Twisted Desire (The Twisted Series) (21 page)

She waits until they cross the road, making sure there’s
some distance between him and the boy before sharing the truth with him. 
“That, my dear, was your daughter’s ex-boyfriend.”

Still lying naked in his bed, covered by a thin sheet of
silk, Aliah turns her eyes on him.  He wants to have her again.  He
knows there has to be more than sex between them, but he can’t get enough of
it.  He needs more – wants more.

“You should get dressed.  Hannah’s going to be home any
minute now.  We shouldn’t be locked up in here when she shows up.”

Aliah slides out from under his sheets. 
“Impressionable youth.  I get it.”

Once they’re both fully dressed, they head to the front
room, staring at each other like sex-crazed teenagers.  He wonders if she
wants more too.

“Aliah,” he asks, his gaze sliding over her body.  Look
at the girl, wearing those little high-waisted shorts.  She has her legs
on display, just begging him to spread them and devour her again.  “We’re
going for a ride.”

She doesn’t ask questions when he drops a helmet over her
hair, and she climbs onto the bike first, leaving room for him to get on behind
her.  He slips the key in the ignition, revs his bike to life and speeds
off, his engine roaring between her firm, youthful thighs.

He never feels safe with her on the back of his bike, ever
since he’s learned that someone’s out looking her.  They are like a slow
moving target and she is like his life essence, trapped inside his hunched
form.  But the thrill of having her on his bike, wearing those tall tall
shorts, is worth the risk.

It’s dark and he knows just the place to settle their
scandalous desires.  It doesn’t look like anyone is following them, but
Aliah makes it difficult to stay focused.  She wiggles her rear and
snuggles back against him at the stoplight, like a lazy cat looking for
love.  He wonders if she knows what that does to him.  If she hadn’t,
then she certainly does now, with his aroused cock stabbing her in the rear
end.

With a quick change of plans, Harley makes a speedy turn and
heads down the long dead-end ramp that leads to the public park.  The
second he cuts the engine, he feels the need to get her underneath him. 
He loses his helmet and flattens her on the seat.  His breaths are
hurried, as he divests her of her helmet.  He brings his lips close to
hers.  He really wants to kiss her.  Her lips look ruby red and silky
soft.  Her mouth is partially open, leaving him wanting to dive in to fill
that void.

The urge to fuck her overwhelms him.  He unbuttons
those sexy little shorts and slips his hands inside her panties.

“You’re so wet.  You’re always so fucking wet for
me.”  His lips are so close to hers that he can almost taste her.

She looks up into his eyes, and in that moment it’s as
though she only has eyes for him.  “Only for you,” she whispers.

That’s all it takes for him to make his decision. 
There’s no question now.  He’s fucking her.  Right here.  Right
now.

He drags down his zipper and pulls his dick through the fly
of his briefs.  Aliah closes her eyes and sucks in a breath, when he massages
his fingers over her.  He makes sure she’s ready for his thickness before
taking the plunge.  Her chest is heaving.  She’s so excited.  He
kisses the tops of her fleshy mounds, letting his tongue dart out for a
taste.  Holding her panties to the side, he slides into her, and pauses
when he’s pressed in to the hilt.

“Oh, sweet Jesus.”  He lowers his head to the leather
seat, over her shoulder, hissing in her ear.  “I could fucking stay here,
like this, all night.”  He keeps the pressure on her, and loves the way
she wraps around him, gripping onto him from the inside out.

After kissing her neck, he lifts his head until they’re nose
to nose again.  His lips barely kiss her, a whisper over her soft
flesh.  “Tell me you want this.”  He backs out, painfully slow, and
eases back into her, burying himself again to drown in her warmth.  “Tell
me you need more.”

Her hand hooks around his neck and she arches her back,
bringing her luscious lips to his ear.  She takes his lobe between her
teeth and tugs on it.  It has him aching inside her.  “I need you.”

A bullet crackles through the air and ricochets off the curb
next to where they’re parked.  Harley instantly slides Aliah off the bike
and slams down on top of her, still wrapped in her silky warmth.  He
reaches for the gun strapped to his ankle, hating the moment when he has to
leave her body.  He pulls out a gun and reaches for another one, tucked in
the back of his pants.

Once Aliah tugs on her shorts, he hands her a twenty-two
Mag.  “Have you ever used one of these things before?”

She takes the small gun and gets a feel for it in her
hands.  “I’ve been shooting
one of these things
since I was a
little girl.”  Rain begins to sprinkle from the sky.  “Ask any of my
four brothers.  I’ve always given them a run for their money.”  She
then glances at the smooth black gun clutched in his palm. “I prefer the Glock
40.”

A sly smile touches his lips as he checks the magazine of
bullets and slaps it back into the gun.  “The Glock is mine.”

After feigning a pout, she cocks her gun with her
thumb.  “So what’s the plan here exactly?”

Harley wipes the rain from his forehead with the back of his
hand as the droplets turn into showers.  “Let’s start with why you think
Brandee would want you out of the picture.”  A rumble of thunder sets the
stage for a war.

“Because she’s crazy?  I don’t know.  Why are you
asking me this?  You’re the detective.  Why don’t you figure it
out?”  She peers around the bike carefully, but she can’t see anything,
between the rain and the darkness.

“I plan on it, smart mouth.  But a little cooperation
can go a long way in an investigation.”

Aliah huffs.  “Since when was I the one on trial
here?  Jesus!  All I can think is that she’s jealous of me.  If
I were out of the picture, then she’d have Mitchell all to herself.”

Harley nods, accepting that as the truth in the
matter.  “Do you think she’s capable of murder?” he asks, as another shot
is fired.

Another miss.

He doesn’t leave her time to answer.  “We’re not safe
here.  If they hit the gas tank, we’re both cooked.”

