Satin and Steel (8 page)

Dax jerked at the sudden, hot rush of blood to his groin. Without a word to Rhee, he turned on his heel and entered the small bathroom. He turned on the shower, and kicked the door half-closed. Stripping off the black sweats, socks, and tennis shoes, Dax stepped under the lukewarm spray, willing away his rock hard erection. There was no way in hell they were staying in this small room together. Dammit, he needed to get laid, and his old lady was out of town. Dax found that he didn’t quite trust himself not to let one of the
Phantom
stalkers outside relieve his tension. And he certainly couldn’t see himself spending any more time in Rhee’s company without some relief!

Swearing under his breath, Dax closed his eyes tightly and began counting backwards from one hundred. By forty-three, he was at half-mast. By one, he was flaccid enough to leave the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. Rhee hadn’t moved. In fact, she looked slightly glazed, like she was exhausted. Dax picked up his phone from the dresser; it was one in the morning. Time to be getting home. He grabbed his jeans and tee shirt. The bathroom was too small to change comfortably in there. He looked at the girl speculatively. She stared at him, a mixture of curiosity and fear in those emerald green eyes.

“Better turn your back, little girl. Unless you like what you see,” he warned playfully. His words had the unintended effect of making Rhee turn beet red. She hastily slapped both hands over her eyes, and turned away as though seeing him naked would turn her to stone. Dax chuckled. He turned to face the wall just in case, and dropped the towel. He was dressed in a minute, and ran his fingers through his hair a few times. Satisfied, he turned back to the girl, who still had her hands over her face.

“Are-are you done?”

“Roger that, honey. You can look now.”

Rhee slowly uncovered her eyes, as if she expected him to be stark naked. He smiled at her audible sigh of relief at finding him clothed.

“You’re sure different than the other girls that come around here,” he said, an amused grin on his face.

“Why? Because I’m not trying to jump your bones?” Rhee’s voice was sarcastic, but in fact she was wondering just how many women could boast that they had slept with Dax.
There must be hundreds!
He was gorgeous, and he seemed to operate according to some type of moral code, which made him come across as decent too.

Dax laughed. “See? You’re fresh, honey. Super fresh.”

Rhee wasn’t sure what that meant. She glanced at the man and then looked back at his bed. She swallowed hard, picturing herself sharing it with him. The room was so small. Dax, seeming to read her mind, cleared his throat.

“Ever been on the back of a bike?”

After a short discussion about her arm, Dax determined Rhee would be able to hold on to him just fine. He wasn’t planning to go fast, just to get them back to his place. He knelt to strap a helmet onto Rhee’s head, grinning at her obvious anxiety.

“Not to worry, stowaway. Just hold on tight, and you’ll be fine.”

Rhee took a long, deep breath, and wished for the umpteenth time that Hawk hadn’t needed the suburban tonight. She wasn’t nervous about being on the back of the bike, not really. No, her anxiety stemmed from the fact that she would have to willingly wrap her arms around Dax’s waist, and press herself into his back. Rhee swallowed hard.
I can do this.
I have to.

Dax’s bike took off with a rumble that elicited a shriek from his passenger. Rhee had placed her arms at his waist loosely as though she were afraid to touch him, but once they were moving he felt them tighten around him as her chest contracted. She was a tiny little thing, Dax mused;
such a little girl on such a big bike.
As they picked up speed, she turned her cheek and pressed it into his leather vest. After a few moments, he was pleased to hear a giggle, followed by a peal of laughter. He stepped on it, hearing her squeal, feeling her arms go even tighter as she molded her body into his.
Let’s go for a ride, little girl.

Rhee was having the time of her life. She hadn’t expected the ride to be so exhilarating. She laughed out loud, pressing closer to Dax unconsciously. It was a shock to feel the bike humming between her thighs. She became acutely aware of how it felt to have the hot steel vibrating into her tender parts, and of the position she was in: her knees wide and her pelvis jutting into Dax’s hard body.

