Rider took his time unzipping his jeans, seeing the goose bumps rise on her arms. Having Jo under his control and begging for his touch appealed to his masculine pride, which he admittedly had too much of, but Jo’s eager surrender was more than he had expected of her. Her willingness after her initial hesitation showed how starved for human affection she was.

If he were a nicer man, he would ease her slowly into having sex with him, but he wasn’t a nice man. In fact, he was the furthest thing from nice a man could get without letting the darkness in his soul overwhelm him.

He used sex to keep him grounded to reality. You always knew where you stood with a woman when your dick was buried in her pussy. With Jo, though, it was different. He was using her to create something more. He was using her to make a family. To achieve his piece of happiness that the other brothers had found—his own home with his own bed to sleep in, a table that had his own chair, a couch that he watched movies with Jo on. He knew what he was getting with Jo, unlike the women he had married.

Jo was strong, hardworking, gentle. When Jo loved, she was loyal to a fault. How she could love the sorry excuse of a father she still missed was a mystery to him. She hadn’t even been able to clear out his bedroom after his death, dusting and cleaning it as if he would miraculously come back.

She even loved the old bitch who he was still hoping Curt would take out for him. On the other hand, if she could love Lyle and Mag, then she could learn to love him, and he was damn determined she would.

Taking a condom out of his back pocket and rolling it on, he caught her peeking at him before closing her eyes tightly again.

Moving closer to her, Rider swirled his condom-covered cock against her damp pussy before going to her opening.

“Do you feel how ready you are for me?”

“God … yes.” She stifled a whimper with her hand.

“That’s not where I put your hand. Put it back.”

“Okay.”

“Say yes, sir.”

Her rebellious bottom lip poked out, giving an adorable pout that had him holding back his own groan, imagining her sucking his dick.

“I’m waiting, Jo. Perhaps you’re not as ready as I thought.”

“I am … sir.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear my bluebonnet girl say.” Sliding intimately closer, he allowed the head of his cock to work inside her tight pussy, hissing at the feeling of her flesh parting, allowing him entry. It had him leaning over her back to bite her earlobe.

“You wore my perfume, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You lied to me, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“I hate women who lie, but I do love to fuck bad girls, so I forgive you.”

Jo gave a startled laugh. “Only you could make me laugh when you’re …”

“Fucking you. You have a real problem with that word, don’t you? It can be sexy when it’s used the right way.”

Rider released her earlobe to rest his forehead between her shoulder blades. “You’re so tight. I’m trying not to come.”

“You are?”

Rider could sense her insecurity. Raising his head, he started placing kisses across her shoulders.

“You’re beautiful when you look at me with those blue eyes, and I’ve never felt a woman clench around me harder.”

“I love men who give compliments, but I hate when they compare women to others.”

“Touché, mon cher.”

“Maybe we’ll be better off if you keep using that language.”

“You like it when I speak French? I can speak six others fluently, but I can say fuck in nineteen.”

He started counting them off in his head to keep himself from climax as he moved inside her, at first shallowly, thrusting to stretch her, then driving deeper with hard strokes that had her holding on to the table as she loosened, relaxing into his trust.

He unclasped her bra, seeing the indentions from the tight elastic. Following the marks with his tongue, he started fucking her harder, still repeating fuck in different languages.

When he came to nineteen, he started moving faster, hearing her gasping breaths as he pounded into her.

“I’m going to teach you how to fuck me the way I like it. Your pussy is going to be sore until you get used to it. If it becomes too uncomfortable, you’re going to tell me, and I will give it a break until it doesn’t hurt. If I find you’re not honest with me, I’ll get mad. And Jo, you don’t want me mad. You get what I’m telling you?”

“Yes,” Jo gasped.

“Yes what?” Rider stopped moving, leaving her feet held off the floor, using his hips and cock to hold her in place.

“Yes, sir. I understand.”

“I like to play games sometimes when I’m fucking. Other times, I don’t. You don’t like playing it at all, you’ll tell me that, too.”

“I will.”

“I like safe words that are simple. Red will be yours. Red means stop. Whenever you use it, I’ll stop whatever we’re doing.”

“Do we need …? I mean, I prefer not to need them. Unless it’s a thing you need from another woman …”

Rider jerked his cock out of her pussy. Turning her around, he lifted her back onto the bench so she could look at him. When she tried to look away, he locked eyes with her.

“I like playing games, but I would never do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable … ever. You don’t want to play games, we won’t. I told you I’m a realist, and I meant it. With being one, I can understand not all women are into the same sex games. I can deal with it if you aren’t. I also believe in putting my cards on the table.

“I like you. I’m trying to form a lasting relationship with you. If you’re on board, I will be completely faithful to you. That means not fucking other women who can give what you can’t.”

“I’m on board.”

Her shy response had him giving her a hard kiss.

“With parts or all of it?”

“All of it. I’ll tell you what I don’t like.”

“That’s what I want to hear from my old lady.”

Rider scooted Jo to the end of the table, where his cock was waiting. Jo wiggled her hips, offering him what he wanted.

“I hate that term. I like bluebonnet better.”

He released her hips to place his hands down on the table, using the leverage to build the speed up again. “I won’t call you old lady again if you shut up and tell me to fuck you.”

“Rider, fuck me … hard.”

Hearing the dirty word coming out of her mouth had his balls about to explode.

“Fuck.” He delved between her thighs, reaching for her clit to put them out of their misery. Rubbing the little button, he felt her start to tremble and shake.

Her screams vibrated off the steel walls.

When her head fell to his shoulder, he pulled Jo closer to the warmth of his body, running soothing hands across her back. Each of his actions was designed to draw her closer into his world. Creating an intimacy between them was the key to making her fall in love with him and would put him in the position he needed to achieve his goals.

