ROUGHNECK: A DARK MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE (10 page)

The next swing, I caught. The mop handle worked as a perfect lever to pull him into range. I gripped it with both hands and drew him in, smashing my skull into his nose. His face crumbled against the force of it.

This was our chance to go. I let go of the mop, watching the man fall to the ground before running to Jared who was just picking himself up off the floor. Blood dripped from his nose.

“You alright, man?”

“I’m fine. Did you see how I slowed him down for you?”

“Make me laugh later Kid. We have to go.”

He went first, with me right behind. Addy sat on the back of my seat looking beautiful. Somehow I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about her.

“Where are you parked?”

“Just around the corner,” Jared yelled back. “Don’t wait. I’ll catch up.”

“Don’t be far behind. You’re sticking with us.”

I kept an eye on the entrance as I started the bike. No one had come through. That didn’t give me any reassurance. I wanted to be out of pistol range in a hurry.

“Your brother is gonna follow,” I yelled over the roar of the engine. “Watch him so you can keep me updated on where he’s at.”

“Okay!”

Rocks and dirt flew when I cranked the throttle. I didn’t care if I tore up my tires, all I wanted was to get these two to a safe place.

“He’s coming!”

“Good.”

“No! The other guy. That one looks like he’s hurt, but they’re both there!”

I pulled to the side of the road and angled the bike so I could see behind us. Where the hell was that kid?

C’mon Jared.
Don’t screw this up.

There were precious few seconds to make up my mind. Should I go and make sure we got away clean? I knew that would only put us back at square one. There’s no way she’d let me live with it. Or, did I go back and get him, risking Addy’s life in the process?

I didn’t have to make that decision. The kid came through.

He sped through the gap between two trucks like he was shot out of a cannon. When Lonny turned his gun, he was too slow again. Jared kicked it out of his hand on the way by. He never slowed down.

“He’s out!” screamed Addy, her voice barely registering over the roar of the engine. “Let’s go!”

I gunned it to seventy-five. The girl had to readjust after the speed made her slide back on the seat. I didn’t mind when she dug her fingers in to pull herself forward.

My eyes burned from the sting of the rushing air. It was the first time in years I’d ridden without my sunglasses. I vaguely remembered them flying off the top of my head at some point during the fight. I squinted into the wind and did my best to keep an eye on the road.

“Lean into the turn,” I yelled. “It’s going to feel like we’re gonna lay it down, but we won’t. You have to put all of your body weight into it if we’re gonna make it. You have to trust me.”

Up ahead there was a turnoff that ran through a commercial area. The first two buildings had a small alley between them that you wouldn’t even know was there unless you were looking for it. I resisted using the brake for as long as I could. Addy’s grip tightened around me as we tilted toward the buildings. From where we they were, they wouldn’t be able to see us. We had probably less than five seconds to make the turn to be sure they wouldn’t see it.

“This is it!”

I put everything into that move. My focus zeroed in on the small gap. I blew a deep breath from my lungs as everything slowed around me.

We went in to the alley like we were made for it. Luck was on our side because it was clear of anything except for one dumpster that hugged the wall to our left. I swung in behind it and cut the engine.

“Did they see us?”

“I don’t know. How close was your brother? They might have followed him.”

“He couldn’t have made that turn. There wasn’t enough time.”

“Duck!”

The black SUV rolled slowly by the alleyway but didn’t stop.

“They didn’t see us,” said Addy.

“I think you’re right. We might be in the clear.”

“I don’t know. He never went by, at least not that I saw. I’ll tell you what, we’ll wait here for a minute just to make sure they don’t double back, then we’ll go look for him. Maybe he had to put the bike down.”

“No way. He didn’t crash. He’s a good rider.”

“That may be, but when your being chased it’s a different ballgame.”

Another minute agonizingly dragged by.

