Corey (Devil's Flame MC Book 5)

by Romi Hart

  Corey’s eyes were puffy, with dark circles, and she shook her head at him. “You haven’t been sleeping well.”

  He averted his gaze shamefully. “There’s been a lot going on with the club. I’m going to get some more rest. I’ve got a little down time for the next week. I might even take a sort of vacation.”

  She eyed him for a moment as she prepared her oils. She didn’t believe for one second that he would take a vacation. “In order for you to let everything go, you’d have to get the hell out of town, with no way to contact anyone for a couple of days. No phones, no computers. Just you in a cabin, somewhere up in the mountains. Maybe the lower hills in New Mexico. That’s not too far, but it’s far enough from your responsibilities to really get away.” She pointed to him. “Lay down. You know the drill.”

  At least conversation seemed to flow easily, and Regan saw that as an improvement, even considering only a therapist-patient relationship. He was more open to talking and had even alluded to problems with the MC, which was something she hadn’t expected. She noted that he still wore his boxer briefs, and a part of her was disappointed, but the devil on her shoulder told her he had the same idea she did about trying to remain professional in this space.

  Besides, she’d committed every inch of him to memory and could conjure the image up whenever she pleased.

  “So, you have problems at work,” she said as she began to rub the oil into his shoulders and back wincing internally at finding knot after knot. She chose her words carefully, not wanting to push too hard but also wanting to draw him out. “And whatever those problems are, they’ve made you worse over the last couple of weeks than you were when you first came in. You know, if you don’t commit time to your health, it will only get more complicated.”

  He grunted under her, but it wasn’t an angry sound. She felt the pop as one of his muscles released an epic amount of tension. “I get that. I didn’t have a choice, or I would have been here.”

  He didn’t elaborate, and Regan wasn’t going to push this any further. “So, are you going to tell me that all of this stress build up that’s got you more twisted than a field of ivy comes from work? Or is there another source of contention in your life?”

  “No, I don’t make room for other problems,” he replied quickly. “The Devil’s Flames is a complex group, and we aren’t an easy lot. It’s nice that we don’t have guys in and out of jail all the time, and that we run solid, legit business. But it still gets messy, and it’s still a lot to contend with. So, I make sure everything else is drama free. I tend to not get involved in anything outside the club so I don’t have any distractions.”

  She almost stopped working, floored at the short speech. Corey wasn’t a big talker, and this was the most he’d ever said at once. And it was meaningful, real, and honest.

  Of course, it caused Regan to emote, realizing first that he had just hit home the idea that there would never be anything between them. He didn’t need distractions, and even she realized what a distraction a relationship would be, even on her end. But it was also sad, and she wanted to cry for him. Corey had so much to offer his woman of choice, and even if he loved his club with his whole heart, he deserved to have happiness outside that group. He should have a wife who loved him, a family, people to come home to after a long day of…whatever it was he did.

  “I understand what you’re saying,” she said softly, slowly, not wanting to stumble over this. One wrong word, and he’d take it the wrong way. “But sometimes, to relax, a distraction is a good thing. Have you ever considered having a family? Someone who was waiting on you when you came home?”

  “Of course I have,” he said, and Regan had to fight again to keep working as if she hadn’t nearly fell over in disbelief. He continued, “But I don’t want to groom children to take up this lifestyle, just because it’s the family business. I don’t want to push them away if this is the life they want. And I don’t want to put anyone in danger.”

  “I thought you said you guys are legitimate businessmen.” She wanted him to keep talking. The rumble of his voice calmed each time he spoke, and it gave her confidence that she could eventually ease the muscle tension and teach him how to maintain his muscle health.

  “We are,” he confirmed. “But it’s not that simple. There are a lot of clubs around, and several of them don’t have the moral standards we do. Even our closest allies have looser morals than we do. That makes it dangerous.”

  She wondered suddenly if Rory ever felt concerned, like there was danger lurking that could affect her. But if Regan thought about it, she didn’t believe Rory would be carrying children that would be brought into this biker’s world if she felt threatened. So, maybe the fear of someone outside getting hurt had simply been ingrained, passed down through the generations to keep Corey focused.

  The idea of Corey living the rest of his life alone, with no woman to care for him and no spawn to carry on the family legacy, broke Regan’s heart. But worse, the thought of him finally settling down with some woman incited horrible feeling and thoughts, making Regan violent and – dare she think it – jealous. The ugly green slime coated her soul, and she realized that, no matter how sad the situation, she would rather he end up alone than having kids with some random chick.

  “I guess we all choose our fate,” Regan thought, suddenly realizing that her path wasn’t much different. She’d almost made the mistake of trusting a man enough to have a family with him, and look what had happened. The fact that she and Corey had that in common – the vow that they wouldn’t let distractions ruin their lives – was clear. And she had a feeling it was part of the reason they got along so well and communicated with ease.

  Her musings made the time go fast, and Regan finished up the massage and wondered what to do next. Should she ask him out for coffee, just friends? Or would that be a violation of their arrangement? Were they now in a professional zone where there was no room for anything more, not even camaraderie? She wasn’t going to push it and, instead, worked the therapist angle.

