“Fuck, Raven! Stop it.”

“But –”

“No. I…”

He takes a deep breath and pulls me into his arms. I lay my head on his chest, waiting for him to continue.

“Go to sleep, doll.”

***Gage***

An ungodly sound rips me out of a deep sleep. What the fuck? Raven reaches over me and silences her phone then falls back on my chest. She groans, yawning and stretching. I pull her back into my arms when she tries to roll away.

“I have to get up,” she mumbles.

“What the fuck for?”

“Work…and you have to take me by the house first so I can change.”

“Stay.”

“As much as I want to, I can’t.”

She gets up and I growl in irritation. Two nights of having her in my bed and I don’t want her to leave. Shit. I don’t even recognize myself. The shower comes on and I look at my phone. Five-thirty. The ass-crack of dawn. Fuck. I hug her pillow and her scent washes over me, both lulling me back to sleep and arousing me at the same time. Fuck me, I’m referring to it as her pillow. Two nights. Two fucking nights. What is she doing to me? I don’t know, but I wish she’d just come back to bed. Damn it. I sit up and shake the sleep away then get dressed. She walks into the room wrapped in a towel, and I almost give in to the urge to take what’s mine.

“Good. You’re up.”

Shit…in more ways than one.

“It’s probably cold outside. Can I borrow something to wear?”

“Take whatever you need.”

“Thanks.”

By the time I brush my teeth, she’s dressed and waiting. I grab two hoodies from my closet and hand one to her. She takes it wordlessly and slips it on. I hold her chin between my fingers and raise her face to mine. “I hate this sneaking around.”

“Me, too.”

“Once we get past all this, the only place you’ll be sleeping is in my bed. Got it?”

She sucks in a breath and her eyes widen. Then she nods.

“Words, babe.”

“Got it.”

I grab her backpack and we head out to the Bimmer.

“I meant to ask you, how did they repair the Mustang so fast?”

“They didn’t.”

“So…it’s a different one?”

“Yeah. I got a few.” I tell her.

“Wow.”

“What?”

“You make it sound like nothing…so mundane…like ‘yeah, I got a few lying around’.”

“What can I say? Gotta be prepared.”

She turns in her seat, and I just know she’s coming with something serious.

“Those guys the other night –”

“I’m taking care of it.”

“But…why would they come after us?”

“No, baby doll. They came after me. It has nothing to do with you.”

“I don’t know why they came after you, but I know you do more than security and customize cars. Illegal things.”

I remain quiet. She’ll learn more about me as time passes. Will she still want me when she finds out the kind of person I am? She takes a deep breath and continues.

“That first night you took me to the clubhouse…what kind of shipment were you protecting for those Mexicans?”

“That’s club business. I can’t tell you that.”

“After getting shot at and shooting a man, you owe me more than that.”

“Raven...” Fuck! I shake my head in frustration, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. She’s right. I owe it to her to make sure she knows what she’s getting into with me. That still doesn’t mean I can disclose club secrets though.

“Please, Gage. I promise anything you tell me stays between us.”

“You sure you wanna know?”

“Yes.”

Fuck me. I hope I don’t regret this. “You don’t repeat this to anybody. Got it?”

“I won’t.”

“Fine. The Mexicans have a guns-for-coke deal with the Columbians. A couple of their deliveries were jacked. They needed extra security and know I’m the best.”

“So…you transported guns for them?”

“No. I just made sure the shipment got where it was going.”

“Were you attacked?”

“Mexicans had a leak. I found it before we even loaded up the truck.”

“How’d you do that?” She asks incredulously.

“I suspected it was one of his drivers. I gave each of them a different route and had Tek tap their phones. We found the rat and sent him and a few guys with a fake shipment while we went the other way with the real one. Jefe found his leak and sent a message to the guys who were stealing from him.”

“I see…and you do stuff like that for other people?”

“I do.”

She leans back into the seat and remains silent for the rest of the drive to her house. The journey to Millie’s is no different. I guess I’ve given her a lot to think about. She already had an idea, but now she has confirmation. I hope all this doesn’t scare her away. I don’t want to lose her. When I drop her off at work, she mumbles “thank you” and reaches for the door.

“Raven.”

“Hmm?” She turns to me expectantly.

“Come here.”

She leans toward me and I grab the back of her neck, pulling her in. I kiss her lips gently, needing to taste them. I need to know we’re okay. She moans and opens up, giving me free reign. I flick my tongue against hers, and her little whimper goes straight to my dick. Her response is the only affirmation I need. I break away reluctantly. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” she says with a smile.

“I’ll send Ron to pick you up later.”

“’Kay. Will I see you?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll call you.”

“Okay.”

I reach across and open her door then watch as she runs inside the diner. On the drive back, all I can think about is how good she feels in my arms and how these last two nights I’ve slept better than I have in a really long time. Again, what the fuck is she doing to me? To be honest, she hasn’t done anything but be herself. The more I see of her, the less it becomes about waiting for her birthday so I can fuck her. I can’t believe I’m actually developing feelings for this girl. The question is, what am I going to do about it? I can’t do the relationship thing, especially after what happened the other night. She could have been killed, and it would have been because of me. How long were they following me? Did they see me put her in the car? There could have been others or they could have been communicating with the rest of their crew. Shit. I need to find these motherfuckers fast.

Tek approaches me when I arrive at the clubhouse. Good thing because I was just about to drag his ass out of bed.

“Found ‘em, boss,” he says.

“Who are they?”

“Call themselves The Muscle. Just a group of guys who hire themselves out as security or muscle, as it would be, if needed.”

He turns his laptop toward me and shows me a picture of the group of men. I spot the two from that night at the Kitty and the two from the other night. I count ten in all and we took out four, so I’ve got six motherfuckers gunning for me.

“Word on the street is they’re on a manhunt.”

“That means I have to get to them before they get to me.”

“What are you thinking?”

I’m thinking I need to take them out all at once. The only place I can get them together and know we can get it done without being seen or heard is the warehouse where I keep my other cars and bikes. “Call the number. Tell ‘em you got a job that will need the whole crew. Offer to triple their regular fee. Make up whatever backstory you need and get ‘em to the warehouse…unseen.”

“Got it.”

“Wake up the boys. Keep Rico and Motor with you. The rest of us are heading to the warehouse. We got a trap to set.”

CHAPTER 6

***Raven***

I’m listening to music and having my lunch in a booth at the back of the diner when I decide to make a playlist for Gage. He definitely deserves his own playlist. The first song I add is Saving Jane’s “Butterflies” because, well, he gives me butterflies. Or maybe Alicia Keys’ “Butterflyz”...What the hell. I’ll add both. Next, I add Maroon 5’s “It Was Always You”. I have to add Colbie Caillat’s “Bubbly” and definitely “’03 Bonnie and Clyde”. We’re totally like the new Bonnie and Clyde...minus the whole part with the dying. Oh, also Tamia and Fabolous’ “So Into You”.