Black Dogs Motorcycle Club: Full Series Box Set (31 page)

“Are you done staring at
me like that?” said Eva, breaking his train of thought. Her words said she was
angry, but the glint in her eyes and the rise and fall of her chest told Will a
different story.

For good measure, he gave
her another once-over, fully aware that she was watching him do it. Still, she
stood silent, her jaw clenched until he was done and took a few steps back. The
heat between them slowly dissipated once there was more distance between them,
like some supernatural force had left the room.

“Stay out of the bar, or
I’ll drag you back up here myself,” he said to her. “Understand?”

“I understand you’re
delusional, if you think you can tell me what to do,” said Eva. “I’ll speak
with my brother before we decide any course of action, thanks.”

“Your brother has deferred
all power to me,” said Will, and he couldn’t help but give a teasing half-grin
when he said it. “So, if you please, stay out of the bar so I don’t have to
bury your tight little body in the field out front.”

Eva went to reply, but
seemed taken aback by the covert compliment and dropped silent. She blinked at
Will a few times, then shook her head and walked around him for the hallway. “You’re
a prick, you know that? You and my brother should date.” She didn’t wait for a
response, but entered the bedroom at the end of the hall and slammed the door
behind her.

Will watched her walk
away, lust burning through his veins. He had the vague instinct that bedding
Eva wouldn’t be what he imagined, and not just because she was different from
his usual fare.
Yet another reason to stay away.

He took another look
around the living room, and at the uncomfortable-looking sitting couch that sat
in front of a char-black fireplace. “I guess I’ll just sleep out here, then? Or
should I crawl into Charlie’s bed?”

Eva didn’t respond, of
course, but that didn’t stop Will from laughing about it anyway.

~ NINE ~

Will only saw Eva twice more that evening before he
finally crashed on the uncomfortable living room sofa, and both times she
passed by him without a glance, her lips pursed. She was angry, and Will knew
she’d only be angrier if she realized how cute he thought she looked when she
was mad. Once, he almost told her, but it was late, and he decided he’d rather
not have the adrenaline rush of engaging with her. Instead, he just enjoyed the
view as he lay on the couch with his hand behind his head.

Eva passed by to go to the
kitchen in a short bathrobe that showed even more of her beautiful thighs than
her dress had, and Will didn’t try to hide his interest. On the way back, she
couldn’t resist giving him a glare. He looked her up and down and gave her a
half smile as she huffed back to her bedroom and shut the door.

After both she and Charlie
had retired he took a shower, letting himself air-dry in the bathroom as he
thumbed through magazines. For a moment, before he put his clothes back on, he
contemplated masturbating to the thought of Eva. Imagining her on his lap, as
naked as he was, got him as hard as a rock, but knowing she was just down the
hall made him only want the real thing. So instead, he dressed and returned to
his makeshift bedroom, flopping down on the couch.

Right before he fell asleep,
he had the thought that he was playing with fire, but his typical answer to
that familiar feeling echoed in his head—
I don’t care.

Only this time he wasn’t
sure how true that answer really was.

The night passed fitfully
and he woke up sore. He could hear Charlie in one of the bedrooms snoring
louder than he’d ever heard anyone snore, and that was counting the old timers
at the MC. He was almost impressed. Sounded like he was revving a Harley in
there.

Will groaned and rubbed
his neck with his hand. The light coming in from the windows was beautiful
gold, but low and dim, that special glow that only happened in the earliest
morning hours. Morning birds had already begun their songs and he took a moment
to enjoy the rare tranquil moment in a life that had turned so recently into
such chaos.

As he stood and stretched,
he realized something was different about this morning—aside from, obviously,
waking up in a strange home without being next to a hot piece of ass. It took
him a few moments, but then it hit him: he wasn’t hung over. Between the
adrenaline of the fight, the prep work with Charlie, and his tense dance with
Eva, Will hadn’t even had time to think about needing a drink to dull the pain.
It was an uncomfortable realization for reasons he couldn’t quite explain.

