Beast (A Righteous Outlaws Novel #4) (The Righteous Outlaws) (16 page)

Ryan slid out from the comforter and found her phone on the floor. I didn’t even realize she had one with her. Seriously, where the hell did she put it?

“Shit. It’s my mother,” she said. “If I don’t answer it, she’ll keep calling.”

“Then, answer it.”

She sighed, and I remembered that time she let out that her mother was a pain in her ass. I picked Beauty up and rested her against my chest, as I watched Ryan press a finger to the bridge of her nose before answering.

“Hi, Mom. No, you didn’t wake me. I
know
most people have already left the house and started their day. Is there a reason for this call?”

Ryan sat down on the edge of the bed, her body the perfect silhouette, and calling my name. I crawled toward her, putting my hands on her shoulders and massaging away the tension that seemed to appear the minute she answered the phone. I kissed just below her ear and moved my hands south until they were massaging her tits.

She let out a low moan, and slapped a hand over her mouth.

“No, Mom, it was nothing. I burnt myself on the stove. Yeah, I’m making breakfast. Yes, I know how to cook. What am I making?”

I rested my head against her shoulder, and used her body to muffle my laugh.

“An egg. No, I don’t need you to tell me how to make an egg. Yes, I know. Okay, is there any reason for this call because I’m in the middle of something? What am I in the middle of? I’m making myself breakfast. I know you’ve been up since five a.m. Okay, Mom. Love you. I’ll call you later. Bye.”

Ryan dropped the phone on a loud sigh, and let herself fall against me.

“Everything okay?”

“My mother is exhausting.”

“Sounds like it.”

“And, now, I’m hungry.”

I pressed my straining cock against her backside. “I could give you something to snack on.”

“Hmm,” she said, tapping her lip. “Tempting, but I need something with substance. Have anything in that fridge of yours?”

“Possibly, but you better let me handle it if your own mother doesn’t think you’re capable of cooking an egg.”

She glanced at me over her shoulder with an arched eyebrow. “My mother doesn’t think I’m capable of a lot of things. And, just for the record, she’s wrong.”

“Want to prove that?”

“What’s in it for me?” she asked, and I loved the way she worked.

“The best orgasm of your life.”

“I already had that last night, more than once if I remember correctly.”

“That was nothing,”

“Really, now! Okay and, so to keep the tables even, what happens if I fail miserably? What do you get?”

“Do I even have to answer that?” I asked, taking her hand and placing it on my dick.

She tightened her grip, stroking it back and forth, causing my eyes to roll in the back of my head.

“Mmm. It seems like a win win,” she purred, and my cock throbbed with each stroke of her hand. “Deal.” She dropped my dick, and stood up from the bed, scooping up Beauty as she went.

“What the…”

“Payback’s a bitch,” she said, and strutted that sweet ass out of the bedroom and into the kitchen.

An hour later, the house still smelled of pancakes and bacon. The best damn pancakes I ever had. “How can pancakes be that good?” I asked, as I washed the last dish.

“It’s the special ingredient, which I was surprised to find in your cabinet.”

“And, what was that exactly?” I put the plate in the dry rack, and snaked my hand around her waist, pulling her against me.

“And, why do you think I would tell you?”

“Because I asked.” I gave her a wink and she smiled.

“You know,” she said, wrapping her arms around my neck. “You can be very charming when you want to be.”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

“Afraid you’ll lose your edge.”

“It’s all I have going for me.”

“Now,
that
I don’t believe for a second.”

“Really,” I said, sucking her lip into my mouth.

“Mmm.”

“I think I owe you an orgasm.”

“Not just any orgasm. The best orgasm of my life.”

I tossed the rest of the bacon on the floor in hopes that it would keep Beauty occupied and, when she was done, she would pass out in a food coma.

I lifted Ryan up onto my waist, her legs instantly crossing behind my back. She had put one of my shirts on to cook, and I couldn’t wait another second to get it off of her. “Take this off,” I said, nodding to the material she was drowning in.

