Torched: Afterburn (Iron Serpents Motorcycle Club Book 2) (29 page)

“Your father didn’t abuse her though, right?” I asked, suddenly realizing he’d never told me more than random bits of the story here and there.

“No, but she saw him beating on both me and my mom. George instilled the idea that laying hands on people you’re supposed to love and protect is normal. He didn’t kill her, but he might as well have. She never would’ve stayed in the fucked-up relationship that ended with her being raped murdered if she’d had a better role model. I have no sympathy for my mother either, she had plenty of family with money and ways to get out, but she was cool with being the trophy wife of a lawyer and spending her days soaking away the bruises in champagne. She didn’t give a shit about her own kids until they were both gone, that’s why she slit her wrists a couple days after Em’s funeral. Or so she said in the note, I think she was just a selfish bitch to the end. She knew how to find me, all she had to do was pick up the fucking phone and let me know what my sister was dealing with and I would’ve killed the son of a bitch before he hurt her. Hell, Emily could’ve told me herself, she was already away at college, but George warped her brain so bad she thought I was nothing but a criminal who didn’t give a shit about her. I managed to get her on the phone a couple times the month before she died, and was gonna go up to Fort Collins to make her hear me out in person, but then I had to make a run for the club and she was dead by the time I got back.”

Wow.

Fuck.

What could I even say to that? My mom had died of a heroin overdose, but she was just young and stupid and I had very few memories of her aside from finding the body in our bathroom. And my father, well, he’d pretty much lost his mind to booze and done the unthinkable by handing me over to a pair of drug dealers; but at least I didn’t have to live with any kind of guilt over my part in any of it.

I didn’t think Torch had anything to feel guilty about either. There was no way he could have taken his sister when he left at sixteen and he’d tried his hardest to reach out after she made it out too. But I understood why the burden was still there. My husband—much like myself—kept a lot bottled up. I did it for my own sanity, he did it out of duty. Being so high up the ladder of an outlaw biker club didn’t leave much room for displaying any outward signs of weakness.

Part of me felt selfish for falling apart on him the day before, for crying like a baby over something as ridiculous as my half-sister being named after me. What difference did it make at this point? Chloe Nicole Belman was as dead as dead got, the government had even changed my birth records to reflect it. Torch, on the other hand, still carried his father’s name on all of his legal documents. There was no escaping the reminders for him.

His strength only reinforced my resolve to do whatever it took to support him and the club he loved so much. Both would have my unwavering loyalty until I drew my very last breath.

I glanced up at him and caressed his cheek as he looked off into the distance, the pain in his eyes as clear as the blue sky overhead. “Did you catch the guy?”

His jaw clenched. “The law did, I had him taken out in the slammer.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring up things you don’t like talking about.”

He took my hand, kissed it, and looked back over at me. “I’ll be making things right tonight.”

“You’ll kill him even if he’s not there, won’t you?” I asked.

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Because of me? The hit-and-run?”

He nodded again. “I may have the bastard’s blood running through my veins, but I’ll be fucking damned if I end up anything like him. I don’t hurt what’s mine, I
protect
it.”

“Torch, you’re a thousand times the man he could ever be, don’t let him start fucking with your head now. I know you’d never hurt me, you make me feel safer than I
ever
have. I love you, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Love you too, sweetheart.” He kissed me and smiled mischievously. From inside his cut, he pulled out a folded-up piece of paper and handed it over. “I got you something.”

I opened it and laughed. “Tickets to Magic Mountain? I didn’t know you like roller coasters.”

He shrugged. “Don’t know if I do, never been on one. I thought we’d ride out to California and spend a couple days just being kids since neither one of us got the chance. We’re only taking
my
bike though, I learned my fucking lesson coming back from our honeymoon.”

“This is an even longer trip,” I argued. “You don’t know how much a girl’s thighs burn riding bitch all day.”

“
Woman
,” he growled, “how much more do I gotta bend? I’m gonna lose my dick and start sprouting a fucking pussy any minute. What am I gonna stick in yours if that happens?”

“Oh fuck, that would definitely pose a problem,” I smirked. “You keep forgetting how much
I’ve
had to bend though, I did give up my bike. You of all people should know what a sacrifice that was. I didn’t even get to take it for a funeral lap.”

“How’s that the same thing as swallowing my pride as a fucking man? Christ, I can’t even give you a present without you flapping your gums. We’re taking my bike or I’m going alone and you can stay under club supervision until I get back.”

“Alright, alright,” I laughed. “We’ll take your bike. I guess I’ve compromised your
manhood
enough for a while, let’s go blow up some bad guys and replenish those testosterone reserves tonight. Thank you, babe, this is the sweetest thing ever.”

He scowled. “Ever? I got a hundred fucking bikers to ride out to West Virginia with me and escort your ass home from the pen.”

“Okay, so it’s the second sweetest thing.”

“Really? I also put together our whole wedding. Well, I had other people put it together, but it was my idea. Do you just forget all this shit as soon as it happens?”

I smiled and crawled into his lap. “Now you’re just fishing for compliments. Trust me, love, I remember everything.” Gripping his head with both hands and pressing my groin to his, I planted a kiss on his lips.

The crowd below suddenly grew rowdy. Curious, I pulled my mouth away and tried to look down over the edge of the roof, but he slung his arms around my back and pulled me down. “We’re in the middle of something, pay attention.”

“So demanding,” I cooed. But as soon as our mouths met again, a familiar sound
really
grabbed my attention. It was someone revving my old bike. My eyes grew wide and my jaw dropped. “Is that my
Busa?
” I asked with glee.

“Goddamn it, I told Biff to wait to get it out.”

