“I love you,” Quincy whispered. In a moment, he had pulled Anne close to his body, holding her tightly and avoiding having to look at her for fear of what she might say in retaliation.
Any other time, and Anne might have given Quincy a smart remark. Instead, she held the silence for a few moments longer. Only when their breathing had evened out did she speak.
“I love you, too. No matter who you used to be.”
Quincy let himself smile. A genuine smile that stretched his cheeks and made it hard to see, his eyes scrunched up with joy.
16. RUTHLESS, Sons of Silence
By: Emily Lovell
RUTHLESS, Sons of Silence
©Emily Lovell, 2016 – All rights reserved
Published by Steamy Reads4U
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
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Warning
This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
Chapter One
Mother always told me to stay away from the guys who road motorcycles and smoked outside of the liquor store. She told me to never talk to them because they might try to get me to do something that I might regret. My mother also told me to never judge people by the way that they looked, and that was exactly what she was doing.
“Leah,” my mother said as we walked into the grocery store. “I know that you’re eighteen years old now and you think that you’re grown, but you better listen to my warning.”
“What mom?” I asked as I walked down the aisles with my mother.
“You saw those motorcycle boys outside just now didn’t you?” I sighed. Every time mother saw a boy on a motorcycle and I was around, my mother always said something about them.
“Yes I did mother and I’m not going to speak to them.” Mother smiled and kept on walking. I shook my head in disbelief. Mother didn’t normally meddle in my life too much because I did well in school and never got into any trouble, so why did she seem to have this need to always tell me to stay away from people on motorcycles? I didn’t date much and when I did it never lasted long. I honestly didn’t even find any of the guys in the motorcycle club to be attractive.
I wasn’t the best looking eighteen year old in the world, but even I have standards when it came with how I wanted my man to look. My hair is curly and light brown which never came out the way that I wanted it to when I got dressed in the mornings. I’m incredibly short standing at 5’2 and only one hundred and two pounds. I was Latina mixed with an assortment of other nationalities, but I didn’t know a lick of Spanish. My amber skin was flawless and many said that my grey eyes were enticing. Not trying to sound conceited, but I knew that I could pull an attractive man and attractive wasn’t prevalent among the men in the motorcycle club.
“Are you listening to me?” my mother said and I came back down to reality.
“Sorry, what did you say?” my mother sighed.
“I said can you get some milk” my mother repeated irritably. My mother didn’t like repeating herself at all. I nodded my head and walked towards the refrigerator section. I picked up a milk carton, looked at the expiration date, and began the short walk to my mother and that’s when I saw the most beautiful man that I’ve ever seen.
“Excuse me,” his deep voice said as he rounded the corner and I almost ran into him. I blushed at the deepness of his voice. The man had to be around twenty-two or twenty-three years old. His eyes were a deep black and they looked inviting. He had to be taller than me by at least a foot. His skin was tanned and he looked like he wasn’t foreign to working out. I shook my head once I realized I was practically drooling over him.
“Oh no I’m sorry; I should have been paying attention.” He nodded his head and walked around me, not giving me a second look. I stood there and watched the muscles in his legs ripple as he walked away. There was something about him they drew me to him. He wasn’t dressed professional or anything; he wore a black jacket with a white shirt and blue jeans. I felt like that was the only look that suited him. He didn’t need a suit or a polo shirt, he was gorgeous the way that he was. I watched him for as long as I could before he rounded another corner, disappearing from my sight. I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket then. “Hello,” I said not bothering to look at my caller ID.
“What is taking you so long? I’m already in line.” My mother said almost screaming into the phone.
“I’m sorry; I’ll be there in a few seconds.” I said and hung up the phone. I hurried over to my mother and she was already placing her things on the counter to be rung up.
“About time,” my mother muttered.
“Sorry,” I said again sheepishly. What else could I possibly say? I was gawking at a hot hunk of a man, which is why I took so long? My mom would have freaked out! The cashier rung us up quickly and before long we were walking out of the door. As we walked to our van, a man pulled off on his motorcycle in front of us. My eyes went wide when I saw who it was. It was the guy I was drooling over! He stopped allowing us to pass in front of him before he started moving again. My grey eyes were locked onto his beautiful face. My mother grunted once he pulled out of the parking lot.
“You see that one? He doesn’t even care about his life riding on that motorcycle without a helmet. A guy like that wouldn’t care about your life either.” I heard my mother talking, but I didn’t hear the words that she was saying. For a brief moment my eyes was held by those deep black ones and I felt my heart beat faster. He was nothing like the guys that I saw riding on motorcycles. My mom and I live in a small town and the only people who used motorcycles were “up to no good” as my mother always said. The guy appeared to be a little mysterious, but I was sure he was nothing like my mother thought he was like. I had to see him again, but did I have the courage to go to where they met up at? I helped my mother load the car up with the groceries and I sat in my seat deep in thought.
