Old Ghosts: Gypsy Riders MC (9 page)

It was just a drink.

And now, a ride. A ride that turned out to be a completely sensuous experience. Once I was on the bike, and he was seated in front of me, he grabbed my thighs and squeezed them around his own. I blushed, thankful he couldn’t see me this time, as I sat behind him and felt his hips between my legs. When he reached back and grabbed my hands, wrapping them around his waist tightly, I was hesitant to grip him too tightly. Until he started the bike, and I jumped at the violent vibrations of the bike beneath us. It was so much more intense than I imagined, and I was suddenly overwhelmed with fear for my safety and everything else melted away.

When Mike accelerated and we began moving down the street, I held on as tightly as I could to him. I felt his abs moving in laughter as he reached back and patted my thigh reassuringly and we moved through the city, the bright lights passing by us in a blur.

After five minutes, I was able to relax and I was in love with it. The rushing air, the vibrations, the warmth exuding from him, the confidence with which he maneuvered the bike through traffic, like it was an extension of his strong body — all those things served to not only thrill me to the core, but created a sense of safety I had never felt before. It was ironic, considering in the back of my mind, I knew not having a metal cage around us and hurtling ourselves down the road with nothing between the hard pavement and our skulls but a fiberglass helmet was definitely more dangerous.

But it wasn’t our physical condition that made me feel safe.

It was the man I was wrapped around. He was solid, he was strong, and yet he was kind and gentle.

Todd had never been gentle.

When we pulled up to the boardwalk at Venice beach, I looked around in awe and delight. I hadn’t made it here yet, and it was everything you saw in the movies. People everywhere, most in bikinis and beach wear, and some even roller-skating down the sidewalk as street musicians played their hearts out, their guitar cases full of crumpled dollar bills.

We left our helmets on the bike, and began strolling down the boardwalk.

“This is crazy,” I said, referring to the crowd and performance artists around us.

“I know, I love it. You said you hadn’t gotten out much, and so I thought you might enjoy a stroll along the freakiest beach in town before we go have a drink. I hope that’s okay?” he asked.

“Of course! I love people watching,” I said.

“Awesome!” Mike grabbed my hand and didn’t let go as we walked along the promenade, stopping periodically to listen to someone sing a song or watch someone paint a picture faster than I had ever seen someone paint anything. It was impressive, and I wasn’t surprised at all with the tips they were receiving.

“Obviously, this is a tourist spot, but I thought you might enjoy it.”

“I love it, Mike, thank you for bringing me here.” I said, looking up at him, as he towered over me, his smile warming my heart. I was slowly getting used to being in his presence. Being wrapped completely around him on the half-hour ride here definitely helped, because I was finally feeling like I could breathe around him.

“So, east Texas, huh?” he asked. I felt my stomach tighten. I had known he was going to ask me more questions about my past, and I had told myself earlier to just be open and honest with him. I may have fled Mineola in a hurry, but I didn’t do anything wrong. “This must seem like a whole different world here to you.”

“Yeah, I grew up in a small town called Mineola, not far from the Louisiana border. And when I say small town, I mean small town. Like four thousand people small.”

“Oh, wow, I can’t imagine living in a place like that. LA’s been my home all my life. It almost sounds like paradise, to be honest.”

“Well, in some ways, it is like paradise,” I said.

“Yeah? Then why did you leave, Daisy?” he asked.

“I um…well…it was time for me to go. I didn’t have much of a choice, but I think I did the right thing. I’d lived there all my life, and it just wasn’t the safe — I mean, the right place for me anymore.”

His eyes darkened as he listened to me.

I wanted to tell him, I really did, but when I thought about Todd, and everything awful that had happened, it was my first instinct to push it all to the back of my mind and pretend it wasn’t real. I kept telling myself that if I just continued going to self-defense classes, kept working out, and kept going to the shooting range to practice, that was all I needed to do. Until the day Todd showed up, I was determined not to let him ruin another minute of my life. Especially now, standing here on this beautiful palm tree-lined pathway, with the ocean in the distance, next to this amazingly gorgeous and sexy man. The last thing I wanted to do was go into it all.

“It’s kind of a long story, Mike. How about I tell you another time? I don’t really feel like going into it now.”

He cocked his head to the side, smiled and nodded.

“I completely understand,” he said gently. “There’s plenty of time. No rush.”

And with that comment, my mind began racing. There’s plenty of time, huh? That meant he had been thinking beyond tonight, too.

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling at him before I changed the subject. I thought about something to ask him, to try to turn the conversation to him, but then I thought about Rosie’s mother and I realized there was probably some stuff he didn’t want to talk about either.

“How long have you been in the club?” I asked, hoping that was a safe topic.

He grinned, his voice and face flooding with pride.

“I’ve been the president of club for the last ten years,” he replied. “My best friend, Reaper, and I joined together. Now, we’re the President and VP.”

“Oh, Reaper, yes I met him the other day,” I said, remembering the big, burly, wild man that had picked up Rosie. “Rosie seems very fond of him.”

“Yeah, I heard you met him. I’m sorry if he was inappropriate, he isn’t much on manners,” he said.

“Oh, no, he was fine. It was heart-warming, actually, seeing how much Rosie loves him,” I said. “She loves you like that, too.”

Mike grew quiet for a moment, his eyes lost somewhere else before he turned back to me.

“Yeah, Reaper’s great. There’s not another soul I trust more in the world. He and my other brothers were what held me together when Rosie’s mom died.”

