Gentle Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 4) (11 page)

“OK.” Curtis thought about the one and only time that he’d held Tessa close to his body, how her soft, lush curves had felt against his uncompromising, hard planes. God, he
still
dreamt about those few minutes at night,
still
woke up aching with a deep, fierce want to hold her in his arms again. Her body had been perfect to him –
she’d
been perfect. The fact that she didn’t see herself as beautiful confounded him, utterly and absolutely. “And if you need some back-up, you just ask.”

“I will.” Gabi glanced at her watch. “Oh, man. I’d better get to work.”

“Me too.” Curtis opened the door for her. “Gabi?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really happy you’re doing better, hon.”

She smiled at him now, a shining, stunning smile. “Thanks, Curtis. Me too.”

Chapter Eleven

Sarah closed her laptop with a sigh of happiness. The Christmas ad campaign for Joe Carlisle’s new restaurant was finally finished and she was thrilled with her work on it. It felt so damn good to be earning her own money again after almost a year of depending on Jax to pay her way.

She knew he didn’t mind, not at all; she
also
knew that
she
shouldn’t mind. After all, it’s not like Sarah had been a gold-digger living off her impossibly rich boyfriend. She hadn’t filled her days with sleeping late and shopping and getting her hair done. She hadn’t stopped working out of laziness – she hadn’t even stopped by choice.

No, her days had been spent re-learning how to walk, and trying to retrieve memories of her life before her ex-boyfriend had beaten her in to a coma, and scrambling to recall how the hell to use her design programs to run her own business. Besides all of that, she’d been there for her mother and brother as much as she could. Jax was helping Annie with some bills and that was awesome and meant that her Mom could work less hours at the diner; Jax had also taken Sarah’s twin brother Noah under his wing. Noah was autistic and could be challenging to handle, but he and Jax had developed a surprisingly and touchingly close relationship.

There were a million reasons to love Jax, but how he treated Noah was way up there. Seeing her tough, hard boyfriend be so gentle and patient with her brother melted Sarah’s heart every single time. It made her fall in love with Jax, over and over again.

“Hey, Red.” Jax wandered in to her office now. “All done?”

“Hey,” she responded. “Yeah, I just sent Joe the last ad now. Now I wait for final approval and I get to send my first really big invoice in ages.”

“Congrats, Sarah. You busted your sweet ass on this, I know.”

“I did.” She stretched a bit and Jax’s dark green eyes zeroed in on the way her t-shirt tightened across her full breasts. “It feels amazing to be back at work.”

“I bet.” He tipped his head to the side and gave her that slow, sexy grin that made her knees go weak. “So… what are you doing right now?”

“You mean right this minute?”

“Uh-huh.”

She stared over at Jax. His dark hair was a bit messy, the muscles of his strong upper body were visible under the tight black t-shirt. The man was nothing less than mouth-wateringly gorgeous, with those tattoos the full length of his arms and his amazing chest begging for her touch. She smiled.

“I’m looking at you, Stud,” she said.

“You like what you see?”

“Sure I do. But I’d like it better if you weren’t wearing any clothes.”

“I feel the same way about you, baby.” Jax’s large body was tense with desire and nerves. “I want you naked and in the pool in two minutes. We clear?”

“You’re awfully bossy tonight,” she said. “All pushy and alpha and tough-guy.”

“You’re damn right I am,” he growled. “Now get that luscious body in to the pool or I’ll have to do it myself.”

“Yes, sir,” she murmured, though she kind of liked the idea of Jax stripping off her clothes and throwing her in to the water. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”

“One minute,” he said. “You’ve wasted time being snarky.”

She stood up and at the same time, pulled her t-shirt over her head and dropped it on the floor. Jax’s eyes went dark with lust when he saw her curvy body clad only in faded jeans and a black bra. Her red curls spilled over her creamy shoulders, wild and warm. She was just the most incredible thing he’d ever seen or touched and most days, Jax still couldn’t understand just what the hell she was doing with an uneducated ex-con like him. He knew that he’d never stop being grateful for her being in his life; he only hoped that she felt the same way about him.

He held out his large hand to her and she took it. They walked up the stairs together, through the kitchen and out the sliding glass door to the back patio, shedding their clothes the whole way, leaving them strewn around the house. By the time they got to the pool, they were both naked and all over each other.

