Shade's Fall (32 page)

“What’s the matter with you?” Lily asked at his pushy behavior.

“Didn’t Dean tell you I asked him to give you a ride home?”

“Yes, but—”

“But what? Someone almost killed you the other day! I asked Dean to bring you home because I knew he would be able to handle anything that could happen. If I had wanted you to ride with Rachel, I would have called Rachel.”

Lily twisted her hands together as he continued in his rant.

“Not only did you not come straight here, you went by your house and Rachel sat in the car. Someone could have been waiting and killed you inside the house and Rachel wouldn’t even have known.”

“I didn’t think,” Lily confessed.

“You sure as fuck didn’t. What was so important? Beth and Razer could have picked it up for you.”

“I wanted to get a few of my things,” Lily told him.

“I asked you days ago if there was anything you wanted. What was it?”

Lily felt stupid. “Shampoo.”

“Shampoo?! You got to be fucking kidding me!” His raised voice was interrupted by a knock on the door.

“What?” Shade opened the door to see Beth’s white face.

“Is there a problem? Maybe I—” Beth was cut off.

“No, Beth, I don’t need your help. Lily and I are having a discussion. You can see her at dinner.”

“But—”

When Shade opened the door wider, Lily was relieved; she thought he was going to let her in, but her hope was dashed immediately.

“Razer!” His shout could have raised the roof.

Seconds later, Lily heard footsteps running up the steps and saw Razer in the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Razer asked, seeing his wife’s pale face and Lily standing in the middle of the bedroom.

“Your wife is interrupting a discussion I’m having with Lily. Out of respect, I’m letting you handle your woman, but she needs to understand that when Lily and I are arguing, she needs to back the fuck off.”

“Razer, he was yelling at her,” Beth defended herself.

“I’m not that crazy-as-fuck father of yours. I am not going to hurt her, but I am going to spank her because she took an unnecessary risk.”

Beth gasped. “Are you listening to him, Razer? He is not going to spank my sister. She’s a grown woman.”

“Yes, she is, and it’s time you realized that. Razer and I are brothers, and you and Lily are going to be sharing this house and our lives together for a long time, so we need to set some boundaries. One is that, when our door is closed and we’re arguing, you mind your own business. She can cry on your shoulder later, but you do not interrupt me again. I keep my nose out of your shit; you need to keep your nose out of mine.”

Razer put his arm around Beth. “He’s right, Beth. Deep down you know he’s right. I would be pissed as hell if Lily or Shade came knocking at our door when I was giving you hell.” Beth looked up at Razer.

Lily felt terrible for being responsible for bringing about this heated confrontation. “It was my fault,” Lily admitted. “I asked Rachel to drive me home after Shade had already asked Pastor Dean. Then I stopped at our house.”

“Lily, it’s not safe there for you.” Beth’s worried face gazed back at her from the doorway.

“I wasn’t thinking about that. I wanted my shampoo.”

“Your shampoo?” At Beth’s dumbfounded expression, Lily felt like an idiot.

“I didn’t want my hair to smell like Jewell’s, Bliss’s or Evie’s. I wanted it to smell like mine.”

Beth’s eyes flew angrily to Shade, her mouth snapping open.

“We’re leaving,” Razer said in amusement. “I’ll handle her. Your door is off-limits when you’re pissed. Got it. Later, brother.” He turned a red-faced Beth away from the door, closing it behind them.

“I will never understand you, will I?” Shade said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“How would you like it if I doused you in Charles’s cologne? If every time you breathed in, you smelled like him?” Lily saw Shade wince at her words as she drove her point home.

She was instantly proud of herself. She didn’t need Beth’s protection; she could handle him on her own. She was quickly learning his weaknesses.

She took a step forward, sliding her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think. I’ll be more careful in the future.”

Shade’s arms tightened, drawing her nearer. “Next time, will you at least call me and tell me there’s been a change in plans? I almost had a heart attack when the silent alarm went off and I saw you on the camera.”

“I will. I’m sorry, Shade.” Lily looked up at him, smiling in apology.

“Let’s go eat dinner. You can sit there and gloat while Beth throws me dirty looks,” he said in resignation.

