Chapter 17
Shade lifted the whip, letting the tip touch the tip of the pink nipple with a slight sting as his cell phone started to ring on his nightstand. Ignoring the woman chained to his bedroom wall, whimpering in frustration, he answered the call.
“Yes?”
“I need a favor.” Shade could barely hear Viper’s low voice.
“Already giving you two.” Shade’s eyes went back to Natasha, who was wiggling her ass against the mat hung on the wall, then switched to where Ember was tied to his bed.
“I told you I would pay you back. Conner leave?”
“About an hour ago. He thinks he’s going to be a Last Rider.”
“He wouldn’t live through the initiation.”
“I don’t know; kind of liking the benefits of having him around.”
As Natasha’s hand on her thigh started to inch toward her pussy, Shade pulled the whip back then snapped it forward so it almost moved in slow motion, striking the back of her hand. She slid it back down to rest on her thigh.
“Shade? You there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong with your voice?”
“Winter’s sleeping, and I don’t want to wake her.”
“So, what’s the favor?”
“I need you to guard the stairs and make sure Winter doesn’t try to escape.”
“I take it Winter didn’t enjoy her first party.”
“Oh, she enjoyed it, too much. She’s going to try to bolt, but I want her to stay right where she is. That’s where you come in.”
“I’ll do it, but it’s going to cost you.”
“What do you want?”
“For two favors, I was willing to settle for a week off. For three, I want your marker.”
“I don’t give out markers,” Viper refused. “Pick something else.”
“You gave Beth your marker,” Shade reminded him.
“That was different. I thought Dad was responsible for Lily’s accident.”
“So, Winter’s staying here isn’t as important?” Silence from the other end of the call had Shade pushing the boundaries of what his president would allow. “Get Rider to do it.”
“He’s drunk off his ass.”
“Get one of the prospects to do it.”
“They’re young enough that Winter will intimidate them into helping her.”
“Where’s the rest of the brothers?”
“They all decided to take a midnight run.”
“Sounds like you’re shit out of luck. Why don’t you do it? Watch some TV?”
“I’m tired, and I’ll be putting in a lot of overtime since I promised you those days off for being the women’s reward if they kept Conner away from Winter. I’m worried she’ll sneak out of bed without me knowing,” Viper snapped.
“Sounds like you have only one option left.”
“I could order you to do it.”
“You could,” Shade agreed.
“Fuck you, Shade. What do you need my marker for?”
“I like to be prepared,” was Shade’s only response.
“All right, then, but she better be here when I wake up,” Viper warned.
“She will be,” Shade promised, his eyes returning to the two women in his bedroom. “Give me twenty minutes before you go to sleep. I have to finish with these favors first.”
Viper hung up on him.
* * *
Shade heard the bedroom door open and the sound of metal scraping. Viper must’ve been getting old not to have woken up with the racket Winter was making. He waited for the little runaway to make her way down the hallway to where he was hidden at the top of the steps.
Winter gave a startled scream when she finally saw him.
“Going someplace?” he asked casually.
“Breakfast?”
Shade lifted a brow at her show of fake innocence. “No one is up yet.”
“I can make my own.”
“How were you going to get down the steps?” he asked coldly.
“What are you doing here?” Winter asked impatiently, ignoring his question.
“Viper had a feeling you would try to make a run for it after last night.” Shade shrugged. “Seems he was right.”
“He asked you to stand here all night?” she asked in disbelief.
“Yes. Need a lift downstairs, or do you want to go back to bed?”
“Downstairs, please.”
The doorbell rang just as he was about to lift her.
“Your accomplice?” Shade asked as he saw Viper striding down the hallway.
“Who is it?” Viper asked.
“Pastor Dean.”
Shade’s and Viper’s eyes met over Winter’s head, and Viper grinned. “Could be worse. Shade, answer the door while I get Houdini.”
Shade went down the steps to open the door.
“Hey, Dean.”
“Shade, you look like you enjoyed your Friday night.”
He glared back at the fresh-faced Lucky who wasn’t trying to hide his amusement. “Fuck off.”
Lucky brushed by him. “I don’t know why you’re so cranky; I’m the one who missed the party,” he mocked.
Viper reached the bottom of the steps carrying Winter.
“Viper, Shade, Winter, it’s good to see you all again.”
Lucky’s pastor persona made Shade want to vomit up the whiskey he had drunk last night.
“Want some coffee?” Viper asked, carrying Winter to the kitchen and sitting her down on a chair at the table.
“Sounds good to me.” Lucky sat down at the table next to Winter, giving her a reassuring smile.
It never failed to amaze Shade the way Lucky could turn the two sides of his identity on and off. And everyone thinks I’m the psychopath, Shade thought wryly.
“Going to bed, Viper.”
“Thanks, Shade.”
He left without a word to Winter or Lucky, feeling her glare on his back. He almost hung around to watch the show Viper and Lucky would put on in front of Winter yet then decided he really didn’t give a fuck.
He went into his empty bedroom where he meticulously cleaned the equipment he had used on the twins, even washing down the mat before sliding it under his bed. He then went into his bathroom to turn the shower on.
When steam began filling the room, he went under the hot spray. Picking up the shower gel, he began to clean himself as thoroughly as the equipment, wiping away the memories of the women he had fucked the night before.
His body should have been satiated; instead, it was as if he hadn’t had a woman in months. None of the women were Lily.
He felt his cock hardening, surging upwards along his lean belly. He could have called any of the women and they would have run downstairs to relieve the hard-on, yet Shade didn’t want them—he would only have to take another shower to wash their touch from him.
Shade lathered his hand with the gel then slid it down to his cock, his thumb gliding over the tip. He braced his other hand on the tiled shower wall as he began to slip his hand up and down, imagining Lily spread before him with desire in her eyes, the shadows of fear gone. He imagined her playing with herself as he stroked, his balls tightening as he imagined her arching, lifting her hips toward him. His cum burst out, giving him a brief moment of relief from the desire, which constantly rode him for Lily.
