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laughed as she descended the stairs, handbag in her hand. “Love that movie. Chris Evans is the perfect distraction to an otherwise crummy day.”
    Suzi wrapped her scarf about her neck and grabbed her own pocketbook. “Let’s go get us that movie and a very big bottle of wine,” she said with a smile as they headed out of the townhouse and down the front steps. Kaleb Tepes be damned.
     
    * * *
     
    Kaleb sat alone in the meeting room of the clubhouse at one end of the long table, his finger absently tracing a scar on the wood as he awaited the rest of the MCs arrival, and contemplated the previous evening and his foolhardy demand. Suzi had stood twenty feet in front of him like a fallen angel, a healing balm to the gaping wound left by the death of his two MC brothers. The concern lacing her vivid-blue eyes had the power to undo him, to unravel the carefully thatched barrier he had constructed to guard his heart. He had made a promise to himself years ago that no woman would ever hold the reins to his happiness. Kaleb had watched what Rosalee had done to his twin, nearly destroying Kane when her actions had caused the death of his only son and vowed that he’d never allow any woman to have that kind of power over him … ever.
    His first instinct had been to leap across the bar, feed from her, taste the ambrosia of her blood, then fuck her until he no longer cared that she had once belonged to his late nephew. Kaleb had fought with every fiber of his being not to act on pure animal instinct. So instead of taking her against the bar as he desired, he set out to piss her off, to earn her scorn so that she would never again look upon him with pity, concern for his well-being. He needed her hatred to hold her at bay. Her anger he could handle in the worst of days, but her compassion and empathy were best left to someone else.
    Oh, he detested Suzi all right, hated the space she took up in his universe. His nephew had died a horrible death and Kaleb had felt as if a part of him had died with Ion. He couldn’t imagine the anguish his brother felt, nor did he want to. He wasn’t even sure what he expected out of Suzi, but the blank, ice-filled stare wasn’t it. Not a single tear had been shed, as if Ion’s life had meant nothing to her. Kaleb had known then and there that Suzi Stevens’ was a cold-hearted bitch.
    And although he had slept with her once, long before Ion, his dick never failed to remind him how damn much he wanted another taste. She was like nectar to a honeybee. Suzi had been a mere eighteen years old at the time. Young, impressionable and provocative as sin. He’d never forgotten how they had laid in each other’s arms, her dark hair bedridden and sexy as hell as she nipped his shoulder with her teeth and begged him to drink from her. Jesus, no woman had ever had that kind of affect on him. Suzi had a firm hold on his nuts and it scared the hell out of him. Women made you all stupid in the head. Kane and Cara lay proof to that. Kane broke all the rules because of the woman he loved. Hell no. He’d never give Suzi that kind of power over him. So instead, he’d set out to piss her off any chance he got.
    His mind traveled back to the kiss they shared six months ago, the one that had him crawling on the back of his chopper and heading out in the middle of the night. Kane had promised to protect her and Cara from the primordial that had landed in Pleasant … but Kaleb hadn’t offered his services. And he’d be damned if he trusted himself enough to stay under the same roof with Suzi. So like the coward he was, Kaleb rode off into the night and prayed she’d be absent upon his return. Some higher power had been listening and granted him his wish. Suzi had been gone when he arrived back at the clubhouse long hours later. He hadn’t laid eyes on her again until last night … when he had been at his weakest. Now, he was strapped to her, forced to see her every few days because he was stupid enough to