“No please?”

“Now,” I growled.

“So demanding,” she said, as she pulled the black t-shirt over her head, and tossed it to the floor. Better?”

“Much.”

I walked into my bedroom, and placed her on the bed, reaching down to get her phone. I tossed it out into the hallway, along with mine, and then kicked the door behind me locking us out from the rest of the world.

M
y body hurt
in places I didn’t know was possible. After Beast rewarded my cooking skills with the best orgasm of my life, he decided he could do better, and gave me the most mind blowing orgasm that just thinking about caused my core to tingle and heat to wash over my body.

My lips curved in a smile as I thought about our night and day together. All the positions, all the sensations and how such a massive monster could become such a gentle man, doing everything in his power to please me.

The smile soon vanished when a group of angry townspeople stormed into the station. I looked up from my desk, catching the eyes of an older woman who looked to be in her mid-sixties. Her salt and pepper hair was brushed into a short bob that bounced with each one of her steps. Anger raged behind her thick red frames. She was followed by Kent Miller, the owner of the jewelry store on Main, and Willie’s widow.

They stormed past Dad, who tried to cut them off at the door, and came right to my desk. They looked pissed, and I wondered what business they had with me. I folded my hands on the desk, and looked up at the angry mob. “Can I help you with something?”

The woman in the glasses pointed her finger at me. “I saw you,” she said, her voice holding a cryptic undertone that made it seem like she watched me commit a murder.

“Saw me?”

“Leaving that criminal’s house.” Realization smacked into me and, as I glanced around, seeing all eyes on me, I knew I had to take this conversation elsewhere.

“Let’s take this in my office, shall we?” I said, standing and pointing toward Dad’s office. He gave me a curious look from across the station, but all I could do was give him a pleading look back. He nodded, and went back to the coffee machine.

“That’s not your office,” Kent spat.

“It will be soon enough. Now, please.”

“Not if I have anything to do with it,” Kent growled, meeting my gaze as he walked by. His shoulders were rigid, and he stood at only a couple inches taller than me. I didn’t know if he was trying to intimidate me, but if so, he was going to have to try a lot harder than that. Back in Detroit, I chewed up guys like him, and spit them out with no effort. He wasn’t a drug dealer, a gang member or a murderer. No, he was a jeweler who didn’t know shit about anything other than diamonds and gold.

I corralled the angry towns people into Dad’s office, and shut the door to keep the conversation between us, and far out of reach of anyone else’s ears. This information was private, and it was no one’s business but my own and Beast’s. The fact that these people were here to begin with made my blood boil. But, I supposed that was all part of living and working in a small town. The people thought everybody’s business was their own.

I waited for the two women to sit, and then offered Kent Dad’s chair, which he refused, so I took it instead. I sat with my hands folded on the desk as I met each one of their eyes. “The floor is yours,” I said, allowing them the chance to say whatever it was they felt the need to say before I shut them down.

“I saw you,” the old woman started, pointing her finger at me again. “You tramp.”

“Hold it right there,” I said, cutting the old broad off. “We can have a discussion, if you desire, but I will no way in
hell
, let you talk that way to me. You got that?”

Her lip curled in anger and disgust. I wouldn’t have put it past the batty old woman to jump across the desk and slap me. Instead, she folded her hands in her lap and glared at me.

“It’s obvious why the three of you are here, not that it’s any of your business what I do with my personal life, and I refuse to discuss that with you. So, if you have anything else you’d like to say that is not in regards to what I do when I’m not in uniform, I’m all ears. Want to talk about how we can set up an event and draw business to the town? I’m more than happy to talk security with you. Want to discuss a dangerous intersection or a person in need? Hit me with it because I’m more than happy to help.”

“Uphold the law by day and then, at night, cohere with the enemy,” Kent spat.

