Cole, p.2
Cole, page 2
"Nice to meet you." Her tone had the deep, sexy quality of a sultry soul singer.
Shit. Everything about her reached me on a purely sexual level that heightened my senses and made my fucking dick tent my pants. I didn't like my instant reaction to her. She was just a woman for fuck’s sake, yet everything inside of me screamed for me to stake a claim now, before my brothers saw her. They were going to be on her in a New York minute.
Sax mumbled something behind me about being glad that he already had an old lady. This only confirmed that this woman was going to mean trouble.
"You ready?" I asked abruptly, ignoring her greeting. It wasn't like me to be rude to a lady, but my instant attraction to her had caught me off-guard, along with my gut instinct that there was something more going on here than just a woman avoiding a jilted lover.
Her smile never wavered. "Yes." She bent for something at her feet and lifted up a duffle bag. "Packed and ready to go."
Rosie moved to her, taking her into her arms. "Everything will be alright. You'll see. Just give it a little time. Getting away will do you both some good."
The doubtful look Raven gave her mother when they parted was interesting. "I hope you're right, Mom."
I turned and stepped around Sax to leave. "She's riding with you."
"Hell, no," he snorted right behind me, something like panic in his voice. "I show back up at the clubhouse with another woman riding bitch, and Holly will have my balls. And you know the rules, brother."
I released a harsh breath. Yeah, I fucking knew the rules. If you had an old lady or sweetheart, then you didn't put another woman on your bike. I didn’t plan on ever having either, and I didn't like women on my bike. In my world, you let a woman ride behind you and she thought she meant something to you, something more than a warm pussy. Hell, I didn't let the club women get on my bike, and they knew the score.
"Thank you for letting me stay at your clubhouse," Raven commented as she followed behind us.
We exited Denny's and walked toward our bikes. "You're not just staying there." I didn't bother turning around. "We're putting you to work while you're with us." We'd reached the bikes, and I dug out the brain bucket Demon had insisted I bring for her. I turned back to her, noticing again how tiny she was compared to me. "Everyone carries their own weight in our club. You won't be a guest," I clarified, meeting her eyes.
If anything, her smile grew wider at this. "Good. I don't want to be a burden, and it will make the time go by faster."
Without warning, I reached up and pulled the band holding her ponytail away, freeing up her hair to fall around her shoulders and halfway down her back. She gasped at my sudden move, but didn't move. I saw the question in her eyes. "The helmet won't fit with your hair up like that."
"Oh. You could have just said something."
I pulled the helmet down over her head and strapped it tightly beneath her chin. She kept her eyes on me the entire time, along with that maddening smile on her lips. It was almost as if she knew that I wasn't happy with the situation, and it amused her. I stood back when I was done and stared at her for a moment.
"What the fuck is so funny?"
"My, you're a grumpy one, aren't you?"
Sax snorted and glanced away when I shot him a sharp look. I grabbed her bag and stuffed it into the saddle bag. I didn't respond to her comment. I was grumpy, and I didn't know why.
Actually, I did. It was my attraction to Raven. I'd been attracted to women before, but not like this. This was different. And I didn't like it.
"Get on," I snapped after mounting my bike.
RAVEN
I DID AS COLE ORDERED and climbed onto the bike behind him, looking for somewhere to put my feet. I'd never been on a motorcycle before, but how hard could it be? He seemed to be waiting for something, and his huff revealed his impatience.
"Cole?"
"Yeah?"
"Where do I put my feet?"
Another huff. He turned slightly and pointed down. "Make sure you don't touch the exhaust pipe, you'll get burned."
"Okay." I did what he said, determined not to let his sour mood get to me. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, but it couldn't have been anything that I'd done. We'd just met, for God's sake. Once I was settled I realized that there was no back rest, so I gingerly wrapped my arms around his torso, returning the grin of his friend, who seemed to be amused by the whole situation. He gave me a wink. "I'm ready."
