Rain Shadow Read online

  With little enthusiasm, my glum faced pool partner took the break shot.

  “You didn’t really want to play, did you?” I asked.

  “Haven’t even had a fucking beer yet, and they’ve pushed me over to the kid’s table.”

  I laughed. “Then I guess I’m stuck at the kid’s table with you.” I looked back through to the bar. Angel turned around with her glass of wine, and the thirty-something guy moved right in on her. She glanced my direction as he spoke to her. He noticed her lack of attention and glanced my way. He stepped around to block my view of her. This night out was all part of Dreygon’s outdated idea on courtship. The old man was a master schemer, but he was pretty damn transparent with his plans.

  I leaned over the table and took a shot. My concentration was fucked, and I’d be lucky to get any ball in a pocket. I looked at Everett. “What’s the name of your big friend with the long blond ponytail and beard?”

  “Johnny?”

  “Is he the dude talking to Angel at the bar?”

  “Yeah, that’s him. He’s the president’s son. He’ll be taking over the club in a few years. His old man has lung cancer.” He leaned over and fired three solids into the pockets.

  I peered through to the bar. More people had come inside. Dreygon sat in the booth deep in discussion with the club president. Occasionally, they’d glance in Angel’s direction. The asshole had brought her here tonight to meet the man she’d been promised to. It was an easy plan to follow. He promises his granddaughter’s hand in marriage and, in return, he gets the smaller club to join Bedlam. And he’d pushed me into the pool room to get me out of the way. The whole thing was so comically obvious, it was almost hard to believe that Dreygon had been the mastermind behind it.

  “If you’re done babysitting me then I think I’m hanging up the pool cue, Everett. It’s been nice playing with you.”

  I went to hang up the cue when Dreygon’s voice echoed through the room. “What are you doing?”

  I turned around. “I’m giving the babysitter the night off. He wants a beer, and neither of us is in the mood for pool.”

  “Well, I was just coming to watch you both play, so why don’t you grab that cue again.”

  We stared at each other, a game of chicken we played often. Dreygon broke first. “Angel knows how to take care of herself. Why don’t you let some of the other men talk to her for a change.”

  “She’s not some possession you can barter with.”

  He laughed. “Is that so? Because you seem to be pretty fucking possessive when it comes to my granddaughter.”

  Everett laid his cue down on the table. The conversation seemed to make him uneasy.

  “Everett, pick up that cue,” Dreygon commanded. “The game isn’t over.” Now he turned his scowl toward me. “Finish the game. Thought you had more confidence than that, Son. If she’s truly in love with you then a little attention from other men isn’t going to change that.”

  He was a warped old bastard, and he knew how to fuck with my mind. I picked up the cue and leaned over the table. Now I wanted this game to be over. I took care of every ball in a few shots. The black ball stared at me from across the table. It was at an impossible angle so I took a wild shot and missed.

  Everett had even less enthusiasm for the game now, especially with Dreygon breathing down our necks. I looked through toward the other room. Angel smiled weakly at something Johnny said to her and then as if she’d felt me watching her, she glanced my direction. Our gazes locked instantly. Johnny glanced back to see what had Angel’s attention. His jaw jutted forward in anger. He turned around and said something to Angel. Her mouth dropped into a frown. She tried to push past him, but he grabbed hold of her wrist. She yanked it free.

  “This is fucking bullshit.” I smacked the pool cue hard against the table, startling both Everett and Dreygon. I stormed into the barroom, pushed through the others, and stood face to face with Johnny. He was taller and thicker than me. “I’m taking her with me.” I took hold of Angel’s hand and pulled her through to the pool room. Dreygon had been right. I was fucking possessive when it came to Angel, and there was no way I could stop myself. I didn’t want to stop.

  I expected to see a storm of rage in Dreygon’s expression but instead a wicked smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. I pulled Angel along to the last table. My hands went roughly around her waist, and I lifted her up to sit on the edge of the table. I leaned between her legs and ran my hands up the sleek leather of her boots. She threw her arms around my neck and our mouths slammed together. We kissed long and deep as if we were the only people standing in the room.

