Talon (The Road Rebels MC Book 2)

by Savannah Rylan

  I pulled on a pair of jeans and made my way for the door before I looked out to see who it was.

  I blinked the sleep from my eyes, thinking that I was simply seeing things. There was no way in the world that woman was back here. There was no way, after the last encounter we just had, that she’d risk everything coming back here.

  Unless there was something seriously wrong.

  I cursed myself as Calista started knocking on the door again. I looked around for a shirt before I ripped open the door, and the moment Calista saw my bare chest she licked her lips. I stepped out onto the porch and closed the door behind me, leaving Gemma to sleep on the couch, and the look I shot her was nothing short of disgusting.

  It disarmed her in a heartbeat, and she took a step back from me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I take it you being shirtless is just a coincidence,” she said.

  “The fuck do you want?” I asked.

  She seemed stunned by the way I was talking to her, and I had to take a few deeps breaths in order to calm myself. If Gemma looked out here and saw me standing with a woman dressed the way Calista was, I knew she would leave. I knew she’d get pissed and think that last night was just a little fuck for me.

  But it wasn’t. It was the culmination of years of dreams and regrets and infatuations. It was years of wishing she’d come home and hoping I’d see her during the summers. It was gallons of alcohol poured down my throat to try and drown her memory only for it to haunt me in my dreams.

  Like the sweetest of candies that a child could not have.

  “Let me go grab a shirt,” I said. “Then we can talk.”

  “Not gonna let me in?” she asked.

  “No, because this isn’t a pleasure visit. You got something to say?”

  She nodded, obviously disappointed by my lack of hospitality.

  “Then you’ll stay here. Were you followed?”

  She shook her head, and I sighed with relief.

  “Hold on.”

  I went back into my apartment and strode over to the couch. I picked my shirt up off the floor before I pressed another kiss into Gemma’s forehead. This was the kind of shit I didn’t want her getting involved in. The kind of seedy shit I had to do in order to garner information because of the bullshit situation the crew had found themselves in. I wanted to shelter her from all of this. To give her the life she truly wanted. Now that I’d had all of her in some of the ways I’d dreamed about, I never wanted to go back.

  No woman would ever be good enough anymore.

  I pulled my shirt over my head before I headed back for the door. I stopped, making damn sure Gemma was still asleep before I opened the door again. Calista was standing there, her arms crossed over her trembling body, and I sighed with contempt.

  Even though the sun was blazing outside, she was obviously cold.

  I searched around the parking lot, making sure there was nothing out of place. I looked around for cameras or black sedans or the shadows of motorcycles. I needed to make damn sure this wasn’t just a baited trap. I had my most precious cargo in this apartment, and I’d slaughter anyone who threatened to hurt her without blinking a fucking eye.

  And when I was satisfied that she hadn’t actually been followed, I reached into the apartment and grabbed her my cut.

  “Put this on. You look cold,” I said.

  “Happens when you don’t eat much.”

  “Why aren’t you eating?” I asked.

  “Reasons.”

  We stood there for a while, simply staring out at the road. Cars and trucks were passing us by, racing down a road people should’ve only been going forty miles an hour on. Just because it was fucking five lanes didn’t mean people needed to zoom down it like they were driving around a racetrack, but that was life for you.

  People feeling fucking entitled to do whatever the fuck it was they were going to do.

  “Why aren’t you eating?” I asked again.

  “I’m surprised you care,” she said.

  “Just because I’m not fucking you doesn’t mean I don’t care,” I said. “Now, why are you here?”

  She glanced at me before she sighed, then turned her body towards me as her eyes looked intensely into mine. That sparkle in her eyes was back. The one that wasn’t there at the diner. Except there was something else mixed with it. An urgency I’d never seen on her face until this very moment. I studied the way her bruises were growing, and the swelling on her eye was getting worse. I clocked the way she was still struggling to breathe and how the rings around her neck were getting worse.

