I rolled my eyes. “Where’s your gun?”
“I’m gonna lock it up inside.”
“Then I’ll do that too.”
“Okay,” he said and climbed out of the truck before opening my door and kissing me gently. “Love you.”
I smiled up at him. “Love you, too. Not happy you won’t let me have my gun...but I love you.”
He chuckled and walked me toward an exterior door, raising his face to the camera above it. The door popped open and we made our way to another door which also popped open.
“Jake!” a deep voice called, and I watched a drop-dead gorgeous man walk toward us. He had long hair, pulled up at the sides, a full beard, and he reminded me a lot of an older Jason Momoa.
“Hey, brother,” Jake said, shaking his hand. “This is Addison. Addie, this is Hatch.”
“Nice to meet you. You carrying?”
This question was put to Jake, but I answered with a “Yes,” and opened my purse. If Hatch was surprised I had a gun on me, he didn’t show it, locking it up with Jake’s and handing me the key.
“You’re smarter than this one, aren’t ya?” I retorted, nodding to Jake.
“Hell, yeah, I am.” Hatch let out a big belly laugh and patted Jake’s shoulder. “Come meet everyone.”
I linked my fingers with Jake’s and followed Hatch into the great room. Loud music thumped through the room, while bikers of varying ages milled around the room.
“Oh my god! Addison?”
I turned toward the voice and grinned. “Kim?”
My old friend made a run for me and pulled me in for a hug. “What the hell are you doing here?”
I nodded toward Jake. “Jake.”
“No shit?”
“No shit,” I said. “You?”
She pointed to a giant man by the pool table.
“I heard you married Aidan,” I said. “But he’s a biker too?”
Aidan Scott was the go-to equestrian trainer, and if you were a serious rider, and wanted to win the Olympics like Kim did a couple years ago, then he was your man. I didn’t realize he was part of the club, though. This was a surprise.
“He is,” Kim confirmed. “My sexy as fuck biker.”
I chuckled. “Nice.”
Hatch’s wife, Maisie, slid into our conversation, and she was sweet and funny and very, very British. I adored her.
The rest of the night was spent folding myself into this amazing group of bikers and their women and by the time Jake took me home, I was in fact a little drunk, but mostly horny.
* * *
Dylan
Asher and I had been hanging out sporadically since arriving back in Portland, but he was still playing catch up at work, so I didn’t get to see him nearly as much as I wanted to. Yesterday, Jake had whisked Addison off on a beach trip, leaving me to haunt the condo alone, daydreaming about the day we no longer had to live in fear of the Spiders and could once again walk the streets of Portland without a giant target on our heads.
It was six p.m., and I was hungry. I had sandwich fixings, but my heart wasn’t in it. And, we were out of wine. Granted, I could call Addison’s driver and ask him to pick up dinner and a few bottles of vino, but since I was sitting on my ass doing nothing, sending someone else to do such a menial task seemed wrong. While I was trying to figure out how to go to the store without risking my life, the doorbell rang. Before I could answer, Asher let himself in, carrying a bottle of wine and delicious smelling Italian takeout. Wearing a suit, his tie loose and hair messy from a stressful day at the office, he was the most delicious sight I’d seen in days.
I waited for him to set down the food, and then I dove in. Or, dove for him, rather. Lacing my hands behind his head to bring his lips to mine, I savored the taste of Asher, kissing him deeply. There were all kinds of things I’d been fantasizing about trying with him, and now that we were alone I was eager to get started. Untucking his shirt, I slid my hands beneath the fabric, desperate for the feel of his skin.
Asher smiled against my lips. “Missed me, did ya?” he asked.
Too crazy with need to answer him, I dropped to my knees and unbuttoned his pants. His expression immediately turned serious as he focused on what I was up to. By the time I unzipped his pants and slid them and his boxer briefs down, his cock was almost fully hard.
We’d had sex twice, but I’d never seen ‘it’ up close before, and it was past time for me to pay his cock the attention it deserved. Wrapping my hand around his shaft, I brushed my thumb over the tip. Asher moaned.
