STEEL TEMPTATION (A Back Down Devil MC Romance Novel) (14 page)

Nate turned, reached back with his
gun, and shot.

The bullet hit the canister,
causing it to go off prematurely. The shrapnel hit the gate and attacked the
Coast Road MC guys. That
’
s
when they hurried to retreat. Their large, muscular bodies -
‘
roid bodies
, as
Miller called them - were big and easy targets. They
’
ve never had power like this before and it only
stemmed from Chief Jerry and that damn judge.

The rumbling of the motorcycles
kicked up, their throttling roars echoing as they all sped away.

“
Close
the gates!
”
Miller yelled.

They all knew it was a matter of
time before Chief Jerry would send some guys or just show up himself to
investigate the scene.

The lone prospect hurried to shut
the gates. Three others joined Erik and Jace, taking over to take care of their
injured friend.

“
This
isn
’
t done,
”
Gaige said.
“
This is in the open. This is
wanted. This is all approved, man.
”

“
We
’
ll figure it out,
”
Miller said.
“
Everyone needs a breath. We need
to protect this compound. Nate, is your back okay?
”

“
I
’
m fine,
”
Nate said.
“
No
more of this shit though.
”

Nate started to walk away, knowing
right where he needed to go. What he needed to do. And personally, he didn
’
t give a shit what Griffin,
Gaige, or even Miller thought. This was about right from wrong. Following a
hunch, some feelings, whatever.

Miller grabbed Nate by the
shoulder. His thumb dug into one of the marks on his back, sending a hot pain
through the left side of his body.

“
What?
”
Nate growled.

“
Thank
you,
”
Miller said.
“
You basically jumped on that
thing for me.
”

“
President,
”
Nate said.
“
I know my place. I
’
ll never forget it. You die and
this club implodes for good. Right now, if I could speak out of place, we need
to fight back. No more hiding, Miller. It
’
s
going to get us nowhere. We
’
ll
be in some kind of chess match. We don
’
t
want that. We don
’
t
function like that.
”
Nate
lifted his hands and balled them into fists.
“
We
fight. Headstrong. Eyes forward. We fucking fight.
”

“
You
going to get your leather cut off the ground?
”
Miller asked.

Nate grabbed the leather cut and
left his shirt on the ground. He ran to the ramp and charged down it. Shit had
hit the fan, big time, and it was only going to get worse. Now was the time to
either take charge or sit back and get bombed. And that had more than one
meaning.

fourteen.

The explosion caught Mia off guard.
Of course, she couldn
’
t see
a fucking thing from the room. There were no windows, just cool concrete walls.
The room didn
’
t shake, but
the noise was enough to send her to the door, grabbing the handle, wondering
what was happening and if she
’
d
ever get out. She did trust Nate though. He would come back for her. That gave
her little hope though knowing that if Nate ended up killed, she
’
d be next. None of the other
guys in the MC wanted her alive.

Life had always been a sick and
twisted uphill battle. All Mia wanted to do was get some extra cash
…
not this. Fuck, definitely not
this.

Mia stepped back from the door and
kept going until she hit a wall. Then she slumped down to her ass. She just
stared at the door. Her mind raced with what Uncle Jake was capable of doing.
Making Aunt Theresa disappear. The way it all happened. How he claimed they
were arguing too much and she wanted out. That she went to some town outside
Boston and wanted nothing to do with the family. Not that there was much family
left or that anyone actually cared. Plus, everyone was terrified of Uncle Jake.
That, and they liked to keep on his good side in case they got in trouble. So
they had someone to call with a little legal muscle.

Thinking about Jacob
…
if he was hurt
…

Mia shook her head.

The silence in the room, and then
in her mind, made her shiver. Teasing herself, she wondered how many days she
could survive without food or water. Just stuck in the room until her body gave
in and she simply died.

The fear started to creep in on Mia
again. She sat as long as she could, until her nerves got the best of her.
Climbing to her feet, she approached the door. There was no chance of getting
out of the room though.

Until the door opened.

Mia blinked fast, wondering if her
mind was messing with her. Better yet, not only did the door open, it was Nate
standing there. Without a shirt on.

Without a fucking shirt on.

Mia lost her breath for a moment.
The tattoo over his chest - right over his heart - made her panties pull as her
sex became a slick mess. His shoulders, arms, chest, cuts of lines defining
muscles was just too much to accept at once.

Then there were scars.

