Wet Leather: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Page 2

  “Come on, Matt,” she said in a submissive tone she hoped would appease him. “I just went to see friends and…”

  The sound of her shriek filled the room when he swung his arm and the back of his hand cracked across her cheek. The flare of pain was agonizing as she was nearly knocked over and the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. She touched a hand to her lips and saw the red on it when she pulled it away. Matt’s dull green eyes stared at her and she knew he was high.

  “See what you made me do!” he shouted.

  The panic erupted in Tori’s mind as he seized her by the neck and pinned her up against the wall. She grabbed at his hands to try and tear them away, but her efforts were useless. Matt was too powerful, and that was only enhanced by the stimulants flooding his veins. His greasy face came right up to hers.

  “You can fucking leave this apartment when I say it’s OK,” he hissed through clenched teeth. “Do you understand me?”

  It was a struggle for Tori to breathe and she could barely get an answer out.

  “Yes,” she let out in a strangled gasp.

  She closed her eyes as he brought the gun out from the waistband of his shorts, but there was no missing the touch of cold steel on her forehead and the terror erupted in her mind.

  “You’re fucking mine,” he went on in a menacing voice. “If you ever even think about leaving me, I’ll kill you.”

  “I wouldn’t,” Tori gasped in a louder voice. “I promise.”

  “Have you been drinking?” he demanded to know.

  Tori knew there was no point in lying. His face was so close to hers that she guessed he caught the whiff of alcohol on her breath.

  “I just had a couple with Holly and Melanie,” she managed to get out.

  “Fucking bitch!” he screamed.

  The high pitch, whiny tone to his voice was something she’d become familiar with over the past couple of months and she knew it meant trouble. It was a sign that his anger was running out of control, and even though she saw the blow coming, there was no avoiding it. Matt swung the hand holding the gun aggressively and it cracked across her cheekbone to knock her to the floor. His foot lashed out and she screamed as it connected with her leg.

  She curled up in a ball as the blows rained down on her and only glanced up when they ended. The crazy look in Matt’s eyes was a sign of how unhinged he was becoming, and she fully expected him to pull the trigger of the gun he was pointing at her. She closed her eyes and waited, but the expected shot didn’t come. When she eventually dared to look, it was to the sight of her boyfriend pacing to and fro in an agitated manner.

  “You better not be cheating on me!” he screamed when he saw her staring.

  Tears streamed down Tori’s face at the agony of the beating, but she said nothing. Matt stopped pacing to look at her and she tensed in expectation of more violence.

  “Fucking whore,” he threw at her then walked away and disappeared out of the room.

  A few minutes later she heard the sound of the front door opening then slamming shut. She groaned at the flare of pain when she tried to get to her feet, but forced herself to do it and moved to the window. It got her the sight of Matt walking down the front steps of the building then breaking into a run when he turned left. She knew she needed to get out before he came home and did no more than pick up her bag and coat when she left. Her fear welled up when she was walking down the stairs towards the ground floor that she would bump into him returning.

  It didn’t happen, however, and she cautiously opened the door of the building to glance out before making a move. The street in front was deserted and the rush of adrenaline kicked in as she raced in the opposite direction to where she saw Matt heading. It wasn’t long before it wore off to make her aware of the pain of the beating. She touched a hand to her cheek and winced, but saw there was no blood on her fingertips.

  Her mind was in turmoil and the despair swept over her as she continued blindly walking. When she eventually stopped to look around, she didn’t even know where she was. She didn’t really care and just kept going until she saw a drug store. It was empty when she walked inside, and she saw the expression on the face of the serving assistant when she walked up to the counter.

  “Are you OK?” the woman asked.

  “I… I just tripped up and fell,” Tori lied. “Do you have a bathroom I can use?”

  “It’s not really for customers,” the woman replied. “But if you come through you can clean yourself up.”

  “Thank you,” Tori said and followed as she was shown to it.

  Her anguish grew as she stared at her reflection in the mirror above the sink. The massive bruise on her cheek looked horrendous and her eye socket was closing as the swelling came up. She ran some water in her hands, but the pain exploded as she tried to wash her face. Tears welled up and she was unable to stop them as she glanced at herself in the mirror again. They ran down over her bruised cheek and a black despondency closed over her.

  She forced herself to stop crying and clenched her teeth when she splashed more water on her face. The deep ache was torture and she tried to gasp breaths before straightening up to leave the bathroom. She was aware of the woman watching her when she came out to the store and a glance around showed it was still empty.

  “Can I get a couple of packets of your strongest painkillers?” Tori said.

  She kept her head bowed and didn’t make eye contact as the woman reached under the counter to bring out two boxes.

  “There are twenty-four tablets in each,” she said. “But be careful with them. They are really potent, so stick to taking just one or two in any four hour period.”

