Riding Steele: Collide (3 page)

“What made you finally decide to break it off with him?” Steele asked.

She began to tremble in his arms. “It was … He had me handcuffed to a … what he called a punishment bench. When he was …” She drew in a breath, remembering Donovan behind her, driving deep into her body in hard strokes. “Like … in the middle of things. He wrapped his hands around my neck.”

Her fingers curled tight, grasping the fabric of Steele’s shirt.

“I couldn’t breathe. And he just kept …” She couldn’t say it out loud. “I felt panicky. I thought, if he didn’t … uh … find … his release … I was afraid I’d pass out. That maybe I wouldn’t wake up again.”

Steele’s arms tightened around her.

“Sweetheart, you’re safe now.”

But she wasn’t. Donovan was still out there, and eventually she had to leave here and face him. And she didn’t know what he’d do to her.

“You’re safe here,” he said again, murmuring against her hair.

And she did feel safe in his arms. She wished she never had to leave them. She shifted on his lap and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. Never wanting to let him go.

*

Steele’s heart ached as Laurie burrowed deep into his arms. She was so fragile right now. So vulnerable.

That jackass had really done a number on her, and if he ever got his hands on the guy, he would likely kill him. At the fierceness of his thought, he held her tight, and she whimpered a little. He eased his hold on her and kissed the crown of her head.

“It’s all right. I’ll never hurt you. You know that, don’t you?”

She nodded, filling him with a deep sense of satisfaction.

But he would have to make sure he never got his hands on that Donovan asshole. The last thing he needed was another assault and battery charge on his record.

Or possibly manslaughter.

*

Steele heard her murmuring in the bed. Once she’d fallen asleep, he’d moved to the armchair, giving her space. In the darkness, though, her whimpers made him want to go to her, and he was just about to throw the blanket he’d pulled over himself aside when she sat bolt upright, with a strangled “no.”

She sucked in rapid breaths of air and glanced around. His eyes were used to the darkness, but she probably couldn’t see him in the shadowy depths.

“Are you all right, Laurie?”

“Steele?” Her head turned in his direction.

She pushed back her covers and, for a confused moment, he thought she was going to bolt, but instead of heading for the door, she hurried toward him and—to his total surprise—climbed onto his lap and flung her arms around him, then snuggled against his body.

She was like a tiny child who’d woken up frightened in the night and needed comfort. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Her head rested against his shoulder and her soft breath brushed against his cheek. She was trembling—because she was cold or frightened because of the dream she’d been having he wasn’t sure, but probably the latter. He tugged the blanket from his knees and wrapped it around her. Within moments, she was asleep again, so he just held her.

*

Light washed against Laurie’s eyes and she opened them. She was in Steele’s big solid arms, on his lap in an armchair.

Reminding her how she’d trotted to him in the middle of the night like a child seeking comfort. But she didn’t feel like a child now, snuggled against his muscular body, his strong arms encircling her.

He glanced down at her. “Good morning.”

“Morning.”

He was so close. So masculine. Their faces were only inches apart. She gazed into his intense gray eyes, drawn in deeper and deeper. The two of them seemed to be drawn together by some magnetic force and his lips found hers. His mouth moved on hers tenderly, totally undemanding. Need welled up in her and she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer.

When they finally parted, their gazes were locked. She wanted him to carry her to the bed, and make love to her. To make her feel what it was like to be with someone who cared about her.

She drew back with a start. How did she know this man cared about her?

“Is there something wrong?”

She shook her head.

He obviously had a basic respect for her and her needs, but it wasn’t a caring for her like a man for a woman in a relationship. She didn’t even know him. She was projecting her need to be protected and cared for onto this man who was basically her captor.

He was a good man. She knew that now. But he didn’t love her. He simply felt a responsibility to keep her safe.

And she also believed he felt as intense an attraction for her as she felt for him.

She stroked her hand across the defined muscles of his chest, wishing there could be more between them. Still, it didn’t mean she could appreciate all he’d done for her.

