White Lies

by Autumn Jones Lake

  My throat constricts, and I can’t form an answer.

  “You’re mine. I protect you anywhere and everywhere. From everyone. How is that not clear by now?”

  “I didn’t feel threatened.” I really wish my pride would stop trying to come up with lame excuses.

  “No?” Blake moves closer, backing me against the cold stone wall. Even though he’s breathing hard and clearly still furious, his voice is quieter when he asks, “What did he say he was going to do if you didn’t help him?”

  “Send the pictures to the dean.” My throat’s so dry my voice cracks. “And any jobs I might apply for.”

  “What the fuck kind of pictures are they?”

  “Nothing. Just…I don’t know. One looks like you’re bending me over your bike and…you know…” I can’t meet his eyes because it sounds totally silly when I say it out loud.

  “I don’t know. Explain.”

  “Your hands are on my hips.”

  Cobra-quick he grabs my hips, gripping tight. “Like this?” His voice comes out huskier and clipped.

  My pulse speeds up. “Well, no.”

  “No?” His lips brush the skin from my neck to my cheek.

  “I was facing the other way.” Stupid, Heidi.

  He uses his big hands and body to turn me, so I’m facing the wall. I press my palms against the cool, smooth stones, noting that they’re all painted a putrid shade of mint green.

  “Like this?” he rasps.

  “Kind of.” Keeping my hands pressed to the wall, I bend at the waist, or try to. My ass lands in his groin. “I was bent over the bike.”

  He rumbles a sexy noise, and his hands leave my hips. “Don’t move,” he warns.

  Arousal surges through my body when I hear the clink of his belt.

  “Are you still mad at me?” My voice is barely above a whisper.

  He twines his fingers in my hair, gently tugging my head to the side. “I’m furious with you, Heidi.” He trails kisses along my neck. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so pissed with you in my life.”

  The hand still at my hip digs into my soft flesh. The force of his touch spurs me to grind back against him.

  He releases my hair and brings his hands to my waistband, quickly working the button of my jeans loose.

  “It doesn’t feel like you’re mad.” Furious or not, Blake always appreciates a dose of sass from me.

  His dark chuckle sends shivers down my spine. “It will.”

  * * *

  “So, this is a fury-bang?”

  His hot breath puffs over my shoulder. “Fury-bang. Punishment fuck. Call it what you want.”

  Oh my God, that’s way hotter than it should be.

  He jerks my pants and underwear down to my knees. I close my eyes, embarrassed at how damp my panties must be. I shouldn’t care. Blake never makes me feel ashamed of anything.

  “Open your eyes,” he orders. “Keep your hands on the wall.”

  Cool air rushes over all the skin he just exposed, but it’s not enough to chase away the heat racing through my veins.

  The ticking of his zipper and rustle of his clothing has me squeezing my eyes shut in anticipation. I’m dying to have his hands on me again, but I still flinch when he pushes my sweatshirt up and drags his calloused hands down my spine.

  My heart flutters like a caged bird trying to break free.

  He strokes strong, warm fingers against my center, preparing me for what’s to come.

  “Spread your legs.” He caresses my inner thigh. “Make room for me.”

  Shaking with need, I heel-toe my feet apart and arch my back.

  “Nice,” he murmurs against my hair.

  His warmth sears my back as he bands one arm around my waist. “Still furious.” He scrapes his teeth over my neck. That’s my only warning before he shoves himself inside me and lets out a deep groan.

  I gasp from the sudden penetration and shiver violently. He slides his hand over my belly, straight to my clit, rubbing slow. Setting me on fire.

  “Blake.” I reach back for him.

  “No. Hands on the wall.”

  He pulls back and the sense of loss is immediate. “What are you doing?”

  He turns me and tugs my jeans off the rest of the way.

  “Come here,” he rasps, lifting my one leg. I go up on my toes as he slides back inside me.

  “Give me.” His fingers stroke my outer thigh. He shifts letting me go for a brief second before catching me with his arms behind my knees. Spreading me wide, impaling and pinning me to the wall.

