Burn: Men of Inked Heatwave #2 Read online

  Pike doesn’t stop, sucking harder and rubbing his tongue over the perfect spot.

  “Yes,” I moan into my palm. “Oh my God.”

  Another moan escapes as Pike’s lips send vibrations through my system, making my toes curl.

  “I’m going to come,” I whisper, biting down on my lip.

  His fingers are at my opening, pushing inside and stretching me. Just when I don’t think the pleasure could get better, goose bumps break out across my flesh.

  This is it. I can’t stop the wave of pleasure from crashing over me again and again, building in intensity with each thrust of his long, thick fingers inside me.

  I gasp for air, my body growing rigid as the orgasm takes over, making it impossible to even think. I rock forward, possessed by the passion only his lips can deliver.

  “Goddamn,” he whispers as he pulls away, and I collapse back into the mattress. “That was too quick.”

  “I’m sorry.” I smile, too sated to care how fast or slow I came.

  “Let’s do that again, but slower this time.” He grins, placing those lips back on my skin.

  Damn, I love this man.

  15

  Pike

  Morris: 8 pm at the Neon Cowboy

  I flick my eyes to my phone, reading over the message a second time before I look up. Shit. They’re here. James and Thomas said they’d come. The Disciples wanted payback.

  Me: I’ll be there

  I type the message, hitting send before I have a chance to think. If I had taken a minute, or hell, a few seconds, I would’ve remembered James’s words.

  I had forgotten they were coming. Days had passed. Night turned into day, bleeding into almost a week before Morris had finally reached out to me.

  Morris: Bring the sweetheart with you

  “Who are you talking to?” Gigi asks as we sit in the living room at her grandmother’s house.

  It’s Sunday. Family day. It’s the weekly celebration of everything Gallo. Austin’s been welcomed back as if last weekend never happened.

  “Morris,” I mutter softly, trying to avoid the attention of everyone else in the room.

  Gigi’s eyes widen as soon as his name is off my lips. “We should tell…”

  I touch her hand, stopping her from saying any more. I know the protocol. The last thing I’m going to do is fuck things up with this family again.

  I get to my feet and lean over to kiss her cheek. “I’ll be back. Let me talk to the guys,” I whisper in her ear, earning me a quick nod.

  I catch James’s eye, motioning toward the dining room with my head, and he slaps Thomas’s shoulder before they both are right behind me.

  “Disciples reach out?” James asks as soon as we’re in the dining room, far away from the rest of the family.

  “Yeah. Neon Cowboy tonight.” I tap my knuckles against the table, the muscles across my shoulders already growing tight. “He wants me to bring Gigi.”

  James looks at Thomas, unspoken words passing in their gazes. Thomas and James slide into the chairs across from me, looking calm and collected like I didn’t just tell them that payback was on the horizon.

  “What do I do?” I ask, flexing my fingers, trying to contain my nervous energy.

  Thomas rubs his chin, studying me. “If they want Gigi to come along, most likely, they’ll tell you what the favor is, but it won’t happen tonight.”

  “Are you sure?” I ask, my voice serious and deep. “What if she’s part of the favor?”

  James’s eyebrows shoot up. “Fuck no,” he howls quickly. “You know these guys. They wouldn’t ask for her. They know they’d have to go through all three of us, and then I’d rain down fire upon them.”

  I nod immediately, knowing Tiny, Morris, and everyone in the Disciples as well as I’ve known anyone in my life. “They wouldn’t.”

  “Take her,” Thomas orders. “Don’t stay too long. Keep shit short and simple. Do not, and I mean do not, go anywhere with them without calling us first.”

  “We’re not fucking around, Pike,” James barks like I’m an idiot and can’t follow directions.

  “I’m not a dumbass,” I bite back.

  James narrows his eyes and flattens his lips. “Call us from the Neon, and don’t be an asshole.”

  “Who’s going to the Neon?” Joe asks, eavesdropping.

  The man has been so far up my ass for the last week. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a drone following me around, making sure I’m not fucking up somehow.

  “Pike and Gigi are just going for drinks later,” Thomas tells him, leaving out the most important information.

