I know I’ve hurt his pride because his jaw clenches, and he lets go of my hands, allowing them to drop by my sides.
“You know what? I thought you were different. I never saw you as frigid.”
“A what?” I shout, not recognizing my own voice. To be honest, I am stunned by his words.
Now, I’m mad.
“You heard me,” he replies, moving back. His eyes travel the length of me and then back up again. “You always were a tease.”
Fuck, no, he didn’t just say that!
“You asshole.”
“Yeah, maybe I am, but you’re the one who led me on. All those nights you said you were ready to have sex, we’d get close and then you’d pull back. You’re nothing but a cock-teasing frigid—”
I slap him full force feeling the sting on my hand from it. “How dare you!” As I go to yell something else, Shelley and her posse exit the bathroom.
Shelley turns to us with her arms folded, excitement glittering in her eyes. “Oh, what’s this? A lover’s quarrel?”
I look at Shelley, then at Zane. “You know what? You can have him. You two are perfect for each other.” Then, without another word, I storm away from them before I end up slapping Shelley too.
Is what he said true?
Was I a tease?
Did I lead him on?
Is that why those guys chose me to rape because they thought I was good for it?
Oh, God. Oh, God. Tears spring to my eyes again, and instead of looking for Diane and Stacey, I decide to leave. I need air. Now.
Grabbing my jacket from the cloakroom, I get my cell out from the back of my jeans and decide to text the girls, not wanting them to be worried about me.
Me: Hey, Diane, I’ve decided to leave, you guys have fun, don’t worry I’ll grab a cab.
Instantly, I get a text reply.
Diane: No we’re coming with you.
I want to be alone, so I text back.
Me: No. Please. You and Stacey have fun. I’ll be okay, I’m just tired.
Diane: Call us if you need us. I’ll come by and see you tomorrow, we need to seriously talk.
I look at her text and know my excuses are running thin with why I’m acting all weird. Maybe it’s time to tell the girls, but not tonight. They need to have fun, it’s their graduation too, after all.
Walking out of the club, I glance to the left and right wondering if I can hail a cab from here. Not seeing any, I check the pocket of my denim jacket and make sure I have my spray ready. I bought this spray to protect me should anything or anyone try to attack me again. This time, I will use pepper spray and hope it will buy me some time. My palm squeezes over the bottle, and with that calming me a little, I turn left and walk a few steps. There are people everywhere on a Friday night, so it should be safe. A cab stops ahead and lets a group of people out, so I run to it and hold the door open, enter, but the driver turns to me saying, “Sorry, I’m done for the night.”
“Please, sir, won’t you take me home?” I beg, really needing to get to safety.
“Sorry, miss. I’m already on overtime and needing to get home to my wife before she kills me.”
With disappointment, I slide back out and slam the door shut, then watch him drive away.
Shit! What am I going to do now?
I can hear loud music coming from a bar and decide it will be safer to head inside and call a cab rather than waiting out here.
Upon entering the bar, I look around. It’s so dark in here, but I can make out a pool table in the corner with a bunch of men playing and a dance floor in the middle. There are booths all around, and straight ahead is a bar, so I head there and pull out a stool to sit on. Taking a seat, I grab my cell out of my jacket when a manly voice cuts through the music. “What the fuck are you doin’ here?”
I look up and swallow hard.
It’s him—my savior.
I don’t know what to say because right now, he’s scaring the shit out of me. His jaw is clenched, his eyes that come to me in my dreams are looking back at me with disapproval, and I am pretty sure anger. I can barely breathe when I notice the veins in his arms flexing as he squeezes the cue stick in his hand.
“Um… I was… I was just—”
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? What are you doin’ in this bar and alone? What the fuck, Lexi?” he growls, grabbing me by my arm and asking me the same question again, “What the fuck?”
The men at the pool table catch my attention because they’re all wearing the same biker cut as Rhyder, but they all have smirks on their faces.
Why are they smiling at us?
