Page 14 of Under an Endless Moon

I never failed to lose my breath at the stunning view.

It was gorgeous. The expanse of lake was smooth as glass beneath the night. It was surrounded by lush woods, and the mountains rose up high behind it in the distance, their jagged peaks silhouettes where the moon sat proud halfway down the horizon.

Silvery rays glinted over the water, and the few lights of the houses and cabins tucked around the lake glowed their peace.

On the far side of the lake, I could barely make out the neon sign for The Sanctuary, the motel that Theo owned and ran.

I thought of what would be hidden there under the guise of vacationers.

A woman.

Possibly with children.

I didn’t want to fathom the horrors that might have brought them there, but ignoring it was impossible.

The pain and danger they’d endured.

The hope that began right there, beneath those bright, shining lights.

I hugged Otto a little tighter as worry infiltrated my being because I knew getting them to safety didn’t come without risk.

The lives my brother and his crew led were riddled with peril, though it seemed a little safer than when all of them used to ride with Iron Owls MC back in LA.

That was when it felt like every step they’d taken might be their last.

It didn’t mean they were immune now. Look at what had happened to River, Charleigh, and their little boy, Nolan, at the beginning of the summer. How their lives had intersected in a beautiful, horrible way. Charleigh’s ex trying to destroy them.

I still thanked God every day that they were safe. They’d made it through, and now they had each other forever.

It was worth it. Of course, it was worth it. For everyone they helped.

But that didn’t mean I wasn’t terrified any time one of them stepped out the door.

Otto set a big hand on my arms that were linked around his waist. I had to wonder if he had direct access to my thoughts and it was a silent promise that everything was going to be okay.

He slowed as he took a right into the neighborhood where I lived with River and his family, then the next left onto the long drive that led to our house.

A modern cabin tucked deep beneath soaring trees.

Two stories with a pitched roof, made of stones and dark brown woods.

Otto pulled his bike around the circular drive and stopped at the front. He killed the engine, and in an instant, the silence consumed. The night all around and the energy that’d been freed suddenly locked and held tight.

A stark tension that surrounded.

He reached around and took me by the hand. That simple touch was always enough to annihilate me.

“Off you go, darlin’,” he said as he helped me stand, which was all kinds of awkward considering the skirt and boots that I was wearing, but I never let that stop me.

No way when I loved how Otto’s gaze fired when I dressed like this, his eyes raking over me as if he couldn’t help himself.

Once I was steady on my feet, he climbed off, too.

The man a stronghold that towered in the night. So fierce and brutal, though he still wore that smirk on the edge of his decadent mouth as he reached out and carefully undid the straps of my helmet.

Sapphire eyes never looked away as he worked, the air thin and shimmery between us.

When he had it freed, he rested it on the bike’s seat then said, “Let’s get you inside.”

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