Spec (Defenders M.C, Book 6) (2 page)

Two

Candy slung drinks and kept her smile in place.  It was one thing to die inside as you watched the man you had loved for almost five years making it with every woman in the room.  It was another to let everyone know how much it gutted you.  Oh she knew she wasn’t fooling most of the brothers, but she hoped they wouldn’t call bullshit on her tonight.  Tonight she needed to pretend to be alright and when she got home she could let the hurt take her.

She looked around the room to see if there was anyone new, but there weren’t any new faces.  No one who would dare take the sting away for the night.  Not one man who would dare touch her.  Toothpick wouldn’t claim her, but he would kill anyone who touched her, he had proven that. 

His sentence had been fifteen years, but his lawyer had found something and had gotten him out after only four.  Candy had no idea what could have been found, but she had been so happy.  She’d had no idea how fucked up things would be when he got out.  She had visited him.  He had gotten conjugal visits and she had gone to him.  He had been rough but swore it was from wanting her so much.  She had tried to give him what he needed since it was her fault he was locked up anyway.  He had seemed to care for her, but he hadn’t even spoken to her since his release.

She looked up to find his almost colorless eyes watching her as he rubbed his hands all over one of the strippers from
Tease,
Mace.  Candy had never liked the gum chewing redhead, but now she wanted to rip her face off.

Candy took a deep breath.  It wasn’t Mace’s fault.  This was her job.  She knew the woman didn’t want Pick, she had her eyes on another brother, but she had to do her job.  Candy met the woman’s eyes and saw the dull almost-dead look in them and she pitied her.

She looked up to Ink who had taken a seat at the bar and was probably waiting for her to fall apart.

“Thank you.”  She mouthed as she cut her eyes around the room.  This could have been her life.  Ink had saved her by offering her a respectable job.  He had fought the brothers for her too.  Women were to be strippers and whores, they weren’t employees, but Ink hadn’t backed down and he had changed the course of her life.

He sent her an easy wink which caused the metal in his eyebrow to catch the light.  He was different from the other brothers, Angel was a lucky woman.

“Hey hot stuff!”  Angel said as she bumped Candy’s hip.

“Speak of the devil and she will appear.”  Candy murmured with a grin.

“Lusting after me again?  Now Candy we’ve talked about this…”  Angel winked and bumped her again.

“You’re just so damned sexy!”  Candy threw her hands up in a helpless gesture.  She felt lighter already.  No one could be gloomy around Angel.  Angel was nothing like Candy had thought she would be, being the president’s daughter she could have shunned Candy, but she had chosen to befriend her instead.  It had meant the world to Candy and she had secretly feared things would change now that Pick was making it clear that he didn’t intend to patch her.

Angel was a tiny woman with big blue eyes that always seemed to sparkle with mischief.  Her long dark hair hung in waves that seemed to get on Angel’s nerves, but Candy had seen the way Ink wrapped the long mass around his hand as he pulled his little wife in for a kiss and she suspected Angel kept the hair for him.

Tonight Angel’s eyes were especially bright and that was never a good sign.  Angel had a reputation for causing mischief.

“Why are you grinning?”  Candy asked with narrowed eyes.

“Maybe ‘cause I know a secret!”  Angel popped an olive into her mouth and her grin widened.

“Tell, tell!  Who is it about?”

Angel made a show of zipping her lips and locking them.

“Come on Angel, I need this.”  Angel followed her eyes as they landed on Pick.

“Wouldn’t be much fun if it wasn’t about you.”

Candy’s eyes rounded.  “Me?”  Her eyes shot to Toothpick again.  He had his head thrown back now.  The light caught his platinum hair and made him look like he glowed, even if at the moment he was blowing his load down Mace’s throat.

Angel slapped her on the arm.  “And it would NOT be any fun if it included that douche wagon!”  She rolled her eyes and shivered.  “Honestly I think he is more disgusting than he was when he went in.  I never figured out why you wanted him…  Anyway!  Daddy thinks you have earned a break and Ink agrees.  You, my lovely friend are going back to school!  Here’s to moving the fuck on!”

