Page 38 of Bear

“Leave ’em here. Your boots too.”

Her jaw drops open. “These are expensive.”

“So is a lawyer.”

She huffs and meets my gaze. “You want me to strip?”

I fold my arms and give her a no-nonsense look. “You want me to spank that attitude right out of you?”

“Fine. I’ll strip.”

“Good girl,” I deadpan.

With an arrogant little chin tilt, she grabs the hem of her shirt and lifts it over her head. Her tits sway with the motion.Fuck. I bite my lip to keep from stalking over there, bending my head, and taking one of those cherry-red nipples in my mouth. She turns and bends over to unclasp the buckle on her boots, and I sigh impatiently as she waggles her ass and the too-thin seam of her shorts pulls skin-tight against that pert little pussy.

Fucking littles. Why are they always the worst kind of cocktease? What’s even more infuriating is that Tink doesn’t even realize she is one.

She kicks off her boots and slides her shorts down her hips and over her thighs. They fall in a heap on the floor, and she steps out of them and walks slowly to her office.

I guess she wasn’t lying about the no panties thing.Jesus. This bitch is gonna be the death of me.

Several beats later, I’m squeezing my semi to draw all the blood away from my poor, neglected cock when a van pulls into the lot out front. I don’t bother opening the door—not with the lights on and the possibility of wandering eyes from the street beyond. But I tread as carefully as I can toward the back door and open it for them. Sterling, Crow, Ruin, and Mako walk in wearing black hoodies and jeans, no cuts. I peel mine off and hold it out for Sterling to take.

“What the fuck happened, brother?” He surveys a glob of brain matter as it slides free of the leather and splats on the concrete floor.

“Those Bayou fuckers came after Jupiter—that’s what happened.”

“She okay?”

I nod and tip my chin in the dead motherfucker’s direction. “She did this.”

“Jupiter caved a man’s skull in?” Crow’s brows arch high on his pretty-boy face.

I frown. “Well, no. I caved the asshole’s skull in. She just wielded the monkey wrench that ended his life.”

“Then why—”

“Because I didn’t want that shit on her conscience.”

Sterling narrows his eyes. “I like you, brother, but if you fuck with Jupiter, I’m gonna be forced to put my boot throughyourskull.”

I fold my arms across my chest, because as much as the Uprising chapter has welcomed me with open arms, I don’t take threats lightly. I also don’t fucking appreciate what he’s insinuating. I’m not just fucking with this mouthy, grease-stained little princess who’s loved by the MC as if she were one of their own.

“What exactly were you doing here?” Ruin waggles his eyebrows like a fucking eighth-grader, and I take a deep breath and resist the urge to punch him in the head. Sometimes I forget that while I’m closer to them in age than I am to their dads, the boys are almost ten years younger than me. They’re already wreaking havoc the way only club brothers can.

“It ain’t even like that.” Most days I can’t decide if I want to fuck her or kill her. I unbutton my jeans and peel them off, tossing them on top of the corpse. Covering my junk with my hands, I stand there freezing my ass off while Mako, Ruin, and Crow all dick around. Sterling is still glued to the spot, giving me death stares.

“Did you bring me a change of clothes or not?” A car careens around the side of the workshop and a door opens. I stiffen. “Who the fuck is that?”

“It’s Saint,” Jupiter says from the office. I didn’t even realize she was standing there, but there she is in an oversized hoodie, staring at my naked-ass body, cataloguing every scar, every tattoo, as if she hadn’t seen it all before. I swallow hard and level her with a cold stare. Her throat bobs as she shrugs. “I’d know that truck anywhere.”

“Don’t move,” Sterling says to Jupiter. “I’ll come get you so you don’t get dead motherfucker on your feet.”

A growl reverberates in my chest. It’s not loud, likely only audible to Sterling and the guys judging from the vacant look on Jupiter’s face, but I just played my hand in front of the brothers, and now I’m never gonna hear the end of it. Hell, Sterling might fucking kill me for even looking at his friend.Or he could try. I’m one tough motherfucker to kill. Afghanistan couldn’t do it, my Sergeant at Arms fucking my old lady couldn’t do it, and the Twisted Snakes and the Bayou Bastards couldn’t do it, but again, he’s welcome to try.

Saint opens the door and strides in, tossing a wad of clothing at me. “I only brought what I had at home. Might not fit your big ass though. Jesus, dude, they teach you how to cave a man’s skull in with your foot in the army?”

“Navy. I’m ... Iwasa Navy SEAL.”

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