by Jessie Cooke
She felt his body shake in a laugh. “No buts—sleep. We’ll talk about this later.” Storm might have argued further. She was sure she was too worried about her mother and there was too much on her mind to be able to sleep. But, the second she settled into his arms and closed her eyes, sleep claimed her.
Storm woke up disoriented; she’d slept hard and dreamless. When she remembered who and where she was, her first emotion was guilt. Her mother was sick and alone, and she’d just been here sleeping like everything was fine. What kind of daughter am I? She could hear the sound of Ryder’s voice talking softly, like he was trying not to wake her...or trying not to let her hear what he was saying. Because she was worried that it was the latter, she pulled herself up in the bed and she saw him sitting in the chair next to the bedroom door with his back to her. He was on the phone.
“So they all say he was with them all night? That’s good, right? I mean, if it wasn’t him, then it wasn’t Storm either. Okay, Hunter, I get that they’re not the most reliable witnesses, but with that in mind, why would these losers lie for another loser?” She knew he must be talking about Denny and his “boys” that he said he was with the night of the robbery. Ryder was silent for a few moments and then he said, “Storm’s mother has no idea that someone made that payment to her loan shark.” Hunter must have asked him how he knew that because next he said, “Because she called Storm while I was here and she told her that she still owed three weeks’ worth of payments. She said twenty-two grand—I heard her—and she sounded genuinely frightened of these guys. There would be no reason for her to be so scared, and still hiding, if she thought she was caught up.”
Another long pause and he said, “Storm didn’t pay it either.” His next pause was a growl and it sounded like he had his teeth gritted together when he said, “Because I just know, Hunter, okay? I’m sorry, I get that you’re just doing your job, please keep in mind that I’m doing mine too, okay? I’m just looking at it from different angles.” He listened again, sighed and said, “I know, bro, thanks. Do me a favor and tell Dax that I asked David to trace the number Storm’s mother called from. We need to find her; she didn’t sound well on the phone.”
“Ryder, please tell them not to hurt her.” He seemed startled as he pulled his head around and looked at her. He nodded and spent a few seconds wrapping up his call before putting the phone down and saying:
“That goes without saying, baby. They wouldn’t hurt her.”
“Really? Even if they think she did this robbery?”
Ryder got up and went over to sit on the edge of the bed. He picked up her hand and held it as he looked into her eyes and said, “Something else that you don’t know or understand about our lifestyle is this…if you were a man, Dax would have never given you the kind of benefit of the doubt that he has. Firing you was mild compared to what you would have been subjected to if you weren’t a woman.” Storm almost asked what she might have been “subjected to” as a man, but decided she didn’t want to know. Instead, she decided just to be thankful that whoever found her mother wouldn’t hurt her. She was worried. She had a feeling in her gut that something was really wrong.
15
Storm looked like she was going to jump out of her skin and since she had the night off anyway, Ryder checked in with Dax and the two of them got on his bike and headed for New York. Maybe by the time they got there, David would have some information for them on the GPS. They drove for a couple of hours and stopped at a little diner between Hartford and New Haven in Connecticut for dinner. They were waiting for their meals when Ryder got the call they’d been waiting for.
“David? What have you got for me?”
“The GPS for that phone was pinging off a tower near Times Square this morning, but now it’s bouncing off a tower near West 12th and Broadway.”
“Damn, okay...I don’t know that area.”
“It’s still near Times Square, but it’s business district. A lot of medical offices, Mt. Sinai...”
Ryder looked at Storm while David went on. The summary was, she was probably sick enough that she’d sought help...or was taken to a hospital. The waitress was sitting Storm’s food down in front of her. She hadn’t eaten a thing all day. He made a quick, executive decision not to say what he was thinking out loud. No matter whether her mother was in the hospital or not, it would still take them over two hours to get there, and she needed to take care of herself. “Okay, thank you, David. I really appreciate your help.”
“No problem. Ryder, I let Dax know what I found out first.”
“I figured. He knows I’m on my way to New York. I’m not going rogue.”
David laughed. “Okay. Be safe.”
As soon as Ryder ended the call Storm said, “Did he find her?”
“He got coordinates for us, so it’s a start. We know she’s in the Times Square area.”
Storm grimaced and said, “Her and about one million other people.”
Ryder knew that was the case. He also knew that if she was in the hospital, it might be a blessing; at least it would be a place to start. But for now, he just offered her a smile and said, “Eat your food. We’ll find her.”
She smirked and said, “You know, I’m getting a little sick of you being so bossy. You’re not the boss of me.”
Ryder grinned. “That’s not what you said last night.”
Storm laughed and threw a French fry at him. It was good to see her smile. “I’m going to eat this food because I’m hungry, but not because you told me to.”
He chuckled. “Alright.” They both ate, mostly in silence, but toward the end of the meal Storm said:
“Why didn’t you go home after you got out of the army? Don’t you miss your family?”
