No biting, though. Nope. He sucked it in deep, dropping his body lower on the bench. The hard edge of the table against my back didn’t make it easy, but somehow he managed to deepen my back-and-forth slide along the ridge of his erection. If it wasn’t for our pants, I’d have him inside me.

Stupid pants.

Liam groaned, then let me go abruptly. He lifted me by my hips and set me down on the bench next to him.

“Are we doing this?” he asked, his voice tight and tense.

I looked at him blankly. My clit wanted to know why we’d stopped, because she was not a happy camper about it. Neither were the girls up top. Liam took a deep, ragged breath, eyes intense.

“Are we having sex?” he asked bluntly. “Because if we aren’t, I need to go jerk off. Not trying to pressure you, Em, but it’s the f**kin’ truth.”

A wave of lust hit me hard, and I made my decision.

“Let me text my friends,” I said breathlessly. “Then we can go back to the hotel.”

“You sure?”

“Oh yeah,” I whispered. “I’m sure.”

I don’t know what I expected after that. Maybe a stately exchange of text messages with Sophie and Kimber, followed by all of us walking back to the hotel together. They’d meet him, we’d all laugh, and then when they quietly gave me a thumbs-up, I’d steal him away.

But Liam was a man of action.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the booth, all but dragging me behind him as I clutched my corset closed in shock. To my surprise, we headed toward the back of the bar instead of the front door. Brushing past a muscular guy who slapped Liam on the back, I followed him down a darkened hallway. On our right were some dubious-looking bathrooms. On the left was a door, which Liam opened, pulling me in.

HUNTER

If I’ve learned one thing in this life, it’s that lying to yourself is a waste of time.

This hadn’t stopped me from pretending tonight was all about the club, and that Em was just a means to an end. Leverage against the Reapers.

It wouldn’t be the first time I f**ked a chick for the Devil’s Jacks, and God knew taking her wouldn’t keep me up nights. I’d done far worse things, and that was a fact. But Christ, Em was gorgeous and even worse, she was funny and cute and I was pretty sure she’d taken over one whole region of my brain. About a week ago, I’d convinced her to send a picture of herself in bed. To hell with  p**n , that shy little pic of her wearing an old T-shirt did it for me every time.

There was a part of me that had whispered she couldn’t possibly be as hot as I remembered, or as sweet as she sounded on the phone. That’s what I wanted to believe—no, needed to believe.

But I’d taken one look at her in that bar and it was all over.

Now my dick was so hard I thought it might punch through my pants. Seriously. Complete loss of thinking power. I have never wanted to f**k a woman more in my life. And yeah, I’m a douche, but I hadn’t planned to actually screw her in Mick’s office. That was before I tasted her and realized I’d die if I didn’t get inside what I was pretty damned sure was the hottest snatch I’d ever feel clamped around my cock.

I slammed the door shut behind us, the dim glow of a single lamp lighting the little room. Thank Christ there was a couch in here. A longish leather one, and while it probably wasn’t the cleanest, it wasn’t the worst place I’d screwed a girl.

Em definitely deserved better. I didn’t care.

My mouth covered hers, my hands reaching down to grab her ass, hoisting her legs up and around my waist. Her hands dug into my hair and I felt her boobs against my chest and I shit you not—I nearly came. What the hell was it about this chick? Fuck, from the moment I’d first seen her last winter, I’d been obsessed. Talking to her on the phone was just the nail in the coffin, because the worst of it was I actually liked her. Burke would laugh his ass off if he could see me now—the coldest bastard in the club was officially pu**y whipped.

At least for the moment.

I should’ve dropped her and taken off running while I still could. Instead I slammed her against the door, thrusting my c**k up at her as if I could penetrate her through our clothing if I just tried hard enough. She tugged up my shirt. Then her fingers dug into the muscles of my back, nails scratching me as she dragged them downward.

Lines of sharp pain followed.

