Bambi

 

I closed my eyes and leaned my cheek against Snake’s shoulder, feeling the wind through my hair. I didn’t know if I was any safer with him than I had been at Misty’s house, but the unknown danger seemed a better bet than the one I had already been through. For a moment, when I had left Steven lying in pain on his living room floor, I had considered going home. But I knew that just wasn’t an option anymore. Mother had made it clear. It was just as well. I would find a different way to be free.

 

Eventually, the bikes began to slow down as we approached another town. It was a much bigger one than Myrtle Creek or Johnson City, and I recognized Millville when we passed the huge shopping mall. The other bikers pulled off to the left, but Snake nodded at them and headed to the right.

 

“Where are we going?” I finally asked. I had been content to just roll with the punches, but separating from the rest of the group seemed odd.

 

Snake didn’t answer, but he threaded his way off the exit ramp and down a frontage road until we were at the mall. He pulled to a stop in the parking lot and signaled for me to get off. He stood there studying me for a moment before he spoke. “You don’t have anything with you.”

 

Confused at first, I finally looked down at myself. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He had seen me all dolled up in a beautiful gown, and now I looked like I had crawled out of a dumpster. I hadn’t even had the chance to get my cell phone or my wallet, since my purse had been left safely at home when Mother and I had left for the parade. “No, I don’t.”

 

“That’s not going to work for very long. Let’s go.” He headed toward the entrance.

 

I trotted to catch up with him. “I’d love to get a few things, but like I told you before, I don’t have any money.”

 

“Don’t worry about that. If you’re with me, then I’ll take care of you.” His eyes were distant, watching the building and the parking lot but not looking at me.

 

I wondered if I had made him angry or had burdened him by showing up again. But he could have easily rejected me back at the motel. We walked into the mall, and I instantly felt self-conscious. I never went out in public without being completely dressed and made up. I felt as though everyone was watching me.

 

Snake led the way through the mall toward a clothing store. Instead of the high-end clothes Mother had always insisted on, this place was full of ripped denim, band T-shirts, and leather. “Get what you want,” he said, gesturing toward the women’s side of the store. “I’ll be over here.” He parked himself on a chair near the dressing rooms.

 

I felt so strange as I flipped through the racks of clothing, but I knew I couldn’t argue. I needed clothes. Snagging anything that seemed like it would fit, I dashed to the dressing room with full arms. I pulled on a pair of jeans. The waist was cut low, exposing my lower back and several inches of my abdomen below my belly button. Paired with the tight red tank top I had grabbed, I thought I looked like I belonged on the back of Snake’s bike. Unfortunately, there was no mirror in the dressing room. I could see the screw holes that had been left behind when the mirror was taken out.

 

I stepped out to find one, and I saw that Snake was no longer in the chair. He was up at the checkout, leaning on the counter and talking quietly to the cashier. She was a young girl with a nose ring and blue streak in her hair. Great, I run off with this guy and he turns out to be a horrendous flirt. It pissed me off to know that I was already so unimportant to him. I’d been an idiot to think he might have considered me special.

 

I could hear his voice as I walked closer. “She’s not used to dressing like this. Could you help her out? And just charge everything to this card.” He turned when I approached, looking startled. His eyes raked up and down my body, and the corner of his mouth curled up. “Looks like you’re off to a good start. I’ll be back. She’ll take care of you.” Without telling me where he was going or why he was leaving me, he walked briskly out of the store.

 

I watched him go with my mouth hanging open. Snake was my only ride, my last friend in the world (if I could even consider him that.) What was I going to do now?

 

“These black boots would go great with that outfit,” the cashier said as she came out from behind the counter and took a pair of chunky boots off a display. Her nametag designated her as Juniper. “And you’re going to need some accessories.”

 

As much as I hated that Snake had left, I suddenly felt far less uncomfortable now that I was in the hands of an expert. Juniper treated me like her own little dress-up doll, shoving clothes at me through the door of the dressing room and insisting that I come out to show her how they looked. In some ways, it was just like shopping with Mother except that Juniper never demanded I get anything I didn’t like. She laughed along with me when something didn’t fit right, and she really knew how to put together an outfit.

