Page 138 of Rags's Awakening
“Total connection, babe.” He tweaked her nose.
Before she could respond, a good-looking man with broad shoulders, shaggy hair, and a barbed-wire silver earring dangling from his lobe clapped Rags on the shoulder.
“Hey, dude. It’s been too long,” he said, his green eyes flicking to Casey for a split second.
“Eagle! When did you get in?” Rags pulled him into a bear hug.
Casey smiled, then looked toward the door as a gust of cold air swept in. Several bikers stomped inside, bumping shoulders, laughing and razzing each other. Her gaze drifted over them without much thought. Then stalled. Her breath caught.
It can’t be.Smoke curled through the dim light, making everything hazy, giving her just enough doubt to question what she was seeing. No. It wasn’t want she thought. It couldn’t be. What would be the odds of that? She threw back the rest of the vodka, her fingers tightening around the glass as one of the bikers shifted, the light catching the sharp line of his jaw, the familiar breadth of his shoulders.
“Hell yeah,” Rags said, dragging her attention back to him. “Didn’t think he’d make it.”
“He rode up with us,” Eagle said. “It was great until we hit that snowstorm, but we’re here and ready to have a great, pussy-loving time.”
Rags laughed and shouted, “Over here!”
Casey followed his line of sight and the glass nearly slipped from her fingers.JT. He was headed straight toward them.
“Saber! Get your ass over here,” Rags bellowed.
“Dude!”
Casey shifted, turning her back to the room.What the hell is he doing here? And Ragsknowshim?Images from the past slammed into the present, ricocheting through her mind.
“Eagle said you guys just got here.”
Rags’s voice washed over her, distant.
“We did. Got caught in that shitstorm.”
JT’s familiar timbre twisted something deep in her gut.
“Who’s the babe?” JT asked.
“Hands off. She’s my woman,” Rags said.
His hand on her shoulder burned through her.Maybe if I lean in, tell Rags I’m sick, that I need to go to his room, then maybe I can avoid this.
“Your woman? This I gotta see. Does she have a name and a face?”
“Darlin’, I want you to meet a good friend of mine,” Rags said against her ear.
No. This can’t be happening.
“Baby?” he murmured. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” she croaked, slowly turning around.
“This is Saber.”
Casey met JT’s stare—shock flashing first, then hardening into something colder.
Rags grinned between them. “You two look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
Casey forced a smile. “Just didn’t expect this many people.”
JT’s gaze stayed locked on hers. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Small world.”
