“I think it is. Let’s see what happens. If need be, I’ll jump in there before it gets too crazy,” I promised her. I watched as Beast wedged himself up against Zara’s other side. He ran his hand down her arm. That’s when Demon hit the group.
“What the fuck is going on here?” he shouted. His face was dark with anger. Zara looked at him coolly. The guys looked at him questioningly.
“What do you mean, what’s going on here? And drop the f-word, I’m talking to these guys and making new friends. Why?” she snapped back.
“Zara, come with me. You don’t need to be in the middle of them.”
“Whoa, stop there, Demon. She said she’s not anyone’s old lady. She doesn’t have a ring on her finger or a cut. What’s your problem?” Beast asked him.
“She’s not available. She’s been spoken for already. Come on, Zara, we need to talk.” He held out his hand. Just as he did, April came up and ran her hand up his back. He flicked a glance back at her. I saw the look that came over Zara. Her eyes hardened.
“It looks like you’re otherwise engaged, Demon, and I want to get to know Beast and the guys better. Come on, fellas, let’s go outside by one of the fires. Jess, Ajax, do you want to join us?”
I knew I had to make sure she didn’t get hurt. Not that the guys would physically hurt her, but she might get into a situation she couldn’t get out of. She was Jessica’s friend.
Jess answered for us. “Sure. Let’s go. I see Ajax got our drinks.” We all headed for the door. Demon was bringing up the back of the group and he was fuming. I’d seen him shake off April and tell her curtly to leave him alone. However, Zara hadn’t witnessed it. Once outside, we all went to the biggest firepit and sat down. Demon sat down as close as he could get to Zara, which wasn’t that close since the Marauders were now all over her. The rest of their club had joined us. I saw most of my brothers had too. They knew things could get ugly.
The conversation flowed. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to it. I was busy watching Demon. He had his fists clenched and every time one of the guys touched her or got closer, his fists got tighter. It was when Jinx asked her to take a walk with him that I knew we had to step in, or Demon was going to be swinging. As she agreed and they stood up, he jumped to his feet and headed toward them. I intercepted him. I wasn’t the only one. Joker, Rebel, and Slash were headed to him as well. We all caught him before he got to the couple.
“Demon, you have to get ahold of yourself. You can’t be fighting with our ally,” I hissed.
“The hell I can’t. He and his guys have their hands all over my woman. Now Jinx wants to take a walk in the dark. He plans to seduce her!” he snarled as he tried to get loose from the hold we had on him. Zara and Jinx were walking away. She was studiously not looking in Demon’s direction, but some of his guys were and they had knowing looks on their faces.
“And if he does, she’s the one who allowed it. She’s not your woman,” Slash told him. Demon whipped around to glare at him.
“Like hell, she isn’t. I claimed her the fucking day I saw her. She’s just being stubborn about it. She’s trying to push me away.”
“And why do you think that is? Maybe the fact you have women around you or hanging on you every time she sees you? She’s not going to let you have the time of day, Demon. Not when she can’t trust you’ll be with only her. If you’re looking for an easy lay, stick to the bunnies,” Jessica said which surprised the hell out of me. She gave him a disappointed look and then walked off. I watched as she went back inside.
“She’s right, you know. Zara came in and I saw her face when she saw you hanging with the bunnies on the couch. And when April came up to you in there… that kind of behavior is pushing her away. If you want her, you have to prove she’s the only one you want,” Rebel told him. I watched as Demon seemed to deflate. He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.
“I’m not touching any of them. I haven’t since I saw Zara. I can’t help it if they come and talk to me. I mean, I don’t want to be a total ass to them.”
“Then you need to be prepared not to have Zara. She doesn’t know what goes on when she’s not around, but she can imagine. I can guarantee you she sees you with those women. A woman like that is a fucking find. You don’t straighten up. Some other guy is going to steal her. She’s smart, beautiful, funny, and a fucking doctor. For Christ’s sake, wake up.” I was stunned to hear Beast say that to Demon. Demon sat down on the chair nearest to him. He was looking off into the dark where the couple had vanished.
“I don’t want to lose her, and I’m not out for a piece of ass either. I want her like Ajax, Rebel, Ace, and Bull do their old ladies. Everything I do seems to piss her off. I’ll work on the women thing, but I can’t promise they won’t approach me. I can only send them off if they do.”
“It’s a start. Now, I think we need to go inside. You can’t sit here staring into the dark and wondering what they’re doing. The fact is, they’re adults. If they decide to hook up, they do. You have to decide if you can handle that,” Bull said to him out of the darkness. I hadn’t seen him join us.
Demon reluctantly allowed us to bring him inside. When April tried to approach him again, he quickly and decisively sent her packing. We were there for maybe fifteen or twenty minutes when the door opened and in came Jinx with Zara. She was leaning heavily on his arm and limping. Demon shot off his barstool and raced over to her.
“What’s wrong, babe?” He put an arm around her waist. She tried to shrug him off, but he hung on to her.
“It’s nothing. Just a twisted ankle. I didn’t see a rock and stepped on it funny,” she told him. He glared at Jinx.
“Why didn’t you stay where you could see? Here, come over here and let’s take a look at it.” He swung her up into his arms despite her protests and took her to a couch.
“Demon, I’m fine. I don’t need anyone to check it for me. I’m a doctor. I think I know the difference between a sprain and worse. A little ice and I’ll be fine.” Jessica and the other ladies had joined us. I saw Jess head to the kitchen. The whole party was focused on the Zara and Demon show. I could see the look of amusement on Jinx’s face. I edged over to him.
“You did it on purpose, didn’t you? The whole let’s take a walk in the dark,” I told him.
He grinned and nodded. “Yes, I did. He needs a push to get off his ass and claim her. But I can tell you if he doesn’t, I’ll be checking into the doc. She’s too damn wonderful to be unattached. I could get serious about an old lady,” he told me honestly.
I had to contain my chuckle. Jess was back and handed the ice to Zara. She had her leg propped up and she put the ice on it gently. Demon was parked by her side. I knew he wouldn’t let her out of his sight for the rest of the night. Deciding they could take care of themselves, I grabbed Jess.
“Come on, baby, she’s in good hands. If she needs anything, they will make sure she gets it. I want to spend some time with my lady. The kind where we both get naked and sweaty. Does that idea interest you?” I teased. I knew she’d be up to having sex or making love, whichever one we chose. I’d finally realized the difference with her. Even when I called it sex, it was really me making love to her in a little less constrained and civilized way. She drove me wild when I got close to her. She gave me a smirk.
“Maybe I could be persuaded. What do you have to offer?” I tugged her to my chest and kissed her deeply.
When we had to come up for air, I whispered in her ear, “How would you like me to take that ass tonight? I’ve been dreaming about it, baby. How tight you’ll be. How much pleasure, I know I can bring you.” Her body jerked. Her eyes grew even more heated, and she pressed her hard nipples into my chest as she ground into my pelvis with her tummy.
“That would definitely get my attention. Why don’t we go to your room and explore this idea? The thought of you in my ass is making me wet, Kellan.” She moaned. I didn’t waste any more time talking. I swung her up in my arms bridal style and carried her down the hall. Catcalls and whistles followed us. She blushed but then the minx waved at them. Once I had her in my room and the door locked, I sat her down on the bed as I worked off my boots. I was going to worship her body tonight.