And initiation meant gaining access into the inner workings of the Devil’s Skulls, which meant hopefully finding out how deeply Crush and his gang were involved with selling guns to the survivalists. If at all.

She kind of liked Crush. It was really too bad that a guy who seemed nice on the outside might be the leader of a tax-evading, gunrunning, God-only-knew-what-else kind of gang.

Appearances could be deceiving. She had to remember that. Still, she’d always let her instinct guide her, and she was rarely wrong about people. Her gut told her that Crush wasn’t a bad guy.

Then again, she was the novice in the Wild Riders, so she wasn’t about to go off half-cocked and try to save the day, insisting that Crush was the good guy. She could be dead wrong. But she still intended to reserve judgment until there was solid proof.

Either way, she was prepared for initiation and everything it entailed, as long as she had Diaz by her side.

DIAZ WAS ACTING WEIRD AS HELL, WHICH WAS NOTHING UNUSUAL for him, especially lately. He either treated her with kid gloves, loomed over her yelling at her like she was a ten-year-old, or threw her against the wall and f**ked her brains out.

Ideally, she preferred the last option.

Giving up her attempts at finding Spence, she skirted through the ever-thickening crowd, taking her life in her hands by crossing the zooming, bike-heavy street, and made her way back to Diaz. He was in the beer tent, still engaged in heavy conversation with Crush, Rex, and a few of the other guys.

Rex was the only one who glanced up when he saw her. He looked her up and down, smiled, and nodded. She shivered and moved to Diaz’s side. He snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her down next to him, stopping only long enough to plant a quick kiss on her lips.

His public show of affection surprised her. He’d done it in such a distracted manner, she wondered if he was even aware of it. Him kissing her so naturally, without thinking about it, warmed her.

She sat quietly next to him and listened in.

“I was cornered by no less than ten guys,” Crush said. “My ass was on the line. It was fight or die.”

Diaz nodded. “Sucks to be in a situation like that, but not much you can do. You either fight and maybe get your ass kicked, or cry like a baby, beg for your life, and get branded a pussy.”

“Exactly. And no way was I going to beg, so I threw myself into the middle of it.”

Diaz grinned. “Got your ass kicked anyway, didn’t you?”

Crush laughed. “Yeah, but I kicked a few of theirs, too. And gained their respect.”

Jessie shook her head. Guy talk about battles fought and won. It figured. These types of conversations cropped up a lot at Wild Riders’ headquarters, too. She often had to sit through talks about fist or knife fights, speed races on deserted streets, gang initiations and the like. It was a show of bravado, a game to see which one was the bravest of the bunch.

Too much testosterone in action.

“So, tonight’s initiation,” Crush said.

That got her attention. She turned from scanning the crowd and focused on him.

“The Devil’s Skulls would like the two of you and Spence to come to the initiation tonight.”

Diaz nodded and lifted his lips in a half smile. “Thanks.”

“We’d love to,” Jessie said. “Thank you for the invite.”

Crush laughed. “You might not thank me after it’s over.”

Diaz leaned a forearm on the table, taking a lazy position. “Oh, I think all of us can handle it.”

“Good,” Crush said with a nod, then stood. “I’ve gotta go. Meet us back at the farmhouse where we had the bonfire last night. We’ll party for a while, drink a few beers, and start at midnight.”

“We’ll be there,” Diaz said.

After Crush left, Jessie turned to him. “We need to find Spence.”

“Agreed.” Diaz pulled his cell phone and tried Spence’s number.

“You rang?”

Jessie tilted her head back at the sound of Spence’s voice.

“Yes. We’ve been trying to get hold of you.”

“Where’ve you been?” Diaz asked.

Spence slid into one of the seats and leaned forward. “With Stephanie and a few of the others. I wasn’t in a place where I could talk.”

“Find out anything?”

“Yeah. The Devil’s Skulls aren’t one big happy family, I know that much. Rex isn’t content with Crush as their leader. There’s been talk of making some changes.”

Jessie’s eyes widened. “Did they say why?”

