Slate (Rebel Wayfarers MC) (45 page)

Slate agreed, “I know; I’m not feelin’ it either. We put a hurtin’ on his business, though, so he has to relocate in order to make his bank back. It could be as simple as that. We’ll sort that shit out over the next couple of weeks. Today, I want to take a run.”

He again felt a tug at the back of his pants, and reached back to take hold of Ruby’s wrist, pulling her around beside him. “Ruby, you feel safe enough with only me, or want to bring PBJ?” He decided to let her make the call. She leaned into his side, tucking her head into his shoulder and resting her cheek on the leather covering his chest.

Standing still, he waited for her response, giving her a few moments to find her voice. “I’m always safe with you, Prez,” she said quietly, and his chest swelled. She trusted him to keep her safe, and he was going to protect that trust.

“Then let’s roll, baby.” He wound his fingers through hers, pulling her towards the door. Slate squeezed her hand softly, and released her as they went to their bikes.

He pulled up to the gate, waiting for the prospect to pull it back, and he smiled as Ruby rolled up on his right, dropping her feet and keeping her front wheel even with his back one. He leaned over, telling her, “Once we get on the highway, ride beside so I can keep an eye on you.” Watching until she nodded, he grinned at her and pulled out into the street.

Within fifteen minutes, they were on the highway headed east into Ohio. Ruby was a steady driver, keeping her bike within inches of the painted fog line unless there was debris to avoid. The further they rode, the more relaxed Slate became. This was something he’d been missing—the caress of the wind on his face, that low, underhand wave towards other bikers on the road…no decisions, no problems to fix, no puzzles to put together, just the ride.

He cut his eyes over to Ruby, and saw her face looked as peaceful as his felt. For all she’d said she wanted a job in the clubhouse, maybe what he’d asked her to take on was too much. He hadn’t realized how much stress she’d been carrying until now, when it was gone. She caught him looking at her and raised an eyebrow quizzically. He gave her a thumbs-up, which she returned, and they rode on.

Idling into the parking lot of a bar in Toledo a couple hours later, Slate laughed at himself. He hadn’t expected them to ride so far, but it had been such a good run he’d decided simply returning would be anticlimactic. So they’d eat lunch here before they headed back home.

Home.
As he backed into a parking space, he realized he’d thought of Fort Wayne as home for the first time. Not the clubhouse, because he would be moving out and into a house soon—his room there was merely transient, and didn’t matter—but the club, and his brothers...they had become home to him over the past few months. Looking over at her, he realized Ruby was his home too.

Waiting for her to settle her bike, he sat still for a minute. Theirs were the only bikes in the lot; not wanting any issues about wearing their colors, he’d picked a neighborhood bar near the hockey arena downtown, instead of one of the biker bars.

He strolled in ahead of Ruby, picking out a booth near the back and guiding her towards it. She slid across the bench with her back to the wall, and he sat down beside her. He ordered them a draft beer each, along with burgers and fries. Like normal with Ruby, he carried the conversation, telling her stories about the Mallets players who frequented Jackson’s back in Chicago.

If he hadn’t been paying close attention, he would have missed the look that flitted across her face when he talked about his friends and their experiences. He was at a loss for what would have caused it, but knew asking her directly was a mistake, and would cause her to close off.

“…then Jason was holding Daniel in a headlock, shoving marshmallow cereal into his mouth and shouting about him being a fucking lucky charm.” Slate laughed. “It didn’t end well for Jason; that’s for sure. He never knew cereal could cause that bad a rash if it was shoved into tender bits.”
There it was; that was the look again.

“I think DeeDee met Jason; you should ask her about his crazy shit,” Slate continued, watching the look flash across her face again. Yeah, DeeDee was on her mind; she was probably worried about the hookup last night. He’d seen Jason leaving early this morning. “I’d like to take you to Chicago someday soon, so you can meet my friends and brothers there. I know a lot of them have been to Fort Wayne already, but I’ve kept them so busy you haven’t really gotten to know them.” He picked up his burger, taking a bite and letting silence settle on the table. “Why’d you run last night, Ruby?” he asked softly.

