by Levine, Nina
I cleaned myself and washed the vomit from my hair. Nitro’s toothpaste was in the shower so I also cleaned my teeth. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d been that sick. Usually alcohol didn’t cause me that kind of hell. Which told me it also had to do with my messed-up mind.
When I finished, I dried myself off and wrapped the towel around me. I had clean clothes in my bag that we’d picked up from Nitro’s house earlier that day, so I opened the bathroom door to go in search of them.
Nitro sat on the seat waiting for me. Darkness surrounded him except for a small amount of light shining in from outside, just enough to see. Enough to make out the uncertainty etched on his face. He stood as soon as I entered the room. His gaze dropped to take in the towel I wore and he immediately reached for my bag and placed it on the chair.
“Thanks,” I murmured and unzipped it.
He remained silent while I dug around in the bag for something to wear. The stillness in the room unnerved me more than I already was. I suddenly found myself in a state I hadn’t found myself for years.
I need shelter.
Someone to tell me it was going to be okay.
That I’d get through this Silver Hell nightmare.
I needed to borrow someone’s strength to make it through the night. Because for the first time in a long time, I felt so alone in the world.
Swallowing down my desperate urge to beg Nitro to be that person for me for one night, I concentrated on dressing.
He stood close, watching, waiting. When I was done, I glanced up at him. “Sorry to wake you.”
He frowned and opened his mouth to say something but quickly snapped it shut. “You good now?” His voice was gruff.
No.
“Yeah.” My voice cracked and I tried to cough it away. When tears pricked my eyes, I quickly turned away from him and muttered, “Night.”
I took a step away, my body slicing through the heaviness that clung to the air around us.
A single tear slid down my cheek.
I took another step, holding my breath, willing the tears away.
God, what the hell is wrong with me?
Nitro’s hand clamped around my wrist. “You were crying in your sleep.” His voice was still gruff and it sounded like he was uncertain about pursuing this conversation.
I stilled and slowly turned back to look at him. As I did that, an avalanche of tears fell. I didn’t even try to hide them. Instead, I stared up at him in all my vulnerability. The effort it took to hide myself was too great to keep up.
My hand turned as I did, and I curled my fingers around his wrist. Holding tight, I said, “Can I sleep next to you tonight?”
I wasn’t sure what I expected from him, but it wasn’t what he gave me. His eyes held mine, never wavering. His uncertainty vanished and he nodded. Letting me go, he stepped back to let me past.
Sometimes the person you least expected was the person there for you in the dark of night. In the middle of your nightmare.
Nitro gave me what I needed that night. He let me settle on my side next to him and when I reached for his arms, he spooned me, wrapping me in his embrace.
He lent me his strength.
And for the first time in longer than I could remember, I slept like a baby.
Nitro
“Knocking’ On Heaven’s Door” by Guns N’ Roses
Something shifted between Tatum and I during the night. Our bodies were tangled when I woke up, my dick hard as hell and the desire to fuck her stronger than I’d ever known with any other woman. Aware that her ribs still gave her hell, I attempted to untangle us slowly. One of her legs was draped over my body, as was an arm. Half her body was actually on me and her face was buried in my chest. As I moved, she stirred. A moment later, her eyes met mine.
The way her body moved when she woke meant she pretty much ended up completely on top of me, her tits pressing into my chest and her pussy sliding over my morning wood. Which meant my dick screamed its need loud and clear for both of us to notice.
She’d worn only panties and a T-shirt to bed and the shirt had ridden up. My hand landed on the bare skin of her waist when she shifted. The control it took not to slide it down into her panties was immense.
“Morning,” she said with a sleepy smile as she planted her hands on the mattress either side of my body and pushed herself up so she straddled me.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “You trying to kill me here, Vegas?” Glancing down the length of my body, I took in her pussy and legs either side of me. My dick was fucking straining in his effort to get inside her. And to be hit with that smile first thing in the morning—if a man wasn’t already awake, that smile would wake him up.
“I’m pretty sure you’re invincible, Nitro.”
I raked my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath. “And I’m pretty fucking sure any man who had you sitting on top of him when he woke up couldn’t withstand you.” Jesus, Tatum was the only woman I’d ever known who’d managed to make me want to flirt with her. I could have spent hours in that bed trying to get in her pants.
She grinned and it struck me that she’d had a complete turnaround in mood from the middle of the night. “You’re so much nicer first thing in the morning.” With that, she moved off me and stood.
“No, I’m nicer any time a woman shoves her tits in my face. It’s got nothing to do with the morning.”
She glanced down at me. “I didn’t shove my tits in your face. If they came anywhere near you it was accidental.”
I sat up and tracked her ass as she walked into the bathroom. The door closing behind her caused me to groan. I wanted more of that sexy banter with her. And fuck if that thought didn’t come out of the fucking blue.
My phone rang while she was in the bathroom.
King.
I answered it, “What’s up, King?”
“Need you to go for a run today, brother.”
“Where to?”
“We got a tip-off about where Silver Hell are hiding out. I want you to take some of the boys out there to check on it.”
“I’ll be ready in ten.”
