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  “Fuck off,” Reggie said, still fixed on me.

  “The girl clearly stated her wishes,” the man went on. “Now stand down.”

  Reggie glanced at him. All the muscles in his arms went rigid. He stepped back from the booth.

  Whatever danger faced me was nothing compared to what he would inflict on this stranger.

  “Reggie, please, just chill,” I said, then turned around and yelled, “Marty? Donna! I need you here.”

  “Who the fuck you think you are, giving me orders?” Reggie asked, stalking up to the man.

  The man sighed. “Just a speaker for the unheard.”

  Reggie looked confused. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, so just shut the fuck up.”

  “No problem. I’ve got what I wanted. You listen to that girl, and things will be fine.”

  “I’ll do anything I want to her,” Reggie said. “And you can just watch.”

  Before I could say a word, he’d come up and grabbed me by my shirt. I screamed, but he yanked me to his lips. All I wanted was to get away from his dirty mouth, but his grip didn’t leave much room.

  The stranger launched at him. Suddenly, I was free again, and Reggie was staggering back into some stools.

  “Hey!” his buddies shouted, jerking out of their seats. They stormed up, but Reggie held out a hand.

  “I got this piece of shit,” he said, still recovering. He eyed my savior, hunched over like some beast.

  The man was right across from me now. He took off his jacket and laid it across the stool.

  I was so wrong about him.

  He wasn’t homeless or a trucker. Under a white t-shirt, he had a lean rippling body without a trace of flab, and he rose as tall as Reggie. The beard had fooled me, but in profile, I saw that it masked a strong lean jaw and hard cheeks. The man’s dark blue eyes still seemed half-shut, but he didn’t look tired.

  He looked bored.

  The other Liberated had formed up on the other side of the guy. Reggie edged in. The man’s odds weren’t good, but something told me not to bet against him.

  Right then, he turned to me, and as if seeing me for the first time, brightened and winked.

  I blushed. I flat out blushed.

  I didn’t know why he was helping me. I didn’t even know if it would make things worse or better.

  But for the first time, I felt what the women in my books felt: My hero had arrived.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Damon

  The Liberated’s VP dove at me like he wanted to wrestle. I was impressed.

  I’d figured he would come swinging, but this made more sense in a street fight. If he got me to the floor, his friends would make sure I stayed down until he was done wailing on me. That counted as a fair fight in Freemont.

  Unfortunately, for my friend, Reggie, I’d taken extra classes in hand to hand during Basic.

  I stepped just out of the way to deflect his attack. His arm fell in mine and I was considerate enough to grab it and keep him from falling. Instead, I used it to swing him hard into the bar and twist until he yowled.

  The cute little bartender stood right over his head. To my surprise, she was eying his pain with something close to open glee.

  No wilting flower there. My kind of girl.

  “Hey, you fuck,” came a voice from my side

  The other three Liberated clumped in on me. I tipped my head to let them know they weren’t forgotten. Then, I swung Reggie into them like a sideways shot-put. The four went clattering back amongst tables. Two of them managed to remain upright.

  The doors behind the bar burst wide open. Marty stepped out, huffing and heaving in a white tracksuit - Russian mobster minus the chic. He’d really let himself go. That was saying something, considering I would have thought the exact same thing when I saw him years ago. The woman in the fluorescent red nothing stepped out alongside him.

  “What the hell is going on out here?” Marty bellowed.

  “Nothing to worry about,” I insisted.

  Marty’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, which I didn’t think was the correct reaction. Then I heard words from behind me.

  “There’s not gonna be anything left to worry about. Not after I empty your insides.”

  Something metal clicked behind me. I turned around to confirm what I already knew. Reggie was wielding a switchblade like it was a long sword.

  I shook my head. The VP openly sliced people up these days?

  All the truckers who’d edged away from the fight now went skittering like bugs with the light flicked on. I raised my arms, palms out and ready to receive the blade.

  All I would have to do to stop this was say my name. It would make him throw down his knife and kneel for forgiveness.

  Or at least go back to his fists. This intervention was already beyond what I’d planned though. I didn’t want to reveal my presence in a bar fight.

  “Reggie, are you insane?” Marty yelled. “Lorne and I have an agreement. No trouble in my bar. Now I’ll let this brawl go, but I am not going to excuse blood.”

  Marty had worked himself up into a molten red. Even the little bartender looked shaken at his volume.

  Reggie sneered and huffed, but I could see gears turning in his head. He shut the blade and shoved it in his pocket.

  “Alright Marty, I’ll find this fuckface some other time.”

  He thrust his chest out like some fucking gorilla. I almost laughed, but I just wanted this over. The guy snapped his fingers and he and his boys turned and strode out.

  “Hey, you didn’t pay,” Marty yelled after them.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I got their tab.”

  Reggie turned at the door with the most satisfying look of puzzlement I’d ever seen. I tossed him a wink that must have sent his brain reeling. He staggered out.

  The fight would be worth some respect later. Guys like Reggie measured a man by his capacity for violence. But the money would be worth some goodwill and that mattered more in the long run. At least, if I actually did what I told myself I’d come here to do.

