by Emily Minton
I smile back at Brass, knowing he is enjoying our game. “We might just do that.”
“You can take the dog, but Ronni isn’t going any fucking where,” Van pipes in, his voice hard and cold.
My and Brass’s flirting seems to be getting to him, and I have to admit that I love it. I don’t know if Van’s attitude is because of the fact that my dad told him to protect me, or if there’s some other reason why he doesn’t want me near his best friend. I’m hoping it’s something more, something that leads to the two of us sharing a bed at least once.
Brass and I share a glance, trying to keep our humor hidden. For the first time, he has my total attention. Being struck by Van’s smile the moment I saw him, I never even took the time to really look at Brass. Staring at him right now, I realize that he is absolutely gorgeous. If my attention wasn’t taken by Van, I’d probably be tossing my panties at him.
“I’m going to have to introduce you to my friend, Erin. She would love you,” I say with a naughty smile. “Well, she would love you until she got what she wanted. Then, she’d forget you, but you would have a hell of a time anyway.”
“Sounds like my kind of woman,” he says, nodding his head.
A minute or two passes before Van slows the truck down and turns off the main road, onto a road that, if I remember correctly, leads to the clubhouse. A mile or two later, he turns again, this time taking a gravel road. As soon as we top the hill, I see a two-story colonial style house with four white columns lining the front.
The house is nice, but it needs a lot of work. It has what Dad would call good bones. As Van brings the car to a stop, I see the house appears to have new windows and a new door. Unless I’m wrong, the dark shingled roof is new, too. It needs a fresh coat of paint to take it from nice to beautiful.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” I say as I push the car door open. “I don’t know what I was expecting but not this.”
“It’s probably not what you’re used to, but it’s home sweet home for the next month,” Van says with a sneer, not bothering to hide the contempt from his voice. “After that, you can head back to your mansion.”
I blink in surprise, not expecting his scorn. It’s clear that he doesn’t know me that well. My mom and stepdad may have lived in a mansion, but I definitely didn’t. At least, not since I was a child. I’d be happy as hell if I never had to walk into another one again.
“Shit, this is a mansion compared to where I live,” I say, wanting to clear up things. “My two best friends and I share a two-bedroom house that’s not much bigger than a cracker box. Still, it’s double the size of the apartment we shared before we moved.”
Not waiting for him to respond, I climb out of the car and shut the door. Looking around, I take in the huge yard, seeing toys scattered everywhere. His daughter has everything a little girl could ever want, including one of the miniature motorcycles that runs off a battery. I can’t wait to see her ride it.
I’ve been eager to meet Cline for years, ever since Dad told me about her. He thinks of the little girl as his grandchild, even though he constantly reminds me that he is too damn young to be a grandfather. He loves the kid, talks about her constantly, and is always sending me pictures of her. I feel like I know her, even though I have never laid eyes on her.
When Brass climbs out of the car, I look over at him and smile. “Denver is going to love this yard. He’s never had this much space to run before.”
Brass starts to reply, but Van beats him to it. “Cline used to have a dog, so I put in a wireless dog fence that blocks off about an acre around the house. He died last year, but as far as I know, it still works. We’ll have to go get him a collar because the one I have is too small. After he has one, he can run all he wants, and you won’t have to worry.”
I nearly ask what happened to her dog but stop when I hear Denver barking. Rushing up the steps, I look back at Van. His lips tip up as he walks to me. Not saying a word, he unlocks the door and flings it open. A second later, Denver’s barking gets louder, and he comes running toward me. Bracing myself, I wait for the huge hunk of fur that is about to be in my face.
He jumps on me. His front feet hit me square in the chest, knocking me flat on my ass. If I hadn’t missed the big lug so much, it probably would’ve hurt. His tongue finds my cheek, leaving it covered with doggy slobber as he barks out his excitement. Laughing, I pet him while pushing him off me at the same time.
“I know, Denver. Mommy missed you, too, you big lug,” I say, trying to maneuver myself out from under him.
His answer is another big lick on my cheek, followed by a few more loud barks. I keep petting him as Van reaches out and pulls him off me. I look up at him, expecting him to be pissed after what he said it the car. Instead, he has a smile on his face. I smile back as Brass helps me to my feet.
