After the Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 2) (10 page)

She stood with the smoking gun in her hands. Her eyes were blank as she let the gun fall to the sand, and as Hugo helped Paul to his feet, he rushed to her side and took her in his arms.

“Grace,” Paul stated. “It’s okay. It’s gonna be alright.”

Grace’s eyes stayed vacant as Paul dragged her away from the bodies, and when he met Callie’s eyes, the shotgun still in her hands, he narrowed his gaze on hers.

“What did you do?” Paul challenged.

“Saving your old lady,” she said as she gestured towards Lauren as she lifted Blake off the ground. “But it looks like she knows how to hold her own.”

Maybe that was true. The blood pooling around their feet seemed to prove the point. But Grace was in a state of shock as Paul folded her close and pulled the gun from her hands.

“Grace?” he muttered.

Her body went limp in his arms, and even as Paul’s head dripped blood, he found the strength to hoist her into his arms. Paul spoke as he carried Grace away from the scene.

“Bury these bastards,” Paul said. “And get ready to leave now.”

“Uh, Boss?”

Trent started to challenge him again when Paul whipped his head over Grace’s shoulder and lifted his voice to the night sky. “Three of them are gone.” Paul said. His eyes shifted back to Blake, and he sighed. “Think I’m gonna hand you over for revenge?” he asked. “Think I’m gonna let those fucks put their hands on her?”

He clasped Grace closer, and Lauren felt Blake’s hand in hers as he stood tall and gestured towards his crew. “Fuck burying them. Leave them to the birds. Take their colors,” Blake said. “We go now.”

The Night Riders rushed into action, and Lauren watched as the bloodied bodies were dragged away. Blake barked orders in every direction when she managed to grab his arm and turn him to her side.

“Blake, I—”

“Come with me.”

He pulled her away from the melee and sat her down in a dark shed as he pressed his hands to her face, his fingers seeming to search her skin before she rested his brow to hers.

“He touched you,” Blake muttered. “Even though I—”

“I’m okay,” she swore. “Blake.”

Lauren kissed his mouth, and she smiled into his lips as his arms surrounded her waist. As their mouths parted, Lauren found his eyes, and she read his expression perfectly. His eyes were full of want and need, and she was ready to follow him into the depths of hell when he seized her face and spoke fast.

“Now we’re really on the run,” he said. “Callie and Grace are in danger. We all are.”

Blake shuddered under her hold, and Lauren gripped his arms tighter as she stared into his moist eyes.

“And me?” Lauren whispered.

Taking her into his arms, Blake sighed into her hair, and he ran his hands down her back.

“Not if I do this.”

He pressed a pair of keys into her trembling hands and pushed a canvas cloth from a fresh bike.

“It’s gassed,” Blake said “Ready to go.”

Confused, even as she held the new set of keys in her hands, Lauren stepped to Blake’s side and reached for his face.

“You… you want me to go?” she gasped.

Blake groaned as he took her into her arms and held her close. Lauren nearly relaxed in his arms when he pushed her back and peered into her eyes.

“Last thing that I would ever want,” he started. “But you gave me last night. You… you made me believe…” His voice trailed off, and Lauren pressed her hand to his back, his scars resting under her touch, and she fell into him as he took a deep breath. “You made me believe that I could love someone again.”

“What?”

“Lauren…”

He dragged her face to her lips, and Lauren melted into his mouth as his lips surrounded hers. She savored his taste, and she sucked his tongue until she had no choice but to come up for air. When their eyes met again, he gestured towards the other bike, and Lauren cocked her head in total confusion.

“You’re sending me away?” she asked.

Blake groaned as he took her back in his arms

“Last thing I want,” he said.

“So… so why…?”

“Because the deal is broken,” Blake said. “Too much blood.  And… and the cops are still coming.”

And that would bring her back to Drew. How could she even pretend to be happy with him again when there was a man that had killed for her and would risk his own joy to keep her safe?

