Canyon shook his head. “I don’t have shit to do with what they do here.”

  “Didn’t say you did. Won’t matter to Gage either. He just likes to slice folks up. He’s a sick fucker like that.”

  Canyon looked at me. “It’s not that easy. I can’t just take a hundred grand from the club,” he said. “You know shit doesn’t work that way.”

  “Then, it sounds like they’ll be needing a new VP soon,” I replied. “At least then, the fucking flowers will stop.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at me.

  “When I left Dolly’s apartment this morning, I made sure to drop them off at the neighbor’s,” I said, grinning. Relishing the fact that he knew I’d been there with her. She wasn’t his. She was never gonna be his.

  “This ain’t about Dolly. Leave her out of this,” he said as his hands fisted on the table.

  “I won’t be leaving her or her bed anytime soon,” I informed him.

  Canyon’s face turned red, and he started to stand up, but Levi cleared his throat.

  “Sudden moves aren’t smart,” he warned him.

  Canyon’s eyes shot back over to Gage, and he swallowed hard, lowering himself back into the booth.

  “As entertaining as this drama unfolding is, I have better things to do. Where is the money, Acree? You were told ten days, and you got eleven.”

  “I said, I don’t have it,” he snarled at Levi.

  “That’s not good,” he replied, then nodded at me to get up.

  I stood, and Levi moved out of the seat. Canyon was watching us carefully as one of his hands slid back under the table. I started to say something, but Levi looked back at him.

  “I’ll tell him to start with your dick,” he informed Canyon, then began walking away.

  I stood there, unsure what the fuck was going on, when Gage began walking over in our direction.

  “I can get it. Just let me go handle some things.” The fear in Canyon’s voice made it tremble as he moved to get up.

  “Too late,” Gage replied with a villainous curl to his lips.

  “Wait. I’m sorry. He threw me off, talking about fucking Dolly. I’ll go get it.”

  Gage didn’t look at me, but kept his eyes on Canyon. “Well then, you can think about how he’s fucking her while I show you how pretty my blade is.”

  “Let’s go,” Levi called after me.

  I turned back to see him waiting on me near the main entrance.

  Heading in his direction, I heard Canyon whimper. Was he slicing him up in here? In front of witnesses? I decided not to look back.

  “What happens next?” I asked Levi as we walked outside past the bouncers, who seemed to give Levi a wide berth, as if they knew exactly who he was.

  “Gage and Huck will take him out the back. Make sure he hands over the money and stays the fuck away from your sister’s best friend…which is what I was told she was.” His gaze looked amused as he said the last part. “Will we be needing to save you from your sister, too, Abe, or can you handle that on your own?”

  I let out a sigh, then laughed. “I’ll let you know.”

  28

  Dolly

  “Uh, smoking-hot biker guy, whose abs I would pay to lick, is asking for you,” Zander said, sticking his head in the door to the book return room.

  I set down the current book I was checking back in and grinned.

  “He’s early,” I told him. “Could you send him back here to me? I have five more books, and then I’ll be done.”

  Zander raised his eyebrows at me. “He’s picking you up? As in you are leaving with a sexy biker man?”

  I nodded, pressing my lips together to keep from laughing. “Yes, he is.”

  “Damn, girl, look at Little Miss Prim and Proper being naughty,” he replied before closing the door and leaving me to finish my work.

  It was hard to focus though, knowing Micah was here. This morning, he had brought me my favorite caramel doughnuts to bed, then taken one of them and rubbed the caramel off it and onto several places on my body before licking it off.

  The harder I tried to protect my heart from getting hurt, the more difficult he made it. I wanted to be with him all the time. When he smiled at me, the world seemed to glow. My heart would soar. I felt as if the demons of my past were gone. Micah managed to make it all go away. He made everything perfect.

  The door opened, and my head snapped up from the book I’d been staring at while lost in thought to see Micah step into the room. The sight of him made my chest feel lighter.

  “Hey, you,” I said, trying not to look as completely obsessed as I was.

  He looked around, then reached back and locked the door, then smirked at me. “I like the hot librarian thing you got going on here. We need to get you some glasses.”

  I glanced back at the door he’d locked, then at him. “We can’t…you know,” I whispered, as if anyone could hear us closed off in this room that wasn’t much bigger than a closet. Well, maybe a walk-in closet.

  Micah walked over to me. “What can’t we do, Tink?” he asked as he reached me.

  Setting down the book, I stood up from the short little stool I had been sitting on. “Whatever it is you have in mind. Zander has a key to that door. He could come in if he wanted to.”

  Micah reached out and took one of the loose strands from the makeshift bun I had twisted my hair into earlier and stuck a pencil in it to hold it in place. He wrapped it around his finger slowly. “I’ve been thinking about how sweet your pussy tastes all day,” he said, dropping my hair to cup the side of my face.

  I swallowed as my heart rate sped up. “That was just the caramel from the doughnut you smeared between my legs,” I replied.

  He laughed, lowering his head to mine. “Your pussy doesn’t need anything added to it to make it sweet. It already tastes like honey.”