Sarah gasped when Jax picked her up and carried her down the pool steps. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him, her hands running over his broad back. His erect cock pushed in to her soft stomach and she shamelessly lifted her hips to rub the tip against her clit. Jax groaned and kissed her over and over, his hands on either side of her face.

“Sarah.” He forced himself to pull back. “Hang on a sec.”

“Why?” Her blue eyes were smoky with lust. “You know we don’t need to use condoms anymore. We decided that, right?” She was on the pill and they’d been rigorously tested over the past three months; everything had come back clean and they’d discussed making love without condoms. Tonight would be the first time that they’d do that – and Sarah was so,
so
ready to take Jax without anything between them.

“Yeah, I know.” Jax took a deep breath and sat down on one of the small seats attached to the pool wall, Sarah curled up on his lap. “It’s not about that.”

“Oh.” She leaned back a bit to see his face better. “So what’s it about?”

Jax reached behind him, moved one of the fluffy towels on the deck. He picked up the box that he’d hidden there and flicked it open with his thumb. “It’s about this, baby.”

Sarah looked down at the ring. Unable to stop herself, she gasped and raised her hands to her mouth. “
Jax
…”

“You amazing, strong, gorgeous woman.” He lifted her chin to stare in to her shining eyes. “Will you? Will you marry me?”

She swallowed. “I – I… oh, God, Jax. Are you sure that you want to marry
me
?”

“Am I
sure
?” he said, astounded that she’d even ask the question. “Fuck, baby, I’ve never been
more
sure of anything or anyone in the whole of my life. I love you. I want you and I want you forever. I want you to be my wife – to be mine.”

Sarah's eyes filled with tears. “I love you too… you just don’t know how much.”

“So say yes, doll.” He wiped her tears tenderly, his hands lingering on her soft skin. “Say yes to me.”

“Yes,” she said. “
God
, yes.”

She watched as he took the ring from the box, slipped it on to her finger. She held up her hand to catch the light from the kitchen above and she smiled. She wasn’t at all surprised that Jax had decided to go traditional, opting for diamonds and gold. Sarah knew that under his bad-ass tattoos and scowling exterior, this former bed-hopping commitment-phobe was, actually, firmly old-school about some things. Sarah was sure that he was going to want a church wedding and that he’d show up in a suit. Maybe he’d even brush his hair.

“It’s beautiful,” Sarah said softly. “It’s so beautiful, Jax.”

“Yeah? You really think so?”

She heard something in his voice and she looked up at him.

“Jax?”

“It’s just – it’s not too much?” he said.

Sarah had rarely seen him uncertain or insecure, and she blinked in surprise.

“Too much?” she said.

“Yeah.” He lifted her ringed hand to his lips, kissed her fingertips. “Not too flashy? I know you ain’t that kind of girl, Red.”

“Oh. No.” She shook her head, loving him all over again. “It’s perfect, babe, I promise you. I love it.”

“So you don’t think it’s ostentatious?”

She giggled both at his serious expression and at the oddly unlike-Jax word that he’d just used. “I think it’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever had on my body.”

Jax suddenly found that he could breathe again and he gave her his smart-ass grin. “The most gorgeous thing except for me, of course.”

“I thought that went without saying.”

“Doll, when we’re talking about me pressed up against your amazing body? It
never
goes without saying.”

“So.” She looked up at him. “You want to be pressed up against me tonight? Right now?”

“Hell, yes.” He ran his hand down the front of her body, stroked between her legs. “Against you, on you, all around you.” His finger slid inside her pussy and she arched to take it deeper. “
In
you.”

“What are you waiting for?” she whispered. “Love me, Jax.”

So he did, over and over, until they both fell in to a deep, exhausted sleep, Sarah held in Jax’s arms, her hair spread over his chest like a shimmering waterfall. And when they woke up the next morning, they looked at Sarah’s finger and smiled, loving and wanting the promise that they’d made to each other.

“I love you, baby,” he said. “You’re going to make me the happiest man on the planet.”

She smiled wider and kissed him. “And do you know who’ll be a close second?”

“Who?” He propped himself up on one strong arm, staring down at her sweet face.

“Noah.”

Jax laughed. “You think he’ll be happy for us?”

Sarah thought about her brother’s adoration of Jax. The idea that soon Noah would be able to call him his ‘brother-in-law’ almost brought tears to her eyes.

“Oh, yeah.” She traced his lips gently. “So when shall we tell him and Mom?”

