Biker (16 page)

Blaze’s biceps bulged as he pressed down on the tub sides, his body covering Noelle’s. His tattoos looked even blacker from water, and Noelle reached out, running her hands over the lines across his chest.

His tongue probed her mouth, desperate and needy. Noelle could taste the alcohol still on his breath from the casino. She bucked her hips beneath him, the warm water splashing up against their bodies. Blaze’s fingers moved down to her nipples, tugging at them before his hungry mouth followed their trail.

Noelle moaned beneath him, needing him to touch her everywhere. He sensed her need and he ran his fingers down her body, until they moved against her thighs, moving towards her center, until they grazed her sex, then pushed inside her.

Spreading her legs, and tilting her head backwards Noelle selfishly allowed Blaze to pleasure her, thinking of nothing but the sensation of his hands on her and his fingers in her.

Time seemed to slow down and speed up at the same time, and all of Noelle’s worries and fears fell away as she focused only on the way her body fit with Blaze’s.

* * *

A
few hours later, Noelle rested her head against his shoulder. Her forehead and neck were dotted with beads of sweat – from both exertion and the heat of the tub. Apparently, the tub was similar to a hot tub and kept the water heated once it was filled.

“Feeling better?” Blaze asked seductively, running a finger down the valley between her two breasts, before lowering his head and gently kissing her there.

“Yes, thank you,” she said lazily.

“Are you still sorry that you came out here?”

Noelle frowned and closed her eyes. Yes, she was sorry because someone had gotten hurt, probably killed. That would weigh on her forever. And she knew it was reckless and stupid to be here. But part of her, the selfish part, was not sorry that she had come back out to Vegas.

“Yes and no.”

“Fair enough.”

There was a long silence, but it was comfortable and Noelle ran her fingers along Blaze’s broad shoulders, tracing a tattoo that ran the length of his back.

“You know I’m crazy about you, right?” Blaze asked in a soft voice.

Noelle blinked, unsure if she had heard right. She knew she already had unhealthy feelings for Blaze, but she was not expecting him to admit to something similar.

Noelle sat up in the tub, looking at him.

“What?” he asked, “Are you surprised?”

“Yes, actually I am. I find that hard to believe.”

“How could you find that hard to believe?”

“I don’t know,” she turned her face away, embarrassed.

“Come on, Noelle,” he said. “You’re gorgeous. You’re smart. You have your shit together.”

Noelle laughed. “Hardly.”

“You don’t judge me. You seem to accept this ridiculous lifestyle of mine.”

Noelle made a face.

“Not to mention how we’re both battling the same mental illness. And both of our mothers were drug addicts.”

Noelle suddenly felt annoyed. She felt as if Blaze was just messing with her, toying with her because she was vulnerable and emotional.

“So what? You’re just listing things we have in common.”

Blaze looked offended. “I’m not. Don’t tell me you don’t see how strange it is that we have so many things in common!”

Noelle shrugged, looking away.

“Tell me,” his blue eyes bore into her eyes as he shifted in the tub, sitting up so he was facing her head on. “If you could do anything, and if money were no object, what would you do with your life? Who would you be?”

Everything was suddenly feeling so real with Blaze that Noelle had the urge to run.

“I don’t know.”

“Yes you do. What would you do?”

Noelle closed her eyes, fantasizing about the life she could have if she had no worries. “I’d run away. Leave everything behind.” She envisioned what it would be like – how freeing it would feel. “I would travel. See all the places in the world that could help make me forget what I know. Expand my vision and experience different cultures. Maybe I would do something for humanity like start a non-profit for sick children,” she let out a laugh at her lofty dreams. “And I’d sleep in. Every damn day.”

When she opened her eyes, Blaze was smiling at her.

“What?” she asked defensively.

“I knew it was in there somewhere. Your dreams.”

“So what would you do?’’

“Leave this place. I’d be happy never setting foot in Las Vegas again. And travel. I want to travel too. I’ve never been anywhere besides the West Coast. Maybe end up living on some beach. Running a little beach side stand and spending my days in the sun.”

