RIDING DIRTY (Steel Titans MC Book 4) by Franca Storm (ebook voice reader .txt) 📕

it any longer and, before I knew it, I was going on, “With the work I do it has never been feasible. I’ve always seen it as a huge security risk, a point of extreme vulnerability. Plus, I’ve never had the time to invest in any sort of relationship.”

The words hung there once more.

But, fortunately, it wasn’t as lengthy the second time around, and Slade actually turned around and looked my way. He gave a nod, telling me, “I get that, darlin’.”

“You’ve done the same,” I stated, wanting him to say more, needing him to give me something.

I was out of luck, though, because his response was merely, “Right.”

“You’re making me work for it here.”

“There ain’t much else I can do.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

Shifting his weight and blowing out a weary sigh, he explained, “I’ve been the one to put it out there and all you’ve done is shut me down and thrown up a shitload of denial. If there is even a ball, it’s in your court all the way now.”

“If?”

“Yeah, I mean, this thing—whatever the fuck it really is between us—just ain’t right, is it? The timing’s all wrong. We’re in different places. I’m done with the thrill of this kind of life, just trying to shed the burden of it all now. But you’re still right there getting off on it all.”

Oh. “No.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “No?”

“The timing isn’t wrong,” I clarified.

“How’s that?”

Dammit. It was time. Admitting it out loud was the first step after all, right?

I sucked in a breath, then steeled myself, as I forced the words out, “I am… tired.”

“Yeah?” he asked, clearly still skeptical that I was going to put it out there all the way and fully shake off all the denial that I’d been clinging to like a lifeline.

But I was going to.

It was time to find a better lifeline now, a better life. A real, fulfilling life.

“You were right about the cracks, about the dark starting to take me over. And, yeah, it is a rush for me. Kicking ass and helping people when all hope is lost for them is something I get a lot of… job satisfaction from. I can do things that the law can’t, that very few people can. But if I’m not at my best, all of that will be put in jeopardy. My clients’ lives, my own life.” I ran my hand through my hair. “It’s hard to admit, that’s why I’ve been doing my best to deny it left and right, even to myself, because without my work, I don’t know what I am, who I am, or what I have to give to the world anymore.”

At my confession, Slade finally softened.

In fact, he actually smiled, his eyes even lighting up.

Crossing to me, he spoke, “I felt that way about leaving the club when I first realized I was gonna go that route.”

Interesting. “And, now?”

“I realized that it’s just another fork in the road, not a dead-end, not the end of the path. And stepping into the unknown, or something else, is kinda exciting. Freeing.” He smiled kindly as he moved closer. “Change don’t have to be something negative. It’s all about how you look at it. And it’s about what you’re veering away from. In both our cases, I think we can agree that it’ll be a positive change, a necessary change, too.”

I couldn’t help grinning.

“What?” he asked, amused.

“So, wisdom does come with advanced age, huh?”

“Advanced age?” he said, mock-offended. “You know, this advanced age comes with a shitload of experience.” He eyed me lewdly. “In many areas.”

“I thought that was your excessive amount of practice.”

He gave me a look, knowing I was calling him a whore. He shifted his weight. And then I watched all sense of humor evaporate, a sober intensity taking over as he spoke, “Like I said, I ain’t never been with nobody like that before, the way we were.”

I reached out and fingered his tee beneath his leather jacket. “Why is that?”

He took hold of my hips, his thumbs stroking softly over the fabric of my silk robe. “I guess, I didn’t need to take it there with you. We’re the same. We’ve both done some bad shit, seen worse. I don’t feel like I gotta apologize for that, for being who and what I am, for what I’ve done, not when I’m with you. There’s no guilt, shame, or pain. You neutralize it. There’s a connection between us and it takes me over whenever we’re near each other.” He grinned. “It fucking rules everything, takes over everything I thought I knew, everything I thought I could fucking well control.”

Wow. “I hear you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, and I think we’re both well beyond the point of trying to keep things strictly professional, of denying that there’s this connection between us.” I slid my hands up to cup his face, caressing the rough stubble adorning his jawline. “I won’t do it anymore, because the simple fact is that I want you.”

His eyes flashed and the next thing I knew, he was hauling me off my feet and carrying me with him. The fresh evening air collided with that familiar sandalwood scent and that which was just all Slade Mitchell, infusing my senses.

A gasp escaped me as my back smacked against the exterior wall of the garage. Slade’s amber eyes burned into mine as he pushed his hips against me, using them to pin me against the hard surface, at his mercy. And, hell, I wanted to be at his mercy. Surrounded by so much power, strength and explosive passion was a heady combination. It sent a fresh wave of arousal surging through me, my breathing quickening, my thighs dampening, and my nerve-endings sparking like livewires.

I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist, hooking my ankles for leverage, and I tugged him closer still, needing more, so much more of him, from him.

He was right there with me, dipping his head and pressing his mouth to mine.

It actually