Hold Me Close (Devil's Chariots Motorcycle Club Book 1) by Miranda Banks Page A

himself from walking over and asking who the hell the guy was. He saw him approach her. He watched as she smiled and invited him to sit. Now he was glued to them as the guy sat way too close to her and draped his arm around the back of her seat.
     
    He was from a different club. He knew that by his clothing choices. The colors. The design on the jacket. He was from Del Rio. Real pieces of works out there. Good on runs. Better on hits. The perfect guys you want backing you up and the last person he wanted anywhere near Beth.
     
    The guys were watching too. Disapproval showed on their faces, but he'd bet not nearly as strongly as on his.
     
    The anger he'd seen on her face earlier burned deep inside his soul. Which only pissed him off further. He wasn't supposed to feel this strongly. It wasn't a good thing. The two of them would never work.
     
    He kept repeating those words in his head as he watched her sip on a drink and lean towards him, laughing at whatever he'd said. The guy who didn't belong to the same charter as her dead husband. The one to whom Beth was only passively off-limits.
     
    Although judging from the look of his brothers, even that was wearing thin. They were protective of their own and by proxy she would always be one of them.
     
    But that didn't make it any easier. He still felt hurt. And angry. And frustrated.
     
    “You smell so good.” Liza was talking and trying to kiss on him.
     
    Johnny didn't notice. He just ignored what she said. He was too busy trying to control his desire to kill a random man at the bar. No matter what, it was important to keep his cool. At least, that's what he told himself. Until the moment he saw the guy take her hand and lead her to the virtually empty dance floor.
     
    His arms wrapped around her and he pulled her in close. The song playing was slow. His body was pressed against hers. Johnny couldn't help but see how she'd looked earlier. Wet. Smiling. Eager. Wanting his kiss.
     
    She tilted her head towards the guy. Much the same as she had him in the water. Before it could go any further Johnny stood and walked towards the couple. The entire way he was berating himself internally. Asking himself what the fuck he thought he was doing.
     
    The guys watched him. This would be a big cue. How he reacted would decide what they would do.
     
    ***
     
    He was going to kiss her. After a few drinks, she was kind of okay with that. She wanted someone to want her. And he did. His head leaned in. She closed her eyes.
     
    “Mind if I cut in?” The voice jolted her eyes open.
     
    Johnny was standing there. Beside them. On the dance floor. Asking to interrupt. Was this real? Had he really stopped the kiss?
     
    “We were sort of busy.” The guy—he had said his name was Adam—seemed bothered.
     
    “You're fucking with another man's old lady, brother.” Johnny nodded his head in Bethany's direction. “That's frowned upon around here,” he finished as the rest of his club gathered around them both.
     
    “Is she yours?” Adam looks at him with doubt. He knew the answer. Something told Johnny he already knew too much.
     
    “No,” he answered, and saw the flinch of Beth's arm. “But she ain’t yours either.”
     
    “If she ain’t yours, then her man can come stick up for her.” Adam stood his ground. “Seems to me she's open season.” The comment riled Johnny up further.
     
    “It's fucking respect.” Johnny raised his voice. “We don't fuck with the old lady of a brother.” The guys from the club were nodding and mouthing their agreement.
     
    “Don't think he was my brother,” Adam said, and tugged on his jacket as a reminder that they weren't from the same charter.
     
    “It doesn't matter,” Aaron piped up. “She's still another man's old lady.”
     
    “And he ain’t sticking up for her.” Adam smiled. “That means there's no boundaries.”
     
    “In our charter, there are still boundaries,” Johnny said. “We take our boundaries