Lock and Key (28 page)

Butler hung his arm around my shoulders and took a drag off a joint. “Coulda been a contender, that one… to quote one of my favorite examples of American cinema.”

I laughed. He had always been obsessed with Marlon Brando. We’d been through his DVD collection many, many times with Dig and Caitlyn.

“Lock was that good?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah. When he first got out of the army, but he was never interested in taking it anywhere,” Butler said. “Wanted to stay put after he got out.”

Stay put?

I had once remarked to Lock how he wasn’t connected. How wrong I was. He certainly was connected to everything Wreck had given him: Meager, the club, the repair shop. He was connected to all these things and to his brothers. All of it was home to him and home was obviously vital to Lock. Unlike me. I had cut myself off from everything and everyone I knew, and once held dear.

I was the disconnected one, wasn’t I?

I leaned into Butler. “He’s made the shop a success, right?” I asked.

“Yes, he has. He’s organized and very determined. Hell, it’s good for the club to have a couple of honest businesses going,” Butler said.

I rolled my eyes. “Just a couple.” I bumped my hip against his. A grin split his handsome face.

“Just a few to deflect attention from the real moneymakers,” he said against my ear. He offered me his joint; I shook my head at it.

Lock knocked his opponent down again. Loud cheering and shouting broke through the night air. The fight was called. Lock offered his hand to his fallen opponent and helped him up on his feet. The black haired woman in the orange halter top handed Lock a towel to wipe up with and a bottle of water. He lifted his chin at her and grinned.

Butler and I turned to walk away, but Heather caught my eye by the end of the mats. She stared at the black haired woman and Lock who were laughing together. Heather’s cheeks were flushed, and she had a pinched expression on her face. I almost felt sorry for her. She muttered something under her breath as she watched them. Another girl pulled her away.

Lock, the conquering gladiator. I dug the heel of my boots into the asphalt.

Butler and I ate together with a group of his brothers and Dee, an Old Lady from his chapter whom I knew with her Old Man, Judge. I chewed my food with intent, but could barely taste the smoky hot dog or the creamy macaroni salad. When we were done, Dee and I cleaned up our table, then Dee came with me to check in on Jake who luckily was sleeping soundly. Dee and I danced to some old time rock and roll, then Butler grabbed me and we ended up at the makeshift bar to get some real booze. I was definitely ready for something stronger.

“What are you in the mood for tonight, babe?” Butler asked. His lips brushed my ear. He stood behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist.

“Hmm.” I grinned up at him. “Tequila.”

“You got it.” His one hand let go of me, and he motioned to Dawes behind the bar.

Just then a couple stormed past and bumped into us. I got knocked out of Butler’s loose embrace, but he immediately grabbed me and pulled me back into his arms. I grinned up at him. His one hand wrapped around my neck, and he kissed me. My insides seized.

“What’ll it be?” asked Dawes. I tore my mouth away from Butler’s.

“Two shots of tequila!” I said.

“Make it four, man!” Butler shouted.

Both his hands tilted my head closer to his, and we kissed again. His tongue swept through my mouth. It was gentle and warm, and he tasted faintly of sweet barbecue sauce and beer laced with acrid tobacco.

I punched his chest and let out a laugh. “I forgot you had that tongue piercing.”

His blue gaze intensified. “Now you finally get to try it out, beautiful,” he said.

I shot him a smirk, and he crushed his lips onto mine once more. The ball of his piercing rasped all over my tongue.

“Always had a thing for you, baby,” he whispered.

My fingers curled into his thick cotton shirt. To hold on? To push him away? What the hell was I doing? I didn’t have a clue. And at this very moment I really didn’t care.

“Always had a thing for you.”

I knew that.

The rub was I did too… once upon a time.

Before he had hooked up with Caitlyn, Butler used to pay me lots of attention. So much attention that Dig had caught on and didn’t like it much. Then one night things changed. I caught Butler watching me and Dig having sex in the woods where we had camped for the night on a weekend run to Mount Rushmore.

Butler had stood against a tree not far from us. A tourist he had picked up was on her knees giving him head, but he was watching me ride my Old Man. Our eyes had locked in the full moonlight. It was chilling and erotic, and I knew it was wrong, but I was unable to look away.

