Enough (8 page)

I gaped at him. It was the only part of his past he’d shared with me. Or because I’d never seen him look so boyish, with more than a hint of mischief.

“You made soup for everyone.” He headed toward the office.

“People need to eat,” I told his back. He could’ve kissed me, at least.

He ate fast, spooning the soup in quick. “Forgot to eat before I came in.” He helped himself to another bowl.

He hadn’t eaten in over eight hours. No way I could go so long without food.

“This is a lot better than pizza.” He grinned at me. “Throw me a water.”

I did and leaned against the counter, watching him devour another bowl. After he finished his third, he sighed, a very content sound. “You’re a lifesaver, Red.” He crooked his finger to me.

And that easy I tumbled into his arms. He swept my hair behind my ear and captured my lips in a soup-tasting kiss.

“You rev me up so fast,” he rumbled low. “I need in your pussy, now.”

“My place?” I asked, breathless and drunk on the power of his words.

“Now. Go.” He smacked my ass and I squealed.

We rushed upstairs, and I unlocked the door with Dare pressing into me. We stumbled into my place.

“Fucking you against this door.” He growled the words while working the snap on my pants. They puddled at my feet in seconds, and I stepped out of them.

He undid his fly and as he pressed me against my door, his finger rubbed my clit.

“Fast and hard.” His words were harsh.

“Yeah,” I panted and wrapped my legs around his middle while he held me, then I positioned his cock and he drilled me hard, moving so fast I jiggled from the rhythm.

“Bring me home,” I shouted and squeezed my walls tight against his cock.

“Damn, woman.” His head hit the door as the shuddering release quaked through him. Feeling his release, an orgasm crashed into me speeding me away with him.

Wild and uncontrolled, Dare defined beauty. His face tightened and then relaxed. I fell a tiny bit in love with the wild man who surged inside me.

Gasping and sweaty, he lowered us to the floor before he fell back, sprawled on my carpet. I’d felled the giant. I giggled.

Dare opened one eye, staring at me. “What?”

I shook my head. “I’m amazed at the wildness. Made me feel like a conquering hero.” I hugged him close, lying on top of him.

“You conquered me. First you give the best head, then cook for me, and now your pussy does tricks.” He swatted my nose.

I lifted my damp hair off my neck. “Should cut this wild mess,” I muttered, making the empty threat I did every day.

“I like those red curls all messy and tumbled.” He lifted his head and kissed my lips.

“Me too, sometimes anyway.” I swiped his nose before I stood.

“Where you going, Red?” He sat up.

“Got to get to work. We have a bazillion clients this week.” I turned in a circle, trying to find my panties. Giving up, I ran into the bedroom for another pair. I came back out in new black lace panties.

“Liked your bare ass jiggling.” Dare hadn’t moved. Lazy man. “I want to spend some time playing with it.”

“Too bad. This ass has work to do.” I gave him a sassy smile and pulled on my jeans.

“Go with me to the club party Saturday.”

Facing the door, I froze, then buckled my pants.

To the club party? Oh hell no for about a hundred reasons. I didn’t know how to act. I didn’t know the secret handshake or the words they used. I’d make a fool of myself, and Dare would get pissed, ending the happiness I loved.

I turned around with
no
on my lips to find Dare as somber as if he’d asked me to marry him. The no died in a second.

“Can I think about it?” He frowned and I hurried on. “I’m worried I’ll embarrass you. All week people talk with words I don’t understand. I have a list of them, and I’m afraid I’ll break the rules or make someone mad.” I gulped, ready to continue, but he stood, hugging me to him.

“Red, we’ll talk tomorrow night. Then you tell me.” He gave me his serious look, the one with the crease in his brows. “You’ll never be an embarrassment. Proud to...” He paused. “To know you.”

The vise of disappointment squeezed my chest. The delivery guy who brought ink knew me. One minute Dare was holding his breath waiting for my answer and the next he dismissed me. My head started to hurt, probably from dehydration instead of the annoying man inches from me.

Reminded I was thirsty, I headed for the fridge and water, while behind me I heard Dare shut the bathroom door. I drank the cool water and considered what I should do. This was the part where things got complicated, but I wasn’t sure I wanted complicated. Throwing away the heavy thoughts along with the water bottle, I moved to the door so I could slip on my flats.

