The Biker's Secret Torment: MC Romance: Talon (Rosesson Brothers) by Lisa Ladew Read Free Book Online Page B

affect her test grade. "Coin check," I said, just trying to get her mind straight.
    She smiled and stuck her hand in her pocket. When she withdrew it she had the military challenge coin I had mailed her from basic training in her hand. A first sergeant had given it to me for being soldier of the cycle. He'd said I would make a good special forces soldier and I should consider pursuing it. The conversation had stuck with me as special, so that was why I had sent the coin to Crystal. I knew she would appreciate it.
    "Perfect. Now you can't fail."
    She made a face at me. "I wasn't going to fail anyway. How about you? Coin check."
    Ah, she knew I always had my coin on me. I found it in the special pocket inside my cut and held it up for her to see. It had paratrooper wings on one side and an eagle on the other, given to me by the commander of my unit. Most times we didn't care about the coins the brass handed out, but that guy had been high-speed. He'd tossed it to me on my way out of the plane and I caught it in mid-air. When we hit the ground he'd put an arm around me and told me he knew I would catch it. He said I had reflexes like a cat and talons like an eagle and that's how I'd gotten my nickname.
    I'd been proud of that nickname, even writing to tell Crystal about it. When I got hurt and was laid up in the hospital, she went around to all my old buddies stateside and told them to start calling me that. God I had loved her for it. She'd made it feel less like I was losing a part of myself.
    Crystal ran her fingers along the jagged edge of the coin, her eyebrows closing in on each other. I took it gently from her hand. The point of this wasn't to remind her what had happened to me. The point was to get her mind off what had happened to her.
    "Test time," I said gently.
    "Right." She turned and headed for a door and I followed her. Once inside, she motioned for me to sit down in one of the seats on the right. I did, watching her walk down the steps to the very front of the room where an older man with white hair sat behind a desk. The room was large and reminded me of a theatre with its rows stacked one above each other so everyone could see the professor.
    The door continued to open as students filed in and took their seats. I kept eyes on each person that entered until I assured myself they weren't looking for Crystal.
    Crystal walked halfway back up the steps, gave me a thumbs up, and sat down, opening a small notebook and leaning over it for some last minute cramming. I was glad I wasn't her. Me and books had never gotten along, especially in high school. I'd done ok with my studies in the Army, probably because we dealt with guns and explosives and machines more than we ever had to stick our noses in books. Put a book in my hands and you might think I was slightly retarded, but put a machine in my hands and I'll show you I'm part genius. Preferably by blowing something up that's very far away. Too bad there wasn't much call for that kind of knowledge outside of the military. Crystal had encouraged me to try to be some sort of a cop, but I wasn't ready yet. I didn't know if I ever would be. These days, I was more criminal than stand-up citizen. Even if life left me no choice, that was still the case.
    I leaned my head on my elbow and continued to people watch. Fatigue pulled at me but I ignored it. I'd barely slept at all the night before, but every time I had, I'd woken from a dream in which I'd been taking Crystal in every hole she had while she begged for more. It got to the point where I was scared to fall back asleep for fear that I'd wake up with my hands on her, trying to act it out.
    After she'd stilled and her breathing had lengthened, I'd tried to climb off the bed but each time I did she'd made a vulnerable sound in her sleep and her hands had reached for me, trying to pull me close to her. I'd settled for laying on my back, my hip pressed against her ass, so she wouldn't feel my hard-on. Every time she so much