Tack tore his mouth from mine on another growl, this one annoyed, and his head snapped around to look over his shoulder at the door. I tipped my body to the side and looked around him, also at the door.

"Locked," we heard a woman say from the other side of the door.

"What? Why? Says right there, office hours, eight to five," another woman snapped.

"It may say that, Elvira, but that doesn't mean it isn't locked," a third woman pointed out.

"Fuck," Tack muttered, his arms giving me a squeeze just as an imperative knock came at the door.

"Hello!" the second woman's voice shouted. "Anyone in there? Open the door!"

"Fuck!" Tack clipped tersely, let me go but grabbed my chin between thumb and finger and tipped it up to him as he bent his neck. His mouth touched mine then he released my chin and stalked to the door.

I watched.

Seriously, he looked good in jeans.

And tees.

And motorcycle boots.

And moving.

He also looked good standing still.

And holding me close in his arms.

Hmm.

Yes, the conclusion was most definitely foregone.

I watched him open the door and then I watched in surprise as three women surged in, practically bowling over scary biker dude Kane "Tack" Allen in order to do so.

One was a gorgeous, curvy blonde. Another was a gorgeous, curvy brunette. And the last was a gorgeous, very curvy black woman.

The blonde smiled broadly at Tack and said, "Yo."

The brunette smiled more timidly at Tack then her eyes slid to me.

The black woman didn't even look at Tack. Her eyes came straight to me then shocking words came straight out of her mouth.

"Looks like Tack was in the middle of givin' the business." She finally looked at Tack. "Early Monday mornin' nookie during office hours. You biker boys know how to live."

I blinked again. The blonde's smile got broader. The brunette's giggled quietly.

Tack did not giggle, not that he could giggle. He also didn't chuckle. And further, he didn't smile.

What he did was level annoyed eyes on the black woman and demand to know, "What are you three doin' here?"

"Uh, Hawk rescued your girl," the black woman replied, jerking her head in my direction. "Then he told Gwen you'd claimed a woman. This is juicy and you ain't stupid. You had to know we'd be here to check her out, schedule the test then, if she passes, bring her into the fold."

Tack glared at the black woman then his eyes went to the ceiling.

Then they went to the blonde. "Peaches, never thought I'd regret that day you strutted your ass into Ride. But right now, I'm regretting that day you strutted your ass into Ride."

Test?

Bringing me into the fold?

Peaches?

"Can't go back. Have to go forward," the blonde replied, still grinning huge.

"Fuck me," Tack muttered.

"Um... hi," the brunette said to me. "Don't be alarmed. We're harmless. Or at least Gwen and I are. I'm Mara." She pointed to herself. "This is Gwen, Hawk's woman." She pointed to the blonde and I could see this. Hawk was hot therefore it was not a surprise that Gwen was stunning. "And this is Elvira." She pointed to the black woman. "We're not really here to test you. We're more like a welcoming committee."

Uh. What?

"No, we aren't," Elvira contradicted, eyes narrowed on Mara. "She doesn't have sass, she's not in the club."

"I don't have sass," Mara returned.

"Girl, what you been smokin'? You totally have sass," Elvira shot back.

Gwen leaned toward Mara. "It's the quiet kind of sass. It's different but it's good."

"Fuck me," Tack muttered again.

"I wish," Elvira muttered back, eyes on Tack then she looked to me. "That's part of provin' you got sass, lettin' us know how he is when he's in action. But, I'm warning you now, I don't do too much information. Just enough to confirm he's not only hot on the outside but he's also got the moves. I can't function around a man if I know his ability to give pleasure."

I stared at her and I was pretty sure my mouth was open.

Was this actually happening?

Finally, seeing as no one was speaking, I figured it was up to me to respond so I mumbled, "Um..."

"Elvira, you're scaring her," Mara warned.

"I scare her, she don't have sass," Elvira retorted.

"Then that proves I don't have sass because I know you and you're scaring me," Mara returned.

"Whatever," Elvira murmured and looked at me. "Cosmos. Tomorrow night. Club."

