After the Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 2) (3 page)

Leaving the shadows just beyond the tent, she ran across the shaking sands and pressed her sweater closer to her body. Here it was. Her people were getting close to finding her. Should she hang close to Blake and hope that he could protect her? She believed that he could. But maybe it would be better for all of them if she gave herself up and returned to her old life. She could spin the story. Lauren could even tell the tale of the auction and never mention one Night Rider’s name.  The thought of having to leave him nearly tore her apart, but this, whatever this was, there was no way that it was going to last. As much as she wanted it to.

“Blake…”

His name passed across her tongue, and Lauren spied his shack in the distance, not realizing how far she had trekked through the sand. But it was there. So was his bed. She could go back there and let him take her one more time. Lauren imagined the chance to truly hold him. But she would. Even if it was the last time. Come morning, she’d have to find her way out of camp and never see him again. Should she just run now despite whatever dangers lurked in the darkness?

No. I have to touch him… I have to feel him one more time.

Moving back to camp, Lauren held her breath and shuddered at the sound of a chopper racing across the sands. Frozen in the headlights, she saw a burly form perched atop his bike. When the moonlight hit his eyes, she shuddered.

The bike suddenly whizzed past her. Lauren nearly relaxed when she saw the snarling dog pressed into the leather crossing his back.

Demon
Dog.

Lauren trembled and broke into a wild run. As she kicked sand into the air, the Night Riders’ camp came closer into view, and Lauren intensified her pace. She saw no one. The boys were still in the big tent. Her lips parted to call out Blake’s name when the strange bike spun to a stop before her, and she fell back on her heels, looking into a burly man’s face.

His head was shaggy, and his lips curled into a leer. The man looked like he could crush her with one harsh hold, and he kicked his bike aside as he stepped to the sand and moved towards her.

“No!” Lauren screamed. “Don’t you—”

She started to turn and break into a fresh run when hard hands seized her shoulders. Lauren squealed as the biker brought her close to his chest, ad she tried to call out again when a clammy hand clamped against her mouth, and she felt the tip of a knife pushing into her throat.

“You’re coming with me,” he said. “Time for you to have some real fun.”

Lauren went limp as he dragged her back to his bike. When he pushed her against the handlebars, Lauren tensed and tried to will her body to be anywhere else.

“Eric said he fought hard for you,” the biker said. “Want to give me a show before I get you where you need to go?”

He kept the knife to her throat as his free hand reached under her skirt. Deprived of her panties, Lauren cringed when he fingered the space that Blake had so recently sanctified.

“Tight,” the biker hissed. “Feels like you’ll be a hell of a fuck.”

Lauren whimpered as he touched her. Despite knife and the fear that he would slash her neck from ear-to-ear, a voice from the pit of her soul struggled to work its way across her tongue. If Blake heard her, he would come.

“Leave me…!”

He hit her gut hard, and Lauren slumped into his cold arms.

“Mighty fine,” the biker hissed. He curled his other arm around in her quivering middle, his fingers kneading through the thin fabric of her dress. The man moaned into her neck, and Lauren stayed still as the blade drifted towards her neck. Would he cut her there? She could already feel the blood pouring from her body, but she felt certain that she would survive. She slowly raised her leg and slammed her heel into his shin. The biker fell away from her, crying out in pain. Taking a few steps forward, she started to call out Blake’s name when she felt hard hands tugging at her hair.

“Fucking bitch!”

Lauren groaned as the man whipped her around, and before she could scream, a fist slammed into her face.

And everything went black.

CHAPTER FOUR

Lauren’s eyes fluttered open as a motor roared under her legs and the desert sand swirled around her ankles. The road ahead was dark and cold, but as the memory of what had happened to her flooded back in full force, she imagined Blake somehow hearing her cry, racing to her rescue, and bringing her back to camp. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, but as she leaned back and felt a pair of slimy lips pressing into her neck, she knew that she still wasn’t safe.

“Someone’s up,” the biker said as he pulled her closer and buried his nose in her windswept hair.

“Let me go!” Lauren cried as she squirmed in his hold. “Get off of me you son of a—”

“Hey!” the biker ordered as his hold tightened, and his teeth met her ear.

“I can let you go,” he hissed. “Drop your ass right here and now. At this speed, bet you’ll get pretty banged up.”

Lauren lowered his eyes to the ground racing beneath her feet. Her abductor had a point, but the thought of a few bruises was preferable to staying in his vile arms.

“Do it,” Lauren whispered.

The biker tossed his head back with a cruel laugh and howled into the night air.

“Not when I back up and run my wheels over your skank ass,” he said. “Think you’ll walk away from that, cunt?”

His threat cut her to the core, and Lauren reluctantly went limp in his arms. If she was going to get out of this, she had to play along, see where he was taking her.

And look for a way out at the first chance.

“That’s better, bitch,” he said. “Now sit back and enjoy the ride.”

