Shade

  All of a sudden, Lily jumped from the bed, making a run for the bathroom. She didn’t make it, though. Halfway there, he had her around the waist, lifting her from the floor.

  “Oh, no you don’t.”

  “Don’t you dare touch me!” Lily yelled.

  “I am going to do more than touch you. I’m going to teach you a lesson that you will never forget, Lily,” Shade promised.

  She was about to scream, terrified, when he sat her down on her feet in her corner and took a step back.

  He could feel her fear. She should be afraid, he thought grimly to himself. She had pushed him past his limits, but she was more than able to defend herself against him; she had proven that earlier. Therefore, it was time she faced her fears head-on, and come what may, he was going to rip away the barriers she used to protect herself from him. She needed to see the real Shade or as much of himself as he could show, anyway.

  He pulled the chair to face her, taking a seat. “I think it’s past time we straighten out a few things.”

  Her hand went to the rubber band as she pressed back against the wall.

  “Cut it out. You’re in your safe zone, and I won’t touch you when you’re there.” Shade leaned back against his chair.

  “I joined The Last Riders when I left the military. There are eight original members. When we started the club, we decided women would be members, too. Both the men and women have rules as to how they can join. The men, if they want to enter and we want them as a part of the club, pick four of the eight original members to go up against. If they can handle themselves, they become members. The women need six votes from the eight original members to join. To get the votes, the member either fucks them or has an orgasm as a result of their play.”

  “I don’t want to know,” Lily moaned.

  “Lily, you’re going to hear it all. No more pretending. Now, to continue, Beth and Winter earned their votes differently. They earned markers. That’s not to say they didn’t earn a few votes the normal way, just not the majority of them.” He kept his voice dispassionate when he discussed Beth and Winter.

  “I really don’t want to hear this,” Lily said, turning her face to the wall.

  “After they gain their last vote, the women can get their tat with the date they earned it and became a member.”

  Lily turned back to face him. “Beth doesn’t have a tattoo.”

  “I believe Beth and Winter both had their tats placed where no one would see them. I wouldn’t know. I gave them both my marker. I also have never participated in any of their fun with the club. Diamond, also.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Beth is your sister, Winter is your friend, and Diamond because I could tell that, when you eventually spent more time with her, you would become close friends. I didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable around them.”

  “I don’t understand.” Lily shook her head.

  “Yes, you do. You don’t want to admit it, but you do.” He stared directly into her eyes.

  “No.”

  Shade sighed, realizing she was going to fight acknowledging any attraction between them.

  “Lily, I’ve wanted you since the first minute I saw you coming out of the diner with Beth when we first moved to Treepoint. I took one look at you and knew you were mine.”

  Lily shook her head, still not facing him.

  “Razer, unfortunately, made his move with Beth first, and I had to lie back and let him see where it was going. I also knew you were young and wanted you to have some time to yourself. I never intended to wait this long for you, but I let Winter convince me to let you finish school. So, I waited.”

  “You didn’t suffer waiting, did you, Shade? With a club full of women at your beck and call,” Lily snapped.

  “I am no saint. I’ve enjoyed every woman here at the club, but they weren’t you, Lily. Never you. I would fuck them for hours, trying to get me through the night so I wouldn’t get on my bike and come for you.” His voice was unintentionally harsh as remembered those lonely nights he had spent with the women, giving them his body while his heart and soul was already with her.

  “You can’t seriously believe I would have gone with you.” Lily stared at him in astonishment.

  He saw the moment when understanding finally began to dawn on her—that he wouldn’t have given her a choice. She started shaking. Hell, he wasn’t going to give her a choice now. That time had passed, and it was time to lay all his cards on the table.

  “I am no longer going to hide anything from you, and you are going to have to learn to deal with what you can and what you can’t. You have your safe space, and I gave you the summer to get to know me.”

  “I got to know too much: that you’re bossy, you’re mean, and you have sex with too many women.”

  “I’m no cowboy,” he mocked, her words ripping his insides to shreds.

  “You’re no cowboy,” Lily agreed.

  “It doesn’t matter what I am or not. I will be the one whose bed you will be in, who puts my ring on your finger, my baby in your belly, and you will let me, Lily,” he told her with finality.

  “No.” Lily shook her head, denying his words.

  “Yes, Lily, you will. You won’t be able to help yourself. I’ll make damn sure of that. Since I want to make sure there are no more secrets between us, I’m going to tell you that Penni is my sister. Actually, my half-sister, but she says that doesn’t count.”

  As Lily sucked in a deep breath, Shade knew it cut deep, and he felt bad for that. He was already on the path he was determined to take, though. He was going to make her open her eyes and see him. He might not be what she wanted, but someday, hopefully she would see he was what she needed.

  “Beth didn’t know, and Penni thought I asked her to transfer colleges because of Beth. She has no idea of my interest in you.” He gave that lie to protect Penni, not himself.

  With her finally getting over Beth’s betrayal, if she found out Penni had known, she would cut off all ties with her. Truthfully, Penni hadn’t known all the machinations he had committed, so technically, it was only a half-lie.