  Angel was nearly breathless as she lifted her mouth from mine. “Shit, Reno, don’t ever leave me alone like that again.” She leaned in to kiss me again and her eyes widened. “Watch out!”

  Two tree trunk sized arms wrapped around my chest like iron straps. Angel scooted on her butt to the center of the table to get out of the way.

  I leaned down and brought my elbow up like an ax about to cut wood. Johnny’s jaw snapped shut, and his grip fell away. I swung around. His fist clipped my chin. The ring on his finger sliced open my skin and blood dripped onto my shirt. The fight had gathered a small crowd of spectators, but no one seemed inclined to jump in. I kicked out and made contact with his neck. He stumbled back and coughed a few times. A combination of pure rage and being struck in the throat turned his face red.

  His huge arms shot out and he lunged at me like a charging bull. He shoved me hard against the edge of the pool table. Pain shot through my back, and I dropped to my knees.

  Angel hung her head over. “Get up, Luke.” Then she squealed. I shot to my feet at the sound of it. Jericho had grabbed her by the waist to pull her out of the way. She squirmed and protested, but she was no match for him.

  The bull was coming at me again. I threw a right jab at his face, and even though the guy seemed to be built of fucking stone, I’d done some damage. He reached behind him on the wall and grabbed off a pool cue. My back ached from being smacked on the pool table, but I managed to duck and weave out of the way of the swinging stick. It whirred past my head twice, but on the third round, he brought it back so fast it caught me on the side of the face. I’d only see the proverbial stars twice before, both times after falling off my skateboard as a kid, but I was definitely seeing them now. I staggered over to the same table that had nailed me in the back and grabbed it for support.

  “Reno!” Angel’s voice call to me somewhere from the spinning room and Dreygon shouted her name right after. I worked hard to gain my bearings, but my ears rang and nothing was in focus . . . with the exception of the same pool cue cutting through the air again. Stunned from the blow to my head, my reflexes jammed, and I couldn’t think which way to move. Two hands pushed me. Angel screamed as I fell sideways. The cue had struck her as she pushed me out of the way.

  “I’m fine,” she said weakly. She held her arm against her. This time Cash swept in and picked up Angel. He carried her away.

  Turned out all I need was a little prodding, and my head cleared instantly.

  I charged at the guy ready for blood. I grabbed the end of the pool stick, wrenched it out of his fat fist and threw it to the floor. My foot shot out and I struck his knee. A sickening cracking sound followed. He grabbed his knee and tottered backward. My fist flew into his face before he could recover. He dropped onto his ass with a thud.

  Angel being struck by the cue had raised the tension in the room, and the cohesive group of spectators had torn into two distinct clubs. Random fists started flying. Gunner picked up a guy and threw him across one of the pool tables. Jericho ducked out of the way of a flying chair and then he used that same chair to crown a guy in the head. The chair cracked in half along with the guy’s skull. My sparring partner attempted to stand, but I was done. I needed to get Angel out of the bar. He made a wild grab for me. I kicked out and nailed him in the face, slamming him into the wall. He was out cold.

  Blood spraye
d through the room like red confetti. I searched frantically through the minefield of flying fists. Angel was standing in a corner with a chair in front of her like a lion tamer trying to keep the beasts away. I pushed through the melee. Not realizing it was me, she shoved the chair up toward my face.

  “Angel.”

  She dropped her four-legged shield and jumped into my arms. I carried her through the scrimmage to the front door. Mickey passed us with a pistol in his hand. It seemed he was done with tonight’s clientele.

  We slammed out the door and raced to the bike. I handed her the helmet, and we climbed on. A shot rang out, startling both of us. Angel’s eyes went wide with fear.

  “I think he was just firing it into the air to stop them from destroying his place,” I assured her.

  I started up the bike. Angel wrapped her arms tightly around my waist. I looked back at her. “How far do you think a half gallon of gas will get us?”

  “Not far enough. But I know a fun place off the road.” Her lip tilted up seductively.