The bike accelerated, and Lauren closed her eyes tightly as the cold air pierced her cheeks. Blake had to have made his way back to his bed by now. When he saw her gone, she pictured him springing into immediate action, rounding up his boys, and taking off in hot pursuit. Would he see the tracks that this maniac was tearing into the sand? She strained her ears for the sound of revving motors in the distance, moving closer even as this monster tried to carry her away from his side. Thinking, believing that she could truly hear him coming for her, Lauren dared to shift her head past the biker’s brutal arm, looking back, her eyes wide and her heart full of weak hope.

Please, Blake. Please…

Nothing. No one. He wasn’t coming.

“Eyes front!” the biker barked as he jerked her head forward. Lauren had no choice to obey the force of his hand, and she hung her head as she struggled to catch her breath.

“Don’t worry, honey,” he biker said. “Whatever he’s been doing to you, I’ll do you to ten better.”

He pressed his free hand to her flesh and fingered her cunt. The feel of his hands on her body made her want to wretch, and Lauren longed to find the power to tear his heart out, push him off the bike. Given the chance, she would follow through on his threat and mow him into the sand. But she kept still as he fondled her roughly, his rank breath pouring down the back of her neck.

“You, me, and the boys,” he hissed.

As her mind flashed back to the emblem on his jacket, the bike made a sharp turn, and Lauren sat up straighter, hating the feel of falling closer to his chest. The biker laughed again and touched his filthy fingers to her lips.

“Get ‘em ready, cunt,” he said. “You hot little mouth’s gonna be working overtime.”

His hands moved under her skirt again, and Lauren moaned as his fingers grazed against her slit.

“Other parts of you, too,” he said. “Fun’s about to start right now.”

The bike came to a slow stop, and Lauren squinted at the sight of a rundown metal shed surrounded by a fleet of choppers. Had Eric won her at the auction, had Paul kicked him a curb without giving her a second thought, this was where she would have languished in a far darker captivity than what she had known with Blake.

What she loved with Blake.

“Home sweet home,” the biker hissed as he pulled her off his bike. Wrenching her arms behind her back, he started pushing her closer towards the door. He kicked the heel of his boot to the surface and let loose a shrill whistle.

“Party’s here!” he cried.

The door was flung open, and Lauren gasped at the sight of Eric Shaller glaring over a smirk.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Long time no see,” Eric said. “Have fun with Ike here?”

Ike nodded as he groaned into her neck.

“She’s a little hellcat,” Ike said. “Can’t wait to break her in proper.”

The light in Eric’s eyes suggested that he was on the same page, but he cracked his knuckles and curled his hands behind his head. Looking past her, he focused on his fellow crew member.

“Any trouble getting her out of camp?” Eric asked.

“No sweat,” Ike said. “Found her out for a little moonlight stroll.”

Eric cocked his head.

“Getting bored, princess?” Eric curled his finger under her chin.

Fighting to ignore the fingers pressing into her arms, she stared hard at Eric and spit in his face.

“Easy, bitch!” Ike said as he gripped her arms tighter. Lauren winced, but she held her ground as Eric wiped his damp face with the back of his hand and stretched closer to her flushed face.

“Guess Blake isn’t teaching you a hell of a lot,” Eric said. “We’ll have to work of fixing that. Come on in, little girl.”

Lauren gritted he teeth as she was pressed deeper into the dark building. Her eyes darted in every direction as the narrow walls of the corridor closed in around her like a coffin, and she fought to calm her frantic breath with every step into the unknown. Eric pushed open another door, and pushed her to the rough, concrete floor. Her palms ached on impact, and she struggled to lift her head.

“This her?” a cold whisper asked.

“Yeah,” Eric said. “This is Blake’s bitch.”

Pushing her fallen hair from her face, Lauren saw a mustachioed man with wavy hair staring down at her with expressionless eyes. A crew of ten men flanked his sides, and as Lauren’s eyes shifted from one leering face to another. She stopped at the sight of a man with long blonde hair. His sneer rivaled the others, and Lauren fell back on her elbows and tried to crawl away from his harsh eyes.

“No,” Eric said as he reached down and hauled her to her feet. “Didn’t bring you all this way so you could just turn around and leave us hanging.”

“Amen to that,” Ike said. “I can’t wait to—”

“Wait.”

The blonde stepped forward, as Ike’s hands were already at his belt. He stopped and Lauren cowered as the blonde circled her fallen form, his eyes never leaving her body as he kept turning around her.

“Hear Blake Bell killed someone for you,” the man started. “Truth to that?”

Lauren held her tongue. If they were going to hang Blake, she might not be able to stop it. But there was no way that she was going to provide them the rope to hang her with.

The man stamped his boot to the floor. Lauren shuddered as she stared up at him. His green eyes narrowed on her, and he crouched down to touch her face.

“I asked you a question.” he said.

When Lauren stayed silent, he brought his hand back, ready to strike. She hid her face in her hands as Eric plowed forward and pulled the blonde from her side.

“I already told you what happened!” Eric bellowed. “And now I’ve made good on it. You want revenge, here she is, Nate.”

Lauren ‘s heart thudded in her chest as Nate leered at her, and even as Eric held him back, she felt the blonde ready to kill if given the chance.

