Chasing Thunder (8 page)

The only surprise was that she had brought one of her kids with her to the bar. That was new. “Surprised you didn’t leave her with Rose.”

“There was a slight complication,” M.J. replied, as if a dead gangbanger was as inconvenient as a misplaced set of keys.

Snake, however, could easily read between the lines. “M.J.,” he groaned.

Her green eyes met his. “Can we crash with you? Just for a couple of days, while I figure out what to do with her.”

He sighed. He knew she wouldn’t ask if she had any other choice. And she never asked for help unless it was important. The girl sitting at his bar was in danger, and M.J. was willing to set aside her pride to help her. Snake looped two fingers through the belt loops on either side of her hips and drew M.J. toward him, fitting her right in between his powerful thighs. “When have you ever had to ask?”

“I don’t know. I just thought, maybe after last time . . .” She trailed off. Their turbulent history lay between them, as always.

“I guess you’ll just have to work really hard to make it up to me,” he said softly.

She happily responded with a kiss. He closed his arms around her waist, practically lifting her off the floor as he took immediate possession of her mouth. She melted against him with a soft moan.

When they rejoined Baby in the bar, she had already scarfed down half her bowl of chili. Jack, their resident playboy, had immediately filled the seat next to her to work on his A-game with the newest female. He realized his error as M.J. approached. “Back off, Jack. She’s underage.”

He held up his hands. He knew better than to pick a fight with the feisty redhead, who wasn’t called a “force of nature” for nothing. “No need to get testy.” He turned to Baby with a teasing pout. “You didn’t tell me you were underage.”

“You never gave me the chance,” Baby pointed out.

Snake laughed. “Now that’s a girl that speaks her mind. I like you already,” he told her with another wink. “Just give me about twenty to finish up a few things and then we can get out of here.”

Baby’s eyes widened. “Where are we going?”

Snake glanced between Baby and M.J. “Home,” he finally declared.

Baby opened her mouth, but no refusal was forthcoming. She couldn’t go back to the streets. She had had two brushes with disaster within the last twenty-four hours. She knew better than to press her luck with a third. And something told her she was completely safe with Snake. She wasn’t as sure about the redhead at his side, especially after seeing what she did to those scary men in the alley. M.J. was easily the most unpredictable woman Baby had ever met, which made her almost a threat by default.

But what choice did she have, really?

She finished her chili and crackers. She’d sucked down three sodas to fend off its five-alarm hot pepper, as well as her dry mouth from her earlier high. True to his word, Snake was ready to go shortly after. He shrugged on a jacket similar to the one M.J. had loaned her, and she followed them both on shaking legs to the parking lot. Without being told, she climbed aboard M.J.’s bike and waited.

Snake led the way on his chopper. Baby secured her loaner helmet, then clasped her arms around M.J.’s waist as the bike thundered to life underneath them. They eased out into traffic behind him.

As they raced along the tangle of the Los Angeles freeways, the air against Baby’s face slowly brought her to life again, mile by mile. She could feel her past fly away, like she was shedding her skin, leaving only the new person underneath. She didn’t know who Baby was yet, but as she clung tightly to her new benefactor, it was clear that she had some biker blood in her. Without question, her spirit was reborn on the ride.

They finally rumbled to a stop in front of a two-story Craftsman home in Pasadena. Though the house had been built in 1922, it had been lovingly preserved. The lawn was landscaped with bright flowers and lush, vibrant greenery. Regal palms towered overhead, and flowers were planted deep in earthy terra-cotta planters along the long porch and the driveway, where a brand-new truck sat. It boasted a company name on its side: SCOGGINS AUTOMOTIVE & MOTORCYCLE REPAIR. They maneuvered beside the truck toward the garage in back, where both riders parked their bikes.

Baby followed Snake and M.J. toward the back door of the darkened home. She was understandably nervous, especially since her new hosts were quiet as they entered the house. It seemed safe enough, but so had a mansion in the Hollywood Hills.

