Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
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 Bear Mountain Daddy
Shifter Romance

By: Sky Winters

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Table of Contents
Bear Mountain Biker
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
Special Bonus: NYC Shifters
Special Bonus: Goldie and the Two Bears
Special Bonus: Biker Romance
Preview of Bear Mountain Bride
Preview of Bear Mountain Baby
Preview of Bear Mountain Daddy
Preview of NYC Vamps Box Set
About The Author
Bear Mountain Biker
CHAPTER 1
My jaw dropped in surprise as I watched the biker's fist connect with the
other man's face. A strange sound rang out, like a fleshy crack, and the
struck man stumbled backward into the bar stools behind him, the seats
falling over with a heavy clatter. The punch was a full swing right to the
jaw, full power; it looked strong enough to knock a horse right off his
hooves.
"You even dream about thinking about touching my woman again, I'll break
this pool cue right in half and shove both pieces right up your fuckin' ass!"
My eyes went wide as the biker who threw the first punch strode over to the
one he'd just slugged and stood over him, legs astride like some kind of
leather-clad statue. I would've thought the man who'd been hit would be out
cold, but instead, he just looked up at the attacking biker with a blood-
smeared little sneer.
"You got somethin' to say, you little fuck?" the punching biker yelled, the
rock music blasting over the speakers a backdrop to his voice.
But the hit biker didn't say a single word. Instead, he reached over, grabbed
one of the barstools by the legs and, with a grunt, swung the thing right at
the first biker, the chair connecting and shattering into pieces with the
impact.
The fight was on, and as I took another sip of my cheap beer, I could only
watch in rapt attention. This was better than Netflix any day of the week.
My name is Isabella Finch. I'm a recent graduate from the oh-so-prestigious
school of the University of Missouri, and your standard post-graduation
aimlessness has brought me to the town of Branlen in upstate New York, a
tiny little place in the shadow of Bear Mountain. A cousin of mine, Atticus,
who I never even knew existed, reached out to me. He let me know there
was a family here, my family, and they were looking to reconnect with
Finches across the country. It sounded weird, but college was over, and I
was at a loss for what to do next. And with both my parents gone since I
was a kid, being around family for a change sounded nice.
But as soon as I got here, as soon as I realized I was free to do whatever I
wanted, I became very restless, very fast. I needed thrills, something
different than the sanitized college campus I'd been stuck on for the last
four years. So, when I found out there was a biker bar a couple town over, I
knew I had to check it out. So far, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.
The biker who'd been hit with the chair staggered backward, the pieces of
the barstool clattering to the floor at his feet. Cheers sounded out from the
rest of the few dozen rough-looking men and women at the bar, all of them
just as excited as I was to see some action. The first biker, the one who
threw the punch, went backward so far that he ended up falling onto a
nearby pool table, the back of his head hitting the squat green lights
hanging over the table, the impact sounding with a strange ‘thunk', like
someone flicking a big, empty milk jug.
"Get that little fucker!" shouted one of the punching bikers, some giant
dude with a braided, gray beard.
A sick, thrilled little smile formed on my face when I realized this wasn't
just going to be a little incident; it was going to be a full-on brawl.
The biker who'd swung the barstool jumped to his feet, his friends from
across the bar running to his side as the punching biker's friends ran to his.
There were six all told, and they stared each other up and down with narrow
eyes that were set on ruddy, rough faces with bandanas above and thick
beards below. They looked amazing, like Vikings.
But these Vikings were in denim and leather, just the way I wanted them.
I took a slow sip of my beer as I watched the two groups of men size each
other up. I scanned the men, wondering who was going to make the first
move. After a few seconds of thinking about it, I settled on the littlest biker,
a bald guy with a tight, rat face who was with the punching biker and
seemed eager for a fight. I'd seen frat boys get into sloppy, drunken scraps a
few times, and it always seemed like the little guys were the ones who were
most eager to prove themselves.
Looking around the place, I could see the rest of the clientele was just as
eager to see a show as I was. The pair of bartenders kept their distance,
continuing to make drinks while the fight brewed. They'd flick their eyes
over to the men, weary expressions on their faces.
Then, just like I had guessed, the little man went for it. With a roar, he
rushed toward the other bikers and threw a wild swing at the nearest one.
The punch went wide, and the biker he'd intended to hit returned the favor
with a pint glass to the side of the head. The glass exploded into shards, and
the little biker howled in pain. I couldn't help but notice one of the
bartenders sighed, as though he were thinking more about the mess of blood
and glass he was going to have to clean up than anything else.
The little man's attack set the whole thing off, and before I knew it, the two
groups of men were at each other, fists swinging, yells erupting, glasses
breaking-the works. And I and the rest of the place were watching the thing
like it was nothing but entertainment. We cheered when a fist connected,
groaned when a cheap shot got in, and gasped when one of the men would
go down for the count.
Soon, the fight wound down, the men remaining on one side forming a tight
circle around the last guy on the other side and closing in for the coup de
grace. The fight was won, and my interest wound down, though my blood
continued to rush in my veins from the spectacle. I brought my beer up to
my lips and drained the last few drops and decided I was ready for another,
so I grabbed my glass and strolled up to the bar.
I gave the fight a quick look over, and saw that the bikers who were still
conscious were already celebrating the brawl with a round of shots. I
couldn't help but smile as I watched the men who were at each other's
throats only moments ago now making cheers with their whiskey shots and
carrying on like old friends. Guys were like that-just a few punches and
whatever they were pissed off about was over and done with. I knew, from
high school, girls were different; a spat between us could drag on for
months, only, instead of trading blows, we traded whispered gossip. I
couldn't stand it, which is why when I went off to school, I made the
decision to focus on my studies instead of boys and friends. It paid off-I
graduated at the top of my class, but now that I was free, I had the
irresistible urge to make up for lost time.
"One more," I said to the bartender, a grizzled-looking guy with a long,
braided beard.
He nodded, and poured me another tall pint of golden-colored beer.
But before I could reach for my money to pay, a twenty-dollar bill shot out
of the corner of my eye in the direction of the bartender, who took the bill.
"Now, what the hell is a girl like you doing paying for your own drinks?"
My gaze snapped toward the direction of the voice, and when I laid eyes on
the man who'd spoken, my jaw just about hit the floor.
To say he was gorgeous would be to put it in the mildest terms possible. He
was tall, that was the first thing I noticed. Now, I'm a pretty tall girl, but this
guy absolutely towered over me. From his height, he looked down at me
with smoky blue eyes, his jet-black hair shoulder-length and falling on both
sides of his face. He had a slim nose, his lips were full and sensual, and his
jaw looked like it'd been cut from granite. He was built like a brick wall,
too, with wide strong shoulders, pecs that strained against his white t-shirt,
and a pair of blue jeans on his tree trunk legs that formed an enticing outline
around what was assuredly a fantastic package. A pair of heavy black boots
and a leather vest adorned with patches completed the look.
He wasn't just studly; he was god-like.
"Well?" he asked, moving in front of me and leaning against the bar, a
cocky little smirk on his gorgeous face. "You got some college boy around
here who's already planted his flag, or what?"
I raised my eyebrows and cocked my head at this invasive little question.
"'Planted his flag'?" I asked. "That's…an interesting way to ask if I have a
boyfriend."
"'Interesting'?" he asked.
"Well, crude, to be more precise."
"I'm not one for beating around the bush," he asked. "I don't like to waste
my time, and I wanna know right away if there's some little frat boy twerp
around here I gotta work over before I drag you [LR1]outta here caveman-
style."
I was aghast at this. He certainly wasn't joking when he said he doesn't like
to beat around the bush- I didn't think I've ever had a man come on to me
that strongly before.
But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued. Didn't hurt that he was one of the
hottest guys I'd ever seen in my life.
"No," I said, my eyes flicking over to the pair of beers the bartender set
down in front of us. "I'm here by myself."
The man let out a loud, barking laugh.
"'Here by yourself'?" he said, seemingly having a hard time believing the
words. "You know what kinda bar this is, little lady?"
I cast another glance at the area of the bar where the fight had taken place,
the brawl now replaced by a barback who was busy cleaning up the blood.
"I think I know now," I said.
"Oh, you mean that little lover's quarrel?" he asked. "That was nothing; that
was a warm-up. I've seen this whole place turn into a scrap like that; it ain't
pretty, and ain't the kind of place where a little thing like you oughta be."
I raised my eyebrows as I took a sip of my beer.
"Oh?" I asked. "And where should a little thing like me be?"
The large lump of his Adam's apple bobbed up and down as he took a long,
slow draw of his beer. When he was done, he set it back down on the bar
and leaned in close.
"I can think of a few places," he said with a smirk.
I should've slapped him in the face; I should've thrown my drink at him. I
should've done something –anything –as punishment for him saying
something so forward and crude. But I couldn't find it in me. All I could do
was blush, my gaze drifting to the floor. At that moment, I felt like putty in
this handsome stranger's hands. It was as though a spell had been cast on
me.
So, of course, it was at that moment that I felt a hand fall on my shoulder,
followed by the stern tone of a familiar voice.
"Isabella- what the hell do you think you're doing?"
CHAPTER 2
I didn't even need to turn around to know who it was; the voice belonged to
none other than my cousin, Atticus Swift. He stared down at me with his
piercing green eyes, making me feel small before him.
"I swear; I turn around for five minutes and you're running off to a
goddamn biker bar two towns over? What're you thinking?"
I was mortified. I felt like I was a middle-schooler getting busted smoking
cigarettes by my parents. The guy that I'd been talking to was more than
happy to let the scene play out, no peep other than a dry laugh escaping his
lips.
"And just what do you think is so damn funny?" asked Atticus to the man.
"You have any idea how old this girl is?"
"Seemed pretty mature to me," he said, his beer in front of his face.
"You'd better watch your mouth," said Atticus, "'cause I've been looking for
this girl for the last three hours and I'm not exactly in the mood to fuck
around."
The man held up his hands in mock surrender, the fingers of one hand
wrapped around his pint of beer. He didn't seem to be intimidated by
Atticus, but didn't seem too interested in starting a fight either.
"This asshole givin' you trouble, Lucas?" asked the bartender, his attention
piqued by the argument.
Lucas, I thought to myself. Now I had a name.
Lucas thought the question over briefly as if weighing the pros and cons of
getting the rest of the bar involved in this situation.
"Nah," he finally decided. "Just some daddy draggin' his little girl outta
here."
Fuck, I thought to myself when I realized Lucas didn't seem to give a damn
one way or another about me staying or going. I mean, I didn't want him to
beat up my cousin or anything, but part of me was hoping that if he put up a
little resistance, Atticus would leave and let me have my fun. But I knew
that was stupid –Atticus was the protective type, and him leaving me here
wasn't exactly his style.
"Can't I at least finish my beer?" I protested, a bratty whine appearing in my
tone.
"Not a goddamn chance," said Atticus.
Hey, it was a long-shot, but it couldn't hurt to ask.
"Pleasure meeting you, little lady," said Lucas, getting up.
Atticus turned me around, and as he did, I felt a little tug on my back
pocket, as though someone had stuck a finger in there. I turned to see if
Lucas had anything to do with it, but as I scanned the crowd for him I could
see he had already taken his beer and gone. I slapped my hand on my back
pocket and, sure enough, there was something in there. But before I had a
chance to check out what it was, Atticus had turned his attention back to
me.
"Let's go," said Atticus. "Now."
His hand on my upper arm, he guided me through the crowds, the bikers
and their women shooting us dirty glances as we passed. Soon, we were
through the front door and back out in the cool evening air, the sky ink-
black above us, the music a bassy rumble through the entrance.
"You don't need to pull me," I said.
But Atticus didn't respond, instead, continuing to lead me past the long lines
of chrome bikes and to his car, a black Ford truck. He yanked open the
passenger-side door and stood there as I stepped up and in, as though I
might run back into the bar the second he took his eyes off me. Once I was
secured inside, he stormed around to the driver's side, got in, gunned the
engine, and peeled out of the parking lot.
The drive was silent at first as we made our way through the forested roads
leading back to Branlen and to the compound where Atticus and the rest of
the family lived, the red oaks towering over us on both sides of the two-lane
road.
"What's gotten into you?" asked Atticus, finally breaking the silence. "You
were such a good girl in college from what I hear, and now you're hanging
out with bikers? What's the story?"
I didn't know what to say. The real reason, that I needed some goddamn
excitement, just didn't feel like it'd be enough.
"I just…I don't know, wanted to meet some new people."
"'Meet some new people'?" he asked, incredulous. "What the hell kind of
people you think you're gonna meet at a place like that? I'll tell you right
now, they're exactly the kind of people you don't want to meet."
"What, just because they're bikers?"
"No," said Atticus, his voice now low and grave. "They're not just ‘people';
they're wolves."
I should probably backtrack a little. The Swift family has a little secret. You
see, there's a reason why they live all the way out in the middle of the
woods in upstate New York, away from prying eyes.
It's because they're shifters. Bear shifters, to be precise. And that means
exactly what it sounds like –they can turn into bears at a moment's notice.
And notice I said "they". For some reason, only the men in the family have
this power. While we all have the genes, only the dudes can shift. Well, it's
not a one-hundred-percent-of-the-time kind of thing, but that's generally
how it works. I can't shift, for example. Part of me wishes I could, so I
could have some excitement in my life, but the better part of me is glad I'm
just a normal girl, for the most part. After all, the last thing I need is to feel
more like a weirdo outsider than I already do.
"Are you serious?" I asked.
Bears and wolves…well, we tend not to get along, and that's putting it
mildly. I had no idea there were wolves in this part of the country, but just
my luck I'd stumble right into one of their dens.
"But I don't get why they'd even bother with me," I said, sulking a little bit.
"It's not like I can actually shift or anything."
"You know that doesn't matter a damn bit; all they care about is that there's
bear blood in your veins. We're both lucky as hell they didn't sniff us out
while we were there."
"Do you think they really didn't notice us?" I asked.
"Hard to say," said Atticus, his eyes fixed on the road. "They might've not
noticed, they might've noticed and not cared, they might've noticed and just
wanted to stay out of trouble."
I could imagine that. Atticus told me there was an incident with the wolves
not too long ago. Evidently, the whole Swift clan was driven off their own
land by some rogue group of wolves who wanted them dead. They had to
hide in Vermont for months, and it was only because of a long-lost cousin,
one not too different than me, in that way, I guess, arrived that they had the
manpower to take back their own home.
I guess with all that in mind, I couldn't really blame Atticus for getting so
upset. Still, I couldn't shake the desire to want to be around them. They
seemed so dangerous, so exciting. Not to mention the fact Lucas was about
the hottest fucking guy I'd ever seen in my life.
"Listen," said Atticus, his tone softening, "I get that you're young and want
to have some fun; I really do. But that, that's not the kind of fun you want to
be having. You don't need me to tell you wolves are dangerous."
"They can't all be dangerous," I said.
Atticus sighed.
"If you saw a group of dogs and knew all of them were dangerous except
for one, would you still be strolling over to pet them?"
"I guess not," I said.
"That's right. Sure, there might be a wolf every now and then who's, well, a
little more civilized than the others. But you don't want to take that chance;
there's a reason wolves like to ride motorcycles and join gangs; they just
don't play well with others, you get it?"
By now, we were driving through Branlen, the little town of a few thousand
people that was closest to our compound. I watched the buildings of the
downtown area pass us by as I considered what Atticus said.
And as I stared out the window, I remembered the little tug on my back
pocket as Atticus pulled me out of the bar. Keeping Atticus in the corner of
my eye to make sure he was focused on the road, I slipped a hand down my
backside and worked it into my pants. Sure enough, there was something in
there, a little piece of paper. My heart raced when I considered the
possibility that it might've been put there by Lucas.
"I said, you get it?" asked Lucas, his voice sterner this time.
"Yeah, I get it."
"Good," he said. "I just want you to be safe, is all. I'm happy you're here –
our little clan needs all the family it can get–but you're gonna need to learn,
as quickly as you can, just what the shifter world is all about. There's more
at stake here than bad grades."
I nodded, my lips pursed.
We continued up the road to Bear Mountain, the town now long behind us,
the road changing from a well-maintained paved one to a gravel road of
tightly-packed rocks that crunched below the tires of the trucks. After a
little while longer, we arrived at the massive, fenced compound the Swifts
had called home for generations. The tall gate of black iron topped with
barbed wire ground open as we approached, and soon, we were parked in
one of the massive garage bays below the main floors of the building.
"Sorry you had to go running all around town to find me," I said, my voice
sheepish.
"Just, don't run off like that," he said. "I know you're well over eighteen, but
I don't really consider any who's been to college for four years an adult in
any real sense of the word until they've seen a little of what the real world is
like. Just…hang back and pay attention for a while."
"Sure."
We got out of the car and headed up the stairs to the compound’s first floor.
I could hear the crying of my cousins, a pair of twins belonging to Atticus
and his wife, Tessa, who were just the cutest damn things I'd ever seen. I
wasn't even close to thinking about being a mom, but whenever I held either
of those two in my arms, I couldn't help but entertain the idea of having one
of my own. I'd come to my senses right after that, however–I just had too
much fun ahead of me to even consider settling down.
We entered the vast, spacious living room, a fire roaring in the fireplace,
soft piano music playing on the speakers. I knew the piano music could
only mean one thing: Ian was here.
"I'd been wondering when you two would get back."
I turned around, and sure enough, there he was. Ian was one of my other
cousins, also married, also with a kid. He was handsome in the same way
all the other Swift men were, though his hair was a little darker and longer,
his eyes a little more brooding. This second detail fit his personality well;
Ian was the kind of guy who liked to keep things close to the chest, the
serious, intellectual type who'd rather spend time with another book than
other people for the most part; a big contrast to Atticus's warmth and
friendly nature. I'd been here for a while and he was only just now starting
to act comfortable around me.
Only Atticus, Ian, and their families were at the compound at the moment.
The rest of the family was either up in Vermont at another property or
somewhere else in the country, making connections with other bear clans. I
loved the compound–the quiet was nice at times, and the views of the forest
through the windows were unbeatable–but between the distance from town
and the few people living here, it could be a little lonely at times.
"Caught this one wandering into a wolf den," said Atticus.
Ian raised his eyebrows. "Really? Didn't know there were still wolves in
these parts."
"There's some motorcycle bars a few towns over," said Atticus. "Nothing
but trouble, if you ask me."
"Anything we need to worry about?" asked Ian.
"Hopefully not, but we're going to have to keep our eyes on them. After
getting chased out of here by that last pack, I'm not taking any chances."
The need to see what was on the note now burning, I faked a stretch and a
yawn.
"I'm gonna hit the hay," I said.
"Good call," said Atticus. "Sleep off that booze and get good and well-
rested; Tessa and I are going into town for a while tomorrow and we're
gonna need you to help keep an eye on the twins."
"Sure," I said, already walking down the hallway to my room. "Good
night!"
My steps quickened as soon as I was out of sight. Once I was back in my
cozy little bedroom, the windows of the space looking out onto the
nighttime forest, I reached into my back pocket and fished out the note. I
was so excited as I slipped out the piece of folded paper that I nearly
dropped it as I opened it up.
Once it was unfolded, I looked at what was written, scanning each letter
with eager eyes.
A pleasure. We're having a little get-together tomorrow night. Meet me out
front of the general store in Branlen at ten tomorrow night if you want a
ride.
- L
I pressed the paper to my chest and fell back onto the bed, a beaming smile
on my face. I knew, just knew I'd had a connection with Lucas, and I was
overjoyed to know it wasn't just a figment of my imagination.
Looking over the note one last time before folding it back up and setting it
aside, I began formulating the plans to meet up with Lucas. I'd have to
sneak out somehow, but how?
But I wasn't too worried. There was plenty of time to come up with
something.
CHAPTER 3
I couldn't help but smirk when I thought about that girl. What was her
name? Isabella? Pretty name for a pretty face. But that first whiff of her
scent, the musky bear scent I could sniff out from a mile away, was like a
warning. She had no idea how much danger she was in; the only reason the
wolves of my motorcycle club didn't pounce on her was because of the
agreement we have with the bears to stay out of each other's way. But who
knows how easy it's going to be to keep the peace when they're showing up
on our turf.
"Yo, Lucas!" came a voice from behind me as I worked my way through my
glass of whiskey, the commotion of the bar all around me.
I looked up and, sure enough, it was Smith McKenna, one of the higher-ups
in the Stone Masons, the bike club I was a member of. He was tall, with
broad shoulders and a greasy-looking, long beard that went down to the
middle of his stout chest, the hair coming from his chin as thick as the hair
on top of his head was thin. Us wolves aren't exactly known for our
trustworthy ways, and Smith was one of the few guys in this crew that I
knew had my back.
I gave him a quick nod of acknowledgment as he slid into the open seat
next to me.
"What's up?" I asked, taking another sip of my drink, Isabella's face still
clear as a bell in my mind.
"'What's up'?" he asked, with a laugh, flagging down the bartender for
another drink. "'What's up' is that you were talking to that little bear piece of
ass. You out of your damn mind?"
I scoffed. "So what if I was talking? Ain't a crime to say a few words to a
bear."
I thought about the note I'd slipped into her pocket informing her of the
party tomorrow night, and started to wonder if that was a good idea. I knew
it might lead to trouble, but I told myself I'd keep an eye on her. If she
showed up, that is.
"It's not, but it sure as shit doesn't look good."
"Says who?" I asked. "We got an agreement with the bears, right? Makes
sense to me to play nice with them instead of scaring them off whenever
some little cub of theirs wanders into one of our joints."
"I know, I know," said Smith before taking a long sip of his beer. "Makes
way more sense to keep things, you know, copasetic. Especially with what
happened to that last pack that tried to fuck with the Swift clan."
I winced as he mentioned them. Some pack came into the area not too long
ago and ran the Swifts off their land. Guess they got to thinking they'd make
a power move and take Bear Mountain from the pack that'd owned it for
generations. It worked, at first, but it wasn't too long before the Swifts came
back with a vengeance, taking out every one of those wolves and moving
right back into their territory. Really, it's surprising that the bears are fine
with us being even a few towns over, but bears have always been a little too
trusting for their own good.
"Well, just as long as we don't try to fuck with them, things should be fine,"
I said.
"Always the fuckin' diplomat," said Smith. "Gonna get you killed one day
when you come up against some mean-ass shifter who isn't so big on the
talky-talk."
"Get the fuck out of here with that shit," I said, letting out a dry laugh. "You
know I can smash heads with the best of ‘em."
Smith slapped me on the back and drained the rest of his beer.
"How about that fuckin' party tomorrow night? You ready to howl at the
goddamn moon?"
A wild expression formed on Smith's ugly mug. He looked ready to rage, all
right.
"You know it, brother," I said. "Things've been too quiet around here; I'm
ready to blow off some fuckin' steam."
"That's what I'm talkin' about," said Smith, raising his glass for a cheers.
I knocked my glass against his, and we downed a pair of shots to celebrate
whatever it was we were celebrating.
I had an unquenchable thirst tonight, and I needed another whiskey as soon
as the shot went down. But before I could get the bartender's attention, I felt
a heavy hand slap down on my shoulder. I turned in my seat and caught
sight of Jonesy, a pug-ugly, barrel-chested dude who worked as one of the
enforcers for the club.
"Get in the back," he said, pointing to the door leading to the office in the
back of the bar.
My eyes flicked down to his rough, meaty hand.
"You ever think about asking nicely?" I asked with a smirk.
As Jonesy stared down at me with his jet-black eyes, I could tell he wasn't
seeing any humor in my comment.
"Cutter wants to see you. Now."
Fuck, I thought. Cutter Walsh was the head of our happy little family of
Stone Masons. He liked to keep a careful eye on the clan through his little
security set-up in the back office, and I could assume he spotted me chatting
up that cute little bear I couldn't get out of my mind.
"Looks like someone's gettin' called to the principal's office," said Smith
with a laugh as he ordered another drink.
"I'm comin, I'm comin," I said, getting out of my seat with a heave, Jonesy's
eyes locked onto me as I started toward the back door.
When we arrived at the back, Jonesy typed a code into the security keypad
next to the door. I rolled my eyes as he did, thinking about how ridiculous
Cutter's security measures had gotten recently. Ever since the little spat with
the Swifts and the clan of wolves they'd taken out, Cutter upped the
intensity of the strong grip he'd kept on the pack. That involved shit like
security codes for sensitive areas as well as security cameras. I hated this
shit; being a wolf and a member of an MC is all about freedom, and Cutter's
skittish paranoia ran right in the face of that. How can a wolf feel free when
he has to worry if the boss is watching him on CCTV?
Jonesy led me down the dim, dirty, narrow hallway to the doors that led into
the office. He rapped on the door in a strange rhythm I figured was some
kind of code.
"Come in!" shouted Cutter from within, a deep, raspy voice that always
seemed to sound like he was on the verge of coughing up a lungful of
gravel.
Jonesy opened the door and we both stepped inside. Sitting at the long
black desk in the middle of the sealed-off office, a nine-by-nine bank of
CCTV monitors behind him and a large computer before him, was Cutter
Walsh, boss wolf of the Stone Masons. He was a beast of a man, with fire
red hair and a wild beard to match. His dark eyes seemed to always be in
the narrow slits of an eagle scouring for prey, and his mouth was rarely in
any shape besides a hard, flat line. His arms were covered in colorful ink,
and like the rest us, he was dressed in a single-color t-shirt, jeans, boots,
and his leather vest.
"Sit," he said, pointing to the chair across from his desk.
Then he turned to Jonesy.
"Leave us."
Jonesy nodded and stepped outside the office, shutting the door behind him.
"What's up?" I asked, my tone light.
"You'll just talk to any piece of ass, huh?" he said, sitting back in his high-
backed leather chair.
Just like I thought, it was about Isabella and whoever the other bear was
who came in to get her.
"Man, I was tellin' Smith, it's not against the rules to talk to bears."
"Maybe not, but it's a fucking stupid thing to do; you have no idea what
they're planning."
"You kidding?" I asked, disbelieving. "Bears wouldn’t hurt a fly unless it
moved in on their turf. And even then, they'd try to talk to it first."
"That's a risky fuckin' assumption," said Cutter. "You know what happened
to the last clan that moved into this area, the Swift pack wiped them off the
fuckin' face of the earth."
"That's because the last assholes didn't play nice; you know this."
Cutter held up a palm, letting me know, in very clear terms, the time for me
to voice my opinions on the matter were over.
"Enough," he said. "Two species can't live in the same region like this for
long. We'll come to blows eventually, and it might as well be us that makes
the first move.
I raised my eyebrows. Was he talking about what I think he was?
"You mean...you want to start another fight?"
"Us or them, Lucas, us or them. And we might as well do it now while the
clan's split up."
This was insanity; Cutter wanted another goddamn war, and for no other
reason than to take out a threat that may or may not ever be real. But Cutter
was the boss; whatever he says goes.
"What…what you got in mind?' I asked, holding back my anger.
"That little cub you were chatting up; I saw you slip a little something in
her back pocket. Knowing you, it was an invite to that party we're throwing
tomorrow night. Am I wrong?"
"No."
"And from what I saw, it looked like you two made a nice little love
connection. Am I wrong?"
"…No."
"And I'm guessing you're gonna be doing a little…cross-species
fertilization, if you get my meaning. Again, am I wrong?"
He had me dead to rights, though he was a little off. Sure, I wouldn't have
minded one bit getting down and dirty with Isabella. But even in the little
bit of time we talked, I could tell there was something else going on
between us…something else, something that I couldn't put my finger on.
But Cutter had the broad strokes right, another "no" was all I said.
"Then we're gonna use that. Bring that girl to our party, you have my
permission. Let her think she's fitting in just fine, making friends, all that
shit. Then, I want you to pry every last bit of information out of her you
can. I want to know exactly what's going on with the Swifts, and what their
weaknesses might be."
"…Then what?"
"Do whatever you want. Fuck her, kick her to the curb, maybe even let a
few other members of the club take a crack at her. I don't give a shit."
"Anything else?" I said, putting on my best good boy act.
"That's all," said Cutter. "Just keep in mind, this might make the difference
between life and death for our clan. And if you find out anything that helps
us take out the Swifts, well, there might be an opening higher up in the club
for you."
"Got it," I said.
"Good. Then get the fuck out of here," said Cutter, turning his attention
back to the CCTV monitors.
Shaking my head, I got out of the chair and left the room, Jonesy silently
accompanying me back to the main bar area. I couldn't believe what Cutter
had just said, what he'd asked of me. Not only was he planning on stabbing
the bears in the back and wiping them out, he wanted me to be his man on
the inside, using this dumb kid to get all the information he'd need to
execute his plan.
But there was nothing I could do. Sitting back at the bar and ordering a stiff
drink, I knew it was the clan, above all. No matter the cost.
CHAPTER 4
The next day passed far too slowly for my liking.
"You seem a little distracted," said Tessa, Atticus's wife, as we played with
her two cooing twins. "You got big plans for tonight or something?"
"Hmmm, kinda-sorta," I said.
Tessa smiled to herself, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.
"And let me guess, a boy?"
"Maybe…" I said, my voice trailing off.
Sure, I wanted to keep exactly who I was meeting with a secret, but that
didn't mean I had to totally lie my ass off.
"I remember when I was your age," she said, setting down Alexander, one
of the two babies. "All I could think about was boys. Hanging out by myself
was just killing time until whatever guy I was obsessed with gave me a
call."
"I want to take some time off while I'm here, you know?" I said.
"Decompress from school, get the next step of my life planned out, deal
with this news about me being a shifter. But I can't stay cooped up in here
all the time."
She got that I was talking about Atticus.
"He's just being protective in his own way. The whole clan's just been all
out of sorts since the business with the other wolves, and now we've got a
new pack just a few towns over…he just doesn't want to see anything bad
happen to you."
"I know," I said. "But still…"
Tessa held up a hand, as if to say, "say no more."
"Don't worry about me. You're a grown woman and if you wanna go out on
a date, then go for it. Just don't stay out too late; get back here before
Atticus and Ian know you're gone. Just take one of the spare cars."
"Will do," I said with a smile.
Done and done, I thought. Tessa didn't need to know all the details, and as
long as I got back at a reasonable hour, what's the harm in me going out for
a little fun? Sure, I'd be hanging out with wolves, but it wasn't like I was
wandering into the party on my own; I had one of them to look out for me.
Tessa eventually put the kids to bed and retired to her bedroom, Atticus still
not back. Once the hour rolled around, I took one last look in the mirror.
My eyes flicked across my features, starting at my blue eyes I always felt
were a little cartoonishly big, my tiny nose, then down to what I felt was my
best feature: my big, full lips, now painted a deep, dark red. I tried to offset
the message that red lips might send by putting my blonde hair into a
simple ponytail. As for the rest of my outfit, I had on a pair of tight, dark
jeans, a dark red t-shirt, and some black boots. It wasn't quite the biker look,
but I figured it was as close as I was going to get. Once I was happy with
my appearance, I headed down to the garage with careful steps, grabbing
the keys for the black sedan that no one ever used.
Soon, I was on the road, headed back into town. I drove with anxiety in the
pit of my stomach, worried that Atticus or Ian might pass me on the way up,
but once I reached Branlen, I let out a long breath of relief; I'd made it.
I drove down the main drag of the town, my eyes on the pharmacy ahead.
Checking my phone, I saw it was nearly ten. But as I drove closer, I saw
there wasn't anyone waiting in the parking lot. My heart began to race once
again; was he going to stand me up? I pulled into an open spot and stepped
out of the car, the white and red neon lights of the pharmacy buzzing
harshly overhead.
I stood there for fifteen or so minutes, my stomach getting tighter by the
second. My mind raced with negative thoughts, like that he might've just
been screwing with me, that I was a dumbass to think a guy like him would
be interested in someone like me.
But before I could wallow in anxiety for too long, the roar of a motorcycle
engine sounded from the distance. Down the main road, I could see the
bright white light of a bike coming toward me. Soon, I could make out the
driver: it was him. I had to suppress a big smile as he pulled into the spot
next to my car.
"Nice ride," he said, looking over the sedan, his hands on the handlebars.
"Thanks, but i-"
I stopped myself as I realized he was fucking with me. He flashed me a
wicked smile and I about died; he was gorgeous beyond belief, and seeing
him on that motorcycle…I don't know. I'd never been one for guys like
Lucas, but he was something else. Part of me wanted to jump his bones
right then and there.
"You ready for this thing?" he asked, his eyes moving slowly up and down
my body.
"Um, I think so," I said, hesitation slipping into my voice. "But are you sure
it's all right that…um, I'm a-"
"That you're a bear?" he asked, getting right to the point, staring hard at me
with his gorgeous blue eyes.
"Yeah, that."
"It's fine," he said, his tone crisp and sharp, as though he didn't really want
to discuss the issue. "You're with me. Just don't be a troublemaker."
"A troublemaker?" I asked, surprised I'd of the accusation of being
something like that; slipping out for this part was probably the most daring
thing I'd done in years.
"Yeah, you look the type," he said, with a smirk.
Ah, so he's a little bit of a smartass, I thought.
"I'll, um, try not to, um, cause any trouble."
I wanted to slap myself; I was already stumbling over my words.
"So," I went on, "do you want me to follow you…?"
He laughed.
"No, just get on," he said, tilting his head to the open space on the seat
behind him.
"Oh, okay," I said, walking toward the bike with careful steps, as though it
were a big dog that might snap at me.
I climbed onto the seat, the leather hard between my legs.
"Now grab on, unless you want to get really acquainted with the parking
lot," he said over his shoulder.
I glanced up and down his wide back, as though I had to figure out just the
right way to grab onto him. I wanted to do it, but something about it just
seemed so…intimate for a man I'd barely just met. Taking a breath, I spread
my arms and wrapped them around Lucas's torso. Sure enough, he was just
as rock solid as I was anticipating.
Before I could become too comfortable, Lucas gunned the engine and
peeled out of the parking lot, the wind whipping through my hair as we
picked up speed along the main road. I'd never been on a motorcycle before,
and it was…way more thrilling than I'd expected. It was like riding a
rollercoaster, except on the street. I grabbed onto Lucas for dear life, the
feeling of his body against mine, the steady rumbling of the bike between
my legs, and the danger all swirling together to form a feeling that I'd never
experienced before.
As soon as we pulled out of town and began to pick up speed, I was
hooked.
We zipped down the road leading out of Branlen and toward the direction of
the bar where I'd met Lucas. Part of me wanted to talk, to get to know this
strange, gorgeous man, but the engine was too loud for conversation. I was
actually somewhat happy about this–the lack of conversation allowed me to
focus on the ride itself.
Soon, we pulled off onto a side road and drove down into a forested area.
After a time, I could hear the steady thumping of rock music blaring off in
the distance. A little bit later, we arrived at a clearing in the middle of the
woods that was just packed with people. There was an old farmhouse in the
middle of the place, and it was surrounded by what had to be a hundred
bikers. There were motorcycles everywhere, some parked, others being
driven around the clearing in a big circle. Looking up, I saw that the moon
was full and bright overhead; it was the perfect night for a wolf party.
"There she is!" shouted a giant biker with a dark, braided beard as we
approached the party, his voice loud over the rock music.
"Girl of the hour," said Lucas, one side of his luscious lips pulled up in a
smirk.
"I'm Smith," said the big man, giving me a look over. "Welcome to one of
our MC's famous little soirees."
"Um, your club," I said, "what's its name?"
He let out a loud laugh that boomed over the music.
"You hear that?" he said to Lucas, "She asked that like this was a fuckin'
sewing club or some shit. You sure know how to pick ‘em, Lukey."
