The Last Riders: Winter's Touch Part 2

3.

"Don't you want to play?" Rider asked, as he looked up from the cards he was holding. The kitchen was empty except for Crash and Rider.

"Not tonight. It's been a long day."

Winter was exhausted. She had come in the back door of the kitchen and only stopped long enough to answer Rider's question. She was cranky, having missed dinner because of two parent conferences. Now she just wanted to go to bed.

"Maybe tomorrow night," she told him.

She opened the kitchen door, finding the main room filled with members. Viper was sitting on a chair, and Moon was sitting in the one next to him as she entered.

She was going up to Viper to kiss him before she went upstairs to bed, but before she could make a move, Sasha walked up behind him and Moon, provocatively linking her hands over Moon's shoulders.

"Come on! You promised me a rematch."

She had on a tight pair of shorts and a purple top that showed her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s when she leaned over, giving Viper a view of her t.i.ts.

Winter turned on her heels, heading toward the stairs.

"Later, Sasha." Moon grabbed her wrists, jerking her away from him.

She made a disappointed face, pouting as she moved to their side. "How about you, Viper?" She tossed herself onto his lap, winding her arms around his neck.

Any other time, Winter would have let Viper handle the situation, but she decided that only a wife should deal with this.

Dropping her briefcase on the floor, Winter walked toward them. Like a striking snake, she grabbed a handful of Sasha's strawberry curls, pulling Sasha off her husband's lap.

"There is only one b.i.t.c.h who gets to sit on his lap, and it isn't you," Winter snarled down at the woman.

Sasha's face crumpled, tears br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her eyes. "Why did you do that? I was only joking around with him."

The b.i.t.c.h was trying to turn the tables on her?

Winter leaned down, determined to show Sasha just how funny she thought her flirting with Viper was.

"That's enough, Winter. Go on upstairs to bed."

Winter's mouth dropped open at his order. He was taking up for Sasha?

Winter straightened, going to pick up her briefcase, but Viper's hand was there before she could.

She jerked away from his touch before he could put an arm around her and took her briefcase from him. When he then started to follow her to the steps, she glared at him, stopping on the bottom stair. "I'm going to bed... just like you ordered me. Believe me, you do not want to go up there with me right now."

Viper's face grew angry, but he stepped back, letting her go upstairs alone.

She wanted to slam the bedroom door, but she closed it softly. However, taking off her flat dress shoes, she used her toes to throw them across the room. When that didn't help her anger, she hoped a shower would cool the rage boiling through her system.

Turning on some music, she showered and put on a nightgown, knowing Viper hated it when she wore one. Then she sat down on the bed, staring down at the briefcase of work she had brought home. The thought of working while Viper was downstairs with Sasha gave her a headache. She was probably basking in Viper's sympathy.

She pushed the briefcase away before lying back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling. It didn't cool her temper.

Winter pressed her fingers to her temple. "d.a.m.n," she said out loud.

She had overreacted. In her mind's eye, she had seen Viper pushing Sasha off his lap, which was why she had fallen to the floor so easily when Winter had grabbed her hair.

Winter rolled to her side, staring at the empty side of the bed where her husband always lay. She curled an arm under her head and buried her face in the crook of her elbow. Releasing her tension, she cried because she had made a fool of herself. She wept because she hated Sasha. And most of all she shed tears because she was never going to convince Viper to have a baby.

Winter fell asleep while still weeping, the light still on and the music still playing.

When she woke up, needing to go to the bathroom, Viper's spot was still empty. The music downstairs was getting louder. She heard laughter from the members as she relieved herself then washed her hands, splashing cool water on her face.

Staring at the mirror, she saw bruised and pain-filled eyes staring back at her.

"You're not so pretty tonight, are you?" Winter whispered.

The opening of their bedroom door had her straightening as Viper came to stand in the bathroom doorway.

"Can't sleep?"

"I never sleep well when I go to bed alone." She stood resolutely, waiting for his reaction.

"All you had to do was call me. You told me to leave you alone."

"Yes, I did." She rushed past him, moving into the bedroom. She was about to slide back into bed, when his voice stopped her.

"Lose the gown."

He took off his black T-shirt, moving his hands down to unb.u.t.ton his jeans.

Her mouth went dry as she thought about defying his order. Instead, she angrily took off her nightgown, throwing it onto the chair beside the bed.

"Can I go to bed now?" she snapped.

"You can get rid of the panties, too."

Ignoring his demand, she started to get back in bed.

Viper's reaction was to go to the bedroom door and open it.

"Where are you planning on going?"

He crossed his arms over his chest.

She shimmied out of her panties then s.n.a.t.c.hed up her nightgown before going back to the bathroom to put them in the hamper. "Satisfied?"

"Yes." He closed the door then slid into bed next to her.

She didn't jerk away from his touch. As angry as she was at him, it was still better than wondering what he was doing downstairs.

"I thought you had a meeting in the morning with a new buyer."

