Cookie laughed, shaking off her melancholy with a visible force of will. These were strong women, I decided. Really strong women. I could learn from them.

“You know I draw the line at soft-core, no fetish stuff,” Cookie replied, waggling her eyebrows suggestively. “I’m gonna get drinks. Maggs, show the newbie where the VIP rooms are, will ya? And make sure it’s wiped down before I strut my stuff. My man likes his girls clean and tight, no sloppy seconds!”

She gave a little shimmy and we whooped, clapping. Maggs pointed me across the floor to a long, dark hallway.

“Rooms are over there, sugar,” she said. “I left my phone in the car, and I’m definitely gonna need my own personal copy of this for blackmail purposes. See you in a few.”

She pushed me toward the rooms. I crossed the floor to the hallway, feeling awkward as all get out. Dark doors lined the both sides of the hall, all of them closed. I had no idea what I’d find inside and exploring on my own felt weird. I decided to wait for Maggs. Then Max strolled up, offering me that same friendly smile he’d worn at the bar.

“You lost?” he asked. I shook my head.

“Not so much lost as a little out of my depth,” I admitted. “I guess Cookie’s gonna have us film her dancing for Bagger. She said to find a room, but I’m afraid to just start opening doors.”

“No prob,” he said, shrugging casually, although his eyes held a pleased gleam. “Follow me.”

Something felt off. My instincts said I shouldn’t follow him, but I couldn’t think of a reason not to and I was still pretty drunk. My drunken instincts weren’t so hot—Gary’d asked me to marry him after I’d just killed a six-pack.

When Max pointed me toward the last door on the right side of the hall, which had a little green light glowing above it, I hesitantly walked over and pushed it open. It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and soft red light. Then I saw Horse sitting on a black leather couch against the wall, arms stretched out along the back. His shirt was off and an almost-naked, bleached-blonde woman straddled him. Her hips writhed against his and when she turned to look at us, I saw she had giant, obviously fake boobs. She wore a blue, sparkly G-string and nothing else.

Horse met my wide, frozen eyes and glared.

“What the f**k are you doing here? Thought this was ladies’ night.”

“Nothing,” I whispered, stepping back and very carefully shutting the door. I felt brittle, fragile, like I was going to break apart into a thousand pieces. I don’t know why. It wasn’t like we had a real relationship. I didn’t own him. But seeing him with another woman—that hurt me deep down inside. I bumped into Max, who caught my arms and steadied me. I looked up at him, devastated, and he wore an expression I couldn’t begin to describe.

“Did you know he was in there?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Max replied. His easy response, completely unapologetic, threw me.

“You set me up?” I whispered. “Why?”

“Because you’re living in a f**king dream world and the girls were filling your head with shit. I can be a dick, but not as big a dick as he’s being. Thought you had a right to know.”

I tried to think. Unfortunately, everything was spinning around me.

“I didn’t do it to hurt you, Marie,” Max said, pulling me in for a rough hug. I stiffened, then relaxed into him, needing the comfort. He rubbed my hair, combing it with his fingers.

“You’re a sweet kid and you’re in a really f**ked-up situation,” he said, not unkindly. “You need to keep your head straight. Horse is not your old man, you’re not going to live happily ever after with him and your brother isn’t going to come through for you. The faster you figure that out, the better your life is going to be. That’s the truth.”

I pulled away from Max and glanced back at the door, willing Horse to open it, to come out and explain that this was all just some sort of mistake. He didn’t. The green light taunted me.

“You want a ride home?” Max asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Okay.”

He took my arm and went to the fire door, quickly punching a code into a keypad on the side. A tiny red light blinked green and he pushed through the door. I followed him across the parking lot to his bike. My phone started vibrating and I looked down to see Horse’s name on the screen.

I turned it off.

The ride seemed to last forever, and I was pretty much sober by the time we reached the house. Ariel ran out to greet us, smiling his big puppy grin, but I didn’t pet him so he whined and crawled under the porch. Max surprised me when he left his bike and followed me into the house. I guess I expected him to just drop me off or something. It felt strange and awkward with him there, and I wished I could be alone.

