Biker

by Ashley Harma

  “You feel incredible,” he panted, driving into her now in a frenzy. “I’m not going to last long.”

  Noelle wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling the strength in his body as he thrust into her. She knew she wasn’t going to be able to come this quickly, and she didn’t care. It was pleasure enough just to watch Blaze come.

  She could feel beads of sweat at the base of Blaze’s neck, and he pushed even harder into her.

  Once.

  Twice.

  He let out a deep groan, thrusting one final time, before his whole body shuddered and Noelle could feel him pulsing and throbbing inside of her.

  She held him tightly as his body trembled with small aftershocks.

  After a few moments, he reluctantly pulled out and staggered to a sink.

  On wobbly legs, Noelle eased herself off the counter, while Blaze tossed the condom away and cleaned himself up.

  Feeling incredibly satisfied, even though she didn’t climax, Noelle dried herself off and pulled her thong back up.

  “You are soo sexy,” Blaze murmured, coming up behind her and straightening her halter-top.

  “So are you.” She gave him a soft kiss on the lips and moved swiftly to the mirrors to check out her appearance.

  Her cheeks were flushed in that freshly-fucked kind of way, and her hair had been mussed up a bit. Luckily, the style was intended to look casually messy, so she pinned a few locks back into place and smoothed her tendrils.

  She tugged her dress down, making sure it wasn’t riding up in back, and then she turned to Blaze.

  He looked impeccable once more, his pants buttoned and his shirt tucked in neatly, his hair slicked down.

  Noelle licked her lips. She couldn’t believe her good fortune. Not every woman got to make mad, passionate love with a man as handsome as Blaze.

  “Let’s just go in together,” Blaze said, watching for Noelle’s reaction.

  “To the high roller room? But that wasn’t the plan!” Her instincts seemed to fire a warning shot.

  Blaze shrugged. “So what? Is that really going to matter?”

  Noelle bit her lip, frowning with worry. “Well, I don’t know...”

  “It’s not going to matter. Come on. I’ll leave the here first and then you leave a few seconds later.”

  Noelle didn’t feel like arguing. She was still feeling high from their quickie sex, so she ignored her gut reaction to this change of plan. She nodded and Blaze slipped out the door. A moment later, she followed suit.

  There stood Blaze, looking handsome as ever, smiling at her in the most delicious way. How could she ever have considered saying good-bye to him? Even as they were about to commit a massive and risky crime, she continued to fall hard for him.

  She slipped her arm through his, and Blaze pushed open the heavy door to the high rollers room.

  If Noelle though the Wynn’s regular casino was luxurious, then she was in no way prepared for the type of luxury that existed beyond the heavy black door. The gambling lounge was exquisite, decorated in black and gold, and oozing money. She and Blaze were greeted immediately, and whisked away to a table. They hadn’t even sat down before they were each handed a drink made of top shelf liquor.

  Noelle took a sip, and it was simply delicious. The booze was so clean and clear that she couldn’t even taste it, and Noelle had to fight the urge to drain her glass in a few gulps.

  She needed to keep a level head.

  Blaze began to play as Noelle looked on. She glanced casually around the room, taking note of all the gang members dispersed throughout. Blaze began playing hard and fast, winning easily, and Noelle played her part, acting like his admiring companion. Luckily, Blaze was not the catalyst this time; Derek was going to start the action.

  Noelle noticed that several tall, muscular men dressed in identical dark suits were weaving in and out of the room quietly. It suddenly dawned on her that these men must be part of Wynn’s security team.

  She gulped.

  It was a good thing that they had assembled their own protection crew. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the other members of the gang checking out the security guards as well.

  Blaze put his hand up to order another drink, and Noelle saw Derek slip up to the bar in the back of the room.

  She took a deep breath.

  It was about to begin.

  Chapter Twelve

  Two cocktail waitresses came scurrying over to Blaze, and Noelle mentally rolled her eyes as they vied for his order. The women were practically panting over him, and shot each other dirty looks when the first one hurried off for Blaze’s drink.

