Wicked Games: MC Romance (Bayou Devils MC Book 8)

by A. M. Myers

  Shit…

  Do I need to get something for Travis?

  “Piper?” Tate asks and she blushes as she glances back at Blaze before turning and pointing to a store on the sign. I look up the number and bite my lip to keep from laughing. Tate isn’t as successful as she flashes Blaze a smile.

  “You might want to hang out here while we go to the first store.”

  He scoffs. “If you think I’m going to leave you girls alone, you’re out of your damn mind. Where are we going?”

  “Suit yourself,” Tate whispers, her smile wide as she points to the lingerie store Piper asked to go to. Staring at it for a second, his cheeks redden before he pulls back and clears his throat.

  “I think I’ll stand guard outside the store.”

  The three of us burst out laughing as Tate nudges him and winks. “Sounds like a good plan, old man.”

  “You’re a pain in my goddamn ass, you know that?” he grumbles as we all walk toward the hallway straight in front of us. The lingerie store is in the second space on the left and Blaze posts up outside the door, crossing his arms over his chest and scanning the crowd, as we step inside. Tate turns to Piper.

  “So, what are we looking for?”

  Color rushes to Piper’s cheeks as she looks around the room. “Truthfully, I don’t know. I… kind of wanted to just do something for Wyatt to take his mind off of all this shit.”

  “You could do a sexy little dance for him,” I tell her, toying with the lace of a little red number next to me and she shifts uncomfortably, shaking her head.

  “Uh, no. I can’t dance… especially not like that.”

  I glance back at her. “It’s really not that hard and I could show you a few things… if you want.”

  “I’m sorry,” Tate interrupts, staring at me with raised brows. “How do you know “a few things”?”

  Shit…

  I didn’t really think that all the way through.

  Tate has been a close ally since I got here, keeping my secrets and trying to smooth things over with my brother when it comes to Travis and me but I have no idea how she will react to my former job. Sucking in a breath, I meet her gaze as my belly does a little flip.

  “If I tell you, you can’t tell my brother.”

  She nods. “Deal… unless you’re like in danger or something.”

  “Wouldn’t you just come rescue me then?” I ask and she laughs, nodding.

  “Maybe but Lincoln would be pissed.” She nudges me. “Now, come on, tell me all about your experience doing sexy dances?”

  Taking a deep breath, I nod. “Back in Alaska, I was… stripping.”

  “Oh,” she whispers and my breath catches in my throat but she scoffs and swipes her hand through the air like she’s dismissing it altogether. “Is that it?”

  I nod, studying her. “Um… yeah…”

  “Hell, that’s not what I was expecting but I can honestly say I’ve done worse. Though, we should definitely keep that between ourselves because your brother would shit a brick.”

  “Right,” I answer, laughing as I turn back to the racks as I imagine what my brother’s reaction would be if he ever found out. My stomach rolls at the thought and I don’t have to dive into my imagination too much to realize it would be a disaster. I turn back to Tate as she picks up a pair of panties. “What do you mean you’ve done worse though?”

  She sighs, tossing the underwear back onto the rack before glancing over her shoulder at Piper, who is flicking through another rack as she chews on her bottom lip. Grabbing my arm, she pulls me away in the other direction. “So, this isn’t really public knowledge but before I met your brother, I did whatever it took to survive and for a while, that included escorting.”

  My eyes widen in shock and she shakes her head.

  “I never had sex with any of them or anything but there were some girls who did.”

  I nod, trying to wrap my mind around this new information. “So, what did you do then?”

  “Basically… I was arm candy,” she answers with a shrug as she begins browsing through one of the racks and I watch her, seeing her in a whole new light. At first, I thought maybe she was just being nice to me and keeping my secrets to try and build a relationship between the two of us but the more I get to know her, the more it’s clear to me that this is who she truly is - kind, funny as hell, open minded, and the least judgmental person I’ve ever met.

