Fucking shit.
This is going to be nothing short of a disaster. I don’t have much of a choice though and in order to protect Avah, plus keep these assholes off of my back, this is my only choice. Taz reaches back and wraps his palm around my thigh, he squeezes before he begins to ease the bike on to the street.
Ten hours. That’s how long it will take us to get to Eagar. I’m sure we’ll stop halfway, somewhere near Phoenix. It doesn’t matter. We’ll stop, eat, fuck, and sleep before we climb back on and ride toward home. I know these men, I know how they work.
Closing my eyes, I rest my cheek against Taz’s back. Inhaling the scent of his leather, I stupidly imagine that this is all real, that he truly loves me and wants more. That his words from earlier about branding were all real. I wish they were, in my heart of hearts I wish that they were.
A few hours down the road we pull into a small gas station in the middle of nowhere. Climbing off of the back of the bike, I stretch and turn toward the station.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom, you want anything to eat or drink?” I ask, keeping my gaze on the building.
“Look at me, babe,” he sharply calls out.
Turning my head, I frown. “What?” I snap.
His eyes roam over my face, then my chest and stop at my belly. “You can’t go in there unmarked,” he finally sighs.
“Unmarked?” I ask, arching a brow. “Wow. Seems I’ve been going all over, everywhere, unmarked my entire life and I’ve been just fine.”
He snorts. “No, you haven’t. Hawk, watch the bikes. You want anything?”
My father grumbles for a moment as Taz slides his arm around my waist, tugging me against his side before he calls out that he wants a Coke and a bag of Cheetos.
Wrinkling my nose, I look behind us. “You can’t eat that shit,” I call out.
My father’s brows lift and his wide eyes meet mine. “You can have some peanuts.”
Without another word, I turn around and walk with Taz at my side. “So now you’re concerned with your father’s health? Thought you didn’t give a fuck about any of us?” Taz asks, keeping his voice a low rumble.
Keeping my gaze down, I let out a sigh. “I never said I didn’t give a fuck about any of you. I care, Taz. You know that I do,” I whisper.
Taz reaches for the door and the bell above us dings. Lifting my head, my eyes instantly go in search of the bathroom. When I see the sign, I take a step toward it, but Taz’s arm pulls me back. He turns toward me and without a word his mouth slams down against my own in a hard kiss.
“Hurry the fuck up. You don’t come back in less than five minutes, I’ll come in after you,” he grunts.
Pulling away from him, he lets me go and I hurry toward the back of the store. Slipping into the bathroom, I try not to gag at the smell. This place is obviously not visited, or cleaned, often. Taz doesn’t have to worry about me being gone more than five minutes, I think I would die of the smell alone if I stayed longer than that.
Hurrying through my business, I wash my hands and am forced to air dry them when I realize the only way to dry my hands, is one of those roll-up towel dispensers that just goes in a circle. It’s smeared in an array of black, brown, and green stains.
Gagging again, I put my hand in my shirt and reach for the knob, quickly pulling it open before I slip through the closing door. Wiping my wet hands on the thighs of my jeans, I lift my head and come to a halt.
I didn’t look at the man behind the counter when we walked in, but I’m looking now. He has long hair, it’s dirty and messy, he’s also sporting a long beard, but that isn’t what makes me pause. He’s wearing a Donkey Puncher MC t-shirt.
My whole life I’ve heard nothing but bad things about that club—really, really bad things. My heart stops beating in my chest as the man’s gaze boldly stares at me as well. A low whistle causes my body to jerk and I look over to see Taz standing at the drink case.
“You want somethin’ to drink, babe?” he asks.
Licking my lips, my teeth sink in my bottom lip. A wave of butterflies flits around in my stomach. The way he asks is so casual, so natural, and it’s the first time he’s ever asked anything like that before.
“Yeah, Smart Water?” I ask as my feet finally become unstuck from the floor and I make my way over to him.
“You shittin’ me?” he asks on a grunt.
“It tastes better than regular,” I point out.
