Wild Blaze (Back Down Devil MC 0.5)(7)

Heather walked to the elevators and felt tears building up in her eyes. She hated herself even more for letting this kind of fear get to her. The fear that crippled her and the fear that left her commanded, even when she knew she was strong enough to do something better.

The elevator pinged and the doors opened.

Heather wasn’t able to step forward. Instead, she backed up as three men rushed from the elevator. They were tall and big. The front person looked right at her. His stare sliced right through every emotion Heather knew possible. His shoulders looked a mile wide. His shirt under his leather cut was tight to his body, muscles hard, tight, and seemingly everywhere.

“You work here?” he asked Heather.

“Yes. I’m a nurse. I’m going home.”

“Where is he?”

“Who?”

The man approached Heather. He pulled at his leather. “Don’t be a smartass, sweetheart. Our brother is here. Hurt. Got blown up.”

“Erik?”

“Yes,” the man said. “Where the f*ck is he?”

Heather pointed and gave general directions and the room number.

The man reached out and touched Heather’s shoulder. “Did you see him?”

“I was there, yes.”

“Is it bad?”

“Honestly? Yes.”

“Is he going to die?”

“I don’t think so,” Heather said. “Depends on how much he wants to fight to live. But he’s going to have some scars. It was…”

“Okay,” the man said. “Thanks. Will you be here tomorrow?”

“Me? Yeah. I work here.”

“Then I guess I’ll see you then.”

The man let Heather go and took the lead again.

Heather stood in silence and watched as the three men walked down the hall. On the back of the leather cuts Back Down Devil MC was written. It was pretty obvious who they were and why they were here. But that one guy… the one that touched Heather…

Heather looked at her shoulder and then touched it.

“Wow,” she whispered.

Had she ever seen someone so sexy and brooding before? The way he came at her and the way he looked at her… that was real.

Heather shook herself to wake from some kind of strange biker fantasy and she left the hospital once and for all. The drive home was long and filled with fear. The small ranch house was outside Frelen. There weren’t neighbors and the closest buildings were parts of the town that had been shut down and left to rot in ruin. Heather hated the place so much, but she knew why Lyle chose it. It was the perfect place to hide. To stay away from any fires. And as Lyle put it, a place where nobody could hear Heather scream.

Heather parked her car and climbed out. She looked at the dark house and shivered. In her heart, she wished Lyle wasn’t home. Better yet, she wished that guy from Back Down Devil was here to escort her inside. To make sure Lyle wasn’t…

The porch light turned on and Lyle was standing there. Right on the porch, under the light. He had a cigarette between his lips, the cherry burning when he took breaths. In his other hand was a bottle.

His nightly nightcap of a bottle of vodka.

Heather had no choice now but to approach. If she tried to leave, he’d get her. He would always get her. That’s just how her life was now.

Another thing Heather knew was that she wasn’t supposed to talk to Lyle until he spoke with her. So she walked in uncomfortable silence, his eyes burning at her. He didn’t speak to her until she was on the porch and just a few inches away.

“How was your day?” he asked, his rough smokers voice sounding worse than it did yesterday.

“Busy,” Heather said. “Bloody. There was a guy that came in…”

“I don’t give a f*ck,” Lyle said. “You’re not a doctor. You’re not like me. You don’t understand the feeling. Get it?”

Heather nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“You’re always sorry,” Lyle said. “You live your life in sorry.”

Heather didn’t speak anymore. Nothing she was going to say right now would make Lyle happy.

“Did you see Peter today?”

“Of course,” Heather said. “All was delivered.”

“Any messes?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You f*cking lying bitch,” Lyle growled.

“No. He got his… order.”

“After you f*cked it up. You know what that cost me?”

“It was a quick mistake,” Heather said. “He took the wrong cup.”

“It was his fault?” Lyle asked.

“No, of course not. It was my fault. I did it. I f*cked up. But I fixed it quick.”

“I should f*cking kill you for that.”

“He put me against a wall, Lyle. He tried to choke me. He wanted me to… touch him…”

Lyle growled and threw the bottle of vodka to the ground. It shattered and he went nose to nose with Heather.

“Don’t f*cking tell me that shit, you f*cking whore. You wanted it. You wanted him to f*ck you. Didn’t you? You wanted to see what his cock looked like. You f*cking almost screwed a deal for me today. Because you’re too worried about that nursing crap. There’s, what, twenty of you there? Don’t care so much. Worry about me. My business. What I’m giving you.”