Leather and Sand (Riding the Line Series) (16 page)

No!
God, a few drinks and all of my good sense goes right out the window…

***

Dax smiled to himself as he watched the runaway’s poorly concealed discomfort at dinner. Yep, Rhee still wanted him. He knew she did. Dax recognized the signs of desire she emitted. They were so obvious. Almost as if she wasn’t aware of the sensuality she exuded.

Maybe she wasn’t.

Dax clung to his original plan even though his cock protested violently. He was going to let her go. But…it wasn’t just Rhee he would be abandoning, his brain piped up. That little girl would suffer as he had—without a father. Dax bit the inside of his cheek so hard he drew blood. He groaned, eliciting a strange look from Rhiannon.

Rhee picked at her food during dinner, an indicator of her anxiety. Back at the clubhouse, the stowaway always cooked up a storm. Dax noticed that while she whipped up massive amounts of food for the guys and hang-arounds, she never ate much herself when she was stressed out. The sight of her take away box made him re-think his plan to entice, then reject her.

While Rhee picked at her dinner, Dax, conversely, was starving. He wolfed his plate down. Surfing worked up a major appetite. He had forgotten just how hungry he could get. It had been a long time, but when you didn’t have much growing up, you never forgot the gnawing feeling of a hunger that was never quite relieved. Even the smallest of rumbles in his gut encouraged him to eat like he couldn’t guarantee his next meal.

Dax smiled to himself grimly at Rhee’s obvious struggle with her own emotions. He had noted with possessive male pride that she still blushed when he teased her. He flirted openly at dinner, and her red cheeks were oh so pleasing to his eye.
I’d like to redden her other cheeks.
His groin tightened painfully at the thought. Even though she tried to hide it, he could hear the desire in her voice. Rhee was an open book. She always had been. It made it that much easier to manipulate her emotions.

Guilt pricked his conscience as he glanced sidelong at the woman in his passenger seat.
I shouldn’t be making her feel bad.
He had no right to toy with Rhiannon, no matter how much she had fucked him over. Dax decided to dial it down a notch. While Rhee had certainly filled out in a few places, she was still pretty thin.
Don’t need her getting sick.

In addition to the unexpected guilt he experienced at dinner, there was another, more fatal problem with Dax’s pre-meditated, emotional game. As he watched Rhee from the corner of his eye, fiddling nervously with the hem of that sexy little dress she was wearing, his cock argued vehemently in favor of giving in to his own desire. Rhee set her teeth into her full, pink bottom lip, another indication that she was anxious. And turned on. That unique little gesture of hers had always caused him a nearly uncontrollable urge to crush her mouth beneath his own and this time was no different. Dax couldn’t deny it—he wanted her too. In the worst way.

Fuck!
He had backed himself into a very gnarly corner. Dax was so frustrated with his poorly thought out plan that he practically yelled at the girl when they arrived at the hotel.

“I have some business to attend to before we continue our evening.” He caught her look of dismay. Rhee’s eyes darted to the elevator and then to him. Dax sighed. “You can wait in the lobby if you don’t want to come upstairs.”

Yeah, that was a better idea. It was much better if she didn’t come up to the suite. There was a rather large bed in his room and he would be hard-pressed not to throw Rhee into the middle of it and ravage her. At the thought of sinking into her hot, velvet sheath, he lengthened further, his cock arguing rather vehemently to get her alone, near a flat surface so he could fuck her into next week.

Dax sent a strict message to his groin to slow down. He needed the stowaway—no,
runaway
—to stay put downstairs. Away from beds, or any other surfaces for that matter. The fates did not agree with his rationale, however. One glance at the lobby bar told him that leaving Rhiannon there alone would not be wise.

“I’ll wait over there…” She looked perfectly happy to avoid his company.

“Changed my mind,” Dax barked, his grip on her arm tightening. “You’re coming up.”

At her look of startled confusion, he softened a little. “Don’t want to have to break any more noses tonight, Rhiannon,” he explained, jerking his head towards the bar.

As he ushered her to the elevator, the back of Dax’s neck prickled. It only did that when something was wrong. He had learned not to ignore that feeling. He paused, taking a long, slow gander at the lobby bar.

“What is it?” Rhee looked at him quizzically.

