I will give respect only if I get respect.
SINNER’S TRIBE CREED
“You don’t go out without me. You do not go to see male strippers. You don’t see other men. No clubs. No dates. No drinking. No Benson.” Cade barked out each rule as he mounted the stairs leading up to his room. The chandelier overhead rattled with each step he took, but upside down, over his shoulder, the only thing Dawn was in a position to appreciate was the worn wooden floor, and Cade’s very fine, tight ass.
He pushed open the door to his room, and then slammed it closed and dropped her lightly to the ground. “You answer the phone when I call or text. You don’t hang with the brothers dressed in the kind of dress a man wants to tear off you.”
Dawn gripped the door handle to regain her balance as Cade stalked across the floor to the window. The room pulsated with the intensity of his emotion, or maybe something was alive beneath the piles of clothes, pizza boxes, bike gear, and magazines. At least it didn’t smell as bad as it looked, just a tad … fetid, but laced with the fragrance of his cologne.
“Don’t you think you’re taking this too far? I mean, Jimmy’s not about to grab me from a bar or a club. At heart he’s a coward. That’s why he’s always approached me in the dark or from a distance.”
“This isn’t about him.” His puzzled frown almost made her laugh. “You’re mine.”
“I’m not yours.” Dawn folded her arms. “But since we’re laying it on the line, and if you’re wanting me to stick around, I have terms, too. You don’t go to strip clubs, even for a drink. Nor do you let sweet butts wriggle in your lap. You don’t flirt with women or bring them back to the clubhouse. You’re a one-woman man unless you want a woman who isn’t me, and then I walk out this door.”
Tension coiled in the room between them. He stared at her for so long she was afraid she’d crossed some hidden line and nothing would ever be the same again.
“I guess now that we have that straight, I’ll take care of those cuts and bruises,” she said to fill the silence. “You got a first-aid kit in here?” Her gaze swept over the room, bare of any decoration save for the detritus, a gritty contrast with the huge four-poster king-sized bed and heavy dark wood furniture, remnants from the days before the country house had become the Sinner clubhouse.
Cade scowled. “I’m not finished saying my piece.”
Dawn wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the rest of his “piece” if it involved any more one-sided rules and restrictions. She studied the room again for any sign of first-aid equipment, trying not to look at all the empty condom boxes or the shiny wrappers strewn across the floor or think about what they meant.
“I got something else to say.” Cade’s voice held an uncharacteristically sharp edge. “What are you looking at?”
Her cheeks heated and she scrambled for words. “Lots of … pizza boxes. What kind of pizza do you like?”
“Pizza?”
“I don’t know that much about you. What kind of pizza do you like?”
“Meat.”
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Can you be more specific? Pepperoni, sausage, ham, bacon—?”
“Just meat. Lots of it.” His brow creased. “You?”
“I’m kinda into veggies. Not that I don’t occasionally indulge in a Slim Fred’s Meat Feast when I’m hanging with Banks at his place watching the fights, but usually I like to keep it healthy.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “What else you want to know?”
Hmmm. A rare insight into Cade and what made him tick. She wanted to know everything, but from the way he was looking at her—focused, intent, like a predator sizing up its prey—she would have to be judicious with her questions. “Music.”
“Mostly ’seventies legends like Bob Seger, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and the Allman Brothers and hard-rock bands like W.A.S.P. and Great White.”
“Typical of a biker and not very revealing.” Dawn sighed. “I don’t suppose you harbor a secret love for Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift?”
Cade’s nose wrinkled. “Girl crap. Don’t listen to it.”
“I like ‘girl crap,’ as you call it. I also like jazz.”
“That’s ’cause you’re a girl.”
“I’m a woman.” She lifted an eyebrow in censure and he gave her a smoldering, sensual look that made her instantly wet.
“That I fucking know. And ’cause of that, there’s no hanging out with Banks, ’cause he knows that, too.” He crossed the floor toward her, eating up the distance between them with easy strides of his long legs. “You want to listen to girl crap and hang out and eat pizza, you do it with me. And forget the veg. How are you gonna keep those curves if you’re just eating green shit?”
He was so close now she could feel the heat radiating off his body, breathe in his scent of leather, crisp spring air, and the sharp odor of blood. “You like my curves?”
“Love your curves, babe. Couldn’t have made it through that fucking ambush if I didn’t have these curves to think about.”
Dawn took a step back, and then another. She hit the door and he slammed into her, momentum melding their bodies together, sparking a firestorm in her blood so hot she thought she might combust.
“Did you…” She shouldn’t ask, but she couldn’t help herself. “Kill anyone?”
