by KJ Dahlen
He shook his head as he climbed down and pulled her up. “I keep saving your sweet ass and I don’t fucking know why.”
She sniffled and began to cry again.
Falcon heaved a sigh and took her hand pulling her through the alley toward the bikes.
Chapter Three
ASIA
She couldn’t even figure out what the hell was going on. Her whole world was again turned upside down and when it happened, who was there? The biker she never forgot. The man with hazel eyes. She would fall to sleep at night seeing them in her mind.
Asia had thought she was finally safe. She had been in Maine and had made a life for herself there. Trying to forget the night, she almost died and the biker had come out of the darkness to save her. She never even knew his name. Or who he was. He had been her hero then and now, he was at it again. She felt huge tears roll down her cheeks as they rode on his huge cycle down the freeway. She kept her head against his leathered back. She’d lost her Nan. She couldn’t even breathe as she wept against his leather vest. The wind from the ride drying her tears before they could even fall all the way down her face.
She came back to town when Nan had her heart attack. She moved into her house and helped to nurse her back to health. Oh god. She had been doing so well too! Crying some more she nearly let go of his waist.
Reaching, back, her hero biker placed her hand back to his waist.
Asia felt lower than at any time in her life except when she’d lost her mom. She should just let go. She felt t like her world just died.
Her Nan had raised her after her mother died of an overdose. She barely knew her father but he sent money every month to help take care of Asia.
She was there at his funeral a few months back even though no one knew she was there or who she’d been to him. She had only met the man a few times, but he had even paid for her college. Whenever she asked him about his life, all he would say was it was no place for a young girl like her.
So now... she was all alone in the world, since Nan just died. SHE JUST DIED! The words screamed in her mind as she lost herself to the pain, wholly and utterly.
Asia never even paid attention to the ride or to where they were going. She couldn’t care at all. Grief had her in its grip and nothing else mattered.
The bike finally slowed after what felt like hours. It could have been a few minutes or a whole day for all Asia knew.
Finally, as the bike stopped, she raised her head to see a gate and a small building next to it with a large man in it.
The gates swung open.
The other biker that rode with them and who was in the house, rode on through and then her biker did the same.
Asia barely paid attention. She felt so cold even though she knew it had to be warm outside in the summer evening heat. She felt so numb. Like she was paralyzed.
The bikes rode up to an enormous building and her bleary eyes rose up to the sign that had an odd symbol above the double metal doors.
Asia sucked in a breath and fell over.
The biker had already gotten off the cycle and grabbed her before she hit the pavement. “What the fuck, girl?”
She couldn’t breathe. It just could NOT be!
Her biker swung her around and set her down on her feet.
Again, she fell sideways.
Again, he caught her. “Dammit, woman!” He then hefted her up in his arms and carried her.
Asia didn’t half pay attention as her body shuddered and her numbness increased. She just couldn’t think at all.
Carrying her through the club, he went through a set of double door, then through a large area and stopped at a set of doors to stare at another man standing there. “Let me in,” he growled.
The younger man standing there nearly jumped to open the double doors.
Asia then again tucked her face to the biker’s chest instead of looking to see where they were going.
“What the hell?” a booming voice yelled.
“Sorry prez,” the biker that had been with them in the house spoke from somewhere in the room. “We have situation.”
She wasn’t going to look at anything or anyone. Just cling to her hero as that was all she could seem to do.
“Close the damn doors, prospect!” the booming voice shouted again.
The doors shut with a hard slam.
“Ok...What the fuck happened?”
“I went after Devon,” the other biker replied.
“The fuck Talon?” the booming voice asked.
“I got a tip on where he was.”
“So you and Falcon went on your own? You never came to me with it!” The boom just got louder and angrier in his voice.
“Yeah. I figured no one needed to get hur—“
“You figured?” the yelling man countered. “You figured to do what the fuck you wanted!”
“Listen Eagle, It is my business to take him out, not the club’s.”
“Oh, is that right? And who are you? You are the VP of the Princes and it is not our business?” he shouted.
Flinching from the shout Asia listened but still refused to look at any of them. But she did catch names now and she shivered at them too. Talon? He was the Vice of the Princes of Hell. Then her hero was called Falcon. She sniffed his leather cut and just breathed him in, just like she’d done when he carried her a year ago, literally out of the line of fire. Now, it seemed, he had carried her straight into the line of fire.
“And who the fuck is she?” Eagle asked.
“She’s a potential witness and the one Devon ran to when I put a tip out that we were bombing his estate.”
“Oh? Clever, Talon, not that I’m not still pissed at you.” Eagle growled then he paused.
Asia knew he was staring at her. She could feel the hair at the back of her neck tingle.
“Set her down Falcon,” he ordered.
Falcon seemed to hesitate. “She ain’t in good shape—”
“I don’t fucking care!” Eagle cut him off. “Set. Her. Down.”
Falcon heaved a sigh and reluctantly did so.
Asia set her feet on the floor and tried to stand erect but her body just wouldn’t cooperate.
“Whoa,” Falcon said as he steadied her.
