With their bags stowed away, Piper wrapped her arms around Ender as he pulled out into the night.
Ender pondered his father’s parting words they’d had in private minutes before Piper emerged from the house. He’d given his dad the ten thousand as promised, but the old man wanted another five because the community believed that he or Piper had something to do with the fire. Since they couldn’t come up with a reason why Ender or Piper would want to set it in the first place, they let them go, no harm, no foul, but wanted recompense nonetheless.
He’d found the silver plated lighter his father had given him on his sixteenth birthday still in the pocket where he carried it. That didn’t mean Piper hadn’t set the fire. He’d turned the thing over in his hand, remembering how his father had explained then about it being passed to him by his grandfather when he turned that same age. It was some sort of rite of passage. As much as he hated the old man, he’d kept it all those years because his old man could have given it to one of his brothers, but hadn’t. And whether he wanted to admit it or not, that had meant something. Just like how Ender couldn’t shake not maintaining a beard. Sometimes, one couldn’t run from one’s upbringing.
Rested, Piper had no trouble hanging on to Ender as they navigated the highways. They drove most of the day and into the night, making a couple of stops to eat and use the restrooms. When she thought she might not be able to hold on any longer, he finally pulled off at a motel just near the border of Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle.
“Get cleaned up,” Ender ordered once they were in the room.
Piper’s hackles rose, and she crossed her arms over her chest to signify her defiance. Ender didn’t bother with words. He moved forward and picked her up by her arms and carried her in the bathroom. He sat her down in the tub, kicking and fighting him. Then he turned on the water, making her gasp when hit with the frigid temperature.
She jumped to her feet, freezing and glaring at the lumberjack in front of her. “You asshole!”
“That’s what she said.” He walked out of the room, leaving her to shiver as she turned the nozzle, hoping to get warmer water.
She peeled off her clothes, vowing to kill him slowly when she had the chance. No man had ever had the upper hand before unless she gave it to him. Ender annoyingly did. And she hated it but was extremely turned on by it at the same time.
Thankfully, her clothes had been washed at the farm house. It was a perk that Ender got, and she’d piggybacked in on it. She showered as best as she could with limited supplies and wanted to refuse to face Ender in a towel. That would only let him know he won, and that she’d crawled back into the shower like a good girl. However, she had no choice. She decided when she went in the room she would get dressed and consider the gun at the bottom of her bag. Maybe it was a good time to play her hand.
Ender talked softly in the phone. Piper was in the shower, but he wouldn’t put it past her to be at the door listening to what he was doing.
“What’s your ETA?” the voice asked on the other end.
“Almost another twenty hours if I drive straight. If it were me alone, I’d do it.”
“Okay, two more days?”
“Yeah,” Ender agreed.
There was a pause and Ender knew Rocky wasn’t sentimental, but he would ask.
“How’s she holding up?”
“Besides being a pain in my ass?” Ender chuffed.
“Watch it,” Rocky warned.
Ender hadn’t told Rocky that he was sure Piper had started the fire. He’d only told him that his dad’s crew suspected them.
“She’s not coming in easily.”
“That’s my girl,” Rocky replied.
He hesitated before adding, “I don’t think she wants anything to do with Tricks.”
There was a pause and Ender knew he was crossing certain lines. But his job had always meant he played it straight.
“I know.”
That was how the call ended. He slipped the phone in his pocket just as the bathroom door opened. A slick and wet Piper walked in the room with a small white towel around her. His cock stiffened in his pants. He had to fist his hands at his sides and plant his feet so he wouldn’t go to her. Since she’d come into his life, he’d had a half fuck, a hasty blowjob, and he’d gotten his fingers wet. He didn’t know how long it’d been since he hadn’t fucked on a daily basis. He’d have to make a stop tomorrow. Otherwise, he couldn’t be responsible for what he might do.
Piper walked purposefully to her bag and pulled out freshly washed clothes. She tried not to be affected by the way Ender watched her predatorily, as if she were a gazelle and he were a lion. Yet, goosebumps erupted on her skin, leaving her damp and chilled. She sat on the bed with her back to him and slipped her underwear up her legs and raised her butt to get them under the towel and over her hips.
Then she let the towel fall, leaving her breasts exposed. He’d already seen the goods, no use in hiding them now. Plus, he was at her back. She slipped the T-shirt over her head, not bothering with a bra. She stood and pulled on shorts before grabbing her small bag of essentials to go back in the bathroom to finish up. Once she’d brushed her teeth, she strode into the room and tossed the bag down before getting into the bed. She rolled on her side with Ender still standing. He hadn’t moved from that spot as if he were a statue. She had to push away the need that gathered between her legs. There was no way to focus and escape with his eyes burning into her soul the way they were. So she closed her own and tried to force sleep.
Ender couldn’t believe her ballsiness when she’d taken off her shirt. He’d caught a side view of her full rounded tits. Normally, he didn’t like big boobs, but his cock currently disagreed. He had to shift to one side to relieve the pressure from his massive hard-on. She was fuckable in the worst way with her tight ass. He wouldn’t be able to sleep in the bed with her. He’d asked for one bed not two, intending to piss her off and punish her for being a grade-A thorn in his side. Instead, he would be punishing himself if he lay next to her.
