Page 13 of Riding Wild

I drag in a deep breath and push open the back door, staring out into the dark night. There are barely any lights back here and my hands are trembling.

“Get back inside,” Axel growls. He’s ten feet from the door behind the dumpster. Trent is on the ground with a gun pointed at his head.

“No. I can’t let you do this. It’s my problem. I can get rid of him.” In my head, getting rid of something means scaring him away, not murder… but I don’t tell Axel that. I hurry across the parking lot with the pistol aimed toward Trent.

“Get back inside,” Axel grumbles again, this time with more harshness in his tone. “You shouldn’t see this.”

“I want to see this.” I hold the gun down and point it at Trent’s head. Axel has done the hard work of incapacitating him in the parking lot. Trent isn’t going to be standing without help for a while. “What was your plan tonight, Trent? You thought you would come threaten my life again, and when you couldn’t find me, you went after Nora. Am I right?”

He doesn’t answer so I press the gun against his head harder until he nods.

“Good. Honesty is good.”

“You having fun?” Axel grips my arm. “We don’t torture people. If we’re doing this, then we need to do this!”

“We’re not killing him,” I whisper to Axel. “You’re not taking a life for me. We can’t start out like that.”

“I know that, kitten,” he whispers back, “but go with the flow. He needs to know that he can’t be seen around here ever again.” He gives me a quick wink and I struggle to hide my grin.

A police siren whirls in the distance. “Oh shit. That must be the sheriff. Nora said she was going to text him. I need to shoot him now so we can hide his body before the sheriff arrives.” By the end of my lines, I can’t help but think I switched over to an old western accent. Acting is hard.

“We absolutely need to kill him, May. The cops will just question him and send him on his way. He’ll be out in forty-eight hours, and he’ll be more pissed than ever. Do it now, or I will.”

“I know you would, Axel. I thought you were this big, brooding prick, and I didn’t think we could be alone together for even a minute. You took me away and protected me tonight.”

Somewhere in the performance, my truth escaped. Our eyes lock, and I know he feels it too. “So, my love, let me protect you from having to dirty your hands with my mistakes.”

He drags in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Of course, kitten. Take your time. You never forget your first.”

As I push the gun against Trent’s head, I see the lights of the sheriff coming down the street. I guess that’s our curtain call.

Sheriff Woods makes the turn around the corner and into the parking lot. He’s a big guy with a round stomach and a handlebar mustache. He tips his hat toward us. “May… Axel. I see you’ve captured the assailant for us.”

Axel nods. “He tripped a bunch as he was trying to get away. That’s why he looks like that.”

The sheriff grips Trent’s arm and lifts him from the ground before glancing toward me. “I can see that. He looks like the clumsy type. The good news is he can heal up during his visit to the county jail. He has enough priors from other women to keep him in for an extended stay.”

Axel walks over and shakes the sheriff’s hand. “Any chance you’ll let him trip a few more times on his way?”

“He’ll get his share.” Sheriff Woods grins and nods toward Axel. “His new buddies don’t take kindly to men who abuse women. It’s the darnedest thing, but they seem to get it worse than almost anyone else.”

Sheriff Woods closes Trent into the car, before waving back to us. It’s nice to see this whole thing over without someone dying.

“How’d I do?” I ask, before seeing the state of Axel’s knuckles. “Are you sure you weren’t trying to kill him.”

He laughs. “I didn’t want you to feel like you had a man’s life on your conscience. You’ve been through so much with your mom dying, and then your sister got attacked. I knew I had to spare his life.” He smiles ear to ear as he says, “But I had to make sure I got what would make me feel better, too.”

“You’re a caveman.”

He grips my waist and pulls me close to him. “If that’s the case, then why stop now? I still have your scent in my beard, and I want that little pussy, May.” There’s a growl in his throat as he backs me against the brick wall.

I laugh. “Are you kidding me? I just found out you’re dangerous. Does the cop know about that?”

He shrugs and kisses my forehead. “I better straighten up and fly right.”

I nod and bite my lip staring up at the giant in front of me. Maybe this whole night should make me sad, scared, or frustrated. Maybe I should be running back inside to check on Nora. There are a lot of reasons I should be doing a lot of things right now, but the only place I want to be… the only feeling I want to have… is here with Axel. “Back to that caveman thing. How bad is this urge of yours?”

He growls under his breath and leans into my neck. “I got a taste of you, and I need more, kitten. I need you purring for me.”

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