“I think I’m gonna like having you here,” Brass says as he pulls me to his side and throws his arm over my shoulders.
Looking up at him, I ask, “Are you here a lot?”
“I live in an airstream that I keep parked in Van’s backyard, so you’ll be seeing me all the time,” he explains, his smile turning flirty.
“Really?” I ask, feeling excitement running through my veins.
On my twenty-first birthday, Dad took me to Dayton. Dad and I stayed at a hotel, but some of the other bikers were staying in airstreams. I thought they were cool as hell. I wanted to go inside one, just to see what they looked like. My dad wasn’t too keen on the idea. He was fine with me getting drunk and partying with bikers, but there was no fucking way he was letting me go into one of their campers.
“I’ve always wanted to see inside of an airstream,” I tell him, shooting him a flirty smile. “You’ll have to give me a tour.”
Van walks over, grabs my hand, and pulls me away from Brass. “That’s not gonna happen, so don’t even be thinking about it. If you want to see the inside of that tin can, I’ll be the one giving you a tour.”
Taking in Van’s handsome face, I’m momentarily frozen by its rugged beauty. He has blue eyes that are so light they remind me of the Caribbean Sea. I swear, I could get lost in those eyes if I’m not careful. The rest of his face is just as amazing. It’s not what most women would call handsome; it’s too rugged for that, full of harsh angles.
His thick lips are surrounded by a neatly trimmed horseshoe mustache, with snake bite piercings that make them stand out even more. His nose has been broken a time or two, leaving a bump behind, giving him an edge that causes a tingle to shoot straight to my nipples. Simply put, he’s perfect. At least, he’s my idea of perfect.
“That would be fine with me.” I smile up at him, realizing I would rather have a tour of his bedroom than an airstream.
Chapter Nine
Van
I take a long pull from my beer and lift my chin to Brass as he walks away. We’ve spent the last hour sitting on the back deck shooting the shit, but it’s time for me to get my ass inside and get Cline to bed. Watching Brass walk to his camper, I push myself off the Adirondack chair and whistle for Ronni’s beast to follow me inside.
Opening the sliding glass door, the sound of childish laughter fills my ears. Cline and Ronni are sitting at the table munching on cupcakes that they made earlier. Cline took to Ronni the minute she laid her eyes on her. After hearing me call her Ronni, my little girl automatically did the same. I may not like Brass calling her by the nickname I gave her, but I’m fine with Cline doing it.
They have been joined at the hip since she got here. It was like there was some sort of connection that I just don’t quite understand. A part of me is still worried, not quite sure how Ronni will treat her. But, so far, she’s been great. In fact, she seems to like my little girl just as much as Cline likes her.
As I slide the door shut, both of them look at me. I can’t stop a chuckle from bubbling out as I take in their flour-covered shirts. Cline is covered in bright pink frosting, with a streak of it covering her left cheek. Wha
t I notice the most is the happiness I see shining in her eyes.
“Did you have fun, sweetheart?” I ask, walking to the table.
She nods her head, making her ponytail flop up and down. “Uh huh.”
Moving my eyes from my daughter, I look around the room and shake my head. The kitchen is a fucking disaster. Flour and frosting are everywhere. Dirty dishes from both dinner and making the cupcakes are filling the sink.
Being a guy, I don’t usually mind a little mess, but this is far past a little. One of my brother’s old ladies comes over to clean the house once a week, to make a little spending money. If Ronni is this messy all the time, the woman is going to have to start coming a hell of lot more often. I might have to have her come in every fucking day.
“I promise, I’ll clean up our mess,” she says, obviously reading the look on my face. “Cline said that it was her first time making cupcakes, so I figured we’d make it extra fun.”
“Daddy, this cupcake is yours. I decorated it all by myself,” Cline says, holding up a bright pink cupcake covered in so many sprinkles that I know there is no way I’ll ever be able to swallow it.
“Thanks, baby girl,” I say, taking it from her and grabbing a plate from the cabinet. “I’m gonna save it for a midnight snack.”
