Boxed Set: Steel: Blacthorne MC Romance (19 page)

A
s arranged
, I met Jackson in the parking lot. He was already sitting on his bike. His blonde hair and tanned skin contrasted with the dark leather. He was definitely a good-looking guy, and he knew it.

I felt a little uneasy climbing onto the bike. Riding behind someone on a bike seemed such an intimate thing to do.

With my legs wide and leaning against his muscular body, I blushed at how close we were.

Jackson was taller than Nick, although not quite so broad. I hesitated at first not quite knowing where to put my hands. In the end, I decided gripping his leather jacket was the safest thing to do.

Jackson turned around and grinned. Then he grabbed both of my hands, pulling me forward and wrapping my arms tightly around his torso.

“I wouldn’t want you to fall off, Ella.”

The fact that my breasts were now squashed against his hard back, and my pelvis was pressed against him made me blush furiously.

Just because I had strong feelings for Nick, didn’t mean I couldn’t appreciate a fine male specimen, and Jackson was certainly fine.

I tried to shuffle backwards a little to leave at least some distance between us, but it was impossible.

“Ready?”

I nodded, and as he pulled away quickly, I clutched him tightly. I had a feeling that was exactly what he intended.

After a few minutes, I relaxed and began to enjoy the ride. This was the first time I’d left the clutches of the Blackthorne men to do something for fun. I knew I still had Jackson as a babysitter, but at least we were doing something unrelated to bikers, and I couldn’t wait.

It didn’t take long to get to the small town, and I grinned as Jackson slowly rode through it. There were quite a few shops that looked like they held interesting knickknacks. There was a place called Terry’s coffee shop and even a dress shop.

If anyone had told me I would be so excited to visit a town with a grand total of ten shops a few months ago, I would have thought they were crazy, but now I couldn’t have been happier.

When Jackson pulled to a stop, I spotted another shop across the street. The sign had me bouncing up and down with glee as I removed the motorcycle helmet.

Jackson looked at me, puzzled. “What?” His gaze followed mine across the street and then he nodded. “You like books I take it?”

“Yes,” I said, running across the road so that Jackson had to walk quickly to catch up with me.

The second-hand bookstore was called
Brilliant Books
. The bell above the door chimed as I pushed open the door, and the smell of old paper and leather bound books surrounded me.

Oh my
. There were row upon row of old books. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

Jackson watched me with amusement as I walked around the shelves, inspecting each book in turn.

“I’m probably going to be a while,” I warned him, “So if you’re bored, you could go to the diner, and I could meet you there later,”

“Nice try, Ella. But I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

He weaved his way through the tables, which held piles of books, to stand beside me.

I wished he wouldn’t stand so close. The heat from his body and the intense way he was looking at me was very distracting, and I wanted to concentrate on the books.

I let out a squeal of happiness as my fingertips closed around a battered old copy of
Wuthering Heights
.

“Have you read it before?” Jackson asked.

Only about fifty times
.

“It’s one of my favorites,” I said.

“Do you want it?”

My face fell. I didn’t have any money. My purse had never turned up, and it wasn’t as if the Blackthorne crew were about to let me use my cards out here anyway, so I doubted I’d ever get my purse or wallet back.

I shrugged and went to put the book back on the shelf, but Jackson’s fingers closed around mine, making me pause, and I turned to look at him in surprise.

“I’ll get it for you. A gift.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t. But I want to.”

He plucked the book from my grasp and flicked through the pages. “I’ll pay for it while you carry on looking.”

He left me to go in search of the owner as I continued to peruse the shelves.

I was in the store for almost an hour, and to Jackson’s credit he didn’t moan once. For the last fifteen minutes or so, he sat on a chair by the door. I guessed I’d reached the limit of how many books he wanted to look at.

When I was finally finished, I walked over to him and smiled shyly. It was really decent of him to do this. It was his day off too, and I knew this wasn’t the way he’d
choose
to spend it. He was indulging me.

He was stretched out on the chair, his long frame blocking most of the doorway, and his hands were hooked behind his head.

He stood up as I joined him and picked up the book he’d purchased for me. “Ready to go?”

I nodded. “Yes, thanks.”

After we stepped outside the bookstore, Jackson turned to me. “What do you fancy doing next? I don’t know about you, but I could kill for a decent cup of coffee.”

I tucked my new copy of
Wuthering Heights
under my arm and smiled at him happily. “Coffee would be good.”

We made our way over to Terry’s coffee shop.

