Page 11 of The Last Sacrifice

“Time to go,”

She wanted to argue, to fight. Everyone knew the worst things happened at the second location.

Thorn stood without question, smirking at Hyde while his boss removed the handcuff still dangling off her wrist. “I will let the others know. “

Hyde pocketed the cuffs, giving only a nod in acknowledgement. Thorn gave her a wink before heading out of the room.

Alone with Hyde, the room suddenly seemed smaller. Stifling.

He picked up a bag near the bed and carried it over to her. His hand curling around her upper arm. Gentle but firm, as he pulled her to her feet.

“Come on princess, time is not on our side,”

Stepping out of the room with him, Talia blinked against the afternoon sun. The smell of coming rain filling the air with sweet, chilly promise. She watched Thorn back his bike out and felt a shiver run down her spine.

Muttering something under his breath, Hyde took hold of her arm and led her towards his waiting bike. Pulling off his jacket, he shoved it into her hands.

“Put it on,” he commanded abruptly, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Holding it back to him, she shook her head. “No”

“Don’t be a fucking idiot. It will rain and I don’t play nursemaid to nobody,”

“I never get sick” she knew she was being stubborn. Especially as the heavy leather would protect her from the cold air. But she met his red-eyed stare without flinching.

“No sniveling later,”

He shrugged his jacket back on and swung his leg over the bike seat.

Talia looked up the street, the gentle breeze playing with her hair. A few people were moving about their day. In and out of shops, a couple having a coffee, a car driving past them. But Hyde wasn’t human. She couldn’t outrun him, and she had no idea what he would do to anyone who tried to help.

As she turned back to him, she could feel her heart racing in her chest. His knowing gaze met hers as he gave her a slow nod, an eager smile twisting his lips.

He would kill them all.

She knew it, and he would enjoy it. She shivered involuntarily before making her way to the bike.

One of her old high school boyfriends had his own bike. But it was much smaller than the beast she was now throwing her leg over. Any other time and she might have looked forward to being on the back of a kick ass Harley, but this wasn’t her choice. As her bare feet rested on the foot pegs, the engine roared to life.

She resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and instead gripped onto his hips. Toes curling as the bike weaved its way out of the car park and onto the mountain road.

Once out of the two street town, the remoteness of her latest hiding place hit her and for a mad moment she forgot. Forgot that the man in front of her was a bad guy. That she was his prisoner.

The mountain roads of the Rocky Mountains were dotted with the green of fading spring. Snow draped mountains so close she felt she could just reach out and touch them. It was cold, yet spectacular. Moving with the weave of the bike, Talia drank it all in.

The sound of two more bikes behind her was so loud that it made her jump. Her fingers tightening on his hips.

Looking back over his shoulder, Hyde reached out to pat her knee reassuringly. Moving her leg, she bit back a flinch as the heat of the engine bit the skin of her bare feet.

She swore softly, pretending not to hear the chuckle that reverberated within him.

Three hours later, the heavens opened up in a torrential downpour.

At first it was light rain, the kind that drizzled down, slowly wetting her hair, plastering it slick to her head. The fresh water trickling over her arms and exposed stomach like icy fingers. Shivering, she did her best to ignore it.

It didn’t seem to bother the full leather clad bikers around her. But as the rain got harder, her shivering shook her whole body. She huddled close to him, seeking refuge from the biting cold, wanting the warmth of his body under the jacket. Eyes closing, she moved to the rhythm of the bike.

The heavy clouds seem to get thicker above them. Normally, the Titans would continue on through most storms. But her arms had finally snaked around him, seeking warmth. But more concerning than her icy touch was the fact that in the last hour, her shivering had slowed.