by Naomi West
Speaking of adventure… “I have a flight to catch,” I said, glancing at the clock. In fact, it was just about time that I left for the airport again.
Rip frowned. “That ... isn't a possibility at the moment,” he said finally. He glanced over at me, looking even more agitated. “As I said, I don't like the idea of taking hostages; it just makes everything messier. But I can't have you going to the police and foiling my mission.”
“Which is…?” I asked. I shook my head impatiently. “Look, I don't know what you think I overheard. I mean, I'm starting to realize that whatever it is, it's probably not legal, but for all I know, you were discussing a video game or something like that.” I laughed nervously. “What would I even tell the police? I'd sound like an idiot — 'oh, just my gut instinct says that he might be doing something wrong at some point soon…' I don't think so.”
Rip slammed his hand against the edge of the steering wheel. “I know you must have heard worse than that, or else you wouldn't have tried to run when you saw me.” His brow furrowed. “You weren't even supposed to be there. Everything was supposed to be done cleanly.”
“Well, I didn't exactly want to get caught up in some sort of illegal thing either,” I pointed out, rolling my eyes. As we stopped in my driveway, I climbed out of the car, pausing for a moment on the front walk and then heading towards the door. The thing was, I was pretty sure I should be screaming for help — surely one of my neighbors would be able to help me out. But for some reason, I still walked meekly into my house, letting Rip follow behind me.
What I didn't expect was for him to catch me the moment the door closed and pin me against the wall. “Unattractive,” he snorted, shaking his head in amusement. He stroked a gentle line down my side, slowly trailing his fingertips against my breasts and my thin waist before letting the hand rest warmly against my hip. “The things I'd do to you, if you would let me,” he said, his voice lustful and slightly deeper than usual.
“What kinds of things?” I breathed, even though I knew I should be pushing him away. It was one thing to desire the man, to have my own private thoughts of all the things I'd like him to do to me, all the ways that he could make me come undone. But it was another thing entirely to allow him to run with those fantasies. I wasn't the type of woman to have sex with random strangers in the first place, and I couldn't help thinking guiltily about Hollande and what he would make of this whole situation… He'd told me he wouldn't date me unless I was more adventurous, but I didn't really think that sleeping with a random guy was going to get Hollande to date me either.
Rip caught my wrists easily in one of his strong hands and pinned them up above my head. “For starters, I'd like to tease you,” he purred, leaning in to nip at my earlobe and then tracking his lips down along my jawline. Just before he reached my mouth, though, he pulled away, leaving me aching for a kiss that wasn't coming. Rip grinned wickedly, as though sensing my need.
Then, he pulled away entirely, leaving me shaking a little where I was still pressed against the wall. “Predictable,” he muttered under his breath.
I blushed and ducked my head a little. “I'm trying not to be,” I told him, the words rushing out of my mouth. “I'm trying to be more adventurous. That's what this whole thing was about. That's why I opened up my home to you on AirBnB. And look where all of this has got me.”
Rip stared at me and then finally shook his head, exhaling noisily. “You're going to have to come with me on the road,” he told me.
Chapter Four
Rip
I knew that bringing Liv with me on the road was a mistake, but I didn't really know what else to do with her. I was still silently fuming over the fact that she had overheard me, that I had made it so easy for my mission to be found out — or at least, what little I knew about it. I didn't know exactly how much she had overheard, but I had definitely mentioned the national president of the Gemini Riders a few times — and at least one of those times, it had been by name.
Anyone who didn't know the name 'Cat Zodiac' must have been living under a rock for years.
Early the next morning, I made coffee in Liv's kitchen before I went to make sure she was awake and ready to go. I had tied her to the bed the night before just to make sure that she didn't try anything over the course of the night. When I walked in, she was still asleep, her hair fanning out over the pillow, arms akimbo in the ties. She looked strikingly beautiful like that, and I was reminded again about how much I'd like to pound into her milky ass, grabbing at her curves and biting hard enough to leave marks littering her neckline.
But this whole thing was enough of a mess as it was without me sleeping with my hostage.
I roughly shook her awake and then moved to undo the ties keeping her there on the bed. “No funny business today,” I growled.
I saw a flicker of fear in Liv's sleep-heavy eyes for a moment, but then she blinked and pushed herself up into a sitting position. “What's the plan?” she asked.
“We're leaving,” I said.
“I know that,” Liv said impatiently, rolling her eyes a little. “You told me that last night. But how long do I have to ... freshen up? And where are we going? What should I pack?”
“You're not packing anything,” I said exasperatedly. “This isn't a vacation, this is a hostage-taking situation.”
“A kidnapping,” Liv said, nodding at me. “But can I at least take the suitcase that I already packed for the trip that I was supposed to take? Maybe with some modifications based on how the weather is where we're going — wherever that is.”
