After about fifteen minutes, we pulled off the freeway. Next to a gas station, I drove around in back of an office building. She could leave her car there. With any luck, it wouldn’t attract any attention for a couple days. That would buy us some time.

I bet the car was under Griller’s name, and he’d get the call when it was reported as abandoned. I didn’t bring it up with Sky, though. She didn’t need any more reminders of the dangers surrounding her.

I got out and walked around, opening the passenger door to my truck for her to climb in. “You got anything in the trunk? Anything you might need?”

“I have some cash in here.” She patted a black backpack as she climbed into the passenger seat. “I’ve been saving for the past year. But I don’t have anything else. I just ran.”

“That’s OK.” Everything in me wanted to reassure her, make her feel protected and safe. I’d never let Griller hurt her again. “We’re going to have to get rid of your phone. Any numbers on there you’ll need in the next few days?”

“Yeah.” She spoke slowly, seeming like she was still in shock as she took her phone out of her bag.

“Take a second and write them down. We’re going to have to smash and throw it out.” Griller almost definitely had GPS tracking on that thing. I handed her a sheet of paper from the glove compartment. With a shaky hand, she wrote down a couple numbers while I waited, keeping an eye out, wondering if at any minute I’d hear the roar of a motorcycle engine.

She finally folded the paper and handed me the phone. But as she did, it buzzed with a text. She gasped, her hand up to her throat as she dropped the phone.

“Sorry,” she panted, looking terrified. “He’s been texting me.”

“Easy.” I put a hand on her knee, feeling her trembling. Eyes big, she took a deep breath. “I’m going to keep you safe.”

Over by a dumpster, I took pleasure in smashing the phone with a rock and throwing it away. Griller couldn’t get to her anymore. I fucking hated that he’d attacked her over having found our texts. It made me feel responsible.

Back into the truck, I got us out onto the freeway fast. It was better with her in there with me, but it was smart that we’d left separately, taking the step to hide her car. If she’d left it parked in front of my house, they would instantly have known we were together. Griller didn’t need any more help finding her than he already had.

I knew the power of an MC. I’d been surrounded by gangs and criminals my whole life. A motorcycle club was a brotherhood, with bonds thicker than blood. They made their own rules, beholden to no one but themselves. The guys would do anything for each other.

Even if one of them was a psychopath. All the Skulls knew Griller was crazy, but he was still a Skull. If he wanted revenge on his wife for cheating on him, it wouldn’t just be him trying to make that happen. He’d have an army of well-armed, ruthless killers flanking him, helping him achieve that goal. Sky was in a hell of a mess.

Which was why I’d called Zeke first thing. Leaving Sky on the couch in my house, I’d thrown a few things into a bag and given him a call. It had gone to his voicemail, but he’d get back to me soon. Until then, we’d head toward his house near Riverside, about two hours away.

The police wouldn’t be able to keep Sky safe. They couldn’t put her somewhere under 24/7 surveillance. Hell, I wasn’t even sure I could keep her safe. At least not right then, not until we could figure out a plan. But I knew who could. It meant going from the frying pan into the fire, but who knew a motorcycle club better than another motorcycle club? The Iron Reapers, sworn enemies of the Sacrificial Skulls, would be able to anticipate their every move, and, even better, counter them all. It was our best shot.

“How you feeling?” I turned to Sky. She’d been awfully silent since she’d climbed into the truck, lost in her thoughts. I was, too, as we traveled down the freeway at night. The drive shouldn’t take too long, but you never knew with traffic. Getting over near Riverside meant driving right through L.A. and the number of accidents, alone, could grind things to countless halts.

“I’m OK.” She sounded as if she were trying to convince herself as much as me. “I’ll be OK,” she added, as if she hadn’t done such a good job. She brought a shaking hand up to her hair, then dropped it again to her lap.

“It’s going to be all right.” I wanted to take her hand in mine, bring her onto my lap. Fear radiated off of her in a nearly palpable panic. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and drain it out, replace it with peace, comfort, security. But first of all I had to drive. Second, she hadn’t come to me because she wanted to be my girlfriend. She’d come because she needed help and wanted to warn me that I was in danger. I had to keep focused, stay fixed on the goal at hand.

My phone buzzed. I pulled over at the next exit to take Zeke’s call. I wanted a private minute to explain things, away from Sky. Parked by the side of the road, I climbed out and stood at the back of the truck as I called him back.

“What’s up?” He sounded tense. My news wasn’t going to change that.

“I’ve got a woman with me, beat up by a Skull.”

