by Kara Parker
He placed them in a booth that was closest to the old couple and their soup. After handing them menus, he told them he’d be back for their drink orders in a moment, and spirited off.
“Dan’s an interesting guy,” commented Luke.
“Huh?” Shayla’s eyes flicked from her menu to Luke. “You know his name?”
Luke chuckled. “Of course I do. I know most of the small business owners around town.”
Shayla cocked her head to the side. “Why’s that? Eat out a lot.”
Luke’s eyes glimmered, probably at Shayla’s unintentional innuendo, but he didn’t say anything about it. “Dan got into trouble a few years ago, just when I was starting out my club. He’d borrowed some money from the Reapers because of the downturn in the economy. But when things didn’t come back up right away, he found himself unable to pay them back.”
Shayla gasped. “Did they hurt him?”
At that moment, Dan materialized again next to them. “What can I get you to drink?”
“Coffee please,” said Luke, transitioning easily from talking about Dan to talking to him.
Dan’s weathered face swiveled to Shayla. “Uh, me too,” she replied.
“Right away.” He sped off toward the bar.
Shayla immediately whipped her face back to Luke, pressing him with her eyes to continue his story.
“They didn’t hurt him. I stepped in, told them that Dan makes his business on his feet. If they messed with his ability to work, he’d never make the money back.”
“And they listened to you?”
Luke shook his head. “Not at first.”
Dan rolled back around and plonked two ceramic mugs on the table, filling them with steaming black coffee from the pot in his hand. He smiled and placed down a bowl of cream and sugar. “Do you need a few more minutes with the menus?”
“I’ll get a BLT with fries, please,” Shayla answered. She’d been getting the same thing here for years.
“I’ll have the same,” said Luke.
Dan retreated, and once more Shayla turned to Luke. “What did you have to do to get them to leave him alone?”
“They didn’t leave him alone,” Luke corrected. “Dan probably still pays them money. But they didn’t hurt him because I told them I’d forgive a transgression one of their members had made on my turf.”
Shayla stared at Luke in awe, seeing him through a new set of eyes. He wasn’t just a big and tough biker; he was also a leader. And it sounded like a fair one, at that. She couldn’t have been more attracted to him in that moment if she tried.
“Why is Dan acting so normal, then?” Shayla asked. “If someone did that for me, it would be all free food all the time.”
His eyes caught hers and he smiled. “He doesn’t know it was me who did it. I don’t know what they told him about it, but for all he knows I’m just a guy who comes in here and chats with him sometimes.”
Shayla blinked. “He doesn’t know? Why didn’t you just tell him?”
He shrugged. “I don’t feel the need to take credit for it. What happened happened.”
“So what do you talk about then?”
Luke began dumping cream into his coffee, as if suddenly remembering it was there. He pulled the cup over to himself and stirred it around for good measure. “All sorts of things. The price of food. His insomnia. His kids.” He tapped the spoon on the side of the cup and set it down. “Just the normal stuff.”
“He’s got insomnia?”
“That’s what I was going to tell you before you started up the twenty questions.” Luke gave her a cheeky grin. “He keeps the place open because he gets lonely sitting up in his house all by himself. He loves having people around, especially when he can’t sleep.”
Shayla paused to think. She couldn’t believe that nobody from her school knew any of this about him, or had ever cared to find out. Luke was way more in touch with the community than her. She might not have been a full-fledged reporter, but that was still pretty sad.
But then Shayla remembered the task at hand.
“Tell me this story you claim will change everything,” she said, leaning back against the vinyl seat.
Luke nodded, taking a sip of his cup. “A few years ago, the clubs were essentially at war with each other. The best way to fix it seemed to be a union of the two, which is when I got married.” He looked down and fiddled with his ring, as if it was uncomfortable. “Raven is the daughter of the Reapers leader, Herman. It seemed like an easy way to end the tension.”
“And did it?” Shayla was at the edge of her seat. Who knew biker gangs could be so political?
“I thought it did.” He frowned at the ring. “But since that Holly girl bought drugs in my territory from a Reaper, they must be starting to sell again.” He sighed and leaned back, his face tired and expression heavy. “Which means it won’t be long until I’ll have to make a show of force. Then it could erupt back into chaos again.”
“And the marriage,” Shayla pressed. “It was...happy?”
Luke chuckled. “No, it wasn’t. I know what you’re asking, and no, we didn’t love each other. We didn’t even like each other. We decided to stay separate after the wedding, and that was fine for a while. Lately, though, Raven’s been trying to wiggle her way back in bed.”
Shayla felt a surge of jealousy and rage. How dare his wife try to sleep with him!
“And you haven’t let her, right?”
