Chapter Thirty
Friday
Startled awake, Gage sits up straight and looks around. He is disoriented and surprised to find he is in his own room, lying on top of the covers, completely naked. How did I get here? The last thing I remember is closing up at the club and…and…those fucking pictures on my phone, changing into a panther… running through the woods, wanting to go after Kat to possess her, make her beg me to fuck her, to teach her a lesson, to make her mine. Shaking his head to clear the memories away, Gage climbs out of bed, heads to the kitchen and takes a beer from the refrigerator. Running his fingers through his hair, he thinks back to his reaction to the pictures on his cell phone and grumbles, “Aw fuck! Now I need a new phone…again!”
After picking up a phone, Gage heads to the track to blow off some steam. He leaves his bike at home and pulls his barely street-legal Cobra out of the garage. Rubbing his chin with his index finger and grinning, he thinks, Tonight I’ll race the car and if little miss hot pants is there, I’ll enjoy beating her ass. And I mean that in more ways than one.
Gage arrives at the track, checks in, and waits for his number to be called. Looking sexy as hell in his snug, button-fly stone washed jeans, a wide, black leather belt with a silver buckle, and a black, short-sleeved, form-fitted shirt, he leans back against the car with his feet crossed at the ankle, observing the competition. Scanning the vehicles, he focuses in on one in particular, a blue, Super Sport Camaro with the number18, written in white grease pencil on the side window…Kat’s Camaro.
“Good, so she’s here.”
Upon further inspection, he notices that Kat is not waiting with her car, but is further back in the field with Moretti. The sight of the two of them together gets his blood boiling.
After twenty minutes, his number is called to race. He burns out and pulls up to the line. Looking over at his competition, he grins. The Cobra is up against a Challenger with a Hemi in it.
“Piece of cake.”
Watching the tree, the lights change from red to yellow and finally green. Gage takes off, shifts to second, and by the time he hits third, he’s well ahead of the Challenger. The guy in the Hemi is giving it all he’s got, trying to come back, but Gage has him. He crosses the finish line as the winner and shuts it down. Grinning, he pulls around to the pit area and climbs out of his car so he can get it ready for his next race. Since he never had to hit the NOS, he doesn’t have to switch over the tanks. While going through his car, a crowd of women forms around him, as always. A beautiful blonde with rare violet eyes approaches him.
“Congratulations. Nice run.”
Gage flashes a provocative smile while eyeing her up and down, “Thanks.”
Placing her lips up to his ear she whispers, “I’m Taylor,” then runs her lips from his ear to his cheek, giving him a congratulatory kiss.
Overcome by her perfume, he chokes out, “What was that for?”
“Your win, of course.”
At that moment, Gage sees that Kat’s number is up and she’s staging her car at the line. The lights turn green and she takes off, running against a modified Mazda. Impressed at how perfectly she handles her car, Gage grins as she crosses the finish line in front of her opponent.
As she pulls around to the pit area, she chooses a spot and shuts off the car. Kat climbs out of the Camaro as Taylor wraps her arms around Gage’s neck, weaving her fingers together. Gage presses his mouth down to hers. She kisses him aggressively. In the moment, Gage runs his tongue along the crease of her lips and Taylor opens her mouth, making her tongue accessible to him.
Positioning herself in front of him, she presses her body against his. He reaches out, grabbing her hips and holding her in place against him. Enjoying this unexpected pleasure, he opens his eyes and looks up just in time to see Katrina running into Tony’s arms. In her excitement, she grabs his face and passionately kisses him. He responds, kissing her back and running his hands down her side, stopping to hold on to her ass.
Furious, Gage breaks the mouth-to-mouth contact with Taylor and gently separates his body from hers while mumbling an apology.
“Sorry, but I’ve gotta get ready for my next race.”
Without so much as a second thought, he takes off, leaving her standing there in shock.
Angry, Taylor turns in confusion to see what caused his sudden departure. The sight of Kat and Tony in a lover’s embrace, kissing and pawing at each other, gives her the answer she is looking for. So, it’s because of her. Little miss perfect. Well Gage, we’ll just see how long you can resist me for her.
Stomping off in the other direction, Gage heads over to the race official’s box like a spoiled little boy who was just told no by his mommy. Curling his lips into a smile that does not reach his eyes, he calls out, “Hey Kenny.”