  Just then Noelle heard what she had been waiting for – raised voices coming from the direction of the bar. Like everyone else in the room, she turned to see what the commotion was about. It appeared that Derek was drunkenly arguing with the bartender.

  Noelle felt her stomach drop and her adrenaline rise. She knew they were just seconds from the action.

  “I don’t care who the fuck you are,” Derek slurred, his voice rising, “but I spent good money in this room, and I want another fucking drink!”

  Blaze, looking bored, turned his head in the direction of the commotion. The two cocktail waitresses seemed to be arguing over which one of them was going to serve Blaze his drink.

  “I don’t care how much goddamn money you spend here,” the bartender said loudly, “but rules are rules. Now sit back down, or I’ll have your ass thrown out of here!”

  Derek slowly turned, as if he were going to stagger away, but then he spun quickly, hooked his right arm, and punched the bartender square in the jaw.

  Shrieks erupted from the women, and the bartender let out a yell before going down behind the bar. A few men jumped up from the tables, and Noelle noticed that some of them were gang members.

  “Bad idea, buddy!” the bartender yelled, as he jumped up and lunged across the bar, barely missing Derek, who dove quickly to the left and avoided getting hit.

  A brawl ensued, and Noelle knew it would be a matter of seconds before security intervened.

  She was right.

  Just as two of the security guards charged at Derek, Blaze grabbed Noelle roughly, causing her to scream in earnest.

  “Nobody move!” Blaze yelled, butting his pistol up against Noelle’s head. Even though she had done this before, there was nothing that could prepare her for having a loaded gun pressed against her skull.

  She didn’t need to pretend to shake –she was already genuinely trembling from nerves and fear.

  The security men were momentarily caught off guard, not expecting the action to suddenly jump across the room to Blaze. When they hesitated in a moment of confusion, gang members each took a guard hostage, disarmed them, and held them at gunpoint.

  “Lock boxes!” Blaze yelled, and immediately James and a few of the other bikers sprang into action. Derek was holding the still-struggling bartender in a headlock, and was unable to help. Blaze realized the situation, and dragged Noelle toward one of the lock boxes.

  James quickly went to Derek, grabbed the duffel bag stored in his coat jacket, and tossed it to Blaze. Blaze instructed the sobbing dealer, her hands shaking, to fill the bag with cash.

  Noelle closed her eyes, not wanting to see the fear in other people’s faces –she needed to get through this without thinking about the terror and destruction that they would probably leave behind.

  The bag was nearly filled, and Noelle could see the security guards exchanging looks as the gang members pushed the guns against their heads. The room, which had at first seemed mysterious with its dark hues, now seemed ominous.

  Noelle had an awful feeling and before she could take another breath, she heard a gunshot.

  People screamed, her eyes flew open and she looked around wildly, trying to figure out where the shot had come from. Noelle saw a trembling cocktail waitress holding a pistol, and then pandemonium ensued.

  “Go!Go!Go!” Blaze yelled, dragging Noelle backwards toward the
door with him. She looked across the room and saw Benny lifeless on the ground, a pool of blood spreading around his head.

  “Oh my God!” she screamed, feeling bile rise in her throat.

  More gunfire, and Blaze yanked Noelle with all his might, jerking her feet clear off the ground. Pain wracked her body from the violent wrenching and twisting that Blaze was subjecting her to.

  Choking, she looked back and saw two more gang members lying motionless on the ground.

  In the chaos that ensued after the waitress blasted Benny, the security guards seized the moment to fight back.

  Forcefully jerking Noelle along with him, Blaze scurried for the door, blasting his gun in the general direction of the security guards.

  “Blaze!” she cried in protest, but his name caught in her throat, as she felt a bullet whiz by her head.

  Noelle was lightheaded.

  This was real.

  They were actually in the middle of a shoot-out. Bullets were flying, people were dying. It didn’t matter that she might make four hundred thousand dollars from this heist – she might not make it out of here alive.

