The tide seemed to be turning. Along with the others, the big guy ran for his motorcycle, silver with a red skull on the tank. The men cranked their engines and roared out of the yard, throwing dirt up behind their back wheels.
One of the riders pulled a gun and shot out two of the new barn windows as the group blasted back down the dirt road.
Tory’s heart was still pounding as the sound of their engines faded, their taillights turned onto the highway and shrank to red dots in the distance.
Josh strode toward her, moving like a big-screen superhero. Tough and strong, he was all smooth motion and no wasted energy. He pulled her into his arms and just hung on. Tory was trembling. She could feel his heart beating hard inside the wall of muscle across his chest, feel her own heart thundering.
“You okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “How about you?”
He reached up and touched a cut that slashed across his cheek. Then he grinned.
Tory huffed out a breath.Men. “So I guess that means you’re fine.”
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Natalie said.
“Weren’t the guys amazing?” said Britt, her eyes riveted on Cole. A cut ran diagonally through one blond eyebrow and one of his pant legs was torn above the top of his prosthesis.
“You were wonderful,” Britt said to him as he walked up on the porch.
Cole caught her face between his hands, leaned over and kissed her, hot and deep. “It’s been a long night,” he said gruffly. “Let’s go home.” There was no mistaking the husky note in his voice or what it meant.
Britt just nodded, a look of adoration on her face. Tory had a hunch Cole was no longer worried about proving his masculinity, though the way the two were staring at each other, odds were he’d be proving it again a little later that night.
Noah grabbed a dirty dish towel from the pile on the porch and handed it to Natalie, who wiped the blood off his knuckles and dabbed at his split lip. He wrapped his arm around her.
“You gonna call the cops?” he asked Josh.
“Not tonight. I’ll call the sheriff’s office in the morning.”
“We can give descriptions of some of them. They weren’t wearing MC jackets or helmets so we don’t know if they belong to a club.”
“We can tell the sheriff what happened, but don’t be surprised if it doesn’t do any good. Howler wouldn’t walk across the street to help a Cain.”
Noah and Cole knew about the animosity between Emmett Howler and the two Cain brothers.
“Asphalt Demons are local,” Noah said. “You think it was them?”
“No way. The Demons are friends of my brother’s. They might even be able to help us. What I can’t figure out is why anyone would come here just to cause trouble.”
Noah snorted a laugh. “Guys like that . . . they don’t always need a reason.”
Josh didn’t disagree. “Why don’t you and Natalie go on home? I’ll finish cleaning up in the morning.”
“You gonna need some help?”
“It’s your day off. Enjoy it. I’ll see you Monday.”
With a weary nod, Noah took his wife’s hand and led her off to his shiny Dodge pickup.
Josh turned to Tory. “I’ll walk you home.”
He stayed close beside her as they crossed the yard and climbed the steps to the front door of the trailer, examining his bloody knuckles along the way.
“I need to get cleaned up before I come over. I’ll see you in a little while.” Those amazing blue eyes slid down her body, as hot as the tip of a flame. He grinned. “We won’t have to be quiet tonight.”
Her stomach contracted and she smiled. “No . . .” she whispered softly.
