Heart of Steel (Demon Riders MC Book 2) (10 page)

CHAPTER ONE

Elyse scrubs at her tear-stained face in the bathroom mirror. 
Get a grip, Powell. You’re the one who walked out.
  It was true; she was the one who had walked out of Dane’s place without so much as a word.  In her soul, she knows she had taken the easy way out; she could have confronted him about how she was feeling, but she’d been too chicken.  It wasn’t only a matter of courage—she knows that.  It was also a way of making her point, a way of telling him that she couldn’t be bossed around, that she would stand up for herself, and that she wouldn’t take orders from the man she was supposed to be in a relationship with.  He was her boyfriend, or at least something like that, not her boss. 

So now that you’ve walked out, what now?
  Her reflection stares at her accusingly.  She will have to figure that out tomorrow. Today had already been way too much of a long day for her to be able to think clearly anymore.

She pulls off her clothes, trying not to think about how only a few short hours ago Dane was the one pulling them off, and she dumps them unceremoniously into the washing basket, changing into her pajama camisole and shorts.  She turns the light off in the bathroom and jumps when—almost immediately—there’s a knock at the front door.  A beating would be a more appropriate way to put it really, rather than a knock.  It doesn’t stop, and Elyse already has a feeling that she knows who it is.  She takes a long swallow.  She’d thought that she would have at least tonight before he came looking for her.  Turns out she was wrong.

Jen appears in the hallway, wielding her straightening iron, eyes wide with panic.  “What are you doing?”  She looks at Elyse, hissing urgently, as if anything could be heard over the incessant pounding.

“I’m going to open the door.”  Elyse looks between her friend and the hair accessory she’s holding.  “What are
you
doing?”

“It was the first thing I picked up.”  Jen waves away Elyse’s amused expression.  “Now I’m thinking I should maybe invest in a baseball bat.”

“I’ll get you one for your birthday.  But don’t worry about it for tonight; you won’t be needing it.”  Elyse pauses just by the door, her hand on the lock ready to turn it.

“Why not?  Are you going to go all Karate Kid on their ass?”  Jen doesn’t even pretend not to be genuinely excited at this prospect.  “What if they have a gun?”

Elyse doesn’t think it would be wise to tell her blonde friend that the person on the other side of the door almost certainly does have a gun.  From the way Jen was clutching her makeshift weapon, Elyse didn’t think that it would do much for her confidence.

“It’s just Dane.”  Elyse makes a calming gesture to her friend.  “Go back to bed.”

Jen raises her eyebrows and shakes her head, holding her hand up to her heart. Elyse realizes that Jen had been more frightened than she was making out.  “Better let him in before he wakes up the whole neighborhood.”  Jen rolls her eyes, no doubt thinking about their nosy neighbors having a field day with a biker turning up at their door in the middle of the night and using his fist as a battering ram.

Elyse takes a deep breath, and only when she hears Jen pad quietly back into her bedroom does she open the door.  The expression on Dane’s face takes her breath away, and not in a good way.  His hand is raised mid-beat and, when he focuses on her, the intensity in his eyes tells her that he’s mad, really mad.

“You know we have a doorbell, right?”  Elyse tries to summon some of that sass that has served her so well in the past.  Dane doesn’t say anything, brushing past her to walk through the door.  “Come on in.”  She mutters the last sarcastically, under her breath.

“Don’t be cute, Elyse.”  He levels his index finger at her, as if he were a teacher telling off a naughty school kid.  “What the hell happened?”  He doesn’t even try to pretend that he’s not spitting mad.

“Dane, can we not do this right now?  It’s been a really long day—”

“And the night is going to be even longer if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on with you!”  He plants his hands on his hips, looking at her, clearly completely confused. 

“Hey!  Back off, pal!”  Jen’s voice startles them, and they both turn around to see her advancing towards Dane, matching his angry expression.

“Jen, it’s fine.”  Elyse tries to stop her friend from intervening, but it’s too late, telling Jen not to get involved is like asking water not to be wet.

“You can’t just wake up the whole damn neighborhood in the middle of the night, come waltzing in, and then start a fight with my best friend.”  Jen draws herself up to her full height, but Dane still towers over her—although she doesn’t give any sign that she’s the least bit intimidated.  “Haven’t you done enough damage?”

“Hold on a second there, counselor.  This isn’t really any of your business.”  Dane makes a calming motion with his arms, but that just seems to fire Jen up even more.

She starts to poke him in his broad chest.  “No, I will not hold on!  I’m the one that has to pick up the pieces after you go and break her heart!  I’m the one that has to watch her mope around the house like a lost puppy without being able to do anything about it.  I’m the one that has to gain five pounds while we go through the pizza and ice cream breakup faze together!  So don’t you dare tell me that this isn’t my business.”  Jen pokes him again for good measure, and Dane takes a step back.  Elyse just watches the scene play out, shocked and not a little bit amused.

“Alright, alright, enough with the poking!”  Dane holds up his hands in surrender.  Jen looks proud of herself.  “I’m not here to hurt Elyse; I’m not here to break her heart; I’m here because she walked out without so much as a goodbye, and I want to know why.”  Dane holds Jen’s eyes and watches as her shoulders relax a touch.  “I’m here because I care about her.”

