Page 5 of Hidden Desires (Bikers of Mayhem #2)

ACE

T he roaring sound of the motorcycle engine revving made Lucas jump once again.

Ace tried not to laugh. He had to remember that Lucas didn’t grow up surrounded by motorcycles his entire life like he did. After all these years, hearing an engine rev was simply background noise at this point. It was like hearing a bird sing for a normal person.

Marcus used to say that listening to a motorcycle roar was the only thing that would calm Ace down as a baby.

That was a total lie. Marcus and his dad didn’t move in with Ace and his mom until Marcus was sixteen and Ace was three.

Still, the story may as well have been true. There was something about the sweet humming of a hog that calmed Ace’s nerves and made him feel safe and loved.

It was probably because he associated motorcycles with his big brother, Marcus. Marcus always made him feel safe.

Growing up, neither of their parents was ever around. It was clear from the moment they met that both preferred to party and drink and get high as fuck whenever possible. Neither of them wanted to be parents. Neither of them knew what it took to raise a child.

Yet, somehow, Marcus figured it out.

Whenever Ace got sick, Marcus was always the one who made him soup and wrapped him in blankets whenever he was cold.

When Ace had nightmares and was afraid of the monsters under his bed, Marcus would always slide over and let him sleep in his bed.

To say that Marcus was a pseudo-parent to Ace was an understatement.

While Ace would never admit it, he really did admire his stubborn big brother. Somehow, even though the guy had been a kid himself, Marcus had managed to take care of them both. He kept them fed, made sure they had clean clothes, hell, he even tried to help Ace with his homework from time to time.

Calling Marcus his big brother was an understatement. The man deserved to be called so much more.

“Can you pass me the red wine?” Ace asked, adding the chopped oranges and frozen cranberries to the cranberry juice and orange liqueur mix he had already sitting in a glass pitcher.

“What are you making again?” Lucas asked, stepping up beside him and passing him the wine.

“Cranberry-orange sangria.”

Ace added the wine and then stirred the mix with a large ladle.

“Mmm, sounds delish,” Lucas said, adding two more glasses to the tray and following Ace out the side door.

Rock music blared from the stereo as Ace and Lucas rounded the corner. It was another hot day, so Marcus and the guys decided to work on their bikes on the driveway in front of their garage.

Ace and his brother both lived together in the house where they grew up.

Marcus decided to purchase the place from their parents when they decided they wanted to hit the open road and explore all that America had to offer—in other words, they were tired of being parents and wanted to run off together before they got too old to function.

At that point, neither Marcus nor Ace really cared about their parents.

They had gone their whole lives without either one of them, so who cared if they moved out of the house as well?

Ace was sixteen, and Marcus was twenty-nine at the time.

Since then, they have seen their parents maybe a handful of times.

“You sure you idiots know what you’re doing?” Ace asked, trying to annoy his big brother and his goonish friends. “I’m seeing a lot of parts that I shouldn’t see lying on the ground.”

Marcus tossed a greasy rag at his brother. It landed on his head, nearly causing him to drop the tray.

Soft chuckles emerged around him.

Ace shook his head until the rag slipped off and he could see once again.

“Don’t be throwing your cum rag at me. Lord knows how long it’s been since you washed the damn thing.”

Ace placed the tray down and poured himself a glass of sangria.

“Come help yourself if you guys want a glass. I’m not your maid or your mother,” Ace announced, holding his glass and taking a seat in the lawn chair next to Lucas.

The day was too nice to be cooped up inside. Plus, out here, the guys were tuning up their bikes and getting all… hard and sweaty .

Ace’s gaze drifted over to where Blade was crouched down, inspecting something on his rear wheel.

The man was incredibly sexy. He had short brown hair that appeared almost reddish in certain light, a rugged scraggly beard that contributed to his brutish caveman appearance, and, of course, he had a light dusting of chest hair over his pecs that screamed, Fuck me, Daddy .

Taking a sip of his drink, he watched the muscles on Blade’s bare back contort and flex as he tightened each bolt on his bike.

There was something hot and sexy about watching the man work—using his hands to fix something that didn’t quite work and put it back together without batting an eye.

Swallowing hard, Ace stared at the large demon tattoo on Blade’s back as it seemed to come to life with every move of his body.

The image was inked in various shades of black and gray, depicting a fallen angel who had ultimately transformed into a demon. His wings curled around his kneeling body, as if ashamed of the monster he had now become.

Was Blade’s tattoo a reflection of how he saw himself, or was it simply a cool design that he had chosen to have placed on the top of his back?

“Want a drink, babe?” Lucas asked, shouting over the sound of his man revving up Marcus’s bike.

“In a few minutes. Just let me finish helping Marcus with his bike,” Caden responded, stopping his revving and checking on one of the bolts.

“I’ll wet my lips,” Blade announced, suddenly materializing next to Ace. “So what is this fruity drink you guys are trying to peddle?”

The man was crass and dirty. He could be offensive without even realizing it. His personality was wild dog meets hyperactive puppy. He could be both an asshole and a sweetheart—okay, mostly an asshole—but always reliable and loyal.

“It’s a fancy-ass cocktail we homos like to enjoy on hot summer days,” Ace responded, being his usual cheeky self.