  I close my eyes because why couldn’t the man just say I was going alone. Joe didn’t need to know everything. What the hell is wrong with this family? Can’t anyone do something without everyone being up one another’s asses?

  That would be a hard no.

  Joe’s arms are down at his sides, hands fisted tightly, probably dreaming about punching me right between the eyes. “Tonight?” he growls.

  “They’re meeting Morris,” James offers, climbing to his feet as soon as Joe moves forward like he’s going to land that punch. “Hold up, big guy. It’s not a big deal. Morris saved her life, remember.” James blocks Joe from reaching me.

  Joe swings his eyes from James, to me, to Thomas before landing back on James. “It is a big fucking deal. This is my kid we’re talking about, and they are—” his eyes go stone-cold, jaw tightening as he glares at me “—criminals.”

  If looks could kill, I’d be a dead man. Hell, I would’ve been good and buried, my body rotting in the ground by now. “I’ll keep her safe,” I tell him, trying to smooth shit out because the last thing I need is more trouble.

  “If she’s going, I’m going,” he demands.

  Thomas lets out a loud laugh. “Yeah, ’cause everyone wants their daddy to tag along.”

  The shade of red on Joe’s face matches that of the spaghetti sauce I’d just shoved down my throat. “Would you let your daughter go alone?” Joe pauses, staring his brother down. “Oh, wait. You have a fucking son.”

  Thomas isn’t thrown off by his brother’s anger. “Fine.” Thomas throws up his hands. “We’ll all go. We’ll gather the ALFA guys and sit at our usual table so we can keep an eye on them. How’s that, big guy?”

  I shake my head, knowing immediately this entire evening is going to be nothing but a giant clusterfuck. The biggest epic failure. Dread washes over me, coating my skin and clinging to my back like a second shirt.

  “Sounds like a great time,” I mutter to the table as I rub my forehead with my fingers. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”

  “Hey, dipshit,” Joe heckles, and I know he’s talking to me.

  I glance up, looking at him straight on. “What?” I growl because I’ve had just about enough of his shit.

  “That bar used to be my bar. I know exactly what happens in a place like that, and I’m not letting you take my kid in there to meet the Disciples without being nearby.”

  “Where am I going?” Gigi asks, standing behind her father, appearing out of nowhere just like he did.

  There’s seriously not a room in this house with any privacy. Even if you think you’ve found a spot, someone will show up, reminding you just how public everything is and how nosy they all are.

  “Pike—” Joe motions toward me “—is taking you to the Neon Cowboy tonight to meet Morris.” He says the words in such a shitty way, like I’m taking her to the worst place imaginable.

  Gigi’s eyes light up, and she practically jumps in the air. “Oh my God. I freakin’ love Morris.” Her body’s humming with excitement about seeing the old guy again. “He’s such a hoot.”

  There’s no happiness on Joe’s face. “Jesus Christ,” he mutters, glancing upward toward the ceiling. “Have you all lost your minds?”

  “Daddy.” Gigi smiles up at him. “You know you like Morris.”

  “I put up with him. Like is too strong of a word.”

  The bastar
d doesn’t even like me, and I almost died for his kid. I’m pretty sure I’d actually have to take that bullet before he’d let go of that chip on his shoulder. But then again, probably not.

  “We’re all going,” Thomas tells Gigi, and I wince, closing an eye because I know my girl, and she’s going to…

  “Like hell you are,” she bellows, hands going to her hips and eyes burning with fire. “You are not going to embarrass me.”

  “We would never do that, baby girl.”

  Gigi cranes her neck, glaring up at her father. “You are not going. Neither are they.” She tips her head toward her uncles but never breaks eye contact with Joe. “I’ve put up with your overprotective nonsense for my entire life.” She lifts her hand, pushing her fingertip into his chest. “I will not do it anymore.”

  He glances down at where their bodies are touching but doesn’t otherwise move. “You’re not going alone,” he tells her.

  Gigi lets out a loud, dramatic groan. “I won’t be alone. I’m going with Pike, and Jesus Christ, stop being so mean to him. He’s kind, loving, and an overprotective jerk just like you, so lay off.”

