by Naomi West
The distant sound of a motorcycle caught her ear, and she slowed down to listen to it. Was it Torque? Blue shook her head. She couldn’t tell the sound of one man’s motorcycle from another, and there were plenty of them in the city. No reason to think—or hope—that it might be him.
Gunshots punctuated the night, making her freeze. They weren’t immediately nearby, but they weren’t far enough away to make her feel safe. She turned around and jogged back toward the deep shadows of the park. Slipping under a tree, Blue fiddled with her phone. She could call 911, but she wouldn’t know what to report. There had been gunshots, but she couldn’t be sure exactly where they had come from. Someone else was probably already making a more detailed report, and her brightly lit screen would only make her conspicuous.
She shut it off as soon as she heard the rumble of motorcycles, this time several of them and headed her way. Blue held her breath as three men rode by. She didn’t recognize them, but the patches on the backs of their vests were familiar ones. They were Dirty Bastards, and they rode slowly through town with their narrow eyes scanning the streets. Were they looking for her, or just trouble of any sort? Blue didn’t know, and she didn’t want to find out. She pressed her back against the rough bark of the tree, holding her breath and silently praying that nobody chose that moment to call her.
The three bikers slid through the intersection and kept going. There were no more sounds of gunshots or bikes, only the distant whir of traffic on the main highway and a dog barking somewhere in the night. Blue let out her breath and braced herself against the tree for a moment. That could have just been a very close call, but she was all right. Time to go home.
A hand wrapped around her mouth from behind and pulled her backwards.
Chapter Ten
Blue
Blue had already been breathing hard from fear, but the air threatened to escape her body completely as she struggled to get out of the man’s grip. His fingers wrapped hard over her face, and a strong arm pulled her body further into the shadows. She tried to open her mouth to scream, to bite him, anything, but she couldn’t part her lips. Flailing her fists at the assailant did little good, since he was so much bigger and stronger than she was. She landed glancing blows to his thighs, which were about the only thing she could reach, but it didn’t seem to affect him. Her fingers bounced off his muscles with no effect. He was too strong, and they were now so far into the thick grove of trees at the park that there was no chance anyone would see her. She was doomed.
“Hold still,” came a harsh whisper at her ear. “You’re only making this harder.”
Pausing, Blue tried to turn around. The voice was too familiar, but there was nothing she could see in the dark, and her captor kept her firmly in front of him. She forced her body to calm down, but her heart continued to thunder in her ears.
“Now, I’m going to take my hand away, but you have to promise me that you won’t scream. It’ll only get us both in trouble. Do you promise?”
Blue gave a quick nod and sucked in a breath as her face was released. The arm stayed around her waist, but it held her loosely enough that she was able to swivel around to face her attacker. She was prepared to shove her knee into his junk or poke her finger into his eye, but she quickly realized there was no need. The shadows of the trees were pitch black, but a triangle of moonlight made its way through the leaves to highlight one of his eyes. It was an obsidian orb, glittering as it looked down on her. “Is that really you, Torque?”
“Well, I could have been anybody if you’re going to go around creeping through the park at night!” he growled. “This isn’t the time or the place for taking a walk, when anybody could just come up behind you and grabbed you. What the hell were you doing out here? I checked at the shop and at your house. I thought something had happened to you.”
“Me?” Blue felt more attacked than she had when the biker had grabbed her in the shadows. What right did he have to reprimand her when he hadn’t even come by the shop to say hi? He had no control over her. “What about you? You’re out here, creeping through the park, as you put it. I guess I’m not allowed to be out here at night, but you are?”
“Yes, because I’m looking for you.” His arm tightened around her, pulling her body closer to his and reducing her chances of slugging him in the mouth.
She was scowling at him, even though she knew he couldn’t see her. “Why? You haven’t been coming around for weeks now.” Inside, she was glad to see him. Her heart leaped at the idea of being in his arms. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him, and knowing that a baby was on the way had only made matters worse. But she kept her lips wrapped tightly around that secret. For all she knew, Torque was only looking for her because he was horny and needed a quick fuck. “Where have you been? What have you been doing?”
“It really doesn’t matter.” His arm loosened around her, ever so slightly.
But Blue didn’t miss the fractional change in his hold. “I think it might. Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on?”
The biker gave a sigh of exasperation. “I was healing, okay? Rat’s men beat the holy living shit out of me, and it took some time before I was ready to get out of bed and get moving again.”
“Oh.” Blue suddenly felt awful. She had been so selfish over the last few weeks, wondering why Torque wasn’t coming around and just assuming it was because he didn’t want to. She had decided it was all about her, but she wasn’t the only one involved in this. She knew he had taken a beating for her, but she hadn’t realized just how bad it had been. Their tryst in the tattoo shop had certainly led her to believe he was all right. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I did what I had to do. But right now, we’ve got to get you out of here. Do you have any out-of-state relatives you could stay with for a while?” He moved his hand to her arm and began leading her out of the trees.
