Page 4

Piper

Leather and musk, a lethal combination .

When Beast put his arms around me to show me how to put on the chaps, I had to steel myself not to melt right into his muscular embrace.

I felt heat flood my face as his unique scent went right to my groin, reminding me of how great he was in bed.

Now here I was, with my arms wrapped around him and my hands tucked into the leather belt at his waist.

If I let my hands drift a little lower, what would they find ?

He pulled out onto the highway and the bike picked up speed. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to tease him while we were flying down the interstate.

I’d never been on a motorcycle before. When my father asked if I’d be okay with it, I hadn’t given it much thought beyond anything being fine as long as it got me safely away from those thugs. Now I was glad I’d said yes.

My feet rested on a set of rubber-clad pegs, and I could feel the vibration of the engine beneath me.

Once I got past being a little nervous, a sensation of freedom and exhilaration crept over me.

The wind whipped past, and Beast’s solid bulk in front of me had me feeling safe for the first time since this nightmare started.

As we left the city behind, the traffic thinned out.

The bike swooped around the corners, and I clung to Beast as he leaned into the curves.

I had no idea where we were, and I didn’t care.

Drake couldn’t find me racing down the interstate on the back of a motorcycle.

I don’t know how long we were on the road. It had been late when we started out, so when Beast slowed and pulled onto a side road, I wasn’t sure whether it was for a quick pit stop or if we were done for the day. To be honest, now that the adrenaline had worn off, I was exhausted.

The road twisted and turned, winding its way past fields of weeds and grass until we were in front of a shabby-looking motel with a vacant sign flashing.

Beast pulled around the back of the main building, out of sight of the road. Killing the engine, he pulled his helmet off and hung it on handlebars. “Off you get, Piper. We’ll bunk down here for the night.”

I swung my leg over the bike and almost slid to the ground. I hadn’t realized how stiff I’d be after spending a couple of hours snuggled up behind a great big Beast on a vibrating machine like the Harley. Regaining my balance, I pulled my helmet off and ran my fingers through my hair.

“Here.” Beast took the helmet from me and hung it beside his. Unlatching the leather saddlebags, he strung them over one shoulder and reached for my hand.

A little confused, I slipped my hand into his and he led me over to the back door.

“Buddy of mine from back in the SEALs owns this place. I stop here from time to time, but I don’t want to get him involved in anything so pretend we’re a thing.”

“A thing?” I wrinkled my nose.

“Yeah. Like we’re together. You know. Guy and girl shit.”

“Oh, that kind of thing.” I suddenly had this insane urge to tease him. “Like I can’t wait to get you out of those clothes and into me?”

The stunned look he turned on me had me spluttering with laughter. “You should see your face! You look like I just suggested you sell your precious bike and buy a Volkswagen.”

Beast shook his head. “You’re going to be trouble, aren’t you?”

I grinned, holding onto his hand with both of mine. “Yeah. I guess I am.”

“Did I ever tell you I have twin girls at home? You’re going to have to up your game if you want to be more trouble than them.”

“No.” I felt my stomach drop. I had a strict rule against playing around with someone else’s man. “You’re married?”

He shook his head. “Hell no. That ended a few years ago, but the girls live with me, and they’ve taught me a lot.”

I felt the weight lift off me. “Like what?”

“Like how to turn the tables on females who think they can shock me.”

I grinned. Maybe it was the fact that Drake couldn’t possibly find me here, but I felt almost giddy. “Am I supposed to be scared now?”

“If you’re smart, you’ll wonder how I plan to do that.”

I laughed, just as someone opened the door and beckoned us inside.

“Hey, Tinker. How’s it going?” Beast gave my hand a little squeeze, warning me to be quiet.

“Pretty good. Enough business to pay the bills without making me work too hard. You?”

“Taking a road trip with Piper here. She wanted to see the country from the back of a bike.”

Tinker held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Enjoying the trip?”

“So far. Haven’t seen much yet.”

“No?” Tinker looked confused.

Beast wrapped an arm around me. “Piper’s from the West Coast. Met her on the last trip out, and we hit it off. Came back to get her so we’re heading back to the clubhouse now.” He looked down at me. “Can’t wait for you to meet the gang.”

I felt out of my depth. I had no idea what the heck was going on, so I played along. “Me either. Should be fun.”

