Shade laid his head on the shower wall. It would be three more years before he could make his move on her. He was never going to last that long.

Chapter 18

It was nearly noon when Shade woke up, stretching his naked body on the sheets. He had always been lucky that a few hours of sleep refreshed him, waking up without feeling groggy.

He dressed then went upstairs, deciding to get something to eat, to find the kitchen empty except for Rider, who was sitting at the table with his head in his hand and a cup of coffee in front of him. Shade didn’t say anything to the brother, seeing he felt like shit.

Everyone was used to fending for themselves on Saturday, since the parties on Friday made them too hung-over or tired to cook. However, he could tell a meal must have been made earlier, even if it was gone by that point. Probably Viper cooked some shit for Winter since she had decided to sneak out at the ass crack of dawn.

The kitchen door opened, and Razer came in.

“Want a sandwich?” Shade offered, about to pull the lunch meat out of the refrigerator.

“Fuck no. We all ate a big breakfast this morning. Plus, I’m going into town to eat lunch with Beth. She took Winter Christmas shopping. Want to go?”

“No.”

“Lily will be there,” Razer said.

Shade shut the refrigerator door. “I’ll ride along.”

Rider’s chair scooted back. “I’ll go, too. Maybe the fresh air will make me feel better.”

“Figured you would,” Razer taunted.

“Couldn’t hurt,” Shade said, slapping the hung over brother on the back.

Both Shade and Rider punched Razer for being in such a good mood. Laughing, he held his hands up in surrender as they left the kitchen.

The brothers had just sat down on their bikes when Razer’s cell phone rang. Shade started his bike, waiting for him to finish his call. He spoke briefly before disconnecting.

“What’s up?”

“Lucky called, said he’s at the church and looked out the window toward the diner. Ton’s trying to take on some bikers and the women are with him.”

“Dammit.” Shade gripped his handlebars, taking off in a rush and nearly losing control as he pulled onto the road.

Razer and Rider sped along behind, trying to catch up.

The sound of motors racing down the street didn’t stop the fighting or the men who held Beth and Lily. Shade, Rider, and Razer pulled into the diner’s parking lot and surrounded the fighters. Lucky had failed to mention Viper was there, already taking on a couple of the men. He had also failed to mention the fact that Sam seemed to have made new friends, from the looks of it.

Razer gunned his bike toward Beth and Lily, startling the men into letting Beth go. However, the one who had Lily tightened his grip around her waist, turning her to face the group of angry bikers.

Beth ran straight to Razer as he climbed off his bike. Shade kept his attention on Lily, who was frozen in terror, her dress torn off one shoulder. He wasn’t worried in the slightest over whether Viper could handle the bikers he was fighting.

Once Shade and Rider climbed off their bikes, Rider began to move forward, but Shade gave a hand signal for him to back off. The one who dared to touch Lily was all his.

Shade didn’t rush the biker; instead, he took off his sunglasses and jacket, leaving him in his long-sleeved, black T-shirt. When he took Lily from the asshole, he didn’t want anything encumbering him.

The biker holding Lily tightened his grip on her, smart enough to know she was the only thing keeping him alive.

Shade maneuvered himself closer to his target, each incremental inch forward putting him within striking distance.

“Let her go.” Shade’s voice came out deadly.

One of the men Viper was holding yelled out, “Slot, let her go.”

“Let me get on my bike and get out of here. Then I will let her go. She your bitch?” The man ignored his biker buddy, smart enough, at least, not to take his eyes off Shade.

“She is no man’s bitch.” Shade kept himself still.

“She’s yours. Just let me go. No trouble.”

“You had trouble the second you looked at her.” Shade motioned for Rider to move back when he caught him sneaking forward. He wasn’t about to give the brother a piece of the guy who had touched Lily.

Slot looked at Rider, but Shade didn’t take advantage of the man’s lack of attention; instead, drawing it back toward him, which wasn’t easy. His eyes were darting back and forth between The Last Riders, trying to figure out who posed the biggest threat. When his eyes returned to stare into his, Shade knew he had figured it out.

“Have you heard of The Last Riders?” Shade tried to provoke the biker into lowering his guard.

“Yeah, but I ain’t afraid of you. You guys fuck more than you fight.”

“That’s because the other motorcycle clubs have learned not to mess with us, which gives us more time to fuck. Did they tell you how we got our name?” Shade replied in a manner that said the biker’s opinion didn’t matter, and it didn’t. It was easy to see from their dirty clothes and cheap bikes they spent more time sitting around doing drugs than riding.

“No.” The biker was becoming more agitated. Shade could practically see the scared shit shaking.

“See that wheelchair over there with the woman sitting in it?” Shade nodded his head toward Winter.

“Yeah.”

“I’m going to give you one just like it. They call us The Last Riders because, if you fuck with us, we fuck you up so bad you will never be able to ride again. Slot, you have taken your last ride.”

Shade released his control, unleashing the blinding fury only Lily could rise in him. Only she could take him from the cold, emotionless pool he lived in to the fiery height of emotions which allowed him to feel the rage storming through his body.

He moved left, smashing his fist against Slot’s face while using his other hand to push Lily toward Razer. None of the brothers made a move to stop him, not wanting to take him on.

Shade was unaware of the sheriff and his deputies swarming the parking lot at that point. It took two deputies and the sheriff to pull him off the whimpering biker, and if the sheriff wouldn’t have been there, Shade would have ignored the deputies.

He managed to kick the biker one more time in the face before letting himself be pulled away.

“Let him go,” his dad ordered as soon as they had managed to put enough space between Shade and Slot. “You cool enough for me to arrest them?”

“Yes,” he snapped back, turning to see Beth holding Lily, the look of terror still frozen on her face. Whatever Beth was whispering to her had no effect; she was lost in her own world of nightmares.

“Does she need to go to the hospital?” Winter asked in concern.

“No, I need to get her out of here and go home,” Beth answered. Shade wanted to rip Lily from her sister’s arms, yet he had to stay back and let Razer handle the women.

“The sheriff will give us a ride home, and we can come back tomorrow for your car,” Razer said, moving close to Beth and Lily protectively. The whole time, Lily didn’t seem aware of what was going on around her.

The sheriff’s car stopped next to them, and his dad got out to open the door for the three of them.