KNOW ME (DEFIANT Motorcycle Club)(13)

happened the last time I was in there. It wasn’t like me to fall under a man’s spell

so easily.  I shied away from the things other girls sought so eagerly and pushed aside

the urges in my body as stubbornly as I could.  Perhaps that was why Orion was able to

reach me.  All it took was one resolute touch and he saw through me plain as if my

story were written on my face.  Of course, Orion Jackson had lived two of my lifetimes.

His benefit of experience was something the tentative boys of my past didn’t have.
The sight which greeted me in the kitchen caught me off guard.  I stopped dead in my

tracks and stared, feeling rather than hearing the gasp in my own throat.
I hadn’t seen Orion since our brief, heated tryst this morning.  But he must have

found his way back here at some point.  No one else would have left a large box of

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese in the middle of the table with the word ‘KIRA’ scrawled

across the front in black magic marker.
I picked up the box, listening to the lose pasta rattling around inside.  It had been

my favorite meal as a kid.  A simple one that I was capable of making all on my own

very early on.  I used to take some pride in cooking up big batches of it and placing

servings in front of the bemused Warlocks as if I’d just slaved over a gourmet

extravaganza.  And Orion remembered.
The box stayed in my hands for a long time as I stared at it, seeing not the familiar

pictures on the front but the faces of the past.  My father, his Warlock brothers. 

Orion.  With a sigh I rooted around in the rickety kitchen cabinets until I found a

serviceable pot for boiling water.
The light was fading outside and the sounds of the bar were growing louder.  I peered

out of the window and saw more bikes parked outside.  Still, no one entered the house. 

I had dumped the pasta into the boiling water and was stirring carefully when I

happened to look up.  Orion stood in the doorway staring at me.  I hadn’t even heard

him come in.
As he leaned casually against the wooden door frame, my breath caught at the sight of

how imposing he was.  Almost with a will of their own my eyes strayed down his body;

roaming across the black leather cut and dark cotton shirt which bulged with muscle. 

And then my gaze lingered over the evident swell of his manhood.  He caught me looking

and smiled knowingly.  I turned back to the boiling water.
Orion’s voice was glib and sarcastic.  “Hello, dear.  Dinner almost ready?”
“Mock if you want.  But I make a mean mac and cheese.”
Orion laughed lightly and I glanced up.  “So some things don’t change,” he said. 

Then he looked me over, his face growing more serious.  “And some things do,” he said

so softly I almost didn’t hear.
“Where is everyone?”
His eyes bored into me.  “Gone for the evening.  On my orders.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a little lightheaded.  I caught his meaning full well,

remembering the way he’d whispered ‘Tonight’ in my ear.  As he’d already assured

me, Orion always kept his promises.
I gave the pasta another stir, the heat in my face having little to do with the steam

rising out of the pot.  Orion hadn’t moved from the doorway.
“Hey,” I said, turning and frankly meeting his silent gaze.  “You think you could

watch this for a minute?”
Orion shrugged but willingly took the spoon from my hand.
“Please the shit out of him.”
Rachel obviously knew her way around men and I figured her advice was worth gold.  In

the bedroom I changed hurriedly into the one sexy article of clothing I had managed to

find picking through the scanty merchandise of Quartzsite’s shops.
I fluffed my long hair out and rolled on some red lipstick.  After I left the bedroom I

paused by the bathroom mirror, running my hands over the smooth fabric of the slick

black dress which scarcely covered my ass.  I looked cheap.  I looked sexy.  I looked

ready for the leader of Defiant.
Evidently I wasn’t the only one well versed in the fine art of making macaroni and

cheese.  Orion had drained the pasta and added the pouch of cheese.  He was ladling the

gooey concoction into a pair of plastic bowls with a small frown on his face.  I

laughed outright and he looked up, startled.
“You have no idea,” I giggled, “what a sight you are, looming over the stove in your

leather.”
Orion was unfazed.  With one easy move he pulled both his shirt and his cut over his

head, tossing both onto a chair.  “Better?” he asked, lighting a cigarette as I sat

at the table and stared at his muscled torso.
“Better,” I muttered.
I took a small sip of the beer Orion handed me.  He sat across from me and began

eating, his piercing blue eyes regarding me carefully.  I couldn’t quite read his

look; it was as if he was going back and forth about something inside his head.
The strap of my dress kept falling off my shoulder.  I wasn’t wearing a bra