First Time Rider Read online

  “Terrence gave me a call. Said he saw you being attacked.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “He said you knocked out the thugs and took off before he had a chance to intervene. The guys got away.” He put his hand to my chin and tilted my face to one side, then the other. “Are you hurt?”

  I shuddered at his touch. It had been so long since a man had touched me that way, out of genuine concern. I closed my eyes.

  “Aspen.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You’re shaking.”

  I stared at the tee shirt stretched across his chest. The logo was of a stylized human skull encased in flames, the symbol of his motorcycle club. I concentrated hard.

  “Can you take me home, Liam?”

  Liam gently pushed me off of him and whipped off his jacket. It was surprisingly heavy when he dropped it on my shoulders. The leather was still warm from his skin, and it smelled like him. He unbuckled the strap of his helmet and handed it to me with a nod.

  “Hop on.”

  * * *

  For such a large man, Liam was surprisingly quiet in the kitchen. I could barely hear the water in the kettle beginning to boil, the scrape of a spoon in the sugar bowl. He brought the tray out to the living room for me.

  “Thanks,” I said, staring at the spread. The only two mugs in my possession were from the gas station just outside of town. They were the first actual things I’d purchased for my new life here in Canyon City.

  “You don’t have a lot of stuff,” Liam said as he sipped his tea. He glanced around the room. It was sparse, as if I still hadn’t bothered unpacking, but there were no boxes.

  “I’ve just been busy at work,” I said.

  “Not that busy, from what I’ve seen,” Liam said, shaking his head. He set his mug back on the coffee table.

  I cringed instinctively when he didn’t use a coaster, but I smoothed back my agitation a second later.

  Liam leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Is Terrence paying you enough?”

  My tea tasted bitter all of a sudden. I spooned sugar into the hot water, all the while entirely too aware of Liam’s gaze fixed on me. I remembered what he’d said about Terrence calling him from the restaurant, about his intentions to “intervene,” the so-called thugs who’d gotten away. Why had Terrence even bothered to call? Had it been out of guilt? Or perhaps to cover his ass?

  “Something on your mind?”

  I laughed uncomfortably. “You’re pretty perceptive for a tough biker.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Liam’s tone was curious, not defensive. He smiled crookedly.

  Are we flirting? I wondered. My cheeks warmed, and I disguised my grin in the rim of my mug as I sipped. “I’m just surprised at how emotionally in-tune you are,” I finally said.

  “I have three sisters, no brothers,” Liam offered as an explanation. He shrugged. “So you can kind of take what you will from that.”

  “That’s cute,” I said.

  “Thanks. And don’t you dare tell anyone.”

  I chuckled, feeling warm and soft inside. It almost felt like the past couple hours, the past couple years hadn’t even happened. Almost.

  “So. Do you feel like talking about what happened?”

  I cupped my hands around my warm mug, feeling myself go still. I tucked my feet up under myself. Where did I start? All of my bad luck was nested one inside the other like onion peels. I just couldn’t explain one thing without peeling them all away, exposing the center.

  Those three guys had attacked me because I worked for Terrence.

  I could only work for Terrence if we continued our arrangement.

  And the arrangement was better than the possibility of being found.

  I shook my head. “No. Not yet.”

  Liam touched my knee. “Well, if you ever do want to talk…” He let the sentence fall away unfinished. His earlier words echoed in the back of my mind. Take what you will from that. He grazed his thumb back and forth over my kneecap, the touch almost like a question. His eyes seemed to be asking the same thing when I met them.

  Is this okay?

  I glanced down at his hand touching me, drawing in a slow breath. It’s been so long… But it wasn’t all that bad. The same, familiar cringe from earlier returned, stronger than ever, and I had to fight it back. Liam wasn’t Terrence. Liam wasn’t Alex. I realized that, for the first time in a while, a strange man was touching me, and I was perfectly fine.

  The warmth of Liam’s palm burned through my pants, awakening me. A familiar feeling stirred in the pit of my stomach. Want. Need. I licked my lips, and my eyes locked onto Liam’s hazel orbs. Maybe if I was okay with this, I would be okay with much more.

