RANGER: Heartlands MC Read online

  “Sure thing, Boss,” he tells me as I step inside the bar I manage. Pulling open the door to the kitchen, I tell my line cook, T-Bone, I want a few cheeseburgers and fries, and I grab a few Cokes from the case.

  “I have someone else’s order done now. You want that?” T-Bone asks and I nod. He’s a good man, grey haired and old enough to be my grandpa and always looking out for the girls, Roxanne and Stella, who work here. Means a lot. He puts the food in to-go boxes and stacks them one on top of the other. “Need anything else?”

  “This is good, thanks,” I say, taking my food and then walking through the front of the bar to see if I can find Killian and Chain before I leave for the night.

  I catch Killian’s eye and he walks right over to me. “What’s the deal?” he asks. As the club president’s son, he wants to know before any shit hits the fan.

  “I got Ruby upstairs and she’s staying with me tonight.”

  He grins. “Oh, she’s got a name now?”

  “Fuck you,” I say with a laugh.

  “It’s just funny, you taking a girl home.”

  “Why’s that funny?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

  “You’ve turned down every woman in this bar at least twice. Never sleep with a soul when we go on rides for the weekend. You’re solo.”

  “It’s not like that. Ruby was stranded — she needed help.”

  Killian laughs. “Okay, Ranger, whatever you wanna call it.”

  I grunt. He isn’t wrong — Ruby is beautiful, and I’ve never been tempted by another woman because no other woman has been her. She’s different. Soft in ways that my hard heart craves. Quiet in a way that makes my restless mind still. I’ve known her an hour and yet I would move heaven and earth to make sure she’s in my bed tonight.

  “I gotta go,” I say, thinking of her all alone upstairs. I trust Bulldog with my life, but maybe I don’t quite trust him with hers.

  I’m the only man who can truly protect her.

  We may have just met, but I know that for certain.

  4

  Ruby

  The shower is heavenly. I turn the hot water up as high as it can go and try not to think about Lydia. She knows my plan, but the tears in her eyes when we said goodbye are impossible to forget. My sister needs me to figure out a plan for us both.

  I know nothing can be sorted tonight. Right now, I can just be grateful that Ranger showed up when he did… he seems trustworthy, and I have no other option but to hope for the best. Without a phone or wallet, stranded in an unfamiliar town, what other choice do I have?

  And I can’t deny the comfort I feel when I am in his presence. When he held me close as I cried, my pounding heart calmed — my fear subsided. I could take a deep breath and believe that my life wasn’t over.

  In fact, maybe it’s just beginning.

  I let the hot water wash my troubles away, rubbing soap over my skin before rinsing off.

  Even though I have never been alone with a man in his home before, I don’t feel uncomfortable. From what I saw of Ranger’s apartment, it is clean and cozy, and even if there is a raucous bar below, the insulation must be great because all I hear is a steady beat. I can’t make out much else.

  I dry off with a fluffy grey towel, wrapping it around myself before peeking out the bathroom door. Ranger isn’t here, and I smile, seeing the clothing he set out for me. I take it back inside the bathroom and hold up the grey sweatpants. I laugh to myself, knowing there is no way they’ll fit — they would fall right to my ankles.

  The soft blue sweatshirt will work, though. I put it on, and it hangs to my mid-thigh. Stepping into his home without a bra on is one thing, but wearing no panties is another. I look around the bathroom, hoping for a hair dryer to quickly blow dry them, but he doesn’t have one, which isn’t much of a surprise considering his short hair.

  Placing my sundress, bra, and panties on the shower rod to dry, I try to ignore the flush of immodesty that I am not just considering — but am going through with. I’ve got nothing underneath this sweatshirt. I grew up in the church and was taught all about the world being black and white, but in my heart, I always felt there was a whole lot more grey than my father would acknowledge.

  Being here in Ranger’s home, half-naked, doesn’t feel wrong. It feels like I am taking a chance on myself. For the first time in my life. I just wish Lydia was here with me.

