Burnout: A Legal Heat Novella (3 page)

Andre gave the beer a quick stir and handed it to her, a smile spreading across his face. “Way to make new friends.”

Sophie spun around and looked for her target. Ace’s gaze was glued to where her ass used to be. Her smile faded as she walked toward him. Why did the best-looking guys always turn out to have a fundamental flaw?

“Here you go.”

If he noticed the unusual color of the beer, he gave no sign. Instead, he took the glass, his fingers brushing over her skin. Sizzling warmth spread along her arm and shot straight to her core.

“Thanks, babe.” Eyes locked on hers, he put the glass to his lips and drank until half the beer was gone.

Sophie watched with morbid fascination. How would he react? Would he shudder? Gag? Splutter? Would he be angry? Maybe she should have considered that possibility before she acted so rashly. He was, by far, the biggest, scariest man in the room.

Ace placed the glass on the table. “We’re square.”

Seriously? He’d downed the beer without blinking an eye, and yet the bartender had squeezed an entire lemon into the nauseating concoction. How had he so easily snatched victory from the glass of defeat?

“You standing there ’cause you want to get me another beer?” His lips quirked at the corners, and he gave her the kind of smile that would have charmed the pants off any other woman: slow and easy, filled with sensual promise.

But she wasn’t like other women. Most women could trust their judgment. Most women would have had the sense not to marry an obsessively controlling psychopath who couldn’t understand why sleeping with the eighteen-year-old dog walker in the marital bed was grounds for divorce. Most women knew to stay away from the badasses, and the man in front of her, in his biker colors, tattooed biceps bulging from beneath his T-shirt, was badass, mouth-wateringly bad.

“No.” Sophie shook herself awake. “I’m walking away.”

“So walk. I’ll enjoy the view.”

D
on’t walk. Don’t
walk.

Ace’s silent prayer went unheard. Sophie turned and headed toward the patio doors leading to the backyard. He took a moment to admire how her jeans hugged her lush ass. Damn, she was sweet, and so unlike the women who hung around the clubhouse. Although her dress was tight, she showed far less skin than the sweet butts who traded sexual favours for the protection of the MC, and she was all the more alluring for it. Nothing got him off more than a tease, a glimpse of what he shouldn’t see. And Jesus Christ… those boots.

He waited until Sophie was outside before sending one of the prospects, a Rogue Rider wannabe, to bring him something to wash the foul taste out of his mouth. It had taken all his willpower not to react to the swill she’d served up in that glass. But he couldn’t deny her sass fired his blood. Most women were intimidated by his six-foot-two-inch frame and his harsh Scandinavian features, but not that little firebrand with the big tits and the sensuous mouth. Hell, she’d almost seemed angry he hadn’t keeled over after that beer.

And wasn’t that what he was looking for? A challenge. A woman who had no intention of tumbling into his bed or dropping to her knees just because of who he was or what he could offer. After years of easy women and casual sex, Ace had been hit with a wake-up call when his friend, Ice, had fallen hard for a sexy private detective who had infiltrated their old MC. Lana was no pushover, and she’d made Ice work damn hard for her attention. Too hard, his brothers thought, but Ace had never seen Ice so damn happy.

“She’s Jason’s sister.” Kickstand stepped in front of him, interrupting his train of thought and his view. “Just moved here from Toronto. That’s all I got.”

“I want more.” He gestured Kickstand out of his way so he could watch Sophie through the glass door. He liked the way she worked her dress, with the kind of confidence he didn’t often see in the women who frequented the clubhouse. But he didn’t like the attention she had attracted, or the number of men who were looking at what he had already decided belonged to him.

“Only person here who knows about her is Jason, and he’s not going to talk to me,” Kickstand said.

“He won’t talk to you, but he will talk and your job is to listen.” Jason was a big player in the West Coast arms market, and he wouldn’t have time for men who weren’t in a position to make a deal. Men like Ace. Men he wouldn’t want anywhere near his sister.

Not that Ace wanted anything more than one night with Sophie in his bed. He wasn’t looking for a relationship simply because he had witnessed how soul-destroying they could be. His father had never been the same after losing his old lady in a bike accident when Ace was only three years old. Anger had twisted his soul, and he’d taken out his pain on Ace and his younger brother until social services had taken them away.

