Heart Ripper - Coffin Nails MC (gay biker M/M romance) (Sex & Mayhem Book 9) (10 page)

It had been over a month since David last saw
Raja, and yet the illogical part of his brain kept offering him recycled images
of the man. The problem with working at a gay-friendly place was that he kept
meeting gay or transgender people, and for the most part, they were completely
normal. Nothing like what he’d been led to think. They bought flowers and other
decorations just like everyone else, and none of them were in any way scary.
Well, with the exception of Raja, but he was not a customer.

Just a few days ago, David had served a male
couple who came in to order flowers for someone’s eightieth birthday. They were
clearly very family oriented, and it made David all warm inside to talk to them
while they held each other’s hands, as happy as any well-matched couple.

No one hit on him. No one was a horrible human
being. Nice people came in to buy flowers and apart from a man who made a scene
because his cacti died, the job was a dream. David was happy to take overtime
and learn from Lindell about the business. Even David’s mom approved of his
job, though he hadn’t built up the courage to tell her he wasn’t going to
college in the fall.

With the amount of gay porn he’d been watching
despite trying not to, he was making peace with the realization that he might
in fact be attracted to guys more than girls. Or just to guys for that matter.
It wasn’t easy. Some days he got upset about it, but on others watching
Lindell’s loving relationship with his partner, Mark, filled David with hope.
He tried not to dwell on it too much between hanging out with Asty and Hunter,
babysitting for them, and slowly but steadily working on their garden. He’d
even visited the clubhouse a few times, and managed to casually get out of
Hunter that Raja was in fact away.

Raja never texted again, and David figured that
would be the end of it. All Raja wanted was to get into his pants, so when he
got rejected, he didn’t care to talk to David again. It hurt, but at least it
made David’s resolve to remain celibate easier.

He moved two boxes of potted flowers and was
halfway through arranging them on the shelves when the bell rang, informing
David of a customer’s arrival. It was still very early. In fact, they didn’t
start selling before 10:00 a.m., but he was glad to assist nevertheless. He
stood up and walked over to the door, where someone stood obscured by a bunch
of artificial trees that seemed like a popular buy this season.

“Hello, can I hel—” David’s tongue turned into
knots when he faced Raja.

His legs seemed endless in the dark jeans and motorcycle
boots of a similar color. The burgundy T-shirt he wore was just baggy enough to
appear nonchalant without hiding Raja’s amazing shape. His tattooed arms and
face had a darker hue than David remembered, and with the hair pulled back with
a dark blue bandana, Raja’s beard seemed even thicker. His dark eyes were
sharp, and David already felt as if they were cutting right into the depths of
his chest.

David took a step back and sucked his lips in,
trying to decide on a strategy. “Are the flowers for a special occasion?” he
mumbled in the end. He would not be giving Raja the satisfaction of getting all
flustered.

Raja’s eyebrows rose, and a small smile lurked in
the depths of his lovingly shaped beard. David still remembered how all that
hair felt against his skin. The prolonged silence made him uneasy, and he
started sweating despite the cool air inside the shop.

Raja turned his body halfway to the door and
locked it.

David’s heart began thudding, and his resolve for
celibacy was melting under Raja’s heated gaze. “I— okay… I don’t think you can
do that. What was your name again?” he asked even though they both knew it was
just a gimmick to show Raja that David had
not
been thinking about him
at all.

Raja smirked and stepped toward David, making it
blatantly obvious just how much bigger and taller he was. “Nice try. You have
one more chance.”

David took a step back, trying not to stare at the
hands he’d missed so much. “Raja. I kind of forgot about you.” He frowned,
thinking back to all the nights when he remembered Raja viscerally.

Raja touched an orchid staring at him from a vase.
“Funny that you of all people say that. I still remember the first guy I fucked
very well.”

David opened his mouth to answer but then just
sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. What kind of disaster was this
visit? One that would turn his life upside down again and make him dirty mind,
body, and soul, or just a little one to make his thoughts sticky? He’d promised
himself that he’d go with someone special next time. Even if all in all it
would be a man.

