Page 9

Crow

W e touch down with a hard knock of the wheels and a rapid slowing that pitches everyone forward. It’s probably not a rough landing, but it’s a miracle that my teeth survived getting ground to dust the entire two and a half hour flight. I finally let out the smallest puff of air, feeling how tense my muscles are. It’s a miracle that Raven didn’t wrench out. He’s just been mouthing off in my head for half the flight and isn’t giving it a rest now.

Oooh, cramp central. Enjoy the Charlie horses, sweetheart. I’m checking out now.

Tarynn stirs and blinks sleepily at me. She twists immediately in favor of the window, but I’m not offended. This is her first great adventure and if it was me, I’d want to take in as much of it as I could.

If it was you, you’d continue to stare at her creepily exactly like you’re doing now.

I can’t tear my eyes away. She was as beautiful in sleep as she was awake, coppery lashes resting against her creamy cheeks, every worry and care erased. When she’s awake, she doesn’t carry her past around with her like I do. She can let it go in favor of kindness and gutlessness that the world hasn’t beaten out of her yet.

She has the eager, bubbly joy of a child at seeing the Strip from a distance. She missed the scene flying in, but I just couldn’t bring myself to wake her. She was probably up all night as well, or had a restless sleep at best.

I got us burgers from an obscenely overpriced restaurant as soon as we got to the airport.

This gorgeous goddess of a woman sat across from a man who is basically a monster, devouring a giant burger and fries like the sight of me and my overall company didn’t put off her appetite at all. When I picked the pickles off my burger, she snatched them straight off my plate and devoured them too. She wasn’t the least bit worried they were tainted by the touch of a psychopath.

I resent that word. We are not psychopaths or sociopaths. So what if there’s two of us living in this body?

You’re the one who left before we could get a diagnosis.

So you wanted to be tortured and experimented on?

“It’s so beautiful!” Tarynn exclaims, breathless, drawing me out and into her sphere. As if I ever left. “It’s just straight up real life magic!” She’s so enraptured by the sight out that little window that we’re the last ones off the plane.

Since we didn’t check any bags, we’re through the airport quickly, out into the shimmering dry heat of the Vegas night.

Who goes to Vegas in the summer? I guess that would be me.

A line of taxis awaits outside. Odds of getting one, despite the fact that I still look little better than a craft project gone wrong, are good.

Actually, no one gave me any trouble about the way I look. So far. I guess when you’re on route to Vegas, anything goes. Now that we’re here, in the official city of utter debauchery, a line of stitches is probably the least of anyone’s worries.

Tarynn takes my hand without a second thought and tugs me eagerly to a line of waiting taxis. Raven thrashes around in my head. He’s so close to the surface that I can feel him under my skin. He can’t wait to be unleashed here. There’s so much delightful trouble that he could get himself into. Get us both into.

I remind him again, not so subtly, that we have to watch out for Tarynn.

We’re here to buy her a bike. Nothing more. I get it. Yawn fest galore. Because you couldn’t have done that in Seattle or even Hart.

She drops my hand almost as soon as I’ve truly realized that she’s holding it. The stitch in my chest and the fact that I now need to subtly find a way to arrange my hard as fuck cock in my jeans before it becomes noticeable and scares the shit out of her, is a problem.

Tarynn throws herself into the backseat of a tiny little white hatchback car with pictures of hotels and the Hoover dam printed on the side.

The driver is young and when his gaze lingers on Tarynn, even though she’s wearing a shapeless sweater and leggings that are somehow baggy. I frown at him. He grins sheepishly back as if to say, who could blame a guy for looking. She’s unearthly gorgeous.

I still want to dig my fingers into his eyeballs, long after he turns around and starts driving.

“Where to?” he finally asks.

Tarynn is already straining to look out the window. She’d like to be in the middle of all the lights, the people, the bustle, the never ending stream of bodies. The shops, the shows, the magnificent hotels.

“Anywhere on the Strip that we can get a hotel without a reservation.”

