1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Fourteen

by Kristen Ashley

  “They’re fine,” I said quickly. “I got the bruises from falling…”

  Gee, that sounded like a scene from a low budget PSA for battered women. Heath Andrews wasn’t fooled for a minute.

  “You can tell me what happened,” he said. “I’ll help protect you. The Reapers have a lot of influence in the area, but you don’t have to put up—”

  “No, it’s really not that,” I said, glancing between him and my sister. “Hannah, tell him. It wasn’t the Reapers.”

  “It wasn’t,” she agreed. He caught her gaze and held it, assessing, then nodded.

  “Then who was it?”

  “I fell into a pickup truck,” I said. “I mean, the side of it. I hit my head on the mirror. I was drinking.”

  Andrews studied me again. “You sure that’s the story you want to go with?”

  “It’s the truth,” I insisted, reminding myself that it was. I had been drinking last night and I’d definitely fallen into the mirror. I’d just left out the part about the fall happening after Rebel threw me. And to be fair, I’d punched him. “There’s nothing here that needs investigating. I’m safe. Truly.”

  “She is,” Hannah insisted. “I wouldn’t lie to you, Heath.”

  Heath. Not Deputy Andrews. Heath. I shot my sister a look that promised we’d be talking later. She glanced away, blushing again.

  “You sure you won’t fall into any more trucks?” he asked. “You have choices, Mandy. I can protect you. There’s a place where women can go.”

  He obviously didn’t believe me… I needed to give him something more.

  “Those bikers out there,” I said, nodding toward the door. “I think they’ll make sure there aren’t any more trucks in my future. I mean, if for some reason I had trouble again. Which I won’t.”

  “The Reapers are considered a gang by law enforcement,” he told me, his voice serious. “Organized crime. Did you know that?”

  “I understand, but they haven’t done anything to me. Truly. This little…accident…had nothing to do with them. If anything, they helped me out of a tough situation. I don’t have any reason to be afraid of them.”

  “All right,” Andrews said. He looked to Hannah again. “I didn’t see you downtown this morning.”

  Holy crap, they see each other often enough that he noticed she took a sick day! Hannah was a checker in Violetta’s only grocery store, which meant she saw everyone in town, but she wasn’t the only checker.

  “You’re going to be late for work if you don’t head out soon,” Hannah said, looking at me. I pulled out my new phone and realized she was right. Crap.

  “Let me grab my stuff,” I said. “Shade is giving me a ride.”

  Andrews didn’t make any move to leave as I grabbed my bag, then ducked into the bathroom to check my hair and makeup. The bruise was still pretty obvious. Ugh. Hopefully it wouldn’t show as much in the dim shadows of the bar. I took a second to text Hannah a quick “U OK with him? If not, send SOS” and then ran out the door, leaving the deputy still inside.

  Shade stood waiting for me outside, body language all angry alpha.

  Great. Just what I needed.

  “Everything is fine,” I told him. “He wanted to be sure you hadn’t given me the bruise.”

  Shade snorted. “Fuckin’ asshole. Just ’cause I ride a bike doesn’t mean I beat up women.”

  “Actually, I think he was more concerned about Hannah,” I replied. “Apparently they talk down at the grocery store or something. When he saw all of you here, he got worried.”

  Shade cocked a brow.

  “Interesting. He single?”

  “No idea,” I said, shrugging.

  “You tell him Rebel did it?” he asked, catching my hand and pulling me toward his bike. The other Reapers fell in beside us. I suddenly felt very short and small.

  “I told him I fell into a truck, and that it wasn’t going to happen again. He offered to help me get away if I needed it. I don’t. That’s about it. You don’t need to worry—I didn’t drag the Reapers and Rebel into anything.”

  “You think that’s what I’m worried about?” Shade said, pulling up short. “Mandy, I made you a promise—anything that happens with Rebel won’t come back on you. Not today, not ever. I don’t need you lying to protect me. I’m a big boy.”

  “What makes you think I was trying to protect you?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood. “I’m the one who punched the asshole and smashed up his truck.”