  Tori just nodded her head and pointed to the small fridge behind the woman.

  “I’ll take a couple of bottles of water as well.”

  The woman turned to get them then rung up the items on the till and bagged them. Tori paid for the purchases before walking to the door and leaving the store. She looked around when she was on the sidewalk outside, but didn’t really know where she was and just turned right to keep walking. She eventually stepped in an alley at the rear of some buildings and stopped beside a dumpster. Her mood darkened as she put the bag down on it and got out one of the boxes. There were twelve tablets in the foil package she removed from it; she popped out four then opened one of the bottles of water to wash them down. They did little to relieve the pain she was experiencing and she looked at the package in her hand.

  “Fuck it,” she cursed and took another two of the pills.

  The tears began running down her cheeks as she thought of the fun she had earlier in the day with her friends. She was sure Matt would see to it that she didn’t enjoy it again any time soon and she knew she needed to get away from him, but his words plagued her mind and were all she could think about.

  “If you ever even think about leaving me, I’ll kill you,” she mouthed quietly and sank deeper into a depression.

  The thought came to her that staying with him or leaving him would both end up with her dead, and suddenly life didn’t seem worth living any more. She grabbed the bag and sank down to the ground next to the dumpster. The rest of the pills from the first package washed down her throat before the bottle of water she was holding was finished. She got the second one out and sat in a daze as she popped the pills and swallowed them.

  Once she started, she was unable to stop herself. Ending her life seemed the easiest option, so she moved on to the second box. The pills began to stick in her throat, but she forced them down and kept going. There were only a few left in the final package when the water ran out, and she just threw what she was holding on the ground beside her. She leaned on the wall and closed her eyes. The strong medicine flooding her system began to have an effect, and the pain disappeared first before the drowsiness crept over her. Her breathing slowed as her eyelids drooped and she didn’t even bother trying to open them again.

  It wasn’t just the pain of the beating the drugs were easing. It was the agony h
er life had become over the last few months as Matt became ever more psychotic. A smile spread across her face as she realized that she wouldn’t need to deal with it anymore.

  “You can’t fucking hurt me now,” she let out in a slurred voice as the tiredness seeping through her veins grew deeper.

  Tori was aware of the darkness closing over her as she slipped into unconsciousness, but did nothing to fight the sensation. It felt as if she was sliding down into a deep, bottomless pit as her final thoughts faded to blackness. Her head lolled to the side and she slowly keeled over to end up lying comatose on the tarmac of a deserted, dirty alley.

  Chapter 2

  “Job done,” Patch said nervously when he walked to the rear of the truck. “Have you checked the money?”

  “Yeah, it’s all present and correct,” Six answered as he watched the men hauling up the small anchor that was holding the boat in place in the shallow water.

  “What do you think they’ll do with those weapons?” Patch asked.

  “That’s not for us to worry about,” Six replied. “The shipment is delivered and paid for. That’s all we need to worry about.”

  The pair of them walked to the front of the truck.

  “Speeding off into the blue,” Crash said when they got in beside him.

  He watched as the small vessel picked up pace to race across the waves and leave the small inlet before eventually disappearing from view. Crash turned his attention to the two men sitting beside him and raised his eyebrows.

  “Job done,” he said to echo the words of Patch.

  “Get moving,” Six said. “We should be able to make it home tonight.”

  Carl ‘Crash’ McCallister nodded his head and fired the engine to life then put the truck in gear to start the journey to the city. The dirt track they were on made life difficult to begin with, and there was no getting up any speed as he drove along the bumpy, pot-holed surface. It was only thirty minutes later when they reached a junction and turned onto a narrow tarmac road that he really managed to get the vehicle motoring.

  “What are the plans after this?” Patch asked.

  “All I’ve been told is to get this money to the boss,” Andy ‘Six’ Carter replied. “I haven’t heard anything else. Hopefully there will be no more shipments of weapons or drugs this week. I could do with a break from these trips.”

  “They pay well,” Crash commented.

  “Yeah,” Six replied. He opened the briefcase on his knees to stare at the neatly stacked bills inside. “And I never get tired of looking at it,” he went on with a grin.

  “What was the payoff?” Crash asked.

  “One hundred and fifty thousand dollars,” Six replied and smirked. “Those boys better hope their boat doesn’t hit any rocks. They don’t want their shiny new guns sinking to the bottom of the sea after parting with this tidy sum.”

  “I was expecting something bigger,” Patch commented. “That little speedboat looked overloaded when we stacked the weapons and ammunition boxes on it.”

  “I guess they prefer something light and agile in the water,” Six replied. “The border patrol vessels are a lot bigger and not as nimble apparently, so I guess it makes it easier for the gunrunners to lose them in these shallow coastal waters. In all honesty, I think the authorities are scarce in this area… or so I’ve been told. That’s why it was chosen as a meeting point.The boys we just sold those weapons to probably have a larger boat anchored off the coast somewhere for the trip to wherever they are taking them.”