By the time they reached his place, Rhee’s eyes were sparkling. Dax grinned at her as he parked and offered her his hand. She took it without hesitation, and without warning, she squeezed his large fingers into her small palm. He squeezed back, taking pleasure in her girlish delight. It had been a while since he’d had a rookie on his bike.

“That was amazing!”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were born to ride, Rhiannon.”

She flushed with pleasure at his compliment.

“When did you start riding?”

Dax’s eyes took on a faraway glint. “Too young. Much too young.” He shook his head as though he was recalling something unpleasant as he walked into the house.

Although Rhee tried to deny that she was tired, Dax could see the fatigue lining her face. He flipped on the television and cracked open a couple of beers. Rhee perched beside him stiffly at first, but then she relaxed into the crocheted blanket. At some point, he looked down and found his little stowaway fast asleep, her warm body pressing into his shoulder.
Must be getting to trust me, then.
Dax found that he was loath to get up. In fact, part of him wanted to explore the girl who was currently curled up innocently against him. Instead, he settled Rhee onto the couch and went to call Trish; nothing like a little phone sex to relieve some of his tension.

Chapter Seven

Over a week had passed and Rhee was getting impatient. Not to say that nothing had occurred, however. The police had completed their investigation, and Rhee’s roommates had been notified about the burglary. She had told them she was visiting family, and because she wasn’t too close to the other girls, they didn’t question her. Kate and Lisa had found another apartment across campus and Rhee was left hanging, but Dax assured her he would “work everything out.”

He seemed to be true to his word. In just a few days time, her driver’s license had been replaced, and Wince had secured her a new email address and a secure bank account. The savings account was icing on the cake. There was nothing in it; she had been cleaned out but there hadn’t been anything much in her student account to begin with. At least Rhee had a place to rest and recover, clothes to wear, and food to eat, and for that she was grateful.

Dax even offered her a little sedan to drive, but with her shoulder still nagging her, she was uncomfortable driving just yet. That was good, because if she had been mobile, Rhee definitely would have defied her tall, blond host. She would have been back in action, littering the town with flyers and searching for Mickey. As the days became a week, Rhee was growing more and more agitated.

Dammit, Mickey.
Where are you?

She was now familiar with the main crew since she had become a regular visitor to
The Phantoms
’ clubhouse. For the first time in a long time, Rhee was able to let her guard down, just a little. She began to trust the rowdy band of men, who ranged in age from their early twenties to their late fifties. The younger guys could get a bit flirtatious, but no one ever crossed the line. The older guys especially doted on Rhee, treating her with the same reverence a father might show his daughter. Tattoos and Harleys aside,
The Phantoms
sure didn’t seem like a bunch gun-toting hooligans once you got to know them.

Rhee paced nervously as she waited in Dax’s room at the clubhouse. It was late afternoon. He said he would be back after he met with a splinter club from a few towns north of the marina. Supposedly, it was Dizzy’s club,
The
Red Devils
. Dax had received word that a girl fitting Mickey’s description had been asking around about a fake id and passport so she could cross the border into Canada. Rhee seriously doubted the girl was Mickey. Why would she need a fake id? Plus, she had never expressed any interest in Canada.

I’m starting to get too into this lifestyle
, Rhee thought to herself as she cracked open a cold beer from the empty bar.
It’s not even 4:00pm!
The waiting was agony. There was less than a week left until the fall semester started, and Rhee had no idea what she was going to do then. She had yet to enroll in her classes.

Catching a glimpse of herself in the small bathroom mirror, Rhee was struck by how different she looked. In the borrowed clothes, she could almost pretend she was someone else. She seemed older somehow, with an air of confidence that she hadn’t known she possessed. Maybe a little of Dax was rubbing off on her. He certainly had quite the ego, and it was well founded. Rhee saw how the others respected Dax, and how he led them. She noticed how Hawk watched him too. It was clear that the older man was grooming Dax to step into his shoes if anything should happen to him.

Sick to death of movies, and bored nearly to tears, Rhee found herself outside in the empty yard. She busied herself by picking up some empty cans and bottles and throwing them in the bin. Absently, she tossed a couple of rusty horseshoes at the stake in the ground. Rhee was pleasantly surprised that her aim had not worsened over the years. She had played often with her real dad, before he had passed. Thoughts of her family brought more painful memories of loss and helplessness. She took a long swig, draining the beer in one draught.

