Текст книги "Sinner's Steel"
Автор книги: Sarah Castille
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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 22 страниц)
TEN
Repairing a bike is a long, arduous process. You will require patience, skill, and the proper tools. But mostly patience.
—SINNER’S TRIBE MOTORCYCLE REPAIR MANUAL
“I’m gonna kill him.”
“Hold back, brother.” Jagger put out an arm to stop Zane from drawing his weapon in the middle of the crowded bar. “She came here by choice. Nobody forced her.”
“Fuck, Jag. She just tried to slap him. You saw what he did to her.” He shook off Jagger’s arm and slid his hand into his cut.
“And then she kissed him,” Jagger said, his voice cold. “She’s not screaming for help, brother. Not like when we saved her from Derek the Dick.”
“You’re the one being a dick.” He had never spoken to Jagger that way before, and if they hadn’t been alone, he wouldn’t have dared. But goddamnit. This was Evie. Their Evie. No. His Evie. The mother of his son. And she was in danger.
“Maybe you suddenly got tired of living.” Jagger’s hand tightened on Zane’s arm. “Friend or not, you don’t speak to your president that way, and your president is saying we’re not taking Viper out tonight. Too many witnesses. And Benson texted to warn me the cops are on their way. Despite the disrespect, I’ve gotten used to having you around. You still got a warrant on your head. I don’t want to see you spending the rest of your life in jail.”
Zane’s blood pounded in his ears so loud he could barely hear. Of all the men Evie could have chosen … Or maybe it wasn’t a choice. Maybe Viper had forced her to go out with him. Maybe he was blackmailing her, or worse, threatening her life. There would be no other reason why she would want to be with that evil cockfucking piece of bastard slime who had to be twice her age.
As if he knew what Zane was thinking, Viper locked gazes with Zane over Evie’s head and brushed his lips over her ear. It was a challenge Zane couldn’t ignore.
“This is worse than the night with Derek the Dick.” He closed his hand around the smooth, cool steel of his weapon. He had never understood Evie’s interest in Derek, a high school dropout who fronted a heavy metal band in town. But when she’d blown him and Jagger off to go on a band road trip with Derek and his pals, he hadn’t hesitated to hunt Jagger down and convince him to go after them. They’d almost been too late, and it was the first time in his life he realized he could cross a line not many would cross. Only Evie’s intervention had saved Derek’s life, but he spent three months in the hospital and never played guitar again.
“You think she knows he’s using her as a shield?”
Viper stroked his thumb along the underside of Evie’s breast, and Zane slid the gun from its holster.
“She looks mighty pissed off,” Jagger said. “But I’m not sure if that’s ’cause we’ve caught them together or because he’s feeling her up in front of us.”
Tables emptied around them as the bar owner and his bouncers encouraged people to make use of the back exit so they didn’t get caught in the middle of a biker showdown. The band scurried off the stage. Over in the far corner, a few civilians, most likely off-duty law enforcement from their posture, fatigues, and disregard for the danger of the situation, watched with interest as Viper’s bodyguards fell into position behind him.
“How many brothers we got outside?”
“Five,” Jagger said. “And Tank didn’t see any other Jacks outside, so we’re evenly matched. Your choice, brother. If you want to fight, we got your back, but put the gun away.”
“You aren’t fighting in my bar.” A short, stocky man in a Riverside Bar T-shirt strode into the center of the bar as Zane tucked his gun into his holster. “I’ve already called the cops. Last time we had bikers here, I was shut down for three months. You want to have a shoot-out, take it outside.”
“Not here to fight,” Viper said. “Just here enjoying the music with my girl.”
Mine. In that moment the choice became no choice. Zane couldn’t stand by and watch Evie be manhandled by any man, much less Viper. He closed the distance between them in three quick strides and ripped Viper’s hand away.
Although braced for the intervention of Viper’s bodyguards, he wasn’t prepared when the biggest and ugliest brute lifted him as if he weighed nothing and tossed him across the bar.
“Fuck.” Jagger yanked open the door and yelled for Sinners who had accompanied them to the Riverside Bar. “We got a fight.”
“Evie. Come.” Zane pushed himself to his feet, keeping some distance between him and the monolith in front of him as he held out one hand and drew his weapon with the other.
If he thought she’d throw herself sobbing into his arms with gratitude like she’d done when he saved her from Derek, her livid expression quickly dissuaded him of that notion.
“I’ve got this, Zane. Thanks. This isn’t high school. I don’t need you running to my rescue.”
“You gotta respect a woman with her own mind, Sinner. She wants to be with me.” Viper nuzzled her neck. “Let’s go, kitten. Your new chariot awaits.”
