Page 103 of Truck Stop Titan

Not sure how the kid had ever learned to read.

Which reminded me, school started in two weeks. Moriah, Lettie, and the shrink were convinced that Mim was ready. I didn’t agree, but I didn’t share my hesitation. My girls had enough obstacles to hurdle. I wasn’t about to add my aversion to the public school system to their list of worries. What I did share was that I wouldn’t take any “jobs” with Tucker and Tito until we knew for certain that Mim would be okay.

When I’d announced that I would drive Mim to and from school, Lettie and Moriah only laughed. Whatever. Any kid took a crack at my angel, they’d have my ugly mug to face after the school bell rang. Those two didn’t understand how the bully system worked. I did. And I had no problem scaring the piss out of any kid who dared give my girl grief.

The front door opened and then closed. Familiar footfalls came our way.

“Hey,” came Moriah’s soft voice. “Oh. She’s out cold.” She bent to give me a taste of her sweet mouth, those eyes shimmering with emotion I’d come to anticipate, but had yet to acknowledge. “What’d the two of you do today?”

“Whole lotta nothin’.”

“Nothing, huh?” Moriah dropped her handbag on the coffee table, then worked at the buttons on her blouse. “That’s why she smells like motor oil?”

I couldn’t help the grin that cracked my face.

Moriah headed for the bedroom, kicking off her shoes along the way. “Do you mind waking up your sleeping beauty? She’s having a sleepover with Rocky tonight. She’ll need a shower before we go.”

Her loose skirt swung back and forth across her ass as she sauntered down the hall. I hated knowing Mim would be away from us for the night, but the thought of having Moriah to myself hit me straight in the gut, making my blood pump too fast, and too damn hot.

I riled the girl in my arms. Reminded her that Rocky was waiting and marveled at her ability to go from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye.

I headed to the kitchen and pulled the casserole Lettie had sent home out of the oven. My phone buzzed. I ignored the call. The only people I cared to talk with were currently down the hall. Minutes later, my cell buzzed again. I checked the screen, my gut dropped, and I walked to the deck, shutting myself outside before answering. “Prez. What’s up?”

“Need you, Trailer.”

“Fuck off,” nearly fell from my lips, but when I considered my ladies, I said, “I’m not leaving town, so whatever job you’ve got better involve Whisper Springs.”

I was sure he huffed a laugh. “You got a death wish, boy?”

I didn’t. Not anymore. With a deep breath, I reined in my anger. “What do you need?”

“Coupla brothers riding through town next week. Need the trailer on your dad’s property stocked.”

I swatted a bug away from my face. “Myproperty,” I corrected the bastard. “That dilapidated piece of shit burned to the ground. Didn’t Hammer tell you?”

I’d expected Prez to read me the riot act, threaten my life maybe. Instead he growled a slew of profanities, then asked, “Hammer? You been in touch with him?”

Venomous snakes slithered through my gut. “You sent him. With my bike.”

“Fuck.” Heavy breaths. Muffled shouts. A door slam. “I never sent that shithead. You with him now?”

“No.” I gripped the deck railing, rage vibrating my arm. “What the fuck’s going on?”

“Hammer’s been AWOL for weeks.”

# # #

“You don’t have to be gentle,” Moriah whispered, her nails sinking into my shoulders as she rose high, then slammed back down, taking all of me inside her tight, hot core, doin’ a number on my sanity.

Fingers clamped into the soft flesh below her waist, I attempted to slow her pace. “I’ve got all night to make you scream, woman. This is just a warm-up.”

Moriah froze, her full weight landing in my lap, her hands moving to my face. Damn if the glare she shot didn’t make my dick twitch.

Fierce resolve flashed through those hazel beauties. “Give me hard. I need you out of control,” came her words, more a plea than the command she intended.

My chest tightened, remembering our first night together. She’d begged then, too.Hard. Harder.

I shifted, sitting straighter, the weight of a worry I didn’t understand settling in my chest. “Why do you need it hard, Moriah?”

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