“It’s Sunday night, so you’d be in luck pretty much anywhere. Better rates too, since everyone makes their exodus before now.”

Tarynn whips her head around. She looks wildly alive, her eyes glistening, the flashing lights reflecting on her face, blue, yellow, green, purple, pink, red. She should be timid and scared, but there’s no way that she’s hiding. If anything, leaving Hart has done the opposite. Her eagerness is painted all over her face, which makes her so astoundingly beautiful that my dick doesn’t just harden and kick against my fly again. I can feel it leaking into my boxers.

“I know we’re here to buy a motorcycle, but do you think that we could… see some things?”

“Things?”

She purses her lips, closes her eyes, and sighs. She’s so fucking close to me that all I’d have to do is lean over to taste her tantalizing, honey sweet lips. The impulse doesn’t just end in my cock. It drills straight into my balls and stabs higher up in my stomach. Thank fuck I have my backpack on my lap.

“I want to have coffee in the morning instead of orange juice. I never want to freaking drink orange juice again. I never want to see a bowl of oatmeal or a hardboiled egg either.”

That seems like a small ask, but so monumental to her.

“I want to spend a few hours being frivolous with my time doing something I want because it makes me happy, because one’s happiness is a perfectly valid reason.”

Mission ‘Put the real fear of God into her father’ commences the minute we get home. I doubt this shit stain actually believes in the devil, but he’s going to. Shit, son, he’s going to.

Raven.

Relax. No one has to know it was us. Okay, fine, me.

“I want to see the lights. Do something that’s just for my own enrichment. Something that man has made that is undeniably lovely and not feel sinful for enjoying it.”

“Casino?” The driver adds helpfully to her list. He’s clearly been hooked on her every word, just the same as I am.

“Don’t they all have casinos?” I grumble.

“High end or regular shopping?”

Shopping. I’m well aware that Tarynn left her house with almost nothing.

“Are the stores still open?” I ask. It’s Sunday and it’s late, but I have something very specific in mind. It’s a need, not a want, and I’m not taking no for an answer.

“Depends on what you’d like, but for the most part, probably.”

We’re still on the side streets. We haven’t come into the real amazement that is the Strip at night. There’s no shortage of lights, buildings, and incredible things to see. The real delight is coming. A strange excitement that I can’t say I’ve really ever felt, builds in my chest. You just reach a certain point in your life where nothing excites, thrills, or delights you anymore. I thought I’d hit that wall years ago, but Tarynn’s joy is contagious.

“Is there a bike store open? Somewhere we can get a decent set of leathers and some riding boots and a jacket?”

“Crow, I can’t aff—”

“This is my treat.” I cut off her protests firmly. She pinches her lips, and I don’t like the flat, stubborn line. “I’ll win it back playing poker later. Trust me on that. I’m good at it.”

“I’ve seen your books,” she breathes, just for my ears. “I believe that wholeheartedly.”

“I know a place. I’ll take you there and I can wait for you?” The driver asks.

With his meter ticking away, no doubt, but at least I won’t have to arrange for another cab, likely far off the Strip. “That works.”

I sit tight, trying to urge my dick to deflate, while Tarynn goes back to staring out the window and exclaiming over everything she sees. Her running commentary shouldn’t be stimulating, but for once, I can’t get my body to listen to me. It’s a first.

By the time I was a teenager, I had impeccable control over myself. I had to, or Raven would do something like burn down the house or throttle the jock assholes in school, just for the delight of it.

Not true. Everyone is always going on about putting good into the world. That would have been justice. By the way, have you considered that your cock won’t listen to your commands because you just straight up want to fuck a beautiful, alluring woman?

We’re not fucking her. You promised you wouldn’t hurt her. The only thing I want is to protect her and help her.

Hilarious. Can you hear me laughing? You can do all of those things and let her take the lead. I’m pretty sure I’m not wrong that if, given the opportunity, she’d ride or die. On. Your. Face. And love every single minute of it.

I grit my teeth against the supply of images that Raven interjects into my brain.

