Mace (Untamed Sons MC: Birmingham Chapter #1)

17. Mace

SEVENTEEN

MACE

I have a problem. I didn’t expect to kiss Maylie and feel the way I do. I know she’s pushing me away because she has shit going on in her life, but there is no way in hell I can stop pursuing her now.

It was her mouth on mine that filled my mind as I took my cock in my hand while I showered that same afternoon after breakfast. It was her face I saw as I blew my load over the back of my hand and onto the tiles the following day, and it was the thought of my cock buried in her sweet, tight channel that has been in my mind every day since. She is so deeply embedded in my mind that I don’t think she realises the danger she is in. I can’t just let her go. I can’t just walk away. Not now that I’ve tasted her.

Immediately, I want to learn every little thing about her. I also want to fix her problems, though I know she is not going to allow me to. She’s too proud to take money, which I understand. I would be the same, but I meant what I said. There is no way in hell she is getting on that stage and taking her top off for the shithead clients we have in the bar.

The four days she takes off to let her wrist heal are torture, but I give her the space I think she needs after we kissed. I want to camp outside her flat, take her for breakfast every morning, but whatever is going on with her, I get the feeling if I push her, she’ll close down fast, and that can’t happen.

On Tuesday afternoon, I head over to the clubhouse before I need to go to Temptation, hoping to run into Nicky. The common room is empty as I step through the door, but I see him sitting outside, a cigarette placed between his lips as he enjoys the quiet.

I ignore the two club girls getting railed on one of the sofas by Grub and Blade as I make my way to the door and step out onto the terrace. Nicky lifts his head, acknowledging my presence as I come to sit next to him on the bench.

“I was starting to forget what you look like. You’re living at that fuckin’ bar lately. I didn’t know you were that invested in strippers.” He grabs a mug next to him on the bench, taking a sip of what smells like coffee.

“I’m not.” I’m invested in one person, who happens to work with strippers. “I got a favour to ask.”

My best friend gives me his attention completely, his eyes widening in surprise. I’m not big on asking for anything, even though I know he would do it for me in a heartbeat.

“What do you need?” he asks without hesitation.

“I have…” How do I explain to him what Maylie is to me? “Do we have any openings in any of our businesses?”

His brows draw up his head. “Openings like jobs?” I nod. “You need money?” He’s already reaching for his wallet before he’s even finished speaking.

I love that he does that, but we both know I’ve made enough money in my time at the club to retire twice over. “It ain’t for me.”

Nicky studies me intently, and I can imagine the things he’s thinking. For so long, I have been a loner, only interested in Nicky and my foster brother.

“I’m gonna need you to give me some information here, brother.”

He doesn’t want the information so he can decide to help me. He wants it because he’s a nosy fucker. “There’s a girl?—”

He snorts. “Of course, there is.”

I scowl at him. “She’s important to me.”

The look he gives me is entirely unreadable. “I didn’t realise you were dating someone.”

“I’m… it’s complicated.”

He takes a sip of his coffee, flicking the ash of his cigarette onto the ground. “I’m confused.”

“Can you get her work or not? Something that pays really well, Nicky.”

His lips tug up into a ghost of a smile. “Sure. What can she do?”

An idea occurs to me suddenly. “You found a manager yet for Temptation?”

“You want to put this woman you like in charge of a bunch of strippers?”

“She already works there.”

“As a stripper?”

“As a bartender,” I correct.

Though she tried to dance for me. The memory sends a jolt to my dick. I will never be able to erase the image of her shaking those hips of hers. She had looked divine, and that is exactly why I will never allow her on that stage.

“Can she do the job?”

“Absolutely,” I say without missing a beat. Maylie is smart and kind, the girls love her, and the security staff treat her with more respect than anyone else in the building.

“Okay then.”

Relief floods me. At least this way, I know where she is and that she’s not going to leave for another job. Especially one that involves shaking her arse on stage. I don’t like the idea of anyone seeing her tits but me, and I don’t care how much of an arsehole that makes me.

