by Siren, Tia
"Or burning down a building with people in it." Danny moved up beside us and shivered. "Why can't we find someone with power that isn't evil?"
"Erik isn't evil." I ran my hands over the top of my head. "He's a product of his environment."
"Aren't we all?" Ben glanced around and then back at us. "I need to get laid, or at least get one of these girls to give me head."
"Go do what you need to do, man." I patted his chest.
"Not a chance. As soon as we find Evie." He reached out and grabbed a skinny guy walking by. "Get over here."
"Hey. I didn't—" The guy’s eyes filled with fear as he lifted his hands. Sid Paul. The guy was the scum of the street-racing world. He was the kind of guy that would sell his mother if he thought he could get a few bucks out of the deal. Scary enough, he knew all the shit on everyone, including us.
"Sid. Good to see you." I reached out and gripped his shoulders. "What do you know about Rodney Jackson's crew? I haven't seen him around here tonight."
Rodney was the reason I got into street racing, but shortly after I got my legs under me, I walked away. Being independent and starting my own crew pissed the old man off, but it was what it was. He would have enjoyed seeing me bent over most. Far more than anyone else I could think of.
"He's in the pen, Mason." He gripped my forearms and pulled back a little, but I held on tightly.
"And his crew?" Ben asked from beside us. "Where are they at?"
"No clue. They've been on hiatus for all I know." He pulled again, but I wouldn't let go. "Why? You coming back to the streets?"
"No. Tell me about Mark Dennings, Sid." I squeezed my fingers together as he groaned.
"What about him? He was offed a few months ago. Fuck."
"Really?" I turned my face toward Ben. "You didn't tell me that shit."
He smirked. "Why would I? You left this world, Mason. I'm your best friend. I'm not dragging your ass back into it."
"Fair enough." I released Sid and turned to face him. "Anything you want to tell us?"
He chuckled. "No clue what you're talking about right now."
"No?" I reached out to grab him again, but he backed up. "If you know something about—"
"Stop." Ben put his hand on my arm, stopping me. "Keep our shit ours."
I nodded. "If you hear anything about Rodney or his crew, come to me. Don't make me come after you."
"Will do." Sid turned and half-jogged away.
"I hate that guy. If he's breathing, he's lying." Danny crossed his arms over his chest. "What's the call, Mase? What the fuck are we doing?"
"We're racing to get attention, asking around about Evie as best we can and getting the fuck out of here."
"Are we going to call Erik tomorrow?" Ben reached over to a cooler and pulled two beers out, tossing one to me and the other to Danny.
"I sure as fuck hope not." I popped the top and walked away from my friends before taking a long drink. I let my eyes scan the crowd. "Where are you, baby? Are you safe? Are you hurt?"
Anger burned deep inside of me at the idea of anything happening to my girl. Whoever took her would pay the ultimate price if she were anything but fine.
And even still. Death seemed like a proper payback.
"You don't take a man's wife." I pursed my lips as my thoughts burned a hole in my heart. Or his baby.
5
I didn't race the night before. It had been too long since I'd been behind the wheel of a fast car, but Danny and Ben whupped some asses and got the attention we were after. With too many beers in my system, I got in three fights and found myself facedown on the bed with the sound of singing around me.
I realized shortly after the lights went out that it was my own voice. No one else was around.
"I miss you, baby. Promise me you're all right." I closed my eyes and went in search of my bride in the only place I could find her. My dreams.
"Mason," Evie whispered roughly as I buried my face between her perfect thighs. The sound of the ocean rising up all around us left my soul at rest for the first time in a long time. The beautiful woman trapped beneath me was mine. Forever. "Baby."
"Talk to me, Eve." I ran my hand over her stomach and up to cup her tit as she arched and moaned again. Her fingers slid into the hair at the top of my head, and she pulled me back down to taste her again.
"Don't stop. Please. I'm so close."