“What if they shot him?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t hear any shots but I probably wouldn’t have at that speed. Don’t worry babe, it’s almost impossible to hit a moving target when you’re driving. Real life isn’t like the movies.”

We waited silently for any sign of life. Addy scooted herself up and rested her little body against me.

Man, I wanted to work her over. I don’t know if it was all her, or maybe a little bit of the action, but my blood was flowing hard and fast. I wanted to yank her panties to the side and fuck her right in the middle of that goddamned alley.

She was growing restless.

“I can’t wait anymo-”

The rumble of a Harley interrupted her sentence.

“Is that-”

It was. The little punk had gotten away. He rolled confidently down the alleyway to meet us. A look of triumph spilled over his face.

“Are they gone?” I asked.

He shrugged his shoulders.

“How the hell did you get away?”

“Nobody can catch the Ace,” he said, with a grin.

H
ale took
us to a condo in the downtown area. He said the club used to hide girls there but nobody had used it in years. He’d been paying a cleaning service to take care of the place so it would appear lived-in. That didn’t make sense to me but Hale said it didn’t matter. This was a safe place and he was the only one
alive
who knew about it.

The way he said
‘alive’
only made me more uncomfortable, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the rest of that story…

Jared fell asleep on the couch almost immediately after we walked in the door. I don’t think he’d slept since that day in Sheffield.

“What now?” I asked.

Hale was scrolling through the messages on his phone.

“Now we wait.”

“We can’t just hide here forever, waiting for someone to come looking for us.”

“Believe me, they haven’t stopped looking for us. We’ll be safe here for a few days.”

“What’s the plan, then?”

“Damn, girl. I just pulled you and that pain in the ass over there out of a whole heap of shit. Give a man time to think.”

“Sorry. I guess the adrenaline is still going through me.”

“You hungry?” he asked.

“Maybe a little. I want to eat later, though.”

“Is he a heavy sleeper?”

Hale’s mind worked fast. He wasn’t the type to sit and hem and haw over a decision.

“Why?”

He had that dangerous look in his eye.

“It doesn’t matter. He can deal with it.”

He scooped me up in his strong arms and carried me down the hall.

“You don’t quit, do you?”

“Not when there’s a woman like you within arm’s reach. Now take off that blouse.”

This time there was no games. He wanted to fuck.

I guess I was too slow in responding because he yanked the shirt off my shoulders and down around my waist.

“You know, if you ruin my clothes every time we have sex, I’m going to be walking around naked in less than a week.”

“Fine with me.”

He pulled his belt free from the loops and bent it in half. When he snapped it, the hair on the back of my neck stood on end.

“Next time when I tell you to get your clothes off, don’t play around.”

“Or what?”

He pulled me by the elbow and spun me around to face the bed.

“Bend over.”

“What?”

Hale placed his strong hand on my hip and used his other forearm to bend me over at the waist.

“Keep your feet flat on the ground.”

My back arched and my butt poked out.

“Ask me again.”

“I…”

The belt snapped on my backside with a stinging quickness. It made a sound that reminded me of a paper bag popping.

He did it again.

I yelped.

“You’re bad,” I whispered. I honestly couldn’t think of anything else to say.

The rough play drove me wild. It bordered on the edge. I knew he wouldn’t do it too hard, but it still made me hold my breath.

The buckle clanged when he threw the belt against the wall.

“Let’s try this again. Get out of those jeans.”

I turned back to face him and popped the button free.

Never breaking eye contact, I fell back on the bed and shimmied free of them.

“Like this?” I asked, innocently.

“Just like that,” he said.

His voice was low and predatory.

When he leapt, I opened myself to him. His toned body fell between my legs. I wrapped him up in the strongest hold I could manage.

We kissed. A long, passionate caress followed by several quick pecks.

“I need to be inside of you.”

Hale yanked my panties to the side and inserted himself, roughly.

“Ohhhhhh.”

He filled me completely. His cock pulsed inside when I put my mouth to his neck.

