Kiki sat back in her plastic folding chair, stretched her arms overhead, and released a long, weary sigh. Not only was she beat, her ass hurt from sitting all day, and her muscles were stiff.

The Dogs & Hogs fundraising event had been extremely successful. At least from what she could see since she had been tied to her tent almost the entire day. The donations she collected for answering simple legal questions, that for the most part could have been answered by Google, filled up ten of those clear plastic pretzel barrels. Ten.

For any questions or cases that were more complex she handed the person a business card, telling them that she’d give them their first hour of consultation for free.

Tom would have a coronary, but she didn’t care. She’d do it on her own time if she needed to.

All day long, the air was filled with catchy rock music from a club member’s band, Dirty Deeds, the roaring of loud motorcycles, and the smells of a roasting pig and fried food.

Her stomach was growling since she only ate a pulled-pork sandwich and some fries that Bella and Jewel had brought her earlier in the day when they came to check on her. Which was nice. The DAMC women had all been very warm to her, accepting her into their fold easily. And, of course, Ivy had been kind enough to supply the day’s “uniform” of the black DAMC camisole that Hawk had a conniption over.

She looked down. Yes, it fit a little “too well.” But she figured if that was what helped fill ten whole barrels with cash, then so what. The money was going to a worthy cause by supplying trained service dogs to veterans.

Surveying the fairgrounds, she noticed quite a few bikers still hanging around. Some wearing DAMC cuts, some wearing “colors” proclaiming them to belong to the Dark Knights. Then there were a few clean-cut men wearing vests that said the Blue Avengers.

Wasn’t hard to figure out they were law enforcement. She dealt with cops way too often in her job, so she could spot them a mile away. A few times during the day she had spotted Bella and one of the Blue Avengers standing close and talking very animatedly.

She wondered what was up with that. Guess she could ask Bella herself since the woman was headed her direction.

“Done here?” the dark-haired beauty asked.

“Yes.” Kiki sighed. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. I need a long nap.”

Bella laughed. “We’re all going back to church to get grub. Prospects are going to stay behind to break down all of the tents and tables.”

It seemed that prospects were little more than slaves. They did whatever they were told, no matter how menial the task, to prove themselves worthy of “patching” into the club. Kiki compared it to hazing into a college fraternity.

Amazing what she could learn in one day of being surrounded by bikers and their women. She knew more now about the biker life and motorcycle clubs than she ever wanted to. At least it gave her some insight for future defense purposes. Not that she wanted to have to defend any of the “brothers” any time soon.

“Diamond come collect your money yet?”

“No, and look,” she lifted the long fabric tablecloth away from the ground and lowered her voice. “There’s a lot of it.”

Bella leaned over, peering under the table. “Damn, you raked it in. Guess the combination of a beautiful woman who can get your ass out of a jam is a good one!”

Diamond strolled over, wearing a huge smile. “I think Hawk would agree with that.” She pulled one of the clear plastic barrels from under the table, held it up and turned it three hundred-sixty degrees, whistling. “Need to do this for all of our fundraisers.”

Oh good lord, now she was going to be stuck doing more of these?

“How much do you think you collected?” Bella asked.

“I don’t know.” She’d been so busy, she never had a chance to count.

“Shit, this thing is full of twenties, not ones and fives like the Dawg’s strippers over there,” Diamond tilted her head toward the now abandoned kissing booth. “I think someone threw a bunch of pennies in theirs.”

Bella and Diamond snorted while elbowing each other.

“I take it that you ladies don’t like the club running a strip club?”

Diamond shrugged. “Wouldn’t be so bad if Dawg didn’t drag them into church all the time and to all our gatherings. It’s bad enough that there are sweet butts constantly hanging around, spreading their legs every time a brother glances their way. That’s why you hardly catch me at church for the parties.”

Just then a loud rumbling came out of nowhere. All three of the women’s heads spun toward the sound to see a few men on motorcycles headed their direction, riding hard and fast through the center of the event area and over the grass. Their faces were covered with dark goggles and black bandanas, their heads with skullcaps.

“Fuck!” Bella shouted, her face suddenly pale. “Warriors!” Her head spun toward Diamond. “Put the money down, Di.”

Diamond hugged the barrel closer to her stomach. “No, they’re not getting Kiki’s hard-earned money.”

“Fuck that, Di. Put the money down!”

“No—”

Diamond’s words were cut off when she gave an angry scream as a biker snatched the barrel out of her arms and then kicked her squarely in the gut with his boot. Diamond dropped to the ground with a cry, grabbing onto her middle.

Four unknown bikers circled the tent on their bikes, knocking a couple of the poles down. A bike came so close to Kiki that she fell backwards and landed on her ass, the air rushing out of her.

Bella faced off with another one of the bikers and when he got close enough to her, he put out his arm like he was going to snatch her up.

