Knox's Stand (The Last Riders 3)

“She’s Razer’s; she belongs to him and the club,” Shade said bluntly. Lily stared at her sister, wanting her to deny their ownership.

“We’ll talk about this later, Lily,” Beth said, taking Lily’s hand. “But I love Razer and you do, too, and you know it. The Last Riders are a big part of his life; he considers them family. I did know that he was in a motorcycle club when I fell in love with him, and it’s not like it’s an overly harsh punishment. The worst thing that could happen is dish pan hands.”

Lily gave her sister a rueful smile. “I’m sorry I overreacted, I just couldn’t stand the thought of you taking any punishment for any reason.” The women shared a private moment. “Besides, it’s your life and I know for a fact you’re very happy.”

“Yes, I am.” Beth smiled.

Shade once again started to walk on until Lily’s next words stopped him dead in his tracks. “We need to go to Arizona; they have cowboys, Diamond,” Lily said to her mischievously.

“Cowboys?” Diamond asked, not understanding the abrupt subject change.

“I’m going to marry a cowboy. Their gentlemen, kind and protect their women,” Lily said with authority.

“They do?”

Lily nodded her head. From the look on Shades face, the only cowboy in Lily’s future would be wearing leather instead of chaps and a motorcycle instead of a horse.

Beth laughed at her sister’s idea of a perfect husband. “Our father wouldn’t let us watch television. The only shows he would take us to every now and then were cowboy movies. Lily has been infatuated with them ever since,” Beth explained.

A chill ran down Diamond’s back at the expression on Shades face. His hands clenched and unclenched as he stood still.

“Shade, Razer is waiting on you.” Winter’s voice broke the tension-filled moment as she came up behind him, her eyes flashing a warning. Shade leaned over Lily, reaching for Diamond’s empty plate.

“You think cowboys don’t know how to punish their women, Lily? They have whips and spurs they use on their horses.” A terrified look came over Lily’s face and her hand went to the wrist with a rubber band. Shade’s hand covered the wrist before Lily could touch it. “I’ll take that to the kitchen for you, Diamond. At least when I punish someone, I don’t leave a mark,” he said suggestively, rising with Diamond’s plate in his hand, leaving the quiet group behind.

Rider started laughing, breaking the tension. “I think I’ll get another plate.”

Diamond stared at him in surprise. “Rider, you’ve been back twice.”

“I have to have plenty of energy for the dancing,” he said with a meaningful look at Beth, laughing at her red face while she gave her husband a threatening glare.

Rising to her feet, Beth took Lily’s hand and went upstairs to help Winter get out of her wedding dress.

Diamond looked at Knox. “I don’t want to know what that was all about, do I?”

“Nope, just do what I do.”

“What’s that?”

“Stay out of it,” Knox said.

“That’s good advice.” Diamond didn’t want to invade Lily’s privacy and she wasn’t about to piss off Shade. That man took the term intimidating to a whole new level.

“Let’s go outside and sit.” They went outside, finding a couple of chairs.

“I didn’t realize this backyard was so big.”

“The property extends for several miles. Razer and Beth are building a home over there.” Knox pointed to a clearing that had several piles of lumber stacked and a frame already well under way. It was close to the house, but not too close; giving the impression of privacy while still having the feeling of being close to the main house.

“They wanted to have it finished by next year when Lily graduates. There was another clearing farther away with its back to the mountain. That’s where Shade plans to build his house when Razer’s is finished.”

“It’s a beautiful spot.”

Music began playing. “Dance with me.”

“I shouldn’t, Knox. I shouldn’t be doing any of this. I could get censured.” Diamond attempted to half-heartedly resist.

“No one is going to open their mouth about you even being here today.” The thought suddenly occurred to her that he had driven her, not letting her take her own car, ensuring that no one would see her car parked outside for any length of time.

They went to where several of The Last Riders were dancing in a spot that obviously had been used to dance several times. Diamond was amazed at how tame everyone was; no liquor, the women were all dressed modestly and on very circumspect behavior. Her dad’s former club would have torn the place apart by now, celebrating an occasion of their president getting married. Diamond knew of two instances where fires had been inadvertently set.

Everyone in the club was dancing, so Diamond and Knox danced several times before Lily, Beth and Winter came outside; Winter having changed into a cream dress that suited her and wasn’t as formal. While Viper and Razer grabbed their women for a dance, Lily saw Diamond and came over to them to sit down by her and Knox.

They sat, talking until Diamond began to feel uncomfortable. It was obvious Lily wanted to dance, yet no one had asked her. Diamond tried to give the hint to Knox with a shake of her head when Lily wasn’t looking, however she received a firm “No” in response that made Lily jump and Diamond want to kick him. She thought Razer would ask, yet when he approached with Beth, they only joined them to sit and relax. Beth also tried to unobtrusively get Razer to dance with Lily, which was ignored.

Diamond noticed that all the men in the group gave Lily a wide berth, which led Diamond to draw two conclusions; one was that because of Razer they were showing respect by leaving his sister-in-law alone, the second that they were afraid of someone. Diamond had grown up with bikers; when they wanted a woman, no harm no foul, anything was game on.

So that left the only conclusion; they were afraid, and she had a feeling she knew who they were afraid of. The man in question was dancing with Bliss who had been in Knox’s bedroom the day they had served the warrant. She was also the woman her sister and crew wanted to beat the shit out of because she had been the woman Razer had two-timed Beth with.

As Lily sat talking with Beth and Razer, she never once looked at Shade and Bliss. The oblivious woman had no clue of the wolf stalking her.

Knox caught her staring with a raised brow. Diamond said nothing at first then became slightly mischievous and decided to dance again.

“Let’s dance.” Agreeing easily, Knox stood up, going ahead to where the group was dancing while Diamond turned back to Lily. “Want to dance with us?” The enthusiasm on her face made Diamond’s breath catch. “Lord have mercy,” she mumbled under her breath, taking Lily’s hand. Knox threw her a look when she approached with Lily. She thought he would walk off the dance floor, but Lily’s joyful face stopped him as did the threatening glare from Diamond.

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; Resigned, he danced with the two women, although he did dance close to Diamond’s side, staying as far away from Lily as the crowded floor would allow. Lily stayed on Diamond’s other side, dancing with youthful enthusiasm. She was good. Her lithe body moving to the music had her smiling at the two people she danced with as a rosy glow crept onto her cheeks. She twirled when the music ended, laughing at Diamond’s astonishment at her skill.

“You’re very good,” Diamond complimented her.

“Beth and I used to dance in our bedrooms when we were little. We were terrible, but it was just us, so we didn’t care,” Lily confessed.

“You’re not terrible now, you’re really good.”

“My roommate has been teaching me. She likes to go to some of the college parties and she makes me go with her.” Her voice was a little loud so she could be heard over the music. She twirled again, and this time when she twirled, a hard body was waiting. Lily immediately shied away from Shade.

Diamond was about to take a step forward to intervene when Knox put his hand around her waist, holding her back, although he did stay close enough to keep a watchful eye on the situation. “You started this, now leave it alone.”

“You dance with guys at these parties?” Diamond heard Shade ask Lily.

“No,” Lily said, trying to break away. Shade loosened his grip, letting Lily put some space between them.

“Dance with me,” he said persuasively, loosening his hold.

Razer and Beth came to dance next to them with Beth sending her an encouraging smile. Lily slowly began to dance to the music, yet she didn’t regain the fluidity of before. Her hand went to her wrist, but Shade sent her a warning glance and she removed it. Diamond was as relieved when the music ended as Lily was, leaving the dance floor with a sense of reprieve.