THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE Read online

  “How do I know you won’t just fuck me and then leave me and my brother out to dry?” Fiona clarified.

  Ace shrugged. “I guess you don’t,” he said.

  “I thought you said you were a nice guy,” Fiona panted, breaking the tense silence.

  “Am I being mean?” Ace asked mildly.

  “You’re abusing the situation for your own advantage,” she accused.

  “I beg to differ,” he countered, still running his hands up and down her narrow waist. “You offered yourself—I merely accepted.”

  “Asshole,” Fiona muttered.

  Ace grabbed both of her wrists, slamming them above her head, holding them there. Fiona let out a small scream, unable to hide her fear this time.

  He leaned in until his nose was inches from hers. “Feel free to back out at any time,” he said, letting go of her. “I’m not the one with everything to lose.” Ace stepped away from her and gestured to the door.

  Fiona didn’t move. She hated that she was in this situation—it was humiliating! Though, perhaps, the reason it was so embarrassing was because Fiona had actually begun to find herself genuinely attracted to this terrifying man.

  Ace scared her to the core, but nowhere near as much as the realization that she was enjoying being pinned against metal shelving in a dirty back office.

  He was trying to push her, frighten her away; then he would be off the hook helping her. But she wasn’t going to give up so easily. Fiona was willing to do whatever it took to save her brother.

  She looked Ace square in the eye and lifted her chin, all fear gone. She was daring him to do whatever he wished with her.

  Fiona’s sudden lack of aversion surprised Ace. She was more resilient than he gave her credit for. I’ll just have to push her a little harder, he thought smugly. Ace might have agreed to help her with Alexei in exchange for sex, but if he slept with her and then something happened that scared Fiona so much that she couldn’t continue with the deal, well, that was a different story.

  Gripping the back of her head, her thick brown hair cushioning his hold on her, Ace pressed his mouth to hers, slipping his tongue inside. He dropped his other hand to her back, cleaving his body to hers. Ace gathered Fiona into his arms, leaving her no escape.

  Escape was the furthest thing from Fiona’s mind. She met Ace’s force with her own, winding her tongue around his. She moaned quietly, closing her eyes against the heat she felt building within herself.

  Ace reached his hand down to slip between her legs, and he broke away from Fiona suddenly, shocked. She had been so incredibly hot and damp, he couldn’t believe it. Ace had wanted to scare her into running back home to Daddy and now he found himself with a raging hard-on that was pointing right at the girl—literally.

  “What the fuck was that,” Fiona whimpered softly, mostly to herself.

  Ace took a look at her, relieved to see that she seemed as shaken up as he was about what had just transpired between them. He quickly composed himself, discreetly adjusting his pants to obscure his throbbing hard cock. “Scared you might like it, or just plain scared?” Ace taunted Fiona, fighting to keep his voice from shaking.

  Fiona dropped her eyes to the front of Ace’s jeans that did nothing to obscure his erection. “Really?” she said, pointing at his crotch.

  Ace shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “I’m a guy—it doesn’t take much,” he scoffed.

  Fiona stared at him. Why does he insist on being such a fucking prick? she wondered. She rolled her eyes and caught a glimpse of the clock hanging above the door.

  “Forty-five minutes?” she cried. “We’ve been in here for almost forty-five minutes!” Melanie was surely scared shitless for Fiona, not to mention whatever she was dealing with out in the bar.

  “Your friend is fine,” Ace said, correctly guessing why Fiona was freaking out. “My boys will make sure she gets home safe. And alone,” he added, seeing her face.

  “I’ll make sure of that,” Fiona said firmly, pushing past Ace to open the door. He reached out to stop her, both of their hands gripping the doorknob. He loomed over her, and Fiona felt a heady sensation wash over her entire body.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” he asked.

  “I’m going to get my friend.” Fiona yanked the knob, but it held fast under Ace strong fingers.

  “You’re not going anywhere,” he told her. “Not until you’ve finished, er, paying for our services.”

  Fiona looked around. In the moment, the dingy room had been sexy in its distastefulness, but now that her head was clear, it was downright offensive. “I’m not having sex with you here,” Fiona said haughtily. “This place is disgusting.”

  “You didn’t seem to mind a minute ago,” he replied with a smirk.

  Fiona’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as she remembered the clear arousal in her reaction. “That was a minute ago,” she shot back.

  Ace laughed. “All right, then where?” he asked.

  Fiona thought for a minute. “We can go back to my place.”

  “Didn’t you say Alexei was planning on killing you? Shouldn’t you stay somewhere else, like a hotel or something?” Ace pointed out.

  “Thanks, I hadn’t thought of that,” she said sarcastically. She grew serious, biting her lip. Ace wanted to do it for her. “I don’t want Alexei thinking he got to me,” Fiona said. “That, and I can’t afford it,” she added. “I need every penny for Niko.”

  Ace considered the fact that her bedroom would probably make Fiona feel more comfortable. That was against his plan; he wanted to push her as far out of her comfort zone as he could.

