Dark Limits: Alpha Brotherhood MC Read online

  He started to kiss her again when realization suddenly slammed into her brain. Harold Whitaker. Club president felled before his time. And rumor had it that…

  “Wait!” she insisted, as she clung to his neck and struggled to catch her breath. “Reese…Reese is the—”

  “Heir apparent,” Cade said. “At least one of…he’s ready to come into his own. And I’m helping him to clear the way. Step one. After that—”

  “Then, why are we wasting time with me?” she asked.

  “Waste? You’re far from that, Dawn.”

  He kissed her hard and pushed her back to the bar. Even as her mind longed to simply soak in his compliment and know the sweet press of his cock, she still kept her head on her shoulders. Holding him close, she pushed the few fallen strands of gold away from his sapphire eyes.

  “And you’re so sure that Reese will just accept your word as Gospel?” she asked. “You’re already running late.”

  “Then stop stalling and let’s get down to it.”

  His tongued darted between her lips, and Dawn fell back to the bar, as he eased his fingers into her cunt. Moaning at the feel of him there, Dawn twirled around his touch. Her eyes fluttered wildly as he intensified his pursuit, and she let loose a scream from the base of her soul.

  “I didn’t expect that,” he said. “Didn’t expect you.”

  “That’s fiction,” Dawn said. “You wanted this from the moment you sought me out.”

  “Then write it down when I’m done.”

  Cade’s hand fell away, and before she could beg for more, he planted his cock, starting to satiate her want. Dawn’s body shuddered at his impact, but she did not back away as he drove deeper, his hands back at her sides as he reached for her ass, kneading her soft flesh, as he stared into her eyes.

  “And tell the truth, Dawn.”

  Her words caught in the back of her throat, as he released inside her. Dawn moaned against the bar, her body content in the captivity of his arms when he crashed into her and fondled her face.

  “Dawn…”

  The fire in her pussy gave way to a sweet drowsiness. Wanting to drift away and dream of his cock over and over again, she returned his kiss and blinked hard as he eased her to the edge of the bar and fell away from her, his body still glistening as he ran his fingers up and down her bare arms.

  “You want to know my truth?” he asked.

  “What is it?”

  “That I can’t get enough of you. Every which way.”

  Dawn smiled, as he kissed his way down her contented body, settling his brow at her waist as he sighed heavily into her skin.

  “So I’ll…I’ll explain you to Reese,” he whispered. “Just…just promise me that you’ll watch your—”

  Cade’s speech stalled. He strained for her lips again, and she returned his kiss as she cradled his chin in her hands and slowly nodded her head.

  “I promise,” she whispered. “No one has to know who I really am. And I…I swear that this is not about taking anything away from you.”

  “Anything?” he asked, as he started to pull his clothes back to his body. Her eyes mourned the loss of his tight flesh, but she nodded as she started to follow his lead and cover up. “Stop.” Cade arrested her movements, his fingers curling around her wrists, as he knelt before her, his lips at her fingers as he suckled her flesh. “Anything includes you,” he murmured.

  “Me?” she asked. “Cade, I—”

  “And I’m not about to let anyone down,” he said, stretching to his feet as he kissed her cheeks and took her into his arms.

  “Reese… Reese is waiting for the word,” he said. “Panthers are back. But they showed their hand too soon. We’ll be ready for them.”

  He patted her cheek, falling to a lonely chair, as he ran his hands across his face and sighed through his splayed fingers.

  “Now you can get dressed,” he said. “And I want to watch.”

  Dawn pushed into her jeans, twirling her flannel around her hands as she lingered in his eyes and kept her breasts bare.

  “So is it all about revenge?” she asked.

  “Revenge?”

  “Did the Panthers kill Harold Whitaker?”

  Cade laughed darkly, as he shook his head.

  “Natural causes,” Cade said. “When it came to the end.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “But nothing natural about what they did to his family,” Cade said. “Some said his response made him look weak.”

  “And what was that?” Dawn asked, as she finally buttoned her shirt and winded her arms around his neck.

  “Man’s daughter went missing,” Cade continued. “Only way to get her back was to let Plainfield go.”

  Nothing about a Whitaker daughter in her notes. But then, the son was also a mystery until this moment.

  “So that’s why the Alphas took off.”

  “Long and short,” Cade said, as he led her away from the Pub, holding her close as he brought her back to his bike. “But now Reese is going to take it all back. Claim his birthright.”

  Together they mounted his bike, and he reached for the handlebars, as Dawn turned to face him and touched his cheek.

  “How did Harold Whitaker die?” she asked.

  “Big C, okay,” he said. “Now Reese makes his move.”

