He leans down enough for his lips to graze my ear. "No, Trinity." His hoarse voice sends a shiver of desire skittering down my spine.

Why? Why after all these years does my body still respond to him like this?

I try to shake him off. "Rock asked for my help."

He loosens his grip on my arm but doesn't release me. "You're not dancing for these assholes."

My chest tightens. He's the only man I've ever been with who asked about my scars. But that's not why he's forbidding me from dancing. Jealousy, plain and simple, is written all over his face.

Some tender emotion I didn't think I still had toward him brings my palm to his cheek. "I'm just here to serve drinks, Wyatt. But thank you."

His face softens the way it always does when I use his given name. One by one, he unwraps his fingers from my arm.

"You know one of them will want Trinity, there's sixteen girls and forty bikers. They're not all Kings. I don't want anyone messin' with you."

I'd partied with the Wolf Knights before. They were a little more "handsy" than LOKI, but they weren't a bunch of twisted fucks who thought "no" was a code word for "jam your dick in my ass" either. "I'll be fine." I duck behind the bar, leaving Wrath to chew on whatever's bothering him.

The meeting with Ulfric's crew seems to be over, but Wrath still makes the rounds. He really is good at his job. Alert to everything. He watches Rock's every move, which as the sergeant-at-arms is his responsibility. When I guess he's determined there's no threat, he takes up residence at the end of the bar.

I'm instantly thrown back to when we first met. Those few nights he came into the bar to see me, take me out after work. Before everything went to shit between us. Hot tears blur my vision, and I turn away from the room to hide out by the sink while I pretend to wash my hands. Leaning over, I splash some water on my face, not caring what it will do to the minimal makeup I splattered on before leaving the clubhouse. A quick check in the bar mirror shows everything appears okay. Without thinking, I grab the bottle of Jack I'd tucked under the bar just for Wrath.

Call me sentimental. Stupid would probably be more accurate.

I set the bottle and a glass in front of him, then walk away to uncap a round of beers.

The weight of his heavy gaze bores through me, but I fight the urge to turn his way for as long as I can.

Merlin, the VP for the Wolf Knights, sits down a few stools away from Wrath, which immediately sends a bad signal.

"Hey, Trin. How you doin' tonight?" he asks.

With a lot of effort, I paste on a hospitable smile. "I'm good. How've you been?"

I'd have to be dead, or blind, deaf, and dumb not to feel the tension radiating from Wrath's corner as Merlin strokes his fingers over my arm.

Any minute, Wrath's going to lose his shit. I don't know why he seems to have this sudden urge to piss a circle around me. As far as I know, neither of us has declared a truce to the war we'd started with each other eight years ago.

Speaking of war, if Merlin doesn't back the fuck down, this is going to get ugly.

Cookie strolls up to Merlin and runs her fingers over his neck and down his chest. "How come you haven't said hello to me yet, Mer?" she asks in a girlish voice, complete with babyish pout.

Merlin digs that shit, and Cookie knows it. It's right about then that in my head, I forgive her for sucking Wrath off in front of the entire club the other night. Merlin is nice enough but rather unimpressive in the sack.

Wrath perks up and moves down a few seats, when Cookie escorts Merlin to one of the back rooms. Picturing the scene back there sends a shiver of revulsion through me, and I stop to catch my breath.

Concern darkens Wrath's eyes. "You okay?"

I nod once and turn to fill a plastic tub with ice, stick some beer bottles and cans in it, and set it on the counter. The party seems to be winding down. There's more fucking and smoking up than people needing my bar services.

"You done, Angel Face?"

Holy shit. We both kind of stare at each other. He hasn't called me that in a long time.

"Yeah, I think so," I answer, trying to smooth over the awkward moment.

Someone turns up the music. To drown out the moaning and groaning filling the club, I suppose. It's a slow song. A painful duet about being broken. Amazement fills me when Wrath holds out his hand at the end of the bar.

"Come dance with me."

Slipping my hand into his sends a warm shiver down my spine.

He tugs me out in front of the bar where there's empty space and wraps his arms around me.

"Since when do you dance, Wrecking Ball?" I ask, looking up at him.

A soft, pained smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. Tiny white orbs of light dance around the room with us. Leaving us in shadows most of the time. We're not really dancing as much as we're swaying together with our arms wrapped around one another.

Something a little more upbeat comes on next. Although when I listen to the words, it actually depresses me. Whoever wrote it could have been writing about Wrath and me. Or maybe I'm feeling extra sensitive tonight and everything reminds me of us.

Either way, I'm having fun shimmying my hips from side to side and moving to the beat. Wrath keeps his arm around my waist but his body away from me. Pressing back into him, I understand why.

Except for a round of angry sex maybe four years back, we haven't touched each other this much since those three wonderful nights we had together almost eight years ago. Our nights at Fletcher Park and at the drive-in remain the first and last real dates I've ever been on. While I'm content and grateful for my place in the club, there's a part of me that always wonders Tears suddenly fill my eyes, and I try to pull out of his embrace. I can't keep doing this same dance with him over and over.

"What's wrong, Trin?" he rasps, keeping his arms around me.

"Nothing. I'm just getting tired." It's not a lie. Since we seem to have called a truce, being near him has a sedative effect on me. I haven't had anything to drink tonight, but my body is relaxed and happy for a change.

"I rode here with Rock-don't have my bike."

