Steel Temptation (Back Down Devil MC #6)(48)

With his arms around her, Nate felt a small sense of relief wash over him.

But there was more hell waiting for the MC. And Mia.

“Chief Jerry’s not here,” Griffin said. “Son of a bitch was never here.”

“You don’t know that,” Blaine said.

“Yes I do. No car, no uniform, we saw who was here. Chief wasn’t here tonight.”

“Coast Road MC was,” Gaige said. “Fuck.”

Miller shook his head. He jumped toward a table and flipped it. More chips, drinks, cash scattered. Repeating until every table was flipped over, Miller then stood with his hands balled into fists.

“Better?” Gaige asked.

“Not at all,” Miller replied.

Nate kept holding Mia tight. He stroked her hair and slipped a finger under her chin. “Look at me, babe.”

She did.

Her eyes were big and beautiful, a dark past lingering, but a bright future ahead.

Not here though. Not a chance here with me… with this…

“Are you okay?” Nate asked, knowing it was a dumb question.

“I don’t know.”

“Did anything happen?”

“Besides you killing people…”

Nate felt his chest tighten. He backed up a few inches. “I told you who I was. You wanted the truth.”

“Come on,” Miller said. “We have to get back to the clubhouse. I’m sure the judge will call this mess in. Chief will then be here soon.”

“Shouldn’t we stay?” Griffin asked. “Set the boundaries.”

“No,” Nate said, cutting in. “We have to get out of here.”

“Why?” Blaine asked.

“Chief shows up and there’s us and some dead guys… who’s taking the hit for it? Coast Road is working for him. The judge. The entire thing. He’ll take all of us right in and then we’ll sit there. Don’t give him cause.”

“Fuck,” Gaige said.

“Nate’s right,” Miller said. “We need to move.”

Nate held Mia at arm’s length. “You coming with us?”

“Is that an offer?”

Nate gritted his teeth. “What do you want from me, Mia?”

The question hung in the air.

Blaine gave a whistle and everyone started toward the door. Part of Nate knew he should have just left Mia there. She could have called for a ride. Or better yet - she could have scooped up all the cash on the floor and made a run for it. Christ, there had to be a couple grand just there, right on the floor, ready for the taking.

Trying to imagine his life without Mia simply pissed him off.

“I hit the guy with a drink tray,” Mia said. “That’s why he came after me harder. He wanted to f*ck me and I kept pushing him away. Then he got too close. So I hit him with the drink tray a few times and he lost it.”

“Christ,” Nate whispered. “You’re a fighter.”

“Only because I was waiting for you.”

Nate inched closer again. All the guys were out of the room now. “I’m right here, babe. What I have to do to survive is just… it’s just me. And it’s going to get worse. I can’t control that. This is about surviving. You can either leave right now… with me or without.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Logically? You need to take all the cash you can and disappear. We can make a couple calls to other charters and get you protection as you go east. Go as far east as you can, hide, be gone. But my heart wants you on the back of my ride. I want to take you back to the clubhouse and tear that leather shit off your body and taste you. Lick the fear from your body, hold you until you feel safe, and f*ck you until you scream my name.”

Mia backed up a little and bumped into a poker table flipped on its side. She stumbled, reached back, and the table - and Mia - started to go.

Nate was right there, a hand behind her back, saving the fall.

Their bodies were together.

“This is dangerous,” Mia said, as if she could read Nate’s mind.

Nate nodded. “Yeah, it f*cking is.”

“We’re not supposed to be going this far, Nate.”

“I know.”

“We had rules…”

“We never had rules,” Nate growled. “I don’t live by rules. I never will live by rules. So you can’t handle that - or what I do for a living - then you need to get that cash and go. I won’t hate you for it.”

Mia touched his face. “Would you… would you miss me?”

Nate curled his lip. He killed the rest of the space between he and Mia, kissing her. Her lips were just too good. Soft, thin, they felt great to kiss and they looked pretty sliding up and down his dick. The images raced through Nate’s mind. It was never supposed to turn into something like this. Christ, he was just trying to do her a favor. For all those times he never did a favor when he should have.

“Hey, bro!” a voice boomed.

The kiss ended and Nate looked back.

Blaine stood there. “We have to…”

“I know.”

“Hey, if you’re uh, you know, you need an extra hand?” Blaine grinned. “I mean, you get to pick what hole you want first. But between us…”