Before I can explain to Rhyder that I’m here to call a cab, I’m being dragged out of the bar with one angry biker slamming his cue stick on the floor. As we exit, I notice all these motorcycles parked out the front, and I don’t know how I missed that—must have been because I was panicking.
This must be a biker bar.
We suddenly stop, and I’m forced to face him, his hand still gripping my arm tightly.
“Are you fuckin’ crazy, coming in there dressed like that?” he growls, his eyes roaming over my body. I bite my bottom lip not sure what he means when he says ‘like that.’
I look down at what I’m wearing. “What’s wrong with this? I’m in jeans and a top.”
Rhyder lets go of my arm, stating, “I can see your fuckin’ tits.”
I frown, confused. See my tits? What the hell? I look down at my top, and other than showing a little cleavage above the neckline, you can’t see anything. God, if he met me before the rape and had seen my choice of clothing back then, he could have definitely said something.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
Before I can continue, I’m dragged again by my arm, but this time to a motorcycle. I pull my arm out of his hold and fold my arms over my chest, the coolness now causing me to shiver. But a part of me is thinking that the shivering is being caused by something else, or shall I say someone else, someone who makes you want to run to him but run away from him all at the same time.
“Here, wear this,” Rhyder demands, holding out a helmet to me.
“Oh, no way. I’m not getting on the back of that thing,” I say, pointing at the motorcycle. “Yeah, I’ll just grab a cab like I had planned before you dragged me out here. Oh look, there’s one now,” I say, raising my hand trying to hail it, and at the same time handing back Rhyder’s helmet to him. The cab stops, and I go to open the door, but I’m not quick enough. Rhyder grabs my hand saying to the driver, “Move on. We’re good.”
The driver doesn’t think twice and drives away.
“Just who do you think you are?” I yell. I get that he saved me in the past, but what gives him the right to say how I get home tonight.
Rhyder doesn’t answer me this time. Instead, he grabs the helmet and shoves it on my head, then points a finger at me, growling, “Get on the back of my bike, or else I’ll make you.”
A part of me wants to deny him and tell him I won’t, but I think I know how that will end. He will have me on the back of his bike whether or not I want to. I swallow my pride and raise my leg to sit on the bike. When I take a seat, I slide myself backward and stare up at him. I notice a different look on his face and wonder what it is, but before I can ask, his anger returns. He doesn’t say anything, he simply takes a seat in front of me and yells over his shoulder, “You need to hold on.” Rhyder reaches back, grabs my arms, and pulls them around his waist.
I instantly remove them and yell, “I’m not doing that. There’s gotta be another way I can hold on.”
Rhyder turns again, and this time he demands, “Put your hands around me now, or else—”
“Okay, okay. Sheesh, bossy much,” I say under my breath.
“What was that?”
“Um… nothing.”
“Thought so. Move closer.”
“What?”
“I said… closer.”
Closer? How much closer can we get?
; “Oh, that closer,” I say in surprise when Rhyder places his hands under my thighs and moves me forward. I’m flush against his back and feel my breasts flatten against his hardness. I don’t know why, after what happened, I should feel uncomfortable, frightened even to be so close to a man again, but I don’t feel that way with Rhyder. I don’t know what it is about him, maybe it’s his familiar scent of sandalwood and citrus or the way he makes me feel safe whenever he’s around, but I don’t fight it. After what happened to me that night, Rhyder is the man who helped me and got me to the hospital. I don’t dare to think about the consequences if he never showed up that night. My mind won’t let me think like that because the outcome is way too scary.
I tighten my arms around his waist and rest my head on his back when I hear the rumble of his motorcycle come to life.
He looks over his shoulder. “You okay?” His voice sounds sincere, and it makes me feel at ease.
“Yeah, I’ve just never been on a bike before.”
“Well, baby, you don’t know what you’re missin’.”
Baby? Did he just call me baby?
Why do I like that?