He walked toward me entirely too serious, so I jumped into his arms and kissed him. “Thanks. That’s my favorite so far.”

He snorted a laugh and set me down. “Damn good.” The confident tilt of his chin was back.

My chest filled with pride and satisfaction.

You’ll never be an embarrassment.
He could be different. All the others had loved to put me in my place, below them, and the smallest mistake turned into a major embarrassment. No matter how I tried, I hadn’t been good enough.

Chapter Eight: Lila

The next morning I hurried to answer a knock almost an hour before the shop opened. I hoped it wasn’t another handsy biker because I’d about had my fill. A middle-aged woman about five foot one with bright red hair and smile lines creasing her face barged into the shop.

“Hello, honey, I’m MJ, Mama Jericho, and had to meet you.” The woman overflowed with energy. It burst out of her words, through her wide gestures and her fast stride—not a woman to take lightly.

“Hi, I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.” I held out my hand, but she bypassed it, hugging me tight to her bony body. It was hard to believe such a small person had birthed Jericho, who stood over six foot.

“Your books done?” She turned serious.

“Yes, ma’am. Do you need them?” I headed to grab them.

“Nah, Stork will be by, but I plan to steal you for a late breakfast or early lunch, your call. You game?”

I didn’t think no was an option, and she intrigued me.

“Sure. Sounds great.” I stopped to lock up the shop, and we walked the block to the diner.

“You like Barden?” MJ asked.

“Yeah, a friendly town, and I’m starting to feel at home.”

“Need anything? We like taking care of ours.”

I gulped, thinking of what Dare said about my furniture. I shook my head. I planned to figure it out on my own.

We walked into the small diner and across the black-and-white-tiled floor to a newly cleared table in back—perfect timing. MJ sat down across from me.

A middle-aged waitress came by to take our order. “Hey, Jen, what’s the special?” MJ greeted her.

We ordered amid Jen and MJ catching up on town gossip. Once the waitress walked away, MJ focused on me.

“Dare asked you to the party. And you said?” MJ stared straight at me.

She was direct.

“We’re...” I searched for the right word.

“Fucking?” MJ laughed, holding her stomach. “Dear, I’ve done more of that than you can dream of.”

I was positive that was true. “Yeah, no emotions, the sex. This party feels like not casual, and I’m afraid—”

“No reason to fear the club—we’re legal and not too raunchy.” MJ’s gaze narrowed on me.

I held my palms up. “No, I’m afraid getting to know him better means heartache for me. I’m worried I don’t know the lingo, the rules, and will do something stupid, but I’m not afraid of the club.” If the woman let me finish a sentence, then she’d know my opinion.

Jen brought our coffee on a tray filled with food. The delicious smells of bacon and sausage had my stomach growling. I sipped my black coffee while MJ put enough sugar and cream in hers, I didn’t think it counted as coffee anymore.

“Those are smart worries. Good head on your shoulders.” MJ nodded and drank her coffee. “My boys say you cook like a dream, and that, I’m always looking for. Most old ladies can’t cook worth a damn.”

I didn’t know who her boys were. “Look, here’s my problem. I only understand about half of what you say. Who are your boys? What are
retirees
? And what the hell are
sheep
?”

MJ belted out a laugh that made her cough and pound the red Formica-topped table. “Girl, ain’t met one as green as you before. Can’t believe Jericho hired you. Must be good with the paperwork.”

I was damn good at my job, and what did the biker’s secret language have to do with managing the shop?

“Easy, girl.” MJ studied me. “Didn’t mean to piss you off. So many girls live to join the lifestyle and here you are not knowing a damn thing.”

I bit my lip. “Dare said we’d talk tonight and he’d answer my questions.”

Jen set the Denver omelet in front me, a fluffy perfection that I couldn’t make for the life of me, so I dug in and left MJ to talk.

She ate a piece of bacon and assessed me.

Should I worry about passing?
Hard to care while I ate fluffy eggs with ham.

