Page 41 of Ruined (The Knights of Ruin)

People cheered. Some of them shouted encouragement and punched their fists into the sky. Others called out cheerful yet filthy curses.

The firelight leapt across Smoke’s face as he looked at me, the flickering shadows making him a stranger. His eyes were as dark as the night sky above our heads and he was smiling. But it wasn’t the amused, friendly smiles I was used to. This was different. It was hungry...feral. A predator’s smile.

He held up the vest between his hands and it was obvious what he wanted me to do.

People were shouting and cheering as I walked over to him, the ground feeling unsteady under my feet. My heartbeat was loud in my head, and despite the beer I’d had, my mouth was dry.

This was insane. It was pretend. Why the hell was I feeling so weird about it?

I turned when I got to Smoke, giving him my back while I held my arms out. He put the vest on me, the leather hot and heavy against my spine.

The brothers were shouting and cheering, raising their beer bottles or whatever else they were drinking into the sky.

I couldn’t get a breath. The whole situation was freaking me out. This was what Mom had wanted—what she’d been desperate for Dad to give her—and now I had it. Now I was part of a club, even though it was the last thing in the world I wanted.

Smoke’s hands settled on my shoulders and he turned me around. The stranger’s smile had gone. Now he simply looked intense, the way he’d looked right before he’d kissed me outside Lucky’s.

My pulse began to go crazy as he lifted a hand, sliding his fingers around the back of my head, drawing me close. I wanted to push at him, keep the distance between us, because I wasn’t ready for this. But his mouth was on mine before I had a chance to do anything about it.

It was another hot, possessive kiss that had my toes curling in my stilettos. And he wasn’t slow this time, or coaxing. His tongue pushed deep into my mouth, demanding and hungry, and all I could do was let him take whatever he wanted.

People were shouting all around us and then the kiss was over. Smoke was lifting his head. His grin was pure triumph, pure satisfaction—almost the same as the grin that had lit his face the day he’d first brought his Harley home.

The possessive hand at the back of my head dropped to my waist, curling around me as he brought me close to his side.

I swallowed and muttered, ‘Now what?’

People were starting to approach us, guys slapping Smoke on the back and congratulating him, calling him a sneaky motherfucker and then grinning at me.

‘Now we enjoy the party,’ he said, his arm like an iron bar around me.

‘Can’t I just go home?’

‘No.’ There was no arguing with that tone. ‘You want to make this look real? We have to make it look real.’ He glanced down at me, his black eyes glittering in the firelight. ‘Unless you want to go to my bedroom here?’

My stomach lurched at the same time as an electric thrill shot through me. He was joking, of course. He had to be, didn’t he?

I looked away, back at the crowds. ‘Uh...no, I’m fine.’

The music thumped and the party started to get more raucous, as if Smoke’s announcement had been some kind of signal to finally go wild.

Tiger had joined a group by the fire, all gathered around a short, curvy brunette in a tiny skirt and tank top who was grinding away to the music. As I watched, the brunette turned to Tiger and put her arms around his neck, her hips still grinding, giving him what was basically a vertical lap dance.

She looked familiar to me for some reason.

Tiger bent his head, whispering something in her ear, and she tipped her head back, laughing. Then she dropped to her knees in front of him and reached for his zipper.

Okay, now I recognised her. It was the woman I’d seen giving Smoke a blow job in the hallway.

Beside me Smoke was easy, relaxed, and when I flicked a glance at him I saw he was watching the show the woman and Tiger were putting on. I found myself studying him for signs that he minded what was happening in front of us, but there was no jealousy in his face whatsoever.

‘It was just a blow job, Cat,’ he said, without looking at me, like he knew exactly what I was thinking. ‘It didn’t mean anything.’

‘I wasn’t... I mean, I didn’t...’ I couldn’t finish.

He glanced down at me. ‘Are you jealous?’

I could feel my cheeks heat. ‘No, don’t be stupid.’

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