Shade Read online

  “Going someplace?” he asked casually.

  “Breakfast?”

  Shade lifted a brow at her show of fake innocence. “No one is up yet.”

  “I can make my own.”

  “How were you going to get down the steps?” he asked coldly.

  “What are you doing here?” Winter asked impatiently, ignoring his question.

  “Viper had a feeling you would try to make a run for it after last night.” Shade shrugged. “Seems he was right.”

  “He asked you to stand here all night?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Yes. Need a lift downstairs, or do you want to go back to bed?”

  “Downstairs, please.”

  The doorbell rang just as he was about to lift her.

  “Your accomplice?” Shade asked as he saw Viper striding down the hallway.

  “Who is it?” Viper asked.

  “Pastor Dean.”

  Shade’s and Viper’s eyes met over Winter’s head, and Viper grinned. “Could be worse. Shade, answer the door while I get Houdini.”

  Shade went down the steps to open the door.

  “Hey, Dean.”

  “Shade, you look like you enjoyed your Friday night.”

  He glared back at the fresh-faced Lucky who wasn’t trying to hide his amusement. “Fuck off.”

  Lucky brushed by him. “I don’t know why you’re so cranky; I’m the one who missed the party,” he mocked.

  Viper reached the bottom of the steps carrying Winter.

  “Viper, Shade, Winter, it’s good to see you all again.”

  Lucky’s pastor persona made Shade want to vomit up the whiskey he had drunk last night.

  “Want some coffee?” Viper asked, carrying Winter to the kitchen and sitting her down on a chair at the table.

  “Sounds good to me.” Lucky sat down at the table next to Winter, giving her a reassuring smile.

  It never failed to amaze Shade the way Lucky could turn the two sides of his identity on and off. And everyone thinks I’m the psychopath, Shade thought wryly.

  “Going to bed, Viper.”

  “Thanks, Shade.”

  He left without a word to Winter or Lucky, feeling her glare on his back. He almost hung around to watch the show Viper and Lucky would put on in front of Winter yet then decided he really didn’t give a fuck.

  He went into his empty bedroom where he meticulously cleaned the equipment he had used on the twins, even washing down the mat before sliding it under his bed. He then went into his bathroom to turn the shower on.

  When steam began filling the room, he went under the hot spray. Picking up the shower gel, he began to clean himself as thoroughly as the equipment, wiping away the memories of the women he had fucked the night before.

  His body should have been satiated; instead, it was as if he hadn’t had a woman in months. None of the women were Lily.

  He felt his cock hardening, surging upwards along his lean belly. He could have called any of the women and they would have run downstairs to relieve the hard-on, yet Shade didn’t want them—he would only have to take another shower to wash their touch from him.

  Shade lathered his hand with the gel then slid it down to his cock, his thumb gliding over the tip. He braced his other hand on the tiled shower wall as he began to slip his hand up and down, imagining Lily spread before him with desire in her eyes, the shadows of fear gone. He imagined her playing with herself as he stroked, his balls tightening as he imagined her arching, lifting her hips toward him. His cum burst out, giving him a brief moment of relief from the desire, which constantly rode him for Lily.

  Shade laid his head on the shower wall. It would be three more years before he could make his move on her. He was never going to last that long.

  Chapter 18

  It was nearly noon when Shade woke up, stretching his naked body on the sheets. He had always been lucky that a few hours of sleep refreshed him, waking up without feeling groggy.

  He dressed then went upstairs, deciding to get something to eat, to find the kitchen empty except for Rider, who was sitting at the table with his head in his hand and a cup of coffee in front of him. Shade didn’t say anything to the brother, seeing he felt like shit.

  Everyone was used to fending for themselves on Saturday, since the parties on Friday made them too hung-over or tired to cook. However, he could tell a meal must have been made earlier, even if it was gone by that point. Probably Viper cooked some shit for Winter since she had decided to sneak out at the ass crack of dawn.

  The kitchen door opened, and Razer came in.