Blue planted her feet, refusing to go any further until she had some answers. This man had been nothing but confusing and unsettling since she had met him, and it was time it stopped. “I suggest you tell me what’s going on, or else I’m not going anywhere. Hell, I might not anyway.”
He could easily have dragged her across the ground or thrown her over his shoulders. Blue could feel the strength in his arms, threatening to be used. But he let go of her and turned to face her once again. She couldn’t really see him, but she could feel his presence like a thick shadow hanging over her.
Torque’s fist pounded lightly on the tree behind her. “There was a shooting last night. I just found out about it this morning.”
She struggled to understand what that had to do with anything. “Yes, I heard about it on the radio. Half the businesses downtown have closed for a few days over it, and all the anti-gun groups are on the rampage. They said an officer was killed. What about it?” A horrific thought struck her, one that made her feel dizzy all over again. “You didn’t shoot a cop, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” he retorted. “I wasn’t even there. But that shootout was between the Dirty Bastards and Satan Seed, and our clubs are at war now. Rat already has it out for you, and he’s likely to get stirred up all over again with this happening. I need to get you to a safe place before something happens.
“I see.” Things made a little more sense now. There had been the gunfire in the distance, and then there had been the three Bastards who had ridden by. Blue had no way of knowing if they’d been looking for her or if they’d been just looking for trouble in general, but she didn’t want to know. Torque was probably right about Rat, and he had already messed up her life enough. She not only had to worry about what was going to happen with her career and her life now that she was going to be a mother, she had to just make sure she kept herself alive.
But then she remembered just who and what Torque was. He was a worthless biker, and if he was here to get her to a safe place then it was only because he expected something from her. No, she didn’t need him to protect her, and she twisted her arm away
from him. “Fine. But I can take care of myself. I don’t need your help with any of this.”
Torque regained his hold easily. “Uh, yeah, you do. There are Bastards all over the city right now. I parked my bike a half a mile back just to make sure I wouldn’t be seen anywhere near your shop, since that’s what Rat will expect. It’s not safe for you to be out here alone, even on a good night, and I’m sure as hell not letting you walk back home alone.”
“That’s quite the act of chivalry for someone like you.” Blue wasn’t going anywhere, not with him, and certainly not because he told her to. Dirty Bastards be damned, especially if they came across her in her current mood.
“And just what is that supposed to mean?” He was in front of her, his face tipped down to hers and the muscles of his arms alternately tensing and relaxing. She could feel the shift in his body as he grabbed her around the waist.
Blue jutted her chin up at him, feeling angry and defiant. “I think you know exactly what that means. You come around the shop, all interested in saving me and being the hero of the day. You were there so much that Spencer was just about ready to start writing you paychecks as a part-time security officer, but once you got what you needed from me, you disappeared. I don’t appreciate being used, Torque.”
“I used you?” He gave a snort of a laugh and pulled her an inch closer. “You were the one who told me over and over again how awful bikers were. You didn’t want to have anything to do with me, but you slept with me anyway.”
The way his body had felt underneath her that night was still clear in her mind. He had been so hard and muscular, holding a kind of strength she had been longing for. Unbidden, her hands travelled up to splay against his wide chest as her throat tightened. “You could have stopped me.”
“I’m not an idiot. Why would I stop a beautiful woman from making love to me?”
She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. Blue was supposed to be angry, but she knew flattery when she heard it. “And what about after that? You didn’t have to disappear like that. Even injured, you could have gotten a hold of me. I don’t think I’m that hard to find.” It had hurt her, whether she wanted to admit it to herself or not.
“You made it very clear you didn’t want me around. I’m just a low-down, rotten, no-good biker, remember?”
Their bodies were so close now that she could feel the heat radiating off his skin to touch hers despite the coolness of the shadows and the night. Her heartbeat raced to match his, and she closed her eyes just to focus on the feel of it all. Their lips were only a fraction of an inch apart, and she swore she could feel the very edges of his skin as she spoke. “Oh, yes. I remember. You’re awful. But I’ve not always been known for making the best decisions.”
He kissed her then, and she let herself be pulled into his embrace. They could argue all day long, but their bodies always seemed to agree. Blue opened her mouth and gave herself to him. She forgot about her own troubles, about Torque’s absence over the last few weeks, over the way he had practically kidnapped her in the park. None of it mattered right now, because they were together. Her arms floated up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer, if it was even possible.
