Defiant Loyalty (Comanche Sons Motorcycle Club Book 2) (3 page)

“Hey, handsome. How is it going?”

It was easy to see that she’d already forgiven him for their fight. That was a good thing about her; she didn’t hold a grudge for long. Seeing her, the familiar flame of desire sparked in his heart. He wanted to take her in his arms and inhale the sweet scent that always enveloped her. With an effort, he managed to control his primal urges. “It’s all good, beautiful girl. Ready to come home?”

She checked her watch. Her lips looked luscious and pink. He wanted to run his tongue over them and taste the recesses of her mouth, but he knew that he would have to wait. Public displays of affection weren’t his style or hers. “I’ve got another thirty minutes before my shift comes to an end.”

“I will wait,” he said.

She opened her mouth and then closed it. Something told him that things between them would go through a lot of ups and down before everything settled down. He still didn’t have a clue as to which direction their relationship would go, but he was willing to wait and see.

It was all he could do given the current circumstances.      
 

Chapter Three

Riley wasn’t happy living in Chance’s house. Not that she had some major problem with it, but rather she felt out of place in his home. He tried to make her feel comfortable, but she missed her kitchen, her bed, and the art supplies she kept stocked in her cabinet. When she moved in with him, she didn’t think to bring those with her. Her fingers itched to sketch. It was an activity that soothed her whenever she was stressed.

He unlocked the door and ushered her inside. “What’s wrong?”

Riley dropped her purse on the counter. She rolled her shoulders to ease out the tension that knotted her muscles. Ever since the attack, she had been on hyper-alert. Every sudden move startled her. Even in the bar, she felt uneasy, as if someone was looking at her. It wasn’t possible, of course. Her brother couldn’t be keeping an eye on her. She would have seen him if he’d come into the bar. This reaction was just normal terror and dread. Anyone in her position would have felt just as paranoid.

“It’s nothing.”

“Tired?”

She hated that he cared so much.

She loved that he was so concerned.

When it came to Chance, everything both amazed and irritated her. More than anything, she was appalled by her reactions to him. He was the only man who managed to break through the barriers that she carefully constructed over the years. The longer she stayed with him, the more dependent she was on him. She didn’t like that feeling. It made her jumpy.

“A little bit,” she replied. “It was a long night. There was a lot of people at the bar tonight, and I kept feeling as if they were discussing something important. A lot of times people actually became quiet when I went to deliver the orders. Something is up.”

“You’re not far off in your estimate.” He filled her in on his conversation with Simon. She had the distinct feeling that he left something out, but since she had her secrets, she didn’t mind if he had his. Well, ok, so she did mind a bit, but she wasn’t in any position to protest. If she asked him to explain more, he might demand something from her that she wasn’t prepared to give. “There’s trouble brewing in the club. I wonder how long it will go on.”

“Comanche Sons are not very patient. I bet they are going to explode and curb the resistance before those guys have a chance to line all their ducks in a row.” Riley took out a bottle of water from the fridge, filled her glass, and drank deeply. “I don’t think Simon and his friends have a chance in hell of separating. The assets are important to these people. They wouldn't let go without a fight.”

“That’s exactly what I told Simon.” He moved in behind her. His hands settled on her back, and before she could protest, he began to knead her muscles. As his fingers moved over her sore muscles, she actually felt a gasp escape her lips. Until he touched her, she didn’t really realize how tense she had been. Her skin hummed under his fingers and she stretched, much like a cat. He pressed, and she sighed. It felt glorious. “I can bet that someone or the other is going to get hurt. I just hope it’s not Simon. That guy has been with the club for the past fifteen years. It would be a shame if he got nothing in return for years of loyalty.”

The way his fingers stretched and pushed, she wasn’t able to concentrate on anything else. Her mind was blank. “Hmmm…sure.”

