Wild Ride (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) (8 page)

My palms are sweaty, and for some reason, I’m being awkward as hell. Why? I don’t know. This is my son, and he’s a kid—my kid—so I don’t know why I’m so nervous. Maybe because he’s the most important person in my life, and if he doesn’t like Talon, that’s a deal breaker for me. I wonder if Talon is feeling the pressure right now. He and Rhett both sit down at the dinner table while I set out a roast chicken with potatoes, corn, and garlic bread. It’s one of Rhett’s favorite meals. I’ve noticed that Talon always orders steak medium rare, fries he dips in mayonnaise, and salad with no dressing. Next time I’ll make that for him.

“So,” Talon says, clearing his throat. “How was school, Rhett?”

“Good,” my son replies, shoving a piece of garlic bread in his mouth. “Some kid tried to push Cara, so I told him off. I told him that boys who hit girls are losers, and if he wants to push someone, he should try to push me next time.” He grins. “I could take him.”

Talon nods his head in approval. “Good work.”

“Thanks,” Rhett replies, looking to me. “Sorry, Mom, I know you don’t like me getting into trouble, but I’m not going to let Cara get bullied.”

Everything in me softens as I look at him. I might have made a lot of mistakes in my life, but Rhett is my greatest achievement. He’s just amazing, and I’m so proud of him every day. “You did the right thing. Don’t go looking for fights, but standing up for Cara isn’t wrong.”

Rhett beams, then adds, “I didn’t end up having to do anything though, because Clover walked up to him and kicked him in the balls.”

Talon bursts out laughing, and I can’t help but join him. Clover is such a spirited child, and from what I’ve heard has turned out just like her mother.

“I saw your motorcycle,” Rhett tells Talon. “I want one just like it when I’m older. Mom says no, but when I’m an adult, then I get to do what I want.”

I purse my lips and mutter, “We’ll see.”

“I can give you a ride on it, if your mom says it’s okay,” Talon tells him, grinning. “You have good taste in bikes, kid.”

Rhett snaps his head to me, hope in his blue eyes. “Can I? Please?”

“I’ll go slowly,” Talon mouths, giving me a look that says
You can trust me
.

“Yeah, okay,” I say, looking between the two. I guess this is going to be their bonding moment, and I can’t exactly take that away from them. I can’t date a biker, then expect my son not to become interested in things he’s now going to be around.

“Wooo!” he cheers, grinning at Talon. “Can we go after dinner?”

“How about tomorrow after school?” Talon suggests, smart enough to know I wouldn’t want Rhett riding around on his bike when it is late and dark.

“Yeah, okay.”

We all fill our plates and eat dinner together, like a normal family would. When Rhett asks Talon a few questions, I think it’s a good thing, like he’s interested. I breathe easily when I realize that everything is going to be okay, that my son isn’t reacting negatively to me having a man in my life . . . in our lives. We have salted caramel cheesecake for dessert—store-bought, not homemade, because I do
not
have the time for that—and then Talon suggests that since I cooked, he and Rhett should clean up while I relax in front of the TV. I watch the two of them standing side by side, Talon washing the dishes and Rhett drying them, and I feel hope.

Maybe everything will work out for me after all.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Talon

Y
OU
say shit like that to my woman again, Rake, and we’re going to have a motherfuckin’ problem,” I growl, letting him know that I’m dead fuckin’ serious.

Yes, I feel guilty over how our lives played out, but not enough to let him embarrass Tia like that again. More important, I don’t want her second-guessing what we have, so Rake needs to shut his fuckin’ mouth so that she doesn’t run scared, thinking that our being together is going to be too hard just because Rake is being a selfish asshole who can’t look past his dislike for me. I finally have something to lose, and he isn’t going to take her from me with his petty shit.

“She deserves better” is all he says, making me want to punch him in the face.

“Rake,” Sin warns, standing between the two of us here in the back room at Rift. “Tia isn’t your sister; she’s just a friend of your woman’s. She can make her own decisions.”

“I care about her and her kid,” Rake says in a gruff tone. “You think that anything that happens to her doesn’t impact Bailey? Because it does. The two of them are like sisters, so don’t give me that shit.”

“What the fuck do you think I’m going to do to her?” I ask, feeling offended. “I’m crazy about her! I don’t have a trail of heartbroken women in my wake like you do, Rake, so don’t be a fuckin’ hypocrite. I don’t fuck around like you did; I don’t do half the shit you did. I’m not innocent, but I’m not an asshole either, and I’m not going to lose Tia when we just fuckin’ got together. Instead of thinking about how Bailey’s feelings are going to be affected, why don’t you think about Tia’s? Because I know I can make her happy, and you’re just making her feel like shit.”

Rake’s jaw goes tight at that.

