Riding Danger (8 page)

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Felicity sat on a bed in a cheap hotel room several hundred miles from home. She was tired, hungry, and everything she’d ever known about life had just been shown to be a huge lie.
My father, how could I not have known? How could I not have seen what he was?

Felicity looked at him, her eyes still wet with tears. “Did he kill George?”

“Yes, or rather he had someone kill him.”

“I bet you think I’m just a stupid little girl.”

“No, I think you’re a woman who was lied to.”

“Will she be okay?”

“Do you mean Marie?”

“Yes, will she be okay? I mean — can my dad catch her and kill her?”

Blaine thought she had, but he had his doubts. Marie was a smart woman, and she knew the score. A woman like that had a contingency plan. She knew what she had been dealing with, and she had known that there were only two ways out of it: die or run. He knew she had no other family or close ties outside of the bikers; so, as long as she laid low and got as far away as possible, she had a good chance of making it. Had he bought her enough time to do so? He was hoping he had, but it was impossible to tell.

“I’m going to let you go. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not a bad guy, I swear.”

“Then, how did you wind up in prison and then working for my dad?” Felicity’s words were laced with bitterness.

“I got into a bar fight. I was working as a bouncer and the guy that I was fighting fell and hit his head on the concrete out on the curb. I went to jail for killing him, but it was never intentional.

“I can’t say it wasn’t my fault. I was always in trouble even before that. I have a lot of little stupid petty things on my record: stealing a car when I was fourteen, hanging out with the wrong crowd, smoking a little weed. Just stupid kid shit, but when you add it all up with working as a bouncer at a strip club and getting in a fight with a guy who was the son of one of the richest guys in town, it comes up to a long stretch in prison.”

Felicity’s heart ached for him. She had known Blaine was not like the other guys that worked for her dad. There was something about him, something kinder and less spoiled. The other guys were all hard, but Blaine was not hard. He was a fighter and a good one. He would do whatever it took to protect somebody he cared about — he had risked his own life to take care of Marie, instead of hauling ass for safety.

He sat beside her and took her hand. His touch sent little chills running up and down her spine, and she instinctively moved closer to him. “You’re not going to believe this, and you probably don’t care, but I think I fell in love with you the first time I saw you.”

Felicity stared at him. “The first time you saw me?”

“You probably don’t even remember. I had just got off the bus, and I was walking down Highway 40. I had stopped on the side of the road and you came racing by in that bright red Mustang of yours and well — that was all I could see anyway.”

“I do remember it,” she smiled softly. “As soon as I saw you again, I thought how weird fate was. I wanted to stop that day, ask if you are okay or needed a ride, but I was scared. I mean, you know, a guy walking by himself all alone in the desert… Well, actually, you were taking a leak.”

She had seen him, and she had remembered him. That was very gratifying for him and for her, as well. Felicity leaned forward, and he turned his head. Their eyes locked and their mouths were hovering so close to each other’s — tantalizingly close.

The kiss was long, slow, and tender. Their tongues parted each other’s lips, met, and twined around each other’s in a kiss that turned passionate so quickly there was no time to think about the consequences or anything else.

His hands came up, cupped her face, and held her to his. The kiss deepened and Felicity whimpered. It was a soft little sound that meant surrender. Blaine allowed his hands to slide down her thin and delicate shoulders.

Blaine undressed her hurriedly, but his fingers were gentle as he opened her blouse to expose the pretty, sky-blue bra she wore beneath it. He undid the little clasp between her breasts, and they tumbled free.

Unable to resist he began to rub her breasts, squeezing the round firm flesh, as his lips tugged at her erect nipples, stirring them to a hard peak. A slow sigh escaped her, as he lightly pinched her nipples and then kissed them, his tongue running across the pebble-hard surfaces.

Blaine had a couple of encounters since leaving jail but this—this was special and he wanted it to last. He wanted her to remember this moment, so he took his time. He undressed her completely, so she was naked and vulnerable, as he laid her down gently on the stained, old comforter.

Blaine positioned himself between her legs, licking her belly and navel. His tongue delved deeply inside her labia, as he tasted her honeyed sweetness. Then, he travelled lower—running along the seam of her asshole lightly before coming back up to her clit. He did not linger there, even though her fingers tangled in his hair as she cried out, her breath already gone.

