After the Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 2)

This is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons--living or dead--is entirely coincidental.

After the Ride copyright @ 2015 by Kathryn Thomas. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Book 2 of the
Night Riders Motorcycle Club
trilogy

CHAPTER ONE

Lauren Nichols stirred in her sleep. In her dreamscape, she saw the rapidly fading image of a road stretching behind her for miles, and she had the sensation of moving away from something that she couldn’t name. For the slightest of seconds, she caught the sight of her mother reaching for her with a soft, sad smile and open arms. Something told Lauren that she should move towards the waiting embrace. But as soon as her feet hit the asphalt, her head whipped over her shoulder and she saw the lines of a broad muscular back mounted on a chopper, speeding off into the opposing distance. Her lips tried to form the name
Blake
, but only a silent scream hit the air. Blake didn’t stop; he simply hit the gas harder. As Lauren watched him disappear over the horizon, she sank to the road. The sand-swept gravel did not break her descent; she was falling deeper, deeper still, her hands flailing wildly as she tried to reach for something, for anything, for Blake…

She gasped as she sat up with a start, ragged breath shaking throughout her heaving chest as she wiped her hands across her perspiring face. It took her a few minutes to remember where she was and how she had gotten here.

I was going… I was starting out on a trip. And my car broke down. A truck? Someone… two men…

In a great rush, everything came back. Her capture, the auction, and the seemingly unimpeachable declaration that her life was no longer her own. Shifting her head over her shoulder, her eyes lingered on Blake’s lean form as he lay at her side, his body still as he was lost in his own dream.

And his words came crashing back to her brain.

I paid good money for you.

The thought of that still made her shiver, and a small voice in the back of her head told her that she should take this chance while he was out cold and try to make her way back to some place resembling civilization. But she had tried that once before, and it had nearly been the end of her. And Grace. Only Blake’s intervention had kept her safe, and he told her that he couldn’t be that if she left his protection. The man was far from all-powerful, and Lauren briefly contemplated attempting to make another run for it…

Not thinking about running now, are you?

How could she when the memory of his cock swirling inside her still pulsed between her legs? He was doing things to her that she never thought were possible, especially if she had stayed at home and instantly linked her life to Drew’s.

Drew
.

By now he had to know that something was wrong. Had he already set out in a bid to find out where she was or if she was still alive? The idea of him possibly charging to her rescue should have buoyed her spirits, brought tears to her eyes, a smile to her face.
Something
. But as she pictured his blonde figure in pursuit of her whereabouts, she felt a numbing cold settle across her heart. Was it resignation to her new fate? Or was it the sudden realization that she didn’t care one way or the other if she never laid eyes on him again?

One thing was certain as her thoughts raced in every direction. Drew never would have known how to handle a gun, much less Eric and the Demon Dogs that had every intention of carrying her and Grace to a darker camp. It was Blake who knew how to fire the fatal shot, and as the cracking sound echoed in her brain, it was swiftly followed by his words when she practically begged for his continued protection.

Always. Forever.

Lauren fell back to her side, and her fingers traced the lines of his sleeping face. Held deep in the bosom of sleep, it was nothing to mistake him for an angel. His cheeks were firm and fine, and a warm stream of sensuous air passed through his parted lips. She rested her fingers there, and she was on the verge of kissing him to consciousness. The need to feel him throbbing inside her again trumped any doubts or memories of her past life, but she stopped short of pressing her mouth to his.

She liked watching him sleep. She liked looking at him; period. No. She wasn’t going anywhere. Not when the Demon Dogs might come back at any second in search of a pound or more of his flesh. If Drew was really out there, if her family somehow found her… Lauren would deal with that then.

But for now…

Blake’s eyes fluttered open, and Lauren bit down on her lip at the return of his blue gaze. As the realization of her presence seemed to register in his mind, Lauren’s mouth curved into a smile, and she delicately brought her hands to his face.

“You’re up,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Reaching for her hand, Blake took her hand and clutched it tightly. She sighed at the feel of his palm pressing into hers, and Blake simply tightened his hold as he dragged her fingers closer to the smooth lines of his chest.