  Six closed the suitcase and put it down at his feet then slumped down in the seat to put his head on the backrest. He closed his eyes to try and get some sleep. Patch put a hand on Crash’s shoulder when he spoke.

  “Give me a shout if you need a break from driving.”

  “Sure,” Crash replied and a couple of seconds later looked to see both men settled down with their eyes closed.

  He got a pack of cigarettes from his pocket to light one up and sucked in a lungful of smoke. When the ash was almost falling from the tip, he flicked it out of the open window and let out a sigh. A glance at his watch showed it was now three in the afternoon. Daylight jobs always made him nervous and he preferred working under the cover of darkness. It wasn’t possible on this occasion, although everything went smoothly – they got in, delivered the goods and got out without incident. It was just the way he liked jobs to pan out, and when he finally reached the main highway, he put his foot down to get them home.

  The truck jerking to a halt brought Patch out of a doze and he blinked his eyes as he sat up. He was about to ask if the journey was over, but a glance around showed that it was simply a pit stop to fill up the tank.

  “Is there much further to go?” he asked.

  Crash was stepping down from the truck and glanced over his shoulder as he spoke.

  “Probably about another hour at the most once we get moving after this stop.”

  Patch nodded his head and looked to see that Six still seemed to be asleep, so he got out of the driver side door. He went across to the store and bought a six pack of beer before walking around at the front of the place to stretch his legs. Crash eventually strode past him to go inside and pay then the pair of them then returned to the truck.

  “Do you want me to drive?” Patch asked.

  “I’m fine,” Crash replied. “Like I said, it’s not far to go now.”

  Patch got in first and cracked open a beer when he was sitting. Crash refused the offer of a bottle and Six showed no signs of stirring, so he sat drinking himself as he stared out of the windscreen at the scenery passing by. He opened a second bottle after the first one was finished and settled down in his seat to drink it. The miles rolled past and he only sat up when they were getting close to the Roadrunners’ main base.

  Six eventually opened his eyes and the three of them were alert as they drove the last few miles. Their feud with the Mob meant the danger of being ambushed was ever present, but they negotiated the rest of the journey without any problems.

  “What are your plans?” Six asked when they walked inside the building. “We could go for a drink after I’ve handed this briefcase off.”

  “I’m in,” Crash said.

  “I’ve already got mine,” Patch replied and held up the four beers in his hand. “I’m heading home for a rest. Just give me a call when I’m needed for the next job.”

  “What a pussy,” Crash said. “Come to think of it, we could go out and find some of that.”

  “Yeah...” Patch said with a grin and motioned his head towards the person approaching them. “I don’t think you need to go looking for it.”

  Crash turned to see Carrie Nelson walking towards him. A smile spread across the cute twenty-year-old girl’s face as she approached.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” Patch said and walked off.

  He went to the walled parking lot at the rear of the building and got the keys for his Victory Vegas motorbike out of his pocket as he moved towards it. He put on the helmet hanging from the handlebars then got the vehicle running. The growling thrum turned to a roar when he throttled the engine, and he drove the bike over to the gates.

  “Heading home?” the man standing beside them asked.

  “Yeah,” Patch replied. “It’s been a long day and I’ve had enough.”

  He got moving to drive out onto the street when the gates were opened and the engine roared loudly as he set off. The evening traffic made the journey stop-start and he found himself craving the open road where he could just let rip and pick up some speed. His frustration mounted, but he kept it under control to work his way towards his apartment. He eventually stopped at the lockup garage he used then got off his bike to unlock the padlock and roll up the door.When the motorbike was safely parked, he locked the garage and crossed the street to the front of his apartment building.

  Force of habit made him cautious as he approached the door and he instinctively put a hand to the inside pocket of his leather jacket. His fingers
gripped around the butt of the gun and he kept them there as he walked inside. The place was quiet, but he remained vigilant as he climbed the stairs to the second floor and moved to the door of his apartment. Working with the Roadrunners biker gang meant he spent almost as many days away from the place as he did in it, but for once he enjoyed the relief of stepping through the door and kicking off his boots. He then removed his leather jacket to hang it up and went through to the kitchen. The thirst for beer wasn’t gone, so he pulled one from the four he was carrying before storing the others in the fridge.

  He now just wanted to relax and when he walked through to the lounge, he switched on the overhead light then moved across the room to turn on the television. He kicked his feet up onto the coffee table when he dropped on an armchair and picked up the remote control sitting on the arm of the seat. Flicking through the channels got him to a movie, and he sat drinking the beer as he watched. When the bottle was empty, he went to get another and carried on watching until the movie was finished.