Our brain. Don’t forget it. Our dick. Our hands. Our body.

We pull up in front of a Harley store fifteen minutes later. The bright golden glow from the huge glass windows paints the sidewalk in front, as well as half the asphalt parking lot. There are several sleek bikes outside, one on the roof in front of a massive sign, and a whole showroom on the inside.

“They sell clothes here?” Tarynn asks. “Because I want to be clear, my budget for a bike is somewhere around two grand. When I said old and used, I meant old and used.”

“Just a jacket and boots. You’ll need that for riding. It’s important to have the right gear to be protected. A bike is no joke. You’re out there and it’s just you. You rack out, you’re going to want something between your skin and the pavement tearing it off your body, and proper boots are an absolute must.”

She hesitates, clearly torn.

“I know you want to be independent, but you also need this. We’re in Vegas. I promise that anything you want here will end up being free.”

“But if you win money, that’s your money.”

“Shouldn’t I be able to choose how to spend it?”

She blows out a sigh, but ends up smiling at me. It makes my heart stop dead.

How romantic. You know that’s not physically possible right?

Can’t you feel that? Tell me you can’t feel it.

I feel it, but what’s the point? It’s not like you’re ever going to let me out to even so much as have a conversation with her. She’s yours. You’ve already made that clear. Our life is yours. Maybe I’ll just go sit in a corner and pout. Are you sure you can win without me? Protect her properly if I’m not there? Even function on a basic level?

“Crow?”

I snap my attention back to Tarynn.

“I said okay. We can go in.”

We get out of the cab and shoulder our backpacks. True to his word, the guy settles in for the wait. I hear an audio book go on the second we’re out of the car. The guy crosses his arms and reclines his seat. He obviously thinks that we’ll be in here a while.

Now that she’s agreed, Tarynn faces the massive building with awe.

It’s nothing compared to how excited she gets the minute we’re inside. You’d think that something ancient and world shattering had just been unearthed by the clear rapture on her face. She skips around, exclaiming over the beauty and construction of every bike.

The full realization that she actually wants this for herself and not just to rebel against her parents settles in. She could easily go out and buy herself a used cage now that she’s out of the house, but she still wants a bike.

She’s a good girl with a rebel spirit, and fuck if that doesn’t hit me hard all over again. It’s like I’m seeing her for the first time.

As soon as Tarynn asks for a jacket and a pair of boots, two pretty, young saleswomen eagerly talk her into trying on half the store. They bring heaps of clothing, everything from t-shirts to sweaters, tanks to ripped up little scraps of clothing, dresses and short skirts, tiny little shorts, to pajamas. That’s just the clothing. They’re equally as excited to show her boots made for riding and boots made for… not riding. I don’t think a six-inch heel and something that goes to the knee is practical for controlling a bike.

Half that shit is eye candy for the lady riding on the back of a bike.

Tarynn takes her time in the dressing room. She lets the other women in with her sometimes, to help her, while I sit in a fancy orange and black leather chair and wait, watching the heavy black curtains that flow all around the changing room. Curtains. Not walls. That fabric is the only thing that stands between me and everyone else in this place-—albeit not many people—seeing Tarynn naked.

My hands start to itch and even though Raven is silent, I know he hasn’t made good on his threat to check out. The way Tarynn has pressed on all my protective instincts from the first, doesn’t make sense. I know that. The will to change it is lacking. I know that too. I don’t have to like it to make it a fact.

You don’t not like it. Admit it.

The curtains swish and draw to the side and Tarynn steps out shyly. She’s got those damn knee high boots with the massive spike heels on, a tiny little black leather skirt, and a tight tank that is cut straight down the swell of her breasts and ends above her naval. A creamy expanse of her pale skin shows above the skirt. Her legs look endlessly long.

My heart practically slaps right out of my chest and ends up in my throat. I lean forward immediately to cover my instant, raging boner.

I cut off any and all images before they can flood my brain.

Most. Images.