“Motherfuckers.”

“She got away, but the guy’s still after her.” I paused, knowing I was burying the lead. If I mentioned it was Griller, Zeke would be all over it. But I had to talk to Sky before I did that. That information would set all kinds of wheels in motion, and she was the one who should make that decision.

For now, I just told Zeke what he needed to know. “The Skull’s her husband. And he’s after me, too.”

He groaned. “This is not good.”

“It’s not good,” I agreed. “I need your help. But there may be something in it for you, too.”

“S’all right. Don’t worry about it.” He dismissed my suggestion of reward, as if he found it insulting. Of course he’d help me out without getting something in return. But I knew there might very well be something to this situation that would interest Zeke quite a bit.

“I’ll put you up for the night,” Zeke assured me.

“Thanks, man.”

“When’ll you get here?”

“Little over an hour.” I ended the call, grateful for his allegiance. Zeke was a criminal. I had no illusions about that. But he was a criminal in my court, and right now that was what we needed.

Back in the car, I pulled us back out onto the road. I couldn’t see anything suspicious in the mirrors, but I also knew the Skulls had eyes and ears all over. It wasn’t Griller following us we had to worry about. It was some other guy in the club already out near where we were getting word. They knew the truck I drove. If they spotted us, it would not be good.

“Where are we headed?” Sky sounded afraid. Damn it, I never wanted her to have to feel that way again.

“We’re going to spend the night over near Riverside. I have a friend who can put us up for the night.”

“But, what if Mike—?”

“Even if he follows us, which I don’t think he will, he won’t be able to get at us. My friend’s a Reaper.”

“Oh God, Jax. Are you sure?”

I didn’t like it either, mixing with one set of bad guys to evade another. But I did know Zeke would have my back, and that went for anyone I had with me as well. “We’ll be safe there for the night. And tomorrow, we can make some decisions.”

Some of that would be up to her. How far would she be willing to go to ensure her own safety? Griller was not a good man. He would not play by the rules. Would she?

I didn’t think Griller or anyone else was tailing us, but I still gripped the wheel tight the whole way. Each slow-down jacked up my pulse, sending it jumping like a racehorse held back at the gate. Sky sat at my side, pale and quiet, biting her nails and staring blankly out the window. I hoped she was right that she didn’t need a doctor. She should at least be icing that wrist I saw her massaging, or the shoulder she kept trying to move, then wincing. I hated not being able to do more, but I’d learned in crises, you couldn’t try to do too much. It was important to prioritize, figure out what mattered most in the hierarchy of needs. Right now, what mattered most was getting her to a safe location.

Zeke had lived in the same place for a couple of years. All of California was expensive, but his town was a little less so than mine and he’d gotten himself a sweet place. I knew it meant the same to him as it did to me to actually own a house. Having grown up with nothing, on the move all the time just like me, it felt important.

Only last week I’d put my house on the market. Since I’d cashed out of the bar, I’d been working on packing up, figuring out my next steps. I didn’t know where or what yet, but I didn’t want to hang on to my place. Renting it out would just be a headache. I wanted a clean slate, a fresh start.

Then Sky had showed up at my house, like I’d imagined her doing so many times. Only I’d never played out the scenario that actually happened, with another man’s red fingermarks around her throat. In my fantasies, she’d come to me because she couldn’t resist any longer. She’d missed me too much and her longing had overcome her better judgment. Reality was less romantic.

I snuck a glance at her and had to admit, even after all she’d been through that night, she looked beautiful. That long, soft hair, her full lips, her body’s rounded curves filling out her T-shirt and jeans. I was going to have to watch myself around her. After what she’d been through, she didn’t need some guy trying to hump her. I might be up for an all-nighter, a year’s worth of fantasies fueling my libido. But she needed a couple of Ibuprofen, an ice pack and a long, solid night’s sleep. I’d see that she got it.

After two and a half hours, I finally pulled off the freeway. “Zeke’s a good friend,” I assured Sky. “I’ve known him for years.”

“Will they be OK with me? You know, the wife of a Skull?”

“You’re with me now. If they have a problem with you, they have a problem with me.” That came out fiercely protective, but it was how I felt. And I didn’t like her referring to herself as Griller’s wife. I hoped that status was going to change fast.

“How do you know Zeke?”

I clutched the wheel. I’d figured she was going to ask me sooner or later, I’d just hoped for later. But, I also believed in being honest. “We did time together.”

“Oh.” She sounded a little taken aback, but she wasn’t leaping out of the car yet. That was a good sign. “When was that?”

