"So this is the infamous Christine Stone?"Christine did her best not to be intimidated by the man who stood before her, but authority oozed off of him in waves. He wore it like a badge of honor—it almost reminded her of Clinton."This is her." The don't-be-a-dick tone of Travis' voice told Liam that maybe he had laid it on a little too thick, but they were all on edge. Someone was threatening the club and members of their family."Why don't you have a seat?" he asked, sitting at his kitchen table.She did so, breathing a sigh of relief when Travis sat down beside her. She was half afraid that Liam would say he couldn't be a part of what was starting to feel very much like an interrogation."I'm not trying to scare you, honestly I'm not," Liam started, as he reached over and pulled a cigarette out of a pack that sat on the table. "You want one?" he offered it to her.After her experience moments before, she wasn't sure she ever wanted to touch a cigarette again in her life.
Travis sat in his cave later that night, checking on Heaven Hill's interests. As he scanned the cameras, he saw a car pull up to Roni's apartment building. It wasn't unusual for someone to park in her other parking spot, but this car looked familiar. Doing what he did best, he tapped into the Wi-Fi of the apartment building's security cameras and zoomed in."Well, I'll be damned," he chuckled. Rooster was making his way up the sidewalk, and miracle of all miracles, he wasn't dressed in his sheriff's uniform. Dare he say that Rooster looked like he was about to go out on a date? He shook his head as Roni let his cousin in and quickly shut the door. He clicked out of that feed and took a look at everything else. It all looked closed up for the night, and he was exhausted. The last few weeks had taken a lot out of him, and all he wanted to do was close his eyes for a week and catch up on all the sleep that he missed. It wasn't unusual for him to go on little sleep, but it was star
Lying down in the bed together had been one of the most awkward things that either one of them had ever experienced. The tension was so thick that it could have been cut with a knife."Is lying in bed with a man always this awkward?" she asked softly as she turned to face Travis, careful not to touch him.That comment struck him as odd, but he tried to make a joke anyway. "I don't know, I've never been in bed with a man before. Besides, you were married."She still was married, but she hated to focus on that. "Yeah, but we never slept in the same bed together."His eyebrow rose. "Never?" That was supposed to be one of the major perks of putting a ring on it. The fact that you could go to bed and reach over whenever you wanted to either be close or, if you were feeling the need, fuck her until you fell back asleep. "Nope." She shook her head. The sound of her hair moving against the sheet was loud in the stillness of the room."He only came to visit me for, what do priso
Their deep breathing was the only sound in the room as the gravity of what she said struck him in the chest. He was startled for a moment, and then he realized what she had actually said to him. "Yes, ma'am."Christine sucked in a deep breath as he attacked her with an aggression that she hadn't thought him capable of. Instead of the easy petting, the light tongue against her skin, this time he went after her hard. The stubble on his cheeks rubbed harshly against her skin, and she knew that she would wear that burn like a badge of honor, even if nobody but her could see it. His teeth worried the soft skin around her nipple. She gasped as his tongue soothed it, the slippery warmth of his mouth was a feeling she'd never felt before, and she strained against him. From where he worked, he tilted his eyes up, watching the look on her face. He noticed that she gripped her hair tightly, almost like she was afraid to touch him. He wondered if she thought she would break the spell if she d
Every grand plan the two of them had about how to tell Jagger was destroyed the very next morning. He wasn't supposed to be anywhere near the clubhouse, Travis had been absolutely sure of that. He was supposed to be at the shop, fixing Cash's car. Travis had verified that with more than one person. So to say he was surprised when Jagger walked in, his arm around B, as Travis was telling Christine where they kept breakfast stuff was an understatement. The silence in the room was deafening. Travis had never understood the meaning of that phrase before, but as Jagger's eyes went back and forth between him and Christine, the silence thundered in his ears. He could see the minute that Jagger put two and two together—it clicked in his eyes. The girls always talking about Travis having a woman, her being there this morning. He didn't say one word as Jagger growled and came at him. He side-stepped him, and grabbed Jagger by the wrist. "How long have you known?" Jagger didn't even recogni
Jagger finally broke the silence. His voice was low, the tone tortured. "Tell me. Just tell me everything that you went through. I need to hear it, and I don't want you to hold anything back. We need to get it out in the open if we're going to move past it."Christine couldn't look at him when she spoke, so she turned, facing the backyard, focusing on the fence that surrounded the property. "The day you left, I knew that my life was over. I could tell in the way Dad looked at me, the things he said to me. He would get onto me if I ate what he deemed too much, if I didn't exercise the way he thought I should. I had a feeling he was grooming me for something, but I didn't know what. I waited, and waited, and the closer I got to eighteen the more nervous I got."Jagger let out a deep breath and his stomach clenched. He wasn't going to like what she had to say, and he knew it, but he'd told her not to sugarcoat anything. If she had lived through it, he sure as hell could listen to it.
