THE OUTLAW’S BRIDE Read online

  The girl half-stepped, half-stumbled out of the car, grabbing onto a parking meter to stabilize herself.

  William shut the door and rolled down the window. “See you next week, Macy.” He smirked, turning on his lights and speeding away.

  As he drove to Fiona’s house, William reached into his glove compartment and pulled out a burner phone. His eyes flicking from the road to the screen, he dialed Alexei as quickly as he could.

  “Alexei!” William exclaimed when he answered. “Did you send anyone to Fiona’s place today?”

  “No, why?” Alexei asked, confused. “What happened?”

  “There was an emergency call to her house, something about a possible intruder,” he told him. “I thought maybe you—”

  “No,” Alexei repeated, cutting William off. “I sent no one. Do you think our friend Niko has managed to piss off someone else besides us?”

  “I’m not sure. I’m about to drive by her house now and take a look. I’ll let you know what I see,” William said. He slowly cruised down Fiona’s road, the bright white floodlight on top of his hood illuminating the entire neighborhood.

  There it was—a distinctly matte black motorcycle with red accents—Ace Connor’s bike.

  Chapter 7

  Ace had Fiona’s arms pinned together at the wrists, holding her firmly but gently underneath him on the bed. Feeling very grateful Alexei hadn’t shot up the bedroom, Ace gazed down at her, amazed with the sheer mass of her hair. It curled around her head, creating a dark hazelnut cloud around her.

  He pressed his lips to her throat, then her collarbone, loving the way her soft skin felt to his mouth. Little goosebumps spread down her arms, and he kissed those, too. Slipping his hands under her tank top, he began to slide it upwards, inch by inch, trying to memorize the sight of her taut stomach.

  Ace glanced down to see Fiona wickedly grinning at him. He felt her shift beneath him and suddenly, his view was spinning. Fiona had used her powerful hips and thighs to roll Ace onto his back so she was straddling him.

  She placed her hands on his shoulders, leaning forward so her breasts swayed tantalizingly above him. Ace strained his head to reach, nearly crying out in frustration when he found he could not.

  Fiona giggled, a delightful sound that Ace couldn’t get enough of—he caught himself involuntarily grinning whenever he heard it. Fiona kissed him forcefully, her tongue entwining with his as he felt her hands delicately undo his belt buckle.

  This is exactly how I wanted this, Ace thought eagerly. She actually wants me—she wants to be with me. Any other way, and I don’t know if I actually could have gone through with it.

  He sat up to help Fiona slide his shirt off, revealing his muscular chest and stomach. She traced her fingers across every crease and sinew of his upper body with a gentleness Ace had never encountered before.

  Fiona brought her hands lower, to the elastic edge of Ace’s boxer-briefs. Hesitating for only a moment, she carefully lifted them over the head of Ace’s fully engorged cock. Fiona’s fingers hovered millimeters away from touching it, and Ace could feel the warmth radiating from her hand. He bit his lip, anxiously waiting for her to do…something, anything. The anticipation was agony.

  “Please,” he begged her softly.

  Fiona snapped her head up to look at him, pulling her hand away as though caught doing something naughty.

  Ace moaned at the sheer innocence of the subconscious act. “Please, Fiona,” he repeated. “I’m dying to see you again,” he told her.

  Fiona looked down at herself—she was still fully clothed, whereas Ace was fully nude. Raising up on her knees, she swiftly pulled her shirt over her head, revealing a dark gray lace bra. Her nipples immediately perked up at the rush of cool air, and Ace reached up to tweak one through the thin fabric.

  “Now the bottoms,” he ordered with a twinkle in his eyes.

  Trying, and failing, to hide her smile, Fiona stood up and undid the buttons on her pants, slowly slipping them down her legs. She stepped out of the bottoms to show matching lace panties that had a small bow on the front.

  Ace found he couldn’t get enough of Fiona surprising juxtaposition of inexperience and inherent sex appeal. He recalled the time Katie had put on this virginal white number, trying to spice things up for them. Ace had struggled to finish; he got weirded out and had to pretend he’d jerked off earlier.

  It wasn’t just that Katie is a shitty actress, Ace remembered, it was creepy, pretending to have sex with a virgin. Ace always had sex with experienced women because he didn’t want to be responsible for anyone’s hurt feelings the next morning. A person’s first time should be something they want to remember, not something they regret, he thought.

  As he watched Fiona climb back onto the bed to straddle him once more, his throbbing hard cock resting against the welcoming heat of her pussy, he thought the reason he was so attracted to her was because she was inexperienced, but she wasn’t a delicate flower either.

  After all the women Ace had been with, it was a powerful feeling to have the tables flipped, and him be the teacher for once. He reached behind her back to unhook her bra, sliding the straps down her shoulders.

  She sat on his lap, bare-chested and proud, looking down at Ace with those blue eyes, and suddenly he didn’t feel so powerful anymore. He gasped, feeling her wrap her hand around his cock, her thumb sensually caressing the head. Ace urged his hips upward instinctively.

  Fiona giggled again, loving Ace’s smile. She was enjoying herself immensely. With Ash, he just wasn’t…enough, in all the many ways that could be interpreted.