What is he doing to me?
She had slept with a few guys, but none of them had done anything like this to her. Juices ran down her legs and ass crack, and he teased her, driving her almost mad with his clever tongue and fingers.

Felicity gasped and whimpered, as his tongue caressed her thighs. His fingers stroked and spread her outer then inner labia, holding them open so that he could press his tongue to her clit once again. It was an exquisite little massaging motion that sent her flying to the edge of a powerful orgasm.

His tongue dipped inside her, probed at her walls, and then withdrew. Her thighs trembled, and her mouth grew dry, as his tongue stiffened and dove deeper. Thick creamy juices dripped from her pussy and matted down the thin strip of pubic curls at the apex between her legs.

His fingers slid into her, pumped, and thrust. His tongue pressed against her clit and stroked that hard flesh, teasing it until it grew even more erect. Pleasure rode over her, erasing thought. She was reduced to a creature of sensation, as he moved against her.

“Come for me,” he whispered, his breath blowing against her wetness. Her back curled and her fingers clenched. She came hard, her belly shaking and her legs locked into tight rigid lines.

Blaine moved up higher, using one hand to guide himself inside her wet tight tunnel. Felicity closed her eyes, as his enormous and thick cock filled her pussy, stretching her walls and sliding across those soaked and delicate surfaces.

Her moans were loud, and her fingers clutched at his back and the flexing muscles of his ass. She heard him hiss in a breath, as she had scratched him deeply with her perfectly manicured nails.

Blaine fucked her harder and faster. His hips slammed into hers and the sound of their sex was loud, the scent of it drifting up and filling the room. Sweat beaded up on both their bodies, and Blaine felt her inner folds quiver then constrict around his stiff flesh.

He allowed himself to come, spilling his heavy, white seed deeply within her snug sheath. He collapsed on top of her and lay there, inhaling the light sweet scent of her perfume. He thought,
How can I let her go? How can I not let her go?

He was an ex-convict, and he was on the run from a very dangerous man — her father.

No matter how much he wanted her — and he wanted her desperately — he had not been lying when he had said he had fallen in love with her almost at first sight; but, to keep her would be unfair. He had money, yes; but not enough. He planned on striking out, heading up to Canada maybe — finding a little spot near a quiet shore and started his life over as a new person.

He did not want to let her go. He rolled over, still inside her and holding her tightly, and he said, “I am going to leave in the morning. I will make sure that there is enough money here for you to eat and pay the rent on the room so your father can come pick you up.”

Her tears scalded his neck. “Why do I have to go back there?”

“He’s your father. Don’t you want to go home?”

“Did you know that my mother died because she fell off the roof of our house? It happened when I was only a couple years old, I don’t remember it… I don’t even remember her. Dad said that she had gone out there look at the stars and fell, but when I was about seven or eight one of my grandparents — her mom — said that is not what happened. I asked what had happened and she would not tell me, so I went home and asked my dad and that was the last time I was allowed to go to my grandparent’s house.

“He killed my mom. I know that, maybe I always knew it. He will kill you, too. Nothing I say will stop him. Maybe one day he will kill me. Why should I go back to that? I want to go wherever you are going.”

“Do you know what you’re getting yourself into?”

“I think I do. You know, I am really sick and tired of people treating me like I’m just a little girl, I’m not. I’m a grown-up, and this is my decision. That is, if you will have me.”

If I’ll have her?
He stared at her, bemused, before he answered. “Of course I will have you, I would be lucky to have you.”

“You have to make me one promise.”

“What’s that?”

“That whatever it is that we do in our life, it won’t be anything like what my dad does for a living. That you will do things the right way. That we will have a life that is so far removed from criminal activity that it is not even funny.”

“I think that is a promise I can keep.”

Blaine was beginning to get an uneasy feeling deep in his gut, but he ignored it, content to lay there and hold her in his arms. He was hungry. He needed fuel and so did she, so he rolled over just long enough to grab the food he had unpacked and bring it into the bed with them. “I have chicken salad, tuna salad, and ham salad. I think they’re pretty much all the same. In fact, if you eat the cardboard under the sandwich you would probably be getting more nutritional value out of the meal.”