Impossibly, my dick got harder. Em looked hot as hell in those tight jeans of hers, but she needed to get them the f**k off before I stroked out. I’d do her hard and fast this first time—no way I could hold out. Fortunately, she was just as worked up as me, so odds were good she’d go off like a firecracker. Then I had every intention of dragging her back to the hotel and showing her just how many different ways I could make her come.

First I needed to free up some of that blood pooled in my lower body for my brain, though. Right now I couldn’t even remember how to breathe. I carried her over to the couch, dropping her down, and then covered her, our hips rubbing together in the hottest dry hump in history.

Jesus.

I really was gonna come in my pants.

I kissed her one last time, tasting how hot and sweet her mouth was, then forced myself to pull away.

“Never wanted to be inside anyone half as much as you, Em,” I told her, the words rough. Her blue eyes opened wide and her breath caught. Her cheeks flushed a delicate pink and I wanted to wrap her up and carry her off like a caveman or something. I rolled to the side, digging in my pocket for a condom.

“Jeans off, baby,” I added. “I can’t wait any longer.”

“I have to tell you something.”

I found the condom and reached for my fly, only half following her words. Goddamn she was hot . . . Boobs popped out, ni**les flushed, eyes bright with excitement.

“No,” she said. “Seriously, I need to tell you something.”

“What?” I asked, wondering what the hell could be higher priority than getting naked. Then it hit me—she was a girl, she needed reassurance. Damned if I knew why, but they all did. “Hey, I didn’t just bring you here to screw you, babe. You mean something to me, I swear. But I can’t think right now. Can we talk later?”

She looked away and I started to get a sinking feeling. Shit. Something was really wrong. I don’t know what bothered me more, the idea of blowing my mission or not blowing my wad.

No contest—to hell with the mission. This was about her cunt squeezing my cock.

“I haven’t done this before,” she said without meeting my eye.

“Fucked on the first date?” I asked her. “This isn’t like that, babe. I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not—”

“Jesus, will you just shut up and listen to me?” she snapped, sitting up and swinging her legs off the couch. “Why does everyone in my life need to be so damn bossy?”

I stared at her, dick throbbing, confused as hell.

“I haven’t had sex before,” she said abruptly. “And I really like you and I totally want to do this, but I don’t want to do it on a dirty couch in a bar. Can you understand that?”

Now that caught my attention.

“The f**k? What do you mean, you haven’t had sex?”

“I mean I’ve Never. Had. Sex,” she told me, spacing out her words carefully. “True story. You got a problem with that? Because you’re looking at me like I’ve got herpes and that’s not working for me.”

I stilled, trying to wrap my brain around what she’d said. It was hard, given the lack of circulation. Then it sank in.

Shit. Em was mine. All mine. No other ass**le had been inside that pretty little cunt—this was f**kin’ beautiful. I smiled slowly, running a hand through my hair.

“That kicks ass, babe,” I said, sinking down to sit next to her.

“It does?” she asked, her voice small. I pulled her over and onto my lap, running my hands up and down her body. God, she was just tiny. A perfect little package I wanted to lick all over and then take home and hide away from the world.

“Yeah,” I said, feeling something like triumph start to build inside me. I wasn’t going to share her—not now, not ever. This body was mine. All mine. Best present ever. Fuck if I knew what I’d done to deserve it, but not a chance in hell I’d let her get away.

“I am gonna have so much fun teaching you everything I know,” I said, kissing the side of her neck. Shit, she smelled good. My c**k wanted inside her now, but somehow my brain had reengaged, and I was not going to f**k this up. If I played things right, she’d fall for me so hard she’d never know what hit her. And I wanted that. I wanted it a lot. Win for me, win for the Jacks, too. Perfect.

Em gave a little laugh.

“You kind of scared me there,” she whispered, and damned if she didn’t blush a little. So cute. “I mean, it’s silly, but things were just moving so fast. It’s never been like this for me before.”

“Well, we’ve got some great f**kin’ chemistry,” I told her. “Damned good thing you spoke up when you did. I promise, I’ll make this good for you, babe. Wanna head back to the hotel, or do you need some time first?”

