Star
“Your dad passed away, right?”
The mattress shifted beneath Star as Tanner grunted and got up from the bed.
“Is your mom still alive, then?” she asked his naked back.
But, he couldn't even be bothered to spare her a glance. He just padded across the room on bare feet, her questions bouncing off him like pebbles thrown at a mountain.
Nonplussed, she decided to try again. “Did you go to school around here?”
His hands balled into fists at his side.
Well, maybe not pebbles at a mountain, Star realized. Knowing it was a bad idea, but still wanting to see how far she could push him, she pressed on with her questions. “How about siblings?”
“Look,” he shouted as he, completely unperturbed by his nudity, whirled around to face her. “We need to set some ground rules. Just because I'm paying you to have my baby, that doesn't mean you get to ask me about my family or my past. My family's the Blood Warriors, got it?”
She didn't shrink back. Instead, she went to ask him about his motorcycle club.
“And, no, dammit, you can't fucking ask about them, either. I don't need a goddamn woman poking around in my life, asking me a fucking question every five minutes. If I did, I'd have an ol' lady to carry my child.”
“Fine,” Star said, her voice as even as she could make it. “Know what? I won't ask you anymore fucking questions about your parents, or your family, or even where you got that goddamn rocking chair. I'll just come over and you can fuck my brains through the back of my head till I get pregnant. Then, this is over.”
A look passed over his like a cloud over the sun. What was it? Anger? Realization? Star didn't know. But, right then, she didn't care either.
His phone went off in his jeans, a ring-tone that she didn't recognize trilling throughout the bedroom. He didn't spare her a glance, just grabbed his phone from the pants pocket and checked it. “Fuck.”
She fought back her natural urge to ask what was wrong, to offer any help she could. The asshole had yelled at her and had made it abundantly clear he didn't want her anywhere near his personal business.
He tossed his phone on the chest of drawers in the corner and picked out clean clothes. “I'm gonna hop in the shower,” he said, still not looking at her. “Then, I'll take you back to your place.”
“Fine,” Star said, her voice still even and tight.
He left the room without bothering to put on clothes, and headed down the hallway.
She sighed to Tanner's empty bedroom.
What the heck had she been thinking, getting herself wrapped up with this man? Sure, he was going to take care of her when she'd delivered the child. But, it seemed like he could barely control his anger half the time. Of course, like her mother had always said, passionate men were the best ones. Especially in bed. You didn't want a milquetoast man climbing between the sheets with you. And, with that last part at least, Star agreed.
Now, as the shower started up somewhere inside the house, and she lay there thinking about Tanner, she really did think that was her first orgasm. She still couldn't believe she'd missed out over all these years, with her previous boyfriends.
But, with all that passion, and great sex, apparently came other baggage. He didn't want to talk about his personal life, didn't want to talk about the MC. To a certain degree, she understood. After all, her own past and family history weren't exactly exemplary. Not by a long shot.
She ran a hand through her hair, idly wondering how mussed up it was, and climbed off the bed. She picked through their scattered clothes on the floor and found hers.
As she pulled them on, she started to wonder. If he wouldn't tell her about his personal life, maybe she could glean something from here. Idly, she buttoned up her top and looked at the Blood Warriors flag hanging on one side of the room. Clearly, they were the most important thing in his life.
There had to be more, though. She bit her lip as she looked around the room. Her eyes settled on the top of the chest of drawers.
His phone. Why hadn't she thought of it first?
She went over and picked it up. He hadn't even bothered to turn off the screen, or lock it, and had left a text message boldly sitting on the front.
“Found your brother. He's in trouble,” it read.
So, that's what it was! That was why he didn't want to talk about his family. Between his dad dying, and his brother disappearing, of course he'd have been touchy about his private life. She would have been, too.
The pipes of the older house clanked a little as the shower turned off. Star put the phone back where she'd found it and scampered back to the end of the bed so she could finish dressing.
He came back into the room a few minutes later, dressed in new boxers and a shirt. He bent down and grabbed his discarded jeans and boots. “You ready to go?” he grumbled as he pulled his jeans on.
“Yeah,” she said.
Without a word, he sat down next to her and put his boots on.
The heat seemed to roll off him, making Star wet again as memories from just a few minutes prior flashed through her body. She couldn't forget how much pleasure he'd given her, or how intense it had been. Sure, he may have had his reasons to act the way he did, but he was still a fucking asshole. Of course, she'd be damned if that wasn't the best fuck she'd ever had.
“Tanner?” she asked after a tense couple moments.
He looked at her and sighed. “What?”
She took a deep breath before beginning. “I just wanted to say I get it. I understand you don't want to talk about your family. I have a past with mine, too, and it was unfair of me to start going a mile a minute like that. I won't pry anymore. I promise.”
Silent, he searched her face for a moment before finally nodding his agreement and forgiveness. “Thank you,” he said finally. “Now, you ready?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I think so.”
He gathered up his phone and vest, then led her back through the house and out to his bike. She climbed back up behind him after he'd started it, and they pulled out onto the street and headed back to her place.
The ride back was just as thrilling as the ride there. She tightened her arms around his body again, holding herself close to him. His hand reached down and touched hers, lingered for a long moment.
It wasn't an emotional attachment, just something that was purely physical. But, as they drew closer to her place, she found herself wondering when Tanner could make time to see her again. She wanted to relive that last orgasm, feeling his naked body pressed against hers, holding her, controlling her. All her worries about the future and her regrets about the past had been pushed away in those brief moments. When she'd been in bed with him, his cock buried inside her, only that one, pure moment had mattered.
She needed that again.
They had pulled onto her street and come to a stop light just a few blocks from her place, when an even greater roar kicked up behind them. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw an entire cavalcade of bikers, riding two abreast, bearing down on them.
Her heart leaped into her throat as they came racing up and encircled Tanner and Star. She began to calm down a little, though, as she quickly recognized their vests. These were all Blood Warriors, all Tanner's brothers.
“Hey, hey, Tanner Boy,” called one of the bikers on their right. “This your new ol' lady?”
“If she ain't, I want a piece when you're done!” called another from their left, a big, bearded biker who roared over the noise with no problem. All the men laughed at his comment, and Star, certainly not for the first time, wondered just what in the hell she'd gotten herself into. She could be pregnant already. What the hell was she thinking?
“Shut the fuck up, guys,” Tanner snapped back, clearly touchy. “She ain't my ol' lady, and you still can't get a piece, Tyke.”
“What a shame!” Tyke called back. “She could get a golf ball through a garden hose with those lips!”
“Knock it off, you guys!” roared another biker, a big, tough looking old codger up ahead of them. “I'm here on club business, Tanner. I don't want anyone on the street or in a bar hearing us.”
“About the message?” Tanner asked.
The man nodded solemnly.
“Let me drop her off, then we can go back to my place.”
Star's mouth was open before she even realized what she was doing. “My place is less than a block away. You can meet there.”
“Sounds good, doll,” the man replied before anyone, including Tanner, could decline the offer.