  I reached for Liam’s hand. The one small movement on my part was all he needed. With much more force than I expected, he grasped the back of my head and pulled me toward him. A shock of white flashed through my closed eyelids as our lips met, leaving me dazed and breathless.

  Liam’s scent invaded my head immediately, a pleasant, comforting mix of cigarettes, leather, and whiskey. I folded my arms around his neck, drawing him closer. Our kisses were tentative at first, cautious and probing. Then, I parted my lips, and Liam’s tongue dove in, touching against mine. I thought I felt sparks pass through our bodies.

  “Where’s your bedroom?” Liam asked in a husky voice, his breath warm against my face.

  I was shaking again. I pulled away from him. “This way.” My voice sounded foreign, floating outside of my body. I grabbed his hand and led the way before I had a chance to lose my nerve.

  Liam pushed me against the wall and captured my lips in another deep, passionate kiss. He pressed his hips against my thigh. Heat washed down my body when I felt how hard he was for me. I was already wet inside of my panties, waiting and ready for him.

  Somehow, we made it to the bedroom with our clothes on. Liam eased me down onto the bed and climbed on top of me, the weight of him deliciously heavy. The hallway light fell across his face, and the hunger in his eyes bore right through me. I stifled a moan when I felt a twitch in my stomach, my own hunger begging to be sated.

  “You know how long I’ve waited to do this?”

  My chest tightened. I shook my head.

  “That ass in the tiny uniform, the apron…” Liam’s voice was hoarse and cracking with need. His mouth slid down my neck to my collarbone. He squeezed my breasts through my shirt, making my nipples perk up. “Oh, god, I want you.”

  I concentrated on the ceiling fan, willing myself not to convulse wildly in pleasure. Every cell in my body ached to be touched. I drew my hands across Liam’s wide back, slipped them into the collar of his shirt to feel the knots of hard muscle he wore underneath.

  Liam pulled off his shirt to make things easier for me. I gasped when I saw his tattoos for the first time. They flexed on his skin every time he moved. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them even as he worked on getting me undressed.

  “Did those hurt?” I asked.

  Liam chuckled. “Of course they did.” He tickled my bare ribs with his tongue as he worked on my pants.

  I had to catch my breath as his head roamed lower. Anticipation flooded my veins. I parted my legs when Liam finally yanked off my pants. He immediately cupped his hand over my mound and slid a finger past the elastic lining of my panties, touching lightly against the wetness.

  “You’re dripping. I’m flattered.”

  I gasped in delight as he dug into my lower folds. Liam drew closer, studying my face as he worked his finger through my wet heat. I jerked under his hands when he touched my clit. Liam smirked triumphantly.

  “What?” I asked, feeling self-conscious.

  Liam twirled his fingertip around my clit. “I love the look on your face.”

  “What look?”

  Suddenly, Liam plunged his finger into my pussy. “That look.”

  I cried out in surprise as Liam slid another finger inside of me and began stroking. My hips r
ose, aching for more. The insides of my thighs were already wet with my juices, and Liam’s touch was more than I could stand. I couldn’t take it anymore.

  “Liam, please! Fuck me!” I surprised myself with how loud my voice was, but I couldn’t help it.

  Liam glanced up at my face with a neutral expression. He pulled off my panties, grabbed for my hand, and placed it between my legs. My fingers wandered into my pussy, taking Liam’s place as he pushed himself off of the bed.

  “God, that’s hot,” he muttered as he began unbuckling his belt. His forearms and chest bulged with veins as he fought himself out of his pants. He wore them low on his hips, at the perfect level to draw my eye to the V-line at the base of his abs.

  I moaned as my pussy dripped around my fingers. I couldn’t wait to be under him, staring up at his muscled body. My eyes were trained on his bulge. My breaths grew shallower when he slipped out of his boxer briefs.

