by Zoey Marcel
He smirked. “Don’t pretend you’re scandalized by the suggestion. I know you grew up in that town. Ménage is the tradition there.”
“I know, but I never—”
“You’re exactly our type.”
“I can’t just move back there when I don’t even know you or your brother.”
“You’d like him. He’s dominant, caring when he wants to be, and he’s a real manly man, just your style.”
“What does he look like?”
“Well, his hair is kind of long for a guy, but it looks good on him. He looks rugged and wild, like a caveman.”
She snickered. “A caveman?”
Grinning, Heller played with her hair and caressed her bare arm. “Yes, ma’am. He looks like a sexy Neanderthal.”
She laughed and he chuckled, too. “Oh, my God!”
“You liked that, huh?”
“I’m not sure. That sounds hilarious.”
“Well, I can’t describe him as better-looking than me. You’d like him, though.”
“How would he describe you?”
He shrugged. “Probably like a big, brown egg.”
They laughed at this.
“You’re gonna make my makeup run.” She wiped her eyes, regaining her composure.
“I meant what I said,” he told her seriously. “I want to be with you. I’ll be forty in a few years. I’ve had my fun. It’s time to settle down and have a family.”
She sobered. “I don’t want to raise kids in the biker lifestyle.”
His eyes narrowed. “Then we have a problem, don’t we? I grew up that way. I have no regrets.”
“Why are we even talking about this? I live here now. I’m not going back there.”
“Yeah, you will. I’ve made up my mind, and I know you’re a good girl who does what she’s told.”
Hot nectar seeped into her folds. She felt her nipples tighten in her corset.
“Think it over, babe.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a note. “And when you realize what it is you want and that it’s me, give me a call.”
A rigid breath flitted from her when he stuffed the small folded paper into her cleavage, taking his precious time in there.
“I have painful memories in McKenna Downs. I can’t go back.”
“You will. Then Kale and I will help you make new memories and babies if you want that. And yeah, they’re gonna be raised in the biker culture. I’m not leaving the Princes of Hell MC for anybody.”
Her jaw set. “Well, I’m not leaving Chicago for anyone.”
“Yes, you will. We’ll be waiting for you.”
“You arrogant son of a—”
His mouth was on hers, cutting off her sentence. She gasped softly into the kiss, enabling him to get his tongue in her mouth. The kiss was to die for. She hadn’t been kissed like that since she made love to Cole McAlister the first and only time.
Heller tasted like mint and male heat as he tongued her deliberately. She found herself kissing him back slowly and petting his muscles. A slow simmer started in her lower abdomen. Her pussy was soaked.
She broke the kiss, losing her breath. “I...I have a boyfriend.”
Heller cupped her bare ass. “You said you were breaking up with him.”
“Well, I haven’t yet.”
He gave her butt cheek a squeeze and she felt his pants tighten against her crotch.
“Heller,” she whispered.
“Fuck,” he growled. “Do you know what it does to me when you say my name like that?”
Her belly clenched and her areolas crinkled in her corset. “I’m supposed to dance for you.”
“So start grinding.”
She moaned and pawed his face, trying to resist.
“Kiss me,” he murmured against her lips.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Do it anyway.”
She pressed her lips to his, whimpering when he devoured her mouth. He grabbed her ass tight and she felt his cock shift in his jeans. He felt huge. When he pulled her close, their groins smashed against each other, grinding lightly while they made out. Familiar tingles fired on her clit and she pulled away, feeling guilty.
“I, I can’t,” she whispered.
He ran his hand up her nape, fingers tangling in her hair. “I understand. After you dump him, I want you.”
“I don’t even know you.”
“You will.”
“I’m not moving back.”
“You will. How about that lap dance?”
“I can give you your money back,” she said quietly. “I don’t think I should dance for you, though. It would feel like cheating.”
“Because you like me?”
She nodded, getting up off of him.
“You’re a good girl.” He stood and made his way toward the exit. “But I expect one when you come back to me like I told you to.”
“I never said I was going back.”
He approached her, turning her into a puddle of hormones. “You’ll do it, Danielle, because I know you want to know how it feels.”
She gulped. “How what feels?”
“My dick inside you,” he murmured in a torrid hush.
The look in his eyes melted her. His words singed her.
“I’ve had sex before,” she said haughtily.
“Not like I would give you.”
Dampness flooded her slit.
“Just remember our kiss and how wet I made you.” He brushed his thumb over her lower lip. “That’ll have you moving back.”
She was about to make a snarky retort, but when he kissed the tip of her nose it warmed her.
“I’ll see you around, babe.”
He left and she was torn between going after him and humping the couch to relieve the ache he caused in her cunt.
She couldn’t go back to McKenna Downs and face her past, but for him she was mighty tempted to.
* * * *
Danielle couldn’t stop shaking. She’d told Gavin she wanted to break up and he’d politely agreed to it. She’d waited until spring so he wouldn’t suspect it was because of his criminal activities. She’d ended things in public since doing so in private scared her. Now he was here to move his stuff out.
