The Devil's Due by Vivian Lux

my mouth, ready to strike back with a witty response when I saw the thunder in his eyes. Chastened, I slid over to the side of the bed and slipped under the sheets.
    I held perfectly still as he grunted and shifted his massive frame onto the too-small mattress. He finally settled with his back to me, broad and strong like a wall between us.

Chapter 11

    I listened in the darkness, hoping he’d say more.
    The hold-up at the bank in Porter Crossing had been in the news for weeks. Two men had stormed into the branch, guns blazing, killing two customers instantly. The only teller on duty was a woman who had tried to hit the alarm, but one of the men had grabbed her and hauled her into the back office at gunpoint.
    She and the rest of the customers ended up being held hostage for four days, during which time there were several intense shootouts with the police. I couldn’t remember how it had finally ended, only that the name “Porter Crossing” quickly became synonymous with “dangerous” in Flint Springs.
    Cora’s pastor had spoken at length about the dangers of the big city and the perils of godless heathens who knew no laws. Cora had recited these dire warnings to me wide-eyed, completely unaware of how much they had excited me.
    But instead of sating my curiosity, Cade fell asleep. The low sound of his even breathing lulled me, and I started to drift. The exhaustion of this wild day took hold and I sank into sleep.
    The whirling faces of the men of the Devil’s Due M.C. swirled in front of me, mixing as they did with the snarling face of Darryl as he stood on our front lawn in his underwear. The last thought I had before I succumbed to slumber was how angry he must be right now. And who would he take it out on, now that I was gone forever?
    It felt like only seconds had passed when the first roar of the engines startled me from my sleep.
    I made to sit up, but found that I was pinned. During the night, Cade had rolled over and flung his arm over my body. I lay perfectly still, listening to the sound of his breathing in the sudden silence left in the wake of the engine’s roar.
    Cade’s chest was like a boulder under my shoulder blade. I squirmed slightly, trying to find a comfortable place in his crushing embrace.
    He stirred and pulled me closer with a long exhale. His breath was in my ear, brushing across the skin of my shoulder. It changed in tone and I could tell he was waking.
    He stretched his arm over his head and I gasped in a quick full breath, grateful to not be squashed anymore, but missing his arm around me. I didn’t have to miss him for long.
    “How did you sleep?” he rumbled, his lips brushing the sensitive skin of my earlobe. A little thrill went down to my core at that soft touch.
    I struggled and kicked my way to roll onto my other side, working my way under his heavy arm so that I could face him. I ducked my head into his chest, aware that my breath may not be entirely pleasant.
    “I think I was in a coma,” I murmured into his skin, inhaling his scent.
    He smoothed my hair and cupped my face to his. “Not funny,” he murmured, but the quirk of a smile at the corner of his mouth told me he wasn’t serious.
    I stretched my arms up around his neck and peered into his eyes. They were relaxed again, the furious glint snuffed out. I hoped it was because of me.
    “How about you?” I asked him. “How did you sleep?”
    He squeezed his eyes shut and looked pained. I looked back and forth, trying to read him.
    “Do you want to talk about it?” I ventured.
    “I get nightmares sometimes,” he explained. “Last night, they were bad.”
    “I didn’t hear anything.” Darryl would cry out in his sleep sometimes, usually when he was blasted drunk, and wake not only me but our neighbors too.
    Cade opened his eyes. “Good,” he said softly, smoothing my hair again. “You don’t need to worry about them.”
    He rolled to the side, treating me to another view of his broad back and taut