Spence shrugged. “I’m hearing all this secondhand, through Stephanie, which means it may or may not be reliable. She says Crush is untrustworthy as a leader—or at least that’s what she heard from Rex and a few of the other guys—that he goes off on his own a lot, that he doesn’t have the best interests of the gang in mind.”

“I wonder what that means?” Jessie asked.

“No clue,” Spence said. “But it’s interesting. I’m trying to get in closer with Rex, which is kind of hard since he and Stephanie used to have a thing.”

“I think Stephanie used to have a thing with just about everyone except Crush, and that’s only because they’re related.”

Spence snorted at Jessie’s comment. “Yeah, so I’ve heard. The girl gets around.”

“I hope you have a lot of condoms.” Jessie wrinkled her nose.

“I do, honey. I do.”

“We were invited to initiate,” Diaz said, changing the topic.

Spence nodded. “Great. More ass kicking and f**king then.”

Diaz shook his head. “I guess. But if we get in, that should bring us closer to the action.”

“When we get in,” Jessie said.

“You stick close to Spence and me tonight.”

Jessie knew Diaz was worried about her, but honestly, she had no fear about tonight. “I don’t think initiation works that way. I’ll be on my own for part of it.” She laid her hand on his shoulder. “I really can take care of myself, Diaz. I’ve been doing it for a very long time.”

“You’re ready, then?” Spence asked.

Jessie looked at Diaz, then back at Spencer. “Yes.”

“You’re like my baby sister, Jessie,” Spencer said, stroking her hair. “You get into trouble, you just holler and I’ll be there for you, assignment or not. You know I’d compromise a mission for you.”

She beamed a smile up at him, grateful that he cared that much for her. “I love you, too, Spence. But I think I’ll be just fine.”

“Okay, let’s ride,” Diaz said, his brows knit in a tight frown.

Jessie was more worried about him than herself. She knew he was concerned about her, about tonight. She’d just have to prove to him she could handle anything that came up. Then maybe he’d relax a little and stop treating her with kid gloves. She really wanted to be a valued member of the team, not someone Diaz felt he had to babysit.

On the long ride out of town Jessie wondered if one of the Devil’s Skulls owned the farmhouse and land surrounding it. Considering the bonfire the night before, and what would be going on tonight, the rowdiness and partying, it would almost have to be Skulls property. It was very private, located over a mile down a gravel road from the two lane they’d traveled to get there. Out here, you could do pretty much whatever you wanted and no one would bother you.

It was the perfect place to host initiation. The secluded area afforded the Skulls the privacy they wanted for . . . whatever was going to happen. Because she had some idea of what that could be, yet really didn’t know for sure, maybe she should be nervous. But she wasn’t. Diaz would be there and so would Spence. She was going to be perfectly safe. Besides, she was an adult now.

A woman. A real woman now, thanks to Diaz.

Before, she’d felt lacking and unsure of herself. Not anymore.

Yeah, right. One night of great sex and she was worldly. She snorted, climbed off her bike, and took a deep breath of the night air. It was tinged with a slight chill and she wrapped her arms around herself. Someone had started another bonfire in the center of the bales of hay.

Funny though, she couldn’t stop shivering.

“You cold?” Diaz asked.

“A little.”

“Let’s get closer to the fire.”

She nodded and Diaz wrapped his arm around her, drawing her close to his side. She zipped her jacket up and walked with him to one of the bales of hay in the circle around the bonfire. Yes, it was definitely warmer here, especially when Diaz pulled her between his outstretched legs, letting her lean back against his chest, then closed his arms around her.

Perfect now. She was plenty warm cocooned within his embrace. Spence had gone off to find Stephanie, leaving Diaz and her alone.

“Who looks like initiates besides us?” she asked.

“Hmmm. Probably those guys huddled over there against that building,” he said.

She followed where he pointed. Sure enough, about ten guys leaned against one of the farm sheds, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. None of them wore the Skulls’ jacket or anything else identifying them as members.

“I wonder if they all know each other.”

He shrugged. “Hard to tell.”

“You think you can take them?”

“Hell yes.”

