Sky drew a draft and slid it in front of him.

“I didn’t get your name,” he rasped.

“Red.”

“So you’d rather suck pussy than dick, Red?”

She smiled and saluted him with her OJ. “Any day.”

He grunted and drained half the beer. “That McElroy always has been a lucky bastard.”

That moment, Loren emerged from the back hallway. “What’s that you’re saying about me, Spike?”

“I was saying to your old lady here you’ve always been lucky. Remember last year when three of the guys got picked up? You were supposed to be on that run, but your bike blew a tire before you could leave.”

“Yeah. Close call.” Loren edged around behind the bar and up to Sky. She kissed the back of her neck and slid an arm around her waist. Spike’s attention immediately shifted to them, as she’d hoped.

“You ready to get out of here, baby?” Loren nuzzled Sky’s ear.

Sky’s nipples tightened with a will of their own and everything below her waist pulsated. God, she’d been aroused for hours, and her body felt as if it might shatter with a single stroke in the right place. She dropped her head back onto Loren’s shoulder and kissed her neck. “More than ready.”

“Fuck. Lucky bastard,” Spike muttered and staggered back toward the hopeful he’d been tangled up in the night before.

Sky swiveled around and kissed Loren hard. “I want out of here, now.”

Loren fisted Sky’s hair and kissed her back. “My place.”

“Yes,” Sky whispered.

Chapter Fifteen


“Hey, McElroy!” Ramsey called just as Loren and Sky reached the front door on their way out of the Rooster. “Can I talk to you for a minute.”

Loren kept her arm around Sky’s waist and turned, facing Ramsey at the back of the long bar. “Sure, Prez.”

Ramsey grinned, his arm draped over Tricia’s shoulders. Gone was the raging homicidal Valkyrie—now Tricia resembled a well-fed cat, a contented expression on her face as she pressed to his side, one hand clenching his wide leather belt. Luckily, Ramsey had been alone when Loren had led Tricia back to the room he kept in the members-only area. Whatever he’d said—or done—after Loren left the two of them alone had seemed to satisfy his old lady.

Loren kissed Sky and patted her on the ass. “Go ahead, baby. Take off.”

Sky slid her hand behind Loren’s neck, gripped her hair, and kissed her back, plastering her body to Loren’s. Sky’s breath was warm as it curled over Loren’s ear. “I’m staying.”

“Watch yourself,” Loren muttered. “I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time,” Sky said offhandedly, loud enough that Ramsey would hear.

Loren hesitated, a little breathless from the unexpected kiss. Sky managed to keep her off balance, and ordinarily that would be a problem. Hell, it was a problem. But she couldn’t bring herself to mind. Sky had felt too good curled up in her lap in the dark hours of the night. Warm and soft and incongruously fragile, when Loren knew that wasn’t true at all. No matter who Sky was, friend or foe, she was a dangerous, potentially deadly woman. All the same, Sky had been undeniably vulnerable as she’d slept, and she’d let Loren see her that way. The trust she’d put in Loren moved her more than anything had since her mother had reassured her that her family would always believe in her. Since that phone call a lifetime ago, Loren hadn’t let anyone close enough to trust or be trusted.

And as much as she knew they were only playing their parts in the charade her life had become, she wanted the game to go on. She could still feel Sky’s warm breath against her neck, the sensation so exquisite she’d been more satisfied than her casual sexual encounters had ever managed. She’d been naked with women who hadn’t provided the pleasure she’d experienced just drawing Sky’s hair through her fingers. As she’d slowly sifted the deep red strands, feeling Sky’s heart beat against her own, the press of Sky’s fingertips against the bare skin of her throat had eventually become the sole focus of sensation in her body, until those small points of pleasure had magnified and filled her. Until Sky was all she knew. Even now, pleasure coiled deep inside, and she had the urge to bend her head and take another kiss. She didn’t want to walk away, didn’t want to leave Sky alone.

Sky pulled away and sauntered down the length of the bar until she was only a few feet from Ramsey. He watched her approach with predatory interest. She edged a hip onto a bar stool, crossed her legs, and smiled. “I guess you know why I’m here.”

“I heard,” Ramsey said.

“Is today a good time?”

His eyes narrowed, and Tricia suddenly focused on Sky as if sizing her up for dinner. Loren couldn’t figure out what the hell Sky was doing, but antagonizing Ramsey or Tricia was not a good idea. She strode past Sky and blocked her from Ramsey’s line of sight.