“Thank you for taking this so well. I’m really sorry. I just need to take a different direction in my life.”
She shrieked when he slammed her up against the wall.
“Let me explain something to you, baby. I’m the one who ends my relationships. When I’m ready to break up with you, I’ll break up with you. Then we can go our separate ways and you can move on with your life.”
Her heart raced. “But you’re not my soul mate.”
“You’re not mine either.” He strummed his fingers through her hair in a way that made her feel like prey. “We’re just having a good time. Don’t screw that up. It’s unfair of you not to accept me for some of my shady dealings when I accept you, even though you’re not model gorgeous and you could stand to lose a few pounds.”
That hurt. It was reminiscent of what her ex-boyfriend, Cash, had said to her.
Gavin had never been like that before. He’d always told her she was lovely and he’d been the one who encouraged her to become an exotic dancer to rebuild the self-esteem Cash had torn down in her. Gavin had been good to her overall.
Evidently when he was crossed, all that went up in smoke.
“I’ve broken a few laws,” he said, “but you act like I’m a monster. When you said you wanted to break up, I didn’t slap you, or slit your wrists with a knife.”
She went cold with fright.
His pitch dropped to a terrifying hush as he wrapped his hand around her throat lightly. “I didn’t grab you by the throat and strangle you until you stopped breathing. I didn’t drive you somewhere secluded under the guise of romance only to put a bullet in your head and then toss your body into the river.”
Her eyes watered in fear. “Gavin—”
“Shh.”
Her pulse stammer
ed when he tightened his hold slightly. It wasn’t enough to choke her, but it was more than effective for getting the point across.
“Let’s not fight, baby. I didn’t do any of those things, did I?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re a good man.”
“And a good boyfriend, right?”
“Yeah, you’re a great boyfriend.”
Please don’t kill me.
Now she wished she’d run off with Heller when she had the chance.
Gavin smiled. “Then why would you want to leave a good boyfriend?”
“I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was stupid.”
“You are a stupid girl,” he said, almost affectionately if not for the chilling look in his eyes. “I forgive you. Let’s pretend this didn’t happen and we can go back to me buying you nice things and you giving up that pussy to me.”
She swallowed down her dread and nodded. Immense relief swam over her when he released her throat.
“Then there’s no need for me to pack my things, is there?”
She shook her head.
“Good.” The threatening look in his eyes betrayed his charming smile.
She knew. Even without evidence she just knew that this man was a killer. Somehow she needed to get away from him.
If she did her best to act normal for a while and then slowly changed her habits, like say yoga pants and being boring, maybe he would lose interest in her and dump her by summer. Or she could bring up going to school out of state. Then after a while suggest breaking up since long distance wasn’t fair to him.
She was afraid if she just left he would come after her. She decided to delete the numbers of family and friends from her cell phone since she had them memorized, but she didn’t want them to get hurt if she ever pissed Gavin off.
It was a shame she’d have to wait a while to be free of him. Heller probably would have long since moved on by then, if he hadn’t already. He wouldn’t be the first good man she’d lost.
Chapter One
Present day – McKenna Downs, South Dakota
Danielle couldn’t believe it. Cole McAlister had come home. She’d missed him terribly when he’d been living overseas. Why had he stayed away for years only to return out of the blue?
Cole’s brothers, David and Brighton, were happy to see him.
Their father, Alan McAlister, wasn’t when he walked into the room. “Well, look who finally decided to come home.”
“Hello, Father,” Cole said. “I trust you’re still in good health.”
“To hell with your pleasantries. Why the devil did you stay away so long?”
“I liked it over there.”
“Then why didn’t you stay over there?”
“I missed your cheery face.”
Alan scowled.
Cole smirked at this and turned to his brothers. “I brought gifts. Brighton, yours is outside.”
“Making me work for it, huh?” Brighton teased.
“They were too energetic for indoors, but I suppose there’s enough room in here for them to roam,” Cole said while assessing the large space.
“Them?” his father asked warily.
“Yes, I’ll bring them in.” Cole started for the door.
“What the hell, man?” Brighton scoffed. “Make Siegfried do it. He was made to be bossed around, weren’t you, my good man?”
Siegfried remained stoic. “I’ll get them for you, sir.”
Danielle wondered sometimes if the butler wouldn’t like to beat Brighton’s ass.
“Thank you, Siegfried,” Cole said. “David.”
David took the parcel from him and opened it. “All right! I don’t have this one. Thanks, Cole.”
Cole nodded.
Danielle had to smile at the computer game. Her nerd loved his computer games.
Siegfried returned with two Great Dane puppies. They were absolutely adorable.
“Aw!” She wanted to cuddle them while they flailed on her.
“Oh God!” Mr. McAlister exclaimed.
“Sweet!” Brighton cheered. “Is that my gift?”
