* * *

Ruger couldn’t remember the last time he’d liked a girl enough to let her on the back of his bike for more than a quick ride home. But for some reason, he wanted Krissi there. He liked the feel of her behind him, her arms around him as the wind beat through is hair. The rumble of the bike beneath him made him happy and peaceful, and after a few minutes, they were on their way out of town. He wanted to show Krissi something. She said she’d only recently moved to the area, and since she was riding the bus, he was fairly certain she hadn’t seen this yet.

He took a familiar road but resisted the urge to push past the speed limit. It was dark, and the road could be tricky even in the daylight. The last thing he wanted was to frighten Krissi, so he played it safe. After a few minutes, he could tell she was no novice at riding on the back of a bike. She hadn’t said much about her past, and he didn’t know where she’d learned to ride so well, but she leaned into the turns as of it was second nature. Her arms held on but not tight enough to make him think she was scared, and they never tightened, no matter how low they leaned on a turn. She moved with him as if they’d been riding together for years.

Ruger wasn’t sure how long they’d been riding when he found the spot he was after. He pulled off the highway into a parking area and killed the engine. Krissi moved smoothly as she climbed off the seat and walked around the area, stretching her legs as she took off the helmet.

“Wow.” She stopped in her tracks, her gaze glued to the lights scattered beneath them. Climbing off the bike, Ruger stepped up behind her, close enough to feel the heat of her body, but stopped short of touching her. Reaching down, he lifted the helmet from her hand and hung it by the chinstrap on one handlebar of the bike.

“You said you were new around here. I thought it was a pretty safe bet you’d not been up here yet.”

“Where are we?” Krissi’s voice was soft, as if she didn’t want to disturb the quiet night.

“Mt. Lemmon.”

“That’s the one on the northeast side of town, right?”

“Yeah.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Krissi turned to face him. He felt her hands against his chest then sliding to the side. He took her wrist and slid her hand down to his waist before she got to the pistol that hung under his left arm. He slid his hand along her arm to the elbow then around her back. Tilting his head down, he met hers as she stretched up toward him.

“This is beautiful. Thank you,” she breathed out just before her mouth met his. Her lips brushed against his, sending sparks of heat through him. Krissi grew bolder, and her lips parted beneath his as his arm not around her waist came up to cup her cheek. Her fingers curled against his lower back and her arms tightened around him. Ruger slipped one leg between her thighs. Krissi groaned and arched against him. Ruger felt her nipples tighten into tight beads against his chest. His breath caught, and heart sped. Her light scent reminded him of small purple flowers. His tongue dueled with hers as they stood in the night, wrapped up in each other.

A brisk wind blew down their collars, sending a shiver through Krissi. Ruger pulled back and gazed down at her with passion-filled eyes. He tried to catch his breath as he caught the glint of light in her dark eyes.

“Cold?”

“Not really.” She looked over her shoulder at the city below and bit her lip, making Ruger wonder what she was thinking. “But why don’t we head back to town. I’d like to get you somewhere more comfortable.” She turned her attention back to him, her lips parted, and Ruger wanted to kiss her again but held back. His dick stirred and his jeans were suddenly tighter. He liked the idea that she might want to take what they’d been doing here back to town.

“You wanna go to Drifters or back to your place?”

“We could go to the bar for a while. A little dancing might be fun.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and laid her head against his chest. He looked down at her. Usually, he didn’t want his pussy to get too attached, but he liked the feel of her against him. They climbed back on the bike and made their way down the mountain.

* * *

Krissi wondered again if she was doing the right thing as Ruger pulled the bike to a stop in front of the bar. She knew getting involved with another motorcycle club wasn’t the best idea. But one night wasn’t involved, was it? After he stopped, Krissi dismounted and stood to one side as he walked the bike backward into position with the others then climbed off. She handed him the helmet, which he put back on the seat where it had been. He dropped one hand on the small of her back and guided her inside.

