CRASH: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Outlaw Series) (20 page)

“I
feel guilty taking up this big bed all by myself,” she confessed.

A
grin pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You offerin’ to share, sweetheart?”

She
shrugged. “As long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

“Not
sure I can promise that, Princess.”

“I
was just trying to be nice. Sleep on the couch for all I care.”

“Maybe
it’s
you
who won’t be able to keep
your hands to yourself,” he suggested with a grin.

She
rolled her eyes. “I’m sure I can manage.”

He
winked at her. “We’ll see. Go on to sleep. I’ll be up with these boys for a
while.” He moved to switch the lamp off. “Night, Princess.”

When
Crash returned to the rooftop, he sat staring quietly at the lights of the Bay
Bridge.

“So,
has Shannon ever reacted like that before?” Shane asked quietly.

Crash
frowned. “She’s had a few meltdowns. Not sure if it ties back to her ex-boyfriend
or what. I haven’t been able to get her to talk about it. She just gets all
defensive.”

“Her
reactions are classic PTSD,” Jake murmured.

Crash
looked over at him and slowly nodded. “Could be. Either of you have any
problems with that since you’ve been out?”

Jake
ran a hand over his face and admitted softly, “I have bad dreams. Trouble
sleeping. Shit like that.”

Crash
looked over at Shane. “You?”

“I’m
on edge a lot. Don’t like someone walking up on me and startling me. I tend to
overreact.”

Jake
smiled and ratted him out. “He’s decked more than one guy for that.”

“It’s
getting better, though, thank God,” Shane admitted.

After
about another hour of talking and drinking up on the rooftop, Crash stood. “Well,
boys, I don’t know about you, but I’m beat.”

“Yeah,
me too,” Jake agreed.

“Hell,
it’s so nice up here on the roof. I could sleep in this chair,” Shane murmured
slumped back with his eyes closed.

Crash
laughed. “Suit yourself, but that sun’s a bitch when it comes over the horizon
at the crack of dawn.”

“Which
will only be in about four hours,” Jake put in, glancing at his military wrist
watch.

Shane
groaned and got up. “Killjoys.”

They
all moved inside. The guys moved to the sectional, where Crash had laid out
pillows and extra blankets. They each grabbed a pair of sweats out of their
duffle bags and took turns in the bathroom. Crash moved around the loft,
switching lights out, and then proceeded to the bedroom. He paused by the bed,
looking down at Shannon’s sleeping form. She looked so sweet lying there asleep
in his bed.

As
he pulled his tee shirt over his head and tossed it aside, he thought about how
many nights he’d lain awake on the couch imagining crawling in this bed with
her. He reached for his belt. A moment later his 501s hit the floor, and he
slipped into bed beside her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Shannon’s
eyes fluttered open, squinting against the early morning light. She felt the
warm body underneath her. The smooth warm skin beneath her cheek.

Crash.

She
was on top of him, lying between his legs. Her head on his stomach. She could
feel his hand on her head, his fingers threaded through her hair. She dared a
peek up and found him fast asleep, his head turned to the side on the pillow.
He looked different in sleep. Peaceful. Gentle. Tranquil.

Her
hand lay on his stomach near her face. Her eyes traveled over him, falling on
the tribal tattoo that scrolled down the side of his right ribs, and she
couldn’t help but lightly trace her fingertips over the intricate design. It
was beautiful. Sexy. Erotic. Hot as hell. Her fingertips moved lower, following
along the design.

Without
lifting her head, she tilted her chin down just a fraction, her eyes falling on
his navel and the trail of hair that traveled lower. She saw his naked hip, the
part that wasn’t covered by her body lying on top of him.

Dear
God.

He
was naked in bed with her. She froze, tensing. Her head moved slightly with the
rise and fall of his breathing, and she tried to relax. Her fingertips moved
lower, following along the trail, and she abruptly froze feeling him growing
hard beneath her.

Suddenly
his fingers were tightening in her hair, and his head was twisting on the
pillow to look down at her. His sleepy eyes cracked open to peer down at her as
his hips lifted, and he shifted beneath her.

The
hand not in her hair reached down and stroked tenderly over her ass a second
before it squeezed her, and then lifted and came down in a light smack. “Let me
up, babe.”

She
scrambled off him, mortified, sliding across the mattress to put a foot of
space between them. She clutched the sheet and looked over to see him wincing.

“Damn,
my leg’s asleep.”

“Sorry,”
she murmured.

A
slow smile spread across his face. “Don’t apologize. If I didn’t like you
sleeping on top of me, I would have moved you off a long time ago.”

“How
long have I been…?”

“Cuddled
up on top of me?” He grinned, his teeth flashing white against his tan skin and
beard. “Sometime in the middle of the night you crawled up on top of me and
settled in like a cat. I think you may have actually purred.”

