Free Aching to Exhale by Debra Kayn

the back door. The heat outside matched the humid air inside the building, and yet the breeze soothed her overheated skin. She closed her eyes and put her face toward the sky. Her body sighed in pleasure as the moisture on her body dried.
    "I rush over here to see my girl, and the first thing she does is ignore me." Raul's smooth timbre rolled over her. "Doesn't exactly leave a man thinking he's her everything."
    She opened her eyes and raised her hand, blocking the sun from her eyes. "It's what you deserve after the day you put me through."
    He remained standing beside his motorcycle. Raul's lips twitched in amusement. His hair, wild and windblown hung around his shoulders, held off his forehead by the sunglasses he'd slid up to the top of his head. Her breasts grew heavy and her nipples constricted, despite her displeasure at the treatment she went through with Charlie and her all day imprisonment with Raul's ex-lover.
    She equally loved how it was impossible to stay mad at him for long and hated how he wouldn't take her seriously. He never demanded she get over her moods, just waited her out as if he found the female mind fascinating and he had all the time in the world.
    "You made me leave the club after you promised I could stay," she said.
    "Yeah, I did." He slipped his hand into the inside of his vest and glanced at her. "I could really use a smoke right now."
    "I thought you gave that up." She stepped toward him, but stayed an arm's length away.
    He pinned her to the spot. "I stopped while I was with you, because you bitched about my health all the time. You left—"
    "You kicked me out," she said.
    He dropped his hand to his side and nodded without breaking his gaze. "I did, and nothing I do will change that mistake. I don't need you throwing it in my face, mi vida "
    She sighed and remained silent. Raul flipped open the empty backpack tied to the back of his motorcycle, rifled through it, and held up a pack of smokes in victory. She eyed him. "What's wrong?"
    "Bad day." He pulled out a cigarette and held it up under his nose, inhaling.
    The lines across his forehead deepened, and for the first time she noticed his eyes were darker than normal, pained. He avoided looking at her. She lost her irritation. Something happened today and whatever it was, he was unsettled.
    "Go ahead and smoke it." She approached him, stood on her toes, and kissed him softly. "I won't lecture you tonight, baby."
    He slid his fingers into the top of her jeans and tugged her closer. One arm hooked her neck, pulling her against his chest. Against her, he remained hard, tense, and unmovable. She slid her arms around his waist and leaned her cheek against his collarbone. His heart raced against her ear.
    "Need you. All day, I just wanted to come to you and escape." He kissed her forehead, and then lit his smoke. He blew out the smoke at the same time said, "Tired of shit."
    "What happened?" she whispered. "You mentioned going nomad."
    His chest expanded with the drag on the cigarette and then he exhaled, his voice softening and deepening. "We're not going back to the club."
    "Baby, I get that. But why?" She leaned back, keeping her arms around him. "You'd never turn away from the Lagsturns. You're their president. They depend on you, and you need them."
    His gaze narrowed. "Don't question me. I need you, that's all you need to know."
    She shook her head, wanting to argue the point, and his grip tightened. "Okay."
    "Good girl." He kissed her hard and deep. Then all too soon, he pulled away. "Get on the back."
    Raul handed her a helmet, swung his leg over his Harley, and started the engine. She latched the D loop on her helmet, put her foot on the peg, and climbed up behind him. Riding away from the Lagsturns frightened her more than riding to them. They'd be alone— and for how much she'd love to have Raul's attention not divided between her and the club— they'd lost their protection.
    Raul rode out along the main road and hit the highway. She