Wild Ride (Let it Ride Book 2)

by Cynthia Rayne

  But now wasn’t the time. It never seemed to be the right time. He should’ve let one of his brothers pair off with Ash. But she’d have chosen Ace, and Steele would’ve had to put him in the hospital.

  Steele sipped his coffee and turned his attention back to the darkened gas station. He raised the pair of binoculars he’d borrowed from Inferno and took a good long look.

  Nothing.

  After the night clerk had closed up, they’d pulled into the strip mall across the street from Lickety Split. It had a Walmart, open twenty-four hours a day, so they didn’t look suspicious. He’d parked them at the edge of the lot, facing the gas station. They’d turned off the car so it looked like any other parked vehicle. Steele was glad he’d dressed warm for the occasion.

  Ash had brought her own sack lunch with her. While he ate one of Voo’s sausage biscuits, which were somehow even better at room temperature, she ate some trail mix, crunching it loudly, taking out her irritation on helpless almonds and cranberries.

  “Since we got nothin’ better to do than pass the time, what do you say we shoot the breeze?”

  “Let’s not and say we did.”

  Stubborn as a mule.

  “You never told me. Which lucky bastard actually took your virginity?”

  Steele calmly surveyed the gas station, like he didn’t give a flying rat’s ass. Though it was eating him up inside.

  “I forgot.” She’d finished off the mix and crinkled the bag in her hand.

  “Bullshit. Come on. Give me a hint at least.” Damn, talking to her these days was like trying to bag flies.

  “Hell no.”

  “Do I know him?”

  “Yes, you do.” She blew out an irritated breath, and it was so cold in the car he could actually see it.

  Steele pulled out his Horsemen lighter and lit it. He placed it between them, and she held her hands near the flame to warm them.

  “’Fess up.”

  “No.”

  “At least give me his initials.”

  “F.U.”

  “Come on, be serious.”

  For some manly territorial reason, it bothered the fuck out of him. To his way of thinking, he should’ve been her first, but another bastard had gotten the pleasure.

  “Who took your virginity?”

  He flicked the lighter closed and tucked it back into his pocket. “Nah, don’t even try to change the subject.” He gave Lickety Split a cursory glance. Still a whole lotta nothin’.

  “How am I changing the subject? We’re talkin’ about losin’ virginity. It’s the same topic.”

  “Fine. If I tell you, will you tell me?”

  She dipped her head in agreement.

  “Freshman year of high school, Stephanie Newman.”

  They’d had sex after football practice. He’d gone home with Steph, and her parents hadn’t been home from work yet. The sex had been…well, great, in the physical sense. But it hadn’t meant much to him. Maybe because he’d been picturing Ash in his mind’s eye.

  “Figures, another pretty popular girl.”

  Steele had deliberately gone after attractive girls from wealthier families. He’d needed the ego boost of a rich girl willing to go for a poor guy from the wrong side of the tracks. Like the movie Say Anything, only he didn’t hold up a boom box outside their windows afterward.

  “I told you mine. You tell me yours.”

  “You aren’t gonna let this go, huh?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Fine. Tommy Reaves.”

  He snorted. “You fucked Tommy? You gotta be kidding me.”

  Tommy had come from a well-to-do family, and the bastard loved to flaunt it. In middle school, he’d made fun of Steele every chance he’d gotten…until Steele had a growth spurt and whipped Tommy’s ass after school one day.

  “Nope.”

  The fuck? “You chose him on purpose, didn’t you?”

  “You bet your ass I did.” Her brow furrowed. “But he surprised me. Tommy was a gentleman, and he didn’t blab to anyone.”

  “Why? Did you want me to hear about it?”

  Ash didn’t respond.

  “When did you and Tommy get it on?”

  Ash didn’t answer him at first.

  “About a month after you were with Sally.”

  Ah, hell. Guilt slammed into him.

  Neither one of them spoke for a while.

  Steele didn’t know what to say. Her first time had been about getting even with him. Ash deserved someone tender, a guy who was crazy about her, who gave her pleasure. Somebody who realized how special she was. Not some asshole looking to get laid.