  “Ooh, want to get this for Streak?” she asks, holding up a black lace bodysuit with baby pink frill around the edges and I fight back a smile as I shake my head.

  “I already have one like that.”

  She laughs as she puts it back on the rack and nods in approval. “All right, girl, get it. You are going to get something for him though, right?”

  “Uh… I don’t know. I thought about it but I don’t think you’re supposed to get the guy you’re casually fucking a Christmas present.”

  The sales lady’s head whips in our direction and I realize how loudly I was talking as blood rushes to my cheeks and Tate laughs again, moving closer to me to continue our conversation.

  “First of all, that was amazing. Second, y’all are not casual.”

  I scowl at her as I grab a sheer baby doll off of the rack. “What are you talking about? We are casual.”

  “Okay,” she shoots back, clearly not buying it and I prop my hand on my hip as I narrow my eyes at her. She sighs. “You can look at me like that all you want but it still won’t change the fact that you and Streak are so far from casual that I can hear wedding bells.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  She shakes her head. “No, what’s ridiculous is y’all pretending like there is nothing there when anyone with eyes can see the connection you share.”

  Before I can respond, my phone starts ringing and I sigh, putting the hanger back on the rack before pulling it out of my bag. Ash’s name stares back at me and I roll my eyes as I silence it.

  “Who was that?”

  Sighing, I slip the phone back into my bag. “Ash.”

  “Still?” she snaps, her eyes widening as she studies me. “I thought that he had stopped.”

  “Nope. He still calls every couple of days and leaves me a voice mail begging me to just talk to him and saying how much he misses me. On the last one, he talked about how empty the house was and how miserable he was without me until my voice mail cut him off.”

  She shakes her head. “Jesus Christ. I was joking the first couple of times I talked about jumping on a plane but the boy is clearly not getting the message.”

  “Whatever. Maybe I’ll just go get a new number and he can call this phone to his heart’s content.”

  Laughing, she wraps her arm around my shoulders and nods. “We should. There’s a cell phone store in the mall we could swing by.”

  “Let see how much shopping Blaze actually lets us get away with first,” I answer, grinning as I turn to check on the old man at his post. His arms are still crossed over his chest but he seems to have relaxed a little bit so maybe he won’t be rushing us out of here anytime soon. As I turn back toward Tate, my gaze sweeps over the crowd and I freeze, my heart jumping into my throat as I grip the closest rack to keep myself from collapsing. The man in the white mask, the same one from the nightclub, stands in the middle of the crowd – mothers, daughters, teenagers, fathers – all milling around him without a care in the world. It’s like he’s invisible because none of them even spare the strange man in a white mask a second glance.

  Fuck.

  Am I hallucinating this?

  He’s standing at such an angle that I don’t think Blaze can see him from his post and my heart races as my gaze flicks from Piper to Blaze before finally turning to Tate. She takes one look at my face and grips my arm as her brows knit together and she searches my face.

  “Rowan, what is it?”

  I try to swallow my fear but I swear, I can feel his gaze in the side of my head and I’m thrust right back into that nightclub as
he stalked closer and closer to Travis and me. “It’s him… the man from the club… the one in the mask…”

  “Blaze,” she calls out as she turns to search the crowd. Blaze rushes into the store and walks over with Piper on his heels and when he stops in front of us, Tate sucks in a breath, pointing to the man. “There.”

  Blaze follows her gaze, his entire body tensing. “We need to go.”

  “Fuck no,” she hisses, releasing my arm to reach behind her back and grab her gun. “Let’s end this now.”

  He shakes his head. “Absolutely not.”

  “Why? I’m so fucking tired of this asshole and his shit. I know you are, too.”

  “Tate, put your gun away,” he growls, the command in his voice clear as he levels a glare at her. Her gaze flicks between him and the man in the hall.

  “We have the chance to put an end to all of this right now. Same way I could have ended it at the nightclub if Lincoln hadn’t stopped me.”

