Slow Burn

  "You know how she got the name Trinity, right? All three holes—"

  "Wrath! The fuck?" Rock growls.

  The Viking slides a guilty look my way. "Sorry, Hope."

  The guy next to him snickers, then sticks his hand out to me. "Excuse our president’s shitty manners—I’m Teller."

  Rock grunts in response. "She knows the names of the important people."

  I grasp his outstretched hand briefly. "Nice to meet you, Teller."

  Bricks shakes his head and fixes his gaze on me.

  "Rock told me you did the mural in the front room. It’s really spectacular," I say in an attempt to make some normal conversation. It’s the right move because Bricks’s face lights up. He rolls up his sleeve to show me the tattoo on his bicep, a mini-version of the mural.

  I can’t help but lean over and trace the lines. "Wow, that’s amazing." He seems shocked that I’m touching him, so I snatch my hand back.

  "Sorry."

  "No, it’s fine."

  And we’re back to awkward.

  Trinity breezes back in the room, setting down a giant family-size box of cornflakes in front of me as well as a bowl and a gallon of milk.

  "Jesus Christ, Trin, how much ya think she’s gonna eat?" Wrath mumbles at her.

  Rock raises an eyebrow, but there’s no way I’m going to let him give this girl a hard time. She probably hates me enough already as it is.

  "It’s fine. Thank you, Trinity. I’m starving."

  She throws me a grateful look and disappears into the kitchen again.

  I get busy pouring my cereal, because I wasn’t lying—I am hungry.

  "So Bricks, how is it going with the kids?"

  "Great. Sue’s finally chilled the fuck out. But if shit goes down again, I want you taking care of it." Rock tenses up next to me but doesn’t say anything.

  "I’m not really—"

  "It’s safe now. Vipers are in the fucking gr—," Wrath starts.

  Rock’s fist slams into the table, rattling my cereal bowl. "Are you fucking high?"

  "What? She doesn’t know?" He jerks his chin in my direction. All hell is breaking loose around me, but I’m not sure why.

  "Know what?" I ask.

  "Nothing," Rock growls.

  Wrath looks to Teller and Bricks, but they both shake their heads.

  I’ve suddenly lost my appetite.

  I’m going to kill Wrath. It’s a shame because we’ve been brothers a long time, but the motherfucker has got a death wish this morning. Maybe I’ll just ram my fist down his throat so he’ll finally shut the fuck up.

  We finish our breakfast in silence. At least I do. Hope is radiating confusion, and she barely ate a thing. Yeah, I’m going to kick Wrath’s ass for this.

  My girl has definitely checked out of whatever we had going on this morning. This is exactly why I hesitated to sit down and break bread with these pricks. I might trust them with my life, but I sure as fuck don’t trust them not to say shit my woman isn’t ready to hear right now.

  When I finish, she taps my arm. "I need to get my car," she says softly.

  Damn. I’m not ready to let her go yet. After seeing her get so excited checking out Bricks’s tattoo earlier, I was looking forward to taking her back upstairs and letting her get busy tracing my ink. Maybe with her tongue instead of her fingers.

  "It should be out front, doll."

  Her lips purse, and I sense she’s about to get the very worst idea. "I didn’t know where we were going to end up last night, so I figured it was safest here."

  She accepts that, thankfully.

  "I’m going to run upstairs and grab my shoes." She wriggles her bare foot against my leg, and inside I’m thanking Buddha she’s not angry with me. I want to be a gentleman and tell her I’ll go get them for her, but there’s no fucking way I’m leaving her at the mercy of these douchebags.

  "I’ll go with you." But, she’s already out of her chair.

  "I know the way. Be right back."

  I need to have a moment with Wrath, but I’m also hesitant to just let her run around the clubhouse unescorted. Not that anyone would hurt her, but I don’t want any of the guys thinking she’s up for grabs. "If you run into anyone, make sure to tell them you’re with me."

  She gives me an odd look, then leans down to kiss my cheek. It’s the sweetest kiss I’ve ever received, and I’m momentarily stunned. By the time I open my eyes, she’s almost out the door.