“What were you doing?” he asked. “Were you watching me?”

Lauren nodded into his skin and nuzzled her nose against his pecs.

“You looked so good,” she confessed in a muffled voice. “I like it.”

“Do you?” he asked. “Is that all you like?”

He pushed his fingers under her chin and lifted her face to his. The warmth lingered in his eyes as he ran his fingers through her hair and brought his lips to her eyes. Her eyelids shut as she absorbed the heat of his soft kisses, and when she could see again, his face seemed harder. The shift should have scared her. There was a time not so long in the past when it nearly did. But now, as she shook her head and grazed her fingers down his hard sides, her hands finding hip muscles that protruded from the place so near to his tight abs, she peered at him and cuddled closer to his body.

“I like other things,” she confessed in a whisper. “Lots of other things.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, the call to rise bubbling across his tongue. Lauren’s hand drifted down his thighs, and she found his cock primed and poised to tear into her wet and waiting flesh. Blake pushed her into the sheets, and he pressed his knees to her thighs as the tip of his hard cock teased the edges of her expectant mound.

“Beg me.”

Lauren let out a light laugh, and danced her nails up his arms. “Are we doing that again?”

She started to take his hands in hers when Blake seized her wrists and pushed her back into the bed. Gasping at the feel of his hands capturing were she lay, she was forced into his stare, and Blake held her fast as he poised his cock on the precipice of her pussy.

“If it’s what I want, then yes,” he said. “Say the words, Lauren.”

She needed the feel of him back inside her. God help her. But Lauren pushed her lips together and stayed silent.

“So you’re still playing it like that?” he asked. “Come on, Lauren.”

He pushed close to her neck, and Lauren stretched forward to meet the feel of his mouth. She longed for him just take her in his arms. But Blake kept Lauren entrapped in his hands, and she was unable to suppress a whimper as he licked her naval and narrowed his gaze to her captive eyes.

“We can play games,” Blake said. “Truth be told, I like having fun with you.”

It sounded crude, but when he followed his words with a soft kiss to her breasts, Lauren moaned around the feel of his lips, and she arched her body closer to his mouth.

“I get that,” Lauren said. “So—”

Blake flipped her to her back. For a second, she shuddered at the thought that she could no longer read his face and hope for even a hint of his intentions. And yet, the not knowing sent a wave of anticipation coursing through her veins.

How can I really be this girl? I should fight and scream and do everything for my freedom.

But she wanted something far sweeter.

CHAPTER TWO

Clutching the sheets in her shaking hands, Lauren sighed softly as he spread her thighs. Lauren’s entire body trembled, but she didn’t wither away as he pushed his way closer to her soft flesh. Her body lifted off the bed to savor the length of his cock. Any thought of fighting back vanished with a moan as he settled inside her, and she longed to stroke his face as he began a strong, smooth pulse.

“Tell me you’re mine,” he said.

“I…”

She bit down on her lip and choked back her need. He didn’t have to ask; the quivering of her flesh should be enough. Lauren stretched her body off the bed and felt his cock moving deeper into her cunt, and she managed to reach back and curl her arms around his neck.

“Say the words, Lauren.”

She drew his face closer to hers. Blake sank into her lips, and as their mouths parted, there was a light in his eyes. He wanted to take her, and she saw his need. She felt it pulsing between her thighs. But when she tried to kiss him again, he turned her eyes away from, his hips wildly rocking against her back as he gripped her sides and dragged her closer. Lauren hung her head as his lips met her back. His kisses were hard as he lapped at her skin, and she tried to reach for him again when he seized hold of her wrists and swiftly pressed her back to the bed.

“Blake, I—”

“No.” he said. “Don’t touch. Just feel, Lauren.”

Blake wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her aching pussy closer to his cock. She savored the feel of her flesh encasing his throbbing length.

“Shit!” Lauren said. “Why can’t I?”

“Because it’s what I want.”

“What about what I—”

“You want this, too,” he said. “Don’t think you fool me.”

