Saving Mia

by Michelle Woods

  “Not so fast, beauty.” He leaned forward his face hovering over hers. Making her take a big gulp. He could see that her hands were trembling.

  “This is not acceptable behavior.” Mia gasped out, trying hard to scoot her chair back, but Ratchet had anticipated the move and his foot prevented it.

  He leaned even closer his hand cupping the side of her face as his lips neared her ear. The he whispered, sending shivers of desire down her body.

  “Oh, beauty. We haven’t even gotten close to inappropriate behaviors yet.” His tongue flicked out teasing her ear as his teeth nipped her gently. Mia let out a cry of need and jumped from her chair.

  “That’s enough! I am not some whore you can come in and treat with disrespect!” Mia practically yelled at him. Making him let out a wicked chuckle.

  “Relax, beauty. I was just playing with you. Here.” Mia watched wearily as he plunked the credits on the desk and stood. He towered over her now and she watched him as he moved towards where she now stood near the door. She backed away finding herself pressed against the wall with his arms caging her in much like he had in the warehouse the first time they’d met. She couldn’t believe that she was standing here with her back pressed to the wall and her chest plastered to the man’s almost bare skin. She was breathing in hard little pants.

  Ratchet couldn’t help his need to follow the tiny woman across the room, and herding her back into the wall was instinct. He needed to be close to her. His hand moved from the wall above her to caress her soft cheek.

  “We will get to the inappropriate behavior though. Not today, but soon.” Ratchet warned her. He knew when a woman was attracted to him and she was. That would have been the only thing to stop him. If he knew she really wasn’t interested he would have backed off. But her eyes that devoured him and the way even now, with him making her nervous, she was panting for his touch. He knew she was interested, no matter what she said.

  “I…we will most certainly will not.” Mia said finding that backbone he liked so much about her to stutter out.

  “Oh, but we will my sweet, and soon.” Ratchet muttered as his lips took hers in a kiss.

  Mia gasped when Ratchet’s lips landed on hers which was the wrong thing to do she realized a moment later when the man took full advantage. His tongue thrusting past her lips. She wanted to bite him, or at the very least push him away. Only she found her hands clutching at his leather vest, and her own tongue meeting his in a fury of need so strong it echoed throughout her body making her moan with the fierce need for his touch.

  He wasn’t unaffected either. His hands cupped her face bringing her lips closer as he devoured her with deep sure strokes of his tongue inside her mouth. He tasted of mint and he smelled like leather. And his touch set her whole body on fire. Unlike the other men who’d kissed her his tongue thrusting into her mouth was like lighting a fuse that she’d never known existed. She needed more. More of his touch. More of him. Just more.

  She couldn’t believe as she let out a soft little mewl of pleasure that this biker was actually kissing her. That not only was he kissing her senseless, but that she liked it. She pulled at his leather vest again trying to fuse herself to him. Her breasts rubbing against her bra and the stiff work shirt she wore. His lips were hard and the soft scrape of his stubble against her face as he kissed down to her neck, made her moan. His hardness was pressed against her belly letting her know that the passion she felt was mutual.

  Ratchet couldn’t believe that she was almost writhing in his arms. Her little body was pressing against him in a plea for more. She went to his head like a fine wine. Her little sounds of need made his whole body ache for her. His hands were cupping her face and his tongue was thrusting into her in a mimic of what he wanted to do with his cock. He pressed his firmness into her soft stomach, growling in need at the feel of her softness.

  His lips trailed down her neck, nipping and licking wanting to leave marks. The only thing that stopped him was that he knew he couldn’t take her today. Not here. Not when those dickheads might cause trouble for her. So he didn’t leave the possessive marks he wanted on her skin, but he did kiss down to that tiny bit of exposed skin at her neck. His hands moving to the buttons on her shirt making her gasp and try to pull away. No that would not do, he thought grimly.

  His mouth moved back to hers taking it in a hard thrust deeper into her sweet mouth. His hands still working on those buttons. She stopped struggling purring with need. That was better, he though when he finally felt her hands grip his cut again. Fuck as tight as she was clutching it it was a wonder she wasn’t ripping the seams.

