by KB Winters
“I want to help. Let me.” Jeremiah pushed up onto the next step and opened the door, invading my space.
I snorted at the ridiculousness of his statement. “It looks like you have your own mess going on based on what I saw.”
“What can I say, I’m good at multi-tasking.” He stepped closer, until I had no choice but to touch him intimately or back down. I never backed down. One hand shot to my waist, his thumb dragging against the exposed skin at my waistband. “See, I’m helpful.”
I laughed and pushed at his chest, but Jeremiah was all man and he didn’t budge. He stared at me and I stared back, feeling my blood heat at all the energy swirling in the air between us. The charge of electricity made the camper feel ten degrees hotter. His expression was serious as he closed in, mouth descending on mine slowly, giving me time to decide if it would happen.
Luckily Jeremiah had no clue as to the effect he was having on me, didn’t know there was no choice because then I’d be in real trouble. Now the only danger I was in was having my clothes burst into flames from his nearness, from the deliciously hot way his full lips pressed against mine. From the taste of him, sugar and coffee and something earthy. Sexy. Masculine. The kiss was hot and hard, filled with hunger and raw unabashed need. Big hands cupped my ass and then my breasts. Something long and hard pressed against my belly and I pulled back, panting and staring at him with wide eyes. “What was that?”
With sleepy eyes and a captivating fucking smile he leaned in and brushed his lips against my neck. “If I have to tell you, then I’m doing it wrong babe.”
I laughed and shook my head. “If you’d done it any more right I’d be naked and wrapped around you right now. But why?”
“Why not,” he shrugged like it made perfect sense. “You’re hot as fuck and you’ve always turned me on when you were so damn prickly, which apparently, is all the damn time.”
I spluttered in my outrage and the jerk only laughed harder at me. “Asshole.”
“Meet me at the diner tomorrow for breakfast. Eight o’clock sharp. This place is too fucking far.”
“Yeah well no one invited you up here.” It was something to say but the amused look he gave me told me it was a lost cause.
His dark gaze was serious. And seriously hot. “Don’t make me come back up here, Vivi.” His words were a warning. A promise.
And for some reason it sounded good. Right. Hot. Sexy.
***
I really wasn’t in the mood to get up at the ass crack of dawn to meet Jag, but I knew if I didn’t then he’d come up here and invade my space. Again. But meeting him at the diner meant either leaving my camper and my gear behind or taking this big bitch back on the road.
Since I would never leave my surveillance equipment behind, I took my time getting dressed and guzzling a pot of coffee before I got on the road. Going approximately fifty miles an hour gave me plenty of time to think about what I’d wanted to happen with Jeremiah. Or Jag, because that was what I needed to get used to calling him. I needed to just talk to him about what I needed from him. No more games and no more bullshit. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the boy I knew online anymore, what mattered was that he had the skills I needed to get out of this shit storm.
Like the beige sedan that had been trailing me for the past eight miles. It was an older model by at least twenty years given how boxy the body was and the driver kept two car lengths between us, a by-the-book tail. I didn’t do anything differently, anything that might indicate he’d been made. I took the Mayhem exit and found one of several public parking lots in town to park, keeping a close eye on the beige heap of junk.
The car didn’t park though, instead he waited for me to get out and start my journey. I grabbed my bag, engaged the booby traps and locks on the camper, then stepped out onto what was basically Main Street in Mayhem and walked towards the delicious greasy smells of the diner.
The diner was located in the middle of the block, which meant the scrap of metal had to slowly chug along the street and draw attention to itself.
The jerk chose to follow me closely so I ducked into a book store and waited five minutes before slipping back out like nothing was going on. When I arrived at the diner, I was ten minutes late and Jag looked suitably annoyed.
“You’re late,” he said as soon as I slid into the booth with my back to the door.
