Devil's Game (Reapers MC #3) (29 page)

“Thanks,” Hunter said. “Appreciate the hospitality.”

“Am I the only one who’s not crazy here?” I demanded suddenly. “What is
wrong
with you? What did you do to Hunter?”

They exchanged glances, and Picnic shrugged.

“I’m starting to get what you meant earlier,” Hunter murmured to him. “I’m not used to this.”

“Used to what? Having the only not-insane person in the room demand answers from you?”

“Having someone care this much about me,” he said quietly. “Em, I really, really love you. I think I’ve finally convinced your dad of that. Whatever you’re imagining this is”—he gestured down at himself—“you’re wrong. But believe me when I say I can’t explain it. Just know it all ended right, the good guys won, and I really fucking want to crawl into bed with you and sleep. Pic, you got any Vicodin?”

My dad nodded, then stepped out of the room.

“You’re really not going to tell me?”

“Nope,” he said. “I guess you’ll just have to trust me when I say it was necessary, and you don’t need to worry about it happening again. And Em?”

“Yes?” I whispered.

“I didn’t lie to you. Remember that. I could’ve told you all kinds
of stories to explain this, but I didn’t. Would’ve made my life a lot easier. I hope that means something to you.”

I shivered, trying to process his words. Nothing made sense.

“Baby, can we please go upstairs?” he asked quietly. “I can see you have lots to think about, but I’m not sure I can stay upright much longer.”

I nodded, forcing myself to snap out of my fog.

“This isn’t over,” I told him. “But let’s take care of you first. I think you need the ER. If Dad won’t loan me his car, I’ll borrow Kit’s.”

“There’s an inch of ice covering the road,” he said, and I think he smiled, or at least tried to. Hard to tell under the circumstances. “We already crashed once tonight. I’ll be fine—this isn’t the first beating I’ve taken, and it’s not like they’d do much for me anyway. Tape up my ribs, maybe give me a few stitches. Painkillers. We can do all that here, although I think I’ll take a pass on the stitches. I could use a few more scars, it’ll enhance my reputation with the brothers. They’re always sayin’ I’m too pretty.”

This time I knew he was smiling.

“You’re insane,” I said, shaking my head. “What if you have a head injury or something?”

He sobered.

“It’s not worth the risk to go back out, babe. There was at least one shooter we didn’t find tonight.”

I froze.

“Horse said we didn’t need to worry anymore.”

“Well, that was probably before we had all the details,” Hunter said, sighing. “Thought it was one guy at first. I’m sure they’ll gather everyone tomorrow and fill them in on what they need to know. I’ll even bet the second guy disappears after this—they weren’t after us in particular, just trying to stir up shit between the clubs. But we have proof now that the cartel was behind this attack, which should be enough to convince the Reapers and the
Jacks that we have to work together. Tonight backfired on them in a big way.”

“Damn,” I whispered. “I guess that’s something. But I get your point. Between the ice and the cartel, I guess staying put is smarter. I suppose we should go upstairs?”

“What a great idea. Wish I’d thought of that,” he murmured, although I thought I caught a hint of humor in his eyes. Maybe. Like I said, hard to tell with all the swelling. I took his arm and led him carefully across the room, through the fire door, and into the main stairwell.

“You want to wait for my dad to give you a hand?” I asked, considering the climb ahead of us. I could steady him, but that was about it.

“No,” Hunter said, his voice wry. “I’d just as soon not get any more help from your father. I’ve had about as much as I can handle.”

An hour later I crept downstairs. Hunter was out and I doubted anything short of the zombie apocalypse would wake him up. I knew I’d find Dad in the Armory office. He had a couch in there, and with so many people sleeping over, he wouldn’t take up a bed some kid could be using.

I knocked on the door softly, not wanting to wake up whoever else might be camped out nearby.

“Give me a minute,” Dad said, and I heard him moving around. Then the door opened and he looked down at me.

I didn’t smile.

“I need to talk to you.”

He sighed. “Come on in.”

I pushed through as he turned on a lamp, shutting the door behind me and leaning against it. He sat back on the couch. We stared at each other for long seconds.

“I
really miss your mom,” he said finally. “She knew how to handle you girls. I never figured it out.”