  “You can’t eat because you’re in too much pain,” I said.

  The tears that rose to her eyes told me everything I needed to know.

  “Why risk coming back here?” I asked.

  “Because I needed to tell you what I found out,” she said.

  My blood ran cold at the cracking of her voice, but before I could question her about it, I heard a sound from behind the door.

  I whipped around and saw Gemma’s face in the window, her features set in stone while her eyes spoke of a silent anger I had yet to witness. She was kin to Snake, after all, and I could only imagine the temper she could brew whenever someone crossed her.

  And even though this situation wasn’t what I knew she thought it was, it didn’t stop her from marching away.

  “See you’ve already moved on,” Calista said.

  “There was nothing to move on from,” I said as I opened the door.

  “Don’t you wanna hear what I have to say?” Calista asked.

  “In a minute!”

  My only focus right now was Gemma. How she was throwing her clothes on with a blank face. How her tousled hair was blocking my view of her eyes. How her beautiful body was being covered up with clothes, she’d never wear if she lived with me, and while every single part of me wanted to stop her, I could tell by her posturing it was a bad idea.

  Snake had a bombastic sort of anger, but I was learning that Gemma’s was silent.

  Serene.

  Controlled.

  “Gemma, this isn’t what it looks like,” I said.

  But instead of answering me, she simply pushed past Calista and made her way to her car.

  “I like your hickies!” Calista called out after her.

  I’d never felt the need to hit a woman before, but at that very moment, I debated it. Gemma was leaving my place with one thought in her mind, and I had no idea how to skew her away from the false pieces she was putting together. But right now, I had more important things to take care of.

  Even as Calista pompously called out after Gemma, I could still see the fear behind her eyes.

  Something had happened with The Devil Saints, and I needed to know what the fuck it was.

  Chapter 14

  Gemma

  All night, I slept against Talon’s strong body. I fell asleep with his fingers running through my hair and his heart beating against my chest. I slinked my arms around him and pulled him close, not wanting to let him go and not wanting to focus on tomorrow. I knew I’d have to field Jace with something to keep him occupied when I got home, but for now, I simply wanted to fall asleep satiated and happy.

  I’d given up and Talon and I after I left for college. I talked with him all throughout my high school years, even though I knew Jace was threatening him. Our lives were in such upheaval as children, though, that Jace’s threats did nothing to deter me from talking with Talon. He had always been a silent person, but even his silence spoke volumes. He’d stand in the corner and watch the people around him, but when I was sitting with him, all of his focus was on me. His gaze was unwavering, and he never fidgeted, and for the first time in my life, it felt like I was being heard.

  But when I went off to college, things changed. We grew apart because I never had the money to come home, and since Talon wasn’t much of a talker, there wasn’t really a point in having his number. I talked to Jace every once in a while and would ask how he was doin
g, but then all I would get was some lecture on how I could do better. How Jace wanted me to stay away from the lifestyle he’d thrown himself into and how he wanted me to live a normal life.

  I got sick and tired of the lecture, so I stopped asking.

  School took over my life, and the bit of time I had to myself I worked. I managed to graduate without any debt, and throughout those four years of college Talon only crossed my mind a few times. I partied and drank. I had my own experiences while staying away from long-term dating scenarios. The last thing I needed was for my brother to catch wind that I was dating someone because then he’d come riding into town on his bike just to intimidate the ‘little fuck that dared touch his sister.’

  He wouldn’t ride into town just to see me, but he’d ride into town just to fuck up my life.

  I loved my brother. Jace was a wonderful man. But sometimes his priorities were really screwed up. It was annoying, always having to field them and tiptoe around them, but I felt better equipped to handle them now. In the eyes of the world, I was a full-grown adult. With responsibilities and a degree and job prospects. This time, if Jace threw the argument that I was nothing but a little girl, I could throw shit right back in his face.

