Noose (Road Kill MC #1)

by Marata Eros

  “Listen, I had an episode,” I say in a low voice.

  “Oh God. Where are you, Rose?” Dad’s voice is commanding, taking charge of the situation.

  “I'm at Kent Valley.”

  “You didn't have your protein.”

  I think of Noose's cum. I kind of had some protein. Oh God. I shut my eyes, wanting to crawl in a hole somewhere.

  “Yeah. I sort of forgot.”

  “ʻSort ofʼ doesn't cut it, Rose.”

  “My friend got me here.”

  “Some friend,” he huffs.

  You have no idea.

  “The hospital see your tattoo, honey?” Mom asks in the background.

  Dad's got the call on speaker.

  “Yes.”

  Their silence is touchable relief.

  “Good,” Dad says. “Charlie's fine. May be on a sugar high for a week.”

  The first smile of the day breaks across my face. “That's great, Dad. I'll be getting out of here soon and be right over.”

  “Take your time, Rose. Daddy and I don't want you pushing it. You know how weak you become after an episode—”

  “I'm fine. I've got a glucose drip, Mom.”

  I hear her sigh.

  “Okay. We'll see you soon?”

  I nod, realize she can't see me, then answer, “Yes.”

  “Love you, Rose,” Dad says, but I still hear the reprimand in his voice.

  I've been stupid.

  Lust crushed my IQ like a car crash.

  “Love you too, Dad.”

  I swipe the cell and pop it onto the tray.

  “Nice family,” Snare says.

  I glare at him.

  His smile fades. “What's your problem?”

  What's not my problem? The Road Kill MC doesn't know about Drake. They don't know that much. Noose has targeted me for God knows what reason.

  Pussy, he'd say.

  I suck in a shaky inhale. Right. Sex.

  Or maybe I'm just another sister destined to be used up by a biker.

  Not this girl.

  *

  “My problem is glucose,” I admit in a flat voice.

  Snare's eyebrows jerk up. “Yeah?” He slaps his jean-clad thighs. “They wouldn't tell me dick.” He shrugs. “Nurses weren't too thrilled to have my ass in here.”

  I can’t help but laugh. Snare's just as blunt as Noose.

  I study him. Maybe not.

  His cut says sergeant-in-arms, abbreviated. I guess there are roles to fill within the biker gangs. I'd never wanted to know too much when Anna was gushing about Drake in the beginning.

  In the end she wasn't gushing; Anna was hiding.

  I exhale in a rush, looking at my hands.

  Snare asks, “What's that mean? Glucose?”

  “I need to eat really regularly. Protein-based stuff.” My face heats. “If I get too low in my sugars, I can sort of noodle-out.” I look up, and his brows are together. The scar across his face ripples as he scrunches his nose. “I’ll pass out.”

  He snorts. “Scared the piss outta Noose.”

  Doubt that. Probably just wanted to get my ass out of there. But he did avert disaster. “I appreciate him taking me here.”

  I knot my hands together. Not knowing what to say.

  “He likes you.”

  I jerk my head toward him, shaking it softly. “No, he said, we're just—”

  Getting off. “Casual.”

  Snare grunts. “Uh-huh. Whatever you say.”

  I nod my head vigorously. “Yeah, I do.”

  “So what do you do now?” he asks, changing the subject

  “If my sugars are good, they'll release me.”

  “Seems simple.”

  I nod. “Usually.”

  Simple stops as Noose walks in, with a nurse at his heels.

  “Hey!” she says, nipping at him.

  I can't contain my smile. He whirls, and she bounces off his chest, stumbling backward.

  His muscular chest.

  He catches her arm, steadying her.

  “Relax, Nurse”—his eyes grab at her nametag—“Bethany.”

  Wide eyes glare up at him. “This girl is under my care. I need to assure her vitals are perfect.”

  A smile curls Noose's lips. “I can vouch for her vitals.”

  Oh. My. God. My face bursts into flames.

  Nurse Bethany turns to me.

  “I know him,” I say in a choked voice.

  Boy, do I.

  Noose turns to stare at me, and the blush I feel deepens. How could I ever think I could walk away from him?

  He's a force of nature. No tornado, erupting volcano, or tsunami could hold a candle to Noose.

  He leaves Nurse Bethany in a daze and walks toward my bedside, giving an almost imperceptible nod in Snare's direction.

  Noose leans against my bed and takes my hand. “How you feeling?”

  Now that you're here? Wet.

  I swallow. Not a good reply, Rose. “Better.”

  Nurse Bethany comes over, making a wide berth around Noose.

  I flip my palm over, and she sticks my finger. I wince, and Noose gives her a look of contained thunder.

  “I'm taking her sugars, not that it is any of your concern,” she tells him with a sniff.