One-off day, I’m sure
, he thought.
Though if
this plan doesn’t work, I’ll probably be dead, anyway. What does it matter?

He twisted around,
cracking his back muscles as he walked through the living room and into the
kitchen. Will came to a stop when he saw Eva already sitting at the kitchen
table in her bathrobe, one hand around a big cup of steaming coffee, the other
flattened over an open book on the table. She looked up when he came in the
room. Her anger from the day before was nowhere to be found.

“Oh,” said Will. He
shifted his hips a bit when he realized he hadn’t quite lost his morning wood
yet, and the sight of her barely covered thighs was not helping. “I didn’t hear
you get up.”

“I was trying not to wake
you,” said Eva in a quiet, tired voice. She nodded toward the counter. “There’s
still coffee, if you want some.”

Indeed he did. Will opened
a few cabinets until he found an empty blue mug and served himself a cup of
black java. The warmth sang down his throat. Eva had gone back to her book, her
index finger running a slow pace as she devoured each line. He could see her
eyes moving back and forth along the page, momentarily jealous of the familiar
but long neglected feeling of being lost in another world.
How long has it
been since I’ve read a book?
There was a time when that was his favorite
hobby, passed down to him from his grandparents’ own love of reading.

Will grabbed his cup and
joined her at the table. Eva had taken the head of the table so he took the
seat at her right hand that gave him a great angled view of her legs when he
leaned back. When he sat, she peeked her eyes up at him without lifting her
head.

“What’re you reading?” he
asked, resting his coffee in his lap.

“
Coriolanus
,” said
Eva, again without looking up.

“Shakespeare?” said Will.
He smiled to himself. “I haven’t read any Bard in a long time.”

Eva snickered into the
book.

“What?” said Will. “Is
that you laughing at the idea of me reading Shakespeare?”

Eva finally looked up from
the book. He expected to see that same fire in her eyes she’d had all night,
but instead she actually looked confused. “Oh, no I… I really did think you
were joking.”

“So, you really do think
I’m just some dumb meathead who doesn’t read.” Will had been treated that way
by friends, enemies, and strangers alike for most of his life—but this time, it
actually stung. He kept his face still, because he didn’t want Eva to know
that. Not that he could really blame her.

Eva shook her head. “I
didn’t say that.” She paused. “Actually, by the way you picked up my book
yesterday, I knew you had to be a reader of some kind.”

Will had forgotten about
that. “Oh, yeah?”

“What kind of meathead
would even notice I dropped a book, let alone care enough to pick it up?” said
Eva. “That’s only something people who love books would care about.” When she
finished, she smiled at him in a soft way that seemed different.

I guess she’s got me
there.
“I
do love books. Or, I did… I haven’t read much in a while,” he said.

Eva tilted her head.
“Why’s that?” Her pale skin looked so beautiful in the golden morning sunlight,
even looking at her made it hard for Will to focus.

Will shook his head and
looked down at his coffee. “Sometimes, I have trouble concentrating.”

Eva didn’t reply. When he
looked up, he saw sadness on her face, but not pity. As if she was sad he
couldn’t read anymore.

“I wasn’t really a big
Shakespeare guy, anyway,” he added, feeling self-conscious. “When I was a kid,
my grandfather would read to us while my grandmother baked in the evenings, and
he always insisted on using this British accent when he read Shakespeare—a
terrible one. We could never finish because we were laughing too hard. It
basically ruined my ability to take him seriously.”

Eva laughed with him at
the memory, and Will couldn’t believe how lovely she looked.

I haven’t thought about
that in so long
.
And I just told it to this woman I barely know. What the hell is
going on with me?

“Well, technically,
Coriolanus
is only part Shakespeare. It’s actually a very old Roman story that he retold,”
said Eva.

“So we really have been
doing remakes forever,” said Will as he sipped his coffee. He winked at Eva
when she gave him the stink eye for his terrible joke.

“It’s a story meant to be
remade. It’s so powerful,” she said, her voice taking on a wistful quality.
“The great drama of the warrior and people; the balance of peace and war.”