“Can’t think of a time Dare brought someone to the club, not even a sheep.” She held up a finger. “They’re girls who love the life and like to party—basically club property. Any of the guys, whose women won’t cut off their dicks for cheatin’, can have a go. Sometimes one of the boys will take a shine to one for a bit, but mostly they’re partiers who have no sense.” MJ grunted. “You’d never be a sheep.”

“Damn straight.” I frowned at her. “Not, um, anything wrong with it, but not my style.”

“We agree.” MJ ate more bacon. “Women have defined roles in the club, but they can’t be members. You can be a sheep, bottom of the barrel. Then you can be a girl, a girlfriend who hasn’t been claimed yet.”

I wished I was Dare’s girl. Asking me to the party, did it make me his girl? Or a sheep?

No
,
no one treats me like that.
I’d come too far to go backward. I’d long ago turned in my wool.

“Sometimes a girl will switch between bikers until she finds the one who she’ll settle down with.”

“Really? It feels wrong to me, moving among friends like that.” I winced.

MJ shook her head. “The boys aren’t always right headed about women, and so if a biker ain’t the settling kind, the girl moves on. Because being a biker’s girl is like walking a tightrope. It ain’t easy.

“When a biker commits to a girl, she’s patched in as his property and becomes part of the club. We call her an old lady. The biker is her old man.” MJ smiled at me. “My old man patched me in after a year together, but it’s rare. Rarer now that the club’s established. It’s been hella thirty years helping my old man build the Brotherhood. Wild times, that ain’t no lie.”

The club sounded political to me, and the women more so than the men. It didn’t sound anything like a family, more like a harem. Old lady life didn’t sound normal either, but then my life never had been normal.

“Dare doesn’t strike me as the commitment type.” I feared I would fall in love with him and he’d walk away.

“Maybe, but maybe not.” She pointed her triangle of toast at me. “You have the only shot I’ve seen in the ten years I’ve known him. If it doesn’t work out between you, there’s lots of my boys who need a good woman.” She flashed me a brittle smile. “A woman who’s nice and can cook. Yeah, I can find you a man, if it comes to it.”

I hoped this was a dream. This friendly old woman propositioned me to be an old-lady-in-training or maybe an old-lady-in-waiting. I swallowed the laugh those words brought.

I put a ten on the table and stood. “Busy week at the shop. Thanks for the education. Can I ask you if I have more questions?”

She smirked at me. “You can ask.”

But whether she’d answer was another thing.

Dare worried about me, bragged about me—no way could I say no now. I bet MJ knew that before I did. I respected her, even if I didn’t trust her, but then, I rarely trusted myself.

The day passed in a blur, with the shop filled with bikers hanging out and others getting work done. I ran nonstop until closing time and hauled my ass upstairs for a quiet minute before Dare arrived at nine. I walked into my apartment and froze. A dark green couch rested back against the windows. Across from it, a TV stood on a stand. Where had all this come from? Who had decided I couldn’t take care of myself?

Sure, I’d waited, been hesitant even, to commit to the furniture I needed, but part of that was because I’d wanted to put my stamp on every item I brought in here. Nobody telling me how to decorate, when to do it, and least of all doing it for me, especially without as much as a word to me.

I dropped my purse and headed to the bedroom. Dare lay atop a bed, already made, with a totally masculine, self-satisfied grin.

I inhaled and tried to calm the rage climbing inside me. Why? Was he ashamed of my place? Did he think I couldn’t take care of myself? Or did he need this place to be his like I was his? Men. Just when I thought I could trust them they hit me hard and low, taking me down.

Now my sanctuary had become his, and it hurt. I’d wanted a bright floral couch, to pick out my own bed, to have a say in my furniture. This bedroom was no longer mine with the large headboard and matching chest of drawers.

I pivoted away and stalked back into the living room. Disgusted, I moved to the kitchen and grabbed an onion to start dinner.

“What do you think of the stuff?” His low rumble set my teeth on edge.

I chopped the onion faster, trying to get rid of the anger. I pushed it down, tried to swallow it, but it sprang back up, refusing to go away.

“Red, look at me.” He stood in my kitchen doorway.

I set down the chef’s knife and glared at the idiot.

“Why you pissed?” He had the nerve to sound insulted.

