Exquisite Danger (3 page)

Lyric took a deep breath and rested her head on my shoulder. “Things at my church started to go wrong. First the measles then a bad case of whooping cough swept through our compound. Over a dozen children died, and it was like the joy had gone out of people’s hearts. Everyone felt like each child in the congregation was their own, so every family suffered profound grief. Many lost their faith. They were...they are good people, but that anguish has smothered their souls. And now…now I’m afraid it’s made them vulnerable to a man who cares more about wealth and control than about God. We have a curfew now. There are whispers about Pastor Middleton receiving messages from God about who the single women on the compound are meant to marry. Funny how all the attractive women get paired up with his most ardent followers.”

My gut tightened, and I exchanged a heavy look with Smoke. “Has he tried to marry you off to anyone yet?”

“No.” She made a sour face. “But his son has sure expressed his interest. That’s who my chaperone is tonight, Clint.”

“He’s here with you?” I quickly looked around, ready to go pound some hypocritical ass for scaring my friend. With Smoke at my back I was pretty sure we’d make enough of an impression to buy Lyric some safety. “Where?”

“I ditched him with Shelly, Adam and Karen. They promised to keep him busy so I could talk with you.”

Smoke growled behind me and Lyric shivered. “Honey, tell me where he is, and I’ll make sure he never bothers you again.”

She shook her head quickly. “No, please. I can handle him. No violence.”

Protective feelings of love and worry swamped me. Lyric was a terrible fighter. In spite of my dad’s attempts to train her, she was crippled by her fear of hurting someone. While I loved her compassionate nature, I also knew that it made her prey, a plump little baby kitten that was a tempting target to the predators of the world.

“What about your Mom?” I was almost going to argue that some kind of maternal instinct would motivate her mother on some level, but then I thought about my own birth mother and sighed.

“She couldn’t care less.” Lyric took a step back and looked me in the eye. “My mother gets jealous of anyone who takes Pastor Middleton’s attention away from her, including me. I avoid him and her as much as possible outside of church. I spend a lot of time in the fields and orchard working, but at least I have peace out there. Pastor Middleton’s men don’t like physical labor so they leave me alone. Plus, I’m staying with my grandmother and caring for her while my mother lives in the new mansion.”

“New mansion? What fucking mansion?”

“You don’t even want to know. They call it a meeting hall because the basement is the new gathering place for the congregation, but the top three floors of this building house Pastor Middelton and a few of his cronies, including his son.”

“Lyric, honey,” I gently held her face between my hands and met her confused and hurting gaze. “Please consider leaving.”

“I want to, but I can’t. Not while grandma is alive. I can’t leave her with them, Swan. I just know they’ll neglect her and won’t care for her like I do. I can’t bear the thought of her being mistreated.”

“Fuck. Look, I know your grandmother wouldn’t want you living like this.”

“I can help you leave right now,” Smoke replied in a thoughtful voice. “Got some people that owe me favors and we’ll help you get a new identity, a new life. Could probably get your grandma out as well.”

“What?” Lyric gaped at him, then shook her head and looked down at the ground. “No...no, it’s too dangerous. You don’t understand, she’s one hundred and two years old, and her body is as fragile as a hollow egg. I can’t move her, and I won’t leave her. Please don’t ask me again.”

I could see that Smoke wanted to argue with Lyric, but she’d made up her mind, and trying to get her to change it would be like trying to tell the sun not to rise. When I placed my hand on Smoke’s arm, out of the corner of my eye, I could see Lyric watching us carefully. Smoke looked over at me, and the frustration on his face was easy to read. For all that Smoke was a dangerous, deadly man, he also had a soft place in his heart for women in danger. Seemed to be a running theme in the Iron Horse MC. Smoke sighed as I rubbed his arm, then he gave me a little nod before forcing his mouth to relax out of its angry line.

“Your choice.” Smoke turned back to Lyric. “Anytime, and I do mean
anytime
you want to leave or need help, have Swan’s parents contact me. Once you get out, you can be and do whatever you want. We’ll help you with school, getting a job, a new identity, and we’ll find you a safe place to live. I’ll leave my information with Mike. Swan loves you so that means you’re family, and we take care of our family.”