He removed his fingers, and she felt the loss of his touch. The brief contact awakened desire within her body. She turned around and put her hands on his chest. Under her fingers, his heart beat, so steady, so perfect. Passion and need exploded in her gut and made her nearly dizzy. His lips captured hers in a kiss, and forgetting everything else, she focused on the way his mouth roamed over hers. A storm spiraled inside her veins, and she allowed it to spread deeper into her body. His lips were hot on hers, and his tongue danced against hers. She matched him stroke for stroke, feeling the excitement and pure pleasure run through her nerves. When he lifted her and carried her into the bedroom, she didn’t murmur a protest.

Their lips remained fused together, as he set her on the bed. Finally, when she was down, he lifted his head and looked down at her. Their gaze met and held. There was so much passion in his eyes. She was lost in the midst of it. It almost felt as if he could stare deep into her heart and read every emotion. Putting her hands on his shirt, she fiddled with the buttons and undid them even as he continued to look at her. His control was remarkable. Sometimes he took her so fast that she was left breathless with exhaustion, and there were other times when he took long, delicious minutes to kiss and nibble his way over her body. Each time was different, exciting.

“You’re beautiful,” she said.

He shrugged out of his shirt. Seeing his hard abs, her pussy clenched in response, and she felt the moisture leak down and drench her panties.

“Wasn’t that supposed to be my line?” he asked.

She sat and with one sharp tug, she took off her dress and threw it aside. “I don’t really care. What I see and feel, I say it.”

“And that’s what I love about you.” Since he was busy fiddling with the buttons of his jeans, he didn’t see her reaction to his statement. Love? Was he thinking along those lines? Riley didn't think she was prepared for such intense emotions.

After stripping off his jeans, he also took off his boxers. The sight of his long, hard cock wiped all thoughts from her mind. She was now a willing victim of the desire that careened through every inch of her body.

Reaching behind her, she took off her bra and then wriggled out of her panties. Riley was delighted to see his eyes glaze over as his gaze settled on her curves. Over time, their passion had not dulled. With each passing day, she felt more excited whenever she gazed at him. Naked, they stared at each other.

Riley breathed. They were frozen in time. Since he seemed unable to move, she slipped off the bed and sauntered over. Now that he had awakened the desire, there wasn’t anything else she could do but scratch this itch. Each time she thought it would be her last. She wanted to move out and away, but he held her in some fiery grip that refused to relax. When she reached him, she gripped his cock within her fingers and felt it vibrate. He gasped and she closed her lips over his mouth. The kiss was hot and passionate, and as she tasted each nook and cranny of his mouth, she pumped his cock.

Chance lifted his head and looked down at her. “You drive me crazy,” he breathed out the words.

“Funny. That’s exactly how I feel.” She could feel his penis vibrating within her fingers. As she touched the tip of his penis, a bead of moisture leaked through. He was ready. She could feel it. As was she. Riley turned around and put her hands on the bed. Invitingly, she raised her hips and wriggled it. “Come on, tiger. Make me happy.”

He laughed but took position behind her. “Now, who can resist an invitation like this?”

His cock brushed against her anus, and then he leaned forward to cup her breast. The fingers of his other hand brushed over her pussy and opened it. Her eyes rolled, as he inserted a finger inside her. The waves of pleasure that rippled through her were heady and violent. She gasped and moved her hips in an effort to find to a release that eluded her. Rather than satisfy her, he removed his finger and cupped her other breasts. His cock slipped down and found the opening of her pussy. She was already warm and ready. He slid inside, his pelvic bone fitting perfectly against her hips.

A sigh escaped her lips. He stood still while his hands kneaded and pressed her breasts. His fingers brushed over her nipples, just as he bent his head and bit her right behind her shoulder. Need and heat exploded in every fiber of her body, and she arched her back. He didn’t let her shift. His body kept her captive, as he nibbled his way down her spine while his fingers plucked at the soft buds on her nipples until she was writhing under him.

“Please, oh, please,” she begged.