“And whose side are you
on?” asked Will.

“I think they both have
their merits,” said Eva. “I understand why Coriolanus is upset with the
plebeians. Being in war is a difficult thing, and it changes a person. It
changes the way they see things. Sometimes they can’t see normal, peaceful life
anymore, because it seems like an illusion.”

Will’s chest was
tightening up as she spoke, because he felt like she was reaching right into
his mind and yanking out his own thoughts; his own fears; the way he saw the
world now.

“But Coriolanus didn’t
react how he should have. Being excellent on the battlefield doesn’t always
translate to being excellent in other areas. He got beaten by better
politicians, and then he tried to come back with violence, compelled by
thoughts of vengeance and retribution, and because that’s the only way he
thought he could win. But violence isn’t always the best tool.”

Will looked at her,
watching the depth in her eyes as her brain worked out her thoughtful answer.
Her soft lips pursed closed as she waited for his response. For a moment, all
he could think about was smashing his own lips against hers in a passionate
kiss.

Instead, he gathered his
thoughts and spoke. “It’s an ancient cautionary tale. I always enjoyed him,
though—Coriolanus. I enjoy his fighting spirit.”

Eva gave him a smirk, but
it wasn’t bitter like yesterday’s—this was more playful. “You, enjoying the
warrior archetype? Color me shocked.”

“And I enjoy how he
doesn’t let the shitty decisions of his superiors sway him from what he knows
he has to do,” said Will. As the words came out of his mouth, he realized
exactly why he liked Coriolanus, really.
Doing a little hero worship of
yourself, are we?

“He does have some of the
best speeches,” said Eva.

Will nodded. “So did
Volumnia. Such a supportive mother.”

Eva let out a cackle.
“Supportive? She encouraged his aggression! She almost ruined him.”

Will shrugged. “At least
she understood how he felt. My favorite line from that wasn’t one of the big
characters, anyway.”

“Oh?” The eyebrow raised
on Eva’s face was a challenge, Will could see. With a cocky half-smile, he
heartily accepted.

“ ‘
Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace
as far as day does night; it's spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent.
Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter
of more bastard children than war's a destroyer of men
.’ ” He took a drink of coffee and watched with satisfaction as
Eva’s smile widened with every word.

She was quiet for a good
long moment after he finished, like she was drinking it in. “Of course that’s
your favorite,” she said softly. She shook her head at him and laughed, then
got up from her chair and went to refill her coffee. Her bare thighs walked
right by Will within touching distance, and he felt his cock ache against his
jeans when he smelled her body wash.

It only got worse when she
came back and stood in front of him instead of sitting in her chair. Will had
to practically rip his gaze away from the flesh of her legs just begging to be
touched to look up at her face. The expression she wore said she probably
didn’t even realize what she was doing, and somehow that made it sexier to
Will.

“You think force is the
only way get things done, then?” said Eva. She shifted on her legs, hiking her
robe up just a little bit more.

Will bit his lip and
adjusted in his seat to hide his growing erection. “Not all things,” he said.
“Some things require a bit more… delicacy.” He made sure his eyes were on the
skin at her thighs when he said it. When he trailed back up her body, Eva’s
mouth was open, realization slowly dawning in her eyes.

“Oh…” It was less a word,
and more a sound that escaped her mouth with a breath.

When she didn’t back away,
Will couldn’t help himself. He looked up in her eyes, and then brought his left
hand slowly up from his side and laid it on the skin of her thigh. When his
skin met hers, it felt like a jolt of electricity running through his nerves.
Her skin felt even softer than it looked.

Eva gasped, but it was a
drawn-out, heavy thing that was just as much relief as it was surprise. When he
looked up he saw her eyes closed against his touch, her mouth half-open, taking
in deep breaths. He watched her mouth widen even more as his hand softly traced
up along her skin, from her knee, all the way back up to the bottom of the
bathrobe. He only hesitated there a moment before he pushed up even further,
palming the skin of her upper thigh, and moving around to grasp her ass.