I lifted my head, pressing against her hand and blew cold air on her sweet, wet lips. "I tell you when to come. Did you forget how this worked, Angel?"
She moaned and tried to use her strength to push me back down. I didn't budge. It was almost cute.
"Please? You know I hate it when you—"
"Hey. Look at me." I slid my hand up further and wrapped my fingers around the base of her throat as she glanced down the beautiful line of her body and gave me a look that could kill.
"Mason. Stop fucking with me."
"Never." I extended my tongue and rolled it through her sticky, wet folds. "Mmmm... delicious."
"Ugh." She dropped her head and hit her balled fists against the sand beside us. "Why do you make me beg? You're my husband now. Take care of me."
"I plan to, Eve. Just relax and understand that I got you. I'm not going to let you walk away without limping. You know that, baby. Why are you so worried?" I used my free hand to play with the tight opening of her body. She moaned loudly as I rimmed her pussy and pressed my middle finger up into her.
"Put your mouth on me." She panted loudly and lifted her hips. She was so close her body was pulsating, pulling at my fingers as her body prepared to explode.
"Say please." I smiled and went back to work on her, licking and sucking at her clit as I worked her wide open with my fingers. I pressed a second and then a third inside of her as she wrapped her shapely legs around my upper back and rocked against me, coming hard and fast.
I drank her down and fucked her over the edge again before moving up her body to get mine. She reached for me and kissed me hard before rolling us over. Sand moved around us as the wind blew, and the moonlight bathed us in an ethereal blue light. Nothing could have been more right.
She sat up and worked herself down on my cock as I took her hips in my hands and pulled. "God, you're so fucking beautiful."
"Like an angel?" She ran her hands up from her hips, over her sides to her breasts. She tugged at her nipples and whimpered as I lifted my hips and drove into her from below.
"Yeah, baby. Just like an angel." I released her hips and moved up to my elbows to take in the beauty all around me and above me. "Don't stop, Evie. Fuck me until you can't move anymore."
"Say please." She gripped my shoulders and leaned toward me, massaging the tip of my dick before impaling herself back down on me. We groaned together.
It took every bit of patience inside of me not to flip her over and wreck her for anything that required moving the next day. We'd said our vows earlier that day, and she was officially mine. Forever.
I'd never wanted anything more in my life.
"I don't ask permission, baby girl." I dropped back down and stretched my arms above me. The sand was cold and felt good in contrast to the heat building between us. She laid down, covering me as best she could and pulled at my cock as she made love to my mouth.
We spent the rest of the night taking turns making each other come, listening for the slight hitch in the other’s breathing and pushing the other past their limits. It was bliss. A night I wouldn't soon forget.
"Mason?"
I jerked up out of my sleep and reached for her.
"Eve?" I rolled out of bed and flipped on all the lights. My cock was as hard as a rock, and my pulse was racing. A knock at the door brought me out of the moment. Sunlight filled the room.
"A dream? Just a goddamn dream." I grabbed my pants and put them on as I walked to the door again. The knock got more insistent. "Fuck. Just a minute. I'm coming already. Shit."
"Damn, dude," Ben pushed past me as I opened the door. "
I've been calling and knocking for a fucking half-hour."
"Forgive me." I closed the door and cupped the head of my dick as it poked above my jeans. "Let me grab a shirt."
"Please do." He dropped a bag on the kitchen table and set down two cups. "You slept I take it?"
"Something like that." I walked to the bedroom and tried hard not to let the depression that sat at the door of my mind enter in. I'd never survive if I sunk down into the devastating fact that the best part of my life was missing.
And worse than that... possibly hurt.
I pulled on a shirt and walked back into the kitchen to find Ben laying out breakfast.
"You hungry?" He moved back and wiped his hands on his jeans like he was mighty proud of himself.
"Yeah." I sat down and grabbed a donut and one of the cups. "What are you doing over here so early, man? You find out something?"
