Beyond the Cut

by Sarah Castille

“Um … this is Cade.” She gave the deputy a weak smile, and then her cheeks flushed and she pulled her hand away. “Cade, this is Deputy Sheriff Doug Benson.”

  “Cade.”

  “Benson.” He deliberately used the deputy’s last name, not his first name or his title, letting him know with that one small gesture where Benson stood in the hierarchy of things. But just to make sure, Cade lifted his arm and placed it over the back of Dawn’s chair, his hand dangling with deliberate casualness over her shoulder, fingers brushing her bare skin.

  Benson’s jaw clenched, and they locked gazes, trying to stare each other down.

  “Enough,” Dawn snapped. “Both of you.”

  Didn’t see that one coming. His girl had backbone. No doubt about that.

  Benson’s eyes glittered, and then his gaze dropped. Cade puffed out his chest and gave a satisfied grunt. Challenge met. Dominance established. Woman claimed.

  “What are you doing here, Cade?” Dawn looked up at him and his fingers took advantage of her exposed neck, tickling their way to her ear.

  “You invited me the other morning. In the restaurant.”

  Dawn’s eyes widened. “It was a joke. I would never, in a million years, have expected you to show up.”

  “Shows how little you know me.” He rubbed his knuckles over her cheek, the gesture at once intimate and possessive. “You want me to go, just say the word. But I don’t trust the cops, and Benson here is gonna be able to do dick-all about Mad Dog. I can.”

  Benson bristled. “Actually…”

  “Am I wrong?” Cade leaned forward and tilted his head to the side. “You suddenly got the balls to take on the Devil’s Brethren?”

  “Yes, you are wrong,” Benson said, his expression smug. “The town recently installed CCTV cameras in high-traffic areas. Dawn says she was assaulted in a public place. We may be able to pull some footage and get enough evidence to charge Jimmy … Mad Dog with assault.”

  Cade chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “That kind of evidence will disappear so fast you’ll wonder if you even had it in the first place. Evidence rooms aren’t as secure as you think. And even if the evidence doesn’t disappear, strings will be pulled and he’ll be walking out the other door as soon as you hand in the paperwork.”

  “Doesn’t mean we stop trying. Justice needs to be served. And I promised Dawn I’d do my best to get her justice.”

  Cade toyed with Dawn’s curls, his fingers brushing over the back of her neck. Damn she was soft—soft skin, soft hair, and a soft heart. But he was learning she had a core of steel inside.

  “There’s the big difference between us,” Cade said. “I serve justice hot. You serve it cold.”

  Benson tipped his chin, a tacit acknowledgment of the truth of Cade’s words. There was no due process in biker culture. No rules or laws or procedures that had to be followed. Biker justice was swift, and often brutal, but it was always effective. Just as it had been the other night.

  One down. Five to go.

  “Dawn, you want to give that statement now, or after your friend leaves?” Benson picked up his legal pad, but Cade didn’t heed his dismissive tone. He wanted to hear the details of the assault as much as Benson did, but unlike Benson he would do something about it.

  Dawn studied Cade intently, her eyes boring into him as if she could see into his soul. Well, there wasn’t much to see except a black hole that he’d spent a lifetime trying to fill with countless women in countless beds, and enough whiskey to ensure his remains would be well preserved when he finally passed.

  “You can stay.”

  Score! He caught Benson’s gaze and made no effort to hide his triumphant grin. Take that, bastard. She wants me.

  Benson’s hand tightened around his pen, but to his credit he remained professional. “That’s fine. You can give me the details, and after you’re done, you can talk to someone in our Victim Services—”

  “I’m not a victim,” she said abruptly. “I’m a fighter. That’s why I’m here.”

  “Damn right,” Cade said. “Of course, coming here is the equivalent of trying to fight Mad Dog with a feather, but as a civilian you’re doing the best with what you’ve got.”

  Benson put down his pad. “I take offense at that statement.”

  “Good. It was meant to be offensive.” Cade stared at the scowling deputy. “Admit it, Benson. This is a biker town, and in a biker town the police have no power. You get Dawn’s girls back yet? You got Mad Dog jail? And Victim Services? How’s that gonna stop him?”

