Prologue

Thea's Seventeenth Birthday Party

"What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

Thea jerks up when she hears my voice. Something changes in her expression that I don't quite catch. That's nothing new. When it comes to Thea, I never know how to read her. She's probably the prettiest girl I've ever seen in my life. We're talking drop-dead, fucking gorgeous. Her skin is a soft golden brown, almost light amber. Her eyes seem to be a mixture of silver and blue. I've never seen either before and probably never will. She's lithe, with just enough curves that make you itch to run your hands over them. Her tits aren't huge, but definitely more than a handful. I have big hands and they'd easily fill them every single fucking time I'd hold them.

Not that I would.

The reasons I can never touch Thea are too numerous to count. I used to remind myself of them when I'd get the itch to go there with her.I mean, it's not like I've lusted after her constantly, but I'm a guy and any guy would have to be insane not to want Thea. She's beautiful, but it's more than that. She's got a spirit inside of her that just makes everything around her more alive. Pure energy—that's all you can describe her as.

Fuck, I'm in this push and pull thing with Gabby. I swear, I'm in it with that girl. I gave her my vow when she gave me her virginity, and I'm sticking by my word. Besides, for me, it has always been her. Yet, if there was ever going to be someone to make me think twice—maybe three or four times—it would be Thea. That's why it is a good fucking thing she is who she is…un-fucking-touchable.

Thea is just another reason it's complicated to be a prospect for the Savage Brothers Motorcycle Club my father is president of. Incidentally, Thea is the eldest daughter of our Club Enforcer, Bull. My mother isn't happy about my brother and I beginning our journey in the club. She wants us to wait. That's not happening. I'm old enough and being a part of this club is my destiny. It is all I've ever wanted.

I'm not sure my brother feels the same, but where one of us goes, the other follows. It has always been that way and it always will be. My brother Thomas—T for short—is a part of me. The club is who I am. I hope to one day step into my father's shoes and lead the club. I sure as fuck won't achieve that if I begin by fucking Bull's daughter. Club members' families are off limits. Besides, all Thea and I could have is sex. It's not possible to ever be more. We're too different, and like I said, I have a woman.

Maybe.

Jesus, Gabby is working my last nerve. I need to talk to T about her. I know my brother has feelings for her, but she's promised she told him she could never go there with him and that she loves me. T doesn't seem to get the message. Gabby and I had a big fight about it yesterday and we're not really talking today. She made me promise to give her time to talk with T again to let him down gently. She's worried she is coming between us, so she wants to proceed carefully. I don't agree with the way she's handling it, but Jesus, I don't know shit about this kind of thing. It's not like I do relationships. There's only ever been Gabby for me, and we haven't made that public, so I haven't dealt with the usual bullshit all my brothers talk about with having a woman. If there's one thing that I'm thankful about, it'd be that and only that. I hate keeping Gabby a secret and watching other men sniffing around what's mine. I've handled that privately, too. Still, I hate that they even try that shit. I'm ready to claim her.

I just don't want to hurt T to do it.

T hasn't had an easy life. Kids constantly made fun of him when we were young because he had a stutter. I stopped it when I could, and T learned to stand up for himself, but I know the damage it has done to him. He's left feeling less than, and I fucking hate that. He's completely unsure of himself around women, and that's just another reason this thing with Gabby between us is hard to navigate.

Still, he's finally doing better, and I don't want to hurt the progress he's made. He barely stutters at all now. I know he loves Gabby, but she loves me. I want her, but I don't want to hurt my brother. She says she has it handled, and fuck, I'm hoping she does, because I'm about done with this bullshit.

"Wishing I didn't have to go in there," Thea mutters, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Uh, Thea, it's your party," I point out.

"I never asked for it.I don't even want to be here. Mom and Dad are just throwing it to keep from spending another evening listening to me list the reasons they're being unreasonable by not letting me go to New York."

"New York?" I ask, wondering why in the hell anyone would want to go there. I've been there a couple times with Mom and Dad when I was younger. T, Dad, and I hated it. Mom and Kay loved everything about it. That's the first time I ever questioned my mom's sanity.