The words caught me off guard and I felt the sudden prickle of tears. I shoved them back ruthlessly.

“This isn’t about Mom. It’s about us.”

“What happened between me and Hunter is none of your business. You know that. It’s not your problem and you shouldn’t be worrying about it.”

I shook my head slowly, wondering if he’d ever get it.

“No, Dad. It’s definitely my problem when the man I love gets beaten half to death because my father hates the idea of me growing up.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but I held up a hand, cutting him off. His eyes widened.

“I understand club business,” I continued. “I get that you’re the president and we all have to do what you say. I’ve never disrespected you in front of your brothers. But this isn’t about the club, it’s about our family and you need to listen up, because I am not fucking around right now. If you ever touch my man again, you’re dead to me.
Dead.
I won’t talk to you, I won’t look at you, and I sure as shit won’t let you see any grandchildren down the road. We clear?”

He sighed again.

“We’re clear.”

I turned to leave, but he stood up and caught me, tugging me into a hug. I held out for a second, then let the familiar sense of safety and belonging I felt in his arms surround me.

“I’ll always be your father,” he said quietly, resting his chin on my head. “Me and Hunter, we worked things out. He understands me and I think I’m startin’ to understand him. But no matter how much you love him or where you end up, you’ll never stop being my little girl. I love you, Em.”

This time I let the tears come.

“I
love you, too, Daddy.”

A moment later I pulled away and looked up, studying his face.

“I need to get back to Hunter now.”

He nodded at me, running a hand through his hair, looking almost wistful.

“I know, baby. Go take care of him.”

Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and sunny.

I woke up and crawled out of bed carefully, trying not to jostle Hunter too much.

Walking over to the window, I peered out to find everything covered in a thick layer of ice. And I mean
everything
. Cars, evergreens, the power lines. Yikes. Those cables looked about ready to collapse. As far as I could see, ice caught the sunlight and reflected it like millions of tiny prisms. Almost like we’d gone to bed on earth and woken up in a fairy tale.

Of course, there was one big downside to the whole frozen wonderland thing … No fucking way we’d be able to leave today, which meant Hunter and I would be stuck sharing our first holiday together with my entire Reaper family. On the bright side, only about half of them wanted him dead. Unfortunately, several of those who did would be cooking today, so I figured I should taste anything they offered him before letting him touch it.

Maybe we should just do Christmas in Portland …

I heard a noise from the bed. Hunter looked much, much worse today. His bruises had ripened and his face made me think of a smashed tomato. Make that a smashed tomato with eyes.

“Come back to bed,” he muttered. “And bring the drugs with you. I feel like shit.”

I walked back over and found the bottle, carefully spilling out a couple pills into my hand. Hunter managed to pull himself up long enough to swallow them, with the help of some water. Then he
lowered his head painfully back into the pillow, clearly spent from even that small effort.

I settled on the bed next to him.

“I’ve been thinking things over,” I said quietly. “And I want you to know how much I appreciate the fact that you didn’t lie to me. I also realize you’re not going to tell me anything, and I know why. He did this to you because we’re sleeping together, although the kidnapping thing probably didn’t help, either. And I’m sure you just stood there and took it because of some kind of macho, bullshit pact you made with him.”

Hunter closed his eyes.

“I’m too tired for this, babe. You need to let it go. We’ll have a nice holiday dinner together and then tomorrow we’ll get the truck situation figured out. It’s all good.”

I crawled under the covers, leaning up on my elbow to study his pulped face.

“Promise me it’s over.”

“What’s over?” he asked, his voice sleepy.

“Your shit with my dad. Or do we have to go out and buy him a herd of goats, too?”

“Naw,” he whispered. “Pic said kegs were just as good. He’s a practical man.”

“You’re going to drive me crazy. This isn’t okay.”

“I know. Love you, babe.”

“Love you, too.”

“Can we please go back to sleep now?”

I snorted, then rolled onto my back.

“Sure, why the hell not,” I said. “Not like we can have sex, which sucks for you. I’ve been studying that book. Did you know there’s a whole chapter on erotic massage? Apparently a man’s penile tissues actually extend way down into the scrotum, and if you press gently—”

“Em?”

“Yes?” I asked innocently.

“You’re
an evil, evil woman.”

