Steel Love: Alpha BBW Motorcycle Romance (20 page)

Maggie used the last once of strength she had to bring down the hand that clutched the shard of glass. She felt it when she hit something soft. Felt it sink in, and watched as the madness and rage in Reef’s eyes slowly disappeared replaced by shock, and then for the first time in Maggie’s life, she saw fear there.

Reef dropped his hands from Maggie’s throat and threw himself backwards off of her. Maggie gasped and choked, pulling air into her lungs. She felt her mind clearing. Felt the pressure in her eyes subsiding as she took huge gulps of air into her chest. She pushed herself off the couch and rolled to the floor then onto her back. She sat up and looked around frantically for Reef. She found him sitting against the wall with his hands wrapped around his throat, blood gushing between his fingers. He’d pulled the glass shard from his throat and was desperately trying to keep the wound closed with his own hands.

Maggie didn’t wait to see what he would do. She rolled to her stomach and began to crawl, struggling to her feet as she reached the door. She pulled it open and ran outside onto a dark front porch that looked out over a large open yard bordered by forest. It looked like the house sat on over an acre, and was built far back from the road.

Maggie didn’t bother closing the door behind her. It was all she could do to stay upright and she was still gasping and taking deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heart and clear her still cloudy vision. She stumbled down the steps of the front porch and onto the lawn then ran full tilt for the road.

Halfway to the road at the front of the house Maggie recognized the sound of Harleys. She nearly cried at the sound as she threw herself forward, trying to run faster. She made it to the road as the first motorcycle came into view with Ash on it. Ash screeched to a halt in front of her, his tires squealing. He’d barely slammed the kickstand down before he was off the bike and enfolding Maggie in his arms.

Maggie wrapped her arms around Ash and burst into tears. She couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t get control of herself. It was like every ounce of control she’d had was used up escaping that house and getting to Ash.

“Oh God Maggie baby I’m here. I’m here baby. It’s ok. I promise I’m here. Are you ok?”

Ash pulled away from her slightly but and looked her over. Maggie didn’t realize how much of Reef’s blood made it onto her before he’d pushed himself off of her. She looked down and found her front covered, and knowing the angle they were at there was probably some on her neck too.

“Not mine.” Maggie barely got the words from her throat it hurt so badly.

Ash frowned at her but continued to check her over. When he couldn’t find any obvious signs of injury he pulled her back against his chest.

“He will never hurt you again baby.”

Maggie tucked her face into Ash’s chest. She would crawl inside him if she could. She distantly heard someone speaking to Ash, telling him they were going to check out the house.

“Gun.” Maggie croaked out. She had the presence of mind to warn them that Reef had a gun. She’d thought it had slid beneath the couch when she’d knocked him down, but she wasn’t sure, and she definitely didn’t want them going in there unaware.

Ash looked down at her, “He has a gun baby?”

Maggie looked up at Ash and nodded. She wanted to speak but her throat was so raw. Ash pulled her against him tighter and relayed the information to the guys with him. She watched as the men made their way into the house. All three held guns and moved like they knew what they were doing. Like they’d done this kind of thing before.

Maggie suddenly remembered Prentice and looked up at Ash. She did her best to swallow some saliva, trying to clear her throat.

“Ash.” Maggie coughed, fresh tears coming to her eyes.

“Ssshhh baby, don’t talk, its ok. I got you.”

Maggie shook her head, trying to make Ash understand.

“Prentice.” She managed to squeeze the word out through her damaged throat.

Ash looked down at Maggie understanding rushing to his face.

“It’s ok Maggie. He’s ok. The bullet went through his arm and just grazed his temple. I guess the way he was sitting with his hands behind his head saved him from a direct hit to the head. It was enough to knock him out for a second, and spill a lot of blood, but he woke up when Reef was putting you in the car and driving away. He called me right away. I tried to get to you as fast as I could baby but I had to call Ghost to have him track your GPS. Thank God you hadn’t changed your clothes. I’m guessing it’s still in your bra?”

Maggie nodded her head. She was so relieved to hear Prentice wasn’t dead. She didn’t know what she would do if he had died while trying to protect her.

