Page 15 of T-Bone (Steel Demons MC #11)

Faith

I woke up early. I wasn’t sure how early because the hotel blinds were surprisingly dark, or maybe it was the hard chest my face was pressed against that blotted out the daylight.

That hard chest . I smiled as I thought about the previous night and the man with whom my body was currently tangled up.

T-Bone wasn’t at all how I expected him to be, during sex and after.

The sex itself was literally, hands down, the best of my life.

The man had a great body and he knew exactly how to use it to maximize pleasure.

He had no issues going down—without being asked—and then he dove into with so much passion and intensity that my body still hummed from the feel of his tongue on my pussy.

I felt good. For the first time in a really long time, I felt good as hell.

But I was also upset with myself for going there with a known criminal.

I wasn’t a cop anymore but that wasn’t the point.

I couldn’t trust him, not completely, which meant I shouldn’t have slept with him.

He’d proven that he was more—a lot more—than I’d initially given him credit for, in the short time we’d been together.

He was rough and gruff, but he had a protective streak that had kept me safe.

So far, I could trust that he would have my back.

But the sex, no matter how axis-tilting it was, should not have happened.

“Mornin’ after regrets?” T-Bone’s voice was deep and rough from sleep, but his tone held a hint of amusement too.

Did I have regrets? No. I should’ve been smarter, but the pull of lust was too strong and really I hadn’t stood a chance. Still, he’d asked a question and deserved an honest answer so I inhaled deeply and let it out as slowly as I could before I answered.

“Well?”

I shook my head first, slowly dragging my head off his chest to face him. “No regrets. None at all, I’m just trying to figure out how it all happened.”

“That’s easy. You seduced me.” I appreciated that he was trying to lighten the mood.

“I did no such thing,” I insisted primly.

“Oh come on, answering the door in that scrap of a towel, all wet and breathless, looking at me like you wanted to devour me.”

I licked my lips as I thought about just how thoroughly I devoured him last night. Twice. “I think I did that.”

His gaze narrowed and his jaw clenched. “And it was hot as fuck, watching the way you took my dick in your mouth, forcing me down that pretty little throat.”

Another long breath rushed out of me. “You are a dirty talker.”

“And you like it,” he shot back, daring me to deny it.

I nodded. “I did. It was something I didn’t know about myself, but apparently dirty talk does it for me.”

He flared in his eyes again. “But you don’t want it to happen again.” It wasn’t a question, as if he thought he’d figured me out.

“I didn’t say that. It’s just that last night was unlike me.”

“You don’t normally sleep with bikers or criminals?”

I smiled at his wry question. “Both, at least as far as I know but that’s not what I mean. I don’t have casual sex for starters, and… hell, I don’t know what came over me last night. I’ve never been like that before, so overcome with need .”

His fingertip dug into the flesh of my thigh. “Me neither. I mean I like to fuck, but I couldn’t get enough of you last night.” His cock twitched under the sheet. “This morning either.”

A shaky breath escaped, and I nodded. “That’s what I’m worried about. That kind of need or desire? It’s terrifying and I just, I just think we need to focus on this thing first. Right?”

“Right.” His voice was flat, giving me no indication whether or not he agreed, and I ignored that shot of disappointment that fell around me.

“Okay.” I jumped up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom, returning minutes later fully dressed and ready for whatever came next. “Coffee.”

“Sounds good,” T-Bone said, and we packed up the room, checked out and crossed the highway for a bucket of coffee and breakfast.

The silence between us as we ate was comfortable.

The tension that existed there was purely sexual and there was no need to force conversation.

It was nice and that thought left me wholly unsettled.

“I’ll be right back.” I stood abruptly and rushed from the table in search of the bathroom.

I needed to put some space between us so that I could breathe properly, so that I could think straight.

The bathroom was exactly what you’d expect from a roadside diner.

There were three stalls to the right, and two stark white porcelain sinks to the left, one automatic dryer and one hand dryer.

And the whole place was empty. I let out a sigh of relief and settled into the last stall, breathing in and out to get my emotions under control.

He’s a biker and a criminal , I reminded myself because I needed to hear it.

Sure, T-Bone was a lot more than a biker and a criminal and he wasn’t anything like Marcus or his friends, but he was still who he was, and I was too. I had to remember that.

“Okay,” I whispered to myself, flushed the toilet for no reason, and then exited the stall. I came to an abrupt halt when I found myself face to face with a man. He leaned against the sink and his cold blue eyes stared at me while his thin lips curled up into a brittle smile.

“You’re in the wrong place,” I managed to say through my surprise.

I knew this man, at least based on the tattoo on the back of his hand since it was the same one that I’d see in Ashley’s case file—and the bike rally. I knew him but I didn’t know his name.

“Nah, I’m exactly where I want to be.”

My heart raced at the malice in his words. He was taller than me by at least four inches, he was broader and made entirely of lean muscles. But right now he was only intimidating by his presence, not his size. “The stalls are free,” I said and a hooked a thumb behind me.

His smile faded. “You’re causing problems, and I don’t like problems.”

I shook my head instinctively, refusing to accept his words simply because I was scared. “You’re the one causing problems. If you’d just admit that you abducted my niece and hid her, or worse, this could all be over.”

He watched me for several long seconds and huffed out a laugh.

“What did you do to my sister?”

“Nothing,” he answered honestly. “Yet. But that bitch murdered my brother. Two of ‘em, and somebody has to pay for that.”

I let out a harsh bark of laughter. “You’ve got your info wrong. Your brother as you call him, was an abusive piece of shit.”

He growled and took an angry step forward.

I stepped back automatically but I wasn’t deterred.

“It wasn’t enough that he beat her and abused her for years, even while she was pregnant with Gemma.

He had to take her life too. I wish to hell she’d gotten to him first, but she didn’t.

S just tell me what you did with Gemma and I won’t take down your whole fucking MC.

” My pulse raced wildly but I refused to show it.

The man smiled but it was menacing as he closed the distance between us, getting right in my face.

I didn’t flinch though, despite my fear.

He wasn’t the first bully who thought he could intimidate me just because I was a woman.

I met his gaze head on, even when he pulled out a switchblade. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

I shook my head. “I get mourning your friend, but killing a little girl who already had to watch her mother suffer years of abuse? That’s not just cold, it’s cowardly.”

His smile was still in place, but it was tighter and angrier. He made a big show of folding the blade back into place and shoving in his pocket before he walked out of the bathroom.

I stared at the door for a full minute and tried to get my heart rate under control before I forced my legs to move. I washed my hands and walked back to the dining room on shaky legs.

T-Bone’s expression darkened as he took in my stiff posture and furrowed brow. “What the fuck happened?” He was on his feet and at my side immediately, guiding me down onto the booth where he sat beside me. “Talk to me, Faith.”

“One of the Ghost Riders approached me in the bathroom,” I began and then the rest of the story spilled out.