Hell or High Water (The Four Horsemen MC Book 8)

by Rayne, Sara

  “Lower your voice, young lady.” Brad’s voice was a furious hiss. “Do you want the neighbors to hear you?”

  “Again, I’m twenty-one, not sixteen. You accountants are supposed to be numbers people.”

  “I am well aware how old you are.” He glared. “And a twenty-one-year-old should be plenty mature enough to stop expecting a white knight on a shiny bike to save you.”

  The sound of a truck engine cut off the rest of the lecture, and Lex had never been more appreciative of ironic timing.

  “What the hell is that racket?” Brad peered out through the lacy curtains surrounding the kitchen window.

  “That would be the white knights coming to save me.” Lex stood and carried her empty coffee cup to the sink. “Guess they left the bikes back at the castle this time.”

  A sharp one-two-three rap sounded at the kitchen door. When Brad yanked it open, Voo stood framed in the doorway with the sunlight streaming over his shoulder. His beautifully defined arms rested against the doorjamb as he towered over Brad. He wore leather pants, a black tank top, and motorcycle boots. He’d knotted a skull and crossbones kerchief around his dreads. The only thing missing was George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” blasting on the truck stereo.

  “Lex, you ready?” Voo grinned, and her heart fluttered. “Sorry we didn’t give you more notice. Ryker said he sent the text, but apparently, he’s stupid.”

  “Shut the fuck up, bro,” Ryker said from somewhere behind Voo. “I hit send.”

  “Yeah, when we pulled onto her street.” Voo winked.

  For two precious seconds, the world melted away. His earthy scent drifted in on the breeze blowing through the door behind him. Stress, tension, claustrophobia—all of it faded as she looked into his silvery eyes.

  She snapped out of her dreamy haze as her stepdad launched into what promised to be a lengthy Brad tirade.

  “I don’t know who you think you are—”

  “I’m Voodoo. We’ve met, remember? And you’re in the way.” Then he called over his shoulder, “Ryker, grab a bag or find somethin’ useful to do other than your usual bitchin’.”

  Ryker flipped Voo off, then he jumped down from the pickup parked on the street and loped up the walkway. “Hey, Lex. Where’s your bags?”

  “First bedroom at the top of the stairs, in the closet.” All of her clothes were still neatly folded in suitcases. Her mom was running a fashion show for Junior League this summer, and Lex’s old room had provided the “perfect storage space”. As Carol had put it, Lex’s clothes weren’t so nice they needed to be hung up anyway. “Do me a favor and grab everything.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Ryker stopped in front of Brad and looked him over, taking in the white socks pulled all the way up, the tennis shorts, and polo. He barely hid a snicker. “Don’t worry. You don’t need to lend a hand. Wouldn’t want your ‘outfit’ gettin’ dirty.”

  Brad backed out of the way, eyes fixed on Ryker as he gave Carol a wide smile.

  “Cap sure can pick ‘em, huh?”

  Carol rolled her eyes then glowered at Voo as Ryker tromped upstairs.

  Brad turned on Lex. “This is how you show your gratitude?”

  Lex cast him a disgusted look. “Gratitude for what?”

  “I take it we came at a bad time?” Voo glanced between them.

  Lex was so done with this. Like, Mary-Poppins-unfolding-her-big-magic-umbrella-and-jumping-out-the-goddamn-window kind of done.

  “Excuse me, I need a bathroom break before we leave.”

  So she could toss all her toiletries in her backpack and get the heck out of proverbial Dodge. It would be a cold day in Hell before she came back here. Literally—maybe she’d swing by next Christmas.

  Lex stopped at the base of the stairs and turned back to Brad. Her mother stood behind him, mouth pinched, not saying a word.

  “Do you know how much time I wasted trying to get you to like me? I was a kid. You both fake it all the time—pretending you like Nancy’s sweet potato casserole or Mr. Jones’s diet is working this time. Was it too much to ask for you to pretend you didn’t hate me?”

  Brad’s face blanched. “I never had a problem with you.”

  “I’m not stupid.” Lex shook her head. “And know what? I don’t give a good goddamn anymore. I think I’m friggin’ fantastic. And if you don’t like me, you can go fuck yourself, Brad.”