Yep. Relationships were definitely off the cards. But Ace was tired of emotionless, mindless sex with women who would do anything he asked for the chance of becoming his old lady. Sophie didn’t seem to care about his cut or his sergeant-at-arms patch. She wasn’t intimidated by his size or his scars or his association with an outlaw MC. Hell, she hadn’t even hesitated before trying to poison him, and then she’d coolly turned her back and walked away.

After the prospect returned with a shot of whiskey to take away the taste of Sophie’s concoction, Ace made his way through the house looking for Jason. Although he wanted nothing more than to follow Sophie and charm her into his bed, he had business to conduct with Jason, and his duty to the club came first.

He finally spotted Jason near the back patio doors, his attention focused on a small group of people chatting outside on the grass. A mid-level arms trader and old acquaintance, Jason had contacted Ryder, the Rogue Riders MC president, looking for protection for illegal arms shipments coming into port from Korea and destined for Mexico. It was a lucrative contract for a fledgling MC that had only recently split from its mother club, Hades, and one that would help establish the club as a serious player in Vancouver’s criminal underground. Ryder had entrusted Ace with the negotiations, and Ace had come prepared for any eventuality, except a curvy brunette with a dazzling smile.

“Hey, Ace. I was wondering when we’d get around to business.” In his torn, heavy metal T-shirt and a ripped pair of jeans, his blond hair flopping in his face, Jason looked more like a college kid than an arms trader. But who was Ace to judge? He sure as hell wouldn’t be caught dead in a suit.

“You said you needed protection for a shipment going south. I came for the details.”

Jason’s smile faded. “Yeah, well…the weapons I ordered from Korea got seized by the port authorities. Major fucking disaster. The police were all over the container. Dogs, trace, the works. I’ve got some very, very unhappy customers. They think I screwed them over. So the job I discussed with Ryder is off, but I am expecting another shipment in two weeks.” Jason’s voice dropped low. “I’ll need protection for the transport south, especially since my current buyers are out for blood.”

“Call me when it’s ready to go. I’ll let Ryder know this one was a bust.” Ace hesitated and then dived in with the topic that was foremost in his mind. “I heard your sister just moved to town. Is she helping you out? You want me to add her as a contact?”

Jason’s jaw tightened. “She got transferred here from Toronto. She thinks I’m an account manager for a paper company. If she found out what I really did for a living, she’d go ballistic.” He narrowed his eyes. “And just in case you get any ideas, she’s not your type. She’s straight-up conservative—little miss law and order. We don’t usually socialize with the same crowd, but she’s been through one hell of a rough ride with her ex who’s now locked up in a penitentiary out east. Shame ’cause if I ever got my hands on him—”

“Jason!” A short, purple-haired chick, covered in tats and piercings, grabbed Jason’s arm. “Greta was just trying to freebase in the kitchen and set fire to her hair.”

“Gotta go.” Jason whirled around. “Enjoy the party. We’ll talk next week.”

Deal done, there was no real reason to stay. Still, Ace’s gaze drifted to Sophie. She hadn’t struck him as conservative. Not with that mouth and definitely not with that sass.

Maybe he’d stick around for a while. Have another drink.

*     *     *

“Hey, sis. Didn’t think you’d actually come to one of my parties. You having a good time?” Jason gave Sophie a warm hug and brushed a kiss over her forehead.

“I didn’t think I’d come, either, but now that I’m here, I think I might be able to make my arrest quota for the week without even opening the door to my police car.”

“Shhhh.” He leaned down and whispered in her ear. “Some of my friends are kinda sensitive about the cops.”

“Like I didn’t learn that lesson when we were teenagers.” Sophie laughed. They had always run with different crowds, and yet she was closer to Jason than she had ever been with her parents, or even Ryan. He had always been her protector, confidant, and best friend. “Except back then you didn’t want them to know I was your straight-laced, honour roll sister, or that I worked part-time in the library.”

“It was seriously embarrassing.” Jason shook his head, but his voice took on a teasing tone. “How could I be cool when my sister was a fucking librarian?”

“You seem to have turned out okay.” Her gaze flitted over to the fence, where Jason had been standing with Ace only a few minutes ago. “You have a few… interesting friends.”