“Gage. Nice run tonight.”
“Thanks. Hey man, I need a favor.”
Gage reaches out his arm, initiating a handshake. Kenny reciprocates, and Gage greases his palm with a hundred dollar bill, tossing his head in the direction of Kat’s Camaro.
“The number eighteen car; put me up against her in the next round.”
Grinning, Kenny responds, “You got it bro,” and tucks the bill into his pocket.
The windows on the Cobra are tinted black. Pulling up to the line, Kat cannot see who her competition is behind the wheel. Both cars stage and ready themselves for the race. The tree changes from red, to yellow, and finally, to green. They both take off, getting a pretty even jump at the line. As they go through the gears, the Camaro and the Cobra are neck and neck. Once the Cobra hits third, it starts pulling away. They both hit fourth gear, then fifth, at which time Kat hits her spray. She surges ahead, but not for long. She was early. Gage hits his NOS and blows by her, crossing the finish line as the winner.
Totally disappointed at the loss, but happy it was at least a close race, Kat pulls around to the pit area and parks the car. Sitting there, she waits for her adrenaline rush to abate. The Cobra pulls into the pit area, drives past her and gets in line at the back of the pits. Climbing out of the car, she decides to be a gracious loser and walks down to congratulate her opponent on his win.
As Kat approaches the front of the Cobra, the driver side window goes down and a muscular set of arms, dark head of long hair, a perfectly put together midsection, and long, lean legs appear through the opening. Now standing, the driver turns his head in her direction and with a sideways jerk of his head flips his hair out of his face. He looks over at her, just as she is a step away…Oh fuck, it’s Gage!
Blindsided, Kat stands there like an idiot with her mouth hitting the ground, eyes wide with shock. With that slow sexy grin, Gage tilts his head to the side, staring at her.
“Kat,” he smirks, then intentionally runs his tongue over his lips in a suggestive manner.
Snapping her mouth shut, she narrows her eyes in a murderous look, turns on her heels and begins charging off in the opposite direction. Fuck you, bastard. If looks could kill you’d be on the ground dying a slow, agonizing death right now. That’s what I get for trying to be gracious!
Laughing, Gage takes a few long strides, grabs her arms, and spins her around.
“Kat, come on I need to…” before he can finish his sentence, she reaches out and slaps him across the face.
“Let go of me!”
Grabbing her arms tighter, he pins them behind her back in one of his large palms and manhandles her back against his car.
“Kat, we need to talk.”
“I don’t need to do anything with you and I do not want to hear what you have to say. Now let go of me!”
Ignoring what she said, Gage kisses her hard, aggressively parting her lips and slides his tongue into her mouth. Their tongues touch and she responds, her need matching his. Stopping the kiss, he pulls away, closing his eyes and inhaling a calming breath. When he reopens them, he can see the need and desire he’s feeling reflected back at him in Katrina’s eyes.
Leaning next to her ear, he finally answers her demand with a, “No!”
Now furious, she seethes through gritted teeth. “So help me Gage, you let me go right now or I will scream my bloody head off and make the biggest scene you’ve ever imagined!” Enjoying the challenge, he flashes her a sideways grin and provokes her.
“Go ahead.”
Kat opens her mouth to scream and in a blur, Gage swoops in, taking her mouth and effectively shutting her up before she can make a sound. At first, she tries to fight him off, struggling against his hands that still hold her arms pinned around her back and trying to turn her head away from him. All to no avail. Before she can stop it, she moans into his mouth, betraying herself. Gage presses his body more closely to hers, and Kat can feel his cock growing against the cleft between her legs. She is instantly wet and against her will, begins moving against him. Angry that her control is slipping, but not having the willpower to stop, she feels a smile form on his lips.
Pulling his mouth away from hers, he leans against her ear once again and asks, “Still want to scream?” Before she can respond, he answers his own question, “Because baby, you know I can make you scream,” then moves back down to her mouth, plunging and plundering once again.
Caught up in the moment, Gage doesn’t hear the footsteps of someone running up behind him until it’s too late. A pair of hands lands on his shoulders, and as he is pulled backwards off Katrina, he drops her arms. Kat, still there in front of him, is leaning against the Cobra, panting like a bitch in heat. Before he can react, he is spun around and a fist is bearing down on him, making contact with his jaw; then again from the other side while his legs are swept out from under him. He hits the ground, hard. Lying there, he looks up into Tony Moretti’s tempestuous eyes.
