Page 2 of Twisted Ties

My body reacts to the fight, and I’m frozen for a few seconds. Out of my peripheral, I can see the Savage Outlaws pretending it’s another day, and pancakes are being flipped in the kitchen. These cowardly bitches are sitting right here drunk off their ass, like he’s not about to beat her ass from here to Sunday.

It’s clear he’s incredibly drunk and looking for someone to take his frustration out on, it won’t be her. It’s going to be me taking my rage out on him; he’s going to be lucky if he can get a punch in. I can only see the tail end of him and her at the end of the bar. She is sliding along the floor doing her best to escape him, he’s dragging her legs and she’s fighting him off. She doesn’t stand a chance against him, and my brain clicks into fight mode as the opening gives me enough clearance to rush at him.

I tackle the big bastard around the waist, relying on the fact he’s drunk as he tries to wrestle me off, but the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

His back slams to the ground and his head bounces off the wooden floor. I watch as his neck crunches and the glazed, sick look in his eyes directs itself toward me. I straddle over him and draw back, hitting him right in the eye socket. I hear it crunch, and he moves in slow motion to draw his hands up in defense.Too slow, bitch. I take the opening as I whale on him with a series of punches to the face. I can’t see anything; I’m blinded by the monster that’s taken over me.

“Who’s the savage now? Since you like to hit women,” I taunt. I keep going, and it’s cathartic, watching the side of his jaw crack and blood fly out of his mouth. Blood is spurting everywhere, and I don’t know if it’s his or mine. I keep pounding on his flesh, but Psycho and Snatch’s voices ring and drown out the cracks of my flurry of punches.

“Come the fuck on! Let’s get out of here. Get up!Enough.All right, you got ‘em.” Psycho strains his voice to get his point across as he peels me off the guy.

“Man, we gotta go! Fucking now. Get off the guy. Let’s go, right fucking now!” Pressure rings in my ears as I rise like a champion boxer in a ring. I can feel my knuckles pulsing hard, and I look down at the split between one of my fingers, not caring. Both had served me well connecting with the Savage Outlaw’s ugly face.

Inhaling a sharp breath, I stagger backward as Savage writhes, turning on his side. He’s still down as I smirk, walking backward to the exit. Psycho is pulling at my jacket. This is the first time since pummeling the guy that I see the sea of Savage Outlaws.

“Ah, shit.”

The beautiful woman behind the bar is up on her knees, but she’s crying. Left, we got three and they’re packing, four on the right.Shit, they’re coming from the outside.What is with this place? These fuckers are like worms coming up from the ground. I can feel a drip over my eye and it’s throbbing. He might have gotten one in, but he sure as hell didn’t win the fight.

“Come on!” Psycho’s careful not to say my name so I can’t be identified, but I can’t leave the lady who I fought so hard to save. I have to bring her with me. She brings out the war inside of me, and I gotta see what that’s about. She’s on her feet now and I grab her wrist, pulling her to me and pushing her out the door as the insidious crew start pointing their guns at us.

We bust out of the door like we’ve got hot coals under our feet.So much for not being seen.

CHAPTER TWO

Meant To Be

(Simone)

“No, no, no this can't be fucking happening right now.I'm too high for this!What in the fuck is happening! Get the fuck off me!" I scream, trying to fight the biker off me, but there’s not much I can do. He has me over his shoulder, and I’ve got my ass hanging out. The Savage Outlaws are not going down without a fight, and I can see his thickly-muscled arm deflecting punches, and he’s shielded by two other bikers. All the oxygen is going to my head, and I can’t even see straight, I’m so fucked up. I want him to put me down so I can get my bearings, but there’s not a chance in hell that’s gonna happen.

I’m not giving it to the guy, drumming on his back and kicking. My little punches and kicks probably feel like a nice massage to him, so I don’t stand a chance. He’s like a bulldozer, plowing through and grunting, throwing guys left and right out of the way. I’m surprised the Outlaws haven’t shot them yet.

