by Cox, Paula
“I only wanted to help you,” she said. “That’s why I listened in.”
Michael’s shoulders shifted, and she expected his eyes, but he kept his gaze fixed on the way ahead.
“We had it under control, Lily,” he said. “And you shouldn’t have been so…”
Her body braced for the insult, but Michael held his tongue and just kept riding.
“So what?” she challenged. “What were you going to say?”
He slowed the motor, and as the bike idled under their bodies, he twisted his head ever so slightly, his eyes on the rubber, the sand.
Everywhere and anywhere but her face.
“It was a dumb thing to do,” he muttered. “You could have gotten yourself killed.”
“I know,” she said, her hands gently pressing into his disfigured back. She trembled at the thought that Bruce could have followed through on his promise.
Gonna give you a matching set…
“I—”
“So why do it?” he snapped, his fist pounding into his hard thigh as he kicked the toe of his boot into the ground. “Why didn’t you think? Why couldn’t you listen?”
“I said that I—”
“That doesn’t change anything,” he said.
Turning the key in the ignition, Michael left the bike and stepped away from her side. As she watched him move across the sand, Lily saw his back tensing with each step. Ken and the others kept riding towards the horizon, and she hopped off the bike and hurried to Michael’s side.
“I get it,” she said as soon as she caught up with him and managed to grab hold of his arm. “And now you’re… you’re giving so much up for me.”
Michael spun around to face her, and Lily bit down on her lip when she saw a small smirk cross his face.
“You have no idea,” he said.
“But I do,” she ventured as she tried to caress his face. Michael flinched under her touch and waved his hands in the air.
“Not by a fucking long shot,” he said.
Reaching into his pocket, he lit a cigarette and took a slow drag.
“What do you mean?” she asked as the smoke stung her eyes. Lily trembled where she stood, but she stayed in his eyes as she waited for him to speak.
“The decision was made before your little adventure,” he said. “Maybe if you’d stuck to eavesdropping, you would have known that.”
He pointed a sharp finger towards the bruise crossing her cheek. Leaning into his hand, Lily sensed him wanting to cradle her discolored flesh, but he suddenly pulled back and sucked on his smoke again.
“But I guess there’s just no stopping you,” he said.
“I… you said that my family was looking for me,” she started. “Said there might be trouble.”
“Yeah?” he asked. “How do you feel about that?”
Lily’s mind twisted with a million emotions, and when she was slow to speak, he snapped his fingers in her face and demanded her total attention.
“Answer the question.” he demanded. “What did you think you were doing? Thought you might meet some rescue party half way? Don’t lie to me.”
He started back towards his bike when Lily grabbed him again, her nails grinding into his arm.
“Wait!” she screamed.
Michael kept moving, and Lily’s feet made tracks in the sand as she held on tight and trailed after him.
“What did I lie about?” she said. “When did I—?”
“When you said you wanted more.” he flicked his smoldering smoke at her feet and took hold of her arms. Michael pressed her closer to his chest. The nearness of his hard skin and the smell of the desert wafting off his body brought a sigh from her lips. But Lily kept her eyes wide as she peered intently into his face.
“Asking me to fuck you,” he hissed. “Practically begging for it. You even wanted to know if I’d had the same thing with someone else. What was that about?”
Lily rested her fingers to his chest and slowly hung her head.
“It wasn’t a lie,” she confessed. “I did want more.”
“Then why not go back to bed and just wait,” he said. “Why couldn’t you do as you were told?”
“I—”
He pushed her away, his eyes blazing as he clenched his fists. “What is this to you? Playing like you’re my old lady so you can have a story to tell? Won’t all your little friends be jealous?”
Lily started to reach for him again when she suddenly held back and scoffed.
“I didn’t ask for this, okay?! Those creeps kidnapped me! And you.” Her finger stabbed at him. “You bought me like a pack of cigarettes. I didn’t ask for any of this to happen!”
Michael grabbed her again, and Lily gasped when his mouth was close enough to kiss.
“I get that,” he said. “But you sure put up a good show. Let’s see if you can manage an encore.”
He crushed his lips around hers. Lily’s first instinct was to push away from him, but as his tongue mingled with hers, she wilted and sank into his kiss. Michael’s arms surrounded her waist, and he pulled her closer. Lifting her hands to his face, she intensified her pursuit, her arms clinging to his neck. Michael moaned as he left his mouth, and she felt her face and her cunt on fire as she stared into his eyes.
“Not bad,” he said.
His finger traced the line of her mouth, and he let out a light laugh.
“So how about you just stay the course and be what I need you to be?”
Any and all tenderness fell away from her heart.