Kiki watched in horror as Bella screamed, “Not today, fucker!” Her face was now flushed, her eyes glittering. She pulled back her arm and punched him in the side of the head. The bike wobbled but didn’t go down.

“Fuckin’ bitch!” the Warrior yelled, then swung at her, punching her in the face. Blood spurted, her head whipped back and she fell to her knees.

Before Kiki could scramble to her feet, Diamond screamed at her, “Don’t let them get the money!”

Kiki quickly crawled on her hands and knees under the table, throwing her body over as many of the barrels as she could, which wasn’t many.

Then there were hands everywhere, grabbing her, yanking painfully on her hair, pulling her off, snatching the money. She grabbed the closest barrel and curled her body around it.

They were not getting all the money. No way.

“Fuckin’ bitch! Let it go!”

She shook her hair out of her face and glared up at the masked biker. “No!”

“Fuck it then, I’ll take you with.”

Oh shit.

The man grabbed her bicep and started dragging her from under the table. Even with that, Kiki refused to release the money.

Holy shit, if he got her on his bike and rode away with her, she was screwed.

Before she could kick at him, the biker went down. Kiki’s eyes followed the biker’s fall as he hit the ground hard.

She glanced back up and saw the guy who had been at The Iron Horse that night Hawk took her there.

She never learned his name.

He jumped on the downed biker and started to pound the hell out of him.

Watching his fists fly, Kiki’s mouth dropped open, not knowing what to do. She turned her head to see where the rest of the Warriors were and was shocked to see Bella chasing one on foot across the fairgrounds. Then one of the Blue Avengers rode up beside her on his bike and snagged her by the waist, halting her progress. Bella shook her head violently and shoved both palms into the man’s chest, almost knocking him off his motorcycle. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, her arms moving wildly, but Kiki couldn’t make out what she was yelling. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close, trapping her arms. Kiki realized it was the same guy Bella had been speaking closely with earlier.

Then the remaining pack of Warriors sped through the grass riding low over their bikes, hopped over a curb and escaped down a nearby side street.

Another group of bikes roared past the tent going the same direction as the Warriors. Kiki only got a glimpse of who they were. It was a mix of Dark Knights, Dirty Angels and Blue Avengers. They were hot on the Warriors’ tail.

She spun around, looking at Diamond, who now sat up with Jewel bent over her, brushing Diamond’s long dark hair out of her face, asking her if she was all right.

“No, I’m not all right. I’m pissed. Those fuckers got away with some of the money.”

“Everyone’s going after them,” Ivy said, standing close by, hands on hips. “They’re not going to get far, hopefully. Especially when the cops are part of the chase.”

“How many did they get?”

Kiki looked around at the scattered barrels and counted. “Four.” Her gaze landed on the biker who didn’t wear a cut. He was squatting next to the knocked-out Warrior. He wiped the back of his hand over his bloody mouth, but only managed to just smear it worse.

Diamond crawled over and sat down beside him. She grabbed his face and turned it toward her. “You okay?”

He nodded, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Whether he was out of breath or just angry, Kiki couldn’t tell. His eyes still looked a bit wild.

“What’s your name?” Di asked him.

He finally managed to focus on her. “Slade.”

“Who do you belong to?”

He didn’t answer for a moment, just studied her. “No one.”

Then Hawk, Jag, and Zak surrounded them with a mixture of worry and fury on their faces.

Hawk’s eyes looked almost as wild as Slade’s as he inspected the half-disabled tent, the remaining scattered money barrels and the women. “What the fuck?” he growled.

Jag wrapped an arm around Ivy, pulling her to his side. “You okay, baby?”

“Yes, I only ran over here after I saw what was going down. They didn’t touch me.”

He nodded, his eyes landing on Slade. “Thanks, brother.”

“Only got here in time to get this fucker off her,” he tilted his head toward Kiki.

Hawk’s gaze landed on her, his jaw tight, then he reached down and hauled her up by her armpits. He inspected her, probably to see if she was hurt. He yanked one of the spaghetti straps of the camisole up higher onto her shoulder. “You okay?”

Kiki brushed off the seat of her ass, ignoring his assessing look. “Yes, fine.”

Hawk tipped his chin toward the downed biker. “He touch you?”

“He—”

“Grabbed her arm and was ready to kidnap her,” Diamond volunteered.

Oh brother. She was going to try to play it down to Hawk, knowing that information might put him into a tailspin and she wasn’t wrong.

His nostrils flared and he began to move toward the unconscious male. Kiki grabbed his arm and shook her head. “Hawk, no. You’re on probation, let the cops deal with him.”

Zak whacked him on the back. “Good idea. Need all boots on the ground. Won’t do us any good if you’re tossed back inside.”

They need all boots on the ground? For what? Some sort of war? A spark of fear ran through her.

