Lost (Book 6 of the Forbidden Series)

8

Zeke sat on the edge of the bed his mind still racing. Kat had fallen asleep some time ago. Once he had gotten her back to the motel, he had done his best to earn her forgiveness. She had been impressively resistant against his advances, but in the end, she had succumbed to his seduction and after a night of passion, she had been utterly exhausted.

Zeke, however, was still worked up over the incident earlier that night. Lisa had ruined everything she had forced him into an imposable situation. With everyone around, he had been forced to put Lisa in her place. She had been out of line, and he could not show weakness. He had shown her mercy, and that alone would come back on him he was sure. Zeke had been so careful in his time among them. Always controlling his environment and never giving any reason for him to have to discipline a woman. He had even from time to time intervened by distracting one of his enraged buddies and sparing their women a beating.

Unfortunately, Lisa had forced his hand. He could not stand there and do nothing without losing face. In saving face, he had almost lost Kat. Zeke raked his fingers through his long hair. He wanted to pull every bloody strand out; he was so stressed. What had he done dragging Kat into this world? She was a good honest woman with problems. She was grieving and rebounding and not thinking right. If she was why the hell would she continue to stay with him? He was taking advantage of her vulnerability to keep her with him, and he knew it.

Zeke rose from the bed frustrated and hating himself. He quietly paced the small room. He should send Kat away before he got her in any further. She could have been seriously hurt tonight. One night she might be, and how long before he can’t hide from her what it is he did for the Fiends? Would she still be so forgiving, so accepting, when she thought him a drug runner? She was already having trouble accepting his cover.

He had wanted so badly tonight to tell her this was not who he was. That these people were not who he was; but he couldn’t, not without putting them both at jeopardy. He should send her away for her safety. Zeke watched Kat sleeping in his bed. She was peaceful sleeping there, so beautiful, he couldn’t bear to say goodbye to her. It was selfish, he knew, but he wasn’t ready to let Kat go.

He could still protect her Zeke decided. He would keep her away from the groups. Just for a few more days and then he would send her away. Zeke came back to the bed and sat by her side his finger tracing lightly over the butterfly tattoo on the small of her back. A few more days with Kat and he would give her up, this he swore.

His attention was drawn from Kat by the sound of approaching engines outside. Zeke rose from the bed and crossed to the window. He pulled back the curtains just enough to watch a band of bikes pulling in to the parking lot. It was after hours, so he knew they had not come for the bar. They had come for him. Zeke looked back at Kat who still slept soundly in his bed. He reached for his jeans off the floor and pulled them on. Zeke slipped his feet into his boots and grabbed his shirt off the table where it had fallen. Pulling his shirt over his head, Zeke opened the door and stepped out into the night.

The door fell closed behind him, and Zeke leaned casually over the rail staring down at the men below. Nick and Seth were climbing off their bikes and looking up at him hooting loudly with no consideration for the late hour. “Hay party pooper get down here.” Nick hollered up at him. “We ain’t seen you all damn day.”

“What you go leave the party so soon for?” Seth asked stomping up the steps. He was drunk and carrying a six pack in his hands. He tore off a can and tossed it at Zeke once he reached the top of the stairs. Zeke caught the flying can and popped the top, holding it away from his body to be sure the overflow spill didn’t pour onto his clothes.

“I felt a great need for my bed.” Zeke lied with a wicked grin. It was best for them not to know that he had caved to Kat’s foul mood. It was better for everyone involved for it to appear like he was the one calling the shots.

“You could have done that in the bushes,” Nick commented coming up the stairs. “Or the parking lot.” He laughed nudging Seth with his elbow. “Hell, I’d pay to see that sweet piece of tail with her skirt jacked up around her waist, even if it ain’t me giving it to her.”

The two men laughed, and Zeke forced a smile, while inside he was entertaining thoughts of bashing their heads together. It was strange; they were behaving no differently than they had from the day he had met them and Zeke had never minded before. With Kat, Zeke felt a strange primal possessiveness he could not quash.

“Hey what was up with Lisa?” Seth asked. “I heard you, and she got into it?”

It had come back on him faster than he had thought. Rumours of his mercy had already spread, and surely his character was being called in to question. A dangerous place to be for a cop. “She apparently can’t get over me.” Zeke laughed making light of her behaviour. “I guess I make women crazy.” The boys laughed, and Zeke sipped his beer.

