14. Ghost

14

Ghost

Mistakes have been made.

Ones that have been easy to resist up to this point because enjoying a woman isn’t worth what I’ll cause them if they stick around too long.

But then in walked Luna Cassidy.

A girl who is every wet dream come to life. Brilliant. Beautiful.

She’s a ray of light, and I’m the black hole drinking her down like she can cast sunshine into the darkness.

What I wouldn’t give to get one taste of her. One kiss. If it wasn’t just my soul on the line, nothing could have stopped me from giving in.

But when Luna blinked, looking up into my eyes, she reminded me why I can’t be selfish. Just because she’s an angel from heaven doesn’t change the fact that I’m the chains from hell. I can’t let her be my salvation just to damn her soul in return .

The line is drawn.

Or so I thought.

Everything is getting really fucking blurry lately. The sight of Luna stripped down to her lacy bra and panties gave me a stronger hit than a bottle of whiskey.

She sunk onto my lap, and I almost believed I deserved to hold her. Her nails bit into my shoulders, and she rocked over me as I slipped my fingers into paradise.

My hand decorating her throat is the only necklace I want her to wear for the rest of her life.

I snapped.

Her slick pussy gripped me, and I tried not to think about how tight she’d feel wrapped around my cock. I resisted every urge to flip her over and break my abstinence streak.

Five years ago, when I decided I do more bad than good, it was simple giving up sex. Fucking a girl isn’t worth the consequence of letting them get close. Before I met Luna, I thought a lifetime of celibacy might not be the death of me.

All it took was one look in her ocean-blue eyes to doubt every decision I’d ever made. It wasn’t easy at all. I just hadn’t met a girl who made me want to break my promise to myself.

But what happens if I give in?

What happens if I’m selfish?

I might already know the answer, but my body is starting to physically resist it.

The hallway is quiet when I step out of the VIP room. I give Luna her space to get dressed and come to terms with what happened. We can’t have more, no matter how much I want to.

I wait at the end of the hall until Luna steps out next. She shuts the door, pausing to adjust the knot at the bottom of her T-shirt, and I watch her from a distance. She’s showing off more skin than she was when she first walked into the club, and I’m not the only one who notices.

“Damn.” Venom stops beside me, grinning.

“What the fuck are you looking at?”

His eyebrows pinch at my tone. “Nothing, boss.”

My teeth grit as I watch Luna pull her hair into a knot on the top of her head. “Good.”

I feel Venom’s attention moving from me to her. If I’m lucky, Chaos won’t think anything of us disappearing because Luna and I regularly work together. But Venom sees it. The wheels in his head are already turning. He might spend more time pissing me off than impressing me lately, but he’s not an idiot.

Luna glances up at me, and her cheeks brighten. Her lower lip is puffy from biting at it, but the tension she walked into the club with has dissipated.

She stands staring at me from the other end of the hall, and I know we’re in trouble because her gaze lights a match to the dark caverns of my heart. She adds kindling to this fire that’s catching, and we’re both going to burn if we aren’t careful.

I’m tempted to drag her back into the VIP room and follow the blush on her neck, down her chest, and over her whole body. I’d like to strip her bare and figure out what makes her skin prickle. What makes her pussy drip. What makes her scream.

“Oh shit.” Venom looks from Luna to me. “I swear I didn’t know that Luna was your girl, Ghost, or I wouldn’t have tried anything with her.”

I look over at him and consider saying she’s not mine. But I don’t owe a prospect an explanation, and I don’t mind him thinking she is.

“Did you ride here on your bike?”

I might not be willing to claim Luna, but there’s no way she’s getting on the back of another man’s bike after she just came on my fucking hand.

“No.” Venom shakes his head. “I drove her here in one of the club’s vans.”

Good. At least he’s smart enough not to have a death wish.

“Are you good to get her home, or has Chaos been feeding you shots?”

“I’m good.”

I nod, crossing my arms over my chest. The last thing I want to do is send her home with Venom, but I need to finish up what I was working on before she got here, and if I don’t get her out of my periphery, I’m not going to be able to keep resisting her.

Luna stops at my side, looking up at me. I swear she’s smaller now. More fragile. She might be strong as hell, but I can’t see past her mortality.

Skin. Blood. Bone.

People are so fucking breakable, and that’s never bothered me until her.

“Venom’s taking you back to the clubhouse.”

Luna frowns. “You’re not coming?”

“Can’t yet. I still have shit to get done tonight.”

Plus, if I put her on the back of my bike later, I might never let her go.

Luna wets her lips, looking around the strip club. It’s rowdier now than when she arrived because it’s getting later, and I wonder what she’s thinking.

