“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that,” he gritted out. “Later.” It was way too late now.
Holding her tight, impressed as hell with the dangerous woman, he pulled out and shoved back in, setting up a hard rhythm that had her gasping. She went over first, waves crashing through her body to undulate around him. Sparks, flying fast, ripped down his spine to his testicles.
He dug his face into her neck, his entire body shuddering as he came.
Slowly, his heart rate calmed down. He chuckled against her damp neck as she relaxed beneath him. Now, that hadn’t gone exactly according to plan.
Yep. Definitely a dangerous woman. He had to keep her—it was too late to turn back now. The sense of possession gripped him hard, compressing his lungs. Slowly, muscle by muscle, he released the tension. That was that, then.
* * *
Zara’s body turned to mush, and her hand slid from Ryker’s ass to the bed. Her other one was trapped beneath his, but right now she didn’t really care. Her eyelids fluttered shut.
“Oh no.” He pressed harder inside her, sending quakes throughout her abdomen.
She lifted one eyelid, beyond exhausted. “Tired.”
“Talk.”
“No.” She wiggled a little beneath him. Her excitement had ebbed, but the guy was apparently still semi-hard inside her. “You’re an impressive man, Ryker.” She yawned.
“Jesus.” He withdrew and shoved from the bed to pad toward the bathroom, masculine irritation deepening his tone.
God, she loved that tattoo. Fierce and strong, a wild bird decorated his right shoulder with its wings spread and rising out of fire. Two intricate Bs combined in the center. She’d asked once what it meant, and he’d shrugged.
She smiled as she shimmied her butt up, grabbed the bedclothes, and slid beneath cool, clean sheets. A small groan of pure pleasure erupted from her, and she stretched before curling onto her side. A minute later, the bed shifted, and warmth enclosed her.
“What do the Bs stand for?” she mumbled.
“Blood brothers,” he said against her hair. “We thought we’d name the agency that, but we don’t want it traced, so we went with Lost Bastards.”
“Blood brothers?” she murmured, realization dawning. “The scars on your hands?”
“Yeah. We didn’t have family, so the three of us created one with an old knife and blood.”
“How old were you?” She blinked. They’d created their own brotherhood. There was so much more to know about him.
“Twelve. I’ll tell you more tomorrow,” he whispered, sounding drowsy.
How sad and sweet at the same time. “Tomorrow sounds good.” She snuggled right into Ryker’s hard warmth and fell into dreamland.
The dream caught her around the neck and threw her into the past.
She was ten years old, humming quietly in the backseat of her mother’s clunky car on the way to yet another farmers’ market, this one in northern Washington State. She liked the trees and wildlife in Washington, and hopefully her mother would stay with this boyfriend for a while before they moved on again.
Well, usually the boyfriend moved on. Sometimes with screams and shouts, and sometimes in the dark of night…while taking any money they’d found. But Chuck seemed like a nice guy, even though he had three cats, four dogs, and a llama. Who the heck had a llama?
Lightning flashed outside, and Zara frowned, peering out the wet window. “I forgot my umbrella,” she muttered, patting her nice and dry jeans. She’d learned early to plan for herself.
Her mom turned around from the driver’s seat with a wide smile, her hair in a wild mane and her face freshly scrubbed of makeup. Apparently Chuck liked the natural look. “It’s fun to get wet.”
Actually, it wasn’t fun to get wet. Not really. “My hair gets all wild and curly, and then I sneeze.” Zara shook her head and focused on Chuck in the passenger seat. “Did you remember the ledger?”
He turned, his green eyes dilated. “No, dude. Totally forgot.”
Zara sighed and started organizing her hair into two neat braids the rain couldn’t ruin. “We need the ledger to keep track of how many of the pottery pieces you sell, Mom.”
Her mom laughed and concentrated on the road while shoving back curly black hair. “Why? I mean, if we have money, we sold some. If we don’t, then it wasn’t a good day.”