  One of the other bikers—Dopey—snorted, and Shade turned to glare at him. I glanced back toward the trailer, wondering if Andrews was watching us through the window. How had things gotten so complicated so fast?

  “Can you just give me a ride to work?” I asked Shade. “I’m running late and I need to talk to my boss.”

  “You got it, babe.”

  “I’m really sorry about last night,” I told Bone. My boss sat behind his desk in the bar office looking grim and grumpy as usual. “I know you need to be able to count on me.”

  He leaned back in his chair, eyeing the bruise on my cheek.

  “Rebel do that or Shade?” he asked bluntly.

  “It wasn’t Shade,” I replied, refusing to answer fully. “And it won’t happen again. The Reapers told him to disappear.”

  Bone gave a rare smile. “I take it Rebel’s gone, then.”

  “I wouldn’t know. We aren’t talking.”

  Bone nodded thoughtfully, his smile vanishing as quickly as it’d appeared. “I suppose you think you’re with Shade now?”

  “Nope. I’d like to think I’m with myself,” I told him, frowning. “Why does everyone around here assume that I have to be with a man?”

  “Well, seeing as women don’t ride with the Reapers, any girl who pulls up with them is with a man by definition. But Shade’s not the type to have an old lady. I hope you realize that.”

  “I don’t care what Shade is or isn’t,” I said, and it was almost true. “Last night was a mess. I don’t know what you heard and I don’t want to get into the details. I’m just glad I got through it and nobody got hurt.”

  “Aside from your face.”

  “I caused a hell of a lot more damage than he did,” I snapped back. “Jesus Christ, you’d think I’m some wilting flower here or something. I fucked up, okay? I dated an asshole and he did what all assholes do eventually and fucked me over. As for the Reapers…I don’t know what to think of them but I’m not looking to get involved there, either. All I want to do is take care of my sister and do my job. Is that really so much to ask?”

  The words came out of me in a rush. Bone cocked a brow and then I realized what I’d just done. Bitched out my boss. Sure, I’d been thinking about trying to find a new job, but given the fact that I lived in a town of less than a thousand people and didn’t have a car, available jobs weren’t exactly jumping out at me.

  “Sorry,” I said, although the word didn’t sound very sincere—probably because it wasn’t. I wasn’t sorry. I was pissed.

  Bone shook his head.

  “Christ, and to think I was worried about you,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “But you keep that up and you’ll be fine. Is Shade done with you?”

  “Not my problem. I’m done with him.”

  Bone laughed, the sound more of a snort than anything. “Great attitude—too bad it doesn’t work that way. You’re done with him when he’s done with you, not the other way around.”

  “I don’t accept that.”

  “Well, this should be entertaining to watch,” he said. “I realize you’re all full of female empowerment and have things under control, but if I could offer a word of advice?”

  “Sure,” I said, trying to decide if he was making fun of me.

  “Don’t fall for him no matter what he says. These guys get hot for some girl and they go crazy. Treat her like a queen, convince her they can’t live without her. You’ll fall in love. Then he’ll see someone else with a cute butt and it’ll all be over.”

/>   “You do realize you’re describing yourself, right?” I asked. Bone cracked another smile.

  “Yup. That’s why you should listen to me. Have fun with Shade if you want, but don’t take him seriously. He’s a short-term guy.”

  I sighed. “Bone, I don’t think I’ve ever told you this, but I love strawberries.”

  “Most people do.”

  “Yeah, but most people aren’t allergic to them. Damned things give me hives like you wouldn’t believe. Sometimes I convince myself that I can handle just one. That if I only have a tiny taste, I’ll be okay… Sure enough, half an hour later I’m puffed up like a balloon and red as a baboon’s ass.”

  Bone studied me thoughtfully.

  “And?”

  “For me, men are like strawberries,” I told him earnestly. “I’ve come to realize this. It doesn’t matter how good they smell, if I get too close they’ll poison me. That’s why I’m giving them up—for my health. From now on, consider me your resident nun.”

  My boss smiled. “I don’t usually see nuns wearing shorts that tiny.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, so I’m a slutty nun who needs the tips. God understands. You gotta dress for success in this world.”