Luke leaned across the table and grabbed Shayla’s hand in his. His hands were warm and rough, and completely covered her own. “No. I want nothing to do with her.” He sighed. “I’m trying to get a divorce, but it’s an uphill battle.”
Shayla nodded. “I understand.”
In her chest, her heart raced with glee and relief. It was a sham marriage. Luke was essentially single. Luke would be single soon. It might not be the most ideal situation, still, but damn she would take it.
“So you’ll let me cover all this on the news?”
Luke shook his head sadly. “Not all of it. The marriage needs to stay between Raven and I until I can figure out how to separate us. But I’ll give you an exposé on what it’s like to be in a biker club.”
Shayla’s eyebrows shot up. “And what does that entail?”
Dan came around the corner holding two plates. He walked up to the table and slid them down onto it. “Enjoy!”
Shayla eyed the sandwiches as he walked off, her mouth watering. They looked absolutely delicious. Piled high with bacon, and with a generous side of fries, it would be enough to feed her for a whole day. She looked over at Luke, who was already devouring his.
“What?” he asked. “I’m hungry.”
Shayla laughed, probably the first laugh she’d had that day. She shook her head with a bemused grin and raised up her own sandwich and took a bite. Pure, bacon-y, tomato-y perfection.
“So, this exposé,” she said. “Explain.”
Luke plonked the remaining half of his sandwich down on the table. “You can follow me around for a week. Interview whoever you want, film whatever you want, spin it whatever way you want to.”
She raised an eyebrow. “That’s dangerous for you, don’t you think?” Taking a sip of her coffee, she added, “I could demonize you and have the whole town banging on your door with pitchforks.”
He grinned wryly. “But you won’t. I trust you.”
Hearing him say those words was like a punch to the gut. He trusted her. She couldn’t find the time to trust that he had a good explanation for his wedding ring, but he trusted her. God, how she regretted that now. If nothing else, she could have stayed at his house a bit longer and had some more earth-shattering sex.
Chapter Seventeen
Luke watched the emotions pass over Shayla’s face. She was clearly disappointed with herself, that much he could tell. And, the way her cheeks were flushing, he could tell that wasn’t the only thing on her mind. Truth be told, getting her alone again had been pretty dominant in his mind too. He wan
ted to make her squeal with pleasure. Just thinking about it gave him a semi.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you earlier,” Shayla said.
Luke shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He gestured to her plate. “Eat up.”
“Are we in a rush?” Her eyes begged him to take her. And god, how he wanted to.
“Yeah, we are.” He met her gaze, shooting sparks between them. With his eyes still on hers, he pulled his phone from his pocket and quickly found the number for the closest hotel. She picked up her sandwich and chewed, curiosity all over her face.
“Hi,” Luke said when a woman picked up. “I’d like to book a room for two. For tonight.”
Shayla’s eyes widened, and she seemed determined not to blink. Luke smirked at her as the woman on the phone confirmed his booking and took his details. When he hung up, Shayla was already downing back the rest of her coffee.
“I’m ready to go,” she said.
“Then get your ass over to the car.” Luke dropped some cash on the table and rose.
Shayla followed, her steps shaky with anticipation. The tight skirt she wore had been driving him crazy all night. She had such a smackable ass. He hadn’t spent nearly enough time with her last time around. Tonight he wouldn’t make that mistake.
The chilly air outside did nothing to stifle the fire burning inside Luke. He had a feeling it was the same for Shayla. The two of them slid into her car and buckled up. Shayla’s eyes were on the road in front of her. Luke’s eyes were on her.
She pulled out of the parking lot, and Luke gave her directions. When she got onto the main road, he couldn’t resist any longer. He just had to have a feel.
Luke reached over the center console and rubbed his hand on her thigh, feeling the smooth expanse tremble under his touch. He crept up further, seeking the hem of her skirt. Shayla’s eyes darted down to his hand, but she maintained her gaze of the road.
God she felt so good.
There wasn’t much room between the skirt and her legs, but Luke was able to wedge his hand up in between her thighs, eliciting a gasp from Shayla. The tiny inhale was so sexy that Luke felt himself harden. He could have fucked her right now if he wanted to—but that would have to wait.
For now, he continued his journey up into the damp warmth of her sex, not stopping until he reached the fabric of her panties. He gave the tiniest of strokes to the material, feeling her twitch and smiling. His fingers pulled aside the small scrap of material, and he finally had access to the hot flesh underneath.
“I’ll crash the car,” Shayla breathed, her cheeks flaming red.
“No you won’t,” Luke replied. “If you crash this car, you won’t get to feel my cock in you. And you want that, don’t you?” To punctuate his words, he probed between her folds with his index finger. She was already so wet, her slickness welcoming him.
“Yes,” she moaned.
He growled with delight.
Luke continued to slide across her skin, stroking her clit and slipping a finger against her entrance, but never entering. He would have that pleasure soon.
