“Where are you going?” Jackal caught Penni’s waist as she tried to squirm out of his hold.

“If I have to be here, Cruz can watch me until Striker gets here.”

“What ant crawled in your panties now?”

“You’ve done every woman in King’s club. Grace said the women who hang out at the Predators’ clubhouse joke they should name another day of the week after you. If I say I care, it means something—”

“Really?” Jackal snorted. “I bet Grace couldn’t name one of the women who said I fucked them. Can you name one from King’s club?”

Thinking back, she couldn’t. Mostly, they had stared at him with wishful eyes and veiled assertions of what had taken place with them or other women.

“So, you’re saying you haven’t slept with them all?”

“I’m saying that I don’t keep a fucking roster of how many women I’ve been with. The women I have been involved with all have a good time, and they don’t have to worry about me doing their friends.”

“But when you’re done, you’re done?”

Jackal shook his head. “Not like you’re thinking. We both know when it’s pretty much over and remain friends. I don’t have exes stalking me if that’s what you’re thinking. Has anyone said I lied or cheated or made promises of a future? No, because I don’t make promises I don’t intend to keep.”

Jackal was tired of beating around the bush. “Why was Train’s picture in your bedside table?”

Outraged, Penni straddled his lap and grabbed a handful of his T-shirt. “How do you know what’s in my bedroom?”

Gripping her wrists, Jackal used his chest to push her backward until she lay prone on his motorcycle, her legs wrapped around his waist as she struggled to free herself. He circled each of her wrists and his handlebars, effectively trapping her.

“Why are you so embarrassed? Because I saw Train’s picture or the dildo?”

“When you let me go, I’m going to kill you!” Penni screeched.

“Did you need the dildo because you’re missing him or because you can’t have him?”

Jackal watched her reaction to each of his questions. She was furious. When she returned to Queen City, it was a safe bet she would never go out with him. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

His aching dick was pressed against her pussy. The seam of her jeans beckoned him, and unable to resist, he rotated his hips, hearing a gasp from her lips.

Jackal lowered his mouth to her throat, breathing in her scent.

“Damn, you smell good.”

She snarled up at him. Damn, he liked a woman with some fire in her blood. Penni was like no woman he had ever known, though. Every time he was near her, he was like a blind man gifted with sight, unable to see anyone but her. Only Penni.

“If I kiss you, are you going to bite me again?”

“Try it and find out for yourself!”

Jackal curled his lips up into a smile against the curve of her throat.

“No thanks. I’ll try my luck somewhere else.” He pressed a kiss to the hollow of her throat, flicking out his tongue to taste her. She tasted as good as she smelled, like peaches on a warm summer day.

She reminded him of when he had been a little boy and stayed with his grandparents for the summers in Georgia. They had an orchard of peaches, and he would help pick them. At that age, he had eaten more than he had picked, loving the velvet texture as he bit into one and the sweet flesh inside.

Sliding his lips upward, he nibbled on her earlobe. “Kiss me back.”

“Kiss my ass.”

“Don’t tempt me.” Staring into her eyes, he let her see how much he wanted her.

He was a Predator by name and nature. The brothers would mock him if they saw him appearing vulnerable. Sometimes, however, the predator became the prey.

Risking the chance of receiving another scar, he lowered his mouth to her lips. It would be worth the pain to taste her.

It was a mixture of heaven and hell. While Penni’s warm mouth was better than any woman he had kissed before, the knowledge that he might never taste her again was torture.

Step by step, he had led her to discover that he could give her what she needed. He could handle the fire inside her.

Using his tongue to rub against hers, he then twisted hers, leading her into his mouth. Her passion built as she lifted her hips up, pressing against the bulge of his dick behind his jeans.

Jackal was the one who broke off the kiss, pressing his forehead against hers.

“What’s wrong?” Penni’s raspy voice nearly had him coming in his jeans.

“I have to catch my breath.”

“Have you caught it yet?”

He raised up enough to stare down at her. “I have the feeling I’m never going to be able to catch it whenever you kiss me.”

She strained at his hold on her wrists. Releasing her, he expected her to smack him, but unexpectedly, she pressed her hands on each side of his face. Her blue eyes stared at him as if she didn’t see his scarred cheek.

