ONE MORE RIDE Read online

  Spector eyed Beth for a long moment, then took his glasses off and polished them slowly. “Officer...D'Amato, is that right?”

  “Yes.”

  He nodded. “Officer, I could have gone into private practice. Instead, I decided to work here, where I could heal the people who need it the most—the ones most doctors don't care about. Every day, these men try to involve me in their games and schemes, but I stay out of it all. No matter what horrors they inflict upon each other or what their reasons are, I just patch them up as best I can.”

  Beth opened her mouth to speak, but Spector held up a hand to silence her.

  “Even so, I hear things. It's common knowledge, for example, that Captain Butler's loyalties are to the Aryans, along with half the guards under him. And it's also fairly well-known that since you started working here, you've been doing favors for the Aryans on his behalf. And now Butler sets some Sinners loose on Hall, and you step in to save his life...” Spector shook his head. “I don't know who's working for whom here, or to what end. What's more, I don't want to know. It's not my job to keep track of everyone's agendas and shifting affiliations. But whatever's going on, you're clearly involved somehow, and I'm not inclined to trust you or assume you have my patients' best interests at heart.”

  “I see your point,” Beth said. “I do. And you don't know me, and you have no reason to trust me. So all I can do is trust you enough to tell you that I've known this man for a long time, and he means a lot to me. He's been dragged into all of these gangs' bullshit against his will. He tried to do the right thing and stay out of it, and now he's got a target on his back. If he's kept with the rest of your patients, one of the Sinners will almost certainly kill him, or else one of the Aryans will, or even one of the guards. I'm all he has left in here. I'm the only one who's looking after him and trying to keep a two-year stretch for assault from becoming a death sentence. He doesn't deserve that. He's no saint, not even close, but he hasn't done anything he deserves to die for. You don't have to get involved in any of this...you're right, it's not your job. But you can help me save his life. Please, I'm begging you, just keep him in a secure room until he's well enough to go back to his cell. Don't let anyone in to see him, even Butler or the other guards. Please.”

  Spector considered this for a moment, then called out to Grant again. “Take Hall to secure room 2, please.” He turned to Beth. “He should be waking up fairly soon, if you want to wait and speak with him. Please don't make me regret this decision, Officer.”

  Grant placed Hank into a wheelchair and brought him into one of the small white rooms. He lifted Hank into bed with a grunt, handcuffed Hank's left wrist to the metal rail next to it, and left, closing the door behind him.

  Beth stood, waiting.

  Her uniform was still damp from the showers, her body was still quivering slightly from the fight with the Sinners, and her throat was filled with the coppery taste of adrenaline. When she'd seen the huge gang members standing over Hank, she'd swung into action without a thought for her own safety. Now that it was over, she couldn't help but think of all the different outcomes that could have occurred. She was amazed that she'd been able to overpower so many of them, even armed with a baton.

  Where had that strength and fearlessness come from?

  As if in answer to her silent question, Hank's eyes fluttered open and he looked up at her.

  “You saved me,” he said immediately.

  “Yeah, I, uh...guess I did.”

  She shifted her weight nervously. Hank's expression was unreadable, and his voice was toneless. Would he be angry at her for risking herself for him? Would he be ashamed that she had come to his rescue?

  Hank took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, as though trying to collect his strength. “Before. The stairwell. Those things I said to you. I was wrong. About...all of it. You're stronger than I thought. You're not...I don't...you're not just one more thing for me to worry about in here. Seeing you every day has made it easier for me. I think about what happened between us at the bar, and I hate myself so much, because if I hadn't done what I did afterward we'd have had a real chance. To be happy. Together. And I fucked it all up, I fucked everything up...”

  Beth touched his hand gently. “No, you didn't. We can still find a way to be together.”

  “How?”

  “I don't know. But we will. Somehow.”

  “This place...”

  “Shh. This place won't take it away from us. We won't let it. We'll survive. We'll find a way out of this together. I promise.”

  Before Hank could say anything more, Beth leaned over and kissed him, her fingertips stroking his hair. His tongue met hers eagerly, the comforting familiarity of his taste slowly filling her mouth. He tried to reach up for her with both arms, but his left wrist was still chained to the bed.

  “Relax,” Beth breathed. “I'll take care of everything.”

  Beth kept kissing Hank, her lips caressing his jaw, his neck, his chest. She slipped a hand down over his crotch and felt him grow hard almost instantly.

  She reached up to unbutton her shirt, pulling her bra cup down below her right breast to expose it. Her nipple was erect and she took Hank's left hand, lifting it and placing it under her shirt. His rough fingers traced lines across her breast, his thumb circling her nipple. He kept his eyes locked on hers the entire time. The look in them was tender and full of longing.

  “Touch me again,” he said.

