She moved closer to Cash’s side as they walked through the heavy crowd.
“Nervous?”
“I really don’t know what to think,” Rachel admitted, coming to a stop next to him as he paused in front of one bike. Its gleaming chrome and appearance attracted Rachel, and she didn’t know a thing about bikes. Cash, on the other hand, moved along to other motorcycles.
“Are you just browsing or looking for one in particular?” Rachel asked.
“I have a couple I’ve been thinking about, but I haven’t made my mind up yet.” He stopped at one black monster that was huge to Rachel, but when he sat on it, he took the machine over. It suited him.
He climbed off and then took a step back, looking it over. “Sit on it.”
“What?” Rachel cleared her voice.
“Sit on the bike,” Cash repeated.
Rachel tentatively climbed on the back of the bike, sitting there self-consciously as he took out his phone and took a picture. She climbed off.
“Why did you take a picture?” she snapped.
“So I would have something to remember the day I bought my bike,” he said, taking several more before putting his phone back in his pocket.
Rachel watched as he bought the bike. She noticed the surprise of the seller when Cash paid him in full for it.
“You’re not going to test drive it?” Rachel asked.
“No, I drove it yesterday when I was here with the brothers but couldn’t make up my mind. I just needed to see one more thing before I decided to buy it.”
“What?”
“You on the back of it,” Cash stated.
He set up the delivery and then moved her to where a large crowd was standing, watching several motorcycles racing. On the opposite side of the track, Rachel saw Sex Piston and her crew cheering.
The motorcycles were flying by so fast Rachel couldn’t see the riders’ faces. However, after the race, Rachel saw Stud take his trophy while moving away from the woman in a short red dress, who was trying to give him a bottle of champagne.
“What’s he doing? He’s going to fall off the stage if he isn’t careful.”
“I have no idea,” Cash answered as the woman finally managed to hand the bottle to the runner up.
“Want a hot dog?”
“Yes.” Rachel’s mouth watered as they drew closer to the hot dog stand.
Cash bought them each one and a bottled water. They walked and ate as they looked over the different types of bikes. Rachel had never been interested in motorcycles before, but she listened as Cash showed her the different brands.
As they walked, whenever they neared Sex Piston and her friends, he managed to nudge her in another direction.
“You don’t want to congratulate Stud?”
“Not if it means having to talk to those bitches.”
“They’re not that bad.”
“Yes they are,” Cash countered.
The biker women certainly made a statement with their large entourage and biker clothes. Rachel didn’t think a bottle of oil would let her get in those leather pants that Sex Piston was wearing.
It was dark when they returned to her car. Back in the close confines of her car, she fell back into silence. She had enjoyed the day and had felt some of the antagonism toward him slipping away.
“When I get my bike, you’ll have to go for a ride with me,” he said casually.
“No, thanks. I’m sure the women at the club will all be lining up for that privilege.” The harsh words passed her lips before she could stop them.
Cash’s grim face turned away from her, staring out the window for the remainder of the ride.
She put on the blinker to turn into Mag’s house when he stopped her.
“Take me to the clubhouse.”
Rachel kept driving, refusing to say anything. She drove the extra miles to the clubhouse with the tension boiling in the car.
When she came to a stop, he turned to her. “How long are you going to make me pay for giving you a ride you’d been wanting for a while?”
Rachel’s hand swung out, aiming for his face. “You bastard!”
“Hell, no. That’s not going to happen.” His hand caught her, placing it directly on his jean covered cock, forcing her fingers to tighten on him. “Even if I am a bastard, we had a good time today whether you want to admit it or not. We could have had an even better time tonight, but you’re too worried about proving to yourself and the town that you’re the good girl sitting in church every Sunday to have any fun. When you decide to get off your high horse, you might realize we could have a good thing.” He released her hand and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.
