Reapers MC: Devil's Game Part 23

He stilled.

"You're really, really drunk, Em. I think we should talk about it tomorrow. If you're still interested then, I'm all over it."

I pushed myself up to lean on his chest, glaring at him.

"If you don't f.u.c.k me right now, I'm going downstairs to find someone who will," I threatened. "I'm serious. I'm done with this virgin princess bulls.h.i.+t."

His face hardened.

"Yeah, that ain't happening."

I tried to sit up, but he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight. Then he rolled, taking me with him until I was settled underneath, one of his legs between mine. I felt his d.i.c.k against my stomach and smiled. That was good-for a minute I'd been worried he'd lost interest. I tried to kiss him, but he pulled away, scowling.

"Oh, seriously?" I asked. "Let me get this straight. You've got a drunk girl who wants to have s.e.x with you in your bed. You've made it clear you aren't interested in love or romance. The drunk girl is cool with that. Are you sure you're actually a real biker? Because something here isn't adding up, Liam."

His face softened.

"Say it again."

"Are you sure you're actually a real biker?" I asked. He shook his head and grinned.

"No, my name. Liam."

"Liam," I said, letting it roll around my tongue. "Liam. Liam. f.u.c.k me, Leeeeam."

"Christ, I love how you say that. n.o.body calls me that but you, Em."

"That sounded almost sweet," I said, narrowing my eyes. "But we aren't playing games. I know you aren't sweet, so stop pretending."

He dropped his forehead down, resting it against mine.

"Never thought I'd see you again," he said quietly. "Not gonna blow it now."

"Maybe I should blow you?"

His face twisted almost painfully, hips swiveling against mine. For a minute I thought I had him. Then he kissed the tip of my nose and rolled off me. He tucked me into his side again, and used his free arm to grab a remote control off the bedside table. The TV sitting on top of a battered dresser flickered to life.

"Tell you what. Let's hang out for a while. You sober up and still want to go at it, no problem. My d.i.c.k's all yours," he said. "Until then, we'll watch some TV. You like Top Gear?"

"Sure," I said, trying not to yawn. I glanced up at the unicorn. It seemed to wink at me, sneaky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I decided to rest my eyes for a minute, because they obviously weren't working right. Five minutes later I was sound asleep.

I was dead.

Only death and d.a.m.nation to h.e.l.l could explain suffering this terrible.

Horrible, unspeakably bright sunlight attacked me. I tried covering my eyes with my arm. Unfortunately, this brought it into contact with my head, which exploded into waves of painful throbbing.

I heard the door open.

"Morning," Hunter said cheerfully. "I brought you some coffee."

I wasn't dead, I realized. I tried to think back, remember the night before. Flashes. .h.i.t me. Strippers. A glowing unicorn. British people talking about cars ...

Oh G.o.d.

I'd thrown a jealous tantrum and demanded Hunter have s.e.x with me. Then I'd fallen asleep on top of him. Kit. This was all Kit's fault. She bought the devil shots. She insisted we stalk Hunter. h.e.l.l, she'd texted him in the first place.

My sister would pay for this.

"You want some Advil?" Hunter asked. I slowly peeled my gummy eyelids open. He stood over me, his hair wet and his skin glowing with the fresh vigor of a newly showered man.

d.a.m.n him and his sobriety.

"Advil would be great," I said, unsteadily sitting upright. The covers fell down as I reached for the coffee.

Then I realized I was wearing only my bra and panties.

"c.r.a.p," I said, grabbing for the sheet.

"Not like I haven't seen it before," Hunter said reasonably. "I stripped you down last night, figured you'd be more comfortable. Also, I think you spilled booze on the s.h.i.+rt. It smelled funny."

Of course it did, I thought, mentally sighing. Because getting drunk and making an a.s.s of myself wasn't enough. Nope. I had to stink, too. Wordlessly, I reached for the coffee. I took a sip of the dark, bitter liquid, feeling it flow down my throat like a miracle drug. I was already feeling more human-amazing what a little caffeine can do.

Hunter sat down on the bed next to me.

"Think you'll live?" he asked.

I considered the question carefully.

"Not sure," I admitted. "Physical suffering aside, I'm pretty sure I'll never live last night down. I'm sorry I was such a freak."

He gave a laugh.

"Yeah, because I've never seen someone get drunk and stupid before," he said. "Not that I didn't appreciate you climbing all over me. But what the h.e.l.l was that all about? Wasn't like you."

"Kit," I said, her name a curse. "All her idea. For the record, she's the one who texted you, too. My sister is insane. I'm not entirely sure she's even human."

I took another drink, then had a horrible realization. I'd abandoned my sister-drunk-in the middle of a party where s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g women publicly on tables was socially acceptable.

"Is she okay?" I asked, full of sudden panic. "Have you seen Kit?"

"She's fine," he said. "Down in the kitchen with Kelsey. They're making breakfast for all the stragglers. I guess they hit it off last night-now they're building some kind of unholy alliance."

I shuddered.

"Just what the world needs. Did I really ask you to fu-have s.e.x with me last night?"

"Yup," he said, looking smug. "I'm on board with that now, by the way. You were just way too out of it last night for us to have any fun."

