Boxed Set: Steel: Blacthorne MC Romance (14 page)

I
had drifted
off with Nick’s arms around me, but something woke me a short while later. Beside me, Nick was still breathing softly, and I gently lifted his arm so I could climb out of bed.

Despite such an emotional evening, I was starving.

I pulled on my clothes and then headed to the kitchen, planning to get myself a snack.

Nancy was heading back into the kitchen as I entered.

“The kitchen is closed for the evening now, thank God. What a long day.” She ran a hand through her hair and smiled weakly at me.

“How are you feeling now?”

“I’m fine. Just tired. Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”

I shook my head and shrugged. “I was actually going to fix myself a sandwich, if that’s okay?”

Nancy opened the refrigerator and the light inside flickered on. “We’ve got some leftover chicken if that would do?”

I smiled and took the plate of chicken she handed me. “Thanks.”

As she picked up a bread knife, I said, “Don’t worry. Go and take it easy. I’ve got this.”

She looked at me gratefully. “Really? That would be great. I could really do with an early night.”

After Nancy left, I set about fixing the sandwich. Nancy made her own bread, which was rustic and had very chewy crusts, but I’d grown to like it.

I had cut two large slices and begun buttering the bread when I realized I wasn’t alone.

I turned around to see Jackson standing behind me in the doorway.

How did he just creep up on me like that? Why did I never hear him? The hairs on the back of my neck prickled.

The way he cooly studied me made me blush. I knew my hair was messy, and glancing down, I saw that my shirt buttons were done up wrong.

It didn’t take a genius to realize what I’d been up to just a short while ago. Jackson always made me feel so guilty.

“What do you want?” I demanded rudely.

Jackson somehow always brought out the worst in me. He made me feel on edge, as if I was doing something wrong, and I resented it.

He raised an eyebrow and gave me one of his slow sexy smiles. It didn’t work on me, though. I concentrated on loading chicken into my sandwich.

“That looks good,” he said.

I sighed at his blatant hint. “Would you like one, Jackson?”

“Thanks for asking, Ella. That would be great,” he said mirroring my tone.

I reached for the loaf of bread and began cutting off another two slices for Jackson.

He leaned on the worktop beside me and watched me work.

It made me uncomfortable.

“Can you not do that?”

“What?”

“Stare at me while I’m doing this. It makes me nervous.”

“I make you nervous?” Jackson grinned. “I didn’t realize I had that effect on you, Ella.”

“Not in that way,” I snapped, buttering the bread. “In a
creepy
way.”

Jackson didn’t look hurt, he just looked amused. “Do I scare you, Ella?”

I shook my head and I was surprised to realize that it was the truth. Out of all the people here, Jackson didn’t scare me. He made me feel uneasy, but not scared.

I had no explanation for why that was. It didn’t make any sense at all.

Jackson looked at me intently. “You should be more careful, Ella.”

I swallowed nervously and focused on cutting the sandwiches in half before putting them on a plate. “What do you mean?”

I handed the plate to Jackson.

“Thank you.” He took the plate from me and caught my hand in his. “You shouldn’t be so trusting. And you
definitely
shouldn’t trust Nick Steel quite as much as you do.”

Jackson’s gaze travelled the length of my body, telling me in no uncertain terms he knew exactly what I’d just been doing with Nick.

To my irritation, I felt myself blush. What business was it of his?

Why shouldn’t I have some fun when I was stuck out here in the middle of nowhere?

I took a large bite of my sandwich and chewed angrily.

Jackson opened his mouth to speak again, but I put my hand up. “Enough. It really isn’t any of your business what I do with Nick.”

Jackson’s eyes grew dark, but after a moment, he nodded. “You’re right. But keep your guard up, Ella. Things are going to get a lot worse around here before they get better.”

And with that, he carried his sandwich out of the kitchen, leaving me staring after him.

What on earth did he mean by that?

Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better?

Was he serious? Things were already bad enough as far as I was concerned.

T
he following morning
, Nick and I ate breakfast in the bar. When Nick sat down at the table beside me instead of joining Victor at his table with Jackson and Damien, Victor’s face took on a sour look.

Now, I knew the truth about Victor, I didn’t see him as handsome in the dark dangerous way I once had. Now, I saw him as evil.
Pure evil
.

Nick quickly polished off his plate of bacon and eggs and I was still making headway with mine, when Victor shouted out, “Steel, we’ve got the Morrison crew in from out of state tonight. I expect you to be there. Do you think you can tear yourself away?”

