There are moments in life when you have the rug unceremoniously jerked out from under you, sending you crashing down onto your fucking ass. This moment felt like that feeling except hyped up on steroids. Dumbfounded, I just stood there, frozen in disbelief like a fucking statue or something. I guess Samantha realized the level of shock I was in, because she once again said, “Marley was gay.”

I blinked as I tried processing what she had just repeated. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

“No, Bishop. I’m not.”

Throwing my hands up wildly, I said, “Then you’re just telling me Marley was gay so I’ll keep dating you.”

Samantha rolled her eyes at me before she snatched her dress off the ground and jerked it over her head. “Wow, you have one hell of an inflated ego if you think I would do that, not to mention that I would have to be pretty fucking psychotic to make something like that up just to keep you.”

“Okay, I’m sorry. That was stupid of me to think, least of all say out loud.”

“Damn straight,” she snapped as she slid on her panties.

Needing to say the words aloud, I said, “Marley was gay.”

Samantha’s reply of “Yes” came as an angry hiss.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered as I began pacing around the clearing. Speaking those three little words was life-altering. If what Samantha said was true, it changed everything between the two of us. It erased everything I had been beating myself up over, except the guilt of Marley’s death.

Holy shit.

Marley and Samantha had never been a real couple. All this time the guilt had been eating me alive, it had been for nothing. Thinking aloud, I muttered, “But . . . but how is it possible Marley was gay? He was a man’s man—he rode a motorcycle and worked as a mechanic, for fuck’s sake.”

“Don’t tell me you’re ignorant enough to believe in stereotypes,” Samantha said. When I looked at her, she had crossed her arms over her chest, and her expression had darkened.

“Look, I’m sorry. My mind is overloaded right now as I’m trying to process the fact that not only was my good buddy gay, but he lied to me about it.” I stopped pacing for a second. “And just why in the hell did he lie to me?”

“He knew to fit in with you guys and truly be accepted that he couldn’t be out.”

“That’s crazy. We wouldn’t have given two shits if he was gay,” I argued.

Samantha’s eyebrows rose accusingly. “Oh really? You yourself just spouted a stereotype.”

“I’m in shock, okay? I’m going to say bullshit I don’t mean.”

“Yeah, well, just how many openly gay members do you have in the Raiders?” When I didn’t immediately respond, she huffed out a breath. “Exactly.”

Closing the gap between us, I put my hands on Sam’s shoulders. “You’re right that we don’t have a lot of openly gay guys, and it probably would have been hard on him to make it if he was out. But gay or straight, he was still someone I cared about—a lot.”

“He would’ve appreciated that.”

“As his friend, you just decided to go along with his lies?”

“I would call it self-preservation more than lying. And yeah, because I loved him, I wanted to do whatever I could to help him out. If it was pretending to be his girlfriend, then I was happy to do that.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “This is all so crazy, and it changes everything.”

“It does?”

“It sure as hell does. I’ve been beating myself up for months now because I thought I had been wanting a brother’s girlfriend when all along there was nothing romantic between you two.”

“It didn’t help that I was flirting with you.”

“I thought you were just teasing me—like you were the older woman playing at being a cougar, and I was your little cub.”

With a roll of her dark eyes, Samantha said, “You’ve really got to work on how you handle the age difference between us.” She jabbed her finger into my bare chest. “While a woman may be able to handle being a cougar, she is never going to enjoy hearing the words ‘older woman.’”

I winced. “Okay, okay. I’ll work on that.”

“You sure as hell better.”

After brushing a strand of long dark hair out of Samantha’s face, I said, “I promise I’ll make it up to you the next time we’re alone together.”

The frown on her face disappeared and was replaced with a smile. “I’ll make sure that you do.” She brought her lips to mine for a gentle kiss. When she pulled away, she stared intently at me. “Since you know the truth, are you willing to give us a chance?”

Now that I knew I hadn’t been dishonorable to Marley, there was not a single reason why I shouldn’t date Samantha. Pulling her flush against me, I smiled. “Hell yeah.”