Cade’s face softened. “Club business, sweetheart. But I know this is something that bothers you so I’ll let you know it’s never easy taking a life. We do what we gotta do to protect the club. Rusty had a gun on Shaggy, so Shaggy lived and Rusty died. It wasn’t meant to be that way, but that’s the life we’ve chosen to live.”
“It’s a violent life.”
“It’s a life where I protect the people closest to me the best way I know how. Being part of the MC means I don’t worry about rules or laws or orders when my brothers are at risk. It means I can do what needs to be done to protect what’s mine. It means I can live a life without guilt or regret.”
Cade wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. For a long time they stood in silence, hearts beating together, and then he brushed his lips over her forehead and pulled away.
“You okay with that?”
“I don’t think I can handle it,” she said. “I saw too many things when I was with the Brethren that still give me nightmares. I don’t want to be part of that life, even if we’re just hanging out and having a good time.”
“What I do with the club doesn’t come back on you, sweetheart.” His voice tightened. “It doesn’t touch you. And what Mad Dog did to you is not something I would ever do. Yeah, I may be violent, but it stops outside that door. I don’t need to hit a woman to feel like a man. I don’t get off on dominating a woman until there’s nothing left but an empty shell. I am always in control.”
Dawn released the breath she’d been holding. She hadn’t realized just how much she needed his assurance. But more than that, he seemed to understand abuse at a fundamental level. Almost as if …
The door vibrated under the pounding of someone’s fist. “Jagger wants to see you.”
“Fuck off.”
“He said now.” She recognized Tank’s voice and T-Rex’s low chuckle. God, this was like being in high school all over again.
“I said fuck off.”
“You busy in there, Cade?” Tank knocked again. “You need any help taking care of business?”
Hmmm. Not as busy as they should be. And since everyone already assumed they’d be at it by now, and she could see her way forward through the forest of the biker world, maybe they should get on with the program.
“You wanna lose a fucking hand?” Cade barked.
Dawn slid her hands under Cade’s shirt and pushed it up and over his head, grimacing at the four white bandages on his pecs. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his chest. His skin was warm and dry, tasting slightly salty, deliciously male.
She felt the low rumble of his pleasure at the juncture of her thighs and yanked open his jeans. Oh God. He’d gone commando. She wrapped her palm around his shaft and he let out a groan that made her mouth water. The floor outside the door creaked and footsteps faded down the hallway.
“Christ. I fucking ache for you.” He hugged her face with his hands and took her mouth in a deep, hard kiss, almost violent in its intensity. Tongues tangled, teeth clashed. He devoured her mouth as if he’d been starving for her, giving her barely enough time to take a breath. He tasted of bourbon, and the thick, sweet taste sent her pulse skyrocketing, ripping a moan from her throat.
“Here I am.” She dropped to her knees and wrapped her mouth around his shaft, just as she’d wanted to do when he’d been standing in her kitchen. Except this time his injuries weren’t bad enough to keep her desire at bay.
* * *
Ah God. He wasn’t going to be able to hold out for long. After letting her dance that little dance downstairs in her fucking sexy dress, and seeing the lines of worry disappear from her forehead after he gave her the assurance he wouldn’t be taking his fists to her pretty face—his father’s son he was not—he wanted nothing more than to bury his cock in her pussy and drown himself in her sweetness.
But damn her hot, wet little mouth was impossible to resist.
Cade slid a hand through Dawn’s hair, pulling her forward until she took all of him in. “So fucking hot seeing you on your knees, those beautiful lips wrapped around my cock.”
She pulled away and smiled. “So fucking hot doing what I wanted to do the last time I had you injured and at my mercy.”
Cade bit his lip as she teased, licking and sucking his cock until he had to fight back the urge to pump into her mouth. In the distance he could hear the low murmur of voices, the rev of a motorbike, the rustle of leaves outside his window. In his ears he could hear the thud of his frantically pounding heart. He tasted his own blood on his tongue, and his fingers tightened in her hair.
“You keep teasing and it will be you begging for mercy.”
“Naughty.” She withdrew and gave him an admonishing look. “You should be nice when your girl has your cock in her mouth.” She cupped his balls in one hand, squeezing gently while she flicked her tongue over the swollen head of his shaft. His hips jerked forward and his cock prodded at her lips.
“My girl.” He liked the way it sounded. He’d never had a woman exclusively his. Never wanted one. Not since he’d left the military. But damn he wanted her, and not for just one night.
Dawn laughed and slid her hand between her legs, grinding her palm over her clit. “Maybe your girl will just take care of herself.”
Cade’s eyes locked on her hand, positioned exactly where he wanted his cock to go. “You want to touch yourself, you do it with no clothes on, and when I got a good view.”
