Page 127 of Burning Ember

“Sure.” Ember’s brows rise slightly.

My instinct is not to leave her alone out here. I’m slightly irritated that is exactly what I’m going to have to do. “Find a seat, and save me a spot. I’ll be right there,” I tell her. My eyes follow her as she walks off and takes a seat beside Lil’ at one of the picnic tables.

Throwing me a smug expression, Nick says, “I see you’re one of the smart one’s after all.”

“Whatcha need, Nick?”

She waves me into the clubhouse. “Let’s talk inside for a minute, and then you can help me bring out the pies your girl made.” I check on Ember and see she’s having a conversation with Lil’ and Taffy. She looks like she’s doing fine and Goose is there at the table, so I trust he’ll watch out for her if need be.

I follow Nick through the backdoor of the clubhouse and into the kitchen. Once she double checks that we’re alone, she says, “I want someone else on watch at the house besides Rigor.”

Eyeing her curiously, I ask, “Why? What happened?”

“Nothin’ yet. But he and Taffy are getting closer than I’d like to see them get. I want you to put a stop to it, pull him from the house, and talk to him. Cap may not pull through, but if he does that boy’ll be nothin’ but soil.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

She pats my arm. “I thought you would. It’s better for everyone this way. Rig’s a good kid.” She pulls two pies from the pantry and hands one to me. Then she pulls out one more and heads out of the kitchen. Through the kitchen window, I find the prospect. Sure enough, he has his eyes on Taffy.

Yep, I need to squash this. Rigor is only about two months away from earning his patch. But if Dozer or Edge catches wind of his interest in Taffy, that’ll never happen. Although he’s mostly a miserable kind of guy, he’s one of the best prospects we’ve ever had.

Exiting the backdoor, I jerk to a halt as I come face to face with Star.

“Hey, Mav.”

“What are you doin’ out here?”

“Grinder told me to bring out another bag of ice.”

Bullshit.Grinder hates this bitch and he’d never ask her for shit. Especially to come outside when the yard is full of old ladies who’d love nothing more than to get their hands on her.

“Get back inside,” I snap. Looking around I see half of the old ladies already watching her and glaring.

Star trails her fingers up my arm and goes up on her tips toes. “Come with me, and I’ll let you bend me over your desk again.”

Snatching my arm away, I grate out, “Let me be crystal fuckin’ clear. The only reason I brought you back here was to make Edge’s night, not mine. There is only one woman I want touchin’ me and in case you haven’t figured it out, it’s not you. If you come within three fuckin’ feet of me again, or say shit like that to me again, you’re done. And this time you won’t be walkin’ the fuck out. You feel me?”

“Yes. S-shit, Mav. I—”

“Get inside. Now.”

She hustles inside and I glower at everyone who looks over at me. Especially Taz, because he’s laughin’ his ass off. He flings his hand up and down and mimics the sound of a whip.

“Fuck off,” I growl at him. He’s now holding his stomach and stumbling as he laughs harder.

Yeah, he has every right to yank my chain. I’ve officially been with Doll for less than an hour and I’m already whipped. Crazy, considering I haven’t even had the pleasure of tasting or feeling her pussy on my tongue or wrapped around my cock yet.

Which is something I plan to rectify as soon as possible.

The sun disappeared two hours ago, and like an unspoken signal, the party begins to change gears. Some old ladies leave, kids are taken home, and clubpieces start parading around the yard. Then the music gets cranked up, the kegs get rolled out, and the prospects start building fires in the fire pits.

In no time, the place is crawling with bodies. Some are members from other chapters, while others are from support clubs who’ve traveled into town to celebrate with us.

They flood into the yard and fill the clubhouse.

The party gets more out of control as time passes and through it all, I study Doll. Pay attention to her physical responses. I feel it every time her body tenses or her pulse quickens. I watch the emotions flickering across her face, amusement, disgust, shock, and even curiosity. Sometimes she shrinks into my side, or squeezes my hand, and other times she simply fixes her gaze in a direction to avoid witnessing sexual activities going on around us.

I escorted Doll inside a bit ago so she could use the bathroom, and we both got an eyeful of Edge being double-teamed by two strippers in the middle of the main room. One was topless, and the other had nothing on but pasties. Both were doing a hell of a lot more than stripping.