Page 18 of Tormented By Regret

Lifting the gurney, we continued to make our way down the path. About thirty minutes later we came to a road. As soon as we approached the clearing, the New Mexico chapter was on us, grabbing the gurney and tending to Whisper.

I met with Blaze, the New Mexico chapter's Road Captain. “Brother,” I reached out to shake his hand.

“You guys okay. Heard there was some sort of plane crash.”

“I've been through worse, but the pilot’s the one who needs medical attention.”

“What about the girl?” He pointed at Whisper who was downing a bottle of water. The water trickled down her throat, sliding through the opening in her tank top. I watched as the droplet of water disappeared between her ample tits and my groin reacted. I ignored it and focused on the task at hand.

“Yeah, she'll be fine, although a checkup wouldn’t hurt.”

He gestured at the parked ambulance. “Our friend Nick will take care of them. He's a paramedic, he’ll get them all stitched up and ready for you in no time. Although, the older fella may have to stay at the hospital.”

“Yeah, that's fine. I'll send someone to come get him later. Listen, brother, I need to get this girl to New Orleans. I just need a bike. I got money.”

“No need for your money, brother. Jameson's orders were to provide you with whatever you need.”

“A bike. I need a bike.” I reassured him.

“Aren't you forgetting the most important part?”

I stared at him blankly. “What's that?”

“Food, brother. Let's get those bellies full before you head out.”

I was so stressed out and exhausted that I hadn't even thought about food. At the mention of it, my stomach growled. If it were me, I'd say fuck it and keep going, but looking back at my job, I knew she'd be hungry. I gave Blaze a quick nod and called to Whisper.

I could see her roll her eyes at me, but she came when I called, sashaying those curvy hips as she took her dan time. As soon as she was in earshot, I scolded her.

“Take your sweet time, you brat. I'm sure every single member here appreciates that.”

She turned, taking a good long look around the premise, and smiled at me. I narrowed my eyes on her as she amused herself with the men who were practically gawking at her. I couldn't blame them, she was gorgeous. But my protective instinct kicked in and I hauled her against me.

“Jesus, Lee!”

My grip on her nearly faltered as I heard my name come off her lips. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken that name.

“You need to be careful around these parts. You don’t know these men and you don’t know how they can react around a woman like you.”

What she didn’t know was that word was already out about Rancid’s men, and we were all on edge, looking over our shoulder every chance we got. Being here didn’t mean we were trusted. It just meant they were following orders. Although I had to admit, being invited to dinner meant they respected us, which was a good sign for the chapter in general. It meant they had nothin’ to hide.

“I can handle myself. My dad taught me how to protect myself. The problem I'm finding is that he never taught me what to do when I had to protect myself from one of you.”

Her response took me off base and I slipped my hand beneath her hair, wrapping it around the back of her neck and forcing her to look at me.

“I would never hurt you,” I seethed.

“Well, that's convincing.”

I cursed under my breath, and released her, because if I didn't, I would either strangle her or kiss her. And I didn't want to make a fucking scene in front of all my brothers.

“This isn't New Orleans or Washington. They have a different set of rules here. You show respect. Follow the rules, eat, and then we leave.”

“Yes, Sir,” she mimicked a military salute and then ran over to one of the men and asked to get on his bike. Fucker gave her a big grin and in seconds he was roaring down the road, proud to have her on his back. I was left standing there, irritated and staring after them. My hand itched to give that ass a spanking.

The way she said my name though…it had pained me. The last person to say my name was Lucy, right before I was put into the back of a cop car. My brothers knew not to say it, and Goshawk didn’t dare. I’d gone by Powertrain since my name was sewn onto my vest, and that was the end of it. A bike pulled up and I stared down at Blaze. I'd have to swallow my pride and ride bitch for now.

WHISPER

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