by Madison Faye
And he was looking right at me, his face a mask of rage.
I acted before I could even think, slamming the door shut and almost screaming as I scrambled to jam the keys into the ignition. The car roared to life, and this time I did scream as Joe was suddenly right beside my car, pounding on the window.
“Get the fuck out of the car, bitch!” He roared, slamming his fist against the glass.
I screamed as I shoved the transmission into reverse and gunned the engine, watching Joe lurch away from car as I peeled back out of the parking space.
Jackson, Connor, help me!
It was the only thought in my head as I roared away, watching in my mirror as Joe ran for his car.
Chapter 7
Jackson
We were out the door like fucking lightning the second we heard the car spin out. I’d seen Abby’s silver Honda hauling down the road past the diner, but it was when we saw the red sports car go peeling after her that I think we put it together.
The fucker that’d hired us was after her.
I thought about last night, and how I know both of us had decided right then that no one was going to touch this girl. And I sure as shit wasn’t about to let it happen now that she’d maybe be staying in our lives a little longer.
Connor’s bike roared to life a millisecond before mine, and I gunned my engine to catch up with him as we went roaring out of town in the direction the sport car had gone after Abby. I was seeing fucking red, just imagining the piece of shit chasing her - the same piece of shit who’d hit her and then hired to guys to drag her back when she’d left him.
No way was I going to let that man touch her again. No way Connor was either.
The bike surged beneath me as we blasted down the highway after them.
*****
I saw the dust cloud billow up from over the next hill at the same time Connor did, judging from the roar I heard tear from his mouth over the sound of our bikes. I could feel the blood pounding like a hammer in my ear as we pushed our bikes to the absolute breaking point.
If she’s hurt I’ll fuckin kill him with my bare hands.
Fuck, I might kill him anyways if I caught the son of a bitch.
We crested the hill and I felt my heart lurch in my chest.
Abby’s car was on it’s side in the ditch at the side of the road about a quarter mile up the road, the wheels still spinning even with the engine off. The red sports car was pulled up behind it, and there, hauling her out of the wreck, was him.
She was on her knees, his hand holding a fist of her shirt as he towered over her. I watched as he brought his other hand up before bringing it down across her face, and I could feel my entire body explode witnessing it. I could feel the white rage welling up like fire inside of me as my eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
Yeah, I was going to kill him.
The bikes weren’t even off before Connor and I both went diving off of them, crashing to the ground and rolling as we came up. A second man in a dark suit jumped from there red sports car with a gun in his hand, and I was aware of Connor roaring like a beast beside me as he unloaded the gun in his own hands. The man in the suit went punching backwards, blood exploding out where Connor’s bullets had nailed him as he dropped to the ground.
The other man by Abby whirled, his hand still clutching her shirt as brought the gun from his belt up and leveled at us.
“Stay back!” He growled, his pasty skin and his suit looking sweaty in the desert sun. He narrowed his eyes at us, baring his teeth as he pulled back the hammer of his gun. “Not another step or I’ll put one right between her eyes.”
“It’s the last move you’d ever make, you fucking piece of shit,” Connor growled next to me.
“Put em down, fellas!” The man sneered, and suddenly he had the gun trained on Abby. “Down or I swear to God-”
“Alright!” I roared, feeling the blood pounding in my veins. “Alright, easy now.” I glanced at Connor and he nodded as we both dropped our guns to the ground.
The man narrowed his eyes at us. “Don’t think I don’t know who you two lowlifes are. I hired you to do a job, assholes. You think getting fucking brunch was part of the deal?”
Abby’s eyes jerked up to ours. “What’s he talking about?”
“Shut up!” The man who I realized then was Joe DeMona whirled and spat at her. He looked back to us. “This is between me and my woman, so you both can fuck off now.”
“Jackson, Connor,” Abby swallowed heavily, her eyes glistening as she looked at us both. “What was the job.”
Joe rolled his eyes. “The job was to find you and get you back to me, bitch.”
And the look on her face was worse than physical hit I’d ever received. It was visceral, like taking a fuckin’ bullet to the gut as I watched all the joy and all the light go out of her eyes.
“Don’t listen to him, Abby,” Connor roared out, shaking his head. He looked as insane as I felt right then, mad with need to get her away from this guy. “We didn’t know who you were when we took the job.” He gritted his teeth. “No fucking way we were going to hand you over once we met you.”