I’d missed him, and intended to give him the necessary motivation to never stay away so long again, which meant I needed to provoke him into letting out more of those sexy moans. With my hand still tight around him, I leaned closer and licked the head of his cock.
He hissed out a breath.
This was gonna be fun. I dropped my hand to play with his balls while I licked up and down the length of him. Then, I slid my lips over the head and took him into my mouth.
“Fuck,” he breathed out.
Encouraged by his reaction, I sucked him deeper into my throat until my eyes started to water.
“Holy shit.”
Obviously, he liked that too. I pulled back and then did it again. A few more times, and Asher started moving himself into me. Loving that I was able to give him so much pleasure, I squeezed his ass, anchoring myself to open wider for him. Grabbing my head, he fucked my mouth. After a few minutes, he tried to pull out, but I gripped his ass tighter, wanting everything he had to give me.
With a deep groan and a powerful thrust, he came in my mouth. I swallowed back the saltiness and licked off his cock once more before smiling up at him.
“Oh my god,” he said, leaning against the table.
“Missed me, did ya?” I asked, countering him with his own question.
He picked me up off the floor, standing me beside him, and kissed me. “You have no idea, love.”
“Good.” I turned toward the table. “Now what did you bring me to eat.”
“Nope.” He scooped me up in his arms. “You don’t get to do that and turn your back on me. I’m taking you into your room where I’m going to fuck you until you scream my name.”
His threat caused heat to pool between my thighs. I’d never seen this side of Asher before, and it excited the hell out of me.
“Promise?”
He laughed, kicking off his shoes, then stepping out of his pants and boxers. “Absolutely.” He carried me to my room and stood me by the bed to undress me. Tossing my leggings and T-shirt to the side, he let his gaze and hands wander over my breasts, then my waist, then my hips.
There was something so intimate about the reverent way he worshipped my body, that being with him like this felt almost sacred. Picking me up again, he laid me on the bed and began working his way down my body with his lips and hands. Sliding two fingers inside me, he sucked on my clit until I came.
“You didn’t scream my name,” he said, his voice husky.
I grinned. “Guess you’re not finished yet.”
“Oh, I’m far from finished.”
He flipped me over on my stomach, lifting me to my hands and knees as he knelt behind me. His hands traced my sides and then squeezed my butt. “You have the perfect ass,” he said, smacking me.
It stung, but not in a bad way. In fact, the sting sent a wave of pleasure straight to my core. I gasped, surprised and turned on even more. Chuckling, he grabbed my hips and slid inside me. The fabric of his shirt and tie slid across my back. He’d been playing it cool, but he was so desperate to get inside me that he didn’t even take the time to get fully undressed. I understood. I’d missed the feel of him connected to me like this. He buried himself to the hilt. Torturously slow, he slid in and out of me several times before pulling out completely. Missing his cock and longing for the climax he was denying me, I looked over my shoulder and met his gaze.
“What’s wrong, love?” he asked, smirking.
He knew d
amn well what was wrong. Refusing to answer, I stared at him.
“What? You want this?” He asked, sliding into me again.
He grazed some sort of sweet spot and I arched my back to take him in further, desperate for release. He pulled out of me again.
“You like that? Want my cock deep inside you?”
“Yes,” I ground out, frustrated. “I’m so close. Would you just shut up and fuck me?”
“All you had to do was ask.”
He slammed into me, and I almost lost my mind. Gone were the slow, controlled thrusts as Asher gripped my hips tighter and did exactly what I’d demanded. As my climax built, he began stroking and pinching my clit. The pain and pleasure launched me over the edge, and I screamed his name and squeezed him inside me.
“Fuck!” Asher shouted as he came.
We collapsed on the bed and he held me until a different kind of hunger drove us out of bed to explore the boxes he’d left on the table.
