Extreme Curves (Dangerous Curves Book 7) (10 page)

But – no. No. Ace would have known that wouldn’t happen. Which meant… which meant that he’d been ashamed and embarrassed and hurt. He hadn’t wanted to tell Spider because Ace hadn’t wanted to relive any of that. He ‘d told Jack, though, because his whole life had just blown up in his face, and – 
let’s face it
– Ace had nothing much to lose anymore. Not his reputation, or his Presidency, or the respect of his MC brothers, or his income, or his place in the world. All those things were gone now, long gone, and they weren’t ever coming back. He was a different man now, a man who was hopeless and adrift in many ways, defiant and proud in others.

Maybe Ace is looking to start again – maybe a whole new way this time?

Maybe the
right
way this time?

Maybe – just
maybe
– that meant laying some stuff to rest at long last. Maybe Ace was looking for a day of reckoning, and he was going to be his own judge, jury and quite possibly, executioner. Maybe he was looking to make amends, turn pages, wipe slates clean.

And maybe he was ready to be honest about who he was… maybe he was going to look at himself in the mirror and accept the fact that he was gay, and think that that was absolutely fine. It had
always
been fine, actually, but not to Ace.

Maybe he was finally going to be fine with it. And if he was, then Spider wanted to be there for him in that moment. Forget all the shit between them; forget the hurt and betrayal; forget the years of icy silence and blazing anger. In Ace’s whole life, Spider was the only person who really, truly understood what it had cost Ace to deny his true nature for almost his entire earthly existence… and
damned
if Spider wasn’t going to stand next to the man and celebrate with him if he was ready to live with integrity and without apology.

He heard footsteps outside now, heard them go down the hall to Ace’s room. A door opened and shut, and Spider didn’t hesitate for one second.

He got to his feet, checked his hair in the mirror, nervously flattened it a bit. And then he went to Ace.

**

The knock at the door took Ace by total surprise, and he stared at it.

“Jack?” he said cautiously.

“No.”

What the fuck?

Without a word, Ace threw himself at the door, flung it open. He knew it was Liam, of course, but even when his eyes confirmed what his ears had told him, he continued to stand there stunned.

Perhaps the most stunning thing of all was that Liam didn’t look even the slightest bit pissed off, and after one week of nothing
but
seeing him that way, it was a bit of a shock to the system.

“Uh,” Ace said, at a loss. “You OK?”

“Can we talk?”

“Uh,” Ace repeated, feeling like an utter moron. “Yes?”

“Good.” Liam stepped into the room, and Ace took a massive step back. Liam shut the door firmly, and Ace scuttled back again. “Can we sit?”

Ace nodded, indicated to the bed. He himself took the desk chair, way the hell on the other side of the room. He crossed his arms, stared at Liam some more, and waited.

“So.” Liam settled on the mattress, and Ace pushed down hard on his memories of the warm, welcoming beds of the past that he’d shared with this gorgeous, amazing man. “I heard you talking to Jack.”

“You –
what
?” All desire and yearning were gone now, replaced by shame and horror. “How much?”

“All of it.” Liam’s voice and eyes were gentle. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I –” Ace stopped, wrestled with himself. Years and years of never being honest wth anyone – least of all himself – were working against him now, and he had to fight hard against his natural inclination to lie, deflect, evade. “I – I don’t know.”

Liam was quiet for a second, then he said, “Did you think I’d look at you differently?”

Ace hesitated. “I – maybe.” He took a deep breath, reminded himself that if there was
anyone
on this planet he was to be honest with, it was this man with the brown eyes and large hands. “Yeah.”

“You thought I’d feel sorry for you.”

“Yeah.”

“Would that have really been so bad?” Liam asked him. “To have someone sorry for what you went through, and sorrowful on your behalf? Would it have been
that
hard to live with, knowing that I cared about you enough to be fucking livid and hurt
for
you?”

“Uh…” Ace stared at the other man. “I never – I didn’t think about it that way. I just – I couldn’t stand the thought of being
pitied
. I could handle being loathed and hated, and I actually
liked
being feared. I wanted respect and for me, respect wasn’t possible if weakness was spotted. That was how I survived my childhood, and how I functioned in the MC, and it was how I wanted you to see me when we were together. I wanted your respect for me as a man, Liam… not your hurt or anger for me as a kid. ”

“You could have had both.”

