Out of Darkness Read online

  “Should be alright,” he shrugged. “The run for tonight was called off since our driver got arrested. Some of the guys are going to see what they can find out about that. I came with him to make sure Denise is alright. Since he’s taking her to the ER, I really don’t have anything else to do. Consider the time made,” he teased.

  She reached out, pinching him on the arm. “Thanks so much, I’m glad I rank that high.”

  The teasing stopped as Liam came out of the front door, carrying Denise in his arms. He tossed the keys at Tyler. “Open the door and let the seat down so she doesn’t have to sit straight up.”

  The other man caught them with one hand and beat feet over to where the truck was parked. As Liam held Denise close, running a hand over her forehead, Tyler worked quickly to do as instructed. When he was finally done, he stood back to allow Liam to place her inside the truck.

  “I brought a blanket, just in case,” Meredith reached in, putting it around her friend, tucking her in as she would a child. “Snug as a bug in a rug,” she whispered, causing a weak smile to spread across Denise’s face.

  “Let us know how things go,” Tyler said as he stood with Meredith, an arm around her shoulders.

  “Will do, we’ll see y’all in a bit.”

  “Whatever you do, when they make you wait, don’t cause a scene,” Meredith warned Liam.

  “I know, I’ll do my best, but I can’t promise shit.”

  That was the best she could ask for. As the truck drove down the drive, the couple stood watching the fading brake lights.

  “While we wait for them, let’s go check out that storage unit,” Tyler said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the bike with him.

  “I missed you,” she admitted, reaching up on tiptoes to kiss him.

  “Good to know, I’ll take that greeting anytime you wanna give it. Let’s get out of here and find out what we all missed the first time around.”

  A feeling settled in her stomach, heavy enough that it felt like it was holding her down. She knew the answers to her questions lay there, but she still wasn’t sure if she wanted those answers or not.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “What do you want from out of here?” Tyler asked, gazing at the sheer volume of stuff that was wedged inside the storage unit.

  She thought for a moment. “Anything marked research. I know there are a couple of boxes. I need the laptop and the two computers as well as the contents of my desk.”

  “Well we didn’t plan this out too well, did we?” he laughed, looking at his bike. “Let me call Jagger and have him bring my truck.”

  “You have a truck?” This was news to her.

  “And a car. I’m mysterious,” he wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

  There were so many things she didn’t know about this man, and the more she found out, the more she wanted to know. “What kind of truck and car do you have?”

  “Your normal boys’ toys,” he shrugged.

  “Jagger, I need you to bring my truck to the storage unit that Meredith’s stuff is in. If you can manage it, try not to break anything and try not to wreck it.” Without even saying goodbye, he hung up.

  “Why are y’all so mean to him?”

  “He’s new, we’re always mean to the new ones. I guess I could be a little bit nicer to him since he did get my curse, huh?” he teased, a bright smile on his face.

  Not rising to the bait, she came over to stand in front of him. “Whatever you say, Mr. Blackfoot. Do you want to go ahead and start getting some of this stuff out, or do you want to just wait on him?”

  He looked around, and seeing no one else but them, he stepped closer to her. At one time, being this close to him would have made her nervous, but now she was used to it, actually ached to be this close to him.

  “I think we can just wait on him.”

  His large hands went to her hair and tangled there, tilting her head just the way he wanted before his lips claimed hers.

  She moaned when his mouth captured hers. Almost immediately she let him take over, direct her in how he wanted to take her mouth. His tongue stroked the roof roughly, taking more than she dared let him take before. Unable to prevent it, her hands went around his body, holding him closer to her. They pressed together in the darkness of the storage lot, a light a few feet away the only thing keeping them out of complete darkness. Letting his hands slide down from her hair, he ran them softly to her neck, needing to feel skin against skin.

  Pulling her lips from his, she smeared her lips down his neck, stopping to suck at the pulse point in the middle. His heart beat wildly under the smoothness of her lips. It made her feel empowered, to make his heart beat this fast.

  “You burn me up,” he admitted as she used her teeth to lightly nip at that same point on his neck.

  She stepped back, looking up into his eyes. “I’m glad. You burn me up too, it’s only fair.”

  He ran his hands down her back and gripped her around the waist, backing up against the side of the building. Making her feel like she weighed little more than a feather, he easily lifted her up and pressed her there with the weight of his body. Unconsciously, she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  “If this doesn’t become good with you, you let me know,” he whispered fiercely to her.

  The fact that he always worried about her pissed her off and warmed her heart all at the same time. While she wished he didn’t have to worry about anything, she was so glad that he did. “Understood.”

  Pushing her up higher against the building put her nipple even with his mouth. She grabbed his hair as his tongue soothed the hardness through the layers of her shirt and bra. It was madness, she’d never been in this situation before. All she knew was having him go all alpha male on her was the hottest thing she’d ever seen in her life. His large hands grasped the globes of her ass as he squeezed them, pressing her nipple deeper into his mouth.

