Heart of Steel

by Cathleen Cole

  “Be that as it may, you have a class to get to and he needs to leave the premises. I trust that you’ll make smarter decisions concerning those you spend time with, in the future, Ms. Mackenzie,” he said with a sniff, his face pinched like there was an unpleasant smell in the air.

  I looked over at Steel. He was standing there with that calm façade. But most of my body was plastered up against his right now, so I could feel how tense he was. If Richards’s words affected him, he didn’t let it show, but he was ready for any action that needed to be taken.

  “It’s none of your business who I spend time with,” I said shortly, and Richards’s eyes widened. Since the lunchroom incident, I had been extra nice to this man, trying to win him and some of the other faculty back onto my side. But I wasn’t going to stand here and let Richards insult him. He didn’t even know Steel. “It also doesn’t matter to me what your opinion is of me, or my decisions. Come on, let’s go.”

  I didn’t bother to look back, but I could feel Richards’s stare as we walked across campus. Finally, we turned a corner and were out of his line of sight. We’d been walking exactly as we’d been standing, with his arm around my shoulders. When I shifted, he removed it but placed his hand over mine, interlacing our fingers, and wouldn’t let go of me as he led me into a parking garage.

  “Uh, where are we going?”

  He stopped next to a large black and chrome motorcycle. The same one he’d been on that first day I’d seen him. It said Harley Davidson on the front part of the bike. I’d heard of the brand before. Some of the guys around campus even wore some of their shirts. None of those guys looked anything like the one in front of me though. He flipped up the seat on the back of the bike and took a helmet out of a compartment there.

  Handy, I thought.

  Turning back to me Steel put the helmet on my head then tightened the chin strap. His calloused fingers lightly ran down the skin of my neck. “No way.” I shook my head. “I’m not getting on that.”

  He smirked. “Scared?”

  I glared at him. “No, smart-ass. Do you know how many people get into motorcycle accidents every year?” He watched me impassively, not bothering to answer. “And out of that number how many end up dying?”

  I didn’t give the numbers because I couldn’t remember them off the top of my head. I’d researched the topic in middle school when dad had come home with a motorcycle. I’d been terrified he was going to wreck it and die. When I’d spouted off the statistics, the look on his face looked a lot like the one on Steel’s now. Sort of a resigned acceptance resided on that ruggedly handsome face. As though he knew it was pointless to interrupt me while I was on a roll.

  Once I stopped, he just turned and mounted the bike, kicked up the kickstand, balancing the machine between those strong thighs. I let my eyes trail up to his waist and I wondered if he had a six-pack. My eyes shot to his biceps.

  He absolutely has a six-pack. No way a guy has arms like that but doesn’t bother with the rest of his body. I felt his gaze on me and mine shot up guiltily. That hungry look was back on his face. I started to back up from the bike when he grabbed my wrist. He said nothing, just waited, not letting me go. I knew what he was doing. I had two choices, verbally tell him no, or get on the bike.

  “I’ve never ridden on one.” He gave a light tug on my arm and I walked forward.

  “It’s easy. Put your feet on the pegs back here,” He motioned to them. “Hold on to me and just lean when I do.”

  I eyed the seat behind him, then his face. It was too late to make my class, but I still had two more before I was done for the day. I looked back toward the opening of the garage. I debated with myself internally. It drove me crazy that Steel made me make these decisions instead of just taking them out of my hands and doing whatever he wanted.

  Well, no, that I appreciated. I hated that each time he challenged me to tell him no, I’ve done exactly what he’d said I’d do. How did he know what effect he would have on me?

  I took a deep breath, adjusted my backpack straps, so it was fitted tightly to me, then climbed on the bike. I slid forward a bit until my legs bracketed his and put my feet on the pegs. He started the engine, and the bike roared to life, then began to purr as it and the man waited for me to be ready. I chewed my bottom lip. I was nervous, my hands were starting to shake. I reached out to his body just to get them to stop shaking. I placed my arms around his waist and locked my hands together. They brushed his stomach, and I felt the hard planes.