  “And his sister?” she asked.

  Cade pushed his pedal and revved up his motor, as he tilted his head to the side.

  “You really want a story?” he asked.

  Dawn nodded her head, and he leaned into her arms.

  “Then let’s make tracks.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Clinging to his back as they raced into the darkness, Dawn felt a shiver rushing up her spine. What would it mean to meet Reese? What was the fate of his sister? And did she dare meet George’s eyes again when she was far away from her own turf? She held Cade tighter, remembering to twist her head at the turns in the road when he slowed to a stop and touched her face.

  “Dawn…”

  Cade nuzzled her nose and stroked her cheek, as he peered into her eyes.

  “If…do you want me to take you back?”

  “Why would you ask that?” she said. “I’ve come this far.”

  “Then, why are you trembling?”

  Dawn couldn’t deny the shaking of her hand, and she tried to fix her arms to her sides when he traced the line of her lips and whispered into her hair.

  “I like this,” he said. “Like having you with me. Long time since I rode with a girl, let alone a lady. She felt her cheeks blush at the compliment under the light of the moon, and she wanted nothing more than to take him again when he captured her hands in his as he sighed. “But if it’s more than you bargained for,” he continued. “I get that. Bet the last thing you figured on was getting lost with me in the woods.”

  “You don’t where you’re going?” she asked.

  “Me? I know the way in my sleep, but you’re another matter.”

  “I’m not lost, Cade. I just…”

  For a moment, her mind tracked the way back to town. There she had her own bed waiting, lonely but still soft. She could hide away, and when it came to facing Michael again, maybe she could say that the assignment grew boring, or she could lie and say that she wasn’t up to the task. No way he would buy either line, but if Cade was giving her a way out…

  “You’d let me leave?” she asked.

  “Not like I took you by force or anything,” he reminded her. “Hardly my style.”

  “No. I’ve…I’ve seen you’re style.”

  “Guess that’s why you jumped at the invite.”

  Cade claimed her mouth with a quick kiss, and she groaned at the heat wafting off his neck even as the night turned colder. Was this more than she was asking for? If she came out the other end with anything but a story, Michael would have her head.

  If it still rested safely on her shoulders.

  “If I said yes, would you could come with me,” she said.
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  Cade stretched away from his bike. “Might be nice,” he admitted. “You ever want to really run away?”

  “I…with you?”

  “I’m the only guy here,” he said,

  Dawn wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his brow.

  “Only one I want with me,” she said. “And you seem down.”

  Cade laughed, as his eyes rolled towards the branches hanging overhead. “Would if I could,” he said. “But I swore an oath.”

  “So where does that leave me?” she asked.

  “I said I’d take you—”

  “Don’t think I can ask you do that,” she said. “You’re already late, and your boys are waiting for you.”

  The wind rattled the branches right on cue, and he flipped his collar towards his ears, as he nodded softly. “Maybe there’s something else I can do with you,” he said. “Until I know it’s safe to show you off.”

  “Show me off?” she asked.

  “Like I’m not itching to let the whole world see me with you.”

  Dawn stroked his cheek, her fears nearly falling away. “I can do it,” she said. “We… let’s keep going. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

  Cade turned her head, and she leaned forward to kiss him when he suddenly twisted his head away, his brow furrowing as he spoke. “Maybe,” he said. “But I think we should go with Plan B.” He guided her away from the dirt path and pointed towards a small structure buried among the dark trees. “Decent folk there,” he said. “Phone doesn’t work for shit, but she’ll put you up if you want to hunker down until morning.”

  “She?” Dawn asked. “You’re not dumping me off with an old girlfriend or something, are you?”

  “Hardly,” he said with a soft laugh. “Just a clean, safe place to put your feet up.”

  “And you know from experience?” she asked.

  “Got patched up there a few times,” he said.

  “Maybe I should scratch your face or something,” she teased. “Give you an excuse to stick around all over again.”

  He stopped in his tracks, his hand pulling away from hers as he just touched the tips of her nails.

  “Wouldn’t work,” he said. “Not tonight.”

  “So nothing I say is going to keep you close?”

  Cade stayed silent, shrugging his shoulders even as his fingers rested against her wrist.

  “Tell me I got a reason to bring you before the Boss Man,” he said. “Like maybe…maybe you are a smokescreen. Working with the Panthers or—”

  Dawn wheeled back and peered hard into his eyes.

  “Why would you… how can you even say that?” she demanded.

  “A joke,” he swore. “Just playing around.”

  “It’s not funny, Cade.”

