Page 5 of The Biker's Forbidden Craving

“Oh,” she shifts against my touch, “that sucks. I, ugh, I don’t know why I don’t celebrate anymore. It just seemed weird after the accident, ya know? Duke was a different guy. He was angrier.”

I massage into her muscles deeper with the pad of my thumb, attempting to untie the knot at the base of her neck without breaking her delicate frame. “The accident was a rough time for both of you. He should’ve been more present.”

She laughs under her breath and turns toward me, cutting the touch off at a second’s notice. “I know we were both doing the best we could. I… just wish I hadn’t lost him that day, too.”

I land my hand on her shoulder. Apparently, I’m taking liberties with how easily I touch her now.That escalated quickly.“If it’s any consolation, I know he misses you.”

Her eyes roll to the side and back again. “If he missed me, he’d stop killing people and go back to full time ranching. It wasn’t great pay, but it was respectable work. What you guys do now is,” her gaze meets mine with pain, “it’s sick. I’m not sure I’ve even wrapped my head around you being a part of it.”

I drag in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I knew this conversation was coming, but I never got around to preparing for it. “We don’t kill people. We put down animals. There’s a difference.”

“Oh my God!” Her eyes widen, and her arms cross over her chest. “You sound just like him. You don’t get to decide who should live and who should die, Hank. That’s not up to you guys. That’s what courts and God are for.”

“Look, I struggled with this for a long time. It wasn’t my first choice of careers, but then I saw what we were doing for people.”

“You need to stop!” She gasps and shakes her head as she turns toward the fridge, grabbing out a beer of her own. “You’re delusional.”

“We kill bad people.” I scrub my hand down over my beard and stare toward her, desperate for her to understand that I’m not the terrible guy she thinks I am. “I used to think this was awful. I… I didn’t want to do it. I took one job with Duke because the money was good. One week of work paid off my house.”

“Then what? You got addicted to killing, so you kept going? Money isn’t everything, Hank.”

“It’s not about the money. It’s about what we give people. The last kill we did out in Texas was for a mother who’d lost her child to a human trafficker. The man had taken at least ten kids and sold them on the black market. He was evading the police, but we don’t have the restrictions the law has. Those are the jobs we take.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Abby pops the cap off the beer and takes a long swig. I’ve never seen her drink before. She always orders a diet coke no matter what.

“Look, I know you can’t see the good in what we do, and I don’t expect you to, but I think you should at least talk to Duke. He’s—”

“I didn’t even know he’d be here. I thought I’d move to the mountains, frolic in the wildflowers, get a small-town job to meet some people, and fall in love with a big, giant mountain man. If I’d have known Texas was following me here, I’d have looked for my mountain man on a different mountain.”

I hate the idea of her falling in love with anyone but me, but I know that’s not realistic. “You knew I was coming.”

A visible lump slides down her throat, and she glances away as she takes a sip of beer. “I did. I thought it made sense to have someone around that I knew, but that was before I learned what you did.”

“So, I’m a bad guy now?”

“You’re not agood guy.”

I’m pretty sure I’d give anything to have Abby look at me like I was a good person, but I’m not sure that’s possible now.

“You remember helping Duke and I out at the shop when you were younger?”

She huffs out a sigh and rolls her eyes. “I wasn’t that much younger. That was only five years ago. I was twenty.”

“Well… you were eager to learn. The shop was swamped, and you were all about helping. Duke was outside talking to the parts guy, and I was teaching you how to unlock a stuck bolt.”

She bites back a grin, then hides the remnants behind the amber bottle as she takes another sip. “You told me to use more leverage, then grabbed the wrench from my hand, and got your filthy, grease smudged hands on mine. I learned all about that orange pumice lotion that day.”

I remember that moment so clearly because it was the first time we touched. It was just a brush, but I was so close to her body I could smell the scent of her shampoo, the muffin she’d had for breakfast, the leather on her boots. We weren’t doing anything wrong. I was just showing her how to leverage the stubborn bolt. But still, my heart slammed against my chest like I was out in the field, about to take a shot. It’s the one and only time that’s ever happened to me.

“I remember.” Our eyes meet, and for a solid second, my body lights on fire with a need that I worry is getting out of control. Maybe it was wrong to bring her back here. Maybe it was wrong to trust myself. How could itnotbe wrong when every fantasy I have has her in it?

The front door swings open, halting any feelings I have in their tracks. Thankfully, it’s not Duke. It’s Ghost, and he looks like he might have some answers.

Chapter Three

Abby

I think I might be the first person ever to have soaking wet panties the same night her friend disappears into oblivion.

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