Sapphire Rise is supposed to be topless only, but after a certain point in the night, Chaos doesn’t stop the girls from doing what they want for extra tips. And tonight, it’s madness.

Luna is watching a girl do the splits on a pole, and then her gaze darts to me, but I don’t sense she’s jealous that I’m spending time at the club working. She’s seen worse back at the clubhouse, and sometimes, she’ll sit around and watch.

Luna knows what she has to offer, and I have no interest in anything going on around me. Nothing here appeals to me except for the purple-haired splash of brightness staring into my eyes.

“Venom, give us a second.”

He nods, walking to wait by the exit.

Luna steps closer with him gone, but there’s still a gap. I want to close it, but I can’t, and it has my skin crawling.

“Why are you sending me back? I can just wait while you finish up what you need to do.” Her eyebrows pinch. “I can just go home with you.”

Those words have never sounded so good .

Her on my bike.

Her in my bed.

I want it all, and that’s the problem.

“It might be five minutes, or it might be five hours.” I tuck my hands in my pockets to stop them from reaching for her. “You should get some sleep.”

“I don’t mind—”

“Go with Venom,” I cut her off, averting my gaze because if I keep staring her in the eyes, she’s going to see the truth in them. “I’ve got shit to do, Luna, and I can’t be worrying about you while I do it. What we did didn’t change anything. It’s not like you’re my old lady.”

She flinches like my words are a physical punch to the gut, and I hate it. When she steps back a step, I don’t blame her.

“I’m not asking you for your fucking property patch, Ghost.” She narrows her eyes. “But the least you could do is be a decent human being.”

“Luna—”

“Don’t worry about it.” She holds up her hands. “I get it. You’re just like the rest of them.”

Her hard expression cracks as she turns away, revealing the hurt behind her anger. I almost reach out and stop her.

I almost risk it.

But I don’t.

I watch her from the corner of my eye as she brushes past Venom and out the exit. And the pinch of confusion on his face tells me everything I need to know about her expression .

Venom disappears out of the club after Luna, and I disappear down the VIP hall, continuing until I reach the office this time.

I’m here to work tonight, but Luna fucked that up. Now, she’s messing with my head.

By the time we come out the other side of this, she’s going to hate me, and maybe that’s for the best. Then she’ll stop asking me for things that will hurt her.

Sitting down at the computer, I tip my head back and drag my fingers through my hair. All I see are Luna’s eyes in the darkness. I can still smell her perfume lingering on my clothes. I can feel her heat wrapped around my fingers.

I’m losing my fucking mind over this girl.

Tonight, I was supposed to be getting the system ready for the software updates tomorrow, but Luna makes it impossible to think.

I’m not sure how long I’ve been staring at the wall when my phone rings, cutting through the silence.

“What?” I answer, expecting to hear Soul on the other end of the line, giving me crap about missing the party at the clubhouse tonight.

“We’re being followed.” Venom’s voice cuts through, and I’m immediately out of my chair.

“How many?”

“Two bikes…” There’s a pause. “Maybe three. Or four. There’s too much traffic in this part of the city to tell.”

At least they’re still in the city. Even if they are being followed, our rivals know better than to start shit this close to the Strip. It would draw the attention of law enforcement.

“All right. I’m getting Chaos. Keep as much distance as you can, and don’t stop moving. I’ve got a tracker on the van, so we’ll find you. And Venom, you keep her safe, or I’ll fucking gut you. Do you understand?”

“I understand, boss.”

Right as I’m about to hang up, I hear metal crunch, and it has my entire body tensing as the line goes dead.

“Fuck.” I walk down the VIP hall and into the bar, knocking Chaos on the shoulder when I get there. “We’ve gotta go. Now.”

Chaos doesn’t ask questions. He barely acknowledges the stripper in his lap before setting her on the stool beside him and following me. “What’s up?”

“Venom’s got a tail. And I think whoever is chasing them hit the van before the line went dead.”

“What would the Iron Sinners want with one prospect?”

I swallow hard, barely able to breathe past the lump in my throat. “Luna’s with him.”

“Shit.” Chaos pulls his helmet on as I hop on my bike. “This isn’t about him then.”

“No.”

Pulling out my phone, I’m glad I’m paranoid enough to have tracking devices on all club vehicles and phones so I know where the members are at all times.

Venom and Luna are still moving, which means what I heard wasn’t a crash. But when I see they’re getting farther outside the city, panic swells in my chest. He’s heading back to the clubhouse, but there’s nothing out there to stop their tail from making a move on them.

“In the mood to spill some Iron Sinner blood?” I start my bike and look over at Chaos.

He chuckles. “Like you even have to ask.”