Page 54 of The Sentinels

I didn't like that. Not one bit. The fact that he'd had other women there, all of whom he'd fucked at one time or another, pissed me off. "Did he request them?" Something told me that I wasn't going to like the answer.

When Mike looked away and refused to respond, I had my answer. I pressed my lips together, feeling hurt and a kind of betrayal that sent my self-esteem into a nose dive. Why hadn't Ace asked me to come and help him?

"Tanner didn't really give him a choice." Mike's eyes were warm and filled with regret. "No one knows why Ace does the shit he does when it comes to women. Sure, we all have the same ‘hit it and quit it’ rule, but when the right one comes along we embrace it wholeheartedly. Ace wouldn't know the right one if it sat up and hit him in the nose. He thinks the women he fucks only want him for bragging rights, so they can say they've been with a biker, and he's okay with that. The truth is that he thinks no one wants a scarred-up, ex-military biker."

"That's crazy!" I rushed out.

Mike snorted. "We all know that, honey. But I think he wants to believe that because it's easier than falling for someone. Less work. He can spend his life fucking his way through it without making the commitments."

I was totally confused as I thought about some of the things that Ace had said to me after we'd had sex. "But…," I paused disappointedly. Ace had claimed me. His declaration had sounded so final and certain, as if he'd made up his mind about me being in his life. Now I wasn't so sure. I wasn't sure about anything. And his silence since then spoke volumes.

I took a deep breath. "I can handle Ace," I said with false bravado.

"Then I suggest you get to it. I'm just dropping you off."

"Coward," I laughed, opening the door. I grabbed my bag. "Anything else I should know?"

His laugh was deep. "Nope. Good luck. We'll be checking in, and if a guy named Rivers shows up, let him in. He's the doc."

I watched Mike drive away before turning toward the front door and making my way up the steps. As expected, the door was unlocked and I was able to walk right in. I stopped short as soon as the overpowering fragrance of perfume hit my nose. One of the girls who'd come earlier must have bathed in the stuff. I set my bag down on the kitchen counter, deciding to go in search of Ace's bedroom. It stood to reason that if he needed help, and he was in pain, that he'd be in bed.

His house was quiet. I didn't want to call out in case he was sleeping, but as I neared what I assumed was the back of the house I could hear voices, and one was definitely a woman's. I followed the sound to a masculine-looking bedroom. The bed was rumpled and unmade, but empty. A giggle drew my eyes to an open door in the room that appeared to lead to a bathroom. The mirror was steamed over, but I could definitely see two distorted images.

"Fuck, Candy—"

She giggled. "You love it and you know it."

Oh, God! I hesitated from moving further into the room. Candy was there! And even though their reflections were distorted, I could tell that they were both naked. I suddenly felt sick inside, and foolish. How could Mike not have known that she was there? Then I recalled that I hadn't seen any vehicles out front.

I braced myself for what I was going to see as I walked toward the bathroom door. If they were fucking I had to know, and if they were then I'd leave, even if I had to walk all the way back home.

"Come on, Ace, baby. I'm here to see to all your needs." All I heard was a groan. "Let's get to bed."

They weren't fucking, thank God, but they both stopped short when they glanced at the doorway and saw me. Candy's expression never wavered, and it was clear that my presence didn't affect her in the least. She was soaking wet, and so was Ace, but at least he had a towel around his hips. It was obvious that they'd been in the shower together. It was all I could do to pretend that what I was seeing wasn't tearing me up inside. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"I came to help, but I see that I'm not needed here."

"Emerson--" there was a warning in Ace's tone that most people wouldn't ignore, but I did. He had no right to sound as if I were the one who’d been caught doing something wrong.

"Can you cook, honey?" Candy asked with a genuine smile. She was totally oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. "I'm only good in the bedroom." She winked. Her arm was around Ace, one side of her naked body crushed intimately against his. His arm was over her shoulder as if he needed her in order to remain on his feet. His color was pale. There was a bandage wrapped tightly around his waist.

There was nothing in his eyes that indicated that he was embarrassed over being caught naked with another woman. No regret. It was as if the situation were as normal as night and day for him, while I wanted to go over and rip his hair out, and then his heart, and scream at him for using me, for giving me hope.

I swallowed my pride and choked out, "Sure. I'll go see what I can find."

I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

Chapter 27

Ace

Fucking hell! I could tell the instant that I looked up and saw Emerson staring at me that this was going to end up badly. I had to give her credit though for keeping control, standing there as if she weren’t bothered by seeing Candy naked and with her hands on me. I knew the truth, though. It had been there in her eyes. She couldn't hide the hurt. Reading her thoughts, I'd called her name out in a warning that I'd hoped she would stop and consider. I’d hoped it would bring her to a different conclusion than the one that was putting that fucking pain in her eyes.

"Get the fuck out," I snarled at Candy once I made it to my bed. I sank down onto it, not caring that I was still wet in places. I kept the towel firmly around my waist. She'd already grabbed my dick once as if she fucking owned it.

The woman was like a fucking octopus, and she had a one-track mind. She'd come over under the guise of helping me, but I knew better. Under different circumstances I might have taken her up on her offer to fuck her, but all the brothers knew she was gunning for a coveted old lady's spot with the remaining Sentinels. What she didn't know was that we'd never settle for a woman who'd been with our other brothers.

"That's not very nice," she whined, standing back with an unflattering pout on her heavily made-up face, moving in a way that made her large tits bounce.