"Wow, what a prince," I muttered. "You won't screw a drunk girl. Were you cla.s.s president, too?"

He laughed.

"Trust me, it wouldn't have been fun for either of us. I'm not into necrophilia. You were so out of it I kept getting nervous and checking to make sure you hadn't stopped breathing."

"Ewww."

"Hey, not my fault. I was sober, remember? You're the one who poured those shots down your throat."

Oh, I remembered that part. Vividly.

"I feel like something died inside me."

"That would be your liver," he said helpfully, reaching down to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. "I'm gonna go check on Clutch, and then we'll talk. Make yourself comfortable. Bathroom's across the hall. Oh, and Em?"

"Yeah?"

"Last night was a game changer, so far as I'm concerned. I gave you your s.p.a.ce, let you go. But you came back, so now you're fair game. I'm done being the nice guy."

I eyed him suspiciously, then pulled the covers up and over my head. I wasn't ready to think about this. I heard him leave the room. d.a.m.n it. Why didn't he have blackout curtains in here? After a while, the door opened again.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I'll get up. I was just drifting ..."

"Don't worry about it," a voice said. Not Hunter's, but one I knew way too well. I peeked out and over the covers.

Skid.

"What are you doing?" I asked, eyes darting nervously. He closed the door behind him and clicked the lock, loudly and deliberately. Then he leaned back against the door with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"We need to talk," he said, his voice cold.

"You can't hurt me," I said quickly, hoping it was true. "Hunter will be p.i.s.sed as h.e.l.l if you try to do anything."

He gave a harsh laugh.

"I don't care about you enough to hurt you," he said. "What happened before? That's behind us. You were defending yourself and I was trying to save my brother from a f.u.c.king Reaper lunatic. We'll call it even and let it go, at least as far as you're concerned. This is something else."

I c.o.c.ked my head, not sure whether to believe him. Not that I had many options. I mean, I guess I could scream for Hunter. But Skid wasn't making a move at me and now I was curious.

"What?"

"You need to leave Hunter alone. You have no idea how much you're f.u.c.king up his life. I want you to get up, take your sister, and go away."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Why would I do that?" I asked, even though until that moment I'd half planned to take off anyway. But I really didn't like being told what to do.

"Do you give even the slightest s.h.i.+t about him?" Skid asked, meeting my gaze without a hint of trickery. "If you do, you need to end this. It's a game for you, but it's going to destroy him. You're like a virus in his head, eating him up and burning him out. How much do you know about his background?"

"I know he was in foster care ..." I said, not wanting to admit how little he'd told me.

"He has n.o.body," Skid said with careful emphasis. "It's him, Kelsey, and the Devil's Jacks. We're his family, his work, his home. Everything. At this rate, he'll be running this club some day-a functional club, without all the bulls.h.i.+t we've been fighting our way through these past few years. A relations.h.i.+p with you ends all that. He'd have to step back. We'd let him stay in the club, but if he's with a Reaper, he won't be trusted."

I stared at him.

"That's totally unfair-and it doesn't make sense. You guys planned for him to get together with me in the first place. I'm the glue to hold the truce together or some such bulls.h.i.+t. How come it's all changed?"

Skid snorted.

"Yeah, that was fine when he didn't give a d.a.m.n about you," he said. "But it's pretty obvious it's deeper than that now. He talked club business with you-I know he did, so don't bother denying it. And if he told you s.h.i.+t once, he'll do it again. We can't have our national sergeant at arms sharing secrets with Picnic Hayes's daughter. He starts sleeping with you, it's over for him and that's a fact."

I lay back, thinking. Wow.

"He's really going to be a national officer?" I asked. "That's ... Isn't he too young?"

"Things are changing for the Jacks. He's one of the men behind those changes. We'll have elections soon and that's how it's gonna play out. Unless you f.u.c.k it up for him."

"c.r.a.p," I muttered. I sat up, carefully holding the sheet in place. "You do realize that I have no idea what's going on with him and me? I'm not even sure there's an us at this point."

"Exactly," Skid said. "So are you willing to destroy his life just so you can explore it? Because if you care about him, it's a s.h.i.+t thing to do. And don't try to tell me you don't care about him, either. I saw you last night. You're as f.u.c.ked in the head as he is."

I stared at the wall, trying to process what he was saying. The hangover wasn't helping.

"Can I ask you one thing?" I said finally.

"Sure."

"Why are you so sure I can't be trusted?"

He just looked at me for long seconds, judging me with his eyes.

"Because you lied to your own club."

"I had no idea Hunter was a Devil's Jack-" I started to protest, but he held up a hand, stopping me.

"Not that," he said, his voice cold. "Later, at the house. You called and told him to get out, right in the middle of a meet with your dad. Don't bother trying to bulls.h.i.+t me. You used my f.u.c.king phone to do it."

My breath caught.

"I smashed your phone."

He offered a dark, cynical smile.

"Let me guess, your dad pays for your cell?"

I didn't reply. He did, but I'd be d.a.m.ned if I'd admit it now.

"I have an online record of calls," Skid said slowly and carefully, like he was talking to an idiot. Apparently he was. "I saw the number and the time stamp, Em. I know what you did. I can prove it."