  Her neck burned under her collar, and Dawn kicked his shin, trying to pay no mind to the cry leaving his lips as she stomped towards the hidden structure. Was it a safe house or a trap? In that moment she didn’t care one way or the other, wanting nothing but to get away from him if he could even play at thinking that she—

  “Hey! Hold up!”

  He grabbed her arms and fought off her flailing limbs, as he eased her down the length of a large oak tree and held her fast.

  “Let me go!”

  “Dumb thing to say,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

  “It wasn’t—”

  “I take it all back,” Cade said. “Add it to your story if you want. Paint me as a prick. I won’t hold it against you.”

  “I’m…I’m not going to do that, Cade”

  “Why?” he asked. “Because it won’t sell?”

  “Because it’s not like the truth,” she countered. “Any more than me really wanting to stop now without seeing where this thing leads.”

  She fell into arms, her ear light against his broad chest as he stroked her back and slowly lifted her eyes back to his face.

  “Alright then,” he said. “We keep moving.”

  The house came clearer into view, and even as the warm windows offered a kind of sanctuary, Dawn turned back around on her heel and clasped his face in her hands.

  “You really think that I’m so scared?” she challenged.

  “Always go by what I feel,” he said. “You were shaking.”

  “Maybe you were just riding too fast.”

  “You questioning my drive?” he asked. “I don’t—”

  “Just a joke. Dumb thing to say.”

  Cade’s smile grew brighter, as she stretched to the tips of her toes. Kissing him hard, she curled her arms around his back and felt the pounding of his heart pouring through her fingers.

  “And you don’t want me to go,” she said, as she slipped away from him and stroked his cheek. Cade gave her a smirk and half-hearted nod.

  “Maybe,” he said.

  “Definitely,” she challenged. “You wouldn’t want to hide me away to keep for later if you didn’t care.”

  She tried to kiss him again when he lengthened up the back of his neck and seized her arm.

  “Come on,” he said. “We’re burning moonlight here.”

  Dawn let him lead her through the dirt and the leaves. The house grew closer, but even the promise of a warm bed was nothing without him. Not that she had any desire to interfere with his crew. It was the mark of a poor excuse for a journalist if nothing else, and Michael had taught her better than that. Yet, she still wished for a way to keep him near. Even if it was just for a few moments more. Her mind spun with all manner of manipulations and pleas, her thoughts coming to a sudden halt as a screen door crashed open. Starting back, Dawn saw a woman with wide hips and a graying bun atop her head waddling towards them.

  “Better not be any god damned trouble, or I’ll have your heads for—”

  The woman stopped short as she fixed her eyes on Cade, and Dawn watched the corner of his lips curl into a smile as he stepped forward, always keeping Dawn close to his side as he made his approach.

  “Mona,” he said.

  “Cade Everett,” the woman said. “As I live and breathe.”

  “Always said I’d come back one of these days,” he said.

  “And how did I know tonight would be the night.”

  He let Dawn go as he took the older woman into his arms. Mona folded him close like a little boy just looking to escape a bad dream, and Dawn couldn’t help but like the look of his softer side when he stepped back and pulled Dawn close again.

  “Mona, this is Miss Sawyers,” he said. “Dawn. She’s my…she’s all mine.”

  It had the ring of the Middle Ages or even darker times, but Dawn couldn’t help but bask in the light of his possession.

  “Sure seems sweet,” Mona said, as she patted Dawn’s cheek. “Looks like a nice girl.”

  “Oh yeah,” Cade concurred. “Real nice.”

  Dawn started to smile when Mona shifted her gaze to Cade’s eyes and focused on nothing else.

  “I knew because I heard your boys riding by,” she said.

  “How long?” Cade asked.

  “Hour,” she said. “Maybe a little longer. Why aren’t you keeping up, kid?”

  They sounded like typical mother’s words, and Dawn thought of her own parents, laying into her for choosing to talk about other people’s lives instead of living one of her own. But in their mind, that meant that she should have married long ago, that she should definitely be married now. Running after the Alphas with their lone wolf at her side had to be the last thing on their agenda. But she wasn’t about to leave him…

  “I will be,” Cade said. “But…but Dawn needs a place to stay.”

  Moan sighed as she scrunched her nose. Dawn waited without moving, barely breathing as Mona inspected her far more carefully. Even if she seemed sweet, was the older woman sizing her up, her mind weighing the evidence before her along with things that Dawn still had yet to learn? Would she back pedal and say that she wasn’t good enough to hide, that she had to take her chances with the Alphas or the night?

  “How
’d he manage to land someone like you?” she asked. Dawn took a moment, scanning the comment for any hint of sarcasm when she determined it was clean and just grinned.

  “It’s quite a story,” she said.

  “Long one, too,” Cade chimed in