Ultimate MC (Romance Collection), page 79
Chapter 15
Nate
I hadn’t been sure if I could get Holly to go out to dinner with me or not. I hadn’t been sure that asking her to go to dinner with me was the best idea, even. With the way she had kicked me out of her place the night before, it was clear that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. But at the same time, I liked her, or at least, I liked what I had seen of her. She had a real fire that made me want to get to know her, at least a little.
I wanted to get to know her body better—that was for sure. And although there was something that told me that I could just show up at her house again and try my luck that way, I couldn’t shake the feeling that she deserved more.
To be honest, I didn’t think that Holly understood just how sexy she was. And I kind of wanted to show her.
When we got to the restaurant, I raised an eyebrow at her. The place looked like a laundromat or something, the small, brick building wedged in between the two buildings on either side, painted dark green, with no signage I could see. But Holly seemed to know what she was doing. She pulled open the door, leading the way inside, and I followed her.
The place was small and cramped but cozy, with a line of stools along the counter and a matching line of stools along a shelf that stretched the length of the opposite wall. It wasn’t too busy in there, despite it being a Friday night, but it took a little maneuvering to get past the occupied stools.
Holly hopped up on one of the stools at the counter, and I took a seat gingerly beside her, looking around the place with interest. “Hope you like burgers,” Holly said. “That’s all this place serves, but they’re some of the best burgers you’ve ever eaten.”
“Sure,” I said easily. “Is there a menu or something?”
Holly laughed. “Nah, Casey just cooks up whatever he’s cooking up that night. But don’t worry, it’ll be good.”
I frowned, wondering how that worked in a world where it seemed like everyone was allergic to something, or vegan, or whatever. But then again, I guess if you were worried about that kind of thing, you didn’t come to a place like this.
“You want a beer?” Holly asked. “My treat.”
“Uh, sure,” I said.
Holly flagged down the guy behind the counter—Casey?—and ordered us beers and burgers. We sat in to wait, and Holly turned considering eyes on me. “So you’re from California?” she said.
“Yeah, San Diego,” I told her. “Born and raised.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Greenboro’s a bit of a change from that, isn’t it?” she asked.
I snorted. “Yeah, just a bit,” I said. “Cold as shit. Going to have to put away the motorcycle for the winter, apparently. Not sure how I feel about that.” I looked around. “I like this place, though. You’d never have anything like it in San Diego. Way too many health-food places there.”
Holly laughed and gestured at Casey, who was frying up a line of burgers on the greasy back griddle. “Yeah, this isn’t exactly health food. I swear he cooks his burgers in lard.” She paused. “So why move here in the middle of winter? You transfer for work or something?”
“Something like that,” I admitted.
“What do you do for work?” Holly asked.
I shrugged. “I’m part of a motorcycle club,” I admitted. I didn’t know her very well, and maybe I shouldn’t have told her the truth, but I couldn’t see any reason to lie to her. She was smart; she could probably put two and two together. Not only that, but it wasn’t like I was giving her any of the details. I wasn’t going to tell her about the Outcasts or who was involved, and I wasn’t going to tell her the specifics of what I did for a living.
But she had seen me beat up a man the previous day and get arrested as well. I was sure she could figure out that that wasn’t the first time I had beaten someone up and lying about an office job or something like that would only make her more suspicious.
Not only that but that same instinct that said she deserved more than a booty call insisted that she deserved the truth. I didn’t know what it was that made me feel that way about her, but who was I to fight it?
Holly took it all in stride, anyway, nodding to herself. “I had a feeling it was something like that,” she admitted. She took a sip of her beer and then shrugged. “It’s your life.”
I had to grin at the matter-of-fact way she said it, the easy acceptance. Yet another reason there had been no point in lying to her.
“Speaking of work, how are things at the fruit stand?” I asked.
“We got that shipment in finally,” Holly said. “Arrived this morning.” She grinned at me. “So now you have no excuse not to pay for the fruit you take from there.”
