Smiling at him with genuine warmth, she walked over and dropped a kiss on his cheek. “I’m gonna hold you to that, mister.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her down into his lap. “What do you say we put your four days off to good use?”
“What did you have in mind?” she asked, grinning.
“My brothers will bring my sled. I’d love to have your pretty little ass on the back of my bike. Maybe you can come and check out my neck of the woods. Might be you find something you like in South Dakota territory.”
Grinning madly at him, she murmured, “Might be I already have.”
“Stop talking like me, doll. It gives me a boner.”
Her expression turned heated, and he could tell she was thinking of sucking him off at the hospital. It was the only association she’d had with his cock so far. As soon as he got rid of tall, dark, and brooding in the back room, he planned to fix that oversight. She seemed to instinctively know where his thoughts had drifted.
“We won’t be doing anything fun until your wounds heal a bit.”
Ryder’s lips skimmed the delicate column of her throat. “It’s cute that you think a few stitches are gonna stop me from pounding the fuck outta you.”
Laughing, she responded playfully, “If you tear out those sutures, I’ll have to drop a set myself. I’m no doctor, so that won’t be a walk in the park for you. Remember that the next time you start thinking sexy thoughts.”
“You know something, doll? Your eyes are the deepest blue I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re a real charmer,” she said with a light laugh. “I can tell that I’m going to have to be careful around you. You probably say the same thing to every girl you meet.”
“Maybe, but you ain’t like other girls. You’re quality. The kind of woman meant for luxury and fine things.”
“If you think I care about money, you don’t know me very well.”
“Women like you never care about shit like that,” he said, leaning back to look up at her. He brushed her hair back from her face. “I’m telling you my opinion of what you deserve, not what I think you want.”
Those big blue eyes of hers softened. “Don’t you think it ought to be up to me to decide what kind of man I want to spend my time with?”
“You like dirty bikers, babe?”
“Keep it up, smart mouth. I might run out and snag someone just like you out of spite.”
“If you’ve got a mind to throw your life away, it ain’t gonna be on someone like me. It’s gonna be on me, trust me on that, darlin’.”
“You might just possibly be the most arrogant man I’ve ever met, Ryder Staunton.”
“Gotta be honest, babe. That ain’t the first time a woman ever told me that.”
“Aren’t you supposed to say it also won’t be the last?”
He melted a little, enjoying their innocent flirting. “Maybe I want the last woman tellin’ me that to be you. Ever consider that?”
Suddenly, the roar of a half dozen motorcycles sounded outside the cabin. Standing, Ryder saw Ace walking in all clean and looking much less like a serial killer. Jerking his head, he spoke low and fast. “It’s my brothers. Let me and Ace do the talking, all right, doll?”
Nodding, she walked out with his arm draped around her waist.
There were six motorcycles in total. Looking like a bunch of leather-clad demons straight out of hell, his brothers dismounted from their bikes and headed in his direction. They stopped about twenty feet away and stared at him.
Ryder relaxed a little. Badasses though they were, he always felt safer in the company of his brothers. Stepping out to meet them, Tiffany kept to his back with both hands gripping his hips.
He tilted his head, trying to figure out what was keeping them from approaching. His brothers’ eyes slid from him to Tiffany. He could practically hear their thoughts. She was a stranger, one who stuck out as not like most of the people they knew. They’d see her as an interloper until they got to know her. Motioning his brothers forward, they reluctantly approached.
“Everything okay here, Ryder? I ain’t itching to kill no bitches today.”
“Ain’t nobody whackin’ my new girl. Get your head around that shit or we’re gonna have problems.”