Page 16 of Covert (Ruthless Love #2)

Chapter thirteen

Maddox

M y phone rings, and a picture of Nikki laughing with Axel flashes on my screen. I smile. Alright, so maybe I'm softening to the idea of her already.

"What's up, baby? Miss me already?" I tease sarcastically.

She made her stand at the rally the other night, but we haven't talked about it since.

I've been letting the idea roll around in the back of my brain to see how palatable I find it.

She's a sexy little thing, and kinkier and tougher than I thought she was when Leana first brought her in.

But sleeping with her? Sharing her? I don't know how I feel about that.

I'm not the type to be vulnerable in front of a partner, let alone the guys.

And I wouldn't want to just fuck her. We work together, I'm starting to respect her, begrudgingly, and don't want to put us all in an awkward position.

"I need you."

My blood instantly runs cold. Nikki's voice is small, breathless, and shaking. She sounds terrified. Something's very wrong.

"Nik? Where are you?" I say, standing and grabbing my keys. Axel and Beckett's heads both shoot up. They pick up on the stress in my voice, my phone call, and that something's wrong with Nikki.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know who else to call," she continues, almost rambling.

I head out the door. Axel was in the middle of a piece but told the customer to clean and wrap it up, and that they would finish it another day. Nikki’s been working with us for weeks now and has become a kind of mascot for the shop. She’s ours.

"Are you safe?"

"I... I don't know."

"Go to your car, get inside, and lock the door."

"O-okay, Mad." Her voice wavers, and it kills me. If they've found her...

"I'm going to stay on the phone with you. Okay, doll?"

"Okay."

"Are you in your car now?"

"Ye... yes."

"Where are you?"

"Uh... do you know the apartments off of Madison?" Yes, I know those apartments. They're shitty and run down and full of crack heads. I kick myself internally. Please don't tell me she's been living there. Why don't I know where she lives?

"Yes."

I throw a leg over my motorcycle and turn it on while I wait for the Bluetooth headset to connect inside my helmet. Out of the side of my eye, I see Axel and Beckett turning on their bikes and kicking up their stands.

I keep her talking, asking about what appointments we have coming up, what she had for breakfast, anything I can think of to keep her calm and distracted.

I speed the eight blocks to Nikki's apartment complex before I pull up next to her paint-chipped Honda.

Axel parks in front of her car, and Beckett parks behind, surrounding her.

When she sees me, she opens her driver's door, almost falling out of it, before leaping into my arms and pulling me tight.

She's fucking shaking. I've never imagined our cool and confident Nikki could look so rattled.

It throws me. I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight against my chest. She's safe. She's here. She's not going anywhere.

I grab her by the arms and hunch down so I can look her in the eyes.

"What happened?"

"I think someone broke into my apartment," she whispers, looking at her feet, and wrapping her arms around her midsection.

"Get back in your car and lock the door," I say, holding open her driver's side door for her. She nods, but her entire body is visibly shaking. It takes her a few tries before she presses the lock on her door, looking up at me with large, wide, fear-filled eyes. It breaks my heart a little.

The need to understand who is after her burns in my stomach, even if we promised to leave it alone.

We need to know who she's running from and who would break into her apartment and do this.

We need to know so we can eliminate them and make sure she never has to look over her shoulder another day of her life.

I pull my gun from the back of my jeans and approach the apartment building. I had no idea she was living in such a crappy part of town. I should have pressed her harder about her life.

I just assumed she had her life handled. She never complained about anything, never asked for more money to get herself out of this shithole. We would have given it to her.

Axel and Beckett follow me up the cement stairs.

Nikki's door is open by a few inches; the crappy plywood door is splintered around the lock. It's a flimsy door and a flimsy lock. No deadbolt. A wave of rage rolls through me at how unprotected our girl has been.

Even if our relationship status is confusing and vague, she's become a friend, a sort of shop mascot. She's become ours.

We clear the small apartment in three minutes, considering it's an efficiency and there's nowhere for anyone to hide. Her cabinets have been emptied, and ramen packets and crackers have been thrown carelessly on the floor and stomped on.

There are crumbs everywhere. Her threadbare couch cushions have been tossed on the floor. Whether she had anything to steal or not, whoever broke in was looking for something. Or here to cause maximum damage.

"Go get her and bring her here," I tell Axel, who simply nods before retreating. I look around her crappy apartment. She has a worn couch, but no TV, no dining room table. Even her bed is a bare mattress on the floor with a single, thin sheet.

By the door is a large backpacking bag, packed as if she's preparing to run at any moment. Whoever is looking for her terrifies her. And that pisses me off.

A few moments later, Nikki shuffles through the door as if her feet are too heavy to move.

Axel places his hand on her lower back and ushers her inside.

She peers around, as if someone is going to jump out at her from a corner.

Her arms are wrapped tightly around her midsection, as if comforting herself. I fucking hate everything about it.

I wrap my large hand around the back of her neck and pull her to my chest, hoping to calm her.

"Is anything missing? "

She looks around and shakes her head 'no'. I want to shake her, to shout at her, to demand answers. But not here. If the people looking for her did this, they might be watching the apartment.

"Grab your things, you're coming with us."