  I turned my focus to the bartender. Her breath almost stalled as I pressed up to the bar across from her. The effect was enjoyable.

  She must be five or even six years younger. I wouldn’t ever have noticed a girl that little before I left, but now she had the body of a woman: rich curves, creamy white skin, gorgeous amber eyes that radiated a mischievous sort of innocence.

  A sudden slack spread through my loins. I felt loose for some more action. The plan had been to avoid distraction until I met my father, but that might be FUBAR after that fight. I still didn’t have a place to stay in town, but I had money enough for a motel room. And God would I not mind spending it for her.

  After an agonized couple seconds, I decided not to push things. There’d be time enough to swing back later. I had a feeling this sweetheart wouldn’t forget me.

  “I’ll settle up later, honey,” I said. “For now, just bring me another of these.”

  I picked up the empty whiskey tumbler from atop my jacket and clamped it down on the wood before her.

  “Sure thing,” she said. “You really saved my butt there.”

  “Would he have done anything?” I asked. “You’re not in more danger on account of me, I hope.”

  “I don’t know how far he’d have gone, but I think you’re pulling all the heat now.”

  Heat. Those boys knew nothing of how hot this world could get. I could handle whatever they served.

  But now I couldn’t help but notice that she might have meant the word a different way. A soft smile remained on her lips, but her eyes were taking a measure of my form. My body started to rise on its own under that gaze.

  “You’re not the first one to call me hot,” I said.

  “Oh, I didn’t…” Her tongue crashed into itself.

  I grinned and ticked my head at my seat. “You know where to find me.”

  I gathered my jacket and headed back, stuffing it
into the booth before joining it. If those boys hadn’t recognized me, then I probably didn’t need a disguise. Reggie had already been a prospect back when I left. He shouldn’t have forgotten me, but maybe booze and bloodlust had clouded his mind. Or maybe people in Freemont weren’t as used to IDing guys with beards as I’d become in the time I’d served.

  I didn’t really have a plan for how long to remain incognito. If a guy like Reggie had made VP, then it seemed I ought to do my diligence before stepping out into the light. That meant I needed a place to crash. I pulled out my prepaid phone and texted a number from memory.

  The Sheriff is back. I’m at the End of the World.

  Baxter was too meticulous a guy to lose his number, but it might be a while before he saw this. I set the phone to vibrate and slipped it back into my jeans.

  The waitress swung around the counter and headed my way. She had a direct walk, but her round hips made it much sexier. I got the feeling she had a lot of things pent up and ready to be released. Well, good thing I was in town.

  She set the whiskey down by me. I was about to thank her when I realized her other hand was also occupied by a full glass. She set it down and sunk in across the table.

  “On the house,” she said. “It’s really all I can offer here.”

  “Cheers.” I eased into a grin. Guess I was even more unforgettable than I remembered.

  We clinked glasses, and I took a sip. This was better than anything I’d seen on the shelves.

  “So why are we drinking this?” I asked. “What was that all about?”

  “Oh, those guys are just assholes,” she said. “Especially the one you fought. He thinks he can just get anything he wants.”

  “Is he right?”

  She looked thoughtful, then nodded. “Not with me, but most of the time yeah. He’s pretty much second in charge in this town.”

  “He been the club’s VP long?”

  “Yeah, it’s really messed up.” She squinted at me. “How do you know they’re bikers?”

  “Their jackets are pretty open about it.”

  “Do they have bikers were you come from?”

  I chuckled and took a deep sip of my whiskey.

  She smiled, if only to hide her confusion. “What? It’s not that stupid a question. You sure knew how to handle them.”

  I would have loved to spill everything just to see her mouth round up in surprise. But I could find better ways to see her make that face without blurting out too much. I reached for the next best thing to the truth.

  “It’s not stupid. It just made me realize I can’t exactly say where I’m from anymore.”

  “Wandering hero, huh. God, I hope I can be the same one day.”

  She wanted to get out. Maybe her creamy good looks weren’t all that had drawn me to her. If I was stuck back in town, then she might the exact right person to pass the time with.

  “Don’t like it here, huh?” I asked.

  She rolled her eyes. “Who wouldn’t love all this attention?” She smiled, then suddenly went shy and sipped deeply from her mug. “I’d rather just go somewhere where no one knows me.”

  “I’m familiar with that feeling. But - and I know this is going to sound dull - the grass isn’t always greener out there. Sometimes you find that it’s easier to fix the house you’re in than run looking for a new one.”

  I worried a moment that I might have revealed too much, but she seemed to be deciphering the words for her own life. She shook her head. “No, that won’t work for me. It’s not even my house to fix.”

  “Do you have plans to go somewhere?”

  “College.”

  “Yeah, I thought you had that air about you. You should apply.”

  “I already got in.”

  She eyed the bottom of her glass, aging half a decade with that look. There had to be more to that story, but she’d tell me if she wanted. We were entitled to the weight of our secrets.

  Instead, she eyed the bar.

  “Don’t let me keep you from your duties,” I said. “I’ll be around a bit.”

