Page 6 of Dozer (Rolling Thunder MC #14)

Chapter 6

Daisy

It was warm for February but too cold to be outside naked. He picked me up, rubbed the dirt off my arm that’d been on the floorboard, and then settled me back onto the passenger seat, still on my side, still in the damned hog-tie. He stepped back, took his shirt off, and then cut the ties attaching my ankles to my wrists. My wrists were still bound behind my back, and my ankles were still bound together, but it was a big relief when I could sit up. He put his shirt over my head and pulled it down over my body, so my arms were inside the shirt.

I’d been shivering, and I was suddenly so warm — like taking a blanket out of the dryer and wrapping up in it.

He lifted me gently in his arms, so even though I was uncomfortably bound, he didn’t hurt me when he carried me.

“Thank you.” He was being nice, and I wanted him to keep doing that. Also, it was in the back of my head somewhere that if I made him like me, he might not hurt me.

“I’d planned to beat the fuck out of whoever stole my truck, but my fists do not pound on women, so I guess we’ll figure this out as we go. I still need my pound of flesh, though.”

Fear settled into my gut and I thought I might throw the peanut butter sandwich back up. “I’m sorry! Truly! My car broke down, and…” My instincts told me to shut up, so I did. It hadn’t been my car to start with, since I’d stolen it, too. “It was wrong. I was wrong. I’m sorry, but, like you said, I didn’t hurt anything! No damage to anything!”

“I abandoned my groceries in the parking lot, ran four miles to my house, and then had to ride a ridiculously small motorcycle to catch up with you. Where did you grow up?”

“Virginia.”

“Mountains, coast, or in between?”

“Coast.”

“Your accent is more New York than Virginia.”

“I went to school in New York.”

“High school?”

“Elementary, middle, high.”

Lying to him hadn’t worked out so well, and what could it hurt to tell him the general areas I’d grown up?

He stepped to a door, went to turn the knob, but it was locked. He hesitated a few seconds, turned it again, and I swear I think he broke it. The door opened, and then we were inside. He settled me on a table, hooked my ankles to my wrists again, stepped back outside, and came inside with a few pieces of wood.

“We’ll only be here a few hours, but it’s too cold for you without clothes.”

The bastard should’ve thought about that before he cut them off me, but since I was wearing his huge shirt, I figured maybe I should keep my mouth shut.

And now that I had a good look at him, I was more scared than ever. His arms were like tree trunks. His neck was as big around as his head. He’d carried me curled into one arm!

He had a fire going in no time, and then he turned and focused on me, and my stomach went all swimmy.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

He breathed in and shrugged. “Not yet. You’re fine.” He cut my ankles loose from my wrists again, lifted me, and settled me on the rough hardwood floor, on my knees, but he was careful with me, so it didn’t hurt. My arms were still connected behind my back, and my ankles were still bound together. I wasn’t going anywhere.

He sat on the ugly loveseat and leaned forward, so his face was inches from mine. “Boarding school?”

I nodded.

“Rich kid, raised by everyone except your parents?”

I stared at him. How the fuck had he known that?

“All girls school, or coed?”

When I didn’t answer, he asked again, but spread the two possibilities out, and then sat up, looking thoughtful. “All girls school, and I’m betting probably religion based? When did you lose your virginity?”

I felt my face flame red, and he grinned. “Oh, that got a reaction, but the question is whether you’re embarrassed because you were thirteen, or because you were eighteen?”

He tilted his head. “Eighteen? Really?” He sat back. “Did Dray pop your cherry? Show you the ways of the world and get you to run off with him? But then, once you couldn’t go home again, when he’d made you burn all those bridges, he changed, right?”

“What do you want from me?” And how the hell did he know all this?

“We’ll get to that later, but for now, I want some answers.”