"No. Yes. Fuck. I don't know." He dropped down into the seat beside me and grabbed a muffin. "We got invited to a race tonight."
"I'm not going." I shoved half the donut in my mouth and tried to enjoy the sugary high it provided.
"Mason. This is important. It's at eleven tonight. At the old race track where we cut our teeth. We're going." He pulled the top off his cup. "And you're racing."
"No. I'm not." I shoved the rest in my mouth and sat back, watching the frustration on his face. "My fucking wife is missing. I'm not doing anything but finding her, Ben. I have to go to Erik."
"No." He took a drink and growled. "Fuck, that's hot."
"Dude. Erik is the only one who—"
"Mason." He popped the table in front of me, his eyes filled with worry. "We're racing tonight. The prize is information."
My blood ran cold. "Information on what?"
"On your wife." He tilted his head to the side. "The teams that are coming are willing to pay up with information or help if you win."
"And if they win?" I took a drink of my coffee, ignoring how hot it was. My donut was stuck in my damn throat thanks to the shock rolling through me. Someone knew something. Or hell, maybe everyone did. I had a chance to get the information I was after without having Erik Bertinelli's help? Fuck me. I was in.
"Twenty thousand, man." He glanced down as a look of defeat moved across his face.
"Fine. I'm in."
"What?" He jerked his head back up. "Do you have that kind of money?"
"No, you idiot. I'm partners with you for a living. We're on the verge of bankruptcy because I'm a horrible entrepreneur and you're a horrible accountant." I got up and took my coffee to the bedroom with me. "I haven't done this in years, Ben."
"I know. Get dressed, and we'll go out to practice this afternoon. I'll help you remember, man."
"Yeah? And what do you expect in return?" I closed the door behind me. If he said nothing, he was fucking lying.
"Nothing," he called after me.
I rolled my eyes and closed the door. The day Benjamin Harris did anything from the goodness of his heart was the day hell would freeze over.
My thoughts were all over the place, but I knew one thing I needed to do before driving another car and possibly killing myself. I needed to talk to my little brother. The sorry bitch hadn't even called to check on me or Evie. Why?
I grabbed my phone and sat down on the edge of the bed, putting it on speaker while I worked to get my shoes on.
"What?" Owen's tone was dark and angry.
"Wow. I tell you my fucking wife is missing and this is how you help?" I barked loudly.
"You didn't want me in your life nine years ago, Mason. I'm sorry that your thug ways caught up to you. No, scratch that. I'm sorry for Evelyn that your bullshit finally came full circle. You wanted to be a Billy Badass and leave everyone in the dust. Well, here's your chance."
"Owen. Don't say something you're going to regret. I know you can help me."
"You're right. I could help, but tell me one good reason why I should."
"Because I'm your fucking brother."
"No, my brother died a long time ago. You must have me mistaken for someone else. Good luck, Mason. I hope you find Evelyn and she's the woman you thought she was. Tell her I said hi if things do turn out well for you."
The sound of the call ending left me with nothing to do but yell in anger.
"What's up?" Ben poked his head in the room in time to see me launch my phone across the room.
"My fucking goody-goody little brother has the power to help me find Evie, and he won't." I finished with my shoes and got up. "He won't and Erik will. What kind of fucked-up world are we living in?"
"The same one you left a few years back, brother. Get your shit and let's get you behind the wheel of a car. Someone knows something about Evie. We're going to win and find her."
"And if I don't win?" I grabbed my keys and my wallet.
"Then I guess we might want to bring a checkbook and a gun."
"Exactly." I grabbed my sunglasses and put them on. "One thing is for damn sure. I'm not leaving there tonight without knowing where my wife is. I don't care who has to take a bullet to loosen their tongue."
It was a life I promised my pretty bride I would never return to, but sometimes life doesn't leave a choice.
It only makes demands.
6
"You good?" Danny leaned down to the window of the car I was strapped into. He had met us at the track looking like a kid at Christmas.