Taz shakes his head as he reaches for a Smart Water. He holds it out for me and I take it, unable to hold my smile. I watch as he reaches for a regular Coke, then an energy drink for himself, something that I know he enjoys, regularly.
Turning my back to him, I walk down the nuts and jerky aisle, grabbing a tube of peanuts for my father. I want candy, but decide to get something better for myself. Grabbing a second tube of nuts, I lift my head and notice that Taz is on the candy aisle.
“You ready?” I ask.
His eyes meet mine and he grins. “Yeah.”
We walk up to the counter and place our items down. My eyes lift to the Donkey Puncher logo on the attendant’s t-shirt and my stomach butterflies immediately disappear.
“You stayin’ in town long?” he asks, as he scans each item.
Taz doesn’t speak right away. “Just passin’ through,” he murmurs.
There’s a moment of silence. The man finishes his work, then gives us a total. I watch as Taz takes a wadded up twenty out of his pocket and places it on the counter.
“Be across the county line in less than an hour and there won’t be any trouble. Linger and I can’t promise nothin’ will happen to you, or that sweet piece you got at your side. Girl like that, they may not even let you cross the county line.”
Taz takes the stuff off of the counter, shoves my water at me, and lifts his chin. “Thanks for the heads-up,” he grunts.
He turns from me and stars to walk, my feet hurry after him when the man calls out to us. I stop, looking over my shoulder at him. I shouldn’t have even slowed down, let alone stopped and looked.
“Donkey Punchers will fuck your girl up, brother. They specialize in brutality when it comes to women. I would get the fuck out, and now. Because I’ve already called the clubhouse.” I gasp as his lips turn up into an evil as fuck grin.
Taz wraps his hand around mine and without a word, his feet begin to move and he pulls me after him. He tosses Hawk his Coke, shouts at him and within minutes, I’m on the back of a roaring bike, just in time to hear the rumble of at least ten more bikes behind us.
TAZ
Fuck.
This is the exact reason a map and a fucking plan are essential.
Goddammit.
Hawk and I speed through the deserted roads, praying the whole time that they don’t have some cop on their payroll waiting to pull us over and fuck with us.
That guy wasn’t fucking around when he said that the Donkey Punchers specialize in brutality toward women. I’ve only heard stories, but they were enough to turn my stomach. I can’t imagine them taking Trista from me. I would die before I let that shit happen.
The bikes gain on us, there are at least fifteen, maybe twenty, to our two. The county line sign is in view and I lean over, hoping that we make it in time. This could start a war, it could have just started one.
That’s the last thing we need right now, a war with the Columbians and the Punchers all at the same time. Though the Columbian issue has most likely dwindled down to just one person, but still, I do not want a war, not with any of them.
We cross the county line, but we don’t stop. We keep going and only slow down when the sound of their bikes has completely vanished. Hawk lifts his hand and flicks his fingers toward another gas station.
It’s one of those big commercial ones, so I reluctantly pull over, my heart racing so fucking fast that I’m not entirely sure I’m not having a heart attack. Pulling the bike up to the pump, I kill the engine and just stare ahead of me. Hawk does the same, however, Tris
ta isn’t in the mood to silently reflect.
“What the fuck?” she asks, sliding off of the back of my bike.
Grinding my teeth together, I lift my gaze to hers. “Don’t,” I warn.
She shakes her head. “Oh no, you don’t get to do that. What the fuck, Taz?” she snaps. “You knew, you had to have known.”
Shifting my eyes to Hawk, I flick my gaze back toward her. “I did. Figured we’d get in and out without an issue. Had no fuckin’ clue they’d have a guy working the gas station,” I inform her.
I did know, too. Though, I wasn’t for sure until we walked into the station. I thought maybe we’d crossed over into their territory, I knew it was close, but I wasn’t sure exactly which county.
Without warning, she lifts her hand and slaps me across the face. I deserve that. But I don’t accept it. Reaching for her wrist, I wrap my fingers around and pull her toward me.
Throwing her over my lap, I lift my hand and slap her ass, once, twice, five times before I stop. My cock is so fucking hard, I know that she has to feel it pressing against her side through my jeans.
