Road from Ruin

Chapter Three

"Hey hey hey, stop right there mister. I don't even know your name, don't you dare think I'm going to let a stranger put his hands on my darling." I bellow as I run behind the mystery man heading straight towards my car. He moves like a cougar and even at my 5'7 it feels like his one stride takes me four.
"Names Red, Angel. " He says as he points to the patch on his right arm. A white box with the word Red written in a bold black font that I assumed was a brand name of some sort.
"Red? That can't be your real name. I mean it's just a colour... it's a nickname right? Actually now that I think of it, its kind of cool HEY!" I abruptly end my rambling when I notice the man in question rip something directly out of my car. "Did you actually just rip a chord out of my car with your bare hands?"
"Engines flooded angel, got fuel in your combustion chamber. Your carburetor float ain't closin', you need a new one and quick. I can help ya out but it's gunna take a few days for parts. Decker can tow ya to my shop." He says as he pulls out his phone and starts sending out texts. This man makes decisions quickly without concern for consequence. It is infuriating.
"Woah woah woah slow your role there pal. I don't even know you. I don't know decker, I mean what kind of names are decker and red? What does decker even mean?"
"Guys a lover not a fighter but he's about 80 feet tall so anytime someone decides they want to fight him, he takes his big paw and decks 'em once and knocks 'em to the ground every time. Decker just stuck." He says with his head still in my car.
"Well that makes sense. But what is red for?"
He stands abruptly and turns to face me, "Angel you just said you don't know me. That's classified information but if you showed me any sign that you actually want to get to know me for me, not just now that you're curious about the name, maybe I'd tell ya sometime."
I was shocked by his show of sensitivity, but he was totally right. As much as he's been hitting on me, he has mostly just been trying to help me and get to know me. Now I feel like shit.
"Sorry just... day from hell." I start to explain with my arms above my head. I see his eyes shoot down to my now exposed torso, my shirt riding up by my stretch. I see the blatant lust in his eyes quickly be replaced with sheer rage as I watch him notice the array of bruises on my hips. I try to pull my shirt down quickly but that only makes it worse, he's knows I'm trying to hide them. Shame builds in my throat and burns like tequila, he's going to ask me questions that I won't be able to answer.

"Angel.....please tell me you're into very rough sex." He says but he can't look me in the eyes, they're still stuck on my torso. As I try to come up with an answer he says "wait... don't tell me that I don't want to think of my Angel with another man. What the fuck are those bruises from? You look like you just got out of the ring."
"Might as well have," I say before I can catch myself and throw my hand over my mouth.
"You got more issues than the car? Got a man you need handled? I may not be a saint but layin' hands on a woman in a way she don't like is one of the only rules our club stands behind." He says as he slowly starts moving towards me like I'm a scared dog.
"No no no don't look at me like that. I got my issues but I got out. I don't want you looking at me like a victim, go back to the googly stars in your eyes look you we're giving me before. Wait. Club? What club? Like a motorcycle gang? You and decker and all those guys in there are a gang? Oh my god I thought this was just a biker bar holy shit a gang member has me in the middle of no where with a very integral part of my car engine in his hand leaving me with no where to go!"
"Angel. You're rambling again. First, you're no victim. You're a fighter and I got more stars in my eyes for ya now than I did before. Second, motorcycle club. Not a gang. We ride together. Protect together. And work together. Before you go jumpin to conclusions I am not the enemy here. I just want to help the beautiful girl that walked into my bar."
"Oh my god I'm going to get kidnapped. And sold into human trafficking or something. This is what I get for trying to start a new life I swear to god when my mother hears about my death she isn't even going to cry she's going to say I told you so!" I start pacing back and forth before I feel a strong hand clamp down on my wrist and am pulled in to a hard body that sends shocks all through my body. Red grabs my chin and pushes it towards his face so I'm forced to look into his gunmetal eyes.
"Delta. Breathe. You're out. You're safe. You're havin' some car issues but I'm here to help. You said you wanted to start a new life so start now. Trust the scary looking stranger you met in a biker bar. Let him take your troubles away. Decker will tow your stang to my shop. You can stay in the apartment up top, locks on the doors so you'll feel nice and safe, lettin' you stay at that shit bag motel over my dead body. In the mornin' we'll go over how to fix your car and get you on your way out."
I stared dreamily into his eyes, feeling instantly calm.
"I uhm, don't have much money. If it's more than two grand I can't afford it."
"Didn't mention anything about payment yet did I angel? Let's just worry about all that later. It's startin' to get cold and by the sounds of it you've had a long day. Let's get you outta here." He says with a final lift of my chin before sauntering towards a row of motorcycles.

I don't know what I'm doing. This man really could kidnap me. He just admitted to being in a motorcycle gang. He may be beautiful but so was dean and look where that got me. I feel immediately safe just being close to Red, but ultimately he's a stranger.
"What do ya think angel? Got a helmet for ya, you comin'?" I look over to see the most stunning man in the world straddling a beast of a motorcycle. What do I think? I think I want to start living my life.
"Yeah. I'm coming."