  He almost chuckled at the thought. Only he needed to leave his mark and then get the hell away from her before he took her here against this wall. Because his dick was throbbing like a sore thumb and he needed to pull back before he lost his head. Which was shocking, because he’d never in his life been so wrapped up in a woman he was worried about losing control. He kiss downwards again to the skin he’d revealed just above her breast, his mouth sucking hard and his hands cupping her breasts. She mewled and thrust the sweet globes at him. Her breathing quick and heavy.

  Mia couldn’t believe that she was about to come from just a kiss. When Ratchet began to suck on the top swell of her breast she almost fell to her knees. Dear lord. That was amazing. She wasn’t sure how her shirt had gotten open. She’d felt his hands trying to release her buttons and she tried to move away. Only suddenly his mouth was on hers again, and she’d forgotten all about it. She was dazed when Ratchet suddenly pulled away. Looking down at her where she’d collapsed back into the wall with a satisfied smirk. Shit, what the hell had she allowed him to do, she thought? The haze of lust he’d cast over her finally clearing. Oh dear, she thought looking down in dismay to find her shirt open and a very vivid love bite on the top of her right breast.

  Ratchet stared at his mark on her pale skin with a possessive glee. Yes, that was what he wanted. Only all over those globes. But this would do for now, he thought, watching as she buttoned her shirt with shaking hands. Her eyes darting around the room trying to avoid his. He watched her collect herself. Yeah, poor baby. She wasn’t going to get away now, he thought.

  “That was not…that shouldn’t have…I can’t allow that to happen again.” Mia finally settled on after starting that sentence three times.

  “It’s definitely gonna happen again, baby. Often.” Ratchet told her softly.

  “No, that is not going to happen again.” Mia grimly uttered even as her girly bits screamed at her ‘Why the hell not?’

  “We’ll have to see won’t we?” Ratchet gruffly told her as he opened the door. He stopped in the doorway, looking back at her. “Till next time, beauty.” Then he was out the door headed to the truck to help them unload the rest of the crates. When he neared the truck Rock studied him.

  “Everything good?” He asked. Ratchet knew he was asking because he’d been in the office for about two minutes too long, and he wasn’t explain the reason for that two minutes to anyone.

  “Nah, she just asked the same question as she did last week. Bone will be making the trip in two weeks. Told her to talk to him. We’re supposed to discuss it in church this week.” Ratchet told him. The man nodded and continued to unload the truck. As they were leaving Mia came out to watch them head off and when she looked his way he lifted his hand in a jaunty wave goodbye. Please to see her pale skin flush as she turned away. Yeah, his sweet beauty was in for a surprise.

  Chapter 7

  Mia climbed out of the shower waving her hand over the mirror to make the sensors clear the fogged surface. Seconds later she was staring at her reflection. She glared at the mark that even after a week was still visible on her pale skin. It was almost gone, only a slight bruise now. Not the glaring red love bite it had been when he’d placed it there. She still couldn’t believe that she’d allowed him to mark her in such a manner. Only the passion he’d unleashed inside her with that one simple kiss made her almost blush.

/>   She’d always known when she’d been with her boyfriends in the past that there was more that was just out of her reach. It wasn’t that she hadn’t enjoyed sex with them. It was that having sex with them didn’t seem to light her on fire. Unlike merely a simple kiss from Ratchet. It must be that raw sexual appeal the man had in spades. When he’d touched her, she’d lost her head. It hadn’t taken even a minute to be mindlessly allowing him to own her.

  She wanted to say that it was only sexual frustration because it had been almost ten months since she’d had sex, but she knew better. It wasn’t that because she’d gone longer. She had only had three relationships where she’d felt comfortable enough with the man to have sex with him. She knew that had Ratchet stripped her naked yesterday in her office and banged her against the wall she would have allowed it, and that frightened her.

  Not only because it was against her beliefs, but because she didn’t want to believe that she was acting like a damned sex starved hooker. She’d always known the men she’d bedded for months before allowing them to take her to bed. Now, she’d wanted to allow a man to screw her brains out against a freaking wall. She sighed. What was done was done, she’d have to try to not allow it to happen again. She began getting ready to go to the bar where she met Tray the rebel’s leader.