There was a chance she’d run, but at that point he wanted her to. It would give him a reason to chase her and enjoy the spoils of his prize once he caught her. So, silently he dared her to, as he made his way to the bathroom to take a fucking cold shower. He was certain his balls were already blue, but he planned to rectify that shit soon.
26
Piper woke with a start and lifted her head to see Ender snoozing on a chair. As soon as her leg moved over the side of the bed rustling the sheets, Ender’s eyes opened wide.
“Ready.” His voice was rough from sleep but unfortunately for Piper it sounded sexy as fuck.
He didn’t give her a lot of time to get dressed and ready for the drive. All too soon, her arms were wrapped around a man she could never have.
Ender wanted the drive to end. He never thought he’d hate his Hog, but he’d give anything for a four-wheel ride at the moment. Piper’s arms around him did crazy things for such a maddening chick. He was sure it was a lack of sex that was creating his hyper sense of awareness of her.
At every stop, his eyes glued to her movement and not because he’d feared she’d rabbit. He’d be a dead man if he didn’t drop her off soon because there was no redemption from breaking the code. Not a religious man, he suddenly believed in Adam and the temptation he’d suffered. Piper was the forbidden fruit and that was all it was, not anything more. As soon as he released the pressure in his balls, she would cease to be the craving he desired. Still, he didn’t give her leeway when she wanted a bathroom break. At one stop, he followed her inside, ignoring her glare. He didn’t give a fuck. She wasn’t giving him the slip again.
She glared at the lumberjack before barking, “Get out!”
He didn’t bother responding. He watched as she peeled her tight pants down her legs. If not for his phone ringing, he would have continued to watch the show, only to piss her off. That was his only recourse for the game she was playing. He wasn’t stupid to the fact she was tryin
g to bait him to bed her. He’d become a eunuch before he betrayed his brother and best friend. All the tiny ways he’d crossed the line up to that point could be explained. He wouldn’t risk any further breach of trust.
Piper wasn’t sure why she hadn’t killed Ender yet. He was a controlling, overbearing asshole who wanted to watch her pee. She couldn’t even get her muscles to relax to relieve herself until he finally glanced away to answer a call. She nearly sighed when she was able to finish her business.
Irritated, Ender finished the call. It wasn’t the news he wanted to hear. Piper washed her hands when Ender faced her with a storm in his beautiful eyes.
“Where’s Katie?”
Damn, Piper thought. “Katie?” she asked as if she didn’t know who he was referring to.
“Don’t play fucking dumb, Piper. You weren’t leaving when I found you after the fire. You were coming back. Who do you think you are, Mother Theresa?”
She had wondered the same thing. She fluffed her hair in the mirror as if she cared about that sort of thing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She puckered her lips, thinking with a little makeup and her windblown hair, she would look freshly fucked. Too bad that was the farthest from the truth.
There was no exit as Ender blocked the door with his feet spread as if he were a bouncer in front of a club.
“Fine, your creepy cult brothers were looking at her like she was fresh meat.”
“She is.”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re as sick as they are. She’s twelve, if that!”
“Her mother knows what happens. That girl has a father somewhere on that ranch.”
“Who? Does anyone know who?”
“Not my business.”
“Well, fuck you. She’d be in middle school, for God’s sake, if they had a school there.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Where are they?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea, and I hope like hell they got away. They shouldn’t be prisoners.”
“Your little stunts are going to get someone killed.”
“Yeah, like who?” she asked, spoiling for a fight.
“Like Katie and her mom. Now for sure they are going to think they started the fire as a diversion. You better pray they don’t catch them.”
Madder than hell, and more at herself, she punched Ender’s solid chest. “I can’t believe you don’t care they want to rape a child.”
Ender grabbed Piper’s pounding fist. “It’s not that I don’t care. But I can’t save the world, Pipe, and neither can you.”
She felt tears gather in her eyes at all the injustices that went on. He was right. She couldn’t save the world, especially considering her specialty was the polar opposite of saving lives. Hell, she could hardly save herself against him. She rolled to the balls of her feet as he held her captive and planted her mouth on his. She remembered the kiss he’d given her at the cookout, and she wanted more.
As soon as her lips met his, he was done. He grabbed her wrists and put some distance between them lest he use his hands to cup her breasts, something he’d wanted to do for days. He squeezed hard, punishing her for the hold she had over his cock. She said jump and the damn thing sprang to life.
Her ass called his name, so he gave her a little shove to send her stumbling away. Her heavily lidded eyes narrowed and anger blossomed on her face.
Wanting to claw the smug look off his face, she came at him, fingers extended. Instead, she played a different card. His dick had stiffened several times over the last few days when she got close enough. He wanted her. She just had to bait him enough to take her. She fisted his hair and hopped up to wrap her legs around his waist. Her momentum sent him crashing back into the door. Instinct had him holding her ass to keep her from falling. Damn her, he thought as she ground her sweet cunt against his dick.
