Burn to Ashes Read online

  “We lost them!” Adam suddenly announces.

  “Holy crap, are you kidding me?” I shout enthusiastically.

  “Yeah…I am.”

  “What the hell? Why’d you say that?”

  “Just trying to be positive here. You better get ready to use that thing again ‘cause we’re coming to a dead end.”

  “What? No, we can’t be. How can we be?” I can’t believe we’re about to end in a shootout. “Is this really the end?”

  “Can you swim?” He asks cryptically.

  “Not really, no.”

  “Then it’s the end.”

  “I don’t get it. How is it the end if I can’t swim?”

  He gives me this longsuffering look then answers me. “There’s a right turn up here that leads to a dead end. We have four bikes on our tail and closing fast. If we go straight we’ll sail right off the end of the pier up ahead and splashdown in forty feet of water.”

  “We are fucked…just go straight.”

  “But you can’t swim.” He protests.

  “I also can’t survive being filled with lead either. I’ll take a watery death any day over being shot and captured and tortured. So…go straight and I’ll do my best not to sink.”

  “You really are nuts Kari, and I can respect that.”

  “Any last minute instructions?”

  “Yeah, you won’t be able to get your door open until the car is full of water and the pressure inside is equal to the water pressure outside.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  “That means you’ll have to hold your breath like a porpoise until the car fills up then open a door. Crawl out and as long as you relax the oxygen in your body will make you float to the surface.”

  “You sure about that?” I reply skeptically.

  “Don’t worry babe, I’ll help you to the surface. This is the best shot we got so get ready.”

  I look ahead as we break through the flimsy wooden crossing guard and fly by rows of shipping containers. Suddenly it occurs to me. We’re going to be in the water in the pitch black. I won’t be able to see a damn thing. How am I supposed to open door and climb out?

  “I change my mind.” I begin. “I’d rather be sh—”

  I never finish the sentence. All of a sudden we’re airborne at 60 miles an hour. I take a deep breath and prepare for a watery grave.

  We land with a deafening crash and a bone jarring thud as we land on a pile of garbage on the rear of a trash barge. I can’t fucking believe it. I look back behind us and I don’t see a single biker on the pier. They must have assumed we’re at the bottom of the sea now drowning. I try to open my door but we hit so hard that the car has sunk almost up to the bottom of the windows in trash. Adam takes his gun and smashes out his window then proceeds to use his cut to cover the shards on the door. That way neither of us will be cut to ribbons as we crawl out.

  The smell is overwhelming. We half crawl and half walk around to the front of the boat and finally to the wheelhouse where we give the long driver one hell of a shock.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” He asks sweetly.

  “We…uh, we landed in the back of your boat.” Adam says.

  “What do you mean landed?” The driver asks.

  “I mean we drove our car off the pier and landed in the back of your boat.”

  “So…you guys were trying to kill yourselves then?” He asks.

  “No,” I jump in. “We we’re trying to get away from some very bad people and they forced us off the pier. We didn’t know there was a barge docked at the end. We were just going to swim out to the shore.”

  “I see. Well I can’t take you back right now. I gotta take this stuff out and I don’t have time to turn around now.”

  “How long will it take?” Adam wants to know.

  “This is my last run,” the barge captain replies. “We’ll be back at dawn. Otherwise you’re welcome to swim ashore.”

  “We’re not in that big of a hurry,” I reply.

  There’s no way in hell can I swim all the way back to shore in the dark even if I could swim. We decide to wait it out. At least we got away from the bikers.

  Chapter Two

  In a Flea Bag Bedbug Ridden Motel Room

  It’s times like this when I’m covered from head to toe in god knows what and stinking to high heaven that I have to wonder about my decision to take leave from the hospital, and my senses, and go after Ripper and his gang. No one is out and about when we reach our hotel room so we disrobe on the mat outside the door and then tiptoe across the floor to the shower. Hopefully one of the maids will find our clothes and take them to the incinerator.

