Collateral Read online

  “You’re not from around here are ya?” she asked.

  “Nope,” I smiled, trying to act casual.

  “Where ya’ll from?” she asked. According to her accent, she wasn’t from Colorado either.

  “Um,” I said. I glanced over at Raze who was giving me a piercing look. “We’re from Florida.”

  I totally lied. It was the first place I could think of even though I’d never been there in my entire life. Raze smiled.

  “Well you’re a long ways from home,” she stated the obvious. “Where you headed?”

  “We’re just on a road trip,” Raze said. He was clearly annoyed at all her questions. I just wanted to be friendly so they didn’t spit in our food. “Can we place our order? I think we know what we want.”

  The waitress reached into her pocket and pulled out a pad and pen. “Go ahead.”

  We ordered our food and beers and sat back. My stomach growled uncontrollably. We hadn’t stopped for lunch that day and the last food I ate was that breakfast at the diner. I probably could’ve ordered the entire menu if we had the time and money.

  Our food came quickly, and we immediately got to town. I downed my tenderloin in less than five minutes and chugged the cool, bitter, amber beer that was presented to me so perfectly in a frosty mug. Beer had never tasted so amazing to me before as it did that day.

  We sat back, full bellies, and smiles on our faces. Everything changed, though, as soon as we heard a familiar rumbling in the distance. Raze stood up and glanced out one of the windows and saw a bunch of bikers pulling up outside and parking. He walked back to the table with a solemn look on his face.

  “Is it the Black Ice?” I asked. My heart wanted to crawl into my stomach and suddenly the food that just a second ago had felt so good in my belly now felt like it was about to come up.

  Raze shook his head “no” and sat back down.

  “Who is it?” I asked.

  “I’m not for sure, but I think it’s the Marquis Devils,” he said. “They’re pretty prominent out here. We’re pretty much on their turf.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Do we have anything to worry about?”

  Raze shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “Maybe?!”

  “Just act casual. Follow my lead. We should be okay,” he said, but I didn’t believe him. “We might have to sneak out of here. It depends on what chapter this is.”

  “Is there some bad blood between you guys or something?” I asked, half joking.

  “I won’t lie to you,” he said. “They may or may not have a hit on me.”

  “What?!”

  “Mia, they are a rival gang,” he said. The seriousness in his voice was something I’d never heard from him before. “When we abandoned our gang, we lost their protection. We’re on our own now.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I said.

  “We have to be careful. That’s all,” he said. I think he could see the worry spreading over my face. He reached across the table and took my tiny hand in his. It didn’t make me feel any less concerned about the situation though.

  The bells chimed on the door as the bikers piled in one after another. The bar that was previously filled with a few patrons and the sound of the jukebox in the corner was now filled with the raucous roar of rowdy bikers and boots stomping in on the sticky, hardwood floors.

  “If this waitress would ever hurry up with our fucking check,” Raze huffed. “We could get the hell out of here before they see us.”

  “Hey,” I said trying to calm him down. “It’s okay. We’ll be fine.”

  I glanced over at the waitress who was busy tending to the bikers who’d just shown up, and I knew it was going to be a while. Within seconds, I noticed a couple of the guys looking towards Raze and me. They were saying something to each other and giving us menacing stares, and it sent a chill down my spine.

  “What do those guys want?” I said to Raze as I nudged my head towards them. “They’ve been staring.”

  “Shit,” Raze muttered under his breath. “Don’t make eye contact. Look away, Mia.”

  My heart fluttered in my chest and not in a good way. I could feel my face flush and my palms grow sweaty. I watched as Raze casually reached down and pulled a $20 bill from his wallet and slapped it on the table.

  “We’ve got to get out of here,” he said as he slowly turned around looking for a back exit.

  I heard the shuffling of boots on hardwood behind us, and the sound was growing louder and louder. I turned my head to see those two bikers standing at the edge of our table.

  “Can I help you?” Raze asked as he puffed out his chest like the true alpha male I knew he was.

  “Say, you don’t happen to be Raze Northcutt, are ya?” The blonde, skinhead-looking biker asked with a smirk on his face. “Black Ice, right?”

  “Nope, you must be confused,” Raze lied.

  The blonde biker exchanged looks with the dark haired biker. They weren’t buying it.

  “I don’t like to be lied to, kid,” the biker said through gritted teeth. “I know who you are. I know who your daddy is.”

  “I’m telling you, you are confused,” he said, staying strong. “Now if you’ll kindly leave me and my girl alone. We’re trying to be on our way.”

  I tried my hardest to stifle the shaking and shivers that were starting to take over my body, but it was no use. They could see me trembling.

  Raze stood up and reached his hand out for me. “We’re leaving. I don’t have time to be hassled by some small town biker gang.”

  I trusted Raze, and I knew he was a smart man, but sometimes I think he let his mouth get the best of him.

  “What the fuck did you just say, boy?” the brunette biker said as he shoved Raze’s chest so hard it sent him flying back into the booth.

