Addictive (The Houston Defiance MC Series Book 2)

to his turned-up lips.
Damn asshole!
“You want me to open up to you? Like all the other brothers do…. oh, wise one?”
Fox swipes his mouth with the back of his hand and shrugs. “I don’t see no one else wanting to come over here and talk to ya. Seems like you made a damned fool of yourself, boy.”
Snorting, I grab the bottle, throwing the contents back and taking a lot more than I should. This time the burn warms my throat.
Fox chuckles. “Look, Wraith, you’ve fucked up. You have broken the cardinal rule. Dammit, brother, I see you breaking rules all the fucking time but never the rules of this club. Not for fucking anything. If you had a thing with Prinie, it was for a reason. She’s not a one-time thing for you, no matter how hard you try and fight it.”
I slam the bottle down on the bar so hard the contents splash out the top. “You’re damn right she’s not a one-time thing. She shouldn’t have even been that.” I swipe my hand through my hair with a frustrated exhale. “Fuck! She… she’s worth more than I can ever give her.”
Fox reaches out gripping my shoulder. I let him. Somehow his touch is comforting. “You’re right. Prinie means everything… to all of us. So, she deserves only the best. To the rest of the club that’s certainly not the likes of you—” I let out a scoff interrupting him, but then he continues “But, if she let you in, then she’s found something in you that we don’t. Maybe it’s growing up around broken men. Maybe it’s because she’s lived a tormented life. Whatever the reason, she sees you, Wraith...” He takes a deep breath. “Don’t fuck her over because of that.”
She sees me.
Which is the scariest fucking thought I’ve ever had in my life.
What if she sees right through me?
What if she knows my deepest, darkest truth?
I don’t know how to keep my urges under control around her.
Problem is, I am falling for her.
But she can never find out.
Because it will surely be the death of us both.

PRINIE
I’ve never felt exhaustion like this before in my life. I was so worried about Rayne when she was taken, and I am still decompressing that the guys got her back in one piece. Not to mention my older brother, Zero, went after her and the whole club nearly got blown up in that stupid fucking oil refinery—including Wraith.
How can a man aggravate me beyond compare, yet I fear for his safety more than my freaking own?
Asshole.
I’ve never met anyone who ignites my body the way he does, then douses the flames just as rapidly.
Wraith’s the most infuriating, astonishingly gorgeous, frustratingly remarkable dickface I’ve ever known.
His short brown hair is spiked up arrogantly just like him. His whiskey-colored eyes look through you under those long, thick lashes that deceive you into thinking he has kindness in him somewhere.
He does not.
He has a barrage of colored tattoos lining from his neck all the way down his arms and across his perfectly chiseled chest. They’re so vibrant, and when they peek out of his shirt, I can’t help but stare at his neck trying to decipher their meaning.
I’d ask, but I’m too scared he’ll reply with some stupid fucking comment out of those luscious, kissable lips, the ones surrounded by the tiniest bit of facial hair which is not even a day’s growth, but it suits him.
I guess the shadow look is natural for a wraith.
Then there’s his toned stomach, those abs that go on for days, all the way down to that perfect ‘V’ that slips into no man’s land. The man has the body of Adonis, but the personality of a fucking—
“Prinie!” Zero grunts loudly.
My head snaps back to face my brother, and I clear my throat. “Sorry, what?”
Zero grits his teeth, the bruise on his eye starting to turn a shade of deep purple. “Have you not been listening to a word I’ve said?”
“Sorry, it’s been a huge night. Lots of emotions.”
He exhales, calming himself a little. “You’re telling me. You wanna see this from my point of view? I nearly had my Old Lady taken from me tonight. Then when we finally win that battle, I come back to find out my VP has broken the one rule I thought he, of all men, knew was a definite as far as this club is concerned.”
“Krew, it was a long time ago. It was consensual. In fact, when I think back, I was probably the one who forced the issue. So don’t blame Wraith. Even though I would love for you to kick his ass again.”
Zero smirks, but then it falls. “Do you have feelings for him?”
“Fuck! That’s not something I want to talk to my brother about.”
“Shit… you do.” Zero groans.
My eyes shift to his as they begin to water, but I fight them back. “Wraith and I… we’re complicated.”
“I’ll fucking say! The man’s eight years older than you, Prinie. Fuck, he’s damaged… his past—”
“I know. I mean, I don’t know all of it, but I get that it’s bad.”
“He’s bad… for you. I don’t like this. Wraith might be my best friend, but he’s an ugly man deep down. He has demons, Prinie, demons he needs to satisfy. I’m… fucking scared for you.”
“Everyone underestimates him, even himself. I see the potential in Wraith. He just… throws everything away when shit gets too fucking hard.”
The lines on Zero’s face become more prominent. “You telling me, you and Wraith were in a relationship?”
I snort out a laugh. “Far from it. I just mean, when shit got real between us, he did his best to fuck it all up.”