I smiled, savoring my small victory. Then I decided I might as well go back to sleep—I’d need my strength to make it through the afternoon. Knowing my luck, Uncle Duck would decide to tell Hunter the story about when I’d been six years old and sang “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” in a surprise solo at the school holiday program.

Uggh.

We were definitely spending Christmas in Portland.

The coffee shop was supposed to close at four that afternoon, but of course I had a couple of customers lingering. That wasn’t usually a problem. I just flipped the “Closed” sign and cleaned up while they finished.

Unfortunately, these two guys were camped out for the long haul. They’d each bought a small cup of tea two hours ago and had been arguing ever since about whether God was dead or simply never existed. Cookie didn’t like to kick people out, but she was also willing to draw the line in situations like this. I hated to ask them to leave, though. We couldn’t afford to lose customers.

Unfortunately, the shop wasn’t doing that great and I was worried about her. I felt guilty over moving to Kelsey’s apartment, too, although realistically Cookie hadn’t been charging me enough to make much of a difference in her monthly budget. I still tried to babysit for her whenever I could, and I’d even gone over last week and cleaned the house.

That
single-parenting shit was exhausting just to watch. I couldn’t imagine actually being in her shoes.

The door jingled as it opened.

“I’m sorry, we’re close—” I started to say, then broke out in a smile when I saw it was Hunter. I supposed eventually I’d get to the point when I didn’t feel totally giddy every time I saw him, but we weren’t there yet.

“You get off work early?” I asked. He’d started a regular job at a mechanic’s shop two weeks ago, although they seemed to be unusually flexible with his hours. I figured there was a story there. I also figured I’d probably never hear it. So far as I could tell, the shop was heavily financed by the Devil’s Jacks. At least he didn’t lie about it—Hunter had been painfully truthful with me ever since our fight over the pictures. This was a double-edged sword, something I discovered the first time I asked him whether an old sweater of Kit’s made me look fat.

(Apparently it did.)

“Burke’s in town,” he said shortly. Then he jerked his chin toward the two hipsters hoarding their tepid tea dregs in the corner. “Why are they still here? You closed half an hour ago.”

I shrugged.

“Chasing out customers feels wrong to me.”

Hunter’s mouth tightened, and he walked across the room, grabbing a chair from their table and sitting down across from them. Their eyes widened as he leaned back in the seat. He reached down and pulled out the large Buck knife he kept strapped to his leg, starting to clean his oil-stained fingernails.

“See that fuckin’ gorgeous babe over there?” he asked Hipster One, jerking his chin toward me. “That’s my woman. I’d love some time alone with her right now, but she’s stuck waiting for you little posers to leave, even though the shop closed thirty minutes ago and you’re probably not even going to leave a tip. Seems wrong to me, somehow. What do you think?”

Hipster
Two spoke hesitantly.

“I think we were just leaving.”

“Good to know,” Hunter replied politely. “Don’t forget the tip.”

Hipster Two nodded, standing and digging in his pocket as Hipster One grabbed his gratuitously ironic leather briefcase, swallowing. They started toward the door, but Hunter cleared his throat pointedly.

“Seems like a pretty small tip,” he said. “Those shoes you’re wearing cost close to two hundred bucks, so I think you can afford to do better. Or were they a present from Mommy and Daddy?”

I frowned as they dug in their pockets again, then decided I should put a stop to this. God help poor Cookie if they got mad enough to start trolling us—they certainly had enough spare time.

“You’re fine,” I said, opening the door for them. “I’m sure whatever you left is great, and I hope you’ll come back again when we’re open.”

“Um, right,” Hipster One said as they scuttled out the door, leaving me alone with Hunter. I slid the bolt closed and lowered the shade, turning to face him.

“Was that really necessary?”

He stood and started stalking toward me.

“Absolutely,” he muttered, eyes darkening. I knew that look.

“Hunter, this is my work,” I protested. He reached out and caught my hair in one hand, twisting it in his fingers as he jerked me into his kiss. I tried to hold back, but his tongue attacked my lips and then he was inside. It was all over and we both knew it.

God, I loved the taste of him.

He kept kissing me as he backed me toward a table against the inner wall. I’d shut all the big window shades already, so we had total privacy, but this still felt very wrong. My ass bumped into the table, waking me to the reality of the situation.