  “Oh, god,” I yelled out. My heart was thumping harder than it’s ever thumped before. I knew Raze was strong and could hold his own, but not when he was outnumbered.

  Raze stood back up on his feet and braced himself. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. I saw Raze’s fist fly across the air and land smack dab on the brunette biker’s jaw. It sent him flying down on his ass as the blonde biker lunged for Raze.

  Raze’s fist went flying towards the blonde biker, but he was bigger than the other guy. I glanced around to see some of the other guys from the gang taking notice of what was happening. One by one they were standing up, looking over, and deciding whether or not to get involved. I saw three men start to make their way across the bar, and I did the only thing I could think of.

  I grabbed my thick, frosty beer mug off the table and whacked the blonde biker on the back of the head. He felt to the floor in one, giant heap, making the sickest thump I’d ever heard. I grabbed Raze’s arm and we fled.

  The minute the cool, night air hit our faces it was another burst of freedom, only this time we weren’t quite in the clear. We climbed on Raze’s bike and hightailed it down Main Street and towards the highway.

  “What about our things at the hotel?” I called out.

  “Just trust me,” he yelled back.

  I zipped my lip and trusted him. It was the only choice I had in the matter. I couldn’t help but notice Raze looking back in his rearview mirror every couple of minutes. I didn’t know if he was checking on me or checking to make sure we weren’t being followed. Maybe it was a little of both.

  Raze drove around in the country for a bit, waiting for the sun to set completely so we could head back into down under the cover of darkness. It had been a couple of hours, too, so if those bikers had stuck around the bar, they were probably drunk off their asses by now and had hopefully forgotten about the brawl earlier. Raze once told me bikers never forget anything, but I was hopeful they’d have at least cooled down by now.

  We made it safely to our hotel room where we took shelter behind the locked door. Raze was able to park his bike next to a dumpster that was nestled around a thick, wooded area and away from the street view.

  “We should pro
bably work on our hair now,” I said as I ran my fingers through my smooth, platinum blonde locks reluctantly.

  Raze looked displeased, but he knew we had no other choice. We had also picked up a couple boxes of hair dye, hoping we wouldn’t need them, but it appeared that we might need them after all.

  I unboxed the clippers and went to work, shaving off Raze’s gorgeous, thick, brown locks. By the time I was done with him, he had a buzz cut which showed off his widows’ peak and a couple of scars on his scalp. He looked like a true bad boy now.

  I tied my long hair into a pony tail and grabbed the shears out of the kit. I took a deep breath as I stared at my reflection in the mirror and began snipping away just beneath the rubber band. I lopped off at least eight inches of my beautiful, blonde hair. As I watched it fall in piles into the sink, I knew it was gone. I knew there was no going back.

  I pulled out a bottle of brown hair dye and doused my hair. I knew it wouldn’t look natural, but at least it would help me blend in a bit. The blonde hair was always my most attention-grabbing feature. It turned heads everywhere I went. Now I was going to be mousy, and I just hoped Raze would still find me attractive.

  I washed out the hair dye after twenty minutes and looked at my shit brown hair. It made my skin look sallow. I looked sick. I hated it. I couldn’t help it when the tears started to fall, one after another, relentlessly as I stared at my reflection.

  “Mia! What’s wrong?” Raze said as he rushed up to the bathroom sink. He placed his hands on my hips and spun me around.

  “I hate it,” I said. “I look so ugly.”

  I was sobbing uncontrollably by then, throwing all my pride out the window. Raze had never seen me cry before. He’d never seen me weak. And now I was probably nothing but a silly, blubbering girl to him.

  “Mia,” he said as he pulled my hands off my face. “You are not ugly.”

  I looked up into his steel, blue eyes and the serious expression across his face.

  “You’re gorgeous,” he insisted. “I could give two shits what color your hair is.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked him. Again, I knew I was coming off like some prissy chick, but I couldn’t help it. I needed the reassurance.

  “Yes,” he insisted again. He seemed annoyed that I didn’t believe him the first time. “Now, it’s my turn.”

  He pulled out a bottle of hair bleach and began dousing what remained of his buzzed off hair with it.

  “Going for the Eminem look?” I teased him. My tears had begun to dry up, and I was trying to make light of the situation.

  “Think I can pull it off?” he asked as he worked on his hair.

  “With those blue eyes, yes,” I said. I watched him as he stood shirtless in the mirror. His upper body was nothing but a mess of muscles and tattoos, and his arms flexed as he rubbed the mixture in his hair and checked his watch for the time.

  CHAPTER 7

  “You know what sounds really good?” he asked about twenty minutes later. “A nice, hot shower. With you.”

  He leaned down and kissed my neck, and it instantly transported me to a special place where it was just Raze and me in the world and no one else. I forgot about the fact that we were on the run from his old gang. I forgot that we’d been under attack by a rival gang just a few hours earlier. I forgot that I had just lost my beautiful, platinum blonde hair. Raze Northcutt was a powerful man, and he had that effect on me.

