One More Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 3) (2 page)

But this time, he simply kept up with her pace as the club finally left the road and headed deeper into the desert.

CHAPTER TWO

“Far from home. But I guess it’ll do.”

Callie took charge as she ordered the crew about and instructed the men where to unpack and lay down what had to be temporary stakes. There was no way that they could stay here, just out of plain sight, for any length of time. But it would do for the night.

“Give a girl a hand, would you?”

Falling into the sound of Callie’s voice, Lauren helped her set up shop. They laid all manner of food and smokes and weapons on the sand. Callie pointed in the various directions that she wanted the stash hidden, and she snapped her fingers as Trent started to hoist a fresh tent.

“Are you slow, boy?” Callie asked as she slapped the back of his head.

“What the fuck?” Trent challenged. “It’s cold out here. We just supposed to sleep out in the—?”

“Look around you, shit for brains.”

Following the path of Callie’s eyes, Lauren took note of the mountains hovering over them. And the promise of many caves concealed within. Catching Callie’s drift, Lauren lightly took Callie by the arm and pressed her lips to her ear.

“You should keep the guns close,” Lauren suggested.

“That’s a thought,” Callie said. “But not too close that someone can sneak up and take them out from under us.”

Realizing that she was right, that Callie still knew better, Lauren stayed silent as Callie sent Trent off to stock their makeshift arsenal. Callie decreed that the bikes should hide and Paul quickly agreed. Blake did nothing but shoot her a quick glace before he took off into the distance. Asking him where he was going, Callie shook her head and cautioned her to stay silent.

Give him his space. He’ll be back.

Lauren hoped for that much. This time she had stayed at his side and kept close. And she half—no—she fully expected him to hold her, to kiss her once they came to a stop together. At the very least, he could have smiled. But he just took off. Looking for his return every couple of seconds, Lauren told herself that she could stand strong without him. Maybe she would just stick around to get a rise out of him. She wanted it the other way of around, but as soon as she saw Grace rocking back and forth under a ratty blanket, Lauren sighed and approached her tentatively.

“Grace?” Lauren started. “Are you—?”

“Careful,” Paul said as he stepped close to them, his hand on Grace’s shoulder as he kept his eyes on Lauren. “I won’t have you upset her again.”

“I—”

“Because I can take care of her just fine,” Paul continued. “You got that?”

The ice in his eyes told Lauren that she would be a fool to cross him in this moment, and she lowered her head with a slight nod. “I do,” Lauren said. “Guess I shouldn’t have talked out of turn.”

“There it is,” Callie said as she passed by with Trent at her heels. “How about you just hunker down and wait for your boy.”

Lauren felt every sound in the air leave the scene as she scanned her new surroundings. What had looked like an impromptu tailgate became a warm series of tombstones as the bikes and the artillery and the men themselves took cover under the mass of cold mouths of rock. Paul waited until the bulk of the job was done, surveying the scene carefully. Lauren took note of the struggle working its way around his soul. This was still his brother’s group, his family. Of course he had to wait until the last possible moment to hide with the others. But his gaze kept shifting towards Grace as the girl seemed to calm even as her teeth still chattered.

“Paul?”

Callie cut in on the scene of his hesitation and Grace’s despair and took his hand.

“Got a place ready for the two of you,” Callie said. “Let’s say you get her out of the night air?”

Paul stayed tense until Callie patted his cheek and smiled softly.

“It’s all handled,” Callie said. “And believe me. Your brother would be mighty proud.”

Blushing under the moonlight, Paul bowed his head as he took her hand. “Of you,” he said. “Not of me.”

“Tell your girl that.”

Lauren saw Callie’s thumb jerk in Grace’s direction, and her heart lifted when the girl finally managed a smile. Sure it was weak, but her lips still curled towards her eyes as she extended her hand.

“Are we safe now?” Grace asked in a small voice.

Callie nudged Paul forward, and he brought Grace to her feet and cupped her chin in his hands.

“You’re safe with me,” he assured her. “Nothing can change that.”

He kissed her softly and curled her body under his arm.

“Let’s say we try to get some shuteye.”

Watching him leave with Grace under his arm, Lauren bit down on her lip. How could Grace even manage to think straight after everything that she had endured? Paul lifted her into his arms and carried her deeper into the darkness when Lauren bristled at the feel of Callie’s hand on her shoulder.

“You okay?” Callie asked.

There was no way that she could say yes and be completely truthful. Hiding out like this only put the point on how they were still being pursued by too many strands of the past. But Lauren forced a smile and nodded her head.

“Sure,” Lauren started. “And he… do you really think that he’s coming back?”

“See for yourself.”

The sound of an engine hit the air, and Lauren narrowed her eyes. As soon as the moonlight hit his face, she took Callie at her word. Blake sped closer, and Lauren started to move to him when Callie suddenly held her back.