I could see the fear in her eyes - the naked betrayal writ large across her face. “We meant everything we said, honey,” I said evenly, my eyes locked on hers. “Every fuckin word of it. There’s a life for you here.”
Joe hooted. “Oh my God, this is fucking insane! You two fuckwads got a thing for my girl?”
“She stopped being yours the second you laid your fucking hands on her,” I roared out, my eyes flashing to his as I saw red mist creep into my vision.
Joe spat in the dirt and leveled the gun at me. “You and you little friend have five seconds to start walking the other way before I fucking end you right here on the side of the road.”
I forced myself to breath as I turned back to Abby. “There’s a life her with us if you want it.”
And she nodded.
She fucking nodded, her eyes wide and the flush blooming across her face. I looked right into her eyes, and right then, I knew - I knew she’d felt it too. Whatever fucking insane cosmic connection Connor and I had both felt with this girl the second we’d met her, she’d felt it too.
I looked over at Connor. “You ready for this?”
His eyes narrowed. “Absolutely.”
We both turned towards Abby, and as her eyes darted between the two of us, she nodded again. “Yes,” she whispered out.
The whole thing happened in slow motion. I dropped to the ground, rolling for the gun as I saw Joe bring the gun towards me. Connor roared as he went into a dead run at the man, who’s eyes suddenly went wide a s he brought the gun to bear right at my best friend. But it was right then that Abby shoved into her attacker, knocking him as he pulled the trigger and sending the shot wild over Con’s shoulder. I came up from the roll in slow motion, raise the gun in my hand, and squeezed. Joe screamed as the bullet tore through his shoulder, just as Connor plowed into him and tackled him to the ground.
When the dust settled, we were whole.
“You alright?” I eyed Connor, and he nodded.
“Caught the wind on that one, but yeah, we’re good,” He said with a grin. He drove the point of his boot into Joe’s rib, making him squeal before we both instantly went to Abby.
“I’m fine, I’m really fine,” she said, her voice shaky as both of us slid our arms around her. It occurred to me that this was the first time either of us had ever really touched her, and even with the circumstances, I could feel my blood pump even faster at the contact. Fuck she felt good, her skin almost hot beneath my touch and the smell of her hair in my face. The primal beast in me roared, wanting to take her right there on the side of the road, but I forced myself to breath.
Connor’s face said the same thing as mine did, his eyes wild and his jaw tense like wanted to devour this girl right here. “We should get you looked at,” he said quietly, his hand gingerly touching her red cheek where that shit-head had smacked her.
The rage almost exploded out of me then as I turned on the moaning, whimpering Joe lying in the dirty. I whirled on him, practically snarling. “I’m going to kill this motherfucker right here and right fucking now.”
Connor nodded. “You and me both, bud.”
Suddenly, there was a hand on my arm, and I turned back, my flared temper instantly cooling as I looked into Abby’s eyes. She had another hand on Connor’s arm, and she was shaking her head quickly.
“No, please.”
I frowned. “You want us to spare this piece of shit?”
Connor swore. “You can’t expect us to do that after what he’s done to you - after he’s hurt you like that,” he snarled, nodding at the red mark on the side of her cheek.
But Abby shook her head again. “I- I can’t have that on me.”
“It’s, not, honey, it’s on us,” I muttered.
Her eyes darted to mine, and I fuckin’ melted right there. “It is on me.” She took a trembling sigh. “Look, for me, please no killing.”
“How about paralyzation?” I smirked as I glanced at Connor, seeing his grin.
Abby shot him a look before she grinned. “Connor-”
“Fine,” he muttered.
Suddenly, I laughed. “Fuck, I’ve got an idea.” I turned to them. “We let him walk away from this, it’s never going to end.” I turned and kicked dirt at Joe. “Who else knows about you hiring us.”
“Fuck you!” He spat.
Connor marched over and stuck his heel into Joe’s gunshot wound, making the wormy man scream out. “Wrong fuckin’ answer.”
“No one!” Joe cried out. “No one, okay? I wasn’t gonna tell anyone that this bitch ran out on me, are you kidding?”
I grinned. “Perfect.”
Abby frowned as she saw me pull my burner cellphone out. “Wait, what are you doing?”
“Fixing this,” I said, my eyes meeting hers before darting to Connor and nodding.
*****
If there’s one thing I’ve picked up in the outlaw life, it’s this: understand what leverage is. Leverage is having a video of a guy cheating on his wife with a dude in bar bathroom, or photocopies of bank transactions between public and private funds.
