SLAM HER (11 page)

“Thank you,” she said. “For today and everything else.”

“Sure thing,” I said. Belle started to turn and I grabbed her wrist. “Hey, babe, I wasn’t lying either.”

“About?”

“This Kyle thing. You call me if you need me. You’re not going to get the help you need from the law. I learned that a long time ago. I’m not going to be some fucking knight in white armor for you, but if you need to get out of a bad situation, I can make that happen.”

I saw the way Belle swallowed hard. She was hooked already.

She turned her hand and interlaced her fingers with mine. “Okay, Slam, I’ll tell you something before I leave.”

“What?”

“My mother was murdered when I was a young girl. Cold blooded murder to go against something my father had done. My mother loved the ocean and went to the coast anytime she could. I wasn’t trying to hurt myself. I was trying to get down to the water. Makes me feel close to her.”

Belle took her hand from mine and got into her car. I was frozen fucking solid like a block of ice in Alaska. The goddamn woman left me speechless.

As the car drove away I started to feel a little guilty. Guilty for what I was going to do to her. But what choice did I have then? I couldn’t just bail on her. And I couldn’t let Chief Richards get away with his bullshit anymore. Especially now that he was letting this psycho Kyle chase his daughter down.

“What the fuck is running through your mind?” a voice asked me.

It was Knox.

“You don’t want to know, brother,” I said.

“How’s your plan going?”

“Fine,” I said. “Just fucking fine.”

That was all I said to Knox about it - or anyone for that matter.

Ten hours later I rolled a condom down my thick cock and plowed forward into some woman I didn’t even bother to get a name from. Her pussy was wet and tight and she screamed my name as I fucked her. She had dark hair so I flipped it all forward and kept my eyes on her ass.

With each thrust forward I thought of Belle.

seventeen

(belle)

*NOW*

“What are you doing?” Ashley asked me as we sat outside on the patio of a small cafe.

I hadn’t realized how badly I had stretched my neck. I was like a child when they heard the dinging bell of an ice cream truck each time I heard a motorcycle. It was completely pathetic but not quite as bad as how many times I had pleasured myself while thinking of Slam.

“Nothing, sorry,” I said. “I thought I saw something.”

“You looked ready to jump out of your seat,” Ashley said.

I laughed. “Not quite. Anyway, give me the latest scoop on your wedding.”

Ashley quickly went into a rant about dresses and flowers.

I faded in and out, thinking about Slam.

He somehow got my phone number and the last few weeks of my life had been nothing short of intense. I’d seen him at least ten times, sometimes for just a minute or two. The first thing he did was ask me about Kyle. There was always someone waiting for me outside after working to make sure I was safe. It was like I had my own personal bodyguard yet I didn’t understand why I deserved it. Each time I brought it up to Slam, he would kiss my cheek and wink.

Yeah, kissing him was something else too. We only kissed a couple times though besides that first one at Angie’s. That kiss was by far the hottest, craziest, and best kiss of my life. Slam had warned me not to push him away but there was no way in hell I would have anyway. The second our lips and tongues met, it was just
wild
.

But I knew who he was. He was the bad guy. The villain. The guy my father would probably arrest if he had the chance. Worse yet… I wondered if he was the kind of guy that had killed my mother. That’s what tore me up the most. I tried to look beyond all of that but I couldn’t. And I didn’t have the guts to ask Slam if he was that kind of guy. And I still hadn’t told him the whole story about my mother’s death.

“So, what the fuck do I do now?” Ashley said way too loud, drawing attention.

I looked around, smiling. “She’s getting married.”

A few people nodded.

I had no idea what Ashley was talking about though. So I improvised. I reached across the table and took her hands. “Listen to me. It’ll all work out. I know it’s a lot to take on right now. But don’t lose sight of everything you’re doing. You’re getting married. It’s amazing. Right?”

“Yeah, right.”

I let her hands go. “I’m serious. Deep breaths. As many as you can take.”

Ashley then grinned. “I’m on to you.”

“What?”

“That face. That’s a fuck face.”

“A fuck face?” I whispered.

“You got… you had sex.”

“No,” I said. “Not even close.”

“Not even close? So there’s a guy?”

“No. No guy. At all.”

“What about Kyle?”

“He’s intense,” I said. “Almost like a stalker. I can’t have that.”

“There’s something different about you. You have a secret. You’re not sharing either.”

“Look at me,” I said. “There’s no secret. I didn’t… I did not have sex.”

“Too bad,” Ashley said. “You need it.”

“Judging between you and me right now, you need it more.”

“Speaking of which…” Ashley pushed her coffee mug away. “I have to go meet with Brett next. He’s taking half a day so we can go look at tuxes.”

“Sounds like fun. Enjoy.”

“Yeah right.”

We hugged and Ashley left.

My phone vibrated and I was eager to check.

I wanted it to be Slam.

It was Kyle instead.

We need to talk. Today. No choice.

I hadn’t talked to Kyle in almost a week. I had done everything possible to push him away, including talking to my father about him. I made my stance very clear. I did not want anything to do with Kyle. When I did he was mostly drunk and worried that I was going to end up dead. I actually had to hang up on him.

The sound of a motorcycle chased the recent memory away. My head swiveled like it had before and this time it paid off.

Slam was approaching me.

