Protected (Divided Loyalties) (5 page)

As the motorcycle roared down the road, other engines started gunning to life and she knew they wouldn't be far behind them. She held tightly to his waist and crushed her face against his back to shield her eyes from the flying rocks and sand that the tires were kicking up. He spun off to the side, down a path he knew well, and just in time for the other bikes to drive past them. He continued down what was more of a dirt path than an actual road, and each bump and dip made her think they would end up in a fiery crash.

They rode for over an hour, getting as far from the Death Adder's main hideout as possible. Then finally, he had to stop for gas. He pulled into a gas station and she climbed off the back of the bike.

“Thank you,” she mumbled as he started to fill the tank. He glanced over at her, and saw the tension in her muscles.

“What, are you going to run?” he asked with a shake of his head. “That wasn't enough for you to trust me?”

“Well
, since you were the one who took me,” she pointed out.

“I took you because I had to, Alexa. I could have let them kill you right there on the spot, I took you because I needed to buy you some time. If you were dead, there was no way I could protect you. But if you want to go, go, please,” he shrugged. “I'm not holding you captive.”

She stared at him. “Why did you protect me?” she asked curiously.

“Because, Alexa,” he smiled faintly. “You and I aren't so different.”

She found that incredibly hard to believe, considering that he was a criminal and she was a cop, but she didn't point it out. Instead, she just gave him a slight nod and started to walk toward the nearest pay phone.

She put in a call to her partner, Matthew, who had been frantically searching for her since the night before. He had found her ID in the alley where Lou had flung it, after responding to reports of shots fired at the bar, and knew that something bad had happened to her.

“I need you to pick me up,” she said into the phone.

“From where?” he asked.

“I'm not really sure,” she said as she started to turn around to ask Nick. But the spot where Nick and his bike had been were now empty. She squinted at the sign for the gas station and told him the name of it.

“I'll be there in ten minutes,” he promised. “Stay safe.”

Alexa walked into the gas station, keeping in plain view of the video cameras. She had nothing. No purse, no ID, and no weapon. Even though she knew she shouldn't, she felt disappointed that Nick had left. He had saved her life, he had protected her from what could have happened, and all she had managed was a feeble thank you.

When Matthew arrived to pick her up, she told him the whole sordid story.

“I have no idea who this guy was,” she admitted as she described Nick to him. “Dark hair, green eyes, muscular, I've never seen him in any of the files on the
Death Adders, but he saved my life. And I'm pretty sure they're going to kill him for it.”

“He's still a
Death Adder,” Matthew reminded her tersely.

“I know, I know,” she sighed, recalling the way he had gazed into her eyes. “I just wish there was a way we could protect Nick
, he really risked everything to protect me.”

“Did you say Nick?” he asked with surprise, something about the description of the man and his name triggering a memory in the back of his mind.

“Yes, why?” she asked in return as he drove her home.

“Nick, I've heard that name, he's on our list,” he frowned as he made a phone call. His reference to 'our list' she knew meant that he was one of the few gang members they were not permitted to arrest or use lethal force on.

“Right, well it wasn't intentional, sorry sir,” he said after a few minutes of silence. “Right, we appreciate it sir, and we do apologize. Yes sir, I understand sir. Again, we apologize, sir.” By the time he hung up the phone he was red in the face. He looked over at Alexa with a heavy sigh.

“We've got ourselves a problem,” he rolled his eyes
, as if to say as usual.

“What is it?” Alexa asked
, as he pulled into her apartment complex.

“Nick was an inside man,” he said with a frown. “He's been undercover with the
Death Adders for almost a year, and he was close to taking down the entire gang. He blew his cover by getting you out of there, and now they've lost all that work. Plus, Nick has a bounty on his head, and so do you.”

Alexa stared at him. Nick was an undercover cop? That explained a few things to her, like why she had trusted him in the first place, why his behavior seemed to contradict what she felt from him. Why he had felt compelled to protect her.

“Oh,” she said quietly.

“Oh?” Matthew yelled. “You just caused a disaster all because you wanted to have a little fun
, Alexa?”

“How is this my fault?” she demanded. “I didn't know that Nick was one of them! I swear!”

“You didn't know he was one of them, because you didn't bother to get to know him at all, Alexa. You're reckless, and if Nick wasn't there to protect you, you would be dead.”