Victor’s tone was mocking as he looked at Nick and I, and everyone else on the other tables laughed.

To Nick’s credit, he just shrugged and smiled, laughing along with them. “Sure,” he said.

For the rest of breakfast time, I sat quietly, listening intently for any more details about the evening ahead. It sounded like everyone would have to be there.

It was my chance.

With Nick and Jackson occupied, the two people who kept closest watch on me, I could escape.

I needed to plan carefully, though. My stupid earlier idea about taking a motorcycle wasn’t going to work. I could see that now. But if they were occupied for long enough, and I could somehow get into Blackthorne, I could ask for help…

I had to take this opportunity because I didn’t know when another one would come along.

Nick was working on his bike for the rest of the morning, and I hung around for a while. The sight of him with his shirt off and his muscles straining as he tightened and loosened parts of the bike was a very attractive way to kill time. But after a while, I managed to drag myself away.

“I’m just going for a walk,” I announced.

Nick looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. He wiped away the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving behind a small smear of engine grease.

I wanted to reach out and wipe it off, but I stuck my hands deeper in my pockets and smiled at him, trying my best to look innocent.

“Don’t go far,” Nick said.

I laughed. My voice sounded suspiciously bright as I said, “Sure. I mean, where would I go?”

I gestured at the empty desert around us.

Nick smiled. “Fair point.”

He turned back to concentrate on his bike.

I walked slowly, circling the perimeter of the club. I’d seen something the other day that I thought could be very useful this evening, and I wanted to check it was still there.

There was a large outbuilding at the back of the club. A couple of the windows were cracked, and the place was covered in cobwebs. It clearly wasn’t used much at the moment.

The other day, as I was passing, something had caught my eye.

When I reached the outbuilding, I looked around and turned in a slow circle to make sure no one had followed me and no one was watching me from the club.

When I was sure I was alone, I shaded my eyes and peered into one of the dark, dusty windows.

It was still there — an ancient, rusty bicycle.

I might not be able to ride a motorcycle, but I
could
ride a bike. And it would be a hell of a lot faster than trying to walk into Blackthorne town.

I felt excitement spiral in my chest. I knew I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but I couldn’t help it.

I checked the door of the outbuilding to make sure I would be able to get in later, and to my disappointment, the handle was stiff and wouldn’t turn. I glanced down to see if it had a lock.

There was a keyhole, but it looked rusted and neglected. I couldn’t tell if the door had been locked or whether the handle was just stiff.

I walked slowly around the outbuilding, hoping that there would be another entrance. I looked at one of the large windows. I could probably force it open and climb through, but that wouldn’t be much good if I couldn’t get the bike out.

I continued to walk around until I got to the back of the building and saw that somebody had left a pile of bricks. They’d obviously been there a while and were covered by a layer of sand.

If someone had wanted to hide a spare key, they may have left it there, I thought. I crouched down, again quickly looking behind me to make sure no one was watching, and then I lifted one brick after another.

I didn’t have much luck. The only thing I found was a tiny scorpion that sent me reeling back onto my ass when I spotted it.

I wiped my dusty hands on my jeans and carried on walking. On the far side of the building, further away from the door, there was another smaller pile of bricks.

I cautiously leaned down. My hand was shaking as I lifted the first brick. I could really do without finding another scorpion.

I grinned widely. I was in luck. This time, instead of a scorpion, a rusty old key had been hidden beneath the bricks.

I snatched up the key and quickly walked around to the front of the outbuilding to try and fit it in the lock.

It fitted perfectly. Despite the rusty lock and equally corroded key, it turned smoothly as if it were brand-new. I tested the door and pulled it open a few inches.

Perfect.

I locked the door again and shoved the key into the pocket of my jeans. Everything was going according to plan. I would be out of this place tonight.

The afternoon passed agonizingly slowly. It was so hard to wait. I was sure that Nick was going to realize something was off because I was so jittery.

“
E
verything okay
?” Nick asked me just before he left to see Victor.

“Sure,” I said, smiling brightly.

“You won’t miss me too much tonight?” he teased.

I tried to match his tone as I replied, “I’m sure I will manage to keep myself occupied until you return.”

“Well, I would say don’t wait up…but even if you do go to sleep, I’m going to wake you up…”

He leaned forward to whisper in my ear, and his breath tickled my neck. “Because when I get back, I want to explore every inch of your gorgeous curves.”

I felt a rush of blood to my cheeks and a pulse of heat between my legs. I licked my lips, but I knew it wouldn’t happen tonight. By the time Nick got back, I would be gone.