He nodded. “I do. It’s hard to explain. When I left for the army I was a kid…a naïve kid that had led a pretty sheltered life. I wasn’t that guy anymore when I got out and I knew that my family would have a hard time with that. I can put myself together long enough for a visit every now and then, but this life I live is not something my parents are overly happy about or proud of. But I had to make my own choices. So, I thought choosing to do it in an entirely different state wouldn’t be so hard for them. I wouldn’t be rubbing it in their faces and they could choose to tell their friends and neighbors whatever they wanted to about me. It’s not like I’m going to run into any of them at the five and dime.”
She laughed. “The five and dime? Did you grow up in 1950?”
He smiled. “You would have a hard time believing it, but in the town I did grow up in, it might as well have been. It’s all about agriculture and church and family. I had a great childhood, and I have a great family, but that wasn’t the life I wanted to live as an adult.”
“Makes sense,” she said.
“My turn?”
She rolled her eyes. “I guess.”
He laughed again. “I’m just wondering what you want to do with your life. I don’t mean any offense. If working at the Skybox serving drinks and peanuts is what you want to do then that’s great...but you don’t seem content with that. What’s your dream, Storm?”
“I like to cook,” she said. “When I was working for the catering company on the rez, I kind of thought I might like to do something with food...a chef or something.”
“So the daycare job was just a job too?”
She nodded. “Pretty much. I like kids, they’re fun. But no, I wouldn’t want to work with other people’s kids forever. I’d much rather cook and serve good food. The catering business I worked for was mostly family, and the owner was a really sweet lady that had to cut my hours to give her daughter a job after she graduated high school. She hated to do it, but family comes first, so I understood. If I had still been working full-time for her when my dad died, I might have stayed on the rez. But I was unhappy with my job and things were going bad with Mom and…well…you met Denny. I just needed a change. I applied for a few restaurant jobs, but Carolyn called me first and I needed a job...so here I am.”
Ryder thought about Kat, or Hurricane Katrina as they called her. Her catering business had really taken off once Dax backed it. She did a lot of lunches for businesses in the area and fundraising dinners, weddings, and funerals. The only problem was with Dax backing the business, Kat would never hire Storm without his blessing. Ryder filed the thought away as one more reason to clear Storm’s name. He wanted his club to accept her. He wanted her. “I guess we should get going,” he said, looking at the time. “It’ll be eight or nine o’clock by the time we get to Times Square if we don’t hit too much traffic.”
“Okay,” she said, putting down her napkin. “I’m going to use the ladies’ room and I’ll meet you outside.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills.
“What is that?”
“Money.”
“I got this.”
She tossed it on the table, winked at him as she stood up, and said, “You’re not the boss of me.” He shook his head as he watched her walk away. Damn, she looked fine doing that. He was still looking at her fine ass when the waitress came to bring the check. He paid her, left one of Storm’s five-dollar bills as a tip, and put the rest in his pocket. He’d slip it back in hers later, when she wasn’t paying attention. She was a stubborn-ass woman...and surprisingly that turned him on like crazy. So much so, as a matter of fact, that he decided another fifteen minutes before they got on the road wasn’t going to hurt a thing. With a smile on his face, he headed back toward the bathrooms. He hoped they were single stall, but if they weren’t, anyone that had to go for the next fifteen...or twenty minutes…would just have to wait.
Ryder was waiting when Storm opened the door. He didn’t give her the chance to step out. He grabbed her around the waist and she let out a little yelp as he pushed her back in and kicked it closed behind him. “What are you doing?”
He didn’t say anything, he just grinned down at her before leaning down and covering her mouth with his. She protested, slightly, but by the time their tongues were tangled up, she was reaching behind him and sliding the lock on the door. As soon as she did that, he pushed her back into the sink and pulled up her t-shirt. Bending down, he put his mouth on the warm flesh of her stomach and kissed and sucked at it. Storm had her palms pressed into the sink, holding herself up as he worked her jeans loose and began pushing them down. He was sliding down with them and in a breathless voice she said, “Bathroom floor. It’s gotta have a million germs on it.”
“Don’t care.” He got her jeans down to her knees and then he hooked a finger in the crotch of her panties, causing her to gasp as he pulled them down past her knees. He got on his own knees and buried his face in between her legs. He wasn’t wasting any time because he knew they didn’t have much. Storm pressed back harder into the sink and she let out little moans and gasps as his tongue made its way along her slit. She let out a little cry when he found her clit and then she remembered where they were and brought one hand up to cover her mouth while he twirled his tongue around it and scraped it with the side of his teeth. She was already drenched, and he loved how sweet she tasted. A knock on the door startled them both. Storm looked like she was fighting off a case of the giggles as she said:
“I’m sorry, I’ll be right out.” Her voice sounded strained, but maybe that would make whoever was at the door go back and wait at their table. Storm did giggle then and in a whisper she said, “We really shouldn’t do this here.”
Ryder stood up and kissed her again. She sucked on his tongue and licked his lips, seemingly forgetting that they “shouldn’t” be doing that there. When he pulled out of the kiss he said, “You want to stop?”
