The Devil’s Blaze Read online

  Thinking to grab her drink and get back up to the room with her mom, she turned toward the exit. His large, rough hand cupped her elbow and led her to a table for two in the corner of the cafe. “Not so crowded over here,” he said as he waited for her to sit down.

  What could a few minutes hurt? Her mom would be sleeping for a while yet, and when was the last time she had a conversation with a sexy man? Only a conversation, she told herself. She couldn’t afford anything else right now. She needed to stay focused and make her plans.

  # # #

  Fuck, she was hot. Lucas knew she’d be pretty when he stepped behind her in line, but when she turned around and he got a good look at her, his cock leapt at the chance to talk to her. Dressed in plain jeans and a tattered sweatshirt, he could still make out her curves. He didn’t see her breasts until she turned to get her coffee, and again, he wasn’t disappointed.

  The little dusting of freckles over her nose gave her an innocent appearance. She was no little girl, but fuck if she didn’t give off the innocent vibe. Stepping in to buy her coffee was an easy decision. Corralling her over the table seemed right, too, but when he touched her, just the soft cupping of her elbow, his body tensed at the sensation that crawled over his body.

  “Just for a minute. I have to get back upstairs.” She took a tentative sip of her coffee.

  “You visiting someone?” She definitely didn’t work there. He knew most of the staff at the hospital. Over the years, too many members, or their family members, had used the services of the hospital. Every time one of them ended up there, Lucas saw it as his duty to check in on them.

  “My mom.” She frowned and readjusted the strap over her shoulder. She hadn’t taken her purse off. Maybe she thought she’d stick around for a few sips and bolt.

  “Serious?” He didn’t want to ask, yet the words flew out of his mouth. Seeing the wrinkle of worry on her face irritated him. Something so pure shouldn’t know pain. Not like that anyway.

  “Serious enough.” The casual shrug and wave of her hand might have worked on most men, but he knew what that meant. It was damn serious, but she didn’t want to talk about it. Fine with him. “You?”

  “Friend. Just a little injury. He’ll be home in a day or two.” Luckily for Jeff, the bullet had gone clean through his shoulder. If it hadn’t been for the blood loss and the torn muscle that needed surgery, he would have been home already.

  “He in your, uh, club?” She pointed at the patches on his kutte. Most women outside the MC didn’t bring up his kutte, not because they didn’t understand what it all meant, but because they were afraid of it. Not this girl, though. She didn’t look scared of anything.

  “Yeah.” He took a sip of the coffee. Not bad. Not worth the five bucks, but not bad. “You look a little wound up.” He rested his hand over her small one on the table. Her skin was smooth beneath his, and he ran his thumb under her palm. She couldn’t hide the tremor of her body at his touch. He wanted to see what else he could do to her, if his thumb got that sort of reaction. “Like you need some tension released.”

  Her eyes widened with understanding. She didn’t yank her hand away, though he expected her to. Instead, she seemed to appraise him. Her eyes narrowed in thought, then she pulled away, taking her purse off her shoulder and putting it on the table.

  “You wanna release my tension? And how would you do that?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  He looked around the café just to be sure no one was listening in on their conversation. “Well, there’s a store room on this floor that’s rarely used. We could go in there, and I could show you.”

  She laughed, a loud, bursting sound that drew the eyes of a few patrons in the place. “A store room? Whoa, don’t be so romantic. Do I look like a girl who would fuck in a store room?” She didn’t even look like a girl who would say the word fuck, but he had already jumped on the boat, might as well paddle the oars.

  “I guess not, no.” He leaned back in his chair, folding his own arms over his chest. “Where do girls like you fuck?” he asked, not lowering his voice. That blush he’d seen earlier crept back up her neck. Damn, she looked cute, too cute. His cock was starting to hurt from pressing on his jeans.

  She didn’t answer him, just took another sip of her coffee. He noticed something sticking out of her purse, a pamphlet with a baby on it. Curious, he plucked it out, despite her quick attempt to stop him, and looked it over. “Artificial insemination?” He pointed to the pamphlet. “What, your man can’t knock you up himself?” He hadn’t meant to be so damn crude, but the idea of her having a man pissed him off. After five minutes with her, he was already pissed at other men even looking her way.

  “No.” She gritted her teeth together and tried to snatch it away from him. He only held it farther out of her reach while he read the information. “I don’t have a man.”

  “Good.” He didn’t look at her, but he didn’t need to. The heat from her glare was enough to scorch the paper he was holding. Flipping open the pamphlet, he took note of the wear of the creases. She’d obviously been going over the information a lot. “You want a baby this bad?”

  A lock of her hair fell in front her face as she turned to look away from him. Just when he thought he’d embarrassed her or pissed her off, she turned back to him with a stern chin. “Life isn’t a guarantee. Who the hell knows what will happen tomorrow? I’m tired of waiting for some happily ever after that’s probably never going to come. This is a pretty small town, in case you didn’t really notice, the guys…well, I haven’t had much luck there. So yeah, I’m thinking about doing it on my own. I don’t need anyone to help me. I just need one thing from someone else, then I can do it on my own.”