Lucas shot Smith a harsh glare that shut him up right away.
"Sorry, sorry," said Smith. "Anyway, you two go grab a couple of beers and
have fun. It's a fuckin' party!"
With that, he let out a whooping yell and ran off to do God knows what.
"You wanna beer?" asked Lucas.
"Y-" I said, but before I had a chance to finish my answer, he'd already
produced a cold, wet bottle of cheap domestic.
He wrapped his shirt around the top of the bottle and twisted off the cap, a
hint of his abs showing that my eyes immediately latched onto.
Goddamn, he's sexy, I thought, watching him bring the bottle to his full lips
and take a long, slow drink.
"So," he said, after swallowing his beer, "what college you come here
from?"
"What?" I asked. "How did you know?"
He smirked and leaned back against the plastic table behind him.
"You've seen one recent college grad, you've seen ‘em all."
I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. Was it that obvious I had no
idea what I was doing out in the real world?
"How could you tell?"
"The look of sheltered naiveté was my first clue," he said, taking another
sip of his beer.
One arm crossed over my chest, as if trying to cover myself, I took a small
sip of my beer.
"It's cute," he said, giving my upper arm a firm squeeze. "Trust me, after
hanging around with some of the girls here, a little innocence doesn't seem
so bad."
As if right on cue, a little spat broke out nearby. One of the girls at the party,
a skin-tight-jeans-wearing, big-haired, heavily made-up’ed hussy with a
loud mouth and ample "assets" screamed at some biker dude about one
thing or another, finishing her little outburst by smashing a bottle on the
man's head, the liquid inside exploding everywhere. The crowd watching
cheered, just like at the bar.
"See what I mean?" he asked with a smirk.
I smiled and spoke. "Um, well, I'm here from Missouri. But I'm from this
area; my whole family's from here."
Lucas nodded. "I recognized that guy who came to get you. Seen him
around town a few times."
"Yeah, that's my cousin, Atticus. He's a nice guy, though a little
overprotective."
"Hmm," he said, taking another sip of his beer. "I could see that. He doesn't
get that a girl like you needs her independence."
"Yeah, exactly!" I said, enthusiasm filling my voice. "I mean, I know I'm
new to the real world, but I don't need someone watching out for me every
minute of the day, you know? Even though he's got my best interests in
mind…"
A little voice in my head spoke, saying "Don't blab so much about your
damn problems," but it was already too late.
"…and it doesn't help that we're all the way up in the woods by Branlen, up
in some compound."
"Oh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Compound?"
"Yeah, it's this giant place further up Bear Mountain. And it's just the five of
us now; the rest of the clan is all over the country with other bear clans."
"Really?" he asked. "So, it's just you, Atticus, and a few others?"
"Yeah. Well, and the babies."
Lucas took another sip of his beer, letting the information settle in his mind.
I opened my mouth to speak again, but a sharp snarl sounded out from
somewhere nearby, and startled, I dropped my beer.
I turned in the direction of the snarls, and witnessed a pair of wolves facing
one another, their teeth bared, both moving around in a slow, circle; a crowd
of partygoers gathered around them, cheering, and carrying on, the full
moon bright and high above them.
"What's going on?" I asked.
Lucas smirked and turned his attention to the wolves.
"Usually, this shit doesn't happen until later in the night," he said, shaking
his head. "Couple ‘a wolves get a little too much whiskey in them and want
to show off for the girls."
Right at that moment, one of the wolves, a large wolf with gray fur and
black paws, leaped at the other, smaller wolf. The fight didn't last any
longer than thirty seconds. The two animals changed into a wild blur,
ripping roars and snarls sounding out amid the cheers of the crowd. Before I
could even get a sense of what was happening, the fight was over, and the
larger wolf was on top of the other. He shifted back into his human form,
that being a large, burly biker with gray hair and a burly, hairy torso. He
raised his hands in triumph and ran back into the crowd, the other bikers
whooping and cheering as they congratulated him on his win.
And I felt a presence at my side as I watched. Lucas was standing next to
me close−very close. Close enough I could feel the heat from his body.
As much as I didn't want to admit it, the whole scene was thrilling.
"You wanna dance?" he asked, looking down at me.
"Um, sure," I said.
With that, he pulled me over close to the speakers, where a large crowd of
bikers and their women made up a seething mass of dancers, all moving in
grinding shifts to the rock music. Once we found a place in the middle,
Lucas put his hand on the small of my back and pulled me close, a sinful
little smile on his face as he pressed my body against his, working his body
against mine. I finished my beer and another soon found its way into my
hands, and soon, I was halfway through that one, too.
The next hour or so passed in a blur. Lucas and I danced, with him keeping
me close the whole time. Soon, he moved his face close, his lips grazing
against my neck. I was totally caught up in Lucas, in his beauty, in his
strange, animal magnetism. I realized this must be why wolves and bears
are such a dangerous mix: after all, what chance could a naïve little cub like
me have against a wolf like this?
Taking me by the wrist, he pulled me out of the dancing masses and into the
farmhouse, which was dimly lit inside. His hand now on my ass, I felt a
sensual thrill as he guided me up the stairs and into a bedroom at the end of
a long hallway.
He seemed to know exactly what it was I wanted. Flicking on a small light
in the bedroom, he set upon me right away, kissing my neck, the feeling of
his lips against my skin heavenly. His hands were firm on my hips, as
though keeping me still as he kissed me.
"Mmm," I moaned, the sound slipping out of my lips as he continued to kiss
me along my neck.
Then, he pulled his mouth away, looking down at me with his gorgeous
blue eyes, an expression one of erotic hunger.
"How is this even happening?" I asked, my eyes closed and a smile on my
face.
"Just go with it," he said, moving in for another kiss.
I was more than happy to do just that.
Lucas kissed me again, on the mouth this time, his lips soft and warm
against mine. I fell into his kiss instantly, the magnetism between us a force
of nature. We kissed more, the steady bass of the music outside the only
sound other than the noise of our lips against each other. I sighed as his
large, strong hands moving up and over my body, then down once again,
settling at the hem of my shirt. He slipped his fingers underneath it and
pulled it up and over my body, exposing the lacy black bra beneath. A tinge
of modesty hit me for a moment before I was back under his spell, now
wanting nothing more than for Lucas to strip the rest of the clothing from
my body.
As if reading my mind, he moved his hands down to the button of my jeans,
unfastening it and yanking my pants down. I stepped out of them along with
my shoes, and now I was in nothing but my matching set of black
underwear. Lucas stepped back for a moment and took in the sight; my
modesty was now gone totally, replaced with a hot feeling of eroticism that
my body could be such a turn on to him.
"Not fair," I said with a sly grin, pointing limply at his still-clothed body.
He matched my smirk before pulling his shirt off along with his leather
vest, revealing his shredded, perfect chest and abs. I felt myself heat with
arousal as I looked upon his perfect body, my eyes flicking across the
tapestry of tattoos that adorned his god-like physique. I drank in the sight of
him, paying special attention to the flaring cut of his sides, his broad, hard
shoulders, and the immaculate outlines of his abs.
"You all right?" he asked.
My mouth must've slacked open. But with a body like this in front of me,
how could I be expected to think straight?
"Um, I'm…very, very good."
Lucas then pulled off his jeans, leaving him in nothing but a pair of skin-
tight boxer briefs that outlined his massive package, his prick already
halfway to rock-hard. I swallowed as I looked at it, trying to figure out how
big it would be fully erect if that's the size of it now.
But before I could consider the matter for too long, he was on me again, this
time leading me toward the bed. I fell onto it, Lucas standing over me like a
man bigger than life itself. In his hungry, sensual eyes, I could now see the
wolf that lived within him. And I wanted to be pounced on by this ravenous
beast.
Lucas pulled my panties off while I worked on my bra, and soon, I was
completely nude. He gazed at me again, now taking in every bit of the sight
of my body. Then, something like a snarl sounding from deep in his throat,
he moved on top of me with incredible speed. He covered my face and neck
in kisses as he moved his hands down along my body, his right hand
coming to a rest on my inner thigh. I felt my pussy grow hotter and hotter
by the second, and all I could think about was having his cock, that long,
hard prick that was now pressed against me, deep inside my body.
I yanked off his underwear, exposing his cock. I felt my tongue drag over
my lips as I took in the sight of its long thickness; I was salivating as
though it were a thick, juicy steak and I hadn't eaten for days. Then, as
though possessed by some strange force, I reached down and grabbed it,
sighing at the feeling of its firm form in my hand.
"What do you want me to do with that?" he asked, his voice a low purr.
"I want…I want you to put it inside me…right now," I said through my
moans.
Normally, I would need a little foreplay to be ready, especially for a cock
like that, but right now, as turned on as I was, I was certain I'd be able to
take it without any trouble at all. Lucas spread my legs apart, looking down
at my sex with narrowed eyes. He moved closer, positioning himself on top
of me, bringing his prick so close to me I could barely stand it.
Then, with a perfectly smooth, fluid motion, he entered me, burying his
cock deep in me instantly. I let out a long moan as he penetrated me, the
pleasure running through my body instantly, the sensual warmth flooding to
the tips of my fingers and toes. Lucas held still for a moment, looking down
at me as I savored the feeling of his cock being fully inside me. Soon, he
began rocking his hips back and forth, sliding in and out of my pussy, the
feeling of all his inches gliding against me.
Cuming was typically a process for me, but this time was different; I knew,
right away, it wouldn't take much more fucking for me to explode.
And sure enough, as Lucas continued to pound at me, moans and shrieks
now escaping my lips at a frantic pace, I felt my orgasm swell and grow
within me, just on the verge of breaking loose.
"Don't stop," I moaned. "Don't stop.
And he didn't. With an animalistic intensity, Lucas drove himself into me
again and again, the pleasure almost too much to bare. Then, in the middle
of his unrelenting plunges, I came hard, harder than I'd ever came in my
life. I grabbed hard onto his bank, my nails digging into his skin, my legs a
vice-grip around his hips, leading him into me over and over.
Lucas came as my orgasm began to fade, emptying himself into me with a
heave and a grunt. His pace slowed, and after a little while more, he came
to a stop, his spent cock still buried inside me.
"Goddamn," he said, "that was something else."
My body worn from the dancing and the fucking, I could only nod in
blissful agreement as I drifted off to a deep sleep.
CHAPTER 5
"Wakey-wakey," came a rough voice outside the bedroom door.
Shaking my head, I sat up in bed. A glance out the window let me know it
was early in the morning; the sun was just now starting to come up. At my
side was Isabella, still sleeping soundly.
Then, someone knocked at the door. The knock was hard and impatient.
"What the fuck you all doing in there?" asked the voice. "Lucas, you got
one more fuckin' minute before we bust this door down.”
I jumped out of bed and pulled my pants on. Giving Isabella a push, she
woke up suddenly.
"Get up," I said. "Get up and get dressed."
"Why?" she asked, her voice groggy.
"Just do it."
The voice had to be Jonesy. He didn't talk much, but when he did, he had a
voice that sounded like an engine moving gunky oil through it. Why he was
here, I had no fucking idea, but I knew he wasn't screwing around about
kicking that door down.
Isabella struggled out of bed and put on her clothes.
"What's going on?" she asked.
I said nothing. The truth was, I had no idea. My job was to get information
out of this girl, and I did. Why Jonesy and whoever else was here, I couldn't
say.
Another series of bangs sounded at the door.
"Last chance, Lukey."
"Comin', comin'," I said.
I grabbed the handle and pulled the door open, revealing Jonesy and a pair
of rough-looking assholes who I didn't recognize.
"What do you want?" I asked.
Jonesy said nothing, instead looking over my shoulder at Isabella.
"That her, or that some other random skank you picked up at the party?"
Instantly, my blood began to boil. I had no idea why I felt this strongly, but
hearing Jonesy call Isabella a "skank" made the anger burn inside me. I
wanted to clock him right then and there.
"That's her," I said instead.
"Good. You do the job?"
"Yeah, it's done."
"What's he talking about?" asked Isabella, now coming into the waking
world and realizing we were talking about her.
I ignored Isabella's question, instead turning my attention to Jonesy in
hopes of getting him out of here as fast as possible.
"Job's done; why the hell you here?"
"New plans," he said. "New orders from Cutter."
"What new plans?"
Jonesy took another look at Isabella, this time, a pervy little glint to his
eyes. It didn't take a mind-reader to know what was going on just past those
beady little peepers of his.
"What orders?" I demanded. "Tell me what's going on!"
Instead of answering, however, he and the two bruisers with him stormed
into the room, blowing past me and making a beeline right for Isabella and
grabbing her off the bed. She let out a shriek as soon as they put their hands
on her, and she squirmed against their grasp.
"What the hell is going on?" she screamed. "Lucas, what's happening?"
"What the hell are you doing?" I yelled, my voice booming in the small
room.
"Like I said," said Jonesy. "Change of plans. Cutter doesn't want to wait for
information to trickle out of her; he wants it now. And besides, if we're
gonna be baiting along a little hottie like this for a while, we might as well
have some fun with her in the process."
Against my better judgment, a protective rage came over me.
"No."
Jonesy turned to me, a surprised expression on his face.
"No?" he asked, as though genuinely curious he'd heard me right.
"That's right," I said. "No need for this shit. I'll do what needs to be done."
Isabella still struggled, but seemed too scared to say even a word.
"You're not getting it, Lukey," he said. "This isn't just about getting
information, this is about war. We take her, we have an advantage against
the bears. Not to mention, ah, the other kind of shit we can get up to with
her."
"I didn't sign on for this shit," I said. "My job was to get information."
"Well, now your job's changed. Now, your job was to bring her to us. And
you did well; Cutter'll make sure you get rewarded. And maybe he'll let you
take a crack at this little number if you play nice."
Then Jonesy looked around and the room, his eyes settling on the bed.
"Looks like you beat us to that little incentive, though."
The thugs he was with laughed.
"Jonesy, you're not gonna take her," I said, standing firm. "This is a bad
fuckin' idea. We need to let her go now."
Jonesy raised his thin eyebrows. "Really? What're you gonna do if we just,
well, take her anyway?"
He walked over to me with long, slow steps, getting right in my face, so
close I could smell the cheap booze and cigarettes on his breath.
"You gonna stop us?"
Then, as though my body were taken over by someone else, I pulled back
and swung my fist right at Jonesy's face. My blow connected, but instead of
sending him flying backward, it only made him turn his head to the side. He
turned his head back, looking down at me with glowering eyes.
"That was a fuckin' mistake, Lukey," he said.
Then he turned to the thugs he was with, snapped his fingers, and pointed to
me. Before I could react, the thugs flew toward me, each driving a fist right
into my stomach, both blows connecting at the same time. I sputtered and
gasped, dropping to my knees as Isabella let out a scream.
I looked up at the thugs, who were staring down at me with gleefully
murderous expressions. I could tell they wanted to finish the job, and to
take their sweet time about it. But Jonesy raised his hand to stop them.
"Cutter's always had a little soft spot for you, little Lukey. Not sure why.
Me, I think you're a piece of shit. If I were the boss, I'd use this stupid,
stupid little thing you just did as the perfect excuse to take you out. But I'm
not the boss. Yet, at least. So, you get to live another day."
He snapped his fingers and pointed to the door, the two thugs scooped
Isabella back up and dragged her out of here, screams sounding from her
the whole way out. Her yells for my help the last thing I remembered before
the pain of the beating overcame me and put me right back into the black
oblivion I was in before these fuckers showed up.
CHAPTER 6
"Will someone shut this bitch up?"
Next came a wad of cloth stuffed into my mouth, followed by the ripping of
a strip of duct tape that was wrapped around my head. I could barely
breathe, now having to take deep pulls of air with my nostrils as these
assholes dragged me kicking and screaming out of the farmhouse. My cries
muffled, and even if I could call for help, I don't think any of the passed-out
bikers that were lying here and there would've given a damn enough to help
me.
I continued to struggle against the men that carried me, hoping against hope
I could break free of their grasps. But it was no use, it was like they were
made of iron. We arrived outside, the morning faint, a soft blue covering the
leftover chaos of the party. By now, most of the bikes were gone, and
whoever else was still there was either passed out or off in some booze or
drug-addled la-la land.
There was no one to help me.
A black van was parked off in the distance, and I could see that this was our
destination. As we moved closer and closer, I stopped fighting, knowing it
wouldn't do me any good. Once we arrived at the van, the main guy, the one
with beady little eyes, opened the back door and tossed me in, the two ape-
like men who'd been carrying me climbed in after me.
The door slammed shut, and moments later, the engine roared to life and we
were off, the van rumbling over the uneven grass and onto the gravel road.
One of the men pulled out a pair of handcuffs from a small supply case in
the van and slapped one around my wrist, wrapped the cuffs through a small
hole in the metal in the van wall, and clasped the other around my other
wrist. I was trapped.
A frantic swirl of emotions overtook me. First, I was terrified. I had no idea
who these men were aside from random thugs in Lucas's motorcycle club.
But who they were exactly and what the hell they wanted with me was a
complete mystery. They'd said something about information, in the
bedroom, but between just waking up and being terrified out of my mind, I
missed anything important.
Then I thought of Lucas. I couldn't believe he'd betrayed me, that all of this
was nothing more than a way for him to get me into the clutches of his club.
I felt like an idiot for trusting him, for thinking some wolf biker I'd just met
was someone who I could feel safe around.
And as the two thugs looked at me with lecherous eyes, nasty little smirks
on their ugly faces, I felt anything but safe. They looked at me like I was
nothing more than a piece of meat and they hadn't eaten in a very, very long
time.
"Yo, Mickey," said one in a rough Brooklyn accent. "How much time you
think we got before we're at Cutter's?"
The second man, Mickey, checked his watch.
"Oh, I think we got about twenty-five minutes," said the other man in a
similar accent. "Maybe thirty, depending on how much of his sweet time
Jonesy wants to take."
"Let's ask the man himself," said the first man.
He banged on the little black partition that separated the front of the van
from the back. A moment later, it opened, revealing Jonesy–I guess that's
his name–in the front seat.
"Hey, boss, how much time we got before we're at Cutter's?"
Jonesy thought the matter over for a brief moment.
"Hm. You guys did good. I think I might make a quick stop on the way
there. Let's say forty-five minutes."
I knew exactly what he meant by this.
"Forty-five minutes? Thanks, boss!" said the first goon, slamming the
partition shut.
"More than enough time," said the second man, his eyes dragging up and
down my body in a way that made my skin crawl.
"Yeah," said the first man. "That means we don't have to rush one bit."
I wanted to cry. I felt hot tears form in my eyes as I prayed this was all
some fucked-up dream, that there was no way I'd gone from the safety of
my cousin's compound to this in less than a few hours. What was I
thinking?
My eyes darted from one man to the other as they rose from their seats. I
strained against my cuffs as they moved toward me, my heart pounded in
my chest from fear. As strange as it sounds, as furious as I was at him for
betraying me, all I could think was how much I wished Lucas was there.
Something about him just made me feel as though he would protect me.
I struggled and pulled as the men moved closer, their ugly little mouths
twisted into demonic little grins.
"Wait a minute," said the first man. "Who gets to go first?"
"Me," said the second. "You got to go first the last time."
"That's bullshit," said the second, turning his attention away from me. "You
got to go first the last time…"
They continued to argue back and forth, and as they did, my blood
continued to race through my veins, and my heart began to pound. And as it
did, a strange feeling came over me as I pulled and pulled against the
restraints. I felt an odd tingling in my skin, especially around my forearms
and hands. It almost felt as though my skin were stretching, becoming more
pliable.
"I'm tellin' you, you were all over that fuckin' brunette back in Philly."
"Bullshit!"
They continued to argue and I continued to feel odd. I took in a long breath
through my nostrils and notice that the air smelled strange, more intense, as
though I smelled things I hadn't noticed. I could smell the dirty musk of the
two men, the oil and grease of the van, and the dewy freshness of the
passing landscape.
My arms felt odder and odder, and as I pulled against the handcuffs, I
realized there was now strength in my muscles that hadn't been there before,
something powerful and…almost animalistic. I stopped straining, and took
a deep breath. Then, with a single pull against the handcuffs, the chain that
connected them snapped like a rubber band, and my hands were now free. I
brought my hands up in front of my face and looked at them as though they
didn't belong to me.
"What the fuck?" said the first man as he saw what I'd done.
"Did she…?" said the second.
The strength still pounding in my hands, I swiped at the first man's face,
connecting hard and sending him flying back against the other side of the
van.
"How the hell…?" said the second, looking back at his companion with an
expression of terror.
I didn't waste any time. I threw another swipe, this time connecting with the
side of the man's head. He fell down hard, like he'd unplugged, dropping to
the ground in a heap. I stared down at the men for a moment, unsure of
what had just happened, how I'd been able to take these men down so
easily.
Then, before I could consider the matter for too long, the van hit a serious
bump. The knocked-out men tumbled here and there, and I was barely able
to stay on my feet. Once the van settled, I rifled through the pockets of the
men to find the keys. Once I did, I unlocked my cuffs and hid them behind
the seat. I then turned my attention to the van doors, trying to figure out a
way I could get through them and make a break for it.
Before I could, however, the van made a hard turn onto the side of the road
and came to a lurching halt. I heard the driver's side door open, followed by
crunching footsteps on the gravel outside the van. Then, the back doors
were pulled open.
"You guys, we gotta make a-"
Jonesy then looked over the scene of me standing between the two
unconscious bodies of the men, a wide-eyed expression on my face.
"Damn, that bump must've been worse than I thought."
He stepped into the van and grabbed my wrist hard, peering down at it.
"And they didn't even fuckin' tie you up? Goddamned morons."
He pushed my wrist out of his hand like he was disgusted to hold it. I tried
to summon that same strength I'd had just moments ago, but it just wasn't
there. I felt like my normal, scared self.
"Whatever," he said, spitting out the word. "We're making a little pit stop."
"Where…where are we going?"
"You just sit tight," he said, stepping out of the van and looking over his
shoulder. "We're going to meet the boss."
CHAPTER 7
"The boss?"
I spend the rest of the ride wondering just who this was going to be, and
why it was necessary to meet him. Fear had long taken hold of my stomach,
and I felt like I wanted to vomit and cry, all at the same time. We soon came
to another stop, and after a moment, Jonesy opened the back doors.
"All right, time to get a fuckin' move on," he said, grabbing my wrist and
pulling me out of the vehicle.
Once I was outside and my eyes had adjusted to the sunlight after having
grown accustomed to the dim interior of the van, I saw that we were in front
of a little dive bar. It wasn't the bar I'd been to the other night; it was smaller
and grungier, almost abandoned-looking.
"Come on," said Jonesy, pulling me toward the building with a sharp tug.
We entered the bar, which was just as dim and dingy inside as it looked to
be outside. Not a soul was there to be found. Jonesy pulled me toward the
back area, opening a metal service door and leading me down a long,
narrow hallway. Soon, we arrived at another metal door, this one very
substantial-looking. Jonesy gave it a rap, and a husky voice from inside told
us to come in.
Jonesy opened the door to an office that was so sleek and high-tech I was
sure I'd somehow stepped into another building. There were expensive-
looking computers here and there, security TVs all over the wall, and the
rest of the place was sterile and clean. And at the desk was a large man
with scheming eyes and hair and a beard as red as blood.
Jonesy shoved me into the room and shut the door behind him. The man
looked me over with narrow eyes.
"This her?" he asked, his words coming out in a harsh bark.
"Can't you just check one of them little TVs if you're so skeptical, Cutter?"
asked Jonesy.
"Watch the fuckin' lip, J," he said.
My eyes dragged along the rows of TVs, which looked down into various
rooms I'd never seen before. But my heart skipped when I settled on one
that looked familiar. Sure enough, it was the room from the farmhouse
where Lucas and I had made love.
He'd been spying on us the whole time.
"Looks like her, but you can never be too sure," said Cutter.
Cutter looked me up and down.
"Yeah, she'll do just fine," he said.
"What…what are you gonna do to me?" I asked sheepishly.
Cutter sat back in his seat and weaved his fingers together in front of his
face.
"First, we're gonna grill you for information. I want to know every last
detail about that little compound up there. Then, I've got a few friends in the
city. Good friends, powerful wolves. I figured you'd make a nice little
present for them."
My stomach went sour and my knees went weak. I couldn't believe what I'd
just heard.
"You mean, you're gonna make me a sex slave?" I asked, the words
sounding strange as they passed my lips.
"I wouldn't put it that way, exactly. Think of yourself as a ‘live-in female
companion'. These friends of mine, they're rich as fuck. They'll take real
good care of you, if you take real good care of them."
Then he pointed to the chair in front of him.
"Now, sit."
Jonesy gave me a little shove toward the chair and I stumbled into it.
"This here is one of those ‘easy way or hard way' kinda situations," he said.
"Like I said, I want to know everything about the Swift compound up there.
How many bears, what kind of defenses–everything. And I want to know
where the rest of the Swift bears are."
"Why?" I asked, the word coming out thin and weak.
"Because I'm gonna take them out, that's why. My friends in New York sent
me here for a reason, and that's to take control of Bear Mountain. And I
can't do that when there's a fuckin' bear clan living up there in those woods,
can I?"
"Can't you just go somewhere else?" I asked, pleading. "Why do you have
to do this?"
"Bear Mountain…it's a special place. Got a lot of significance to us shifters.
Not that a Jane-come-lately like you would know anything about that. Some
people even think there's magic up on that mountain, but I don't give a shit
about any of that superstitious bullshit. All I care about is that my friends in
the city will really move up in the world if they're holding on to this place.
And if they move up, then I move up–simple as that.”
“So,” he continued. “You got two choices here: give us the information we
need before we send you to New York, or we can get the information out of
you, and then send you to New York. One way or the other.”
“You won’t get away with this,” I said. “Once my cousin finds out about
what you’ve done, he’ll bring the whole clan down on you.”
“Well, the thing about that is, he's not going to find out in time. When he
does, we'll have the information we want, you'll be in New York, and the
Stone Masons will be in the process of wiping the Swifts out."
My heart sank, knowing there was truth to his words.
"So, like I said, you can do this the easy way, or the hard way."
"My vote's for the hard way," said Jonesy, leaning in so close to me I could
feel his hot breath on the back of my neck.
"I know what you think, pal," said Cutter with a wicked smirk. "But I'm
gonna be a nice guy and let it be lady's choice."
He then turned his demonic gaze onto me.
"So, what'll it be?"
CHAPTER 8
When I finally came to, my fucking head was pounding so hard it felt as
though a freight train had run me over. I stumbled to my feet and sat down
on the side of the bed to get my balance. When I finally felt good enough to
walk, I went over to the window and pulled the curtains to the side, wincing
as the room was flooded with harsh daylight.
Then I remembered the exact circumstances that had put me in this position.
I remembered the party last night, the lovemaking with Isabella, Jonesy and
his thugs and then…nothing. My blood boiled when I remembered them
taking Isabella away, and I knew I had to find her. Not to make things right,
not just to bring this girl to safety, but to make sure that fucking moron
Cutter didn't start a goddamn war with one of the most dangerous bear clans
on the east coast.
Putting on my clothes, I tried to figure out my next step. I knew I had to
find Jonesy; wherever he was, Cutter wouldn't be far behind. I fished my
phone out of my pocket and dialed up Smith. Cutting to the chase, I let him
know I needed to meet with him. Now.
"Um, you got some heat on you, buddy," he said. "I heard through the
grapevine that Cutter's not too happy with you."
"I don't care; I just need you to hurry up. Figure this shit out."
"Fine," he said. "There's a diner in Branlen called Molly's. Meet me there in
thirty."
I agree and hung up. Ten minutes later, I was on my bike, hauling ass to
Branlen, the events of the previous night weighing heavily on my mind. I
never really gave a shit about anything like this before, but now I felt like I
had some responsibility for Isabella. I did bring her into this whole mess,
after all. And Cutter…I've known for a while, that paranoid fucker was
looking to make some kind of power play. I should've known his reasons
for moving into this region were about power. I couldn't believe I'd trusted
him about that treaty he made with the bears; I was just as naive as them.
A little while later, I was sitting in the booth at Molly's. The place was
bright and sunny, which is just what I didn't want. When the waitress
stopped by to take my order, I asked for just a cup of coffee; the only thing I
was hungry for now was revenge.
Smith strolled into the place right as my coffee arrived, a big, stupid smile
on his face.
"Hey, darlin'," said the waitress, looking over Smith with a smile of
familiarity.
"Well, hey there, little lady," he said, giving the young woman a pat on the
ass as he slid into the booth, the waitress letting out a little squeal as he did.
"The usual?" she asked with a smile.
"You know me so well," he said.
She gave him a wink and was off. As soon as she was gone, Smith's
expression turned from goofy to serious, and he looked at me with narrow
eyes.
"Luke, what the fuck did you get up to last night? I heard Jonesy's looking
to wipe the fuckin' floor with you."
I sat back in my seat, trying to figure out just how much I should tell him.
"You know that chick I was with last night?"
"Fuck yeah, I do," he said with a grin.
"That was a bear. A bear from the Swift clan."
"Fuck," he said, sitting back. "Too good to fuck the local crop, huh?"
He flashed a smile to the waitress, who responded with a wink.
"Only other shifters for you," he said, shaking his head.
"It's not that," I said.
"Then what is it?"
I tried to find the words, but all I could think about were cliché thoughts
about the connection I felt with her–no way would Smith be receptive to
any shit like that.
"She was fuckin' hot, "I said instead. "Come on."
"Yeah," he said, looking away as if thinking about Isabella. "That she was.
But still, that's some major shit to be fucking a shifter from another
goddamn species."
"Well, it's fuckin' done, all right?" I said, my voice raising.
"All right, all right," said Smith. "Then what's the fuckin' problem?"
I gave him a rundown of the situation, that Jonesy took her last night to
Cutter, probably to pry her for information then throw her to the goons as a
fuck-toy.
"Sounds like Cutter," he said. "I knew that fuck was just itching for war."
"He doesn't know what the hell he's getting into," I said. "There're dozens of
bears in the Swift clan. Even if he ran up the mountain and fuckin' killed
whoever was up there, he's still got the rest to worry about."
"No shit," said Smith. "We're a mean fuckin' crew, but I don't know if we
could handle a clan of that size and power."
"That's right," I said. "Only chance he'd have is to get his buddies in New
York to join in, and if that happened…"
"It'd be a fuckin' bloodbath," said Smith. "Whoever won, we'd have piles of
corpses. Last thing any species needs."
"I need to get to that asshole before he does anything he can't take back," I
said.
Smith sat back, his eyes out the window on the parking lot as he thought.
"You're gonna need to talk to the Swifts."
The sentence hit me like the punch-stab of a knife right to the gut, both
because of the thought of doing it, and the realization that he was right.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," I said.
"As for Cutter…he's got that place up in the woods, that big mansion he
bought when we first moved here. You know, the one that'd be perfect for
parties but it’s fuckin' off-limits."
"Yeah, that's probably where he'll have her," I said.
"What're you gonna do, then?" Smith asked. "Go there and ask for her real
nice?"
"I'll figure something out," I said. "Maybe I'll have to talk to the Swifts
sooner than later."
"Cutter's not gonna like this one bit, you know," said Smith. "You know
how paranoid he is; this kinda shit you’ve got in mind is exactly what he's
got all that security shit for."
"Then maybe it's time we had a little change of leadership."
Smith's eyes went wide, but before he could respond, the waitress returned,
topping off my coffee and setting a plate of pancakes, eggs, and sausage in
front of Smith.
"You sure you don't want anything, handsome?" she asked.
"You know what? I think I am hungry after all. Gimme a steak, rare."
I was in the mood for blood.
CHAPTER 9
I wasn't going to give an inch. Cutter learned this right away, which is why
he had Jonesy shove me right back into that van to drive me God knows
where. After a thirty or so minute drive, he pulled me out again, and we
were at some giant house, one of those massive estates up in the woods that
usually served as second homes for rich people from New York. It was a
freaking palace, with columns and everything–not what I'd expect for a
biker boss.
"Nice place, huh?" said Cutter, stepping off his bike and strolling up to the
house.
I didn't say a word.
"Hope you like it; you're gonna be here for a while."
Jonesy grabbed me by the arm and led me into the massive home, the
interior of which resembled a ritzy Tuscan villa. He dragged me up the
spiral stairs and threw me into a massive office with just as much electronic
crap as his place in town.
Cutter followed close behind, stepping into the office behind us and taking
a seat at the large oak desk that sat against the back center wall. Above him
were three large television sets, all with screens as black as pitch.
"Welcome to my humble little pad," he said, gesturing to the office. "My
home away from home."
Jonesy tossed me into a fancy chair across from the desk, my body landing
with a thud. I was getting really tired of this asshole tossing me around, and
wished that strange strength that had filled my body in the car would return
so I could teach him a thing or two about manhandling a woman.
Cutter dialed up a number on his computer, and soon, the three screens
came to life, each with the image of a different scuzzy looking biker guy in
each.
"Cutter," said the one in the middle, a scar-faced man with a shiny bald
head. "This better be fuckin' good."
"It is, take my word for it."
He turned the camera on his desk over to me. I could see myself in one of
the smaller screens, and as soon as the picture settled, the faces of the men
in the TV screens all twisted into lascivious grins.
"What do y'all think?" Cutter asked.
"Who's that little piece?" asked the man on the right, a square-jawed
military-looking man with short blonde hair and thin lips.
"Just a little something I picked up in town," Cutter said, a shit-eating little
smile on his face.
"Nice," said the remaining man, a thin-necked, ugly man with beady eyes
like Jonesy, "but I sincerely fuckin' hope you didn't set this meeting up just
to brag about your newest fuck-toy."
"This isn't just any town piece," said Cutter. "This is a Swift."
The three men said nothing, all struck stone-silent by this bit of
information. Why did the name of my family have such an effect on them?
"You're fuckin' kidding," said the thin-necked man.
"How'd you get a Swift?" asked the square-jawed man.
"Well, she's a girl, so we didn't have to worry about taming a bear, so to
speak. And this one was dumb enough to wander right into our den and
make eyes at one of the men in our club. We didn't even have to set the bait
out, she went and found it herself."
My stomach soured at the thought of Lucas; I was still unable to deal with
his betrayal. Part of me wanted to make him my first target if I ever got out
of here.
"Very nice," said the man with the scars. "What exactly you got in mind for
her?"
"I'm thinking she can be just what we need to get one over on the Swifts. I
figure we can pry the information out of her, find out their weaknesses, and
finally get those fucking bears off this mountain; make it wolf territory, like
it was meant to be. Then, when that's all taken care of, I figured you boys in
the city might enjoy her as a little, ah, token of my loyalty."
I felt the gazes of the three men track up and down my body and it made me
want to puke.
"That's an ambitious fuckin' plan," said the scarred man. "Tell you what;
you pull it off with your crew, and we might just be able to find a place for
you in the circle here in the city."
"Perfect," said Cutter. "I'll keep you boys posted on details."
With that, the three screens went dark.
"Here's how we're gonna play this, lady," said Cutter, sitting forward in his
seat. "First, I'm gonna be nice. I'm putting you up in a room here, and you
can have a little time to give me what I want; let's say twenty-four hours.
Then, if you don't feel like playing ball, things are gonna get rough for you.
Very, very rough."
I felt the hard clap of Jonesy's hand on my shoulder.
"Rough as in letting Jonesy here get you good and warmed up to go to the
city, if you know what I mean. Maybe spend it with a few other boys who'd
be just as interested."
The feeling of Jonesy's hand on me disgusted me even more than it
normally did. I wanted to kill him right then and there.
"J, why don't you take the girl to her room. Let her think about how she
wants this to go."
Jonesy yanked me out of my chair and led me out of the office. We went
down a long hallway and soon arrived at a small bedroom. The place was
huge; we passed a handful of bedrooms on the way.
"Get in," said Jonesy, shoving me into the bedroom. "And don't even think
about trying to leave."
With that, he shut the door, bolting the door behind him with a loud clank.
And just like that, I was alone. I fell on the bed and began crying, feeling
more hopeless than I'd ever felt in my life.
CHAPTER 10
I gunned the engine of my bike, whipping down the roads leading out of
Branlen and up to the Swift compound. I'd managed to get directions to the
place in town, and I wasn't looking forward to talking to Atticus Swift, the