I still get one of her, pressed up against a wall, her legs wrapped around my waist while my fingers delve under that skirt to find her hot, wet, and needy.

Us on our knees. Our mouth on her skin. Tasting her hot, sweet pussy until she drenches our face. She’d be so tight on our fingers. On our cock.

I jolt to my feet like someone just hooked jumper cables to my balls. We’ve never wanted the same woman before. I’ve only ever let Raven out twice with a woman, when he became so incessant in my head, that I was going to split right in half. Twice in thirty-four years of life. I retreated so far back into our head that I have no memories of what happened. He assured me that he was a gentleman, and I believed him.

Raven is inherently violent and intrinsically dangerous, but he’s also a shit liar. It’s hard to convince someone you’re something you’re not when they can feel your every movement. He’s never hurt anyone who wasn’t a threat to him. He’d never hurt a woman, a child, or an animal, even if they were direct threats.

Who have I hurt before other than people who wanted to kill us, maim us, or lock us away in a padded room? It’s so unfair that you constantly label me violent and unpredictable. Just because I… what? Played with matches a few times? So fucking what? Who hasn’t?

“Crow?” Tarynn is so uncertain that I realize how vacantly I’ve been sitting here, utterly spaced out.

“Sorry.” I rub my eyes. “Just a little jetlagged.” Right. On a two and a half hour flight after a long ass nap.

She accepts that without question. She clutches her hands, studying her nails instead of looking at me, but then she slowly turns and takes in her image in the full length mirror. She lets out a little gasp.

“I don’t look like me,” she squeals.

“Yes, you do.” I heave out of the chair, but catch myself.

What was I doing? Going to her to do what? Assure her? Put my hands on her? Take a strand of her soft, fiery hair in between my fingers and stroke it just to feel the softness? Was I going to touch her bare arm, gliding my rough fingers over her creamy softness?

I have no backpack hiding my cock now. I swing it down off my shoulder, ostensibly to get out of my wallet, and keep it tucked in a strategic position.

“We’ll get everything,” I tell the astonished saleswomen, who both break into wide smiles of delight and begin to eagerly pack up the boxes and fold items into a massive pile.

Tarynn splutters in protest, but I’m already walking to the counter to pay. I lean up against the massive checkout hard, squashing my junk against it almost violently. It does nothing to deflate my erection. If this doesn’t stop soon, it’s going to become a medical emergency. It’s already making it hard to walk.

The front of the desk is diamond plated. The burst of pain as I lean in still does nothing to help me get the issue under control.

The astounding total for all that gear probably should do it, but nope. I just hand over my credit card. By anyone’s standards, I’d be considered wealthy. Money never did have any meaning for me. It wasn’t a desperation to survive that drove me to become a member of a bike club. You’d think that given how I hate people staring and crave solitude, that it would be the worst decision, but it offered one thing that I was never going to be able to find or make for myself.

Family.

By the time Tarynn has changed back into her own clothes, the bags and boxes are ready for her at the counter.

She’s pale, but says nothing as we exit the store. I’m carrying most of it, but she insisted on grabbing a bag for each hand. I made sure they were the light ones.

I stuff everything into the tiny trunk of the cab. It barely fits, but I do get the hatch door shut. The driver doesn’t get out or offer to help, which suits me just fine.

He’s shut the audiobook off and is ready to go.

I hold Tarynn’s door open for her, but instead of getting into the car, she throws her arms around me, hugging me tight. Just like before, I freeze, my insides going straight into panic mode, yet at the same time, being so quiet and still that it’s like I’m part of the wilderness.

“I didn’t need any of that, you crazy, wonderful man. But thank you. Thank you for what’s already been, and will be, the best experience of my life.”

Oooh, I’m falling in love with her already. Better get two rooms so she’s safe from making bad choices with either one of us.

I’d already planned on doing just that.

From the very first time I ever saw Tarynn at Patti’s—probably on her first shift ever—I asked myself what the fuck I was doing. I’m still asking myself that very same question. The answer is still the same.

I don’t know.

But I can’t keep myself from doing it.