  “I didn’t choose the name and the unit is there to help people who have suffered as the result of a crime.” Benson shifted in his seat. “Looking at Dawn’s face, I would say she suffered. And as for being a feather…”

  “You’re not going to win that one, Benson.” Cade gave him a grin. “Don’t even try. Plus, I got a plan to keep Dawn safe.”

  “What plan?” Dawn turned to him and frowned.

  “Later. Benson already looks pale. Don’t want to give him a heart attack by revealing too much about our evil biker ways.”

  Dawn tipped her head down, hiding a smile. “I kinda like your evil biker ways,” she murmured.

  His groin tightened and he leaned over to whisper, “Next time I get you in bed, I’m gonna show you just how evil my biker ways can be.”

  “Cade!”

  He threw back his head and laughed. Really laughed. He loved the way she shrieked his name.

  * * *

  Dawn gave her statement and answered Doug’s questions with Cade’s arm around her shoulders the entire time. Although she considered shifting his arm away, especially since his overt possessiveness clearly made Doug uncomfortable, she liked his warmth and quiet support. Even Doug had never made her feel as safe.

  “If you change your mind about Victim Services, the number is here.” Doug slid a piece of paper across the desk. “And if you think of anything else…”

  “I’ll call.” Dawn moved to stand, and Cade helped her from her seat.

  Chivalry. From a biker. Fancy that.

  “Anytime,” Doug said. “You have my number.”

  Dawn made her way to the door after a farewell wave. Yes, she had Doug’s number, but she suspected the reminder wasn’t entirely directed at her.

  Friends since meeting at Doug’s self-defense class at the community college, she and Doug had met up for coffee every few weeks for the past year and often bumped into each other at the monthly get-togethers with their self-defense class. Doug made it clear early on he was interested in more than friendship, but Dawn turned him down again and again. He was too nice, too straight, too rigid, too … good for a girl with a wild side and a résumé that included aiding and abetting a criminal organization, and stripping in some of Montana’s seediest clubs.

  “Is he still watching?” Cade slid an arm around Dawn’s waist and pulled her into his side.

  “There was no need for a pissing contest,” Dawn said. “Doug understands that I just want to be friends. I’ve made it clear to him on several occasions.”

  “Ha.” Cade barked a laugh, and they descended the concrete stairs to the main level under the watchful gaze of Cade’s police escort. “No man understands when a woman wants to be friends. All a man hears when a woman says that is, ‘I’m not gonna fuck you right now, but maybe later.’ That’s why he hangs around. For a guy who isn’t getting some on a regular basis, ‘maybe later’ is a chance not to be missed. Not that I’ve ever had that problem.”

  “Of course not.” And she would be wise not to forget it. Cade wasn’t a one-woman man. But what if he was? What would it be like to be with Cade? She amused herself as they walked down the sidewalk, imagining how many jobs she would have to go through before she found a boss he deemed acceptable, and how many sheriff’s deputies he would cow into submission with the fierceness of his scowl. And then she imagined how it would feel to be under the Sinners’ protection. Jimmy would never have dared take her children if he had to face Sin
ner justice. Nor would he be able to threaten her ever again.

  “I thought we were friends,” she teased.

  Cade stopped and pulled her to the side after they exited the station. “Aside from Benson, any of your friends want to fuck you?”

  “Um … no. Not that I’m aware.”

  “Well, I do,” he said. “Means we’re not friends.”

  She tugged him forward. “So what does that make us?”

  “Still trying to figure that one out.”

  The light turned green and Cade led her across the street, his eyes darting from side to side as if he expected a vehicle to blast through the intersection at any minute. Always keeping me safe. He probably had no idea how much those small gestures meant to her.

  “The police can’t help you,” he said as if reading her thoughts. “You got a biker problem; you got to deal with it the biker way. Look what happened when you got the courts involved in your custody dispute.”

  “Easy to deal with things the biker way when you are a biker. Not so easy when you’re a civilian.”