  Beth pushed his medical gown aside and put her hand around his cock, more firmly this time. It grew larger against her palm, and she put her thumb and forefinger around the tip, sliding them down to the base of the shaft and back up again. He was so warm and firm at the same time, like living stone. She continued to stroke him slowly, and he let out a moan.

  “Remember to keep your voice down,” she whispered with a smile. “We don't want anyone barging in on us.”

  Hank nodded. “Just don't stop.”

  She kept running her fingers up and down, feeling the hot blood coursing through his veins. Her fingertips fondled his balls, and she saw rows of goosebumps appear on his skin as he shivered with delight.

  “God, that feels so good,” he sighed. “I've missed your hands on me.”

  “They've missed you too,” she purred.

  “I want to taste you.”

  Beth chuckled quietly. “That's going to be a little tricky with your broken nose. But I think I can give you something to tide you over.”

  She unbuckled her belt and pulled down the zipper on her pants, sliding her hand down into her panties. Kissing and touching him had already made her wet, and she pushed two fingers inside herself, relishing the feeling of her own fingertips gliding against her clit on the way in. Then she pulled them out again, offering them to Hank.

  He rubbed his lips against them first, then brought his head forward, taking them in his mouth. His tongue slid against them as he savored her.

  “How do I taste?” she teased.

  “You're so sweet, Beth...you taste so good...”

  Beth giggled, withdrawing her hand from him. She kicked off her shoes and pulled her pants down, shoving them aside. She wished she could take everything off for him—she wanted to let him enjoy the sight of her naked body, the way she'd enjoyed his while he showered. But what they were doing was already risky enough, and if there was any chance of it happening again while they were both in here, she knew she'd have to minimize their chances of being caught.

  She climbed onto the bed carefully, trying not to move it around too much in case it jangled his broken ribs. She knew she'd have to do most of the work, given his injuries and restraints.

  That was fine with her.

  She positioned herself over Hank, straddling him. Her hands caressed his shoulders, but she tried not to put too much of her weight forward onto him. She could feel his cock quivering between her thighs, brushing against her soaked panties. In a perfect world, she would take her time, tantalizing him, relishing this moment.
>
  But this wasn't a perfect world. This was Bluebonnet, and if she wanted him, she knew she'd have to have him quickly.

  She pulled the narrow strip of fabric aside to expose her pussy and lowered herself onto him, feeling him push up into her like a rocket ship propelling itself into the atmosphere. He gasped, his body tightening under her in a spasm of ecstasy. Even broken and chained down, he still seemed to have so much power behind him as he drove himself upward hungrily.

  She pushed herself down onto him more insistently until their hips were locked together, thrusting up and down in a single, perfect rhythm. The sounds of their heavy breathing filled the room, and Beth resisted the urge to cry out. Even here, in this place of violence and misery, she realized that she was still feeling the most intense pleasure of her life. She felt all of the fear and hopelessness drain from her, replaced with something pure and radiant and lovely.

  The lips of her pussy flexed and clenched around his shaft. Her clit was throbbing so hard she felt like she might burst into flames at any moment, dissolving into a pile of ashes only to be reborn again and again, like a phoenix.

  She'd saved him.

  And now he was saving her.

  Beth heard a low, sensual growl deep in Hank's throat, and she felt his climax just moments before her own. As they drenched each other in sweat and passion, Beth grabbed one of Hank's pillows and pressed it against her face, letting it mute her screams until she felt drained and delirious.

  She dismounted quickly, buttoning up her shirt and pulling her pants back on.

  “Stay,” Hank said. His voice was neutral, but his eyes implored her. She loved the way he looked at her now. It was as though he was truly seeing her for the first time—not as Bib's tag-along niece, not as a convenient distraction from his grief, and not as some new problem he needed to deal with while he was in Bluebonnet.

  He was looking at her like someone who wanted—needed—to be with her.

  “I wish I could,” she replied, kissing him on the forehead. “But don't worry. I'll be back as soon as I can.”

  And with that, she left, her thighs still trembling happily at the memory of his body between them.

  Chapter 25

  Beth

  Beth parked in front of her apartment complex. Before she got out, she removed her cell phone from her purse and hit a button to light up the screen, in case anyone was watching. Then she typed a quick message, stepped out of the car, held the phone up over her head, and cleared her throat.

  “Butler, if you or any of your dickheads are here waiting for me, you should know I just typed out a text to 9-1-1,” she announced loudly. “I guarantee I'll be able to hit the button before you take me down, and then the cops will know exactly whose door to come knocking on. Now, do you want to come at me, or do you want to fuck off? I'll wait.”

  She looked around, waiting for them to emerge from the shadows and attack her. No one did.

  A boy and a girl—both young enough to be in the early years of grade school—were playing with dolls and action figures in front of one of the other buildings. They looked at her, wide-eyed.

  “Lady, you just said a swear,” the boy said.