“You’re lucky I’m here at all.” I flipped over the coffee cup and set it as close to the edge of the table as possible to encourage the busy waitress to fill me up. “Look outside and tell me if you see a late model beige sedan. It’s been following me since about five miles from the campsite.”
Jag’s black brows rose, and I knew what he was thinking before he said the words. “You sure?”
“Just look outside and tell me if you see the car, Jag.”
Everything about him said he thought I was batshit fucking crazy. Until he spotted the car. His brows rose and velvety brown eyes grew as wide as the pancakes just set down in front of him. “I see it. Can’t see inside because of the glare, though.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s a middle-aged, non-descript white male. As run of the mill as they come.” The guy was probably a pro. A pro what? I had no fucking idea and didn’t care. I just wanted to be left the hell alone. “So what was so urgent we had to meet for breakfast before the roosters woke up?”
A grin split his face and he looked at me with something like affection in his eyes. I ignored the feelings it caused and waited. “You wanted to speak with me,” he clarified.
“Wrong. I thought I did and I changed my mind, so you offered to buy me breakfast to get me to change my mind.” I stabbed the potatoes with my fork and shoved them into my mouth with a smile.
“And are you ready to talk yet or do I need to pile on the charm?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Save the charm for someone else, Jag. I’m only interested in your help. A very specific kind of help so I’ll tell you enough to let you decide if you are willing and able to help.” I took a long sip of coffee until the steaming black liquid burned my insides and then I told him my story. A story light on details but with enough flesh that he got the gist of my predicament. “So there you have it, the whole sordid tale.”
Jag’s expression was blank as he stared at me for longer than I felt comfortable letting him stare, but eventually his shoulders relaxed, and he seemed calm. “You have my help. Whatever you need, say the word.”
That was exactly what I wanted to hear but I wasn’t satisfied. “I’m happy to hear that but it seems like you and your people have enough going on and the last thing I need right now is for any kind of law enforcement to interfere in my life.”
“Why don’t you let me worry about that?” His smile was playful and boyish. Irresistible. “Now that I’m helping, do I get all the details?”
“Not here in the open.” I couldn’t take the chance that I was being followed by someone else that I hadn’t seen and have them overhear what I knew for certain. “What was going on when I pulled up to your…place?”
He grinned again, something that came easily to him. I envied that, his ability to wear a smile no matter what was happening. “Some asshole thought he could order his ex to come back to him by threatening her. We had to show him he was wrong. Plus, that ex is my buddy’s wife now.”
“Shit.” That was some serious shit. “And that little lesson required all the emergency vehicles in town? I call bullshit, but you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” It was probably best if we kept some secrets between us.
“I just told you. Rocky used to date this scumbag who was the head of a gang in LA and when his business started going south he decided he wanted her particular brand of assistance again. He wouldn’t take no for an answer and me and my brothers had to say it until he heard it and accepted it.”
The way my body reacted to his words, so calm and harsh with a deadly dose of venom running through his tone, was crazy. It felt crazy and out of con
trol, like I was setting back the women’s movement at least a hundred years. But I was turned on by his words, the certainty in them and the ferocity with which he spoke them. “So you’re like a real-life outlaw biker, huh?”
“A biker yes but we’re not outlaws. Not really,” he added hastily. “We have legit businesses that we all run and yeah, if someone fucks with one of us, they fuck with us all.”
“Good to know.” I could still catch glimpses of the boy I used to know, especially when he said certain phrases or laughed. God, that laugh had been the balm my battered heart and soul longed for back then. It was rich and loud, full of life and enjoyment. Jeremiah was a boy who’d enjoyed life, at least until it had all been snatched from him. I still hadn’t decided if I would accept the help he offered but I was glad we’d gotten a chance to talk for a bit, so I dropped some cash in the tray with the check, passing on the mints, and handed it to the passing waitress. “This was fun, Jag.”
He frowned and looked up at me. “That’s the second time you bought me a meal and I don’t like it.” It was almost a pout, a sexy little pout that made me think about kissing him again. Dammit.