Rhyder takes off slowly, and once again, I tighten my arms around him. I watch as we pass the streetlights and shop fronts. Catching a glimpse of myself in the window, I smile to myself thinking of how my friends would react if they could see me right now on the back of a motorcycle and with someone who’s part of the Blood Brothers MC. My parents would probably have a coronary and ground me for life.
Rhyder’s left hand leaves the handlebars to adjust my linked ones at his waist, then moves them further up from his hips to his abs. I can feel my cheeks flush as my hands flatten against his six-pack as I feel every single ridge. It’s not as if I haven’t felt a six pack before. I’ve hugged Zane and seen him topless, but somehow this feels different. Rhyder is all man, he’s older and experienced with women, you can tell that just by looking at him. Actually, he’s probably got many women in his life. Surely, he’d have a girlfriend? I mean he’s very good-looking, and from what I’ve seen, he’s model material too.
I try to stop my thoughts from going off on all sorts of tangents. What are you thinking, Lexi? Cut it out.
We continue to ride for the next twenty minutes, and I’m confused when he knows the exact route to take to my house. How does he know where I live? I make a mental note to ask him when we arrive, but then I remember he’s been following me so, of course, he knows where I live. We turn left into my street, and I thank God he stops a few houses back before mine because the sound of his motorcycle would surely have people looking out their windows, including my mom.
Pulling in to the curb, he kicks the kickstand down and hops off the bike. Turning to me, he lifts his hands under my chin and unbuckles my helmet. The touch of his fingers on my skin causes goosebumps to erupt over my body. Rhyder places the helmet on the handlebars, then folds his arms. I can’t help but notice how his biceps cause his shirt to tighten, threatening to rip open.
Shit, he’s angry again.
Slowly, I slide off the seat, but he places his hand on my shoulder to keep me still. I frown. “Thanks for the ride, but I need to go now,” I say, looking ahead at my house.
Rhyder smirks, and I take a minute to take him in. He’s gorgeous. I remember thinking that on that night, but I was too caught up in what I had been through, and even now, just looking at him feels wrong, but I can’t help noticing his chiseled jaw, full lips, and piercing black-colored eyes. His hair is shaved on the sides with a longer top and styled with some product, giving it that messy effect. His white tee is snug against his muscled chest, and his jeans sit low on his hips. Even with him looking angry, he’s still hot.
“What the hell were you thinkin’, Lexi?”
I stare at him for a while wondering what he means.
“Do I have to remind you what happened to you last time you were alone on the streets? Are you fuckin’ crazy?” he growls.
“Why are you yelling at me? I had a bad night, okay.” I turn and begin to pace to my house, but he catches up to me and spins me around with his hands on my arms forcing our faces only inches apart.
“Let go of me,” I cry out, tears now pricking my eyes at the mention of what happened to me not so long ago.
Rhyder lets out a breath and drops his head along with his hands. “I’m sorry,” he mutters as I turn away to wipe my tears. “Sometimes I can be a jerk.”
“You don’t say,” I reply, crying and laughing at the same time.
He looks up at me, and our eyes connect. His hand moves to my face where he wipes away a tear that’s sliding down my cheek with his thumb. Then he rubs it with the back of his hand, and I hold my breath. He’s so close, I can feel his breath on my face. His tongue slips out to lick his lips, and I stand there waiting for him to kiss me.
Without even realizing what I’m doing, I shut my eyes and open my mouth waiting for his lips to touch mine, wanting to know what they will feel like. Will they be rough? Will they be smooth? His thumb trails down my cheek then traces my lips. I feel the wetness from my tears as he wipes it from his thumb onto them. His other hand cups the back of my nape, and I feel him inch closer.
But then I hear a “Fuck me,” and I open my eyes.
Rhyder steps back and curses more.
Now I am feeling embarrassed that I basically threw myself at him, so I say, “Okay, I better go now. My mom will be waiting for me.” Slowly turning toward my house, I hear, “Lexi?” I stop and spin around.
