Chapter Twelve

 

 

 

 

Flames towered over Tessa’s head. She watched them flicker and dance in the darkness, her mind wandering as she sat in a lawn chair beside Topper and Amber. The wedding had been sweet and the club’s rowdy party vibe had quickly overtaken what she supposed would be considered the reception. It reminded her of a show she’d watched of frat parties where the booze was flowing; the men were horny and the women were losing clothes faster than a race car went zero to sixty.

She wasn’t offended or shocked because Amber and Patty had warned her before they’d shown up that if she stayed past a certain time things would get a little risqué. As long as no one bothered her she was okay with whatever the adults wanted to do, although she was very curious about why Topper and Shredder wouldn’t let her or Amber go into the clubhouse since about an hour ago. They’d said it wasn’t a place for a lady but she’d seen multiple women moving in and out of the house—which begged the question, what type of women were they?

She had a pretty good idea. Tessa didn’t know what they thought would shock her in there because even though her life had been lived in an ivory tower—so to speak—she wasn’t completely innocent. She’d seen porn and with the way people were losing clothing and the men chasing giggling women, she’d guess that inside was a little like a big orgy. She didn’t really need to see that she supposed.

Tessa glanced over at Topper and Amber who were sitting in a lawn chair nearby kissing. Damn, she hoped they’d be ready to leave soon, she was getting kind of bored.

“Hey pretty lady, wanna dance?” a man asked, offering her his hand from where he stood in front of her. He was about five eight with a rather large beard and a scruffy-looking haircut that made his hair look messy. His leather vest was worn over a white t-shirt that looked like it had been around for a while if the grey tint to it was any indication. He wore leather pants beneath it that molded to his body and when he smiled his teeth gleamed white in the darkness.

“Sure,” Tessa said taking his hard, calloused hand and allowing him to lift her up. She decided that it was better than sitting around the fire bored out of her mind.

“Cups, keep it PG and no wandering off. Stay on this side of the fire,” Topper called out from behind them as she was led over to where there was a large group of people dancing.

“Topper your keeper, love?” he asked as they hit the dance floor of sorts that was wrapped around the fire like a little deck.

“Sort of, at least tonight.”

“Ah,” he said, then his hands were on her hips and they began to bump and grind with the moving bodies on the dance floor. Tessa discovered that he was funny and he had her laughing as they danced together. Before she even realized it, she was having fun, her mind finally off the constant circling it had done for the past few days over Buck and the event.

Tessa was giggling as she spun away from Cups, her hair wild as it spun out around her having fallen from her slight up-do, when firm hands landed on her hips and a hard body was suddenly pressed against her back. Tessa gasped, not liking the familiarity in the man’s hands or the hardness he was currently pressing against her lower back. Who did this man think he was? Tessa was about to remove the man’s hands forcibly when Cups’ words stopped her.

“Buck, wait. This one’s not one of th—” he began, only to stop when Buck’s hard voice cut over his words.

“I know exactly who she is but the question I’m asking myself is what the fuck are you doing touching her?” His words were barely more than a growl and the hard tone sent a shiver down her spine.

“We were dancing. I’ll take her back over to Topper. He’s her keeper.” Cups put a strange inflection on the word keeper. Tessa felt like they were having an underlying conversation she wasn’t aware of and frowned a bit.

“I’m her only keeper, Cups. Don’t come near her again.” Buck’s breath stirred her hair and she craned her neck to glare up at him over her shoulder. Something about the way he was warning the other man away set her teeth on edge.

“Might want to watch your tone ‘cause I don’t see a patch.”  Cups’ hands were balled into fists and he looked angry.

“Don’t test me on this, Cups. I’m seriously not going to say it again.” Buck’s tone was hard with warning. Tessa tried to remove Buck’s arm but he moved with her somehow preventing her from twisting away which resulted in a grappling fight that he won. Letting a little growl escape her lips, she hit his arm with her fist in a childish display of anger.

“Seems like she doesn’t want you to escort her. Might want to let the lady go.” Cups was suddenly looking grim as he squared off, readying for a fight.

“Duchess, don’t make me fight him. Call him off. Now. Otherwise this is going to get ugly,” Buck hissed in her ear, making her remember the guy in the bar that had left in an ambulance a few weeks ago after Buck had talked to him. He was right. Forcing Cups into this because she was pissed off wasn’t right. She needed to stop acting like an idiot and handle this situation.

