Page 23 of Coach (Shady Valley Henchmen #8)

Coach

“Enjoy Texas, man,” Colter said, shaking Rafe’s hand.

All three of the clubs had debated taking on Rafe. His experience and connections—along with a carefully orchestrated escape and survival afterward—made him a desirable prospect.

In the end, though, the Texas chapter was the one that made the most sense. It was a small town, kind of removed from the rest of the world. No one would have ever heard about the prison escape, let alone think to look twice at Rafe.

Plus, Rafe liked the idea of all the room for Steve to run around on the ranch where the clubhouse was located.

“Been a bit like prison here,” Rafe said, but he was smiling. “But thanks for putting me up. And springing my dog from dog jail,” he added, shaking my hand.

“Ready?” Raff, used to the road life, asked, standing there with a giant coffee and a cooler full of sandwiches from Detroit.

“Yep,” Rafe said, slinging a bag over his shoulder and picking up two others that were full of Steve’s chews, toys, and food.

“Yeah,” Syn said, sounding a lot less enthused about another road trip. But he had to wrap up the loose ends of his previous life before he could fully settle in Shady Valley.

“Keep an eye on my brother,” Saint demanded, giving Raff a hard look.

To that, Syn rolled his eyes. “Did fine on my own for years.”

“In a fucking storage unit,” Saint shot back. “Just be careful.”

It was clear Saint wanted to go. But there wasn’t enough room. And he had to worry about his check-ins with his parole officer.

“Yeah, boss man,” Raff said, putting his phone to his ear. “We’re hitting it now.”

Slash, Sway, Detroit, and Crow were all in various locations on the way out of Shady Valley, making sure there were no roadblocks set up or cops parked anywhere.

Rook was conferenced into the call as well, keeping an ear on the police chatter.

No one was going to be able to take a proper breath until the guys were out of California. Luckily, it wasn’t too far to get across the Nevada border.

The rest of us waited with bated breath until the OG club members made their way in, saying it seemed all clear.

Not long after that, we got the text that they were across the border.

By dinnertime, they were already in Arizona.

From our calculations, they were a solid sixteen or so hours, drive-time, to get to the Texas chapter, but they would likely break that up into two or three days, depending on how many stops they (or Steve) needed.

As for the rest of us, we were antsy and restless.

“Why don’t we go for a few drinks?” Colter suggested. “Maybe play a few games of pool?”

The insinuation was clear: without Raff and Syn, no one was feeling like a big party, but we all clearly needed to get out of the clubhouse for a bit.

“Sounds good to me,” I said.

Did I have the ulterior motive of wanting to see Este? Sure. But who cared? Maybe I could talk her into another overnight.

The pub had the usual crowd, and after catching up with the Murphy brothers, we were all pretty much ready to move on.

Colter and Saint beelined for a table featuring three of the typical club girls—sans their usual club outfits, looking comfy and casual in roomy tees, flats, biker shorts, and makeup-free faces.

As for me? I scanned the hall for a familiar face.

A movement out of the corner of my eye had me turning to find Konstantin and Mikhail watching me a little too closely for it to feel fully casual.

They looked like they’d been through the wringer the night before. Their eyes were red, hooded, and sleepless. Mikhail had a split lip. Konstantin was sporting a decent bruise on his jaw.

Mob business was mob business, though, so it wasn’t like I could ask what was going on.

And the second I saw some gorgeous copper hair, I didn’t give a fuck what happened to the Novikoff brothers.

Este’s head was down, focused intently at something on her phone. Her hair was a curtain, making it hard to see her face until she almost plowed into me, causing her to jerk back and look up, an apology on her lips until she saw it was me.

I got the smile then.

Big, easy.

But I was immediately distracted by the things that were wrong with her face right then.

Angry red cracks at the corners of her mouth.

A big rash down her cheek that looked a lot like carpet burn.

