STAG: MC ROMANCE (Forsaken Riders MC Romance Book 7) (10 page)

10

Awakening with a start, Jessa realized Shane was awake as well. It had been his slight movement that woke her. She was still tired but knew it was just as well she had awakened. She knew what they had to do. She had known all along. She whispered for him to get up and grab his bag. She made the signal for silence and he complied without question. He could feel that something was disturbing his mother, so he just did as he was told in silence. The stealthy communication had become second nature in this new world of survival. It was not the first time that they had had to leave quickly and without detection.

They left the house with practiced efficiency, leaving Michael asleep in an adjacent room where he had apparently crashed to sleep off his own spent passion. Jessa was thankful that Shane had not seen him as they left. They moved north, changing course and making sure to leave no marks behind to be tracked. She settled back into the woods, moving quickly, her son walking deftly beside her. He was beginning to show signs that he would become a natural woodsman, she noted absently. She wanted to put as much distance between them and Michael as she could. She was convinced that having him in her life meant nothing but trouble. He was trouble for her at least. Her body ached with every step she took and her insides were sore and raw. It was a pleasurable pain though, and the barest hint of a smile played on her face as the pair walked into the rising sun.

***

Michael slept better than he had in years, feeling pleasurably dead to the world. His mind had stopped racing as he had just lain there, totally sated. He awoke on the short sofa, he legs sticking almost a foot off the edge. He could not help but smile at the prior night’s events. He had one of those smiles that could be felt from one side of the face all the way to the other. Stretching, Michael’s first instinct was to check on her. He just wanted to see her, maybe just to affirm that the night had really happened, but he thought against it.

He remained in bed for almost another hour and still had not heard the slightest sound from the shuttered bedroom. After he had changed his clothes, which he still wore from the day before, he washed his face and even started a small fire outside for breakfast. He found it hard to imagine, him cooking breakfast like he was the woman in the relationship. He didn’t care though. If playing the female role got him sex like that, he would do any little chore needed to make her happy. Hell, he’d put on a dress too if that’s what it took.

Unable to wait anymore, Michael nudged the bedroom door open quietly. He could not believe that the kid, at least, hadn’t gotten up yet. He fondly remembered his own always being the first one up in the house. He knew that door had not budged since he had been up because his eyes were never far from it. You always have to be ready in this world. As he opened it, he realized with a start, that they were gone. Unable to believe his eyes, he hurriedly checked the rest of the small house. He scanned the immediate perimeter as well, calling their names.

Looking around he quickly surmised that all of their stuff was gone as well. She had taken it all with her, which meant that wherever she went, she did not plan on returning. Michael cursed and smashed his fist into the wall. Here he was sleeping like a baby from the best night of his life thinking he had finally found a woman…and not just any woman, but a woman he could really have feelings for, and she had up and left him in the night. Just his luck to lose her before they even got started. He knew he shouldn’t have come on so strong, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Fuck. He had blown it again.

After a moment of malaise, he realized she couldn’t be that far ahead, traveling with a child on foot. She couldn’t have left before the sun came up, could she? He didn’t know, but he knew that he had to find her. He had to find her again, he corrected himself with a shake of his head. He knew she liked him. It was obvious. He just had to get to see that they could be a good thing for each other.

Michael’s mind set, he packed up quickly and picked up the tortillas his domestic smitten ass had actually made for the woman and her son. He had planned on a sort of breakfast in bed, and maybe impressing her with his thoughtfulness. They were simply ground corn and water, but still. He couldn’t believe his own naivety and cursed himself for letting his guard down, as well as for being such a sucker. His agitation made his steps quicker, though it wasn’t long before he realized that there was no trail to follow. This woman had once again surprised him. Although he would have appreciated a nice clear set of tracks and signs to follow, he also had to admit that he found her growing list of survival skills to be pretty impressive.

He continued east, the way she had been going before he had pounced on her like a wild cat. He walked faster than she could, even running for short bursts, but still not a trace of her could be found with even his trained eye. If he didn’t have a few scratches on his chest, he may have thought the whole night had been just a really good dream. After a day of chasing her, he wondered if he was chasing a ghost. Maybe she was just a nymph that crossed his path one night because the Gods had smiled on him. Sometimes anything felt possible in this strange abandoned land.

***

Jessa had no misconception of what had happened between them. She blamed it on pure hormones. Michael had fit the description of her desire and he had caught her at a moment of weakness. She kept telling herself that version of the narrative as she walked, one foot in front of the other. Each step reminded her of the man with the sea-blue eyes, but she tried to push him from her mind. She couldn’t be distracted and he was most definitely a distraction with a capital D.

There was something more to her running off from him though. He had touched a part of her that she had not felt in a long time and she was not sure that she wanted to feel again. She had to keep her walls up. Every time Jessa got close to someone in the world, something bad happened. She couldn’t lose anyone else. In an effort to escape all that pain, she had convinced herself that if she just got to the coast and maybe found an island somewhere everything would be okay. That was what kept her going.