  Lucas stared at her for a moment, not sure what to say to all of that. It was quite the mouthful she gave him. Though, not the mouthful he wanted from her at the moment. “I don’t think you need to go through all that. And those other guys, the wimps and the pussies you no doubt dated, fuck ’em. They probably don’t know how to handle a woman anyway. ’Cause if you were my girl, you’d never be worried about anything. I’d have your whole world taken care of. You’d be protected, and you sure as fuck wouldn’t be unsatisfied in any department. I’d have those legs of yours wrapped around me every fucking morning, and before I tucked you in at night, too.” His girl? No, he didn’t need a girl. He didn’t need that complication.

  Her eyes narrowed a bit. Bringing her cup up to her mouth, she sipped the coffee while still staring at him. Maybe trying to make heads or tails of what he said, or just thinking on how best to slap him and get out of the cafeteria without him catching up to her. He kind of hoped she did try to slap him and run, because then he’d have a chance to catch her and put his hands on her ass.

  “Okay.”

  Chapter 3

  Josephine had to be out of her mind, she knew, but it wasn’t going to stop her. Artificial insemination was expensive. And she could use the money to help her mom and take care of the baby instead of paying some clinic to inject her with some stranger’s sperm. She didn’t like the idea of not knowing the father, at least a little. Being able to tell her little girl or boy a little something about him would be nice. And having the baby conceived the old-fashioned way would make her feel a little less like a baby factory.

  “Okay?” His dark eyebrows rose at her agreement. It didn’t hurt that the man was better looking than any she’d seen in the database at the clinic or in real life. Him being in a motorcycle club wouldn’t matter. She’d get what she wanted, and they’d part ways. The thrill of danger without any future repercussions sounded just fine with her.

  Leaning over the table to keep from being overheard, she nodded. “The thing you mentioned—the store room? I’m saying okay. And anywhere else you want to fuck. For twenty-four hours, I’ll be your…well…yours.” Giving him a little power would sweeten the deal for him. “But you can’t wear protection. No condoms. Oh, uh, wait, are you clean?” Dammit, she should have led with that.r />
  He laughed. “Fuck, yeah. No bareback for me, ever. But, I’m listening; continue on.” He didn’t lean closer. He didn’t even lower his voice. His arms were still folded over his chest, but his lips had curled up into an amused smile.

  “Okay, like I said. Twenty-four hours, I’m yours. But no protection.”

  “Because you wanna have my baby?” He didn’t even stop smiling when he asked the question.

  “If you’re going to make fun, forget it.” She waved a hand between them and did the best she could to look uninterested.

  He only laughed again. “I’m not making fun, I’m clarifying. You want me to knock you up…then what?”

  “Then nothing.” She shrugged. “I don’t need you. I already said that. I’m going to do this on my own anyway. I just need someone for the initial part.” Making it sound like a business transaction didn’t take away from the tinge of embarrassment lurking in her mind. She was asking this man, this man she just met, to fuck her and impregnate her, right there in the hospital. Maybe the psych ward had an extra bed she could crash in for a few days, because clearly, she’d lost her mind.

  “You think I’ll just walk away from my kid?” There wasn’t any heat in his words, but he had a point. She was making a big assumption that he would do just that.

  “You won’t know. I mean, after the twenty-four hours are over, I’ll go on my way, and you’ll go yours. Odds of our paths ever crossing again are pretty slim. I’ve lived in this town my whole life and have never seen you before, so there you go. If I do get pregnant, I won’t contact you. And if you by some chance see me in a year, and I’m toting around a baby, you won’t know if it’s yours.”

  His smile dropped a fraction as he thought it all over. She held her breath, not sure which way she wanted him to answer. “Twenty-four hours and you’re all mine? You’ll do everything I say, no arguments, and no questions?”

  He didn’t look like a serial killer, but he hadn’t looked like someone who’d buy her a cup of coffee either. “I’m safe with you?”

  Lowering his voice, he leaned closer. She could smell his musky aftershave. “Baby, I protect what’s mine, never harm it. No sense in breaking good toys. For twenty-four hours, you obey everything I say, and I’ll put a baby in your belly. But, I’m not sure you’ll be able to say goodbye come tomorrow.” The cocky grin he gave her only pulled at her desire more. This man knew what he was doing. The confidence wasn’t a front or overcompensation. He knew what he was, and he had no qualms about it.

  “Okay, then. Twenty-four hours. I’m all yours.” Her throat dried at the confirmation, and her stomach twisted. Nerves or excitement, she wasn’t really sure, but one thing she knew, she hadn’t felt so alive in weeks.

  He kept his eyes on hers while he took the brochure with two hands and tore it in half. She almost objected, but if their attempt failed, she’d get another. He discarded the papers on the table and stood up, holding out his hand. “Let’s go.”

  “I’m still—”

  “No arguments and no questions, remember?” A dark eyebrow lifted and she nodded. She had said that. Nerves or not, she could do this.

  “Right. Sorry.” She placed her hand in his and barely grabbed her purse before he yanked her away from the table and led her out of the cafeteria.

