by Jayne Blue
“Gotcha,” I heard Steel say to me, and the popping continued. He revved his bike and looped around the driveway.
“They’re the police, and they want to hurt me.”
“I’m getting you out of here. Hang on.” I did just that. Steel’s bike picked up speed, and the two men who were supposed to be working for the police got in their car.
I hoped like heck the biker I had decided to trust was a better bet than the police my Uncle Reid had contacted.
Eight
Steel
* * *
That girl could run. That was my first thought. She was lithe, fast, her motions economical. But that was only a split second of thought. The instinct that I needed to be here for her was spot on. I needed to get to her.
I saw why she was so fast on my second glance. Then I heard the gunshots.
She hopped into my arms like she was meant to be there, because dammit, she was. If the bullets were going to land anywhere, I hoped they landed in my leather, in my back. It wasn’t the first time I realized my body covered a lot of real estate, but it was the first time I was this fucking relieved about it.
I just hoped if I got hit, I had enough time to get Darby to safety. Satisfied that she was secure enough across the front of me, I gave my bike more juice. Whoever they were, those two assholes were fading into the distance. And it would take them a few minutes to get into their car to make a dent in the space between us.
We were off her property and on the road. I would have to find a place to stop soon, to get Darby safely on the bike behind me, but I didn’t have that luxury in this particular second.
Normally, I’d head straight to the M.C. When there was trouble there was no place, I’d rather be than with my brothers. But right now, in this case, I worried. Had those two seen my cut? Did they know I’d be aiming to get home to my club?
I had to lose them. I knew the woods surrounding The Gates, the buffer between the exclusive community and the regular suburbs, was probably my best plan. We drove in circles, doubled back, and I cut in on a quiet driveway. I killed the engine.
“What are we doing? They’re right behind us. I can feel it.” Darby looked wild, keyed up, hunted, and it hurt my heart that all those things were true right now.
“Shh. Head to the undergrowth.” I pointed to the thick bushes, and she nodded. I pushed my bike, engine off, into the woods behind her.
Darby powered through the brambles and bushes, and I followed. I put my bike down on its side.
“That should be good. Just stay low.” Darby nodded and did as I said. She crouched down. No one could see us from the road. If they looked, they’d just see brush, bushes, and trees. I was banking on that being enough. I wasn’t armed like the two men chasing Darby, so we needed this break.
I heard her gasp and left my bike to crouch next to her.
“Shh.” I put my arm out, and she put her hand on it. I was there to steady her, calm her, whatever she needed. And I surprised myself at how powerful that feeling was, how it felt like an honor. I shook it off and kept my eyes peeled for the two goons that had been chasing her.
I heard an engine in the distance. A car was coming. Darby shifted closer to me, and I pulled her in. My arm was now around her shoulders, and she was hidden not only by the unmanicured woods around us but by me. It felt like she belonged there, tucked into me. I pulled her closer.
While my body was hers to use as she needed, my eyes and brain were focused on the road. The sound of the car got closer. I hugged Darby in tight, and the car drove slowly past our position. It was them, the two that had been chasing us all this time. Neither of them had their eyes on the road but on the sides of it. Right where we were.
I knew we were far enough back to be unseen, but I also knew bad luck could fuck with my plans in a heartbeat, leaving Darby exposed to whoever these assholes were.
I watched as the car was closed in on our position. My hand on Darby’s back was firm and steady. She had to stay still, and so did I. The car rolled past us. I watched the taillights disappear around a curve. They were screwed. They had no idea where we were.
I knew their direction now and could plan a route out of The Gates.
The farther the car got, the more I understood how I was reacting to having Darby so close. She was beautiful, that was obvious, but something about her made me react in a way I never had before.
I eased up on my stronghold around her for a moment. I realized I might have scared her more than the two men chasing her, with my rough looks and rougher ways.
She was a princess in a tower if there ever was one, and I was more ogre than a knight.
But then something took over. Darby looked up at me with her eyes big. Her plump lips quivered, and I couldn’t look away from her. She tilted her face up to mine. I leaned down and put my lips on hers. I hadn’t planned to. It wasn’t a move or me trying to get laid.
I just had to taste her lips. It was restrained. She was vulnerable, and I wasn’t going to fucking take advantage of that. It was light as a feather until she parted those lips and I darted in with my tongue. Instinct, desire—I don’t know what to call it—took over. I wanted to be inside her however I could, even if it was only this kiss.
She moaned and pulled herself closer to me. This was fucking hotter than anything I’d ever experienced. And it was dangerous as hell. We were literally not out of the woods. I had to get her out of her. I stopped, I had to keep my head on straight.
“Steel. I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me?” She was flustered. I was too, but my dark skin made it a lot harder to tell. I didn’t even want to think of the word hard, because that was happening, it was not a good time for my body to take the driver’s seat.
“You’re sorry? Baby, there’s not one thing in the world to apologize for. But we have to go.” I stood up, pulled her to her feet, and helped her back onto my bike.
I was going to get her out of here, safe. Then we’d figure this shit out.
I had no idea what we were up against, but it was more complicated than what we’d started with.
