by Lilly Atlas
A genuine laugh bubbled out of her and she was surprised to see that Rebel was laughing as well. “Stay for a while,” he said. “I live by myself. Got an extra room. You won’t bother me none and, who knows, maybe we’ll even like each other.”
Kori’s jaw dropped. At a loss for words, she whipped it closed again. To say the offer was unexpected would be an understatement. She ran through the idea in her head. After her mom fell ill, Kori had given up her apartment and moved into her mother’s house. Well, actually, Rusty, her ol’ man’s house, but the faithless asshole barely spent any time there. She’d been staying there since her mom died, knowing full well time was running out and Rusty would want the space back at some point. And with no job to return to, there really wasn’t anything holding her back.
Hell, maybe she could stay here permanently. As a medical office assistant, she could find a job anywhere. The idea had merit. It was at least worth a trial run. Stay with Rebel for a bit and if things seemed promising she could relocate to Vegas permanently.
Only one problem with this grand plan. The only person she knew in Vegas was a biker. And she’d be living with him. Father or not, associating with bikers wasn’t in her plans, especially now that her mom had passed. After the very loud, raucous biker funeral her stepfather’s club held, she’d decided that bikers were out of her life for good.
“Girl, I didn’t ask you to solve the world’s hunger problem. You looking to stay? Yes or no. Simple.”
“Yes.” Wait, what? The consent was out of her mouth without any permission from her brain.
The leathery skin of his cheeks stretched as a wide grin graced his face. Warmth spread through Kori’s chest. Maybe there was still hope for her in the family department.
“Go on out and have a drink at the bar. I’ll be done in ten minutes and I’ll introduce you to the crew.” The command was given in that way of people who were used to having their orders followed.
She rose and turned for the door. “Uh, sure. I guess I could use a middle of the day drink.”
Looks like she was about to make a bunch of new friends.
Biker friends.
Shit.
Chapter Four
Quite a few pairs of curious eyes were glued to Kori as she stepped back into the main area of the clubhouse. There wasn’t much she hated more than feeling unsure of herself, and she hadn’t felt this uncertain for as long as she could remember. Which was ridiculous. She knew damn well how to play the biker game.
So she raised her head, wiped her damp palms on her skinny jeans, and strode toward the bar. A quick glance at a giant Harley clock on the wall reminded her it was only a few minutes past three in the afternoon. Far too early for the hard stuff.
“Just a beer, please. Anything,” she said to the prospect behind the bar. He practically vibrated with energy, no doubt a result of suppressing his burning desire to know who she was and why she was granted a private meeting with their president. Rebel wanted to do the introductions, so she kept her mouth shut. It was too early to know how the man would react when disobeyed. And it was his club, so his show.
The young prospect returned seconds later and plunked the beer down in front of her. “Thanks,” she said as she spun on the barstool before he had a chance to fire any questions her way. It was a mistake. Now, instead of facing one nosy man, she faced a room full of inquisitive onlookers. After three sips of her beer, the probing stares and not-so-discrete whispers became almost unbearable. She kept her gaze on an empty table about five feet away and could have cried in relief when the entrance door swung open and diverted everyone’s attention.
Her focus shifted to the entrance, as guilty as everyone else of curiosity, and the beer bottle nearly slipped from her fingers. Holy shit. Quite possibly the most attractive man she’d ever laid eyes on walked into the room. No. Walked was not the right word. Swaggered, strutted maybe. Paraded? Whatever it was, it reeked of cocky self-confidence. She had an instant impression of the arrogant player he’d be.
The biker was tall, well developed, wore his jeans like they’d been made for the sole purpose of hugging his muscular thighs. Thank God she couldn’t see his ass. She might just weep. And he had a face that bore a striking resemblance to Colin Farrell.
Her fingers flexed against the frosty bottle in her hands, though they really itched to run through the black, soft-looking goatee that rimmed his mouth. A deep ache began between her legs. She’d never been with a man who had facial hair and she shivered at the thought of that soft hair brushing her neck or breasts. Her pussy throbbed as though calling out to him for the opportunity to give it a whirl. The chances of a dry pair of panties remaining in the room were growing dimmer with each passing second.
