by Nikki Wild
“Kara, you and I aren’t all that different. You're not the only one who has big plans. We dream big out here too. We had sponsorships lined up. Dad and I put together a couple cars and we were winning races and heading all the way to the top. That engine he put together for us was a thing of beauty. He could have sold that thing to any team in Nascar, but he didn’t. When Jimmy pulled all his bullshit, the stock cars were the only thing my father wasn’t willing to part with. It’s more than just the cars. That garage held our big happy future.”
I took a breath and gave the words time to evaporate. It was hard to go over all of this again, but I’d promised her the truth. “But the future has a way of kicking you in the teeth. My dad and Jimmy are both buried on the property. Sometimes on the wind I can hear her crying at night. It's been roughest on her."
"I'm so sorry," Kara said. A look of pain washed over her face, and she almost winced. "Look… the things I said about being better than you…"
I waved her words away. "You weren't wrong."
"Why is that?"
I shrugged. "Jimmy’s debt was paid six months ago. I knew the shit the Reapers were pulling but I turned a blind eye. I could have sent them packing, but we've still got payments to make on the property. After what happened to Dad, I couldn’t just go back to racing for a living…”
“So what are you going to do now?” she asked, looking at me quizzically. “You can’t go back to working with those maniacs…”
"And I won’t. Maybe it’s time to dust off the steering wheel and get myself back into the action. If I win the right race or get spotted by the right scout… I can make ends meet.”
There wasn't much more to say, since sometimes words just get in the way. I smiled at her, and then waved the bartender over. Sam had owned this place for more than thirty years, and he'd keep Kara safe while I did what I had to do. I shook his hand as he approached. "I've got some business across the street," I told him, angling my chin at the chop shop, barely visible through the window. "Look after my girl for me until I get back?"
Sam nodded, although for a moment it looked like he was thinking about saying no. That was how bad things had gotten. Those guys and their bikes had the run of this town, and things were getting worse around here every day. Still, there was enough of a backbone to him for me to trust him. I could see it in his eyes.
Kara didn't like it. That much was obvious, but she was new here and I'd done enough explaining for today. She was just going to have to listen.
"I’m just going to need some parts to repair the Bentley. That means I need to go make a deal. I'll be back soon," I told her, getting up. "If I take too long, Sam will give you a ride back to my place. He knows the way."
Chapter 19
Kara
I watched him stride out of the bar, and before the back door could slowly swing all the way shut I heard the tow truck start. For a second I was worried that I'd missed something. Was he abandoning me?
"He'll be okay," Sam said. He was a big, beefy sixty-year-old that looked like he'd been through a couple of wars. He had a line of tattoos down his left arm, and a few on the knuckles of his right hand. They were all faded, and I couldn't make them out.
"You think so?" I asked.
"If anyone can walk into that viper den and walk back out in once piece, it's Dane Carson."
That was all the answer I got. I was ready to bite my nails and worry, but after fifteen minutes spent wondering if Dane was coming back, he walked in with a smile on his face. "Hop up," he called from the door, holding it open. "We're good to go, gorgeous."
I went to him, trying to avoid practically running. I'd been worried, but his absence had left a gap that I wasn’t used to feeling. I was different when he was around. Better, somehow… Whether or not I was ready to admit it yet, it was clear that this small town country boy was growing on me.
When did that happen?
Probably last night, you idiot, I told myself, since you've known him for all of about fourteen hours now.
"Thanks again, Sam," Dane called.
"Anytime.”
We went back in the parking lot and got back in the tow truck. I could see a bunch of parts strapped to the back. What looked like an axle, and maybe struts? I didn't know the name of everything I was seeing, but it looked expensive.
"What’s this going to cost me?" I asked him.
"I think what you mean to ask, is how did I get back so fast?"
I shrugged. "I'm getting to that."
Dane started the truck and off we went, and I could tell by the direction he turned that we were going back to his property. "I thought there was going to be a fight. I was ready for one, but like I said earlier, they’re more interested in money than blood."
"How much?" I asked, feeling the tickle of dread invade my stomach.
"A lot," he said. “Too much, if I’m being honest. But beggars and choosers and all of that."
“Just tell me."
"Fifteen grand. They wanted twenty-five, but I talked them down. I’ll have to work with what they had. At least this way you don’t have to wait for the parts to be delivered.”
I swallowed hard and licked my lips. “Do you have that kind of money?”
“Nope. Do you?”
I shook my head. “If you can’t pay, why did they give you the parts you needed?”
Dane shrugged, and I could tell that he didn’t really want to fill me in on all the details. “I didn’t say I couldn’t pay, Kara. I said I didn’t have that kind of money. I offered them a trade.”
“That’s it? What’d you give him?”
“Odds and ends.”
“Odds and ends?”
He nodded again. It was clear that I wasn’t going to get much more out of him unless I dug a lot deeper, but I was already feeling so guilty that compounding that with nagging him about it didn’t seem fair.
Instead, I told myself that I would pay him back. Whatever it took, however many hours I had to work, however much salary I had to sacrifice… I’d see to it that Dane wouldn’t be worse off for having met me.
