Something flashes across his face, then his brow furrows. “Promise me you’ll be more careful.” He’s serious.
“So I should be more careful around you?”
His lip lifts. “Around everyone.” His gaze quickly shifts to my lips, then back to my eyes. “But especially around me,” he says before he leans down and presses a soft kiss to my shoulder, muting the voices inside my head. He plants a trail of kisses from my collarbone up my neck. A moan slips from my mouth as shivers rack my body.
His lips meet mine, and I’m helpless under his voodoo. I can’t fight my attraction to him. My body flares to life, every part of me awakening. He slides his tongue into my mouth, shooting searing need through my body.
He pulls back an inch. “I’m obsessed with the way you taste,” he growls, then his mouth is on mine again.
I lift my hand and gently run my fingers through his hair. He leans closer, pressing his weight against me, and an overwhelming need fills my mind. Bliss blankets me, while a deep longing pulses within. Our tongues dance together, and his grip on my hip becomes more insistent, pulling me closer.
He groans and eases back, dragging his teeth over my bottom lip. It’s new to me, but the seductive way he did it... I liked it. I’m watching as his head falls back.
We both gasp for oxygen.
“Fuuuck. You can't kiss me like that,” he murmurs, though his gaze lingers on my lips, betraying his words. He leans forward slightly, caught between resistance and desire.
I touch my tingling lips. The warmth of his kiss lingers, leaving behind a sensation of longing. I’ve never felt such desire for anyone... And I’ve never been kissed so passionately.
His eyes search mine, then his face softens. “I’m poison. You’re going to regret meeting me.”
Maybe... maybe not. “I’ll make up my own mind.” He never forced me into anything against my will. I wanted—no, I craved—his lips on mine. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you.” He’s so different.
He lets out a sigh, leans down, and pulls the blanket up over us. “Turn around,” he says, his voice still rough.
I roll over and he lies back down, pressing his body against mine. His chest is against my back, his arm encircling my body, cradling me against him. Warm and content, I smile. I shouldn’t feel safe, but I do. I should be running away from him with what everyone else is saying, but I can’t. I promised myself I’d make up my own mind about everyone I meet. In the short time I’ve known him, he’s evoked emotions in me that I’ve never experienced before, which only compels me to spend more time with him.
The music from downstairs gets louder. I feel the vibrations from the bass. The voices have risen too. Maybe more people have arrived. My mind goes back to the motorcycle. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, babe.”
“Why is Victor’s motorcycle inside?”
He’s silent. I wait patiently.
“It’s rare. Victor built it himself. I’ve never been able to bring myself to ride it—it’s too important to me. So I asked the club if it could remain in the clubhouse, where it would be close by and I could always keep an eye on it.”
He may wear a joker mask, but there’s a loving man behind it. He isn’t this horrible criminal and player everyone labels him as.
“What’s your real name?” I ask.
“Jake.”
“Jake,” I say, tasting his name on my tongue. “Tell me more about yourself.”
“Eh... what do you want to know?”
I pause. “Anything... Why did you steal parts from Victor, and what made you stick around and not go back to what you were doing before he caught you?”
“No one ever cared enough to teach me something. He helped me find something I was good at, and he looked after me.”
Oh, my aching heart.
“I stole from him because I needed the money to eat and to help my parents pay the bills, but if I hadn’t stolen from Victor, God knows where I would have ended up.”
My parents may be unbearable, but I always had a roof over my head, clean clothes, and all the basic necessities. “What do you mean by not knowing where you may have ended up?”
“I was a menace to society.” He chuckles. “I broke into people’s houses and stole things. When the police found me with the stolen goods, I hopped on my motorbike and they had to chase me around in their vehicle. I loved the chase. To see how long it took them to get me. It happened a few times. I’d go to juvie, then get let back out.”