“You’re giving it back?” I asked, probably a little too excited for his liking. To be fair, my Night Rod was a bitchin’ ride, but fuck if I hadn’t missed tearing down an empty road at a hundred and ten miles an hour without worrying about burning up the engine.

“Hell no, just for today. If you’re gonna go do recon, you should probably take the smallest and quietest ride out.”

“Yes!” I exclaimed. I kissed him again and jumped up.

“What the fuck?” he hissed. “I thought you were gonna give me something to remember in case I die tonight.”

“Oh, shut up, nobody’s dying tonight and it’s a fucking sauna out here. Just let me go touch it and we can squeeze in a quickie inside.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sticking that fucking thing in the compactor tomorrow.”

I held out my hand to help him up. “You’re jealous of a motorcycle?”

“
That
motorcycle just cockblocked me. Damn right I’m getting rid of it. Fuck that.”

“You know you’re just giving me a reason to go ride the shit out of it before you do, right?”

“Get your ass off this roof before I change my mind.”

I grinned and made a dash for the ladder, not bothering to wait for him to follow. As soon as my feet hit the ground, I pushed my way through all the bodies and practically drooled as I got to run my fingers along the leather seat.

“Torch, I think your old lady’s more turned on by that fucking rice burner than you, brother,” Slash from Kansas City crowed.

“I heard yours is more turned on by a pocket dildo than you, buddy,” Torch shot back, sidling up next to me. “Guess you just don’t measure up.”

Slash’s sneer turned into a scowl, but he didn’t have a chance to defend his dick before Gauge called out for Torch. “Sheriff’s outside the gate.”

“Fuck, what now?” Torch huffed. “Let him in.”

The guys moved out of the way as Sheriff Hiller drove his cruiser through the gate. Torch stood his ground and waited for the gray-haired, frowning old man to come to him. Like most of the local and county cops, he was in the club’s pocket.

“Torch,” Hiller greeted, extending out his hand.

Torch shook it. “Sheriff. What can we do for you?”

“You can tell me what the hell you’re up to, son. The MC seems to have a lot of guests today.”

“Our brothers were on a run and decided to stop for some food and rest. You got your payment this month, right?”

Hiller shot me a glance.

“Liv already knows where you get your extra income,” Torch reminded him. “You helped her cut a deal with the Feds last year, remember? I’m still fucking pissed at you for it, by the way. You want a burger?”

“No,” Hiller huffed. “Look, Linwood PD may look the other way, but I’ve been around long enough to know when you boys are up to no good. I’m just giving you a friendly reminder to keep whatever shit you’ve got going on out of my county. All of it. Got it?”

Torch smiled and patted him on the back. “Don’t worry, nobody’s making a mess for you to clean up, we wouldn’t want you to actually have to work for a paycheck. This is just a family get-together, nothing else.”

Hiller shook his head. “Alright, as long as we’re on the same page. How’s Buddha doing? I was planning on stopping by his place after this.”

“He’s hanging in,” Torch assured him. “We found a match. Thanks for getting tested, by the way.”

“Anything for my old friend,” Hiller said. After one last suspicious look around, he shook Torch’s hand again. “I’ll be on my way. Stay out of trouble.”

Torch gave him a nod and watched him walk back to his car. “I knew he’d come sniffing around,” he muttered.

“He didn’t buy a word of that,” I pointed out.

“I know, that’s how we operate. He asks pointless questions, we give him bullshit answers, and he goes back to the office with a clear conscience. It works for both sides.” He turned to face me and grabbed me by the waist. “Now, what was it you were saying about a quickie? Time to pay up, Mrs. Larter.”

I winked and squeezed his ass. “You know I always pay my debts. Let’s go.”

After instructing Jet to check my bike over since it had been in storage for so long, Torch spun me around in his arms and nudged me through a sea of bodies into the clubhouse, his hands inching down the front of my jeans the whole way. By the time we made it to his room, foreplay wasn’t necessary.

He slammed the door closed behind us and immediately started stripping down. I followed his lead and shimmied out of my clothes in record time.

With a grunt, he picked me up and carried me over to the bed. Romance apparently wasn’t on the agenda, he threw me down and jumped on top of me like a lion in heat.

Cupping a hand over my pussy, he used a finger to test the climate before bringing it to his mouth and sucking my juices off. “So wet already,” he murmured. “Be honest, did that fucking Busa do this?”

I started laughing so hard that I had to turn my head away.

“Liv…” he growled.

I collected myself and looked back up at him. “No, baby,
you
do this. Quit being so insecure.”

He ran his palm down my thigh and pushed it away to open me up. “Oh, I’m
very
secure.”

Reaching down, I wrapped my fingers around his shaft and tugged. “Good, now get me off.”

“Gladly.” With a roll of his hips, he swiftly impaled me.

Starting with slow strokes to build some heat, he rocked that fantastic ass back and forth with focus and fluidity. He pushed my thighs open wider, and as my walls swallowed him whole, I hooked the other leg around his back and my hands around his neck. Clinging to it, I lifted my head off the pillow and pulled our mouths together.

Though it had been intended as a quickie, we kept our lips busy and took our time in building speed and intensity. A slow burn, if you will. Thrust for thrust, my hips matched his tempo but let him take the lead.

I had no idea what was going through his mind, but the thought that our night could end badly had certainly crossed mine. Would this be the last time for us?

No. Wouldn’t happen.

Torch and I were a team, we were stronger together than apart. And if the club’s street intel about the number of men who would be there was right, we’d outnumber them four to one. Scully and the militia didn’t stand a fucking chance.

It was fine, we’d all be fine. I wasn’t about to start having doubts now.

By the time I shook off those worthless thoughts and gave Torch my full attention again, my man had pulled away from our kiss and was starting to work up a sweat. I stared into his eyes and focused on moving my hips in sync with the carnal sensations building inside my core.