Tempted (18 page)

“Good.”
Is that high-pitched voice me?
Shit.
I clear my throat and try again. “Good.”

“Oh? You’ve barely touched it.”

She picks up a strip of bacon from my plate
and offers it to me. When I bite into it, she squeezes the base of
my dick and licks her lips. “Tonight, I want to see those lips
wrapped around my dick.”

She smirks and pumps faster, turning back to
her breakfast.

“That can definitely be arranged.”

My balls tighten. My heart is beating a wild,
crazy rhythm, and all the blood in my body is rushing to my
dick.

“Raven.”

My voice is a warning, but she ignores me.
She tightens her hold on me, and I imagine it’s her tight pussy
gripping me. Fuck, I’m going to come so hard. I grab some napkins
from the table to catch it. Judy chooses now to come back and check
on us.

“Everything okay?”

“Yup. We’re great, thanks,” Raven replies
with cool confidence.

“Gage?” Judy regards me with furrowed
brows.

Raven does that twisting thing again and I
lose it. I cover the head of my dick with the napkins and grunt.
“Yeah. Fine.”

“You sure?”

“
We’re
fine
.”

The harshness in my voice surprises her and
she leaves. The moment she does, I allow myself to shudder and
enjoy one hell of an orgasm. Raven releases me and places her hand
on the table. I tuck my dick away and stick the napkins in my
pocket.

“I can’t believe you did that.”

“Oh, you didn’t know? I’m a bad, bad girl,”
she says with a smirk.

“You’re gonna pay for that later.”

“I’m counting on it.”

Perfect. She’s fucking perfect.
I
remove the small, gift-wrapped box from the inner pocket of my cut
and place it on the table before her.

“How many more of these you got?”

“Open it.”

She sighs and rips the paper from the blue,
velvet box. After a nervous glance my way, she flips the lid. She
gasps, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Gage…they’re beautiful!”

She trails her fingers across the five pairs
of diamond studs. One for each of her piercings, each pair a
different size.

“Wear one tonight. Please.”

She nods and wraps her arms around me as she
presses her lips to mine. I hold her against me, loving the way her
body feels.

“Tonight…I want you to fuck me wearing
nothing but these earrings and my necklace.”

My erection springs back to life.
Fuck.
“That, I can definitely do.”

Her eyes sparkle with mischief and she slides
a finger lightly down my neck.

“You know, I’ve been thinking of getting my
nipple pierced…or maybe my clit.”

My dick jumps, thinking about playing with
those rings with my tongue. Then a thought occurs to me. “And who
the fuck’s going to do that?”

“Um…places that do piercings. Duh.”

“You let some fucker even look at your tits
or your pussy, and he’s dead.”

She throws her head back laughing then gently
pats my chest.

“Calm down, Reaper. I was kidding.”

“I wasn’t.”

If she thinks I’m going to let some random
motherfucker look at her, let alone touch her, she’s insane. I’d
rather learn to do that shit myself.

We finish our breakfast and I leave Judy a
big tip for snapping at her and not remembering her name. She wrote
her number on the receipt, but I toss it once we’re outside. I
forget about her the minute Raven climbs on the back of my bike and
slides her arms around me. I take her to the salon to have her hair
and nails done while I take care of some business.

“Ellen’s gonna pick you up. She’ll take care
of your outfit issues.”

“Okay. Where will you be?”

“I have some stuff to take care of, and I
have to pick up your gift.”

“There’s more? You’ve already given me so
much.”

“Not enough.”

“No. It is. You’ve put so much thought into
it. Each one shows you’ve been paying attention. I thought you were
going to give me lingerie or something.”

She smiles and tugs on my cut.

“That shit just gets in the way. As a matter
of fact, I don’t even want you wearing panties after today.”

“
Now
who’s the sex fiend?”

“You ain’t seen nothin’, babe.”

“Seriously, though…I don’t need anything
else.”

“Nothing I give you will ever measure up to
what you’re giving me. I’m the one getting the real gift. The
greatest gift on Earth.”

“Oh, Gage…”

I kiss her luscious lips and groan at the
loss when she pulls away.

