The strange-eyed biker either ignored or just didn’t notice the attempt to make him uncomfortable. So the only one on edge was Jonah, his skin tight and his mouth dry.
“She didn’t ask you anything?” he asked.
“Only where she knew me from.”
“And she didn’t offer you anything?”
Jonah shrugged and slammed the driver’s side door. “Does tongue count?”
A smile twitched at the biker’s mouth, and the dimple flirted briefly with his cheek. He scratched the side of his jaw with his thumb. “Not unless you enjoy it,” he said. “You looked like you were about to scream for help.”
“Yeah, well, she’s not my type.”
“Too old?”
“Too female,” Jonah said. “I like men.”
He bit his tongue, as if that would do any good once the words were out. Not that it wasn’t public knowledge, but it wasn’t exactly relevant. The only reason the biker needed to know who Jonah liked to fuck was… just in case Jonah hoped it might be relevant in another way.
That wasn’t a good idea, no matter what the tug of lust in Jonah’s stomach thought. Just shy of too pretty for their own good bad boys on motorcycles had gotten Jonah into trouble before. All of his exes had gotten him into trouble. This guy—who was too young for Jonah and running thug errands for some local warlock—would fit right into that particular mug book.
Ifthe biker was even interested in Jonah. It was hard to tell from the neutral expression on that pretty face as he took in that information. Of course, he was on the clock. Maybe he didn’t like to mix business with pleasure.
“Stay away from Slater,” the biker told him after a moment. “Maybe we can’t touch her right now, but no one’s got their hand over you. The shit hits the fan, and you’re the one that will be made an example of. Don’t pay for her sins.”
Jonah shrugged. “OK,” he said. “I won’t. Are we done?”
There was a pause as the biker rubbed his throat absently. “People are usually more scared of me,” he said slowly. “I kind of like that you aren’t.”
The left hook took Jonah by surprise. He caught the blur of it out of the corner of his eye, and next thing he knew, he was on his back, his jaw hot and stiff in the way that was about to hurt any minute…
There it was.
Jonah groaned, a winded thread of a sound. He tried to get his elbows under him to push himself up. The biker put a boot on his chest and pinned him down. The pressure spread through Jonah’s breastbone and out into his shoulder blades.
“But you should learn, for your own sake. Nobody in Jerusalem gets away without picking a side, and nobody else will find your attitude cute.”
“I’ll bear that in mind.”
The biker reached into his jacket and pulled out a card. He leaned down to tuck it into the neck of Jonah’s T-shirt and then wiped his thumb over Jonah’s lower lip to catch the blood. Every miswired nerve that Jonah had pulled tight and hot under his skin in reaction. For some reason, bad ideas were always the most tempting.
His reaction was probably pretty obvious on his face as the biker hesitated for a moment. His eyes focused on Jonah’s mouth, and he dragged his thumb over it again, rougher his time. Bruised skin stung, and Jonah whimpered, a low, raw sound that was dragged out of him on a hook.
The man looked darkly satisfied at the reaction and licked his own lips. Then he took his hand back and straightened up.
“You might not believe it,” he said as he sucked his bloody thumb clean. That wasnothot, and someone needed to tell Jonah’s cock that. “But we’re the good guys. If you make the right choice, ask for Shiloh when you get there. I’ll vouch for you. Play your cards right, I might do more than that.”
He took his foot off Jonah and turned to go. Jonah pushed himself up onto one elbow.
“You don’t know me.”
“Probably makes it easier to like you,” Shiloh tossed over his shoulder as he walked away.
Yeah, well, that was actually a fair point. Jonah lowered himself back down and waited for his head to stop spinning.
He should be grateful. This reminded him of exactly why he’d come to Jerusalem in the first place.
Being Jonah Carrow sucked.