I snorted. “Glad you got the shipment,” I told her. “Was it busy in there today?”
“Yeah, really busy,” Holly said, making a face. “It’s good since it means that we’re doing okay on our weekly profits, but I could’ve done without a few of the more obnoxious customers. Busy days always attract people who don’t know shit about fruit and want to tell you all about how the prices should be.”
“Bet that gets annoying,” I said.
“Anyway, it’s done now,” Holly said, shrugging. “But it probably means we’ll stay open a bit later than usual tomorrow. We normally do a half day on Saturdays and then don’t open on Sundays, but this week has been weird, and now we have all this fruit and stuff that we need to get rid of before it goes bad.” She shook her head. “It’s a mess.”
“Must be nice, having time off on the weekends normally,” I said.
Holly snorted. “Come on; you’re part of an MC,” she said. “Like you know what it feels like to have a normal schedule.”
“But that’s just it,” I said. “My schedule is never regular. So yeah, I might get days off sometimes, but it also means that I can be called into work at literally any hour of the day or night, no matter what day of the week it is.”
“I guess,” Holly said, her nose scrunching up cutely as she thought about it. She shook her head finally. “All right, you’re right. You probably have it worse. Just because I really like my sleep when I get it, and if someone called me in the middle of the night thinking that they were going to get me to do anything, I’d be telling them where to shove it.”
I laughed just thinking about telling Otis where to shove it. Yeah, that definitely wouldn’t go over so well. “Honestly, it doesn’t happen all that often,” I said.
“Yeah, well, it’s also got to stink that they sent you clear across the country for work, and in the winter no less,” Holly said. “How long are you here for?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. I didn’t want to tell her that it was my fault I had been sent here. I didn’t want to tell her about everything with Dirk. It might be okay to tell her that I was part of an MC, but I couldn’t give her too many details about it. At least, not yet.
I was surprised to find myself thinking into the future with her. Maybe we would become friends, and maybe eventually, I would be able to tell her more about what I did. It would be nice to have someone to talk about all of it with someone other than Devon, for once. Friends with benefits—I liked the idea of that.
I grinned at Holly and bumped my shoulder against hers. “Anyway, being here isn’t turning out to be as bad as I expected it would,” I said, and I could tell from the faint flush to her cheeks that she knew just what I meant by that.
We continued chatting while we ate our burgers, which were every bit as delicious as Holly had told me they would be. I made a mental note to remember this place. But eventually, dinner was over, and we headed outside, walking in amicable silence back toward where we lived. I lingered on Holly’s side of the street when we got there, not wanting the night to be over yet but waiting for her to make the next move.
She lingered as well, seemingly just as reluctant to let me go. She looked up at me, eyes bright in the light of the streetlamps. There was something unassuming and beautiful about her right then, even though she was pretty much totally covered in clothing, a beanie pulled low on her head and her hands shoved in the pockets of her heavy woolen coat.
“I don’t owe you anything,” she said suddenly, and I started to turn away, feeling disappointed, but she reached out and caught my arm. “I don’t owe you anything,” she repeated, this time more quietly, “but did you want to come inside anyway?”
I grinned and leaned down to kiss her, framing her face with my hands. Her skin, beneath my palms, was cool like porcelain, but there was heat to our passionate kiss. Her arms circled my body as she stepped in close to me, leaning up to deepen the kiss. I ravaged her mouth with my tongue, leaving her breathless and wanting before I pulled away.
She made a soft noise of protest as I finally let her go, and I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly, looking meaningfully over her shoulder toward the door. She stumbled in her haste to lead the way into her apartment.
Chapter 16
Holly
Yet again, I knew that I shouldn’t be doing this. Nate had flat-out told me at dinner that he was part of a motorcycle gang. I hadn’t wanted to get into the details of it. I was sure that the more that I knew, the more danger I was in, or something like that. Not that he seemed to think I was in any danger thanks to him telling me. He had said it all so casually that it was like there was never any danger to his work at all.
