Page 9

Layla hadn’t seen her father in nearly six years. He had attended her high school graduation when her mother died only two months prior. She didn’t have the greatest relationship with him, but he was always there when she needed him. He always seemed to care.

She walked up to him and hugged him. “What are you doing here? I thought you were locked up.”

He smiled and held her to him. “I got out on good behavior. The parole board thought I was better on the outside than the inside.”

She glanced up at him. “I seriously doubt that.”

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. Layla pulled away from him and glanced at Silver, who didn’t look too happy.

“Did I interrupt something?”

She took a seat on the barstool and reached for Silver’s beer. “Tyke was trying to get out of talking to me, but he looks to be in the same amount of pain chatting with you.”

She met his eyes and he tried to look intimidating. It didn’t work.

“Tyke?”

Torque stared at her like she’d lost her mind. He turned toward Silver. “You let her call you Tyke?”

He gripped the edge of the bar, staring at her. “No.”

He said it through clenched teeth and she giggled, taking a sip of the beer. She’d pay for that one. Especially since she’d said it in front of her father. She didn’t care. The look on his face was well worth it. Layla turned to her father.

“What are you two talking about? Me?”

“Yeah.”

Torque sat beside her. “I want to know why you’re fucking this dicksucker.”

Layla sipped his beer. “Don’t call him that. He’s too cute to be a dicksucker.”

Her father stared at her and she shrugged. Silver fidgeted, seemingly uncomfortable with their conversation. Maybe next time he’ll stay in the damn room and have a conversation with her instead of running away from her to engage in an even more uncomfortable situation. The longer he stared at her, the more she realized that she’d pay for that. Later when they were alone, he’d remind her of it and paddle her ass. Her pussy tingled at the thought of it.

Torque ran a hand over his face. “Layla, I’ve tried to protect you from this lifestyle for twenty-five fucking years. When you need money, you know you could have come to me. You didn’t have to go to him to help you. Hell, you could have moved in my house. Take your sisters and raise them. You know I would have done that for you.”

She licked her lips. “I didn’t know that, but even if I did, it is only a temporary fix.”

“And fucking Silver solves all your problems?”

She lifted the beer and drank. “It solves some problems. Sometimes you have an itch that needs to be scratched and Silver is very good at handling that issue.”

Her father stared at her. He gave her that look he gave everyone when they were testing his patience. She wasn’t fazed. He could pull the badass motorcycle club president with Silver and the other guys, but he couldn’t do that with her.

Plus, she was in too good of a mood to be deterred anyway. Things would have been better if she’d been wrapped up in him, lying in his bed, but she couldn’t really complain. Just to annoy him, she reached out and brushed her fingers along the top of Silver’s hand. He leaned forward and grabbed the beer from her. She laughed.

Torque watched their exchange. “So you’re together? It’s not just sex?”

She glanced over at him. “I don’t know what it is, Dad. Why does it matter?”

Torque rubbed the area between his eyes. “Layla, you know that you’re off-limits. He knew that too. The consequence of disobeying is getting his ass kicked.”

It was her turn to give him the annoyed look. “Don’t touch him. I swear this has nothing to do with club life. I’m not involved with the club. I’m involved with Silver. Whatever bullshit you told him years ago doesn’t apply anymore. I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions. The decisions I made have nothing to do with you. You don’t get to have a say in who I fuck.”

Silver let out an audible breath. Torque arched an eyebrow at her and then turned his attention to Silver. Layla watched as Silver gave them both his back.

“You’re right, Layla, you are a grown adult.”

Torque looked at her again. “But you are also my daughter and I can make rules if I want. A well-known rule of my club members is that they stay away from my daughter. That is the way it is and it won’t change.”

Layla stood and reached for Silver’s beer and lifted it to her lips. “You don’t have the right to beat up Silver for fucking me. I don’t care what rules you make in your club. I would never forgive you for that.”

Silver turned. “Layla, stop.”

Torque ignored him. “If he hurts you, you better goddamn expect me to fuck him up. And I don’t need your forgiveness, babe. You’ve barely lived in this world. You don’t know what’s good for you and what’s not.”

Torque leaned back in his chair relaxing some. “You’re not your mom, Layla. You’re so much more. Better than this lifestyle. I don’t want you focused on some dipshit that fucks you and leaves you. I want you to go out and focus on making something for yourself. To be everything your mother and I couldn’t.”

