorcycle and made his way to the store. He figured he needed pretty much everything, so he’d made sure his saddlebags were empty, too. As he pulled in, he noticed that shopping at three in the morning was a good time not to be bothered. There was one other motorcycle and black pickup truck in the lot. He parked next to the other bike. He was a gearhead at heart and always admired a nice machine.
As he pushed the shopping cart down the aisles, he started tossing in the things he needed—bread, cheese, lunch meat, and then headed toward the meat department. He had a craving for something juicy, like a steak. When he rounded the corner, his heart slammed against his ribs. A woman he’d seen earlier in the evening from Iron Horse was standing in the exact place he was headed. She had long blonde hair, not at all the type of person he’d pictured working at a bar. She was just too cute. Then he spotted a dark-haired man pulling the girl into his arms and held his position.
Shit.
Luke Mackenzie was a cop he’d met when he’d transplanted to Texas from Florida. He was a detective and had befriended him at a police officers’ ball. He’d been the plus one of a longtime friend. And he and Luke had hit it off, at least until his undercover assignment pulled him from his normal life.
“Do you always stare at feminine products?”
As her voice hit him, he knew who it was before he even turned to see her face. Her hazel green eyes seemed brighter, sexier.
“Perhaps you’d like a little advice on which absorbency works best?” She picked up a box of tampons and pressed it to his chest. “A man your size might find the super-plus beneficial.”
He grinned. Of all the places to duck into, he had to go and pick the one with chick shit lining the aisles. On the positive side, at least he wasn’t staring at douches.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite bartender,” he replied, his gaze skimming over her. “I didn’t know they sold panties here.”
Damn, what were the chances that he’d see her outside of the bar? He wished he’d thought to head to the store before he’d gotten home. Then he would’ve missed the cluster fuck unfolding in front of him. He couldn’t let Luke see him. Explaining that his name was Quinn and that he was undercover couldn’t happen in front of Brynn and the other girl.
“Well, as fun as this is, I’ve got other things to do.” He put the box of tampons back on the shelf and stepped around her.
“In a hurry to get back to your boyfriends?”
He cocked his head to look back at her. “Jealous?”
She laughed, heading up the aisle after him. “Oh, you know it. All that leather and bad hygiene really does it for a girl.”
His mouth dried as the memories of fucking her took shape in his mind. “I’m pretty sure I know what does it for you.”
She shouldered past him. “I’ll let you know if I ever need that itch scratched again.”
He shook his head, chuckling. “You do that.”
Then a thought came to him that he shouldn’t be having, one that involved taking her home. No. That wasn’t an option and he had to get that out of his head. She was a onetime deal and it had to stay that way.
Did it?
She headed for a register and he picked another. Again luck was not on his side as he followed her out of the market. He stopped in front of the motorcycle parked next to his and watched as she put her groceries in the saddlebags.
“You ride?”
“Even without panties,” she told him, lifting her leg in an exaggerated motion to mount her bike and he saw her panty-less pussy.
Fuck me.
He clenched his jaw, watching a teasing grin tug at the corner of her lips. She was playing a game with him again and he was losing.
It’s just sex.
He closed the distance between them, his body hovering over her. “Come home with me tonight.”
She laughed. “Hell, no.”
“You can’t tell me you don’t want more of what we had earlier.” He leaned in on her and she didn’t back away. “I bet if I fingered your pussy, I’d find you soaked.”
“I bet if you fingered my pussy I’d break your hand.” She fired up her bike and revved the engine. “Besides, I’ve already had what you’ve got to offer, and I’m not interested anymore.”
She lifted her kickstand and drove off, leaving him staring after her and hating himself for being so weak. She’d won this round, but he’d see her again at the bar. The next time they met, he’d show her exactly what he had to offer a girl.
Chapter Four
Brynn was an idiot. Quinn had gone and offered to take her home and rock her world again and she’d said, “Hell, no.” What the hell was wrong with her? Had she lost her mind and gone completely mad? Um, yes. Who gives up an opportunity to sleep with a man as sexy as him, not once but twice?
Duh, me.
Her stubbornness was going to be the end for her. That, and her fear. She had to stop being so afraid to connect with someone. She had to keep from thinking that everything would blow up in her face. He’d only wanted sex, for crying out loud. She could handle that. No one said anything about sleeping over or picking out china patterns.
Why did she let the past rule over her so much?