“Steele, thank you for looking out for me, and for keeping me safe despite my best efforts to break away.”

“Escape you mean?” He grinned. “Truth be told, that’s one of the things I love about you. Your tenacity.”

Love?

He didn’t mean that the way her pounding heart wanted him to.
Did he?

Shock zipped through her. Could she really want him to fall in love with her? This man she’d only met days ago? After he kidnapped her?

But the kidnapping made him all the more appealing because it showed the lengths to which he’d go to keep her safe.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, watching her changing expressions.

“I just realized that everything about our relationship has changed.”

His eyebrow arched. “Relationship?”

“Well, you know … I mean …” But she noticed his eyes were glittering with amusement.

“Yes, I know. I’m no longer the big bad man who has you chained to his bed.” He grinned and kissed her lips lightly.

She smiled timidly at him. “True. But you know, if I had to find myself trapped in someone’s bed, I’m glad it was yours.”

Fire blazed in his eyes and he drew her close, his lips ravaging hers.

“Steele,” someone said while rapping on the door.

Steele tore his lips from hers. “Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, then snarled, “What do you want?”

“Laurie’s brother is on the phone. He wants to talk to her.”

He stared at her. “This isn’t over.”

She smiled and slipped from his lap.

Sometime during the night, she’d shed her jeans, so she quickly pulled them on as Steele walked to the door. He opened it, revealing Rip standing in the doorway.

Rip handed him a cell phone and Steele nodded, then closed the door and handed the phone to Laurie.

“Hello?” she said.

“Laurie, I’m glad you’re okay. I heard about what happened,” Craig said on the other end of the line.

She didn’t know which happening he referred to, and she didn’t care right now.

“You’ve been out of town,” she said.

“Yeah, I had to go on business, but I got back as soon as I could.”

“But you were busy before you left.” Her hand tightened on the phone.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean arranging for my kidnapping.”

“Laurie, wait—”

“No, I’m not going to wait. How could you do that?” She was aware of Steele in the background, watching her.

“I was just trying to keep you safe. And you must know that I made that suggestion when I was … uh … less than sober.”

“But sober or not, you really thought that turning me over to a gang of bikers was a reasonable solution?”

“I didn’t turn you over to a gang of bikers. I asked my friend—a cop—to help me look out for you. He knew these guys and one of them is an ex-cop, too. I knew you’d be in good hands. Anyway, I told you, I was drunk at the time, and desperate to protect you. But none of that matters, because they refused.”

“And yet, here I am,” she responded, her hand balling into a fist. But she realized that it wasn’t fair to pin that on her brother, since it was circumstances that had caused Wild Card to snatch her. And save her from Donovan’s clutches, she admitted to herself. Her gaze darted to Steele.

But despite that, she couldn’t let her brother get away with this kind of thing.

“Craig, you really can’t do things like this. You’re overprotective and controlling. I need to live my own life. I’m an intelligent adult.”

“Are you sure?” he asked, annoyance in his voice. “Because some of your choices suggest otherwise.”

Anger flared inside her and she jabbed the
END
button, then spiked the phone at the armchair. It hit the cushion then bounced to the floor as she tugged the bedroom door open and stormed out. She strode down the stairs then straight out the front door. She ignored the stares of Dom, Rip, and Shock who sat in chairs on the grass overlooking the water and continued along the path to the isolated beach. She kept walking until the glittering water came into view and past the dense bushes, then stopped by a big tree and leaned back against it waiting for her pounding heart to settle down.

“You okay?” Steele said from behind her.

“Afraid I’d run away?” she asked, annoyance in her voice.

But he ignored her barb. “I thought you might want to talk.” He stepped closer. “Your brother cares about you. You know that.”

She drew in a deep breath. “Yet he arranged for you to kidnap me.”

“He wasn’t really serious, and we didn’t go along with it.”

She glared at him. “And yet I’m here.”