“What’s so wrong with this lifestyle?”

Layla glanced to the side to see Dooby still going at it with a different chick on the pool table. “Besides the orgies.”

“Everything.”

He reached for her hand and rubbed the back of it with his thumb. “You should aim higher. Be a lawyer and prosecute lowlifes like me. Or be a doctor and save kids with cancer like your sister. You used to be a really good artist. Maybe you could open your own studio and sell your paintings. You used to color me pictures all the time.” He smiled at her, at the memory. “I don’t care what you want to do, but do something that is better than this. This is not the life for you. You’re better, Layla. You always have been.”

He sat back in his seat and motioned for Silver to get him a beer. Layla looked at Silver and the pain she saw there hurt. Her father had basically said that Silver wasn’t good enough for her. What Silver had to offer wasn’t good enough for her. She smiled at him, hoping that she could reassure him. He didn’t return the gesture.

She didn’t feel that way. There were plenty of things she knew that happened with the club that she didn’t want any part of. There was plenty of crime. All of them had a record, but so did she now. She really couldn’t judge them based off stuff she didn’t know and understand.

Layla turned to her father. “What is the point of being in the Charming Bastards MC? Family. Loyalty. Community. I’m not planning on being a groupie or a hangaround. I don’t want to be part of the club life and it’s not because I’m better. I’m not. All three of us have criminal records, or do I need to remind you of that?”

Torque had one arm propped up on the bar with his beer in his other hand. Instead of waiting for him to answer, she continued.

Rubbing the condensation on the beer bottle, she said, “I’d taken on a situation that was too big for me to handle. I went from being a teenager to being the mom of teenagers at eighteen. I worked my ass off to make sure they were taken care of. I felt horrible that Natalie stole from the supermarket because she was hungry and I didn’t have money to buy food.”

She glanced up at the compassion filling Torque’s face. “They wanted to lock her up in juvy because she was considered a troubled kid. She had an attitude and it was a big blow up when she got caught. I took the blame. I went to jail instead and the girls went with Miranda.”

Torque sipped his beer. “You’re a strong person, baby. You’ve got my genes in you.”

“I can handle this life.”

He let out a breath and glanced over at Silver. “What’s your take on this, VP?”

His gaze burned into her. “You don’t even know the beginning of this life.”

Layla stared at him. “Wow.”

Torque groaned. “Baby, you’ll always be second. He’s fucking VP of the Charming Bastards. He’s got responsibilities and priorities that you don’t understand. Whatever you think can happen with him is not reality. To him, you will always be second and you deserve to be first.”

“You’re the fucking president and you’d drop everything if I needed you to. What’s the difference?”

Torque shook his finger at her. “If you don’t know the answer to that question then you don’t understand anything about our life.”

She swallowed. She felt her heart shattering and it hurt. Maybe she didn’t understand them. Growing up, her father popped in and out of her life at his own will. She didn’t ask him to be at her mother’s funeral, but he was there. He sat beside her, wrapped his arm around her, and let her cry on his shoulder while she grieved.

Standing, she adjusted her shirt and turned to leave. Silver didn’t treat her like she was a second-class citizen. She never imagined that he would. There was plenty she didn’t know, but there was plenty that he simply couldn’t fake or hide either. In the few days they’d been together, he did a pretty good job of shielding her from the club life. Granted she spent most of her time in his room by herself when she wasn’t working. He didn’t require her to participate in the orgies or the parties. It seemed like he only wanted to fuck and party with her. The confusion didn’t help the headache she’d developed. Layla went into Silver’s apartment and gathered her stuff from his room, shoving it in her tote bag.

“What are you doing?”

Silver stood in the doorway, watching her.

“What do you think?”

She brushed her hair away from her face and glanced around the room. “I need a ride back to my apartment.”

After she grabbed most of her stuff, she turned and faced him. His jaw was set and he didn’t take his eyes off her. She could push her dad. Some part of her resented him for not being there everyday, but the other part was a little girl that simply liked hanging around her father. Silver was different. Most of her infatuation with him was curiosity. He was full of intrigue, mystery. He kept to himself. Even with his friends, he always minded his own business. She’d never seen him pissed off or back talk anyone. In many ways, he was the complete opposite of her.

“You don’t have an apartment to go back to. That roach infested dump is not worthy of even the most disgusting of people. Definitely not you.”