She tossed her groceries onto the counter and started putting them away like they’d pissed her off. Before running into Quinn at the store, she’d been hungry, starving even. Now all she wanted to do was take a long, cold shower and wash the memory of his warm, soothing hands away. Maybe she could figure out a way to scrub her mind of the fire she’d seen in his eyes. Those dark brown orbs of heat and desire that robbed her of breath. Then again, that might have been his hands, mouth, and cock.
With a frustrated groan, she stripp
ed out of her clothing. The water was warm as she showered and cleaned, but then, as she prepared to get out, she turned the hot water off and let the cold water shock some sense into her. Nothing was worse than feeling as if she’d lost control. She didn’t lose control. Other people did. She was the one that kept it together and never once let anyone see her fears. That was the reason she tried so hard to keep her distance from others. Shit, her best friends, Sam and Zerina, hadn’t even been to her new apartment and they sure as hell hadn’t hung out in more than a month. The fire at Iron Horse had changed things for all of them. She wasn’t complaining. She liked the solitude, preferred it.
She kept to herself and that kept her from getting too close to anyone. She’d been down that road before and it had ended badly. Never again. Letting people get close only meant heartache and disappointment and that was something she was desperate to avoid.
Honestly, Quinn scared her too much. He was the first man who’d caused her to think outside the walls she’d erected to protect herself. He was the only man in recent times who’d made her question her control. As he’d possessed her body, she’d nearly given him everything, including a glimpse into her soul.
He was a dangerous man and she knew that teasing him was like playing with fire. The way he looked at her as she prepared to drive away had her toes curling in her shoes. There was a longing in his eyes that startled her. His need for her was fierce and secretly she liked it.
The cold shower had done little to help her mind refocus. She turned on the television for a distraction. Nothing but infomercials were on this time of the morning. The dullness of them would help lull her into sleep. And she’d need her rest, especially since she was pretty sure she’d see Quinn at the bar. Why the idea of seeing him again brought a flutter to her stomach, she had no idea.
* * * *
The blacked-out room did little to keep Brynn’s mind from racing with the need to get up. She’d slept like shit and was as grumpy as an old man with a heart condition and a throbbing erection. The entire time she’d tried to sleep, her thoughts had circled back to her time with Quinn in the storeroom and again at the market. She couldn’t shake the irritation over him that consumed her.
He was perfect for her. A man like Quinn wouldn’t want to get tangled up in a relationship. A commitment would be the furthest thing from his mind. That should’ve suited her fine, but it hadn’t. She’d thought too hard about him and instead of enjoying him physically, she was becoming obsessed.
After a long week of watching him, studying him, she’d trapped herself. No one had ever caught her eye the way he had. No one expect Bobby and what a colossal mistake he had been.
Bobby Ray was her first lover and the man who’d tried to destroy her. For years in high school he’d pursued her and once they’d graduated, she gave him a chance. They dated and she’d stupidly fallen in love with him. The same was not true for him.
Brynn had always had long auburn hair. One night Bobby cut it, telling her the length made her face look fat. She’d trusted him, believed he would never hurt her. But then one night, he invited his friends over for a poker game and paraded her around in front of them, while she was wearing only her bathing suit. They took turns telling her what she needed to change about her body. Bobby started, insisting that her breasts were too large and that she needed a reduction. Then his friends took shots at her, commenting about her wide hips and thighs. They got off on humiliating her.
She’d let Bobby convince her that she wasn’t pretty, that she was far from sexy. He’d taken advantage of the love she felt for him and manipulated her into hating herself. After a while, she couldn’t even look in a mirror at her own reflection. What she saw was the disgusting monster he beaten her down with.
If it hadn’t been for Sam, she never would’ve escaped him. She somehow saw the signs and knew what was happening behind closed doors. For a long time, she denied Sam’s fears, but after Bobby had grown disinterested in her and started bringing other girls around, she knew she’d been right. He’d damaged her enough and was moving on to do it to someone else.
Since the day Sam helped her move out of Bobby’s apartment, she’d never spoken a word to her about it. She’d never said anything about her need to wear revealing clothing, to keep her hair long and red as fire, her face covered in makeup, or her newly established hard-ass attitude. Sam let her do what she needed to do. It was like she understood better than she let on.
Trusting in men was difficult. Jason Whitmore was the only man besides her father whom she didn’t have mixed emotions about. Jason was like a big brother and her dad was her daddy.
Quinn frightened her. For the first time in years, she wanted to feel a connection with a man, to know what it was like to kiss him after a hard day at work, to hear him whisper sweet nothings in her ear, to have a relationship that lasted longer than an orgasm. Which made zero sense, since they’d just met.
