Driven to the Limit (6 page)

“Bullshit,” Dagger said. “It’s my property. I can burn it to
hell if I want to.”

Something splashed out there, and gasoline fumes filled the
room.

“Think of the computers,” Steve said.

“Fuck the computers. Get out of here before you fry.”

“Shit!” Steve yelled. “He’s going to do it. I don’t fucking
believe it.”

“Get out!” Dagger shouted.

Footsteps faded away. Steve and Howie. Then came the sound
of a match striking. Dagger had set fire to the cottage, and Jake was still
inside.

Chapter Five

By the time Lauren got to the guesthouse, flames were
working their way up the walls. Dagger danced around in front of the fire, a
look of pure insanity on his face.

“Die, fucker,” he shouted. “Die. Die.”

“What in hell is going on?” Lauren asked Steve.

“Dagger’s lost it.”

“I can see that,” she said. “He started the fire?”

“When he found the bike in the file room, he flipped out,”
Steve said.

“He thinks it’s trying to kill him,” Howie added.

“The bike?” She grabbed Howie’s shoulders and shook him.
“The Mannhof?”

“Someone put it in there,” Howie answered. “Picked the wrong
day to mess with Dagger’s head.”

“Is he… it… still in there?”

Howie shrugged. “I didn’t see it come out.”

Shit. Jake was inside there, and the whole house would be on
fire in a few minutes. “I have to get him out.”

“It’s just a machine,” Steve said.

“You don’t understand,” she said.

“It’s expensive, but it isn’t a person.”

Damn, the man she loved was inside a burning building and
none of them understood. “I’m going in there.”

Steve grabbed her. “I called the fire department.”

“They won’t get here soon enough.”

“You can’t go in there, Lauren.”

“Try to stop me.” She kicked him in the shin, hard enough
that he bent to rub his leg. Before anyone else could grab her, she ran to the
front door of the cottage and let herself in.

Outside, people shouted as more of the staff showed up.
Voices called to her, but she ignored them. Steve had said Jake was in the file
room, so she headed in that direction.

The main control room had filled with smoke and heat. She
coughed and dropped to the floor in hopes of getting air. “Jake!”

The sound of his engine came to life as he butted the file
room door again and again.

“Stand back, Jake, I’ll open it.”

Get out of here
, Schatzie.

“No way. I’m not leaving without you.”

The smoke got thicker, choking her lungs. She pulled her
shirttail up over her nose and mouth, but she still couldn’t breathe. She had
to get them out of here. Now.

Listen to me and then get out, Lauren. There are letters
in here for you
.

Her vision blurred and swam in the smoke as she crawled
toward Jake, using his mind to home in on him.

Employers. Lots of them. They want you
.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming.”

There’s one from your brother. Your family loves you.
They want you at home
.

Her hand hit something metal lying on the floor. Keys.
Someone had dropped his keys. One of them might unlock the file room. It had
better, or she and Jake were both dead. After another foot or two, she found
the door itself.

“Get back, Jake. I have the key. I’m going to let you out.”

Run, Lauren
.

“Shut the fuck up.” She coughed again, her lungs burning.
Reaching up, she found the knob and tried a key. Nothing. She tried another
one. Still locked. Shit. Finally, the third one worked, and the door opened.

Smoke poured into the room, but not before she found Jake in
his cycle form, his engine revving. “Okay, let’s get out of here.”

I swear, if we live through this I’m going to ream you a
new one
.

“Nice language.”

Get on the floor, and get some breath
.

“You need oxygen too,” she said.

I have enough.

She got her face as close to the floor as it would go and
gasped in what little air she could get.

Now, grab that plastic bag
.

“Plastic bag?”

Just do it!

Sure enough, she found a sack full of what felt like papers.
“Got it.”

Now, get on my back and hang on!

She took one more breath of hot air and smoke, rose, and
climbed onto Jake. The moment she did, he flew out of the file room. In the
main room, he hesitated as if assessing the situation. Walls of flame shot up
all around them. Lauren held her breath rather than breathe in the foul gasses,
and her lungs burned. How in hell were they going to get out of here?

