Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC

by Kiki Leach

  "Baby," he started. "Baby, where the fuck is he?"

  "I don't..." She rattled her head and then without warning, her legs gave out and she suddenly slumped down in his arms.

  "Babe?!" he asked her in a panic. "MIA!” Her head rolled back over his arm and as he grabbed her face and pressed his ear down to her nose and mouth, he realized she had stopped breathing. "No, no, no, baby, don't do this to me." He pressed his ear down to her mouth again and still, nothing. "FUCK!" He gently moved her out of his arms and placed her flat on the ground. Moments later, he saw Blue coming from around the back of where the house once stood and holding the back of his head, which when he pulled his hand away, realized was covered in blood.

  "Jesus Christ." He made a face and stared down at River and an unconscious Mia. "What the fuck happened to her in the two seconds I spent knocked the fuck out?”

  "She ain't breathin'." River pumped her chest more than a few good times both hands and tried blowing air into her lungs. "Come, on, baby, we've come too goddamn fuckin' far for you to go out like this." He pumped her chest again, and again, blew into her lungs. "Come on, babe. Fuck, come on."

  "Riv," called out Blue. "Riv, there was alota fuckin' smoke on that second floor, brother. Asshole started that shit downstairs and used a fuckin' fan to make sure the smoke hit her before the actual fire did. And I'm guessin' it's 'cause he was wantin' her to suffocate before burnin' up."

  "Come on, baby," said River again, keeping his focus on Mia. "Come on."

  "We gotta get her to a goddamn hospital," said Blue. "Otherwise, this asshole is gonna get just what the fuck he wanted with her dyin' right in the same place she tried to save that girl." He nodded. "Come on. I'll get her legs like before, you get her goddamn shoulders and head."

  River stared up at his friend, his eyes turning red as reluctant tears streamed his hard face; the words of familiarity hit him in the face like a goddamn brick wall. Only this time was different. This time he wasn't just saving a girl who had just been dumped in front of his goddamn club. He was saving the woman who even back then, even before she fucking knew it, even before he did, had saved him first.

  They picked her up and as quickly as they could, loaded her into Ricky’s van. Blue searched Ricky's men for the keys, then searched Ricky himself and found them inside the pocket of his pants. After hopping in, with Blue in the driver's seat while River kept a tight hold on Mia in the back, they sped away from the now blown up property leaving nothing but their pride behind.

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  I shifted my body against what felt like nothing more than a giant pile of lumps and turned my face into the scratchiest pillow I had ever laid my head against. I knew that I wasn't back home with River, and that I wasn't in our bed, because even though his pillows weren't the softest in the world to lay on, they still didn't make me feel as if I had been sleeping on sandpaper.

  As I tried shifting again to find some kind of balance and comfort, I felt a hand slink around my waist and pull me tight against a massive, warm chest. When I heard a sharp groan followed by a light growl inside my ear, I knew then and there that it was no one else but River, and instantly, I felt at home. It didn't matter where the hell I was and it didn't matter why. As long as he was with me, I knew that I was safe.

  "Mornin'," he mumbled against the back of my ear.

  My eyes fluttered open and I inhaled. And when I saw the large beeping monitor next to my bed, along with a white handrail attached to it, I realized within two seconds where I was. I wanted to panic, despite every instinct I had telling me to fight against it. But I tried to remain calm and swallowed hard while moving my eyes across the room.

  "Morning," I replied. He moved his body closer to me and combed his fingers across my stomach. Thinking back on what had led me here made my head start spinning. I didn't remember much after shooting Ricky in the head and passing out in River's arms. I did remember that he was bleeding, though it was obvious he had been stitched up since then. Just as much as it was obvious that, given his boots, jeans and plain white tee, that I was the only actual patient inside the room. "How long have I been out?" I asked him.

  "Too goddamn long," he told me. "Two fuckin' days which is like a goddamn lifetime for a motherfucker me, babe. But they had to get all that smoke and shit outta your lungs from you bein' inside that house. Said you had inhaled so goddamn much of it that if we didn't get you here on time that..." He stopped and shoved his face into my hair, inhaling every bit of me that he could. "Blue won't tell me how the fuck you two managed to escape."