  Cade slowed his steps and stared at her, his face thoughtful. For a moment she wondered if he was thinking of asking her to join the MC, but when she saw his bike parked in an alley near the bus stop, she figured he’d been leading her this way. Always in control, but in a subtle way. She liked it. Maybe too much. She didn’t have to sweat the small stuff when she was with Cade. But what if he took that control too far, the way Jimmy had? She had learned the hard way that in the biker world no one would be there to help her.

  “You don’t have to take the bus to work.” He gestured to his bike. “I could give you a ride.”

  Dawn’s lips tipped at the corners. “Last time you gave me a ride, we wound up in your bed.”

  “That was a good night.”

  “A very good night.” She turned to face him. “But it’s almost dark and I have to work tonight, so I think the bus is my safest bet.”

  He stroked a warm finger along her jaw. “You’re probably right. Made me hot when you told me ’n’ Benson off in there. Don’t think I’d be able to take you to work without a detour.”

  “Are you joking?” She gave him a quizzical look. “I thought alpha male bikers who show up in police stations and do everything except pee on the floor to mark their territory wouldn’t like being told to stand down.” Her cheeks flushed, but she wanted to know. Was he really so different from Jimmy?

  Cade pulled her into the alley beside his bike and wrapped one arm tight around her waist, rolling his hips against her. His erection pressed into her stomach, and she bit back a moan.

  “Does that feel like joking?” He licked his lips and stared down at her. “I don’t joke about serious things. Painful things.”

  Dawn leaned her forehead against his chest and laughed. “Well then, I’ll try not to call you out in public again. I wouldn’t want to cause you any more pain.”

  He cupped her jaw in his warm palm and tilted her face up until she met his gaze. “That kind of pain I can take.” His voice dropped, softened. “When it’s ’cause of my sexy girl.”

  She was ready for his kiss. Knew it was coming before he lowered his head. And as his lips touched hers, she threw caution aside and pressed up against him, twining her hands around his neck to pull him close so she could feel every inch of his hard body against hers.

  “Christ, you’re so fucking hot,” he murmured against her lips. “You’re like a fucking drug. All I was thinking about at the police station was how sweet you’d look naked, and bent over Benson’s desk with my cock in your pussy.” He deepened the kiss, his tongue stroking firmly inside, devouring her. Dawn’s body flamed, sweat trickling between her breasts, and she pulled him down for more.

  “I love it when you talk dirty.” She ground her hips against him, pushing him deeper into the shadows, seeking even the smallest bit of friction where she needed it the most. “Talk dirty some more.”

  “Fuck.”

  “That’s a start.” She nuzzled his neck, frowning when he pulled away. “What’s wrong?”

  Cade drew in a ragged breath, his gaze focused on something behind her. “We got trouble. Brethren. Two of ’em. They’re watching us from the other end of the alley. Goddammit. They aren’t supposed to be in town. Jagger and Wolf are negotiating a patch-over but the rules haven’t changed.”

  The Brethren patching over to the Sinners? She couldn’t imagine the two clubs had anything in common, and from what she’d seen they didn’t share the same ethos. The Brethren bought, sold, and traded women; they prostituted their sweet butts and turned a blind eye to abuse. The Sinners might be misogynistic, but that kind of behavior didn’t go on in their MC. Jagger and Arianne would never have allowed it.

  Dawn followed Cade’s gaze and her heart skipped a beat. “It’s Jimmy. He’s with Trey. They’re always together.”

  “Trey is one of the guys who grabbed me,” Cade growled. “Jesus Christ. This is too fucking much. Wanna shoot them dead right here, right now. Trey is fair game, but Mad Dog … I had to agree to let him go. Looks like he’s decided to rub his ‘untouchable’ status in my damn face.” He grabbed her hand and yanked her toward his bike. “Hop on, sweetheart. We’re gonna run them out of town.”

  She hesitated, her gaze flicking from Jimmy to Cade and back to Jimmy. If she got on the bike, she would be as good as telling Jimmy he was right about her and Cade: She’d hooked up with a biker, and she was totally and irrevocably finished with Jimmy and the Brethren. But more than that, she would be doing the one thing she’d promised herself she would never do. Was she really ready to get involved in the biker life again?

