Shade's Lady

My face flushed. What he said should’ve pissed me off, but I kept thinking about how it’d felt to wake up wrapped in his arms. Guys are bad, I reminded myself. Didn’t you learn anything from Rebel? McBride women can’t afford to let men into their lives, not even for fun.

Still, the bar was nearly three miles away and I’d be on my feet all night… Shade wrapped his hands around my waist, pulling my hips toward his. A thin tendril of traitorous desire twisted through me, spiraling up my spine and warming my stomach.

“Ask yourself this, Mandy. Last night I could’ve done anything I wanted to you. I’m the fucking president of the Reapers and we were on my territory. By the rules of the club I had every right to take you, and what did I do? I slept next to you like a fucking monk. You really think I’m gonna pull over on the side of the road and rip all your clothes off between here and the Pit? I’m not Rebel. I don’t fuck around and I don’t play games.”

The words were blunt, matter of fact and they also happened to be true. Last night had been the recipe for rape, but it hadn’t happened. Yeah, but he still accepted you in trade for a bike, Wonder Woman prodded.

Only part of a bike, and he thought I was okay with it, I reminded her.

“A ride to work would be nice,” I said slowly. Shade’s eyes flared with triumph, and his hands tightened on my hips. Then one slid up my back to my head, cradling it as his mouth slanted down over mine. His tongue slipped between my lips, invading so fast my head spun. It was a surprise attack—that was my only excuse for giving in so easily. I felt his other hand catch my ass, squeezing and pulling it into his body in a way that left no doubt that he was happy to see me.

Felt good. Way too good.

The blip of a police siren filled the air and we froze. Then Shade lifted his head, releasing me from his tight embrace while still keeping one arm firmly around my shoulders. Across the road, a county sheriff’s car had pulled to a stop. The door opened to reveal a tall, lean man in a deputy’s uniform who took in the scene, eyes flickering to my face.

I felt myself tense, the same way I did every time I saw a cop, and my heart sped up.

“You must be Mandy McBride,” he said, surprising me.

“Um, yeah. I’m Mandy,” I answered, wondering how he knew my name. Shade’s arm tightened around my shoulder and the deputy’s eyes narrowed.

“I’m Heath Andrews. I know your sister, Hannah. You look a lot like her. She works for my folks at the grocery store.” His eyes flickered toward Shade. “Don’t usually see the Reapers down here on the flat. Thought I’d stop by and make sure everything’s okay.”

Shit. Hannah must’ve called him. Probably panicked when Shade started kissing me…except there hadn’t been enough time for that, had there?

Shade’s club brothers had gone from being relaxed to something else. Alert. Focused. There was a tension in the air, and I knew in that instant that whatever rumors I might’ve heard about the local law enforcement being in bed with the Reapers, Heath Andrews wasn’t part of it.

Interesting.

One of the bikers cracked his knuckles as Andrews took a step forward. The man was outnumbered, I realized. Outnumbered by a lot, but it didn’t seem to faze him. He walked right up to me and Shade, eyes taking in the situation in a way that left me with no doubt that he saw everything.

“I’d like to speak with you and your sister inside, Ms. McBride,” he said, the words casual but the tone firm. Shade’s fingers tightened on my shoulder and I had a sudden, horrible realization.

Of course there hadn’t been enough time for Hannah to call Andrews. Either this was a total coincidence, or he’d been planning to come here all along. Holy shit, they really did kill Rebel and now he’s come to question me!

I felt my body start to tremble, a rush of fear and adrenaline filling me. I remembered the cops pulling up next to me in Missoula. I hadn’t even been smart enough to realize I was in trouble. Nope, I’d been too busy Facebooking on my phone, for God’s sake.

I’d waved hello to them.

Then I’d spent three nights in the county jail before a friend managed to bail me out, and I was still on probation. Sure, it was unsupervised probation—the prosecutor had thrown me a bone, seeing as I’d been clueless about the whole thing—but my record wasn’t exactly clean.

Shit shit shit!

“I have to get ready for work,” I told Andrews, the words coming out in a rush. “I have a shift down at the Pit and I can’t be late. Can we talk another time?”

His eyes narrowed and a new tension filled the air.

“Ms. McBride, this won’t take very long, but it’s important that we talk. Would you mind stepping into the trailer?”

“You got a warrant?” Shade asked, his voice deceptively casual. Andrews shook his head slowly. Shade let me go, taking a step forward. “No warrant, no probable cause. Sounds to me like you got no reason to be here at all.”

“Heath?”

My sister’s voice was strained. I spun around to find her standing on the porch, halfway through the door.

“Ms. McBride,” the deputy said, nodding his head to her. “I’d like to speak to you and your sister, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course—come right in,” she said, flustered. I stepped away from Shade and moved toward my sister. I wasn’t sure what was going on here, but I did know one thing. No way in hell I’d leave her alone with that cop if he’d come here because of me. This was my mess to clean up. Not hers.

Andrews started toward the steps, somehow never quite turning his back on the bikers. He didn’t seem afraid or uncomfortable in the slightest, despite the fact that he was totally outnumbered.

“Would you be willing to join us?” he asked me again, polite but pointed.

“I’ll come with you,” Shade said.

“I need to speak with Ms. McBride alone,” Andrews replied, and while his tone remained even, there was something in his voice that made it clear this wasn’t a negotiation. Shade stiffened. We were about to have a badass showdown if I didn’t do something.

“I’m happy to talk to you,” I said, ducking out from under Shade’s arm. He glanced down at me and I widened my eyes, willing him to go along with it. He didn’t like the idea, but thankfully he decided not to force the issue in front of the deputy.