  “It’s fine,” she said. “These guys can’t really drink and dash. They’ve got too much to lose if they pass through here again.”

  “So what caught your interest?”

  Her mouth creased up into a wicked smile. “I was wondering if you wanted another drink.”

  She refilled with the private stash and returned to me. The alcohol had loosened her up plenty, and she offered me glimpses of her life. It mostly revolved around school and classes. I was right about how young she was. She would have been a freshman when I was doing my second year as a senior. She wouldn’t have been blooming back when I left.

  A girl like her would have flown right past my radar when I was younger, but now it drew me in. She was much smarter than me - and maybe it was the glow of the whiskey - but it seemed we could go together in a nice way.

  Body and Mind. Her booksmarts and my knowledge of the ways of the world. It all fit with my vague plan for reform.

  “So what about you?” she asked. “You just drifted into town to save me?”

  Her second glass lay empty, and she was half slumped into the table.

  “I just came here looking for answers,” I said.

  “Answers?”

  “This is The Last Stop right? If I can’t find what I’m looking for here, I’m never gonna find it.”

  She snorted out a laugh, way too loud. Her eyes sparkled on my face. Then slowly they slurred down my body, slower than at the bar.

  It had been way too long since I’d had a chance to see a look like that. I tightened below, and my mouth nearly watered as I eyed her sweet red lips.

  “So did you find what you were looking for?” she asked.

  “A little bit,” I said. “But I just got here. And there’s still plenty of hours left in the night.”

  She swallowed and leaned in deeper, as if my words were a magnet. I hadn’t saved her looking for this, but if she was going to press herself on me, I wasn’t going to turn it down. Part of me knew that I had her wrapped around my finger, that this was too easy, and maybe not right. But right now, that demure innocence of hers was just wood stoking my hunger.

  “You were wrong, by the way,” I said.

  The dreamy look in her eyes vanished under a flutter of blinks. “What?”

  “The whiskey? That’s not all you have to offer.” I clasped my hand over hers on the table.

  Her eyes widened and then she sank deeper, right past attraction and all the way to lust. I looked around at the bar. Only a couple truckers were left, and this booth sat away from them in a general murk. We might as well be alone.

  I eased myself around the table and next to her. Her soft body yielded against mine, as I pressed her deep into the corner of the booth. When her head pressed into the wall, then and only then, did I curve around and press my mouth to hers.

  Her lips moved uncertainly, but I took her chin in my hand and commanded them with my own. She had on a sweet cherry balm that I licked off her. Her lips were full and juicy and I drank them in. Her body rumbled with a low moan. I pressed my tongue into her, and felt her wildness deepen.

  Christ, she was putty under my grip. I’d need more than this little space to do the things to her that I desired. I found her breasts, feeling her rich mounds sift under her shirt and thick bra.

  “I’ve never done this before,” she groaned in my ear.

  That should have been another sign for me to back off, but my brain wasn’t running things anymore. The steel ache at my center could not be denied. I might have started out a noble knight, but now King Arthur just wanted to lodge his sword deep into the stone.

  “Honey,” I whispered. “You don’t know half the things I’m going to inflict on you tonight.”

  I nibbled her ear, and she gasped. She had a throatiness to her voice that sounded amazing even silenced by my tongue. I wanted only to get it on display. I began to creep my hands under her jeans.

  �
�Oh god,” she said. “You’re so freaking hot. And you’re nothing like them.”

  “Like who?”

  “Those bikers.”

  That finally gave me pause. I could hide myself but I couldn’t deny the truth. I had never been able to do that.

  “Actually, I used to be one,” I said.

  She tensed a little. “Not anymore?” she asked with a cracked voice.

  “No, baby, not anymore.”

  “That’s good.”

  She shifted her legs so I could easy my hand down into her. I kissed her again, preparing myself to feel her sound pouring into me.

  “It’s ok,” she whispered, when our lips separated. “I don’t care who you are. I’m not as clean as I want to be either.”

  “I can see that” I said, feeling for the edge of her panties.

  “I’m not that bad,” she protested in my ear.

  Apparently this was going to be a release for her in more ways than one. I drifted down, just aching to help her along.

  “It’s all my stepdad,” she said.

  Wasn’t it always. I walked my touch towards her entrance.

  “He’s the president of the local MC.”

  A pail of cold water drenched my brain. I yanked out of her pants. Her eyes drew open and we stared at each other.

  Christ, what a Freemont welcome this was.

  She tried to kiss me again, but I turned away.

  “I don’t like him,” she said, shifting into me. “I’m just saying I don’t care who you are.”

  I looked her over. It took everything not to smother her with another kiss. If only it would rewind the last seconds. If only I didn’t know. She was so damn gorgeous.

  But I couldn’t have her now.

  “Don’t be so sure about that,” I said with a sigh. “That big bad stepdad of yours? I’m his son.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Christina

  I laughed. It sounded like he’d said he was my stepdad’s son.

  He looked confused, which just made him seem hotter. Everything he did made him hotter. My head was in a fog. The only thing in sight was his face and those lips. I had never wanted anything so much as to taste him tasting me.