The Fire and the Roar Read online

  Fists were one thing, but once the inevitable concealed weapons were pulled, things got crazy. This needed to be stopped, not only before lines were crossed with weapons, but before the motel owner called the police. Before someone innocent got hurt, getting in between them.

  “Watch it, he’s got a knife!” someone shouted.

  I clambered up on the roof of the Chevy pickup in front of me and tore off my coat. My heart pounded wildly, and I ignored it as I raised my arms in the air. “Hey, hey, you motherfuckers!” Faces turned in my direction. “Can’t a girl get a little attention tonight?” I ripped off my blouse and stood there, in my new see-through demi-bra for the whole entire crowd.

  Everyone’s eyes plastered on me. Hell yes. No point in choking now.

  “What’s a girl got to do to get laid around here? Or did ya’ll come here to be all macho and show off your muscles to each other? That’s just plain boring. Flame boys, don’t you have any other moves? Show me what you got, and I’ll pick one of you.”

  Everything stopped.

  Everyone stopped.

  The air crackled.

  My bare flesh burned in the icy wind. A roar rose up again, the crowd surged, but this time, it came for me.

  My mouth dried. “Oh shit.”

  “Isi! Isi, what the hell you doing? Jesus, get down!” Eric stood below me, his hands stretched out as if he were prepping to catch a baby from a rooftop.

  My gaze stayed intent on where Teddy was. Stewart and Rick pulled a bloodied Teddy out of the bikers’ grips, moving him through the crowd.

  Thank God.

  “Get down, or I’ll pull you down, darlin’,” a deep, growly voice said, pulling my attention. One of the Flame bikers stood before me, his fierce eyes grazing over me, a sneer on his deeply scarred face. “And then we can get to it.”

  “Ah shit,” Eric’s voice broke.

  “Get to it?” I muttered.

  “Getting you laid, babe,” said the scarred Flame. “I know who you are. I’ve seen you perform a few times. And woman, I sure could use that silver tongue of yours right the fuck now.”

  My breath cut. He knew who I was. His hand settled between his legs to emphasize the now. He was missing his middle finger. No, he was missing both his middle fingers.

  “Uh…” I shrank in the icy gust of my own fear.

  He smirked. “Unless, of course, you’d prefer my bros take advantage of your offer. All of ‘em at the same time. They like that shit a lot.”

  “Do they?”

  “Fuck yeah.”

  “Is….” Eric’s voice squeaked.

  “Who the fuck are you?” the Flame shot his acid gaze at Eric.

  “N-nobody.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  Eric paled even more.

  The biker stretched out his middle-fingerless hand to me, and my pulse screeched to a jabbing, painful halt.

  A roar of chrome and fury exploded in the lot. More bikes. More bikers. A yell. A familiar voice. And my heart leaped back to life, my head snapping in the voice’s direction.

  “What the fuck is going on?” A man stood before me, next to the Flame. His eyes on fire, his body taut, ready to do battle.

  Wreck.

  Chapter Three

  My surge of elation was detonated by Wreck’s fierce glance. It burned over me like a flame to paper. Was it irritation? Panic? More like anger.

  “Who the hell are you?” the Flame eyed Wreck.

  “Her old man,” Wreck gritted out. “Who the fuck are you?”

  A sharp thrill trilled through me in all the right places whenever I heard Wreck’s deep gravelly voice say things like “I’m her old man” or “Isi’s mine.” But now, standing half-naked in front of a crowd of rock groupies, my band, and angry bikers, that thrilling zing morphed into a painful thudding in my chest. My frozen chest.

  I grabbed hold of Eric’s cold hand and jumped down off the truck. He threw his lined leather jacket over my shoulders.

  “Don’t touch her!” Wreck warned, and Eric jumped back as if Wreck’s voice had lasered him.

  “He’s—”

  “Is.”

  I bit my lip at Wreck’s sharp tone. Yep. Angry.

  The Flame eyed Wreck’s jacket. “You a Jack from Meager?”

  “That’s right. And you can go now.”

  “Oh no, man, you don’t get to talk to me that way on Flame territory.”

  “Yeah, this is our territory!” said another Flame at the scarred biker’s side. He held a broad hunting knife in his hand.

  Wreck pointed at me. “This here is my old lady. You got that? What were you planning on doing if I hadn’t shown up?”

