by Cox, Paula
Sally finished her second drink and asked for another when Sophia gathered her in her arms and whispered into her neck.
“I think that’s enough for now,” she said as she patted her hair. “Okay?”
“Okay,” Sally answered. Sophia stepped from their side, and Sally turned her gaze to Lily.
“So you get it now, right?” she asked in a pleading voice. “If you’re found, and the cops start poking around, I’ll be right back with him. He’ll probably lock me up, and I’ll never see the light of day again. Just… him. I can’t… that can’t happen.”
Lily started to speak when Sophia quickly cut her off.
“It’s not happening,” Sophia assured her. “Not on Ken’s watch, and not on mine. Oh, honey.”
Sophia knelt before Sally again and cupped her face with her hands. “You’re one of us now,” she said. “You belong here. You’re safe here.”
“Promise?” Sally asked.
“Cross my heart.”
Sophia kissed her head, and Sally sank into her shoulders. Her shoulders heaved as she cried. Lily surveyed the scene, and a feeling of gratitude swirled around her heart. No one would ever believe that an outlaw gang in the desert was the safest place for this girl to be.
But given the alternatives…
Sally lifted her eyes and focused her stare on Lily.
“You’re safe, too,” Sally said. “Michael will keep you safe.”
Her mind drifted towards how he must have felt when he found her gone, when he raced after her into the night with his back bare. How had he felt when he saw her strung up, Bruce ready to strip the skin from her bare back with his belt? Pulling away from the others, she folded his jacket over her arms and started back into the night.
“Hold up,” Sophia said as she stopped her at the entrance of the tent. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“He must be cold,” Lily said as she stroked the leather. “He should really have this.”
Again she started to leave, but Sophia held her back. “I think you’ve done enough running around for one night. Now why don’t you just get back to icing that bruise?”
Sophia tugged on her sleeve, but Lily held her ground. “I just want to talk to him.” She clutched the folds of the tent in her fingers.
“Michael doesn’t talk,” Sophia said. “But I guess you already figured that one out.”
With a nod, Lily smiled sadly. “I’m learning,” she said. “Quite the education.”
“And yet you don’t know the first thing about threading a needle.”
Sophia patted her back and brought her back into the tent. The chill of the desert night along with the shaking in light of Sally’s revelation caused her to wrap her body in his jacket again. Settling into his scent, she spied the dusty bottle and asked for a swig.
“Why not,” Sophia shrugged. “Here.”
Lily drank directly from the bottle, and as the warmth swirled around her, she sat at Sally’s side. Looking at her small, crushed form, she took her hand.
“I won’t go to the cops,” Lily promised.
A wave of hope washed across Sally’s face. “You won’t?” she asked. “You promise?”
“I—”
“Is that a fact?”
Turning her head to the open flap, she saw Michael, his eyes flickering in the dim light. As soon as their eyes met, Lily felt warm inside, renewed, and she rose to meet him, stripping off his jacket and holding it out as her eyes ran up and down the length of his broad arms.
“Yes,” she said. “I wouldn’t lie to Sally.”
As she eased his arms into his jacket, her fingers trailed down the leather sleeves until her light touch met his palms. She could sense that he wanted to clasp her hands in his, but he held back and stepped past her to address Sophia.
“We’re good for tonight,” Michael told her. “Ken says we’ll finish up in the morning.” His eyes turned to Sally. “I’ll walk you back to his rack,” he said. “That okay with you?”
Sally muttered her assent, and she stood to take his arm. As he walked her past Lily, Michael arched his eyebrow.
“Will you wait this time?” he asked.
Part of her wanted to throw her arms in the air and tell him that he could trust her, remind him that she had already given her word. But she stopped short when she saw how anxious Sally was to return to Ken’s side.
“I’m not going anywhere,” she said.
“We’ll see.”
He disappeared with Sally, and as Lily smoothed her hands down her face, she reached for the bottle and took another swig.
“Easy,” Sophia cautioned. “Easy.”
Her body started to numb, and as she sat on the edge of Sophia’s bed, she stared up into her eyes.
“How long did you know?” Lily asked.
“About Sally? For a while now. Ken is really another breed, you know.”
“What do you mean?” Lily asked.
“I mean he could tell that she was, you know, damaged. And when she finally told him what had happened—”
“She told him?”
“She trusts him, Lily. Don’t you trust Michael?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that question. He saved at the auction; he was her hero again tonight. But there was something buried deep in his heart that he wasn’t sharing with her.
Like I should talk. Lots of things he doesn’t know about me.
“I don’t know,” Lily admitted. Sophia let the comment side and finished packing her final suitcase.