  "There's not really much to tell," I answered. "After he finally managed to get inside the room, he was able to break down the boards on the window. We jumped and I sort of used his stomach as a safety net." I chuckled as did he. "Have you been in here with me the entire time I've been out?"

  "Wouldn't be any place else, babe. I left when I had to, but outside of that, I've been here with you 'cause I can't bother bein' without you for even a goddamn day or night. Doctor said I shouldn't have been sharin' this goddamn bed with you the entire time 'cause you needed to fuckin' rest on your own, but... fuck that shit," he said. "I'll always be selfish as fuck when it comes to you, and I ain't gonna start makin' apologies for that shit."

  "I don't ever want you to. Be as selfish as you want with me," I said. "As selfish as I always plan to be with you." I brushed my fingers up and down his arm as he shoved it up further against my waist. "What happened with Ricky after--?”

  "I beat the shit outta him and you put a goddamn bullet in his head? I had Tank head out there to clean up the mess we made."

  "The mess we made." I chuckled. "We're a real regular Bonnie and Clyde these days," I said. And then I stared down at myself, at my hospital gown, at the name tags and hospital bracelets covering my arms, at the IV's sticking out of my veins, somewhat in shame. Then I turned my eyes up to the window and stared out into the sunlight. I rolled my hand beneath my cheek and as I moved, River shifted even closer to me and griped his arms around my waist even harder. I almost felt as if I couldn't breathe again, but God, I didn't want him to ever let me go. "Even if he's really dead, there's still a chance that others could come after us for retaliation."

  "I got that shit covered," he said. "You and your girl ain't gotta worry about another goddamn thing to do with that prick, his family, his connections, nothin' ever again." His arms tightened around me again and I felt warm again, whole.

  "I never found out from him why those kids were inside that house," I told him.

  "The impact, darlin'. Folks thinkin' we burned down a dope house with a buncha kids inside made us look like ruthless savages in the worst fuckin' way possible. It's what Ricky wanted in order to keep his control over Wolf and the club, 'cause he knew once the shit was done, he'd toss the blame to that motherfucker. And bein' the weak asshole that he was, he jumped inside his back pocket and never fuckin' left."

  "So Wolf was the catalyst to everything?"

  "Pretty fuckin' much, doll. But you ain't gotta worry about that motherfucker anymore either, just like I don't."

  "Oh." My heart sank and I gulped. "Does that make you president of the club now? Officially?"

  "Yep. Me as the king with you as my queen," he breathed. "I moved Blue up to VP status with Snake as Sergeant-At-Arms. And now with that asshole Fontaine put to ground and the club officially cleared of the fire at the dope house, we plan on re-openin' the garage later this month with some of the nomads that came back and rejoined. Already had a few motherfuckers call in to place orders for parts like we had never even closed down for all these goddamn years."

  "That's good. That's good, but um... you didn't--"

  "Slice Wolf's fuckin' head off his goddamn neck with a fuckin' machete in the goddamn meantime?" he asked me. A light chuckle escaped him as he skimmed his nose across the back of my neck and drew his tongue across my skin. "I fuckin' wanted to," he said. "Really fuckin' wanted to."

  "What stopped you?"


  "You," he replied. "Your voice and the shit you said to me before I left you to go out and see him… I still don't want that motherfucker to live and if he fuckin' dropped dead tomorrow, I wouldn't shed a single goddamn tear for him. But knowin' he's my old man makes shit seem different now. Not even better or worse, but just fuckin' different." He paused and exhaled against me. "You make me wanna be a better person, Mia, a better fuckin' man than I ever thought I could be or ever fuckin’ wanted to be, babe. I'll still be me and I'll still do and say stupid shit and I might even piss you off sometimes when I'm not tryin' to, but... I don't wanna be that same motherfucker you met eight years ago or the same motherfucker you met when you came back to me askin' for my help. You stayin' with me even knowin' what the fuck I did to that motherfucker who attacked my mother... That shit's real, darlin'. Too goddamn real for me."

  "Real in a good way or a bad way?"

