He didn’t need to know about Sara and I just yet.
He probably suspected it anyway.
Ben nodded, handing me his knife and a loaded pistol.
“I’ll have to lay low after it’s done,” I said to him. “Keep me informed.”
“You got it,” Ben said, looking grim.
There was no doubt that he thought I was losing my mind by risking my life over a girl, but I wasn’t going to let Sara get hurt because of this riff between crews.
It took all I had not to sprint out of the hospital, but drawing attention to myself now wasn’t going to do me any good either. I kept a swift pace and was on the bike heading to kill Tyler before I even took a fucking breath.
Riding the fifteen minutes to the motel was almost unbearable as I fought to stay within reasonable limits of breaking laws. What would they have done to her by time I made it there?
I fought to keep my breathing calm as I flew to them, realizing that even the bike wasn’t calming me down.
Fuck, if they had hurt her at all, they were all going to die slow, painful deaths.
The second I arrived at the motel I knew they were planning to ambush me since there was no one posted outside the door. I watched as one of Tyler’s boys disappeared from the window. Immediately, I charged ahead towards the stairs to the room.
As I approached the door, it opened, and revealed that over by the back of the room, Tyler sat next to Sara on the bed. She was in the red lingerie, bound and gagged with her hair in cascading, tousled waves.
“Come on in, Ryder,” Tyler said as he grinned at me, and I swear to fuck I almost charged him like a damn bull.
“Let the girl go, Tyler,” I said, sharply, approaching the doorway.
If they wanted to try to ambush me, let them fucking try.
“Oh, no,” Tyler chided. “We were just about to have fun with her. It’s not your turn yet.”
My vision darkened and I felt the aggression in my body give full force to motion as I watched Tyler slide his hand crudely over Sara’s barely covered body. Operating on raw instinct I stepped through the door, immediately shooting the guy who had been by the window.
He collapsed immediately.
Tyler’s other boy charged me hoping to stop me before I shot him, but ultimately just gave me the perfect momentum as I whipped Ben’s knife out and let the guy impale himself on it.
Fucking amateurs.
Suddenly, I spun as another one came up behind me, whipping the gun out again just as I realized that this wasn’t one of Tyler’s boys, but clearly the hotel owner. He looked angry and horrified as he began screaming.
“I called the police!” the man yelled hysterically.
Fuck.
I ran towards him, hoping to scare him away from the scene before he got shot. Too many goddamn casualties. The man began to retreat, and I continued after him towards the stairs.
Finally, he ran at full speed and I raced back, ready to end Tyler and grab Sara so we could run and hide before the cops showed up.
When I arrived in the room, Sara was there, bound and yelling on the bed. I looked around, pointing the gun as my gaze shifted to look for Tyler, but he seemed to be nowhere in the room. After I kicked open the bathroom door and realized that he really had somehow managed to escape in the time it took me to scare off the hotel owner, I almost regretted saving the guy.
As much as I wanted to feel Tyler die under my hands, I knew we couldn’t chase after him now. We had to go into hiding.
“Sara, I’m here,” I said as I began to untie her and removed the gag from her both. Her eyes were bloodshot and frightened.
I would have given anything to be able to hunt down Tyler right then and there.
“You killed them,” she said, eyes wide, looking at Tyler’s downed men.
“Yes,” I said, pulling her to her feet and tying the robe tie around her.
“And the hotel manager?” she asked, her eyes finding my own as they filled with fear.
“Just scared him off,” I said, gently. “Now we need to go.”
Sara nodded, and let me lead her from the motel room and out towards my bike. Who knew how fast the cops could get here?
Once we were set up on the bike, I pulled out into the road. Sara’s arms were wrapped around me tightly, and I found my mind beginning to drift to what Tyler and his boys might have done to her in those fifteen minutes.
The image of Sara’s sobbing frame as Tyler placed the bottle of lube in her panties burned across my mind and I damn near crashed the bike.
This wouldn’t do. I needed to focus. First, I needed to get off this road. It would make us too easy to find. I would lose them the way we lost Tyler’s boys the night before.
The anger surged anew within my chest. I would hunt Tyler down and find him. I would make him pay for whatever he and his piece of shit lackeys had done to the girl who was now clinging to me as if she was afraid I would ever leave her again.
I would hide now, but I would plan tonight, and Tyler was going to die before Sara and I fled this city.
As we cruised through backstreets on our way to my father’s old house, I did everything I could to focus on anything other than Tyler’s hands on Sara, on the fact that by leaving her I had made her once again vulnerable to his violence.
If I had just stayed, or taken her with me, this wouldn’t have happened.
Another flash of Tyler’s hand gliding over Sara’s tits.
His whole fucking gang was going to pay for his actions. He just started a goddamn war.
Finally, after I was sure that we weren’t being followed, I drove us to my father’s house, pulling the bike up on the driveway and getting off, before turning to help Sara.
She looked so frail in the bathrobe with deep red lipstick smeared all over her face. I wanted to pull her into my arms and comfort her, and apologize, but we needed to get in the house and hide the bike first.
“Take these,” I said, handing her the keys. “Let yourself in and open the garage so I can pull the bike in.”
