Unbridled and Untethered [The Double Rider Men's Club 10] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

Emma Rae followed closely on his heels.
Hate the dark.
“Five seconds?” She laughed. It sounded slightly forced to her own ears. Perhaps he didn’t notice her distress. “I’m good and all, but it might take a few minutes more than that. I’ll take a look, but regardless of the speed in which I locate the trouble, I’m still charging you for the full hour.”
Best
friend or not, a girl has to eat.

The sound of sincere laughter rumbled from his chest. “No problem,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’ll even pay you double your rate as a challenge if you can find the problem in
less
than an hour. It’ll be worth it to have this issue solved and off my plate tonight.”

With the magnanimous proposal of the challenge, Clay apparently understood she had to eat, too. “Thanks, Clay. I’ll take you up on your generous offer.”

He nodded over one shoulder in reply as she followed him down the darkened hallway, wishing away her stupid, foolish fears of the gloomy surroundings. As if reading her mind or sensing her vast discomfort, Clay touched his palm to a panel on his right. The hallway suddenly brightened over her head like the crescendo of a Fourth of July sky filled with multiple dazzling fireworks displays lighting the rest of their way. The sudden light hurt her eyes, but she was so happy to be able to see everything, the minor pain was worth it. And even though the decor was only a bare, cement-lined hallway with no adornment, Emma Rae thought it was beautiful.

He soon stopped in front of his private security room, opened the door, and directed her inside. Once within, her gaze beheld the also-bare cement-walled room filled with enough cutting-edge technology to make her sigh in happiness. Just working in this room made her blissfully contented. Walking to his desk, she pondered the sad idea that expensive machinery could do for her attitude what no lover ever had.

She sat down in the comfortable executive chair at his massive console and retrieved her faithful laptop. Clay stood to one side and watched her work. He didn’t touch her, lean over her, or crowd her. Yet another thing she was eternally grateful that he understood. If she didn’t think of him like an older brother, he’d be the perfect kind of man for her wounded soul to pursue. If she ever decided to give chase to a man.

After fifteen minutes, she had figured out what the problem was. After thirty minutes, she’d fixed the issue and done a complete scan of his system to add a few more upgrades as a bonus for the double pay she was about to earn.

Forty minutes after stepping into this sanctuary, Emma Rae flipped a switch on the console and the bank of screens hanging on the wall to their right lit up with crystal-clear surveillance footage of various places on the DRMC property.

Most screens filled with a changing rotation of various images from the property. Many were of barely outlined trees with a nightscope attachment showing the images in green. A couple screens were lit up with the outer walls of buildings, and one was of a cabin. No people. Probably the point of so much surveillance. No unauthorized people allowed to roam about. And if there was roaming of the club members, they’d be caught on film.

She understood that the members of this men’s club liked to be watched in sexual scenarios. The thought of being watched having sex was a secret little fantasy she’d never contemplated before discovering the DRMC. She thought about it a lot in recent months since working with Clay. If only she could find a man that she could trust.

“Awesome,” Clay said under his breath. “Em, you’re a rock star. That’s even better clarity than I expected.”

Another uninhibited smile tugged at her lips. “I added a booster program as a bonus since you’re paying me so much.” She pointedly turned her body all the way around to look at the wall clock and then put her focus back at Clay.

He grinned at her action but didn’t take his eyes off the bank of monitors. “I’m happy to double the rate, Em. You’re worth every penny and more.”

“Thanks, Clay. You can just wire it to my regular account. I’ll e-mail you a receipt tomorrow.”

“Good enough.” He strolled over to stare more closely at one of the screens on the wall.

“Who’s that?” she asked and pointed to a screen in the corner. The camera shot was of a guy about to enter
this
building.

Emma Rae only saw the top of his dark, tousled head as he entered through the door she’d come in less than an hour ago. Her heartbeat sped up a notch.

A low alarm sounded on the console before her, and a light flashed. Clay reached over absently and turned it off. “What does
he
want at this hour?” Clay mumbled the question under his breath.

Emma Rae detached her cable from the console, freeing her computer. She hurriedly shoved her laptop, loose cable and all, inside her soft-sided case. She stood as she zipped the black case shut and slung it over her shoulder. Now she was all ready to go.
Ready to run if need be.

The doorknob turned, and the most gorgeous man Emma Rae had ever witnessed in her twenty-eight years of life entered the room. Her heartbeat sped again for an entirely different reason. He was so attractive she couldn’t turn away like she normally would have in this situation. A spark of interest swelled unbidden in her chest.

“What are you doing here so late, Zeke?” Clay asked in a harsh tone.

His name is Zeke.

Clay moved toward the door and also blocked the striking man’s view of her poised, ready to take flight. He’d locked his electric-blue eyes onto her face for only a second before Clay came between them.

Ordinarily, she’d appreciate Clay’s sudden protection, but Zeke made long-neglected and rarely satisfied places in her body tingle with a single glance. If Clay hadn’t been there, she might have found the nerve to smile at him, talk to him, and possibly even pursue him. But she didn’t want to chase after a man, did she?

“You called
me
here, remember?” Zeke’s voice also had a riveting impact on her system. His voice was as smooth as well-aged whiskey and made more shivers of delight course through her veins.

“What? When did I call you?”

“I don’t know what you called me for, however,
you
called
me
last week. You said you wanted me to look at something on the down low from an old friend of yours. Don’t you remember? I told you I couldn’t come until tonight because I was out of town when you called. I just got back from Denver about ten minutes ago.” His arms came away from his sides as if in a shrug. “I haven’t even been home yet.”

Clay, hands loosely resting on his hips, tilted his head back and stared at the ceiling as if suddenly remembering something important. “Oh fuck. That’s right. I completely forgot.”