“It’s better than here.”

She folded her arms over her, feeling too vulnerable. Some part of her wanted more with him. She thought with his obsession with her that maybe some part of him wanted the same. Some part of her wanted him to stand up to her dad. To tell him that he was being a fool and that he wanted her and would be the guy her father had dreamed of her being with. Instead, she felt used. She completely agreed to what had happened so it was an irrational thought and feeling, but it was there. Her mother had always told her not to expect much from them. Her foolish mind thought things would be different with Silver. She tried to chalk it up to club life, but her father was right.

She deserved better.

He didn’t say anything which wasn’t a huge shock. Layla shook her head and met his eyes. “You could have said something to him. I stood up for you and you completely backed down, agreeing with him. I guess you’ve had your fucking taste and you’re done now, right? Wasn’t that our agreement?”

He took a step back. “I’ll take you home.”

“Yeah, be the pussy that you are.”

Layla moved past him, heading toward the main room of the club.

Her father had moved on to more entertaining things. One of the women that had been hanging around the men for the night lay beneath him on the couch while he squeezed her breast and ate at her mouth. Layla had no right to hate everything the club represented, but she did. She was stupid to think that she could ever be a part of it in the first place.

Silver straddled the bike and held out his hand for her. She ignored it and climbed on the back, refusing to touch him in any way. He started it with a roar and they took off.

Layla took in the scenery as they rode to her apartment. Her day had been shitty and since she had no plans for sleeping, a nice long bath sounded really nice. She doubted she had any bubble bath, but the plain water would feel great against her tired body. He parked in the spot in front of her apartment and she got off. She had no idea why he followed her to the door, but he wasn’t coming inside.

“What did you expect, Layla?”

He reached out and covered her hand with his. “We had an agreement to fuck. Nobody said anything about a relationship.”

“Well, you got what you wanted.”

She twisted the key in the lock and pushed inside. He followed her before she could close the door in his face. “Leave! Go back to the fucking club you love so damn much and leave me the hell alone.”

He pressed her against the wall. “That would be so fucking easy if I had never had you.”

He slipped his hand under her shirt. “But I have had you and I fucking want more.”

She grabbed his hand and pushed him away. “Get off me.”

“Or what?”

She shook her head and moved away from him. He followed her down the hall to the bathroom, pressing against the door when she tried to close it. Tears filled her eyes. He forced his way into the room and lifted her so that she sat on the vanity.

“You said this thing with us had nothing to do with the club.”

She stared at him. “Why are you going to let my dad rule your life?”

He placed his hands on either side of her thighs. “Because like it or not, Torque is your father. He makes the rules, not you, and not me.”

She snorted. “What’s he got against you? Too much dipping your dick where it doesn’t belong?”

Silver didn’t say anything immediately. “Maybe.”

“And how is that any different than any other guy out there? Am I supposed to date a virgin? There’s a thrill in the sack. Five seconds and it’s over.”

He scoffed. “You sound so experienced.”

“I am. My first time was in the back of a Toyota Corolla with a guy that fucked like a jackhammer.”

She rubbed her forehead. “A few thrusts and he was done.”

Silver cupped her cheek. “I know the feeling.”

Layla batted his hand away. She didn’t want his comfort, his touch. Everything was a fucked up mess and the last thing she needed was the one thing she wanted comforting her. She did fine on her own. It sucked, but she managed. She regretted taking the money. She regretted the sex even though it was pretty damn great. She should have stuck to her miserable existence and worked her ass off to pay for everything. She didn’t need the Charming Bastards MC. She didn’t need Torque and she didn’t need Silver.

“Why are you here? I just needed a ride home and you’ve accomplished that task.”

He took a step back and glanced around the small bathroom. The ugly yellow wallpaper left something to be desired but the building manager wouldn’t let her change it. Upgrading the roach infested dump seemed to be off-limits. He shoved a hand through his hair. He was a man of mystery and words didn’t come to him easily. She could tell by the way he struggled to even answer her question.

“I don’t want you mad at me.”

He blew out a breath. “I don’t care a lot about most people. I definitely don’t care about what they think of me. I had my own ideas about you before we even fucked but the real you is so much better.” He glanced over at her. “You really are like the prize I’ve been wanting all my life and I’m not good enough for you. You called me and I took advantage. I knew that I couldn’t keep you and I knew I’d pay hell for it. Torque set that rule about not fucking you or touching you when he caught me staring the first time. I kept my distance. I knew the consequences, but I still want you to like me.”