Sara nodded, processing what I said as she accepted the keys and ran to the front of the house. I waited, eyes fleeting up and down the road as I waited for the garage door to open.
The garage door opened with a mild groan, and I quickly moved the bike inside the garage before dismounting once again and closing the garage. I walked past Sara to lock the door, trying not to think about what had happened to her because of my ignorance.
The second the door was locked, I turned to face Sara.
She stared at me in silence, and I felt my stomach twist as I realized that my fears might be true.
“Sara,” I said, gently, slowly walking towards her. “Did they hurt you?” I asked.
I already knew the answer though. It was incredibly visible in the red splashes across her cheeks that she had been struck a couple of times. Not to mention the fact that they had forced her into lingerie.
“They slapped me,” she said, and I felt my blood start boiling in my veins.
The sheer look of disarray in her gaze as she said it, like she couldn’t even believe it.
‘Did they…?” I asked, trailing off. The intent hung in the air.
“No,” she said, quickly. And my shoulders sagged with relief. Thank god. If after all this Tyler had taken her anyway, I could never have forgiven myself.
“He just touched me…” she said, and the fire began to burn again. “In the video.”
The memories flashed across my mind once again, and I felt the dizzying contrast of how relieved I was that Sara was safe and how badly I wanted to hunt down Tyler and skin him alive.
“I’m sorry,” I said, choking on the sight of her downcast eyes.
“I have never been more afraid,” Sara said, quietly, as if she was admitting it to herself. I needed the feeling of Tyler dying under my grasp as my hands clasped his neck. “I am afraid.”
That last little addition hit me like a punch to the stomach, and I felt t
he breath leave my body. I needed to make sure she never had a reason to be afraid of Tyler again. I was going to protect her. I was going to kill him.
“I promise that I will never let him get near you again,” I said, letting my hand slide down her red cheek before cupping her chin and turning her to face me. “I am so sorry.”
She closed her eyes and nodded.
“We’ll be safe here,” I said calmly, as if I wasn’t imagining the end of Tyler with my swimming in a pool of his fucking blood.
“Where are we?” Sara asked, clearing her throat as her voice choked ever so slightly.
I felt like someone had filled my chest with some kind of venom. Watching her hurt was making me absolutely insane.
“This is my dad’s old house,” I replied.
“Won’t the police know to look here?” she asked. Clever little thing.
“No, I replied. “It never got passed on to me since I was a minor when he died. Now some family uses it as a seasonal home.
“I’m so sorry,” Sara said, her eyes beginning to look brighter and sharper, as if she was coming out of the fog left behind by the incident with Tyler.
“Don’t be,” I replied. “That was a long time ago.”
She nodded.
“Why don’t you sit on the couch while I get us some water?” I asked, motioning to the couch to the left.
Sara wandered over to the couch, still wearing the hotel bathrobe. And the lingerie.
The guilt welled within my chest in a blast, and I felt myself moving autonomously to the kitchen. I moved to the cupboards, falling into old habits as I began searching for where this family kept their glasses. It took a minute to locate them, but I found them and filled them with water from the sink.
Sara was still sitting on the couch, just staring with her hands in her lap. She looked up at me as I approached, and I considered pulling her into my arms to hold her until she stopped looking so dazed. She thanked me as I handed her the water, taking small sips.
“I don’t suppose there’s something stronger we could be drinking?” Sara asked, and there was absolutely no way that I was going to deny her that tiny courtesy after the morning she had.
“Of course,” I said, walking into the kitchen once again. Surely no one kept a seasonal home that wasn’t stocked up on booze.
With delight, I pulled out an incredibly aged looking bottle of bourbon. Sara was going to be quite thrilled with this, all things considered.
I filled two glasses with ice and walked out with the bottle of bourbon.
Sara actually sighed with relief at the sight of my offering, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little.
“I knew you were going to be happy, but I wasn’t expecting that much enthusiasm,” I teased, giving her a smile.
“It’s been a long day,” she said, shaking her head and looking down. My heart sank.
“Let’s dull that pain a little,” I said, quietly, before pouring the bourbon into our glasses and handing her one.
“Cheers,” she said, gracelessly thunking her glass against mine.
To say she slammed the first drink would have been an understatement. She downed that bourbon instantly. While it was undoubtedly hot, the greed in that action made me worry.
“Alright,” I said, swatting her hand away from the bourbon bottle with a firm look. “Let’s get some food in your system before you make yourself sick.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, with a dramatic salute that in another world would have earned her an immediate punishment for mocking me. Though, I did like the sir part.
“Sir is the appropriate thing to call me,” I said, wagging my eyebrows at her before heading to the kitchen. I didn’t actually want her to call me it, but it was fun to play up the image for a minute.
She chuckled from behind me.
I smiled, and began searching through the pantries to find something edible for us. Fortunately, there were plenty of frozen food options, and before long I had a pizza in the oven. At least we wouldn’t die for a while between all of their food and alcohol.
“Pizza is cooking,” I said, giving her a smile and sitting down by her again.