“Cups, it’s okay. Topper will take me home after I explain the way things are to Buck,” Tessa said trying to step forward, only to find the arm tightening like a steel band around her waist to prevent it.

Stubborn bastard.

“Love, you don’t have to allow him to bully you. I can handle him and return you safely to Topper.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Buck and I are just having a little issue. He thinks he can manhandle me into doing whatever he wants. I will be fine. I can take care of myself.” Tessa hoped that was enough to convince Cups.

“I think perhaps you should release the lady and go find a sweetbutt,” Cups growled again, his eyes narrowed on Buck’s face over her shoulder.

Tessa could feel him nuzzling her hair and knew that he was harder than steel against her ass. Damn him. She’d promised herself that she wouldn’t allow him to talk her into sleeping with him again. How was she going to manage that with his hard body so close that his breath caressed her every time he exhaled? 

“I think you need to stop playing hero. Patch or no patch, understand that I don’t allow others to touch my toys. Now be a good little boy and walk away,” Buck growled, his arm tensing again and hardening around her waist.

“Cups, don’t antagonize Buck,” Topper muttered, walking up looking grim.

“Have him let her go and I won’t have to. She doesn’t seem to like him very much.” Cups glared at Topper before turning it back on Buck.

“You heard the girl say she was ok with him, to leave them alone just as clearly as I did. Now stop harassing them.” Topper was holding hands with Amber when they walked up but pulled her close to his side just in case the two men fought.

“She doesn’t know what it means,” Cups said looking dour.

“Whether you like it or not, Cups, she isn’t for you. Now go the fuck away.”

“Don’t be so rude. Damn it, Buck. I can’t believe this dog-in-the-manor bullshit you’re pulling. I want to go home, Topper,” Tessa muttered, again punching Buck’s arm.

“You aren’t going anywhere with anyone except me, duchess,” Buck hissed, his breath fanning her ear sending shivers of need down her spine. Tingling started in her betraying lady bits, making her want to punch Buck in his pretty face.

“Fine, whatever, just take me home,” Tessa demanded, a little growl escaping her when he kissed the side of her neck, nipping her ear with his teeth as he did so.

“Sure thing, duchess.”

“And stop calling me that,” Tessa growled, hating the nickname. It could be because he always seemed to be insulting her when he said it.

“You heard the woman. She agreed to allow him to take her home. Cups, just go. It’s not what it seems and you need to trust me when I say this isn’t something you want to get mixed up in. It will end poorly for you if you do. I would know,” Topper muttered, now attempting to convince Cups to walk away with him. Cups stared at them all, a dark glare on his face.

“All right, love, but if you need help at any time you can come to me, even if it’s one of ours messing with you. I can help if you need me too,” Cups said. He held her eyes with his for a long moment before he shot Buck the bird finger and walked away.

“Let’s go. We’re not having any more yahoos interrupting us while we talk this out.” Buck began to half carry, half drag her towards the area off to the left of the clubhouse were their bikes were parked.

“I drove my car. I’ll take it home and you can stay here with your friends,” Tessa muttered, jerking on his arm wrapped around her waist. She could likely remove it if she were willing to injure him seriously. She debated doing it for a moment before deciding against it, if only because breaking his arm would be excessive. He released her and spun her around before grabbing her to his chest, glaring at her possessively.

“We are going to talk, duchess. Either right here or at your place but this will happen and it will be settled before the night’s over.”

“Who do you think died and made you the boss of me?” Tessa demanded, her hands pushing against his hard chest, feeling the heat of his body pressing to hers. She didn’t like the way her body seemed to soften in response to his. Tessa pushed harder—wishing she hadn’t decided maiming him was a bit too far even if he was manhandling her.

“Just get on the bike, duchess. I’ve had a long fucking day and I’m tired.” Buck’s voice was filled with weariness and anger.

She shouldn’t care but somehow she found herself relenting despite her own anger. Maybe because the sooner she explained that she wasn’t going to be sleeping with him again, the sooner he’d leave. At least that’s what she told herself as they neared the bikes. He urged her towards his Harley that looked like it was covered in a week’s worth of dust and dirt. She was glad that she wasn’t wearing white as she looked at the bike with a little less enthusiasm than usual.

