Rake's Redemption (Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club) (5 page)

“I’m not going anywhere,” Summer says, moving to the music. “I want to stay with the girls!”

“Summer,” Reid says, waiting until she looks at him. “You’re pregnant and tired. Let’s go home and rest; you can see the girls another time. You know we can’t get rid of them, they’re bound to come back.”

Summer glances at all our faces. “Will you come back and see me?”

We all agree.

“And I like the ladies’ night idea,” she says, winking.

Reid groans and shoots Anna a look that promises retribution.

Anna simply gives him a thumbs-up.

The two of them head off, leaving us to our own devices.

We’re talking about the good old days when Lana suddenly stands up and points. “Holy crap, look who’s here.”

We all look in her line of sight.

I see a tall, lean man with shaggy white-blond hair coming toward us. Next to him is a larger, scarier-looking man dressed in leather and sporting a Mohawk. As they come up to our table, I see the blond man has beautiful green eyes, while his friend’s are dark and ominous.

“Talon!” Anna squeals, jumping into his arms. Talon wraps her in his embrace, his muscled, tattooed arms holding her almost tenderly. Who exactly is this Talon? I glance at Lana, but she’s too busy smiling up at the man. He lifts Anna in the air before putting her down, then hugs Lana.

When he lets her go, he looks down at me. “And who do we have here? Did you two finally find a new friend?”

Gently pulling me up from my chair, he pulls me against his chest. “I’m Talon.”

Feeling a little awkward at being held by a complete stranger, yet oddly attracted to him, I look up at his face and say, “Nice to meet you. I’m Bailey.”

“Slice, I’d say it’s nice to see you again, but that would be a lie,” I hear Anna tell Talon’s friend.

Slice laughs deeply in return. “Don’t be like that, Anna.”

“Let her go, Talon,” Anna chastises, grabbing my arm and pulling me away from him. “She’s off-limits.”

“Ah, come on,” Talon grumbles. “You just made her forbidden. Do you know what that does to a man like me?”

I look at Anna. “I thought you said no bikers were going to be here tonight beside our guard?” I look toward the door. “Speaking of . . .”

Where is that guy?

“I meant no Wind Dragons,” Anna replies, nodding her head at Talon. “These guys just seem to pop up everywhere.”

My brow furrowing, I ask Talon, “You’re not a Wind Dragon?”

Talon scoffs, sitting down next to me and laying his arm on the back of my chair. “Definitely not, gorgeous.”

The men aren’t wearing any
cuts
, a word I’d only learned tonight, but they sure do look like bikers to me. If he isn’t a Wind Dragon, I guess he’s with a different club, or something like that.

“What the hell did you do to him?” Anna asks, glancing around the bar.

“He’s currently being distracted,” Talon replies, flashing me a wink.

“Talon, I swear to God—”

“He’s fine,” Talon interrupts. “I just wanted to see you. It’s been a while.”

Anna’s expression softens. She sits down, Slice next to her. “Yes, it has. How have you been?”

“Good,” he says, then looks at me. “Even better now.”

Anna does not look happy, her eyes narrowing and her mouth tightening. At her suddenly sober expression, I can’t help thinking that she needs another drink or two. “She’s Rake’s ex.”

Talon’s eyes widen at that, and all of a sudden, I’m feeling a little sober too. Why did she have to bring up his name?

“Well, if she has such bad taste in men, I’m sure I’m right up her alley,” he says, lips twitching.

Slice chuckles at that, sending an amused look in my direction. “Ain’t that the truth.”

I hold up my hand. “In my defense, it was years ago. I like to think I’ve grown since then.”

“All is fair in sex and pussy,” Slice adds, then sends a flirty look in Lana’s direction.

“Tracker will murder you,” Anna grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest. “No, he’s going to murder me, and so is my brother and my man when they find out how tonight turned out.”

I gape. “You said Rake wouldn’t find out!”

She cringes, then tries to play if off by waving her hand in the air. “It will be fine. I can handle my brother.”