  Chapter Five

  Voo leaned against the doorjamb, watching Lex’s mom giving him a drop dead glare. Her features were delicate like Lex’s, but the similarities stopped there. Lex took after Cap through and through, from the fierce light in her eyes to the stubbornness of her jaw. No wonder Carol was riled as an old, wet poulet.

  She loved her daughter—but every time she looked at Lex, she saw Cap, saw the girl she’d been when they had first met. Her daughter was a walking reminder of what she viewed as her greatest shame.

  And worse, her husband obviously saw it, too.

  Voo’s poor, sweet Lex was stuck in a helluva pickle betwixt these two. No wonder she’d decided last minute to bail for the weekend. Lord, Lex must have the patience of a saint to have stayed here this long.

  A honeyed flame of satisfaction curled through him at the thought of her hanging around town for a while. Not that he had any nefarious intentions. He would play the gentleman to his blue-balled end, but she stirred a sense of joie de vivre inside him he’d thought long dead. The sharp longing Lex created in him made him feel alive. He craved it. What could he say? He was a fucking emotional masochist.

  Carol gave him a once-over, from dreads to shining steel toes and all the leather in between. The disapproval written on her face was clear.

  Nice guys don’t wear leather.

  And she was right—he wasn’t a nice guy. A smirk tugged at his mouth as he let her take him all in. That’s right, ma chérie—two hundred pounds of bona fide Creole swamp-trash all up in your kitchen.

  Voodoo was many things—smooth, honest, calm. He was the steady eye of every goddamn storm these days. But Voo didn’t possess the brand of decency and breeding allowing a man to be nice, and he wore leather every day to make sure no one mistook him for anything other than what he was. His days of pretending to be something he wasn’t had washed away ten years ago.

  He raised a brow. “Somethin’ I can do for you, madame?”

  “You can break up with my daughter so she’ll go back to college.”

  Voo rubbed his jaw, stunned by how many things the woman had gotten wrong in such a short sentence. “I wasn’t aware Lex’s romantic affairs were any of your business, and I know mine aren’t.”

  “If you care about her, at all, you would walk away and leave her be. Lex has so much potential if she would learn to use it. She could be so much more than some biker’s old lady.”

  “Pardonnez-moi, but don’t you feel hypocritical spouting such nonsense?”

  “I made mistakes in the past.” She drew in a breath, straightening her shoulders with a self-righteous snap. “And I paid for my poor decisions. Are you going to judge me for not wanting my baby girl tied to a loser for the rest of her life?”

  “Watch your tongue, la diablesse,” he warned softly. Ryker appeared at the bottom of the stairs, juggling three suitcases, and froze in place, reading the tension in the room. “Cap is a good man and my brother. Not to mention, it’s rather classless to disparage your daughter’s father—like you’re insulting half her genetic material, non?”

  Axel poked his head in the door. “What’s the hold up?”

  Carol’s gaze didn’t flicker from Voo’s face. “Forgive me if I have nothing complimentary to say about the man who spent our marriage lusting after some two-bit biker whore.”

  Axel stiffened, his shoulders widening as his spine straightened to his full intimidating height.

  Voo hid a smile. Oh, chérie, you don’t know a landmine when you’ve stomped on one. Watching Axel lose his temper was one of Voo’s guilty pleasures. Nobody pulled off �
�self-righteous dick” better than the president did.

  “One, call my mother a whore again and I’ll find someone less well-mannered than she raised me to be to slap the taste out of your mouth.” Axel’s voice held a glacial chill. “Two, my father split his time between actual whores and a stint in jail. From where I stand, Cap looks pretty damn good.”

  Carol gasped while Brad coughed, turning red.

  “Ryker, bring her stuff. We’re leavin’.” Axel spun on his heel and swept out of the room.

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Carol put a hand over her heart as if she had no idea what she’d done to deserve such a thing.

  “Means he’s done dealin’ with crazy-ass bullshit for the day.” Ryker wore the wide smile he only got when Axel handed someone their own ass.

  Brad scoffed as he caught Voo’s eyes. “I can’t imagine what she sees in you.”