  “You can’t skip two weeks again,” she told him flatly, leaning back agains the counter on her hip and crossing her arms over her chest as he sat up. “If you’re out of town, message me, and I’ll get you in somewhere. It only takes a couple of calls, and I have contacts in several places.” With the way she’d had to move around for a while, if he was within the state, she could probably get him seen on the fly by someone she knew.

  He nodded. “I’ll pay more attention.”

  “Good. I’m serious, Corey, you’re in bad shape, and if you don’t get this worked out and keep on top of it with the level of stress you’re under, the burden you carry, you’ll be in and out of surgery in five years. You’ll end up with a walker by the time you’re sixty, when you should still be riding.” She didn’t mean to lecture, but she felt like she had to say something before he ruined all that divine beauty of his. “I’ll see you in a couple of days then.”

  She turned to go, her hand on the doorknob when she heard her name. “Regan, wait.”

  God, it sounded good rolling off his tongue and sneaking through his lips. Slowly, as the sound ran like a chill up her spine, she turned to him and arched a brow, waiting.

  7

  Corey didn’t want to leave. He didn’t want to go settle his account with Lena, and he didn’t want to go back to the clubhouse. Most of all, he didn’t want Regan to leave the room. It had nothing to do with the massage which was delightful but not the issue. Sure, the kneading of muscles eased tension in his body and took away some of the incessant pain in his back.

  But it was Regan herself that eased his mind.

  Even before he’d come back to the room, when he’d first seen her in the lobby, some of the chaos that constantly rattled around in his head had quieted, and he’d felt a greater sense of peace. And when they’d been alone in here while she worked, her voice had soothed him, brought him a sense of calm he hadn’t felt in years.

  She was surprisingly nonjudgmen
tal, and she had a graceful manner in her conversation style that made it natural to talk to her. She listened without interruption and didn’t berate him unnecessarily. She was firm in her beliefs and really seemed to care about his well being, and that was nice, but it was the way she grounded him and brought him back from the brink of insanity every time he was near her that got under his skin.

  And after a hectic couple of weeks of failed negotiation with a couple of other clubs, along with a little scare that one of them would launch an attack against the Devil’s Flames, he told himself he needed a longer session of meditative calm. And that was his excuse for waiting for her until she was off.

  She stopped dead in her tracks as she exited the building and saw him straddling his bike in front of her, and those sensual lips parted slightly with her surprise. “Corey! Is something wrong?”

  He tilted his head at her and teasingly replied, “Only that the back of my bike is pretty lonely. I thought maybe you’d like to go for a ride with me, blow off some steam.”

  She didn’t move at first, and he wondered if he’d overstepped the boundaries. At the same time, his desperate need for her calm demeanor, when everything in his life felt like chaos, drove him, and he waited, hoping he hadn’t just lit a cautionary warning.

  But the smile crept slowly over her lips, and she nodded, making Corey’s heart thunder as a wave of relief crashed over him. “Now that sounds like fun,” she said, striding over and throwing her leg over the back of the bike. He didn’t speak, just handed his helmet over. He had goggles. But apparently he should consider getting saddlebags and carrying the helmet he’d bought specifically for her all the time, just in case he had this random need in the future.

  He took it easy till they were on the outskirts of town, and then he let loose, the wind whipping at them as he rounded corners. He was impressed with her trust as she leaned into turns with him, and he didn’t want to stop.

  But he reached a turnoff for the lake and whipped around it, deciding at the last minute that he needed the beach. And without a five hour ride, Lake Whitney provided the nearest resemblance. There were secluded areas with sandy shores that would make a nice place to sit and talk, maybe shed the boots and wiggle his toes in the water. As he wound around some back roads to a particularly cozy spot, he just hoped Regan liked the water.

  When he finally stopped, there was a view of the lake through the trees, and the shore was empty. Of course, it was a weekday, and this wasn’t the height of summer. It was actually the perfect opportunity for a little privacy.

  “I haven’t been to a lake since I moved to Texas,” Regan commented as they broke through the foliage into the full regalia of the shoreline. “This is gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, we had to make most of our lakes, but we do a damn good job of it, most of the time,” Corey told her, leading her down to the water’s edge. “In the heat of the summer, this place is full of people. Kids come swimming, adults have barbecues, and teenagers go hide in the bushes to make out.”

  Regan laughed, the sound cooling him like a rain shower after a drought. What was it about her that made him feel so much more at ease? Why did her laugh work like a salve to his burning soul? “I might have snuck down to the lake or the river a few times in my younger days to meet a guy and have a little fun. Lord knows I’ve been skinny dipping a few times. Even stole a car once.”

  Corey gawked at her, in awe of the confession. “Stole a car?”

  She shrugged and blushed. “My boyfriend wanted to go for a ride, and his car wouldn’t start. I used to feed my neighbor’s cats when he was away, so I had keys to his house, and he had a Thunderbird. We took it for a ride, no harm, no foul. I’m sure Mr. South realized there were a few extra miles on it, but he never said anything.”