Reminding myself to come back downstairs later and hide it in the bottom of the trashcan, I stick it in the refrigerator. I turn around just in time to see Denver licking the icing off Cline’s face. I stop myself from shouting at him when the sound of Cline’s high-pitched giggle reaches my ears. I just stand there staring at them as Ronni shoos the dog away. I keep watching while she walks over to the sink and wets a washcloth. A second later, she is gently washing my little girl’s face.
I finally move my eyes to the clock on the stove and say, “You’ve got school in the morning, Cline. It’s time to get you cleaned up and in bed, little girl.”
She already knows not to argue with me, knows it wouldn’t do her any good. That doesn’t stop her from sticking out her bottom lip and going into a full-blown pout. I just cock my brow and wait for her to get her little ass moving. A second later, she stands up from the chair and turns to Ronni.
“Can we make something else tomorrow, too? Maybe cookies?” she asks, pleading for the answer to be yes.
Ronni handles her like a pro, running her hand over Cline’s bright red hair. “I thought we could make blueberry pancakes before you go to school. I got your daddy to get all the stuff when he went to the store.”
She already sent me to the store once, saying she needed a ton of shit to make dinner. She offered to go with me, but I said no. I’ll have to take her to Tennessee, and may even take her to the clubhouse, but other than that, she isn’t going any fucking where until we know what the hell her fucking stepbrother has planned for her.
Cline claps her hands and squeals with joy. “Yay! I love pancakes.”
Next thing I know, Cline is wrapping her little arms around Ronni’s legs and squeezing her tightly. I’ve never known for her to be so affectionate with someone she just met. Hell, she isn’t a touchy-feely kind of girl. Other than me, Tito, and her Uncle Brass, she doesn’t do hugs. I don’t even think I have ever seen her hug her own mom.
I wait until she pulls back from Ronni and say, “Cline, go brush your teeth and put on your pajamas. I’ll be up there in just a minute.”
I watch Cline run out of the room, Denver running out behind her, then turn to look at Ronni. My feet seem to have a mind of their own. Before I know it, I am standing right in front of her. I don’t give it a second thought as my arms wrap around her and pull her to me. Before she has a chance to object, my lips are on hers. I know I shouldn’t be kissing her, but I’m not really thinking clearly at the moment. All I know is I want inside her, any way that I can be.
She doesn’t protest as I lick her lips, requesting entry. She quickly opens her mouth, letting my tongue slide in. My poor dick has been hard ever since I laid eyes on Ronni, and I thought it couldn’t get any harder. I was wrong, very wrong. The taste of her has it so fucking hard that my cock is aching. I pull her closer, letting her feel just how much she affects me. The groan she releases causes me to growl.
Running one of my hands down her back, I don’t stop until I reach the soft swell of her ass. Cupping it, I pull her even closer and grind my cock into her soft flesh. She mewls into my mouth, pressing her tits against my chest. Her hands come up to my hair, and she forces me to deepen the kiss. I start to push her back, wanting to slide my hands under the front of her shirt, but Cline’s voice causes me to freeze.
Suddenly, I realize exactly what I was doing and realize how fucking crazy it was. I was ready to fuck her with my daughter in the other room. Not to mention, she’s Tito’s daughter. Ronni is off limits, even to me.
“Daddy, I’m ready for bed,” Cline shouts from the top of the stairs.
Letting her go, I step away and shake my head. “That shouldn’t have happened.”
Turning away from Ronni, I walk out of the room without saying another word. Willing my cock to go down, I head up the stairs and walk into Cline’s room. I had hoped that, after the exciting day of playing with Denver and talking non-stop to Ronni, she would be ready to fall asleep. I wasn’t that lucky. As usual, she forced me to pull out my guitar and sing her to sleep. She kept asking for just one more song. I made it all the way through song number five before she finally nodded off.
Pulling the covers up to Cline’s chin, I whisper one last good night and head out of her room. Leaving the door open just a crack, I walk down the hall to my room. As I pass the room Ronni is sleeping in, I notice a light shining from under the door. I have to fight the urge to jerk it open and drag her ass to bed. Instead, I go to my room and close the door behind me.