“Wait I can’t afford school and I don’t even have a dependable car.”  The one she drove to work was not fit to go more than a few miles at a time.

“Yeah, I didn’t finish.”  Angel grinned like she was embarrassed.  “The boys had been putting money back, just a little here and there to help you and Pick get on your feet again when he got out.  Well since he is the biggest douche wagon, my new favorite insult, on the planet, the boys decided to split it.”  She raised a brow.  “That is pretty huge in itself, but you have been more loyal than Pick and really stepped up when Ace was sick so you are officially the first and probably only recipient of the Defenders MC Scholarship.”

Several of the brothers had moved to the bar and they all gave a drunken cheer as Angel made the announcement.  Angel held up her hands for quiet, she really loved theatrics.

“Also included in this exclusive educational opportunity is a ride to and from school from a sexy-as-hell biker man who will make sure you get there and home in one piece.”

“Who?”  Candy whispered as her throat threatened to close up.  No one would dare.  No one would disrespect Pick by doing this for her.  No one except…her eyes fell to a man who lounged against the bar as if he hadn’t a care in the world and she knew. 

“Spec.”  She whispered.

“Ding, ding, ding!  Give the girl a prize!  Damn you really are smart and it cost me twenty bucks.  I figured you’d guess Ink.”  Angel groused the last part, but Candy couldn’t reply, she was trapped in Spec’s gaze.  He held her there like a bug under a microscope.  He studied her and when he winked and looked away she almost melted to the floor.

“Can we get a round of applause for Candy’s fearless bodyguard?  May he guard it while naked and making her scream!”  Angel announced and the brothers roared their approval.

Spec’s ears turned suspiciously red and Candy didn’t hide her smile.  She found Preach and mouthed a thank you and he nodded once before he averted his attention.

Her eyes landed on Toothpick without her permission and she saw hatred in the colorless depths of those eyes.

Candy shivered and grabbed a beer.  “It’s all yours Tommy.  I’m going to take a break.”

“Yeah you go on Candy, I got this.  Congratulations on the school thing.  I hope it all works out for ya.”

“Thank you Tommy.”

He sent her an easy smile as she walked to the back door.  There was a big fire out here as always, but there were few people out because of the cold.  She pulled her jacket closer and wished for a heavier coat.  She would buy one with her next paycheck she told herself, but she had told herself that three weeks in a row and had used her last bit of money on her stupid car, again.

The door behind her opened and she stepped out of the way without looking back.  A heavy leather jacket was settled over her shoulders and she knew without looking who stood behind her, she knew the subtle scent that clung to the jacket.

“Thank you for agreeing to take me to school.  I’m sure you have better things to do.”

“I volunteered.”  When he spoke his breath brushed her ear and made a shiver run down her body.

“Why?”  She turned and looked up into his blue eyes.  Unlike Pick’s they weren’t cold, they were warm and alive with intelligence.  Candy had always admired Spec, but feared him too.  Not in the way she feared a man with a gun at her head, but she knew Spec could hurt her in unseen ways.  She knew he was dangerous to her.  Not to her person, but to her heart.  He had shown her kindness that she had needed at her most vulnerable times and she had seen him slip a twenty into her tip jar on more than one occasion.  He knew what she needed and didn’t ask for anything in return, yet.  That had caused her to give him a wide berth.

He was so close now that they shared breath and it was making Candy a little dizzy.

“I could say it was to repay you for taking care of Ace.  I could say I wanted to get out and ride more.  I could even say that I wanted to get close enough so I could fuck you.”

“But that’s not it is it?”  She whispered.

“No.  I put no thought into it at all after I realized what I needed to know about you.  I just needed it.  Need it.  There are things I need to know about you.”  He leaned in closer so his lips brushed hers when he spoke.  “Things I can’t sleep without knowing.”

He looked bewildered.

“Why?”