* * * *
My mom was going on and on about today’s youth and how misguided we are. My mom was older than most parents my age. My mom had me when she was forty and since she was pushing sixty, she acted more like my grandmother than my mother. It was just me and her at home, my father died when I was four years old from a heart attack and my mother never remarried or had any other children. This is the reason why she wanted me to follow a certain path in life. She lost a lot of people in her almost sixty years on earth and she didn’t want to lose me too. After I helped my mother put the groceries up, I excused myself to go into my room. I shut the door and plopped down heavily onto my twin bed and thought about Mr. hot and dangerous again.
“I wonder if I’d be able to see him again?” I asked myself as I remembered the intensity of his eyes. I knew that I didn’t have the same effect on him, he was able to walk passed me without a second glance. I felt foolish for thinking this, but I absolutely needed to see him again today. When I got the need to do something, that need kept nagging me until I’ve actually gotten up to do it. I pulled my phone out of my purse and looked at the time. It was 4:38 and I normally saw people meet up at 5:30 with their motorcycles across the street from the liquor store ran by George. I had
a book that needed to be dropped off at the library, it wasn’t due yet but the library was a short walk from the liquor store. My mom wouldn’t question me that much if I told her I was going to drop off a book.
“Mom,” I opened my bedroom door and called out to her.
“Stop yelling in the house, come out here if you have something to say to me.” I sighed and walked into the living room where my mother was situated.
“I forgot that I had to take a book back to the library. Can I go drop it off right quick?” My mother looked at me long and hard almost like she was questioning my sincerity.
“You shouldn’t forget things like this,” she said turning back towards the TV and changing the channel. “Hurry up and be careful.” I smiled and went back into my room and grabbed the book.
“Alright see you soon” I said and I was gone.
Chapter Two
It’s hot today; almost ninety degrees and I questioned myself if I was still a bit too overdressed. I wore a peach tank top with some blue jean capris with flip flops and I was still burning up.
“I should’ve put on some shorts instead.” I mumbled to myself. Maybe the man that had captured my interest was a fan of long legs? I might have been short, but I had legs for days. I walked down the streets of my lonely town and I had finally made it to the liquor where the motorcyclists frequented every day around this time. I looked over towards the group and noticed that the person that I came for wasn’t there yet. “I’ll walk around the store for a little while then,”
“How are you doing today, Leah?” George, the owner of the store said. Since this was a pretty small town, just about everybody knew each other. I flashed my grin at him.
“I’m good, but it’s hot today.” George laughed and nodded his head in agreement. I didn’t want George to become suspicious of me so I walked to where the chips was at and grabbed me a bag and then I grabbed me a pop. I walked around a little more trying to make it appear that I was still looking for something to buy and then I made my way to the counter. I wasn’t in the store long, but hopefully it was long enough for the man to be across the street.
“Tell your momma I said hi,” George said and I nodded my head and walked out of the door. I paused outside the door and looked across the street. I sighed when I saw that he wasn’t there. Maybe he’ll be here after I’ve dropped my book off; I thought to myself and began walking again. The library was ten minutes from the store and I thought that twenty minutes would be more than enough time for him to make it to there. At least, that was what I was hoping. The library was closed on Saturdays so I was happy that nobody would be around once I dropped my book off. The heat was really starting to get to me then and I needed to sit down for a moment. After I slid my book through the return box, I sat down on the steps and got my pop out of the bag. Even though I only bought it so that George wouldn’t look at me oddly, I was glad that I had done so. I drunk down the liquid and fanned myself as I did. One would think that I’d be used to our hot and dry weather, but I wasn’t and it was killing me. I was sweating like crazy and I was starting to feel a little light headed. Opening my bag of chips I began woofing them down like crazy. Why was I starting to feel this bad? The heat had never gotten to me the way that it was getting to me now.
“Man,” I said and fanned myself some more. I was starting to feel incredibly sick. I might have to cut my little adventure pretty short. I frowned when that thought came into my head. I really wanted to see the man again, but I didn’t want him to see me while I was feeling the way that I was feeling. I stood up on wobbly legs and immediately sat back down. I was in no condition to walk right now.
“Hey, are you okay?” I barely heard someone say as they killed the engine to their car. I looked up in a daze and my face turned bright red when I saw who it was. It was him! I jumped up completely forgetting about the dizzy state that I was in.
“Oh yes, I’m fine just a little hot.” I said a bit nervously. The man furrowed his brow in concern.
“You don’t look okay,” he said walking closer to me. “You look like you’re about to pass out.” I blushed when he was within arm’s reach of me then. He stuck his hand in his pants pocket and handed me a rag. “Take it, this is clean.” I took the rag out of his hand and smiled.
