Stone Cold (An Iron Tornadoes MC Romance) (8 page)

"That's one," he says as he lies down beside me on the bed, looking quite pleased with himself.
 

I nod and try to catch my breath. I put one hand flat on his chest and feel his heart beating as fast as mine. I raise my hand to his neck and pull his lips to mine. I want another mind-blowing kiss, and I get it. He's on top of me. I spread my legs and tilt my hips, but he ignores my invitation. He abandons my mouth to nibble on one breast and then the other. I want more than his sweet teasing, so I press my hand down on his head and his bite strengthens. My entire body jerks and I gasp. He goes for the other breast, and the ball of heat starts growing again.

I reach out for his waist and try to pull him to me, but he resists.

"Shush, Lisa," he whispers. "Relax and enjoy the ride."
 

"Kiss me again," I say.

"I will," he says, but instead of coming up to my face, he goes for lower lips, and I shudder in anticipation. I'm finally going to experience what I've heard about so many times.

Oh my God, words don't do justice to the sensations. I understand why, since I don't have the words for them either. My entire universe is centered on Brian's tongue. I discover a new language that I would love to study for hours. I dig my fingers in his hair just before I reach heaven.

"That's two," I hear him say before lips and fingers join, and I realize that I was not yet totally undone. I come ablaze again, and every time I think I've reached a peak, he brings me higher. I'm breathing so hard I think my heart is about to explode, but it's not my heart; it's my entire body that shatters as I scream his name.

My voice is hoarse and my breath short when I steal his line from him and say, "That's three."

He laughs and scoots up the bed until his face is next to mine, and his lips burn my neck.

"Now that I've paid my debt, with interest…" he says while retrieving a condom from the nightstand's drawer.

"… it’s your turn again?" I ask.

"No. This time, it's
our
turn."

My heart melts when I see the look on his face. In the gaze of the grown man, I find the young boy I adored, and the tenderness he shows as he lowers himself into me brings tears to my eyes. I hide my face in his neck and blink to chase those stupid tears away. I need to protect my heart. This is just one time, one night with a half stranger, one shot of physical bliss with Ice, a stone cold member of the Iron Tornadoes.

I stop thinking and just feel.

He's slow and gentle, which is good, because I don't remember him being so big. I relax as my body adapts to let him in and his strokes become more powerful. I thought I was sated, but yet I react to his touch. There's a blaze inside of me, and just as I'm about to fly again, he freezes and asks bluntly, "How many since me, Lisa?"

I turn my head to the side and say, "Less than you've had since me, that's for sure."

"Answer me," he growls.
 

I shake my head, and for an instant it looks as if he thinks I'm refusing to tell him, but then he understands that I mean none. I'm not sure he believes me, because he mutters to himself, "All those years and no one."

He watches me nod, and the expression on his face is indecipherable. Still, he must be happy with the answer since he starts moving again. He's more forceful now, and I savor each stroke as I lose myself a little more. Time stops, and the clock starts slowly ticking again after we're both spent and panting on the bed.

That's when he proves to me that I was dead right. It was just a one-time thing. This was not about love; this was all about pride. His pride demanded that rematch, and now that he's paid back his debt—with interest, as he so elegantly put it—he tells me, "I guess I should take you home."

There’s not a shred of tenderness left in his voice. As we put our clothes back on in silence I wonder if there never was any. Probably not. It was all an illusion. I only heard what I wanted to hear.
 

Getting back to work has done me a world of good, first because I'm a social animal and a team player. Staying at home with my mother was getting to me. Being part of a crew cheers me up. It took me all of one shift to realize my new boss was a strange character with unpredictable mood swings. Since no one ever knows when or why lightning's going to strike, the entire staff are really tight-knit. They all have each other's back. Whereas Lyv creates solidarity by creating a pleasant work atmosphere, this man does it by being the common enemy. I miss Lyv, and I miss New York, but I make do.

