Biker (13 page)

“That’s enough,” Noelle said, hating that Blaze was right. She jumped off the bed, and grabbed up her clothes.

“Hey, I’m sorry. Don’t be that way. Come on, Noelle. Come back to bed.”

Noelle gave him a long look. Blaze’s eyes were gloriously blue, and his hair was tousled in a sexy just-fucked kind of way. Not to mention his amazing body.

“Ahh, I just can’t say no to you,” she sighed, falling back onto the bed.

Blaze rolled on top of her, kissing her as his hands began once more to roam across her body. Noelle forgot about everything else as Blaze made her think of nothing but her unchained desire.

H
ours later, Noelle woke up in Blaze’s arms.

Her eyes popped open and she looked wildly around the room, disoriented.

Then she remembered where she was, and whom she was with.

She glanced over at Blaze, who looked childlike and peaceful as he slept. His eyelids gently fluttered from dreaming, and his face was smooth and serene. He certainly didn’t look like someone who grew up in a motorcycle gang.

Noelle’s entire body was sore, and she had no idea what time it was. She also had a pounding headache and she knew it was the start of a hangover, thanks to all the alcohol they had consumed the night before.

Groaning, she rolled off the bed and stumbled toward the bathroom, quietly picking up her toiletry bag on the way. She didn’t want to disturb Blaze's sleep, and she also didn’t want him seeing her like this. She turned on the shower and stepped into its steamy heat. She washed her hair, and just as she was finished shaving her legs, she heard a sound behind her.

She almost screamed when she turned around and came face to face with Blaze.

“Good morning,” he said sleepily, his hungry eyes traveling over her body.

“I thought you were sleeping!”

“I
was
sleeping. But I heard the shower.” He continued to stare at her.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Seeing you sopping wet in the shower was worth waking up for.” He gave Noelle a wry grin as he pulled the door open. “Care if I join you?”

“Not at all.” She stared dreamily as the water ran over his body, soaking his hair, darkening the ink on his shoulders.

“Don’t get any ideas,’’ he teased, dunking his head under the stream of water. “We have a busy day ahead. We need a plan for tonight and we only have a day to pull it together.”

Noelle looked uneasy at the thought. “Can we get away with it again?’’ she asked in a small voice.

Blaze gave a cocky nod of his head. “Of course we can. I’m only going to involve a few other guys this time. Keep the group small. Once we’re cleaned up, we’ll go out and meet with them. I called them all yesterday so they know to meet us here this morning.”

They finished up their shower, miraculously managing to keep their hands to themselves, but not without Blaze having a massive erection and grumbling about blue balls.

Noelle dressed in a pair of jeans and a simple black t-shirt. She didn’t want to stand out while there, and she certainly wasn’t going to dress provocatively when she knew the other bikers would be ogling her.

It was just past nine in the morning when they sat down at a long dining room table off the kitchen. There was a huge pile of eggs, bacon and toast, though Noelle had no idea who the cook was. She helped herself to a plate, at Blaze’s urging, and he went around the table introducing the three other men -James, Benny and Derek- to Noelle. They all seemed somewhat normal to her, but that could also be because they weren’t drunk or high.

Noelle sat back and listened as they debated what casino to hit and how to go about it. They settled on the Bellagio, which made Noelle’s stomach churn, and then they debated the best way to pull off the heist.

“Clearly, we need to take advantage of using a hostage again,” Blaze argued. “We should send Noelle in early, maybe even with one of you to keep an eye on her. Have her play for an hour or so, pretending to be drunk and making a scene.”

Noelle quickly jumped in. “I don’t know if I can pretend to be drunk!”

Blaze gave her a reassuring smile. “Sure you can. Nothing elaborate. Just slurring your words and getting a bit sloppy.”

The plan eventually began to come together, and the men talked excitedly. As it began to truly take shape, and details were settled, Noelle wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into. When had she become a danger junkie? As if robbing one casino in a lifetime wasn’t enough, she had come back for more a mere week later!

It only took an hour to finalize the plan, and then Blaze and Noelle were alone again.

“Nervous?” Blaze asked, taking her hand and guiding her back to his bedroom.