  “Yeah, this is gonna be entertaining as hell,” he said. “Just don’t come crying to me when he dumps you.”

  Chapter Nine

  “You’re going to have to talk to him sooner or later,” Sara said, smirking at me. I glanced toward the back of the bar where the Reapers had taken up residence. So far I’d refused to have anything to do with them, insisting that Sara take care of their table.

  Except Shade kept sending Sara back to me.

  I’d assumed that if I just held out long enough, he would give up or they’d leave, but the man was stubborn.

  “Sara’s right,” Bone said, laying down the law. “You need to get your ass over there.”

  “But I’m allergic to him—remember our talk?”

  “Are you allergic to earning money?” Bone countered. “Because that’s sort of my thing here. Earning money. I got seven guys back there who aren’t drinking because my waitress won’t serve them. Call me crazy, but I think you should do something about it before I get pissy.”

  I swore quietly.

  “Bone’s right for once,” Sara agreed.

  “So glad you approve,” Bone said. “I been worryin’ all night my waitresses won’t agree with how I want to run my bar.”

  “Someone’s grumpy,” she replied, giving me a wink. “What’s wrong, Bone—you get left high and dry last night?”

  “Someday I’m gonna fire you for talking like that.”

  “Maybe some day, but not today.” Laughing, she started toward the front of the bar, where a couple of fresh patrons had just found themselves a table. Bone’s eyes followed her across the room. If I hadn’t been so frustrated with the Shade situation, I might’ve called him on it.

  Unfortunately, the Reapers were still waiting for their drinks and I couldn’t risk losing my job. Sucking it up, I headed for their table, offering my brightest, fakest, most generic waitress smile.

  “What can I get you gentlemen to drink?” I asked.

  “’Bout fuckin’ time,” Dopey rumbled. “Been stuck waiting here for an hour.”

  “I’m so sorry—I thought you’d been helped,” I said, ignoring Shade pointedly. “In fact, I could’ve sworn I saw Sara back here several times. Guess I need glasses. Now can I take your order, please?”

  “Four pitchers,” Shade said. “The usual. And some shots.”

  I hated how he just assumed that I’d know what he drank, except I actually did, and pretending I didn’t would mean talking to him longer. Heading back toward the bar, I watched as the door opened and another group came in. More bikers. Bikers I recognized—Rebel’s club.

  Awesome.

  I’d hung out with these people. Laughed with them. Eaten their food. Now I was the ex-girlfriend to one of their own—one whose truck I’d destroyed. One who might’ve gotten secretly murdered by the Reapers. Probably not, but… Oh, and then there was the bruising. Nothing awkward here, nothing at all.

  Denial, I thought. Denial will save me. Everything is good and at the end of the night, Bone will give all three waitresses shiny baby bonus unicorns because we’re so Goddamned friendly and efficient.

  I really needed to get a new job.

  “I’ll be right with you!” I shouted out, heading back to the bar to put in Shade’s order. At least Bone was smart enough not to gloat over the fact that I’d given in and served the Reapers.

  I’d have hit him over the head with my tray.

  Fortunately, things got busier after that, and while I was still keeping an eye on the Reapers, the bar was hopping for a Thursday night, which meant I didn’t have much time to worry. By ten, it was clear this wouldn’t be one of those evenings that we closed down early, even if it was a weeknight.

  This was a good thing, too, because I liked money.

  It also meant I was too busy running my ass off to think about the Reapers beyond making sure their drinks stayed full. Sara managed Rebel’s club, who stuck to the front of the bar. Combined with my new philosophy of denial, this worked pretty well right up until I ran into his president’s old lady in the bathroom.

  We’d met before, of course. Her name was Amelia. She was at least twenty years older than me and she had a nice smile.

  Except she wasn’t smiling at me in the mirror.

  Nope.

  She was watching me patch up the pancake makeup I’d used to hide the bruising. I nodded, then washed my hands, desperate to get away before she had the chance to say something along the lines of We all hate you now because you fed Rebel to the Reapers.

