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The truth of my involvement with Riptide was a secret I wasn’t ready to share, not even with my closest sisters.
“Speak of the devil,” Tank muttered.
Our conversation was cut short as the devil made his entrance, his tall frame and confident stride turning heads as he moved through the Roost. His dark hair was pulled back, revealing his sharp jawline and eyes that found mine with a focus that sent a memory of this morning through me.
In a moment of panic, I turned to an old flame, Dave, who had chosen that moment to slink over with a grin that was all charm and no substance. I leaned into him, a move for my sisters’ benefit, but my skin prickled with the falsehood of the gesture.
Riptide’s approach halted momentarily, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he took in the scene of me in another man’s arms. The vibe shifted instantly, with all the unspoken tension my move created.
However, his advance became unflinching, his focus cutting through the chatter of the Roost like a knife. He didn’t even glance at Dave as he reached me, the intensity in his gaze locked solely on mine.
“You ready to leave?” His voice came in a deep rumble, barely concealing the undercurrent of something more, something like jealousy.
As he cracked his knuckles, a habit I’d noticed when he was trying to tamp down on stronger emotions, I caught my sisters’ eyes on us, their expressions full of amusement. We left the Roost together under the pretense of our investigation, the glances from my sisters staring a hole in my back. Stepping into the night with Riptide, I was acutely aware of the balancing act I was performing, between loyalty to my sisters, the burgeoning something, and the imminent danger we were racing to uncover. The night ahead promised no answers, only more questions, but turning back wasn’t an option.
With my Harley out of commission, my only option was to ride with him, a fact that both irritated and secretly pleased me. He fired up his bike, the engine’s growl booming in the quiet night. We left the Roost behind. The ride was a silent battle of wills until Riptide suddenly veered off, pulling up beside an abandoned warehouse, the structure looming like a specter in the moonlight.
Chapter 11
Brat
Once Riptide cut the engine, he faced me. “Care to explain what that was about with that prick Dave?” he asked, his voice tight, the earlier hints of jealousy now openly coloring his tone.
“You know him? He’s a lawyer, you know,” I asked, teasing.
“Yeah. No one around here I don’t know,” he answered, curtly. “How do you know him?”
“It was nothing,” I retorted, my defense more reflexive than thought-out. “He’s old news. My sisters can’t know about you and me. Just playing the part, you know?”
Riptide’s laugh was short, devoid of humor. “Looked like more than ‘nothing’ to me.”
“What about you and my president?” I asked, my voice full of accusation rising.
“What?” he exclaimed.
“She says she’s been mixed up with you before,” I explained.
“Oh, hell no. I had nothing with that woman. Nothing like that. She’s married, for Christ’s sake. We’ve crossed paths, that is all. We’ve been in a physical fight. Alright?”
“You fought a woman?” I asked, aghast.
“Rage started it. She asked for it. And it’s not like that either. She verbally asked to throw down, trying to prove a point. I played my part. I went easy on her.”
My jealousy was satisfied before he asked if I was jealous. “No,” I was able to answer truthfully.
“This morning,” he began, his voice dropping. “What happened between us…”
I cut him off, unwilling to dive into those waters with him standing so close, his presence overwhelming my senses. “It was just sex, Riptide. It doesn’t mean anything.”
His reaction was immediate, a flash of something intense and raw passing over his features. “Just sex doesn’t cut it, Brat. I’ve got a responsibility to my club to find this killer. You’re a distraction. A damn irresistible distraction.”
Before I could argue, he was on me, his hands finding the wall beside my head, his body pressing close. My legs wobbled as danger and excitement overtook me.
“This is like high school all over again, isn’t it? Wanting what we can’t have,” he breathed against my neck.
There was a truth in his words that resonated deeply, rekindling the thrill of our hidden desires from years past. His possessiveness, so at odds with the freedom our world revered, sparked a fire within me I couldn’t deny.
When he kissed me, it was with a passion that felt like a storm breaking, fierce and all-consuming. His lips were insistent, demanding, breaking down my defenses with a ferocity that left me breathless. The world around us, the danger, the secrets, the looming threat to our clubs, melted away until there was nothing but the raw intensity between us.