“Good.” She jerked her chin at the ATV. “Are you ready to head back? I’m starving and in desperate need of a shower.”

“Yep. Just let me turn the generator off.” Once I completed that chore, I returned to find Samantha already seated on the back of the ATV. “Listen. I need to ask you something else.”

“Okay.”

“Is there anything else you need to tell me? Like you’re really a man or something?”

Samantha snorted. “I would think after last night you wouldn’t have any doubts about that one.”

I waggled my eyebrows at her. “I don’t. I just didn’t want there to be any more secrets between us.”

Her face fell slightly. “There’s not.”

“And the only thing Marley lied about to me was his sexuality, right?”

With a nod, Sam said, “The rest was all true . . . at least as far as I know.”

“I guess we’ll never know all of Marley’s secrets, huh?”

“Guess not.”

“Sometimes it’s okay to be a little mysterious,” I said, leaning over to kiss Samantha’s full lips. Just as I thrust my tongue into her mouth, her stomach growled loudly. I pulled away to grin at her. “Guess you weren’t kidding when you said you were hungry.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. I need to remember to feed my woman if I’m going to keep her out all night working up an appetite.”

Samantha snorted contemptuously. “ ‘My woman’? You sound like a caveman.”

I slid onto the seat in front of her before throwing a look at her over my shoulder. “Just remember you are my woman.”

“Is that a fact, Caveman?” she asked teasingly.

“It sure as hell is.”

She brought her arms around my waist. “I guess there are worse things I could be than a caveman’s woman.”

“I want to hear you say that you’re my woman.”

“Honestly, Bishop.”

“Say it,” I instructed as I revved the ATV’s motor.

Samantha turned up her chin and stared at the sky. When she didn’t respond, I said, “I’ll stay right here until you say it—your growling stomach be damned.”

“I don’t take orders,” she said as she continued eyeing the clouds.

Whirling around, I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her around to sit on my lap.

“Bishop, what are you—”

I silenced her by crushing my mouth against hers. At the same time, I brought my hand between her legs. She gasped when I began to stroke her over her panties. “Say it, Samantha.”

“Mmm,” she whimpered, her hips rising and falling in time with my hand.

“Say that you’re my woman, or I won’t let you come.”

“You don’t play fair,” she panted.

“No, babe, I don’t. And I always get what I want.” As my fingers grazed against her stomach, she sucked in a breath, which she wheezed out the moment I slipped two fingers inside her. “Are you going to say it now?”

Staring me straight in the eye, Sam said, “I’m your woman, you fucking Neanderthal asshole.”

I threw my head back with a laugh. “I guess that’s one way to say it.”

She ground her hips against my hand. “Now make me come.”

“I’m the one to give the orders around here.”

Samantha grabbed the hair at the nape of my neck and tugged it hard. “If you don’t make me come now, I won’t let you fuck me for at least a week. If not longer.”

I groaned. “Man, you drive a hard bargain.”

She grinned. “And you let your dick make all your decisions.”

“I am a man, aren’t I?”

“True. Very true.”

I began to pump my fingers harder and faster inside Samantha. She pulled my head to hers, and we started kissing madly. Our tongues battled with the same intensity as my hand and her hips. As she started over the edge, she moaned into my mouth. I pulled back to watch as her eyes pinched shut with pleasure and she bit down on her lip. Damn, she was fucking hot when she came.

When her walls stopped clenching around my finger, I withdrew my hand. Samantha gave me a lazy smile. “Part of me wants to forgo breakfast and a shower to just stay out here and fuck all day.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

She placed her palm on my chest and pushed me back. “Feed me first and we’ll talk about fucking the rest of the day.”

“What if you ate some of the food off me?”

Samantha rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“But you love me anyway.”

Her expression turned serious. “Not yet, but I have a feeling you’re going to make me fall in love with you.”

