Riding Raw

by Stephanie Ganon

  "Hence Duff."

  "That's right. But I like you for more than just your shiny hair and long legs and remarkably perky breasts."

  "Imagine that,” Lily mumbled.

  "Ain't it the darnedest thing?” He leaned over, grazing her ear with his lips. “I'll also admit that knowing you taste like ripe peaches is enough to drive me to distraction.” She shuddered against him, and he knew her heart was racing as much as his. “But the next time we're together, it's going to be because we want it, not because you owe me. Not because you think you need to apologize or work off a debt. Okay?"

  She wound her arms around his neck, holding on with all her might. Her tears fell on his neck, hot and violent, shaking her whole body. “Oh, Bo. If I'd met someone like you a long time ago..."

  "I'm here now."

  They sat together for a long time, not speaking. Bo thought Duff would be displeased by this turn of events, but he could no longer view Lily Dumont as some conniving harlot. Especially when she'd so quickly managed to make her way into his heart.

  Duff hadn't moved an inch since Bo and Lily had left to go shopping. Instead he patted the remote in search of something noisy and stupid to while away the time. Unfortunately for him, there were far too many options, and he and the TV wound up quitting on each other.

  The house's stillness comforted him, allowing him time to hash things out.

  What Duff most needed was to concentrate on the worst decision he'd ever made. Allowing Lily Dumont back into his home—back into his life—could destroy what had taken him years to build. He should have sent her packing. But coward that he was, he'd allowed that siren to get her soft, experienced hands on Bo.

  Duff wasn't stupid. He'd seen it. Seen it with his own eyes. Bo was smitten—as smitten with that no-account lady as much as Duff ever was.

  He chided himself for these weaknesses of will, but thinking about her always led to thoughts of sex. Now that she'd done it to Bo, Duff had no illusions. The man was a goner.

  If Duff had been a religious man, he would have considered his thoughts sinful, even more so than his sinful flesh. In his youth, his mother had warned him about fast women, of how they'd steal his heart right before pocketing his wallet. But he'd managed to make it to nearly forty years old before taking leave of his senses and allowing pussy to run roughshod over his mind.

  But it had been more than the sex, and Duff knew it.

  The night they'd met, Lily had sparked something he'd assumed was dead inside him. He'd never been so happy or ever felt as good. Her leaving, of course, had the opposite effect—throwing him into a funk so black he'd even considered suicide one angry, lonely, drunken night.

  And here she was trying to do it all again—to both him and Bo? Hell, no.

  Oh, he'd been weak all right, but that was human, and he was allowed one mistake. But he'd be damned if he would allow her to take away one more inch of his self-respect. Or an inch of anything else for that matter.

  Duff got on the phone to check on Lily's car. He needed to get her the hell out of there. And soon.

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  Chapter Six

  When Lily returned with Bo, she was surprised to see Duff waiting on the porch.

  "I talked to Tim Watson while y'all were out. He says he and his son will be here around nine tomorrow to drop off Lily's car.” He eyed their bags and her new sneakers and jeans.

  Bo was tight-lipped. “Good to know.” He stepped past Duff and went inside, leaving Lily and Duff alone.

  She set down her bag and slumped in the rocker. “Tim always did have a way with cars. Whatever the problem was, he took care of it quick, didn't he?"

  Duff stared off into the distance rather than look at her. “That's why he's been looking after my vehicles for the past fifteen years. He's good at what he does, and he doesn't try to price gouge old friends."

  His voice sounded as rigid as his body, each word clipped and perfunctory. The wall he'd started building that morning was higher now, nearly insurmountable, and Lily wasn't sure she had the strength to scale it. Yet every time anger and self-pity attempted to seep in, she dismissed them. She'd brought this on herself, and she'd accept the consequences.

  What she would not do, however, was beg. “After I put away my things, I'll come back out to help you round up the animals for the night."

  "No need,” he said. “But I appreciate the gesture."

  Knowing him the way she did, she thought it better to back off, since talking to him while he was this pensive would only lead to a blowout. “I'll get my stuff packed. Let me know when the car is fixed."