Jason’s expression darkened, and he led her toward the kitchen with one hand against her lower back. “You were talking to Ace. He’s bad news, Soph. At least for you.”

Sophie snorted a laugh. “I hardly need your protection anymore. I walk around every day with a belt full of weapons, and I know how to use them.” She looked around for Ace—again—disappointment spearing through her when she didn’t see him. Still, she sensed he was somewhere nearby, imagined him watching her, and fantasized that she would take him home, have mind-blowing hot sex, and then kick him out in morning. Happy and content.

Insta-lust
. She’d read about it, laughed at it, never dreamed it would happen to her. But she should have expected that, after a year dating accountants and middle managers, the first remotely dangerous man who crossed her path would become the only wine that would quench her thirst.

“You thinking about me, babe?”

Her lips twitched at the corners when Ace came up behind Jason, and then spread into a grin when Jason scowled.

“Maybe,” she teased, more to irritate Jason than to lead Ace on.

His eyes darkened, almost to black, and his voice dropped, husky and low. “What are you thinking exactly?”

“I’m thinking you’re very direct.”

Ace cupped Sophie’s jaw in his broad palm, smoothed his thumb over her cheek. “Man sees something he likes, he goes after it. That’s the way men are. Visual. Women are different. Complicated. You show her the goods… mild interest. But tell her what you wanna do to her, whisper in her ear”—his voice dropped low and quiet and Sophie leaned in to hear him—“and maybe you’ll catch her attention.”

“Jesus Christ, Ace,” Jason spluttered. “Leave her alone. Sophie’s different. She’s not part of our world. She’s… law abiding.”

Ignoring Jason’s protests, Sophie smiled at Ace. “You’ve got my attention now.”

Ace licked his lips, leaned so close she could feel the heat of his body through her dress, breathe in his scent of whiskey and leather. “Then you must already know what I want to do to you.”

Sophie twisted her bracelet around her wrist, a combination of onyx to enhance self-control and stimulate wise decision-making and hematite for emotional balance. Given she was not only still talking to Ace but also imagining tearing off his clothes and spending the night having hot, sweaty animal sex with him, she suspected her stones weren’t working.

She traced a finger over the patch on his shoulder, drawing it along the three letters that spelled his name,
ACE
. “Spell it out for me.”

“Fuck.” Jason stomped away shaking his head and muttering something about a whole lot of trouble.

A grin split Ace’s face as he watched Jason go. He slid his hand around Sophie’s waist, pulling her close. His lips brushed against her ear in a soft whisper. “I wanna fuck you, sweet Sophie. Any way. Anywhere. I want my hands on your tits, your nipples in my teeth, your sexy body wiggling beneath me, desperate to come. I want your lush ass in my palms and my cock buried deep in your pussy. I’m gonna lick your clit till you moan, and drink your honey. Then I’ll put you on your knees, those beautiful lips wrapped around my cock as I fuck your sweet mouth. I want you on a table, over a chair, against a tree, on the grass, on my bike, and in a fucking car until your body is worn out from coming and your voice is hoarse from screaming. Then I wanna hold you till the sun comes up and we do it all over again.” His thumb slid over her hip, tracing lazy circles down to her mound. “You interested?”

Her breath hitched. No man had ever spoken to her that way, and although she’d never thought she would enjoy dirty talk, she was wet, hot, and so aroused it was all she could do not to jump him right where he stood. “Jason seems to think you’re bad news.”

“Only to people who piss me off.”

“That’s not entirely true.” A tall, willowy woman with long, dark hair joined them on the grass. With dark eyes set in an oval face, full lips, and high cheekbones, she was strikingly beautiful in the soft rays of the setting sun.

“He also doesn’t like cops, small dogs, tourists, and guys who only ride their bikes on sunny Sundays.”

Ace turned, his hand on Sophie’s waist, a curiously possessive gesture given they’d only just met. “I also don’t like being interrupted, Jackie.”

“Just came to check out the competition. I happen to like bad news men.” Her gaze dropped to Ace’s hand, and then up again. “I also like them available, which it now appears you’re not.” She smiled at Sophie. “I’m Jackie, unofficial private investigator for the Rogue Riders Motorcycle Club, or MC as we call it, ’cause we’re cool. I hear you tried to poison my man.”