Jase (6 page)

She accepted the keys from him with a raised eyebrow. “Okay, thanks. But, two keys?”

He shrugged. “It’s what they gave me. We have a few more rooms reserved, but they’re scattered on different floors, so you won’t be close to anyone you’ll know. If you have any trouble, call someone. You have my number.
Be sure to call
me if you need me, okay?”

Nodding, she slipped an arm around his waist, hugging him tight and dropping a kiss on his cheek. “Okie
dokie
.
Thanks
.”

Tug reached out, pulling on the waistband of her chaps, reminding her she hadn’t yet taken time to remove her leathers. Stepping
backwards
into his hold, she relaxed, leaning into him. “You’re sure hugging and kissing on a whole lot of men, DeeDee,” he murmured.

“They’re my boys,” she laughed with
a broad
smile. “I love my
boys
; they are all such nice guys.”

Cryptically, he said, “I don’t think he likes it much. And I know for sure he doesn’t like this.” He patted her hip, sliding his hand around and possessively spreading his palm across her stomach for a moment. She tensed. His fingers were warm and the pressure comfortable, nearly stretching down far enough to reach..
.

With his other hand, he reached up, taking her chin with his fingers as he had earlier and directed her gaze to the crowd near Mason’s garage, where a group of Daniel’s friends had gathered around his two brothers.
Her throat closed, trapping her breath in her chest for a moment as her eyes met smoldering, dark brown ones. Jase was staring across the crowd at her.

He looked furious; she wasn’t sure why for a moment until Tug stepped back, dropping his arms from around her. The strain on Jase’s face eased slightly and he padded across the space between them, dodging around individuals and couples without seeming to notice them, eyes only for her.

“There you go,” she distantly heard Tug say and felt a little push on her ass, absently reaching back to swat the hand away. She couldn’t take her eyes off Jase. Something about the look on his face held her captive.

There was a short laugh and then strong hands picked her up by the waist, lifting her over the railing and setting her on the ground next to the porch, bypassing the stairs. Jase didn’t stop his advance until he was close enough to reach out and cup her face in his large, callused hands, leaning in without hesitation to cover her mouth softly with his own.

The noises around them fell away; it seemed as if she couldn’t hear anything except her own pounding heartbeat and the sound his fingertips made when he stroked her
jawline
, rasping against her skin.
She gave herself into the kiss entirely, reveling in the sensations of his lips against hers, the roughness of his short beard against her skin. He glided his tongue across her bottom lip and then dipped it into her mouth to tangle with her own, the unabashed sensuality of the kiss stealing her breath.

Too soon, his lips drew
away,
the heat of his hands still blazing against her cheeks. When DeeDee’s eyes slowly opened, she saw he had a look on his face difficult to categorize, but if pressed, she might have said it was
satisfaction
. When she was in town previously, they had never gone past chaste kisses on the cheek, or a friendly arm draped around shoulders or waist. They certainly never kissed like this, with the toe-curling passion she just experienced. Short of breath, she smiled uncertainly up at him, her lips trembling. He was so handsome, with
deep
brown soulful eyes, and
sensuous
lips framed with a soft beard.

“Hey, DeeDee,” he said, still looking down at her, thumbs stroking across her cheekbones. His eyes roamed from her eyes to her lips, down to her breasts and back to her lips, his tongue darting out to tap against his top one, finally smiling as she gasped. “I missed you.”

He looked up, over her head, and gave a chin lift. “Tug.” Tipping his face to the side slightly, he said, “Slate.”

She heard Tug call her name and turned as he said, “I got you,
pretty
lady. You need me, let me know. I got you.” Nodding, she stumbled when Jase tugged on her hand, pulling her towards him. Putting her hands on his chest to halt her fall, she drew up hard at the look that crossed his face when she touched him. Hunger and desire warred there, raw and shocking.