“See you later, babe.”

I call Ellen and make sure she knows the plan
then head out to get her real gift. Gunner grins when I walk into
his shop. The MC’s been doing business with him for years. Anything
you want, Gunner can source it for you. He also handles any custom
jobs we need done.

“Look at this handsome motherfucker,” he says
to the woman at the counter.

She turns toward me and studies every inch of
me. When she finally meets my eyes, she gives me that come-fuck-me
look I know all too well. There’s only one pussy on my mind right
now, and I get to be all up in it tonight. I wink at her and extend
my hand to Gunner.

“You got what I asked for?”

“Of course.” He grins at me, shaking my
hand.

He pulls a box from under the counter and
lays it on the top. I open it, and its contents makes happiness
surge through my body.

“Well?”

“It’s exactly what I wanted. Thanks,
Gunner.”

“No problem, my friend. Anytime.”

I leave the shop whistling. I’ve been looking
forward to this day for so long. I can’t believe it’s finally here.
It’s not even noon yet. Why does the time seem to go so slowly when
you need it to go fast? I stop by the Kitty and check in with Aunt
Nita then head to Scythe to see how Ellen and the preparations are
getting along. It looks nothing like my club. She put in additional
lighting, so it’s not so dark. She really took this princess theme
and ran with it. It looks like Prince Charming’s castle in here. Or
at least what I think it looks like. The main dance floor has been
turned into a ballroom, all the decorations in blue and white.

“What do you think?” She says as she bounds
up to me.

“What did you do to my club?”

“Nothing that can’t be undone. Well?”

“It looks good. I think she’ll like it.”

I spot Chrissy, Toni, Ron, and Allah hanging
balloons on one side, and a few of the other guys running around. I
hang around for a while, watching things fall into place. I wonder
if Ellen would consider going into event planning. She’s pretty
good at this. We leave at the same time and decide to meet up at my
place. I get a haircut and shave and head home to get ready. I call
Raven, but she doesn’t answer. She’s probably just doing the same.
I try a few more times, but still nothing. I leave a voicemail and
send her a text. When Ellen shows up, she says Raven was getting in
the shower when she left. She should have gotten out a long time
ago. I have a bad feeling. She never takes this long to get back to
me.

“Stop worrying. She’s fine.”

She’s already dressed and is fussing with my
stupid tie. My phone is at my ear and I’m impatiently waiting for
Raven to answer.

“Then why isn’t she answering?”

I call Ron and talk to Chrissy. Neither she
nor Toni has spoken to Raven in hours. She says they’re leaving the
club and heading to Raven’s house, so she’ll have her call me. I
hang up and shove Ellen’s hands away. I pull on the knot, giving
myself room to breathe. I call again. Nothing.

“Raven, pick up the fucking phone. Call me
back.”

“Gage, calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to fucking calm down! This
isn’t like her.”

“I just left her a few hours ago. You don’t
know how women are. We take forever to get ready.”

“Not Raven.” I sit on the bed, tapping my
foot until I can’t take it anymore. “Fuck this shit. I’m going over
there.” My phone rings and I think
finally
. But it’s not
her. “Ron?”

“Prez…”

I don’t like the sound of his voice. My heart
thumps in my chest and a million bad thoughts run through my mind.
“What is it?” I demand.

“I…”

“Fuck! Spit it out.”

“Just…you need to get to St. Johns Hospital.
Now
.”

Fear.

It’s a hell of a thing. I’ve seen it in
people’s eyes when they see me in full biker gear; in the eyes of
countless men as they stared down the barrel of my gun. I’ve never
experienced it, though, not until today, but I’m getting a fucking
quick lesson. Heart-rending, soul-crushing, mind-altering fear. I’m
scared shitless that I could lose my baby doll.

I rush to the hospital’s entrance, not really
knowing how I made it here. The only sound I hear is the deafening
pounding of my heart. I can’t even tell if it’s beating too fast or
too slow. My hands shake as I push the door and step inside. I
fucking hate hospitals. The smell, the people scurrying about, the
anxiety and fear of people waiting around. The injured. And Raven
is one of them.
Please, God, please let her be okay
.

