Chapter Six
Linc
“Have you lost your ever-loving mind? You signed that contract. Linc. You swore.” Baze pointed down the bar toward Madden. She had her lips wrapped around the mouth of a beer bottle and it was making his dick rock hard. “She is medical personnel. That means she is one hundred percent off fucking limits to you. Pun entirely intended.” His roommate was fighting mad. Like nostrils flared, teeth grinding, pissed off.
Linc had been trying to convince Baze to let him sleep with Madden for over five minutes now and he’d gotten nowhere. He thought Baze was being completely unreasonable.
“Come on man, she’s gorgeous.” Linc knew he was whining at this point, but damn if he didn’t care.
“So are ten other girls in here.” Baze crossed his arms over his chest, looking like his usual dark, brooding self. “You still have three years left on that contract. On your punishment. You still want to fuck her three years from now? Be my guest.”
Linc narrowed his eyes at his now ex-friend, and then glanced over his shoulder to the sexy-as-sin girl sitting with Molly and an obviously pregnant Corey. If Linc could go back in time and un-bang that last school nurse, the one that had a douche nugget of an FBI fiancé, he would have. Punishment. That’s what Baze had called it. What was he? A fucking toddler? “You’re a dick.”
Baze shrugged and got to his feet. “I’m going to go kick Keller’s ass in darts. But don’t for a second think that I won’t be watching you.” He made the universal “watching you” gesture, pointing his fingers first at his eyes and then at Linc’s.
Linc looked down the bar again, this time catching Madden’s gaze. He winked at her and she sent him a suggestive smile in return. Yeah. Baze could fuck off. So Linc didn’t have his packmates’ permission, so what? It’s not like he woke up every morning and ran to Baze’s room to tell him who he’d fucked the night before. Linc and Madden would just have to keep this friends with benefits thing quiet. Hell, she’d probably love that. There was nothing hotter than doing what you knew you weren’t supposed to. Not that he’d really ever be able to fully explain why they needed to keep things quiet. Shifter stuff and all.
He took a long pull off his beer. The music coming from the jukebox turned to an old Aerosmith song, “Rag Doll,” one of his old man’s favorites. They’d performed at his dad’s fiftieth birthday, which was when Linc learned his dad had been quite the partier in the seventies. Linc came by it honestly.
He watched as Madden grabbed Molly and Corey, dragging them onto the tiny dance floor. The way she was moving made him itch to join her. It would give him the perfect excuse to touch her without getting in trouble with Baze, the bar-napkin-contract police.
Before he could make a move, though, some giant douche with a mustache came up behind Madden and started dancing with her. It was like that scene in the original Footloose when the cowboy came up and started dancing with Sarah Jessica Parker. Watching the scene play out, Linc definitely wanted to punch the fat bastard.
Linc felt a shiver rake through his body. What the hell was that about? He popped his neck and stood, shaking out his arms to try to get his heart rate under control. The big man put his hands on Madden’s hips and Linc felt his chest start to vibrate. Was he having a heart attack? What was that noise?
Oh. Fuck. That was him.
That deep vibration was him growling. Growling because a perfect stranger was touching Madden? No. It wasn’t possible. Was it? Nah. He was just feeling possessive because Madden was his new toy and he didn’t want anyone else getting her dirty before he had a chance to play. Linc shook off his odd behavior and joined the girls, pulling Madden away from the big ugly dude.
She twirled in his arms, putting her hands around his neck, grinding against him. “Thanks for saving me from the giant.”
Linc laughed, suddenly at ease, and put his lips next to her ear, whispering, “Anytime, gorgeous.” She turned around again and rubbed her ass against his semi. He groaned inwardly. He needed to sneak her out of there as soon as possible. He’d already waited a week; he wasn’t going to be able to wait much longer. He wanted Madden. He needed her.
Madden spun back around. She looked down at his crotch then met his eyes, smirking wickedly. “You ready to get out of here, handsome?”
Linc pulled her closer, breathing in her spicy, intoxicating scent. Hearing those words come out of her pouty lips while she was grinding against him? Pretty much the best moment of his life thus far. And he’d had a couple threesomes. “Yes, ma’am.” He whipped her around so he could give her the covert op instructions. “Look, you and I are going to have to play this situation perfectly or everyone is going to know why we are leaving, and I promise you, they’ll do everything they can to cock-block me.”
Madden chuckled and moved to the side so she could meet his eyes. “Why would they cock-block you? Isn’t that against bro code?”
“Yes. Yes it is.” Even chicks understood that denying your buddy a dime piece was blasphemy. “I’ll explain everything later, I promise. But for right now, just go with what I say. Okay?”
Madden nodded and let him tug her close again.