  It’s what you needed to do with my brother whenever he got to high up on his horse. You had to jostle his podium until he came tumbling down.

  I slept all through the night with dreams of Talon swirling around in my head. It was the most comfortable I’d ever slept in my life, and I was looking forward to waking up next to him. I couldn’t wait to lift my head and look into his eyes before I planted a sleepy kiss on his lips. And maybe if I woke up before him, I could wrap my lips around his cock and pull him from his dreams with the tantalizing beauty of his reality.

  But instead, I woke up to an empty couch, a blanket that had been tucked around me, and Talon nowhere in sight.

  I sat up on the couch and rubbed my eyes. I sighed with heavy shoulders, thinking something from the club probably pulled him from his sleep. I stretched my arms and cracked my back, reveling in how relaxed my body felt after spending an evening on the couch tucked underneath Talon’s protective arms. I could still feel his muscles pressed against me as the blanket slid from my naked body, and I worked my way off the couch and into the kitchen to make some coffee.

  But not before I heard voices coming from outside.

  I recognized the curt tone of Talon’s voice, but if there was someone talking to him, I couldn’t hear them. Was he on the phone? Was something wrong with the club? I walked back over to my clothes and searched for my phone, pulling it out to see if Jace had tried to contact me.

  I had a missed phone call and one text message asking me if I would be back tonight, but other than that there was nothing.

  I opened up the message and shot one back to him. I simply apologized for not making it home last night but didn’t give any inclination as to why. I told him I was okay and asked him if he wanted me to bring anything home, then I tossed the phone back onto the couch.

  And that’s when I heard it.

  Another voice outside with him.

  It was a lighter voice. One I didn’t recognize. I knew it was female, and while I felt jealousy rising up in my gut I tried to settle my mind. Maybe someone from the club stopped by to tell him something or to inquire as to where I was. Maybe Jace had already sent out a search party and Talon was trying to keep them from coming inside.

  But the moment I heard Talon ask the woman what the hell she was doing here, I got curious.

  I slowly walked down the small hallway and stood right at the door. I peeked through the window while I listened to their conversation, and in an instant, I bristled. Some woman was talking about why Talon wouldn’t let her in, and that’s when I saw his cut draped around her shoulders.

  But it was obvious who she was with how she was dressed.

  The woman had legs for days and was wearing blood red high heels. Her lipstick matched her shoes while her dress clung tightly to her body. She was standing close to Talon, fluttering her eyes up at him while he stood between her and the door, and it made me absolutely sick.

  One of his little fucks was standing at the door.

  I couldn’t believe it. Talon had lied to me. He convinced me I was the only woman in his life. That no other woman could amount to what I was to him, yet here he was… talking with her like I wasn’t even here. His cut was wrapped around her body like he was trying to keep her warm. Comfortable for the taking until he could get me to slip out. I bet that jackass had plans to fuck her the moment I left this morning, and in an instant, my heart shattered and fell to my feet.

  I watched the woman’s hand come up and rest on Talon’s chest, and I knew I’d seen enough.

  Talon’s head whipped around just in time to catch me peering out the window. I could see the look of regret and shock waft over his face. He’d been caught. That disgusting little douchebag had been caught in the act. I had no idea how I could’ve let this happen. How I could’ve convinced myself that Talon could’ve ever cared about me. His words were empty, probably tools he used just to get into women’s pants. I backtracked down the hallway and gathered my clothes just as the front door opened, but I knew what was coming.

  Talon would try to defend himself, and I wasn’t about to hear it.

  I’d done enough of that defending in college. Guys who got hooked on me and came knocking on my door while I was enjoying the company of someone else. I had explained away so many of those scenarios myself that I could write a script for other people to use. I blocked Talon’s voice from my mind as I pulled my clothes on, then I grabbed my phone and purse and headed for the door.

  If Talon wanted to reach out to me, I didn’t feel his arm, and at that moment my worst fears were confirmed.

