The Outlaw's Dirty Dancer (2 page)

“When a female tells you no, that means get it through your thick fucking skull that she isn’t interested.” Whoever this guy was, his voice was deep and frighteningly low. There was just as much threat in those words as there was promise. He gently pulled her away from the prick that had put his hands on her, and moved her so she was behind the wide, thick wall of his back. “I should beat your fucking ass for even thinking of taking something that wasn’t offered to you,” the biker said on a low growl.

“Hey, asshole.”

Darra snapped her head to the side, but before she could warn the Hulk what was about to happen one of the asshole human’s friends slammed a beer bottle across the biker’s temple.

“I’m going to fuck you up.” The man that had used the bottle as a weapon ground out, spittle flying from his mouth as rage contorted his face.

The next sequence of events happened so fast she couldn’t wrap her head around it. The biker pushed her away and went after the guy that hit him. With one punch to the face the other guy went flying across the room and slammed into one of the pub tables. He was dazed, shook his head, and then stood. But he wobbled on his feet.

 
“You and your fucking club think you own this town, think you own the road.” He used the back of his hand to wipe away the blood that had started to trickle from his nose. “You’ve ruined everything, and now it’s time for you to get your ass kicked.”

What in the hell was this guy talking about? Clearly he was drunk, because no sane person would stand up against a man of this biker’s size, especially not given the reputation of the Grizzly MC. But then again clearly there was something wrong with the asshole. Who in the hell slammed beer bottles on people’s heads?

Screams erupted, but Darra didn’t know if it was because of the biker throwing the guy that assaulted him across the room, or if it was the drunk guy that was currently getting into it with the two bouncers, Sammy and
Larse
, that had stopped struggling with another man and come to stop the chaos that was happening right in front of her. The biker snapped his head to the guy who had been giving her a hard time, but the human held his hands up in surrender and shook his head. Then he hauled ass out of there. Darra looked around, saw the owner of the club storming over to Sammy and
Larse
, and without thinking grabbed the Hulk’s hand and pulled him toward the exit. He followed behind her, but she knew that he was letting her lead him away. If the bouncers couldn’t get this shit straightened out they’d be forced to call the cops, that, or one of the customers would. The Grizzly could certainly hold his own, but he’d saved her, and she couldn’t stand by and watch him get thrown in jail for defending her.

The shock of electricity that slammed into her when she touched his hand had her looking back at him and parting her lips. His attention was focused on where their hands were connected, and his brows were furrowed. Once outside she pulled him toward her beat-up Honda around the side of the building, but he stopped. There was no way Darra could make him move because trying to make this guy go where he didn’t want to was like trying to bust through a brick wall naked and too drunk to even stand straight. They were behind the building now with only the dim light from a flickering streetlamp giving them any kind of illumination.

“If we don’t get out of here the club owner, Marin, will get the bouncers to do a lot more than bust a beer bottle upside your head.”

He grinned, but it wasn’t one of amusement. The sound of the front door crashing against the side of the building had everything stilling inside of her. She had only been in Steel Corner for the last three months, and during that time she had seen two sides to Marin: the one that took care of “his” girls, and the one that turned into Mr. Hyde when things didn’t go his way. To say he was Hyde more times than not was a fair statement. Before the biker could respond, if he even planned on it, she could hear Marin’s deep voice.

“Where the fuck is the asshole that threw Leno across the damn room? He’s going to pay for the damage in more ways than one.”

“We didn’t get a good look at him.”

That was Sammy who answered. Darra reached for the guy’s hand again, because they really needed to get out of here, but instead he pulled her closer to his hard body. It wasn’t that she didn’t think this guy could handle himself, because he could take down Marin and his bouncers without even breaking a sweat no doubt. She worried because Marin had a lot of connections, ones that included men taking a guy to an abandoned warehouse and ripping his fingernails off one at a time. This Grizzly shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place, but he had stepped up and helped out a stranger, and no way in hell was she going to let him take the blame for anything. She looked up at him and whispered, “We need to get out of here. Marin is a crazy bastard.”

He grinned again. Her heart was beating so fast she could hear it in her ears and feel it in her throat. Marin and the two bouncers stepped around the corner and stopped when they saw them.

“What the fuck was that all about?” Marin said in a low voice that was full of threat.

The biker guy was hidden more in the shadows than she was despite the fact they were standing side-by-side, but that didn’t matter since Marin had his eyes right on her.

