Romeo (Dark Knights MC/Blood Fury MC: Crossover)

Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

“What the actual fuck?” burst from Romeo the second the eight ball tipped over the edge and landed in the pocket. “What the actual fuck, Maddie? That ain’t no fuckin’ beginner’s luck. You fuckin’ played me.”

Not so cocky now, was he? “I did. In pool.”

A muscle jumped in his cheek. “Not what I fuckin’ meant.”

“Sounds like you thought you could take advantage of me but failed.” Maddie shrugged and, with a grin, placed her cue stick in the rack on the wall. She then headed over to him where he still stood in shock and anger. Using his shoulder for balance, she rose onto her tiptoes and leaned in close. “You think I didn’t notice you come in the door? You’re hard to miss, Rome. Especially in here.”

Not waiting for that to sink in, she quickly moved away from him and, while meeting his eyes, put the beer he bought her to her lips and took a long sip.

When she was done, she sighed loudly and shot him a smile .

As soon as she had spotted him coming into The Iron Horse, she and Zeke jokingly devised a half-assed plan while Romeo sat at the bar. She had no idea that plan would actually come into play, and he would walk right into it.

Shame on him for underestimating her.

Maddie already knew the basics of pool before moving to Shadow Valley. Zeke only helped hone her skills.

On a rare occasion, they worked together to make some spare cash by pretending she was still a beginner. She’d bet an unsuspecting Iron Horse customer and when she won, would act like it was beginner’s luck. Just like she did with Romeo. But with the others, the bet had nothing to do with sex.

Romeo’s vision of a “sure thing” was now destroyed.

His cockiness possibly taken down a peg.

He also now knew she wasn’t a pushover.

Chuckling, Zeke came back to the billiard area and slapped Romeo hard enough on the back to make him lurch forward. “Better luck next time, brother.”

Oh shit. Romeo was already annoyed, but to have Zeke rub his loss and the fact Maddie pulled one over on him in his face…

Not smart.

She opened her mouth to tell Zeke to let it go. Before the first word slipped past her lips, it turned into a squeak when Romeo grabbed her wrist and began to take long strides toward the exit with her in tow.

“Romeo…” She kept her voice calm and low to avoid Zeke freaking out and coming to her rescue.

The big man didn’t stop until they were outside and away from the door. Once they were, he backed her against the exterior wall, dropped his head and locked eyes with her. “That was fuckin’ bullshit. ”

She lifted her chin. “You only think that because you lost. Bet you wouldn’t think it was bullshit if you had won.”

The second he released her wrist; she spun in the direction of her car. He quickly stopped her by slamming a hand against the side of the building, blocking her path. When she spun the other way, he barred her escape with his other arm, caging her in.

“Let me leave, Romeo.”

“Ain’t leavin’ ’til I’m fuckin’ done with you.”

Oh yes , the man was not happy.

“I’ll leave when I want to leave. You have no right to stop me.” Could he detect the tremor in her voice?

Was she stupid to push him like that?

She knew him but she didn’t know him that well. Even so, she never heard of him abusing or hurting women. He only used women sexually. But it was always consensual, like with her five years ago.

However, he had no reason to get this pissed. The only thing he lost was a game of pool. He wasn’t scammed out of anything of value. Her plan had been to only put him in his place.

Zeke had no idea that Maddie and Romeo hooked up during that weekend up in Manning Grove. As far as she knew, nobody did. She hoped like hell it stayed that way.

Zeke only went along with the plan because he thought it would be funny that big, bad Romeo would be beaten by a “girl.”

“Maddie, you okay?” came from behind Romeo.

Speak of the devil.

“She’s good,” Romeo growled, still keeping their eyes locked.

“Wanna hear it from her,” Zeke insisted, his voice dropping an octave, too .

Romeo’s nostrils flared and she swore he was grinding his teeth.

She would not be the cause of a brawl between Zeke and Romeo. That would cause issues. Not only for Romeo and Zeke, but between the Dirty Angels and the Dark Knights.

She would not be the reason their long-standing, solid alliance cracked or even became shaky.

“I’m fine, Zeke,” she reassured him.

Romeo continued to intensely stare at her, but they were both fully aware of Zeke still standing behind the Knights’ president, ready to step in to rescue her.

“Don’t be a goddamn sore loser, Rome. She beat you fair and square.”