  Wrath thinks I won’t notice him trying to sneak away.

  "Stop right there, asshole."

  He sits back down.

  "What the ever-loving fuck is wrong with you?"

  Teller and Bricks are laughing. "Shut the fuck up. You two weren’t much better."

  "Prez, I thought she knew at least a little bit."

  "Well, she doesn’t. All this shit is new to her, and if it’s all right with you, I’d like to break her in slowly, got it?"

  He smirks at "break her in slowly" until I give him a hard glare.

  "Yeah, sure."

  "And treat Trinity with some respect, would ya?"

  At that, Teller shakes even harder with laughter.

  "What’s so fucking funny, dipshit?" I growl, knowing I am not going to like the answer.

  "Everyone’s had a piece of Trinny."

  I don't know what's gotten into my brothers today, but they all seem eager to test my fucking patience. "So fucking what? She tossed your homely ass a pity fuck—be grateful, not a dick about it."

  Teller backs down with a pout. Fucking babies.

  "Boss is right. She’s a nice girl, and she does a lot around here," Bricks adds.

  "Ass-kisser," Wrath grumbles.

  I’m tired of these guys. "Assholes, all of you." I punch Bricks in the shoulder, so he knows I’m not lumping him in with the two assholes I’m actually pissed at. Then I’m out of here. Hope’s been away from me for much too long.

  The way she bounds down the stairs makes it impossible to believe she’s over thirty. At first, she flashes me a bright smile, like she’s happy to see me, then it dims, and I’m guessing she remembers she’s annoyed with me. Fantastic.

  I take her hand, and we head outside. It’s a perfect crisp, cool morning. "You warm enough?"

  "I’m good."

  "Look, I’m sorry."

  "I feel like I had breakfast in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language."

  That’s actually a really good way to describe it, and I tell her so.

  "So, it’s a biker thing?"

  "Yeah."

  "What are Vipers?"

  Shit—I’m not ready to have this conversation with her yet. But if I want her in my life, she needs to be aware of some things.

  "Not what—who. They’re a rival MC. They run Ironworks and most of the surrounding county right up to the Vermont border. We had some problems with them, but it’s over with now."

  I can see her processing this information.

  "Oh. Okay," she finally says.

  Obviously none of it really sunk in. I’m having a tough time here, because I want to be straight with her, but I also don’t feel like giving her information that’s going to unnecessarily scare her and possibly push her away from me. Not when I finally have her in my life in the way that I’ve wanted for so long.

  We’re still walking. We’ve cleared the wall that surrounds the conference center and are crunching over leaves into the woods. "How much of this do you own?"

  "All together, about three hundred acres."

  "Wow. Impressive. What are you going to do with all that land?"

  It’s a good question. One I’ve been contemplating a lot myself lately. I own a house down in the city, but I spend so much of my time out here it seems like a waste. It would probably be a lot safer if more of us lived up here. Trinity lives here full time. She’s the only club girl with her own private room because she takes care of the place for us too. Two guys stay here round the clock to keep up on the grow house. Wrath,
Z, Teller, and Murphy mostly live here full time, although Teller splits a lot of his time at his grandmother’s house helping take care of his little sister.

  It wouldn’t be a bad idea to start adding some other buildings. Maybe build a house up here if I had someone to share it with.

  "A lot of the guys hunt in the fall, so there’s that. We put in a small shooting range."

  "Isn’t that dangerous?"

  "Not if you know what you’re doing."

  She’s silent.

  "Why haven’t you gone back to work, Hope?"

  She doesn’t answer for so long, I wonder if she didn’t hear me.

  "I can’t."

  I gently place my hand on her arm. "What about your house and stuff, honey?"

  We’ve stopped walking, and she’s just fidgeting and staring off into the woods. "Clay had some insurance money. I’m okay for now."

  "Oh, that’s good." It’s really none of my business. But I am relieved to know her husband thought to make sure she was taken care of if anything ever happened to him.

  "This last year has just been…awful."