Christine sighed as she sat on the same back porch that she had been on earlier in the day. She needed to decompress. The events of the day had been tiring, and she knew all of it was because of her and the choices that she had made. Travis now lay in his bed, sleeping off the pain medication that Ashley had given him after she stitched up his head. That head was now almost bald, and even that made her feel awful. Jagger now sat in a jail cell, waiting to see if they could bring Clinton to them. She hated this. She should have made better decisions for everyone involved. The sliding glass door opened, and she looked up, seeing B. The other woman hesitated at the threshold before making her way out into the night."Hi," she said to Christine, almost shy."Hi," she said back.It was awkward, and Christine wasn't sure what to do. This woman obviously meant a great deal to Jagger, and she wanted to get to know her too, she just wasn't sure how to do that. The only friend she had made
Jagger had the decency to wait until the next morning to approach Travis about running the facial recognition. If he were being completely honest, he was nervous. He hadn't meant to attack Travis that way, it was the last thing he had wanted to do. Purposely, he had stayed away until late morning. When he entered the clubhouse, he spotted Tyler."You know where Travis is?"Tyler grimaced. "He and his much shorter hair are in the cave.""Shorter hair?""Yeah, dude. It was kinda short to begin with, but they had to buzz him to put some staples in his head where you busted it wide open. I'm not sure you're the person he wants to see today, if you get what I mean."Now Jagger felt really bad. His temper had gotten the better of him—that and the shock. "Has Liam said anything?" Things like that could have more than one potential consequence. It normally was not kosher to fight in the clubhouse."Nah, I think he gets it. Hell, we all get it, but the rest of us are far enough away
The temperature in the cab of the truck was downright frigid as Remy drove to Tyler's house to drop off Addie first. Tatum refused to meet his gaze and that flat out pissed him off. If she was going to give herself to another man and then have the balls to sit in front of him like this, she should at least have the decency to meet his eyes when he looked at her."Am I going to have to explain to Tyler why I'm dropping you off at one in the fucking morning?" Remy glanced in the review mirror of the truck, looking back to where Addie sat in the extended cab."No," she shook her head, looking about as tired and unhappy as he felt. "He's at the clubhouse. He and Mom had planned to stay and they took Caelin with them."Well, thank God for small favors, because the one person besides Liam he didn't want to face off with tonight, was Tyler."You're lucky I don't call him and tell him where the hell you've been. How could you let her go up there with him?" he questioned her, the irrita
Tatum's heart beat through her chest as she followed Gavin upstairs to a much quieter part of the house. Her mouth was dry – the result of her nerves, or the alcohol she'd consumed – she wasn't sure which. Her hand gripped Gavin's tightly, but she knew it wasn't because she was excited, it was because she wanted to yank on it, and stop him from leading her into the empty bedroom. Part of her wanted to put a stop to it, the other part wanted to go through with this so she could throw it in Remy's face. Those stubborn traits she'd inherited from her dad were alive and well tonight.She glanced over her shoulder, spotting Addie pulling out her phone and making a call. The worried look on her friend's face told her all she needed to know. Addie was probably calling in reinforcements and her time had suddenly become very limited."You feelin' good?" his deep voice questioned in her ear, causing her hair to stand up and goosebumps to appear on her arms. This time it was different than wh
Remy was in a piss-poor mood, had been since the night of the Christmas party and everything that had gone down with Tatum. He bit off the head of anyone foolish enough to ask if he was okay. He'd been eating lunch by himself, and overall had been a miserable fucking loner. Even right now, while everyone else was partying their asses off, his big date was being in the gym and beating the ever-loving shit out of a heavy bag. It was the only thing that seemed to calm him the last few days.Hearing his fists connect with the bag felt good, even if it was muted by the gloves he wore. His arms burned, his shoulders and back ached, his chest heaved, and sweat poured down his forehead and into his eyes; making them sting. The sting felt good though, because it distracted him from the guilt he felt for the way he'd treated Tatum. And that guilt was pressing down on him like he was trapped under a thousand-pound boulder.He'd felt every emotion on the spectrum since she'd walked out on him
Tatum's blue eyes took in the party-goers around her. In different parts of the room, she could see members of her graduating class, some kids that were now seniors, and a few college kids. God, this had never been her thing, she'd never found high school or college parties worth anything to her. She could see everything that went on at them and more, at the club parties. Plus, this was a mob mentality – everyone here went along with everyone else, and it was so boring. Nobody had any individuality. Normally, she'd have tossed the invitation in the trash can and not even thought twice about it. She would have spent the night at the club's New Year's party and have an actual good time with her friends and family.Tonight though, she was on a mission."Do you see anybody?" Addie asked as they surveyed the room.Tatum took a drink from the bottle of Strawberry Boone's Farm she carried in her hand. It was the bottom shelf stuff, guaranteed to get you loaded in the least amount of tim