  He looks at me. “Everything about Rose is my concern.”

  Oh God.

  The nurse huffs dismissively, finishes with my pulse and breathing, and jots some notes down after looking at what's gone into my body and what my heart's doing.

  “You look good.”

  “Yeah,” Noose agrees, eyes at half-mast.

  I shut my eyes so I don't have to look at Nurse Bethany's expression.

  “I'll have the doctor sign you out,” she says slowly as my face burns, “then you're free to go.”

  I pop open my eyes, feeling a sudden urgency to use the bathroom, run a comb through the rat's nest of my hair, and brush the rug off my teeth.

  “Okay,” I say. “I need to go to the bathroom.”

  Her eyes narrow on Noose and Snare. “Would you give this young woman a moment?”

  The men share a sheepish glance, and as they move toward the door, a relieved exhale slips out.

  Nurse Bethany watches the door swing closed and hands me a card.

  It has a domestic abuse hotline on it.

  My shame breathes to hot life again. “It's not like that. Noose hasn't hurt me.”

  “Noose?” she asks.

  Her disdain hangs between us.

  “He will.” Her footsteps ring as she charges out of my room.

  I finger the glossy card, wondering how my life slid into chaos in three days.

  Or maybe it's been headed that direction for a long time.

  11

  Noose

  Rose is quiet as we use the old pickup to get back to her little car at Scenic Park.

  She looks a little better. She took a drive-through shower at the hospital, and her color's back to normal.

  I hate how relieved I am.

  “I said some shit back there…” I shake my head. This relationship shit blows.

  Is this relationship shit?

  “Yeah,” Rose replies. We both start talking, and she holds up her hand. “I'm not saying I don't like you.”

  I whip my head in her direction. “Like me? Fuck!” I pound the steering wheel, and she flinches. “I think we've goddamned established the like part, Rose.”

  Her face dips, and I swear, this girl makes me feel like a dick without even trying. Unless I am one.

  That bit of self-realization bites.

  I ease into a parking slot, jamming the gearshift to park, and slide to face her.

  She looks so small and vulnerable sitting there.

  “I can't let you leave this truck without knowing what cocksucker tried to choke you.”

  Her eyes tighten, and her lips flatten. “Why? So you can go all gangsta on him and kill him?”

  What the fuck? I lean forward and growl t
he truth. “Maybe.” Images of killing knots shuffle through my mind like a deck of cards.

  She leans back against the door. “I don't want any more killing, Noose.”

  “Killing needs to be done sometimes. All the beautiful people want to believe that they're safe, but they're not. Nobody's safe, Rose.”

  A tear rolls out of her eye, she brushes it away, and another takes its place.

  My status in dickdom is now secure. “Fuck,” I mutter, tapping my fingers along the wheel.

  “She was only nineteen,” Rose says, stuttering through her tears, and I sharpen right up. Her angry eyes glare up at mine. But she's talking, and I keep my fat mouth shut for once.

  “She met some biker guy.” Her eyes accuse me. I finish the sentence for her, like you.

  I let that go too, but patience isn't my best trait. I can feel it thinning like skin over a drum.

  “He was dangerous. Had money. Showered Anna with the forbidden fruit type of stuff. She was in love.”

  I can tell by her tone of voice she thinks Anna didn't know about love yet.

  “Then he started getting mean. Violent.”

  This is where she really piques my interest.

  “One day, Anna never came home, and she wouldn't have left Charlie for anything. Even though by this time, she was smoking out with weed, lying to our parents—anything to be with Drake.”

  She says his name like a curse word.

  Rose bites her bottom lip, and an image of her mouth on my dick floats through my mind. I kill it ruthlessly. What kind of dick lets thoughts of sex run through his mind when a chick's in shambles?

  Uh-huh. I get back on point. “You think Drake killed Anna?” I know he did. I know more about him now than I want to.

  Her eyes land on mine, dark and fathomless. Eyes like Rose's could bring a man to his knees.

  Maybe they have.

  “I know he did.”

  I don't let her off the hook. “Did Drake do this?” I sweep my palm in the direction of the bruise necklace around her throat.

  She tries to look away.

  I move across the seat, cradling her face between my hands, forcing her to look in my eyes. “Tell me,” I command.

  Rose jerks her head in a nod, her chest heaving as she begins to sob.

  I pull her against me. Her fright beats like a rabbit in a cage against me.

  That fucker Diablo will not have her.

  No one will.

  But me.

  *

  Rose

  I can't believe I told him.

  Noose turns off the engine of the truck and slides out. He strides toward the door and opens my side.

  He holds out his hand, and I slip mine inside.

  The shower I took at the hospital didn't cut it, I need a hot bath. I need my own house—and some space.

  Charlie.