  I plop down on the edge of our bed and consider just going to sleep without even showing; that’s how tired I really am. However, the thought of Adam standing in hot water naked is a more powerful aphrodisiac than withstand. I feel like I’m a puppet and that someone is controlling my strings and directing me to the shower where Adam is soaping up. With each step comes a tiny twinge between my legs; just a whisper of pleasure, and hint of what’s to come. On the way to the bathroom I begin peeling off my filthy clothes. First comes the shoes as I kick them across the room; socks follow. I pause to peel off my jeans. I don’t dare look at my underwear. I don’t want to know what has been cozying up to my cooch this past hour. My shirt decorates the bedside lamp and my bra actually gets looped around the front door knob. My mouth actually waters in anticipation.

  I open the door and steam and hot air bathes my naked body. Through the pebbly glass I can see the distortions of Adam’s nude body. My tongue slips out and traces around my lips. I can’t wait for it to trace around something entirely different. I reach out and turn the silver handle, opening the door slowly. Adam’s back is to me. I stand here for a moment and let my eyes travel from his broad shoulders, down his well- muscled back and finally to the top of his ass. My eyes can’t seem to continue their journey south; they’re stuck on his butt!

  I step into the steaming - deluge and slide my arms around my man. He’s in the middle of rinsing his hair, but he stops the moment my hands touch his hot skin. As he resumes rinsing his dark brown locks I let my hands slide from his mid-section and to his abs. I let my fingers enjoy the fruits of many hours in the gym perfecting his physique. I am so happy I get to enjoy the fruits of his labor now and no one else. I catch my breath as my fingers brush against his dark pubes before slipping down to the base of his cock. It’s gratifying that the touch of my hand on his stomach is enough to stir an erection. I still got it!

  I hear his breath catch as my fingers slip around his shaft and slide down its length to the base. His cock is like a tree that would take a tornado to uproot. I let my hands slide over his head, then back down to the root; it’s all he can take. Adam turns around, grabs my ass and pulls me towards his hardness. As we connect below we connect up top as our mouths find each other. Lips touch, connect, open, tongues meet and entwine. The hot water sluicing over our bodies melds us as it washes away the filth of the barge and in minutes we go from shit to sheen, from exhaustion to ecstasy. When we finally get out of the water it’s not because we’re stated, but because we run short of hot water. The only reason we don’t continue is that sex and bedbugs do not mix!

  Ten minutes later I’m lying on the flea bitten, bedbug ridden mattress with my eyes completely shut. Lying next to me in a similar state is Adam. Right now there’s a tug of war going on in my brain. Part of my brain is telling me to get up off my ass and participate in the life that’s happening around me. I can hear Adam’s voice in my head and he’s definitely not using his inside voice.

  “Never close your eyes Kari; everyone is deserving of your attention! You watch people like a hawk or you’ll end up being the hawks prey.”

  And when I start to raise an objection he doesn’t let me get a word out.

  “Yeah I know it takes a lot of energy to be on your guard 24/7 and it’ll make you tired running scenarios through your head all
day long. It gets easier though I promise.”

  “You mean I can never just go to my favorite coffee shop and sit and read a good book while drinking coffee?”

  “No! You do that and your life is going to be cut short one day. When you walk down the sidewalk every person that approaches you is a possible suspect; a potential assassin. And don’t forget the people behind you as well. Windows, mirrors, or a mud puddle; any polished surface is your friend.”

  I reach over and grab his cock. “How about a polished knob; can that be my friend?” I say with a mischievous smile.

  “Your best friend,” he moans seductively. “But don’t be all willy-nilly with your friends.”

  “Oh don’t worry; I’m only on friendly terms with your knob.”

  “You’d better be.”

  “Can I be on professional terms with another knob?” I ask.

  He looks over at me. “It almost sounded just then like you’re talking about professional services. You’d better not be paying for knob on the side!”