“I haven’t actually done anything to you, Rake,” I say, trying to keep my tone emotionless. “I know you’re angry, or hurt or whatever, and you’re directing it at me because your father is dead and I’m not, but fuck. I’ve never done anything to you.”

This is the first time we’ve ever spoken about this, ever. I know this is the reason he hates me. He can claim it’s because I’m a part of the Wild Men, or whatever else he wants to believe, but we both know that’s not true.

If it weren’t for Tia, we probably would have stayed quiet about this for the rest of our lives, because we aren’t the type of men to talk about our feelings or to admit weakness. Rake would have hated me more and more as time went on probably, but I hope that we can change things. Not be friends, exactly, but I just want him to let this go, for everyone’s sake.

Sin leaves the room, returning to the bar, and closing the door behind him.

“Do you love her?” he asks in a low tone, studying me intently.

I swallow hard. It’s too early to be saying those words, but I think I feel them. “She’s mine.”

He nods once, like he understands, and he probably does. “Okay. I’ll get off your back, Talon. Make her happy. If you screw her over, I’ll be the first in line to fuck you up though.”

“Noted,” I reply back, offering him my hand.

He pauses for an uncomfortably long second, then takes it.

“I went to the store and this young guy stopped me to tell me that ‘my eyebrow game is strong,’ ” Tia says, unloading the groceries onto the table. “Is that the new line to pick up chicks?”

“Great, now I can’t even send you to the store alone,” I tease, moving to help her unpack. “I don’t know what the new pickup lines are. I don’t need lines.”

“Yeah, you just stand there and look pretty,” she says, winking at me. “Worked on me, didn’t it?”

I laugh and wrap her in my arms from behind. “That’s not what happened. We chatted over a few drinks, and then you kissed me.”

“And then you avoided me.”

“Because I knew you were different,” I say, moving her hair off her neck and placing a kiss there. “And I didn’t think I was ready. But timing waits for no one.”

“Well, I for one am glad you decided to give in,” she murmurs, leaning her neck to give me more access. “Or we wouldn’t be here right now, alone in my kitchen, me wishing you’d throw me across the table and have your way with me.”

I smile against her soft, smooth skin. She turns around and grips the opening of my cut with both of her hands, then removes it and pushes it to the floor. I’m left in a white T-shirt, jeans, and my biker boots, and it takes too long to remove all of those, so I simply spin her back around, bend her over the table and lift up her white dress, exposing her white lace panties. I undo my jeans, push them down far enough, my boxers with them, and then pull my hard cock out. I run it along her ass, before pushing her panties to the side and pressing it against the opening of her pussy.

“Am I going to find you wet?” I ask her, biting gently on her earlobe.

“Yes,” she whispers, her voice thick with desire. “Fuck me, please, Talon.”

I love it when she begs.

I slide my finger inside her, finding her more than ready for me. “Good girl.”

I reach my arm out to play with her breasts and kiss her neck again, wanting her to be even more turned on. I want her at the point where she can’t think about anything else except my cock inside of her, my mouth on her, only the pleasure that I can give her.

“Talon,” she says, “Please.”

I pinch her nipple, then remove my hand, sliding my cock into her slowly. She feels amazing every single time, so hot, wet, and tight. Like she was made for me. I push her down so her breasts are pressed against the table, then start to fuck her, slow and deep, and so fuckin’ good that I never want to leave her body. The sounds she makes . . . she moans each time I thrust into her, gripping onto the far side of the table with her hands, holding on for dear life as she pushes back against me with her hips. I reach down to play with her clit, wanting her to come soon because I don’t think I’m going to last that long. I know when she’s about to come, because I can feel it, her tightening around me, her thighs trembling, and the almost desperate sounds that come from her lips.

“Holy fucking shit!” I look up to see Bailey standing there, a horrified expression on her face. She covers her face with her hands, going bright red, and mutters, “The door was unlocked, oh my god, I’m so sorry, I’m just going to go die now. Please don’t stop on my account.”

She rushes out of the room like her ass was on fire, and I’m caught between amusement and being so fuckin’ horny that I don’t care who watches us. Tia buries her face in her hands and starts giggling, her shaking body making my cock go even harder inside of her. Is it really inappropriate of me to keep fucking her right now? Because I really want to. To test it, I slide into her a little, and she moans back, so maybe her best friend walking in on her getting bent over her kitchen table didn’t put her off entirely. I continue to fuck her until we both come, then I pull out, realizing that I didn’t use a condom.

Fuck.

Tia turns around, her face looking flushed. “Well, that was amazing.” She pauses. “And awkward. Depending on which part you’re referring to.”

“I didn’t use a condom,” I say, cringing. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking. . . .”