Normally he kept his bike passably clean even if it wasn’t pristine but tonight in the lights that were set up around the clubhouse she could see that even the chrome, which was normally silver, looked almost brown from the layers of grime. Buck urged her closer and she shook off her disgust and watched him climb onto the bike. Tessa was surprised to note that he looked like he was covered in that same layer of grime. Ignoring it, she climbed on the bike, choking a little when dust floated off his cut as she wrapped her arms gingerly around him, letting out a delicate little cough.

“Sorry ‘bout the dust, duchess.”

Buck kicked the bike into gear making her hold onto his waist tighter. He took off headed towards her house. Tessa watched the scenery fly by, her mind consumed by thoughts of how she was going to tell him no if he started kissing her because she knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

 

Buck pulled up in front of Tessa’s house feeling weariness in his bones. Fuck, he was tired after the week-long run. He’d pushed them to get home because he just wanted to see her again. He was a fucking idiot. Now he was going to have to argue with her for at least an hour before he could get even a wink of sleep. He paused, his feet planted on either side of the bike waiting for her to climb off.

Tessa’s hand pushed down on his shoulders as she got off the bike, her hand digging out her house keys that she must have had shoved into the pocket of those jeans somehow. He wasn’t even sure how that was possible with them molded to her skin the way they were. He wished that he could just strip her, have his way with her and then go sleep for about ten hours. Only he knew that he was going to have to convince her that he wasn’t finished with her and she’d better deal with it.

He watched her walk toward the house, trying to convince his sore-as-fuck muscles to move but having no luck. Tessa turned to look back at him when she reached the steps, her eyes slightly narrowed in the dim glow from the security light.

“Are you coming in? I thought you wanted to ‘talk’,” Tessa asked, her gaze showing the confusion his lack of movement was causing.

“Just enjoying the view,” he muttered.

He forced his ass off the bike, unwilling to admit he wasn’t moving because he ached everywhere after riding a ten-day trip in five. He hadn’t felt like this at the bonfire, likely because seeing her dancing with Cups had sent him into a rage unlike anything he’d ever felt. He had wanted to rip that motherfucker’s heart out for daring to touch Tessa.

“Well come on then,” Tessa growled before heading up the stairs, opening the door and entering to turn on the light in the living room.

Buck lumbered up the stairs, his ass almost screeching at him to stop torturing it because riding hard like he had wasn’t something he did often anymore. At least not for a full five days with only about two hours of sleep. He wasn’t going to be offering to take a run like that one again anytime soon. He’d offered this time trying to get his shit together where Tessa was concerned. All it had done was make him more determined to make sure he got her back underneath him.

As he entered the house he looked around, noting that the place was bare. There was a chair across from a little TV stand with nothing on it and a few boxes she seemed to be using as tables. He frowned, wondering why the hell she had so little shit in her living room. He followed her into the kitchen where she was pulling a bottle of water out of the fridge. He glanced around, frowning harder when he noted that the refrigerator was older than dirt and her stove looked like it was from the 1930s. There were two stools at the counter and no table and the paint was looking yellowed around the edges of the room. Buck didn’t like the run-down appearance of the place. It reminded him of a crack den or a cheap motel. Not somewhere he’d picture a person like Tessa living.

“Water?” she asked and he shook his head distractedly. 

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed this shit the other day when he brought her home. Of course, he’d been distracted by her beauty and the need to get inside her that night. He’d also been pissed off when he’d left and hadn’t really looked around.

“What’s wrong with you? You look like you’re about to pass out or something.” Tessa frowned at him, watching as he looked around the kitchen taking note of the bare walls and lack of curtains.

“I’m tired. Rode hard for five days,” Buck muttered, a little distracted still but feeling like an ass for not noticing the way she was living before.

“Like you didn’t stop for five days?” she demanded, looking shocked as she held the water bottle to her lips.

“We stopped for food twice a day and to sleep for about four hours or so yesterday,” Buck said, walking over to the fridge and opening it. He noted that it was squeaking and the seal on the damned thing was almost useless.

“Seriously?” Tessa asked, still holding the bottle near her mouth.

“Yeah, why?” he asked.

“All right, that’s it,” Tessa said, slamming the water bottle down on the counter. “Go,” she demanded pointing towards the back of the house.