“Let’s invite them to dinner this weekend.”

“And Megan?” Sarah said. “Her too, right?”

“Of course.” Jax knew that his younger sister was going to be beside herself with delight: she thought the world of Sarah. “Maybe we can invite Annie and Noah to the restaurant that Megan manages? Have dinner and then break the news to everyone over dessert?”

“Perfect,” she said, happier than she ever thought she could or would be. “Everything’s just perfect.”

Chapter Twelve

“Everything’s just perfect,” King said to Mac, Aidan and Jax the next night at Curves. “Everything’s under control.”

The other men looked at him silently, waiting for any details that King might choose to disclose. Not that they really expected him to: he’d been secretive and tight-lipped for weeks now. They knew that he and his team had been working on something to do with the Fallen Angels, but they had no idea what. Whenever they asked, King had simply told them that the less they knew, the better and safer it was for them.

So it was a huge surprise when King drank some beer and then said, “We’ve put together a plan and Mac, it involves you and Mirrie and Spider.”

Right away, alarm bells started going off in Mac’s head. “Involves us how?”

“I want you to force their hands.”

“Whose hands?” Jax said. “The MC?”

“Yeah.” King’s gray eyes were hard. “I want you to be bait.”

Stunned, they all stared at King again. It wasn’t like him to put anyone in the line of fire, and the fact that he was openly asking for that to happen was shocking.

“I’m fine being bait,” Mac said. “But no fucking way I’m letting Mirrie
or
Spider anywhere near those assholes and I can’t believe you’d even fucking
suggest
it to me. You high, man, or did you just lose a few dozen IQ points?”

“You gonna listen?” King grated out, his voice hard and dark. “Or you just gonna insult me?”

“Can’t I do both?” Mac said.

The tension between them broke now and King grinned. “Yeah, I bet you can, no problem.”

“OK, guys, come on. In to my office,” Jax said with a quick look around at the packed bar. “No way we’re talking about any of this out here.”

The others nodded and followed Jax down the hall. Once inside the office with the door closed, Mac sighed.

“Alright, man,” he said to King. “Lay it on me.”

“I want Trigger and Ace to know that you and Mirrie are back together,” King said in his usual no-bullshit manner. “In fact, I want to
make sure
they know about it.”

Mac’s brow furrowed. “Uh, OK.
Why
, exactly?”

“Because then Trigger will freak out and Ace will have to protect himself.”

Mac, Jax and Aidan waited, but King seemed to be finished speaking.

“Uh, OK,” Mac again. “But
what
will that accomplish, exactly?”

“If Jack is right? Ace will turn on Trigger.” King narrowed his eyes. “And Jack is
always
right.”

The other men were silent again, thinking about that. Jackson Taylor was King’s number one profiler and the man was so damn good at studying people’s facial and body cues, he was practically a mind-reader.

They knew that Jack would have spent the past three weeks delving in to Trigger and Ace’s psyches and playing out endless scenarios based on educated assumptions of their behaviors and reactions. They were
also
sure that King would have given Jack a desired outcome and asked him to essentially play a game of chess in reverse. It was classic manipulation: Jack would have figured out what situations to put Trigger and Ace in, and in what order, for the two men to end up exactly where King wanted them.

“So that’s the endgame?” Aidan said. “To have Trigger and Ace at each other’s throats? Not trusting each other?”

“Oh, well, Jack says that they don’t trust each other now,” King said. “But, yeah, that’s where we want them to finish. It’s the only way that we get justice for Gabi and Maria.”

“You sure, man?” Jax asked. “This is how it has to be done?”

“Jack’s looked at it from every side and more than once,” King said gently. “If he tells me that it all starts with the Fallen Angels knowing about Mac and Mirrie being back together? Then that’s where it all starts. That’s the beginning of the end of these fuckers.”

“You sure about this, Matt?” Jax said. “Totally sure?”

“Yes.”

Mac stared at the floor, thinking hard. King watched him, almost holding his breath as he waited for Mac’s response. Christ, this was delicate. As Jack had explained to him, it was like dominoes: each piece had to fall just right for the next one to tumble over and down on to the next domino. It was like setting something in motion, something that seemed to be thinking and acting on its own, but it was really just reacting to what had nudged it in a certain direction. It was an astonishing combination of mathematics and psychology… and Jack was the best at it.

