Mason:Inked Reapers MC(44)

"Not much of a biker, are you?" Massy kicked down the kickstand with her booted heal.



"Not much of a driver, are you?" I shot back at her with a grin, more of  a grimace, but she got the idea. Her laugh echoed in the courtyard and  the door to the garage flew open. Mason and Tick marched out, both  looking ready to spit nails.



"Not now, Tick. I have to pee." She waved him off and headed toward the diner with Tick close on her heals.



"You hurt?" Mason's gruff voice asked. He looked like he was still  debating between kissing me and yelling at me, but my stiff movements  stilled him. He looked me over, assessing me. "You're wearing jeans." He  walked up to me, hooking his fingers into my belt loops, turning me one  way then the other.



"Yeah, riding in a dress isn't very practical." I tried to smile, but I wasn't sure if he was mad at me yet or not.



"Hard ride?" His hands wandered up my torso, until he reached my face.



"Yeah." I nodded. "Those back roads are a bitch." He laughed. A loud  laugh that rumbled through his chest. He cupped my face and kissed me, a  hard, unyielding kiss.



"The only one who's teaching you to use a gun is me, you got that?" He  kept his forehead pressed against mine as he growled at me.



"It doesn't really matter. I'm never touching one again," I whispered.  I'd killed a man. Good or bad, that had to sit in my memory for the rest  of my life. He must have seen the guilt in my eyes, because he tilted  my chin back, forcing me to look at him.



"That shit up there, that wasn't your doing."

"If I had been aiming for him, I would have missed." I tried to joke, to  play it off like it wasn't tearing me apart that I'd killed. Good life  or bad life, I'd stolen it.



"Sting doesn't play games, Lucy. If he was sent up there to get you, he  wasn't playing. He would have hurt or killed Massy and taken you back  with him, but not before he had his fun."



"I know." I yanked my chin from his grasp. "I have lived in his  clubhouse for the past several months. I am aware of what shit he's  capable of doing." I knew my mouth was irritating him; it wasn't his  fault, this person I slowly turned into. But he was the only one there  to take the heat I need to get rid of. "So what's the big plan now?" I  kicked a pebble with my toe. "More shuffling around?"



"Lucy. I know you had a shit day-"



"A shit day? Mason, I killed someone. Killed. His body is buried under a  pile of leaves, because I couldn't dig a fucking hole fast enough to  bury him in before we left. Someone's going to find him, and I'm going  to go to jail." I hadn't realized I was yelling until I noticed Tick and  Massy staring at us from the corner of my eye.



"You are not going to go to jail." Mason gritted his teeth. I knew he  meant it, he'd probably confess to the murder himself to keep me from  going to prison. His protection wasn't the issue. It was that I needed  so fucking much of it.



"I'm leaving." I put up my hand to stop him from another of his growls.  "Mason. I can't do this. I don't want to do this anymore. This shit,  this isn't my life. I'm going down to the bus station, getting on the  first one that's leaving town and going."



"Lucy, you can't." Massy stepped up to me, her hand tugging on my arm.  "You can't just go off on your own. Jayson is still looking for you."

"Yeah. And he keeps finding me, so being here isn't helping, and going  up to yet another cabin won't work either. Fuck, look at your cheek,  Massy. He's hurt you, turned me in a killer-and fuck, I killed his  brother! You think he's going to stop now? I have to get out of this  town. If not for myself then for you. I won't be the reason you get hurt  again, or Tick or Mason."



"I don't need your protection." Mason didn't step toward me. His eyes  fixated on me, as though he could glue me to the spot with his glare.  "If you go, I can't protect you."                       
       
           



       



"I don't need your protection either. If you stay and I go, you can deal  with all the shit going on with a clear head. Get it straightened out.  If you're here, Jayson will think I'm still in town, or nearby."



"How long do you think you can hide?" His voice hardened, the dark emptiness of his eyes sent a shiver through me.



"Forever." I shrugged, fighting like hell to pretend it didn't hurt so  fucking much to say the words. "I'm not coming back." He let a harsh  breath and shook his head. "I still have the money Jessica gave me to  get out of town, it should get me a few states over at least." I wanted  to reach out to him, to touch his cheek, feel the warmth of his skin  beneath my hand, but he shut down. The cold stare he gave me warned me  off.



I turned to Massy, hugging her quickly and forcing a smile. "Thanks for the ride back."



"You're an idiot, you know that," Massy whispered.



"I was, yeah. This is the right thing to do. I promise." I didn't look  back at Mason, I could feel the tension in his body. He wouldn't accept  that I was right, not yet anyway. But once I was gone, once his life  returned to normal, he'd see. My leaving was best for both of us. Even  if it made me feel like I was being gutted to walk away from him.



"You know, you talk big, Lucy." The words were spoken low and soft.  Dangerous. "You say you didn't have choice in all this. Jayson made  decisions for you, I made decisions for you, but you're doing the same  damn thing right now. I'm telling you to stay. Let me get through this  one patch and I'm out. A clean break. Of my choosing."



"And I'm telling you how I'm handling this," I shot back at him. "We  never laid a claim on each other." I said the words, but knew they were a  lie. He marked me the first time he put his hands on me, the first kiss  sealed us together. I could still feel his lips against my mouth.



"You're handling it," he sneered. "You're doing what you do when you get  scared, you run. You ran after your mom died and you didn't know what  to do with yourself, and you're running now."



"Mason!" Massy stepped toward him, but Tick pulled her back, telling her stay out of it.



My breath hitched, and I felt the blood damn near boiling in my veins.  Scared. Fuck that, I was terrified. And I was running. I wouldn't argue  that point, but it was to benefit us both. I didn't respond, didn't even  look at him, I just turned and started to walk toward the street.



I heard Massy argue with Tick, then the rumbling of an engine starting  up. Tick rolled up next to me. "Get on." He jerked his head. "I'm not  fuckin around. I'll get you to the bus station, get on."



Seeing as Massy pushed him into it, and Jayson could be riding toward us  at any second, I slid onto the bike behind him, tossing the strap from  my bag around me. The bike lurched forward and I held on as Tick drove  away. I didn't look back. I couldn't. Even if I did, the tears welling  up in my eyes wouldn't have given me a clear view of Mason anyway.



But worse, what if I looked back and he wasn't there? What if my leaving  had been easier for him than it had been for me? What if he really  didn't care at all?





CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE



MASON





Blood spurt out of my knuckles when I hit the bag, but I didn't feel the  pain. Nothing could compare to the moment I watched that pixie drive  out of my life.



I didn't stop my workout to clean up, I needed the release first. Once  all the pent up energy burning me inside came out, then I'd wipe down  the bag and the mats, and go for a long run. Tick stood in the corner of  the weight room, watching me with a grim expression. He'd been glaring  at me for most of the morning.



What did he want me to do, chase her ass down? I told her not to go. Did  he want me to beg for her to stay and give me what I wanted, what I  needed? Not gonna happen. I didn't beg. Not even for pixie's who wrapped  themselves all around my heart and ripped out my soul. Not even then.



"Day!" Marcus bellowed from the doorway. "Mason!" I dropped my fists and  faced him, sweat rolled down my nose, off my chin. "You've been  pounding that thing for two days." What I really wanted to pound was his  face, but Tick wouldn't let me near him.



"What do you want, Prez?" I grabbed a towel from the bench and wiped down my face.



"Julio wants a sit down. Him, Lucas and me."



"What about Jayson?" Tick called from the corner.