Chapter Two

Piston

Venus first turned up on my radar over a decade ago when she was in the FSB in Russia. The agency I worked for was very interested in her for some reason. I was never given the details, but I got the feeling they were interested in luring her away from Russia. Likely because they were afraid of her. I played my cards carefully regarding Venus. I told them the strict truth, but I left out a lot.

Like how I'd never seen her equal in a hunter. Or that that real shade of her hair was a very pale blonde. Or how young she looked when she let her guard down, which wasn't often. Or how beautiful she was. I kept that to myself because I didn't trust the CIA any further than I could piss. If they were interested in this woman, she was someone I needed to protect.

For years I kept to the shadows. When she joined Salvation's Bane MC, I found a home with Grim Road MC. They were completely off the radar and close enough for me to keep an eye on Venus.

I had to smile. If she knew the extent to which I've been on her six and for how long, she'd gut me like a fish.

But that's the thing about being in deep cover. You learn how to keep secrets, even from yourself. And Venus? She was one secret I'd vowed never to spill. Much to the dismay of my handlers. They knew there was more to her than I reported.

Tonight, as I held her pinned against me, feeling the rise and fall of her chest, the stakes felt higher than ever. Her anger and her fire were intoxicating, making every moment with her a volatile mix of danger and desire.

"Listen," I whispered into her ear, my voice low and steady against the chill night air. "I'm not your enemy, Venus. I think you know that."

"I know you are pompous ass." She hissed at me over her shoulder, but I wasn't fooled. If this woman wanted to be free, she'd be free. And I'd be lying in pool of my own blood.

Interesting.

"Glad to see my charm didn't go unnoticed."

She struggled in my hold a bit longer, then relaxed with a huff, her body still tense but no longer fighting. "You're infuriating, you know that, Piston?"

"That's part of my charm too," I replied, the corner of my mouth lifting slightly. I loosened my grip just enough to let her know she could break free if she wanted. It was a test as much as it was a truce.

Venus turned within my arms to face me, her gaze fierce and calculating. She wasn't afraid of me, she knew she could take me, but she wasn't ready to kill me yet. Made me wonder why. One thing I'd learned about Venus over the years was she never did anything without at least a frame up of a plan.

With slow deliberate movements, she backed up one step. Then another.

"Is this a truce then?" I kept my hands to my sides but was ready to defend myself if necessary.

"I'm not sure." She gave me a curious look, her gaze moving boldly over me. Then her brow furrowed. "I'm really not sure."

"Then let's call it a truce. We can always decide later to resume fighting."

Venus's lips twisted into a skeptical smile, but she nodded slowly. "Fine, truce for now. But don't think this means I trust you, Piston. We're not buddies."

"Wouldn't dream of it," I replied, my voice low and even. Her distrust was like a sharp blade held at my neck, yet there was something exhilarating about not knowing when she might decide to slash. It was all I could do to keep from smiling. My cock didn't care if she saw him or not and shot hard so fast I nearly winced. Thankfully, if she noticed, she didn't mention it.

We stood in silence for a moment, the tension between us palpable. The night air was warm against my skin, and somewhere nearby an owl hooted, a solitary sound that seemed to emphasize the isolation of our current circumstances.

Venus finally broke the silence. "So, what now, Piston? We just stand here in dark staring at each other until one of us breaks?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice, a playful challenge I hadn't heard before.

I shrugged nonchalantly. "We could do that, or we could put this temporary truce to better use."

"What do you propose?" Her voice was cautious yet intrigued, her eyes scanning my face for any hint of deceit.

"We work together," I said simply. "You have your skills and resources, I have mine. Together, we can find and kill the fuck outta Zaitsev."

"Why do you want to kill him?" She was genuinely curious, but I knew she was filing away all this information for inspection later. She'd remember everything about our conversation, my expressions, the inflection of my voice, and dissect it for every ounce of information. Just like she'd been trained to do. Same as me.

"Isn't it enough that his goons kidnapped my vice president?"

She nodded slowly. "Sure. But I don't think that's whole story with you."

Smart woman. "I'll tell you my secrets if you tell me yours."

"Right." She picked up the gun Zaitsev had shot me with, checking the weapon before tucking it against her back in the waistband of her pants. "I'm going back to Tzars. Lemon wanted me to check on Dani."

I raised an eyebrow. "Lemon. Wanted you to check on her sister." I spoke slowly, wanting to make sure I'd heard her right, because it sounded suspiciously like Venus, the badass assassin for the FSB, was… running. From me.

Two things were foremost in my mind. First, it didn't sit well that she wanted away from me. Granted, she didn't know me as well as I knew her, but I was becoming more and more protective of Venus. I wanted her close where she couldn't get into more trouble than she could get herself out of. Though I'd watched her from afar for years (stalker much?), I liked having her close. I blamed my vice president. Had it not been for Lemon getting kidnapped, I might never have gotten this close to Venus for this long. I damned sure wouldn't have gone with her to kill the man she'd been trying to take down for a decade.

The second thing, though…

Yeah. Having my arms around Venus -- even to keep her from eviscerating me with her dagger-like nails -- awoke something inside me I had thought was way the fuck dead. I was forty-seven years old, for crying out loud. While I had an active sex drive, I hadn't been this hard for this long in years. Hadn't had a need for it. If I had an itch, I scratched it with a club whore. No fuss. No muss. And no one expecting to be all up in my space.

