Inflamed: A Shadow Riders MC (5 page)

She sank down into the wall and grimaced. "Okay," she replied, feeling defeated.

"Good. Now get your ass back in there." As soon as she turned, River reached out a hand and slapped her on the ass so hard that it jiggled as she moved. "
Fuck yeah
," he muttered, watching until she finally turned a corner. He spun around to Verna and pulled a cigarette from the inside of his cut.

"The ones coming in here and leaving only after being tossed out by other members or Old Ladies are getting stupider and stupider by the day," she said. "They see cock like most women see stars in their eyes the minute a diamond is flashed in front of them. You don't think it's finally time for the likes of you and Blue and a few others to actually settle down with more than just barely legal club pussy?"

He moved over to the bar and placed his cigarette on his tongue. "She's the first bitch I've had on my cock in months," he told her. "Club or otherwise. And consderin' how many I used to fuck in a goddamn day, I'd say her age aside, that's pretty fuckin' good."

"Maybe in theory. Maybe to you."

“I’m the only fuckin’ one who matters.” He lit his cigarette and blew out a wad of smoke. "This bitch say anything about what the fuck she was doin' here in the first goddamn place?"

"Only that she was looking for
you
and
you
alone." She tossed the towel toward the end of the bar and wiped her hands down the front of her jeans. "I'm headed out. When Wolf gets back, you tell him I'm out until later tonight. In the meantime, try keeping the condom wrappers in your room this time. You don't know how much I hate walking through here and nearly stepping or sitting on one."

River mockingly gave her a sailor's salute as he walked her to the door that lead straight out to the parking lot.

"Remember what I said!" she called out to him.

He nodded and shifted his eyes over to the 4 door white sedan sitting directly in front of his garage on the other side of the Compound. When he lowered his head to a certain degree to get a glimpse of just exactly who was inside, his jaw locked, his throat suddenly went dry, something inside his chest tightened like a rope being tied into a few thousand knots around his neck. And for a few seconds, it seemed as if that motherfucker had actually managed to forget his own goddamn name or how to fucking breathe.

"
Jesus. Fuckin'. Christ
," he gritted out while staring at her.

And from that moment on, that son of a bitch knew on some level that he had just been royally, and exceptionally fucked beyond belief.

Chapter Three

Mother of God, what the hell am I doing here?

As soon as I pulled up in front of what was once known as the Shadow Riders Automotive Garage, the memories of the past came flooding back to me like a giant wave crashing across a shore covered in nothing but giant fish bones, pounds of flesh, broken liquor bottles and rocks.

I would’ve given absolutely anything to be anywhere but in front of that garage, anywhere at all, even hell would've sufficed for the time being, I was certain. But I knew that I had no other choice except to stay put if it meant getting the help I needed from one of the
Head Motherfuckers in Charge
in order to keep the asshole who inadvertently introduced us to each other years ago from coming after me again.

Before even leaving my house that morning, my mind kept telling me that showing up was a terrible mistake that I would regret for years to come, maybe even the rest of my life; while my heart told me to go for it because unlike even the most sensible parts of my brain, it knew that I had absolutely no other alternative if I wanted to survive.

I bent my head over the steering wheel, wrapped my hands tight around the leather and closed my eyes to think.

What the hell am I going to say when I actually see him again? What the hell am I going to do? How the hell am I going to respond the minute he says his first word to me? How the hell is he going to respond to me?

Those questions plagued my mind for what seemed like an eternity until the woman who had first come out to greet me less than half an hour before and introduced herself as Verna May Simmons, came waltzing back over and tapped my windshield with the edge of her index finger. I jumped back in my seat at the noise, glanced over at her and smiled.

"He's all yours, honey!" she hollered through the glass as the skin around her dark green eyes crinkled. I thought about lowering the window for her, but considering the heinous amount of spit that flew out of her mouth and onto the glass while talking, it was probably best to just leave it up. "But do me a favor and try not to bend his ear too much until he's had his rum and coffee, huh? He can be an even bigger asshole to strangers at this time of the day compared to those of us he knows. Good luck!"

Luck? What the hell kind of luck do I need?

Aside from having on a skirt so far up my ass that if I bent over, this man could see France and every other country outlined on a map from a specific angle; and a tank top so tight that it made my natural D cup look like a set of triple F’s, if I had known that I needed luck on top of it all, I would've tossed a homemade potion in my purse to spray all over him or pour in his drink before we even managed to say one word to each other.

Damn
. Luck. I sacrificed my regular wardrobe of shorts and loose tee's in the hopes that this man wouldn't throw me off of his property before I even got out of the car to meet with him in person.

Verna waved at me before heading over to her own car, jumping inside and speeding from the parking lot as if her pipes were on fire. It was then that I wondered if we were now completely alone.

I gulped in fearing that it could be possible.

When I turned back to the door leading to the inside of the building, I noticed River leaning on the frame and ripping a cigarette from between his lips. He watched with keen eyes and furrowed brows as the gates closed behind Verna. And as much as I feared how he'd react in learning the reason I was there in the first place, I couldn't deny that beneath that rugged demeanor and all of that leather and impending rage, he was still completely sexy as hell. Like, old-time movie star kind of sexy.

It probably wasn't the best thought to have at the time; I
know
it wasn't the best thought to have at the time, but between his broad shoulders, thick muscled arms and that possible eight pack hiding beneath that long sleeved white tee, I thought for only a moment that I might have actually died and this was my gift into the afterlife. His eyes were almost like the color of the ocean, a steel blue that seemed to sparkle even through his anger, and he had hands so big and strong looking that I would've bet actual cash money on them crushing two watermelons at once without him even breaking a single sweat.