Zeke assumed this all had to do with the game. That maybe Romeo was embarrassed by his loss to Maddie.

He had no idea what they had bet. And, judging by his reaction, it was best if he didn’t know. Despite them only being friends, Zeke still had that typical “touch her and you die” attitude. Unfortunately, that mindset could be dangerous.

“Don’t look fine. You wanna be there?”

Not really, but Romeo wasn’t hurting her. “We’re simply having a discussion,” she assured him.

“Pretty fuckin’ close discussion,” Zeke pointed out.

“It’s fine, Zeke. As soon as I’m done talking to Romeo, I’m heading home.”

Zeke still stayed where he was.

“I appreciate you looking out for me but it?—”

“Ain’t needed,” Romeo finished for her.

“I’m not likin’ this, Maddie.”

“Ain’t for you to like,” Romeo informed him.

She had to admit, Romeo was very confident in himself since not once did he look at Zeke. He kept his back to the younger biker, making it clear Romeo was dismissing him without worry.

She had no doubt that Zeke took that as a slight since it meant Romeo didn’t fear or have any concern about what the younger biker might do. And that would knock the DAMC’s president’s cocky son down a peg or two. No different than Maddie getting one over on the man caging her in.

Both men had their ego checked tonight. All Maddie wanted to do was enjoy a couple of beers, play some pool, hang out with her friend, and forget about work for a few hours.

She said under her breath, “If I promise not to hightail it out of here, will you back off, so Zeke does the same?”

With his lips pressed into a tight, thin line, he pulled in a deep breath, then straightened. After a slight hesitation, he took a small step back and dropped his arms to his side.

She did not miss that his fingers were loosely curled into fists or that he still stood close enough, so his thick body blocked her view of the man standing behind him.

Romeo made a damn good wall and a terrible window.

But that also meant that Zeke couldn’t see her. She raised her voice to make sure he could hear her. “Everything’s fine, Zeke. Nothing to worry about. Romeo and I have a lot to catch up on.”

“Didn’t know you were that close to have shit to catch up on.” Of course, Zeke sounded skeptical since he was far from stupid. He got his looks from his father, his intelligence from both of his parents, but somehow his father’s laid-back gene had skipped him.

“Of course. We became friends years ago.” They had never been friends. They had flirted plenty and had sex once, but that was where the relationship ended.

“All right,” Zeke muttered. “Text me if you need anythin’.”

As soon as she answered, “I will,” Zeke grumbled something under his breath, turned and headed back inside, finally leaving her and Romeo alone.

When Romeo stepped closer, she expected him to cage her against the side of the building again, but he didn’t. Even though he wasn’t touching her, he stood in her personal space, demanding, “Was he in on it?”

“In on what?”

“You playin’ me like that.”

“You don’t like being played, Rome?” she asked so sweetly, she gained five pounds.

What the actual fuck? “Wasn’t my goddamn question.”

“Are you mad?”

“I look fuckin’ happy?”

“You thought your win was a sure thing. That I was a sure thing. You’re mad because I’m not.”

He couldn’t argue that point because it was true, but her gloating was pissing him off even more. “You’re gettin’ back at me ‘cause you think I used you that night.” That had to be it.

“Well, didn’t you?”

“Didn’t you?” he countered.

“Can we both admit we used each other? I can admit it. But isn’t using women your M.O.? Don’t pretend like it’s not.”

His head jerked back. “Love sex. Need women to have sex.” He might not’ve done great in high school biology, but he knew that fucking much.

“Not really.” She smirked and pumped her fist in a jerk-off motion.

If he wasn’t so damn pissed right now, he’d think that was funny. But he was, and it wasn’t. “Ain’t the same.”

“Because when you’re done, your hand’s still attached? Unlike all the women you like to pull a dip and dash.”

Dip and dash?

Why the fuck was he bothering with her? He didn’t need this shit.

He had plenty of women at his fingertips. None that took work to get naked and into his bed.

And even though she wouldn’t admit it, he had no fucking doubt she plotted with LZ to fuck with him.

If Romeo was still the Knights’ president when LZ took over at the head of the Angels’ table, the alliance might be at risk. He wasn’t sure he could be an ally to a cocky kid.

Especially, not after this shit with Maddie.

She wasn’t DAMC property. She wasn’t LZ’s, either. The kid needed to mind his own fucking business and stay out of Romeo’s.