“What do you want?” he grumbled in the end.

Raja sighed and looked around, pushing his big,
veiny hands into his front pockets. The gesture made the jeans slide a bit
lower, revealing skin and dark hair leading to— “Nice place. How have you
been?”

The question was so normal it threw David off
balance. How was he supposed to be rude responding to that? “Good, thank you.
I’ve been learning a lot here.” He looked at the window, hoping to see a
customer wanting to come in, buy some flowers, and save David from himself, but
the street was dead quiet.

Raja walked past David, and the brush of his hot
skin against David’s was such a shock David hardly kept from shuddering. And
that cologne. He didn’t remember it smelling that amazing.

“Is that what you want to do? Sell flowers?”

David stole a glance at the back of Raja’s jeans,
which hugged Raja’s thighs so well. “I really like seeing things grow, tending
to them, and then getting to enjoy watching the flowers bloom.”

Raja smiled and moved his hand over the counter.
“It suits you. I bet the customers love you. Do you get tips here?”

The conversation felt so safe and detached from
the sexual tension between them that David exhaled in relief. “Not in general,
but I am very good at the job, so sometimes customers will bring me gifts after
I helped them save their plants. But it’s like, baked goods and things like
that. This one lady brought me a scarf, but that will have to wait until
winter.” He dared to smile, even though what he wanted to say was,
why
didn’t you even text me for over a month?

Raja leaned his back against the counter. “Will
you show me?”

David stalled. Where was he supposed to show it to
Raja? At his house? Was Raja trying to invite himself? Was he out of
fuckbuddies for the night? “Maybe some day. What have you been up to?”

“Work. I’ve been all over the country, visiting
other chapters. Things are looking up for me,” Raja said, relaxed as ever. “I
only returned yesterday.”

“Did you visit any place nice on the way?”
How
many men did you hook up with?

Raja grinned. “I’ve had a nice day off on a beach
in California, and I’ve seen some amazing landscapes on the way. You should go
with me next time, if they give you some time off here.”

A wave of heat and ice rushed through David’s
body, leaving his mind blank. California? The urge for adventure was like a
string on which Raja was pulling him in. David imagined himself at the back of
Raja’s bike, stopping at diners and shady motels, crashing country song
contests and visiting obscure local museums before attending a biker bonfire.

David licked his lips. “Me?”

Raja urged him closer with a casual gesture, and
David took half a step closer, fantasizing about learning to surf.

Raja leaned in and grabbed his hand, pulling him
so close David could sense the heat radiating off Raja’s body. “Wouldn’t it be
fun? Just you and me on the road.”

David pulled away, too excited about this for his
own good. “It would be, but don’t you have a lot of other guys you could take?”
He shrugged and moved to the counter, pretending to arrange the leaflets and
business cards. He acted like he didn’t notice Raja approaching, but the heat
gathering in his face was reaching new levels even before Raja’s big, strong hands
rubbed his arms.

“It’s more fun with someone who isn’t used to it.”

David couldn’t take it anymore and looked up into
Raja’s eyes. “So you don’t even send me a quick pic for over a month, and now
you want to take me to California all of a sudden?”

Raja sighed, and his gaze wandered over David’s
head. “You told me you didn’t want to talk.”

David frowned. “I told you I didn’t want to
hang
out
.” And he remembered, because he’d read that text a thousand times.
“Because I knew what you meant. I’m Catholic, not stupid.”

“Really? Then what did I mean, smartass?”

David sucked his lips in for a second. “You meant
you wanted to…”—
fuck me raw
—“do indecent things.”

Raja frowned. “Ah, yes. Because fucking is the
only thing I do.”

David rubbed his face with a groan. “That’s not
what I meant.”

“That is exactly what you meant,” said Raja and
dropped his hand off David’s arms. It felt like rejection all over again.

How could Raja not see this? His mere presence
next to David was like a hot, throbbing invitation to sex. “You wanna tell me
you’d want to actually just
hang out
with me?” That would have been
torture.