He shrugged. “It doesn’t really make sense, but it is what it is.”

Layla thought about what he’d said. “Were you planning to take a beating for being with me?”

“Yeah.”

He leaned against the wall in front of her. “It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“You’re not going to convince me of that.”

She reached out for him and pulled him between her legs. He fit perfectly. His hands went up to cup her cheeks as he bent forward to kiss her lips.

“You’ve had a shitty day, baby. Let me take care of you.”

She shook her head. “I don’t want sex with you.”

He pressed his forehead against hers. “What do you want?”

“I want to take a bath and go to bed.”

His hands slid beneath her shirt. “We can do that.”

Before she could protest, he had her shirt over her head and on the floor. The cooler air hardened her nipples beneath his gaze. She could see all kinds of nonsense filling his mind and rolled her eyes before sliding from the vanity.

“Don’t get cocky. It’s cold in here. I’m not aroused.”

She pulled her shorts off and went to turn on the faucet.

While the bathtub filled, she turned and found him naked, watching her. The man had a beautiful body. She swallowed hard, not completely unaffected. He radiated heat and if she didn’t know better, he was exactly the person she wanted to snuggle up to. He moved her slightly and stepped into the bathtub. Being naked with him and just taking a bath was nonsense. She knew before he left her apartment he’d have her one more time.

“How exactly is this supposed to work?”

She stared at him. “You take up the whole bathtub.”

He beamed. “I guess that means your fine ass will have to straddle me.”

She turned the water off when it hit his abs. He propped his legs up on the sides to create a small amount of space for her to fit. Stepping into the hot water, she slipped and fell on him, landing with his cock nudged against her cleft.

“This is not working.”

He smiled and smoothed her hair from her face. “I think it’s turning out pretty fucking great.”

She licked her lips. “I can’t move. You’re going to have to wash me.”

He grinned. “Gladly.”

She took advantage of the moment and curled up against his warm chest. “Have at it.”

He splashed water on her skin. His big hand stroked her back while the other hand continued to dribble water all over her body. He pulled her leg over his and let the warm water drip from his fingers and down her crack. Layla sucked in a breath.

Her clit rubbed against his cock every time she tried to move and the slightest amount of pressure had her gasping. She was needy and he’d made her that way. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had sex and now she couldn’t get enough. What the fuck did she do about that?

“Don’t arouse me.”

She pushed up from his chest.

“Why not?”

He dripped more water down her crack with no shame.

“Because the only way I’m having sex with you again is if you actually have a conversation with me about feelings and family and all kinds of fun stuff.”

She laid her head on his chest and enjoyed the serenity of the water lapping at her skin and the warmth of his body comforting her more than she wanted to admit.

“I don’t have family.”

He smoothed his wet hand along her back. “My mom gave me up when I was five. Bounced around the foster care system and ended up on the streets. Did some petty shit that ended with me locked up. That’s where I met Torque. We were cellmates. Taunted me the entire fucking time that he’d make me his bitch.”

She lifted her head and frowned. “Did he?”

“No.”

He scoffed. “We talked about motorcycles. He had a picture of his and I thought it was the best damn thing I’d ever seen. I wanted one.”

Layla pushed up from him. “So you joined the club.”

“More or less. He promised me family and pussy so I really couldn’t turn it down.”

He brushed his finger over her lower lip. “You were definitely not part of the life. I don’t know how many times he caught me looking at you. He threatened to gut my eyes out with a grapefruit spoon if I even thought about you in my fantasies.”

“Well, I was a kid. It is completely perverse.”

He leaned in and kissed her. “I thought maybe my obsession with you was something along the lines of wanting you because you were off-limits.”

“Was it?”

He lifted his hips slightly and rubbed his hard cock against her pussy. “You’re not exactly off-limits now. What do you think?”

“I’m sure you’d get it up for any woman sprawled across you naked in a bathtub.”

“I’m not so sure.”

He stroked her skin absentmindedly.

She watched him.

He was beyond handsome.

Not rugged like her father and some of the other men, but a sexy biker that looked pretty damn good in his birthday suit. He still had a boyish face, something she liked. Even when he had a beard, it didn’t deter his good looks.

He gazed at her. “I’ve been saving to buy a house.”