  “I’ve never been on for hobnobbing about; I swear.”

  “We are still talking about fucking right?” He finally asks.

  “As opposed to bedroom furniture? Yeah.”

  “That’s what I like about you Kari. You’ve still got your sense of humor despite the horrors you must see every night at your work.”

  “It’s kind of a requirement for my line of work.”

  It’s pretty freaking amazing lying here with Adam like this. It seems like we’ve been going about life at the speed of light from day one and that kinda scares me. What’s that saying…he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword? I met Adam when he was brought in with a gunshot wound. I also saw him kill several men and before long I was shooting a gun from the back of a motorcycle; what a life. I have spent more time in the last 18 months running from the cops and outlaw bikers than I have spent working in my chosen profession; a trauma nurse at St. Josephs.

  While I don’t totally want to give up my career as a trauma nurse I’m not sure I can ever walk away from life with Adam; but maybe I should. If my parents were still alive today they’d tell me to…well my mother would tell me to follow my heart and my dad would tell me to do the responsible thing and make a life with someone with similar interests; like a fellow doctor at the hospital I work at, a doctor like Mike Shanahan.

  “What are you thinking?” Adam suddenly asks me.

  “I’m thinking about leaving you for a doctor at work.” I say with total honesty.

  He sits up with surprising swiftness considering he was nearly asleep a second ago. “What the fuck?”

  “Relax, I’d die of boredom.” That’s also an honest assessment of my feelings as well. “Well, probably would.”

  He gets this indignant look on his face and he starts breathing faster. “What the hell are you talking about Kari?”

  “Oh come on Adam, you can’t tell me you haven’t wondered about shacking up with some biker chick. A biker chick would totally fit with your lifestyle. Why are you with me anyway? I totally don’t fit with your lifestyle and I never will.”

  “Geeze Kari, so skeptical. I don’t like biker chicks and could never make one my old lady.”

  “Why the hell not?” I ask.

  “They don’t have brains of their own. I don’t want a woman I can dominate. Old Ladies do whatever their men tell them; no questions asked! They are their men’s property. I don’t want property any more than you want to be some man’s property.”

  “Wow…I thought that was every guy’s fantasy, to have a woman that would do whatever he told her without bitching about it. Maybe you are different from other bikers.”

  “You’re just now coming to that conclusion?” He asks.

  “Not really. I’ve known that all along and that’s largely what attracted me to you.”

  “Do you think you’ll ever tire of me being so different from you? I mean, do we really have anything in common?”

  “Do you think you’ll ever tire of me?” He asks.

  “No but I just may scare you away.”

  “Really? I’d have thought I would be the one scaring you away. Why on earth do you think you could scare me away? Name one thing that would send me running. I defy you to name one thing!”

  “I’m pregnant.”

  He jumps up off the bed with surprising speed. “Goodbye!”

  “You fucker!”

  “I’m sorry, I really didn’t think you’d be able to scare me but you did.”

  “So you’re serious? You really would vacate if I became pregnant?”

  He lies back down. “No…no I wouldn’t abandon you. But do you really think this is a good time to bring a child into our world?”

  “I’d be freakin nuts!” I reply with conviction.

  “Well good, at least we are on the same page when it comes to kids.”

  “But one day…would you possibly want kids?” I ask earnestly. As I’m asking this I realize it’s kind of a deal breaker. I do want kids someday and I really can’t be with someone who doesn’t want them or cannot create a life for us that would be conducive to raising kids.

  “Someday…Yeah, someday I could see me with a kid or two. I like kids; just not kids now. When the Sons are legit and no one is trying to kill me, then we can have kids.”

  “Yeah…I don’t fancy myself being a single mother or a widow. You gotta do your part here Adam so we can have a future together.”

  “Do you see that I am? I have been doing my part for years to make this word a better place.”

