As they hit the highway, Becca had never felt more free. The wind whipped through her hair and she let her head fall back slightly as they raced through the night. Stag drove the machine so fast that the world flashed by her in a blur of colors. She barely dared to move as it was such a strange feeling. One moment she felt powerful and in control, and the next she felt vulnerable…
Just like a relationship, she thought as she hugged him tighter.
He rode right into Main Street and slowed the bike’s pace. Becca was aware of all of the eyes on them. She could sense the quiet town’s interest piquing at the sight of an unrecognized member of The Forsaken Riders rolling into town with one of the meek school moms on the back of his bike.
Becca had been so quiet since she had arrived back in Slate Springs that she still didn’t really know anyone well enough for them to come over and ask her any questions about what she was doing. But she still felt on show, as if the people of the town’s cogs were turning inside of their heads and they yearned to know more about this mysterious couple climbing off a huge, gun metal, motorcycle.
Stag climbed off first and then held out his hand to help Becca off, too. But when he had helped her to her feet, he still kept his grip tight. He wasn’t going to drop her little hand; he kept it clasped tightly and safely in his.
“So,” he said as he began to walk with her down the street. “Where’s good around here? As you can imagine, my memory is a little rusty.”
Becca smiled and looked up at him. She still couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Well,” she said as she looked around. “I don’t get out much… so I don’t really know.” She started to laugh. “You could buy me a burger from a van and we could sit in the park and that would be good enough for me.”
Stag’s eyes glinted and his mouth curled into a devilishly handsome smile.
“I think I can do better than that,” he said. “But preference noted… Maybe next time huh?” he winked.
Becca blushed. So he was already planning a next time…
He stopped outside of a small wine bar that had fairy lights running around the ceiling and a man on an acoustic guitar playing slow, quiet songs inside.
“Here,” he said as he reached forward and pushed open the door. “Now this looks like a date night place.”
He pulled Becca inside and ushered her to a small, quiet table by the window. He pulled out her chair for her and when she sat down he pushed it back in slightly.
As he took his seat opposite her a waitress approached the table and asked them what they would like to order.
“Bottle of your finest red wine,” he said with a raised eyebrow and Becca found herself smirking.
The waitress disappeared and Becca leaned in closer to him.
“You don’t have to put on a show,” she said. “I did mean it about the burger…”
Stag threw his head back and laughed.
“I’m not putting on a show,” he said as he shook his head. “We’re celebrating.”
“Oh yeah?” she asked playfully. “And what would that be?”
“There’s a few things,” he said as he reached forward and took hold of her hands. “The first being that I’m now a free man… The second that I have just come into a bit of good luck… And the third, well I guess that is wrapped up with the first two, but the third is that I’ve met you.”
Becca felt a warmth flood through her. She had never had anyone say something so romantic to her. He was continuously defying her expectations.
The waitress reappeared with a bottle of Malbec and held it out for Stag to survey. She opened the bottle with a cork screw and poured a tiny amount into the bottom of the big, rounded wine glass in front of him. Stag reached for it and held it up to under his nose and gave it a deep sniff. It was so bizarre to watch a man like him act so sophisticated, but she had to admit that that is what made life interesting… You could never put people into specific categories.
Stag tasted the wine and nodded his head and the waitress continued to pour more into his glass and then moved on to Becca’s.
“I wasn’t expecting you to be a wine connoisseur,” Becca teased.
“I’m not,” Stag said. “I’ve just always wanted to do that.” His face broke out into a huge smile and they both started laughing.
“Are you serious?” she giggled.
He nodded his head. “I read a lot of books when I was in jail, and one that sticks out in my mind was one about a man who was travelling all over the wine regions and developing a taste for quality… and eventually alcoholism.” He raised his eyebrows. “It was a good read, glamourized this whole thing. I always said when I got out I’d go to a wine bar and sit and order a bottle of red and try to understand what he was writing about… All of the different flavors and hues… But I’ve got to be honest, to me it just tastes like booze. And not even good booze at that.”
Becca shook her head and laughed. “You’re crazy,” she whispered.
But crazy was good. Whatever Stag was doing, and whoever he was, was appealing to her more than she had ever thought possible. He had a playfulness and a sort of innocence that could only come with being removed from the world for so long. But also a hard edge that gave him an unlimited air of power. She knew that he had seen a lot and had a ton of experience, but it was still nice to see a vulnerable side. One that she had the feeling, she was the only one who was being allowed to experience…
CHAPTER SEVEN
It was a good feeling, being taken out by a man. As they sat in the wine bar and listened to the lovely sounds of the guitarist, they talked to each other about anything and everything, Becca realized how much she had missed having a partner in life. She had been so used to giving her all to Oscar, her own needs had just been forgotten. Sure, she had her sister for adult conversation, but to sit and talk with a man, about hopes for the future and of what made her really tick. She felt as if she was being invested in for the first time since she had met Oscar’s father. But this time it felt completely different to what had happened with him. It was as if Stag genuinely cared about her, even after only knowing her for less than twenty-four hours.
