Page 13 of Rattlin' Bones
“Tell me. Now,” he ordered in a gruff voice, pushing off the door to step closer.
“Why do you care? Huh?”
“Caring about you was never the issue.”
Oh, really? “Enlighten me, then, Mr. Big Bad Biker. What’s the issue between us?”
Yeah, I was taunting him. I wanted Skel to feel just half of the agony I felt when he broke up with me. Or, to be more precise, when he stopped us from having a relationship before it could become something deep or permanent.
“Lacey.”
“I’m listening.”
He shook his head. “Age difference. Lifestyle. That’s the first two.”
“Bullshit.” Those were excuses, not valid reasons.
“You callin’ me a liar, baby?” He looked pissed, but the heat in his gaze wasn’t from the insult alone. That fire that burned between us whenever we were close, the attraction that blazed as hot as a five-alarm fire, always flared at the wrong time.
“No. I’m calling you acoward,” I taunted.
His dark eyebrows shot up briefly. I surprised him. People probably didn’t try to piss off a tatted, muscled, six-foot-four behemoth of a man wearing a motorcycle vest often. Bet he never had anyone talk to him the way I did. Good.
He needed to be brought down a peg or two from that high steel horse he sat on.Handsome, arrogant fucker.
“A coward,” he repeated, his voice low and menacing.
Shit. “Yes. If you weren’t so afraid to commit—”
“Gonna stop you right there, my spoiled little goddess. Commitment ain’t an issue either.”
I couldn’t figure him out. No matter what I said or did, he just kept coming back for more. Only, it wasn’t consistent. Hepopped in and out of my life like a damn yo-yo whenever it suited his whim. I hated that I fell for him and couldn’t stop my heart from loving a man who didn’t want to stick around.
“This is pointless,” I sighed. “Move out of my way.”
His lips twitched, and I couldn’t tell if it was a grin or a threat as he cracked his knuckles.
“Baby, you’re gonna regret all of this.”
My gaze swept over Skel’s numerous facial tattoos, including a spider and a blade pointing down his left cheek. A giant skeleton was inked across his right arm from shoulder to wrist. Skulls, flames, and other designs dominated his upper body. He had so much dark ink it took up almost all the available space, stretching from beneath his chin to both wrists and down his torso to above his public bone. I heard it was painful to tattoo over thin skin and figured he must have a high pain tolerance.
How did I know all this?
Because this gorgeous outlaw fucked me more than once, and I loved every minute.
Skel reached into his vest pocket and pulled out his mask. He winked before tugging it on, staring at me through the eyes that made him feel more like a predator than a man.
I should have run when I had the chance. By the time I remembered what he said, I bolted for the door, too late to reach it. Strong arms surrounded me and lifted high, carrying me to a heavy wooden barrel where Skel sat. He reached for the button on my jeans shorts and popped them open, ripping the zipper down as I smacked at his hands. It had zero effect on him.
He left my panties on. The shorts were yanked off.
My body tipped as he pushed me over his lap, and my stomach rested on his hard, thick thighs. I squirmed and fought him, realizing he was about to do something humiliating and painful.
“Don’t you dare!” I shouted. “Someone could come in here any minute!”
“Anyone comes in this door, and I’ll fucking kill them,” he growled.
I believed him.