She leaned forward and took him deep while she tightened her hand around his cock, squeezing him so hard his eyes watered. “Is that a request?”
Cade’s breaths came out faint and shallow. “It’s me telling you how it is.”
Flexing her fingers, she gripped the base of his shaft and worked her hand in counterpoint to her mouth. God, so good. But just when he felt the warning tingle in his spine, he gently pushed her away. After reassuring her that he was always in control, he couldn’t let go now. Not only that, he wanted her pleasure. He wanted to hear her scream.
“Not like this.” Cade pulled her up, and leaned down to kiss her as he straightened his clothing. “I wanna give it back to you.”
He slid her dress over her lush hips then ran his finger along the lacy edge of her underwear. Red. Like she’d promised and she wore a matching garter belt, but no stockings. There was nothing Cade liked more on a woman than lacy lingerie. Maybe this time he’d exercise a little restraint.
“Cade…”
“Shhhh.” He eased her panties down. But the second he caught sight of her golden curls, restraint went out the window. With a growl, he ripped the panties away.
“Beast. I’ll need another job to pay for all the panties you destroy.”
Cade knelt in front of her and nuzzled the soft down over her sex. “I’ll buy you a truckload of panties if it means I can tear them away.”
Her voice caught when he parted her legs. “You’re not…”
“I am. Same as you did to me.” He lifted her right leg, hooking it over his shoulder, then shifted until she was spread wide, bared for him.
Beautiful.
“Cade … I’ve never…” Her voice trailed off when he licked, his tongue parting her folds to dance over her clit. She gasped, and her hand tightened in his hair.
So sweet. He loved her taste. Could never get enough.
“Something about you…” he murmured. “Sexy and sweet, vulnerable but tough inside. Whenever I see you I want you. I have to have you, like I need air to breathe. And when I can’t have you, I think about the next time I’ll see you and how beautiful you look when you come.”
His tongue slid up and around her clit, and then down through her folds, over and over again, until her body trembled and her nails dug into his scalp, sending jolts of painful pleasure down his spine. Even when she dug her heel into his back where the defiled tat still burned, he maintained the steady gentle rhythm, staying close, but not close enough to where she clearly wanted him to go.
“Give it to me, babe. I want to feel you come in my mouth.” His blood streamed like lava through his veins and sweat trickled down his back. Every sensation heightened, the softness of her skin beneath his fingers, the cool air, the scent of her sex, her sweet slickness beneath his tongue …
“Cade.” She breathed his name, cupped his head to hold him still. He knew exactly how far he could take her, just when to suck her clit, and when to hold back, keeping her on the edge. Moisture trickled down the inside of her thigh, and she finally let go, grinding her sex without abandon into his mouth.
So damn hot.
“Tell me what you need.” He wanted to hear her need, feel her surrender.
“Make me come, Cade.” She pulled him forward. “Make me come hard.”
With a grunt of pleasure he cupped her ass in both hands then slid his tongue into her entrance.
“Oh God.”
He plunged deeper, alternating thrusts with light flicks over her clit. She bucked against him, and then he nipped the swollen bud, ever so lightly. With a low, sensual groan, she came undone, rocking against his mouth, her knees trembling as he lapped up her sweetness. Then she released his hair and fell back against the door.
Worthy.
Cade stood and shoved down his clothing, freeing his erection. He didn’t care if Jagger was waiting. Hell, Viper could show up and he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. Grabbing a condom from his pocket, he sheathed himself and then cupped her ass in his palms. “Too fucking sexy, babe. Can’t wait.”
He lifted her to the bed, and then shoved down the top of her dress, exposing a red lace bra to match the panties he’d torn away. Fucking divine. Some night, when he wasn’t so desperate to come, he’d get her to wear her lingerie and then strip for him so he could spend more time appreciating her beautiful curves. But not now.
Cade yanked down her bra and claimed one nipple, tugging into it his mouth, while he teased her other breast. He rolled her nipple between his teeth and gave a gentle nip, delighted when she gasped.
“Fuck me.” Her plea turned into a growl of pleasure when he nipped again. God, he could play with her tits all night.
“Now.”
“I got a bossy girl.” Cade flipped her over to her hands and knees, and then tugged up her ass, pressing her legs apart with his knee. He smoothed his hands over her lush cheeks, and almost lost it right then. No more time to play. Without any warning, he shoved into her hard and fast, sliding deep through her wetness until she whimpered.
His brow creased. “You okay?”
“Hard, Cade. Fuck me, hard.” She braced herself on the bed, spreading her legs to accommodate him. Then she gave him a wiggle.
Too much. Too hot. Too sexy.