After a few minutes, Ruby cleared her throat and he looked down at her, then went back to eating. He saw the tip of her tongue dart out, moistening across her bottom lip as he groaned silently, feeling his cock twitch and begin to swell. She ducked her head, saying softly, “Sorry.”

“For what, baby?” Slate asked, confused and turning to face her
in the booth.

“You’re mad,” she said quietly.

His head jerked back in surprise. “What? No, I’m not, Ruby. Why do you think I’m angry?”

She raised her eyes to his. “When you are mad, there’s this muscle that twitches in your jaw. That’s how I know.”

He sat for a moment, then shook his head. “That might be, but I’m not right now.” He watched her face, “I’m fucking hard, baby. I want you. You licked your lips, and all I can think of is you in my bed with your mouth wrapped around my cock. I’m not angry...I fucking want you.”

Her breath caught, her body going very still. She clearly wasn’t thinking when she pulled her bottom lip in-between her teeth, biting on it softly. Slate groaned out loud this time, reaching over to tug it gently out of her mouth with one fingertip. “And now, I want to bite that lip,” he said softly, bringing his mouth near her ear to whisper, “and lick it and kiss you...because I want to taste you, baby, but you gotta give me some indication of what you’re thinking, Ruby.

“I’ve been shutting myself down for months now, but I still fucking want you, seems like more and stronger every day, but I won’t go there unless you tell me to. I need to hear it from you so I know if you are leaning the same way. If you want...me. I’m not a hearts and flowers guy, but you have to know you are killing me.”

A slow smile spread across her face, lighting it from within. She ducked her head, and then looked up at him again. “Yeah?” she questioned.

“Yes, baby,” he reassured her, struggling to remain still as he sat beside her. He felt her hand come to rest on his thigh as she bit her bottom lip again.

Slate reached down, plucking her fingers from his leg, and brought her hand to his mouth, running his lips across the backs of her knuckles. He nipped at them, and then kissed each finger in turn. She twisted her hand in his, cupping his jaw in her palm. “Slate, I want to ask you something,” she said, still looking at him with that smile on her lips.

He looked at her, waiting patiently as he brought her palm to his mouth, softly kissing it. He opened his lips, dragging his tongue across her palm, sliding her thumb into his mouth, biting and sucking gently. He smiled at her as she gasped softly, still waiting for her to continue. “I would like to have my own room,” she finally said.

Surprised, that wasn’t what he expected. Stalling, he murmured against her skin, “Your own room?” and continued his assault on her palm and digits. She squirmed a little in the seat as he softly bit the pad of her thumb.

She took in a breath, whispering, “Yeah,” and pulled against him, trying to free her hand. In a rush, she said, “You are almost ready to move into your apartment, DeeDee will be moving out of the clubhouse soon, and I don’t want the suite...it’s too big. I’d like to have my own room, so I can keep my stuff in one place.” She stared at him, a look of fear chasing across her features when he didn’t immediately respond. “Slate, you aren’t going to make me move out when DeeDee does, are you? Do you want me to leave?”

He watched as her breath came faster, not sure why she was nearly panicking. “No, baby, you don’t have to leave. Fuck, you are in charge of assigning rooms, so just give yourself whichever room you want. Get a prospect to help you set up furniture, and buy anything we don’t have in storage you need.”

He stared at her, waiting for her breath to even out, thinking to himself,
Fuck it—she’ll never know if I don’t tell her plainly
. Speaking evenly, Slate told her, “But, baby…what I want is you in my bed. I want nothing more than you in my room until I move out, and then you with me in my house...our house. I want to come home to you; I want to make love to you…I simply want
you
.”

He placed her hand back on top of his thigh, finger and thumb encircling her wrist and stroking slowly upwards, then back down. Releasing her, Slate reached for his burger and began eating again. He nearly choked when Ruby raised her chin, looking him in the eye as she said, “I want that too, Slate.”