  “Want a sandwich?” Shade offered, about to pull the lunch meat out of the refrigerator.

  “Fuck no. We all ate a big breakfast this morning. Plus, I’m going into town to eat lunch with Beth. She took Winter Christmas shopping. Want to go?”

  “No.”

  “Lily will be there,” Razer said.

  Shade shut the refrigerator door. “I’ll ride along.”

  Rider’s chair scooted back. “I’ll go, too. Maybe the fresh air will make me feel better.”

  “Figured you would,” Razer taunted.

  “Couldn’t hurt,” Shade said, slapping the hung over brother on the back.

  Both Shade and Rider punched Razer for being in such a good mood. Laughing, he held his hands up in surrender as they left the kitchen.

  The brothers had just sat down on their bikes when Razer’s cell phone rang. Shade started his bike, waiting for him to finish his call. He spoke briefly before disconnecting.

  “What’s up?”

  “Lucky called, said he’s at the church and looked out the window toward the diner. Ton’s trying to take on some bikers and the women are with him.”

  “Dammit.” Shade gripped his handlebars, taking off in a rush and nearly losing control as he pulled onto the road.

  Razer and Rider sped along behind, trying to catch up.

  The sound of motors racing down the street didn’t stop the fighting or the men who held Beth and Lily. Shade, Rider, and Razer pulled into the diner’s parking lot and surrounded the fighters. Lucky had failed to mention Viper was there, already taking on a couple of the men. He had also failed to mention the fact that Sam seemed to have made new friends, from the looks of it.

  Razer gunned his bike toward Beth and Lily, startling the men into letting Beth go. However, the one who had Lily tightened his grip around her waist, turning her to face the group of angry bikers.

  Beth ran straight to Razer as he climbed off his bike. Shade kept his attention on Lily, who was frozen in terror, her dress torn off one shoulder. He wasn’t worried in the slightest over whether Viper could handle the bikers he was fighting.

  Once Shade and Rider climbed off their bikes, Rider began to move forward, but Shade gave a hand signal for him to back off. The one who dared to touch Lily was all his.

  Shade didn’t rush the biker; instead, he took off his sunglasses and jacket, leaving him in his long-sleeved, black T-shirt. When he took Lily from the asshole, he didn’t want anything encumbering him.

  The biker holding Lily tightened his grip on her, smart enough to know she was the only thing keeping him alive.

  Shade maneuvered himself closer to his target, each incremental inch forward putting him within striking distance.

  “Let her go.” Shade’s voice came out deadly.

  One of the men Viper was holding yelled out, “Slot, let her go.”

  “Let me get on my bike and get out of here. Then I will let her go. She your bitch?” The man ignored his biker buddy, smart enough, at least, not to take his eyes off Shade.

  “She is no man’s bitch.” Shade kept himself still.

  “She’s yours. Just let me go. No trouble.”

  “You had trouble the second you looked at her.” Shade motioned for Rider to move back when he caught him sneaking forward. He wasn’t about to give the brother a piece of the guy who had touched Lily.

  Slot looked at Rider, but Shade didn’t t
ake advantage of the man’s lack of attention; instead, drawing it back toward him, which wasn’t easy. His eyes were darting back and forth between The Last Riders, trying to figure out who posed the biggest threat. When his eyes returned to stare into his, Shade knew he had figured it out.

  “Have you heard of The Last Riders?” Shade tried to provoke the biker into lowering his guard.

  “Yeah, but I ain’t afraid of you. You guys fuck more than you fight.”

  “That’s because the other motorcycle clubs have learned not to mess with us, which gives us more time to fuck. Did they tell you how we got our name?” Shade replied in a manner that said the biker’s opinion didn’t matter, and it didn’t. It was easy to see from their dirty clothes and cheap bikes they spent more time sitting around doing drugs than riding.

  “No.” The biker was becoming more agitated. Shade could practically see the scared shit shaking.

