Savage: Iron Dragons MC (3 page)

Keith simply nodded at her, trying to feign disinterest in everything about her. He was surprised to realize that it actually required some effort.

“I just got a call,” Kristina said.

“I heard.”

“It was from someone named Anton Kovic,” Kristina said with distaste. 

Keith looked up abruptly, his attention successfully stolen. “What did he say?” he hissed.

“He wanted me to tell you and Miles that he planned on… liquidating assets for the Dragons…”

A whir of thoughts rolled around in Keith’s head. He wanted to do so many things in that moment that he had to stop to think about which one would best protect the Dragons. “Thanks for letting me know,” he said distractedly, realizing that Kristina was still standing there.

She nodded, but for some reason she didn’t take the moment to leave. Instead, she stood there as though she still had something more to tell him. 

“Are you supposed to be working today?” Keith asked.

“No, it’s my day off,” Kristina replied. “I just… never got home after last night.”

There was no accusation in her voice; she was simply stating a fact and that boded well for Keith. He nodded once and turned back to the bike in front of him. He stared at it as though he was examining it, but he couldn’t care less at that moment. He had plans to make.

“Umm…. Sorry, I don’t mean to bug you…” Kristina’s voice was cautious and somehow that irritated Keith. “But is it possible to get a lift home?”

He knew she was a college student and she didn’t live far off, but somehow he begrudged her the ride. He didn’t want to know more about her than he already did. He didn’t want to know where she lived or who her friends were. All those little details started adding up after a while, and then the person in question stopped being a stranger and indifference turned to emotion. He didn’t have room in his life for that anymore.

“You live on campus?” he asked, trying to hide his irritation. 

“It’s probably a fifteen minute ride from here,” Kristina said. 

“With me, it’ll be five,” Keith said, as he moved past her quickly. “Come on.”

She looked impressed by his motorcycle, and Keith enjoyed her admiration. He gestured for her to get behind him, and she obeyed him readily. Her hands enclosed around his waist and the pressure was strangely comforting. He felt the urge to show off a little, and he revved his engine for her benefit. He felt her jerk a little at the sound, but her arms remained fastened tightly around him.

“She’s a beauty,” Kristina commented sincerely.

“She is,” Keith said and nodded as he started to drive.

They sped through the streets that were still silent with sleep. The wind burst against his face, and Keith knew that Kristina would be experiencing the same sensation. He realized suddenly that he knew her name; he had been using it unconsciously in his head the whole time. He couldn’t remember the last time he had remembered the name of one of the women he had slept with. His hands tightened on his bike handles, and he wished immediately that he had done the smart thing and left her by the roadside.

Kristina

The wind felt amazing against her pale skin, and Kristina was disappointed when Keith came to a stop outside her dorm building. It really had felt like five minutes instead of fifteen.

“This it?” he asked gruffly.

“Yes, this is it,” Kristina said and nodded, as she dismounted his bike and turned to face him. “Thanks for that. I would have been stuck walking in these heels if it weren’t for you.”

He shrugged carelessly and revved his engine to indicate that he was ready to leave. Instead of being bothered by his abruptness, Kristina found that she was amused by it. She smiled brightly at him and nodded again. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Keith said.

“I do work where you play,” Kristina pointed out.

“It’s not a game,” Keith said harshly, and Kristina flinched back slightly at his tone.

“I didn’t think it was,” Kristina said casually, as though she had not noticed his severity. She reminded herself that he wasn’t from the same world to which she was accustomed. He was raw and wild, and he had seen a side of life that she had only ever seen in movies. What she thought was an innocent motorcycle gang was probably just a front for something far worse.

“Goodbye,” Kristina said quickly. “And thanks again.”

He didn’t respond. He simply revved his engine again and took off without a backward glance. Kristina stood there and watched him go until she couldn’t see him any longer. Her thoughts were chaotic, but she let them roam free. Once he had completely disappeared from view, she turned around and walked towards her dorm building. Her floor was still as night, a telltale sign that some serious partying had gone down on this side of town as well.