Tatum had never felt anything like the all-consuming lust that blasted through her as soon as Remy grabbed her hip and pulled her deep into his body. She'd thought she had but damn, she was wrong. Her fingers grasped at his shirt, trying to ground herself in the feelings, when she felt his bare palms slip up under the hem of her dress. The sharp intake of breath, and the way he nipped at her lip indicated he'd discovered she'd worn a thong."Fuck, Tate," he moaned as he pulled his lips from hers.She almost cried as he abandoned her lips and smeared his mouth down her neck. She felt the sharp nip of his teeth down to the core of her body. It caused her nipples to tighten further against the lace of strapless bra, and before she knew what she was doing, she was rubbing up against him."Please, Rem," she gasped out when she felt one of his hands on her ass venture back over her hip, and closer to the wetness and heat she felt between her thighs."Has anybody touched you?" he grow
He knew the second she walked in, just like he'd known when she'd entered the bakery. Even seven shots of Pappy in, he could feel her, he knew she was there by the way the hair on the back of his neck stood up, the goosebumps he got on his arms and the way his dick stirred to attention. He wasn't sure what kind of hold Tatum Walker held over him, but it was strong, maybe dangerously so, like some sort of Jedi Mind Trick he'd never be able to resist. And dammit if his hand didn't shake as he took his next shot."Too much for you?" Drew asked as he noticed the slight tremble of the other man's hand.How did he tell the man sitting beside him, he was hard up for his little sister? Easy. He didn't."Nah, I'm good, but I gotta hit the head. Be back."Plan number two when plan number one didn't work? Run and hope she wouldn't follow. As much alcohol as he had consumed, he wasn't sure he could push her away this time. After all, he was only a man and he wasn't immune to the way she lo
He should have brought a date. Those were the first words Remy thought when he walked through the door of the clubhouse. It hit him like a ton of bricks, and all he wanted to do was turn around and head back to Cash and Harper's. Normally, he lived at the clubhouse, but he'd had dinner at their place tonight. He could relieve the babysitter watching Maddy, and he wouldn't have to worry about keeping his guard up.Couples were paired off, which meant anyone without a plus one would be inevitably thrown together. Looking up, he saw mistletoe was hung randomly around the room. Shit. Since he was the youngest, he seemed to be one of the few without a woman on his arm. Sure as the world turned, he'd find himself thrown toward someone tonight.Gazing around the room, he didn't see Tatum and for that he was extremely thankful. He'd been able to avoid her since the day at Harper's bakery, but it'd hadn't been easy. Not that she'd gone out of her way to be around him but they were in the sa
Remy told himself to slow down as he grasped her neck, hauling Tatum closer to him. He cautioned his lust-drunk body not to make a fool of itself. He warned his libido not to let this go too far. They were in the middle of the bakery, in the middle of downtown. Anyone could walk through that door from some dumbass off the street, to her brother, to her dad. But he couldn't stop, couldn't force his hand not to trail down her body and grasp her tight ass in his fingers. He wanted desperately to pull her lower half into his, wanted to shove his thigh between her legs and feel the heat he knew would be there. His tongue was forceful as it made its way into her mouth, testing how far she'd let him go.Turned out she'd let him go as far as he wanted to.His brain tried to warn him that this was progressing too quickly. It was getting too out of control, too fast. If he didn't watch it, he'd be picking her up and putting her ass first against the nearest wall. He was losing his mind, losi
Son of a bitch. Something in the way Tatum's gaze met his made him think he'd said those words loud enough she could hear them. But fuck, she looked amazing. Even more than she usually did. Tatum had been gorgeous for a long time, but with her hair in this new cut, she looked sexy, and almost… sophisticated. But this was Tatum. She'd never fully be a lady, not really. She didn't do dresses unless she had to, she didn't do caked on makeup, and she could hang with the guys – no matter how raunchy it got."Do you like it?" She asked again, this time looking much more unsure than when she'd started out. Very slowly, she ran her fingers through her hair, giving it a tousle.Remy cleared his throat, not sure how honest he wanted to be, but at the same time knowing he couldn't help but be honest. If he lied to her, she would know, and it would do nothing to help the situation they seemed to always find themselves in. The two of them always seemed to be either pushing or pulling at each ot