It was small, with probably only eight tables in total. There was only one other customer in there. An old man, cradling a cup of coffee, who looked up at us curiously as we entered.

A woman stepped out from the back as she heard the door close behind us.

“Hi guys, I’m Terry. If you’d like to take a seat, I’ll be right over to…” she said, and her voice trailed away as her eyes fixed on Jackson.

I guessed she was a few years older than me, and she obviously found Jackson very appealing. Her cheeks flushed red, and she licked her lips.

But Jackson didn’t notice the effect he had on her, or perhaps he was so used to it that he didn’t pay attention anymore.

We took a table by the window and had a quick look at the menu.

When Terry came over, she held up her order pad, and her hands trembled a little as her eyes locked on Jackson.

“Have you decided what you’d like?” she asked in a flirtatious tone.

“I’ll have coffee, black, and one of those doughnuts up there.” Jackson pointed to the counter where a variety of doughnuts and pastries were on display.

“Of course, coming right up,” she said, beaming at him.

She turned, about to leave, before I’d placed my order.

“I’ll have the same as him,” I called out after her.

Flustered she turned back to us. “Oh, of course. I’ll get on it straightaway.”

I turned back to Jackson with a wry smile on my face. “Do you always have that effect on waitresses?”

He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

I looked at him skeptically. Surely he noticed the effect he’d just had on that poor woman.

I shook my head. “Never mind.”

I set my copy of
Wuthering Heights
on the table next to me, running my fingers over the smooth, glossy cover.

When I look back, and realized Jackson was studying me, I felt a little unnerved. He had such a direct way of watching people. I don’t think I’d ever seen him blink.

I shifted, nervous under his scrutiny.

“So,” he said. “Tell me what’s going on between you and Nick.”

My body tensed, and I looked up at him irritably. “That’s none of your business, Jackson.”

“I thought we were getting along well.”

“We were, but that doesn’t mean you can pry into my personal life. Just because you bought me a book doesn’t mean you get to know everything about me.”

He rested his forearms on the table, leaning forward and watching me even more closely. “I just think you need to be careful who you trust.”

No kidding.
I think I’d worked that out for myself recently.

The waitress came back over and set our cups of coffee and sugar sprinkled doughnuts in front of us. She gazed adoringly at Jackson.

“Thank you,” I said, but she didn’t respond to me.

When Jackson thanked her, she fluttered her eyelashes and giggled.

I rolled my eyes and took a large bite of my doughnut.

“Do you think you can trust Nick?”

I chewed slowly on my mouthful of doughnut and glared at him.
Why wouldn’t he let this go?

Truthfully, I didn’t fully know the answer to his question.

I knew I had feelings for Nick, strong feelings, and I was pretty sure he cared about me in his own way.

But trust…

In my position, trust wasn’t easy.

I shrugged, determined not to engage in this conversation.

Jackson sipped his coffee thoughtfully. “I’m just not sure you should trust Nick Steel, Ella.”

I gritted my teeth. “That’s funny. Because Nick told me not to trust
you
.”

Jackson’s eyes narrowed. “Why? What did he say?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter.”

I looked away from him, out of the window. Jackson was so intense it scared me.

He reached out and covered my hand with his.

I jumped in surprise and stared down at his hand before pulling my hand away. “Nick told me this morning, ‘don’t trust Jackson.’”

“And that was all he said? Just don’t trust Jackson?”

“Yes.”

Jackson leaned back in his seat and sipped his coffee, like he was considering what I’d just said.

I didn’t understand why he was so bothered. He knew that there was animosity between him and Nick. I mean, they weren’t exactly best buddies.

Jackson eased up on the interrogation, and we managed to finish our coffee and doughnuts without arguing. But I couldn’t help feeling he was watching me even more closely after we left the coffee shop and trailed around the other shops in the town.

W
e left
the small town shortly before midday. The ride back was exhilarating, and I was sorry to get back to the bar so quickly.

As we cruised back into the parking lot, I was surprised to see Nick, Chad and Tom pulling in at the same time. I hadn’t expected them to be back so early.

In my rush to get off the bike, I stumbled a little and Jackson had to reach out to steady me.

“I hope I find somebody this eager to see me one day,” Jackson grumbled. “Honestly, Ella, slow down. He’s not going anywhere.”

I pulled off the motorcycle helmet, and rushed over to see Nick.

Immediately, I sensed something was wrong. Nick didn’t smile when he saw me approaching. His expression was stony, and his mouth was set in a firm line.