They slowly drained the bottle and she began to open up. She told him all about how she had had to move back to Slate Springs. How she had dedicated the past four years solely to raising her son. How she had given up any sort of social life, or life of her own, because she wanted to give him the best of her, but that now he was in school she felt that she wanted to try and carve out a small place for herself somewhere… and that is what had led her to The Bleeding Bullet.
“I heard they needed a bar girl,” she said as she drank the last dregs of Malbec in the bottom of her glass. “And so I just went along. I had no idea what I was really walking into… But I guess the excitement of it all appealed to me.”
“Bull told me you’d only been there a month or so,” he said as he looked deeply into her eyes. “When I saw your photograph on my first night out, you want to know what I thought?”
Becca nodded.
“I thought, she came just at the right time… She came just for me…” he trailed off and Becca’s heart started to race.
Maybe he was right. Maybe this whole thing was fate.
“Bull also said you’re nothing like the other women who have worked at, or end up hanging around The Bullet. He said you’re not just there to bag a biker, that you have a brain and values… And I like that. I like that a lot…” He smiled. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff and I’ve met a lot of people, and one of the things I pride myself on is my ability to see through fake behavior. I can spot a genuine soul, and I know it when I see it…”
“Thank you,” Becca felt suddenly humbled.
Stag smiled and twirled the wine glass in his fingers. For a man so big and brutish looking, he certainly had a deep and intense brain up there. He was intelligent, too, and he clearly relished the opportunity of getting to know someone else with a sharp mind.
“
Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.”
He threw a hundred dollar bill down on the table and got to his feet. He clasped ahold of her hand and pulled her strongly towards the door.
Back out on the street, he walked past his bike and took her across the road. Even though she had lived there for four years, and had grown up in the town, Becca could barely remember anything about it. It was almost as if her and Stag were on the same page. He walked with her into a park and they made their way down to a small lake that was positioned in the middle.
“I used to come down here,” he said. “We all did… back when we were just boys trying to get into The Forsaken. We thought that if we all congregated here and hung out that some way they would notice us.” He laughed and shook his head. “Dumb really.”
“I don’t even remember this place,” she said. “I think I’ve blocked out a lot of my past.”
“We all do…” Stag said as he wrapped his arms around her.
She had the overwhelming urge to kiss him and she looked up and their eyes met. He reached out and cupped her cheek with his big, rough hand and his fingers wrapped around the back of her neck. When he pulled her towards him, their lips met it was as if they were electric. The kiss was meaningful and full of power and Becca knew in that moment that there wasn’t just something special between them… There was something fated. Something bigger than anything she had ever known.
“I like you a lot,” he said as he pulled away slightly and rested his forehead against hers. “I didn’t think I would ever find someone I’ve had this much of an instant attraction to… But I can’t get you out of my mind.”
He got to his feet and pulled her up to meet him.
“I need to take you home,” he said. “Otherwise I’m not going to be able to control myself…” His breathing was deep and she could feel the desire and tension building within him.
She wanted nothing more than to let him rip off all of her clothes and ravish her right there and then on the ground in the middle of the park, and she wouldn’t have cared who saw them… But she knew he was right. They had to wait. Something this powerful couldn’t be rushed. Waiting would only make it even more special.
They climbed back onto his bike and he revved the engine. As she held onto his waist, her own desire was mounting and she had to bite down on her bottom lip to try and distract herself. The last thing she wanted to do was to say goodbye to him at her doorway. But she had to be strong. She had to let him leave and yearn for her even more.
When he pulled up at the foot of her drive he climbed off the bike and helped her off the back. He wrapped his hands up in her hair and pulled her to him and kissed her again. His lips were like fire. They burned her but in the most delicious of ways. She wanted their heat.
“Becca,” he whispered. “I’m so glad I found you.”
And then he kissed her again before he turned and climbed back onto the bike. Her heart was thumping and her mind was racing. She wanted so badly to beg him to stay. For him to carry her into the house, up the stairs and into her bedroom. But she couldn’t…
As he pulled away she wanted to scream. She was a mess of emotion and lust and she was being left in a state with no way of relief. She wandered back towards the house, her skin prickling with desire. She opened the door, lucky that Laura was already sleeping. She couldn’t have coped with a big conversation, she just needed to be alone. She needed to relive the night over and over.
She tucked Oscar into bed and kissed his forehead, then she made her way to her room. She climbed underneath her duvet and buried her head into her pillow. She could still smell him all over her. The intoxicating heat of his cologne and the graze of his lips against hers were lingering. She never wanted them to leave her.