  Just a few hours ago, she was upset, angry even, with Ace ditching her—but watching him toss Ash out on his ass had Fiona hotter than Ash had ever been able to make her.

  She raised herself up, grazing Ace’s aching member with her thigh. Ace was nearly whimpering, he wanted Fiona so badly.

  Right as she was about to remove her panties, Ace heard his phone ring somewhere deep within his jeans—wherever those were. Groaning, he rubbed his face with his hands, trying to telepathically murder whoever was on the other line.

  “Ignore it,” Fiona said.

  “I can’t,” Ace protested lamely.

  Fiona bent over on all fours, her round ass sticking high into the air, teasing Ace with its closeness. She giggled at his obvious despair. “You’re the leader, aren’t you?” she asked, her eyes filled with all kind of mischievous thoughts. “You can do what you want.”

  Ace watched her crawl towards him, licking her lips as she did. She was clearly liking the effect she had on him. “I really can’t,” he said, not very convincingly. “What if it was your phone?” he asked.

  Fiona stopped—he had a point. If it were Niko, she would answer in a heartbeat; things were dangerous for everyone right now. It was important to stay in touch, no matter what else was going on around them. You allowed yourself to forget that, all because you couldn’t keep your hormones in check! Fiona scolded herself. Her cheeks burned from embarrassment; she couldn’t believe that she let herself get so out of control. Last night you were pissed as fuck that Ace wanted to trade sex for Niko’s safety, and here you are today, practically throwing yourself at him!

  She was so absorbed in her self-deprecation she didn’t even hear Ace’s conversation on the phone.

  He hung up and put a hand on Fiona’s shoulder. She jumped, startled.

  “Woah!” Ace said, chuckling. “Easy there.”

  “Everything okay?” she asked anxiously.

  “Yeah, they just want me back at the house,” Ace explained. “I told them I was going to do some recon today.”

  “And then you ended up staying here?” Fiona said with a small smile.

  Ace grinned at her. “Well, the temptation was difficult to resist. I do have to go now, though,” he added regretfully, “so we will have to finish this later.”

  He found his pants, and pulled them on. Fiona grabbed his shirt and vest, and passed them to him. Ace looke
d her over; wild hair, naked chest, full hips—he felt his cock strain against his pants and he dropped his gaze. If he didn’t hustle, he’d never make it out of here.

  “I’ll call you,” he promised with a wink, kissing Fiona swiftly and roughly on the mouth.

  Ace stepped outside, shrugging on his vest, breathing in the cool night air. He adjusted his pants a bit, then swung his leg over his bike and started the engine. He hadn’t said anything to Fiona, but it had been Katie on the phone, and she sounded pissed. Ace didn’t care, though, because he knew the news about Alexei would put her square on her ass, where she belonged.

  He roared down the street, too focused to see the dark car parked under an overhanging tree across the street. The window rolled down, and Alexei leaned out the window to watch the gang leader’s taillights disappear into the night.

  ***

  “Finally,” Katie grumbled, hearing Ace’s motorcycle pull into the yard.

  He’d been gone all day, and Katie was more than a little suspicious all of that time had been spent gathering information. At this point, she wasn’t even as concerned about Ace cheating on her, per se, than she was his seemingly general disregard for the fate of The Hell Brothers. She strode over to the front door, opening it as Ace’s heavy boots clomped up the porch steps.

  “Where have you been?” Katie demanded when he walked into the house.

  “Uptown,” he answered shortly.

  “You went into Alexei’s territory?” she asked, surprised.

  “That’s where I said I was gonna go, isn’t it?” he retorted. “Get everyone together in the living room. I’ve got news,” he ordered her.

  Katie gave him a harsh glare, her black hair whipping through the air as she turned on her heel and stomped out of the room. Ace looked after her guiltily. He hadn’t meant to be so short with her, but just seeing her face right now made him irritated.

  Ace threw himself down on the beaten up couch, waiting for the gang to gather around him. Once enough of them were in front of him, Ace stood up, getting up on the couch so he could see all of them and be seen. He spotted Katie glowering at him from the doorway and he looked away, ignoring her.

  “Earlier today I told you all that I thought Alexei was too much of a problem to keep around any longer, and some of you,” he glanced at Katie, “think I’m doing this for the wrong reasons.” He noticed a few people seemed to be muttering—mostly the girls, Katie’s friends. Ace briefly wondered what she’d told them.

  “Well, today I went Uptown, and I found Alexei’s warehouse,” he continued, “and I discovered that he has been jumping his own runners.” Ace met Katie’s eyes as he said this, enjoying how they widened in shock.

  The murmuring increased as people whispered agitatedly to each other. Just as Ace had expected, they were appalled at Alexei’s willingness to break one of the oldest codes.

  “Allowing him to stick around is too dangerous, as he’s shown he can’t be trusted—not even by his own people. It’s time for The Hell Brothers to rise up against him and take him down for good!” Ace cried aloud, reveling in the cheer rising up around him.

  “Smalls, Riley, Katie, and Diego,” Ace shouted over the din, “meet me upstairs for a strategy meeting!” He hopped off of the sofa, shouldering his way through the crowd as he headed for his bedroom.

