I’m standing outside the motel room, finishing a smoke, when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out just as Alix emerges, backpack slung over her shoulder. She’s changed into faded jeans and a fitted dark red T-shirt. Her hair’s pulled back from her face into a messy ponytail. She looks fresh, and casual, and sexy as shit.

“I just have to return this,” she says, holding up the key and jiggling it.

I lift my chin. “Got it. I’ll be right here.”

She flashes me a brief smile and turns toward the front office. I pause for a moment to appreciate her spectacular ass in a different package. When she’s disappeared around the corner, I regretfully drag my eyes away and look down at my phone. It’s a text from Thorn.

I nod at the phone as though it’s Thorn himself and hit reply:

I shove the thing back in my pocket and take a last drag of my smoke. I wonder what the Death Devils have in mind. They’re a club to the east of us — in fact, I’m in Death Devils territory right now. The Devils and our club have been inching toward an alliance, which started in part because of a desire on the part of both our clubs to strengthen our numbers. And to unite against a growing threat from the Iron Spiders, before the Lords took out their president.

Now, even though the Spiders threat looks to be neutralized, it’s still in our best interests to strengthen the partnership with the Death Devils if possible. We sold them the last of our weapons shipments a while back, when our club decided to get out of gun running. Now they’ve largely taken over the business we walked away from. The Devils’ president, Oz, is kind of a closed book, but his men seem to respect the shit out of him, and he hasn’t fucked us over yet.

I’m musing about what Oz’s club might be wanting to propose to the Lords, when shouting from the motel’s main office shakes me out of my thoughts. It’s Alix’s voice. I put out my smoke and go over to see what the fuck’s going on.

When I get inside, she’s arguing with a fat, greasy-looking guy who’s standing behind the counter. Alix is waving her arms and pointing at a clock on the wall, which reads eleven ten.

“You know damn well that clock is fast!” she yells. “You do this on purpose!”

“It’s the customer’s responsibility to be out of the room in a timely manner,” the guy smirks. “This clock is the one we go by.”

“I am not paying for another night,” Alix fumes.

“If you’re unable or unwilling to pay, we’ll just have to get the local authorities involved,” the guy says in a smug tone, reaching his fat fucking hand toward the phone on his desk.

“I don’t think that’s gonna be necessary,” I interrupt, walking up to the counter. The fat fucker turns toward me, a flash of apprehension on his face.

“Sir, are you with this woman?”

“I am.” I put my elbows on the counter and lean in toward him, until my face is maybe a foot from his. I’ve easily got five inches on him, and even though we’re probably about the same weight, his is mostly from fat.

“I’m sorry,” he half-stammers, his eyes moving from Alix to me. “But it’s our policy to charge for another night if a customer fails to vacate their room in a timely manner. I explained this to her yesterday when I checked her in, and she said she understood.”

“I can understand that,” I say easily. “Trouble is, your clock’s broken.”

“No, it’s not,” he says, and rolls his eyes.

I fucking hate it when people roll their eyes.

This fat fuck doesn’t seem to be getting the message. I straighten, walk over to the wall, and take the clock down from the nail it’s hanging on. Bringing it back to the desk, I turn it over and bring it down hard on the counter, smashing its face. Both Alix and the greasy guy jump back, the guy visibly blanching.

“Huh,” I mutter in a puzzled tone. I reach in through the splinters of broken plastic and move the minute hand back, until the clock reads ten fifty-five. “I guess you’re right. I thought it was broken, but it must have fixed itself.” I toss the thing, frisbee-like, across the counter. It crashes loudly against the back wall of the office. Then I grab the room key lying on the counter in front of Alix and toss it after the clock.

“You have a nice day, now,” I say.

The fat pig is so shocked he doesn’t say a word as I grab Alix’s hand and pull her back outside.

“Holy shit,” Alex hisses as the office door swings shut behind us. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“Problem?”

“No!” she starts to giggle, and then snorts loudly, bringing her hand to her face. “Oh, my God, that was epic!” Then she’s full-out laughing, hard enough that she has to stop walking and lean her hand against the outside wall of the motel to steady herself. She doubles up and gasps for breath, laughing until there are tears in her eyes.

