Page 4 of Laying it Bare Biker Style: Ryder

“Wait. What? Put her inmine?”

“You have a king sized bed.She can sleep clear over on the other side of the mattress and youwouldn’t even know she was there.”

“I don’t think so.” Iclenched my jaw. She would be a temptation I couldn’t resist forlong. And he knew it. But he also knew I wasn’t going down thatrabbit hole again. I wasn’t sure what game he wasplaying.

“It’s fine in here, really.This is perfect. More than I ever could have expected.” Sagebounced her gaze between Grayson and me. “Even though neither oneof you know me and I don’t know you guys, you’ve taken me in and Iactually feel safe here. I’ll grab a shower and take a nap and youguys can do whatever you had planned to do. Although I’m not sureif you are okay with allowing me to stay here when you’re not here.I’m not a thief, but you don’t know that.” Her adorable jabberinghelped cool my irritation a degree.

“I’ll put her inmybed then.” Graysonsuggested, a slow grin stealing across his face. “I have a kingsized bed too, so no problem. Besides, I’m waiting to hear backfrom Molly.” He glanced at his watch. “Her shift ends in an hour.So, I can get Sage settled before I grab my own shower. That’s finewith me. I was just giving you dibs.”

But Grayson drove my anger back upseveral more notches. Yet somehow I managed not to tackle him tothe ground and pound the shit out of him. I took solace in the factthere would be time for that later. “The fuck you will. Fine.Follow me. You can use my shower and then I’ll get you a shirt andpair of boxers to wear and you can sleep in my bed.” The image ofher naked body in my shower and then wearing my clothes had my dickstraining against my zipper.

Sage eyed me, but in her facialfeatures I didn’t find fear or worry, but I could definitelydescribe her expression as guarded. And she could probably deducefrom my own expression what I had running through my mind. And Imarveled at how that didn’t scare her. But my reasoning traced backagain to whether it was because she believed deep down she hadnothing to fear from me or because she was just so accustomed toit. And I needed to direct my thoughts elsewhere so I could tampdown my frustration and not end up scaring her.

Grayson gave me a knowing smirk beforehe strolled down the hallway like he had just conquered an invadingarmy all by himself. “I’ll send a text to Angel and Misti. See ifthey are available to run some clothes over for Sage. She’s goingto need something other than our stuff.”

As I led Sage across the hallway to mybedroom and adjoining bath, I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want tomake Sage feel bad and cause her to start babbling again. Thatshouldn’t have been a major turn on, but it was. She was beautifuland real and I didn’t see that combo often. It wasn’t her faultGrayson was a huge dickbag and was broadcasting being fine with herstaying with us for the time being. He also knew I wouldn’t kickher out and his approval would only serve to make me want to keepher here even more.

“I can clean your house,cook meals, whatever you want or need me to do.” Sage’s voicebrought me out of my warring thoughts. “I’ll get myselfstraightened out quickly. I should have done it months ago, but Iknow I can’t just leave an MC club. But I’m not going back thereand I think I should be able to be free considering I didn’t runfrom them. Something happened to me. I don’t know exactly what, butI think that should buy me my freedom.” For the first time sinceshe had opened her eyes, I caught a glimpse of fear in them. Not ofGrayson and me, but of what she had left, through no fault of herown.

I needed a shot of whiskey or fourwhile she showered to get myself under control. “We’ll figurethings out.” My voice came out a bit gruff as I was imagining whatI’d like her help with. Wrapping those gorgeous lips around my cockto suck me off and then letting me fuck her hard. I shook my head.If I wanted pussy I could go to the club or head out to a bar lateron; I didn’t need to make things more difficult for her. “If youwant to help out around here that would be great, but not expected.We brought you here as a guest; you didn’t barge in on us.” I gaveher what I hoped was a friendly smile, but was certain lookedpredatory.

When she beamed up at me, I figuredI’d either nailed it – bad choice of words – or she’d had so manyleering grins shot her way that it didn’t faze her. After steppinginto my room, her eyes went wide and her grin grew. A king sizedbed with a black comforter sat against the wall at the bathroom,black curtains hung from the side by side windows on the oppositewall, a dark stained dresser and a decent sized closet made up therest of the room. She opened her mouth and then immediately closedit.

“You won’t offend me. Whatwere you going to say? I find your musings funny.”

