Runaway ✔

114 • Juice

The first blow – her reproach for not being able to protect her – was still messing with his head as the second one hit him merciless. 

She had killed Opie. 

She. 

It took an inhumane effort to shove aside that thought. He would think about that later. First he had to take her back. After that he would sort out the rest of his thoughts. He just wanted to rush to the entrance as a barrel-chested man stood up next to him. With crossed arms that undoubtedly had to be threatening, the bearded man looked at him. 

"I think it's about time you leave the lady alone."

Juice kept silent, sent the man a deadly glare and walked on. Right when his hand was groping for the door handle, the trucker grabbed his arm. Fast Juice turned around, clenched his fist and smashed it against the man's jaw. 

"Mind your own business," he snapped, where after he pulled away his arm and rushed though the swing doors. 

Dana was standing in front of his bike, indecisive, as if she considered to steal it as long as Kozik was standing in front of her own motorcycle. She bowed her head defeated as Juice stood next to her. Whether she was really giving up her escape attempt or only wanted to give him that feeling, was hard to tell. With a sigh he slipped an arm around her. She turned toward him and pressed her face against his chest. 

"You have to let me go, Juice," she muttered to his shirt. "I don't deserve your love."

He wrapped his other arm around her as well and rested with his chin on her crown. "I don't care what you deserve. I give my love to whoever I want," he mumbled in her hair, knowing telling her otherwise wasn't going to work now anyway. "Come with me, Dane. Please. It's too late to go back to him. With Opie... with Opie he crossed a line."

She tensed as he spoke out the name of their friend. 

"I was holding him this way, Juice," she whispered. "Exactly this way. When I... when I did it."

Juice tried to swallow the lump in his throat. Had Opie known she would kill him? Had he agreed with it or had she taken him down by surprise? 

"He... He died in my arms. And I..." Sniveling she breathed in. Her whole body was shaking. "And... I never want to go through that ever again." 

He leaned a little back so she could look up to him. Chewing on the inside of his cheek to bit back his own tears, he wiped hers off her cheeks. 

"You won't. Something like that will never happen again. I promise you, baby. You stay inside the clubhouse until he's dead." He held her glance. "You will have to sacrifice your freedom, but I will be with you. I will never leave you and I will never... I will never make you do the horrible things he would force you to do." He took her hands, lifted them to his face and pressed them against his lips. "Isn't that a better solution, baby?" His voice cracked. No matter how hard he was always fighting his emotions, this time he didn't. Maybe they would convince her to stay. "You agree?"

She dropped her eyes. "Everything will remind me of Opie."

"That will be hard," he answered, with all the patience he could gather. For it wasn't much. Everything should be better than going back to that asshole, right? "But I will be there for you. And Kozik and Cherry and Sack... Everyone."

"They won't if they know what I've done," she muttered. "They will wash their hands of me. And with good reason. I killed their friend."

Juice couldn't help his chest was cramping, for a moment he felt the urge to push her away. He warded off the feeling. "You had no choice," he answered confident. Even though he didn't know what had happened exactly, he knew that for sure. Dana wasn't a cold-blooded killer. In fact, if she could have sacrificed herself to save Opie, she would have done that. She wasn't the type of person putting herself first. Then they never would have had this conversation.

Or was he wrong? Had she sacrificed Opie willingly, and was it guilt what was pushing her back to Maddox's arms? 

For now it didn't matter, he decided. Whatever she'd done and whatever she was going to do: he wouldn't let her go.

He kissed her forehead and looked at her. "I love you, Dana. So much. You going back to that asshole would have destroyed me, but I get why you made that choice. I would have done the same." He looked at her, making sure his words were getting through her. "But you won't protect anyone. Opie's dead will be avenged. We'll go after him anyway."

She dropped her eyes. Her bottom lip was shaking. He wrapped his arms around her again and pulled her close. "There are more than two thousand sons in the US. Our brothers will support us. We'll get him, I promise you." His fingers stroked her hair as he breathed in her scent. 

She'd almost slipped through his fingers. Again. If he hadn't waken up so early this morning... The thought caused a pang in his stomach and he took a deep breath to pull himself together. 

Over Dana's head he could see the trucker standing in front of the entrance. Their eyes met and to his surprise the man nodded to him. Juice nodded back and turned to Kozik. He was leaning against Dana's bike and gestured he wanted to get some coffee. Juice gave him a thumbs-up. 

Juice waited until Dana looked up again and asked: "You're coming back with me?"

She didn't answer immediately, but looked into his eyes for a long time. Hers were watery and red, but despite her grief and shame he thought to see a sparkle of hope. 

Her lips moved, but instead of formulating an answer, she stretched her neck and placed her lips on his. She tilted her head a bit and her tongue stroked his. His hand glided to the back of her head and got entangled between her locks while their lips were softly brushing. Gently he swirled his tongue around hers, careful and well aware of every touch. On the way here, the thought had plagued him he would never see her back and that he would never feel her lips again, so that this entanglement sent tinglings to every part of his body. 

When her fingers laced with his after their kiss, he knew this hadn't been a kiss goodbye. 

"You're coming with me?" he asked again nevertheless. He just needed to hear the words.

She stared at their entwined fingers. "I will. But you have to lock me up. In that safe house you talked about the first day." She swallowed. "We should have done that all along."

Juice stroked her cheek. "Okay baby. We'll do what you think is best. As long as I can stay with you."