KNOW ME (DEFIANT Motorcycle Club)(20)

“He’s all holed up like a rat and there’s a long list of characters would love a

crack at his f*cking scalp.”  Orion passed the cigarette to me and I played with it

between my fingers as he watched me intently.  “But eventually, when he gets his boys

back and has some time on his hands.  Yeah,” Orion nodded slowly. “Then he might.”
I must have looked fairly alarmed because Orion leaned over and quickly kissed my

forehead before taking his cigarette back.  “No one is gonna touch you,” he said

fiercely.
I smiled.  “Except you.”
I figured he would laugh but he didn’t.  He drew his knees up and ran a hand through

his dark hair.  “The night you came to me for help, Kira, I shouldn’t have treated

you how I did.”
My head lowered.  “You didn’t owe me shit, Orion.  I know that.”
He sighed thickly.  “I owed your daddy a few things, though.”  He paused, tipping my

head up with his big hand, wanting me to look him in the face and understand.  “Look,

I was rattled as hell when you showed up.  I’m not gonna lie.  I wanted to f*ck you

three ways to Sunday when I got a good look at you.  But more than that I couldn’t

stand to send you out in the world as this virginal little lamb without a friend in

sight.  You wouldn’t have lasted too damn long.”  He squeezed my chin.  “So I made

you an offer.”
It was his way of apologizing.  I covered his hand with mine.  “I’m tougher than you

think.  And you didn’t make me do anything.  I wanted it.  I wanted you.”
He traced my lower lip with his thumb.  “And now, Kira?” he said gruffly.  “What do

you want?”
Slowly I stood.  I pulled my shirt over my head.  I rolled down the tight jeans I’d

worn for the ride.  My skin was instantly warmed by the sun beating overhead.  And it

grew hotter as Orion’s eyes traveled over my body.
“Same thing,” I whispered, unhooking my bra.
He was rough this time, almost as if he wanted to see how far he could push me.  I

gritted my teeth and took it as he bent me over the seat of his bike and hammered

without mercy.
And I loved it.
***

Orion seemed almost cheerful as we left the deep seclusion of the desert.  It was as if

something crucial had been settled between us.  In spite of all his tough talk he’d

felt some guilt over who I was, who my father had been.
As we idled through Salome, Orion pointed out landmarks.  We ate a pleasant lunch at

the café and Orion told me colorful stories about Salome’s most famous resident.
“Dick Wick Hall?” I laughed.  “Was that his real name?”
Orion swallowed a piece of hamburger.  “Maybe, maybe not.”
“Orion isn’t your real first name, is it?  Crest’s was Adam.  He told me once.”
He shrugged.  “It’s the only name I have that f*cking matters.”
“So what is your name?”
Orion Jackson took another big bite from his greasy hamburger and winked at me good

naturedly.
“Fine,” I laughed.  “Keep your secrets.”  I started digging into my own food.  “So

what of this guy, Mr. Hall?”
“Ah, Mr.  Hall.  College Girl, you would appreciate Mr. Hall.  Operated a lonely gas

station out here in the 1920s when the road to California was nothing but wooden board

planks snaking through the desert.  He would pepper the road with these crazy

billboards so that by the time people made it out here they couldn’t wait to visit the

Laughing Gas Station.  He was also a writer who advertised his town by publishing a

newspaper full of colorful local crap.  Aging gunslingers, confused tourists and a pet

frog who couldn’t swim on account of living in a place with no water.  It’s pretty

funny shit, actually.  Before we leave we can hunt down a copy for you to add to your

library.”
I watched Orion as he spoke with an almost boyish enthusiasm.  It was the most I’d

heard him say at once since I’d arrived on his doorstep.  He was engaging and spoke

intelligently, all the while with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes so that you

never knew exactly what was going on in there. It was how I remembered him from a long

time ago.
When I leaned across the table and kissed him quickly on the lips he blinked and stared

at me in sudden silence.
“What?” I raised my eyebrows.  “I can’t kiss my, ah…wait, what do I call you,

anyway?”
He teased me.  “Call me Orion like you always do.  And I’ll call you Kira like I

always do.”
I got it.  There was no use for labels.  I remembered Rachel warning me not to throw

words like ‘love’ around.
Was I in love with Orion Jackson?  Was I just grateful to him?  Or did I only lust

after him so much I had to fight the urge to jump on him in the middle of a sun-filled

restaurant?