He pulled to the curb and walked the motorcycle backward before turning off the engine. I stood on the other side of a small rope that separated the cafe from the sidewalk. He took off his helmet and sunglasses, grinning at me. It was stupid that a man like Slam could look as good as he did.

“Can I help you?” I asked.

“Just making sure you’re okay,” he said.

“You know, acting like a stalker doesn’t make the other stalker less scary,” I said.

“Kind of like saying two wrongs don’t make a right?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, babe, here’s the thing… two wrongs don’t make a right until one of those wrongs proves the other wrong. Then they’re right. Got it?”

“Not even close.”

“I tried.”

Slam climbed off the motorcycle and looked like he was ten feet tall. He walked right to me and stepped over the rope.

Such a bad ass.

“Careful,” I said. “If my father sees…”

“You’re afraid of your old man too?” he asked me. “Come on, Belle, you can’t live life in fear.”

He reached up and brushed hair out of my face.

My panties were twisted and pulling up inside me. This guy was killing me and he didn’t even know it. Or maybe he did. But he didn’t know I was a virgin.

“Seriously, what are you doing here?” I asked.

“I was in the area,” he said. “Spotted your car and was checking things out.”

“Worried I was on a date?” I asked and pointed to the coffee mug.

“Were you?”

“Maybe.”

“Well, you were having coffee with another woman. So if that’s a date, then you are just a whole hell of a lot more intriguing to me.”

“Ew. Pig.”

“Oink, oink,” he said.

So fast and bold, Slam leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek. He then kept himself way too close to me. I could smell his rough skin, a mix of sweat and man. A hint of grease and chrome. My body was on fire.

“Don’t tempt me, babe,” Slam whispered to me. “I’m not stalking you at all. I’m protecting you. I already told you you’re going to be mine.” His hands grabbed my hands and he took a step back. “If you need anything, you call me. Okay?”

Hypnotized by the sex pouring off his steel like body, I started to nod. I had no idea what I was doing right then. I was too far out of my element but I couldn’t look away or run away.

Slam climbed back over the rope and back to his motorcycle.

With bad boy swagger and a grin on his face, he put on his helmet, sunglasses, and he started the motorcycle. He took off leaving the rumbling lingering all around. I watched him until he was swallowed up by the horizon.

I put my hand to the table to catch my breath.

“Ma’am, are you okay?” the waitress asked me.

I looked at her. “Yeah.”

That was a bold lie.

I was so fucking far from okay…

The rest of the afternoon I couldn’t stop thinking about Slam. If that’s what he wanted, then he was winning. I was so tempted to call or text him, to tease him and see if he would come find me again. I had so many wild thoughts racing through my mind, I swore my face was red for hours.

Never in my life had I been so turned on before.

It was actually almost a relief to feel that way because nothing else entered my mind for the rest of the day. That, however, did work against me.

After all my running around was done - including a trip to the restaurant to help Marco with an order - I went to my apartment. The plan was simple. I was going to order something to eat, have it delivered, enjoy some wine and a movie, then take care of those naughty thoughts in my mind, care of Slam. Maybe not quite the most pathetic night ever, but at least I’d stay out of trouble.

Something about Slam just wasn’t right. He was a bad guy. He took pride in being a bad guy. Yeah, it was sexy, but it wasn’t realistic. I had grown up in a world of being protected from bad guys.

I opened the door to my apartment and dropped my bag.

A second later, my jaw dropped.

“Belle, I told you we had to talk.”

I had no idea how he got into my apartment, but Kyle was waiting for me…

eighteen

(slam)

*NOW*

We sat around a card table like we used to do. Throwing down money, chips, and hands like we had nothing better to do. It was almost a calming relief from being in chapel. Pushing back against other crews and the PD in town was stressful. We had to protect our territory and some days were easier than others.

“I have to bring this up,” Knox said. “Tommy.”

“Shit,” I said.

“We could get him right now,” Knox said.

I folded up my cards and put them down. I looked at the bottle of whiskey to my left. Normally by then I’d have half the bottle gone but I didn’t do that yet. I was waiting for some damn reason. Maybe it was to have a coherent conversation about this Tommy situation that Knox refused to let go.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m ending this right now. This guy fucked the club. I get that. He sold us out to score for himself. Every time I turn around, someone is talking to me about it. We want him? Get him right now. Get out of the fucking chair and move.”

“You can’t get involved,” Matteo said.

“I fucking get that,” I said. “Say it again and I’ll knock your teeth out.”

“Come on, Slam,” Matteo said. “Right now. Let’s have a talk.”

Matteo stood up and so did I.

We both took our leather cuts off. Nobody tried to step in and stop us.

We took it three feet to the left, put our fists up, and had a conversation.

Matteo was a damn good fighter. Trained both in a ring and on the streets. He had a wicked right that always got to my ribs, making me lose my breath for a second. Most of his opponents would drop their hands then, leaving themselves open for the knockout.

Not me.

I just went for Matteo’s pretty face.

We ended up going three rounds before Knox called it.

My lip was bleeding, my right eye a little swollen. Matteo had a hell of a bruise on his jaw and his nose pouring blood.

When it stopped, we hugged each other.

“I love you, brother,” Matteo said to me.

“You too,” I said.

That was how we settled up when tension got too high. Not that Matteo did anything wrong to me or me to him, it was just life. Sometimes it was easier to throw a fist than talk about our feelings.

I cleaned myself up in the bathroom and found Knox waiting for me.