When his hands slid under her shirt, she made no move to stop him. She relished the feel of his rough skin as he explored her, tracing the lines of her back and curling around the front of her hips and up to cup her breasts. It was then that she leaned away from him, but only to give him access to anything he wanted. Her shirt was off, disappearing into the night, and Torque reached for the waistband of her yoga pants. Blue let him wriggle them down off her hips and throw them after her shirt, but only if he didn’t stop kissing her.
He pressed his thumb at the crotch of her panties, slowly rubbing in small circles. Blue barely held herself up by clutching at his shoulders, pulsing her hips to his rhythm. He knew how to make her wet with just a touch, or even a look, and she gasped with pleasure and surprise as his fingers drew aside the fabric of her undergarments to touch her skin. His hand was so warm, and the sudden contact made her body leap toward him.
Her own fingers shaking from being so ready, Blue pulled at his belt buckle and reached for the treasure she knew was waiting for her. Torque’s member was hot and ready in her hands, and she caressed it with her fingertips. Oh, how she had been waiting for this. There had been so many nights since the last time she had seen him that she had wished he would show up at her door just to torture her with that body of his. He was so thick, so alive, and his raw masculinity made her weak in the knees. She wrapped her hands around his cock and tightened her grip, wanting to bring him the same kind of pleasure he could bring her.
“I want you,” she whispered desperately into the night.
“No. Not yet. I want to make sure you get what you need before I take mine.” His words made her quiver inside all over again. “I’m not just here to mess around with you, Blue. I’m not here to control you or make you a part of something you don’t want to be involved in. But I want you, and I’m going to make sure you know it.” The movements of his thumb increased.
Blue moaned softly, now so dizzy she didn’t know if she could stand any longer.
With his free hand, Torque wrapped his strong fingers around the backs of her thighs and pulled her up into the air. Blue wrapped her legs around him, and he turned to put her back against the tree. She was floating in the night air, so far above the ground that she had no idea how long it would take to fall back down again. She could feel his package pressing against her even as she continued to please him with her hands, and her core was now spread wide for him.
“Oh, yes,” she whispered.
“That’s right. You’ll get everything you need.” His hand practically vibrated against her most sensitive place, his fingers working to bring her to her to rapture.
Blue melted into the tree behind her as her body convulsed from the inside out. Stars burst in her vision as her legs shivered around him. It was pure pleasure, but it wouldn’t stop. Her body was responding to his, singing back to him in repeated melodies of demand, desire, and satisfaction, and it was relentless. “Please,” she begged. “I need you inside me, or I’ll never stop coming.”
“I don’t want you to.” But he did as she asked and entered her, his cock calming the tidal wave of elation that had possessed her body. He pounded into her as his hands grasped her ass.
Blue didn’t think she’d ever felt something so wild, so pleasurable, so feral. She put her arms behind her and wrapped them around the tree, tipping her face and her breasts up to the night and giving herself over to the primitive parts of her mind and body that knew exactly what they wanted and would stop at nothing to get them.
Torque bent his head to kiss her nipples as he fucked her against the tree, pulling them into his mouth and sucking them hard. He knew just what she needed. Yet another wave of undulating gratification flowed through her body, and Torque felt it. He thrust harder as his member swelled, bringing them both to the brink and pushing them over the edge to fall together.
Blue panted as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Torque leaned forward and pressed his forehead to her shoulder. Neither one of them wanted to break the embrace, but they knew they couldn’t stay like that forever. Finally, Torque leaned back to break her contact with the tree, and he used the strength of his arms to let her slowly slide down his body.
Being back on her feet again was slowly bringing Blue back to reality. They weren’t in some mystical forest where they could just strip down and do what they wanted. They were in the park, and there could be Dirty Bastards all around them by now. She was almost completely naked, and she fished around on the ground with her toe for her clothing. Most of all, there was something they needed to discuss. “Torque.”
“Yes?” His voice was rough, almost rasping.
“There’s something I need to tell you.” Blue didn’t want to. Telling Torque the truth could completely change things, and only a moment ago she had really bee
n enjoying their relationship. But this was going to happen. Just as surely as her body had demanded his, just as surely as her body would grow and change around the baby, her tongue was going to spill out her secret.
“Go ahead.”
She had expected him to put her off, to argue that they had already wasted enough time with their passion and that it was time to get a move on. But he didn’t, and there was no turning back now. “Torque, I’m pregnant.”
Chapter Eleven
Torque
“You didn’t just seriously do this to me, did you?” Acer paced the length of the bar at the Clubhouse. His dark gray eyes were steely as he glared at Torque. “We’re right on the verge of war, and you bring some useless interloper here? I thought you were smarter than that.”
Torque glanced at Blue, who slouched in a booth in the corner. She could hear them clearly, but Acer insisted on talking about her as though she wasn’t there. Torque knew it was completely against their protocol to bring strangers back to their domain. But he hadn’t been about to leave her out at the park in the first place, and after her news he couldn’t leave her anywhere.