  “Take her up on her offer, what else? Man, is this the night of cheating bitches or what?” the scarred biker chuckled to himself, an odd, ominous sound, and his bro joined in with a rich barrel laugh.

  Wreck’s eyes flared.

  I touched his arm. “Wreck, I was only—”

  Wreck sprang at the Flame, and they both grunted and cursed. He got the Flame in a chokehold, twisting him around.

  “She isn’t a cheating bitch. Don’t you dare—”

  The Flame with the knife rushed at Wreck.

  “No!” I screamed, springing forward.

  Wreck turned the scarred Flame in his clutches to face the charge of the oncoming knife. The Flame in Wreck’s chokehold kicked a leg up, shoving his brother to the ground, saving himself.

  “Oh my God,” I murmured. “Wreck!”

  Wreck released the scarred Flame, and he shoved at Wreck, pivoting to face us. “I don’t have a problem with you, man. Your old lady here is one gutsy chick.” The Flame gestured at me. “She created a distraction, so she could get her buddy free from being maimed and killed by my bros. I was going to keep her out of trouble any more than she was already in.”

  “Oh, I’ll fucking bet you were.” Wreck got in the Flame’s face.

  The Flame wiped his hands on the backside of his leather chaps. His dark gaze slid to me. “I don’t take advantage of women who don’t want me to.”

  His tone was serious. I believed him.

  “And I didn’t want to see Isi unable to sing another tune onstage one day.”

  Wreck let out a snarl at the sound of my name uttered by this guy. My gaze fell to his patch. “Finger.” Oh boy.

  Finger continued, “Isi and the Silver Tongues played a Flames party years ago. I still remember it.” He turned to me with a dark grin. Was it a grin? I wasn’t sure.

  “Yes, we did,” I murmured, glancing at Wreck. At that Flames party, Wreck and I had finally….I swallowed down the precious memory of our first time that night in the throb of animosity heaving between the two men right now.

  “I remember your voice,” Finger said. “Your shows were good. Sorry I missed your show tonight.”

  “Oh. Thank you,” I managed. My voice came out soft and even, but my veins shrank under the man’s hard, impenetrable gaze. My hand curled around Wreck’s solid forearm.

  “You done now?” Wreck spit out.

  Finger dipped his head, a smile fit for the devil himself, brandishing his lips. “Don’t go flashing angry bikers no more, Isi. And the things you say—”

  “I won’t.” I pulled Eric’s jacket tightly around me, my teeth chattering, legs glued together. Hopefully, Wreck hadn’t heard what I’d shouted out loud.

  “Name’s Finger, by the way. At the Elk chapter. Not far from Meager.”

  “Not far at all,” said Wreck, holding his gaze.

  They’d reached a detente.

  “You all staying at this motel tonight?”

  “That was the plan,” I said. “Leaving tomorrow.”

  “Any more of you Jacks around?”

  “Only me,” said Wreck. “No one knows I’m here, and I want to keep it that way.”

  “You got it.” His gravelly voice settled in the pit of my stomach. He and Wreck lifted their chins at each other once more, and Finger stalked int
o the crowd.

  I let out a heavy breath, my shoulders falling, every muscle in my body ringing with adrenaline once more. The crowd had dispersed. The owner of the motel spoke animatedly with Phil at the edge of the lot as the Flames of Hell along with Mary Jane and a couple other girls tore out into the street and into the black night on their blaring chrome dragons.

  “Wreck—”

  His dark gaze pinned me to the ground. “Do not say a word.”

  I pressed my lips together and headed for my room. Shit. I turned and grabbed my blouse and coat from the back of the truck. My room door flapped open and closed in the wind, and I kicked it open. Rick and a girl were bent over the dresser snorting lines of coke.

  “Not now, dammit! Get the hell out, would you?” I said. They flinched, both their faces dazed, their eyes unable to focus.

  “Get out!” Wreck’s voice exploded from behind me. I jumped.

  Rick grabbed their stuff while the girl wiped whatever traces of white powder remained on the furniture, sucking on her fingers. Yuk. I’m sure it was plain old dust. This motel was a hell of a disaster pit.

  Rick and the girl scurried out of the room, and Wreck slammed the door behind them, the boom making the door frame and me shudder. In the full light of the room, his face was a dark storm. My heart pounded out a beat I couldn’t keep up with. My insides burned.