I do some collections for the rest of the day, working alongside Diesel. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him speak more than two words, but today, I’m grateful for his silence. It allows me to ponder over Maylie and how I’m going to tell her that she’s been promoted.

By the time I’m ready to head over to Temptation, I’m twitchy with the need to lay my eyes on her. I wish I was able to taste her again, but I want her to come to me willingly. Maybe that will be the case once her money problems are sorted.

Ignoring the prick on the door, I head inside, and as soon as I step into the main room, my eyes gravitate towards the bar. That tightness in my chest unfurls as my gaze locks onto Maylie.

She’s standing behind the bar, running a towel over the countertop, but she seems unfocused, distant.

I make my way over to her. I don’t want things to be weird between us because I don’t plan on letting her walk away from me.

“Hey,” she says in a soft voice.

I take her in, drinking in every molecule of her. That lump of meat in my chest gives a tremulous twitch. “Hey, darlin’.” Her body seems to melt at the endearment, and I make it my mission to use it as often as possible.

Reaching across the bar, I take her wrist in my hand, turning it over to examine the damage. The bruising is still there, though more yellow than purple, but the swelling is better. “It looks better.”

“It is,” she says, her eyes locked to mine. I’d called her a doe when I first met her, and right now, that’s what she looks like—a deer caught in headlights.

“You okay to carry shit?”

She nods. “I’m good. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t.”

“I need to talk to you about something. Come to the office.”

“If this is an excuse to get me alone so we can make out again?—”

I lean across the bar and grab her chin, relishing the wide-eyed wonder in her eyes. “Babe, I don’t need an excuse to do anything.”

I press my mouth to hers, taking everything I want and loving the way she melts into the moment. She might be fighting this, but it’s not because she’s not into me that way.

She can push me away as much as she wants, but it won’t work. I’m in this now.

When I pull back, the dazed look in her eyes is enough to make me smirk. “Come on.”

I walk away, knowing she’ll follow, and sure enough, when I round the desk, she steps into the room, closing the door behind her, and rounds on me, her eyes blazing.

“You can’t just kiss me like that in front of everyone.”

“Says who?”

“Me. I don’t want people to gossip, and it’ll ruin my tips if customers see me making out with someone, Mace.”

“You don’t have to worry about tips. You’re not working behind the bar anymore.”

“You’re letting me dance?” I can see I’ve surprised her, even if she has got the wrong end of the stick.

“Fuck no . I meant it when I said you would not be on that stage ever.”

Her confusion morphs into dismay that makes my stomach twists. “Are you… are you firing me?” Shit . That is not what I intended for her to take from this at all.

She has no idea the lengths I will go to in order to keep her somewhere close by. “No. Fuck no. We need a manager, and the club doesn’t have time to go through interviews and teaching someone the ropes. You already know how the bar works. You know all the staff, and they like you.”

She stares at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “Me? You want me to manage Temptation?”

Her surprise irritates me. She is more capable than she knows. “It’ll be different hours, probably a little longer than you’re used to, and we’ll have to hire someone else to work the bar unless you think one of the other girls would be willing to take up your shifts. But the money is double what you earn now.”

I expect her to be happy, but she doesn’t look at me as she stares at a patch on the floor to the side of her. “Thank you for the opportunity, but I’m going to pass. ”

What the fuck? “Why?”

She lifts her gaze to mine, and I see a flash of something in her eyes. Hurt. “Am I getting this job simply because you don’t want me showing my boobs to strangers, or because we kissed? I’m not qualified to be a manager, Mace. I’ve never worked in any position that required me to manage anything. And I don’t need your pity. I can make my own way in the world. I’ve been doing it for a long enough.”

That was not my intention, but I can see why she might feel slighted. Before she can open the door, I round the desk, eating up the space between us, and press my fingertips to the top of it, just above her head, forcing it closed.