  He wanted her to admit that she was out of her depth, that she didn’t belong here. People like Fiona, good, innocent people, should stay on their side of the tracks. If her brother’s in trouble, she needs to drop her brother, Ace thought. She had no clue what Alexei would do to her when the time came. Once he gave her a taste, however, he knew she would come to her senses and make a run for it.

  ***

  Katie looked at her phone. Ace had been gone with that girl for over a half an hour at this point. She narrowed her hazel, almond-shaped eyes and threw back a shot.

  Next to her, Diego was charming the shorts off of Melanie. She was giggling up a storm; her drunken laughter made Katie’s teeth grate.

  Smalls leaned in on her other side, his massive stomach grazing her arm. “Is it a good idea for Diego to be hittin’ up a back-warmer from an unknown gang?” he muttered to her worriedly. “What if she’s someone’s old lady?”

  Katie gave Smalls a look. “Do you see any property patches on her?” she asked blankly.

  Smalls frowned, half a dozen wrinkles appearing on his forehead. “Oh,” he said, squinting his eyes at Melanie. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Besides, it’s not like she’s a real biker, anyway,” Katie sighed.

  “Right,” Smalls said, automatically agreeing. “Wait, what?” he cried in a strangled whisper. “What d’you mean ‘not a real biker’?”

  “Smalls, seriously?” Katie said, disheartened. “She’s got no patches of any kind, no colors, nothing. Her friend didn’t have anything on either.”

  “If they’re not from a gang, then why are they here?” Smalls asked.

  Katie stared at the door to the back office. “I don’t know, Smalls.”

  “How do they know about Alexei?”

  Katie sighed, exasperated. “I don’t know, Smalls!” she snapped. “But you can be damn sure I’m going to find out,” Katie murmured to herself.

  At that moment, the door opened, and Katie saw Ace about to step out. She breathed a sigh of relief; the two of them looked as though they had been arguing. Maybe now the girl and her friend would leave, and The Hell Brothers could get back to more important things at hand, namely Alexei.

  Katie wanted to confront Fiona about her and her friend’s disguise, but she accurately guessed that Ace had already noticed their fraud and that was why he had secluded her to the b
ack.

  She made a move to stand up, but right as she did, she saw Fiona drop to her knees, grabbing Ace as she fell. Is this fucking whore going to blow him with the door wide open? Katie wondered.

  Instead, Ace glanced out into the bar, his eyes completely passing over her, and he shut the door, leaving him once again alone in the room with Fiona.

  Katie closed her eyes to regain control of herself. If she wasn’t careful, she might snap, go into that back office, and beat the shit out of them.

  It always bothered her when Ace picked up something on the side, but nothing a revenge fuck couldn’t ever cure. Watching Ace’s clear interest in the girl, however, brought out something much uglier in Katie. Hot ropes of jealousy twisted in her gut, and she felt herself stand up, filled with anger.

  She managed to restrain herself from heading towards the back, and instead directed her long legs to bring her to the bar. Waving halfheartedly to Blake, Katie ordered a top-shelf whiskey and took a liberal sip when it was handed to her.

  “Hey there!” a cheery voice said next to her.

  Katie turned to see Lucky smiling widely at her. “Hey, Lucky. How’s it going?” she muttered, sipping her drink again.

  “Better than you, by the looks of it,” Lucky said, picking the cashews out of the nut bowl. Blake glared at her and flapped a towel in her direction, where Lucky promptly stuck her tongue out in response. “Is this ’cause Ace brought that girl into Blake’s back office where you two usually sneak off to do it when you think we don’t notice?”

  Katie stared at Lucky. Bikers were notorious for their bluntness, but Lucky was on another level. She was young, barely twenty-one, with a bubbly yet dry nature that made her cheeky on a good day and downright disrespectful on a bad one. Right now she was riding the line for Katie.

  “Who is she?” Lucky asked, flipping her black and pink dip-dyed hair over her shoulder. Someone once asked her why she changed her hair so often. Lucky merely gave a secretive smile and said, “It keeps things interesting.”

  Katie glanced at the back room where the door was still closed. “No one important,” she growled, finishing her drink.

  “She looks important,” Lucky said mildly.

  Katie looked back—they were coming out of the office, Fiona in front and Ace close behind her. Instead of joining the gang at the bar, however, Katie watched Ace usher Fiona out through the rear entrance. She put her hand up to order another one.

  “So, Katie,” Lianna said, coming up to stand on the other side of her, “how drunk will we be getting tonight?”

  “Enough,” Katie replied shortly.

  “Enough to bang Diego?” Lianna joked, both Lucky and she breaking into snorts of laughter.

  Diego was actually a nice guy who was incredibly respectful to the women of The Hell Brothers, but he was a notorious tomcat who often picked up whatever was lying around at the end of the night.

  Katie gave her friends a small smile. “No, not Diego. I don’t think I could be drunk enough for that and still be conscious.”

  “Well, then,” Lucky exclaimed brightly, turning Katie on her stool to survey the bar, “let’s take a look at our options.” It was common tradition for the girls to help Katie pick out who she would go home with on the nights Ace would go AWOL with other girls. “I know this is your favorite part, Lianna,” Lucky said drily.

