Page 5 of Knuckles (Dragon Riders MC 4)
He chuckled and took one last look at his bike over his shoulder before his eyes found mine again.
“You want to get out of town for a bit?” he asked.
I paused. “Thought you had something to do for the crew.”
He nodded. “I do. But it’ll require me to hole up in a motel for a few days. I’ll be out of town on my own. If you’d like to come with me, you’re more than welcome. We can talk when I’m not doing recon.”
“Recon, huh? Sounds spooky.”
“The guy we’re chasing, Skeleton, isn’t nice, no.”
“And how ‘bad boy’ is this bad boy?”
He pinned me with a stare. “The kind that traffics women, deals drugs, and will harm any man, woman, or child that gets in his way.”
My blood turned cold. “Well. Sounds like a peach.”
“You coming is risky. And dangerous. But I can see the fear in your eyes, even though you project confidence. I don’t want to leave you behind by yourself. You’ll be safer with me.”
“I know. That’s why I worked so hard and maxed out my credit card to find you.”
“You send me that bill and I’ll pay it off.”
I paused. “Come again?”
He turned, walking back to his bike. “Send me the total of your credit card debt and I’ll pay it off.”
I walked quickly behind him. “You don’t have to do that, Justin.”
He threw his leg over his bike. “Just send it to me, Simone.”
“All right. Fine. I can do that.”
He slid his bike helmet on. “You getting on?”
I sighed. “This is where I tell you I’ve never been on a bike before.”
He reached behind him, digging in a compartment before he pulled out a helmet. “Well, put this one, kick your leg over, and hang on tight. That’s about all you need to know.”
“Aren’t you worried that I’m wearing a dress and heels?”
“I’m a safe driver, especially when carrying precious cargo.”
My cheeks blushed at his comment. Did he just call me “precious?”
I took the helmet from him. “If you say so.”
I threw my leg over the bike, but it took me a while to get my dress situated so that it covered everything it needed to. And when Justin leaned back between my legs, I had to hold my breath so I wouldn’t moan. I mean, I’d always found the man attractive. Foster brother or not, he’d always been hot. And I’d always had a secret crush on him I never told anyone for fear of judgment or teasing. Damn it, I was teased and bullied so much as a child that I was scared to talk about anything. Or make any wrong step.
Not with Justin, though.
He always made me feel at ease.
“Link? Yeah, it’s Knuckles.”
“Knuckles?” I asked.
He held up his finger as he continued to talk. Even though I didn’t see a phone in either of his hands.
“Uh huh. Yeah, look. I’ve kinda run into an issue. No, I haven’t left yet. Yeah—I—dude, would you just—Link!”
Even I jumped at how harsh his voice sounded.
“I’m on my bike now, about to head out. But I need your permission on something before I leave.”
I waited on bated breath to see if this Link, the almighty God of permission, approved of me heading out with Justin.
Which I assumed was what he was calling about in the first place.3KnucklesThe phone rang in my helmet from the built-in Bluetooth headset as Simone wiggled her way behind me.
“What?” Link answered.
Oh, boy. “Link?”
He paused. “Knuckles?”
“Yeah, it’s Knuckles.”
Simone said something to me, but I put my finger up, getting her to hush for a second.
“Please tell me you’re on that ride right now and you've got a flat or something.”
I blinked. “Uh huh. Yeah, look. I’ve kinda run into an issue.”
“So, you haven’t left yet.”
“No, I haven’t left yet.”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
I sighed. “Yeah, I—”
“The hell is holding you up so badly? Something wrong with your bike?”
“Dude, would you just—”
He kept going, though. “Do you need help packing? Someone gotta put on your boots? Would you tell me why the fuck—”
“Link!”
Simone jumped behind me and that worried me. Simone had been many things throughout the course of her childhood, but jumpy had never been one of them. Even with our rough upbringing, she always took things head-on and without a second thought.
I was curious to know what made her so jumpy.
“You better have a damn good reason why you haven’t left yet,” he hissed.
I shook my head. “I’m on my bike now, about to head out. But I need your permission on something before I leave.”
“So, there is something we need to talk about.” I didn’t respond, so Link continued. “Come by the bar, but after we talk? You get on the road. Got it?”
“You got it.”
I hung up the phone and cranked up the engine before I eased down the driveway. And when Simone wrapped her arms around me and clung to my body, I had to swallow hard just to see straight. Damn it, that girl had always been a little cutie pie. When we were younger, she adored those bouncing pigtails. And when she became an angry, rebellious teenager? It was short shorts and too much makeup all the way. Gave a pubescent teenage boy quite a sight over the years. But nothing compared to her now.