Without a word, Cole started his bike. Before taking off, he grabbed my hands and brought my arms tighter around his waist until they overlapped. "Hold on tight!" he shouted over the noise of the bike.
Gladly, I thought. I didn't want to fall off. But if I were being honest, my tight grip had nothing to do with my fear of being thrown off the bike. The man was eye-candy, to say the least, with his jet-black hair that hung down to his collar, and sharp blue eyes that were set in a strong-boned face of utter masculinity. His five o'clock shadow emphasized his bad, mood in a sexy, grizzly kind of way. The man was huge, and now that I had my arms around him I could tell that he was also ripped—not in the body-builder sense, but in the naturally sculptured way hard work rewards you with. The scent coming off the back of his neck was old leather and smoky heat, and was surprisingly comforting.
Arousing.
It occurred to me that I was attracted to him. I had known it with one look, even though he was unlike any man I'd known before. Apart from his sexy, bad-boy persona, the intense look in his eyes, and the brash way that he spoke, I got the impression that he wasn't someone you would want to mess with. He wasn't exactly going out of his way to be warm and friendly to me, and I had to wonder if that was the norm for him.
We didn't take the interstate, as I'd thought we would. Instead we stuck to the back roads, which was fine by me. It was a nicer ride. Less-traveled, and the scenery prettier to look at. The rural countryside seemed peaceful. There was lots of farmland on both sides of the road, and an equal amount of fields planted with vegetables. The sun was warm, but the wind brushing over us kept it from being too hot.
I wasn't sure how long we'd been riding when we came upon a group of other bikers riding toward us. They were further up the road, and my heart skipped a beat when they stopped and formed a line across the road, blocking our way. I counted five of them. As we rode closer I could tell that they weren't part of the Desert Rebels. We slowed down, coming to a stop a few yards away from them.
Cole turned his head slightly and murmured low, "No matter what, don't speak to them and don't question anything I do."
He didn't give me a chance to respond. I cast a nervous glance at his friend beside us, but his attention was on the bikers blocking our way. I could tell by the way he held himself that he was ready to act if he had to. No one made a move to get off their bikes. I buried my face against Cole's back, hoping the whole thing would just blow over. I didn't want to be in the middle of a fight if it went that way.
"You dickheads got a problem?"
Cole was the first one who spoke, and I caught my breath at his gruff approach, thinking to myself that those were the kind of words that started a fight.
"Seems like you Desert Rebels have the problem," someone from the other side snorted. "Being that you're outnumbered and you have the fucking balls to ride through our turf."
"’Turf’?" Cole laughed. "What, are we in the nineteen-fifties?"
Why was he goading them? I wanted to slap him upside his head, but instead I leaned in close to his ear. "Why don’t you try being nice to them?"
Cole straightened against me, and I knew that I’d made a big mistake. I could feel it in the way that he suddenly grew rigid against me.
Laughter sounded out from the five bikers across from us. God, I hadn't thought that they'd heard me. "Yeah, why don't you try being nice to us?" one of them taunted. "Or better yet, let your woman be nice to us."
That comment caused Cole to stiffen even more. I decided to keep my mouth shut and sink back behind his wide shoulders.
"Since when do the fucking Knights claim this territory as theirs?" Cole's friend asked. "Last we heard, your MC was further south."
"Since we outnumber you, asshole," one of them smirked.
"If we'd of known we would have made arrangements to ride through peacefully," Cole's friend continued. He was obviously the diplomatic one of the two.
Cole lifted up enough to remove his phone from his back pocket. The rump of his butt brushed against my pussy, eliciting a pleasant tingle that caught me totally by surprise.
"Tell you what—let me just call Bear and ask him if it's okay to ride through your new turf."
It was clear from their expressions that they hadn't expected Cole to know this Bear person, and that whoever he was, he was someone important to them. They exchanged slightly concerned looks with one another, as if they’d just realized that what they were doing was suddenly a bad idea. It was kind of funny, really. The tough, macho attitudes they'd been brandishing were now gone. Even though Cole was holding his phone, he didn't make any attempt to use it. Just sat there and waited.