“What enemy, Kent? Because, as far as I know, the definition of an enemy is someone who feels hatred toward, intends injury or opposes someone. And, I can tell you right now the Righteous Outlaws don’t feel any of that toward you or any of the townspeople for that matter. So, Kent, really, who is the enemy here? Those men have done nothing, but keep this town safe from the shit that’s happening just outside our borders. You don’t believe me?”

I stood up and reached into Dad’s drawer where I knew he had a folder filled with the crime rates from the past thirty years. I dropped the folder on the desk with a thud. “Then, see for yourself. Ever since the Outlaws moved into Black Hills, the crime rate has decreased over time. Yes, there have been spikes, but that’s any town in the country.”

“You’re just trying to justify their actions, so you don’t feel guilty for being a cop who sleeps with a criminal,” Willie’s wife finally spoke, and her words were filled with so much disgust I could practically see it oozing out of her.

“You want to talk about criminals?” I said, coming around the desk, and leaning my ass against the wood. “You couldn’t possibly know what we were doing or discussing unless you were peeping through windows, and if that’s the case, I can have you thrown in jail for breaking the law.”

I stared the woman down, who I assumed was one of Beast’s neighbors, and waited for her to shift uncomfortably in her chair before continuing. “That guy. You might know him as Beast. But go home and search the Internet for his real name, Bentley Harris.”

It was the first thing I did when I got to work. After knowing the whole story, I knew exactly what to look for. It’s not that I didn’t trust that he didn’t tell me everything. I just wanted other accounts from everything he had been through.

“What you will find about Bentley Harris, other than a couple arrests for bar fights, you will find a decorated war hero who received the Medal of Honor from the president of the United States for his actions in the war. You will read about a man who saved the lives of many people and nearly died when his unit’s Humvee went over an IED, and would have if it weren’t for his efforts.”

I shouldn’t have told them, and as the words poured out of me, I wondered what Beast would think about me bringing his past into his present. About letting these people, who he never had any intention of pleasing, know about his horrid past. But, it’s not like I was telling them anything they couldn’t find if they knew the right things to search.

The last time I looked him up, I was too focused on finding the bad that I saw right past the good. It was right in front of me from the very beginning, but back then I realized now, that I was just like the people sitting in front of me. They had already formed their opinions, made up their minds about the Outlaws, and there was nothing I could say or do that would change that.

“Just because he wears leather and rides a motorcycle doesn’t make him a bad person. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I actually have work to do. You can let yourself out.”

I didn’t wait for a response. I honestly didn’t care what any of them had to say. All I cared about was them staying out of my damn business. I headed over to the coffee machine, but Reed blocked my path.

“What are you doing here? You still have a couple days left.”

“Is it true?” he asked, his teeth clenched, his fair skin exploding with varying shades of crimson.

“You should go home, Reed. Take the time. You’re given it for a reason.”

“Is it true?” he growled, but it was more comparable to one of Beauty’s growls, trying to be intimidating, but lacking the necessary edge.

“Is what true?” Dad came up behind us, sticking his nose in our conversation. A conversation I would have preferred he did not hear.

“Your daughter, who is supposed to be upholding the law, is canoodling with one of the Outlaws.”

“Did you just say canoodling?” I asked, unable to help myself. It was almost comical at this point, and I didn’t care if I turned the whole thing into a joke. Because it was, wasn’t it? At this point, it was like a bad sitcom where the town people actually thought they had a say in your life.

“I could have been more vulgar, but I was raised better than that.” I didn’t like the way he looked at me, his eyes filled with judgment.

“Are you insinuating I wasn’t raised right?” I asked, then turned my attention to Dad. “Dad, what do you have to say about that?”

“That’s not what I meant,” Reed quickly backtracked when Dad’s cold stone stare landed on him.

“Then, what did you mean?” Dad asked.

“We’re getting off topic here.” Clearly irritated and losing his nerve, he started talking wildly with his hands.