leader of the clan, one bit. But I had to let him know what was going on,
that the wolves were planning for war.
As I drove, I considered the possibility of whether or not I was betraying
my own kind by seeing Atticus. After all, shouldn't a dude like me be loyal
to his club and his species? Part of me thought I should be right there at
Cutter's side, ready to take this mountain and claim it for the wolves. But I
knew what war would mean: death and destruction on both sides. It'd be
one thing if we were in danger, but in this case, we'd be the fucking
aggressors, picking a fight with a clan that, as far as I knew, wanted to keep
to themselves. Dozens would die on both sides, and for what? So a few rich
assholes in New York could have a little retreat out of the city? So, they
could brag to the other pack leaders about what they'd pulled off? Not like
us grunts would get any of the damn credit.
I revved the engine and made my way up the road, the Swift compound
soon appearing in the distance. I wasn't looking forward to this shit, but it
was the only thing to be done; there was no way I'd be able to get Isabella
back single-handedly.
I pulled up to the gate and pressed the button on the speaker.
First, there was nothing. So, I pressed it again.
More nothing, so another press.
"Who the hell is it?" came the gruff voice on the other end.
"It's about Isabella," I said.
"Who the fuck is this? Where's Isabella?"
"The wolves have her."
"And who's this?"
"A wolf."
Then came more silence. Then the gate lurched open, the steel grinding
against the gravel below. I got off my bike and walked it through, a pair of
men coming out the front door to greet me, both with sandy-blond hair, one
man's short and shaggy, the other down to his shoulders. They both looked
pretty tough, though without the tightly-coiled aggression that all the
wolves in my crew seemed to have.
"What's your name?" said the man with the shorter hair.
"Lucas," I said. "Lucas Colt."
"What the hell have you done with my cousin?" said the longer-haired man.
"I…" I trailed off, not knowing what to say.
The two men closed the distance to me, getting right up in my face.
"Where is she?" demanded the first man.
I shoved him back quickly out of instinct. The second man, the long-haired
one, saw this as a sign of danger and shifted into his bear form, perching up
on his hind legs. My instincts took over again, and I shifted into my wolf
form and snarled back at him, ready for a tussle, if that was what he wanted.
The two of us stalked one another in a slow circle, sizing one another up
while the first man watched the scene carefully.
Then, the bear swung a paw at me. I ducked out of the way and let out a
howl, steadying myself for an attack. I didn't want to fight, but if that's what
this little fucker wanted, I was more than happy to give it to him. But the
first man didn't do a damn thing; he just stepped aside and let things play
out. I turned my attention back to the bear who was now stomping toward
me. I dove out of the way at the last second, letting the bear go unsteadily
on his paws. Once he was past me, I lunged toward him, grabbing onto his
soft, furred flesh with my jaw, sinking my teeth into him. The bear let out a
roar and shook me off, sending me flying backward into a nearby tree.
That fucking hurt.
I got back on my paws and readied myself for another attack. But before
either of us could make a move, the first man finally shifted into his bear
form and ran between us, stopping the fight. He let out a deafening roar,
signaling that the time for fucking around was over.
I and the bear both shifted back into our human forms, and once the other
bear saw that we were done, he shifted back too.
"There," he said to the other bear. "You get that shit out of your system?"
"Not as much as I'd like," said the second bear, taking in a big lungful of air.
"But I guess it'll have to do."
"Now," said the first bear. "You tell me just what the fuck you're doing
here."
***
Twenty minutes later, I'd explain the whole thing to the two bears, who I
learned were named Atticus and Ian. They told me they were the only two
bears here, having sent the women and their kids up north after they
realized something had happened to Isabella. Only they remained to figure
out what the hell had happened to their cousin.
"We figured it was wolves, but we didn't want to believe it," said Atticus.
"Wouldn't figure you wolves would sign a treaty just to break it," said Ian,
glowering at me.
"Wasn't my call," I said. "Like I keep telling you."
"So you say," said Atticus.
"Listen, why the hell would I bother coming here if I didn't want to help?"
"Could be another trick," said the Ian. "You wolves seem to be pretty adept
at backstabbing."
"I don't want war," I said. "And I want Isabella back safe."
"So, you're willing to betray your own kind."
"I don't consider it betrayal when I'd be saving the lives of my kind by
keeping them out of some bullshit war."
Atticus nodded, seeming to agree with my answer.
"Then here's what we're gonna do. You find out where Isabella's being kept,
and you get her the hell out of there. Ian will go with you. I'm gonna head
north to where the rest of the clan is staying, get them to come back here
and get ready for war."
"Just two of us against my boss and his crew?" I asked.
"Best we can do right now," said Atticus.
My eyes flicked over to Ian, who had an expression of skepticism on his
face. The feeling was mutual; I had no idea what these bears had in mind
for me. Atticus gathered his things and was out the door, wishing Ian and
me good luck before he left. Then, it was just me and this fucking moody-
looking long-hair.
"You know where my cousin is?" asked Ian.
"Got a pretty good idea," I said. "Some mansion up in the woods."
"There are a lot of mansions up in these woods."
"I know, but this one's my boss's."
Ian scoffed. "Some badass boss of a motorcycle club lives in one of these
fancy-ass estates up in the woods? You guys sound like a really hard crew."
I clenched my hands into fists. I wanted to drive a punch right into this
pretty boy's face. But I figured that wouldn't do me much good in terms of
keeping things calm between me and the bears, so I put the urge aside.
Maybe once this was all said and done with.
"He ain't like us," I said. "He's…paranoid, always on edge, always on the
lookout for betrayal. He's driving this club right into the fuckin' dirt, and
losing half our crew in some stupid, pointless fuckin' war just the last
goddamn thing we need."
Ian kept his mouth in a flat line.
"We had some major trouble with wolves in the past; they drove us off our
own land. We had to fight just to get our turf back."
"That wasn't our crew," I said. "We didn't have a goddamn thing to do with
that shit."
"And yet, your crew wants the same thing they do. Though, at least they
had the courtesy to attack us head-on; they didn't go to the trouble of
coming up with some phony treaty in order to make us think they were our
friends."
I clenched my teeth, knowing I didn't have a thing to say to this. He was
right, Cutter did these bears dirty, taking advantage of their trusting nature.
Ian was in the right for acting like this. But that didn't mean I liked being
talked to like this by a little prick like him.
"Why don't you keep your goddamn opinions to yourself until we get this
done," I said, my voice edged with anger.
Ian looked like he realized he was poking a bear, so to speak, and let the
matter drop.
"We get this done," he said, "I want you and the rest of your pack out of
Bear Mountain."
"Believe me," I said. "There's nothing I'd like more than to get far away
from these fuckin' boonies."
Ian nodded, this answer being what he wanted to hear.
"Then we should get started," he said. "You got any big ideas for how to get
my cousin back?"
"Maybe," I said. "And all of them have about the same chance of ending
with us getting torn to shreds."
CHAPTER 11
I'd paced the small area of the room as many times as I could. It was a large
bedroom, but there just wasn't enough space for me not to go stir-crazy after
a few hours. I'd slammed against the thick, wooden door repeatedly, trying
to see if I could coax out that strength I'd found in the van. But I felt so
weak and helpless; I was beginning to wonder if the strength was just some
rush of adrenaline, the kind that allowed women to lift cars off their
children. Right now, I was the same helpless girl I'd always been, and I
hated it.
I wondered if Atticus and the rest of my clan would find me before Cutter
and Jonesy did whatever it was they had in mind. I felt sick to my stomach
as I thought about those disgusting men putting their hands on me, using me
like a hooker before sending me to the city as a present, a sex slave for their
bosses. Panic gripped me and I ran over to the window, throwing back the
curtains and looking out over the lawn. I'd already tried this way out before,
and even if the window wasn't bolted down to the frame, the drop to the
ground below was a good twenty feet. I was stuck.
And the majority of the day had passed. There was no chance in hell I was
going to give up any information about my clan; I may be a disappointment
to Atticus, but I'd never betray him. So, whatever other plans they had in
mind for me is what I had in store. I scanned the room for weapons,
anything I could use to get the drop on Jonesy or Cutter when they came
back, but everything was bolted down like I was in some museum
recreation of a room. It dawned on me with a shudder that I likely wasn't
the first girl who'd been kept in this place.
Against my better wishes, my mind kept going back to Lucas. I knew he'd
betrayed me, that it was because of him that I was here. Who knows if he
had ever felt anything for me other than a desire to get laid followed by a
chance for a promotion by selling me out? I don't know if it was my perhaps
too-trusting nature, but I couldn't help but feel like he wasn't completely
onboard with this plan. After all, he did try to protect me when the men
came to take me away. There was something more going on with him,
something he kept locked away. And even though I had nothing but my
feelings to go on, I held out hope that he'd come here to make things right.
A sharp pounding at the door shook me out of my daydreaming.
"Yo, time's up!" called the gruff voice of Cutter. "What's it gonna be?"
"Screw you," I shouted through the door.
I heard a pair of dry chuckles, followed by the latch unlocking. The door
opened slowly, revealing Cutter and Jonesy. They both stepped into the
room, both with the same sinister expression on their faces.
"I was hoping you'd say that," said Jonesy.
Jonesy stood against the wall near the door, his thick arms crossed over his
stout chest. Cutter walked up to me with slow steps, looking me up and
down. Then, he dragged the back of his hand over my cheek, and I couldn't
help but shudder at his touch.
"Pretty little thing," said Cutter. "The boys in the city will love her. All
right, last chance to give me what I want before I give Jonesy what he
wants."
I stood firm. "I'm not telling you a thing," I said.
Cutter shrugged. "I figured you'd say that."
He turned back to the door. "You two have fun gettin' to know each other.
We've got a long drive in the morning, so get good and relaxed."
With that, he stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind him. Now it
was just me and Jonesy.
"You stay the fuck away from me," I said, rushing to the other side of the
room and desperately searching around for something, anything that could
be used as a weapon that I somehow hadn't noticed.
But there was nothing. Jonesy walked toward me slowly, his heavy black
boots thudding with each step. He took off his leather vest and tossed it
onto the bed.
"I've been lookin' forward to this all damn day," he said. "I was gonna get a
crack at you no matter what kind of information you gave us; you could've
given us a key to the front door and I'd still be havin' my fun. But I gotta
admit, it's always more interesting when the girl's got some spirit."
He closed the distance slowly, taking sick pleasure out of each step he made
closer to me, as though getting off on my terror. He yanked his belt buckle
undone, and then pulled his dirty t-shirt off over his body, revealing a hairy
torso covered in tribal tattoos and scars. I shuddered as he approached,
pressing my body against the wall behind me.
"Aw, come on," he said through a snake smile. "It's not that bad. I know
how to take care of a lady."
"S…step back; get the fuck away from me," I said, the words tumbling out
of my mouth.
Jonesy raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Get the fuck away from me?" he repeated, raising his voice at the end.
"You've got spunk, kid. I'll give you that."
Now, he was right on top of me, and I smelled his dirty, sweaty scent.
Jonesy reached closer to me, placing his hand on my cheek.
"Goddamn, you feel nice," he said, dragging his hand against my skin.
"Can't wait to see what the rest of you feels like."
He then leaned in close, his disgusting, chapped lips moving toward me.
And then it returned.
It was that same strength I'd felt in the van, that same welling up of rage and
power I'd been able to tap into before. I formed my hand into a tight ball,
knowing it was now a deadly weapon. Then, I swung.
Jonesy thought I was going in for a kiss, but all he got was a hard slug to
the side of his head. The blow connected with a dull thud, and he stumbled
backward, falling to the bed, his hands shooting to his head.
"God damnit!" he shouted. "What the hell!"
With as hard as I hit him, he’s lucky I didn't knock him out just like the two
goons in the van; Jonesy was evidently made of tougher stuff. He jumped
off of the bed, now unsteady on his feet. I took advantage of his daze and
ran in for another attack. I brought down my fist in a long arc, aiming for
the back of his head. But at the last moment, he got his bearings and
stepped out of the way, and I almost lost my balance as my fist sailed
through the air.
"Who the fuck are you?" said Jonesy, squaring up for another attack.
I honestly didn't know how to answer the question. All I could feel was the
rage running through me, that inhuman strength that filled my muscles,
making me strong, making me feel invincible.
"I'm not fucking around anymore," said Jonesy, throwing his shoulders back
and preparing to shift.
Moments later, he was in his wolf form, stalking toward me with ruby-red
eyes and a salivating, snarling mouth. He let out a barrage of fearsome
barks as he moved, and I could see he wasn't looking to wound–he wanted
to kill.
And right at that moment, I heard a series of loud bangs outside the room,
followed by the roaring of a bear and the howling of a wolf. But Jonesy
didn't react to this. Instead, he leaped toward me, the light shining off his
razor-sharp teeth. My hands went in front of my face by instinct, and
somehow, I was able to grab his jaws before they could snap shut on my
face. Saliva rained down on me as I used every last drop of my strength to
hold him at bay while he tried to close his jaws.
"Jonesy!" called out the voice of Cutter. "Get the fuck down here!"
Then, gunshots rang out. Jonesy's attention was distracted just long enough
for me to bring my fist to the side of his head, stunning him and giving me
enough breathing room to squirm away. I ran toward the door, pulled it
open and ran into the hallway, the commotion growing louder. When I
reached the railing overlooking the main hall, I could see the cause of the
noise: a bear and a wolf had burst into the house, breaking through the front
door and carving through the handful of Cutter's guards.
A wolf and a bear? I thought.
Another snarl sounded behind me, and I turned to see that Jonesy had
recovered from my hit and was getting ready to pounce once again.
Standing at the railing, I let him come closer and closer. Then, he tensed
like a spring and leaped, flying toward me like a blur of teeth and fur.
Placing my back against the railing, I let myself fall, hoping my strength
would do something to cushion the blow. As I fell, Jonesy followed me
over, flying down after me. I landed hard on my arm, but I didn't feel
anything break. Now I was eye-to-eye with the wolf and the bear, both of
them staring down at me with wild animal eyes. I turned just in time to see
Jonesy hurl down to my level, and just before he would've landed on me, a
massive paw flew through the air, connecting with Jonesy and sending him
flying against a nearby column, a whimper sounding from him as he hit.
The wolf moved between me and Jonesy, protecting me from him. As I
looked over the beast in front of me, I knew, just knew it was Lucas. The
bear moved behind me, gently grabbing my shirt with his claw and pulling
me away. The face seemed so familiar, and I knew it just had to be either
Atticus or Ian.
I was saved.
Jonesy changed back into his human form and staggered to his feet.
"Lucas!" he shouted. "You fucking traitor! Turning against your own kind!"
Lucas shifted back to his human form.
"You're the fucking traitor!" he responded. "You and Cutter'll bring this
pack into a pointless goddamn war!"
Jonesy shook his head in disdain and wiped the blood from his mouth.
Before he could respond, the revving of a motorcycle engine sounded, and
through the busted open front doors, we watched as Cutter peeled out of the
driveway on his bike, frantically steering away from the house.
"Cutter!" Jonesy howled. "You fucker!"
"Looks like betrayal goes both ways," said Lucas.
Then he turned to me. "You all right?"
I nodded weakly. I'd landed without doing any major damage, but I felt like
whatever strength I'd had was knocked out of me for the time being.
"You're fuckin' dead, Lukey," said Jonesy, getting ready for what he knew
would be a fight to the death.
"We'll see about that," said Lucas.
Then, Ian shifted back into his human form.
"Get out of here, now," said Ian, his voice stern. "You don't want to be here
for this."
I scanned the scene. Jonesy was still unsteady on his feet, and Lucas looked
ready to move in for the kill. And with Ian on his side, Jonesy didn't stand a
chance. I knew I should leave, but part of me, an animalistic part of me that
I barely recognized, not only wanted to be here, but wanted to be the one to
deliver the killing blow to Jonesy for what he'd done to me, for what he
wanted to do. But not wanting to argue, I, instead, scrambled to my feet and
ran out the door, turning my head one last time to see the three men shift
back into their animal forms, Lucas and Ian moving closer to Jonesy.
I did my best to put as much distance between me and them before the
screams sounded out.
CHAPTER 12
I barely had the strength to hold on to Lucas as we made our way back to
the compound. He drove fast, hoping to get me back there as soon as
possible, but I could barely keep my grip. Soon, we arrived, and as soon as
we came to halt, Lucas scooped me off the seat, bringing me back into the
compound, Ian following close behind. Once inside, he set me down on the
couch and stood over me with worried eyes.
"Is she okay?" asked Ian, moving to his side.
"She looks fine from here," said Lucas. "But that was a huge fuckin' drop
she took."
"No kidding," said Ian. "That had to be from at least twenty feet up. How
the hell did she pull that off and stay in one piece?"
"No clue," said Lucas. "And I want to know just how she was able to fight
off Jonesy for so long. He's…was, a tough motherfucker. No way a little
thing like her could've kept him off if he really wanted to do whatever the
fuck he had in mind."
"I'm…fine…" I said, finally getting my strength back.
Lucas and Ian dropped to my side, both of them scanning my body with
frantic eyes.
"She…looks fine," said Ian. "Not a bruise on her."
I took a deep breath and, with a heave, sat up.
"I told you," I said. "I'm fine."
The two men stumbled back in shock.
"How the hell did you do that?" asked Lucas, his tone demanding. “How
the hell did you fall like that and end up with not even a scratch on you?"
"I don't know…" I said. "I just…ever since they took me, I've been having
more strength than I've ever had. And it comes and goes. I don't know
what's going on."
Lucas stepped back and thought the situation over.
"You're the brainiac," he said to Ian. "You got any idea what's going on
here?"
"I mean…" said Ian, looking away in thought, his hand resting on his sharp
chin. "She is a bear."
"But women can't shift!" said Lucas.
"Of course they can," said Ian. "It's just not as common as with men. And
the development of power can occur later in life; trauma has a way of
forcing it out of the body."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I was shifting? I'd only just found out
about my powers, but since they had not shown as of yet, understood them
to be dormant. If I ever got pregnant and had a boy, now he'd be a shifter.
But for me? Nada, nothing.
"You sure about all this?" asked Lucas.
"Reasonably. Like I said, it's rare. But not unheard of."
"Well, shit. We can figure this all out later," said Lucas. "But Cutter's gone.
We got Jonesy, but unless we can take out of the leader, we're still fucked."
"Any idea where he went?" asked Ian.
"New York," I said, my voice weak. "He was talking to men in New York."
"Fuck," said Lucas. "Fuck!"
"What?" demanded Ian. "What does that mean?"
"It means this is all way bigger than I'd been thinking. He wants to take
Bear Mountain for the bosses of the northeastern wolf packs, a few assholes
in the city. If he can make it there, then he can get all of them on his side,
start a real fuckin' war."
"Where's Atticus?" I asked, noting the place was empty aside from us three.
"The women and kids are up north, away from all of this. Atticus is getting
the clan together, letting them know a war might be coming. But who
knows how long it'll be before he comes back."
"Can't you just call the fucker?" said Lucas.
"Call him?" asked Ian. "No. He's not exactly in high-reception areas."
"Fuck!" shouted Lucas once more.
"Does this mean your club is going to be out for blood?" asked Ian.
"No, not yet. I mean, I doubt I'm going to be getting any more invites to
their parties, but they're gonna hold off until they get word from Cutter
before they do anything drastic. Believe it or not, we're a tight club."
"Hmm," said Ian. "Then we have time."
"Time to what?" I asked, trying to stay on top of the conversation.
"We have time to take out Cutter before he talks the bosses in the city into
war," said Lucas.
"That's looking like the only sensible plan."
Just then, a wave of weakness came over me. I couldn't do anything but put
my head down and wait for it to pass.
"Shit," said Lucas, rushing to my side and slipping a pillow under my head.
"She needs rest," said Ian. "She's probably fine, but if she's tapping into her
shifter powers, then her body's going to be going through some major
stress. She needs rest."
"We don't have time for that," said Lucas.
"We don't have a choice," said Ian. "You want to help, then you stay here
with me and make sure she's fine."
Lucas stalked around the room, clearly not happy with taking orders like
this.
"Fine," he said through gritted teeth.
With that, he reached under me and scooped me up, carrying me effortlessly
up the stairs and to my bedroom. He set me down on the bed, and I
stretched out my limbs, a strange rush of energy coursing through them.
Then, just like that, I was out like a light.
***
I awoke in the middle of the night, my bedroom filled with the bluish-sliver
light of the evening beyond the window.
I felt incredible.
Strength pounded through my limbs, and I felt like I could lift up the entire
house if I wanted to, maybe even carry it to the top of the mountain. I shot
out of bed and dropped to the floor and, as though my body was out of my
control, I started doing, of all things, push-ups. I did one after the other, not
just girl pushups, mind you, these were full straight-arm-planked-body
military pushups. I just had so much energy and power in me right now, I
didn't know what to do with it.
Then, through the open door of my bedroom, I spotted Lucas down the
hallway. He glanced in my room as he walked past, stopping in his tracks
when he saw what I was doing.
"Are you…" he asked, walking to the frame of my door.
And as he stood there, his body illuminated with the glow of moonlight, I
knew exactly how I wanted to spend this little burst of energy.
I got up to my feet and looked him over with a hunger that was almost
primal.
Then I pounced.
Cutting the distance between me and him, I threw my arms around his neck
and kissed him hard, shoving my tongue into his mouth as I pressed his face
to mine. He reciprocated right away, kissing me back and grabbing my ass,
scooping big handfuls of my rear and squeezing them hard.
"Damn, girl," he said, pulling his face away from mine for long enough to
take a breath. "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"No idea," I said, pulling my shirt off and tossing it to the side. "But I need
you to fuck me. Hard."
A sexy little smile formed on his lips. I could tell he was more than happy
to comply.
He pulled off his shirt, revealing that unimaginably sexy physique I wanted
on top of me right then and there. I stepped out of my jeans and shoes
before bringing Lucas back to me, pulling down his pants as I kissed him
hard.
The feeling, that energy, ran through me and as it mixed with the arousal
that pumped through my body, it was like nothing I'd ever felt before. I
wanted Lucas more than anything; I wanted to drink him in. I felt like a
woman possessed. I grabbed onto the hard notches of Lucas's hips and
turned him toward the bed, pushing him onto it with a little shove on his
deliciously hard pecs. Sitting on the bed, he looked up at me with a
gorgeous smile as he tried to figure out what I was going to do with him. To
be honest, I didn't even know for sure. If it were really possible for him to
fuck me three different ways at once, it's what I would've demanded he do.
Dropping to my knees, I decided to shelve the question of just how I wanted
him to fuck me. I moved on my knees toward him until my face was mere
inches away from his cock, which strained against the fabric of his boxer-
briefs. Slipping my fingers under his waistband, I pulled his shorts down,
his cock springing out in front of my face.
Goddamn, that's big, I thought. It was easily the biggest cock I'd ever seen
in person. I know I'd already had it in me, but being clear-headed, my
senses on overdrive, I was now able to really size his prick up. But I wasn't
going to be intimidated by it; I opened my mouth and wrapped my lips
around his head and began sucking away.
"Fuck!" Lucas said, running his hands through my hair as I licked and
sucked him. "You're really…you're really good at this!"
Truth be told, I was pretty inexperienced at sucking cock. But something
about the way I felt, something about how much I wanted Lucas at that
moment… Well, let's just say it motivated me. I sucked him hard, only
taking breaks to drag my tongue slowly up and down his shaft, looking up
at him with sensual eyes as I flicked the wet tip of my tongue along his
length. Putting his cock back in my mouth, I slacked my jaw and moved
down slowly, taking the entirety of him into my mouth.
"That…" said Lucas, looking down at me as I held the entire length and
girth of him in my mouth. "That's a first."
I couldn't do anything but let out a little chuckle as I held his cock in my
mouth. Sliding my lips along his length, I stopped at the ridge of his cock,
holding his head in my mouth and letting him enjoy the warm wetness for a
moment before letting him fall out of my mouth with a soft ‘pop.'
My blowjob skills seemed to get him right about at my level. But I wasn't
done being in control. Standing up, I pushed Lucas by his shoulders and let
him fall on his back. Then, I moved closer to him spreading my legs as I
walked. His eyes tracked along my bare body, and it felt so fucking good to
have his eyes on me, his hungry, sensual eyes.
Once I was positioned over top of him, I took his cock by the base and,
pointing it straight up, lowered myself onto him. I felt as though I was
being split apart as I impaled myself on his cock. As he entered me deeper
and deeper, I couldn't help but let out a long, low moan of pure, uninhibited
ecstasy. The sensual delight that ran through my body as I focused the
feeling of his thick cock shoved right up into me was beyond compare. I
shuddered, feeling as though I might cum right then and there.
Slowly, I began rocking on top of him, letting his prick move in and out of
my pussy, grinding on him as hard as I could. Lucas had a smile on his face
as I rode him, his hands moving along the curves of my hips and legs. After
I time, I stopped grinding on him and began bouncing, lifting my ass, and
letting it drop over and over and, stabbing myself with his prick repeatedly,
moving with speed and strength that I'd never known before. I felt like
some kind of wild beast in heat.
"Goddamn," said Lucas, his expression tight and hard. "You feel so fucking
good."
"You like when I ride your cock like that?" I asked, the words dripping out
of my mouth like honey.
"Mmm, yeah," he moaned. "Ride that fucking cock."
I'd never been one for dirty talk, but between how I felt, and how
unbelievably attracted I was to Lucas, the words just came out of me. But
before I could say another word, Lucas grabbed me by the hips and flipped
me over faster than I could react. His cock still buried inside of me, now
positioned above me, looking down at me with those blue eyes I just
couldn't get enough of.
"Do it," I said. "Pound me hard."
He didn't need to be told twice. Pinning me down by my wrists, Lucas
bucked into me hard, shoving his cock deep into me. The pleasure was
almost too much. My eyes winced shut, and I focused on the feeling of him
driving deep into me. The ecstasy was so great I couldn't even moan; all I
could think about was the orgasm that was now whipping into a force deep
within me. Lucas was fucking me at a steady rhythm, allowing me to slip
into a trance-like state and I knew he would make me cum hard at any
moment.
Goddamn, the man knew how to fuck.
Lucas grunted as he penetrated me over and over, filling me full. Then, I
came, the pleasure flowing through me in waves.
"Oh God, I'm cumming, I'm cumming," I said, my hands holding hard onto
his ass, guiding him into just the right spot.
Then it happened. I came hard, a thundering orgasm more intense than
anything I'd ever experienced. I moaned as he drove into me, feeling as
though my body might melt into the sheet. I could hardly stand the
pleasure.
Lucas’s orgasm soon followed, and he emptied himself into me with a few
deep, punctuated grunts. The combination of my orgasm and the feeling of
him filling me with his seed…it was almost too much to bear. When we had
both finished, he collapsed on top of me, and we spent the next few
moments as a single sweaty, panting mess. And I held him close all the
while, wishing I never had to let him go.
CHAPTER 13
When I woke up the next morning, I ran my hand over the empty space next
to me in the bed. The sheets were cool, and I remembered, through groggy
thoughts, that I'd gone back to my own bed after Isabella and I had fucked.
As much as we wanted to sleep in bed together, we both figured it might not
look all that great to do so, what with Ian here and all. We had enough to
worry about with Cutter and the rest of the gang without having domestic
drama on top of it. I wanted to go to Isabella's room, shut the door, lock it
tight, and spend the day fucking like animals, but we didn't have the luxury
of being able to indulge in shit like that. For all I knew, Cutter and the rest
of the gang were preparing for an assault on the compound, and we had to
hit them before they hit us.
I jumped out of bed, took a quick shower, and headed downstairs. Isabella
and Ian were already up, a breakfast of steak and eggs waiting for me. The
two of them were sitting at the kitchen counter, a laptop open in front of
them. She flashed me a sly little grin as I walked in and for a brief second, I
worried if Ian had heard us last night. After all, we weren't exactly quiet. It
was a big house, but still, family drama was the last thing I need right now.
"You're up," said Ian.
I nodded, piled a plate full of food, and dug into my meal; I was hungry as
hell.
"How's she feeling?" I asked Ian.
"I can speak for myself, you know," said Isabella.
"Well, shit," I said, forking down a big chunk of steak, "I guess if you've got
sass then you can't be feeling all that bad."
"We've been researching what's been going on with her," said Ian. "Late-
onset shifting."
"You're sure that's what it is?" I asked, sitting down.
"It's the only explanation," Ian said.
"I'm not sure about this," I said. "I've never heard of a girl shifter gettin' her
powers this late in life. Some guy in our crew had a little girl who shifted
for the first time on her tenth birthday; we all thought that was pretty fuckin'
late."
"It's rare, but not unheard of," said Ian. "And it's the only explanation for
what she's been going through."
"Okay, miss," I said, a little sarcasm slipping into my voice as I turned to
Isabella. "How do you feel?"
"One-hundred-percent," she said. "No, I feel better than that."
I grunted. "Then why the hell isn't she able to shift? Should be more going
on than just feeling stronger."
"It's coming on a little at a time, it looks like," said Ian. "She'll be able to
shift into her bear form at some point, but we just don't know when."
But Ian was ready to change the subject.
"The important thing, right now, is that we get this business with your club
figured out. What can we do to prevent war?"
"That…," I said, thinking hard about it, "that's hard to say. Even if we took
Cutter out, the boys in New York are probably itching to move in. I don't
know what kinda shit they've got in mind, but if they had Cutter move the
crew into the area, that means they've been thinking about taking over Bear
Mountain for a while. I'm thinking once Cutter gets to the city and lets the
bosses know what's up, they'll stop fucking around and make their move."
"And I haven't heard from Atticus yet," said Ian. "I'm sure he'll get the clan
together, but who knows if it'll happen in time."
"Even if he does, it just means my brothers are gonna die by the dozens," I
said. "And you two'll lose family in the process. Not a good fuckin'
situation for either of us."
"Then what can we do?" asked Isabella.
"The only thing we can do is kill Cutter, take his place and hope the bosses
can see reason. Maybe once they realize they're walking into a war that
might wipe out the majority of their crew and loosen their grip in New York
in the process, they'll see the goddamn light."
"And you're going to be the one to kill Cutter?"
"Maybe I can get some boys from my club on my side, but who knows.
Gotta track down Cutter, first."
"I'm coming with you," said Isabella.
"You fuckin' kidding?" I said, pushing my now empty plate away.
"Isabella, that…might not be the wisest decision," said Ian, crossing his
arms over his chest.
"But I'm not useless, I have my powers now. I can help," she said, eager as
all hell.
"I mean, she ain't wrong," I said. "She was able to hold her own with
Jonesy, and he was one of the hardest motherfuckers in the crew."
Ian appeared to think it over. "Fine, but I'm going with you."
"No skin off my dick," I said.
"Then what should we do first?" asked Ian.
"Like I said, we gotta track down Cutter. He's on his way to New York, if
he's not there already. But I got no idea where the bosses are. Just heading
to New York and looking around would be like trying to find a needle in a
goddamn haystack."
"So, then what?" asked Ian.
"We go down to the bar where most of the crew's been hanging out, poke
around and see what we can find. I'll call my boy, Smith, see if he can help
us out."
"Good," said Ian. "Then let's not waste any time."
***
When evening rolled around, we all got ready to head down to the bar. I'd
called Smith earlier, and he told me to meet him there, said he might have
some information about where the bosses were in the city. Isabella hopped
on the back of my back, Ian got in some sporty little convertible, and we
were off. I spent the majority of the trip down there thinking about this girl
who had her arms wrapped around me.
It'd been a long time, too long, since I'd had a woman like this in my life.
Running with a crew like the Stone Masons didn't really leave much time or
space in my life for shit like long-term relationships. But there was
something about Isabella…I just couldn't put my finger on it. All I wanted
to do was protect her, to make sure this fucked up world she'd ended up in
didn't take away her innocence. And as I thought about it, I couldn't help
but wonder if the reason her shifting powers were coming out now is that
this whole mess seems like the first time in her life she's ever had to fight.
Shifters are typically used to a rougher, more violent sort of living. Isabella,
on the other hand, sounds like she's been able to not have to deal with any
of this. After all, she didn't even know she was a shifter until not too long
ago. Seemed like more than a coincidence.
"What a shithole," said Ian, stepping out of his car and slamming the door
in front of the bar.
"Shitholes are my style," I said, looking over the place with a pleased little
smirk on my face.
Hell, if we didn't have shit to do, I wouldn't have minded grabbing a beer
one bit. But as I looked up and saw that the sun was already descending, I
knew we had to get a move on.
We stepped into the bar, and there was already a smattering of Stone
Masons there. All their eyes shot to the three of us, and I wondered just how
much they all knew about what'd went down with Jonesy and Cutter. If they
weren't already in the know, they'd know soon.
"There you are, you little fuck!" said Smith, appearing out of the shadows
and pulling me into a big hug. "Been wondering where you got off to!"
I introduced Ian to him, keeping the fact that he was a bear on the down-
low. Though, I'm sure he could smell it. Smith directed us to the bar, and
ordered a round of drinks.
"You wanna go to the city, talk to the bosses?" he asked, taking a long sip of
his beer. "What the fuck for?"
"To get to the bottom of this shit," I said, Ian and Isabella watching closely.
"Yeah, I know," said Smith. "But man, I've been doing some thinking about
all of this."
"Oh?" I asked, taking a sip of my beer.
"Yeah. I think you oughta just leave well enough alone, you know? I mean,
we're not gonna be in this shitty little part of the state for too much longer;
let's just keep our heads down and do whatever the bosses say until we can
get a fuckin' move on. You know?"
Something about the way Smith was talking struck me as pretty goddamn
odd. He wasn't the type to keep his head down, and as he spoke, his eyes
kept flicking over to Ian and Isabella, as if scoping them out. I was getting a
really bad fucking feeling about all this.
"But keeping your heads down means war," said Ian, butting into the
conversation.
I really wished he wouldn't have done that.
"Bullshit," said Smith. "You got this paranoid asshole putting shit into your
head. And what the hell are you bears even doing on our turf? Don't you got
your own fuckin' castle or some shit in the woods?"
Now I was starting to get really suspicious. Smith could hardly keep his
anger at the bears in check, despite this talk about keeping things chill.
Something was up, and I didn't like it one goddamn bit.
"Just calm the fuck down and wait for Cutter to get back from the city. He'll
have new orders, and we'll be able to get the fuck out of here."
Everything about what was happening was putting me on edge, and looking
over at Ian and Isabella, I could tell they felt the same way. Biker after biker
streamed into the place, and now, instead of the handful of men that'd been
here, there were around a dozen other wolves in the bar.
"I think you'd better listen to him," said a familiar voice behind me.
Spinning around in my seat, I was face-to-face with none other than Cutter.
How'd he get the fuckin' drop on me? I wondered.
Behind him were the men who'd come in, all low-level goons who looked
ready for a fight.
"Good to see you, Lucas," said Cutter, backing up and putting some space
between me and him.
I shot a glance over to Ian and Isabella, and they looked about ready to
spring out of their seats and fight.
"Cutter!" I shouted. "Why the fuck aren't you in New York?"
"Can't go to the bosses empty-handed," he said, turning his attention to
Isabella. "Gotta bring them a little something for their trouble, and this little
bear cub that's given me so much fucking trouble will do just fine."
"Didn't you learn your lesson the last time?" asked Isabella.
"Didn't you?" asked Cutter. "You three know what kind of shit you're in?
You should've gotten the fuck out of here while the getting was good.
Instead, Lukey, I'm gonna teach you just what we do to traitors."
CHAPTER 14
Everything next happened in a blur. Ian rushed toward Cutter, shifting so
quickly as he moved that he was in his bear form by the time he reached
him. He pinned Cutter down by the shoulders and raised his paw in the air
to bring down a killing swipe. But Cutter was too quick, and too strong, and
was able to shift into his wolf form and shove Ian off of him. To my right, a
small glint of light caught my eye, and by the time I turned I could see that
Smith had pulled out a thick-bladed knife; he was ready to take advantage
of the confusion and shove the thing right into Lucas.
"Look out!" I shouted, grabbing Lucas by the shoulders and shoving him
off his bar stool.
He went stumbling forward, and Smith's knife plunged hard into the air in
front of him, connecting with nothing, the awkwardness of his weight
shifting causing him to lurch forward in his seat. Lucas turned around in
time to see the knife that, had I not gotten him out of the way, Smith