Ron jumps out of his seat when he sees me.
Toni and Chrissy are next to him, crying and hugging each other.
Chris is on the opposite side.

“What the fuck happened?” I growl.

“I don’t know, Prez. They were putting her in
the ambulance when we got there. Neighbor heard her screaming and
called the cops.”

“Screaming?”

The room spins. My world tilts on its axis.
She was screaming. Someone was hurting her and I wasn’t
there.
I feel like I’m having a panic attack. I can’t breathe.
I lean against the wall and run my hands through my hair. “The
doctors…have you heard anything?”

“No. But I called Einstein. He should be here
any minute.”

I need to know something now. I march over to
the nurse’s station, and the woman there gives me a weak smile.

“Raven Alvarez…can you tell me anything about
what’s going on?”

“Are you family?”

“Does it matter?”

“I can’t give out any information unless
you’re related to the patient.”

“Look…please. I just need to know if she’s
okay.”

She gives me a sympathetic stare and directs
me back to the waiting area.

“I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Thank you.” I take the seat next to Ron and
drop my head into my hands. “Find Lonnie,” I instruct him.

She’s the only one they’ll talk to. I need to
know she’s okay. I need to know what happened. I need to know who
hurt her. I need to kill him. I look up and Chris is staring at me.
The message in his eyes is clear – this is my fault. Maybe it is.
It could be anyone. This could have been payback for something I’ve
done. What have they done to her? How badly is she hurt? How long
did she suffer before the cops arrived? God…did she cry out for me?
Beg for me to save her? I wasn’t there.
I wasn’t there
.

I jump from the chair and pace the hall.
What the fuck is taking so long? I should have heard something
by now.

“No-go on the Lonnie situation, boss,” Ron
says. “No one’s seen her in days, and she’s not answering her
phone.”

“Keep trying. Talk to what’s her
name…Gina…Super Head. Raven said she and Lonnie are friends.”

“Got it.”

Finally, I see E heading my way. He stops at
the end of the hallway and motions for me to follow him. He leads
me to his office and closes the door quietly.

“What’s going on, E?”

“You should sit down.”

I don’t like the look in his eyes. He’s
struggling, having a hard time with whatever he’s about to tell me.
I don’t even know how to prepare myself. “Just tell me.”

He takes a deep breath and perches on his
desk.

“Raven was attacked…assaulted.”

“How bad is she hurt?”

“Gage…”

“Talk to me, damn it!”

Tears gather in his eyes, and I struggle to
find something to hold me up. E doesn’t cry.
Raven…my baby
doll…

“I’m sorry, Gage.”

Empty. Hollow. Dead. That’s how I feel. All
my physical senses have deserted me. I can’t see, hear, smell,
touch, taste. I fall back on the wall and slide slowly down until
I’m sitting on the floor. The last three months flash through my
mind. Everything I said and did. Everything I should have said and
done. Now, I’ll never get the chance.
I’m sorry
. Doctors
only say that when…no.
No
.

“What do you mean you’re
sorry
?”

“Maybe I should start from the
beginning.”

“Is she…
alive
?”

“Yes! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that
way.”

“Well, what
did
you mean?”

“She’ll be fine. Eventually.”

I expel the breath I’ve been holding. Relief
floods my body. She’s going to be okay. “What happened?”

“When the cops found her, she was tied to her
bed.”

He holds my gaze, as if willing me to figure
out the meaning behind his words. One word flashes in red neon in
my mind – bed. “Fuck, no! Please, E…don’t tell me –”

He nods.

“Jesus Christ!”

I can’t breathe. The only thing I can think
about is finding the motherfucker responsible and making him
suffer.

“They did a rape kit, nothing invasive yet.
They’ll need her permission for that when she wakes up but they’re
not optimistic about DNA. Her attacker used a dildo.”

“What?”

“Yeah…pretty big one, too. He…it was still
inside her when they found her.”

“Oh, God. E…”

He pulls up a chair, sits next to me, and
places his hand on my shoulder.

“I’m not going to lie to you, brother. He did
a number on her. The doctors had to stitch her up.”