If I didn’t do something, Hunter was going to fuck me right here in the middle of Cookie’s shop.

I
needed to stop him.

But then his hand found my breast, and he started kneading it roughly. Damn, but that felt good. Tingling arousal started swirling through my body. Hunter pulled away abruptly to frown at me.

“What?”

“Burke wants to meet you.”

“Burke, your national president?” I asked, eyes widening. “Why?”

“Hell if I know. He’s a cagey old bastard.”

His hands slid down my side, catching my skirt and tugging it upward.

“When are we meeting him?” I asked, trying to focus. It was almost impossible, because the skirt was bunching around my waist and he’d found the bare skin of my ass, exposed by my thong. Hunter’s hands tightened on me, and he tugged me forward into his hips. His cock was hard and ready to go, which made it almost impossible to breathe, let alone pay attention to his words.

“He’s in town already, at the Panther, right down the street,” he murmured, massaging my ass. A finger slid toward my crease and worked its way under the thong. He’d been doing that more and more lately.

“The strip club?” I asked, trying to focus.

“Yeah,” he said. “We’re supposed to pick him up when we’re done here. Says he wants to show me something. You up for that?”

I reached down between us to find his erection, squeezing it tightly. His breath hissed, fingers tightening.

“I’m up for anything,” I whispered with a smile.

He gave a low groan, then spun me around and pushed me flat across the table. I heard the sound of his zipper going down and he caught my thong, wrenching it hard enough to snap the elastic.

Bummer. I went through more panties that way …

Hunter’s fingers slid into me abruptly and I cried out. Holy
shit
, that felt good, he always found the target.
Always.
Then he pulled
back out, rubbing my own moisture along my crease. I felt his finger press against my rear opening, pushing slowly inside. It was a strange sensation, but he’d done it a few times now, and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me.

“Someday I want to fuck you here,” he said, and I shivered.

Someday I’d let him. But now I felt the head of his cock tracing my pussy as he lined himself up with my opening. His free hand caressed the small of my back, soothing me.

“You ready?” he asked, his voice ragged. I nodded and braced my legs. Sex with Hunter was fantastic, but rarely gentle. Sure enough, he slammed into me, filling me in one hard stroke. My back arched and I moaned, tender tissues stretched to their limits.

“Christ, you’re a good lay,” he muttered, giving a few hard thrusts. Then he started hammering into me, all but attacking my pussy with his cock. The finger made my ass feel impossibly full, impaled and at his mercy.

Holy hell.
I’d never been so turned on in my life, which was a good thing. I didn’t see how he—or anyone—could keep up this pace for long. Not that I needed much more time. Every stroke took me a little higher, and my legs started trembling from the mixture of physical strain and building desire.

“I’m close,” I warned him, reaching out and catching the sides of the table. “Really, really close, babe.”

He pulled out of my rear, then gripped my cheeks with wide fingers, digging deep enough that I’d probably have bruises later. I didn’t care. All that mattered was the sensation of his cock splitting me wide. He invaded again and again, until my entire body convulsed, the orgasm hitting me hard and fast. I whimpered, collapsing even as he kept going. Then I felt his cock start pulsing, hot come shooting deep into my body.

The sound of panting filled the shop. Probably shouldn’t tell Cookie about this one, I decided.

“It’s a lot better without the condom,” I managed to say after a few minutes.

“Thank
fuck for birth control,” he muttered, leaning down to kiss the back of my neck. He pulled out, then stepped back. I pushed up shakily, catching my skirt with one hand and tugging it down. My shredded thong had caught around one leg, and I kicked it off.

“So when are we supposed to meet Burke?”

“About fifteen minutes,” he said. “Just enough time to clean up and walk down.”

“You want to bleach the table while I hit the bathroom?” I asked, feeling guilty. What would the health department make of
that
one? “Everything else is ready to go. Bleach is under the sink.”

“Sure,” he said, giving me a quick smile. “Gotta say, the idea of you out in public, wearing that little skirt and nothing else? It’s turning me on again.”

I snorted.

“Everything turns you on.”

“Nope, just everything about you. Trust me, I don’t feel this way at all when I see that fat chick at the DMV. Now get cleaned up. Or don’t—hell if I care. I like the idea of my jizz running down your legs for everyone to see.”

