Psy (MC Biker Romance)(Daredevils of Drake County Book 1) (2 page)

Chapter 3

The call ended and Sera ventured into the bathroom at the back of the store to wash her puffy face and tried to rinse out her red eyes. Another deep breath steadied her nerves a bit more and she was able to actually believe for a moment that she might be able to handle this shit storm.

Walking back out into the main part of the store, she nearly ran into the wall of muscle that was her customer. He caught her from falling when she jumped backwards with a firm grip on her shoulder. Electric sparks flowed from his fingers through her skin, straight to her core. Why the hell did this man have this effect on her? She’d never felt so malleable under a man’s touch. He made her knees feel like jelly and her insides feel warm and liquid.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation… are you having trouble from someone?”

She saw the fierce gleam in his eyes that promised he would protect her. But why? She couldn’t figure out his angle. Did he think he would get her into bed by pretending to be concerned? It was working, but she hated herself for it.

“I… It’s just an ex-boyfriend that’s an idiot. I can handle it,” she knew she didn’t sound as convincing as she wanted to.

The stranger’s mouth set into a hard line and Sera could see the muscles in his neck twitch.

“Well, if you need him taken care of, give me a call.” He scribbled a phone number on a scrap piece of paper and labeled it with the name “Psy”.

He left the store with another heated look in her direction and Sera instantly felt cold from his absence. She didn’t realize how intensely he affected her until he was gone. She knew that he sent her senses into over-drive, but this depressed feeling that seeped into her as he walked out of the door surprised even her.

With Psy gone, Sera finally flipped the sign and locked the door, triple checking that it was going to hold. Part of her thought that maybe she should just crash at the store. Another part said that she should call Darren and take Darla up on her offer. Of course she couldn’t do that. Sera hated violence and couldn’t imagine hurting Greg, even if he had done terrible things to her.

She tucked the piece of paper with Psy’s number on it into her purse and started the long lonely walk home. Every few steps she had to look over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t being followed. She hated being so frightened and paranoid. It wasn’t right that she couldn’t just live her life in peace.

Once she made it home safely, she made herself a frozen dinner and picked at it without any real enthusiasm. Two-thirds of her food was left when she tossed the plastic container into the trash. Her stomach grumbled at her in protest, but the thought of eating any more made her nauseous. She couldn’t think of eating right now. She wanted to just go to bed, but as she crawled under the blankets, all of her anxiety bubbled up to the surface again. She tossed and turned for hours, watching the clock tick by each minute as the time grew closer and closer to Greg’s release.

At Three AM, she rushed into the bathroom, heaving and crying, unable to calm herself. She took a shower, hoping that the warm water would relax her frazzled nerves.

At Five AM, her eyes began to droop. It was only a few more hours now. She had to stay awake. She had to stay aware of her surroundings.

At Six AM, she finally drifted off to a reluctant sleep.

It wasn’t until Ten AM that she awoke to the sound of knocking on her door. She shot up, sitting in bed with her heart pounding and her blood turned to ice in her veins.

It was just a coincidence. It had to be. That wasn’t Greg at her door. No, it couldn’t be.

She ignored the knock, hoping that whoever it was would go away on their own, but the knock became more insistent.

Her eyes traveled to her phone. Should she call the police? There was a possibility that it was him. She grabbed her phone and took it with her to the door as she peered out of the peep hole.

Her stomach dropped to the floor. It was Greg without a doubt. His hair was longer and he hadn’t shaved in a while, he looked thinner and older, but the was no mistaking him. He knocked again, harder than ever, the door shaking under his forceful hand.

“Sera, open up! I know you’re in there.”

She unlocked her phone with shaky fingers and fumbled with trying to dial 911. No matter how many attempts she made, she couldn’t get her hands to stop shaking long enough to type in the correct digits.

The door shook with the force of Greg’s knocks and the lock gave way under his strength. The door flung open and knocked Sera to the ground. Her phone flew out of her hand and in a panic she tried to get up and crawl toward it, her head already throbbing from where the door impacted it.