The bar looked like an entirely different place. The atmosphere hadn’t changed, but the crowd had. Someone had turned up the jukebox. Now rock music blasted through the place while half-dressed women wandered around, dancing between tables and over some of the men. If she hadn’t grown up around a motorcycle club, she would have thought this was a strip club. But this was tame compared to what she’d seen since she was old enough to sneak away from whoever had babysitting duty. She’d had a full education before she’d turned thirteen.

Glancing around the bar, Krissi found an empty table near the back and headed in that direction.

Ruger bent low and asked in her ear, “What do you want to drink?” 

“Whatever.” She shrugged, squeezing his hand before leaving him beside the bar and going to the table. She’d sat down and was waiting for Ruger to join her when a man sat down beside her. Tattoos snaked up his neck and covered the backs of his hands.

He leaned in close. “Hey, sweetheart.” 

Krissi glanced at him. He looked a few years older than Ruger. He grinned at her as he waited for her to say something. She didn’t bother. Instead, she turned and looked for Ruger. He was headed in her direction, a scowl marring his forehead. It took her a moment to realize he wasn’t frowning at her.

Ruger got to the table, set a mug down in front of her, and looked at the other man. “Shove off, Sadist.”

Krissi turned and looked at the man who’d invited himself to sit beside her.

“I don’t know.” He grinned. “She’s pretty cute. I think she likes me.”

It took Krissi a moment to realize that they were friends and the new guy, Sadist, if she’d heard right, was teasing Ruger. She looked back to Ruger. He hooked one foot on the leg of a chair and dragged it back so he could sit. Once he was seated, Krissi scooted her chair closer to him—close enough he could drop one arm along the back of her seat, lean down, and give her a deep kiss. He was staking a claim, and at least for now, she didn’t mind. Once Ruger pulled away, she took a drink—MGD like she’d ordered earlier—and looked across the table at the other man.

“Sadist, huh? Do I want to ask?”

Sadist grinned. “I make my living hurting people. And I enjoy it.”

“Hurting people?”

“Sadist is a tattoo artist,” Ruger said next to her ear, his voice low and breathy. Krissi took a closer look at the tattoos covering his arms and hands. They were well done and well thought out. It wasn’t just a jumble of unrelated images.

“Oh, nice.” She let her eyes skim his arms again. “You do any of your own?”

“A couple pieces, but nothing recently.” His eyes skimmed down her body. “You got any art?”

“No. I’ve never found anything I like well enough to wear for the rest of my life.”

“Well, when you do, I’d love to get my needle into you.” He gave her a lascivious look. Ruger growled.

“Like I said, shove off, Sadist.” The other man just laughed. 

He looked her up and down then spoke. “So, where you from?”

“Not here,” Ruger said, keeping his answer short. Ruger seemed to be getting annoyed but not angry

“No shit.” Sadist looked at him for just a second then turned back to Krissi. “You walked in here and didn’t bat an eye at all this.” He made a sweeping gesture with one hand. “You’re not from around here, but you’ve seen this before.” He spoke like he was sure.

“I’ve spent some time around a club before.” She shrugged one shoulder.

Sadist leaned to one side and looked her up and down. “You don’t look like fender fluff.”

Krissi narrowed her eyes at Ruger’s friend and considered how to respond. The man had just called her a whore who chased bikers. “That’s your one freebie, and I only allow it because you don’t know me. Insult me again, and you’ll find yourself on your ass. And don’t think I can’t just because you’re bigger. I know my limitations, and I don’t fight fair.” Sadist leaned back in his chair and watched her for several seconds but let the subject drop.

* * *

They stayed in the bar for about an hour with Ruger occasionally pulling her to her feet, using the excuse of a dance to get her away from Sadist and hold her close. After the second time he dragged her to the tiny open space he was using for a dance floor, he pulled her down on his lap instead of letting her have her own chair. She leaned down and kissed him again briefly, as she was aware of everyone around her and didn’t want to be insulted again tonight. His hand rested on her knee, and Krissi was intensely aware of his heat seeping through her jeans. It didn’t take an hour for Krissi to be ready to move on. She dropped one hand to his leg beside her ass and let her hand skim up his leg, stopping just short of his crotch. He looked down at her, and she grinned. “Let’s get out of here.”