“Oh,
God,” she moaned. “I’m so embarrassed.”

He
turned on his side, going up on his elbow. He reached up a hand and pushed a
lock of hair off her face with a finger. “Don’t be embarrassed, Princess.
You’re cute when you blush.”

“What
time is it?” she asked glancing toward the chains and the loft beyond wondering
if their company was still asleep. Crash twisted, picked his cell off the
bedside table and checked the time.

“Nine.”
He turned and stood up, giving her a lovely shot of his beautiful back and ass
before he pulled a pair of charcoal grey sweatpants up over his hips. He turned
back, and she quickly averted her eyes, knowing he’d seen exactly where her
eyes had been. He smiled down at her as he tied the string on the sweats up.
“Good morning.”

“Good
morning.”

He
winked in response and moved off to the bathroom.

Shannon
clutched the sheet to her chest and sat up, her eyes running over his gorgeous
back and those sexy dimples at the base as he walked away. He moved with the
grace of a stalking tiger, his shoulders rolling, hips rocking. After the door
closed behind him, she twisted, peering through the chains. She could see two
bodies sprawled out on different parts of the sectional. One of them was
snoring softly. She couldn’t help smiling to herself at the sweet little sound.

Scrambling
out of bed, she quickly dressed in a pair of black yoga pants. She pulled a sky
blue racer-back tank from her bag and tossed it on the bed. She heard the
toilet flushing and quickly turned her back, yanking her camisole top over her
head and reaching for the tank, wanting to be dressed before Crash walked back
out the door.

Too
late, she heard the door open behind her as she slid her arms in the tank and
pulled it up over her head. It had barely settled on her when two arms came
around her pulling her back against a warm chest. She let out a little yelp of
surprise.

Crash’s
mouth came to her ear and nipped at her earlobe. “Hungry?”

Her
hands settled over his forearms as she felt him waiting on her answer. “I…I
suppose. But what I’d really like is coffee.”

“Deal.
I’ll make you coffee. You scramble some eggs.”

She
bit her lip. “I suppose I could handle that.”

“Bacon,
too,” he pushed for more.

She
grinned. “Bacon, too. But I have to warn you, you’re taking a risk on how it’ll
come out.”

He
laughed, released her and smacked her ass. “I’ll take my chances.” He moved off
toward the kitchen. “Come on, Princess. Follow me to caffeine nirvana.”

As
he knew it would, the smell of bacon filling the loft worked like an alarm
clock. Rolling over, Shane ran a hand through his bed head. “It smells like
bacon heaven in here.”

Crash
looked over from where he was doing pull ups on the chin-up bar in the corner.
He grunted, “Bout time you woke up.”

Shane
squinted against the morning light, following the sound of Crash’s voice. He
stood up, his sweatpants sitting low on his hips. Scratching his bare chest, he
yawned. Then he strolled over toward Crash. “Morning.”

Crash
dropped to his bare feet on the polished concrete floor. He grinned at Shane,
gesturing to the bar. “Have at it.”

Shane
stepped over to the bar and jumped up, grabbing on. He began doing chin-ups in
rapid succession. Crash grinned and moved over to the kitchen to refill his
coffee mug. Shannon was standing at the stove finishing the eggs and getting
more frazzled by the minute. Crash could tell she was worried she was making a
mess of them. He moved behind her and put his arms around her. His mouth at her
ear. “Baby, calm down. Take a deep breath. It’s not a big deal. Shh.”

He
felt her take a deep breath, and she replied, “You’re right.” He grinned, and
reaching around her, he snatched a piece of crisp bacon off the platter she had
on the counter next to her.

“Hey!
Wait for the eggs.”

He
grinned as he chewed, then winked at her. Turning, Crash strolled over to the
couch and kicked it. “Get up, sleepyhead,” he said to Jake, who squinted one
eye open and looked up at him. He moaned and rolled to his feet, shoving the
blanket aside. He yawned and rubbed both eyes with the heels of his hand. When
he was done, the smell of bacon finally hit him.

Crash
stood above him, grinning and munching on his strip of bacon. “Hungry?”

“If
there’s bacon, hell yeah.”

Once
they’d all filled their bellies with breakfast, and he and the guys had all had
showers, Crash took them up on the roof with a second cup of coffee, giving
Shannon time to use the bathroom and take a shower.

After
about an hour, Crash left the boys and walked back inside to get a warm up on
his coffee. Shannon was sitting on the sectional flipping through the standard
channels that he got through the antenna on the roof. She stopped on an old
black and white movie. She hadn’t realized he was behind her yet, and he heard
her whisper, “God, I’ve always loved this movie.”

