by Tia Siren
“Might I add that you ladies look fantastic,” Luke said, but he looked at me when he said it. I smiled, and he grinned at me. My stomach did a little flip when he smiled like that. God, he was hot.
Luke had a powerful presence. He was big and muscular, and everyone looked twice when he walked past—women because he oozed sex appeal, and men because they were threatened by him. He was the epitome of an alpha male. When he walked in, no one questioned the pecking order. Luke was right at the fucking top.
“I want to dance,” Ariel said when the music changed and a few people started shuffling in the middle of the bar, making a temporary dance floor. “Are you coming with me?”
I shook my head. “I don’t feel it, Ariel,” I said.
“You don’t mind if I go?” she asked.
“No. Go have fun, please. Luke will keep me company.”
Ariel nodded and looked at Luke. “Make sure she doesn’t drown in that drink,” she said before she turned and disappeared.
I shook my head, smiling. Luke sat down on the stool Ariel had vacated.
“You’ve got good friends,” Luke said.
I nodded. “Yeah. Ariel is great. She’s really been there for me through all of this.”
We both glanced at where she was moving to the music between a handful of guys. They were watching her. She was comfortable in her own skin and demanded attention. It seemed like I always surrounded myself with people who knew who they wanted to be.
“So, how are you doing?” Luke asked. His eyes were serious, boring into me.
I sighed and looked away. “I don’t know. I’m okay, I guess. I’m just…numb.”
Luke nodded. “I get that. I think I feel the same way.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. I had my hand on my cocktail, the glass cold and wet beneath my fingertips, but I wasn’t drinking it.
“For what?” Luke asked.
“For not asking if you were okay, too. You also lost him.”
Luke reached out to me tentatively. His fingers brushed against my cheek, and the electric feeling that accompanied it made my breath hitch in my throat.
“Don’t be. We’re all going through our own version of hell. It’s okay not to think about others.”
“You do,” I pointed out.
Luke smiled at me. “That’s because I told Dalton I would look out for you, and I’m a man of my word.”
I looked at my drink again. Luke was so nice. So nice and so hot and so considerate. He was being strong through all this, and it made me feel like I was allowed to be weak.
“Are you going to drink that?” he asked.
I shrugged.
“How about a real drink? Let’s have a shot. To Dalton.”
I looked at him and nodded. I could do that.
Luke ordered two shots of tequila—it had been Dalton’s favorite—and we threw them back without bothering with the salt-and-lemon routine.
The alcohol burned down my throat and heated my body. I pulled a face, and Luke laughed.
The sound of his voice was intoxicating, like velvet stroking my skin. I looked at him. His eyes searched the room, finding Ariel. He was looking out for her, too. I took the time to study him. His jaw was square, his nose straight as an arrow, and his lips were perfect—not too thick so that they were weird, not too thin so that kissing them might be uncomfortable. I wondered what it would be like to kiss him, what he would taste like.
I’d kissed a couple of guys in my life, but I hadn’t ever slept with someone. I was probably the last virgin at age twenty-six, but I hadn’t found someone I wanted to lose it to. None of the men in my life had been dominant enough. I wanted a strong man, a man who knew who he was and what he wanted from a woman. I wanted to be dominated. I was just who I was.
And Luke seemed to be a man like that. He was strong and sexy, as alpha as they came, and I could just imagine him dominating me, putting me where he wanted me and taking me hard and fast.
My body responded to my thoughts, and the alcohol fueled the fire. If I had to lose my virginity to anyone, Luke would be my first pick.
The moment I thought that, I felt guilty. Dalton was dead and I was lusting after his best friend not two weeks later. And Luke probably didn’t feel that way about me. He was four years older than me. I’d been a child for most of his life in our home, and I doubted he saw me as anything other than his best friend’s sister.
God, how I would love for him to see me as more. I had wished for that for a long time. I’d kept my little crush to myself—not even Ariel knew about it—but I hadn’t outgrown it.
Luke turned his eyes to me, and I blushed, caught in the act of staring at him. His eyes sparkled, a smile curled around his lips, and I couldn’t read his expression.
I sipped my mojito, grateful for the alcohol now that I’d been lubricated a little by the tequila. I wanted to loosen up a bit, smile and laugh with Luke. I wanted to forget about how terrible everything was and flirt with the man I found attractive.
“I’m glad you came,” I said to him. “You don’t have to keep checking up on me, but I’m glad you’re here tonight.”
Luke smiled at me. “I’m not here just to check up on you tonight,” he said. “I’m here to enjoy myself, too. It’s been hard, and I haven’t exactly gone out, either.”
I nodded. We were in the same boat. He could be there for me so completely because he knew exactly what I was going through. I hoped I could be there for him, too. I didn’t know how to get through this, though. Until then, I would lean on the arm he was offering.
Speaking of arms, his were so big. He must have been working out more lately. His body was fantastic.
“Look at Ariel,” I said. She was dancing with a guy, grinding against him.
“She looks happy,” Luke said.
“Not as happy as he looks,” I said, and Luke laughed. It was clear the guy had a boner for Ariel.
