Ryder

by Ali Parker

  I glanced over my shoulder. "Make it quick. I don't have time for your bullshit, cop."

  "Wow. Now I see where Jason gets it from." She shrugged. "Never mind. Forgive the intrusion. I'll just find him on my own."

  "Find him?" I reached out and grabbed her wrist. My fingers could wrap around it twice. My cock twitched at the thought of pressing her into a bed and letting her feel the full weight of my body against hers. Would she be scared? Thrilled? "Talk, and fast."

  "I stopped by your house. He's not there." She glanced down at her wrist but didn't pull from me. The light dusting of pink on her pretty cheeks told me that I wasn't the only one having naughty thoughts.

  "He's a teenager. I'm sure he's out fucking a pretty girl or hanging out with his friends."

  "Well, that's great, but he's out of range for his ankle bracelet. We can find him and bring him back in range together, or I can find him by myself and arrest his ass." She tugged her hand free and turned, walking toward the parking lot.

  My eyes moved down her back to the swell of her ass. Her pants had a hard time hiding that. I smiled and followed after her.

  "We'll take my bike."

  "I'll follow you in my car."

  "Nope. You gotta flat." I motioned toward the car and pulled out a switchblade, popping it into a tire as I passed.

  "What the fuck was that for?" she barked, her voice growing dark fast.

  I picked up a helmet and tossed it to her. "On the bike, or find your own ride. Your choice, cop."

  "Fine. You're fixing that." She put the helmet on and got on the bike behind me.

  As she wrapped her arms around me, she seemed to have trouble trying to figure out where to put her hands.

  It wouldn't happen in a million years, but some part of me wanted her to reach down and see just how big my cock was as she cupped me.

  I wanted her thinking about what I was thinking about.

  Fitting it inside of her.

  Chapter 6

  Dani

  My body was tight and aching as we drove across town with me wrapped around the back of Johnny. My mind raced with the idea of what it would feel like to belong to a guy like him. Was he violent in bed, or loving and giving? I smiled and balled my fist tighter as I held onto him. The bastard had slashed the back tire on my cop car, making life a little more difficult than it had to be.

  Funny enough, if it were Tani he was looking for, I'd have done the same thing. My heart ached as I let myself say her name a few more times. It was easier to refer to her as 'my sister' to everyone, hell, even to myself.

  Something about her name brought back too many memories, too much longing.

  Johnny pulled the bike in the driveway of his house and parked.

  I pulled the helmet off and swatted his hand away as I got off. "I told you he wasn't here." I pulled my phone from my back pocket. "You're wasting my time."

  He ignored me and walked to the house, leaving me holding the helmet. I dropped it on the ground and followed after him.

  "Johnny. This isn't a joke. Jason's messed up too many times on his-"

  "I'm aware, cop," he barked over his shoulder. The anger in his voice stopped me cold in my tracks. There was nothing loving or gentle about him. I needed to remember that not everyone had a good story for why they were who they were, or why they were where they were. Some people just sunk to the bottom of their own perdition. Johnny Moretti could simply be that type of guy.

  The handsome president of the Lost Breed Biker club had been a hit man for the mob and had connections directly to the Cooper syndicate out on the West Coast via Jeremiah "Axel" Cooper. If he were close to Jeremiah, then he couldn't have a redeeming quality inside of him.

  "Maria?" Johnny called out as he walked into the house.

  I reached out and stopped the door from slamming on me. Maria? His wife? Girlfriend?

  My curiosity got the better of me. I wanted to know how he got into a life of crime. I kept romanticizing it in my head, making him a bad guy with a good heart.

  "Stop it. Shit," I mumbled as I walked into the kitchen and looked around. The small dilapidated kitchen was clean and smelled like bacon and maple syrup.

  "Fuck." Johnny walked through the kitchen and stopped in front of me. "My sister isn't here. She must have gone to look for the kid."

  "The kid? Jason?"

  He sneered. "What other kid do you think I'm talking about, lady? Did you sniff glue as a kid? Shit." He moved past me and barreled out of the house.

