Page 18

Brielle turned to me, and in the dark her eyes caught what little light there was and held it.

“Mághnus,” she said.

No woman had called me by that name since I was a teenager. I’d been right before. Hearing this woman say my real name felt very different. I wanted to hear more.

Then somehow she was closer to me, and her hand was on my wrist, and my palm was against her cheek, and we were kissing.

It wasn’t like anything I’d expected. Her mouth was warm, and she tasted like the coffee she’d been drinking in the kitchen, and for that moment, nothing existed beyond me and Brielle and the moonlight.

I let her lead because I didn’t want this to end. I was terrified I’d do something stupid and she’d stop kissing me. If she’d flinched, I’d have backed off, but she didn’t. She leaned in, breathing me in like she’d been starved for my kiss alone for a very long time. Which was stupid, because wasn’t I supposed to dislike this woman on principle? I didn’t know. But I knew I loved the little sound she made when I thrust my tongue tentatively into her mouth.

Then the security camera on the corner of the building registered in my peripheral vision. The red light blinking, steady, recording. Sure, it was a club camera, but we’d already been photographed once. The real world came back in a rush that nearly took my breath.

Ms. Hastings had an open file with my supervised release hanging in the balance. What was I doing? Sitting in a courtyard with the woman whose testimony had been key in my conviction, and I was kissing her. If Sutton managed to get a picture of me kissing Brielle, I’d be going back to prison.

Gently, I ended the kiss, trying my best to put some distance between us without alarming her or, worse, making her believe I’d rejected her. I sat back, unsure what to say or do.

Brielle’s eyes were wide, her lips parted and kiss-swollen, and I could see her coming to the same realization. I also saw a wanting in her eyes mirroring my own which didn’t disappear. I could feel it like a live wire under my skin, hot and insistent, and from the way she was looking at me, she felt it too. That was the thing. There was no regret in her face. Just fear, sharp and sudden.

We stared at each other, neither willing to break the silence or the brief moment of stolen comfort we’d shared. At least, on my part anyway.

Brielle stood. She seemed hesitant and unsure of the correct move. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t want you in trouble.”

“I won’t be. Don’t be sorry unless you did something you regret.” I tried to reassure her, but we both knew even though the chances of us getting photographed again inside the compound was slim to none, the possibility still hung over us like a guillotine. Then she nodded once, turned and walked back toward the building. I stayed on the bench.

I felt like my skin was on fire, crackling with electricity. The strength of my attraction to this woman was unreasonable and undeniable. I wanted to follow her to her room. I knew she’d let me in, and I was fairly sure we could have a great time together. What I wasn’t so sure of was her state of mind in the aftermath. Anyone with a set of eyes knew Brielle wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of woman. But I wasn’t altogether certain I could let her go after one night anyway.

Christ! Getting involved with Brielle was the exact wrong thing to do. I needed to stay as far away from her as I could. The moon slid behind a cloud and the compound settled into its early evening rhythm. Then I stood and walked to the garage.

My bike sat parked where I’d left it. The motor oil and rubber smell familiar but unable to calm my roiling emotions. I hadn’t been on the road since the day Brielle followed me home, and I needed to ride, to get rid of all this excess energy and turmoil.

I started my bike, rolling it out gently before taking off. Then I pointed it toward the gate. The prospect on duty looked up when he heard me coming. He opened the button for the gate, so I rolled through without slowing down. The compound fell away behind me, the warehouses shrinking in my mirrors until they were just shapes against the darker shape of the night. The service road gave way to the highway, and the highway opened up to me, and I pushed the throttle, letting the speed take the rest. Just the road and the wind. Maybe if I rode fast enough, I could outrun the one woman I knew I’d never forget.

Chapter Nine

Brielle

I stood at the window and watched Dane’s taillight in the distance as he headed out of the compound gate. The sound carried for a minute, echoed between the warehouses, then slipped out into the night.

I had no idea what the hell had just happened. Sure, he’d kissed me back just as hard as I’d kissed him, but I had no idea how the encounter had even started. And I hadn’t wanted it to end. He’d been the one to stop, and I knew exactly why. We’d been caught once and that hadn’t even been a compromising situation. If someone photographed us actually kissing… I just kept doing things to hurt this man and I didn’t know how to stop.

I know I sat at the window for hours. I’d watched for Dane to return and each passing hour had me growing more and more anxious. I’d driven him away from his refuge. Me. Just like I’d taken away his life when I lied in court. At least last time I’d had a reason. I couldn’t risk my grandmother. This time, it had been for a kiss. Pleasure. If anything was more stupid than that to betray someone over, I couldn’t think of it.

Somewhere past two-thirty, I left my silent vigil at the window, starting to think that maybe Dane had come in a different way. Why did I worry about Dane and why he hadn’t come back? I didn’t know. Sure, we kissed, but I had no attachment to him other than one not of my own making. I just felt… wrong.

I walked outside to the area around the garage because I didn’t know where else to go, and I didn’t want to stay in my apartment.

I wandered downstairs to the common room which had a few people, but I’d learned the more raucous parties took place on the other side of the compound. Mostly because the club whores had been relegated to that area. Hannah said that, with so many of the men taking old ladies, it kept the peace better. Which, from what I could tell, worked pretty well. The short time I’d been here, none of the drama TV had shown me about motorcycle clubs seemed to exist. In fact, they all seemed like a very close family, living in an almost communal existence. The way the entire club came to Dane’s assistance impressed me more than anything they did for me. These people were loyal. And very kind.

I sat on a bench outside the garage, my sweater wrapped around me to keep off the chill in the autumn air. Off in the distance, I heard the deep rumble of a motorcycle getting louder.

Not long after, the gate to the compound slid open and a bike rolled through, headed toward me and the garage. One of the bay doors rolled up and Dane rode his bike inside and parked before shutting down the engine and dismounting.

He stepped outside the door next to where I sat, facing in my direction but not looking at me. After a long moment, he spoke. “The fuckin’ gray sedan found me,” he said. His voice was rough. Instead, he scanned the night beyond the compound gate. “It shadowed me for miles.”

I sucked in a breath, feeling like I’d been punched in the stomach. I managed to stand slowly so I could see him better, to make sure he hadn’t been hurt. “Why did you leave?” My voice trembled. There was such a complicated mix of emotions I had no idea how to deal with any of them. “We weren’t supposed to leave the compound.”

His jaw worked as he studied me, and he seemed to want to say something but didn’t. Then he raised his arm, indicating for me to step inside the garage. I did as he asked, and he shut the door behind us.