Chasing Down Changes (Moroad Motorcycle Club) (5 page)

Tiff's weight fell against him. Her submission wasn't enough, and he pulled back forcing her to stand on her own. He stared down at her, willing her to give him any sign that she gave a damn past the point of liking his mouth on her.

She breathed heavy, her mouth slightly open. Her lips wet and reddened from his kiss.

Several seconds passed. He let his gaze drop to her heaving breasts and returned to her eyes. Then, he walked out of her bedroom.

The click of her heels followed him. He reached for the doorknob.

"For your information, I own the building, the businesses, and don't answer to anyone," said Tiff.

He half turned and looked at her again. "All I care about is whether you're spreading your legs for other men, and if you are, that ends now. I won't have another man's cock in the woman I own."

She shook her head. "You don't own me anymore."

"Keep telling yourself that." He stepped through the door and kept walking.

"Last I heard you owned Lola," said Tiff from behind him.

He continued the slow trek down the hallway. Getting out of a locked building proved easier than breaking in. Out in the alley, he sat his Harley and rode off. He'd let her sleep tonight believing she was safe. Believing he'd take no for an answer. Believing she had a choice.

Tomorrow, he was taking his property back.

N
obody moved around outside the Moroad Motel at seven thirty in the morning. Tiff stood behind the tree at the entrance to the parking lot and looked for Jeremy's Harley, counting on all the members to still be sleeping in their rooms. She found the bike parked amongst the others, gray paint, dented tank, and a get back whip she remembered fiddling with when she rode with Jeremy many years ago.

She glanced over her shoulder. Even the county road remained quiet on a Sunday morning.

After tossing all night tangled in her covers, she finally got up as the sun broke over the Bitterroot Mountains casting Federal with light. She only had until four o'clock to figure out a way to keep Jeremy away from her, and she'd need every second of that time. The last thing she needed was him bothering her and bringing attention down on what took place in the Sterling Building.

To get Jeremy out of her life, she needed advice, and the one person who could help her stayed in Room Four. She walked out from behind the tree and straight across the asphalted parking lot. The early hour almost guaranteed she'd make it to the room without someone spotting her.

She had hung around the club enough times in the past to know the Moroad men partied hard and slept late most days. A few of them found honest jobs working in the silver mine, but the majority of the members contained their illegal activities to the night time hours. Unless the club had trouble beating down on their backs and kept everyone under watch.

She stopped in front of the door, pulled her phone out of her pocket, and texted Katie.

Open the door.

Katie: Are you here?

Yes

The rattle of a chain against the door propelled her forward, adrenaline freaking her out and she pushed Katie out of the way. She shut the door behind her. Perspiration dotted her forehead. She held her hair up off her neck with one hand and fanned her face with the other hand. God, she was too old for this shit.

"I'm surprised you'd visit me here at the motel." Katie stumbled back to the bed and crawled under the covers. "Why are you trying to find me so early? I just got to bed at five. What time is it?"

"It's seven o'clock, and I need to talk with you. I couldn't wait." Tiff moved to the bed and sat on the edge. "Jeremy came to the Sterling Building last night. When I locked the doors after everyone left, I found him in my apartment."

Katie rubbed her face. "Ah..."

Tiff grabbed Katie's wrist and removed her hand. "You knew he was there?"

"Honey." Katie exhaled loudly. "I let him in. I'm sorry."

"How?" Tiff let go of her and waved her hand. "Nevermind how. Why would you do such a thing? You know I don't want anything to do with him. I can't be around him. I don't even want to see him."

The more she tried not to think of Jeremy, the more she became obsessed. At one time, anger distracted and motivated her, but that emotion slowly fell apart and died. Soon, fear for her safety with the Moroad Motorcycle Club wounded her and left her vulnerable. Years went by, and regrets hit her hard. She played through every second spent with Jeremy and the guilt crippled her. It wasn't until she opened Red Light that she finally stopped feeling.

Smiles failed to rejuvenate her.

Laughter only touched the surface.

Surrounding herself with other women distracted her and kept her on task.