While I drag my shirt over my head, I think back to kissing her. It was a mistake, a huge fucking mistake. The minute my lips touched hers, I was lost. I wanted more, a hell of a lot more. After years of fucking club whores and biker bunnies, being inside a woman like her could ruin me. Even worse, it could make me want things I know I will never have.
Half my brothers want nothing more than to live their life with nothing but easy pussy to fill their nights, but that isn’t what I want. Since I was old enough to realize what a true family was, I always wanted an old lady—someone to come home to every night, someone to share my life with. I won’t lie, say I haven’t enjoyed the fringe benefits of wearing a Riot MC cut. Since I was sixteen and started prospecting, women have fought to get in my bed. Hell, I actually started getting pussy when I was only fourteen and got my cherry popped by a club whore. Still, I wanted more.
All that changed when I had Cline. Now, I realize she is all the family I’ll ever need. As soon as she was born, my idea of what a family is changed. I knew I’d never have more than random hookups for the rest of my life, knew I’d never take an old lady. After watching Mom treat Ronni like shit, I knew that I would never give any bitch the power to hurt my little girl. Having Ronni in my house, making me feel shit I never thought I would, isn’t gonna change that fact.
“I’m a stupid motherfucker,” I mumble to myself, thinking about the kiss once again.
Even if I was willing to lay claim to Ronni, put all my worries aside, Tito would lose his fucking mind. No damn way is he going to want his daughter tied to a biker. He may have initially kept her away from the club because of my mom, but I doubt she was the only reason. He wants better for her, wants her to have more than some biker that will probably end up behind bars at some point.
Pulling off my jeans, I try to turn my mind away from thoughts of Ronni. I slide into bed and close my eyes, thinking about the upcoming meeting with the Grim Bastards. I’ve known Boz for a while. He’s a good guy, and his club is solid. Still, moving that much product at once is a tricky business.
The shower in Ronni’s room cuts on, cutting off all thoughts of running drugs. I try to ignore the thoughts
of her in the shower, try to go to sleep, but I can’t. My mind is filled with images of Ronni’s naked body as she runs her soapy hands over her delicious tits. Just the thought of my hands replacing hers has my dick throbbing with need. I attempt to ignore the temptation but barely make it a minute before my hand is wrapped around my cock.
I slide it up and down, running my thumb over the tip. Pre-cum coats the head, giving me enough lube to allow my hand to easily glide over my throbbing cock. The image of her naked ass fills my head, causing my heart to race. I move my hand faster, squeezing the base on each pass.
“Fuck,” I mumble out, my breathing labored.
Suddenly, I can see myself standing in the shower with her, running my hands over her naked body. I pay special attention to her tits before moving on to give her ass a squeeze. By the time I’m sliding my hand between her legs, my cock is leaking like a sieve.
The image suddenly changes again. Now, Ronni is on her knees, wrapping her lush lips around my cock. She takes it deep, causing a growl to push its way from my throat. She holds my balls in her hand as her mouth milks my cock. I swear, I can feel her warm lips holding me tight as my hand continues to move up and down.
All my thoughts are brought to a quick death when a muffled sound reaches my ears. My eyes pop open, and my hand stills. I look around the room, wondering what the fuck it was. I hear a moan coming from the other side of the wall and realize I can hear Ronni in the shower. She’s doing the same fucking thing I’m doing.
I hold my breath, waiting to see if I hear it again. A second or two passes before another moan hits my ears. My hand slowly starts to move as I listen to Ronni get herself off. She sighs then moans once more. With each sound, my hand strokes faster. I’m nearly ready to blow when I hear her call out my name. Hearing the need in her voice pushes me over the edge. My body lets loose as I explode.
Chapter Ten
Van
My stomach is so full it’s about to bust, but I still can’t resist the urge to reach across the table and grab another piece of chicken. Every night since Ronni showed up, she has cooked dinner. Some of the shit she makes I’ve never even heard of before. Hell, I even had to drive into Indy just to get the stuff she needed to make all of it. At first, it irritated the hell out of me. After eating a few meals, I have no urge to complain.
