Barely Undercover (16 page)

James eased his thick shaft between her folds, filling her, stretching her, but slowly, too slowly. She moaned and levered herself down, taking him inch by hard, thick inch, until he was completely inside her.

“That’s it,” he rasped. “Take all of me.” He pulled back and eased inside her again, the slide of his hot, heavy cock almost exquisitely painful against her swollen tissue.

He slid out again and, without warning, he gripped her hips and hammered into her, finally making good on his promise. When she keened against his shoulder, he slid his hand between them and brushed his finger over her clit. Lana gasped. Too much sensation. Her body coiled tighter and tighter. James thrust harder and deeper. Finally, everything inside her exploded outward in wave after wave of excruciating pleasure.

James pumped up and down as her orgasm rippled through her. His hands tightened around her waist, his body stiffened, and then he came with a low, guttural groan, his cock pulsing in time to the last waves of her climax.

As they came down from the ride, he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, resting his forehead against hers. For a long moment neither of them moved, breathing as one, their hearts drumming together. Finally, he kissed her gently and pulled out, then carried her to bed before going to the bathroom to dispose of the condom.

Lana lay back and stared at the ceiling, sated, dazed and discontent. Confused. She felt the bed dip as James climbed up beside her, and immediately pushed herself up, desperate for a moment alone to calm the maelstrom of thoughts and emotions swirling through her head.

“I’m just going to wash up.” She was halfway to the washroom before she remembered he’d used a condom.

I’m not a saint.
His words taunted her. He had no regrets about leaving her. He’d probably just hopped out of her bed and into another.

She slammed the bathroom door and leaned against the sink, staring into the mirror as regret chased the last remnants of arousal from her body.

What had she done?

It had taken so long to get over him, so many tears to mend her shattered heart. And now, here she was, back with the one man who had hurt her the most. Her earlier uncaring bravado now seemed foolish to the extreme. She couldn’t separate the emotional from the physical. She couldn’t just have sex and walk away. She’d done that with Levi and it had almost killed her. If she let James in and he hurt her again, she would never recover.

She scrubbed her hand over her face. It had to end now…before she got hurt again. They’d had their fun. Now she had a job to do, and so did he.

The door opened, as she knew it would. Part of his attraction had been his sixth sense about her emotional disquiet, even if she wasn’t in the room.

She watched him in the mirror as he stood behind her, his eyes searching, his brow furrowed. He’d put on his jeans, but his chest was bare and sported four painful-looking red scrapes from her fingernails.

Eyes still on hers, James trailed his hand along her spine, stopping at the mark in the center of her lower back. Although it looked like an ordinary tattoo, it was anything but. Lucky for her he didn’t know what it really was.

“James…please. You know I don’t like to be touched there.”

He knelt down behind her and pressed a kiss to the stylized interlocking black
S
and
W
. Lana’s stomach heaved and bile rose in her throat. She turned away, pressing the disgusting mark against the sink. Once she got her pictures to Angel and collected her fee, she would be rid of it forever.

Rising to his feet, James stroked a finger along her cheek. “What’s wrong?”

Unable to wade through her confusion, incapable of vocalizing her disquiet, she sucked in her lips and looked away.

He cupped her jaw and turned her face. “Babe? Talk to me.”

“I have to get going,” she said hoarsely. She covered his hand with her own and drew it away from her cheek. “I have to work in the morning. This was…fun, but now it’s over.”

“Not to me.”

“No?” she asked bitterly. “With all the women you’ve fucked since you left me, I’m surprised. I thought I’d just be another notch on your
unsaintly
belt and you’d be impatient to move on.”

His hand froze in midair. “Is that what this is about? You’re upset I slept with other women?”

She pressed her lips together and exhaled loudly. “Of course not. Why would I care? We were…are done. I’m sure you’ll have someone new in your bed tomorrow.”

“Lana…” He choked off his words when she pushed past him, but not before she saw the hurt in his eyes.

Well, he wasn’t the only one hurting.

She grabbed her clothing off the floor. As she searched around for her bra, James leaned against the dresser and scraped his hand through his hair. “Where did this come from? One minute we’re having a good time; the next, you’re running out the door.”

Her lips thinned. “It was a good time. With you, it’s always a good time. But I think we both know it has to be the only time. You don’t need complications in your life and neither do I.”

She slipped on her bra and panties, and unscrunched her blouse. The door rattled and she froze, her heart skipping a beat.

“Ice. Need to see you. Now.”

Lana sucked in a sharp breath at the sound of Rex’s gruff voice. “They never leave you alone, do they? Am I not supposed to be here?”

“You’re supposed to be anywhere I am,” he growled. “But stay inside, just to be safe.”

James slipped on a shirt and opened the door. But before he could step outside, Rex pushed his way in.

Lana gasped and spun around to face the wall. Only then did she remember her tattoo.

Damn
.

She spun back and covered herself with her shirt. It had only been a few seconds. Not long enough for him to see or even process what it was, if he even knew the mark at all.

Rex’s eyes widened and he gave her a curious stare.

Damn. Damn. Damn
. Lana’s heart pounded and sweat beaded on her brow. He had seen it. Recognized it. Darkness sheeted her vision. She was doomed.

Her stomach became a boiling, seething quagmire. She would have to leave—her business, her apartment, Jackie, her friends.

And James.

New name, new town, new life. All over again.

James walked Lana and Kickstand out to the parking lot. One of a prospect’s duties was to act as the designated driver for all club outings, which meant poor Kickstand, as the newest prospect, rarely got to drink on social occasions.

It also meant James didn’t have to take Lana home. He could hide behind the excuse that Rex needed to see him right away and take the time to get his head straight. An hour’s ride across the city with her soft, sweet body pressed up against him would put him right back where he started when he’d walked into the lounge and seen her in that outfit. If Ryder hadn’t been there, they would never have made it up the stairs.