I open my mouth and then close it. It is what it is. “If shit is going to start over this, we might as well go out with a bang.”

When Talon murmurs his approval, I narrow my gaze on him. “Not that kind of a bang. Drinks and dancing maybe. Either of you two up for some karaoke?”

Slice looks like I’ve offended him with just the thought, but Talon throws his head back and laughs. “I like you, Bailey. I’ll tell you what. One kiss and then I’ll sing any duet you want.”

Unconsciously, my eyes lower to his delicious-looking, full lips.

He’s handsome, yes, but I feel nothing.

Why do I feel nothing?

Am I broken?

When was the last time I had a proper kiss? A consuming, melting, mouthwatering, panty-wetting kiss? The sad thing is, the last person to kiss me like that was Adam.

Fuck it.

“Deal,” I blurt out.

Four pairs of eyes, suddenly all on me.

“What?” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “He’s cute.”

“So are you,” Talon rasps, his tone making me look at him. He licks his bottom lip, his eyes smoldering. “Come here.”

“How about you come here?” I say in a sultry voice I didn’t know I possessed.

Talon grins, eyes heated, and comes closer.

“Bailey!” I hear Anna growl over Slice’s laughter and Lana’s soft “Uhh, Bailey?”

I ignore them all.

If I want a kiss, then I’m going to get one. I’ll let future me worry about any possible consequences. When Talon grabs my face in his large warm hands and slants his lips on mine, I block everything else out.

Everything except his lips.

His spicy scent.

His tongue.

Yeah, it’s a good kiss.

Great, even.

But it’s not an Adam kiss.

Not for the first time, I think that maybe the man has broken me. Ruined me for any other. Determined not to let the bastard win, I deepen the kiss with Talon and let my hands wander over his muscled back. He makes a deep growling sound, which brings me back to reality, reminding me that people are indeed watching us make out right now.

Then I hear a familiar voice, and I just
know
I’m now in deep shit.

And I’ve brought everyone down with me.

“What the fuck?” I hear Adam growl. I pull away from Talon and look up into the angry eyes of Adam, Arrow, and Tracker.

Fuck.

His gaze doesn’t leave mine. A muscle in his jaw repeatedly tenses, and his hands are clenched to fists.

He looks pissed.

And I mean
pissed
.

Yeah, tonight was one huge fucking mistake.

Adam didn’t want me around his family, and no matter what Anna said, tonight shouldn’t have happened. I don’t want to cause a rift between the two of them. And I don’t want to fight with Adam, because I just know that old shit is going to resurface. That’s the last thing I need. And, I definitely shouldn’t have kissed Talon knowing he has some beef with Adam.

I should have sat my ass at home and played Monopoly with Cara, Tia, and Rhett.

“Pretty sure I told you to stay away from my family,” Adam growls at me. He glances next to me, his mouth tightening at Talon. “And you. I let you live because of Anna, but don’t fuckin’ push me.”

Talon simply raises an eyebrow, looking . . . amused? Are these men all insane? “I’m sitting here enjoying the company of a beautiful woman who isn’t with any of the men in your club. I fail to see what you’re so fucking angry about, Rake.”

Anna stands up, her face pale. “Rake, wait. I’m the one who—”

“Stay out of this, Anna,” Adam growls, eyes steady on me. The way he is—his body posture, the menace pouring off him—it’s like the Adam I used to know times a hundred.

I don’t miss the way Arrow scowls at Adam’s tone when addressing Anna, and takes a protective step in her direction.

That right there is what I wish I had.

But no one is going to protect me.

I see the sexy bald guy from the bar storm up to us. “Take this outside, now. Or Reid will be here to kick everyone’s ass.”

Arrow looks at the man, who takes a step back. Yeah, I
wouldn’t want to mess with Arrow either. Still, I guess the men respect Reid and his bar, because they grab their women and make an exit. Thinking I’m now free to jump in a taxi and get the hell out of here, I jump in surprise when Adam grabs me by the upper arm and pulls me to his side.

“Let go of me,” I say so only he can hear.

