Unfiltered & Unhinged

by Payge Galvin

  Cass took a moment before clicking over to the other line. She missed Sugar. Most girls didn’t get Cass. It wasn’t that she didn’t have female friends; it was just that most of them had no clue what to say when they found out she raced. They all looked at her weird. Cass liked girly stuff too, but she loved her motorcycle and the feeling that being in control of it gave her. Sugar may not have understood her need to race, but she never made her feel like a freak because of it.

  She hoped Sugar would be okay. With Adam around, Cass felt like Sugar would be. Cass swallowed, then answered her other line. “Dev?”

  “Cass? You’re still up?” He sounded like he didn’t know what to do now that he was talking to her. “I thought I’d just leave you a message.” He paused. “Are you upset? Everything okay?”

  Cass smiled. She liked that he noticed her voice sounded different. Dev paid attention. Sometimes it could be a pain in the ass, but right now, she thought it was pretty awesome. “Yeah, I’m okay. I was talking to a friend. What’s up?”

  He didn’t sound convinced, but he let the matter drop. “I thought you might like to come by the shop tomorrow. I’ve made some really good progress on your bike and I didn’t know if you wanted to come by and have a look.”

  Cass felt a spike of heat slide down her spine. She’d been working a lot so hadn’t had much of a chance to get out to the garage to check on the bike. Dev had been calling to give her regular updates, but that wasn’t the same as seeing it in person.

  It wasn’t the same as seeing Dev in person either.

  “That would be great!” She dialed back her enthusiasm somewhat, not wanting to come off as too eager.

  Then again, deep throating him in the middle of a state park probably hadn’t screamed aloof.

  “Cool. You want to say around seven? I’ll pick up some food—if I’m not there, just head on back to my bay.”

  “Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

  She dropped her phone on the night stand and collapsed back into bed, Dev’s whiskey voice echoing in her head. Cass plumped her pillows, reached over, and turned off the light. Then she lay there, staring at the ceiling and imagining the things that might happen at seven tomorrow night.

  Chapter 10

  She was early. Cass walked slowly through the empty parking lot, feeling surprisingly nervous. This felt a lot like a date, which normally wasn’t a problem. She liked dating, and she went out on a lot of them. She was pro-dating. But this one felt different.

  Cass felt different.

  Maybe it was the way he looked at her, like he was actually seeing her as more than just a cute girl, like he was actually seeing her. Maybe it was the way he was careful with her, like she was something fragile, but he hadn’t condescended to her like other guys did when they found out she had a bike. Maybe it was just because he was Dev, and he was pretty damn close to perfect.

  She stepped inside the garage, waving at another mechanic the next bay over. She checked her watch; it wasn’t quite seven. Dev must be out getting dinner. Cass saw her bike sitting near the wall and walked over to get a closer look.

  It looked great. Cass ran her hand along the new seat. Most of the fiberglass had been replaced. She put her hand flat against the chassis. She bent down, getting a look at the underside. Dev hadn’t finished everything, but he’d made a good start. If he kept up this pace, the bike would be done in time for the next sideshow with time to spare.

  She straightened when she heard a low wolf-whistle behind her. Cass turned, a smile on her face, and then froze. Wrex leaned against the wall of the garage, the heat from his gaze a palpable thing. He grinned. “Nice work.”

  Cass didn’t think he was talking about the bike. He hadn’t even looked over at it. She glanced around, hoping to see the other mechanic, but he was either in the office or gone for the night. It was just her and Wrex.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  Dev would be back soon. He wouldn’t be thrilled to have Wrex in his shop.

  “Just came to check on…things.” Wrex pushed away from the wall, taking a step closer to her. “You shouldn’t be out by yourself, Cassie.”

  “Cass.” Only Liam got to call her Cassie. “And I can take care of myself, thanks.”

  He shook his head, chuckling quietly to himself. “I’d just hate to see anything happen to my…investment.” Wrex’s eyes flicked to the newly rebuilt Superhawk, and he frowned. “It’s easy for things to get broken.” His smile was all teeth and bite. “I like to keep an eye on what’s mine. Make sure they remember that.”

