Night After Night (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 1) (2 page)

CHAPTER THREE

Lauren drove on the highway for a long while. Should she have said goodbye to Drew? Tried and failed to make her father understand one last time? As the asphalt continued to stretch ahead of her, she grew more and more confident in the wisdom of her decision. Her mother would calm her dad down, and Drew would set his nose to his work. They would be fine, and when Lauren finally came back, at least one of them would seem glad to see her. She imagined pinching Drew’s cheek, telling him that her wanderlust was out of her system. That she still wanted to…

But would she?

Highways were far too familiar for this trip, and she turned off at the next exit. Passing through a small town of tinier houses and dusty dirt roads, Lauren imagined what it might be like to live in a place like this. Endless yard sales and weathered faces watched as she passed by in her Lexus, and Lauren smiled back at each and every set of eyes. Maybe life should be lived trying to make it from one day to the next and the next. At least that really was living. The thought sounded ungrateful as it reverberated in her mind, but she wanted to know what it was to scrape and struggle and just wonder what the next day might bring.

Deciding to put her theory to the test, she shifted her car again. The Lexus bumped and shook as she met the gravel of the desert floor, and as she slackened her pace, Lauren marveled at the jagged mountains stretching towards the clear blue sky. Should she park and try to climb to the top? Truly see everything through a new set of eyes?

Lauren nearly parked the car, but then she thought better of the impulsive plan. She wasn’t wearing the right shoes, she had none of the right equipment, and the last thing she needed was to take a tumble and end up injured in the vast, open desert. Driving on, she pondered the sand as it swept across her tires. A stranger like her raced over the grains and sent it spinning in other directions. Sometimes it landed right back where it had started; sometimes the wind grabbed hold and sent it somewhere new. And Lauren longed for that. She wanted to get lost in the breeze and see what else was out there.

Open spaces kept spilling ahead of her, and she lowered her window. Taking a deep breath of sandy air, she untied her hair and let it fall across her neck. She wanted to keep driving forever. She had promised her mother that she would come back, and someday she would. But there was a whole wide world that was up for the taking, and Lauren was ready to take hold of it with both hands and see–

“Shit! What the–”

She heard her tire gasp, and she struggled to keep the wheel in her hands. It spun wildly through her fingers, and Lauren pushed down on the break in a desperate bid to keep from crashing. “No,” she muttered. “Not happening. Not on my first morning…”

As her car nearly crashed into a stray rock, Lauren turned the Lexus away from the oncoming crash, and she came to a halt on a hard piece of desert soil. The brake finally obeyed the pulse of her foot, and her body bumped against the steering wheel. She was grateful that the airbag stayed intact, and as she turned the key in the ignition, she stepped out to survey the damage.

“Christ…” A definite flat. Out here. Alone. Popping the trunk, Lauren saw the jack but no spare tire. “What the…?” And then she remembered the doughnut that Drew had helped her with when she hit a gas pump too hard and had to call for help. How could she have forgotten to replace it before her trip? She had planned everything so carefully…

She still had her phone, and as she entered her passcode, she prayed for a signal. Not to call Drew. Or her father. She’d rather die than give them the satisfaction, but she needed someone to get her out of this mess. With only one bar, she fished through her glove compartment and tried to contact Triple A. Tried four times. But every time the call nearly connected, it faded away under her hands, and she cursed quietly as she kicked her damaged car. “What the fuck?” she groaned. “Some kind of a sign or something?”

Just when she thought that the world was having a laugh at her expense, salvation appeared on the horizon. A Dodge Ram pickup truck glided closer, and Lauren shielded her eyes with her hand as the driver stepped out onto the sand.

He was tall with slender legs and a broad chest. Staring at her through dark brown eyes above hollowed cheeks, the man gave her a friendly wave as he stepped closer. “Need some help?” he asked.

If he was offering, Lauren was accepting. “Looks like,” she said. “I… I guess I hit a rough patch or something, and…” Gesturing towards her deflated tire, she shook her head with a weak laugh. “Well you can see for yourself.”

Kneeling down, the stranger examined her shredded tire with careful eyes. He pressed the broken rubber between his fingers and whistled lightly. “That I can,” he said.

As he smiled up at her, Lauren felt a small buzz in the pit of her stomach. The stranger was dark, handsome in a messy sort of way, and she remembered one of the reasons that she had wanted to make this trip. As much as she thought she loved Drew, this man caused every hair on her body to stand on edge. The smell of grease and sweat wafted off of him in sweet waves, and she blushed when he wiped his palm on the back of his jeans before offering her a shake.

“I’m Silas,” he said.

Silas.

It was old-fashioned and modern in the space of a single breath, and she lightly touched his fingers as she smiled shyly. “That’s nice,” Lauren said.

Silas tightened his grip, and Lauren’s body did not resist as her dragged her closer to his side.

“And you are?” he asked.

Staring into his eyes, Lauren stood tall and met his entire gaze. “Lauren,” she whispered. “Just Lauren.” She had no desire for surnames; they weren’t part of the plan. What she did want was for Silas to fix her car. She longed to see his muscles rippling from his chest to the curves of his back. Just to look at him was to know that he could get the job done. And when he succeeded, she wanted to show him just how grateful she–

“Just Lauren is good enough for me,” Silas said. “Now, how about you make yourself comfortable.”