  My arm snakes around her waist, and I pull her close. I can’t stand the thought of her in pain, emotional or any other kind. I also can’t shake the feeling that if I push her too fast, I’ll lose her. What I want to say is "you’ve got me" or "I’m here for you." But, I get the sense she’s not going to react well, so I just offer her a shoulder to lean on for now. After a few minutes, she wraps her arms around my waist and tips her head up.

  There it is. Those beautiful green eyes that have haunted me since the first day I spotted her in that crowded courtroom. Even when I confused or annoyed her, she saw me. To her, I wasn’t a guy she wanted to ride for selfish reasons or some lowlife criminal. She saw me and treated me with respect, even if I irritated the shit out of her.

  "This is nice here. Peaceful."

  The look on her face is serene, and I’m so done for. We take in the mountain views together a little longer. She stops and gives me her sweet little frustrated look again. I lean down to kiss her, and she throws her arms around my neck, clinging to me. With my hands under her ass, I lift her up so she’s at the perfect kissing level. Somehow, before I know it, I’ve got her pinned to a huge pine tree. Her legs are wrapped around my waist, and her hot core sears me right through the layers of clothing between us. I’m so fucking hard I don’t think I’ll be able to get out of my jeans. I really need to get out of them and into her.

  The bark of the tree bites into my knuckles, and I realize it’s going to rip her back up if we keep going. Her hands have moved south, and she’s tugging at my belt. "Baby, hang on. I gotta set you down."

  The loss of her wrapped around me is swift, and it sucks. But the second her feet touch the ground, she turns and braces her hands against the tree. The position is sexy as hell, and she makes it worse by arching her back and thrusting her ass higher into the air. Oh, hell fucking yes. She watches me over her shoulder as I slip a condom out of my pocket and struggle to free myself to put it on.

  "Aren’t you a boy scout."

  "A guy can dream."

  This playful version of Hope wriggles her ass at me in an invitation I have no intention of turning down. In one swift move, I pull her pants down to her knees and grip her hips. I’ve got to bend a little to get the right angle, but once I sink inside her, it's heaven and nothing else registers.

  We’re not in danger of being seen out here. There’s no reason for any of the guys to come stalking through the woods looking for us, but I have this insane urge to cover her up. Hope’s body is mine, and even the thought of the woodland bears and deer getting an eyeful annoys me.

  She whines as I pull out and turns to give me this pissy expression that is cute as fuck. I pull my shirt over my head.

  "Stay like that, baby."

  Dropping the shirt to the ground, I sit down with my back up against the tree. She’s still braced against it, staring down at me. "Come here." I reach my hand up and she takes it, kicking off her pants the rest of the way. Okay, now she’s more naked than before. Then she’s straddling me and easing herself down with painful slowness onto my aching cock.

  "Fuck, Hope."

  She presses up tight and kisses my jaw, staring into my eyes. After a few agonizing seconds, her eyes flutter half-closed and she’s rocking up and down on my cock, driving me nuts. Now there’s too much clothing in my way. I want her tits in my mouth, and there’s my sweatshirt and a couple other layers preventing that. Snaking my hands under the material, I fill my hands with her lace-covered breasts, rubbing my thumbs over her nipples. This is crazy. I want my hands all over her at once. Fingers sinking into her hips, pinching her nipples, cupping her shoulders to hold her down so I can thrust up into her. Her shouts echo around us in the woods. It’s possible they heard that back at the clubhouse, but I don’t really give a fuck. Everyone will know I’m out here pleasuring my woman. Big deal.

  The walls of her snug little pussy contract around me, calling my own orgasm. Now it’s my sharp groaning filling the air around us. She rides out the storm, her face buried in my neck, licking and nipping at my skin. My hands grab her face, and I pull her to me for a victory kiss.

  We sit still for a few minutes, our foreheads touching, my hands settled at her waist. Finally, I nudge her and help her stand. She turns around and bends down to pick up her pants, and it’s a fight not to take her again. Except, I’m spent. I bury the condom under a pile of leaves.

  "That’s not so green," she jokes.

