BLAMELESS: MC Biker Romance (Black Thorns, #3) (30 page)

Ax steps up to us then and Zeb pulls back from me and turns to face him.

“You two all right? Me and Rox heard some commotion. Guess the boys did, too, from out in the yard.”

Zeb’s eyes flash with anger again and he turns his head towards Ben.

Or where Ben
had
been. There’s no sign of him now, just his blood staining the floor.

“Where the fucking hell is he?”

“Who?” Ax asks.

“Ben! That asshole had his hands on Sarah. I kicked his ass. And now he’s…gone.”

“He did what?” Ax barks. He eyes me. “You all right? He hurt you?”

“She’s bruised,” Zeb cuts in.

Ax turns and points at his second-in-command, Grit. “Check surveillance. Rest of you fan out and check the clubhouse. Wanna catch him before he tries riding outta here.”

Grit, Smiter and the guys hurry off to do Ax’s bidding.

“Speaking of surveillance,” Zeb says. “You got anything on what I asked you to look into yet?”

“Waiting on a favor to come through. Couple more days and we should have something.”

“Jesus Christ. That’s long, Ax.”

“That frat ain’t nothing to do with Thorns, or even friends of Thorns. Gotta rely on friends of friends of friends just to get access to those cameras and shit.”

“Fine,” Zeb grunts. “But Ben’s outta the club now either way.”

“He touched you before?” Ax asks me.

I nod. “He just grabbed my wrist once.”

“What?” Zeb fumes. “Why didn’t you tell me that shit? Sarah!”

“I…I didn’t want you stressed out. You’re trying to recover and—”

“
You
don’t gotta worry ‘bout that.
I
do. You gotta tell me shit like this, Sarah. Jesus Christ. So, he’s been saying stuff to you? Like threats?”

Both of them stare at me and it’s really intense.

“Yeah. He keeps telling me I don’t belong here with you. He keeps saying I should go back to Brockford.”

“Back to Brockford?” Ax muses to himself. He eyes Zeb, “Torvin, you think?”

“Could be.”

“What? What could be?”

Zeb answers, “He might be working with Torvin. He’s the only guy who’d want you back in Brockford. He must still be there, holed up somewhere. Laying low.”

“Don’t know that for sure. Gotta look into it,” Ax cautions him.

Zeb makes a move to walk away. “On it.”

Ax grabs his shoulder, pulling him back. “No way.”

“Ax, I—”

“Your job is her,” Ax says, smiling at me. “She’s just found out she’s pregnant. And worse…it’s yours. Needs you right now, yeah?”

Zeb’s eyes narrow at his joke. But then he nods and smiles at me reassuringly. “Yeah. I hear you.”

A buzzing sounds then and Ax pulls his cell phone out of his back pocket. “Yeah?” he answers. “Grit. What? Fuck. Yeah, ride out with a couple of the boys. See if you can head him off. Yeah. Good. Keep me posted.” He hangs up then tells us, “He’s left the clubhouse. Got some of the boys going after him. I’m gonna head back to my office, use my equipment and see if I can track him via GPS.”

“Speaking of, where’s Rox?” Zeb asks.

“Made her wait in my office. Didn’t know what I was walking into. Sounded like a fight, but I weren’t sure. You know how she gets, hurtling into the thick of everything.”

“Made her?” Zeb asks, raising his eyebrows.

Ax grins and pulls a tiny key out of his front pocket.

Zeb cocks an eyebrow. “Kinky.”

Ax laughs. “Payback’s a bitch, huh?”

I know what he’s talking about. Rox told me that she cuffed him to his office once, so she could head off on a mission without him stopping her.

“She’s gonna kill you,” Zeb warns him.

“Nah. I got skills to calm her down.” He chuckles and heads off back to his office.

“So,” Zeb says, eyeing me. “We got a lot to talk ‘bout, don’t we?”

I swallow hard and eke out, “Yes.”

Chapter 31

~Runner~

“Wow. I really didn’t think you’d be taking this so well,” she tells me.

“Why not?”

“You know, because you’re—I mean—you
were
—”

I roll over onto my side to face her. We’re lying on the bed of my truck, looking out over the water. I brought her down to the coast of Reirdon Falls for a
date
.

She’s been really tense the last week since that incident with that asshole, Ben. The boys failed to catch him. It pisses me the fuck off, cuz I know
I
woulda been able to track him. I woulda been able to hunt that asshole down like the piece of shit animal he is. I know all the routes for miles in amazing detail ‘round the clubhouse. It’s my job to know. Coulda figured out the best route he used to escape. I know Sarah ain’t gonna rest easy ‘til we catch him
and
Torvin, who we’re suspecting Ben’s working for now.

But ‘til then I gotta keep her distracted. Gotta keep her as happy as I can. Can’t have her stressed. She’s carrying our kid in her. Ain’t good for her to get so worked up. So, tonight we’re out on this
date
. A first for me. Realized not only had me and her not been on a single date together, but I ain’t
never
been on one. She told me neither has she. Well, we ain’t gonna be saying that no more after tonight.

I lean in and tickle her neck. “Go on. You were saying, darlin.”

She squeals and squirms away from my fingers. “Zeb!”

“Tell me then.”

“Okay! Okay!” she cries.

I climb onto her, straddling her.

“I was gonna say, you’re not exactly the
family man
type. A few months ago, you were a rambunctious biker who slept his way through all the whores for miles around. You had no commitments and no responsibilities, apart from your role at the club. I’m your first and only girlfriend.”

I smile and take her hands in mine. “Yeah. Real amazing, ain’t it?”

“What is?”

“How much a good woman can change a man?”