“Hey, stowaway! Play me?”

Wince was such a nice guy, and smart too. Rhee had learned that he was a whiz with computers, but a hacking charge had gotten him kicked out of school. He had been a foster kid who had grown up in a harsh and oftentimes brutal system.
The Phantoms
had become the family he never had. Smiling, Rhee nodded.

“Let’s play for beers,” she said recklessly.

Wince hesitated. Rhee wasn’t Dax’s old lady, but his vice president seemed awfully protective of her. Still, she was an adult, and if she wanted to get her drink on in the middle of the day, who was he to stop her? Plus, the stowaway was drop dead gorgeous, with an intellect he admired. Wince decided he was lucky he was on babysitting duty today. He grinned and nodded at her.

“May the best man, or stowaway, win!”

It was odd, how he looked forward to getting back to her. Trish was due back in a few days and Dax couldn’t seem to muster the same level of enthusiasm about her return as he had developed about getting back to Rhee. He knew he would have to set the stowaway up in the clubhouse full time once Trish was back. His old lady was a little jealous, and now that Rhee was all fixed up, Trish might not be too happy to see how chummy he had become with his unexpected ward. She certainly wouldn’t be cool with the stowaway staying in the guest room.

Dax checked his bunk, and Rhee was not there. He headed out to back and stopped short as he opened the door. The most delicious gale of laughter traveled across the yard to meet his ears. Other than the giggle that night on his bike, Dax realized that he had never heard Rhee laugh. She didn’t smile often, and when she did, the gesture usually looked forced. He knew she was constantly worried and possibly depressed about her situation and her sister’s disappearance. Dax found himself cracking jokes often, trying to elicit that infrequent smile, but unlike her nearly constant blushes, getting Rhee to smile was challenging. Which was why he was taken aback at the scene in the yard.

Wince was twirling around like a demented ballerina and Rhee was laughing so hard she could hardly take a breath. Wince stumbled and fell to the ground and then he too, began to laugh uproariously. Dax stood staring at the two of them, wondering if they had gone mad or if they had gotten into the acid one of the groupies had left behind.

A startling anger built up in Dax’s gut as he saw how familiar Rhee acted with Wince. She didn’t seem afraid or intimidated by the younger man, as she so often did with Dax himself. She certainly never touched Dax willingly, and she shied away from any attempt to touch her, even if his only motivation was to help her get into the van. As he watched, the girl lurched towards Wince and fell against him, gasping for breath.

“You lose!” she managed, trying to regain her composure.

“Aww! That wasn’t fair and you know it!”

“I did ten, you only did nine! You drink!” Rhee thrust a bottle of beer at Wince, who swigged down a large gulp.

“What the fuck is this?” Dax’s voice was deadly quiet but it carried, and it got their attention.

Ooooh, shit!
Daddy’s home!
Rhee burst laughing again at the silly commentary in her head. For some reason, the sight of Dax’s stiff posture and angry visage seemed almost comical. Wince didn’t seem to agree, and he scrambled to his feet immediately, dusting himself off.

“Uh, Dax! Wasn’t expecting you back so soon! Er-hey, this wasn’t my idea,” he explained. Wince was drunk but he wasn’t dumb enough to misconstrue the rage underlying Dax’s tight smile.

“I’ll deal with you later,” he promised the grunt, who staggered back into the clubhouse shaking his head.

Rhee hadn’t moved. She sat grinning up at him from her cross-legged position on the ground.

“Explain yourself.”

“Excuse me?” she slurred.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I’m in trouble, now!
Dax’s jaw was tense, and his voice came out in a low hiss. He was obviously angry with her. Rhee wondered what she had done to piss him off for approximately three seconds before her own anger bubbled up. Oddly, it didn’t occur to her to be afraid of him. She was just mad, mad as hell at his controlling behavior.

“I
think
I’m playing horseshoes with my new friend Wince. Or at least, I was. Is that not allowed or something?” she glared at him.