Loving Me, Trusting You (26 page)

I can't take it anymore.

I stand up and wrap my arm around her waist, yanking her against me hard, kissing her and forcing her to taste her own warmth. The salty sweetness of her sifts between us as we fight against one another, hands grasping, fingers clawing at naked flesh. I pull back just long enough to slip my shirt off and drop it over the edge, to let her unbutton my pants and free my aching cock.

It hurts so good that I can't wait. I move her forward and grind her into the stone. Her ass squishes against it, pressing tight to the lip of cement as I move the head of my cock to her opening.

“Mireya Sawyer,” I tell her, and I wait until she opens her eyes and looks straight at me before I continue. “You're stubborn and frustrating and ornery as fuck, but I love you more than I love to ride.”

“Gaine,” she warns, but I can't hold back. It's now or never.

“I love you more than I love this group, more than I love myself. Mireya Sawyer, I just fucking love the Goddamn holy fucking hell out of you. That's it. That's all there is to it.” She tries to protest, but I cut her off with my mouth, thrust forward with my hips and fill her completely. Her body swallows mine, clamps down hard around me, muscles fluttering as she milks my cock for all it's worth.

I grasp her by the back of the head, dig my fingertips into her hair and moan. I don't care if anyone can hear me. This isn't about them; this is about
us.

“Gaine,” she says, protesting between kisses, hissing my name out on the end of each breath as I push inside of her, finding her cervix and bumping it with the head of my cock. Her sweaty, naked body is wrapped in mine, filled with me. I want to hear her say those words, but I'll settle for this. Right now, right here, I know that Mireya Sawyer is mine.

“I love you,” I tell her simply, wanting to say it again and again and again, as many times as I can before this is over. She keeps her eyes closed, groans as I bite at her neck, leaving red marks as I go, sucking gently on her soft, bronzed skin. Exotic, wild, beautiful. That's how I see her. A streak of angry perfection with her legs wrapped around my body and her hands touching my chest, feeling up my tattoos, tracing down my muscles.

I can still smell and taste her pussy on my face, and it's making me crazy, churning my lust into a frenzy. We grind against the wall, grunting and whimpering like animals, drawn halfway out of this world and into the next.

It doesn't last nearly long enough.

Mireya's moans to turn to screams, increasing in frequency until she explodes around me, hugging my dick with her body, coating me with molten hot juices that drip down my balls and land on the gravelly pavement at my feet. I don't want it to end, but I can't hold back. I kiss her with everything I've got, squeeze her tight and come inside of her.

For one, happy, blissful second, I am the happiest motherfuckin' man on earth.

That feeling doesn't last near as long as I wish it could.

Gaine slips his shirt over my shoulders and helps me sneak back to the room. I don't look at him, don't speak to him. I can't. My whole body is shaky, and it's gotten hard to breathe. My emotions are in a frothing frenzy, and suddenly, despite my previous conviction, I'm conflicted.

How can I leave this behind?
I wonder as I stumble back to the room, warm and covered in sweat and saliva. My pussy is swollen, throbbing with pleasure with each step I take. Gaine's seed mixes with my own come and drips down my thighs, leaving me a fucking mess by the time we get to the room.

He loves me.

I knew that, of course, but to hear it again? It almost broke my heart and my decision. I can't let him know that. I do my best to avoid looking at him. If I do, I'm afraid I'll break down again. My mind keeps trying to swing back around to that girl, Crystal. Basically, I've got her blood on my hands, too. If I hadn't picked her up, convinced her to come down to the parking garage, she'd still be alive. Bested by Crows didn't go easy on her, I'm sure. I can't even think about what might've happened. I have to stay strong and stick with my decision.

“Can I get you anything, babe?” Gaine asks me, but I just shake my head and crawl into bed. When he slides in beside me, I stiffen, but I don't push him away. With his hard warmth wrapped around me, I'm asleep in minutes.

What wakes me up is the sound of footsteps in my room. And it's not just one person, it's several. My eyes burst open and my hand creeps towards the nightstand. I stuck my tire iron in there, just in case something like this happened.

“She asleep?” I hear a familiar voice ask. It's Austin.

“Musta had a real good time up on that roof,” Beck says and then, of course, he laughs.

“Don't you motherfuckers know how to knock?” I snap as I sit up suddenly and cause Kimmi to jump. Her blue and silver earrings swing like pendulums.

“Jesus Christ, Mireya. What's your problem?”

“What's
your
problem?” I growl at them, wondering where Gaine's gone. I can still feel him wrapped around me, moving inside of me. Goose bumps break out across my skin as I glare at the three of them. “Why the fuck are you sneaking into my room in the middle of the damn night?” I grab the clock and spin it to face me. It's three in the Goddamn morning.

“We did knock. You must've been out like a light,” Austin says, putting his hands on his hips.

“And?” I ask, stifling a yawn and surreptitiously stretching out a hand towards the spot where Gaine was sleeping. The sheets are cold. “What do you want? I have to say, breaking into my room this late at night is a little weird, even for you.” The three of them exchange glances.

“Mireya,” Austin begins and then pauses. “Is Gaine here? We've got something we want to say to you, but I'd sure like it if he were around.” I squeeze my fingers against the sheets.

“You haven't seen him?” I ask, and Austin shakes his head. I glance over at the bathroom door, but it's wide open. There's nobody in there. A cold feeling begins in the base of my spine and starts to work its way up. “Maybe he's at the bar?” I ask then, thinking that it wouldn't be surprising if he'd gone for a drink. I know this isn't easy on him. I know … that he loves me. I get it. I did. I just can't reciprocate it right now. It isn't good for any of us. I think of Crystal and wonder if she's still alive. Either way, if my enemies are willing to take their anger out on a complete stranger, someone barely related to me, how will they be if they get their hands on someone else, someone like Kimmi? The fiery lesbian would not do well being ground to dust under their boots, forced under their bodies. I can't let that happen.