Dylan
ASHER STAYED THE night with me, and left early the next morning. Without Addison to talk to, I spent the day alternating between computer games and mafia novels until I was confident I could land a headshot and dispose of the body. I was hoping Asher would spend the night again, but he called and said he had to work late and wouldn’t make it over.
The next day held more of the same boring routine. By the time Asher called and told me he had to work late again, I was so desperate for real life human contact I was reading pizza delivery reviews to figure out who had the friendliest driver. By five p.m., I’d ordered my pizza and I was plotting out how to trap the driver in a conversation when my phone rang with an incoming call from a Lakeview number.
“Hey, Dyl, it’s Dakota. How are you?”
“Dak!” I said, sounding overly enthusiastic even to my own ears. “I’m so glad you called. Hey, how are you?’
“Good. I called to give you an update on the damage your little tornado did in our town.”
I chuckled. “We did shake things up a bit, didn’t we?” Dad was in the slammer awaiting trial. Apparently he’d known about the DA’s plan to kill off the nursing home elders, and had no trouble stealing jewelry from people who were about to be knocked off, including his own mother. I was having a hard time coming to terms with that. My dad had a girlfriend in Klamath who was unloading the jewelry off onto the pawn shop, which explained why they had no record of him ever selling anything. Dad’s girlfriend was also currently a guest of the state.
“How’s the town dealing with Dicky’s arrest?”
“It’s a circus. Half the population has stepped forward to snitch about other things he was wrapped up in. By the time Klamath County gets it all figured out, I reckon he’ll have more cases against him than that old actor accused of date-raping all those women.”
All of a sudden, I was a little proud of my home town. “I’m glad people are finally finding the balls to nail him. That’s encouraging.”
“Yeah, me and Brandy are stepping forward, too.”
“Wait, what? You and Brandy?”
He chuckled. “I’ve liked Brandy for a long time, Dylan. No offense, but you weren’t exactly my type.”
I’d suspected as much. No matter what Dakota had said, there’d never been any sort of spark between us. “It’s because I wouldn’t sit on your lap when you told me you were the real Santa Claus, isn’t it?”
That earned me a good belly laugh. “You sure got my number.”
“So why did you act like you liked me?”
“At first, it felt expected. You and I were gonna get married, like everyone said. Then I took a likin’ to Brandy, but ol’ Dicky’d already laid claim to her.”
“What?” I asked. “How old was she?”
“Sixteen. But what were we gonna do about it? Who could we tell, Dyl? You know how things are down here. So I kept tellin’ everyone you and me were still together.”
“And the kid? Is he Dicky’s?”
“That kid is the spittin’ image of me. If anyone would have looked twice at him, they would have figured it out.”
“But they didn’t, because you were supposedly sprung on me. Man, I feel used. But no wonder Brandy hated me so much! Sheesh, you guys could’ve told me.”
“You know how this town is. You can’t tell a damn soul. The goddamn walls talk.”
He had me there. “Did anyone ever figure out what Wyatt’s role in all this is?” Even thinking about Wyatt made my chest hurt. You think you know a guy...then he cuts your cinch and tries to get you and your bestie trampled to death.
“You remember Lizzy?” Dakota asked.
“Wyatt’s little sister?” They’d always been close, and I hadn’t even asked Wyatt about her. Maybe Wyatt wasn’t the only bad friend in this relationship. “Is she okay?”
“Not really. She got arrested last month for using and selling meth.”
“Holy cow. Is everyone in that town messing with that crap?”
He sighed. “Sure seems like it sometimes. Anyway, she’s got a trial coming up and Wyatt came forward and said Dicky promised he’d drop the charges and help Wyatt and his family get her into rehab if he distracted you from the case. And when that didn’t work...”
“I get it.”
“He didn’t want to, Dylan, but you know he’d do anything for Lizzy. He asked me to apologize for him.”
I sighed, trying to put myself in Wyatt’s shoes. I didn’t have any sisters, but I’d do whatever I could for Addison. My anger and hurt melted into frustration and irritation. Desperate for a subject change, I asked, “Hey, how’s Grandma?” It had to be difficult for her to know Dad had been locked up, and that he’d been in on the plot to kill her and her friends.