  Liam stepped toward me, holding his veiny, hard shaft. He stared at my pussy and licked his lips. I scrambled upright and reached back to unhook my bra. I barely had time to toss it on the floor when Liam was back on the bed, forcing my legs apart.

  Finally. I arched my back and screamed when Liam penetrated me. My pussy strained tight around him. Liam lowered his face to my chest and licked at my nipples as he drew himself out.

  “How does that feel, baby?” he murmured. He drove his hips hard, pounding a beating into my pussy.

  I grabbed fistfuls of his hair, pushing myself down to meet him thrust for thrust. Liam bit down on one of my nipples, making me cry out and tighten my grip. He grunted in response and quickened his thrusts, practically nailing me to the bed. I closed my eyes, lost in the dual pain and pleasure of his marble-hard cock, delivered with enough force to leave me bruised.

  “So tight,” Liam groaned, lost in his own sea of pleasure. He pushed himself up just far enough so he could watch his own cock slipping wetly in and out of me.

  “Ah—”

  “You’re a bad girl, aren’t you?”

  “Ah—”

  “That tight little pussy—”

  “Fuck!”

  “Yes, baby!”

  Liam gripped my neck, holding me down. The tattoos on his chest and abs rose and fell, rippling against his muscles. He grimaced, burning with effort as he drove his cock deeper and deeper, rubbing it against every tiny inch of my gushing pussy.

  I grabbed his arms, moved my hands up to feel the strain in his shoulders. I squeezed my eyes shut, hypnotized by the rhythm. The sounds of our breaths melted together, heaving in and out as one.

  Then, Liam released my throat. He planted his fists on either side of my head. A look of complete helplessness flashed across his face. He yanked himself out of me and groaned, pumping his thick cum over my stomach.

  “Oh, baby,” he whispered. He grabbed his shining cock, squeezing and pulling, smearing my juices all over as he milked himself. He exhaled heavily and fell to the side.

  I threw my arm over my wet forehead. For a few minutes, we were completely still, filling the room with our heavy breathing.

  I was the first to break the silence. “Damn. I could really use a cigarette right now.”

  “Me, too.” Liam tilted his head to look at me through heavy eyelids. “I have a pack in my jacket. Got a lighter?”

  I nodded. “In my purse.”

  Liam slid out of bed and rubbed his eyes as he walked across the room. I gaped at his tight ass, at the columns of his wide, muscular thighs. His presence was so absolutely masculine, scenting the air with his thick, heady testosterone, that I felt myself getting wet again. As he disappeared into the hallway, I got up to get dressed.

  “Um, Aspen?”

  “Yeah?”

  Liam walked back into the doorframe, silhouetted against the hallway light. He had a pack of cigarettes and a lighter clutched in one fist. In the other, he held a brick.

  “I found this in your purse.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is this how you fought off the guys in the parking lot?”

  I nodded.

  “Well, okay then.”

  “Okay.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief when Liam dropped the brick in the hallway and pulled a cigarette out of his pack. There was yet another nested layer of trouble to worry about. Luckily, Liam didn’t seem to think that a girl with a brick in her purse was very strange at all.

  Chapter 3

  “This seems wrong.”

  Carmen snatched the napkin out of my fingers. Her eyes flitted between the address scrawled in Liam’s slanted hand and the building we’d pulled up to. Her laugh was high and ironic.

  “This is the place, all right,” she said.

  I gaped at the windowless building. Its façade was painted in a fluorescent orange, flaking off in some places. A flickering neon sign in the shape of a busty woman’s silhouette marked the entrance. Beside it were the words, AMAZON GENTLEMEN’S CLUB.

  “Why would he ask me to meet him here?” I wondered aloud.

  Carmen was already unbuckling her seat belt. She paused to check her make-up in the flip-down visor mirror. Her words came out distorted as she wiped excess lipstick off the sides of her mouth. “Nearly a month in town and you still don’t know anything, do you?” At my blank stare, she continued, “Skull Kings own this joint. How do you think they pay for all their rad parties?”