Finally, Mac looked up at King. “You’ll make sure Mirrie and Spider are safe every step of the way?”

“Totally.” He clapped his friend on the shoulder. “And you too, man. I mean, I don’t want
you
to go anywhere. It kinda kills me to admit it, but I’d miss your fucking lip.”

Mac gave him a small grin and nodded. “So… OK, then.”

“OK, then?” King repeated. “OK, we get the news to Trigger and Ace?”

“Yeah.”

“How?” Aidan said to King. “How are you going to tell them? You gonna just walk on in to the Fallen Angels clubhouse and make an announcement? Buy a round for the house to celebrate the happy couple?”

“Thought about it, but nuh-uh.” King ran his hands through his dark hair. “I have another way.”

“How?” Aidan said again.

King gave them one of his ‘don’t-fuck-with-me’ smiles. “Honey’s on it.”

**

Clarice ‘Honey’ Potts adjusted the redheaded wig and gave herself a final appraising look in the rearview mirror. Wrap-around dress, silver bracelet and minimal makeup. Satisfied, she stepped out of her car, slammed and locked the door. Despite the lack of cleavage and eye-liner, the bikers standing around smoking in the diner parking lot started to wolf whistle and holler at her.

She faked bashfulness and ducked her head a bit as she passed them. Really, she knew that she could kick any one of their asses with her size-six high-heeled boots, but she wasn’t in ass-kicking mode tonight. Tonight was all about quiet and sweet – two words that nobody would
ever
use to describe Honey.

She opened the diner door and scanned the booths. Sure enough, there he was. He was alone and eating a piece of pie, as he always was when that one woman worked. Jack said that he thought of the woman, Annie Matthews, as a kind of surrogate mother. Honey knew that he was alone in so many ways, so she hadn’t been surprised to hear that he’d sought out a warm, non-threatening older woman to chat with.

Honey approached the booth, slid in across from him. Surprised, he looked up.

“Hi,” Honey said in a low voice. “You remember me?”

He blinked those clear blue eyes, ran a large hand though his tousled blond hair. She noted that he looked tired and stressed-out and her heart tightened up a bit. Yeah, the kid was still in way over his head; she hoped that what Jack had planned would change that for him.

“Miss – Miss Honey?” he said. “Is that you?”

“Shhhh,” she said. “Keep your voice down, OK? And yeah, it’s me.”

Warren Kane almost fell sideways with the shock, but by some miracle, he managed to hold it together. He hadn’t laid eyes on Honey in almost three months and he’d thought he’d never do so again. The fact that she had actually tracked him down
had
to be bad news. Briefly, wildly, he wondered if she was there to kill him.

“How are you?” she asked him now. “How’s it going with the club?”

Warren dropped his eyes. “Oh, you know. OK.”

She studied him some more, knew that he was lying through his teeth. He’d come to Colorado from Kentucky at the invitation of his cousin, Donovan Kane, to prospect for the Fallen Angels. As anyone but Warren would have predicted, he’d landed himself in a shit-load of trouble almost immediately and had ended up as a reluctant guest of King’s Men.

Honey had gotten to know Warren a bit during his enforced and extended stay in the safe house, and she’d been taken aback at his sweetness and naivety. He’d honestly believed – at least for a while – that he’d have the choice to leave the Fallen Angels if he wanted to one day. Reality had smashed the kid between the eyes pretty damn hard, though, and looking at him now, Honey knew that it had fully sunk in.

No, Warren Kane was trapped in the MC and he looked like a man who really wanted to rethink his life choices. Well, Honey was here to help him do just that… and she hoped hard that he’d take her up on her offer.

“Warren.” She looked around quickly. “I want to you do something for me.”

Intrigued, he cocked his head at her. “OK.”

“Your cousin Mirrie is living with a man named Shane MacIntyre now. I want you to tell Trigger that.” She held his eyes. “Make sure you tell Trigger personally.”

“Whoa, what?” Warren shook his head, bewildered. “Mirrie’s back in Denver?”

“She never left, actually. Listen, I don’t have time to explain everything, OK, but you need to do exactly as I say. It’s really important.”

“Why would I tell Trigger that Mirrie’s living with some guy named Shane MacIntyre?” Warren asked slowly. “Why would I tell Trigger anything at all about Mirrie?”

Honey sighed. “Because it’s the only way to keep her safe from the MC.”