Chapter Nine: Lila

“Me? Pissed? Why do you care what I think? Did you and MJ cook this all up?” My face heated to think she’d known this morning that Dare furnished my place.

“What the hell’s MJ got to do with this?” He stalked toward me.

I rolled my eyes. “Who? Who died and made you boss?” I shouted the stupid words. He
was
my freakin’ boss. “What gives you the right to furnish my place? I told you—
I’d do it
.”

He scowled, and his lips flattened into a slash. “Then you should’ve fucking done it. Been a month since you said that.” He moved until we stood body to body.

I leaned against the counter craning my neck to see his face. With a huff, I pushed him back and he went. I moved past him and stormed into the living room. “So you had the
club
take care of it.”

“What if I did?” His voice quieted. “You too good for the club?”

He wasn’t hijacking my pissed off. “This is about my life, and you, you’re interfering.” I threw my hands over my head. “I stick my nose into your shit at the club? I hold your hand and see if you need help pissing?”

A smile flashed.

“Don’t you fucking laugh at me.” I hurled words at him. “I can...take...care...of...myself.”

“Can you?” His anger pulsed with each step, like a physical presence in the room. “You don’t let me help. You don’t ask the club for help. You don’t even ask for an advance to take care of shit you
need
.” He crowded me back to the bare wall by the door.

We’d had the most amazing sex against my door, and now it was all over. I’d be packing up and finding a new job again.

“Three strikes, Red. Now, I’ve taken care of it. Never doubt, I will take care of business, whether you like it or not.” He spoke low in my ear with a quiet rage banked in his tone.

“You? Who gave you the right to decide?” I sputtered the words, my anger running its course. I bit back the tears that threatened. “This is my home. My first place, and I wanted to do it, now it’s yours.” I bowed under the weight of the words.

He tugged my chin up. “Just because you get help doesn’t make this less yours. You get other furniture, toss it to the curb. Until then, I’m over sleeping on a damn air mattress and staring at the wall.”

I heaved out a breath, defeated. He sort of made sense. In fact, I’d sort of gone crazy when all he’d done was be kind to me.

“Come sit down.” He dragged me to the couch.

Collapsing onto it, I hid my face in my hands.

“I meant for you to be happy about this.” The couch dipped when he sat beside me. “So happy, you’d want to break in the bed with the surprise I brought you.”

I glanced at him.

“There’s a reason I don’t do this shit. I don’t get it right.” He started to stand, but I squeezed his leg.

So I’d probably overreacted.

“Don’t go.” I almost whispered the words.

He frowned at me.

“I didn’t need the club’s help. I can do it on my own. If I’d known it bothered you, I would’ve done it already.” I stared up at the water-stained ceiling, trying to rein in the bitter tang of disappointment.

“Club? What’s this got to do with MJ or the club?”

I stared at him. “You said the club wanted to help and then MJ asked me on the way to lunch. Didn’t you have her or someone do it?”

“MJ asked you about furniture?”

“No, if I needed anything. But I said no. And here she knew about the furniture.” It ate at me for some reason for her to solve my problems.

He shifted on the couch until he faced me. “Look at me.”

I met his confused baby blues. “What?”

“Zayn bought new stuff so I got the couch and bed frame from him. Picked up the TV and mattress at the store. This isn’t a club thing. MJ doesn’t know shit.”

He’d picked out everything. Just him?

“Why?” I had to know.

He scanned the room. “Shit, I’m here all the damn time, so why not? And your lack of bed frame...” I swear Dare squirmed “...cramps my style. I have a fondness for ropes, cuffs, you know, but I can’t do much without a sturdy frame. No way you’re buying shit important to me, so I did. It bothers me you don’t even notice the lack of stuff in here.”

I bust out laughing, I couldn’t help it. So he didn’t think I was useless, unable to take care of myself.

He scowled. “Why you laughing?”

“Sorry. I thought you bought this because you didn’t think I could take care of myself.”

He snorted. “You do fine without me.” He spoke to our joined hands. “I’ve never wanted to spend time with a chick out of bed, until now.” He looked up. “You just go along taking care of everyone, I wanted to do something for you.”

My throat closed and my heart somersaulted. He cared, at least a little, and he enjoyed spending time with me.