  My jaw dropped. I didn’t know how I hadn’t noticed them before, but suddenly, there they were. A small herd of Harleys were clustered in the prime parking spot closest to the club. From this distance, I couldn’t even tell which one was Liam’s.

  “I’ve never been to a strip club before,” I said before I could stop myself.

  Carmen’s eyes went wide. “No way. What are you waiting for, then? There’s a first time for everything!”

  A lanky bouncer leaned against a stool by the door. He perked up when Carmen drew close.

  “Yo, Carmen,” he said. “And Carmen’s friend.” He eyed the generous slope of her hips. “You two don’t look old enough to be here. If you show me your tits, I’ll let you in,” he said with a sly smile.

  I balked, but Carmen snorted.

  “Shut up, Logan,” she said, waving him aside. She grabbed my elbow and tugged me into the darkness.

  The girls were the first thing I noticed. Girls on tables, girls on poles, and all of them wearing nothing but Lycra thongs and glitter paint on their nipples.

  Where did they all come from? I wondered. I stood there, dazed, overwhelmed by what seemed like twice the town’s entire population stuffed into this tiny club.

  “There he is,” Carmen piped up, cutting into my thoughts. She pointed her chin toward a corner of the room.

  Liam stood against the stage, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest, speaking to a lithe, topless brunette. My shoulders tensed a little bit when she said something that made him laugh. Then, he caught sight of me, and his smile grew even wider.

  “Hey, Aspen,” he said, pulling me into a hug.

  I caught Carmen grinning at me over his shoulder and blushed. “Hi.”

  “Noah’s tending the bar. Come on, I’ll buy you two a drink.”

  Carmen raised her eyebrows at me as we followed him across the room. “He’s taking us to Noah?” she whispered behind his back. “What’s going on?”

  I shook my head. I don’t know. “Liam asked me to come after I told him about those guys Terrence met with. Who’s Noah?”

  “He’s the Skull Kings president.”

  “They have a president?”

  “Somebody’s got to keep the boys in order,” Carmen said with a shrug. “He’s right over there if you want a look.”

  I followed Carmen’s gaze to the bar. A large, hulking man stood behind it, pulling beer out of the tap. He was completely bald on top but had a wild, thick beard on his face. He stood a head taller than Liam and looked twice as wide. It was no wonder he was the president.

  I honestly felt a litt
le scared.

  However, Carmen greeted him like a brother. “Hey-o, Noah. Doing the bitch work today?”

  Noah’s expression was hard to read in the dim lighting, but his voice sounded good-natured enough. “Had another bartender flake out on me today. I need a fucking day off already.” His steely eyes turned to me. “This her?”

  “Yeah,” Liam said. He passed me a frosty mug of beer and patted the stool beside his. “Aspen, this is Noah. Tell him what you told me.”

  I tried smiling, but it shriveled under Noah’s gaze. “I was just closing up for lunch on Thursday when these three guys walked in,” I said. “They were wearing leather jackets with red sleeves. They had some sort of pow-wow with Terrence.” I gulped, and my gaze slid toward Liam. I hadn’t told him the next part. “They sat at Liam’s table.”

  “What.”

  Noah closed his eyes and groaned. “Did you hear what they were—”

  “You didn’t tell me that they took my table,” Liam interrupted.

  “I tried my best—” I began.

  “Those fuckers—”

  “Shut up,” Noah said, raising a hand to cut Liam off. He returned his attention to me. “Did you hear what they were talking about?”

  I shifted in my seat. Carmen and Liam watched me intently, but how could I find the words? I took a long pull of beer. “No.”

  “But something else happened,” Liam prompted. He touched my hand. “Didn’t it, Aspen?”

  Carmen’s eyes widened into dark pools of concern. “Aspen?”

  I sighed. “I couldn’t hear what they were saying during the meeting. But they were waiting for me in the parking lot. Said something about an arrangement they had with Terrence where he owed them a favor.” Tears of outrage sprang to my eyes, but I blinked them back. “I guess they figured I was the favor.”

  Carmen gasped softly. Noah and Liam exchanged a look.

  “Fuck,” Noah said.