  She cleared her throat. “It was good for a first time.”

  “Yeah, what made it so damn good?” He was definitely not jealous.

  “I guess it was the effort. He gave me oral, which is thoughtful.”

  Steele gritted his teeth.

  “Though it could’ve been better.”

  “Oh yeah? What went wrong?”

  She shifted in her seat. “Too much pressure. Then again, men are usually too rough. Internet porn gives you guys the wrong idea.”

  “Don’t lump me in with the rest of ‘em, Dusty. I’m amazin’ at licking pussy. I always leave the ladies satisfied.”

  “Yup, I’m sure there’ve been hundreds. No shortage of biker groupies.”

  She made it sound like he was some sort of gigolo. Although, it wasn’t far from the truth. Over the years, he’d gotten used to mutual masturbation. He pleased the girls and Steele got his rocks off in the process, but he didn’t feel a damn thing.

  After seeing Ash again, he remembered it’d once been something better.

  “And after Tommy rocked your world?”

  She ran her fingertips over the console, and he had an overwhelming urge to place her hands on him instead.

  “We went straight from high school into the Corps, and I kept it light—a few overseas, a few after I got back. No big deal.”

  And yet Steele had a feeling sex with Ash would be a very big deal.

  He’d already had a preview—knew instinctively it’d be mind-blowing. Hell, she already made him nuts. If he got in any deeper, he might never crawl out again.

  She nodded at the gas station. “Heads up. I think our boy is here.”

  A motorcycle rolled into Lickety Split. They watched as the bike slid up to the last pump on the right-hand side. The biker opened the metal door on the gas pump and pulled something out of one of his saddlebags.

  Steele raised the binoculars up and took a look at the Raptor, even though the low light level made it difficult. The biker blended into the shadows near the far pump. He wasn’t wearing a cut, but the Raptors were trying to fly under the radar and wouldn’t want to flash their colors. The kid was young, probably a prospect. He lit up a cigarette near the gas pump.

  Yeah, definitely a Raptor. What kind of idiot smokes around gas?

  Steele started the car, and the prospect glanced across the street, clearly spooked, but they didn’t pull out of the space, so he kept working on the pump.

  “How you wanna do this? Confront or follow?”

  “Confront.” Steele grimaced at the lack of traffic on the road. It wouldn’t provide much cover. “If we follow him, he’ll catch on, and we might lose ‘em. He’s only a prospect. I can make him cooperate.”

  “There’s two exits. If we block one, he’ll run to the other. How far away is the closest group?”

  “Twenty miles. They won’t get here in time. And I’m bettin’ the Raptors only sent one prospect to set up the skimmers. It wouldn’t attract as much attention.”

  As the prospect continued working, Steele eased the car out of the space and slowly made his way across the street, trying not to spook the kid. As soon as they entered the lot, the prospect slammed the pump shut and dashed for his motorcycle.

  Steele pulled up right behind him, threw it in park, and dashed out the door, gun in hand.

  “Don’t move, asshole.
”

  Ash followed with her weapon drawn, as well.

  “You aren’t gonna shoot me.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Steele kept the gun pointed at the Raptor’s chest.

  “Can’t get your brother back if you don’t know where the fuck he is, and you can’t find that out if I don’t tell you.”

  Steele wanted to blow a hole in this little shithead, but he forced himself to work the problem. Prospects were a bunch of hotheads looking to prove themselves to the brothers. He probably figured he was a big deal, having a run-in with one of the Horsemen.

  “Hey, I know you.” The kid smirked. “The brothers carved the club symbol into your chest. Musta hurt like a bitch.”

  “It tickled a bit,” Steele lied. He had to find an opening he could use, but Ash beat him to it.

  “What’s your name, kid?”

  The Raptor frowned, clearly thrown by the question. “Ain’t tellin’ you, and I ain’t a kid, neither.”

  “Come on, all you bikers have cool nicknames,” Ash said. “Tell me yours.”

  Was it Steele’s imagination, or did she sound flirtatious?

  The prospect gave her a once-over, and Steele could see the appreciation in the little snot’s eyes.