Part of what I did at Grim Road was take care of… issues. Permanently. I'd love to say it was why I'd come with Venus on this errand, but I'd be lying. I'd claimed her in my mind the moment I'd seen her. Couldn't keep my mouth shut and made it official so I could get her into Grim Road where she could come and go as she pleased. Then I'd followed her back to Iron Tzars… where she'd promptly run back to Grim Road in the guise of making sure Lemon was settling in well. As if Lemon couldn't protect herself.

What I couldn't figure out was why she didn't just kill me. I'd been expecting it, yet she hadn't made a move on me until tonight when she'd pulled that gun in my face. Sure, I'd noticed the occasional glance at my crotch. On more than one occasion, I'd caught her staring at me with those freaky eyes of hers. I was quite possibly the only other person in the world, other than Giovanni Romano of Argent Tech and herself, who knew what her vision was capable of with those contacts. And I'd bet my balls she'd be furious if she knew I knew.

I followed her to where we'd left our bikes. She climbed on hers, tossing her hair over her shoulder before reaching down to turn the key. I had to admire her. She rode that pink monstrosity like a boss. I was surprised she hadn't already taken off, but she kept fiddling with her bike.

"Everything good?"

"No. Everything is not good." Her response was muttered, and she didn't start her bike.

"All right." I tossed a leg over my own bike in a slow, deliberate movement. "What can I do to help?"

She didn't look at me and for long moments I thought she wasn't going to answer me. Then she started her bike, revving it a couple times before putting it in gear. Then she met my gaze with that eerie pink stare. "I think it best you go back to Grim Road."

"I go where you go, Venus. Pretty sure I made that clear."

Then, her control snapped. I knew she had a fiery temper under there. I'd met her sister Millie once and she'd said as much, but I hadn't seen it. Until now.

"Why won't you just go away?" she yelled at me. The outburst of emotion was so unlike Venus, it gave me pause. I knew I was pushing her, but maybe it was time I backed off. "Go away and leave me alone!" Were her eyes glistening? Tears? Surely not. I was seeing things. Or the fumes from the bikes were irritating her eyes.

"Venus, talk to me." I yelled to be heard over her bike, but she just revved the engine a couple of times and took off like a bat outta hell. "Fuck."

With a sigh I took off after her. Like hell I was going back to Grim Road. With that pink Harley of hers and the way she liked to push the speed limit, shew was sure to hit a speed trap. There was no way she'd make it through North Carolina, where we'd tracked Victor Zaitsev. It wasn't like she was heading out of the woodlands. She took off in the direction I thought Zaitsev had run with whoever she'd suspected helped him out. If they were on foot, we'd catch them, but I didn't think they were. I'd heard a small engine start earlier when Venus had left her prey to check on me.

Speaking of which, my arm was starting to burn. Blood dripped steadily from my deltoid down to my elbow. I did my best to ignore it, needing to keep focused on Venus. The woman wanted to shake me too badly for me to let her go. Besides, I thought she protested too much.

I followed her through the woods. It wasn't long before she picked up the trail we'd been looking for. Unfortunately, there was no way to take our heavy bikes through the trail Zaitsev and his companion had taken.

" Blyt !" Venus had stopped her bike and turned it off. She sat there, staring longingly into the woods.

"We'll get him, Venus."

"I should already have him! Why are you even here? Why have you latched on to me like baby monkey?" There was a wild look in her eyes. This… didn't compute. I knew this was a critical moment. I just wasn't sure why.

I took my time fiddling with my bike, trying to figure out how best to form the answer to that question. "You interest me."

"Interest you?" She gave me an incredulous look. Which was odd in itself. Venus rarely gave anything away. But with me, she was becoming less and less guarded. "What does that even mean? ‘Interest you'," she scoffed.

"You're a unique woman, Venus. A unique person ." It was true in the strictest sense of the word, but it was a tepid description of my reasons for sticking close to her. "I like being around you." Yeah. Lame. She wasn't ready to push my claim on her yet, at least not in a personal sense. Everyone in Grim Road knew she was mine. That information had trickled out to her own club. Iron Tzars was very aware I'd put a claim on Venus as well. Because Sting, the president of Iron Tzars MC, had been my official military contact on my last mission for the CIA.

"You don't claim woman you simply find interesting, Piston." She had me there.

"What do you want me to say, Venus? That I want you?" I met her gaze without flinching, even when she looked like she was ready to kill me to death. "I do. More than I've ever wanted any woman in my life."

She snorted out a scoffing breath but didn't say anything more. She started her bike and backtracked out of the woods to the road. Then the highway. Finally, she made her way to the interstate. I followed, letting her take the lead, but putting myself on the inside of the lane she drove in with Venus slightly in front of me. I was sure I was in her periphery, but not so close I irritated her.

We drove for hours, only stopping for gas when we were running on fumes. My shoulder burned and ached where the bullet had kissed my arm, but I wasn't about to let Venus see that as a weakness. So, I simply ignored it. I'd clean and dress it properly later.

True to her word, Venus headed straight to Iron Tzars. She probably thought Sting would put me out on my ear, assuming he didn't just shoot me and be done with it. Unfortunately for her, Sting and I had been tight after the mission where we'd met. We'd only worked together that one time, but the man had earned my respect. I thought I had earned his too. I supposed we were getting ready to find out. Another eight hours of hard riding would tell the tale.

Assuming Venus didn't say to hell with it and eviscerate me by the side of the interstate. I had to grin. That scenario was more likely than me making it to Evansville on her six. Then again, I thought she might be growing to at least tolerate me. After all, I was still breathing. Right?