One of the bikers began to rub the lower half of his face, as if rethinking the situation. "No point in bothering the prez," he finally quipped. "We'll let you pass with just a warning this time."
They separated, two on one side of the road and three on the other, making just enough room for us to pass through one at a time. It made me nervous, but nothing more was said as we took off. I was the only one who glanced back to see if they were following. Thank God they were riding the other way.
Whew! I didn't know much about biker clubs beyond the little that I’d been able to find online. Once mom had told me about the arrangements she'd made, I'd done a little research. According to the internet, biker clubs were territorial; some were friendly with each other, some not so much. Some were involved in illegal activity, some were law abiding citizens. Some were hard-core, while others were what was known as “weekend warriors”. Violence, crime and living outside the laws of society seemed to be the common denominator between some of the hard-core MCs.
I knew the Desert Rebels were considered hard-core bikers, yet there hadn't been much published about them with regard to breaking the law. A little trouble here and there, but no murders or missing person's cases had been connected to them. That only meant that they hadn't been caught, as far as I was concerned. The way Cole and his friend had faced off against the other MC revealed that they were dangerous men.
I wondered to myself what Cole would have done if the other MC hadn't backed down when they had. I recalled the way his body had grown rigid beneath my hands when I'd spoken into his ear. Was he still angry with me? It was a bad habit I had, opening my mouth and saying the wrong thing at the worst moment. It had gotten me into trouble more than once growing up. It wasn’t the safest vice for someone who'd always been on the petite side, but what people didn't know about me was that I was scrappy.
We came to a restaurant and pulled into the lot. It was a mom and pop place with a sign that simply read, Restaurant. The building was small and white, and had clearly been a house at one time. Once the bikes were parked, the three of us dismounted. I wobbled a little, and had to grab hold of the seat to steady myself. Cole's friend shot me a smile as he began to walk toward the door.
"Be right in, Sax."
I gave Sax a smile as he gave Cole a chin lift. As I made a move to step past Cole in order to follow Sax, Cole grabbed my arm.
"What—" I glanced down at the hand around my arm, and then felt myself being pulled behind Cole toward the side of the restaurant.
When we were out of view of the parking lot, Cole spun me around and released me.
"We need to talk, woman."
Chapter 3
Cole
I ignored the stubborn tilt to Raven’s chin when I'd called her, "woman".
"I don't have time to go over MC protocol with you, but when I tell you something, it's not just to hear my own voice."
"I did research—"
I snorted, crossing my arms. "On the internet?"
She nodded.
"Fuck what you read or think you know. What you did back there could have caused a shit-storm."
"I didn't mean for them to hear me," she began, facing me like a little tiger. "And I'm sorry, Cole," she surprised me by saying. "I have a bad habit of saying things when I should keep my mouth shut."
"Pick up a new habit then and learn to keep your fucking mouth shut." I could tell that she didn't like what I’d said. She squared her shoulders, as if preparing for a fight, which only served to draw my eyes to her luscious tits. I could tell they were the real deal, and I couldn't stop myself from visualizing my dick sliding between them. The thought of giving her a pearl necklace wasn't the image I wanted in my head right then.
"Are you always this sweet?"
This wasn't a fucking game, and I didn't like her attitude or the amusement that danced in her sparkling eyes. This was serious shit, and it was clear that she thought the whole thing was a joke. I snapped and took a step toward her. My sudden move startled her into stepping backwards until her back came up against the side of the building. I didn't stop until her tits were brushing against my abs.
"You want sweet?" I growled down into her uplifted face, determined to wipe that smile right off. "Get down on your knees and I can be as sweet as you want."
Her expression sobered, and the sparkling fire in her eyes turned into a dark storm. I could see the slap coming, and did nothing to stop it. I let her appease her insulted sensibilities. In fact I fucking relished the sting of her slap against my cheek. I didn't so much as blink, and instead returned her grin, a reaction she obviously didn't appreciate. The second time Raven raised her hand I stopped it in mid-air and crushed my body against hers.
