Page 32 of Ox

“Take the wheel,” Ox barked into the silence, and I immediately did as I was told. The road was a straightaway, so I didn’t have to do much other than hold the wheel steady.

Fiddling under his seat for a second, Ox withdrew some sort of scary looking gun. Admittedly, I didn’t know much about them, and they all kind of scared me. But I could tell just how lethal this particular one was when he loaded a round into the chamber and the click echoed ominously throughout the cab of the truck.

Lowering his window, Ox aimed at the riders behind us and fired. Even though some of the noise was swallowed up in the wind, it was still deafening to my oversensitive ears.

The bullet didn’t hit anyone, but it did cause the bikers to drop back and fan out some. Not Ghost though. That gunshot hadn’t deterred him one iota. In fact, I think it only served to embolden him. To spur him on to further recklessness.

Edging closer to our truck, Ghost kept one hand on his handlebars while the other reached into his leather jacket. Silver flashed before an answering boom whizzed by my window. A second shot struck the bumper and I jumped in terror.

Ox’s face was a cold mask of determination. “Brace yourself,” he ordered, before I did and he stomped on the break.

The sudden action caused Ghost to swerve to the right, then steer toward the passenger side door. The moonlight illuminated his tan face and green eyes as he turned to me and smiled ghoulishly. That smile was devoid of any joy, any real emotion other than a feral need to hunt, acquire, and destroy.

Cutting the wheel in the Watchmen’s direction, Ox nearly crashed into the biker, but Ghost anticipated the move by de-accelerating and angling himself further right.

As quickly as it had all begun, it ended. When Ghost gave up the chase, the others followed suit and backed off. They disappeared down a dirt road and in seconds, their lights were absorbed into the inky blackness of the night.

Ox glanced over at me then and said, “I was going to wait until tomorrow to tell you, but after what just happened, it needs to be said. You’re not staying in California any longer. You’re coming home to Nevada with me.”

We were packedand on the road by nine the next morning. My bags and his bike were loaded into the bed of the borrowed truck. As soon as we were driving, I called my boss and told him I had a family emergency I had to leave the state to attend. I apologized profusely for the short notice, but my boss was amazing and told me not to worry and that I’d still have a job when I returned.

“That went well,” Ox noted, as I hung up and tucked my phone back into my cavernous purse.

“It did,” I agreed, feeling like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. At least for the moment.

School, however, was a different issue. There were no online programs for nursing. It was in person only. If I didn’t get this Ghost issue resolved soon, I’d have to take a leave of absence from my studies. Something that upset me beyond reason. I’d worked so hard, and I hated that someone could take that away from me like this.

“It’s going to be okay,” Ox assured me then, which I always appreciated about him. “My Brothers and I are going to put an end to that rat bastard, Ghost. In fact, we’re going to end his whole Club.”

Though I had no idea how long it would take until my life stabilized, I believed Ox when he told me this. Needing to change the subject though, I said, “Tell me about them. Your Brothers. What are they like?”

Ox barked a laugh and his smile reached the corners of his eyes. “They’re something else. Tough. Loyal. Intense. Just like me, really. They like to party as much as I do, but they also know how to bust ass and work hard when the time calls for it.”

I was curious about what it meant to be a member of an MC. It was so different from anything I’d ever known, and I couldn’t help but want to hear more. “What’s Club life like?”

“What do you want to know?” he returned.

I thought about that. “Well, for starters, do most of your Brothers live at the Clubhouse?”

I knew German and Maddy didn’t. The two of them lived in an apartment close to my friend’s college so she could commute back and forth to her veterinary program. In fact, as soon as her first year was through and things were less busy, they were going to buy a house together. Something Maddy was super stoked about. She claimed her elderly orange cat, Mr. Jingles, would have the final say though. He required a sunroom that boasted floor to ceiling windows from which he could lazily watch the wildlife frolic all around him. That feline had my friend wrapped around his paw almost as tightly as she had her biker boyfriend wrapped around her finger, and I didn’t doubt that she would do exactly that when the time came.

“Some of the guys live at the Clubhouse, but some don’t,” Ox explained. “We all have rooms we can crash in while we’re in town, but many of the Brothers own property, too.”

“Will we be staying at the Clubhouse?” I inquired, curious how something like that would work. I liked a party as much as the next girl. But I also prized peace and quiet, too.

Ox glanced at me. “I bought a house a few years back that’s not far from the Clubhouse. I’ve been fixing it up slowly, but it’s in good enough shape to live in.”

I can’t say I wasn’t grateful for that. From what Maddy had told me about Club life, and especially Club girls, I’d appreciate the few degrees of separation between me and the Brothers active social life.

“I didn’t realize you were so handy,” I said, grinning at the thought of him in a tool belt and overalls fixing the sink.

“I’m pretty good with my hands,” Ox quipped, squeezing my knee and giving me a sexy grin.

“I don’t doubt it,” I shot back, a shiver of longing creeping over me then.

In fact, just the thought of getting to spend some real, quality alone time with this mountain of a man turned my blood hot. His hand, climbing higher up my thigh, didn’t cool me down any.

In order to distract myself from his magical fingers, I cleared my throat and asked, “How long is the drive back to Nevada?”

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