  I loop my arms around his neck, holding on while he drives into me. The hard set of his jaw says he’s still mad, but there’s nothing but love in his green eyes. I squeeze my legs around his hips.

  “Blake,” I gasp.

  I curl my legs around him, clinging while grinding against him. My core tightens, the buildup to release quick, considering we’d been fighting minutes ago.

  “I’m going to come,” I pant the words in his ear.

  “Good,” he murmurs into my ear. “Do it.” He slows his thrusts but hits me deeper, rubbing the sensitive spot that always sets me off.

  “More.” I arch and clench, chasing the hot wave of pleasure brewing between us.

  My toes curl. I bury my head against his shoulder, inhaling the scent of leather and summer wind still clinging to him. I clutch at his broad shoulders, marveling that he’s strong enough to hold me up while he slams into me. My nails dig into his cut as I desperately try to hang on and plead for more at the same time.

  He kisses my shoulder, my neck, the teasing, tickling of his beard raking against my skin heightening everything else.

  The intensity of my climax robs me of my senses.

  He growls something I can’t make out against my neck. His cock pulses inside, me and he slows his thrusts.

  His heaving chest presses me into the wall as we both try to catch our breath. My legs slide down, toes gingerly touching the floor. Can I even stand on my own two feet after that?

  “Here.” He leans over and swipes my underwear off the pile at our feet. Patiently, he helps me step into them. I wiggle them up over my hips, wrinkling my nose at how damp and uncomfortable they feel.

  With a goofy smile on my face, I watch him zip up and buckle his belt again.

  “What are you laughing at?” He bends down and picks up my jeans. “Get dressed.”

  “Are you still mad at me?”

  “Your pussy’s golden, but fuck yeah, I’m still pissed.” He watches my every move as I finish getting dressed.

  “Look at me.” He brushes his knuckles against my chin and tips my head back. “Did you tell anyone at all?”

  “No,” I whisper. Now that we’ve released some tension with a quick, mind-blowing fury-bang, we’re back to the Bryce blackmail problem. “He’s a jerk. I didn’t take his threat seriously.”

  He scrubs his hands over his face and stares at the ceiling for a few minutes. “He’s a jerk who’s racing is funded by the Sons of Satan MC, Heidi.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know if he was trying to get at me through you or he really is one dumb motherfucker, but I wish you’d told me sooner.”

  “He doesn’t.”

  “What?”

  “He doesn’t seem to know much about the club or MCs at all. I told him he didn’t want to mess with me, but he wasn’t worried.”

  Blake stares at me.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know about the connection to the other club.”

  “You’re not supposed to.”

  Frustration builds in my chest, threatening to explode. I take a deep breath. “Well, don’t you think that’s a little one-sided? If they’re really a problem, shouldn’t I be aware of it?”

  “No.” His simple answer only makes me madder.

  “Are you kidding me? My brother even talks to Charlotte about this stuff, so she knows who to look out for.”

  He pinches the bridge of his nose and squeezes hi
s eyes shut. “She grew up in an MC—”

  “So did I! Sort of.”

  “It’s not the same thing.”

  “Why?”

  “She already knew about the S.O.S. stuff because her stupid fucking uncle is the one who tried to patch them over.”

  “Oh.”

  “Your job is to finish school and tell me if some asshole threatens you.”

  “Blake—”

  “No. No more arguing.” He wraps his hand around my arm. “You’re my girl. I protect you. From everything and everyone. Don’t ever forget it.”

  Thirty-Five

  Murphy

  So much for providing security at the Castle tonight.

  I cock my head and listen to the music still vibrating through the walls. Things must be okay out there.

  I, on the other hand, am not remotely okay. The idea of anyone fucking with my girl is enough to make me tear a man to shreds.

  Heidi’s by my side. Flustered and sweaty. Lips all red and puffy. Hair tangled. I’m pretty sure I left hickeys on her neck. My beautiful girl. “You’re a mess, beautiful.”