“I can’t believe you killed those guys,” Sara said. It didn’t sound accusatory, more like she was marveling at the reality of it.
“I would have done worse if I’d had more time,” I replied, coldly.
She didn’t seem bothered by it.
“Thank you,” she said, quietly, looking up. “Again.”
The second her bright blue eyes landed on mine, I was more glad than ever about what I had done. I could kill whoever I needed to in order to protect Sara.
“You’re welcome,” I replied. I pushed her hair back from her face.
Sara leaned into my touch, closing her eyes.
“Did Tyler bring that lingerie for you?” I asked, the bourbon making me a little more bold.
“What?” Sara asked, opening her eyes and furrowing her brows. It was adorable. “The trashy motel lingerie?”
“What?” I asked, now thoroughly confused.
“The motel,” she said. “It had lingerie you could buy in the wardrobe.”
What?
Sara began laughing hysterically.
“What is so funny?” I demanded, watching her with an amused smile on my face and seriously debating grabbing and kissing her.
“Your card is going to get charged for it,” she wheezed, leaning over her legs as she continued to laugh. “I figured after everything you could at least buy me the cheap lingerie from that awful motel.” Tears were streaming down her face now from how hard she was laughing.
“You charged lingerie to my card without permission?” I said, dropping my voice and lacing it with a threat, but damned if I wasn’t smiling from ear to ear.
I was glad Sara thought it was this funny. It was, and she made a great point. She also gave me a great excuse to punish her, and as the adrenaline gave way to a hazy intoxication, I was more than ready to touch her, and punishment was a great way to start.
She visibly shivered in response to my words.
“Yes…” Sara said, looking up with a nervous gaze.
The timer for the pizza went off, and I swear I watched her lift her face to give mock thanks to the ceiling. Smart ass.
“We’ll talk about this later,” I said, giving her a stern look before winking.
The way her body responded to that had me about to say to hell with the pizza and take her right there. I shook my head, walking to the kitchen and already planning all of the things I was going to do to her tonight.
I cut up the pizza, putting some slices on a couple of plates and carrying them out with some napkins. The redness in Sara’s cheeks when I returned was no longer from being hurt, but instead from how turned on she was.
I grinned, but otherwise pretended not to notice. Setting down the plate, I sat down next to Sara, watching the way she immediately twisted her body to face mine.
“Ryder—,” Sara began, biting her goddamn lip again.
For a second, I considered giving in.
“Eat your food,” I said, very much presenting it as a command, as I turned away from her and grabbed a slice for myself.
Sara stiffened, but complied. I was hungrier than I had realized, and from how Sara was devouring what was on her plate, she probably was too. We sat in silence while we filled our stomachs.
“This isn’t bad,” I said, moving onto my second slice.
“No, this is amazing,” Sara said, with a tipsy giggle that made me want to have her down on her knees in front of me, begging.
“Happy to oblige,” I said, giving her a smile. As she leaned back, finally done with the pizza, I poured new glasses of bourbon and handed her one.
“Thank you,” she said, beginning to sip on it.
“You’re welcome,” I replied, sitting back with my glass and staring at her.
She looked up at me and smiled.
Beautiful little brat.
�
��So, motel lingerie, huh?” I asked as the bourbon began to pull the binds of my inhibitions away.
A part of me still felt guilty about even thinking like this after what she had been through, after what was happening to Mark, but the other part of me recalled the ways she had responded to my advances before despite what she had been through, and I really wanted to see that lingerie again.
“Yes,” Sara said, giggling again. This bourbon was clearly lightening her mood. “It is so trashy.”
“Is that so?” I said, leaning into the couch and smirking like the most arrogant fuck in the world as I continued. “And why did you put on the trashy motel lingerie?” I asked.
Sara’s gaze fell and her teeth met her lip, and I knew what the answer was.
“Well?” I demanded in a sharp, low tone.
“For you,” Sara admitted, finally. Her cheeks were now quite red, and I didn’t know if it was the whiskey or how turned on she was, but I knew that it made me want to touch her.
“And did you ask permission before using my card for this purchase?” I pressed, my tone admonishing even though I also thought it was hilarious.
“No,” Sara said, pursing her lips and looking down.
“Once you finish that bourbon, you can decide if you want to watch TV or accept your punishment,” I said in a clipped tone.
She damn near convulsed.
I watched as she sipped gingerly at her drink, knowing that it was in her control to decide when she was going to have to make her decision. I chuckled at the hesitancy with which she drank, casting me questioning glances as if to say when can I finish this without looking too eager?
“Finish it,” I commanded, relieving her of the responsibility.
Sara drained her glass eagerly, and I couldn’t wait to hear her decision.
“Well?” I said, with feigned impatience.
“Punish me,” she said quietly, her eyes downcast. The pink flush in her cheeks told me that she was already getting turned on by this, by her new role.
My cock stiffened in my jeans over the sheer submission with which she said it.
Her head was bowed, her shoulders bowed forward.
“Show me,” I said, the command present in my voice as I picked her apart with my eyes. She clearly still wanted to play. I couldn’t wait until I had her complete submission.
Midnight Ryde: A Bad Boy MC Romance Page 12