“I’m not going with you either.” She twisted out of Viper’s grasp. “I’m not a damn chew toy to be fought over. Give me my keys. I’m going home.”
Zane saw the flash of a blade, felt the slight disturbance in the air. Adrenaline surged through his body and he mentally kicked himself for not seeing the danger. While Viper kept him distracted, he’d left Jagger unprotected and at the mercy of the bodyguards who had taken the advantage of the cleared-out bar. Viper had baited a trap and Zane had fallen right in.
With a shout of warning, he flung himself to the side. The blade sliced through the sleeve of his shirt, cutting his arm, before it deflected and hit the wall only inches from where Jagger stood.
Jagger drew his weapon just as the door slammed open and Sinners poured into the bar. T-Rex fired a warning shot at the ceiling, covering Jagger while Gunner and Sparky pulled him to safety, despite his growled protests. The club was nothing without their president, and for all Jagger wanted to have his back, Zane would do anything to protect him.
“Zane!” Evie ran toward him, her face twisted in anguish. She threw her arms around his waist, her momentum carrying him back toward the door.
Zane put one arm around her and caught Viper’s hard gaze.
Mine. He mouthed the word at Viper, clenching his fist against Evie’s back in triumph.
Viper’s mouth tightened and he met Zane’s silent challenge with a derisive snort. Then his bodyguards closed in around him, and Zane pulled Evie away.
* * *
Evie handed Zane a beer and sat beside him on her front steps. Moonlight glinted off the chrome on his bike, parked in her driveway where her car should have been. She pulled the key fob Viper had given her from her pocket, and ran her thumb over the smooth, black surface. On their third date, Viper had asked her about her dream car, and they’d had a fun evening checking out pictures of luxury vehicles on her phone. She’d never thought he would buy the Mazda for her, nor had she ever considered that he’d take her car.
Damn Viper and his stupid gift. She wanted her car, rusty and worn as it was. She’d bought it with the last of her savings from Stanton the morning after Mark pushed her down the stairs in a drunken rage. Only quick thinking and years of daredevil stunts with Zane had saved her, and she managed to grab the railing on her way down. Although Mark was horrified at what he’d done, Evie had finally had enough. She’d put up with his insecurities, affairs, and controlling behavior to give Ty a family and to fill the hole in her life that had consumed her after losing everyone she cared about. But the price had become too high.
“What’s that?” Zane gestured to the key fob.
“Viper gave me a vehicle—a Mazda MX5—and he took the keys to my car. He said it wasn’t safe. The Mazda is still in the parking lot at Riverside Bar. I didn’t want it, or I wouldn’t have taken the ride home with you.”
“Hate saying this, but he’s right. Your vehicle wasn’t safe.”
“Do you seriously think I would drive Ty around in an unsafe vehicle?” she snapped. “It might not look like much but I had it all checked out. Bill’s mechanics said it was running fine.”
Zane sipped his beer. “So … you and Viper?”
“I’ve been on a few dates with him, although he’s never acted like he did tonight. Obviously. Because if he’d twisted my arm and pulled my hair on our first date, I wouldn’t have gone out with him again. Although he said what he did was all for show.” She twisted her lips to the side, considering. “If I tried to slap Jagger in front of his men, what would he do?”
Zane choked on his beer, wiped his mouth. “Pretty much the same thing Viper did. A one percenter president can’t let any disrespect slide. Makes him look weak, and a weak president is a dead president.”
Did that excuse Viper’s behavior? If she’d understood biker culture, she wouldn’t have made that mistake. And except for that one incident, he had been nothing but charming and kind. Although his jealousy had frightened her. Was that the real Viper behind the mask? The man who had so crudely called her a piece of pussy and wanted to take her to bed just so Zane couldn’t have her?
“What about you?” She tucked the key fob away and opened the first aid kit she’d brought from the house. Although the cut on Zane’s arm wasn’t deep, there was still the risk of infection, and she suspected he wouldn’t be running to the hospital with a knife wound on his arm.
“I could never hurt you, Evie.” His hesitated, as if he had more to say. “In any way.”
She dabbed antiseptic on his wound, remembering how many times she’d treated his injuries over the years. From school fights to reckless stunts, she had always been there to pick up the pieces. And he had done the same for her. They’d missed so many years together because they were too afraid to destroy their friendship, and yet, in the end, they destroyed it anyway.
“Then why did you leave me?” Her voice tightened as nine years of heartache bubbled over. “What happened that night?”