  My gaze moves to Joe’s face, and he’s eyeing me, anger coming off him in waves.

  “No one will keep you as safe as I would,” Joe replies, barely moving his lips as he speaks.

  He’s about to blow. No man talks without moving his mouth unless he’s so mad, he’s about to beat someone to death. I’d sure as hell be the victim, but I’d put up one hell of a fight before I took my last breath.

  “You know you have two other daughters and a wife, right?” she throws back, not missing a beat. “I’m sure one of them needs your protection. I have Pike, Daddy.” She pulls her fingers back before sliding her palm against her father’s chest. “I love you with all my heart. You’re the best father a girl could ever want. I won the lottery the day I was born, getting you and Mom as parents. But, Dad…” She curls up against him, looking so small against the big man. “You have to let go sometime. Pike will never replace you. I love you, and I love him.”

  Joe’s eyes cut to me, first hard. But then, like something comes over him, they soften for a moment. “You love him?” He sounds like he’s choking on those words.

  She peers up, nodding. “I love him, and I love you,” she tells him again. “Just let go, Daddy. Let me grow up and find my own way. You taught me well. I know how to be safe and not be stupid, and when all else fails, Pike will be there.”

  “Goddamn it,” Joe mutters, curling his arm around his daughter’s back. “I never thought this would be so hard.”

  “I’ll always be your little girl, but you have to let me live my own life too,” she pleads, embracing her father, head still on his chest. “I promise I’ll make you proud.”

  “Sweetheart,” he whispers, kissing the top of her head. “You already make me so damn proud. I love you more than anything else in the world.”

  “More than Mom?” Gigi asks, teasing her father, because the girl always has to bust balls.

  Three hours later, Gigi’s under my arm as we walk into the Neon Cowboy, a bar I’ve only been to a handful of times since I moved to the area. It’s your typical country biker bar with loud music, cold beer, and not much else.

  Gigi’s talk with her father convinced him and her uncles to give us space. I swore on my life that I’d keep her safe, and if I didn’t, I expected to pay with my own life.

  “There she is,” Morris says, pushing his body away from the bar the moment he sees Gigi. “Beautiful as always, sweetheart.” He holds out his arms to her like he’s her long-lost father, and my girl, she just runs to him.

  “I’ve missed you,” she tells him, giving him the biggest bear hug as he lifts her feet off the floor, reciprocating.

  Fuck me.

  “Pike,” he mumbles, still hugging on her and barely glancing in my direction.

  “Let her go, Morris,” I tell him, and not in that hey, how you doin’ kind of tone either. When he just looks at me, pretending he didn’t hear every word out of my mouth, I reach out and grab her arm, hauling her back against me.

  “Don’t be a buzzkill,” is her response, as she throws a glare over her shoulder at me, shrugging out of my grip. “So.” She hooks her arm around his and starts walking to where Morris left his beer. “What’s new with all my badass biker friends?”

  I walk behind them, reminding myself not to lose my cool. This is Gigi being Gigi. She’s going to test my limits, and in all reality, Morris hasn’t done a goddamn thing. He saved our lives. It’s something I reminded myself of a hundred times on the way over here. Nothing will happen to us. Not after everything the MC lost to protect us.

  “After you two left and the smoke cleared, we swore in some new members.” Morris motions toward the bartender, holding out three fingers and pointing toward the spot in front of him.

  Gigi’s eyebrows go up. “Really?”

  “Yeah. You’ll have to come celebrate with us and meet the new guys. We’re having a huge party on Labor Day weekend if you want to come.”

  Like hell.

  “Hell yeah,” she exclaims, answering for both of us as she grabs the beer the bartender has set down for her.

  “Darlin’.” I slide next to her, placing my hand on the bar next to her, leaning my body against her. “We have plans with your family on Labor Day.”

  She looks at me over her shoulder with a straight-as-fuck face. “No, we don’t,” she argues. “We’re going to the compound, baby.”