Each of us balanced on an elbow as we let our bodies wrap and sync together. There was madness in our movements.

Hale jammed himself into me. We went at it hard. The sex was relentless. We took turns, struggling for position. He mounted me and erupted inside. I climbed on top and rode him until my muscles gave out.

We fucked like that until the sun started to rise the next morning. If we didn’t have business to take care of, I’m not sure he would have stopped.

He was insatiable.

J
ared was still
on the couch. If not for the empty beer cans on the floor next to him, I might have believed he didn’t move all night. He was even in the same position.

Hale was in the shower. He said something about getting together with some other bikers to take care of things. I didn’t ask any more questions now that Jared was back. His business could stay his business as far as I was concerned.

It was hard to believe how much had changed over the past few months. I thought I’d be doing my nursing clinicals over the summer… not hiding from a dangerous biker gang with my outlaw boyfriend.

“I’ll be back later. You guys stay put.”

“Where are you going?” asked Jared.

“Don’t worry about it. Stay here and hang out with Adeline.”

“Why? What’s up?”

“Jesus, kid. Let me do this thing, okay? It doesn’t have anything to do with you anymore.”

“You’re going to the club house, aren’t you? I can clean up my own mess, Roughneck. I don’t need you to take up for me.”

“You’ve proven that, haven’t you?” Hale said, sarcastically. “It seems like all I’ve been doing is cleaning up after you.”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“I’m not going to the club house anyway,” he continued. “I’m headed out to meet with a couple of guys my contact gave me. They’re gonna help me out with some guns. You know… just in case. Stay here with you sister and watch over her while I’m gone.”

For the shortest of instances, I thought Jared was going to make the ultimate bad decision. But he chose not to challenge Hale further. Instead of saying any more, he dropped his head and walked back to the other bedroom.

“I’ll be back in a couple of hours.”

Before he left, he walked across the room and planted a sweet kiss on the corner of my mouth. I already missed him.

A hot shower and a cup of coffee sounded like the perfect combination to tide me over until he returned. Maybe after, I’d…

The sound of keys jingling disrupted my train of thought.

Jared didn’t say anything as he passed me on his way to the front door.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I’m going with Roughneck. He might need somebody to watch his back.”

“Are you crazy? Didn’t you hear anything he just said?”

“Don’t worry about it. We owe him for what he’s done for us. I’m just going so he’s not alone.”

“He won’t let you go, Jared.”

“I’m just gonna follow. He won’t see me until he needs me. You don’t understand how these people operate, Sis. When you’re in a club, you don’t do anything without somebody watching your back.”

Jared grabbed his phone off the coffee table and walked outside.

I chased him to the parking lot.

“Wait!”

He craned his neck to look down the street. I followed his gaze to see Hale waiting at the intersection. Maybe if I could stall Jared long enough, he wouldn’t be able to see which way to go.

“Think about this,” I said. “What if he needs us to stay here for a reason that we don’t know about? Maybe he needs your help with something here.”

Even I didn’t believe that. A guy like Hale didn’t trust a guy like Jared with anything.

“Stop freaking out, Addy. It’s all good.”

“It’s not all good, Jared. You can’t just follow Hale around. He does things his way and if you try to disrupt that he’s gonna be pissed.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, okay? I can’t sit in that shitty condo all night or I’ll go crazy. You know I can’t stay still.”

“And I also know you’re always getting yourself into trouble!”

He ignored me, pulling his helmet over the mop of hair he’d been trying to grow out before riding away. As he disappeared around the corner… the same way Hale went… I didn’t have the energy to worry about how it would all play out. If Hale wanted to break both of Jared’s arms when they got home, then so be it.

I was tired of the back and forth.

The hot shower started calling my name again. It was going to feel
so
good to wash away last night and relax in peace and quiet. I took a deep breath and said a silent thank you for the things I had in my life.

And
that’s
when they grabbed me.