Then Jeremy came back to Federal. To her.

Less than twelve hours since seeing him for the first time in years and the pain of crawling alone into her bed every night, crying to an empty room, craving a rough touch only Jeremy could give her, day after day, all caught up with her.

The emotional wounds from over the years bled and refused to heal.

Katie sat up and let the blanket fall to her lap. "I'm sorry, but you know how it is. I belong to Moroad. One of them tells me to get on my knees, and I get on the floor. All it takes is one fuck up, and I lose the roof over my head, the cash in my pocket, and the safety I find with the club. Now you don't trust me, and my job is in jeopardy. You once belonged to a Moroad member. Remember the rules?"

Her shoulders ached. She rubbed the tension out of her neck. The whole time she belonged to Jeremy, she never was held to the same standards as the Moroad women. She was above them, or she should've been.

"I'm not going to hold what Jeremy does against you." Tiff sighed. "I know how it works around here."

"Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" asked Katie.

"God, I don't know." Tiff stood from the bed and paced the small area. "Jeremy's going to have to understand I've moved on with my life. I own a business. He made his choice years ago and never gave me another thought. I have responsibilities now."

Katie stretched out on the bed and grabbed a Tee off the dresser, slipping it over her head. "You're both mature adults. He just walked out of prison. Maybe he only wants to talk with you and explain what happened. Shoot, Tiff. I don't know what goes through the men's heads when they get their first taste of freedom. They're focused on themselves, and their only thought is how they'll stay out of prison. They use me until they work through their troubles, and then they use me to escape the life they live on the outside. Maybe you should find out what he wants."

"He told me." The lump of emotions dragging her down clogged her throat, and she swallowed the idea of Jeremy following through on his threat. "He believes he still owns me."

Katie grimaced. "Oh."

Tiff groaned and fought to keep the hurt she'd buried long ago from showing. "The thing is he chose Lola over me, Katie. You remember how she acted as if Jeremy ruled her life and she stopped sleeping with the members. How am I supposed to face him after living all these years with what he'd done to me? He's the last person I want in my life. I worked hard to get where I am. I finally have my very own business with responsibilities, and he wants to rip everything away from me."

"Can you explain to him how you feel?"

Tension steeled her spine, and she snapped. "He doesn't deserve anything from me."

Katie held up her hands. "Okay. Okay."

"I need to get out of here." Tiff peeked behind the curtain of the only window in the room. "I don't want him finding me here or someone mentioning they saw me."

"What are you going to do?"

She let the fabric fall back in place and faced Katie. "I don't know."

Katie stood from the bed and approached her, holding out her arms. "Come here."

Tiff walked into the hug. "If he's trying to hurt me, he's doing a really good job."

"All you can do is keep doing what you're doing." Katie pulled back and held Tiff's shoulders. "Look how far you've gone. You own a business in Federal, which happens to be the most successful business in town with some awesome dancers. The women who work for you are happy."

"Thank you, but there's always something that makes me doubt what I'm doing and everything is going to fall on my head," whispered Tiff.

Katie smoothed Tiff's hair off her face. "Take a deep breath and try to get through one day at a time."

"I won't go back to him. I can't trust him anymore. There's something in his eyes that I don't recognize. He's hard and scary. I thought I knew everything about him, and then he chose Lola over me. He's been away forever and with her this whole time." She scoffed. "God, I hate that woman."

"Okay, this is what we're going to do." Katie let her go. "Go back to the Sterling Building and calm down. I'll poke around here and then talk to you at practice, okay?"

"Okay," she said.

"Good." Katie nodded. "The guys here will be up and moving around before then. I'll hang back and see if I can find out anything."

"Will you?"

"I said I would, and I'll do my best to give you a heads up, but if Jeremy says anything to me, I'm toast." Katie kissed her cheek. "Now go before anyone sees you here."

Filled with hope that Katie would discover some way for her to keep Jeremy away, she walked out of the motel room, closed the door, and almost ran smack dab into Cam.

Shit. She stared up into a face that gave her nightmares.

