AJ laid a hand on my arm and said, “You gave it a shot, man.”

I pursed my lips and threw him a glance. Right now would’ve been the time I tossed him one of my sarcastic remarks, but I didn’t even have it in me.

“Hey, man. Not all’s lost,” he said. “Maybe you can give your phone number to Carrie, and she’ll pass it along to Allie. At least you know she’s safe and who knows; maybe she’ll get in touch with you once she gets to wherever she’s going.”

I looked at Carrie, hopeful she’d agree. But before I could ask, the rumble of tailpipes drew our attention to the front of the brewery. Outside on the street, along the sidewalk cafe, five motorcycles rolled past in formation. The three of us swiveled our heads in unison, and Carrie said what we were thinking, “Black Vandals. That’s Jade.”

Her eyes followed the motorcade until she could no longer see it out the front window. We were positioned near the hostess podium by the entrance and that heavy monstrosity of a door in the small alcove. It was a small building to house a brewery and a restaurant. That left little room for patrons to stand between the bar and the entryway alcove.

The rumble faded and I turned back to find Carrie still gazing at that entry alcove. I turned to see what had her so captivated. There was a figure, obscured by the shadows of the dark alcove, leaning against the wall, head tipped up and a soft-sided travel bag over one shoulder. There were so many people in this sardine can of a space I couldn’t get a clear view. I squinted and stepped in the direction of the alcove, but was blocked by the hostess, a menu in her hand, waving a party of four to their table.

The figure moved, adjusted the bag, and spun to walk into the bar, head down, driving a path straight to the back of the room.

“Allie!”

I pushed through the customers, calling her name, trying to intercept her before she dodged out of sight. “Allie!”

Her head popped up, fear flooding her eyes, until recognition dawned, then surprise. I lurched through the crowd, like I was diving for a long pass. If I could catch a football, I could catch an arm in a crowded restaurant. I snagged it and she stopped in her tracks.

“Cam! What are you doing here?” Then her eyes landed on AJ, behind me now. “And AJ...w-w-what…”

She darted a glance to Carrie. “Carrie?”

Carrie stepped up and said, “What’s going on, Allie? I thought you left. Why were you coming in the front door? Jade’s MC just rode by. You gotta be careful.”

Allie took me by the arm and tugged, answering Carrie as we all walked. “I know. I know. I had to duck back in here. I went out the back way, but then I saw the Vandals.”

Carrie and AJ followed as Allie guided us to a small table far in the rear of the restaurant seating area, near a back hallway.

“I can’t let him see me. What if he comes in here?” she said, a desperate look in her eyes.

We stopped at the table and Carrie said, “They rode past. Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out. If it looks like he’s coming in here, I’ll warn you. God knows you can hear them coming a mile away.”

“Thanks, Carrie,” Allie said.

I interrupted, “Allie. I need to talk to you. God it’s good to see you. I was so worried, what happened?”

She startled, all her attention on me now. “Your face and your leg…” she said, as if noticing for the first time. “Oh, fuck. Jade. It was Jade, wasn’t it? I’m so sorry, Cam.” She started rambling, “I’m such an idiot. What was I thinking? I’m really sorry I ever got you messed up in all of this…”

I took her by the shoulders and squared her in front of me. “It’s no problem. All that matters is that you’re okay. He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I wanted to ask if she went willingly, but after what Carrie told me about her fleeing, I knew she hadn’t.

She shook her head and Carrie smiled, watching me comfort Allie. “Hey, you two, sit down here.” Carrie motioned to the small table we were standing in front of. “Sit. I can see you have a lot to talk about.” Then she looked at AJ just standing there and gave him a look like, “Give them some space, duh.”

AJ jumped into action and said, “Allie, I’m glad to see you’re okay. I can make myself scarce so you guys can talk, maybe call up Jen to kill time. What do you say, Allie? Give me her number?”

Allie looked at me and I nodded. I’d thank AJ later. I did want to be alone with her. Allie took out her phone and AJ began punching numbers into his cell.

“I’ll go get you a couple cold ones and you two can talk,” Carrie said.

Carrie walked away and AJ followed. I pulled out a chair for Allie as she let her travel bag drop to the floor then slumped into the seat. I moved my chair to be next to her. Even this small table felt like there’d be miles between us if I sat across from her. I felt the need to make a kind of human wall to protect her, even from this crowd of harmless strangers filling the restaurant area of the brewery.

“Cam, I can’t believe you’re here. You look awful. I mean, you still look great as usual, but that eye looks awful. You shouldn't have come. Aren’t you missing classes? And your foot...is it broken? God, I’m so glad you’re not dead.” She squeezed my hand.