“Give me the keys,” Lauren said.

Blake hung his head and helped her onto the bike, his hand trailing down the pinned fabric at her back.

“Wait until we’re gone,” he started. “Take off in the other direction. Get as far away from us as you can. And… and…”

Kissing her hard, he curled his arm around her, and when their lips parted, Lauren reached for him as he stepped away.

“I thought you never wanted to let me go,” Lauren said

“You think this isn’t killing me?” he challenged. “But it’s gonna get dark now,” he said. “Do you want to be on board for that?”

Lauren didn’t speak as he stepped from her view. Maybe he was right. Maybe this was too much for her to take, but as she saw Blake mounting his bike, she turned her own bike towards him and raced to his side.

“What are you doing?”

Blake’s eyes were cold as he brought his bike to a stop, and Lauren slowed to his side as she brushed her hair from her eyes.

“I’m coming with you,” she said.

“Lauren, I told you that you had to—”

He gripped her hands in his. Lauren didn’t shrug him off. She held his hands tighter and pressed her brow to his.

“I don’t lie,” she said. “And I want to be with you.”

He started to protest, but as soon as their mouths met in a kiss, Blake relaxed against her body, and when he finally lifted his lips, his fingers stroked her face.

“It’s going to be dangerous,” he said. “I don’t want—”

“Do you want me with you?”

Blake hung his head and nodded. She kissed him again, and Lauren held his hand as she sat tall on her bike.

“Let’s go then,” Lauren said.

Blake revved up his motor, but before he drove into the dawn, he looked at her again, and his fingers stroked her cheek.

“You gonna stay where I can keep an eye on you?” he asked.

Lauren found his lips and kissed him hard before running her fingers down his neck.

“As long as I can keep my eye on you.”

Read on for an excerpt from the breathtaking conclusion

Available now!

CHAPTER ONE

Despite the chill of the desert night air, Lauren’s body was dripping with sweat. As her hand gripped the bars of Blake’s spare bike, her heart thumped wildly in her chest. Her body moved with the bike as she worked to keep up with the club. Blake was still in her sights when the bikes started to round a corner. He started to slip away from her point of view when Lauren rolled her neck and hit the gas harder.

Not happening. I gave him my word.

Turning with the curve in the road, she started to pass the other members of the crew until she found herself at Callie’s side. The redhead winked under her helmet and fixed a curious smiled to her face.

“So you really are in this for the long haul?” Callie asked, voice mingling with the wind that whipped over their bodies and the sand and stones spraying into the air.

“Where else would I want to be?” Lauren replied.

Callie offered no answer to the question and focused on the way ahead. With nothing but the silence and the roar of the engines hitting her ears and flooding her mind, Lauren knew that there was someplace else where she could go. Where she
should
go. Whether it was the law or the Demon Dogs that caught up with them first, she was in more danger than now than she had been at her night on the auction block. Casting a quick glance over her shoulder, she felt sure that she saw strange bikes not belonging to the Night Riders or the flash of red and blue sirens. Which was the worst fate? She had received a taste of the Demon Dog’s treatment. Even with Eric and Nate dead and buried in what had to be shallow graves, Wayne still breathed. And there would be a price to pay for the club’s most recent transgression. Only thing to do was make tracks and hope that they couldn’t be traced.

Speeding away from Callie, Lauren found her way back to Blake’s side. Leading the charge, he barely registered her presence until she raised her voice to capture some of his attention.

“So what’s the plan?” she called out.

“You having second thoughts?” Blake asked as he denied her his stare and started to turn another corner. Following his lead, Lauren managed to catch up and hold her own with him. When he started to pull away from the group, Lauren kept up the chase. For a second, the bike rocked in her hands and under her body. Fearing that she might fall, she felt a hand on her back. Startled by the touch, she turned and saw Trent steadying her in her seat as he gave her a quick nod.

