4 Horsemen Novella! Kayla's Ride (Sons of San Merced Erotic Motorcycle Club Biker Romance) (3 page)

“We’ll get shit squared away, but for a few days you might have to stay with the club for your own safety…”

“I don’t feel very safe. I think I need the police,” I replied, my voice squeaking out as I found a little courage in the faint buzz of alcohol.

“No cops.”

There was no room for misunderstanding. Conquest wasn’t making a suggestion. My eyes glanced downward at his hand, curled solidly around the glass of his beer.

“You’re scaring her Conquest,” Penny said softly, leaning in between us.

“Shit’s hitting the fan, she needs to be scared. If she’s not scared, she’s going to end up dead.”

Dead?!?
It didn’t matter how much I enjoyed the company of dangerous people, the idea of death wasn’t exactly appealing. I reached out and grabbed a shot the man behind the bar had lined up, lifting it up and slamming it.

“We need a few days. You’re a part of this now. We can’t have you blowing up a year long operation. Kayla, I know you’re scared, but trust me in this. You are safer here than you are out there.”

“You harassing my lady?”

The sound came from behind, voice smooth and relaxed as it had been at the bar. Famine was back, and something inside me felt just a little calmer.

“I owe this one my life Conquest. If she wasn’t around I’d have walked right into those Kings.”

“How big of a mess did you leave Famine?”

“Two dead, the big one hit me with a blade. Barkeep came out swinging a shotgun round and he ran off. Lucky for him.”

Famine’s eyes flashed. The big man from the parking lot was dangerous, but something in Famine’s eyes made it clear he was plenty capable of handling himself in a fight.

“You bled all over the scene. That’s going to complicate things.”

“Call your buddies, sort shit out.”

Conquest sighed, turning away and finishing his drink. “Do you know why you should never deal with the devil, Famine?”

The room seemed to have gone silent, everyone trying to listen in.

“The devil keeps raising his prices.”

“I’m sorry, Conquest.”

I watched as the two men came together, a hug of solidarity between them. “I’m glad you made it out of there,” Conquest said, giving Famine a hard pat on the back. “Lets pay back the favor. Eye for an eye.”

Conquest slipped away, drawing Penny off with him and leaving me behind. I turned to Famine, still shaken from the night.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Don’t thank me, I got you into this shit,”

“And you saved me…”

My hand came down on his thigh. A fresh pair of jeans covered a bulge of bandage. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or the alcohol, or my own predisposition, but I found myself leaning in.

The kiss was hot, hard, and almost unexpected by both of us. His hands ran up across my neck, pulling me in as I captured his bottom lip, quivering. Heat rose up between us as I fell into him, letting go of my stress and fear.

“I’m sorry Kayla,” Famine whispered, pulling away.

“Fix this, Famine.”

“I will… Just… Come with me. Conquest won’t let you leave here unless you ride with one of the Horsemen.”

I fell silent, unsure what to say. My life had changed drastically in the past few hours. Desire had gotten me into trouble, and Famine was both my ticket in, and my ticket out… He was the most dangerous man I’d ever known, a killer, a savior… I’d never wanted someone more.

“You can think it over on the ride out.”

I shook my head, staring. “Ride? Where?”

“You’ll see…”

Chapter 4:

The Ride

THE NIGHT
was the longest of my life. Famine had shown me to one of the rooms upstairs, with a set of bunks ready for sleeping and some showers. I spent half an hour washing off the blood and sweat, Penny delivering some clean clothes to slip into. The t-shirt smelled faintly of man, but I appreciated the sentiment. There was no way I could fall asleep at a time like this, but my head hit the pillow and dreams took me.

“Wake up, it’s time.”

The voice drew me from my slumber, and my eyes flashed open to see Famine sitting over me, his hand on my stomach. Butterflies flew inside me as I stared, trying to get a handle on where I was. This wasn’t my bed, this wasn’t my life…

And those weren’t my clothes…

I stared at the tight black leather pants and the shirt hanging over the edge of the bed, clearly laid out for me.

