His eyes flickered to the girl wiping down tables. At first she hadn’t known who it was, but seeing her face in profile, and Piper knew the girl’s name.
Only a glance passed between them, but as Kings started her way, it was clear that he’d silently communicated he’d be walking away from the bar for a moment.
The girl, who’d acted so dimwitted Piper had feared for her, clearly was an agent. She had to give her points because the woman’s acting skills were off the charts.
She and Kings stepped into the darkened hallway and his clever eyes spotted the luggage straight off.
“Going somewhere?”
Like ripping off a Band-Aid, she said, “I’m done.”
He nodded as if he’d expected her to say that. Then again, he probably had. But she highly doubted leaving would be that easy.
“You knew from the beginning that the only way out was in a—”
“Box. Yes, I know. I’m hoping you can make them believe that I had.”
His big hand cupped the side of her face much like a father might do. She closed her eyes, not to enjoy the moment, but prepare for the inevitable. Kings could easily snap her neck and that was what she’d figured he’d do. Mentally, she prepared that her life might end that day. Knowing what she did, she decided it was better that than to go on.
The pad of his thumb brushed over her cheek, stroking at invisible tears she’d yet to shed.
“What did you find out there?”
He didn’t have to specify California because he meant anything and anywhere outside of the organization.
What had she found? The meaning of life? No, nothing so profound. But she had found life. If that made any sense. She wanted the joy of not watching her back. She wanted not to add to the body count that plagued her dreams with guilt. She wanted… That thought stopped in its tracks. The one thing she really wanted had been as elusive as a fantasy. She’d learned that from Taylor and Brian.
“Peace,” she finally said, reaching absently for the smokes that were no longer in her pocket.
She fought against the instinct. The need to light up hadn’t crossed her mind since Ender. Hell, her bio mom was dying from lung cancer. She squashed the desire and would fight against it if it arose again.
His hand slid from her face down her neck to her shoulder.
“Do you want to know about the mother and daughter you sent to me first?”
She nodded.
“As you can imagine meeting me and the whole city of New York was just too much for them. So I set them up with all they need to get the woman a job and the girl enrolled in school in a small town.”
“Good,” she said, relieved.
“Now, you know I can’t let you walk out of here alive.”
She nodded again and braced herself.
43
By the time Ender had considered going after Piper she’d been long gone. There were too many exit points in the city from trains, planes, and automobiles. He’d lost her. He thought that maybe he wouldn’t track her. Though he had. He’d watched her on the computer screen as a tiny blip made her way back to New York. Only to make sure she was safe, he told himself.
Shit at the club had been crazy since she’d left. The Midnight Raiders had made a play for their territory and he hadn’t been able to chase her, not that he would have.
She hadn’t wanted him, so why the fuck should he play pussy and chase her despite Taylor’s advice? He had Lyla, though he hadn’t been to see her and had avoided her calls and texts. Lyla could be enough if she hadn’t moved on out of spite. Then again, it was probably for the best. In fact, he sent Lyla a text, telling her he wouldn’t be back, at least not for her.
Languages hadn’t been created for the kinds of things she spewed in replies to him. He hadn’t responded, nor did he go and teach her a lesson about the proper way to treat a brother from Devil’s Edge, not some pansy ass off the street.
He did nothing. In fact, he stopped following Piper’s movements via the computer too. Rocky hadn’t asked him to, so he unhooked himself from the chain she’d weaved around his heart. Should be easy. He hadn’t known her all that long. Surely it took more to build a guillotine than the short time they’d known each other.
As time slowly passed, he realized his mistake. Sitting in the clubhouse with music playing loud and pussy by the dozen available to him, he partook of none of it.
“I’m out,” he announced to his brothers.
He’d come to the party after they had wiped out the competition. They hadn’t killed every member of the Midnight Raiders club, but they had scared enough, and the rest had headed for the hills. He’d showed his face, drank a few beers, and listened to the recounts of glory from boasters like Dirt. All the while, he’d been remembering what it had been like to be inside her.
It shouldn’t have been an eye-opening experience. He’d been with enough women to know that in the dark, pussy is pussy. Yet, after being with her, he understood the more elusive thing like what Rocky had with Tricks. It wasn’t the physical, it was mental like it had been with Mandy since he’d never so much as kissed her. With Piper, though, he’d felt a connection he’d never had before. It made everything he did with her far more intense, more pleasurable than any he had before.
“Ender,” Rocky called.
He blinked from where he stood, staring off in space a second before.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got a job for you.”
Just what I need, he thought. A long ride would clear his head and get his dick on board with the program. If he could just get it up long enough to find a tight pussy to lose himself in, maybe he could forget about her.
“What have you got for me, boss?”
Rocky didn’t waste time telling him. It wasn’t back to New York to pick up Piper, but it was something.
Piper could hardly believe she was still breathing. Kings told her the best way out was a box. The only problem was faking her death would mean giving up her old life. While she acted like her biological father meant nothing to her, it was a lie. Plus, Kings knew well that the blowback from news of her death from national Devil’s Edge club could cause a visible war, one that would be put in front of the public eye.