  Her feet dug into his lower back as he ate at her, wanting him closer. She wanted to feel some part of his skin that didn’t have clothing on it, but he’d been dressed for battle. Long sleeves covered his arms, leathers covered his legs.

  “I wanna feel you,” she moaned in frustration.

  Bringing his hands from her ass he moved them around to the front of her body, caressing her stomach before moving them further up. Goosebumps broke out on her flesh as she felt his fingers run up her naked skin. She loved the feel of his hands against her. It was becoming her favorite feeling in the world.

  “Not enough,” she complained.

  This had quickly gotten out of hand, he realized. In the background, he could hear the roar of what he knew was his truck. He had to stop this before Jagger caught them in an even more compromising position. Setting her down, he pulled her shirt so that it covered her bare stomach and tried to push her hair back into place. He tried to fix the things he could.

  What he couldn’t fix was the wild look in her eyes, the swollen lips that even now begged for his kiss, the wet spot on the front of her t-shirt, the out of control cadence of her breathing.

  “Bad place to start that, huh?” he tried to lighten the mood.

  “Can we finish this later?” she asked as she saw Jagger pull up behind Tyler’s shoulder. “Jagger’s here.”

  “Absolutely,” he promised. “Put this on,” he instructed her.

  He took off his cut and the long sleeved shirt he had on. Underneath the long sleeved shirt, he wore a tank top. Throwing the shirt towards her, he put his cut back on and turned to face Jagger. He really didn’t want his brother seeing the wet spot on her shirt. Walking over, he intercepted him to give her time to put the shirt on over her we one.

  “Thanks for coming. Did you have any issues gettin’ out here?”

  “Nope,” Jagger smiled confidently. “Like I told you, I think I’ve broken the curse.”

  Tyler couldn’t help but grin. “Whatever you say.”

  He instructed Jagger on what they needed to get out of the storage unit, not let
ting Meredith pick up or move anything. She grumbled as she sat on the sidelines watching them do all the work. Every now and again she would get a text from Denise or Liam telling her that they were giving Denise fluids and then running some tests on her. One text she got made her stomach clench.

  “They’re keeping Denise overnight,” she told the other two.

  “Do they know what’s wrong with her?” Tyler asked, concern etched on his face.

  In her heart, Meredith thought she knew what was wrong with her friend. Denise had avoided all questions that she had asked about a diagnosis. She’d only said she’d talk to her face-to-face in the morning.

  “Not yet. I need to talk to you later though.”

  He looked at her, not sure what she wanted to talk to him about and why it seemed to have something to do with his friends. “When we get to the clubhouse, I’ll be sure and make time for you.”

  “Thanks,” she laughed. “I’m glad I’m important enough for you to make time for.”

  A few hours later, they’d loaded everything into the truck, and Tyler directed Jagger on where to take it and unload it.

  “Do you really think the answer to why and who attacked me is in that stuff?” she asked him as they watched Jagger drive away.

  “I’m not sure, but I truly think that there may be a good clue there. What happened to you wasn’t some random act of violence. It wasn’t like someone came upon you and just decided to violate you. It was an attack, it was personal, and it was planned. Now if that had anything to do with me, I sure as hell want to know about it. I wanna make things right if it’s because of this club, and I will take it out of the man’s hide. Don’t doubt that.”

  The look on his face told her how serious he was. She didn’t doubt him at all, and the murderous glint in his eyes spoke of just how serious he was.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Meredith ran her hands through her hair as she surveyed the amount of stuff they’d stacked into an empty room at the clubhouse. It was a lot more than she had originally anticipated. To say she didn’t know where to start would be a huge understatement.

  “This is the last of it,” Tyler said as he brought in a drawer that went in her desk. “More than you thought?” he asked as he noticed the panicked look on her face.

  “Yeah, is it that obvious?” she bit her thumbnail as she asked that question.

  “You look a little overwhelmed.”

  He had a seat on one of the boxes and pulled her over to him so that she stood in between his legs. “Is that all that’s goin’ on here? What did you want to talk to me about earlier?”

  She sighed as she had a seat on his leg and wrapped her arms around his neck. For a moment, she buried her face in his neck. He became alarmed when he felt wetness there.

  “Hey, hey,” he pulled her away and cupped her cheeks. “What’s really going on?” he used his thumbs to wipe at the tears streaming down her face. She gulped in breaths of air trying to calm herself down. “What the hell’s got you so upset?”

  “I think Denise is pregnant,” she whispered.

  He was confused. What did this have to do with her? “You’re gonna have to explain what’s goin’ through your head because, baby, I definitely am not a mind reader today.”

  “I’m a horrible, horrible person because I’m jealous.”

  That threw him. They hadn’t even had sex, much less talked about kids, but that statement made him sit up straighter. “Why are you jealous?”

  “I want kids someday, but what if because of what happened to me I can’t ever bring myself to get there.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She hated this. There was not one part of her that wanted to voice this fear she had to Tyler. Not one part. “What if I can never have sex again?”