“We’ll go sit at the bar, order another round. Then after that you say you’re ready to go, I’ll act irritated and suggest that you ride home with Keller and Molly. You get pissed, call me a dick, and demand that I do the gentlemanly thing and drive you home myself. I’ll act put out and then we’ll leave. Okay?”
She shrugged in his arms. “Seems like a lot of work, but whatever.” When the song ended Linc followed Madden to the bar, his eyes on her ass the whole way. She ordered two shots of tequila and slid one down to him. He looked at her, eyebrow raised in question. She winked and downed her shot like a champ. “Tequila makes everything more fun, don’t y’all think?”
Linc shook his head, grinning and bewildered. Then took his shot. They sat there quietly side by side, the silence loaded with anticipation. Once Baze and Dom joined them at the bar he nudged Madden’s leg under the table, giving her the signal.
She stood up and stretched her arms over her head, revealing a strip of toned skin as she met his eyes. “Hey, it’s been a long first week and I’m exhausted. Would you mind taking me to my bed?” She bit her lip, her eyes playful.
He drew in and let out a deep breath. Madden was going to be the death of him. Take me to my bed? He’d almost come in his pants. “I’m not ready to go yet—why don’t you see if Keller and Molly will drive you home?” Had he sounded annoyed enough? He should have tried to mimic Baze more.
Madden crossed her arms over her chest, the movement putting her full C cup on display. “Excuse me? You drove me here. You are damn well taking me home. You are not going to pawn me off on someone else just so you can stay and try to bang some waitress.”
Molly sat up higher on her stool, looking around the bar, searching the wait staff. “He’s already slept with every waitress in this bar. Twice.”
Linc rolled his eyes. Lovely. Molly picked this moment to start acting like a little sister?
Corey walked up and smacked Linc on the back of the head. “What’s wrong with you? Stop being a dick.” And there was little sister number one.
Linc made a big show of tossing money on the bar and stomping out the door. As he breathed in the crisp night air he wondered if Molly’s comments would have any effect on Madden. When she came out of the weathered wooden doors a few seconds later his heart stuttered in his chest. He was terrified that she’d changed her mind. “Every waitress? You are a busy little boy, aren’t you?” She shook her head slowly, a flirty smile on her beautiful face.
Linc closed the distance between them in two long strides, grabbed her, threw her over his shoulder, and ran to his car. Madden was all his fantasies rolled into one perfect sexy little package. He smacked her ass before he unlocked the door. “You did a good job, baby.” He dumped her into the passenger seat and ran around to the driver’s side. “Now let’s get you to bed.”
Madden let out that humorless laugh she used with him a lot. “I’m not your baby.”
Linc let her comment go. She was right. She wasn’t his. And that was the way Linc liked it. He wanted one thing from Madden and one thing only. And glory hallelujah, she seemed to feel the exact same way. Baze might kill him if he found out Linc had fucked her, but at least he’d die with a smile on his face.
The car ride home was quiet, the only sound coming from the radio. The silence was loaded, but not uncomfortable by any means. Luckily they hit every green light and pulled up in front of her house ten minutes later. He didn’t turn the car off. Instead he reached over and pushed her hair off her shoulder. Ran his thumb over her lower lip. “You go in the house—I’m going to park down the street. Leave the back door unlocked.” His breath hitched when the tip of her tongue peeked out to touch his skin.
Madden raised one eyebrow. “Are you serious? We’re adults, Linc. If we want to hook up, then it’s no one business.”
He nodded. “Exactly. It’s no one’s business.” He gestured for her to get out of the car, his eyes never leaving hers. He was afraid, again. Afraid that this would all seem too weird, not worth all the sneaking around. She sighed but climbed out and made her way up her drive. Once she shut her front door he drove down the block and turned the corner. He threw the car in park and ran around to the back of the faculty housing, sprinting to her backdoor. He wanted inside that woman.
Bad.
He opened the door, shutting and locking it behind him. “Madden?” The house was dark and quiet. Linc closed his eyes, blocking out everything except for sound. The bathroom—she was in the master bathroom. He made his way carefully through the kitchen, into the living area and then to her room. The layout was the same as Dom’s house, which Linc could navigate with his eyes closed if he had to. The door to her en suite bathroom was cracked, a seam of light coming through. “Madden?”
“I’ll be right out. I’m changing.”
He laughed as he peeled off his shirt and tossed it to the floor. “Sweetheart, you won’t be needing clothes.” He walked around her room, stepping through a maze of boxes. She hadn’t unpacked yet, but she did have a few pictures out on her dresser. It appeared that Madden had traveled the world. There were framed pictures of her in what looked like Spain, Italy, and Greece. And in every one, she was laughing, surrounded by other beautiful people. Most of them men.
Linc cracked his neck, agitated with no idea why.
He needed to fuck her out of his skin, and fast.