Retribution: A Motorcycle Club Romance (8 page)

“Are you done staring at me like
that?” said Eva, breaking his train of thought. Her words said she was angry,
but the glint in her eyes and the rise and fall of her chest told Will a
different story.

For good measure, he gave her another
once-over, fully aware that she was watching him do it. Still, she stood
silent, her jaw clenched until he was done and took a few steps back. The heat
between them slowly dissipated once there was more distance between them, like
some supernatural force had left the room.

“Stay out of the bar, or I’ll drag
you back up here myself,” he said to her. “Understand?”

“I understand you’re delusional, if
you think you can tell me what to do,” said Eva. “I’ll speak with my brother
before we decide any course of action, thanks.”

“Your brother has deferred all power
to me,” said Will, and he couldn’t help but give a teasing half-grin when he
said it. “So, if you please, stay out of the bar so I don’t have to bury your tight
little body in the field out front.”

Eva went to reply, but seemed taken
aback by the covert compliment and dropped silent. She blinked at Will a few
times, then shook her head and walked around him for the hallway. “You’re a
prick, you know that? You and my brother should date.” She didn’t wait for a
response, but entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and slammed the door
behind her.

Will watched her walk away, lust
burning through his veins. He had the vague instinct that bedding Eva wouldn’t
be what he imagined, and not just because she was different from his usual
fare.
Yet another reason to stay away.

He took another look around the
living room, and at the uncomfortable-looking sitting couch that sat in front
of a char-black fireplace. “I guess I’ll just sleep out here, then? Or should I
crawl into Charlie’s bed?”

Eva didn’t respond, of course, but
that didn’t stop Will from laughing about it anyway.

~
NINE ~

Will only saw Eva twice more that evening before he
finally crashed on the uncomfortable living room sofa, and both times she
passed by him without a glance, her lips pursed. She was angry, and Will knew
she’d only be angrier if she realized how cute he thought she looked when she
was mad. Once, he almost told her, but it was late, and he decided he’d rather
not have the adrenaline rush of engaging with her. Instead, he just enjoyed the
view as he lay on the couch with his hand behind his head.

Eva passed by to go to the kitchen in
a short bathrobe that showed even more of her beautiful thighs than her dress
had, and Will didn’t try to hide his interest. On the way back, she couldn’t
resist giving him a glare. He looked her up and down and gave her a half smile
as she huffed back to her bedroom and shut the door.

After both she and Charlie had
retired he took a shower, letting himself air-dry in the bathroom as he thumbed
through magazines. For a moment, before he put his clothes back on, he
contemplated masturbating to the thought of Eva. Imagining her on his lap, as
naked as he was, got him as hard as a rock, but knowing she was just down the
hall made him only want the real thing. So instead, he dressed and returned to
his makeshift bedroom, flopping down on the couch.

Right before he fell asleep, he had
the thought that he was playing with fire, but his typical answer to that
familiar feeling echoed in his head—
I don’t care.

Only this time he wasn’t sure how
true that answer really was.

The night passed fitfully and he woke
up sore. He could hear Charlie in one of the bedrooms snoring louder than he’d
ever heard anyone snore, and that was counting the old timers at the MC. He was
almost impressed. Sounded like he was revving a Harley in there.

Will groaned and rubbed his neck with
his hand. The light coming in from the windows was beautiful gold, but low and
dim, that special glow that only happened in the earliest morning hours.
Morning birds had already begun their songs and he took a moment to enjoy the
rare tranquil moment in a life that had turned so recently into such chaos.

As he stood and stretched, he
realized something was different about this morning—aside from, obviously,
waking up in a strange home without being next to a hot piece of ass. It took
him a few moments, but then it hit him: he wasn’t hung over. Between the
adrenaline of the fight, the prep work with Charlie, and his tense dance with
Eva, Will hadn’t even had time to think about needing a drink to dull the pain.
It was an uncomfortable realization for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.

One-off day, I’m sure
,
he thought.
Though if this plan doesn’t work, I’ll probably be dead, anyway.
What does it matter?

