Page 43 of Fighting a Riot

He yanked down his wrap-around Oakley sunglasses and stared right at me. “You must be the princess.”

I slowly turned my head toward Yak. “How does he know who I am?”

Yak glanced at me and faced the other man. “She is, which is why this shit should wait twenty minutes for me to get her—”

“Be closer to forty by the time you’re back,” Roll muttered.

The red-head aimed a resigned smile at me. “I’m Abby.” She made a fist and swung her thumb toward the lanky man. “This is Blood. Any luck, this won’t take long and we can all hit Yak’s pad afterward.”

“Not happening Abby,” Yak said in a firm tone.

She shook her head. “You’re such a killjoy. I bet if Cal’s pool were heated we could swim there.”

Blood stood behind Abby and he looped his arm around her waist, pulling her back to his front. “Enough, woman. We don’t want any bullshit tonight. Any Devil Lancers who have women in there, don’t let them rile you up.” His eyes caught mine. “That includes you. Hate to say it, but Yak’s instincts are probably right. Should have taken you home, but nothing for that shit now. Let’s go inside.”

Blood tucked Abby to his side and led the way toward the front doors.

Trixie walked next to me and I whispered, “Why should he have taken me home?”

In a low voice, Trixie said, “You’re like blood in the water, and these assholes are sharks. They’re gonna probably zero in on you, but don’t worry. Me and Abby’ll handle it.”

Yak draped an arm around my shoulders. “No, you won’t, Trix. She ain’t leaving my side.”

We walked two steps before Yak swung his free arm behind his back, grabbed my hand and wrapped my arm around his waist.

“Needs to be believable, Nora,” he muttered.

I shifted my arm so I had my hand under his vest, resting against waistband of his jeans.

His eyes cut to me. “What are you doing?”

I smiled up at him. “It needs to be believable, right? What woman wouldn’t touch you skin to skin?”

The moment we rounded the corner of the building, one of the doors swung open. Yak shifted us, putting himself between me and whoever exited the bar. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body to his.

A cloud must have drifted in the sky because the setting sun suddenly lit Yak’s brown eyes making them look like pools of melted bronze. I could stare at them for an hour. This felt so much like a date it wasn’t funny, but I couldn’t let myself pretend like that –no matter how tempting it was.

His eyes darted to the side, then back to mine. Next thing I knew, his hand locked at the base of my skull and he crushed his lips to mine. My lips parted in surprise. I didn’t know what prompted this, but my tongue gave his lips a tentative touch. He groaned and his mouth opened.

His head tilted and he deepened the kiss.

I reached up and slid my hand along his shoulder.

He cut the kiss short and turned his head to the side. His eyes were closed and his nostrils flared as he took in a deep breath.

His hand dropped away from my neck, he glanced back at me, and grabbed my hand. “Don’t get pissed, but that was so a couple guys wouldn’t come over here to talk to me. Sorry I used you.”

On the one hand, if it came with a kiss like that one, I didn’t mind being used, but on the other hand, I wondered if I’d lost my mind, because I despised being used.

Inside the bar, a haze of smoke hung in the air and aggressive heavy metal music played loud enough it was difficult to have a conversation. We navigated between groups of other bikers toward a large doorway on the far side of the room which led to the main bar. This area was quieter and the atmosphere was stifling. Like danger on a short fuse, ready to explode at any moment.

Older men at the bar eyed our progress. I forced an aloof expression and let Yak guide me to a barstool. He perched on the stool next to me. Trixie settled on my other side while Roll, Blood, and Abby took seats next to her.

A man wearing a black bandana around his head stood behind the bar drying a pint glass. His beard had a smattering of gray hairs. He wore frameless glasses, and his dark eyes leveled an assessing gaze on us.

After a moment, he put the glass down and moved to Blood. “Not gonna tolerate any trouble here tonight. Don’t care that the Devil Lancers are here talkin’ shit. Now, what are you having?”

Blood ordered beers for all of us, and the bartender moved to the taps.

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