She held on and we sped off, following Zeke on the dark city streets. It was a warm night, not quite April but who gave a damn about seasons in So Cal. The party was only a couple of miles away, but I wanted it to be a couple of states. I could ride with Sky behind me the rest of my life. She fit there like the puzzle piece I’d been missing all these years. I almost kept on keeping on when I saw Zeke turn into the club. But eyes on the prize, I reminded myself. If this all played out right—and that was a big if—Sky and I would get plenty of time together to do whatever we wanted.
“It’s no Ace Bar,” Zeke commented as we headed towar
d the entrance, loyal to a fault. “But the owner owed us a favor, so we got the place for the night.”
The place was swanky, with a kind of old-school glam/mobster vibe. The walls had large black and white canvas photos of James Cagney, Marlon Brando, plus a couple of the real deals, gangsters from the prohibition era like Al Capone, all wearing suits and ties and up to no good. Lots of gold-painted trim, mirrors and not much lighting, the place was tailor-made for bad guys and the women who loved them.
Without me, I bet Tommy was going to turn Ace Bar into something similar, minus the gold trim. Me? I was glad I’d cashed out. I wanted to be my own man, no handing over my club on a Thursday night because the head of the local MC told me to do it. You got too close and they owned you.
Which was why we had to play it just right tonight. I didn’t like getting in bed with these creeps, but above all I was a realist and I knew it was our best option. But we needed to make the agreement air-tight, no lingering loopholes, no IOU chits anyone could cash in for years to come. If Sky and I gave them what they wanted, they needed to turn right around and give us what we did. Case closed.
A waitress in short shorts and nothing but pasties up top came over.
“Good to see you tonight.” Zeke gave her a kiss on the cheek. They might know each other in the biblical sense. They might have never met. You never could tell with Zeke, he was so smooth.
“What can I get you?” She gave him a kiss back, then offered me a flirtatious smile. “You know everything’s on the menu.”
I tightened the arm I already had around Sky’s waist, looking down at her, not thrilled about taking her to a place like this. I wanted to treat her right, make her happy and relaxed, not show her off in a room of women wearing even less. Not to mention the men, Zeke’s Iron Reapers brothers, all of whom seemed to be looking over at Sky, undressing what little she had on her with their eyes.
“The big guy could use a strong drink,” Zeke tried to lighten the mood, giving me a look. I knew he was right. I needed to loosen up and make nice with the big dogs, not growl at them like we were fighting over a bone. “And how about a cocktail for you, Sky? What’d you like?”
Drinks ordered, Zeke ushered us into the crowd, introducing us to anyone and everyone. I recognized Cotton, the jumpy guy he’d brought out with him to Ace Bar a little over a year ago. He still looked like he was itching for a fight, even in the middle of a party with his own club.
I put on my game face, schmoozing like the former bar owner I was. I could talk to a hole in the wall if I needed to, and with some of these guys it might as well have been. Sky stayed glued to my side, my arm around her like a giant gorilla. That was exactly where I wanted her, her sweet softness pressing against me. The brush of her hair on my arm, the light sound of her voice when she answered the occasional question. I must have come off like the big, possessive motherfucker that I was because no one made a move on Sky. They must have read my body language correctly. I’d rip their arm off if they so much as thought about it.
“You doing OK?” I asked Sky, rubbing her back, her waist. She was wearing so little, it was a good thing I had an excuse to keep my hands on her at all times. I would have been hard pressed to do otherwise.
“Glad I’m with you.” She sounded tense.
“I got you,” I reassured her, kissing her head, breathing in her scent.
We stood and mingled, but my attention stayed fixed on Sky, my hands caressing the curve of her hip, lightly grazing the swell of her ass. Over the past year, I’d exerted so much energy to keep away from her. But now we had to put on a show, convince everyone we were a couple. I had to touch her, and I was up to the task.
Apparently, Sky was up to the challenge as well. She melted into me, her hand up to my arm, pressing against my chest. She had to convince them she was offering up her husband, she was with me now. She was doing a good job. I didn’t know if Sky was just performing for the audience or not, but she was convincing me. The way she looked up at me, it was as if she, too, felt drugged by our closeness.
“Let me bring you over to meet Texas.” Zeke started leading us over to a private booth. He’d told me about Texas earlier that day. He was second in command, a guy to watch and impress. “Prez is in back, but he’ll come find you when he wants.”
Texas sat, big and wide as the state after which he was named, his girl on his lap. He didn’t rise when Zeke brought us over, just nodded for us to sit. I slid into the booth, then decided, what the hell. Might as well take advantage of the opportunity. I pulled Sky right onto my lap, my hands on her hips, settling her ass right where I wanted it. She sucked in her breath at the contact, as hyper-aware of me as I was of her. I rubbed her back, massaged her neck, and she leaned into me. This was supposed to look like how we were all the time.
