James nodded to the crowd heading back to the racetrack for the quarterfinal heats. “You won yourself some fans.”
“I was a bit worried at first. I felt like I was Alice in Wonderland and any minute Rex was going to yell ‘off with her head’.”
He cupped her head and brushed a kiss over her hair. “I might have had something to say about that.”
Lana looked over at the V-Rod and sighed. “I guess we’ll have to catch a ride with one of the drivers. Your V-Rod doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere.”
“Unbelievably, it’s just cosmetic damage to the fairing, and Diesel has my spare tire in his truck. We might not look pretty going home, but we’ll make it there.”
No damn way was he waiting for a ride. His body burned with the need to hold her. He wanted to check every inch of her skin for bumps and bruises, assure himself she was okay. But more than that, he needed to be inside her to soothe the ache in his soul.
Mine.
While James and Kickstand fixed the tire and ran an engine check, Lana ran to find Jackie and make sure she had a ride home. No problem there. She had bikers falling all over themselves begging for the honor, Kickstand salivating at her feet and Ryder watching from the shadows.
Lana wove her way back through the crowd and into the parking area. A shadow crossed her path and she startled when someone caught her by the elbow.
“Hey, let go.” She tried to pull away and looked up, only to see Rex’s grim face.
“Wildcat. Been waiting a long time to get you alone.” He tightened his grip, spun her around and pushed her up against a pickup truck, caging her with his body. For a long moment he just stared at her, gnawing on his bottom lip as if trying to make a decision.
The cloying stench of stale beer and pot assailed Lana’s nostrils and she turned her head away and stared out over the empty field. Where was James? Or Ryder? Even Kickstand had abandoned her. What had happened to her League of Shadows?
“Can I do something for you?” Lana cringed the second the words left her mouth. Wrong thing to say.
Rex’s eyes gleamed and he smiled. “You can and you will. I’m just trying to decide what you’ll do first.”
Lana swallowed. “Um…Ice is over there. Waiting. If I don’t show, he’ll come looking for me.”
Rex trailed his finger up her throat, tilting her head back when he reached her chin. His eyes were black holes in the night sky. “We’ve played this game before, wildcat. We both know how it will end.”
“With me leaving?” she squeaked.
“With you in my bed.”
Lana’s hands clenched and unclenched down by her sides as she tried to stay calm, but her heart pounded so hard against her ribs she thought they might break. “I’m flattered by your attention. But I thought you and Ice sorted that out. I’m his old lady.”
“You have a choice,” Rex murmured in her ear, his rasping breath hot and harsh on her skin.
“I choose Ice,” she blurted out.
“That isn’t the choice I’m offering.” His voice took on a sinister tone. “And I think you know what I mean.”
She drew in a ragged breath. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Oh, I think you do.” He took a step back and Lana slid away from the vehicle and forced herself to walk—not run—away.
“Think about it,” Rex called out. “There are far worse places to be than in my bed.”
Lana’s breath caught in her throat and a burst of adrenaline shot through her veins. Suddenly she didn’t care about posturing or playing Ice’s old lady. She didn’t care if Rex knew he’d scared her. She didn’t care about anything except getting the hell out of there.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she kicked up her heels and she ran.
Chapter Fifteen
Lana rested her cheek against James’s broad back as he raced the V-Rod through the night. Only the dim orange glow of streetlights and a sliver of crescent moon lit their way. The cool evening breeze tickled a path through the seams in her leathers, chilling her even more than she had been after her encounter with Rex.
Although she had thought she’d left the biker world behind, it had clearly left an indelible imprint on her soul. She’d slipped right back into the patter and the politics, as if she’d never been away. Big mistake. It had been easy to hide her past from James when she wasn’t immersed in it. But now she’d raised his suspicions. And then there was Rex.
The motorcycle slowed and Lana peered around James’s shoulder as he pulled off the road and drove toward a small grassy square almost totally hidden within a copse of trees. He parked out of sight of the road and tugged off his helmet. Lana followed suit.