  She refused to look at him after that confession.

  “Lily, look at me.”

  She turned her head to look at his grim face.

  “I know that this is a lot for you to take in. You don’t do well with surprises; however, there is one last piece of business we need to take care of.

  “You have pushed me all week. After I told you that you had earned a spanking, you deliberately tried to raise my temper. I don’t lose my temper, unlike you; instead, you have earned several more strokes. I will give you a chance to explain yourself, and you may be able to lessen your punishment if it’s good enough. Otherwise...” Shade shrugged.

  “I will not take a punishment from you. I’m not one of your women who actually care to please you. You can go to Hell. I’m leaving. If you lay one hand on me, I’ll call the police.” Lily frantically looked around his room.

  Shade saw where she was looking and got up from the chair, walking across the floor to the phone and picking it up. Walking back, he handed it to her before going to the drawer, opening it, and then handing her an envelope. Afterward, he resumed his seat.

  “Before you make a call, you should open that envelope.”

  Dread filled her eyes as she slowly tore the envelope open, pulling out the papers and then looking through them. They were ownership papers of The Last Riders’ land, the factory, and the house. It showed all the separate names of the corporation.

  Her eyes lifted to his, not understanding.

  “My name is John Hunter.”

  Her eyes went back to the papers, going through them once again. Shade could tell from the horror on her face when she realized what the importance of the papers were. While the name of all the assets were divided equally among the members, the property everything was built on, including Beth’s and Razer’s new home, was owned by him.

  Lily looked back up at him.

&
nbsp; “When we all got out of the service, we wanted to start the business, but they had no capital. They had the ideas; I had the money. My money combined with what they had managed to save was invested in the business. The land, being in my name, was to ensure I wasn’t left without anything since I took the most risk,” he explained.

  “Beth and Razer’s home ...”

  “Is on my property,” Shade confirmed. The money hadn’t meant anything to him—he had told the brothers that—but they had insisted he take the property as collateral.

  “Oh, God.”

  “There’s no need to be upset. I have no intention of taking their home from them … if we come to an agreement,” he clarified.

  “What do you want, Shade?” A lone tear slid down her cheek.

  He could have used that as leverage months before, but he hadn’t. He could have found something when he had first met her to force her to his bed, but he hadn’t. He had waited until she had almost died and lost her forever before he had realized he needed her, and by that point he wanted her more than the air he breathed. The only thing keeping him from being a true psychopath was his love for her. Without her, the empty void, which was his soul, would consume him.

  “You.”

  Lily shook her head. “You can’t be serious. You have to know this just makes me dislike you even more.”

  “Lily, you don’t know what you want. You want a man who doesn’t exist. One who will never touch you, pretend you don’t have something seriously messed-up going on inside of your head, and be willing to put up with you constantly in some kind of trouble.”

  “I am not,” Lily snapped.

  Shade lifted his brow at her response and her inability to deny the truth of the other two statements.

  “The man I want exists, and I know you’re not him.”

  “I’m the only man for you.” Menace poured from him before he regained control, shrugging and nodding his head toward the phone. “Make your mind up.”

  “Beth and Razer can build another house,” Lily argued.

  “They certainly can, but it won’t be that house.”

  “Razer and you are like brothers; you wouldn’t do that to him,” Lily tried to call his bluff.

  “Yes, I would,” he stated matter-of-factly, letting her see the truth in his face.

  “I can’t do this.” She pointed back and forth between them.

  “I’m not going to rush you. We can go as slow as you want. I’m a patient man.” When you’re not trying to rip my balls off.

  “I’m going to talk to Diamond.”

  “I’ll take you to see her tomorrow after you get finished at the church.”

  Those papers had been written by the best lawyer money could buy. There were no loopholes other than his death. Shade would have to be careful turning his back to her.

  “If I can find a way, I will leave.”

  “You can leave now, Lily. It’s your decision,” he reminded her. She might not like the consequences, but it was her choice to make, for better or worse.

  “Okay.” Lily gave in, staring down at the papers in her hand.

  “Good, now that it’s settled, we need to take care of your punishment for nearly ripping my balls off.”

  “I became caught up in our lesson,” Lily defended her actions.

  “You were pissed at me for something. Care to tell?” Shade waited to see if she would admit the truth.

  Lily remained silent, however.

  “All right.” Shade leaned forward. “Let’s begin with Jewell. She closed the door to my office when Cash called. Kaley broke the rules. I really didn’t give a fuck if she tried to join the club or not. She would never have gotten enough votes to, anyway, so it’s no loss.

  “Now, let’s talk about your punishment. I’m going to be lenient this time”—he paused at Lily’s unladylike snort—“and give you your choice of punishment.”

  “What are the choices?”

  Shade had no doubt she wasn’t going to be happy with any of them.

  “You can take the spanking you deserve, or you can sleep in the bed tonight, or you can give me one kiss. Take your pick.”

  “You’re not serious?”