  Blaze shakes his head. “There are far too many people here to start shooting and you could just as easily get killed. Not to mention, the police raid and investigation. We. need. to. go.”

  “Fine,” she snarls, shoving her gun back in its holster as I glance back out at the hallway. The man is still there, completely unbothered by the fact that we know he’s there and my heart races as I think about all the things he’s done to the club over the past two weeks and questions bombard me.

  What is he doing here?

  Why is he just watching us?

  What is his plan?

  “Rowan, let’s move,” Blaze says, snapping me out of my thoughts and my belly does a little flip as I nod, unable to take my eyes off of the man. I remember the utter sense of dread I felt the night we all went out to the club and the certainty I had that we weren’t going to make it out unscathed. But we did…

  Blaze goes first, putting a protective arm around Piper andTate does the same with me as we follow them out of the store. I can feel every ounce of tension in the air but it’s such a contrast from all of the normal people around us just finishing up their holiday shopping without even realizing the threat that is right next to them. In the hallway, I glance to where he was standing but my heart stops when I can’t find him.

  “Where did he go?”

  Tate shakes her head as her hand slips behind her back, ready to grab her gun at a moment’s notice. “Just keep moving, Row… and maybe get that taser out now.”

  “Okay,” I whisper, nodding as I pull the taser out of my bag and turn it on. My hand shakes as I grip it tightly, my gaze flicking around the mall and my heart pounding in my ears.

  Where is he?

  “We’re almost there,” Tate tells me when the front door comes into view and I nod, glancing behind us and sucking in a breath. He’s there, walking calmly in the same direction we are and I barely resist the urge to sob as my mind drowns in fear. I nudge Tate.

  “Behind us.”

  She glances over her shoulder and gives me a curt nod before stepping closer to Blaze and Piper. “Pick up the pace. He’s behind us.”

  I swear I can feel his fingertips brushing against the back of my shirt as we all walk a little faster toward the exit but I refuse to look back again. My stomach flips and tears sting my eyes as my heart hammers out of control in my chest. The memory of the way Travis held me in the nightclub, the last time we were in this situation, pops into my mind and I can’t help but wish he was here now.

  “Keep moving,” Blaze calls back to us as we step outside and cold air blasts us in the face. Glancing up at the gray sky looming over us, I can’t help but think it’s indicative of our situation as one single thought echoes through my mind.

  I’m going to die here.

  Sucking in a breath, I can’t stop myself from glancing back again but when I peek over my shoulder, he is gone. It should calm me, reassure me that I’m safe now but the only thing worse than seeing Warren is not seeing him because if I’ve learned one thing since moving here, it’s that he is always working behind the scenes, plotting his next move and it usually proves disastrous for us. Turning back to face Blaze and Piper as we near the SUV, I take another deep breath, desperately trying to calm myself but my hands won’t stop shaking and my heart is about to beat right out of my chest. When we finally reach the vehicle, Tate opens the back door for us and ushers me inside first before forcing Piper in next to me. Once we’re inside, she jumps in and Blaze slips behind the wheel and starts the engine, refusing to take his eyes off the parking lot. He locks the door and puts the SUV in reverse as the sound of a motorcycle engine rips through the air. I turn to look out of the window as one races up our aisle and pulls to a stop behind us, blocking us in.

  Oh, God, this is it.

  “Fuck,” Blaze hisses, his eyes hard as steel in the rearview mirror. He backs up as far as he can without hitting the bike and Warren doesn’t even flinch as the bumper of the SUV inches closer and closer to him. When Blaze can’t back up anymore, he puts the vehicle in drive. The spots on either side of us are open as well as the space next to the small truck parked in front of us, allowing him to crank the wheel to the left and slip through the maze of cars without incident. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel as he races down the aisle, toward the exit, and he periodically glances in the mirror to monitor Warren. The sound of the bike’s engine revving fills the air again as lights dance across my vision as I reach down and grab Tate’s hand off of the seat. Her eyes meet mine and despite the bravado she usually walks around with, I can see her fear as she squeezes my hand.