  "Wait." I turned and forced the need to defend myself back. He was an asshole. I had nothing to say to him. Period. "Johnny. I'm coming with you."

  "Not without a helmet you aren't." He got on the bike and put his helmet on and held up three fingers, pulling one down at a time as he watched me through the tinted glass around his eyes.

  "I don't like you very much." I scooped up the helmet and got on the bike.

  He popped up his face visor and glanced back. "Hold on tight. We're gonna break a few laws, cop."

  "I'm fine." I reached behind me and gripped the handlebar at my ass. A scream ripped from my lips as he backed up and hit the gas, skidding out and almost throwing me off the bike. I reached up and wrapped myself around him like we were lovers. "Asshole."

  His chest and stomach muscles contracted. The dick was laughing. I hated him even more.

  Sort of.

  *

  We drove through town until Johnny took a sharp left turn and headed toward the countryside. The cold wind blew around me, whipping at my skin. It should have been uncomfortable, but for the first time in a long time, I felt alive.

  Closing my eyes, I pressed my chest tightly to his back. His back muscles tightened as if my closeness surprised him a little. I'd blame it on being scared, though I was far from it.

  Some part of me that never experienced happiness anymore woke up. I wanted freedom. Lust. Love. Adventure. I wanted to be the woman he put on the back of his bike because I'd captivated his heart.

  And maybe it wasn't just about him. I didn't know him from Adam. He was hot as fucking sin, but so were a lot of other men. I just wanted one of them to fall over themselves to be with me.

  It was Seth's fault, or maybe my father’s.

  Or hell. Maybe it was my fault. I didn't know, but I wanted affection and attention more in that moment than I could remember wanting it before. It was horrible timing.

  It always was.

  Johnny pulled the bike over to the side of the road by a school, and I glanced to my right to see a bunch of teenage kids sitting around on a playground. He turned the bike off and extended his hand to me.

  I ignored it and got off, pulling off my helmet and handing it back to him. He stood up, pulled his helmet off and gave me a stern look.

  "You one of those feminist chicks that won't let a man hold the fucking door for you?"

  "No, but I'm not sucking you off after you fix my tire either if that's what you're asking." I smirked and walked past him toward the kids.

  He chuckled, but stayed behind me. I was grateful to have a minute with the kid by myself.

  "Hey. It's our lucky day." One of the guys sitting near Jason smiled at me and wagged his eyebrows. "You come to service us, pretty lady?"

  "Not quite." I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my badge, flashing it. "Detective Markum. NYPD."

  "Oh fuck." One of the other boys rolled backward off the swing he was sitting in and ran toward the school.

  "Fuck is right." I smiled and nodded to Jason. "I'm your new Parole officer. You're in violation of your Parole. Looks like you have a night of snuggling up to whoever else is in the county jail cell."

  "No way." He lifted his hand as his friends ran this way and that.

  "Yes way, you little fuck." Johnny walked past me and grabbed the kid by his hair, lifting him up like he weighed nothing. "You think you're going to keep dicking with the law and they're just going to let you slide by each time."

  "Ouch. Fuck you,
Uncle J. You did. Dad did." Jason kicked and screamed.

  I should have stepped up to help him, but maybe Johnny being a little rough with him was a good thing.

  "No, bitch. Your dad didn't make it." He dropped the kid and knelt in front of him, grabbing the front of his shirt and growling down at him. "You're going to end up dead and in a hole in the ground. These bastards you're playing with aren't kids, Jason. They're monsters."

  "Fuck you, Uncle-"

  Johnny slapped the kid hard across the face and stood up, taking the boy with him.

  "Johnny." I moved up only to have him turn over his shoulder and glare at me.

  "Don't," he barked. "You have no idea of the life we've lived. Back the fuck up. Now."

  I took a step back, scared for the first time in a long time. Johnny Moretti would be a great weapon to have against Tanner King and his crew. It was a funny thought, but I was too lost in how to handle the situation next to enjoy the thought.

  He turned away from me and lit into his nephew, slinging the kid around here and there.