“Yes,” Cole said. “I couldn’t decide between the one with harlequin or the one with Boston markings, so I got you both. You always said you wanted a black and white Great Dane, but you never specified which coat markings you preferred.”
“That’s because they’re both epic as hell. Oh my God!” Brighton hugged the wiggly pups when Siegfried set them down.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Alan McAlister demanded. “Since when has one puppy been such an insufficient source of happiness that you brought two? Were there no small dog breeds in your area?”
“Big dogs will keep you spry in your twilight years,” Cole told him.
“You bloody wiseass.”
Cole looked like he might laugh.
“They’re so cute!” Brighton giggled while the puppies licked and climbed all over him.
They were playful and adorable. With their big feet that they hadn’t seemed to grow into yet, the pups were little doofuses when they walked.
“What are you going to name them?” David asked.
Danielle knelt to pet them and was assaulted by puppy love.
Brighton pointed to the harlequin one, which was white with black spots and patches, something like a cross between a Dalmatian and a Holstein cow. “That one is Thor, since he’s lighter.”
He rubbed behind the ears of the Boston-colored puppy that had his front paws on his lap. His markings were mostly blackish-gray with a white belly and limbs and a few places on his muzzle that were also white.
“This guy right here is Loki.”
“So you’re naming your dogs after the Norse god of thunder and the god of mischief?” their father asked. “Is this to fare well for my furniture?”
“One of them is female,” Cole informed them.
“What?” Alan shrieked. “They’re going to breed?”
“That was priceless,” Cole said with a taunting grin. “Fear not. They’re both male.”
Brighton laughed. “Man, I’ve missed you.”
Mr. McAlister’s eyes narrowed on Cole. “That wasn’t funny.”
David suppressed a laugh. “I thought it was funny.”
“Would it help to know I brought you wine?” Cole asked.
“It would take one hell of a bottle to make me forget the way you moved to another country and had limited contact with us through the years. What do you have to say for yourself, Cole bloody McAlister?”
Cole presented him with a fancy bottle. “It’s your favorite, made the year you met the love of your life.”
Alan took the bottle and read the date. “That’s not the year I met your mother.”
“I wasn’t talking about her,” Cole said knowingly.
It was probably the year Mr. McAlister met Lena. She’d been the love of his life, the one who got away. He could have had her had he been willing to share her with Herschel O’Neil and Hart Huntington. The men wouldn’t budge on their monogamy and Lena couldn’t choose between them. She’d left to keep from tearing their friendship apart. Herschel had reluctantly stepped back prior to her leaving to keep from ruining his friendship with the other two men. But Alan and Hart hadn’t, hence the strain that persisted to this day between the two of them, though both men were still friends with Herschel.
Alan’s eyes softened. “Thank you.”
Cole nodded, turning to watch Brighton and Danielle playing with the puppies.
“If they howl at night, they’re sleeping in your room,” their father said.
“It’s okay,” Brighton reassured him. “They’re mine. I’ll take care of them.”
“That might get old if they keep you up,” David told him.
“That’s what Siegfried is for.” Brighton taunted him with a snotty look.
Siegfried shook his head with a small smile.
“I didn’t know you would be here or I would have brough
t a gift for you,” Cole said to her.
Danielle’s heart stuttered that he was speaking to her again after so long. “That’s okay. Seeing you again is enough of a gift.”
His face changed at her compliment. He seemed touched by it in some way, but he didn’t smile and she wondered what he was thinking.
* * * *
That night Danielle got up for a drink of water and also to check on the puppies. She found them curled up asleep in their penned-in area around Brighton on a pile of blankets.
So cute.
“How have you been?” Cole’s voice startled her.
She put her hand on her chest, trying to steady her erratic heartbeat. She hadn’t seen him sitting there in the dark.
“God, you scared me. I’ve been okay.” She crept closer. “How about you?”
“Fine.”
A pause came and went between them.
“Which room are you sleeping in?”
Her pulse jumped. “David’s.”
“Will you be staying long?”
“I don’t know, maybe. What about you?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Another lapse in conversation followed. It was awkward.
She was about to head back upstairs when Cole spoke again. “I heard Emmett O’Neil is engaged.”
Danielle nearly quit breathing. She was happy for Emmett and completely over him. It was the fact that Cole brought him up at all that made her wonder if he still had feelings for her. She still cared about him more than words could say.
“He is. They seem really happy together. His fiancée, Melanie, is breathtaking.”
“Does that bother you?” he asked frankly.
Was he merely curious, or behaving like a jilted twit?
She didn’t know where to look. At least it was dark so he couldn’t see her facial expressions.
“Why would it?”
“You lost your innocence to him. Why wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t have feelings for everyone I sleep with.”
“Indeed,” he said coolly.
She didn’t know whether to embrace him and apologize to him for leaving years ago, or be annoyed that he was aloof and treating her coldly.
“Who is Tracy?”
Why did you ask him that? Nothing like plastering a big old sign on your head that says “Oh, look at me. I’m not over you. Don’t I look stupid?”