I didn’t know what kinds of things his MC might be involved in. But I had to figure that it wasn’t strictly legal, whatever it was. No wonder he was so comfortable getting placed in handcuffs.
Still, there was one puzzling issue to it all: If he was some terrible criminal, some member of a gang, then how was it so easy for him to get the police to let him go? Granted, he hadn’t done anything too terrible to that thief, but they still could have held him on assault charges, and they probably would have if they thought they were cleaning up the streets.
Maybe Nate just hadn’t been there in Greenboro for long enough, though. Or maybe the MC had some sort of connections with the police force. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out they were corrupt and accepting payments, not if the MC wasn’t up to anything too terrible.
Either way, though, I didn’t think that I wanted to be involved with him. Still, here I was, inviting him into my home for the second night in a row.
I didn’t know how to explain it even to myself. Sure, lust played a part in it, but I also genuinely liked Nate. We had managed to talk all through dinner; nothing had felt uncomfortable or stilted or anything, and at the end of the day, wasn’t that what was important? It wasn’t like I was marrying the guy. I was just getting to know him a little better and having sex with him.
That was all.
This time, when we got into the front hall, Nate immediately kicked the door closed and lifted me into his arms, carrying me to my bedroom and tossing me down on the bed. He climbed on top of me, kissing me hard, his fingers stripping me naked, nearly tearing my shirt in his haste to get it off me.
I was just as eager, already undoing the buckle on his belt and tugging his pants and boxers down so that I could cup him in my palm, feeling his cock twitch with hot desire.
I pushed at his shoulders until he pulled back away, looking quizzically down at me. He groaned as I wiggled lower on the bed and got my mouth around him. I could taste the musky scent of his lust, could feel the strain in his thighs when I spread my fingers across them. I played my tongue across his slit, using featherlight touches of my fingers against his balls to stimulate him further until he was trembling beneath me, doing his best not to thrust up into my mouth.
Still, he couldn’t hold totally still and just bear it. His fingers twisted into the back of my hair, pushing me down deeper, urging me onward. He groaned when I resisted, one arm coming to rest across his closed eyes as he breathed raggedly.
I grinned, unable to resist toying with him for another minute, feeling powerful at my ability to tease him. But even as I teased him, I knew that I was also teasing myself. This wasn’t what I wanted, as much as I enjoyed hearing and seeing and feeling him fall apart like this.
I sucked hard at his dick, tasting precum. When Nate caught my arms and tugged me up toward him, I didn’t resist. Instead, naked, I sank down onto him, bringing him inside of me in one fluid motion.
Already, I felt more comfortable at the intrusion than I had the previous day. Already, it felt even more natural. As though he had been made just to fit inside of me.
Foolish, I knew. I wasn’t like Marie, and I didn’t believe that Nate was my soul mate. But it felt good to have him there inside of me. I rocked up on my knees and then sank back down, shifting slightly closer toward him so I could get the angle just right. We groaned in unison.
He held up his hands, letting me twist my fingers into his and use his palms for leverage. I began to rock with wild abandon, feeling him slam deeper inside of me with each new thrust. Wave after wave of heat rolled through my belly, and I shivered as he dragged his fingernails down my back. He smoothed his rough palms down across the abused skin, and something about that drove me wild.
I moved ever faster, and he snapped his hips up to meet me, nearly unseating me with the wildness of his thrusts. I braced myself against his shoulders as his name spilled out of me again and again, a desperate litany of need.
I knew I couldn’t last much longer, could feel my release creeping up on me. He flipped us around so that he was on top, still sheathed deep in my core, and that was it—I was spilling, clenching tight around him, and holding on for dear life.
I came harder than I had even the night before, sobbing wordlessly with relief as my whole body shook. Nate collapsed toward me, his warm weight an anchor when it felt like I might just drift away to nothing.