And I had a serious attraction to this woman who was part porcelain doll, part tough as nails.
Nine
Darby
* * *
I couldn’t say for sure if he kissed me or I kissed him. All I knew for sure was that, when we did, something changed in me. Something new came to life. It thrilled and terrified me. Just like Steel.
We rode out of The Gates and into Grand City. In The Gates the cars were fancy, and there was no traffic. Steel’s ride and Filch and Shaw’s car stuck out. They were out of place. As we headed into the city, that changed. Cars merged, passed, stopped, turned, and for the first time in a long time, I was comforted by the city. Not afraid of it.
I’d been in my own home, and the most unsafe I’d been in my life. And now, out here, we were blending in with the rest of the people in the city. No one knew I was being chased or that inside, I was managing my agoraphobia on a whole new level right now. And no one knew that the number one emotion, over the fear, the confusion, even the exhaustion, was the feeling of connection. I was feeling a powerful connection to Steel, a man I barely knew, but who’d now showed up twice and saved me.
I put my head on his shoulder, and it protected me again, this time from the chill in the air.
I didn’t know where we were going, but for now, that was okay. For now, I was safe. I shivered a bit. Western Michigan was hot in the summer, but this was far from summer. Early spring may as well be winter. I’d run with just the clothes on my back. Oh, and cash. I had cash. I had an innate sense that I might need to lean on that cash. I didn’t know why.
There were a lot of things I didn’t know right now, but cash was good. I had cash and the shoulder of this man. Maybe that was enough to get me through the next few hours.
We were in the center of the old part of Grand City, called Uptown. There were brick buildings, storefronts, and a lot of people walking, even in
the chill of April. I let myself look around. This place could use a vintage bookstore. If I’d ever left my house to explore, maybe I’d know more about the very city I lived in. But I didn’t.
I brought my thoughts to the dire situation I’d now found myself in. Twice in as many days my life had been on the line.
Eventually, we stopped at a large storefront. The glass window spanned half the block. Painted on the front were the words ‘Great Wolves Gym.’ Steel pulled around to an ally next to the building. He cut the engine and got off the bike. I was staring at the building. What was going to happen next in my life? I was living out one of the books I treasured. Doing was nothing like reading. The absence of Steel’s body heat underlined how cold I was. I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Shit, sorry, I didn’t think about how cold you must be. You’re probably in shock too.”
“No, I’m not in shock. It's just cold.” I smiled. I was surprised to find I could smile.
“Come on, let’s get inside.” I took his hand; it was warm compared to mine. My fingers were white and brittle in his hand, which looked like it could break cement.
“Where are we?”
“My club owns this place. We’re safe here. It’s a mixed martial arts gym. Anyone messes with you, every man woman and child in this place can tear ‘em apart.”
“Ah.” We walked to a back door.
“Plus, no one is going to be looking for you here.”
“That is true.”
We walked in, and the heat of the place wafted toward me immediately. I was cold down to my bones, and this place was filled with warm bodies. We passed a storage area and headed through the gym.
“Just stick close to me.” He didn’t have to say that. I had no other immediate plan.
As we walked, I took in the scene. The place was huge. There were sections with punching bags, a few rings for fighting, an area with weights, and on the walls, there were giant posters. Each poster was of a muscular fighter wearing some sort of belt. All of the posters were stamped with a symbol of a wolf. A symbol that was on Steel’s jacked and I suspected somewhere on his gorgeous body.
Whoa. Where did that thought come from? An image flashed in my mind of what he must look like under his leather and t-shirt. That was not me, at all. I’d never been boy crazy. Though this was no boy, this was a man. And this gym was clearly a man’s word. Every step I’d taken since I’d left for the mall the other day was another step into a dark unknown. I felt myself holding tight to Steel’s hand now. Somehow the path was less frightening if I had him with me.
I had to try to figure out so much, and I also had reminded myself that Steel could be just as dangerous as everyone else I’d encountered. He looked it. I shouldn’t trust my attraction, should I?
We breezed through the back of the gym and to an area reserved for offices. A huge, sweaty fighter popped his head in.
“Hey Steel, who’s the pretty lady?” The fighter sent a smile my way, and I felt myself blush and look down. He was practically naked, his gym shorts leaving zero to the imagination.
“Eyes and hands off, Hoolihan,” Steel said and stepped in front of me.
“Relax, congenial as ever I see.”
“Anyone but a Great Wolf asks for us, you haven’t seen us.”
“Check, your lady there is freezing. I’m going to grab a sweatshirt.”
Steel looked at Hoolihan and nodded. A few minutes later a sweatshirt with the Great Wolves MMA Gym logo on the front appeared at the end of Hoolihan’s muscular arm.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Hoolihan,” I said and put it over my head.
“Ha, did you hear that? I like that. Mr. Hoolihan.”
“Get the fuck out of here,” Steel said.
“It’s Jessie,” Hoolihan said and left us again.
“And thanks!” Steel grumbled. Jessie Hoolihan raised a hand and waved in answer but kept walking.
“Does he work here?”
“No, he currently holds an international middleweight title. Despite being a pain in my ass.”