“Back when I was 15. I was an idiot, dealing pot. Then I got caught breaking and entering. I was going through a rough time in my life, after the accident.”

“You were so young.” She was too nice, jumping in to excuse my bad behavior.

“Old enough to know better. But, anyway, Zeke and I were cellmates. He’s like a brother to me. A kind-of crazy brother, but still.” I shrugged.

“You can trust him?”

“Completely.”

“Then I’m really grateful you knew someone to call. I was going to head to the bus station, but I was worried Mike would find me first, or be able to track where I went.”

“Where were you going to go?” My stomach tightened at the thought of Sky all alone, heading off far away from me.

“Phoenix.”

“Why?”

“No good reason, other than that I’ve been there a couple of times. My mother lived there for a few years with her boyfriend. I guess I figured I could get an apartment, pay in cash and try to live quiet, stay off his radar.” She shook her head. “Now? I don’t know what I’m going to do. He’s never going to give up until he finds me.”

“Don’t worry about that right now.” I turned at a light, making our way into a residential area.

“Hard not to.”

“I know. But first you need some rest. We’ll have time tomorrow to sort things out.”

I pulled into Zeke’s place, relieved to see his garage open. I didn’t want to leave my truck outside all night, and he must have thought the same thing. Maybe he could help me switch out the car, or at least the plates.

“C’mon in.” Zeke greeted us, beer in hand, closing the garage door and ushering us into his house. “You want one?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, but first I wanted to take care of Sky. “You got any pain meds? And some ice?” Sky wasn’t complaining, but I knew she had to be hurting. Zeke led us into his bathroom where he had a regular pharmacy. Sky opted for the over-the-counter stuff.

“You sure?” I asked. The stronger stuff might do her some good.

She nodded. “It’s not that bad. I think I just need to get some sleep.” It was after midnight and she looked exhausted. Zeke grabbed a couple of ice packs from the freezer and showed us down a hallway to a large spare room with a couch and a bed.

“You guys can crash here. I’ve got a couple friends coming over later tonight. We’ll try to keep it down.” He gave us a wink, then closed the door.

“We can get you some more stuff tomorrow.” I unzipped my duffel and pulled out what I’d grabbed for her at my place, basically a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste. “And here’s something you can sleep in.” I handed her one of my T-shirts, knowing she had nothing of her own. I didn’t think she’d noticed yet, but she had some blood on her clothes. When she changed, hopefully she’d be too tired to register the stains. I could try to get everything washed clean by morning.

Grateful and exhausted, she took what I gave her and headed to the bathroom. I spent a few minutes on my phone, letting Ace, my realtor and a couple others know I’d be out of town for a few days. I didn’t know how long this would take, but the less confusion I left in Cavallo, the quieter things would go for Sky. Luckily, I’d already cashed out of the bar. I could make protecting her my full time job.

I wasn’t prepared for the sight of her when she walked back in. Hair down in a loose tumble, her skin rosy and glowing from having washed her face, she smelled like lilacs. Seeing her in my shirt? Fuck. It draped along her curves, the neck wide enough to show her collarbone, the hem ending mid-thigh. Her legs looked so creamy and inviting, starting from her feet with her polished pink toenails all the way up to her bare thighs.

Swallowing, I tore my eyes away. She’d just been through massive trauma. The last thing she needed was someone pawing at her. I needed to remember that. And probably find a way to jack off in private. That would help. Because having her so close, wearing so little, with the added intimacy of seeing her in my T-shirt, as if we’d spent the night and now she was padding around completely naked save that? I was hard as a fucking rock.

“Thanks, Jax, for everything.” She placed her clothes on a chair by the door and looked up at me with her big eyes, such an incredible shade of blue. Sky blue, I guessed it was, light and bright like she deserved her skies to look. She’d had too much stormy gray in her life. She needed more sunshine.

I looked away, running my hand over my head. I had about a month of hair growth on it, practically long, flowing locks from my perspective. I tried to focus on the prickly sensation on my palm, the door knob, my least favorite high school teacher, anything other than Sky standing so close, just a step away from gathering her into my arms.

“OK, then, if you’re all set, I’ll let you get to sleep.” I headed to the door.

“Are you coming back?” She sounded frightened.

“Of course.” I looked into her eyes, trying to reassure her. “I’m not leaving. I’ll just be in the other room with Zeke. When I come back in I’ll try not to wake you. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

She nodded, pulling back the covers on the bed.

