Chapter 10

"Well hey there honey."

John recognized that voice all too well, looking up from the women he was talking too to find Mr. My Nuts in Your Face strolling in with a grin on his face. He smiled, forcing himself to resume what he'd been doing, momentarily having lost his train of thought.

"I don't know if you remember me, but-" He chuckled awkwardly, rubbing his bald head. "We met at the steak house?"

Caressa turned around and smiled at the gentleman who had been kind enough not to destroy her brother at the Outback Steakhouse those weeks ago. "Yes I remember you. Hello again." She smiled, shaking his extended hand and released it. "What brings you into Shadow Riders today?" She asked politely, ignoring the scowl on John's face as he went to go help another customer, deciding she'd handle this one and blew a strand of blood red hair out of her face, having it up in a messy ponytail. She hadn't had time that day to do something with it, honestly not caring.

"Just wanted to see how it looked." He shrugged. "I'm Steve by the way, Steve Austin." Steve smiled at her, though his eyes were busy taking in the place. "I knew the guy who owned this place." He said, walking over to the wall to examine the pictures, grinning at the sight of him and his custom designed motorcycle still hanging, though it was in a new place. "I heard the place had been bought and the new owners were makin' a pretty damn good go of it. I was curious."

A grin stretched across her face as he took in the new and improved shop, walking over with him as they both looked at the pictures. "Really?" She asked, referring to Steve saying he'd known the previous owner, wondering if she should pry. "This place was totally abandoned whoever owned it. I decided to keep some old and add my own personal touch to everything. I hope it's to your satisfaction, Steve." She smirked at him, wearing a pair of blue cotton shorts with a navy blue Harley Davidson tank top, too hot for anything else. The Texas heat was brutal and she both loved and despised it.

Steve nodded, looking at her with a peculiar expression on his face. "You're kiddin' me, honey, right?" He asked, seeing the blank look on her face and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "There was a reason it was abandoned. I'd even imagine everythin' was left behind." His blue eyes were unreadable as he stared down at her. "You really don't know, do you? Who the hell sold you this damn place, honey?"

"City hall." She answered promptly, not appreciating his tone of voice with her and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Did this moron have a point or was he going to stand there looking like an ass all day? Not to mention she had OTHER customers to attend too. "What should I know about my shop?" She finally inquired when he just stared back at the pictures, seeing the glazed look come over his eyes, knowing she probably shouldn't have pushed the subject. Caressa couldn't help it though. Then she thought back to the diamonds and immediately stayed calm, cool and collected, not even HINTING that she knew something was up about this place. "Because as far as I know, this was just a shop the owner abandoned long ago." She decided to play dumb, having a feeling those diamonds her and John discovered before opening this place was a HUGE factor in why the owner had left.

Steve shook his head, an expression of utmost sadness on his face, sighing deeply. "No honey, he died." He murmured, looking around one last time. "I'm sure he'd be pretty impressed with what ya did with his shop though. He loved this place." He patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks for lettin' me have a look, Caressa." He said before walking out.

John walked up to her, grabbing an order form off the desk. "What'd cue ball want?" He demanded evenly.

The color had somewhat drained from her face as Caressa watched Steve go before turning to her brother. "He just told me what happened to the owner of this place." She murmured quietly, taking her brother's hand, and guided him inside her office, closing the door behind her. "He died, John and I'll bet you anything it had something to do with what we found!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice, not wanting the customers to overhear, her amber eyes widened with both fright and mystery. "I think I'm going to do what you suggested long ago. I want to know who the owner to this place was before me and how he died." When John's eyes widened, Caressa just held her hand up, knowing her mind was already made up. It was time to do some investigating.

"So go find that guy and ask him." John suggested, ignoring her raised hand. He couldn't help, but be morbidly curious about all this, suddenly remembering the diamonds and the fact that they were hidden in their house. He ran his fingers through his short, spiked hair, biting his lower lip. "Did that guy say how the man who owned this place died?" He asked finally, wondering if maybe they were just blowing this entire thing out of proportion.