  Definitely has a six-pack, I thought heatedly.

  Grabbing his waist was clearly his cue that I was ready, so he walked the bike backward then shot forward so fast I yelped. I slapped my body against him so fast I bumped his shoulders with my helmet and my arms tightened around him in a death grip. I could feel the vibrations of his laughter where my breasts were squished against the hard planes of his back.

  He slowed as we approached the exit, and I saw Anna’s car pulling in. She was heading into her afternoon class. Our gazes clashed and her mouth dropped open in shock. I gave her a small smile and a shrug. Her eyes slid down as she eye fucked Steel. I wasn’t upset by the look from her like I had been by the other girl doing it. Anna loved to date and always had plenty of guys around, but she’d never go after any of ours.

  Wait, I thought frantically, not mine, not mine, not… shit. The bike took off again, and I had to close my eyes, so I didn’t see the asphalt whipping past us as Steel accelerated and left campus.

  Chapter 17

  Remi

  There was no way for us to talk once the bike got up to speed, so I just let Steel take us wherever he wanted. We left town and ended up on a road that curved and twisted up into the mountains. After the first twenty minutes, I finally calmed down and started enjoying the ride.

  It sure as hell beats my statistics course.

  Steel handled the bike with power and, surprisingly, grace. Even with an inexperienced rider on it, he didn’t seem fazed at all. But I certainly was. His presence had this unexpected effect on me. It had since the first morning I saw him sitting on his motorcycle on campus.

  Even the beauty surrounding me was only a brief distraction. The forest was dense. As we kept going a rock wall appeared on our right-hand side and I watched in pleasure as we passed a small waterfall spilling down the rock face. We began passing more of them and I eagerly began looking for them.

  Finally, the wall receded, and Steel pointed to something on our left. I sucked in a breath as the trees thinned out and I could see down the embankment to a large lake, glistening in the sunlight. It was breathtaking.

  Other than the roar of his engine, there didn’t seem to be any other man-made sounds around. I watched as a deer stepped from the tree line, then cautiously waited as she spotted us. Deciding we were too far away to be a threat she continued out to the water’s edge to drink. I made a high-pitched squeaking noise when two babies followed her out slowly. I don’t know if Steel heard the embarrassing noise I made at the sight of the cute deer or if I’d tightened up, but I could feel the rumble of his laugh.

  He’d slowed down as we’d passed the lake so that I could get a longer look. A few miles down the road there was a fork, and he took a tight left turn onto a new road.

  As much as I was enjoying this, being out of the city, seeing the lake, being able to relax, I was also becoming a growing bundle of nerves with every passing mile. It was getting hard having my body slathered against his and smelling his unique scent. I liked having my arms wrapped around him, having my hands resting on all that muscle. Then there was the bike itself. I swallowed and subtly tried to shift. I didn’t want to shift so much that it threw us off balance, but Steel had me on edge and turned on before the ride and now the vibrations of the bike were compounding that issue.

  There wasn’t any other option than just to deal with the fact that my sensitive nipples were scraping against his back and with every purr of the bike my pussy fluttered back. So, for miles, I gritted my te
eth and tried to distract myself with the scenery. When I shifted again Steel shot me a look over his shoulder.

  “Almost there!” He shouted at me and I saw that we’d looped around and were heading back into the city. I didn’t necessarily want the ride to be over because it felt really freeing, with the wind whipping past. It was almost like none of my worries could catch up with us. But my libido was becoming hard to ignore. Because of that, I sighed with relief when we pulled up in front of the house I shared with the girls.

  Once Steel cut the engine I hopped off and took off the helmet. I dropped my bag on the ground next to me. I watched as Steel got off the bike. It was amazing how seamlessly he moved for such a big man.

  “So… What did you think of your first ride?”

  “It was awesome!” I grinned at him. “Once I got over being terrified of being smeared into the pavement, it was easy to relax and enjoy it.”