Felicity actually laughed at that, “Okay, well, I’m a sucker for salmonella so give me the chicken.”

“How do you know exactly which strain of food poisoning you’re going to get from which sandwich?”

“Oh, I’m just guessing. As you said, they’re probably all the same anyway.”

The sandwiches were stale but filling, and they ate them as well as the potato chips and the chocolate bars that he had bought. Afterwards, Blaine began to feel a lot better. It had been a long night and he needed rest. He was going on almost 48 hours with no sleep at all.

He wondered,
Can I trust Felicity while I sleep?
He could and he knew it. He wrapped his arms more tightly around her and whispered, “Get a little sleep. We’ll move again in just a couple of hours but not right now, it’s the middle the night, and this side of the city isn’t the safest. Or at least I don’t think it is.”

Felicity answered that with a snarky little, “Oh, really? You don’t think this place is safe? Oh my.”

Blaine was asleep almost before she finished speaking, and Felicity lay there a little while longer watching him sleep. The whole day seemed surreal and somehow very real all at the same time. She didn’t think she’d ever go to sleep, but eventually she did.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Dawn was beginning to reach pearly fingers along the windows, the air conditioner was wheezing and rattling, and there was a deep booming cough coming from the room next door. Blaine’s eyes opened, and he listened as the people in the room next door began to prepare for their day and move things out. There was the rattle of a door, a few words to whoever else was in the room, and the door slammed hard as an engine cranked up.

Felicity woke up slowly, her eyes fluttering open and shut, as she regained consciousness. He gave her a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth, wondering if she had changed her mind during the long night. “Good morning, how did you sleep?”

“Pretty good. I could stay here in bed with you for the next few hours in fact.”

“We have to get out of here and the sooner the better. I’m thinking we can grab the first bus we see and try to make it to the better side of town, maybe find a bus station or an airport. Something to get us out of here.”

“I can’t get on a plane, I don’t have any ID.”

Damn, he had not thought about that. But that was okay, a plane was too risky anyway. He was fleeing from a life in prison. He was a man on parole, and there was no way they were going to get on a plane.

“He swatted her butt lightly and said, “If you hurry up and get yourself dressed, I’ll buy you a decent breakfast.”

Felicity practically sprang out of the bed. She began to dress hastily, “Well, if that’s a true offer, I’ll be out of here in just a few seconds.” Blaine began pulling on his own clothes, laughing as she struggled to get her feet back in the ridiculously cute and impractical scrappy sandals that she wore.

He pulled on his boots and made sure he had everything: money, gun, and a few other necessities before saying, “If I knew that all it took to get you to move that quick was some breakfast, I would’ve offered you that yesterday and saved myself the trouble of having to kidnap you.”

Just then, a hail of gunfire rattled through the night. Blaine rolled off the bed, taking her with him. His arms wrapped around her, and when they hit the floor, he used his own body to shield hers; but, he was afraid that it was not going to be good enough.

Felicity cried out, her terror overcoming rational thought, as she struggled inside his grip. Blaine knew that the urge to run was strong. He felt it, too; but, if she stood up, she stood a bigger chance of getting shot.

“Hush baby, hush. We are going to get out of here, but you have to trust me. You have to be real quiet, too. Can you do that?”

Sobs shook her entire frame. Her body arced, and her feet kicked. Her fists flew about in a blind panic turned physical outburst. Her sobs were hoarse and harsh sounds, they made his heart break, even as the sound of the gunfire drew closer.

“Stop shooting! I have Felicity in here!”

“Keep her in there,” Ben shouted. “Her daddy said she’s damaged goods now. She fucked you, and he knows it.”

She had not done what her father said. She had not killed him. As far as Greg was concerned, she meant nothing to him now. Blaine had known, even as he had told her that he was going to leave her, that he couldn’t. He had known that she couldn’t go back, but he hadn’t wanted to force her into the decision of staying with him either. That would not have been fair. She had to make up her own mind, and while he was absolutely thrilled that she decided not to kill him and to stay with him, he was a little doubtful that they were going to make it out of any of this alive.

