Page 36 of Ace

I climbed in and scooted over to the middle of the bench seat.“Thank you.”I placed a hand on his leg.“That was amazing.I swear I’ve never been in a place that fancy before in my life.”

“You’re welcome.”He covered my hand with his and glanced over at me.

We drove in companionable silence for a few miles.The sun was just setting, spreading a golden red glow across the landscape.Everything was going well at the moment, and I refused to spoil the mood by thinking about how screwed up my life was right now.

Turned out I didn’t have to.Ace spoiled it for me.

“Hate to get serious again, but we need to talk about living arrangements for the next little while.”

“I thought I was staying with you?”I swallowed nervously.

“Yes,” he said as he navigated a sharp corner, “but much as I love having you all to myself, it would be a hell of a lot easier to keep you safe if we were at the clubhouse.”

I studied my shoes, not wanting to meet his gaze.“I really don’t want to go live in a house full of macho guys who can hear everything we do.”I tried to pull my hand back, but he kept it captive on his leg.“For one thing, morning sex in the kitchen would be out.”

“That’s your only concern?”He actually had the nerve to laugh.“Because I could place the kitchen off limits for an hour each morning if you feel it’s necessary to ravage me on a regular basis.”

I yanked my hand free and scuttled to the far side of the seat.“It’s not that, you idiot.It’s my life.Me.You put me in there and it makes me feel like a kid who can’t take care of herself.Like when I used to get caught doing something my mom didn’t approve of, and she locked me in my room.”I made imaginary quotes in the air with my fingers.“‘For my own good.’”

“Not quite the same thing.I’m trying to keep you alive.”He grimaced.“The murderer knows way too much about you.Where you live.Where you work.And you saw that paper Thor found on the guy who tried to break in.They put a hit out on you.A contract on your head.Dead.Not dead or alive.Dead.”

“Yeah.I got that but your guys stopped him.”I swallowed hard.“I can’t hide forever.I need to get on with my life.”

“Hopefully we can figure this out and put a stop to it soon.Then you can do whatever the fuck you want.Until then, you need to be smart.”Ace gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were going white.“I need to know you’re safe, and the best way to do that is to have you at the clubhouse.It could take more time than I originally thought to put an end to this.”He pulled into the driveway and saluted the prospects on perimeter guard.

Right.“Time.The one thing I don’t have a ton of.Actually, one of two things, cash being the other.I need to figure out how to keep my life on track while all this goes down.I can’t go to work, and it sounds like I can’t go to school either.”How the heck had my life become such a train wreck?

“I said I could get you a job at the bar the club owns, and I meant it.You’d be safe there, and you’d make some money.For later.”He held the front door open for me.

“Sure, I guess that works.”I sighed loudly.What choice did I have?

“I’d say I need to get you a set of keys, but you’re not supposed to be out without alone.”Ace came up behind me.Putting his hands on my shoulders, he gently turned me to face him.“Hey.I know it sucks, but it’s not forever.We’ll take care of your problem and then things can go back to normal.”

“I don’t think so,” I said softly as I reached up to trace my fingers across his lips.“Normal isn’t what it used to be, is it?At least not between us.”

The look he gave me was pure molten lust.His hands dropped to my ass, and he pulled me tight enough to feel his rock-hard cock pressed against me.“No, it’s not, but is that such a bad thing?”

He lowered his mouth to claim mine, his tongue demanding entrance.He proceeded to kiss me thoroughly, his tongue stroking over mine as his fingers sank into my hair and held me in place.His scent filled the air around me, warm and muskily male.

I gave myself up to the primitive urges flooding through me as Ace’s hands roamed down my back to cup my ass.Heat danced across every nerve ending, and a low moan escaped my lips.I melted against him, silently surrendering.

“I want you.Now.”I muttered the words against his lips.

Scooping me up, he strode down the hall to his room and kicked the door open.

He placed me gently me on the bed and stood looking down at me for a long moment before he methodically stripped his clothes off, tossing them carelessly aside.His posture screamed raw sexual appeal.

I propped myself up on one elbow to admire the show.His chin was covered in a day’s worth of scruff and his hair was mussed up from me running my fingers through it downstairs.His eyes, normally slate gray, were darkened with lust, and muscles covered his whole body, as did a multitude of tattoos.

They were truly awesome, but right now I was more interested in his cock.Long and thick, it jutted stiff and hard from a nest of dark curls, promising an evening of carnal delight.

I ran my tongue around the circle of my lips, my nostrils flaring to capture his scent as he stalked naked across the room.

“Strip.Now.”Low and gravelly, his voice sent shivers of want and need snaking down my spine.Normally I’d object to being ordered around like a puppy but the way he said it made it sound like more of a promise than an order.

I shifted to my knees and lifted the dress up over my head, careful not to disturb the bandage that still covered my side.Keeping my eyes locked on Ace, I tossed it to the floor and reached behind me to unhook my bra.The lacy confection slid to the bed, freeing my breasts to his hot gaze.

Posing before him in nothing but a thong and a pair of high heeled shoes that laced all the way up to my knees, I lifted one finger to my mouth and slowly sucked it in while peeking at the hulking biker from beneath my lashes.

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