One More Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 3) (6 page)

“I… there was someone else,” she said. “But he wasn’t you. No one’s ever been you.”

Daring to look at him again, she held her breath at the sight of his face a mask of slate.

“And what exactly am I?” he asked.

“I already told you,” Lauren said. “Everything.”

Blake started to kiss her again when he pulled back and laughed into the rising sun.

“But still you left,” he muttered. “No goodbye or—”

“Grace got you my message. I don’t know what else you want me to do.”

She squealed as he pressed her deeper into the ground and fell against her. The rhythm of his grinding hips hiked her skirts up and over her thighs. Lauren felt his cock growing harder through his denim as her fell into her body, his lips close to hers before he finally spoke again.

“Moan for me.”

Releasing one of her wrists, Blake lowered his fly in one swift motion and pushed his cock to her mound. His tip teased her and circled her soft flesh, and she arched her body to feel more of him when he lifted up and away from her.

“Do it.” he ordered. “Now.”

Lauren gritted her teeth, desperate to defy him even as her body burned when his lips fell to hers. His kiss was as soft as his cock was hard, and he started to slip inside her when he pulled back and simply looked down at her.

“Now, Lauren. Let me hear it.”

Forgetting the nearness of his cock, she peered into his eyes, her breath heaving in her chest. “Is that all you need?”

“Why do you have to fight me on everything?”

“Because you love it,” she challenged. “Isn’t that really why you came after me?”

His eyes flashed, and his fingers pressed harder into her wrists. She felt as if he could break through her skin and crush her bones if he wanted to. But Lauren knew that she couldn’t; a part of her didn’t want to. And she was ready to bear up under his blows when Blake relinquished some of his hold.

“Sure,” he whispered as he curled his touch under her finger. “I love this. And you.”

Starting under the force of his confession, Lauren stared at him disbelief.

“You said it first,” she said.

“What’s that? Did I beat you to the punch or something?”

Slipping inside her again, he fell closer to her body and wrapped his arm around her waist as he dragged her body, her cunt nearer to his cock, expanding him around him as he filled her quickly. Now she moaned as he started to pulse inside her. Lauren’s hands were at his chest, moving under his sweat-soaked shirt. Feeling his pecs, Lauren sighed at the feel of his heart pounding, his skin shivering as she pressed her nails into his flesh and stretched up to kiss him.

“Maybe,” she whispered. “I—”

“Then say it.” He pushed her back to the ground. Lauren expected him to leave her until she gave him the words that he wanted most. But Blake stayed inside her and stroked her hair as he sighed into her neck.

“Say it. If I’m going to lose you anyway…”

Seizing the chance, Lauren moved closer to him and took her face in his hands. His cock still throbbed within her, but Lauren shook the sensation away and stared into his eyes. “Of course I love you,” she whispered. “You don’t have to ask that.”

He kissed her again and only left her lips to bring his mouth to her ear. “I knew,” he said. “I knew from the first night. But I’ve been waiting.”

Looking into his eyes again, Lauren grazed her fingers against his cheek and kissed him softly. “Sorry to keep you in suspense,” she whispered. “I’ve known for a long time, too.”

“Then why the hell are we still talking?”

Lauren fell silent and offered no resistance as he pushed her back to the ground, his cock driving deeper as he moved around her. He made no attempt to capture her wrists again. Grateful for the chance to just touch his arms and move her fingers towards his hips as he expanded inside her, Lauren’s fingers curled around his, and he gripped her hands as his cock swelled. When she moaned again, he managed to smile into her eyes, and his lips fell to her hers.

“Jesus fuck, Lauren…”

He held back as her body shivered underneath him, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought him back to her eyes.

“Please,” she begged. “No one is you. Make me feel good again, feel loved.”

His face seemed sad, but when she turned around his cock, the sorrow left his eyes. Blake fell against her, his hands at her bare breasts as he drove deeper and set her pussy on fire.

