Epilogue

Steel

Two Weeks Later

The desert is quiet this far away from anything. We’re parked up on a hill so we can look out and watch the sunset.

Heat from the day radiates, but it’s nothing like the fire Tempe lights in my chest when her fingers brush up and down my cut.

Something about this girl in leather, straddling me where she sits on the front of my bike, is a peace I never thought I’d find.

A place I never thought I’d belong.

“It’s beautiful out here.” Tempe sits up, her fingers grazing the skin on the back of my neck.

I’ve been showing her all my favorite getaway spots. Places I used to ride when I needed some peace and quiet. And now I want to mark them with her.

I push her honey-brown waves off her face, and she smiles.

“Nothing is as beautiful as you, wildfire.”

She brushes her lips against mine, and my body ignites. I need this girl like I’ve never needed anything.

Tempe winds her legs up over my thighs, holding on tight while my feet are planted firmly on the ground. Her chest presses to mine as she runs her tongue over my lower lip.

Reaching up, I grip her throat and deepen the kiss. She sucks my tongue into her mouth, and her moan vibrates through her chest. She teases the line of my belt with her fingers, toying with me.

“Careful, Tempe.” I nip at her lip. “I’m not above fucking you on this bike.”

She rolls her hips against my straining cock, tempting me. “Promise?”

I skate a hand down her chest, over her stomach, and grab her cunt. “I warned you, wildfire.”

Leaning in, I sink my teeth into her lower lip, and she moans.

“Jameson.” She tips her head back as I kiss a path down the center of her throat.

“That’s not what you call me when you’re sitting on my bike, Tempe. You know better than that.”

She smiles, biting her lip. “Sorry, President . ”

“Such a good girl.” I grind the heel of my hand over her pussy, and she moans. “But now I’d like you to be bad and strip for me.”

“Out here?” Her eyes take in the empty desert.

The sun has just dipped below the horizon, lighting her cheeks with a warm glow.

I release Tempe and sit upright on my bike, not saying anything, which is her answer.

Tempe runs her teeth over her lower lip, scanning my face, likely realizing I’m not joking, as she grips my shoulders and hops off my bike.

Her fingers find the button on her jeans, and she slowly undoes the zipper, stripping them down her beautiful legs.

I can’t blink as I watch her. I can’t breathe.

She loses her shoes, her pants. And when I think she’ll try to stop there, she reaches for the hem of her shirt and slips it off until she’s in absolutely nothing, standing like a naked goddess in the Vegas desert. So beautiful, it’s possible she’s a mirage, and I’m hallucinating.

“Are you going to climb off and fuck me now?” She smiles sweetly, even if we both know she’s anything but.

I shake my head, reaching for my belt and undoing it. Her eyes burn as she watches me pull my cock out.

“No, but you’re going to hop on and ride this.”

Tempe takes my free hand as I help her back onto my bike. She’s careful like she’s expecting it to wobble because she’s still not that familiar with motorcycles .

Her naked body slides onto the leather, but I just watch as she climbs to straddle me, not touching her. Admiring her tits as they bounce when she takes her seat.

“This is how I’d always like you riding my bike.”

She pulls me close and draws her mouth to my ear. “You sure you’d be okay with your club seeing me like this?”

No fucking way. Just the thought has a growl burning in my chest.

“That’s what I thought,” she whispers.

I reach for her pussy and shove two fingers in. She’s already slick and drenching my hand. She rolls her hips to drive my fingers deeper, her cunt squeezing me when I curl them inside her.

“You don’t belong to my club, Tempe. Who do you belong to?” I roll my thumb over her clit, and her lashes flutter.

“You.”

Pulling my fingers out, I lift my hand and suck them into my mouth, tasting her. I’m tempted to climb off my bike and spread her wide so I can spend all night eating her dripping pussy, but she’s feeling feisty, and I’m inclined to fuck that sass out of her instead.

“Lift.” I grab the base of my cock and hold it up.