  When she entered the bar twenty-five minutes later she was still contemplating the dilemma of wanting a biker named Ratchet. She saw Tray a thin, pretty man sitting in the corner booth in the back. Seeing her Tray waved her over. She sat down at the table ordering a beer.

  “I’m so glad you’re here. We were just discussing the ten crates you’d gotten us this month. It’s a start, but we need more.” He didn’t bother with pleasantries. It was one of the things she’d liked about him at first but over the last month with his demands that she get more crates it had gotten annoying.

  “I told you I have to be careful so I don’t get caught, Tray.” Mia said, gritting her teeth to keep her voice from rising.

  Tray straightened his shoulders, staring at her over his beer. His two friends, large bruisers that always seemed to be around whenever Tray was. She didn’t like them much. One had a crooked nose with beady eyes and always smelled like Juice. She recognized the smell from spending so much time with her brother the Juice addict. The other one had shifty eyes and a bad attitude. He had long greasy black hair and scars of some sort on his face. Tray in comparison was almost too pretty. His soft brown eyes and his almost feminine face lent to this illusion.

  “I thought you wanted to help us, Mia?” Tray demanded making Mia want to scream. She did want to help, only she wanted to survive helping them too. That may make her selfish, but hell who wanted to die at twenty-four.

  “I do, Tray. You know that or I wouldn’t be here. I also have to be careful. This could end badly for me, and then you wouldn’t be getting anymore. Is that what you want?” She demanded grimly.

  “No, no. Don’t be silly of course you have to be careful.” Tray said jovially. Except she didn’t believe that anymore. She was beginning to think that maybe working with Tray, and his rebels wasn’t her brightest idea. Maybe she should have done this but worked with Marcus instead. At least she knew she could trust him. She wasn’t so sure about Tray anymore. Not that Marcus was willing to do this, but it would have worked out better she had a feeling.

  “Only people they're hungry. The food is helping, but with more we could help so many more. That’s all I meant. I get a little impatient because I want to help them all. You understand.” Tray plastered a smile on his face. One that she was realizing was faked.

  This might have been a mistake, but she was in it now and she did want to help. No, she needed to help. People were starving, and that was not something she could stomach as she sat in her ivory tower looking down on them. Nope, she needed to continue working with them for now until she worked out another option. She talked to him for another thirty minutes. She didn’t tell him that she might be able to get more if only this Bone guy agreed.

  Ratchet climbed on his bike watching Tick wearily. Tick was on the edge, and he was not happy with the fact that he had to do this tonight, but Charity had asked him to help. Mark was lucky that he wasn’t dead. If they hadn’t gotten Charity out of that cellar alive there wouldn’t have been a single one of them who could save the man from Tick’s wrath. The man had already lost one woman to a tragic accident. He’d loved her, but Ratchet knew that Vivi, although she’d been amazing, hadn’t meant as much to Tick as Charity did.

  They needed to find Mark’s sister and then get Tick back to Charity before he blew a gasket. It wasn’t going to be a fun night. Ratchet thought grimly as he followed Tick into the darkness where they met up with Bone and the rest of the club roaring into the night.

  It took them about two hours to find the hole in the wall in Pepsky a town about three miles away from Devils Falls. He waited with Pretty Boy; Tank and Duck as Tick and Bone scouted the area. Tiny, Rock, Dog and Log were waiting on the other side of the place. While Slim, Trick, and Mark were at the back to be sure that the son of bitches didn’t try to run.

  None of them were in the mood to play with these assholes tonight. Tank leaned over to ask.

  “Think your boy’s gonna be okay?”

  “Yeah, he’s good. She was alive, and that’s why he’s good.” Ratchet told the other man.

  Tank nodded. “Yeah, I can understand that.”

  “He also needs to be kept away from Mark though. Cause if he gets the chance, no matter why the man did it he will kill him.” Ratchet told him.

  “I get that too. If it were my Annie. Fuck, I’m not sure anything could have stopped me from killing him.” Tank said.

