“IT’S A GODDAMN MONSOON OUT THERE,” I mutter debating whether I even want to open Sassy’s today. Saturdays are usually slammed but I doubt many are gonna venture out today, no matter how damn good my cookin’ is. Grabbing the remote, I find the local weather channel whistling through my teeth. Storms are rare out here and some front came down from Canada to fuck with us. High winds, mudslides and power outages are expected as well as over six inches of hard rain.
Grabbing my cell, I text Federico not to open today. It’s an easy call to make. I love that goddamn place but without seeing Dev’s saucy grin and smart mouth telling me what’s wrong with my cooking the place seems lonely despite being full most of the day.
The rain falls so hard I can barely see out my back window where it slams into it with such force it sounds like a million pellets scattering.
“Smith? You’re up early?” I taunt answering his call. Smith isn’t known for being an early bird.
“Yeah, couldn’t sleep. Shit’s goin’ sideways down here in Cali.”
“What’s up, brotha.”
“Guess who started a new MC?”
“Fuckin’ hell. Gregory?”
“Yeah. He’s ridin’ with a bad crew. Picking up ex-convicts and parolees as soon as they’re cut loose. He’s offering a place in his bunkhouse, food and fresh ink. Somehow he slipped through the Canadian border and made it here.”
“Fuck.”
“Exactly. I needed every man I have back here. Please tell me you left a guard on the girls?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, cursing like a fool.
“Dev and I are over. I heard Luce is back in Chicago getting her stuff boxed up to ship out here.”
“Fuck,” he sighs. “She’s safe for now. I’ll have a man pick her up at the airport and fly another one to Chicago to get her car.”
“Damn. You make her your old lady already?”
“No. But she will be as soon as I figure out how to neutralize these fuckers. What happened with Dev? She seemed like old lady material herself.”
“She is. But she hid shit from me. Shit she should’ve trusted me with. I’ve been alone so long, I can’t get in deep with someone who lies at the start. You feel me?”
“Yeah, I do. Damn, I’m sorry, Rog.”
“Not as sorry as I am. Listen, I’ll keep an eye on shit here. I’ll post a man at every frickin’ road that leads to Springdale if I need to. The new deputy is an old friend. I’ll have him watch our backs too.”
“Sounds good. And Rog—if anything happens to Luce on your watch—”
“I get it. It won’t,” I vow ending the call.
My heart’s racing. Dev—I need to get to Dev. Fuck the storm and our break-up. I’m the shelter she needs right now. Phone still in hand, I call.
“Fuck!” It goes straight to her voicemail. Lightning flashes followed by a boom of thunder so loud my walls rattle. Then the power goes out.
Grabbing the keys to my truck off the counter I open the door fighting the wind and rain and barrel down the stairs to my driveway. My truck’s mostly dry, parked under the wide upper deck that acts as a portico.
Firing up my engine, I tear off, driving like mad to get to Dev and prayin’ like hell she’s alright.
The pounding is so loud I wake up with a start; bolting up from the old couch; confused.
The power’s out.
A branch from the large maple tree slaps against the window.
Then I realize the pounding is the rain coming down in buckets. On bare feet, I cross to the front window, not even able to see my car through the downpour.
“Ahhhh,” I shriek watching a heavy limb from a tall tree fall to the ground with a loud thud. Scurrying back over to the couch I look for my phone tangled up in the bedding. But my shoulders slump when I finally find it.
It’s dead.
Talking to Jeff last night took what juice was left and I never hooked it up to the charger.
Shit.
I was too depressed to grocery shop so it’s not like much food will go bad until the power comes on.
Trudging to the bathroom, I strip quickly hoping there’s enough warm water left in the tank to give me two minutes to wash the sleep from my eyes.
“Ugh, what I wouldn’t give for a mug of hot coffee and my Kindle,” I groan wondering what I’m going to do with myself stuck inside all day.
“What the fuck?” I scream hearing the crash of glass coming from somewhere close. Grabbing my towel, I wrap it around myself running out of the bathroom half-expecting to see the tree crashed through the window.
“Hello sweetheart. Miss me? You and I have unfinished business,” he says with satisfaction, watching me slowly inching back. He creeps closer, brushing shards of glass from his skin. A thousand pricks of blood coat his face and arms from where he crashed through my front window next to the door.
If I can stall him, maybe he won’t realize I’m only three steps from being able to lock myself in my bedroom.
“W-what do you mean? I’ve got nothing to do with the club or anyone in it.”
