My mind continued to swirl with the errands I had to run before work—groceries, gas, clean the car, pick up my prescription…yadda, yadda, yadda. It was one of those days that seemed to be filled with shit I didn’t want to deal with, all those ‘grownup’ things that had a way of sucking out little pieces of my soul each time I had to do them.

“Fuck,” I moaned when I parked in my apartment parking spot. With a heavy sigh, I dropped my head back against the seat, allowing me to notice a spot of something on the ceiling of my car. “Lawyer’s office…”

I had one more errand that I didn’t want to deal with, but it was the big one, the mother of all errands.

“Shit.”

My lawyer, Mr. Millane, had sent me an email asking that I stop by to pick up some paperwork. I’d completely forgotten about it, somehow letting one of the most important things slip my mind.

Getting a divorce is so fucking tedious.

If I’d known it would take so long, I never would have gotten married in the first place. Hell, I barely remembered doing it.

Getting out of the car, I began the first of the two trips it’d take to get my purchases into my apartment, all the while unable to stop thinking about Alek dragging his fucking feet.

In the state of Colorado, both parties didn’t have to agree on the divorce to make it happen—and thank Christ for that. The problem was, the parties could contest the shit out of the division of property just to draw it out as long as possible, and Alek was nothing if not creative. At one point, there was a request that I hand over the towels I’d taken when I’d moved out. His reason had been, and I quote, “I bought them, so I should keep them.” None of that statement was accurate. The asshole would’ve been fine to dry off with dirty clothes. But what did I do? I gave them back to him just to shut him up.

That’d been the theme of the divorce. He would want something, and to speed up the process, I wouldn’t bother contesting, handing every single item over, just to get his signature. Maybe one day it would work.

After setting my stuff on the counter, I headed out of my place, down the exterior stairs and wove through the convoluted building layout toward the parking lot again. When I rounded the corner, placing my thumb over the trunk-popping button on my clicker, I paused. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to move. I did…very much. It was that I couldn’t. Every muscle had seized, and I was left exposed and vulnerable.

A man sat on a black Harley in the spot beside mine. He hadn’t been there a few minutes ago, and motorcycles were so common in Pleasant Pointe that I didn’t even notice the sound anymore, making it absolutely possible for him to sneak up on me.

The reason for the commonality of the many motorcycles was the laughing devil painted on his gas tank.

The smiling devil with a cigar clasped in his sharp teeth was the sign of an Infernal, a member of the local motorcycle club. They’d been around longer than I had and probably would remain long after I died. They were so ingrained in Pleasant Pointe that nothing save an act of God could uproot them.

Long legs in tattered jeans straddled the beast, and his arms were crossed over the handlebars. Leaning forward, he rested his beard-covered chin on the inked skin of his forearms. His rust-colored hair had been shorn close to his scalp and his skin sun-kissed, but on the pink side.

Thick muscle created dips along his arms and rounded off his broad shoulders. The black tee he wore stretched across his defined back and did nothing to hide the fact that he was a large, very strong man.

He quirked his lips at the corner and hooked his sunglasses with slender fingers, pulling them down a broad nose. His hazel eyes glittered with sinister intent.

Ray ‘Rabid’ Corbin.

“Hey, babe.”

His deep, rough voice rolled over me like a thousand hands—grabbing, squeezing and caressing every inch of my skin. I shivered at the sound of it and the memories it brought up. Without my permission, my body ignited with want, desire and rage.

“Fuck off,” I said after ripping myself out of the stupor.

Ray chuckled, seemingly happy with my outburst. I pushed beyond how much I’d missed the sound and headed for my trunk.

“Oh, come on, baby,” he crooned. I ignored him while looping the heavy fabric grocery bags over my arms. The scrape of boots on concrete drew near. Then, in my ear, he muttered, “I’ve missed you.”

The terror had been instantaneous, causing me to shriek and shoot back. Apparently prepared for the outburst, Ray glided out of the way of my swinging elbow.

Damn. Didn’t even clip his jaw.

He grinned, flashing those perfect teeth and chuckled again.

“Kinda high-strung, huh?”

I mustered all the strength I could and glared. There was no doubt in my mind that it held shit for power. My face was still burning with a blush I wouldn’t shake so long as he was nearby.

“The hell are you doing here?” I slammed my trunk shut. “Figured you would’ve been shivved by now.”

Still amused by something that escaped me, Ray fell in step behind me while I returned to my apartment, locking my car with the clicker before I was out of range.

“Not for a lack of trying,” he said.

Shocker.

“What’s wrong, Rocky? You not happy to see me?”

“Should I be?” I didn’t let it show how much I hated him using my nickname. It would’ve ensured he used it as much as possible, just to poke. “Thought you had a ten-year stretch?”

He stayed close, climbing the stairs right behind me. It did little to inhibit his taunting. The man’s voice remained close, which wasn’t hard since the bastard was almost six-foot-five. Being one or two steps higher only put me at his level.

“Good behavior.”

The scoff left me almost immediately.

“Right,” I replied.

Stepping through my door, I tried to kick it shut on his face but wasn’t surprised when he pushed beyond it. If my hands weren’t full, I could’ve thrown him out properly.

Setting my groceries down on the table, I gave the man my attention and hated myself for it.

Ray had removed his sunglasses, which hung from his collar while he gently closed the door behind him. All taunting had left his features, leaving them darkened by something else. It didn’t take a genius to know what. I’d seen that look a thousand times before.

My fingers tingled and stomach fluttered. No matter how hard I tried, every inch of my body continued to betray me.