“You want the ice packs? Or…” She shook her head no, climbing in, already looking moments away from sleep. I grabbed her dirty clothes and left the room before I could talk myself into staying right there by her side.

“You got a washer?” I asked Zeke, holding up the bundle of blood-stained clothes.

He walked me to it and waited until we were back in the kitchen and I had that beer I’d wanted before he asked, “What’s up?”

I drank half the bottle in one swig, and then gave him the high-level version, how I’d gotten to know Sky at the place where Ace lived, how her husband was a bastard.

“And what’s gone down between the two of you?” he pressed.

I groaned and twisted off the cap on a second beer. “Not nearly what I wanted to. But enough.”

“So this Skull she’s married to, who is he?”

All through my story, I’d avoided naming Griller. I knew Zeke would take it and run with it. Griller had been on his hit list for a long time now. But that was a decision Sky needed to make. She should think it through and fully understand the ramifications of sharing that information. And of not sharing it.

“I’m going to get back to you on that one.” I tapped his beer bottle with mine, letting him know I meant it. “Tomorrow. I need to talk to Sky about it first, and before that she’s got to get some rest.”

Zeke looked me over, assessing the situation. With someone he knew less well—hell, maybe with anyone else—he might call bullshit. But with me, he gave me time.

“Tomorrow, you tell me,” he agreed. “Anyone else besides Skulls looking for her?”

“Nope.” There was a lot to that information, and both he and I knew it. Sky didn’t have anyone on her side. She had no well-connected father marshaling the police force. She had no concerned mother calling her every five minutes wanting to know her whereabouts. I was sure she had some friends, but maybe not anyone close. Knowing the hell she’d been living in, I bet she hadn’t been able to let anyone get close.

“Fuck.” I exhaled, rubbing my forehead.

“We’ll figure it out.” Zeke was a good guy, telling me what I needed to hear. But he didn’t have a magic wand.

“I never should have walked away, left her alone with him. He could have killed her.” There in the kitchen, with Sky hopefully passed out asleep a few doors down, I let myself say it, expressing the anger and self-reproach that seethed within me.

“Maybe now we’ll kill him.” Zeke had just enough psycho in him that he gave me a grin after he said it.

Sky and I had a lot to talk about tomorrow. I didn’t know if she grasped the full nature of her situation, but I’d make sure she did. Griller would kill her if he got the chance. She could file a report with the police, but they wouldn’t be able to protect her. Griller and his brothers had each other’s backs. They’d keep searching for her, with a hell of a lot more zeal, influence and connections than the police. Once they found her, they’d make her disappear without a trace.

Zeke and I stayed up for another hour or so, until a couple girls came over for a late night party. “They’ve got friends a call away,” he offered.

“I’m good.” I made my way down the hallway, preparing for a long night on the couch. It would probably do me good to blow off steam with someone else, but I couldn’t do it. Now that I had Sky nearby after so long without her, I wanted to be as close as possible. Especially if she woke up and needed me.

That happened, around four a.m. Still in my clothes, I’d tossed and turned on the lumpy couch, trying not to be distracted by the smell of Sky or the sounds she occasionally made in her sleep, shifting and sighing. After punching the cushions a few times, I’d finally drifted off around three. But then, I heard Sky cry out.

On my feet in a second, I scanned the room, looking for the source of danger. I saw nothing. Then she moaned, “No!”, pushing at something invisible before her. She was having a nightmare.

At her side, I smoothed my hand along her forehead, speaking to her in low tones. “Sky, it’s all right. Everything’s all right.” She reached for me, pulling me to her side. I lay down next to her in the dark. She balled my shirt into her fist as I wrapped my arm under her shoulders, cradling her against me. I rubbed her back, feeling her breathing slow into an easy rhythm, the weight of her body settled against mine. She’d never completely woken up.

Tomorrow morning, she might not be thrilled to open her eyes and find me in bed with her. That might raise a few questions. Gingerly, lightly, I picked up her arm and lifted it, trying to ease away off the bed and back to the couch.

“Stay,” she murmured, clutching at me.

I settled back, head onto the pillow. Stay I would, for the rest of the night. With her luscious body draped all over mine, her hair strewn across my chest, her thighs parted over my own, I stared up at the ceiling and tried to think about coral reefs or algebra. But nothing worked.

She’d permeated my senses for months without any contact. Now that I had her literally on top of me wearing very little, I didn’t stand a chance. So I tried to let it be enough, just that moment, in the darkness with my arms around her. The sound of her soft breathing, the feel of her chest rising and falling, the lilac smell of her hair splayed across my chest. I didn’t know what the next day would bring. It might be all we had. I hoped the sun took its sweet time.