“I should beat you for the shit you started—” Marin snapped his mouth closed when the biker stepped out of the shadows and into the dim light. There was this sick satisfaction inside of her to see Marin’s eyes widen and fear start to quickly morph his expression.

“It would be good for you,
really
fucking good for you, if you didn’t finish that statement.”

“Oh, Brick,” Marin stuttered slightly, and Darra was surprised to see her boss so choked up. He was always so in control, but clearly he was afraid of this guy, and rightly so. “I didn’t even realize it was you. I just heard there was shit happening on the main floor, and then I heard about a fight going down.” Marin held up his hands, and the three men took a step back. Marin and the two bouncers turned and left without saying anything else.

Darra blinked in stunned disbelief and looked at the biker, whose name she had now learned was Brick.

“Wow, you hardly said anything and he hauled his ass right out of here.”

Brick didn’t move, didn’t even say anything. He just watched her with this very intense stare that should have made her feel all kinds of uncomfortable, but actually had her whole body warming with awareness of this man.

 
“I’m Darra by the way, and I take it you’re Brick.” He just continued to stare at her, and it was the craziest feeling to have him watch her so intently.
Okay. Not much of a talker
. “So, uh, did you know the guys that, you know?” This felt extremely awkward for her given the fact all he was doing was staring at her. She might be a stripper, but shit, there were still things that surprised her. And this Brick fellow was watching her like she was up on stage, and she was dancing solely for him.

He turned and looked down the street when a couple of college aged kids screamed in drunken glee. The light reflected off the small amount of blood that was coming from the wound on his head.

“Oh, shit.
Your head.”
She went to reach for him on instinct, but before she could touch him he had his hand wrapped in a very loose hold around her wrist. But that wasn’t what had her heart skipping a beat, or sweat starting to bead between her breasts. It was the feel of him running his thumb along the inside of her palm in slow, soft motions.

“It’s fine.” He let go of her hand and rubbed his palm on his thigh. She should have felt a bit offended by the act, as though he were trying to get any trace of her off, but all she could think about—and feel—was his thumb still moving across her flesh even though he wasn’t even touching her any longer.

“Please, let me clean that up for you? I only live about five minutes from here. And you did get wounded to save my honor.” She smiled, hoping it would soften him, but this man was like stone and steel all melded into one.

“I can get it mended at the clubhouse.” He turned to leave.

She reached out and wrapped her hand around his thick, muscular forearm. His skin was warm and smooth, but hard and filled with so much damn power. She felt the muscles tense beneath her touch. But it was the sound of his low growl that had her taking her hand away and moving a step back when he turned around and face her. “I’m sorry. I just…” She swallowed. She was afraid, because even if he hadn’t helped her out with that asshole, and even though she probably should have been frightened, she couldn’t find any fear inside of her. Darra wasn’t a stranger to men, had been with a few sexually and knew what she liked when in bed. But she had never felt this kind of intensity just looking at a guy, or after just meeting him. But she had to remind herself that this wasn’t a man at all, but a shifter. He was physically stronger than a human, had finer senses, and could snap her in half as if she were nothing but a toothpick. “I just wanted to help.” Her voice was softer than she would have liked, because Darra was not a pushover or weakling by any means, but God, this man did something crazy to her insides. It seemed like he was fighting some kind of internal battle as he stared at her, and it was such a strange sensation to
feel
that.

He turned and faced her fully, and after several seconds he finally spoke. “Okay.” Even when he gave in and was going to go with her, he sounded so harsh.

“Good.” She attempted to smile, but he didn’t reciprocate the gesture. “You have a car, or—” She looked at his patch and then looked back into his face. Most likely he rode a motorcycle.

“I’ll follow you on my bike.” Then he was striding away.

Darra watched as he walked to his Harley. The back of his cut showed a shadowed outline of a motorcycle over red claw marks. The top rocker said GRIZZLY, and the bottom rocker said COLORADO. Darra swallowed, and that damn voice inside of her said that taking this strange man to her house was the stupidest move she had ever made. But then there was another voice, one that was stronger and more desperate to see more of this guy—for whatever damn reason—that told her that he could have hurt her just by letting that prick in the club manhandle her. He could have, but he didn’t. There was no doubt he was dangerous, but it wasn’t just because he was clearly in a biker club, or that he was huge and muscular and Marin had seemed genuinely frightened of him. It was this darkness that came from deep inside of him, but no matter how hard he tried to hold it at bay, it covered him like this dark cloak. She had seen it when she looked into his dark eyes, and felt it as though it was her own.

