Riding Steele: Crossroads Read Online Free PDF

Laurie wanted him to stop and the saner part of him knew that if he killed the man, he’d wind up in prison, no matter what the other man’s crimes had been. And if he was in prison, he couldn’t be with Laurie. And that was all that mattered to him now.
    He took a step back, then turned and walked toward her. He knelt in front of her again, his gaze falling to the redness on her throat where her weight had pressed against the too-tight collar when her body had sagged. The sadistic son of a bitch had probably kept her in that cage all night.
    He stroked her hair from her face. “It’s all right now.”
    He glanced over his shoulder to Dom. “Put the collar on the asshole and put him in the cage.”
    He turned back to face her and stroked her cheek. “Sweetheart, let me get those straps off your wrists.”
    She brought one hand out from under the blanket and he unfastened the strap. As his fingers worked on the buckle, he caught a glimpse of blood on her skin, below the shoulder, and his gut clenched. She offered the other wrist and once he had them both off, he tossed them to Magic.
    He stroked his finger over the small cut. “What happened here?”
    She just shook her head, clearly not ready to talk about it yet.
    Wild Card set her jeans on the arm of the chair. “These aren’t usable anymore,” he said as he held up her bra and panties.
    Steele’s stomach tightened as he saw they’d been sliced by a knife. That probably explained the cut. And with how evil this bastard was, there were probably more. Wild Card tossed them on the table beside the chair, then he handed Steele a shredded T-shirt.
    “I suppose she could wear this backward and tie it somehow,” Wild Card suggested.
    “No need.” Raven walked toward them and pulled off her jacket. She tugged her shirt over her head revealing a black push-up bra beneath. She tossed the shirt to Steele, then pulled on her jacket and zipped it up.
    “She doesn’t look in very good shape to be riding on the back of a bike,” Raven pointed out.
    “We have no choice,” Steele answered.
    “I’ll be okay,” Laurie said as she pulled Wild Card’s jacket from under the blanket and handed it to him.
    She took Raven’s shirt and pulled it on, then she slid on the jeans under the blanket, feeling painfully vulnerable after the attack. She pushed aside the blanket, then tried to stand up, but immediately winced and dropped back in the chair. Steele saw her swollen ankle.
    “You’re not walking anywhere on that.”
    Magic handed Steele the comfortable, black, tie-up shoes Laurie had been traveling in. He slipped each one on her foot, being careful of her sore ankle, and tied them loosely, then he lifted her from the chair.
    “What about him?” Rip asked, nudging his head to Donovan, who was now in the cage, his neck and wrists fastened to the bars.
    “Don’t worry. We’ll alert the police to his situation. In a few hours.”
    “You’re going to regret this,” Donovan shouted from the cage. “That slut is going to bring you more trouble than you ever bargained for.”
    Steele carried her outside and the door slammed on Donovan’s empty threats. Steele set her on the front of his bike, then fastened a helmet beneath her chin. He stroked her cheek. “I’m never going to let you out of my sight again. I promise you that.”
    He smiled and kissed her gently, then he mounted behind her and started up his bike, relief surging through him that she was finally in his protective keep again.
    *
    Steele and the others hadn’t ridden very far before he felt Laurie drooping. If the asshole had kept her in that cage all night, she wouldn’t have gotten any real sleep. She had to be exhausted.
    A road sign indicated a town about ten miles ahead. As they got closer, he saw a motel along the side of the road. He signaled for the others to pull over and they all turned in to the parking lot.
    He pulled off his helmet as the others parked in a row beside him.
    “It’s