  Where was her judgment?

  How could she have allowed herself to come back here and participate in this wretched carnage?

  Was seeing Blaze truly worth her life? What a price to pay!

  Blaze finally let her get her footing, and as she stumbled with him through the door, she looked back to see yet another gang member go down in mortal agony.

  Her hearing was numbed by the continuous blasting of gunfire around her. The last thing she saw before the black door closed behind her was a surreal scene of human slaughter: bikers, security guards, and casino workers dead and dying; wounded people crawling, begging for help; terrified women hiding under tables.

  She needed to keep it together if she was going to get out of there alive.

  “Run!” Blaze grabbed Noelle’s hand, slinging the duffle bag laden with cash over his shoulder, and they took off running down a hall away from the lobby and the casino. Someone was coming after them, shouting, and aiming a pistol at their backs.

  Noelle shrieked, hearing the heavy footsteps gaining on them.

  Blaze turned back around and shot recklessly, and the man went down, screaming and clutching at his leg.

  Noelle glanced back for a fraction of a second.

  Thank God he wasn’t dead – Blaze had only shot him in the leg.

  They rounded a corner, and came face to face with Derek, James and two other gang members.

  “Is this it?” Blaze yelled, disbelieving. “Only us left?” James nodded. Grief started to cross Blaze’s face, and then they heard footsteps thumping up the hall behind them.

  “This way!” Derek hissed, and Noelle remembered that Derek had been one of the bikers instructed to memorize the layout of the hotel.

  They ran after Derek and once again, a shot rang out from behind them. One of the gang members cried out in pain, and Noelle saw a bloody puncture in his arm.

  “Keep up!” James commanded, and the man shouted in agony, but kept running.

  Derek grunted with effort, turning another corner. Noelle kicked off her heels and pounded after him in bare feet.

  Derek led them down a dimly lit stairwell.

  “Parking lot should be right out here,” he whispered, breathless.

  The door came into sight, and they all flew down the long flight of stairs, Blaze grasping Noelle’s hand tightly to pull her along.

  Noelle’s dress had torn, and her hair was half undone, flying wildly around her face. Her lungs burned with exertion and she wanted to be out of this hotel, and far away from the Strip.

  She never wanted to see Vegas again.

  Tears pricked at her eyes, but she just pushed herself harder, her bare feet bruised, pounding down the stairs, the calves of her legs seared with pain.

  Derek burst through the door first, and Noelle watched, as if in slow motion, as shots rang out, and Derek clutched his chest and staggered backwards.

  Blood immediately began seeping through the back of his shirt, and Noelle screamed as Derek fell to the ground, lifeless.

  Shots erupted around them, and James took out the two guards who had shot Derek.

  The two men who had killed Derek.

  “Derek!” she sobbed. Out of all the people in the Widowmakers MC, he had been the kindest, he had been her favorite.

  “Oh no, not Derek!”

  “There’s no time!” Blaze yelled, dragging Noelle with him. She cried out in pain as her bare feet scraped across the gravel of the parking lot.

  A row of motorcycles waited for them across the parking lot, having been placed there just minutes earlier by gang members.

  Most of the bikes would remain riderless in the parking lot—the club had lost so many people.

  James slung the injured man over his bike and took off. The other uninjured gang member hopped onto a bike and roared off after him.

  Blaze threw Noelle onto his bike, heaved the duffle bag at her, and jumped on, kicking it into gear. They roared toward the exit, following the other two bikes. Noelle leaned forward and clasped her hands around Blaze, the bag crushed between them.

  Just as they were about to turn out of the parking lot, Noelle saw him.

  There was a man crouched just at the edge of the parking lot, half hidden in the shadows, pointing a pistol directly at them.

  “Blaze!” Noelle screamed, but it was too late.

  The man fired, the sound muffled by the roar of the bike.

  She heard Blaze cry out in pain, and she registered what had happened. He’d taken a bullet.

  He managed to get them through the exit, and onto the strip.