Finally, with his help, she raised her gaze to Eagle, the President of the Princes of Hell.
“What the fuck?” Eagle gaped at her.
She blinked.
Eagle looked over at Falcon then Talon. “What was she doing with Devon?”
“That, we don’t know yet,” Talon replied.
Eagle heaved a sigh as he stood up and all the while, he never took his eyes from her face. “What did you have to do with Devon Brooks?”
Asia blinked in confusion at the odd question. “Who?”
Eagle shook his head. “Come on. He was at your house and you don’t even know his name?”
Asia batted her eyes. “You mean Will?”
The men all stared at her.
“Who?” Talon asked.
“Will Evans, my old boss,” she replied looking back and forth at all three men.
The men all looked at each other.
“Another fucking alias,” Talon seethed. “The man already has 3, now a fourth?”
Asia shrugged. “Look, I worked for him a year and a half ago at one of his lingerie stores.”
“So that made him feel comfortable enough to come and hide out at your house?”
Shaking her head, she replied, “I-it was m-my Nan’s—house.” Her voice broke with the answer.
Eagle’s eyes widened. “Your nan?”
Asia tried hard, but the lump in her throat grew. She opened her mouth to answer but instead a huge wrenching sob came out then she started to cry again. She turned to Falcon and buried her tear streaked face into his leather cut.
He gathered her into his arms like he’d done it a 100 times and patted her hair. “It was her grandmother’s house and they manhandled her and well she...” His voice faded away.
Eagle said nothing.
The room got real quiet.
“Dammit.” Eagle sighed.
The room remained quiet then Talon spoke, “So we had no choice but to bring her here.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Eagle replied the boom gone from his voice.
Asia heard it all but she couldn’t seem to stop trembling as she raised her head to swipe at her tears. “They killed her just the same as if they’d shot her!”
Eagle said nothing.
Asia saw Talon staring at him and swiveled her gaze up to see Falcon was too. They both looked perplexed as they stared at the prez..
Eagle nodded. “Ok, so when she feels a bit better then we will question her. Put her in the—”
“You better not tell me to put her in the cells, Prez...” Falcon’s whole body had gone rigid.
“The fuck Falcon? You disrespecting me?”
“Prez, she hasn’t proved to be hostile and she was a victim of Devon,” Talon spoke up. “He had her taped to a chair.”
Eagle heaved out an angry breath. “I wasn’t going to suggest the cells, you fucking morons!” He set his huge hands on the desk. “I was gonna suggest one of the prospect’s rooms, then have one of the women take care of her.”
“I will take care of her,” Falcon stated his body not relaxing at all as he spoke.
“What?” Eagle asked.
“I found her and... I will have her stay with me.”
“Now... I don’t know if that is right.” Eagle stared at him with a glint in his eyes. “You don’t even know this girl.”
“But I do know her,” Falcon stated.
Asia’s body shook some more. Yes, he did in a way, but did they know about her witnessing what she did?
The room went silent again.
“From where?” Eagle asked in a low voice.
Falcon then put her to his side with total confidence. “She was my woman a year ago, then she disappeared.”
Asia blinked and hard this time. WHAT?
“You never said you knew her?” Talon asked.
Falcon shrugged.
“Well, what’s her name then?” Eagle asked.
Raising her head to bail Falcon out, she replied, “It is Asia Manning.”
Falcon pulled her tighter to his side. “Asia has some other explaining to do after she tells us about Devon. So, if it is alright with you, Prez I will take her and get her cleaned up. Then when you say, we can question her.”
Eagle stared at her face and didn’t say a word.
“Prez?” Talon asked after a full minute.
“Huh?” Eagle turned his head to stare at Talon.
“Is that okay?”
“Is what okay?” Eagle asked still looking a bit lost.
Talon and Falcon exchanged a look between them.
“If Falcon takes care of her and after she rests, we can question her?” Talon explained.
“Oh...okay.” Eagle nodded. “But do not let her leave.” He stared into Falcon’s eyes. “You hear me?”
“No, no I won’t let her leave,” Falcon vowed.
Chapter Four
FALCON
He swung her up in his arms and carried her out.
Asia, huh? Damn, it fit her perfectly.
But nothing else about her fit. And what the fuck was that with Eagle? The man was acting odd for sure. He kept staring at her like he knew her? But she hadn’t acted like she knew him at all.
Carrying her down the hall, she didn’t say a word. He remembered now when he’d carried her to his bike after the murder in the alley and she had been so quiet. Not yapping her lips and freaking out like any other female would have.
She was a total mystery and he did have many questions for her. But he vowed to just take it slow and easy with her. She had just lost her damn grandma for fuck’s sake. That was why he refused to allow Eagle to be in charge of her. He would bully her or scare her to get her to talk. Damn though, Eagle even seemed to have sympathy for her and that was counter to his previous attitude all this time. Maybe he’d had a sweet ole grandma too? Who knew with that man?
Setting her down, he held onto her with one hand and dug for his key with the other, unlocking the door. He then ushered her inside. Her legs were still wobbly as he nudged her into the room.