It was safe to say that this man was
big
. A hell of a lot bigger than I remembered him to be, and in just about every area imaginable.
Every. Area
.
Imaginable
.

I assumed the moment I pulled in that I was doomed before even seeing him, though for an entirely different reason altogether. But it wasn't until he was actually standing in front of me again that I was absolutely, positively sure of it.

I let out a sharp, shaky breath, then sucked it right back in when his eyes directly met mine.
They raked over what he could see of me inside the car, and he nodded.

"You lost?" He called out to me in such a strong and deep voice that it forced every inch of my body to light up inside like a firecracker.

I moved a rattling hand over to the button on my door and lowered the window on the passenger side. "No," I replied. "No, I think I'm at the right place." I bent down a little to get a more direct look at him around the glass and as I sucked in the air surrounding my car, it caught in my throat and I nearly choked on it.

Never in my life had I been so nervous in the presence of a man before,
my God,
let alone so unbelievably enamored.
But this wasn’t just any
man
. He was
THE
man. One who probably even made women much, much stronger than the likes of me fall to their knees in front of him with just a single crook of one thick, extra-long finger.

River brought up the corner of his mouth into what looked like a smirk and slid one hand inside his pocket. "But you ain’t sure this is where you need to fuckin’ be.”

I laughed in an effort to calm the pile of nerves that continued to build up inside my chest the longer he looked at me, and bobbed my head. "I was pretty sure until you came out here questioning me about it. But now, I'm not so much anymore." I cut the engine on my car the minute I realized it was still running and shoved the door back.

It was now or never. I had come with a purpose and I sure as hell wasn't leaving until I got what I wanted, and needed, from this man.

I reached in the backseat for my purse and dropped my feet to the ground. River withdrew his hand from his pocket and stood straight the second I got out of my car. He averted his eyes to keep from looking me in the face any more than what he had already, or so it seemed to me. This sure as hell didn't help with how nervous I was feeling. In fact, it made me even more insecure, and not just for showing up in the first place but because of what I had chosen to wear, essentially for him.

I leaned over the door and threw a hand up over my eyes to block out the sun as it shone high above our heads. In the shadowy gaze, I got an even better look at him and through the shades of grey hair pouring through areas of black, he seemed almost
perfect
. My stomach churned as I kept my eyes locked on him and the beats of my heart snaked so erratically throughout my entire body that I was sure if he looked at me again, he could see my flesh pounding.

When he finally turned back to me, his eyes seemed to grow hard, cold. I didn't know what the hell I had done within the last five seconds to make him internally flip his shit or what the hell he had been thinking, but I was determined not to keep the trend going.

I cleared my throat.

"Are you River Hawkins?" I asked him. "Jacob 'River' Hawkins?"

He tilted his head and glowered. "Who the fuck's askin'?"

"Me," I said, attempting to give off an aura of confidence, though I was certain I wasn’t doing the best job I knew I could have, considering the shallow state of mind I was in. "I'm asking."

He grunted while swiping the tip of his tongue back and forth across his teeth.

"So are you Jacob 'River' Hawkins?" I asked again.

He dragged his cigarette back up between his lips and inhaled. "What the fuck can I do you for, darlin'?"

Darlin'. No 'g'.

"I'm here because I need your help with something, something kind of important to me."

"And what's that?"

Suddenly, I froze.
Why the hell was I here again?
In a panic, my eyes diverted to my car and that's when he dropped his cigarette from his mouth and took a step forward.

"Look, if you're needin' some kinda tune up for that thing, the garage ain’t open for business."

I turned back to him, confused. "What?" He pointed to my car. "Oh. No... No, I'm not here for that," I finally managed to get out. "I mean, my air conditioner has seen better days over the summer, along with my radio, but I know that your garage has been closed for a long time now."

He opened his hands while at the same time appearing perplexed. "Then what the fuck are you doin' here?"

Alright, this is going to be a hell of a lot more difficult than I originally imagined.

I backed away from my door and slammed it shut, giving him a full view of my body. I wasn't one for going out of my way to openly objectify myself, but I knew the kind of women men like him were often prone to appeasing. And I knew that if I wanted to be just as appeased as anyone else, I had to play my part. Even if I wanted to jump off of the nearest cliff right after.

River's eyes immediately went from my face, to my breasts, straight down to my legs and black high-heeled shoes. I couldn't tell what he was thinking as he stared at me, but from the look on his face as his eyes all but ate away at every inch of me, whatever it was couldn't have been as good as I was hoping it would be.

I lifted the strap of my purse up on my shoulder and took a few steps forward. "Do you mind if we move inside?" I asked him. "Maybe talk about this somewhere a little more closed off?"

"What the hell's this about, darlin'?" he asked, finally bringing his eyes back up to my face.

"It's about something that happened here eight years ago. It's about why what happened then has brought me back to you now." I took another look around the Compound and squint. "Are we the only ones here?"

He blew out another wad of smoke and shook his head. "Not exactly. I've got somebody waitin' for me in the back."

"
Oh
." I knew if that somebody was a woman, it would’ve immediately explained his lack of giving a damn in seeing my breasts on full display like a buffet platter during Sunday dinner. I folded my arms and took another step forward. "Listen, I don't mean to impose on whatever the hell it is that you've got going on here, and who you might have it going on with. And normally, I'd offer to come back until whatever 'business' you had with this person was handled--”