Zane covered her hand with his, drawing it away from his arm, threading his fingers through hers. “Your dad warned me away from you down by the creek after he sent you home. He said I wasn’t good enough for you. Later that night, he came to the trailer. He … saw … all the drugs and cash. There was a fight. He shot my dad. I ran at him, knocked him down. He dropped the gun. My dad grabbed it and shot him. I didn’t think anyone would believe I wasn’t involved. Maybe shot them both. Everyone in the trailer park knew how my dad beat me; they heard us shouting at each other every night. And I figured your dad had told people I’d been with you and everyone would think I’d decided to get him out of the way. The town would need a scapegoat and I was an easy target.”
Evie’s skin prickled with awareness. He wasn’t telling her everything. Even after all these years, she knew he was holding back, whether it was the way he stumbled over his words or how he stared out into the darkness, or from the set of his jaw. There was more to the story than he was letting on.
“The police thought my dad went to arrest your dad for drug dealing,” Evie said. “They figured there was a fight, my dad shot yours in self-defense, and then you picked up the gun and shot my dad in revenge for killing your dad. Your prints were on the gun. Your footprints were all over the scene. Witnesses had placed you there…” She pressed her lips together, fighting back a wave of anger. “They didn’t want to go to the expense of doing an autopsy or getting forensic reports. They just issued a warrant for your arrest.”
“Figured as much.” He squeezed her hand. “Small town. Saving money. Taking the easy way out.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?” She leaned her head against his shoulder, closed her eyes against the images of her father dying alone, tried to come to terms with what really happened that night. “I was waiting for you. I waited all night.”
“I was worried you wouldn’t believe me either.” He said the words so quietly, she almost didn’t hear them.
She supposed she could understand his concern. Her father had ripped Zane off her, thrown him to the ground, shouted harsh, cruel, horrible things. Then he stood over him and ordered her to go home. He said he and Zane were going to have a talk, but she would never be allowed to see him again. At first she refused to leave, but Zane begged her to go. Promised he’d see her later. Seventeen years old, innocent, trusting, unsure of herself in the world, she’d made the biggest mistake of her life and did as he asked.
“I would have believed you.”
With a sigh, Zane released her hand. He walked down the steps and into the small copse of trees bordering her property, as much lost in his thoughts as he was in shadows.
“Zane?” Puzzled, she followed him, stopping only a few feet away when she spotted him leaning against a tree trunk, worrying the corner of the label on his beer bottle, the gesture so achingly familiar it twisted her stomach in a knot.
“At first, I meant to come back for you,” he said, his gaze focused on the trailer park across the field. “I was going to come at night in disguise. But as I got farther away from Stanton, I began thinking it might be best if I stayed away. I mean, you were going away to college. You were going to meet guys who were smart and had things in common with you. And who was I? No skills. No future. A warrant on my head. Like your dad told me, I had nothing to offer you.”
“I loved you.” She choked back a sob as the words she’d held back for nine years spilled out. “I never thought for a moment you were responsible. I had faith in you, but you didn’t have the same faith in me. You broke my heart.”
Zane rubbed his forearm across his face, then pitched his bottle over the fence and into the field. “I fucked up. Big time. I’ll spend the rest of my life regretting it. Hell, I regretted leaving the moment I drove away and I’ve regretted it every day since.”
Part of her wanted to go to him, wrap her arms around him and tell it him it was okay. It had felt so right when he kissed her. Like coming home. Maybe they could pick up where they left off. Erase the past. But the other part of her knew she couldn’t erase the pain of losing him, of losing hope and faith and love. She couldn’t erase the soul-destroying marriage to Mark or the years of hardship of raising Ty alone. They had changed. She wasn’t Evie anymore. She was Evangeline. And Zane wasn’t Zane. He was a Sinner, an outlaw, and he lived in a different world.
“I’d better go,” she said. “I have to be at work early, and I have a babysitter coming over to look after Ty.”
“Maybe I should come over…”
Evie shook her head. “Let’s take it slow with you and Ty. One thing you two have in common is that neither of you is good with change.”
“What about you and me?”
Her mouth went dry, and her stomach churned. “There isn’t a you and me outside of Ty. I have my life, Zane and you have yours. We don’t have anything in common anymore.”
“And you and Viper do?” His voice dropped to a growl, so fierce and low the tree frogs stopped croaking, silencing the night. “How’d you wind up with that piece of shit?”
“He came to the shop for some detailing. I didn’t know much about the Jacks so I thought he was just another biker. He was charming, intelligent … probably the most interesting guy I’d met since coming to Conundrum. When he came back a third time for a touch-up on his fender, he asked me out. Bill told me who he was and said I should be careful.”
“Probably made you want him more,” he said quietly.
“Maybe it did. Maybe I wanted to prove to myself I could handle a man like him—the way I couldn’t handle Mark—and that I didn’t need anyone to save me. I made a decision to take control of my life when things went wrong with Mark. I realized I’d spent too much time chasing a dream of finding someone to look after me when really I needed to look after myself. But that’s not all it was. I liked him, and I was flattered by his attention. I enjoy his company. I’m not ashamed of that.” She turned back to the house and Zane grabbed her arm, spinning her back to face him.
