by Franca Storm
Experience and some major skill under his belt enabled Cole to keep the bike upright and balanced despite the initial lurch when he’d assaulted the Strikers rider.
I snuck a look at Cole’s mirror to see the rider fumbling to grab hold of the throttle again, even as he fought to stop the bike from spinning out.
Cole didn’t waste any time, taking full advantage of knocking the guy out of the picture, even temporarily. A few moments were all he needed to turn the tables on them.
“Brace yourself and lean,” he called over his shoulder at me.
In the next second, he made an incredibly sharp turn, the bike squealing and straining to make the right onto the on-ramp. I followed his lead, leaning as he did as he navigated the winding path to the highway. He must’ve figured that it would be easier to maneuver in a larger space, rather than dealing with the restrictions of the country roads.
We managed to survive the turn and Cole punched it as we sped onto the highway, merging easily with the limited traffic. I spotted the van again in our rearview mirror, the Suzuki still nowhere to be found. He must’ve spun out then. The van could barely keep up with Cole’s Harley, as he expertly weaved in and out of traffic.
With enough distance from it, Cole pulled off the highway, took several twists and turns, then backtracked, and got on the path for Warlow.
He’d done it.
We’d lost Nik’s guys.
And I got the answer to my earlier question.
My stomach wasn’t able to handle it.
Uh oh.
***
“Lovely,” I groaned.
I rose back to my feet and tugged my hair from Cole’s grip. He’d been holding it back for me through my lengthy vomiting episode all over the grassy bank along the side of the road.
“Morning sickness,” Cole commented, smoothing out my hair in that sweet, caring way of his.
It just angered me, though. Just like his fucking words.
I shook him off and brushed past him. “Or, your crazed riding!”
I heard his motorcycle boots crunching on the dirt road following after me.
“Urgh!” I yelled. “Just stay back! Give me some space! I need a fucking second!”
The crunching stopped.
Sighing heavily, I leaned over his bike, bracing my hands on the saddle, fighting to get myself together.
God, I was in a state. I didn’t get car sick, or bike sick. Even though his riding had been insane as he’d fought to evade Nik’s guys, it shouldn’t have affected me like that. I had an iron stomach. If that wasn’t enough, I’d just exploded all over him. I’d just suddenly snapped unable to reel it in and I could still feel it burning through me. Talk about a major lack of control.
“Urgh! What the hell?” I yelled, fisting my hands in my hair, frustration taking me over.
Thunder cracked overhead and not a second later it started pissing down. My pink leather pants and jacket protected most of my body, but my hair and makeup were drenched in seconds.
“Really?” I screamed up at the sky, stomping my feet in fury. “Come on!”
“Time’s up,” Cole announced, striding up to me. “We need to move before the road washes out.”
That business tone of his was back with a vengeance. It was that stoic, impenetrable and difficult to read version of him.
And it was the worst time for it with the way I was feeling. I wasn’t going to stand for it. He was in for a shock if he thought I was just going to capitulate here.
“No,” I told him.
“Tasha, we’ll deal when we hit Warlow and we’re not caught out in the middle of a torrential downpour getting soaked down to the goddamn bone.”
“Deal with what exactly? Normal human emotions? Me throwing up all over the road? The Strikers trying to run us off the road? Or, you being an ass to your pregnant girlfriend?”
He stared at me, looking me up and down as I angrily shoved my heavy, dripping wet hair out of my face. Expecting him to ramp up the fight I’d started, I was more than a little surprised when his hard, determined expression cracked and emotion sparked in his eyes, his face softening instead.
He stepped up to me and rubbed my leather-clad arms soothingly up and down. “All right, I’m sorry.”
He was? “But I’m being unreasonable and crazy. I just can’t stop it and I know it’s ridiculous starting a fight in the middle of a dirt road and refusing to get on your bike so we can hurry up and get out of this rainstorm.”