So for now, she was forced to go dark. Kings agreed to negotiate on her behalf. Being the daughter of the national president of such a large motorcycle club could be her way out. Her dad’s club had resources to bring to light an organization that lived in the shadows.
That was how she found herself on a bus with nothing electronic on her so she couldn’t be tracked. The lengths she went to, taking a plane to Atlanta, getting on a train to Orlando, and losing herself in the crowds of a theme park before randomly catching a Greyhound bus. She’d switched routes several times to make sure she wasn’t followed. It was exhausting but necessary.
On the last leg of her escape from New York, she decided buying an older model car was her first priority. The small, sleepy town in Colorado she’d chosen as the place she’d hide out in until she got word from Kings that the coast was clear wasn’t exactly public transportation friendly.
Using library computers when someone didn’t log completely off was a game in itself. She’d managed to rent a small, furnished apartment and paying through PayPal using a reloadable gift card she’d bought at a gas station with cash had done the trick.
Keeping her electronic footprint to a minimum, she hoped she’d done enough to keep herself safe until a deal could be brokered. She couldn’t spend a lot of money as she may have to buy her contract out as an incentive for the organization to let her walk away.
She’d stayed on the bus while the other passengers had gotten off for a bathroom break and to get food at the small truck stop. She’d used the time for surveillance. She scoured the area with her eyes, watching to see if any out of place vehicles were following the bus or waiting for her to exit. She did this until all the other passengers got back on.
When no other cars pulled in
to the lot, she got off just as the bus driver was about to shut the doors to move on. The bus driver’s scowl did nothing to take the smile off her face. She’d done it.
She relished getting off the bus, stretching with each step. The stop was a diner with a few eighteen wheelers in its parking lot, but the beauty of the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop took her breath away. As the bus pulled away, she sucked in a lungful of fresh air.
Opening her eyes, she was surprised to see the motorcycle parked on the other side of the road and the rider who only had eyes for her.
He took a moment to see the naked emotion on her face. From the fall of brown hair down her back, to the bounce of her tits, he caught her in a rare moment when nothing was disguised on her face. She was downright gorgeous in a way that had his dick so hard, he doubted his ability to ride his bike in that moment. In her eyes he could have sworn he saw relief before it was quickly masked. Her fury compounded with each step toward him.
“You bastard,” she said, poking a finger into his chest. “Where is it? You’re going to get me caught.”
Her challenge went unheard to anyone else as they were far enough away from the diner. No one was remotely close, so he didn’t bother to whisper his next words.
“Nobody knows, not even Rocky, what kind of surveillance I have on you.” Whenever Rocky gave him a task, he didn’t ask questions about how it got done. It was better for deniability that way. “The device or devices,” he began, because he wasn’t admitting yet that he only had one left, “were purchased a couple of years ago for cash. No one can track you outside of me.”
She accepted his words because he’d never once lied to her.
He reached over and cupped the back of her neck. He drew her in and stole the kiss he wanted, craved, fucking dreamed about since the day she’d walked away.
Her fists pressed into his chest until they opened and gripped his shirt, pulling him closer.
“That’s it, baby. You take what you need,” he said against her mouth. “But it might be better if we don’t do this on the side of the road.”
Her blush almost made her appear innocent, almost. She glanced down at her carryon bag, eyeing the thing then looking at him. He got off the bike and had to adjust himself.
A few seconds later with rope that looked like bungee cord, don’t ask how she knew, he jimmy rigged the tiny suitcase to fit securely on the back of his bike.
“We don’t have far to go, do we?”
She liked that he found her capable. He trusted her to have a safe spot to go if she’d gotten off the bus.
“No, not far.”
Although she hadn’t ever been there before, she’d memorized directions in case she couldn’t find a ride there and had to walk. With no cell, she had no desire to ask for directions once she made it to her final destination.
44
The place was a cute ski cabin. One that was rented by the month through Airbnb and wouldn’t look suspicious when an out-of-towner occupied it.
“Cute,” Ender muttered after she opened the door.
There was a small living room with worn furniture on the left and a tinier kitchen with yellowing appliances and aging pine cabinets on the right. Two doors lined the back wall. She didn’t have to open them to guess one led to a bedroom and the other to a bathroom.
“Your ass is cute. This is a shithole,” she proclaimed.
And for the first time ever, she watched as Ender’s face split and he laughed. Watching him only made her unable not to join in.
“It’s not funny,” she finally said. “I’ve had worse.”
She had. Her apartment in New York was no prize. There, her sweeping views had been of brick walls and dirty alleys. What she had now before her were tree-covered, snowcapped mountains right out her small front windows.
The majesty of the outdoors held her attention until Ender tugged her toward the doors in the back. Luck ran on his side because the first door he opened led to a room with a bed. He didn’t waste time tossing her on it.