She just stood there like a robot as he shut the door.
“Um, Asia?” he asked quietly as he stepped up behind her. “Do you want to have a shower, maybe something to eat?”
She shook her head and stumbled forward to the bed, then plopped down on it, face first.
Sighing, he walked over and sat on the bed next to her. “I have a lot of questions, girl.”
Matching his sigh, she turned her head on the pillow. “Ask...”
Reaching out, he smoothed that silky onyx colored hair of hers. “Nah, it can wait. You need rest. Are your sure you at least don’t want something to drink?”
She turned her head on the pillow to look at him. “Why?”
Frowning, he asked, “Why what?”
“Why did you save me? Not once but twice now?”
Falcon paused at this, as he never looked at it like that. “Why not?”
Sighing, she met his gaze. “Because of the world you... are in. I mean wouldn’t it had been easier like... if you’d just let that man kill me?”
Falcon clenched his fists. “I don’t condone harming innocents, or women and you are both.”
“Oh...” was all she said. “Well, I never got to thank you.”
He shook his head. “I’m nobody’s hero, babe.”
Asia stilled and stared at his face. “That’s not true. You are my hero.”
Falcon stared at her then tilted his head back and laughed.
Asia sat up looking startled.
Calming his laughter a little he said, “I’m an enforcer for the Princes Of Hell. I have maimed and killed enemies of our club, babe. Truly, I am no hero.” He chuckled. “That’s too cute though.”
Her face flushed as she argued, “You aren’t so bad. You took me out of harm’s way and helped me to get safe.”
He let out a sigh. “It was better that way. For all concerned.”
She stared at him. “Okay, if you say so.”
“I do. So are you thirsty?”
She nodded. “I think I cried myself dry.”
He tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear. He just couldn’t stop touching her hair. In fact, he wanted to touch this chick everywhere. He pulled his hand back and got up. He went over to the mini fridge. Opening the door, he called out, “Beer and more beer. Oh, here’s a can of coke.”
“I’ll take a beer,” she replied.
Turning his head to look at her, he felt surprised at her choosing beer over soda. “Ok.” He popped the lid off and headed back over to her.
Taking the bottle, she titled it back and guzzled it down.
“Hey whoa!” he warned. “Slow down there.”
She didn’t. In fact, she finished off the whole beer. Setting it down, she let out the most adorable burp.
Falcon blinked. “What was that?”
She flushed and swiped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, excuse me.”
He stared at her face and had to grin. He’d heard burps and that sure as hell wasn’t the same. Dammit, why was she so fucking cute? He looked over the cut at her lip and reached a finger out to touch the red area. “I wanted to kill him when he hit you,” he whispered.
Her eyes rounded “Y-you saw that?”
He nodded.
“He is such a horrible man. Horrible.” Asia shuddered.
“So why did you work for him then?” he had to ask.
“I-I didn’t know at first. Then...well. My Nan needed surgery. I asked him for a loan. I mean he owned a whole chain of the stores. He always treated me nice whenever I did see him. Which was only once a month. He was the only person I knew that maybe could help
.” Asia looked up at him. “But afterward, he wanted it all back. I couldn’t pay it back. Not all at once.”
“What did he do?” Falcon knew it couldn’t be good.
“H-he said I could...work it off.”
Falcon’s body grew even more rigid. “Like how?” He had an idea of how a man like that operated. Just look what he did to Talon’s woman.
Lowering her head, she didn’t answer. Her long dark hair covered her face.
Reaching out, Falcon tilted her chin up. “How?”
With her lips trembling, she told him, “I had to—to dance in his clubs.”
Blinking his eyes, he asked, “His strip clubs?”
Nodding, she forced her face back to the pillow. “I-I don’t want to talk about it.”
Falcon paused. “So when was this?” He ignored her words as a thought formed in his head. “Were you working there when I found you in that alley?”
She sniffled a bit and replied, “Yes.”
“So the man that was murdered who was he to you?”
Asia turned over to look at him. “He was just a guy that came into the clubs. I-I didn’t know him well. Then one night, he grabbed me and put me in his car. He had knocked me out. Then the next thing I knew, we were getting out of his car and into that alley. He told me to keep my mouth shut. That my...” Her voice fell away.
“Your what?” he asked.
Shaking her head, she dropped back to the pillow. “It’s a bad memory and I can’t... I just can’t right now.”
Falcon stared at her dark head. “Ok. But after you rest, we are going to have to talk about all of this.”
“O-okay,” she whispered.
Falcon sat there a few more minutes and then he heard her breathing even out as she let out a soft but tiny snore. He sat there for far longer than he should have, stroking that silky mane of hers. What was it about this girl? He just had to lay hands on her any chance he got. He did it without any forethought. Usually, his moves with women were calculated. Either to get them revved up or keep them at bay.
This one was different. Maybe it was because he’d save her twice now and he felt like her protector. He let out a sigh and stood. Fuck that. He couldn’t allow this to be personal. She was just a poor girl who’d got caught in the middle.