  “See that wheelchair over there with the woman sitting in it?” Shade nodded his head toward Winter.

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m going to give you one just like it. They call us The Last Riders because, if you fuck with us, we fuck you up so bad you will never be able to ride again. Slot, you have taken your last ride.”

  Shade released his control, unleashing the blinding fury only Lily could rise in him. Only she could take him from the cold, emotionless pool he lived in to the fiery height of emotions which allowed him to feel the rage storming through his body.

  He moved left, smashing his fist against Slot’s face while using his other hand to push Lily toward Razer. None of the brothers made a move to stop him, not wanting to take him on.

  Shade was unaware of the sheriff and his deputies swarming the parking lot at that point. It took two deputies and the sheriff to pull him off the whimpering biker, and if the sheriff wouldn’t have been there, Shade would have ignored the deputies.

  He managed to kick the biker one more time in the face before letting himself be pulled away.

  “Let him go,” his dad ordered as soon as they had managed to put enough space between Shade and Slot. “You cool enough for me to arrest them?”

  “Yes,” he snapped back, turning to see Beth holding Lily, the look of terror still frozen on her face. Whatever Beth was whispering to her had no effect; she was lost in her own world of nightmares.

  “Does she need to go to the hospital?” Winter asked in concern.

  “No, I need to get her out of here and go home,” Beth answered. Shade wanted to rip Lily from her sister’s arms, yet he had to stay back and let Razer handle the women.

  “The sheriff will give us a ride home, and we can come back tomorrow for your car,” Razer said, moving close to Beth and Lily protectively. The whole time, Lily didn’t seem aware of what was going on around her.

  The sheriff’s car stopped next to them, and his dad got out to open the door for the three of them.

  Shade hurried to his bike, ignoring the sheriff when he said he needed to give his statement to one of the deputies. He was behind the sheriff’s car the whole way to Beth’s house and was already by the back door before Razer or Beth could get out.

  The sheriff got out of the front seat, observing Shade’s reaction as he opened the door for Beth. Razer slid out the other side, coming around the back of the car for Beth.

  Shade crouched down next to the car with Lily still inside.

  “You going to sit in here all day?” he asked softly.

  “Shade,” Beth tried to interrupt. “Let me. She’s used to turning to me when she’s scared.”

  “She doesn’t need to be scared. That shit’s over.”

  Lily didn’t even seem to hear him.

  “Shade”—Beth placed her hand on his shoulder—“she needs me.”

  He stood, stepping aside as Beth took Lily’s hand and sat with her in the car for almost an hour before she was able to coax her out and lead her inside the house.

  “I need to get back to the station,” the sheriff stated, getting inside his car.

  “I better not see them on the street anytime soon,” Shade warned.

  After his dad nodded, closing his door, Razer and Shade went inside the house, finding the downstairs empty.

  “I’ll fix us some lunch. We never did get to eat. Beth usually keeps some frozen meals.” Razer went to the small kitchen, opening the freezer.

  “I’m going to kill them.”

  Razer didn’t pause at taking out a pizza. “Let me know when you decide to do it, and I’ll help.”

  Chapter 19

  Shade handed Viper a beer as he put steaks and burgers on the grill. He enjoyed being out of the house, in the backyard again. It was still the beginning of spring, the warm day drawing everyone outside.

  Shade had spent the previous few weeks doing recon on The Blue Horsemen Club, forgoing Christmas with his family. He had made an excuse during that time to stop by Beth’s house to see Razer while checking out how Lily was doing.

  The woman acted as if being almost raped hadn’t happened. Razer had told him Beth had convinced Lily to see a psychologist. Shade didn’t have much faith in it working yet was glad they were recognizing something needed to be done about Lily’s panic attacks.

  Shade set down his beer, helping Viper flip the steaks before they all became burned when Evie approached with a natural seductiveness the other brothers all appreciated. Both men turned, already well aware of her motive thanks to the mischievous gleam in her eyes.

