I stepped out from behind the shrub and started marching across the lawn. I’m sure he noticed me right away, because Hunter had been doing that same watching thing my dad always does. He liked to keep an eye on everyone, always looking for potential threats. Considering what a giant dickhead Hunter was, I’d bet tons of people wanted him dead.

I was the new queen of their special club.

Pushing through the group at the foot of the stairs, I headed straight toward him. The surprised shock on Hunter’s face was satisfying as all f**k.

“Em, what the hell are you doing here?” he asked, glancing around the yard quickly. Maybe he expected an army of Reapers behind me? Well, I might not have the brothers with me, but I had Kit. Under the right circumstances, she could be scarier than a dozen angry bikers.

“So, you miss me?”

“Um, yeah,” he said, studying me like I was some sort of alien creature. “Where did you come from? I thought you were in Coeur d’Alene.”

“Just because you leave me somewhere doesn’t mean I’ll stay,” I hissed. “I’m not a dog, Hunter. I don’t do what I’m told.”

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“You’re pretty f**kin’ drunk, aren’t you?”

“And that would be your business because . . . ?”

“Shit, let’s get out of here,” he muttered. “Get you some water or something. Figure out the rest of this later.”

“Why, are you trying to hide me?” I sniped. “Afraid I might run into someone, make things awkward for you?”

He shook his head slowly.

“No, I just figured tomorrow you’ll wish there were fewer witnesses who saw this,” he said. “I’ll bet you’re gonna have a hell of a headache, too. Let’s get some water, maybe some Advil. Then we can talk, okay?”

“Fuck talking. I saw her, dickwad.”

“Who?”

I cocked my head and sneered. Did he really think he could fool me?

“I saw you with your girlfriend like two minutes ago, Liam. You kissed her, for f**k’s sake. Don’t pretend you’re trying to do anything more than use me.”

“Jealous?” he asked, a slow, sexy grin stealing across his face.

“Don’t smile at her, ass**le,” Kit said from behind me. Like always, she had my back and I felt a rush of love for her. At least one person would always be on my side.

“Babe, that girl was my sister,” Liam said carefully, his voice almost gentle. “Kelsey. Trust me, she’s not interested in me like that.”

I froze.

“Your sister?” I asked, the fog in my head clearing enough to realize that I might have stepped over the line . . . “You told me you didn’t have any family, that you grew up in foster care.”

“She’s my foster sister,” he said. Shit. I felt like a complete bitch. “We’ve been together for more than ten years, I practically raised her.”

“I saw how she looked at you,” Kit snarled. “That’s not a sisterly kind of look.”

“You want to say that a little louder?” a new voice demanded, and I looked over to find the redhead in question glaring at us, hands on her hips. “Because it sounds like you were saying I want to f**k my brother. That’s pretty nasty, even coming from a skank like you.”

Kit bristled like a porcupine, and for a second I thought she might launch herself across the porch, hissing and spitting.

“Drop it, Kels,” Hunter said, his voice cutting through the air like a whip. “This is Em, and that’s her sister. Trust me, I’m happy she’s jealous of you. Means she still gives a shit.”

“I do not give a shit,” I muttered, and Hunter laughed.

“This bitch tied you in knots—” Kelsey started to say, but Hunter cut her off.

“Drop it. Put away your claws, because I’m just thankful she’s here.”

Kit snarled, and I stepped quickly between her and Kelsey. Wait. Wasn’t this supposed to be my dramatic scene? Ughh . . .

“This is between me and Hunter,” I told Kit. “I appreciate the support, but you need to back off.”

“Christ,” Kit muttered, turning away and running a hand through her hair. “I need a beer.”

Kelsey narrowed her eyes at her. Hunter put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed just a little tighter than what looked comfortable.

“Play. Nice.”

“You can come out back, we have a keg,” she choked after a long pause, her tone still hostile. “Let dumbass talk to his precious Em, maybe he’ll stop moping around. I’m seriously tired of his shit.”

She turned and stalked back into the house. Kit caught my eye.

You okay? she mouthed. I shrugged, which she took as a yes. I wasn’t sure if I was okay or not, but I figured I wouldn’t make any progress fighting on the porch with this Kelsey chick.

“Look, let’s go get some coffee or something,” Hunter said. “There’s a diner a few blocks from here. Then I’ll take you home.”

“No, let’s stay. I need another drink.”

I turned toward the house, but he caught my arm.

“I don’t want you inside.”

“Why not?” I asked. “You can’t tell me it isn’t safe. You let your sister go inside.”

“It’s safe enough,” he replied reasonably. “But there’s shit in there I don’t want you exposed to.”

“My dad is the president of an MC,” I snapped. “Or have you forgotten? Because if I remember correctly, it’s why you got in touch with me in the first place. I’ve been exposed to plenty in my life.”

Hunter sighed and ran a hand through his hair. It’d gotten longer since I’d seen him. Unfortunately, I remembered exactly what it felt like to run my fingers through that hair.

Lust hit me, and I bit the inside of my cheek. Goddammit. Why did he have to be so beautiful?

“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten who you are,” he said. “Would make my life a hell of a lot easier if you were nobody. I’d just f**k you and get it over with.”

CHAPTER TEN

I stared at him, stunned.

“I know guys think things like that,” I said slowly. “But you do realize you’re not supposed to say them out loud, right?”

He sighed.

“Em, I really like you. We covered that. I like you enough not to play games, okay? That means I’m not gonna feed you any romantic bullshit.”

Huh. Wasn’t sure how to take that. On the one hand, I didn’t want him lying to me. On the other, I didn’t like the honesty, either. Made it too hard to pretend that this wasn’t completely insane.