Dig whispered something hot and nasty in my ear just as he slammed his hips into mine, and I groaned loudly. Butler fucked the girl’s face hard while his gaze remained pinned on me. Dig suddenly bit the side of my breast and that sent me over. Butler’s head rolled back against the tree as he blew his load into the girl’s mouth. We came together long distance.

Guilt and shame had flooded my insides when Dig finished a moment later and pulled me down for a kiss. I sank my face into his neck. That’s as far as it ever got between me and Butler, and it was far enough. Before that night he had regularly tossed flirtatious barbs and suggestive looks my way that I took in stride. But after that night in the woods, I made it a point to steer clear of him.

Tonight, though, there were no reasons against us, none at all.
And Butler felt good. His desire was palpable in wave after wave as his mouth possessed mine and his warm hands pressed into my flesh. It would be so easy to lose myself in it.

“Yo, Butler. Drinks!” Dawes shouted out.

“What’s with the ice?” Butler asked.

My eyes shot to the bar top. Four small glasses of tequila were accompanied by an extra large plastic cup filled to the top with ice cubes and a slice of lemon.

“Hell if I know,” Dawes said. “Lock said you’d need it.”

My blood froze. My head snapped up, and like a heat-seeking tracking system, I hunted for Lock.

There he was.

His black eyes smoldered at me, his jaw set. He wore a denim shirt with the sleeves cut off at the shoulders, the bunched muscles of his arms and chest under his still gleaming golden skin rippled in the harsh light from the big overheads. He inclined his head at me, and my eyes widened at him.

“What the fuck?” Butler let out a throaty laugh. “We don’t wanna cool down, we want to heat things up!” He snapped up a shot and drank. He handed me one, and I knocked it back. The liquor burned all the way down my throat.

His hand slid down to my ass and squeezed as he tossed back his second shot and handed me another. Junk came up to Butler and whispered something in his ear and Butler nodded. Butler’s hand dropped from my side. He took out his cell phone and showed Junk a map on his phone as they both rattled on about a schedule. My eyes darted back over to Lock.

The black-haired wench swayed to the music at his side. She handed him a shot glass then stood up on her tip toes and pressed against him. Her tongue swirled in a tight circle over the side of his neck. Lock looked up and met my gaze. He raised his glass in my direction and drank.

My head exploded.

What the hell was his problem? He got what he wanted, didn’t he? I downed my second shot of tequila.

“I need to go check on my nephew,” I whispered in Butler’s ear. He nodded and returned his attention to Junk.

I charged through the throng of people and darted into the clubhouse before I lost it. Imagine, I need to go inside to get a breath of fresh air? I hustled through the dimly lit main hallway and made the turn for the bedrooms. My head pounded. I stopped and pressed my hand into the wall to steady myself for a moment. The reverb from some heavy metal song marched up my arm. I took in a deep breath.

“What’s the matter, Little Sister? You had enough or want some more?” Lock’s deep voice rose behind me.

I spun around, and there he was filling the hallway. Dark emotion pounded off him and charged the space between us. My heart skipped a beat.

“What did you say?”

“There I was thinking that you needed time to deal with your past before you moved on to something new, but I was wrong.” His brows snapped together, and his small hoop earring swung. “You’re too busy climbing all over your past.”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I know who and what I am. Do you?” His glassy eyes flared at me. “Is Butler another one of your former flames? As if the fucking deputy wasn’t enough.”

“What’s it to you?”

“Answer me!”

“I’ve never hooked up with Butler, if that’s what you’re implying. I was a faithful Old Lady.”

He smirked. “So now’s your big chance then, huh?”

“Well, there’s an idea!”

Lock’s hands reached out, wrapped tightly around my neck, and pulled me into his body. His tequila-laced lips brushed mine, and I gasped for air. His tongue lashed through my mouth. Sensation exploded inside me.

Hell no.

I pushed back against his chest and managed to tear away from him.

“You can’t have it both ways, Lock. One minute you’re all over me and the next you push me away and play it cold. Now this? What’s it going to be?” I asked. “You’ve got a problem with me and an old friend spending time together after so many years, but you’ve got bitches climbing all over you, kissing you, touching you!”

