by Keta Kendric
“I love you,” I whispered against the edge of his lips. Panic hit me when I noticed his top lip twitch and turn up into a small smile. At first, it appeared he was awake since he’d smiled right after I whispered those secret words, but sleep kept him under.
I rolled out of his arms with slow ease, but the noisy bed creaked no matter how carefully I maneuvered out of it. A few of the springs popped up at me as well and added to the noise of my not-so-hasty getaway.
I glanced back at Aaron several times to ensure I hadn’t awakened him. When I was fully standing, I remained in place, staring down at him, taking in his handsome face, his chiseled body, and his kissable lips. The bedding covered one of the most masterful parts of him—that glorious dick.
When my staring verged along the lines of being creepy, I headed towards the bathroom. Considering what Aaron and I had been through in such a short time, I reckoned creepy wouldn’t scare either one of us off.
Leaving Florida wasn’t a choice for me. It was a necessity. Aaron had tracked me down and caught me because I hadn’t moved fast enough. He’d dragged me back into his life, and that was the last place I needed to be. If he’d found me, so could others.
Two weeks had passed since he’d tracked me down and dragged me back into his intoxicating world. Time with Aaron made it extremely difficult for me to build up the courage I needed to walk away from him again.
Aaron knew about my past. Therefore, he understood me in a way that no one else did. This knowledge also put his life in grave danger. I loved Aaron, and based on the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing down my warm cheeks, I loved him a lot more than I’d been willing to admit to myself.
I didn’t know how he’d done it. I didn’t know how he’d been able to unfreeze my twisted heart and make me love him so much. However, my love for Aaron was the very reason I had to leave him. I took one last glimpse at his handsome sleeping face before I turned the lock on the wobbly doorknob and inched the door closed behind me.
I stood against the outside of our cheap motel room, wiping my tears, praying that I was doing the right thing. I was a walking, talking, living, breathing target. Of course, I was doing the right thing. Anyone near or around me was going to end up murdered and that was the very reason why I stayed away from Beverly and Laura. Was there a chance that the assassins we had encountered could have been after Aaron’s MC and not me? Yes, but my instincts were telling me that they were after me.
So, here I was, Lacey Daniels, a.k.a. Megan Jones, running away from Aaron for the second time. I’d managed to leave him sleeping on the other side of the door that my trembling body leaned against after he’d saved me from hired assassins.
The fact that he carried around equipment and weapons that contended with the weapons of hired assassins was positive proof that he could protect me in a battle, but I refused to let Aaron go to war over me.
My face bunched into a tight knot as I tried to hold in my sobs. The ugly-cry had taken over and turned me into a blundering mess as I moved over the dark road with my mouth wide-opened and allowed my cries to float into the darkness. I didn’t want to leave him, but what else was I supposed to do.
After stumbling around the dark wood-lined street for hours attempting to figure out my next move, I believed I’d finally come up with a plan.
It didn’t take long for my smile to dissipate as my mind fell right back on Aaron. By now, he’d have woken up and discovered that I’d run away from him, again. He probably hated me for it, considering he’d admitted that he loved me. He also admitted that he was willing to fight for me no matter if the assassins were after his MC or me. He didn’t say it outright, but his actions spoke much louder than his words ever could.
I was convinced that this wasn’t Aaron’s fight, and I wasn’t going to sit by and let him fight my battle. In all my lessons in survival, running seemed to be my best option, so I ran. I was the one that sought out dangerous situations, therefore I should be the one to suffer the consequences of my actions.
My mind had been so distracted over leaving Aaron that I’d somehow managed to ignore the call of animals lurking in the woods as I wandered through the darkness. The prancing feet of four-legged creatures likely large enough to ripe me to pieces roamed nearby as I ambled over the dark asphalt covered highway surrounded by woods. The lights of the cheap motel about a quarter mile ahead of me had never looked so sweet.
A bell chimed over the door alerting the front desk clerk of my approach. A portly middle-aged woman didn’t bother greeting me as she flashed me a fake smile and awaited my request.
“Yes, a double will be fine,” I answered the motel clerk after she leveled me an irritated look for taking too long to respond.
“Thank you,” I called back to the clerk as I rushed away with quick, anxious steps. I hoped like hell that leaving Aaron meant that I was leading the bad guys away from him.
30 Aaron
I jumped up with a start. My breaths heaved as my chest bobbed up and down with quick panicked movements. The scene in the woods with the mercenaries had gone differently in my dream.
In the dream, they’d captured Megan and held a gun to her head. Her big terrified eyes begged me for help, but I was powerless to do anything but stand there and watch. Just as the blast from the gun sounded, my body had lurched from the mattress.
A cool layer of sweat had coated my body as my sore muscles twitched beneath my damp skin. Shaking off the nightmare, I reached out for Megan, but she wasn’t lying next to me. The coolness of the spot let me know that she’d been up for a while. My gaze traveled over to the closed bathroom door, listening for her.