Watching her let go like this, it makes me realize how pinched and serious she’s been up to this point. Knowing I’m the reason for it — it does something to my chest. Like it’s constricting and expanding at the same time.

She continues to shake in helpless laughter leaning against the side of the building for support. Before I know it, I’m laughing with her.

“Come on,” I eventually chuckle. “Let’s get the fuck out of this shithole.”

Alix is still giggling when we get to my bike. “Thank you so much for that, Gunner,” she says, her eyes sparkling. “That was the funniest thing I’ve seen in… God, I have no idea.”

“My pleasure. That fucker deserved it.” He’s luckier than he knows that I didn’t beat his damn face in, just for the pleasure of breaking a few of his teeth. “Come on. I’ll take you back to your car.”

I help Alix put on her backpack, then get on the bike. She slides on behind me, less awkwardly now that she’s not wearing a dress. Automatically, her arms go around my waist, the seat sliding her forward a little so she’s snug up against my back. I can feel her still giggling a little bit as I start the bike, her tits moving against my back as she does. My cock tightens in my jeans, and I remember how tough it was last night to look at her sprawled on the bed and not be able to do anything about it.

Shit. The sooner I get her back to her car and send her on her way, the better. I’ve been trying to keep her safe from assholes since I met her, but if she’s not careful she’ll need saving from me next.

The trip back to the Smiling Skull only takes a couple minutes, since now I can go full-speed without worrying about Alix falling off the bike. The bar doesn’t open until this afternoon, and the parking lot is deserted except for what must be her car. It’s a rusty as hell, dark blue Civic with a body style from the early nineties. This thing must have close to two-hundred thousand miles on it. I think back to how hard she fought against paying for another night at the motel, and realize Alix must be pretty goddamn broke if this is what she drives.

I slow the bike and stop in the spot next to the Civic. Turning the engine off, I wait for her to get off, then stand to face her.

“Well,” Alix says, flashing me a suddenly shy smile. “Thank you so much for everything, Gunner. I never properly thanked you for buying me breakfast. And, well, for everything else.” She lifts her shoulders and spreads her hands.

“What are you gonna do now?” I ask her.

“Um…” She glances back toward her car. “I dunno. I’m going to keep looking for my sister.”

“You’re not coming back to this bar, are you?” I ask sharply. “Are you gonna go looking for that Gonzalo guy again?”

“I don’t know,” she admits. Her face crumples into a mask of worry, and it makes my chest hurt to see her smile go away. “I don’t think Gonzalo is going to tell me anything. But I’m sure he knows where she is. Or at least he did know.”

“Alix, are you gonna tell me what the hell’s going on here?” I demand.

My voice comes out so gruff and angry it surprises me. It seems to surprise her, too.

“I…” she begins, looking at me with wide, confused eyes. “Gunner, this isn’t your fight. No, I wasn’t planning on telling you any more.”

I lean against her driver’s side door so she can’t open it, and cross my arms. “Well, that’s gonna change. Talk.”

“Why?” she asks, a sudden flash of defiance in her eyes.

“Because I said so.”

I’m not leaving until she does tell me. And she can’t leave until I let her into her car. We’re at an impasse, and we will be until she realizes there’s only one way forward.

For a second I think she’s going to keep arguing with me. Then her shoulders slump a little bit, and she pulls her backpack off and tiredly sets it on the ground beside her. “There’s not that much to tell,” she sighs. “My sister left town, and I don’t know where she is. I’m worried about her. She was seeing Gonzalo, and I’m almost positive she left with him. Or because of him, anyway.”

“How did you know to come here?”

Her eyes flick to the side, toward the closed bar. “She had an app on her smart phone so I could track her. For safety. She had one on her phone for me, too. The last place the phone said she was was here.” She takes in a deep breath and lets it out, defeated. “And then she must have taken the app off, or deleted me, because she disappeared.”

“So you came here hoping to find her?”

“Yeah. But instead, I just found Gonzalo.” Her face twists into an expression of disgust. “He told me they broke up and that he doesn’t know where she is.”

“Who is this Gonzalo guy anyway?” He’s not a biker, Or anyway he’s not in an MC. He wasn’t wearing a cut, and wasn’t flying any colors.