He smiles faintly, “Always lyin’. Why do they all continue to lie all the way till the end? That’s right sugar, I’m gonna be the last face you see as I squeeze the breath right outta ya’. But don’t worry, I’m also gonna be the last man to ever see that sweet body you’re so carefully trying to cover with that towel.”
Screaming, I run, barely shutting the door before he’s there. I bolt it. Thank God, Rog has bolts on his rental doors instead of the regular locks. But I know I don’t have much time. If he went through my window, I know his heavy boots will kick my door open. All it did was buy me some time.
I slide my dresser across the door and move the bed away from the window to anchor my barricade.
Dropping my towel, I only have time to put on a T-Shirt.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
The wood door starts to splinter from his kicks.
There’s only one thing left to do.
I need to save myself.
High on fear and adrenalin, a million thoughts race through my head.
Why didn’t I call my mother more?
Why did I waste so many years on Jeff?
God, I hope Luce finds my vibrator before anyone else does if I don’t make it through this.
My keys, purse, shoes—everything is on the other side of that door. Knowing there’s only one way out of this room alive, I open my window, crouching through and step out into the pouring rain.
Barefoot, I carefully make my way across the roof, hands holding onto the gutters. Being on the middle floor, if I’m lucky—I can make it to the side of the building and jump down on the roof of the first-floor deck, shimmy down the railing and make it to the ground before that creep figures out my plan.
The wind and rain are so strong, I almost lose my balance and fall, breaking my own neck. But I’d rather die that way then be abused and tortured by the sick fuck breaking into my bedroom.
“Almost there, Dev. You can do this,” I whisper not even hearing my own words as the wind rips them away and carries them up into the storm.
More thunder booms over head followed by the hiss and crack of lightening striking something close by.
Foot by foot, step by step, I make it to the corner of the roof, crouching low, I spring like a stunt double in an action film and land perfectly on the roof above the small covered porch that runs along the side of the first floor.
Shimmying down the wooden railing, I jump down, run down the porch steps, and onto the wet grass. I run like I’ve never run before. Long legs flying and leaping over fallen trees and branches, I can barely see; rain smacks my face, but I’m alive and running the race as if my life depends on it, because it does.
Arms pumping, feet sinking into mud now, I keep going down the road hoping I can reach town before that asshole figures out I ran and comes for me in his car.
Headlights cut through the rain, coming straight towards me.
“HELP! Please stop! HELP!” I yell waving my arms as I run in the middle of the road, the driver sees me and swerves wildly to the left.
“ROG?!” I cry, moving towards the truck.
“DEVON?!” He roars opening his door uncaring rain pummels inside his cab as he meets me in the road.
“H-he’s back there. That guy… he threatened to rape and kill me,” I pant out clutching my sides. I must’ve sprinted over a half a mile.
“HE’S DEAD!” Roger roars taking my trembling body in his arms and carrying me into his truck. He carefully places me inside on the passenger seat as if I’m made of glass, kisses the top of my head and slides the strap of the seatbelt gingerly across my chest to buckle me in. He turns his head, hot eyes meeting mine telling me what’s in his heart. His aqua eyes burn with the light of love and my hands cup the side of his jaw, “I thought I was going to die back there,” I whisper feeling the aftershock rip through me at how close I came to never seeing this beautiful man’s face again.
“But you didn’t baby. You’re strong—so strong Dev. I’m so proud of you for getting away.”
He pulls back, body getting soaked and shuts my door. I expect him to turn around, but his heavy boots press down on the gas throwing me back in the seat as the massive truck races back to the place I just escaped from.
He hands me his cell, “Call Federico and tell him what’s going on.”
With clumsy hands I do what he says through chattering teeth. He turns the heat on full blast and reaches behind him with one hand to grab his club cut and drape it over my thighs.
“Federico and Toad are on their way.”
His eyes never leave the road as we pull off to the side of the road outside the triple-decker apartment house that’s become home.
“Stay here. No matter what happens, no matter what you hear. If I’m not the man who comes back out—I need you to drive like hell. You hear me?”
“I-I won’t leave you.”
“Now is not the time, Dev. This is an order ya’ hear me? If I die—it’s so you can live.”
“Rog!” I scream seeing the assailant coming out of my apartment. Rog’s thick arm reaches across me to the glovebox where he takes out a large handgun. Bullets start hitting the truck before he can even put the clip in. He pushes my head down, “I love you.”
I almost didn’t hear his words over the spray of bullets and rain pelting the truck.
