Free Exquisite Danger by Ann Mayburn Page A

gleaming with sweat and his damp curls sticking to his face. When we both settled enough to think, I languidly stroked his bicep with my fingernails and smiled. “Apology accepted.”
    He snorted, then hauled me to his side. “Good. Don’t like you being pissed at me.”
    “Shhh,” I gently placed my fingertips on his full, kiss-swollen lips. “Love you, but I’m exhausted. Can we just sleep?”
    “Yeah, baby girl, we can sleep.”
    After turning off the lights he pulled me close, and it took me a long time to fall asleep as I worried about the future.

Chapter Five
    Smoke glanced over at me in the cab of his truck for at least the hundredth time, his lips moving like he wanted to say something, but once again, he held himself back. I wondered what it was that was bothering him, but my mind was more focused on where we were going. It turns out the Iron Horse MC had chapters all over the US, including Denver, Colorado, where my sister and mom were rumored to be. It had taken us two days to get up there, and I was beat. We’d be staying at one of the Iron Horse compounds on the outskirts of Denver in Golden, Colorado. For some reason that seemed to upset Smoke.
    The tension in the truck built until I couldn’t take it anymore. “Smoke, what’s bothering you? If you don’t let it out soon, I’m going to head-butt you.”
    His grip tightened on the wheel, and he kept his eyes on the road. “The Denver Iron Horse chapter is different from the Austin one. Since the Austin chapter is the founding chapter, the original Iron Horse MC, we tend to have members who are a little older, a little wiser. The Denver chapter has a lot of young guys, and they’re wild.”
    “Wild how?”
    “More into partying and they keep their clubhouse stocked with sweet butts. Don’t get me wrong, my brothers make money and pull their weight, but they’re more interested in getting their dicks wet with some random sweet butt than taking on old ladies.”
    “Sweet butts? Oh, the club sluts.”
    He shrugged uncomfortably. “Yeah. There are a few who even live at the clubhouse, and they outnumber the old ladies. I don’t get involved in female bullshit, but in the few times I’ve been up there, I noticed that the brothers who respect their women keep their old ladies away from the clubhouse most of the time.”
    My stomach soured as I imagined a scene out of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas . Instead of Dolly Parton greeting me with a song, it was a bunch of angry chicks trying to get my man, and I did not like it one bit. “Huh.”
    He sighed. “If any of those bitches give you any trouble, I want you to come right to me, got it?”
    “What kind of trouble?”
    My gaze went to my backpack and duffle where I had two different guns and a shit ton of ammo thanks to my dad, not to mention what was in our bags in the backseat. While we were up in Colorado, my dad was doing his own search at the places he knew Billie might run to. Mimi was staying at home in case Sarah showed up, but I had a feeling I’d see Mimi sooner rather than later, probably with some of my Italian cousins in tow.
    Smoke’s expression softened as his lips curled into a half-smile that made my heart speed up. “Not the kind that you need to be killing bitches over, but they may give you shit, and I know you have a temper. ’Sides, you could get hurt…or they could. Either way, it won’t help you keep a low profile.”
    I gave him an incredulous look that he ignored. “What kind of shit are they going to give me exactly?”
    I swear, a hint of a flush colored Smoke’s tanned cheeks. “Chick shit. You know, just being bitches. You, my beautiful baby, outrank them, and there are a couple I’ve…known who are going to be pissed that I made you my old lady, especially when a few of them have begged to wear my patch. I fuckin’ hate that drama caused by my past keeps coming up, and I would stop it if I could, but I can’t. And I won’t lie to you about this