He walked toward her. “Laurie, don’t transfer your anger at your brother to me. You know what happened.” He grasped her shoulders and gazed at her, his granite eyes intense. “Wild Card—or any of us for that matter—wouldn’t have ignored what was happening to you in that parking garage. He stepped in because he wouldn’t just stand by and allow that asshole to manhandle you like that.”

She pursed her lips. “The point is my brother doesn’t think I can take care of myself.”

“You’re a woman and he’s trying to watch out for you.” He shrugged. “And I can understand why he wants to protect his little sister.”

She glared at him. “So you think that because I’m a woman I can’t take care of myself either? So tell me, if I wanted to leave right now, would you stop me?”

His jaw twitched. “I shouldn’t have to. You should know what’s good for you.”

“So you’d keep me here against my will?” She tried to step past him but he blocked her way. “You’d overpower me?”

He stepped forward, backing her against the tree. “Why not? That seems to be what you like.”

He dragged her into his arms, his lips taking hers in a forceful kiss. She stiffened, resisting the urge to melt against him. But her anger began to disappear when he pulled her tight to him, her breasts crushed against his hard, muscular chest. She longed for him to stroke them, to rip off her shirt and nuzzle the soft skin.

He stroked his hands down her sides to her hips, then pulled her against his body, his hard erection pressing against her soft belly. Oh, God, she wanted to feel that big cock. To hold it in her hands and stroke it. To feel him press it to her opening and glide inside. Deep and hard inside her.

She clenched her thighs as his hard lips dominated and his big body trapped her immobile against the tree. No escape.

She drew in a breath, wanting him so bad she thought she’d die from the need.

His tongue spiked into her mouth, and he rocked his pelvis forward. He was big and hard and she just knew he was going to take her, here and now. Just like Donovan would.

But Donovan hurt her.

She couldn’t let this happen.

He grabbed her wrists and pushed them over her head, holding her firm, his big, hard body pinning her to the tree. She pushed against his hold, but he was too strong. Panic rushed through her and she shook her head, breaking the demanding kiss.

“You’re going to force me into submission? Just like he did?”

The heat faded from his intense gray eyes, and they hardened into glinting steel.

“Shit.” He drew back and released her. “All you had to do was say no.”

He turned around and strode away.

She sucked in air as he disappeared through the bushes, her heart pounding.

Oh, God, she had been so aroused being overpowered by him. She had wanted him to take her right here against the tree. But those feelings reminded her of how she’d felt around Donovan when he’d taken control.

And that had terrified her.

But Steele wasn’t Donovan. Right from the beginning, he had been protective and caring of her.

And now she’d driven him away.

*

As she walked back along the path to the house, she heard a bike engine roar to life, then zoom away. When she pushed through the bushes, she saw that Steele’s bike was gone.

She spent the day trying to be useful. She made lunch for everyone while they sat by the lake in front of the house, and after dinner, she helped with the dishes. Steele was still gone as the sunlight faded deep orange over the lake and finally disappeared, leaving the world in darkness.

She played cards with some of the others, but finally decided to go to bed. She heard Steele’s bike return sometime after midnight and she held her breath when he came into the house, waiting for him to come upstairs. Wondering what she would say to him.

But he didn’t come up.

She was restless and anxious as another hour passed. Then she heard someone on the stairs. She gripped the blanket and watched the door. But then she heard a woman’s giggle and the rumbling of a man’s voice.

It was Raven and Rip.

She hopped out of bed and pulled on her jeans, then peered out the door to see their bedroom door closing. She raced down the hall and tapped on the door.

It opened and Rip stood there.

“Hi. I … uh … wanted to ask Raven something.”

“Sure. Come in.” He stepped aside and she scooted into the room.

Raven walked toward her. “What is it?”

“I wanted to know if you could help me with something?”

Rip grinned. “Can I watch?”

“Rip!” Raven sent him an admonishing stare.

“Sorry, I’m just …”

Raven laughed. “Yeah, we all know what you’re
just
.” She turned to Laurie. “Don’t mind him. He’s had a few drinks and is ready to go, if you know what I mean. What is it you want?” she asked with a smile.