Samantha could feel the tension between the two men when she approached with their coffees. After handing them out, she turned and went back into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of the tea that she noticed that Drake had in his fridge. Approaching the patio door, she paused to watch the man who she was falling for gesture wildly at the other man.
Drake, realizing that his woman was waiting to come outside, waved her out. "It's ok. You can hear this. I promise, Sam, I will never keep anything from you. As my woman, it's expected for you to know something of what we do. We work with severely battered womne and child. Usually, the ones that the law can't help. The ones who have a husband who has too many connections, to0 much political power, and is just too legal savvy , not to mention, a great manipulator. The ones who know exactly which buttons to push, but not get arrested. That's when the agency of law enforcement handling the women and children usually contact us. For those that have no other way out, sometimes local, state and federal law enforcement will send these women and children to us. We take them away, hide them, give them new identities, and a fresh start where they will be safe."
"That's wonderful, Drake. I had a friend in college that I wish had known about you. She was stalked and killed by an overly-possessive boyfriend. If we had know about you, she might still be alive. But, because of what you do, many families will survive." One lone tear tracked down her cheek as she remembered her friend.
Drake picked her up and set her in his lap. "Oh baby, I'm sorry. I wish you had had the help she needed. But now, you can do what you can to help others. It won't replace the memories of what happened, but you can live knowing that you made a safe way out for another woman."
Vulcan, who was all but forgotten, watched on as he smirked. He had been right. Samantha was perfect for his friend. She was feisty enough to stand up to him, but soft enough to be compassionate with the women and children they help. She would be a great asset. Many of the women that they helped where naturally suspicious of them, as men, as biker and as someone that they only had been told were going to help them.
Realizing that they were not alone, Samantha's mouth formed an O as she looked up at Drake's VP. "I'm so Sorry, Vulcan. We are being rude."
Vulcan waved off her apology. "It's ok, Samantha. He seems to be pretty wrapped up in you."
Drake smirked at his friend. "What do you think, man? Will she be a big help or no?"
"Oh definitely a big help. She's naturally soft spoken and compassionate, so she will set the women at ease. I say go for it."
Samantha looked from one man to the other in confusion. "May I ask what you are talking about?"
Drake swallowed past the sudden tightness in his throat. "A lot of the families we help are terrified of us. We're bikers, former military, and we're men. We actually need you to make first contact with them. You could set them at ease. Well, as at ease as women in their situations can be. You can be the go-between for the women and the club. As my woman, you would have access to everything you need to do your job. Information, the ability to build a false background, the false identity. Things that will help these women survive after they get out." He watched her soak in the information that he was giving her. "Please, Sam. I think that you will be a natural."
Turning to look at both men, she remembered the previous conversion. "What happened that brought you out here, Vulcan. Drake was on edge the minute he realized it was you. What's going on?"
"We recently helped a woman with a high profile husband escape with her daughter. When the man, who I am not at liberty to mention, realized that it was us, promised retribution on the club and that he would find his "property" and take her back, the "kid' too, because he owned her as well. When we told him that she was safe from him and that she could never be found, the bastard laughed and said for us to watch. "I have money and power and all of the right connections. I always get what I want. And I want my "property" back." It sent chills up my spine. Sam, I served in Afghanistan and Iraq. I was terrified there. This was a whole other level of fear. This guy talked about his wife and daughter as if he were discussing his clothes. There was no love, no affection. I mean, how can you beat a woman and child, repeatedly raped that woman, and claim to love them. No, this was about losing something that he thought he owned."
Drake growled, and Samantha turned her head sharply in his direction. "All right, My Beast, don't start breathing fire. Cool heads need to prevail here."
"Your Beast, huh?" Drake smirked.
"Yeah. You're name is Drake. That's a dragon, you sounded like your were about to roar, you were definitely growling, I think if you get mad enough, you might just breathe fire. So, My Beast." Vulcan watched this by-play with a great deal of humor. The woman shouldn't know his friend that well. But, it seemed that she did, indeed know him, and know him well.
"Now, My Beast, how did this despicable man get the information about the location of his wife and daughter?" Samantha asked, frowning.
"We don't know, Sam. There has to be a leak somewhere. In the club. But, I just don't want to believe any of the brothers or their wives or girlfriends would leak it. They all know how important the work we do is. After all, until this happened, we had a 100 percent success rate." Drake didn't like the implications that someone in the club was on the take. It compromised the safety of not just the women ans children they have helped on the past, but also one in the future, as well. Not to mention their reputation.
"Come on, it's late. Let's say goodnight to Vulcan and go fix some dinner and go to bed. We can tackle this problem head-on in the morning." Realizing that she was right, the two thanked Vulcan and said goodnight. As Drake watched his brother's tail lights disappear down his long driveway, he mused again about the leak.
"Stop Drake. I can practically see the wheels turning in your head. If you get started thinking about this now, you not only won't eat, you won't sleep, as well."
Turning, Samantha went inside and didn't look back, know Drake would follow her.