He twisted around, cracking his back
muscles as he walked through the living room and into the kitchen. Will came to
a stop when he saw Eva already sitting at the kitchen table in her bathrobe,
one hand around a big cup of steaming coffee, the other flattened over an open
book on the table. She looked up when he came in the room. Her anger from the day
before was nowhere to be found.

“Oh,” said Will. He shifted his hips
a bit when he realized he hadn’t quite lost his morning wood yet, and the sight
of her barely covered thighs was not helping. “I didn’t hear you get up.”

“I was trying not to wake you,” said
Eva in a quiet, tired voice. She nodded toward the counter. “There’s still
coffee, if you want some.”

Indeed he did. Will opened a few
cabinets until he found an empty blue mug and served himself a cup of black java.
The warmth sang down his throat. Eva had gone back to her book, her index
finger running a slow pace as she devoured each line. He could see her eyes
moving back and forth along the page, momentarily jealous of the familiar but
long neglected feeling of being lost in another world.
How long has it been
since I’ve read a book?
There was a time when that was his favorite hobby,
passed down to him from his grandparents’ own love of reading.

Will grabbed his cup and joined her
at the table. Eva had taken the head of the table so he took the seat at her
right hand that gave him a great angled view of her legs when he leaned back.
When he sat, she peeked her eyes up at him without lifting her head.

“What’re you reading?” he asked,
resting his coffee in his lap.

“
Coriolanus
,” said Eva, again
without looking up.

“Shakespeare?” said Will. He smiled
to himself. “I haven’t read any Bard in a long time.”

Eva snickered into the book.

“What?” said Will. “Is that you
laughing at the idea of me reading Shakespeare?”

Eva finally looked up from the book.
He expected to see that same fire in her eyes she’d had all night, but instead
she actually looked confused. “Oh, no I… I really did think you were joking.”

“So, you really do think I’m just
some dumb meathead who doesn’t read.” Will had been treated that way by
friends, enemies, and strangers alike for most of his life—but this time, it actually
stung. He kept his face still, because he didn’t want Eva to know that. Not
that he could really blame her.

Eva shook her head. “I didn’t say
that.” She paused. “Actually, by the way you picked up my book yesterday, I
knew you had to be a reader of some kind.”

Will had forgotten about that. “Oh,
yeah?”

“What kind of meathead would even
notice I dropped a book, let alone care enough to pick it up?” said Eva.
“That’s only something people who love books would care about.” When she
finished, she smiled at him in a soft way that seemed different.

I guess she’s got me
there.
“I do love books. Or, I did… I haven’t
read much in a while,” he said.

Eva tilted her head. “Why’s that?”
Her pale skin looked so beautiful in the golden morning sunlight, even looking
at her made it hard for Will to focus.

Will shook his head and looked down
at his coffee. “Sometimes, I have trouble concentrating.”

Eva didn’t reply. When he looked up,
he saw sadness on her face, but not pity. As if she was sad he couldn’t read
anymore.

“I wasn’t really a big Shakespeare
guy, anyway,” he added, feeling self-conscious. “When I was a kid, my
grandfather would read to us while my grandmother baked in the evenings, and he
always insisted on using this British accent when he read Shakespeare—a
terrible one. We could never finish because we were laughing too hard. It
basically ruined my ability to take him seriously.”

Eva laughed with him at the memory,
and Will couldn’t believe how lovely she looked.

I haven’t thought about
that in so long
.
And I just told it to this woman
I barely know. What the hell is going on with me?

“Well, technically,
Coriolanus
is only part Shakespeare. It’s actually a very old Roman story that he retold,”
said Eva.

“So we really have been doing remakes
forever,” said Will as he sipped his coffee. He winked at Eva when she gave him
the stink eye for his terrible joke.

“It’s a story meant to be remade. It’s
so powerful,” she said, her voice taking on a wistful quality. “The great drama
of the warrior and people; the balance of peace and war.”