“I don’t know, exactly.” One hand goes up and pulls distractedly at the end of her blond ponytail. “He just showed up one day with my sister. In Lynchburg. That’s where I’m from.” She shakes her head in frustration. “I know he was involved in some shady stuff. My sister started seeing him. Off and on, at first. My mom was furious, of course. But I think that just made Eden more determined to be with him.” Alix looks up with me ruefully. “My mom and Eden didn’t get along.”

“Didn’t?”

“My mom’s dead. About six months ago.” Her voice is flat, but a little tremble of her chin tells me she’s trying to keep her emotions under control. “I thought maybe her dying would finally wake Eden up. That once she didn’t have Mom around to shock anymore, she’d stop trying to play the bad girl and walk away from Gonzalo. But instead, it just made her into more of a wild child.”

Something about the look of pain on her face makes me want to reach out to touch her. Comfort her. But I make myself keep my distance, because I’m pretty sure I know where it will lead if I do. There’s been a spark of something between Alix and me at since least the restaurant. I can feel it, and I know she can, too.

“Does she know you’re looking for her?” I ask instead, trying to ignore the untimely stirring of my cock.

“I don’t know,” she shrugs. “She probably suspects it, if she deleted the tracking app on her phone.” Alix looks down at the ground. “The last time I saw her, we had a fight. She told me to leave her the hell alone, and stop trying to take care of her. That she could live her own life.” Her eyes fill with tears, but she opens them wide to keep them from spilling and clears her throat. “I know she’d probably be pissed if she knew I was still trying to find her. Maybe I should just leave her alone. I just…” Her voice breaks and she clears her throat again. “I just want to know she’s okay. That’s all. After that, if she wants me to go away, I will.”

Fuck. This is some heavy duty shit. Looking at Alix last night in the bar, I just assumed she was some homecoming queen with a bad boy fetish, slumming it with the lowlifes for some kind of thrill. I can’t help but have some serious respect for her now, knowing that she barged into a biker bar with no fear and no backup just to find her sister.

Of course, it was stupid as hell, too. But even so, it was gutsy.

I’m about to say some stupid cliche’d shit about how sorry I am, when an idea hits me.

It’s probably crazy — hell, it’s definitely crazy. But once it’s in my head I can’t push it out.

Fuck it. Why not.

“Look. Alix.” I begin, barely able to believe I’m going to suggest this. “I have to get back to my place for some business this afternoon. I live about an hour west of here, in Tanner Springs.” She nods and starts to turn to her car, but I stop her. “Wait. Come with me. I’ve got a house, and a spare bedroom. You can stay there. At least long enough to figure out if your sister’s still in the area.”

Instead of being grateful, Alix looks alarmed. “No thanks, Gunner,” she starts to stammer. “I, uh, have to be getting back. To Lynchburg.”

Her eyes flick away from mine as she says the name of her town. She’s lying, I can tell. She’s not going back. She just told me she’s going to keep looking for her sister. But whether she’s trying not to impose on me, or she’s afraid I’m going to try to take her home and force myself on her, I don’t know.

“Horseshit,” I rasp. “You’re not going back to Lynchburg. You and I both know that.”

She glances up at me guiltily.

“Look, darlin’,” I continue. “If I was gonna jump you, I already would have done it by now in that shitty motel room. Unlike that piece of shit Gonzalo, I don’t need to trick or drug women into sleeping with me.” I look her in the eye, trying to ignore the fact that I’d love to bend her over the hood of her car and do nasty things to her, just to hear her moan my name.

She’s frowning at me, clearly still planning to keep refusing my offer. “I’m just trying to help you out, Alix. I swear,” I say. It’s mostly the truth. “It seems like you could use some help right about now. And if you were willing to fight that hard back at the motel to not pay for another night, I’m guessing you could use a free place to stay for a while.”

She doesn’t say anything in response, but I can tell she’s wavering.

“Tell me I’m wrong.”

“No,” she whispers. “You’re not.”

“Look,” I continue. “I’ll even go stay at the MC’s clubhouse, and give you the house to yourself, if it makes you feel safer.”

Alix is silent for a few seconds. Then for a few more.

“Why are you helping me?” she finally asks in a small voice.

“Fuck if I know,” I growl. “But come on, before I change my mind.”