would've buried it in his gut.
"Smith, you little fuck," said Lucas.
"You don't know what the hell you're doing," said Smith, getting up from
his seat, the knife ready in his hand. "You're standing in the way of some
serious shit."
A crash sounded to my left, and I turned to see Ian and Cutter grappling
with one another, their jaws snarling and saliva-sheened, growls and barks
sounding from them as they swiped and bit at one another with murderous
intensity. The three other men in the bar began to approach, and they all
looked ready for a fight. I clenched my fists, hoping that the strength that'd
gotten me out of the previous jams would return.
But it didn't. And as the three men moved closer to me, the half-circle of
menacing grins tightening by the second, all hope seemed to leave me.
Smith and Lucas were at blows to my right, Cutter and Ian were on the
verge of killing one another to my left. And I was helpless in front of these
approaching thugs. But before they could make their move, a crash sounded
to my left. I glanced over and saw that Cutter had managed to shove Ian
into the mirror behind the bar, the glass tumbling down, some of the shards
cutting into Ian.
"Ian!" I shouted, fear gripping me as Ian squirmed.
Come on, I thought, trying to coax the power into returning. Come on…
But it was nowhere to be found. Cutter shifted back into his human form
and saw that he had an opportunity.
"Get her and get the fuck out!" he shouted to the men, realizing Ian
wouldn't be down for long and that it was only a matter of time before
Lucas overpowered Smith.
The three men rushed toward me and grabbed me by the arms.
"She's got some fucking power or something," said Cutter. "Don't let your
guard down for a goddamn second."
The men took this to mean ‘grab onto me as hard as they could', and I felt
like my arms might break in their grip.
"Let her go now!" demanded Lucas, barely able to get the words out
through his fighting with Smith.
"Kill him and finish off the bear," said Cutter to Smith over his shoulder. "I
don't wanna see either of these two fuckers ever again.
And with that, the men yanked me toward the door. I was unable to do
anything other than scream as they pulled me away from Lucas and Ian,
toward whatever horrible fate they had in store for me.
CHAPTER 15
"You miserable little betraying fuck!"
Smith's fist landed right in my gut, cutting off my words. The air rushed out
of my lungs and I stumbled on my feet, struggling to get myself steady. I
shot a glance to the door and saw that Cutter, Isabella, and the men were
long gone. My only chance was to kill Smith now, and even then, I'd have
Ian to worry about. The bear was still alive, but getting smashed into the bar
mirror took whatever fight he had out of him.
Smith wasn't in the mood for talk. An angry scowl on his ugly mug, he
went for the knife that'd hit the floor in a clatter, scooped it up, and took
another swipe at me. This one was another miss, cutting through the air and
thankfully, not me. Smith was out for blood, and wasn't fucking around in
the slightest. I didn't even have the time to consider the fact Smith, the one
guy I thought I'd been tightest with in this whole crew, had betrayed me;
that could wait.
Smith took another shot at me, this time punching at me with the knife. I
got out of the way lickity-fucking-split. Smith had put so much strength into
this stab that not connecting with my gut made him stumble toward the bar,
slamming into it and dropping the knife.
Once the blade hit the floor, I saw my chance and took it. I swooped in,
snatching the knife off the ground and in one fluid motion, drove it right
into Smith's lower back. He howled in pain as the knife entered him, and
before he could react, I yanked it out and jammed it into him again, this
time into his upper back.
This was the killing blow, and as he turned around, staring hard at me with
one last murderous glare, the life slipped out of him and he dropped to the
floor like a sack of flour.
Done.
I ran over to Ian, looking him over to see what kind of damage had been
done.
"You cool, man?' I said, seeing a few cuts on his body from the glass, but
nothing too serious.
"I got cut," he said.
Sure enough, a small amount of blood was pooling around his body. I rolled
him to his side and saw that a jagged piece of glass was stuck into his leg. I
didn't know too much about medical shit, but I could tell he hadn't nicked a
major artery. I'd seen that happen before and if he had, I'd probably have
done a little slip and slide act on the blood when coming over to check him
out–that kind of wound wasn't pretty. Still, Ian was probably out of the
fight.
"You're fine," I said. "Just a little cut."
I grabbed a medical kit from behind the bar, pulled the glass out, cleaned
the wound, and covered it with gauze. By the time I was done, Ian looked
better, but still in no shape to fight.
"I'm fine," he said. "Just get Isabella."
Normally, I wouldn't be too keen on taking orders from a fucking bear, but
in this case, I was on the same page. I ran to Cutter's office in the back,
shifting and smashing through the reinforced door. I got on his computer
and searched around until I found the address of the bosses, which looked
to be in Midtown Manhattan in some big fucking skyscraper.
"She's in New York," I said, returning to Ian, who, by now, was well enough
to sit up.
"Then go," he said. "I'm in no shape to fight, and someone's gotta wait for
Atticus."
I didn't feel like arguing, and he was probably right; he'd recover from that
wound pretty easily, but he'd just slow me down. Taking one last look at Ian
to make sure he wasn't about to die on me, I ran back outside, got on my
bike, and gunned it onto the main road.
The sun was long setting by the time I hit the main highway, and no
thoughts were in my mind other than getting Cutter, ripping his goddamn
heart out, and saving Isabella. At that moment, I didn't give a fuck about the
crew or anything else. I wanted nothing more than to get my revenge and to
bring Isabella back safely, this weird little girl that I'd somehow managed to
fall so hard for.
After a few hours of full-tilt riding, the skyscrapers of the city began to
appear on the horizon, tall and glittering against the ink-black night sky.
And as they grew in the distance, I remembered just how much I fucking
hated the city. I needed my bike and an open road that led to nowhere, and
that's just what you couldn't have in the packed-full grids of the city. It felt
like I was traveling into the depths of some dungeon.
But revenge was on my mind, and to get back Isabella and settle the score
in the process, I'd do anything.
So, I rode.
CHAPTER 16
I could barely breathe through the gag in my mouth, and when Cutter pulled
me out of the back of the van when we finally came to a stop in front of the
looming Manhattan skyscraper that was our destination, I almost reeled
from the sight of the buildings overhead. I'd never been to the city before, I
was totally disoriented when I looked up and saw I was in an environment
that was completely alien to me.
"Get a fuckin' move on," said Cutter, giving me a sharp poke to the small of
my back as we walked toward the building.
Three goons that'd been at the bar flanked us, and as I looked them over, I
tried to figure out if I could take them all. Maybe if my strength came back,
maybe if I was finally able to make the full shift into the bear form that I
knew was inside me somewhere. But now, as just a scared girl, I couldn't do
a damn thing.
A quick elevator ride later, we arrived in the penthouse of the building,
which was a vast, modern apartment with a sweeping nighttime view of the
city. I thought we might've been in the wrong place –the apartment didn't
exactly scream "biker gang"–but as we moved further into the apartment
and I spotted the three men from the video conference that I'd witnesses at
Cutter's place all sitting at a long, black table, I knew that we were exactly
where he intended for us to be.
"There's that little piece of ass we've been waitin' for!" called out one of the
men, the man with the square jaw who looked like he moonlighted as a drill
sergeant.
"'Bout fuckin' time!" called out another, the bald man whose face was
covered with scares that I could make out from dozens of feet away.
The third man, the guy with a neck that was so thin and long it looked like a
plant stalk that his head sprouted from, his eyes beady and black, stood up
and looked me up and down in a way that was so pervy I shuddered out of
instinct.
"'Been waitin' for a new fuck-toy," he said.
Cutter approached the three men, each giving him a full hug complete with
a loud slap on the back.
Then the scar-faced man turned his attention to me. I felt like throwing up
as soon as his eyes fell on my body.
"Bring that little thing closer."
Cutter sneered and jabbed me in the small of my back, instructing me to get
closer to the three men.
"Yeah, real nice," said the scar-faced man. "You did good, Cutter."
"She just fell into my fucking lap," said Cutter, a broad smile on his face; he
was clearly pleased to have been about to make his bosses happy. "Fresh
meat from the bears."
"Even better," said the thin-necked man. "Nothing like plundering your
enemy and stealing his women, you know? Makes me feel like a fuckin'
Viking."
I wished, more than anything, that I could change right now, that I could
gather whatever power I had and rush across the room, carving these
fuckers to pieces. Unlike before, at Cutter's mansion, I didn't feel fear, I felt
rage. I imagined my hands shifting into paws, I imagined my body covering
with fur, and I imagined swiping my claws over these asshole's faces,
wiping those pervy little smirks off for good.
"Then that's it?" said Cutter "I'm ready to move on these bears if you give
the word."
"War with the bears," said the military man, sitting back in his chair and
thinking the matter over. "That's a hell of a risk."
"Nah, the genius is, which I found out from her," he jabbed me in the back
again, "that they got a skeleton crew up in that compound right now. The
Swift clan is spread across the country. We can move in, kill whoever's
there, and take the place as ours. By the time they get back, we'll have that
place fortified. Then we can wipe them out for good."
"Then Bear Mountain's ours," said the thin-necked man.
"Hell, with the bears gone, the whole state'll be ours," said the scar-faced
man.
The smile stayed on Cutter's face; I could tell just how pleased he was that
the plan was being so well-received.
"What about that fuckin' traitor?" asked the military man. "You take that
piece of shit out?"
"Done," said Cutter. "Got one of my boys on it."
My heart sank upon hearing this. I hadn't seen Lucas die, but things weren't
looking good for him when Cutter dragged me out of there.
"Enough planning for now," said the military man. "I'm ready for a little
fun. How about you get this little piece all dolled-up and looking nice for
us; I'm ready to give her a test drive."
"You got it," said Cutter.
With that, Cutter grabbed me by the arm and dragged me down one of the
many hallways of the penthouse. He walked without hesitation, and I could
see that this wasn't the first time he'd brought a girl here for this reason.
"You're not gonna get away with this," I said, anger in my voice.
"I already did," he said, stopping at a nearby door and pulling it open.
"You're here, aren't you? And I don't gotta worry about your fuckin'
boyfriend either."
My stomach sank as I realized he could very well be right. He pulled me
into the room, which was a sleazily-decorated bedroom clearly used for sex.
"There's a walk-in there," said Cutter. "Pick something out to wear, and
make it sexy. And save your energy; I'm gonna get a crack at you once the
bosses have had their fun."
"Gotta wait your turn, huh?" I said.
Cutter sneered at me with narrow eyes. Then, without saying a word, he
reached behind me and grabbed onto my ass. Hard. He stared at me close as
he squeezed me, his expression making it clear he was proving a point
along with copping a feel.
"Keep it hot for me," he said, letting go of my ass and stepping out of the
room, the door shutting and locking behind him.
Then, I was alone.
CHAPTER 17
My phone vibrated in my pocket right as I pulled up to the tower where the
bosses were.
"Talk to me," I said, craning my neck up at the building as people on the
sidewalk weaved around me.
"This is Ian," spoke the man on the other end. "Where are you?"
"I'm at the address now," I said. "Just got here."
"Speaking of ‘just got here,' Atticus is back. And he's brought the clan."
“How many?" I asked.
"A lot."
"Good," I said. "Because all it's gonna take is a word from the bosses before
the pack can move out."
"Then you need to do what you can to stop this fight before it can happen."
"It'll get done," I said.
"And Lucas," said Ian. "Get my cousin back safe."
I grunted in response, my body braced with determination. After parking
my bike, I strode into the lobby, and after a little "convincing", the clerk in
the lobby provided me with a key for the service elevator. Said it should
bring me up the back entrance of the apartment. I found the elevator and
stepped in, and as the small, tight car rose, I just about boiled over with
anger. I was ready to kill.
The elevator opened with a ding, and right as the doors slid open I spotted
one of Cutter's goons standing around in the hallway. I thought to shift, but
wanted to take advantage of the element of surprise. I flew toward the goon
and jammed the knife I'd taken from Smith into his neck. He struggled for a
second before dropping. As I looked over his body, the blood pooling
around him on the glossy white floor, I felt a tinge of regret. I hated having
to kill a brother, but I knew these new recruits weren't really one of us.
More likely, they were men Cutter'd hired to boost his numbers for the war.
I moved slowly down the hallway, taking out another goon who'd stepped
out of the bathroom just in time for me to slip the knife into him. As I shut
the bathroom door, I hear the commotion of Cutter and the bosses from
another room. I'd never met the bosses before, but I was sure I'd know them
when I saw them. Moving closer to the main room, I peeked around the
corner, spotting the three men sitting at a long black table, Cutter standing
in front of them, the city framed in the massive windows behind them. The
place was like a palace; I couldn't believe men who considered themselves
hard-as-nails Stone Masons would live in a ritzy place like this.
"Okay, who's first?" said Cutter.
"I got dibs," said one of the bosses, some guy with short, cropped hair.
"Me next," said another, a pencil-necked little shit with a face just singing
for a smack.
I watched as the short-haired boss got up and started on his way out of the
room.
"Your boys on the move?" he asked, stopping halfway out.
"Made the call fifteen minutes ago; the crew's moving to the compound
now, should be there in about twenty minutes."
"Good," said the military man. "Looking forward to hearing all about it
when I'm done getting my dick wet."
With that, he let out a barking laugh and left the room. I scanned the space,
planning my angle of attack. I figured I could come in from the side, take
out Cutter, and have only the two bosses to deal with. But before I could
make my move, a thug I'd missed emerged from a nearby room. I rushed
toward him, knife in hand, ready for the kill. But he let out a loud cry as I
drove the knife into him, and as his body hit the ground, I heard the voice of
Cutter call out "what the hell?" from the other room.
Fuck.
"That you, Lukey!" shouted out Cutter.
I knew I was fucked. Better to take my medicine now. I yanked my knife
out of the thug, wiped the blade on my leg, and stepped out into the main
room. The two bosses looked me over, and Cutter stared me down hard.
"This is that fuckin' traitor I was tellin' you both about. The ‘brother' who
sold us out for some little bear piece of ass."
"Looks like he saved you the trouble of tracking him down," said one of the
bosses.
"Nice of him," said the other.
"Where's Isabella?" I demanded, blood pumping through my veins.
"She's a little…occupied," said Cutter. "But hey, maybe when it's my turn
I'll let you see her again, if you know what I mean."
"You're not gonna start a war," I said. "I'll kill you all before I let that
happen."
"Well, you better get on it, Lukey," said Cutter. "Because the war's about to
go down, whether you like it or not."
"No talking," said the scar-faced boss. "Let's kill this fuck and be done with
it."
"My thoughts exactly," said Cutter, preparing to shift.
But before he had the chance, a yell of pain sounded from the direction that
the military-looking man had walked to.
"What the hell?" asked Cutter, looking in the direction of the noise.
The deafening roar of a bear answered his question.
"What the fuck?" asked the thin-necked boss. "I thought you said she
couldn't shift!"
"That's what I thought!" shouted Cutter.
Another yell of pain sounded out, but this one was cut short, the yell fading
into a gurgling gasp.
Then she came. Through one of the doors down the hallway, Isabella, now
in fully-shifted bear form, came storming toward us, her black eyes wide in
anger and her salivating, blood-coated mouth sounding a booming roar. She
stomped into the room and looked over the scene, her eyes settling on me
for a moment.
She was safe.
"Fuckin' kill her!" shouted the thin-necked boss.
Isabella rushed toward him, bringing down a paw on his face and crushing
him before he could say another word, let alone shift. I wasn't about to let
an opportunity like this get away. I shifted into my wolf form and ran in,
jumping first onto the table then onto the scar-faced man. He was mid-shift
by the time I landed on top of him, and it took all the strength I had to get
the better of him. Finally, after moments of fierce struggling, I sank my
teeth into his neck just as he'd finished shifted. He let out a loud yelp that
abruptly silenced right as I twisted his neck with my jaw.
And just like that, the Stone Mason bosses were done. All that remained
was Cutter, who was now standing between Isabella and me, his face
twisted in fear. He knew he had lost, all that remained was to finish the job.
"Come on, guys," he said, holding his hands up in front of him. "We can
talk about this. Maybe make you two the new bosses? No, I mean, make
you both Second-in-Command?"
Isabella turned her head toward me, and I got the message right away.
This was her kill.
She let out a mighty roar and stomped toward Cutter. Her mouth opened
wide, she stomped onto Cutter, pinning him down with her paws right as he
put his head between her jaws.
I turned away as the crack sounded out; there was some shit that even I
didn't want to see.
The job done, we both shifted into our human forms, running up to one
another and locking into a tight embrace.
"You came for me!" she shouted, covering my face in kisses.
"Of course, I fuckin' came," I said, the smirk on my face covering for the
warmth I felt in my heart.
But before I could relax too much, I remembered the club was on their way
to a fight. I grabbed Cutter's phone from his limp body, feeling a little vomit
rise into my mouth as I caught Isabella's handiwork out of the corner of my
eye. I dialed up Jace, one of the brothers I knew trusted me, and told him
the bosses were dead, the attack was off.
I caught them just in time. He didn't believe me at first, but a video call
allowed me to pan over the scene of carnage behind us and prove my claims
in the grisliest manner possible.
It was done. I let the phone drop out of my hand and fall to the floor as I
embraced Isabella.
"You shifted," I said, looking her over.
"Yep," she said. "Turns out, all it took was another threat of becoming a sex
slave. A girl can only let that happen so many times, you know?"
I smirked before bringing my lips to hers. The glittering city stretching out
behind us, I held her close. Right then and there, I decided I never wanted
to let her go.
CHAPTER 18
Two months later…
The morning was bright and cheery at the Swift compound. I awoke to the
gentle chiming of the alarm clock, and began to roll out of bed. But before I
could put my feet on the floor, I felt the warm touch of fingers wrapping
around my wrist.
"Not so fast," said Lucas, his blue eyes looking extra sensual from the
heaviness of sleep.
A little smirk crossed my face when I realized what he had in mind.
"We can't…" I said. "We've got a big day ahead."
"Oh, please," said Lucas, rolling his eyes playfully. "It can wait."
"A permanent peace treaty between the Swifts and the Stone Masons can
wait?" I asked.
"It can when it doesn't start without me," he said. "Being the boss has its
perks, you know."
He had a point.
Taking my feet off the floor and sliding back into bed, I moved close to
Lucas, looking into his sparkling blue eyes, bright and clear in the morning
light.
"I love you," I said, feeling slightly overcome with emotion.
"I love you, too," he said.
With that, he moved in close and placed his lips on mine, kissing me hard
and deep straight away. I let my body slacken as he kissed me, focusing on
the warm feeling of his tongue moving into my mouth as his right hand slid
down the curve of my hip and came to a rest between my legs.
"Someone's ready," he said, noticing the heat of my arousal.
"I'm always ready for you," I purred as he began to slowly rub my pussy,
his touch crackling through my body like electricity.
He touched me like this for a time, teasing me with the hint of a finger
against my sex.
"Put it in," I said, reaching over and grabbing onto his steel-hard cock. "I
need it now."
"Good girls know how to wait," he said.
I huffed internally. Who said I was a good girl?
He continued to touch me, to tease me, and after a few more minutes of
this, he slipped a finger inside me, stimulating my G-spot in the way only
he knew how. It felt like heaven, but all it served to do was inflame my
hunger for his prick. Lucas touched me more, and I angled my body so I
could rub his cock while he fingered me. Moans escaped both our lips, and
my desire for him to shove this meaty rod into me was becoming
overwhelming.
"Now," I said, demanding. "Fuck me now."
Evidently, he had the same sentiment. Lucas rolled over, his prick slipping
out of my grasp. He removed his fingers from me, and the empty feeling
that followed was soon replaced by the magnificent sensation of fullness
and heat only his cock could provide. Seconds later, he was spanned out
over top of me, the ropy muscles of his arms tight and firm. His cock slid
into me with a smooth glide, and I let out all of the air in my lungs as he
filled me.
"Goddamn," I said. "That feels so fucking good."
He smirked, knowing, by now, just how much I loved his prick. Lucas
began moving in me, bringing his body close to mine and taking one of my
nipples into his mouth, gently sucking it and lashing it with his tongue. The
joint sensations of his mouth on my breasts and his cock inside me caused
an orgasm to flow to the surface nearly instantly. And as soon as he shifted
his thrusting from a gentle plunge to a full-on, relentless pounding, I knew I
could not hold it back any longer. The orgasm erupted, spreading through
my body like hot molten. I felt as though I was going to melt into goo as he
pounded me.
Seeing that I'd already came hard, Lucas was ready to fill me in another
way. His face tightening with pleasure, he came, shooting his cum deep
inside me, emptying himself into my body. Once he finished, he fell on top
of me in a sweaty heap. I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close
and tight as we regained our breath.
"I'm starting to think I need to stop being so rough with you," he said, his
eyes down at my belly.
"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm a delicate little flower," I said.
It'd been a week since we'd gotten the good news. My body started feeling
different in a way I couldn't quite describe, and once I told the women of
the clan, the knowing glances between them all alerted me that they
understood right away what was going on. A quick pregnancy test, later,
confirmed I was carrying Lucas's child. A year ago, this news would've
shocked me to the core, but now, with the support of my clan and the man I
loved, I was ready to become a mother. The fact that it was going to be a
hybrid bear and wolf baby did cause me some concern, but the women of
the clan assured me that while hybrid children may be more of a challenge,
it was nothing we couldn't handle together.
And, of course, once Lucas learned the news, he asked me to marry him.
You don't have to guess what I said.
"Ready to do this?" I asked Lucas as we stepped out of the shower and
prepared for the ceremony.
"Ready to put that near-war behind us? Hell yes, I am," he said, rubbing a
towel against his dark, wet hair, his body glistening with water.
The night we killed the bosses of the Stone Masons was a night that brought
us to the brink of war. Thankfully, we were able to put a stop to things just
as Lucas's wolf pack and the Swift clan were about to come to blows. His
phone call was just in time, and I shudder to think how many lives came
close to being senselessly lost that day. And now, months later, with Lucas
firmly in charge of the Stone Masons and the Swift clan finally reunited, the
treaty ensuring peace between the wolves and the bears could finally
become executed. There would finally be peace on Bear Mountain.
A short time later, we were both ready. Stepping out of the bedroom, we
were greeted with the sight of Atticus and Ian, along with the rest of the
men and women of the Swift clan all gathered with the higher-ups of the
Stone Masons. The treaty was laid out on the table, and all eyes were on us.
A new world lay ahead of us, and though it was uncertain, we knew we
could handle it together.
 Special Bonus: NYC Shifters
CHAPTER 1
November 8th, 1874
A thick fog descended upon the island of Manhattan, the lights of the
streetlamps the only beacons within the nearly-opaque morass. The Central
Park Zoo wasn’t exempt with its winding pathways and steel-barred animal
enclosures barely visible in the midnight air. And being such a late hour, the
zoo was hardly staffed; only a handful of men were there, all the grimy,
grizzled sorts of men who preferred to work late at night.
“’Ey, Paul, hand me that little thing of you-know-what,” said Ricky, one of
these men, a tall type with wiry, long limbs, a ruddy, pock-marked face, and
the stink of bottom-tier whiskey on his breath.
“You can just call it ‘booze,’ ya know,” said Paul, another worker, this one
with a stubby, round body and a face with beady, brown eyes and a coarse,
dirty beard.
“Ya never know who’s listening,” Ricky said, swiping the small bottle of
dingy, copper-colored liquid from Paul’s hand and bringing it up to his lip
with an unsteady motion.
“I don’t know how you got to be so paranoid,” said Paul, taking the bottle
back with a swipe of his own. “The whole point of a job like this is that no
one gives a good goddamn what we get up to, so long as the work’s done.”
Ricky considered these words as he felt the whiskey rush to his head. He
leaned back against a stack of wooden crates full of animal feed as he
looked into the fog with bleary eyes.
“Can’t see a damn thing in this shit,” he said, spitting into the gravel at his
feet. “Yeah, not looking forward to feedin’ the tigers in this mess.”
“Yeah, one wrong step and you’ll be feedin’ em, alright,” said Paul, letting
out a rough laugh that echoed in the still air.
“All right, all right,” said Ricky, fumbling in his overall pockets for a
cigarette and lighter, “you know I hate jokes like that.”
“No shit,” said Paul, “why ya think I make ‘em all the time?”
Ricky placed the cigarette on his lips and with an unsteady hand, brought
the flame up to the end. He took a puff as he lit it and brought in a lungful
of smoke deep into him.
“What’d ya say we get these tigers fed? I’m about ready to take a little cat
nap myself.”
“You get the tigers, I’ll get the wolves. We’ll do it faster that way,” Paul
said.
“Fine, fine. I just hate going to these cages myself.”
“Don’t be a goddamn girl,” said Paul, his words heavy with disdain. “These
beasts’ve been stuck in cages for years; they’re as domesticated as
housecats by now.”
“Still don’t like it,” said Ricky, his cigarette dangling from his mouth.
“No one said ya did,” said Paul, scooping the empty feeding bucket off the
ground with a lazy swipe and starting off down the path, the gravel
crunching under the weight of his boots.
Soon Ricky was left alone, no sound but that of his breath and the restless
shifting of the animals in their cages around him. He hated being alone in
the zoo. Part of the reason he liked to drink on the job was that it allowed
him to keep his fear at bay when it was finally time to split up and feed the
animals.
Finishing his cigarette and grinding it into the gravel with the front tip of
his boot, he started off down the path towards the tiger cages. The fog
seemed to have gotten worse and Ricky could barely see ten feet in front of
his face, let alone precisely where he was. But he’d walked these paths
hundreds of times before, and just as surely as he could find his way to the
bathroom of his tiny Hell’s Kitchen apartment in the middle of the night, he
found his way to the tiger cages.
He could see nothing beyond the steel bars; the fog had seeped into the
cages and obscured his view completely. Not even the outlines of the
several graceful, stalking tigers could be seen.
“Where’re these fuckin’ things?” he muttered under his breath.
But before he could ponder the question for too much time, a low, mournful
howl cut through the still air of the night. Ricky stood up spear-straight as
the eerie noise sounded. It was unnatural, almost blood-curdling, like
something not of this world. Ricky wanted to drop the food pail and run
back to Paul, but just before his body compelled him to start off, his rational
mind took hold and he realized what the sound was.
It was a tiger in pain.
The howl sounded again and this time Ricky could distinctly hear the pain
in the animal’s voice.
He knew the odds of the tiger being in any serious trouble were slim-- the
animals were checked on a nearly daily basis. The animal likely stepped on
a branch that pierced its skin, which meant he’d have to venture into the
cage, check the animal, and, if necessary, bring it inside and prepare the
animal for a vet checkup in the morning.
“More goddamn work for me,” he said low, moving around the cage and
keeping one hand on the bars as he walked.
Eventually, he made it around back, towards the rear entrance to the pen. He
ducked inside the small wooden hutch that contained the tiger feed. With a
steel scoop, he shoveled pound after pound of raw, pink meat into the
bucket, the red muscle glistening in the soft glow of the fog.
Taking the bucket by the handle, Ricky moved towards the rear entrance of
the pen with short steps, his body weighed down by the heavy bucket of
meat he carried.
Then, the pained howl sounded once again.
“I’m comin’, I’m comin’,” he said out loud, hoping to calm himself by
hearing a spoken voice, even if it was his own.
Plopping the bucket down at his feet, he reached into his pocket, pulling out
the ring that held keys to all of the enclosures in the zoo. Shuffling through
them, he found the right key.
Another howl.
He undid the lock, put the key ring back, and opened the door, grabbing the
bucket and stepping inside quickly as he did so.
Though he was now inside the pen, he still couldn’t make out where the
tigers were.
“Here, kitty kitty,” he said, stepping further into the pen. “I’ve got a nice
bucket of meat for ya. Some food’ll get you feelin’ right as rain.”
He hiccupped and the sound cut through the still air.
Searching around himself with eager eyes, Ricky still couldn’t make out
where the tigers were. It was almost as if they were hiding from him.
But just as he began to wonder if the animals were even in the cage, the
slender, graceful silhouettes appeared, one to Ricky’s left, another perched
on a tall pile of rocks.
“There y’are,” he said, bucket of meat in hand.
Moving from their positions, the tigers now slinked towards Ricky with
slow, feline grace. But as they stepped closer, he noticed something: None
of the handful of animals seemed to be injured in any way.
And they weren’t looking at the raw, ripped meat piled high in the bucket...
they were looking at him.
They grew closer, their forms stepping out of the fog, revealing their
magnificent striped bodies and their brilliant yellow eyes that stared
impassively at Ricky.
Then, feet away from Ricky, they stopped. Fear began to quake in his belly-
this wasn’t right. The animals should’ve known to keep their distance
during feeding.
The last thing that Ricky noticed before the tiger on his left raised its body
and swiped his massive paw across Ricky’s throat was the animal’s eyes.
There was an intelligence about them, something human.
Ricky lived for only a few moments before the veins that sliced like paper
under the tiger’s claw pumped out enough blood to slip him into
unconsciousness, then death. The swipe was aimed not simply to kill him,
but to make sure his death would be silent, without screams.
The tigers looked over the body for a moment, confirming that the drunk
zookeeper was dead.
Then, they shifted.
First, the bodies of the tigers grew slim, their forelegs retracting, changing
from the thick, orange legs to limbs that were long, and rich with sinew.
The rear legs lengthened, taking on a toned, muscular form, developing
over seconds the strength and shape of the legs of an animal meant to walk
on them, and them alone. The fur of the tigers vanished, seemingly melting
and revealing a skin that was dark and lustrous, like chocolate or umber.
The torsos of the animals shifted from the sideways trunk shape of the tiger
to an upright form, the skin hairless and toned. Then the faces turned,
changing from the imperious feline visage of the tiger to angled faces of
high, jutting cheekbones, thick, sensual lips, and intelligent, dark eyes.
There they stood, the men and women amidst the silence and fog that
swirled around them, the men’s bodies hard and muscular in the moonlight,
the women’s curvaceous, with heaving breasts and long, dark hair that
sprouted from their beautiful faces.
Then one of the men spoke, a taller and leaner one, with a shaved head and
wide jaw.
“What do you want to do about the body?” he asked, his voice tight, as
though adjusting to speaking with human vocal cords after a long period of
not using them. He looked down at the dead man.
“Leave it,” said the other man, the more muscular of the two, “the more we
attempt to alter the scene, the more it will look to be the work of humans.”
“And what will they think now? That tigers tricked a zookeeper into letting
them out?” asked one of the women.
The muscular man considered this question for a moment.
“It does not matter; they can come to whatever conclusions they wish. The
only important thing is that they not suspect the truth.”
Then, simultaneously, the shifters looked down at their dark, nude bodies.
“We are going to need some clothing,” said the taller man.
“Of course. But let us not be distracted- we have others to free.”
The taller man shook his head.
“I say we leave them. For what reason do we need to associate with the
Europeans?”
“We help each other leave, then we go our separate ways. That was the
agreement. And we will abide by it.”
“Fine. Then let us go.”
Swiping the keys off of the body of Ricky, the dark-skinned men and
women opened the steel bars of their pen, shifted back into their tiger
forms, and rushed off. They tore down the curving pathways of the zoo,
making their way towards the pen of the gray wolves. Once they arrived,
the wolves looked down upon them through the fog with glowing, skeptical
eyes. Then they shifted, their bodies shedding the shaggy fur of wolves and
turning into toned, olive-skinned bodies of men and women. The gnarled
body of Paul lay stretched out on the floor of the pen, a look of horror on
his clawed face.
“What took you so long?” asked one of the men, his accent a smooth,
melodic Italian.
Their cages were opened, and the pack of beasts ran out, the wind rushing
through their fur as they tore through the evening fog, their paws landing
heavily on the gravel of the paths as they moved.
Then they came to the final cage. The motley pack stood in front of the
bars, looking into the fog. Massive, dark shapes moved in the mist, deep
snorts sounding. Soon, the dark animals were revealed: a pack of massive
brown bears. Quickly, they shifted, revealing pairs of stout-bodied men with
bearded faces and wide-hipped women with flat, toned stomachs, large
breasts and pale skin.
“We go?” asked one of the women, her voice in a rich, Slavic accent.
The pack confirmed. Shifting back into their bear forms, the bears joined
the group, and the dozens of animals rushed towards the exit. And as they
moved, they shifted back into their human forms and, with hopes of
creating a distraction, let out several other animals. Within minutes, hyenas,
a rhino, and two lions ran free, stalking through the grounds of the zoo,
their various animal cries filling the night as they rampaged.
Taking advantage of the chaos, the pack of shifters made their way towards
the wrought-iron gates of the zoo. But as they approached, they saw that the
remaining employees. A hardscrabble band of men with terrified
expressions on their faces, wielding shovels, pitchforks, and flaming pieces
of wood, stood like a line of troops at the defense.
But as the pack drew close, the fear in the men’s eyes gave way to pure
terror, and before the shifters could rush over them completely, they dived
out of the way, screaming and shrieking as they did.
The pack was then beyond the gates and as they returned to the silence and
still air, they stopped and shifted back into their human forms.
“Now what?” asked one of the Italian men.
“We split up,” said one of the Slavic. “Arrangement was only for escape.
Now we go our separate ways.”
The taller dark-skinned man nodded.
“We will find a place for our people in this city,” he said, his arms crossed
over his strong, taut chest. “Once we are settled, we can call others from our
homelands.”
“Then we should claim parts of the city now,” said one of the Italians.
“Yes,” said one of the dark-skinned men. “We will take the place called
Harlem, in the north. Some of our countrymen already live there.”
Two Slavic men convened for a moment before one stepped forward.
“The eastern side of the island will be ours; they call it the ‘East Village,’ I
believe.”
“No,” said one of the dark women, stepping forward. “That is the part of the
island that we wish to lay claim to.”
One of the Ukrainian women jumped out from the group and faced the
woman who had just spoken.
“If you wish to fight over territory, I’m more than happy to start tonight.”
“Please. You are a fool if you think we Senegalese fear you.”
“I’ll give you something to fear.”
“Enough!” called out one of the Senegalese men. “You may take this
village, but in return, we lay claim to the entirety of the neighborhood of
Harlem. No Italian or Ukrainian shall impede on this territory.”
The two women started at each other, neither wanting to back down.
“Fine,” said the Senegalese woman. “Harlem is ours. Challenge it and risk
your life.”
The Italians had a quick parley of their own before one stepped forward.
“And we will move to the lower tip of Manhattan. It is already a home for
Italians, and we should easily be able to find our place.”
“I don’t know if I’m too thrilled about the Italians taking up a home so
close to our neighborhood,” said one of the Ukrainians.
“No one said you had to like it, fool,” said one of the Italians.
“I grow tired of these negotiations,” said the Ukrainian man. “I will say
this: If you even think about coming into our home, you will regret it. I
swear this.”
“Your threats mean nothing to me,” said the Italian, clenching his fists.
“You know what?” said the Ukrainian. “I think we should settle this now,
after all. We can fight now. Whoever wins can have the whole damn
island.”
“That sounds fine to me,” said the Italian.
“And me as well,” said the largest of the Senegalese.
The three packs split into tight groups, each of the dozens of shifters staring
at one another, all of them waiting for someone to make the first move.
Off in the distance, the low wailing of police sirens could be heard. The
packs all looked at one another, knowing that if they were to stay and fight,
the police would be upon them.
“It appears we’ll have to settle this some other night,” said one of the
Italians.
“I’m sure we will have more than enough opportunities,” said one of the
Senegalese women.
“Stay out of Little Italy if you value your lives,” said one of the Italian
women to the rest of the shifters, before departing, her group following her
into the night.
“And you,” said the Senegalese man. “Never come to Harlem.” They
departed into the swirling fog.
Then the Ukrainians made their own escape.
And that evening, in the chilly fog of Central Park, an agreement born out
of conflict would turn into an informal pact that would hold strong for over
a century. The Senegalese would lay claim to Harlem, in the area that would
soon be known as Le Petite Senegal, bringing in dozens of their tiger-
shifting countrymen and women over the coming decades. The Ukrainians
would claim the East Village, bringing in their own people and growing
wealthy and powerful as the land they owned grew in value. And the
Italians claimed Little Italy, taking up residence in the area that would be
known as Nolita.
A relative peace existed for a great while, though not without some conflict.
But now, in the 21st century, events would unfold that would threaten to
destroy the fabric of this delicate peace, and change the city forever.

