Havok: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance - Riley Rollins Page 0,101

again.

I watched the passenger side mirror nervously throughout the whole ride, watching for blue and red lights in the background. They didn't come. Thank God.

Axl took us to a small town whose name I didn't know, and we found a dinky little military surplus store.

"You've gotta go in alone," said Axl, "Can't do it myself with this shoulder." His jacket was badly stained and caked with blood. Yeah. That would've been a mistake.

He sent me in with a short list, and I got us changes of clothes, a small tent, and a couple boxes of freeze-dried foods. I wasn't looking forward to eating this crap, but what choice did we have? We were now two fugitives on the run, and I guessed we weren't gonna be staying in any more motel rooms for a while.

We filled up the car and then we drove again. We sat in silence in the stolen vehicle. I could tell that Axl's mind was troubled. Not because of his hurt shoulder, but because of something else. Because of the man who'd tried to shoot us back at Four Corners. Because of who the man was. A Demon, who was apparently a member of a friendly motorcycle club, who shouldn't have been involved in this Reaper dispute.

And inside, I was troubled, too. Not because he'd been a Demon. Simply because he'd been a man.

I was conflicted, my morality gnawing at me. The clarity of mind that I'd felt earlier as we rode away from Four Corners had faded away, and I was starting to question myself more than ever. Was I becoming just like the bikers? Were these kind of justifications the way that people descended into a lifetime of crime?

I felt sorry for myself, and then for the man, and then for neither one of us. And I seemed to repeat the cycle over and over again in my head. I didn't think I'd ever be able to be like Axl. To be able to ruthlessly kill, remorselessly, for those I loved. I'd done it once but I didn't think I'd be able to do it again. And I really hoped I wouldn't have to make the choice again.

Axl finally spoke up as I watched the pavement go by outside. It was dusk outside, the Arizona sky a beautiful canvas of oranges, blues, and purples. "We camp tonight in Devil's Canyon."

I'd never heard of Devil's Canyon, and it didn't sound like a place I wanted to be. But what choice did we have?

We reached the canyon after nightfall. It was an isolated, desolate area, and the canyon was less a majestic place, more a filthy rock pit. But under the starry night sky as we pitched the tent, I finally felt a little bit of mental calmness for the first time since Four Corners. No one would find us out here. Not tonight.

Inside the tent, we lay side by side under a couple of rough blankets that'd come with the military surplus tent, our bodies not touching.

Then, Axl's hand wandered over mine, and onto my stomach. He pressed his hand against the hard muscles of my belly, and then began to slide his hand up to my breasts. Turning onto his side to face me, he cupped my left breast in his hand under my t-shirt, the rough calluses on his palm scratching against my nipple.

"Babe," he said, "I fuckin' want you so bad right now."

Inside the tent, it was pitch black and we couldn't see each other's faces. But if he'd been able to see mine, it would've been a frown. I wanted him, too, for him to fill me up again just like he'd done at the motel. I wanted him to give me everything, and to lose myself in ecstasy for just a while. But I was exhausted, and it just didn't feel right after what I'd done to that Demon earlier.

I pushed Axl's hand away from my breast. "Can you just hold me?" I asked.

Suddenly his demeanor turned cold. He grunted. "Whatever," he said. I felt him turn away from me instead of putting his arm around me like I wanted him to. Soon, his breath became regular, rising and falling in a sleep cycle.

I lay on my back, staring straight up in the darkness. Sleep came slowly, and when it finally overtook me, my dreams were nightmares.

23

Axl

When I returned to the wakeful world, green light was filtering through the camouflage fabric of the tent. For a fucked-up minute, I couldn't