  “Two of them,” the girl chimed in solemnly. “The D-word and the F-word. My mommy told me that it's bad to say those words.”

  Beth chuckled to herself ruefully. “Your mommy's right.”

  “Then why did you say them, then?” the girl asked, tilting her head.

  “Because I make lots of bad decisions. So listen to your mommy, okay? Don't be like me. I suck.”

  The boy gasped. “Now she's said the S-word.”

  “That's not the S-word, stupid,” the girl replied prissily. “I know what the S-word is. I've heard it lots of times.”

  They returned to their toys, dispassionately arguing over which of them was more stupid.

  Beth shook her head, proceeding to the front door of the complex. She wondered if either of the kids had ever seen the inside of a prison. She hoped not. She hoped they never would. She hoped they'd stay young forever, and never make the kinds of awful choices she and Hank had made to get where they were today.

  When she stepped into the first-floor hallway, she awkwardly unlocked her mail box with one hand, keeping the phone in her other hand. The box was mostly crammed with junk mail, but there was a folded blue post-it note on top of the heap. She took it out and opened it, immediately recognizing Bib's handwriting: “Don't Freak Out – I'm In Your Apt. -B.”

  I'm starting to feel like I'm in a spy movie, Beth thought. Fake IDs, secret messages...

  She left the junk mail in the box so she could keep her phone at the ready as she went up the stairs to her apartment. When she tried the door, it was unlocked. She put the phone in sleep mode and slipped it back into her pocket, walking in.

  Bib was sitting in the dark again, waiting for her. “Did you get my note?”

  “I did. Thank you. At this point, I think another surprise like last time would take about twenty years off my life.”

  Bib nodded, pulling a creased envelope from the back pocket of his jeans. “Everything's taken care of. I set you up under the name 'Elizabeth Laszlo.' You've got a birth certificate, Social Security number, driver's license, the whole deal. Should hold up to scrutiny, as long as you don't try running for office or anything. Now come on, let's get you over to Nebraska. I got in touch with some guys out there in McCook—they'll keep an eye on you, make sure you stay safe.”

  Beth hesitated, thinking of everything that had happened that day.

  “What the hell's wrong?” Bib asked. “I said come on, let's go. The sooner we're on the road, the sooner you can get settled into your new place and put all this crap behind you.”

  “I can't do it,” she answered quietly.

  “You can, and you will. I don't know where this shit's coming from, but you gotta know I'm not gonna let my niece stick around here when her life's in danger.”

  “I'm not the only one in danger, Bib. Hank is too, and so are the rest of the Warriors in Bluebonnet. I can't just run away from them. Not when I can still help them.”

  “There's nothing you can do for them by staying,” Bib insisted. “I keep telling you, they're tough guys. Until I figure out a way to get shit under control again, they can look after themselves.”

  “You're wrong. I saved Hank's life today. The Aryans set him up to get killed by the Sinners in the showers, and I fought them off. All four of them. If it weren't for me, he'd be dead now.”

  Bib let out a low whistle. “Jesus. Really? Four of them? All by yourself?”

  “Damn right. And tomorrow I'll take on fourteen, or forty, or four hundred, or however many more of those assholes they send after him. What I won't do is leave Hank to be butchered, with no one there to look after him. So if you want to try to carry me out of here and toss me in your trunk like you said before, hey, take your shot. I already put down four guys as big as you today, so I like my odds.”

  Bib let out a long sigh which ended in a weary laugh. “Goddamn. You are just like your mother was, you know that? Same damn mouth on you, with a spine of solid steel to back it up. But please, I'm begging you, okay? Don't do this. Don't make me stand by and watch you die. Not when all this shit is my fault to begin with. Let me make it right.”

  “If I were one of the guys in the club, you wouldn't talk to me like this,” Beth said. “If I were your Sergeant-at-Arms and I told you this was something I had to do, you'd respect that and you wouldn't try to talk me out of it.”

  “But you ain't no Sergeant-at-Arms.”

  “No, I'm not. I'm the one who protected Hank while your Sergeant-at-Arms stood aside with his thumb up his ass because some Nazi told him to.”

  Bib pinched the bridge of his nose, frustrated. “At least tell me you've got a plan.”

  “Right now, my plan is to keep Hank alive and safe. I was trying to come up with a way to help him escape, but so far, I haven't thought of anything that will work. There
are too many guards and cameras on every entrance and exit. There has to be a way, though. And if I come up with one, I'll need another set of fake papers from you for Hank to use.”

  “Okay, but you'd better think of something fast. This open-ended shit doesn't sit well with me, and the longer you're there, the more the noose is gonna tighten around your neck.”

  “Believe me, I don't want to be in that fuckhole for a minute longer than I need to,” Beth assured him. “As soon as I see any opening at all, Hank and I are gone. How about you? Have you thought of anything?”

  Bib's face tightened almost imperceptibly. “Not yet.”