  Corey suddenly wondered how many layers of this woman there were to peel back. Every time they talked, he learned about some other aspect of her personality, and he couldn’t seem to get enough. At the same time, he wondered why she wasn’t married, or at least dating anyone. Why had she set herself apart from that world? It seemed like she had so much to offer, and yet she was just as adamant about not having strings attached as he was, and that was a bit unsettling.

  She plopped down on the ground, a few feet back from the water line, and started to take off her shoes, rolling up her jeans at the cuff. “It’s still warm enough to enjoy the water, I think. Care to join me?”

  Well, that’s what he’d hoped for, and he wasn’t about to refuse. Settling down next to her, he yanked off his boots and socks, tucking the material into the boots, and then he started working on his own jeans. When he finished, he hopped to his feet and held out his hand, helping her stand. He felt very young and spry, completely out of character for him, and he was going to take advantage of it and share this moment with an amazing woman who had miraculously found a way to calm him down.

  * * *

  One by one, the stars started to pop in the sky as it blackened with nightfall. The moon hung, almost full, and sparkled off the water, and yet, Corey had no desire to return to the real world. He’d waded deep into the water with Regan, and both of them had soaked the denim of their jeans. Now, they sat in their skivvies on the shore, where the last vestiges of sunlight worked to continue drying the material.

  Regan didn’t seem to be in any great hurry, either.

  Taking a deep breath, Corey decided to risk a confession. “Something about you relaxes me, and I’m not talking about your profession. God knows you’ve made a difference on my back and neck, but it’s not just that. Something about you, and being around you, eases the tension.”

  Regan snorted and rolled her eyes. “I’m not some half-grown man on a steel horse always ready to knock heads or have a drinking competition. And I’m not some rival gang starting some West Side Story rumble. That’s a relief all its own, I’m sure.”

  He had to laugh at her naïve description of his world. Sadly, though she was teasing, she wasn’t as far off base as she probably thought. Sure, he had a great crew, but they were constantly ‘raising’ a lot of prospects, kids they had rescued from bad situations who had potential. And if it wasn’t one rival, it was another causing problems. The Ravens had been the worst, and though it would be a reprieve to finish that war, Corey didn’t delude himself into thinking the temporary truces with everyone else would last.

  “That helps, I guess,” he told her, smiling. “But it’s more than that.” With words failing him, he leaned in, his lips brushing hers as he spoke softly. “You’re sexy.” He kissed her gently. “You’re kind.” Again, he punctuated his words with a kiss. “You’re hard and soft in the right ways.” This time, he probed with his tongue, and she opened to him, sliding closer until she was almost in his lap. When he broke away from it, they were breathless, and he managed, “You’re like a drug that takes the pain away.”

  Apparently, he’d said the right thing. She threw herself at him, knocking him to the ground on his back. He shoved his hands in her hair, tilting her head so he could delve deeper into her mouth, drinking the passion she fed him eagerly, swallowing it and using it to fuel the fire in his soul and in his crotch. His cock instantly stood at attention, pressing against her core, and she moaned into him, sending his libido into overdrive.

  With the fierceness of a gator on its prey, he rolled with her, tangling their limbs together, until he was on top and in control, and his hand found her breast, stroking and kneading until she arched against him. Her body flailed, begging for more and trying to get away from him all at the same time, and Corey indulged in a bit of arrogance at the wild response. The way she moved made his body ache, his mind go devious places with the things he wanted to do, the positions he wanted to feel her in.

  They weren’t supposed to be here together. They’d both agreed to a single instance, a one night ride to utter fulfillment. But here, alone, it seemed like a dream rather than reality, and if no one saw them, was it really happening? Corey needed to taste her, needed to fe
el her wrapped around him again. He hadn’t lied about her being a drug, and once he’d gotten his first high from her, he knew he was addicted.

  He pushed that thought to the back of his mind to deal with it later. Right now, he had the most amazing woman beneath him, moaning for him as he slid her panties aside and fingered her slit. She was so wet, so ready, so willing that he grunted and shivered. With two fingers, he plunged into her, his thumb rolling across her clit, and she screamed, her inner walls pulsing around his fingers, clenching and releasing, as she hit her first release.

  He curled his fingers, pressed on the magic spot, and let her ride his hand to her content until the wave subsided, and then he locked eyes with her, drawing his fingers out and tucking them between his lips to taste her. She whimpered, obviously finding the sight erotic, and Corey nearly drown in the delicious sweetness of her.

  He leaned down to kiss her, wanting her to taste herself on him, and he muttered into her mouth, “I could drink you all day and never get tired of it.”

  She shuddered and wrapped herself around him, grinding her pelvis against his erection, and Corey convulsed. He needed to be inside her, needed that sweet pussy to hold him and tease him and milk him to completion. And he wanted to feel another eruption from her, all over him.

  As if reading his mind, Regan shoved at his boxers, and he kicked them away haphazardly, not caring if they floated away or tore. Grace and poise were not his concern as he settled on his knees, lifting one of Regan’s legs over his shoulder and thrusting into her with an almost violent shove.