Maybe I could have my own place like that someday.
Hell, maybe one day I could buy Ash out of his own place and throw him out on his ass.
The thought made me giggle.
“You’ve got this. You always do, Hannah.”
And the next thing I knew, the crunching of metal filled my ears.
The second I took off through the intersection, my body lurched. The scraping of metal against metal filled my ears as the road in front of me fell away and was replaced with the sky. Why in the world was I looking up at the sky? And why did it disappear so quickly?
People screamed around me as my head cracked against something sturdy.
It happened slowly and quickly, if that were even possible. One minute, I was tearing away from an intersection. And the next minute, my car flipped onto its side. The hissing sound of an airbag sounded in my ears before a searing pain ripped its way through my nose, forcing something warm down my face. I coughed as pain tore through my ribs. I fumbled around for my seatbelt and tried to unbuckle it. But the smell of burnt rubber and gasoline filled my nostrils, stopping my hands in their tracks.
What in the world just happened?
The world had toppled onto its side. Smoke filled my vision. I gasped for air and heaved as pain rushed through my body, making my eyes water with tears. Prancing footsteps sounded outside of the car. People screamed and cried out as sirens sounded in the distance. Something akin to running water filled my eardrums, drowning out the rest of the sounds around me.
Until my door was ripped open.
“Ash?” I asked.
I didn’t hear anyone respond, though.
“Ash, is that you?”
I couldn't open my eyes. It hurt too much, and the simple idea of it took too much energy to dwell on. Someone leaned over me before my chest was freed from its confines. Then, a strong pair of arms wrapped around me. Oh, it was Ash. It was him! He’d followed me. He’d found me. And now, he’d come to save me.
“Ash, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your car.”
I didn’t know why he wasn’t talking to me, but I didn’t question it. I clung to him as he pulled me from the wreckage before dragging me off to the side. My head lobbed forward as the sirens grew closer, signaling an end to this madness.
And when I finally opened my eyes, I saw the mangled piece of metal in front of me.
A piece of metal that used to be Ash’s car.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.
“You should be.”
My entire body froze at the sound of the voice. My arms kicked into gear before my brain did, trying to push the man away. But the pain rushing through my veins robbed me of my strength. He growled and grunted as he tossed me over his shoulder. I stared down at the concrete before he picked up the pace, jogging away from the wreck with me. The bouncing made my head spin. I closed my eyes and beat my fists against his lower back, hoping and praying he’d drop me. It didn’t work, though. Nothing I did got him to drop me to the ground.
And with every bounce, I grew more and more nauseous.
“Put me down,” I choked out.
“Shut up.”
“David, I’m serious. Put me the hell down.”
A door opened. “If you would’ve just listened to me—”
“Put me down, damn it!”
“My pleasure.”
He shoved me into the backseat of a car before my stomach lurched into my throat. I tilted my head off to the side with just enough time to vomit my guts out onto the floorboard of the vehicle. David snickered as he slammed the door. I heard him running around to the front of the car as I reached for the door beyond my head. Hoping and praying I could get it open.
My efforts were no use, though.
Especially when the world was tilting over on its own axis.
“You really shouldn’t have run,” David said as he got into the car.
I vomited again. “I need a doctor.”
“What you needed was to stay with me. What you needed was to listen, Hannah!”
Why didn’t I listen to my cousin? “I need a doctor, David. I—the pain, it’s—”
“Incomparable to the pain you put me through when you left. Don’t you get it, Hannah? Don’t you get how much I love you?”
Tears flooded my cheeks. “David, what in the world are you doing?”
He cranked up the engine. “Taking back what’s rightfully mine.”
I dry-heaved in the backseat of the car as he peeled away from the crime scene. I knew it. I knew damn good and well he was the person that crashed me into, well, whatever I hit. Slash was right. My ex had been in town. And he’d been watching me this entire time. Did he know where Ash’s place was? How in the world had he tracked me down?
“David, please,” I whimpered.
“The time for begging is over, H. Now, shut up so I can think.”
I curled up against the backseat as pain filled my gut. I tasted blood on the tip of my tongue, and I started to worried about just how badly I’d been hurt. The car he drove moved much too fast and he took turns much too sharply. Which caused me to throw up bile all over the backseat. I couldn’t stop my stomach from turning over onto itself. I couldn't stop the pain from swallowing me whole. Hell, I couldn't even get my body together long enough to unlock the door and leap out of the car.
Not that I’d survive the impact in this condition in the first place.
Damn it, why does my stomach hurt so damn much?
“David?”
“Shut up.”
I sighed. “David, please.”
“I said, shut up, Hannah.”
I pulled myself upright. “Just listen to me!”
He cocked a gun and pointed it at my head. “Shut your fucking mouth and stay down or I’ll kill you and let you rot in your own vomit.”
My lower lip quivered as I nodded.