  Noose hauls me into his arms, and I slide down the front of him, burying my nose in him as I go.

  I could drown in his scent. I tip my head back, staring into his light eyes. “The police let you go.”

  He smirks. “I'm here, aren't I?”

  I laugh. “Yeah.” I shake my head. “I'm not so smart right now, Noose. My nephew's at my parents’, and the hearing is Tuesday. I'm scared and tired.”

  “Hey…” He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses each knuckle. “You've got protection now.”

  I pull my hand away. “I like you.”

  I back up.

  “No, you don't,” Noose says, stalking toward me. He stops. “You think after all the shit that's come down, I'd hurt you?”

  I don't. There's no way that a man who could worship my body the way he did could hurt me. Physically.

  I shake my head.

  “Well, thank fuck for that.” He rakes fingers through his hair. “Then what's the problem?”

  I open my mouth to tell him that I don't want biker protection. A biker killed Anna and got away with it.

  Then he's in front of me, and I can't speak because of his nearness. I'm rumpled, tired, and full of the sex we had.

  And I want more.

  I hate myself for it. I hate that I'm like Anna. Because she's gone now. She left Charlie and me.

  We needed her, and she left.

  Then Noose is kissing me as if he'll die if I don't kiss him back.

  So I do.

  I wrap my arms around his strong neck, and his hands go to my ass, easily lifting me in his arms. He turns with me and presses me against the side of the pickup.

  His erection divides me, splitting my sex like a ripe fruit.

  “I never brushed my teeth,” he whispers between kisses. “I want the taste of you on my tongue, between my teeth.”

  My pussy soaks my yoga pants, and I groan.

  Noose says everything he's thinking.

  I love it.

  I hate it.

  I kiss him back harder, wanting what he offers. Not the protection but that part of him that he gives me.

  Unguarded. Organic. Pure.

  Hard.

  Hot.

  Noose wins out, dry humping me against the side of a pickup truck in Scenic Hill. Then a noise brings us out of our lust-filled states.

  “I'll take it from here,” a voice says.

  I know that voice.

  Metal sparkles in the final light of day. A wrench hits Noose.

  His eyes go wide, and his hands convulsively tighten on me.

  He staggers back, dragging me with him. A mix of lust and horror rip across his features.

  I scream.

  But at the hour between four and five in the afternoon, no one's in the park to hear us.

  Noose falls backward, hitting the ground hard. He's dazed but attempting to stand. Blood runs in a thick line from his head.

  Drake moves toward Noose, and I don't think.

  I land on his back.

  “Later, baby,” he says in a leering voice.

  I bite his neck like a vampire on crack.

  He howls, throwing me off.

  But it gets him away from Noose, who's crawling toward the truck.

  I blast off, running for all I'm worth. Yay for glucose drips.

  The wind plays with my hair.

  Then a hand grips it, and I fly backward, spinning.

  A fist rises like a small asteroid coming toward me.

  It lands.

  Fireworks shatter my vision.

  Then blackness is the solace to my dilemma, making the tough decisions for me.

  THE END

  Read More

  Never miss a new release. Subscribe:

  MARATA EROS NEWS

  If you enjoyed NOOSE, please consider posting your thoughts HERE and help a reader discover a new series. Thank you!

  ***Please read on for a

  FREE novel sampling....

  THE TOKEN SERIES

  A Token Novella Compilation

  Volumes 1-3

  New York Times Bestselling author

  MARATA EROS

  All Rights are Reserved.

  Copyright © 2013-14 Marata Eros

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to a legitimate retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Marata Eros Website

  Marata Eros FB Fan Page

  Editing suggestions provided by Red Adept Editing

  “Love sears the heart immortal

  The embers b
urnt down to the token which remains ....”

  Music that inspired me during the writing of The Token Serial:

  Joe Bonamassa

  Driving Towards the Daylight

  A Fuoco

  Ludovico Einaudi

  Twenty-two year old Faren Mitchell hears the two words that change her abbreviated life forever. They're so final Faren decides she has nothing to lose by seizing every remaining moment of what life has to offer.

  Until Faren collides with a motorcycle ridden by billionaire Jared McKenna.

  Even the dark secret of her past and catharsis as a physical therapist can't save Faren from the sexual spiral that waits for her in the arms of a man who commits to no one. When circumstances force her to get a second job as an exotic dancer, Faren never imagines how close that choice will bring her to the brink of a new reality she is unequipped to handle.

  THE TOKEN

  A Token Series Novella

  Volume 1

  New York Times Bestselling author

  MARATA EROS

  All Rights are Reserved.

  Copyright © 2013 Marata Eros

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to a legitimate retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Marata Eros Website

  Marata Eros FB Fan Page

  Editing suggestions provided by Red Adept Editing