*  *  *

The Last Riders were exhausted by the time the week before Thanksgiving arrived. They had been busy with the factory since there had been several natural disasters and they had all pulled overtime to fill orders that would benefit hundreds of suffering victims.

Lily could tell by the sense of excitement in the air that it was Friday. The last few Fridays, everyone had been too tired to do anything other than drag themselves to bed, but now the orders were finally caught up, everyone wanted to blow off some steam. Lily resigned herself to spending the night in her room after dinner.

Bliss and Raci practically ran out of the factory after their shift, and Evie wasn’t far behind. Only Jewell, Lily and Georgia remained. Shade and Rider had left to go into town, saying only that they needed to pick up some refreshments for the brothers.

“That’s it.” Jewell taped down the box she was working on.

“Finished?” Lily asked, finishing up her own package.

“Yes. I didn’t think this day would ever end. If Cash hadn’t taken the edge off at lunch time, I wouldn’t have made it to quitting time.”

Lily blushed, hoping the woman wouldn’t go into detail about how exactly Cash had taken the edge off. The woman talked about sex incessantly and had long since lost her reserve about discussing it in front of her. Lily always managed to turn her thoughts away, but every now and then, a comment would get by her, sending Lily’s own imagination running wild.

Shade hadn’t touched her since the first night they had switched bedrooms and Lily was both relieved and frustrated. She was watching him incessantly now; how he sat, how he walked. She had even woken early a few times and had lain there, watching him sleep.

She pushed her dark hair out of her eyes. Her body was feeling things she had never felt before. Last evening, they had lain on the couch watching television together when an unusual feeling had built inside of her until she had gotten up and gone to bed, only to feel him behind her in minutes. She was sleepy now because she had tossed and turned most of the night, not knowing how to relieve the building ache in her belly.

“Ready?” Jewell asked, looking at her curiously.

“Yes.” Lily gathered herself, setting the package into the cart.

Georgia came out of the office. “You two go ahead. I’ll lock up.”

“Okay, see you Monday,” Jewell replied, waving as they went out the door.

The men were pulling into the parking lot as Lily and Jewell walked outside. Lily waited for Shade as Rider got off the bike, taking a bag out of his saddlebag. Shade got off his bike, opening his own bag and taking out a brown bag.

“What’s that?” Lily asked curiously. She had expected him back with beer or liquor, not a brown bag.

Rider gave her a grin before heading up to the house.

“Lily, this can go one of two ways. I’ll leave it up to you. If you ask me again, I’ll tell you, but I’m warning you, you won’t like the answer.”

Lily swallowed. She really didn’t want to know. “Do you use what’s in the bag?”

“Occasionally. Not since I’ve been in your bed, though.”

“As long as it stays that way, I don’t need to know what’s in the bag,” Lily said stiffly.

“Lily, occasionally I’m going to want to smoke a little. It’s legal in Colorado now,” Shade said with a twisted smile.

“When it’s legal in Kentucky, we’ll talk about it,” Lily said huffily.

“Hell will freeze over before pot becomes legal in Kentucky. There are some counties that still aren’t allowed to sell alcohol.”

“Well, I guess you’ve got a long wait,” Lily teased, running up the steps. Shade laughed, running up behind her.

Lily opened the door, going inside where several members were already standing around with beer or a glass of liquor. Lily went upstairs, watching as Shade tossed his bag to Cash.

Lily smiled down at Shade as he started up the steps. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay down there?” Lily teased, leaning over the rail.

“Oh, I think I know exactly what I want right now,” Shade teased her back.

Lily skipped down the hallway to their bedroom door. She saw the bedroom across from hers had the door open. Raci was bent over the side of the bed while Train powered inside her with his cock. He had her breasts in his hands and was pinching her nipples until her breasts stood out from her chest. Her face was filled with ecstasy as Train kept pounding into her from behind. Raci then reached between her thighs, moving her hand back and forth.

Lily turned away, embarrassed at herself for watching even for a second when a few short weeks ago she would have been hysterical at the sight of them having sex.

Shade’s arm went around her waist, studying her face. She tried to hide by turning away.