  Oh God. I was going to have sex in the book return room. How was I supposed to say no to this man when he said stuff like that? Besides, the ache between said legs was now starting to tingle.

  His mouth covered mine as his tongue slipped between my lips just as I heard the zipper of his jeans slide down. He picked me up and set me on the edge of the desk, knocking off several books I had in organized piles in the process. Not that I cared.

  My skirt had ridden up, but he shoved it up further, and I opened my legs as he stepped between them. His fingers grabbed the crotch of my panties and jerked them aside. With the first thrust, he was inside me, gloriously stretching me to the point of almost pain, but not. Lifting my knees so he could sink deeper, he let out a deep, satisfied groan that vibrated his chest.

  “Fuck, I needed this pussy,” he said in a deep growl as he looked down at our joined bodies. “You look so damn good, stretched around me like that. Taking my dick like such a good girl, Tink.”

  My body trembled, and I gripped the edge of the table to keep from falling backward as he pumped into me harder.

  “Best fucking cunt I’ve ever had,” he grunted, his eyes taking on a wild look. “I can’t get it out of my head. I think about it all the time, Tink. How tight it squeezes me. How amazing you smell. How I want to stay buried inside you, listening to those sexy little cries you make all the fucking time.”

  He slammed into me, grabbing my waist, and I reached out to hold on to him.

  “I want you walking around with my cum dripping out of you all the time. NO one else touches this. MY cunt. My fucking pussy,” he snarled as if he were making a claim for someone other than me to hear.

  My climax hit me, and Micah covered my cry with his hand as he watched me ride the wave of the orgasm. His eyes locked on mine. I was mesmerized by him. The way his jaw flexed, his eyes flared, and then the slight slack in his jaw as he jerked, then shuddered, pulling me against his chest.

  I wrapped my arms around him, gasping as he pumped his release inside me. He hadn’t done this before. I had a doctor’s appointment tomorrow to start the shot for birth control. He’d gotten tested and then stopped using condoms with me, but he had been pulling out.

  I should be worried. We shouldn’t be staying here like this. But I didn’t want him to let me go. I’d never felt more connected to another person in my life. The part of me that had always felt alone, unwanted, wasn’t there. With Micah, I felt complete.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “I lost control.”

  “It’s okay. I mean, it’s safe. Right? I am due to start my period in three days. That’s”—I paused, feeling my face flush—“not an, uh, fertile time.” Yes, I had Googled it.

  “Can’t say that has ever been an issue for me. Not something I’ve had to worry about, seeing as you’re the only female I want to shoot my load in like a fucking caveman.”

  I buried my face against his chest and giggled. Yes, I giggled.

  His deep chuckle made me feel warm inside as he held me tighter to him. “You’ve got my head all kinds of fucked up, Tink.”

  A knock at the door reminded me where we were, and I dropped my hands and looked up at Micah, panicked. He just grinned like we hadn’t just had sex at my job.

  “Hey, uh, Dolly. I hate to interrupt, but Professor Yow is here, looking for Lewin’s Essential Genes. He said you had held it for him,” Zander called through the door.

  I shoved Micah back and scrambled off the desk, straightening my panties and then pulling down my skirt. “Oh, yes, I’ll be right there,” I told him.

  “Okay.” Zander’s tone suggested he knew exactly what we had been doing. He seemed to be on the verge of laughter.

  I covered my warm cheeks with my palms, scanning the room for the book I had set aside for the professor.

  Micah walked over and bent down to pick up a book, then held it out to me. “Looking for this?”

  I grabbed it and sighed in relief. “Yes.”

  He reached out and pulled me to him, kissing my forehead. “Make this quick,” he told me. “I’m ready to put you on the back of my bike.”

  I stared up at him. His bike. He’d had a new battery put in my car, and he had been bringing me to work in my car the past few days. I’d thought he had changed his mind about my riding on his bike. He’d been so against it, as if it were a privilege he wasn’t willing to hand out to anyone.

  “You brought your bike?” I asked.

  “Yeah, Tink.” Then, he nodded his head toward the door. “Let’s give this to the guy who has a hard-on for me and leave.”

  I let out a laugh. “You mean, Zander?”

  “He’s not subtle. Let’s just say that.”

  I patted his chest. “Stop walking around like a sex god, and folks won’t drool.”

  This time, it was Micah who laughed.

  Zander was busy helping someone when we left, but he winked at me, then waggled his eyebrows. Micah kept his arm over my shoulders on the way outside to the bike. When we got there, I saw the pink helmet on the seat of the bike.

  I paused and looked up at him.

  “What?” he asked, trying not to smile. He was pleased with himself.

  “You bought me a pink helmet?”

  He shrugged. “I assumed that was your favorite color since half the shit you own is pink.”

  “It is. But that isn’t the point, is it, Micah Abe? The point is you BOUGHT me a helmet to ride your bike. You didn’t borrow one. You went and picked out one for me.”

  He smirked then. “You seem real damn pleased about it too.”

  “It might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me,” I admitted.

  He picked it up and slipped it on my head, then fastened it like I was a child. When he was satisfied it was on safely, he brushed his knuckles over my chin, but said nothing. I didn’t need him to. His actions were far stronger than his words anyway.