Samantha snuggled into the warmth behind her, burrowing down into the covers, and moaned. When the warmth moved away, she whined. Then a deep chuckle sounded, causing her to wake completely up. Sitting up, she pushed her hair, that was no doubt a rat's nest, out of her face. Looking over at Drake, she blinked, having trouble focusing.Drake looked over at his woman and chuckled again. She looked so cute with her owlish look and her sleep tossed hair. She was terrible before her coffee, and he loved that about her. Leaning over, he kissed her, then just as she was leaning into the kiss, he pulled back. "I'm gonna go make coffee, baby."Samantha huffed as she headed to the bathroom. She quickly took care of her business and headed into the kitchen, after grabbing one of Drake's t-shirts. Walking into the kitchen, she was greete
After breakfast, Sam and Drake got dressed and headed to the MC compound. Samantha followed Drake in her Jeep. He had decided to take his truck today, instead of his bike.When they drove up to the compound, Drake blew his horn and waited. Nothing happened. Samantha knew that something wasn't right. Just as Drake was getting out of his truck to investigate, a shot rang out. Then several shots. From many different guns.He heard women screaming. Kids were crying. Here could hear the bikers cussing. Somehow, someone had compromised the security of the compound and infiltrated it.When the shooting started, Drake had pulled his .357 sig out and started to look around to see if there were targets. What he didn't see was anyone, except Sam. Then, he heard his girl
This is just another bad date with anoter narcissistic horse's rear end. She knew almost as soon as she had met him. He was a twerp. A butt. An absolute douche bag. Another complete waste of her time. She was really beginning to think that she should start charging them by the hour. After all, if they were going to treat her like that, then she would charge them like that. She clenched her hands in her lap to keep from reaching across the tablle to slap. It was almost a reflex because he was such an a**hole.She sat there in the booth of her favorite diner, listening to yet another a**hole drone on about his career, his bank account, his sports cars, his college degree, his trust fund, his this and his that. She never once heard anything come out of his mouth that didn't center around him. Him, him, him. That's all he cared about. Then he crossed the line.
Drake walked out of his office and was met by Bill, the MC's treasurer."Lucy told me what happened last night. Thanks for looking out for Samantha. She's a little fragile."When Drake raised an eyebrow, Bill shrugged. "Lucy and Sam have been friends since kindergarten. When her husband died last year, I thought Lucy was gonna lose the best friend she ever had. Sam grieved so hard and so long that I thought it would carry her to the grave. I mean, you hear about people grieving themselves to death, but you pray you never see it.""It was bad?" Drake asked, frowning."Yeah, real bad. She had stopped eating and sleeping. Lucy and I went by there about two weeks after we buried Mack. What we found scared my girl, and shook me up pretty badly. Sam was laying in bed, just staring at the ceiling. She smelled like she hadn't had a bath in a while and s
After Bill had answered his text and spoken to his girl, he had sent him Sam's phone number. Drake picked up the phone on his desk and called Samantha. He was kinda hoping she wasn't home. Nervous. He had never been this nervous about calling a woman. His hopes were dashed when she answered on the third ring."Hello." The voice was breathy, like she had been in a hurry."Samantha?" Even though he knew it was her. Her voice caused a shiver to go straight up his spine."Yes?" He could hear the suspicion in her voice now."Samantha, it's Drake. I hope you don't mind, but I got your number from Bill. I wanted to invite you to dinner." Silence."Samantha?""Yes, I'm here. I'm thinking. Where will we be going?" She asked."That depends on you. What kind of food do you like? We have all types of restaurants in the city, or, if you prefer, I can grill steaks and baked potatoes....."Sam jumped in on that. "You got yourself a deal
Samantha dove under the water when she felt Drake run in after her. When she came up for air, the biker was almost right in front of her. A startled gasp left her mouth when he leaned down to pick her up."Wrap your arms around my neck and your legs around my waist." was his command. Doing as he asked, she waited to see what he would do. He waded out until the water was over her head."Why did you bring us way out here, Drake? I can swim, you know? Very well, in fact." Was her smart reply."I wanted you where I could just hold you, and I didn't think you would let me pick you up and set you in my lap." Drake watched her eyes dilate, knowing it was desire. He watched a flush move up her upper chest and onto her chest. She had tried to duck her face into his should
After convincing Samantha to spend the day with him, Drake got up and went to make coffee and breakfast while she showered. After they ate, he showered and they left in his truck to go to Sam's house to get her a change of clothes. He smirked when he thought about what she was actually wearing, and would have taken her straight back to bed, if she hadn't been so sore. Sitting a traffic light, he looked over at the small woman who had taken residence in his heart.Drake wasn't some young boy who didn't know his own mind. He was a mature man with the knowledge of what it meant to love. He was a little apprehensive, but by no means unsure. He knew that he loved Sam. Convincing her, however, was going to take some doing.Realizing that they had arrived at her house, Drake shut off the engine and turned to get out.