Rider yelled out at a touchdown, and Knox elbowed him in the ribs so they could hear.
“You dated Viper for two years and never fucked him?” Evie asked, just as surprised as the rest of them.
Rider and Train were giving Viper pitying looks.
“No. At first, my mom was sick, so I thought he was being understanding. Then Mom died, and I still thought the same thing. That excuse lasted about a year,” she said, opening another beer. All the women at the table watched the movement.
“What about the other year?” Bliss asked.
“We went to church together,” Winter said.
“Yeah, so?” Jewell asked what everyone was thinking.
“Oh, I understand,” Beth stated.
Shade was glad someone did because he sure as fuck didn’t.
“Well, fucking explain it to us,” Jewell demanded.
“It’s our Christian belief not to share sex before marriage. Many couples in our church don’t even kiss before their wedding day.” By that point, Beth was as red as Winter.
“So you thought,” Jewell started in a strangled voice, “that Viper shared your Christian values?”
Shade nearly dropped his beer at that answer. Lily belonged to the same church her sister and Winter did. Who in the hell waited for marriage to fuck? Nobody waited. They might pretend to wait, but they fucked. Everyone fucks, Shade tried to convince himself.
As the women burst out laughing, only Viper’s glare at the brothers prevented them from joining in.
“What about the last months you were together?” Stori asked.
“I thought he was gay.”
Viper choked on his beer and started to jump off the couch, but Knox and Shade held him down. The women turned at the sounds of the scuffle.
“What happened?” Winter asked.
“I think the other team got the ball,” Evie said, laughing.
“Oh, then I was at a football game and saw you guys walk by, and I realized he wasn’t gay,” Winter went on explaining.
“How did that make you realize he wasn’t gay?” Bliss asked.
“I saw him look at you. No man who is gay looks at a woman’s ass like that.”
The whole table got quiet, and Shade watched Viper’s face pale at Winter’s words.
“That’s when I realized he just saw me as a friend.”
“Ouch,” Shade muttered. Viper didn’t appreciate his snide remark and elbowed him in the ribs.
“Damn.” Jewell’s voice let the brothers know the women didn’t appreciate the way Winter had been used to gather information on her relative.
“Back to tomorrow’s party. I am sure I am a big girl, and if I see anything I can’t handle, I can get Viper to take me to my room.”
“I am sure that won’t be a problem. Uh, maybe you should stay away from Rider and Knox tomorrow night, to be on the safe side.”
Knox and Rider both looked disappointed at Beth’s advice.
“Why? Do they drink too much?” Winter’s innocent question had Viper smiling.
The woman was good for Viper. Shade hadn’t seen him smile so much since before Gavin had disappeared.
Shade saw Viper looking over his shoulder to where Winter sat rubbing her back. He rose from the couch. “Time for bed.” He said taking Winter into his arms, carrying her out of the room.
Silence filled the room as the swinging door closed behind them.
“I can’t believe she thought Viper wasn’t fucking her because she’s a Christian,” Jewell muttered.
“I can’t believe she thought he was gay,” Evie said.
“There are still women out there who are innocent,” Beth said, taking up for her friend. “Winter is one, and my sister is another.”
Shade disagreed. Those shadows in Lily’s eyes didn’t come from being innocent; they came from seeing too much.
Shaking off his thoughts of Lily, he thought Winter had to have known Viper wasn’t interested in her sexually. That was why she had made up so many excuses. Women saw only what they wanted to see. Shade was counting on it.
Chapter 17
Shade lifted the whip, letting the tip touch the tip of the pink nipple with a slight sting as his cell phone started to ring on his nightstand. Ignoring the woman chained to his bedroom wall, whimpering in frustration, he answered the call.
“Yes?”
“I need a favor.” Shade could barely hear Viper’s low voice.
“Already giving you two.” Shade’s eyes went back to Natasha, who was wiggling her ass against the mat hung on the wall, then switched to where Ember was tied to his bed.
“I told you I would pay you back. Conner leave?”
“About an hour ago. He thinks he’s going to be a Last Rider.”
“He wouldn’t live through the initiation.”
“I don’t know; kind of liking the benefits of having him around.”
As Natasha’s hand on her thigh started to inch toward her pussy, Shade pulled the whip back then snapped it forward so it almost moved in slow motion, striking the back of her hand. She slid it back down to rest on her thigh.
“Shade? You there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. What’s wrong with your voice?”
“Winter’s sleeping, and I don’t want to wake her.”
“So, what’s the favor?”
“I need you to guard the stairs and make sure Winter doesn’t try to escape.”
“I take it Winter didn’t enjoy her first party.”
“Oh, she enjoyed it, too much. She’s going to try to bolt, but I want her to stay right where she is. That’s where you come in.
”
“I’ll do it, but it’s going to cost you.”
“What do you want?”
“For two favors, I was willing to settle for a week off. For three, I want your marker.”
“I don’t give out markers,” Viper refused. “Pick something else.”
“You gave Beth your marker,” Shade reminded him.
“That was different. I thought Dad was responsible for Lily’s accident.”
“So, Winter’s staying here isn’t as important?” Silence from the other end of the call had Shade pushing the boundaries of what his president would allow. “Get Rider to do it.”
“He’s drunk off his ass.”
“Get one of the prospects to do it.”
“They’re young enough that Winter will intimidate them into helping her.”
“Where’s the rest of the brothers?”
“They all decided to take a midnight run.”
“Sounds like you’re shit out of luck. Why don’t you do it? Watch some TV?”
“I’m tired, and I’ll be putting in a lot of overtime since I promised you those days off for being the women’s reward if they kept Conner away from Winter. I’m worried she’ll sneak out of bed without me knowing,” Viper snapped.
“Sounds like you have only one option left.”
“I could order you to do it.”
“You could,” Shade agreed.
“Fuck you, Shade. What do you need my marker for?”
“I like to be prepared,” was Shade’s only response.
“All right, then, but she better be here when I wake up,” Viper warned.
“She will be,” Shade promised, his eyes returning to the two women in his bedroom. “Give me twenty minutes before you go to sleep. I have to finish with these favors first.”
Viper hung up on him.
* * *
Shade heard the bedroom door open and the sound of metal scraping. Viper must’ve been getting old not to have woken up with the racket Winter was making. He waited for the little runaway to make her way down the hallway to where he was hidden at the top of the steps.
Winter gave a startled scream when she finally saw him.