I shrugged. “Just sprained. Don’t worry about. It’ll all heal.” I wasn’t about to mention the cracked ribs or the other bruises under my clothes.

“How does this affect your chances with the NFL, I mean, it’s not good to have injuries, is it?”

“I’m just not going to focus on that right now. If I make one of the teams, I’ll go to training camp, but I’m not exactly sure when. So according to what Saul told me, I figure I have time to heal.”

I was bluffing. I wasn’t sure about any of these things. All I knew was an injury could easily take a guy out of the game. Or getting hit hard when an old injury wasn’t completely healed was potential career suicide, also.

“And classes...pffft.” I waved a hand in the air. “All I want to know is what happened to you?” I leaned in, catching her eyes as she looked up at me.

Carrie arrived at the table and placed two coasters and beers without saying a word to interrupt, then drifted off to her other customers.

“Fucking Jade is what happened.” Her shoulders slumped. “I don’t really want to talk about it.” She took a drink of beer and said, “More importantly, what happened to you. Look at you, all banged up. Last time I saw you was in the back of the van and...and…” her voice wavered. “And I thought I’d never see you again. What happened?”

Looking at the sad expression on her face, I didn’t want to waste precious time talking about me and my problems. All I cared about was her. Maybe we shouldn't be sitting here in broad daylight, so to speak. Maybe this was too risky. Jade could walk in at any moment and since I’d pissed him off royally by finding Allie, he’d finally do me in, just to be done with my sorry ass once and for all. What was I really doing here? I had to find out for sure if Allie wanted me, wanted a relationship with me, or if I was wasting my time chasing after some pussy I should've avoided a long time ago.

My memory was sketchy about the van ride, but I asked, “Did the guy driving the van let you and Jade out at some point?”

She nodded.

“Hmm, I thought so.” I decided to forestall any details about being drugged. Best to keep it brief. “Well, after Jade and his goon roughed me up, I was taken to some old abandoned house. It could’ve been on another planet for all anyone new. But then I got lucky and someone found me. A guy came along and took me back to his place, and I used his phone. And...this is the crazy part, the guy’s name was Phoenix and he was from Phoebe’s commune. Can you believe it? That’s where he took me.”

“What? That is crazy. You don’t know how lucky you are. The Black Vandals are evil. They don’t usually let anyone off the hook, but then maybe they didn’t want yet another death on their hands.”

My eyes widened. “Death? You mean they really, seriously, could’ve killed me? I thought maybe Jade just wanted to scare me. And by the way, he did a really good job of it.”

“But I don’t understand. How’d you get to Phoebe's commune?”

I waved off her question. “I’ll explain later. So, are you free of Jade? Does he know where you are? Carrie said you were leaving town. I tried to report to the police that you were kidnapped, but they said they know how these things pan out and you probably went willingly. I mean, you didn’t, right?”

“Well, I pretended to, at first, at the hotel room. When I saw Jade and Grunge kicking the shit out of you, I decided to just play along so they’d leave you alone. But I didn’t realize they’d take you too.”

“So how’d you get away?”

“I came back with him and he took me to his place. I continued my farce long enough, until I had a chance to escape. Didn’t take long, he’s usually drunk by noon most days. Anyway, I came here. I couldn’t even go home to my parents’ house. My mom flat out told me to not bring Jade and that shit around her. She was fed up from all the past crap he pulled. So I needed help and Carrie let me stay in the back room until I could get some money together for a plane ticket out.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the hallway behind our table. “I was just waiting for my last paycheck from the gas station.”

I nodded. “That was brave of you. I can’t even imagine. You must’ve been terrified.” All the previous images I’d had of Jade, wielding his dominance over Allie came back in a flash and the knots in my stomach tightened. I wanted to kill Jade. Seriously do him harm, but I needed to focus on Allie. “When I got back to Austin, I couldn’t bear to think of you with him. I have a very active imagination and I was a mess wondering what happened.” I reached out and laid my hand on her forearm.

Her face was solemn. She stared at a lonely water droplet trickling down the beer glass, without saying a word. Then in a quiet voice she said, “It was terrible…it was awful,” and her voice cracked. Her hands went to her face, tears glistening in her eyes. “Look what I’ve done. Cam, look what I’ve done. I’ve made a mess of my life and now yours too.” She wiped a tear with the back of her hand.

I leaned in and laid a hand on her shoulder. “No, no, Allie. Don’t cry. You did what you had to do. You stood up to Jade.” I brushed a tear from her cheek. “That took a lot of guts. And me? Don’t even give it a second thought. I’ll bounce back. I just want to…to…” Now it was my turn to need a moment before I spoke. “I just wanted to see you again. I wanted to tell you…the thought of never seeing you again killed me. I had to come find you.”