  Taking advantage of the fact that he was the first one there, he raked his hands through his hair, letting out a tense sigh. He was confident in his decision, but getting rid of Alexei was still a big job to take on.

  Smalls knocked lightly on the partially open door, sliding into the room at an angle due to his mass. “Hey, boss,” he said, giving a little wave.

  Diego walked in next, followed by Riley, who had to duck under the doorway, and then finally Katie, who sat on his dresser in the corner with her arms crossed.

  “Hey, guys,” Ace said, trying to keep his voice light. “Let’s hear it.” He sat in his plush, dark leather armchair, pulling the lever so the seat was upright.

  Smalls and Diego sat on the bed next to each other and Ace had to fight to keep a grin off of his face. Ace had a king-size mattress, so Smalls looked proportionate to the bed, but Diego, whose feet didn’t reach the floor, and whose head barely reached Smalls’ shoulder, looked comically small.

  Ace deliberately looked away, turning to Riley, who was leaning against the wall next to the door. “You first, Riley,” he said, listening carefully.

  It was important to him to hear these guys out. Ace had carefully selected his inner circle, wanting it to be as diverse as possible. None of them ever thought the same way, or came up with the same ideas, though half the time the meetings disbanded due to arguing and fights. Ace didn’t care; unlike most gangs, who limited their members based on specific criteria, The Hell Brothers was as varied as they come, and it was their differences that made them so hard to predict.

  “Alexei has no regard for the effect his doings have on those around him. He acts without conscience or honor,” Riley said carefully after shutting the door. “I think he should be removed.”

  Ace glanced at Katie—her face was unreadable. “Diego?” he asked.

  “You know my vote, ese,” Diego said, spreading his hands wide. “I’ve been wanting to go after that motherfucker since day one. I say we spread him across downtown.”

  Ace grinned, he knew he could count on Diego. “How about it, Smalls?” he said, turning to the older man.

  Smalls wrung his hands. “Oh, I dunno, Ace. I’ll do whatever you say, but it seems to me like Alexei’s already got his run of the place. I think…” he hesitated, then hurriedly rushed forward, as though trying to get the words out before he lost his nerve, “I think we should relocate.”

  “No way!” Diego exclaimed, jumping down to stand up. “I run from no one, comprendes?”

  Smalls put up his hands defensively, and Riley reached over to put a calming hand on Diego’s shoulder. “Relax, we haven’t made a decision yet,” he told his friend.

  Ace looked at Riley gratefully, then turned to Katie. “What d’you say, Katie? You keep talking about plans—I think it’s time we make one.”

  Katie glared at him. “If what you say is true, and Alexei is attacking his own runners, then the code says we have to run him out of town.”

  Ace held his breath; he had been worried about this. The gang might decide to banish Alexei and his mob from Chicago rather than risk too many of their own lives killing everyone. Banishment won’t be enough to stop him from killing Niko, or, more importantly, Fiona, Ace thought nervously, the memory of her straddling his hips causing an immediate reaction down below. He tried to subtly adjust himself, trying to focus. If he wanted Fiona safe, like he promised, he needed everyone to agree to eliminate Alexei for good.

  “But,” Katie continued, “I don’t think he’ll go so easily.” She looked at Ace, her gaze level. “Any confrontation we start with him is going to be a battle to the death—I can feel it,” she said, stifling a shiver. “I think we should go for the kill if we’re going to go for it,” she finally said.

  There is it, Ace realized. We’re going to take out Alexei once and for all. He saw Smalls look at his shoes unhappily. Ace slapped one hand on his thigh forcefully. “All right, then. Diego, grab some beers, and let’s hash out ideas.”

  A little less than two hours later, the group filed out of Ace’s room, excitedly talking about the plan in hushed whispers.

  Ace stood at the door, saying goodnight as people left. It was late, and he was exhausted. Thinking everyone was gone, Ace shut the door, intending to pass out on his bed, when he spotted Katie sprawled across it.

  “You were right,” she said, the statement clearly costing her a great deal of effort. “Come claim your prize,” she added as she spread her legs, her face breaking into a sensual grin.

  Ace laughed uneasily. After the teasing he had endured by Fiona for the last day and a half, Ace’s cock was jumping at the bit to bury itself inside a hot pussy,
but he couldn’t bring himself to walk over to her. What’s wrong with you? Ace mentally berated himself. Why won’t you just fuck her already? If only to quiet this relentless urge. The constant stirring of his manly urges was starting to cloud his mind. His thoughts kept returning to Fiona, her giggle, her hips, her hair…

  He looked at Katie, and all he saw was Fiona. Not knowing what to make of that, he shook his head. “Sorry, Katie, I’m so fucking tired I’d just fall asleep on top of you.” It wasn’t a total lie—he was incredibly tired.

  Katie pouted, shrugging. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” she said playfully.

  Ace rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “Really, Katie. I can’t.”

  “What’s your deal lately?” she said, sitting up crossly. “You’re not in the mood, and you’re barely around.” Her eyes narrowed. “Is this about that civilian again?” she asked suspiciously.