Rachel swallowed hard, her hands trembling on the wheel as she felt her body’s response to touching him. She wanted to stop him from getting out of the car, to unzip his jeans and find the release she had only had found once with him. Her pride had held her back, which wasn’t much of a consolation prize as she drove to Mag’s home alone.
* * *
Cash stood, looking down at his wrecked bike. It was irreparable. He was amazed he had lived through the wreck that destroyed it.
“What do you think about it?” His brothers had gathered to watch it be unloaded from the delivery truck. He couldn’t have picked better.
The brothers slapped him on his back.
“Ready for a ride?” Viper’s hard-eyed stare watched for his reaction.
“Hell, yeah!”
The large group of bikers mounted their bikes, pulling onto the road in rows of two. They rode down the mountain, through the town, obeying the speed limit until they hit the county line. Cash rode next to Viper, who flung him a shit-eating grin before accelerating his speed, taking his bike wide-fucking-open down the road. Cash felt a twinge of nervousness as he sped up to keep pace. Then his love of the ride kicked in, and he felt nothing except the bike underneath him.
They rode until they reached Jamestown, pulling into a half-empty local bar. Give it another hour and it would begin to fill as the working stiffs rolled in at the end of the day.
Cash ordered everyone a round of beers and had just sat at the bar to drink his when the door opened and the men who had sat with Rachel and Willa all those months ago walked in. He could immediately tell there was going to be trouble.
“Fuck,” he muttered to Viper, who had stiffened beside him.
The group of ten men took up the remaining tables.
“Hey, hot stuff.” A pretty blond sat her perky ass down on a stool next to him. “I haven’t seen you in here before.”
“Been out of commission for a while. Decided to go for a ride tonight,” Cash explained, taking another sip of his beer.
“Want another one?” She slid her hand up his arm, tracing over one of his tats. Cash felt his skin crawl at her touch. Once upon a time, he would have taken her out back and banged her then returned to finish his beer without another thought.
Cash moved his arm away from the woman’s reach. “No.”
“You married?”
“No,” he said abruptly.
“Gay?”
“No.”
“Then why not?” She leaned forward, sliding her hand up his thigh. “Baby, I can suck your dick like it’s never been sucked before.”
Cash began to get angry at her refusal to accept his rejection, jerking her hand away again. As she leaned forward, swiping her tongue against his neck, her overpowering musky scent had Cash’s head jerking away.
“I doubt that,” Cash said, amused. “Listen to me: I’m not interested.” Cash started to get really rude then thought better of it. “I’ve got a deal for you.”
He spent the next few minutes telling her what he did want from her then slid a hundred dollar bill toward her with Viper blocking anyone else in the bar from seeing what he was doing. With a wink, she sauntered off to another man, but not before giving Viper a once-over. Viper raised his hand, showing his wedding ring and sending the disappointed woman on her wa
y.
“Think she’ll be useful?”
“Who knows?” He shrugged. “At least I got her hand away from my dick. That was worth the Benjamin.”
“Motherfucker, you better back off.” Rider stood to his feet, his chair falling to the floor as the one who had taken Willa’s card came to his feet.
“You’re the one who needs to fuck off.” A fist flew out, which Rider dodged while his own nailed the man in the jaw.
Viper cocked a brow at Cash. “You up for this?”
“Hell, yeah.” He had been dying to blow off some steam, and this was the perfect opportunity. “The one in the red shirt is mine.” He slipped his brass knuckles out of his pocket.
When the bar became engulfed in fighting, Cash made sure he was the one to take on the guy who had come on to Rachel, using the brute force he had been steadily regaining during the months of rehab. He managed to beat the asshole so that his own mother wouldn’t recognize him. His body was weak, drenched in sweat and he was shaking when the cops came through the door. Cash didn’t put up a fight as he was handcuffed, but he did manage to land a last solid kick against the ribs of the man lying on the floor.
They were taken to jail. Cash, Viper, Lucky, and Train were in one cell while the three other cells were filled with the remaining Last Riders.