* * *

It annoyed Ruger when he turned from getting drinks for Krissi and himself and found Sadist sitting next to her. Ruger had no doubt his friend had seen them come in together and was being a pain in the ass. Frowning at the other man, he went to the table. The bastard didn’t even notice Ruger’s disapproval, though, because he was too busy grinning at Krissi. When he reached the table, Ruger set Krissi’s drink in front of her.

“Shove off, Sadist,” he said. Krissi turned her attention to Ruger as he came up beside her.

“I don’t know.” The grin on Sadist’s face let Ruger know he was playing and finding himself extremely amusing. “She’s pretty cute. I think she likes me.”

Ruger used one foot to pull a chair away from the table so he could sit. Once he was seated, Krissi scooted her chair closer to his. Ruger waited until she was settled again then lowered his mouth to hers for a hard kiss. He only did it to stake a claim, but she didn’t seem to mind. Sadist met his gaze and nodded once. Satisfaction spread through him as his friend had told him he wouldn’t be poaching, at least not until Ruger decided he was done. He would stop others from trying, too. Not that Ruger thought Krissi was the kind to be a club whore and be passed around from brother to brother.

He left his arm along the back of her chair while Krissi talked to Sadist for a bit. He put things in here and there, but he was paying as much attention to the rest of the room as he was to the pair at his table. It looked like a typical evening in Drifters. A couple of the club whores were going to have to be warned about lap dances in the bar. If they wanted to act like strippers, that was fine, but they should keep it in the clubhouse. He didn’t want to put his liquor license at risk. Since they were customers and not employees, he should be okay, but all it would take was one uptight inspector to shut him down.

The crowd that nearly filled Drifters was mostly club members and prospects, a few hangers on, and a couple people who lived in the area that spent most of their time in the bar. It became apparent that Sadist had no intention of letting them be, so Ruger stood and led Krissi onto the makeshift dance floor to get a little more one on one time with her. When he refilled Krissi’s drink, he grabbed himself a bottle of water. He had no intention of taking her to the room he kept in the clubhouse next door, and he never got on the road, whether behind the wheel or on his bike, after more than a single drink. He’d seen too many men, good and bad, die that way.

After the last dance, instead of letting her go back to her own chair, he pulled her down onto his lap. She wiggled several times, as if not entirely comfortable. He left his hand on her knee as they continued to chat with Sadist, and he was acutely aware of the heat of her body through the denim she wore. Krissi shifted on his knee again, and her hand came to rest on his thigh beside where she sat. After a moment, her hand began inching up his leg, ever so slowly at first, then a little faster. Her fingers drew abstract designs on his jeans as they made their way closer to his cock. He was rock hard by the time she stopped and turned to him. She glanced down at her hand, still in his lap, and grinned.

“Let’s get out of here,” she said.

It was all Ruger could do not to jump to his feet and fling his chair across the room with the momentum. He glanced across the table at Sadist and saw the amused glint in his eye. Sadist knew what was going on.

Ruger dropped a light kiss on the tip of Krissi’s nose. “Sure.” He stood, shifting in his jeans as he went. “I’ll catch you later,” he said to Sadist then put his hand on Krissi’s back and followed her out. At his bike, he handed her his helmet. “You have classes or work in the morning?”

“Tomorrow’s Saturday, so no classes. And I happen to have tomorrow off. Why?” She manipulated the strap under her chin effortlessly.

“I just wanted to know if we should go to your place or mine.”

“Don’t I get a say?” She blinked up at him, her words challenging but not her tone.

“You already had your say when you all but felt me up in there.” He lowered his head to cover her mouth in another deep kiss. Breaking away, he got on his bike and started it. “Come on.” Ruger waited while she climbed on behind him then kicked the bike into motion and they took off into the night.