We ended the call and I waited for Tatum to finish in the bathroom so I could take a shower. When she exited, I said, “I’ve gotta head out to check on something. Can you do me a favour?”
“Depends what that favour is,” she said, her tone a little flirty. Fuck Silver Hell and them getting in the way of me staying in this room.
“Can you check on Renee and Dustin for me this morning? Make sure they’re okay.” Renee was already out of bed and had left the room. She loved to watch the sunrise every morning.
Her eyes softened. “Sure.”
“Thanks.” I took the few steps to the bathroom, but before I entered, I turned back to her. “You good, Tatum?”
Surprise flickered across her face, as if she hadn’t expected me to ask. “Yeah,” she said, but I heard the hesitation in her voice. “Thank you for last night.”
I nodded and slipped into the bathroom.
I wasn’t sure what had happened during the night, but I couldn’t deny the pull I felt to her. From everything I’d seen so far, Tatum was fearless, but in the middle of the night, her nightmares had come to life. I told her she’d been crying in her sleep, but what I didn’t tell her was that she’d also been thrashing around in the bed.
I’d wanted to wake her up and drag her into my arms.
I’d wanted to take her bad dreams from her.
When she’d asked if she could sleep next to me, I hadn’t hesitated to say yes. Because if there was something I knew well, it was the nightmares that claimed your sleep and fucked with your head. I couldn’t stop mine, but maybe I could help ease hers if only for a night or two.
* * *
“Where did this tip-off come from?” I asked Kick as we stared at the empty block of land we’d been told Silver Hell were staying at.
“I’m not sure, but I guess it was to lessen the number of members at the clubhouse.”
“Yeah, my guess, too.” I’d called King to advise him to be alert.
King had sent us, along with four other members, to check the site out. Our orders were that if we found anything we were to call it in and sit tight, keeping an eye on them, rather than to take them on. King had more members ready to send if we found anyone. The site was just out of Gosford and had taken us a little over an hour to get to. I was pissed off at the time we’d wasted.
“Right, let’s round the boys up and head back,” Kick said, his expression revealing he was as annoyed as me.
Five minutes later we pulled back out onto the highway and straight into a shit-storm of bullets. We’d discussed the possibility of that happening and had been vigilant, but our enemy had hidden well. Before my brain caught up to the fact that bikers were roaring onto the highway from behind trees, one of our members copped a fatal bullet and his bike careened off the road, crashing into a tree. There was no time to think about that, though, because eight Silver Hell members were gunning for us. If I wanted to keep breathing, I needed to think fast.
Thank fuck we brought a van with us. King always insisted on it whenever we went on a run. He liked to ensure we always had extra weapons if we needed them. Blow was driving it, and when I made the signal for him to pull up, he screeched to a halt. I was the closest to him and quickly circled back and pulled in behind. The back doors opened and he threw me a rifle.
Kick and Devil had taken point, which gave me some breathing space. Silver Hell members fanned out across the highway about fifteen to twenty metres in front of us. I stepped out from behind the van, took aim at the closest member and squeezed the trigger. His attention had been on Kick, so he never saw the bullet coming.
As a Silver Hell member fired at me in retaliation, I ducked behind the van for shelter. Blow took over from his point at the front of the van, as was our practiced plan. I waited a few moments before sticking my head around the side to see what was happening. Kick was stationed on the ground behind his bike, narrowly avoiding bullets, as were two of our other members. Devil ran my way.
I moved back behind the van and reached inside for another rifle. Devil rounded the back of the van, and over the sound of gunfire, I yelled, “Anyone else taken a hit?”
He shook his head as he took the rifle from me. “No.”
We stepped out from behind the van together, rifles ready. I whistled loud, alerting our members to get down. They immediately ducked and we opened fire. Blow also fired from in front of the van while Kick and the boys continued shooting from their positions.
Devil and I had the best aim of any Storm member and soon half the Silver Hell members were down. As the gun battle waged on, I knew there was only one way this fight would be won. And so did they.
Kick made the first move, running from his bike towards Silver Hell. Devil and I covered him while also moving forward. Our other members followed suit and soon the battle plan changed. Knives and fists replaced guns as our weapons of choice and we engaged in a furious fight to the end.
The lonely stretch of highway was a silent battleground, but we filled that silence with the sounds of shattered bone and tortured grunts.
My face was a blood-coated sticky mess by the time we’d managed to shrink our enemy to two. Blow had been knocked unconscious, but not before he took out a Silver Hell member. Kick dragged him to the van before re-joining us. With Silver Hell losing so many members, I thought we had a good chance at making it out without losing any more of our men, but I was proven wrong.
“Kick!” Devil shouted, drawing my attention because of the horror-filled tone he used.
Time passed in slow motion as I watched Kick take a bullet to the chest. He didn’t go down straight away, but as soon as he did, my fighter instincts took over.
Without processing the consequences, I charged at the guy who shot Kick. Grunting low and deep, my body slammed into his and pushed him backwards. I didn’t stop moving until he was on his ass, at which point I bent over him and punched him hard in the face. I punched him straight on, so fucking hard that his skull hit the road with a loud thud.
