Lila woke to the morning sun streaming through the windows. She felt fantastic, last night was one of the best of her life. They had slept for a few hours after the first round of earth shattering sex. Striker had woken her again in the night to have her a second time. At some point, they stumbled to the kitchen for some cold pizza before falling back into bed. He’d proven to be a demanding lover, who definitely liked to be in control, and she found she loved it. Who knew badass alpha bikers were her type?
Striker’s heavy arm lay across her stomach, trapping her to his side. One of his legs was wedged between hers and there was something resembling a pipe prodding at her back. “I see I’m not the only one who’s up.”
Striker barked out a laugh and nipped at her shoulder. “Sassy,” he said. “And while I’d give anything to sink back into you, we slept in, and I have to be at the clubhouse for church soon.”
“I’m sorry. You have to go where?”
Striker chuckled. “Church.”
“Oh…okay.”
“What babe? Didn’t think I was the religious type? That’s a little offensive you know.”
Lila felt her face heat. He was right. It was judgmental and offensive of her. “I’m so sorry. You’re right. It is horribly offensive of me.”
Striker burst out laughing, and she turned in his arms with a frown. “I’m just messing with you, babe. Church is not church as you’re thinking. It’s what we call a meeting in the club.”
Even more embarrassed to be caught in her ignorance, Lila slugged him in the arm. “Not funny. You had me feeling like a bitch.”
He gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “I guess I’ll just hang here today.”
“What do you mean? Don’t you have to be at the hospital?”
“Oh shit,” she said as she slapped a palm to her head. “I forgot to tell you. I suppose I was distracted.” She gave him a sassy grin, and ran her hand over his stubble-covered jaw. “Since yesterday’s drama made such a spectacle at work, they asked me to take a few weeks off until we clear everything up.”
Striker nodded. “It’s a good idea. The more contained we can keep you until this is all over, the safer you’ll be. If fact, we should probably limit the places you go to here and the clubhouse until we get this all sorted out.”
“Oh, no.” There was no way she was going to be under house arrest while they worked to keep her protected. Striker exuded confidence, which often crossed the line into arrogance, and gave off a vibe that commanded respect and obedience. She bet he didn’t hear the word no too often, from his brothers or from women. But this was too important.
“That’s not going to work for me at all, Striker. I get why they don’t want me at the hospital, and to be honest, I can use the time off to focus on my concussion project, but there is no way I’m putting that on hold.”
“Lila—”
She covered his mouth with her palm as she shook her head. “No. I have my first committee meeting this Wednesday, and I will be there. I don’t care if you send ten men along, but I will not postpone this. As soon as I do, another project will hit their radar and take precedence. Then, before I know it, they’ll take my allocated funds and distribute them elsewhere and my program will die. So, I’ll follow your rules and do what you ask to stay safe, but I will not delay this project.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Striker said with a grin. “I kinda like it when you boss me around.”
“Striker,” she growled. “I’m very serious about this.”
“I know you are, babe. And I’ll work something out with the guys. I promise we’ll figure out a way to get you to the meeting and keep you safe. You can’t tell anyone about what’s going on, though. We’ll have to think of a reason my guys will be with you. And for today, I want you at the clubhouse with me.”
“Thank you.” Lila leaned forward and placed a kiss on his chest, right above his heart. She was relieved she wouldn’t have to be alone so soon after the attack. “I’ll be glad to be close to you today, and I can bring my laptop to work on while you do your thing.”
She started to turn, planning on some coffee before a quick shower, when Striker’s leg clamped across her waist. He clasped her face between both hands, and gave her a deep, drugging kiss that had her blood humming with lust. “Sorry, babe, should have done that first thing.”
Charmed, Lila smiled at him and climbed out of bed, reaching for a shirt on the floor. It was Striker’s, and probably dirty, but she had to take a shower anyway so it really didn’t matter. Striker sat on the opposite side of the bed with his feet on the floor, and Lila turned to ask him when they had to be at the clubhouse, but the words died in her throat. “Oh my God! Striker, your back!” There were a number of angry red scratches on his upper back between his shoulder blades.
Striker looked at her over his shoulder and cracked a grin. “I know.”
“What happened, Striker? How did you get those?”
He stood up and came toward her with a loud laugh. “What do you mean what happened? You happened, babe.”
“What?” She grabbed his shoulders and tried to turn him around so she could examine his back. “I didn’t do that, there is no way I did that to you. Let me see them.”
“Well you were the only one in bed with me last night.” He bent forward as his body shook with the growing force of his mirth.
“Don’t laugh. It’s not funny! I hurt you, and I don’t even remember doing it.” She felt awful and embarrassed for having lost control like that.
He pulled her to him. “It didn’t hurt then, and it doesn’t now. In fact, I’m thinking of going to the meeting shirtless today.”
“Shirtless!” Lila was almost shrieking now. “Why on earth would you want anyone to see that?”
“Are you kidding me? I had you so out of your mind with pleasure last night that you didn’t even realize you were clawing my back like a wild animal. Fuck yeah, I want everyone to see that.”
Lila shoved him away playfully and finally laughed. “So this is about your overinflated male ego?”
“I like to think of it more as a testament to my amazing skills.” He strolled past her, and gave her a quick slap on the ass. “Better get moving, Doc, we leave in fifteen minutes.”
“Fifteen minutes?” This time she did shriek as she scrambled toward the bathroom.