“I wanted Bell,” Nate said. “Not whatever wet hole he wants to bury his dick in—”

“This’ll get him where it hurts,” Eric promised. “Prick loves his fuck toys, and she’s his flavor of the month.”

Nate shrugged Eric off and glared down at her again.

“Hardly blood for blood,” Nate said.

“Think about it,” Eric said as he grabbed the blonde’s arm. “Fuck her bloody, then dump her at the side of their camp. Total lesson.”

Lauren watched in total terror as Nate’s dark gaze fixed on hers as he tilted his head to the side. A feeling of doom and despair crawled across her heart, and she held herself close in an effort to stop the trembles consuming her flesh.

“Might start a war.”

All eyes, Lauren’s included, turned to the mustachioed man. He sauntered forward, and Lauren still could not read his eyes as he peered down at her.

“Wayne, I—”

“That’s enough out of you, Eric.”

Eric fell quiet. Wayne moved to Nate’s side and clasped his shoulders. “But you want a war, right?” he whispered.

Nate nodded wildly, as Lauren crawled back a few inches. She should have tried to run sooner. She should have gone as soon as Blake had fresh blood on her hands.

“Right?” Wayne asked again.

“No doubt,” Nate hissed.

Wayne slapped his back and stepped closer to Lauren.

“And the rest of you?” Wayne asked his crew as he kept his blank gaze on his new captive. “Say we just have our way with her and whatever?”

An affirmative chorus rang through the air.

“So be it then,” Wayne said.

Ike’s hands moved his to his belt again, but now Eric and the others started to unspool the leather around their waists. The thought of a dozen cocks slamming into her filled her with fear. And if Blake wasn’t coming, she had to fight her way out on her own.

“No!” she screamed.

Scampering to her feet, she charged forward and raced for the door.

“Hold her!”

At the sound of Wayne’s voice, Eric and Ike grabbed her, their brutal arms trying to wrestle her to the ground.

“Get away from me, you fuckers!” Lauren screamed.

She kicked their shins and clawed at their leering faces. As Eric’s jacket started to fall away from his chest, she spied his gun poking out of its holster.

This is my chance. My only chance.

Reaching forward, she got her hands on the gun and pulled it from his side. Her fingers fumbled around the butt for a few seconds, but when Ike started to lunge at her, she took aim and gritted her teeth.

“I’ll blow all your head off if you take one more step!” Lauren screamed.

The feel of a trigger under her finger was foreign, but Lauren felt sure that she could fire if she had to.

“Maybe Blake did teach you something,” Eric teased as he straightened up. Despite his playful tone, she could see the rage in his eyes at the fact that she had gotten the best of him once again.

“He taught me lots of things,” Lauren said. “I’m his girl. And you won’t have a war if you hurt me. It’ll be the end of all of you.”

The Demon Dogs laughed as Eric fumed and Nate glowered. But Wayne took a step forward and pressed his hand to the air, silencing his men.

“You talk a good game,” Wayne said.

Even as her hands shook, she took aim at his chest as he drew closer.

“I can do more than talk,” Lauren said.

What if I really have to shoot him? What will it feel like? Can I really—?

“Fair enough,” Wayne said as he shrugged his shoulders. “But would you be so kind as to give your boy a message from us with those pretty lips of yours?”

Lauren was almost at the door when she stopped where she stood and nodded slowly, the gun still in her hands. As she waited for Wayne to speak again, he suddenly lunged, his eyes finally flashing a million emotions. His hands seized her wrists, and even as she tried to keep the gun in her hands, he turned her back to his chest and got the gun from her grip. Eric and Ike cheered as Nate snarled, and Lauren moaned and kicked, he thrashing only stopping when Wayne pressed the gun to her temple.

“Tell him that he’s fucked up for the last time,” Wayne said. “Too bad for him. Worse for you.”

Wayne pushed her into Nate’s arms, and Lauren screamed as he held her in his grip.

“Much worse,” Nate said. “You really his girl?”

Lauren managed to nod, and Nate scoffed as he dragged her towards a dark corner. At the sound of his belt coming loose, her body tensed at the thought that he would take her with force, and she instinctively clenched her muscles in the hope of fighting back the impending assault.

“Wait!” she screamed. “What are you—?”

He shackled her hands to a hook hanging from the ceiling, and Callie’s voice echoed in her brain.

Got their rocks off by cutting into their girls’ skin with razors. Kind of makes you wish for a tap and just be done with it.

“No!” Lauren screamed. “Don’t cut me! Don’t—!”

She was silent as his belt curled around her throat, and she gasped for air.

“Knife not good enough for you,” he said. “Know those scars on your boy’s back?”

Lauren nodded through the tears forming in her eyes, and Nate released her neck as he slapped his buckle to the hard floor.

“Gonna give you a matching set,” Nate promised.

Struggling to free her wrists from the metal keeping her bound in place, her chest heaving as he tore her dress down the back. Her back tensed as the cold air hit her back, and she slammed her eyes shut, fearing the coming pain when a crash of footsteps and shouts burst into the room. Lauren couldn’t look. It had to be another dream, and she couldn’t stand another—

“Cut her down.”

Blake?