“I hear you chickened out on putting her in her place. Didn’t man up.” Nick challenged.

Zeke stood up straight drawing himself to his full height to face down the challenge. “b***h was wetting herself right there in front of everyone, quaking in her boots. I didn’t have to lift a finger to put her in her place. b***h won’t ever step out of line with me again you best believe that, but if you want to challenge me, I could toss your drunk ass over the balcony here and see if you can fly.” He threatened, stepping up to Nick and staring him down.

Nick grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “Hey man, we’re all friends here. I’m only repeating what I heard.”

“Well, you should know better than to repeat ridiculous rumours.” Zeke snapped, hoping the matter was settled. Hopefully, they would spread the word, and the two rumours would cancel each other out. If not, he would have to survive a few fights to regain his respect among the gang. Showing Lisa mercy this evening could have been considered a sign of weakness and in result have painted a huge target on his back. As he could tell from Seth and Nick’s visit this evening, the word had already spread.

Zeke took a long drink from his beer. He would never show it, but his nerves were shot. Zeke was in for a hard road ahead, and he knew it. All this over a woman. God, he must be out of his bloody mind.

***

Westchester New York…

Dane walked into his sister’s backyard where his niece and nephew were playing in their treehouse. Layla was sitting on a lawn swing in the shade watching her children playing when he came through the gate. She smiled when she saw her brother crossing the grass to join her.

Dane sat down on the swing beside Layla kissing his sister on the cheek hello. “You are looking well.” He said watching the kids running around the treehouse.

“How are Nadia and the baby?” Layla asked with a smile. His new young wife had given birth just the other day to a beautiful baby boy and had been recovering wonderfully.

“They are both doing fine. I wish I could say the same. He is so small I am afraid I will break him every time I pick him up.” Dane laughed.

His sister snickered. “That will pass.” She promised. “Have you heard any word from the detective?” She asked.

“Yes.” It had been his reason for coming over. “She hasn’t used her credit cards, but he says there has been lots of activity with her banking card. So, it appears she has been using cash. I assume to hide her identity. Her credit card would give away who she is, and I’m guessing she is trying to stay on the down low since there haven’t been any tabloid sightings of her that I have heard of.”

“So mom’s bank card activity leaves us a trail to follow?” Layla asked trying to understand what he was saying.

“Well, that’s the thing. According to him, all the activity is in one place, Bartlett Tennessee. So, he says he went down there, and he found her car parked outside some sleazy motel, only there is no one by her name registered there and no one that fits her description, but her car doesn’t move.”

“How can she be there but not be there?” Layla asked. It was a question he also asked. “Could she be using an alias? If she paid with cash, they might not check for ID.”

She had a good point it was likely their mother had done something like that to keep her identity a secret. “But no woman fitting her description was known to be there.” Dane pointed out.

“Maybe she altered her appearance.” Layla offered. “Like Superman to Clark Kent; glasses, coloured contacts, a wig maybe.” She suggested. “There are many possible ways a woman could change her appearance.”

“We need to send someone that can spot her despite her attempts to hide. Someone that knows her personally. Someone who can talk some sense into her head when they find her.” Dane said thoughtfully. “We have to go down there and get her ourselves.”

“No,” Layla said shaking her head, her long red curls bobbing up and down. “People will recognize us and then she will be exposed, think of the scandal. The tabloids will say she went nuts and had a breakdown. She doesn’t need her vulnerable state publicized. We need to send someone else.”

“Uncle Damien could go get her. Maybe she’ll listen to her brother. Who else knows more about doing stupid things than him?” Dane suggested.

“Are you crazy? Uncle Damien is even more recognizable then us.” Layla said rejecting his idea.

“Well, then who do we know that is close enough to her that wouldn’t be spotted a mile away by crazed fans?” Dane asked.

The sliding door to the house opened and Layla’s husband Alexander came out carrying a bag. “Hey honey, I’m going to go drop these routines off at the studio. I’ll be back in an hour.” Alexander had been moonlighting as an exotic dancer when Layla had met him. A fact their father had not cared for when he had found out. It had been one of the many things that had cost him his job as their houseboy. Despite his shady start, Alexander had been an exceptional dancer, so much so that he had been given a lucrative job at Paradise Records as a choreographer for their music videos.