“So let’s lay it all out,” I said. “You want to f**k me, but you don’t care about me. I want to f**k you, but trust me, every time you open your mouth, I care about you less.”

“Pretty much,” he muttered.

“We should do it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Let’s do it,” I said, warming to the idea. “Fuck. Screw. Boink. I know you’re good at it, and it’s about time I got it over with. Let’s go in there and have at it. Like ripping off a Band-Aid.”

I smiled up at him brightly, pleased with myself. It was a brilliant plan.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he said, closing his eyes. “Un-fucking-real. Em, we need to get you home. Now.”

“You’re turning me down?” I asked, raising my brows. “Because you seemed pretty ready to go for it at the bar, and you sure as shit weren’t faking it when you had me cuffed to the bed. Pretty certain I didn’t imagine that part.”

“Yeah, Em. I’m turning you down.”

“Well, f**k you, ass**le. Oh wait, we’re not doing that, are we?” I said peevishly, looking past him. The front door had opened, and I could see girls dancing inside. Some of them weren’t wearing much in the way of clothing. Interesting. “If you’re gonna be boring, I’ll just go check out the party.”

I pushed past him and walked into the living room, looking around curiously. If Hunter wanted to be a dickwad, I’d find someone else to entertain me.

Now, I grew up in an MC, so it wasn’t like the party totally shocked me. But Dad always kicked me out before things got too crazy at the Armory, because he’s mean like that. I have a good imagination, though, and I’ve heard stories about wild club parties.

Stories that were apparently pretty accurate. Sweet.

Across the wall was a long banner that said “Welcome Home, Clutch.” Right underneath it sat a big recliner, all covered with gold cloth like a throne. There was a mini fridge set next to it, and attached to one arm was an elaborate remote-control holster. I made careful note of each peripheral detail, because my eyes kept shying away every time I tried to look at the action taking place in the chair.

A man wearing a Devil’s Jack cut lay back, a giant grin on his face. I couldn’t tell if it was from watching the half-naked stripper working the pole in the center of the room, the two fully naked chicks on the couch sixty-nining each other, or the girl giving him a blow job. Whatever the cause, Clutch (I assumed it was Clutch) was in a very, very good mood.

Well, at least now I knew what the party was for.

I started wandering across the room, which was full of guys drinking beer, couples making out, and oh . . . look at that. There was a giant plasma TV playing  p**n .

“Em,” Hunter called, his voice warning. I ignored him. This was far too interesting. Past the living room was a dining area. Big Boobs lay back on the table while a tall man with a hairy ass f**ked her in front of the crowd. I cocked my head, studying him carefully. He needed a wax in a big way.

Then everything turned upside down.

Hunter had grabbed me and thrown me over his shoulder, which wasn’t the most comfortable position for a woman who’d been drinking all night. It took everything I had not to barf down his back, so I started smacking him and demanding that he let me go.

“Jesus Christ,” he muttered, passing through the kitchen and up a flight of stairs. He turned into a room at the top, flopping me down on an unmade bed. Everything started spinning. I tried to focus on the ceiling, where something faintly green shimmered. What was that up there?

Then I burst out laughing.

“The f**k?” Hunter asked, hands on his hips, exasperation written all over his face.

“There’s a glowing unicorn on your ceiling,” I said, awestruck. But was it real? I closed my eyes, rubbed them, then opened them again.

Nope. It was still there. Holy shit.

I sat up.

“Is there really a glowing unicorn watching us?” I asked, feeling a little panicky. “Because I see one. It’s right there.”

A smile crept across his face and he sat down on the bed, leaning back against the headboard.

“Yup, there’s a unicorn up there all right,” he said. “Must’ve been a kid’s bedroom before we took the place over. Someone painted it for him, I guess.”

Well, that was good news. I might be drunk, but at least I wasn’t hallucinating.

“Why don’t you paint over it?”

“Kelsey likes it,” he said. “Actually, I kind of like it, too. We had some shitty foster homes, but there was one place we stayed that was pretty good. The woman there was way into unicorns. All over the place. They remind me of her.”

“Are you still in touch with her.”

“She’s dead,” he said shortly. “Died about a month after we moved into her house. Heart attack or something. We were damned lucky they kept us together after that—even real brothers and sisters get broken apart. Fuckin’ miracle we weren’t separated.”

I thought about my mom and dad, and how happy I’d been with them as a kid. I missed her so much. And while Dad drove me crazy, I loved him. He was always there for me. Always.

I rolled to my side, curling into him and resting my head against his chest. Then I brought my hand up and rubbed up and down the plane of his muscles, almost restlessly.

“So, what do you think?” I asked.

“About what?”

“Fucking, of course. Remember? I’m not a little girl who needs protection, Hunter. I know what I want. Just lie back and relax, because it’s not personal. I’m just going to borrow your dick for a while.”

He stilled.

“You’re really, really drunk, Em. I think we should talk about it tomorrow. If you’re still interested then, I’m all over it.”

I pushed myself up to lean on his chest, glaring at him.

“If you don’t f**k me right now, I’m going downstairs to find someone who will,” I threatened. “I’m serious. I’m done with this virgin princess bullshit.”

His face hardened.

“Yeah, that ain’t happening.”

I tried to sit up, but he wrapped his arms around my waist, holding me tight. Then he rolled, taking me with him until I was settled underneath, one of his legs between mine. I felt his dick against my stomach and smiled. That was good—for a minute I’d been worried he’d lost interest. I tried to kiss him, but he pulled away, scowling.

“Oh, seriously?” I asked. “Let me get this straight. You’ve got a drunk girl who wants to have sex with you in your bed. You’ve made it clear you aren’t interested in love or romance. The drunk girl is cool with that. Are you sure you’re actually a real biker? Because something here isn’t adding up, Liam.”

His face softened.