“Damn it, Sera. You just couldn’t be fucking happy to see me, could you?” Even having lost some weight, Greg was formidable to look at. He towered over her at nearly 6’4” and every bit of his body was carved into hard muscle. He sported a myriad of different tattoos and his tanned face was now contorted into a face of pure rage.

“Please, please, please,” she muttered to her phone as she reached for it, praying that she wouldn’t be too late.

He grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her up off of the floor, ignoring her terrified cries and yelps of pain. She tried to contain them, knowing that it would only make things worse if she showed her weakness.

His lips crashed into hers with bruising force. He held her head there tightly, keeping her from pulling away. Tears streamed from her eyes as his tongue pushed into her mouth and she pushed against his chest with all of her strength. She had to get away. She couldn’t let this happened.

She bit down on his tongue, the salty taste of blood flooding her mouth. He howled and pulled away, his fist connecting with her face in a wild swing. She went down to the ground again, but this time he left her there.

“Fuck you, you stupid cunt. I don’t need to deal with this shit. I’ll be back and I expect a proper welcome.”

He stormed out and slammed the door behind him, making it hang from one of hinges at an awkward angle and Sera collapsed into a fit of sobbing.

Her face was already beginning to show the beginning of the bruise Greg inflicted and she was suddenly awash in a whole new bout of terror.

He said he would be back. If anything, the next time would be worse. She could call the cops, but he was gone. They wouldn’t be able to help.

Her hands trembled as she dug through her purse for the tiny scrap of paper and proceeded to dial the number, a feeling of trepidation seeping into her bones.

It rang once. Could she really do this? She didn’t know Psy at all, how could she know he was trustworthy? What if he was just as bad as Greg?

It rang a second time. No one could be as bad as Greg, though, could they? Psy seemed nice enough… but so had Greg in the beginning.

He started out so charming and sweet that the first time Sera saw the monster inside of him, she was completely taken aback.

A third ring. This was a stupid idea. She shouldn’t be calling this stranger for help. She needed to rely on herself. She decided she should hang up.

“Hello?”

Her heart thumped against her ribcage at the sound of his voice.

“Um… hi,” she muttered, not believing that it was possible to be any more nervous on the phone.

“Hi,” he replied. She could almost hear his smirk. He didn’t know who she was, did he?

“This is Sera… um, I mean, the woman from the shop yesterday.”

“Oh, believe me, I remember who you are. What’s wrong sweetheart?”

She wasn’t sure she liked how comfortable he seemed with her, but it made her feel safe somehow. She sniffled and tried to keep herself from crying, but the tears just kept flowing.

“Shh, calm down. It’s okay. Where are you? Are you safe?”

“I’m at home,” she said through fat tears, “I don’t know…” her breath hitched in her throat and she started to hyperventilate.

“Was it your ex?”

She couldn’t answer him, but the increased sobbing told him everything he needed to know. He tried to contain the frustrated growl in his throat. He didn’t want her to think his ire was directed at her. No, it was all that bastard’s fault.

“Don’t worry Sera, I can help you, really.”

“I don’t… I don’t see how.”

“Then why did you call me, sweetheart?” His voice was still gentle, but he definitely sounded far too pleased with himself.

She sniffed again and fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt.

“I don’t know. I didn’t know who else to call. The police won’t help…”

“Exactly. So let me help you. Tell me where you live.”

“74
th
and Maple the house with the blue shutters.”

She couldn’t believe herself. She’d just given her address to a complete stranger!

“Okay, I’ll be there in a minute.”

She heard a loud rumbling in the background before the call ended. She paced back and forth across her living room, wringing her hands until her knuckles hurt from it. Trusting this stranger seemed like such a bad idea, but it felt so right. It felt natural to want him to protect her. It seemed easy to lean on him for support.