  “Tate, call Kodiak. I want him, Chance, Streak, Henn, and Moose to meet us on their bikes and surround the SUV,” Blaze orders and she nods, releasing my hand to make her phone call. As soon as my brother answers, she fills him in on what is going on and his shouted demands for more information fill the car even though she doesn’t have him on speakerphone.

  “Later, Lincoln,” she snaps, her knee bouncing next to me as she turns to look out of the window. “Just get here now.”

  He says something else to her but it’s too quiet to hear and as she ends the call, I turn to glance behind us. The bike is probably about five car lengths back now but I can tell it’s creeping closer and I just hope the boys get here before he catches us.

  What would he do if he actually caught us?

  The thought sends me into a tailspin and I press my hand against my chest as I turn forward again and flop into my seat as an awful idea about what he could have planned for us flicks through my mind and I struggle to breathe. If everything he’s done so far has just been a warm up to his main event, how bad will it get and will any of us survive? My mind drifts to the note that came with Piper and Wyatt’s wedding present as I shake my head.

  One down, four to go.

  Does that mean he’s only coming after a certain four people and he has no intention of hurting anyone else or are we all just collateral damage in his quest to get to those people? Will he sacrifice everyone and everything to complete his mission?

  “There they are,” Blaze says, pointing to a line of bikes as they roar past us going the opposite way. Flipping in my seat, I stare out of the back of the SUV as they cut across the median and start gaining on us, weaving through the other cars on the road with what looks like reckless abandon but I know each and every one of them is hyper-focused on reaching us before anyone else does. Warren glances over his shoulder as they race up behind him and he falls back, blending into the other traffic as the boys reach the SUV and surround it with their bikes.

  “Only a few more minutes to the clubhouse,” Tate whispers and I’m honestly not sure if she’s reassuring me or herself but either way, it’s nice to hear. Settling back into my seat, I turn to the other side and watch Travis as he rides along next to the SUV and I can almost imagine his furrowed brow as he focuses on the road in front of him. A wave of peace washes over me as I stare at him, fighting back the fear and panic so I throw all of my focus on him, rememb
ering the way he held me last night while we slept, like he never wanted to let me go. Shaking my head, I dismiss that thought. This is a high pressure situation and it’s making me overthink things and imagine things that aren’t really there. Travis and I are casual, despite what everyone else says, and it would be monumentally stupid of me to forget that.

  Finally, after what feels like an eternity, we pull to a stop in front of the gate to the clubhouse and Lincoln jumps off his bike before punching in the code and standing back to let us all in. As soon as Blaze has the SUV parked in its usual spot, Tate opens the door and we all spill out of the vehicle. Before I can even get two steps from the door, Travis runs up to me and scoops me up in his arms, lifting me off of my feet as he crushes me to his body and buries his face in my neck. His entire body is shaking and his chest heaves as he struggles to catch his breath but he still doesn’t release me until both of our heart rates have slowed.

  When he finally sets me back on my feet, his eyes meet mine before scanning my body methodically, checking for injuries as his hands smooth over my skin. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” I whisper, my voice still shaky as I nod and he releases a breath before pulling me back into his arms and presses his lips to my forehead.

  “Fuck, baby. I was so scared…”

  I nod because he doesn’t need to explain. Just like the other night when we laid under the stars, I can see and feel everything he is trying to say in his eyes and in his touch. His hand slips into my hair and he begins massaging my head as he shakes his own and presses another kiss to my forehead. Our connection wraps us up, cocooning the two of us in our own little world as he releases another sigh - one that tells me how happy he is that I’m safe and just how worried he was that he was going to lose me.

  “I’m never going to let anything happen to you, Rowan,” he whispers and I nod because I already knew that. When I’m with him, I’m safe. He blows out a breath and kisses my forehead again. “I’d rather die.”

  Me, too.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Rowan