“Good girl.”
I wanted to claw the man’s eyes out. But I couldn't even focus on the seat in front of me. I laid back down in the backseat and gripped my stomach, hoping and praying that I didn’t have a concussion. I was dead on arrival if I had one of those. I mean, I didn’t know much about them, but I knew that if they were left untreated, they resulted in blackouts and comas.
And death.
“David, I really need a doc—”
“Did you not hear me!?”
His gun popped off and I shrieked. I curled up into the tightest ball I could imagine, pain be damned. Another bullet whizzed into the backseat and I trembled, trying to make myself as small of a target as possible.
“One more word from you, and the next one goes in your leg,” he glowered.
Strong and independent, Hannah. That’s you. So, do what you have to do.
When I heard him put his gun away, I slowly unfurled myself from my ball. I forced myself upright, despite how badly the world tilted around. I forced my swelling eyes to focus as I looked around, committing every detail of the inside of the car to memory. I ignored the stench of my own vomit soaking into my clothes as I studied the interior. Faded gray microfiber with a tear in the backseat on the left side. The right window directly next to my head had plastic over it because of the busted glass. And it looked like the right-side mirror of the car was missing completely.
But when I swept my eyes over the front part of the car I could see; I caught my ex’s wild eyes in the rearview mirror.
And I wondered if this was it for my life.
I have to find a way out.
David’s eyes connected with mine and I turned my head away. I swallowed down the bile creeping up the back of my throat and closed my eyes, trying my best to center myself. I had to think. I had to figure a way out of this for myself. No one was here to help me. No one was here to protect me. So, like always, I had to rely on myself.
Had I stayed at the bar with Ash, none of this would have happened.
Maybe he’d listen to me next time instead of only thinking about his fuckin
g dick.
My eyes fell open and I looked up at the rearview mirror again. And I saw my ex’s wild eyes dancing everywhere on the road. He kept eyes on his side mirror and in front of him. Every once in a while, he turned around and looked out the back window. I had to catch him at a vulnerable point, though. I had to catch him at a time where he wasn’t focused on me at all.
So, I scooted myself closer to the back door and waited for my moment.
Hold on…
His eyes locked with mine before he looked back out the windshield.
Hold on…
His head turned to the right before he looked back to merge lanes.
Hold on…
He leaned forward to gaze harder out the windshield.
Now!
I fumbled with the lock on the door and finally got it to release. I threw the car door open and leaned myself out, feeling the fresh air whipping through my hair. I waited for him to scramble. I waited for him to pull his gun and take his foot off the gas pedal so he could aim. But instead of him reaching for his gun, the car took a sharp left turn.
And my body fell back against the opposite side.
“No!” I shrieked.
I tried to scramble and get up, but the car door shut as David slammed on the brakes. Cars squealed around us, honking their horns and yelling curses out of their windows. I didn’t pay attention to any of them, though. I couldn’t. Because David’s heated stare pinned me to the vomit-filled floorboard before I watched him press a button.
And all of the locks jammed back into place.
“You were always a fighter, Hannah. I always admired you for that.”
Dread filled my gut. “What are you going to do with me, David?”
He snickered. “What I should’ve done a long time ago. Before you decided to screw me over.”
I swallowed hard. “And that is?”
He slammed the gas to the floor. “I’m sure your memory will jog once we get there.”
I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, but I didn't like how he talked in the first place. I turned around and scrambled for the lock on the other door, but it didn’t work. Every time I pulled it up, David clicked that damn button up front, and I’d watch it slide back into place. I’d rip it up, and he’d press that button.
Rip up, button pressed.
Rip up, button pressed.
Until his wry chuckles filled the car as sweat beaded against my forehead.
“God, you really are a pain my ass sometimes,” he breathed.
“Then, why the hell do you keep pursuing me?”
“Because I love you, Hannah. Why else?”
I shook my head. “You know nothing about love, David.”
He peered over his shoulder. “I don’t?”
“No. You don’t. You don't do this to someone you love. You don’t hurt them, stalk them, and almost kill them, David!”
He shrugged. “You did that to me.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You hurt me. You might not have stalked me, but you did almost kill me when you left. When you turned your back on me after making love to me the night before and telling me I was the only one for you.”
I furrowed my brow. “What!? That never happened!”
He rummaged around for something. “You might have forgotten, but I know how to bring those memories back. Those precious memories that will remind you that you’re still in love with me.”
I lunged for him. “I never once told you I loved you. I never once gave you any inclination—”
I didn’t see it coming, but I sure as hell felt it. And when the butt of his gun clocked itself against my temple, I fell to the floor. My head spun with a pain that made me wish I were dead instead, and the bile working its way up the back of my throat threatened to drown my lungs. Maybe I needed to let it happen, too. Maybe death was the only escape from this man.