  "A real fuckin' good way, baby. Real fuckin' good." He pressed his face against my neck and opened his mouth to taste my skin again. His hands dropped down to my hips and he rocked himself against me. I laughed as his cock immediately got hard.

  "We're in a hospital bed," I told him.

  "Baby, I'll take you any fuckin' time, any fuckin' where. Even in this small as fuck hospital made for only one. You already know that shit--"

  "I know it. But..." I shuffled and twisted my body against him. He moved his hands up as I turned to stare him directly in the face. I reached up a hand and brushed the fallen strands of hair from his eye and back up into the hair on his head. His brows flinched and he smiled at me, then wrapped a hand around my jaw and eased his tongue into my mouth. I wiggled my body against him unintentionally and he reached down for my leg to wrap around his waist. "Your wound," I told him.

  "I been stitched up for days now." He pressed his mouth even harder against mine and drove his tongue even deeper, moved it even slower against mine, making my toes curl and forcing me to throw my hand across his back and dig my nails deep into him through his shirt. He moved his hand around to the front of my gown, then stopped just before slipping his fingers between my thighs, and pulled back.

  I frowned. "What?"

  "What'd you think my name meant back then before I told you about the creek?" he asked me.

  I lifted up my shoulder in a shrug and responded, "I don't know."

  "Your nose twitched," he said.

  "So?"

  "Means you ain't tellin' me the truth about somethin'. What'd you think it meant?"

  "I thought... that it meant you were like a fish swimming upstream in a river instead of down like everybody else," I told him. He made a face and pulled even further back from me. I chuckled and brought him closer. "I didn't say it was clever. It was just the first thing that popped into my head." I grinned, and though he tried like hell not to, he couldn't help but eventually do the same. I snaked my fingers through his hair again and brought my hand down the side of his face, stroking the salt and pepper hairs along his strong jawline. He was still so insanely beautiful. God couldn't have created a more perfect looking man if He tried. "Can I tell you something?"

  He nodded. "Yeah, darlin'."

  I sighed and turned my eyes down to the tiny hairs on his chest. "I didn't think my life would ever turn out to be like this."

  "Like this?"

  "With you, here." I paused. "Not here, but... here. In your arms and so damn deep in love with you that the thought of never having what we share again actually causes me physical pain."

  He draped his arm around me and held me even closer to his body. "Yeah, I know that shit, darlin'," he said. "The thought of ever bein' without you again burns like a motherfucker and hurts like hell."

  "Yeah--"

  "I felt that shit when I thought you hadn't gotten out of the house with Blue," he blurted. "Then I felt it again even more, even worse than that when you passed out in my arms and stopped breathin'. My entire goddamn life flashed before my eyes and I realized without you, I had none worth livin' anymore past that. Even with my girl and my club. And I say that shit as a completely selfish as fuck motherfucker because I know that I found my life again in you; and with you gone, it felt like I was gone too. And I didn't regret that shit, 'cause without you here, babe, there's no me. The light fuckin' dims. The world fuckin' swallows me up whole and there ain't a goddamn thing left inside of it for me to hang onto anymore without you in it."

  Wow.

  "That was…” I shook my head at the beauty of his words. “You should put that on a Hallmark card," I told him. “Sign it and then give it to me so that I can hold onto it forever.”

  "I was thinkin' maybe about stuffin' 'em into my vows instead. But if we got married right here and now, I wouldn't fuckin' have to."

  "Yeah, that's extremely romantic. You with a stitched up stab wound and me with smoke in my lungs. Not to mention, my hospital gown--"

  "You look damn good wearin' anything, baby. Better yet, even nothin' at all."

  I tried hiding a smile as I shook my head against the pillow. "I'm not marrying you inside of a hospital, River Hawkins."

  "I'm sorry, babe, but I don't think you've got much of a goddamn choice or say in that."

  Before I knew what the hell was happening, he had reached inside his pocket and ripped out his cell phone, punched a few numbers and spoke almost too cryptically to the person on the other end, which was too difficult for me to understand. After a few seconds, a wide grin split his lips and he hung up the phone, shoving it back inside his pocket.

