New Title 6 (11 page)

 “No,
you're not.” We all looked to the doorway to see Griz standing there glaring at
Deanna.

 “Did
anyone hear him come in?” I asked. They shook their heads. “Great lot we'd be
if we were ninja attacked.”

 I
watched Deanna face Griz with her hands on her hips, head held high; and with
her upper lip raised she snapped, “Yes. I. Fuckin'. Am.”

 “You
do all this tough talking, and telling Wildcat there to keep herself safe by
staying and trusting. Why don't you do the same?”

 “Yeah!”
I yelled and fist pumped the air.

 Deanna
snarled at me to shut up, and then said to Griz, “Because he won't be after me,
oh-wise-one.” She raised one eyebrow.

 “You
can't be sure of that. If he's watching Wildcat then he'll do anything to get
at her; meaning, he won't have a second thought of taking out someone she cares
about.”

 I
gasped. “What about Maya at school? I'll have to keep her home.”

 “No,
darlin', she's covered by the boys. Someone will always be there watchin'; so
you don't need to stress.”

 I
nodded; though I still felt uneasy.

 Griz
turned a hard stare on Deanna. “You'll be staying at the compound. In my room.”

 She
smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, hot stuff, if all you
wanted was to get me into bed, all you had to was ask.”

 He
straightened. “You'll be in my bed, on your own. You ain't my type,
princess—too young and just a pain in the ass.”

 “Yeah
right, handsome; I bet every morning when you're in the shower you jerk your
chain thinkin' of this ass.” She slapped her butt.

 Griz
growled.

 Julian
giggled. “Did she honestly just say that?”

 I
sighed.

 Mattie
nodded while looking concerned.

 “Jesus
Christ.” Griz shook his head. I thought he would have put her down or stalked
off, but instead he said, “That's right, sweetheart. I come every morning
thinking of bangin' you so hard it'd work some of that pole outta your ass. As
I'm sure you fiddle with your nub every day thinking of how hard and long I'd
take you.”

 “Oh,
boy, is it getting hot in here?” Julian asked, fanning himself.

 I
looked back at Deanna, surprised she was still silent, and shocked to see a
blush upon her cheeks.

 “Fuck
you,” Deanna uttered.

 He
smirked. He knew he'd just won. “In your dreams, princess. Now, Pick will meet
you out front when you're finished here. He'll show you to your room. You
better not fuckin' fight him on this,” he said, and then walked out of the
house.

 “Deanna?”
I pressed.

 “Shut
the fuck up. I don't wanna hear it.”

 “He's
a nice guy,” I said.

 She
snorted. “Too old for me.What is he, fifty?”

 “Forty,”
Talon said as he came into the room, up to me, and moved my body so he could
stand behind me with his arms around my waist.

 I
needed to change the subject before Deanna had a full-blown hissy fit, so I
said, “Come on y'all, I need a Jensen Ackles fix.
Supernatural
is on
soon.”

 Any
woman who didn't find Jensen strip-worthy was insane in my books.

 Deanna
smiled at me. She knew I was taking the attention away from her and she
appreciated it. Didn't mean I wouldn't drill her later on what all the sexual
tension was with her and Griz. Not many men would go head-to-head with Deanna,
and I think she'd finally met her match. I wanted to jump with glee.

 Julian
groaned. “Honey, I'll watch
Supernatural
and get freaked the fuck out,
but only if you all watch
Burlesque
with me. I brought it from home.”

 We
all moved from the kitchen to the lounge and found seats.

 “Oh,
I am so there. But we all gotta go say goodnight to Maya first.”

Maya
was more than happy to have everyone in her room showering her with hugs and
kisses. We then all filed out to the living room; I sat in the middle of Deanna
and Talon on the three-seated couch. Actually, I was more on Talon's side,
leaning against his chest because he’d hooked an arm around my shoulders and
pulled me against him. To start off with, I was stiff and totally freaked out
by the type of...affection it had me feeling, and what it showed the others. I
got over it when his luscious voice whispered in my ear to relax.

 Mattie
and Julian squeezed themselves into the lounge chair together, moaning about
how fake
Supernatural
was; not that it stopped Julian from squealing and
hiding his eyes with Mattie's hand on the more scary parts. Once
Supernatural
finished—pout—we started
Burlesque.
Another favorite on my movie list.

 “You
know, I'd turn gay for Christina Aguilera,” I announced. I felt Talon chuckle
behind me.

 “Not
if I got to her first.” Deanna yawned.

 I
shoved her and said, “Dude, she'd have my shoes under her bed way before your
stinky ones.”

 “Actually,
I'd have to agree; she is hot. I think I'd even turn straight for her,” Mattie
said, receiving a look from Julian. We laughed.

 It
was a great movie. I had to rewind it three times to the part where she sang on
stage for the first time
. There was a knock on the
door; we all looked at each other while Talon stood and walked over to answer
it.

 “Boss,”
Pick said with a chin lift. His deep blue eyes looked stressed. He ran a hand
over his buzz cut, and then scratched his cute goatee.

 “Sup?”
Talon asked.

 Pick
looked over Talon's shoulder; his gaze fell upon Deanna, and then went back to
Talon. “Griz said to come grab her if I had to take off anywhere. I have to
take off, boss.”

 “What's
happenin'? I thought Griz was 'round tonight; he could have come himself.”

 “He
thought so too.” Pick leaned in closer. “She called.”

 Huh, what? Say again, or just speak the frig up. Who's

she?

 I
glanced at Deanna and knew from her drawn brows she was wondering the same
thing.

 “Again?
Fuck,” Talon barked. “Where you gotta go?”