Kristina slipped into her dorm room and threw off her shoes immediately, taking care not to wake Marie, who was hidden from sight underneath her covers. Kristina managed to change into something comfortable and get into bed without waking Marie, but then she reached for the book on her bedside table and knocked the alarm clock to the floor.

Marie bolted upright, as though someone had kicked her. Her grey eyes were still heavy with sleep and her dark hair was tousled at the bottom and flat at the top. “I’m so sorry,” Kristina said suppressing a laugh. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“Where the fuck have you been?” Marie demanded, as she started to wake up. “I was worried.”

“Why?” Kristina asked in surprise. “I’ve spent the night out before.”

“Not in a garage that doubles as a drug cartel,” Marie said.

“It doesn’t,” Kristina said immediately, unsure why she was defending her new employers. She didn’t have any proof either way, for all she knew, that was exactly what they were doing.

“
Please
,” Marie said, rolling her eyes. “There’s some shady business going on at Lee and Seton and you know it. It’s been mentioned a couple of times on the local news, too.”

“Really?” Kristina asked sitting upright. “Why was it mentioned?”

“Apparently the biker gang that uses the auto shop as their headquarters had ties to some crime rings along the border.”

“What kind of crime?” Kristina asked.

“Nothing specific was mentioned,” Marie replied. “And to be honest I wasn’t paying much attention. Though if I’d known my best friend would put herself in the lion’s den, I certainly would have.”

“You’re being dramatic,” Kristina said, rolling her eyes at Marie. “It’s hardly a lion’s den. I sit at a desk and answer phones. My boss is soft spoken and respectful, and if he happens to run a motorcycle gang on the side… well, that’s his business.”

“Does this free-wheeling change you’re going through have anything to do with graduation?” Marie asked shrewdly.

Kristina shrugged, without bothering to deny it. “Maybe,” she said shortly.

“Can you explain to me why taking this particular job was so important to you?” Marie asked, turning towards Kristina and sitting upright with her legs crossed.

“It’s not like it’s hugely important,” Kristina tried to explain. “It’s just that… it’s a new experience. The people who come through the auto shop... they're so different from me. They live in a different world and something about that is interesting to me.  That kind of exposure might help me.”

“Help you?” Marie asked with raised eyebrows. “Since when has mixing with dangerous people qualified as exposure?”

Kristina sighed. “I just feel like… my life up until now has been so… sheltered, everything about me is beige… for once I want to fill my life with color.”

Marie shook her head. “You sound ridiculous.”

“No, I’m being serious,” Kristina said. “It feels somehow as though I’ve missed out, and I don’t even know what I’ve missed, but I can’t shake the feeling. Taking this job and going to the party last night, it made me feel as though I was taking control, doing something different, something I wouldn’t normally do.”

Marie looked at her carefully. “Who was the guy?” she asked calmly.

Kristina smiled. “You’re too smart for your own good, you know.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why you were out the whole of last night,” Marie said.

“His name is Keith,” Kristina said. “And I doubt we’ll have much to do with each other after last night.”

“You sound disappointed by that,” Marie said pointedly.

“I’m not,” Kristina replied a little too quickly.

“Kristina,” Marie coaxed. “It’s me… I’ve known you for four years now.”

Kristina sighed. “It’s not that I want a relationship or anything,” she hastened to clarify. “It’s just that… there’s something about this guy.”

“Does he work at the auto shop?” Marie asked with interest.

Kristina hesitated momentarily. “Well… actually…he’s one of the bikers. He’s the Vice President of the Iron Dragons.”

“Are you serious?” Marie asked as her voice raised a couple of octaves.

“Yup.”

“You’re dating a
biker
?”

“I slept with a biker,” Kristina clarified quickly. “I’m not dating him.”

“Is…. that a mutual decision?” Marie asked slowly.

Kristina felt herself bristle indignantly, but she kept her face straight when she replied. “Of course it is. I have no desire to have a relationship with the man. He just wanted sex last night—and so did I.”

“So did I?” Marie repeated. “Since when have you ever been into casual sex… with a stranger no less?"

