by Ryan Michele
He throws his head back and laughs deeply, a sound I do love to hear. It gets my girl bits tingling, and that is not a good thing. Drunk and Ryker, that’s not a good combination.
“Yeah, we’ll see how you feel in a few hours. Let’s get ya some food.”
He pulls into a drive-thru and orders me a greasy burger and fries that I devour. When we make it back to the apartment, he has to help me into the place because my balance is a bit off. He leads me to the couch, and I fall onto it with a groan. The burger and booze aren’t working well together, mixing like a concoction of death.
Faster than I thought my body could move, I race to the bathroom, slam my knees to the tile floor, and begin to pray to the porcelain god. I knew this would happen, but this part is the hate I have with tequila. Great going down, shitty coming up.
As my hair is pulled away from my face, mortification sets in just as I throw up again, the contents of my midnight snack now gone. Dammit, and the food was supposed to soak up all the booze.
“Go away,” I tell him as I cough, but he doesn’t move, just gathers my hair, keeping it behind my head.
“Do what ya gotta do, Austyn. I’ve got ya.”
God, he’s got me, the words I’ve always wanted to come from his mouth. Why did he have to wait so long to say them?
I shake my head as another bout comes on. My stomach doesn’t have much in it. Eventually, as the nausea dissipates, I fall to my ass.
When Ryker releases my hair, I feel it fall down my back. Then he moves, and I hear water running, then a cold towel is pressed to my forehead.
He crouches down in front of me with so much compassion on his face. I’m so drunk I can’t stop the walls around my stiffened heart from chipping away. Another reason for me to hate tequila.
“Thank you.”
“Anything for you.” He gives me a wink then rises, going back to the sink where he wets another cloth before handing it to me. “For your mouth.”
I gratefully take it and wipe my mouth, even sticking my tongue out and wiping it. The acidic taste still lingers, though.
“Do you think you’re done?”
Not feeling any more rumbling, I answer with a, “Yeah.”
With no effort at all, he leans down and picks me up from the floor, carrying me to my room. He sets me gently down on the bed then removes my shoes, tossing them to the floor. When he grabs my oversized T-shirt, my brows pinch together. He’s not going to change me, is he?
“Up,” he demands, and my arms go.
Ryker doesn’t remove my bra, just pulls the large shirt over my head then unbuttons my shorts and pulls them down my legs. I instantly dampen from this act, having wanted this exact thing so many times before, and here it is, happening while I’m piss-ass drunk.
Ryker grabs the garbage can, putting it next to my bed, which is a very thoughtful and smart thing to do. He then pulls the covers over top of me, brushes his lips over my forehead, and then leaves the room. I instantly pass out.
It’s the only peace I can seem to find in my head.
Chapter Eleven
I’d lost count of the days I’ve spent with Austyn. We’ve come up with a routine. Not one that I’d like to do forever, in that she can keep her hair shit to herself, but one I can tolerate for now.
It’s been five days since Austyn’s drunken fest at the clubhouse. She needed to unwind, that’s why I let it go on for as long as I did, but when I started seeing some of the guys from another charter giving her the eye, I moved in.
Fuck that. No one touches Austyn.
“Can you bring me the plates please?” Austyn asks with her hands in a tub of sudsy water. I do as she asks and hand them to her. “Thanks.”
She looks hot as hell, and my hands itch to touch her.
After dishes, we move to the couch, where we lie down, watching some stupid as hell reality show where these assholes go into the woods naked and expect to survive. Fucking morons.
The show doesn’t matter, though. Austyn is curled up beside me with my arm wrapped around her. Her eyes are almost fully closed and her breathing even. Every night she falls asleep like this. Every night. It’s a step.
She thought I was with that brunette, and my dumb ass hasn’t told her any differently. I should have right away. It’s the second time she assumed I was with someone else.
That chick was nothing. She wanted more, but no way, not when I have Austyn. Truth, I haven’t been with anyone since Austyn was attacked. It’s also why my cock is so fucking hard all the time. Jacking off in the shower isn’t enough.
We lay for a long time, but I change the channel because that shit isn’t for me and find a chopper show.
My cell rings. It’s a number I don’t recognize. I take it, anyway.
“Yeah?”
“Matthew?”
Only my family calls me Matthew. I got rid of that name when they banished me from home. Matthew doesn’t exist anymore, only with them.
“Who is this?”
There’s a hesitation on the other end. “It’s Samantha.”
My body locks for a moment, then I move out from under Austyn and rise from the couch. I haven’t talked to my sister Samantha since I left my mother’s home when she was only eight.
“What’s wrong?”
More hesitation, and then her voice is quiet. “I need to leave. Me and my two babies. We have to get out of here.”
I rip my hand through my hair as I pace the living room. “Are you hurt?”
“No.” The answer comes immediately. “I just can’t live like this anymore. Can you come and get me?”
This is strange on so many levels, especially since I haven’t talked to her in so long. Part of me wants to rip out of there and go get her, but the logical side of me needs to know this isn’t a setup of some kind. Some may say the world has made me cynical. I say it’s made me smart.
“How’d you get my number?”