“What’s wrong?”

He didn’t reply, but shook his head, and when I glimpsed Chad climbing off his bike out of the corner of my eye, I realized in horror that he was soaked in blood.

It was splattered across his white T-shirt, his leathers and even the side of his face.

I stared at Chad openmouthed before saying, “Oh, my God. What happened? Are you hurt?”

“No,” Chad said, shaking his head as he stomped past me towards the bar.

I whirled back around to face Nick, looking at him questioningly, but he still didn’t tell me what was going on.

Jackson joined us, and his eyes shifted from Tom to Nick. “What happened?” His voice was cold and definitely carried an authoritative tone.

Nick bristled. I could tell he didn’t like being questioned by Jackson.

“It was a difficult job,” Nick said. “But we got it done. That’s all that matters.”

He stalked past Jackson, heading towards the bar, and Tom followed him looking very subdued.

Jackson didn’t seem to notice that I was still standing next to him. “What the hell have they screwed up this time,” he muttered.

“What do you think happened?” I asked.

Jackson appeared to slowly realize that I was still standing beside him. He shook his head. “It’s probably better you don’t know. Let’s get inside. I’m bound to be getting a phone call from Victor soon.”

I
nside
, I saw Tom leaning on the scuffed wooden bar and downing a tequila shot. There was no sign of Chad, so I suspected he was getting cleaned up. I couldn’t see Nick either. I guessed he must be back in our room, so I headed there straightaway.

I opened the door and saw Nick dumping his leather jacket on the floor.

I saw again just how stressed he was. His whole body was tense, and his face was dark and tormented.

“Talk to me,” I pleaded. “Tell me what went wrong.”

Nick took a breath, and for a moment, I thought he was going to tell me. I thought he was going to trust me enough to confide in me.

But I was wrong.

He ripped of his T-shirt, revealing his toned chest and his rippling abs.

I stepped towards him and put a hand on his chest.

“Is it really that bad?” I could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath my fingertips.

He closed his eyes and sighed. “Things went too far. Someone attacked Chad, and he acted in self defense, but it wasn’t pretty.”

I shivered.

“Why do you have to do this kind of thing, Nick? Can’t you just…”

My voice trailed off as Nick dipped his head and traced his lips along the line of my neck.

My body tingled with pleasure.

“I don’t want to talk about this now, Ella. I want to forget it. I just want to think about how it feels to kiss you… and touch you.”

I felt like my whole body was on fire as he gently nipped my neck between each word.

His hands stroked my breasts through the fabric of my tank top.

My nipples puckered immediately, and a moan escaped my lips. He held my head in his hands and pressed his lips to mine, gently teasing them before increasing the pressure of the kiss and delving his tongue into my mouth. He moved it in and out, sliding it against mine, as if he was making love to me with his tongue.

My hands went to his belt and unfastened it, so I could reach down beneath his waistband and feel just how hard he was for me.

A gasp escaped my lips as my fingers closed around his hard length.

Nick groaned. “Wait. I need a shower.”

I released my grip and pulled away slightly, but he didn’t let me go. Instead, he gathered me up in his arms and carried me to the bathroom just off our bedroom.

There was no bath, only a shower in one corner of the room. Nick kept one arm wrapped around me as he reached to turn on the shower.

He began to lift my tank top as the steam filled the small room.

His eyes were dark with lust as he tugged off my top and then slid the straps of my bra down my shoulders.

He dipped his head down lower to run his tongue over my nipples, which were still encased in my lace bra. I held my breath as one of my hands reached out and fisted in his hair.

He unbuttoned my jeans, pulling them down my legs and steadying me as I stepped out of them. He kneeled down in front of me, and I gasped as I felt his lips trail my belly as he scattered light kisses all along my hip bone.

Continuing to kiss my skin, he traced a finger between my legs. The lace of my panties was already drenched.

“I want to taste you, Ella.”

I stared down at the incredibly erotic image of Nick in front of me, pulling down my panties. I could feel his breath between my legs and felt a sizzle of heat in response.

Holy shit this was hot
.

For an agonizing moment, he did nothing, but then he leaned forward, and his tongue flickered out caressing the sweet spot between my legs. I cried out and put both my hands on his broad shoulders to stop myself from falling.

With each teasing lick of his tongue, I felt my body buck towards him. All my worries seemed to melt away as he caressed me with his tongue, flicking it back and forth over my me until I was beside myself with pleasure and couldn’t think of anything else other than how good it felt.

