Page 18 of Fallen Dove (Fallen Lords MC 2nd Gen #1)

Mason

The hum of the Social Club on a Thursday night was steady, not quite at the Friday or Saturday level, but enough to keep the bar alive. Pool balls cracked against each other. The smell of fried food hung thick in the air, and I could hear Thorn laughing it up with a couple of girls down by the dartboards. All of it washed over me like background noise. None of it mattered.

What mattered was the blonde weaving through tables with her tray balanced in her hand, and a smile flashing at customers like she hadn’t been grinding for hours.

Adley.

I’d broken every damn rule I swore I’d live by the second I kissed her. I’d told myself to keep my distance, keep her at arm’s length, but every night she was here, that promise got weaker. Tonight was no different. My eyes kept dragging back to her, tracing the way her jeans hugged her curves, and the bounce of her hair when she laughed with Penny.

Jesus Christ.

I dragged a hand over my jaw and forced myself to look at the register. Numbers. Receipts. Inventory. Anything but the woman who’d been haunting me for fourteen years.

Didn’t work. My gaze flicked back.

She bent slightly to set down a basket of wings and three beers at a table full of regulars. They laughed, said something to her, and she threw her head back and smiled like the sun had come out in the middle of the damn Social Club.

My chest squeezed tight.

I couldn’t keep going like this. Watching her, wanting her, and pretending like I wasn’t two seconds from pulling her into the nearest dark corner.

And that was the problem. I didn’t want a dark corner with Adley. I wanted all of her. But I was a coward, still clinging to the excuse of her father, the club, the cameras, fuck, everything but the truth. The truth was that I wanted her so bad I couldn’t think straight.

She moved past the hallway to my office with her empty tray. My body reacted before my brain could catch up.

“Adley,” I called.

She stopped, turned her head, and those green eyes locked on mine. My pulse jumped.

“Yeah?”

she asked.

I stepped into the hallway.

“Got a second?”

Her brow furrowed, but she nodded. She slipped inside my office with me, and I shut the door behind her. I flipped the lock with a soft click that felt louder than a gunshot.

The room shrank around us instantly. Four walls, a desk, shelves of files, and the two of us.

She set the tray down on my desk.

“What’s up?”

I should’ve said inventory. Scheduling. Anything. But the words tangled in my throat when I took her in. Her cheeks were flushed from rushing around the floor, and strands of hair stuck to her skin. She smelled like beer and citrus soap, and it hit me low, right in the gut.

I was already moving before I made the decision. One step forward, then another, until I was crowding her space.

“Mason…”

she whispered, but it wasn’t a warning. It was breathless.

“Been trying,”

I rasped, as my hand found her hip.

“to stay the hell away from you.”

Her lips parted, and my control snapped. I crushed my mouth to hers, and swallowed the gasp she gave. The taste of her, sweet, warm, addictive, shot through me like lightning. She fisted the front of my shirt, yanked me closer, and I pressed her back against the desk.

Every part of me screamed yes.

Her tongue brushed mine, her moan vibrated against my lips, and I groaned as I slid my hands under her shirt. Soft skin, warm and smooth beneath my calloused palms. My thumbs stroked over her ribs, inching higher until I grazed the band of her bra.

“God, Adley,”

I muttered against her mouth. I kissed her again, but deeper this time.

She arched into me as her hands slid up my chest, over my shoulders, then down again. Her fingers worked at the button of my jeans. Fumbled and desperate.

The sound that tore out of me was half growl, half plea. I caught her wrists, pinning them against the desk.

Her eyes were dark, pupils blown wide. “Mason,”

she whispered, and wriggled against me.

“I need you.”

My resolve cracked down the middle.

I pressed my forehead to hers, breathing hard.

“You think I don’t want that?”

My grip on her hands tightened.

“You think I haven’t been losing my fucking mind every night since you came back?”

Her chest rose and fell fast. Her lips were red and swollen from kissing.

“Then don’t stop.”

I kissed her again, long and deep. I let go of her wrists only to bury my hands in her hair. She made a noise in the back of her throat that nearly finished me right there.

But reality shoved its way between us. Cameras. Customers. Her dad.

I tore my mouth from hers, gasping.

“We gotta slow this down, gorgeous.”

She whimpered, and her whole body sagged against mine in protest.

“You’re the one who asked me to come in here,”

she pointed out and frustration and heat lacing her words.

“You didn’t convince me of anything.”

I dragged my knuckles down her cheek.

“I’ve wanted this for years. But I can’t-”

A knock rattled the office door.

We froze.

“Mason?”

Thorn’s voice carried through.

“We’re running low on Bud. You want me to tap another keg?”

My jaw clenched. Adley’s wide eyes searched mine, panic flickering there. I brushed a kiss against her temple, then stepped back, running a hand through my hair like that would erase the evidence of what we’d been doing.

“Yeah,”

I called. My voice was hoarse and rough.

“Go ahead.”

“Cool,”

Thorn said, and his footsteps retreated.

Silence filled the office again.

Adley pressed her lips together, cheeks pink. I wanted to kiss her all over again.

Instead, I forced myself to unlock the door.

“You should get back out there before someone comes looking.”

She hesitated, then nodded. Her shirt was rumpled, hair messy, and lips swollen. She looked like sin. Like my sin.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from pulling her back.

She slipped out the door without another word.

The door clicked shut behind her.

“Jesus Christ,”

I muttered to the empty office.

I’d just crossed every line I’d drawn. And I knew, deep in my bones, I wasn’t done breaking them.