“I – really?”

“Of course.” Liam shook his head, but it was an affectionate gesture. “I
can
separate things, Ace, and actually…” He hesitated. “Actually, I’d have been really touched if you’d told me about what happened to you as a kid. I worried about you, you know. About the nightmares. I knew they were awful for you, and I also knew that they were too… I don’t know. Too deep-rooted and terrifying for them to be from your more recent life. I just had the feeling that they were demons from a long, long time ago, things that you hadn’t even
started
to work through. If you’d told me? I’d have – I wouldn’t have been surprised. I think I already suspected, but I have to admit, what I’d imagined your childhood looked like wasn’t
anything
as bad as what it was.”

“I wish I’d told you.” Ace’s voice was low. “I should have. I mean – it would have been a real sign of my trust in you.” He swallowed, determined to keep talking. “Trust is hard for me, Liam. It’s – I think it’s the hardest thing.”

“I know.” Liam smiled. “And it’s OK. I get it, and I’m not upset. I swear.”

Ace barely heard the reassuring, forgiving words, since he was staring at Liam’s face.
God
, that smile. It was radiant, and open, and the closest thing to perfection that Ace had ever known. Ace had been on the receiving end of that smile countless times, and it had never, ever ceased to knock his breath clean out of his chest; it had never stopped being a tiny miracle that he felt honored and almost humbled to witness.

When Liam smiled at him like that, it made Ace believe in good shit, like angels and souls and grace and – quite possibly and with a bit of a stretch – a God. Maybe.

So he just stared at Liam… and Liam stared back. Their eyes met; their eyes held. And suddenly – between breaths and heartbeats – they were back in The Grinning Skulls, looking at each other across the heaving bar for the first time ever. The air between them crackled and sizzled, just like it had done in that smoky, noisy MC bar, and just like that night that had changed everything, everything changed.

Ace’s eyes dropped to Liam’s lips, and he couldn’t stop himself from licking his own. He’d
never
forgotten how the man over there had felt to kiss: hard and angular and strong. Ace had been addicted to Liam’s body, his mind, his kind heart, but Christ alive, he
still
missed the taste of Liam’s mouth under his own. Liam always tasted of something sweetly smoky, something wild and forbidden and a bit dangerous. But pure, for all of that, like water fresh from a spring.

Liam definitely noticed his perusal, because he blushed, then shifted on the bed. Yeah, he knew what Ace was thinking, and Ace didn’t even bother to try to hide it. Ace
knew
that the look on his own face right this moment was the exact same one that he’d worn every single time that he’d come at Liam from across a room to rip his clothes off, or rolled him over in the bed to take him again, or come back from the hotel room door to give him one last kiss before leaving. It was the look that said,
Don’t you even
think
about protesting, sweetheart, because you’re mine, and I ain’t done with you yet
.

It was the look that meant that Ace was staking his claim, taking ownership.

Reclaiming what was fucking
his
.

Liam’s eyes widened in shock – maybe in fear, definitely in recognition – and he shot to his feet, then backed up to the door. Ace stayed sitting, though, not moving a muscle, just watching him go. He smiled now too, but he knew it wasn’t a shining, dizzying smile like Liam’s had been. No, his smile was savage and predatory, full of dark promise and darker sex, the smile of a night creature watching its prey get away… for now.

Just for now
.

Liam’s back hit the door, and he fumbled with the handle. “Anyway, I… ummm… I’m going to go. I’ll – I’ll see you later, OK? Maybe – maybe we can have sort of a… truce between us? I mean… maybe we can at least eat meals together?”

Ace smiled wider, his black eyes intent and intense. He nodded, still didn’t speak.

“I’m still mad at you, you know,” Liam said almost in a whisper. “
Furious
, actually.”

Now the corner of Ace’s mouth turned up into that fucking
awesome
little smirk that Liam knew and loved so well. His eyes narrowed until they were as focused a laser beam on Liam’s face, then Ace said in a low, guttural growl:

“I know, sweetheart.”

Liam opened the door so fast, he almost fell out of the room into the hallway. He shut the door quietly, and Ace leaned back in his chair, his cock rock-hard, his breathing shallow, his hands itching to pull Liam’s shirt off his lickable chest.

