Chapter 3
THREE
WEST
She was beautiful. As my eyes lingered upon her curves, I ignored her bruises and took in the sheer electric sensations that her perfection offered for me.
My cock twitched. My hands balled up into fists to keep from physically reaching for her.
Seeing her wrapped up in nothing but a towel, dripping wet from her bath, stirred something within me that I didn’t have a right to entertain.
Her dirty blonde hair shimmered in the lighting of the bathroom while her oceanic blue eyes stared me down.
Her curves tugged at the sides of the bath towel, threatening to burst open the second Chloe decided to move.
I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable, so I quickly turned on my feet and left.
But the idea of having her pressed against me for a bike ride stiffened my dick against the zipper of my jeans.
“Come on, get it together,” I growled.
I didn’t like hearing her upset. I wanted to cheer her up in any way possible.
Ever since we saved her from the cartel, I had wished for their blood to spill.
I wanted to slaughter them. I wanted to string them up by their big toes, slit their throats, and watch them gurgle out protests and pleas for mercy while I bled them like fucking pigs.
My protective instincts kicked into high gear every time my eyes drifted over her bruises or I watched her grab her side in pain as she tried to stand. Or move. Or generally exist.
I didn’t try to deny the fact that I was attracted to her.
But I’d never act on it.
Hell, I hadn’t been with anyone since my ex, Tiffany, and that was so many years ago that it almost felt like a completely different lifetime.
I had been a different person in a different phase in my life.
I was rebellious, attempting to prove myself.
I thought I was unstoppable. I thought no one could touch me.
They touched Tiffany, though.
And I’d never forgiven myself for it since.
I don’t deserve Chloe when I couldn't save Tiffany.
“Hey! West!”
Frost’s voice caught my attention and I turned to face him. “Yep?”
He pointed toward Chloe’s bedroom door. “Were you just checking up on her? She okay?”
I nodded. “She’s fine. Still hurting. She was in the bathroom, so I gave her space.”
“Good. Hopefully she took that bath Lexi recommended. Maybe that’ll help her soreness a bit.”
Doubtful. “Yeah, I just told her through the door that if she needed anything, don’t hesitate to let me know.”
Frost sighed. “You think she’s only fractured that rib? Because she looks like she’s in a lot more pain than that.”
I chuckled. “Clearly, you’ve never fractured a rib.”
“I broke my thumb. Does that count?”
I barked with laughter as I wrapped my arm around his neck. “No, it really doesn’t. Fracturing a rib is a whole different ball game. That shit moves every time you fucking breathe.”
I walked him away from her bedroom in the hopes that we could scoot by everyone and out a side exit on the other side of the warehouse.
Chloe needed a moment to breathe away from the recycled air and the chaos of the crowd, and to be honest, I needed that time as well.
Being around all these fucking people day in and day out was getting bothersome.
I missed my own bed. My own place. My own apartment that overlooked the city.
Most of the guys in the crew thought my place was too upscale for someone like me, which didn’t make a bit of fucking sense, but whatever.
I liked the view, I liked the open floor plan, and I loved the fact that I could park my bike in an underground garage so that no one could fucking touch it.
I missed home more than I cared to admit.
“Well,” Frost said as he snaked from beneath my arm, “just keep me updated. Lexi and I have our hands full with Natty right now because she’s pretty confused, but it isn’t as if we’ve abandoned Chloe. We’re just as worried about her.”
“Trust me,” I said as I patted his back, “she doesn’t think you guys have abandoned her. She gets that you have a kid to chase after.”
“Take care of her, okay?”
I nodded. “You have my word.”
After Frost made his way down the hallway, he turned the corner into the living room, and I found myself alone.
I looked around before jogging back down the hallway, and the second Chloe slipped out of her bedroom, I took her hand.
I led her down through the corridors, weaving in and out of back hallways that half of which were dead ends. The place was a complete fucking maze.
And when we found ourselves at the side exit, I paused to make sure no one was outside smoking or whatever.
“What now?” Chloe asked with a whisper.
I cracked the door open and peeked outside. “Follow me.”
With her hand still in mine, I resisted the urge to lace our fingers together.
I tried to keep a slow pace, what with Chloe already panting for air due to her rib.