Then, Jake turned and revved his engine until the roar
drowned out even the sound of the flames. He put himself in gear and lurched
forward so fast she almost lost her seat. But she managed to hang on while they
charged right toward a curtain of flame. With no choice but to trust Jake, she
hunched over and clung to the handlebars for her very life. The fire burned her
as they dashed through. A window lay straight ahead, and Jake shifted gears
again until they leapt into the air and soared through the panes. Glass
shattered all around her as they flew outside and landed on the lawn with a
jarring thud.

Jake didn’t stop but charged around the cottage and down the
main path toward the main gate of the compound. Still coughing, Lauren sucked
cool air into her lungs. Jake’s engine purred as he guided her to where police
and fire personnel were just coming up the drive.

The fire trucks didn’t stop but continued toward the guest
cottage. One police patrol car drove up to her and Jake, and as soon as Jake
came to a stop, an officer climbed out of the car, grabbed Lauren and rolled
her on the driveway.

Until that moment, she hadn’t even realized her clothing was
on fire. Pain shot through her now, though, as the burns hit the pavement. She
shrieked and almost passed out, but then the officer picked her up and carried
her to the lawn, where at least she could feel grass against her skin. Not much
better, but a little.

A pleasant looking blond man, he stared down at her. “I’m
sorry, ma’am. I had to do that.”

“Thanks.”

Give the officer the sack
, Jake said.

She looked over at where he lay on the pavement. The
policeman had knocked him over, but with any luck, he hadn’t been damaged. They
were both alive.

Give it to him
, Schatzie.

Miracle of miracles, she still had the bag in her hand. She
held it up to the officer. “I think you’ll find this interesting.”

She had no idea what was in there, of course, but if Jake
wanted him to have it, that was good enough for her.

The officer took it from her. “Now, let’s get you to a
hospital.”

“Take my bike with us, please.”

“It’ll be fine here.”

She grabbed his uniform. “Please. I need him… it. Please!”

He studied her face for a minute. “I’ll see if I can find
someone to drive it behind us.”

“Thanks.” She rested back against the grass.

I’ll be there
, Schatzie.
I’ll never leave you
.

* * *

Lauren sat on the front terrace of Dagger’s house -- or
soon-to-be-former house -- looking down the drive toward the entrance to the
compound. Outside the boundaries of what had been her world, a whole new life
waited for her. She only had to reach out for it.

Why did that scare the shit out of her?

Jake came out from the house and dropped a duffel bag onto
the flagstones. “This ought to do it.”

She looked at the things they’d packed. They’d only be able
to take whatever could be strapped to Jake after he shifted. But then, there
was so little worth keeping.

“Ready to go?” Jake asked.

“More than ready.” She took a breath. “It’s just hard.”

He sat on the bench beside her and put an arm around her
shoulders. “Dagger needed to be shut down.”

“As bad as I knew he was, I had no idea how low he’d gone.
He probably wrecked hundreds of lives.”

“He won’t get out of prison until he’s an old man. If then.”

She patted his knee. “We done good.”

“You did. It would have all burned in the guesthouse if you
hadn’t rushed in there like an idiot.”

“I’ll have to testify at his trial,” she said.

He lifted her chin and pressed a kiss to her lips. “You can
do that too.”

She smiled. “I suspect I can do anything if I have you.”

“Just try to get rid of me.”

She ran her arms around his ribs and rested her head on his
shoulder. “I think I’m most worried about seeing my family.”

“How did they sound when you talked to them?”

“Great. Better than I deserve.”

“They love you,
Schatzie
.”

They’d sure sounded as if they did. Mom had cried, obviously
with relief and joy to hear from her. Dad had called her cupcake as he had when
she’d been a little girl. Timmy… Tim… had been full of stories of what all he’d
been up to since she left home -- lots of them about his friends at the high
school she’d dropped out of. She had a chance to deserve their love, and she’d
sure as hell take it.

“You’re scared, aren’t you?” Jake said.

