REIGN: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (7 page)

“Something else, indeed,” he said.

~
7
~

“And…I mean, you don’t feel bad? Being a one-
percenter
,
or whatever? Doing criminal stuff all the time?” We were still lying in bed,
had been for hours, minutes dripping away as we talked about everything and
nothing at once. He had been telling me about the Black Smokes, his club,
apparently trusting me enough – or at least not threatened by me enough – to
let me in on some of the grittier details of their operation.

“Well, I don’t know, you
gotta
look out for
your own. I don’t like doing bad things, but if someone’s
gonna
do something bad to you and yours, well…better to beat them to the punch, I
guess. We aren’t such bad guys, we aren’t out there feeding drugs to kids.
Hell, we take care of drug dealers, you know? Rip ‘
em
off, keep ‘
em
from getting people hooked, I see it as
being Robin Hood,” Reign said, eyes half-lidded. I was surprised he was being
so open. I guess I wasn’t much of a threat.

“Well, Kant would have a lot to say about that,” I said with a laugh.
Reign looked at me puzzled.

“Can’t would? Yeah, I guess, if you aren’t in the life you don’t have
much of a right to say anything…”

“No, no, not ‘can’t’. Kant. Like, Immanuel Kant. He was a
philosopher,” I said, trying to hide my amusement. Reign looked slightly
offended.

“Got no use for philosophers, big talkers. None of his damn business,
if you ask me,” he said, seeming upset to be told something he didn’t know. I
got the impression that Reign wasn’t used to “chicks” who knew more than him
about any subject except lipstick shades.

“Well, I guess that’s true,” I said, conceding that it really wasn’t
any of the long-dead German’s business what a modern-day biker dude’s personal
philosophy was.

“What about the cops around here, though?” I asked, thinking about
Jeremy, his cop friends, the way they seemed to rule every aspect of my life.
It’d been no less than a miracle that I’d snapped and taken the money and run
when I’d been too afraid to even tell anyone about Jeremy’s nasty habit of
speaking with his fists. Reign scoffed.

“We own the cops in this town. Shit, they love us. We keep the drugs
out of town, we bring money in. Someone tries to come in here and start
messin
’ around, we take care of ‘
em
.
This is the wild West, sweetheart. Vigilante justice is our bag,” he said, a
confident smile coming over his face. He was bragging, like he was trying to
impress me.

“I don’t think I could live like that, myself,” I said, hoping to
stroke his ego a bit. He deserved it, after all the ways he’d stroked me. “I
don’t even really know how to live on my own.” Now that I’d started speaking, I
was saying things that I hadn’t realized I’d felt before they left my mouth.

“I’m sure you know more than you think. You’re just confused right
now, you know? It’s a tough thing, what you’re
doin
’.
Ain’t
got no one to help you along the way?”

I shook my head. Both my parents had passed, I had no siblings, no
other family, and my friends…well, I’d stopped having friends the longer I
stayed with Jeremy. Because he didn’t trust me to go out with them on my own,
and thought they would poison me against him. He’d never said those things, of
course, but he made my life such living hell whenever I tried to keep up my
friendships that I eventually stopped trying.

There was no one on this earth I could trust anymore. That thought
made me want to start crying. But I didn’t want to do that here, now, in bed
with this mysterious stranger who’d helped me climb that final mountain. Attain
that last peak, if you’ll excuse my mixing metaphors.

“No, no. And it’s not just my husband,” I said, lifting myself up onto
my elbows as my mind turned. Should I tell him the whole truth? About the money
and everything? Because it really wasn’t
just
escaping Jeremy that was plaguing my spirit. If anyone would understand, it
seemed he would. But he was basically a stranger, still, and he wasn’t being
very secretive about his criminal habits. I’d be stupid to tell him about the
money. He might not turn me in, probably wouldn’t, but he’d probably take it
for himself and his club.

“Oh?” he asked, and I realized I’d been silent for a while, thinking
of how to tell him that I was in trouble with the law without telling him
exactly why. The solution, as most things in life, was actually simpler than I
made it out to be.

“I just…I had to do something to get away, and it’s not exactly legal.
I can’t stick around. I’ve got to get somewhere safe, and soon. I need to get
to Mexico. I have…I have money,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t ask for more
details.

“And you think Mexico is
gonna
be safe?
Darlin
’, do you know anyone in Mexico? Do you even speak
Spanish? You look like you might,” he said. I was relieved he didn’t pry into
exactly what it was I’d done; then again, it seemed like that might be some
sort of criminal code. If you meet a like-minded (or luscious-bodied) person on
the run for something bad, you helped before asking questions. I shook my head at
his queries.

“What do you think is
gonna
happen? You get
‘cross the border, they hold a party for you, welcoming to the great country of
Mexico? Shit, the way you look, you don’t
wanna
take
two steps in that place unless you got bodyguards. They’d eat you up,
honeybuns,” he said.

I bit my lip. He sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Then
again, after so many years of mind games from Jeremy, it was hard to tell when
someone was being genuine and when someone was being manipulative.

What if he was just trying to get me to stay so he could find out what
it is I’d done; maybe he had suspicions about how much money I had? I cursed
myself for telling him I had any money at all. But what other reason could he
have for not wanting me to hit the road as soon as possible? Surely, he had
plenty of girls to choose from, what with his kiss-me lips and honey-come-here
eyes.

