Page 16

Chapter sixteen

Things have been quiet around Sinful Saloon for the last two nights, but I know when Kenna lets out a terrified scream after headlining that our reprieve is over.

Another black rose.

Another cryptic note.

I’m passing a drink over to a customer with a smile when the spidery sensation of someone’s eyes crawls over my skin. It’s not the eyes that have my heart racing and sweat beading on my upper lip—it’s the malevolence behind them. My eyes wander around the club as I serve customers, and even though the sensation doesn’t go away, I’m unable to spot anyone.

For the next few hours, I do my best to push the nauseating knowledge of being in someone’s crosshairs from my mind while I work, but each time someone sneaks up behind me or that chill slithers up my spine, I’m unable to forget. So, I stay vigilant until I can talk to Steel and let him know what’s going on.

When Reva comes storming to me with murder bleeding from her eyes, something tells me it won’t be much longer until Steel is marching through the doors.

“Come with me,” she orders, grabbing the bottle I was about to pour from and slamming it down on the counter.

“What’s going on, Reva?” I ask, thankful she’s moving at a speed I can keep up with because of my injury.

Reva holds up a hand and shakes her head as she looks around, and I take it for the warning it is.

Too many prying eyes and listening ears.

When I follow her into the dressing room and spot Anna, one of our waitresses, huddled in the corner with an ashen Kenna, a furious Lennox and Georgia Rose, and a carefully blank Farryn, I figure out real quick that our night has just gone to shit and those eyes I felt on me weren’t out of the blue.

I blow out a heavy breath as I make my way over to the group of girls. “Hey, Anna.” Reaching out, I brush the hair from her face so I can look into her eyes. “Shit night, yeah?”

“The worst,” she whimpers.

“Now that it’s just us, you want to let me know what’s going on? What’s got you spooked so bad, beautiful girl?”

“This shit right here,” Lennox growls, shoving a box at me with her stiletto-covered foot.

A chill spins and leaps up my spine as I stare into it with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. The sight of the bloody, dead rat with a black rose laying on top of it sends my body into a fit of shudders.

Dead rat.

There’s no way that’s a coincidence. This was a threat meant for me but aimed at everyone else, and judging by the expression on Reva’s face, she knows that too.

“I’ve already called Steel. He and a few others will be here soon. He said to let you know to stay out of sight so you’re not recognized,” Reva says in a hard tone. “I like you, Bailee, but if this is your shit touching my girls, you might find that like starting to dwindle. So, I really hope we find out what the fuck is going on before shit gets really bad around here.”

Her words are a kick to the gut because that was the biggest reason I didn’t want to bring anyone else into this mess to begin with. I’ll never be able to stand it if anyone gets hurt because of what I witnessed.

Maybe I should leave. Take off and chance being on my own, away from anyone who could become collateral damage in my fight with Killer and his club.

“Don’t be fucking stupid, girl,” Farryn says quietly when she catches the expression on my face. “You run and you know that man is just going to come after you. Reva is protective over us all, and she doesn’t like being out of control. This shit is as out of control as you can get. This sick fuck isn’t something you can help. We know your story and we know what we’re doing by helping you and Steel out. That’s been our choice since Steel brought it to us. We may not have exactly liked it at first, but you’re a bitch who’s grown on us,” Farryn says quietly.

My phone goes off, and I slide it from my pocket to find a message from Steel letting me know he’s here and I should be careful.

It’s freaking exhausting trying to hide.

From Killer, from his club, and from the Dirty Mavericks.

Even Steel, if I’m being honest. Because that’s what I have to do when he’s around, hide my true self and my true feelings from him. It’s a lot of work to constantly be on check so I don’t let anything slip.

I’m careful to keep out of the way of the other Dirty Mavericks wandering around the club as they deal with Anna and Kenna, but it’s much harder than I anticipated. I can’t make it too obvious, otherwise, it’s only going to make them suspicious.

For the last hour, I’ve been stuck in this dark corner, and I’ve had to watch the women flirt shamelessly with him. I suppose the one good thing about having to watch that is also getting to watch him ignore them too.