He tried not to stare at Blade’s glistening, sweaty chest or the treasure trail that led down below his boxer briefs.

Of all the dirty, straight men he could have chosen, he had to go and fall for this one.

Apparently, Ace’s kink was rough, bad boys with big hands and even bigger egos.

“Here, let me have a taste,” Blade said, grabbing the glass out of Ace’s hands, then proceeding to down it all. Only when the glass was empty did he remove the edge from his lips. “Mmm, that tastes as sweet as a tight virgin’s ass.”

Caden and Marcus both chuckled.

Ace wasn’t at all impressed.

Blade passed him back the glass with a cocky grin plastered on his face.

“Lucas, do you mind passing me a new glass. This one may have gotten gonorrhea,” Ace noted, passing Lucas the glass that Blade had just emptied.

Marcus and Caden both laughed.

“Dude, your little bro is brutal,” Blade noted, giving Ace a wink as he glanced over at Marcus.

Lucas refilled Ace’s glass as Marcus and Caden finally joined them.

“So what are you guys all up to tonight?” Blade asked, placing his hands on his hips and flexing his abs for the group.

Ace wondered if Blade was even aware that he was flexing his abs. He didn’t exactly have a six-pack—it was more of a solid four-pack that oozed just the right amount of sexy-dad vibe to make all the girls and gay boys drool.

“Luc and I are meeting Alexis and Jake for dinner,” Caden answered.

“And I’ve got some work to do at the bar,” Marcus added.

Blade turned toward Ace.

“And how ’bout you?”

Ace stared up at him, like he was speaking a foreign language. They had hung out before, but never alone, just the two of them.

“Sorry, bud. Our boy, Ace, has a big date down in Roswell,” Marcus chimed in before Ace even had a chance to answer.

Blade’s head snapped in Ace’s direction. “Oh? Really?”

Why was Blade looking so surprised? Didn’t he think that he was capable of being asked out on a date? He was young, fit, and had a sparkling personality! Any guy would be lucky to go on a date with him!

Ace’s eyes narrowed as he glared up at the man. “Yeah. Got a hot date with some big-shot architect out in Roswell. He’s been chasing after me for a while, so I figured I’d give him a taste and see if he’s worth takin’ for a ride.”

All of that was bullshit, but Blade didn’t need to know that. He was getting tired of pining for a man who was clearly not into dick. And what better way than to distract himself with a healthy dose of eight-inch man dick. Or, at least that’s how big the dude claimed to be.

Usually, when doing gay math, one has to subtract two inches. So the man was probably average and not the kingly beast that he claimed to be.

Blade’s jaw tightened as he stared down at him before turning back to his boss.

“You cool with your little bro meeting some strange dude out in the middle of nowhere?”

“It’s not the middle of nowhere. And Marcus has no say. I’m twenty-five years old, and since all the gay men in this town are afraid of my asshole big brother, I have to go hunting in neighboring towns,” Ace barked back. “No offense, big bro.”

Marcus shrugged his shoulders. “Hey, I’m not going to apologize for protecting my little bro. And if that means I have to shoot every guy in the face who so much as kisses you, so be it.”

Ace huffed out a breath and turned to his best friend.

“You’re so lucky that you don’t have an older brother.”

Lucas laughed. He had a sister and parents with whom he really wasn’t close.

“He does it because he cares,” Lucas offered, shrugging his shoulders and taking a sip of his drink.

He was currently enjoying his drink in a reclining lounge chair that had been propped up just enough for him to be able to enjoy it and get a bit of sun. His boyfriend, Caden, couldn’t stop staring down at Lucas’s exposed thighs like a hungry lion waiting for his moment to pounce.

Ace wanted to have a guy look at him that way. So far, only lust-filled, horny men gave him that look when they needed his ass to bust a load after a night of drinking.

“Want me to follow them, boss?” Blade asked, suddenly kicking into protective biker dude mode.

Ace’s mouth dropped open. He turned to glare at his brother and mentally threw daggers his way.

“No. I think we’ll just wait at the house. You know, just in case Ace decides to bring his date home for a little dessert,” Marcus replied with a sly look on his face.

“Why waste time coming back here when the restaurant bathrooms are so much closer?” Ace noted, loving the growl that slipped out of his brother and, surprisingly, Blade.

Was the man… jealous?

No. It had to be some power, dominating thing. Ace was used to his brother and the guys all treating him like their younger brother, even though he was a fucking adult.

Ace took another sip of his sangria as he tried to study the beefcake’s face. The man was wearing aviator sunglasses, so all he could see was Blade’s tight lips and sun-kissed nose. Thanks to Blade’s reddish-brown beard, he couldn’t even tell if the dude was clenching his jaw.

This was fucking pointless.

“Shall we finish up these bikes?” Cade asked, giving Lucas a kiss on the cheek before walking back over to Marcus’s.

Blade stood where he was for a moment, arms folded across his massive chest, presumably staring down at Ace. It was hard to tell where the man’s eyes were looking when hidden behind those stupid sunglasses.

The dude gave a huff as if he were pissed, then turned and stomped back over to his bike.

Well, that was weird.