Before I can say the words back; he’s gone.
Flashes of fire erupt from the nozzle of his gun, but Gregory uses his own truck for cover and fires round after round.
Rog is gonna get hit. He refuses to use this truck as cover and I know it’s because I’m in it.
I won’t let him die for me. I want him to live for me. For us. For the chance of what could be. Without even thinking, I slide over to the driver’s seat, buckle up and move his seat. Head low over the steering wheel, my muddy foot presses the gas and I maneuver the truck hard to the right cutting off the two men.
“Goddamn it Devon!” He roars using the truck for cover now as he fires round after round. He opens the door, hauls me out and orders me to lay flat in the back of the truck bed.
Soaking wet, chilled to the bone the pops of gunfire mixes with thunder as the storm gets worse.
The two of them re-load. Both trucks are shot to shit.
“Thank God,” I whisper, huddled in a wet ball as I hear Federico and Toad arrive. The two of them shout to Rog. Gregory knows he’s outgunned.
POP.
POP. POP. POP. POP.
Silence.
“ROG!” I scream needing to know he’s okay.
“You hit baby?”—
“N-no. A-a-r-e you?”
“No. You stuttering again babe? Kinda like the day we first met, huh?” He tries to joke, coming into view.
On a sob, my arms wrap around his neck, “I-I’m cold Rog, so cold.”
“Don’t look baby,” he pulls back, cupping my face, “only look at me.”
“Is it Federico or Toad?”
“No, baby. It’s done. Finished.”
“I-I need to see. He threatened to do things—”
“I know, sugar. But don’t look,” he grabs my chin, forcing me to look at him. “I don’t want you seeing things, you can’t un-see.”
“Okay,” I answer, trusting him. Knowing he’s right.
“We need to get you home and out of the rain. Dev—you were never here. You spent the night with me. Got it?”
“Y-yes,” I answer determined to prove my loyalty to him—to Creed.
He lifts me into his arms, carries me to Federico’s truck parked behind us. He folds me inside, “I’ll be right back.”
I hear him telling Federico to “call it in,” before he rounds the hood and climbs in the driver’s side.
The heat blasts through the vents as I cuddle up to his side. He’s just as wet as I am but the body heat coming off his muscular body soothes me.
“Dev? DEV! DEV! Don’t you dare fall asleep. You have hypothermia, babe. Hold on. I’ll get you home and take care of you, love.”
My hands clutch his soaked shirt. “How can you see?”
“I know these roads, like I know every curve of your body. We’ll be home in no time.”
“Home? That word with you sounds so good.”
“Yeah,” he answers gruffly placing a brawny hand on my naked thigh. “Christ, Dev. No underwear?”
“I was in the shower when he broke in.”
“That motherfucker,” Rog’s hands clench the wheel, “did he touch you, sugar?”
“No. I was able to get away and barricade myself in the bedroom. I climbed out the window and went across the roof to the other side and was able to get down to the porch.”
His eyes flit over to me, “Goddamn, you were made for me, woman.” His eyes fill with heat and pride, my fingers laced in his; despite almost being killed—today feels like a new beginning for us both.
The truck sticks and slides, bumps, and swerves but somehow, we make it down a long drive through the woods to a clearing where a log cabin sits next to a pond. Trees have fallen all around us but none on the house.
Rog parks under a portico and before my frozen hands can even reach for the door handle he’s there lifting me in his arms and carrying me up the stairs inside.
We’re soaking wet and freezing, the adrenaline that coursed through our blood still there, but fading.
He strips his soggy clothes off and reaches for me. Taking me by the hand, he kneels in front of a large hearth and makes a fire. “Take your shirt off, Dev. We both need to raise our body temps.”
“I can’t. My arms don’t seem to work.” I tried to lift them, but they feel heavy and weak.
He curses, takes my shirt off, wrapping a plaid blanket around me. “Sit by the fire. I’m gonna hook up the generator and brew some coffee. I’ll be right back.”
He kisses me hard and firm, walks over to a small bar and pours two brandies into low ball glasses. “Sip this. It’ll warm your blood.”
I nod my head taking the stiff drink, eyes staring into the flames; I know I’m a different woman than I was two hours ago. I’m in the club now. I witnessed things that can’t be talked about. I want to know what will happen now, but afraid to ask.
Rog comes back wearing sweat pants and a parka. “Just a few more minutes, baby. I have a generator that will power the whole house I just need to flip the transfer switch.