"That doesn't work for me," Tack put in, moving in my direction. "Tyra'll be at my place tomorrow night."

I would?

"We get that. It's new. Things are intense when it's new," Gwen allowed.

"Tyra," Mara said, smiling at me. "That's a pretty name."

I decided I liked Mara.

"Thanks," I replied, smiling back.

"Right. Cosmos. Wednesday night. Club," Elvira threw out an alternative.

Tack made it to me and pulled me partially away from the wall so he could slide an arm around my shoulders and tuck me into his side, a maneuver he conducted under the avid gazes of all three women and while speaking. "That doesn't work for me either."

"My man, you gotta let her up for air," Elvira advised.

"No I don't," Tack returned.

Oh boy.

Another quiver way high up on the pleasant scale.

Elvira grinned then she asked, "Okay, macho man, so when can we have her?"

I felt Tack's eyes and tipped my head back to look up to see them on me. "You wanna have a drink with these women?"

"Um..." I mumbled.

"Sho' she does," Elvira answered for me.

"Uh..." I mumbled again.

"Babe, Elvira's a nut but Gwen and Mara are good people. You wanna expand your girl base, they're good additions," Tack shared.

"I take no offense to that, by the way," I heard Elvira say then she went on in a mutter, "not that you care."

I didn't know these women or what this was about. What I did know was that Gwen's man rescued me. I also knew they knew Tack. And, lastly, he'd asked me to trust him.

I figured I should probably start that now.

"Okay then, yeah. I'd like to have a drink with them."

"Awesome," Gwen whispered.

Tack looked at the women. "You can have her Wednesday."

"Done," Elvira agreed. "Now, we'll be gettin' on so you can resume the festivities. Later."

And with that, she took off.

Gwen and Mara didn't.

"See you Wednesday. And don't worry, it'll be fun," Mara assured and I smiled at her.

"Look forward to it," I replied.

"Little black dress. Or little anything dress. And heels," Gwen advised and I turned my smile to her, finally looking forward to this. I hadn't dressed up in a while and I loved to dress up so even though drinks with the girls was a crapshoot, at least that would be fun.

"I can do that," I told her.

She smiled, both waved, I returned the wave and then they followed Elvira.

The door hadn't closed on them when Tack turned me into his front and both of his arms closed around me.

"Is it me or was that weird?" I asked.

"It's not you. Like I said, Elvira's a nut. Gwen's a nut too but the cute kind. Mara, I don't know very well but what I do know of her, she's solid."

"And what was that all about?" I went on.

Tack's eyes roamed my face and the way they did I wasn't certain I liked.

"Right," he said softly. "A while ago, Gwen had a thing. Like yours, it involved kidnapping. Unlike yours, it also involved drive-bys."

Holy crap!

Tack continued. "I got involved in her thing. I wanted to be more involved with her. That didn't work out which, at the time, sucked for me."

Peaches.

Gwen was blonde. Gwen was the "cute" kind of nuts. This meant Gwen was the "sun" he said had "staying power".

Now I got it, all of it, and I didn't like it.

Tack's arms gave me a squeeze.

"At the time, babe," he said quietly. "Now, it doesn't suck for me at all."

I remained silent as I considered all this information.

Tack's arms squeezed me again and stayed tight.

"Baby," he started, still talking quietly, "her thing was intense. We got close during it. And we stayed close. But she's Hawk's and, a man like Hawk, she... is... Hawk's. They're not only married, they're tight. I got that a long time ago but that didn't mean somethin' didn't keep growin' for her and me. It did. We still got that and I hope we always do. And part of us havin' that is, she heard about you and although Elvira looked like the ringleader of that sneak attack, Gwen was the brains behind the operation. Hawk told her I'd claimed you and she wants to be sure it's all good for me. It's sweet. It's friendly. And that's all it is."

Okay, to trust him I had to trust that. I still didn't like it but... whatever.

Moving on.

"And Mara?" I asked.

"Mara's a long story that I'll tell you while I'm makin' you chops tonight."