“Put these on, it’s going to be a long ride,” Famine said, running his hand up between my breasts and resting it on my cheek. “This is the first day of the rest of your life.”

I gasped as he came down upon me, another soft kiss, then I was alone again, listening to Famine’s footsteps as he walked downstairs. The pants were tight, the leather warmer than I expected. The shirt wasn’t quite big enough for my chest, leaving a button open that I’d have rather closed. Moving to the bathroom I worked to fix myself up. I drew my hair back into a bun, twisting it and looking for something to use to fix it in place. Back into the bedroom, I found a long thin metal pen and forced it through. Satisfied, I walked downstairs, the sounds of a meeting rising up loudly. I could hear Famine.

“We’re meeting just outside Vegas. Conquest, War, Death and I will be meeting with Tyrone and the rest of you will form an outer perimeter in case something goes wrong. This is supposed to be a peace deal with the Kings but we all know what’s really at stake here.”

I moved into the circle of bikers, stepping up closer to Penny. Another woman stared from across the circle, standing near War. She looked remarkably familiar, as if I’d seen her before. It wasn’t long before I realized her features looked like Penny had aged twenty years.

Penny’s mother?

Conquest spoke up. “The docks are closed until we get back. No deals, no shipments. Nothing from the Kings gets through. We’re shutting them down, and they might not be happy about it. We don’t know they attacked us, but we can be pretty damn sure. I know we went through hell with the Vamos and the last thing we need is another war here, but we’re not about to let these assholes pull the shit they’ve been pulling. They overstepped, and we’re reigning it in. Remember though, we’re after bigger fish here. The kings are low end players, we want the ones pulling the strings.”

Conquest smiled, his face flexing uncomfortably.

“You know your roles, I expect you to fill them. If things go south, so do you. It’s going to get dicey real quick. We’re straddling the line here and if the feds decide they don’t need us anymore I don’t want anyone sitting around getting rolled up. Tijuana is calling, and you all know about the tunnel.”

Famine had stepped back into the crowd, and I made my way around to him as Conquest continued to relay instructions to the club.

“What’s happening?” I whispered, pulling myself in close.

“Bad shit Kayla. Look, we’re not what you think. We work with the feds, the NSA, homeland security. We run the docks and we do favors. They let us operate because they need us.”

I was silent, the revelation sinking in. The biker gang, the dangerous men in this room, even Famine… Helping the cops?

“You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and if you want to catch the baddest of the bad criminals, you need to get your hands dirty. Fight fire with fire baby…”

I nodded, trying to stay stoic.

“We’re riding out to meet with the Kings. The man from last night, could you recognize him if you saw him again?”

“I didn’t see his face, but… I’d know his voice.”

“You’re riding with me then. If the Kings attacked us, I need to know.”

I turned, looking to the line of bikes, waiting for their riders. I’d never been on a motorcycle in my life, and now, Famine was talking about a trip across state lines.

“What if I won’t go?” I whispered.

“I wasn’t asking,” Famine responded, pulling me around to face him. He lifted me from my feet, his arms wrapping around my body as he pulled me into another desperate kiss. I raked my hands across his back, just breathing in his scent and savoring the taste of his lips.

“I’ll go,” I said as he released me, staring into his blue green pools.

“I know,” Famine responded, letting his hand slip from mine. We both turned back to Conquest.

“We are about to walk through the shadow of death people… I trust you, I believe in you, and I want you to know there are rewards coming. We own these docks and as long as we hang onto them you can keep cashing the paycheck. I’ll see you all in a few days.”

The four separated from the group, a small cluster of other bikers joining them. Penny walked along with Conquest, his hands slipping down over her ass as he pulled her into a tight embrace, kissing her before lifting her onto the back of his bike. Death rode solo, straddling a long and low hog with graceful ease. War and the woman who looked awfully like Penny sat atop a huge fatboy, and I found myself struggling to throw my leg over the black and chrome bike Famine had leapt onto.

