Dante's Way

Dante’s Way

Bikers & Bars Book One

Marie Rochelle

Published by Phaze Books

By Marie Rochelle

Alpha Male Incorporated: Under Your Protection

Alpha Male Incorporated: Access Granted

A Taste of Love: Richard

Closer to You: Lee

My Deepest Love: Zack

More Than Friends: Brad

Caught

Caught 2: Ajana’s Return

Desire

All the Fixin’

Crossing the Railroad

A Rancher’s Promise

The Men of CCD: Slow Seduction

The Men of CCD: Loving True

The Men of CCD: Help Wanted

Lucky Charms

Hunks: Too Hot to Touch

Hunks: Opposite Attraction

Hunks: Pulled Over

Me & Mrs. Jones

Taken by Storm

Tempting Turner

Roped Into You

So Much Better

Bikers & Bars: Dante’s Way

This is an explicit and erotic novel

intended for the enjoyment

of adult readers. Please keep

out of the hands of children.

www.Phaze.com

Bikers & Bars: Dante’s Way

Copyright © 2013 by Marie Rochelle

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Edited by Judy Bagshaw

Cover Art © 2013 by Niki Browning

First Edition May 2013

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-60659-740-8

Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-60659-741-5

Published by Mundania Press

An imprint of Celeritas Unlimited LLC

6457 Glenway Ave., #109

Cincinnati, OH 45211

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher, Celeritas Unlimited LLC, 6457 Glenway Avenue, #109, Cincinnati, Ohio 45211, [email protected].

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

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Production by Celeritas Unlimited LLC

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedication

To my Aunt Catherine:

Thank you for giving me so many

wonderful childhood memories.

Chapter One

The freezing rain poured down on the rooftop as the small figure huddled inside the doorway of the abandoned building. The wetness from the weather soaked through the torn black hoodie and once white t-shirt underneath. The person worked very hard to become completely invisible from anyone who might be lurking in the shadows searching for an easy mark tonight.

The unbelievable scent of hot food drifted from the bar across the street making the person take a cautious step from underneath the less than protective sanctuary into the alleyway. Easing further away from the archway, the figure slid along the side of the brick wall silently praying no one would make a sudden move out of nowhere and jump them.

Up till now; the gnawing hunger pains had been blocked out by filling up on water; however, tonight the spasms were just too mind-numbingly great. Absolutely
nothing
was more important than finding something to eat.

The longing late last night to finally consume a warm meal almost made the idea of going to Theresa for help a very easy decision, but that wouldn’t be a good choice on her part....not even for the basic comforts most individuals took for granted every day.

However, tonight was an entirely different story. Now, the driving necessity to get something to eat was pushing them to make certain choices that they normally wouldn’t think about
ever
doing.

This had to work or they didn’t know what they were going to do for food. Pausing at the curb, a pair of coffee-colored eyes glanced both ways before the person darted across, hiding behind a large green dumpster located only about ten feet from the bar’s back door.

Hopefully, it was time for someone to leave. Sneaking inside the building would then be a lot easier. Usually breaking and entering wasn’t the first thought that came to mind, but tonight caused for drastic measures.

Surely, there had to be some leftovers stored away inside somewhere; in addition, maybe they could sleep here instead of on the cold, wet ground.

Most of the time a few kind-hearted strangers were nice enough to either give a few dollars here and there or offer a free meal, unfortunately that sort of compassion hadn’t been given to them in over three weeks.

People didn’t understand that begging for food was very humiliating, but when it felt like hunger pains were ripping your stomach apart your pride took a flying leap to get a full belly.

The sudden sound of the bar’s door opening and then closing caught the person off guard. Taking a step closer, a nervous pair of eyes peeked around the edge of the dumpster.

Frightened brown eyes widened at the sight of a tall, handsome white man with a long black ponytail as he ran through the pouring rain over to a huge black and orange motorcycle.

Yet he didn’t hold their attention for long because the person’s gaze zoomed in on the small brown paper bag in his left hand. Just the thought of devouring what was hidden in it, made their mouth salivate. Drool slid down the corner of their lip.