“You’re Zeke’s guy,” he grunted, squinting at me across the table. The place was so dimly lit, especially in the booth.
“We go way back. Did some time together. He’s like a brother to me.”
He nodded, accepting the truth of that statement. “And this here’s your girl.” He turned his scrutiny on Sky. I did not like it. Even with a woman on his lap, he looked way too interested in Sky. But I sat still, knowing I wouldn’t let him do anything to her I didn’t want him to.
“Hear you used to be Griller’s old lady?”
“Used to be. Not anymore,” Sky responded, tough and determined, exactly as she needed to. I knew she spoke from the heart.
“That piece of shit.” Texas turned and spat on the floor. “He killed my dog.”
“Oh my God, I’m sorry.” She sounded shaken.
I rubbed her arm. “We all want the same thing. No one here’s a fan of the guy.”
Texas returned his attention to me. I could see the wheels turning in his brain, assessing our relationship, the situation. On impulse, I leaned down and kissed Sky. The moment my lips met hers, I forgot we were doing it on display, to make a point. All I knew was her lips tasted like honey and her tongue twined with mine.
“You traded up, girl, that’s what you did.” Texas’s voice broke me from my haze. He gave Sky an approving nod as he settled back into the booth, drawing his girl closer. “Here’s to that motherfucker getting what he deserves.” He held up his glass and we all drank, sealing the deal. We’d convinced him. Now all that was left was the Prez.
Texas turned his attention to the woman on his lap. It only made sense that I did the same. I nuzzled Sky’s ear, giving her a little lick on her throat. Her breathing picked up and she squirmed against me. Her skirt rode up so high I saw most of her thighs. I brought my hand to her bare skin, caressing her, loving how she responded to me.
With her wearing next to nothing, pressed up against me, I was hard as a rock. I was sure she could feel it. I wasn’t trying to hide it. Hand on her hip, I rocked her into me, and she gasped, her lips parting.
“Kiss me,” I whispered in her ear. I didn’t care if it was just for show anymore. I needed to feel her lips on mine again. She tilted her head up, leaning in and I ground her against me, capturing her mouth, her heat.
“You two enjoy yourselves tonight.” Texas and his girl worked their way up and out of the booth. We barely noticed, so wrapped up in each other. We had the booth to ourselves, in the darkness. Under the table, my hand crept up higher. Every inch of her body sang to me with arousal, from the flush in her cheeks, the glisten of her lips, to the push of her nipples, braless, against her thin, strapless top. Was she wet, too?
As I slowly inched my hand up her thigh, I told her, “You’re driving me crazy.” She clutched my shoulder, grasping my shirt, panting as she kissed my throat.
“Jax.” She twisted against my lap, wriggling along my cock.
“Are you wet, baby?” I stroked my fingers closer, further up her thigh. Grazing them lightly along the silk of her panties, I found my answer. She closed her eyes, whimpering at my touch, soaked right through. “So wet for me,” I murmured, drugged with desire.
Her slick heat beckoned me, the smell of her, the feel of her on my fingertips. I felt almost dizzy, drunk now that I was so close to exactly what I wanted. Looking down, I could see her generous cleavage, her breasts straining against the top, her nipples aching, pebbled tips. She gripped my shoulder, turning into me as I pushed her panties to the side and started to stroke her under the table, sure and firm, finding her throbbing clit and giving it the attention it deserved.
She bit her lip and moaned into my chest, her fingernails digging into my skin, her body rigid with arousal. The need to make her cum incensed me, flooding my senses.
“You feel so good,” I murmured
“Jax,” she panted, so eager, so close, but anxious, too. Anyone could discover us, come over and see what we were up to. We were in public.
But I kept at her, under the table. In the corner, tucked into the booth of a dark club, we could get away with it. And with her orgasm so close I could almost feel it already, I couldn’t stop even if I tried.
She struggled. “Jax, this is...” Her thighs quivered, her ass rubbing along my cock. Her slick arousal coated my fingers as I picked up the rhythm. “What if—?”
“You can cum for me, baby,” I coaxed her, with my words and my fingers. Her chest heaved as she whimpered. “Just me. No one will know. Show me how good it feels when I do this.” I curved my fingers, hitting the spot that made her tilt her head back, her eyelids fluttering closed for a second as she bit back a moan.
I knew I was being wicked, tormenting her, forcing her to orgasm, but I was a man possessed. I didn’t know what the future held. Nothing was settled between me and Sky. That might be the one chance I got.
With a gasp and a shudder, she quaked under my fingers, stilling for just a moment as I pressed against her clit. I swept her lips into a kiss, drinking in her cries as she came, my fingers buried deep up inside her soaking wet pussy. She bucked her hips, her eyes closed to an avalanche of pleasure.