“Easy,” Trent cautioned. “Think there’s been enough fatalities for one night.”

He moved his bike towards Blake, and Lauren slowed up some as the dust swirled under her eyes. The man was right; no way was she going to become one more unmarked grave in the wild stretch of desert sand. Keeping pace with Callie again, Lauren looked furtively over her shoulder and found the woman’s ear.

“So what now?” Lauren asked. “We go underground or something?”

“Listen to you,” Callie teased. “You picked up some of the lingo right quick.”

That was a good thing. Because if she did this, and despite the pictures from her past that still invaded her brain, there was no way she could go back. Not after what she had seen. And the way that Blake made her feel.

“Callie?”

“Something like that,” Callie answered as Lauren fought to keep up with her pace.

“But what happens if—”

“One turn at a time, honey,” Callie said. “Let’s just get where we’re going first.”

Wanting more, wanting to know what or if there was a Plan B if the worst came to pass, Lauren forced herself to swallow those fears down. She was better off here than if Blake had never staked his claim when Eric wanted her for something far darker. There was no way to know if she would even still be drawing breath if she’d fallen into the Demon Dogs’ hands. No. No this was better. Better for her and far better for…

Grace!

Riding away from Callie, she drew nearer to Blake. He pointed out a possible route with Trent at his side. Shouldn’t Paul be privy to this conversation? Where was he now?

Looking back, she failed to find Paul’s face among his crew, and the thought of that scared her more than all the maybes and potential possibilities. Had they already fallen into the wrong hands, and was it just a matter of time before the wrong men caught up with them?

Twisting the bike away from the crew, she heard Callie’s voice calling after her but tuned her out. If there was trouble, she needed to know. Blake needed to know.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Callie called.

Lauren kept moving away from the others. Twisting around that same corner that she had just passed, she heard every motor starting to grind to a halt.

“Lauren, hold up!”

Even the sound of Blake’s voice didn’t give her pause. Let him blast her afterwards, punish her as only he could. Despite the danger all around them, she made her mind look forward to that, and the thought that a part of him would be grateful for her investigating whether something happened to Paul and Grace.

At the sight of Paul’s bike resting against the side of the road, Lauren hit brakes hard and skidded into a stop. Hopping off with more skill than she knew she possessed, Lauren abandoned Blake’s spare bike and rushed towards the pair of them in the sand.

“Paul?” she cried. “Are you okay?”

He quickly twisted his face to hers, and Lauren gasped at the sight of the dried blood caked about his cheek. At least the stream of crimson had stopped; that was something. His eyes focused as soon as he saw her.

And he shot to his feet with a cold glare.

“What the hell you think you’re doing?” Paul challenged.

Trying to meet Grace’s eyes as her head hung against her chest, Lauren was startled by the feel of Paul’s fingers around her arms. His hold was firm but far from threatening, and Lauren met his eyes as he spoke fast.

“Keep up with the others,” Paul said. “We’re right behind you.”

“Doesn’t look that way,” Lauren said. “How is she? Is she okay?”

Lauren looked past his arm and called out Grace’s name as Paul held her back and shook his head.

“She’s fine,” he swore. “I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

Catching the crack in his voice, Lauren pushed away from him and fell to Grace’s side.

“Are you alright?” Lauren asked her friend. “Grace?”

The girl was like a zombie. Breathing and muttering something that almost resembled words as she held her body closer. Alright? Far from it.

“This… this is a mistake,” Lauren started.

“Mistake?” Paul echoed. “Only mistake is you—”

“For Christ’s sake, Paul. Look at her! She needs help.”

“And I’m going to give it to her.”

He leaned down to push her off the ground, but Lauren pressed her palm into the air and motioned him away as she took Grace’s hand in hers.

“All the way out here?” Lauren asked. “Can’t you see how scared she is?”