The Last Riders' business had been growing since they had married. They had even hired a contractor to add on to the factory. She was ecstatic about the jobs they were going to be able to provide. Expanding the factory meant several buyers they hadn't been able to supply to before were now negotiating a couple of contracts that would line the pockets of the Last Riders for years.

Tiredly, he lay his head back on the pillow. "I do. At eight."

"It's four in the morning. You're going to be tired." She tried to keep the reprimand out of her voice, but she knew she had failed when he turned to his side to look at her.

"Train called and talked to everyone. Then I had a meeting with the brothers about the expansion."

"How's Train?"

"Missing everyone. He said to tell you hi."

Winter was glad Viper had turned off the lamp before getting into bed. She was positive her face was fiery red.

"Then I stayed up until Moon and Sasha left to go back to Ohio."

"Why?" Winter asked, careful to keep her voice neutral, yet all she wanted to do was get out of bed and jump for joy. "Why did they leave? I thought you wanted Moon here." Winter had learned that Moon was a contract lawyer.

"Isn't it obvious? Sasha has been rubbing you the wrong way from the minute she came in the door. It's your home; if you didn't want her here, all you had to do was say so. Moon will come back in a couple days."

Her husband was right. She had taken a dislike to the woman from the moment she had come through the door and begun f.u.c.king the men before her bag was unpacked. Plus, she had made sure Viper was around each and every time she f.u.c.ked, her eyes eating him alive.

Winter couldn't blame her; Viper wasn't a cla.s.sically handsome man. His features were harsh, which made you feel intimidated in his presence, giving him a commanding aura when he entered a room. Women were attracted to power, and Viper held the power of the Last Rider's in his hands. There wasn't a spare ounce of fat on his muscled torso. His legs were long and lean, and his biceps were hard as a rocks. His chest tapered down to a six-pack of abs you could practically see outlined underneath his T-shirt.

The night Viper had made love to her in front of Sasha, she hadn't lost her senses enough that she failed to notice the female recruit had her eyes on Viper's c.o.c.k, which was enough to make any woman ecstatic. She knew why Sasha wanted him so badly. Winter f.u.c.ked him every night, and it was never enough.

A lot of men had good bodies that are drool-worthy, but Viper knew how to do things to a woman's body that could make them forget everything except him. He could carry you away until you found the place that you would die to reach, which explained the times she had been carried away when he had allowed Knox and Train to touch her.

"What about the other women? If I want them gone, too, what are you going to do about it?"

Now she was just being snarky. It was embarra.s.sing that not only Viper, but the whole house, knew she didn't like the s.e.xy recruit.

"Do you?" Viper's face didn't move a muscle.

"No," she admitted, knowing she was being a b.i.t.c.h by taking it out on Viper. She faced away from him. "I love each of them, despite how crazy they make me sometimes."

"Then it was a good call not to make her a member."

Winter's eyes tightened when she felt him plaster himself against her back, his hand going to her waist.

"Why did you wear a nightgown to bed?"

"Because I don't want to make love to you tonight."

"Why not?" Viper began drawing imaginary circles on her waist.

"I don't know."

"Yes, you do. You just don't want to admit it." He nuzzled her sensitive neck. "Pretty girl, no woman, no matter how much she throws herself at me, could tempt me to cheat. I have the only woman I'll ever want right beside me."

"She looks like me," Winter mumbled, hating her admission.

"What?" She felt him lift his head to stare down at her.

"She's short like me. She has my color hair. We even wear the same size. She looks like me; except, she's younger."

"Pretty girl, Sasha doesn't look like you. She doesn't have your beautiful eyes. She doesn't have your mouth begging to suck my d.i.c.k." He laughed when Winter pushed him back with her shoulder. "Believe me, Sasha doesn't look like you."

"I bet she can have a baby, though."

Viper's head dropped to her pillow. "Darling, don't-"

"You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

"No."

"I finally figured it out tonight."

"I can't lose you, Winter."

"You would have made all the women leave, wouldn't you?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "I love you so much it hurts."

"I love you too much to lose you to a dream that we can achieve without placing yourself or our child in danger."

"I can't do a surrogate, Viper. I don't want anyone carrying your child but me, and you can't tell me you would be happy with that solution either. I want to feel my child inside of me. Me, Viper. I want to feel the baby kicking. I want to experience the morning sickness, and the cravings, all of it. Those are things I will never have with a surrogate. Only I can." Winter saw the futility of arguing with her husband.

"I'm not ever going to be good with you risking your life to have a baby, when finding a surrogate would remove the risk all together."

His words were like a death knell to all her hopes and dreams.

"Yes, we can find a surrogate," Winter agreed. "Just not right now. I need some time to come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to have your baby."

"Pretty girl-"

"Don't. Nothing you can say will make me feel better right now."

He brought one hand between her thighs. "It's not words you need to hear from me." He found her c.l.i.t, rubbing the flesh until she tried to clench her thighs closed. "Don't close your legs to me... ever," he ordered gruffly.

"Viper..." Unable to help herself, she opened her legs.