Chapter Two



Sin took quick strides toward her bike, pulled her helmet on, climbed aboard, revved the powerful engine and took off after the Mercedes.  Within seconds she was cruising fifteen feet behind the luxury car, heading south on I-75, toward downtown Atlanta.  Though the rain had slowed to a steady fall, no longer a downpour, it still felt like needles hitting her body when traveling through it at 65 miles an hour, making it difficult to keep as close an eye on Martin as she would have liked.  When Martin merged onto the I-75/I-85 downtown connector, Sin sped up alongside the car to get a better look.  Martin looked over at her and gave a half-hearted wave and a grimace, which Sin supposed was meant to pass as a smile.  Sin’s guts clenched again as she, once more, slowed down to fall behind the Mercedes.

Sin pondered her reactions to the blonde, unable to remember herself ever responding to another woman as fast and as certainly as she was this particular woman.  It was as though Martin reached out and grabbed hold of Sin and just pulled her in.  It was decidedly perplexing to the tough loner.  A woman who just expected to be alone forever except for one night stands and random hook-ups, Sin felt out of her element.  She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, which she attributed to the extremely attractive Martin.  Sin knew right then that this would not turn into a one-night stand or a random hook-up.  She was simply too drawn to the woman.  All she could do at this thought was issue a deep sigh.

Martin grimaced as a shooting pain pierced her head, just behind her eyes.  The migraines were coming more and more frequently.  Lucky for her that she could see in her rearview mirror, the strong, imposing figure keeping vigil from her motorcycle.  The sight was reassuring, and Martin was grateful for the woman’s presence for safety reasons.  The fact that she was highly attracted to the knight in shining chrome was merely an added---and complicated---bonus.  Sensing the onset of sudden debilitating pain, Martin stepped on the accelerator, wanting to arrive home before her rescuer noticed.  She was beginning to space out so that she only vaguely took note that she still didn’t know the motorcyclist’s name.

Sin watched her speedometer when the Mercedes began to pull away from her.  Already close to seventy-five miles an hour, Sin’s eyebrows rose as she sped up to keep pace with the luxury vehicle.  She watched the beautiful blonde reach up and rub her forehead as though she had a headache.  Concerned, Sin breathed a sigh of relief when the car signaled to exit the interstate.  Her mouth twisted into a smile of amusement and her heart beat faster when she realized Martin lived in midtown Atlanta---an area notorious for being gay-friendly.

In minutes, Sin was shutting off the motorcycle, having parked directly behind the Mercedes.  The darkness, coupled with the rain, which had begun falling harder again, prevented Sin from seeing much of Martin’s home.  She merely got an impression that it was large and stately, with a huge lawn.  The rest would have to wait until daylight.  And Sin had already decided that she would simply have to break all her rules with this woman.  Hell, thought Sin, might as well throw away the entire rulebook.  That having been said, she would definitely be seeing the place in the daylight---soon.  The tall biker pulled off her helmet and went to assist the blonde from her car.

Martin felt a wave of dizziness rush over her the second she got out of the car.  Grabbing to hold on to the vehicle, she had one hand on the door and one on the roof when she felt her body being enveloped from behind as powerful arms gently encircled her tiny waist.  “Easy there, I’ve got you,” murmured the deep silky voice.  Sin had seen Martin’s legs begin to give out as soon as she stood up from the car and closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye, with no recollection of how she got there. 

“Th—Th—Thank y—y—you,” stuttered Martin, eyes closed tightly.  The diminutive blonde clutched at Sin’s forearms and whispered in an almost inaudible voice, “P—p—please help.”

Sin felt her heart kick into a fast gallop at the words, alarmed at how pale and shaky Martin had become in the twenty minutes since they had gotten back on the road.  The sweat beading on Martin’s brow, given the fact that it was, at most, forty degrees outside worried the biker.  “What can I do, sweetheart?” she asked desperately, the endearment slipping out unconsciously. 

“In—In—side,” Martin managed to say before Sin scooped the blonde into her arms, making sure to get her purse, and headed for the front door at a rapid clip.  Sinjin didn’t know why the petite woman was now stuttering and had to believe that whatever was causing the condition was definitely not a good thing.  At the door, Sin murmured, “Put your arms around my neck, baby,” before holding on to the woman with one arm.  The tall, strong biker used her other hand to quickly dig Martin’s keys out of the thankfully small purse, and then dropped the purse to the ground.  She tried one key in the lock before succeeding the second time.  Shoving the door open wide, the brunette clutched her cargo to her chest with both arms and hurried inside.

Standing in a large foyer, Sin hastily noted a sunken den area off to the right, a staircase directly in front, and a formal living room to the left.  Taking a step toward the stairs, she looked down and raised a questioning eyebrow at Martin.  Through glazed eyes, the scholar saw the look and gave the slightest of nods, whispering, “End of the hall,” before closing her eyes and resting her head on Sin’s shoulder.