“You’re disgusting.”

“Yup.”

I turned to leave, but he caught my hand, pulling me back for another quick kiss.

“Thanks,” he said, resting his forehead against mine. “I was wound pretty tight. Usually when Burke shows up without warning, it’s not a good sign. You helped a lot just now.”

“I’m a very helpful girl,” I said, waggling my eyebrows. I pulled away, turning toward the bathroom. Hunter smacked my ass and I jumped, laughing.

“Hurry up,” he said. “Burke’s waiting.”

“Will I like him?”

“No,” Hunter said, shaking his head slowly. “He’s usually a complete asshole, so don’t be surprised if he says something rude.
But he saved me and Kelsey as kids. That should count for something. I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for him. Dead or in prison.”

“Then I’ll love him,” I said. “I don’t care if he’s an asshole. I still owe him, big-time.”

“Kinda how I feel about your dad,” he said. “Go get clean, woman.”

I flipped him off and headed for the bathroom.

Hunter parked his new truck right in front of the strip club. Nothing fancy. In addition to everything else that sucked about the accident, he hadn’t been able to collect on his insurance. Bullet holes tend to draw cops, and the last thing either club wanted was law enforcement poking around. I’d offered to help pay for the new rig, but Hunter had blown me off, making it clear he could afford to buy his own ride. I wondered about that … Working part time as a mechanic wasn’t exactly lucrative, but if the Jacks were anything like the Reapers, his income stream was probably creative.

Hunter texted Burke, who stepped outside about five minutes later. I don’t know what I expected, but Burke wasn’t it. He was old—way older than my dad or our national president, Shade. More like Duck’s age. His hair was long and gray, and he kept it pulled back in a ponytail. He had a full beard, and it was long, too.

Skid followed him, and we eyed each other warily.

Me and Skid had an uncomfortable truce these days. Kelsey and I shared a place now, thanks to him. I still slept over at the house a lot, but nothing like before. I guess that was a winning solution for all of us. Well, all of us but Hunter. The idea of me and Kelsey living together seemed to scare him a little, and I guess I could understand that. It certainly made it easier to gang up on him.

“I’m Burke,” the Devil’s Jacks president said, stepping forward. “You must be Em?”

I smiled and nodded.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” I said.

“You’re
not much, for a girl who causes so much trouble,” he said bluntly. “I pictured you with bigger tits.”

My smile didn’t falter for a minute.

“I’m still saving up for my boob job,” I told him politely. “Until then, I’m afraid Hunter’s stuck with me like this. On the bright side, I give excellent head. He had to pay my father six whole goats for me, you know.”

Hunter choked, but Burke burst out laughing. Skid’s eyes widened, and he gave me a sly nod of approval.

“Well, she’s not shy.”

“Not even a little,” Hunter said, wrapping his arm around my neck and pulling me close. “You said you wanted to show us something?”

“Yeah,” Burke said. “I’ll ride with Skid. You follow.”

Hunter tugged me toward his truck and we climbed in.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack back there,” he said. “And I think you gave him the wrong impression—it wasn’t goats, it was kegs.”

“My bad,” I murmured. “It’s so hard for me to hold all that information in my little female head. I get all confused.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said blandly. “I can tell you what to do. We have to keep that feeble little brain of yours from getting tired.”

I smacked his leg hard and he pretended to whimper as Skid pulled out ahead of us. Hunter followed, reaching over to lay a hand on my bare leg, running his fingers up and down my thigh as we drove.

God, how could I want him again so soon?

We didn’t actually drive that far, but traffic was slow enough that it took a good twenty minutes before Skid pulled off into a residential neighborhood. The houses were all old, built in the typical Portland style. Narrow lots, high porches, trees everywhere. The house he pulled up to looked solid enough, but the paint was peeling and the lawn was practically a jungle. Interesting …

“What’s
this?” I asked Hunter. He shrugged.

“No idea.”

I opened the passenger-side door, then tried to figure out how to get out of the truck without showing my goodies off to the entire world. Hunter smirked, but he came around and lifted me down, setting me on the sidewalk like a perfect gentleman. Skid and Burke were already up on the porch, watching us with interest.