  Cass swallowed, feeling like the garage bay was suddenly way too small. Wrex was too close, and he stood between her and the door. What had he meant by investment?

  He kept walking forward, herding her back against the wall. Wrex wasn’t huge like Baron, or even as big as Dev, but he was strong and fast. He didn’t care who he hurt when he got angry. Cass stared at Wrex, feeling like a bird caught in a cobra’s gaze. He’d been following her? Watching her? She suppressed a shudder, not wanting to show any weakness.

  Dev was going to be back soon—she kept that thought in her head. All she had to do was stay calm and not do anything stupid. But it took everything she had not to bolt when Wrex leaned in and ran his nose down her neck, like he was smelling her.

  He leaned back so he could look into her face. “There are other ways to work off a debt,” he began, his voice low and throaty. “We were good together.”

  Cass stiffened. She wasn’t an idiot; she’d seen the way Wrex watched her whenever they were in the same room. She wished she could just melt into the wall at her back. If she’d known what he did to people when she’d first met him, she would have stayed far away from him.

  “You want to buy a girlfriend?” Cass regretted her words when she saw his eyes narrow. “No thanks,” she continued, trying to keep her voice steady.

  He sighed, a crazy light flaring in his eyes. “Come on, Cass. I can be sweet. And it beats the risks of racing.” He lowered his mouth to hers.

  She turned her face away. “I’ll stick with my motorcycle.”

  He reared back, anger spiking in his eyes like an acetylene torch. “You think so?”

  Wrex pulled away, grabbing a tire iron from a counter nearby. Cass flinched, expecting him to use it on her, but he swung and hit her Superhawk. The new panels and electronics cracked beneath his blows. All of Dev’s hard work, all of her money and patience and waiting shattered beneath the blows of the tire iron.

  Cass grabbed at his arm, dragging it down with all her strength. “What the hell are you doing, you psycho?” she shouted, hanging on as he tried to shake his arm free. She wrapped herself around him, using all of her weight to keep him from swinging the tire iron. It clattered to the floor.

  Now that he wasn’t holding it, Wrex could pry himself out of her hold. He used his free hand to grab Cass by the hair, yanking her away from him. She cried out, staggering as he pulled her off balance. He flung her into a wall rack of tools. Unable to stop her momentum, she landed hard, her head hitting something metal with a high ringing sound. She staggered and would have fallen if not for Wrex’s bone-bruising grip on her upper arm. He yanked her forward.

  “Let. Her. Go.” Dev’s voice was soft, but carried well in the confines of the garage. The menace and rage in it were unmistakable.

  Cass’s gaze locked on him, happier to see him than anyone ever in her entire life. He had dropped the bags of take-out food on the floor, and he stood with his hands balled into fists at his side. His expression was pissed off, no check that, absolutely enraged. Dev looked like he was about to spit fire.

  When Wrex was too slow in complying, Dev crossed the garage and slammed his fist into Wrex’s jaw. His head snapped sideways with the force of the blow.

  Wrex released her arm quickly, holding up his hands. “It’s cool, man. Take it easy.”

  Cass scuttled to the side, rubbing at her sore arm. She’d have bruises tomorrow from his finger
s. The side of her head hurt from where she’d hit the rack. Part of her wanted Dev to take Wrex apart, but a larger part just wanted Wrex gone. She didn’t want to look at him anymore.

  “Get the hell out of my shop. NOW!”

  Wrex backed out of the garage, gaze skipping from Dev to Cass. When he reached the doorway, he said, “I’ll see you soon, Cass. Count on it.”

  The sour taste of bile filled the back of her throat at his words. She had to get out of here. She wouldn’t even look at her Superhawk.

  Her mind flashed back to that night in the coffee shop. A man’s body lay on the floor, a puddle of blood slowly spreading across the wooden floor. The babble of voices filled her head. And then her voice, calmly saying, “We just need to get rid of the body before someone comes.”