“I’m a complete ass, this is sweet, and I really like the bed.” I stilled my face. “So ropes? Did I ever tell you about my dream?”

He flashed his naughtiest smile. “You haven’t, Red. So bad. Who were you dreaming about?”

“A biker—blond full of tattoos. It was a boss fantasy.” I played with him. “He tied me up in knots, if you get my drift.”

“Need you tied in my knots right now.”

“Sounds fun.” I peeked up at him. “We okay?”

He nodded. “Your fire turns me on. I’ve seen a glimpse or two, but I didn’t know you had that kind of fire in you.”

“Beware the redhead.” I stood and pulled him to his feet. “You better restrain me.”

His intense expression made my womb clench, then he swept me up and carried me to my new bed.

He stood me up at the edge of the bed, tugged off my T-shirt and unfastened my bra. He kissed each breast and pushed me onto the bed. I sunk a bit—it was so soft. He kneeled in front of me and removed my flats.

“Oh, baby, you’ll get your wish.”

Fear and excitement mixed inside me.

“I’ve never been tied up. But in my dream ropes snaked around me from shoulders to toes.”

He dropped his head, groaning. “You’re gonna kill me.”

“Do I need a safe word?” I gulped.

He met my gaze. “‘Stop.’ ‘I don’t like it.’ Those work for me. This isn’t role playing, just plain, kinky sex.”

I laughed. “Good to know there’s a difference.”

He tugged my jeans down over my hips and off before his fingers eased my panties down. I would never tire of the sight of him shedding his clothes.

Reaching under the bed, he lifted two coils of black rope.

“Kneel on the floor.” The sensual command in his voice excited me.

I knelt on the wood floor, nude with my hands to my sides.

“Tell me more about your dream.”

“My ass was up in the air, my hands secured to the bed in front of me.” My muscles tightened at the memory of the dream. “The ropes, like a thousand fingers rubbing across me, drove me insane.”

“Where did they feel the best?” His husky voice rasped with shallow breaths.

I caressed my nipples. “Here.”

His harsh gasp pulled my gaze to his.

“The ropes were tied at my ankles.”

“Red, we’re going to have fun tonight.” He lifted my arms above my head and held them closed in the prayer position. He wound the soft strand around my wrists and coiled it down each arm until the rope crossed across my chest in front and back. He tied an intricate knot between my breasts with the silky rope taut over my nipples. Shivers cascaded from where the rope touched me.

“So beautiful.” Dare moved my arms down until they rested in front of me in a V.

“It’s like velvet against my skin.”

“Of course, only the softest for you.” He focused on the knots that he chained down my torso, different from my dream. He wrapped ropes around each thigh, tying matching knots on the inside of my thighs before he snaked the rope to my knees.

“How does it feel?”

“Sensual.” I purred.

He chuckled. “Stand. Too tight?”

I stood and the ropes slithered along my body, rubbing with such intimacy across my skin. “Perfect. Like my dream.”

He scooped me up and laid me on my back in the center of the bed, positioning me so my hands were tied inches from the wood slat headboard. The loop he’d created at my wrists tightened when he secured me to the bed frame with my arms stretched just a bit in the process. I wanted to writhe in the cords binding me until my body burned.

He anchored my left foot and then my right to the corners of the bed until I lay spread eagle and immobile. Dare stood on the floor at the end of the new bed and fucked me with his eyes.

He squeezed his cock, and his pupils dilated. “You okay?”

“Better than. Will you touch me?” My body ached for his talented touch.

“Oh yes. If it’s ever too much—tell me.” He turned serious. “Promise.”

“Promise.” But I might’ve promised my firstborn for his touch.

He climbed onto the bed and straddled me. He massaged my breasts and the rope moved in time with him. I arched and the ropes tightened.

“So good,” I mumbled.

He plundered my mouth as he pinched my nipples. Pleasure zinged through my spine. I wanted him to touch my pussy and moved to direct him, but my hands caught tight.

“I need you everywhere.”

He chuckled. “I’ll get there, Red. Be patient.”

His careful strokes and nips were the high notes of his melody, and the sensual caress of his web of restraint was the bass.

“Please. Let me suck you. Just a bit.” I spoke between bursts of pleasure.