  She smirks at me. “So are you.” She shifts. “Except I’ve got cum in my underwear.”

  I lean down and kiss the tip of her nose. “Good, let it remind you who you belong to for the rest of the night.”

  “Filthy fucker,” she mutters. She presses her hands to my cheeks and pulls me in for a kiss. “I love you,” she whispers against my lips.

  “I love you, too.” I’ll always love her no matter what and she deserves to know that.

  I’m still not sure if she understands the severity of the situation we’re in, though. Losing my mind and fucking her senseless probably didn’t help.

  Some dipshit running around photographing us on club business? Bad. MCs have gone to prison over stupid shit like that. That he threatened Heidi? I can’t focus on that aspect yet or my head will explode.

  “Tell me about the pictures again.”

  She stares at me, and I stare right back. No, we’re not done with this conversation.

  “I told you. Most of them were at Furious.” Her eyes take on an evil shine. “I told him the one of you bending me over the bike was hot, and I wanted to give it to you as a wedding present.”

  Jesus, only one person in the world could make me laugh right now—Heidi. “You did, huh?”

  “Yeah, I wanted him to know I wasn’t intimidated by him. He said he was going to send it to your boss at Furious. I laughed and told him to go ahead.”

  This woman. She impresses me almost as much as she infuriates me sometimes.

  “When did he show you the photos?”

  She shifts from foot to foot and averts her eyes. “A couple weeks ago.”

  “Heidi?” I prompt. “Anything else I should know?” I ask in a low voice.

  She stares at me for so long, my heart starts up its bass drum impression again. “Heidi?

  What the fuck else could she possibly be keeping from me?

  Her gaze drops to the floor. “Axel cheated on me.”

  Huh? How did we end up talking about Axel?

  “How do you…?” I pull her closer. “What are you talking about?”

  “When I saw Lucas. He told me. Penny told him she and Axel...”

  Fucking Penny. I remember her coming on to Teller plenty of times when she was a teenager. Used to creep him the fuck out. In a lot of ways, she was always a rotten friend to Heidi as far as I was concerned. “She’s always been bad news.”

  She sniffle-laughs and wipes her face. “Yeah.”

  But Axel cheating on Heidi? That’s a shock. I disliked him for obvious and a few not-so-obvious reasons. But he genuinely seemed to care for Heidi, even I had to admit that. And with his sanctimonious attitude toward club girls and MC parties, I never pegged him for a cheater. Certainly not with Heidi’s best friend.

  I step back and look down at her until she finally meets my eyes. “I’m sorry Lucas told you that.”

  “It was the same day Bryce threatened me with the photos.”

  “Shit,” I mutter.

  “Then we went out that night.” She lowers her voice. “The shooting. The hammer thing.”

  “You forgot someone was blackmailing you?”

  The fire in her eyes snaps to life. “Forgive me, bludgeoning a person to death will do that to you.”

  “You didn’t bludgeon anyone to death.”

  “Another thing you could’ve told me.”

  I pull her closer. “I want you to know as little about that as possible. For your own protection. I don’t want anyone to know you were even there. Remy destroyed the tapes from the security camera. Nothing ties you to that night.”

  “What about Whisper?”

  “He’s off for sunnier climates soon, and he’d never say anything to anyone either.” I may not like Whisper all that much, but he lives by the same outlaw code we do.

  That finally seems to satisfy her. “I worked my ass off with Dawn finishing the part of the project he didn’t do. I couldn’t let you down again by not graduating on time.”

  “You’ve never let me down, Heidi.”

  “I didn’t see him at school during finals at all. I really didn’t care what he did with the photos. They weren’t anything that terrible.”

  “What exactly did he say he was going to do with them?”

  “Send them to the dean of the school. And to any job I might apply for.”

  “Jesus Christ.” There’s a throbbing in the middle of my forehead, and I rub my fingers over the spot. “What about the photos from Zips?”

  “They didn’t look like anything.” She bites her lip, thinking it over. “You, Rooster, Dex, Eraser, Remy, and Griff were talking to two other guys who had their backs to the camera.”

