Page 47 of Property of the Hellfire Riders

“So you just showed up, expecting to find your friend with the worst cover story ever?”

“I know. It sounds crazy, but I need to find her!”

The silence stretches between us, thick and heavy, as I lay bare the truth. The air feels charged, as if the night itself is holding its breath, waiting for Tank to respond.

. "Izzy," he starts, and there's a weight to the way he says my name, as if he’s tasting the reality of me, maybe for the first time. "That's a hell of a load to carry. We’re going to have to tell the others.”

“I know…Fuck. I don’t even care what Hawk wants to do to me, I just want to find my best friend.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?" he asks, not accusing but genuinely curious, his brows furrowed under the moonlight that breaks through the clouds.

“Because, you could have her! And I’m out here, by myself. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, and sure as shit have no reason to trust any of you.”

His hands grab my face,and then all at once the warmth of his lips presses down onto mine. Heat radiates through me.

Pull back, I tell myself. Pull back before it‘s too late. But my body has other ideas, and I kiss him back. He growls into the kiss, and I can’t help but whimper in response.

I taste the darkness of his past, the beer he drank earlier mingling with the taste of danger. His tongue slides between my lips and I let him in.

“We’ll find her,” he whispers against my lips.

I believe him, and perhaps that makes me foolish, but I don’t care anymore.

I place my trembling hand on his chest, to remind myself that this is real. I’m kissing Tank, even though this morning Hawk had his head between my legs.

“We should go back,” I manage to stutter, barely able to keep my breath.

He laughs lightly, sliding his hand between my legs.

“Or we could stay a bit. You and me. There’s no goddamn reason Hawk gets to have all the fun with you.”

His hands run down my back, and all at once, he’s back on top of me.

There’s no going back now.

My heart was pounding so loudly in my ears that I was certain the entire forest could hear it. His words, his hands, his very presence all made me feel alive. All Hawk’s teasing me has wound me so tightly, I need some relief from the pressure rising in me.

My fingers dig into his back.

“Oh, you poor thing,” he murmurs, slipping his hands beneath my panties and feeling the wetness there. “Someone needs to take care of this for you.”

“Y-yes.” I whimper, and I hate myself for being so needy for him.

“I knew you’d come around.”

With that, he was on me again, kissing me so passionately.

“Tank,”I moan, his name a plea on my lips. For what, I wasn't entirely sure. But he understands completely.

“I’ve got you, baby.”

He captured my lips again, his tongue invading me without mercy. I moan into him as a roll of thunder shakes the ground beneath us and drops of rain fall from the thick gray clouds overhead.

“I‘ve been waiting to hear that sound forever,” he whispers, and then his mouth travels downwards. His hands tug my shirt up, and his lips find my aching breasts, biting and teasing.

“Tank, someone will see us,” I gasp, but my protests are weak because I want to be plowed into earth. I want to feel him inside of me, know his touch.

“Do you think I give a flying fuck?”

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