After his father had passed on Dane had kept Alexander on, his track record had been sensational. Most of the videos he had worked on reached the top ten chart lists with Video DJ’s and video awards. He had even worked on a few of Dane’s videos. Alexander had married Layla and worked in the business like the rest of them, but unlike the rest of them, Alexander worked behind the scenes. Nobody would know his face except their mother.

Dane looked at his sister who was smiling back at him. She was thinking the same thing he was. Alexander looked questioningly at them both. “What?”

“We think we found mama,” Layla told her husband as she stood up.

“Oh yeah, is she coming home?” Alexander asked.

“Well you see we can’t actually find her.”

He lifted a dark brow in confusion. “But you said you found her.”

“Well, we found her car and some activity on her bank card places her in one spot. But we think she might have changed the way she looks to hide. Since we don’t know what we can’t tell the detective what to look for. So, we can’t find her.”

“I see. So, what now?” Alexander asked.

Layla smiled sweetly and hugged her husband’s arm. “Darling, would you go down there and bring mama back?”

Alexander pulled his arm away and paced the grass. “Oh, come on Layla. Your parents hated me. She won’t listen to me.”

“She doesn’t hate you,” Layla argued.

“She doesn’t love me.” Alexander pointed out. “I’m sure she wishes you would have married better than me.”

“Alexander, please. I can’t go after her myself.” Layla pleaded. “Do it for me?”

Alexander looked at her pleading face and groaned with defeat. He never could say no to his wife. “Well, how am I supposed to convince her to come home?”

Layla kissed him. “I have faith in you.”

“Alright I’ll try my best, but I make no promises,” Alexander said making it very clear that he could not force their mother to do anything she did not wish to do. “So where am I going?”

***

Bartlett Tennessee…

Zeke had managed to keep Kat away from the boys for the next two days. They spent a good portion of their time in bed and then took in a movie where they sat in the back row and spent the last half of the movie necking like hormonal teenagers. By the time they had left neither one of them could remember what they had come to see. After the movie, they had gone out to a karaoke bar downtown. None of his buddies would have been caught dead in a place like that, so it was a safe place to be.

Zeke sat back in his chair with his feet up on the chair across from him shooting whiskey and laughing at all the bad singers. Kat kept trying to get him to behave, and occasionally she managed to rein him in but not for too long. It was hard to take them seriously when they were slurring their words or singing off key. Misreading every other word because they didn’t know the lyrics or the tempo. All in all, they were just all so terrible they deserved heckling.

“It’s not so easy to get up in front of a group of people and put yourself out there,” Kat said as if she knew from experience. Kat must have been a karaoke fan; he decided, remembering how she had sung the night she had played the guitar around the fire.

“Hey, why don’t you sing?” He suggested. “You got great pipes.” Zeke winked at her. “I promise no heckling.” He said crossing his heart.

“No, I don’t think so.” She said shaking her head.

“Ok.” He shrugged. “Bring on the next sucker.” He hollered rudely.

Kat placed her hand over his mouth to silence him. “Ok, if I do this will you promise to behave and quit harassing these people?” She asked. Zeke nodded and crossed his fingers over his heart again. “Fine.” She said rolling her eyes. Kat removed her hand from his mouth, and Zeke grinned as he watched her get up and walk toward the dancefloor where the system was set up.

She selected a song, and the DJ put it on. Kat took the microphone in her hand and faced the bar. She didn’t look the least bit nervous. Zeke whistled and clapped cheering for her like her own personal groupie, and he saw her smile as she tried to repress her laughter. The music started, it was a very popular upbeat song from a very famous rock band. Kat jumped in right on cue; it was like she had been singing the song all her life. She moved around the dancefloor showboating to the crowd that was now singing along and clapping. Zeke noticed that Kat never once looked at the prompter to read the words. She just seemed to know them by heart, like she had written it. She looked like a natural up there.

Zeke stared at Kat long and hard. There was more to this woman than she let on. His gut had told him when they met that he had seen her someplace before, but since he could not place her, he had simply let it slide. However, the more he got to know Kat the more he felt he already knew her, but how? There was something about this woman that was so familiar. If only he could put his finger on it.