  He chuckled. “It can get addicting. Just wait, soon enough you won’t want to ride on anything else.” Before I could respond to him and tell him that learning to drive a motorcycle wasn’t in my plans anytime soon, he stepped closer to me and brushed a piece of hair off my face. He started to lean down, and I knew he was going to kiss me. Frantic, I glanced around.

  I saw Mrs. Crawford pretending to dig in her flower bed across the street, but her eyes were very obviously locked on us. I took a small step back. A few of my neighbors knew my uncle. This neighborhood wasn’t too far from the one I grew up in, and Uncle Caleb had a house in this area up until a few years ago when he’d moved.

  “I really appreciate the ride.” His brows pinched together as he straightened back up. “Sorry, you don’t know my neighbors though. They can be super nosey and most of them are old so they’re pretty old-fashioned.” He didn’t look like he gave a shit what my neighbors thought. Suddenly something occurred to me.

  “Wait a minute.” I looked over my shoulder at my house and then narrowed my eyes on his face. “How did you know where I lived?”

  Steel’s face shut down surprisingly fast. He took a step back and just shrugged but didn’t say anything. I watched him curiously, but he just stared back at me impassively, shoving his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

  “You’re not going to tell me?” I wondered if maybe Bridget had told Gunnar and he’d passed it on? It was the only thing that I could think of. But then, how had he known what classroom I would be in today? I started to open my mouth to ask again when he stepped forward and pressed a brief, light kiss to my lips.

  “I’ll call you.” With that, he turned, got on his bike, and drove off. I lifted my fingers to my lips and wondered if I was ever going to understand that guy. My gaze was drawn to Mrs. Crawford as she stood up and put her hands on her hips, staring at me.

  As I turned to head back into the house it was as though all my responsibilities came crashing back. The fact that Steel somehow knew my class schedule and where I lived told me I was dealing with someone far outside of the usual realm of guys I typically dated. This was a man. One who took control over the things in his life and he wasn’t afraid of doing whatever was necessary to make things go his way. I sighed and tried to toughen my resolve. It didn’t matter that a part of me really liked him. We were too different and I didn’t know how to bridge that gap. When it came to Steel, I needed to take a firm stand. With that echoing in my head, I went to catch up on schoolwork.

  Chapter 18

  Steel

  Over the next few weeks, I took any spare time I had to drop into places that Remi visited frequently. The shocked look on her face almost made me laugh when I stopped into On the Mats, a boxing gym that one of the guys I used to know from high school owned.

  Rat’s information mentioned that Remi and her friends were signed up to take one of Sergio’s self-defense courses. I liked the idea that she was learning how to protect herself. It also explained the moves that she and Bridget had used on the nomads at the party a few weeks ago.

  I wandered into the gym and quietly watched as Serg ran the group of women through some boxing drills. My eyes quickly found Remi and the corner of my mouth tipped up when she punched the focus mitts that Bridget held. Each strike had the smaller blonde’s elbows buckling until finally, she held a mitt up, silently asking for a break.

  Looking back toward the front of the room I caught Sergio’s gaze. His eyes widened in recognition and a huge smile split his face. Gunnar and I had been pretty friendly with Sergio in school. His dad had owned this gym before Serg and we’d end up here most afternoons, along with Riggs and Cade.

  “Look what the cat dragged in,” Sergio said as he approached and we clasped hands then patted each other on the backs in a side hug. “It’s been a long time, amigo.”

  I grinned at him. “Too long. Just wanted to stop by and see if the place was still standing.” Sergio laughed good-naturedly. I’d heard his dad had passed away five years ago, and he’d taken over the business. We had a fully functional gym at the clubhouse though, so none of us had been back here for some time.

  “It’s going pretty well actually. I got away from only training the serious fighters, although I still train them as well. I opened it up to women and fitness classes. It’s brought a lot of steady business in.”

  I nodded, looking around. “The place looks great.” We chatted for a few more minutes before he left to keep teaching his class. Once I’d gotten involved with the Vikings, old friendships that didn’t include the club had faded away. I was surprisingly happy to see that Serg didn’t seem to hold that against me.