“Just a little while, love. Hold on.”

Sliding out his cock, he pushed it inside her once again. She looked down and saw his cock as it slid in and out of her pussy. It glistened with her juices. She began to rock in rhythm with the motion of his hips. He was now as lost as she was in the sheer delight of the moment. Nothing made sense except for this. His hands were hard and rough on her breasts, and his lips hot on her back as he nibbled and bit whenever the mood struck him. Each time his teeth sank into her skin, she quivered and came close to achieving the release that she desperately craved.

In and out, in and out, he moved at breakneck speed. The pace he set was brutal, but Riley could keep in rhythm with it. Every breath that escaped her lips was a struggle. Sweat lined her forehead, as she jerked under him. It felt like each thrust of his cock in between her muscles seared her insides until she felt as if she was burned alive. The orgasm hit her with the speed of lightning. She cried out and shuddered. A moment later, he exploded inside her.

For a long while, they remained still. He then slid his cock out. It was still a little hard. He walked into the bathroom while Riley collapsed on the bed. Her legs appeared to be made out of rubber. She couldn’t move and couldn’t breathe. Finally, when he emerged from the bathroom, she gathered enough strength go inside. After washing herself, she wore a nightshirt and sauntered out. He was already lying in bed and the lights were off.

They had slipped easily into this routine. She still couldn’t believe that not only was she living with him, but they had already established a pattern of behavior. There was a time when she never imagined that she would actually live with a man. And yet, here they were now. Riley slipped into her bed with him, and his arm snaked over her waist, pulling her tight against his chest. She spooned into him, feeling satisfied and fulfilled. For as long as she had him, Riley meant to enjoy each moment.

For a few days longer. Maximum a few weeks. Then, she would move out, but until then, it was good. This was her idea of heaven, and she loved it.

Chapter Four

Boston was a city that mesmerized and fascinated him. He loved the pace of it, the sheer joy that people who lived here took in the many delights that the city had to offer, and the hundreds of things that one could do. Right now, they were in Olmsted Park. He held her hand, as they climbed up the stairs and then stood on the bridge, looking down at the pond. Her skin was warm against his. Chance glanced down into the water. He saw a trio of ducks swam out from under a bridge and watched as they made their way to the far bank.

“Maybe we should get bicycles,” he said.

“Why?”

“We could bring them here and cycle. It is a good exercise,” he said. He hadn’t ever thought about such things before. However, now with Riley, everything seemed exciting. He longed to enjoy these quaint activities that he saw other couples doing together but never found the right person to do them with. A couple walked by briskly. They were in their late sixties. Chance imagined himself with Riley at that age. Much to his astonishment, he could actually picture them.

He shook his head. Had he lost his mind? With her, he wasn’t sure about the next few weeks, and yet here he was imagining the rest of their lives.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He turned to face her. As always, he was struck by the sheer beauty of her face. A woman like her could never blend into a crowed. It wasn’t just that she was pretty, but there was a depth to her personality that he found lacking in so many women who came before her. Perhaps it was the secrets that she held that intrigued him. Of course, now that he knew her well, Chance didn’t think that there was much that she was holding back. Still, he found her as intriguing as before. “Where do you want to have dinner?”

Today was her day off from work, and they were making the most of it. “Whatever. You decide.”

He considered the options. “Seafood. There is a great joint that I know where you can pick out fish straight from the containers and they will cook it for you.”

She wrinkled her nose as a look of distaste crossed her face. “I can’t kill things like that.”

He laughed at her absurd statement. “You kill them anyway. Where do you think the food that you eat comes from?”

“Yes, but I don’t have to witness and be a part of the massacre,” she replied.

“I will choose for you, ok. You won’t have to study the fish swimming and pick a target.”

“Great, thanks,” she said in an acerbic voice. “That makes me feel a whole lot better.”

“Hey, it’s a dog eat dog world, love. You can’t feel sad about everything. If you are over-sensitive, you won’t be able to survive.”

