“Jesus. Fuck.” Without thinking, Zane hauled back and punched Tank in the face. Control around Evie, it seemed, was fleeting.
Evie gasped as Tank staggered back and into the shop, Zane following him. People scattered. Someone chanted “Fight! Fight!” and a space cleared around them. Unlike civilian parties, fights were expected and, in fact, encouraged at biker events.
Tank recovered quickly and launched himself at Zane, who stepped neatly to the side, sending Tank sailing in the crowd. Sparky and Gunner lifted Tank and pushed him back into the ring. He spun around and scowled. “I didn’t mean any offense, fuck-wit.”
“Offense taken.” Zane hit him again, landing a punch in Tank’s stomach. Tank retaliated with a quick thrust kick, followed by a sequence of punches that had Zane reeling.
“Zane. Please. Stop. He didn’t mean it,” Evie shouted. But now that his tension had found an outlet, Zane wasn’t interested in stopping until Tank was on the ground.
Of course, Tank was so named for a reason and he absorbed blow after blow, until Zane’s wrists ached from the effort of trying to knock him down.
In a last-ditch attempt to end the fight, Tank ran at Zane, picking up speed as he crossed the floor to the cheers of the drunken crowd. He plowed into Zane, carrying him back with his shoulder and straight into the wall.
Jesus. Fuck. He was so not going to lose this fight with Evie and the brothers watching.
“Stand down.” Jagger pushed his way through the crowd, but Zane was already in motion.
Fuck Jagger and the rules. Fuck Tank for making him lose control. Just. Fuck. He pounded his fist into Tank’s sternum, grunting his satisfaction when Tank dropped to his knees.
“I said stand down, brother.” Jagger got in his face, shielding Tank with his body. But Zane was too wound up to stand down. Vulnerable, raw and exposed, his control already stretched thin by his decision to bare his personal life to his brothers, he hauled back, ready to punch Jagger, although the repercussions would be severe. But before he could let loose, Evie grabbed his hand.
“It’s okay, baby. I’m okay. But you won’t be if you throw that punch. Even I know there’s no going back if you hit Jagger.” She kept her voice low as he allowed her to back him away from Jagger, away from Tank and the fight he didn’t want, away from the shop and into the hallway.
“And if you get hurt,” she continued, “or Jagger kicks you out, then we won’t get to finish our evening the way I want.” She slid one hand down his chest to his belt and then tugged his hips toward her. “You know what I want?”
Already peaked, Zane’s primal instinct took over and he grabbed her hands and slammed them up over her head, thrusting his thigh between her parted legs. “You want to be fucked.”
Her eyes dilated and she licked her lush lips. “No.”
No? Had he read her wrong?
Evie took a breath, arching toward him, her breasts straining against the wet fabric of her dress. “I want to be fucked by you.”
SIXTEEN
When you’re ready for your first test run, turn on the gas, put on the choke, and kick.
—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL
Zane pulled Evie against his body, and claimed her mouth in a brutal kiss. She tensed at first, wary of his loss of control, but then she met his passion with her own, lips clashing with his, driven by the same deep desires.
Dark, delicious Zane. She moaned, letting him know she wasn’t afraid of the fierceness of his kiss, loved the way he mastered her mouth. She couldn’t remember ever being with a man who made her feel such passion, who made her feel alive. Well, maybe she did. Except back then he’d been a boy.
“Take me upstairs,” she whispered, melting against him, as he released her hands.
“Go, Evie.” He pulled away, a pained expression on his face. “Not after the fight … I’m not safe, not in control…”
“I don’t want to run from you.” She teased him with a tiny nip on his bottom lip, and he growled and slanted his mouth over hers, his kiss hard and aggressive as he reclaimed her lips, leaving no doubt that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him.
“Fuck.” He pulled away and slammed a fist on the wall beside her. “I lost it out there. You in that dress showing so much skin, drinking, the brothers looking at you like they wanted to fucking eat you up, then Tank just blew off the lid…” He pressed his body against hers. “That doesn’t happen to me. I am always in control.”
“Except when you open yourself up. You let them see the real you, Zane. You shared something about yourself. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Evie ground her hips against the bulge in his jeans, her pulse pounding as Zane unraveled in the darkness. He had never shared his feelings except that one night they were together, never bared himself the way she did when things went wrong, and now that he had shown himself to his brothers, to her, he clearly couldn’t handle it. Emotions couldn’t be controlled and Zane was always in control.