His hands furiously explored every inch of her blazing body. She curved towards each touch only to find it gone before she could touch any part of him. The throb of his cock intensified as he kneaded her flesh. Her eyes rolled back as he pushed past her essence and grinded his fingers to her middle.

“You want this,” he moaned into her ear. “You need this. Keep coming.”

Lauren sighed as she pressed her palms to the bed she grazed her nails against rumpled sheets. The frustration of not being able to rake her fingers over the rippling muscles pounding and stroking her from behind was suddenly replaced by the echo of his order ringing in her ears.

Just feel, Lauren
.

Slowly, she lifted her body off the bed, nearly expecting him to growl and grip her hair, maybe force her head to the pillows until she had to struggle for air. But Blake did not deny her, and she felt his smile as he pushed his face to her back.

“That’s it,” he whispered as he dragged his lips closer to her ear. “Stay with me now.”

Like I have a choice. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t—

Blake cupped her breasts in his hands. His caress was tender as his cock pounded into her to the point where she thought she would shatter in his hold.

“Do you feel that?” he purred as he slowed the pursuit between her legs. For a second, Lauren could do nothing but bask in the feel of his fingers as they swirled around her hard nipples. But soon her cunt mourned the loss of his driving shaft, and she summoned all the strength could find and dared to let her hair fall against his chest. She took some comfort in the ends of her long brown strands spilling across his skin. She wanted to touch him there, to cling to his neck and rest her face to his shoulder.

But more than that…

“I… I do,” she choked out. “But… but…”

Her tongue tied in her mouth, and she pushed back against his length, hoping to make him move. Blake’s hands kept circling around her soft flesh, but his cock stayed still.

“It might hurt,” he said as he brought his lips to her ear again. “Do you want that?”

“I …”

The thought of staying like this if she took too long to answer and the possibility that we would simply pull out until she collapsed in a mass of anguished moans at the loss of him, and even the pain, was more than she could contemplate.

“Yes.” Her voice was thick but sure. “Take me.”

Blake waited for what felt like an eternity, his hands still gentle as he played around her breasts. Lauren was on the verge of screaming, of begging, when his cock started to rock around her again, and she gasped her relief and anticipation in a single, exhilarated breath.

“Yes,” she whispered. “Please… please…”

Pushing his way to what felt like the core of her soul, Blake shortened the spaces between his throbs. Lauren clenched his flesh to keep him closer longer, to tempt him to move deeper. Her cunt burned around him, but she felt no pain. It was as if her body was a fire in need of more kindling, wanting only to burn with greater intensity until it scorched her in a storm of that would consume them both.

“Blake…” she moaned. “More. More.”

He wrapped his arm around her neck, but despite the heaving of her chest, she was able to breathe as his free hand moved down her side, and he gripped her ass as he pushed her closer for the final thrust.

“Oh God…”

Blake exploded inside her—fire burning around fire—and Lauren moaned as she stretched her body back, knees shaking as she clung to his chest. No pain, and no fear of falling. Her cunt grew tighter as she tried to drain every drop of his essence. When he felt satisfied and when she was nothing but, they fell into the bed together, his hands still on her breasts as he sighed into her ear.

“Isn’t that better than just looking at me?” he teased.

She fought through the haze of their climax, and when she nodded, Blake pulled his cock from her body. She was too weak to whimper, but when he turned her eyes to his, she smiled even as his face stayed blank.

“Much better,” she said.

Blake seemed to study her face as Lauren’s body started to relax in her arms. She tried to speak again, to tell him more, but when he finally smiled down at her, she bit down on her lip and waited without a word.

“That’s all I need to hear,” he said.

His arms enveloped her, and as their mouths met in a kiss, Lauren was desperate to touch him, to hold him. But she suddenly couldn’t make a move without his permission. Should she ask if it was allowed?

“Put your hands on me,” Blake commanded.

Taking orders never felt so good.

And neither did him.