  Lex returned from the bathroom, a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. Her eyes chilled to ice blue when she heard Brad’s comment.

  “I think the same thing every time I look at you. Bye, Brad.”

  Voo didn’t bother hiding a snort of laughter. Apparently, Lex had had enough of her stepfather’s judgment. He couldn’t blame her—never trust a man who plays tennis. He wrapped her delicate fingers in his and squeezed lightly, noticing the slight tremble in her hand.

  “Lexus…,” her mother called as Voo pulled Lex through the door.

  “Call you later, Mom.” She ran toward the truck after they escaped the house.

  Ryker had piled her suitcases in the back of the four-door Chevy. He and Axel were already in the cab with the engine running. As Voo and Lex came up the walk, Ryker shoved the rear door open.

  Tears welled in Lex’s eyes. Voo couldn’t stand it. He circled her waist and tossed her over his shoulder, jogging the last few feet. She shrieked, kicking her feet in half-hearted protest. He tossed her in the truck, sliding in beside her and slamming the door.

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

  They peeled out of the driveway, and Lex’s soft, warm body landed against his side. Her angles had sharpened in the past few months, and her face held a haunted quality he couldn’t shake from her eyes, no matter how outrageous his antics. Voo kept an arm behind her, half-cradling her as they cruised down the highway to Hell.

  He’d upped his flirting ante of late to see her smile, despite the torture he inflicted upon himself. Every shiver he pulled from her, every trail of goosebumps from one of his innocent touches, presented a temptation stronger than thirst.

  Axel and Ryker had the windows down, and the sweet, warm wind blew across the Texas bluebells blooming in the ranch fields they passed. Lex settled into his side, her blonde head nestled into the corner of his shoulder as if it belonged there. Something warm and painful tickled his heart at the sight.

  Part of him wouldn’t move for all the riches in the world. The other part of him wanted to jump out of the moving truck.

  Voo had been fighting his attraction to Lex for what felt like years. Every summer, she’d show up in town for her visit with her father. Her tan skin and sunny smile was a fresh breeze through Hell. He knew he wasn’t the only Horseman to notice how well she’d grown up, but his attraction went deeper than her supple flesh and silken hair.

  Lex’s optimism and good cheer had become an addiction. Since she’d started college, he’d gone from looking forward to making a strawberry shake for her when she stopped in at Hades to finding excuses to see her. He even texted her when she was away. On the weekends she was in town, her favorite dishes ended up on his stove as if his own appetite sought to draw her to him.

  Which was a serious fucking problem.

  Voo didn’t lie to himself. His dick taking an interest was one thing, and he could control his physical urges. But when his cooking got involved, it was serious.

  Lex shifted against his shoulder, tilting her head back to squint through the sun at him.

  “You alright, ma petite? Things got intense back there.”

  She shrugged, closing her eyes. Her lips curled as if enjoying the feel of the wind whipping through the open windows against her face.

  “One thing I learned in college? Everybody’s family drives them crazy.”

  “For sure.” He trailed his fingers down her bare arm. She was so fucking soft. A sharp inhale of breath through the peach-colored lips he longed to taste was almost his undoing. He bit his bottom lip and forced his hand to still.

  “Sorry you got dragged into the family drama.”

  “I think your mother is confused as to the nature of our relationship.”

  “Is she?” Thick golden lashes trembled around her blue eyes. Voo could see the pulse flutter in the hollow of her neck, and he fought the urge to press his lips against the speeding heartbeat.

  “I wouldn’t forget taking you to my bed, Lex.” The remark tasted of blatant sensuality. “And neither would you.”

  Her breath caught, but a gleam twinkled in her eye. “No, you wouldn’t. Even if I look a hot mess today.”

  “All I see is hot.” He tangled a finger in one of her soft curls, like a ribbon of pale white-gold silk around his knuckle.

  “I missed you.”

  “You saw me last week.”

  “So you didn’t miss me?”

  “But of course. I pined for you every day.” He pressed his free hand against his heart.

  “Knock it off, you two.” Ryker turned the evil eye on them both. “I just had this puppy detailed, so no funny business in the backseat.”

