Zach (Hell's Handlers MC 1)

With practiced ease, Zach broke the hold and turned the tables on Mav, wrenching his arm behind his back and crowding him against the wall.

“Okay, uncle, uncle,” Mav yelled around his laughter.

Zach released him and slapped him on the side of his head. “It will serve you well to remember how easily I can kick your ass, brother.” He walked to where Toni was waiting next to Missy, shaking her head with a smile on her face.

“Sorry ’bout that, sweetheart. Had some business to take care of.”

“Boys will be boys, huh, Missy?” Toni asked, but Missy was no longer paying attention. Instead, she was fawning over Mav, who had the slightest red mark on his cheek from where he’d been held against the wall.

Never one to pass up the opportunity to have a woman’s hands all over him, Mav ate that shit up. He winced when Missy pressed her very long neon blue nails to his face.

“He’s really something, isn’t he?” Toni asked.

“Sure is. Come on. I need a drink.” He linked their fingers and pulled her toward the crowded bar. The place wasn’t anything fancy. A large wooden bar spanned the entire length of the back wall and there was a dance floor and a number of tables and chairs throughout the room. Aside from some Harley memorabilia adorning the walls, the décor wasn’t anything to write home about.

People didn’t come there for the atmosphere. They came for the good booze and to find someone to fuck.

“What’s your poison?” he asked Toni when they drew up to the bar.

“Does that happen all the time?”

“What?”

“There were tons of people here and they all scattered to make room for you at the bar.”

She’d taken her hair down before they left and he brushed the strands off her shoulder. For some reason, he really liked seeing those shoulders bare. That little hint of skin. A sample. A tease.

“It’s a sign of respect. As enforcer, I’m on the club’s executive board.” The club worked because of the importance of respect and loyalty. Otherwise, a group of twenty or so dominant, slightly violent men used to getting their way would implode. Respect, loyalty, and the fact that they had a strong leader kept them together.

“Huh,” she said. “I’ll have a vodka and club.”

Zach chuckled. “Such a girl.”

“Hey!” Toni bumped him with her shoulder. “I think that’s something you’re supposed to like about me.”

He raked his gaze over her, lingering on her tits and ass. Bad idea. Now his dick was hard all over again. Seemed to be a constant thing where she was concerned. “Oh believe me, baby, I like it.”

“Zach.” The protest was weakened by the heated look on her face.

After ordering their drinks, Zach guided them back outside, to a large clearing behind the clubhouse where a roaring bonfire at least a story high blazed away.

They drank and mingled for about an hour. Toni had met many of the men at the diner and she seemed to hit it off with the women as well. Sure, a few of the Honeys shot her death glares, but that was par for the course when one of the guys brought around a woman they were serious about.

Shit. His mind was running away with itself. Zach was not serious about a woman. Any woman. Even Toni. This was purely a sex-driven mission. Once he got her into bed, they’d stoke their own fire until it burned out as it always did.

That was more than enough for Zach.

After Zach introduced her to the woman of the hour, Viper’s wife Jacy, Copper caught his eye and summoned him with a chin lift. He had yet to fill his prez in on the clusterfuck with Bones. Most likely, Copper wouldn’t be thrilled that Zach shot out the guy’s knee, but he’d understand. As long as there wasn’t any blowback on the club, Copper gave Zach a long leash as far as his role of enforcer.

“You okay if I leave you for a few while I talk to Copper, sweetheart?” he whispered in Toni’s ear. Try as she might, she wasn’t able to disguise the hitch in her breathing when his lips brushed the shell of her ear.

“Take your time.” She wouldn’t meet his gaze. More evidence that she felt what he did but was battling it for all she was worth. “I’m fine,” she said.

And she was fine. Completely at ease in his world. Which was surprising. She wasn’t fazed by the loud pounding music. A fight that broke out between two idiots barely made her radar. Even the poorly hidden fucking they witnessed only twenty feet away hadn’t set her on edge. In fact, Zach caught her watching out of the corner of her eye more than once. He’d also noticed the prominent points of her nipples visible through her top.