  I slipped off my camisole and unbuttoned my pants. His hands were all over, traveling my body up and down and resting under my bra cups for a second before cupping my ass. He pulled my pants down, and I kicked them off. I lowered myself to my knees, unbuckled his chinos and slid his pants down. I could see his thick prick bulging through his underwear, and reached in to pull it out. It was growing larger by the second, and I shoved it in my mouth before it would be too large to fit.

  I licked and sucked his cock as he moaned and braced himself on the edge of the bathroom counter. I looked up to see him standing with his head thrown back. I knew he needed this release, and I was more than happy to provide it for him.

  After a few minutes, he reached down and grabbed me by the arm to pull me up. We stumbled back into the shower area and flipped on the shower. Raze made sure it was nice and hot, and soon the room filled with so much steam we could hardly see each other.

  I slipped off my bra and panties and climbed in under the hot, running water. A shower had never felt so good to me before, but as the water trickled down between my breasts and ran down between my thighs, it felt amazing. It was almost as if it was washing away that entire shitty evening.

  Raze climbed in behind me and slipped his hands over my breasts. I could feel his hard dick up against my ass, and he slipped down hand down my belly and down even further between my legs. I spread my legs out a little, and he slipped his finger between my pussy lips. He massaged my clit, which felt amazing, and then spun me around to face him. He lowered himself and placed his head down between my thighs. Soon I felt the warm, wetness of his tongue dancing between my slit. I slapped one hand against the tiled shower wall to brace myself, as I let Raze take me over the edge.

  He soon stood up and grabbed me by my ass cheeks, hoisting me up and around his hips. His thick, wet cock slid right inside my wet, waiting pussy, and he leveraged me against the wall to get some footing. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as we bounced and he pumped his cock inside me as hard as he could. I could tell he was trying to forget about everything for a while too. His eyes were closed and his face was grimaced as he fucked the living shit out of my pussy. I needed it just as much as he did though.

  Soon I could feel his cock wriggling and writhing inside me. He released a few moans and groans before the thrusting came to a complete stop, and he had cum inside me. He gently lowered me, kissed my mouth, and then took a step back. He grabbed the soap like nothing had happened and began washing the day off his body.

  CHAPTER 8

  We checked out of the seedy motel no later than six am the following morning. We wanted to head out before the rest of the town awoke, and before we had a chance to run into the Marquis Devils.

  With our new hair styles and the wind in our faces, we fled that town and never looked back. Raze had said something about driving to Nevada and that that would be our next stop. I told him I was on board for whatever. I trusted him. I knew he cared about me and would do whatever was best for us. He knew these back roads, highways, and small towns better than anyone else.

  We rode for damn hear nine hours, taking a couple quick rest stop breaks. The sun was beating down in our faces all day, and my arms were cramping up from staying in the same position for that long. I knew if I was getting tired, Raze had to be.

  “How much longer?” I yelled out.

  “We’re almost there,” he yelled back.

  We pulled into some rinky-dink deserted desert town with a gas station, a diner, and a couple mobile home parks and parked the bike at a gas pump.

  I climbed off to stretch my legs and take a deep breath. I ran my fingers through my hair to check for any bugs and did a little frantic dance when something hard and crunchy fell out.

  “Aaah,” I screamed as I felt it brush through my fingers. “Gross!”

  Raze laughed. It was the first time I’d really seen him laugh since we’d run off together.

  “It’s just a bug,” he said as he finished topping off his tank.

  I felt creepy-crawly and dirty. “Yeah, but how long was it hanging out in my hair?”

  Raze brushed it off. To him, I was probably just overreacting. A typical, silly girl.

  “Want to grab some dinner?” he asked as he nodded towards the diner across the street.

  “Um, yeah,” I said as if it were a no brainer. I was starving my ass off. I didn’t know how he could go so many hours without eating. I already felt lightheaded. “I’m so hungry.”

  “You need to just speak up when you’re hungry,” he said. “I’m not a mind reader.”


  He walked up to me and kissed my forehead before climbing back on his bike. I threw one leg behind him, my knees and hamstrings aching from being in one position too long, and we drove across the street to the Silver Bullet Diner.

  The diner looked like it was straight out of the 1950s inside and out. I spotted several families crammed into shiny, red leather booths and most of the waitresses were older with a sweet, gentle demeanor about them.

  We walked in and seated ourselves, this time closer to a back exit. Based on our last experience, Raze didn’t want to risk anything. Our waitress, Margie, waddled her way towards our table with the warmest smile on her face. Her hair was a bluish shade of silver and it was curled and pinned back into some kind of up do. She had blue eye shadow and red lipstick, and her apron barely fit around her generous hips. She reminded me of a sweet, old grandma who lived in a trailer with copious amounts of landscaping and a handful of cats inside.