  All she’d been thinking about was Liam and Wrex and getting caught. If she’d gotten hauled in and couldn’t race, or worse, if Wrex thought she had gone to the cops about the sideshows and his betting ring, Liam was toast. She couldn’t risk her brother. Cass had been taking care of him since their mom died. She couldn’t stop taking care of him, even if he was a grown man.

  Hiding her face in her hands, Cass made a broken sound, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. What on earth was wrong with her? When had she become this person?

  She felt Dev’s fingers on her wrists, gently pulling her hands down, but she couldn’t look at him. All she kept hearing was the gunshot, seeing Sugar scrambling on the floor, and the blood. She’d been the one to mop up all that blood. She remembered the way the mop had pushed through the thick liquid congealing on the floor, how it mixed with the water. How she had to stop and go puke in the bathroom until she had nothing but bile to bring up. A shudder ripped through her.

  She was bad luck.

  “Cass, hey. Cass. It’s okay. Come back to me.” Dev’s voice was soft, his face close to hers.

  He didn’t let go of her. His thumbs rubbed circles on the inside of her wrists. Cass focused on that for a few moments, needing the physical grounding of his hands on hers. She felt like she might fly apart.

  “Can we get out of here?” she whispered, needing something physical to distract her. “Go for a ride?”

  Food forgotten, Dev pulled the bay door closed and locked it. Cass hovered by his side, needing to be near someone, needing the feel of his presence. Once in a while, she reached out a hand to touch him, as if assuring herself that he was still there, still real and solid. When he’d finished locking up the place, he took her hand and led her around the back.

  His black motorcycle sat gleaming under the lights of the lot. Cass let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. It was beautiful. Taking her hand, Dev led her over to it. He sat first, levering it up and bringing it to life with a dull roar.

  Yanking her short skirt up higher, Cass pulled herself up behind him, holding tightly to his waist and pressing the side of her face against his back. The soft cloth of his t-shirt rubbed against her cheek and she could feel the strong muscles of his back work beneath her as he steered the motorcycle out of the lot. The smell of him surrounded her: motor oil, sweat, and that piney scent that was completely Dev.

  “Anywhere in particular you want to go?”

  “Away from here.” She closed her eyes and clutched him tighter. She didn’t much care where they went. “Just take me away.”

  He gunned the throttle and the bike leapt onto the street like a greyhound after a rabbit.

  The wind ripped through her hair and chilled the bare skin of her body where it wasn’t pressed against Dev. He took them to the highway that led up to the low peaks of the mountains, the lights of Rio Verde twinkling like fallen stars as they rose above the small city. Cass leaned into him, following his body as he pushed the bike through the turns of the road. The power of the engine thrummed beneath her, Dev’s body in constant motion as he made minute changes in his core to balance and lean the bike through the curves. She felt everything, pressed against him as she was.

  He pulled over in a small secluded spot overlooking the lights of the city. He shut the engine off, then turned his head to look at her. Cass sat up straight, unwinding her arms from around his waist with a pang of loss. She’d liked holding onto him. More than she probably should.

  “Mind telling me what the hell was going on back there?” Dev asked after a few moments of silence.

  She rubbed her bare arms, already feeling the night’s chill now that the engine was off. “Wrex told me there were other ways I could work off Liam’s debt.” That hadn’t been what bothered her the most; she’d known he wanted to take it out in trade for a long time. She was actually kind of surprised that he’d waited this long to suggest something like it. “Obviously, I told him no.”

  Dev stiffened in the saddle at her words, and she thought she heard him curse under his breath. Then he was sliding off the bike, walking to stand at the edge of the small overlook so he could look at the city below them.

  Cass stared at his back, a deeper shadow than the rest of their surroundings. “He reacted about how you’d expect,” she continued, still on the bike.

  When Dev didn’t say anything, she got to her feet.

  “He hurt you.” His voice sounded forced, like he was trying to talk through clenched teeth.

  “I’m fine. Honest,” Cass said softly.

  And she was fine. She was here, and she was not thinking about the coffee shop anymore, which were all good things as far as she was concerned. She walked over to join Dev where he stood. “He ruined all the work you did on my bike though.”