"I've been better." I tugged on the seatbelt and tried to still my racing heart. "You two assholes better not have anything to do with Evie going missing as a way of getting me back in one of these fucking cars."
"Are you shitting me?" Ben pushed Danny out of the way and squatted outside of the window. "Take that shit back. Now."
The anger in his voice let me know real fucking quick that my friends, my only version of family, didn't do anything to Evie. Nor would they ever.
"I take it back." I turned to face the open road and gripped the steering wheel like my life depended on it. "I don't want to fall in love again."
"We're going to find her, Mason. Just focus on—"
"Not with another woman." I glanced over to find both Ben and Danny watching me intently. "With racing. I can't come back to this life. I won't."
"Enough talking. Get your ass in gear. We have a race to win tonight." Ben stood and reached in the window to squeeze my arm. "Don't choke up on the curves. You used to be horrible about that shit."
"Still am," I mumbled and released the break. I slammed my foot down on the gas, and the Cobra Mustang jerked forward until speed was all I could feel. I lifted my foot a little as I neared the first turn and made it with ease. Adrenaline pumped through my system, and the homecoming welcome felt so right I could have wept. I was a racer at heart, the kind of man who wanted to outrun his past and leave the future in the rear-view mirror trying to catch up.
"God, I love this." I took the next curve and held my breath. It was a beautiful turn. The best I'd ever done. I knew deep in my bones that I was created to race. How in the world had Evie talked me out of being who I was made to be?
Was our love that strong?
My foot lifted on its own as if my thoughts drove me to the stark realization that I'd given up everything for her.
Why?
"Because I love her." I pressed my foot down hard, and the car tore off down the straightaway. Fear and anger fought for domination deep in my chest, and sweat collected around my brow as a million memories flooded my mind's eye.
Our meeting at the track when we were younger, and her falling for my car long before she fell for me.
Her standing me up on our first date and apologizing with the best blow job I'd ever had in my life.
My begging her to let me fuck her in my new Mustang, and her finally giving in. It was the worst lay I'd ever had or given. I was trying like hell not to get anything on the damn seats.
I laughed as tears filled my eyes. Pain ripped through me, crippling my ability to maintain control o
f the car. It spun to the left, and I knew better than to jerk the wheel the other way, but life seemed a little too complicated all of a sudden. I didn't want to follow the rules. Not the guys, not Erik's, not even Evie's. I was lost and spinning in the middle of a track in slow motion.
The day I proposed to her flooded my soul with warmth. It was the best day of my life as I knelt in the muddy street. Rain poured around us, drenching her long black hair and making her look even more beautiful.
Her standing at the back of the church. I didn't want to get married in that stuffy-ass building, but she said we were, so we were.
The morning before she was taken. Making love to me with a passion that burned me to the core of my being.
Her being pregnant.
I closed my eyes and let the wheel go. My stomach lurched as the car went airborne. There was no preparing for the impact. Something close to peace settled over me. I would survive and find her, or God would snatch me up and there she would be—waiting in the clouds for me.
Pain shot through my left shoulder, and I opened my eyes to see the car flipped over itself to the left. I hit again and let out a long grunt as my heart raced. No matter how much I wanted to release myself to what might happen in the car or in life... I couldn't. The human spirit is insatiable and is never willing to give up.
The tumbling stopped, and I released the tension in my shoulders and back and focused somewhere deep inside of me where Evie's voice rose up. She'd saved me from being a reckless asshole, and for that, I'd never stop looking for her. Never stop running after the possibility that she was just around the next corner.
"Mason! Fuck man." Ben's voice filled up the space around me.
There was no reason to try to communicate with him thanks to the thick-ass helmet he forced me to wear.
"Help me get him the fuck outta there. Now!" Ben and several other guys pushed the car back upright. He worked to get the door open and half-pulled me out of it. He tore my helmet off and gripped my shirt tightly. "What the fuck were you thinking?"