Maddie had been expecting to spend her Friday night helping Jeremy out with that month’s accounts. What she hadn’t expected was to literally run into a gorgeous man with a smile that made the butterflies in her belly start up and her pussy tighten. Suddenly she knew walking away from him wasn’t an option.
There was no chance she was going to pass up on having a taste of this man. Maddie wasn’t in the market for a relationship, but she wasn’t above taking a man home and spending a few hours getting herself off. And from the look of his suddenly too-tight jeans, Jace was more than up for it as well.
Maddie couldn’t hardly take her eyes off him as they walked towards the bar Jace had suggested, Maddie still eating her ice cream. He was nicely tanned and had a square jaw with chocolate-brown eyes and thick waves of jet-black hair brushing at his collar. Not very tall, only three inches taller than Maddie’s five-five, but he had a body that made Maddie want to run her hands all over him. He looked like he had gotten that body through hard labor and not working out in the gym, and his hands were certainly calloused enough for that. Her hand was still tingling from the handshake.
If they ended back at her apartment, Maddie had a feeling neither of them would be wearing any clothes by the time the front door closed.
They went into the bar and Jace led Maddie to a high table with stools in the quieter area of the room. It was busy for Friday evening and the bar was packed. People were either crowded around the bar trying to get a drink and or in the dining area wolfing down food as if their lives depended on it.
Jace disappeared for a moment and returned with two bottles of beer. Maddie didn’t know how he managed to get to the bar so quickly, but she wasn’t about to complain. She needed a drink.
Jace sat opposite her and gave her a lopsided grin.
“You come here often?”
Maddie rolled her eyes.
“Cheeky sod!”
She looked around at the place she had known since she was old enough to come in and order without getting asked for ID.
“This isn’t a bad place. The bartenders are good guys and people leave everyone to their own devices. You don’t often get a fight in here and, when you do, it’s broken up quickly.”
“It’s a Broken Hounds hangout, isn’t it?”
Maddie raised an eyebrow. How did he know that? He didn’t look like a member of another gang. Maddie could recognize a gang’s tag or insignia straight off the bat and Jace had nothing. How did he know about that?
“It was. It’s not anymore. Jeremy had a falling out with the owner. We switched to another bar further up the street.”
“And you’re still allowed in here?”
Maddie shrugged.
“The owner and I have no issues. As long as I’m a good girl, he leaves me alone.”
Jace chuckled and chugged some of his beer. It was then Maddie realized he had spoken as if he already knew that she was Broken Hounds. How did he know that? Had he been spying on her?
Maddie didn’t know what to make of it. But then Jace grinned at her and her doubts melted away. When he looked at her like that it was difficult to concentrate on anything but him.
“So,” Jace purred, “what do you do when you’re not organizing your brother’s brain?”
“I’m a receptionist at a doctor’s surgery in a wealthier part of Tucson. It’s not too bad and it gets me out the house.”
“Not what you want to do, though, is it?”
He had to have heard something in her voice. Nobody else, other than her friend Beth, had figured that out about her. Maddie shook her head.
“No. I’ve wanted to be a graphic designer since I was a teen. But it’s not a job with many openings in Tucson, especially if you haven’t got the experience.”
“Why don’t you move to Phoenix? They’ve got more opportunities there.” Jace suggested. “Or even another major city?”
“But then that means I’m leaving Broken Hounds behind.” The thought didn’t sit well with Maddie. “They’re my family. I won’t have them at my back if I’m elsewhere.”
Jace arched an eyebrow at her.
“You’re not in trouble if you’re on your own, are you?”
“You can never be too sure.” Maddie ran her finger around the top of the bottle. “Jeremy thinks they might use me to get to him. I love Tucson but I wish the job was better.”
Not that there was much wrong with it. All Maddie did was organize appointments and patients’ records. With the number of wealthy people who seemed to turn into hypochondriacs, it meant it was busy. And her colleagues and doctors were nice enough. But Maddie didn’t feel any excitement, which was what she was sorely lacking.
Maybe she could get some excitement tonight. From the way Jace’s jeans suddenly looked tight around his crotch, he would be happy to oblige.
She pushed the thoughts of seeing Jace naked out of her mind, shifting on her stool as her pussy fluttered, desperate to be filled.
“What about you?” she asked a little too brightly. “What do you do with yourself?”
“I wander.” Jace shrugged. “Here, there and everywhere. I don’t settle for long.”
“A weary traveler, then.”
“You could say that.” Jace sipped his beer. “I’ve done all sorts of things. I’ve been a bouncer, a construction worker, a bartender. I’ve even been a porter at a fancy hotel in Chicago. Just as long as I had some money for food and somewhere to sleep.”
Maddie couldn’t stop herself from grinning.
“And to be able to fund a lifestyle wooing the ladies, I imagine,” she teased.