“Stay down, mother fucker. If you ever touch her again against her will, I will do more than just fuck you up! Are we clear, asshole?”
Gage looks up at Moretti with rage flaring in his eyes. This fucker is begging me to kill him and I think I may just oblige. Taking inventory of himself while still on the ground, Gage uses his hand to move his jaw back and forth from side to side. Nothing broken, but this shit is going to hurt tomorrow. Standing up, he brushes the dirt and blacktop off of his pants and stares at Tony. Wiping his hand across the corner of his lips, he removes the blood that has pooled there.
Smiling he quips, “Not bad, Moretti. Maybe next time you’ll wait until my back isn’t turned and I’m not busy getting it on with Katrina here.”
Gage side steps as Tony lunges at him. Tony goes flying , and this time, he’s the one hitting the ground. Before he can recover, Gage grabs Katrina by the hand and turns her towards the car.
“Come on, we’re getting out of here.”
Trying to pull away, she fires off at him, “Let go! I’m not going anywhere with you.” But before she realizes what is going on, Gage reaches into the floorboard of his car and pulls out a nylon zip-tie. He spins her around, and holding her hands together, quickly wraps it around her wrists and fastens the two ends together. He tightens it, leaving about a finger’s worth of space between the tie and her skin.
“You son of bitch!”
“Yes, I know.” Grabbing her by the arm and moving her toward the Cobra, he barks, “Now get in the car, Katrina.”
Trying to plant her feet and stop her forward motion, she exclaims, “I will not!”
“Don’t make me hog tie you right here in front of everyone and carry you to the car, because I will. As a matter of fact, I’d really enjoy that,” he says with a wicked glint in his eye. Meanwhile, Tony is picking himself off the ground, swearing and more pissed off than ever.
“I don’t have time for this shit.” Lifting Katrina into his arms, Gage shoves her through the open car window, climbing in beside her as he moves her into the passenger seat. Starting the car, he takes off at blazing speed.
“Where are you taking me? This is kidnapping!”
Obviously trying to keep himself from laughing at her last remark, he explains, “I told you. We need to talk and if this is the only way I can get you to listen to me, then a captive audience you will be.”
Totally losing her cool, Kat starts kicking at him and yelling, “Stop this car right now and let me out!”
“I warned you, Katrina!” He shouts and pulls over to the side of the road. Reaching around behind the driver’s seat, Gage pulls out another nylon zip-tie, only this one is larger than the one he used on her wrists. Grabbing both of her ankles, he spins her around in the seat to face him, then uses the newly acquired zip-tie to bind them together.
“I can’t have you kicking me while I’m driving and causing an accident or damaging the inside of my car, now can I?’
“Holy shit! You fucking bastard.”
“Hey, I warned you. And if you didn’t need to sit up in the bucket seat, I would have hog-tied you like I promised, instead of just binding your hands and feet in front of you.”
“What is wrong with you? What are you going to do with me? Kill me and dump my body somewhere?”
“Oh yes. That’s exactly what I’m going to do, especially with all those witnesses back at the track and your stupid, fucking little boyfriend back there causing a scene,” he says sarcastically.
“Untie me you…you…you fucking pervert!”
Laughing now, Gage reaches over, grabbing her shoulders and turning her body to his. He leans in, staring into her eyes.
“That’s right, I’m a pervert. You don’t know how much of a pervert I can be, but I think tonight I just may show you. Hmm…maybe I still will hogtie you, after I strip off all your clothes, and then fuck you senseless. Would you like that Katrina? I know I would.”
Gage smiles at her, seeing her eyes go wide with shock and mouth gape open in surprise. Roughly, he grabs her face in both of his hands and nips her bottom lip with his teeth, then frantically shoves his tongue into her mouth, using her for his own pleasure.
She doesn’t want to, but she responds, kissing him back and moaning into his mouth as the passion between them sparks. Her body tingles all over, the sensation building slowly, warming her, snaking down to her nipples, her arms, pooling in her stomach. Sparks of electricity shoot straight down to her groin, where she grows wet and needy at the thought of what he wants to do to her.
Gage abruptly pulls away, leaving Kat panting with frustration as he maneuvers the
Cobra back on the road.