Page 52 of Deserter

“Grey,” I moaned, before coming again.

He gripped my chin in his hand and broke away with a pant. “Jamie, Celia,” he panted. “It’s Jamie.”

“Jamie,” I repeated softly, feeling like something very important had just taken place. He’d given me his real name.

With another nod, he moved inside of me, each thrust driving home the point that this was different from before. His mouth found mine again and I couldn’t stop myself from screaming out his name as my orgasm tore through me the same time as his.

Beads of sweat ran down our faces and for a brief second, I wondered if he was going to revert to the cruel biker he’d been twice before, until he looked up at me with a wide grin.

I relaxed and rested my forehead against his with a smile, drifting lazily back down to earth. “What does this mean?”

His smile faded. “What does what mean?”

“What just happened between us. I feel like we should talk about it.” I pressed my palm to his heart and sighed in contentment.

He lifted me off his lap and stood, quickly pulling his jeans back up. When I looked at him, I knew. His face was a mask of indifference. The biker was back, and I wasn’t going to like what he had to say.

“I told you before that it don’t mean shit. We’re just fuckin’ around.” He tossed my dress at me and I clutched it to my chest. “Get dressed, your ma will be here soon. Oh, and Celia?”

“Yes?” The coldness in his words settled over me, seeping into my pores, until I wanted to run from this place and forget that I’d ever met him.

“Don’t ever call me Jamie in front of anyone.” He slammed the door to the office behind him, leaving me crouched on the sofa with our combined fluids running down the inside of my thigh, feeling more ashamed and exposed than ever before.

Chapter Twelve

Celia: 1989

“Why are we here? You said we were going to Amarillo.” I tugged at the neckline of my dress and surveyed the multitude of bikes and vehicles from the safety of the passenger seat of Molly’s Pontiac Phoenix.

Technically, it was her mom’s, but Molly had assured me that her mother would be sleeping all day after her night shift as a nurse at the hospital.

She looked over with a sly grin. “Did I? I could’ve sworn I said we were going to a gatheringnearAmarillo.”

I shook my head. “Let me out. I’ll hitch back to town. I can’t be here.”

I’d been in hiding for weeks; ever since our encounter in the tattoo parlor and the humiliating walk back to the record store. I feigned illness, offered to stay after school and complete assignments for extra credit that I didn’t need—anything to avoid running into a certain blond biker.

“You'll be dead before nightfall looking as cute as you do. Just take a chill pill and enjoy the afternoon.”

“The last time you told me to enjoy myself around these guys, I was almost drowned in a bar bathroom, so you’ll forgive me if I’m not thrilled to be here. I’m trying to move on with my life.”

She slowed the car and fixed me with a pointed glare. “This is a family event, so your virtue will remain intact and besides, Grey is probably busy with the club. I doubt he’ll even notice you came.”

Her words left me with an ache in my chest that I was better off ignoring. I scanned the men and women getting off their bikes, feeling woefully overdressed and sick to my stomach at the thought of running into Jamie.

Grey.

He wasn’t Jamie to me anymore.

“If this is a family event, why are we here?”

Molly turned to me with a smile. “I never told you? Shit, I could’ve sworn I did at graduation. My Aunt Lucy is married to a biker and they only have sons, so I’m like the daughter she never had. Get it? Daughter she never had?”

I nodded and went back to staring out the window. “So, do you come to a lot of these?”

“I haven’t since I was a kid.”

I turned to her again. “Wait, so your aunt is married to a biker, and they still took your mom?”

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