Crash
raised his mug to his lips, sipping the last of his coffee. His eyes went to
the screen over the rim. It was an old Clark Gable film called,
It Happened One Night
. The scene on the
screen was the famous one where Gable is unsuccessfully trying to flag them
down a ride on a country road. Crash watched the screen as Claudette Colbert walked
over to the road and hiked her skirt up to her thigh, immediately getting a car
to stop.

He
grinned, lowering his mug and teased, “Oh, look, another spoiled little rich
girl who runs away from home.”

Shannon
whirled, startled to realize he was there. Then his comment referencing the
plot of the movie sunk in, and her eyes narrowed. “Why do you have to be such
an ass?”

“Hit
a nerve, did I?”

The
door to the rooftop opened, and Jake and Shane came in, stopping when they
sensed the tension in the room. Crash glanced at the pair, noting they were
wisely going to stay out of this.

Shannon
flicked the television off and threw the remote down, standing to face Crash
and recapturing his focus. “It was the only thing on. You don’t have cable,”
she needlessly pointed out to him, bitchily he noted, her hands going to her
hips.

“Nope,”
he agreed unabashedly, moving into the kitchen.

“How
can you not have cable?” she demanded incredulously, following him.

He
dumped the dregs of his coffee and set the mug on the counter. Then he turned
to face her, his brows raised and repeated her question back to her. “How can I
not have cable?”

“Yes,
how?”

“Simple.
I just don’t. I’m never here, and if I am, I listen to music and do metalwork
or work on bikes,” he replied calmly, folding his arms and leaning back against
the counter.

“So,
what am I supposed to do all day?” she demanded, folding her arms, mimicking
him.

“I
don’t know. Hmm, what
do
maids do all
day? Oh, that’s right, clean-up, laundry, dishes.” The corner of his mouth
pulled up.

“I’m
not your maid,” she insisted.

“Yeah,
babe, you are. You agreed to this arrangement.”

“Not
by choice,” she grumbled.

“Shannon,
would it kill you to do something in exchange for a place to stay and someone
to watch out for you? Something other than throwing money around? I know that’s
a difficult concept for you to grasp, but try for once in your life to act like
the rest of the population. Some good old fashioned hard work isn’t going to
kill you.”

Turning
her head away, she huffed out a breath, and then grudgingly admitted softly, “I
don’t know how to do any of those things.”

Crash
unfolded his arms and pushed away from the counter. Pulling his phone from his
back pocket, his thumb moved over the keypad.

“What
are you doing?” she asked in a panic, her arms coming uncrossed.

“Seeing
if your fairy godmothers can help,” he replied, not looking up at her.

“Don’t
you dare!”

He
glanced up at her just before he pushed send. “Why not?”

“I
don’t want them knowing I’m such a complete idiot that I can’t even make a
bed,” she exclaimed.

“But
you can’t.”

“But
they
don’t have to know about it!”

He
shoved his phone back in his pocket in frustration. “Fine, Princess. Figure it
out on your own, then. Maybe you can Google it.” Turning to the other two, he
asked, “You ready to roll?”

They
both nodded, giving Shannon a sympathetic look.

“I
want these dishes done before I get back,” Crash ordered, turning back to her.

Shannon’s
hands landed on her hips, and she glared at him. “Fine. Where’s the
dishwasher?”

“I
ain’t got one.” He snapped back, and then chuckled. “Like you’d know how to use
it anyway.” He slammed a bottle of dish soap on the counter and tossed her a
dish towel. “Figure it out, babe. I’m late.”

After
the men headed downstairs to their bikes, Shane said to Crash, “Damn, bro. You
were kind of hard on her. Especially after last night.”

“Gotta
work the bitch out of her,” was the only response he would give him.

*****

About
forty minutes later, Wolf pulled up outside Crash’s place. He pulled his phone
out and dialed Crash’s cell number.

“Yeah,”
Crash answered.

“It’s
Wolf. Open up the Batcave.”

“Ain’t
there, bro. Just pulled up at the clubhouse.”

“Christ,
Cole made me ride all the way out here with a ‘lick ‘n stick’ seat for your
girl.”

“She
ain’t my girl.”

“Oh,
really?
”

“Don’t
get any ideas, Wolf.”

“Just
sayin’, if you’re not interested, maybe you could give the rest of us a shot.”

“Not
if you want to stay breathin’.”

Wolf
laughed. “All right, asshole. What do you want me to do with the seat?”

Crash
let out a frustrated breath. “Shit. I’ll call Shannon, have her open the door.
You set it on the floor, and get your ass back here. You got me?”

Wolf
grinned. “I hear you, brother.”

“I
know exactly how long it takes to get back here, motherfucker.”