“What are you—?”

“Just be straight with him,” Callie advised. “He cleans up nice when he gets the truth.”

Kicking his bike aside, Blake held his ground, his feet pressed to the sand. Watching with an anxious heart, Lauren took Callie’s hand even as she felt Blake’s eyes burrowing into her soul. He started to lift his hands. But then he pressed them into his pockets. Was he suddenly being coy? Did he want to apologize for doubting her strength when it came to following the club into parts unknown? Lauren stated to stand up taller when Blake simply plucked a smoke from his pack and struck a match on the heel of his boot. Sucking the cigarette, a wave of smoke curled around her face. Lauren fought the urge to blink the haze away, and she thought she saw him smile as she kept her eyes fixed in his direction.

“Don’t stay out of in the cold too long,” Callie said as she tousled Lauren’s hair. “Make nice and get some rest. We all got some long days ahead of us.” Arching her eyebrow before she turned on her heel, Callie went into hiding as Blake stepped closer.

“Club getting settled?” Blake asked as he took another drag and kept his eyes on hers. Lauren inhaled the smoke, almost savoring the scent as he stood before her. Meeting his eyes, she started to nod but suddenly stopped the bob of her head as she folded her arms across her chest.

“More than I can say for you?” she said.

“Needed to clear my head,” Blake said as he sucked on his cigarette, his eyes trailing up and down her body.

“And did you?” Lauren asked.

Tossing his cigarette to the sand and snuffing it out with the toe of his boot, Blake pressed his hands to his hips and stared at her hard.

“I think so,” he said. “Came back to you. Didn’t I?”

She moved closer to kiss him and felt his arm swirl around her waist when she pressed her palms to his chest and tilted her head to the side.

“And you were so sure that I’d be here?” she asked. “Like I’d just be waiting for you?”

Blake started to challenge her when his face went dark, even under the light of the moon. Lauren’s first instinct was to just hold him and tell him that there was nowhere else that she would rather be. But her body stayed stiff as Blake curled his fingers under her chin.

“I knew you would,” he said. “But I’m still kind of surprised.”

Falling closer to him, Lauren felt his warm breath racing down her neck. His arm unfolded around her back. Inhaling the sand and the sweat that covered his tight flesh, her lips nearly hit his skin when she pushed away from him.

“You have a fine way of showing it,” Lauren challenged. “What is this? Not even a
nice to see you
.”

Blake sneered, but Lauren held her ground as he started to shift away from her. Because he would come back to her. Wouldn’t he?

“Then that’s on you,” Blake said. “Can’t exactly get into your head.”

A load of horseshit if she had ever smelled it. Into her head? He was under her skin, pushing up against her soul. And he had to know that. But Lauren played coy as he turned back to her eyes.

“But I can do other things to you,” he purred.

Keeping her body under his hands, Lauren leaned back with a light moan as his fingers reached under her blouse and his lips hit the back of her neck. She felt his cock already poking through his jeans as he turned his hips around her ass. Ready to give into him right then and there, Lauren recovered to the point where she was able to just find his hand. As their fingers mingled around one another, she captured all of his touch in hers with a soft sigh.

“Can you?” she asked. “You gonna prove it here and now? Right out in the open?”

She had the sensation of countless unseen eyes running up and down her body as Blake turned her back to his chest, his hands moving towards her cheeks as he stroked her face softly. “Now is that smart?” he said. “Don’t you know that we’re still in danger?”

“I… I know that,” she murmured. “I just…”

Lauren’s voice trailed off and she tried to pull away from him when Blake’s hold tightened around her arms, giving her nowhere to look but his eyes, nothing to savor but his touch.

“You just want another taste,” he teased. “Am I calling it right?”

His hands moved to her blouse, and as he pried a single button from its hole, he curled his finger around the edge of her breasts. She shuddered and sighed at the feel if his hand, and as she reached up to take his fingers in hers, Blake pushed back and shook his head.

“But we really should take cover,” he said. “We have things to talk about first.”

Lauren nearly laughed at the idea, the reality of him suddenly so serious. But when he failed to wink and transform it into just another step in whatever dance they were doing, Lauren leaned into the feel of her body tensing even as she stayed in his arms.

“What do you… what do you suggest?” she asked.

He carried her back to his bike and pressed her body into the seat. Climbing behind her, his feet hit the pedals, and the motor purred underneath them as his lips met her ear.

“Found a little place where it can be just us,” he promised. “You want to come with?”

Turning her head over her shoulder, Lauren met his eyes and nodded softly.

“I do,” she confessed, her hands daring to touch his cheek as his brow fell to hers. Their lips nearly met, when Lauren summoned the strength to look ahead even as she kept her hand on his arm.