  Not that I had, but I couldn’t exactly expect his friends to take my side in this whole thing.

  “You’re Mandy, right?” she asked. I nodded, noting she looked harder than I remembered. Hard in that skinny, wiry way that led me to believe she could kick my ass in a fight. “I heard about what happened.”

  “Um, yeah,” I said, grabbing a paper towel. “Look, it wasn’t—”

  “Rebel’s a moron and none of us are going to miss him,” she said bluntly, catching me totally off guard. “The guys wouldn’t say that, of course. I shouldn’t even be talking to you about it, but this is awkward for everyone. What he did was a mark against our club and he’s out bad. I’m sorry you got caught up in it.”

  I blinked, because whatever I’d expected her to say, this wasn’t it. My mouth opened because I wanted to pepper her with questions. There were layers here. Layers that didn’t quite make sense to me…but did I really want to know the answers?

  I thought about Heath Andrews again and what it would feel like to get interrogated by him.

  “Thanks,” I said instead. Then I left the bathroom and went back to work.

  “Time for a break,” Bone told me an hour later as I passed him a tray of empties. It was just after eleven-thirty and he’d already sent Sara back for a rest.

  “I’ll be in the office,” I replied, enjoying the thought of putting up my feet for a few. God only knew how late we’d stay open—hours at the Pit more or less followed the customers, and we could be here until two at this rate. Sara came up next to me.

  “Anything I need to know?” she asked.

  “The guys at table four are pretty fucked up,” I told her. “We may need to cut them off soon.”

  Sara sighed, because cutting off customers was never fun.

  “I’ll do it,” Bone said. “They’re part of the riding club, which means their brothers might cause trouble.”

  “Thanks,” Sara said, flashing him a quick smile.

  “That’s so sweet of you, Bone, stepping in like that. You know, you’re wasted as a manwhore,” I told him. “You’d make some lucky girl a wonderful boyfriend.”

  Sara burst out laughing and Bone growled.

  “Break. Now.”

  I blew him a kiss and starte
d toward the back of the bar, pointedly ignoring the corner full of Reapers. I might have to serve them drinks, but my break time belonged to me alone. My purse was locked up in Bone’s office and I planned to grab it so I could touch up my makeup again.

  I was halfway down the hall when the back room door opened and Shade stepped out, blocking my path.

  “Hey, babe,” he said, giving me a slow smile that made my ovaries combust.

  “I’m not interested in talking to you,” I said firmly. He ignored the words, sliding his hand into my hair to grip me tight for a deep, hard kiss that seemed to block out all other kinds of reality. How was I in his arms again? Wonder Woman would be so disappointed. I was vaguely aware that he’d tugged me into the room, but only fully grasped the situation as he kicked the door shut behind us. Then he was lowering me down onto a table, kicking my legs apart with his and pushing forward until my core touched the hard length between his legs.

  It felt amazing. Whole body tingling type stuff.

  This was when I really should’ve kicked him in the crotch.

  Instead, I found myself tugging his shirt free from his jeans, sliding my hands up along the hard muscles of his back. Shade’s tongue shoved deep into my mouth. Bursts of want and desire and raw need filled my body with fire, until it felt like I’d burn up entirely unless the empty ache between my legs was filled. Christ, no wonder he’d called me a cock tease. Every time he came near I melted into a puddle of hormonal glee.

  Shade pulled back, panting as he stared down at me. I read all the same things I was feeling in his eyes. Whatever this was between us, it wasn’t one sided and I wasn’t the only one blown away.

  “You can’t tell me this isn’t happening,” he said, the words torn harshly from his throat. I wanted to deny it but I couldn’t.

  “I’ve never felt anything like it in my life,” I admitted. He growled, all savage satisfaction at my admission. Then his hand twisted hard in my hair, bringing his mouth back down over mine. But kisses—even kisses as good as these—weren’t enough anymore. My fingers dragged down his back, scoring deep as I demanded more. I wanted his mouth on my breasts, his hands between my legs…his cock deep inside. This was crazy and stupid and against everything I’d planned, but it felt so good.