“Well Ken asked me to talk to her,” Sophia continued. “Wanted to know if I thought he was taking advantage of her.”
“So she told you,” Lily said.
“The whole gory mess,” Sophia said. “Enough to make you sick, right?”
“Disgusting doesn’t even describe it.”
“But she told me that she liked it here. That she liked being with Ken. My opinion? He’s the first man to treat her like a person in the sad span of her life.”
“You’ll get no argument from me,” Lily said.
***
Stepping towards the flap, Lily’s eyes searched for Michael. The camp already resembled a ghost town. The activity in the tent reserved for meals told her that the bulk of the crew was hunkering down there for the night. Sophia’s status as something of a den mother granted her the privacy of her tent, and Sally would be allowed the privacy of Ken’s bed.
And Michael…
“Sophia?” Lily asked as stepped back inside and smoothed her hands down the sides of her skirt. As she tied her hair over her shoulders, Sophia paused and waited for Lily to finish her thought.
“What happened to him?” she asked. “Why is he so… I don’t know.”
“Spit it out,” Sophia challenged. “Say what’s on your mind.”
Lily took a deep breath “Why is he so hard? I mean, sometimes, like he’s sweet, and—”
“He came after you tonight,” Sophia reminded her. “Doesn’t that count for something?”
Given what might have happened, it counted for everything.
“But he turns on a dime,” Lily said. “What makes him act that way? Why—?”
“Ask him,” Sophia said. “Not me.”
“I’ve tried. He shuts me out. Maybe… maybe that’s why I went after him tonight. I want to know him. Like really know him.”
Sophia patted her face and smiled softly.
“Then don’t run off again, and maybe you’ll get your answer.”
It was far from the answer that she wanted, but Lily resigned herself to waiting, and she paced the sand, her eyes continuously turning towards the flap as she hoped for his return. How long did it take to give Sally back to Ken? Maybe they were strategizing, putting the finishing touches on the morning plans. But even that didn’t feel like it should take this long. Sally was spent before she even left, and Ken would see that and want to hold her, just hold her, as he eased her into sleep. As the seconds ticked by, Lily had to won
der if Michael was playing with her. What if he was never coming back, and was this a test to see if she would simply curl up on Sophia’s piled of pillows and slip into a restless sleep? Could he be so cruel, so cold?
He most definitely could. But would he really do that to me after everything that had happened?
She pulled open the flap to Sophia’s tent and stepped into the desert.
“Hey!” Sophia cried. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Wresting Lily way from the flap, Sophia grabbed her chin and stared at her hard. “You want to know so much? Then just wait. He said that he was coming back.”
“Will he?” Lily asked. “How do I know that? I know nothing about him and I’m supposed to just accept…”
Accept the way he feels inside me. Maybe I could just live off of that and never ask another question.
“Accept what?”
Michael appeared, and Lily fought the urge to rush into his arms. Holding back, she glanced at Sophia out of the corner of her and silently begged her to provide some kind of cover story.
“Took your sweet time!” Sophia chirped. “You know this little girl’s been through her own brand of hell tonight.”
Michael’s jaw tensed as he folded his fingers into a fist.
“I know,” he said in a thick voice. “Saw it with my own eyes.”
Lily could almost sense a crack in his heart, but he stayed like stone as Sophia pressed her palms together.
“Okay then,” she said. “So how about you take her home and show her that everything’s going to be alright?”
Their eyes locked for a second, and the sudden softness in his stare almost seemed to make Sophia’s words real. Pressing her body closer to his side, she longed for the feel of his arms draped across her back.
But Michael didn’t make that move.
“Everything is going to be alright,” he said. “As soon as we make tracks at dawn.”
Michael started to lead her out of the tent, and when Lily looked back to Sophia, the redhead mouthed for her to just take it slow .
But Michael’s space was beyond rapid as he brought her back to his bed.
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO As soon as they were hidden behind real walls, Michael stripped off his jacket and moved to a bowl positioned on a table in the corner of the room. As he splashed water across his face, Lily sat on the edge of the bed and watched his back muscles ripple as he grabbed a towel and wiped the droplets away from his skin. Once his face was dry, he turned to face hers, his face blank as his eyes moved down her legs.
“So you waited this time,” he said. “Guess that’s gotta count for something.”
Lily waned to spit in his face and charge back to Sophia’s tent. But she didn’t move. Looking into his eyes, she hung her head and spoke softly.
“I told you I wouldn’t run,” she muttered. “I’m sorry I did the first time.”
