Wet Leather: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Page 8

  “I have to go out,” he said.

  The words forced Tori into making a choice.

  “Take me with you?”

  “What?” he let out as he stared at her.

  “Please,” she replied and the fear came through in her voice. “I don’t want to be on my own.”

  “Didn’t you listen to what I just told you?” Patch asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “But I’m scared.”

  Patch puffed out his cheeks as he let his breath out slowly. His gaze dropped to the floor and Tori’s anguish grew.

  “Please,” she repeated.

  “You’re turning out to be one major pain in the ass,” Patch told her when his gaze came up.

  The relief swept over her at the tone of his voice and she knew that he wasn’t going to abandon her. She would just need to deal with what happened when they left the apartment, but the fear of being alone evaporated.

  “Thanks,” she said and moved across the room.

  Patch was taken by surprise when she threw her arms around him in a hug. He held his hands up in the air awkwardly as her body stuck to his and it brought on thoughts of her holding him close in bed the previous night. The touch of soft female curves brought on a slight arousal and it made him speak up.

  “OK, enough.”

  Tori let go to move away and they stared at each other for a second before Patch turned to walk towards the door.

  “I’m going to regret this,” he muttered under his breath, but it was loud enough for her to hear.

  She grabbed her coat from the bedroom and put it on as she followed him to the front door of the apartment.

  “Don’t give me any grief,” he told her over his shoulder. “And just do what I say.”

  “I will,” she agreed.

  They stepped out to the hallway and she waited for him to close the door before they made their way along to the stairs. Once they were at the ground floor, they went to the main entrance of the building and were unaware they were under close observation when they moved out to the sidewalk. Patch led the way to a nearby lockup garage and Tori saw the motorbike when he rolled up the door.

  “We’re going on that?” she asked then realized the question was stupid.

  “Were you expecting a member of the Roadrunners to have a station wagon or something?” Patch replied.

  “No, I…” Tori started then decided to just shut up before she said anything else foolish.

  Patch walked inside the garage and the roar of the engine sounded when he fired it up. He brought the bike out to the street then got off to lock the garage.

  “Get on,” he told Tori when he remounted the vehicle.

  Her nerves flared as she moved to the side of the bike. It was her first time on one and she quickly realized that a skirt wasn’t the ideal piece of clothing to be wearing. She was showing a lot of thigh when she got on, but there was little she could do about it and just wrapped her arms around Patch to hold on as he got moving. The black Pontiac that set off a few seconds after stayed far enough behind to ensure it remained inconspicuous, and neither of them was aware they were being followed as they drove to the main Roadrunners building.

  Patch pulled up to the gates at the parking lot and looked up at the security camera on top of them to show his face. A few seconds later they opened up and he drove the motorcycle inside to find a space to stop. Tori was unable to stop the flush of nerves that made her tremble, and she lifted a hand to run it through her red hair after getting off the bike. The ride had been exhilarating, but she was starting to question the decision she made in the apartment.

  It was too late to change her mind as she watched Patch dismount. His fingers wrapped around her upper arm to lead her in the direction of a door, but he brought them to a stop before they walked inside and she sensed he was suddenly as uneasy as her.

  “Look,” he started then caught her gaze. “I don’t really want anyone finding out about… you know…”

  Tori didn’t quite understand what he was talking about and her expression became quizzical.

  “What?” she asked quietly.

  “About what happened last night,” Patch went on. “The nightmares you woke me up from.”

  “Sure,” she said. “What do we say about how we met?”

  “Just say you live close by,” he replied and Tori nodded her head.

  She was suddenly reluctant to move forward, but there was little option when Patch took hold of her arm to lead her inside. They moved along a quiet hallway and she was surprised to see they walked in to what looked like a recreation room. A glance around showed a few men at a pool table and others playing a table football game. It wasn’t exactly what she expected to find in a building owned by the criminal Roadrunners biker gang. The smell of beer and cigarettes made her grimace and she could see glances coming in her direction as they walked across the room. The expressions on the faces of the men were suspicious, but there was more to it than that and she couldn’t help wondering if they were coming to the conclusion that a new mama was available.

  “Sit,” Patch said when they got to a sofa.

  Tori did it straight away, but she wanted to run as soon as Patch left her on her own. She was starting to think she made a huge mistake in staying with him and coming to the place. He walked across to another man and she watched as they greeted each other, although they were too far away for her to hear what they were saying.

  “Who’s the girl?” Six asked.

  “Just someone I met,” Patch replied. “She lives in the same area as me.”