“When we confirmed where you were we hauled ass.” Ash lifted his head to see the men that had come with him file out of the house. Maggie looked their way. She was relieved to see them moving slowly almost too casual. As the men reached Maggie and Ash, the oldest of the three spoke. He wasn’t as tall as Ash, just under six feet, and he had dark hair that was liberally peppered with grey. Even in her current unbalanced state, or maybe because of it, Maggie could tell he was still a very attractive man.

“He’s dead. Looks like she got him in the throat with a shard of glass from a broken mirror. Pretty messy in there. We’ll clean up…”

The man stopped speaking and looked at Maggie appraisingly. Then moved his eyes back to Ash.

“Take her home. I’ll stop by tomorrow and we’ll talk.”

Ash nodded and moved his hands to Maggie’s shoulders, then down to her hands. Maggie had to force her eyes off the older guy and back to Ash as he tugged at her hand guiding her toward his motorcycle. Ash climbed on then helped Maggie, pulling her arms tight around him.

“Hold on tight baby. I don’t want you falling off ok? If I feel your arms loosen at all I’m gonna assume you’re goin’ unconscious and I’m gonna pull us over. So hold tight baby.”

“OK” was all Maggie could get out. She leaned her weight against Ash, laying her head on his back and fisting her hands together in front of him. Ash started the bike and put it into gear. He maneuvered the bike in a U-turn until they were pointed toward home. Maggie turned her head so she could watch the men make their way back toward the house as Ash gunned the motor and the bike took off putting Reef and everything that happened that night out of her sight and behind her.

Chapter 22

MAGGIE

When they made it back to Maggie’s place Ash carried her up to the house. The door was still unlocked so he was able to maneuver her inside without putting her down. When they reached the stairs she made him put her down, but he followed closely behind her. When they got to the bathroom Ash helped her out of the t-shirt that was now covered in Reef’s blood. He pulled off her bra and panties and then undressed himself. Maggie was about to tell Ash she didn’t want sex, but Ash shushed her before she could speak and gripped her hand to pull her toward the hall. It was a testament to her state of mind that she barely even ogled his hot ass when he was walking in front of her.

When they reached the bathroom he left her standing in front of the sink as he turned on the water in the shower, adjusting the temperature to what he knew she liked from their previous shower. When it was perfect he took her hand again and led her gently into the spray.

Maggie sighed when the water hit her skin. Then she felt Ash’s hands on her, pulling her hair from the bun, lathering her body with soap to clean the blood from her skin and massage her muscles. When her skin was washed clean from her body, and her muscles had finally relaxed enough Maggie let herself lean into Ash’s strength. They stood there for a while under the warmth of the spray. Maggie never wanted to leave this shower. She never wanted to experience anything in life outside of Ash’s arms. So when Ash finally reached behind her to turn off the water, and let go of her to grab the towel hanging outside the shower she couldn’t help but sigh softly.

Ash wiped his own body off quickly, then stepped out of the shower and wiped Maggie down. When she was completely dry he stooped down to look under her sink where he found some sterile cotton and antiseptic ointment in her little medical kit. Maggie didn’t know if sterile cotton had an expiration date, but she was sure this would work for the cuts on her fingers from the glass she’d used on Reef. After Ash slathered the cuts with the ointment and wrapped her fingers he guided her back to the bedroom.  By this time Maggie was so tired she even let him dress her in her requisite boxer shorts and tank top. When he pulled back the covers to put her in bed Maggie placed a hand on his upper arm. “Water please?” Her throat was so raw she could barely get the words out, but she felt like she desperately needed something to sooth the ache.

“Cold?” Ash asked and Maggie nodded her head.

 “I’ll be right back babe.”

She watched as he threw on his boxers and made his way out of the room. Maggie lay in the bed staring up at her ceiling trying not to think about what it was that Ash’s friends were doing back at Reef’s house. Shouldn’t they be calling the police? Shouldn’t she be giving a statement or something? The older one had said she’d killed Reef.

Tears slid from her eyes and choked Maggie’s throat making it even harder to breath then it already felt. She didn’t even know why she was crying. She hated Reef. She was surely better off with him dead than alive. She just didn’t know what the next step was. What would happen now? Would she go to jail?