“I told you that I’m going to—”

“It was self-defense, Paul. She did what she had to do. Any cop worth his shield will—”

As soon as the words started to trip out of her tongue, Lauren clapped her hand to her mouth and shook her head furiously. But she was too slow. Grace appeared to register her utterance, and her eyes went wide as she grabbed Lauren by her hair and tugged hard.

“I’m sorry!” she wailed. “I’m so sorry! Please don’t send me back. Please!”

Lauren tried to ease Grace away from her, careful to cradle the girl’s back as she kept flailing against Lauren, against the night, and against the memories of the monster that was her father.

“I didn’t mean it, Grace,” Lauren said. “No one’s sending you—”

Before she could finish her statement, Grace curled her fingers tight and crashed her fist into Lauren’s eyes. Blinking under the pain, Lauren fell to the ground and felt Grace slipping away from her.

“Grace, don’t!” Paul screamed.

Peering through her fingers, Lauren saw Grace charging back down to the road, back to the scene of her justifiable crime at a mad pace. Paul struggled to keep up, and Lauren added her voice to the chorus calling Grace’s name.

“Grace, wait!” she cried. “I was wrong. I was—”

Her voice came to a halt at the sound of a motor completely revved up. Lifting her eyes, Lauren saw Blake’s body come into view, his frame bathed in moonlight as he brought his bike to a stop just before her fallen form. Kicking away from his chopper, he regarded her carefully for all of a second. His lip slightly quivered, and he started to kneel at her side when he held back.

“Thought you weren’t turning back?” he asked.

“I’m… I’m not,” she started. “Just wanted to make sure that Grace was okay.”

Together, their eyes moved down the road, and Lauren held her breath as Paul managed to wrestle Grace from fleeing farther away. His tackle was tender as he brought her body to the ground, but she still pounded his back and kicked at the air.

“Bang up job,” Blake said.

Lauren started to hang her head in defeat when Paul caught Grace’s face in his hands and gave her no choice but to meet his gaze.

“Look at me,” he pleaded. “Grace, look at me.”

Paul endured a fresh series of blows, but he kept his hands on Grace’s chin until she seemed to tire herself out. As her chest heaved and her arms still shook, Grace’s fists came to rest at her sides, and she spoke softly.

“Don’t,” she whispered. “Don’t send me back. I’m… I’m so sorry.”

“So am I,” Paul confessed as he gathered her into his arms. Holding her close, he ran his hands down her back, and Lauren was finally able to release a sigh. Was she okay? Hardly. Maybe she never could be. But at least she wasn’t running anymore. That was something.

“Come on,” Paul said as he brought Grace to her feet and lightly kissed her tangled hair. “We need to keep moving.”

As they drew closer, Grace shuddered when she saw Lauren on the ground.

“Grace, I—”

“Why are you here?” Grace asked, the clouds starting to leave her eyes.

“I… well…”

Before she could finish her thought, Grace looked to Blake and seemed to tap into some unknown strength as her lips parted.

“And you… you should keep her close,” Grace said, her voice flat but sure. “You wouldn’t want to lose her. Would you?”

Blake said nothing. Made no move. Paul brought Grace back to his bike and kissed her gently as he climbed up behind her. “Don’t want to lose you either,” he whispered. “Let’s get going.”

The two men exchanged a curt nod before Paul got on his bike and sped off with Grace planted firmly in his arms. As the dust of their path hit Lauren’s eyes, she felt Blake step closer, his hands clenched to his sides as he spoke slowly.

“What Paul said. Keep up this time.”

Rising to her feet, Lauren felt as if she could strike him, but she held back. He had his point, and they had already wasted too much time. She had wasted too much time.

“You know I can.”

Their eyes locked, and Laruen felt his hand coming close to her face. Ready to settle into his touch, he suddenly pulled back and mounted his bike again.

“Then show me.”

Ready to ride beside him again, she was prepared to head to the front of the pack whenever Blake deemed it the right move.