  I curl my fingers around the wooden edge of the bar, and I grind my teeth, trying to keep myself from losing my shit. Stay calm, Pike. Breathe.

  “We’ll be there. Can I bring two guests?” she asks Morris excitedly.

  “No,” I snap, as Morris says, “Yes.”

  Gigi grabs her beer, lifting it toward Morris, ignoring me again. “We’ll be there, old man,” she says, waiting for him to clink his beer to hers.

  “It’s a date.” He winks, hitting her glass before lifting his to his lips.

  I’m almost foaming at the mouth. What the fuck just happened? I promised her father I’d keep her safe. I promised James and Thomas we wouldn’t go anywhere or do anything before I spoke to them. And Gigi just blew it all up in a matter of sixty seconds. Invitation given and accepted without so much as a moment’s thought of all the ways shit could go wrong.

  “Clusterfuck,” I mutter.

  She turns her head again and blinks. “What’s your issue?” she whispers.

  “Don’t have an issue,” I tell her after glancing up at Morris, who’s watching me like a hawk. “No issue at all. Just don’t want to disappoint your family.”

  “They won’t miss us. It’s two months away, damn it.”

  That’s all she says before giving Morris her full attention again. I lift the beer to my lips, muttering a slew of curse words against the glass. I warned her about the Disciples. Did my best to tell her they’re looking for payback and Morris was here to collect. She blew me off, telling me I was imagining shit because there’s no way the big guy would expect anything from me.

  Absolutely clueless.

  “I’m not bringing Austin,” I tell her.

  Morris’s eyes widen. “You have your brother?”

  I nod. “Brought him back with me after the funeral.”

  “No shit,” Morris mutters, shaking his head, setting his beer down on the bar like he’s in shock. “Didn’t think you’d take him in.”

  “He’s my family,” I tell him, but Morris knows me as well as anyone. He knows family hasn’t meant shit to me in the past. Why would it? They never gave two fucks about me.

  “You’re changing, softening,” he explains, but without any judgment in his voice. His gaze dips to Gigi and then back to me. “The girl’s changing you.”

  Gigi punches his arm playfully. “The girl has a name.”

  “I know, beautiful,” he teases, throwing her a wink, and she eats that shit right up. “He stayin’ forever?�
��

  I nod, tightening my one arm around Gigi’s middle, plastering my front to her back. “Never had much of a family, Morris, and now…” I flick my gaze down as Gigi looks up. “Now, I have people I love and care about in my life, and I’m not turning my back on them for nothing or no one.”

  Morris doesn’t even twitch. The fucker is made of stone. “I can see that,” he says in an even tone.

  “Can you two excuse me for a moment?” Gigi asks, dipping out of my grip. “I need to use the…” She throws her thumb over her shoulder. I nod, thankful to get Morris alone.

  “What the fuck?” I hiss as soon as she’s far enough away. “Coming here for payback and then inviting us for a party?”

  He shrugs like it’s no big fucking deal. “Just because I’m here out of duty for the club doesn’t mean we’re not still friends.”

  I take a step closer to him, pushing away my beer. “You were supposed to be my friend first. I didn’t think you’d come for payback for saving my life.”

  He nods, elbow on the bar, leaning against the edge. “Sure as fuck gotta. We lost a lot of men that night. It’s going to take us a while to get back to earning what we were before that shit with DiSantis.”

  “I don’t have any money.”

  Morris smiles, slow and lazy. “I heard your pops broke in to Gigi’s apartment, almost killed her.”

  I blink, shocked he knows what’s happening over here, but I shouldn’t be. Just like the cops, the MC knows everything. They have eyes and ears all over the state, from dirty cops to other bikers looking for an opportunity.

  “Had my guy on the inside have a little talk with your pops. He was looking for something.” Morris strokes his chin, studying me. “Looking for something really important.”

  “I don’t have any of his shit,” I spit out, wondering how I ever could’ve thought Morris was a friend.

  He reaches out, and I lurch backward, avoiding his touch. “I’m not going to hurt you or your girl. I love you like my own son, and that one—” he lifts his chin in the direction Gigi walked “—is the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

  “Then why the fuck are you here?”