 

“Just pull the tags off and I’ll ring it up at the register,” she said when I had tried on the last ensemble and declared it a keeper. “You can’t leave here the way you came in.”

 

I frowned at the small pile the T-shirt and yoga pants made on the bench in the dressing room. “You’re right.” I was now completely outfitted with a huge bag of clothes, none of them anything like what I had worn in my previous life. Juniper had even taken the time to give me a mini makeover, and when I looked in the mirror I knew I was a completely different person. My makeup was bold and colorful, and Juniper had braided my hair alongside my scalp and pulled the remainder into a messy ponytail. With black hoop earrings, I completely looked the part.

 

“Your boyfriend is going to shit his pants,” she said as she totaled the purchase. “He’s hot, but now you’re way hotter.”

 

I opened my mouth to object. Snake wasn’t my boyfriend. But I couldn’t tell her he was just some random guy I happened to be with. It was better to leave it as it was. “Thanks.”

 

Snake walked in the door just as I turned to walk out. He looked around the store, his eyes roving everywhere but on me. When he finally realized who I was, he stopped in his tracks. He smiled, and it lit up his eyes. “That’s much better.”

 

* * *

 

Snake had made arrangements to meet the rest of the guys at a bar. “Our motel is right over there,” he said, pointing to a long, low building across the street. “For now, it’s time to go have a little fun.” He opened the front door and I walked in.

 

The place was full of the bikers, lounging at the bar and crowding around the tables. I hadn’t realized there were quite so many of them, but it was easier to see when they were all gathered in one place instead of strung out along the road. Most of them turned to stare.

 

“Why are they looking at me?” I whispered as Snake came in the door behind me and put his arm around my waist.

 

“Because you’re sexy,” he replied with a cocky grin. “Why else? Let’s go get a drink.” He guided us toward the bar and summoned the bartender. “What do you want?” he asked me.

 

“Um, just a soda is fine.”

 

Snake gave me a long glance. “No, what do you want to drink? We’re here to have fun and relax, Bambi.”

 

I wasn’t old enough to drink, and even if I had been Mother would have outlawed it for me anyway. “I—I don’t really know.”

 

“Okay. Two whiskey and Cokes,” he said to the bartender. A minute later, Snake handed me a cold glass and wound his way through the bar until we found an empty table. “Drink up,” he said. “We’re celebrating tonight.”

 

I took a small sip. It was strong, and I could taste the alcohol more than the soda. At least it wasn’t pure whiskey, or it probably would have knocked me to the floor. “What are we celebrating?”

 

Snake shrugged and grinned. “Anything we want to. Moving on to a new town, a new beginning for you, or just the fact that we’re alive. It doesn’t matter.” He took a long drink, seemingly not bothered by the strength of it.

 

I wished I could feel that cavalier about things. “Thank you for the clothes.” I took another sip. It was a little less intense this time, and I took another as an experiment. Maybe I could tolerate it after all.

 

“My pleasure. I liked you in that dress, but I think I like you even more dressed like this.” He studied me openly, not trying to hide the way his dark eyes lingered on my breasts under the tight shirt. “It suits you.”

 

“My mother would completely freak out if she saw me.” I took a longer swing at the thought. I’d managed to forget about her for brief periods of time, but memories of the look on her face as she yelled at me continued to haunt me.

 

“Is that such a bad thing?”

 

I smiled. “Maybe not. She’s pretty pissed at me, anyway. I guess I might as well go all out, right?”

 

“Right.”

 

A biker came by our table. He was big and blond, and I recognized him. He had been standing next to Snake when I had come back to the motel. He punched Snake in the arm and grinned. “Looks like things are working out for you.”

 

“Fuck off, Moose,” Snake replied with a shake of his head.

 

The big man moved off to talk to someone else.

 

“Are you guys always so friendly with each other?” I asked. It was getting a little easier to talk now. My muscles had been tensed for the last two days—or perhaps for my entire life—and they were finally beginning to relax.

 

“It’s just the way we are,” he explained. “But we’re close. The Warriors always watch out for each other.” Snake looked around the room proudly.

 

“The Warriors,” I repeated. I hadn’t paid attention to their club name before, but I realized now that it was stitched on the backs of their vests. “What’s it like? Being in a motorcycle gang, I mean.”