He straddled the bike, and her pussy tingled from the sight, literally tingled. Pressing her thighs together, she tightened her hold on her purse, which was hanging crosswise on her chest, and
hurried
to her car. After fishing out her keys and unlocking the car door, she started it, but the sound of the Harley pulling up right next to the car had her heart pounding, She glanced out the driver’s side window, saw Brick idling right beside her door with his black skull cap helmet on, and his dark eyes trained right on her. Even with metal and glass separating them Darra still felt as though he was touching her with his stare alone.
God, I hope you know what you’re doing, girl.

Chapter Two

Darra pulled out of the parking lot and headed down Main Street toward her apartment complex. She was embarrassed to take him here since it was in the more rundown part of town, but fixing his cut at the club after the shit that had happened didn’t sound like a good idea. Five minutes later and she was turning her car into the cracked and pothole ridden parking lot, and pulling into one of the empty spaces. The complex had two levels, but they were outer apartments, and the small walkway right outside the doors was usually littered with many of the tenants loitering. Tonight was no different, but since it was Saturday there were kids with their rap music blasting through their front doors, a few couples screaming at each other, and all of that wouldn’t be complete without the dogs fighting ten feet from her.

Brick pulled his bike up beside her car, but Darra took a minute to look around. Yeah, she lived in a really shitty place, worked a shitty job, and overall hated where she was in her life right now. But there wasn’t time for a pity party, and so she grabbed her purse and got out of her car. Brick was still on his bike, but his attention was on the complex right in front of them. Heat filled her face from her humiliation. It was a strange emotion, really, because she hadn’t ever cared what anyone thought. Not until now.

Without looking at her he said, “This is a really fucked-up place to be living.”

A strangled chuckle left her
on its own,
but when he turned and looked at her with this strange expression on her face, Darra couldn’t help but start outright laughing. “Yeah, it really is. But the rent is cheap, my place is the last apartment on the bottom floor, and I have relative privacy on most days.” She smiled, trying to make light of this suddenly very awkward situation.

Brick climbed off his bike and took off his helmet. He let the thing hang from a handle bar.

“I don’t think I’d leave that there. It’s likely to get stolen.”

Brick looked at the complex once more, and she followed his gaze. There were several people staring at them, but when they saw they, too, were being watched they quickly averted their eyes. Brick turned back around. “They won’t touch my shit.” He sounded so sure about that, but just looking at him told her that no, they sure as hell wouldn’t be touching his shit. The wound on his head wasn’t bleeding as much, and she swore she saw a piece of glass glint off the streetlamp. God, this man was a fucking beast.

She smiled, but quickly looked away and started walking to her place. The sound of his heavy, even footfalls filled the space all around her, and she forced herself not to look back. Once at her front door she unlocked it and immediately turned on the living room light. She held the door open for him, and when he had to duck his head in order to clear the top of the doorframe she felt her throat close. Having him in her house made everything seem so small. She shut the door, but he was looking around and didn’t pay her any attention. No, that wasn’t right. This guy was focused on
everything
. And closing the door only amplified his size in her very cramped and barren home.

“Do you want something to drink?”
This is stupid, Darra.
You
are stupid for bringing him here.

He slowly turned to face her. “I’m good.” They stared at each other for a moment. “You do realize you should never ask a random guy over to your place?”

Darra licked her suddenly dry lips, but didn’t respond.

“Fuck, I could be some kind of damn serial killer for all you know.”

“I figured if you were going to kill me than you probably wouldn’t have helped me out back at the club.”

He grunted and glanced at the kitchen. “Don’t you know serial killers can save someone just to kill them later?” He turned to fully face her, but Darra was not even going to even talk about that.
It
creeped
her out.

 
“How about you have a seat on the couch and I’ll get the first aid kit. I think you have glass in that cut.” Surprisingly he didn’t grump or make any kind of sound when he went over to the couch and did just that.

Darra made her way quickly into the bathroom and flicked the light on. The bulb flickered to life, and she glanced at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair fell around her face, and her blue eyes had “beautiful” circles under them. She sighed, because there was no amount of make-up that could hide the fact she hadn’t been sleeping well. She crouched down and grabbed the kit from under the sink and headed back out into the living room. Brick was still sitting on the couch, looking too big for it, and suddenly she became so nervous. He turned and watched her approach, but he tracked her with just his eyes, like he was this predator stalking its prey. Once in front of him she sat on the edge of the sofa and turned to face him.