Shayla pulled up at the hotel and Luke took away his hand, giving her a devious grin as he sucked on the finger that had been stroking her. She tasted like sweet lust, and he couldn’t wait to get more. Shayla looked like she didn’t know how much more she could take.
They would test that tonight.
They slid out of the car and walked toward the lobby doors together. Luke chuckled as he saw Shayla pulling her skirt back into place. If it were up to him, she would never wear clothes. Especially not ones that were so hard to navigate.
The receptionist was the one Luke had spoken to on the phone. She seemed polite and friendly as she gave them their room keys and directed them to the second floor. Luke thanked her with saccharine sweetness while he grabbed Shayla’s ass in his firm, possessive hand.
They walked to the elevator, Luke’s cock heavy in his jeans. He felt it rub against the front of his pants, sending tremors down his spine. He wasn’t sure he could make it to the room. God, he had to have her.
The elevator was playing some sort of easy listening music, but as soon as the doors closed Luke could no longer hear it. All he heard was Shayla’s heavy breathing as he pressed her against the back wall and thrust his tongue into her mouth, holding her to him like he owned her. Maybe he did. He ground his cock into her hip and groaned, needing his sweet release.
And then the doors open.
Shayla, surprisingly, grabbed Luke by the hand and wrenched him out of the elevator. She pulled him down the hall to where their room, 214, was, and stared at him expectantly until he slid his key in the lock.
He would have commented on her anxiousness, but he was frantic too.
The door opened and they stumbled into the room, a mess of lips and tongues and teeth. Luke anchored his hands on her ass, then lifted her into his arms, walking over to the bed and throwing her down on top of it.
“Strip,” he commanded, his body burning. He pulled off his shirt and worked on his jeans, watching with interest as Shayla hastily tore off her own clothes. They stared at each other with fire in their eyes as they performed their hasty strip tease, and only once Shayla’s beautiful body was fully exposed did Luke approach her again.
He didn’t have time to explore her round and pert breasts, topped with puffy pink nipples and begging to be bitten. He didn’t have time to run his hands over her stomach and through her long, beautiful hair. He had to get inside of her.
Now.
Luke reached down and flipped her over, pulling her hips up toward him and holding her there, even though it took him a few moments to find footing. He lined up the tip of his cock with her entrance, feeling the searing heat of her pussy surround him and sighing with pleasure. She moaned and rocked back toward him, just as he plunged in to the hilt.
Shayla was like pure goddamn ecstasy, wrapped in the package of a beautiful woman. When he was inside her, the rest of the world didn’t matter. He grabbed fleshy handfuls of her hips and thrust in again, her pussy gripping him in a way that should have been illegal.
Luke couldn’t think of anything better than this. The sweet absolution he found in her body. And the moans she made that let him know he was hitting every right spot.
The sensations grew and grew, his entire body tingling. He could feel that urgency in his balls that told him to come, but he needed to feel her release first. Luke leaned over and suckled on her neck, growling with pleasure when she let out her loudest moan yet. He reached his arms around her and gathered her tits in his hands, kneading them and feeling how taut her nipples were. The way her body responded to his was amazing.
“Oh my god,” Shayla said. “Oh god. Oh god!”
Her body shook, the climax battering her like the ocean’s waves. He felt her squeeze him from inside, milking him and causing the most intense pleasure. He let out a roar and anchored his mouth on her neck, furiously thrusting in order to reach his own release.
He came and saw stars. Holding himself above her, Luke panted as he released inside of her, filling her with his seed. When he could think coherently again, he stood up and turned her back to face him, pulling her up until she was standing in front of him.
She looked like she was about to speak, but Luke crashed his mouth down on hers for one more passionate kiss. Only after he’d spent more time exploring her mouth did he come up for air.
“That was…” She grinned. “That was incredible. God.”
Luke gave her a crooked grin. “Not god. Just Luke.”
She laughed and smacked him on the arm.
“Let’s have a shower,” he suggested, guiding her toward the bathroom. “I’m sweaty.”
He turned on the water in the shower and waited for it to heat up, holding his woman to him the whole time. And she was his. She might have other plans, but he knew that he’d make her his in the end. She was everything he’d ever wanted, and she drove him wild in a way that no woman ever
had. He wouldn’t be giving that up any time soon.
The bathroom began to fill with steam, and Luke hustled Shayla into the shower. Her body was pink, flushed with the remainder of their lusty encounter. He loved seeing the effect he had on her, too. Her nipples were swollen and hard, and he rubbed his fingers across them as the water tumbled down from above.
Shayla tipped her head back into the stream and smiled, letting the water run across her face. Luke grabbed the soap from the side and unwrapped it, then began to slide it over Shayla’s body.