She cringed when she thought about it. She couldn’t help but wonder how Tammy and Billy had paid the price for her departure. The stress and the guilt made the spicy chili in her stomach clamor to make an encore appearance.

She shielded her eyes as Snake flipped on the bright lights in a spotless kitchen. The outer wall was dark red brick, but the cabinets and the surfaces were stark white. Snake stopped at the fridge to grab a couple of beers and a bottle of juice. He started to hand Baby a beer, but switched it last minute with a smile. She laughed. M.J. shook her head and gave a wry smile of her own as she accepted one of the beers. They all walked into the homey, darkened living room, which was complete with a brick fireplace in the corner.

The only source of illumination was a mounted flat-screen TV that took up most of one wall. Sitting in a gamer seat directly in front of it was a younger man who couldn’t have been more than eighteen. A gray knit cap tried to contain unruly dark hair that fell past the nape of his neck. He wore a black hoodie and well-worn jeans, and dirty black-and-white hi-top sneakers.

Unlike Snake’s rugged look with the beard and mustache, this younger man’s baby face was hairless and beautiful, masculine and feminine at the same time. He had a strong, square jaw, smooth skin, and lovely dark eyes framed by full, dark lashes. He peered out from behind black-rimmed glasses as he destroyed an alien scourge, totally absorbed in the action on the screen. He didn’t even turn his head to see who was in the room.

“And this party animal is my little brother, Logan, otherwise known as Kid, a master gamer and computer hacker extraordinaire,” said Snake. To his brother, who was still preoccupied with the game, he said, “We got
company, man.”

With a slight roll of his eyes, Kid paused his game to turn around. He couldn’t understand why Snake had interrupted his perfect game where he was racking up a killer high score. M.J. had been in and out of their house for years like a ninja. She was there for a while and gone for even longer, but even still she had been a mainstay in his life since he was four years old. It wasn’t like it was big news when she came around.

But then M.J. stepped out of the way and he spotted Baby. She was dirty and bruised, but she was still the prettiest girl he had ever seen, with her platinum hair and eyes so blue they looked just like the sky on a perfect, cloudless day.

For some reason he couldn’t explain, this stranger instantly reminded him of the day his mother died. He had taken his mom six flawless white roses, but one had fallen into the mud as they sat by her graveside that rainy winter morning. He had spent the entire ceremony both hating and loving that tiny rosebud as it grew dirtier and more ragged, wilting right before his eyes. It was both the most pitiful and most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he had been transfixed.

This girl reminded him of that rosebud. She was soft and perfect inside, but she wore her damages outside. They only made her more beautiful.

He quickly put his controller away to stand and greet her properly. He even took off his beanie and smoothed his hair as Snake made the introductions. “Kid, this is Baby.”

“Hey,” he greeted.

“Hey,” she responded with a shy smile.

Snake glanced at M.J. “One day, when they record this auspicious meeting, its lyrical poetry will be the envy of the civilized world.”

M.J. chuckled. She tapped Baby’s arm with her finger. “Come on. I’ll show you where you can clean up.”

Instantly Baby was reminded of cleaning herself for her last host. Her stomach dropped but she followed the strange redhead without argument. There were prices to be paid for kindnesses in this new world. Only God knew what she owed this woman for saving her life.

For what, exactly, had she been saved?

M.J. led her to a cheerful bedroom that was warm, traditional, and inviting, without one piece of art invoking the occult. The full-size bed was made of unfinished pine, and the beautiful handmade quilt lent a splash of color to the otherwise ordinary room, courtesy of its red, white, and blue star design. A healthy ivy sprawled from the tall chest of drawers in the corner. Pictures lined the top of the chest, lending the room a comfortable, domestic feel.

“Bathroom’s in there,” M.J. told her, referring to the white-tiled room adjacent to the bedroom. She pulled some clothes from the chest, including a large T-shirt and a pair of sweats. They would swallow Baby whole, but it was a hell of a lot better than the scrap of a dress she was wearing. She handed them to her guest. “Here. This will hold you over until we can get you some clothes that fit.”