He swallowed. “No one really knows that about me. Joker laughs because I put all my money in savings and I don’t spend it on the whores at the club like Dooby and Tank. I think he nearly fainted when I told him I gave you money.”

“Do you want a family of your own? Kids to fill your house?”

He looked over her shoulder. “My family is the club. The guys are my annoying rug rats.”

She pressed her lips against his chest. “You do have a point.”

“What about you?”

“Yeah. Sure. Someday.”

He smoothed her hair back and pulled her to his lips. “Please tell me we’ve talked enough to fuck now.”

She snorted. “Nope. Not nearly enough.”

He lifted her and turned the opposite way so that she was pressed up against the side of the tub. His cock nudged her right before he pushed the tip inside.

“We’ll talk while we fuck.”

He held her ass in his hands and slid inside her. She clutched at the sides of the tub, trying to keep herself from sliding to the bottom.

“How can we have a conversation with you pounding into me?”

He grinned. “I don’t know. Get creative.”

He withdrew and pushed in again. Layla closed her eyes as he leaned down and pressed his face to her neck.

“What do you do in your spare time?”

“Work on my bike.”

He pulled his cock out of her and brushed the tip against her clit. “Next question.”

Layla struggled to think. “I heard you tell my dad that you’re protective of me.”

“Yeah.”

He fucked her in hard sharp strokes, water sloshing everywhere around them. “It’s going to be pretty fucking difficult letting you go. I don’t want to think about another guy touching you or fucking you.”

He pushed inside her and held still. Layla clutched his sides, staring into his eyes. “Promise me that you’ll only date nice guys. Guys that respect you and love you before they get in your pants. Promise me that.”

“Nice guys are boring.”

She clutched his ass and pulled him toward her. “They don’t know how to eat pussy the right way. I could never get wet for a nice guy.”

He groaned and started thrusting again. “Don’t date losers, Layla. They’re not worth it.”

“I want to date you.”

He didn’t look at her and he didn’t stop.

He let out a harsh groan as he came inside her, every muscle in his body going tense with the release.

He was beautiful.

He withdrew from her and lifted her out of the bathtub.

They didn’t bathe like she first intended, but she was ready to get some sleep.

He wrapped a towel around her and grabbed one for himself.

After urging her to her bedroom, he fell onto the bed with her, both wrapped in each other.

They had lain like that for a while, before he said, “You don’t want me, Layla. I’m exactly the type of guy you don’t need.”

She nuzzled his cheek. “Thanks for your concern, but I think I can judge that for myself.”

He pressed a kiss to her temple. “I need to go.”

He sat up. She watched him for a moment before he stood to find his clothes. She wouldn’t beg him to stay. Like her father said, she’d always be second.

He pulled his shorts on and the shirt of his that she’d wore home.

Her feelings ran too deep, too fast.

In all those years ago he’d been wanting her, but she’d also been wanting him.

She noticed him and she liked him.

Her mom forbade her to date a man with a motorcycle which was why her first boyfriend had a Toyota Corolla and a boring personality to go with it.

Brian had been her first everything.

Not only did she thing she didn’t want to be in a relationship, he made her think sex was horrible.

She’d been fifteen at the time and even though Brian was there, she’d been more interested in the guy that always grabbed a soda for her when she visited her dad.

Silver never said anything to her, but she liked that he noticed her.

Liked that he thought of her without preamble. Over the next few years of her life, she had started daydreaming about sex with Silver. She knew there would be nothing terrible about him and she’d been right.

“You’re really going to let me go?”

Layla pulled her feet underneath her. “You’re just going to walk away from me and go back to doing whatever the hell it is that you do at the club?”

He propped his hand on his hip. “I have to.”

“No, you don’t.”

She whispered it, pleading with him. “I don’t want the white picket fence or the babies. We go good together. It’s not fair that you want to give it up over something stupid.”

“You don’t understand, Layla. There are things you’ll never understand about the MC. You deserve better than me. I’m sure that guy is out there somewhere. He’s out there waiting to love you like you deserve.”

“I don’t want that guy. I want you.”

“You can’t have me.”

He thrust his fingers in his hair. “I’ve got to go.”

She watched him leave knowing that he wouldn’t be back. She lay back in her bed and curled up with a pillow. Crying over him wouldn’t solve anything. Exhaustion took over. Her heart felt as if he ripped it apart and there was nothing she could do about it.