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CHAPTERONE
Sophie– 1 month ago
“How are we doing tonight, Joaquin?”
I don’t know if he can hear me, but I ask the same question each night, after Nova leaves the clinic for the evening, putting me in charge of his friend. He’s too young and vital to be lying here motionless. When he came in, he was on the brink of death, but now he’s stabilizing. And that’s a good sign.
For now.
I tell him, “The guys were here earlier to see you. I think they miss you like crazy.” I like to talk to him as I clean and re-bandage his wounds. “I’m sure they can’t wait until you open those eyes and get out of here.”
I only know the bikers of the Reckless Souls MC by name. Well, except for the three that stand guard over Joaquin. And Dr. Nova. But when Ace, Dix, or the others are here, I mostly keep to myself.
The door opens behind me, and I don’t have to turn around to know it’s Tank. Sure, it could be Olly or Stone, who have also been on night duty with me, but I know it’s Tank. The air is different when he’s around. It’s charged, electric, like a live wire caught in a windstorm. Dangerous and thrilling. “You know he’s not gonna answer you?”
I smile at the sound of Tank’s deep, gravelly voice. When I’ve secured the last bandage, I close my eyes and let his deep chuckle wash over me, succumbing to the goosebumps that rise up every time Tank’s near. “He won’t answer until he does,” I shoot back, aiming a playful grin his way.
“Fair point,” he concedes, sitting in the chair beside Banger’s bed. “How’s he doing?”
“Better,” I sigh as I gather the old bandages and shove them in the orange box fixed to the wall. “His body is healing and getting stronger, but the fact that he’s not awake yet is alarming.”
I look up and watch Tank as he watches his friend. Worry darkens his face, and I resist the urge to go to him, to lay a comforting hand on his broad shoulders.
Broad shoulders I’d love to squeeze.
There’s an underlying attraction zipping between us that I can’t deny. A little bit of flirtation here and there, but nothing more. It’s pure lust. “Alarming like he might still die?”
“No. But there’s a reason he isn’t waking up. Nova thinks he’s out of the woods, so now we just need him to wake up.” I wash my hands and dry them before sitting beside Banger’s bed. He’s like our unconscious chaperone.
Tank’s gray eyes leave his friend and settle on me. Those captivating eyes are like magnets, pulling me in and making me want to see them up close. Are there pale flecks of silver or gold in there? Or are there ribbons of brown floating in the gray depths?
“You look really fucking fine today, Sophie.”
I’m thirty-four years old, yet that gruff compliment has me blushing all the way down to my toes.
There’s something about Tank—a softness combined with his big, well-muscled physique that’s very appealing.
He looks rough and gruff, but then he says something like ‘really fucking fine,’ and I blush like a schoolgirl. I can’t explain my attraction to him, and honestly, I don’t want to.
I think.
Then again, did I work my ass off to get involved with a biker?
I know what the Reckless Souls do, and they pay me very well, but is this what I want for my life?
Tank’s deep laugh pulls me from my thoughts, and I realize he’s still watching me, those gray eyes raking over my body like a lover’s hand, slow and tantalizing. “I’d love to know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours right now.”
I could tell him the truth, but his flirty tone is irresistible. “I was just wondering about you, Tank. Why did you become a biker?”
Interest flares in his eyes, and he leans forward, giving me his full attention. “You want the long version or the short one?”
Long, please. “I got time.”
He licks his full pink lips, and my breath hitches. My nipples tighten as I imagine all the things he could do with that tongue. “The short answer is that I met Dix in the joint.”
My eyebrows raise. “The joint?”
He nods. “Yeah, I was locked up for a couple of years.” He says the words and lets them linger in the air, almost as if he’s waiting for me to get up and march away. “You not gonna ask me why?”
