by Jayne Blue
I turned to her. There was something on the edge of my thoughts. A thing I wanted to say. I couldn't do it, though. Not yet. If she knew all there was, would it scare her? Would she pull away?
Being out here with her like this, it almost didn’t seem real. Like maybe I really wasn’t free. All these years had been some dream to take me away from the horror I’d escaped from. A fantasy. Something I hadn’t earned.
I tried to push those thoughts away. I was here. This was now. It wasn’t some dream.
“I want you,” I whispered. It was more than that. So much more. But that was true enough for now.
She answered by kissing me. I was already hard and ready. I slipped my hand down the front of her jeans and discovered she was too. More than ready. Damn. She was soaked.
“Torch,” she gasped, and that was all I needed.
Sydney lay on her back. I got her jeans down past her knees. I loosened my own. Then I plunged into her, making her mine all over again as the stars bore witness.
Chapter Nineteen
Sydney
I could have lived under the stars like that. I wasn’t born or bred for it. At least, that’s what I’d always thought. I spent most of my life never wanting for anything. Mansions. Beach houses. Boarding schools. And yet, none of it had ever felt like home. Not like this. Lying in Torch’s arms under the open sky, he kept me warm.
We fit.
It made no sense. It should be impossible. Except it wasn’t. It was perfect. So perfect, I almost didn’t want to leave.
“It’s so beautiful here,” I said.
“I’ve always wanted to build a place on the water,” he said.
“You said you lived on the river,” I said.
His face grew dark. “Yeah. I was happy there for a while.”
“Are there places like that near Lincolnshire?” I asked.
He took a breath. “There’s one.” And that was all he said. Torch busied himself folding up the blanket. He talked to the owner of the park, and we got access to one of the cabins to wash up and change clothes. We ended up staying most of the morning, lingering over each other. What happened next was as natural as the night before and the one before that.
Torch joined me in the shower. We took turns washing each other. He took his time, lathering my breasts, slipping into me once again as he pressed me up against the wall.
I returned the favor, sinking down to my knees so I could take him in my mouth as the water sluiced over us.
I couldn’t get my fill of him. One of us had to constantly touch the other. If he was inches away, it felt like miles. I knew it wasn’t just the stars or sleeping out in the open that was different about me. Torch had changed me. It was as if being with him had realigned my orbit.
It scared me a little at the same time it thrilled me. I was warm and safe under his gaze and attention. I couldn’t stop thinking how cold and lonely it would be if he ever turned away. Or if I did.
Slowly, we finished getting ready and made our way out of the cabin. We grabbed brunch in the nearest town. I ordered the best bacon and cheese omelet I’d ever tasted from a tiny greasy spoon diner in the middle of nowhere. Another place I’d never have dreamed of going just a few months ago. I was used to five-star restaurants and having my own chef.
This was so much better. I knew I could never explain it to my parents or even Uncle George. But this felt ... me.
We got into Cincinnati in the early afternoon. Torch took me to a bar called Sammy’s. He said they’d just signed a deal to distribute some of the Great Wolves craft beer, and he needed to finalize the details.
“I’ll be about an hour,” he said. “I just need to go over some things with Sammy.”
“I’ll take a walk,” I said.
Torch frowned. “I don’t like the idea of you being out there by yourself.”
I smiled. “We’re in the middle of downtown in broad daylight. I won’t go far. I’ve got my cell. Text me when you’re finishing up.”
I went up on my tiptoes and kissed him. He grumbled but didn’t argue.
I cleared my throat as a man who I presumed to be Sammy came out from a back room. I touched Torch’s chest, gave Sammy a polite smile, then made myself scarce.
I walked a few blocks toward a shopping center but got waylaid by a beautiful park instead. The sun beat down, and I spied a bench in the shade under a massive oak tree. I made my way there and sat down to people watch.
As soon as I sat down, my phone rang. I recognized my father’s number. Strange. I hadn’t recalled giving my new number to him. I hadn’t spoken to him or my mother in weeks and I knew that had as much to do with my lighter mood as Torch did.
I took a breath for strength and answered.
“Hi, Daddy,” I said. “How did you get this number?”
“Never mind that. Do you know how worried I’ve been?”
“You don’t need to be. I’m doing fine.”
He practically growled into the phone. “Sydney, I don’t have a lot of time. Your mother’s on my back about you ... about a lot of things. Your fall semester enrollment deadline has come and gone. I’ve spoken to the Dean of the College of Business. I’ve pulled a few strings, but I’ve gotten you an extension.”
“You didn’t have to do that. I never asked you to.”
“Sydney, enough. Okay? I’m hearing things I don’t like,” he said.
“What could you possibly be hearing?” I asked.
There was silence for a moment. “Is this you? Is this true?” he asked.
The next thing I heard was a text come through. I pulled the phone away from my ear, put my father on speaker, then pulled up the text he sent.
My heart raced. It was a picture of Torch and me, taken last night in front of my apartment when he came to pick me up. We were kissing. Torch had his hand on my ass. The next picture was me climbing on the back of his Harley.
