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“If I earn it next week, if I win the fight, you gonna give it to me, Shannon?”
She felt mesmerized by the look in his eyes. He’d kept his distance with her, for the most part. Up until tonight. She hadn’t even been sure she was his type. Now he seemed ready to take their strange relationship to another level. He’d maybe always been ready. Maybe like he said, he wanted to earn it. A man like him probably didn’t appreciate anything that came too easy, and Crash probably had easy all the time. Easy he could have. Any day of the week. She was sure he had a string of women ready and willing to be his for a night, for an hour.
But her? She apparently was a challenge to him. She liked that. She liked that he believed she was a prize worth winning. Worth earning. “All right. One night. You win the fight, I’m yours for the night.”
He grinned huge. “Pretty sure one night’s never gonna be enough with a woman like you.”
She grinned back, her brows raised and challenged, “First you have to win.”
“I’ve made a commitment to protect you. That means I’m willing to bleed for you.” His jaw tightened, but his words were spoken softly as he stroked her jaw. “Do you trust me?”
She searched his eyes. She did trust him, more than she’d ever trusted anyone she suddenly realized. She nodded.
“Say it. I want to hear the words,” he urged.
“I trust you, Crash. I do.”
“That means something to me, Shannon.” His palm held her still, immobilized as he dipped in to explore her mouth. “Open,” he demanded. She complied. His gentle touch and rough command were intoxicating. He touched her like she was precious, treasured. He made her feel desired, wanton and restless for more.
She moaned.
Her response must have enflamed him, because he sank his hands into her hair, controlling her head as his kisses became more unrestrained and wild. Then, without warning, his hands dropped from her head to close around her thighs, and he lifted her up, slamming her back into the bars. He lifted his mouth just enough to growl, “Need you higher.”
Shannon’s arms went wide, as she grabbed at the bars, trembling under the onslaught of his aggressive advances.
“Hang on to me, baby. I’ve got you.”
Her hands let go of the metal, and her arms wrapped around his neck, her mouth going back to his. Then his mouth was trailing down her throat, down to her cleavage. Then abruptly he was setting her back on her feet, his head twisting toward the door with a muttered curse. It took her a moment to realize the sound of the music from the other part of the building had increased in volume. Her eyes followed his. The door was open, and Cole was standing in it.
“We got trouble.”
Crash grabbed her hand and pulled her along after him as he followed Cole back down the hall and into the main room. Cole explaining along the way, “Wolf and one of your boys.”
“Crystal?” Crash asked cryptically.
“Yup.”
“Goddamn it,” Crash muttered as they went through the door.
There was some type of commotion going on near the front door, men gathered around watching something. Cole and Crash pushed through to the front. Crash paused just long enough to turn back toward Shannon and jerk his head toward the bar. “Go.”
She moved off to the safety of the bar as Crash and Cole forded into the thick of the fight, each pulling a man back. Cole shoved Wolf up against the wall, and Crash didn’t have to do more than glare at Shane, and he backed down. Jake pulling him back a few steps. Shane shrugged off Jake’s arm.
Shannon watched as both men glared at each other from across the five or so feet that separated them. Then she noticed Crystal a few feet from her, her face stricken, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Shannon pushed her way through the crowd to reach her. “Crystal, are you okay?”
Crystal turned to her and whispered, “It’s my fault.”
Shannon frowned. “How is this your fault?”
“I led Shane on earlier. I just wanted to make Wolf jealous. I should have known better.”
Shannon turned toward the men. This was not good. So not good. She didn’t think Crystal ‘belonged’ to any of them, but she had a feeling someone was going to have words with her if they realized she was the cause of this. Judging by the way Crash had been ‘expected’ to take her in hand earlier, she didn’t want to see that happen to Crystal. Then she remembered Crash’s cryptic muttering of Crystal’s name in the hall and Cole’s affirmative response in the hall from a moment
ago. They both already knew this was due in some way to Crystal. Shannon clamped a hand around her wrist and pulled. “Come on.”
Crystal stumbled through the crowd after her. “Where are we going?”
“Just come with me.” She pulled her upstairs, remembering she still had Cole’s keys in her pocket from earlier when Crash had handed them to her and told her to get upstairs. Shannon led Crystal down the hall and fumbled with the keys in the dim light. She got the door open, pulled Crystal inside and shut the door, throwing the lock.