I eased the door closed behind us with a soft thud, hoping and praying that no one had heard us.
Then, we made a mad dash toward the stash of bikes in the shade of the trees off in the distance.
“I’ve got a spare helmet,” I said as I quickly dug it out of the back compartment, “here.”
She took it from me, still panting for air. “Thank you for this. Seriously.”
I slid my helmet on and turned on the Bluetooth speaker. “Here, hold steady.”
I reached into the helmet and pressed the button before I heard a beeping sound in my ear.
That meant our headsets were connected in case she needed to speak with me.
I talked her through how to get onto the back of the bike.
I threw my leg over and offered my hand, which she took without a second thought.
And after I helped her onto the back of it, she wiggled her way down into the seat until her hips sat against my back.
“Now what?” she asked.
Her voice came alive in my ear, and I resisted the urge to smile until it hurt. “Wrap your arms around me anywhere you’re comfortable. Get a good grip so you don’t slip. We’ll take it slow so you can get a feel for things first.”
I knew I was risking everything doing this for her: a reprimand from Stone.
A possible sighting from the cartel. But I wasn’t an idiot.
I knew how to keep my eyes peeled for those fuckers while on a short bike ride.
Chloe’s arms snaking around my waist pulled me out of my mind.
I had a tendency to get lost in my own thoughts.
But feeling her warmth wrapped around me ripped me back to a reality that I didn’t hate.
Easy does it; you’re already getting out of control.
“There, now what?” she asked.
I kicked up the kickstand and walked the bike toward the gravel road. “Just hang on until I get a safe enough distance away to turn over the engine.”
“Can you fucking believe it?” Stone hissed.
“Shit,” I whispered. “Hold on.”
I quickly walked the bike into the deep, dark shadows of the overhanging trees as Stone and Texas came out the front exit.
“Actually, I can,” Texas said as he pulled out a lighter.
Stone pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “She’ll kill me if she knows I’m smoking again, so don’t say a damn word.”
“About what?” Texas asked with a grin.
I watched as Stone chain-smoked three fucking cigarettes.
The two of them were bitching about our current circumstances.
About how the cartel always seemed to know shit we needed to know, yet we still couldn’t get our hands on the information.
I’d never seen Stone so worked up before or Texas so nonchalant about everything.
It made me wonder if we’d ever get out of this situation. If we’d ever go home.
But the second they made their way back inside, I moved as quickly as I could out of the shadows before cresting the hill of the gravel road.
“Wow, that was close,” Chloe whispered.
Beads of sweat dripped down my face as the gravel road met the dirt road. “All right, you ready?”
She sighed with relief. “Jesus fucking Christ, yes.”
I cranked up the engine and the vibrations between my legs sent me on a head high unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
Every day, before this bullshit kicked off, I took a drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to my favorite coffee shop.
I’d sit there with my laptop and piddle around, hacking into people’s phones that were connected to the coffee shop’s Wi-Fi just to keep my skills groomed and up to date.
It seemed like those days were an entire lifetime ago, but here I was, about to take this beautiful woman up the coast with me before we dipped into that little coffee shop that hadn’t seen me in damn near…
I stopped counting the time after three months. It made me angry to count the time after three months.
“You okay back there?” I asked.
Chloe strengthened her grip around me. “I’m perfect. You can go faster if you’d like.”
A grin spread across my face. “Your wish is my command, Miss Chloe.”
I cranked it up a notch and went the speed limit the second we got onto the highway.
We had to pull off on a couple of exits just so I could hop onto the stretch of highway I actually wanted to travel.
And the second that salted wind wafted up my nostrils beneath the creases of my helmet, I felt at home once more.
I felt at peace as Chloe scooted her body closer to my own.
“Wow, it’s beautiful up here,” she said softly.
With the cliff line to our left and the ocean sloshing against the bare, abandoned beaches that the cliffs protected, I wanted nothing more than to pull over and go skinny-dipping in the ocean.
It didn’t matter that the water was ice cold.
I missed the salt water against my skin.
I missed the peaceful bliss of floating over the crests of the small waves that donned the shoreline.
“I miss it here,” I murmured.
“Me too,” Chloe whispered.