Occasionally, his bright eyes will fly through the club like a missile seeking its target until they clash with mine, creating a tiny explosion in my body and my heart. Those eyes of his speak a lot of words he refuses to give me out loud, but I don’t know how much I’m able to believe them. I thought they were speaking the same thing in the past too, only to be burned too badly.

Even with him in this space with me, I miss him, and it makes me a tiny bit angry because it’s not supposed to be happening this dang quickly again.

Sometimes, I’ll catch bits and pieces of the bikers’ conversations, mostly about what’s going on around here, some about the girls on stage or passing around drinks.

They’re walking past where I’m standing with my back angled toward them when I catch wind of their current conversation. I snag my bottom lip with my teeth to keep from smiling as they tease Steel about staying behind because he’s screwing someone here. He brushes them off with gruff excuses about keeping an eye out, but even I can hear the truth in his voice.

Their taunting laughter fades the farther away they get from me on their way out the door, and I blow out a breath, relieved I no longer have to play this game of hide-and-seek.

I’m about to head back behind the bar when a familiar firm hand grips my wrist, halting me in my tracks.

“Come on, baby girl,” Steel says loud enough for me to hear, his needy eyes staring into mine.

With a nod, I pass my serving tray off to Bridget as she walks by, earning me a scowl that I return with a smirk and an eye roll.

Bridget has this little problem with me—I’m the one Steel wants.

According to the girls, she’s been trying to get with him since the moment she was hired on, and he pulled a once and done with her a month ago. She thought she was going to get more, but he wasn’t having it.

But I’ve been there with Steel, and I know from experience that he wouldn’t have told her it was anything more than a one-time thing.

The only reason she’s kept her mouth shut about me being here is because she’s one of the few who doesn’t know I’m actually in hiding.

Steel drags me to the office, flinging the door shut behind us and flipping the lock.

He slams me back against it, curls his fingers underneath my chin so they rest partially on my throat, and lifts my face toward his. “You good?”

The hold he has on me and the gravelly tone of his voice has me growing slick between my thighs. Since I’m incapable of speech, I just nod and anchor my fingers through the belt loops of his jeans as I hold him to me.

“Words,” he growls.

“Yeah, bossman, I’m good,” I murmur.

The green hue of his eyes deepens to reveal an emotion I can’t read as he scans my face before he drops his mouth to mine. He shoves his tongue inside, twisting and turning around mine in a smooth and sensual dance that whispers delicious promises for later.

Steel slides one of his legs between mine, leaving me straddling his thick thigh on my tiptoes. It feels so amazing pressed against my core that I can’t help but grind down.

His other hand drops to my waist and begins to guide me into a rhythm that will soon have me seeing stars.

Steel slides his mouth away from mine slowly, sucking my bottom lip between his teeth and biting down until a frisson of electricity zaps my clit, jerking a long moan from me as I grind harder. He lets it loose with a soothing swipe of his tongue and then leans his head back to stare down at me through hooded lids, his eyes full of scorching white heat mixed with something else.

Something warmer.

“Look at you, my filthy little Hummingbird, rubbin’ your hungry cunt against my leg. Do you know how beautiful you look?” His fingers at my throat tighten a little before loosening. “Fuzzy sheen over these eyes, and that pretty red flush traveling over your gorgeous tits and up into your face.”

The hand on my waist works me harder and tighter against him until tiny cries are falling from my mouth.

“Yeah, that’s it, baby girl. Let it come over you,” he croons. “Want to watch that blissed-out expression fall over this fuckin’ beautiful face. Always been my biggest obsession.”

That confession surprises me, but his expression darkens, letting me know that if I acknowledge that right now, this will be it for us. So, I only focus on the pleasure he’s bringing me instead.

A timid knock rattles the wood at my back as Bridget’s nasally voice almost breaks my spell.

“Steel, can I speak to you?”

My hips stutter to a stop, but his hand squeezes my skin in reprimand, and he glares down at me. “Did I tell you to stop movin’?”

His voice has deepened to that dark dominant tone that always has my pussy weeping and my entire being itching to please him.

I peer up into eyes so full of heat, I’m surprised they’ve not set this room on fire. I start moving my hips again, and he lifts his knee, pressing it tighter against my core. It feels so good when my clit rubs against it that a moan rumbles in my chest. I bite my lip, trying to prevent it from escaping so Bridget doesn’t hear, but Steel isn’t having any of that.