“Here babe,” Famine said, holding out his hand and helping me swing a leg over the back. “Put this on and try not to fall off.”

I drew the helmet over my head, clasping it under my chin as the riders began to fire up bikes all around us, a cacophony of sound rolling through the warehouse. Conquest gave the signal, and with that, the bikes roared out into the streets, a scream of engines and the smell of gasoline following them. Famine rolled out right along with the group, but at the end of the alley the four split off, spreading in different directions. I held onto Famine as hard as I could as we tore round the first corner, and didn’t relax my grip until we were well onto the freeway.

It felt good…

Where at first I wanted to scream with fear, now, the wind whipping past me made it feel as if I was flying. I leaned against the upward turned backrest, held in place with my thighs pressing up on Famine. He gave my leg a little pat as we rolled along, out of San Merced and headed eastbound. I found myself lost in the exhilaration of the ride, feeling the vibration of the engine beneath me as the miles poured past. It was hours before my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten, but thankfully, Famine steered the bike off the interstate and into one of the little desert towns inland from the coast. We pulled in for gas, and as Famine stepped off the bike, he smiled at me.

“Looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” he said, pulling the helmet off his head. A grin was plastered across my face. All the fear and the uncertainty had faded in the ride, only excited pleasure replacing it.

“I’m still scared, but I feel free out here.”

“That’s the road Kayla. It does that to people. You, the bike, two wheels and asphalt. Being that close to death, it changes you… So, you hungry?”

I nodded, Famine mounting the bike again after it was topped off with fuel. We rocked down to a small breakfast place, coming to a stop and walking in together. People stared as we stepped through the door. It was more of a family spot, a little amish kitchen serving up typical hearty breakfasts. I didn’t care about fitting in, at this point, I was too hungry. We were seated I was halfway into a plate of biscuits and gravy before I spoke again.

“Are we riding straight through?” I asked hesitantly, my legs still vibrating.

“No… We’re stopping off in Blythe for the night.”

I nodded, eating another forkful of gravy covered perfection.

“The meet is in two days. The guys will need time to set it all up. Conquest will go on ahead, we can take our time.”

“What exactly are ‘we’ doing?” I asked, prodding sausage around my plate.

“We’re meeting the Kings, setting up some new rules on deliveries. If it turns out they were the ones who attacked you… Well…”

He didn’t need to finish the sentence, he looked at me knowingly and I could see the cold fire behind his eyes.

“Kayla, I know we just met, and I know I’ve fucked some things up, but I believe things happen for a reason…”

“Why did this happen?” I asked, quiet as a mouse.

“It brought us together,” Famine answered, laying his hand on top of mine. We stared at each other for awhile, not eating, not drinking, just waiting.

“Now hurry up babe, we have to get into Blythe before tonight.”

The rest of breakfast went much faster, and as we straddled the bike again, I found myself strangely more comfortable this time around. My arms wrapped around Famine for the ride, but they did it in a more exploratory way. I felt his body through the leather, the solid muscle and tone evident even with this many layers. My head leaned into his back, taking a good long breath of him before the bike roared to life. I let my hands slide downward around his lower waist, and Famine leaned backward against me, pressing my breasts against his back.

“Lets ride,” Famine said, rolling out of the parking lot. Miles melted away, and as day turned, Blythe finally came into view. Tired from the long trip, I was ready to get off the bike. We rolled into the dusty town, veering away from the main road and the hotels, heading toward dark neighborhoods of old small houses. Finally, the bike rolled up in front of one dark home. I looked around at the surroundings of the cul-de-sac. The lawn was gravel, no need for maintenance, and the low slung block home was the kind of place that would probably be standing when wood and ticky-tacky homes were ground to dust. Famine stepped off the bike and put a key into the garage door, lifting it up by hand and returning to ride the bike inside.