And just like that – almost a full decade after their eyes had first met, locked, revealed
everything
that they’d never shown anyone else ever before, right there in that biker bar – it all began again.

Chapter Eight
Two days later

“Everyone here?” King asked the speaker on the table. “Sound off, guys.”

“Honey and Tex on the call,” Honey said. “Jack is on the front door.”

“Good,” King said. “Other safe house?”

“Tank and Val.” Val’s crisp voice made everyone sit up a bit straighter, as usual. “Dillon’s here tonight, and so is Selena. They’re on guard duty.”

“How are the ladies?” King asked right away, not caring even one iota that it was a question motivated by personal concern, not professional.
God
, he wanted Naomi home, and based on the previous night’s conversation at Curves, he knew the other guys were on the same page. “They going stir-crazy?”

“Actually, no,” Tank said. “They been talkin’ non-stop about wedding stuff. I think they felt a bit guilty about it at first, but now they’ve settled in. In fact, man,
your
fiancée was on some never-ending Skype call this morning with a wedding dress designer that Sarah recommended. Elise Jordan.”

“Yeah?” King said, thrilled that Naomi was working on their wedding, even if he wasn’t directly involved. After all, the date was set for the autumn, and time was flying. “She was looking at dresses?”

“Yep.” Tank’s smile was clear in his voice. “Elise carried the phone around the store and showed Naomi racks of things, and Naomi chose some stuff to try on. Elise says she’ll ship it, if it’s OK with you.” He paused. “Or maybe you have some security concerns, and want me to go pick up the stuff from Elise, boss-man?”

He was working hard at sounding all cool and collected, but the truth was that Tank kind of liked saying Elise’s name. In fact, he liked pretty much
everything
about the woman. He’d been in the living room that morning with the ladies, just coming on duty, and when the sexiest, sultriest female voice that he’d
ever
heard in his entire life had come from the laptop speakers, Tank had just casually wandered on over and glanced at the screen. And
damned
if the woman he saw there wasn’t the sexiest, sultriest thing that he’d
ever
laid eyes on.

Elise Jordan had long, curly hair the color of molasses, and eyes the color of pure golden-brown amber. She was curvy and lush, and that worked just fine for Tank. He loved his women to be a handful – both literally and figuratively – since he was a massive hulk of a man. Tiny, delicate little pixies made him nervous in the bedroom: he needed a woman that he could cover with his muscled, massive body without fear of hurting her, or crushing her, or breaking her. His large hands were made for caressing breasts that spilled from lacy bras, for pulling rounded thighs open roughly, for pulling a generous ass closer and tighter as he ground against a warm, soft pussy.

The other truth was that he was kind of eager to meet Elise in the oh-so-delectable flesh… and if that meant taking an errand-boy run to her bridal boutique, then Tank was game. Sadly, his boss had other ideas.

“Hell, yeah, it’s OK,” King said, grinning broadly at Lilly and Knox across the table. They smiled too, a bit taken aback at their badass, kick-ass, scowling boss all excited about a damn dress. “Nobody from the MC will be watching a random wedding shop’s outgoing deliveries. It’s cool.”

Tank nodded, swallowing his disappointment.

“So,” Honey said, the teasing evident in her tone, since she already knew the answer. “You getting ideas for your own wedding, Val?”

“Pfwah,” Val said, or something approximating it. It was a combined snort, huff, and scoff, and everyone mentally laughed. Val’s disdain of all things relationship, and most of all, all things matrimonial, was well-known among her fellow Men, and nobody could resist yanking her chain a bit. “
Jesus
.”

“So… no?” Honey said innocently. “Not getting any nice ideas?”

“Actually,” Val said. “Someone
has
been extremely curious about all the wedding crap going on around here.”

“Oh, yeah?” Knox drawled, running a hand over his shaved head. “Tank?”

“Nope,” Val said. “Guess again.”

“Well, maybe Dallas,” King said. “He was married last year – maybe he’s offering pointers?”

“Nope again.” Val paused. “Curtis.”

“Say what?” King said. “
Curtis
?”

“Yep.” Now Tank was in on it. “The man is
interested
, I swear it. Asks a million questions about engagement rings and shit like that every time he passes the room where the women are sitting and planning.”