He could see himself falling for her all over again. Their sexual chemistry was undeniable. And after their heated encounter, he was headed straight back into the maelstrom of passionate intensity that had characterized their relationship.

Her sudden retreat had been the slap he needed. After all, nothing had changed. He couldn’t handle their relationship before, why would he be able to handle it now? Especially when the risk to her life was as great as the risk Christine had faced. And look how that had turned out.

So why had he been so quick to deny it had been a mistake?

“I’m sorry about the barbeque,” Kickstand said in a low voice only James could hear. “I was waiting outside the restroom for Lana when Rex came out of his office and told me to grab a couple of beers while he went to get Portia. When I came back, I couldn’t find Lana and he told me to stand guard at his door.”

“Just make sure she gets home safe tonight.”

He gave Lana a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. “Nothing has changed,” he whispered in her ear. “I don’t want to see you at the clubhouse or anywhere near Rex. I can’t maintain my cover if I have to look out for you. Going to Oktoberfest was flat out dangerous. If Ryder hadn’t been there, Rex wouldn’t have left you alone.”

She tightened her jaw and pulled on her helmet. Her eyes darkened, hardened, and he caught a flicker of pain. Something he’d said? Or hadn’t said?

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “You won’t see me again.”

Not what he wanted to hear, in more ways than one.

Chapter Thirteen

“Don’t panic.”

Lana yanked an armload of
I Heart Thrash
T-shirts from her drawer and dumped them into her suitcase on the bed beside her worried best friend.

“I’m not panicked.” Lana opened another drawer and tossed random socks onto the bed. “I’m leaving. I have to get out of town. Fast.”

“Lana, honey. This is me.” Jackie slammed the suitcase closed, leaving Lana with an armload of jewel-colored thongs and nowhere to put them. “You can tell me anything. I won’t tell anyone and maybe I can help.”

Tears prickled the backs of Lana’s eyes. “I’ve been through this before. No one can help me.”

“What about James?”

“No.” Lana bit her lip, fighting back a wave of emotion. “This is all his fault. If he hadn’t…seduced me…” Cutting herself off, she tossed the panties on the floor and collapsed on the bed.

Jackie snorted a soft laugh and ran a soothing hand down her back. “I’m supposed to be the drama queen. It takes two for a seduction and, knowing your history together, I have a feeling you were a full and enthusiastic participant.”

Lana shrugged, keeping her face pressed into the cool silk comforter. “I may not have been as discouraging as I could have been,” she mumbled into the bed. “The minute I’m near him I lose the ability to think rationally. And when he touches me, that’s pretty much the end of the line for my self-control.”

Stretching out beside her, Jackie propped her head on her elbow. “If you had pushed him away, then I would have serious concerns about your mental health. That man is hot with a capital
H
-
O
-
T
. Not just hot. He’s hot for you.”

Lana drew in a ragged breath and rolled off the bed. What should she pack next? Jeans or hoodies? What would the thrash scene be like in a smaller city? Could she fit in, in her fug boots?

“I thought so too until he told me he’s not a saint. So unsaintly, in fact, we had to use a condom to protect me from the myriad diseases he may have picked up from the dozens, maybe even hundreds, of women he’s slept with since he left me.”

“So he’s safe.” Jackie shrugged. “You can’t hold it against him. And he’s a guy. He can have sex with no emotional attachment. Maybe he just needed to blow off some steam.”

“You’re defending him,” Lana grumbled. She flipped open the suitcase and retrieved her panties from the floor, tossing them one by one onto the bed. “I can’t believe you’re defending him. Over me. Your best friend. Well, you’ll be disappointed to know I realized right away our mind-blowing sexual encounter was a mistake and I told him as much. I can’t have sex with James without emotional attachment. I can’t even have coffee with James without emotional attachment. I almost had a breakdown in his bathroom after it was over.”

“You should have called me.”

Lana rolled her eyes. “That would have gone down well. Me, naked in the bathroom, having a relationship discussion with you while he stomps around outside, loses it and kicks in the door.”

Jackie gave her a wry smile. “The whole door-kicking thing is all kinds of hot.”

“You’re defending him again,” Lana snapped. “Not that it matters. I have no interest in getting hurt again and I have him out of my system now. I’ll be able to ride that orgasm for a couple of months at least.”

Jackie grinned. “I might have been jealous if I hadn’t had some damn good sex with Ryder last night. I think I might be too wild for him though.”

Lana squeezed the suitcase shut and fastened the latch. After heaving it to the floor, she joined Jackie on the bed, head propped on her elbow in a mirror image of Jackie’s posture.

“Ryder’s a biker, a full-patch member. He’s involved in all sorts of crazy, illegal, dangerous activities. How can you be too wild for him?”

“He’s not like other bikers, and I’ve known a few,” Jackie said, her smile fading at some remembered pain. Not for the first time, Lana wished Jackie would confide in her, share the trauma that threaded its way through every aspect of her life. She suspected Jackie’s fun-loving, irreverent nature hid something dark and serious. Something she couldn’t even face herself. Maybe her penchant for disguises was another way for her to hide.

“There’s something different about him,” Jackie said quietly. “He’s got heart.”

“Sounds awful.” Lana rolled her eyes. “Damn good sex, hot biker dude, and he has heart. Definitely don’t sleep with him again. Too bad you didn’t ask advice from your best friend.”

A frown creased Jackie’s brow. “Soon to be ex-best friend if you run away. Who will I thrash with? Who will I get thrown out of bars with? Who else would appreciate my disguise emporium? What about our business? Tell me what happened. You never know, I might be able to help.”