“It’s okay, Talon. I got on the pill,” she says, raising on her toes to kiss me, and I exhale in relief. The last thing we need right now is a kid. “Now I’m going to lock the door, and then meet you in the bedroom. We have a few hours before Rhett comes home, and I want to use them wisely.” She looks down at the table. “I’m also going to disinfect the table.”

She walks off, and I go into her bedroom, removing my clothes and lying down on her sheets.

I picture Bailey’s face again, and start chuckling to myself. Poor girl is probably traumatized. I hope she doesn’t tell Rake what she saw though, because he’ll more than likely want to kill me again. Tia soon returns, stripping down to nothing. She straddles me, glancing down at me with the cutest smile on her beautiful face.

“You look so pretty without makeup.”

“Shut up.”

She kisses me, both of us smiling against each other’s lips.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Tia

I
’M
so sorry you saw that,” I say to Bailey, watching her go red at just the mention of the kitchen incident. “You don’t need to be shy. We all have sex, Bailey, and we just took our no-boundary relationship to whole new heights.”

“There are parts of you I never wanted to see, Tia,” she says, cringing. “Oh my god, I’m reliving it.”

“Hey, my boobs weren’t out, and you couldn’t have seen Talon’s cock from where he was behind me, so it couldn’t have been that bad.”

“Stop talking, Tia!” she demands, covering her eyes with her hands, like that will help.

“Oh, come on,” I say, unable to hold in my giggles. “It’s funny, admit it. I should be the embarrassed one here; you don’t have to worry about anything.”

“You never get embarrassed,” she points out. “In fact, you’ll probably be the one telling the story and laughing.”

“True,” I say, wrapping my arm around her. “Only because your face was classic. Talon and I still laugh about it.”

She groans and shakes her head at me. “I’m never using your kitchen table again.”

“Don’t worry, I disinfected it and everything.”

She signals the bartender over and asks for two more tequila shots. She looks at me and says, “They’re both for me; I deserve them.”

I laugh even harder.

“Well, I guess the honeymoon stage is over,” Talon says, watching me while I stand there with my arms crossed over my chest.

“I just want to know why you haven’t brought me to your clubhouse yet,” I try to explain. “I haven’t even met any of your men. Are you embarrassed of me?”

“Of course not,” he says quickly, sitting down and pulling me to sit on his lap.

“Your club is important to you, so I want to know why you’re trying to keep me separate from it all. If I don’t fit in with your club, you’ll never make me your old lady,” I say, pouting.

“That’s what this is about?” he asks, kissing my jawline. “You’re the only woman on the back of my bike, the only woman in my bed, the only woman in my fuckin’ head. . . . Tia, what do you think an old lady is? You’re already my old lady.”

“Oh,” I say, licking my lips. “I’ve met only Slice, and that was on the night we first met, so it doesn’t count. I think we should have a party or something, where you can introduce me to everyone.”

“I want to do that, but just not yet,” he says, his eyes pleading for me to understand.

“But
why
?” I ask.

I have to know. I need to understand why he’s keeping me away from such a pivotal part of his life.

“I can’t tell you everything now. Can’t you just trust that I’m doing what’s best for you?”

I grit my teeth. “This is a partnership, Talon. I’ve told you about my ex, how he made all the decisions for me. I want you to be able to come to me with anything. I’m your equal, Talon. Don’t treat me like I need to be protected from everything.”

“Really? Playing the equality card?” he groans, closing his eyes and reopening them. “It’s not about that. Yes, I want to protect you, but there’s nothing you can do in this situation. It’s me that needs to solve it.”

“Okay, I get that, but why can’t you at least tell me what’s going on? Just explain what’s going on in your mind, that’s all I want.”

“Look, Tia, you want honesty, then fine, but this needs to stay between us, because I haven’t told
anyone
else about it.”

“Of course; you don’t even need to say that,” I tell him, resting my hand on his chest.

He kisses my lips softly, looking me right in the eye as he says, “There’s been shit going on in my clubhouse. I’ve walked in on fights between some of the brothers, but no one will tell me what the problem is. Zip was killed inside our walls, and no one knows by who, but I know it has to be by one of our men. I don’t want to bring you there, because it’s not safe. I don’t know who I can trust, and I don’t know what the fuck is going to happen to my MC.”

His rant renders me silent, because I wasn’t expecting him to say any of that. “You think one of your men killed Zip?”

All I know about MCs is what I’ve seen from the WDMC, and those men would rather die than hurt one of their members. I don’t know how this all works, but everything would be so much easier if Talon just joined the WDMC. If the Wild Men can’t be trusted, then their club has nothing. Trust and loyalty is everything for these MCs; I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

“Maybe I can help,” I say to him, trying to think of how.

“You’re staying out of all of this, Tia,” he tells me, gripping my upper arms. “I’ve trusted you with the information, and you need to trust me to take care of it in return.”

