“Yeah if you like that goth Elvira thing,” Demo said with a shrug.
“She doesn’t even dress like Elvira,” I told him.
“No, I think it’s the dark hair and dark eyes and sort of pale skin,” he replied.
“And she dresses in dark clothes a lot,” Warrant said in agreement. “I get that kind of vibe from her, too.”
She was in a black skirt that hit mid-thigh and some kind of blouse that was unbuttoned down low enough to draw my eye. The sleeves were loose and flowy. She had her own style, I’d give her that. And I’d love to shove that skirt up to see what she had on underneath it. She hadn’t worn heels to match.
That would’ve been too easy, and what most women would have done. She had on a pair of thick clunky shoes. Ainsley had called them Mary Jane’s once. Whatever the fuck that meant. The only Mary Jane I knew about was pot and a chick I made out with in middle school.
“Good looking face,” Scythe added, ignoring the dark look I aimed his way. “Those red lips of hers would look good wrapped around your dick.”
“What the fuck, Scythe?” I growled.
“What? I saidyourdick, not mine. Believe it or not, I think they’re right.” He shrugged. “You’re due for a good fucking. You’ve been in a bad fucking mood ever since-” He broke off and sighed.
They all looked away. Not long ago one of my distant cousin’s kids got killed in a hit and run. They were right. I’d been in a foul mood even though we caught, and killed the guy responsible. He’d been a great kid and it was a fucking shame that’d happened, but it was less about his loss—at least now—and more that I was realizing I was going to be fucking thirty-seven years old in a couple days and what did I have to show for my life?
My military career. Sure. And I was a damn good medic. Had a good job working for Cypher’s team and enjoyed my club. But I went home alone every fucking night. Of course I hadn’t done a damn thing to fix that over the years. I’d basically gone celibate over the last three. Not for any religious reasons. I was just fucking sick of the dating games.
I hadn’t met any women worth jumping through the hoops for. My eyes strayed over toward the bathroom again, thennarrowed as I saw Rae pinned up against the wall by some asshole in a cowboy hat.
“Well, fuck me,” Scythe said with a sigh as he followed my gaze. “I promised Cypher I wasn’t going to let you assholes get out of line tonight.”
It was a warning. It was also a warning I ignored. Shoving off my chair, I made my way through the crowd, anger building as I watched Rae shake her head no to whatever the guy said and then watched that fucker ignore her. He put his hand on her shoulder, entirely too close to the great set of tits she had.
I knew my brothers were right behind me, even Scythe. Not that I needed them to take care of one piece of shit who thought he was a cowboy and didn’t know what no meant.
CHAPTER 3
Raeleen
Running a hand over my hair to smooth it down, I stared into the dirty mirror in the bathroom. I’d noticed the bikers as soon as they’d walked in the front door. Or rather, I’d noticed one biker. The one I couldn’t stop noticing.
Pyre was the epitome of a sexy man. He had this sort of surfer slash bad boy thing going on for him and I found it really attractive. Anytime I was near him I was tempted to run my fingers through his thick light brown hair. That was, I would be tempted if I hadn’t given up on men and dating so long ago. I was also introverted and mostly kept to myself, so approaching him wasn’t going to happen.
None of that meant I didn’t find men attractive though. And that bad boy biker vibe looked good on him. I would’ve never guessed I liked long hair on a man, but it really suited him.
Apparently other women agreed because I’d glanced over and saw one doing exactly that. I’d refused to look his way again after that. A man like Pyre was probably taking a different woman home every night and that wasn’t really something I was interested in. Even if he was the first man in some time who’d caught my attention. I wouldn’t be part of some scorecard. Not that he was interested in me that way. He was pretty to look at and that was all.
I stepped out of the bathroom and stopped abruptly when a man moved into my path.
“Hi, Sweetheart.”
Biting back a sigh, I gave him a smile that was probably more of a look of aggravation than anything. I didn’t catch most men’s eyes. So usually they were either trying to win a bet with their friends, or they thought I was so desperate for attention from a man that I’d do anything they wanted.
They were wrong. I may not be a beauty queen, but I didn’t have such low self-esteem that I’d give my body to just anyone. And that was all they ever wanted. Sex. They had no interest in the same things as me, marriage and children. Which was why I never bothered trying to find a man who would like the kind of woman I was. My mom was adamant that there was someone out there for everyone. I’d sort of given up on hoping he’d show up one day.
“Excuse me,” I told him, trying to step around him.
He shifted, and when I tried to avoid him, my back hit the wall. He didn’t waste any time. His hand darted out and landed on my shoulder. His other hand landed on the wall next to my head, effectively trapping me. His breath was hot on my face. A sure indication that he was far too close to me. He smelled like stale beer. “What’s the hurry?” he slurred.
Movement caught my eye and I groaned as I watched Ainsley push her way through the crowd toward us. But even worse, herecame Pyre and his four brothers from the other side of the bar. This was about to become a blood bath if the bikers got here first. Ains at least hadsomeself-control. She knew how to de-escalate a situation. I doubted the Berserkers knew what that meant despite their military backgrounds. They were thedefinitionof a situation.
I didn’t want anyone to fight. Not over me. I hated being the center of attention—it just gave everyone the excuse to stare—and already people in the bar were eyeing us as my predicament intensified. “I’m not interested,” I told the man, trying to save him some pain. Despite the fact that he was an obvious asshole, I had just the slightest bit of sympathy for his immediate future. Barely.
“You didn’t even give me a chance,” he said with a frown. “You’ll like me, I promise.”
