Chapter 14
Ace
Fuck!
Emerson was fucking stunning, her curves all but pouring out of her bikini. The sheer wrap around her waist teased me with glimpses of smooth, satiny flesh, thick thighs, and long legs. My eyes were drawn to the tiny triangle covering her pussy, which I imagined was deliciously plump. I could just make out the tiny strings tied on either side of her hips, my fingers itching to untie them and bare her pussy to me.
I took a deep breath of fresh sea air, only half-listening as Tanner explained to the women that they were being sent to St. Augustine for a while. No one spoke or questioned him, they knew not to. If the president wanted to send them away, they knew it was for their own safety. Emerson should have been part of the discussion, but she wasn't claimed by any of the members. As an employee, it was expected that she would be safe, unless someone had noticed that I'd been singling her out for the last few months.
Someone other than in our inner circle.
My dick grew hard, remembering her sweet mouth wrapped around it. Christ. Right here in front of everyone, my jeans were tenting. I ground my back teeth, letting my eyes eat her up and wondering why I'd never fucked her. She was everything I liked in a woman, and then some. I had the feeling that sinking my dick inside her tight little body would be tantamount to hitting the lottery.
Shit. I needed to get laid.
"When do we leave, baby?" Ruby asked Tanner.
"The sooner the better. You'll all go in the SUV. I want Michael and Daniel in the center seat."
For protection, I knew. The SUV was full size, and would easily accommodate the five women and two babies.
“Your men will ride along to make sure you get to the safe house okay and then return here."
"What about once we're there? Will there, ah, be someone around?"
She meant for protection. It was understandable that Cookie would be the most apprehensive, since this would be her first time on lockdown.
"You'll have plenty of protection, baby," Rod said gruffly, pulling her against him. "We've got three badass nomads coming in to take care of you."
I could tell that this immediately set her at ease. I returned my gaze to Emerson, who had waded into the water up to her knees. She was holding her thin wrap up around her waist to keep it dry. That long, fucking braid of hers kept my dick hard as I imagined wrapping the length around my fist as I fucked her doggie-style. She turned in the water and my eyes dropped to her rounded ass, most of which was hanging out of her tiny bottoms.
Jesus H. Christ, I needed to get laid, and soon. I immediately began to run down the list of possibilities. There was easy pussy at After Hours. Any one of the strippers would do nicely.
Someone cleared their throat. I looked over at Ruby, not liking the knowing smirk that I saw on her beautiful face. The expression in her eyes said that I wasn't fooling her. I returned her smirk, knowing that she was only looking for confirmation of her suspicions. Crossing my arms, I planted my feet apart in a stance that would warn anyone else not to mess with me.
"What about Emerson?" Ruby inquired, looking directly at me.
"What about Emerson? She's not an old lady." I turned fully toward Ruby, putting Emerson out of my line of sight.
She pressed her lips in annoyance. "Well, maybe she should be." There was a tinge of irritation in her tone, and my brows shot up at that. I sensed a fight coming on. "She's part of the MC, Ace."
"She's an employee—"
"Of the MC," Ruby said stubbornly, crossing her arms.
"Baby--" She swung toward Tanner with a tiny huff. "Ace is right, and you know the rules. Emerson will be okay."
"Then why do we have to leave?"
"Yeah, why do we have to go?" Della asked directly after Ruby.
It grew quiet. Questioning Tanner's decisions didn't usually end well. Skipper wrapped an arm around Della and yanked her against the front of him, whispering something growly into her ear. Della stiffened, but remained quiet.
Tanner crossed his arms and faced his wife, a look of grim determination on his expression. "I'm not going to go into the rules of the MC, baby. The decision has been made to send you away, and that's what's going to happen. Now I suggest you get your cute little ass inside and pack up so you and the kids can get on the road."
I could tell that Ruby wanted to argue with Tanner, but her silence in the face of his firmness revealed that she knew it would be a lost cause. Her gaze shifted to me. I raised my arms. "Don't look at me, honey."
Della opened her mouth, but Skipper quickly slapped his hand over it. "Not a word, baby," he growled in warning.
"You're the club enforcer," Ruby began.
"Which has nothing to do with anything," I returned, casting a look around the group. Five of my brothers were clustered in their own little circle, smoking and talking, and probably thanking fuck that they didn't have women to deal with. Those who had women were standing protectively by their sides, but it was clear that they agreed with Tanner's decision. Besides, we'd already voted on it. My eyes eventually came back to Ruby in time to see her shrug.
"I'm just worried about her, Ace. She's become part of our family."
I shook my head. "Nope. None of the brothers have claimed Emerson. She means nothing—"
“Ace—“
Ruby’s warning came too late. A sharp gasp alerted me that Emerson had come up behind me. I swung around. Fuck! She looked crushed, and there was no doubt that she'd overheard what I'd said. The moisture in her eyes revealed that I'd hurt her, yet I had to admire her strength in the way she squared her shoulders. I could tell that she'd misunderstood the meaning behind my words, and I opened my mouth to explain before she jumped to conclusions.
"Emerson—"
She held up her hand. "Don't! I think you've said enough, don't you?" She and Ruby exchanged a look. Emerson took a deep breath, and I knew that she was going to give it to me. "You're an asshole, Ace. I just never knew how much until now. You have a lot of nerve saying that I'm nothing when I've been sucking your dick for the last six months."
Sharp gasps followed Emerson's outburst, and suddenly everyone's attention was quiet and solely on us.
"I guess I was something then, right? But now that I've cut you off I'm nothing! Well, that's your fault, you big jerk! We could have had something, Ace. I kept holding out hope that you'd see me as something more, but you need to give a woman a little something extra than just your cock! Not one kiss, Ace. In all the months I let you drag me out back. Not one touch, intimate or otherwise, to let me know that I was more to you than just a mouth taking care of your needs."
More gasps sounded, out but I ignored every fucking one of them, anger like I'd never known before turning my blood into a fucking inferno. I took a threatening step toward her, aware that a brother had put a hand on my arm to stop me. With a tight jaw and my eyes narrowed in anger, I glanced at Gabe, gritting out through my teeth, "Get your fucking hand off me, brother. I'm not going to touch her."
A bark of laughter that sounded nothing like humor escaped Emerson. "That's the truth." Our eyes clashed. "Unless it's my dick in his mouth," she finished bitterly.
I lost it then, snapping, "You never turned down the money though, did you?!"
Several gasps sounded out.
"Ace!" There was censure in Ruby’s tone, warning me that I'd gone too far.
Emerson ignored her and rushed toward me, shoving me hard in the chest, so hard that it caused me to stumble back. "You asshole! The money was your fucking idea, not mine!" I braced myself when she shoved at me again. "You don't deserve me!" Emotion cracked her voice, and it was apparent that she was fighting between anger and crying.
Christ, she was right.
I didn't deserve her.
I clenched my fists at my side, determined not to reach out for her like I wanted to do. I knew that if I put my hands on her the situation would turn dangerous and possibly physical. The little wild cat in front of me was sexy as hell, and my dick wanted a shot at her sassy ass, but I'd just screwed things up royally. I knew it. The women knew it. Everyone present fucking knew it.
With a huff she spun around and stomped away. The women followed her.
I looked over at Tanner, who was watching me with an amused smirk on his face. Some of my other brothers' expressions revealed the same fucking thing. The amusement was there in their watchful eyes, their mouths held tight to keep from laughing.
"What the fuck is so funny?" I finally snapped at no one in particular.
Tanner was the only one with guts enough to tell me. "The fact that you paid for sex."
The sound rising up my throat was loud enough to rival thunder.