Steel Temptation (Back Down Devil MC #6)(33)

Ridged scars across his chest. They made his tattoo look a little messed up, but it didn’t matter. The complete look of it all was enough to make Mia melt.

He held his leather cut with one hand and reached with the other. He wiggled his fingers and nodded. “Come on. We have to get inside.”

“What’s happening?” Mia asked.

“We got attacked. It’s okay. Nobody’s dead. I took the brunt of it. One of the prospect’s got shot but that doesn’t really matter. Hurry. Now.”

Mia slipped her hand into Nate’s and he pulled. They were then on the move. A sense of freedom washed over Mia, but then she looked up the ramp. Seeing daylight was a strange blessing, although what kind of blessing could this all be, walking right into a war?

Above ground, Nate made a line for the clubhouse. All around, the compound lot was busy. Guys were shouting orders at each other, everyone rushing to gather up weapons, guard the gate, protect the club from another attack.

Once they were inside the clubhouse, Mia’s eyes scanned the place, taking it all in. The bar, the walls, the floor, the pool tables. The smell of smoke, booze, greasy food hanging low like an invisible fog.

Nate swung Mia toward the bar and sat her down. He touched her face. “Stay right here.”

Nate turned and Mia saw his back. It was raw red in several spots. Like he was bleeding but he wasn’t. They looked like painful welts, like he been beaten or something.

A large set of doors opened and Miller came out, Gaige by his side. When Mia and Miller met eyes, she stiffened. Nate was quick to start talking, his hands going as fast as his words.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Mia looked and saw Blaine sitting next to her. He tapped the bar and pointed to a bottle of whiskey. A prospect behind the bar poured a shot.

“Need one?” Blaine asked.

“No.”

“Yes, you do. Turn around and talk to me, beautiful.”

“No.”

Blaine leaned in. His breath smelled like death. “Come on, don’t be afraid of me. You just have to be afraid of my cock. You’ll look at it and wonder how the hell I’m going to fit inside you. Then I’ll turn you around and lift that ass up in the air. You think maybe it’ll be easy from behind, right? Because you’ve read that kind of dumb shit in magazines. But then I put my cock right to your ass. You shake your head… no way… and then I thrust…”

Mia swung her right hand across her body. She turned on the barstool and smacked Blaine across the face. The shot glass went flying across the bar, shattering when it hit the floor. Blaine’s head snapped to the right and he let out a groan. He then moved at Mia, grabbing her arm.

“Now you’ve got to kiss it,” Blaine said. “Lick it. Make that stinging pain go away. And when you’re done there, you can move to my cock.”

“Nate!” a voice yelled.

As Mia looked, she saw rage spread across Nate’s face. His hand shot out and grabbed Blaine by the neck. He threw him off the barstool, to the ground, and then tried to step on him. Blaine rolled out of the way and jumped up. They eyed each other up and down for a few seconds.

“You took your claim, huh?” Blaine asked.

“Don’t even think about it,” Nate growled. “Not to her. Not right now.”

“Okay. Not right now. Fine.” Blaine looked at Mia. He blew a kiss. “Night right now, beautiful. But when you’re ready… you’ll be biting your pillow and screaming for me to stop… and keep going… what a f*cking feeling.”

Nate stepped to keep Blaine’s line of vision away from Mia. She had a really good look at his back. Whatever happened out there was bad.

Miller approached and put a hand to Nate’s bare shoulder. For some reason, it turned Mia on even more. She saw herself clawing at his shoulder. Holding him, f*ck, hanging onto him.

“Take it easy for a minute,” Miller said. “We’re good here, Nate. You took a bomb for me, for the club. We’re guarded now. If Chief Jerry shows up, I’ll handle him.”

“You sure?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure. Coast Road rode through because they thought they could catch us off guard. They almost did. Almost. It’ll never happen again.” Miller patted Nate’s shoulder. “Grab a drink and a shower.”

Miller walked away and pointed to Gaige. They both went back into a room and shut the large doors.

Nate put his hand out and Mia took it again. A prospect put a couple beers on the bar and Nate grabbed them. He led the way from the main part of the clubhouse to a hallway. It was dimly lit and then opened up into a couple hallways. Nate kept going, stopping at a door.

“Going to chain me up again?” Mia asked, trying to break the mood.

Nate curled his lip at her. “If you want me to.”

He opened the door and let Mia inside.

Luckily this was just a normal room. A bed. A nightstand. A tall, skinny dresser for clothes. A closet. Another door - maybe a bathroom? Everything was normal. A Back Down Devil black flag his on the wall above the bed and that was it. Nothing else that could give Mia a hint of who Nate was. Before the MC, right now, or what he planned after the MC.

Then again, judging by the scars on his chest and the wounds on his back, there was no future for Nate. Back Down Devil MC was the last ride of his life. He’d die in his leather cut. It sounded scary, but it turned Mia on like crazy.