Ridged scars across his chest. They
made his tattoo look a little messed up, but it didn
’
t matter. The complete look of it all was enough to
make Mia melt.

He held his leather cut with one
hand and reached with the other. He wiggled his fingers and nodded.
“
Come on. We have to get inside.
”

“
What
’
s happening?
”
Mia asked.

“
We
got attacked. It
’
s okay.
Nobody
’
s dead. I took the
brunt of it. One of the prospect
’
s
got shot but that doesn
’
t
really matter. Hurry. Now.
”

Mia slipped her hand into Nate
’
s and he pulled. They were then
on the move. A sense of freedom washed over Mia, but then she looked up the
ramp. Seeing daylight was a strange blessing, although what kind of blessing
could this all be, walking right into a war?

Above ground, Nate made a line for
the clubhouse. All around, the compound lot was busy. Guys were shouting orders
at each other, everyone rushing to gather up weapons, guard the gate, protect
the club from another attack.

Once they were inside the
clubhouse, Mia
’
s eyes
scanned the place, taking it all in. The bar, the walls, the floor, the pool
tables. The smell of smoke, booze, greasy food hanging low like an invisible
fog.

Nate swung Mia toward the bar and
sat her down. He touched her face.
“
Stay
right here.
”

Nate turned and Mia saw his back.
It was raw red in several spots. Like he was bleeding but he wasn
’
t. They looked like painful welts,
like he been beaten or something.

A large set of doors opened and
Miller came out, Gaige by his side. When Mia and Miller met eyes, she
stiffened. Nate was quick to start talking, his hands going as fast as his
words.

“
Hey,
beautiful.
”

Mia looked and saw Blaine sitting
next to her. He tapped the bar and pointed to a bottle of whiskey. A prospect
behind the bar poured a shot.

“
Need
one?
”
Blaine asked.

“
No.
”

“
Yes,
you do. Turn around and talk to me, beautiful.
”

“
No.
”

Blaine leaned in. His breath
smelled like death.
“
Come
on, don
’
t be afraid of me.
You just have to be afraid of my cock. You
’
ll
look at it and wonder how the hell I
’
m
going to fit inside you. Then I
’
ll
turn you around and lift that ass up in the air. You think maybe it
’
ll be easy from behind, right?
Because you
’
ve read that
kind of dumb shit in magazines. But then I put my cock right to your ass. You
shake your head
…
no way
…
and then I thrust
…”

Mia swung her right hand across her
body. She turned on the barstool and smacked Blaine across the face. The shot
glass went flying across the bar, shattering when it hit the floor. Blaine
’
s head snapped to the right and
he let out a groan. He then moved at Mia, grabbing her arm.

“
Now
you
’
ve got to kiss it,
”
Blaine said.
“
Lick it. Make that stinging pain
go away. And when you
’
re
done there, you can move to my cock.
”

“
Nate!
”
a voice yelled.

As Mia looked, she saw rage spread
across Nate
’
s face. His
hand shot out and grabbed Blaine by the neck. He threw him off the barstool, to
the ground, and then tried to step on him. Blaine rolled out of the way and
jumped up. They eyed each other up and down for a few seconds.

“
You
took your claim, huh?
”
Blaine asked.

“
Don
’
t even think about it,
”
Nate growled.
“
Not to her. Not right now.
”

“
Okay.
Not right now. Fine.
”
Blaine looked at Mia. He blew a kiss.
“
Night
right now, beautiful. But when you
’
re
ready
…
you
’
ll be biting your pillow and
screaming for me to stop
…
and keep going
…
what a
fucking feeling.
”

Nate stepped to keep Blaine
’
s line of vision away from Mia.
She had a really good look at his back. Whatever happened out there was bad.

Miller approached and put a hand to
Nate
’
s bare shoulder. For
some reason, it turned Mia on even more. She saw herself clawing at his
shoulder. Holding him, fuck, hanging onto him.

“
Take
it easy for a minute,
”
Miller said.
“
We
’
re good here, Nate. You took a
bomb for me, for the club. We
’
re
guarded now. If Chief Jerry shows up, I
’
ll
handle him.
”

“
You
sure?
”
Nate asked.

“
Yeah,
I
’
m sure. Coast Road rode
through because they thought they could catch us off guard. They almost did.
Almost. It
’
ll never happen
again.
”
Miller patted Nate
’
s shoulder.
“
Grab a drink and a shower.
”

Miller walked away and pointed to
Gaige. They both went back into a room and shut the large doors.