With a grunt of pleasure, he hammered into her, his firm hands gripping her hips, holding her still. Her pussy tightened around him, and a moan ripped from his throat, and in that moment he was hers to command.
“More.”
Cade shifted behind her, changing his angle so his cock hit her sensitive inner walls, driving her to come a second time. Again and again he hit that sweet spot, and then he reached around to stroke her clit. Dawn stiffened and climaxed again, her pussy clamping around him, pulling him over the edge.
“I’m coming, babe. Fuck. So good.” Cade thrust deep and hard. His balls lifted, tightened. Then sensation exploded from his spine. His cock thickened and jerked inside her as he came in heated waves of pleasure.
He collapsed over her, brushing kisses over the soft skin on her neck, covering her with his body.
“You have no end of talents.” Dawn looked back over her shoulder. “But I kinda liked being in charge.”
“You weren’t in charge. I was in charge.”
Her lips quivered with a smile. “I let you be in charge.”
He gave her that because she wanted it. But seriously, who did she think was running the show?
* * *
“Cade!”
Dawn startled awake when someone banged on the door. Cade jerked up beside her in the bed and stumbled to his feet.
“What the fuck?” he shouted.
“The Black Jacks are outside,” Tank yelled. “They’ve taken out the guards. They’re trying to burn down the clubhouse.”
They dressed quickly and Cade yanked open door.
“Where’s Jagger?”
“On his way.” Tank wiped a hand over his face, black with soot. T-Rex stood behind him, bare-chested save for his cut, his belt undone, hair a messy rumple. Gunshots rang out below and fire lit up the night sky, the acrid stench of smoke only now filtering through the windows.
“What do you want us to do?” Tank panted. “There are only twenty men brothers here and the prospect.”
Cade morphed from gentle lover to fighter in a heartbeat, his words coming fast and clipped as he strapped on his weapon. “Tell the prospect to start calling up the brothers. Get as many men out here as we can. Barricade the road where it meets the highway so they’re trapped here unless they want to chance riding through the bush. We gotta guard the Rizzoli weapons. I want five men out at the weapons shed. Everyone else should arm up and get out front.” He grabbed Dawn and shoved her forward. “T-Rex, take her home through the trail out back.”
“He’s not a fucking babysitter,” Tank spat out. “We need him here.”
Cade’s hand shot out and he shoved Tank up against the wall. “I’m giving the fucking orders and your job is to obey. If I say we can spare him, then we can spare him. End of discussion.”
“I can help. I know how to use a gun.” Dawn tugged on his arm and he brushed her away.
“What you did out near Big Bill’s wasn’t shooting. You coulda got us killed. And I can’t lead the brothers if I’m worrying about you. I want you out of here, and I want you safe. We took out five Jacks the other night and they’re here for revenge. Go with T-Rex. Now.” He tagged his cut, shrugging it on as he stalked down the hallway with Tank following close behind.
Dismissed.
Dawn gritted her teeth at his abrupt departure. He hadn’t even considered her offer. As with Jimmy, he thought she was a liability. But dammit, she wasn’t helpless and in need of protection, and she didn’t want him to be a man down because he thought she couldn’t look after herself.
An explosion shook the clubhouse, and the chandelier in the hallway rattled. T-Rex ran over to the window and swore. “The weapons shed is on fire. They musta thrown something at the roof. If it blows, we’ll have the cops, the fire department, and the fucking ATF out here. We’ll all go to jail.”
“Then we’d better put it out right away. I was part of a fire line during a vacation with my parents in North Carolina. We need buckets, hoses, and as many brothers as can be spared. We can run water from the kitchen and any outside taps.” She didn’t wait for his agreement, but ran barefoot down the hallway, wishing she’d brought something to wear other than her slinky red dress.
Within minutes T-Rex had rounded up some buckets and Dawn organized the brothers. She filled bucket after bucket from the tap in the sink, passing them to T-Rex who sent them down the line. Gunfire peppered the front of the clubhouse and thick, black smoke billowed through the windows, choking her and making her eyes water, but she didn’t slow her pace.
Please let Cade be okay.
She didn’t know how long she filled the buckets, but when Tank came to tell them the fire was out, she collapsed against the counter beside T-Rex, soaked, sooty, and exhausted beyond belief. But she had only a moment of respite before Cade stalked into the kitchen.
“I thought I told you to take her home.” Cade rounded on poor T-Rex. “I give an order. I expect it to be obeyed. The Jacks are still outside. They got reinforcements through the northeast trail. I got enough to deal with and now I gotta worry about Dawn being here.”