CHAPTER 2
New York, New York – Present Day
“Good evening, New York!” shouted Boris Trotsky into the microphone, his
eyes on the packed, teeming crowd of the rock venue. “We. Are. Blood.
And. Claw!”
With a quick upstroke, he raked his guitar pick over the strings of his
instrument, a crunching, distorted guitar chord blasting from the massive
speaker towers behind him, drowning out the wild cheering of the crowd.
His eyes scanned the room as the feedback from the chord droned. As
usual, the front row was filled with young women all looking up at him
with seductive eyes, waiting for him to cast a spell with his songs.
But none of them was the woman he was looking for.
To Boris’s right, Ivan Dragovich, the bassist, began plucking at the fat
strings of his instrument, a staccato, marching bassline thrumming from the
speakers. Aran Popov at the drumkit clacked his sticks together, and Boris
cast his eyes over the eager crowd one last time, still looking for that same
girl.
He smirked to himself as he fingered the strings of his crimson guitar,
preparing to launch into the lead riff of the song. Boris knew she was here
somewhere, and he’d find her one way or another.
The instruments came together in a deafening collision of music, the
volume and speed of the sound blasting out of the speakers with such power
that Boris felt as though the walls of the club might come down. Switching
from the intro riff to a distorted power chord progression, Boris stepped
closer to the mic, his mouth directly before it.
“A silver moon is a secret eye/a devil’s coin in a pallid sky.”
The crowd went wild as soon as Boris began to sing, his voice the perfect
blend of gruff and masculine mixed with clear and melodic.
This was Blood and Claw’s third show of the week at the Gramercy, and
each evening’s performance packed more and more fans onto the floor of
the venue. As one of the hottest bands in the New York rock scene, there
seemed to be no limit to their popularity.
“A winter wind through the copper sand/the demon’s kin unfurls his hand.”
With a quick glance to the rest of the band, Boris shifted the tempo of the
song, slowing down but maintaining the crushing pulse of the music. He
lifted his fingers from the strings, letting the tribal rhythm of the drum and
bass lure the audience into a trance-like state.
Boris looked over the crowd yet again and, like before, did not see her. But
as he shifted his gaze to the back of the venue, towards the faraway corner
illuminated by soft, orange light, he caught glimpse of her. He’d know that
body anywhere- those willowy limbs, that fair skin, that cropped, hair as red
as blood. It was her.
His prey spotted, Boris returned his nimble fingers to the strings, preparing
to begin the show-stopping solo. And as he plucked the first notes, the
crowd going silent as he did, he had one thing and one thing only on his
mind.
Her.
The interplay of the guitar, bass, and drums reached a fevered, crashing
intensity. Boris’s skin, hot from both the stage lights and his playing, was
wet with a thin sheen of sweat. The drums switched to double-time, Ivan
began droning on the same low, pounding bass note, and Boris’s fingers
danced on the high, thin strings, screaming as he plucked them. They
continued in this fashion, the eyes of the crowd on them, all in the same
trance.
Then, with a series of three slams on a heavy, deep chord, coordinated with
the bass and the drums, the song, and the set, ended.
“Thank you, Gramercy!” shouted Boris into the mic, his body was that
intoxicated combination of spent and energized that always followed a
strong set.
The crowd went wild with applause as the bright white of the house lights
filled the room, wreathing the outlines of the members of the band in an
ethereal glow.
But Boris had a new concern. His narrowed eyes scanned the crowd for her
once more, landing on her in that same faraway place where she had been.
But unlike before, where she seemed to be more interested in the
conversation with those she came with, her eyes now met his. A small smile
crossed his lips, knowing that the game was on.
He set his guitar onto his stand, and flashed a finger-spread open palm to
his bandmates, signaling “five minutes.” They nodded, their faces almost
stupefied with the thrill of a set performed perfectly.
Crouching down and stepping from the stage, Boris walked through the
crowd of adoring fans, their hands outstretched as if hoping for a mere
touch of his skin. The women in the front row signaled their interest with
sultry, burning eyes and coy smiles. But Boris was single-minded.
The crowd spread apart as he walked, as though he were a returning,
conquering king. The girl, his target, was now a few feet away, and met his
eyes with an expectant gaze as he approached. Boris closed the last bit of
distance between him and the girl, stopping only when he was inches away
from her.
“Hell of a set,” she said, her fingertip on the end of the slim, red straw of
her drink.
“Thanks,” he said, turning to the bartender and signaling for a pair of
drinks.
“Boris Trotsky,” she said, as though trying the name on for size, her limpid
blue eyes looking away is if in thought.
“And I don’t even know your first name,” he said. But he did.
“Mona,” she said. “Mona Allegra.”
“Mona Allegra,” said Boris. “Are you here by yourself, Mona Allegra?”
“I’m not,” she said, the bartender handing her and Boris a drink. “I’m with
that big guy, right over there.”
With a languidly-raised finger, Mona gestured towards a tall, broad-
shouldered man in a black undershirt and flashy, designer jeans. His hair
was jet black and his skin was the same porcelain as Mona’s. Intricate
tattoos snaked up and down his massive, muscular arms.
“Big guy, indeed,” said Boris, taking a sip from the cool bottle of beer in his
hand.
“My brother,” she said. “Very protective.”
Boris threw another glance at her brother. Just like Mona, he knew who this
man was. He knew exactly who he was. It was Giovanni Allegra, the man
who was responsible for the death of Boris’s beloved girlfriend. He was the
reason why Boris was even speaking to this girl, Mona.
“Seems to be slacking on his duties if a guy like me can slip past.”
“He gets distracted easily,” said Mona.
Sure enough, Giovanni’s attention seemed to be occupied at the moment by
a pair of young women who were looking up at him as he spoke with a loud
voice and punchy gesticulations. A loud, barking laugh erupted from the
trio, Giovanni’s carrying across the venue.
“I can see that,” said Boris.
“And what kind of guy are you exactly, Mr. Trotsky?” asked Mona, that
same coy smile playing on her face.
“The kind of guy who wants to get you out of here,” said Boris.
“Oh? And what did you have in mind?” she asked, intrigued.
“Somewhere I can get to know you a little better without a pair of watchful
eyes looking us over.”
“Very well. You lead, I’ll follow.”
Boris turned, gesturing for Mona to follow, a smirk on his full lips.
“This might be easier than I thought,” thought Boris to himself as they
weaved through the dense crowd, the next phase of his plan clear in his
mind.