“Not a chance,” he growls under his breath. “You came back here, into my fuckin’ territory, with my people, now you and I are going to have a little chat.”

“You don’t own this bar,” I say snidely, narrowing my eyes on him. “How is this your territory? Just let me go. I’ll go home and we’ll pretend this never happened.”

“Yeah? Think I’m going to forget you kissing a guy I can’t fuckin’ stand any time soon? You know nothing about loyalty, do you? Maybe hanging with Anna and them will be good, maybe you’ll even learn something.”

He’s such a dick.

I kick him in the shins. He looks down at me but doesn’t even flinch, so either it didn’t hurt, or he’s just not giving me the satisfaction of knowing that it did.

“Mature, Bailey.”

“So much bad shit to say about me, yet you’re still holding on to me. Why?”

“Like I said, we need to talk.”

“Talking is the last thing we need to do,” I fire back. The time for talking is over.

“Bailey!” Talon calls, taking my attention away from Rake. Rake stiffens as he approaches us. He and Talon stare at each other, the tension between them making the air feel thick and uncomfortable. I can tell that this has to do with more than
me. I try to pull my arm from Adam’s grip, but he just holds on tighter. Slice steps up next to Talon, having his back if anything goes wrong, I guess.

“Do we have a problem here?” Adam asks.

Talon tilts his head to the side. “You tell me.”

“Rake, let’s go!” Arrow calls out, turning to Anna and saying something in her ear. Was he doing Anna’s bidding? Something about that amuses me, the big, scary-as-hell man trying to appease his woman.

“Let me go,” I mutter, tired of their posturing. “I need to go home.”

They both look down at me, as if they only just remembered that I’m here.

“I’ll take you home,” Adam commands, then looks at Talon. “This isn’t over. I don’t want to ever see you near her again, do you fuckin’ understand me?”

Talon however, ignores him and looks at me. “You can go with him, or I can take you. Say the word.”

The air thickens again.

Shit.

I don’t want a fight to break out because of me, and I don’t want Talon to think I like him more than I do. He’s a nice guy, but I have no intention of sleeping with him, or dating him.

“Thank you, Talon,” I tell him. “I’ll be fine. I don’t want to cause any more trouble.”

Talon nods slightly, his eyes telling me that if I need him, all I have to do is speak out.

But I don’t.

I wave ’bye as Adam pulls me to his bike.

Talon and Slice don’t leave though—they stand there watching.

I’m handed a helmet, which I put on. Adam makes sure our hands don’t touch.

“Get on,” Adam demands, without bothering to help me up. I’ve never been on a bike before, and I’m pretty sure he knows this.

“I’ve never ridden on the back of a bike before,” I admit quietly, not knowing how to feel about it. Is it safe? As a single parent, I can’t exactly afford to do anything reckless. My daughter needs me, and if she doesn’t have me, she has no one.

He licks his bottom lip. “So? The old Bailey would have loved this shit. The old Bailey made Anna look like a saint. Have you changed so much?”

I stare daggers at him. “I grew up, Adam, perhaps you should try it?”

He makes a scoffing noise but says nothing while I awkwardly straddle the bike and reluctantly wrap my arms around his waist.

I have one question running through my mind.

Why did he want me to leave with him?

W
HEN
we come to a stop, I almost want to kiss the ground. Anna and Lana come over to me as I fumble off the motorcycle and take off my helmet. They obviously made it here before us.

“You okay?” Anna asks, glancing between Adam and me.

“She’s fine,” he answers for me.

The jerk.

“
She
can speak for herself,” I snap, turning my back to him and facing the girls. “I’m fine. I just want to go home. Could you give me the address for this place so I can call a taxi?”

Anna and Lana turn their heads to look at each other.

Are they not going to help me? It’s Anna’s fault I’m here in the first place.

“They can’t save you, Bailey,” Adam rasps, coming up next to me. “I warned you; you didn’t listen. Now you gotta deal with me.”

I lift my head to look at him. Was he always this damn tall? “I don’t have to do any damn thing I don’t want to
, Rake
.”