Zeke suddenly laughed delightedly. Emma Rae adored the sound of his amusement best of all. She leaned her head to one side and watched him. He said, “Clayton Forrester forgot something? Wow. Has that ever happened before? Remind me to mark that down somewhere and remind you of it frequently.”

“Very funny, smart-ass.” Clay shifted again, and her view was blocked.

Staring at Clay’s wide back, Emma Rae tightened her grip on her shoulder strap. She slowly swayed the entire top part of her body to the left a bit to get another look at Zeke. She was rewarded with a good view of the side of his handsome face.
So
attractive.

As if sensing that she wanted to see more of him, Zeke also shifted his body farther into her field of view. She caught another glimpse of his beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous face. His dark, wavy hair was disheveled a bit, as if he’d just come out of the wind. He had an angular, masculine face with a trace of five-o’clock shadow gracing his strong jaw. His smile was genuine and lit up his whole face in amusement. His lips looked inherently kissable even when his smile disappeared.

When he gazed over Clay’s shoulder and caught her eye, his mere grin in her direction put what felt like a battalion of excited butterflies in her belly. Longing and lust vied for attention in her stubborn logical mind as she tried to quell her amorous feelings for this stranger.

Clay pointedly moved to his right and covered Zeke’s view again. Not to be outwitted, Zeke leaned even more to the opposite side to see her again. She tilted her head in the same direction to catch another view as well. She got only another brief look before Clay moved once more and came between them. “Nothing to see here, Zeke.”

“I totally disagree,” he said almost in a whisper.

“Why don’t you wait in the conference room until I finish up?” Clay took a step closer in Zeke’s direction, put a large hand on his chest, and fairly pushed him through the open doorway. “I’ve got to take a trip to the front gate. I’ll be back in less than ten minutes, then we’ll talk. Okay?” He didn’t wait for Zeke’s response before saying, “Great. Thanks.”

Zeke’s grunt of protest was ignored as the door was closed in his face.

Clay turned around with a wide-eyed, sheepish look on his face. “Sorry, Em. I honestly didn’t expect any visitors tonight. I know you prefer no one else being here while you work.”

She shrugged. She felt a smile shape her lips again as she said, “That’s okay. He doesn’t seem too threatening.”

Clay stared at her for a moment as if puzzling through the meaning of her words.

“Zeke?” His eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “No. He’s not a threat. Zeke’s a good guy,” he said slowly. His expression was one of expectation. Like he anticipated she would rail at him for daring to allow another man to encroach while she was here.

“I imagine you wouldn’t let bad guys into this men’s club anyway, right?” Emma Rae tried to think of another innocuous question to ask to gain more information about Zeke.

Clay’s body relaxed a bit. “No. I wouldn’t. Both Zeke and Luke, his best friend, are very good men. You won’t find better. Besides, I’d never let anyone hurt you.”

She nodded slightly and forced herself to look away from Clay’s stare so as not to break with her self-imposed mantra of “no men” and pump him for any and all information about his friend Zeke.

“Okay,” she responded and promptly bit the inside of her cheek to keep from asking for Zeke’s last name.

Emma Rae usually had the opinion that very few men were
good guys
, but a small thread of trust unwound inside her suspiciousness, because she trusted Clay. She looked away again, embarrassed to have been caught gawking at a good-looking man or suddenly wondering what his best friend, Luke, looked like. She’d already been thinking several wayward thoughts that she shouldn’t entertain further. Something about this club intrigued her as much as it frightened her. Perhaps she was afraid of her own feelings of desire.

I’m not looking for a man. I’m not
.

Clay didn’t say anything else, but his expression remained inquisitive until he turned away. He opened the door and checked the corridor to ensure Zeke wasn’t lingering. Emma Rae refused to tell him that she wouldn’t mind getting one last look at his intriguing friend Zeke. Because she wasn’t looking for a man. Not even an attractive one. She squared her shoulders and exited, trying to put the gorgeous man out of her thoughts. But her mind was stubborn and refused to relinquish his image.

The moment they walked out of Clay’s security fortress, she saw the second vehicle parked next to the SUV she’d arrived in. The glance to the license plate as she walked by was instinctive. She could tell it wasn’t a rental car by the plate designation. She ran her gaze over Zeke’s vehicle to memorize the make and model. She presumed it was his vehicle, since it hadn’t been here less than an hour ago when she’d arrived.

It was foolish to get attached to a man she’d never have, but once the information about his vehicle entered her head, it was difficult to get it out or ignore the numbers and letters now ingrained in her mind as if carved in granite. Just like his image was stamped in her memory forever. Regardless of how intriguing he was, a relationship with Zeke wasn’t possible.

Emma Rae fully understood the nature of the Double Rider Men’s Club. Two men sexually involved with one woman was how the club worked. She didn’t even trust one man to be in her life. Two men having dominion over her body, spirit, and soul would be intolerable.

Clay dropped Emma Rae off at the front gate to the DRMC property next to her vehicle and hurried back to his security building, where Zeke waited. He silently cursed himself all the way there and back due to his uncharacteristically forgetful memory.

He’d apologized to her again as she slid out of the front seat, but she’d told him there was no need. He was grateful that she seemed to be intrigued with Zeke rather than paralyzed with fear like the last time someone had unexpectedly interrupted them.

Emma Rae was uncomfortable around men, but she had never told him this information specifically. He had sensed it more than anything. Her demand not to be watched by his guards was another indicator. He’d done a cursory background check on her long ago before she started working for him on the property. He knew a few interesting facts about her past and some of what she’d been through. Several of the things he’d learned made him want to champion her, but likely she wouldn’t appreciate it.

There had been a couple connections with what he considered vile, bastard men in her past. Men who had obviously hurt her. However, Emma Rae was a survivor, not a victim. He had the utmost respect for her. And had since he’d met her.