Her smile was wry. “You’re telling me.”

Immediately, he felt guilty. It was a silly thing to say to someone who had seen far more than anyone else that he knew. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it quite like that.”

“And I didn’t take it in a bad way—so don’t feel upset,” she replied quickly. “Look, Chance, my past is a part of my life and I accept it. You don’t have to tiptoe around me.”

“You are stronger than every other person that I have ever met.”

“I’ve had to be. My childhood…well, you know how it was.”

Chance had never much questioned her. He didn’t want to upset her, but in this case, she was the one who brought up the topic, and he had a feeling that she wanted to talk. “Did you resent your mother?”

He fully expected her to draw away or to shut him down, but much to his surprise, she glanced down at the water as if she was actually pondering over his question. “I did, yes. She had a choice. As did my father. He chose to abuse me, hit us, and beat us to within an inch of our lives. Her choice was to live with that abuse and allow him to do the same to us as he did to her. I think…in a perverse sort of way, she was glad when he focused on one of us because that meant she could go to bed without bruises that night.”

“I am sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault. It was theirs. People who are not ready to have children shouldn’t have them. Or if she had us, she should’ve given us up for adoption. If my brother grew up without physical and mental abuse, he might have made a good life. Who knows? I don’t think genes are everything. Nurturing matters, and he was taught to hit, to hurt, and to maim.”

“You don’t blame him for killing your parents?”

She met his gaze head on. “You might think it crazy of me, but no, I don’t blame him. Honestly, I think, if he hadn’t, I might have done so. There were days when I thought about it, when I actually imagined myself throttling him or her, or doing some other kind of harm. If I stayed with them, I might’ve succumbed.”

Chance glanced into her clear eyes and saw the resolute expression on her face. “I don’t think you would’ve done that. Probably, you may have run away as soon as you were old enough. I believe that’s what you would’ve have done. He could have done the same.”

“It’s not a wonder that he hates me. After all, he freed me from a lifetime of abuse, and I, in turn, subjected him to seven years in prison. I wronged him.”

He held her hand and brought it to his lips. The simple gesture was enough to make him ache with need. Instantly, he wanted more. “You can’t think like that. If you do, he will stand right in front of you and plunge that knife in your gut, and you will not do anything to save yourself because secretly you feel guilty.”

“You don’t think I should feel guilty about sending him to prison?”

“No, I don’t.” He pressed her hand and then released it. “You upheld the law. He should have done the same. What’s more, he continues to break the law. Now when he is pursuing you, he knows exactly what he is doing. This is pre-meditated. He plans. He has strategies. And he knows the consequences. So no, I blame him. And if I ever get hold him…”

Chance couldn’t finish the sentence. He didn’t have a clue as to what he would do if he ever came across the madman who chased her. She didn’t deserve to live in such fear. No one did. Her cell phone rang, and she picked up.

“Yes, officer. Thank you. Yes. That’s…well, I suppose it’s great. Take care.” She shoved the phone in her pocket. “So, they have matched the fingerprints to him. Wesley James Tanner. Since he was in jail, his prints were in the system. That was my brother who tried to push that knife deep in my body.”

“I am sorry.” Was she hoping that she was mistaken all along? “What are they doing?”

“They have put in an alert for him and circulated his pictures to all units, whatever the hell that means. I would have to go in for another interview to tell them anything pertinent that I can remember about him. In meantime, he is running free, planning his next move.”

“That guy sure has some resources. How the hell does he manage to stay a step ahead?”

“Wesley was always a bright kid. He did well in school. I remember, he used to work for hours on this old, beat up laptop that he brought from a second hand shop after saving for three years. He worked in a carpenter’s shop after school. Every day, no holiday. I think he just needed an excuse to get away from home.”

“He did part-time jobs at a carpenter’s shop?”