She nodded, afraid she might cry if she opened her mouth to speak.

“Everything will be fine, I promise.”

“You can’t promise that,” she said.

“Come on. Why don’t we go out somewhere for a little bit. We have a few hours to kill before we need to start getting ready.”

Noelle stopped to look at him. “You want to actually go somewhere with me?”

Blaze let out a laugh. “What? Did you think I was only interested in fucking you?”

“Well, yes.”

“Don’t get me wrong – I love fucking you. But I enjoy your company too. Come on. I know a good place we can escape to.”

Smiling happily to herself, which was ridiculous because she was getting back on a plane in twenty-four hours, she let Blaze lead her out of the clubhouse and into the Escalade.

Noelle got out of the car slowly, looking around. “Where are we?” she asked quietly.

Blaze came around to the passenger side of the car. “Just a little corner of the desert.”

“It’s beautiful.”

The desert surrounded them, yet here in the midst of the dry, barren land, was a circle of palm trees and a small pond.

“I think the correct term is oasis,” Blaze said, leading Noelle away from the car, his shoes crunching on the desert sand.

When Blaze had first turned off the main road and began driving through the desolate desert, Noelle felt her heart begin to pound. She hoped she hadn’t been foolish in trusting him.

Well, of course she had been foolish in trusting him, but she was relieved to see where Blaze had actually brought her.

“How did you find this place?” Noelle asked, moving toward the small pool of water, then taking a seat next to Blaze.

Blaze adjusted his sunglasses. “I used to want to escape from my house a lot. My mother was always getting high and my father didn’t even try to hide the other women he would bring home. Sometimes my mom was too high to even know what was going on, and other times she would fly into these horrible rages. One time she came after my dad and another woman with a knife.”

Noelle shook her head sadly. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s fine now. They made their choices and they have to live with them. But they weren’t my choices, and I hated that I had to live with their choices too. So I always wanted to get away. Once I had my license, I was able to get away from the house.”

Noelle listened quietly, knowing that she and Blaze had more in common than he realized.

“I guess that doesn’t make sense, huh?” he asked, giving her a wry smile.

“More sense than you know.” She pushed at a stray piece of her hair. “So how are your parents now? I mean, are they still together?’’

He laughed bitterly. “Oh yes, they are still together and dysfunctional as ever. But so are most of the couples in the gang. My father continues to sleep around, which if you haven’t realized, is the norm in the clubhouse, and my mother continues to numb herself with drugs. She’s just a ghost of who she used to be. I have vague memories of her as a child, and some are happy. But she slowly slipped away as she moved deeper into her addiction.”

Noelle nodded again.

Blaze was perceptive. “You nod as if you know what I mean.”

Noelle took a deep breath. She didn’t want to talk about her past, but she felt like it would be unfair not to share now, especially since Blaze was opening up to her.

“I know a little too well. My mother was addicted to prescription drugs. I don’t really have any memories of her being a good mother. She was always locked in the bathroom, popping more pills. Washing them down with straight vodka. She would visit different doctors, working the system to keep a huge stock of pills. The bathroom vanity was
filled
with bottles.”

“And your father?” Blaze’s eyes were probing.

Noelle shook her head. “I think that’s why my mother started with the drugs in the first place. I think she realized what a despicable person he was, and that was her only way to cope.”

“What made him so awful?”

Noelle shook her head again, her eyes filling with tears. She hated that even after all this time, talking about her father still made her feel like a frightened little child.

“It can’t be that bad.”

“Oh it is,” Noelle said quickly. “He pimped out young girls. He ran a sex trafficking ring. It doesn’t get any more disgusting than that, does it?” she asked harshly. “And the worst part is that I think he pimped out my older sister. I’ve never asked her directly, and I don’t want to. But there were lots of signs.”

Blaze let out a low whistle. “Shit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. I don’t even know what to say.”

Noelle gave a little shrug, trying to blow it off, turning away to hide her stubborn tears. “So, you see now why I didn’t want to talk about it?”

“I’m sorry I pushed you to talk.”

“You didn’t know. How could you?”

