Nyght's Eve (25 page)

Chapter Fourteen

Evie stood on the porch of Anna and Tim’s
house.

It was the afternoon before the trial was to
begin, and Dare had been adamant that she should be there waiting with Anna,
Tim, Nate and Shane. He had rolled over her protests that she had work to do
with an impatient wave of his hand. “Just be there.”

So, there she was.

At least she had Madeline, Kali, Becca and
Anna for company out on the porch while Tim was inside with Nate and Shane.
Anna folded her arms across her chest nervously. “I still don’t understand what
we’re doing out here.”

Evie sighed. “Dare made it clear he wanted us
waiting here.”

“So did Jared.” Kali sat down on the porch
swing next to Becca. “He’s been so secretive about all this. What in the world
have our men been up to?”

Madeline rolled her eyes. “Tony gets like
this when he has one of his little plans. I wonder what it is this time.”

 
Evie
had been wondering that herself. For the last week, Dare had continuously been
disappearing over to the boarding house, which had been declared off limits to
all the females in family. At first, Evie had been baffled by the request. No,
it hadn’t been a request. It had been a decree. Once she got over her
irritation, curiosity had begun eating away at her, but Dare refused to tell
her what the men were doing.

He said he would just have to wait and see.

During the week she had also gotten the phone
call from her doctor she had been waiting for. Evie had broken down and cried
when it was confirmed she didn’t have cancer. As soon as she got the call, she
had rushed outside to find Dare, who had been running around the pond with the
dog, Hero. Hearing her good news he had lifted her off her feet and kissed her
so passionately, she couldn’t even remember her own name.

After she and Dare had celebrated her good
news, she had sought out some time with her uncle Tony. They had taken a walk
together, and when she told him he had gotten misty eyed. He spoke of his love
for his first wife, Colleen, and how painful it had been to lose her. He also
said he understood why Evie had worried about telling him, but made her promise
never to keep a secret like that from him again.

That night she had invited her family over
for dinner, thankfully Madeline had ended up cooking the meal, much to
everyone’s relief. Her cousins and friends were still upset with Evie for not
telling them about her fears, but Madeline had shushed them. Dare had given
Evie that look of his that told her he was angry. He always got angry whenever
he thought about her being sick, and she had come to understand it was his way
of dealing with his fear of losing her.

Dare still made time to seek her out during
the day, as if he couldn’t bear to be away from her for more than a few hours
at a time. Normally, she would have gotten annoyed at the interruptions, but
the truth was she missed Dare just as much as he missed her. Since she had told
him she loved him he had become insatiable.

Lucky her.

Every time he touched her she went up in
flames, and she didn’t even mind all the extra showers she had to take during
the day to get rid of the smell of sex before she went back to the rescue
center. Dare had become such an integral part of her life, that she didn’t know
what she was going to do when he decided to quit working at the center.

A rumbling noise in the distance had Evie
pushing aside her worries about what would happen with Dare, and the women
turned to look in the direction the sound was coming from. As the noise got
louder, Evie realized what they were hearing was the roar of dozens of
motorcycles heading their way. Tim, Nate and Shane came out on the porch as the
noise grew deafening.

“What in the world is that?” Tim asked. As a
staid corporate attorney, Tim had never been one to ride a motorcycle, but Evie
could see the unholy gleam of interest in his eyes as the parade of motorcycles
rode into view.

Evie’s eyes widened as she watched all the
bikes pull to a stop in from of Tim and Ana’s house, blocking off the entire
street. Neighbors came out of their houses, looking concerned and slightly
afraid. Evie couldn’t blame them. Dressed mostly in black, the group made an
intimidating sight. Most of them were wearing helmets, and when they took them
off she could see a few of them were wearing bandanas on their heads. Some had
on leather jackets, while others wore leather vests with their jeans. The only
thing all the riders had in common was the logo on their clothing that
proclaimed all of them as
Breakers’ Bad
Boys
.

Her gaze shot over to where Nikita and Sam
were getting off their own bikes. The women just shrugged at Evie’s unspoken
question as the rest of the group came to stand on Anna and Tim’s front lawn.
Dare was unceremoniously pushed to the front, and Evie saw him turn to shoot a
glare at her uncle Tony, who only grinned in response.

“Umm...” Anna put a protective hand on
Shane’s shoulder as he held his cast in front of his body, but Evie could see
the little boy wasn’t afraid. His eyes were wide, but they were filled with
excitement and a little bit of wonder.

“We’re here to see the Diaz brothers,” Dare
called out, and Shane walked down the steps with Nate beside him.

Nate looked over at Hammer. “What’s going on,
Hammer? What is all this?”

“Wait and see, kid.”

Dare shot Evie a quick glance as she walked
down the steps and came to a stop behind the boys. He seemed to get the courage
to speak when their eyes met, and she watched as his shoulders straightened. He
held something in his hand as he bent down so he was eye level with Shane.

“Hey, Shane.”

Shane smiled at Dare. “Hey.”

“Tomorrow is the big day.” The little boy’s
smile wobbled, and Dare nodded. “I can see you’re worried about it.”

Shane moved closer to Dare and whispered, “I
don’t wanna see the bastard.”

“Shane!” Anna hissed from behind him.

Dare coughed to mask his chuckle as he
lowered his voice to a whisper as well. “Well, I know he’s a bastard, kid. But
let’s not call him that in front of your aunt, okay?” Shane nodded sagely, and
Dare tried to hide his grin as he stood back up. “Well, then, you see all these
people here?”