Sinjin took the stairs two at a time, pausing long enough at the top to look both ways before accurately surmising that her goal lay behind the double doors to her right.  She nudged open the doors and strode quickly to the large sleigh bed situated across the room, slightly to her left.  With a gentleness that belied her strength and power, Sin set her cargo down and knelt beside the bed. 

Martin opened eyes heavy with disorientation to look directly into pools of green so deep she felt like she was falling.  The intensity of Sin’s gaze left her breathless.  “I’m sorry,” she whispered, dismayed to feel pressure building behind her eyes.  “I—“ she began, only to be cut off.

“Hey, no,” Sin started.  Women’s tears usually left Sin feeling cold and turned off---but not these.  Helpless and frustrated, she put a large hand against Martin’s forehead, lightly brushing the soft blonde hair out of stormy gray eyes filled with tears.  “It’s alright…shhh…just let me help.  Okay?”  Receiving a slow nod, Sin smiled down at the angel she saw.  “Good.  What do you need?” she asked.

You thought Martin groggily but was alert enough to not say that out loud.  Instead, she closed her eyes and replied, “Drugs,” managing to lift a hand high enough to point towards the bathroom. 

Sin quickly rose to her feet and hurried into the adjacent bathroom, barely noticing its immense size.  Her eyes darted around the sink area.  Not seeing any pill bottles, she opened the medicine cabinet.  On a shelf inside she saw two telltale orange bottles with the required white childproof caps.  She grabbed both, found a glass sitting on the counter, filled it with water, and rushed back to the bed.  She set everything down on the nightstand, then reached over and gently cupped Martin’s cheek in her palm, placing her right hand on a finely boned shoulder.    “Hey, sweetheart,” she murmured, “can you sit up?”

Martin heard the deep voice and wanted to ignore it.  But something about the silky tones pulled at her, connecting with her psyche.  She was unable to refuse this voice anything.  She blinked her eyes open and found herself looking at the biker from the interstate.  Not exactly clear on how either of them came to be in her bedroom, Martin gruffly whispered, “Who are you?”

Sin’s eyebrows rose high on her forehead.  Before answering, she reached back to grab the medications.  Her brows remained raised and then furrowed when she saw what they were.  Seeing that one of the prescriptions was for a serious narcotic, she began to realize that Martin might actually be sick.  Distracted, she muttered, “I’m Sin.”  Momentarily ignoring the kick in the gut that the thought of Martin being sick gave her, she noted the dosage amounts, then opened the bottles.  Two pills now in hand, she turned and helped Martin into a sitting position, sliding her body behind the slight one on the bed. 

Martin found herself leaning back against the brunette’s chest before she realized what was happening or could process what Sin just told her.  She was getting more disoriented by the minute, but managed to figure out that “Sin” must be the biker’s name.  She smiled, took the medication and glass of water handed to her and murmured, “I’m sure that should worry me,” before swallowing all of it and handing the empty glass back to her hero.  She felt the rumble behind her as Sin softly chuckled at the comment as she eased off the bed, slowly lowering Martin’s head to the pillow.

Sin looked down into glazed eyes, smiling as Martin struggled to hold them open.  She sat gingerly on the edge of the bed and held the blonde’s hand as she fell into a drug-induced sleep.  It was many, many minutes before she felt the need to move.

Sin took a quick tour through the house.  She didn’t want to invade Martin’s privacy, but she did want to know the basic layout of the property.  It was a short while later that she was standing in a darkened kitchen, looking into a backyard that appeared more enormous than the front, though she wasn’t really seeing the yard at all.  Her thoughts were all turned inward as she searched for the answer to what she was feeling.  She couldn’t quite wrap her mind around the idea that the woman lying upstairs was about to change her life in ways she couldn’t even begin to fathom.  But the thought was flitting around nonetheless.

With an introspective sigh, Sin turned away from the night and headed back up to sit at the bedside of a beautiful blonde angel.  She found Martin curled up in a fetal position, moaning softly in her sleep.  Sin shed her leather jacket, tossing it carelessly in a nearby chair, then pulled off her boots.  Standing in her socks, she debated on a course of action.  When she heard a soft voice whimper, “Sin,” she gave in.  She pulled off her jeans and crawled onto the bed, curling up behind Martin’s petite form, her knees fitting in perfectly behind Martin’s own, like a jigsaw puzzle piece sliding into place.  Sin wrapped an arm around the small waist, realizing that she absolutely dwarfed the young woman.  Protective instincts coming out in full force, she slid her other arm underneath Martin’s neck so that she was completely enveloping her, holding her close.

“Shhh, baby.  I’m right here,” she murmured softly.  She rubbed her hand over Martin’s stomach, gently soothing the blonde back into peaceful slumber, whispering words of comfort the entire time.  When she was sure the woman was again sleeping deeply, she sighed and closed her own eyes.  “Oh, hell,” she thought sleepily as she nuzzled her face into Martin’s neck.  “No,” something whispered deep inside her.  “Heaven.”  And the voice was right.





TBC...