“Listen to me, and listen to me good,” Dad said, taking a step closer to Reed, and lowering his voice so the rest of the nosy people couldn’t hear our conversation.

“Ryan, is a good cop and, at the end of the day, that is all that matters. She would never put herself in a situation that she didn’t think was safe or legal. Besides, her personal life has nothing, and I mean nothing, to do with her work. You got that?”

Reed laughed manically, running a hand through his hair. “So, you’re okay with this? Okay with the fact that your daughter is fucking some criminal?”

Dad’s fist balled at his side and, luckily, I was able to grab it before it made contact with Reed’s face. “Dad, not the answer.” While he was the one in charge here, hitting Reed could turn into a mess if Reed decided to go over his head, and go to the state government. Not that I thought he would, but still. I needed to get all these assholes on my side, or at least on terms of understanding, and knocking one of them out wasn’t going to help me.

Dad looked down at my hand holding his wrist, his hand balled into a tight fist. He slowly unraveled his fingers, and I released my grip.

“Reed, get the fuck out, and come back when you can control your mouth.” Dad moved until he was right in front of Reed. “Don’t you ever,” he growled with more intensity than I had ever heard in my life from him. “Talk about my daughter like that again.”

With an annoyed wave of his hand, Reed stormed out. Dad went to head to his office and I rested a hand on his shoulder. “Thanks, Dad.”

Dad looked down at my hand and, for the first time in my life, I saw disappointment shining through and aimed at me. “I told you not to get involved with him, or any of them.”

“I know, but he’s not who you think he is.” There was a pleading tone in my voice. Dad knew all of the behind the scenes details of the Outlaws. He knew every bad thing they did, and every good thing they did. He knew the ways they protected the town, but he also knew in order to do so they sometimes had to kill people. But the people they killed were bad people, and maybe that wasn’t okay, but it’s not like they killed innocent people in the streets. “You know me. I wouldn’t…” My words faltered as I searched for a way to make Dad believe that I wasn’t some stupid girl caught up in some fairy tale because I was too weak to resist the charm of a good looking guy.

“Whether he is or he isn’t, what he’s involved in is dangerous.”

“I can handle myself.”

“I know,” he finally said, and I felt like I could breathe again. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

I wasn’t exactly sure what I was doing. All I knew was that Beast challenged me and infuriated me, but he also made me feel things I never felt before. When I was with him, I wasn’t drowning in a pool of regrets and self-pity. Just being with him, even if we didn’t share a single word, I felt completely content. Something I had never felt before.

So, maybe I had no clue what the hell I was doing, but I wasn’t going to turn my back on him just because the future wasn’t clear, and I couldn’t see past the right now.

* * *

M
y body convulsed
as Beast worked me into another intense orgasm. Tiny light bursts exploded behind my eyes, as he continued to thrust into me. His thumb rubbed circles on my clit, and I dug my fingers into his shoulders, as I held on for what felt like a never-ending ride.

When the million sensations bursting and colliding inside me began to slow to a sizzle, I opened my eyes only to be staring into Beast’s dark brown stare.

“You okay, there?” he asked with a hint of a smile on his face.

“Oh, yeah.” My eyes could barely hold open, but I forced them too because being the object of Beast’s attention was the best feeling. I loved the way he looked at me. How the hard glare and stiff scowl softened when our eyes would meet. When we first met, he was so far into the shadows and now I could almost see the light inside of him.

He continued to move in and out of me, causing a slew of aftershocks that had me writhing beneath him. He bent his head, pressing his lips to mine, and making me forget about all the shit that happened earlier today. In Beast’s bed, the only thing that mattered was us and nothing else.

His big hands splayed across my back, and he lifted me until he was on the edge of the bed, and I was straddling him. Our bodies, hot and slick, slid against each other as our lips moved in a similar dance. His fingers grabbed the elastic band holding my hair up, and gently pulled until my hair was free from the restraint. It fell in waves behind me, and he knotted his fingers into the strands.