“Yeah. I guess.”

“Everything will be fine,” he said. “You’ll reconnect with
your family. We’ll find jobs.”

“Thanks to what you found in the file room, I can believe
that now.”

He looked down into her face, his crystal blue eyes full of
adoration. “I always believed in you. Whatever you do, I’ll be there to cheer
you on.”

“And keep me happy in bed, I imagine.”

He laughed. “We do that for each other.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I love you too. Forever.”

She kissed him then, taking the honey from his lips as if it
would be her last time. It wouldn’t be the last time, though. She’d have him
every day and every night for the rest of her life. With his love as a base of
support, how could she fail?

A familiar roar came up the drive. She broke off the kiss
and looked in that direction. “That sounds like your engine.”

“I’m sitting right here,” he said.

She shaded her eyes. Someone -- a woman -- was approaching
the house on a motorcycle.

Jake jumped to his feet. “
Lieber Gott
.”

Lauren also rose. “It’s another Mannhof. Do you believe it?”

“I guess I have to.”

It
was
another Mannhof. Very much like Jake, but not
exactly. It pulled right up to the terrace and stopped. The rider turned off
the engine and set the kickstand. After dismounting, she removed her helmet and
walked to Lauren, her hand extended.

“Claire Wilcox,” the woman said. “I’m so glad we found you.”

Lauren shook her hand. “I’m Lauren King.”

“Yes, I know. We read about you in the newspapers.”

“We?”

The other bike shifted into human form, going through the
same process Jake did. Leather turned to skin, metal to bone and muscle. In a
moment, a naked man stood there. Beautiful in his own way, but no more stunning
than Jake.

Jake let out a whoop of surprise and delight as the other
man approached him and wrapped him in a bear hug. The two of them launched into
a conversation in German, far too fast for Lauren to follow.

Lauren looked at Claire Wilcox. “I thought there were more
Mannhofs, but I didn’t think I’d get to see one.”

“I bought him a few months ago at auction. I knew at the
time Kid Dagger already had one, but I wasn’t sure where to look for him until
the news hit of his arrest.”

“So you came looking for us?”

“Of course. Wouldn’t you?”

Lauren watched the two men. They acted like long-lost
brothers who’d finally found each other. “Did you know Jake would be able to
shift?”

“I was pretty sure. If he could, I needed to recruit you.”

Lauren must have looked surprised, because Claire chuckled
and unzipped a pocket in her leather jacket. She produced a business card and
handed it to Lauren.

Lauren glanced at it. “You’re a CEO?”

“Of a large company. I’m always looking for good people to
work for me.”

“Wow.” Not the most profound thing to say, but it captured
the situation pretty well.

“I’ll give you jobs in my firm, and the four of us will work
on a special project.”

Saying wow again would definitely make Lauren sound language
impaired, so she just stared at Claire.

“There are more Mannhofs out there,” Claire said. “And
special women who’ve proved worthy of such magical men.”

“There must be.”

“Let’s find the rest of them.”

“And when we do?” Lauren asked.

Claire gave her a knowing smile. “I imagine Klaus Mannhof
has a grand plan for his creations. Let’s discover what it is.”

“Awesome!” Again, not what you normally said to a CEO, but
heck… it
was
awesome.

“Will and I have an SUV at the motel,” Claire said. “Why
don’t you and I ride our bikes back there and make some plans?”

Jake stopped talking to Will and turned to gaze at Lauren.
Imagine. She had her family back. She had a job and a future full of adventure.
And she had the love of the greatest man in the world. Awesome, indeed.

Claire turned to the men. “You two ready to go?”

Jake smiled. “Let’s ride.”

Alice Gaines

Award winning author Alice Gaines has published several
sensuous and erotic works. She prefers stories that stretch the imagination,
highlighting the power of love and sex. Alice has a Ph.D. in psychology from U.
C. Berkeley and lives in Oakland, California, with her collection of orchids
and two pet corn snakes, Casper and Sheikh Yerbouti. Visit her website at
http://home.pacbell.net/halice/.