  “Nice bruise on her face,” Six went on.

  “She got it from her ex-boyfriend.”

  “What’s she doing here?” Six asked.

  “What’s the job you wanted me for?” Patch replied to ignore the question.

  “Not going to answer,” Six said and laughed. “You must like her then.”

  “Fuck off,” Patch complained. “She wanted to join and I told her what she would need to do if she wanted to.”

  “She looks like a frightened rabbit,” Six commented.

  Patch glanced across to where Tori was sitting and saw the way she was holding the sides of her coat tightly together. The expression on her face made it appear as if she would happily be anywhere else in the world rather than sitting where she was. He let out a sigh and remembered her cradling his head the previous evening. There was suddenly a guilt that he brought her with him, but it was more than that. They’d been protective towards each other in the last couple of days since he found her lying beside the dumpster, and he couldn’t ignore that there was now a bond between them. The strange thing was that he found he liked it.

  “I think there’s a pretty face under that bruise that will be popular with some of the guys,” Six went on.

  Patch grimaced at the words and could see that his friend was right as he looked around. Some of the men were already showing an interest in Tori.

  “Yeah,” he said in a resigned voice.

  “You don’t exactly sound happy about that,” Six commented. “You definitely like her.”

  Patch saw one of the members called Billy break away from the group at the pool table and make a beeline towards where Tori was sitting.

  “I can’t do this,” he said and made a move.

  “Shit,” Six let out under his breath, but he couldn’t just stand and watch, so he walked after his friend.

  “She’s with me,” Patch said as he stepped in front of the man walking towards Tori.

  Billy narrowed his eyes.

  “What’s she doing in here then?” he asked. “You know what the score is with the girls brought in this room.”

  “I forgot,” Patch replied.

  “Are you being fucking serious?” Billy said in a harsh tone. “You’ve been a member longer than me, so don’t give me that bullshit.”

  “I made a mistake,” Patch said. “Just back the fuck off. She’s with me.”

  The confrontation got the attent
ion of some of the others in the room and Patch was aware that he was being watched. Billy was aware of it too and wasn’t in the mood to show weakness by just walking away, but that opinion changed quickly when he saw who was approaching. He was sure he could deal with the man standing right in front of him, but it was a different story when it came to Andy “Six’ Carter.

  Six didn’t get his nickname for nothing, and the story of him taking down that number of rivals when he was ambushed was legendary. His reputation was that he didn’t resort to violence unless it was absolutely necessary, but it wasn’t a wise move to be in his way when he did. Billy wasn’t about to test if that was true.

  “It’s not like she’s anything special for fuck’s sake,” he let out and glared at Patch before turning away to saunter to the pool table.

  “Get her out of here,” Six said and shook his head.

  Patch moved across to Tori and motioned for her to get up.

  “What was all that about?” she asked in a quiet voice.

  He said nothing as he led her across to the door of the room. They walked out to the hallway and he turned to see Six following right after.

  “Thanks,” Patch said then looked at Tori. “This is Andy ‘Six’ Carter.”

  She nodded a greeting at him before asking the same question she did in the room. It was Six that answered.

  “That was Mr. Jamison here being chivalrous.”

  “What?” Tori asked.

  “I believe he explained what single girls wanting to join the Roadrunners are expected to do as way of payment,” Six went on.

  Tori nodded her head.

  “Yes,” she said in a quiet voice.

  “Well, Mr. Jamison just made it clear to everyone in the room that you won’t be paying it because you’re with him,” Six told her. “The word will likely be passed around, but basically you are now known as being Patch’s woman.”

  Tori’s eyes opened wide.

  “Thank you,” she said when she looked at the man that saved her life and knew that she now owed him even more

  Patch nodded his head, but it was Six he spoke to.

  “Are Crash and Carrie around?”

  “On their way here,” Six replied. “Crash is coming on the job with us.”

  “What does that mean for me?” Tori asked.

  “Carrie will look after you while I’m gone,” Patch said.

  “Then what?” she queried.

  “That’s a fucking good question,” he said then hesitated before going on. “And I wish I knew the answer.”

  They moved to one of the other rooms in the building and Tori sat quietly at one side while the two men held a quiet conference on the other. She would have liked to know what they were saying, but guessed it was more to do with the job they were about to go on rather than her.

  The fact that Patch intervened to ensure she didn’t end up being a mama for the Roadrunners was a huge relief, but there was no way of knowing what it actually meant. There was definitely a connection between them, but she couldn’t imagine where that would lead to. All she could do was be grateful for the moment that she was out of harm’s way. It was around fifteen minutes before Crash and Carrie turned up and the three men quickly left the building to get on with the job they needed to do.

