Mason yanked his arm from her hold and stepped outside.
He sighed loudly when he hit the street and scanned around. His gaze landed on a very familiar car. One of Charlie’s guys. A good buddy of Ando, Tori’s father. He gave nod to the men. If they were around it could mean only one thing, there was enough a threat they were worried.
Fucking Los Malos.
Mason groaned a little. Now there was only one thing to decide. What the hell should he wear to the club?
Chapter Eight
Victoria scowled at her Rum and Coke. The drink wasn’t what she wanted, but the bartender had laughed when she asked for wine.
She shifted in her chair and looked around at the dingy club. The men were a little rough around the edges and the women only slightly less rough than the men. Never in a million years would she pick a place like this to go to, but this was all for Taylor.
Victoria found her friend on the dance floor. A large man pressed against Taylor as they moved to the beat of some old rock music.
Taylor noticed her and offered a giant smile and wave. She held her hands apart behind the man and mouthed O-M-G.
Heat bloomed on Victoria’s cheeks as she realized what her friend might be measuring. Typical Taylor, the Queen of Bluntness.
Victoria flipped her hair off her neck, wishing she’d gone ahead and put it up. Instead she’d let Taylor convince her to curl it and leave it down. The warm air of the room clung to her and her hair as it lay hot against her neck. It was a good thing she didn’t plan on dancing.
She laughed bitterly into her drink. Not that it mattered. Mason hadn’t been wrong about her injury. Her leg still wasn’t fully healed, and she had trouble doing many of the things she had before.
She lived with the damn leg every day. She didn’t need him pointing it out. Besides, she was hoping the doctor had been right. In another six months, she’d be back to normal.
“Well, ain’t you something.”
Victoria looked up at the large, burly man in front of her. He had more tattoos than she’d ever seen before and smelled like he’d been drinking cheap liquor all day.
She gave a half-smile, unsure of how to respond to something like that.
“I, um…” She fumbled with her words and searched for Tori on the dance floor. Her friend could save her from the unwanted attention.
The man leaned in some and grinned at her. “How about you down that drink, and we hit the floor?”
She wasn’t sure if that was a request or a demand. She swallowed hard, not really sure what to do.
“There you are.”
Victoria might have frowned if the thought had even occurred to her, but at that moment, the sight of Mason stunned her. And that was before he walked right up to her and circled one arm around her hip.
He pulled them close together. “Thanks for waiting for me, baby.”
She had only a moment to process his mouth closing in on her.
His kiss was demanding. He slipped his hands down to her ass and pulled her even closer.
She gasped. Mason took the moment to press his tongue deep into her mouth.
Victoria let out a low groan and pulled her trapped hands out from between them to his neck. He slanted his mouth over hers and delved in deeper with his tongue. Her nails bit into the back of his neck as she pulled him closer. His chest rumbled against her breasts as he groaned, filling her with excitement.
And just like that, he was gone. She opened her eyes and found him taking in deep breaths.
He glanced to the side, and for the first time, she realized she’d just made out in front of a stranger.
Mason looked back at her and grinned. “Well, I think they all know who you are with now.”
He could see the pink tint her cheeks as she turned and picked up her drink.
She looked amazing. Her long black hair had been curled and hung loosely down her back.
He’d nearly lost his shit when he walked in and saw her talking to some guy dressed like she was. She was wearing a tight black leather mini-skirt and some sort of black vest that her breasts were nearly spilling out of. It showed off the great figure she always seemed to be hiding.
Mason glanced down at her feet and nearly choked when he saw the thigh-high boots. He wondered how she managed to get around in those with her leg.
When his face came back to hers, he could see the longing in her face as she stared at the dance floor and knew the answer to his thought.
He nodded to the floor.
“Let’s dance,” he said.
A small frown appeared on her face before she took several large drinks from her cup.
“I thought I should be taking it easy,” she said. “What with my injury and all.”
Mason ran a hand over the back of his neck. He knew it would come up. The words had come out of his mouth without thought. In truth, he was pissed they had been interrupted and hadn’t expected she was going bar hopping or visiting seedy clubs.
He’d had entirely different plans for them.
Mason held out his hand. “Dance with me, Tori.”
She downed the last of her drink and then slipped her hand in his. He sighed at the weight of it, glad for the chance to be close to her again.
As they arrived at the floor, Tori turned to stare at him. Anxiety was written all over her face.
“I’m really not very good,” she said and swallowed. “My leg—”
“Just hold on to me,” he whispered and stepped in close.
Their bodies molded together, and he sighed at the feeling of her pressed against him.
He stared into her cool gray eyes. “I just want a reason to press up against you.”
She opened her mouth in shock only to close it again.
Mason let out a little chuckle. He loved the surprise on her face.
They moved in time to the rock ballad that filled the air, ignoring everyone else around them.
He moved his hand to the space on her back where he could once again touch her bare skin. Her hot breath warmed his neck. He hardened against her.
She turned in his arms and pressed her ass against him as her hips swung back and forth to the beat.
Mason leaned over to her ear. “You keep doing that, and I’m going to have to take you right here.”
She stilled her hips to turn and look at him. Shock and arousal poured off her.
The music stopped, and she shook her head a little. “I think I need to use the restroom.”
Mason nodded and watched as she made her way through the crowd.
Chapter Nine
Victoria took in deep breaths as she pushed through the crowd.
Air. She needed air.
Everything about what she was wearing was constricting, and right now, she needed to splash a little water on her neck and take some deep breaths.
She broke through the crowd and looked around for the bathroom. The man from earlier was standing not far from her and clearly in the path to the bathroom in the back of the building.
Victoria turned and decided that it would be much better to take the long way than face the man she’d ditched to make out with Mason.