The moment she lifts, I take her hip and shove her down on me. Hard enough to kick the air from her lungs. She digs her fingers into my shoulders, and the sweetest little gasp falls from her lips when I bottom out.

“Good girl.” I draw my palm up between her tits, teasing one nipple and then the other .

They bead under my touch, and she grinds her hips on my cock, searching for the pressure. She writhes in my lap, framed by the sunset. Her body slides up and down, slicking across the leather seat of my bike. Her pussy grips me, and her chest rolls in waves as her body moves.

Her tits beg for my teeth, so I dip down to bite the soft flesh. Kissing the spot to soothe the pain and then teasing her nipple with my tongue.

She needs balance. Pleasure with a hint of pain and resistance. She likes the challenge.

Tempe tilts her hips, and it sends me so deep that the desert darkens around me. The earth stills.

But instead of moving, she holds there, with me buried deep inside her. Pausing, she squeezes my cock and teases me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” I grab her hips.

“You mean this?” She squeezes my cock again, still not moving. “Don’t like it?”

Her pussy tightens. She constricts in slow pulses that have me desperate to flip her over and pound into her.

“Are you trying to torture me, wildfire?” I grab her throat and pull her face to mine.

“Maybe.”

“You won’t win that game. You know that.”

She narrows her eyes, staring at me while she squeezes my cock with her pussy in slow pulses. But she can only last so long because as I tighten my grip on her neck, she starts to rock with desperation.

With my free hand, I grab her hip and hold her still, stopping her .

“No moving now, Tempe. You’re the one who started this.”

She clenches my cock, but this time, I don’t think it’s on purpose.

It’s the anticipation.

The fact that I’ve taken control away from her.

“Please.” She tries to wiggle her hips, but I don’t let her.

“Thought you wanted to drag this out?” I graze my mouth over her jaw, nipping at the shell of her ear. “Thought you wanted to tease me with your pussy.”

“I did.” Her chest heaves with every breath as I kiss the sensitive flesh behind her ear. “But I need you too badly to be patient.”

“You do?” I shift my hips back just slightly, driving them in at the same time as I use my grip on her throat to pull her to me.

Her cunt soaks my cock, dripping and making a mess from her desperation.

“Yes.” She moans when I do it again.

“You know better than to play games with me, wildfire. You can’t win them. And do you know what happens when you’re bad?” I pull back and, in a swift move, hop off my bike and spin her so she’s bent over it. “You get taught a lesson.”

I drive my cock in so hard her ass wiggles for me. Threading my fingers into her hair, I tug, forcing her back to arch. Her ass jiggles with every hard thrust, and I dig my fingers into it .

“You want to feel good, wildfire?” I ask her, spitting on her ass and watching it drip down her tight hole. “Are you going to obey your president?”

“Yes.” She grips the bike when I skate my thumb over her ass.

I spit again before pushing in. Working her until she relaxes. The deeper my thumb drives, the louder her screams and the tighter her pussy gets. I push, and I can feel the pressure on my cock as she drips down my thighs while I claim her.

“I’m going to take this ass soon,” I tell her, hitting her deeper with my cock and thumb at the same time. “You’re going to beg me to.”

“Yes. Please.” She screams, and it’s eaten up in the empty desert.

“You’re so tight, Tempe.” I thrust my hips forward. “So eager for my cock in every hole.”

She submits to the feeling, and I’m tempted to shove my cock in her ass right now, but with how tight she is, we’re going to have to work her up to it.

I tilt my hips, and her cunt grips me. She loses her scream as I pound into her harder, angling for the spot that has her legs shaking. I bottom out as she comes, pulling my release with her. Watching my wet cock slide in and out of her beautiful cunt as I paint her insides with my cum.

Only once her body stops quivering do I pull my hand away, but I stay buried where I belong inside her. I push my hips forward, forcing her pussy to take every last drop .

She glances over her shoulder, smiling at me. “What are you doing?”

“You think I’ve knocked you up yet?” I plant a hand on the globe of her ass.

Her pussy throbs at my question. A vice around me like the thought of it makes her beg for more of my cum.