She crouches to her feet behind the motorcycle and aims the
gun in the direction of the shots.  If they only knew how good of a shot
she is.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Saving our asses.”

He puts a hand on top of the revolver and lowers it until
it’s pointing away from them.  “This isn’t like at the range, Aliah. 
If you pull that trigger and you hit the bull’s eye, you’re taking a life.”

A visible tremor rocks her body, but she nods her head
meekly in acknowledgement.

Now he’s the one crouching, ready for a pre-emptive strike.

“What are you doing?” she snaps, with a hushed voice.

“We’ve nowhere left to hide.  The next time a shot
fires, cover me.”

Another shot rings out, and she screams, “No!” as Harley
makes a hunched run for the nearest picnic table.  He pushes it over and
flattens his back to the wood.

Aliah’s outburst seems to have worked to his benefit. 
They’re likely to believe he’s been hit.  He can now hear the gunmen
talking.  Then another shot rings out and he hears it clank off his
bike.  He realizes then that Aliah is a perfect target for the ricocheting
bullet.  Her silence is like a sudden knife in his gut.

Someone’s dead now.

He’s not used to having to worry about anyone but himself
and Hannah.  If something has happened to Aliah, the responsible gunman
can only hope that Harley murders him after he’s done torturing him.  Then
Aliah shouts out, and relief washes over him temporarily.

“Why are you hounding me?” she shouts, her voice bearing
heavy emotion.

Aliah’s a good actress.

Harley’s shocked when the guy answers her.  “We’re only
doing our job, Miss Brooklin.  Now, if you’ll let us get to it…”

Aliah looks like she’s going to scream out to him, but he
presses a finger to his lips and she manages to zip it like a good girl. 
He pulls away from the picnic table and sneaks up behind the outdoor
auditorium, where the voices are coming from.

He peers around the corner.  One of the gunmen are in
range.  He fights the urge to blast the guy’s head off.  One false move
and Harley will have no issue with blowing his brains out.

Aliah cries out again.  “Who’s put you up to this?”

She’s brilliant.

“Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll pay you double.”

The distraction is just what he needs to sneak up on the
criminal.

The man laughs to himself, seemingly joyous to hear the
offer.  “We don’t want to hurt you.  Only scare you a bit.  If
you come with us, we can get this all sorted out.  Just tell your
boyfriend to get out of here, and everything will be just as it should.”

“How will I know you won’t kill me?”

The man suddenly realizes that Harley’s been awfully
quiet.  He looks agitated and is scouring the area for him.

“Looking for me?” Harley growls, as he clocks him over the
head with the butt of his gun.

The other assailant calls out to him.  “Will you shut
up, Larry?  I can’t see Gates anymore.  Can you see him?”

Before Harley can locate the other man, another shot is
fired.  He hangs onto his breath as pain sears his midsection.  Then
he hears his bike motor to life, as three distinct shots fire toward him. 
He can hear a man howling nearby.  He’s been hit too.

Harley wants to tell Aliah to stay put, but he’s short on
breath.  When he turns toward the sound of his bike, he sees her riding
through the grass with her gun drawn.

She just keeps getting sexier.

“Wipe that dumb look off your face and get on,” she orders.

He’s in no position to argue with her.

“Are you okay?” she asks, as she gives it gas and tears
away.

The injured man emerges from the shadows.  A few blasts
wail through the night, but they’re mere echoes passing behind them as they
speed off.  No one seems to have followed them, but Aliah is driving as
though their life depends on it.  He has no idea where she’s heading, as
she motors out of town.  When she finally slows, she takes a turn and hits
a slick of mud.  He feels the bike wobbling beneath them as it tries to
regain traction on the wet, country road.

It’s going down.

He tries to right them, but it’s too late.  Aliah lets
go of the steering wheel and flies off the bike into a lake of mud. 
Harley’s motorcycle crashes on top of him, and he slides to a stop not far down
the road.

Not much caring about himself or his bike at the moment, he
drags himself out from under it and fumbles back toward Aliah.  She’s sitting
in a swamp-like mud puddle, crying.

“Are you hurt?” he hollers.

She narrows her eyes, and that stops him in his
tracks.  “No!” she barks out.

Harley laughs at her.  The happiness that wraps around
his heart is a mystical force of nature.

“You are not laughing at me right now.  You’ve been
shot, dumb ass.”

“I’ll survive,” he answers, with a chuckle.

“I have never felt so filthy in my life.”

Harley secures his gun inside his pants and covers it with
his jacket.  He doesn’t know what the hell he’s thinking, but he’s going
to do it.  “I can fix that.”

He takes a running dive into the mud bath, face first. 
It splatters all over his face and gets more in her hair.  Not that there
was an inch of her face that wasn’t already covered in the dark brown muck.

“What is wrong with you?”  Her voice screeches, but he
can already hear the change in her tone.

He starts laughing again, and he feels more playful than he
ever has, dating back to his childhood.  “I thought you could use some
company.”  His face turns more serious, but she still can’t believe what
he has just done.

Neither can he!

“Was that really necessary?  I already look disgusting,
and now you’re a mess too.”  She lays back in the mud and he watches her
hair sink in deeper.  She doesn’t even seem to care.

Harley crawls closer to her and leans over, resting on his
good side.  The moment feels surprisingly intimate.  He smears a
muddy finger over her right cheek.  “You have never looked more beautiful
than you do at this very minute.”

Aliah stares at him, dumbfounded.  He too wonders if he
has lost his brain.

“Who told you to say that?”  She looks around, as if
someone is dictating his words to him.

“My heart.”  His answer is quick, spoken without a
doubt.

Her pretty green eyes pop right out, causing him to
groan.  Her shock squeezes at his heart, and grips his ribs, making it
difficult to breathe.