got comfortable. She pressed the front of her body against mine, her arms going around my waist and her hands settling right above the bulge in my jeans, causing me to groan at how good she felt against me. I covered her hands, stroking my thumbs over her petal-soft skin for a moment before starting my bike. I felt her press her face to the center of my back as we pulled onto the road in the direction of her store.
While I drove, her hands teased lower, torturing me. I was in agony by the time I pulled into the parking lot behind the building. When I helped her off, she had a mischievous look on her face, and that sight alone was worth the ache in my balls. I was just thankful she didn’t have that haunted look in her eyes anymore.
Still holding her hand, I tugged her closer. “Be good. Don’t work too hard. I have appointments all evening, but if you need me, call.”
She took off her helmet and handed it to me. “I’ll be over as soon as I take care of a few things here.”
“Get Kingston to drive you home to get your car.” I swatted her on her ass with my hand, causing her to mewl and press even closer against me. I dropped a kiss on her lips when she pouted up at me. “Soon, baby,” I promised. “If we get the green light tomorrow…”
“Oh, we’re going to get the green light.” She touched her lips to my ear. “And then I’m going to ride you all night long.”
“Christ, woman,” I growled. “Go to work before I do something that might hurt you.”
Her eyes brightened. “Is my man at his breaking point?”
“Getting closer by the second,” I muttered, stealing another kiss. “I love you.”
“Love you,” she said as she stepped back reluctantly. “See you soon.”
She walked inside just as Kingston pulled up beside me. “I’ll keep her safe, man,” he said as he fist-bumped me. “You know I’ll protect that girl with my life.”
At work, I spent the next few hours doing ink. But as the evening wore on and I didn’t hear from River, I started getting anxious. She’d said she wasn’t going to be at the store all that long, and it was already past dinnertime. Muttering a curse when I checked my phone and found no missed calls or texts from River, my sister, or even Kingston, I was starting to call my girl when my phone rang.
Seeing it was Colt, a feeling of dread made my heart drop into my stomach, and I picked up before it finished ringing the first time. “Yeah?”
“I think I found your homeless girl,” he said in a cold tone.
“Where?” I was already grabbing my keys and heading out the back door without even telling my dad, who was still working on his own client.
“Motel out by the interstate. After the staff noticed some things off the last few days, Ben got a call, and I was at the station. Told him I would check it out. The front desk guy said they think she might be sleeping in Room 119. Said the bathroom has been broken, so they had it out of commission, and it would have been easy for her to use it without anyone knowing. If there hadn’t been a few things going missing, they might not have noticed.”
“I’m on my way,” I told him as I swung my leg over my bike.
He didn’t answer, just hung up. Telling myself I was just glad that I could follow through on my promise to River, I headed for the highway. There was only one motel by the interstate, and the place wasn’t much to brag about. There were two different hotels in town that got steady business, but the motel was somewhere mostly used by truckers because it had a reputation for having a ready supply of hookers on call.
Not that Ben had ever been able to prove it. There was rarely any trouble from the place, so he didn’t try to shut it down.
When I got to the motel, I didn’t see Colt or his motorcycle. But I had the room number, so I parked right in front of 119 and headed inside. The door was unlocked, and I stepped into the darkened room, reaching for the light switch.
When nothing happened, I took a few steps inside and felt a sudden burning in my neck.
“The fuck?” I muttered, slapping at the