Slinging the towel over his shoulder, Michael inched closer to the bed and peered down at her. He was close enough to touch. Should she just wrap her arms around his thighs, fall to her knees, and beg for mercy? The thought was tempting. She wanted to feel his flesh, to sigh around his cock as it penetrated her again. But she held back and lifted her eyes. Michael’s face was like slate, and she slowly parted her lips.
“I was wrong,” she continued. “You’ve never hurt me. And I should have listened.”
“You should’ve listened,” he echoed.
Michael fell to his knees, and Lily whimpered when he started to touch her bruised cheek but still held back.
“Don’t you like me?” he asked.
Lily turned her eyes to his with a sad smile. “I do. Maybe I shouldn’t. But I didn’t lie when I said I wanted more.”
Growing bold, she pressed her fingers to his shoulders, and Michael didn’t flinch when she stared at him hard.
“I… I know I’m just a thing to you,” she said. “But that’s better than what some people have.”
She blinked back tears at the thought of everything that Sally had endured, and Michael didn’t speak as she took a deep breath to continue.
“So I won’t run,” Lily said. “I’ll try to be good. Do better.”
Michael’s ears curled close to her cheek, and she expected his kiss when he drew back and ordered her to her feet.
“Take off your dress,” he commanded.
Too weary to object, the vodka swirling around her brain, Lily obeyed. Mindful of the pins, she lifted her dress of over her shoulders and kicked off her shoes. Michael’s intense gaze caused her to shudder more than the cool night air, and she expected him to press her to the sheets, mount her and claim her as his property once again. After everything that had happened, Lily knew that she would not protest. She wanted to eradicate the memory of the Mad Angels and only know his hands again.
“Come with me,” Michael said.
Lily followed him away from the bed, and he pulled a hard backed chair from the corner and ordered her to sit. Complying quickly, she did as she was told and waited. As she closed her eyes, Lily heard the sound of sloshing water. Her curiosity nearly got the better of her, but she didn’t lift her lids. Whatever he was planning, she would do better this time. She would wait and hope that…
“Oh!” she moaned as he gently kissed her legs. Excited by the return of his lips, started to touch his hair when his voice broke through their shared silence.
“Shhh,” he crooned. “I’m just going to clean you up.”
Opening her eyes, Lily saw him on his knees. A bowl of fresh water sat at his side, he wet the towel before wringing it out. As he brought the damp linen to her limbs, he washed up the length of the legs as he settled his free arm against the small of her back.
“Water’s okay?” he asked.
Unable to speak, Lily nodded softly, and thought she saw him smile as he wiped up her sides. His touch was light, soft, everything that she hadn’t come to expect from him. Yet she still reveled in the feel of his hands as cleaned the Mad Angel’s touch from her body. Where would she be now if Michael hadn’t swooped in at the right moment? She shuddered at the thought but quickly pushed it aside as she focused on Michael’s hands on her body.
“It… it feels fine,” she finally said. “Nice.”
“Good,” he said.
When he was at her breasts, he paused and rested his brow to her soft mounds. Lily started to wind her fingers around his neck when she just looked down at him. He seemed to shake against her, and she bit her lip as he spoke into her skin.
“I don’t want you to ever go again,” he said. “Because you’re… you’re not just a thing to me.”
“I’m not?” Lily asked as her heart skipped a beat. Michael lifted his face to hers. The anguish was clear in his features, but he choked it back and spoke softly.
“How can you even ask me that?”
Stretching towards her, he rested the towel against her trembling thigh and moved towards her lips. Keeping her eyes open, she wanted to feel his kiss, to stay in his stare as he claimed he mouth. Michael made no other move, and nothing but his whisper hit her bruised cheek.
He finally touched her there.
“Looks better,” he said. “But never again. I don’t want anyone to ever lay hands on you.”
“Neither do I.” Lily whispered as she started towards his mouth. But he held back and lowered his lids.
“I should have killed them all,” he said. “Just for looking at you.”
Lily couldn’t help but blush. Maybe she was more than his bike or his gun, and a part of her liked the idea that he would try to keep the sky from falling to keep her safe. But what then? What if they had strung him up and added new scars to his back. She pictured his body twitching until it could no longer move, and she shook her head as she touched his face.
“Can you just look at me?” she asked. “Please.”
Their eyes locked, and she sighed as she stroked her scratch marks on his cheek.
“I’m sorry for that,” she s
aid. “Does it hurt?”
He grabbed her hand and pressed it closer to his flesh.
“Not when you touch me,” he said.
Running her fingers down his face, she felt his lips curl into the smile, and when her eyes could no longer deny her hands, she flung her arms around her neck and clung to him.
“Touch me,” she begged. “Hold me.”