She blows out a breath, her voice trembling when she says, “Mom. She talks about you sometimes when we’re alone. She said she talks to you, so I stole her phone and wrote your number down. I’ve had it for a while, but …”
“But what?”
“I just need to leave. Can you help me?”
Austyn rouses from the couch, her sleepy eyes taking notice of me. Whatever she sees has her sitting up straight.
“Yeah. Where are you?”
She gives me her address and says, “You have to be really quiet. No one can see you. My neighbors are very nosy and will call Rob.”
“Right. Be there in a couple of hours.”
“Thank you.” She disconnects the phone as I focus on Austyn.
“Need you to get dressed and come with me.”
She nods and, with not a single question, runs to her room. I hear her drawers opening and closing as I lace my boots up. She comes out moments later with black jeans, dark blue shirt, and a leather jacket. Sexy.
“Gun?”
“Absolutely.” She lifts the back of her jacket. I know why she’s wearing it.
We jump in the truck and take off like a shot. I’m thankful I had half a mind to bring one of my rides over here the other day. I didn’t want to bring the Harley because, if someone touched it, they’d be dead. I don’t have time for that shit.
Austyn is very quiet, twisting her hands in her lap as she stares out the window. She wants to ask where we’re going and what we’re doing, but she is holding it in like a champ.
It’s not that I care if people know; it’s that I don’t like talking about it. I don’t like exposing myself to people’s ridicule or attitudes toward a cult that isn’t in my beliefs. I have my opinions on it, and to me, that’s all that matters. I don’t give a fuck what others think. Unfortunately, a part of me does care what Austyn thinks.
“We’re going to pick up my sister.”
Her head whips toward me. “Sister? You have a sister?”
“I have several brothers and sisters, Austyn.”
&nbs
p; “You’ve never brought them around or talked about them.” This is true. She sounds shocked as hell that she didn’t know something about me.
Gripping the steering wheel, I huff out deeply. “That’s because I don’t see them. Or haven’t in years.”
“Why not?”
I turn my head toward her briefly. “Need you to listen to what I have to say and let me get all the way through it. I know you’ll have questions. We’ll deal with that shit after I’m done. But babe, I need you to listen first.”
“Okay.” The word comes out breathless, and my cock hardens. Fuck, it’s been hard for the entire time I’ve spent with Austyn. This should be different while talking about my fucked-up family. With Austyn, though, it’s always the same.
“My family is fucked up. This is going to sound off the wall and crazy, so just bear with me. My mother is ‘married’ to a man, but she’s not legally married to him. She’s just with him. This man has six other ‘wives’.” Out of the corner of my eye, I see hers widen. “Now, I don’t give a fuck about how many women he has because, if they want to put up with his ass, then so be it. Now, this is fucked up part. You still with me?”
“Yeah.”
“This man, James, is also married to my mother’s sister and one of her cousins.”
Austyn turns her entire body toward me, bringing her knee up onto the seat, the seatbelt still across her. I have her complete and undivided attention now.
“So, that means my aunt and my second-cousin are also my step-mothers. If you look at it that way, my cousins are also my half-brothers and sisters.”
“Holy shit,” she whispers, covering her mouth while moving her other arm across her belly.
“Yeah. It’s a fucked-up thing that I don’t want any part of. But the thing is, once you’re in it, you’re in. James will keep you in at all costs. Getting out is difficult for some. There is so much brainwashing going on that my mother wouldn’t even know her name if he didn’t tell her what it is. It’s a shitty spot, but it’s where my mom wants to be.”
Austyn remains quiet, yet her leg begins to bounce. I know she’s trying to control herself from asking questions.
I continue, “The other fucked up thing is, when girls are sixteen years old, they are matched with male contenders to marry. They don’t have much choice on who they marry, but most of the time, it is a cousin or half-brother of some sort, which is fucking jacked in my opinion. They don’t get married until eighteen, but are considered that man’s spouse right away. Samantha married our cousin, half-brother, and from what she said on the phone, they have two kids. She wants out and wants me to come get her. That’s what we’re doing.”
Looking over to Austyn, I see her staring at me. “Ask what you want.”
“This guy, James, is he your father?”
“Sperm donor, yes.” I fucking hate answering this shit, but it’s Austyn. I’d do anything for this woman.
“He’s a polygamist, and you have a shit-ton of brothers and sisters out there that you don’t know. Why is that?”
Staring out at the night sky, I watch it fade to black at the horizon, just like my situation—black, empty, unwanted. At least, that’s what I felt at the time. Fourteen and being pushed out of the only home you’ve ever known. Now, no. I just hate opening all this shit up. It’s like pulling a scab off a wound and letting it bleed all over again.
“At fourteen, I was kicked out of the family.”
“No!” I can hear her outrage, showing me that she cares. Love that. Wish it wasn’t for this, though.
“Yeah. I had lots of questions about what was going on and why people were marrying their families. Each question turned into another question. I was sent to camp where they try to make you think the way they do—brainwash camp—but it didn’t work. When I went back home, James told me to leave, that I was no longer wanted in the family. I left.”
“Where did you go?”