Running on autopilot, I delivered bone-crushing punch after punch to his face. My hands were coated in blood and he’d stopped moving, but I continued slamming my fist into his face.
It felt good.
Satisfying.
My brain filtered out the sounds around me. My only focus was killing this motherfucker.
“Nitro! Fucking put a bullet in him and be done, brother,” Devil yelled out.
With one last punch, I straightened, wiping the sweat from my forehead, really only succeeding in replacing it with blood from my hand. As I did this, another gun sounded and I whipped around just in time to see Jerry, another of our members, go down. Bullet after bullet riddled his body and I knew he had no chance of surviving that.
“Motherfucker!” Devil cried out. Aiming his gun, he shot the guy who killed Jerry. At the same time, I pulled my gun out and fired at him, too. I then turned and pumped bullets into the asshole who shot Kick, ensuring he would never take another breath.
As I surveyed the scene in front of me, my breaths came hard and fast. Devil and I were the last men standing. Blow was unconscious in the van. Jerry and Kick lay dead on the road, and Cruise, our first member to take a bullet that day, was dead on the side of the road.
“Fuck!” I roared, meeting Devil’s eyes. “Fucking hell.” I could hardly catch my breath as adrenaline and anger raced through my veins.
Devil’s eyes were wild. Murderous. Clenching his jaw, he thundered, “They will fucking pay for this. I don’t care if it takes me the rest of my life, they will regret this day.”
We stood in the middle of the highway with bikes and bloody bodies strewn around us with the smell of death and destruction in our nostrils, and I vowed to go to hell with him. We would burn in the depths of hell to exact our revenge.
A grunt filled the silence around us as we promised retribution. My head whipped around to see who made the noise. It was Kick. His leg twitched as he gasped for air. Jesus, he was still breathing.
Devil and I moved fast, getting Kick into the van. I drove while Devil did what he could to keep Kick alive. On the way, I called King so he could organise a clean-up crew and the collection of our bikes. And I sent prayer after fucking prayer out that Kick survived this. Not that I believed in the power of prayer, but at that point I figured we needed as much help as we could get. I wasn’t sure Kick would make it.
Tatum
“Falling For You” by Lady Antebellum
The day passed slowly. Or maybe that was because my mind kept drifting to Nitro, and that then caused the ache between my legs to intensify, which in turn made me wonder when he’d be back. This all, of course, led to time dragging while I waited. Not even my work managed to consume me like it usually did.
“Fuck,” I muttered. Who am I today? I never spent my time thinking about a man in this way anymore. I couldn’t deny, though, that most of my time had been spent on him that day.
Nitro had been there for me last night. When I’d been an emotional mess, he’d looked after me in ways a man never had before. Not even Chris had been there for me like Nitro had. Who would have thought a man who appeared so closed off from people would be the one there in the middle of the night?
When I’d woken that morning, I’d felt like shit. My head hurt—from both a mild hangover and from crying during the night. I’d expected Nitro to be all awkward with me, so the first thing I did was smile at him, trying to stop any possible awkwardness. Either that smile worked really well or Nitro was so horny that his dick was doing all the thinking.
He’d flirted with me, which was the last thing I’d expected from him. For a guy who wore moody like a uniform, he sure knew how to have some sexy fun with a chick. It was absolutely what I’d needed that morning. The only problem being that he’d stirred a whole lot of desire in me that I’d been trying to avoid thinking about since I’d met him. Being att
racted to his looks was one thing, but this was something else altogether. I was beginning to see Nitro in a new light and I couldn’t deny I liked these new sides to him.
“You waiting for your man?”
I glanced up to find the dark-haired woman behind the bar watching me expectantly. She was the one who’d kept my drinks coming the night before. I shook my head. “No, I’m not with any of the bikers.”
Frowning, she cocked her head. “What about that guy you were with last night, just before you left?”
“Nope. I’m stuck here with him, but he’s not mine.”
Still frowning, she said, “Huh, coulda fooled me. The way he hung off every word you said and the way you guys argued… I would have sworn you two were together.”
My belly fluttered. I placed my hand on it as if to tell it to settle the hell down. “You misread him. Nitro doesn’t hang off any words I say. Although, if I were to tell him I wanted sex, he’d probably hang off those words.”
She laughed but her expression soon turned serious. “I know what I saw and trust me when I tell you that I don’t generally misread people. I have a kind of sixth sense about people.”
I paused for a moment. “Are you a psychic or something?” She did have that look about her with her long wild hair, crystal jewellery, earth-mother waif figure and flowing dress.
She hit me with a brilliant smile that turned her pretty face into magnificent beauty. “I wouldn’t say that, but I do sense things.” She held out her hand. “I’m Kree by the way.”
I shook her hand. “Tatum. Nice to meet you.” And I actually meant it. I didn’t bother with most people anymore, but Kree had an energy that drew me in.
“You want a rum?”
“God, no.” Memories of being sick during the night ran through my mind. “But I would love an orange juice.”
She frowned. “It sounds like that rum last night didn’t treat you well.”