King blinked. He knew Curtis to be a good guy, of course, but he was
also
quite possibly the most intimidating son-of-a-bitch that he knew, and seeing as who he kept company with,
that
was saying something. The thought of the man asking about anything
not
to do with football, or guns, or boxing was incomprehensible.

“Uh,” King said, a bit floored. “Is he making plans for him and Tessa?”

“Looks that way,” Val said, clearly unimpressed. “Poor girl.”

“Nice,” King said with approval, completely ignoring Val The Wet Blanket. “I wonder if Tessa knows?”

“Doubt it,” Tank said. “Curtis is being pretty cagey about it all.”

“Then we keep our mouths shut too,” King said severely. “Not one word.”

“With pleasure,” Val said. Everyone else nodded, and a few
may
have rolled their eyes at Val’s hate-on for marriage. “Can we change the subject now?”

“Sure, Valentina, Lady Of All Things Heart and Valentines,” King said, poking fun at her romantic, poetic name. “Shall we talk about Ace and Spider?”

“
Well
,” Tex said, and the others’ ears pricked up at his jovial tone. “Y’all won’t
believe
it.”

“What?” Lilly asked. She was strangely intrigued by the two men, by their long and complicated history, by Ace’s surprising sacrifices for a man that he clearly still loved, and she for one was rooting hard for them to just get it together, already. “
What
?”

“
Well
,” Tex said again. “Our boys are getting along at long last.”

“Uh-huh,” King said with suspicion. “
How
well?”

“Oh!” Tex said. “Not
that
well.”

“No?” Lilly said, obviously disappointed. “Why not? And do you think they’ll get together again soon?”

King and Knox threw her surprised looks at her wistful tone, but she didn’t much care. Lilly was newly-in-love herself, completely and totally and utterly head-over-heels with the guy, and even though the rule of King’s Men was to disclose that kind of intimate personal relationship immediately once it turned serious, she hadn’t done so yet. She would eventually, of course, but for now, she wanted to keep something to herself, here in this world where everyone knew everything about everybody,
all
the goddamn time. She wanted something secret and all hers and his… just for a little while longer.

So right this second, Lilly was all about people making it work, and making each other happy, and she truly didn’t give a damn if that made her look la-la or naive. She was sure that Val was rolling those perfect violet eyes and being the Siberian Ice Princess that she excelled at, but Lilly didn’t care about that either. Val was welcome to be alone forever, if that was what she wanted. Lilly, though, she wanted other things in her life. Hopefully, those things included Kevin Talbot, a safe, steady school teacher.

Yeah, the man was a teacher, and a high school English teacher at that. It was just about as far from professional bodyguarding and ex-special-ops-for-hire as it was possible to be – and Lilly had been nothing but astounded at how attracted she was to ‘normal’, after years of being in the army, and then the past two years with King. Kevin had changed her priorities and pretty damn quick – and what had started as random, fleeting thoughts about getting out of ‘the life’ had become a constant, steady drumbeat in her mind.

She knew that she’d have to tell him soon that she wasn’t actually a beauty products small-business owner. She’d explained her travel for the Men as expanding her business and meeting clients and suppliers, but she longed to come clean with Kevin. And of course, she had to tell King about him, so that he could be put under some very hands-off security. Every single significant person in any of the King’s Men’s lives were watched from a distance, just to make sure they were safe. Kevin was going to be an object of scrutiny by a bunch of ex-military types, and Lilly
dreaded
that for him, and was putting it off.

“Dunno if they will or not,” Honey replied now, wrenching Lilly’s thought from Kevin. “But Jack says it’s just a matter of time, and we all know the man’s voodoo powers for predicting future behavior. So if I were a betting woman, I’d lay my money down now that Spider and Ace will soon be… uhhhh…
together
.”

Lilly beamed, Val rolled her eyes, and everyone else muffled groans.

“
What
?” Lilly said again. “Why are you all making those noises?”

“Because,” Tank said, suddenly thrilled to be in the house of wedding cakes and table arrangements. “
Nothing’s
worse from a safe guarding a safe house perspective than a volatile couple.”

“Who says they’d be volatile?” Lilly demanded. “Quite possibly, they’d be
more
volatile apart and with all kinds of weird tension between them. Maybe finally getting things settled would be the best thing, and I mean for everyone.”