My arm lifted, fingers snagging her chin. She tried to duck her head, but I lifted her head tighter, mad that the light in the pool hall was dim and warm, making it hard to see the depth of the injuries.

Este’s gaze flicked to the side, making mine follow to find what she was looking at.

Not what.

Who.

The Novikoff brothers.

Her face.

Their faces.

Rage, familiar and molten, rose up through me, dragging a growling sound out of my chest.

I was half-turning toward them when Este’s hand grabbed desperately at the hand that was still holding her chin, fingers digging in.

Her other hand rose, grabbing the other side of my face, forcing it back toward her.

For just a beat, I registered a kind of panic in her round eyes.

But then she was going up on her tiptoes, pressing her body to my chest, then sealing her lips to mine.

My fucking mind went blank.

The world narrowed down to her. The soft press of her lips, the crush of her breasts to my chest, her fingers on my cheek, her arm that slid from my wrist to wrap tight around my neck.

Maybe it was the surprise of it—not expecting her to reach for me at all in public, let alone at her workplace—I lost any sense of common decency as my one arm anchored around her and my other hand went to the back of her neck to angle her back so I could take the kiss deeper.

I did just that, my lips pressing harder, my tongue seeking hers, my mouth swallowing her soft sighs.

It wasn’t until my cock started to threaten to go from interested to at full attention that I finally began to break away.

Este’s eyes fluttered open, looking up at me all soft and turned on at the same time.

“Want to get out of here?” she asked, her voice husky with desire.

It was hard to form a single thought other than Fuck yeah.

But I did eventually manage to rasp out, “Aren’t you working?”

“I finished early,” she said.

Was there a hint of a false note there?

Maybe. I was honestly too intrigued by the idea of getting her alone and naked to pay close enough attention to her tone or unspoken clues.

“Let’s go then,” I said, reaching for her hand and practically dragging her along with me through the pool hall, ignoring the knowing smirks from my club brothers and a few whistles from townspeople who’d just witnessed our little pre-mating ritual right before their eyes.

“Where are we going?” I asked. “Your place? Mine?”

“Yours,” she decided when she spotted our bikes parked on the street. “But we have to take a walk to pick up Trix in a little bit.”

I could do a lot of good work in a ‘little bit.’ Especially in an empty clubhouse where she would feel comfortable getting as loud as she wanted.

“Ever been on a bike before?” I asked as I got to mine.

“No.”

I handed her the helmet, tightening it around her face. There was another flick of anger at the splits near her lips, at the rash on her face, but I wasn’t exactly thinking with my big head at that moment.

I climbed on, and Este was quick to slide on behind me, her legs bracketing mine, her arms going tightly around me, her whole front against my back.

I wanted to drag her off the bike and down the alley to fuck her against the wall.

The clubhouse felt impossibly far away.

But I was just going to have to be patient.

I peeled away from the curb, and Este’s arms and legs tightened instinctively at the bottoming-out sensation she had to feel in her belly.

But it wasn’t long before her laugh was in my ear—happy, open, excited to be experiencing something new.

I almost wanted to tour her around town just to prolong out her joy.

But the press of my cock against my fly had me turning into the clubhouse driveway instead.

There would be other times for long rides.

We climbed off, and before Este could even reach up to remove the helmet, I ducked down, grabbed her behind her thighs, and lifted her off her feet.

A squeal escaped her as her arms flailed out before going tight around me. Her legs slid around my lower back, tightening, as I turned and walked her back toward the clubhouse.

I couldn’t seem to wait, though, slamming her back against the wall, her helmet crunching a bit at the impact.

My lips swallowed her gasp.

It was all feeling then, all heat.

Lips pressing, tongues tangling, teeth grazing.

My hands slid up from her thighs to cup her ass as I pressed in closer, grinding my cock against the juncture of her thighs.

Her moan vibrated against my lips.

I couldn’t stop myself from pressing in again.

Before long, she was the one rocking, grinding, begging for more.

