AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She felt the steam rise from the sweaty bodies that pressed against her as she followed Gia and Riker’s move towards the door. The stop and start of pushing through the crowd made Valentina’s head hurt. The blaring music that vibrated through the speakers and bounced off every corner of the room only exasperated the throbbing in Valentina’s head and set her teeth on edge.
Suddenly she was stopped dead in her tracks by a bone crushing stomp. The heavy, leather biker boot held her sandaled foot in place with painful pressure and effectively separated Valentina from Gia and Riker. She watched in horror as the crowd swallowed them up almost immediately.
“Get off me!” Valentina tried to pull her foot out from the much larger one that held her prisoner. When she pushed hard against the broad leather back that belonged to the foot, an enormous heavily bearded and darkly inked man turned a murderous drunken glare right above Valentina’s head.
“You got one fucking second to get your goddamn hands off me, cocksucker…” But not seeing the culprit in his direct line of vision, the giant’s dilated pupils blazed with confusion before he dropped his eyes to the top of Valentina’s head and laughed out loud. “Hey, darlin’, was that you swatting at my back like a little goddamn flea?”
“You’re stepping on my foot,” Valentina yelled out, but her voice was lost in the loud music and thick noisy crowd.
“Say what, darlin’?” He bent his head close to hers.
“You. Are. Stepping. On. My. Foot!” Valentina enunciated clearly and loudly and pointed down to the small space between them.
“Ah…shit! Sorry!” He apologized and quickly removed the crushing weight of his boot. “You trying to get by me, baby girl?” Then without warning, the giant put his large, sweaty paws on either side of Valentina’s waist and hoisted her up over the crowd like she weighed no more than a rag doll.
Before she could fully comprehend what was happening, he reached over the crowd with his long arms and placed Valentina back down hard—away from him and a few feet closer to the door.
Valentina landed on unsteady feet and inadvertently fell against a very drunk girl with the smeared make-up of a KISS reject. Before Valentina could mumble out a startled apology, the girl used both hands to shove Valentina as hard and fast as she could.
Whack.
When the side of Valentina’s skull bounced hard off the concrete wall, a wave of nausea came over her. She clutched the side of her head and swallowed hard to keep down the vomit. Valentina’s vision blurred as her eyes flooded with pain-filled tears.
“And there’s more where that came from bitch!” The girl postured and yelled out before she too was swept up in the crowd.
Sweet Jesus.What had she gotten herself into?
Valentina stifled a rising scream as the familiar sense of panic began to coil tight inside of her. She fought to calm herself by concentrating on the intermittent and faint breeze that blew in through the exit door. If she could just make it outside, she would be okay.
Only a few feet more— keep your eyes on the prize.
With desperate and determined steps, Valentina forced her feet to move purposefully and one step at a time until eventually she made her escape through the wide-open arch.
The inky darkness was thick with hot humidity, and it cloaked Valentina in a shroud of stifling pressure. Like a cloth bandage soaked in hot water—it wrapped around her chest and threatened to squeeze the life out of her. Slowly … slowly… she made herself practice her breathing skills.
Inhale ...12345678910 …
Hold ...12345678910 …
Exhale …12345678910 …
And again …12345678910…
Thankfully, the crushing feeling of suffocation subsided, and Valentina’s breathing began to regulate on its own.
From the shadowed trees, Valentina took another quick survey of the property. When Valentina saw a club member carry a laughing blonde over his shoulder into the doorway of the next building, she guessed it was some sort of housing unit—like a dormitory for outlaws.
Valentina barely had time to form the thought when she saw a girl who looked an awful lot like Gia with a guy who looked an awful lot like Riker wrapped around her. They followed the other couple right through those same doors.
Humph.
So much for sticking together.
So much for girl code.
From the safety of the shadows, Valentina took a moment to gather her wits about her. If the rumors had been true —and she felt with grim certainty they had been—she had about a forty-five-minute wait before Riker, with his long black hair, muscled abs, andheybabyeyes, finished the job and dumped Gia unceremoniously on her ass and out the door.
She almost felt sorry for her cousin.
