Bad Boys for Hire: Ryker (Bad Boys for Hire #1) (9 page)

T
erri held
Ryker’s hand as they walked through the lobby of the Evergreen Theater in Redwood City. From the outside, it was a converted warehouse with a coffee shop filled with the sound of coffee grinders and the scent of strong coffee. After leaving the confines of the shop, a hallway crowded with bulletin boards led to a curtained ticket booth behind velvet ropes.

“Seriously? Romeo and Juliet?” Terri read the letters on the marquee. “I didn’t know you were into Shakespeare.”

“Where do you think I got the idea of faking your death?” Ryker flashed her a wink.

“Okay …” Terri scanned the other patrons, many who were wearing leather jackets with the words “Property of” with the road name of their man appended. “Why are there so many biker chicks here?”

“Popular show, you’ll see.” Ryker grinned and bought a pair of boxed seat tickets. They walked up the narrow stairway and entered a draped room which looked down onto the stage.

The theatre was small, about the size of a high school lecture hall, and the boxed seats were booths carved from the two corners of the balcony. Instead of individual seats, it was furnished with a loveseat recliner and a small table.

Ryker drew the curtains and encased them in privacy. “Please, make yourself comfortable while I fetch refreshments. Anything you want? They have sandwiches, chicken fingers, and the usual fast food.”

“A chicken sandwich and a soda would do.” Terri wiped her hands on her pants, trying to relax. Ryker was acting so formal and strange. It was almost like he was competing with the butt doctor who was taking her to the symphony at Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco.

She waited until Ryker had exited the box before she gingerly perched herself on the edge of the plush sofa. She couldn’t help noticing the stage hands working on the sets and all of the ropes and pulleys involved with a production like this. Even more surprising, the windows at the top of the converted warehouse were all open and the nighttime air was clean and fresh.

A well worn anthology of the complete works of William Shakespeare, including a color picture of the famous playwright, lay on the end table along with a pitcher of water and two glasses.

Idly, she flipped to
Romeo and Juliet
and skimmed over the plot. Everyone knew both Romeo and Juliet died at the end. What she couldn’t recall was how and why?

Down below, she spied the group of motorcycle chicks sitting in the center in front of the stage. She’d been away from the scene too long to recognize any of them, and they weren’t wearing the name or colors of their club.

“Hey, put that book away,” Ryker said, carrying a tray laden with sandwiches and sodas. “You don’t want to spoil the show.”

“Everyone dies, end of story.” Terri patted the sofa for Ryker to sit.

He arranged the tray on the table. “Maybe, maybe not. This is a remake, sort of like
West Side Story
, but more up to date.”

“I’m kind of nervous about all this.” Terri opened a can of soda and took a sip. “Even if your family thinks I’m dead, what’s to stop them from going after my parents?”

“They don’t know who they are.” Ryker unwrapped a chicken sandwich and handed it to her. “All they really wanted was for your parents to feel the same loss as they felt after Earl was gunned down.”

“But they think it’s acceptable to kill an innocent person?” She shuddered at what kind of values Ryker was raised with. “It seems over the top.”

“It is, but it’s the old way, like the Hatfields and McCoys.”

“Even those two families have become peaceful,” Terri countered. “Their descendants are no longer at each other’s throats.”

“I know.” Ryker rubbed her back. “We should call it even and quit. My uncle and brother are dead, and your family has deaths from the explosion.”

“Two uncles and a cousin.” Terri swallowed a dried piece of chicken. It lodged in her throat and she had to wash it down with water. “We have three dead and you have two. Can’t we end this?”

“I’m trying to.” He kissed the side of her head. “I want nothing more than for peace to settle between our families, but right now, it’s better if my family doesn’t know of your existence.”

“We can’t be like this forever.” Terri knew she sounded grumpy and spoiled, but the thought of hiding Ryker and enduring dates with the men her mother foisted on her made her stomach turn.

“I have a plan.” He put his hand on her knee and squeezed.

“Okay, but I’m not looking forward to Friday and the date with that proctologist.”

