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

Blake kept her at arm’s length, his fingers till touching her hands even as he seethed before her and kept spewing.
     
    “Smack Grace around and run?” he challenged. “That made you no new friends.”
     
    She could already picture Trent leading the rallying cry to her to stew in her own juices until she was met some worst fate. Maybe Callie spoke up for her; maybe she just focused her mind on Paul’s wounds. But something had brought Blake back to her side.
     
    “What?” she asked. “Are you going to sling me over your shoulder and go back all King Kong? Show them that you can put me in my place?”
     
    “Something like that,” Blake said. “Come here.”
     
    His arms pulled her off the ground. She nearly settled against his chest, savoring the musky waves pouring off his neck as pulled her closer. Meeting his eyes, she tried and failed to decipher his cold stare.
     
    “What if I don’t want to?” she said. “What if I…?”
     
    Lauren’s voice trailed off, and her head spun again. She couldn’t focus on anything but her own ragged breath as Blake’s hold intensified and he kneeled to the ground.
     
    “Easy.”
     
    He cradled her head with his hand and laid her out on the sand. Grateful for the solid surface against her back, she sighed into the feel of his fingers touching her cheek.
     
    “You’re okay,” he crooned. “No worse for the wear.”
     
    He leaned closer, his lips curled above hers when she turned away with a light smirk.
     
    “What can I say? Guess I got a hard head.”
     
    “I won’t argue that.”
     
    Blake rested his body at her side and dragged her fingers down her cheek.
     
    “Something to be thankful for,” he said. “Maybe not the only thing.”
     
    As her fallen bike continued to smoke from its final resting place, his fingers firmed around her chin, and she forced her stare into his eyes.
     
    “You… Grace said it was real.”
     
    Lauren’s lips parted to echo her own words when another dizzy spell overtook her. Needing rest, she settled into his shoulder.
     
    “It was,” she murmured. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”
     
    “But you did,” he said. “A fiancé?”
     
    Finding her focus and his eyes, Lauren caught the light in his stare. It felt as if he was giving her a chance to change her story, his lips ready to kiss her and just get back to where they were. Wanting nothing more than to take that chance and see it through, Lauren nearly met his lips when he questioned her again.
     
    “Who is he?” Blake asked. “Can you at least give me a name?”
     
    He was being tender. Probably in light of her fall. But Lauren saw through it and bit back her anger as she curled closer to his chest.
     
    “Drew,” she muttered. “Okay?”
     
    She felt his body tense around the sound, but when his hands pressed into her back, and he did not pull away.
     
    “Never saw a ring,” he whispered. “You lose that before the auction?”
     
    “No,” she started. “Because there never was a ring. Never a proper engagement.”
     
    His eyes brightened, and Lauren felt sure that she felt his heart lifted as he shot up, his eyes till peering down at her. “So what did he even mean to you?” Blake asked.
     
    With a sigh, Lauren leaned forward and savored the support of his hold. “It’s… complicated,” she finally said.
     
    Blake lowered is eyes and sadly nodded his head. “Still sounds serious,” he said. “And it kills me.”
     
    Seeing the pain in his stare, Lauren reached for his face and kept his eyes in hers. “I… I left home because I wasn’t sure,” she said. “I wanted to see what else was out there.”
     
    Lauren looked at him without blinking as his hands moved down her neck. Holding her there, he spoke softly.
     
    “So now you see,” he said. “I bought you. I tried to make you mine.”
     
    Tried?
     
    “Blake, I wanted all of—”
     
    “But of course you want to get back to what’s really real,” he said.