“Strip.” It was that one command that made her wet. “Let me see those gorgeous tits of yours.”
“Thought you didn’t like them,” she countered.
“I’m growing fond of them.”
Unceremoniously, she removed her shirt over her head, leaving her hair sexily mussed. The chill in the air caused her nipples to harden to diamonds on contact.
“Fuck,” Ender muttered.
He grabbed a hold of his dick through his jeans and tugged on it some as if that could calm the damn thing down.
“Let me see that pretty pussy of yours.”
She rose up on her knees and tucked her thumbs under the waistband of her jeans. Then she eased the stretchy but clingy fabric over her hips, not bothering with the zipper. It wasn’t easy, but she managed it.
When she sat, he tugged on her ankles, pulling her jeans free from her legs. Then he had to stop and admire the lacy black material that covered her perfect cunt. After a moment, however, what looked so pretty became an obstacle. A second later the material tore from her body, the stitching no match for his biceps.
“Hey,” she protested. “Those aren’t cheap.”
“I’ll replace them with whatever you want.”
His words had barely escaped his mouth before he was on her. One thrust and he found heaven and home. Her back bowed while he hissed in a breath.
Their joining was more than animalistic need, although there was definitely some of that. There was a knowing each of them felt as they never lost eye contact. His pumping action was long and hard, hitting each and every spot that had her wanting to lose control.
She clawed at his back. His fingers bit into her flesh. Her thighs would be bruised, but oh so deliciously. He angled her so he could go even deeper, moving so he could apply the most pressure to that inside magic button that had her digging her nails into his skin.
“God, your dick—”
“Is big?” The smirk on his beautiful face would have pissed her off if not for the pleasure he stirred in between her legs. “The better to fuck you with, baby.”
“Eric,” she cried out. “I’m going to come.”
Saying his name and not his road one had him losing his shit. Her pussy clamped down on him so hard, he shot off, seeing stars at the edge of his vision.
One last punishing stroke and he finished, shooting his seed inside her.
He collapsed on top of her. Not that she minded. He rolled on his side, taking her with him. They faced each other with his arms fastened around her.
“Now that you’re mine, tell me what the fuck you’re doing in Colorado?”
She bristled at his words.
“Yours?”
“Don’t fucking fight it, Pipe. No one else is going to fuck that pretty cunt of yours unless they have a death wish. You can be on board or not, but that’s how it is.”
“You are a bossy licentious bastard.”
“Bossy, yes. Bastard, true enough. My parents never did marry. But licentious?”
His brow quirked and a half smile formed on his face as if he were amused.
“It means—”
“I know what it means. Just didn’t think you’d break out the dictionary when you were mad.”
She shrugged. “Shameless didn’t have the same ring to it.”
He kissed her, tugging at her lip with his teeth.
“Next thing, you’ll be calling me a hedonistic asshole.”
She let out a moan because he’d never pulled out and had started to move inside her again. On their sides, a new angle took her to a different but no less gratifying place.
“Licentious and hedonistic, yes, those suit you well.”
They didn’t speak after for a while. The next word she thought of was insatiable as he flipped her over and lifted her ass high in the air so he could fuck her doggy style.
She was tired, but felt loose and limber by morning. Waking up hadn’t been in the plan, but movement on the bed had her op
ening her eyes like the trained killer she was.
“Where are you going?”
She hated the desperation that edged her tone. There was no way she wanted to want someone that bad. But he’d claimed her just hours ago. Did he plan to duck out on her the first chance he got? She couldn’t help but think of Lyla. He had another thing coming if he thought she would just be available whenever he needed or wanted her.
“Going for breakfast. I figured I needed to feed you if I planned to fuck you until I leave this afternoon.”
“Leaving?” Again, she didn’t want to be that girl, the one who needed a man like she needed to breathe.
“I’ve got business in Utah.”
“Club business near Dragon?” she asked like there could be some other. He didn’t speak for a second. “Of course I know where Dad’s clubs are across the country. I had to so I could steer clear and not have someone checking up on my every movement.”
“Dragon is a ghost town,” he said flatly.
She rolled her eyes. “True, that’s what the census bureau thinks. But small towns wouldn’t be small towns if everyone knew about them.”
“The postal service.”
Shrugging, she said, “Like I said, near Dragon.”
There wasn’t much near there, but there was a small mining town that still worked in the area. Guys who worked it were hard and liked their women soft. It wasn’t a place you could roll into and not be noticed.
“Club business isn’t for old ladies.”
One of her eyebrows shot up. “Old lady? I’m not your old lady.”
His eyes narrowed. “I told you before, even if you don’t want to be, you’re mine. I’m not Taylor.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she challenged.
“You had a choice. When you let me between those pretty legs of yours, you became my property.”
She stepped over to him, eyes of flames, and took hold of his cock. “And I’m not Lyla. This dick is mine. And if you try to use it on another female, I will cut it from your body and ground it to mincemeat.”
Ride or Die (Devil's Edge MC #1) Page 22