Loving the sound of his voice, Lauren let him lead her towards a lonely rock, and he sat her down carefully.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

As expected, he stripped off his jacket and tried to repair the gash. And his arms were broad and smooth. If he got the job done, Lauren vowed to repay him with a kiss. He deserved nothing less; he deserved more. And even when he turned back to her with a heavy sigh, she was still contemplating all the ways in which she could repay his attempted kindness.

“No go?” Lauren asked.

Silas shook his head. “Just how fast were you driving?”

Not so fast. Not fast enough to cause this intentionally. But now that it had happened, she wasn’t about to just let it go. “Maybe I was just trying to catch your eye,” Lauren said.

At that, Silas smiled, and brushed a stray lock of hair from his face. “Lucky for me,” he said. “Not so lucky for you.”

Meeting his challenge, Lauren stood with a smirk. “So you can’t fix it?” she said as she tried and failed to stifle a laugh.

“Not all the way out here,” Silas said. “Wasn’t expecting something like this.”

It felt like a compliment, and Lauren’s smile intensified under his dark gaze. “So you weren’t expecting me?” she asked.

This was fun. Silas hung his head for all of a second, but just as quickly he was back in her eyes. “Not at all,” he said. “But I’m mighty glad to make your acquaintance.”

She liked the drawl his voice and the curl of his lips when he smiled at her again. Even if he couldn’t fix the tire, Silas could take her to new heights and make her forget everything that she had left behind.

“How about I give you a lift to the next town?” he suggested. “Promise I’m good company.”

Of that she was almost certain, and Lauren offered him her hand. “Lead the way.”

Climbing into his truck, she felt the pulse of the road under her feet. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Silas’ gaze and trailing up and down her legs. Drew never looked at her like that, and if a stranger could do his to her with one glance, then she had to be on the right track.

“So what were you looking for?” Lauren asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well you said that you weren’t expecting me,” she said. “So what do you want?”

Slapping her knee, he tossed his head back and flashed his teeth. “I could ask you the same question.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Lexus in the desert?” Silas said. “Have to be running away from something.”

She was about to tell him everything, but then she held back and shifted her gaze back away. “Wouldn’t you like to know,” Lauren said.

“I wouldn’t,” Silas said. “Not really.”

He was playing it cool and she could go along with that. And he was right. Better to go to wherever he was taking her and tell him later. She would wait until the right moment.

“But here you are,” Silas said. “And here I am.”

She nearly lost herself in his eyes, and she was on the verge of kissing him when he brought the truck to a fast stop. “What happened?”  Lauren asked. “What–?”

“How about you stop talking?” Silas’ tone shifted into something dark, and Lauren couldn’t think or act quickly enough to stop the curl of fingers, his harsh hold, as he pulled her across the wheel and forced her out of the truck.

“Hey! What do you think you’re–?”

“I said stop talking!”

Lauren held her tongue for all of a second, but when Silas wrenched her arm, she found her footing and kicked his shin hard. Silas buckled, and Lauren knew enough to take her chance and break into a run. Kicking up sand with each step, she raced into the depths of the desert. Without her car, she knew sweat would pour from her veins if she could just keep running. Then there would be the horrible cold and she wished that she had been more careful.

“Get back here, you bitch!”

She never should have left home. Drew was right; her father was right.

“I said come back!”

Silas’ hands nearly seized her ankle and, as he fell forward, Lauren brought her foot back. Kicking anything that she could find, she crushed her heel into what she thought was his neck and she kept running. He wouldn’t catch her; she would find her car and find some way to bring it back to that dusty town. Or she would find someone who really wanted to help her…

A large white van suddenly blocked her path, and Lauren screamed as a masked man appeared with a bat in his hands. As soon as she saw the new stranger, Lauren stifled a scream and took off in the other direction. In her sneakered feet, she felt the sand pouring into her socks and slicing into her heels. She had to move fast. If she missed a single step, they would overpower her and…

“Slow up, bitch!”

Lauren felt the bat smashing into her ankles and she fell into the sand. Choking on the grains, she turned to her back. She saw the man ready to bring the bat down on her head and, as she struggled to catch her breath so she could release a scream, Silas stepped back into view and snatched the bat from the other man’s hands.

“Not the face, you fucker!” Silas screamed. “She’s no good to us if she’s all banged up.” Silas waved the bat threateningly, but the other guy just laughed and turned his eyes towards Lauren’s aching, terrified body.

“Don’t know about that,” the man said. “Ain’t no god damned beauty pageant.

Lauren cowered as Silas added his laughter to the mix, creating a horrible chorus that filled her heart with fear.

“Fair point,” he said darkly. “Nice face, though. You think the rest of her is just as sweet?”

“No doubt.”

Roughly grabbing her arm, Silas hauled Lauren to her feet, and she struggled to maintain her footing as he pulled her close. She wanted nothing more than to form a fist and crush the jaw, the lips that had seemed so appealing.