She shook her head as she grabbed the bulge in the front of his jeans. “No, just hurry,” she said, out of breath. Ryder unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and pushed them down. As soon as he did, Storm put both of her hands down in the front of his shorts and grabbed his throbbing cock. He loved the way she touched him. She wasn’t shy about it and she seemed to know exactly what he needed, when he needed it. She gave it a couple of strokes and then turned her back to him and smiled at him in the mirror over the sink. Ryder pressed down on her back and she arched it, and with a single thrust he filled her hot pussy to the max. They both moaned, and he slid one hand up inside of her shirt and under her bra. He massaged her breast and played with her nipple while he pounded into her from behind. He could see her face in the mirror, biting down on her bottom lip to keep from making noise. Ryder knew he had to hurry, but fuck, he hated to. He loved being inside of her. Her pussy wrapped his cock up like a silk glove and nothing felt better. He slowed down for a second, swiveling his hips and making her bite down even harder on her lip before saying:
“Fuck, Ryder.”
“Fuck what, baby?”
“Fuck, that feels so good. You feel so fucking good.”
“You feel good. I want to stay in there all night.” Another knock on the door reminded them both that he couldn’t.
“Be right out!” Storm’s voice was even more stressed than it had been before and this time whoever was out there said:
“Are you okay?”
“Are you serious? I’d be fine if I could get a little privacy!” she snapped. They heard a loud huff and then the sound of heels tapping away before they both burst into laughter. Storm was the first to calm down and say, “Get busy, big guy, I think she might go get the manager.”
He blew a kiss at her in the mirror and let his free hand slide around front and find her clit. She groaned as he took it between his fingers and began pinching it in time with the fingers that were pinching and pulling on her nipple. She bucked her hips back into him as he thrust forward and in less than a minute her body was seizing up in an orgasm that he also had the pleasure of watching on her face. It was enough to push him over the edge and he came hard inside of her. He was trying to take his time and let his cock go soft before he pulled out, but when Storm finished coming, she pulled away and whispered, “You go out first while I clean up.” She reached up and grabbed a paper towel and handed it to him. He chuckled and said:
“You’re a romantic one.”
She smiled. “You didn’t want romance, you wanted to fuck, and you got what you wanted. Now clean up and get out.”
He was still laughing as he wiped off his dripping cock and pulled up his shorts and jeans. “And she calls me bossy,” he said. He kissed her again on the lips before unlocking the door and pulling it open just wide enough to slip out. He almost wished he had a picture of the look on face of the middle-aged woman who was standing in the hall. He smiled at her and in a pleasant tone said, “She was having a little trouble in there, but she really will be out in a sec.” The woman’s face was bright red, and she didn’t respond; she just nodded. Her eyes went to his vest as he passed, and he laughed silently to himself. She’ll probably never see a guy on a motorcycle again without thinking about this. He, shamelessly, loved it.
16
Storm was still basking in the glow of the thrill she’d gotten from having sex with Ryder in that public bathroom when they got to New York City. It was dark out, but the lights of the city burned brightly against the starless sky. She hadn’t spent a lot of time in New York, but she loved it every chance she got to go there. Tonight, however, what she normally found exciting about it...the lights, the people, the fact that it never slept…those were the things that frightened her. She wondered if her mother still had money. Does she have a place to stay? How sick is she? Is she using something, and that’s why she sounded so strange on the phone? She had too many questions, and every one of them sat in her chest like a rock and made it hard for her to breathe.
She had been thinking about her mother, and worrying, so she didn’t notice where they were at first when Ryder stopped the bike. She pulled off her helmet before she stepped off the motorcycle and caught sight of the big building that loomed before them. “This isn’t Times Square,” she said, suddenly suspicious that Ryder had been keeping things from her.
&n
bsp; She stepped off and as soon as Ryder looked at her, she knew she was right. There was something he knew that he hadn’t told her. “David said the last call your mother made was pinging off a tower near here. Since she sounded unwell on the phone...”
“Are you kidding me? He told you this when he called earlier and this is the first I’m hearing of it?”
He sighed and then in what she found to be a patronizing voice he said, “I’m sorry, baby, but there was nothing you could do until we got here so I didn’t think there was any reason to worry you even more than you already were.”
“You know what, Ryder? If you and I decide to move forward with…whatever this is between us”—she knew what she wanted it to be, but she still didn’t have a good read on what he wanted— “you’re going to have to understand something. I was born independent. I grew up as an only child with parents who encouraged my independence. So, accepting help is hard, but I did from you for two reasons. One, because I needed your help and two, because I trusted you. But if you’re going to filter information because you think I’m some helpless woman that can’t make decisions or feel things on my own, this won’t ever work. I can get on board with the club and all that brotherhood shit if I need to. I don’t believe I’d ever need to know every move you make. But when it’s about me, or my family, I have a right to know exactly what’s going on. Are we clear?”
Ryder cleared his throat. He almost looked like he wanted to smile, but he was obviously smart enough not to. Instead he bit his top lip and then said, “We’re clear. I’m sorry.”
Some of the ice melted from around her heart as soon as he apologized. She didn’t claim to know much about his lifestyle, but she did know enough that it was probably safe to assume that he wasn’t used to being spoken to the way she just did...especially by a woman. But she’d meant everything she said, and she wasn’t going to trade her independence and self-respect for...sexy, funny, gorgeous...yeah, not even the whole package.