Cam towered over her, pinning her with his gaze. For the first time, she recognized Jeremy's eyes in the president of Moroad. The hardened stance and unwavering strength, and his anger were also directed at her, too. Not that Cam ever liked her.

Every time he came by the Sterling Building to talk about the Moroad women's schedule for Silver Girls, she kept her meeting brief and to the point.

"Excuse me." She scooted away. "I was leaving."

"Stop, right there." Cam's rough voice from years of smoking barely rose above a whisper, but she'd heard him, loud and clear, and stopped.

The lines etched at the corners of Cam's eyes deepened. Her legs trembled, and she straightened her shoulders. She'd never give him the satisfaction of seeing her cower.

"You haven't changed a bit." Cam stepped toward her. "The kid is back for two days, and you're already sniffing around like a bitch."

She backed up. "I was never a bitch."

"You're selling pussy, Tiff." He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her in the opposite direction she needed to go to leave.

She pulled and jerked against his hold. "What are you doing?"

He never missed a step as he continued to pull her along the walkway running the length of the motel. "If you're lucky, letting you live. Because the next time I catch you sneaking around the motel, I'll shoot you."

"What?" She stumbled, almost falling into him when he stopped. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. Katie works for me. I have a right to talk to my employees."

"Not if you're dead. You won't be talking at all." Cam knocked on the door in front of him and without waiting for someone to answer, he turned the handle and pushed her inside the room.

She caught herself against the door. Every muscle tensed, and she froze in place. She stared at the scene in front of her.

In the middle of tucking his shirt in his jeans, Jeremy looked at her curiously. Tiff gulped, gazing at his hand inside the front of his jeans, his belt dangling loose. Her heart raced, making the blood whoosh through her ears, deafening her.

In slow motion, Jeremy adjusted his crotch, buttoned his Levis, and fastened his belt. A shiver of arousal crawled up her spine, and she fidgeted. How could he be the same man when he'd grown taller, wider, and bigger all over. Her gaze followed his broad hands.

Hands twice as big and scarred.

She sucked in her breath. His hands had touched every part of her body, and she could imagine how they'd feel on her skin now.

The movement to her left grabbed her attention. She whipped her gaze to the spot and found Lola sitting on the bed, wrapped tight in a blanket. Her senses came back with a cold vengeance, hitting her straight in the chest.

Lola raised her brows in question. Tiff pivoted and faced Cam.

"Let me leave," she whispered.

Cam leaned against the door frame, blocking her exit.

She closed her eyes an extra beat, trying to remain calm when all she wanted to do was slap the closest person. "Please."

"Kid?" said Cam.

Jeremy's presence warmed her back. Sandwiched between father and son, she could do nothing but plead silently with her eyes for Cam to take pity on her.

"Yeah?" Jeremy's even deeper voice than his dad rolled through her.

"Take care of your problem." Cam's gaze shifted to Lola. He nodded and walked away from the door.

Not missing her chance, Tiff hurried out of the room and marched across the parking lot leaving Jeremy behind with Lola. She focused on the road and put one foot in front of the other to keep from falling on her face.

"Damn him," she whisper-hissed. Why he'd chosen Lola, a Moroad woman, a bitch, over her continued to confuse her. Not one of the Moroad members ever settled with one of the women who stayed around to entertain all the bikers. Why should they? They could get laid for nothing more than wearing the patch on their vest and pledging their life to the club.

"Tiff."

She kept walking, squeezing her lips together. Jeremy would never find out the amount of hurt he threw in her face seeing him with Lola. Fifteen years she'd lived with the knowledge of not being good enough and losing to someone she used to call a friend.

He stayed with Lola, and for what?

Lola was older than Jeremy. She had wrinkles. Her pussy was probably a dried up gaping hole that echoed when she walked.

A motorcycle roared behind her. She snapped out of kicking herself and walked faster. Jeremy wouldn't mess with her in town. He had his freedom to protect and the threat of Bantorus coming after him or the sheriff spotting him if he caused trouble in Federal.