“You’re done with him. I don’t give a fucking damn how you feel about him, or what you’ve got going on. He’s a vicious, ruthless, coldhearted bastard. I know you got that wild in you, and maybe that’s why you’re with him, but he’s dangerous and I won’t let him near you or my son.”
Evie shook him off, anger warring with confusion, her emotions battling against her aching want for the only man she’d ever loved. “Maybe the reason I was with him is because he reminded me of you.”
Wrong thing to say. Eyes glittering, he lunged for her, clasping her wrist in his warm palm, pulling her to him. “Then be with me.”
“I can’t.” Her throat tightened and she had to force the words out. “What we had is broken and it can’t be fixed. I can’t do this with you again. I just couldn’t bear to be with you and have you disappear again. And I’ve moved on. I don’t need you that way anymore.”
He wrapped his arms around her, buried his face in her neck. “What we had is still there. I can feel it and I know you feel it, too.”
His warmth seeped into her skin, his arms strong around her. Yes, their chemistry was still there. She could feel it pulsing through her veins, an arousal so fierce she could feel it in her fingers and toes.
“Kiss me.” Zane’s voice was hoarse, tight. “Kiss me and tell me you don’t feel what I feel. Kiss me and tell me you want him and not me.”
Unable to pull herself away, her mind clouded with desire, she acquiesced to his demand. Twining her fingers through his hair, she pulled him down and kissed him. Zane groaned and squeezed her so tight, she could feel the press of his buckle against her stomach. His tongue tangled with hers and he took over, returning her kiss with an intensity that left her breathless and made her knees tremble. She ached for him, wanted nothing more than to strip off his clothes and drown in the heat of his body.
“I wanna see you, my sweet Evie. I wanna bare your body, lick every inch of you, feel your skin against mine. I wanna be inside you so deep you forget everything but me.”
Evie took a quick glance to each side to make sure they weren’t in view of the neighbors, but with the trees around them, and a field to the back, they were well hidden in the shadows. And although she knew she should refuse him, walk away, and hold firm to her resolve, she licked his taste from her lips and whispered, “Yes.”
He slid down the straps of her dress, undid the catch of her bra, dragging it over her arms, baring her breasts to his heated gaze. “Ah, God,” he whispered. So fucking beautiful.” He cupped her left breast in his palm, kneading it gently as he ravaged her mouth with sensual kisses. White-hot heat sizzled down to her core and she moaned.
“I remember that sound,” he murmured. “I remember everything about that night in the forest, the softness of your skin, your breath on my cheek, your hard little nipples, the slickness of your pussy. I remember what it feels like to be inside you. That night ruined me for other women, Evie. I’ve only ever wanted you.”
He held her arms behind her, pinning her wrists with one hand while he kissed her breasts, sucked gently on her nipples, tasting, devouring her. She tugged against his grip, wanting to touch him, slide her hands over his broad chest, work her fingers through his hair, and caress those broad shoulders. But he held her fast, and the restraint aroused her, made her more wanton, more desperate to have him inside her.
“Are you wet for me, sweetheart?” He slid one hand up her thigh under her dress. Far from the shame and disgust she’d felt when Viper had done the same, passion suffused her. Sweet desire. And when he shoved aside her panties, slid his finger through her wet folds, she almost came right then.
“Tell me, Evie.” His voice dropped to a husky growl, and he thrust one finger deep inside her. “Tell me you want me.”
“I want you,” she whispered, trembling at the exquisite intrusion. “It was always you.”
A dog barked. A man shouted. She heard the low rumble of a quad in the field and suddenly the fog in her brain lifted. She was a mom. Ty was sleeping inside. Her neighbors were sleeping only fifty feet away. She’d just ditched the man she’d been dating for the last four weeks. What was she doing only hours later in her backyard with the man who had broken her heart? A man who had walked away and would no doubt leave her again. A biker. Living the biker life.
Steeling herself, she forced herself to meet his gaze. “But when I gave up hoping you would ever come back, I let you go. I’m sorry, Zane. I’m not ready to open that door again.”
He released her so abruptly she almost lost her balance, but if she’d thought to push him away, she was gravely mistaken.
“Whatever it takes for you to trust me, I’ll do.” He wrapped his hand around her neck and leaned down to kiss her cheek. “If you want me to go slow, I’ll go slow. If you need gentle, I’ll be gentle. I will do what it takes, however long it takes. But I won’t let anyone else have you. You are mine, Evie. You’ve been mine since you were eight years old. And now that I’ve found you again, I’m not gonna let you go.”