Zara shook her head. The old jeans barely fit her, and she just didn’t understand why her mom didn’t care. Somebody had to be a grown-up and take care of things. The world was dark and scary. She shivered.
They’d never go global with the pottery pieces without organization. While she’d given up any idea of having a college fund, it’d be nice if she could start a savings account for her mom, for when she went to college. On loans, no doubt. College was her way out, and then, to get rid of the guilt of leaving, she’d send money to her mom.
If she made it into college. Fear clawed up her throat, and she swallowed it rapidly down. She eyed the marketing book she’d borrowed from the library. “Have you contacted that distributor in Seattle?” It had taken her three days to understand exactly what a distributor did, and she figured they needed one now.
“Um, no.” Her mom leaned forward as thunder ripped across the sky. “I will later today. Promise.”
“Right.” Zara wrapped rubber bands around her braids and kicked out her feet. There were holes in the bottoms of her tennis shoes. If they made any money today, she’d have to grab some before Chuck got it all and bought more pot.
Chuck turned, his frizzy blond hair drifting around. “Whoops. Did you feed the dogs?”
“Yes. The dogs, cats, and llama.” Zara sighed.
Chuck laughed. “Sounds like a nursery rhyme.”
“Sounds like a moron,” Zara muttered quietly to herself. But at least this one didn’t hit, yell, or look at her funny. So she smiled at him. If they could just stay in one place for a little while, her mom could make a bunch of the pretty pottery to sell, and then maybe they’d get to eat regularly. Her stomach growled as if on cue. “The animals are fine.”
The rain pounded harder, and she wished for a warmer jacket. Or even for one of those rain slicker kinds that kept people dry. A girl in her class, Mandy Martini, had two of those jackets. One was purple and one was blue. The blue one was super pretty. Mandy’s dad was a lawyer.
Lightning cracked again, and she shivered. Maybe she’d be a lawyer. Well, she didn’t like to fight with people, so maybe she’d be a paralegal. That was stable, and the lawyers she’d seen on television wore cool clothes.
Something popped. Her mom shrieked and wrenched the steering wheel around. The car turned left and plunged down an embankment. Trees flew by.
Zara screamed. Terror ripped into her, and she flung her arms out.
Glass shot inside. The car hit a tree, and the sound of metal crunching destroyed the day. Zara blinked blood from her eyes. “Mom?” she yelled.
Zara bolted upright in bed, sucking in air. Sweat dripped down her back, and she couldn’t breathe. She clutched her chest and shook.
“Whoa.” Ryker snagged her around the waist and pulled her to him, settling her face against his neck. “What the hell, darlin’?”
Breath whooshed out of her lungs. She sucked in air. Breathe. She could breathe.
She blinked away tears and exhaled slowly. Okay. It was just panic. She wasn’t having a heart attack. Thunder rolled outside, and sleet pinged against the windows. Fairly strong light filtered in. “Bad dream,” she burst out.
“No shit.” His voice was sleepy, but the hand caressing down her back was very comforting. “You’ve had it before. What happened?”
She stilled, although the comfort he offered settled something deep inside her. Something warm and safe. “I, ah, don’t really talk about it.”
“That sentence is easy to change.” The sleep cleared from his voice, the tone commanding and oddly comforting.
Her feelings were, too. For once, she was tempted to share her story. So she
told him about the wreck and her mother dying. “I was trapped in the car with them, both dead, for several hours.” She shivered, remembering how terrified she’d been. How sad and alone.
Ryker’s head had lifted, and his eyes burned. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I wish I could fix that.”
Tears pricked her eyes, and she battled them away. He’d fix everything for her if he could. A sweetness lived in Ryker that she doubted many people in his life had seen. “So I went to live with my Grams. That’s all.”
“Sounds like a lot.” Ryker pressed a kiss to her head, his strong shoulders shielding her. “All I know about your grandmother is what I read in a file and that she moved here to Cisco when you did. You never talk about her.”
“She’s mine.” Zara smiled.
