Page 13 of Sinful Desires

“I would really love to get a look at that bike. Do you think you would mind if we asked to go out and see it?” Lucian asked.

I was going to bite my off tongue if this went on much longer. “Be right back,” I announced, grabbing my purse and intending to head for the ladies’ room. Anything for a minute to myself. All it took was a stupid motorcycle and a winning smile, and everybody was head over heels for him.

Once again, I asked myself if I was the problem. Why wouldn’t anybody believe me when I told them I didn’t trust him? I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder on my way to the bathroom. There he was with a half-naked girl on either side of him, both of them tossing their hair and laughing. Yes, he was hot. I could admit that to myself, even if I would never dare admit it to my sister. But whatever happened to having a little dignity?

“Hey.” I barely had the chance to recognize a man was speaking to me before he raised his voice. “I said hey! You with the red hair. Nice ass.”

This was not the first time I had been cat-called at a bar. I didn’t know a single woman who hadn’t gone through this experience at least once. The best way to deal with it was always to ignore it, which is what I tried to do as I continued walking toward the back of the room. That was the last thing I needed, considering the mood I was in. The guy was lucky I was patient enough not to curse him out for everybody to hear.

“Why are you so fucking rude?” I felt his presence before his hand landed on my shoulder. Until then, I had not bothered looking his way, determined to pretend he didn’t exist, but I couldn’t exactly avoid him when he took hold of me and turned me around so we were face-to-face. He was tall, soft in an ex-athlete sort of way. Time and probably beer had added a layer of fat to what may have been muscle at one point.

And he was strong. The hand on my shoulder tightened menacingly. “Can’t a guy give you a compliment, you frigid bitch,” he demanded, leaning closer until the stench of beer almost choked me.

“Just leave me alone,” I muttered, and instead of trying to pull away or throw his hand off, I let my knees go loose and ducked a few inches. He lost his grip, so I was free in a heartbeat and ready to shout for help from one of the guys.

“The fuck is your problem?” He reached for me again, this time gripping my wrist, and as much as I didn’t want to give myself away, I yelped more in surprise than in pain.

“Oy!” A flash of black leather came from the corner of my eye before the stranger flew backward against the closest wall. It was almost like magic, the way he was there and then he wasn’t.

There was no time to breathe when Miles pulled back a fist and slammed it against the guy's face. By now, everybody realized what was going on, and Colton quickly took hold of me and pulled me away from the fight. I couldn’t pry my eyes from the sort of violence that would normally make me cringe and shudder. Miles hit the guy again in the face, making blood spurt from his nose before pummeling his ribs with rights and lefts.

That wasn’t enough to end things, though. The stranger took him by his jacket and swung around, slamming Miles into the wall and landing a punch against his right cheek.

Dimly, almost in the back of my mind, I heard somebody shout something about calling the cops. Colton must have heard it, too, and he and Noah closed in on the brawling men. Miles managed to get one final shot that made my would-be attacker drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. The fight was over. There was no question of who had won.

“We should go,” Evan decided, approaching from behind me and giving my hand a firm tug which almost knocked me off my feet. I was swaying, dazed, as breathless as I would’ve been if I had been the one throwing punches. “Come on before Sienna has to take us all on as clients.”

Evan had a point. This would cause all kinds of problems if it got out. As much as I wanted to go and leave this behind, it wouldn’t have felt right to leave without Miles. He had only gotten into a fight because of me.

Before I knew what I was doing, I ran to where he leaned against the wall with a hand pressed to his wounded cheek. “Let’s go.Now,” I urged, tugging his jacket. “Before somebody calls the police.”

He spat a mouthful of blood onto the floor before shooting one last dirty look at the man who was still unconscious. But he followed when I practically ran out of the bar behind everybody else. I was too humiliated to look at any of the whispering and pointing people we passed.

It felt like forever until we were outside again with everybody hanging around, wondering what to do.

“Looks like we’ll have to continue this some other time.” Miles looked my way before inclining his head toward a gleaming motorcycle parked half a block down. How he had managed to find parking in the middle of Manhattan was a mystery to me, but then so much about him was. “I'll get you home.”

“Go ahead,” Valentina urged, almost pushing me behind him. “I’ll call you. Hurry.”

What the hell was I doing? I had never been on a motorcycle before, much less with somebody I didn’t trust. But he had fought for me, hadn’t he? Maybe he just wanted to fight somebody, and that happened to be the most convenient option.

“Shouldn’t I be wearing a helmet?” I asked once I was positioned behind him. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, with the smell of leather playing tricks on my senses while I slid my arms around his waist. Looking over his shoulder, I caught sight of his bloody knuckles as he took hold of the handlebars or whatever they were called.

“I’ll be careful,” he called out.

All of a sudden, there was a beast between my legs, and the vibrations were intense enough to make me squeal in surprise. It was a relief that the engine drowned out the sound, and I closed my eyes tight, bracing myself before we took off.

Once the strangeness wore off, it was a rush. Nothing between me and the wind blowing my hair back and making my loose, knee-length skirt flutter a little against my skin. We weren’t going very fast. He kept his promise about being careful. But it was still enough to get my heart pumping.

And the buzzing between my legs didn’t hurt either.

It wasn’t until we reached my building’s attached garage that the reality of what had just happened finally sank in. “We ran from the police,” I announced as Miles rolled into an empty spot. My legs were shaking when I swung one of them over the seat to… dismount? Was that the right word for it?

“I don’t know if I would be quite that dramatic.” He was laughing but not in a cold or nasty way for once. “But we did escape before their arrival. And you had your first ride. What did you think?”

I thought I was insanely turned on. There wasn’t a handheld vibrator in existence that could compete with that kind of power. “I think… you should wash that.” I touched my fingers to my cheekbone before pointing to his. There was a cut there, and a bruise was beginning to take color. “Your knuckles too.”

“Good thing there’s running water upstairs.” He was practically floating on air and in a better mood than I had seenhim in yet. Was that all it took? Kicking the crap out of some jerk in a bar?

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