Besides, Michael had his own mission, and he had plans to go in exactly the opposite direction from where she wanted to go in order to fulfill it. While her mind hoped that she didn’t see him again, she knew that her body would ignore her if he so much as appeared around the corner. She couldn’t afford to be thinking about this now, she decided. She had to get them to safety. With that thought, she grabbed her son’s hand more tightly as they walked along yet another road. Leaning into the strengthening breeze from the coast, she quickened their pace just a little bit more. They would find their island. She was sure of it.

The End

Book 2 in the series is available now

Samantha Leal

Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Thank you so much for your interest in my work

Table of Contents

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2.

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4.

5.

6.

7.

1.

Lizzie looked out across the sand and waves. It was heading towards dusk and she had been down there all afternoon, lying on her old battered rug and reading. She had at least two more books to get through before the end of the week and she was starting to feel the pressure… Was there any way she would be able to read and analyze them
all
before the deadline?

When she went to college, she had imagined amazing parties and dates with really hot guys, but instead she had found herself locked up in her room as soon as she returned from class, and the only date she’d been on was with a German exchange student who tried to discuss his long list of bizarre fetishes with her over their introduction dinner. She hadn’t gone out with him again…but he had tried to persuade her, even offering to take her to a live sex show and introduce her to “the dark side,” as he put it.

“I have so much to do,” she’d told him, secretly annoyed with herself for being such a prude. “But if I have some spare time next week, I’ll call you and we can get together.”

She had never called him back… and her schedule never got any less hectic. She was approaching finals and was swamped. Choosing to major in English Literature had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but now she was drowning under the never-ending pile of work and every time she looked at the page and tried to read, the words all seemed to blur into one.

That morning when woke up and heard the pounding of music filtering through from another dorm room, she decided it was time to hit the beach and find some tranquility. She couldn’t stay there, in the dark box room that she had called home for nearly a year, and concentrate. She needed a change of scenery, some fresh air and some inspiration. She pulled on a pair of denim shorts and a white t-shirt and grabbed her bag. She couldn’t wait to get out of there and breathe. She’d felt suffocated for the past week and even though she had been so busy cramming and barely had time to eat, she knew she couldn’t keep the pace up any longer.

She got to the beach just after noon and had spent nearly seven hours there. She stopped at least once every hour to look out at the surfers and past them to the horizon. The water was choppy and a deep blue, and she wished she could have stripped down to her underwear and run into it to cleanse herself from everything that was weighing her down. It had been a long time since she’d felt liberated, but she knew that day she was going to stay under her cloud. She had watched people come and go all day, every single of them relaxing and there she was, trying to work… None of it seemed right and as she lay down her copy of Ted Hughes’
Birthday Letters
and picked up her purse, she finally decided that enough was enough.

The sky was tinged pink, and it cast its glow across the waves. The evening surfers were bobbing up and down, waiting for their moment. She held her hand up to her eyes and squinted into the distance, hoping to catch them one last time before she headed back to her car. They all began to paddle and their boards slowly lifted behind them. Lizzie smiled as she watched them get to their feet and ride before falling into the frothy white crash as the wave broke against the shoreline.

“Until next time,” she said to herself aloud, but the wind was so rough she barely even heard it herself. She turned and walked back to the boardwalk and made her way across to the parking lot in bare feet. When she got to her car, she opened the door and sat on the front seat, her legs dangling outside as she shook off the sand.

She had always loved the beach, and she was glad she had taken a day out to try and reconnect and clear her mind. Not that it had helped much. It wasn’t just finals and lack of a male interest that was getting to her. Recently she also had to experience her parents’ divorce, and the whole thing had left her emotionally scarred.

She looked out to the ocean again and tried not to remember how she had learned of her father’s infidelity. Of how she had to tell her mother everything and play mediator between them both as their lives all slowly fell apart. When the time came for her to leave for college, she couldn’t have been happier to get away. She desperately needed a fresh start. But so far all she seemed to have acquired was more stress.

She closed the driver’s side door and started the engine. A flock of seagulls swooped overhead and made their way out over the ocean. For the first time she felt the chill of the night air coming in.

Get yourself home, she thought. Time for bed and some more reading.

Realizing how pathetic that sounded, she rolled her eyes. God, did she need some excitement.

2.

As Lizzie walked up the stairs to her dorm, she could hear the familiar woops and cheers of her neighbors. It was Friday and that meant there would be parties raging in every corner of campus. She lowered her head and opened the front door to the building. Inside the corridors was thankfully quiet, but leaflets and posters exploded over everything, advertising the weekend fun. She went to her mail box and unlocked it. There was, as usual, nothing inside. She had stopped hoping from news from home. She no longer wanted to hear about how miserable her mother was, and she had absolutely no desire to know what her father was up to with his new woman. The whole thing had been enough to make her never want to trust a man again. As she began to drag herself up the stairs, she sighed with relief at knowing at least she didn’t have to worry that someone out there was cheating on her.