 

“We don’t call it a gang, first of all. It’s a club. But it’s more than that. We’re like family.” Snake polished off his drink and signaled a waitress for another round.

 

I sucked down the last of mine to catch up with him. “It must be nice to have so many people who have your back. I can’t imagine what that must be like.” The lights in the bar were suddenly a little brighter. The place seemed cozier and more welcoming as I picked up the new glass the waitress had brought. It felt so good to be away from my mother’s house and on my own, even if I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do with myself or how things would turn out.

 

“I know you said your mom is difficult, but don’t you have any other family? Your dad? Or some siblings or cousins?” He scrutinized me carefully, those dark eyes burrowing deep into my soul.

 

“Mother was an only child. Her parents passed away when she was about my age. I never knew my dad. There were rumors that my mom purposely got pregnant to try to get him to stay with her, but he didn’t fall for it. He took off and never looked back.” I didn’t talk about this sort of thing normally, and I didn’t know why I was now. I sank more of the fizzy drink down.

 

Snake raised his eyebrows, his mouth a firm line. “That’s harsh.”

 

“Maybe,” I agreed. “But who knows what he might have been like. What if he was worse than my mom? But I always dreamed he would come swooping into town one day and want me to live with him. In those fantasies, of course, he was always kind and wonderful. He had the money to get a lawyer to get me away from her. I’m sorry, that’s so silly. So infantile. Things like that don’t happen.”

 

His brows were lowered into a scowl now. “It’s not silly. I get it. My dad was a complete asshole, and I used to wish he would get run over by a semi or something. And don’t think that stopped when I got older. It was just me and him for a long time, and then he finally got remarried. My stepmother was a cruel woman, but I didn’t realize it until I was ready to move out. That’s when I joined the Warriors.”

 

I smiled gently at him. Snake was a badass, a biker who had scared the crap out of my mother. But he was also something else. He had been kind enough to get me some clothes, and he was a real enough person that he had told me a little bit about his past. Was it possible that he was the type of guy that only existed in romance novels and movies? Was he the bad boy with a heart of gold? It was a nice idea, but I knew it couldn’t be true. Just like all the rest of my fantasies, it would never be a reality. Still that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy myself.

 

“I love this song.” Someone had just dropped a couple quarters in the jukebox, and a slow tune was playing. I closed my eyes and listened to the music, losing myself in it for a moment. I felt a hand on mine and opened my eyes.

 

“Let’s dance.” Snake pulled me up out of my chair and out onto the floor. His grip was firm, but he was careful not to hurt me.

 

I went willingly, draping my arms around his shoulders as we swayed to the music and enjoying the feel of his arms around me. He was a good dancer, his steps confident as his body moved in perfect time. “You’re good at this. I didn’t know bikers knew how to dance.”

 

He laughed. “I think it all depends on the company.”

 

“How’s that?” I leaned back a little so I could look into his face. He was fun to talk to, even when we weren’t talking about anything.

 

Snake tipped his head to the side. “My theory is that if you’re dancing with someone you don’t like, you’re not going to do well. You’ll be stiff, awkward. But dancing with someone you like is completely different. It comes naturally.”

 

I giggled as he spun me around, letting go with one hand and then pulling me back to him with a quick snap of his arm. I stumbled into him, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t remember having so much fun in my life. “You’re something else, you know that?”

 

“If you say so.”

 

The song ended, and we returned to our seats. Dancing had made me thirsty, and I took another long pull of my whiskey and Coke. “This is good stuff. I don’t know where it’s been all my life.”

 

“Yeah, maybe you ought to slow down a little.” Snake gently took the glass from my hand and set it on his side of the table. “I have a feeling you aren’t usually much of a drinker.”

 

This time when I smiled it felt as though the corners of my mouth stretched all the way to my ears. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t. “Not really, but I think I will be from now on.” I leaned against the back of my seat. The little black purse Juniper had helped me pick out fell to the floor. I got out of the chair to pick it up, but I nearly fell over in the process. “I’m a little dizzy,” I said with a snicker.