  He didn’t actually want me to stay.

  He just wanted to fuck me while convincing me that’s what he wanted.

  I shoved myself out the door and blasted by the woman standing on the porch. I saw the sly little smirk on her face, her red lipstick pouring over her lips as I made my way to the car. She called out some little comment about the hickies on my neck, but I didn’t care. Not in that moment. The only thing I cared about was the anger flaring in my chest.

  Anger I hadn’t felt in years.

  I got to my car and looked up at Talon one last time. Even though I knew I needed to get in my car and drive away, I wanted to give him one more shot. One more chance to toss that woman out into the cold and bring me back inside. One more chance to be the man I wanted him to be.

  The man I had dreamt him up to be.

  But instead, he simply stood and looked at me, so I climbed into my car and cranked it up. I peeled out of his parking lot and watched him in my rearview mirror, his body not budging until I got to the stoplight.

  Then, I watched him escort the long-legged woman into his apartment.

  In that very moment, my heart shattered. I watched them walk into his apartment before the door shut, and a car had to lay their horn on me to get me to go. I turned the corner to head home with tears in my eyes, but I knew I couldn’t walk in like this.

  If I walked in with tears flowing down my cheeks, Jace would kill every single person in this town just to make sure I’d never be fucked with again.

  I pulled over onto the side of the road and cried. I cried for the dreams that got me through college. I cried for the man I wished Talon could’ve been. I tried for the wasted energy I spent pining for him, and I cried for the moments I spent defending him to Jace. He knew. My brother knew something was off about Talon. He knew Talon’s history with women, but I chose to trust a man I hardly knew over my own flesh and blood.

  But I’d learned my lesson, and I’d only have to learn it once.

  I dried my tears and got back onto the road before I ran through Jace’s favorite breakfast place. I got us both some coffee and something to eat before I traveled home, then I parked my car and simply sat. There was one lonely light o
n in the house, which told me Jace was already up. I didn’t have any messages or phone calls from him, but I knew he was waiting.

  And when he stepped out onto the porch, I knew I was going to have to tell him. I could feel the redness of my tears permeating my cheeks. I could feel my eyes puffing up with sorrow and guilt. He approached my car with his eyes connected with mine, and when he saw the silent tears still flowing down my cheeks, he burst into a dead sprint for my car.

  He ripped the door open and ignored the smell of food while he pulled me out, cradling me in his arms before he pressed a kiss to my head.

  The screws in my head that reminded me of the night that fractured my relationship with the man currently comforting me.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, crying. “Please don’t be angry at me.”

  “Are you all right?” he asked.

  “I-... brought breakfast,” I said.

  “Never mind that. Come inside. Talk to me about what’s happened.”

  And in that instant, I knew. I knew I would tell him where I was and I knew he would be upset. I knew he would go after Talon and I knew things would blow up.

  But right now, I wasn’t in protection mode.

  Right now, I was hurt… and all I wanted was to cry for the idiotic dreams I had as a girl that I thought could actually come true.

  Chapter 15

  Talon

  I stood on my porch and watched her leave, knowing it was the only way I could keep her safe. Everything in my body screamed to go after her. I wanted to smack the smirk off Calista’s face and charge after Gemma. I wanted to take her into my arms and explain the entire thing. I wanted to tell her that Calista meant nothing to me. That she never has and she never will. I wanted to tell her that Calista wasn’t here to fuck me or try to win me back. Most likely, with the fear in her eyes, she was here to feed me more information.

  But I knew the more I told Gemma, the more trouble she would be in.

  I stood there and watched her take off. Her eyes locked with mine before she started up her car and I felt my stomach drop to my toes. The night we’d shared. The intimacy we’d experienced. The way her body had easily given itself over to me. She trusted me. In a way, I think she’d always trusted me. And what I told her last night wasn’t a lie. I’d had feelings for her for years. But that’s all I thought they would stay.