Lynch's Rule (Ruthless Sinners MC 9)

“Prepare to be amazed.” My confidence was soaring as I stepped into position and grabbed a ball. As soon as the bell went off, I started shooting one after another, and I missed every single time. I was starting to get frustrated. It didn’t help matters that I could feel Raelyn’s eyes on me, watching me grimace every time the basketball bounced off the rim. Thankfully, I finally made one and found my rhythm. After that, I did decent, but not as well as I’d hoped. I glanced over at her with a slight smile and said, “Needed a chance to warm up.”

“Mm-hmm.” She leaned down and swiped her game card, then grabbed a ball and waited for the bell. The second it rang, she took her shot, and unlike mine, the ball went straight through the net—so did the next, and every single one after. When she finished with her last shot, she turned back to me with a proud smirk. “You wanna go again or should we move on to skee-ball?”

“Are you kidding me?” I leaned down and swiped my card. “We’re not going anywhere.”

This time I did much better, but nowhere close to as good as Raelyn had done. She gave me a consoling pat on the bicep. “Ah, there ya go. That was a little better.”

“You fuckin’ with me?”

“Maybe just a little.” She withdrew her hand from my arm and placed it innocently on her chest as she teased me. “But I’ll stop if it’s too much for you to handle.”

“Baby, I can handle anything you wanna throw at me.” A light blush crept across her face as I let my eyes skirt over her and added, “And I mean anything.”

RAELYN

I had good intentions when I’d gone to see Lynch at the strip club—or at least I thought I did. It was hard to know for sure. I told myself I was just going there to thank him for helping Haleigh and me, but the second I laid eyes on him, I started having all these crazy, wicked thoughts. I should’ve just said my piece and left, but the thought of spending time with the sexy biker seemed more exciting than parachuting off a busy hotel rooftop.

And I was right.

I had a great time with Lynch at DJs, and when he asked me out, there was no way I could refuse—especially after that unbelievable kiss. I’d never felt anything like it—not from a simple kiss, and I was eager to see if it was just a fluke or if there was more where that one came from.

It was a thought that immediately came to mind when Lynch stated that he could handle anything I could throw at him. There was a look of sexy determination in his eyes that spurred me to reply, “Okay, then. How ’bout we make a little wager on the next game?”

“Sure.” With a lopsided grin, he asked, “What are the stakes?”

“Oh, let’s not limit ourselves with something as silly as naming stakes.” I could hear the words as they came out of my mouth, but I couldn’t believe I was saying them—especially since I barely knew the man. I had no idea how far he might try and take things, but that was part of the fun. “Let’s just say winner chooses.”

“You got it.”

Lynch watched as I stepped forward and swiped my card. I waited for the buzzer, then took my shot. And missed. I missed again and again, and it wasn’t on purpose. I was actually trying. Eventually, a few made it through the hoop, but my score was nothing to brag about. Once my turn was over, I grimaced and said, “I was a little off my game on that one.”

“I see that.” He stepped into position and swiped his card, then said, “Maybe Lady Luck will finally favor me.”

His first two attempts hadn’t been all that great, but the third time was the charm. Lynch hit every stinking shot, and when he was done, he turned to me with a pleased smile. I tried to play off his success. “Not bad.”

“Not bad?” he argued. “I aced that round, and better yet, I won the bet.”

“Yeah, I guess you did.” I anxiously raked my teeth across my bottom lip. “So, do you know what you want as your prize?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.”

With one quick swoop, he reached for me, placed his hands on my waist, and pulled me towards him. Before I had time to think, he lowered his mouth to mine and kissed me in a way that made my entire body hum.

His arms wound tight around me, inching me even closer as his tongue found its way into my mouth. He was rough, tough, and sexy as hell—and my God, he could kiss like it was nobody’s business. I was holding on by a thread, and just as I was becoming completely lost in his touch, he pulled back, quickly breaking our embrace.