 

Snake stood up and put his arms around me. “Let’s get you to the motel. I think you’ve had enough.”

 

“But I’m having fun,” I insisted just before I tripped over my own foot. He caught me before I hit the floor and pulled me into his arms. I was definitely drunk, but having such close contact with him was increasing my high.

 

Guiding me out into the night, Snake went right past his bike and toward the sidewalk. “I think it’s safer if we just walk,” he said.

 

I tried to nod but I tipped to the side and fell into him.

 

“Okay. Come on.” With one quick, easy motion, he picked me up and carried me in his arms.

 

The sensation was almost too much on top of feeling dizzy and excited. I could have been flying as we crossed the street that way, soaring through the night air with glee. He set me down just long enough to unlock our door, and then he picked me back up again and laid me gently on the bed. He pulled off my shoes and came around the side of the bed to look at me. “You just rest for a little while. I’ll find you a bottle of water or something.”

 

Before he could step away from the bed, I reached up and grabbed his collar. “I want to thank you.”

 

“For what?” His face was gentle, and he didn’t try to pull out of my grip.

 

“For everything.” I couldn’t stop looking at him. With that strong nose, square jaw, and the way he had scooped me up so easily, Snake was the most intriguing thing in the room. “But mostly for just being so damn good looking.” I pulled him down toward me and pressed my lips to his.

 

It wasn’t the same as the last time he had kissed me, back in that motel room in Johnson City. It wasn’t some strange man trying to get something out of me. Instead, we were two people who were trying to leave the world behind in pursuit of something new. I tasted him as though tasting something fresh and exotic.

 

Snake groaned hungrily as he put his fists on either side of my head and leaned over the bed. He was closer to me now, deepening the kiss, and he probed my mouth with his tongue. The feel of the rough surfaces gliding over each other made me hot between my legs, and I didn’t try to push him away when he lifted my shirt, ran his hand over my stomach, and wrapped it around my hip.

 

I felt as dizzy and distant as though I was experiencing all of this through someone else’s body, but it was so good that I didn’t want it to end. Taking my hand off his collar, I put my wrists behind his neck and pulled him closer. He succumbed easily to the pressure, one leg coming over me until his knee was on the bed.

 

Now he broke the kiss to trail his lips down my jaw and neck. He flipped my shirt up in one swift motion in order to explore my breasts. His hands were all over me, smoothing across my ass and up my back. I arched my hips toward him, encouraging him, and he gladly took the hint. Snake took my tank top completely off and flung it across the room. Next came the wide belt Juniper had picked out for me, and then he was wiggling my jeans down off my hips.

 

Just as he reached for my panties, I stopped him. “You can’t be the only one having any fun.” I pushed him off me so I could sit up on the edge of the bed. I didn’t dare stand up in case I fell over again. With his help, I pulled his shirt over his head. I was right at eye level with his stomach, and I marveled at the muscled smoothness of his stomach. I had not missed the tattoos that covered his arms, but I finally realized what they were. A huge cobra coiled from his upper chest, across his shoulder, and down his left arm.

 

“Is that why they call you Snake?” I asked teasingly as I traced my fingertips over the fine scales.

 

“It’s one of the reasons. Maybe you can figure out the other one.”

 

I had him out of his boots and pants until he was standing before me in his boxer briefs. From the first moment I had seen him, I’d known he was good looking, but it was nothing compared to how he looked now. His muscles were long and sleek, powerful but not bulky. I could simply have stared at him for hours, especially considering the state I was in, but he was too gorgeous not to touch. I pulled him back down to me again.

 

“I have to tell you,” he said as his fingertips slipped inside the waistband of my panties and began pulling them down, “I’m not going to let you tease me this time. I want you, and I mean to have you.” His voice was husky in my ear.

 

“I’m not going anywhere,” I promised.

 

Snake brought his hands up to my bra, and he expertly unclasped the back and slipped it off my shoulders. “God, you’re beautiful.” He kissed one nipple and then the other, seeming to regret having to leave them alone for a moment while he took off his underwear.

 

I could feel his hardness against me as he lowered himself. Knowing that he was as turned on as I was made me so wet, but it also made me realize just how big of a step this was. “Um … Snake?”

