Page 31 of Ashes’ Addiction

Miranda tilted her head as she watched him. “I think I will.”

The waitress appeared with their food. She offered to refill the soda Ashes was drinking and asked if they needed anything else before leaving them alone. Miranda thought about the tattoo idea while she ate. Would it be stupid to find a way to add Ashes’ name to it? If only as a symbol of how she got out of that pit. She thought about it all the way through dinner and during the ride back to the clubhouse.

While she enjoyed riding and being with Ashes, the ride from the restaurant to the Sons of Sin compound was her least favorite part of the trip, because they took the Interstate and there were way too many cars for her taste. But she felt the same in a car. Traffic was one of many issues she had with living in the city, but she would get used to it again.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ashes pulled his bike into the compound and backed it into line with the others in front of the clubhouse. He considered asking Miranda if she wanted him to find a dark spot to park it later, but she’d been quiet the whole ride home, and he got the feeling she wasn’t in the same playful mood she’d been in when she’d offered. There were still a few hours of daylight left, though. There was time yet. Or maybe they’d just do it another day. Still, he couldn’t help but smile as he pictured the image of her sprawled back on the gas tank, taking every inch of him and asking for more. It was almost enough to have him coming in his jeans.

Behind him, she dismounted, then he stepped off the bike. He stowed their helmets before following her to the door. They stopped just inside. Miranda seemed frozen a she stared at Hammer, whose face had gone red as he shouted at Bulldog.

“I don’t care. You can send men with me or not, as you see fit. I am going. Try to stop me.” Hammer spun on his heel and headed for the stairs.

“What was that all about?” Ashes asked. He cupped Miranda’s hip with one hand and guided her toward a recliner. Waving one hand at Frank who was working the bar to bring them drinks, he sat, then pulled Miranda down on his lap. He hooked an arm around her middle to keep her from getting up and walking away, at least until he had a chance to see what was on her mind.

“He says he found another of Dwyer’s women,” Bulldog said with a sigh. “He’s insisting we go in and rescue her, but she was sold off more than six months ago. How can we know if she’s even still alive?” Bulldog shook his head. “I don’t know. It’s a risk. They’re hours away and on the other side of the border. It’s a risk and I’m not convinced it will be worth it.”

“You going to let him go alone?”

Bulldog pinched the bridge of his nose. “I can’t. If he’s right, he gets down there and finds her, how does he get her out on his own? How does he get both of them back into the US?” Bulldog looked up and shook his head again. “I’ve got to send men with him. I just wish he was giving me more time.”

Frank appeared with drinks for Ashes and Miranda, and Bulldog stopped him.

“Go find Goliath, Doc, and Blade, and tell them I need to see them, pronto.”

“Got it, Boss.”

Bulldog rolled his eyes and shook his head but said nothing. Ashes knew how much he hated being called Boss, but it was always hard to break prospects of it. It looked like the president had given up the battle and was just going with it now.

“When they get here, I’ll let them know what’s going on. You two good?” Bulldog asked.

“We’re good,” Miranda answered for him. She’d shifted around on his lap until she faced the president, but had her legs stretched across the rest of Ashes’ lap. He wondered if she’d noticed the lump in his jeans. The one he’d been battling most of the last two hours. “Do you need Ashes for something?”

“No. We’re good. But if Hammer’s leaving, I’m going to need to make sure Forge is in the command center, if Hammer hasn’t already.” Bulldog pushed himself to his feet. “I better go check on that. If the guys come in, let them know where I am, okay?”

Ashes nodded and watched his president head down the hall that led to his office as well as Hammer’s domain. For a moment he thought about volunteering. Going with them to help Hammer. But the woman on his lap was enough to keep him here. Besides, he had no doubt Bulldog would make sure they had enough men they could handle whatever came their way.

“What do you want to do this evening?” he said, turning to Miranda.

“I was thinking about going up to the room, showering off some of this dust, then putting on a sundress.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye.

“Oh, really? What would you want to do after that?” His cock throbbed, but he couldn’t resist teasing them both by asking.

“I thought you might know an out-of-the-way spot here on the compound where we could take your bike. I was thinking I might not need to wait for dark. What do you think?” She looked at him through her lowered lashes. He ached to strip her down and have her ride him right here in front of everyone, but she wouldn’t like that. Or at least she wasn’t ready for that.

“I think if you don’t hop up and get up those stairs in the next thirty seconds, you might find yourself fucked right here,” he murmured in her ear.

She let out a squeal that could compete with a baby velociraptor, then she was on her feet and racing up the stairs.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Miranda took her time changing. She stood in front of the mirror debating whether or not to skip the underwear for almost five minutes. In the end, she decided to skip it but she didn’t want it to be obvious, so she pulled a long sweater Winter had insisted she would want as it got cooler and wrapped herself in that. It didn’t totally cover her and it came down past the hem of her dress, but she could arrange it so it covered her already taut nipples, so at least everyone she passed wouldn’t be able to tell she had nothing on beneath the dress. Then once they were away from the clubhouse and everyone else, she could take it off.

She wished she had some heels, that would round the outfit out nicely, but she hadn’t thought she’d need them, and couldn’t justify the expense. The boots Ashes had given her that morning caught her eye. She hadn’t been able to justify the expense for something like that either, but they had heels. Granted, they were chunky and came a few inches up her calves, but hell, if they were going to do this, and on his bike, was there anything better she could wear than the riding boots he’d gotten her? She would be riding, after all. But him instead of his bike. It fit.

She checked her reflection one more time after zipping her feet into the boots, and not seeing anything else she could do, she headed back downstairs. When Miranda reached the ground floor she looked around for Ashes, but he wasn’t in the recliner where she’d left him.

“There you are,” Frank said as he approached her. He held a full shot glass in one hand. “You look great. Ashes said to offer you this and tell you he’s waiting outside.”