Page 110 of The Fire We Crave

And I see Ember, twirling in herProperty of Atomcut. The most independent woman I know, allowing herself to be claimed by the brooding enforcer.

And then, there’s me. Cut-less, but I feel like I’m wearing a cut anyway, because Smoke never lets me out of his sight.

“You wanna dance?” The man catches me off guard. He’s what Smoke called a hang around. He’s not wearing a leather cut that describes him as a prospect or patched-in biker. He’s attractive, close to my age. But he doesn’t have me in a chokehold like Smoke does.

I shake my head and point in Smoke’s direction. “Go ask my boyfriend if I can.”

Smoke raises one eyebrow at me, then stares at the hang around with a glare that could blast through solid metal as he walks towards us.

“Sorry, you weren’t wearing a cut. Thought you were free p?—”

“Saypussyand I might slap you,” I say. “And you should back away. Now.”

Smoke joins us, but instead of addressing the hang around, Smoke walks behind me, undoes one of the buttons of my dress, and slides his hand inside until he’s cupping my breast.

“You need any help, sugar?” he asks.

It’s as though I’ve suddenly been plugged into an electrical socket as a vibration starts in my feet and runs through to my fingertips.

Heat fills my cheeks, but I couldn’t move now if I wanted to.

Ember raises an eyebrow in surprise, but I see Atom curling his finger at her, telling her to join him.

“No, I explained he’d need your permission to dance with me, and he didn’t seem to get it.”

Smoke runs a trail of kisses up the side of my neck. But I can tell he’s also looking straight at the hang around.

“You unclear about the rules of the clubhouse when it comes to women?” Smoke asks.

The hang around raises his hands. “Didn’t mean offense, Smoke. It’s just, she’s not wearing a cut. My mistake.”

Beneath the cover of my dress, Smoke brushes his thumb over my nipple, and my whole body contracts at the action. The hang around’s eyes drop to what we’re doing, and then he lifts his gaze back to Smoke quickly.

“Then why the fuck are you still standing there, watching me touch my woman?”

I’m not sure what’s happened with the wiring between my head and my body. Surely, it’s not normal to feel so turned on and yet so embarrassed at the same time. I’m certain, if Smoke dipped his hands beneath my panties right now, his fingers would be soaked. And yet, I find myself worrying about where my friends are and if they can see.

But I notice Atom ushering Ember down the hallway to their room, and I can no longer see Wraith and Raven.

“Looks like Smoke’s finally pulled his head out of his ass,” Catfish says, grabbing the hang around by the back of his collar. “Think you’ve got other shit you want to be doing instead of fighting, brother.”

I don’t look at where the hang around is taken, but in the darkness of the corner of the bar, I realize the world is going back to what it was doing.

Smoke still has his hand down the front of my dress and the length of his erection pressed up against my butt.

I turn my head slightly. “I told him no.”

Smoke finally smiles. “I know you did. I particularly liked the part where you told him to come get my permission. You knew I would never give it, right?”

“I did. You called me your woman.”

He releases his hold on my breast, and I miss the warmth immediately, but he spins me to face him. “I did.”

“Did you mean it?”

“Absolutely. You’re my woman, and my submissive, right?”

“Doesn’t it bother you that I…?”

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