“Won’t cut you, I promise.” This time his thumb stroked the tender skin inside her elbow and her entire body trembled. After being treated with such rough attention, his soft handling was a balm to her aching body and terrified psyche. It was the only possible explanation for the full-body reaction to the sweep of his fingers across her skin.
“O-okay,” she said again, at a loss for anything more substantial. The deadly blade sliced through the tight cuffs with a quick flick of his wrist. The moment her hands were free, she sighed and rotated her wrist, finishing when the abused skin pulled with tearing intensity.
“Why do they call you Viper?” It was that or ask him to hug her while she sobbed.
“I can be mean as fuck and strike fast. Real name’s Michael, but I haven’t been called it in years.”
Okay then. Her eyes widened then almost fell out of her face when he started to work the sweatshirt over her head. Once she’d pushed her arms through the very long sleeves, she swallowed and said, “T-thank you.” Warmth immediately engulfed her like a comforting embrace. The fabric smelled just like him, and the metaphorical hug became a little more intimate. And arousing. Too close for comfort considering she’d just been fantasizing about his arms wrapped around her.
“You’re free,” he said as he lifted a wrist. The scrunched forehead matched his deep frown. Once again, those long fingers stroked so gently she’d have thought he was rubbing a newborn’s head.
Wait. Did he just say…
Cassie’s heart stuttered. She blinked up at him where he once again stood a few feet from the bed, arms crossed over his chest. “W-what?”
“You’re free.”
She couldn’t have heard him right. Was this a trap? Some kind of test? She stared at him for a moment as though she’d be able to see into his skull and determine his intentions. Nothing happened of course. Not even a blink of his eyes.
Behind him, the door remained open, beckoning to her. If she ran, would he chase her down? Was this part of a sick game?
“A-are you serious?”
Mouth flat, Viper nodded.
Even though hope surged inside her, Cassie made sure her face didn’t show it. Trust wasn’t something she had the luxury of dishing out right then. Not to a man wearing a Devil’s Tribe vest.
“B-but why?”
He frowned and the action had a deep groove forming between his eyes. She had the insane urge to press her thumb to it until his face relaxed. “You wanna talk about it or get the hell outta here?”
Well, when he put it that way, did the why of it really matter?
Hell no.
“I wanna go,” she said. “Now.” But then the lingering unease won out and she pressed the issue once again. “It’s just…you’re one of them.”
Way to state the obvious.
He raised an eyebrow as if to say, “So?” And once again, he was right. Did it matter if he was one of them? She had to take any chance presented to her. Even a sliver of an escape possibility was worth it.
“You have anywhere to go? Anywhere I can take you?” He asked, no longer frowning, but certainly not anywhere near a smile or even a friendly expression.
Did she have anywhere to go? The million-dollar question.
No, she did not.
“No, I don’t.” She rubbed her sore wrist. “Have anywhere to go that is.”
Viper took hold of her right forearm. Lifting it to his eye level, he studied the angry red gouges she received struggling against the cuffs. When his eyes darkened with displeasure, she tried to pull her wrist away, but his grip was as unbreakable as it was gentle. “Shit. I didn’t think to bring a first aid kit. They won’t have anything here.” Once again, his hold on her was so tender, she’d have never thought it possible.
“I-It’s okay. It can wait until we, uh, I get somewhere.”
With a heavy sigh, he pressed his lips to the raw marks. Cassie gasped as electricity shot straight up her arms and to her nipples.
Before she had a chance to say anything, he repeated the gesture with her other wrist then lowered them to her lap. For a moment, he stared at the ceiling as though struggling with some important decision before saying, “Listen, I’m heading to Oregon tonight to hole up for a few days. When it’s safe, my buddy and I are riding east. You can come with us tonight. It’ll buy you a day or two to come up with a plan for yourself. You just can’t ever tell anyone what happened here tonight.”
Her head spun with the new information. “But, wait, what about your club?”
He shrugged, solemn as ever. “Won’t be welcome once they realize we let you go.”
Wide-eyed, she shook her head. “We can come up with a story. What if I hit you over the head with something? Make it seem like I knocked you out and escaped. You can’t…you can’t ruin your life over this.”