Jen seems to consider this, giving Dane the look that Elyse likes to refer to as her ‘lawyer look.’  It’s the one she uses to size people up and to gauge whether or not they’re telling the truth.  Elyse had no doubt that she would use it to become a kickass attorney.  When Jen is satisfied with what Dane is telling her, she turns to Elyse, giving her the same once over.  “Is what he’s saying true?”

Elyse tries not to wilt under the judgment in Jen’s eyes and lifts her chin, a posture that her friend no doubt recognizes as her digging her heels in. 

“Fine, whatever!”  Jen throws her hands up in resignation.  “From what I can tell, the two of you deserve each other.  Just do me a favor and try to keep it down.”  She shakes her head at them both, as she heads back to her bedroom, closing the door behind her.

“What the hell is up with girls poking me recently?  First Suzi, now Jen.”  Dane rubs his chest absently where Jen has no doubt left a mark.

Elyse sighs deeply, turning to face him again.  “Maybe it’s a sign that you need to work on your attitude.”  She gives him a pointed look.

“
My
attitude?  I’m not the one who disappeared in the middle of the night.  Do you know that I was worried about you?” He looks at her accusatorily, taking a deep breath and lowering his voice, no doubt remembering Jen’s request about the noise.  “Did you even think about that?” 

Elyse winces at his words.  The truth was that she hadn’t thought about that at all.  “I’m guessing you figured out pretty quickly that there wasn’t any foul play.”  She sasses him to cover the fact that she’s actually a little ashamed of herself.

“When I saw your car was gone, I figured that this is where you’d be.”  Dane shakes his head and paces around their tiny family room.  “What I still haven’t been able to figure out is why.”  He turns and looks at her expectantly, asking the question that Elyse had hoped she’d have a little more time to prepare for.

“Dane, I really don’t want to talk about this now. Please.”  She looks at him pleadingly, and Dane seems to take in the sight of her for the first time since he’d arrived.  He sees her eyes, still red from crying, and the defeated slump of her shoulders.

“You’re the one who always wants to talk things through, Elyse.  After everything that’s happened these past few days, I think I have a right to know.  I think I’ve proven how much I care about you, so I’m here. Let’s talk.”  He motions for her to take a seat on the overstuffed couch as if they were in his house not vice versa.

For a few seconds she remains standing, not wanting to have this conversation, but she can tell from the expression on Dane’s face that there’s no way he’s letting her get out of it.  So, dutifully, she sits.  Dane makes a small, satisfied sound and then resumes his pacing.

“What happened to make you come running back here?”  He shakes his head, like he can’t get his brain around what the reason could possibly be.

“You really have no idea?”  Elyse knew that men were clueless about a lot of things, but she’d assumed that there was some level of common sense at work.

Dane sighs deeply.  “I’m not a complete idiot, Elyse.  You were angry that I told you that I didn’t want you involved in this whole Lance mess. It wasn’t exactly hard to tell that you were pissed.  But being pissed at me and walking out without a word are two different things, at least in my book.  I figured you, of all people, would get that.”

Elyse opens her mouth to correct him and then closes it again.  It was clear that he wasn’t just talking about them. Dane was thinking about his dad who left them saying he was going out for a pack of smokes and then just never came back.  He was thinking about her father, who hadn’t even bothered to stick around for her birth.  Elyse bites her lip, berating herself in her own mind. 
Nice one, Powell
.  She’d done the one thing that Dane was terrified of—she’d walked away without any kind of an explanation.  He was right; she should have known better.

“I’m sorry.”  Her words seem a little feeble.  “I didn’t think.”  That was the truth of it.  She hadn’t really thought about what she was doing; she’d just acted on her emotions. It was something that Jen had always encouraged her to do, but probably not with this specific circumstance in mind.

“I still haven’t finished working on your car.  It needs an oil change before it just stops dead on you in the middle of the road.  You could have been stranded in the middle of freakin’ nowhere at God knows what time of night!”  He’s angry, but not like the night before when he had torn up his studio.  This was more frustration born out of fear for her safety, and it made her feel like she’d been an even bigger idiot than before.

“I’m sorry.”  She repeats the words, looking at her bare feet and chewing on her lip as she takes on board what he’s told her.  She really had been thoughtless; she hadn’t thought at all.

“We’ll tow it back into the garage tomorrow; it’ll need to get the all clear before I let you drive it again.”  Dane lets out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing a little as some of the tension drains out of his body.  He gets closer to her, standing over her and leaning down.  Her heart picks up the pace, the way that it always does when he’s anywhere near her.

“I can’t read your mind, ‘Lyse.”  His words are quiet, as he leans down towards her, closing the distance between them, and kisses her on the lips.  She opens her mouth willingly to him, and his tongue delves in deeper, probing and exploring her, tasting her.  Elyse feels need pool between her thighs, and she deepens the kiss, wrapping her hands around his neck. Dane grabs her ass and pulls her up so that she’s standing, plastered against him, and left in no doubt that he’s as turned on as she is. 

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