  She followed in Bo's steps, confident she was leaving Duff to ponder a world without her in it.

  Lily didn't register the intruder's presence until it was too late.

  She awoke to a hand clamped over her mouth. The other leveled a knife against her throat. He pressed down lightly, trailing a line of blood along her neck.

  "Don't say a word,” Shane Doherty whispered. “You're coming with me, Lily, and you'll do it quietly. I got my gun in my belt just in case you decide to run. So don't."

  Terror knotted her belly as she followed Shane's instructions. He pulled her from the bed, pushing her toward the door.

  "We're leaving through the back so your boyfriend won't hear. If you scream, you'll be dead before he reaches you. Understand?"

  She nodded, already resigned to her fate. She'd been a coward all her life, and she wouldn't begin fighting now. Getting Duff and Bo involved was the last thing she planned to do.

  No. Let them think she'd snuck off as she had before. She would do whatever Shane demanded, anything he desired, if it meant keeping Duff and Bo safe.

  As they moved through the house, her heartbeat was deafening—like a drumbeat sending her closer to her doom. Stumbling through the dark, she bumped into a large flowerpot.

  "Whoa,” he whispered, righting the pot before it crashed to the floor. “Don't do that again, Lily.” Yanking her arm painfully, he pulled her body against him, and they continued their journey.

  "I didn't—” She stopped, realizing her voice was too high. They'd finally made it to the door, so nothing she said would make a difference anyway.

  "Open it. Take your time. I know it squeaks."

  Breathless, she reached for the door with a trembling hand, frightened of what Shane would do if she dared make a sound.

  Pop!

  Lily turned in what felt like slow motion to determine where the sound had originated. Shane lay on the floor. She launched herself backward against the door and tried to make sense of what she saw.

  "You all right, Lily?"

  Bo?

  Her vision began to clear, and she quickly picked out Bo's slight form in the darkness. His black T-shirt had given him cover, but as he approached the door, the light on the back porch illuminated him.

  "Shit.” Duff followed close behind. “Don't know why you're pretending to be dead, Doherty. My man here is a damn good shot, and I happen to know he only meant to scare you.” He flicked on the overhead light, and everything swam into focus.

  Shane remained motionless, filling Lily with both dread and relief. She saw no blood, but that didn't mean he wasn't wounded.

  "Let's see here.” Duff reached down, flipped Shane over, and squeezed the arm he had so artfully fallen upon. He withdrew a bloody hand and wiped it on his jeans. “You all right, Doherty?"

  "Fuck! Goddamn it!” Shane was on his feet instantly. “I'm—I'm gonna call the law."

  "Go ahead. One of my buddies will come down promptly. Then you can explain why you broke into my house and tried to kidnap this pretty lady."

  Shane rubbed the tear in his shirt until his fingers came away bloody. “You tried to kill me."

  "If I had been trying to kill you, you'd be dead,” Bo assured him.

  Shane turned his ire on Lily, his cowardice exceeding any pride he might have. “Did you really think I wouldn't find you? That I wouldn't know the
first place you'd go when you decided to run?"

  Lily glared at him. “I'm surprised you can find your own dick. I never could."

  "Oh and this"—he gestured at Duff—"homo's dick makes you come running?"

  "Hard,” she said, and she wasn't just tossing low blows to hurt Shane's poor little feelings. In addition to being a drunken abuser, he sported a less than impressive endowment.

  Duff cleared his throat. “Much as I've enjoyed this reunion, Doherty, it's time for you to leave. If you come back, you're gonna need more than the law to help you."

  Shane shook his head. “I don't even know why I bothered. This bitch ain't worth the hassle.” His smugness dissipated when Bo leveled the pistol on him. “I thought you'd know better than this, McKay, but it looks like she's got you whipped...in spite of your friend."

  "Keep lipping off and the only one around here who'll be whipped is you, Doherty."

  "I doubt that.” As quick as a cat, Shane pounced, pulling Lily to him. Removing the gun from his belt, he pressed the muzzle to her head. “I'm leaving, and I'm taking her with me. You try to stop us, and she'll be dead before you get me."

