“Am I seeing double?” barks a tall, lean man in his late thirties, elbowing a shorter grizzly man in the ribs.
“If you are, that makes two of us!” laughs his companion as we approach.
“You’ve got to be twins,” says the first man, looking between me and Juliet with a twisted smile on his face. “I fucking love twins.”
“This is Leon and Lobo,” Juliet tells me, nodding to the short and taller men, respectively. “They’re our Road Captain and Sergeant at Arms.”
“What is this, a freaking militia?” I whisper to her.
“Basically,” she shrugs.
“Jules told us her sister’d washed up on shore,” the man called Lobo grins.
“You’re every bit as smoking as she is,” Leon nods sagely.
“Thanks? I think?” I murmur, as Juliet tugs me along. I hear Devlin whisper a warning for Leon and Lobo to cool it as we retreat. Nice to have some backup, I have to admit. Even if Devlin’s acting out of possessiveness as much as anything.
“These two are Chip and Dean. They’re our Treasurer and Secretary,” my sister goes on, drawing to a stop before two younger guys. The first looks remarkably like Harry Potter—if Harry Potter dropped out of Hogwarts and joined a biker gang, that is. The second has impeccable posture and short, blonde hair. I recognize him as the man Kari, my red headed school acquaintance, was hanging all over last night.
“What’s up?” asks Chip, the boy wizard lookalike.
“Pleased to meet you,” says his crew cut-bearing friend. His oddly formal greeting brings a little grin to my face. I guess the outlaw life really does attract all kinds.
“That bruiser over there is Brutus,” Juliet says, pointing to the surly, dangerous looking guy manning the grill, “But he’s not one for hello’s.”
“I get that impression, yeah,” I murmur.
“Over here we’ve got Xan,” she goes on, dragging me over to a gorgeous, borderline pretty man with long, ash-blonde hair and full magazine model lips. He raises his beer and winks at me, and I spot Devlin shoot him a warning glare.
I kind of love how protective he’s being of me, even with his own brothers. I guess I inhabit sort of a strange space as a woman hanging around these guys for the first time. My status as Juliet’s sister, a guest of The Club, and a chosen companion of Devlin render me not quite a sweet butt, but certainly not an old lady. I’m not sure if a word exists for what I am to these guys. Maybe, if I’m being honest with myself, that word is simply, “outsider.”
“This old coot is Otis,” Juliet continues, as we pass the oldest man of the lot.
“Well aren’t you two a sight,” he crows around a mouthful of burger. “Does an old man’s heart good, seeing the pair of you together. I love me a good set of sisters.”
Introductions complete, Juliet tows me back around the circle. Packer has gathered a few plates piled high with barbecue, and I realize just how hungry I am.
“Here you go,” he grins, handing me a loaded plate, “Dig in, girl.”
“Welcome to the Circle of Death,” Juliet smiles, clinking her beer bottle against mine.
“But I’m not really...in the circle, am I?” I ask Devlin in a lowered voice.
“For the week you are,” he says, placing a hand on the small of my back. “So relax, babe. Trust me, we know how to have a good time around here.”
I settle down with my delicious plate of food, my cold beer, the gorgeous man who’s taken a liking to me, my sister, and her husband. It’s like I’ve stepped into some bizarro version of my life where this kind of thing is the norm. Nothing to do but roll with it, I guess.
Even without a yacht-load of young pretty girls around, the men of the Circle of Death know how to have a good time. They run through stories of their adventures on the road (both legal and otherwise), hurl insults at each other, knock back beer and whiskey like its water, and crank up the hard rock as the night goes on. A few sweet butts who’ve been brought along for the ride keep the MC members company, shooting me skeptical and downright hostile looks as I sit beside Devlin. If every sweet butt is hoping to become a member’s old lady, my presence next to the crown jewel of the MC must not be very welcome.
But even if I wanted to be anywhere except right at Devlin’s side, he wouldn’t allow it. If either of us moves an inch, the other follows. It’s like our bodies have been calibrated, synced up with each other. I’ve never experienced anything like it. My thoughts keep drifting back up to Devlin’s bedroom as I wonder how that sense of togetherness would translate in a more...intimate situation. I have to clench my thighs together to contain my throbbing need, just thinking about it.
Juliet is perched happily on Packer’s lap, unabashedly locking lips with her husband. They can’t keep their hands off each other for a second. As sad as I am to have missed my sister’s wedding, small though it was, I can’t help but be happy for her. There’s a lot we still need to work through, but she’s my sister all the same. She’s found a way to enjoy her life, and a man to share that happiness with. I can tell from the way Packer looks at Juliet just how deeply he loves her. We should all be so lucky to find a guy who looks at us that way.
But just as that thought occurs to me, I feel Devlin’s gaze swing my way. Raising my eyes to meet his, I’m rendered breathless by the intensity I find there. He fixes his gaze on my face, and it’s like the rest of the world doesn’t even exist for him. Maybe I have found someone who cares for me the way I deserve. But is it really care and admiration Devlin feels for me, or simply lust?
As he runs a hand down my back, I have to admit that I don’t much care, either way. Sensation sears down my spine at his touch, radiating out to every last inch of my body. Whether Devlin’s fascination with me is destined to be short-lived or eternal, it doesn’t make a difference tonight. Tonight, I’m only concerned with one thing: proving to Devlin that I’m ready to give in to him, the way he wants me to. He and Juliet have both told me, in their own ways, that I can’t take what he has in store for me. I have to show them, and myself, that I can take it. I want to. But more than that, I need to.
By midnight, I’m feeling perfectly at home amongst these MC bad boys. Probably I’d be a bit less comfortable if their president wasn’t watching over me, making sure no other men try to snatch me away. I can tell that the rest of Devlin’s brothers are not to be fucked with. Even the most tame-looking among them could do some serious damage if provoked.