Outlaw (21 page)

“I just want to help you.”

He shook his head. “I know what you’re trying to do.
You think you’re gonna fix it all. Fix me. Well, I’m not looking for someone to
save me.”

“I thought we were getting closer.” She pulled away,
looking back at the bed, thinking of all the tenderness and emotion he’d shared
with her. Why now, couldn’t he share with her what haunted him.

He followed her gaze. He shook his head. “It’s
called sex, baby. And it’s a real nice therapy, but don’t go makin’ it into
something it’s not.”

Her mouth parted.

He wasn’t sure what was making him lash out at her.
Some twisted self defense mechanism he’d created? He couldn’t help thinking he
was slitting his own throat. That he’d gone too far.

“You mean love? Don’t confuse it with love? Is that
what you mean?” Her voice raised.

He watched the pain steal across her face. The
desire to protect her stole through him. He fought it down. “I’m just givin’ it
to you straight. Like I told you I would.” Liar! The word rang through his
brain.

“So, this meant nothing?” She looked into his eyes.
They looked filled with torment. He reached for her. She pushed past him.

The screen door banged as she walked out, and down
the steps. She stopped a few feet from the steps, feeling the soft rain failing
on her. She turned her face up to it, letting its cool wetness wash over her
face and hair. He could deny his feelings, but she knew he felt more than he
would admit. It was there in his eyes, in his touch. Maybe she needed to take a
page out of his book, and guard her own heart, because the hell of it was, she
was letting herself start to feel things for him. If she was going to be honest
with herself, she had to admit she was falling in love with him. A man that
didn’t want her love, didn’t want her to get too close.

Cole watched her, standing there, as the rain slowly
soaked her hair and the sheet she was wrapped in. He ached for her, knowing he
had hurt her. Knowing he would hurt her even more before this thing between
them was through.

She heard the screen door creak as he followed her out.
He came up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in his
warm male scent.

He whispered, “I can be a real bastard, sometimes.
I’m sorry. Please believe me, Angel. I don’t mean to hurt you.”

She slid her hands over his forearms that were
locked around her waist. His body was soon as slick with rain, as hers was.

He bent his head, and kissed her cheek. “Are you
alright?”

She nodded.

“Come back to bed, baby doll,” he whispered, his
voice deep and husky in her ear. “Please. No matter how hard I try to push you
away, the truth of it is, I need you tonight. Please. Don’t tell me no.”

She let him lead her back inside. He left the door
open. A cool breeze blew in. She turned to look at him, her eyes running over
his bare chest, the rain beading on it, droplets running down his abs.

He reached up, and pulled the wet sheet from her,
dropping it to the floor, and pulled her into his arms. He looked down into her
eyes. Maybe he couldn’t bring himself to say the things she wanted to hear, but
he could show her. Her lips were soft and warm beneath his. He traced a path
along her jaw, to her ear. “Do you know what you do to me?” he whispered.

“I need you,” she whispered back.

“I’m here, baby.” He picked her up, and carried her
to the bed. He lay her down gently, and followed her down.

The thunder rumbled overhead, and the rain picked up
to a downpour again. They could hear it beating down on the roof, pouring from
the gutters.

Cole pressed soft kisses over her wet face, but kept
returning to her mouth. He couldn’t get enough. Beads of water dripped down
from his hair.

Angel ran her hands over his slick back, feeling his
warm skin and hard muscles.

The touch of her hands on him, so soft and gentle
had him groaning, and pulling her closer. “Aw, baby, you’re such a sweet
remedy.”

They stayed there two more nights. They barely left
the cabin. The second day it rained all day, and they listened to the rain on
the roof as they made love again and again.

The morning of the third day, they lay tangled
together.

Cole ran his hand over her ass, suggestively.

“Baby, I don’t think I can do it again,” she
whispered.

He smiled. “You gonna be able to ride back?”

“Ride? I don’t know if I can walk,” she teased.

He rolled her onto her back, resting his weight on
his elbows, his body suspended above her, locking her within his arms. “Well,
since you can’t walk…”

She squealed, “I’m serious. You wore me out.”

“Maybe I’ll keep you here forever.” He smiled, and
nuzzled her neck.

“In this cabin?” Her hands ran over his muscled
biceps.

“In this bed, baby. My prisoner of love,” he
whispered in her ear, and then his mouth found her mouth, and his tongue delved
deep.

Cole’s cell phone rang. He lifted his head, and
looked over at the bedside table, where it lay. He’d known the world had to
intrude on them sooner or later. He stretched across Angel to reach the phone.
He flipped it open, and looked at the incoming number..

Mack.

“Shit,” he murmured, pressing the receive button,
and putting it to his ear. “Yeah?”

Angel watched his face, wondering who was calling.
Now that she thought about it, she was surprised he hadn’t received any calls
the whole time they’d been away.

Cole leaned back against the headboard, listening to
the caller. “Yeah. Okay.”

Angel turned on her side, propping up on her elbow,
running her hand over his stomach and chest. She watched him reach for a pack
of cigarettes, and shake one out.

“Alright.” He took the lighter off the bedside
table, and lit the cigarette. “I don’t know. Tonight, sometime. Why?” He tossed
the lighter back on the table. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there.”

He flipped the phone closed, and tossed it on the
table. Taking a deep hit off the cigarette, he looked down at her, and absently
trailed the fingers of his other hand along her spine. “I gotta get back.”

“Business?”

He blew out a stream of smoke, and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay.” Angel started to get up.