The other benefit of the work—aside from the money, which is not bad—is that when I get home at night, I'm so tired I don't toss and turn anymore. When my head hits the pillow, I fall into instant oblivion. I still have dreams in which David is calling to me, but they're becoming less frequent. I wish the same was true about the dreams I have about Brian.

It's been a month since he brought me home from the MC house, and I haven't seen him since. I now see members of his MC everywhere, however. I'm not sure there are more of them around than before. It might just be one of those things that I've been told pregnant women experience all the time: the second they find out they're expecting, they see big round bellies all around. So maybe it's just a question of awareness. The Iron Tornadoes is an old MC. Chances are they've always been around town, but I never saw them before, because their presence had no meaning for me. Now I can't help but notice, since they're Brian's family now and I'm pretty sure they're associated with my brother's death. Also, I can recognize some of them.
 

I'm rolling my ride out of the garage when my mother catches up with me.

"Lisa, dear," she says as I put my small helmet on. "Since it's on your way to work, would you mind dropping this at the police station? Steven forgot his lunch when he left this morning."

Without waiting for my answer, she's already putting away a brown paper bag in my saddlebag.

"Sure, Mom." I wonder how Captain Williams will feel about having his lunch dropped off at the reception desk.

It's a short ride to the station. That's probably why my mother and the captain have decided that he will sell his home and move in with her when they're married. He proposed three weeks after David's funeral. I guess at their age, they feel there's no point in beating around the bush. Since my mother accepted, he's become a permanent fixture in our house. Watching my mother coming back to life is making him grow on me, but I'm still not comfortable around him. He's obviously not comfortable around me, either.

A few days ago, he asked me when I planned to return north.

"Not to rush you or chase you away," he explained. "It's just that we obviously can't do the wedding without you, so I want to get things organized before you fly back."

They've set the date for August first, and a few days later, I will return to school for my final year. I'm so glad he proposed before the law school administration had a chance to start preparing my transfer application.

Yeah, Captain Williams is not my favorite person, but he makes my mother happy, so I'll bring him lunch.

I leave the bike with the engine running and take the bag into the station. The morning shift staff are still on. Mike is manning the reception area.

"Hey, Mike. Your boss forgot his lunch in the fridge," I tell him with a wink.

He looks up at me with a big smile.

"Oh, good, maybe food will pacify him," he says, making a funny face. "It's been a horrible morning."

"Really?" Obviously, he's ready to burst. I'm sure he's so frustrated being stuck behind the desk that he needs to talk. Telling stories about his colleagues is the only way to vicariously become part of the action. I discreetly glance at my watch. I can spare him a few minutes and still get to work in time.

"Come on, tell me. You're such a great storyteller," I say. "It's a lot more exciting to hear stuff from you than from Captain Williams."

Comforted by the thought that I'm going to hear all about it in the evening from his boss, Mike starts talking.

"Last night we got word that the Iron Tornadoes know they've been infiltrated by an undercover cop, while we've just found out they have one of our own on the take," he whispers. "The task force have been called in for a special meeting with IA. Given the leaked intel, the corrupted cop is one of them. There were not so many people who new about the undercover assignment. Let me tell you, today I'm really happy to be down here. Heads are gonna roll, so I'm keeping mine very low."

"That's very wise," I tell him.
 

"And of course you didn't hear anything from me," Mike says as the door opens behind me.

"What didn't you tell her?" asks a voice behind me. It's Everest. I haven't seen or heard from him since the rock festival day. It's good I've never fancied myself as a damsel in distress because he's just as fickle a prince as Brian.

Mike turns beet red.

"How many roses the captain ordered for my mom," I answer. I have no qualms about lying—I can make up stuff anytime. It comes spontaneously to me. "Not that it's any of your business anyway."

I turn my back to Everest and step toward the door.

"As always, it was fun talking to you, Mike."

Everest follows me outside. "Lisa, wait," he says.