  The woman loved steak. She would eat it every night if she could. She was too late this time, though. He had already laid claim to the largest one sizzling on the grill.

  Evie leaned into Viper, who put a casual arm around her waist.

  “Don’t forget, I like my steak rare, and I want the biggest one on the grill.”

  Viper laughed. “You’ll have to fight Shade for it. That’s the only reason he’s helping out.”

  Evie reached out, running her finger teasingly down his arm. “Come on, Shade. I was the one who went to the store to buy the steaks in the first place.”

  “I was the one who lugged the bags up those fucking stairs. You can have the one Viper picked out,” he offered without remorse, feeling as if someone was watching them.

  His years as a sniper had kept him in the shadows to the extent that he had grown sensitive to being the center of someone’s attention. When he searched the backyard and saw no one paying them attention, he lifted his gaze to the house, finding who was observing them.

  “Like he’ll give it up to me. Winter’s the only one who stands a chance of stealing that bad boy away from him. Next time, I’m going to make Knox do the grill. At least then I could stand a chance of getting a decent-sized steak.”

  Shade moved back from Evie’s friendly, teasing touch. He had never touched Evie sexually. Not only had he known her before they had become Last Riders, but she was anything other than a submissive, like the woman staring at them from the house.

  “Everything cool between you and Winter?” Shade asked Viper, turning back to the grill.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “No reason. It’s just that she’s been watching us for the last five minutes.”

  “She’s probably just hungry,” Viper joked.

  Viper and Evie looked toward the house.

  “I talked to her before coming downstairs. She said she would be eating with us tonight.” Evie shrugged. “She seemed fine then.”

  “She seems pissed off to me,” Shade contradicted. He had been at the other end of similar glares from women too many times to misinterpret its cause. “Brother, watch your ass,” he warned.

  Viper nodded. “I’ll go check on her. Maybe she needs some help getting down the steps.”

  “Possibly,” Shade agreed, but he didn’t think so. Winter was finally walking without having to be packed up and down the steps.

  Shade took the steaks and burgers off the grill, placing them on two large platters. Then he set one on each of the two
large picnic tables before sitting down at the one where Evie, Bliss, Dawn, Rider, and Viper, who had already returned from checking to see if Winter was ready to eat.

  “I’ve died and gone to Heaven,” Bliss said, her fork stabbing a hamburger.

  “That’s what I say every time I come in your pussy,” Rider grinned, taking his own hamburger as everyone at the table laughed.

  As Shade saw the back door opening, his instincts shifted to alertness, aware that Viper had also realized something wasn’t right.

  Winter walked out, using her cane to stab the ground as if she was on a mission.

  She had gone through several changes since she had begun living with them. Her hair had grown out, brushing the top of her shoulders and gleaming with health. The green sweater she was wearing matched her emerald-colored eyes, which were sparking with a mixture of anger and hurt. She had lost weight after the attack yet had regained most of it, looking fit and healthy instead of sick and frail.

  She took a seat at the opposite end of the picnic table he and Viper were sitting at, next to Dawn with Bliss seated across from her.

  Stiffening, Shade didn’t like the insincere smile she gave the women.

  “Let me get you a plate,” Viper offered as he started to get up.

  “No, thanks, but I will take one of those beers.” She pointed to the cooler at the end of the table.

  Shade reached in and pulled one out, passing it down the table until it reached her. Opening it, she took a long drink as the members began eating and talking again while they finished their food.

  After dinner, Knox and Stori stood up from their table, beginning to dance to the music Train had set up to play in the backyard.

  “Bliss, I like your top. The color suits you,” Winter complemented as everyone sat relaxing around the table with full stomachs.

  “Thank you. I got it with the gift certificate you gave me for Christmas.”

  “I’m glad you were able to find something you liked,” Winter said then casually asked, “I was wondering something. I noticed all the women members have tattoos with different numbers on them.”

  Evie’s and Dawn’s tops were barely there, so anyone could easily see their tats on the curve of their breasts.