Noelle grinned. She could just picture Blaze on the beach – his skin tanned, and his hair slightly longer and messy. He'd be somewhat intimidating with all his tattoos, but the longer hair would soften his look.

“Doesn’t that sound good?” Blaze murmured, sidling up to her in the tub and kissing her neck. “You and me living on the beach. No worries. Running a little stand. Lounging around in our downtime, sipping drinks. Picture it.”

Noelle could picture it.

And it looked amazing.

But completely unreal.

Because that’s what a fantasy was – unreal.

Not possible.

Not happening.

Ever.

Noelle sighed. “What time is it?”

“I don’t know.”

“We should probably check. I’m going to have to get ready to head to the airport.”

Blaze nodded and slowly rose from the tub. He walked in all his naked glory to the towel rack and grabbed a towel for Noelle.

“Thank you,” she choked as she ogled his body. She would never get used to the sight of him.

He was far too gorgeous for her.

She stood up and gingerly stepped out of the tub, droplets of water hitting the floor. She wrapped the towel around her and watched as Blaze wrapped a towel around his waist before running his hand through his wet hair.

“So what is this
spa
doing in the middle of the clubhouse?” She couldn’t help asking as she toweled herself off.

“It was an apology.”

“What?”

“An apology from my father to my mother. Even though my mother is usually half-stoned out of her mind, she doesn’t let everything slip past her. She had a close friend and she made my father promise that he would never sleep with her. She knew that my father was going to sleep around, especially since he is the leader. Of course, what did the asshole do? He slept with her friend, and not only that, but in my mother’s room at the clubhouse, which is supposed to be off limits to everyone but her.”

Blaze began to get dressed, shaking his head. “So not only did my dad break his promise and screw the one woman that my mother made him promise not to touch, but he also did it in my mother’s private room.”

Noelle listened quietly. There was so much to this lifestyle that she didn’t understand – the rules, the expectations, the protocol. Either way, any kind of cheating sounded bad to her.

“So does your mother ever come in here?” she couldn’t help asking.

Blaze shook his head. “She hates this room.” He pulled his shirt over his head. “It’s only a reminder of what my father did and how he tried to win her back by dropping a lot of money on this fancy bathroom. But she doesn’t want anyone else in here either.”

Noelle realized that she didn’t have any clothes in here. She had ripped the awful dress that she had worn to the casino, and even if she hadn’t ripped it, she didn’t have any plans to put it back on again.

“Crap. I don’t have any clothes.”

Blaze gave her a sexy smile. “Doesn’t sound like a problem to me.”

“Ha. Ha.” She rolled her eyes.

“It’s a short walk to my room. Just wrap the towel around you. Everybody's still out in the big room celebrating.”

Noelle had no choice but to walk down the hall in her towel. Once in the privacy of Blaze’s room, she quickly dressed in a pair of black yoga pants and a simple green tank top. A quick glance at her phone told her that it was eight in the morning. They had been at the casino much longer than she had realized last night.

She yawned, not accustomed to pulling all nighters.

“I’d apologize for you being so tired, but I’m not sorry,” Blaze admitted. He moved to his lock box and counted out a thick wad of bills. After he finished counting them, he stuck them in a thick enveloped and it handed it to Noelle.

With trembling fingers she took the padded envelope, stowing it at the bottom of her bag. She reached for the doorknob, but Blaze grabbed her wrist.

“Wait. It can’t end like this.”

“What?”

“This can’t be the last time we see each other. I can see it in your face – you’ve had enough of all this,” he waved around to indicate everything around them, “You can’t handle this lifestyle.”

Noelle shook her head sadly. “What did you think was going to happen Blaze? That I would keep coming out here and helping you rob casinos? You almost got shot last night. Next time one of us could wind up dead. I’m not cut out for this.”

Aching, Noelle turned away from him. Even though she knew she wouldn’t help with another heist, it killed her to have to say goodbye to Blaze. She had only been in his company for two weekends, yet sleeping with him had muddled her thoughts. She felt that she knew him better than she actually did, when in fact she hardly knew him at all.

It wasn’t really possible to know someone in such a short time period, was it?