He smiled and told me gently, “You’re pregnant, Tasha. Haywire hormones and chucking up are all a part of it. And there’s a lot going down on top of all that. You’re leaving the security of your own home for a place where you don’t feel safe. There’s a high stakes mission against the Strikers MC looming over us. And we were just tailed by the crazy bastards intent on stopping us from crossing into Steel Titans home turf.”
I could feel my anxiety spiking at his words which were laying it all out so brutally. “Not helping,” I said, wincing.
He cupped my face. “Just letting you know you’re not crazy. You’ve got every right to be upset. But we’re both used to dealing with this bull. And we’re damned good at it, we always come out on top. You’ve got this, firecracker, and I’ve got you. You’re not alone in this, in anything.”
I couldn’t help smiling at his sweet, heartfelt words. “Yeah, okay.”
“Now, if you want to stay here for a bit to chill, we can, no worries.”
I looked all around. The torrential downpour flooding the road so quickly, the two of us drenched. Laughter bubbled up and burst out of me, the situation morphing from bleak to absolutely hilarious.
I couldn’t stop, my laughter becoming hysterical where I was fighting to suck in a full breath through it.
“Hormones, for sure,” Cole chuckled, pulling me into him for a bear hug.
He stroked my back up and down through my laughter.
It took a while, but I finally managed to get a hold of myself. I drew in a deep breath and eased back from him. “Let’s do this.”
He nodded and led me back to his bike, giving me a hand up. As I settled myself, his phone started beeping. He tapped his earpiece and listened. Right away, I knew something was very wrong. His expression grew fierce, his jaw ticking with barely-contained fury.
“Yeah. I hear you. Twenty minutes out.”
He ended the call with another tap, then scrubbed his hand over his face.
“What’s happened?”
I could see his reluctance to tell me. I wasn’t really surprised with the way I’d been so far. The last thing we needed was me losing it again.
Not looking at me, he reported, “Nik tried to retaliate against me for supposedly taking you away from him. He went after Luce.”
Terror gripped me. “Oh my God. Is she—”
He held up a hand. “She’s fine.” He took a beat, then revealed, “I knew it was a possibility, so I had Mason stick close to her while I was gone. I knew he’d protect her. Nobody can get through him.”
“Cole, that was a gamble.” I knew how much his little sister meant to him. He’d always done so much, gone to insane lengths to protect her against everything and everyone. In fact, he was so intense about it that he’d become more than a little suffocating to her. It all stemmed from him overcompensating for the loss of their parents at such a young age.
“It wasn’t,” he insisted. “Like I said, I knew Mason would do a good job. He cares about her as much as I do. Besides, there’s no way I’m gonna let Nik back me into a corner and keep you and me apart with those kinds of threats. If we give in to that bullshit, none of us would ever be able to live our goddamn lives. You and me have already suffered enough and I’m not letting anything force us apart again. We’ve already lived for other people’s wants and bullshit for way too long.”
Wow.
Unfortunately, I needed more. Things were moving so quickly, so intensely, I had to know that we were solid. So, grabbing his hand, I implored, “
Tell me. Tell me you’re never leaving me again. Swear it to me.”
He took me in, no doubt seeing the worry all over my face, seeing I needed his reassurance on us so badly.
“I never should’ve turned my back the first time,” he told me, squeezing my hand. “I never stopped regretting it and I’ve been fighting to get back to you ever since. Nobody and nothing is gonna fuck with that. I’m never letting you go. I’ll wage a goddamn war if I have to. You’re mine. Now and always.”
Again, wow.
“Good?” he asked, grinning at my stunned reaction.
“Yeah, thank you.”
He nodded.
Before I could get out another word, he settled himself on the bike and gunned it.
11
~Cole~
I DROPPED NATASHA’S BAGS on the floor by my dresser and took in my room, the floor now dirty as fuck from our muddied, dripping wet clothes.