For a second, he damned her jeans, needing to see if she was wet for him. He wanted to slide his finger through her sweet folds, parting them as he prepared to enter her.
When she sucked his lower lip into her mouth, she let her teeth graze over the flesh before she released it.
“Fuck,” he growled and pushed off the door. He turned one hundred and eighty degrees and a step over to slam her against the wall.
All the air rushed from her lungs, leaving her stunned for a second.
With strength he didn’t know he possessed, he let her go to let gravity help her slide down the wall to her feet. He stepped back and turned without another word. He flung the door open, barely missing hitting her in the face.
Astounded, she stood there wondering what the fuck. That damn code of his was harder than steel. There was no doubt he would have taken her if he didn’t see her as Taylor’s. Fuck him. She was tired of all the games. Taylor wasn’t pining away for her. She belonged to no one and could fuck who she wanted, but apparently not Ender.
She took a few more minutes in the bathroom to wet her face and school her features while forcing Ender to stew outside.
Ender paced, furious that he’d reached the edge and had almost crossed the line for pussy. Clearly, he needed to get to his next stop before they fucked each other’s brains out.
When she came out of the bathroom, he barely glanced at her. He got on his Hog without pretenses and waited for her to get on. As he waited, he mentally started a checklist of what he had to do and checked it several times until the thought and taste of Piper were out of his head, either of them.
Many hours of hard riding later with a few rest stops along the way, Ender finally pulled up into the parking lot of the Arizona chapter. He could have ridden the few hours more to get home, but he had to get his shit on straight before he made it there. And he could tell Piper was tired. She wasn’t used to riding for so many hours.
He wasn’t sure why he wasted his time, but he took out her cut so she wouldn’t be bothered by the men who didn’t know her inside. Surprisingly, she took it from his hand without saying a word. They hadn’t spoken to each other since the bathroom incident, which should have been a good thing. But he found himself missing their banter.
They pushed through the doors like saloon goers in the Wild West. The clubhouse, like most, was part bar, part strip club, and part living room. At least that was the way the furniture in the room would describe the place. It was packed as it should be. Night had fallen, and the members would gather there for business outside of their everyday jobs. Although most worked for club establishments, not all of the citizens of the town knew exactly what the club did; or rather they didn’t want to know.
It didn’t take long for them to be noticed. Piper watched as a slender beauty made a beeline for Ender. She was tall, statuesque, with skin the color of copper. Her sleek black hair only added to her Native American features. She was gorgeous in a way that Piper could only dream of.
She stepped up to Ender with a familiarity of more than friends. The woman looped her arms around Ender's neck, and he didn’t have to lean too far to meet his lips with hers.
“Lyla,” he whispered reverently.
She was his reason for this stop. The first woman since Mandy he’d given two shits about. A woman he might have patched her up if she’d been willing to move, but she hadn’t. He hadn’t been willing either. So they were long-distance fuck buddies with a desire for more but neither willing to give.
“Eric,” she said just as softly.
Piper felt a stir of jealousy. The woman knew his real name and called him that out loud. They were definitely more than friends. She felt a little sick and turned her head. She spotted a small bar in the corner and headed toward it. She didn’t bother to glance back, especially when Ender didn’t call out any instructions to her. Apparently, the woman on his arm was more important than getting Piper back to Cali to see Tricks.
A boy, and that was what she would call him because he looked too young to be manning a bar. That and he appeared a little wet behind the ears. He arched a brow in her direction, making her notice how cute
he was in the floppy hair kind of way.
“Vodka,” Piper ordered.
“ID?”
His voice was a lot deeper than the preteen look that covered his boyish face.
“I should ask you that. I’m probably old enough to be your mother,” she teased.
“I doubt that. I’m sure I wouldn’t want to fuck my mother.”
Piper’s shoulders straightened and she eyed the guy a little more. And then she saw it. There was something in his eyes that held an old soul. “How old are you?”
He only repeated her question back to her.
“Fine, I’m twenty-something,” she answered, a little too curious about the guy in front of her.
“I’m twenty-three, but I’m sure I could fuck you like I’m forty.”
He said it while confidently handing her vodka in a small plastic cup. She downed it in one gulp and thought about it. She hadn’t fucked in ages, and when she got to Cali, she’d be number one no touchy. In fact, if Ender hadn’t been so besotted with his Indian princess, he would have warned every guy off of her.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“I won’t tell you mine, and you don’t have to tell me yours.”
Her head fell back as she laughed. She liked his confidence and decided why not. “One more and then you will prove to me that you aren’t some virgin looking to get laid.”
Giving her a lopsided grin, he poured them both a tall shot and they tapped their plastic cups together and drank. Piper didn’t make it a habit of one-night stands. But the few guys she’d been with outside of Taylor and…well, they’d been just that. Only she could count on one hand the number of partners she’d had.
Boldly, he took her by the hand and led her away, once they set the cups on the counter. No one in the club said anything. They didn’t care. Piper couldn’t stop herself from glancing over her shoulder and finding Ender gone. So fuck him, she thought. Two can play that game.
Ride or Die (Devil's Edge MC #1) Page 14