The next morning, she woke up before I did. When I opened my eyes, she was still lying next to me, though less like an octopus. She’d reined in her arms and legs. But I still had my arm around her, and our sides touched, sharing body heat.

“Morning,” she whispered, looking up at me, unsure.

“You had a nightmare,” I felt the need to explain.

“I thought so.” She sat up, moving away. I pulled the sheet from down around my legs up and over my chest. My huge morning wood still bulged through. There was no way she hadn’t seen.

“I’m sorry I woke you. I’ll go wash up.” She was in the bathroom quick as a jackrabbit before I could say another word. I rubbed my face, trying to shake the sleepy arousal I’d felt with her pressed against me, so soft and curvy. I’d probably freaked her out, waking up next to my huge erection. But I guessed it was better for her to be a little scared around me. I was a lot of man and I’d have a hard time holding back with her. I’d wanted her for so long, if I ever got the chance to actually be with her it would be like a raging storm unleashed. I didn’t know if I’d let her get up out of bed for days. It would be easier if she avoided me, stayed away. It would be easier for me to remember that she was still married, plus wounded and frightened. She needed tender love and care, not the kind of sweaty fucking a beast like me couldn’t stop thinking about, her toes curling as I demanded orgasm after orgasm.

While she showered, I grabbed her laundered clothes. The stains hadn’t disappeared, but they’d faded, like her memory of the attack hopefully would. I laid them out for her and made sure I was in the kitchen when she came out. I didn’t need the image of her all wet, naked save a towel, burned into my brain. I could already picture it all too vividly in my imagination. Once I heard the click of the spare bedroom door, I showered, too, and, no, masturbating didn’t help. I prepared myself for basically staying hard 24/7.

Back in the spare room, she was waiting for me, hair brushed and down, looking so young and pretty as she sat on the couch. Business, all business, I reminded myself. We had a psychopath and his blood brothers out looking for us.

“How’re you feeling?” I asked, taking a seat several feet away on the chair over by the door. Plenty of distance between us, I still felt our chemistry like an electric pull.

“Strangely good.” She rolled her shoulder, the one I’d seen her massaging last night. “I should probably take some more Ibuprofen, but I’m feeling a lot better.”

She looked a lot better, too, with more color in her face. The marks on her throat had faded. They wouldn’t be as dark a bruise as I’d feared. It still infuriated me that that piece of shit had put his hands on her. But that would be the last time, I swore it.

“We need to make a decision. About how far we want to get in with the Reapers.” I laid it out for her. Option A the two of us could head out that morning and drive, probably down to Mexico. I had my passport and I knew some guys who could set her up with one. “It’ll take a couple of days, but once we’re over it’ll be harder for him to find us.”

“But, what then? We hide in Mexico? Until when?”

I shrugged. “That’s an open question.”

“He knows a ton of guys down there. The Skulls do all kinds of deals with cartels and gangs. I’ve tried to stay out of it. I never wanted to know, but I still heard enough. Mexico’s a big place, but it’s not like we’d be dropping off the radar.” I knew all that, and I was glad she did, too. It made it easier to lay out option B.

“There’s another way.” I looked her in the eye, wanting her to fully comprehend all the implications. “I haven’t told Zeke who your husband is. Not yet. But I can. And they will be interested. Very interested.”

“They don’t like Mike.”

“That’s an understatement.”

She nodded, looking down at the bedspread. Her hands clasped tight on her knees.

“I can tell them and see if they want to get involved. My guess is they will. And they may want you involved. The game will change. It won’t be just him looking for us. We’ll be looking for him.”

“And if we help them find him?” She looked at me, still holding her voice level and steady.

“I think you know they’re not going to sit down and play Monopoly.” They’d kill Griller, make him disappear the way he would Sky if he found her first.

“Tell them,” she answered, straightaway. “Tell them and see what they want to do. This needs to end.”

“You sure?” It was a big decision. I happened to agree with it. It was the only way to make Griller go away for good. Otherwise she’d have to live on the run, change her identity, always keeping one eye looking over her shoulder. She’d never have a moment of peace, and someday it still might all end the way Griller wanted.

She ran her fingers lightly along her neck, feeling the tender spots where Griller had closed his hand around her throat, strangling her. Looking me straight in the eye, she gave me her answer, “I’m sure.”

I stood up, knowing what I had to do next.