As he hugged and slapped backs with a few of his brothers, Kori openly stared at him. From across the room, a tiny woman with huge breasts and not much covering them sidled up to him and planted her chest against his side. He dropped a polite kiss on her cheek, but didn’t pay her much attention beyond that. Not possible that the man wasn’t interested in a woman like her. She was as classic a club girl as they came.
As he extricated himself from Chesty McChesterson’s hold, his gaze connected with Kori’s. Never before had need sucker punched her from mere eye contact. Air whooshed out of her lungs and she realized her mistake the moment he waved off his brothers and left the busty and pouting woman. She should have looked away. Now she was ensnared in a royal blue trap glittering with mischief. And there was that swagger again.
“Well, hey there,” he said when he was within reach. “This has to be your first time here because I would certainly remember all that gorgeous. I’m Lucky.” He picked up her unoffered hand and pressed his lips to her palm. She managed to suppress any outward signs of desire, but her insides zinged with excitement the moment his mouth met her skin. “And let’s just say you are about to get very lucky.”
Kori coughed in an attempt to smother an outburst of laughter as one eyebrow rose of its own accord. Was this guy for real? Arrogance oozed from every pore like he’d doused himself in a dollar store cologne.
She widened her eyes in what she hoped was an innocence-meets-surprised expression and let out a girlish giggle. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
He stepped closer, still holding her hand and brushed his lips across the inside of her wrist. “It sure does, baby. Sex and sin.”
It took every ounce of self-control Kori possessed to tamp her reaction to Lucky’s lips stroking her skin. She clenched her teeth and nearly every other muscle to stop the tremor of desire that threatened to race through her. Jesus, the man was lethal. Taking his ego down a peg would be the most fun she’d had in weeks.
“Great,” she said, her voice breathy and seductive. “So you can hook me up with that guy over there? I have a feeling I’d get really lucky with him.” She pointed toward a group of bikers drinking at a corner table, not any one of them in particular.
The overconfident smirk slid right off Lucky’s face like melted butter and he dropped her hand as though it burned him. Ahh, satisfaction. She gloated in her head for about three seconds before she could no longer hold in the laughter.
Lucky crossed his arms over his impressive chest and nodded, a small chuckle escaping his flattened mouth. “Nicely played. Round one goes to you…”
“Kori,” she said around laughter. “And I’m sorry, but you were asking for that.”
Lucky snorted. “I think I was asking for something quite different, angel. How about you let me buy the victor a free drink?”
She held up her half-full beer. “Still working on this one, thanks.”
“Well then, so there is no room for miscommunication this time, how about you let me take you home and make you scream for the next few hours.”
The man was persistent. She had to give him that. That boastful I’m-the-shit attitude hadn’t been beaten down for long. She had to admit the offer was very tempting. Losing herself in mind-blowing pleasure for
a few hours would go a long way toward helping her rid the stress of her off-kilter life. But… “Sorry, I don’t date bikers.”
He leaned in close enough to whisper in her ear. Damn, the man smelled good. The hairs around his mouth tickled the rim of her ear. Soft, just like she’d suspected. “I’m not asking for a date.”
“Okay then, I don’t do bikers.” Man, this guy didn’t hold back.
“Pretty sure I can change your mind, angel.”
Ugh, he was bordering on predictable now. A commotion from the other side of the room caught her attention and she peered over her shoulder. Rebel emerged from the hallway and flashed her a smile. With a flick of his head, he summoned her to him. She turned back to Lucky. “Give it your best shot, big boy. But don’t be too disappointed when the only one getting lucky this afternoon is your right hand.”
With that parting shot, she hopped off the barstool and made her way toward Rebel. So sue her if she put a little extra hip action in her walk. Just because she wouldn’t give in to the temptation didn’t mean it wasn’t there. And what woman didn’t like admiration from a gorgeous man?