  “So how did you and Patch meet?” Carrie asked straight away.

  “We live in the same street,” Tori answered. “What about you and Crash?”

  “He worked with my father in the army,” Carrie replied and grinned. “My teenage crush turned to something more.” She moved across the room and reached out to turn Tori’s face. “That bruise looks nasty.”

  “Ex-boyfriend,” Tori replied self-consciously and put a hand to her face.

  “Come on,” Carrie said.

  “Where to?” Tori asked.

  “We can do something about it.”

  Carrie held out a hand and Tori decided to just go with it. She grabbed hold and was led out of the room along to a small bathroom. They locked the door once they were inside to avoid any disturbances and she was made to sit down on the closed toilet.

  “What are you going to do?” Tori asked.

  “Some magic with makeup,” Carrie replied and laughed. “Is it still sore?”

  “A little bit,” Tori admitted.

  Carrie put her bag in the sink and searched through to find a small tube of concealer.

  “Tell me if it hurts,” she said as she squeezed some out.

  Tori screwed up her face, but the gentle brushing of fingertips on her face wasn’t as bad as she thought it would be and she tried to relax as the makeup was applied.

  “It’s not perfect,” Carrie said eventually. “But the bruise isn’t quite so obvious now.”

  Tori got up to look in the mirror and was amazed at the difference. She appeared more like her old self as she stared at her reflection, and it made her feel a bit better.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “No problem,” Carrie said and gave Tori’s outfit the once over. “You really don’t want to be wearing a skirt.”

  “Yeah,” Tori agreed. “It’s not suitable for riding a motorbike.”

  “Not really,” Carrie said. “I’m guessing today was your first ride on one.”

  “It was,” she admitted.

  “You should stick with jeans or camouflage pants like mine,” Carrie went on.

  “I will next time.”

  “Does that mean you and Patch are an item then?” Carrie asked.

  Tori wasn’t sure quite how to answer and just shrugged her shoulders.

  “Well, I hope so,” Carrie went on. “Patch is a nice guy, but all his friends are inside the gang, and to be honest I’ve never seen him with a girl before. It’s about time he found some nice female company.”

  “He doesn’t have a girlfriend?” Tori asked.

  “Nope,” Carrie replied and smiled. “You’re the first girl I’ve ever seen him with.”

  “What’s his story?” Tori asked.

  “I don’t know that much,” Carrie admitted. “Patch and Crash met each other during their army days when they both served in Afghanistan. Crash was invalided out on his first tour, but Patch went on to more, so I guess he saw plenty of bad shit that messed with his head. He’s a quiet guy that just deals with it and gets on with his life as far as I can see. When he quit the armed forces, Crash got in touch with him and that’s how he got involved with the Roadrunners. He was a medic in the forces and pretty much does that now for the gang, as well as helping on jobs.”

  Tori nodded her head as she listened. The story she was hearing was pretty much what Patch told her already. She knew that one part of it wasn’t quite true in that the nightmare he suffered revealed he wasn’t really dealing with things that well. It made her want to help him, but the revelation that Carrie never saw him with a girl before might mean he wasn’t interested in a relationship.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Carrie said.

  The pair of them left the bathroom and went to the room where they first met to await the return of the men. They continued to chat and Tori found that she liked the younger girl. Carrie was friendly and came across as smart as she talked. She also passed across tips for being a biker girl that would be useful.

  The truth of the matter was that Tori hadn’t the slightest idea of whether she would get to use them, though, because she really wasn’t certain what would happen between her and Patch. However, there was a glimmer of hope that things might not be so bad after all, and it was the first time in a long while that her outlook was optimistic.

  What she didn’t know was that a black Pontiac was driving away from the Roadrunners’ building as she got to know Carrie and that the man inside the vehicle was going to pass on information that might kill the optimism she was feeling stone dead.

  Chapter 9

  Adrian’s thoughts replayed a surprising few hours of work as he drove to his office after leaving the coffee stand close to the Roadrunners’ b
uilding. It seemed Tori Sanders wasn’t that smart after all and couldn’t resist the temptation to switch on her phone after she fled her boyfriend. That was a mistake that led him right to her, although he almost didn’t recognize her when she walked out the apartment entrance that morning, with the bruise on her face going some way to disguising her pretty features. He’d lifted her photograph from the passenger seat and a closer inspection showed it was definitely her.