“You have to remember to breathe through your nose.”

“I know how to kiss.”

“It was just a suggestion.”

Clearly, his kiss hadn’t rocked her world. Jackal could understand why her many relationships had failed. Penni’s abrasive attitude was a cock blocker. No normal man wanted his ego ripped to shreds. Fortunately, he wasn’t normal, and his ego could take it. She might twist his guts into knots, but like the kiss, he would risk it. He wasn’t afraid of pain.

He wanted to start his motorcycle and ride until no one could find them. The loud noises from the crowd were a distraction he didn’t want. He didn’t want anything to take away from this moment …

“You’re going to have to save this for later,” Hennessy interrupted.

Jackal groaned, lifting his head. Licking his bottom lip, he imprinted her pliant image in his mind then helped her to straighten. She sat mutely, not butting in as Hennessy motioned for the Road Kingz to surround them. That’s a first, Jackal thought sardonically, not expecting it to last.

The dangerous tension spread among them. Cruz, as Hennessy’s enforcer, took his flank. Jackal was impressed as he maneuvered the Road Kingz so bystanders wouldn’t be able to see what was taking place from within the enclosed circle.

“If anything goes down, stick to me. Got me?”

“Okay.”

He was so proud when Penni didn’t show the fear she must be feeling.

Cruz stepped in to allow Striker to enter the circle then closed ranks, preventing prying eyes from watching.

Jackal stood in front of Penni, his hand riding low at his back, under his jacket and on the handle of his Glock. Any move that threatened Penni, he would drop Striker, regardless if Hennessy’s life depended on him.

“Where’s my money?” Hennessy demanded.

“I don’t have it.”

“Then there better be smack in that duffle bag.” Hennessy raised his T-shirt, showing the Glock tucked into the waist of his jeans.

“How do I know you won’t kill me as payback for DJ?

“You’re lucky that you’re not already dead.” Hennessy’s unfeeling voice had Striker’s eyes flickering over the men surrounding him.

“I didn’t lay a hand on him. I went to take a piss, and when I came out, Ricky had killed him.” He leaned sideways so that he could see Penni. “The bitch will tell you that I’m telling the truth.”

Hennessy turned so he could keep his eyes on Striker and Penni.

“That true?”

Jackal knew Hennessy was playing with Striker. Penni had already told him Ricky was responsible for DJ’s death.

“Tell him!” Striker demanded urgently.

Jackal hid his smile when Penni kept him waiting. Finally, when he rocked nervously back and forth on his feet, as if he were about to piss himself, she spoke.

“Why should I? You didn’t care that you were leaving me to get raped and killed.”

“He would have killed me, too!” Sighing and turning away from Penni, Striker dropped the duffel bag in front of Hennessy. “It’s all there. We good?”

Hennessy used the same tactic that Penni had.

“Shit, Hennessy, let him go before he shits himself,” Jackal spoke in the growing silence.

“Apoc, check the bag.” Hennessy kept his hand on his weapon.

Apoc bent down, unzipping the bag, checking the contents, and then zipping the bag closed.

“It’s good. The same product we sent to sell.”

“You and Cruz take it to the car. Tia’s waiting by the food truck. I’ll see you back at the clubhouse.”

“Tia’s here?”

“Yes, if you hadn’t had your tongue down her throat”—Hennessy nodded at Penni—“she would have said hi.”

Tia was Hennessy’s cousin. Jackal had met her when she had turned eighteen and her parents had been murdered. He had found her a place to live in Queen City. Then, when Hennessy had left the Predators, she had left with him and DJ.

“We done?” Striker took a step backward.

“We’re done.”

Jackal kept his eyes on Striker as he walked away. Being an enforcer for the Predators had honed his skills over the years. The uneasy feeling traveling up his spine had him pulling out his Glock before Apoc fell to the dirt, staring up at the night sky.

Hennessy and their men pulled their weapons out as screams filled the night. The red-orange flames from the bonfire glowed across the bloodbath that had begun.

Jackal jumped on his motorcycle, his bike in the direction of the road. They had to get through a half-mile of gunfire to make it to safety.