My eyelids droop, hand slips, I almost drop the glass, but I force myself to jerk my head back and drink. I can’t fall asleep.
Rog’s cell rings on the mantel where he left it. Without even thinking I answer.
“Dev?”
“Yeah, Rog is hooking up the generator. You okay Mac?”
“I’m fine. I was worried as hell about you, girl.”
“I-I’m okay. Is he d-dead?”
“Yes. Dev… I need you to listen to me. You were never home. We fixed your apartment, covered your tracks. You hear me?”
“Y-yes.”
“Good. Gregory has friends. You can’t be anywhere near this.”
“Did you bury him in the woods?”
“Fuck no,” he snorts, “this isn’t TV sweetheart. We called it in… it’s self-defense. He just started shooting up our truck when we went to check on the rental property.”
“The cops bought that?”
“Of course, they did. We run this town, remember?”
Rog opens the door behind me bringing wind and rain inside with him.
“Here, it’s Mac.”
He takes the phone from my hand at the same time the lights come on and the generator’s engines churn like a locomotive.
Shivering violently, I sip my drink. “Come,” he holds a hand out. I take it as he links our hands together, phone to his ear as he talks to Mac in low tones until he’s satisfied all loose ends are tied.
He leads me to the back of his house where in a four-season sunroom sits a large hot tub. He presses a few buttons and lifts the top. Steam comes from the frothy water. He strips, takes the blanket from me, lifting me in his arms, “It’s gonna burn at first. But then your body will warm. When it stops burning it’ll be okay to sleep. I’ll hold you.”
I nod my head trusting him to take care of me. He steps up and places a foot in the swirling water hissing at the contact, but he powers through until both feet are in the tub, “I’m gonna lower you slowly babe. It’s gonna hurt like a bitch since your ice cold. But it’s what you need, okay?”
“It’s okay. Sometimes the things you need hurt you the most,” I answer looking him straight in the eye, palm on his cheek.
His eyes shut, “I know baby. I know. We’ll talk about us later. Let me just hold you now.” He lowers me inch by inch into the water, my bottom teeth sink into my lip as I try not to cry out in pain as my frozen limbs meet water that feels like hot lava on my skin. Whimpering, my arms cling to his neck.
“I know, baby girl. But it’s the only way,” he croons in my ear stroking locks of hair off my face. “What’s this?” His fingers brush the soaked bandage on my lower back. He peels it down so he can read the ink Mac took me to get. His finger gently touches the outlines around the puckered, red skin. “It’s beautiful, sugar. Classy and elegant, just like you.”
“I love you, Rog,” I whisper against his neck.
He inhales sharply hands stilling, “Love you more, baby girl.”
“I was so scared that I wouldn’t have a chance to say it to you.”
His strong body trembles under me, “Don’t think I’m gonna forget that stunt you pulled. Never disobey me again, Dev.”
“I can’t promise you that. I didn’t want to live in a world without you in it. I know it’s soon and I have my regrets for keeping things from you, but I swear on my soul, Rog—I’ll never lie to you again—about anything.”
“Dev, “he moans shifting me into his lap, his cock jutting out of the water, nudging against my sex.
My lips nibble against his neck, my arms still clinging around his broad back as I lift my hips, impaling myself at once.
We don’t speak, lost in our devastating reunion and the knowledge that one of us could have been killed and we would never know the bliss of being together like this; coiled around each other flesh molding and yielding giving and taking—bonds being forged that the end of time can’t break.
Water sloshes over the side of the tub, Rog’s hand falls, fingers finding my clit, rubbing it soft then hard. His lips capture a nipple, whiskers from his beard feeling decadent as they brush against me at the same time the bulbous tip of his cock hits my G-Spot. My eyes roll back in my head, I’m coming apart at the seams and don’t care. I want to fall, knowing he’s going to catch me. I come hard, riding him to the finish, he lets go, hands cupping my face as I feel him spill inside me, “Mine,” he growls, eyes feral at what Gregory almost took from him, “Say it, Dev.”
“Yours,” I pant crying and falling against his chest.
He grunts, satisfied and lifts me up still nestled inside me and steps out of the hot tub, through the house to the master bedroom where he reluctantly sets me down to turn on the massive walk-in shower.
He sets the temperature, carries me in, lovingly washing me. His hands caress soap over my skin, he peppers kisses on my neck, washes my hair, whispering words of love.
Sated, warm and tired, I fall asleep under the warm spray of the jets, the last words I hear are his saying he’s gonna love me forever.