Ryker’s chuckle sizzled between his teeth. “I feel for you. Didn’t I read somewhere that fecal bacteria was being packaged into pills for medication? I’d watch my drink if I were you.”

“This isn’t funny!” Terri swatted Ryker.

He captured her wrists and curved her hands around his neck. Bending forward, he laid a smacking kiss on her lips. “Let’s eat and enjoy the show. I think you’ll like it.”

“I didn’t know you were so cultured and into Shakespeare.”

“I read a lot.” His eyes twinkled. “I love classics, Shakespeare, Dickens, even some gothic stories like Wilkie Collins and of course Sherlock Holmes. I even toiled through
Les Miserables
and
The Count of Monte Cristo
.”

“Books about revenge, I see.” She let go of him and sank back into the cushions on the couch.

“
Hamlet’s
one of my favorites.”

A slow shudder chilled Terri’s back as she turned from his gaze to scan the people crowding in below. Several biker men had joined the women below. They weren’t showing their colors or patches, either. What was going on down there?

She turned her attention to her sandwich, but her stomach was too unsettled. Wouldn’t it be the height of revenge if Ryker were to fool her into thinking he cared for her, then trapped her at the
Romeo and Juliet
play?

“What’s wrong?” Ryker asked. “Do you like Shakespeare? Maybe I should have asked you.”

Terri’s heartbeat spiked in her chest, and she sucked in a deep breath. She was being silly, distrusting him. It was all the years of conditioning from her mother against bikers. It was the presence of bikers and their women down in the audience below them.

“I love literature and plays.” She forced herself to take another bite from the sandwich. “It looks like it’s going to start.”

Ryker tugged her halfway onto his lap. “Sit back and enjoy.”

Down below, a motorcycle rumbled as two opposing sets of Harleys were wheeled onto the stage. Terri’s nerves were tingling at the familiar growl of so many bikes. No wonder the skylight windows were wide open above them. She leaned forward and gasped, choking on the air she sucked.

Her mother and father were sitting in the audience, and her father was actually talking to one of the big, burly men with handlebar mustaches. Meanwhile, her mother chatted with the man’s old lady.

She shot a glare at Ryker, wondering if he knew who they were.

But he polished off his food and wiped his lips with a napkin, then kissed her on the temple. “It’s going to be good. You’ll see.”

Terri couldn’t help the thudding of her heart and the blood thrumming through her veins as the roar of the motorcycles was cut off. Below them, the first scene of
Romeo and Juliet
started with a gang fight.

“
S
top it
,” Terri tapped Ryker’s shoulder, forcing him to lift his lips from her neck. “It’s getting to the good part.”

The play was a modern production substituting motorcycle clubs in place of the Capulets and Montagues. Ryker could feel Terri’s anxiety fade as the audience below cheered and clapped during the famous balcony scene.

Instead of a serenade, there was an electric guitar riff, and Juliet was wearing tight leather pants, stiletto boots, and a low cut tank.

“
You
are the good part.” Ryker brushed his thumbs over her breasts, heartened that her nipples were hard and peaked.

“Why’d you bring me to the play if you keep distracting me?” She sounded like she was complaining, except her voice had a lilting, teasing tone.

“That’s why we got the box seats.” He claimed her lips, turning her away from the stage.

She softened under his touch and let out a gentle moan. Their tongues tangled, slippery and soothing, as he deepened the kiss enough to make her rake his back.

Ryker kept half an ear on the play where the priest was changed into a bartender, and Juliet’s nurse was replaced by her elder sister, a doctor who treated gunshot wounds on the sly for the biker gangs.

“I do want to know what happens when Juliet pretends she’s dead,” Terri said, cutting out of a kiss and taking a gulp of air.

“I’m not telling,” Ryker teased. “You’ll have to watch the play.”

“Except you’re in my face.” She pouted, jutting her lower lip for him to take a nip.

“Oops, my bad,” Ryker said, sliding his hand down to the waistband of her yoga pants. “I’m kissing the wrong lips.”