Would he willingly share some of his food
?

The sudden thought of a fulfilling feast after days of hunger drove the person to swallow down their normally gripping fear. Cautiously, they took a step closer toward the stranger. Just as they were almost there another male voice sounded, stopping them from taking another step.

“Hey Dante, could you help me move this last table back to the other side of the room before you take off for the night,” the second man asked from the opened doorway. “I thought I’d be able to move it by myself, but it’s too damn heavy.”

“Sure, Griffin, I’ll help move it,” Dante said, placing the bag of food inside the black leather saddlebag on his motorcycle. “I’m just glad you caught me before I rode off.”

Standing still as a statue so neither one of the men would glance over at the dumpster; the figure let the rain continue to soak through the already drenched clothing, anxiously waiting for the opportunity to steal the hot food off the motorcycle and hopefully have a clean getaway.

Minutes crawled by at a snail’s pace as Dante secured the straps on the bag before he jogged through the bucketing rain back inside the building, and slammed the door behind him.

Not wasting one second, the person hurried over to the motorcycle and started working on getting some food to eat.

Small fingers shook out of fear as they feverishly undid the tightly secured straps keeping the black leather bag closed. The need for nourishment tonight was too
intense
so not getting this food wasn’t an option.

Hands continued pulling and tugging at the three leather straps until they finally began to loosen and finally gave away. A burst of excitement flew from the person’s lips as the satchel opened and it hit the seat of the motorcycle. A tiny cold, wet hand reached inside and grabbed out the paper sack as the delicious aroma of nourishment drifted up towards their face.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Joy bubbled through the small figure’s body at lastly having real food...not leftover food stolen off customers’ plates outside a restaurant or day old food taken out of the trashcan behind the grocery store a few blocks from here, but a recently prepared meal that no one else’s mouth had ever touched.

However, the person’s excitement was cut short as the unexpected noise of metal scraping echoed loudly over the beating rain through the empty alley. Spinning away from the motorcycle, the figure clutched the bag tightly against their chest and took off running towards the opposite end of the alley back towards the street.

“What in the hell are you doing?” an irate, deep masculine voice hollered. “Get your ass back here; I’m tired of getting stuff stolen off my bike.”

Not even bothering to turn around, the individual kept making tracks as their worn tennis shoes pounded across the wet pavement. However, the loud sound of the heavier feet gaining ground spurred them into running even faster in hopes of getting away. But the man was gaining ground fast with his longer legs.

“I told you to stop,” the man hollered right before wrapping his fingers around a thin arm. The unexpected movement caused the bag of food to slip from the person’s hands falling into a huge puddle of water.

“Stop, let go of me,” the figure screamed, trying to break the unrelenting hold. “I won’t steal from you again. I swear I won’t. Just let me go. Please don’t call the cops.”

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you go. This is the third time this week someone has stolen something off my bike. I’m fed up with it. I’m going to call the police and there isn’t a thing you can do to change my mind.”

Fear shot through the slender body at the mere thought of spending a night at the police station. The cops were beginning to crack down hard on the homeless people around the area so going there was out of the question.

“Can’t you let me go? Please, I swear to you. I won’t steal from you again. I only wanted something to eat,” the person begged, softly.

“Save it,” he snapped, angrily. “I’m usually a pretty decent guy, but I’ve gotten pushed too far lately and everyone has their breaking point. Unfortunately, you are the one who made me reach mine tonight.”

Knowing there was no talking to the man, the person silently admitted defeat as the guy spun them back around going back towards the bar. Once they got there, he didn’t waste a minute getting them inside.

“Dante, what in the hell is going on,” the guy from earlier asked as soon as they walked inside. “Who is this?”

Looking down quickly at the ground caused the hoodie to slide down further hiding the person’s face from the other man It wouldn’t do any good to make any kind of eye contact with either man since they probably wouldn’t listen to any sort of reason.

“Griffin, this is the little punk who’s been stealing things off my bike. I actually caught him in the act when I went back outside to leave. I’m going to call the cops and have his butt tossed in jail,” Dante replied, clearly pissed.