“Don’t worry, I fully expect you to put out.” A laugh escaped at his shocked expression.
“I can do that. But first we should probably talk about things, don’t you think Vivi?”
Hell no I didn’t think we needed to talk about anything, especially when he pitched his voice low and panty meltingly sexy. “I’ll let you know.”
Jag stood and got in my face. “You can follow me to my place.”
I could have argued and told him that no one bossed me around and then went on about my way. But I was too damn curious about him and those kissable fucking lips so I nodded and left the diner because I was about to do something really stupid.
Like sleep with Jag.
Chapter Seven
Jag
Whatever shit Vivi had gotten herself into was deep enough to get her to come to me after more than a decade of radio silence. I was sure the way I pulled away from her years ago had a lot to do with why she was so damn prickly right now. Still, she didn’t turn the other way at her first chance. Instead, she followed behind until we reached the outskirts of town and pulled into the plot of land I bought a few years ago. It wasn’t much but it had plenty of space for a house, a computer lab and a garage for all my vehicles. It was all mine and that’s what mattered to me.
“Go on into the garage and kill the engine,” I told her, stopping my bike just outside the entrance.
“Aye, captain.” She gave a sarcastic salute and managed to squeeze her camper into the small space without my help.
“What do you want help with first?” I stood in the back doorway with my arms crossed, staring at her as she stared back at me, gray eyes liquid and sharp.
“I don’t need help with anything. That’s the point of having a camper so I don’t have to unpack my shit everywhere I go. Come in.”
I followed her to the dinette and she patted the seat beside her, fingers already flying across the keyboard quick enough to leave a dust trail. “I know you’re eager to see what brought me to your door.”
She wasn’t wrong about that, so I sat next to her and tried like hell to ignore the scent of vanilla that swamped me as soon as I got close to her. Vanilla and something else, earthy and musky and sexy as fuck. I slid away to put some space between us. “Let’s see what you got.”
She rolled her eyes, which looked like melted silver up close against the backdrop of her electric blue hair and pulled up two images. “That,” she pointed, and I leaned in to see two photos both of a vaguely familiar looking white dude with a young chick who wasn’t nearly as polished or vanilla enough to be his wife.
It didn’t appear all that nefarious to me and I leaned back with a sigh. “That’s it? A rich white guy cheating on his wife isn’t exactly a big scandal worthy of all this cloak and dagger stuff. Is it?” Then another thought occurred to me, what if Vivi was crazy?
She sighed. “I should have known,” she grumbled and shut the laptop harder than she needed to. “Men. Don’t worry about it, Jag. I have a few things I need to take care of here, but I’ll be gone in an hour or so.”
“Goddamnit woman, you are as infuriating as fuck!” I smacked my hands on the table hard enough to jumble all the contents on top. “Stop being so fucking sensitive and don’t run away from me again.”
She slid her hips into mine until I stood to let her escape and she began to pace in the small camper. “Of course you don’t see anything wrong about a grown man fucking a child. A child, Jag! She’s a teenager, not just your run of the mill side piece!” The look she levelled me with made me feel about two feet tall.
Shit. “How in the hell was I supposed to know that?”
“Maybe don’t be so quick to brush me off?” She held up her hands to stop me. “If you don’t believe me or think I’m some paranoid nutjob, say so and I’ll go. No harm, no foul and no complaints.” Vivi stared at me with fire burning in her eyes, ready to bolt if I said the wrong thing. “Well?”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Vivi. Shit, you barely tell me anything and I’m just trying to figure this out.”
She scoffed and shook her head, blue waves brushing her shoulders. “Figure this out Jag, she’s seventeen today and they’ve been together for more than two years. Does that sink in? Or about the fact that the older guy in the photo is a politician. A governor to be exact.”
I let out a shocked whistle because that piece of information was unexpected. “How exactly did you come across this information, Vivi? Are you doing black hat shit?”