Once her song was finished everyone clapped and cried for an encore, but Kat refused and came back to the table her face lit up with a huge smile. “Oh god, I forgot how much fun that could be.” She said grabbing her drink.

“You karaoke a lot?” He asked.

Kat paused as if she realized she had said something she shouldn’t have. “Yeah, it’s a blast.” She said with a smile taking another shot. She had just lied to him Zeke realized. His grip tightened on his glass. People lied to him all the time. His entire life was built on lies he was a professional at spotting them. But knowing Kat had outright lied to him just now made him angry. He had always known she was keeping secrets from him, but she had never lied.

Who was he to get mad though? He had done nothing but lie to her. About whom he was and why he was there. How could he expect more from her? Still, it did little to take away the sting of her deceit. Who was she?

They stuck around a little longer and watched a few other singers. As promised, Zeke was on his best behaviour for the rest of their stay in the bar. He could only listen to a handful of people before his worst nature got the better of him and he suggested they leave before he broke his word and began to harass them once more.

They drove down to the county fair, which they had passed on their way in earlier that night. After parking his bike Zeke and Kat wandered around the fair hand in hand. They rode a few rides that made Kat scream and Zeke laugh. It was a wild ride, and he loved every minute of it especially the part where she clung to him.

They took in the magic show and some trick dog act before wandering on and getting some blue cotton candy. They made silly faces in the hall of mirrors and Zeke chased Kat through the funhouse. They tried some of the games. Kat challenged him to darts, and he beat her at the ring toss. Zeke threw down the hammer at the strong man game and managed to ring the bell. He almost threw out his shoulder, but he won her a stuffed dragon.

From there they went to the stage where there was a country music band playing, and Kat taught Zeke to two-step. He stepped on her feet a few times but eventually got the hang of it. He wasn’t one for country music, but dancing with Kat was well worth it. Around midnight the band was slowing it down. Swaying to the sweet love songs Zeke held Kat close in his arms her hand in his. She was smiling up at him, and it was as if he could see the stars in her eyes. Zeke lowered his head, and his lips touched hers stealing a sweet kiss beneath the stars as fireworks lit up the sky above their heads.

Nothing in his life had ever felt as right as that moment had. They both smiled at each other and looked up at the sky to watch the fireworks. He held her close Kat’s head resting on his shoulder. Zeke wished that moment would never end, but like any moment it did and all too soon. The fireworks ended, and the band quit for the night. The fair was starting to shut down, and it was time for them to go.

They walked slowly back to his bike hand in hand. Once they reached the bike, Zeke propped her up on the seat and settled himself between her legs. The parking lot was empty except for them. Her arms came around Zeke and running her fingers in his long hair Kat stole his bandana. With a smirk, Kat pulled it onto her head. Her long blonde curls hung out from beneath the black skull patterned fabric. She grinned at him pretending to be a tough biker babe. She was mocking him, but Zeke didn’t care.

Zeke reached up placing his hand alongside Kat’s face and gently pulled her forward to kiss him. His mouth claimed hers. Their tongues danced. His other hand came up framing her heart-shaped face in his palms as his kiss deepened. Kat tasted sweet, like ambrosia, he could not get enough of her. She returned his urgency with passion, with everything she had which only made him desire her more. Before Kat, Zeke had never known a simple kiss to be so hypnotic… so intoxicating.

Her hands travelled down his back and over his butt. He felt her pull him closer and he groaned as his arousal pressed against her sweet spot. He needed desperately to get her home. Her hands moved to the front of him, and Kat started to open his jeans. Zeke broke off their kiss and rested his head against her forehead. “Oh god baby, what are you doing?” He whispered trying to control himself.

“I need you right now.” She whispered kissing him again and reached into his pants. Her small hand wrapped firmly around his erection, and a jolt of pleasure shot through him.

“Right here?” Zeke asked looking around to make sure they were alone.

“Zeke please, I can’t wait,” Kat begged, making him crazy.

Zeke pushed up her skirt so it was out of his way and he reached for her white lace panties. With one good yank, he ripped the fabric and tore them off her. Kat pushed his jeans down far enough to free his ramped erection, and he grabbed her legs pulling them around his waist.