I don’t have to wait long for my suspicions to be verified as I hear Slither Road— my boyfriend and captain of the Savage Outlaws—scream out in his hoarse voice, “Kill that bitch, boys!”

That’s when I stop kicking and my world shatters.Ah, shit.If they hit him and he goes down, then there’s a chance I could get hit too. Death’s door knock is not far away. This guy better move. He does, hightailing it out the door after busting through by kicking it with his foot.

“Why did you have to do that shit? You come in here telling us to keep a low cover and you’re the one who puts our asses on the line, Sarge! The fuck!” There’s a guy running alongside him; given my vantage point, I can’t make him out, but I can see several snakes winding down his arm and a knife near the top of his wrist.

“I couldn’t leave her there, that guy’s a poser. Is he the captain?” I hear him mock, but he doesn’t know the beast he’s dealing with now. Slither Road is called that for a reason; he’s a slithery, nasty sludge of a guy that corrupts everyone he encounters. As we enter the hallows of the night, I stop resisting and leave it up to the bike gods who have so unkindly rescued me.

All of them are on Harleys.At least they have good taste in bikes.I note the broad spectrum of this man’s back; he’s built like a linebacker, and I can feel the outline of his muscles under his leather jacket.He’s packing some muscle under there.The Savages are still after us, and gunshots ring out as I close my eyes and pray for all of this to be some bad trip. Maybe the drugs were a little too good? Either way, my high had morphed into a low. My courteous biker puts me down on my feet as I flip my hair out of my face. His dark pupils look at mine in the night.

“Come on,” he says in a low, soft voice as he points to the passenger seat at the back of the bike. Slither Road has runners on the ground. I can already hear the march of their boots as sure as the moon illuminated the sky.

“Get her on the bike, Sledge, this is bullshit,” the other guy says, and so far, all they’d said proved to be the same sentiments I would echo if I was in their position.

“Got it, hang on, we got this, it ain’t nothing. Half of them are piss-drunk anyways, we got the advantage.” My rescuer laughs and because I’m high, I giggle and sit up on the back of the bike. “You like that?”

More gunshots sound off, breaking up my hysterics as he straddles the sleek black bike, his powerful thighs kicking over the engine. I feel the vibrational hum of the throaty Harley that I love, and instinctively wrap my hands low around his waist and lean with him as he dips to the left and rides out. I fit into the curve of him so perfectly that it shocks and ignites me. A thunder rushes through my ears.Is it the adrenaline of excitement or is it fear?I don’t know yet, but as the man his brothers call Sledge rides hard and fast, threading through the evening traffic, I like whatever the feeling is.

As we ride into the safe zone, well clear of Hogs & Tail, I breathe and open up my chest. I’ve been delivered from the damnation of the Outlaws. I feel something I never got to feel when in their presence— peace. I’ve only ever been in fright or flight mode, ready for whatever to jump off. I’m hypersensitive in all situations and I wish I wasn’t. I haven't had this level of peace in a long time. I give myself the freedom to feel the air on my skin as the bike takes us to an unknown destination. I already know it’s better than the one I left.

When the bike stops, the fantasy story I have planted in my head might be the farthest thing from the truth. I might be in an even worse situation than the one I’d come out of, but for now I’m content with my buff mystery biker hero. As the wind whips over my face, we make a series of turns and arrive at looks to be a clubhouse. I didn’t have time to check out his cut as I was hanging upside down the whole way. My sight is okay-ish in the pitch black, but the lights from the bike help out as I take note of the skull and angel wings outlined on their jackets. There’s an electronic gate that opens, and my eyes widen in the night as bikers emerge from the clubhouse.Holy shit. Nah. Nah.This is not what I’m doing.

You gotta run. Run those legs off, bitch. Get up out of here.

Obviously, it’s been fun and all, but I’m not about to be involved with another set of bikers. My high has been annihilated; I slip backward off the bike and pivot to dart to the gate.All I gotta do is slip through, it’s all I gotta do.I don’t think my running game is that good, but adrenaline is a hell of a natural drug. I glance at one of the guys who was with this man named Sledge. I have a few paces to go before I reach it.

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