“Don’t be embarrassed. They left the door open so that if anyone wants to watch, they can.”

“I don’t want to watch.” Lily broke away, opening the bedroom door and going in with Shade right behind her.

“Are you sure? You seemed pretty interested.” Shade’s amusement was obvious.

“I’m sure,” Lily said, taking off her shoes. “Leave me alone. I need to get changed and eat my dinner before the downstairs turns into the bedroom across the hall.”

Shade held his hands up in the air before throwing himself down onto the couch.

Lily showered quickly, pulling on a soft pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and then pulled her up into a ponytail.

“Ready?” Lily asked after putting on her shoes.

“Yes.” Shade got to his feet, following her to the door.

Lily opened the door a small amount, peeking out.

“What are you doing?”

“Making sure they’re finished. How long does it take?” she asked, looking back at him.

“Are you asking me how long it takes Train to fuck? How the hell should I know?”

“Shh… they’ll hear you,” Lily snapped.

“Move and I’ll look. The way you’re going, all the food will be gone and Rider will be fucking Evie on the table.” Lily moved aside, letting Shade open the door.

He opened it wider. “The coast is clear,” he said mockingly.

She cast him a worried glance. “Shade, they really don’t have sex on the tables, do they?”

Chapter 28

Lily ate her dinner while Shade watched her, laughing at her silently. Over the last few years she had known Shade, she hadn’t realized he had a sense of humor; a warped one, but he still had one.

Lily helped Beth and Winter with the dishes, trying not to blush when Viper walked into the room and threw Winter over his shoulder, leaving with her yelling at him to put her down. She winced in sympathy when she heard a loud whack from the other side of the door.

Beth took the dish from Lily, placing it in the dishwasher. “You doing okay with everything?”

“Yes.” From the hesitant expression on Beth’s face, she knew what subject she was referring to.

“Lily…”

“Not tonight,” Lily said hastily.

Beth sighed. “All right. On a brighter note, the bathroom is finally done and they laid the carpet, so Razer and I are going to spend the night in our new home.”

“I know. Jewell told me they delivered the carpet today.”

Lily dried her hands before going to the refrigerator. Opening the door, she reached inside and took out a bucket of Champagne on ice with a ribbon tied around the bottle. Turning, she handed it to Beth. “I wish you many years of happiness, sister.”

Beth took the Champagne bucket, her eyes watering. “Lily, I couldn’t have asked for a better sister. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” The women hugged.

Razer got up from the table, throwing down the cards he had been dealt. “Ready? I’m done with these card sharks. If I don’t leave now, Cash will be riding my bike tomorrow.”

He walked to Lily, pulling her close for a hug. “Thanks for the booze, lil’ sis. Thanks for the green, Shade. We’ll see you guys Sunday.” He grabbed a squealing Beth into his arms and Lily rushed to open the side kitchen door for them.

“You’re joking about the green, right?”

Razer winked on his way out the door.

Lily shut the door behind them, throwing the dishcloth at Shade.

He caught it midair. “What did I do now? Did I say anything about you giving booze to your sister?” Before she could say anything, he added, “I know, I know. It’s legal.”

Lily went toward the living room, taking a few steps forward before she realized she hadn’t escaped upstairs early enough and now the party was in full swing.

“I don’t think that’s legal,” Shade said from behind her as they watched Jewell giving Rider a blowjob while Train was sitting behind her, smacking her on her bare bottom.

Lily walked sedately to the steps, determined not to run. She almost made it through the crowded room before two stunning blondes, one short and petite and the other long and leggy, descended on Shade with smiles of welcome.

“We’ve been looking for you. Jewell said the kitchen was off-limits, and your room. What’s up? We’ve missed you, Shade. Hook us up with a room and give that flogger of yours a workout. The last marks you put on us are gone, we need a refresher.”

Lily didn’t think the woman would ever shut up, each sentence more damning than the last.

Lily’s fantasies, which had been burgeoning, withered and died.

“You can have the third bedroom on the left; no one is using it anymore.” Lily spun on her feet, heading back toward the kitchen. Shade caught her within a few steps, lifting her up into his arms, and then carried her struggling body back to the steps.