Page 67 of Fox (Road Rebels MC 4)
***
Noelle gasped, and I moved quickly, jumping off the bed.
“What was that? Did something fall?” she asked, reaching for the covers as she pulled it up to her naked breasts. I fumbled in the sheets for my boxers, and I pulled them on. When I looked at Noelle again, I saw that she looked mildly panicked. Of course, she had no reason to feel more than that, she had no idea what was really going on.
“Stay in here,” I commanded her, as I strode out of the bedroom and went straight into the living room. I had my fists clenched, ready for a punch…aware that my gun was on the kitchen counter where I had left it so that Noelle didn’t see it during the night.
In the living room, I saw that nobody was in the apartment. Instead, the window was smashed, and there was glass everywhere, shards twinkling on the carpet catching the spilling sunlight.
With my brows crossed, I ran to the window and looked out to see the trailing smoke of a motorcycle. I didn’t have to actually see the bike to know that it belonged to the Dragon Knights. I cursed under my breath and looked at the carpet, till my eyes fell on the red brick near the legs of the coffee table.
“Mother fuckers,” I cursed again under my breath and bent down to pick up the brick.
When I turned it around, I found a note stuck to it with tape.
We see you
That’s all the note said, but I knew what it meant. The Dragon Knights were sending me a message to let me know that I was always being watched. I clenched my jaw and dropped the brick to the floor and ran a hand through my hair.
I went over to the window to check again, but I couldn’t see anybody anymore.
Just shooting me wasn’t enough. The Dragon Knights wanted me dead.
I went over to the kitchen and picked up my gun, making sure that it was loaded.
I wasn’t surprised that the DKs had picked me to threaten. I was the guy who had taken shots at their men. I was there during the prostitution raid, and I was the one they had come very close to killing that night in the docks. They wanted me to be frightened, they wanted to scare me into thinking that they could kill me whenever they wanted. And now, they had seen Noelle and me together.
I brought a broom and dustpan into the living room and stuffed my gun into my jacket on the couch. I tried to get all the glass shards out of the carpet, trying to spend as much time out of the bedroom as possible. I needed some time to myself, I needed to think.
I should have predicted something like this happening. From the moment I realized that I was being watched by the Dragon Knights when they had seen Noelle with me, I should have known that they would try and use her as leverage. She was bound to make me seem weak.
I brushed the glass shards into the dust pan and took it to the garbage can in the kitchen and emptied it. Back in the bedroom, Noelle was still waiting for me. I had been content in the morning when I woke up with her in my arms. I wanted her body, I wanted to get to know her better…I wanted to give her more opportunities to make me laugh.
But this was too dangerous. For Noelle. By being with her, I was going to put her life in danger. If the Dragon Knights were going to keep spying on me, I needed to prove to them that Noelle Peters meant nothing to me. That was the only way I could get them off her back.
“Tank?” I heard Noelle’s voice, and I whipped around to find her at the door of the kitchen. She had wrapped herself in bed sheets, her hair was ruffled, and she looked bright and beautiful and curious.
“What happened?” she asked, and I clenched my jaws.
“A glass broke,” I said, and she arched her eyebrows.
“Oh, did I place mine too close to the edge last night?” she asked, referring to the glass of water she had poured herself.
“I don’t know,” I snapped and pushed past her out of the kitchen.
Noelle followed me back out in the living room, still clutching the sheets to herself, they were trailing after her now.
“What’s going on? Did I do something?” she asked, in a soft voice and while I had my face turned away from her, I tried to normalize my breathing. How was I supposed to explain to her that I was afraid that her life was in danger? That I could be responsible for causing her harm.
I turned to her again, meeting her gaze firmly.
“Get ready. I’m taking you back to your apartment,” I said, and Noelle parted her lips in surprise. I could see it in her eyes, she wasn’t expecting this sudden change in mood. Not after the way we had woken up and made love, only a few minutes ago.
“Okay…but, it’s only six in the morning,” she said, in a meek apologetic voice.
“Get ready, now, Noelle,” I snapped, and she could see the rage in my eyes.
Whipping around, she rushed out of the living room and back in the bedroom. I went to the washing machine and started pulling clothes out to wear because I didn’t want to follow her into the bedroom. If I did, I knew that I was going to cave. I wouldn’t be able to resist her, and I would want to hold her again.
But the best thing I could do for her now was to keep my distance.
***
On the bike, Noelle had her arms loosely wrapped around me. I knew I had been wrong for being short with her earlier, but I had no other choice. I needed her to hate me, and I needed her to realize that she had no future with a guy like me.
She had grudgingly given me the address of her apartment when we got on the bike, and now I was riding to it in silence. I couldn’t help but recall how the previous night, on our way back from the restaurant, Noelle had held me tightly. She had placed her chin on my shoulder, and I was able to breathe in her sweet floral perfume. Noelle had her breasts pressed against my back when we rode together the previous night. Today, she was sitting with a distance of at least a few inches between us.
I
had made it very obvious to her that our little slice of paradise was quickly coming to an end.
Outside her apartment, I parked the bike, but I didn’t get off. Noelle hesitated before she jumped off the bike, tucking her clutch under her arm and walking around to the front to face me.
Her red cocktail dress was crumpled, her hair was ruffled and messy, and her makeup from the previous night was smudged and rubbed off. She still looked radiant, she was still the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. And I knew that sex with anyone else wasn’t going to be the same again.
“I guess this is it then?” she asked in a meek voice and looked over her shoulder at her apartment building. Noelle’s face was pinched tense, her blue eyes were narrow and small as she tried to avoid my gaze. It was breaking me to see her like this, to do this to her. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and stroke her hair and apologize for everything I was doing wrong.
“This is it,” I said instead, and I could see her studying my face.
“Can I expect you to call?” she asked and I clenched my jaw in response. I didn’t want to actually say the words, but she was staring at me with her eyes widened and hopeful.
“Tank, I have no idea what is going on. One minute we were in bed, happy to be with each other and within a few minutes everything changed. Now it feels like you’re forcefully pushing me out of your life,” she said, and I could hear the strain in her voice. I wished I could tell her the truth, but that would be a mistake. I had promised her that I would never do anything to hurt her and I’d be damned if I wasn’t going to keep that promise.
“Yeah, well, things have changed,” I said, trying to sound as distant as possible.
Noelle’s mouth fell open as she stared at me.
“How? What things changed and how did they change in a matter of minutes?” she asked and I could see her shoulders quaking from the tension in her bones. She was struggling to come to terms with it…I knew it had taken a lot of courage on her part to spend the night with a guy like me. I knew she was feeling for me, everything I was still feeling for her.