Shane nodded, and Nate took a step closer to
his brother. Dare looked at both of them and let them see the steely conviction
in his eyes. “You don’t have to be afraid, because all of these people will be
there with you tomorrow. We’re all going to be sitting in the courtroom with
you, supporting you and your brother. If you get scared, all you have to do is
look at one of us, and know we won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“What?” Anna gasped as Dare helped Shane put
on a small leather jacket with the Breaker’s Bad Boys patch that matched the
one he was wearing.

Tony Savante stepped forward and put his hand
on Dare’s shoulder. Evie felt pure joy fill her as she saw her uncle standing
with her man. “The people of Breakers take care of their own. More so, the
Breakers’ Bad Boys will now be making sure we protect anyone who needs our
help. Everyone already thought we were a club, so we thought, why not make it
official?”

Malcolm Fox slapped Tim on the shoulder. “You
know how we were talking about how many women and kids are afraid to testify in
court because they’re intimidated by their attackers? Well, this way they will
have a group to turn to in order to have their own people in their corner. Us.”

“We can act as moral support, bodyguards when
needed, and the best part is, we get to scare the shi—I mean the crap out of
the jerks who bothered you,” Hammer added as he handed a jacket over to an
astonished Nate.

Sheriff Wyatt stepped forward. “All the members
have been fingerprinted and have undergone background check to make sure anyone
who comes to the group for help will know they are safe.”

Dare nodded. “As you know, with so many of us
having military backgrounds, there will be enough of us that can handle all
kinds of situations.”

Anna looked at everyone as she gripped her
husband’s hand. “I don’t know what to say. How can we ever thank you?”

Dare looked down at Shane who was still
admiring his new leather jacket. “Shane, do you think you’ll be okay telling
your story to the people in court tomorrow?”

The little boy glanced up at Dare. “You’ll
really be there?”

“I will. We all will be.”

Shane smiled. “Then I can do it.”

Dare turned back to Anna and Tim. “That’s all
the thanks we need.”

Hammer, Dare and Dante led Nate and Shane
around, introducing them to all the bikers that had showed up with Anna and Tim
trailing behind them as they spoke with Tony and Malcolm. When they were done,
Evie walked up to Dare and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I love you so
much.”

His eyes flared with heat at her declaration.
“Come for a ride with me.”

“Wh-what?”

“You came with Maddy, right? Give her your
keys and come for a ride with me. I need you with me, Eve.”

Evie smiled. She loved how he was never
afraid to tell her how much he wanted her, and just hearing it made her clench
her thighs together to keep the proof of her desire for him from soaking her
jeans. “All right. Give me a minute.”

She left to speak with Madeline, and when she
came back Dare was sitting on his bike. She gestured to the two helmets he held
in his hands. “I thought you normally don’t ride wearing one.”

He winced. “I know I should, and I did have
one. Today we thought we should all wear them to show the kids that safety is
important. But I got these this week since I want you to ride with me
sometimes. What do you say? Wanna be my biker bitch?”

Her eyebrow rose at that as she playfully
slapped at him. “Call me a bitch again and I’ll make you eat that helmet.”

He grinned at her. “How about being my hot,
biker babe instead?”

“I think I can handle that.”

He placed a helmet on her head, making sure
it was secure before he put on his own. She climbed onto the bike behind him,
wrapping her arms around his waist and felt the vibrations through her body
when he turned on the engine on.

“You okay?” Dare asked as they made their way
slowly around the other bikes that were still parked in the street.

Evie was surprised to hear Dare’s voice
clearly through the helmet, then realized that he had gotten helmets with a
Bluetooth intercom system built in. “I’m great.”

When they got to the open road, he sped up,
and Evie felt the exhilaration that only came from riding on a motorcycle.

“I should have asked, have you ridden
before?”

“I have. With Hunter, and a few times with my
uncle, but I’m nowhere near to being an expert.”

“We’ll get you there,” he promised, and she
could hear the smile in his voice.

After a few minutes, she couldn’t stop
herself from saying, “Dare, what you did today...you are a truly remarkable
man.”

“It was nothing. Actually, it was your uncle
and Malcolm that really came up with the idea. I just organized what they were
already doing. Hunter and Nikita came up with the logo, and Hammer called his
contact at Rough and Tough to get the jackets made so fast—”

“It was far from nothing. What you did was
give that little boy the most precious of gifts. You helped him stop being
afraid.”

Dare cleared his throat, his voiced deepening
when he said, “You’re the reason, Eve.”

“What do you mean?”

“I got the idea from you. How you told me you
were able to overcome your fear and testify against one of the men who killed
your parents. If they have anyone to thank, it’s you.”

She was silent as they drove to the coast. He
pulled over and parked near a secluded area close to the bottom of a cliff that
jutted out over the water. They took off their helmets and walked down to the
beach. Evie loved the feel of the sand between her toes, so she took off her
shoes and left them near the path they had come down. Closing her eyes, she
took a deep breath and tilted her head back, letting the wind blow through her
hair.

“You are so fucking beautiful.”

She turned to see Dare staring at her with
that intense look in his eyes. The look that thrilled her to her core and left
her aching for him. He took her hand, pulling her with him so they were in a
little area that was shielded from the rest of the beach.

“Dare, this is a public beach—”

“Shh. No one can see us here, and I need you,
Eve. I need you now.”

His mouth captured hers, demanding entrance
with his tongue. She opened for him, stroking him with her own tongue, feeding
his need with her own. She gasped as he spun her around, pushing her against
the stone face of a large rock. His hands came up over hers, holding them a few
inches from her head. “Keep your hands here, princess.”

She moaned, her hands flexing against the
hard rock surface as his own moved down over her body. He cupped her breasts,
and leaned closer so her back was covered with the heat of his body. “I’ve been
busy this week.”