The Trouble with Virgins (Daughters of Venus 2)

“Private as in I was politely asked to leave, private.”

“Who are they?”

I bit my tongue and tried to keep the secret. Was it a secret? No one had told me not to say anything abo

ut what I’d heard. And Pike was my husband. I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes.

Pike wrapped his arms around me and put his hands in the back pockets of my jeans.

“I beg your pardon,” I said.

“Shh,” he replied.

He kissed me and I thought I might melt in his mouth. It was unbelievably welcoming. Pike always seemed like he wanted me. Not like he thought I was a beautiful creature the way Dominic did, but like he really wanted me.

“Now tell me,” he said as he pulled his face back. “Who are they?”

He led me around to the back of the chapel where we could talk. I told him what I knew. It was his turn to kick rocks.

“And they’re buying it?” he asked.

“Seems that way. Maybe not Lauren…”

For crying out loud, why did I say her name?

We both sensed the awkwardness of her name on the wind. It seemed to float around us. It danced near his ear, slapped it, dodged right, and then made its way over to mine. Lauren. A name that meant only sweet things to me not so long ago. Now it carried a slight sting, like the sizzle butter makes when it hits a hot pan, then it burns away, as if never there in the first place.

Lauren…the acid rain of the Dove. My acid rain anyway.

It never seemed to faze Pike enough. I kind of wished he would flip out and say he was sick of hearing her name or having to deal with all that happened in the past. That would’ve been great because at least I would’ve known he wasn’t immune to feeling like shit.

But, no, apparently he was Thor, the thunder god of horse shit, and I realized I was mad at him all over again.

“The big guy,” Pike said. “They wouldn’t let me see him. He’s recovering at the doc’s. I wanted to see if…if I knew him. Yesterday, face to face, I thought he looked kinda familiar.”

“I guess we just need to keep our eyes and ears open,” I said.

Pike wrapped me up in his arms again. I looked down at his big bicep pinning my arm to my side and traced the edges of one of his tattoos. The spider chewing on a bullet made me wonder about Pike’s past. I didn’t know as much about him as I wanted to. Maybe he did know the big biker. But how?

Had they downed a couple of beers at an old gang get together? Had they exchanged words in a heated argument? Had they pillaged through neighborhoods searching for females to kidnap and fuck?

Pike squeezed me a little and when I looked into his eyes I felt bad for my momentary discrimination. Just because he’d been on the road back in the day didn’t make him a heathen. Pike smiled and passed me a wink.

“I’ll feel a lot better once I move all my shit into your house,” he said.

“All your stuff?” I asked.

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“All your shit you said. You have a filthy mouth.”

He buried his mouth in my neck and nibbled on it while I squealed.

“I didn’t hear you complaining about my filthy mouth last night,” he said with a muffled voice as his lips vibrated against my flesh.

“Oh I adore you,” I said.

He kissed me on my lips.