Chapter 4

He wasn’t kidding about only being a minute. She hardly had time to think about the stupidity of inviting him over when he was knocking on her battered door.

The contact his knuckles made with the door was enough to send it swinging open. He gave the door a dirty look like it had personally wronged him before he turned his attention to Sera.

He took one look at her, raised his eyebrows with surprise and then drew them together in a scowl.

In an instant he was in her personal bubble, his hand on her face with his thumb stroking the tender spot where Greg punched her. She leaned into his warm hand, so content to have someone touching her in a caring and gentle way.

“That asshole did this to you?” His voice was soft and concerned, but it held a razor sharp edge just below the surface.

She nodded without a word. She wasn’t sure how to react to this whole affair. The contact between them felt so intimate, but she didn’t even know him.

“Please, let me take care of him for you,” he begged aching to kiss away the tears that streamed down her face.

She shook her head, feeling like it was a mistake to not take his offer of help. He could certainly protect her if Greg came knocking again.

“Well, you can’t stay here, Sera, it’s not safe.”

Her body shook with barely audible sobs again. She hated that she felt so helpless, so useless, so vulnerable. She never wanted to be the damsel in distress. She didn’t want to have to rely on a man to protect her. She was supposed to be able to protect herself from the big bad wolves of the world.

“Where else can I go? I can’t afford a hotel and I’m not going to put someone else in danger by me being there. Greg has so many friends that he would be able to find me and then whoever was hiding me would be in as much danger as I am.” She sighed, not believing that she was actually able to get through all of that without breaking down again. She sounded too defensive, but hell, she’d been through a lot. Surely he could forgive her if her tone was a little terse.

“Come stay with me then, I don’t give a damn what he tries to do. I can take him.”

Sera had no doubt about that. Psy definitely looked like a man that could handle himself. She didn’t know why it was so easy to believe everything he said. Typically she was much more skeptical about such things.

“I couldn’t…” she muttered, taking a step back from him so that his hand dropped to the side.

He looked deflated. She instantly felt a pang of guilt at the sad look on his face. She felt as if she’d just crushed all of his hopes and dreams with one fell swoop. He didn’t try to press the issue which only gave more credence to his trustworthiness.

Her teeth drew her bottom lip into her mouth and she nibbled on it absently as a thought began to form in her head. But no, she couldn’t be that forward.

“At the very least, let me fix your door for you. You need a new lock, a deadbolt, a chain, anything to keep that bastard out of here.”

The dark look in his eyes almost scared Sera, but she knew she wasn’t the target of his fury. That thought comforted her a little. She would hate to ever be on the receiving end of Psy’s anger.

“Okay, yeah, I would really appreciate that.”

Sera already knew that she wasn’t going to make it to the store today. Not that it really mattered, no one ever came in. The place was a ghost town.

He looked at the door and then back to Sera.

“I’m not going to leave you here alone, sweetheart.”

She thought it over for a brief moment before nodding her agreement. She didn’t want to be left alone. Her hands were still shaking no matter how much she tried to steady them and she knew that if she were left alone in her home she would probably have a panic attack.

“Okay, I’ll come with you.”

The lop-sided grin he gave her took her breath away for a moment. How did this incredibly sexy man just land in her lap? He either had the absolute worst timing or the best, she couldn’t decide.

He guided her out of the house with a light hand on the small of her back. It was reassuring, comforting, but not demanding. It was a totally new experience for her. She was still having trouble reconciling the assumptions she’d made about Psy’s intimidating appearance with the reality of his gentleness.

She looked around for his car and didn’t see one. Then her eyes landed on it: a sleek black Harley with gleaming chrome and skeleton hand rear-view mirrors. She turned her eyes toward him and tried to find the words to describe her feelings.

“That’s… that’s yours?” Sera had never been on a motorcycle before. The thought terrified her, but she implicitly trusted Psy. She didn’t know why. It was difficult to explain. Actually, it was impossible to explain.

