Nowhere but Here (Thunder Road 1)

A delicate touch across my bicep and I look to my side. Early twenties, short pixie-cut brown hair and her tits are hanging in the breeze. “I hear it’s your night.”

Not anymore.

She waves a fifty in the air. “And your friends have bought you a lap dance.”

Razor tips his chin at her. “We’ll keep paying, too. Let us know when.”

Her hand is on my chest, trying to guide me back into the chair behind me. Fuck me. Just fuck me because I don’t know how the hell to get out of this. I gently attempt to remove her hands, but she’s a damned octopus snaking her arms around mine.

“Get off!”

My head jerks in the direction of the faint voice.

“It’s okay if you’re shy,” the girl says under her breath. “I promise I’ll play nice.”

Shy isn’t my problem, but crushing Emily is. There’s only one girl I crave to be with and she’s alone inside Olivia’s house.

Then I hear it again. “Let me go!”

The chick in front of me fades away as my heart stalls. That was Emily’s voice.

Another hand on my chest and I shove it away. “Everyone shut the hell up!”

The guys surrounding us go quiet and peer at me like I’ve lost my mind. I strain to listen past the electric guitars.

“Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!”

Suddenly I’m pushing through the crowd. Grabbing guys and thrusting them out of my way.

“Oz!” Dad stands on a chair on the other side of the room. “What’s the damage?”

“It’s Emily!” I roar.

With my words the music rips off, guys snap their heads in the direction of the yard and I finally emerge from the clubhouse.

Red. I see red. Emily is in the yard, clawing to get away. Her arm locked in the grasp of a man. He’s yelling at her. She’s yelling at him.

“Emily!”

Her head whips to me and there’s relief in her eyes. Pure relief and that causes a deadliness to unfurl within my bloodstream. She was scared. This man scared her.

“Oz!” she shouts.

My arm is yanked back by someone, but I’m a damned steamroller without brakes. At the sight of me coming, he releases her and Emily is pulling so hard that she falls to her ass. His hands are in the air and there’s shouting all around me. My fist collides with his jaw and he lands on the ground.

A body slams into mine and I fight to go forward, fight to pick up the asshole and beat the hell out of him. Another guy rams into me and I don’t go down, but they do stop my advance. A jostle of arms then Dad’s in my face. “He’s a brother! A Reign of Terror! It’s a brother, Oz! We got this. Calm down! You hit a brother.”

I breathe deeply to try to silence the pounding in my head. A brother. I attacked a brother, which can be an automatic out of the club. My eyes shoot to the asshole who laid hands on Emily and I can’t see him because he’s surrounded by Terror cuts and there’s lot of nasty words being tossed in his direction. The anger in the air is palpable.

I tear away from Dad and he shields me from heading to the group, but I’m going in the opposite direction. Emily’s still on the ground, blinking, moving in slow motion. Her gaze snaps to mine and as she a

ttempts to stand, I clutch her hand and draw her into me.

Emily’s arms weave around my waist and she burrows her head into my chest. One of my hands presses her closer and the other fists her hair. I inhale her sweet scent to confirm that it’s Emily. That she’s safe.

She sniffs and I pull her back, framing her face with my hands. Another round of anger courses within me when I spot the moisture in her eyes. Dammit. “Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head and opens her mouth—