  “They’re road names. Mine’s Knife.”

  Steele snorted.

  “Did I say something funny?” Knife removed the cigarette from his mouth and deliberately ashed on the ground.

  Steele stepped back. He could smell gas in the air. There was an oily puddle on the ground beneath his feet. Someone must’ve fumbled with the fuel nozzle earlier in the day.

  “Where’s Coyote?” Ash asked.

  He shrugged. “I can’t say.”

  “Wherever he is, he must be alive and well. He’s been building your skimmers since you dipshits couldn’t figure it out on your own.”

  The kid ignored the jab. “I’ll tell you something, though.”

  Steele cocked his head to the side. “Oh, yeah?”

  “The cartel’s comin’ for y’all.”

  “Yeah, tell me somethin’ I don’t already know. They’re comin’ for us because you dickheads stole their heroin.”

  “Was our money to begin with, and your boys shouldn’t have gotten involved.” He chuckled. “And good luck explainin’ it to ‘em.”

  “What’s the plan? You gonna sell it off? Keep the profit?” Ash asked.

  Knife puffed out his chest like he was all big and bad. “Should give us a fat chunk of change, a brand new start.”

  “What about when the cartel finds out? The witch is gonna come after your ass.”

  “But she’s already after yours. You and the Lone Star Mafia.”

  “I get it. So you assholes disappear with the goods, the cartel blames us and the mafia boys, then you ride off into the sunset with all the cash.”

  “Works out nice, don’t it?”

  The bastard dropped the cigarette and the gas lit, blazing beneath their feet and forcing them both backward.

  Knife jumped on his bike, started it up, and took off. Steele ran for the Forester, and Ash jumped in beside him. Wheels screeching, they followed the biker.

  In a matter of seconds, they’d cleared the town. At this time of the night, there was no traffic. Only a wide open stretch of highway lay in front of them.

  “We’ll never catch him,” Steele gritted out. “Bikes are built for speed, and there’s nothing but asphalt up ahead.”

  “Then we’ll have to slow his ass down.” Ash unbuckled her seatbelt then rolled down the window.

  “What the hell are you doing?” He didn’t dare take his eyes off the road.

  Knife surged ahead on his bike, and Steele pushed the pedal to the floor.

  “What the hell do you think?” She sat on the windowsill and fired at the Raptor.

  Steele heard the whiz of a bullet ricocheting off the bike. “Get the fuck down from there. You aren’t even wearing body armor for God’s sake.”

  She ignored him, firing another shot.

  The Raptor pulled his weapon and blindly fired behind him. It hit the windshield, spider-webbing the glass.

  “Get in here now.”

  But Ash kept firing. “Shut up and drive faster.”

  The Raptor fired another round, and Ash gasped in pain.

  “Are you hit?”

  “Keep going. It only grazed me.”

  Steele glanced up and saw a blood stain spreading over her shoulder.

  Gritting his teeth, he took his foot off the gas and slowed the SUV down. If he’d slammed on the brakes, she would’ve gone flying out of the car.

  Knife sped off, disappearing into the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  “What the fuck is wrong with you? He could’ve killed you.”

  Ash paced back and forth, hands clenched at her sides. They stood in the parking lot in front of Hades.

  The sky rumbled above their heads, billowing black clouds, and flashes of lightning. It was a warning—one she couldn’t heed. Snow spat from the sky, and the earth rumbled around them—thunder snow.

  After Steele had let the Raptor get away, he’d informed his club what had gone down and then taken to her Duke, a scowly biker who’d patched up her shoulder. The bullet had only grazed her arm. She was fine, but Steele acted like she’d nearly been murdered tonight.

  The blood roared in her ears. She wanted to hit something, hurt someone. Steele had pulled her away before she’d gotten any satisfaction—like screwing a guy only to miss out on the orgasm.

  Over the past few years, the takedown had become a bit of a drug to her—jumping on a suspect, roughing him up. Ash didn’t always go in for the kill. Most of the time, it was about the pain. Their upcoming birthday sent a tsunami boiling through the deep well of rage inside, and she couldn’t calm the waters. Taking down Knife tonight might’ve helped.