Blaze reached over and took her hand. “I know this sounds fucking nuts, but I’m so glad you came back out here.”

Noelle threw her head back and laughed. “You mean, you’re glad that my crazy self got on a plane and flew across the country to sleep with a man I barely know and help him to rob a casino for a second time?”

Blaze chuckled. “Something like that.”

Noelle sighed, pulling her hair back off her neck. It was strange being here with Blaze. Part of her knew she was falling for him, and the other part of her thought she was completely crazy. How could she be falling for a stranger? And what compelled her to come back?

They sat in silence for a while, and then Blaze looked at his watch. “I hate to say this, but we have to head back.”

He stood up and brushed off his pants, then reached down to help Noelle up. They walked back toward the car, and with each step, Noelle felt more nervous and unsure about tonight.

“Everything will be fine tonight,” Blaze assured her, picking up on her anxiety.

She glanced at him, biting her lip and nodding. “I know,” she said trying to convince herself.

The ride back to the clubhouse was too short, and soon Noelle found herself back in Blaze’s room. There was a dress laid out across his bed and a pair of heels on the floor.

“I need to wear that?” she asked horrified. It looked less like a dress and more like a pile of scraps.

Blaze gave her an apologetic look. “Sorry. But trust me, it will be perfect.”

Noelle picked up the dress by two fingers and held it out at arm’s length. “Please just tell me it’s clean.” She could only imagine who might have worn it before.

Blaze chuckled. “Yes, I promise it’s clean.”

Grumbling, Noelle took the dress into the bathroom, along with her makeup kit and curling iron.

She emerged forty minutes later, looking nothing like her usual self.

“Satisfied?” she sulked, spinning for Blaze.

Blaze’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “Wow. Umm, wow. You look – you look really different.”

Noelle rolled her eyes. “I look like a whore.”

Blaze shook his head. “No. Believe me. You look like a lot of the women I see in casinos. Especially in the high roller rooms.”

“Blaze,” Noelle said, going up close to him, “Do you really think it’s a good idea for us to hit up another high roller room?”

Blaze rubbed her back reassuringly. “It will be fine. Our plan is fool-proof.”

Noelle didn’t know if it was fool-proof, but it certainly seemed solid.

“Do you feel alright with the plan? Do you want to go over it again?”

Noelle shook her head nervously. “No, I think I’m alright. And Derek seemed nice enough.” Noelle was going to be spending a lot of the night with Derek. She of course preferred to spend it with Blaze, but he was already going to be in the high roller room when she made her appearance.

“Everything will be fine,” he assured her again. “And you’ll be able to go home with another sweet two hundred thousand.”

Noelle’s mind swam at the prospect. She was going to have four hundred thousand dollars. What in the world would she do with it? She thought about hiring someone to manage her money, but she quickly nixed the idea when she realized that she would have to explain where the money came from.

Perhaps she could say it came from a relative who had just died? There were plenty of people who hid large amounts of cash in their house.

There was plenty of time to think about that later.

“Alright, let’s go find Derek.” Blaze led Noelle from the room and they found Derek in the main room, pacing by the door. When he saw Noelle, his jaw dropped.

“Hot damn,” he breathed, and Noelle wrinkled her nose at him. “Not your usual style?” he asked.

“Hardly.”

Blaze pulled Derek aside and they spoke quietly and then Blaze came back to Noelle. “Derek knows what he’s doing. Trust him. Remember if for some reason he needs to stray from the plan, follow his lead.”

Noelle nodded and then reached out to grip Blaze’s hand.

“Everything will work out. Just think about all your financial needs going away.”

Noelle nodded and started to follow Derek out of the clubhouse. Then she saw Blaze’s father staring her down from across the room.

“Let’s go,” Derek said quietly, “He’s just trying to intimidate you.”

Once Noelle was outside in the fresh air, she felt better. “I’m not sure why he’s trying to intimidate me. I’m helping him!” she said hotly.

“Exactly. He just has an issue with outsiders.” Derek opened a car door for Noelle. She climbed in and Derek got in on the driver’s side. “I once dated a girl who wasn’t associated with the gang.”