Page 26 of Edge of Desire

“Good. Now mold yourself against me and follow my moves. Don’t be afraid. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the flash. My bike was too noisy to hear it. Swerving like a madman, I zigzagged my way around traffic. The last thing I wanted was for her to take a bullet during this getaway. Bargaining with God all the way, I prayed like hell that wouldn’t happen.

I hit the gas and made a quick U-turn while she screamed. The foot pedal scraped the pavement, but as soon as we were upright, I hit it again and we zoomed off. Then, I drove toward the expressway. I checked the mirror again and saw we’d lost one tail. There was one left I had to get rid of, so I did some more tricky moves. I jumped a median and crossed over a couple of lanes. Avery screamed the entire time, but I ignored her. We headed down a sidewalk for a short bit and then back onto the highway. I had to get to the interstate where I could open this baby up. It was a Ninja H2, and its top speed exceeded two hundred miles per hour. I’d never taken it that fast, but I had taken it up to one seventy. I’d do it tonight if I had to, but I needed the expressway for that.

Eventually a clear path opened, and I took it, hitting the entrance ramp at seventy-five miles per hour. By the time I hit the lane, I had her at one ten, with Avery screaming at the top of her lungs. I took her all the way to one fifty, just to be safe. I kept checking my mirrors, but there was no sign of the goons anywhere. I didn’t let up until we hit the exit for McChord. I took the back route onto the Air Force base, and when we made it to the security gate, I pulled out all my IDs and they waved me right through. When we got to our stopping point, I told Avery she could get off. I didn’t receive any response.

“Avery? You still back there?” I patted her arms that were still wrapped tightly around my midsection. Still no response. I tried to pry her hands loose, but when I did, she started to whine.

I took my helmet off so she could see my face. With her arms still locked around me, I turned as best as I could and lifted her helmet off. She was somewhere between gray and white.

“Avery!” I pried her hands loose, and it took quite a lot of prying. They’re not kidding when they talk about a death grip. I put the motorcycle on its stand, and got up and then lifted her off the bike. She was tall, so it took some effort, but I got her off the thing. I walked her inside and sat her down in the first seat I could find. Then I crouched in front of her.

I patted her cheek and asked, “Avery, are you with me?” She blinked a few times and then her face reddened.I wasn’t talking pink. It was bright fire-engine red. I got worried for a second, that was until her fist connected with my jaw and she nailed me right in the kisser. Next thing I knew I was on my ass, she was straddling me, and punching the hell out of me, screaming all sorts of obscenities. She’d totally caught me off guard, so much so, that at first all I could do was lie there and take it like a wuss.

When I finally regained my senses, I locked my fingers around her wrists and pulled her arms down to her sides. Her chest heaved with exertion, her hair was in a mass of tangles, and her eyes that couldn’t decide what color they were had suddenly turned the deepest darkest shade of green. Weirdly enough, the only thing that came to mind was I wanted to taste her lips so badly I couldn’t stand it. So that’s what I did. I sat up, wrapped my hands in her hair, and kissed her like I meant it. This was no gentle kiss, but rather an all-consuming one. Now it was her turn to be shocked. Her mouth formed an O, so I took advantage of it and slipped my tongue inside. Dear God, how could anything taste this good? After a few seconds, she even started kissing me back, but the sexiest thing of all was when she mewled and then bit my lip. I forced myself to stop, and I should’ve known this was coming, but dammit, I was lost in the sensory exquisiteness that was Avery. It didn’t last long because that firecracker brought me back to reality when the palm of her hand connected with my cheek. I’m sure I would have a red mark there for at least a week.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she spat.

“Trying to stop you from beating the shit out of me!”

“Oh yeah? Well, you deserved it after trying to kill me on that damn motorcycle. What’s wrong with you anyway? Are you crazy?”

She tried to get off me, but delayed shock had set in, and her body shivered all over.

“What’s wrong with me?”

She sounded so pitiful I went to put my arms around her to calm her down. As soon as I touched her, she stiffened.

“Please don’t touch me. Haven’t you done enough damage already?”

She had a good point. Her life was in danger because of me and how was I going to get her out of this mess?

“More than enough and I’m sorry, Avery.”

“Oh, and I guess that’s supposed to make me feel better.”

“No, but I am sorry.”

I wanted to help her up but couldn’t because she still straddled me. I thought it best to just let her sit there until she felt better about things.

She rubbed her face with the heel of her hands and then scrutinized me. “I don’t suppose I’ll be going back to my job anytime soon, will I?”

I shook my head. “I’m afraid not.”

“Can I at least call my boss?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible either. It’s too dangerous. And it could put him in danger too.”

“I see. So where are we going?”

“There’s a military transport plane out there leaving for Colorado Springs. It’s going to Peterson Air Force Base, and we’ll be on it. Then we’ll hop on another transport and head to Andrews Air Force Base where we’ll change planes again. This time we’ll board a private jet and head to Bozeman, Montana, where I have a home. We’ll be staying there until things are safe again.”

“Why can’t we go straight to Montana?”

“It’s too risky. I don’t want to take any chances. They won’t be able to track us on a military transport either. One is difficult, but two flights are nearly impossible.”

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