Megan believed that the men that attacked us were meant for her. She’d stressed that her past was going to get me killed or hurt. What she didn’t know was that I didn’t care if those men had come for her because I had a problem with anyone that threatened to bring harm to her.
I’d go to war for any member of my club, no matter how misguided they were, and no matter if we were feuding internally. And I realized while the bullets were flying that I was willing to die to save Megan too. I was willing to bring death to anyone who threatened to harm a hair on her head.
She wanted to leave me, and although she wouldn’t admit it, I knew that if she left me this time, not only was she not coming back to me, but she was going to make it so that I’d never find her again.
The idea of not seeing Megan was an unbearable first for me. Shit between us had gone past me craving the best sex I’d ever had. It had moved to care, understanding, and that unseen force that could send the manliest man to his knees.
If I lost Megan, I’d lose my fucking mind. She grounded me, made me believe my life was worth a damn. That I was not just passing along in a blur of boring days until someone needed the next body to drop or the guns to get collected and distributed. If protecting Megan was my purpose, I’d gladly accept the job.
My glare hit that bathroom door again. It was awfully quiet in there. I lugged my stiff and sluggish body from the squeaky bed and padded to the bathroom. I twisted the knob, sprang the door open, and peered in. No Megan.
The crease in my forehead deepened as I instinctively checked every crack and corner of the shabby motel room, knowing that Megan wasn’t inside. Wishful thinking made me ignore the obvious. I glanced over the bags of groceries we’d gotten before the shootout, sitting in a neat pile near the loud air-conditioning unit. Maybe she went to the vending machine.
My speeding heart and quickened pulse had me anxious, pacing around the room like I was missing a part of my soul and didn’t know what to do without that missing part. There was no way anyone had taken her right from under my nose. I’m sure they would be dead on the floor if they had tried.
After throwing on my clothes, I snatched the room key from the wobbly cigarette-burned table and dashed out of the door.
I searched for Megan on the first level where we were and the second level where more vending machines were. My heart picked up
its pace, and my internal senses screamed that she’d taken off.
“I can’t let anything happen to you because of me.” Those were the words she’d spoken to me after the shootout in the woods.
My fingers skimmed the back pocket of my jeans before I pulled out my wallet. It had just occurred to me that it was in my left pocket, and I always tucked it into my right. I flipped it open and found nothing but lint inside. Megan had taken the few hundred in cash I carried and in its place, was a neatly folded note on the hotel’s cheap stationery.
After I unfolded the note my gaze locked on to her scribbled words.
Aaron. I know that those men were after me, and I can’t let them hurt you any worse than they already have because of my actions. You are the best thing that’s ever happened in my life, and I’ll always cherish and remember our time together, but I must pay for my own sins.
Megan.
What the fuck kind of wimpy goodbye was that? What was up with her and goodbyes? Why didn’t she tell me to my face that she was ready to leave? Because you would have talked her out of it like you’ve been doing for the past week.
My fucking hand began to shake as a tornado tunneled its way through my brain. Finding Megan was my number one priority. She was out there running around alone with a group of armed mercenaries on the loose.
If there was one thing I’d come to realize, it was that Megan had become a part of me. A part that I’d rip this fucking world apart to protect. But first, I needed to find her—again.
Megan was insistent that the group hunting us was after her, so I was sure she thought she was doing the right thing by leaving me. It no longer mattered who the group was hunting, both our pasts were dark enough that madness and mayhem was a part of us.
Even if this group of mercenaries were looking for her, it didn’t mean that I was going to stand by and let someone hurt her.
I drove by and checked out the other two motels on the stretch of back-woods roads we’d decided to lodge on. I would have called D, to track Megan’s phone, but the woman had kept so much from me, that I didn’t even know her phone number.
After driving around for two frantic hours searching for her, an idea seeped its way into my brain and made me inch my foot down on the accelerator.
Megan was a clever woman, but she’d given me a glimpse into the way she thought about certain situations. The first time I’d gone hunting for her, I’d traveled across multiple states and had to use illegally acquired information to find out that she’d been right under my nose, here in Florida. If it hadn’t been for D, I probably wouldn’t have found her.
Would she do it again? Would Megan hide right under my nose as I chased her ghost? There was only one way to find out, and I prayed my hunch was right.
31 Aaron
I knocked on the hotel door and waited for the occupant to answer. The line of light above the thick burnt-orange curtains in the wide dusty window let me know that someone was inside.
My hard knock made the door vibrate as the sound of insects congregating in the nearby woods buzzed in my ears.
“Front desk,” I called out before my knuckles struck the door again.
I stepped away from the view of the peephole, hoping that the front desk attendant I’d questioned wasn’t one of those people that saw a person and forgot what they looked like five minutes later. I’d described Megan down to the part on the right side of her head that split her lengthy thick dark curls.
The shadow that passed across the peephole alerted me that someone was there at the door although I hadn’t heard any footsteps.
The click of the lock turning made my heartrate kick up a notch. Needing to know, anxiously waiting, I prayed it was Megan. When the door creaked open, the chain stopped it from going too far, but there was no mistaking those big beautiful brown eyes that searched through the crack, those lush, soft lips, and the soft tone of her voice.