“We needed all hands to put out the fire.” T-Rex swallowed but he didn’t back down. “We woulda lost the shed and all the weapons if it wasn’t for her idea to set up a fire line. We’d used up all the fire extinguishers and the hoses didn’t go out that far.”
“We’re fighting a damn war.” Cade cuffed T-Rex so hard, he staggered to the side. “You do what I fucking tell you to do or people die.”
“It was my decision.” Dawn pushed her way in front of Cade. “T-Rex wanted to take me home. I didn’t let him.”
“You’re half his fucking size,” Cade spat out. “If he wanted to take you home, there’s nothing you could do to stop him. I want you out of here. Now.” He gestured to Nick, who had just come in with the last of the buckets. “Take her home. Do what you gotta do to get the job done. If I see her here, or I find out she’s anywhere else, you’ll be picking your fucking teeth off the floor.”
* * *
“Oh my God. What are the police doing here?” Dawn slid off Nick’s bike and raced over to her house, glowing alternately red and blue from the lights of the two police cars parked out front. She ran up the sidewalk and hit Doug square in the chest as he stepped out her front door.
“Dawn! Thank goodness you’re okay. I heard a report of a break-in over the police radio and when I saw the address on the scanner I came right away. Where have you been?” His gaze drifted down her body, taking in her soaked hair, ruined dress, sooty skin, and bare feet. Too terrified to let her back in the house for her jacket and shoes, Nick had raced her out to his bike and ridden like hell was on his tail. It had been the coldest ride of her life.
“Party.” Her teeth chattered and consternation laced Doug’s brow. He slid off his jacket and wrapped it around her. “You look terrible. And cold. Who goes to a party without any shoes?” His gaze lifted and he spotted Nick on his bike across the street. “Oh, Dawn. You weren’t with the Sinners, were you?”
Shivering from the cold, and irritated by his patronizing tone, she pushed past him toward her house. “What happened here?”
“We got a call that your front door was ajar and one of your neighbors saw someone suspicious inside. I’ve been through the house and I have to say, I don’t think it was just an ordinary break-in. The intruder was looking for something.”
Dawn tapped the initials MD spray-painted in angry red on her front door. “Jimmy. And I’m guessing he was looking for me.”
Doug put an arm around her shoulders as she took a step forward. “Actually, I think he might have been looking for something else. Brace yourself. It’s not going to be easy to see.”
Now, that was understatement. Dawn stared at the destruction in her living room and kitchen, her breath catching in her throat. Every drawer had been opened and overturned; curtains were torn and cupboards emptied. Her bedroom had fared even worse: Clothes strewn across the floor. Ornaments cracked. Mattress slashed, and box spring broken. But it was the words scrawled across her dresser mirror in red lipstick, the handwriting sickeningly familiar, that sent her into the comfort of Doug’s arms.
WHERE IS THE FUCKING MONEY?
“Hey. It’s okay.” Doug ran his hand down her back. “We’ll catch him. On the bright side, someone must have scared him away because the rest of the rooms are untouched.”
“It’s definitely Jimmy.” She lifted her head, taking a breath to banish the almost cloying scent of his cologne. “I know his handwriting. But I don’t know what this is all about. I don’t know anything about any money.” She grabbed some clothes from the floor and excused herself to change, tugging on a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie before joining Doug in the hall and handing him back his jacket. “I need some fresh air.”
“Of course.” Doug placed a hand on her lower back and guided her out the door. He stopped to speak to the two police officers examining a set of footprints in the garden beneath her broken living room window, and then joined her on the front step. “Is there anything that might help us? Do you think this might have to do with your new biker friend?”
Cade. She toyed with the idea of calling him, but he had enough to deal with right now, and after what had happened, he was the last person she wanted to see. She pushed away the nagging thought that Cade might not make it through the fight with the Jacks. He was a survivor. Just like her.
“I don’t think so. Jimmy’s insanely jealous, and he’s seen me with Cade. But I don’t know if that would be enough to make him take the risk of being caught in Conundrum. And the money thing doesn’t make sense.” She shivered and Doug tucked an arm around her waist, pulling her into his warmth. Dawn leaned her head on his shoulder. God, she just wanted a hot bath, a warm bed, and two days’ worth of sleep.
“Do you have somewhere you can go for the night?” Doug said. “We’ll be putting police tape around the property until forensics has finished collecting evidence, and you’ll need a new window and all your locks changed before you can move back in.”
Not the clubhouse, if it was even still standing. And Arianne was probably there with Jagger. Most of her other girlfriends had kids and she didn’t want to disturb them.
“I can call Banks. He’ll come to get me.”
Doug leaned down and tucked a rogue curl behind her ear. “Or you can stay with me.”