Moving away from the wall, I carried her back toward the front door, fiddling with the damn key for a second before it swung open while Este removed the helmet and tossed it on the ground.

I pushed her back against the wall just inside the door, allowing me to kick it closed and lock it as her hands clawed at my shirt, trying to rip it off me.

Anchoring her harder against the wall to steady her, I released her ass and reached back to pull it off.

Her hands were greedy, sliding over my arms, shoulders, and down my back.

“Bedroom,” she demanded as she leaned forward, her lips meeting my neck, sparking a fucking wildfire through my system at the feel of her lips, her tongue, her teeth.

A growl moved through me as I turned and strode toward the hallway.

Using my foot, I shoved up the wooden gate of the elevator, then moved us inside.

I barely managed to get it closed before her legs were sliding down from my sides.

I didn’t know her intentions for a moment.

But then her hands were teasing down my stomach, making my muscles twitch, making my cock do the same.

When her hands met my waistband, working the button and zipper of my fly loose, her head angled up to watch me as she slowly lowered down to her knees.

A curse escaped me as she reached inside to close her hand around my cock, stroking me once, twice, before leaning forward to suck me into her mouth.

I saw fucking white for a second.

She took me down to the base, moaning around my length, making me buck my hips involuntarily and making my cock tap against the back of her throat.

I expected her to pull back, to take things slower.

But she just started to work me that deep, my cock staying near the back of her throat as her hand slid down, teasing over my balls as she worked me.

My hands slid to the sides of her head, holding her against me as my hips started to rock into her mouth.

She moaned again, enjoying my lack of control as I fucked her throat until I damn near came down it.

My hands went to her hair, pulling her back until my cock slid from her lips with a little pop, then kept going until she had no choice but to get to her feet to ease the sting.

My lips crashed down on hers, hard, borderline brutal.

But she kissed me back in kind. Like it was the damn end of the world. Like we would never be able to do this again.

My hands were all over her then, grabbing her ass, grazing her breasts.

She pulled back long enough to let me pull off her shirt. Her bra went next. Her shorts. Her panties.

Her skin was hot. Her body was trembling.

There was no making it to the damn bedroom.

This time, I was the one dropping to my knees.

I pulled her leg over my shoulder, opening her up for me, then teasing my tongue up her cleft until I was circling her clit, working her quick and relentless. The goal wasn’t to drag it out, but to get her to the edge as quickly as possible.

I licked, sucked, slipped my fingers inside her, and fucked her until her thighs were shaking, until her fingers were digging into my skull, until she was crying out and coming against my mouth.

Este sank back against the wall, panting for breath, eyes closed, giving me a chance to slide on protection before moving against her, gliding my cock against her slick center.

Her pretty eyes flew open as a surprised whimper escaped her.

Her need ratcheted right back up.

Her hands grabbed my ass, pulling me closer as I lifted her thigh and pinned it wide to the wall of the elevator.

“Please, Saul. Please,” she begged, rocking, shaking.

I couldn’t turn down a pretty plea like that now could I?

I slammed deep inside her, both our groans filling the small space.

All there was then was sensation.

Hands sliding, gripping, lips pressing, breaths mingling, sweat-slicked bodies moving together.

Until we were both gasping, groaning, coming.

“Fuck,” I gasped, my head coming down on her shoulder as our bodies trembled in the aftermath.

“I—” she started.

But then we both heard it.

Voices outside the front door.

The key in the lock.

“Shit,” I said, reaching out to slam my fist into the elevator button.

We broke apart, both gathering lost clothes.

The elevator stopped.

I yanked up the door.

We both glanced out.

Then ran, half (and in Este’s case, fully) naked down the hall toward my room.

Este’s laugh floated backward to me, making my own lips curve up as we rushed into my room and slammed the door.

It was right then that I was sure of it.

I was falling.

Hell, I’d fallen hard.

And I never fucking wanted it to stop.