His words struck me on a profound level, and I lost a little more of my heart to him as I realized he meant it. He’d take care of Lyric, help her any way he could, because he loved me. I was sure he was also making the offer because he was a decent guy beneath all the violence, but mainly he was doing it for me. His love for me made my heart skip a beat. Lyric’s soft sigh pulled my attention away from Smoke.

Tears shone in Lyric’s eyes, and she nodded at my man with a look of determination tightening her soft features. “Thank you.”

I wrapped her in a hard hug, and she snuggled into me. Lyric was a very physically affectionate person who had been born into a family that didn’t encourage outward displays of love, leaving my friend touch-starved to the point that when she spent the night at my house when we were kids, we’d end up snuggled together in bed. She gave the best hugs—totally innocent, and full of comfort, making her the perfect person to cuddle. The soothing warmth of my love for my friend filled me, and when she pulled away with tears spilling down her cheeks, I used the back of my hand to wipe away a few of my own.

Lyric looked behind me, then tensed and ducked closer to Smoke. “Darn it, he’s looking for me.”

I went to turn, but Lyric’s hand on my wrist stopped me. “I’m sorry, I thought I had more time. Before I go I have a message for you from Sarah.”

Smoke and I tensed at the mention of Sarah’s name. “What?”

“I saw Sarah when she was here. She said she was going after your mom for stealing from her fiancé. Before you ask, she wouldn’t give me details, but she seemed to have a plan. The only thing she could tell me was that her mom wasn’t working alone, that there were people high up inside Iron Horse helping her, and that she’s pretty sure your mom was going to the Denver area to go underground.”

“Denver?” I said in a soft voice.

A low, deep growl came from next to me. “Sarah said someone in the Iron Horse is working with Billie? That some motherfuckers are double-crossing
my
club?”

Drawing in a quick breath, Lyric sank into herself, and I watched as she began to mentally withdraw again. A dark cloud of wrath was quickly building around Smoke, and he seemed to swell with anger. Shit, I knew he would never hurt me, but even I was more than a little intimidated. Lyric whimpered, and I threw an elbow at Smoke, but he already appeared chagrined as he watched Lyric standing as still as a statue. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the vein in his throat visibly throbbing. As he let it out the rage tensing his face faded. I wondered what he did with all that anger he bottled up inside of him.

When he spoke, his deep, mellow tone could have charmed a mermaid from the sea. “Sorry, sweetheart. Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Lyric didn’t move so I went to her, wrapped my arms around her and whispered in her ear, “Is that all she told you?”

“No, she said you…” Lyric swallowed hard, then met my gaze. “...that you need to talk to Stewart. Sarah gave him something, and he found a lot of things wrong with it, like it was tampered with? Look, I know it won’t be easy for you considering your history, but at least give him a chance to explain. When you forgive others, you forgive yourself—even if he did completely betray your trust and hurt you.”

I swallowed hard, reached back and grabbed Smoke’s hand. He instantly stilled, then drew me back into his embrace. The narcotic effect of his hold bolstered me, and the nausea eased. If Stewart hadn’t cheated on me with my sister, I would’ve never met Smoke. I guess in a way it was worth enduring all the bullshit I had to go through to find myself here in Smoke’s arms. I’d do it all again for him, but that didn’t mean I ever wanted to see that cheating fuck, Stewart, again. The very thought made me relive the anger and humiliation. Volatile emotions that I was having issues dealing with. I hated to admit it, but having watched my father explode in anger all my life had given me the tendency to do the same when I was really stressed, and I didn’t want my unwilling visit with Stewart to dissolve into me screaming, crying, and trying to kick Stewart’s ass. Doing that was childish and stupid, emotions I couldn’t afford to indulge right now. I’d rather suck it up and deal with Stewart in order to find Sarah and my mother.

Sometimes, being a responsible grown up sucked.

“What did she give him?” Smoke asked, his frame tight with tension.

Lyric shook her head, her gaze darting around. “I don’t know, but I have to go. Clint’s coming and I need to see a few more people before he makes me leave.”

I grabbed her close and hugged her, whispering in her ear, “Come with me, right now. We’ll get out of here and get you someplace safe.”

“I can’t,” she whispered back. “Not yet. I promise when I do leave I’ll find you, Swan.”

I leaned back and squeezed her shoulders. “Please take care of yourself.”