  “Are you even listenin’ to me?”

  “What?” She stopped pacing and glowered at Steele. She hadn’t had her ass handed to her since she’d been a Marine, and she wasn’t taking this crap. “Newsflash, I’m fine. Knife didn’t kill me.”

  “Not for lack of tryin’ on his part.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Or yours.”

  “What?” She tossed her hair back and tilted her chin up, hands on hips.

  “Think about it real hard.”

  “I handled myself fine.”

  “That’s what you call handling it? You got lucky.”

  “No, I’m awesome.” Ash gave him her best oorah smile, but she didn’t feel it. Not really.

  Beneath all her bravado, a small part of her wished the Raptor had killed her tonight. One bullet straight to the heart or brain. Sure, it’d hurt at first, but ultimately, there’d be stillness—no more anger, no pain, and no grief.

  Peace—that’s what death brings, right?

  Her life felt like a three-ring circus, chaos swirling all around her—gunfire, drug deals, hunting down criminals. Most of the time, the pandemonium was comforting. While running for her life, she didn’t have time to sit and examine it more closely, think about what she was missing and who.

  “Sooner or later, your luck will run out.”

  Promise?

  Steele approached her, hands splayed.

  Her thighs tightened, and she forced herself to remain still, unmoving. No, unmoved. Tucked away, safe inside her own mind where nothing could get to her.

  “Ash,” he began then stopped. He tilted his head, trying to discern something.

  “What?”

  “You denied it earlier, but do you…still wanna die?”

  Her breath hitched, and she turned from him. God, he knew her all too well. Somehow, Steele had always understood her, even when no one else did. The only person who’d known her better was Abe.

  “Talk to me.” He placed a hand on her back, and she shrugged it off.

  Ash squared her shoulders. Fuck him. He didn’t have the right to stand there with his hound dog eyes and demand an
swers.

  “Leave it alone. It’s none of your business.”

  He grabbed her shoulders and whirled her around.

  “Answer me. Are you tryin’ to get yourself killed?”

  “Of course not.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I don’t give a shit what you believe.” She kicked him in the shin and shoved him away.

  Oh, no. Not now.

  Ash could feel the tears burning behind her eyelids. She’d be damned if she cried in front of Steele.

  Steele backed up a couple of paces. “You’ve made yourself clear. But I give a shit about you, so I’m not lettin’ it go. Why are you so reckless?”

  “I’m not reckless. I’m brave.” Ash’s lower lip quivered, disproving her own words.

  “Yeah, I got that memo. Talk to me.”

  He wasn’t going to leave it, so she ’fessed up. “The only time I let go is when I’m fightin’.” Ash spent most of her time trying to control everything—her ops, her exercise and food regime. It was one of the reasons her relationships had gone by the wayside. Family and friends couldn’t be controlled. And they had a terrible habit of dying.

  “You can’t bend everyone and everythin’ to your will.”

  His expression was so tender, so understanding, it made her ache to let him in. More than anything, she wanted him to hold her, to tell her everything would be okay, even if it was a lie. But she couldn’t. If she laid the armor down, she’d be vulnerable, helpless.

  “Spare me the overprotective routine. I already have an older brother who watches over me.” Her lips twisted. “Or I did…until you let him die.”

  Steele went ashen and silent. For a second, she regretted her harsh words. Then she remembered watching her parents cry for their son, and she got over it.

  He spoke again after a moment or two. “You’ve always been brave, but you never went lookin’ for trouble.”

  “You don’t know me anymore, Steele, and maybe you never did.” Ash wanted to hurt him, and judging from the way he flinched, she had.

  “I know what’s starin’ me right in the face. I’ve seen it before. A part of you wishes you’d died with Abe—you’re not alone.”

  Tears filled her eyes again. “You wish you’d died with him too?”

  And there it was—out in the open, lying in the middle of the pavement between them, twitching and bleeding like an animal run over by a car. What she’d always been thinking, secretly, in the shadowy corners of her own mind.