“I get why people do it,” Kristina said. “It’s freeing, and there’s this sense of… I don’t know how to describe it… it’s like you don’t have to worry about anything, including the guy you’re with. You’re just there in that moment, and you have the freedom to be as uninhibited as you want because you’re never going to have anything to do with the person ever again.”

She sounded convincing even to herself, but Kristina knew that her show of romantic indifference towards Keith was completely put on. She had every desire to see him again and every desire to talk to him again. In that moment, it had been all about the reckless abandon of sex, but now her curiosity had been piqued and she wanted to know more about him.

“I don’t know,” Marie said doubtfully. “I feel like… sex is always better when there is a relationship there. It just creates another level of intimacy, one you will never be able to have with a stranger.”

“You’re such a traditionalist,” Kristina joked.

“If he’s one of the bikers though… won’t you have to see him at work?” Marie asked.

“Well, yes… but it’s not like there’s any pressure for us to talk or be friends. If I see him, I see him, and if I don’t, I don’t.”

“I’m going to be honest. This new mind set of yours is a little jarring to me,” Marie said, as she shook her head in Kristina’s direction.

“Why?”

“Because it’s so
unlike
you,” Marie said forcefully. “You’re just not that girl.”

“I know,” Kristina nodded. “Which is why I have to do it. I’m sick of being ‘that girl.’ I want to be wild for a change. I want to be reckless and crazy and young and thoughtless. I just want to feel like I’m living my life… at least before we graduate and the real world calls.”

“Just because you’re not doing a bunch of crazy stuff does not mean you’re not living,” Marie pointed out.

“I know,” Kristina nodded. “I’m just talking about myself… this is what feels right to me. I don’t regret last night at all. In fact, it might have been something of a sexual awakening for me.”

Marie smiled pointedly at her. “Was he that good?”

“You should see him,” Kristina said. “He’s gorgeous.”

“Describe him to me,” Marie said immediately with keen interest.

“Firstly, he’s tall,” Kristina began. “It seems as though he’s made of six feet of hard muscle and abs. His eyes are blue, but they’re incredibly light, and they’ve got this electricity running through them. And he’s blonde, but more strawberry than blond. He’s got tattoos, too. They cover his arms and chest, and I could barely make sense of all of them.”

“Plus, you were a little distracted,” Marie teased.

“I
was
a little distracted,” Kristina agreed.

Slowly, the smile on Marie’s face began to fade, and Kristina knew what was coming before Marie opened her mouth. “You’re not going to see him again, right?”

Kristina hesitated only for a second. “No.”

“What if he approaches you?” Marie asked. “What if he pushes you up against a wall and pulls up your skirt? Would you fight him?”

Kristina knew where Marie was going with this. She made eye contact and answered without blinking. “I would,” Kristina said confidently.

“Liar.”

Kristina looked down. “What do you want me to say?”

“The truth,” Marie insisted. “Because as far as I can see… it seems this guy has done a number on you.”

“You’re reading too much into this,” Kristina said. “He’s just a guy I had sex with, that’s it. And even if I were to have sex with him again, it still wouldn’t mean a thing.”

Marie’s expression didn’t change at all. “Under normal circumstances, I would agree completely. You’re young and hot, and if you want to have a bunch of one-night stands, that’s your prerogative. I would actually encourage it, just not in this case.”

“Why?” Kristina demanded. “Because he’s got tattoos?”

Marie rolled her eyes. “In case you’ve forgotten,
I’ve
got tattoos, too. This has nothing to do with those tattoos; it’s about what they represent.”

“You don’t like that he’s in a gang,” Kristina said.

“For good reason,” Marie said in frustration, as though she couldn’t understand why Kristina was being so difficult. “This is not some innocent teenage gang… this is serious stuff, Kristie. These are men who are involved in some pretty serious shit. Do you really want to put yourself in the middle of it?”

“I just work there,” Kristina said. Unbidden, the man who had called the auto shop that morning jumped into her head, and she wondered if she was just being naive to believe that. “I’m not going to be in the middle of anything. I’m just going there so that I can put a dent on my student loans.”

“That’s not the only reason and you know it,” Marie pointed out. “You just got through telling me that you wanted to make your life more dangerous.”