  Dev ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t give a crap about the bike.”

  “Well, I do.” She turned her head to look at his face. He was staring at her. She swallowed nervously.

  “You’re a real pain in the ass, has anyone ever told you that?” Dev asked, exasperation in his voice.

  She thought he might be smiling, but she couldn’t be sure in the darkness. “Constantly.”

  “I guess it’s a good thing that’s one of my turn-ons then.” His arms snaked out to snag her around the waist and pull her towards him. “I was scared.”

  “Me too,” Cass admitted. She usually never said things like that out loud, but it was different with Dev. She was safe when she was with him.

  Then she raised her head to meet his lips as they came crashing down on hers. Cass opened her mouth for him so he could slide his tongue inside. He tasted of spice and smoke. She pulled him closer, wrapping her arms around his waist, fingers pulling at his shirt as their mouths clashed. This kiss wasn’t sweet and innocent, and it wasn’t like what she had had with Dillon. This kiss was fiery wreckage, was combustion and heat, was conflagration. This kiss burned her up from the inside out. It was what she needed, to feel alive and safe and wanted, to have the man she wanted be the one touching her. She needed to erase the fear she’d felt at the garage with Wrex.

  Cass hitched his shirt up so she could run her fingers along the smooth muscles of his back. He was like steel wrapped in satin, and her hands pressed him closer, tighter against her body. Dev broke their kiss, burying his hands in her hair so he could hold her head still. Cass tilted her head back against his hold, and Dev leaned forward, tracing the line of her throat with his lips. He stopped at the hollow, his tongue darting out to lick the sensitive flesh there.

  She pressed her thighs together, feeling the tension winding inside her core. She wanted his hands on her body, she wanted the feel of his lips on her flesh, the stretch of him inside her. He could make her forget for a little while longer.

  Dev’s hands skimmed down the outside of her thighs, fingers lightly running along the hem of her skirt. Then his hands were beneath her ass, lifting her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist, changing her hold so that her arms now twined around his neck. His mouth was on hers again, his tongue tracing the inside of her lips.

  Cass gasped in surprise when Dev set her down on the seat of his Indian. She felt his grin against her mout
h before he pulled away. She dropped her legs from his waist and stared up at him, still holding onto his neck. He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose against her ear, nipping at the lobe. Cass arched against him, feeling a current from her ear right to her clit. She moaned, burying her face into his neck.

  “Do you want me to stop?” Dev asked, his mouth moving softly against her ear.

  Cass swallowed. He might have asked her if she wanted to stop breathing. “Less talking,” she gasped, biting softly at his neck. “More kissing.”

  “Don’t need to tell me twice.”

  “Dev, seriously?” Cass lifted her head. “Shut up.” To make her point, she dragged his mouth down to hers.

  This time she was the one to slide her tongue into his mouth. She teased him, winding hers around his and sucking it into her mouth, licking against him. He lifted her ass off of the seat, hands scrabbling at her skirt. Cass moved her hips, allowing him easier access. His hands were hard as they slid under the fabric, ripping her panties down until she could kick them off. He stepped in between her legs, hands holding them apart.

  Cass yanked at the buckle of his belt, pulling the fastenings open, then working on the button and fly of his jeans. Dev chuckled at her eagerness. Then he plunged two fingers inside her and Cass had to grab onto his jean-clad hips in order to keep from flying off the seat.

  She cried out, eyes half-lidded as he stroked her, his thumb circling her clit.

  “Yes,” she gasped, throwing her head back and arching up into his hand.

  Dev leaned forward again, licking a stripe up her neck until he could lay claim to her mouth once more. His fingers kept up their rhythm, plunging in and out of her until she was whimpering against his mouth. Her hands clutched at his shoulders, her muscles straining as he brought her closer and closer to the edge.

  He kissed her deeply, then pulled his fingers out of her. “Jerk!” she cursed, hitting him lightly on the shoulder. Dev grinned, reaching into his wallet and pulling out a foil wrapped square. She reached forward for it and ripped the packet open, then slid the condom up his length, stroking as she went.