“Yeah, he was good, but he was a kid. They didn’t give him any heavy work. Just sanding and polishing, that sort of stuff.”

“Maybe that’s how he is earning his money. As a carpenter, he can join different crews in different cities. If he is any good, he would have his choice of work available to him. Perhaps we should check if he picked up any skills in that area while he was in jail. They have different workshops available for inmates.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. “How would that help us?”

“We can tell the police that, and they can start searching for him in specific places. Come on, it’s not going to be easy to find one man in a city. I bet you that he has changed his name or else he would have popped up on their radar up now. We have to figure out where he is working and that will lead us right to him.”

She sighed. Riley began to walk and Chance followed. His mind was working at a furious pace. This was a good idea. He could feel the excitement of the chase. The man thought he targeted Riley, but now he was in Chance’s territory and there was much that he could here. “We could try, I suppose.”

He could see that she wasn’t convinced. All her effort was going into staying alive, but for Chance, it was imperative to find the man and hand him over to the police. If he didn’t do so, Riley wouldn’t have any choice but to shift to another town. Sure, he could go with her, but he had a feeling that she wouldn’t welcome such a move. His best move in order to maintain status quo in their relationship was to find that son of a bitch and end this here. Chance planned it as he strolled with Riley.

“Did you have any more conversations with Simon?”

He was surprised by her change of topic. “No, why?”

She stopped under a tree, took his hand, and tugged him to a bench. “I overheard a group of men yesterday at the bar. They were talking about these things, and obviously they were careful at first not to mention anything in front of me, but then after a few beers…” She shrugged. “So, I heard one of them tell the other that Mathew was going to take care of Simon and his crew before the week was over.”

“Take care?”

Her eyes gleamed with fear. “You know what the hell that means?”

Chance was aware that most of the men who worked for the Comanche Sons were not strangers to violence. They wouldn’t think twice about attacking someone if they thought that a member of their club was under threat or if they themselves were in danger, but murder? No, he didn’t think so. “They will threaten Simon. I bet he is already expecting something like that. He knows them better than anyone else. After all, he was one of the first few members.”

“And now he is a major threat. I’ve heard too many of the men grumble and mumble about him over the past week. Things are heating up. Maybe he should extend an olive branch towards Mathew and get this over with. There is no sense in trying to do what he thinks he can achieve. He won’t get anywhere. You should talk to him and see if he listens to you.”

Chance had too much on his plate already. With work and then the extra precautions he took to drop and pick up Riley, he didn’t want to take on any more responsibilities, but the truth was, he was worried about Simon. The man was kind and good-natured. Out of all the bar managers he worked with, he liked Simon the best. The man had guts, and he actually had a brain, which was more than what he could say for most of the Comanche Sons’ members.

“I will go and meet him.”

She stared ahead. “It seems that you can spend your life running away from violence, but if it is in your fate, it will find you no matter where you are.”

Chance put a hand on her thigh and squeezed. “Nothing bad will happen to you.”

Her smile took his breath away. “You don’t know that.”

“I can try my best to keep you safe.”

“It’s not your job to do.”

Anger coiled in his heart. At what point did she intend to accept that their fates were intertwined? Maybe she just didn’t feel that way about him. Perhaps he had let things slide for too long. He should have made his intentions clear a long time ago. “I’m not going away anywhere, Riley, and neither are you. Whether you like it or not, we are stuck together.”

“Don’t be silly. We’re having fun.”

“We’re having fun, I agree. But can you seriously look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t feel more? I am nothing but a body in bed?”

“Don’t be silly, I don’t think of you like that.”

“Then, how do you feel?”

She stood and began to march. From the stance of her shoulders and the way her chin thrust forward, he could tell that she was spoiling for a fight. He’d intended to use this day to mellow her down, to allow her to lower her guard so that he could sneak in the words he’d been practicing in his head for some time now, but it seemed that she just wasn’t ready. If he didn’t push, she might never be willing to hear him.