The damn boots she wore rubbed against her sore ankle. She cursed Taylor and her need for excessively tall shoes. Who the hell could wear these beasts without falling all over themselves?
Victoria guessed they were what Taylor called hooker shoes, ones you only wore if you were planning on getting laid. Not that she had planned on getting laid, but given the state Mason kept leaving her in, it was no wonder sex was on her mind.
She sighed when the sign for the bathroom came into view.
She stepped forward but was pushed back a bit as someone brushed past her, knocking hard against her shoulder.
“Oh, sorry,” she said and looked over her shoulder, sure she hadn’t been paying attention.
She’d bumped into a man, a rather large and menacing man, even by the standards of a biker bar. He had an edge some of the other men in the bar lacked. His tattoos looked like they were mostly made from prison ink and more than a few were about death or curse words. He cast a glance back in her direction before disappearing into the crowd.
She squinted after him, certain she knew him. But from where? He certainly wasn’t the kind of guy she’d ever approach on purpose.
Fear raced through her as a memory popped into her head. Victoria rushed into the bathroom and ran over to the sink, not quite sure if her drink was going to make its way back up.
She flipped on the sink and gulped down the cold water.
Her face was pale when she looked back into the mirror.
Maybe it wasn’t him, the man who had haunted her for all these months, the one that had hunted them in the woods, the cause of her injury.
“Blitz,” she whispered.
The nasty biker didn’t care who he destroyed to get what he wanted. Several men had died that day, both good and bad, but the monster had escaped.
What the hell was he doing there? Maybe he would kill her for just recognizing him.
Victoria shook her head. He didn’t even seem to recognize her. And she was in a biker bar. There was a very real chance that it was just someone who looked like him.
She nodded to herself in the mirror, half convinced she was right. The other half not willing to think about what it meant if it really was him, if the nightmare had again become flesh.
Several women stepped in the bathroom and glared at her as they stepped into the stalls.
This place wasn’t for her. Maybe she’d be able to convince Taylor to go to a little nicer place.
Feeling slightly better, Victoria stepped out of the bathroom.
“There you are,” said a deep voice.
She turned and saw the large man who had hit on her before. Not ready for another confrontation, Victoria walked in the other direction. She stepped through the exit door into the warm night air.
A hand clasped hard on her arm as she made her way out.
“Now, you aren’t trying to get away are you?”
* * *
Mason checked his phone again. She was taking too long. Maybe she was going to try and ditch him. He was coming on pretty strong, but it was hard not to when she looked like walking sex.
Not wanting to risk her leaving without telling him, he made his way to the bathrooms. He knocked on the door and called out her name but was met by silence.
He turned to walk away when something thudded against the exit door next to the bathroom.
He frowned and pushed open the door. Blood rushed to his head.
“Look, my boyfriend is inside,” Tori said. Her voice shook as she struggled to get out a man’s grasp. Mason recognized the man as the ass who had been hitting on Tori in the club.
“Relax,” the man said. “He don’t have to know.”
Mason’s body moved before his mind caught up. He spun the man around and slammed his fist into the man’s face with a crunch.
The man’s grasp on Tori loosened. She stumbled to the ground near him.
Mason reached out to help her up.
“Stand by the door,” he said quietly to her and then turned back to the man.
The man picked himself up off the ground. Blood streamed from his broken nose.
“I’m gonna kill you,” the man growled.
The large man charged Mason, slamming him into the wall. Pain shot through his back, but the attack didn’t stop him from slamming his knee into the man’s stomach.
The man gagged at the impact.
Taking the chance, Mason slammed his other fist into the side of the man’s head. He man dropped to the ground, dazed and in pain.
“You’re lucky,” Mason said as he leaned over the man, his voice full of venom. “We meet again, and you might not be so lucky.”
He whipped out his phone and sent a text to Ryder. He could deal with this shit easily enough.
Mason stomped over to where Tori stood by the door. She favored her good leg, her injured leg shaking slightly, pain etched on her face.
Not willing to take chances, he flung open the door and swooped her into his arms.
The crowd on the floor parted as he stomped through. He stopped in front of Taylor.
“What the hell—” she began.
Taylor stared at him in shock, but he didn’t give a shit. All of this was her fucking fault. She knew this sort of place wasn’t Tori’s speed.
“Ryder is on his way to pick you up,” Mason said. “I’m taking her home.”
She raised a brow and looked to Tori.
“I’m fine,” she said with a small smile. “I just hurt my leg.”
Tori hesitated for a moment. Worry spread across her face.
“Just promise me you’ll go home. It’s not safe.”
Taylor looked between the two of them and nodded. “Well, with Ryder coming, it’s not like I have a choice.”
He nodded. That was the whole point. He stepped away and was glad neither of the women protested.
The passed through the open front door. He found his car easily in the lot among the sea of bikes.
He carefully placed her feet on the ground and opened the passenger side door.
Tori stepped inside, and as he helped strap in the seat belt, he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
She watched him quietly.
Mason hurried before she changed her mind. He made his way to the driver’s side. A few moments later, they pulled out onto the quiet road.
Silence filled the space between them. A long time passed before she spoke.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
Mason looked over to her. His stared directly at her as the words left his mouth.
“Home. My home.”
Chapter Ten
Mason stood in his kitchen, fridge door open wide, its cool air touching him. His anger still coursed through him.
He’d let that son of a bitch touch her, and she’d gotten hurt. If he had been there just a moment later, things would have been even worse.
Mason ran a hand over the back of his neck and tried to temper his burning rage.
“How about a bottle of water?” Tori said quietly from the kitchen door.
He glanced over at her and then back to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of water for her and a bottle of beer for himself.