Free After the Ride (Night Riders Motorcycle Club Book 2) by Kathryn Thomas

she lightly touched her shoulder.
     
    “Thanks,” Grace said. “It is what it is. I can’t change it. Any of it.”
     
    Grace finished her second drink and asked for another when Callie gathered her in her arms and whispered into her neck.
     
    “I think that’s enough for now,” she said as she patted her hair. “Okay?”
     
    “Okay,” Grace answered. Callie stepped from their side, and Grace turned her gaze to Lauren.
     
    “So you get it now, right?” she asked in a pleading voice. “If you’re found, and the cops start poking around, I’ll be right back with him. He’ll probably lock me up, and I’ll never see the light of day again. Just… him. I can’t… that can’t happen.”
     
    Lauren started to speak when Callie quickly cut her off.
     
    “It’s not happening,” Callie assured her. “Not on Paul’s watch, and not on mine. Oh, honey.”
     
    Callie knelt before Grace again and cupped her face with her hands. “You’re one of us now,” she said. “You belong here. You’re safe here.”
     
    “Promise?” Grace asked.
     
    “Cross my heart.”
     
    Callie kissed her head, and Grace sank into her shoulders. Her shoulders heaved as she cried. Lauren surveyed the scene, and a feeling of gratitude swirled around her heart. No one would ever believe that an outlaw gang in the desert was the safest place for this girl to be.
     
    But given the alternatives…
     
    Grace lifted her eyes and focused her stare on Lauren.
     
    “You’re safe, too,” Grace said. “Blake will keep you safe.”
     
    Her mind drifted towards how he must have felt when he found her gone, when he raced after her into the night with his back bare. How had he felt when he saw her strung up, Nate ready to strip the skin from her bare back with his belt? Pulling away from the others, she folded his jacket over her arms and started back into the night.
     
    “Hold up,” Callie said as she stopped her at the entrance of the tent. “Where do you think you’re going?”
     
    “He must be cold,” Lauren said as she stroked the leather. “He should really have this.”
     
    Again she started to leave, but Callie held her back. “I think you’ve done enough running around for one night. Now why don’t you just get back to icing that bruise?”
     
    Callie tugged on her sleeve, but Lauren held her ground. “I just want to talk to him.” She clutched the folds of the tent in her fingers.
     
    “Blake doesn’t talk,” Callie said. “But I guess you already figured that one out.”
     
    With a nod, Lauren smiled sadly. “I’m learning,” she said. “Quite the education.”
     
    “And yet you don’t know the first thing about threading a needle.”
     
    Callie patted her back and brought her back into the tent. The chill of the desert night along with the shaking in light of Grace’s revelation caused her to wrap her body in his jacket again. Settling into his scent, she spied the dusty bottle and asked for a swig.
     
    “Why not,” Callie shrugged. “Here.”
     
    Lauren drank directly from the bottle, and as the warmth swirled around her, she sat at Grace’s side. Looking at her small, crushed form, she took her hand.
     
    “I won’t go to the cops,” Lauren promised.
     
    A wave of hope washed across Grace’s face. “You won’t?” she asked. “You promise?”
     
    “I—”
     
    “Is that a fact?”
     
    Turning her head to the open flap, she saw Blake, his eyes flickering in the dim light. As soon as their eyes met, Lauren felt warm inside, renewed, and she rose to meet him, stripping off his jacket and holding it out as her eyes ran up and down the length of his broad arms.
     
    “Yes,” she said. “I wouldn’t lie to Grace.”
     
    As she eased his arms into his jacket, her fingers trailed down the leather sleeves until her light touch met his palms. She could sense that he wanted to clasp her hands in his, but he held back and stepped past her to address Callie.
     
    “We’re