  He’d come all this way to surprise me, and what did he see? His old lady stripping off her clothes and beckoning a mob—which included Flames of Hell members—to check her out, to take her on.

  Just great, Isi. Great.

  Wreck was a vision in mud-splattered leathers from top to toe. His bulky boots heavy on the shag rug, a demanding presence. His brow was now a deep shelf, forming a Neanderthal-like ridge of shadow over his eyes, his beautiful dark blue eyes that were now a churning ocean of emotion. The heat emanating from him pummeled me. I’d made him mad, disappointed him. And, dammit, there was no time for that crap between us. Any time we had together was too damned precious.

  Wreck and I hadn’t seen each other in three weeks. Three whole weeks. The heel of my boot dug into the rug, I squeezed my legs together. My body ached for him, my soul.

  “Whose jacket is that?” he gritted out.

  Damn, I was still clinging to Eric’s jacket.

  “Oh, it’s Eric’s.”

  His head tilted. “Who the hell is Eric?”

  “He’s—”

  A knock erupted on my door, and Wreck’s blue eyes darkened once more. A hand going to his gun, he went to the door and looked through the peephole. He jerked open the door, and a thin, young man with unruly dark blond hair wearing a ripped long-sleeved T-shirt and faded jeans, stood there shivering in the cold.

  “Who the hell are you?” Wreck’s voice seethed.

  “Honey, that’s Eric.”

  Chapter Four

  “Um, s-sorry, I left my guitar here. Uh, I mean…I mean…”

  “Eric, come in, Wreck won’t bite. Right, honey?”

  Wreck twisted his lips as he glared at Eric in harsh silence.

  “Baby, Eric is Teddy’s cousin. He joined us a couple of weeks ago. He roadies for us—helps out in all the ways. And he’s a musician too, right, Eric?”

  “Um…”

  “Well? Are you or aren’t you?” Wreck folded his arms across his formidable chest.

  Eric blinked, looking up at Wreck, who was inches taller and bulkier then he’d probably ever hoped to be. “Um, yeah, I am.”

  “He’s good. He sings backup for me on a few songs now too, along with Len. It’s a new sound for us.”

  Eric remained transfixed in the doorway at the sight of big, bulky Wreck. He knew about Wreck but had yet to meet him.

  “You play the tambourine too?” Wreck’s jaw tightened.

  Eric shifted his weight. “Well, yeah, sometimes.”

  Wreck laughed, a sardonic, tired laugh, and I slid an arm around his middle. “Eric, come inside. It’s cold out there.”

  Eric finally stepped inside my room as if it were the forbidden zone of horrors where the presence of oxygen was in question.

  I stroked Wreck’s back. “This is my man, Wreck. Honey, this is Eric.”

  “Hey.” Eric offered his hand, the polite young man. “Good to meet you. Heard lots about you.”

  “Have you?”

  “Oh yeah. Lots about you. Isi talks about you. A lot. Lot a lot.”

  I turned away and bit down on my lips to suppress the giggles that were bursting forth and grabbed Eric’s acoustic guitar from the edge of the bed. “Here you go.” I handed it to him. “Oh wait, hang on…you had a notebook too, right?”

  “Hmm.” He nodded, his lips stiff. He was nervous. “And, um, the tape recorder too. I think it’s over there—” He gestured at the floor behind me.

  “Oh, right. Geez, I thought that was mine ‘cause they’re the same.” I picked up Eric’s from the floor. My gaze went to the bed. Yep, there was mine by my notebook.

  “You working on a song together?” Wreck asked.

  “Today, we did. I needed some help, and Eric offered to mess around—” I couldn’t help myself.

  Wreck eyed Eric. “Did he?”

  Eric shrank. “On—on my guitar, mess around with riffs and stuff. Stewart was here too, giving us a beat and…”

  “Yep, Stewart too,” I said.

  “What a busy girl you’ve been, baby.” Wreck tugged on my hair, and I let out a little gasp.

  “I have been. Day and night, night and day. Now my voice needs to rest, so if you two will excuse me—”

  Wreck tugged me into him and bruised my lips with his. I sank against him. The feel of his leather, his muscles pulling me in. His heat embracing me, rooting me.

  I needed him bad. Very bad. Very very badly.

