He had felt immediate attraction to the woman when he had leaned over the cart and saw her splayed out like a snow angel. Her crude litany, however, showed she was no angel, which explained her immediate appeal to him. Women who pretended to be angels had never attracted his interest, other than being a source of income, but the fallen ones… those were pleasure seekers, and they were harder to find.
“After the party, we’ll discuss the job with you and the brothers. Might as well have Jewell there and get her input.”
“Anything else before we go inside?” he questioned.
“Yes. Stay away from the woman with long, black hair sitting on the couch. She’s mine.”
Ah … There was the man who Rory had sensed underneath the inscrutable façade.
“No worries. I’ll keep my distance.”
Shade opened the door, motioning him inside.
Rory felt the gazes directed his way as soon as he walked through the doorway. He had expected at least ten or fifteen adults to be inside, not a large room filled with over thirty people and many children included in the numbers. Two young boys were tossing a football beneath a long flight of stairs, that led to the second floor.
A small step led into a massive room that had several couches placed around the room, two pool tables, and a bar to the side of the room, which was what he had expected when King had told him he was meeting Shade at a motorcycle club. What was unexpected was the family atmosphere—a fully decorated tree and a huge pile of presents tucked underneath. Many of the women were sitting around on the couches, watching the presents being opened by the children. Jewell was sitting in the middle of one with a dark-haired woman on one side of her and a blonde on the other.
Shade moved to take a seat on the arm of the couch next to the dark-haired woman, plainly staking his claim. “Everyone, this is Rory. He’s a friend of Hennessy’s. They were supposed to meet up here before the weather turned bad. He’s going to stay here until the roads open to Ohio.”
“Hi, Rory. I hope you’ll enjoy your stay with us. My name is Lily. I’m Shade’s wife.” The woman’s soft voice would melt a glacier.
“Thank you, Lily. It’s nice meeting you.” Rory didn’t extend his hand to her.
Rory kept his response neutral as Lily went along to introduce many of the people in the room.
“Jewell is sitting next to me. On the other side is Willa, Lucky’s wife.” Lily pointed to a man who was already sitting on the other arm of the couch. “Beth and Razer are married.” Lily pointed at another couch. “Ginny, who is holding the baby, is Reaper’s wife.”
That introduction drew his attention. Reaper was the one who Jewell had promised to kiss his brains out when she had been inside the cart.
While Shade hadn’t given him pause when he had met him on the porch, despite the air of danger that clung to him like a second skin, the man standing behind the golden woman sitting on the couch did. The man had most likely earned his nickname legitimately. Somehow, somewhere, he had grown comfortable with dealing out death cards. An aura of danger didn’t cling to Reaper. He was death.
Taking the insight for what it was worth, Rory was able to see firsthand what type of man Jewell was attracted to. While Reaper’s choice of haircut was unusual, to say the least, it did make a statement of not to fuck with him. His size alone would make anyone hesitate to start anything with him; the haircut was merely overkill. Rory determined that was Reaper’s intention.
Dropping his eyes to what Reaper was wearing, Rory felt his first spurt of jealousy.
Fuck. The man knew how to dress. The dress shirt Reaper was wearing emphasized the toned, muscled chest underneath. Moving to the side, as if to get a better of view of the people who Lily was introducing, Rory was able to see the dark gray dress pants and the boots he was wearing. They were Gucci.
Reaper was a man after his own heart.
“Viper and Winter … Train and Killyama … Rider and Jo …”
Rory memorized the names and faces as Lily pointed out the couples.
“Knox and Diamond. Jade, Stori, Nickel, Jesus, Puck, Moon. If I left anyone out, I’m sure they’ll just introduce themselves.”
“It’s nice to meet everyone. I hope it won’t be inconvenient—me staying here for the holidays.”
“Not at all. The more, the merrier.”
Rory gave a slight smile to the woman who had spoken, recognizing her as the woman who Lily had introduced as Jade.
“Usually, there are more of us, but most of the members went home for the holidays,” Jade continued. “There’s a coffee pot behind the bar, as well as sodas and water, if you’re thirsty,” she offered.