Ryker was silent for a minute. “I get that. Denver and Heath are mine, and I hold that close.” He rubbed a large hand down her back. “I guess I didn’t realize other people felt that way, too.”
She pressed her lips against his neck. The nightmare attacked her every once in a while, and she’d awaken to a cold and lonely bed. Having Ryker comfort her, having his sheer strength and warmth surrounding her, made the past not so frightening. “Grams is a combination of my flighty mother and my responsible self.” She stiffened and then relaxed as she opened her heart and shared what was in there.
He kissed her head as if knowing the huge step she’d just taken. “How so?”
“Well, she took me in, gave me a nice home, and did all the things a mom should’ve. She was the grown-up, and I got to be the kid. Usually.” She smiled.
“Usually?”
“Yeah,” Zara said softly, warmth spreading through her at the memories. “Once in a while, she’d decide we needed girl time, so we’d drive to the Grand Canyon for a few days.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“It really was,” she murmured. Something buzzed by her head. She frowned and glanced at the alarm clock. They’d slept in until almost noon. Wow. She never slept that long. “Crap. I have a meeting at work.”
“It’s Saturday,” Ryker said, his voice a little too calm.
“Discovery and trials don’t pause for weekends.” She pushed from the bed and hesitated. “I need a ride to my place to change clothes. Any chance my car is working?”
“Not a chance.” Ryker stretched from the bed, and in the strong light, he looked like a fucking ripped god. He stretched all of that smooth, honed muscle.
Butterflies heated in her abdomen.
Then he turned and pinned her with a dark look. “Who hit you?”
That quickly, she was just tired of keeping secrets. Maybe great sex had mellowed her, or perhaps it was time to let Ryker in. She’d told him of the worst day of her life, and he’d comforted her. It was time she stopped being so afraid and started to live. Sure, opening up to Ryker was a huge risk, but he was worth it. She felt it. So she swallowed several times and decided to trust completely, feeling every bit like she was jumping off a cliff. She was tired of being completely alone. “Jay Pentley hit me.”
Chapter
11
Ryker rocked back, anger trying to claw through him. “Jay Pentley—the mayor and your client?”
It sounded even worse put that way. “Yeah. He’s a wife beater, and I’ve been helping his wife out, so he felt free to challenge both of us.” She shrugged. “I’m violating legal ethics by helping Julie, and if I get caught, I’ll be fired and the firm will be sued for malpractice.”
Ryker scratched his head, warning tickling at the base of his neck. “Are you giving her legal advice?”
“No.” She shook her head. “Just a couple of loans.” She looked down at the bed.
Oh man. The woman was a terrible liar. Just terrible. For some reason, amusement attacked him. Yet he tried to keep it out of his voice. “Zara. Are you telling Julie about your case?”
She winced. “Kind of. I mean, we’re turning over all discovery requests, but I might have directed her to tell her attorney where to look for hidden assets.”
Ryker huffed out a laugh as he tried to order facts in his mind. “That’s totally malpractice.”
“I know.” Zara wiped her hands down her face. “But Jay is such an ass, and he has all the money, and Julie’s attorney sucks. You know who Jay’s family is.”
“Yeah. Isn’t he supposed to run for governor or something?” Well connected or not, the man was about to take a beating for touching Zara.
“The U.S. Senate,” she mumbled. “He’s announcing early next year, after the divorce is all complete. By then he’ll probably be dating a perfect debutante, and their romance will be part of the campaign strategy.”
Ryker shook his head, grateful she’d told him the truth about the bruise. Finally she was trusting him, and damn if that didn’t feel good. He could do what he did best and shield her. He now understood where the threat was, which put him in control of the danger. His heart warmed that she’d let him in. “Why Julie?”
“Huh?” Zara focused her pretty blue eyes on him.
“You believe in the legal system, and you’re a straight shooter normally. Why are you sticking your neck out and breaking rules for this woman?”
Zara stretched her neck. “She’s my friend. I mean, we became really good friends when I came back from college, and Julie got me out into the world and out of books and work for a while.” She cleared her throat. “We kind of lost touch when she married Jay five years ago, and I should’ve seen what was happening.” Color tinged her cheeks.