  Wreck released me, a hand on my jaw, a thumb on my sore bottom lip. “Time for you to go, Eric.”

  “Right.” Eric scrambled for the door and managed to open it. A harsh, icy gust of wind tore through my small room, and Wreck only pulled me in closer.

  “Have a good night—” came Eric’s voice. “I mean…yeah. Goodnight, you guys.”

  The door slammed shut.

  Wreck’s lips devoured mine. Oh hell, yes…

  Another knock.

  “What the fuck—” Wreck looked through the peephole quickly and pulled the door open. Eric stood there once again. “Really?”

  Eric glanced between Wreck and me. “So sorry, really sorry, but um—” He pointed at me. “My jacket?”

  “Oh, shoot!” I whipped off his leather jacket, and Eric’s face immediately turned bright red. He jerked his gaze away as if ordered to by a drill sergeant, and facing down, held out his arm out to receive the jacket. Wreck swiped it from me and threw it at him and slammed the door.

  His harsh blue gaze went to my barely covered tits.

  “What can I say?” I muttered. “Once a tramp, always a tramp.”

  “You said it, woman.”

  “Can’t do anything about that, I’m afraid.”

  Eyeing me, he crossed his arms and leaned back against the door. “Take everything off. Slowly. Make it good, ‘cause you got a lot of making up to do, Isidora. Dillon.”

  “Is that so?”

  “There are witnesses to that effect, aren’t there? Many, many witnesses.”

  My fingers went to the zipper at the side of my mini skirt and pulled. I shimmied out of the skirt, kicking it to the side with my boots. Raising my hands above my head, I danced to my own slow beat in my tiny black panties and bra.

  “Show me that ass.”

  I turned around, and laughing, I twitched my ass left and right, and all around. Lips and fingers pressed on my flesh, and I jerked in Wreck’s magnificent grip.

  “Hang on, I didn’t finish my penance—”

  “Fucking can’t wait. Can’t.” He got to his knees, and his jet-fueled tongue found the wet heat between my legs, lashing, punishing.

  My body t
ightened, I couldn’t speak, couldn’t—I came, crying out, trembling. Clinging to his shoulders, I attempted to steady myself.

  “I missed you so much, Is.” He threw me on the bed, and I tugged at his leathers.

  “Off. Get these off.”

  “How drunk are you? Usually, you’re more than able to—”

  “Off!”

  On a chuckle, he got up and took care of the fastenings himself, getting his body naked for me. My hands slid around his hips, pulling him close. Our gazes locked, I licked his rigid length, my hands cupping his balls.

  “Don’t play with me. Not now,” he grunted, a hand digging into my hair. “Take it.”

  I took his tip between my lips and groaned as his smooth, hard velvet filled my mouth. The musk of him, his warm skin. Glorious. His fingers slid under my bra straps, tugging them off my shoulders. My tits spilled out of the delicate bra, and he cupped them, stroking them roughly. The lines of his face tightened … his head fell back … his cock throbbed. Yes.

  He squeezed the sides of my face, and my eyes fluttered open, meeting his. “Want to come inside you. Inside you, Is.”

  A low moan escaped my lips at the husky tremor in his voice. I couldn’t take much more myself.

  Releasing him, I threw myself back on the bed, my legs going around his tight middle, pulling him close. His fists dug in the mattress as he drove inside me.

  The world stopped turning, everything fell away. And it was just Wreck and me. Wreck and me. Us together, one.

  My hands dug in his chest, his biceps. “I love you. I love you so much.”

  “Is…”

  “Always. Always.” I came hard and lifted up, tightening for him to find his end. The waves of ecstasy hit me again, and I let out a laugh. “Yes!”

  We came together.

  Chapter Five

  Wreck lifted his heavy weight off my body.

  “Don’t. Stay.” My legs wound around his middle, my arms around his massive shoulders. I nestled up against his heat. “We’re stuck to each other. So much sweat.”

  “So much cum.” He nipped at my shoulder.

  “Hmm, gimme more.” I brushed his chest with my swollen lips. He moved down my body, his tongue lapping at my flesh. My breathing picked up as his hands closed down over my tits, taking possession as the roughness of his slightly bearded face rubbed against my inner thighs, my pussy. My back arched, my pelvis. “Oh yeah.” His face sank over me, and he lavished me with attention. My body trembled under his precise strokes, twisting on the mattress.