  She’s dressed, but has this very appealing, freshly fucked look about her. She should always look like this—rosy cheeks, reddened lips, mussed hair. I pick out a few small twigs that got tangled at the ends of her hair.

  "I miss those cute little bangs you had when we met," I say absently.

  Her face freezes, and she runs a self-conscious hand through her hair.

  "I haven’t really—"

  I press a quick kiss to her forehead. "Doll, you’re beautiful no matter what."

  The tight expression softens. I note that her self-esteem issue hasn’t improved. It will be my pleasure to help her work on that.

  When we’ve righted our clothing, I take her hand and lead her farther into the woods until we reach the clearing.

  "Oh my gosh, you have windmills! That’s so cool!" She claps her hands together in a very girlish gesture and grins from ear to ear. The enthusiasm she displays just guts me. I’ve never known a sweeter woman.

  There are four windmills up here that power the center. From a distance they’re unremarkable, but up close they’re pretty impressive. What they mean to the MC is that when we have large spikes in power usage, the electric company isn’t placing a phone call to the DEA. Maintaining our grow house downstairs takes a lot of energy. It’s the most important reason we bought up this hippie compound. Self-sufficiency.

  "It was too dark to notice last night, but the roof is covered in solar panels too."

  She turns to me with this adorable, curious expression. "I had no idea motorcycle clubs were so environmentally conscious."

  "Actually, this was all here when we bought the place, but it’s nice not to get an electric bill."

  "What about wintertime? It must be brutal up here on the mountain."

  "We definitely need the plow truck, but the wind that gets generated here year-round is pretty insane. It hasn’t been an issue yet."

  Her expression has turned thoughtful, and she’s quiet as we hike back down.

  Wrath greets us out front when we return. He’s lucky I’ve had some time to calm myself. The urge to throat punch him isn’t as strong as before. Hope gives him a warm smile he’s not worthy of, and the bastard has the nerve to grin back at her. As he pulls her keys from his pocket and hands them to her, the urge to connect my fist with his Adam’s apple returns.

  The look in my eyes must be murderous, because he holds out his hand. "Prez, we got that thing this afternoon."

&nbsp
; Right this second, I don’t give a fuck about the exchange we have going on with the Green Street Crew or their little bitch shotcaller. I’m not ready to let Hope out of my sight. With a tilt of my head and a raised eyebrow, I let him know he better not spew club business in front of Hope again. But, he’s not completely stupid, or he’s finally sober, because he doesn’t elaborate.

  Taking Hope by the elbow, I turn her away from Wrath—the nosy bastard doesn’t need to hear our conversation. "I’m sorry, doll. I do have some business to take care of this afternoon. It will probably go late."

  She turns and places her hand over my heart. Fuck, if I’m not ready to take her again, right on the hood of her own damn car, in front of everyone. "I understand. Uh, thank you for last night." Her cheeks flame. In a lower voice, she says, "And this morning."

  Oh, damn, she’s cute. And she’s making it impossible for me to say goodbye.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I’m so giddy driving home from Rock’s that I almost get lost. My GPS is confused up here in the mountains. Once I reach Route 156, I know where I am and my house isn’t actually that far away. My cell phone died sometime during the night, but I don’t realize it until I walk in the door and plug it in. It blows up with blinking lights and beeps, telling me someone has been trying to reach me for a while now. Gee, wonder who it could be?

  Sophie, of course.

  Before she ends up at my door, I call her back. A text isn't going to cut it with her.

  Squealing greets me on the other end so loud that I pull the phone away from my ear.

  "Tell me everything," she gushes.

  "Jeez, calm yourself, you nosy perv." But I can’t help breaking into some giggles of my own.

  "Did you?"

  "None of your business."

  "Oh my God, you did!"

  I sigh, because I’m not really one to discuss certain private details. I know Sophie and Lilly carry on like two drunk sailors, but I’ve never been comfortable with that kind of talk. I’m such a prude.

  To take some of the attention off me, I ask, "You get home okay?"

  "Funny story, actually. Jonny made it home from tour early and came looking for me as a surprise, but I was at Mara and Damon’s."