Mace, p.10
Mace, page 10
“No. I just mean, I didn’t see you that way, but I figured that was how you felt.”
I reached up and cupped her cheek. “Do you think I would kiss my sister like this?” I leaned in, and she rose up on her toes to meet me.
She was so soft and innocent, and it took all my willpower not to take her right there. Two kisses and I knew that Imogen was it.
She was the one, and I didn’t doubt it for a second.
My lips moved over hers, and she opened her mouth in invitation. I invaded her mouth, and my hands moved down her body and cupped her lush ass.
“Mace,” she moaned into my mouth.
This hadn’t been my intention when I asked her out for dinner. I really just wanted to get to know the person she had grown into, but I couldn’t keep my mouth or hands off of her.
Imogen was a drug I had been addicted to after one touch.
That was all it took.
Her hands grabbed my vest, and she pulled me to her body.
Her need and reaction to me were hypnotic. I would give her whatever she wanted as long she never stopped kissing me.
“Babe,” I breathed out. I stepped back, and she followed me.
We both needed to remember where we were.
I would willingly take Imogen right here, right now, but I knew once the lustful haze lifted Imogen would be embarrassed. She lived here, and I’m sure she didn’t want to be known as the woman who had sex on lane one.
I, of course, would wear that badge proudly, though.
“What’s wrong?” she whispered. Her eyes drifted open, and her hands flattened against my chest.
“You did everything right, babe. I just think maybe we should pause this until we get back to your place.”
She blinked rapidly and glanced around. “Oh, god,” she whispered.
I pulled her to my chest for a quick hug. “Shh, you’re good, babe. We stopped before it got too hot.”
“I’m never going to be able to show my face at the bowling alley again,” she whispered. “Everyone saw that.”
I looked around, and there wasn’t a person in sight. “You’re the one who told me it’s Tuesday night, and this place is dead, Imogen. No one saw that except for the bowling pins and the jukebox.” And if anyone did see us and gives her shit about it, they would meet my fist.
The urge to protect Imogen was never going to go away. When she was nine, I protected her, and now when she was thirty, I would do the same.
“Maybe I should get back to entering our names on the screen,” she suggested.
“And I’ll try to keep my hands to myself.”
She stepped back and looked me up and down. “I hope you break that promise.”
Hot damn. Who would have thought that sweet, shy innocent Imogen was a sex pot just waiting for the right person to come along?
And that person was me.
Chapter Fourteen
Imogen
My. God.
Every thought I ever had about Mace thinking I was like his little sister was blown out of the water with each kiss he pressed against my skin.
“We should try to get some sleep,” I sighed.
His lips trailed over the curve of my shoulder, and he pushed my bra strap to the side. “I’m not tired,” he insisted.
I wasn’t either, but I knew we were going to have hell to pay when the alarm went off at five-thirty. “Just one more kiss, and then we need to go to sleep.”
“I’m not leaving your side,” he mumbled against my skin.
“I’m no–.”
He shook his head, and his eyes connected with mine. “Just sleep, babe. I just want to sleep next to you.”
I wanted Mace. Oh, God, did I want Mace. But I wasn’t ready to take that step with him. I needed more time before we crossed that line, and I became his completely.
I nodded and pressed a swift kiss to his lips. “Okay.” I rolled off the couch and stood over him. “Then come on. Though you better not hog the covers or snore.”
“I don’t know if I do either of those things, babe, because I’m sleeping.”
I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the bedroom. “Then I guess tonight will be the make or break of us.”
“If I snore we’re over?” he laughed.
“Over before we even started,” I teased.
He grabbed me around the waist and pulled my back to his front. “I am pretty sure we started in the bowling alley and continued on your couch, babe. There’s no taking any of that back.” He nuzzled my ear, and a tremor rocked my body.
I had lost count of how often he had made me breathless or sent shivers down my spine.
Mace was everything I thought he was and so much more.
He didn’t think of me as his sister, and I sure as hell didn’t think of him that way either.
“Take your pants off,” he whispered. “I’ve been dying to see your tattoos.”
I tipped my head back. “Excuse me?” I laughed. “Then you better take your shirt off so I can see what you have going on.”
He stepped back and pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it on the floor and held his arms wide. “Take a look, babe. I’m not hiding anything from you.”
My eyes didn’t know where to look first.
Mace was a solid wall of muscle that my hands itched to explore.
His arms were covered with bold, black lines and designs that extended onto his back. His chest looked ripped open, and a skull and gears were exposed.
He was a work of art.
He snapped his fingers at me. “Pants, woman. Off, now.”
“Hold your horses,” I laughed. “I need to take a moment and appreciate everything on you.”
“You're the hot one, babe.” He reached out and grabbed the waistband of my jeans. “I’ll do all of the work. Fine with me.”
“Mace,” I laughed.
“You teased me at the bowling alley, woman, and I have controlled myself long enough. It’s bullshit you have to hide your tattoos.”
He pulled down my pants, but I held onto the band of my underwear. “Easy there, hulk.” I was serious when I said I just wanted to sleep.