  I glanced back up at the class and whiskey-colored eyes clashed with mine. Her brows were pulled low over her eyes. She’d been watching Serio and me, but I’d refused to look her way until now. I let a slow smile stretch over my face and I jerked my head at her, in a nod of greeting, before I turned and walked out.

  The sound of the door opening behind me and her voice calling my name had a satisfied smirk playing on my lips. I wondered if she realized what I was doing yet. I’d figured out fairly quickly that I’d need to slowly integrate myself into Remi’s life, making it harder and harder for her to avoid me. I slowed and watched as she caught up to me.

  Remi was wearing short compression shorts that molded to that sexy ass and nothing but a sports bra on top. Her signature Adidas were on her feet. It felt like my tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth as I watched her tits bounce as she ran up.

  “What are you doing here Steel?” She frowned at me. She was clearly suspicious of why I was here.

  She should be. But I wasn’t about to tell her that. I’d come with the express purpose of her seeing me, another thing I wasn’t going to mention. We’d had enough small, and some slightly longer, encounters in the two weeks since I’d met her outside her class, that I was sure she was catching onto the game.

  I shrugged nonchalantly. “I needed to drop something off to Sergio.” Her frown deepened. Despite watching us and seeing that we knew each other, she wasn’t buying it. I’d tried calling her again last night and when she’d, once again, not answered and not returned the call, I’d decided that it was time to put an end to this. I had too much business to take care of tonight, but tomorrow I’d be paying her another visit. She was going to find out that avoiding me didn’t work.

  “Did you know I was going to be here?” I gave her a bored stare and raised a brow.

  “As I said, I needed to drop something off.” I pulled out my phone to check the time. “I’m running behind. I’ll see you later, wildcat.” I leaned in and dropped a kiss on her lips. They parted in surprise and I wanted to deepen the kiss, sweep my tongue between those lips. Instead, I shoved my hands in my pockets and strolled over to my bike. Before I pulled out, I looked back and saw her standing there watching me. I drove out of the parking lot and headed back to the clubhouse for church.

  Chapter 19

  Steel

  The next morning, I was in the garage, working on rebuilding an engine when my ringtone s
ounded. I checked the caller ID and swallowed the irritation when I realized it wasn’t Remi returning my call. The screen flashed Axel’s name. He was the club’s road captain, and I had assigned him a set of roads to patrol that we’d been previously ignoring. We still hadn’t seen any sign of the Lycans since that first day, so I had started expanding the areas we were looking in. I answered and after a minute motioned to Riggs. He came over and we both listened intently to Axel’s report.

  It didn’t take me long to get on the road after I hung up. I turned onto a road downtown and checked the address that he’d given me twenty minutes earlier. Luck had finally turned our way, and he’d found some Lycans dealing in our area. He’d called for backup since he only had Scout with him, who was still a prospect. I’d told them to sit tight and wait for us. I called my enforcers and set out to meet up with everyone. Riggs stayed behind at the shop.

  Ten minutes later, we rolled up on the location. I pulled up next to Axel, who looked over and grinned. “Check it out.” He handed me a pair of binoculars and I watched as a Lycan passed over a baggie to someone in an alley and palmed some cash. I put them down and looked over at my guys.

  “Alright. Trip, Drew, Deuce, and Scout, you guys go hit the road north of the alley. Let them see you riding in. It’ll funnel them to Gunnar, Axel, and I on the south road. Give us about five minutes to get into position, then go.” They nodded as Axel led the way, heading to where the alley let out.

  We pulled up and threw the bikes into neutral to walk them close to where we’d park them. You wouldn’t hear the idling with the city’s background noise. The revving as the bike shifted was what people picked up on.

  I didn’t want us getting in any collisions with the guys, so we lined them up, stacked one next to the other off the left side of the wall. They extended out, making the wall longer on that side. We walked further into the alley and stood, guns in hand, blocking the exit. The sound of motorcycles revving hit our ears. “Here we go. Don’t flag each other and definitely don’t shoot each other.” The guys grinned, we all lived for these confrontations.