Alexa was silent. She had no way to defend herself. His words were true. As she left the car and headed for her apartment she felt her entire body crawling with repulsion.
She could still feel Paulie and Lou's hands on her, Randy's tongue on her breasts, it was enough to make her want to vomit
.
She hurried into her apartment and started the shower. She shed her clothes and tossed all but Nick's t-shirt into the hamper. She held onto his t-shirt. She wasn't sure why, but she wasn't ready to not have it next to her.

As she stepped into the shower and felt the hot water rushing over her naked body, she tried to wash away the entire experience. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw his green gaze staring back at her. She had been so cruel to him
, and the entire time they had been working on the same side. He had sacrificed everything to save her, and she had walked away from him like he was nothing more than a common criminal.

When she stepped out of the shower she tugged on his t-shirt. It felt good to have his scent around her. She remembered the warmth of his skin. She walked into her bedroom, and heard a knock at her front door. She reached for her extra gun which she always kept in the house. She crept toward the front door, worried it could be a
Death Adder. When she opened it, she found Nick staring at her.

He looked from the gun she brandished, to the thin white material of his t-shirt clinging to her damp skin.

She lowered the gun and set it on the table beside the door. He waited for a split second to be sure she would not close the door in his face, then reached out and grasped her cheeks gently. He kissed her slow and soft, from her bottom lip, to the top, before parting her lips with the slide of his tongue. She drank him in eagerly and they walked backwards so that she could close the door behind him. He pinned her back against the wall in the hallway, much as he had in the alley, and his fingertips roamed along her naked thighs.

“Are you okay?” he murmured when he finally broke the kiss. His eyes were hungry as they searched hers, but he knew that she had just been through a lot, and she might not want someone to be touching her.

However, she didn't seem to mind, as she pulled his lips back to hers and continued the kiss. She needed to feel something good, she needed to enjoy the sensation that was filling her from the tips of her toes to the ridges of her brows. She didn't want to think about the Death Adders or anything that had happened there. She just wanted to feel safe in his arms.

He held her close to him, as if he could tell that's what she needed most. His lips travelled from hers and down along the side of her neck, savoring every taste of her skin. She could tell that he was trying to make up for the way he had grasped her so roughly. But
, he had not hurt her. He had been so careful not to.

When he swept her up into his arms and carried her to her bed, she felt that intense thrill wash over her again. Neither of them spoke, as words might sully what they were feeling. It was more than a need for each other's bodies. It was a need that had ignited the moment they met eyes in the bar. It was a need to be near each other, in a spiritual sense.

She felt his hands travelling her body, between her thighs, over the slope of her stomach, to softly stroke over her nipples. He was careful with her breasts, knowing how harshly they had been treated earlier in the day. He gently peppered them with better memories, of his lips, of the soft push of his tongue.

She sighed as her fingers found his hair and swept through it, smoothing it back from his eyes, so that she could see him clearly.

He looked up at her, and the spark they had been feeling became a flame of knowing. This was not a romp in the sheets, but a dedication to one another, an expression of gratitude for finally finding each other.

When he slid his hand beneath her lower back and cradled her gingerly, she knew he was ready. She welcomed him, and the joining of their bodies was more intense than she had ever experienced. She felt as if she could feel every subtle nuance of him as he stroked inside of her, and her hands trailed down over his chest and arms. She knew what he had been through over the past year. She knew what those animals were like. And yet, they had not broken him. He was still willing to protect the innocent. She could not think of a more amazing testament to who he was than that.

As their bodies fell into a rhythm together, she could feel the sweat gathering along his skin, she knew that he was engaging himself fully, and filling her as he did. She moaned out her approval and he gasped for breath and control. But there was no need for holding back, and her bucking hips tried to communicate that to him. Soon, they were lost in that endless sensation of passion, that inspired their bodies to move and their voices to cry out without thought, without hesitation. His lips found hers and they locked one another in a heavy kiss as they crested the unbearable passion that flooded each of them.

He collapsed beside her, and she curled into his arms. No matter what had led her to him, no matter what horrible things had occurred, she was incredibly grateful to be wrapped up in his protective grasp and hoped she would continue to be. He kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and her lips gently. He kissed her as if he was afraid he might never get another chance to, and they lay together in her bed, for the entire day and night, demonstrating again and again their adoration for each other.

©
Copyright 2013 by Lilah Blake - All rights reserved.

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