  Not wanting to cry, I steel myself to be practical. I find a comb and I run it through my hair. I part it down the middle and look at myself in the mirror. Being here in this apartment brings out a sense of freedom I’ve never experienced before. Like I could do anything. I already did the hardest part — leaving my father’s house, forsaking the union he had planned for me. Maybe I can find freedom in other ways tonight, too.

  There was no way I could marry Slider. No way I could give myself to man who saw me as a prize, not a person. But it doesn’t mean I don’t want to give myself to someone… I just want it to be a man I feel safe with, secure. I want to give my body to a man who won’t use it against me, who won’t hurt me.

  Something stirs inside of me when I hear the front door open, hear Ranger call for me, telling me he is back. A longing deep in my core, a desire for more, offers me a sense of confidence I don’t usually feel. And that longing is directed at one person. One man. Ranger.

  I squeeze my eyes shut, knowing we just met and I’ve saved my virginity all my life. Still, as I step out of the bathroom, watching as Ranger’s eyes run up my bare legs, my bare thighs, over my curvy hips and my breasts — nipples hard and poking against the cotton of the sweatshirt — and I swear he groans.

  I swallow, stepping closer. He has containers of food in his hands and I smile, grateful for something to do besides stare at this handsome man with longing.

  “You got us food?” I ask, my heart skipping, and I clench my pussy tight, fully aware of how wet I suddenly feel. How needy my pussy is growing just as I stand here with him. He can’t take his eyes off of me.

  And hour ago, I was straddling his motorcycle, and now I have this insane image of myself straddling him. It’s nothing I’ve ever considered doing before, but suddenly I can’t think of anything else.

  “Yeah, cheeseburgers — that okay?” I must take too long answering because he steps closer to me, worry in his eyes. “You okay, Ruby? You look lost.”

  I shake my hair, droplets of water hitting the hardwood floor. “I’m good,” I say. “Just starved, I guess.”

  He nods and sets the food on the kitchen table, turning on another overhead light. He pulls out a chair for me and I smile, appreciating the gesture. We sit opposite one another and begin to eat. He eats like a man, with intention, and I focus on my food, not the heat in my belly.

  We eat in silence and it starts to spread too wide. For a moment, I wonder if I read this wrong — read him wrong. Maybe he wasn’t looking at me with hunger at all. Maybe he was just literally hungry. And maybe these cheeseburgers took care of all his cravings.

  “The shower okay?” he asks, eyes on his pile of fries.

  I lift the can of Coke to my lips, answering with a quick yes before taking a sip.

  “Good. I think I might head in for one myself, if that’s okay with you?”

  I nod. “Of course. This is your home.”

  “I spoke to Bulldog.”

  I frown, trying to follow.

  “He’s the bouncer downstairs. He knows to keep an extra eye on the stairwell to my place. No one knows you’re here.”

  “Your friends at the bar do,” I say softly.

  He nods. “Far enough. But they’re bikers. We don’t share with outsiders.”

  “Sounds… intense.”

  Ranger frowns. “These men — they’re like my family.”

  I try not to scoff, but I can’t help it.

  “You have a problem with family?” he asks, wiping his hands on a towel.

  “Just because someone is family doesn’t mean you can trust them.”
r />   He pushes his container of food away. “You’re running away from home and lost, so I get your lack of faith.”

  “I have faith.”

  “Yeah? What kind of faith do you have?” he asks, eyebrow raised, not giving me much room to get away from the answer. He is pushing me for my opinion and no man has ever once done that before — asked me what I thought on a matter. Any matter.

  “I have faith in myself.”

  Ranger stands, dropping our trash in a bin. “Sounds about right.” Then he turns to me. “But that seems kinda lonely, doesn’t it? To be the only person you can trust?”

  I swallow, wondering how he got to the heart of things — the heart of me — so quickly. I stand and reach for a rag to wash down the table. It’s habit, taking care of the home. “I get lonely,” I admit, running the cloth over the pine tabletop. “But there are worse things than feeling alone.”