“Can I help you?”
She jumped and staggered back and away from the crack in the door with her hand over her heart when I placed my face directly in front of hers.
“Open the door, Megan!” I was both angry and relieved.
She stood staring through the crack at me, mouth agape, hand shaking as it covered her heart.
I closed my eyes and sighed when she closed the door, and the chain sliding on the other side sounded. She stepped back and stood behind the door as she creaked it open. I didn’t rush in, although every cell in my body wanted to get her into my arms as quickly as possible.
The sight of her and the knowledge that I’d almost lost her had my body jittery with an anxiousness that had me breathing hard, almost gasping to get air into my lungs.
As soon as she closed and locked the door, I tugged her into my arms so fast that she released a muffled humph. I couldn’t control my shaking body as I encircled her in my arms. I squeezed her way too tight, but I was admittedly helpless when it came to this woman.
“I thought I’d lost you. Don’t do that shit to me again. I can’t fucking lose you, Megan.” I buried my face in her neck, savoring her sweet scent and the feel of her in my arms. I was beginning to think that she was my purpose for being alive. What other reason could I have for feeling this way about someone?
Her soft fluffy curls brushed over my stubbled face and neck, and I relished the feel of them sweeping over my skin. I craved the sparks Megan brought to my life, the tingles she sent racing up and down my spine, and even the all-consuming confusion and helpless state she had the ability to throw me into.
When I managed to release her from my tight grip, a stream of tears rolled down her cheeks. Hands that were way too delicate to be mine, cupped either side of her face, swiping away tears as I tilted her face up to meet mine.
“Megan. I don’t give a good goddamn who’s after you or why. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“But...”
“There are no buts,” I stated firmly and with finality.
Her gaze searched mine. My glare pierced back into hers, attempting to get her to understand that I was not going to abandon her, no matter what.
“Promise me that you’re not going to leave me again, Megan. Please.”
It must have been the ‘please,’ a word I was not known for using often, if ever, that got her attention.
She shook her head as her tears began to fall quicker. I kept her face clinched in my palms until she said, out loud, what I wanted to hear.
“I won’t leave you again,” she forced out through her cracked voice. “I promise.”
At those words, she went crashing back into my chest as I pulled her in once more. How I’d gotten by without this woman in my life was a mystery that would likely take me a lifetime to figure out.
I couldn’t stop hugging her, my joy at finding her overwhelmed me, and I was unable get the build-up of emotions out of my system. I eased out of the hug, letting my lips brush her cheek before I captured her lips, tasting her salty tears.
It only took a moment for the sparks to ignite between us and for my tongue to go searching for hers. Only when my body threatened to give out from lack of oxygen, did I stop kissing her and leaned my forehead against hers.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen with this group hunting us. But, as long as we stick together Megan, we are going to be okay.” I paused, ensuring she let my words sank in. “Do you understand what I’m telling you?” I asked, waiting for her reply.
“Yes. You’re not going to let anything happen to me as long as we stick together,” spilled out in a low tone, but her words didn’t sound convincing enough for me.
Our future may have been a little cloudy, dark even, but if we were together, I believed with all my heart and soul that we were going to be all right. Even if Megan didn’t have someone from her past chasing her that she’d likely pissed off, there was still the fact that my life was a fucking revolving door of mayhem just as hers was. Either way, she wasn’t ever going to outrun danger, so she may as
well get used to facing it.
Besides, letting her go was not something I was willing to accept right now.
“Megan, there is nothing, absolutely nothing that I’d admit out loud to being afraid of, except, losing you. Don’t you understand that you’re the only thing that matters to me now? The only thing that makes sense among all these years of chaos that my life has been.”
Her gaze frantically searched mine before she found words.
“You remember what happened to me when you told me that you killed Beverly and Laura?”
A small smile crept across my lips before I placed a tender kiss on hers. “Yes, I remember, and I’m sorry I did that to you.”
She shook her head, seemingly forcing her words out.
“If something happened to you because of me, it would be worse than a mental blackout. I wouldn’t come back. I wouldn’t want to. It would permanently break me. That’s why I left Aaron. I’d rather leave knowing you’re okay, than face…than face…”
My death.
She couldn’t even say the words.
Her fingers tightened around my arms driving her words in deeper. “It would be worse than what Carlos did to me.”
She’d literally ripped my heart out with those words. No one had ever cared that much about me. I swallowed the fucking lump of emotion that was choking me and preventing me from talking. I stood, dumbstruck for a moment, wondering what I’d ever done to deserve this level of affection. I understood what Megan was saying better than she thought I did. This deep connection we shared, it baffled my mind, but I couldn’t help embracing it even though it scared the shit out of me.
“I can’t do it, Megan,” I said, shaking my head.
“Can’t do what?” she questioned. Her forehead creased as she glared into my eyes. I was sure I looked like some sort of fucked up mad-man to her. I sure as shit felt like one.