Rhyder’s standing with his hands tucked in the front of his jean pockets. “It’s not that I don’t want you,” he explains, staring straight into my eyes causing me to feel like an electric current is running directly between us. “Fuck! I’m no good with words. You’re different, you’re beautiful, but you’re not ready for this.” He points his finger between us, and in my gut, I know he’s right. I’m not ready for anything right now. How could I be after everything that happened to me? So why am I feeling so alive right now? I don’t think I’ve ever wanted something so badly in my life.
I run my tongue over my now dry lips. “It’s okay, Rhyder, really. I know I’m not much to look at. You probably have lots of women lined up who are gorgeous, and me, well…” I trail off while looking down at the ground not wanting to see his reaction. “Who am I? I’m just a plain—”
My mouth is snapped shut because just like that, he takes the few steps between us and slams his mouth to mine in a kiss that has me lost for damn words. His tongue comes out and tangles with mine, and I feel the kiss all the way to my toes. He tastes like beer and mint and all man, a taste that’s going to be in my mouth for days to come.
Rhyder’s hands cradle the back of my head, and one leaves to travel down my back to the curve above my butt. I can’t think of anything else but him. I should be scared out of my brain, terrified after everything I’ve been through, but if I am being honest with myself, I’ve never felt so safe and alive at the same time.
I moan in his mouth as he sneaks his tongue out to trace my lips, and then just as quick as it began, he ends the kiss and pulls back. We both stand there facing each other breathless as if we’ve just run a marathon. His eyes cause my nipples to harden as they take me in. I want to kiss him again but know he’ll probably turn me down. I can tell he’s fighting with himself, he wants me. I can damn well feel that, but he doesn’t want to take advantage of me.
God, he was the one who saved me that night. Of course, he wouldn’t want to kiss me.
Am I a slut for wanting him to take advantage of me?
What the hell am I thinking?
I need to get my mind in order, so I take a step toward him, and his eyes widen. “It’s okay, I’m not going to kiss you.” Rhyder smiles, and I have to admit, it’s the most gorgeous smile I’ve ever seen. “Thank you for getting me home safely.” He nods. “I’m going to go now, it’s been a long night.” I go to turn away again, but I stop when he says, “Lexi?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m goin’ away for a few days…”
My heart sinks with the thought that I won’t see him for a while. I mean, it’s not as if we’ve been going out on dates, but I’ve seen him watching me, and I like having my own personal bodyguard. But now he’s telling me he’s going to be away, so I will need to be careful.
“Please, Lex, will you promise me somethin’?”
Unsure of what he wants from me, I reply, “Sure.”
He runs his fingers through his hair. “Don’t go out on your own while I’m away.”
I smile at him. He’s so sweet to be worried about me. “I won’t.”
“You promise?” he asks, taking a step forward.
“I promise,” I repeat.
“Give me your cell.”
I frown. “Why?”
“I’m goin’ to give you my number, just in case you need me while I’m away.”
“It’s fine, I’ll be okay.”
“Your cell, Lexi,” he demands.
I grab my cell from my pocket and hand it to him.
Rhyder dials something, then I hear his phone ring. He checks it and hands me back mine. “Now you have my number, and I have yours.”
I accept my cell from his hand, and when I do, he grabs my wrist and pulls me into him, lacing a strand of my hair behind my ear while his eyes are glued to my lips. The touch feels intimate, and I feel my stomach flip. Boy, were my parents wrong about these bikers because this one right here is the sweetest guy I’ve ever met.
Rhyder leans in and kisses me on my forehead and whispers, “I’ll see you when I get back.”
I smile. “Is that right? And what makes you think I want to see you?” I tease.
“Oh, you want to see me, baby.” His voice sounds husky and deep, and I can’t help but feel tingles shoot throughout my entire body.
“We’ll see,” I reply, then turn around and make my way to my house. Once I’m at the driveway, I take one last glance at him before he straddles his bike and starts the engine. I watch him as he takes off into the night, turns the corner, and is now out of sight.
Lexi, Property of Rhyder: A Motorcycle Club Romance (Blood Brothers MC Book 6) Page 4