  “Like what?” he asks. His voice is deep, gravelly, the timbre strong and solid.

  I exhale the air I hadn’t realized I was holding. “Like being scared.”

  Ranger steps closer behind me. His hands run over my wet hair, brushing it aside, and he whispers in my ear. “You aren’t alone right now,” he tells me, his hot breath sending a current down my spine. “But are you scared?”

  “No.” My voice is a whisper, tight but true.

  He doesn’t answer and I wonder if he believes that I feel brave. Alive. I want him to say more. I want his hands to move down my back, to spin me around and hold me again like he did when I cried. But this time, there won’t be tears. There will just be longing.

  But as I turn on my heelsw to face him, he is stepping back, toward the bathroom. “I’m going to shower now,” he says, pulling the door shut before I can say another word.

  And just like that, I’m left breathless. Left wanting. Left needing so much more.

  5

  Ranger

  I step into the shower and do my best not to groan too damn loudly. Truth is, I had to step away because sitting across from Ruby was pure and absolute torture.

  She is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen — I knew that the moment I picked her up on the side of the road, but freshly showered, in my sweatshirt, her tits perky, her hard nipples poking through — fuck me now because my cock is throbbing with desire.

  I sat there eating my supper as best I could, and so long as we sat in silence, I was okay… but when she spoke, when her pretty pink lips parted, that sweet lull to her voice damn near had me coming then and there, my cock a steel rod aching to be pumped. Fuck, I want to fill her sweet pussy up in a way that leaves me dropping my head against the cold tiles of the shower.

  She’s more than an angel — she’s a goddamn goddess. Whispering in her ear was a bad idea because now I want so much more. Yes, I told her she is safe with me, that she isn’t alone — but I want to show her that. Prove that to her.

  Actions speak louder than words, or so they say.

  My cock aches and I’m tempted to stroke myself under the cold water, to get myself off, but it feels wrong somehow to pleasure myself to the thought of Ruby when she’s standing right outside the door.

  I urge my dick to calm the hell down and I finish showering, drying off and trying not to stare at her bra and panties hanging on the damn shower curtain rod.

  Fuck.

  If her panties are drying right there, that means they aren’t on her cute little ass.

  Which means her sweet pussy is bare.

  My cock twitches, eager and losing all restraint. “Calm the hell down,” I grunt.

  “Did you say something?” Ruby calls from the apartment.

  “No, it’s all good,” I say, just as I’m realizing I forgot clothes to change into. I wrap a towel around my waist and step out of the bathroom.

  The moment I do, Ruby drops the glass of water she is holding. It falls to the floor, spilling all over, the glass shattering.

  “Oh shoot,” she says, starting to lean over, but I don’t want her to deal with that after the day she’s had, and besides, we’re both barefoot.

  “Don’t move,” I say, strutting over and picking it up myself. Then I reach for the broom.

  As I do, my towel loosens and falls to the hardwood floor.

  I chuckle, realizing things went from bad to worse… but when I look up and meet Ruby’s eyes, I see desire swirling around her irises. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe things have just gone from good to great.

  “Here, let me,” she says, taking the broom from my hand as I pick up my towel. I take my sweet time, walking to the laundry hamper, dropping it in. There’s a chance a piece of glass might have got caught in the threads.

  I feel her eyes on my naked body, and look over my shoulder to check. Yep. She’s zoomed in. I admit it, I flex my ass just because I can.

  “I’ll grab another towel, don’t worry.”

  She shakes her head, cheeks turning bright red, her damp hair falling into her eyes. She brushes it aside. “You don’t need to on my account. I mean… I think you look very… nice.”

  I grin, turning to her, cupping my junk with my hands. “Nice, huh? I suppose I oughta get another towel to cover up all this niceness.”

  She licks her lips, emptying the dustpan in the trash, setting the broom aside, and then she gets on her hands and knees, wiping away the water that was spilled.