“You’re what?” Terri’s gasp changed into a moan, as Ryker slid down off the couch and dragged her yoga pants and panties down her legs.

“Be quiet and watch the show.” He propped her higher, lifting her hips with a pillow and ran his tongue over the lush lips between her legs.

She was already soaking wet with those sweet juices he craved. Now that she was occupied with the play, he could take his time sampling her flesh. He went to work, alternately licking, tickling, and sucking. Her folds were swollen with arousal, but he’d take his time and let her enjoy the show.

Every time she’d moan a little too loudly, he’d lighten his touch and shush her, vibrating his lips over her sensitive clit. He rolled his finger around her entrance, stimulating her, but not penetrating, no matter how much she jerked her hips.

“You have to stay quiet,” he mumbled, his mouth over her mound. “Or we’ll be thrown out of the theater.”

Fortunately, the production was loud with rock music, and the actors below bellowed their lines. The occasional clack of billiards and the thump of boots made the play sound like a clubhouse.

He concentrated on drilling his tongue in and out of her, heightening her enjoyment. Her fingers tightened on his head and she ground herself against his lips and tongue, her breathing fast and panting as she sought her climax.

“Ryker, you’re killing me,” she almost shouted while the audience below boo’ed Paris, Juliet’s suitor, who was a lawyer determined to shut down the motorcycle clubs.

“Shhh …” He blew against her engorged clit, making her quiver with both delight and frustration.

“I can’t take this anymore,” she said through gritted teeth.

The noise and raucous shouts of the actors grew louder. One by one, men were killed: first Tybalt slaying Mercutio from the Montague club and then Romeo killing Tybalt, a Capulet.

The drums beat loud and engines revved, but Ryker didn’t want Terri to see the killings reenacted, so he held her hips down for the feast, driving two fingers into her wet channel. His tongue plundered her hungrily, twisting and stabbing deep, flickering and lapping her cream.

“What’s going on below?” She struggled to catch her breath. “What’s happening?” Her words vibrated with a deep and sensuous moan.

He dove deep with his fingers and sucked on her clit, grazing her with the edge of his teeth until she cried out. His fingers pumped inside while his mouth smashed itself to her mound, flinging her higher and higher until she spasmed and pulsed around him. Her thighs tightened like a noose around his neck as she rocked out her climax.

“Ryker, oh, Ryker.” Her screams were muffled by the melee down on the stage.

Pride welled up in Ryker’s chest at the way she responded to him and the way she clutched him tight. He moved up to cover her, letting her hug him around the shoulders. Her breasts heaved as she caught her breath and when she opened her eyes, they were glazed with something more than lust, much more.

She literally had stars in her eyes, and he had put them there.

“Want more?” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“I don’t know if I can take more, but yes, I’ll always want more of you.”

“You greedy girl.” He kissed her lips, letting her have a taste of her arousal, then backed off, licking his chops. “I do want you to follow the play, so pay attention. The end is near.”

“
T
hey changed the ending
!” Terri sat up as the night sky above the theatre lit with fireworks. On stage, the Capulet clan stood on one side behind their row of motorcycles and the Montague family stood on the other side. Everyone gunned their engines as the Juliet character turned around and tossed her bouquet backwards, arching it across the audience.

Several biker chicks jumped, elbowing each other, and went down in a tumble across the theatre seats.

“Looks like a rugby scrum down there,” Ryker said, laughing.

Terri strained her eyes and found her parents still seated near the front of the mezzanine where the wheelchairs were parked. They were both clapping and cheering as the actors and actresses took their bows.

“You know anyone down there?” Ryker asked. His big hands made loud clapping noises and he hooted his support.

“No, nobody.” Terri sank back on the loveseat. Her entire body was still tingling in the aftermath of Ryker’s skillful stimulations, and she was sure her hair was a mess and her face was flushed with the evidence of her multiple orgasms—not to mention she felt as boneless as a jellyfish and as brainless. She had no idea how the story had changed from a tragedy to a wedding.