She walks to her mattress, pulls out a dagger-looking thing and a bright pink vibrator from under her pillow.

Axel chokes on his tongue a little while Beckett's face heats, and he looks away. She tucks both into her bag and pulls the drawstring closed before Beckett steps up and picks it up for her. The thing is almost as big as she is, and apparently, everything she owns is already packed up in it.

We glance up and down the street before walking out to our bikes.

"Leave your car. It'll make them think you're home."

She nods, her mind still blank with fear. Beckett slings both straps of her bag over his shoulder.

"You'll ride with me."

I mount my bike and hand her the extra helmet.

She puts it on quickly. I hold my hand out for her to take to steady herself while she hops on behind me.

It's been so long since I've had a sexy little backpack, I suck in a breath in anticipation.

My sweet girl rests one hand on my bicep as she throws her thigh over my bike and settles into the seat.

I kick the kickstand up and rev the engine.

I grab her hands and wrap them around me, giving her permission to touch me. I may not enjoy being vulnerable, but this silent plea for her to trust me, to touch me, to let me take care of her is something I can do.

She seems to melt into my back as I rev the engine and begin to hit the road. As we take off, Beckett and Axel follow. We're going home. We'll reschedule any appointments we have. We need to get her somewhere safe, settled, calmer, and convince her to move in with us.

I take a moment to appreciate the set of precious tits pressed into my back as I drive, but it's not enough.

I admonish myself for not realizing before that she was living in a shithole and driving a death trap.

I can imagine the type of man her landlord must be.

I recall the look of complete fear and helplessness in her eyes when we pulled up.

Since the talk, none of us has made a move.

It's like we're all afraid to burst the perfect little bubble we've made for ourselves.

But she's our girl, goddamnit, and we failed to protect her. That changes today.

I want to distract her from her fear since we can't have that conversation yet. I don't want her driving all the way home, still afraid.

At the next red light, I reach behind me and grab each side of her hips.

I tip her pelvis forward until I hear a tiny gasp in my headset.

I want her clit to hit the vibration of the bike, and her gasp lets me know she's there.

I turn so she can see me and tap near my ear on the helmet, then put a single finger in front of my helmet, letting her know that Axel and Beckett can hear her too, so she needs to be quiet.

She leans her head and helmet against my back and nods.

I can hear her breathing in my headset deepen and get raspier.

I smile. Turned on is better than terrified.

I'm tense - every muscle in my body is tuned to hers.

I wish I could see her face, touch her myself, watch her fall apart on my fingers and mouth and cock.

But in the meantime, there's nothing like the vibration of my engine as foreplay.

Her breathing deepens and gets louder. I can feel her tits pressing harder against my back, and her breathing increases.

Her fingers bunch the front of my jacket in her tight little fists.

The light turns green, and I rev the engine, eliciting a little squeak out of her.

I can hear my deep chuckle in my headset as well.

Axel slides up next to us and looks over.

I can't see his expression through his full helmet because his visor's down, but the tilt of his head lets me know he's wondering what's going on.

Nikki starts to roll her hips, seeking friction and release.

Axel's head twitches back and notices her movement.

When he realizes what's happening, he lifts his gaze to the sky and adjusts himself in his pants.

"You gonna come for us, pretty girl?" he growls into his headset. "You gonna ride Mad's bike and come all over the seat?"

She whimpers a pathetic, breathy little sound. Her tiny fists ball up my shirt tightly.

Beckett roars up to the other side of us, now studying Nikki on the back of my bike. I signal a left-hand turn and take it without slowing down. I'm taking the long way home. I need to hear her come apart on my bike more than I've needed anything else.

"Don't hold back on us, now, pretty girl. Let Beckett hear how pretty you sound when you come," Axel growls.

She's breathing even faster now. Her arms and hands grip me desperately.

She's almost there. I give her one more hard rev of the engine before she's whining her release.

It's somehow both pornographic and innocent.

Sexy and sweet. I want her underneath me, shouting my name, but this delicate, feminine little moan has me rock hard.

I can only imagine how wet her panties are, and if she's soaked my seat.

"Fuck, baby. That was so fucking hot," I say. I grab one of her hands and wrap it around my aching cock, now hard and straining in my jeans. "See what you do to me? What do you do to all of us? "

I know we've talked about exploring this together, and I guess making her come finally crosses that line. She rubs her tiny hand along the ridge of my cock.

"You better cut that out before I park and fuck you against my bike on the side of the road."

She chuckles at me. Fucking. Chuckles.

"Oh, you think that's funny?"

"Mhm," comes her soft, deep, sexy little response, as she runs her hand up and down my shaft again.

She's fucking teasing me. And I'm surprised to find myself loving it.

She fiddles with the bottom of my leather jacket before sliding her other hand up the ridges of my abs.

I'm suddenly regretting taking the long way home. I'm vibrating with need.

The hand on my cock joins her other as she scoots even closer to my back and runs her hands up my abs and over my pecs, stopping briefly to tweak both nipples. I growl a warning into the headset.

Both of her hands sink lower, running over my obliques and down what women call the "sexy V" of my body. Her thumbs sink under the waist of my jeans, skimming the top of my pubic bone, and I hit the gas, desperate to get home before I explode.