"I got a modeling contract," she responds, shocking the shit out of me.

"You're going to be a model?" I ask, my eyes going wide in shock. I don't even try to hide my surprise.

Thea looks at me, her eyes narrowing. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," I laugh, holding my hands up in surrender. "You just don't seem the modeling type."

"Just because you don't think I'm attractive doesn't mean other people feel the same, Dom," she gripes.

I doubt there is a man with a heartbeat that wouldn't find her gorgeous—even if they would want to gag her mouth so she wouldn't bitch them to death. The woman was made to torture a man. As much as I don't like the way she is constantly busting my balls, I can think of some fucking great uses for that mouth of hers.

But I refuse to think about that.

"You're Breaker's kid sister. I just don't think of you that way," I lie. I use that line on her often when times like this come up. These days I'm not sure which one of us I'm trying to convince.

She rolls her eyes. "You're such a dick," she mutters. "I must have been insane to think there was something to you."

"What the fuck does that mean? Damn, I just came to wish you Happy Birthday."

"Oh, please. You skip my birthdays since that one two years ago. You just came tonight to see if Gabby was going to be here. Hate to break it to you, Dom, but that bitch is not allowed here today. I didn't want a party, but I told Dad if I was going to have one, then she couldn't be here."

"Why are you always like that with Gabby? She really wants to be your friend, Thea." I try to reach her. I hate this rift between the two of them. Gabby is my woman and Thea is my family. I want them to get along. Breaker, Thea's brother, is my best friend. Once this mess with Thomas and his unreasonable attraction to Gabby gets cleared up, I'd love to take my girl to Breaker's, and I know Thea is there a lot. Hell, I even asked Gabby to come by today so we could talk. We really need to. There's shit we have to clear up. Yet now Thea has me feeling guilty because she obviously doesn't want her here. Jesus, life shouldn't be this fucking complicated.

"You know what I find completely mind-blowing about you?"

"What?" I ask, knowing she's pissed at me—yet again. Anytime Gabby comes up in the conversation with her, it all goes south.

"That you seem like an intelligent guy—a man who has it altogether."

"Thea, I know you still have a crush on me. Gabby told me you tried to convince her there was something between us. I didn't confront you because there wasn't a need. I don't want to hurt you. I'm flattered, but?—"

"And if that bitch tells you something, it's the law. Right, Dom?"

"I can't talk to you when you get like this. You've always been jealous of Gabby. You really need to quit obsessing over her and my relationship with her. Concentrate on your own life, Thea. It's time you focus on your own happiness."

She raises her hand to slap me, and I catch it, wrapping my hand around her wrist, holding it mere inches from my face.

"I have never been jealous of that bitch. I hate her. She plays you and Thomas like violins, and you let her. Gabby's tearing you and your brother apart and it's going to cost you everything and you won't even try to wake up. Dom, look around you! There are other women who would appreciate you. Women who would build you up, not tear you down."

Her words floor me, but not nearly as much as the look on her face. Does she truly still think she's in love with me? I thought we were past that now. "Women like you, Thea?"

"I didn't say that," she snaps, trying to jerk her hand away.

"But that's what you mean, right?" I goad her. My fucking heart is feeling like it skips a beat when I look at her face. Does she still want me?

"I didn't say that!" she repeats, this time in more of a growl as she tries to pull her hand away.

I don't know what possesses me. I should let her go, walk away, and put Thea out of my mind. Yet, when she looks at me, I see hurt slash across her face and for once in her life, there's a vulnerability that she's never let me look at before. Hell, I don't think she's let anyone see it before.I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing, but suddenly my lips are on hers, my tongue is pushing into her mouth. I groan as I taste her, and flames lick up my body in a hunger that I'm not sure I've ever felt before. The intensity should scare me, but instead it just makes me hungry for more. She doesn't fight me either. Her sweet, little tongue wraps around mine, accepting my dominance as her nails bite into my back. She holds onto me as if I'm the air that she needs to breathe, and fuck, that feels good. I slide my hand under her shirt, my rough, callused fingers gliding against the soft, warm skin of her ribs.