“Thank you” I said and just stared at the man. He was still wearing his jacket and I couldn’t understand that. It was too hot to be wearing a leather jacket.
“Um, are you going to use it?” he asked confused.
“Huh?” I said stupidly.
“There’s sweat running down your face. Don’t you want to wipe it off?” I blushed in humiliation once I processed what he had said. I wiped my face furiously with the towel.
“Sorry,” I said embarrassed. He gave me a small smile.
“Its fine,” he said and sat on the lower step. “Are you waiting for your ride or something?” he asked looking at my now dry face. I shook my head.
“No I walked here; I needed to drop a book off.”
“You walked outside in this heat? You must not live too far from here.” I couldn’t believe that he said that wearing that hot jacket.
“I live about thirty-five minutes away by foot.” His mouth hung open wide and I saw the perfect rows of white teeth in his mouth.
“Are you serious?” he asked incredulously. He shook his head in disbelief, “Look I know that I am a stranger and all, but let me at least take you home. You look like you’ll pass out any minute now.” I couldn’t believe he just offered me a ride home. “I’m sure your mother wouldn’t want you dying from heat stroke out here. That was your mother in the store right?” I smiled on the inside when I realized that he remembered me. That made me so happy.
“Yeah, but my mother told me to never accept rides from strangers,” I said jokily with him. He laughed.
“I bet, especially strangers with motorcycles.” I flushed then. I’m pretty sure that this man knew what the people of our town said about motorcyclists. There weren’t too many people who approved of them. “I won’t hurt you or nothing, besides this town is small. If I hurt you people would find out right away that I was the one who did it.” He stood up then and held his hand out to me and with a blush on my face, I took it. “I’m Justin by the way, what’s your name.” Justin helped me up and held my hand as he helped me walk down the stairs. His hand was large and cool despite the heat.
“I’m Leah,” I said and he went back to the stairs and picked up my bag and handed it to me.
“Very nice to meet you Leah,” With the way he spoke to me and how gentle he was acting, I knew that people were wrong about motorcyclists. Justin had to be one of the sweetest guys that I’ve ever met. I still think he was a bit mysterious, but he didn’t behave anyway like how my mother said that people like him behaved. He got the helmet that was attached to the side of his bike and placed it on my head. I was sure that my curls would be matted and sweated out by the time I got back to my house. My mother was even wrong about this; he did care about my safety. He got on his bike and reached his hand out to help me on. “Hold on tight,” he said once I was in place. I wrapped my arms around his back feeling like I was in a dream. The leather of his jacket was hot to touch, but the way that he smelled drew me in deeper. I closed my eyes as I heard the hum of his engine and felt the ripples of his abs.
Chapter Three
“Can you actually drop me off here?” I yelled hoping that he could hear me with all of the air that was blowing in his ears. I asked him to drop me off around the corner from my home where the city was building more homes. He stopped the motorcycle.
“Sure,” he looked up and down the street. “But I know that you don’t live in any of these homes.” I was glad that he was facing forward and couldn’t see my face.
“I live on the next block, my mother would be pretty mad if I came home this way.”
“I know what people say about us,” Justin said and helped me off of the motorcycle. I didn’t want to take the helmet of
f because I feared my hair would look terrible, but his hands gently tugged it off of me. “And they’re right.” He said once the helmet was off. I pulled the rag that he gave me out of my purse and wiped my face with it and I pulled matted strings of hair out of my face.
“I don’t think that about motorcyclists” I said looking him in the eyes. “I think you’re kind. You just randomly helped a stranger out without an ulterior motive.” Justin was the exact opposite of what people stereotyped people like him to be like. He was kind, gentle, and so much more. Justin smiled at me.
“Listen to their warning though, they’re not all wrong.” Justin said again and snapped the helmet on the side of his motorcycle. He walked back over to it and got back on. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet! I wanted to know more about him and maybe spend some time with him again.
“Justin,” I said nervously. He looked back at me and started up his motorcycle again. I took a deep breath. “I don’t really do things like this,” I used that very clichéd line. “But I’d like to get to know you a little bit better. Can I have your number?” Justin stared at me for a long while and my face began heating up under his stare. He smiled.
“Well…. I can’t say no to such a cute girl.” He said and I grinned. Justin told me his number and I saved it into my phone with lightning speed “Call me sometimes,” He revved up his bike, made a U-turn in the street and was gone. I stood in the middle of the street with a toothy grin on my face. I walked the short distance to my house feeling absolutely amazing.
“I’m home!” I said opening the door to the house. I could smell my mother cooking in the kitchen.
“What took you so long?” I walked into the kitchen and kissed my mother on the cheek. I didn’t know why I did it though. It was probably because I was filled with so much happiness. “What’s gotten into you?” she asked surprised by my sudden affection.
Romance: My Stepbrother's Plaything Page 64