“Didn’t need money. Just a bed.” Jace winked. “Maybe use the money for a huge box of condoms.”
“Giant size?”
“Of course.”
Now Maddie wished she hadn’t said that. She was now imagining Jace naked in front of her stroking his cock, which was large and thick and leaking pre-cum. She swallowed hard, trying to get that image out of her mind, and focused as best she could on the conversation. That wasn’t easy when she could feel her panties getting wet and her pussy pulsing.
“You are impossible,” she shot back at him. “And here I was thinking you were a gentleman around women.”
Jace shrugged.
“Depends on the woman, I suppose. Some don’t deserve to be treated like princesses.”
Maddie didn’t think he had treated a woman like a princess in his life. Even if he had, it would only be once she stepped over the threshold of the bedroom until she left.
She could handle that. She wasn’t expecting anyone to treat her like a queen right now, But, in the sack, she expected to be the primary focus of the man.
She licked her lips and saw Jace staring at her mouth. His nostrils flared, and he growled. His eyes seemed to glow in the dimly lit room. Maddie’s nipples tightened against her bra. She was in serious trouble if she got a serious reaction like this out of her body when Jace had barely touched her.
When they finally got together, they would be going up in flames.
Then Maddie saw a movement over Jace’s shoulder that snagged her attention. Three people in a booth, two women all over a man. The women were gorgeous models, one blonde and the other brunette. They were practically gyrating on the man’s lap. He was slurping it up, wrapping his arms around them as much as he could without being caught for indecency.
In the darkness, he could pass as any other man. But Maddie saw the signet ring flashing on his pinkie and the dark hair pulled back in a ponytail and covered in a red bandanna. She recognized the bandanna.
She had given it to him the year before. She growled and looked down at her beer, her mood deflating.
“Shit.”
“What?” Jace sat forward. “Maddie, what is it?”
Maddie didn’t want Jace getting involved. This was her battle alone, not his. Not with a stranger.
“It’s nothing.” She bit her lip and pushed her bottle away. “Do you mind if we go? I need to get back.”
“We’ve only just sat down.”
“I know.” Maddie slid off her stool and hurried towards the door, tugging at his hand. “Please.”
She didn’t want to be seen and then have her way blocked, seeing him hurt. But having him talk to her would hurt even more. Jace didn’t say anything, simply followed her towards the door.
They didn’t get there quickly enough. Maddie heard her name being called and she stopped short. Not now. She didn’t need this.
“Maddie?”
Bracing herself, she turned. She even half-stepped behind Jace. Jace looked around and saw the man with the bandanna coming towards them. This made him put Maddie further behind him, using himself as a shield.
Maddie glared over his shoulder at the approaching man.
“Get away from me, Drake.”
Drake stopped and stared. Then he sighed and shook his head as if he was dealing with a child.
“Come on, Maddie, be a grown up about this.”
Maddie snorted.
“You ended it between us and you were the one who walked out. What is there you have to talk with me about?”
“We do have a few things to go over,” Drake pointed out.
Maddie very much doubted it. She was fed up with being used and abused by this man. Being in the same room as him made the walls close in on her.
“Whatever it is, just email me. I’m not having a discussion with you about anything.”
Drake raised an eyebrow. He looked at Jace and he sneered.
“Well, it’s nice to see you moved on so quickly.”
“Likewise with you,” Jace nodded at the two girls in the booth, who were sipping their drinks and giving him a little wave. “Do you normally go two at a time?”
“That’s his preference,” Maddie grumbled. “The more to worship on him, the better.”
Maddie wasn’t interested in sharing a man with another woman. And she wasn’t interested in having herself shared between two men; her attention span wouldn’t allow it. That was what she balked at when Drake mentioned it.
Drake sighed.
“Don’t be like that, Maddie.”
He stepped towards her but Jace moved in the way, staring him down.
“I think it’s time for you to go away, sir.”
He didn’t raise his voice, but he didn’t need to. The steely tone in his voice had Maddie shivering. Jace went from the easy-going flirty charmer to something more dangerous.
Nobody seemed to be paying them any attention other than the two girls in the booth, but Maddie could feel the tension building. She hoped that there wasn’t going to be a fight; she didn’t need this getting back to Jeremy. He would be furious.
Drake squared up to Jace, towering over him.
“And who are you to say I can move?” he sneered. “You’re not MC. You can’t make me.”
He flexed his muscles. He was six feet tall and the steroids he used made him look more buff than he should be. Jace didn’t seem to blink; he merely stared up at him with a hard look.
“But I’m a man,” he said quietly. “And I can make you.”
Maddie was sure he could, but she didn’t want to wait around to find out. She tugged at his arm and pulled him towards the door.
“Come on, not now. He can wallow with his whores.” She glared at Drake. “Don’t even bother following me, Drake, or I will let him have you.”
She could feel Drake’s eyes drilling a hole in her back as they left.