As she approached the door to her room, she heard the clicking of heels coming up behind her. She hurried to get her key in her lock before anyone tried to start a conversation with her, but she was too late. Hands slammed down over her eyes, and the girl giggled.

“Where the hell have you been all day?” she asked playfully, “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Rachel, Lizzie’s best friend, dropped her hands so Lizzie could turn to face her.

“I was studying,” she said defiantly. “If you hadn’t noticed, we’ve got finals coming up.”

“Yawn… Who cares?” Rachel said jokingly. “You look worn out.”

Lizzie managed to unlock her door and stepped inside, checking herself out in the mirror as she entered.

“I was up early. I’m getting stressed out from all this.”

“Well, then, that’s the perfect excuse,” Rachel smiled and raised her eyebrows as she sat down on Lizzie’s desk chair.

“Perfect excuse for what?” Lizzie bent over and turned on her lamp before flopping down on the bed and rubbing her eyes.

“Tonight,” Rachel said with excitement. “Fuck all these parties that are happening here… I’ve got us somewhere really awesome to go.”

“Huh?” Lizzie said leaning up on her elbows. “I hope it involves guaranteeing me an A on all of my assignments. Otherwise count me out.” She rolled back down and breathed out. She could see the stack of books in front of her and felt a chill prickle her skin. “Ugh, so much to do.” She picked up her pillow and covered her face before screaming into it and laughing.

“You’re so boring,” Rachel said as she pulled the pillow away. “You’ve spent most of your weekends here being little Miss Goody Two Shoes, studying every chance you get. Who cares if you don’t get perfect grades for once, just let your hair down and let’s go and have some fun.”

“I can’t…” Lizzie said. “You know what I’m like.”

“I do,” Rachel smiled. “And that’s exactly why I’m not taking no for an answer.” She got to her feet and bounced over to Lizzie’s closet. She flung open the doors and began to leaf through the hangers and outfits.

“No,” she moved along to the next dress. “No… no….”

Lizzie rolled her eyes and checked her cell phone. As usual, she didn’t have any messages or missed calls.

“Ugh, definitely not….” Rachel said as she lifted out a dress that Lizzie didn’t even know she still had. She had vague memories of her mother forcing her to wear it when she was younger, and it was still as hideous as she remembered.

“Hmm, this is okay…” Rachel stopped on a tight little black dress that had a plunging neck line. “In fact, this is perfect.” She pulled it from the closet, closed the doors and hung it on the front as she grinned from ear to ear.

“Okay Miss,” she said, “Get up off your butt and get showered, we have somewhere to be.”

Lizzie looked up at her friend and smiled. “Where are you forcing me to go?”

“I’m totally not telling you until we are on the way… I’m not having you bail on me.”

“Oh, great,” Lizzie said as she reluctantly got to her feet. “So you’re dragging me out of my room, making me fail the entire semester and for what? I don’t even get to know?”

“You will get to know… when we get there!” Rachel winked as she grabbed hold of Lizzie by the shoulders and pushed her towards the bathroom. “Now shower!”

Lizzie saluted her as if to say ‘yes ma’am’ and then closed the bathroom door just enough to have privacy but still shout through to Rachel. She turned on the shower and the room steamed up quickly. She stripped and looked at herself in the mirror. Her body had always been one of her biggest enemies, but lately she was finally starting to feel comfortable in her own skin. She had beautiful curves, and as she was maturing, she was realizing how much men loved them. Even though she did her best to stay away from them, especially after the betrayal she had seen from her dad and the bizarre experience with the German exchange student, she still loved to notice the effect she had on men. And Rachel had been right… wherever they were going, the dress she had picked out was sure to turn some heads. She got into the shower and let the warm water wash away the last remaining bits of sand and sea air from her hair before she scrubbed and primped herself with various body gels and oils. Afterwards, she felt like she had spent a day at a spa. She felt relaxed and vibrant, and even the stress of her impending exams seemed to have evaporated.

“Thanks for talking me into this,” she said to Rachel as she walked back into her dorm room and dried her long blonde hair with a towel. “You’re right, I do need to get out more.”

“You need to get laid,” Rachel said without looking up from her magazine.

“Rachel!” Lizzie gasped. “That’s the last thing I’m thinking about.”

“Hmm,” Rachel peeked at her over the top of her magazine. “If you say so…”

Lizzie spritzed on some perfume, applied her mascara and ruby red lipstick and wriggled into the figure-hugging dress that showed off her perfect hourglass figure.

“Stunning,” Rachel said as she applied her own blush, “You are a vision.”

“I feel good in this dress,” Lizzie agreed, “So this party better be worth it.”

“Oh, it’s not a party,” Rachel said casually, “It’s an initiation.”

“What?”

Rachel smirked and blotted her lips. “You’ll see….”