My heartbeat thundered loudly in my chest at her response. While I had jokingly mentioned love to Samantha, I had felt so drawn to her over the last few weeks. She was the first thing I thought of in the morning as well as when I went to sleep. Did that mean I loved her? I’d never been in love before, and now I couldn’t imagine being with any other woman but her. With the smell of her on my fingers and on my tongue, along with her supremely gorgeous body tucked close against me, I revved the motor.

Thankfully, Samantha was behind me, because I knew there was a ridiculous smile on my face the entire way home.

Playing the part of a gentleman, I drove Samantha all the way out of the woods, rather than stopping where we’d found the ATV. When we pulled into my driveway, people were ambling around the compound as they slowly came back to life from last night’s partying. Probably some of them hadn’t gone to bed all night and had toasted the sunrise with stale beer. I had done that more than a few times myself.

I led Samantha up the front walk and onto the porch. When we got inside, Samantha headed to the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Looking for something for breakfast.”

“Sorry, babe, but you’re not going to find anything edible in there.”

She cocked her head at me. “You have a perfectly functional kitchen with no food?”

“I could lie and say I haven’t been to the store, or I could tell the truth, which would be my mother spoils me by cooking all my meals.”

Samantha’s eyes widened. “You’re joking.”

“Sadly, no. She used to cook three meals a day for us Malloy boys, but with Rev and Deacon married off, it’s just me.”

After giving a low whistle, Samantha said, “Doesn’t your mother know she’s ruining you for any woman? Please tell me she doesn’t do your laundry, too.”

I scowled at her. “No, smart-ass, I manage to do my own laundry. Mama Beth just loves to cook, so it gives her something to do since she’s retired.”

Holding up her hands, Samantha said, “Okay. Eating breakfast at your house is out. Where else can I get some food around here?”

“After a party, there’s usually a big breakfast up at the clubhouse.” I also knew Mama Beth would be cooking her usual Sunday morning spread, but I figured the safer choice would be to take Samantha to the clubhouse. The last thing I needed was Rev and Deacon giving me shit in front of Sam.

“Thank God. Just let me grab a quick shower, and I’ll be ready to go.”

“You might have to wait on the shower. We’ll need to hurry on up there before the herd makes a run on the food and there’s nothing left.”

“Then why don’t you hop in one shower, and I’ll hop in the other?” Samantha suggested.

“That sounds like a good plan except for the fact that I only have one bathroom.”

She slunk over to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. “That could create a problem if I wasn’t a generous person who would offer to share my water with you.”

“Aren’t you sweet?” I mused as I cupped her ass with my hands.

“I try.”

When she rubbed her crotch against mine, I groaned. “If I get in that shower with you, we’ll never get out in time for breakfast.”

“Not even for a quickie?”

“You and quickies just don’t go together. Me and my dick like to take our time with you.”

Samantha laughed. “I see.” She took a few steps away from me. Her hands went to the hem of her dress as she asked, “Is there anything I could do to change your mind?”

“No, I—”

Before I could finish, I was hit in the face with the dress. Once it fell to the floor, I got an eyeful of her fabulous rack. Being the incredible cock tease that she was, she cupped her breasts and tweaked her hardening nipples. Motioning to the growing bulge in my crotch, she said, “I think you both like what you see.”

“You’re evil.”

“I like getting what I want. I think it’s safe to say we both have that in common.”

“That could be a real problem if we’re both too stubborn to give in.”

“Yeah, but I think I’ve got the upper hand with this one.” Slowly she shimmied her panties over her hips and down her thighs. Once she was naked, she cocked her head at me. “Shall I go turn the water on?”

I wanted so badly to be strong, but there was no way in hell with a throbbing dick and a gorgeous naked woman I would be able to say no.

“Bishop, you didn’t answer my question,” Samantha said. When she slid her hand between her legs, I growled and charged at her. After I crushed her against me, Samantha giggled. “Guess that answers my question.”

“Go turn the water on,” I instructed.

Samantha pulled my shirt over my head. “Yes, sir.” She then swished her hips provocatively as she made her way into the bedroom.

When I started to follow her, I heard a knock at the door. “Fuck,” I grunted before turning around and going to the door. When I opened it, Mama Beth stood there.