“Maybe,” Tex said not sounding convinced. “Though I have to admit, it’s been
way
nicer around here since they’ve been talking.”

“Describe the behavior,” King ordered. “Tell me.”

“Well, they eat together every meal,” Honey said. “They spend time in the common spaces together, just watching TV and movies, or doing stuff on their laptops. And they talk, King, they talk about everything and nothing. They make each other coffee and they sit and chat for hours. It’s actually… well. It’s actually kind of adorable.”

“
Jesus
, Honey,” Val said, disbelieving. She couldn’t
believe
that her fellow female romantic cynic was being soppy. “Did you drink the kool-aid too?”

“No,” Honey snapped. “But they’re happy and they seem to be working through a serious amount of serious shit, so why not back the hell off, Valentina? Leave them to it, and keep your fingers crossed that they’ll be alright, and maybe – just maybe – hope for someone to be with someone else? If they’re happy together and good for each other, then what’s your issue with them? It doesn’t involve you, and it’s none of your damn concern.”

“OK,” King interjected. “Enough.” He scratched his dark head, tried to phrase the next question with some delicacy. “So they’re not – not sharing a bed?”

“Not yet!” Tex said gleefully; he loved nothing more than dropping conversational bombs that he knew needled others. “But Jack says that ain’t far off at all. He’s pretty much counting down the hours.”

“Really?” Lilly said, delighted all over again, ignoring King and Knox’s sidelong glances. “Oh,
good
.”

“Yeah,
goodie
,” Val said. “Hurrah for love.”

“According to our resident mind-reader, who’s gonna make the first move?” Tank said. “Ace or Spider?”

“Oh, Jack doesn’t think anyone’s going to make a
move
,” Tex said. “They’re both
way
too worried about doing the wrong thing and pissing the other one off again, or putting themselves out there only to be be rejected. It’s a truce, man, but it’s a shaky one, and Jack says that they’re not rushing to rock the boat.”

“So how does he think it’ll happen?” Knox said, fascinated despite himself. He hadn’t been a big fan of Jack’s at the beginning, since Knox didn’t put much stock in shrinky shit, and he just thought Jack should shut the hell up and shoot his gun at the bad guys. But damned if the man didn’t know what he was doing, and he got inside people’s heads in a way that Knox didn’t even think was humanly possible before he saw Jack work. How it did it, Knox had no clue, but he
did
know that Jack Taylor knew what people were going to do before they knew it themselves. “If I were to double-down on my bet, which way would I go?”

“Oh,” Honey said. “Jack says it’ll be totally spontaneous and unplanned… it’ll just
happen
, probably before Ace or Spider even really recognize what’s going on. Nobody will be more surprised than they are when their minds catch up to their bodies.”

“Oh, brother,” Val muttered, but they all heard her loud and clear.

“
Anyway
,” King said. “You all keep me in the loop, we clear? If Ace and Spider pick things up where they left ‘em seven years ago, I want to be among the first to know. You savvy?”

“I savvy,” Tex said solemnly. “I’m savvying to the max. We
all
are.”

**

“Joker.”

The voice wasn’t particularly loud or insistent, but it cut through the noise and activity at The Grinning Skulls like a machete through butter out in the sun. Right away, Joker looked up, totally alert.

“Yeah?” he said to Nails, already shoving the blonde pass-around off his bulging lap, his hard-on already heading for the hills. “What’s up, Prez?”

Nails said nothing. He just poured himself another few fingers of bourbon, and nodded at the hallway leading to his office. Without hesitation or regret, Joker got to his feet, yanked off the condom, and tucked his cock into his jeans. The club slut tumbled to the floor, landing painfully on her bare ass.

“Hey!” she protested shrilly. “What the fuck?”

“Shut up,” Joker growled. “Find someone else.”

“I volunteer as tribute!” Cruz said cheerfully, and right away, her over-painted fire-engine-red sulk flipped up into a boozy smile. “Crawl on over here, honey, and suck me off.”

Joker turned away as she did as she was told, and followed Nails to the quiet office. Nails stayed standing, so he did too.

“We’re going ahead with the teacher,” Nails said with no preamble. “Day after tomorrow.”