Outlaw (14 page)

“How? On those bikes again?” the blonde asked.

“I guess so. I think it’s the only way. There aren’t
any vehicles up here,” Angel answered her.

“The bikes weren’t so bad,” one of them added.

“What do you care how you get home? Just be grateful
you’re not still in that van!” another girl turned, and snapped at the blonde.

Cole walked out onto the porch with Wyatt. Angel
watched as they slapped each other on the back. Cole walked toward her, the
rest of the guys followed.

“Ready, ladies?” he asked.

“Yes, they’re ready.” Angel spoke for them.

“Let’s ride.” He took Angel by the hand, and headed
to his bike. The rest of the guys followed, each with a girl.

Chapter Six

Hours later they were almost back. Angel noticed
that one by one, the guys were breaking from the pack, and heading off in
different directions.

“Where are they going?
she
asked Cole, over his shoulder.

“Taking them home. At least, close enough for them
to get home on their own,” he turned his head, and answered.

A short time later, Cole pulled into the clubhouse.
They climbed off the bike. Angel stretched, and rubbed her backside.

Cole smiled. “Sore, baby doll?”

“Guess that’s more riding than I’m used to.” She
blushed.

“Yeah. I see that,” he teased. “Come on.” He led her
inside.

Mack was sitting at the bar with another brother. A
couple more were playing pool.

Cole led her to the bar, and sat down next to Mack.
“Sit down, babe.” He indicated the barstool next to him. The guy behind the bar
opened a couple bottles of beer, and slid them in front of them.

“How’d it go?” Mack asked.

“It’s handled,” Cole replied, not going into
details.

Mack slid a look at Angel, and looked back at Cole.
“Good.”

Cole took a hit off the beer, and lit a cigarette.

“Where are the rest of the guys?” Mack asked.

“We headed out first. They’ll be here soon,” Cole
answered.

Mack looked at him.

Angel wondered if he knew Cole wasn’t being
completely straight with him.

“You gonna run her home?” Mack asked.

Cole took a hit off his cigarette, and looked over
at him.

Mack realized he wasn’t going to get an answer. He
picked up his drink, finished it in one gulp, and slammed the glass down.
“Well, I’ve got some shit to do.” He stood up, and left.

Cole looked straight ahead, until the door slammed,
and Mack was gone. He took another hit off his cigarette.

Angel took a sip of her beer, watching Cole. He
drank his beer, not saying anything, flipping his silver lighter open and
closed, open and closed. She thought he looked like he was grappling with
something. She slid her hand on his thigh.

He looked over at her, his eyes going over her face.

“Is everything alright?” she asked quietly.

He put his cigarette out in the ashtray, and downed
his beer. “Come on.” Standing up, he took Angel by the hand, and led her up the
stairs, and down the hall to his room.

Angel watched Cole unlock the door, and then
followed him in. She turned, and studied him as he shut the door, trying to
read his mood. She had sensed some tension when he spoke with Mack, and now she
wasn’t sure what he was feeling.

He stood, looking at her. “I made you a deal.”

She nodded.

“I kept my end of it.”

“Yes,” she acknowledged.

“It’s done. So, are we good?”

She stared at him, questioningly.

He took a deep breath. “You know what I’m asking,
Angel. Is this the end of it? Is your need for retaliation satisfied?”

She frowned, looking away. “Satisfied? That two men
are dead?”

“Little late to be having second thoughts now, babe.
Isn’t that what you wanted? Have you forgotten what they did to you? They
deserved to be punished for that. You know it, and I know it.”

“It is what I wanted. But, they’re dead because of
me.”

He shook his head in frustration. “No. Not because
of you.
Because of them.
They brought this on
themselves.” He grabbed her by the upper arms, and shook her. “Don’t you ever
feel guilty about
that.
You hear me?”

She looked into his eyes.
She
wanted to believe him
,
she needed to believe him
.

He knew what it was like to carry that kind of
burden, and that was the last thing he wanted for her. He knew what it could do
to a person, how it could eat at you. He leaned down close to her face, looking
into her eyes. She needed to understand this. “Their deaths? That is not your
cross to bear. It’s mine.”

My God. He’d killed two men for her. For her! And
now he would carry the burden of it. How could she not feel guilty about that?
“It’s not that simple,” she whispered.

“Yeah. It is. There’s no gray here. It’s black and
white. Good guys, bad guys.”

“And which are you, Cole?”

He pulled back slightly, shaking his head. “Trust
me, Angel. You don’t want to know.”

“I don’t understand you. First you-”

He cut her off harshly. “Baby, I sold my soul to the
devil a long time ago. Don’t go lookin’ inside my head. You won’t like what you
find.”

At his anger, she backed down, and said nothing.

“So, I guess our time together is coming to an end,”
he added.

She didn’t reply. She wasn’t sure why it hurt so
much to hear him say that.

“Some people have a hard time saying goodbye,” he
looked at her, raising his eyebrows, and shaking his head. “I’m not one of
‘em.”

She reached up, and pushed his arms away, and
stepped away. She turned her back to him, not wanting him to see the affect his
words were having on her. “Sure, I understand.”

She felt him move to stand behind her. She stood
still, barely breathing, wondering if he would touch her. Aching for him to put
his arms around her, and pull her back against him. But he didn’t.

“Do you? Look at me, Angel. Look.”

Reluctantly she turned to face him.

“I thought it’d be easy.” He ran a finger gently
down her cheek.

“What?”

He shrugged. “Take what I wanted. Walk away.” He saw
the hurt in her eyes. Well, she might as well know the truth. “It’s nothing I
haven’t done a hundred other times.”