But when he next spoke, the weight of the world wasn't carried in his voice anymore. I knew he was trying to change the subject, and I let him. "Tell you what. I know you’re a bigshot with places to be and I’ll have you on the road tomorrow, but if you don’t mind slowing down a bit… there’s a dance tonight. The church throws one a couple of times a year. It’s supposed to keep the kids on the straight and narrow, but it’s open to everyone. Could be fun. Do you want to go with me?”
I grinned, anxious to leave the topic of money behind for a little while. "Are you asking me on a date?"
Dane winked at me, and I felt my heart bounce around in my chest. "I suppose I am."
"In that case, I'd love to."
The words had come out of my mouth, but I almost couldn’t believe I’d said them. This man had just barely gotten done telling me about all the skeletons in his closet, and I still didn’t have any answers about the trade he made with those bikers. One minute he’s telling me I’m in danger and can’t leave town, the next minute he’s asking me to a dance.
Dane goosed the accelerator as we turned onto the gravel road that led to his property, breaking my entire chain of thought. I squealed in surprise as the back wheels fishtailed, but his expert driving and talented hands steered the truck exactly down the center of the road. The expensive parts for the damaged Bentley didn’t even budge.
"Are you showing off now?" I asked him. "Is that what things have come to?"
"Yes ma'am, I am. Is it working?"
I nodded, laughing. "More than I’m willing to admit right now. You have my permission to keep trying, at least."
Dane reached over and put his hand on my knee, gently letting his palm slide even further up my thigh. "Duly noted."
Chapter 20
It had been early when we started, but all of this driving around and sitting in bars had certainly chewed up some of the day. It was almost t
wo in the afternoon by the time we got back, and when I looked at the dashboard clock and realized it, I was in a scramble to get out of the tow truck and get back to my phone.
They must be frantic back at work. For all I knew, they'd have the cops out looking for me by now. Dane called out to me as I rushed into the garage, but I ignored him. This time I’d spent with him was a lovely little mirage, a seductive distraction, but I had other things to attend to.
I grabbed my mobile phone and turned it on, desperate for there still to be enough charge to check everything. There was…
Sixteen missed phone calls. Thirty text messages. God knows how many unchecked emails, but I couldn't be certain how which of those were from people that mattered.
I sat down in the chair by the bed in the garage and went through my messages. They started off just curious, but as the hours had crept on without a reply from me, the people trying to contact me started to get frustrated. By the end, the last message clearly said, "Kara Davies, you had better be dead on the side of the road, or in a medically induced coma. Otherwise you're out of a job."
Well, they were almost right… I had been in an accident. Not that that justified leaving them in the lurch for so long.
Now, all I had to do was figure out what to say to them…
"Stuck in an emergency situation but I’m ok. If you’re going to the conference, I’ll explain everything when I see you there." And then, before I could talk myself out of it with thoughts of the life I could be leading here, I sent it.
After that I did something I don't think I'd ever done in the whole time I'd owned the phone.
I turned the damn thing off. It felt good to not have it hanging over my head, even though I knew the text wouldn’t save me. It may have bought me a little time, but they’d have a million questions. The only hope in hell I had of keeping my job was that I had a million answers by the time I saw them.
But, Dane said he could fix the car. If I could make it to Orlando before the Florida conference started, and if things went well… Well, no harm no foul, as they say…
Besides, I wanted another night here. In fact, I wanted a lot more than a date and a dance. Maybe it was about time I did something about that…
"Is everything okay?" Dane asked, sticking his head around the corner. "You ran in here like your ass was on fire."
I nodded. "It will be…"
He rolled his eyes at me. "Now who's being mysterious?"
He had a point. Still, the craziness of the text message that I'd just sent off had sparked something within me. I wasn't ready to be tied down to that job yet. Maybe I would be on Sunday, but I certainly wasn't now.
"So," I said to him, narrowing my eyes and looking at him seductively, "you don't like mysteries. You like everything to be revealed, right before your eyes? Is that what I’m hearing?"
Something about the huskiness of my voice made him change his stance, and when I reached up and slowly peeled my T-shirt over my head and pushed my skirt down my hips, he got the hint.
More to the point, he followed suit. Before I knew it, he disappeared back around the corner. I heard the rolling door of the garage thunder down, then he stepped back into view and closed the distance between us in four long strides. We were tearing at what was left of our clothes, sometimes our own and sometimes the other's.
I was wild. Insatiable. It was as if my act of defiance in turning the phone off had told me one thing, loud and clear. Make this moment count! Everything I'd ever worked for may well be burning down around me by the end of the weekend, and if I was going to sacrifice my job in exchange for a few hours of pleasure then by God, I was going to have the best sex of my entire life.
He kicked off his boots and stepped out of his jeans, but before he could push his boxers down too I was on my knees before him. I yanked them down, and when his thick cock sprung out at me, I didn't hesitate in gobbling it down. I moaned around him, locking my hands behind his lean hips and tugging him towards me even more. I could feel him hardening in my mouth, which meant that I could take less and less of him as he grew.