“It’s because she’s so hot,” I said. I’d always seen Ariel as the pretty one between the two of us, and I was the smart one. She attracted guys all the time, and she’d lost her virginity when she was seventeen. I was still holding out, waiting, spending my time working or reading or something else instead.
“She is beautiful,” Luke said. My heart sank a little. “But she’s got nothing on you.”
I looked at him, and he was smiling, his face sincere. My stomach flipped, and I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. Luke chuckled, and I looked away. He shifted a little closer.
“So I can hear you better,” he said.
Sure. His fingertips were on my arm, brushing lightly against me. I shivered under his touch. He was just a friend, I told myself. He was Dalton’s friend. I was still mourning. Luke was just looking out for me. He was like a brother.
A hot brother who wasn’t related to me at all and, therefore, completely not off-limits.
I tried to shake off the thought.
“Another drink?” Luke asked when I finished mine.
I nodded, and he ordered me another. Drinking more would make me forget more, but it would also lower my inhibitions. I wouldn’t necessarily behave as well as I was behaving now.
But what if I didn’t want to behave? But it was Luke. He wouldn’t see me like that. He was being nice, looking out for me, but he wouldn’t see me as a lover. Maybe I should start looking somewhere else for someone to take me.
Chapter 5
Luke
I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling and blinked a couple of times, trying to figure out where I was. This didn’t generally happen to me. My young and stupid days were over, and I usually knew where I was.
It only took a moment before I realized I was on Alexa’s couch in her apartment.
Last night she’d had too much to drink. “One too many” would have been an understatement. She’d been an emotional wreck. Everything that had been right beneath the surface had come pouring out. She’d been stumbling all over the place. I’d ended up carrying her to a cab. She’d bee
n light as a feather. Her friend had been worried until she’d seen me pick her up.
“Oh, all right then,” she’d said and rode in the cab with us until we got out. She’d carried on to her own place.
I’d taken off Alexa’s shoes and tucked her into bed before I’d found a blanket in her linen closet and made myself comfortable on her couch.
At least as comfortable as a man my size could be on a loveseat.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My head ached dully. I hadn’t had nearly as much as Alexa, but I was fitter than she was and I’d been buzzed, too. I got up and walked to her open plan kitchen, opening all the cabinets and looking for coffee and cups. I hoped she wouldn’t mind me finding my way around her apartment.
God, she’d been so hot last night. The shirt she’d worn had a very low neckline, showing me the swells of her breasts while leaving just enough to the imagination, and her jeans had been tight. I’d wished I could have peeled them off her.
It had been a toss-up whether I was going to get into bed with her and make her mine.
But this was Alexa, not just some piece of ass off the street. I’d promised Dalton I would look after her. Somehow, fucking his little sister didn’t quite qualify as a good deed. Besides, I doubted she saw me that way. I had to be like a brother to her. Growing up, I’d been in her house throughout my life more than I’d been at home.
So instead of making it about me and putting my dick somewhere, I’d tucked her into bed, kissed her on the head like a good boy, and gone to the couch where I’d spent the night in a cramped fetal position.
I heard the shower turn on. Alexa was awake. I wanted to make something for her, something more than just coffee. I opened the fridge. She had all sorts of food, but I couldn’t exactly cook. I was a tomcat in bed, a monster out on the street if you fucked with my friends or family, and I could be a real sweetheart, but ask me to boil an egg and I didn’t know which way to run.
So I had to settle for coffee.
At least she had a machine, and when I found coffee beans, it was the good stuff. Freshly ground coffee was just so much better than the instant shit most people had to offer.
I put out two cups, ready for when the coffee was done, and waited for the machine to finish its thing.
Ten minutes later, the coffee was almost finished brewing and Alexa came out of her room. Her wet hair hung over her shoulders. She wore a tank top and yoga pants, and everything about her made me ogle.
“My head is killing me,” she said, opening the cabinet above the microwave and producing vitamin B. She drank it down with water before turning to me. “I smell coffee.”
I nodded. “Almost ready. I hope you don’t mind that I stayed over?”
She didn’t seem surprised about it at all. “Of course not. I woke up in the middle of the night, terrified that I hadn’t locked the front door—I can’t remember shit about how I got home—and found you on the couch. At least I knew I was safe with my personal bodyguard here.”
She smiled at me, and it was spectacular. I hadn’t seen her smile like that since before Dalton had died. I leaned my hip against the counter with my arms folded over my chest.
“I assume you’re responsible for me ending up in bed unharmed,” she said and sat down at the breakfast counter.
I nodded. “I was worried.”
She pressed her hand against her head. “Judging by how much this hurts, you had a right to be. Thank you, by the way, for taking care of me.”
I nodded. “Of course,” I said.
The machine beeped, and she got up. I watched her move around the kitchen, getting milk and sugar out and pouring coffee for both of us. Alexa was beautiful in so many ways. Beautiful and submissive. Something about her asked to be dominated. She was soft and gentle. Her personality was strong, but she wasn’t the type to take the lead, and that made me ache for her.
