Page 7 of Blood Revealed

“Escalante?”

“Never mind,” she says and I see her eyes shut down. Dammit. I shouldn’t have asked that. Though she brought him up.

“Let’s splash some water on our faces and I’ll call the brothers. We can check out, get some grub, and head home.”

“Where’s home?” she asks.

“Thornbriar, Kentucky. It’s nice. Quiet. Picturesque.”

She cocks her head, looking at me quizzically and chuckles. “Picturesque? That’s not a typical biker word.”

“I’m not your typical biker.”

“I’m beginning to see that. Blood, right?”

“Yeah.”

She shifts to sit on the edge of the unmade bed, this time draping her legs over the side in order to slip back on her shoes. I force myself to stand, knowing I’m sleeping for a week when I get home, and walk around the bed back over to that chair to slide my boots back on.

While I do that, she walks over to the bathroom to splash water on her face. She opens the bag she carried with her and pulls out a toothbrush. Mine’s in the saddle bag on my bike. After brushing her teeth, she produces a comb from the bag to brush out her hair.

“Ready,” she says, stepping from the bathroom. And goddamn, a woman doesn’t have the right to look that good, especially after the night she had.

I take my turn splashing water on my face and borrow some of her toothpaste to finger-brush my teeth because I’m too lazy to walk outside and walk back in. Once we’re both ready, I grab her hand and lead her out of the room. We check out and she mounts the back of my bike while I call Chaos.

“Too early,” he answers.

“Hannah and I are goin’ to the McDonald’s down the road. Get your ass out here so we can take off after.”

“They got good coffee now, right?”

“Yeah. I think so. Even if it’s shit, I want to get home.”

“Right, brother—Boss, man, the whiney-ass bitch wants to get going.”

“What the fuck ever,” Boss says loud yet muffled which means he’s got his arm draped over his face to block out the light streaming in through the break in those ugly-ass hotel curtains.

“You comin’ or do I see you back at the club?”

“Nah, man, we’re getting up. Give us five, okay?”

Right. “Five’s all you’re getting,” I reply.

“Fuck off,” he says to my corresponding snicker.

Good to his word, they only keep us waiting for five more minutes before two cranky bikers wander out of their hotel room. I notice theirs has two beds. Then Boss walks the key into the lobby.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Chaos says to Hannah. “How you doing this morning? This knucklehead treat you right?”

Her face softens right before my eyes as those gorgeous lips of hers tip up in the corner in a slight smile. “Yes,” she responds. “He was very gentlemanly.” Then she sobers. "I’m… I’m okay. Yesterday was rough.”

“Understatement,” Boss calls over to us. “Glad we got to you in time. Blood’s gut feelins usually ain’t wrong. We’ve learned to trust ’em. I’m Bossman, by the way. But the brothers tend to call me ‘Boss.’”

“Hannah,” she introduces herself. “Thank you both for coming to my rescue yesterday.”

“You remind me of Liv,” Chaos says. “And I’m Chaos.”

“Nice to meet you too,” she answers. “Who’s Liv?”

---