Mace crouched in front of me and lifted my feet to slide my pants off.
“God damn,” he hissed. He fell to his knees, and his hands cupped the curve of my hips. “You’re a work of art.”
It was pretty impressive. “I sort of fell in love with old-school tattoos.” The bold lines and colors were all over my legs, and I had a different favorite tattoo daily. Though the umbrella on my thigh was a favorite.
On my right thigh, I had a large skull with a dagger through the top of it surrounded by old-school style flowers. My left thigh had a large black and red umbrella with rain and lightning only under the umbrella. Various colors of old-school flowers also surrounded it.
“What does the umbrella mean?” Mace asked.
“Uh, I’ve been through some shit, and I’m still here.”
“Skull and dagger?” His fingers trailed over the dagger, and he tipped his head back to look at me. “Death?”
“Triumph in death.” I didn’t need to say anything else. That tattoo represented me beating Kent. He may have hurt me, but I was the winner in the end.
“Babe,” Mace groaned. “Do I even want to know how much your kneecaps hurt?”
My knees were identical. Large old school flowers with bold black outlines filled with red, blue, and yellow. “After about half an hour, they went numb, and it wasn’t too bad.”
“How did you wear pants while they were healing?” His fingers trailed over my kneecaps, and a shiver ran up my body.
“I blocked that from my memory. I’m sure Dorothy can tell you how much misery I was in. I think those are the only tattoos on my body that I would never get again. If they fade or straight up disappear, I will not be getting them redone.”
“You’re a fucking badass, babe.”
“There was a good chunk of time where I liked the pain. It made everything else fade away.” I had never told anyone that before. Each tattoo I had held a special meaning to me, and each time I got one, the pain of the tattoo helped me heal inside.
“Imogen,” he whispered. He grabbed my hand and pulled me down to my knees.
“Is the tattoo tour over?” I laughed.
“I never should have let you leave, Imogen.”
“It wasn’t like I told you I was leaving, Mace. I was gone with the rising sun. My mom didn’t even know I was gone until I called her from the bus stop.” Even if he would have tried to stop me, I still would have left. If I would have stayed in Sutter Creek, I wouldn’t be here.
If I had to stay in the evil and prejudice of that town, I never would have made it out alive.
“I know, but I should have found you. Kept protecting you.”
I cupped his face in my hand. “I know you think it is your job to protect me, but I think I needed these past years to figure out how to protect myself. I took care of myself by going to therapy and working through my messed-up mind after Kent raped me. If you had been around, I don’t think you would have let me out of your sight, let alone let me go to therapy to talk about Kent. It was so hard for me at first, but in the end, it was what I needed.”
“I should have found you sooner.” His voice cracked, and I could feel his regret and pain from the past fifteen years.
“We both needed to go our own way and find ourselves, Mace.” I laughed softly. “Look at you. You found a new family and changed your name. All I did was get some tattoos and piercings.”
“You found a job you love and Dorothy.”
I nodded. “You’re right.”
“And now we found each other again.” And in a weird, twisted way, we had Kent to thank for that.
Though if he hadn’t hurt me, Mace and I would never have been apart.
“I don’t think we would be here right now if Kent hadn’t hurt me. We had to lose each other to find ourselves.”
He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his chest. “And then we found each other again,” he whispered.
I pressed my forehead to his and sighed. “We did, and now we really need to sleep, Mace. You don’t know this, but I am a bitch in the morning if I don’t sleep enough.”
He pressed a kiss to my lips and smiled. “I remember a few times at school in the morning when you didn’t talk or look at me.”
“I was probably tired,” I chuckled. “It took me till noon sometimes to get out of my funk. I discovered coffee when I got to grandma’s, and it was a total game changer for early mornings.”
“Then I guess I better wake up early and make sure to get some coffee in you tomorrow before we take off.”
“Please tell me your bike has a cupholder.” I had been on his bike a few times, but I had never thought to take notice of everything. I just enjoyed the wind in my hair and my front pressed against Mace’s back.
He shook his head.
“Oh my god,” I moaned. “Tell me why you think we need to take your bike. We can take my car, and you can even nap while I drive.”
“No cages for me, babe.”
“Cages? Is that biker talk for a car?” He would think that a car is like a cage.
“I like my bike. You’ll only catch me in a cage for club business or if it’s raining heavily outside. But if that’s the case, then I just won’t go anywhere until I can get my bike out.”
“I guess I will have to keep all of that in mind. What about when it gets cold?”
“Leather and layers, babe.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled out of his arms. “You are insane. You will not be catching my butt on your bike from December to mid-February.” And that was even pushing it. November and even March had its cold days.
“Come on, babe. That just gives you even more reason to wrap your arms around me and get close.”
I stood and held my hand out to him. “I will just have to take your word for that. I’m just thankful it is May and not December right now.” He put his hand in mine, and I pulled him off the ground, though I don’t think I did much to help him up. I wasn’t kidding when I said Mace was a wall of muscle.
The man was solid.