“You intrigue me.”  He lifted his hand and rubbed the side of his thumb down the side of her face.  “I can’t seem to figure you out.”  He looked amazed by it.  “That isn’t something I am accustomed to.  I just want things for you that I don’t understand.”

“I don’t mind you trying.”

“Good.”  He said as his lips crashed down on hers.

Candy felt the rush of heat and wanted to cry out.  This wasn’t the payback she had wanted earlier.  This was private and untapped.  She had never felt this much passion for anyone.  This desire that threatened to scorch her even as it beckoned her closer.  This was dangerous.  She could almost hear the sirens in her head warning her to run.  It was overwhelming and instant.  She needed no build up.  He had flipped a switch within her and she didn’t know how to turn it back off.  Spec had control and she had to hang on for the ride.

Spec tore his lips away from her and panted for breath. 

“Fuck.”  He swallowed hard and let his eyes scan the area.  He tensed for a second and looked down at Candy as she shivered in his arms.

“I don’t want this here.  I want you to come back to my room Candy.  Say you will come back to my room with me.”  His hands held her close as if he couldn’t bear to let her go.

Candy had no words.  She only nodded.  She knew very little about Spec’s sex life, but she knew he never took women back to his room, ever.

Spec pinched her chin lightly and lifted it.  “I’m not a rebound fuck Candy.  I don’t want that shit again.  I’m not here to put you back together so he can have you back.  If that’s all this is to you then you can turn around and find another jackass to fuck you into forgetfulness.  I’m not going for that shit again.  I’m taking you to bed because I have wanted to for a long time.  You have to want me too though, me not him.”

Candy shook her head.  “I don’t want him back.”

BOOM!  Like a thousand pound weight lifted off her shoulders.  She was free.  She hadn’t even allowed the thought until now.  She didn’t want Toothpick anymore.  The man she had loved was long gone and the man that was left was nothing but an empty eyed stranger.  She had fought with her guilt over the years he had been away.  She had found herself loving him less with every day, but wouldn’t allow herself to admit it.  Now that she could she felt light.  It explained why she felt more anger than hurt at the way he was acting.  It explained it all.  Maybe Pick had known.  Maybe he was letting her go.  She wrapped her arms around Spec’s neck and laughed.

“I don’t want him back!”  She sang as loud as she could and let her joyous declaration fill the darkness. She flung her arms wide and leaned back.  Spec let out a little laugh and held her so she wouldn’t fall on her head.  His hands cradled her hips as they pressed against his.  She felt like she could fly.

“How much have you had to drink tonight Candy?” Spec laughed as he held her.

She laughed.  “About two sips.”

“Just enough.”  His lips met hers again for an instant before she was thrown over his shoulder.

Her laughter bubbled out of her as he walked to the room that had been built on to the clubhouse.  Spec had his own little apartment.  The other brothers had suites, but Spec was different.  He had an entire room full of surveillance equipment that kept track of who knows what and then he had his little apartment in back.  It was nothing fancy, but Candy had noticed Spec’s need for things in order and she suspected it was easier for him to live in a space of his own.

She bounced on the bed when he deposited her on it with very little grace and she wiggled her eyebrows when he pulled off his shirt.

“Damn it woman quit grinning at me like you’re about to eat me.”

“Maybe I will.”  She let her smoldering gaze rake his body and he cursed under his breath.  Damn he was sexy.  He hid it from the world, but he was built.  He was different from most of the other brothers.  Spec was built like a swimmer.  He was all lean muscle instead of bulk, but it looked damned good on him.  He had very little ink marking his body other than his club tat and Candy wanted to explore it all, later.  At the moment she only wanted to feel his touch.

“Get out of those damned clothes.”  He said impatiently and candy wanted to laugh.  She had never wanted to laugh with a man before, not in the bedroom, but Spec didn’t seem bothered by it at all.

Candy let out a squeal as Spec pulled her shoes off and tossed them away.  He frowned and looked behind him at where they had landed.  He almost turned and Candy wanted to laugh.  She tugged her shirt over her head and his eyes snapped to her breasts.