Charged (6 page)

I finish filling in the paperwork with my newly acquired fake name, handing it back to Horny along with the ring. My heart feels like a pile of bricks is weighing it down, but I know this is necessary. He looks it over, inputs the amounts and my worthless information into the computer, then hands me the cash. 

“Thanks,” I tell him, stuffing it into my worn and torn wallet, then head back into the Mississippi midday sun. 

This place isn’t any different from many other quaint little American towns I’ve visited, with buildings that have sat frozen in time since the revolution. There are placards and monuments to fallen soldiers, team heroes and local heroes that dot the landscape of McD’s, pizza joints and coffee shops; it’s as you expect. If I didn’t think I needed to move on, I could see myself holed up in a place like this, attending school to learn sociology, physiology, or working on a masters in human studies. Or maybe I’d just be figuring out how to skip classes every day and get high. Who knows what I’d do? I’ve never had the luxury of even considering it.  

I walk past places I wish I could stop to shop. There’s club shops with flashy tops, designer boutiques displaying flowing dresses and prettier than pretty shoes. 

I never had the chance to be that girl once I entered the program. Government protection doesn’t give you money to be frivolous. It’s frugal no matter how you slice it. I wore sneakers, tee shirts and jeans from places like Walmart and Target for the better part of ten years. Never again did I have the chance to wear Prada, Burberry, Christian’s and Monolo’s. That went out the window just before I turned twelve. At least, that’s when the last pair I outgrew finally kicked the bucket. When I should have been shopping with her — my mom — for new clothes and shoes, I was hiding. 

All because of GF. He ruined us all. Not only did he take one of the most loving people in my life, but she had adored him beyond measure, and he’d taken that innocence and devotion, twisting it around until it consumed her. He was her husband for heaven’s sake. Love, honor and cherish, was more like beat, burn and stab to death. 

I’ve been walking for fifteen minutes or so, and I’m almost back to Jack’s garage, where Ryker better be working on Creature. He’s hopefully been back at the car for a while now, since I left close to an hour ago. I’m hoping he’s closer to a diagnosis of disaster. He said three hours — at almost seventy a pop — and right now, as it stands, I can still afford the hours he’s had with the little girlfriend interlude. 

My temper had gotten the best of me with her. I normally keep it in check, but after the wink, the blatant disregard for respect, and Ryker’s apparent need to get me steamed, I just couldn’t take it. I fucking let loose. 

And damn, it felt amazing!

I walk back across the parking lot with my eyes plastered to his ass. God, it’s lovely. It’s tight and round, not at all shabby. No wonder that piece of shit wanted to take him on anywhere she could get him.
What I
want to do to that man is probably criminal, even though he’s proven himself to be the biggest fucking moose knuckle I’ve had the pleasure to run up against. 

I walk up behind him quietly so I can keep watching him like a stalker. “Hi,” I say, wincing slightly as he hits his head on the underside of the hood. He swears loudly. Oops, my bad. 

“How’s it going, manwhore?” I ask. 

Wiping his hands on his rag, he pulls off his bandana then loosens his contained strands, rubbing the top of his head. Fuck, he’s near perfect. I thought he might have had the bandana to hide the fact he’s bald, but nope — no flaws; pure perfection. 

I’ve never had a thing for guys with long hair or facial scruff. It’s always been short, shorn army cuts and clean shaven men, but hell, I’ve adjusted to worse. It’s sexy as hell on him, and I want to grab his hair, pull him down to me, and steal away a mind-numbing kiss, feeling that rough hair burning my soft skin. 

It’s wrong to want it, it’s wrong to do it, but I’m so close to taking it, even if I shouldn’t. I have to link my hands up behind my back to keep from reaching out and touching him. I have to remind myself he was just getting busy on the hood of my car, not even an hour ago, with some flea infested tramp. 

Why are all the pretty one’s assholes? 

“I found the problem, but you’re not gonna like it.” Ryker’s body is intoxicating. I watch as he pulls the sweat soaked shirt over his head, then rubs it down his overheated chest. The ink that comes into view is scrumptious. 