I shake my head. "I drove myself. I'll be okay."

"I wouldn't mind a ride home," he says after he finishes the biggest, fakest grizzly bear yawn.

What the heck is he up to? We did have a lot of fun watching back-to-back scary movies last night. He didn't make a single move on me. Wrath acting like such a reserved gentleman is unnerving. I prop my hand on my hip and adopt a schoolteacher tone. "Are you going to insist on driving my car?"

I sense him struggling, and I almost laugh that he's so concerned with not ticking me off. I honestly don't care if he insists on driving, but I can't help messing with Wrath. He's such a caveman.

"No, I had beer before," he finally answers.

"Mm-hmm."

I pull out of his embrace and reach behind the counter to grab my purse.

"You need to let Rock know we're taking off?"

Wrath searches the club. Not seeing prez anywhere, he holds out his hand to me and we head down the back hallway. Wrath's jaw tightens as we get to Rock's office door, but I don't ask why. After two sharp knocks, Rock's tired voice calls us to come in.

He's stretched out on the couch by himself.

"You okay?" Wrath asks.

"Yeah, just waiting for the place to empty out." Rock sits up and eyes both of us. "You two taking off?"

Wrath looks from me to Rock. "I was. But I'll stay and move everyone out if you want to go see Hope."

"Nah. I'll go see her in the morning. You two go ahead. Dex and Teller still out there?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks. Night."

We step back into the hall, and I can tell Wrath is conflicted about leaving. "We can stay."

He glances down at me. "Let me just go talk to the guys for a sec. Stay here."

Naturally, the minute he takes off, Merlin comes stumbling around the corner. I groan when he spots me.

"Trinity, where you been hidin' all night?"

"Behind the bar." You know, the place where I talked to you maybe an hour ago? "How you doing, Merlin?"

"Good. Real good." Jesus, what the fuck did Cookie do to him back there? "You leaving so early, baby?"

"Yeah, I'm waiting here for Wrath."

Merlin isn't so high that he misses the implication of my words.

He gets into my personal space a little more than I care for by pressing me up against the wall opposite Rock's office door. "You with him?" He throws his arms against the wall behind my head, caging me in.

I'm saved from answering.

"What's going on?" Wrath growls from the hallway entrance.

Merlin's slow to turn away from me, but I slip out from underneath his arm and hold my hand out to Wrath. "Nothing. I was just telling Merlin we were about to head out."

Wrath's face registers a second of surprise before he takes my hand, tugs me to him, and slips a possessive arm around my waist. Okay, that's overkill, but I'm not complaining because it feels really good to be up against him.

Merlin straightens up and away from the wall. "Have fun, kids," he says with a wink and heads back into the club.

"Come on, Trin."

Yup, I'm ready to bolt.

I'm still shaking with rage when Trinity pulls out onto the highway. Fucking Merlin thinking he's going to what? Fuck her in the goddamn hallway?

"You fuck him?" I blurt out. Smooth, real smooth, jackass.

Trinity throws me a cool glance before focusing on the road. "Who?"

"Merlin," I manage to grind out.

"Why are you asking?"

Fuck. Why am I asking? I can already sense the answer is a big fat yes. So why do I need her to confirm it?

"Never mind, Trin. I shouldn't have said anything."

She glances at me again. I can tell I've shocked her. I'm furious at myself for ruining the good mood we had going on at the club. Dancing with her erased any lingering bad feelings. Having her in my arms again left me certain I needed to fix things between us.

"Do you need me to stop anywhere?" she asks after we've put some miles between us and Crystal Ball.

The longer I'm in her presence, the calmer I feel. I almost forget I wanted to slit the throat of one of our allies not fifteen minutes ago. "Sure. I'm out of beer. Do you mind stopping at Ward's?"

The small grocery store is the last thing we'll pass before taking the long country road to the MC.

"Nope."

The parking lot is almost empty this time of night. I arch a brow when Trinity grabs a shopping cart. "I need to get some things too," she explains.

I gotta admit this is fucking weird. Doing something so ordinary with Trinity. What's weirder is how much I enjoy it. She cruises up and down the aisles, searching for a bunch of stuff. It cracks me up how particular she is about everything she buys, from pasta sauce to her chocolate bars. I know she's in charge of ordering supplies and food for the clubhouse too, but I've never gone on any of those trips with her. A lot of times, I think she just has stuff delivered. But this trip is personal, and it's intriguing.

"Anything else, babe?"

She pauses and a slight flush creeps over her cheeks. "No, I'm good."

She squawks when I pay for everything, but I just laugh.

"Wrath, that was stuff for me, not the club." She protests on the way to the parking lot.

I just shrug. "It's not a big deal. I didn't feel like waiting around for two separate orders."

She hesitates while I'm loading the bags into the back of the Jeep.

"I gotta run back in. I forgot something." She thrusts the keys at me and runs inside before I can get a word out.

Nutty girl.

Arranging the seat so I can drive is a pain in the ass, but by the time I fix the mirrors and pull up to the front door, she's walking out.

"Hey, little girl, want some candy?" I rasp in my creepiest perv voice.

"Oh my God." She laughs and stuffs her bag in the backseat before getting in.

"What did you get?"

"None of your business."

Well, of course now I really want to know. Can't be condoms. We keep the clubhouse so well stocked we should ask Trojan to sponsor our parties.