She smiled.

“Okay, so let me see if I can pick out the women.” She scanned the area, spotted one or two, pointed them out to Diaz.

“That one looks scary.”

He was right. Tall, broad, a woman built like she’d done some wrestling in her past. She was at least twice Jessie’s size.

“That’s okay,” Jessie said, sizing up her competition. “I know a few tricks.”

He skimmed his hands up and down her arms. “I’ll just bet you do.”

More bikes arrived, the crowd of Skulls and initiates thicker tonight than last night. Obviously a big event for the gang and worth a sizeable turnout.

Great. Just what Jessie wanted—a huge audience. Oh well. She said she could handle it, and she could. But as Crush moved behind the hay bales and signaled for everyone’s attention, she saw how big that crowd was, and what might be required of her tonight in front of all these people. She realized she might be just a tiny bit . . . nervous.

Not that she’d admit that to anyone—especially Diaz.

“Okay everyone, settle down,” Crush said, raising his hands. “It’s time for the Devil’s Skulls favorite time of the year—initiation.”

His statement was followed by whoops, hollers, and whistles.

“Pipe down. I know you’re all excited. This is the fun stuff. This is where we test candidates to see if they have what it takes to become a Skull. You either make it through tonight or you’re out. If you survive the night, then we’ll let you know whether you’ve passed or not. If you pass, you’ll be a Devil’s Skull and a part of our gang.

“We’ll start with the guys and the physical part of the test. I need our initiates to come forward and stand next to me.”

“That’s my cue,” Diaz said.

“Good luck.” She squeezed his hand, then scooted out of the way as Diaz pushed off the hay bale and moved toward the front of the crowd. Spence met him there and they stood together—like brothers, both wearing the same confident smirk on their faces.

They looked dark and menacing. Compared to the other ten guys standing up there, Jessie liked their chances. Both were strong, in great shape, and could kick some serious ass.

“Okay guys, here’s the deal,” Crush said. “Fist fights, one-on-one. I’ll select your partners. And it won’t be with one of the other initiates, it’ll be with one of the members.”

Oh. Well that wasn’t what she thought would happen. Crush brought up twelve of his own guys. Big, powerful, with broad chests, massive legs, and a hell of a lot of muscle. Even these guys’ knuckles looked powerful. Obviously Crush knew what he was doing. Spence seemed evenly matched with his guy. The one Crush matched Diaz up with was taller than Diaz, and more muscular, which seemed unfathomable since Diaz was pretty damn big. But Diaz didn’t blink, just nodded and got into position.

“Bare fists, no weapons,” Crush said. “Those are the only rules. Otherwise, you fight until one of you goes down or until I stop you. Ready? Go.”

Jessie dug her fingers into the hay and held tight as action exploded around her. Diaz’s opponent reared back and threw a punch, which Diaz ducked, before pivoting and rising to land a good round right in the guy’s stomach. The guy doubled over, giving Diaz a perfect opportunity for an uppercut to the chin. Unfortunately, the dude was so strong he rebounded right away, and oh, man was he pissed. He went after Diaz like an angry freight train, pushing Diaz back at least ten feet before throwing a punch that leveled him to the ground. Adjusting his jaw, Diaz shoved a boot in the guy’s knee and he howled in pain.

Jessie grimaced at the fierceness of the fighting. Spence seemed to be about fifty-fifty on his, giving as good as he got, but his left eye was already swelling. Then again, the other guy looked about the same, so Spence was holding his own. She turned her attention back to Diaz, ignoring all the other guys, especially since several were already lying flat on the ground, no doubt out cold. She didn’t even know which were initiates and which were Skulls. All she cared about was Diaz.

In the short period of time she’d pulled her attention away from him, Diaz had grabbed the upper hand. She had no idea what had happened, but the Skulls guy’s face was a bruised, bloody mess, and Diaz was pummeling him without mercy. Punch after punch, he went after him. Jessie sucked in her lip, cringing as she watched the way Diaz beat the man. If it wasn’t for Crush coming in between them and putting a stop to it, she wasn’t certain what would happen.