“He seemed nice.”
“Like I said, stick close to me. And I’m sorry I didn’t realize how cold that ride was for you.”
“I didn’t really have much time to plan my wardrobe.”
“Sit, Sawyer will be here soon. He’ll know what to do.”
“Thank you. And now that we have a minute, how did you know I was in trouble? That I needed to get out of there?”
“We have a connection in law enforcement, or close to it, and no one called about you.”
“Well, my uncle didn’t know I was gone, so he couldn’t call the police.”
“Even after that, too much time had passed. It made me nervous.”
“You could have called the police?”
“We did. Sawyer has a connection, my club Prez. We were on it right away.”
“My uncle did call though, that’s who those men said they were.”
“So, what happened, why did you run?”
“One started touching me and the other was asking inappropriate questions. I mean, I knew I had to make a statement to the police, and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy. But it was wrong, and then…they knew something they had no way to know.”
“What?”
“They knew there were other girls in that basement, and I hadn’t told them that yet. So, I got out of there as fast as I could.”
“Where the hell was your uncle during all this?”
“He left me with two officers. I was supposed to be safe.”
Steel scowled, and I knew it was meant for my uncle.
“Honestly, my uncle was just trying to make it easy. He thought I would be more comfortable at home, talking to the police there instead of the outside.”
“The outside?”
“I don’t go out much, ever, and when I do? Look what happened? I have agoraphobia, a pretty bad case. And it’s supposed to be all in my head, but first the mall, and then...”
Then came tears. First a trickle, and then a flood. My body shook with them, and I didn’t think my legs could hold me.
Steel crossed the room, and I was in his arms again. This time he held me up, I didn’t think I could do it for myself. The events of the last few hours washed over me in waves.
“They were going to hurt me, and those girls in the basement, they were all starving, being drugged. I was next. Why? What?” All the things I wanted to say were cut off by my sobs. I felt unhinged, racked by terror, at what had nearly happened to me.
“It’s okay. You’re okay. I’m here. You are safe. No one is going to touch you. Ever. It’s okay.” And the big biker’s gruff voice turned soft. He smoothed my hair.
“I’m so weak. So sorry.”
“Sorry? You have zero to be sorry for. Let it out. Better out than in, that’s right.” In the years since my mother had passed, no one had comforted me, held me, cooed even, to help me settle down. This man in leather did. And I let him.
“I’m always so afraid. And now this.”
“I think you’re brave as fuck. And strong.”
“What?”
“You survived that kidnapping. You walked out of there. And then today? You were smart as hell knowing to run. Two men with guns were after you, and you fucking escaped. They’re no match for you, Darby Bishop.”
Steel produced a tissue and blotted my wet cheeks. I hiccupped a few times in an effort to get myself together. And, amazingly, I felt a little better. Like a pressure valve was released when I let myself go a little.
“I think I got snot on your leather jacket,” I said and laughed at my own joke.
“Oh, that’s not fair, baby.”
“What?”
“Your laugh, it’s too cute. I’m going to do whatever it takes to make that happen as much as possible. Your face lights up. Jesus, you’re gorgeous.” And the mood shifted. Steel was looking at me, and his eyes felt hot on my skin. He leaned down, and I reached up on my toes.
Our lips
locked, and this time, it was hungry, it was powerful, and it was so close to the edge of control I didn’t know who I was anymore. I felt his arms around me, as he pulled my body into his hard chest. The heat of him, the electricity, it was everything.
Bells were going off in my head and sensations were sparking from my chest to my core that I didn’t recognize and could only name from books I’d read. This couldn’t be my real life.
I was turned on and felt so thirsty for every part of him. Steel’s tongue probed into mine. I wanted to suck his lips, feel his skin, all kinds of things that I’d only read about. My experience level was zero. And his was clearly off the chart sexy.
“Ahem.” I heard, and I jumped away from Steel. I was flustered and a little embarrassed at my own boldness.
Another man in leather was leaning in the door. This one was older than Steel, leaner, but just as handsome. On his leather vest I read the name ‘Sawyer’ and under that was a patch that read ‘Prez’.
“You really think that’s a good idea, Steel?”
“No.” Steel stepped back, and Sawyer walked into the room.
“Glad to see you’re okay. If he gets fresh again, you can kick him in the nuts.”
“Uh, I think I was the fresh one.” I blurted out the words. As much fear and suspicion as I usually felt for strangers, with Steel, it was the opposite. Something in me recognized him as a safe haven.
“Well, okay then. But it’s fine by me if you kick him in the nuts anyway. I’m sure he deserves it for one reason or another. Now, we need to talk. And we need to talk fast. You’re in a lot of trouble, and we want to be sure you’re safe.”
It struck me then, with clarity: Sawyer was like a dad. In fact, he reminded me of my dad. Uncle Reid never did. What was it about these bikers? The world was upside down.
We sat down around a conference table in the office of the Great Wolves MMA Gym, and I recounted everything again like I had tried to for the police. This time it felt right, and not creepy like it did with the cops. I left out the part about me being a virgin. I couldn’t say it out loud, again.