She huffed and tried to throw me off. "Get off, you big jerk!" Her other hand came up to pound against my chest.
I laughed at her efforts, easily subduing her by bringing her arms up and pinning them to the wall. "Good. Fight me," I rasped down at her, enjoying the feel of her curves against me. "Because sweet doesn't win the battle, baby. And that's how I keep my MC safe. It's my job to show the other man that I'm bigger and badder and that I'm not afraid to fight. I don't need a little girl who knows shit about what's going on whispering shit in my ear unless it's to say you like my big dick."
She stopped her struggling and glared up at me. Damn, she was beautiful, breathing hard through those full lips and showing me her perfect little teeth, and the warmth of her skin tone couldn’t disguise the flush in her cheeks. Her hair was everywhere, beckoning me to lose my hands in it.
"I said I was sorry," she reminded me. "Are you done molesting me?"
I snorted and released her before I did something stupid, like crush her obstinate mouth beneath mine. The fact that I wanted to warned me that I needed to stay away from her. My job was to get her to the clubhouse safely, and nothing more.
"As long as you do what you're told and follow the rules, you'll be okay. When there's trouble you stay out of the way. Got me?"
"I take it someone will inform me of what those rules are when I get to your clubhouse?" she asked smartly.
"Yep." I grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the wall. "Let's go. I'm hungry."
"Yes, I noticed."
I halted abruptly and spun her back around, the double entendre of her smart-ass comment not lost on me. So, she'd noticed my erection, had she? She was staring up at me innocently, but innocent she wasn't. I had the urge to show her just how fucking hungry I was by pushing her back against the building and fucking her right there. The movement of my dick drew her gaze downward, and with a knowing smirk I watched her color bloom. The lady was out of her league, and she knew it.
She was probably used to college boys, flowers and candy.
"What's wrong, baby? You suddenly realize just how fucking hungry I am?" I leaned in close. "Or what I'm hungry for?" I grinned.
"You don't bother me, Cole," she said defiantly. "I'm not a stranger to hard-ons."
I'll just bet. Her comment rubbed me the wrong way, though. She was full of sass, clearly not afraid to say what was on her mind, or worried about the consequences. The image of her with her pants down and my hand turning her little ass red with punishment caused my palms to itch. With a snarl I turned and continued walking toward the door, pushing the thought away.
"Ouch!" she cried out. "You're hurting me!"
"Get used to it." I didn't know what the fuck I was saying, and I released the pressure of the hand that I had wrapped around her arm. I'd never hurt a woman on purpose, and I blamed this incident on my reaction to her. It didn't make sense.
She yanked her arm away from me. "I can walk on my own, Cole. In case it's slipped your notice, I'm not a child." She moved around me.
Oh, it hadn't slipped my notice, and she knew it. I watched her walking in front of me, swinging those curvy hips as if she were doing a strip tease. The woman knew she had it going on, and she knew my eyes would be on that round, sexy ass of hers. The jeans she was wearing were tight enough to show me that she wasn't wearing panties. A thong, maybe. Fuck. My dick had already grown half-hard when we'd tussled against the wall. Now it was bowed up against my zipper and wanting out.
I reached down to move it into a more comfortable position. This woman was going to be trouble, in more ways than one. I hadn't checked her out before we’d picked her up, mainly because I hadn't had the time. But once I got back to the clubhouse I was going to make it a priority to find out her story. I'd put Oz, our IT guy, on it.
The safety of the club and its members was my number one priority.
No exceptions, no matter how pretty.
God help her if I found out that she was lying.
RAVEN
WHAT DID YOU GET ME in to, Mom? I should have just disappeared like I'd wanted to, and still might. I couldn't stay with the Desert Rebels forever. They would expect me to leave at some point. We'd decided that six months would be a good number, but really, if there was anyone coming for me they weren't just going to give up. People didn't commit murder in front of witnesses and let them go, hoping they wouldn't say anything.