  It was the worst kept secret in The Hell Brothers that Lianna was a lesbian. Ever since she had joined three years back, there had been a quiet understanding that Lianna wasn’t ever going to be anyone’s back-warmer. This, of course, prompted Diego to endlessly pursue her, in a lighthearted manner that Lianna found hilarious.

  “What about him?” Lucky pointed at a man who looked like Fabio with neck tattoos.

  Katie made a face. “His hair is way too long. I don’t even like when I get my own in my mouth, let alone a stranger’s.”

  Lucky and Lianna exchanged confused looks. “Uh, okay…” Lucky said. Katie wasn’t normally very picky. Usually the first attractive guy they pointed out was enough for her, and Fabio definitely fit the bill. “Mind if I hit it, then?” Lucky asked, looking the man up and down. “Because damn.”

  Katie rolled her eyes. If Diego was a tomcat, Lucky was a man-eater. As she liked to put it, she was a hunter who only selected the finest prey.

  Lianna reached over to nudge Lucky, nodding towards Katie. Lucky grimaced—she was being a bad friend. This was about Katie.

  “How about that guy?” Lucky had spotted another hottie who just walked in. He had short, spiked hair with a generous amount of stubble framing his handsome square jaw.

  “Too pretty,” Katie said, shooting him down. “I don’t like guys who look like they might be prettier than me.”

  Lianna sniggered. Katie was one of the most gorgeous women she had ever seen. If there was a man prettier than her, he wasn’t from this Earth. “Stop being such a pity party,” she scolded Katie. “This is usually fun for you.”

  “Well, if there were a halfway decent man here for me, maybe I would be having more fun, if you know what I mean,” Katie said condescendingly.

  “Hey!” Lucky protested angrily. “It’s not our fault you suddenly developed a type!”

  “What about Riley?” Lianna quickly suggested, trying to prevent an argument from breaking out. “I bet he’d piss off Ace quite a bit.” She looked at Lucky to see her worriedly chewing at her bottom lip, looking from Katie to Riley and back again.

  “On second thought,” Lianna said hastily, “maybe you should just avoid men tonight. Ace will never believe you went home alone. He’ll go nuts trying to figure out who you fucked.”

  Katie smiled slowly. “You’re a crafty bitch, aren’t you, Lianna? I like that idea.”

  Lianna laughed uneasily, her heart slowly falling to her feet. Lucky had come into the gang less than a year ago, and while Lianna had never truly dared to hope, she could at least fantasize about the happy, colorful girl.

  Who would have thought, Lianna mused, looking at the tall, dark man. Riley was a quiet guy, or an old soul, as Smalls once referred to him.

  Almost as though he could sense them talking about him, Riley raised his head and waved to the trio sitting at the bar. All three waved back with dopey grins on their faces, even Lianna. Where Diego tried too hard and often scared women away, Riley had a smoothness about him that made him popular with the ladies. Of all the men in The Hell Brothers, Riley was the only one where Lianna understood Lucky’s attraction to him.

  “All right, bitches. I’ll be over at the table. See you there,” Katie said, grabbing her drink and taking a seat amongst the gang.

  Lianna sighed and put up her hand to order a double.

  “Thanks,” Lucky said quietly. Lianna nodded, her mouth tight. “How did you know?” she asked Lianna. “It’s just, we’ve tried to keep it a secret, and…” She trailed off.

  “I didn’t know until a minute ago,” Lianna replied. “I saw your face when I suggested Riley, and I pretty much filled in the blanks from there.”

  “Please don’t tell anyone, Lianna,” Lucky begged her.

  Lianna frowned, taking a large gulp from her glass. “I won’t, but why not? No one would care.”

  “We really like each other,” Lucky explained. “Like, a lot. But we don’t want to ruin what we’ve got going on. I’m not Katie. I can’t handle going back and forth like that.”

  “Katie and Ace have their own issues that don’t have anything to do with you and Riley,” Lianna pointed out.

  Lucky shook her head, her long earrings jangling loudly. “Nuh-uh. Too risky.” She suddenly let out a dry laugh.

  “What is it?” Lianna asked curiously.

  “It’s just funny—not funny ha-ha, more like life is strange,” Lucky clarified. “But it’s like…if Katie talked to Ace about how shitty she felt when he goes and fucks other girls, maybe she would be better off, just like maybe if Riley and I told everyone about our relationship, we might be better off
. But nobody wants to do that, even if it’s better for them; it’s too risky.”

  Lianna gave Lucky a wide-eyed look. “Fucking hell, Lucky. I’m not drunk enough to go there yet,” she joked uncomfortably. Her heart was pounding as she wrestled internally with herself. Lucky was right; if she didn’t say anything, she was a coward. She opened her mouth, changed her mind at the last second, and brought her glass to her lips, drinking deep. Coward it is, then, Lianna thought.

  She watched as Fiona’s friend Melanie fell off of her chair. Katie and Smalls each grabbed an arm, helping her to her feet. Katie adjusted the younger girl’s top so she was properly covered.

  Stuffing a wad of bills into Smalls’ hand, Katie motioned to Melanie. She was telling him to take a cab and bring the girl home safely.