About halfway to Rebel, the full weight of what she’d just done settled on her shoulders. She’d thrown down the gauntlet and issued a sexy challenge to a very potent biker who probably took the dare very seriously.
A quick peek over her shoulder told her she was right. His deep blue eyes gleamed with lust and his smile was all teeth. The game was on and she immediately regretted her role in starting it.
So much for getting lucky.
Chapter Five
Women responded to Lucky with two predictable reactions. If they were spoken for, they laughed at his antics, patted his arm, and rolled their eyes while secretly being flattered by the overt flirting.
If they were single, well, they pretty much flopped to their backs, spread their legs, and invited him in. It wasn’t conceit that had Lucky thinking this way, it was just how it happened every single time since he’d turned fourteen and the sexy twenty-one-year-old co-ed who lived next door decided to punish her boyfriend by sleeping with the neighborhood hooligan.
What did not happen, ever, was the scenario where a smokin’ hot chick made jokes at his expense, laughed in his face, then sauntered away as though he deserved as much of her brain power as a buzzing gnat.
He chuckled under his breath, his eyes fixed to the magnetic twitch of her damn fine ass as she left him in the dust. With a subtle shift of his hips, he adjusted his stance and provided some relief for his expanding cock. He didn’t really give a shit if any of his brothers noticed he hid a full-blown erection behind his denim. She was sexy and he was hard. Pretty much standard operating procedure around here.
Her white-blond hair was pulled up in a high ponytail and swayed at mid-back level in time with her hips. Lucky clenched a fist, imagining the cool feel of those long strands wrapped around his hand as he pulled her head back and nibbled her exposed neck.
Damn, that had to be the blondest hair he’d ever seen. So white-blond it practically glowed, like some kind of celestial being. Jesus, had he really called her angel all because of some hair? Yup, he had. She was no angel. She was far too biker to be angelic, with jeans so tight he couldn’t figure out how she walked so smoothly. And an equally tight T-shirt that showcased her breasts with a sparkly skull across her chest. Leather boots topped off the look. Aside from the hair, she looked like she’d just hopped off his Harley, not like someone sent from heaven.
He kept his eyes trained on her as she crossed the room, ending up right next to…Rebel?
Oh, fuck me.
Had he really just hit on his president’s latest toy? Thank fuck Rebel hadn’t been privy to their exchange or Lucky would be scrubbing the clubhouse’s bathrooms with a toothbrush for the next month. And that was if Rebel went easy on him.
“Down, boy,” he muttered to his erection. “You ain’t got nowhere to go now.”
That wasn’t exactly true. Dana, who’d been all over him the second he walked in the door, would be more than happy to take care of him. He’d slept with her two, maybe three times. It all blended together, and if he was being honest, he barely remembered her. Couldn’t have been that earth shattering.
He flicked a glance at Kori, who now stood with Rebel’s arm around her shoulders then tossed a look in Dana’s direction. No contest. Too bad the one he wanted seemed to be taken.
“Listen up!” No one ever needed to look around for who was talking when Rebel spoke. Each man in the room abandoned what they were looking at and focused on their president.
“Want to introduce you assholes to someone. This here is Kori.” He gave Kori’s shoulder a squeeze and smiled down at her as if she were something precious. Lucky’s erection fully deflated. “Kori is family. Literally. Turns out, I have a long-lost daughter.”
What the ever-loving fuck?
His daughter? Rebel had a daughter? Lucky couldn’t have been more shocked if Rebel told them all he was stepping down as president. Looks like she wasn’t Rebel’s woman after all. A slow smile spread across Lucky’s face. She was fair game.
“She’s gonna stick around town for a while and stay at my place.” His mouth flattened into a serious line and his eyes narrowed as he looked around the room. “Every man in here behaves around her. She’s family. My blood. I hear any of you are treating her like one of the whores,” he said, completely unrepentant to be speaking that way about the women in the room, “we’re gonna have problems. Big problems. Got me?”
Each man, including Lucky, nodded and mumbled their agreement.