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and called for back-up, quickly giving them the address and asking for a patrol car to be sent over. I'd barely put the call in when a car pulled up behind me with the lights on.

  Thomas got out of the car, followed by Detective Oliver Hill. I groaned internally at the sight of him. The guy drove me up the fucking wall with his condescending attitude.

  "Need some help with a teenager, Markum?" He snorted and walked past me.

  "Yeah. That's what's up." I shook my head and walked over to Thomas. "Hey. How are you?"

  He smiled wearily. "Good. We miss you in Sex Crimes. They assigned a new female cop, but she's just not you. She lacks finesse and fearlessness."

  I smiled and glanced over my shoulder. "I'm not sure I'm going to do much good in this new position. It's just not me at all."

  "I doubt that." He closed the door and walked toward Johnny, who was dragging Jason by his hair again.

  The poor kid was an idiot for messing with someone like Johnny, but that much was obvious by the boy's rap sheet. He'd fucked up a million times, and should have been in juvey.

  "Hey. We'll take it from here." Oliver moved in front of Johnny.

  "Move, pig." Johnny walked toward Oliver, who moved out his way and looked almost offended that someone would talk to him in such a manner. "Take his fucking ass to jail for the night, cop."

  "That was the plan." I moved back to the car and opened the back door. "Jason, you understand why we're taking you in."

  I reached for him as Johnny released him and shoved him toward me. The kid reached out and caught himself by grabbing me, almost pulling us both down.

  "Yeah. I fucked up. I get it. So what?" He kept his head down.

  I read him his rights and put him in the car as Oliver and Thomas talked over on the other side of the car.

  The sound of a motorcycle roaring to life caught my attention. I glanced back to see Johnny's tail lights and a cloud of smoke.

  "Hey. How did you get here?" Thomas asked from across the top of the car.

  "Don't ask. I need a ride over to the station to get my car."

  Oliver gave me a funny look until I held up my hand. "Don't. Ask. Seriously."

  He lifted his hands and smiled. "Not sure how you get yourself into these situations, but maybe if you didn't, you would be further along in your career."

  "Fuck you too." I got in the front seat and buckled up. I was pissed that Johnny left me standing there. That he fucked up my car. That I looked like an idiot in front of Thomas and Oliver.

  But most of all, I was pissed that Oliver was right.

  My flailing career was nobody’s fault but my own.

  I was obsessed with justice, and that came at a price.

  A big one.

  Chapter 7

  Ryder

  I stared at the dark amber liquid in my glass as my thoughts ran all over the fucking place. The pretty little cop from the station took her turn in the rotation, which was both disturbing and entertaining. The last thing I needed to do was get involved with one of the good guys. It never worked out well for me, like I was deemed to be a hellion from the start.

  "You know, you keep thinking that hard and you're going to stop breathing." Hyde dropped down on the wooden bench across the table from me.

  "Why's that, wise ass?" I glanced up to find him watching me.

  "Cause guys like us only got so many brain cells left, man. If one of them is busy helping you breathe and the other is assisting you in swirling your finger around that glass, you're pretty much standing on one leg."

  I snorted and shook my head. "You thinking we only got two brain cells left after all the dope we smoked as kids?"

  "I'd say that's about right." Axel walked up behind Hyde and sat down beside him, his attention all for me. "The cop came by last night late and got her car."

  "Good. Glad to hear she's out of our lives." I picked up my beer as the other guys in our MC joined us.

  "Who's out of our lives and why is this a good thing?" Jax moved in to sit beside me, his three-piece suit making him and us look bad.

  "A cute cop that Ryder has the hots for." Axel reached around the table and pushed my beer toward me. "Drink up. Next on is on me."

  "I hate it when you come in here dressed up. You're killing our image." I smirked as I eyed Jax.

  "We call him Hollywood for a reason, boss." Sabian Delgado spoke up, his dark eyes filled with mischief. He was one of the younger members of our crew and the little brother of one of my best friends from childhood. I spent more time watching out for Sabian than riding beside him. Something about stepping in where his older brother should have been kept me with a watchful eye on the guy.