  Other than some threats and intimidation, we didn’t do anything illegal that night. Still don’t need the photos falling into the wrong hands. No need to announce our alliance with Eraser’s crew to the world prematurely. “Bryce drives that hideous beamer with the orange and black paint job?”

  “His tiger.” She makes little air quotes with her fingers. “He used to brag to Dawn about racing guys and getting up to a hundred and ten on the Northway, but we just thought he was making up dumb stories. I never expected to see him there.”

  “Did he send the photos to anyone?” I need to see the photos, but I’m pretty sure the night he took them is the night someone tried to follow me home. Could it really have been the dumbass kid who almost pissed his pants when I told him to get away from Heidi before?

  Why the fuck would he follow me? Was he planning to find out where Heidi lived so he could pay her a visit when I was at work? Did he want to lead someone else, like the Sons of Satan to our clubhouse? The possibilities leave me cold.

  “Well, I got my diploma without a visit to the dean’s office, and the hospital offered me a job, so I don’t think so.” She jabs her thumb over her shoulder. “That’s what he was saying to me out there.”

  “He has the pics on his phone? You’re sure?”

  “That’s how he showed them to me, but he said he backed them up other places. I’m sorry I didn’t say something sooner. I was worried you’d kill him if I told you.”

  “Oh, I plan to—”

  She covers my mouth with her hand. “We’re getting married. I can’t have you in prison.”

  “No one’s going to prison.”

  Not even Bryce.

  Nope. That motherfucker’s going in the ground where he belongs.

  Thirty-Six

  Murphy

  Nothing much has changed when we step back out onto the main floor.

  Loud, shitty music.

  Two fighters beating each other senseless in the ring.

  Ring girls with their ass cheeks hanging out, fawning over the winners from the earlier fights.

  I sling my arm over Heidi’s shoulder and search the crowd for the skinny, freckled, white dude I’m about to kill with my bare hands
. “You see him?”

  “No.”

  Jake comes up wearing a what-the-fuck face and slaps my shoulder. “Thanks for having my back.”

  “Sorry, I needed to handle something.”

  “Yeah, I heard.” He jerks his head toward the locker room.

  Heidi lets out a nervous laugh and clings to me tighter.

  I give Jake a quick shove. “You didn’t hear anything with all this noise.”

  He opens his mouth, drops his gaze to Heidi, then zips his lips.

  Jake might be a dick seventy-five percent of the time, but he won’t embarrass Heidi just to rag on me.

  Griff punches my shoulder. “Where you been?”

  “Give me a second,” I say to Heidi. “Stay with her?” I ask Jake.

  Griff leads me over to a quieter corner. “What’s on your mind?”

  “I need to find a guy here. Tall, skinny kid. Freckles. Douche hair. Tank top with arm holes so big you can tell he’s never been inside a gym.”

  “Look around you, Murphy.” He holds his arms open wide. “We’re swimming in basic bros. They’re my bread and butter.”

  “Drives that ugly orange and black BMW.”

  “Yeah.” He nods slowly and scans the crowd. “The whiny bitch whose ass I whipped at the track. His name is Brent? Ben? Dunce?”

  “Bryce?”

  “That’s it. I saw him earlier. Why? Did he bother Heidi?”

  “Bother doesn’t begin to cover it.”

  “Fuck me.” His gaze scans the room again. “If I see him, I’ll text you. If you find him first and need help, call me.”

  “Thanks.”

  “You sticking around?”

  I really want to get Heidi home. Never should have brought her here in the first place. I also want to give Rooster or Z a call. They can help me track those photos down. But this might also be my best chance to find Bryce. “Yeah, we’ll be here.”

  “Cool, thanks.”

  I nod even though I don’t feel like I deserve any thanks. Haven’t done a whole lot for him tonight.

  “You see him?” I ask Heidi when I return to her side.

  “Not yet.”

  Jake lifts an eyebrow. “Who you looking for?”