CHAPTER 3

The house music throbbed as Boris led Mona through the tightly-packed
crowd, the faces of Boris’s fans lighting up as he passed.
“Popular boy,” said Mona, staying close enough to Boris that she could feel
the heat radiating from the bare skin of his ropy arms.
“I suppose you could say that,” he said as they closed in on the door to the
backstage area that he was leading her towards.
They reached it, and Boris pulled it open, revealing a dingy, narrow hallway
with walls of black, chipped paint and worn posters advertising shows long
since passed.
“I figured the backstage would be a little more…glamorous than this,” said
Mona, looking around.
“They’re not much for frills here,” said Boris still leading her, now down
the hallway towards a set of double doors.
But before they could reach them, the door to the green room opened to
their right, the bright lights of the space flooding the dark hallway. And
standing in the frame of the door was Ivan, a wide smile plastered on his
face, his shaggy, brown hair falling on both sides of his features.
“Boris, there you are!” he said, his words uneven.
“Ivan,” said Boris, hiding his frustration at being distracted.
“Where’d you run off to, man?” Ivan asked. “We’re gonna party the fuck
out of the green room before we gotta go. You in?”
Ivan moved his burly body to the side, revealing a medium-sized room
lined with dirty couches of black leather. The couches were packed with
groupies, as well as a few male hangers-on, all drinking and carousing. The
glass table in the middle of the room was topped with a large pile of white
powder which the partiers were all taking turns with. Loud, rock music
blasted from a speaker in the corner of the room. Looking around, Boris
could see Aran sitting on the couch, both arms over the slim shoulders of a
pair of groupies.
“I think I’ll pass,” said Boris.
Ivan’s bleary eyes settled on Mona, and he looked her over with a blatant,
sexual scan.
“Ah. Ah. I got ya,” he said, connecting a playful jab to Boris’s shoulder.
“I’ll leave you to it, my man.”
With that, he turned and headed back into the room.
“Don’t ash that fuckin’ cigarette in my beer, asshole!” were his last words
before the door shut behind him, the blaring music from the speakers
returning to a muffled din through the door.
“Charming man,” said Mona.
“Not the word I’d use, but to each her own,” he said.
The partying in the green room enticed Mona- it was a rare occasion that
her brother let her out of the house- but she was still keen to follow Boris
wherever he was taking her. She figured that Boris’s bandmate wasn’t too
far off with his suggestion as to what Boris had in mind, but she didn’t want
to say anything; it was more fun to just see how things played out.
They reached the double doors, which lead to a narrow stairwell that
seemed to stretch up forever.
“That’s quite a hike,” she said, looking up.
“That’s why we’re taking the elevator,” said Boris, titling his head towards
a small black door to their right.
He hit a button to the right of the door which slid open, revealing a small
elevator car.
“After you,” said Boris.
With a coy smile, Mona stepped in, and Boris followed, hitting a button
marked “R,” the door shutting behind him.
The elevator was small, cramped, and lit with a single, low light. Mona and
Boris were packed in tightly, their bodies nearly touching. Boris said
nothing as he looked into Mona’s eyes, letting the thrill of being with the
lead singer of the band do the work for him. And as he watched Mona’s full
lips part slightly, her teeth biting down on them sensually, he knew that he
wouldn’t have to work very hard for what he wanted. And though Mona
was merely an objective in a larger goal, he couldn’t help but notice how
beautiful she was. His eyes drifted down to the curves of her hips, her
shapely legs which seemed on the verge of bursting from the black, skin-
tight jeans they were in, the hint of her flat, toned stomach, and her
cleavage which was exposed tantalizingly.
But before he could consider her body further, the doors slid open. Mona
took in a small gasp as she saw where they were.
The scene before them was the stretch of the city, glittering white and
orange with evening lights. They were on the roof of the building, the
evening summer air warm and fresh on their skin. Boris stepped out of the
elevator, beckoning for Mona to follow him.
She obeyed, following him onto the concrete expanse of the rooftop, the
city backdrop unfolding before her with each step. Mona had lived in the
city for years, but seeing the majesty and scale of the Manhattan skyline
from a height like this was something that never grew old.
Boris continued to walk, stopping only when he reached the waist-high
cement wall of the roof. He sat down upon it and gestured once again
towards Mona.
“Hell of a view,” he said.
“I don’t know how you can sit there,” said Mona, a sliver of fear running
through her stomach when she saw how close Boris was to the edge.
“That’s gotta be 500 feet down.”
“550,” he said, turning his gaze back towards the city. “Come on,
everything good comes with a little risk.”
Mona walked with careful steps towards Boris. When she, at last, reached
him, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and moved her body onto the
cement wall.
“Can’t appreciate the view if you keep your eyes closed,” said Boris, his
low voice seemingly carried on the high, city winds.
Taking one last breath, Mona forced her eyes open. And he was right: the
view was incredible. The spires of the city stretched northward, the forms
of the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building imposing and
alight. The slivered moon hung overhead, and the gentle din of city traffic
floated up to where they sat. Craning her head and looking to the right,
Mona could see the blue, shimmering form of the East River, and the lights
of Brooklyn beyond.
Then, she turned her gaze to Boris, who looked at her with a sensual, hot
stare, his gray eyes seeming to burn through her.
“Told you it was worth it,” he said, his lips curling up on one side.
Her gaze then drifted down to Boris’s chest, the top buttons of his black,
button-up shirt undone, the top curves of his perfectly defined chest
exposed, the wind nipping at the edges of the fabric. She felt herself drift
into him, totally under his spell. Her eyes closed once again and her head
began to move towards Boris, as though being pulled by a force out of her
control. Her wet lips parted slightly, and at that moment she wanted nothing
more than to fall into the embrace of this strange, sensual man- this artist
who radiated with animal energy.
But the spell was broken by the clanging slam of the rooftop door. Turning
her head, she saw Giovanni, her brother, standing in the frame with his face
twisted in hot anger.
“Mona, step away from this fucker right now!” he yelled while rushing
towards them at a pace that was so fast as to be inhuman.

CHAPTER 4

As he grew closer, Boris could see that Giovanni’s eyes were a deep yellow
with small, red splotches in the middle. He stopped when he was mere feet
from them, his lungs expanding and contracting with deep, full breaths.
“Mona, you stupid girl. Do you have any idea what this man is?”
“He’s…he’s,” but Mona didn’t know how to finish the sentence, knowing
that simply stating that he was the lead singer of the band, which was all
she knew about him beyond his name, clearly wasn’t the answer her brother
was looking for.
“He’s a goddamn bear!” shouted Giovanni, his face shifting and twisting, as
though his bones were restructuring under his skin.
Boris stood up, adrenaline pumping through his veins upon seeing that
Giovanni was in the process of shifting.
“And what, you’re going to kill me for talking with a wolf? What good
would that do?”
Giovanni’s hands clenched into tight, red fists, and Boris could see the first
grey dustings on his skin from the fur beginning to form. Boris responded
by letting the adrenaline work through him, beginning his own shift.
Boris noted that while Giovanni knew that Boris was a bear, he didn’t seem
to be aware of his identity beyond that. He had no idea of the hatred that
Boris held for Giovanni, or the lengths that he’d go to in order to satisfy the
need for revenge that had been boiling in his heart for more than a year.
“There’s no goddamn way that I’m going to let my sister fuck around with a
bear! Never!”
“Gio, don’t! Stop!” yelled Mona, her arms, too, darkening with fur. Her
eyes changed in color from a soft blue to a wicked yellow, her expression
fearful, as though not able to fully control her shifting.
“Stay outta this!” Giovanni shouted, his arms growing in size and the fabric
of his clothing beginning to split and tear.
Boris felt his own body increase in size, his clothes now tight and stretched
over the bulk. His fingers began to lengthen and sharpen, his hands
changing into the large, crushing paws of a bear.
“Please! Stop!” said Mona, her red hair lengthening, her limbs growing and
thinning into the lean limbs of a wolf. “I don’t know how to control it!”
“She doesn’t know how to control her shifting?” shouted Boris, his voice
now inhumanely low.
“She’ll figure it out!” shouted Giovanni, his glowing eyes not turning from
Boris.
“You want to protect your sister? How the hell are you going to do that
when she’s in the middle of a shift she can’t control?”
A look of realization crossed over Giovanni’s now fur-covered face. He
turned his head towards Mona, who was still in the early phase of her shift.
“Please!” she shouted.
Giovanni stopped his own shift, now considering the situation.
A moment passed.
“Fine!” he yelled, reversing his shift, his body returning to his human form
within seconds.
“Good call,” said Boris, doing the same, shifting back to his human form.
Giovanni looked over at Mona. While her shift had stopped now that Boris
and Giovanni were no longer near blows, she was still partially in her wolf
form. And she was badly shaken by the near-fight.
“Come on, we’re getting out of here,” demanded Giovanni, his narrowed
eyes still on Boris.
“Give her a goddamn second!” said Boris, his hand now on Mona’s back as
she slowly shifted back to human form.
“Get your hand off of her,” demanded Giovanni. “She’s 21; she should
know how to control her shifting by now.”
Boris held his hand on her back for a second longer- briefly enough to not
inflame Giovanni’s anger further, but long enough to let him see that he
wouldn’t simply do as Giovanni commanded.
But Mona stopped him before he could take his hand away, wrapping her
now-hairless hands around Boris’s arm and lifting herself to her feet. With
slow, careful steps she walked to Giovanni’s side.
“Listen, rocker boy- this is your one warning. I don’t give a fuck if you’re a
bear or not; if you even think about going near my sister again, you’re
fucking dead.”
And with that, he grabbed Mona’s upper arm and walked towards the
rooftop exit with her.
But before they disappeared down the stairs, Mona looked back at Boris
with a look of longing.
They left the roof, Mona’s slim body disappearing behind the elevator
doors.
Boris knew that look; it meant that the seed was planted. He was planning
to inflame Giovanni’s protective instinct, but Boris was expecting the
standard “older brother/kid sister” sort of protectiveness. He wasn’t at all
expecting Giovanni to be as controlling and tyrannical towards Mona as he
had just been.
But it didn’t surprise Boris in the slightest.
He knew how cruel Giovanni could be. After all, he was the one who stole
Melanie, Boris’s ex-girlfriend, from him, enticing her with promises of
drugs and money. But he didn’t care for Melanie one iota- he simply saw
someone new, another young woman he could use and abuse, getting her
hooked onto heroin for no other reason than to have one more addict under
his thumb.
Boris got over the heartbreak of Melanie leaving him, and under normal
circumstances would’ve let the situation go.
But these weren’t normal circumstances.
Over the course of the months following Melanie leaving him for Giovanni,
Boris was forced to watch as his love grew sicker and frailer by the day as
the drugs did their insidious work on her body.
Weeks after he last saw her at a dive bar in Bushwick, her eyes sunken, her
skin the color of curdled tallow, Boris heard that her body was found on the
shore of Coney Island, the morning waves nipping her skin.
Her death was written up as a simple overdose- and it was- but that pat
description failed to take into consideration the months of slow torture
Melanie went through before she injected the dose that finally did her in.
And it was all due to Giovanni.
Boris knew that he’d be able to get back at him. The plan was simple:
Seduce Mona and steal her away from him. Over time, he’d bring her into
the fold, and she’d soon leave the wolves and their kind behind. And then
he could figure out what to do with Giovanni.
How attracted he found himself to Mona, and how despicably Giovanni
treated her, however, were two factors that Boris hadn’t counted on.
Looking around at the buildings that surrounded him on the rooftop, Boris
considered his next move. He would have to move in fast, taking advantage
of Mona’s obvious attraction towards him. But he’d have to step lightly, as
the encounter between he and Giovanni reminded him that things were
getting tense between the Italian Wolves and the Ukrainian Bears; one step
over the line could mean open war.
Boris stepped back into the elevator, the glittering cityscape shut out by the
elevator doors. Once he reached the bottom floor of the venue, he returned
to the green room, where the post-show debauchery was in full swing. Ivan
greeted Boris with a beer, but Boris knew he wasn’t in the mood for the
usual rock star nonsense. Sipping his beer as Ivan, Aron, and the rest of the
partiers danced, smoked, snorted, and fondled, nothing was on his mind but
the simple, sweet revenge.
CHAPTER 5
Mona watched as Giovanni clenched his jaw and his hands gripped the
steering wheel, his fingers red with tension.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he said, flashing an expression of
barely constrained rage at her for a brief moment before returning his eyes
to the road. “If you’re going to be a goddamn skank for any shithead with a
guitar, at least make sure they’re not a goddamn bear!”
Mona looked at the back of her hands as Giovanni whipped the car down
the lanes of Lower Manhattan, making his way to Nolita, the home
neighborhood of the Italian Wolves.
“I can talk to whatever guy I want, you asshole!” she said, crossing her
arms over her chest in a huff.
“You think that, but you’re fuckin’ wrong. You think you can get involved
with those Ukrainian pricks? You think I’m gonna just stand around while
my kid sister lets some Red shithead put his greasy fuckin’ paws all over
you? No goddamn way.”
He pulled a sharp turn, the rubber of the tires squealing and the honking of
horns sounding around them.
“You’re gonna get us killed, you goon!” yelled Mona.
“Not if you don’t do it first,” said Giovanni.
“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked.
“Do you know how close we are to war with the bears? Real fuckin’ close.
And if you get involved with one-a them, who knows if some stupid
couples spat you two have’ll end up bein’ the match that sets this whole
powder keg off.”
“That’s really rich, considering the reason for this whole maybe-war is that
you assholes won’t stop selling drugs.”
Giovanni clenched his jaw once again, this time with such tension that
Mona wondered if Giovanni was going to grind his perfect, white teeth into
a fine powder.
“You stay out of the business of our business, you got that?”
“It’s because of you guys, getting into selling drugs instead of legitimate
business like the tigers and bears, that we’re so close to war!”
“Not another word,” said Giovanni, his voice now low and grim.
Mona recognized this tone, it meant that Giovanni was done messing
around. She took this as her cue to stay quiet, unless she wanted to watch
Giovanni punch out the driver’s side window of the car, something that he’d
done more than once before.
As soon as the talking stopped, the image of Boris Trotsky, the man who
was the cause of this whole argument, floated into her mind. Boris had been
the object of her fantasies for months, ever since she saw Blood and Claw
play for the first time at a warehouse show in Brooklyn. She never thought
that he’d actually want anything to do with her; she figured that a popular,
unbelievably sexy musician like him could have his pick of any woman in
the city. Why would he want someone like her?
But, against all reason, he did. She couldn’t get the way he looked out of
her mind as he sat on the cement wall of the rooftop, the sleeves of his shirt
rolled up and cuffed around his lean, thick biceps, the way he looked at her
with his piercing, gray eyes…
She wanted him in spite of Giovanni’s protestations. In fact, the more of a
production Giovanni made about Boris, the more Mona wanted him,
partially out of lust, partially out of a desire to stand up to her domineering
brother. Mona hated how Giovanni sought to control her every move. He
said he did it to keep her safe, but the older she grew, the more she began to
suspect his need to keep constant tabs on her was less out of brotherly
concern and more an extension of his need to have as much as control as
possible over every facet of his life.
After a time, they arrived in the familiar streets of Nolita. Slim,
multicolored apartment buildings with wrought-iron fire escapes were the
sign that they were back in the neighborhood where she had spent her life to
this point. The garage door to their townhome opened as they approached
and the car slid into the cave-like interior.
“You’re staying here tonight,” he said when they parked. “After that shit
you just pulled…”
He shook his head, his voice trailing.
“Don’t be surprised if I keep you locked up in your goddamn room for the
next week.”
She knew he wasn’t being totally serious, but keeping her in her room for
days at a time, only able to leave for brief periods, was a punishment that he
had meted out many times before. But only when she was a teen in high
school.
“I’m an adult!” Mona protested. “You can’t just ground me like I’m some
kind of kid!”
“Oh, yes I can,” he said, that familiar anger returning to his steely eyes. “As
long as our money’s in my name, I tell you what to do.”
“Maybe I’ll leave! See if you can stop me!”
Giovanni slammed his palm against the textured rubber of the steering
wheel.
“Oh, you’ll leave? Then what? Be a shop girl in one of these rich lay
boutiques makin’ fifteen bucks an hour? Livin’ all the way out in fuckin’
Jersey, takin’ the train for an hour and a half there and back? That the kind
of life you wanna live?”
Mona considered his words, understanding that he was right. There’d be no
chance for a girl like her in the city without the resources that her ancestors
had earned and left for them. But they were from a different time and gave
the men in the family total control over the finances; she couldn’t go down
to the bodega on the corner for a sandwich without making sure it fit into
her allowance for the week.
Giovanni’s expression softened as he clenched his fist tight for a moment
before releasing it. He took a deep breath, then turned back towards Mona,
his anger seemingly cooled.
“Listen,” he said, the harsh lights of the garage filling the car and casting
his face in an almost sickly appearance. “I love you, Mo. You know that,
right?”
Mona sighed and nodded. She hated the way Giovanni controlled her, but
she would be wrong if she were to say it wasn’t mostly driven by his love
for her and desire to keep her safe.
“Yeah, I know, Gio.”
“I just don’t want you to get hurt, that’s all. And things are bad with the
bears, worse than you know. And that’s for a reason: I keep that shit out of
your life. I make sure none of the violence and shit on those streets ever
finds you.”
Mona nodded again, unable to dispute these words.
“Now let’s get up to the apartment. I got some people waiting for me.”
Mona’s stomach sank at these last words; she knew exactly what kind of
people would be up there.
They got out of the car, left the garage, and entered the small hallway that
led from the garage to the lower-level living room of the townhome. Mona
could already hear the loud music playing through the door, along with the
raucous carrying-on of men and women inside.
“I want you to get up to your room right when we get inside,” said
Giovanni, his hands on the doorknob, his eyes a stern glare.
Then he opened the door, and the two stepped inside.