  “Definitely up for fun.” I pulled out onto the road. We were both fucking pumped with energy. Just being in their world had made me that much angrier, that much more willing to take a life. I was on the other side of justice at the moment, and I hated to admit it, but it didn’t feel all that wrong. There was something satisfying about making pudding out of an asshole’s face. Or it could have all just been because of my insane obsession with the girl holding onto me.

  She pressed her body against mine and tightened her hold on me. It felt as if jolts of electricity were being shot between our bodies. Angel was like an explosion of everything I desired, a hurricane of love, sex, turmoil and emotion that knocked me fucking senseless.

  The road was dead quiet. With no streetlamps and only a sliver of a moon, the wavering headlight on the old bike had to work hard to light the way.

  Angel shivered as the cold night air brushed over her bare thighs. She hugged me tighter and slid her hands beneath my shirt for warmth. “Turn off the road where you see that yellow sign up ahead,” she said loudly over my shoulder.

  It was not a road but a clear path between a sea of thorny shrubs and spindly trees. We disappeared into a cloud of dust.

  Angel brought her mouth close to my ear. “About a half mile ahead is an outcropping of rocks.”

  The gray granite slabs were easy to spot. They were worn smooth from sand and wind, and they nearly glowed white beneath the dim moonlight. Before I’d even stopped the bike, Angel had slid her hands from beneath my shirt and down into my pants. Her fingers teased my hard cock. I turned the engine off and leaned back against her as she continued to smooth her hand over my erection. She lightly kissed the bump on the side of my head. “Does it hurt?” she asked.

  “Huh?” My eyes drifted shut at the intoxicating feel of her touch. “I can’t feel anything except those long, sweet fingers of yours wrapped around my cock.”

  Reluctantly, I pulled her hand from me. “There won’t be anything left for you,” I said.

  She threw her long leg over the seat and took off her helmet. She was as breathtaking in waning moonlight as she was in full daylight. I untied the bandana from my neck and swung it around. “Now that I’ve got you out here in the middle of nowhere, what do you think I should do with you?”

  “Anything you’d like, my wicked captor.” She reached under her dress and slid her panties down past her boots.

  Watching the tiny, silk panties fall to the ground nearly made me come right then. She was insatiable, and my need for her went beyond lust, beyond hunger. I’d never felt anything as intense as my desire for her.

  I gazed long and hard at her. “Turn around, Baby.”

  She complied. I pulled her hands together and then noticed the red mark on her frail forearm. She flinched as I touched it.

  “Are you sure about this?”

  “It can’t hurt nearly as bad as that bump on your head.” She looked back at me over her shoulder and bit her lip seductively. “Besides, I’m already your prisoner.”

  I tied the bandana around her wrists and leaned my mouth to her ear. “You have the right to be unbelievably hot, and you have the right to come until you scream out my name, beneath this starlit sky.”

  I turned her around. Her eyes closed as I lifted her onto the rock in front of me. She leaned back on her bound hands and spread her knees. My hands slid up her smooth, inner thighs. I could feel the heat long before my fingers reached her pussy.

  She went to move her hands and then smiled as she remembered they were bound behind her. “But how will I be able to touch you?” she asked.

  “You won’t. I’m going to touch you,” my voice was gritty with need. My hand slid up to the slick folds, and my thumb caressed her clit.

  She opened her legs wider. Her head lulled back as I pushed my fingers inside of her. Long strands of hair danced in the desert breeze and the vague light from the night sky cast a silvery glow over her, making her look even more unreal. She moved over my probing fingers. “God Luke, I’m already close to coming.” Again she struggled to bring her hands forward.

  “Fuck me, please. Luke, I can’t bear it. I want to take you in my hands right now.” She pulled at the bandana and cried out in frustration. “Take me, Luke, now, please,” her words were faint but filled with pleading.

  I unzipped my fly and my cock sprang eagerly out. I pulled her hips closer. Her bound hands were hardly enough to support her as I slid deep inside of her. Her long legs went around my waist, and she held me tightly against her.

