Adrenaline Rush (Death Chasers MC 4)

He smiles like he expected as much.

When did Sledge get in here? How long have I been staring at this board?

Sledge groans while scrubbing a hand over his face.

“Don’t, Drake. I warn you, it’s stupid,” Sledge cautions.

“There’s an argument on stupid versus brave we won’t delve into right now,” Drake informs him, lips curling up at the corners. “Is it just me, or is the man a lunatic when he’s happy?”

“Definitely a lunatic,” Maya says very quickly.

She bends over to tighten the laces on her skates, while wearing her pink tiara with today’s bright and bubbly outfit. And she’s with the mafia.

“Pot to the kettle, darlin’,” Drake says to her. “It means more when sane people say it.”

“I’m sane. I just like being happy, and I don’t understand why I can’t be taken seriously just because I have a normal style and recreational habits,” she says as she stands and pushes off, beginning her laps for the day.

“As I was saying,” Drake resumes, “Rush is different. He seems to be enjoying the club life now.”

“Because he wanted me and the club, so now he’s getting to relive his adolescent fantasy with him in control,” I tell him, pursing my lips as I pretend to be disinterested in this conversation.

“He only stayed in the club to figure out what happened to you,” Sledge says quietly.

My hand pauses with the pin I’m holding in the middle of rearranging some other pieces.

“After he kills Herrin and makes him a nonissue, he plans to kidnap you and give you Stockholm’s so that you love him again,” Maya adds.

Sledge curses and covers his face with his hands as Colleen pats his head like she’s consoling him.

I glance back over at Maya, trying to decide how she comes up with this stuff. Then I half wonder if it’s true…considering the barricading incident.

Drake leans forward to speak, abruptly shifting the topic. “Have you considered any new ink? There’s a trend in Halo where—”

“Rush will put three bullets in you, let the rats in his hidden dungeon finish you off, and then he’ll toss your bones into a wood-chipper to use as inventive confetti for an annual Halloween party if you tattoo her vagina,” Maya states in an emotionless tone.

I…don’t really know what to say to something like that. I’m used to roughnecks who talk about breaking bones and shooting an eye out. Not…this…sort of detail.

This is scary.

“That’s oddly specific,” Colleen points out with a semi-horrified expression.

“I have this friend back home who’s a little fucked up,” Maya says with a dismissive shrug. “Rush reminds me a little of him.”

We all just stare at her for a minute as she casually sips her coffee, still roller skating around the silent room.

“This is what I get for trying to have a normal conversation around this place these days,” Drake finally says on a tired breath as he rests his head in his hand.

Maya rushes toward me, skidding to a halt inches away, grabs the board, and skates it back toward the meeting room.

The door blows open before she gets it all the way back in, and we all turn as Rush comes in, dragging an unconscious body behind him.

“Because it’s not the wild fucking west, Drex!” I hear someone saying like they’re in the middle of a heated argument.

My eyes widen when I see a man in a blue suit, running his hands over his hair in frustration.

I get two peeks at his concealed side-arms, along with a generous glimpse of this harnessed holsters. He’s some sort of authority figure. You can tell just by the tension in his rigid shoulders, the gait of his walk, and the overall look he’s sporting.

“This is just the fucking beginning of what’s coming. That’s what happens when you live in a town this close to the border. People know how shit works in Halo. The good times are really damn great. The bad times are hell,” Drex argues as he drops the foot of another unconscious man.

My view is interrupted when Rush stops directly in front of me, and he cups my cheek. Since he’s also holding a gun with the hand that’s cupping my cheek, I get the feel of warm metal against me too.

His lips land on mine in the next instant, and he kisses me like he’s missed me. I’m an idiot, because I swoon against him.

“This is positively the most corrupt vagina squad I’ve ever known in my life,” Drake states dryly from behind Rush…somewhere.

I’m too caught up in the way Rush is toying with my lips, and walking me backwards into the wall that finally stops me. He presses in closer, quickly freeing my mind of all other thoughts when he groans against my lips.

I don’t even know when my fingers ended up twisted in his hair, but I use my hold to pull him closer when he tries to pull away. I also feel his slightly smug grin when it spreads.