  Suddenly I remember the family he helped out last year. Yeah, he is doing his part and he will be a great dad someday. I just hope he lives long enough to accomplish it.

  I wake the next morning with the sun streaming in through the window and bathing my face in its warm glow. I stretch luxuriously and glance at my watch; it’s nearly ten. I had forgotten just how wonderful a full night of sleep can be. Seems like all I’ve been getting the last three months have been cat naps and I never feel like I have slept enough. I sit up in bed with the intension of getting the coffee maker fired up when I see it. There on the TV screen is an ugly demon head scrawled in either blood or my lipstick. It’s the Cycle Demon’s logo.

  I cover my mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to stifle the scream that has been building deep down in my body. It escapes with a high pitched squeal and it wakes Adam up instantly. In a split second he’s kicked off the covers and come up with a long nasty looking blade in his hand.

  He looks at me. “What the fuck?” Then he follows my gaze. “Motherfuckers! They’ve been in here.” He concludes.

  “Y-you d-don’t think… it could have been there last night do you? I mean we were pretty bushed when we came home this morning.”

  “Hell no! I would have noticed that.”

  “You’re probably right.” I reply as panic begins to overtake me. “I can’t believe they actually snuck in here while we were sleeping. That means…” I can’t finish my own thoughts.

  “It means,” he finishes for me. “It means they could have just as easily of slit our throats as drawn that picture on the TV.”

  It takes everything I can do to not just burry myself under the covers like and pretend it never happened. The thought of being at another’s mercy like that is just too much to bear. Suddenly my sister pops into my head. She knows what that feels like. Last year Ripper had kidnapped and held her at his mercy until Adam and his guys were able to rescue her. She knows exactly what this feels like. It also makes me feel ashamed. I just woke up to a nasty drawing while she woke up to a group of homicidal bikers. I swallow hard, forcing my fear down deep. I refuse to let it rule me. If I’m going to continue on this path of revenge here I have to get used to being in danger every day. Maybe this is a good lesson; as wakeup call if you will. If I’m going to survive this I’ll have to rely on my nerves of steel developed from years of dealing with trauma in the ER.

  I don’t realize I am
shaking until I feel a pair of strong arms circle me, pulling me into his warm embrace. I take a deep breath then exhale the fear out of my system. I allow my body to just melt into his and then we are one. His lips on the back of my neck send chills up and down my spine and the pleasure center of my brain sings. Slowly I twist around in his arms until I am facing him and his mouth moves to my neck, along my jaw line till it finds my own mouth. His lips are firm and demanding. I open mine and our tongues begin that erotic tango that never fails to get my body purring. Adam is the perfect analgesic. In seconds the memory of last night’s run for our lives and the stink of garbage fades, as does the shock from the intrusion of the Cycle Demons as we slept.

  Adam never fails to read my body like a book; one he has thumbed through expertly over and over again. It’s like we’ve know each other for years, as cliché as that sounds it’s true. He knows when I’m beginning to feel over stimulated and where to move on to. He knows when I’m in the mood for slow tender caresses and when I want to be handled, ridden hard and put away wet. I never was for all that sex talk and asking for what you needed from a lover. If he can’t figure it out for himself then I got the wrong guy. Not only does Adam figure me out, he anticipates me and what I need before I even know what I’m looking for. That has to be a rare quality in a man so I’m not letting this one go anytime soon.

  Finally satiated we collapse in each other’s arms. Adam is positioned on his back as am I and my head is using his chest as a pillow. I open my eyes and jump unintentionally.

  “What?” He asks, looking at me. I can see genuine worry reflected in his eyes.

  “It’s nothing. I just forgot we were putting on a show for the Cycle Demons.” I reply, pointing to the nasty face on our TV. “I have to admit being watched has been a fantasy of mine but I don’t think I would have picked his ugly mug for my audience.”

  “You know lots of girls are into that paranormal, shape shifting, boogie man fantasy stuff these days.”