“Nice.”
12
FAITH
When it’s onlythe four of us on the open road, it’s easy to let my mind go blank and just enjoy the feeling of freedom that only a motorcycle can give. The wind in my hair, the endless highway and nothing to remind me that this, right now, is all that I have.
Alpha signals, and we pull off at a diner. At the first smell of food, my stomach growls even louder than their engines.
“I’m starving.”
“Yeah, I noticed from the way your gut was practically vibrating every few minutes,” Alpha jokes.
I stick out my tongue and he smirks. The people inside definitely give us looks, but nobody says anything, and the waitress seems friendly enough, taking our order with a smile for the guys and a questioning look at me.
“Taking your little sister out for a ride?” She asks innocently.
I don’t know what gets into me, but having her automatically assume I’m not competition pisses me off. I throw an arm around Ripper who’s sitting next to me, and put my hand over Blade’s from across the table. “Just out for an anniversary ride with my men.”
The look on Blade’s face makes it all worth it. His blue eyes go wide, and his hand twitches, but he doesn’t pull it away. Ripper chokes a little on his soda, but he has no problem resting the arm missing a hand over my shoulders and leaning into me.
Alpha plays along. He smiles at the waitress. “Nothing too good for our old lady, right?”
“R—right,” she stammers, rushing off to put in our order.
“We should be quick,” says Blade, pulling his hand away when she’s gone. “We’re still in Pit Viper territory. Their compound’s fucking huge and only a few exits down. There’s a lot of trafficking that comes through here, and we don’t know how far news has spread. I’m all for riding like the fucking wind until we’re out the other side.”
“I’ll put a bullet through their fucking head if anyone tries anything,” growls Ripper. “We didn’t start this war, but I know for damn sure that Eagle-eye wouldn’t mind if we ended it.”
Alpha nods towards me. “If it was just us, I’d be good with fucking shit up, but we’ve got precious cargo.”
It’s dumb, but when he calls me precious, it makes me quiver just a little. I have to concentrate on all the reasonsnotto get involved with guys like this. Sure they look good, and this morning proved it would be a heck of a lot of fun, at least for a while.
God, this morning.
What would’ve happened if the phone hadn’t rung? Probably nothing, but my brain has its own ideas about it, each one less likely than the next, but all of them ending up with us naked and me getting to know that monster he was grinding into me a whole lot better.
Turns out it’s not tiny at all.
Also, minds are stupid.
While the guys talk and we wait for our food, I people-watch out the window. There’s a gas station next door where travelers are filling up their cars at the pumps. Motorcycles too.
A chill runs down my spine when I catch sight of one of the men with his back to me. I can’t make out his patch, but he’s definitely a member of some club. I know the look. A couple more bikes pull up next to him. One of the riders takes the pump behind him and starts to fill. Then he turns and I freeze.
Shovelhead. His face is seared into my brain for a whole lot more reasons than just the scars. He points to where we parked the bikes while talking to the others. One pulls out his cell phone and makes a call.
Crap.
“Guys. Guys!” I point out the window.
“What are you—fuck.” Alpha groans. “There’re only three of them. If we—”
Four more bikes roar into the parking lot, cutting him short. They’ve called in reinforcements.
“Out the back,” snaps Blade. “If we’re quick, maybe we can get to the bikes before they figure it out.”
“And if we can’t?” Ripper pulls his jacket open, exposing the grip on his pistol. “I’m fucking ready.”