“No. It was a legitimate job that I can’t tell you about and even if it had been black hat shit, I found the information, and someone is after me. So, can I trust you?”
I opened my mouth to tell her that she could trust me. I was a trustworthy sort of guy, ask anyone. But something stopped me. Vivi could trust me but only if she believed it. “Not if you think trust means following you blindly.”
“If I needed a minion I could’ve stayed back east. I need someone with skills. I need to find out who is after me and how they found out about me.” She told me about the break-in at her place that had prompted her to leave town and seek me out, so no matter what, Vivi believed someone was after her.
“Okay fine, you have my help. But I have a question. Why in hell would the government help him out if he’s a child molester?” She didn’t say it, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out that her skills were perfect for multiple clandestine government agencies.
“I didn’t say the whole government did this, but clearly he has a source or two. Or he knows someone who does.”
“And you really think they’d kill over this?”
She scoffed and looked at me like I was poor dumb kid. “Let’s see, the millions to be made as a crooked politician might be worth killing for. And how about a life in prison for sex with a child? Or maybe, and here’s the kicker, maybe the idea of losing out on the Presidency. People have killed for less. A lot fucking less, Jag.”
Her pointed words served as a reminder of what was going down with the Reckless Bastards when she rolled into town. “Point taken. Unless you’re going to use this as an excuse to run away again?” She’d threatened to leave at least half a dozen times since she came to town and I didn’t think she was playing games.
“That’s because I’m the only person I can rely on, but I do need your help. But don’t say you want to help just to keep me here, Jag. I’m not that girl and I don’t need your protection.”
“You wouldn’t take it even if you did need it.” My lips curved into a smile because damn, Vivi was feisty as hell and it turned me on. “Right?”
Vivi fisted her hands at her hips, drawing my eyes to the beaded nipples peeking through the plain white tee she wore. I couldn’t tell if she wore a bra or not, but her nipples were so hard I didn’t give a damn. “I’m stubborn Jag, not stupid.”
/>
“Good to know. I’ll remind you of that if I need to.” I stood and got in her face, for no other reason than I could. She pushed at my chest when I got too close and I took a step back and I realized something. Vivi wasn’t as immune to me as she pretended to be. Her pupils dilated and the pulse at the base of her neck fluttered wildly like a hummingbird’s wings under her pale, silky flesh. I stepped in again and she pushed me back, but this time I didn’t budge. One hand went to the back of her neck, massaging it at first until my fingers tangled in her hair, grabbing her to angle her head just so.
“Jag,” she whispered a second before my mouth crashed down on hers in a frenzied kiss that felt like it had been twenty years in the making. My tongue swept against hers softly but the minx nipped my bottom lip, changing what would have been a sensual kiss into something hotter and darker. Something explosive.
Vivi’s hand slid under my shirt, hands splayed wide as they traveled up my abdomen to my chest, taking the shirt as she rounded my shoulders.
“I guess we’re taking this off,” I whispered.
She nodded and leaned in, her tongue leaving a trail of heat up the center of my body. My cock sprang to life and she felt it, letting out a low moan as her tongue traveled to my nipple.
“Damn you are beautiful.” She said the words more to herself than to me, but they slithered through my veins and lit a fire.
“Vivi.” My voice came out a growl as her tongue curled around my other nipple while her fingers dug into my ass cheeks. She was as bossy right now as she’d been online, but I wasn’t a shy boy anymore. “Vivi,” I growled again, gripping a handful of blue hair to yank her back.
“Bedroom is up.” She pointed to a fucking doll’s bed and I shook my head.
“I don’t fucking think so, Vivi.” I knelt down and scooped her over my shoulder because there was no fucking way I was going to be smashed between a clear hatch and tiny ass bed the first time I slid into her. The garage was close to my bedroom and I had her naked and laid out on my bed in under two minutes. “That’s better.”