“Sera, meet Stella,” he said with a loving pat on the tank.

She couldn’t suppress the little smirk that played at the corners of her mouth. He may look tough and scary, but he was actually kind of adorable.

“Nice to meet you Stella,” she turned back to Psy, “but um… I’ve never…”

He grinned and handed her a helmet.

“Well, I’m more than happy to pop your cherry,” he joked.

“It’s perfectly safe, I promise. I wouldn’t bring you if it wasn’t,” he finished.

“Well, okay,” she replied, slipping the helmet onto her head. She couldn’t believe that she was doing this.

The rumble of the Harley coming to life was deafening and filled Sera with awe and excitement. She never thought of herself as someone that would be interested in motorcycles, but seeing Psy with his bike was a total turn on, even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself.

He swung one of his long legs over the bike and strapped his own helmet on his head. At least he was safe about riding, she thought.

“Hop on!” He shouted over the motorcycle’s engine.

She took one last look back to her house and knew that she couldn’t stay there by herself. She would be infinitely safer with Psy, so she just needed to suck it up.

She followed suit, swinging her leg over the bike, overshooting by a little. She did an awkward little hop to the side to try and regain her balance, but Psy caught her and steadied her.

“Wrap your arms around me,” he instructed.

She had been trying to hold herself up without touching him at all. She tried to keep a couple of inches between them, but she knew that it wasn’t practical.

Sera finally conceded and wrapped her arms around his broad chest and buried her face into his strong shoulders. He smelled delicious, like leather and sweet tobacco. She inhaled deeply, trying to commit the smell to memory. She didn’t expect whatever this was to last for very long. Psy obviously felt some kind of obligation to protect her for unknown reasons.

Of course, she was grateful to have someone look out for her. It had been so long since she had anyone looking out for her best interests. Darla certainly tried, but she had her own life to deal with and her own trouble-making brother to contend with. Sera always put her problems below everyone else’s on the totem pole. She didn’t want to burden anyone, but this was one time that she couldn’t just rely on herself. Being independent and stubborn in this situation could prove deadly.

The wind whipped her hair around as the bike moved through the sleepy city streets. It was only a few blocks to the hardware store, but that was enough time for the thrill of the ride to get Sera’s heart rate up and her adrenaline pumping.

She felt comforted by Psy’s warmth and strength. Snuggling up against him was the safest she’d felt in a very long time. She hated herself for being so easy to please. Maybe Greg had just broken her down so far that she was eager to latch on to the very first eligible person to show up at her doorstep. But there did seem to be something different about Psy. It was like he was trying to woo her from the moment they met. He came into her store without any purpose other than talking to her. He offered to help her and when she called him on a whim he was at her door in moments.

Surely a bad guy wouldn’t do all of that, would he? She had to trust him. She had to trust someone and it might as well be the sexy man that could actually protect her from Greg.

The cool wind stung her cheeks when she tried to pick her head up, so she quickly nuzzled back into Psy’s muscular back, clinging for dear life.

In another moment they were at the hardware store and Psy dismounted the bike like it was second-nature to him. He held Sera’s hand as she tried to do the same thing, but much less gracefully.

“You’ll get the hang of it,” he said with a chuckle before taking off his helmet.

Heat rushed to her face, but she didn’t think he’d be able to notice since her cheeks were already pink from the wind. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice, at least. She removed her helmet and tried to tame her hair which was now sticking in every direction.

A sudden realization hit Sera and she gave Psy a horrified look.

“I forgot my wallet at home, we’ll have to go back.”

“Why? I offered to fix it; I planned to pay for it.”

She couldn’t hide her surprise. He didn’t even know her, why would he want to pay to fix her door?

“You really don’t have to do that…” she murmured.

“Shh, it’ll give me peace of mind and that’s priceless.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a side hug for reassurance.

She wanted to say something. She wanted to thank him for his generosity, but he seemed like the kind of person that wouldn’t appreciate his kindness being put in the spotlight.