“Hey, sweetheart, you didn’t show up for breakfast, and I was worried.”

Throwing an arm over my shoulder, I furiously scratched the back of my neck as I tried to come up with an excuse. Just as I opened my mouth, Samantha appeared in the living room wearing just my T-shirt. “Bishop, I’m getting cold without you,” she called.

Mama Beth stared past me to take in Samantha. At the sight of Mama Beth, Samantha gasped and turned red. She tugged at the bottom of the T-shirt to cover herself better. “Now I can see you were busy,” Mama Beth said.

“Yes, but I should’ve called you about breakfast. I know you always expect me.”

“That’s true, I do. And I’ll expect you to come up to the house to eat as soon as you’re finished cleaning up.” She gave Samantha a pointed look. “The invitation includes you.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Malloy. That’s very kind of you,” Samantha said meekly. I almost laughed at the humble way she was acting around Mama Beth.

“I guess I better head back to the house and warm up the food.”

“You don’t have to do that. We’re perfectly capable of heating it up ourselves.”

“I know that. But I don’t mind.” Embarrassment flooded me when she patted my cheek as if I were five years old. I was pretty sure she did it not out of affection but to tease. “See you in a few minutes.”

“Bye, Mama.”

“Bye, Mrs. Malloy.”

When the door shut behind Mama Beth, Samantha groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Oh my God! I’m so mortified!”

I laughed as I closed the gap between us. “Babe, it’s no big deal.”

Jerking her hands away, she gave me an incredulous look. “Not only did your mother see me half-naked, but she heard me talking about sex. And let’s not forget she knows we were fucking, and that’s why you missed breakfast.”

“She doesn’t know we were fucking.” When Samantha cocked her head at me, I added, “We could have been sleeping after we were fucking,” I teased.

Samantha smacked my arm. “This isn’t funny. I’ve never cared about what my boyfriend’s parents thought about me, but for some reason, I care about your mother.”

My chest tightened with her words. Not only was I stoked that she gave a shit what Mama Beth thought, but I’d never had someone call me her boyfriend before. I didn’t expect it to mean as much to me as it did. “So I’m your boyfriend, huh?”

She swept her hands to her hips. “I thought we established that this morning. If you’re not on board with us, I can always call you my fuck buddy or friend with benefits.”

I grinned. “No, I like boyfriend better.” I slid my arms around her waist. “And yeah, I’m on board with what we’re doing. It was just nice hearing you call me that, since I’ve never really been someone’s boyfriend before.”

“There’s a first time for everything, huh?”

“Yep.”

Samantha groaned again. “God. I don’t think I can face your mother.”

“It’ll be fine. She’s a very understanding woman, I promise.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “It means a lot that she invited you to breakfast. If she was really pissed, she would have ignored you.”

“I hope you’re right.”

With a smack on her luscious ass, I said, “Come on. We’re going to run out of hot water.”

“Normally, I would say that you could figure a way to heat it up, but I’m going to pass on that so we can get to your mom’s quicker.”

“You’re turning me down?”

“I’m not giving your mom one more reason not to like me. Now hurry up!”

I merely grinned as I let Samantha lead me into the bedroom.

After a lightning-fast shower, we made it to Mama Beth’s in less than half an hour. The sounds of laughter filled the air as we swept through the front door. Although I was late, my brothers and sisters-in-law still sat around the oak table in the dining room while Willow and Wyatt played on the floor in the living room.

At the sight of us, Rev grinned. “Well, well, if it isn’t the sleeping beauties.”

“Yeah, what kept you guys?” Deacon asked.

I mouthed a fuck you at him before motioning for Samantha to take a seat next to Annabel. I took a seat at the end of the table.

Samantha gave Mama Beth and the others an apologetic look. “I’m sorry we’re late. Bishop didn’t tell me he was expected at breakfast, or I would have made sure we were here on time,” Samantha said.