And weren’t all these crazy decisions based on her break up with Todd? Isn’t that what started this crazy free-fall?

Noelle wanted to reach out for the door, to turn the knob and walk out of the disgusting clubhouse. But she couldn’t make herself do it. She couldn’t walk away from Blaze.

“No,” he said quietly, breaking her thoughts. “I didn’t think you would keep helping us rob casinos. But what if – what if I made you one final offer?”

Noelle looked at him skeptically. She didn’t think he would offer anything that was worth taking.

When she didn’t respond, Blaze continued to talk.

“What if we do one more heist? And not next weekend,” he said hurriedly, “I think we need to lay low for a bit.” He paused, raking his hand through his hair. “I would double your money this time. Four hundred thousand for one more hold up. Think about what you could do with that money. Eight hundred thousand dollars total.” He let the words sink in.

Noelle stood there in his room, shocked at what he was offering her. In two weekends’ time she had made four hundred thousand dollars. And now, Blaze was offering to double that money by committing one final crime.

She wanted to scream that he was crazy, yet the thought of such a life-changing amount of money was enticing.

“You could retire,” Blaze said softly, “You could buy a house. Travel the world. Start that charity you mentioned. Whatever you wanted to do.”

He watched her carefully.

“You could be with me.”

Noelle’s head snapped up.

“Think about it. Living by the beach. That could be a reality for us.”

Noelle shook her head, stuttering. “But – we barely know each other – just since last weekend – and it’s been strictly business.”

Blaze shook his head. “It hasn’t just been business and you know that.”

It was true. This had become so much more than business.

“Think about it,” Blaze said. “You could do whatever you wanted with that money. I won’t pressure you either way.”

Noelle nodded slowly, unable to find the right words.

“Alright. Let’s get you to the airport.”

They managed to leave the clubhouse without any trouble this time, and Noelle silently vowed that she would never again enter the Widowmakers MC clubhouse.

Would this be the last time she saw Blaze?

Everything felt so strange and so surreal. They didn’t speak during the car ride and Noelle wondered how she would feel when she returned to Pennsylvania. Would she ever feel normal again?

And what was normal anyway now? Nothing felt normal to her anymore.

Blaze pulled up at the departure gate entrance.

“I guess this is it.” His eyes smoldered. Noelle reached for the car door, but Blaze grabbed her, pressing his mouth roughly against her and catching her off guard.

“Oh!” she gasped.

The kiss was rough and intense, and Noelle could feel Blaze’s urgency. Something about the kiss was bittersweet, and Noelle knew it could be their last.

But she threw caution to the wind, and kissed him back with every ounce of her being, twisting her fingers in his hair and tasting him one last time.

This had to be good-bye.

She would look back on her time with Blaze as a crazy, reckless period when she was rebelled against her old self.

She would emerge on the other side, changed, perhaps, but still the same person.

Blaze had changed her, plain and simple.

“I have to go,” she said, wrenching herself away and trying to imprint everything about him onto her mind. Would she ever find someone again with whom she could be so free and so wild?

Every moment with Blaze felt like jumping off a bridge – but mostly in a good way.

Blaze’s eyes burned into hers, and Noelle knew then that he hadn’t been joking, that he actually cared for her.

Which made it that much harder to get out of the car.

She forced herself to step out, grabbing her bag and blowing Blaze a sad kiss.

She walked into the airport, refusing to look back. She didn’t want to see if Blaze was still there watching her with that confused, defeated look in his eyes, or if he had driven away in a rush.

She managed to make it all the way through security and onto the plane.

Once she was settled in her seat – the tears came.

N
oelle had a difficult time returning to work on Monday. She went through the motions of her job dully, not finding the usual joy and distraction that came with her work.

Miraculously, neither Liz nor Quinn had contacted her over the weekend, though both sent her messages on Monday to check in and see how she was doing. When she was home, Noelle found herself constantly checking the two thick envelopes in her desk drawer. She was afraid to touch the money; she felt paralyzed by it. She didn’t know what to do with it, so she let it sit in the drawer as she fretted over the possibilities that a huge amount of money brought her.