“I’m so sorry, Mike,” I said softly, his hand still warm in my mine as I squeezed it gently.

“Thanks, it’s been hard,” he replied, his eyes clouding with pain. “But we’re doing okay, I think.”

“It’s obvious you are doing a wonderful job with Rosie, Mike,” I said. “She’s a wonderful girl.”

His face lit up when he spoke of Rosie.

“She is, isn’t she? I couldn’t be more proud of her. But like I said, I couldn’t do it without the club. I love those guys and I’d do anything for them.”

“You’re lucky to have their support,” I said.

“Yeah, I am,” he said, pulling my hand up to kiss the back of it as he stopped us in the middle of the busy boardwalk. The crowd trailed around us, parting to the side as they sidestepped us. Mike looked down at me solemnly, not caring that we were blocking traffic.

“Daisy, do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

“Oh! Goodness…” I stammered. He had a way of disarming me with his directness, and I hoped like hell I never got used to it. “You’re sweet, thank you.”

He reached up, catching a strand of hair that was blowing in the wind, and tucking it behind my ear. What a vision we must be, I thought, as I caught the eye of a woman staring at us as she skated by. Little miss wholesome teacher being tenderly held by a scary, rough and tumble, leather-clad biker.

But I didn’t care. I didn’t care what anyone thought, I didn’t know anyone here anyway, and the chances of me running into someone I knew from home were absolutely zero. I could do whatever I wanted, I could be whoever I wanted, and the freedom of that was exhilarating.

As much as I knew I should resist him, having a man like him in my life could bring me a lot of happiness, in a lot of different ways. I didn’t care what he did, or who he was, when he wasn’t right in front of me. I had heard all about outlaw clubs and the rumors about what they did, but I chalked it all up to myth and stereotypes.

I couldn’t imagine Mike hurting anyone or doing anything immoral. He was a good man, I could feel it.

And he was nothing like Todd. In fact, he was the complete opposite of Todd, and if I was going to allow a man back into my life, then that was exactly what I wanted.

Someone as far away from Todd as I could get.

When Mike leaned down to gently press his lips to mine for a way too quick kiss, I kissed him back fervently, lest he for some crazy reason think I didn’t want that.

Because I more than wanted that. My body was on fire around this man, and I wanted everything he wanted to give me.

He grabbed my hand again and we continued walking down the boulevard together, taking in the sights and laughing as we went along. When we came upon an old woman selling fortunes, Mike’s eyes lit up and he pulled me towards her.

“What are you doing!” I squealed.

“C’mon, let’s get your fortune read! I love this shit!” he said, showing me once more that he wasn’t your typical biker.

“Um…really?” I, on the other hand, thought fortune telling was a lot of baloney.

“Yep, I’ll pay for it. C’mon, it’ll be fun!” He looked almost boyish as I shook my head and let him pull me through the crowd and sit me down in front of the old woman.

I smiled at her as she peered into my eyes. She had to be at least eighty. With wrinkled skin and sunken, yet sharp, blue eyes, her long salt and pepper, braided hair was covered in a fringed scarf, with more scarves wrapped around her neck and wrists along with dozens of jangling chains and colorful beads — and one very scary looking bird claw hanging from a leather rope and displayed squarely over her heart.

“Hello, child,” she said to me, studying my face.

“Hello, ma’am,” I replied as Mike sat in the chair next to me.

“Would you please read my friend’s fortune?” he asked.

She turned to him, drinking him in slowly as she sized him up. At first she looked suspicious, but then she must have found what she was searching for, because she grinned hugely, her eyes almost disappearing into her face.

“You’re a very handsome man!” she said to him. I laughed, and when I looked over at Mike, I saw him beaming back at her. He could have charmed a snake with that smile.

“Why, thank you, ma’am. You are very beautiful yourself!” he replied sweetly. Like I said, a charmer.

“You can both call me Lady Sylvia,” she said. “I’d be honored to read your cards, child.”

She turned her attention to me, slowly shuffling the tarot cards in front of her. Lacey and I used to read our tarot all the time back home to pass the time. We’d squeal with laughter at the different outcomes we could get each time, and scream in fear if they seemed to hit too close to home.

“Pick three cards, child. One will represent your past, one will represent your present, and the final one will represent your future. I want you to focus on each one as you pull them. Pull the cards that speak to you, child. If you are quiet, and listen carefully, you will hear them. Don’t turn them over yet, just lay them on the table in front of you.”

“Okay, sure,” I said, as I began. Since I wasn’t at all keen on focusing on the past, I picked that one quickly, before taking a little more time with the other two. Once I had the three cards set out in front of us, we waited quietly as she turned over the first one.

I gasped when I saw it.

“Ah…the devil, but reversed.” She peered into my eyes, studying me silently. “This is a very interesting card, child.”

“You have a devil in your past.” She said it so simply, but it gave me chills. I immediately thought of Todd, and quickly glanced over at Mike who was looking at me curiously. I had only hinted of my past, but I knew eventually I would have to tell him everything.

I laughed nervously, trying to break the awkward silence.

“Um, okay…” I murmured as the old lady continued.

“This card represents someone very dangerous in your past life. An old ghost that is haunting you. Someone who only thought of himself, and was trapped by his own desires for accolades, awards and sexual fulfillment. Like the devil, he impersonates an angel, hides his evil behind the word of God. This represents a relationship with someone who only treated you as a possession. An object to be controlled and used. This person cared nothing about your own desires or goals, child, only what they could get from your existence. I’m very glad to see this card represented in your past and not your present, girl.”