Claimed By The Devil (Devil's Riders 8)

That woman had tamed his wild and reckless ass in less than a heartbeat. He was steadfast and calm these days. Well, maybe calm was the wrong word. He was still crazy when it came to his wife and kids.

Angel had definitely matured him, anyway. He’d been an insta-dad as well, totally devoted to his adopted daughter and the one he hadn’t even known was coming yet. I gave him shit about being whipped constantly. The only trouble was, Molly had done the same to me. So Lucky gave me equal amounts of shit back. I took it all with a smile. I was mega-whipped and very, very happy to be so.

“We’d better hit the road. Something’s up.”

Nick gave me a look as he slammed shut the back of his new ride. He shrugged, not seeming too worried. He was on edge, though. Worried about his woman, and apparently, afraid to make moves on her so soon after her mother passed. No one had said anything, though. We wanted to ride him about it, but none of us were big enough assholes to actually make fun of the poor guy. He was in pain and trying to do the right thing. Even Drake was holding his tongue for once.

We drove to the clubhouse in our respective vehicles. Mac was waiting outside. I stopped in my tracks when I saw the look on his face. He waved a couple of guys forward to help unload the car and called me over. The parking lot was already crowded and the mouth-watering smell of Whiskey’s secret sauce and his special rubbed down ribs was filling the air. The man knew how to work magic with meat and even made grilled veggies like mushrooms taste insanely good for the vegetarians in our crew. He was the official grill master of the whole damned club.

“What the fuck is going on?”

“It’s bad. How is he doing?”

“Holding on by a thread,” I answered. Mac cursed and shook his head.

“Well, that thread is about to snap.”

“What’s up?” Nick said as he and Mac clasped hands and gave each other a quick hug.

“Melissa is here,” Mac said with a worried look.

“Where is she?”

“Inside. But you need to prepare yourself . . .”

“What? Why? Is she okay?”

Nick didn’t wait for an answer. He pushed through the crowd to the doors and burst through. We were hot on his heels. The scene inside the barroom was . . . unexpected.

The girls were crowded around the bar, looking lovely, as always. My eyes snapped to Molly, who looked like a tasty peach in a pink sundress and cute little tennis shoes. I wanted to snap her up and throw her over my shoulder. But I knew I had to let her have her fun with the girls for a few hours first.

It was another couple of seconds before I noticed the rest of the crew. Jack, Dev, and Donnie were in a line in front of the girls, arms crossed and glaring at everything that moved. And there were a lot of dudes who looked like they were ready to break down the barricade of muscles to get to the bar, even if it meant plowing through the top three guys in the club.

The cluster of girls parted, and all of a sudden, we could see why. They had done something so diabolical, it almost made me speechless. I was not amused. I was worried.

Somehow, the girls had turned sweet little Melissa into a girl who belonged on the cover of a men’s magazine. She was in Maxim’s Hometown Hotties territory. They all kinda looked like that tonight, now that I glanced around. My girl did, too.

The ladies had upped their game tonight. They were up to something. And apparently, that involved driving their men insane with lust.

I was instantly pissed and horny at the same time. They were all gorgeous girls. They didn’t need any help to get our attention. And they clearly didn’t know they were playing with fire. Nick might seem mild-mannered. So did Mac. But those still waters ran deep.

If Nick exploded, it was not going to be pretty.

I took one look at the shocked expression on his face and shuddered. Not if he exploded. When he exploded.

And the time was definitely now.

“Ten, nine, eight,” I heard Lucky saying as he leaned against the bar and watched. Donnie was there too. They didn’t look mad. They looked amused.

But me? I was fucking worried.

“What?” Nick said stupidly. He didn’t move. I wasn’t sure he could move.

“Let’s get some air, buddy.”

I put a hand on his shoulder but he shook me off. He stood there looking absolutely stupefied. Calm. But that was before I saw the muscle ticking in his jaw or the way his hands clenched into fists.

He shook his head as if to clear it and stood there a while longer, just staring. Finally, he walked right for Melissa. The girls all scattered, but they didn’t go far enough away that they couldn’t watch the show. Hell, I didn’t blame them for that. I didn’t want to miss a second of it, either.