“I want you,” he moaned. “I couldn’t let you go without—”

“Stop talking,” Lauren whispered as she grabbed his face and kissed him quickly. “I love it. I love you.”

“Lauren…”

Pushing up, his cock seared her soft folds, and Lauren gasped as he penetrated and exploded inside her. She let his lust coat her insides as she steadied her shaking form with his palms. His head fell between her breasts, and she curled her body to meet his mouth. Blake kissed her nipples and bit her mounds as her head spun in delight. Leaving her breasts, his tongue moved down her skin. The tip of his kiss swirled around her naval, and she savored the trembles crossing her flesh when he lifted his head to her shoulders and rested against her.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “That’s something that I can live on.”

She tried to hold him again when he sadly pulled his cock out. His hands stayed on her face as he peered down at her.

“Is that all you have to say?” she asked, her cunt still aching at the loss of him, only wanting him back.

“Haven’t cared this much about someone in a long time,” he admitted. “Guess I’m kind of rusty.”

Thinking of all that he had lost, Lauren took him into her arms and held him close as she kissed his hair and stroked his cheeks.

“You did just fine,” she said. “And it’s more than I can live on.”

He started to speak but fell back with a sad sigh even as he rested his head to her breasts and kissed her there.

“When you’re gone, I’ll never forget.”

Could she go now? Did she really have to? As he lifted her to her feet and lowered her blouse, Blake just held her and sighed into her ear.

“But maybe I don’t I have to.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

Lauren turned her head to his eyes and searched his face for an explanation. He wasn’t… he couldn’t really…

“What are you talking about?” she asked.

“Just saying,” he started. “You got no bike. And maybe this is the way to make things right.”

Holding her hand tighter, he started to drag her back to his bike. He nearly had her off the ground when she fought against him again and twisted her head over her neck.

“No!” she screamed. “You can’t be a part of this! It’s too dangerous!”

As he had her body against his bike, Blake pushed his fingers into her arms and steadied his face under her gaze.

“Wasn’t a thing when you were willing to give everything up for me,” he said. “Why can’t I return the favor?”

She was tempted; she wanted him to come with him, to see there through the storm that promised to be the reunion with her parents and Drew. But as she started to take his hand, as she felt his fingers curling around her wrist, Lauren pulled back and hid her face in her hands.

“Lauren, I want to,” he said. “Trust me.”

He tried to hold her again, and Lauren started to slip into his arms as he pushed his fingers into his arms and drew her closer.

“I can stand by your side through this,” he swore.

The sound of his voice melted her heart, and she curled into his chest as he pulled her closer and kissed her hair. “I… I was going to spin it like a lost weekend,” she murmured.

“A little more than a weekend, Lauren,” Blake teased.

“I know,” she said. “So much more.”

He kissed her again, and Lauren sighed at the feel of his tongue swirling around hers. Darting around and across her flesh, Blake spun away from her mouth and stared into her eyes.

“Everything,” he said. “Maybe you can walk away from it. But I can’t.”

Lauren welcomed the return of his kiss, and as her arms swirled around his back, she tried to tell herself that he could follow, that she could bring him home and link her life to his. But she pushed back and shook her head.

“It’ll only mean more trouble,” she said sadly. “Just let me take my medicine.”

Blake held her hand tight as he kept her where she stood. “Only with me,” he said. “How can I not come with you now?”

Glancing over the side of the road, the smoke finally starting to fade, Lauren lamented the fact that she had no wheels to put her plan into action. But she still had her legs.

“I can make it on my own,” she said. “Please, Blake.”

He let her go, and she started to run. If the Demon Dogs found her now, she would have no way of speeding past them. But she could always duck for cover and hide. It felt like her only choice, and her feet moved faster under her body when the sound of his motor revving up to a place that promised full speed caused her to turn her head over her shoulder. Blake was advancing on her, and she kept her eyes on him as she pressed her palms to the air and brought him to a stop.

“Blake,” she cautioned. “Go back.”