“Ever heard of adding coolant, or checking your oil? How about the fact that when all the lights on the dash are flashing and telling you there are issues, that you shut the fucking car off and fix it?” As he growls it out, I find myself both mesmerized and pissed off all at once.

“So let me see if I get this right. You know the issue with my car, and only want to scold me for my lack of mechanical knowledge?” I can’t look him in the eye just yet as he tucks his hair back into his bandanna. I’m afraid that nasty attitude of mine might rear its head again, for his ass-holic comment.  

“Oh don’t you worry your pretty little head. I’ll tell you, but…” He steps closer, reaching up and raising my chin up, so I have no choice but to look in his eyes. “I said you won’t like it,
spark plug
.” 

Spark plug. That’s twice now he’s called me that particular mechanical car part. What the hell is with that? 

I use every ounce of control I have to avoid slamming my open hand against his face again. He has my body confused and alight, but his attitude towards women makes me want to rail at him. I know it would take nothing more than just one swipe across that well-trimmed bushy chin, and I’d be striping him down in the parking lot, just like Kendra was. 

Wrong. So, so wrong Kate. Get Creature fixed and get the fuck out of town. Fast.

“Look, I’m not a spark plug—” 

Again he cuts me off. This time it’s with a simple thumb touching my lips. The way he does it is so sensual and soft that my core lights up like a Christmas tree. 

“Yep, got that you don’t understand that reference. How about—” 

Now it’s my turn. So, as I go against my better judgement, I place my whole hand across his supple lips. Damn if they aren’t as soft and as full as I imagined. “Look, like I said, I’m not a spark plug, n’ yes I do get the reference. How about you just give me your semi-professional opinion on the car, manwhore.” Not wanting to — God, I do not want to — I take my hand away, allowing him to speak. As I do, his tongue flicks out, quickly brushing against my index finger, tempting my resolve. 

Fuck me, that was hot.  

There’s a glee in his eyes, and I can see that he knows he got a reaction from me with that little stunt, but I’ll be damned if I give him the satisfaction of thinking he got to me. I can’t say the same for my pussy through, my panties feel moist almost instantly. At this rate, I’ll have to go back to the restaurant just to use the facilities for relief of a different kind. 

As I stand before him, arms crossed in front, I await his reply. He smiles, steps back and points to the car engine. 

“Look, see this? It’s an engine, and it’s like your body. No oil to keep it lubricated,” he says with a low growl. “No coolant to keep it cool, and no spark to fire it up. That’s when it doesn’t run. When’s the last time you had
your
oil changed?” 

Well, no innuendos there at all. I ignore the sexual context, answering him as I pull my legs together a bit to calm my overreacting libido. 

“I don’t really know. To be honest, I’ve been driving for a few days straight, and before that it’s…” I pause thinking of the right words. “Complicated.”

He pulls on my hand, bringing me closer to Creature’s engine compartment, places it on the heated engine cover, and pushes against my body so I’m hemmed in between him and the car. 

“Well, complicated doesn’t help your need to move when you don’t work on the car.” He puts his hand on mine. “Your engine has no oil in it, so all your parts are rubbing raw against each other.” 

Lazily petting the back of my hand, Ryker then pushes up behind me, so close I can feel his semi hard erection tucking into the seam of my ass. Damn, what I wouldn’t do to lean back into that. As he continues, I try to concentrate on what he’s telling me. 

“The coolant has been dumping into the engine through its head, so it’s overheating.” He runs his hand along the soft skin of my forearm, his voice low and seductive. “Plus instead of running on all cylinders, it’s only firing on two, so you’re not getting a proper bang.” 

“A proper bang, huh? Is that what you were going to give Kendra? A proper bang?” I say breathlessly, rebelling against my better judgement.