“You mean the same way you dashed from my RV that night?”

“It was morning,” she corrected.

Jesus. “Middle of the fuckin’ night.”

“ Aww , Rome. Did you want to cuddle afterward?”

He didn’t give a fuck about cuddling. Maybe pussy-boy LZ liked that kind of shit. What he had really wanted at the time was to fuck her again. When she wasn’t dealing with the discomfort of losing her virginity to a man with a big fucking dick.

He’d been careful the first time. He hadn’t planned on being so careful the second. But he wasn’t the one who “dipped and dashed” that night.

It was her.

And that never fucking happened to him. If anything, he had a hard time kicking some clingers out of his bed. Especially the ones with the hopes of becoming his ol’ lady.

Maddie had snuck away the second he closed his eyes and drifted off. It was almost as if she had taken a page out of his playbook. “Yeah, you owe me a cuddle.”

“I gave you my virginity. That wasn’t enough?”

Fuck no, it hadn’t been enough. And he didn’t give a fuck about her virginity. He usually avoided inexperienced women.

He’d been into Maddie, not her sexual status.

She was why he came to The Iron Horse tonight. It had taken him a while to push her out of his mind, for the memory to fade, after that weekend five years ago. But running into her at Bangin’ Burgers returned that memory front and center into his brain.

He didn’t like that.

In fact, it bothered the fuck out of him.

He never chased a goddamn woman before and here he was…

He needed to walk away. Leave her be and forget about her. Go back to Dick’s, find a sweet butt, and do the nastiest shit possible with her to push Maddie out of his thoughts.

Did his stupid ass do that? Fuck no.

What did he do instead? Something he normally wouldn’t unless he was out of his fucking mind. Right there out in the parking lot of The Iron Horse, right in DAMC territory, he used his chest to bump her backwards and pin her against the wall.

“Ro—”

He swallowed his own name as he captured her mouth.

She didn’t claw out his eyes but instead, dug her fingers into his arms. Not to push him away, but to pull him closer. To encourage him to continue. To keep them connected .

He wedged a knee between her thighs, drove a hand into her hair and pinned her against the wall using his chest to continue to do what she wanted… plunder her mouth.

Her body, her reaction, confirmed what he already suspected.

The woman was putting on a goddamn front. Pretending she didn’t want him when that was the opposite of the truth. But she wasn’t the only one unable to hide her reaction. In an instant, his dick turned into a steel pipe and ached to be inside her.

Despite it being her first time that night, she had been surprisingly responsive. She hadn’t laid there like a corpse but had met him thrust for thrust.

He wanted a repeat of her naked and squirming under him, digging those nails into his back instead of his arms.

Was she still as tight as she was five years ago when he had gone where no man had gone before? He wanted to find out.

Tonight, his tongue explored every inch of her mouth, twisted, and tangled with hers. Her lips were warm and soft as they moved against his. When she slightly tilted her head, he took the kiss deeper.

A groan slipped up her throat and her nails dug even deeper into his flesh as she clung to him.

It was stupid to start this here where they couldn’t finish what they both wanted.

Because if those fucking groans and whimpers were any indication, her denying that she wanted him would be a lie.

It was when Maddie began to grind against the thigh he had planted between her legs, he knew this had to stop. Because if she didn’t… Shit might get real really quickly.

He was not fucking her in her goddamn cage in the parking lot of The Iron Horse .

For fuck’s sake , at this point he didn’t want to fuck her at all. He was only trying to teach her a lesson about playing him. Get her all worked up and then pull the rug out from underneath her. Like she did with him.

She should know that paybacks were a bitch.

However, it might turn into a failed lesson if he didn’t stop now.

It took everything he had to rip his mouth from hers and step back, freeing her. Freeing himself from temptation.

His hard-on kicked in his jeans when he saw her lips were parted, her chest pumping with each ragged breath and her eyes squeezed shut.

Yeah , he did that.

She couldn’t deny he was the cause of that reaction.

When her eyelids finally lifted, he drew a hand down over his thick beard to smooth it back into place and said, “Guess you’re gonna be missin’ out on where that woulda led.”

With that, he set his jaw and did something so damn difficult. He turned and strode to his sled, leaving her standing against the wall still in a daze.

She thought she outplayed the player.

And maybe she did.

This time.

But next time he’d be prepared.

Because he was nobody’s bitch.

Not even Maddie’s.