Tempe smirks, watching me. “Not yet. But we can keep trying.”

“Oh, we will.” I lean down to kiss the back of her head, keeping my cock as deep inside her as it can get to make sure every drop stays in. “And I’m going to enjoy it.”

By the time we make it home, it’s dark, and dinner is ready, but I have to drop Tempe off and head to the clubhouse after Ghost texts that he needs something.

Ever since Tempe told us what the Iron Sinners’ real plans were with the flash drive, he’s been on edge. It’s not his fault we let them into our system. I gave the order for him to hack the drive. But he still blames himself for not seeing through their plans.

At least he was paranoid enough to use a computer that wasn’t hooked up to our main network when he did it. They were able to access the cloud using our Wi-Fi connection, but they couldn’t hack Ghost’s private server.

From what he can tell, the Iron Sinners stripped financial records and our business plans for a new strip club, but they weren’t able to access bank accounts, or anything that will cause immediate damage.

It’s given us time to decide how to go after Titan and his men. We’re being careful knowing Rick Zane is bankrolling them, so they have access to more resources. But an attack is coming.

The war never ends; it just evolves.

My father was right about that.

Walking into the clubhouse, I see a few of the patch bunnies stocking the bar for the chapter mixer tomorrow night. We had to push back Chaos’s welcome home party after the Iron Sinners took Tempe and Austin hostage, but things have finally settled enough to celebrate our brother being home.

A few of the guys are milling around as I make my way through the clubhouse. They’re drinking, playing pool, and having a relaxing night. Still, I can’t shake the uneasy feeling that’s been stirring inside me all day.

“Everything good, Prez?” Soul yells from across the bar when he spots me. “Thought you were gone for the day.”

“I was.” I tip my chin up. “You seen Ghost?”

“Out back.”

I walk through the clubhouse.

Something’s wrong; I just can’t put my finger on it.

When I step outside, I spot Ghost sitting by himself on one of the chairs at the fire pit. It’s dark, and his face is only lit by the glow of his phone.

“You needed to see me?”

Ghost looks up, setting his phone in his lap and taking a sip of his beer.

He’s been quieter than usual. Keeping to himself. He says it’s because he’s focused on rebuilding our firewalls after the Iron Sinners broke in, but I sense there’s more to it .

“What’s the problem?” I walk up and drop into the chair next to him.

Ghost tips his head back, closing his eyes. “Remember the coding on the flash drive? It was too complex to be Richter, and I had this feeling Titan was working with a new tech guy.”

“I remember.”

Between the virus they planted and the fact that they were able to wipe Reyes’s real identity from every public record, we knew someone with more skill than Richter had to be involved.

Ghost looks over at me. “I figured out who it is.”

“Who?” I rest my elbows on my knees, leaning forward.

He picks up his phone and flips through it. His expression is tense as he hands it over, showing me a text on the screen.

Unknown : Been a while, Ghost. Did you think I’d forget about Albuquerque? Or about the girl? I warned you not to go digging. You should have listened.

My eyebrows pinch as I try to piece together what I’m reading. The club stopped running product through Albuquerque a little over a year ago when things went south with the Merciless Skulls. What started as a misunderstanding turned into a war we quickly squashed because the club was so small. Any remaining members fled or joined other clubs. But there weren’t enough to keep track of them.

We haven’t been back since.

I look up at Ghost. “Who’s the girl they’re talking about? ”

Ghost looks over his shoulder through the glass doors that lead into the clubhouse. His gaze sets on Luna, who’s sitting reading a book, and realization hits me like a ton of bricks.

One year ago.

Albuquerque.

Merciless Skulls trophies aren’t the only thing we brought back.

“You said she was living out of a car on campus. You brought her in. You vouched for her.” I grit my teeth. “Where did you really meet Luna?”

He glances back at me, not answering my question. He doesn’t need to. I already know I’m not going to like whatever he has to say.

Ghost lied to his club—lied to me. And we’re all about to pay for it.