“Just came from there,” Beck says with a grin. “Didn't see him.”

I look around and spot Gaine's suitcase. It's still there, where he left it, but the boots he kicked off by the dresser are gone. My heart starts to race and my pulse quickens.
No, he wouldn't. Would he?
I start to get a suspicious niggling in my gut, one that makes me white hot with fear.

I throw the covers off and ignore the fact that my ass is hanging out. I move to the window and check the parking lot. Fucking Christ. My eyes dart around, trying to make sure I haven't missed it, but no, Gaine's Tiger is gone. He's gone.

“Holy shit,” I growl, my knees going weak. I grab onto the windowsill for support and lower myself slowly to the floor. “This can't be happening.” The pieces start to click into place.

“What's going on?” Austin asks, moving over to me and helping me up. His brown eyes bore into mine, completely serious now. “Talk to me.” I shake my head and push away from him, stumbling back into the nightstand.

“I've got to go,” I whisper, turning to my bag and digging out the first outfit I can find. I slip Gaine's shirt off and Beck whistles appreciatively. I ignore them all.

“Goddamn it, Mireya,” Austin says, moving closer to me, not at all bothered by my nakedness. “You're a part of this fuckin' group whether you like it or not. You're not going anywhere. Doesn't matter if their grudge is with you or not. Fuck with one of us and you fuck with all of us.”

I slip my shirt on and toss him the meanest glare I know. Okay, his words are sort of nice to hear. But it doesn't matter. I can't even think about that right now, can't think about anything except Gaine. Because I know where he is, and where he's gone.

“I'm talking about Gaine, you idiot,” I snap at him, dragging my pants on and buttoning them quick as I can. “He's gone. He left.”

“Left?” Kimmi asks, and then something clicks. Her eyes go wide and she moves to the window to look. “He left,” she says, shaking her head and spinning around quickly. “He's going after them alone, isn't he?”

“What the fuck do you think?” I scream at her, sitting on the edge of the bed hard and slipping on my boots.
This is all my fault, the reason I wanted to leave.
Tears prick my eyes, but I push them back. I can't lose it now. If we hurry, there's still a chance we could catch up with him. If he gets there before we go, he's toast. I can kiss Gaine Kelley's strong arms and gentle smile goodbye. If that happens, if he dies, I don't know if I'll be able to take it. If I lose him … I stand up and grab my keys, sticking my tire iron into the back of my pants.

“Where do you think he went?” Kimmi asks, adjusting her red leather corset and biting at her lower lip. “We've been riding for hours. They might not be anywhere near us right now.”

“Gimme just a sec,” Beck says, pulling out his cell phone and playing with the screen for a moment. I have no fucking clue what he's doing, but I wait. When it comes to this sort of thing, Beck actually has his uses. Based on some of his tattoos, I've got a weird suspicion that maybe he's ex-military or something, but I've never been able to prove it, and I've never asked. “I installed one of them GPS things on his phone,” he says, playing dumb when I know he knows exactly what he's talking about. After a moment, his stupid half smile turns into a frown, and my heart stops.

“What?” I yell at him, getting up close and staring him down. Beck looks at the screen and then up at me. “Is he far ahead of us?”

“Not too far,” Beck says, tucking his phone into his back pocket.

“Then what's the problem?” My asshole friend, the one with the terrible sense of humor, who's dumb as a Goddamn doornail, looks at me with a grave expression.

“Well, from what I can tell,” he says, glancing back at Austin and Kimmi. “He isn't moving, so … either he's stopped for gas or he doesn't have his phone on him anymore.” There's an unspoken
or
in that sentence, something that tells me Beck doesn't believe either of those things. I finish his sentence for him.

“Or,” I say, taking a deep breath and squeezing my fists at my sides. “They've already got him.”

I expect to ride through the night before I come even close to encountering Bested by Crows, but it doesn't happen like that. I ignore Kimmi's instructions and end up on the interstate, going as fast as I can, pushing my Tiger to her limits while I apologize under my breath. I'm not just chasing demons here, I'm running from Mireya. If she catches up to me while I'm out here, I won't be able to go through with it. I have to hurry before she wakes up and comes after me because I know she will.

About an hour outside of town, I hear them coming.

Even though I don't expect to see them yet, I'm ready, pulling over to the side of the highway and hiding my bike in some bushes. I crouch down and wait, watching as they come around the corner, colors flying, bikes shining under the orange streetlights. My plan is to follow behind them and take them out when they least expect it. I don't think I'm going to get them all, but if I can grab Will, Mack, and the other faces I recognize from the roadblock, I think it'll be okay. I'm hoping that they'll split up again, let their guard down and park their rides at some point.

What I don't expect, don't even friggin' consider, is that they already know I'm coming. Somebody saw me leave and they passed on the word, just like they've been doing all along. I don't know who it is at the moment, but as soon as I hear the crunch of boots behind me, I know it's true.

I turn but not quick enough, pulling my gun out and aiming it at the nearest body. I manage to fire off a single shot into one of the leather clad chests before I'm being grabbed and shoved to my knees. Boots slam down on my back, into my head, smash the bones in my legs. It happens so quick that I don't have time to shout, to struggle, to defend myself. Before I can even roll over and put up a fight, something hard smashes into my skull and renders me unconscious.