Riding down backroads was usually a freeing and exhilarating experience. But with the heavy rain, it’d been a goddamn nightmare, dangerous as all fuck too. But there hadn’t been a choice. We’d been sitting ducks all the while we’d remained outside club borders, so I’d had to keep going and get us to safety. Slade hadn’t been able to send me a transport either, because all the boys had been busy pushing back the Strikers and defending Warlow’s borders.
That, combined with Natasha’s freak-out, had made it a real difficult ride. She wasn’t in a good place right now. Sure, I’d managed to talk her down and ease her upset out there on the roadside, but I knew it was only temporary. There was no way it’d last. She was scared, hormonal, and out of her element. We’d sort it, one step at a time, and then things would be better, she’d feel better, and we could focus on our coming family. But it was going to be an uphill battle, for sure.
I heard the water stop running in the bathroom. As soon as I'd walked her in here, she’d grabbed her toothbrush from one of her bags and run in there to brush her teeth and to freshen up after chucking up earlier.
“Cole?” she called through the door.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Can you pass me my duffel bag? I’m going to take a shower and change out of these muddy, soaked clothes.”
“Yeah, sure,” I called back.
I was about to head for her bag when commotion outside stopped me short. I strode to the window that overlooked the clubhouse courtyard to see the boys finally arriving back.
Trucks were filing in rather than motorcycles. They were lucky they’d had the option, because riding in bad weather was dangerous as all fuck.
I caught sight of Mason helping my sister down from one of the trucks. He looked pissed and I watched him scan the area. I knew right away that he was looking for me. I’d expected as much. He was angry that I’d brought Natasha back here. Well, he was just gonna have to suck it up and deal with it, because she wasn’t going anywhere.
I wouldn’t give her up for him, Nik, or the club.
Not this time.
“What’s wrong?”
I turned to see Natasha hurrying out of the bathroom, her eyes wide as she joined me by the window. “Oh no. They all look furious.”
“For most of them, those are their resting faces.”
“Cole,” she chastised me.
I held my hand out to her. “I know. We need to head down there. You ready for this?”
She steeled herself and took my hand. “Let’s do it.”
I nodded and led her out of my room, along the corridor, through the clubhouse, all the way to the front lounge.
I wrapped my arm around Natasha and pushed through the doors.
All eyes were on us instantly, the tension and simmering tempers of all the boys slamming into us.
They were all caked in mud and drenched just like me and Tasha.
I noticed a couple of them eyeing Natasha and shaking their heads. I followed their line of sight to see that her jacket was zipped down low, exposing way too much of her tits. I could tell off their looks that they thought she was doing it on purpose to try to placate them with her sexuality or something. But the truth was, she’d been intent on taking a shower and had clearly forgotten she’d already started the process of getting undressed.
“Zipper,” I whispered to her.
Her eyes shot wide and she hastily pulled it up, covering herself. The awkwardness of it made her all the more uneasy. I reached around her and gave her ass a squeeze in an attempt to pull her out of her anxious state. It worked well enough and she grinned at me.
I scanned the crowded courtyard searching for Slade. I wasn’t going to stand for this bullshit frosty reception much longer. He needed to explain the situation to them all.
My search for him stopped short when something suddenly caught my eye, something I couldn’t actually believe I was seeing. I had to do a double-take.
Fuck. It was real.
Mason and Luce.
My best friend and my little sister.
All over each other!
What the ever-loving fuck?
Why was she stroking his arm?
Why were his hands on her?
Why did it look like they were… together?
No. No. No!
It kickstarted my rage, my eyes narrowing at them, my expression morphing to ferocious fury.
And then he kissed her.
I couldn’t hold back.
Before I knew what I was doing, I broke from Natasha and stormed toward Mason. “Are you fucking kidding me?” I roared.
“We’re together,” Mason answered unapologetically, as he met my furious approach.
My stomach lurched. I knew exactly what that meant. Son of a bitch! “I’m gone two weeks and you fuck around with my sister?”