Slowly releasing her, Rider took her bra off the table, placing it on her chest before nimbly fastening it at her back without having to turn her around. Then he reached down, tossing the plastic suit to the side and giving Jo her jeans and shirt.

Awkwardly, Jo dressed, avoiding his eyes as he fastened his jeans and put his T-shirt on.

“I have another set of clothes in my saddlebag. Let’s go to your house and shower. Cash and Train will be bringing some more bikes in an hour. I don’t want them thinking we killed someone and hid their body.”

Jo shakily laughed. “We should leave your suit out, and you could hide.”

He grinned. “Make them think you killed me when I showed up this morning?” Opening the garage door, he burst into laughter, swinging an arm around her shoulders. “Woman, I like the way you think.”

Walking toward the house, he was aware of Moon and Diablo watching them from the security room.

When they reached her house, he let Jo go first into the living room, politely holding the door open for her. Behind her back, he came through the front door, lifting his hand in a sweeping motion across his throat, giving the signal to kill the camera.

“I won’t be long,” Jo said, heading toward the bathroom.

“I’m the one with the most paint on me. I should go first.” He moved around her, beating her to the door.

Jo stopped. “You go ahead—”

Rider snaked his hand out to grab her hand as he opened the bathroom door, drawing Jo into the small room with him. “I don’t mind sharing.”

“I’d rather wait …”

“Are you sure?” He took off his shirt, setting it down on the edge of the old-fashioned tub before removing his boots. “My handprints are on your back and ass. You’re not going to be able to reach them.” Without shame, he unzipped his jeans. “You got paint on my shoulders and back; how am I supposed to reach?”

Her cheeks flamed red. “I’m sure you’ll manage.”

Rider stepped into the tub, reaching for the curtain. “You sure?” He slowly started to close the shower curtain. “What if I get scared? This shower looks like the one in Psycho.”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“It feels like it. I’m scared.” He showed her the way a pout should look.

“For God’s sake, I could have been showered and dressed in the time you’re taking.” Frustrated, Jo started to remove her clothes.

Not wanting her to feel self-conscious, he started the water, letting it heat up.

“Fuck!”

“What’s wrong now?”

“The water is colder than a witch’s tit.”

Jo got inside, closing the curtain. “It takes a little time to warm up.”

“No shit. It would be quicker to fly to Alaska, shower, and come back before your water gets hot. You need a new water heater.”

“No, I don’t. You were in the military; where are your balls?”

“They’re shriveled into acorns. I won’t be able to have kids.”

Jo’s giggles made him smile. It was one he didn’t have to pretend to feel. Her laughter shone a light on a part of his soul he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Taking a step back in the tub, he moved her in front to deflect the cold spray from him.

“Tell me when it’s warm.” Reaching for a washcloth, he started washing her back, seeing her goose bumps.

“Asshole,” she grumbled.

“One thing I learned in basic training was when to retreat and let someone else take the cold water.”

“You didn’t learn that in the military.”

“No, but I did learn the value of a good water heater, and baby, yours sucks.”

* * *

They managed to shower and change before Cash and Moon arrived. Rider sat on one of his motorcycles as Jo inspected the ones the brothers had ridden in on to store. She looked like a kid in a candy store.

“You want to go for a ride?” he offered when she touched the handlebars on the one he was sitting on.

“I should be working. We need to paint your car, and—”

“It can wait until we come back. We can take a quick ride and be back in twenty minutes.”

She tried to resist, and as she looked toward Cash and Moon, he realized what was holding her back.

“It’ll be on the clock. I want you to listen to my motor. It’s lagging.” He invented the excuse for her.

“Oh … then I should go with you, just so I can hear when it’s doing it.” Jo turned red when Moon held a helmet out to her.

“We’re heading back to the club. F.A.M.E is here to give us a ride back,” Moon told him as Jo circled her arms around Rider’s waist.

Rider nodded as they left, raising his hand to F.A.M.E as he rode out of the garage and saw him sitting outside in Cash’s truck.

Turning in the direction of town, he watched his speed, being attentive when her arms would relax or tighten as he drove. Being the first time he rode with her at his back, it was important for both their safety to take it easy and get her comfortable riding with him. It was why he loved riding a motorcycle—it was the closest he could get to sex without actually fucking.

It was a high he didn’t have to smoke, and he could let any problem fly away on the wind that rushed past them. There was only one experience he likened to it, and that was no longer available to him. Riding his bike was as close as he could get to it now.

“How you doin’?” He turned his head when he stopped at the red light in town.

“It’s terrific! Let’s go on the road to Jamestown. You can go faster,” she urged him excitedly, shaking the motorcycle as she bounced on the seat.

If he let her talk him into riding toward Jamestown, he wouldn’t be able to keep the promise to be back to the garage in the twenty minutes he would have Jo back in.

“No, some other time.”

“I dare you to run the light.” She kept bouncing her ass as she tightened her arms around his waist, trying to coerce him into breaking the law.

He narrowed his eyes at her disappointed expression. His old lady was learning to pout a little too well. He would save that for later when he taught her how to give him a blowjob. He was a firm believer of a need-to-know mentality. When it benefited him the most, she would need to know. He would play whatever cards were dealt to him. At the same time, there was no need to stack the deck against himself.

“If you want to go to Jamestown, we’ll go.”

“What changed your mind?”

“Blue eyes, whenever you want to be bad, I’m never going to say no.”

Grinning, he turned back around, seeing the light was still red. Releasing the throttle, they took off.

He was in the game to win Jo’s heart. She just didn’t know it. When she did, it would be too late.