  I watched as he threw his leg over the bike, then held out a hand for me to take as I climbed on behind him. Once I was settled, he squeezed my thigh, then leaned forward as I wrapped my arms around his middle.

  I couldn’t think of a time in my life when I had been happier than I was right now.

  29

  Dolly

  The parking lot of Paradise Brew, Pepper’s bar, was packed. The hurricane had put her back almost a month in opening it. Tonight was her big night. She wasn’t thrilled with Micah and me dating, but she’d accepted it. My going to her and pleading with her to talk to her brother had much to do with it. She had finally agreed that I seemed happier and so did Micah.

  He had been sleeping at my apartment for a month now. I hadn’t been back to the club, but with my work and fall semester starting up, I hadn’t had much time. Micah and I had the evenings together. Most weekend nights, he left me after I was asleep to go handle club business, but rarely did I wake up and he wasn’t in bed with me.

  Tonight, however, was special. We were here to celebrate Pepper’s first night with her doors open for business. The number of bikes outside meant that The Judgment had shown up in support. I was so happy for her that I could bust.

  Micah bent down and pressed a kiss to my lips before placing his hand on my back and leading me into the bar. A live band was playing, and the place was full. The inside of the bar had a rustic elegance to it. The exposed beams in the ceiling had what looked like antique light bulbs hanging from cords that wrapped around the wood. The bar itself was in the center of the room. It was circular with old barrels lined with mirrors surrounding it. There was dark brown leather seating with occasional black leather mixed in and carved wooden tables that looked as if they’d been made two hundred years ago from the finest oak.

  “Stay close to me so I don’t have to break a fucker’s arm for thinking he can talk to you,” Micah said close to my ear as we went farther inside the bar.

  This was so far removed from my scene that he didn’t have to worry about that, not one bit. He led us to the bar, where Pepper was laughing at some men seated at it, pouring a drink. She seemed to be beaming with excitement. My heart felt full when I saw her like this. She’d been talking about this for years. It had been her dream, and now, she had made it real.

  Micah started in the direction of the pool tables, and I noticed Nina at one of the tables beside it, holding a beer in her hand and talking animatedly to Goldie, who was across from her. Nina’s husband, Jars, was sitting at the seat beside her with his arm around the back of her chair, leaning back and smiling at whatever his wife was saying.

  When we approached them, Jars had already spotted us and pushed out the chair across from him with his booted foot, then nodded for Micah to take it.

  “Dolly!” Nina squealed and ran around the table to pull me into a hug.

  “She’s on the other side of tipsy,” Jars said from his seat with an amused smirk.

  I returned her hug, smiling, enjoying her enthusiastic welcome.

  “I keep telling Micah to bring you back. He’s keeping you all to himself,” she said, wagging a finger in his face.

  “I’ll bring her to see you this week,” he said with a crooked grin.

  “Sit down!” she exclaimed. “We can find another chair somewhere.”

  “No need,” Micah replied, sitting in the chair and pulling me down to sit on his lap. “Keep those legs together. I don’t want anyone getting a glimpse of those pink panties,” he whispered in my ear.

  I felt my cheeks warm, thinking about the fact that he had made sure my pink panties would be damp tonight from his cum before we left.

  I crossed my legs and looked up at him through my lashes. “How’s that?”

  His gaze dropped to my legs. “Fucking distracting.”

  If he kept looking at me like that, I was gonna have a hard time visiting with his friends.

  “Jesus Christ, get a room,” Jars muttered.

  Nina slapped his arm. “Shut up, you! I’m loving this.”

  Jars raised his beer and put the bottle to his mouth with a roll of his eyes.

  “Micah?” a female voice said.

  Before I could even turn to see who it was, I felt his entire body tense up. His hand tightened on my leg for a moment, then released me. I glanced at him, then swung my eyes to whoever had gotten this reaction out of him.

  She was blonde. Of course she was. She was also tall and willowy. Long, dark lashes, red lips, and a body that made other women feel inferior.

  Please, God, let this be some long-lost relative I don’t know about.

  “Calista,” he replied. His voice was casual, but the way his body was rigid told me something else entirely.

  She glanced at me only briefly, and then her eyes swung back to him. “I thought you might be here tonight.”

  He nodded once. “Pep is my sister,” he replied tightly.

  “Thought you’d moved to California,” Nina said. “You back, visiting your momma?”

  She smiled at Nina, and my stomach sank further. She belonged on magazine covers or television. How did she know them? I needed someone to tell me she was related to Micah.

  Please, oh please, let that be the case.

  “I had some things happen that sent me back home. I’ve been hoping to run into you actually,” she said, and I realized she was looking at Micah, not Nina.

  “Yeah, well, you did,” he replied.

  She was silent for a moment. “I see,” she finally said. “It was good seeing you, everyone.” Her gaze dropped back to me again. “I’m Calista.”

  She seemed nice enough. I wanted to think she was nice. I also wanted to think she was a lesbian or a relative of Micah’s, but my gut was telling me neither was the case.

  “Dolly,” I replied.