“And I’m the liar?” she challenged.
“From where I stand.”
“I thought you wanted to keep me safe,” she said. “Would you have said that if you didn’t… if you didn’t care?”
Michael’s eyes clouded over, and a small part of her hoped that he would admit what he felt, what she felt when he was in her arms and they were alone in the darkness.
“I care,” he said. “I care about my possessions.”
Rage clawed its way up her throat. Lily wanted to rail into him, to scream her fury into the sky and let it rain down to the core of his soul. But her tongue tied in her throat. Unable to speak, her palm tensed, and she slapped her hand across his surprised face.
“Hey!” he drew back and grabbed his cheek. “What do you—?”
“So that’s all I am to you,” she said. “One of your toys?”
Lily thought she saw a look that passed for pain pouring through his eyes. Was he lying now? Or was the lie lumping her in with his other trinkets and pretending that she barely counted for as much as that?
“We’ll talk about this when we get back,” he said. “Let’s go.”
Michael tried to grab her arm, but Lily shied away from his touch.
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she said.
“You sure as hell—”
“Don’t touch me!”
Lily wriggled in his hold, but Michael’s grip was more than she could fight. As he dragged her back to the bike, she kicked and spit and tried to break free. Bringing her nails to his face, she scratched his skin. Michael winced and groaned, but he held her fast until a set of headlights and a roaring motor started towards them.
“Get behind me,” he ordered.
“What’s going—” The rest of her words were choked out as he closed his hand around her mouth.
Drawing his gun, Michael aimed at the approaching driver, and Lily’s breath accelerated as she feared Trevor or Bruce or one of the other Mad Angels having a change of heart. Of course they would choose this moment, when it was just the two of them, to renegotiate the impromptu contract and take her for their own.
And if Lily had to be a toy, she’d rather stay at Michael’s than fall back into that nightmare.
“What the hell are you two waiting for?”
Ken’s familiar form rode into view. Michael sighed as he lowered his gun, and Lily relaxed behind him.
“Sorry, man,” Michael said as he concealed his weapon in his p
ants. “Didn’t know it was you.”
Ken dismounted, and he cocked his head to the side as he looked at Michael’s face.
“What happened there?” Ken asked. “Someone get a little rough?”
Even in the moonlight, Lily could see Michael’s cheeks turn scarlet. Satisfied that she had gotten one over on him, she was ready for him to point the finger in the direction of her shaking hands when Michael simply shrugged and barely looked at her over his shoulder.
“She’s a little rattled.” Michael said. “Been that kind of night.”
Surprised by and thankful for his lie, Lily nodded at Ken.
“Sure that’s all it is?” Ken’s stare was only for her, and Lily bowed her head and spoke softly.
“Just like he said.”
That was a lie, but it came quite easily, and Lily took note of the slight sneer in Michael’s eyes as he glanced at her over her shoulder.
“You don’t believe her?” Michael asked Ken as he kept his eyes on Lily. “Only a fool would doubt those lips.”
A small feeling of shame washed across her heart, but Lily stayed silent as Ken revved up his motor.
“Let’s say you two take this little reunion back to camp,” Ken ordered. “We got things to do.”
“I got you,” Michael said. “We’re coming.”
Ken watched them closely as Michael lifted Lily to the back of his bike. Mounting ahead of her, he shot her a quick glance and a whisper.
“Just cool it,” he cautioned. “Last thing we need tonight is another scene. Think you can lie a little longer?”
His words pierced her heart, but where was she going to go? Run into the desert with two Diesel Devils on her back when the Mad Angels might be lying in wait? She nodded her head and reluctantly pressed her hands to his hard shoulders.
“I can if you can,” she said.
Michael started his bike, and they followed Ken into the darkness.
CHAPTER TWENTY As the camp came into view, Lily felt the adrenaline seeping from her veins. Her capture was a memory that she longed to suppress. So were Michael’s words. But she ached, body and soul, and she felt wearier than she had in her entire life.
Brendan and Wesley and some of the other Diesel Devils were already breaking down parts of camp. Just the smaller tents. As they started to load up their saddle bags, Lily felt a great guilt tearing at her heart. Outlaw’s den or not, this patch of desert was still their home.
And because of her, they were now forced to abandon it.
Ken sped back to Michael’s bike and spoke fast.
“The boys are starting now,” Ken said. “Two of you should get some rest.”
“Ken, I want to—”
“And I say that you need a rack for few hours,” Ken said as he cut him off. “We’ll regroup at first light, take what we need, and move out.”
Under protest, Michael brought his bike to a stop. Stepping to the sand, he stood toe-to-toe with Ken and clenched his fists.