“Nothing. Long day.”

Dax looked over his shoulder one last time. He had the distinct feeling that he was being watched. He didn’t recognize anyone in the lobby bar, and nobody looked suspicious. They were all just drunk, and primarily male. Dax chalked up his reaction to being tired and overwhelmed. He placed his hand on the small of Rhee’s back, noting how tiny her waist still was, but noting with a rush of heat, the lusher curve of her ass. Having a baby—his baby—seemed to have made her even sexier. Dax pulled out his phone to text Slade as a distraction. It would take everything in his power to avoid ravishing Rhiannon in the elevator.

***

At first, she was confused at the assessing look Dax directed at the lobby bar. Rhee followed his gaze.

Oh.

There were several men looking at her appreciatively, making her feel conspicuous and uncomfortable in her little black dress. Contrary to the gaggle of slutty-looking
haole
girls at the corner table, she didn’t like the attention. Rhee stepped closer to Dax and he put his hand on her back. She was grateful that he wanted to protect her from any more nonsense. That made sense. Wait, did it?
Why does he care?!
Still, going up to his room would be...
amazing.

She balked suddenly, but he pulled her along, dragging her into the elevator. The doors slid shut and suddenly Rhee’s mind was filled with extremely inappropriate images. They were in an elevator. Alone. Her breath came faster as she pictured him advancing on her, pressing her against the wall, and…

Thankfully, Dax got a text message and busied himself with his phone so she didn’t have to chance speaking with the man on the way up. Thanks to her dirty, dirty mind, Rhee’s nipples were so achy she wanted to rub them herself. Unconsciously, her hands came up to her neckline to do just that before she caught herself, horrified.

Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?!

As the doors opened onto his floor, Rhee’s heart was pounding at the thought of being alone in a hotel room with Dax Jamison, the only man she had ever slept with. The man whose baby she had carried. The man who made her knees weak and her pulse race in a way no other man ever had. Rhee swallowed, her tongue feeling thick and foreign in her mouth.

I won’t go in.
I’ll wait in the hall.

Dax pulled out his key card and opened the door but Rhee wasn’t really paying attention. She took a small step backwards when Dax held the door for her. She hesitated further, drawing a strange look from Dax. He raised that perfectly sculpted brow at her and gestured for her to enter his suite.

Rhee stood there awkwardly, unable to make her feet move. Until she saw the man standing by the window. A shriek of recognition and joy sprang from Rhee’s lips. Somehow, she was across the room and wrapped in a bear hug, as tears began to slide down her face.

Chapter Fifteen

Dax’s desire to throw Rhiannon over his knee and spank the shit out of her was only growing stronger as the evening wore on.
What was I thinking, asking the stowaway—runaway
—
to dinner!?
Even though he was positive she was still attracted to him, Rhee avoided his touch like the plague all night. Now, here she was, throwing herself into Wince’s arms like he was her long lost lover or something. Dax groaned inwardly, recalling Wince’s declaration of love for the stowaway.

Well, so much for hashing it out with her.
Duty calls.

“I’ve got something to do,” he barked, startling them out of their cozy little reunion. Rhee pulled out of Wince’s grasp a bit sheepishly, Dax thought. “Take a few minutes to catch up. Rhiannon, I’ll be back shortly to take you home. I’ll have you back before eleven.”

She nodded, looking so obviously relieved, that it just pissed him off more. Dax slammed the door open with more force than he intended but neither Wince nor Rhee seemed to notice.

Fuck, being around that girl again is making me feel like I’m on a never-ending rollercoaster ride!

***

Rhee was more relieved than she cared to admit when Dax stalked off. She knew he was angry, and she desperately needed a moment to clear her muddled head. She was truly happy to see Wince. He had been her friend from the get-go. But, she couldn’t tell him why she left without telling a soul. At least, not until she had explained herself to Sirena’s volatile father.

“I’ve missed you so much, Wince.” she said seriously. “How have you been?”

How have you been?
It sounded awkward, even to her own ears. It didn’t escape Rhee that Wince looked tense and guarded even though he had returned her initial embrace without hesitation. She could practically feel the distance in the man. Something had changed between them. Luckily, he didn’t beat around the bush. Wince asked the difficult question point blank.