  Fuck, seeing her down there like that makes my cock twitch again, harder now. Longing. Desperate. I step toward her.

  “There,” she says. “All cleaned up.” She looks up, eyes on my hands — hands that are attempting to cover my cock. “You don’t need to get a towel if you don’t want.”

  “No?” I say, wondering where this might lead.

  “No. I mean… I…” She shakes her head. Flustered. “I don’t know what I’m saying.”

  “It’s okay,” I say, taking her hand and helping her stand, staying decent with my other hand. “You don’t have to know what you want.”

  She frowns, indignant. “Oh, I know what I want.”

  My mouth twitches, and I suppress a smile. Damn, this girl is adorable when she gets herself worked up. “You do?”

  She shrugs. “I just don’t really know how to ask for it.”

  “I’m surprised. I’d have guessed a woman as sweet as you always gets what she asks for.”

  She bites on her bottom lip. “No, that’s not the way it worked with my father. With him, it was his way or the highway.”

  I lift the side of my mouth, resting my hand on her cheek. “That why I found you on the literal highway? You two have a fight?”

  “Not a fight, Ranger. It was more than that.” Her delicate eyes flare with something deep, burning. A fire. She’s more than a sweet thing — she is a pillar of strength. “He wanted me to marry a man who is cruel. A man that doesn’t respect women, doesn’t respect me. That’s why I left.”

  I nod slowly, taking her words in. “So, you don’t have much experience asking for what you want… but it sounds like when you left today, there wasn’t much discussion taking place. You just made up your mind and did the thing you wanted to do.”

  “You suggesting I do that now?” she asks. She runs her hands over her hair, breathing more softly now. Her nerves from seeing me naked have faded.

  “You can do anything you like, Ruby. Like I said, you’re safe here.” Her eyes are cast down, but I lift her chin with the crook of my finger. “What is it you’re scared of?”

  “I’m scared of liking it all too much.”

  “Liking what?”

  She exhales, reaching for my hand that is covering my cock. “Liking this.” Her eyes linger on my thick shaft, and her breath shallows, her fingers inching toward my skin. “Liking that.”

  “Do you want to touch me, Ruby?” I ask, realizing that is what she is after. What she needs. A girl held back all her life, finally free. And I found her. How goddamn lucky am I?

  “I want to do everything with you, Ranger.”

&nbs
p; I cup both her cheeks with my hands and her breath stills. “Have you ever been with a man, Ruby?”

  She shakes her head. “No. I’ve never even kissed one.”

  I brush my thumb over her smooth skin. “Then let’s start there.”

  I pull her to me, and she whimpers as our mouths press together, her lips soft and eager, parting as our tongues run over one another. I rest a hand on her waist, another on the base of her neck, and I kiss her with abandon, with the knowledge that this kiss right here is the first of her life — a kiss she will never, ever forget.

  And neither will I.

  She moans as I kiss her more deeply, and my cock throbs against her belly. Knowing she’s got nothing under this oversized sweatshirt makes me ache with want. I want to do everything with you. Fuck, it’s what I want too.

  Bodies pressed together, I run a hand over her waist, to her ass, squeezing her cheeks. “That okay?” I ask between kisses.

  “Do what you want to me.”

  “You don’t want to be more specific?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “I know I want to feel something big. Something powerful. Something deep. But I don’t know the words for that… that longing inside me.”

  “Where is that longing coming from?” I ask. Maybe it’s her head, her heart — maybe it isn’t about her physical needs.

  But she steps back from our embrace, and lifts the hem of the sweatshirt, up past her belly. She presses her palm to her pussy, where a soft tuft of blonde hair covers her sweet virgin folds, tempting me more and more the longer I look.

  “The longing comes from right here,” she says, running her fingers over herself. “From inside here.”

  She dips her finger into her cunt and motherfucker, my cock is iron and there isn’t much getting in our way, of her truly having everything she is talking about.