  That’s when Noelle felt the warm wetness seeping from his torso onto her hands

  “Oh my God, Blaze!”

  “Hold your hand there. Try to stop the bleeding.”

  “Blaze! Stop! You need to pull over!”

  “I can’t! We’ll be killed for sure. I’ve got to get us back to the clubhouse.”

  Sobbing, Noelle pushed her hand against Blaze’s wound, trying to slow the bleeding. They tore down the strip and roared out onto the highway. It didn’t appear that they had been followed, but Blaze was driving erratically, and the bikes ahead of them had disappeared into the distance.

  “Blaze! You can’t make it!” she cried frantically, pushing against his wound with all her strength, feeling his blood seeping through her fingers.

  He didn’t answer her, but she felt the determination in his body as he leaned into the wind and throttled up the motorcycle.

  Noelle wept silently so that Blaze couldn’t hear her; she wouldn’t add to his stress during this terrible ride.

  Instead, she let the hot tears flow down her cheeks. The wind drove them down her neck and into the halter of her dress. She let them fall, so angry with herself for allowing this wretched night, this failed plan, to happen.

  Blaze managed to keep control of the bike, and after what felt like hours, Noelle saw the clubhouse in the distance. As they got closer, she could see the gang members gathering outside.

  They were waiting. Greedy, drunk, and high... the Widowmakers were waiting for the cash, so they could celebrate and get even drunker, even higher.

  Blaze barely turned into the gravel driveway, and hadn’t even completely stopped the bike before collapsing off of it.

  Complete chaos broke out as Blaze’s father came running up, and three gang members grabbed Blaze and raced him inside.

  “He needs a hospital!” Noelle cried wildly. She could only imagine what she must look like – knotted windblown hair, smeared mascara, a torn dress and filthy bare feet.

  “He can’t go to a hospital, you idiot!” his father yelled at her, before he disappeared into the clubhouse. Noelle stood there, holding the duffle bag, sobbing.

  There were other people in the parking lot too, some of them women who were crying, and Noelle knew that they must be the wives and girlfriend
s of the men who had been shot at the Wynn.

  Noelle choked on a sob, standing in the middle of the parking lot, unsure of what to do or where to go. She was completely vulnerable without Blaze to protect her.

  An older woman came up to her. She looked aged beyond her years, and there was only the barest flicker of life behind her dead, emotionless eyes.

  She looked vaguely familiar, and then it hit Noelle – the woman looked like Blaze. This had to be his mother.

  “Go on inside,” the woman ordered, her voice raspy. “No one will bother you.”

  Noelle nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered. She hurried into the clubhouse. There was so much going on that she was able to slip unnoticed into Blaze’s room. She had no idea where they had taken him, and she needed to pull herself together before trying to find him.

  She shut the door behind her, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm the sobs that still wracked her body.

  Blaze had to be okay.

  He couldn’t die. Things couldn’t end like this.

  She pulled off her torn and dirty dress, and then put on a pair of sweatpants and a tank top. She kicked her purse and the duffle bag under Blaze’s bed and went out into the hall.

  Luck seemed to be on her side, as she bumped into James almost right away.

  “Where is Blaze?” she whispered, her voice filled with fear.

  James looked grave. “It’s not good, Noelle. We’re not sure he’s going to make it. They took him down there and to the right,” he said, pointing down the hall.

  Noelle nodded and hurried down the hall. She was a registered nurse. And if they weren’t going to take Blaze to a hospital to get the treatment that he needed, then she was going to do everything in her power to help him.

  She found the room easily due to the crowd of people jamming the hallway.

  “Let me through,” she cried, “I’m a nurse. I can help him.”

  Eventually, the crowd parted, and Noelle was able to slip into the room. Blaze was laid out on a table, his wound pulsing a river of blood. Someone had spread out some basic medical equipment, and a man was standing over him.

  “Move!” Noelle ordered, taking charge. “I’m a registered nurse, and unless you want him to die, I suggest you let me do what I can.”