After the Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 2) (8 page)

Wresting Lauren way from the flap, Callie grabbed her chin and stared at her hard. “You want to know so much? Then just wait. He said that he was coming back.”

“Will he?” Lauren asked. “How do I know that? I know nothing about him and I’m supposed to just accept…”

Accept the way he feels inside me. Maybe I could just live off of that and never ask another question.

“Accept what?”

Blake appeared, and Lauren fought the urge to rush into his arms. Holding back, she glanced at Callie out of the corner of her and silently begged her to provide some kind of cover story.

“Took your sweet time!” Callie chirped. “You know this little girl’s been through her own brand of hell tonight.”

Blake’s jaw tensed as he folded his fingers into a fist.

“I know,” he said in a thick voice. “Saw it with my own eyes.”

Lauren could almost sense a crack in his heart, but he stayed like stone as Callie pressed her palms together.

“Okay then,” she said. “So how about you take her home and show her that everything’s going to be alright?”

Their eyes locked for a second, and the sudden softness in his stare almost seemed to make Callie’s words real. Pressing her body closer to his side, she longed for the feel of his arms draped across her back.

But Blake didn’t make that move.

“Everything is going to be alright,” he said. “As soon as we make tracks at dawn.”

Blake started to lead her out of the tent, and when Lauren looked back to Callie, the redhead mouthed for her to
just take it slow
.

But Blake’s space was beyond rapid as he brought her back to his bed.

CHAPTER TEN

As soon as they were hidden behind real walls, Blake stripped off his jacket and moved to a bowl positioned on a table in the corner of the room. As he splashed water across his face, Lauren sat on the edge of the bed and watched his back muscles ripple as he grabbed a towel and wiped the droplets away from his skin. Once his face was dry, he turned to face hers, his face blank as his eyes moved down her legs.

“So you waited this time,” he said. “Guess that’s gotta count for something.”

Lauren waned to spit in his face and charge back to Callie’s tent. But she didn’t move. Looking into his eyes, she hung her head and spoke softly.

“I told you I wouldn’t run,” she muttered. “I’m sorry I did the first time.”

Slinging the towel over his shoulder, Blake inched closer to the bed and peered down at her. He was close enough to touch. Should she just wrap her arms around his thighs, fall to her knees, and beg for mercy? The thought was tempting. She wanted to feel his flesh, to sigh around his cock as it penetrated her again. But she held back and lifted her eyes. Blake’s face was like slate, and she slowly parted her lips.

“I was wrong,” she continued. “You’ve never hurt me. And I should have listened.”

“You should’ve listened,” he echoed.

Blake fell to his knees, and Lauren whimpered when he started to touch her bruised cheek but still held back.

“Don’t you like me?” he asked.

Lauren turned her eyes to his with a sad smile. “I do. Maybe I shouldn’t. But I didn’t lie when I said I wanted more.”

Growing bold, she pressed her fingers to his shoulders, and Blake didn’t flinch when she stared at him hard.

“I… I know I’m just a thing to you,” she said. “But that’s better than what some people have.”

She blinked back tears at the thought of everything that Grace had endured, and Blake didn’t speak as she took a deep breath to continue.

“So I won’t run,” Lauren said. “I’ll try to be good. Do better.”

Blake’s ears curled close to her cheek, and she expected his kiss when he drew back and ordered her to her feet.

“Take off your dress,” he commanded.

Too weary to object, the vodka swirling around her brain, Lauren obeyed. Mindful of the pins, she lifted her dress of over her shoulders and kicked off her shoes. Blake’s intense gaze caused her to shudder more than the cool night air, and she expected him to press her to the sheets, mount her and claim her as his property once again. After everything that had happened, Lauren knew that she would not protest. She wanted to eradicate the memory of the Demon Dogs and only know his hands again.

“Come with me,” Blake said.

Lauren followed him away from the bed, and he pulled a hard backed chair from the corner and ordered her to sit. Complying quickly, she did as she was told and waited. As she closed her eyes, Lauren heard the sound of sloshing water. Her curiosity nearly got the better of her, but she didn’t lift her lids. Whatever he was planning, she would do better this time. She would wait and hope that…

“Oh!” she moaned as he gently kissed her legs. Excited by the return of his lips, started to touch his hair when his voice broke through their shared silence.

“Shhh,” he crooned. “I’m just going to clean you up.”

Opening her eyes, Lauren saw him on his knees. A bowl of fresh water sat at his side, he wet the towel before wringing it out. As he brought the damp linen to her limbs, he washed up the length of the legs as he settled his free arm against the small of her back.

“Water’s okay?” he asked.

Unable to speak, Lauren nodded softly, and thought she saw him smile as he wiped up her sides. His touch was light, soft, everything that she hadn’t come to expect from him. Yet she still reveled in the feel of his hands as cleaned the Demon Dog’s touch from her body. Where would she be now if Blake hadn’t swooped in at the right moment? She shuddered at the thought but quickly pushed it aside as she focused on Blake’s hands on her body.

“It… it feels fine,” she finally said. “Nice.”

“Good,” he said.

When he was at her breasts, he paused and rested his brow to her soft mounds. Lauren started to wind her fingers around his neck when she just looked down at him. He seemed to shake against her, and she bit her lip as he spoke into her skin.

“I don’t want you to ever go again,” he said. “Because you’re… you’re not just a thing to me.”

“I’m not?” Lauren asked as her heart skipped a beat. Blake lifted his face to hers. The anguish was clear in his features, but he choked it back and spoke softly.