I want to fuck her right now, downright angry fuck her and show her just who she belongs to at the same time remind her that she’s okay—remind myself that she’s okay.
She’s screaming like a banshee, I can’t help but notice the looks of the people around us, most of them truckers who are either looking at her ass or the cleavage her fake tits are no doubt sporting.
Trista scrambles off of my lap, tears streaking down her red face. “You asshole,” she screeches.
“Hit me again and a public spanking will be the least of your worries, babe,” I warn, keeping my voice deceptively calm.
Her eyes widen and I watch as she uses the back of her hand to wipe her tears away. I didn’t hurt anything but her pride, next time I won’t be so goddamn considerate. Jerking my chin toward Hawk, I ignore the pouting woman in front of me.
“You got any idea if we’re headed toward any more of their territories?” I ask.
He shakes his head, lifting a visibly trembling hand before he runs it through his hair. “We shouldn’t. Don’t know for sure, but don’t think so,” he says slowly, an attempt to hide his shakiness.
“How far are we from Mesa?”
Hawk looks at his phone and I watch as he punches a few buttons. “Just about two hours,” he grumbles. “I’m goin’ to the John, get somethin’ more than fuckin’ peanuts to eat. Goddamn woman,” he barks before he stomps off.
Trista is standing with her arms crossed beneath her chest, pushing her tits up. Licking my lips, I shake my head. “C’mon over here, beautiful,” I demand softly.
Her head jerks, those big blue eyes come to me and she shakes her head. Stubborn woman. Sexy woman, too. “You don’t want me to come to you, better get your ass over here.”
She doesn’t hesitate another moment. Her feet shuffle toward me and she stops right next to me.
“Here,” I demand, dipping my head and looking down between my legs.
She lets out a sigh and climbs across my bike. Her ass nestled against my crotch, her legs thrown over the side. Wrapping my hand around her hip, the other I use to grasp the back of her neck.
“You hurt?” I ask. “Aside from your pride, know I hurt that,” I murmur softly so that only she can hear me.
She looks up at me, her blue eyes dancing with fire. Fuck. She’s so goddamn sexy. Moving my face closer to hers, I run my nose alongside her own. “Thought they were gonna take you, babe,” I rasp.
“You put me in that position. I’m angry and I was so scared,” she admits.
Flexing my fingers, I let out a grunt. “Yeah,” I exhale. “Yeah. You’re okay. Not letting anything happen to you while I’m still breathing, Tris.”
“Yeah? What happens when you can’t protect me?”
“What do you want me to say?”
She shrugs a shoulder, her tongue peeking out to lick her lower lip. “I don’t know,” she sighs. “I don’t know anything anymore. I came here to just shut you up,” she admits. “Now. After that…”
Shifting closer, I touch my mouth to hers. “Don’t finish that. Not now.”
I don’t let her finish, instead I fill her mouth with my tongue, tasting her, reminding myself that she’s still alive, still with me. Later I’ll show her that she’s still here, still at my side. For now, a kiss will have to do.
Chapter Nine
TRISTA
My eyes feel like sandpaper as we pull up to the clubhouse. We’ve been on the road for two days. Although, I smell like I’ve been on the road for weeks. I’m surprised to see that the parking lot is fairly empty. I figured everyone would be on lockdown. I narrow my eyes at the back of Taz’s head, wondering just how fucking serious this really was.
He parks his bike and with a hiss, I climb off. Shrugging my backpack off, I’m glad to get rid of the weight and get some air on the area, since my sweat has soaked through my shirt.
The door swings open and Silver’s gaze finds mine. His lips curl up into a grin, then I know when he sees my new additions. His smile dies and his chin jerks. Fuck. This is why I don’t come home, everyone is a goddamn critic.
Taz’s palm presses against my back and he takes my bag from my hand. “Let’s go inside, get cleaned up, get some sleep,” he murmurs.
“Okay.”
We walk toward Silver and as much as I want to ask him what the fuck he’s looking at, I don’t. His lips twitch into a smile and he reaches out, wrapping me in a hug. My arms automatically wrap around him and I let out a sigh.