Was loneliness catching up with her? And if so, what the hell could she do to stop it from happening?
Her phone vibrated and she picked it up. “Hey, Layla.”
“Oh, Brynn. I’m so sorry. Did I wake you?”
“No. I was up. What’s going on?”
“I was hoping you could cover for me tonight. Jason said you were the floater this evening.
“Sure. I’d planned to go in anyway.”
“Oh, thank you, Brynn. That’s awesome. The lead horse trainer’s sick and I’d like to cover for her. It means a lot to me.”
“No problem.”
“Why did you take off last night? I went searching up and down every aisle to find you before we left the store.”
She groaned, covering her face with her arm. “Quinn was there?”
“Who?”
“That hot biker guy I nailed in the storeroom.”
“Oh,” Layla said on a breath. “Was it awkward to see him again?”
She uncovered her face and stared up at her ceiling fan. “No. He wanted me to go home with him.”
“Oh, my God. You didn’t, right? Brynn, where are you?”
Brynn laughed. “Relax, Mom. I didn’t go.” But damn it, I should’ve. “Stop worrying.”
“Would you like for me to ask Luke to run a background check on him? I bet we could find out some juicy information about him. He could have a list of priors a mile long.”
She laughed. “Layla, you’ve been spending way too much time with that cop boyfriend of yours.”
Layla giggled like the sweet Kentucky girl she was. “You never know. He could be a real bad boy, a criminal.”
Strangely, Brynn didn’t see him that way. Then she remembered something about him. “He does carry a gun, though.”
“Oh, my God. Did you see it on him?”
Her hand tingled as if remembering the feel of his hard stomach and chest as she trailed her fingers over his body before discovering it. “I sort of felt it,” she admitted.
“We are talking about a weapon and not his penis, right?”
She laughed. “Oh, Layla, you really are too much. I love how innocent you are. It’s so refreshing.”
“Ha, ha. Luke says the same thing.” She didn’t seem to appreciate the remark. Hands down, it was a compliment.
“It’s a good thing, honey. Don’t go changing for anyone. It’s who you are and it’s what your friends love about you.” Brynn was still trying to accept those words of advice herself.
“Well, don’t go doing anything bad tonight. Try to behave yourself. Sam was not happy when I told her you were in the storeroom with a friend. You should’ve seen her face. It was as if all the blood drained away. I’d never seen her look like that before,” Layla said, her tone serious.
Sam knew her well, better than most. She was just being protective. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that again. It was a onetime deal.”
“Good. That was very unsanitary anyway.”
Again Brynn laughed. “Have fun horse training,” she told her.
�
�Oh, I will. Thanks again.”
Brynn clicked the end button and glanced at the time. It was nine in the morning and way earlier than she normally woke up. Sleep wasn’t going to happen so she tossed the covers off of her and headed into the kitchen. Glancing inside the refrigerator, she decided she didn’t want to cook. Instead, she dressed and headed out. She had plans to buy a new outfit for this evening anyway, one that would have a certain man cowering at her feet. Even though she knew she shouldn’t, she couldn’t help herself. The game was afoot and she would have to be her best in order to win the next match.
* * * *
Quinn stretched as the afternoon sun woke him. He wasn’t used to sleeping all day and it made him feel sick if he tried. Waking up was more of a challenge these days and the second the coffee aroma hit him, he sprung up to go grab a cup.
Thank God for automatic coffee machines.
He had to check in with his director this morning and give his report, a report that said he was still standing at square one. As he sipped his coffee, he glanced over his emails. There was nothing new there either. His colleagues had pretty much gone and forgotten about him the second he’d gone undercover. But then, that was the idea. He just wished it wasn’t so lonely. Checking in with his director kept him anchored to reality. A person could be in too long. That wasn’t the case for him. He just hated this assignment.
The biker club and bar wasn’t his normal gig. Before he’d accepted the job, he’d been the one arresting nightclub owners for moving product to their clientele. Infiltrating a motorcycle gang was different, more dangerous and it sucked.
Each time he’d gone to the clubhouse, all he did was sit around and talk bikes, booze, and broads. Typical, right? Honestly, he wasn’t sure what he would discover from the crew when he began hanging out with them. They seemed boring, like anyone else, except they wore leather and rode motorcycles. Their rap sheets told a different story. Cappy had been a repeat offender with robbery and assault. Tank and Dozer mirrored each other with battery and assault charges. The others in the group were clean, most likely because they hadn’t been caught yet.