"No." Caressa simply replied before going to greet more of her customers, selling bikes and fixing them along with vehicles.

When closing time came, Caressa forced John to go on his arranged date with Lizzie, needing to do some researching of her own. She had a laptop and typed Shadow Riders in the Google search bar, wondering if she could find anything about the owner. When that didn't work, Caressa began sifting through papers that were in the file cabinets, blowing the dust off of them, knowing there had to be something here with his name on it. "Damn it..." She muttered, the frustration building rapidly.

"What're you doin', darlin'?" Came that slow, oh-so-familiar drawl. He was leaning in the doorway as usual, a grin on his face as she looked up wide eyed and glanced at the laptop. "You look like you just saw a ghost." He teased, chuckling in amusement. He stepped into the room, the door swinging shut behind him, hesitating for a moment, nostrils flaring before shaking his head. "You alright, Ressa?"

"Mark!" She gasped out, dropping the papers as they went flying everywhere and stood up, amber locking with green.

Not hesitating, she ran and jumped in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and kissed him passionately, feeling him twirling them around. It'd been two weeks since she last saw him and could already feel the pieces of her heart mending together to become one. She broke the kiss and hugged him tightly around the neck, inhaling his scent, and sifted her fingers through his hair. All the thoughts about the previous owner had flown out the window at the sight of him as Caressa closed her eyes, praying this wasn't another cruel dream. If it was, she never wanted to wake up.

He held her like she weighed absolutely nothing, shifting her legs to rest right over his hips, one hand holding her rear, the other the small of her back. "Miss me?" He said teasingly, knowing just by the way she had kissed him she had more than missed him. Smiling, Mark leaned in to press his head against hers, inhaling deeply. "I missed you too, darlin'." He murmured in her ear.

"I missed you so much." She whispered, not wanting to close her eyes for fear of him vanishing, loving the warmth his forehead brought forth and sighed in contentment. It had been a long two weeks, one of those in which she'd practically mourned, even though she knew he wasn't dead. He just had to go away for awhile, for whatever reason. "I'm so glad you're here." Her hands were gripping his forearms gently while he held her. It felt wonderful being back in his arms again and she never wanted it to end, not caring about the mess sprawled behind her.

Mark just stared down at her, taking in her tired eyes and the pale purple circles that shadowed them. He ran his fingertips down the side of her almost gaunt face, wondering if maybe coming back had been such a good idea. If this was what he was doing to her. "I'm glad I'm here too." He whispered, rocking her gently against his big body, finally setting her down on top of the desk, raking a hand through his long black hair, clearing his throat and glanced down at the stack of paperwork, green eyes narrowing. "What're you lookin' for?"

"I was trying to find out some information about the shop, who owned it before." There was no reason not to tell him, she trusted him completely and sighed heavily. "Unfortunately, I can't seem to find one document with a name. It's the weirdest thing." No, finding over ten thousand dollars and a sack full of diamonds was the weirdest thing, but Caressa wasn't going to tell him that. "This guy Steve Austin came in today and really got my curiosity going." She looked up at Mark, who had a tense look on his face, raising a slow eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Steve Austin was here?" He rumbled, nostrils flaring again, an evil look coming into his now acid green eyes. "I'd love to get my hands on that snake." He sighed, looking down at his palms, clenching them tightly then relaxed them, almost as if picturing Austin's head between them. "So you couldn't find anythin' on the guy huh?" He murmured, glancing back down at the papers. "Maybe some things are best left unknown Ressa." He looked directly at her. "I knew the owner, he wouldn't want you diggin'."

Caressa actually swallowed at the dark look in Mark's eyes, but her curiosity was burning within her now more than ever. Mark knew Steve? She finally decided to drop it, not wanting to ruin their precious time together, and grabbed his hand as she pulled over to stare down at her. "I know our time is limited and I don't want to spend it with you angry. So let's just get out of here and go somewhere." She hopped off the desk and left the mess behind her, not releasing his hand, just wanting it to be the two of them. Also, she was going to try to find out why he couldn't stay for more than a few hours every two weeks.