“I fucked up,” I admit, and she turns to face me. I hate seeing that crushed look on her face. “You have to understand, Maylie, I come from a world where we help each other out when we need it. I wouldn’t think twice about offering anyone associated with my club a helping hand. I realise that’s probably not the norm in your circles, but you mean something to me, and you need help. And more than that, I think you would make a fucking great manager. Your personality is infectious. Everybody here loves you and respects you. If I bring in someone new, that ain’t gonna be the way. I don’t have time or the patience to deal with the staff fighting with a manager. So, yeah, some of this might’ve been a little bit fuckin’ selfish on my part, but not entirely for the reason you’re thinking.”

Her shoulders loosen. “You think I’d be good at this?”

“Sweetheart, I think you’d be good at anything you put your mind to.”

The smile she gives me softens every flaming piece of anger she was holding onto. “Really? ”

“Really.”

I wrap my hand around the back of her neck, needing to touch her, to assure myself that she and I are on the same page again. Then, without waiting for an invitation, I dip my head and kiss her.

I kiss her like she is the air I need in my lungs. And her fingers thread around my back, holding me in place.

Fuck. Yes.

I probably should take things slow, but my hand slides between our bodies, and I press my fingers against her core. She gasps against my mouth, and I deepen the kiss, sliding my tongue against hers as I devour her mouth.

Her breaths come quicker, each pant making my cock hard as iron behind my zip. “Mace…”

Her voice is husky, rasped, but her lips lock to mine as I keep stroking her. I need to touch her, to feel her wetness on my fingers, so I pull back, earning a frustrated growl from her before I find the waistband of her shorts. Sliding my fingers between her warm skin and the material, I find her slit.

She’s wet, and that sends a wave of elation through me. She is definitely affected by me, and I fucking love it. Sliding through her wetness, I find her clit, rolling my fingers over that sensitive bundle of nerves until she’s digging her nails into my biceps hard enough to leave marks.

She presses her body against me, her tits flush against my chest as my fingers slide into her tight channel. And it is tight. I don’t know if she’s nervous and clenching, but her pussy strangles my digits.

I pump my fingers back and forth, stretching her with each movement .

“We can’t do this,” she says, still groping my arms as I thrust inside her.

“Babe, we’re already doing it.”

“Someone might come in,” she moans, still clinging to me, her eyes squeezed shut as her climax starts to build.

“If anyone tries to come in, I’ll fucking kill them,” I tell her as my lips drop to her neck. I’m not joking, but she laughs between her groans as if she thinks I am.

Maylie’s climax hits her suddenly, her eyes squeezing shut as she lets out the most beautiful sound I’ve ever fucking heard. She sags into my arms as if she can barely hold herself up, and I keep her on her feet as her chest heaves.

I pull my fingers out of her shorts, watching her face as I lift them to my mouth, desperate to taste her. Her eyes widen.

“I can’t believe you just did that.”

“Why not? I want every part of you,” I say, pressing my mouth to hers. She kisses me back, and between each touch of my lips to hers, I say, “Can you taste yourself on me?”

Her neck and chest is a pretty pink, and I’m sure underneath her make-up would be the same. “We shouldn’t have done that,” she whispers, suddenly unwilling to meet my gaze.

I don’t fucking like that one bit. Does she regret what we did? I don’t want her to have a single question in her mind. I place my finger under her chin, gently tilting her head back so she can look at me. “Yeah, we fucking should have.”

I plan on doing it as often as she’ll allow.

“It’s not setting a very good example, is it? You promote me to manager, and my first action is to let my boss finger me in the office.”

I lean into her, pressing my hardness against her. “You’re lucky that’s all we’ve done. There’s so much more I want to do to you.”

I grind against her, and she lets out a whimper, but before I can duck my head again to kiss her, she places her fingers over my mouth. “Not here. Not like this.”

She’s not saying not ever, which makes me smile. “Whatever you say, darlin’. You think you can work one last shift before sitting behind this desk?”

She nods. “But you still can’t be kissing me at work. I don’t want people to think I got this job because I’m sleeping with the boss.”

I smirk. “Let anyone dare fucking say that in my hearing.”

“Mace, I’m being serious. I’m already out of my depth with this. I really don’t know anything about managing a team.”

I kiss her forehead and feel her melt beneath the touch. “I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”