“Baby, please, don’t cry. Everything will be ok I promise.”

Maggie hadn’t heard Ash come back in. It made her jump which caused him to rush to her and pull her into his arms leaving the glass of cold water on the nightstand.

“I swear to you. You will NEVER have to worry about anyone hurting you again. Do you understand? I won’t let it happen.”

Maggie lifted her head to look at Ash. Her eyes were wide with his words. How could he promise something like that? They couldn’t be together twenty-four hours a day every day. They would need time apart. Time for themselves. But she also understood that he meant it. Even if he couldn’t truly promise something like that, Maggie felt in that moment that if there were ever a person on the planet that could, it was Ash.

Maggie gestured for the glass of water and when Ash handed it to her she sipped it slowly, letting the cool water slide down her throat. It felt amazing. Immediately she started to feel better. She sipped slowly and after a minute she’d finished the entire glass.

“Thank you.” Maggie whispered to Ash, her voice already sounding better.

“Don’t talk baby. You’ve already got bruises all over your neck. I didn’t know what was wrong at first, but…” Ash paused. Maggie could see him trying to get his anger under control. It was a physical reaction for him reining it in. “I can see he choked you… You need to rest your throat. I’m not leaving you tonight. I’ll be here baby ok? I’ll take care of you.”

Maggie nodded her understanding and then scooted away from Ash so she could lie down in the bed. Ash lifted his body onto his arms and moved over her like he had the first time they’d laid together. Ash positioned himself behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso and tucking her against his chest. Maggie snuggled down, then felt him reaching over her to turn off the light.

“Sleep baby. I’ll protect you.” With Ash’s words in her ear Maggie snuggled down into the covers and the security of Ash’s arms and promptly fell asleep.

When Maggie woke the next morning she was alone. Ash had left a fresh glass of water and a note on the nightstand.

Maggie,

Gone to grab a bag of stuff from my house. I’m staying with you. Jack is downstairs. He’ll take care of you till I get back.

Love, A

Maggie read the note several times before she sat up in the bed. She reached for the glass of water and drained it before making her way to the bathroom. Her throat felt significantly better this morning, but it was still super sore. She brushed her teeth, doing her best not to go too far back with the brush on her tongue. Then went back to her bedroom and put on a bra, panties, and her comfiest yoga pants and tank top. She tried to pull her hair up into a bun, but the bandages on her fingers kept getting in the way, so she just left her hair down and made her way downstairs.

Maggie slowed when she reached the bottom step. She could see the older man from last night sitting on her couch in the living room.

“Jack?” Maggie’s voice was still a little rough, but at least she didn’t feel like crying from the pain. Jack sat forward on the couch, rested his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped together, and nodded to her. She watched as his eyes scanned her from head to toe.

“How you feeling?”

Maggie wasn’t sure what to say to that. At the moment she felt a little numb. And confused. She had a lot of questions, but wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answers. And most of all she just wanted Ash back. Since she couldn’t, or didn’t, want to address everything she was feeling and thinking at that moment she chose to simply be polite.

“Want some tea? I would offer you coffee but I don’t think I should have that.”

Jack stood from the couch and walked toward her. “I’ll pass on the tea, but I’ll join you in the kitchen.” He motioned for her to move ahead of him and she did. When she got to the kitchen she gestured to the table. Jack took a seat while Maggie put the kettle on the stove to boil and brought down her tea bin. She had a metal canister that she refilled regularly with all the different teas she loved. Coffee was her go to drink for waking up, but tea was her soothing comforting drink.

Maggie pulled out a bag of Celestial Seasonings Sleepytime tea. She figured the chamomile and peppermint would feel amazing on her throat. She spooned honey into her mug and dropped a bag in with it as the kettle whistled. After she’d filled the mug she turned and brought it back to the table to sit across from Jack.

Maggie noted to herself that Jack sat in the same spot Ash had the few times he’d been in her kitchen. She looked across the table at Jack and raised her eyebrows then smiled at him before lifting her cup to her lips and taking a small sip. She never let her water get too hot so she could always start drinking her tea right away. She had been right. The Sleepytime was the perfect choice. The warm peppermint soothed her throat even more than the cold water had.