“I can't tell you where we're going,” I snapped. “The last thing I need is for you to be running around with even more information you can bring to the cops. It's bad enough that you already know—”
“I don't know anything,” Liv interrupted. “Really, you could just leave me here and I wouldn't be able to do anything. I don't even know if 'Rip Stevens' is your real name!”
“You wanted to be more spontaneous, didn't you?” I finally reasoned. And I could see in that slight hesitation that she was second-guessing herself. “Look, it's nothing dangerous. I just have a package that I need to deliver to someone — that's it. But in the spirit of being more adventurous, well, I'm riding clear across the country to do this, and there's still a lot of land left between here and where I'm going.”
“What sort of a package is it?” Liv asked suspiciously.
I shrugged. “Does it really matter? I don't really know; one of my friends needed it delivered to another of my friends, so here I am.” It was only partially a lie. I had my suspicions about what was there in the boxes that I was carrying across the country with me, but I didn't know anything for certain. There were only so many things that the head of one of the most dangerous biker gangs in the world would want delivered to her in jail, though.
Liv moved slowly so that she was sitting on the edge of the bed, cocking her head to the side. “But aren't you curious?” she asked. “You said on the phone that no one else would do this, that it was dangerous. Don't you want to know what you're carrying?”
And that, at least, gave me an inkling of how much she'd heard. It was too much. I narrowed my eyes at her. “It's none of my business,” I said.
“Whoever your friends are, they're putting your life at risk to carry this package, apparently,” Liv said. “I don't think that's the kind of thing that friends do.”
And oh, how foolishly and painfully naïve she was… But there was something inside me that wished I could be there with her, in that silly little world that she evidently lived in. I wanted to think that Cat Zodiac and Damien and all the others were as interested in my well-being as ... well as Liv was in her brother's well-being.
But that was ludicrous.
“Can you at least show me the packages?” Liv asked. “I promise I'll go quietly, I just want to have some kind of idea what we're carrying. It'll be safer that way, in case we're stopped by anyone along the way. If anyone asks, then I can kind of have so
me sort of a story to cover with.”
And I had to admit, that was a pretty sensible thing to do. We weren't going to be crossing any country borders to deliver the package, but the police could stop us for all sorts of random things — although I kept my bike in tip-top shape, so at least I knew they wouldn't be stopping us for something silly like the lights being out.
“Fine,” I finally conceded. “I'll show you the packages. Just so we have a clear story, if the need should arise.”
“Good,” Liv said. We stared at one another for a moment before she started to look impatient. “Well? Are you just going to stand there and watch me change?”
I blinked, and for a moment, I was tempted to leer at her and say that, yes, that was exactly what I intended to do. But I needed her cooperation, so I reluctantly shook my head and left the room. “Be ready to go in fifteen minutes,” I told her over my shoulder as I exited.
Downstairs, I pulled out the three shoebox-sized packages that I was carrying, staring down at them. They were wrapped in heavy paper and taped haphazardly closed. On the outside, there was no indication of what they might contain, and that information hadn't been part of my briefing. I had a feeling I could open them and take a peek inside, but the curiosity hadn't really struck me until Liv had pressed me for details. Now, all I could think about was what might possibly be inside them.
Surely it would be best for me to open one of them, just to make sure I knew what I was carrying? That way there, I'd know what to do with the package's contents if the police stopped us. If it was drugs, I'd want to throw the packages away and declare it a lost cause. If it was something a bit less illegal, then maybe I could hold on to the packages, make up some sort of convincing story. Just a little look…
I hesitantly opened the first of the packages, glancing towards the stairs as I did so. I could still hear Liv puttering around upstairs, though. It would probably be best that she didn't know what it was that we were delivering, regardless of what was in the packages. But I knew women; she'd take a little while longer to pick out her clothes, fix her hair, and do whatever else it was that women needed to do in the morning.
I stared down at the contents of the first package and then quickly moved to the second package and the third. I had a sinking feeling in my gut as I contemplated just what it was I was transporting. Although there were no manuals or any sort of packaging to go along with the plastic pieces, there was only one thing that they could be.
I was transporting all the pieces needed to assemble cheap, plastic guns. And I was meant to deliver them to a known criminal who was currently serving a long sentence in a federal prison.
“Are those what I think they are?” Liv asked, surprising me as she appeared over my shoulder, staring down in disbelief at the still-open packages. She looked over at me, eyes wide. “Please tell me you have a license to be carrying guns with you.”
I scowled over at her, trying to hide my own unease, and began sealing the packages again. Inwardly, I was a bit surprised that she was able to identify what the plastic pieces were for so quickly. But I didn't comment on that. Instead, I had to come up with some way to get her to go along with me and not rat me out to the police at the first opportunity.