CHAPTER 6

The spacious living room was occupied by a dozen of fellow shifters, both
men and women. They were lounging here and there on the expensive
furniture that had been in the home for decades, and all were drinking,
smoking cigarettes, making messes without any heed for what they ruined
or who would be cleaning things up. Mona knew it would invariably be her.
“There’re my fuckin’ people!” said Giovanni, his arms outstretched as he
entered the room with a cocky strut.
The group burst out into various uproarious greetings.
“Someone give me a fuckin’ beer,” he said to no one in particular, walking
into the center of the room and collapsing into the only chair that was
unoccupied, the one that everyone knew was reserved him, and him alone.
Mona stood in the doorway, noticing that no one got up to get the beer that
Giovanni requested. She sighed, realizing that it was understood that the
“someone” was her. She walked into the kitchen with quick, frustrated
steps, and opened the tall, stainless steel fridge, taking a bottle of beer.
Looking around the kitchen, she felt her blood run hot as she observed the
mess of empty beer bottles, piles of takeout boxes from the barbecue place
downstairs, and tracked footprints from the heavy boots the men of her kind
favored.
She returned to the living room, seeing that a pair of young women, both
blonde, both attractive, both with the same sneer on their faces, had joined
Giovanni. The three of them were packed tightly into the overstuffed chair.
“There’s my beer,” said Giovanni as Mona entered.
She handed the beer over to him, which he took with a quick swipe.
“Thanks, sis.”
“This is your sister?” asked one of the girls, looking over Mona with a scan
of harsh appraisal. “How old is she, 12?”
“Yeah, she looks like she should be in her room listening to Taylor Swift,”
said the other, both of the women laughing.
“Hey, lay off,” said Giovanni, his expression turning severe. “That’s my
fuckin’ sister you’re talking about.”
Recognizing immediately how serious Giovanni was, the two girls quickly
clammed up, looking down at the floor.
“But seriously, sis- get up to your room. You’re gonna be there for the rest
of the weekend.”
“But…“
“No ‘but,’” said Giovanni. “You don’t need to be around for what’s going
down in here.”
Mona knew what that meant- as the evening went on, the beer would be
replaced by harder and harder drugs. Looking around at the crowd, she only
recognized a few familiar faces from the pack; the rest were junkies, or
junkies in the making. The girls on Giovanni’s lap were his girls for the
week, low-class girls with good looks and few brains, along for the
excitement and thrills of being with a big-time drug dealer. Mona knew that
they’d be swapped out in a few days for the next pair before they had the
chance to see Giovanni’s true shifter nature, some drugs thrown their way to
keep them hooked and quiet.
“Seriously, sis- get up to your room,” said Giovanni, his voice taking on the
tone that signaled he was done talking.
Mona knew that there’d be no point in protesting. She started off towards
the stairwell, feeling the eyes of the male drug buyers on her, their gazes
lingering on her body. Mona hated the feeling of these low-life men looking
at her like this, and though she hated the idea of being stuck up her room for
the night, she now preferred it to being around the types of people that
Giovanni dealt with.
She ran up the stairs, arriving at the second of the three floors of the home.
But as she prepared to finish the trip up to her room, she was struck by the
sight of a pair of silhouettes standing on the balcony. Nothing but their
outlines were visible, aside from the pair of orange embers of their
cigarettes as they took slow drags.
Mona stepped towards the balcony, curious as to who was out there. She
knew hey must’ve been guests of the party, but they were choosing to be
apart from it, smoking on the balcony in peace rather than partaking in the
debauchery that was on the verge of breaking out.
She walked slowly, her steps quiet and careful, as though the pair were two
wild animals that she didn’t want to scare off. But as she drew close enough
to see details of the pair, the doors to the balcony flew open, the cool,
evening air rushing into the apartment.
Mona saw instantly that the pair on the balcony weren’t like the others
downstairs. They were Senegalese Tiger shifters- a man and a woman. The
two were tall, with dark, ebony skin and white eyes with chocolate circles
in the middle that gazed upon Mona with expressions of knowing
amusement, the din of the street below swirling around them. Both were
dressed in tight-fitting, stylish clothing of mute colors and vaguely African
inspiration, and both were strikingly beautiful.
“There’s the little girl we’ve been hearing so very much about,” said the
man, flashing two rows of pearl-white teeth as he spoke.
“It appears so,” said the woman, looking Mona up and down. “But isn’t it
always the case that when you hear so much about someone before meeting
them they always end up being shorter in person?”
The man chuckled while swirling a glass of red wine.
“Yes, that is true. Especially when they end up being this small.”
“Who the hell are you two?” asked Mona, frustrated with being spoken
about in such a way, right to her face.
“We are guests of your brother, of course,” said the man, as though the
statement were so obvious that he found it strange the question even needed
to be asked.
“Then what are you doing up here?” asked Mona. “Why aren’t you both
downstairs with the rest of the…guests?”
“I am thinking that ‘guests’ wasn’t the word that she wanted to say, my
brother,” said the woman to the man, a smile creeping across her full, dark
lips.
“I am thinking the same thing,” said the man. “But what bad guests we’re
being, separate from the party and not even introducing ourselves to the
sister of our gracious host.”
“Sana,” said the woman, touching the bare upper portion of her chest with
the fingertips of her right hand.
“And I am Awa,” said the man, raising his glass of wine before bringing it
to his lips.
“How do you know me?” asked Mona. “Have we met before?”
“We have not, little one,” said Awa. “But we have heard much about you.”
“How? From Giovanni?” Mona asked, feeling ill at ease.
The two shared a knowing look.
“Yes, from your brother,” said Sana.
“We do not wish to be rude, little Mona,” said Awa. “But we are in the
middle of a private conversation.”
“Yes,” said Sana. “An important one.”
“Hey, I live here,” said Mona, indignation to her voice. “You can’t ju-“
“But it was a pleasure meeting you,” said Awa, interrupting.
“And we are certain that we will be seeing more of you in the future,” said
Sana.
Mona said nothing, simply backing away from the strange pair and shutting
the door behind her. She walked the rest of the distance up to the third floor,
the entirety of which was more-or-less her room. The events of the evening
swirling in her mind, Mona collapsed on her bed and fell into a dreamless
sleep.

CHAPTER 7

“Mona! Where the hell are you?” yelled Giovanni from beyond the door.
Mona’s eyes shot open and she jumped out of bed, knowing even through
the sleep that hung heavy on her that she shouldn’t keep Giovanni waiting.
She threw on a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting t-shirt, stepped into a pair of
sneakers, and dashed down towards Giovanni’s master bedroom on the
second floor.
Mona had slept well into the afternoon, only leaving her bed when she
awoke to get something to eat. The living room was a mess, as expected,
and she was grateful to have so much space in the house so she could at
least have some respite from the constant, loud partying Giovanni always
seemed to be bringing into their home.
Once down on the second floor, Mona saw that the door to Giovanni’s
bedroom was wide open. He was sitting on the edge of his massive bed with
his head in his hands, the sheets a mess around him, beer bottles and drug
paraphernalia on the floor, the two girls from the night before on the bed,
their limbs sticking out in random angles from underneath the covers.
“There you are, goddamnit,” he said, his voice tired and worn. “How long
were you gonna make me yell?”
“You know, you could just come up and knock on my door like a normal
person,” Mona said, frustration in her voice.
“Mo, don’t even think about starting my day with attitude,” he said.
“Well, what do you want?”
“I got another get-together happening tonight. High-ups, important people
this time.”
Mona’s stomach sank and the idea of having to suffer through another one
of Giovanni’s drug-deals.
“I want you to get the downstairs spic-and-fuckin’-span for tonight.”
She wanted to protest, but knew it wouldn’t do her any good.
“Fine,” she said, stomping off downstairs into the living room.
The beer bottles and cans were one thing, but as she looked over the
evidence of the drugs sales that and the attendant samplings that took place
last night, a feeling that was a combination of fear and anger began to swell
in her. Giovanni was getting deeper and deeper into the drug world by the
day, and Mona feared it would open up and swallow the both of them into
it.
Ever since her people, the Italian Wolves, arrived in the city in the latter
part of the 19th century, they strove to maintain a strong tradition of hard,
honest work. Like the other European immigrants who came to the city
during this time, they were outsiders in a home so unlike the one where they
had grown up. But unlike the other Italians that arrived in the new world,
her ancestors had another aspect to their nature that made isolated them
from the rest of their new home: they were shifters.
They kept to themselves, for fear of their powers being known. But despite
this burden, they worked feverishly, so that they could amass a fortune large
enough for their descendants to have wealth substantial enough to not only
live well, but to stay competitive with the Ukrainian bears and the
Senegalese tigers that also called the city home. They knew that if they fell
behind and became less powerful, they would be overwhelmed by the other
shifters in the city.
So they worked, becoming extremely wealthy in the process- wealthy
enough for the pack to stay strong and rich, and wealthy enough that they
could bring new shifters into the fold, if they so choose.
But this all changed when Mona and Giovanni’s parents were killed by
Ukrainians decades ago. Giovanni, revenge and rage in his heart, quickly
took over the pack when he came of age, using the power of the blood of
the Alphas who were in his line to seize control. And when he was firmly
placed in charge he made two oaths, the first that he would one day destroy
the Ukrainians, and the second that he would make the pack more rich and
powerful, by any means necessary.
To this end, he used the money passed down from generation to generation
to purchase product and connections, embroiling the pack in the New York
drug trade. He peddled heroin and coke to whoever wanted it, selling more
and more by year. And over the course of the last few years, he had become
one of the most powerful drug kingpins in the city.
This power, however, came at the cost of the strength of the pack. The rest
of the wolves were fiercely opposed to involving the pack in the drug trade,
preferring the honest work of their ancestors. They, like Mona, knew it was
only a matter of time before either the law or one of the other drug families
in the city came down on them, and when that day arrived the pack would
be torn apart. But Giovanni was the alpha, and due to his standing, the pack
was obliged to do whatever he commanded. Unless the wolves wanted to
overthrow him- a power shift that could be deadly with the possible war
with the Ukrainians on the horizon- they were stuck with his orders.
Mona knew that she was safe for now, but knew it was only a matter of time
before everything came crashing down.
She cleaned the living room as best she could, knowing that it would be a
wreck again before the night was out. And by the time she finished, it was
well into the evening, the lights of the street beyond the massive windows
of the living room flooding the otherwise dim room.
With the downstairs clean, she had no reason to be out of her room; Mona
knew that she would incur Giovanni’s wrath if she was out here against his
wishes. Taking a beer from the fridge, she went back up to her room to
spend the rest of the Saturday evening ahead alone.
Cracking the beer and taking a sip as she collapsed onto her bed, the events
of the evening prior flooded her mind as she looked out of the bedroom
window onto the evening cityscape. She thought of Boris, how he looked
on stage, his guitar slung down to his knees, his handsome face tightened
into an expression of passion as he sang his lyrics. She’d had her eye on
him for months and last night she finally had her chance. But Giovanni and
his protective, controlling nature once again interfered with any chance of
her being able to live anything resembling a normal.
She was beginning to resent Giovanni, wanting nothing more than to tell
him that he couldn’t control her forever, that his reckless rule of their pack
would be the death of all of them. But she knew that she couldn’t tell
Giovanni these things- even though she was his sister, confronting the
Alpha in such a way was tantamount to rebellion. He would be obliged to
put her down to protect his status.
Mona felt trapped. Sure, she had an amazing place to live and didn’t have to
worry about money, but she wondered what was the point of any of that if
she couldn’t live how she wanted? And her shifting was beginning to
happen more and more frequently; she still didn’t know how to control it.
Taking another sip of her beer, Mona reached for her laptop, preparing to
spend another dull evening inside, followed by a day of more cleaning.
But before she could open her computer, a rapping sounded at her window.
She gasped, seeing that there was someone standing on her fire escape. She
clamored out of bed and drew close, her heart racing as she tried to imagine
who could be standing there.
Then, to her surprise, she saw that it was Boris. She gasped, her beer falling
to the floor with a thud.

CHAPTER 8
Mona looked around in her room, as though she were expecting Giovanni to
be standing behind her, aware of what was happening. She drew closer to
the window, now near enough to be able to see Boris in clear detail. He was
wearing another button-up shirt, like last night, though this one was a deep,
dark red. It fit his muscular torso snugly, hinting at what lay beneath. His
hair was slicked backwards, looking dark and wet. His gorgeous face was
fixed in an expression that was sensual and playful, as though attempting to
entice her to break the rules simply with a glance. When Mona drew close
enough, Boris flicked his eyebrows and nodded towards the hatch to the
window.
Her eyes fixed on his, Mona opened the window.
“Good evening,” he said, his voice calm and low, as though what he was
doing was as not something that was putting his life at risk.
“What are you doing here?” Mona hissed, her eyes wide as she threw one
last glance back towards to the door to make sure it was shut.
“I’m here to see you, of course.”
“Do you have any idea what you’re doing right now?
“I know exactly what I’m doing,” he said.
Mona huffed and crossed her arms under her breasts.
“Yeah? And what’s that?”
“I’m here to ask if you’d like to join me for the evening.”
“Are you insane?”
“Maybe a little. Come, step outside with me.”
Mona knew she shouldn’t even be talking to Boris, let alone leaving the
apartment with him. Her rational mind knew that she should shut the
window, draw the blinds, and pretend that she never saw Boris. But instead,
she complied, stepping out of the window and onto the fire escape, the
sounds of the traffic below rushing up to greet her. A soft, warm wind was
blowing. As she brought her other foot over the window, Boris held Mona
steady by her upper arms, that same rush of passion coursing through her
blood as his skin touched hers.
“Do you have any idea who my brother is?” she asked
“Of course I do. And I know that he keeps you here in a gilded cage.”
Mona said nothing. She felt silly for asking him if he knew how Giovanni
was- every shifter did. And every shifter also knew how dangerous he was.
“So what, you think you’re just going to show up and I’ll come with you,
no questions asked?”
“I think the time for ‘no questions asked’ has already passed.”
“Cute. But I got in some serious shit last night for talking with you. If
Giovanni sees me with you again...”
“If he finds out, which he won’t, then I’ll be the one who pays the price. He
talks a big talk, but he’d never do anything worse to his little sister than
ground you like a tyrannical father.”
Mona said nothing as she continued to glower at Boris, her blue eyes
narrowed, her thin arms crossed again.
“Besides, you know that once his little parties downstairs get going, he’ll be
distracted for the night.”
She knew that he was right about this. But still, she couldn’t help but
wonder how Boris knew so many details about her and Giovanni’s
relationship. It’s almost as if he’d done his homework.
“Come on, there are more fun things we can be doing than standing on a
fire escape,” he said, extending his hand.
Mona’s worried expression turned to a sly, conspiratorial one. She took his
hand, and with the gracefulness that shifters were capable of, they bounded
down the fire escape and onto the city streets below. Once on the sidewalk,
they stood still for a moment, the throngs of pedestrians moved around
them like river water around a pair of stones, the last vestiges of the setting
sun filling the air with a gentle mauve that drifted into a pitch black above.
“I feel like I just broke out of jail,” said Mona, catching her breath.
“That’s not an entirely inaccurate description,” said Boris.
Mona took a moment to let her surroundings sink in, to let the fact that she
was now breaking the rules in about as severe a manner as possible settle in
her mind.
“Well then,” she said, finally breaking the silence. “Where to?”
“I think a little trip out of the city is in order,” said Boris, turning away from
Mona and walking.
“Wait, what?” she asked, surprised. It was one thing to slip out of her
apartment for a quick bite, but leaving the city seemed just too dangerous.
“Don’t worry,” said Boris over his shoulder. “I’ll have you back before
bedtime.”
Mona stepped more quickly to keep up with Boris’s long strides. They
proceeded down the length of the street. After a time, Boris stopped.
“What’s up?” asked Mona, wondering why they had stopped.
Boris pointed with his thumb to a motorcycle next to them, an impressive,
bulky bike of chrome and dark green.
“Here’s our ride,” he said.
Mona looked over the bike with impressed eyes as Boris hopped on. She
stood still for a moment, unsure of what to do, before Boris patted the seat
behind him, a smirk on his face as he looked back at her.
She climbed on, wrapped her arm around his firm, hard body, and with a
series of powerful, loud revs from the bike, they took off, peeling down the
narrow streets of Nolita, the evening air whipping Mona’s hair. They drove
through Lower Manhattan, the high rises of the area towering above them,
their glittering lights a contrast to the inky sky above. After a time, they
reached the Holland Tunnel and drove down into its depths, the orange
tracking lights that lined the side of the curved walls a straight blur as they
made their way through.
After a time, they exited the tunnel on the Jersey side. Mona held Boris
tight, feeling safe as she gripped his body while he weaved the bike through
traffic. Once they left the traffic of the city, Boris picked up speed, the
engine of the bike emitting a fierce growl. They continued on, driving away
from the city and the faraway New York skyline vanished behind the
horizon.
She wanted to ask where they were going, where he was taking her. And
she still felt slight slivers of fear as she thought about what might happen if
Giovanni found out that she was gone. But these worries ebbed and faded
as they drove, the buildings around them growing less and less dense.
But just Mona began to really wonder where he was taking her, she spotted
a sign on the highway that indicated the turnoff for the Great Swamp
National Wildlife Refuge was just ahead. As they reached it, Boris pulled
off.
Any signs of civilization disappeared as they drove, with great trees topped
with canopies of dark green leaves beginning to tower above them as they
made their way deeper into the park. Wildlife darted along the length of the
road before disappearing back into the trees. Mona couldn’t remember the
last time she was so close to nature.
After a time, Boris drove the bike next to a massive tree, parked it, and
stepped off, the quiet of the park a stark contrast to the roar of the engine.
“We’re here,” Boris said, looking around at the trees above, his boots
landing with soft steps on the grass.
“It’s beautiful,” said Mona. “But what are we going to do?”
Boris’s eyes narrowed, the side of his mouth pulling upwards into a sly grin.
“Run free, of course.”

CHAPTER 9
“You can’t mean what I think you mean,” said Mona, fear once again rising
up from deep within her.
“It’s exactly what I mean,” said Boris, unbuttoning his shirt.
Once he undid the last button he pulled the shirt off, revealing a sculpted
torso of fair, flawless skin and rippling muscles; it was exactly the sort of
amazing body that Mona suspected that he had, and for a moment she was
unable to speak, distracted by his physical perfection.
“But, I don’t know how,” Mona protested.
Boris stopped disrobing and walked towards Mona, placing his hands on
her shoulders.
“You will,” he said, looking deep into her eyes. “You’re a shifter, a wolf-
changing is part of your nature. The only reason you feel this way about this
part of yourself is because you have a brother who denies you the
opportunity to be who you are. He keeps you fearful of your shifting,
fearful of your power.”
Mona knew that he was right. Even from a young age, Giovanni taught
Mona to fear her shifting powers, and never trained her properly to control
them, as was his duty as an older sibling. And now, at the age of 21, she
was unsure of how to utilize these powers that were so integral to her
nature.
“I can show you,” he said. “It’s simply a matter of clearing your mind and
letting your animal side rise up. It’s as natural to our kind as breathing or
walking. Watch.”
Boris kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his pants, nothing but a pair of
skin-tight, black boxer-briefs remaining on his body, the fabric showing off
every bulge of his powerful leg muscles.
“Now you,” he said.
A shot of fear ran through Mona, she didn’t feel ready to shift. She feared
losing control, turning into a wild, feral wolf that had forgotten its
humanity.
“Trust me,” he said. “You have nothing to fear.”
Mona nodded, letting the calm of Boris’s voice work its way through her,
allaying her fears. She pulled her shirt up over her head, the slight chill of
the evening air rushing over her body. Then, she stepped out of her shoes,
slipped off her socks, and shimmied out of her slim, tight jeans. She stood
there in nothing but a mismatched set of bra and panties, her arms clasped
over her body.
“I’ll go first,” said Boris. “Then you. Calm your mind, just remember that
any thoughts of fear can be safely tossed aside. Shifting is a part of who you
are, and you’ll never be at peace until you learn how to control your
powers.”
Hooking his thumbs into the waistband of his underwear, Boris pulled them
off. Mona’s eyes shot down to his long, thick manhood which hung heavy
between his legs. Then, he closed his eyes, took a deep, full breath, and
within seconds he shifted into his animal form: a massive bear, all muscles
and brown, shaggy fur. He stepped towards Mona, looking into her eyes
with his own, which were the same brilliant gray as those in his human
form. They calmed Mona, signaling her that she could make her own
transformation.
Reaching behind her, Mona unfastened her bra, her full breasts tumbling
free. Then she stepped out of her panties, her womanhood bare aside from a
tuft of red hair above her sex. She wanted to cover herself up out of
modesty, but realized that she needed to do nothing but focus on her
shifting, to clear her mind.
Closing her eyes, she let her arms fall to her sides. Mona attempted to let all
thoughts aside from those of shifting out of her mind, focusing on the sound
of Boris’s heavy, snorting breath.
Then, she felt it. Her body began to change, hair sprouting from her skin,
her limbs thinning, her face elongating. It was as Boris said: no different
than making the decision to take a step, or jump into the air. Within
seconds, she was in her wolf form. Looking at Boris, he nodded his
massive, ferocious head before indicating to follow him once more.
With that, he took off, his enormous, brown body stomping off into the
woods with wild abandon. Soon, he vanished into the green of the foliage,
the rustling of the leaves the only indication that he had passed.
Mona still didn’t feel completely comfortable in her form, it seemed as
though she couldn’t hold it and that she would shift against her will back to
being human at any moment. But as she stood alone in the woods, she knew
that she had no other option but to run.
So, she did.
With an explosive bound of energy, she propelled herself forward on her
four paws, running with immediate and extreme speed, the air rushing
passed her as the branches of the foliage whipped against her fur. She ran
for minutes, but still hadn’t caught up to Boris, wherever he went.
Stopping, she stuck her nose into the air and brought in a pair of great
sniffs. On the air, she caught the scent of the wet leaves and dirt that
surrounded her, followed the smell of the various woodland creatures. Then
another smell, the smell of fur, skin, and hot, male musk. She knew
instantly that this was Boris, and began to run again in the direction of his
scent. Mona picked up speed and control as she ran, and with each passing
second, she felt more at home in this strange, animal body.
Finally, she reached the sharp incline of a steep hill. The scent continued
upwards, and she followed it, moving higher and higher up, each step
requiring more strength to stay stable. She could see the crest of the hill
above, the endless stretch of the night sky beyond.
Then, she reached the crest, stepping over it. Before her was the highest
point of the reserve, a large bluff that faced east, not only overlooking the
park but the landscape beyond, the bright half-circle of lights from
Manhattan visible in the far distance.
And sitting on the hill cross-legged was Boris, back in his human form.
Mona followed his cue, and with a final deep breath, she shifted back, the
cool of the air even starker against her furless, unclothed skin.
She stepped with bare feet on the wet grass, approaching Boris and sitting
down next to him. They both said nothing for a time, instead looking out at
the sweeping landscape ahead of them.
“You live in the city for long enough and you forget that there’s nature that
isn’t Central Park,” Mona said.
“I know exactly what you mean,” said Boris, his gaze still fixed ahead.
“This is where I come to clear my head.”
“It’s beautiful,” she responded.
“And you shifted,” he said, turning his eyes to hers. “It was impressive;
your wolf form is extremely powerful.”
Mona felt herself blush.
“That’s what I’ve heard,” Mona said, feeling small under Boris’s steely
gaze. “When I was young, I was told there was something unique about my
family’s shifting abilities, that they’re more powerful than most.”
“Probably why your brother was able to become the Alpha of the pack at
such a young age.”
Mona nodded; this did make sense.
“But he never let me develop my own powers. He always kept me isolated,
told me that the politics of the pack weren’t anything I needed to worry
about.”
“It sounds like he’s afraid of your power.”
Mona shook her head in disbelief.
“There’s no way that someone like him could be afraid of me- I’m no one.”
To Mona’s surprise, Boris responded by reaching over, grabbing her by the
shoulder, and looking deep into her eyes.
“You’re wrong,” he said, his voice grave. “You just haven’t learned yet how
powerful you are, and how powerful you can be.”
Mona said nothing, her mind focused on Boris’s hand on her bare shoulder,
a feeling of heat radiating from where he touched her. She could hardly
focus on his words.
“It’s not true,” she said, turning her eyes away, partially out of disbelief of
his words, and partially out of the difficulty she was having looking directly
into his deep gaze.
But he wouldn’t let her turn away. Taking her chin with the crook of his
finger, he turned her face back towards his.
She could tell that he wanted to speak, to say something to restore her sense
of confidence, but as she looked into his eyes, she sensed a different
feeling- a more heated, sensual one.
Before she could react, however, Boris moved forward while tilting her face
towards his as he pressed his lips upon hers.
The kiss was slow, even chaste at first, but it quickly increased in intensity
as Boris pulled Mona towards him, pressing her nude body against his, her
legs cool and wet from the dewy grass upon which she sat. His kiss
surprised her. She hoped that Boris wanted her, and she desired him more
than she could ever remember desiring a man, but she didn’t dare think that
he would want her, let alone with the intensity that he was showing towards
her now.
Boris reached around Mona, wrapping his strong, muscular arm around her
slim, cool shoulders, wrapping her in him, his lips parting as he kissed her,
slipping his tongue into her mouth. But as he kissed her, a hot streak of
fearful awareness ran through her- she was now not only out against her
brother’s wishes, but she was associating with a member of another clan in
a way that would surely push her passed the point of no return with
Giovanni’s wrath.
“We can’t,” she said as he kissed her neck, the sensation of his lips on her
soft skin sending electricity through her body.
“Yes, we can,” he said through a hot breath.
“But what if,” she said.
“That doesn’t matter,” said Boris.
And that was all she needed to hear. She pushed these feelings out of her
mind, ready to be done with Giovanni and his controlling nature. Mona let
herself be taken by Boris, now feeling no other urge than to surrender to
this strange, beautiful man.
His hands moved down along her hips, feeling every inch of her soft, supple
curves as he kissed her. Mona heard his breath deepen, as though she were
being filled with a desire for her that increased by the moment, building to
an incredible intensity.
Boris’s hand continued along Mona’s body, moving from the outer sides of
her thighs to between them, her legs parting to accommodate him. He
continued to kiss her, his hand moving closer and closer to her until his
hand rested upon her sex.
“You’re so wet,” he said, his voice a purr.
And she was; she was wetter than she thought, as though her body were
begging for what her mind had been trying to talk her out of.
Boris moved his other hand down to the small curve of Mona’s lower back,
letting her body fall softly backwards onto the wet grass, the sensation of
the dew on her skin sending a chill up through her body. But she knew that
she would be very warm, very soon. Boris rolled on top of her, positioning
himself between her legs. Mona looked down along the chiseled angles of
his body, her eyes resting on his huge, thick cock, hard and long. It was
easily the largest cock she’d ever seen in person, and she wondered if she
would be able to fit the entire massive member into her small body.
But she was eager to find out.
His frame outlined by the star-filled sky above him, Boris looked down at
Mona with an expression of deviousness, as though taking exquisite
pleasure indulging in what was forbidden. And Mona couldn’t lie to herself:
The off-limits nature of what they were about to take part in only made her
want it more, and as she stared down at Boris’s cock, the only desire in her
mind was to have it inside of her as quickly as possible.
And he complied. Lowering his body, his muscles flexing as he descended
upon her, Boris took his thick cock by the base and pressed the head against
the lips of her pussy. Feeling him against her only made her want him even
more.
“Please, put it in me,” she said, the words escaping her lips without any
conscious effort on her part.
He didn’t tease her for much longer. His hand on his cock, Boris lowered
himself the rest of the distance down, his prick sliding into her, filling her
completely to the hilt.
She gasped as his cock entered her inch by inch, the feeling of heat and
pleasure increasing more and more the deeper he moved into her. Now
completely penetrated, Mona wrapped her arms around Boris’s hard, strong
back, widening her legs, imploring him to continue.
Boris’s pace was slow at first, plunging in and out of her at a rhythm that
allowed her small body to accustom to his cock. Mona gasped as he moved,
feeling herself grow wetter and wetter by the moment. He soon picked up
his speed, moving at a faster and faster pace, plunging in and out of Mona
over and over, the sound of his hips connecting with hers filling the still air
around them.
Mona could already feel the first blossoms of orgasm stir within her as
Boris pounded her harder and harder, his grunts mixing with her moans.
She moved her hands up and down his body hungrily, feeling every inch of
his muscles from the wide span of his shoulders to the hard notches of his
hip bones below his sculpted abs, finally settling her hands on the firm,
round cheeks of his ass. Boris responded in kind, holding himself up with
one arm as he moved the other along her curves, paying special attention to
her ripe, full breasts and small pink nipples. He licked and sucked, lashing
with his tongue as he did so, the feeling of sensual pleasure from his expert
stimulating of her most sensitive, erogenous areas.
“That feel good?” he said as he pounded her, squeezing the soft flesh of her
ass with his free hand.
“So fucking good,” she responded through her heavy panting.
Her orgasm moved closer and closer, the white hot feeling of pleasure
enveloping her entire body, the tips and her fingers and toes feeling almost
numb from the pleasure. No other feeling in the world existed for her
beyond the sensation of Boris’s cock inside of her, pounding her hard, her
body shifting with each full, deep thrust, the steady rhythm luring her into a
trance-like state.
Boris looked into her eyes with that same manly glare, as though
demanding that she cum for him. And she soon obliged. With a thundering
crescendo, Mona’s orgasm arrived, sending pounding waves of pleasure
through her body. Her legs pulled in close to her body and her face
tightened into a wince as the orgasm moved through her, filling her with a
pleasure that she had never before experienced.
Then, Boris came, his own orgasm thundering like a boulder. Mona felt him
spray his cum into her, emptying himself completely, filling her with him as
he made his final pumps. Mona’s grip loosened on Boris, her limbs settling
on the grass, her body exhausted. Boris slid out of her, his seed spilling
down her inner thigh as he withdrew. With a heave of his muscles, he rolled
off of her and onto the grass to her side. They both lay there for a time,
regaining their breath as they looked up into the canopy of twinkling stars
above.
“Looks like shifting isn’t the only thing you’re good at,” said Mona rolling
onto her side and looking over Boris’s glistening, muscular body.
“I like to think so,” he said, a cocky tone to his voice and a smirk on his
mouth.
More moments passed.
“You’re worried,” said Boris.
“Yeah, I guess I am. Everything just feels so crazy. Not just with me, but
with the tensions between the clans.”
“Things are worse than I’ve ever seen them,” said Boris. “We’ve come
close to war before, but never this close.”
“And last night there were a couple of Senegalese at my apartment.”
Boris’s eyes widened.
“Really?” he asked, surprised. “Senegalese at a drug party? That’s…unlike
them.”
Mona nodded. She knew how strange it was to see Senegalese outside of
Petite Senegal in Harlem. They tended to only venture into the territories of
the other clans when they had a specific purpose. And they weren’t much
for illicit drugs, instead preferring the strange, intoxicating potions that they
prepared themselves.
“These are odd times,” he continued.
“And it’s all my brother’s fault,” said Mona. “He’s the one who forced the
pack into selling drugs, he’s the one who’s bringing us to the brink of war.
Boris said nothing, his thoughts now rife with images of Melanie, the
woman stolen from him by Giovanni.
“I just don’t know what to do,” said Mona. “I can’t live like this any
longer.”
Boris felt his jaw tighten as the reality of his plan became clear to him. His
intentions with Mona were simple, at first: use her to get to Giovanni. But
now that he was here with her, that he was seeing that her power was more
than he was anticipating, not to mention feeling a strong, real attraction
towards her, things were beginning to become less certain.
Not to mention the way his heart stirred as he looked upon her beautiful
nude body, bathed in moonlight.
But he wasn’t sure at all how to proceed. Boris was becoming increasingly
aware that this was bigger than his simple revenge. A war was coming- that
much was certain. Giovanni’s power grew by the day, propped up by his
relationship with the top New York drug kingpins, one of which he was
rapidly becoming. If left unchecked, Giovanni might soon possess enough
power to conquer the Ukrainians, then the Senegalese, killing them all, or
enslaving them to do his dirty work in the drug world.
His own personal designs aside, Boris knew that Giovanni had to go.
And Mona was a complication. Her power was surprising, there was a
chance she could be one of the strongest shifters in generations. Boris
suspected that Giovanni was acutely aware of his sister’s strength. Why else
would he keep her under his thumb the way he had been? All it would take
is a year or two of training for her to develop her powers enough to easily
best him; keeping Mona in the dark about what she was capable of was one
way to avoid having to concern himself with what she could do. Especially
if she began to have designs of her own for the position of pack Alpha…
Boris had been wrapped up in his own thoughts for what seemed like just a
few moments, but it had been longer than that. He called Mona’s name, but
when he heard no response, he saw that she had fallen asleep, her nude
breasts rising and falling with each soft, sleeping breath. Lying on his back
and interweaving his hands behind his head, Boris looked up at the evening
sky. He felt his eyelids grow heavy and sleepy, and the last thoughts that
crossed his mind as he drifted off into sleep were that he very well could
have bitten off far, far more than he would be able to chew.