  I braced my hands on the rocks on either side of her. We weren’t touching each other with our hands. Every sensation was centered in one place where I rocked hard and hot inside of her. As we both neared climax, I grabbed hold of her hips and held her tightly. Tiny, soft moans of pleasure rolled from her lush lips as I moved against her.

  She wriggled her arms but couldn’t free them. “Luke! Oh my god, Luke!” she cried out into the endless night sky as her slick pussy tightened around me. She’d barely caught her breath as I came to the front edge of ecstasy. I slid out quickly, and my hot seed ran along her thigh as I pressed my cock against her.

  She covered my mouth with her luscious lips. “God, you make me so horny. I can’t stop thinking about you, hard and inside of me.” She laughed. “Again?”

  I scrubbed my hair with my fingers. “Don’t think that’s possible. Give me a few minutes.”

  She took hold of my hand. “If I ever get lucky enough to fulfill my dream of becoming a doctor, I’m going to figure out something that will help get rid of that disappointing lag time.”

  “You’d be a rich doctor indeed.” I climbed up on the rock next to her. She lifted her arms to remind me that her wrists were tied.

  “Hmm, I kind of like this whole captive thing.”

  “I have an itch,” she said pleadingly. “Please take it off.”

  I sighed. “All right.” I took the bandana from her wrists.

  She rubbed her nose. “My nose is devious. It always itches when my hands are busy.”

  We both laid back on the smooth, cold rock. The sky was black velvet. The stars were so huddled, it seemed as if they were touching each other.

  “How did you know about this place?” I asked.

  “It’s on my list of ‘awesome things that make my life bearable’.”

  Sometimes she spoke lightly of her highly unconventional life, as if it was more entertaining than ugly. Then there were other times when an emptiness came along with her words. This was one of those moments. I reached over and took hold of her hand.

  “It’s a brief list . . .with a long name.” She smiled softly. “These rocks under the stars, my horse and my dogs, Aunt Gracie’s laugh and warm slippers in winter.”

  “It’s a good list,” I said. “Was kind of hoping I might make the list, but that’s cool.”

  “Nah.” She held my arm tightly against her. “I had to start a new list for you.”

 
; I turned to look at her without lifting my head and was quickly reminded of the big, tender lump on the side of my skull. “Does this list have an equally impressive title?”

  “Yep.” She stared up at the sky. “You’re at the top of my ‘breathtaking, heart stealing man who has worked his way into my soul’ list. In fact, you’re the only name on the list.” She looked over at me. The shade of night could not dim the brilliant blue of her eyes. “Being with you gives me hope, hope that I might leave this bizarre fairy tale and live a real life. I’ve never had hope before.”

  I leaned over and kissed her. “I made a promise awhile back that I wasn’t leaving this place without you, Evangeline, and I never break a promise.” Then I thought about the lie, it was always there, the lie that felt like a roll of barbed wire in my gut. “Angel, if you found out something about me that you weren’t expecting, something that might make it even harder for us, would you—”

  “Nothing would matter, Luke. I’d still want to leave with you.” She leaned up on her elbow and gazed down at me. Her long hair tickled my arm. “Unless you tell me you like to kick puppies or something like that. Then I’d have to tell you to be on your way.”

  I reached up, placed my hand behind her head and pulled her mouth to mine. “Never kicked up a puppy in my life.” I kissed her. I was sure my true identity would never even cross her mind. The truth, no doubt, would have a huge impact, but I depended on the fact that she wanted me as much as I wanted her. Nothing could drive us apart.

  She lay back again and we listened to the chorus of the desert, crickets chatting, small critters skittering through the dust and the faint howl of the wind.

  “Jericho and I used to come here to look for shooting stars.”

  I looked over at her with a raised brow.

  “Stop looking at me like that. Remember you weren’t always in my life. And something tells me you were no priest up there in Reno.” Her arm shot up. “Is that the North Star or Venus?”

  “Sorry, I didn’t pay that much attention in astronomy.”