“I don’t know. I just figured I’d be better off living free in South
America than on the run here…”

“Sure, but you can’t just go barging down to no man’s land in a
beater. You even have a passport? I mean, not
your
passport? They track that shit, you know. Girl, you best to
stick around a few days. I can help you. With the car, sure, but I know people
down there. Let me make some calls. And we’ll get you some clothes, a new ID,
all that,” Reign said, leaning back and closing his eyes as though the
discussion was done.

“Well, thanks for the offer, but I really feel more comfortable…”

“You think you do, but you won’t. Trust me. Nasty guys down there at
the border. You don’t
wanna
risk your pretty little
neck. Let me get it all set up for you. C’mon, let me be a good Samaritan. You
did me a favor tonight, let me repay you,” he said, opening his eyes slightly,
looking at me through the corner.

“What kind of favor did I do you tonight? Seems like you did all the
work,” I said, unable to keep the blush from my face and the excitement from my
voice as I remembered what had brought us to our current, naked, lounging
state.

“Just trust me, you done me a whole
lotta
good,” he said, suddenly reaching out and grabbing me around the shoulders,
pulling me into his broad, tattooed chest. I breathed deeply, savoring the
smell of him, the musky, leathery odor, so masculine and rough. They should
bottle that scent, it’d get guys laid a whole lot more than Axe.

Suddenly, the alarm clock next to the bed went off. I looked over; it
was 8am. I’d set the alarm as soon as I’d gotten into the room, meaning to be
on the road as soon as I could. 8 was the latest I’d wanted to sleep. Now, I
hadn’t slept at all. Regardless of whether or not I wanted to take Reign up on
his offers, I wouldn’t be going anywhere that day. Not on zero hours of sleep.
Not with my mind as screwed up as it was.

“Shit,” Reign said, rolling over. “Is it morning?”

The heavy curtains blocked the entirety of the sun, keeping us in the
illusion of constant evening. I nodded, suddenly feeling very, very tired.
Reign’s hand crept up my thigh, slowly. My body shuddered, but I put my hand on
top of his, halting his progress. I couldn’t do that again now, as much as my
body might want it. I needed sleep, and a shower, and time to think without
oxytocin flooding my neurons.

“Sorry,” I said, hoping to sound as genuine as I felt. “I need…I need
to be alone for a bit. I didn’t realize…”

He nodded.

“Sure, you had yourself a hell of a day. Don’t worry about the room;
no one
gonna
come kick you out. I’ll make sure of
that. You get yourself some sleep.”

I could hear disappointment in his voice, but his eyes were all
understanding. It almost made me want to change my mind. But, no, I needed to
deal with my shit. Reign rolled out of bed, landing on his feet like a cat, his
magnificent manhood dangling between his legs. It would have looked comical if
it didn’t flood me with memories of what he’d done to me with it.

I clenched my legs together, biting the inside of my cheek as I
watched him get dressed. His lean, toned, gorgeous, tattooed, hairy, oh-so-edible
body disappearing one garment at a time. I just sat there in the bed, covered
to the chest, watching him, hoping that I’d get to see him without his clothes
again sometime. If I was going to be there another night…

“Mind if I come by later?” he asked, the question sounding not like a
question at all. He knew the answer. Damn, but that cockiness was just as hot
as his body. It was different from Jeremy’s confidence, which was inflated
beyond reason. It was a cockiness that was backed up by…well, cock. There, I
said it.

I nodded. “Much later,” I added, meaning to sleep the whole day if I
could. I needed it.

“Trust me, I won’t be opening my eyes before 9,” he said with a
chuckle.

“Are you…are you sure I’m safe here?” I asked, panic setting in as the
warmth of his body left the bed. When he’d been lying next to me, it was easy
to chase away my fear. Now, I was going to be alone again. Alone in this room,
with no one to protect me.

Images of the body under the mattress in the other room, Jeremy’s
squad car pulling up, the cocaine stashed in the drawer, my phone in pieces on
the passenger seat of the car, began to flash in my head, as though I’d blacked
out for the past twelve hours and was trying to piece everything together bit
by bit. Reality came in a rush. And it hurt.

Reign looked at me as though he could see right through me into my
head. He dropped his hands to his sides, came to sit on the edge of the bed
beside me.

“Do you want me to stay?” he asked. I could see it wouldn’t be an
imposition on him. I shook my head. He couldn’t just stay forever. At some
point, I’d have to be on my own. And that might as well start now. And, I
figured, I was so exhausted I would probably pass out quicker than I thought,
anyway.

“I’m okay. But…you…no one will tell anyone where I am, right?”

“Of course not. We’re not in the habit of selling people out. And I’ll
make sure everyone knows you
ain’t
even here,” he
said, then paused, seeming to think. “Give me your car keys.”

My chest constricted. What did he want those for? What, was he going
to steal my car? But then why would he ask for my keys? What if he wanted to
strand me here? What if, under all that charm and sincerity, he was just like
Jeremy – worse? What if he was going to make sure I couldn’t leave?

“I’m just going to move it to the municipal lot down the block,” he
said, as though reading my thoughts. “That way, if you’re right and he’s
tracking your wheels, he won’t know where you are, just that you’ve been here
at some point. But if you’re parked right outside your room…”

“Oh. Of course,” I said, still not entirely sold but also seeing the
logic in his proposal. Besides, if I was going to be stuck with an abusive man,
it might as well be an abusive man who was willing to give me mind-blowing
orgasms than one who just wanted to give me reasons to wear concealer. I gave
him my keys from where they sat on the nightstand.

“You won’t…you won’t, like, steal it or anything?”

Reign smiled, finding humor in my panic. I’d have been offended but
that smile was like a get-out-of-jail-free card.