“What the hell happened to you, stowaway? You just left without a trace. Without saying good-bye.”

“I guess, well, I just needed some time to myself.” Why did she get the distinct feeling that he was expecting an apology?

Wince looked perplexed. “So you took off without telling your friends where you were going?”

“I didn’t realize you guys would care…” she responded lamely.

“Not care?” Wince was quickly becoming uncharacteristically angry. “Look, stowaway, maybe you didn’t understand how it works, but the club, we’re family. We made you an honorary member that night. You kind of…shit on that, you know.”

Wince turned away, obviously distressed. He was hurt, she realized. And she was the one who had hurt him.

“Wince, I never meant to disrespect anyone.” Taking a deep breath, Rhee remembered how much Wince’s friendship had meant to her. So had all of her relationships at the club.
Well, maybe except Trish.
No, that wasn’t true. Trish had patched her up and Rhee had done the unthinkable in return—slept with her man. But, Gray, Hawk, the other guys…Wince was right; they
had
been like a family to her. Taking a deep breath, she could only think of one thing to say to save this failing conversation. The truth. Well, part of it anyway.

“Mickey was here.”

“What?” His voice rose, revealing his shock.

“The picture you found—the one of my sister on the bike. Her tan lines clued me in. There was a movie we watched as kids…I just put it all together that night. And I knew
he
wouldn’t let me go.” Rhee gestured to the door, referring to Dax.

Wince was pacing. “You said she
was
here. Does that mean…” he trailed off, unwilling to say the word aloud.

“No! Well, I-I don’t know.” Rhee’s shoulders sagged. She hoped with all her might that Mickey was still alive, but her leads had dried up long ago and then raising Sirena had taken a priority. Rhee trusted that Turtle would keep checking.

“Did you find anything? Is that why you’re still here?”

Rhee hesitated. There was only so much she wanted to reveal. “I met a guy, a local. He knows everything that goes on around here. He said Mickey was here but she left. Turtle and his boys tracked her off the island in a privately chartered plane. The trail ended there. I got…sidetracked. I was out of money so I found a job. Started volunteering with the local kids. I wasn’t sure what to do next,” Rhee explained.

What she told him was true. Partially true, anyway. For some reason, Rhee was loath to tell Wince what exactly it was that had sidetracked her. She left out the part about sleeping with Dax. And having Sirena.

Wince was quiet for a long time. He shuffled to the large window that overlooked the bay and stared out for a few agonizing moments. Rhee knew he was a man who naturally analyzed things. She hoped he didn’t question her overmuch. After a while, he shrugged and seemed to accept her responses. Still, something definitely seemed to be bothering him. There was an obvious wall between them and Rhee wasn’t sure how to surmount it.

Finally, Wince glanced at the door and then sighed. “Look, stowaway, I guess I can understand why you left, but it hurt us.
All
of us. We take care of our own and we expect the same from one another.”

Rhee flushed. The floor had become exceedingly interesting, all of a sudden.

“I’m sorry, Wince. I felt that I had no choice.” She didn’t know what else to say, but it was pretty obvious that she had committed a major offense, even though she had been trying to do what she thought was best.

“You scared us, Rhiannon.” Wince sighed. “He was a fucking mess,” he muttered, nodding to the door.

Her heart jumped into her throat.
What?!

“What do you mean?” she asked, in a voice that had taken on a definite quaver.

Wince shook his head. “Look, it’s not my place to say anything, Rhee. But when you left…it messed with his head. Mine too. Some of the other guys. Gray, especially.”

A sharp pang of guilt burrowed into Rhee’s heart to join all of the other aversive emotions that resided there. She repeated, “I never meant to hurt anybody, Wince. There’s a lot you don’t know. I had to leave. There really wasn’t any other option.”

“There was.” he said firmly. “You could have stayed.”

***

Dax spoke to Hawk with a degree of calm that contradicted the reeling emotions that were currently playing havoc in his head. It seemed that there was a little problem with their arms sample. The guns were supposed to come through on a private plane, but it had been intercepted. That was odd. Dax questioned who had tipped them off, but Hawk had no leads. Customs was planning to search the cargo hold and if they found the contraband, the arms deal was dead in the water.