 “Need
to help my ma with somethin'. Griz didn't want to leave it to the recruits; the
others are busy either workin', drinkin', or fuckin'. So I gotta take her over
and lock her down before I leave.”

 Talon
nodded. He turned to the room. “Hell Mouth, time to get your ass outta here.”

 “Does
it bother anyone with how bossy these pricks are?” Deanna asked the room.

 “Yeah,
a little bit,” I answered, because sometimes it was also downright HOT.

 “You
know I can walk across the road on my own. I ain't no fuckin' child.”

 Pick
sighed. “I was told if you pulled any shit, I was to haul you over there over
my shoulder. Is that how you want it, woman?”

 Deanna
got up, grumbling and no doubt cursing under her breath, the whole way to the
front door. “See you losers tomorrow.” She waved over her shoulder and Talon
closed the door.

 “Well,”
Mattie yawned, “I'm buggered. I'm going to hit the hay.”

 “I'll
join you, honey,” Julian said. “Leave these two love birds alone.” Julian added
a wink.

 Why
was it that all of a sudden, I felt very nervous?

 “Wait.”
I bounced up from the couch. “Ah, doesn't anyone want a hot chocolate? A
coffee? A shot of something stronger?”
I know I could use one.

 “No
thanks, sis,” Mattie said. He and Julian both came over and gave me a kiss on
the cheek goodnight; and no matter how much I pleaded with my eyes, the dicks
went off to their room.

 I
faced Talon. “Well, I guess it's time for bed.”

 He
gave me a chin lift. “Right, I'll lock up.”

 That
was easy. “Okay. I'll, ah, see you. Thanks, you know. Ah, night.” Maybe I
should have given him a kiss goodnight, but I was a chicken and bolted for my
room while Talon locked up and went home.

 I
got ready for bed while pondering on how easy it had been getting rid of Talon.
I thought he would have grabbed me or said something like 'Kitten, what the
fuck are you forgettin’?'

 I
slid under the covers and it dawned on me. I kind of had hoped he would’ve said
or done something and now I was disappointed that he hadn't made an effort.
Maybe he was getting sick of me already?

 My
bedroom door opened and Talon walked in. I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

 “You
thought I was goin',” Talon said with a chuckle. “I am damn happy to see that
smile on ya face from just knowing I'm still here.” He pulled his tee off in
one quick swoop.

 The
smile fell from my face and I sat up. “You, ah, can't stay here.”

 He
sighed loudly. “And why the hell not?” he asked while removing his jeans,
leaving him in black boxers.

 Hallelujah
. My magic nipples and
fandola sang.

 “Um,
'cause of Maya.”

 “Jesus,
kitten. I'm stayin'. Look, if it'll make you feel better, I'll move to the
couch before she wakes up. But right now, I wanna sleep with my woman in my
arms.” He walked to the side of the bed, lifted the covers, which I was
clinging to, and climbed in.

 What
could I say? He was willing to move to the couch so I wouldn't worry that Maya
thought we were moving too fast.

 Or
was it that I thought we were moving too fast?

I
don’t know; my brain was scrambled. I still had so many things to worry about.
Was David out there watching me? When was he going to strike? Was I just
overreacting with…well, everything?

 “You
gonna sit up all night, babe?” he asked; his deep voice sent a shiver down my
spine.

 God, even my spine is happy he's here.

 I
looked over my shoulder. He had one arm behind his head, and the other was
outstretched for me to lay upon. My heart was already going wild, but it just
stepped up to an even more frenzied rhythm. And why did it sound like it was
pumping to the beat of "Bad to the Bone"
?

 “Damn,
kitten. Are you always this nervous?” He chuckled.

 “No.”
I glared. “Only around you.”
And when psychopaths are looking for me.

 “Good
to know.” He smiled and pulled me down so my head rested on his chest, and his
arm held me tightly around my waist. He kissed the top of my head and uttered
again, “Good to know.”

 “Talon?”

 “Yeah,
babe?”

 “Can
I ask you something?”

 “Only
if it's quick. ‘Cause the more you talk whispery, the more my dick gets hard;
and I can't fuck ya with a house full.”

 I
smiled. It was good to know I had an effect on him like he did on me. I rolled
into him more and bravely slid my hand from his stomach to his chest; his hand
came down upon mine.

 “Kitten,
you keep being cute-like, I'm gonna have to take you. I've only got so much
fuckin' restraint. Ask your question and let’s get some shut-eye.”

 “Well.”
I cleared my throat and had to think real hard what my question was again,
because all that was on my mind was Talon taking me. “Um, I was wondering why
you and Violet aren't close.”

 He
started to trace circles on my hip. I wanted to purr.

 “She
didn't want me to get involved in our uncle’s club. He came to us eight years
ago and said he wanted to give me the chance to run Hawks if anything happened
to him. I felt honored. Violet felt disgusted. We both knew the club was
running drugs and selling women.” I couldn't help but stiffen. Talon felt it,
but he continued, “Vi thought it'd lead me down the wrong path. It did for a
while, and Vi hated that; in turn, she hated me, because by then she was on the
other side of the law. I lost her trust, I lost her love, and her in total as a
sister. Then my uncle passed away five years ago. I was in charge and
encouraged my brothers to run a clean club. The club members take after each
other; we own three Harley stores over Victoria, and have a few strip clubs.
Look, we no longer do any of that past shit, but it doesn't mean we don't help
out. An ex-member left 'cause he still wanted to deal with hookers. Outta
respect, we look out for his woman while they're on our territory. Babe, there's
a lotta dicks out there that don't believe the club's clean, but I don't give a
fuck. I'm happy, and my brothers are happy.”