“I’m not leaving, duchess. Not till we talk about us.” Buck couldn’t believe he’d just called them an us but he knew it was going to take a while to get her out of his system. Likely a hell of a lot longer than he’d originally thought.

“No, you idiot, go take a shower and while you’re in there I will wash those nasty clothes. Now go.” Tessa’s nose was wrinkled and she made a shooing motion with her hands. Buck moved in the direction of her bedroom. When they stepped into the room he noticed the furniture in this room wasn’t much better than the rest.

“Into the shower,” Tessa said again before stopping him to shove a soft white bundle into his hands. Her tone reminded him of his mother. “Wait, take this to wear while they dry and throw your clothes out in the room so I can grab them when you take them off.” 

Buck found this bossy side of her kind of cute and felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth. A shower did sound good and he’d like to get the dust out of his clothes before he fucked her senseless. He didn’t bother to shut the door and turned to strip his clothes off without a second thought. Tessa let out a breathy little sigh that had the small smile still clinging to his lips spreading. He bent down to remove his pants and boxers making sure to give her a peek at his ass, ignoring the pain in his sore muscles. He grinned when he heard the little inhale that let him know she’d been looking.

“Don’t wash the leather,” he threw over his shoulder, glancing into her bedroom to see her hovering near the door of the bathroom.

Tessa wore a lustful expression that made him want to drag her into his arms and keep her there. The only thing stopping him was the thought of putting back on his dusty clothes when he was heading back to the clubhouse. If she was in the shower with him she couldn’t wash his clothes and he’d have to take another shower when he got to his room. He was too fucking tired for that shit.

“Um—I’ll just—right,” she said, looking like she was going to pounce on him any second before she scooped up his clothes and exited her room, suddenly intent on washing his clothes. Grinning like an idiot, he leaned over the edge of the tub. Turning on the water, he waited for it to get to a decent temperature before he stepped inside. He groaned as the hot water sloshed over his back, feeling the grit from days of travel finally washing away.

Damn, this shower was just what he’d needed. The water was loosening his muscles too, making him feel relaxed. Buck didn’t know how he’d gotten lucky enough to avoid the screaming match he’d expected. He leaned his arms on the wall allowing the surprisingly large showerhead to pour the water over his head. He was really a hell of a lot drowsier than he’d realized. Fuck, this shower might make him too tired to have the conversation he needed to have with her tonight.

He washed his body with her girly soap, not worried about the floral scent that would now cling to his skin. If anyone said anything he’d beat the crap out of them and having her scent on him wasn’t a hardship. Fifteen minutes later he climbed out feeling the lethargy setting in. As he walked into the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, he looked at the bed noticing how inviting it looked and found himself lying down. It only took a minute for him to fall asleep with the water still drying on his skin.

 

Tessa walked back into her bedroom to ask Buck if he was hungry only to find him asleep on her bed. She’d had a feeling the man was exhausted when he’d seemed to sway as he’d gotten off his bike outside and then again in the kitchen. When he’d said that he hadn’t slept more than four hours in almost five days she’d known that he was going to collapse soon. The man was lucky he hadn’t fallen asleep before now or worse, crashed his bike.

Learning that he’d been without sleep for so long had reminded her of the training that she’d had as a young teen. They’d been kept awake for three days, only allowed to sleep for short five-minute naps twice a day. It was something one of her uncles had told them would possibly save their lives one day when the world crashed and burned. They were a little crazy, her family, but she knew they meant well. They really did think they were prepping for the end of the world. With the political and environmental concerns these days, they might not be entirely wrong. She didn’t think it would happen soon but there was a possibility it might happen one day if things didn’t change.

Walking closer to the bed, feeling a strange sense of warmth tugging at her heart, she moved over to the bed looking down at Buck where he lay. His arm was thrown up over his head holding the pillow he’d face-planted, his hair curled against the back of his neck, and he looked so peaceful lying there hugging the pillow that she couldn’t seem to find the heartlessness she would need to wake him and make him leave. Dang it, she was going to let him stay and she just knew it was a decision that was going to come back to bite her in the ass.

Brushing a loose lock off his forehead, she sighed before reaching down to cover him, leaving him in only a towel and her sheets. After grabbing a pair of sleep shorts and a tank top she slept in, Tessa padded to the bathroom to take her own shower, hoping that the big bastard hadn’t used all her hot water with his much-needed shower.