  Bo's focus never wavered. “You try to take her out of this house and you'll be dead before you make it to your car."

  Lily shook her head. “No. No! Just let me go.” She craned her neck in an attempt to make eye contact. “I'll go with you, Shane. I want to go."

  "The hell you will.” Bo's trigger finger twitched.

  "But I want to!” Her mind raced for any words that would defuse the situation. “I appreciate your hospitality, fellas. But my man says it's time to go.” She pressed her body closer to Shane and tried not to shudder in disgust. “I'm ready."

  Duff's words astounded them all. “Let her go, Bo. He wants her. She wants to go. I don't particularly want her to stay. It's a win-win."

  Lily winced. She hadn't realized Duff's hatred for her ran this deep. The knowledge stung more than anything he'd ever said.

  "Are you crazy?” Bo looked at Duff like he was a stranger. “What the hell are you saying?"

  "That it's time to take out the trash,” Shane said, his hearty laugh shaking Lily to her core. “McKay, you're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for.” Snagging his hand in Lily's hair, he forced her to the door. “We'll be on our way."

  She smiled at Duff and Bo before being pushed out the door.

  Duff grabbed Bo's arm.

  "You can't just let her go with him!"

  "Who can't?” Duff asked. “Besides, Mike Hartwell called not an hour before y'all came home to tell me Doherty was back in town. I even know the motel he's staying at."

  Bo relaxed a little, and Duff was glad to see his partner already had the gist of the plan.

  "We'll give Doherty a few miles’ head start. Then we get her."

  Bo embraced him. “We'll get him too."

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  Chapter Seven

  An hour after leaving Duff's, Lily stared out the passenger side window as Shane guided his rental into a motor lodge's parking lot. He got out and went to the passenger side, offering her a hand. She jerked away and kicked at him until he backed off.

  "Oh, now, don't be that way, little lady,” he drawled, grabbing her arm. Once she was on her feet, he kissed her, and she recoiled from the taste of expensive whiskey and bad breath. “If you don't behave, I'm going to have to teach you a lesson, Lily. You don't want that, do you?"

  She didn't resist when he led her to the room. The inevitability of it all wasn't lost on her, and frankly she'd grown tired of fighting it. This was her lot in life—the path she'd chosen. She'd best make peace with that and try to make it out alive.

  Once inside, Shane shoved her to the bed like she was no more than a sack of potatoes. “You haven't said a word in over an hour, sweetness. How long you gonna keep this up?"

  Lily didn't respond.

  "Fine by me. Besides, you know I've never been much for women who talked a whole lot. But a screaming woman is a whole ‘nother thing entirely.” He launched at her, backhanding her hard enough to lay her flat.

  The taste of warm copper flooded her mouth. She scrambled up the bed to get away, the whoosh of her own terrified screams sounding in her ears.

  "No need for you to talk, Lily. I mean to do all the talking from here on out, and you'll damn well listen, won't ya?” He unbuttoned his bloodstained shirt and flung it to the floor. Fingering the small gash on his arm, he scowled in the mirror. “Damn fag tried to kill me."

  She watched in horror as he touched his belt buckle and recalled the savagery of his slaps, the way the leather welted her skin.

  She waited for his next move.

  He suddenly laughed. “It occurred to me that I ought to kill you—to simply put you down like the miserable bitch you are."

  Lily sucked her swollen lip. Shane Doherty didn't have the balls to kill an ant. A liter of liquid courage wasn't enough to make a man out of him. If she ever broke her vow of silence, she'd make sure to tell him just that.

  Grumbling to himself, he poured a shot of whiskey into a paper cup. “You want some?"

  Lily rolled her eyes.

  "More for me, then.” He downed it quickly and poured another. “This is some good shit. The best.” He dipped a finger into it and flinched as he rubbed the alcohol across the wound on his arm. “I'm gonna have to find a drug store; otherwise, this thing could get infected.” He poured another shot.

  Good. She wanted him to drink. He liked booze even more than he liked hurting her.