Or, leverage is serving up a Goddamn mob lieutenant on a silver platter to the local sheriff. A sheriff who’s up for re-election soon, and maybe one who’s after you and your best bud on some trumped up bullshit gun charges. Understand leverage, and you’ll always understand the game.
Sherif Watts was all too happy to play ball.
I felt Abby’s hands slide around my waist, my cock throbbing in my pants just feeling her press against me on the bike.
I smirked at the bound and gagged Joe, tied to his car bumper, and then glanced at Connor and nodded. “You ready?”
“Let’s roll.”
“Ready babe?” I turned my head around to look at Abby as I gunned the engine.
“Take me away from here,” she whispered as the bikes roared out onto the open road.
Chapter 8
Connor
The throbbing, rumbling vibration of the motor between my legs always got me a little hard. But it was watching Abby up ahead of me, her jean shorts pulled tight and her tanned bare legs straggled Jackson’s bike that had me hard as steel. If it was any other guy up ahead of me that she had her arms around and her face pressed against, I’d be out of my mind with rage. But this was Jacks - my brother from another mother, my other half. Shit, watching the girl I couldn’t stop thinking about all wrapped around him was actually kind of hot.
We’d shared plenty of girls before, but I knew this one was way different. Abby was in deep in both of us, and sure, I knew Jackson well enough to know he wanted to fuck the hell out of her as bad as I did. But it was more than that.
She looked fucking happy up there on the bike - the wind whipping through her long hair and teasing up her bare thighs. She grinned against Jackson’s shoulder, her arms gripping him tighter as she let herself be carried along by the vibrations I knew were probably rumbling through her core and we thundered down the desert road.
Spoiler, riding bikes gets girls wetter than a fuckin’ flood.
We turned off the main road onto a packed dirt one, downshifting as the bikes rumbled across the dirt and gravel. I grinned as I pulled next to them and saw Abby’s eyes squeeze shut and the flush creep over her cheeks, knowing full damn well what the bumpy road was doing to that poor girl between her legs.
About a mile later, the road swung up through the sparse trees, and Jackson and I’s spot came into view. We’d bought the place years before, and ever since, it’d just been our home. Two-doored garage on the first floor, complete with the old Thunderbird lying partially dismantled on blocks in one of the bays that we’d probably never get to, and a few other bikes in various state of rebuild stacked against the other wall. We lived upstairs, in the big loft-style living space, but it was the big wooden deck off the upstairs that had views of the craziest damn desert scenery you’d ever seen that made the place home.
Jackson cut the engine of his bike with a shudder and kicked down his stand. I grinned as I caught Abby groaning quietly to herself, and I’d have put good money on the ride out here having got her just shy of a release. She slid off the bike and squeezed her legs together, and I groaned myself, feeling my cock throb just thinking about how wet that sweet pussy probably was.
Jackson helped her off and walked with her to the stairs as I walked ahead.
“I think we’ve earned some beers beers on the porch,” he said, helping her up the wooden steps.
“Want a drink?” I shot over my shoulder. I raised a brow as I saw the sudden apprehension on her face as she looked around. Yeah, I got it. Despite what had just happened, here she was out in the middle of nowhere with guys like us who were now offering to get her buzzed.
“You don’t have to, you know.”
Abby blushed and grinned as she shook her head. “A beer sounds great, actually.” She paused, “Actually, can I get a cleaned up in your bathroom first?”
*****
Abby came out of the bathroom looking way more relaxed, with her face and the bruise around her cheek washed and scrubbed clean. She had her hair wild and free, framing her face, and for probably the ninth time that day, I felt my cock twitch just looking at her.
“Feeling better honey?” I sipped at a beer as I sprawled back on an the old dusty porch couch. I raised a can her way.
She shook her head and looked at her feet, still looking like she wasn’t so sure about the drink, even if she’d soothed her nerves a bit. I shrugged and took another sip of my own - I wasn’t about to push it with this girl.
Jackson cleared his throat, throwing me a quick look before turning to Abby, his face serious. “Just so you know” he said in his deep baritone “the rules of the road apply here.”
I rolled my eyes.
Abby looked at him quizzically. “The rules?”
Jackson grinned from his spot sprawled in a deck chair, his vest over the back and the afternoon sun shining across is bare chest. “Yeah, the rules of the ride babe; no one rides for free.”