He ignores my comment and continues. “See this?” He holds up a small white and dirty part. “No spark because it’s all worn out. It’s tired. The only way to fix this bucket you own is to tear it down, pulling the head, changing the plugs, draining all the crap fluids, and then
possibly
it might start again. I haven’t looked to see if you have brakes, or if the rest of the car will hold up, so I’m not sure if you can even stop, or if there are any further electrical issues. This is just what I see to start.” 

Fine, I get it. I knew Creature was a wrecker but I had hoped it wouldn’t be too bad. “So here’s the big whopper of a question. What’s the cost?” I ask him as he’s still pressed against me. I’m resting my hands on the grille to stop from falling forward into the torn apart mess and push my waist back so I’m butted up against that now hardened cock, reveling in its apparent size. 

Taking in a deep breath, sighing, then breathing it out against my neck, Ryker sends a shiver down my spine. 

“Five hundred at least.” I stiffen. Where his arms have me caged against the car, he loosens his grip on me and steps to the side, giving me space as I back up. 

“Are you shittin’ me? Even after hocking the ring I can’t pay for that, food and gas too.” I panic and push away from him and the car. “I, really,
really
don’t have that. No fucking way. I just don’t have that money. Is there anything I can do to work it off?” I push up against his chest, leaning into him. I can feel his now hardened tool through the jeans. “I’ll do anything. I have to get going asap. Please,” I beg.

He stiffens — I mean his cock and him both — before he pulls back and turns my face up to his, forcing me to look directly into those exotic eyes. He glares down at me menacingly. Fire is building within those baby blues, and I’m freaking the fuck out. 

“Do you really value your own worth that little, you’d fuck me just to get what you want? Do you think I value myself that little, that my services are only worth a bit of ass? Not that it’s any business of yours, but Kendra isn’t a whore, and I don’t pay for my fucks. I get it because I want it, not because I can’t.” 

“No! I don’t—” 

Again, he puts a finger to my mouth and stops me mid-sentence. Being smart, I shut up, seeing I’ve pissed him off once more. Now, not only am I stranded with a beat up Creature, but I have no money, no job, and no way to get away from this state, or further from GF’s grasp. Worst of all, I’d just fucked up huge and propositioned the only man who could have fixed my car. Now he’ll probably direct Travis to plop it down in the compactor immediately.

“Sweetheart, if you think that’s the best thing to get you out of a fix, you really have been fucked up. I won’t accept a fuck as payment — ever.” 

He softens against me, and purrs as his words vibrate through my body. “Look,” he says, pushing forward slightly so I’m arched across the car. “Your car needs help, and if you
need
out of here so bad, there’s only three ways, and not one of them is the one you just offered. Either you get me the money to fix your car, get a new car, or the bus comes through here twice a day. Take your pick,
spark plug
.” 

God he’s hot, even when we’re utterly furious with each other. I’m not sure what scares me the most — being stuck and unable to run away, or being this close to someone that turns me on like the flick of a light switch. I should be thoroughly disgusted with myself and my body’s reaction.

“I don’t have the money to buy a new one. I don’t have enough to fix it, even with the ring, so I only have one option. The bus is not it, by the way. I’ll get the money to you. I promise.” That seems to satisfy him as he backs away from me, taking his heat with him. 

“What the fuck is going on out here?” An older man steps out from the garage doors. 

“Jack, I was just lookin’ at this girl’s car. Trav' brought it in earlier.” I look to Ryker, not missing the way his soft voice hardens.

The man steps further away from the garage with a look of deadly intent. He looks to be in his mid-fifties at best, his arms thick, well-toned and defined. His head is shaved close to the scalp, and in his eyes there’s a look of menace and pure evil. His dark complexion indicates he’s probably of Mediterranean descent. Seeing his dark eyes, I note that he and Ryker couldn’t be any more different. 

With his caramel brown hair, surfer tanned SoCal complexion, sharp cheekbones under the whiskers, and hard clear blue eyes, Ryker is sunshine compared to Jack’s moonless night. That being said, it’s apparent that this man is the authority. Anyone seeing them on first sight would notice that Ryker’s stance shows deference, and he doesn’t seem like a guy who backs down often.