“Take me,” she said. “Show me where you want us to go.”

CHAPTER THREE

“Here we are.”

Lauren took a few slow steps into the dark recesses of a far off cave. Far enough away from the rest of the crew that no one could hear her scream if he touched her again.

And she wanted him to do just that.

Turning towards him, she was quick to wrap her arms around his neck, her lips dotting his face as she clung to his back.

“You missed me that much?” he asked.

“Like you have to ask.”

She was glad to hear him sharing something of his heart, and she moved closer to claim his lips.

“Blake, I…”

Their mouths were at the point of touching when he suddenly pushed away and turned his head. “We have to talk.”

“Don’t you want to know more than that?”

Not leaving him any room to answer, Lauren pulled him closer and kissed him hard. His tongue spun around hers, and she felt her lips curling into a smile at the feel of his cock pressing against her hip.

Just take me again. We’ll figure the rest out later. Please, Blake.

He started to lower his zipper, and Lauren hiked up her skirt to know all of him, to feel him entering her. The tip of his cock grazed her wet pussy, and she started to spread her legs wider, wanting nothing more than to recall all of him inside her.

“Jesus Christ,” he moaned as he started to push deeper. Lauren savored his cock, the feel of her flesh encasing his as he groaned into her neck. Pulling her head away from his chest, Blake kept her at arm’s length as his eyes drove into her soul.

“Didn’t you hear me?” he said. “I wanted to talk.”

“Yeah right.” Lauren smirked as she started to curve her limbs around his body. His hands met her back, and she was ready for him to lift her body into the air and press her body into the walls of stone. He could take her there; she would not protest. Her fingers brushed through his hair, and their lips were on the verge of meeting again when he turned away from her with a tight groan and closed his eyes.

“What happened?” she asked. “I… I thought you wanted me?”

Blinking through her confusion, Lauren tensed until Blake pressed his fingers to her face and nodded slowly.

“I do,” he said “But that’s the problem.”

He finally lifted her into his arms, and Lauren clung to him as he brought her body to the sandy floor. Focusing around the darkness, her eyes narrowed, and she touched his face.

“Blake?”

His jaw was tight; his lips tense. Lauren lowered her hand down his sides, and as soon as she met his fingers, he kept her touch close with one had while his free palm touched the top of her head.

“Don’t think I don’t want you,” he said as he stroked her hair. “I’m going crazy just being this close to you.

“Then what are we waiting for?” she asked. “We’re safe for tonight. So why are you—?”

“Because there’s always going to be a tomorrow night.”

Lauren tried to kiss him again when he pulled away with a sharp groan. Her mouth watered as he stretched to his feet, and she licked her lips as he strolled away from her. As soon as his body hit the way out, Blake gazed out into the night and released a heavy sigh.

“I’m… I’m glad I get to say goodbye to you,” he said.

“Goodbye? Why would you say that?”

On her feet, Lauren rushed to his side and held his back under her hands. She felt him sigh under her touch, and when he started to fall back into her, Lauren’s arms eased around his waist. Her fingers danced closer to his cock when he surrounded her feel and suddenly pushed away from her.

“Because it’s too risky,” he said. “And you just can’t stay here. Not with me.”

Blake kept his eyes from hers, and Lauren struggled to find her footing in the space of his touch. He seemed committed to his sudden plan.

But Lauren wasn’t going down without a choice.

“I think that’s up to me,” she said.

“Lauren, I—”

“When I said that I wanted to be with you, I meant it.”

He started to speak again, and she silenced him with a new kiss. As their mouths mingled, she moved her hands to his waist, ready to lower his jeans when his fingers surrounded her wrists, and he pulled her arms over her head.

“What?” she asked. “Do you want me to beg?”

“No,” Blake said, his voice thick as he softly kissed her hair. “And I don’t want you to go.”

Lauren squirmed against him, her body eager for more of his touch when he released her. Lauren’s hands fell reluctantly, and she strained towards the tips of his fingers, biting back her need for more of him as he shook his head and spoke softly.

“There’s going to be a price to pay,” he started.

“And Paul said that he would keep Grace safe.”

“It’s not Grace that I’m worried about. It’s you.”

Lauren’s eyes glazed in confusion as she tried to touch his face. His skin nearly rested against her fingers when he turned away sharply and clenched his fists to his sides.

“Demon Dogs get a hold of you,” he started. “And you’ll… I know that…”

He couldn’t finish the thought. Seeing the agony in his eyes, Lauren tried to hold him when he surprised her by taking hold of her wrists again. But instead of pressing her arms over his head, he brought her hands to his mouth and whispered into her fingers.

“I can’t stand the thought of that happening to you,” he muttered. “You can still go if you want. Get away from all of this. Leave it behind.”