“I’m not tired,” he insisted. “I should—”
“You should look after your old lady,” Ken said.
Turning his eyes back to Lily, Michael grunted his reluctant assent. Taking her in his arms, he brought her feet back to the sand. Lily lingered for a moment in his embrace and thought that she saw something that might be affection blazing across his face. But as fast as it came, Michael’s face morphed back into a cold mask, and he looked to Ken.
“She should see Sophia,” Michael said. “Get her some ice for her face or whatever.”
Ken brushed his hands together and shot Michael a confused stare.
“Don’t you want to help her out with that?” Ken asked. “You were the one that led the charge to find her.”
Ken’s words brought a small smile to her face. She might just be a toy to him, but some part of Michael still regarded her fondly. Lily was tempted to touch him, and she took his arm as both camp and desert night spun around her.
Michael didn’t shirk her hold, but his eyes focused on nothing and no one but Ken.
“She needs kind hands,” Michael said. “And I have work to do.”
Lily’s shoulders sagged as he led her deeper into camp. Of course she needed kind hands. But she wanted them to be his. Michael didn’t look down at her, and Lily nearly asked him where he was going when Sophia was there with her arms outstretched.
“Thank god,” Sophia said. “You come here, honey.”
Lily was reluctant to leave Michael’s side, but he eased her into Sophia’s arms.
“We were worried,” Sophia said. “You okay— oh, kid.”
She brought her fingers close to the bruise, and Lily stayed in her hold and her eyes.
“It’s nothing,” Lily assured her. “Hardly hurts.”
“Liar,” Sophia said.
Lily saw Michael glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. She thought she saw a small smile cross his lips, and she started to lean into his shoulder when he shrugged her off and looked into Sophia’s eyes.
“She’s good at that,” Michael said.
And just like that, she went back to wanting to scratch his skin from his cheeks.
“Just take care of her,” Michael said. “We got work to do.”
He turned away from her and crashed into Ken.
“Michael, I said—”
“I heard you!” Michael barked. “And I am fucking fine. So we gonna do this or what?”
Even Ken seemed to know when he was beat, and he waved his hand in the air as Michael stalked off into the shadows. Watching him go tugged at her heart, and she wanted him to turn and give her one glance to assure her that some part of this was real.
But Michael kept plowing forward and made no move to get back in her gaze.
“Will he be okay?” Sophia asked.
Ken shook his head.
“She’s probably the only one that could enlighten us on that subject,” Ken said. He stepped closer and peered into her eyes.
“What about it?” Ken asked. “You want to tell me what really happened when you two lagged behind?”
Lily wanted to tell someone, and she parted her lips to speak when she suddenly held her tongue. She had desire to shame Michael in front of his leader, and Sophia’s presence reminded her that Ken was kind of precious to her.
And maybe it is my fault. He told me not to go. But I still ran.
“We… we were just sorting some stuff out,” Lily said. “Guess he’d rather I stick close to camp.”
Ken took her hand in his, and the smile that crossed his face made her gasp. Because it didn’t belong. Not in this place. Her mind flashed back to the memory that Ken was only in charge because of Leo, because Sophia’s man was no longer among the living. He stepped up because he had to, and from the looks of him at this moment, he didn’t want it. There was something too soft in his stare. Maybe he seized on the threat of her people coming after her and welcomed the chance to hide in the shadows. Lily glanced in the direction that Michael had departed, and she thought that the leaders of the Diesel Devils should be him.
But maybe Michael didn’t want it either.
Sophia pressed her hand to the bruise on her face and shook her head.
“Well whatever the hell happened, we need to tend to this,” Sophia said. “Now you just come with—”
“Are they back?”
Sally appeared from the folds of the tent. He eyes were wide, and her hair was rumpled. She looked as if she had just wrestled with some horrible dream. Was she imagining that she was back in the waking nightmare that had been her life prior to the night of the auction? Or was she dreaming of what might have happened had they not returned in one piece?
“You’re here!” she cried as soon as she saw Ken. “Thank god.”
Sally flung her arms around his neck and clasped him close. Ken’s arms enveloped her trembling shoulders, and he gathered her to his chest as he whispered into her hair.
“Right here,” he assured her. “Not a thing for you
to worry about. You… hey. Hey come on now. Don’t cry.”
Sally disobeyed his order and wept into his shoulder. If it was Michael, if she was Sally, the biker would have pushed the sobbing girl back and told her that he didn’t buy even an inch of what she was selling. But Ken didn’t make that move. He pressed Sally to him, and she heard Ken’s soft voice as it hit her ear.