Cole grabbed her by the hand, and pulled her back.
“Come here, babe.” He pulled her down on his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked, looking into his eyes.

He shrugged, lifting a strand of hair off her face,
and tucking it behind her ear. “That this has to end. That we have to leave.”

“Me, too.” She smiled.

He took her hand, and brought it to his lips, and
kissed it, looking into her eyes all the while. “You know this time we’ve had
together has been special to me.”

She interlaced her fingers with his. “I feel
like…like I’ve known you forever.” She smiled. “Maybe we knew each other in a
past life.”

“Past life?” He took a hit off the cigarette, squinting
at her through the smoke.

She shrugged. “You know, like reincarnation. Maybe
we’re two old souls that knew each other a long time ago, and just found each
other again.

He smiled, and put out his cigarette. “Women. Where
do you girls get this shit?”

“What shit?”

“This romantic shit.”

She smiled. “What? You don’t believe reincarnation
is possible?”

He grinned. “Baby, if we did know each other in a
past life, I’m pretty sure I was a Roman soldier, and you were a slave girl.”

She squealed as he flipped her on her back, and
kissed her.

It was several more hours before they left.

Chapter Ten

They pulled back into the clubhouse parking lot late
that night. Angel noticed quite a number of bikes parked. There were a few guys
milling about outside, but from the number of bikes, Angel knew that most of
them must be inside.

Cole took her by the hand, and led her inside.

She was right. The place was packed, music was
blasting, and the air was thick with cigarette smoke. They didn’t get ten feet
before Cole was stopped. Several of the brothers greeted him, surrounding them
both. She noticed they all looked her over. Some of them she hadn’t seen
before.

After a few minutes of talking, Cole pulled her by
the hand, and led her over to the bar. It was crowded with men and a few women.
Cole shouldered his way through, and grabbed two bottles of beer. He passed one
to her, and his arm came up, settling on her shoulders, pulling her to his
side. He tightened his hold around her neck, curling his arm, and pulling her
in for a kiss. When he pulled back, she noticed Mack staring at her from where
he was standing at the end of the bar.

Cole turned, and spoke to Crash, who was sitting on
the barstool to their left. Angel noticed Crystal at the other end of the bar,
and waved to her, smiling.

Crystal waved back, and motioned her over.

Seeing the exchange, Cole dipped his head to Angel’s
ear. “You can go over, and talk to her. It’s okay.”

Angel pushed through the crowd, her beer in hand.
She had to stop, and wait for someone to make a shot at the pool table, not
wanting to bump him, and mess up his shot. When he was through, he turned, and
noticed her standing there.

Angel smiled at him. “Just waiting for you to shoot.
Didn’t want to get in the way.”

He looked her up and down, and smiled wickedly,
“Darlin’, you can get in my way anytime. What’s your name? Ain’t seen you
around here before.”

She smiled, and turned, and made her way over to
Crystal. Over the crowd she could hear the man telling her to come back.

“Don’t let him bother you,” Crystal reassured her,
looking over Angel’s shoulder. “Wolfman’s harmless.”

“Harmless? I don’t think any of these guys could be
called harmless,” Angel scoffed.

“True,” Crystal conceded, smiling. “So, how are
you?”

“I’m good,” Angel replied.

“I heard about what happened,” Crystal said softly.
“The tattoo.”

Angel nodded.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m okay.”

“I heard you were pretty upset.”

“I was.”

“You know, there are a lot of women that would love
to wear that tattoo.”

Angel looked over to where Cole was standing,
thinking about the last few days that they’d spent together. “I believe you.”

Crystal nodded toward Cole. “You two seem to be
getting along pretty well now.”

Angel smiled. “Yeah. We are.” She looked back at
Cole. He and the group of guys around him were all holding shot glasses up in
the air. She heard someone yell a toast.

“To money, guns and pussy!”

Then Cole responded, “The road to Hell, boys!”

Then Crash shouted, “And too far gone to turn
around.”

Then they all chimed in, “The road to Hell!” and
downed their shots.

“You’ve been gone for days. Where did you go?”
Crystal asked, drawing Angel’s attention back to her.

“He took me down the coast. We stayed a few days in
a cabin in Big Sur.”

Crystal’s eyebrows shot up, and she grinned. “Lucky
you.”

Angel blushed.

“He likes you. I can tell,” Crystal teased her.

“How can you tell?”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s the way he keeps glancing over
here, like he doesn’t want to let you out of his sight.”

Angel turned to look. Cole was talking to Crash, but
then sure enough, a moment later, he glanced over at her. When he caught her
looking at him, he winked.

Angel smiled, and blew him a kiss.

He smiled back, until Crash reached his hand up in
the air, and pretended to catch her kiss. Cole’s palm hit Crash’s forehead,
shoving his head back, and Crash about fell off his barstool.

Angel could tell from across the bar that it was all
in fun. She turned back to Crystal, and they both giggled.

“See?” Crystal teased.

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? Hon’, I haven’t seen Cole act this way about
a girl, well…ever.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really. Swear to God.”

“How does he usually act, then?”

Crystal shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess,
indifferent. You know, like he could take it, or leave it. You know, like that
saying, ‘if you miss this bus, there’ll be another one along in a minute’.”

“So, you’re saying there’s just a line of women in
his life?”

“Well, apparently not anymore.”

“What makes you think I’m not just one in the line?”

“Because I’m not blind. Any fool can see he’s got it
bad for you.”