Raja sighed and petted his beard absent-mindedly.
“I could have. You’re so judgmental you probably think I want to fuck every
single guy I meet. Please, don’t lie and say no.”

David looked away in shame.
Was
he
judgemental? He believed in looking for the good in people, and yet for some
reason he seemed unable to give Raja the benefit of the doubt.

“Thank you,” said Raja in the end and patted
David’s chin with his fingers, urging him to look up.

“So you’re here to rub it in?”

“No. I’m here because I wondered how you’re doing.
If I messaged you, you could ignore me, so I just found the shop online.”

David shrugged and slipped behind the counter.
“What do you care? I’m fine. I’ve got a job. It’s all
fine
.”

Raja picked up a daisy from a vase at the counter.
David wanted to reprimand him, but when Raja pushed the stem into his beard,
nothing would come out of his mouth.

David snorted and hid his lips behind his hand.
“Don’t let your friends see that.”

“No?” asked Raja and casually tapped the vase. “I
thought you said that’s the hot new thing.”

“I just imagined Tooth with a whole bunch of
flowers in his beard.” David laughed even harder.

“I don’t think he’s the sensitive type,” said
Raja, leaning closer, his whole face relaxed into a smile.

David glanced toward the windows. The street was
just as empty as ten minutes ago. “Unlike you? Yeah right.” He reached for
another daisy, and then slipped it into Raja’s beard from the other side.

Raja’s dark eyes were completely focused on David,
as if there was no other person he wanted to see in the whole wide world.
“Maybe I am. What do you think?”

“I think there’s more to you than you let people
see.” David held his breath, unable to think clearly when he smelled Raja’s
cologne. He picked up another flower and gently placed it in the beard.

Raja’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his long eyelashes
fluttered as he watched David push the flower into the soft facial hair. “What
do you think is there? Tell me.”

“What about the conversion therapy camp?” David
swallowed, ready to get laughed off for the question.

Raja’s mouth pressed together, and his nostrils
flared as he looked away from David. “I can’t tell you here. It’s a long
story,” he said in the end and pulled on David’s arm, coaxing him toward the
open door to the backroom.

David swallowed, unsure if he should be doing
this. But there
were
no customers, and he knew that the store was
usually dead at this time of day. Would Lindell be very disappointed with him
if he knew of this? He glanced at Raja once more and took the plunge. Maybe
Raja wanted to tell him something really secret? David walked into the corridor
behind the counter.

Oh, who was he lying to? He wanted a kiss. He
wanted a kiss from Raja
so
bad.

The silence in the cluttered walkway was
overwhelming, and once Raja closed the door behind them, the darkness broken
only by a ray of light coming from the office created an unexpectedly intimate
atmosphere. Raja exhaled and looked at David, not even a bit ridiculous with
the daisies in his beard. They suited him. He could probably wear a yute sack
and make it look attractive.

Cornered against the closed door, David shuddered
as his breathing became shallow from the proximity of that powerful masculine
presence. Raja ran the back of his hand down David’s chest, watching him. It
was as if all logic went to the back burner to make room for lust.

David licked his lips. “You wanted to tell me
something?” he urged, even though Raja had suggested nothing like that.

Raja pulled his teeth over his bottom lip and
brushed his nose over David’s, not going further, even though David was already
tilting his face up for a kiss. “Yes. I’ve been thinking about you. You should
touch my cock now.”

David’s lips parted, and the heat exploding in his
chest made him dizzy. Was this a thing? Was this happening right now? Was he
not ‘Hunter’s brother’ anymore? He had to make a deep inhale to speak, yet it
still came out as a whisper. “I… I don’t think I should.”

Raja leaned in and nipped on David’s cheek before
trailing his tongue over the bite at a tantalizing pace. “But you want to,
don’t you?”

David swallowed, unable to pull away from Raja’s
lips, like a little rabbit cornered by the big bad wolf. “Is this another test,
so you can mock me for it later?”

Raja stiffened and petted the side of David’s face
with his beard, whispering into his ear. “No. This is for real. Unzip my jeans
and take my dick out.”