This was what I wanted. This feeling. Last night had been incredible, but it felt like it had been only for me. I wanted something else for both of us, and as I raced my tongue up the sensitive underside of him, making him moan right along with me, I decided that was just what we were going to have.
A time for both of us to enjoy each other.
I was running out of breath. I pressed forward against him so hard that I felt the thickness of his cock sweep across my gag reflex. I held it together, my eyes fluttering when I felt his knees buckle just a little. That sexy shiver went up his body again, and his strong thighs brushed against my bare nipples.
When I came up for air, he hooked his hands underneath my arms and tossed me on the bed. Both of us were naked, and when I landed on my back I spread my legs and crooked my finger at him in a come hither motion that I knew he’d never be able to resist.
For a second, he looked like a caveman about to jump on his prey. He leapt into the air and I squealed in delight as his arms came down on either side of my body. With unerring precision, the thick tip of him was already against my wet pussy. I angled my hips so that he could plunge into me, growling in frustration when it became clear that all he was going to do was tease me until I begged.
"Don't do this," I told him. "Give me what I want, you bastard."
Dane grinned above me, and I knew right then that I’d never be able to take all of the bad boy out of him. He liked to make me suffer. It was fun for him to watch me squirm underneath him.
"What do you want?" he asked, feigning innocence.
"The same thing you do," I told him, my voice thick with desire.
But he just shook his head. "Oh, I don't think so… I want to watch you beg for my cock until you can't take it anymore. Is that what you want, Kara?"
Despite his words, the thickness of his erection was already parting my wet lips. It was an unimaginable agony of ecstasy that he was putting me through, and every little motion of his body made it better and worse at the same time. His breathing. The way his weight shifted on the bed. Even the fucking pounding of his pulse is it raced through his cock! Every motion and movement pushed me closer to the edge, and I loved it.
But I wanted more than this. I wasn't some play thing. I wasn't a toy, for him to tease and manipulate to his will.
I lifted my hips up off the bed and tried to get him to push deeper into me, but to my increasing frustration he backed up. He was stronger than me, and it became clear that I wasn't going to get what I wanted and nothing could talk him into giving it to me.
Which pissed me off. Still, it was a challenge, and one that I felt that I was up to.
After all, we weren't new to each other anymore. Maybe last night he could surprise me by taking me the way he had, but today, things were different.
Today, I knew enough to be able to pull his strings a little too.
So, I reached up and brought his mouth to my breast. He responded by lapping at the tender flesh, and then I locked my heels behind the small of his back, holding his body against me as tightly as I could. Our muscles strained against each other, and even though he was stronger than me, that didn't mean he was going to win anymore.
I had him exactly where I wanted him. He worked us both up to a frenzy and I leaned my head down and whispered into his ear, "I thought you were good at going fast. Fuck me fast, Dane!"
The offer was more than he could take. This open invitation that I'd just given him to own me like he wanted to was something that he couldn't resist. His hips exploded into mine as if they were shot out of a cannon, and I gasped and clawed at his back as his thick cock filled me to the brim in an instant. Thankfully, all that teasing had gotten me ready for Dane, because there was no way in a million years I could have taken something that big without some type of foreplay.
I fucked back, my legs still locked around his hips. It was passion, but it was a delicious
struggle for dominance too. I don't know if either one of us ever truly won, but it didn’t matter anymore. I felt his cock throbbing and pulsing inside me as I screamed and rode him through our mutual orgasm.
Chapter 21
I'd always had ambitions. I was driven. I had goals, and I’d sacrificed so much for them.
But when I went to sleep… that’s when the nightmares started. It'd been so long since I could sleep the whole night through without waking up in a cold sweat. I didn't even know where I was running from, or what was chasing me. I couldn't remember. But I was restless, and I'd spent my life going to school and parties with so little sleep that I was like a zombie during the day.
That was different with Dane. I could rest next to him. I felt safe. Yeah, I hadn’t known him very long, but that didn't stop me from wanting to lean against him and close my eyes and let sleep take me in its warm embrace whenever I was with him.
There was something about him… Something that told me that he'd always be there for me. He was like a rock, and when I dared to look back at the life that I would have to soon rejoin I couldn't help but think of it as a river. I didn't know how I kept up with that constant, tugging current but now that I finally find found a safe place I was worried that when I tried to rejoin it, I’d drown.
Maybe that was why I fell asleep, even though the day was far from over. There's something about the warm, lazy heat of the early afternoon that made a nap seem like the most appropriate thing. I can remember a few times being aware of his presence, of his lips against my ear or the rise and fall of his chest beneath my head. He looked after me, and when I finally woke up he was still there.
Why did this have to change? Why did I have to give this up?
More to the point, I asked myself, why are you letting yourself be seduced by this? This guy doesn't know anything about fashion. He doesn't share your dreams. He wouldn't be a part of your life if not for the fact that we he was involved with a bunch of criminals and thugs, so get over yourself and get out of here.