“Look, I'm about to make a fair amount of money for delivering these,” I told her. “I'd be willing to split that profit with you — I imagine you must not make much money, living in a place like this. This would be thousands of dollars that you could walk away with, enough to cover a new vacation to somewhere you actually want to go to. How does that sound?”
I could see indecision on her face, but finally, she nodded. “Okay,” she said, holding out a hand. I shook her hand firmly, somewhat amused that she required the gesture but again, not about to comment on it and risk upsetting her.
“Then let's go,” I told her. “We have a lot of ground to cover today to get to our motel for the night.”
“No more AirBnBs?” Liv asked.
I rolled my eyes. “Well, you can see how well that worked out for me last time...”
Chapter Five
Liv
I groaned as I swung off the back of Rip's bike later that evening. I supposed that for him, long journeys like this might be normal, but for someone like me who had never been on a motorcycle before that morning, the journey was grueling, and I ached in places I hadn't even known existed. Plus, I was tired and cranky and just wanted to get out of the leathers that he had insisting on my wearing. I needed a long, hot bath and a comfortable bed for the night — but the dingy motel that we pulled up to didn't look like it would be able to provide either of those things.
I frowned at Rip. “This is the place? Really? You couldn't have sprung for someplace a little more...”
Rip gave me a look. “This isn't a joyride, baby,” he reminded me as he grabbed his bags out of the pull-behind trailer. I grabbed my backpack from him, wishing it contained more than a sweater, an oversized teeshirt to sleep in, and my toiletries — but there hadn't been space for anything else, and I reminded myself again that I was lucky he had granted me that much freedom.
Rip led me towards the entrance to the motel, a hand at my lower back. “I think it's best that we pretend we're a couple,” he said in an undertone. “Less questions that way. Plus, they'll probably assume it anyway, so it's easier if we just...go along with it.”
“Okay,” I said, feeling a bit dazed by all of this. I still didn't know why I was going along with his plans, although there was still that nagging feeling inside of me that I should do as Hollande had said and be more adventurous. I knew even Rip considered what we were doing to be dangerous, though, and that was before he even knew what was inside the packages. As a risk assessor at one of the top insurance companies in the country, it wasn't like I was hurting for money.
Then again, even if I'd refused to join into this venture as a business endeavor, I was pretty sure he would have dragged me along with him anyway. He just probably would have had me handcuffed to the bike or something like that.
I swallowed hard and followed him into the lobby, trying to smile at the receptionist as though this were just a normal couple's vacation for the two of us. I was afraid my smile felt as fake as it looked, but the woman didn't even bat a lash, efficiently checking us in and directing us towards our room for the night.
Inside the room, there was only one bed, and Rip leered over at me. “I sleep on the left,” he told me, throwing his bags into one of the chairs.
I bit my lower lip, considering my options. There honestly wasn't enough space in the room that I'd be able to comfortably lie down on the floor, and Rip was even bigger than I was. But I couldn't imagine sharing a bed with him either. “Couldn't we just get two rooms?” I asked, voice more plaintive than I would have liked.
“What happened to pretending that we're a couple?” Rip asked. He took a step closer, towering over me. “And are you trying to say that you're not sure you could control yourself, sleeping side-by-side with me?”
And even the thought of sharing a bed with him had my panties dampening. I wanted to have him touch me, to have him pull me into his arms and kiss me… But I couldn't do that.
“I'll stay on my half of the bed if you stay on your half of the bed,” I said saltily. I grabbed my backpack and went into the bathroom without another word, pulling the door closed behind me. Inside, I sat heavily on the toilet lid for a moment, trying to catch my breath. Being around Rip made me feel totally breathless and out of control — but I supposed it was kind of a nice feeling to have. Once upon a time, I'd been motivated by passion like this, motivated by adventure. But that had been before Barry's accident, before I'd needed to be the responsible older sister who was there to help him out when he needed it. That had been a long time ago…
Slowly, I got up and started the shower, stepping under the hot spray and trying to wash away the indecisiveness and worry. Then, I pulled on my teeshirt and went back into the bedroom.
Rip was on the phone w
ith someone, lying back against the pillows as he talked, with the phone resting on his stomach, speakerphone initiated.
“Do you know anything about Cherri Velasquez?” the man on the other end of the call asked.
Rip sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, as though he had a headache coming on. “No,” he said. “That's part of why I'm calling.”
“Rip,” the man said, clearly disappointed. “You should do your research prior to accepting jobs like these.”
Rip looked over at me, as though just now realizing that I'd walked into the room. But rather than disengaging speakerphone, he patted the bed next to him, inviting me to stretch out as well. And after the long ride we'd had that day, even though I wasn't really sure I should be getting that close to him, I reluctantly moved over to the bed and lay down beside him, groaning under my breath as my muscles finally relaxed. Rip smiled a little but continued his phone conversation.