“You see no one you know?” Ryker’s brows drew together in a V-shape. “Then you won’t mind if we stay for the meet and greet. I bought tickets for the after party.”

Terri feigned a loud yawn. “I can’t possibly stay; besides what would I talk about? I missed the entire second half of the play? What happened? I thought Juliet was supposed to die on her wedding day, and then Romeo would take the poison.”

“You mean you weren’t paying attention?” Ryker rubbed his jaw, shaking his head. “What are we going to do with you?”

“Seeing as someone had his head in between my legs, I don’t see how you would have paid attention either.”

“Last I heard, Romeo and Juliet had gone to Vegas with the bartender for a quick wedding.” He ran his fingers through her hair, patting it down. “How about we ride to Reno and get married first thing tomorrow morning?”

Terri’s jaw slackened, and her heart fluttered from the pit of her stomach. She’d always dreamed of a biker wedding, like the kind they had on stage. She’d walk beside her father’s wheelchair in between rows of Harleys and they’d stand on a cliff overlooking the bright blue Pacific Ocean.

“You’re speechless,” Ryker said, taking her hands and rubbing them. “I shouldn’t have pushed. You probably think I’m crazy, but because of the family feud, I’ve had you in my mind a lot longer than you’ve been thinking about me. After watching the play, I realized you’d be safer if we were married. You’d be family, and if you’re my old lady, everyone in the Metal Wolves would be obligated to protect you.”

“Only if you go back to the club.” She wet her lips and swallowed. Her throat was dry and lumpy at the same time. “Is this what you want?”

“I’d go back for you.” His face was solemn and his amber eyes glowed with heat. “It’s the only way. I know your father’s out of the life, but even he would have to uphold our code of honor—not to kill family.”

“Is that the only reason you want to get married?” Panic swirled around her head like buzzing bees. Maybe Ryker was completely driven by guilt. Maybe the only reason he sought her out was to keep her safe—to end the feud. Perhaps he had been stalking her and knew she and her friends would meet at Cooper’s Hangout. After all, it was a weekly planning meeting for Jolie’s wedding.

“No, of course not.” His deep voice burred thickly, vibrating the chords of her heart. “But after seeing the play tonight, I realized it was a way out.”

“Is that what happened on stage? I wasn’t aware …”

“It doesn’t matter what happened on stage.” Ryker tipped Terri’s chin and caressed her cheek. “All that matters is what happens with us. I know it’s soon, but it’s the only way I know how to protect you.”

“I thought you were telling your father about my death.”

“That too, so when they meet you, they won’t suspect who you really are.”

“But my parents. They won’t stay quiet. They might strike first once they find out you’re a former Metal Wolf. There are too many things out of control.”

“I’ve got this taken care of,” Ryker said. “But I can see it’s too soon to get married, so I’ll think of something else.”

She knew it. He wasn’t as interested in her, only in keeping her safe. Her spirits deflated, and her skin felt too tight, too tense. As gallant as he was to want to protect her, she couldn’t be a project—a burden to him. When she married, it would be to a man who wanted her over everything else, one who couldn’t live without her, one who loved her with his entire heart.

Even though she was turning thirty in less than a week, she still held out hope for true love, and she wasn’t going to settle for a quickie wedding in Reno.

“You’re starting a new job tomorrow. Do you want to stay with me so you get a good night’s rest?”

“You sure we’re going to rest tonight?” He took her hand and pulled her to a standing position. “Looks like the crowd’s clearing out. Let’s go home.”

Terri took a furtive glance at the wheelchair section below. It was empty and only a few stragglers stayed behind.

“Okay, after you.” She followed him to the parking lot and got onto the back of his motorcycle.

There were plenty of bikers zooming away from the show, so Terri felt safe, blending in as they crossed the path of a stream of cars and turned out into the street.

Ryker was doing everything he could, including the fake news of her death, to keep her safe. But what was she doing for him? What would her parents do if they found out he was dating her?

And what had he meant that he had her parents taken care of? The rumbling noise of the bike was too loud for her to ask, and truthfully, she didn’t want to know the answer.