Mama Beth smiled. “It’s okay. We’re just glad to have you with us now.” She set a heaping plate full of biscuits and gravy, grits, sausage, bacon, and eggs in front of Samantha. “I just fixed it all for you because I wasn’t sure what you liked.”

Samantha’s eyes lit up. “Trust me, I like it all. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” She then brought me my usual plate.

“Thanks, Mama.”

“Ah, so we’re Mr. Manners now that your girlfriend is here, huh?” Deacon asked, a wicked gleam burning in his dark eyes.

I should have realized that my brothers, especially Deacon, were going to love nothing better than to ride my ass about Samantha. Instead of once again mouthing for him to fuck off, I ignored him and dug into the heaping pile of food.

“Samantha, did you have a good time last night at the party?” Mama Beth asked.

“Yes, I did. Everyone has been so sweet to welcome me.”

“Generally, the Raiders are a friendly bunch,” Mama Beth mused.

“Does the party go on all day?” Sam asked.

Rev nodded. “Most people will start heading back later this afternoon, while some will stay and head out in the morning.”

With a smile, Annabel said, “You can count me out for another late night. I have to leave to go back to school tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry, babe. I’ll be turning in early myself. I’ve got that meeting in Chattanooga in the morning.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“You’re still coming with me, aren’t you, B?” Rev asked.

After gulping down some scorching coffee, I said, “Sure am. What time do we have to leave?”

“Five a.m.”

I groaned. “Jesus, why does it have to be so early?”

Rev laughed. “Samantha, will you make sure he gets up on time in the morning?”

The insinuation that Sam would stay another night with me caused both of us to choke on our food. When we started to recover, Rev gave us a sheepish look. “Sorry about that. I didn’t realize it was such a touchy subject. I just figured things were settled between you guys.”

I brought my gaze to Samantha’s. “They are settled.” When she smiled, I added, “We just have to work all the kinks out.”

“I’m sure you both will do just fine,” Mama Beth said.

“I agree,” Alex chimed in.

Deacon rolled his eyes. “What’s next? Having us toast to the happy couple?”

“Shut up,” I muttered.

“Uh-oh, I think he’s blushing,” Rev said.

Glaring at the two of them, I growled. “I really hate you both right now.”

When Deacon and Rev both burst out laughing at my response, I vowed to punch the hell out of them the moment I got them alone.

After breakfast, I took Samantha back to the clubhouse to hang out. We spent the rest of the day shooting pool, talking to the guys, and drinking. She seemed to like my MC brothers as well as she did my blood brothers. I was pumped that she was able to finally see us in a different light than she originally did. The way she thought of us got me thinking about the meeting I was going to in the morning.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey yourself,” she replied with a smile.

“Why don’t you come with me to Chattanooga?”

Her dark eyes widened. “But I thought you had a meeting to go to.”

“I do. But it doesn’t mean I can’t have you along.”

“Well, I would, but I have work in the morning.”

I felt like a giant pussy for being disappointed. “That’s okay. Another time.”

Samantha leaned forward in her chair. “I could always call in sick.”

“You would really do that?”

“Actually, my boss has been a little more lenient on me lately.”

“Ah, I see.” Sensing we needed a subject change away from Marley, I grabbed her by the waist and dragged her over to sit in my lap. “So you’ll stay with me tonight?”

Her eyebrows shot up into her hairline. “I thought you didn’t have women stay at your house.”

“I didn’t. Until you.”

Dipping her head, she let her lips graze against mine. “Yes. I’ll stay.”

I slid my hands into her hair, letting the silky strands fall between my fingers. “I’m glad.”

Just as I started to bring my lips to hers, she said, “But I’m going to need a change of clothes.”

With a laugh, I said, “You sure as hell know how to kill a moment.”

“I would really be killing a moment if I was in stinky clothes tomorrow.”

“Fine. We’ll throw your clothes in the wash.”

“And just what am I supposed to wear until they’re done?”

My mouth licked and nibbled across her jawline, causing her to shudder and tilt her head back to give me better access. “You’ll need to be naked for what I have in mind for the rest of the night.”