  She kept silent as they made their way down the corridor, and she wondered if he really was going to fuck her in a storage closet. The more she let her mind wander in that direction, the more nervous she became. It had been over a year since she had last had sex, with a man anyway. The vibrator at home didn’t count as real sex.

  When they passed a few storage rooms, she began to breathe a little easier, but when they passed the elevators, she tugged on his hand to stop. “Wait. My mom. I should let the nurses know I’m going to be away for a little while.”

  He stopped walking, but didn’t look her way. Instead, he flagged down a nurse passing them. “Hey, Raquel.”

  “Lucas, what are you doing here?”

  That was his name. She hadn’t even learned his name. Responsible woman she was, asking some stranger whose name she didn’t know to get her knocked up. What the hell was she doing?

  “Jeff had a little accident. Was just checking on him.” From the way he said accident, it didn’t sound like he was being fully truthful, but the woman seemed to understand his meaning regardless. The nurse dressed in tight fitting blue scrubs looked over Lucas’s shoulder at Josephine. Her eyes narrowed just a hair, enough for Josephine to recognize the look of jealousy. This woman had no reason to be jealous—tomorrow morning, she could have her biker back. She only needed one thing from him. “Can you do me a favor? My friend here,” he looked at her then, realizing that he didn’t know her name either, “her mom is here, but we have to run out really quick. Can you do me a favor and let her nurses know she’s going to be gone for the day?”

  Raquel took an appraising look at Josephine that made her hair stand on end. “Uh, I guess. What’s your mom’s name?”

  “Meredith Bridgewater. Room 325. Can you just let them know Josephine, that’s me, will be back tomorrow, but they can call me any time if Mom needs something?” Lucas’s hand gripped her a little harder. Either he thought she was going to change her mind and bolt or he was giving her a supportive squeeze. Had her voice trembled when she talked about her mom?

  “Okay. I can do that. Uh, Lucas, how about Saturday we go for a beer? I haven’t been to the clubhouse in a while; been missing you.” Josephine didn’t miss the suggestive nature of the request. Raquel apparently wanted to let her know he was a free agent. Hell, that was fine with her. One night and so was she.

  “Maybe. I’ll call you. Thanks.” With another yank, Josephine was pulled out of the hospital and into the bright sunshine of the afternoon. The day had completely slipped away from her.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as she tried to keep up with his long strides.

  “No questions, remember?” He didn’t look over his shoulder when he said it.

  No questions. That had been a hell of a lot easier to agree to than to keep up with. He brought her to his bike. She’d never seen a motorcycle up close before, only driving past her on the highway. The thing was monstrous. How the hell did it stay up on two wheels? More importantly, how did he keep it from toppling over to the side when it was stopped?

  “It’s not as scary as you think.” He laughed at her expression of sheer panic. “C’mon. Here’s your helmet.” He didn’t hand it to her, instead plunking it over her head and strapping it under her chin. His fingers brushed against her skin. A quick, almost non-existent touch, except she felt it all over. The warmth of his rough skin sent her nerve endings into overdrive. He helped her swing her leg over the bike, and she scooted back until she was nestled against the back support. She tossed the strap of her purse over her head, keeping it more secure.

  Lucas popped open the side compartment and pulled out another helmet. She watched him shake his head backward to keep his hair out of the way as he strapped on his own chinstrap. “Safety first.” He grinned at her then swung his leg over the bike and took the seat in front of her. “Be sure to hold tight,” he called to her as he turned on the ignition.

  The bike roared to life, sending strong vibrations all throughout her body. And not in a bad way. Before she was sure she was ready, he kicked up the kickstand with his boot and took off. She gripped him hard around his waist and pressed her cheek to his back. She didn’t want to see anything; she just wanted to feel. Feeling was enough for the moment. Between the smell of his leather kutte, the vibrations of the bike, and feeling his hard abs beneath her hands, her pussy began to moisten to the point of discomfort. He needed to go faster, to get them where they were going.

  # # #

  Lucas turned off the highway, heading toward his cabin. A hideaway he used when he needed some peace away from the club bullshit and the rest of the world. His old man used to take him there to go fishing every summer. One week with n
o club business, no work crap, and no women to get in their way of having a relaxing time.

  When his dad died, Lucas kept the cabin. He still used it enough to warrant the upkeep, but until he pulled up with Josephine, he hadn’t been there in almost a year.

  Her arms tightened around his waist as they rode up the last dirt road to the cabin. Complete seclusion, no one around for miles in any direction. The wooded area around the cabin was dense, keeping the place cool in the summer, even when the sun was blaring down on them.

  She was getting nervous. Hell, she probably should be. The woman didn’t know him from Joe Schmo, yet she’d hopped on his bike and took off with him. Not knowing where to or for what. Well, she knew for what. A good, solid fucking. One that would most likely leave her with a baby in her belly.

  A fucking baby. He must be out of his mind. He’d done some crazy shit for pussy before, but not since he grew up and realized he didn’t need those little games anymore. So, what the hell was he doing agreeing to father her kid then just take off? It wasn’t like he wanted a kid. No way. Too much weight to drag him down if he had a baby. No attachments made his life a hell of a lot easier.