She looked up into my eyes.

“I’m Batman, remember?” That got a smile. I held her chin, tipping it to my lips and kissed her. She relaxed into the kiss and I felt warm inside. She ran a hand up into my hair and to the back of my neck, pulling me in, hungry and desperate for deeper kisses.

Breathless, she pulled back and whispered, “I’m glad you came to find me, too. I need you, Cam. More than I’ve needed anyone, before. I need you.”

She ran her hands into my hair, then down to my cheeks until she was holding my face between them and said, “You’re my hero.” She smiled.

“Come with me,” I blurted out. I’d come to Flagstaff with the intention of just making sure she was safe, telling her I wanted to see if we could exchange phone numbers, maybe have a long distance relationship, but suddenly, it turned into this. “Come back to Austin with me,” I repeated, this time my voice pleading.

Her eyes searched mine. “Oh, Cam. I don’t know…I don’t know…”

“You can’t keep running. I want you with me so I can take care of you.”

I crushed my lips down on hers, my heart aching to have her be mine. I’d show her how much I wanted her. If she couldn’t see it in my eyes, maybe she’d feel it in my kiss and the killer electricity firing between us.

Her tongue swirled in my mouth, hungry and wanting. She broke the kiss, her words coming out in short breaths and said, “Come on. First, let’s…” She jerked her head in the direction of the back room and stood, pulling me up with her. “Let’s go to my hideout. It’s a little more private.” I let her tow me, first, to the hallway then into a compact office-like room with a small bed.

She shut the door and locked it, then grabbed two fists full of my t-shirt and spun me around. With her back to the bed she pulled me along until we fell onto a mattress with soggy springs. With soft breasts pressed against my hard chest, she kissed me, her lips locked on mine, and she pulled me on top of her. My blood rushed, making my heart pound so loudly, I heard it in my head. Her body felt good under me again, like it belonged there, writhing and wiggling with desire.

I pushed my hands to her breasts, kneading them through the fabric, hating the confines of her bra that kept my fingers from hard nipples. But there was no time to completely remove clothing. I couldn’t wait. I needed to be inside her, be one with her soul, because that's the way it felt with her. No one else. Only with her.

I clawed at her top, pushing it up, trying to get a hand under the bra, but I had to be careful of my right shoulder, it was still healing.

She pulled out of our kiss long enough to kick off her shoes, then shimmied out of her jeans, panties and all. Wearing my walking boot for my sprain, I only got my jeans open and everything down to my ankles or as far as the boot would allow. I’d just have to deal with it. I refused to let it stop me from fucking, because I was a guy, but mostly because this was with Allie.

By the time my cock sprung free, high to the ceiling, she was back on the bed, reaching out her arms to me, wanting me on top of her, again. She was gorgeous, the curves of her hips, legs spread open, tight pussy wet for me and glistening. I adored her. Her lips were swollen and pink from our hard kisses and her hair fell down around her shoulders, loose and flowing like ribbons of dark velvet. But she was still wearing that damn shirt.

No time.

I pushed the shirt up to her neck where it’d have to stay for now, exposing her bra-covered breasts. It wasn’t perfect. I wanted to suck those hard peaks. I could see them straining even through the thin fabric of the bra, but this would have to do.

This time.

When she first pulled me into this room, I thought this might be a good-bye fuck, but now I knew there’d be more. I’d see to that now.

I fisted my cock, throttling it at the root, and gave it a once up and down, then drove it in her. She was already hot with desire. I pulled out until the tip touched her clit and gave it a wiggle, brushing the head across her clit and she moaned. Her clit was hard and she was gasping, begging for more.

“Faster…” she panted. “Harder,” she begged. She was close and pushing her hips for more friction.

With a deep growl, I drove into her again giving her a couple good long strokes, and priming my orgasm. I was winding up to the top. The sight of her submissive and mouth open, head back, desire flashing in her eyes, pushed me higher. Then I pulled back, almost completely out and stopped. Her eyes flashed at me and I held her gaze.

“Say you're mine, Allie, say you're mine.” I gripped her hips, fingers digging in, sure to leave a mark. “I want you to be with me. Say you’ll come back with me. Home with me.”

“Oh, Cam, oh, Cam,” she whispered.

“Say it, Allie. Say it.” I jerked her hips with my hands, pulling down hard. “You’re mine.”

On a heavy breath, she panted out, “I’m yours, baby. I’m yours.”

I collapsed over her, thrusting deep and hard. She bit into my shoulder and groaned out my name. I gave one final thrust and I was over the edge along with her, falling into heaven, falling for the angel of my dreams.