I don't. I take a few steps and get on my bike. He's yet to begin saying something, so I raise my eyebrows. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to explain, you know…”

I watch him shifting his weight from one leg to the other, looking for words. I don't have time for his crap. If I wait for him to start talking, I'm going to be late for work.

"Yeah, right. Don't worry about it. It's not as if you'd promised me anything. I've got to get to work."

While I drive away, a smile creeps across my face, because thanks to Mike, the world looks a bit brighter today. My mind is on a "what if" rampage, and I'm loving it.

For a moment I will allow myself to dream: What if Brian has never been kicked out of the police academy? What if he's been recruited to participate in this operation before graduation? What if he's the undercover agent with the Iron Tornadoes?

Without a full-face crash helmet, one can't ride and smile—there are way too many bugs for that in Florida!

Everything is beautiful. I have to hand it to Captain "what will it take for you to call me Steven" Williams—he knows how to get things organized. He's rented this beautiful pavilion in a posh golf club, and it's very tastefully decorated.

Chairs have been set up on the grass. The front row is occupied by Captain Williams's sister and her kids, on one side, and by Aunt Nancy and me, on the other side. Behind us sit many police officers in full uniform. I see Catherine and Thomas, as well as Mike and a few other familiar faces. No Everest. I'm sure of it, because he's so much taller than everyone else that there's no way to miss him when he's around.

Captain Williams is standing under a flower-covered arch, and one of his judge friends is next to him. I'm not sure if he's acting as best man or witness, but he's standing very erect. He's stiff, as if he's swallowed an umbrella. The music starts, and we all turn to look behind us.

My mother is walking down the aisle on Uncle Tony's arm. Am I the only one who realizes how weird this is? She's being brought to her husband-to-be by the twin brother of her deceased spouse. I'm watching my father's double giving my mother away to another man. I wish David were here to share the strangeness of the moment with me. I turn around to look at Aunt Nancy, and even though she's smiling, I see tears pooling in her eyes. Nancy looks happy for my mother, but there's something missing. Since David's death, something has broken in her. It's as if all her energy and joy had been transferred to my mother.

I reach out for her hand, and she holds on to mine. I wish I knew how to comfort her. I want to tell her about my suspicion, but I can't.

First of all, I'm not sure that Brian
is
the undercover cop that has infiltrated the MC. Since I spoke to Mike, I've read in the papers that there have been some arrests, but I haven't had any opportunity to get more information out of anyone. Captain Williams has erected a Chinese wall between the police station and my home. He never talks business at all.

Second, if it's true that Brian is undercover, telling Nancy would be putting him in danger. She's been carrying so much shame and guilt on her shoulders that nothing would prevent her from going around hinting to anybody who would listen that her boy hasn't really turned bad. Obviously, I can't let that happen.

So I hold her hand until Uncle Tony comes to sit next to her and wrap a protective arm around her shoulders. I'm so glad he's supportive of her.
 

He's probably just as torn as she is.

The ceremony is short and sweet. The groom gets to kiss the bride, and I have to look away. The very fact that I'm here testifies to the fact that my mother is a sexual being, but that's something I don't like being reminded of. Her passionate kissing of Captain Williams is way too much for me. As everyone stands, applauds, and lines up to offer the new couple congratulations, I make a run for it. I enter the clubhouse and bump into Everest. He does look dashing in his uniform. Did I just think
dashing
? It's such a
Gone with the Wind
type of word, but it's fitting.

"You don't enjoy the crowd, or you're unhappy with the entire event?" Everest asks as he catches me.

"Neither," I say. "I'm uncomfortable with public displays of affection."

"Wanna talk?" he says.

"With you? Not really," I snap back.
 

Actually I would. I would like him to tell me why he didn’t try to see me after he let me go with Brian. I want to know why he didn’t even check to see if I was okay.
 

I’m conflicted about him. I didn’t want to string him along and yet I feel hurt that he gave up on me so easily.
 

My bark doesn’t scare him because he says, "Well, I'd like to talk to you—can you give me two minutes?"