I wanted to walk up behind her, push her hair out of the way, and kiss her neck. I wanted to grind my hard dick against her ass, holding her in place with my hands on her hips. I would spin her around and kiss her, holding her by the neck, and pin her against the cabinet with my hips. God, I wanted to take her.
I pushed the thoughts away and tugged at my pants when she turned so that she wouldn’t see me rearranging my raging hard-on. She was so fucking sexy—emphasis on fucking.
I behaved. I had coffee with her, and we kept the conversation PG. That wasn’t hard because she was fun to talk to, but today I wanted to kiss her every time she said something interesting, which was all the time.
When it was time for me to leave, she hugged me, pressing the line of her body against mine so tightly that I was nervous she would feel my cock in my pants. When she let me go, her face was neutral. If she had felt it, she didn’t let on.
“Thanks again,” she said.
“I’ll see you soon,” I responded, and she nodded.
I left her building. My car was still parked at Far Bar, where I’d left it when we’d taken the cab. There was nothing worse than being busted for a DUI. I walked toward the main road, where I was going to catch a cab back to Far Bar before heading home.
The loud roar of a motorbike spun my head around, and I watched a leather-clad muscle man drive toward me on a Harley. The bike could be heard for blocks around, I was sure. I watched the guy as he turned into the parking lot of the building next to Alexa’s. I didn’t recognize the leathers, which meant the guy wasn’t a Samurai. That meant he was something else, right next to Alexa.
That didn’t sit well with me.
I glimpsed his jacket before he turned into the garage. It said Maverick.
That could very well be a name, not a club. I knew nothing about the MC gangs around town except that the bikers had a community with rules all their own.
I made it to the main road and hailed a cab. On the way to Far Bar, I ran through the dangers of Alexa living in the building next to him. I didn’t know what Dalton had done or why they’d taken him out, but if anyone did some digging and found out that Alexa was his sister, she could be in danger. I didn’t know how these people operated, but I didn’t want to take the chance. I’d rather be paranoid than have Alexa turn up dead as well. I had to check with someone.
Sam answered on the first ring.
“It’s Luke,” I said. “Can you talk?”
“Yeah, but make it quick,” Sam said. I saw his worried eyes and pale face before me again.
“A biker stays in the building next to Dalton’s sister’s. I don’t recognize the leathers, but I read Maverick on it. Does that mean anything to you?”
Sam was quiet for a while.
“You still there, buddy?” I asked.
“Yeah, sorry. The Mavericks is our biggest rival gang. I would steer clear of them if I were you. They mean business, and when I say business, I don’t mean talking things out civilly.”
“Thanks, Sam,” I said, and we ended the call.
Shit.
Alexa was right next to a member of a rival gang. What if she wasn’t safe? I doubted she would be in too much danger—Dalton had kept his family out of it all for a reason—but there was no knowing what these people would do for leverage. I didn’t want to leave Alexa home alone, not now that I knew.
When I reached Far Bar, I got into my car and drove home. I showered and changed into jeans and a T-shirt. Then I got back in my car and drove to Alexa’s place.
I knocked on her door and waited. She opened it wearing a robe and nothing else.
“Oh, Luke,” she said, surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
I could see that. I let my eyes wander over her body. The robe wasn’t tied closed completely, and I could see the line from her neck, almost as low as her belly button, between her breasts. Her chest rose and fell as she breathed, and I wanted to do something to speed up that breathing.
I swallowed and forced myself to look into her eyes.
“I’m running some errands today. I wanted to know if you wanted to come with m
e, just to get out of the house a bit, you know. A distraction.”
She smiled. “You just want me to help you because you can’t run your own errands, don’t you?” she teased. “I can see right through you. You know, a real man can run his own errands.”
I swallowed again. “Oh, I’m a real man all right.”
It came out just as I’d meant it. Dirty. Her face changed a little. I didn’t know what she was thinking.
“I’ll be right out,” she said. “Let me just throw on some clothes. Do you want to wait inside?”
I shook my head. “I’ll wait out here.”
She nodded and closed the door. I had to wait outside. I was scared that if I walked in there, I wouldn’t be able to control myself. I would take her, dominate her, force her to her knees and push my dick into her mouth. That image at Blush was still in my mind, and I wanted to do that to someone. To Alexa in fact. I couldn’t trust myself around her if she wasn’t fully dressed.
So I waited outside, doing nothing to her but fucking her in my mind. It was as good as I was going to get, but being with her in my mind was fucking good already. Thinking dirty about her was the most productive thing I could think of doing right now.
Maybe I had to visit that club again and see if I could find someone who would allow me to act out my fantasies after all. I wanted to dominate someone. I was itching to take control. Maybe letting go once would help me behave around Alexa. I doubted it. With a body like hers around, I was sure I would want her just as much if I had sex every night as if I’d had none for years.
Thanks for making me watch your fucking hot sister, Dalton.
Chapter 6
Alexa
I didn’t know why Luke wanted me to run errands with him, but I could think of worse things to do with my time than watching Luke and all his muscles move about his day.
