Reaper's Stand(48)

“Just remember, Friday night is mine.”

“Friday night is yours,” I repeated.

Then I climbed on Reese Hayes’s bike, wrapped my arms around him tight, and let him carry me off into the sunset.

It was full dark by the time we reached my place.

I didn’t want to get off the bike and step back into reality … there was something incredibly thrilling and powerful about riding with Reese, and I wanted to enjoy it while I could. Whatever he might have said earlier, I wasn’t exactly holding my breath that this would turn into a real relationship. The odds weren’t in our favor. But until things fell apart, I’d let myself savor the moment—giving up control and trusting him to keep me safe was the most liberating thing I’d done in six years.

When he turned off the Harley, I couldn’t seem to make my hands let go of him. This didn’t seem to bother Reese. He caught them in his own and pulled me tighter against his back. I smelled the leather and felt his strength between my legs. Surreal.

Then he let go.

I climbed off the bike and back into reality. The porch light came on and the front door opened to reveal Mellie. She stopped dead when she saw Reese, and her jaw actually dropped.

Fair enough.

Last time she’d seen me, I’d been dating a deputy sheriff. Now I’d come home with an outlaw biker, and I’d be willing to bet that anyone seeing us would know we’d been together. There was an intimacy between us that hadn’t been there before. I felt it in the way he put his hand on my back protectively, and the way I found myself leaning toward him.

Oh, and it probably didn’t help that I’d lost my bra—the night air was cool enough to nip me out in a big way.

Mellie had always been shy, so I was surprised when she stepped off the porch and started walking across the lawn. The kid must’ve been even more upset than she sounded on the phone. I’d just started toward her when a horrific burst of sound and heat and light exploded out of the house. Reese tackled me to the ground, covering me with his body.

Everything fell perfectly, utterly silent.

What the hell had happened?

Reese lay on top of me for long seconds. I couldn’t hear his voice but I felt the vibrations of his yelling through his body. Why couldn’t I hear him? After an eternity, he rolled off me and I looked up to find an inferno where my house had been, flames licking up toward the sky.

I realized my house had exploded.

My house had f*cking exploded!

An instant later I remembered how close Melanie had been when it went up, and my heart stopped.

“Mellie!” I yelled, grabbing Reese’s arm, jerking him toward me. “We have to find Mellie!”

He yelled something back at me, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Then he was on his feet, running across the lawn. I staggered upward, trying to figure out what the hell was happening. Neighbors were pouring out into the street all around us. Slowly sounds took shape—mostly an unpleasant ringing—and I realized the force of the explosion had temporarily deafened me.

Reese was a dark silhouette against the fire, searching through the debris. He stopped suddenly, and I saw him lift Mel’s still form, carrying her toward me. Then he was laying her in the grass and noises started filling my ears again. I fell to my knees next to her body.

Oh God. Mellie …

She looked dead.

“I’m calling nine one one!” someone yelled behind us, startling me. I was still stunned—I couldn’t seem to think. I needed to check her pulse, make sure she was breathing. Old training kicked in, and I could have cried in gratitude for the CPR classes I’d taken over the years. I found her pulse. Weak, but definitely present. Then I leaned my face into her mouth and nose, praying I’d feel her breathe against my skin.


Air tickled my cheek.

“She’s alive,” I whispered. Tears rolled down my face.

“Thank f*ck for that,” Reese muttered, pulling me into his arms as one of my neighbors knelt next to Melanie, covering her with a blanket. The wall of safety came crashing down around me and I started to shake.

My house was gone. I’d almost lost Melanie … What the hell could possibly explain this?

The wailing howls of emergency vehicles filled the air. I heard a car screech to a stop, and out of the corner of my eye I vaguely noticed that a man in a sheriff’s uniform had stepped out, speaking into his shoulder radio urgently.

Then a fire engine rumbled down the street. Firefighters ran past me, dragging their hoses with them, and EMTs swarmed Mellie’s still form.

To my relief they weren’t doing anything that looked serious and scary like you see on TV—no chest compressions or IVs or shocking her with shiny paddles. Instead they monitored her vitals, voices calm as they methodically got a neck brace on her before rolling her onto a backboard. Seconds later they lifted the entire apparatus—backboard and all—onto the rolling gurney and started back toward their vehicle.

“That board won’t do much good if you already paralyzed her. Should’ve left her where you found her,” I heard a familiar voice say. I looked up to find Nate standing over me, his voice full of venom. I pulled away from Reese and stood slowly. Nate reached a hand down to help me, but Reese caught my arm.

“Stay the f*ck away from my woman,” he growled. Nate’s eyes went wide.

“Guess that cunt’s not made of gold after all?” he commented. Reese lunged toward him and without thinking I jumped between the two men.