"Yeah, yeah, let's get outta here." Mark said slowly, nodding, his gaze returning to the stack of papers before smiling at her. "Want to take a ride on my Harley?" He asked, knowing she was practically in love with the thing, chuckling when she nodded eagerly. "Here." He pressed the key into her hand. "You can even drive. Where do you wanna go?" He asked, guiding her patiently towards the door, knowing she probably had a million and one questions to ask him, but he'd deal with that as it came up.

"Somewhere we can be alone." She softly replied, backing up toward the door with her heart stopping smile, not believing he was letting her drive his bike again. They rode for a good hour before she finally pulled over, a small rest area with a picnic table and a restroom in front of them. "This'll do." She murmured, not moving since his arms were wrapped around her, and reached her hand back to sift through his black tresses. So many questions burned within her mind, like how could a man his size jump from her two story balcony, only to land on his feet like a cat or why he only stayed with her a few hours and only at night every two weeks. It was like clockwork and Caressa didn't understand it. "How long do we have?" She finally breathed out, opening her amber eyes to look over her shoulder at him.

Mark was visibly taken aback by that, his startled green eyes flying to her amber orbs and frowned. He dismounted the motorcycle and walked a few feet away, running both his hands through his black hair, shaking his head. "I don't know." He said in a low voice that carried to her. "A few hours, maybe." He spun around to look at her, hooking his thumbs in the belt loops, smirking slightly. "Why?"

The longing in her amber eyes was so fierce that nothing could take it away as she stared back at him, taking in the delicious man before her, and slowly dismounted the bike. She walked over to stand in front of him, running her finger down his chest before heading toward the picnic table and sat down on top of it. She slipped the bike key down her tank top and into her bra, a smirk adorning her beautiful face. "If you want it back, come get it." She challenged, crossing one leg over the other and took down her hair from the ponytail, shaking it a little over her shoulders and down her back. "Unless you're afraid?"

"Woman, how many times do I got to tell you, I ain't afraid of nothin'?" He grumbled, no real annoyance in it as he walked towards her, his eyes locked with her. Mark halted before her, placing his hands on her crossed legs and gently moved her top leg off the bottom, spreading them so he could nestle himself between her thighs. His eyes raked down to her shirt, a grin curving his lips. "You really are a temptin' little vixen, aren't you?" He murmured, trailing his palm down her throat, resting right about her tank top.

Caressa giggled softly as she nodded, running her hands up his vest covered chest, loving how the leather clung to him. He was enough to drive a woman insane, which is what he was doing to her right now. "Only when I see something I want." She murmured, her lips mere inches from his, and moaned softly as his caressed hers, running her hands from his vest to his hair, having missed him more than words can say, more than anything in this world.

Caressa knew she was in love with him, it was inevitable. He was perfect in every way, motorcycles and tattoos, not to mention mysterious. Her body pressed against his, not breaking the kiss, wanting this man more than the air she breathed, more than her own heartbeat. She would give all of that up for one night with him, wanting to feel him inside of her, wanting him to take her to places only she knew he could.

Teasingly, Mark broke the kiss, breathing heavily through his slightly parted lips, his green eyes glossy as he stared down at her. Her own swollen lips and flushed cheeks made him grin. "So now, what was that about seein' something you want?" He asked, running his hands up and down her arms, his thumbs caressing the inside of her elbows in slow circles. Just by looking at her and feeling the way she had kissed him, he knew exactly what she wanted, but he wanted to hear her say it.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she gently pushed him back, sitting up and peeled her tank top off, revealing a midnight blue bra underneath, the key to his bike stuck in between her breasts. She smirked when his eyes darkened to a forest green and slowly took the key out before sliding it in her shorts pocket, keeping it nice and secure. Caressa was a brash and bold woman as she stood up on the seating of the picnic table, at his height now, and kissed his lips softly, smiling as his arms wrapped around her, pressing her tightly against him.

"You." She breathed out raggedly before kissing him again, this time more demanding. "I want you, Mark." She kissed him again almost frantically, not sure how much time they had.