  “Uh, bro?” Axel cleared his throat. “There’s somethin’ I gotta tell you about Charlie and I borrowin’ the truck last night.”

  “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me? You’re never borrowin’ my ride again. I don’t care what you’re hauling.”

  Lex laughed, the sound like cathedral bells ringing out over the bayou on Sunday morning. Voo closed his eyes, savoring the sound. As the guys bickered in the front, Lex smiled.

  “Did you make me gumbo?”

  Voo grimaced. He’d almost managed to forget the visit from his past the other morning and the sacrilege it’d done to his gumbo pot.

  “There was an unfortunate complication.”

  “What happened? You have to buy ingredients at Walmart again?”

  “Much worse.” He shook his head in what he meant to be mock-sadness.

  Brows knitting, she pressed a hand to his chest. “Is everything alright?”

  He nodded. Lex always knew when there was a deeper issue at hand. Intuitive little thing. “Do you remember the girl I said you reminded me of?”

  Lex nodded. “Artie, right?”

  “Her brother stopped by, and I burned the gumbo.” Not a lie, even if it didn’t occur in that order. “We shall speak of this tragedy no more. There’ll be other gumbos—better ones. You wait and see.” Voodoo wished he believed his own words.

  “I’m counting on it.” There was a gloomy twist to her smile.

  “Forgive me, but I gotta ask. I thought you were fixin’ to stay the weekend at your dad’s, but it appears you’ve moved out of your momma’s house.” He searched her face. “Oui?”

  “Yeah, well…shit happens?” Her laughter was harsh. “Dad will understand. I mean, it’s not like he could live with the woman either, right?”

  “How do I put this…? Your father shares your momma’s fears about you dating bikers.”

  She raised a brow. “Which biker am I dating?”

  He grinned back at her and said nothing.

  She shrugged. “Dad and his rules against bikers. Talk about a case of homegrown self-loathing.” She folded her arms, shifting against him. “He needs a therapist.”

  “You think everyone does.”

  An endearing wrinkle appeared between her brows. “The hazards of a psych degree. When you learn to read people’s issues, you want to fix them.”

  There was her heart, bruised maybe, but still shining on her sleeve. He smil
ed. As lost as she had been lately, she’d find her way. Lex had a strong spirit. He wished there was something he could do to see her through this storm in her life.

  Voo reached in his pocket and hesitated. His grand-mére had given him a gris-gris, a voodoo protection talisman, during his last visit with her before Katrina. He’d rolled his eyes and tossed the thing into his glovebox, dismissing her superstitions.

  When the floodwaters receded, Voo’s truck was his only possession still standing. He’d ridden out the worst of the storm trapped inside it. Holding the gris-gris tight in his grip as he prayed to loa he’d never believed in before, Voo had survived with only a couple of bruises and a phobia of drowning.

  He’d snagged it off his bedframe after Apollo left, a good luck charm to ward off whatever awful thing lurked on the horizon.

  Maybe Lex needed it more.

  Besides, his grand-mére would’ve liked Lex. Probably would’ve called her “plucky”.

  “I have somethin’ for you.” Voo deposited the tiny corked bottle filled with chicken bones, grave dust, and a special blend of protection herbs into her hand.

  “Is this a gree-gree?”

  “Gris-gris,” he corrected gently. “It’ll protect you from harm. My grand-mére made it for me so I’ll need it back, but why don’t you hang on to it for a while? See if it won’t bring you better luck?”

  “Thank you.” Suddenly, her lips were a breath away, warm, sweet, and firm—begging to be tasted.

  Stop it.

  Axel pulled into the gravel parking lot of Seventh Circle Motors.

  “Dani should have your car ready by now, Lex. Thought you and I would get out here and let Ryker drop the stuff off at Mom’s?”

  “Yeah, great. Wow. We’re here already?” Lex shifted away from Voo’s side, and he buried his instinctive grumble.

  Ryker shot Voo a knowing look over his shoulder, and Voo flipped him off behind Lex’s back.

  Lex poked him in the side. “You gonna let me out?”

  Voodoo opened the door then hooked his hands around her hips, lifting her up and pulling her across his lap to deposit her on the ground on the other side. Lex shrieked.