I dared to lift one hand from his shoulder and grip his hair, pulling him closer to me, desperate for more, desperate for the release only he could give me.

He inserted a finger inside me, slowly stretching me as he continued circling my most sensitive spot with his tongue.

My legs were shaking. I didn’t think I could take this much longer. I knew I was close, and a feeling of panic started building in my chest. How was I going to come standing up?

But as if he sensed my worry, he shifted beside me, wrapping one arm tightly around me, so even if my legs gave way, I wouldn’t fall. He flicked his tongue faster and faster, and I felt the first ripples of pleasure as his finger pushed in and out of me.

“Come for me, Ella,” he said and then flickered his tongue over my wet heat with such an intensity, I felt pleasure explode within me, starting from my core and radiating all the way along my belly, sending tingles racing through me.

My legs shook as my orgasm engulfed me, but Nick held me firmly, keeping me upright.

Carefully, holding me against him, he stood up. I could feel his stiffness pressing into my belly.

My legs still felt weak, but I followed him into the shower and enjoyed the warmth as the water cascaded over us.

Nick reached for the shower gel and squeezed some into the palm of his hand before rubbing his hands together to make a soapy lather.

He then turned me around and pulled me back against him, so I was leaning on his broad chest. He then ran his soapy hands all over the top half of my body, paying particular attention to my breasts and my tight, hard nipples.

I enjoyed the sensation of his hands sliding all over me, and when his fingers descended lower, dipping between my legs, I cried out in pleasure. I was still so sensitive down there, so his touch made my hips jerk.

“I love how responsive your body is to me,” Nick whispered as he continued to caress that spot between my legs.

I turned around, desperate to feel his hard body respond to my touch.

I squirted the shower gel in my hand and smeared it all over his muscular chest, feeling his muscles tense as my fingertips caressed him and followed the outline of his tattoos.

His gunshot wound was now healed, although he would always have a scar. I didn’t want to look at it. I didn’t want to be reminded of how dangerous this situation was.

I kept my eyes fixed on his as I worked my soapy hands lower and lower until they finally made their way to encircle him. I used one hand to stroke his length and the other to cup his balls.

He licked his lips and groaned as I continued to stroke him.

He let me continue for a moment or two before he held me by the shoulders and turned me around.

“Enough,” he said, his voice thick with lust. “I need to be inside you. You make me ache with need. I can’t wait.”

He grabbed my wrists and placed my hands firmly against the shower tiles, bending me over at the waist.

He gripped himself with one hand and positioned himself behind me, nudging my entrance with the broad head.

With his other hand, he reached down to caress me between my legs as he slowly pushed into me.

I gasped in pleasure, bracing myself against the wall and arching my back, encouraging him to enter me.

But he didn’t need encouragement. He thrust hard, burying himself deep inside me, and I heard him groan in pleasure.

He paused for a moment to give me a chance to adjust to his size. “Does that feel okay, Ella?”

Holy crap, it felt amazing.

I shifted my hips, gently pushing back and forward. “Mmmm, it feels good.”

That was all the encouragement he needed, and he began to move, slowly at first, keeping it deep and tender. After a while, he began to pick up the tempo, pumping me harder and harder as his fingers reached around to caress my breasts and play with my nipples.

He then lowered a hand to reach between my legs and stroked me, making me feel pleasure with such intensity that I struggled to draw breath.

“
Oh, yes
.”

“Do you like that, Ella? Do you like me touching you there?”

I was struggling to keep myself braced against the slippery tiles with the strength of his thrusts, but I managed to gasp out, “Yes. I love it.”

He took me hard as his fingers continued their delicious stroking, and I knew I was going to come again.

I whimpered as my internal walls clenched around him.

“Come for me, baby,” he growled as he buried himself deep inside me with thrust after thrust.

As my orgasm ripped through me, sending ripples of overwhelming sensation from my belly right down to the tips of my fingers and toes, I felt his whole body tense as he gripped hold of my hips and jerked into me one last time.

He slowly withdrew from me and then turned me around to face him, kissing me tenderly. “I don’t know how you do that,” he said.

I blinked up at him as I ran my fingers down his muscular back. “What do you mean?”

“You make me forget everything bad. When I’m with you like this, I can’t think of anything else but you.”

“And that’s a good thing, right?”

He grinned at me and then kissed me on the forehead. “Yes, Ella. It’s a very good thing.”