She frowns. “You think I changed you? I didn’t mean to. Oh, I—”

“Not on purpose. You ain’t one of those controlling bitches I’ve heard ‘bout who try to shape a man into exactly what they want. Nah, you just…being with you…changed me…naturally.”

She smiles up at me. “Aww. That’s so sweet. You changed me too. Made me stronger. More confident. You made me feel sexy.”

“I just pointed out what you shoulda already seen, darlin’. It were in you the whole time.”

She wraps her arms ‘round my back and pulls me down to her.

“So, we’re…doing this? You’re sure? You want this baby?”

“You’re pregnant.”

“I know, but—”

I press my finger to her lips. “Uh uh. Don’t even say that. No way. That ain’t an option. You hear me?”

I pull my finger away and she nods. “I hear you.”

And then something hits me. “
You
want this baby, yeah?”

She smiles widely. “It’s
ours
.
We
made it. Of course. It’s just a shock.”

“Preaching to the choir, darlin’.”

She tightens her hold ‘round me and whispers in my ear, “I love our date tonight. It’s perfect.”

“I’m glad, Sarah.”

I grab her hips and flip us so she’s on top. “That’s better.”

“Better?”

“Don’t wanna be putting pressure on the baby.”

She giggles. “It’s a bit soon to be worrying about that, Zeb.”

“We don’t know that ‘til we see the doctor in a couple of days. Might not just be recent. Plus, I ain’t gonna stop worrying ‘bout our kid
or
you.”

She runs her fingers up and down my chest, making me moan from her sweet touch.

And then she shatters the whole mood by suddenly saying, “You’re going to kill him, aren’t you?”

Whoa. Talk ‘bout a curve ball. “Who?”

“You know who. Ben.”

“He hurt you. Threatened you. Scared you.”

“I don’t want you to.”

“He deserves it, Sarah.”

She shakes her head. “It’s not for you to pass a judgment like that, Zeb. Leave it up to karma.”

I scoff. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No,” she says, frowning at me. “I mean it, Zeb. I know you’ve killed before. You killed that guy in the parking lot outside my diner that night you got stabbed.”

What’s she talking ‘bout? “What guy?”

“The one you hit right in the throat. He went down hard. You broke his windpipe, didn’t you?”

I smile at her naivety. “Sarah, you know how hard you gotta hit, in just the right area, to do that?”

“No and I’m glad I don’t.”

“Well, I swear to you he weren’t dead.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Also, can’t just leave somebody lying on the ground in a public place if I killed ‘em. Gotta clean that shit up. Gotta call somebody in to do it, wipe all evidence. It’s a big job.”

“Oh. Well, you killed your brother.”

“Had to.”

“I know, but no more. I don’t…it scares me.”

“Scares you?” I ask, reaching up and stroking her hair.

“That part of you that can kill without caring.”

“Ain’t planning on you ever seeing it, Sarah.”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I sit up, taking her with me, so she’s straddling my lap. I run my hands up and down her back. “How ‘bout this? I ain’t gonna go searching for Ben to kill him. All right? Were gonna. But I won’t. For you. Cuz you just asked me not to.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.
But
he comes at us—him or Torvin—and I ain’t gonna hold back. Good deal?”

She nods happily. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Listening to me.”

“‘Course. You’re my girl.”

“Not all men listen to their girlfriends and wives.”

“Well, they’re the stupid ones then, ain’t they? In for a world of trouble.”

She giggles. “Definitely.”

I pull back from her and reach into the inside pocket of my hoodie beneath my cut. I capture the two things in my palm and then hold my hand out in front of her. “Speaking of
wives
.”

She gasps as I open my hand and she sees the two rings there.

“Picked these up a few days ago.”

Her eyes are wide as she stares at ‘em. One’s a man’s ring and the other’s a woman’s. But they got the same design. Two gold hearts being held in two silver wings.

“I know you been hesitant ‘bout us moving in together. But you’re still mine. Want you to remember that. Want every asshole ‘round to know it, too. Want you to wear this and I’ll wear mine.”

“Like promise rings?” she asks, getting it. “Saying we belong to each other?”

“Yeah. You hit it, Sarah.”

She holds out her left hand to me and I slide hers onto her ring finger. Then I put mine on.

She gazes at hers, smiling, all happy and excited. “I love it.” She leans down and kisses mine. “And I love
you
.”

She’s so sweet and she don’t even realize it. I grab hold of her and pull her back down on top of me. She drums her fingers on my chest. “Do you want to look at some of those houses you were talking about a few weeks ago?”

“You serious?” I ask, more than a little shocked.

“I’ve been thinking about what Rox said to me at the barbecue.”

“What’s that?”

“About taking a leap of faith.”

Rox actually helped me out? Must finally trust me with Sarah then. Must see that I ain’t the asshole I used to be no more.

“When you asked me, part of me really wanted to.” She places her hand over her heart. “This part. But I was also scared. You were basically asking me to give up my life and absorb myself into yours. Well, that’s what I thought. But now I get it. That’s not what you meant, is it?”

I shake my head. “Wanted us to bring our lives together. Bring your diner here. You’re still gonna be independent and all that, doing what you love. We’ll just be together.” I grin at her. “And in a bigger place. Never realized how small my place is ‘til we been living there together.”

She giggles. “I know. We’re literally tripping over each other.”

I lift her off me and get to my feet. As she starts getting up too, I grab her and pick her up. She squeals as I jump down from the truck with her in my arms. And then I start making my way down the bank to the water.

She realizes what I’m gonna do and starts kicking and shrieking, “No! No, Zeb!”

But it’s too late. I jump into the water with her in my arms.