“Notice anything funny?” Viper’s voice was muffled by the t-shirt he had removed to stem the blood flowing from his nose.
“We’re the only ones arrested,” Cash confirmed.
“We wanted to know how far they had taken over this town; our question just got answered.”
“Stud’s not going to be happy.”
“I’m not, either. I think they were scouting Treepoint to see how easy it would be to take over.” Viper lowered the now-bloody shirt.
“They’ll control the main road through the mountain,” Cash surmised.
Viper nodded. “And all the side roads that lead through both towns.”
“Fuck, Viper. If they pulled something really big, it would take an army to get to them.”
“I think that’s what they’re planning on.”
The men stared at each other grimly.
Cash got sick to his stomach. To want a getaway of this magnitude, they were planning on doing a job that would have massive fatalities, and then even more lives would be lost trying to get them off the land that provided them plenty of cover from attack.
“I’ll make some calls.” Cash was already thinking of several buddies in Homeland Security.
“I will, too,” Lucky chimed in, flexing his hand with the bruised knuckles. “But I’m not becoming a minister again.”
“How about a nun?” Cash joked.
“Fuck you.” Lucky leaned his head back against the grey wall.
The men started coming up with ideas for Lucky’s next undercover assignment, but when Train’s idea landed him face down on the floor, they quit laughing. Lucky, satisfied he had shut everyone down, sat back down.
“Motherfuckers, if you don’t shut up, I’ll tell the women those yahoos beat your asses.”
The cell went quiet. Lucky never made promises he didn’t keep.
* * *
Cash let himself in his grandmother’s house. It was two in the morning before Diamond had been able to get them out of jail. He was tired while at the same time wired. He knew his brothers were going back to the clubhouse with beds that would have women waiting for them while the one waiting here for him was cold and empty.
He stumbled over a table leg as he walked through the living room. “Shit!”
His grandmother was constantly getting new furniture from flea markets. How she maneuvered her wheelchair through the cramped space boggled his mind; he couldn’t walk through it without constantly bumping into something.
“Who’s there?” a feminine voice sounded from the hallway along with the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.
“Who the fuck do you think it is?” Cash grunted, bumping into a chair.
“Cash?”
He was standing in front of her, seeing the gun in her hand.
“Put the gun up, Rachel.”
“What are you doing coming in so late?”
Cash could see her in the dim light coming from her opened bedroom door. She was wearing a thin nightgown that came to the tops of her thighs, the low neckline showing the pale flesh of her breasts.
“I went for a ride.”
“So I smell.” She wrinkled her nose, taking a step away from him. “It’s so late I’m surprised you didn’t stay the night at the clubhouse or at least take a shower.”
Cash couldn’t help but grin, not missing the dart she threw at him for staying last night at the clubhouse.
“I wasn’t out fucking. The brothers and I took a ride to Jamestown.” He reached out, running a finger across the tops of her breasts. The gun, which she had lowered, rose again, pointing at his chest.
“You don’t have permission to touch me. Do it again, and I’ll blow your left nut off,” Rachel threatened.
Cash lost his grin. “I don’t like having a gun pointed at me, and I sure as shit don’t like you threatening to blow off my dick.”
“I didn’t threaten to blow off your dick, just one of those balls you’re so proud of. I’m a good shot; I wouldn’t miss.”
“My hand isn’t going to miss if you don’t cut back on some of that sass you’ve been throwing in my direction.”
“What’s the matter, Cash? Can’t take a woman who doesn’t want to drop her panties when she sees you?”
“That wouldn’t be you; you dropped yours fast enough the first time I tried. Don’t put yourself on a nonexistent pedestal. Your sweet pussy was one of the best I’ve ever had.”
When Rachel reached out to hit him with the gun, Cash jerked it out of her hand while maneuvering her backwards into her bedroom, shutting the door with his foot. He laid the rifle down on the dresser.
“I warned you last night that, if you want to hit out at me, you better be prepared for what comes back at you.”