He frowned at me. “You want to suck me with no control.”

I trusted him. “Yes.” I moaned the word.

Heat flashed between us when he guided his cock into my mouth. Thick and long, I swallowed him down, reveling in the salty taste of him. He thrust slowly into me, and I invited him deeper.

“Red, holy fuck.” He moved faster, balls tightening and breath rapid. He gasped and jerked out of my mouth.

“No,” I wailed, needing the contact, the fullness of him inside me.

His finger plunged through my wet folds. “Gotta be inside you.”

“Finally.” I strained up and into him. “Now, now,” I chanted.

He released my hands and legs in seconds.

“Flip over, ass up.” He rolled on a condom.

I scrambled to comply, enjoying the way the ropes writhed with every twist. He did something at my ankles before he secured my hands to the bed.

His groin cupped my ass as he plunged deep inside me, I strained to meet him and the furious pace he set, but the ropes allowed me hardly any movement.

“More.” I bounced up to meet him, driven insane by the ropes, his cock and best of all his sweaty torso rubbing against mine. He bit my neck and I screamed. “Make me come.”

Mindless, I searched for the release. Dare snarled and dug his fingers into my ass, tilting my hips in the perfect way.

I squeezed my pussy tight on his cock, tearing a groan from him as he drove into me. My world exploded in color and pleasure as the climax ricocheted through me, heightened by each strand of Dare’s web.

He bellowed his own release and leaned onto my back. He tugged a rope and my hands dropped.

He moved back and released my joined ankles. Once free, I rolled over and clasped him tightly, holding him to me as sensation and emotion rocked through me.

My dream hadn’t done the actual experience justice. Could I wear these ropes all the damn time?

After a few minutes, he leaned back with a lopsided grin on his face and unwound me.

“You’re amazing.” I shut my eyes, not even trying to hide the goofy smile playing across my lips.

“You almost did me in with your mouth, such a close thing.” He caressed my cheek. “No one’s ever trusted me so much.”

He’d broken me, I’d tasted his carnal wickedness, and I’d never be satisfied with less.

We lay cuddling, and I was half asleep when my stomach gurgled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten for hours.

Dare laughed. “Guess you worked up an appetite.”

“Guess so.”

I slipped on a Marked Man T-shirt and cooked a quick batch of stir-fry. He joined me in the kitchen. “Why do you always cook?”

“Girl’s gotta eat,” I sassed him.

“Yeah, but you don’t zap something, you cook real food.”

A melancholy colored my happiness. “Before my mom died, she always cooked and baked. She said the kitchen was the soul of the home, and food the language of love.” I stirred the veggies and shrugged. “So I cook.”

Dare rested a hand on my shoulder. “Sounds like a wise woman.”

Thankfully he didn’t ask me all the normal questions I hated answering. When did she die? How did she die? And then the questions about the rest of my family would start.

We sat on the “new” couch and ate our dinner at midnight, watching whatever Dare chose on the TV. I took our plates to the kitchen and returned to find Dare in the ratty chair that had been my first furniture.

“We talkin’ about the club and party?” He jerked me into the chair.

This night felt like a thousand hours, so much had happened.

Yeah, I wanted answers, but I’d be going.

“Uh, MJ took me to lunch before the shop opened.” I spoke quietly, not sure if this was a good thing.

He smiled wide. “You told me. Did she ask you to cook with her?” He relaxed back into the chair.

Yeah
,
and gave me the third degree.

“Well, in our conversation, my lack of club knowledge was glaring, so she answered most of my questions.” I bit my lip, trying to figure out how much to say.

Dare kissed me, biting the same lip I had. He had a thing about my lip and I liked it.

“More questions?”

“Um, I don’t mean to piss you off, but I need to ask, um...”

“Spit it out, Red.” He scowled at me.

“If I go, will I be with
you
—that night—or a sheep?” I glanced away.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

I peeked up through my lashes, worried I went too far.

“If I invite you to the club, you’re with me.”

And the words made my heart sing. I liked being with him.

“When there’s lots of drunk bikers, it’s a good question. You could be manhandled, if I’m away from you. Sometimes I will be.” He spoke with calm, but I wasn’t calm about being handled by anyone.