“You want a drink?” I asked, hoping he’d say no.

“Yeah, grab me a beer,” he replied, pulling out his phone. I left him fiddling with it while I found a beer for him and a glass of water for myself. As I came back down the hall he met me halfway, taking the drinks and walking into the dining room. He set them on the pool table and cocked his head to the side, studying me again.

“Why do you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?”

“Look at me like that?”

“Trying to decide what the f**k Horse is thinking,” he replied. “You don’t need to be with him, Marie. This is f**ked up. You should let me help you.”

“Help me how?”

Instead of answering, he leaned down and threw me over his shoulder. I shrieked, hitting him on the back and kicking. Max ignored my struggles, carrying me back into the living room and throwing me down on to the couch. I hit hard and lost my breath. Before I could recover he was on me, thrusting a knee between my legs, covering my mouth with his. I struggled against him, but I shouldn’t have bothered. Way too strong for me. His legs pinned me, pelvis grinding into mine as his arms wrestled my own into the couch. His kiss wasn’t sensual, just a brutal attack. No tongue, no seduction. Just a crushing of his lips against my mouth. I seriously couldn’t breathe and my vision started going dark.

“Oh no f**king way. You’re a dead man.”

I heard Horse’s angry voice and felt a surge of hope. Then Max flew off me so hard I almost rolled off the couch. Horse threw him across the room into the wall, missing the TV by about six inches. I screamed as Horse leapt after him, hammering him with his fists. Max writhed under the onslaught, but he started laughing, the sound horrible and dark and oddly punctuated by the blows slamming his body. A loud, clicking noise cut through his laughter and I looked up to find Picnic aiming a gun at the two men.

Horse didn’t pause.

“Horse!” Picnic said. “Drop him or I’ll shoot you.”

Horse gave Max one last, vicious punch to the gut before he stepped back, chest heaving. Max rose to his feet unsteadily, grinning at Horse in a way that was truly unbalanced. Now I got the whole “Mad Max” thing…

“You got a problem, brother?” Max asked as he wiped the blood streaming from his nose with the back of his hand. “Your bitch didn’t seem to think so. Practically jumped into my arms at the Line. I’ll admit she’s a sweet cunt, but is she really worth fighting over?”

“Shut your mouth,” Picnic said, stepping forward. “You don’t talk to a brother that way. And you don’t f**k around with a fellow Reaper’s woman. We’ll deal with this at the armory tomorrow. You got that?”

Max laughed again. Then he turned to me and stuck two of his fingers in a “v” in front of his mouth, flicking his tongue between them at me.

“You ass**le!” I yelled, filled with sudden rage. “You f**king ass**le, you get out of here! Get the f**k out of here and don’t f**king come back or I’ll f**king shoot you myself!”

All three guys froze, looking at me in surprise.

I sneered back at them, disgusted.

“What, surprised that the bone you’re fighting over can talk? Well f**k all of you!”

With that I turned and stomped up the stairs to my room, slamming the door behind me. Moments later bikes roared to life outside. I paced my room for a minute, furious and full of energy, then threw my door open and headed back downstairs.

I had a few more things I wanted to get off my chest.

I found Horse standing in the center of the living room, running a hand through his hair, scowling at the splatters of blood staining his floor. He turned toward me, and we glared at each other across the room, neither of us giving an inch. I was still a little drunk, but I’d had it. Time to lay things out with Horse. I opened my mouth to let him have it, but he started in first.

“Who the f**k you do think you are, showing up at the Line like that?” he demanded. “And why did Max have his tongue down your throat?”

Oh, that really pissed me off.

“You don’t get to talk about tongues down throats, ass**le,” I hissed. “And for your information, I was at the Line because your sister took me there. I guess it didn’t occur to her that you’d be screwing some slut in the back room!”

“I wasn’t screwing anyone. It was a lap dance. No big deal,” he said, eyes narrowing on me.