“Where did you get those?” I asked. Except I already knew. He’d hired someone to follow me. A private investigator, probably.
“Sydney,” he said. “Do you understand how damaging it could be if those get out?”
“Damaging to who?” I asked. “Daddy, I’m not doing anything wrong.”
“This guy you’re with. He’s a thug, Sydney.”
“You don’t even know him. Daddy, you don’t even know me anymore.”
“Well, that’s sure the truth,” he said. “But I am not going to stand idly by while my daughter whores herself out to some ... some ... biker trash just to hurt me.”
I felt like I was choking. “Whore? Did you just call me a whore? And what I do in my personal life isn’t about you!”
As the words flew out of my mouth, a darker thought came into my mind. If my father’s investigator got those pictures without my knowledge, what else did he have? Could he have seen into my apartment the night before that?
“Sydney, I’m trying to protect you!”
“By sending someone to spy on me?” I asked.
“Those pictures aren’t from me!” he shouted. “Jesus. Sydney. Wake up. They were sent to me by someone who wants to hurt me. Who can hurt me. And they were just the tip of the iceberg, baby girl. You need to come home. Now.”
I felt like I was going to be sick. Tip of the iceberg. God. My suspicions had to be true. My father probably had far more compromising pictures of me.
I told Torch I could take care of myself, but I suddenly felt very exposed. Had we been followed here? I thought we were alone out in the woods last night. Were there even more pictures ready to surface?
“I can’t talk right now,” I said. It took everything in me not to burst into tears. I would not give him that.
“Sydney,” he said, softening his tone. “Honey, this is still manageable. Okay? You’ve had your fun. I get it. And you’ve been a good girl. All this time. I know how hard you’ve worked. I know this guy, whoever he is, must seem mysterious and exciting. But this isn’t who you are. And it’s not too late to come home
.”
I shook my head. I said the thing that had been making it feel as if my heart started beating for the very first time. “Daddy, I am home. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. It’s not easy. And I know it’s not the path you or Mom wanted for me. But that’s the point. It’s my path. Not yours. And once again, I haven’t done anything wrong. I won’t be ashamed of it.”
He switched on a dime, going from concerned to angry. Furious.
“Goddammit, Sydney, I will not let you ruin what I’ve built. You can shit all over your own future if that’s what you want. You will not shit on mine. I’m taking care of this, whether you like it or not.”
The phone clicked. My father hung up on me. I’d never once heard him use that kind of language, let alone with me.
My heart raced. I pulled the pictures he sent back up. They were a little grainy as if they’d been taken through a high-powered lens from some distance away.
I looked around the courtyard, feeling as if spiders were crawling down my spine. I was suddenly suspicious of every single person out there.
I slipped my phone in my pocket. My apartment just had cheap blinds with vinyl slats. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think the same photographer could have gotten some images through them. But I was on the second floor, thank God.
Not last night, though.
A shadow fell over me, and I jumped. I turned, preparing to scream. Torch’s hand shot out. He read my face and concern filled his eyes.
It was then that I fell apart. I ran into Torch’s arms, loving the feel of his strong, protective arms around me. Except someone could be watching me right now.
He pulled me away and brought me back to the bench.
“Baby,” he said. “Who the fuck hurt you?”
I was almost hysterical. I could barely get the words out. I took out my phone and showed him.
Fury carved deep lines in his face as he scrolled through them. “Your father?” he asked.
“He says no. He says somebody followed me out here and took them to blackmail him with. Torch, I’ve told you. My dad is the head of a very conservative megachurch. He associates with and depends on some very alt-right Christian groups. They aren’t very tolerant, if you know what I mean. It’s one of the things that has caused a lot of the friction between us. He feels this could destroy his reputation if these pictures got out.”
He handed me back my phone. “There are more,” he said. “These are the mild ones.”
I nodded. “He didn’t say so explicitly, but yes. I think so. And I can’t say for sure we haven’t been followed this whole time. Last night ... out in the woods.”
“No one was out there,” he said. It was then I noticed the gun at Torch’s side. I mean, I knew he probably had a concealed carry permit. But he’d kept the thing in a storage compartment on the bike. I hadn’t realized he’d armed himself before going into Sammy’s.
“It’s going to be okay,” Torch said. “I’ll take care of this. You don’t have anything to worry about. But it’s time to get back. Do you think you can handle riding straight through?”
I nodded quickly. “Yes. I don’t ... I don’t want to stop either unless we have to.”
“Good,” he said. He had me wait on the bench as he stepped out of earshot. He took out his phone and made a call. To the club, no doubt. I wanted to know what he said. At the same time, I realized it was better if I didn’t.
Then Torch came back to me, and he was all business. We were silent as we walked back to the bike. I climbed on and put my arms around him. Torch felt hard as granite as he pulled away from the curb and tore down the street, heading for home.
Torch blew through just about every speed limit. He drove the bike with the same fury that had darkened his face. It matched my own.
I felt violated. Betrayed. My father may not have been the one to order the investigator, but the whole thing happened as a direct result of who he was. I hated him a little for it.