I
forced
myself to wait until it was dark so I could leave with less chance of being seen.

I pulled on a black sweater — one of the items of clothes Teresa had loaned me. Unfortunately, I only had blue jeans, but they would have to do. I would have preferred black — anything to make me less visible tonight. The last thing I wanted was for someone to spot me and have to think up an excuse. There really wasn’t a decent excuse I could use for being outside at this time of night.

The noise from the bikers in the bar was raucous, drowning out the loud music as I snuck out of my room. I felt guilty for leaving Nick without an explanation. But it couldn’t be helped. I
had
to get home. I wasn’t safe here.

My heart was pounding as I quickly walked down the corridor towards the kitchen. I decided to go out that way as the kitchen door was never locked until after the bar closed.

I kept walking quickly, hoping no one would notice me. I didn’t want anyone to stumble out into the corridor as I passed or come to the kitchen for a snack and catch me leaving.

I walked swiftly through the kitchen, passing the stainless steel worktops and then paused with my fingertips on the door handle.

This was it
.

If I left now, there was no going back.

I tried to imagine Nick’s reaction. How would he feel? I swallowed hard. Nick would be fine. This was his life and he was used to it. It would probably be easier for him here without me to worry about.

I stepped outside and shivered. The night air was cooler than I’d expected. There was just a thin crescent moon in the sky, which I was thankful for. The less moonlight the better tonight as far as I was concerned. It meant I had less chance of being spotted.

It seemed everything I did made more noise than usual. My shoes crunched against the sandy gravel beneath my feet and I winced.

A light was on in one of the rooms facing out onto the courtyard. I licked my lips nervously and ducked down so if anyone was inside they wouldn’t see me pass. I wasn’t exactly a natural at this escape stuff and felt a bit silly creeping around the building.

I had no idea what I was doing, but I had a pretty good idea what would happen to me if I got caught.

When I reached the outbuilding, I grabbed the key from my pocket and leaned down to try and locate the keyhole.

The low level of moonlight was good in one way, but it made it really difficult for me to see the lock. I finally inserted the key in the hole and heard the lock open with a click as I turned the key.

I exhaled a long breath in relief and pulled open the door. It creaked loudly, and I froze, guiltily looking over my shoulder.

I waited a few seconds, but there was no sign of movement and no indication that anyone had seen me or heard the door opening.

I was trembling now, and my hand shook as I shoved the key back in my pocket. I stepped inside and something grazed my cheek.

I stifled a scream, and I didn’t feel much better when I saw what was responsible. A long, grey, twisted cobweb. Luckily I couldn’t see its eight-legged owner, but I didn’t stick around to look for it. I grabbed the bicycle by the handle bars and dragged it outside.

I propped up the bicycle against the wall while I locked the door. Then I quickly skirted around the outside of the building to put the key back in the pile of bricks where I’d found it. I slipped it in a gap, unwilling to move any bricks tonight and risk finding another scorpion.

I grabbed the bike, swung my leg over and planted my butt on the very uncomfortable saddle. I put a foot on one of the pedals and pushed off.

At first, it was a little tricky. It had been a while since I’d last ridden, but what was that saying?
It was like riding a bike?
I wasn’t so sure about that.

It was hard to keep my balance, and it was even harder to peddle at the same time. It definitely wasn’t as easy as I remembered.

The muscles in my legs were protesting from the effort. Then I had a horrible thought. Did the bike have a flat tire? I hadn’t checked. Why hadn’t I thought of checking something so obvious?

I planted my feet on the floor and then peered down to inspect the tires. It was hard to see in the dark, but they both looked okay, so I figured it must be hard going just because the sandy surface was difficult to ride on.

I gritted my teeth and began to move again. It didn’t matter how hard it was. I had to do it. Once I reached the town, I would be safe, I told myself, pushing down hard on the pedals.

When I got off the track and onto the main road, it made it a little easier. With the cool night breeze rippling through my hair, I began to feel more confident.

The sound from the bar had faded behind me, and I could see the lights from the town of Blackthorne in front of me. I could do this.

I wasn’t sure how long it would take. But it could only be a maximum of five miles. A few more miles on this bike and I would be safe. I tried to keep up the positive thoughts to encourage myself to go faster.

I’d only been cycling for a few minutes when I saw lights up ahead. They were too close to be from the town, and from the way they jumped and moved, I guessed it had to be a car going over bumps in the road.

I felt a wave of absolute terror, and for a split second, I froze.

What should I do now?