CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Danielle

 I took another bite of my burger and swallowed. “So, what do you know about Knight?”

“He’s hard workin’, his brother’s FBI, but we don’t hold that against him.”

“Wait. His brother’s FBI, but you freaked out that my brother’s a detective? How does that work?” I challenged.

“Freak out’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”

“Is it?”

“Baby, if I was worried about your brother, you and I wouldn’t be together.”

“Liar,” I retorted. “You locked onto me and I didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Someone’s sassy.”

I smiled. “I have to be to keep up with you.”

He leaned forward and kissed me, despite my burger breath. “I like you sassy.”

“Noted. Now more about Knight, please.”

“That’s all I know. Hard worker, good guy, obviously an animal lover since he’s gonna be a vet. Big horse guy I think. Owns a bunch of ’em.”

“So if I were to encourage my best friend to go for it, there would be no ramifications in doing so as far as you know?”

“No ramifications that I’m aware of. All our members go through background checks, and he’s one of the truly clean ones. Not even a speeding ticket.”

“Hmm,” I mused.

“Am I done? Can I eat now?”

I grinned. “Yeah. Maybe later, you can have dessert.”

He kissed me again. “Lookin’ forward to it.”

I managed to finish my food, but could barely keep my eyes open, so I went to bed without Austin, but woke in the night and found him curled around me. There was nothing better in the world than having him close to me. It was something I was quickly getting used to, and I loved every minute of it.

* * *

The next evening, Kim picked me up at five as promised and we headed into Portland to shop. We decided to hit the stores at Jantzen Beach since it was just over the bridge from Vancouver and we could take advantage of no sales tax.

“How long’s your muscle going to be around?” she asked.

I glanced behind her and smiled at Train who was far enough behind us to not hear our conversation, but kept me within his sights at all time.

“Until Austin feels this stupid threat is no longer a threat,” I said.

“It’s weird, but I kind of like that he’s protective.”

“Yeah, he’s both protective and weird.” I smiled. “He has officially approved Knight.”

“What?”

“Austin says Knight’s a really good guy and doesn’t even have a speeding ticket. He said if you want him, go for it.”

“I never said I wanted him,” Kim countered.

I raised an eyebrow. “He’s the first guy in…ever you’ve even looked at twice. Of course you want him.”

“Dani.”

“Okay, I’m hearing your ‘Dani lay off it’ tone, and I will. Just know that I love you and support you whatever you decide to do.”

“Thanks.”

We strolled through my favorite discount megastore, not really looking for anything in particular, but coming across something that jogged my memory a bit. I grabbed a package of white thigh highs and then headed to the accessories department.

“I’m not going to ask,” Kim said with a giggle. “But I’m so glad you’re finding your sex kitten side.”

I blushed, but managed to keep my head up. “What else should I get?”

“Seriously?” Kim asked, her expression one of excitement.

“Load me up, baby.”

Kim clapped her hands and took control of the shopping cart. By the time we waded through the check-out line, I had another pair of thigh-highs, black fishnet this time, three bra and matching panty sets, two strands of faux pearls, and some personal products that apparently made your body feel amazing when applied… they were also edible. I’m pretty sure the cashier blushed almost as red as I did, but she didn’t comment and I was grateful. Train was already out front smoking a cigarette, though, so he was far enough away that he couldn’t see my purchases.

We decided to head over the bridge for dinner and made our way to Wild Fin, a kickass restaurant and bar on the Columbia River that was a personal favorite of ours.

We sat at a table that gave us a perfect view of the water and ordered margaritas and calamari, and then sat back and looked at the menu. I ordered a burger for Train and asked the waitress to take it to him in his car.

“Tell me about your night with Mack,” I said. “I mean, where did you go before you were swept off your feet by Knight.”

Kim smiled and closed her menu. “He took me to a honky tonk.”

“Shut up. You hate country.”

Kim wrinkled her nose. “I know. The club had a room in the back, so they played some great rock stuff and we got to avoid the country.”

“Phew,” I said, sweeping my hand across my forehead. “Did he try to get you into bed?”

“Not even once,” she said. “We did talk about it though, ’cause, damn, he’s hot. But we decided that since we’d probably have to see each other on a regular basis if this thing with our two best friends became permanent, it was best to keep it platonic. Nice guy.”

I nodded. “Doesn’t talk much, but neither does Austin when he’s with his brothers. At least, he doesn’t talk about anything of importance. We have our in-depth life-altering conversations in bed.”

“Those are the best kind.”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t know.”

“True, but it sounds like you have a good one now, even if he’s kind of bossy.”

I snorted. “Bossy doesn’t even begin.”

“Mack seems like that too. Knight was a lot more laid back and he opened the door and showed me that chivalry isn’t entirely dead, even amongst the bad-ass motorcycle club sect.”

I snorted. “You’re not wrong.”

“So, have you and Austin exchanged keys?”

“Yes.” I looked at my watch. “He’s probably at my place already. We try to spend weeknights at my place, weekends at his.”

“You said his place is amazing.”

“It’s gorgeous. I’ll suggest dinner sometime soon. I’ll cook. Maybe Knight can come as well.”

“Don’t,” Kim said. “Just let that one lie. If you want to invite Mack, that’s good, okay?”

“Okay, honey. I get it.”

We caught up on what we hadn’t covered… it was rare we didn’t talk at least every other day, and if we had something to share, we never waited.

I arrived home to find Booker’s bike parked in front and a thrill shot down my spine as I hugged Kim, grabbed my purchases, and headed upstairs to my apartment. I waved to Kim as she pulled out of my parking lot.

“Want help, Dani?” Train called.

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Thanks for the burger, by the way.”

I grinned. “You’re welcome.” Dropping an armload of bags on the ground, I unlocked my door and pushed it open. “Austin, are you close?”

“Yeah,” he called, and then he was walking toward me.

“I need some help.”

“Looks like it.” He chuckled, leaned down to kiss me, and took my burdens from me. “Did you leave anything in the store?”

“Not much,” I retorted. “Can you dump everything on my mattress and then leave me alone for a bit, please? I have a surprise for you.”

“As long as it ends with us in bed, sure thing.”

I grinned. “I think it will start with us there.”

“Even better.” He dumped the bags on my bed and left me to do my thing.

I slid on the white lacy thigh-highs, a pair of white lace panties, and the pearls. I pulled on my robe and then headed into the living room.

Austin’s eyes were glued to the television, but he focused on me with a curious smile. “So?” I opened my robe and he hissed. “Fuck me, baby.”

I giggled. “That’s the plan.”

He was off the couch in less than a second and then my robe was yanked from my shoulders, and I was lifted and carried to the bed. He didn’t even wait to get all his clothes off before he tore open a condom packet and slid my panties aside so he could slip inside of me.

I gasped, his girth filling me without warning.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yes.” I grinned. “Harder.”

He braced his arm on the bed beside me and pushed my leg up to my chest. It left me open and exposed in a way that made me hot, but what made me hotter was the fact that he held me so tight I had no control over that leg… other than to push against his hand, which assisted in him going deeper. I dropped my head back, arching my chest and within seconds screamed his name as my orgasm hit.