One More Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 3) by Kathryn Thomas Read Free Book Online Page A

to fight another day. Collapsing in a heap, her head hit a smooth stone, and she was stunned. But even through her haze, she saw the bike moving in slow motion as it teetered at the edge of the cliff. She prayed that it would somehow right itself and give her a chance to climb back on and keep flying away.
     
    Please. Please…
     
    The chopper seemed to answer her silent call for all of a second before it left her line of sight.
     
    “No!” she screamed.
     
    Her ears with the sound of metal hitting stone as the engine groaned in defeat and smoke wafted up into the air. Summoning what little strength she still had, Lauren crawled towards the sight of the fall and peered over the edge. Narrowing her eyes, she saw what was left of the bike in nothing but pieces among the jagged rocks. Should she try to make her way down and imagine some kind of magical repair? Lauren nearly did just that when she suddenly stopped herself. Going after the bike was a lost cause, and as she struggled to her feet, Lauren was relived to find that she still had the use of her legs. Wobbly to be sure, but she could still run. Or at least try to. Her steps were labored as the sound of the strange bike gaining on her filled her heart with terror. But she had to try to keep moving. She couldn’t… she just couldn’t…
     
    Looking towards the sun rising in the sky, Lauren didn’t know which way to turn. The world suddenly seemed to spin all around her, and she didn’t know which way to move. Taking a few halting steps, her head pounding with each move, she told herself that it was the right path, that he plan was still perfectly intact as one foot stayed on solid ground.
     
    And the other hit the open air.
     
    Looking down, she saw the wreckage that had been her bike. Even as she tried to draw back, Lauren’s body was nearing the place when she had no hope of doing anything but joining the crashed chopper and going out the same way.
     
    Maybe this can still work. It’ll look like an accident. No one will come after a mistake.
     
    Resigning herself to her sudden fate, Lauren felt her body moving closer to the open air when a firm arm surrounded her waist.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER SEVEN
     
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
     
    The hold brought her away from the edge, and she managed to sigh in relief at the realization that this was not the day when she was going to die. Her heels dragged against the asphalt, and she felt her body being lowered to the sand. The relief lasted for all of a second when she remembered who or what might be after her, and her vision was still hazy as a hand touched her face.
     
    “Don’t touch me,” she muttered. “I won’t go with you.”
     
    The fingers fell away, and Lauren’s body relaxed against the slate. It had to be Wayne, and he had to just be toying with her. Probably wanted to see how far she could crawl before he pounced again. She pictured her hands bound, her body stripped. He would make like Eric and drag her enslaved body across the sands and lead her into some circle of hell from which she might never…
     
    “Let me go!”
     
    Trying to stand, her legs started to give out from under her, and Lauren could either fall or settle into the arms holding her fast. Even as she wanted to live, to run, she still thrashed and kicked until the stranger’s hold was too much for her to fight.
     
    “Stop!” she screamed. “Get your fucking hands—”
     
    “It’s me, Lauren!”
     
    Catching her breath in her chest, Lauren’s eyes struggled and finally focused on the eyes over the arms keeping her in their grasp.
     
    “Why would you run away from me?”
     
    Seeing Blake clearly for the first time since he’d left her, Lauren’s first instinct was to wrap her arms around his neck and hold him tight. He had come for her! In the end, he still wanted…
     
    “Why would you do something that stupid?”
     
    Her head cleared around his words, and Lauren pulled away from him.