“We’re not fucking around. I made her mine.”
I shook my head wildly. “No. I don’t accept that.”
“Not for you to accept. It’s already done.”
I glanced around at the guys. The fucker had broken club protocol, screwed over one of his own brothers, fucked with the family of a club member. I was expecting a goddamn reaction.
“The club accepted it,” Mason added. “She’s mine. Been a hell of a long time coming and you know it. Me and Luce are together. Get over it.”
I flashed him a nasty look as I stopped a couple of feet from the both of them. “You broke a code, brother.”
Mason let go of my sister and eased her back a couple of steps. “Yeah, about that...” He stepped closer to me. In my peripheral vision, I saw our brothers circle around him and Luce, our VP, Liam, directing it. Finally, I caught sight of Slade coming out of the clubhouse. He directed another lot of them, encircling me and Natasha. Yeah, they were readying for a fucking beatdown.
“You know me, Cole. I take our codes seriously.”
“Yet, here we are. With the great, honorable Mason Cross breaking a major one.”
“This was different.”
I scoffed.
“I was ready to let you deal out the punishment, beat me down, Cole. But we’re way beyond that now.” The asshole stepped right up to me, getting in my face. “After what you did.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I hissed back at him.
“Her!” he bellowed, gesturing angrily at Natasha a ways behind being blocked by several club members.
Fuck. I couldn’t go the violent route right now.
My woman needed me. I could see she was in a state, growing more anxious by the second with what was going on right now. She was my priority, her and our baby. Not dealing out punishment to settle a goddamn betrayal.
I had to do whatever I could, say whatever I could to end it right now.
I took in Mason and Luce watching me, both of them on edge. Mason, because he knew how wild and dangerous I could get when I was under threat, or anyone I loved was under threat. He knew he’d crossed a line, even as he stood there trying to justify it and play it off like it was nothing. And, Luce, because she wanted me to give my
blessing. She also wanted me to confirm that I hadn’t just fed her to the wolves to save Natasha. That wasn’t what’d happened. I’d damn well ensured she was protected by the best and, regardless of our issues, Mason was undoubtedly that.
The fact that either of them needed me to reassure them and prove myself like this, publicly in front of the club, too, which was fucking insulting, cut me down to the bone. After everything we’d been through together, I couldn’t believe they would question where I stood.
But, fuck, I couldn’t deal with it right now.
And, so, I forced myself to grind out as casually as possible, “You’ll get over it.”
Mason shook his head, his voice taking on a dangerously low tone. “Nah. There’s no getting over it. Not this time. You and me? We’re done. And you continue to bring her up to the clubhouse and I’m done being around here too. I’ll only be up for Church from now on.”
“Look, Mason—” I started, reaching for his arm.
“No!” he yelled, shaking me off. “It doesn’t bother me so much about the disrespect you’ve shown me. It’s the decision you made by going after Natasha. The choice you made by doing so.”
“You don’t understand. There’s more to it.” A hell of a lot more.
“You put your sister in danger. Right in Nik Stone’s line of fire. The second you made the decision to bring in Natasha, you made Luce a target. And you knew it. You chose Natasha’s wellbeing over Luce’s.”
“I—”
I didn’t get the chance to finish my sentence.
Mason’s fist slammed into the side of my face like a fucking concrete block. I hissed, then grunted as my knees smashed onto the asphalt. My weary body had been through too fucking much recently. I was tapped out. Not a great time to take a hit from one of the hardest men in the goddamn club. Mason was way stronger when he was angry. Just like me. It really wasn’t good fucking timing that I’d decided to cool it and swallow down my own emotions. “Fuck.”
“Cole! Oh my God!” I heard Natasha screaming. There was a scuffle at my back and I heard her cursing and struggling.
Before I could react, Mason spat on the floor just shy of me, telling me, “I’ll never forgive you.”