“How can you even ask me that?”

Stretching towards her, he rested the towel against her trembling thigh and moved towards her lips. Keeping her eyes open, she wanted to feel his kiss, to stay in his stare as he claimed he mouth. Blake made no other move, and nothing but his whisper hit her bruised cheek.

He finally touched her there.

“Looks better,” he said. “But never again. I don’t want anyone to ever lay hands on you.”

“Neither do I.” Lauren whispered as she started towards his mouth. But he held back and lowered his lids.

“I should have killed them all,” he said. “Just for looking at you.”

Lauren couldn’t help but blush. Maybe she was more than his bike or his gun, and a part of her liked the idea that he would try to keep the sky from falling to keep her safe. But what then? What if they had strung him up and added new scars to his back. She pictured his body twitching until it could no longer move, and she shook her head as she touched his face.

“Can you just look at me?” she asked. “Please.”

Their eyes locked, and she sighed as she stroked her scratch marks on his cheek.

“I’m sorry for that,” she said. “Does it hurt?”

He grabbed her hand and pressed it closer to his flesh.

“Not when you touch me,” he said.

Running her fingers down his face, she felt his lips curl into the smile, and when her eyes could no longer deny her hands, she flung her arms around her neck and clung to him.

“Touch me,” she begged. “Hold me.”

Blake obeyed her order, and his palms pressed into her back as she rested her head to his shoulder. Basking in the warmth of his body, Lauren wished that they were already far away and hidden. Grace would be calmer, and Paul would likely feel more in control.

And maybe Blake would finally tell her everything that was buried in his soul.

“Let me finish,” Blake said.

Spreading her thighs, he cleaned her limbs, and Lauren trembled before he even reached her cunt. When the damp fabric touched her there, Lauren’s body buzzed, and she longed for him to let the towel fall and push inside her. The feel of his cock was preferable to the length of his hand, but she would take any part of him.

“Blake,” she moaned as he moved away from her.

“It’s alright,” he promised. “Just relax.”

He dried every inch of her flesh and pulled the top sheet from the bed. Draping it around her body, he lifted Lauren to her feet and held her tight to his chest.

“I’m not leaving you,” he said.

“Promise?” Lauren asked.

“Just come to bed, baby.”

Pressing her to the mattress, Blake unfolded the sheet and smiled at her naked form quivering under his eyes.

“I get it,” he purred.

“What do you mean?” She kept her arms at her side, wanting to stay uncovered as he gazed down at her. Blake slowly sat at the edge of the bed, and his fingers caressed her legs as he lowered his eyes.

“Why they would want you,” he said. “Don’t make it right. But who could resist you?”

Stretching forward, Lauren dotted her fingers to his chest, and she smiled into his skin, whispering. “I can’t resist you. Blake…”

Their eyes met, and she kissed his cheek, her lips working like mad to erase the scratches from his flesh. Blake suddenly pushed her back and shook his head.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I don’t mind your marks on me.”

Lauren’s hands moved down her back, and when the ridges of his scars danced against her fingers, she paused in her pursuit and rested her head to his chest. “What about these marks?” she asked. “Where did they come from, Blake?”

He tensed in her arms, but Lauren’s hold stayed tight as she felt his heart pounding into her ear.

“Please tell me,” she begged. “If I really am more than a thing, you can talk to me. You can trust me.”

Blake started to relax in her arms, and Lauren clasped him closer. He stayed silent in her hold, and as she felt his breath heaving against her body, his hands found her hair. Stroking her locks, Lauren was ready for his confession when he pushed away from her.

“Blake…”

“I can’t talk about it,” he finally said.

Lauren watched his shoulders creep towards his ears as he pressed his palms to the mattress. The bed nearly shook under his hold, and Lauren could feel the agony coming off of him in waves.

“Blake?”

Fighting any fear, she crawled to his side and gently placed her arm around his tight shoulders, her free hand tracing the scars that criss-crossed his broad back.

“Tell me,” she said, her lips close to his ear. “I want to know.”

As he smashed his hands together, Lauren trembled against him, but she kept him in her hold and simply waited.

“Not the first time we had to cut and run,” Blake muttered.

“I know.”

“What do you think you know?” Blake challenged.

Lauren started to fall back, but she took a deep breath and held her ground at his side.

“Callie… Callie said that this happened once before.”

“She would know,” Blake confessed. “She was there.”

Curving her arm around his chest, Lauren reached for his hand, and Blake didn’t shy away from her touch.

“We… we were just making our mark in these parts,” Blake said. “Joe… Joe said that we just had to press our boots to the ground, and it’d be ours for the taking.”

He quaked under her arms, but Lauren just held him closer.

“Keep talking,” she said. “Tell me what happened.”

“We didn’t care,” Blake said. “We knew that we could take any other crew down. Joe was on board. Paul not so much.”

That made sense.

Blake sighed heavily, and his eyes clouded over as her stared into space, seemingly without seeing anything.

“It was too quick, too soon,” he muttered. “And they decided to teach us a lesson.”

He swallowed hard, and Lauren kept her hands in his as he hung his head.

“Her name was Ashley,” he said.

“Was she an auction girl, too?”

“No,” he confessed. “But she was into it.” Blake stared at her hard. “And don’t try to tell me that you’re not.”

Lauren was still, but she offered no objection as he continued.

“We rode together for nearly a year. And they…” He looked up and took a deep breath. “They took her .”