A slow smile broke over his face, lifting the edges of his mouth and crinkling the corners of his eyes. “I’m going to kiss you now, Ruby,” he warned her, moving towards her.

“Okay,” was all she said as she leaned into him, tilting her face to meet his. Slate fit his mouth over hers, kissing her softly and slowly. His tongue teased along her bottom lip, seeking entrance; she opened to him, and his tongue slid along hers as he tasted and explored her mouth. Slanting his mouth across hers again, he reached a hand up and tangled his fingers into the curly hair at the back of her head, using that grip to hold and guide her responses. Slate ate at her mouth, trying to get his fill of touching her, kissing her, savoring her...after wanting her for so long.
Fuck
, he had to slow down before he scared her.

God, she tasted good, a little citrusy, a little spicy, and hot as hell. He was having a hard time catching his breath, so he broke off the kiss, resting his forehead against hers, struggling for control. Running his nose along the edge of her jaw, he licked and nibbled the column of her throat, softly kissing just below her ear. “Slate,” she murmured.

Like him, her breathing sounded like she’d just run up a flight of stairs. Her hand slid up his thigh, and he growled low in his throat, freezing her movement. His lips moved against her skin as he said, “Baby, unless you want me to bend you over this table and fuck you, you won’t move that hand again.”

He brought up his hand, splaying his fingers across her throat and cheek. He wrapped his thumb around the underside of her jaw, tilting her head for another kiss. This was softer and sweeter than the desperate ones that had gone on before; there was more give and less take, but he boldly possessed her mouth with his.

His heart jerked and stuttered when she took his bottom lip between her teeth; she tugged gently as she mock-growled at him. His eyes flashed open to find her green ones staring into him, humor tilting the corners as she smiled around his lip still gripped in her teeth. Slate’s hand tightened on her jaw, and he saw those eyes darken with arousal, her mouth opening as he felt her small hand slowly stroking up his chest.

“Ruby, baby, slow now. Goddamn...slow...down. I don’t want to rush this; I want you in my bed, where you feel safe, where I can take my time. Not taking you for the first time in an alley in fucking Toledo,” he ground out, settling back away from her by only a few inches, “and I’m not looking for casual, baby. We do this, then you are mine…” he paused, his thumb stroking her throat up and down, “…mine, baby.”

She nodded at him, never breaking her gaze from his. “So no room,” she agreed, and kissed him back.

After the two hour ride back to the clubhouse filled with heated glances, he stood and watched Ruby back her bike in beside his, her eyes holding his gaze as she took off her cut and stored it in her saddlebag. Taking the two steps to her, he lifted her off the bike, sliding one palm under her ass, and the other around her back as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Kissing her deeply, he paid little attention to the prospect opening the door for them. Slate strode through the clubhouse, ignoring the dozen members arrayed around the room. He was focused entirely on Ruby, her cheek tight against his face as she moaned, running her fingers through his hair. She used her grip to pull his head closer and flexed her hips against him, her heat searing his rigid cock behind the fly of his jeans, seemingly as desperate as he was to get closer.

Taking the stairs two at a time, he retraced his steps from the night before, going to his room and closing the door behind them. Slate stopped in the middle of the room, realizing he wanted to simultaneously keep holding her like this and strip off their clothes, and he laughed softly against her throat. “Baby, I’m going to put you down, but you don’t get to leave this room. No more running,” he whispered. “I want to see you.”

He loosened his hold, allowing her to slide slowly down his front, her shirt rucking up in the front as it caught on his belt buckle. Slate reached down to grab the hem, pulling it over her head and tossing it on the dresser. Ruby ran her hands down his cut, slipping underneath to shift it off his shoulders. He caught it in one hand and draped it across the chair that stood next to the bed.

Reaching one hand behind his head, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and tugged it off, then reached down to her jeans, unsnapping the waistband with the fingers of one hand. Ruby smiled up at him, saying softly, “Boots,” as she settled to her knees in front of him. Her small hands helped him remove his boots and socks, and then she was laughing as she tipped over backward to pull her own boots off.