“They’re a good bunch.” Tinker turned and headed inside.

“I’ll put you in the suite on the second floor, okay?

Bigger room and I just redid the ensuite.

Watched one of those ‘how to tile a bathroom’ videos on YouTube and wanted to try it.

Might have overdone it a tad. The shower’s big enough to hold a party in.

” He threw an amused look over his shoulder. “Or in your case, a party for two.”

I felt my face heat up and I flashed a look up at Beast. He just shrugged slightly, but I could see he was trying not to laugh. So much for me trying to embarrass him. I needed to meet those twins of his.

Tinker slipped behind the reception desk and grabbed an old metal key off a pegboard on the wall. “Room 214. The cleaning girl put fresh sheets and towels in there this morning so you should be good to go. You going to want anything else before you turn in?”

“You have a couple beers handy?” Beast looked down at me. “Beer okay or did you want something else?”

“Beer’s fine.” Anything wet would be good at this point.

“Coming right up.” Tinker disappeared for a moment and returned with a six pack of beer. “This do?”

“Looks great. Put it on our tab.” Beast snagged the beer and the key without letting go of me. “See you in the morning.”

Tinker nodded. “You need a wake-up call?”

“Nah. We don’t have a schedule to keep.”

“Good night then. Nice to meet you, Piper.”

“You too.”

Beast and I headed up the stairs. No elevator, but not a surprise. I imagine anyone who couldn’t handle stairs simply stayed on the main floor. This wasn’t exactly the Ritz, but it had a quaint charm and its out-of-the way location was a plus right now.

Our room was at the end of the hallway, and when Beast opened the door, I was pleasantly surprised. The room was large, with a king-sized bed in the middle and a sitting area in front of a picture window off to the right. I took a deep breath. “It smells so clean!”

“You can smell ‘clean’?” Beast looked amused.

“Yeah, of course.” I took another deep breath. “See? It smells just like this room.”

“Huh.” He didn’t look convinced. Crossing the floor, he flipped the light switch to the ensuite and let out a low whistle. “Damn, Tinker wasn’t kidding. This is the king of bathrooms!”

I moved over to him and peered through the doorway. “Nice! Hope the water’s hot.” Striding back into the main room, I started peeling off my clothing. “Nothing like a hot shower to wash away a crappy day.”

Beast raised one brow.

“What?” I paused with one hand on the waist belt of the chaps. “I’m too tired to pretend I’m shy. You’ve seen me naked.”

“That was before you turned out to be the daughter of a client.”

“Not really.” I discarded the chaps and started to shimmy out of my pants. “I’ve always been his daughter. You just didn’t know it.”

“And you are now officially my assignment.” He shook his head. “Not a good idea to mix business with pleasure.”

I smiled sweetly. “Your choice, but I’m going to have a nice, hot shower and I’m not doing it with clothes on.

” My pants pooled at my ankles, and I kicked them aside.

Dressed in nothing but a bra and panties I strode back to the bathroom and removed them before I stepped into the gigantic shower stall.

I fiddled with the knobs for a few minutes until I had a delightful torrent of hot water streaming down on me from the rainfall showerhead.

I closed my eyes and let out a happy sigh.

When Beast didn’t join me, I felt a pang of disappointment. He had to be the sexiest man I’d ever seen. Well over six feet of rock-hard muscles and tattoos. My mouth watered as I remembered how he’d made me come multiple times that night we’d spent together.

Drake had been exciting, but he’d never made me feel the way Beast did. In hindsight, I think I’d been more in love with being in a relationship with such a suave, well-heeled man than with the actual man.

Beast wasn’t as sophisticated or polished as Drake, not even remotely, but he appealed to me on a more basic level. Just the thought of what he could do with those big hands of his had me reaching down to touch myself.

I opened my eyes. Through the streaming water, I could just see him standing by the bed, his eyes hooded as he watched me.

I slid the tip of my tongue out to trace the shape of my lips as I started to play with myself.

* * *

Beast

I told myself I should just ignore her. The little witch knew exactly what she was doing, but I couldn’t turn away.

She probably wasn’t much more than five feet four, maybe five feet five if you were being generous, but she had just enough curves and they were all in the right places.

My cock was semi-hard just remembering what it felt like to run my hands over those curves.