Hawk’s gaze jumped from her to the Warrior. “Good thing Slade got to him before I did. Fucker wouldn’t be breathin’ right now.”

Jesus.

Zak stepped closer to Slade. “Said this once before, brother, you should join us.”

Slade wiped the back of his hand over his bleeding mouth again. “Not gonna be a prospect.”

Zak held out a hand. Slade grabbed it and Zak helped pull him off the ground. When Slade got to his feet, with their hands still clasped, Zak bumped shoulders with him. “After today, don’t need to be. Jumped in to protect our women. Got our appreciation.”

Hawk went over, nodding. He clasped hands with Slade and bumped shoulders with him, too. “Thanks, brother. Owe you one.”

Slade just nodded and raked a hand over his short, dark hair, staring at Diamond. “You okay? Got kicked in the gut.”

Diamond’s hand went to her belly. “Hurts like hell. It’ll probably bruise, but yeah, I’m okay. Thanks.”

Slade nodded again. He dropped his gaze to the fallen Warrior, then nudged him not-so-gently with his boot. “Whataya gonna do with this piece of shit?”

Hawk went over and gave the unconscious biker a firm nudge with his boot, too. Kiki was pretty sure Hawk wanted to kick him a lot harder. “Nothin’. Too many 5-0 around. Like Keeks said, gonna let them deal with this one. We’ll deal with the rest.”

“Didn’t 5-0 ride off after ‘em with some other brothers?” Slade asked.

“Yeah. Ain’t gonna do anything right now,” Hawk murmured, his eyes sliding to Kiki.

She frowned. “You’re not going to do anything later, either. Otherwise, you’re going to land back in County,” she reminded him.

“Right,” he muttered, returning her frown with an even bigger scowl.

“Right,” she huffed.

A prospect, apparently named Rooster by the look of his name patch, ran up out of breath. “5-0 on their way.”

He had a mohawk, too, but his was a lot longer and messier than Hawk’s well-maintained hairstyle. It actually flopped to the side somewhat just like a cock’s comb. No wonder he was called Rooster.

“Gonna get these women outta here,” Zak said. He turned to Jag. “Make sure your sister gets home. Probably needs to rest.”

“I have no way to get there,” Diamond interjected. “And I don’t want to go home anyway. I want to go back to church.”

“Where’s your car?” Jag asked.

“Most of us women carpooled over from church.”

Jag’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “Why the fuck did you do that?”

Kiki couldn’t miss the dark cloud that crossed Jag’s sister’s face. “First off to not clog up the parking and, second, we met at church this morning. While you all were on your fun Poker Run, we were all working.”

Jag swatted a dismissing hand in his sister’s direction. Kiki didn’t miss the look Ivy gave him.

“So, who’s got their cage here?” Jag asked.

“Bella drove us,” Kiki volunteered.

“Get Bella to take you wherever then,” Jag said impatiently to his sister.

“Bella took off after one of the Warriors—”

“What the fuck?” Hawk shouted, causing all eyes to turn his direction.

Di frowned at him. “If you’d let me finish! Bella took off on foot after one of those assholes that stole the money. Axel chased her down, snagged her mid-stride, and they disappeared. Who knows where they went off to,” she finished.

“Fuckin’ Axel,” Hawk muttered.

Kiki was dying to ask who Axel was, but didn’t think it was the appropriate time. She just figured he was one of the cops but had no idea how he was connected to the club.

Though, Hawk sort of cleared that up when he pointed at Zak. “Your fuckin’ brother needs to keep his hands off Bella.”

Zak raised both of his palms. “Preachin’ to the choir, brother. Don’t want that dick anywhere near DAMC property.”

Hawk grunted and nodded. He turned towards Kiki. “You parked at church?”

“Yes, I—”

“Ridin’ with me.”

She ignored his bossiness. She could find another way back to church to get her Vette.

“Jag, you take Di,” Zak said.

Jag shook his head. “Can’t. Ivy got here on the back of my sled.”

“Fuck,” Zak cursed. He looked toward Hawk, who shook his head and tipped his eyes toward Kiki. “Fuck,” he muttered again.

“I’ll take her.”

All eyes turned to Slade in surprise.

“Can take her on the back of my bike.”

“Brother, that’s my sister,” Jag said with narrowed eyes and a warning clear in his voice.

“Yeah, got that. I’ll be careful.”

Jag nodded reluctantly and glanced at Zak. “He okay to come back to church?”

“Yeah, not a problem. If the committee agrees, want him to patch in anyway. Got a feelin’ everyone’s gonna gather there once the chase is over. Be a good opp to introduce him.”

“Wait! What the fuck? He gets to patch in without being a prospect?” Rooster squawked.

Hawk’s gaze landed on the younger man. “Yeah, got a problem with that, hand over your cut.”