Nate put his hand out and Mia took
it again. A prospect put a couple beers on the bar and Nate grabbed them. He
led the way from the main part of the clubhouse to a hallway. It was dimly lit
and then opened up into a couple hallways. Nate kept going, stopping at a door.

“
Going
to chain me up again?
”
Mia
asked, trying to break the mood.

Nate curled his lip at her.
“
If you want me to.
”

He opened the door and let Mia
inside.

Luckily this was just a normal
room. A bed. A nightstand. A tall, skinny dresser for clothes. A closet.
Another door -
maybe a bathroom?
Everything was normal. A Back Down
Devil black flag his on the wall above the bed and that was it. Nothing else
that could give Mia a hint of who Nate was. Before the MC, right now, or what
he planned after the MC.

Then again, judging by the scars on
his chest and the wounds on his back, there was no future for Nate. Back Down
Devil MC was the last ride of his life. He
’
d
die in his leather cut. It sounded scary, but it turned Mia on like crazy.

“
Nate.
What happened?
”

“
Just
an attack,
”
he said.

“
Just
an attack
?
”

“
Babe,
that
’
s this life.
”

“
You
’
re hurt.
”

“
I
’
m alive.
”

Mia sighed.
“
Does this have anything to do with my uncle?
”

“
Yeah.
It
’
s piecing itself
together. When you were on the run, we were busting up a drug run. The guy we
normally call is working against us. Maybe not directly against us
…
until now. I was attacked because
I saw something. That was personal against me. Throwing a couple exploders in
the lot and trying to ambush us
…
that
’
s an attack.
”

“
What
does it have to do with my uncle?
”

“
They
’
re all working together, babe.
Everyone wants a piece of the MC. Truthfully, they want control of Frelen.
Perfect town to set up shop for drugs, right? Easy to run through. Off the map
from the bigger cities. The police force is easy to control. Hell, nobody gives
a shit about this town. It
’
s
perfect for what they want. Your uncle is a real piece of shit.
”

“
I
know that.
”

“
Good.
We agree on something.
”

Mia moved forward and grabbed Nate
just above the bends of his elbows. Her hands trembled at the stone like feel
of his biceps.
“
We agree on
something? I think it
’
s
more than just something, Nate. Why did you bring me inside here? Why have you
fought to keep me alive? There
’
s
more to your story
…”

“
We
all have stories,
”
Nate
said.
“
Want to sit around
in the past or try and survive the present?
”

Nate shook Mia away and walked to
the bathroom. He opened the door and then stepped out of his boots. He stood
right there and dropped his jeans, leaving his bare ass free to see. Mia let
out a soft gasp at the sight of Nate naked from behind. He stepped into the
bathroom. When he turned to shut the door, Mia caught a quick glimpse of
himself
.
Hanging flaccid, still beautiful and thick, that barely-a-second sight enough
to cause Mia to sit on the edge of the bed.

Sitting there, she listened to the
shower water turn on. She imagined what it would look like. Nate in the shower.
Water touching his body. It made her toes curl. She then licked her lips and
kicked off her shoes. She took off her socks, eyes on the bathroom door. Nate
never completely shut the door. She bit her bottom lip and stood up. Creeping
toward the bathroom, she took a chance and pushed at the door.

Inside, she shut the door behind
her. The shower stall had a clear door. The glass was a little fogged but not
enough so that Mia couldn
’
t
see a thing. Big, wide, Nate lumbered in the shower, a bad guy fantasy come to
life.

“
Nate
…”

The shower door opened. He stood
there, facing her. The water hit his right shoulder. The water raced down his
chest and body. Mia tried to follow a few droplets but couldn
’
t. Her eyes got lost on his muscles,
his stomach, right down to his cock. The way the water even ran down there was
sexy. His thick and powerful legs, big feet.

Holy shit.

When Mia met eyes with Nate, there
was no more conversation needed. Not right now at least. She instantly reached
for her jeans, opening them. She kept her eyes to Nate as she bent over and
wiggled her hips. She stepped out of the jeans and then grabbed the bottom of
her shirt. This didn
’
t make
sense, at all, but it just felt right. She wanted to be in there with him. Touch
him. She wanted him to touch her. She needed to feel trusted and protected.
Even if it was temporary, like a drug. Fine. Nate could be her drug. And her
body could be his drug.