“You’re the biggest ass I know.” Rachel struggled against him. “Let me go, you goon, or I’ll scream loud enough to wake up Mag.”
“You do, and I’ll tell her you’re coming on my dick and to go back to bed,” Cash said, enjoying the feel of her body against him.
He pinned her against the bedroom wall with one of his legs between hers as she hit at his chest with her fists. When he pressed his knee against her pussy, she quit struggling, stiffening against him.
“Get out, Cash.” Her cold voice had his arms dropping away from her as he took a step back. She took a shuddering breath, and Cash angrily narrowed his eyes on her.
“Don’t act like I was going to rape you, Rachel.” Her face paled. “I don’t play like that. Never have, never will. Don’t twist it around in your head; you wanted me to fuck you that night.”
Rachel’s shoulders stiffened. “I didn’t suggest you did. It might not have been my proudest moment, but I accept full responsibility for being an idiot.”
Cash tilted his head to the side, studying her expression. “Why were you an idiot?”
“Because I shouldn’t have wanted you. I know what kind of man you are, and I still let myself have you.”
Cash gave a sensuous smile. Stepping closer, he braced his hand on the wall next to her head. “You don’t know what kind of man I am, Rachel. You couldn’t possibly know. If you did, you wouldn’t keep insulting me.” His voice turned seductive. “I’m not my father. When I want something, I take it.”
“Shut up, Cash.” Rachel started to push off the wall but was pressed back against it.
“What? I’m not allowed to talk about it? We all know your mother and my father were in love. If my father hadn’t fucked up and cheated on her, then she would never have married your father.”
“She loved my father,” Rachel said forcefully.
Cash shook his head. “She loved my father and turned to his best fr
iend when she found out dear old Dad had knocked up the town whore. Both of them regretted their mistakes for the rest of their lives. When Dad realized he wasn’t getting your mom back, he married my mother. Together, they became sanctimonious idiots every Sunday while I had to watch. I, on the other hand, don’t plan on regretting the best mistake of my life.”
Her expression became confused. “The best mistake of your life?”
“You were the best mistake of my life,” he confirmed. “I’ve been attracted to you for a long time, but to tell you the truth, your brothers didn’t make you worth the effort, and I sure as fuck wasn’t anxious to follow in my father’s footsteps to try to romance you.”
“You wouldn’t know romance if it came up behind you and bit you on the ass.”
Cash burst out laughing. “I know romance, and I can prove it.”
“There’s no need. I’m not interested.”
“I think you’re the one who has trouble dealing with romance, not me,” he mocked her frightened expression.
“You think romance is wham, bam, and telling everyone in town you fucked the girl.” Her tart reply had him laughing again.
“No, that was stupidity. I let your brothers piss me off into opening my big mouth. I’m not sorry, though.” Cash saw the wounded look in her eyes and continued, “It was a hard way for your brothers to find out about us, like ripping a band-aid off, but now they know.” He shrugged.
“There isn’t an us!”
“There will be. Right now, you’re still mad, but I can wait until you cool down. At least a little longer,” he qualified his words.
“You’re the most egotistical man to ever exist.”
“Not really, just confident. If I can get in your panties once, I can do it again.” Cash stared down into her eyes.
Her face flushed red, and her bottom lip trembled as she shook her head at him.
Cash softened his voice. “You’re mad as hell at me, but you still want me.”
“No, I don’t,” she denied.
“Yes, you do. I can prove it.” As his lips swooped down on hers, Rachel pressed her hands against his chest. Cash’s tongue licked her lips, but didn’t try to enter her mouth; instead, he learned the contours of her lips as his other hand reached out to slide against her neck to hold her in place. His thumb traced the delicate lines of her face as he gradually increased the pressure against her lips, sliding his tongue inside to explore the warmth of her mouth. He went from seductive to demanding, breaching the defenses she had built against him, trying to turn the fire of her hatred to one of passion.