All Chapters of The Devil's Ice (The Road Devils MC 5): Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

“No single reason, or at least none that I can remember. We were at the bus station and we were looking to get a lot of distance between Iowa and wherever we ended up, plus we wanted a city. We figured that a bigger place would be more accepting of her, so Denver just seemed to tick the boxes.”“How long ago was that?”“Well, I’m thirty-two years old,” she mused. “So that’s – wow. I’ve been in Denver for thirteen years now. Hard to believe.”“And you’ve been waitressing that whole time?”“Yep. Mostly bars, though I had a short-lived career at a hotel chain working in the restaurant there. I hated it… I prefer working nights, and I like the whole bar vibe and environment, and I’m not a uniform and name-tag kind of girl. So when I landed the job at Satan’s a few years ago, it was a good fit.”“And Angela?” Ice inspected the second round of marshmallows, decided to have one himself. “Where’s she?”“Oh.” Vixen’s face lit up. “About five years ago, she met an amazing woman named Rachel, an

The next morningDux and Drake grabbed their duffel bags, walked down the stairs to drop them at the front door, before heading into the kitchen.Briley and her oldest, closest friend Cheryl Finnegan were sitting at the table, cups of untouched and cooling coffee sitting in front of them. The women looked up and over as the men entered, then Cheryl glanced over at Briley, who was staring back into her cup as if the answer to the universe was written in there.“You want me to step out?” Cheryl asked quietly. “Give you guys a minute alone?”Briley didn’t answer or even look up, but Cheryl got to her feet anyway. Briley had barely spoken for days now, and Cheryl wasn’t totally convinced it was because of the sedatives that the doctor had her on; as far as she knew, Briley had cut way back on them, and now she was just naturally numb. Blank and broken, her green eyes listless and lifeless.Cheryl had seen her friend go through hell, and been scorched and scarred as she’d escaped it, but s

“OK.” Keira gave Vixen a tiny kiss on her unmarked cheek, then bounded away. “Can I watch TV now, Mommy?”“You sure can,” Zoe said, bringing Vixen a cup of coffee and the sugar bowl. “Then we’ll read a little bit, OK?”“Can Vixen read with me?”“Of course,” Zoe said. “If she’s not too tired.”“Oh, yes,” Keira said, standing on one foot, then the other. “Mommy did say that you need to rest.”“I do,” Vixen agreed, adding an extra spoonful of sugar; she felt like she needed the energy after a restless, worried night, then getting up with Ice at five o’clock. “But we can absolutely read together.”“Yay!” Keira bunny hopped towards the living room. “I’ll bring Peach. She’s learning to read too.”“Excellent.” Vixen took a much-needed and -appreciated sip of coffee, wishing that it was possibly, just a tad stronger. “You let me know when Peach is ready.”“Ohhh-kaaaay!” Keira’s voice had faded, and now Zoe and Vixen looked at each other: the two women hadn’t laid eyes on each other since the

“I don’t really know yet, because this time is different. In fact, it’s the first time that it’s been like this.” Vixen twisted her hands in the bed sheets. “I mean, Ice left just a few hours ago, and even though he’s been gone for weeks and weeks in the past – he’d just up and go without a word – but that was before.”“Before what?”“Before we got together properly,” Vixen said, a bit shyly. “Before we told each other how we feel.”“So before, the deal was that you were just about sex, so he went about his club business without saying anything to you?”“Exactly. He just kind of disappeared and then reappeared out of the blue. Sometimes with bruises, or fresh stab or even bullet wounds – but we never talked about it. We weren’t about talking.”“And now you are?”Vixen gestured at the neck brace wryly. “It’s all we’re about right now.”Zoe laughed, and Vixen smiled back.“OK, yeah,” Zoe said. “I can see that. So you’re asking me how to be in a committed relationship with a Road Devils

And now Vixen thought about the night before, after their campfire date under the stars. Ice had taken her home, undressed her, then held her close to him under the shower spray, running his large hands over and over her body: her hair, her back, her breasts, her stomach. He’d washed her, dried her, his hands caressing her skin as if she was made of the rarest porcelain, the heat in his eyes telling her that she was beautiful. Then he’d helped her into a long t-shirt and then into her little pillow fortress, before undressing himself and climbing into bed next to her. He’d kissed her goodnight, the softest, sweetest kiss that she’d ever be able to imagine, told her to get some rest… and every time she’d opened her eyes, unable to relax properly during the long night, worrying about what the next few days were going to bring, he’d been awake and watching her, those ice-blue eyes warm with affection. And every time their eyes met in the half-darkness, he’d reached out to her, whispered