He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, obviously composing himself before he opened them to stare at her again. “Let’s walk,” he suggested, pulling her hand up and kissing across the backs of her knuckles.

“Okay,” she agreed easily, swinging into place beside him, comfortably wrapping one arm around his waist as he laid his across her shoulders. She would often
walk
with Winger like this, and out of habit, she tucked her fingers into his back pocket.

As they moved into the crowd, she suddenly became conscious of eyes on them. Everywhere she looked, there were Rebel members watching, tracking their progress. Abruptly uncomfortable, she sidestepped a little, dislodging his arm from her shoulders and dropping hers from his waist as she moved away. Glancing
backwards
, she saw two Rebels were walking not five feet behind,
pacing
them stride-for-stride.
Oh, God,
she thought frantically, wondering,
what if they think
I'm
disrespectful to Winger’s memory? What will they do?

Jase reached out and reclaimed her hand, using it to pull her closer to his side. “What’s wrong, DeeDee?” He asked her the question with a quizzical tilt of his head, looking sweet and charming. She smiled and shook her head, opening her mouth to answer him when she heard her name from the side.

“DeeDee, we got you, babe. You want this botheration?” This came from Hoss, one of her dancing partners from earlier in the evening. She was sure he had used Tug’s words intentionally, the repetition reminding her of the previous conversation.

She turned to face
him,
and lifting her chin with
confidence
she didn’t feel, she said, “It’s all good, thanks.” He and the Chicago Rebel standing with him nodded, moving another few feet away, but keeping a close watch on her in spite of her reassurances.

Jase set his back to a tree and pulled her closer, nestling her into his chest, her back to his front. He rested his chin on her shoulder, tilting his head to look back and forth between the several groups of Rebel members
obviously
keeping an eye on them both.

“Something I need to know, DeeDee?” His tone was questioning, but not concerned or afraid, and she snorted softly. If their roles were reversed and she had this many big, powerfully built bikers staring daggers
at
her, she would be petrified.

Taking a deep breath, she blew it out slowly, trying to choose her words carefully, but distracted by an acute awareness of his arms crossed over her chest, his hands curving around her sides. “No, nothing to worry about, Jase. They’re just overprotective tonight. We have a bunch of members from different chapters here, plus a lot of other clubs as well. I forgot my rag at home, so they’re all
just
making sure I’m safe.”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she could have chewed her tongue bloody for speaking so freely.
Now she knew she would have to turn away his questions about what a rag was, and why she might not be safe, and what the different clubs had to do with each other. All of which would be hard to explain without going into a lot of detail.
She could claim club business, and that generic umbrella might deflect his inquiries. After all, he likely would never realize women were exempt from even knowing what was going on most of the time.

He surprised her, however, nodding slowly, rubbing his cheek against hers. Nuzzling the side of her neck, he dropped a series of hard, sucking kisses on the column of her throat, running his nose up behind her ear and earning a giggle from her. “There,” he said proudly, pulling back to look at her neck. “Now everyone will know you’re taken.” He nuzzled her ear again, adding, “By me.”

Oh, my God, did he just give me hickeys?
She hadn’t had a
hickey
since she was in her mid-twenties, and even back then, it was only funny for about five minutes. This was going to piss her off. He didn’t miss the tension that flooded her body and snickered at the reaction. She twisted her head to look up at him and saw wry humor in his face. “No, I didn’t,” was all he
said
before laughing again. “But I had you
worried
and made you forget about the attentive audience for a half a minute.”

“Jase,” she scolded, laughing. She leaned her head against his shoulder, reveling in the feel of the warm body behind her and the strength of the arms wrapped around her. It was so good to be held again. She hadn’t realized how much she missed this
simple
intimacy and interaction.

***

Hoss watched her all afternoon. He saw the fear that flashed across DeeDee’s face as Tug forced her to abandon the island of safety Winger’s bike presented. He watched her expression change again as she two-stepped and twirled between the group of Rebels, loving the bright smile that curved her lips just for him when she reached out for his hand. He watched her features soften as she thanked them
with
a hug and a kiss for each, her affection evident in her gaze.