We both watched Lyric walk quickly away and I sighed. “I wish she’d come with me.”

Smoke rubbed circles on my arm with his thumb. “It would hurt her more than help her if she was forced into leaving. She has a game plan in mind, and she’ll go through with it. The last thing you want to do is take that sweet, stubborn little girl away from her grandmother. Lyric has to do it on her own. I know it goes without saying, but we will help her with anything she needs ’cause you love her and she’s a good kid. She’ll see her way outta that bullshit sooner or later.”

“You sure?”

“Yep.” His tone held absolute conviction, and I sighed. Though it might not be the most PC feminist thing to say, I loved it when he took over. It was amazing how good it felt to have someone I could trust, someone who I knew would have my back. He turned me in his arms so I could look at him. “You ready to go see your ex?”

I nodded then rubbed my face. “I’m sorry. This is beyond awkward. You…you don’t have to go if you don’t want.”

He cupped my cheeks and tilted my face so he could look at me. “You still love him?”

“No, I thought I did, but what I felt for him was nothing like the love I feel for you.”

His jaw softened and he closed his eyes. “You really love me?”

“You know I do, with everything I have.”

I watched him process this information for a few heartbeats, as his breathing slowed and his touch gentled. Watching him calm down like this made me wonder if I had the same narcotic effect on him that he had on me. To test the question, I ran my hands up and down his biceps, indulging in a nice long grope of his thick muscles. He pushed his pelvis gently against mine, an involuntary reaction, and I bit back a moan at the sensation of his thick erection.

“I love you, and you love me. We got no problems.” He closed his eyes and rubbed his nose against mine. “And I do love you, baby girl,” he whispered. “I’m never gonna let you go, ever, and no one is gonna take you from me. Don’t care if I gotta fight the entire world to keep you safe. Got me?”

Melting against him I nodded, drowning in the warmth of his affection. “Yeah.”

“Now let’s go see that douchebag ex of yours so we can go back to your room and fuck.”

Thirty minutes later, we were pulling through the gated, ten-foot high, steel beam-reinforced, concrete fence that surrounded Stewart’s home, an adobe house set inside the hill. Like his father, Stewart specialized in hacking and there wasn’t much he couldn’t do in the cyber world. I’d watch in awe for hours as he worked his way into different systems while I lounged around his home and entertained myself. Now that I thought about it, most of my dates with Stewart resulted in me watching him work while he basically ignored me. At the time, I thought he was just a brilliant man who got wrapped up in his thoughts, but now I wondered. The memory was bittersweet as I climbed out of Smoke’s truck.

The front door opened followed by loud, excited, familiar barking that made my heart race. I turned to face the front of the house just as Princess came barreling out to me. Standing as tall as my waist and weighing as much a tank, the beautiful Irish wolfhound I’d helped Stewart raise from a puppy launched herself at me. When we got her we’d talked about what a good dog she’d be for the children we would have someday. We even had names picked out.

Princess landed on me full force, but luckily, Smoke caught me and planted his feet, supporting both of us while Princess stood on her hind legs and planted her dinner-plate-size paws on my shoulders. I giggled as she licked me like I was made out of peanut butter.

“Princess.” I heard Stewart’s low, familiar voice, and my heart gave a painful thump as the past and present merged. “Get off of Swan.”

Of course, Princess ignored him—she usually did—but when I did a double snap, she dropped down to a sit. Pleased that she remembered her training, I gave her some more love while avoiding her slobber. Smoke reached down next to me, and we scratched the dog’s back, sending Princess into shivers of ecstasy.

I heard Stewart’s footsteps as he approached us. When he spoke, I looked up at him and my stomach clenched like I’d been sucker punched. “Hello, Sunshine.”

He was as stunning as ever, good looking in a supermodel way that I no longer found quite so hot. Now he was just…pretty. Perfect blond hair, dimples, and blue eyes with a charismatic smile. I always thought we’d have pretty babies. He looked like he belonged in a fashion magazine with his high cheekbones and natural pout, if you discounted his worn t-shirt and the grease smudges on his arms and face. No doubt he’d been working in what I used to call his ‘mad scientist lab’. Standing, I nodded at him and tried to ignore the fact that the rose bushes I had planted had gone wild.