“Do you think that woman Carla knows anything about why her man would have been killed?” I ask, wondering if she’s the key to solving the murder.

“I already tried that.”

“Yes,” I say. “But you’re a man, and an imposing biker at that. Maybe she’d feel more comfortable talking to a woman.”

“No,” Talon says, not realizing that I don’t take well to that word.

“Do you think if you find out who killed Zip and deal with him, you can pull your club back together? Maybe it’s just one person behind everything, or maybe it’s a few. Look, give me a chance to just talk to Carla. We have nothing to lose. Either she knows something, or she doesn’t.”

He grits his teeth, avoiding my eyes for a few moments before he brings his back up to me. “I’ll give you ten minutes with her, in a public place.”

“Deal. Set it up.”

“You’re a fiery little thing, aren’t you?” he murmurs, gripping my chin with his fingers. “Don’t do anything stupid. I’m only letting you help because I know you’re capable, strong, and smart, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to be extremely protective of you. You can be my partner in crime to an extent, but I need to know that when I tell you something, you’re going to listen to what I say and not go against it. Otherwise I’ll just lock you up somewhere.”

“Fine. And what do you expect me to do? Make out with her? Jeez, I’ll just have a conversation with her.”

“Fine,” he sighs, and I can see he’s not happy, but it doesn’t seem like he has much else to go on.

I just hope I can help him in some way, because a man like him deserves to have more than what he has at his back right now.

“I thought I was meeting Talon here for him to give me my money,” Carla says, glancing around us. “Who are you?”

“Talon told me to give you the money,” I say, showing her the envelope in my hands. “But first I have a few questions for you.”

“I told Talon everything I know,” she says, rubbing her stomach with her hand. “He wasn’t into any drugs or anything like that, and he didn’t tell me anything. I don’t know anyone who would want him dead.”

Her lines were well rehearsed, or at least they seem that way to me.

“We’re missing something here, and I know it. If you cared about Zip at all, I think you need to stop being a coward and tell the truth. Don’t let his death be in vain. Talon is being nice enough to support you and your baby so you don’t have to work. If something happens to Talon, that money will stop, and you won’t get any other help from the Wild Men.”

She swallows, her lower lip starting to tremble. “If I speak and he finds out, he will hurt me and my baby. So what’s the point?”

What? Who will hurt her?

I take her hand in mine and squeeze it gently. “No one will hurt you or your baby. Talon will give you the money to move far away if you want, okay? Just tell me what you know.”

She’s silent for what feels like hours, thinking everything over before she speaks. “Zip called me before he died, and he told me a few things.”

“What did he tell you?”

“Zip had a confrontation with one of the men in the club, and he found out something.”

“Like what?” I ask, wondering what it could be.

“I don’t know,” she says, looking down at her hands.

“So Zip found out this information, and that’s why someone killed him, to keep him quiet?” I guess, my head about to explode at the thought of the men in Talon’s MC being disloyal bastards. Talon should just leave the Wild Men and join the Wind Dragons. At least they know about loyalty there.

She nods.

“I was the last person he spoke to. They must have killed him straight after, because he was going to tell Talon everything he knew.”

“Carla,” I say, speaking very clearly, “are you sure he didn’t tell you anything else that could be important? Any details that can help us?”

She wraps her arms around herself, and in a very small voice says, “He just said that when Talon found out . . .”

“What?”

She looks me right in the eye. “Everything is going to fall.”

Later that night, after I’ve told Talon everything, we’re lying in bed together, not speaking, just enjoying the warmth of each other’s presence. I know Talon has a lot to consider, given what Carla said—what must he be feeling to know that one of his own Wild Men was so cowardly as to betray a brother? I can’t imagine.

“What are you thinking about?” he suddenly asks me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

I press myself against him and rest my head on his chest. I can’t believe how fast I’ve fallen for him, or how safe I feel when he’s holding me. “I was just thinking about you, actually—about how hard it must be to know that you can’t trust someone in your MC. I’m sorry you have to go through this.”

“It is hard. I’m fuckin’ pissed about it, in fact. But it helps knowing that I have someone I can trust completely, without a shadow of a doubt.”

“Who’s that?” I ask, though I have a hunch about the answer.

“You, babe. I know I didn’t want you to get involved, and I never thought I’d say this—but thank you for doing it. You make it possible for me to face the next steps, because I know you’ll always be in my corner.” He presses his lips to my temple, and I feel the sting of tears welling in my eyes.

“That’s true, and I’m so glad you know it. Because I love you, Talon. Rhett loves you, and I love you, and even if it freaks you out to hear it, you know I can’t be anything but honest.”

“Damn right you can’t, and I’m sure it’ll get us both in more trouble than I care to imagine. But that’s why I love you, Tia. And no matter what comes, I promise that we are going to make this work—together.”