Read Tear Me Away (Desert Wraiths MC Romance) for Free Online Page B

"Just think about it, OK? Maybe even think about talking to someone."
    Pfft, like I could afford that. Sandy and I had grown up on different sides of town - a perfect example of opposites attracting. But my parents had been deeply indebted. When they'd died, they hadn't even fully owned the townhouse they left me. I'd part timed as a waitress my senior year to pay off the final bits, only to find that I still had to pay taxes on the damn thing. Between those and vet tech school, I was burning through credit. If I just sold the place, it would be enough to pay for school, pay rent till I graduated...but, the house was all I had from my parents.
    Yeah, that was just the memory I needed to add to the mix in my head. I focused on our practicals. The lab we were in held hundreds of little vials of medicine, some to keep animals alive, some to send them on their way peacefully, some that did one to one animal and the opposite to another. Part of our training to be veterinary nurses involved getting the syringes and gear ready for the appointments of the day.
    It was the sort of mindless work that would get you in a lot of trouble if you screwed up. Sandy hummed a little ditty as she did her bit, busing a tray to one of the teaching hospital's rooms. Truth be told, there wasn't enough work to send two students down here. The vet hospital was a relic of when we had ranchers from all around come here for advice. Most of them had long since been rounded up by some megacorp that had its own in-house vets and staff. Probably where I would be headed if I wanted a job. This house pet stuff might never even come in handy.
    So I had nothing but time. Time to think.  
    Ghost was military, I'd decided a couple nights ago. I was staring at my ceiling and trying to forget the sight of that guy Twist's ugly face grinning down on my breasts. Even then it was a faint memory.
    Nothing compared to how close my brain held onto Ghost. To the broad thrust of his chest. The ripples of his back. His hands picking me up like a piece of gear, and his eyes studying me endlessly. Assessing me. All carefully sculpted elements. Built for some purpose more than whatever his stupid club had him do.
    I could get lost in the memory of his body for minutes. Analyzing it gave me a sort of justification for that. Eventually, I would remind myself he killed a guy, and that would get me back to work.
    But that's what soldiers were trained to do right? And Twist - ugh - had said that this was a guy that had done bad stuff. All these bikers did, so what did it matter that he killed one of them.
    Then again, he was one of them. Even if he stood a little bit apart, even if he was a soldier once, he was a biker through and through now.
    So why had he put his whole club at risk to save me? Why put a ho over a bro?
    I smiled to myself. It was the sort of the thing Sandy would say, and though she was working a few feet away, I couldn't share this. So I had to think it for her.
    Our work practice shift ended, and we went to change. I pushed into the changing room and froze.
    "What?" Sandy stared at me, ready to swoop in.
    "The room he took me too... It had bleach."
    "I thought you were in an alley?"
    I hated lying to her. "I mean, the corner of the alley. Someone had dumped a bunch of the stuff there."
    "Oh, honey." She took me by the arm and led me in. "I'm so sorry I left you. I am such an idiot."
    "It's ok."
    "Well, I'm here now, OK? I got you. It's ok. It smells like bleach and it's ok."
    She had on such an earnest look. I broke out laughing. Her cute face looked even cuter the deeper she frowned.
    "I'm ok," I said. "I'm ok."
    I slung off my lab coat, lathered my hands and studied myself in the mirror. I wasn't as cute as Sandy, but I wasn't so bad off. A heart shaped face and thick bronze hair, courtesy of Mom. A good straight nose and glimmering copper eyes, thanks to Dad. I could almost see the two of them, one at each shoulder, their faces beaming to meet mine. My vision