He gathered me in his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of my head. “You’ll get used to it, babe. Besides, I’ll take most of the wind and cold. You can hide behind me and steal my pockets.”
“That does sound a little appealing,” I sighed. And it was also appealing since it wouldn’t be cold for a month. Mace was expecting me to be around for a while.
“Now stop keeping me awake, woman. Don’t you know we have to be up early?”
“What?” I gasped.
Mace scooped me up in his arms and tossed me on the bed. “Been trying to sleep for hours, but you keep distracting me with your sweet kisses, sexy legs, and promises of winter rides on the bike.”
“I think you might have that all backward, Mace.” I leaned up on my elbows and shimmied up to get my head on the pillow. “You’re the distraction, and I’m just trying to sleep.”
He flipped off the light and pulled back the quilt. “You may be right, but I’m pretty sure you enjoyed the last few hours.”
It was half past ten, and he was not wrong about me enjoying myself. “If we fall asleep right now, we can get seven and a half hours of sleep.”
‘Babe,” Mace drawled. “Are you seriously counting the hours of sleep we are going to get?” he laughed.
“Well, yeah,” I scoffed. “I do it every night.” Didn’t everyone else?
He gathered me to his side, and I rested my head on his chest.
“Isn’t it crazy to stop and think about how we got here?” I asked. “I mean, last week, I was sleeping alone, and my bowling partner was Dorothy.”
“I hope you don’t bowl with Dorothy like you did with me tonight. Pretty sure we did more kissing than knocking down pins.”
“Stop,” I yawned. “You know what I meant. I didn’t do much before you got here.”
“Just get tattooed from hip to toe,” he chuckled.
“It helped heal me,” I whispered.
Mace squeezed me tight. “I’m glad you made it through, babe.”
Me, too.
If I hadn’t, I never would have had Mace back in my life.
The past fifteen years had been tough, but I would do them all over again if I could have Mace.
Chapter Fifteen
Mace
“We should not have stopped.”
I replaced the gas pump and screwed the lid back on. “We still have about two hours, babe. There was no way we were going to make it to San Diego.” Bags rustled, and I turned to see Imogen with two plastic bags in her hands. “What the hell did you buy?”
“Something from our childhood that I haven’t seen for years. I bought too much, and I don’t know where we are going to put it all.”
Something from our childhood? Imogen and I had both grown up pretty poor. The only special thing I could think she had in those bags was some spaghetti o’s. “What did you find?” I pushed my sunglasses on top of my head and leaned against the bike.
She dropped one of the bags at her feet and pulled out a long strip of button candy from the other. “Do you see this?” she laughed. “I haven’t seen this candy for ages. Remember when we would get it from the gas station when we had change?”
I remembered. Imogen loved that candy, and I thought it tasted like sugared paper. “I’m worried that might have been sitting in the gas station for the past twenty years, babe.”
Imogen rolled her eyes. “That’s not even the thing I am the most excited about. I just happened to see that.”
“Please tell me you did not buy spaghetti o’s,” I laughed.
Imogen rolled her eyes. “I also haven’t had that in forever, but I did not buy that in the gas station. I honestly did not like that but ate it because I was hungry.”
That was the damn truth. “So what else did you buy, babe?”
She smiled wide and pulled a canister of cheese balls from the bag.
“No way,” I laughed. “I haven’t seen that container for years.” Cheese balls were still very much around, but the ones that came in the blue canister and had a yellow lid had a special place in Imogen’s and my childhood.
Every Monday, we would scrap together change until we had enough to buy a container for each of us.
“And,” Imogen drawled. “They had the cheese curls, too.” She pulled out another container and smiled proudly. “Do you think they taste the same?”
I grabbed the container of cheese balls and pulled off the lid. “Only one way to find out, babe.” I pulled back the paper seal and held the container out to her. She waited till I grabbed one, and we popped them in our mouths at the same time.
The crunch was familiar, but the taste, well, the taste was not what I remembered.
“It’s like cheese-flavored Styrofoam,” Imogen groaned.
I looked at the container to confirm this was what we ate growing up and was disappointed when I realized it was. “Is this what they used to taste like?”
Imogen swallowed and smacked her lips. “That was not good,” she laughed.
It was not. “Maybe these have sat on the shelf for the past twenty years.” It was a damn good chance they had.
I snapped the lid on the container and handed it back to Imogen. “Just cram them in the saddlebags, and we’ll put them at the clubhouse. They’ll get eaten.”
“How in the world did we think those were good?” Imogen laughed.
I crouched next to the bike and opened the saddlebag. “We were hungry, babe. Everything tasted good if we could get our hands on it.”
“I guess you are right.” Imogen handed me the containers of cheeseballs and crumbled up the plastic bags when they were empty. “It’s kind of crazy how you don’t realize how bad things are until you’re looking back on them years later.”
I managed to cram the last canister of cheese balls into the saddlebag and zipped it up. “We had each other, though. Those are the times I remember. Sure, we were hungry a lot, but we always made do.” I stood and wiped my hands on my pants.
“And you’re right again,” Imogen laughed.