“So sorry I interrupted you before you got to the happy ending!” I yelled. I didn’t think I’d ever been this angry before in my life. The edges of my vision actually turned red. I felt like throwing things at him, and I glanced around, trying to find something with a good heft. Horse stalked over, looming over me as he yelled in my face, backing me toward the wall.

“Why the f**k shouldn’t I have a happy ending? It’s not like I have an old lady to worry about! No, not me!” he declared, throwing his arms wide, speaking to the room at large. “I don’t have an old lady, now do I? Nope, because you’re too f**king good to wear my patch, now aren’t you? What haven’t I done for you, Marie? I kept your brother alive. Didn’t come cheap, babe, you got no clue how pricey your ass is. And tonight? It’s not like you were around to take care of me, was it? We had plans and you blew me off. You can’t have it both ways, Marie. Either we’re together or we’re not, but if we’re not don’t expect me to sit around with my thumb up my ass while you’re out partying. And this bullshit with Max? In my own home? I should throw your ass out and call the hit on your brother myself. You can go f**k yourself, Marie. Seriously. I’m done with you.”

I snarled at him. How dare he play victim?

“Max was trying to rape me,” I said, the words cold and hard. “And the only reason I caught a ride home with him was because you were too busy letting some whore grind her skanky crotch against you to notice. I go out one night without you and you can’t keep it in your pants?”

“Why should I?” he demanded. He shifted his weight forward as he caught my hands, twisting them behind my back and forcing me against him. A sexual thrill ran through me, all mixed up with my anger and the crazy rush of adrenaline making my heart race. I felt his cock, hard and ready, and smelled the mixture of sweat and motor oil that always seemed to follow him. My pu**y was a swollen, hot well of need and my panties were sopping. I wanted to bite him and lick him and kick him in the nuts all at the same time.

“Cookie hasn’t seen her man in months, but when she goes out, she wears his patch,” Horse snarled. “She’s proud to be his old lady. You want me to keep it in my pants, you wear my patch.”

Horse thrust his hips against me for emphasis and I laughed at him. Then I lunged forward and caught his lip in my teeth, biting, and not a little love nip. He dropped me with a shout and I took off up the stairs. He tore after me, catching the back of my shirt as I reached the top, pulling me down three steps and trapping me under his body on my stomach. One hand tangled in my hair, holding my head tight as the other ripped open my fly and jerked my jeans down around my knees, pinning them together. I moaned as he fumbled to free his cock, pushing my ass back at him, feeling my juices run down my leg because I wanted him inside me so badly.

Horse’s dick ripped through me and I screamed.

What happened next was not gentle and nice and sweet and romantic. Horse tore into me, f**king me so hard I’m surprised nobody got hurt. His hand in my hair hurt, but his c**k filled me exactly how I needed it. I don’t know how long it lasted. I’m not even sure how many times I came. I just know that every orgasm I took felt like a victory over him, and when he finally blew into me—hot seed shooting deep into my womb—he shouted and pulled my hair and that turned me on like nothing I’ve ever experienced before in my life.

Shit…

I collapsed down on the stairs, cradling my face in my arms as Horse’s c**k slowly softened inside me. His harsh, panting breaths echoed in my ears. Then he pulled out, turning and sitting down on the steps below me. I rolled over and looked up at the ceiling.

“This is really f**ked up,” he said, sounded stunned. I knew the feeling. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” I replied, running a hand through my hair. I needed to pull up my pants, but it took everything I had not to melt into an exhausted puddle. “I’m fine. I know this is sick, but that was incredible. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

“Yeah.”

We sat there for I don’t know how long. My heart rate slowed and I started to notice things, like the rough texture of the carpet under my ass and the risers cutting into my back. And how wet I was. Ewww…

“I think I’m dripping on the rug,” I murmured. Horse gave a short bark of laughter. I looked at him and the complete and utter absurdity of our situation hit me. I couldn’t help myself, a little hysterical giggle started deep down in my chest. I twisted my mouth, trying to keep it in, but it broke free. I laughed harder and harder, my body shaking as Horse watched me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had.