  "What the hell is going on?" I asked him.

  And suddenly, the hospital door swung back and Avery came racing inside. "MAMA!" she hollered out, her tiny voice sending waves throughout the room. Excitedly, she jumped up near the bed and with River's help, was able to climb up and fall into my lap. I looked over at him with tears in my eyes as I wrapped my arms around her and held her so damn tight that she started to complain about not being able to breathe.

  "I'm sorry," I told her, pulling back. I brushed her hair back from her face and she wiped away my fallen tears. "When did you get back from Montana?"

  "Last night," she said. "Madison and Blue came to pick us up."

  "What?" I turned to River and he nodded.

  "She came home after I let her know everything that happened, includin' Ricky's part in all of it." He turned his eyes to the corner and gestured toward Avery. "She's still unaware--"

  "River said you got sick on a visit up here which is why they had to keep you in the hospital, and why you couldn't go back to Crescent Beach. Do you know when you'll be able to go back home?"

  "Um, no, I don't know. I guess when the doctors say I'm all better." I brushed her hair back again, then looked down at her outfit, only to realize that she was wearing a dress. I arched my brow and leaned my head. "Why are you so dressed up?" I asked her.

  "Ummmm." She turned her eyes to River, then nervously squirmed off the bed and jumped down to the floor.

  "Avery!" I called out. But she ignored me in favor of opening the door again, and within less than two seconds, Madison poured in, followed by Jolene, Verna and Blue. I sat up and leaned against River. "What the hell is going on?" I asked for a second time.

  "I told you that you didn't have a say in this shit, doll, us gettin' married right here and right fuckin' now."

  "You were serious? I'm in a hospital gown," I snapped. "And I'm attached to IV's and I have no dress and we have no rings--"

  'We got most of that shit covered," said Blue from across the room. He wrapped his hands around the lapels of his brand new VP cut and smirked. "All we need now is you on your feet and ready to make an honest man outta this sinful motherfucker sittin’ on your left." His eyes shot down to Avery, who frowned. "Sorry. She's so goddamn small, I forget sometimes."

  "Join the club," replied Jolene. She moved over to my side of the bed and brushed a hand over my hair, and smiled. "You look good for somebody that nearly got blown up," she muttered to me through a soft chuckle
. She rubbed the back of her fingers against my cheek and glanced over at her son. "He's been here in this hospital room and bed nonstop the last two days, all while planning this whole thing on the side just for you. I told him that it might be best for you to wait until you were feeling better and out of here, but he insisted that he had wasted too much damn time already and wasn't going to waste any more of it without you being his wife. And we all know how my son is when it comes to getting what he wants; there's no stopping him no matter how much you try."

  "Don't I know it. How's Trucker?"

  "He's surviving. One of Ricky's men gut him pretty deep, but he's up and talking and ready to come back to the club as quickly as he can. River patched him in as an official member last night and it was the happiest I think I'd ever seen him."

  I smiled up at her and leaned my head. "And how are you?"

  "Some moments are better than others. With Wolf gone for good now, I feel like a large, thirty year weight has finally been lifted off of me, but I'm not sure how long it will take me to be okay again after learning what I had about him coaxing River into--"

  "Mother--" started River.

  "I know," she replied. "I know. What he forced you to do is something that I'm going to have to learn how to get past. It may never happen, but at least I know that in spite of it all, you've been able to become a better man than he could've ever hoped to be."

  "Does anyone know where he is?" I asked. River slowly shook his head.

  Jolene leaned in. "He contacted Vern this morning, but won't give up his location. And since she wants nothing to do with him anymore, I'm not sure if or when he'll ever contact her again."

  "Maybe it's for the best," I said.

  She bobbed her head and smiled, then bent down and wrapped her arms around me. "You make my son happy, baby. You make him the happiest man I think that's ever lived on this earth. You keep doing that for him, and for me, and I'll make damn sure that he continues to do the same for you until I leave this earth."

  "Thank you." I rubbed my hand up and down her back just before she pulled away and moved back across the room near Blue. She took Avery into her arms and sat down with her on the couch.