  He laughed. Straight up belly laughed. “That’s what you’re worried about? Haven’t you been in my arms the last couple of nights? Haven’t you thought about having sex with me? Weren’t there a few times that we had to stop each other? You will overcome this fear. You’re too passionate not to. I’m not pressuring you am I?” He was horrified at the thought. That was the last thing he wanted to do.

  “No, not at all. You’ve been more than patient with me. But what if I can’t ever get past it? I want kids, you may want kids.”

  His heart swelled. She was talking about a future involving the both of them, not two separate beings. “We could always adopt. You forget I’m an orphan.”

  She slapped her hand over her mouth. She had forgotten. This man who offered her so much love and affection had started out in life with none given to him. “I’m so sorry Tyler.”

  “Don’t be. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel sorry for me. I’m just giving you other options. Can I share something with you?”

  Meredith wanted to know everything that this man wanted to tell her. There was not one part of him that she didn’t want to know. “Please, share everything with me.”

  “For the first two months of my life, I didn’t have a name. My name was John Doe. My first birth certificate actually says John Doe. It wasn’t until an older Native American couple took me in as foster parents that I got a name. They gave me their family last name. I have no idea who either of my real parents are. But I came into this world as a John Doe.”

  That hurt her so much. How could someone do that to a child? How could someone nurture that child in their belly for nine months and then leave him alone to face the world? “How come you didn’t stay with them?”

  “They couldn’t afford me. They already had the maximum amount of children they could afford. From what I hear, they tried hard and I was with them for a long time. My first memories of childhood are with that couple. That house I took you to? It was theirs. I bought it when they died a few years ago. That’s why I love it so much.”

  She grappled with all the information he had given her. The strong man who hardly ever revealed anything about himself had dropped two bombs on her in a short amount of time. “Thank you for sharing this with me.”

  “I wouldn’t have done it if I didn’t want to. What I’m trying to say about all this though is that there are options. I’m not leaving you no matter what you can or can’t do. So if you can never get there, I’ll be fine. I’m committed to you and I think you’re committed to me.”

  “I am.”

  “Have you talked to Doc Jones about this?”

  “I have. That’s where she came up with the idea of masturbation to try and get me there. I don’t know why I’m freaking out about this so much. Life is going to move on whether I’m ready or not.”

  He caressed her neck and placed a soft kiss on her temple. “That’s right, it is going to and none of us know where it’s going, Meredith. The only thing we can do is hang on and make the best decisions for us. What say we just live and see where it takes us? We have no plans. We’re just two people trying to make the best of situations that were given to us. As long as we live, nothing else can be asked of us.”

  She took a moment to think about what he had just said. He was right. She was getting all worked up again over things that were so far out of her control they might as well be in another universe. Calmed down, she took a deep breath. “You’re right, as always.”

  “What was that? I think I heard you say I was right?”

  She giggled and pushed his shoulder. “You know that you’re wise, I don’t need to stroke your ego anymore.”

  Wanting to put a little bit of playfulness into what had become a very serious discussion, he winked. “I got something else you can stroke.”

  She pushed herself off his knee. “Tyler Blackfoot! You behave.”

  “You’re the one who asked if we could continue our little interlude later, but that’s okay, I can take a rain check if you can.”

  She flounced out of the room, slinging her hair back as she got to the door. Turning, she stared at him over her shoulder and gave him a look before crooking her finger at him. “I don’t think I can.�
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  For a six foot three inch man, he was extremely agile and had made his way to her in just a few steps. Picking her up, he threw her over his shoulder and made his way to his dorm room.

  “I knew you couldn’t resist me,” he teased her as he shut the door. “I’m just way too sexy.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  “I’m so glad you’re here,” Denise welcomed Meredith into the hospital room she still occupied.

  Meredith waved, trying to be quiet as she saw Liam curled up in the corner on a pulled out cot. “Should I come back later?” she whispered, pointing at Liam.

  “Nah, I’m up,” he sat up, yawning as he ran his hands over his eyes. “Did Tyler bring you?”

  “Yeah, he’s downstairs grabbing some coffee. He told me to let you know if you were awake, you could come join. I think he was gonna go get some breakfast at Donna’s.”

  “Oh, I am all over that. This hospital food sucks donkey balls. You don’t mind do you?” he asked her as he sat up, straightening his clothes out.

  “Sure don’t.”

  “You’ll be good?” Liam asked, turning to face Denise.

  “I’ll be fine. I told you that you could go home last night. Remember?”

  Meredith watched as they argued good-naturedly.

  “I am not leaving you up here in this place by yourself. Don’t even ask me to do that again. I thought we settled that.”

  “We did,” she grumbled.

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I have my cell if you need me.”

  Denise did her best not to roll her eyes. “Meredith is here. I am going to be fine. Now go!”

  The two women watched as he exited the room. When the door shut, Denise growled. “He is driving me absolutely insane.”

  Meredith couldn’t help but laugh. “He loves you, he’s just worried.”

  “I know, I know. My hormones are just out of control.”

  They lapsed into a comfortable silence. “So how far along are you?” Meredith asked quietly.