“And whose side are you on?” asked
Will.

“I think they both have their
merits,” said Eva. “I understand why Coriolanus is upset with the plebeians. Being
in war is a difficult thing, and it changes a person. It changes the way they
see things. Sometimes they can’t see normal, peaceful life anymore, because it
seems like an illusion.”

Will’s chest was tightening up as she
spoke, because he felt like she was reaching right into his mind and yanking
out his own thoughts; his own fears; the way he saw the world now.

“But Coriolanus didn’t react how he
should have. Being excellent on the battlefield doesn’t always translate to
being excellent in other areas. He got beaten by better politicians, and then
he tried to come back with violence, compelled by thoughts of vengeance and
retribution, and because that’s the only way he thought he could win. But
violence isn’t always the best tool.”

Will looked at her, watching the depth
in her eyes as her brain worked out her thoughtful answer. Her soft lips pursed
closed as she waited for his response. For a moment, all he could think about
was smashing his own lips against hers in a passionate kiss.

Instead, he gathered his thoughts and
spoke. “It’s an ancient cautionary tale. I always enjoyed him,
though—Coriolanus. I enjoy his fighting spirit.”

Eva gave him a smirk, but it wasn’t
bitter like yesterday’s—this was more playful. “You, enjoying the warrior
archetype? Color me shocked.”

“And I enjoy how he doesn’t let the
shitty decisions of his superiors sway him from what he knows he has to do,”
said Will. As the words came out of his mouth, he realized exactly why he liked
Coriolanus, really.
Doing a little hero worship of yourself, are we?

“He does have some of the best
speeches,” said Eva.

Will nodded. “So did Volumnia. Such a
supportive mother.”

Eva let out a cackle. “Supportive?
She encouraged his aggression! She almost ruined him.”

Will shrugged. “At least she
understood how he felt. My favorite line from that wasn’t one of the big
characters, anyway.”

“Oh?” The eyebrow raised on Eva’s
face was a challenge, Will could see. With a cocky half-smile, he heartily
accepted.

“ ‘
Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace
as far as day does night; it's spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent.
Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter
of more bastard children than war's a destroyer of men
.’ ” He took a drink of coffee and
watched with satisfaction as Eva’s smile widened with every word.

She was quiet for a good long moment
after he finished, like she was drinking it in. “Of course that’s your
favorite,” she said softly. She shook her head at him and laughed, then got up
from her chair and went to refill her coffee. Her bare thighs walked right by
Will within touching distance, and he felt his cock ache against his jeans when
he smelled her body wash.

It only got worse when she came back
and stood in front of him instead of sitting in her chair. Will had to
practically rip his gaze away from the flesh of her legs just begging to be
touched to look up at her face. The expression she wore said she probably
didn’t even realize what she was doing, and somehow that made it sexier to
Will.

“You think force is the only way get
things done, then?” said Eva. She shifted on her legs, hiking her robe up just
a little bit more.

Will bit his lip and adjusted in his
seat to hide his growing erection. “Not all things,” he said. “Some things
require a bit more… delicacy.” He made sure his eyes were on the skin at her
thighs when he said it. When he trailed back up her body, Eva’s mouth was open,
realization slowly dawning in her eyes.

“Oh…” It was less a word, and more a
sound that escaped her mouth with a breath.

When she didn’t back away, Will
couldn’t help himself. He looked up in her eyes, and then brought his left hand
slowly up from his side and laid it on the skin of her thigh. When his skin met
hers, it felt like a jolt of electricity running through his nerves. Her skin
felt even softer than it looked.

Eva gasped, but it was a drawn-out,
heavy thing that was just as much relief as it was surprise. When he looked up
he saw her eyes closed against his touch, her mouth half-open, taking in deep
breaths. He watched her mouth widen even more as his hand softly traced up along
her skin, from her knee, all the way back up to the bottom of the bathrobe. He
only hesitated there a moment before he pushed up even further, palming the
skin of her upper thigh, and moving around to grasp her ass.