Oh, this man is feeling wicked mean tonight.

“Out loud,” he growls, his chest rising and falling the faster my hips move against him.

Bridget knocks again, and something about him wanting her to know he’s getting me off and me wanting to mark him as mine allows me to loosen up and submit to him.

He smirks. “That’s right, my filthy little Hummingbird. Come all over my leg and let her hear you do it.”

The dirty words do it for me every time.

Freaking Steel and his filthy freaking mouth. It really needs to be outlawed for making pussies weep all over the state.

My head thumps back against the door, my eyes fall closed, and I cry out as I find my release.

Steel holds me in his grip, one hand at my throat and the other at my hip, as my body works its way through the aftershocks, his hooded eyes not missing a single thing.

“Such a good girl,” he praises.

The expression on his face when I open my eyes sends more shivers over my body.

He uses his hold on my chin and throat to bring my mouth to meet his for a quick, heated kiss, then he drops me down gently with a soft sweep of his lips against my forehead.

Steel doesn’t let me go. Instead, he puts his hands on the door, caging me in as he gazes down at me. Fire still burns a bit in the depths, but it’s mostly been extinguished for now.

“You holdin’ up okay?” he asks.

I laugh softly and reach up to gently tug his beard. “Shouldn’t checking on me have been the first thing you did?”

“Fuck no. Needed to make sure your heart was still pumpin’, and feelin’ your hot cunt soak my jeans gave me all the reassurance I needed. Your blood needs to be rushin’ through your veins for you to get that kind of pleasure, baby girl. Know how to get your blood flowin’, fuckin’ love doin’ it, have the greatest time doin’ it, so that’s what I did.”

God, this stupid freaking man. All hope of not falling back in love with him—not that I’m sure I had ever fallen out—is lost when he pulls moves like this. This is the side of him that I used to get, the one that made it hard in the past too.

“You’ll hear no complaints from me.” I sigh and run my fingers through his beard. “Anyway, yeah, I’m holding up okay. There’s no way these threats aren’t meant for me. They obviously know I’m here, so why aren’t they coming for me? Why are they coming after everyone else?”

He shakes his head. “Still not sure they’re meant for you, Lee. Doesn’t feel like Killer’s style. Never known him to play with his food before.”

Steel brushes another kiss against my forehead before backing away from me and heading over to the desk to lean back against it. He stares at me, lifts a brow, and beckons me over with a crook of his index finger.

Folding my arms over my chest, I refuse his call and continue to use the door as a prop to hold myself up. “You know,” I muse, “it would be really nice if you didn’t assume I’m going to come to you every time you crook your finger.”

His beard moves as his lips curve into a wicked smirk. “Baby girl, we both know there’s no assumption to it. Already proven you come every time I crook my finger, just as my filthy good girl should.”

“You’re dangerous to a woman’s vagina.” I shake my head. “Mostly to my heart though,” I mutter low enough so he hopefully doesn’t hear and runs off like a coward.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I sigh and push away from the door, crossing over to where he’s at.

When I’m close enough, he grabs me by the hips and pulls me between his legs, smoothly sliding his hands into the back pockets of my jean shorts when I’m settled snugly against him.

Steel rests his chin on the top of my head when I lay mine on his chest. “Stayin’ tonight,” he rumbles.

The breath stutters in my chest at his declaration. It’s the first time, other than the night he had to come rescue me, that he’s chosen to stay over. I honestly don’t want to read too much into it, but all of this is getting to be too comfortable. It’s getting to be too much of something I’ve always craved from him. As much as I know in my head and in my heart that I should pull back and turn him away, I can’t move from my spot in his arms.

My head is warning me there’s heartbreak on the horizon. We live in two different cities, come from two completely different backgrounds, live two very different lives. Not only that, but sometimes I feel like I’m just a stand-in for Steel’s best friend, because there was a time when he had a thing for her and I honestly don’t know if that ever went away.

It freaking terrifies me to risk my heart for him when our relationship could end up as toxic as it was last time and I could be left broken on the floor all over again.

I’m stronger this time, though, and there’s no way in hell I’ll ever stick it out again for three years, hoping for him to toss bread crumbs my way so I can appease the gnawing ache in my gut.