He watched for the things she didn’t want them to see, too. He saw her cataloging things that her dead daughter hadn’t done, things she never got to experience. Saw her face close down when approached by a member of whom she wasn’t certain, and saw that same face lighten and open for one she trusted.

He saw as she affectionately greeted groups of men, inviting herself
to
discussions with a kiss and a touch.
Saw her mount the steps to the back porch of Mica’s place, watching as first Slate and then Tug pulled her into a close embrace, feeling a possessive twist in his gut when Tug touched her with casual familiarity.
Then he watched as Tug directed her gaze
across
the heads of the partygoers. Hoss saw the moment she transformed from the strikingly attractive woman he had known for years into an exquisite thing of beauty, the change driven by whatever it was she had seen.

She grew still, focused, taking in deep, rapid breaths through slightly parted lips. Her cheeks flushed hotly and her face held a look he had never seen before, not even when she was married to Winger. Anticipation, longing, desire, and fear all were a puzzle of emotions playing across her features as Tug caged her chin, keeping her face pointed towards whatever it was he wanted her to see.

Twisting half around, he saw a dark head moving amongst the crowd towards Mica’s house, catching only fleeting glimpses of a man’s face as he single-mindedly wove through the bodies in the crowd that stood between them.
He turned back in time to see Slate lifting DeeDee over the railing of the porch, gently setting her on the ground. Taking a dozen steps her direction, he abruptly halted when he saw the dark head moving like a flung arrow towards DeeDee belonged to Spencer.

Too far away to get there in time to intervene, he was still close enough to witness the reverence with which Spencer touched her face, how he cupped her cheeks as if she were the most precious thing he had ever encountered.
Then, when he covered her mouth with his
own
and kissed her like she was everything he ever
wanted,
as if she were already his, Hoss read her eager reaction. Her back arched instinctively, her body pressing closer to Spencer as the kiss slowed and they separated. Her face turned upward and Hoss saw her eyes flutter open, a look of such deep longing on her features that he felt that twist in his gut again.

He had long cherished her
friendship
and was proud
of
the way the club had supported her when Winger died. Then, for a long time, he had hoped for something more between them, but he knew he would never see
that loo
k directed at him. And, if he was honest, he had never ached for her as it appeared Spencer did. He now knew what Bingo meant, because having seen it, even as it was bittersweet, Hoss would be lying if he tried to say he didn’t want that for her again.
All
of that.

Now he would just have to help convince her.

***

“Hey,” Jase said softly, arms reaching out to capture her and pull her against him again, letting her lean against his side, smiling as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
She kept leaving him to go talk to people. While she eventually circled back around, he missed her while she was gone and kept a close eye on her progress, anticipating having her in his arms again.

He said, “I have a feeling this party is winding down. Mason walked by a minute ago and told people to keep the noise down. It looks like Road Runner is packing up his grilling kit, too. You want anything else before it’s all gone?”

She shook her head, hair rustling against his shoulder. Her breath fluttered feather-light against his neck; she had curved into him as if she were exhausted. He realized she probably
was,
because she had been up since early morning and had ridden for hours to get here, and then spent her time here at the party on her feet. “You tired?”

He heard a muffled sound of agreement and grinned, turning her to wrap his arms around her shoulders and belly, supporting her body and securing it against his own. Her hand rose to his arm and she patted gently before shifting and moving again, pulling away and standing on her own.

She turned to look at him and he stilled, taking in the full effect of her beauty from not two feet away, face shadowed in the uncertain light filtering through the trees. The sounds of the party muted, fading away as he focused on her. He saw fluffy bangs over eyes he knew to be
a deep
shade of blue. The bangs were a match in color to the dark red hair partially tamed into a side braid falling over one shoulder, the tail resting alongside one full, rounded breast.