Each click of his heel against my floor made my clit throb and my pussy dampen. My breasts grew heavy, and my nipples beaded, scraping against my lace bralette. I hated myself for wearing it, but my thicker ones were dirty.

Ray dropped his gaze to my chest, no doubt spotting my nipples pressing against the cotton tee. It was hot as hell outside. It wasn’t as though I could hide under layers.

While he advanced, I retreated until I had nowhere to go. My ass hit the edge of my kitchen counter, preventing me from running away. I’d literally backed myself into a corner.

Ray continued his advance until he stood over me, a powerful, looming figure of danger and sex.

“What are you doing?” My voice held no strength whatsoever.

Ray finally reached me, planting a hand against the cabinet above my head, the other on the countertop to my side. He closed in and instinct drove me to turn away. I couldn’t keep staring into his eyes, peering into the chaotic swirl of brown and green that made up the color. Ray didn’t seem dissuaded and dipped into the crook of my neck.

He dragged his lips across me. The soft touch of them, the heat of his breath and prickle of his beard was enough to send me through my skin, but I held strong, gripping the countertop even harder. I refused to give in.

“I missed you, Rocky.” The words were little more than a growl. With a groan, he sank against me, pressing his hard chest into mine. “I know you missed me, too.”

Swallowing the lump forming in my throat, I shook my head.

“No, I didn’t.” Each word trembled, regardless of my efforts.

He scoffed, still brushing his lips across my thundering pulse. I’d lost feeling in my fingertips, but I refused to let go, to reach out and touch him, no matter how badly I wanted to.

He traveled his mouth up to my ear while he encompassed my waist with a large hand and massaged it gently.

“Bullshit,” he said with a gruff edge. “I know you.”

“No, y-you don’t. Not anymore.”

He bit my earlobe. I gasped as the pain rocketed through my veins, electrifying my clit. In response, my pussy clenched, and I struggled to ebb the growing pain by pressing my thighs together as tight as I could manage. It did fuck-all.

The hand on my waist began a torturous journey south, the splay of his fingers so wide that I could’ve sworn they ran over all over my body.

Breathing became difficult, and I drifted my eyes shut with a sigh. I no longer had control, a sentiment given credence when he didn’t hesitate to dip into my pants, and I parted my legs to help. I hated myself for it, more than words could express, but I couldn’t fucking stop!

Ray groaned into my ear while he ran his digits the length of my slit, parting my lips so he could flick his fingers over my clit to tease me. There was no denying how excited I’d become in the few minutes he’d been around. The asshole would always bring it out in me.

He sighed into my ear, a groan laced in the back of his throat. “You’re dripping.” His touch became more determined. “How many times did you think about me when I was gone? While you were alone in your room or with some jag-off, how many times did you think about me instead?”

The pressure on my clit increased to a dizzying degree, and my sanity continued to dwindle, but so long as I kept a thread of it, I refused to give in.

“I-I didn’t,” I murmured.

Ray growled a vicious sound. “Don’t lie to me.”

He bit into my shoulder, apparent punishment for the lie. The pain of it radiated throughout my being, and I couldn’t fight the cry of pleasure it brought out.

I suddenly clung to him, digging my fingernails into his broad back while he engulfed me.

“Don’t lie, Rocky.” He slid two thick fingers into me. My core clamped down on them hard, desperate. “How many times did you wish it was my cock inside you?”

The damp heat of his tongue trailed up the side of my neck. I shivered, my grip tightening on his back.

Ray kissed my chin, hovering his lips just beyond mine. He knew what to do to get me going, knew the combination for me to lose my mind and he was clearly willing to do it.

He continued to pump his fingers in and out, curling them to hit me just right and build the enjoyment I had in the moment.

“I wanna fuck you, baby,” he whispered against my mouth. His efforts between my legs increased, grinding the heel of his palm into my clit in the process and sending even more pleasure rocketing through me. “I wanna bury this cock deep.”

As though giving me a preview, he shoved his fingers into me up to the hilt, forcing me up onto my toes. I whimpered and dropped my head back. The danger of giving in was no longer lingering in the background. Instead, it was licking at the surface, milliseconds from coming to fruition and I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

“S-stop,” I somehow managed to say.

Like a hypnotist clicking his fingers, the spell dropped. The air shifted and Ray went still.

In the few seconds it’d taken for my brain to come to terms with the startling change, Ray had already separated from me, taking wide steps to put space between us.

I pried open my heavy eyelids to look at him. His face was saturated with the pain of sex denied. Every muscle bulged, trembling with the frustration that punctuated the air.

I did everything within my waning strength to pull the air into my lungs and failed. Ray’s body, his words and mere presence had robbed me of it.

“You don’t get to come back here and act like nothing ever happened,” I said. The tremble in the back of my throat was hard to ignore, but I pushed through it. “Get out.”

He flinched. The whole of it rolled over him.

“I don’t want you anymore,” I said.

Whatever had kept him still evaporated. Ray ran his hand down his face and tugged on his short beard. He licked his lips and nodded.

“Okay,” he said in a voice that didn’t sound human. He headed for the door and opened it. “I’ll see you later, Rocky.” He closed it behind him and was gone.

The moment I was alone, I let out a heavy breath I didn’t know I was holding. My knees gave, and I was forced to catch myself on the countertop.

Ray was a forever-weakness. I had been so over-the-moon in love with him back in the day that I would’ve done anything for him, but he hadn’t felt the same and had made it emphatically clear. He didn’t deserve my devotion anymore. He didn’t deserve me. I just had to hold out and avoid him.

Who the fuck was the pencil-pusher who’d let him out?