Low Sided by A.J. Downey (best detective novels of all time txt) 📕

imbuing it and me with the magic that only truth and love possessed.

I had no doubt in my mind, heart, or soul that Mace spoke his heart and it was something I needed so badly, so desperately to heal the cracks and fissures in mine.

I pulled his mouth to mine and poured everything that I was and everything that I wished I could be into the kiss that I gave him. He made it taste like anything was possible and for more than a brief shining moment it was and a moment after that, I knew that it was everything I had ever wanted. For the first time in my life, rather than resist it, I melded into the moment and allowed it to happen and I trusted with my everything in what could be.

I loved him so much for the gift he bestowed on me… the gift of him loving me.

19

Mace…

Getting out of Rat City for a while seemed like a really good idea. Taking Raven somewhere on my bike seemed like an even better one. There wasn’t anything good for her in Rat City, and she needed to have a smile on her face for something better than a societal outcast, a dirty biker if you will, saying that he loved her.

She deserved better than that.

There were plenty of places to go, I just didn’t know where would be a good start. I mean, the ride was gonna be cold as fuck since it was damn near the dead of winter. It would be a couple three weeks yet before spring would appear and that was only if this wasn’t going to be a year where we had a fuckin’ June-uary. That’s when the Pacific Northwest’s winter weather – cold and wet – literally dragged on through June and sometimes into July.

I sighed and waited for her to come back out into the kitchen from the bathroom where the shower had quit what felt like forever ago. I wanted to take her for a ride, let my elemental woman really feel what wind felt like as we took some of the sweeping curves around here. I also wanted to take her to breakfast. It was an easy decision when I put just an ounce of brain power into it. The Black Diamond Bakery and Café was a local spot that was almost a hidden gem – touristy to an extent, and old as fuck.

It haled back to when Black Diamond, Washington was a coal mining town and first opened up in like, 1902. The place made legendary fresh baked bread and over the years, a café serving a mighty fine breakfast had gone in next to the bakery with a real country diner kind of vibe. The kind of place that a lot of local church-going folks hit up right after service on Sunday.

In other words, it would be busy, but she would be with me and that meant anyone that could or would try to give her shit, would have to go through me first so it would be alright. She would be just fine.

“So,” she started, sliding onto the kitchen stool beside mine, leaning her arms against the counter and stretching like a cat. I admired the smooth, lean, lengthening of her muscles underneath her skintight olive-and-charcoal post-apocalyptic fashion choice for the day and put my hand on her back. I couldn’t help but touch her. I could never get enough of touching her.

“What’s the plan?” she asked, smiling over at me and I felt a slow grin overtake my lips.

“How about breakfast?” I asked.

“Oh, God, yeah. I’m starving!” she nodded emphatically, and I laughed.

“Cool, let’s take a ride.”

She perked up a bit. “What, like on your bike?” she asked.

I nodded. “Figured I’d introduce you to the wind.”

She smiled at that and some of her apprehension sloughed off.

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” she murmured.

“Scared?” I asked.

“A little,” she confessed, then laughed at the look on my face and asked, “What, is that stupid?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I would never say that about you,” I said, and it was true. “It’s just, I guess I’m confused. You swing things around that are on fire and you’re afraid of riding on a motorcycle?”

“Hey, to be fair, I’m in control of the fire as much as is possible when it comes to fire.”

I grinned and gently teased her, “You saying you don’t trust me to keep you safe?”

“No!” she cried. “I would never say that about you.” Her voice gentled, and she sounded vaguely hurt. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight.

“Relax, baby. I’m just teasing,” I said. She looked at me, searched my face for a second and nodded, deciding I was telling the truth.

I loved that about her – she was in a lot of ways tough as nails and capable but that didn’t negate the fact that she was a soft thing, sensitive and caring. It was an interesting dichotomy. One I didn’t think I would ever get tired of.

“So where are we going?” she asked, and I smiled. Watching her resolve galvanize real time was a treat.

“Ever been to the Black Diamond Bakery?” I asked her. She shook her head. “Then it’s my treat.”

I loaned her an old jacket of mine that was way too big on her but would protect her well enough. She looked trepidatious as we approached the bike, and I had to smirk.

“What’s the matter?” I asked. “Scared?”

Bold as brass and honest as fuck, she answered, “Yes.”

I laughed a little, my plan out the window. I was hoping by challenging her on it that she would buck up a little in denial. I guess we were well past the phase where she would feel the need to.

“Look,” I said. “Is it dangerous? Sure. But is it any more dangerous than you spinning fire around you?”

“It’s not that,” she protested, shaking her head.

I eased up and searched her face. “It’s that you have to