She stared at me for a beat. Herexpression unreadable, but she didn’t appear insulted. “First letme say again, thank you for giving me a place to chill for a bit.And I can sleep on that futon; we just won’t tell Grayson.” Alittle giggle slipped from her lips. “Not only do you take hygieneseriously, but you’re not a slob. I feel like I’ve moved up from adingy hotel to a five star one. Like where are the heaps oflaundry, dirty and clean?”

I shrugged. “I just don’tlike clutter. It makes me think of laziness and I’m anything but.And as for where you’ll sleep. It will be okay with you in here. Ifyou get uncomfortable, I’ll sleep out on the couch.” Hell,I’dbe uncomfortablewith a hard on all night. I walked over to my dresser and pulledout a black t-shirt with our patch design on it and a pair of blackboxers. “The shirt will be long enough to cover the fact that theboxers are entirely too big.”

“I won’t have you sleepingon the couch. I’ll be fine in here. Can you show me where yourtowels and wash clothes are?”

“There is a small closet inthere. Help yourself to whatever you need. Sorry, no prettysmelling soap or shampoo.”

“Clean is the mostimportant thing. Sometimes Amy allowed me to use some of herproducts, but most of the time I was just content to be clean.” Shestepped into the bathroom and gently closed the door behindher.

However, when she didn’t engage thelock, I rushed out of their like the hounds of hell were after me,but it was more like the hounds of temptation. In the kitchen, Isnatched the bottle of Jack Daniels off of the top of therefrigerator; grabbed a tumbler from one of the cabinets; dumped afew ice cubes from the tray in the freezer into the glass; and thenpoured the liquor to the top. Then I took a long drink, allowingthe sweet burn to distract me from my thoughts.

Twisting my body slightly, I leanedagainst the bar as I sipped the rest of my liquid diversion. I wascurious about her story. What was she doing with the Pyro Devils inthe first place? She didn’t sound even remotely happy during hertime there. It probably really wasn’t my business, but I’d have tomake it mine if she wanted me to help her not have to go back. Andthere was still the mystery of what had happened to her. I was wellaware that girls got hit in the club – almost all of the time onlyif it was provoked – but her incident screamed that there was moreto play there. The fact that we had found her unconscious body outin the woods was the biggest indicator of that.

Grayson strolled into the kitchen andopened the refrigerator. “Angel messaged me back. She said she andMisti would rummage through their clothes and bring over somethings later on. I told her Sage was tinier than Misti and she sentback a bunch of laughing emojis and that they would figuresomething out. I wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t turn thisinto multiple shopping sprees. One right now with just the two ofthem and one where they drag Sage with them.” He grabbed a bottleof water, unscrewed the cap, and took a long drink.

“So you gave the girls theimpression Sage was staying here long term.” After downing the lastof my whiskey, I crossed my arms over my chest.

Smirking, he shrugged, his nonchalancerather irritating. “I filled them in on how we found her and whatshe had mentioned to us and our decision to help her out. They cantake that however they want.”

“It wasn’tourdecision.” Iscowled.

“You’re amusing.” His smirkgrew serious. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you have to beconcerned with her. She’s not Jensen, Ryder. I don’t sense adishonest deceitful bone in her sexy as fuck body. I had an inklingabout Jensen, but because she came from club life I figured it wasjust an ingrained part of her, so I dismissed it. And I’ll regretthat decision for the rest of my life. But Sage doesn’t have aspeck of it, even after what she’s been through.”

I wanted to believe that and a bigpart of me did, but when you got burned like I had, it wasdifficult to see past it.

“I hung up my wet stuff onthe empty racks. I hope that was okay. I don’t know what to do withmy dirty stuff though.” Sage stopped on the other side of the bar,holding her clothes in her arms, her hair damp and curly, and myshirt ten sizes too big and stopping at her knees. And looking sexyas hell.

Setting my empty glass in the sink,and ignoring my twitching dick, I motioned for her to come in. “Thewasher and dryer are in a little closet off of the kitchen.” Whenshe joined me, I had to swallow my groan. Her legs looked evenbetter peeking out from the hem of my shirt. I led her back to themachines. “As long as you don’t mind them being washed with ourstuff, you can toss them in here.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She droppedher articles into the basket in front of the washer. “I was able totie your boxers into a knot at the waist so I shouldn’t have aproblem with them slipping.”

And another groan wrenched its way upmy chest.

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