“Wasn’t your fault.” Ryker shoved a hand through his thick hair. “Is Pentley dangerous to you?”
Her eyebrows drew down. “No. Julie was staying at a different motel, and he found her. I happened to be dropping off some essentials for her, and there was a fight. We got away.”
So the bastard thought he could hit Zara since she couldn’t tell anybody what she was up to. Ryker would have to discuss that with the mayor. “What about the three thousand dollars you’ve been withdrawing each month?”
She jerked back, and fire flashed in her eyes. “You’ve been investigating me?”
“Yes.”
She really was pretty when furious. “How dare you.”
“You should’ve leveled with me, baby,” he drawled, fighting his own temper. “Money?”
“None of your business,” she ground out, her teeth definitely clenched.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He was about done being reasonable.
Whatever she saw in his gaze had her blinking. He could actually see the very second she decided to work with him instead of against him.
She drew back and nodded. “I may need your help in getting Julie to safety after her competency hearing on Monday. Her stupid husband is challenging her sanity.”
“If her lawyer sucks, I can ask Heath to represent her.” Although what a clusterfuck that would be. Heath had a serious blind spot when it came to battered women, and he hated being in court. Plus, Jay Pentley was the mayor, and the news outlets might be covering the divorce. Not to mention they needed to keep a low profile. “How bad is her lawyer?”
“Terrible. New kid right out of school…and if you ask me, it’s shocking he got into a law school. Guy’s a moron.” Zara’s body visibly relaxed. “Julie has bills from before they were married—mainly school, credit cards, and her car—and so far, the court hasn’t ordered Jay to pay them. I’ve been loaning her three thousand dollars a month just so she can keep her head above water.”
Well, that explained the money and the motels.
“There’s more.” Her voice hitched.
Of course there was more. “Tell me.”
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “I actually introduced Julie and Jay. After I first came back with my paralegal degree, I interned at the mayor’s office. Jay’s dad was the mayor then, and Jay worked for his dad.”
That wasn’t all. “And?” Ryker asked, going on instinct, warning tickling the base of his
skull.
She winced again. “I may have dated Jay a little bit. I mean, we went on a few dates, but it wasn’t serious. Not at all.”
“Wait a sec.” Ryker ran through the new tidbit of information, an unwelcome jealousy ripping into his gut. “How did Julie end up with him?”
Zara shrugged. “I wasn’t feeling it with him, so I called it quits. Julie showed up to meet me for lunch one day, and they hit it off. Turns out I was right about the guy.”
“Did he hit you?”
“No. We just didn’t…mesh.” She sighed. “I’m so relieved it didn’t work out between us, but I still feel a little guilty about encouraging Julie with him.”
Ryker breathed out, irrationally glad she’d dumped Jay. “It’s not your fault.”
“I know, but still…”
Ryker watched her carefully. “Did you sleep with Jay?”
She tilted her head to the side. “Would it matter?”
“No, but I’d like to know.” He had no right to ask the question, but it didn’t stop him. Right and wrong rarely had.
“No.” She faced him head-on, the truth glimmering in her eyes. “I broke it off before that point. Well, mainly because he was pushing that point, and I just didn’t trust him.”
Good instincts. Relief, wrong and inappropriate, still filled him. “Thanks for telling me the truth.”
“Always. You and I are always honest with each other. We just don’t share much, do we?”
“I’d like to change that.” He blinked as the words flew out of his mouth.
“Would you? Really?” Her upper lip curled. “I think you’d like for me to tell you everything and for you to not have to say a word. I don’t know a thing about your childhood except for the scars that you share with your blood brothers.”
He could give her more than that. “We lived in a hellhole masquerading as a boys home. Those were pretty bad years, and I don’t like to talk about them. Heath and Denver really don’t like to talk about those days, so please don’t ask them.” All he needed was Zara poking into the past he was still shielding them all from.