“Hey niña,” he rasps.
“Hey Uncle Silver,” I breathe, taking a step back.
His smile dies and he jerks his chin toward Taz. “So, this is official?” he asks.
Sinking my teeth into my bottom lip, I look over to Taz who is staring at Silver like he wants nothing more than to beat the absolute shit out of him for asking that right now. Then he lets out a grunt.
“For now.”
For now—that about sums everything up.
For now. In the moment. When I feel like it. While she spreads her legs. Until she nags me. Until she’s no longer fun. Until she’s fat and old.
He may as well have said all of those things instead, because I know he meant them.
Moving away from him, I want to smart off. I want to tell him that I’ll be staying with Silver and Presley. I don’t. I know well enough that this, for now, is a statement and I also know that a woman never disrespects a man in front of another brother. Even if she really, really, wants to tell him to fuck right the fuck off, she doesn’t.
Taz notices my move, so does Silver. Both of their lips twitch in a smile and my hand twitches to slap that smile off their faces.
“Come by the house when you get all settled, maybe tomorrow? Presley will want to see you, plus, you’ll want to see the baby, yeah?”
My stomach flutters at the thought of seeing baby Gray. I’ve only seen her in pictures and I am so excited to hold her.
“Yeah.” I smile.
He dips his chin, then brushes past me. “Gotta get home, promised Buster I’d help him with his math homework.”
I don’t watch him walk away, instead I take another step toward the clubhouse door. Taz reaches for me, wrapping his hand around my bicep to stop me. Turning to look back at him from over my shoulder, I frown.
“We walk in there together,” he announces.
Pressing my lips together, I nod my head and stay in my spot. He takes a step toward me, wrapping his hand around my waist and together we walk into the Savage Beast clubhouse.
As soon as I step into the room, I inhale a deep breath. It smells the same. It’s only been a year, but for some reason, I thought it may have changed. It hasn’t.
“Trista?” a voice calls out.
Turning my head, I smile at the sight of Pinkie with a very pregnant Della at her side. They lift their hands in a wave. I watch as Eagle walks over to Della and to my
surprise he slides his hand around the back of her neck. She tips her head back and I watch as he touches his mouth to hers before his hand skims her round belly.
The gesture is gorgeous, but I would have never guessed they’d be a thing. Not when Jaguar was obsessed with her the last time I was here. Eagle walks toward us and stops. He is focused on Taz, but he speaks to me.
“Good to have you home, babe. Taz, need to talk a minute.”
Taz turns to me, he looks down and touches his mouth to mine. “Go sit with Della, don’t get into trouble while I’m gone,” he grumbles against my mouth.
“Okay,” I breathe.
His tongue snakes out and tastes my bottom lip before he takes a step back and I watch the two men walk away. I take a step toward Della and Pinkie only to be swept up and thrown over a shoulder. I let out a squeal before I’m spun in a circle and set down on my feet.
I already know who it is before I even look up. “Hey, Mountain.” I grin, lifting my eyes to meet his.
“You look good.” His eyes drift to my boobs and his grin grows. “LA has been really good to you, babe.”
Laughing, I shake my head. “You look good too,” I whisper. “Found your classy in the streets, freak in the sheets girl yet?” I ask.
Mountain shakes his head. “You’re lookin’ pretty class these days, babe. Wanna be her for the night?” he asks with a smile.
I know he’s kidding, but part of me thinks it wouldn’t be a bad thing. Taz would leave me alone and maybe I could get over him and just go back to LA. Shaking my head, I decide against it. As much as I want this to just be done so that I can attempt to move on, I know that I would never want to hurt Taz like that.
“Still hung up on that asshole, huh?” he asks.
Lifting a shoulder in a shrug, I let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t think you ever get over it. Not when you feel it that deep. Don’t ever fall in love, it’s not worth it,” I admit.
He smirks. “Love ain’t for me, Trista. No worries there. Good to have you home. I hope you stay,” he says and he sounds completely sincere.
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