  The bus pulled up at the stop outside the alley, wheels squeaking as it ground to a halt. The door slammed open and Dawn watched the people mounting the stairs into the warm interior. Ten steps and she could be on that bus, warm and safe, and on her way home.

  “Come.” Cade straddled his bike and held out his hand. “I can’t protect you if you’re not with me.”

  How could she resist an opportunity to finally stick it to Jimmy and run him out of town? She’d never been on the offensive before. Even when she left him, she was running away. And how could she refuse the protection of the man who made her heart pound and her knees weak?

  With one last look at the bus stop, she threw a leg over the bike and wrapped her hands around his waist. “Let’s ride.”

  Cade cranked the throttle and the engine of his modded Harley Fat Boy roared to life, the sound echoing down the alley. Jimmy and Trey turned their bikes and sped away. Cade raced after them, veering out into the traffic and accelerating after the fleeing bikers as if there were no other vehicles on the road.

  Dawn had ridden pillion on Jimmy’s bike, but she’d never experienced anything as breathtakingly exciting as riding with Cade. They flew through stop signs and traffic lights, wove in and out of traffic, and sent pedestrians scurrying off the sidewalk. Dawn clung to Cade as if she were a first-time rider, barely able to keep her balance when the bike tipped on hairpin turns that sent her stomach plummeting. The wind whipped through her hair, the motorcycle vibrated between her thighs, and the world became a blur once they hit the open road. She had never been as exhilarated in her life.

  “Babe. Grab my gun from the holster,” Cade shouted over his shoulder.

  Tightening her free arm, Dawn reached beneath his cut and removed the weapon, sliding it across his chest. She held it in front of him, but Cade shook his head.

  “Going too fast to ride and shoot. You gotta do it. Shoot ’em.”

  Dawn sucked in a sharp breath and pressed herself tighter against Cade’s back. Her legs clamped around his thighs when he suddenly changed lanes to accelerate past a truck. “I can’t shoot,” she yelled. “What if I hit someone?”

  “That’s the idea. If you don’t, he’ll just keep coming back like a fucking roach.”

  “I hate Jimmy, but I can’t kill him.” She slammed the gun into his stomach, her arm t
ightening around him to keep her balance when he hit a bump.

  Cade grunted. “Well, then shoot out their fucking tires.”

  Tires. I can do tires. How much harder could it be than trying to hit the tiny targets at the shooting range where Arianne had taken her for her birthday? She hugged Cade with one arm and peered around his side, aiming her weapon at Trey’s tires. Then she pulled the trigger.

  Crack. The recoil almost threw her off the bike. The bullet pinged off the rocks and ricocheted overhead. Cade’s weapon was nothing like her .22. And clearly, she’d missed her target because Trey and Jimmy were still speeding ahead.

  “Again,” Cade shouted.

  Dawn’s hand shook as she tried to aim the gun, but with the wind whipping around her, and Cade leaning so far forward she could barely hold on, she worried her aim was off. And if the bullet hit one of the men instead of the bike … “You need to get closer.”

  “What the fuck do you think I’m doing? They’re almost at the border.” He kicked up the acceleration and Dawn gave up any further thoughts of shooting out Trey’s tires in favor of making it through the ride alive.

  But although Cade was fast, he wasn’t fast enough. Jimmy and Trey shot across the Conundrum border and Cade slowed his bike, pulling up in the empty parking lot behind Big Bill’s Custom Cycles and Paint. CLOSED ON SUNDAYS.

  For a long moment, neither of them moved. Dawn’s heart thudded against her rib cage, the beat matched by the throb of the pulse at the juncture of her thighs and the heated rush of blood through her veins.

  When she was able to loosen her fingers from Cade’s cut, she slid off the bike. Cade followed suit, and then he turned to face her.

  “What the fuck kinda shooting was that?” His voice rose in frustration. “When I give you an order, I expect it to be carried out right away.”

  Shocked by his anger, a curious mix of adrenaline and desire boiling through her veins, she answered him back with the same vehement tone. “Don’t shout at me. I spent two days at a shooting range with Arianne. That’s all the experience I have. I couldn’t get a clear shot, and I didn’t want to take the risk I’d hit one of them. And I don’t take orders from you.”