We held on to each other against the force of ecstasy, and it seemed to take forever before I could open my eyes again or breathe normally. By then, Nate had rolled away to the side, but his fingertips were still hot against my hip, still linking us even as we came apart as two separate entities once more.
I rolled toward him, meaning to tell him that he needed to go, but instead, he caught me close, slipping an arm around me and cradling me against his chest. For a moment, I could barely breathe. Somehow, this tenderness, this cuddling, seemed more intimate than anything we had done thus far. And I wasn’t sure I was ready for intimacy with anyone, let alone with Nate.
This was all wrong, I reminded myself. He wasn’t the kind of guy I was supposed to be with. He wasn’t safe, and he would only distract me in the long run. The last thing I needed was a distraction.
But I couldn’t bring myself to push him away. Instead, I let myself rest there for a moment, my cheek against his warm chest. I could hear his heartbeat slowing down, could feel how relaxed he was. He traced his fingers aimless across my side, and I felt weariness settle into my body. How easy it would be to fall asleep here, just like this, with him next to my side.
After all, what more did I need from the world? My belly was full of good food, and my body was nearly boneless with the strength of a good orgasm. The second great orgasm in as many days, in fact.
Eventually, though, I forced myself to pull back. I could tell from the almost startled look that Nate gave me that he had been just as close to unconsciousness as I had been. I forced myself to sit up, though, looking away from him, trying to find the words.
After a moment, he sat up as well, grinning ruefully. “This is the part where you tell me to leave, isn’t it?” he asked.
“I just can’t,” I told him.
He caught my hand, lightly kissing my palm. I shivered. Again, it was just that little motion that somehow seemed more intimate than all the rest. I forced myself not to dwell on it, though.
“Maybe next time,” he said, but he didn’t really sound like he expected it. Still, he didn’t seem upset. Instead, the words were like a joke.
I swallowed hard, not sure what to say to that. I couldn’t peel my eyes away from him as he got dressed, though, covering up that tattooed skin with first boxers, then jeans, then a T-shirt. His jacket was down in the hall, I suddenly remembered, although when we’d first stumbled inside, I hadn’t noticed him removing it. He must have had it halfway off before I had finished unlocking the door.
Just as eager as I was.
For a moment, I thought about telling him that it was all right for him to stay. Surely if he was just as eager for sex as I was, that meant this was just sex for him too? That we were both driven by mindless lust, that we were both just eager to cum.
But I knew, deep down, that I wasn’t asking him to leave for his sake. It didn’t matter whether he thought this was just sex or not. No, I was asking him to leave because I knew that for the first time in a long time, I wanted this to be something more. I wanted more than sex from him. And I needed both of us to remember we couldn’t have that.
Especially myself. I needed to make sure I didn’t get too attached.
I pulled on my robe and trailed after Nate, down to the front door. He surprised me by turning back to kiss me. Yet another of those incongruously intimate gestures from him. It left me flushed and shy, staring down at the floor. Nate chuckled quietly. “Maybe next time,” he said again quietly.
He brushed my hair back from my face, kissing me lightly on the forehead. Then, he turned and left.
I sighed and reached out to throw the deadbolt, wondering how I was already this far gone over a guy I barely knew. Over a guy I knew was totally wrong for me.
Chapter 17
Nate
I had been surprised enough when Otis said that he wanted Devon and me on protection detail for one of the club’s clients. But I guess that when I’d eventually come to terms with that idea, I had figured that he would give us some tiny project, maybe a challenging project, to start us out. Like an initiation or something like that.
He could give us someone who was just being paranoid, someone who we would quickly realize was in no danger. He could give us someone who was obnoxious for us to work for, someone who wanted us to be there for him every hour of every single day. He could give us someone who was downright stupid, who went out looking for trouble even though he knew he had already stirred up enough trouble with someone that he was in some sort of danger and needed the Outcasts to keep him safe.