She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a soft smile.

“Hotel,” she said. “Let’s take it slower, though. Okay?”

“No prob.”

Silence fell between us as I leaned into her for a soft kiss, tugging at her lower lip. Then a loud knock on the door broke the moment.

“Go away,” I yelled.

“Need to talk,” Skid said on the other side of the door. “Important, bro. Get out here.”

Em frowned up at me.

“I didn’t realize you were here with someone,” she said.

“Didn’t feel like sharing you,” I told her, offering a quick grin. My mind had already gone cold and hard, though, switching modes instantly. Skid wasn’t an idiot and he didn’t f**k around. He wouldn’t interrupt if it weren’t important.

“Give me five,” I told her, settling her on the couch. Sadly, she started hooking up her corset, covering those gorgeous tits. I walked to the door and stepped out.

One look at Skid’s face and I knew I was screwed.

“Make it good, ass**le.”

“We got a situation,” he told me. “Kelsey called from our place in Portland. Said some crazy-ass motherfucker burst into the house and started shooting. Grass is down, shot in the chest. Not sure he’s gonna make it. Shooter managed to grab Clutch and took off with him. Guess there were some girls who saw the whole thing and now they’re talkin’ to the cops. Kels was upstairs in your room, came running down with a gun too late. She couldn’t do a goddamned thing but watch when he threw Clutch in an SUV and took off.”

I felt the world narrow to a pinpoint, my mind running through a thousand calculations. “She get a decent look at the guy?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied, his eyes growing colder. “Gave her a message, actually. Told her to let us know the truce with the Reapers is dead, and Clutch will be, too. Payback for Gracie.”

“We got a name?”

“Called himself Toke.”

“I’ll call Burke.”

“Jesus.”

• • •

“Em, I need to make a quick phone call,” I said, ducking my head back into the office. I smiled at her softly, pretending to be human. Harder to pull off every year. “You okay in here for a minute?”

She looked up at me, her face all innocent and trusting, and I savored the sight. I had a pretty good feeling that I’d never see her like that again. Not after tonight.

“Everything all right?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I replied, lying easily. “Just a little misunderstanding back home. I’ll get it taken care of and get back to you.”

I started to close the door.

“Hey,” she said, giving me another soft look. “I like you, Liam Blake.”

“I like you, Emmy Hayes,” I replied, wishing things were different.

Don’t know why I bothered.

Shit happens. Fuckin’ weak and stupid to let yourself care.

I went back out into the hallway and called Burke to get my orders.

CHAPTER THREE

EM

Liam stepped out of the room and I shivered, so excited I could hardly exist. This was better than I’d hoped. He was better than I’d hoped. So incredibly cute, he made me feel amazing, and best of all? He didn’t seem particularly interested in talking about my father.

That last one was a biggie.

I pulled out my phone—I wanted to get back to the room, but I’d promised I wouldn’t go alone. I pulled up Sophie’s number, my fingers fumbling, although I couldn’t decide if it was from the drinks or the excitement.

ME: I want to go back to the hotel. He’s defintely THE ONE

SOPHIE: Dont u dare! We have to chck him out frist. Ur NOT follwing the plan

ME: Yu’ll meet him in a minut come down to Mick’s and we can head from there. We’ll wait outside.

I slid my phone into my pocket, then hugged myself, rubbing my arms up and down quickly. I still couldn’t quite believe all this was happening. I’d met Liam and he was fantastic. Sexy. Beautiful. Even sweet . . .

More important than that, though—he had an edge. An edge like the guys I’d grown up with, and that was critical. Ultimately, I couldn’t be with someone who couldn’t handle my MC family. Liam could, I was almost certain of it.

Not that I was stupid—I knew it might not turn into anything.

But it might. Tonight I’d finally get to see for myself what all the fuss was about. Funny, but Painter had actually done me a favor in the end. If he’d gone for it, I might be with him right now instead of Liam. And while I hadn’t known Liam all that long, I felt a connection with him that I’d never felt for Painter.