Lauren didn’t know if she should rage at the man or walk away in despair. Her feelings were somewhere in the middle, and she latched onto that emotion as she struggled back to the surface and touched his face and shook her head. “I told you I’m not going,” she whispered. “I want to be with you.”

Blake’s eyes sparkled, and he started to kiss her lips when he pulled back again and shook his head against his shoulders. “Nowhere else you need to be?” he asked.

“Like you cared about that when to you took—”

“I care about it now.”

His voice was barely a whisper, far from what she expected, but Lauren held her tongue as he touched her cheek and moaned into her ear.

‘”If you were mine, I would miss you every second of my life,” he said.

“Blake, don’t—”

“Who’s missing you now?” he asked. “Must be someone that wants to see you come home.”

A sob caught in her throat, and as he kept stroking her cheeks, she remembered her mother’s hands against her face.

“My mom,” she muttered. “I’m sure she’s going all kinds of crazy.”

“Okay,” he started. “So don’t you want to make like the good daughter and put all her fears to rest?”

Lauren’s mind curled around the possibility. He had a point. Her mother would be more than overjoyed to know she was alright. But maybe, in a far off moment when the danger had passed, Lauren could find some way to make contact.

But on the other hand…

“I was never anyone’s idea of a good daughter,” she said.

“Like you’re such a bad ass.”

“Maybe just a little around the edges,” Lauren answered. “I certainly wasn’t my daddy’s idea of his little girl.”

If she ever made contact or somehow found her way back home, Carter Nichols was sure to make a point of reminding her of her shortcomings and accusing her of seeking out whatever bad thing had or might have happened to her during her time away from the fold.

But Blake did not fall into that category.

Straining to kiss him, she felt Blake melting into her mouth. But he suddenly pulled back and ran his fingers through her fallen hair.

“Now why do I kind of buy that?” he said.

“Because you know the real me,” Lauren said. “The one that wants more of this.”

Lowering his fly, she felt his cock pulse into her hand and began a slow, smooth stroke. Groaning under the feel of her fingers, Blake pressed against her body as they sank into the sand. Gliding her body to her back, Blake slipped inside and reached under her. Mirroring his smile when he found her cunt warm and wet, she started to kiss him again when he laid his brow against hers.

“So you telling that this is always you under the sheets?” he asked.

“What sheets?” she asked. “Nothing here but you and me and the night.”

Pulling her skirt down her legs, Blake buried his face into her mound, his tongue lapping against her soft flesh as she threw her arms back with a grateful sigh. Fighting the urge to touch him, to hold him close, Lauren focused on nothing but his skillful licks as his tongue darted in and out of the soft folds of her cunt. Taking his time with her mound, Blake painted an invisible circle around her pussy, and when she felt as if she could no longer resist the urge to bring her hands to his back and tear his shirt away, he invaded all of her sensitive flesh.

“And… and that’s more than enough for me,” she gasped, her climax spilling across his tongue. Blake drank her desire down, his head lingering between her legs as he palmed her thighs and whispered into her limbs.

“Do you really expect me to believe that you’ve never done any of this before?”

Not with Drew. Certainly not with Drew. The idea of kissing her was one thing. But if she ever suggested that he use his mouth to bring her another form of pleasure, he made no attempt to hide the distasteful grimace that always crossed his face. He thought it a dirty request not worthy of a wife, and she took Blake’s face in her hands and nodded her head in total honesty.

“There’s never been anyone like you for me,” she whispered.

Pushing him to his back, she tore his shirt from his broad chest. She fell into his tight flesh, caressed his pecs, and bathed his ink with eager kisses.

“But there had to be someone?” he asked, his voice contradicting his hands as he slashed her blouse from her body. Grabbing her breasts in his hard hands, he twisted her nipples and forced her to her back. Straddling her hips, Blake cupped her chin and gave her no choice, nowhere else to focus but his eyes, sparkling above her as his hot breath pooled between her breasts.

“Someone else who might be missing you?” he challenged as he arched his eyebrow and kept her body fixed to the sand.

Again her mind turned to Drew. Boring as he was under the sheets, figurative or otherwise, the man was far from a total monster. Did he kick himself day after day, shaking at the thought of what had happened to her? No. No that didn’t seem his style. But he had to feel some guilt over how that had parted. Maybe Lauren did, too.

But this was far from the time or the place. Not when Blake was so close and she just wanted, needed more of him.

“No one important.” she said. “No one like you.”

He tilted his head, and Lauren tensed at the possibility that he was about to push the point and bring Drew between them. There was far greater danger likely lurking down the road, and before he could ask another question, she shot up straight and wrapped her arms around his neck. Crushing her mouth to his, she dragged her fingers towards his head and held him tight.

“Please, let’s stop talking,” Lauren begged. “Just be with me again. Right now.”