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Prologue
Becs
Pulling into the parking lot of the motorcycle club, I put my Jeep in park and angled the rearview mirror so I could see my reflection. I’d put in more effort than usual tonight, even going as far as smoky eyes and lipstick. I’d been coming to these parties for as long as I could remember, but only in the past few years was I permitted to stay late. Usually, my mom dragged me out when she sensed it was going to get wild. It wasn’t until I stayed all night for the first time that I understood why.
Wild was an understatement.
It wasn’t because of drugs, although weed regularly made an appearance. And it wasn’t even the amount of alcohol that was consumed. It was the utter lack of inhibition that was shocking.
And I loved it.
It was also the fact that no one cared what anyone else was doing. They did what felt good without apology, and because it stayed within these walls, no one was hurting anyone else. The club members knew the rules, and the prospects were trained early that any woman who walked through the doors be told what to expect. There would be drinking, and there would likely be nudity. If they couldn’t handle it, then don’t bring them.
Lucky for me, my brother was the president of the Sinners Motorcycle Club, or MC as we all called it, and had been for a few years. I wasn’t touched unless I initiated it, and I loved initiating. I was twenty-two and figuring out my own sexuality, which meant a lot of experimenting, but that all changed when a new prospect walked through the doors about a year ago. It was a night that changed my life and one I’d never forget.
He’d just stepped inside, allowing the door to close behind him, but he didn’t move. His eyes traveled slowly across the room until they landed on mine, where I stood behind the bar. A shiver rolled over my skin when his stare lingered. Needing to break eye contact for my own sanity, I let my eyes travel slowly down his body. He was tall, as tall as my brother, Bear, who was nearly six-four. I liked his height, considering I was tall myself. I loved how I felt wrapped in a man’s arms when he was bigger than me. And this man was definitely bigger than me. He wasn’t bulky like Bull, a Sinners member who looked and acted very much like his name, but he was muscular.
And confident.
It just radiated from him.
God, that was sexy.
It was only when he began walking toward the bar that I noticed he wasn’t alone. Tank, a member of the MC, was walking beside him, and I glanced at him, but my eyes immediately moved right back to the mystery man at his side. As he walked, I noticed his strides were long and lithe, and his dark eyes never wavered from where I stood. He wore a dark-green shirt stretched tight across his broad chest and jeans with work boots. Nothing special, but he made it all look so damn good that my mouth was dry when he finally reached me.
They both stopped in front of the bar, and Tank spoke, but all I heard was his name. Race. An odd name, but somehow fitting for this man. He studied me, which was sexy, but it was when he opened his mouth and his deep sexy growl rolled over me that I knew I was in trouble. “Here to see Bear.”
Staring into the darkness, I closed my eyes and waited for the shiver to once again roll over me from nothing more than a memory. It was nothing new anymore. Just the mere thought of him caused a visceral reaction I’d come to expect. That night, Bear had welcomed this stranger into the club as a prospect, and within six months, he’d earned his membership. We knew him as Race. Bear knew his real name but never disclosed it. Usually, the guys entered the MC and earned their road name, but not Race. He came with his, which I always found mysterious.
He was something of an enigma and had this raw energy about him that drew me in. I wanted to be close to him every chance I had. Bear described him as reliable. The guys described him as trustworthy. But to me, he was so much more. I developed feelings for him quickly, and even though I knew they were one-sided, that knowledge didn’t stop me from dreaming that one day they wouldn’t be. He was twenty-five and worldly in a way I wasn’t, but none of that slowed me down. He was a challenge. And I’d never been one to back down from a challenge, so I shamelessly flirted with him, asking him all about his life, most of which he never talked about, all the while trying very hard to be noticed.
He never noticed me.
Or at least I thought he hadn’t.
Until last weekend.
We’d been at the bar, but it wasn’t busy yet. One of the prospects was making drinks and offered me a beer, but before I could answer, he spoke up.
“Becs doesn’t drink beer.”
He was right. I didn’t like beer. To be fair, I hadn’t had experience with drinking much of anything before I was twenty-one, so I didn’t really know what I liked. I’d had wine, but only when my brother wasn’t watching. He refused to let me drink while I was underage, always saying that was the fastest way to invite the cops in, but I assumed he was afraid of how I’d behave with liquor in my system.
The day I turned twenty-one, he finally gave me a beer, and I absolutely hated it. He’d laughed and made me a mixed drink, which I loved. From then on, I only drank wine and mixed drinks, but I didn’t think anyone had noticed. No one seemed to pay attention to what anyone else drank or at least that was what I assumed.
After the shock of his response to the prospect wore off, I’d faced him. “How do you know that?”
“You never drink it.” He shrugged. “Just assumed.”
Neither of us said more, and the prospect made me a mixed drink, but I hadn’t forgotten that. I spent the entire week turning that over in my mind until I realized maybe the attraction I felt wasn’t all one-sided. Maybe he’d been watching me as closely as I’d been watching him.
And there was only one way to find out.
Gathering my courage with one last deep breath, I shoved open the door to my car, hopped out, and faced the closed doors of the clubhouse. Running my hands over my hips, I moved quickly across the parking lot, both excited and terrified that I planned to tell Race how I felt tonight. The cool air slid over my bare arms, and I adjusted the hem of my black tank top. I wasn’t a frilly girl. Tank tops and jeans were my favorite things to wear. I only dressed up if I absolutely had to, plus I felt confident in these clothes. I felt sexy. And I would need both of those feelings to follow through tonight.
I smiled at the prospect manning the door before he pulled it open and I walked inside. The smell of cigarette smoke and beer hit me like a punch. Yeah, tonight was definitely a little rowdier than usual if those smells were this strong before midnight. It meant these guys started early and planned to go all night.
Grinning, I lifted my hand in a wave when I heard my name shouted from the dance floor. I loved these guys. They were my family, and even more so after Bear and I lost our parents and brother all within two years. My dad and brother were killed defending this very club, and our mom died of cancer not long after. Bear went off the rails after they died and even spent time in jail before he got his life back on track. It wasn’t long after he came back that the members fought another rival club under a president with the worst intentions. Our dad had been cleaning up the club but not the new president. He wanted it to stay the way it had always been, but that meant drugs and prostitution, and would inevitably mean death to the members.