“What?” Warren said again, getting angry now. “How can putting her on Trigger’s radar keep her safe? Seems to me it’d do the exact opposite. Seems to me it'd get her beaten near-to-death again.”

“Not this time.”

“What do you mean?”

Honey paused. “Warren, do you think you can trust me?”

He stared at her.

“I know it’s a big question,” she said. “But can you try?”

“To trust you?”

“Yeah. Can you trust what I’m asking you to do?”

He leaned back and she was shocked to see a look on his face that had never been there before: suspicion.

Dammit. He’s seen too much in the past few months to just take me at my word anymore… what the hell have those boys done to him?

“Just like that, huh?” he said. “Just trust you because you say so?”

“Warren.” Honey decided to kick things up a notch. “It’s not just for Mirrie. King wants to help
you
too.”

That flash of mistrust again as Warren remembered the man’s massive tattooed forearms and heavy silver rings. “King?”

“Well, of course, King. He’s the one who sent me here.”

“He wants to help me?”

“He does.”

“Why?”

“Because he likes you. He knows that you’re in a tough place and he’s found a way to make it a bit easier.”

Now his face showed something else, something pure and honest: his face was bright with hope. Honey’s chest hurt to see it, because it was the surest sign that this young man was dying to get away from his current situation.

“Can King get me out of the MC?” he asked in a quiet voice.

“Not yet.” Honey saw the disappointment in his eyes. “But he can make things better for you. Safer, easier, less violent.”

“How?”

“You’re close to being patched in, right?”

Warren blinked in surprise. “Yeah. It’s supposed to happen in the next few days, maybe even tomorrow. How’d you –”

“We keep a close eye on the Fallen Angels, believe me.”

Right away, he looked uncomfortable. “So… you know about some of the things I’ve done to advance as a prospect?”

“Yes.” She held his gaze. “I know everything.”

He flushed. “I’m – I didn’t want to hurt those people or burn down those businesses.”

“I know.” She fought down the urge to take his hand. “Warren, we know. King, Tex, Knox, Tank… we
all
know it wasn’t your choice.”

He nodded, looked away.

“Trigger’s close to patching you in,” she continued. “Really close. It’s fast, I know, but being Donovan’s cousin is a big help and the fact that you kept your mouth shut when we had you held hostage is also working in your favor.”

He gave a faint smile. “Awesome.”

“No, it’s good,” she said, surprising him. “King
wants
you patched in.”

“Why?”

“Because something’s coming, Warren. Something big. And when it does, you
want
to be in the Fallen Angels, OK? You want to be part of that group.”

“What’s coming?”

“That I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

Warren fell silent, studying Honey closely. Finally, he said, “Does King think that me telling Trigger about Mirrie and this guy will seal my patching-in? Maybe even move it up?”

“Yeah,” she said, a bit surprised that he’d pieced it all together. “Exactly. You tell Trigger about what I said and I can promise you, he’ll thank you for it. For Trigger, there’s no bigger reward than making you a full member.”

Warren grimaced. “He’s a real asshole, huh?”

Surprised and delighted, Honey laughed. “Oh, yeah, kid. He sure the hell is.”

“So, OK. I’ll do it. All of it. I’ll trust you and I’ll trust King and I’ll tell Trigger. But you promise me that Mirrie will be safe?”

“On my own life.”

“That’s good enough for me, Miss Honey.”

She breathed freely again. “You’re good people, Warren… it’s all going to be OK. I promise.”

He nodded and felt better than he had in six months. “So what exactly do I tell Trigger?”

**

Trigger MacGee slammed in to one of the clubhouse crash rooms, cursing. Ace glanced up and arranged his face in a look of concern and interest.

“What’s wrong, man?” he said to his President.

“Fucking Miranda Kane.
That’s
what wrong. That goddamn cunt.”

Right away, Ace’s heart rate accelerated. If there was one name that he never wanted to have uttered in his presence ever again, Mirrie Kane’s topped the list. Along with…

“And fucking MacIntyre, too.” Trigger spun and punched the wall. “
Fuck
!”

Ace had the overwhelming urge to close his eyes, to just play ostrich. Whatever the hell Trigger knew about these two, it was a serious potential minefield for Ace. He’d successfully crossed it more than once – he’d managed to keep the situation under control with blind, stupid luck – but luck had a funny way of running out. Maybe
this
was the time that he was going to get blown to bits?