Zeke drove deep inside Kat causing her to cry out. Her arms came up around his shoulders clinging to him as he quickly took her, driving in and out of her. She cried out with each thrust begging for more, begging him not to stop. Kat was making him insane with lust. She was tight around him, the friction threatened to bring him to completion.

Kat was beautiful, her ivory skin flushed with desire. Her head thrown back in the throes of passion, her long blonde hair swaying with their movements. Zeke could be lost in her arms forever and die a happy man. She loved with everything she had, never holding back, never shying away from what she wanted. She burned him alive with every touch, every kiss drawing the very breath from his body until he was weak and utterly helpless to her every whim. He couldn’t deny her anything; he’d do anything to see her smile.

Kat wrapped one arm around his shoulders and braced the other on the seat of the bike beneath her bracing herself she started to rock with him. Matching his rhythm and his pace, taking him in deeper. The sudden change sent Zeke over the edge, and he lost all control spilling into her as his body quaked with his climax. He held Kat close against him feeling her shake and tremble as she came with him.

As their bodies cooled, Zeke looked down into her eyes and his heart felt heavy. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew then that he had made a horrible mistake. He had fallen in love with a stranger. He stared into her emerald eyes and those bright green pools smiled up contently at him. She was happy, she was sated, but there was no love in those eyes. Not like there had been when she had spoken of her past husband. Zeke had seen the undying love in her eyes that night when she was thinking of that man. He would give anything to see that look in her eyes right now while she was thinking of him but alas it was not there.

Zeke’s heart broke as he realized the truth. He had fallen in love with a woman who was in love with a memory. He couldn’t compete. If true love was everlasting, then he had already lost this game. Trying not to let his realization show Zeke stepped back and fixed his jeans. He pulled down Kat’s skirt and kissed her forehead. “Let’s go back.” He whispered and climbed onto his bike. Kat got on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her head rested against his back. This was as close as he would ever come to being the man she wanted.

***

The night had been wonderful. It had ended so magically beneath the fireworks. Kat’s time with Zeke had been exhilarating. He had breathed life back into her when she had thought herself dead. Kat felt joy again, and when she had gotten up in front of that crowd with that microphone in her hand, she had felt all the old excitement return, the passion for her work.

She had not felt that since David had left her. His death had stolen her love of music. David had taken her inspiration to the grave with him. She had honestly believed she would never play or perform again, but now she felt alive once more. She felt the pull to the stage again. She felt the music in her blood again. Her mind was racing with inspiration. Tunes and lyrics that screamed to be written down. Only she couldn’t she was sure if she started feverishly composing Zeke would certainly wonder why. She would just have to wait until she left him, and she wasn’t quite ready to do that just yet.

Instead, she held on tight to him on the back of his motorcycle as they ripped down the road. She had even become accustomed to his reckless driving. At first, it had frightened her, but she had soon learnt that he handled his bike with the skill of a professional drag racer. It would not surprise her in the least if he had done some racing in the past. Kat figured there was little about Zeke that could surprise her anymore.

She had come to enjoy their time on the bike, the excuse to hold on to him while the wind whipped by. There was something almost freeing about it. It was so exciting; she now understood how her daughter had fallen for Alexander when he rode up to the door on his bike. Kat had thought Layla had lost her mind jumping on the back of that motorcycle and running off with a dirt-poor stripper from the Bronx. She had never understood what spell Alexander had spun over her daughter to make Layla wish to marry him.

But the last week with Zeke had opened Kat’s eyes. When he smiled at her, she felt almost giddy. He made her feel like she was a reckless teenager again. So exciting, seducing her with danger in those bright eyes of his. He was wild and unbridled like no one she had ever known. David had been a wonderful man, but he had been very cultured, very gentlemanly, and proper. A pinnacle of fine society, and with every right he had spent his life working hard to get to where he had gotten. Starting out as the oldest of five kids in a three-bedroom trailer. David had taken himself from trailer trash, to rock legend, to music industry tycoon. She had loved her husband more than life itself, but he was nothing at all like Zeke.

They pulled in to the parking lot of the motel. She held on until they came to a stop in the stall Zeke always parked in. He dropped the kickstand and killed the engine. Zeke slid off the bike first and helped Kat down. He didn’t look happy as he looked around the parking lot. She didn’t understand why. There were a lot of bikes, but there always were. He seemed to know something she didn’t.