  Jax smiled. "You guys don't like the suit, but I sure as fuck bet you like the money that comes along with me wearing it day in and day out."

  "Yep. Here, here to Mister Moneybags." Axel raised his glass and held it to the middle of the table.

  "He's like our own fucking Daddy Warbucks." Hyde smiled and wagged his eyebrows.

  I hit my glass against theirs and finished my beer, not at all in the mood for the jovial spirit they all seemed to be flaunting. Jason had sat in jail the night before, and some part of me wanted the little shit to rot there. Life was hard as it were. Having to keep up with him when he was a total fuck up like the rest of us were was damn near impossible.

  "I'm gonna have some dough after this coming weekend." Hyde wagged his eyebrows. "I'm hitting up a bank on Friday night."

  "Did you want us to announce that to the whole bar for you?" Axel gave him a look of disgust. "Why you always gotta brag on that shit? None of us are impressed that you're still robbing people and places."

  "I am." Jax raised his hand and smiled. "Fastest way to wealth is to take it from someone."

  "Like you did with all those old guys who you bought their stock at the perfect time?" Axel turned his attention to Hollywood.

  "A man has to do what a man has to do." Jax winked and picked up his beer. "Don't be bitchy cause you haven't fucked that little hot piece of ass down at your shop."

  "Hey." Axel pointed his finger at Jax. "Watch it. Ellie is a good woman and a hard worker."

  "And sexy as fuck." Sabian said and lifted his hands as Axel started to get up. "Just making an observation. Seriously. Damn, man."

  Time to change the subject.

  "Where is Flex?" I glanced around, looking for Caleb.

  "He's with his girl." Sabian rolled his eyes. "I swear he lives in two worlds. One where he's a bad ass with us and the other where he's picking out the perfect color combination for carnations for his girl. It's weird."

  "We all live in two worlds." Jax glanced down at his suit and back up at us. "It's part of our charm."

  "Not so sure I'd call it charm, but it's something for sure." I got up from the table and walked toward the bar, needing a break from the company, even as good as it was.

  "Hi,
handsome." Jessie, the bartender, walked up and gave me a sweet smile.

  "Hey. You still working in this dump?" I lifted an eyebrow and slid into the seat in front of me.

  The sound of yelling broke out behind me. I glanced back to find Sabian and Axel beating up on each other.

  "Still here." Jessie brought me back from watching the fight. "Why are those two always at each other's throats?"

  "Because Sabian has a thing for Angela, Jax's little sister." I smiled and offered her my empty mug. "It's always about a woman, right?"

  "Seems like a worthy cause to get bloody over." She turned and filled up my glass. "What's been going on with you? I saw you with Candace King the other night."

  "Speaking of." Jax moved onto the seat next to me, and Jessie turned and walked away without another word.

  I glanced over at Hollywood and smirked. "You sure know how to make a pretty girl run away. That one of your many talents?"

  He smiled as he followed Jessie with his eyes. "She's embarrassed."

  "Why is that?" I turned and let my eyes run over her. She was alright, but not someone I'd take in the back without a few beers in me.

  "She came about eight times the last time we fucked." He had a shit-eating grin on his face when I turned around to see if he was dicking with me. Apparently not.

  "Why would that be embarrassing?" I picked up my beer and turned away from him.

  "No clue. She won't talk to me anymore, which is whatever. We were just friends anyway."

  "Yeah. Sounds like it." I took a long drink from my beer.

  "Speaking of friends..."

  "If this is about Candace, lay off. It was a fuck. Nothing else."

  "Yeah, well, it's not that simple with her, and you know that. We're worried about you, man."

  "Don't be." I stood up and turned to face him. "The day I'm scared of Tanner King is the day we all need to tuck tail and run the fuck outta here fast. He's a bastard and a bully, and if he brings his nasty ass around here, I'll make sure he limps back home."

  "Can we just bury him in the back by that old oak tree you use to fuck girls against?" Jax chuckled as I gave him a warning glare. "Alright. I'm just saying. The world would be a better place without him. He's fucking trash."