  "I don't know what you thought you were doing,” he whispered. “Did you really think I wouldn't find you? That I wouldn't know exactly where you would go? How stupid are you, Lily? Did you think I would make it easy?"

  She'd thought he'd be too piss drunk and angry to care. She'd thought—after bashing his face in with a lamp—he'd get the message and leave her alone. So maybe she was stupid.

  Simply asking him to stop beating her had done little more than increase the frequency of his attacks. Why she'd assumed violence would get her message across was now a mystery—oh wait, since men like Shane only understood violence, she'd reasoned a bump on the head would shake his devotion to making her life a living hell.

  Yeah. Stupid.

  He prowled the space in front of the bed. He was just warming up, and as soon as he'd made his usual grand declaration about loving her enough to kill her, he'd come for her. And the pain would begin. So would the begging and crying.

  But not tonight. And never again.

  Lily withdrew inside herself so much she barely heard Shane's speech. Not that she needed to listen very closely. She knew it by heart.

  You have to kill him.

  There was no urgency to the thought. It was simply there.

  It was suddenly so clear. It made sense. And the kicker? The voice in her head belonged to a man she barely knew. Bo, her friend, had crept into her subconscious and offered his advice.

  If you kill him, he won't be able to hurt you again. Wouldn't that be wonderful? You'd be able to sleep through the night, Lily.

  Shane marched back and forth, pontificating about bad girls who deserved to pay. The glint of his belt buckle caught her eye, and she almost doubled over from an all too recent memory. She scanned the room, looking for anything that could save her.

  That's right, hon. There has to be something in here to do the trick, Bo told her.

  No, no, there isn't. The damned lamp is bolted to the desk! There's nothing I can use.

  Her mind went silent, and she wilted, the last of her courage slipping.

  "And I told you to stop dressing that way! But nooo, you have to show everything the good Lord gave you to the whole entire world. I knew you wasn't clean, but my God, can't you at least pretend to be a lady? You need to—"

  She noted the change in his pitch before tuning him out again. A few more minutes, maybe. He tossed back another drink. Yes. Another few minutes before he'd strike.
<
br />   "But I love you, in spite of it all, Lily, and I ain't prepared to give up on you!"

  Her pulse jumped. Shane's tirade seemed to be in fast-forward, jerking off the rails. She shrank into the pillows, wishing with all her might she could just disappear.

  He'd said he loved her.

  While most women could expect hugs and kisses after a similar pronouncement, Lily had discovered Shane's idea of love was rough. His love was usually hard and forceful and doled out with little warning. His love often left scars and bruises.

  That's not love, Lily, Bo said wisely. You know that.

  She did know.

  And by the time another familiar voice spoke up, she already knew what she had to do.

  Get him, baby, Duff said. Finish this but good.

  Lily shook her hair until it hung like spun gold around her shoulders. She patted the space beside her.

  Shane stopped in his tracks, the rest of his speech forgotten. “What's this now?” His voice sounded small and hopeful. “You finally decide to be nice?"

  "You know I can't resist you for long, Shane. I was stupid to try this long."

  "I'll say.” His gaze darkened with lust. “You need to realize how good you have it. We're happy most of the time, aren't we?” He moved to the bed's edge. “I only act like this when you do something you're not supposed to. If you acted like a proper wife, I wouldn't have to be so hard on you."

  Lily batted her eyes. “Wife? But we're not married, Shane."

  "I'm willing to, you know that. But I gotta be able to trust you. I can't do that with you traipsing around all the time looking like you're single. Any wife of mine has to be respectable in every way.” He ran a grubby hand across her thigh.

  Lily forced a smile to her lips. “So, if I stop making you mad, we can get married?” She'd intended to sound hopeful, but the ring of sarcasm met her ears. Luckily Shane was too far gone to notice.

  "It's what I want more than anything, Lily.” As he spoke, he drew closer. “If you start treating me the way I deserve to be treated, everything will be all right. I got everything you need to be happy. Just stop running around like you ain't got sense, and you'll see."