Rooster clearly had a problem with it but kept his mouth shut. Though, by the way his face contorted, it looked like he struggled with it.

“Stay here an’ watch this asshole ‘til the pigs get here. An’ if you got a problem with that, too, tell me now.”

Roosters lips thinned at Hawk’s words.

Hawk cocked an eyebrow at him and gave him a few seconds to change his mind, then he directed his gaze to Kiki. “You’re on the back of my sled.”

She sighed. “I can wait for Bella.”

“You’re on the back of my sled,” he repeated, more firmly this time.

She opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut. “Fine,” she relented.

“Yep, sure is. Let’s go.” He put a broad hand to the small of her back and gave her a gentle shove.

Kiki took a couple steps, then stopped to look over her shoulder. “The money.”

“Z will take care of it.”

“Why are you so fucking bossy?” she whispered loudly, not masking her annoyance.

“Tell you when we get to my ride.”

“Tell me now.”

“No.”

“Hawk.”

“Let’s go.” He grabbed her arm and she cried out when he grabbed the same spot that the Warrior had. “What the fuck?”

Crap. She needed to get Hawk away from the unconscious biker before he saw the bruise which was starting to bloom on her arm. He may lose his shit when he spotted that. She started walking fast over the grass to where a few bikes were parked, figuring one of those was his. “You want us to go, so let’s go.”

He jogged after her, catching up in an instant. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

“Which one is yours again?”

His mouth flattened as he moved to his bike and straddled it. “Get on.”

She planted a hand on his shoulder and mounted behind him, glad the seat had a back to it that she could lean on.

He kicked the starter, the bike roared to life and within seconds they were off. Then not a minute later, he pulled behind a building at the far end of the fairgrounds, shut the bike off, kicked the stand down and dismounted. He turned, hands on hips and stared at her.

When his eyes dropped to her arm, she got a little worried. A thunderous look crossed his face. “That fucker do that to you?”

She looked down and noticed the bruise on her bicep beginning to take the shape of a hand. “I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, you will. ‘Cause Slade stepped in.” He brushed an agitated hand over his short mohawk. “Shoulda been there by your side all day. I fucked up.”

“I don’t need you by my side watching over me like a sentry. Not only do I not need it, I don’t want it.”

His head jerked back and his expression got even darker. “Woman, seriously. Not in the mood for you to push my buttons.”

“Oh, you’re not, are you?”

“No.”

She planted a hand on her hip. “What are you going to do about it?”

Again, his head jerked back and his eyes narrowed. Kiki yelped as he grabbed her elbow and hauled her from the back of the bike. He pulled her over to the building, pressing her against the concrete block wall.

“Show you what I’m gonna do,” he grumbled. Then dropped his head and took her mouth.

Her lips parted in a gasp and he took advantage of it by sliding his tongue deep into her mouth, laying claim to her once again.

Her stomach fluttered and a warmth rushed through her landing in her center.

God, she’d missed this. Missed him.

She’d gone a whole month without him. Without any contact. She didn’t want to admit it, at least not until now, how much she truly missed him.

It was absolutely crazy that she needed a man like this. Like Hawk. Someone who so did not fit into her life.

Before him, she had felt empty for a long time with only her career driving her. And the stunning realization that this man could fill her soul hit her hard.

She thought she could live without him, that he was just a temporary fix to fill a particular need. But, no. He was more than that. His bossiness annoyed her, no doubt. But that was him. That was Hawk.

He’d probably never change.

Even so, a little part of her liked it. Hell, loved it. It thrilled her when he took control, got demanding. Became possessive of her, acted like she was his, felt the need to protect her like she was something delicate and breakable.

Even though she was far from that.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pushed to her tiptoes to deepen the kiss, groaning into his mouth.

She could have sworn he groaned, too.

His hips pinned her to the wall, and that left no doubt how hard he was.

She didn’t care that they were out in the open for anyone to come upon, where anyone could see what they were doing. At this moment, she only cared about him, what his mouth was doing, how good he felt pressed against her.

She yanked his T-shirt out of his jeans and slid her hands up his belly, over his warm, firm skin and solid muscles. He thrust against her and she whimpered.

He pulled back until his mouth was just a hair’s breadth away. He was breathing hard as he pressed his forehead to hers, cupping her cheek. His chest rose and fell rapidly under her palms.

He’d missed her, too.

“Hawk,” she breathed.

He rocked his head side to side. “Babe, gotta get outta here before I fuck you against this wall. Unlike my brother, I care if my lily-white ass is on display.”

“Are we going back to your place?”

He released her and stepped back. “No. Gotta go to church to wait for word. Gotta room there.”

“Won’t everyone be there, though?”

“Yeah.”

“I guess we’ll have to make it quick then.”

He grinned. “Yeah.”