“You’re nervous around me.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, but Darra didn’t have time to respond because he was talking again. “That’s good. It means you’re smart to be nervous around an animal.”

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you it’s rude to point out the obvious?” Darra attempted a smile to lighten the mood, but his stoic expression had her smile faltering.

“No, I was never taught that, but the obvious is the only thing that is real in this world.” His words held more meaning than she could even fathom. The scar on his right cheek was even more noticeable under the lighting, but scars didn’t bother her.

She knew all too well that when the pain on the inside was just too great to handle anymore, that agony needed to be reflected on the outside as well. Pushing those thoughts away, and wishing he wasn’t watching her so intently, she got to work on grabbing a few squares of gauze, some saline tubes, a little bit of ointment, and the tweezers for the glass.

 
“Why are you doing this?”

She flicked her eyes at his and shrugged. “I told you why I was doing this. You helped me, and I want to reciprocate the act of kindness.” He didn’t respond, and so she grabbed the tweezers and lifted her hand to his wound. “This will probably hurt a little.” Again, he was so damn stoic and still, that she wondered if there was anything that got past his hard exterior. Darra focused her attention on the two inch long gash on his temple. Using her other hand to push his very short dark hair away, she concentrated on removing the few pieces of glass that were embedded in his skin. What she tried not to focus on was the way his hair was so soft against her fingers, or the fact he smelled so damn good it made her head spin.

After she got the pieces of glass out she went to work on cleaning the cut with the gauze and saline. The whole time neither said anything, but Darra swore he could hear her heart beating for as strong as it pounded behind her ribs. After taping a small bandage on it she moved back and set everything on the coffee table.
“All done, although you might want to get it checked out by a doctor since it may need stitches.”

“Thanks. I’ll have one of my brothers look at it.” He stood, and she did the same.

“You have a lot of family in Steel Corner?” She glanced at his cut again and wondered if he was talking literally or in the figurative sense since he was in an MC.

“No.” And with that one word she knew the conversation on that was over. He made his way to the door, but Darra couldn’t make herself move forward. But before he stepped outside he looked at her. “You really should consider getting out of this shithole.”

She shrugged. “It’s all I can afford right now, and besides, it isn’t so bad.” That was an outright lie, but overall she felt safe enough. “It’s a lot safer than the place I lived at in California.”

He stared at her for several long seconds before finally speaking. “That’s a fuckin’ shame.”

 
She nodded. “Yeah, it really is.” Darra felt like a small animal in a snare, and this big bear was about to devour her.

“Thank for this.” He pointed to his head, and another stretched moment of silence filled the space between them. “I’ve never had a female tend to me.” He ran his hand over the back of his neck. He seemed strangely vulnerable at that moment. “If you need anything, or someone starts shit with you, I want you to come to me.”

She blinked several times, processing what he had just said. “Um, okay, but I’m sure everything will be okay.” She offered him a smile.

“Just know that if you do need anything, come to me.” He moved toward her, reached inside of his cut and grabbed a pen, and reached out to take her hand. She looked down and watched as he scribbled his number on her palm, and this tingling started in her hand and traveled all the way up her arm. “
This number is for a burner phone, but if you need anything call
me, yeah?”

“Why are you doing this?” She asked him the same thing he had said to her.

He let go of her hand and took a step back. “Honestly, I don’t really know.” And then he was turning around, opening her door, and striding outside.

She stared at her now closed door and then looked down at her hand. His handwriting was a masculine scrawl, but Darra didn’t know if she would actually call him. Darra had always been used to handling things in her personal life and had never relied on anyone to make sure things were taken care of. That only ever led to her getting disappointed, and she was sick of feeling that way. There may be no one chasing her, no one looking for her, and she may be all alone in this crappy world, but she didn’t know if these very strange and unusual feelings she had for Brick were something she wanted to explore. Darra was just too damaged inside, too scarred and had too much baggage to be of any use to anyone. But even knowing all of that she still walked into the kitchen, grabbed a pen and slip of paper, and wrote down Brick’s number. She had said she didn’t want his help, and maybe she never would need it, but what she did know for sure was that she didn’t want to just ignore how he made her feel.