“Streets. It wasn’t pretty. Did drugs and all that shit. Stole to eat. You name it, I did it. Survival was the only thing on my mind.”
“And you did.”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. No way in hell I’d let that shit get me down.” It took a while. Fuck, a long while. I did it, though. I got over that rejection, learning it wasn’t worth my effort or energy.
It gets quiet. Austyn is staring out the window, breathing in and out.
I reach over and place my hand on her leg. “I’m good, Austyn. All that is my past. It’s just coming back to kick me in the ass, and I have to do what I can to get my family out of that life, if that’s what they want. I have another sister, Breanna, who turns sixteen in a month. I’ve warned my mother that she is to not have any men after her, which I know will happen, anyway. I’m trying to decide what I can do to help her. She doesn’t need to live a life like this.”
“And your mother doesn’t want to leave?”
“Austyn, she’s so brainwashed she thinks James walks on water. She lives in a shithole, but it’s what James provides for her and what she wants to live in. I can’t force her to leave. I wouldn’t, anyway. If that’s how she wants to live, she’s a grown adult. My siblings aren’t. When Samantha married, I didn’t find out about it until afterward. With Breanna, I know now.”
“With Ravage at your back,” she adds.
“Yes, with Ravage at my back.”
She places her hand on mine that is still on her thigh and holds on to me, not releasing. Neither do I.
“And Samantha wants to get away and called you to come get her?”
“Right. Her and her two kids.”
She gives my hand a squeeze. “Didn’t expect this tonight.”
“No shit. Me, either.”
I need a smoke, but with Austyn holding one hand and the other on the wheel, it isn’t an option. I’m not moving, so I suffer.
“I’m happy you found the Ravage MC to give you the family you need.” Her words come out a little choked, but she pulls it together.
I don’t want her crying for this. It’s in the past, and there’s no reason for it.
“Exactly, Austyn. I have a family. One I can depend on that depends on me. That’s all that matters.”
“Right.”
An hour away from our destination, according to the GPS, my cell rings again with the same number as before.
“Samantha?”
She gives me a soft, “Yeah.”
“We’re about an hour out.”
“Turn around,” she demands, shocking me. “I’m not leaving. Please don’t come here.”
“What happened between these two phone calls?” So many scenarios run through my head, all compressing together in a heap. Is she hurt? Did he find out she was leaving? Did he threaten her?
There is movement on the other end of the phone, like she’s switching ears or something. “I’m just not leaving my husband. Sorry I called you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Please don’t come. I won’t let you in, and you’ll make my neighbors curious. Rob will find out, and he can’t. You’ll make it worse.”
“Is he going to hurt you?” The thought kills me, but it’s something common in this culture and forces me to ask. It reinforces the fear and makes everyone do what they are told.
“No. Just don’t come, Matthew. I’m not leaving.” The phone line goes dead.
I toss it into the cup holder then bang my hands on the wheel. “Fucking hell!”
Rage boils in my blood. My grip on the wheel is so tight I’m pretty sure it’s going to crack.
Taking the ramp off the highway, I see a McDonalds lit up and pull the truck in there. With my hands in my hair, I lean into the steering wheel, resting my forehead on it and trying to calm the anger.
Austyn’s hand comes to my shoulder, and my body jolts at first, then relaxes at the touch.
“What’s going on?”
I don’t move, just talk through my arms. “She’s not leaving. Doesn’t want to leave her husband and is so
rry she called me.”
“Do you think her husband found out?”
“Fuck if I know.”
“I’m so sorry.” She moves her hand around in small circles, a comforting caress. It’s exactly what I need right now.
“Can’t make her come. I mean, I could drag her out, but it’ll do no good. She’ll just go back. She has to want to leave. Same thing with my mother.” I’ll be damned if Breanna goes through this shit.
“True.”
“Will you grab my laptop and pull up the address.” I almost hate the request, because her hand leaves my back, but this needs to be done. Plus, I need to get my anger in check before I do it.
“What do you want me to do?”
“You already have it up?” I turn my head to see a sexy smile playing on her sensuous lips.
“Oh yeah. Do you want the security cameras or the aerial view? Or, do you know if there is an alarm system in the house we can tap into that has cameras?”
She stuns me completely.
My mouth gapes. I have watched her for years, but never once was I clued in to her computer skills.
“You know how to do all that?”
She shrugs. “Yep. Buzz taught me a lot.”
He damn well did.
“Just find out whatever you can. See if the husband is anywhere to be seen, or if the house is quiet.”
I lean back in the seat and look up to the ceiling of the truck. My hopes for saving one sister crashed and burned quickly tonight. It’s like a roller coaster ride, going up and down with a force I’m ready to get the fuck off of.
“All is calm. No lights. No movement outside the house. They don’t have interior cameras. What do we do now?”
Huffing out a breath, realizing she said we, I answer, “The only thing we can do. Go home.”
Chapter Twelve
My mind is spinning like a tilt-a-whirl, trying to make sense of all the information Ryker just gave me. There are so many more pieces to this puzzle than I ever imagined.
I glance over at him. He looks part pissed off and part hurt. Imagining Nox being in a situation like this and me not being able to help him would kill me, just like it’s doing to Ryker now.