Kicking away from his bike, he caught Lauren before she could run and pulled her close to his chest. “I can’t leave you now,” he said as she struggled against him.

“It won’t work if you come!” she challenged. “I need to keep you a secret. I—”

“Don’t be ashamed of me, Lauren.”

“I’m not!” she cried.

Falling into his arms, Lauren let him hold her and sighed into his chest.  Could they just stay like this and live on this patch of earth and never worry about whatever might still lurk in the shadows? Lifting her face to his, she felt Blake’s hands moving down her face, and he brought his lips close to hers.

“Tell me the truth,” he said. “Do you really want to go this alone?”

Even as Lauren’s lips curled into her smile, tears filled her eyes, and she shook her head over her chest. “No,” she whispered. “But I don’t want you hurt. I want you safe.”

“Will you feel safe if I leave you now?” he challenged.

Lauren choked back a sob and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. “No,” she said. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Sounds like a fucking ringing endorsement,” Blake said. “Get up here.”

Blake lifted her into his arms and pressed her body to his bike. Sitting behind her, he reached past her for the handlebars and kissed her tense neck.

“Blake, I—”

“Spin the story however you have to,” he said. “I’ll play along. And I’ll be with you for the ride.”

Lauren tried to pull away from him when he kept her close, his lips at her ear as he whispered softly. “I’ve lost you too many times to count,” he said. “Not again. Let me come with you.”

Struck by the slight question in his voice, Lauren felt as if she couldn’t let him go. Not when he was so close and wanting to keep closer. Would this really work? Could she see her mother again and still feel his hand in hers?

“Blake…”

He kept quiet as he stroked her face and brought his lips to hers. Lingering in his tender kiss, she parted from him wanting more, but his eyes didn’t move from hers, his hold around her fingers intensified.

“You… you really want to try to do this with me?” she asked.

“I’m not scared, Lauren. You don’t have to be either.”

She rested her head against his shoulder and stayed silent as he raced deeper into the morning, the wind sweeping over them as he drove faster. Every few seconds, Lauren’s eyes darted across the sands, her body shuddering at the thought that Wayne and his boys could be on them at any second. No sight of them, and Blake held her tighter as he sped away from the desert and neared a sleepy hamlet just starting to wake from its slumber. After so much time hidden in among the sands, she should take some comfort at a return to normalcy, but his was no longer the life that she knew, a life that she barely remembered. As they neared a hole in the wall that served as the town’s police, Lauren grabbed his arms and shook her head against his chest.

“You should let me off here,” she said. “Go back and get the others away.”

“Not a chance.”

Kissing her quickly, Blake brought his bike to a stop and eased her feet to the ground. Trying to steady her stance, Blake pushed her closer and brushed the strands of hair from her face.

“I’m coming in with you,” he said. “No way am I thinking about running now.”

She smiled and into his chest and let him caress her neck. “You gonna stay where I can keep an eye on you?” she asked.

“That’s the idea,” he said. “Let’s go.”

Pulling the door open, Lauren and Blake stepped into a wooden walled room littered with billboards covered in sketches and photos of the most wanted and the missing. Lauren saw her own image, her graduation photo, Drew at her side. Turning away from the image, she gripped Blake’s arm tighter and approached the main desk.

The woman barely glanced up from her head of frizzy blonde locks and her word jumble. “What can I do for you?”

Looking to Blake for reassurance, Lauren saw him give her a quick nod and kissed her temple.

“I’m here,” he promised. “You can do it.”

Steeling her body for the struggle ahead, Lauren pressed her palms back to the desk. Slapping the game away from the woman’s hands, she gave her no choice but to look into her eyes and took a deep breath.

“My name is Lauren Nichols,” she started. “And I… think that someone’s looking for me.”

The woman dropped her pencil as Blake stepped closer to her side. As he held her, the blonde pushed a button and called for reinforcements.

“Sheriff Kyle? Officer Abbott? There’s someone here that I think you’ll want to see.”