It was almost midnight when we finally made it back to my apartment. I was road-weary, exhausted, and barely able to stand.
We weren’t alone though. Three of the prospects had taken sentry outside my apartment. About a minute after Torch pulled in, Joker rode in behind him.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We swept the place,” Sticks, one of the probies, said. “Or we tried to, anyway.”
“Tried to,” Torch said. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Joker had a grim expression as he approached. “Your Uncle George has been here,” he said.
“He owns the building,” I said. A new horror took root in my gut. Had my own uncle sold me out? Had he told that photographer where I was staying? It made no sense. Joker’s next words dispelled that idea.
“He’s changed the locks,” he said. “It went down before we got here.”
“What?” Torch and I said together.
It was then my gaze fell on the dumpster on the side of the building. Or rather, what was sitting beside it.
I tore out of Torch’s arms and ran for it. My cedar chest lay on its side, the contents strewn all over the parking lot.
“He’s throwing me out?” I said.
Joker looked at Torch. Torch’s face went still as stone. Rage filled his eyes.
“I want to talk to him,” Torch said.
“Colt’s already doing that,” Joker said. “George says his hands are tied. His family is pulling the strings. It’s bullshit, but that’s where we’re at.”
I sat down on my overturned chest and tried to remember how to breathe.
“Grab what you can,” Torch said as he came to me. “You’re coming home with me. We’ll set you up with your own room at the Den.”
He looked at Joker for confirmation. Though Joker’s expression stayed serious, he gave Torch a quick nod.
“It’ll have to do for now.”
“I want to talk to my uncle,” I said.
“Later,” Torch said. “I don’t like you being out in the open like this. I need to get a handle on what we’re up against. Tonight, you’ll stay with me.”
The probies moved in and collected what they could of my things. They heaved it back into the cedar chest then picked the whole thing up. Two more probies pulled up in a black van. They put my things inside.
“Go with them,” Torch said. “I’ll meet you back at the Den in a little while.”
“Where are you going?” I said, hating the desperation in my tone. I just didn’t want to be alone right now.
Torch pulled me away from the others. He placed a kiss on my head. “It’s going to be okay.”
“How?” I asked.
“It just will,” he said. “But I need you to do what I ask for now. That’s all. You’re under the club’s protection tonight.”
I swallowed hard, fully understanding the weight of those words.
Chapter Twenty
Torch
“You can’t do it, man,” Joker said. I’d sent Sydney on ahead with the probies and her stuff in the van. It left Joker and me a minute to talk.
“George had no right to kick her out,” I said. “I don’t even think that shit’s legal. He has to give her notice or something.”
“So, what’s your play?” Joker said. “You just planning on riding over to his house and beating the shit out of him?”
“If that’s what it takes!” I yelled.
“Look,” Joker said. “I know it’s hard, but this is a family matter. Sydney’s family. You gotta let her work it out.”
“Bullshit!” I shouted. “If this were Tara ... shit. It was Tara. When someone tried to hurt her, it was gloves off. For all of us. That’s what we do.”
“Is she the one?” Joker asked. “Is that what you’re telling me, man?”
We’d ridden to the bridge. Standing at the river bank, I looked out at the water. I’d been just a few feet away from here on the bench the first time I knew.
“Yeah,” I said. Colt had sent me down to Cin
cy to make a decision. Well, I’d made it. I turned to Joker.
“Yeah. She’s the one. It’s complicated and fucked up. It’s gonna cause a world of shit with George. It already has. It’s more than a family matter. Somebody sent her dad pictures of the two of us. I could give a shit less about me. But I need to protect my girl from having her tits plastered all over the internet.”
“We need to take this to the table,” Joker said. “Before this spins even further out of control.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But I wanna make sure Sydney’s okay tonight.”
“I get that,” Joker said. “I’ll smooth things over with everyone else in the meantime. I figure Colt will want to have a meeting first thing in the morning though.”
“So do I,” I said. “Thanks, man.”
With that, Joker took off. I revved my engine and rode in the other direction toward the Den.
Sydney and the probies were just pulling in ahead of me. I’d sent her with two of our most loyal, Sticks and Glover.
“Where do you want this?” Sticks asked. He was holding Sydney’s chest.
I looked at her. She looked so small standing next to him, her arms crossed in front of her.
“Take it up to my room,” I said.
Sydney met my eyes. If she had protested, I would have put her up in one of the other rooms. She didn’t. She found a smile and gave Sticks a nod.
“Good enough,” he said.
“You okay?” I went to her. “You’re safe here. You know that, right?”
“I know,” she said. “Thank you.”
“This doesn’t have to be permanent,” I said. “There are other apartments in Lincolnshire. We can start looking in the morning.”
She let me put my arm around her, and I led her inside. She followed me up the stairs. I had the last room at the end of the hall around the corner. As the most senior member of the club still living here, I had the best room. It was private, sound-proofed from the bar downstairs. I also had a private entrance off the back of the bar so I could come and go without having to pass through everyone. Right now, though, the bar was closed, and there was no one here.