“Ready when you are,” Loren said.

Ramsey grunted and disappeared around the corner. Loren caught up to him before the double doors that led to church, the members-only meeting room where they held their tactical gatherings. Quincy was there, and Armeo, both of them looking hungover and as confused as Loren was about the sudden meeting. Ramsey closed the door after she followed him inside.

Loren took her seat in the usual place and Ramsey slumped into his at the head of the big table. “Jesus, what a night.”

Loren waited for Ramsey to confront her about bringing Tricia into the sanctuary, but he ignored her.

“Everything okay with Tricia?” Quincy asked. He was the only one who could broach a personal subject with Ramsey—they’d been friends since they were kids and now Quincy was Ramsey’s VP. Quincy’s number one job was to have Ramsey’s back in all things.

Ramsey smiled wryly. “Still got my balls.”

Everyone laughed and the tension in the air lessened.

“So what time is it? Fucking eight o’clock in the morning? Fucking militia.” Ramsey rubbed his face, his palm producing a scratching sound as it rubbed over the bristles covering his heavy jaw. “Some broad who says she’s in charge of the gun deal wants a look at the exchange point.”

Loren’s antenna went up and she stiffened. “Wait a minute. Somebody we don’t know? How do we know she’s even with the militia?”

“We don’t,” Ramsey said. “That’s what I told her. Said I didn’t know what she was talking about.”

“What did she say?” Quincy asked.

“She gave me enough details to prove she was the real deal.”

“You sure she couldn’t have gotten the info from some kind of surveillance?” Loren asked. “Or a snitch?”

Sometimes an undercover operative’s best defense was misdirection. She’d hardly raise the possibility of a snitch if she was one.

Ramsey shook his head. “She knew about your meeting with Graves the other night. Who was there, location—too many details she could only have gotten if she was on the inside.”

“So what’d you tell her?” Armeo asked.

“That I’d have to get back to her.” Ramsey looked at Loren. “We need to bump up the timetable. Get the money and get clear of this bunch. They’re loose cannons.”

Loren almost smiled but managed to shrug with a straight face. “I’ll do what I can, but like I said, big shipments like this have to be moved carefully. Something tips off the feds, or even the locals, a lot of people could go down.”

“Work your magic, McElroy.”

“Do what I can.”

“In the meantime, I told her we’d send someone to rendezvous with her. Discuss the exchange. Map it out.”

“I can do that,” Loren said before Ramsey suggested anyone else. If there was a new player, she wanted to know who it was, and another meeting could be her way in. “Tell them I want to meet on their ground first. That I need to be sure who I’m dealing with before I provide any details.”

Ramsey’s eyebrows went up. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking a new player at this point doesn’t feel right. We wanted a look at them, this is our chance.”

Ramsey looked at Quincy and Armeo. They both nodded.

“Quincy and Armeo will provide backup. All of you, stay available.”

“Sure,” Loren said.

“What about the redhead?” Ramsey winced. “Jesus, what is it with the broads these days—now we have to negotiate with them? Whatever happened to the days when all they did was suck dick?”

Quincy and Armeo laughed. Ramsey looked at her.

“What’s the story? You find out anything when you weren’t busy extending a little hospitality?”

Loren’s stomach tightened. “She checks out. The New Year’s run is coming up, and you know national always wants more dues this time of year to finance the council’s flight to Reno.”

“Yeah, while the rest of us freeze our nuts off riding there,” Quincy complained.

“Right,” Loren said. “I think the leadership wants to be sure we’re sending in our fair share.”

“You get any vibes she’s here looking for anything else?”

“Nope.” Loren knew how things looked—she and Sky had set it up that way. “We haven’t exactly been talking a lot of business, though.”

Quincy snorted. “Hard to talk when her tongue’s down your throat.”

Loren grinned.

“Keep working on her,” Ramsey said. “I don’t want it to look like we’re nervous, so do whatever you have to do to make it look like your interest is…personal.”

“No problem,” Loren said.

“Yeah, I’ll bet it’s not,” Armeo muttered. “I get wood just watching her sip a beer. Wouldn’t mind her lips around—”

“Fuck you, Armeo,” Loren said.

Armeo made sucking sounds and laughed.

“If I get wind of any problem,” Loren said to Ramsey, “you’ll be the first to know.”