And as I coughed and sputtered on my own puke, the world around me faded to black.
Maybe I’m not strong enough to be on my own after all.
13
Ash
Work sucked. The meetings sucked. The paperwork sucked, the customers sucked, and restocking the bar fucking sucked balls. Ever since Hannah stormed out of here, everything seemed gray and gloomy. When she left, a trail of her anger filled the expanse of the bar, seemingly affecting everyone in it. Sly kept snapping at people. Link didn’t want to speak until it was urgent. Bowser came in with a frown on his face and kept spewing vile wherever I turned around, and even Knuckles raised his voice at someone. Knuckles! The man who barely talked some days!
And I couldn't get my mind off Hannah.
“Damn it,” I murmured.
A knock came at my door. “You got a second?”
I turned at the sound of Link’s voice. “What’s up?”
He slipped into my office and closed the door. “I want to speak with you about Hannah.”
I sighed. “I’m about to leave right now and patch things up with—”
He held up his hand. “Not what I’m talking about.”
I spun around in my chair. “Oh, boy.”
“What?”
“This can’t be good. The tone of your voice isn’t.”
“Bah, you read into things too much.”
“Am I wrong, though?”
He blinked. “Is something going on between you two?”
“What do you mean?”
He grinned. “How long has it been going on?”
“I’m not following.”
He chuckled. “So, it’s pretty recent, then.”
“How the ever-blessed fuck do you do that?”
He smiled. “Comes with the territory. I know my men well. We’re family, and that’s what happens when people become family. Congratulations, by the way.”
I snickered. “Not sure if you should say that just yet. I pissed her off before she left out of here this morning.”
“And you can’t stop thinking about it, right?”
I blinked. “Right.”
“Then, what the hell are you still doing here, Ash?”
“Got work, Link.”
“No, what you’ve got is a reason to stay away from your place when you really need to go and patch things up with your girl.”
“She’s not my girl, Link.”
“Well, she’s definitely not just your job.”
I sighed. “What the fuck am I supposed to do, huh? Women make us weak. It’s what happens. They become targets in our lifestyle.”
“Yes. They do.”
I spun back around. “Don’t you think Hannah’s been through enough?”
He shrugged. “Sounds like something you should ask her.”
Sometimes, the answer was simple. And that’s all it took for me to leap out of my chair. Link stepped off to the side as I rushed out of my office, not bothering to lock it up. I knew Link would, anyway, after he double-checked my things. He always double-checked things when he could, despite how much it pissed some of us off. It didn’t stop me from racing back to my place, though. It didn’t stop me from skidding to a halt right in front of my porch step and bounding right into my home.
“Hannah!” I roared.
Nothing but silence greeted me, though.
“Hannah! Where are you? We need to talk!”
I charged through the house, heading straight into the basement. But when I got down there, she was nowhere to be found. Hell, I couldn't even smell her, and that wasn’t good. That meant the basement had been vacant long enough to clear out any residual effects of her.
“Hannah!” I bellowed.
I raced back up the stairs and tore through the front door. And when I wrapped around the side of the house, my heart fell to my knees. The car wasn’t there. And that was my only other mode of transportation around here.
Did Hannah not come home?
“Hannah!” I roared.
Panic filled my gut. My hands shook. I rushed back into the house and checked
the basement one more time, making sure to leave no stone unturned. She wasn’t in the bathroom or in her bed. She wasn’t in the closet, hiding from me just to spite me. She wasn’t tucked away in the breakfast nook by the window and she wasn’t in my room. She wasn’t anywhere to be found on my fucking property.
“I have to call Link.”
I ripped my phone out of my pocket and started to dial before a familiar number raced through. I grumbled as I swallowed my pride and answered the call, hoping this woman would at least have some answers for me. Maybe that was what happened. Maybe Hannah got so pissed off with me that she decided to go home.
“Slash, tell me you have Hannah,” I said as I answered the phone.
She scoffed. “I knew this would happen. I told you she needed to stay with me if she was going to stay safe!”
I bounded back toward the front door. “If you don’t have Hannah, tell me you at least have an explanation for why she’s not at my place right now.”
“I don’t know where she is. I’ve been looking for her myself. I’ve been looking for her ever since this morning when my sources informed me that David figured out you two were together. Which I’ll kill you for later.”
“I’d like to watch you try. Who the fuck is—”
“Her ex, Ash. Her ex, David, found out you two were shacking up. Now, when’s the last time you saw her?”
I remembered back to this morning. “She came into the Iron Horse looking for me.”
“And…? What happened after that?”
I sighed. “I told her to get back to my place because it wasn’t safe out in public. That she’d only be safe at my place.”
“Let me guess: you two argued and she stormed off and you haven’t seen her since.”
I blinked. “Yep.”
“My God, I hate that woman sometimes.”
Ash (Dragon Riders MC Book 3) Page 9