"Dom," she breathes, and fuck me, her voice has never sounded sweeter. It wraps around my cock, seizing me in a stranglehold that I'm not sure I can ever escape. I groan with the need to have the woman whom I labeled forbidden fruit long, long ago. The woman I knew I could never touch. I try to remember all the reasons why, but not a single fucking one of them come to mind. Our mouths come together again, colliding with a force that I've never known before. Her tongue delves into my mouth and fights mine for dominance. I take over, making her submit to me.

All I can think of is how hot her skin is to my touch, how good it feels to have my cock pressed into her, how much I hate the clothes that are separating us, and just how fucking much I want to have her beneath me and sink balls deep inside her.

I'd like to say I don't know where this hunger is coming from, or what is making it burn so damn hot, but I'd be lying. I've wanted Thea for a while. Ever since she first asked me to kiss her. Way before I should've even fucking looked at her like a woman. I've always denied it and locked those emotions up tight. Maybe I still could have—if she hadn't shown me that pain and uncertainty in her eyes. Seeing her without her defenses firmly in place, it's just like that moment two years ago. A moment I can't forget—even if I should… Shit.

I damn near whimper when my hand glides against her silk and lace bra. I want to lift her shirt so I can see her. Cupping her breast, I squeeze gently.

Thea's head falls back, exposing her neck, and I'm drawn to it like a moth to a flame. I scrape my teeth against the sensuous column of her neck, tasting her skin as my tongue flicks along the same path, until I reach the shell of her ear. "Jesus, Thea," I groan. "I need?—"

"What the fuck is going on here? Is this why you wanted me here, Dom? You wanted me to see you fuck some club whore?"

Thea tears out of my arms. I let her. I didn't mean for it to go this far. Jesus, I never meant for this to happen at all. I'm having trouble even thinking. All I can see is Thea's swollen lips and I want to kiss her again—even though I know I shouldn't. I can't even tear my gaze away to look at Gabby. Even knowing she is standing by the door, hurt and mad as hell, I still want Thea's mouth again. Motherfucker.

"I'm not a club whore," Thea growls.

"You're acting like one," Gabby huffs. "You're grinding against my man with a hundred people in the next room. Why don't you two just go back into the party and give them a show, just like the rest of the club twinkies do? Let your parents see the real you for a change."

"You have about two seconds to shut your mouth, or I'll shut it for you," Thea warns, her voice sounding as cold as I've ever heard it.

"You can try it, if you think you're woman enough," Gabby dares her, making the whole situation worse. Gabby thinks Thea can't defend herself because of her leg. Nothing could be further from the truth. I should call an end to this. Hell, I have to call an end to it.

"Thea—"

"You invited this bitch to my party, knowing how I feel about her," Thea accuses me, her eyes narrowed and filled with disgust. Fuck. Her defenses are firmly back in place. I find myself mourning the fact that I can't see the vulnerability I saw before.

I watch as she turns, and using her cane, she approaches Gabby with determination, each step measured and deliberate.

I see Gabby's eyes go big as saucers. I know why. Thea has always just walked away—always avoiding conflict. She has never said one word back to anyone that comes at her. She mostly ignores them completely. This time is different. Thea doesn't even give a warning. She quickly jabs her fist straight into Gabby's throat. Gabby does down almost instantly, wheezing while trying to get her breath back. Her hands come up to her neck as her eyes look panicked.

Jesus! How did everything go so wrong?

"That was for Thomas. Continue your fucking games on him and I will make sure it's the last thing you do. You got your poisonous little fingernails into Dom. Keep them there. Thomas is off limits. Either you let him off your leash, or I'll tell him and Dom all your dirty little secrets, and we both know I can, bitch."

"Damn it, Thea?—"

"Fuck off, Dom. You deserve her. You need to man-up, claim your whore, and stop letting her hurt Thomas."

There's so much hate unmasked on her face that it's painful to look at.I stand still for a minute, watching her go. Then, I go to help Gabby, trying to ignore the fact that I still taste Thea on my lips…