Glass shattered and rained down on them from the windows. Blaine grabbed the mattress, pulling it over them, as he tried to map out a route to the bathroom. Was there a window in there? He couldn’t remember. He’d taken a leak outside earlier, but he hadn’t used the bathroom. Maybe she had.

“Felicity, were you in the bathroom?”

“They’re shooting at us!”

Her terror was so strong that she was shaking all over. He knew that if he did not get her out of there, not only would the bullets that were raining down on them end their lives, she would die badly: scared out of her mind and trying to figure out why her own father had betrayed her. That was a shitty way to die, and he wasn’t going to allow that if he could help it.

“Felicity, think! Was there a window in the bathroom?”

A window? Yes, there was. A big dirty thing with…
“Yes, yes and it wouldn’t close all the way!”

Blaine said, “We have to stay under the mattress and we have to get to the bathroom. I want you to crawl fast as you can on your hands and knees to the bathroom door. I’m right behind you, honey.”

She was still afraid, but she knew he wasn’t going to leave her, he wasn’t her father. His love didn’t depend on her doing what he wanted. He cared about her and nothing else.

“Okay,” she breathed. She took off, as tufts of foam spilled out of the mattress. More bullets hit it the wall behind it her and tears were threatening to blind her, but she blinked them away, concentrating on nothing more than moving her arms and legs as fast as possible. She didn’t dare turn her head to see if he was behind her, but she could feel him back there.

She made it into the bathroom, and Blaine came in behind her. He slammed the door, and, in one swift movement, he dumped the two of them into the bathtub and ducked low. His body covered hers again, as more bullets raked through the room in front of the bathroom.

The window was above the tub, and he needed to see what was outside. He had to risk it. The bathroom walls were taking most of the bullets, but that would not stay true for long. All the businesses were closed, except for the convenience store. Blaine was willing to bet that whoever was in there was hiding below a counter and hoping like hell that the crazy biker bastards blowing up the motel across the street didn’t take a notion into their heads to come that way.

The few cars that had been in front of the motel the night before would not be a deterrent to the crew. They would kill everybody and sort it all out later. It was kind of their motto. Blaine couldn’t wait any longer. He told Felicity, “Stay down until I tell you to get up. Do you understand?”

More bullets pinged against the ceramic rim of the tub, shattering tile on the wall behind her, making her scream.

Blaine stood up. The window was large, and it looked out over a filthy little courtyard littered with dumpsters. He gauged the distance from the dumpster to the roof of the building next door. If they could make it to that roof, they could make it across the other buildings and maybe out of harm’s way before at the crew realized they were gone.

It was a long shot, but it was their only shot.

Blaine busted out the glass of the window. He hoisted Felicity up and tossed her out onto the top of the dumpster. He followed suit and as soon as he got outside, he grabbed her by the hand and took off in a dead run. Felicity didn’t even ask questions. She had already begun to understand what it was that he was trying to do.

They made it to the top of the roof. When they got to the edge, they stood long enough to jump to the next roof, and then they ran across it. The gunfire had ceased, and they knew that if they didn’t get somewhere quickly they were as good as dead. It would not take anybody long to figure out how they had gotten away.

They came out onto the corner that had traffic flowing. There was much more life than the block they had just left behind. They eased off the roof and Blaine spotted, like a gift from God, a taxi pulling to the curb.

As it emptied of its passenger, Blaine ran for it with Felicity pounding along beside him. They jumped into the cab, startling the driver so much that he stepped on the gas and hurtled out in front of traffic.

“It’s okay,” Blaine said. “Just keep going. I need you to take us to the bus station. Can you do that?”

“Sure man, sure. I go there all the time.” The driver turned on the meter and Blaine sat back, adopting a pose of relaxation that was all a lie. He was busy checking the mirrors to make sure that they weren’t being followed.

“I’m really sorry.”

Felicity did not even have to say what was she was sorry for. They both knew. Her father had somehow managed to find them because of her phone call after all. His hands stroked her hair gently. A few pieces of glass fell out and landed on the carpet, twinkling like little broken stars.