Baby’s hands trembled when she took the clothes into her hands. “Thanks,” she muttered. With every gift she felt more indebted to the strange woman in front of her. Finally she just steeled her spine and said, “Look. I don’t know what you want from me. But no matter how I’m dressed, I’m no prostitute. If that’s what you want, maybe it’s just best I go.” She thrust the clothes back at M.J., who did her level best to bite back a smile.

“Well, I can’t deny that you’re really cute in a lost-puppy-on-the-doorstep kind of way. But rest assured. You’re not my type.” She pushed the clothes back toward Baby. “It’s a gift. No strings attached.”

“But why?” Baby found herself asking.

M.J. simply shrugged. “I heard you scratching. I let you in.”

With that, she turned on her heel and left Baby in peace.

3. FEEL LIKE MAKIN’ LOVE

S
nake had just taken off his shirt when she knocked on the door. He wore a smile as he opened it. “You knock now? How polite. Guess those etiquette classes are paying off.”

M.J. rolled her eyes as she walked past him into the hunter-green bedroom, which felt more like a sanctuary than anyplace she’d ever been. She leaned against his dresser and faced him. “She thinks I’m a lesbian.”

He chuckled as he approached her and took her into his arms. “She doesn’t know you like I do,” he murmured as he captured her lips for another scorching kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss the man she had loved for more than half her life. Aside from her grandfather, Cooper “Snake” Scoggins had been the only other man she had ever loved, period. Walking into his arms was like coming home.

For M.J. Bennett, this was both exhilarating and terrifying.

He lifted her up and sat her on the dresser, fitting himself neatly between her legs and clutching her closer, his hands cupping her shapely ass. It was like wrapping his arms around molten lava. She was hot and dangerous and doomed to consume him. But he lived to love her, though she was as hard to catch as a stray cat. She would come meowing at his door and he’d let her in. He’d fall into her arms and into their bed, offering his whole heart to her once again. Then she would disappear for months on end, and he’d never know if she was alive or dead.

At least not until she’d get an itch to scratch and turn up again, just like a bad habit. She couldn’t stay away and he couldn’t bear to send her away, even though he knew she’d never let them be together.

It would have killed a lesser man by now. Yet these stolen moments were the elixir for his soul. She tasted like aged whiskey in his mouth, and he was her hopeless addict. He had dated other women, of course, but none matched her intensity. He was the moth to her flame and they both knew it. That was what made her submitting to him even hotter. With her in his arms, he was a king.

He ripped her shirt from her body and they held each other, bare chest to bare chest. She made quick work of removing her bra, and he gasped, staring down at her. “You get more beautiful every time I see you,” he murmured against her neck as his hand dropped to cup her breast.

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” she teased, trailing a finger along his sculpted chest, down the trail of dark hair leading toward his jeans.

“Only the pretty ones,” he quipped. He easily lifted her into his arms and carried her to the bed. They fell together, with him positioned between her legs as they landed. She felt how hard and ready for her he was already, but he took his sweet time kissing her neck and that sensitive spot by her ear that made her swoon like a schoolgirl.

She thought she might lose her mind when his warm mouth captured the hardened peak of her breast. She clasped his hair in one hand as his tongue worked its magic on her body. With a growl, she pushed him onto his back and crawled down his torso, like a panther stalking its prey.

Her fingers danced over the denim-clad erection that strained for her. “This is what I like to see.” She grinned as she deftly released the button and slid her hand inside. He gasped when she cupped his hard cock through his cotton underwear. He knew the heaven that awaited him. She kissed her way down his body, teasing him with her breath and her tongue when she reached his lower abdomen. He lifted his hips so she could slide his jeans down, revealing his long, lean body to her. His thick, heavy cock sprang back from his stomach. He wound his fingers in her hair and guided her head down, and she rewarded him with the warmth of her mouth. Her lips surrounded the rigid shaft and slid as far down as she could go.