 

His chocolate eyes were hard as they looked into mine. “Want to do something that will really piss your mom off?” The head of his dick pressed against me, throbbing, insisting.

 

My legs spread for him, welcoming him. “Yes,” I whispered.

 

“Tell me how badly you want me,” he commanded. “You’ve turned me down before, so you’re going to pay for it now. You have to convince me.”

 

“Please,” I begged. “Please, Snake. I need you inside me.” I trembled underneath him, so desperate to do this that I could barely stand it.

 

He didn’t make me plead for long. He pushed his hips forward and came into me. My eyes widened and I grabbed his upper arms as I gasped. I hadn’t expected him to feel so huge inside me, or to fill me up like he did. But it felt good, and I slowly made myself relax again. I was determined to enjoy this, to indulge in something I’d never had before.

 

“Are you okay?” He was concerned, but he didn’t stop. I could feel the urgency in his body; he wanted to take me much harder and faster, to satisfy his own cravings. But Snake slowly moved in and out of me, working gently until he knew I could handle it.

 

I nodded and moved my hips to put us at a better angle. Instead, my motion pushed him further inside me. Something changed, and a wave of pleasure shivered down my body. “Yes, very much so.”

 

He took me at my word and bent his head to work at my breasts once again, hardening them into pert buds as he caressed them with his tongue. I arched my back toward him, and he buried his face between the mounds.

 

Suddenly, he was pushing himself off me.

 

“What’s wrong?” I wondered what I had done. I didn’t want him to stop.

 

“Absolutely nothing.” He rolled over so that he was next to me on the bed, and he reached out to grab me. “Come here. It’s your turn.” Snake brought me up and on top of him.

 

I sucked in a breath, surprised and yet excited. Straddling his hips, I slowly found the tip of his cock and plunged myself down on him. I slowly undulated my hips, realizing that I now had control. I could determine how deep he went inside me, how he rubbed against that special spot, and how fast we went. I picked up speed slightly, eager to please him as well as myself. I braced my hands on the pillow on either side of his head.

 

Snake ran his hands up my arms to my shoulders and pulled me down toward him until my breasts hung in his face. He once again buried himself between them, turning to the side to suckle hard on the left one until he felt me flinch. Then he moved to the other, his hips bucking in time to my movements as he worked. I felt his hands down my back, in my hair, and across my ass.

 

Never before had I experienced someone who wanted me so badly, who wanted to touch every inch of my skin all at once. I was doing something wild and free, and I was enjoying it so much more than I ever imagined I could. I tossed my head back and closed my eyes, paying attention to every quiver of my body until it built up into a crescendo. I pulsed around his cock, drawing him in further as if even my body knew I couldn’t get enough of him. Explosions lit fireworks behind my eyes, and I let out a soft moan.

 

“There you go, baby. You get everything you need, and then it’s going to be my turn.”

 

Both his generosity and his claim on me turned me on all the more, and I bit back a scream as yet another orgasm washed over my body.

 

“Don’t hold back,” he encouraged in a low voice. “Let anyone who wants to hear us know how much you’re enjoying yourself. It’s your moment.”

 

I couldn’t help but obey. My hips slammed against him as every muscle in my body—even muscles I hadn’t known existed—contracted and released in a blissful rush of pleasure. The scream came barreling up through my lungs, born of some wild animal instinct buried deep inside me. When it was over, mini pulses continued to rack my body, and I couldn’t take any more.

 

Snake acted quickly, moving me around like a rag doll as he set me aside and stood up. He pulled me to the edge of the mattress, spreading my legs and entering me once again. This time, he wasn’t so gentle. He slammed himself against me, holding me by my hips to keep me in place. His balls smacked into me as he worked, and the sensation made me tighten up inside all over again. I caressed my breasts with my hands as they jiggled and bounced, feeling so horny, so sexy, so wanted. Snake’s grip on my hips hardened as he plowed me harder, and I felt his girth expand. He closed his eyes and grunted as he filled me, diving as deep as he could as he got his pleasure.

 

When he was done, he collapsed on top of me. He was breathing heavily and drops of sweat clung to his brow as he rested his face against my breasts. I ran my hands through his thick hair and smiled.