She had moved back to Slate Springs without any expectations, and spent four years hiding herself away from the world. Taking a job at The Bleeding Bullet and meeting Stag had brought her back to life. She was discovering parts of herself that she never had even known existed, and it was thrilling.
As she lay in bed and looked up to the ceiling, her body still a tangle of desire, she thought of him and of how they just seemed to naturally click. She had read stories of women who had felt this way and she had always believed it to be false, or exaggerated. And yet here she was feeling exactly the same way.
“He could be the one,” she whispered to herself as she wrapped herself up in her warm, soft, blankets. “He could be the one you and Oscar have been waiting for…”
The smile spread out slowly across her lips and she reached up and touched them. She could still feel him there, and she could still feel his arm around her. It was as if he was right there in the bed with her. And she knew then that she wanted him to be, that she had to have him.
She had no idea when she would even hear from him again, but she knew that when she did, something big was going to happen. She was ready to give herself over to the unknown and to put her fate in someone else’s hands. She had to admit that although it was frightening, it was also exhilarating…. And she couldn’t wait.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The days passed by agonizingly slow. Her trips into work were full of hope, only to be dashed when he wasn’t there. She bit her tongue and didn’t mention him to Sasha, even though it was what she wanted to do more than anything. Her curiosity was piquing and her mind was swirling with possibilities, but she just couldn’t admit that to them. She needed Stag to make another move.
She had no idea where he could be. She hadn’t heard any of the bikers mention him. She began to wonder if she had conjured him up inside her head. If her longing and desire for a man who would love and protect her had created him out of thin air…
It was around ten days later when she was walking along Main Street and her disappointment had flowed to a new ebb that suddenly out of nowhere, a pair of heavy hands rested down on her shoulders from behind.
She spun around and came face to face with him. He stood there with a wide smile and tenderness in his eyes. Becca crossed her arms over her chest and popped out her hip.
“Hello,” she said, bringing the attitude she had at once forgotten she possessed.
“Hi,” he said as he took a step closer. “I can sense your anger.”
Becca glared at him, wondering if she really had the right to be in any way mad at him at all… They had only had one date… and although she had felt things she had never felt before, she didn’t have a claim to him.
“I’m not mad,” she said. “I guess just a little disappointed… I thought you were different.”
“I am,” he said sternly as he took hold of her by the arms. “I had to lay low… if you give me chance to explain…” He had an urgency about him which was worrying. Becca nodded slowly and agreed to go with him.
Stag led her through the streets of Slate Springs and took her down an alleyway. She looked around nervously, wondering what on earth he was doing but too concerned for him to not do as he asked.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
“No,” he said. “I really am sorry I just disappeared. Trust me, it’s been killing me.”
She could sense the worry in him and it was making her nervous. “What’s happened?” she asked. “Why have you dragged me down here?”
“The Iron Riders,” he said. “I had to stay away because I didn’t want them to know that I had you in my life… They’re such nasty fuckers and they’ve been making threats again. I couldn’t risk it.”
Becca looked up at him and could see that he was being genuine. “What kind of threats?” she asked.
He sighed deeply. “They know that I’m out… And they threatened to take me out.”
Becca felt as if she had been punched in the chest.
Take him out… that surely wasn’t good.
“Tensions are so high,” he said. “They know how respected I am within The Forsaken and they said they would do it as payback.”
“But why?” Becca was so confused.<
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“I don’t want to tell you too much,” he whispered as he took hold of her. “Trust me, the less you know the better.”
She let herself fold into him and he wrapped his arms around her. She could hear his heart thumping heavily through his chest.
“It’s all going to be fine,” he said. “I just didn’t want to put you in any unnecessary danger last week. That’s all.”
She nodded.
“I won’t come to your house,” he said. “From now on, if you still want to that is, you should come to me.”
Becca looked up at him. She did still want to. But was this complete madness? What was she getting herself into?
“Okay,” she found herself saying before she had given herself a chance to think. Now she had found him and felt what she had felt. There was no way she could just forget him.
Stag smiled and kissed her. When she felt him and his touch again, it was as if the past week had never even happened. They were right back on track and moving forward as rapid as ever. It was so right. So meant to be.
“Come to me tonight,” he said. “I moved into my new place last week. It’s being guarded, and from what we’ve gathered, the Iron Riders have been more than scared off now anyway. Will you come?”
She thought about it for a moment. She knew she could trust him, and if he had stayed away from her for the past week because he was worried, he certainly wasn’t now.
“Okay,” she said. “As long as you’re certain this won’t be bad for me in anyway.”
“Oh, I can’t promise that,” he said with a wicked grin. “In fact, I hope it is a little.”
She felt her pussy throb. The thought of him doing bad things to her was almost too much for her to bear.
“I’ll be waiting by my front door at nine,” he whispered as he kissed her again, his hands trailing across her throat. “And this time, when I get my hands on you, you’re going to know you’re in trouble.”
STAG: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 7) Page 5