Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34926 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 175(@200wpm)___ 140(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“Cotton.” He pulled back, holding me by my shoulders and forcing me to look up at him. “Are you. All. Right?”
I blinked up at him, confused. “I -- I’m fine. But the car --”
“Is a piece of shit. It’s what we give everyone when they’re learning to drive. We expect it to get beat up. It’s easy to fix and to keep safe. That’s why we keep it around.”
“You told me not to leave before and I ignored you. I’m not supposed to be driving outside the compound.”
“No, you’re not. But every kid learning to drive does the exact same thing. More than one of them has wrecked in this exact same spot. Only, from the looks of things, you didn’t hit the brakes. Took the curve too fast and lost control.”
“That’s pretty much it, except I did hit the brakes. The car slowed, but not much and not quickly enough. I pushed ’em hard, too. Usually when I hit them that hard, the car jerks to a stop, but it didn’t do that this time. It’s never done that.”
“We’ll figure it out.” He pulled me back into his arms. “Are you sure you’re OK, baby?”
“Yeah. Just shaken up. And worried you’re mad at me.”
“Oh, make no mistake. I’m gonna heat your ass for this. You took ten years off my life!”
“How did you even know I’d wrecked?”
“Remember I said it’s what everyone here uses when they’re learning to drive? Well, we’ve got a safety system in the car. It lets Data track where it is and if something happens. When you crashed, it sent him an alert. We came after you immediately.”
“I’m so sorry, Chase.”
“It’s OK. Honest. Still spankin’ your ass.”
I couldn’t help it. Even given the circumstances, I might have giggled. Just a little.
“I know that sound.” Chase’s voice was a rumbling growl in my ear. His chest vibrated with the gruff sound. It was equal parts aggression and lust. “Someone isn’t intimidated by my threats. I think she might be turned-on.”
“Told you I don’t lie. So maybe I should just not say anything.”
“That’s what I thought.” He threaded his fingers through my hair and tilted my head back to kiss me. As always, I lost myself in his kiss. I could taste fear and determination. Had I really worried him that much? If so, I needed to do something to make up for it.
“You two need a minute?” Daniel spoke with an abundance of amusement in his voice. “Because I can totally move on down the road back to the clubhouse.”
Chase growled and gave a heavy sigh as he ended the kiss and held his forehead to mine. “Fuck.” He wrapped his arms tighter around me and just held me for long moments before responding to Daniel. “Fuck off, asshole. We’re coming.”
The light chuckle from the other man said he didn’t take offense. “Yeah. That’s what I was afraid of.”
Chase glared at Daniel before tossing me a helmet and climbing on his bike. He didn’t have to tell me to get on behind him. Once I was settled, we sped off down the road, Daniel just ahead of us.
As we entered the gate, a big Ford with a trailer headed out. The man in the truck waved as we passed, a big grin on his face. Chase pulled up to the garage before killing the motor. I got off and handed the helmet to him as he dismounted. Once he’d lashed the helmet down, he pulled me back into his arms again.
“Scared me, girl.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t ever do it again.”
He barked out a laugh. “If I had a nickel for each time I’ve heard that.” Tool came out of the garage, cleaning a wrench with a dirty rag. The man had a big grin on his face. “I take it you’re good, Cotton?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. I’m sorry about the car.”
Tool waved that off. “Did she do enough damage I can finally bury that piece of shit car?” Not only did Tool not look put out, he actually looked hopeful.
“Not sure, but my gut says no. She just banged the back end a bit. Check the brakes, though. She says they went to the floor.”
That got a frown from Tool. “You sure, Cotton? All the way to the floor?”
“I think. I mean, I went easy, but the car didn’t slow much. Just stopped accelerating when I’d taken my foot off the gas. When it didn’t slow much, I panicked and hit them hard, and it still didn’t slow. Well, not enough, anyway.”
“Maybe you just lost control when you hit them too hard,” Tool speculated, then shrugged. “We’ll see. If there’s something wrong with the brakes, I need to have my ass kicked. I always make sure to do a thorough check on that car because only inexperienced drivers use it since Cain got Angel that Mustang.”