  “Yes, I am being more than fair. It hurt like hell when you grabbed my nuts. None of your choices involve excruciating pain.”

  “That strap looks like it’s going to hurt.”

  “I plan for you to enjoy that.” Shade gave her a grin.

  Lily shivered.

  “Which one?” Shade prompted her. “Would you like me to pick for you?”

  “No! I’ll sleep in the bed,” Lily said reluctantly.

  “You sure?”

  Lily nodded.

  “Fine. You can get ready for bed.” Shade got up from the chair, turning the television on. Since he had gotten the results he wanted, he needed to let her deal with the aftermath.

  Lily gathered her pajamas before going into the bathroom. As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Shade stood, placing the papers back in the envelope then setting them on the nightstand. He went back to the chair to sit down, listening to the shower running and knowing she was spending the time trying to figure a way out. There wasn’t any; he’d had a long time to make his plans. Too long.

  Finally, she opened the door, dressed in flannel pajamas which were ugly as shit, but Shade pretended not to take his attention away from the television as Lily climbed into the bed.

  He gave her a moment to settle her nerves before turning the television off and going into the bathroom. Then he took a long shower, letting her have some time to herself before putting on a pair of shorts and returning to the bedroom.

  He could tell she was only pretending to be asleep as he climbed in the bed then turned off the lights. She was hugging the side of the bed so tightly he was surprised she hadn’t fallen off, and the whole bed was practically shaking with her frightened tremors.

  Shade made himself comfortable. He had lost track of when the last time he had slept more than a couple of hours had been.

  Her tense body gradually relaxed, and her fingers holding the side of the bed loosened to curl under her cheek.

  Shade forced his body to remain still long after Lily had managed to drift off. When he was sure she had finally gone into a deep sleep, he rolled closer to her, fitting her against him as his warmth seeped into her chilled body. All his years of experience had led to that one moment: holding Lily close in his bed.

  He was an expert at moving his body a centimeter at a time, slowly moving his fingers to play with the wisps of her hair on the pillow. A small smile tugged at his lips.

  Chapter 53

  Shade followed Lily back to the club the next day after picking up her car from hers and Beth’s house. He had driven her to work at the church store that morning then picked her up to take her to Diamond’s house. He hadn’t gone inside, letting her find out for herself the contract was ironclad. When she had come back outside, she hadn’t said anything other than for him to take her to get her car, which Rider had gone to her college to pick up for her with his trailer.

  As they drove, the sky darkened with storm clouds. Shade remembered Razer telling him Lily hated storms. The strong winds were buffeting her vehicle and his bike. He had almost asked her to wait until tomorrow to talk to Diamond, not wanting her out in the storm, but he didn’t want her to think he was hiding something, so he had hoped the storm wouldn’t hit until they were back at the club.

  She pulled into The Last Riders’ parking lot, driving toward the back where he motioned for her to park before he turned his bike around. Then he headed back toward the front where he parked his motorcycle with the rest. Shade walked over to her car when she got out, carrying a car cover.

  He pulled it over the vehicle as she asked, “Why cover my car?” while watching him curiously.

  “Just being careful. If someone is looking to find out where you’re staying, they’ll either have to follow you or come onto the property to see if this i
s your car.”

  “If they do?”

  “Then we’ll see them.” Shade pointed to the cameras. “We placed a few in your home, too, so if they try to break in again, an alarm will go off at the sheriff’s office and here, also.

  “Maybe they gave up and moved on.”

  “Possibly, but I don’t believe so. Whoever’s been watching you has been doing so for a while.” Shade tried to ease her fears. “Don’t worry; we’ll find out who it is and deal with it.”

  “You’ll turn them over to Knox?”

  “Maybe. Let’s get some dinner.” His answer was purposely evasive, because whoever had tried to run her down wouldn’t be getting any protection from Knox.

  By the time they walked up the pathway to the kitchen door and stepped in, most of the members had already been served. Lily took a plate before handing one to him, both of them getting into the buffet line. When she finished filling her plate, Shade followed her to the table Winter and Viper were sitting at with Bliss and Raci. She took a seat next to Winter, and Shade sat down across from her, next to Bliss.

  They ate while listening to Winter and Viper argue over him donating money so she could buy computers for her students at the alternate high school where she was principal.

  “It’s not fair, Viper. They deserve the computers as much as the high school students do.”

  “If they had kept their asses out of trouble, then they wouldn’t have gotten thrown out of the school district.”

  “That’s unfair. Both schools should have the same standards,” Winter argued.

  Viper shrugged. “I gave you two large chunks of money already this year. You’ve reached your limit with my generosity, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hit the other members up for donations. Their pockets are deeper than mine since you’ve already robbed me twice.”

  Winter turned her eyes to the members sitting across from her.

  “Raci?”

  “Don’t ask me. I’m not an original member; I earn a paycheck like everyone else.”

  Shade almost snorted. The woman worked more hours than almost anyone at the table and earned more bonuses for completed orders than any of them combined.