“All right. I’m gonna take her out of here in a few and get her settled. Barbecue tomorrow evening at my house to welcome Kori. Ol’ ladies are invited; whores are not. Every fuckin’ one of you will be on your best behavior. Don’t want to scare her off just yet.” He winked down at his daughter and she gave him a small smile.
She didn’t look relaxed. In fact, she looked distinctly uncomfortable and like she wasn’t sure this entire plan was a good idea. The girl needed some stress relief. Lucky’s specialty.
Rebel said something to Kori then she nodded and walked back in his direction. When she reached him, she gave him a shy smile, in contrast with the sassy flirting she’d employed moments ago.
“Well, looks like you get the award for the most surprising woman of the day. Can’t say I saw that one coming.”
A light, feminine grunt escaped her throat. “Yeah, well, me either, to be honest. It’s been an interesting day. Interesting few weeks.”
Lucky tilted his head. There was a story there. Of course there was a story. Long-lost daughter? That reeked of dramatic scenes and scandal. She was gorgeous, no doubt about it, and on closer inspection, she bore the look of someone who been under tremendous strain recently. Dark circles lined her eyes, faintly visible through her makeup job. Her back was straight, almost rigid, and she drummed her fingers against her thigh in what he guessed was a nervous gesture.
He opened his mouth, then snapped it shut again, the statement he’d been about to make trapped behind his teeth. Had he really almost offered her an ear if she needed to vent? Lucky didn’t do the confidant role. He got lucky. He made women feel lucky, then they went their separate ways. Everyone satisfied and happy. Something about Kori’s sad expression had him wanting to hear her story and offer comfort.
Thank fuck his brain kicked in before the offer was out of his mouth. “You looking for a little stress relief, darlin’?” There, that suggestion was much more his style.
She chuckled. “Like a long jog followed by a tub of chocolate brownie ice cream and a vat of wine?”
He liked her spunk. He also liked her teasing, which was another first. “No, babe. Though I was thinking energy expenditure and if you’d like, I’m all for involving some ice cream.”
“I’ll pass,” she said. “I already told you—”
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t do bikers. I get it.” If the fact that he rode a piece
of heavy machinery was his biggest obstacle, then he was in pretty good shape. He leaned close enough to get a whiff of something clean and citrusy. “Hate to break it to you, darlin’, but you got biker in your blood.”
Her eyes widened and she took a step back, breasts rising and falling with the force of her rapid breathing. Lucky was completely helpless to do anything but stare at her chest. God, he couldn’t wait to get his hands and mouth on them. Maybe bury his cock between them. They weren’t huge, but neither were they small. High, perky, mouthwatering.
“Ahem.” Rebel stepped up beside Kori and shot Lucky a look that had made more than one prospect shit themselves. “Ready to go, baby girl?”
Whoops, busted. Well, he wasn’t a prospect and he wouldn’t be intimidated by Rebel’s newfound daddy role. Kori was sexy as fuck and Lucky planned to have her, plain and simple. He wouldn’t treat her like a whore as Rebel feared, but he wouldn’t hide his interest, either. Nothing wrong with a little mutual adult satisfaction.
“Guess I’ll see you around,” she said to Lucky.
“Count on it, angel.” There he went again with the angel business.
She smiled and nodded before trailing Rebel out of the clubhouse.
Lucky rubbed his hands together and grinned like a fool. The challenge had been issued, and it was one he gladly accepted. Damn, it felt good to focus his energy on something besides the stress of figuring out what do to about Rebel’s drug dealing and betrayal.
Oh shit.
He was ninety percent sure telling Striker about Rebel was the right thing to do. Kori couldn’t have shown up at a worse time. Why the fuck hadn’t he thought of this sooner? She’d apparently distracted him too well. At the very least, Rebel would be booted out of the club, and at the worst, he’d be leaving in a body bag. Did this change anything? Could he still go to Striker knowing innocent Kori would potentially be hurt in the crossfire? He had to. He didn’t even know the woman. She couldn’t factor into his decision.