Zeke held her hand in his and led her up the staircase to his room. Kat tensed up when she noticed men standing outside his door waiting for them. She recognized Nick and Seth as friends of his whom had been around them a few times that week. She even recognized a few of the others as passersby, but she couldn’t remember being introduced to any of them. The older one with the eye patch made her nervous. She remembered him, and he gave her the creeps.

Kat stayed close to Zeke her grip tightening on his hand. She moved slightly behind him using his large body to shield herself from view. “What’s up?” Zeke asked casually.

“We need to talk.” The one with the eye patch said hoarsely

“So, talk,” Zeke said still holding Kat’s hand. “But let’s make it fast. I’d like to get to bed if you know what I mean.” He chuckled. Suddenly all eyes were on Kat, and she wished she could shrink away and become invisible.

“We won’t keep you from… your amusements.” The man said grinning at Kat as if he could see right through her dress. “Lord knows I wouldn’t want to be interrupted either if she were warming my bed.” Kat felt her skin crawl at the very thought of sharing this man’s bed. “But we have some business to discuss.”

At that, Zeke turned around and unlocked the door. He started pushing Kat into the room and kissed her quickly. “Baby I’ll be back later.” He told her.

“Wait, why, where are you going?” She asked wondering why Zeke was all of a sudden ditching her.

“I can’t tell you.” He whispered, pushing her inside the room.

“Zeke, you can’t just ditch me like this without giving me a reason.” She demanded in front of everyone.

Suddenly now all eyes were on Zeke, and his expression hardened. “God damn it, Kat, it’s none of your damn business, now take your pretty little ass to bed and shut up.” He barked at her. Kat couldn’t believe what had just come out of his mouth; she was staring at a stranger at that moment. Who was this man who was yelling at her? She opened her mouth to yell back but then snapped her mouth shut and went inside. She slammed the door behind her. Let him play with his friends; she didn’t want to spend one more minute with him.

Kat paced the room furious with what had just happened. She didn’t understand. How was this man so sweet and wonderful around her only to become a total jerk around his friends? To treat her like a piece of garbage the moment his fellow gang members were around, but maybe this was what she got for getting involved with a man like Zeke. She must be out of her mind for even staying here. She walked over to the window and pulled back the curtains slightly to look out. They were all still outside the door talking.

She wished the window would open so she could hear what they were saying but the window had been nailed shut and wouldn’t budge. She found herself wondering just what sort of business they had. What did Zeke do for money? She had been around him for a week, and he had only gone away once for the day.

He was a criminal she had to remind herself. He had all but admitted to it. It was so easy to forget what he was when they were alone, when he was holding her or when they were making idle chit-chat. It was easy to forget that she knew nothing at all about this man. Kat watched as they talked. She tried to figure out what they could be talking about but they kept their backs to the door and the window, it was imposable to see their mouths.

Then Zeke grabbed hands with the man with the eye patch, and they gave each other what seemed like a shoulder bump and a pat on the back. He did the same with Seth and Nick and waved to the others as the men began to disperse. They were saying good-bye she realized and Zeke was coming inside.

Kat dropped the curtain and walked quickly across the room to the kitchenette. She heard the door open, and she picked up the coffee cup beside the coffeepot then she turned around. Zeke had walked through the door, and Kat hurled the cup across the room. It smashed against the wall behind Zeke’s head. He ducked the falling shards, his hands up defensively. “What the hell!”

“Take my pretty ass to bed and shut up?” She snarled taking another cup and throwing it across the room. Zeke ducked the projectile again, and it smashed against the door. “I’m not one of your biker bitches to be ordered around.” Kat shrieked, picking up the empty coffee pot.

“Kat stop it!” Zeke yelled walking toward her.

“Go to hell!” She screamed throwing the glass pot at him. Zeke stepped out of the way just missing being struck in the shoulder by the flying pot. Kat turned around and grabbed the coffee maker pulling the cord from the wall. She hadn’t the chance to turn around before Zeke was on her, his arms closed tightly around her, and he had her arms pinned down. Zeke’s hold on her was so tight, Kat dropped the coffee machine to the floor. She screamed and tried to wriggle free.

