“I’d like to see you try to protect Jagger. You know if there’s even a hint of danger, he’ll be shoving you away.”

“We’ll shove each other.” Arianne laughed and her face softened. “That’s what we do best.”

“Zane!” Evie came around the corner and waved.

His breath left him in a rush. How long had it been since he’d seen her? Seven days? Eight? Fuck she was even more beautiful than he remembered. The sun caught her hair as she ran toward him, catching those gold highlights and making them sparkle. Good thing. Otherwise those barely there shorts and tiny tank top stretched tight over her luscious breasts might just have distracted him entirely, instead of leaving him just enough sense to hold out a gun when she approached, blocking his body. He couldn’t let her touch him without giving himself away. Even after four days he couldn’t bear anything more than the clothes touching his skin.

“You wanna learn to shoot today?”

Evie pulled up short, her brow creased in a frown. “I know how to shoot. Bill taught me. And I beat you every time we played Undercover Ops.”

“Shooting a TV screen isn’t the same as shooting in real life, sweetheart. And you never beat me. I let you win.” He handed her the gun, and her arms dropped to her sides.

“Where have you been for the last week? Is something wrong?”

“Biker business so I can’t talk about it.” He spun her around to face the target and put his arms around her to help her steady the gun, trying to keep a space between their bodies.

“Why do you want me to shoot so bad?” She looked up over her shoulder, her cheek soft against his jaw. “Is it not safe here? Should I take Ty away?”

“You’re safe here, sweetheart.” He buried his lips in the softness of her hair. She smelled of honey and jasmine, thick and sweet, and he longed for a little taste. “Pull the trigger. Let’s see what you got.”

She aimed the weapon, pulled the trigger and the bullet glanced off the top of the target and hit a tree.

“Like this.” He repositioned her hands and bent her elbows, then gently tilted the gun barrel down an inch. Evie stepped back, pressed herself into his body. Zane hissed and jerked away at the potent mix of pleasure and pain.

“What’s wrong?” Evie spun around. “Why don’t you want to touch me?”

“I do.” He cupped her face between his hands and bent down to kiss her, his lips moving over hers, drinking her down like he was dying of thirst. She opened for him, ran her tongue over the seam of his lips, and he stroked inside her, tangling his tongue with her own. She tasted of coffee and cream—regular, not whipped.

Evie moaned and slid her arms around his waist. Zane flinched, and she backed away.

“You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.” He gestured to her gun. “Let’s do more shooting.”

“I’ll shoot if you show me what’s under your shirt.” She slid her hand along the V of her shirt to the crescents of her breasts and gave him a sensual smile. “In fact, I’ll forgive you for leaving and show you mine if you show me yours.”

All Zane’s blood rushed to his groin and his cock hardened in an instant. Too much. It had been too long. Jagger had been careful this time, taking care not to hit his face too much so Evie wouldn’t get alarmed. He’d also avoided Zane’s kidneys and his groin, for which Zane was particularly grateful, especially now when he wanted her so damn bad he was seconds away from taking her on the grass.

“You show me what’s under your shirt and if you hit the target on two out of three tries, I’ll show you what’s under mine,” he countered.

Evie twisted her lips to the side, considering, and then she lifted the gun. “Done. Bill spent a long time showing me how to shoot in case there was trouble at the shop.” She edged the gun up, fired, and completely missed the target.

“Not that I like to speak ill of the dead,” Zane said, “but if that’s what he taught you, I’m glad you never had trouble at the shop. You woulda shot out a coupla nice bikes, maybe a window, but no bad guys.”

Evie looked back over shoulder. “And here I thought you were the bad guy.”

Oh he was bad, all right. The things he wanted to do to her right now were illegal in several states, maybe a few countries, too.

Zane growled deep in his throat. “Don’t tease a man with a weapon.”

“I can’t help it when his weapon is so big.” She wiggled her ass against him and grinned. Playful Evie. Fuck. He loved making her smile as much as he loved making her wet.

“Behave.”

“I want to see you shoot with the big gun.” She turned and patted the holster under his cut, her hand sliding down to his belt.

Too late he realized the danger. Evie yanked up his shirt and gasped.

“Oh. My. God. What happened to you?”

“Got in a fight.”

“A fight?” She shoved his shirt higher, walked around his back. “Oh, baby. You’re hurt so bad.”

This was good. Her compassion had overridden her curiosity.

Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies.

“Not hurt everywhere, sweetheart.” He turned quickly, bent down and nipped the exposed skin at the base of her neck. Christ, he loved to mark her, to see those bruises on her neck and know she belonged to him, to keep the predators at bay.

Evie shuddered as he licked the tiny wound. “Here?”

“Upstairs. You still have to make good your deal and I can promise it will make me feel a whole lot better.”

He led her around the side of the clubhouse and up the front steps. Shaggy was on guard duty and waved them inside.

“Hey Zane. Nice to see you up and about. Jagger worked you over pretty good the other night. I thought you’d be laid up for at least a week. But four days! You’re one tough bastard.”

Evie froze on the step beside him. “Jagger did this to you?”

“Biker business.” Zane put his arm on her lower back and steered her inside. “I’ll explain what I can upstairs.”

“Upstairs where you’ve been suffering for four days and no one called me?” Her voice rose in pitch. “I was only a ten-minute drive away. I could have looked after you.” Eyes flashing, she spun out of his grasp.

“Jagger!” She shouted his name and stormed into the living room.

“Shit. Did I say something wrong?” Shaggy came up beside him, stroking his thick gray beard. “I thought everyone knew. Isn’t that the point?”

“Yeah. But it wasn’t a lesson Evie needed to learn.”

He knew the exact moment Evie spotted Jagger talking to Gunner and Arianne in the vast room the MC used for church, the monthly mandatory meetings for all full-patch brothers. Save for a few couches and chairs, a long table where the board sat, and a computer table where Dax recorded minutes, the room was bare. No pictures on the walls, no curtains on the windows. Nothing to distract the brothers during the meetings.

Her feet thudded on the wooden floor, her hair fanning out behind her. She was glorious in her anger and he was glad for the small mercy Jagger hadn’t been in the living room because what was about to go down wasn’t something a small boy like Ty should see.

“Jagger!”

Jagger looked up, but before he could move to greet her, Arianne stepped into Evie’s path.

“That’s as far as you go.”

“Get out of my way.” Evie’s voice shook with anger.

Zane crossed the floor toward her. “Let it go, sweetheart.”

“Let it go? Look what he did to you.” She tried to step around Arianne. “Get out here, Jagger, or are you afraid to look me in the eye and tell me what you did?”

“Zane made him do it.” Arianne folded her arms, and scowled. “Jagger’s hurting as much as Zane. He spent the last four days at the clubhouse looking after him. Zane broke the rules. He had to be punished. That’s our way.”

“Your way?” Evie’s hands clenched into fists. “Your way is to beat a man half to death? What could he possibly have done to deserve that?”

“She’s magnificent,” Sparky murmured, coming up behind Zane. “Between her and Arianne, my shop has never run as efficiently. The brothers are afraid to step out of line.”