“Don’t you go worryin’ about that ol’ woman. She’s doin’ just fine. She told me to tell you to call her once in a while.”
I smiled. “I will, Dak.”
“Now?” he asked.
“No, not now. I’m on the phone with you.”
“Not you. Just a second, Dylan.” There was some muffled talking, and then he came back on the line. “I’m supposed to tell you to turn on your laptop.”
“My laptop?” I glanced at it sitting on the coffee table.
“Yeah, you know the thing that runs Quickbooks.”
I got the feeling invoicing clients was probably the extent of Dakota’s computer prowess.
“Why?” I asked.
He chuckled. “Good luck.”
I pulled the phone away from my cheek to see that the call had ended. Dakota had called to update me, given me some cryptic message, and then hung up on me. Intrigued, I tossed my phone on the sofa and opened my laptop.
As I did, words typed across my screen and a computerized voice said aloud, “Hello, Dylan. Shall we play a game?”
It was from one of my favorite geek-out movies, War Games. Very few people knew how deep my geek side ran, and Dakota was definitely not one of them. And there was no way he’d be able to hack into my computer. Only one person I knew could do that—my gaming buddy, Quentin. I called his cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail.
I stared at the blinking curser, wondering what Quentin was up to and how he’d gotten Dakota in on it. In the end, boredom and curiosity pressured me into playing along. It wasn’t like I had anything else to do.
“Love to,” I typed.
“Good, answer the door.”
The knock came immediately. I looked out the peephole and saw a delivery man on the other side. Wondering if I should open the door, I glanced back at the laptop. Again, boredom and curiosity won out. This was the most excitement I’d had in three days.
I opened the door and the delivery man handed over my pizza and two other boxes and left. By the time I realized I should have tipped him, he was already in the elevator. Wondering what the hell was going on, I set the boxes on the kitchen table. Opening the pizza box, I took out a slice and munch on it while I considered the boxes.
What if it’s from th
e Spiders?
Nobody knew if the Spiders had identified me and Addison yet, and even if they had, sending a bomb didn’t seem like their MO. Besides, a bomb wouldn’t come in two different sized packages. I stopped chewing long enough to listen, but didn’t hear any ticking. I thought about calling Jake and Addison to get their advice, but didn’t want to interrupt their sexy time.
The curiosity was killing me, so I finally gave in and opened the boxes. The first held fitted black cargo pants, a black baseball cap, and a black tank top. The second held new black combat boots. The sizes were perfect, which told me that whatever was going on, Addison had to be involved.
The screen on my laptop drew my attention, so I wandered over to the coffee table and glanced at the screen. “Get dressed,” was all it said.
Kind of creeped out, I tried to call Addison, but got her voicemail.
Too curious to stop now, I dressed quickly, putting my hair in a ponytail and pulling it through the back of the cap. Because I still had no clue what was going on, I even put on some makeup so I wouldn’t look like a boy. When I was done, I typed, “What now?”
“Answer the door.”
Another knock. I wiped the stupid grin off my face and looked through the peephole. Addison’s driver, Jimmy, was standing on the other side. “Come with me, please, Dylan,” he said.
“I’m not supposed to leave,” I reminded him.
“We have an approved escort.”
I had no idea what that meant but wasn’t about to pass up a chance to get out of the house. I grabbed my keys, phone, and purse and headed out.
I followed Jimmy to his car. There was a motorcycle on either side of the limo, and I recognized the drivers as the two Dogs of Fire who had escorted me and Addison to Lakeview. “Hey Train. Cheese. You guys pulled babysitting duty again, huh?”
They both laughed, waving to me. “Nah, Dylan. We volunteered for this shit,” Cheese replied.
Jimmy opened my door and gestured for me to get in. I slid across the seat and leaned forward. As soon as Jimmy climbed behind the wheel, I asked, “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” he replied, rolling up the partition between us.
Asher Page 18