Lauren gripped his arms and pressed her cheek to his smooth chest. His assorted ink seemed to sigh under her hands, and she carefully reached for his back. The lines of his scars came to light under the tips of her fingers. She did not push down, and Blake did not resist as she traced the marks that were not of his choosing. She wanted to ask him how? Why? Who?

But it could wait. Everything could wait. Right now…

“Blake…”

Curling her arms around his neck, Lauren clung to him and dotted his shoulders with soft kisses. It felt strange. Even as her cunt still burned from the passion of the most desired attack, she smiled at this tender moment in his arms. Blake offered no objections and gave no demands; he simply let her lips shower his flesh, and when Lauren stretched up the length of his lean frame and found his face again, their eyes locked, and she spoke slowly.

“I’ve never… I’ve never felt anything like this before,” she started. “I don’t know why, but—”

“Then don’t question it.”

Command slipped into his voice as easily as he’d slid into her, and Lauren lowered his eyes as he pushed his lips to her hair, kissing her damp strands. She wouldn’t. Not now. Maybe never. This was more than anything Drew or any man had made her feel.  And she wondered…

“You?” she asked.

“What are you talking about?”

Blake’s face darkened as his arms started to tighten around her body. The pain now was different, like he was trying to scare her into silence. But Lauren’s curiosity fought past her fear, her curiosity piqued, and she licked her lips before she spoke again.

“Have you ever felt like this before?” she asked. “With anyone else?”

A strange light flickered across his eyes, and Lauren strained closer to his chest as she tried to discern the meaning of his new stare. There was something. Something that he was not telling her. Feeling the pain coming off of him in waves, she tried to draw him closer when Blake pushed back and rolled to the side of the bed.

“Nothing for you to worry about,” he said. “We’re here. And it’s now. That’s all that matters.”

A part of Lauren could almost take that and just kiss him again. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have her own secrets. But as his tortured eyes drifted towards the ceiling, Lauren couldn’t resist the need to know his torment. If he told her, she would listen. If he permitted it, she would soothe any anguish lingering around his soul.

“Blake?”

She shifted closer to his side and tried to touch his face.

“Whatever it is,” she started, “you can tell me. I want to—”

“I don’t!”

His voice became a growl as he leapt from the bed and pulled his jeans over his tight limbs. Lauren sighed as soon as he concealed his flesh from her view, but her mind raced with all the possibilities for his sudden change of mood. How could he go from hot to cold in the space of single second?

“Blake?”

The icy stare pouring through his eyes stilled her as she started to stretch way from the bed. He snarled lightly as she started to press the point, and she quickly let the argument drop when she saw both fury and torment in his eyes.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

“You’re not here so we can talk. That’s not what I paid for.”

She had felt like a lover in his arms. She felt valued when he killed for her. But at the end of the day or the beginning of this night, Lauren reminded herself that there was truth to what he said. She was just his property, his to do with as he pleased. Maybe he would even unload her at the first chance if the price was right. The thought of falling into anyone else’s arms filled her with dread, and Lauren curled back to the bed, clutching the pillow where his head had rested in despair. Even as she inhaled his faint scent, it felt like he was already gone, maybe never coming back. Lauren closed her eyes and felt hot tears forming behind her eyelids when the bed shifted and she turned her head over her shoulder.

“Hey.”

His voice was as flat as his eyes when he spoke to her, but Blake pressed his fingers under her chin, and when a stray tear feel from her cheek, he moved quickly to wipe it away.

“Don’t do that,” he whispered. “Last thing I want is to see you cry.”

Choking back her sobs, Lauren sat up straighter, and her eyes widened when Blake took his hand in hers. His finger curled around her wrist, his hold strangely soft as it grazed her flesh. Daring to meet his eyes, she relaxed as his stare softened.

“I want you to be mine,” he whispered. “All mine. And if… shit.”

He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into a desperate kiss. Lauren savored the taste of his lips around hers, and as his tongue twirled down her throat, she stretched forward to kiss him deeper, drowning in her addiction of feeling any part of him inside her.

“No…”

She moaned as their mouths parted, but Blake wrapped his arms around her bare shoulders and pressed his brow to hers.