She kicked at him, and Zeke lifted Kat off her feet dragging her across the room and tossing her face down on the bed. Zeke followed her down his body landing over hers pinning her to the mattress. Kat couldn’t move beneath him; he was so heavy. Zeke had moved just enough to pin her arms behind her back. He then moved and straddled her legs. He sat up holding her arms back behind her and Kat found herself completely restrained. He wasn’t hurting her, but she couldn’t move. “Get off me!” She snapped.

“Come now baby, that’s not what you were screaming an hour ago,” Zeke said calmly fanning her rage.

“Let me go; you can’t do this.”

“Do what? I’m defending myself. You attacked me, and last I checked self-defence was legal.” Zeke said. “Besides I’m just restraining you. It’s not like I’m hurting you.”

“Let me go right this minute!” Kat demanded.

“No, I think we’ll just stay like this until you calm down,” Zeke said continuing to keep her pinned to the mattress. “I can do this all night.” She was still furious but what could she do? He had the upper hand, and she could not fight him off. Kat let out a sigh of defeat and relaxed. “Oh, are we done?” Zeke teased.

“I’m done,” Kat promised.

Zeke released her hands and moved off her. He sat on the edge of the bed and Kat pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Damn you got a temper.” He laughed half to himself. “Are you sure you’re not a redhead?” He teased. If only he knew how right he was. “Look I’m sorry about what I said.” Zeke apologized. “But you don’t know these guys. You put me in a bad spot. If they think I’m spineless all sorts of bad things will go down and believe me you don’t want that. These guys they got a certain worldview on women and their place in it. You were overstepping that boundary.” Zeke explained.

Kat shot him a hateful glare. “So, you think you’re superior to women? That you’re better than me? That you can tell me what to do… that you can…”

“God, do you ever shut up and listen?” Zeke growled. “I said they think this. I don’t, but baby, I’m trapped by their rules I have to keep up a certain reputation to not get my teeth kicked in or end up with a bullet in my head. So yes, I might play the part, mouth off and act like a jerk to get the job done, but you got to know I don’t mean it. I’m just trying not to make waves.” Zeke said reaching for her hand. He held Kat’s hand in his and rubbed the back of her hand with the pad of his thumb.

Kat stared at Zeke, she knew she shouldn’t believe him, but she wanted to believe that it had all been an act, that he wasn’t really like that. “Why do you hang out with them if you’re afraid of them?” She asked.

Zeke suddenly became defensive. “I didn’t say I was afraid of them. I just said I knew better than to break the rules.”

Kat moved closer to him coming up behind Zeke she wrapped her arms around him resting her chin on his shoulder. “Why don’t we leave tonight? You and me. We’ll take my car and leave. You can come home with me and get away from here.” She offered.

“Kat, I can’t.” Zeke groaned. “I just can’t. I have to stay here.”

“Why?” She didn’t understand why he was so torn. He said he disliked what they did, but he refused to leave. “You can leave this place; you can be so much more than this.” She pleaded. She had the means to make it so.

Zeke cast her off and stood up. He seemed angry with her. “You just don’t get it, Kat. This is my home. Those are my friends. My people. My family. This is who I am; this is what I am. You can’t change me. You can’t save me from my life. I might not agree with everything they say and do, but I like my life. I like who and what I am. I don’t want to change.” He said staring at her.

She could feel her eyes sting with tears at what he said. Kat had been trying to take him and make him into something she could live with. She knew she could not stay with Zeke. It was a doomed relationship, but she wanted so badly to keep him. So badly that she would do anything to try and make him what she needed; but she was wrong, he couldn’t be the man she needed him to be, he was what he was.

Kat looked down at her hands and tried not to cry. Zeke knelt on the bed beside her. He took her in his arms and held her tight. “I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that we both knew this thing between us… it was never going to work out. We are just too different.” He said looking her in the eye and wiping away the tear that rolled down her cheek. “You’re caviar, and I’m refried beans.” She smiled at his stupid analogy. “There’s my smile. I love that smile.” Zeke said kissing her softly. “Come on, no more fighting. Let’s not waste the little time we do have together.” Zeke said kissing her again. “I would much rather be using it to make love to you.”

He always seemed to know exactly how to make her do what he wanted; she thought as he lay her back, his body stretching out over hers. Zeke was right, the time they had together would not last, and Kat would not waste one more minute of it fighting.