Deadly Games

Ace had been flirting with the woman all night. Her name was Erika. She had long, curly, red hair and shimmering silver eyes. Her lips were thick and painted a lush red to go with her dark, smokey eye makeup.

She wore a light blue off-shoulder body con dress. It was short and showed off her extremely long legs, accentuated by a pair of strappy pumps that looked impossible to walk in. The v-cut in the front showed very clearly her large, plump breasts.

There was no doubt she was stunning. Still, she wasn’t really his type. He preferred girls who could take shit and dished it out as well. However, Ace had a bet with Lucky that he could take her home with him. He was going to lose that bet.

At first, it seemed promising. She flirted and played instantly, flashing seductive smirks his way. It was clear she had done this before, but for some reason, her confidence still seemed fake.

There was a haunted gleam in her silver eyes that chilled him to the bone. Every so often, he saw her mask slip, and she seemed so hurt that he suddenly felt defensive.

Ace wasn’t the knight in shining armor type, though; he never had been. Wild, Ledge, Savage, Doc, Rouge, Steele, Tech, Talon, and Lucky could all fit the bill, but not Ace. He was just an ex-con playboy with an attitude nobody could handle for long.

Ace stuck to one-night stands. No strings, no expectations, and no drama. Most of all, though, he knew he wouldn’t let anyone down that way. Sex he was good at, but he had learned he wasn’t cut out for more than that.

The problem in this case was that she was hammered. Ace didn’t mind a woman being a little tipsy; in fact, that could be even more fun, but this was too much. In his mind, she was too far gone to give consent. He was not the type of man to take advantage of the situation.

However, he had been her drinking buddy most of the night. He felt as if it was, at least partially, his responsibility to get her home safe. Or at least into the hands of someone who knew her and would take care of her.

“I gotta go talk to her.” Erika slurred the declaration, her voice filled with determination.

Slipping off the bar stool, she almost did a face plant. Ace reached out quickly, steadying her. He got to his feet, glad that he wasn’t actually much of a drinker.

Oh, he played the part. Ace always took one or two shots, but all the bartenders knew his signal for switching to water or rum and coke without the rum. He had his playboy persona to keep up, even if he didn’t always like it. By now, it was simply a habit he had never cared to break.

“Talk to who?” Ace asked as he helped her to the door.

“My whore of a mother. I have to tell her what’s what. Face my fears and… I don’t know.” She declared confidently.

They were in the parking lot now, and the fresh air seemed to be doing little to sober Erika. She was completely gone and yet certain that this was the time for confrontations.

Ace knew nothing about her story, but he knew enough about acting rashly while drunk to know that it could ruin your life. There was a reason he didn’t drink much anymore.

Erika pulled out her keys, and his heart stopped. Hell no, there was no way he was letting her drive anyway. Panic shot through his veins, and he reached out, snatching the keys away.

“No.” He demanded, harsher than intended.

She flinched back, hitting the brick wall, then fell to curl into a ball. Her reaction was so sudden and unexpected that he just stood there, looking down at her for a second. Suddenly, he felt something hard and metal pressed into his lower back.

“Who the fuck are you?” A furious feminine voice snarled from behind him.

Ace wanted to ask the very same question. Who had the gall to pull a gun on one of the Ravens right outside The Ravens Claw tavern? This chick had more balls than half the men he knew.

“Someone you really don’t want to threaten, Love,” Ace answered in an easygoing tone. “Are you a cop?”

“You wish. Then I wouldn’t be allowed to pull the fucking trigger.” She snapped angrily.

Ace spun, snatching the gun from her quickly. “Actually, if you were a cop, I couldn’t do this.”

He pointed it at the ground, turning on the safety. No way was tonight ending with another dead body; Wild would be pissed. They had just finished the cover-up of Leah’s psychotic exes. As Ace looked up, he froze, surprised at what he saw.

The woman was short and petite. She wore a long black sleeveless dress with a slit all the way to her hip. Her black leather jacket and combat boots somehow made the elegant dress look completely badass. Her long brown hair was curled, and her bright green eyes were accented by beautiful naturalistic makeup.

Her plump pink lips were pursed with agitation, and her arched brows drew together. She didn’t look threatened at all. Instead, Ace would say she was calculating. She was absolutely the sexiest woman he had ever seen.

He studied her thin, muscular frame. It was all too easy to imagine twisting and bending her like a pretzel as he had his way with her. He could imagine the lust making her cold green eyes burn with an emerald fire.

“What’s a pretty little thing like you doing with something like this?” Ace smirked, spinning the pistol around his finger.

He was off guard, too busy fantasizing about her naked. She kicked up and out, managing to hit him in the chest despite their difference in height. She managed to knock the breath out of him and made him stumble.

“Defending my friend.” She spat, sweeping her leg at his feet.

Already off balance, Ace fell flat on his ass with a look of pure shock. He smirked up at her, thoroughly impressed with her skill and more than a little turned on by it. She stepped up next to him, sneering down at him.

It would have been far too easy to bring her down with him. Ace temporarily contemplated sweeping her feet and catching her on his chest. He wanted so badly to feel her gorgeous round breasts pressed against his.

There was a darkness behind the anger in her expressive green eyes that warned him away from that. He got the feeling that he would be setting fire to the bridge that he wanted to cross.

“Thank you. Underestimating me makes it so much more satisfying.” She grinned, grabbing her gun off the pavement and sliding it into a leg holster under her dress.

Ace watched in complete bemusement as she sauntered over to Erika. Her friend was still trembling and murmuring something about mother, whores, don’t touch me. She didn’t seem at all aware of her surroundings.

“Eri, let’s go, honey.” The woman’s voice took a complete one-eighty, and she sounded gentle, almost motherly.

“Don’t touch me,” Erika said a little louder.

“No touching, I promise. I’m just going to drive you home.” The brunette assured, still shooting daggers at Ace, who had finally stood back up.

“Do you want some help?” Ace asked calmly as he fought to pull his gaze away from her ass as she squatted next to Erika.

“I can handle this on my own, and I’m really not sure your kinda help would help.” She snapped, noticing his gaze and standing to cross her arms over her chest.

“Can I at least get your name?” he asked, curiosity building in his chest.

“Why don’t you have your own?” She quipped, cocking an eyebrow at him.

Ace bit back a grin as he noticed her shift so that she could more easily defend herself if need be. Fair enough. She was in a dark parking lot with an inebriated friend whom she felt responsible for and a man twice her size whom she didn’t know.

Ace held up his hands in surrender. “Fair enough. I’ll leave you to it.”

“Good, and don’t come back.” She snapped.

Ace walked back towards the door of the bar but stopped just out of her line of sight. He watched as she slowly coaxed her friend into a red sports car. He couldn’t make out much in the dark, but he was officially curious. Who the hell was this woman?