  Ratchet nodded.

  “Shut up, idiot. We need to be ready to go when Bone signals.” Duck grumbled, smacking Tank in the back of the head.

  “Stop it old man, or I will tell my old lady.” Tank growled, glaring at the older man.

  “Pussy,” Duck hissed back. “Always hiding behind a woman.”

  It was funny. Those two were almost always fighting. Except Annie had been trying to keep the peace between the two men. It worked for the most part, but Duck always found a way to do it when she wasn’t around. Tank never told on the old man, even though he always threatened to. Ratchet let out a soft snort of laughter, earning a glare from Tank. Bone gave the signal and he and Duck moved in. Tank stayed in position with his sniper rifle to watch their backs.

  It took them half an hour to wrap up the warehouse. They found the girl huddled in a back room on a dirty mattress. She’d been beaten. Badly. Her face was swollen. She couldn’t even see out of her left eye. Seeing the way she jerked away from even her brother when he approached her made Ratchet want to revive the ten men they’d killed so that he could torture the sons of bitches first. They deserved to die screaming in pain. Their deaths had been too easy.

  Tick was even a bit upset that he hadn’t planned to help until Bone had forced his hand. The man was damned glad he’d helped. If he’d refused and it had taken longer to find her, he’d have felt awful. Tick told Ratchet as they walked into Doc’s an hour later. They found Bone pacing in the room. Tank, Dog, and Pretty Boy were sitting in the chairs nearby watching. Marc was inside with his sister, and Doc. Rock was still at the warehouse where they’d held her with Log and Slim. They were cleaning out the weapons and Juice they’d found.

  Trick and Duck were leaning against the wall. Tiny had gone over to get Racheal. Doc thought that a woman who had been through something similar might help.

  “Has she spoken yet?” Ratchet asked Bone.

  “Fuck…no. Why didn’t that idiot tell us?” He growled. “Fuck.”

  Ratchet was a bit surprised. Bone didn’t use that cuss word much anymore unless he was really pissed off. Molly hated it, and nearly everything Bone did was to make Molly happy. He must be livid. Not that he could blame the man. The Jackal’s and the Headhunters had been a pain in the ass in the last few months.
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  They were all feeling the strain of their stupid little games. If the fuckers would only come at them straight instead of planting bombs and attacking cities that they held it would make them all happier. Those shitheads were fucking cowards though and that was why they pulled shit like this. Mark had been a dumb fuck for not coming to Bone when his sister was first kidnapped. All the man could say when they were getting his sister bundled into one of the Headhunters cars was that he’d been told they wouldn’t hurt her.

  He just kept repeating that like it was a lifeline. The man was likely beating himself up because he’d thought his sister was safe only to find out she’d been beaten, and likely raped. She’d been so dirty and small. Huddled in the corner flinching at any noise when they entered. It had broken Ratchets heart when he’d walked into that room. Fuck. He’d been the first one to find her. He’d entered the room and gone straight to her, but when he’d knelt down beside her to tell her everything was going to be okay she’d huddle further into that corner, trembling.

  He’d heard Pretty Boy enter behind him, and the explicit 'Fuck' that had come out of the man’s mouth had been an understatement. Pretty Boy had knelt beside her, his voice becoming softer than Ratchet had ever heard from the man. Then he’d looked up at Ratchet, and he couldn’t remember ever seeing the man so angry. He was usually very hard to anger; he was a pretty easy going guy. Only this had made him livid.

  He’d muttered. “Get her brother,” through gritted teeth. Ratchet had moved out of the room to find Mark.

  “This is so fucked up.” Pretty Boy thundered angrily, his fist slamming into the wall next to him.

  “That about sums it up.” Dog who sat next to him grumbled.

  “Why do these stupid fucks keep attacking innocent people? Why the fuck can’t they man up and attack us head on?” Pretty Boy demanded.

  It surprised him that Ratchet that he was still so upset. They’d been dealing with shit like this for the past three years. Maybe this was the straw that broke his back, so to speak. He thought watching Pretty Boy jump up and pace with Bone.