His jaw tightened. “They’re just the same old tits and holes, Grace. They’re nothing, they don’t take any effort,” he said. “I’m old enough to know the difference.”

“Really?”

His hand pressed up my torso, and I fought my body’s ridiculously instant, heat-filled reaction.

“Just can’t keep away from you, no matter how hard I try,” he muttered against my cheek. My nerves jumped and caught fire at his words, at the timbre of his voice.

My fingers sank into his sides then slid around his back. A raw groan escaped his throat. “Then don’t,” I breathed.

I opened my mouth to him, and his tongue plunged right in and claimed mine. The kiss quickly became desperate, hostile. I pressed in closer to his body. His fingers found the button and zipper of my jeans and undid them. His cold hand slid against the warm skin of my tummy and sank in between my legs. I let out a soft cry.

“Aw, fuck,” he grunted and sank against me.

“Lock—” A rush of pounding blood erupted in my veins.

“You gonna let him in here?” he said on a hiss. My eyes flew open. Two of his fingers rubbed around my clit and squeezed. The sensation tore through me like a flame. I panted hard.

Why did it have to be like this? A stolen moment with me pinned up against the wall, Lock servicing me like some house slut. Right here, where he had gotten blown by Heather and who knows how many others.

My hips jerked against his hand, and I snapped my legs together. “Screw you!”

He slammed me against the wall and bit my lip. I gasped into his mouth. He yanked my jeans down further, and his one hand swept down under my panties over the flesh of my ass and the other went down my front. I choked against his double-handed onslaught. The smooth coldness of his silver ring grazed me right on target. My knees buckled.

“Oh God, don’t!”

“You gonna give it away to Butler tonight, baby?”

Both his hands moved quicker over my sensitive flesh. The knot of tight, tight pleasure built and towered over me. I was going under. My head pressed back into the wall, and I strained for whatever oxygen remained in the hallway. Pain, pleasure, and shock riveted me to that hard wall, to him.

He let out a brutal snarl.

“Lock… oh God!”

“You want me to fuck you now? Want me inside you?” The seething fierceness in his voice incinerated a hole in my chest.

I gazed up at him like a lost child. He slid his hands out of my panties and traced my lips with a wet finger. My scent wafted around me. His eyes flashed over me, and my flesh vibrated. He suddenly thrust two of his fingers up inside me, and I gasped. His other hand was wrapped tight around my neck and his forehead was glued to mine. His lips were just degrees out of my reach, but he wouldn’t give them to me. My hips jerked in tandem with the quick rhythm of his fingers.

My body surrendered. I shut my eyes and saw stars. My fists opened in a pathetic attempt to grip the wall for dear life. My teeth pierced my lower lip and imprisoned the moan in my throat. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. All my joints had liquefied. Holy shit, he had serviced me in the goddamn hallway.

He had turned the tables very nicely.

Lock released me and numbness immediately stole over me. He stood back an inch and tugged sharply at my panties, then yanked my jeans up around my hips, jerked up the zipper and buttoned the top button. His hot breath fanned my skin, but an icy chill swept over me.

He was done.

“That should take the edge off for now, yeah?” he whispered.

How did we turn so ugly?

Who the fuck does he think he is?

My hand shot out and palmed the full throttle erection in his jeans. He grunted and grabbed my wrist.

“And how about your edge, huh? You going to blow your load inside one of those skanks now?” I asked. “Or maybe both of them, big man?”

His hands cupped my breasts and squeezed. I winced.

“Should I save it all up for you, baby?” he said in my ear.

Tears stung the backs of my eyes. I released him, and my head sank against the wall.

He planted his hands on the wall on either side of my face and leaned into me. “I know I can’t compete with your past,” he said. “And you’ve got to do whatever it is you need to do. It burns, but I get it. I get that whatever you’re feeling being back here is big. I get all this shit, babe, believe me.” He swallowed hard. “You want Butler, you feeling it for him, you should go for it.”

I pushed against him, but it was no use. He was like a wall of iron barring my escape. His nose slid slowly against my jaw. The tangy aroma of his sweat mixed with faded spice made my head spin. A sob heaved from my chest.