She tried to turn away, but he reached out, and
grabbed her hand, pulling her back. “But nothing about you has been easy. This
time…” he broke off, shaking his head.

She wet her lips. “Yes?”

He stared down at her a long moment, and then
admitted, “I’ve cut a lot of women loose in my life. But…I don’t want to cut
you loose, baby.”

She shook her head, and whispered, “I don’t want you
to.”

He blinked. “You don’t?”

“Do you know what I want?”

He studied her, and shook his head. He didn’t have a
clue what was in her head right now.

“Right now, more than anything, I want you to push
me down on that bed. I want to feel you on top of me.”

“Goddamn, woman. The things you say,” he whispered,
looking at her, stunned.

“It’s the truth.”

He reached up, and took a lock of her hair in his
hand, idly caressing it with his thumb. “Truth. Truth I can handle. The rest…well,
I can’t promise you a thing. You understand?” he murmured.

Their eyes held. “I know.”

“You may not always want to hear the truth, but I
promise I’ll look you in the eye, and give it to you straight.”

She nodded.

“Okay.”

Her gaze dropped to his mouth. That was all the
invitation he needed. He took her face in his hands, running his fingers into
her hair, and tilted her face up to his. He held his mouth just above hers, and
whispered, “This won’t last. You know that, don’t you?” And then his mouth closed
over hers.

Maybe not, but she was here now.

He pushed her down onto the bed, coming down on top
of her. He rose up over her, and looked down into her eyes. “Do you know what
you do to me?”

“Tell me.”

“I’d rather show you.” He took her hand in his, and
guided it to the front of his jeans. “Do you feel that baby? That’s what you do
to me.”

She smiled, and he smiled back.

He raised his hand to her cheek, and looked down at
her tenderly. Lowering his head to hers, he kissed her softly. He worked his
way across to her ear, and whispered, “The way you make me feel. It’s not like
any woman before. I want you to know that.”

Angel’s eyes slid closed as his mouth moved softly,
seductively down the arched line of her neck. She sighed, wrapping her arms
around him.

He groaned deep in his throat, and tightened his
arms around her, his leg moving over her, holding her down. “I may never let
you go.”

That night, Cole lay in bed. He could hear music
coming from downstairs. He looked over at Angel. She was fast asleep. He kissed
her on the cheek, and got out of bed. He got dressed, and softly closed the
door on his way out.

He walked down the hall, the music and talking
getting louder. He walked down the stairs, and into the main room. Glancing
around, he saw that the guys were all back, some shooting pool, some at the
bar. He walked over to the bar, and sat down next to Crash.

A bottle of beer was placed in front of him.

“How’d it go?” he asked Crash, looking over at him.

“Fine. No problems. I even got a kiss goodbye.”
Crash grinned.

Cole looked over at him, smiled, and shook his head.
“No shit?”

“And a phone number.”

“Really? Guess there’s no accounting for taste,”
Cole teased.

“How’d Mack take it when you told him what
happened?” Crash asked.

“Didn’t have a chance to tell him,” Cole replied,
not looking him in the eyes.

Crash raised his eyebrows, and shook his head.
“Gotta tell him. Before he hears it from someone else.”

Cole looked over at the pool table at the rest of
the crew. “Yeah.” He took a hit off his beer. “Not sure how that’s gonna go
over.”

“Sooner the better.” Crash nodded toward the door.

Mack was walking in.

“Shit,” Cole muttered under his breath.

He walked straight up to Cole. “We need to talk.
Now.” He turned, and walked off.

Cole watched him head into the Chapel, and slam the
door. He looked over at Crash.

“I’m guessing he already heard,” Crash observed.

“Ya think?” Cole asked sarcastically. He picked up
his beer, and followed Mack. He walked in the door, closed it, and sat down
next to him.

Mack glared at Cole. “You want to tell me what
happened? Why I’m hearing it from
them
,”
he nodded toward the door, “and not you?”

Cole blew out a breath. “Time and place, brother. I
didn’t think it needed to be brought up in front of her.”

“So tell me now,” Mack insisted.

“I found Chuck’s supplier for his sick, little
habit.”

“This was supposed to be about a grudge between you
and Chuck. Now I hear about this Chinese guy and a van full of witnesses.”

“They didn’t witness shit. I made sure of that.”

“Oh, so that makes it okay? Then you bring them to
the Dead Souls clubhouse? What the
fuck were
you
thinking?”

“I had to make the best decision I could. It was the
lesser of two evils.”

“What the hell’s gotten into you? Since when do you
care what Chuck does?” Mack leaned forward in his chair. “Not your business! I
let you have
him,
because the two of you have never
gotten along, I knew you didn’t want to share a patch with him, and he was
causing Wyatt problems anyway. I did
not
give you permission to involve the club with a white slavery ring, and kill an
outsider.”

Cole just glared at him.

“What’s with you? Is it the girl? Is she what’s got
you all twisted around?”

“Leave her out of this,” Cole snapped.

Mack nodded. The girl. He knew it. He’d seen this
before. “You’re not the first brother to be turned sideways by a damn broad.”

“I’m not turned sideways, Mack.”

“Yeah. You are. She needs to go.” Mack pointed a
finger in his face.

“
We done,
here?” Cole
snarled, grabbing his beer, and standing up.

“She goes, Cole. I mean it.”

Cole turned, and strode out, slamming the door. The
guys turned to look. He ignored them, and headed outside into the cool night
air. He stopped just outside the door, and lit a cigarette. The door opened,
and he turned to see Crash following him out. Cole took a hit off his
cigarette, and blew smoke into the air.