CHAPTER 10
Giovanni Allegra sat back, looking over the mouth of his beer bottle at the
small crowd in his living room. The members of his pack were carousing,
as usual, most of them high on the portion of this week’s shipment that he
let them indulge in. Though, he knew it wasn’t really up to them, they all
knew that any member of the pack that showed the slightest bit of
apprehension when it came to the drug dealing lifestyle would be dealt with
harshly.
The music was blaring, and the dealers and their women were already some
combination of drunk and high, which is what Giovanni wanted. He knew
that anything that addled their minds, and thus their business sense, would
only work to his advantage.
“Yo, Gio!” one of them called out, a long-haired man in the same gruff,
Staten Island accent as the rest of the men. “You want another hit of this
shit?”
“Nah, I’m good,” said Giovanni, shaking his head and curling his lip. He
knew he’d taken enough.
The man shrugged his shoulders before pulling out a baggie of white
powder and carefully tilted it over the now-streaked mirror that was in the
center of the living room coffee table. The other dealers and the girls
gathered around it, greedy looks across their faces. The ten or so members
of the pack that were there- the higher-ups that Giovanni had working as
pushers for the rest- looked at him with apprehension, as though waiting for
his cue. Giovanni nodded, and they all began moving towards the drugs
with varying looks of enthusiasm on their faces.
The dealers lined about a few dozen neat white rows, and the party goers all
took turns taking their sniffs. The energy of the dealers shot up
immediately.
“You gotta get in on this shit, Gio!” said one of the dealers. “Fuckin’ quality
shit!”
“I said I’m good,” said Gio, his voice now stern.
Now that the guests were high on their fresh dose, the intensity of the party
only increased. Beers were chugged, the bottles tossed here and there, some
breaking, with their dark, jagged shards sinking into the carpet, to be
pressed and broken in further by the heavy work boots the pack all
preferred. Giovanni didn’t like it when they trashed the place, but he knew
that letting the dealers and the pack blow off steam at these deals helped
keep things running smoothly. And the last thing he wanted to deal with
was a power struggle. He knew that as long as he kept Mona locked up
good and tight, he probably wouldn’t have to worry about that.
He smirked as he drank his beer, looking over the mess, knowing that Mona
would have quite the day of cleaning ahead of her for tomorrow. And as he
sipped his drink, his eyes traveled to one of the women in attendance, a
brunette with green eyes and a slim body who met his gaze with a sultry
look and a seductive smirk. The girls who hung around these dealers were
exactly the types who went for those with power and money, and as
someone with both, Giovanni knew he had his choice of women. But he
decided to relax and enjoy little more of the party before sending her up to
his room.
A loud crash from within the packed crowd of party goers signaled to him
that the relaxing he wanted wasn’t going to happen.
“You fuckin’ asshole!” shouted a voice that Giovanni instantly recognized
as belonging to Carlo, one of his lieutenants.
“Get your fuckin’ hand off of me!” responded another voice, which
Giovanni didn’t recognize, and therefore assumed was one of the dealers.
Giovanni couldn’t make out what was happening, but knew that it likely
was another fight over drugs, money, or women, just like every other spat
that broke out between the dealers and the pack. He finished his beer, tossed
the bottle into the corner, and shot up from his chair. Once he reached the
crowd, he pushed his way through, the bodies moving aside when they
realized who was trying to get by.
And once he broke through to the fight, he saw a dealer about to square off
with Antonio, another high-up in the pack. Standing to the side was Kendra,
Antonio’s girl, with a fearful look on her face and her arms crossed under
her breasts.
“What the fuck’s goin’ on?” demanded Giovanni, pushing the rest of the
dealers and pack members out of his way.
“This motherfucker’s trying to take my girl!” said Antonio, his handsome
face red and twisted in anger. He looked like he was on the verge of
indulging in some serious violence.
“Your girl? Buddy, she’s been givin’ me the ‘fuck me’ eyes all night!” said
the dealer, who Giovanni recognized as Joey, the second-in-command to
this Staten Island gang.
Giovanni knew that this might get bad. If Antonio said or did one wrong
move, he might jeopardize Giovanni’s relationship with these dealers. And
if he did that, Giovanni could kiss a hell of a lot of hard cash goodbye.
“Alright, everyone just calm the fuck down,” said Gio, yelling over the
music. “Antonio, what’s your take here?”
“You know what it is? It’s these fuckin’ dealers. They think just ‘cause
they’re selling us this fuckin’ product we gotta push, that we have to do
whatever they want!”
The dealer snorted, his burly arms cross over his wide chest.
“What, that’s not true?” the dealer said, his tone dismissive.
This only made Antonio redder.
“And you know what? You’re not fuckin’ helpin’, Gio,” said Antonio.
“You’re the one that got us in with all these assholes!”
Giovanni was fine with the argument; he figured he’d talk both of the men
down, maybe let them take a swing at one another to get their energy out.
But by bringing Giovanni’s leadership into question, Antonio was
dangerously close to crossing a line.
“What was that?” asked Giovanni, stepping into the circle of cleared space
amidst the crowd, closing the distance between him and Antonio. “I want to
make sure I heard you right.”
A look of consternation crossed Antonio’s face for a brief moment, as
though he were now aware of exactly what he was doing. But his
expression hardened.
“I said, you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing with our pack.”
A small smirk crossed Giovanni’s face. This was a challenge and both men
knew it. The circle around them spread out to give the two men room to
settle their dispute. Giovanni rolled his shoulders, it had been a while since
his last fight. With a beckoning motion of his fingers, he summoned a pack
member to bring him a large line of coke, which he snorted eagerly off of
the hand mirror that it was sitting on. The rush hit him immediately.
With a roar, he shifted into his massive wolf form, dwarfing Antonio’s
form. The two wolves rushed at each other, clawing at one another’s skin
with frenzied swipes of their huge paws, each attempting to bite down on
the other’s neck. The crowd spread further apart as the two wolves crashed
into the furniture, sending paintings crashing down from the walls and beer
bottles careening off, smashing them into pieces.
Giovanni was eventually able to overpower Antonio, sinking his razor-
sharp teeth into the soft skin of his neck. Then, with a quick jerk of his
head, he snapped Antonio’s neck, the dull crack reverberating through
Giovanni’s body. He let the now-limp body of Antonio drop from his jaw,
the corpse hitting the ground with a dull thud. The group around him was
silent, the blaring music the only sound in the air.
Shifting back to his human form, now nude, Giovanni looked around at the
pack.
“Think about what just happened. While you’re dragging this fucker’s body
out of here, know what’s in store if you challenge me as the Alpha.”
He shot his eyes back to the dealer.
“Take her, she’s yours now,” he said, referring to Antonio’s girl.
The dealer smiled with a wicked grin, grabbing the girl’s arm. She didn’t
react, seemingly too stunned by Antonio’s death to say or do anything.
“Clean this mess up,” said Giovanni, waving to Antonio’s body, still in wolf
form. “And get back to whatever the hell else you were doing.”
The living room air was cool on Giovanni’s now nude body. The party
eventually took on its previous tone, and two of the pack members lifted
Antonio’s body out of the room for later disposal. Snatching his beer from
where he left it, Giovanni looked over once again at the girl who was eying
him before. She looked even more intrigued, seemingly impressed by
Giovanni’s display of power. With a quick nod of his head, he gestured for
her to follow him upstairs. And as he walked up the stairs, the music
growing softer and he could hear the pattering of her small feet catching up
to him.
Without looking back, Giovanni stepped into his room.
“Shut the door,” he said.
The girl complied.
“That was so amazing, what you did back there,” she said, her voice full of
admiration. “I can’t believe th-“
“I didn’t bring you up here for conversation,” he said, turning on a low
light. “Now take off your clothes.”
Giovanni sat down on the edge of his unmade bed, the girl standing before
him. She started by pulling her shirt over her head, her chocolate-colored
hair falling on her bare, pale shoulders. Next, she unbuttoned her pants,
kicking off her red sneakers as she stepped out of them.
“Stop,” said Giovanni, admiring her the girl’s toned, shapely body, clad in
nothing but a black bra and skimpy pair of matching panties.
Giovanni rose, his cock now fully erect. He stepped towards the girl,
stopping when only a small distance remained between them. Her eyes
were wide, with a touch of fearful awe, as though she were both frightened
and aroused by Giovanni. It was a look he had seen many times before.
“Get on your knees.”
She complied, ducking down out of his sight
He looked down, seeing that she was looking up at him, as though awaiting
orders, his hard prick next to her face.
“You know what to do.”
She nodded, a sly smirk crossing her face. Giovanni tilted his head back as
the girl went to work, starting by licking the base of his cock with quick
darts of her tongue, her right hand wrapped around his shaft. Her licks
turned into slow, wet kisses as she moved her lips up along the length of
Giovanni’s prick. The air was silent and still, no sound but the soft bass of
the music from downstairs and the licking and kissing sounds of the girl’s
lips on him.
She then took his prick into her mouth, guided by his hand on the back of
her neck, pushing her down until the entire length of him was inside of her
mouth. She slid her mouth backwards, letting his prick glide against her lips
as she withdrew it before taking the entirely of it in her mouth once again.
Giovanni was impressed- most girls weren’t able to handle his cock.
Her slow, full-length sucks transitioned into quick bobs, focusing on his
head, her lips forming a tight seal just below it that she moved faster and
faster along him, her hand stroking him as she sucked. Giovanni felt his
orgasm build in the base of his cock, and he debated whether or not he
wanted to fuck this girl, or to simply cum in her mouth and be done with it.
After some internal deliberation, he decided. He grabbed a handful of the
girl’s dark, brown hair and brought her to her feet with a quick pull. She
gasped at the slight pain, though the smile on her face indicated to Giovanni
that she enjoyed the way he was treating her.
“Get the rest,” he said.
The naughty smirk still playing on her face, the girl reached behind her
back, undoing her bra and letting it drop to her feet, revealing her small,
pert breasts. She then stepped out of her panties, and Giovanni smiled
approvingly as he saw that she was shaved bare.
He reached for her, grabbing her slim wrist and pulling her towards him.
Looming over her for a moment, he reached behind her, grabbing her ass
with firm squeezes. She gasped with pleasure as he squeezed her, his strong
grip just on the brink of pain and pleasure.
“Now get on the bed,” he said, letting go of her ass, his voice commanding.
Again, she obliged. With a slow, hip-swiveling walk, she moved to the bed,
preparing to lie down on top of it.
“No. Turn around.”
With another sensual smile, she turned around and leaned forward, resting
her hands on the bed and jutting her small, round ass into the air. Giovanni
took his place behind her, looking down at the sight of her supple rear in the
air, his cock hard and stiff just in front of it. He grabbed her by the hips,
holding her in place. Then, with a hard thrust, he entered her, the girl
gasping as he shoved his prick deep inside of her, fully plunging the length
of him inside of her pussy.
Giovanni took a deep breath at the feeling of his cock sliding into her, the
girl moaning as he held himself inside of her. He then began thrusting. At
first, he was slow and steady, letting the pleasure being inside of her build.
Then, he picked up the pace of his thrusting. The girl grabbed the sheets in
front of her, holding herself in place against the now-relentless pounding of
Giovanni. He fucked her hard, slapping her ass and taking pleasure at the
red handprints left on her fair skin. And she did too, gasping with ecstasy
with each contact of his firm hand against her ass.
Giovanni felt his orgasm come rushing back. He was aroused beyond belief
at the sight of the girl’s ass jiggling with each thrust of his hips. The pace of
the girl’s moaning and panting increased, bringing Giovanni closer and
closer to orgasm.
Then, with a long, protracted grunt, Giovanni came, unloading his cock
deep inside of her, pleasure rushing through him as he emptied himself
completely. He gave the girl’s ass one last hard slap as he finished. Pulling
his cock out, he smiled with satisfaction at the sheen of her arousal on his
prick, as well as the sight of his cum dripping from her.
Spent, he lay down on the bed, catching his breath. The girl collapsed next
to him, her breasts rising and falling.
There was a silence that hung in the hot, sex-scented air before being
broken.
“So, you gonna be ready for round two?”
“Nah. Go get your things and get out of here.”
“What?” asked the girl, surprised.
“I don’t need any company tonight.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“Do I sound like I’m joking?” he said, lighting a cigarette while lying on his
back, blowing a plume of smoke into the air.
The girl realized he wasn’t joking and, in a huff, bounded from the bed,
snatched her clothes off the floor, and stomped towards the door.
“You’re a real fuckin’ asshole, you know that?” she said, pulling the door
open.
“Yeah, yeah.”
With that, she left in an angry march, leaving Giovanni alone in silence.
Sitting up, he noticed the door wasn’t shut. With a frustrated sigh, he
heaved himself from his bed, his cigarette dangling from his mouth as he
pulled on a pair of jeans that were lying on the ground. But as he reached to
shut the door, he noticed that not a shred of light was visible from the top
floor. This struck him as strange- Mona usually had at least one light on. He
went up the stairs, approached Mona’s door and knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
“Mona, open this fuckin’ door right now!” he yelled.
Again, no answer.
He twisted the knob, noting that it was locked. With another turn, he broke
through the lock, and opened the door.
Giovanni gritted his teeth in anger he realized that Mona had left. Against
his command, she left. And he knew that she was with the bear from the
other night.
His anger began to boil over, but before he could fly into a rage, he caught
himself. A smirk slowly crossed his face, his mind alight with the
possibilities of punishment for this particular misdeed. The possibilities, he
thought, were endless.

CHAPTER 11

Boris slid the motorcycle to a stop on the corner of the Nolita street where
Mona lived. It was well into the early hours of the morning, with the sun
due to rise within the next few hours.
“You sure you’re ready to go back?” asked Boris, looking over his shoulder
at Mona.
“I don’t want to, but yeah. I don’t even want to think about what would
happen if Giovanni caught me out.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t seem like the reasonable type.”
“That doesn’t even begin to describe it. It’s…” she trailed off, not sure if
she should finish her thought, for fear of potentially saying too much.
“Yeah?”
“Nothing.”
A moment passed. Mona loosened her grip from around Boris and stepped
off of the motorcycle.
“So,” she said, looking into his eyes. “Will I see you again soon?”
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see,” he said with a smirk.
With that, he revved the engine, peeling off into the night.
Boris knew that not giving straight answers was a key step in getting a girl
to fall for a guy. He turned his bike, pulling a sharp turn around a corner
and driving away from Lower Manhattan.
The more he thought about the evening, the more he realized how
differently it went than he was expecting. He knew that he was attracted to
Mona and that sleeping with her was an added bonus to his plan of revenge,
but as he drove, he felt a strange fluttering inside of him when he thought of
her, a feeling that he knew wasn’t simply physical attraction. He shook his
head, the wind rushing through his hair, trying to get a handle on the plan as
he had originally conceived it.
It was a simple plan, after all: seduce Mona, give her reason to question her
loyalty to Giovanni and the rest of the pack, then use her to get to her
brother.
But he wasn’t expecting her to have so much power.
Seeing how fast she was able to adapt to her shifter nature after being
denied it for so long by her brother, especially with how unstable her
powers were after nearly losing control the first night they met, Boris was
beginning to realize that he wasn’t just dealing with any shifter. She was
one who had the potential to change the face of the balance of power in the
city.
Boris took a hard, banking turn, the skyline of Brooklyn and Queens to his
right still illuminated with their evening lights.
He had a responsibility to Melanie to get revenge; this was clear in his
mind. But he also had a responsibility to his pack, to keep them strong and
safe. He knew he wasn’t the Alpha- not yet, anyway- and thus wasn’t the
one to make the call when it came to relationships between the packs. But
with war brewing the way it had been, all because of Giovanni’s drug-
dealing and power-grabbing, he knew that he was dealing with a situation
that could affect the future of not just the bears, but all three tribes in the
city. As he drove into the East Village, his familiar neighborhood, Boris
found himself wondering what might happen if he were to help Mona take
her place as Alpha of the wolves. He wondered if war could be averted
while his plan was achieved at the same time.
Boris pulled his bike in front of his apartment, killed the engine, and walked
up to the front door of his townhome. But as he reached to open it, he saw
that it was slightly ajar. His adrenaline began to flare, and he stepped into
his home with careful, silent steps, his senses keen for any possibility of
danger.
But as he stepped into the darkness of his living room, he saw the silhouette
of a figure sitting in his armchair, flanked by two men at his side. His heart
skipped a beat, and he prepared himself to shift.
“It’s me, Boris,” said the voice, deep, commanding, and familiar. “Calm
yourself.”
Boris hit the light, the open expanse of the living room illuminating. It was
just as he thought: the man in the chair was Dima, the Alpha of the bears,
and at his flanks were Gregory and Peter, the men he considered to be his
right and left hands.
Dima looked upon Boris with his heavy, piercing green eyes which sat
surrounded by the soft wrinkles of middle-age. His wide, full lips drooped
at the corners as they normally did, which gave Dima’s face a default
expression of disappointment. His hair was long, silver, and thick, tied back
behind his head in a short ponytail. As always, he was dressed in an
expensive double-breasted suit of pinstripes and a gleaming, golden pocket
watch, the chain of which hung in a low sag.
“Have a sit, young Boris,” Dima said, gesturing to the seat across from him
with his open palm.
Boris complied. He felt ill at ease, unsure of why the Alpha was meeting
him in such a fashion.
“To what do I owe this honor?” asked Boris, his tone respectful.
“Please,” said Dima. “The questions will be all mine during this little
meeting.”
Then, clasping his hands together and leaning forward, he looked at Boris
with an expression of scheming.
“Let’s discuss your date.”

Mona had a lightness to her step that she couldn’t remember ever feeling as
she approached her home. She wasn’t looking forward to the mess in the
living room, but she knew that she could at least enjoy the feeling of joy
that filled her heart after her date with Boris.
She approached the front door, looking into the window, seeing the mess of
the evening’s events, her heart sinking. It was a disaster in there, as usual.
But as she looked closer, she saw that the mess didn’t simply seem to be the
usual chaos of broken beer bottles and passed-out junkies- though there was
plenty of that- it seemed to look more disordered inside, as though the
living room had been a scene of violence. Mona felt her blood run cold as
she positioned herself below the fire escape.
She knew something wasn’t right; she could feel it in her bones. Focusing
on the ladder of the fire escape several feet above her, Mona jumped,
wrapping her hands around the thin, cold iron of the lower rung, and pulled
herself up. She made her way up the few flights of stairs to her bedroom
window where Boris met her, soft clangs of her feet upon the fire escape
sounding with each step.
And as she approached her window, the suspicion that something wasn’t
right was confirmed by the sight of Giovanni sitting on her bed, staring out
of the window with an expression of tight anger.
She wanted to run, to flee, to avoid the punishment that she knew awaited
her. But before she could react beyond seeing that he was there, Giovanni
rushed towards the window, pulled it open, and grabbed Mona by her thin
wrist.
“Get in here, now,” he said, his voice full of barely constrained rage, pulling
her into her room.
“Let me go!” said Mona, struggling against his grasp.
“You little bitch,” he said, his breath hot on her face. “I tell you to stay in
your goddamn room, and what do you do? You sneak off with that fucking
bear!”
He threw her onto the bed, her red hair falling onto her face.
“No loyalty to the clan! No respect for what I say!” he said, slamming his
fist against the wall, small cracks shooting out from where he struck it.
Gripped with fear, Mona said nothing.
“I’m not just your fuckin’ brother, you know- I’m the Alpha of this clan!
And when you repeatedly throw what I tell you to do right back in my face,
well, what am I supposed to do about that, huh?”
“Yeah, you’re the Alpha, the leader,” said Mona, strength returning to her
voice. “And you’re gonna lead us right into extinction! Making the clan sell
drugs, pallin’ up with these fucking lowlifes. What would Mom and Dad
say about this shit?”
His face turned a deep shade of red. Giovanni flew towards Mona with
incredible speed, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her from the bed.
“Don’t you ever talk about them like that!” he yelled.
Giovanni’s hand dug into Mona’s neck, and for a moment she felt helpless
as she struggled to breathe. But remembering the power she was able to tap
into earlier in the night, she grabbed onto Giovanni’s thick wrist, freed
herself from his grasp, and ran towards the window.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doin’?” yelled Giovanni. “Where the
fuck do you think you’re goin’?”
“Away from you, you psycho! You might ruin this clan with your drug-
dealing bullshit, but you’re not bringing me down with you!” she said,
before ducking back out onto the fire escape.
“Get back here right now!” he said, rushing towards her.
But before Giovanni could reach her, Mona sprinted up the fire escape onto
the roof. Looking down, she saw that Giovanni's head was sticking out of
the window, his face still twisted with anger.
“Get back here right now!” he said, climbing out of the window.
But Mona didn’t respond. Instead, she looked across at the building on the
other side of the street. She knew that Giovanni would soon come to get
her, but if she was able to make a quick escape, it was possible that she
could lose him.
“Get back here right fuckin’ now!” said Giovanni, his voice closer.
With a deep breath, Mona stepped back from the ledge, giving herself
ample running distance. Hearing Giovanni’s boots clanging on the fire
escape as he made his way up, Mona attempted to focus her thoughts,
letting the power she now knew she had run through her, strengthening her.
Then, with one final breath, she broke into a hard sprint towards the edge of
the building.
“Don’t you dare!” said Giovanni, now almost onto the roof.
But it was too late. Mona focused her power, instilling her legs with wolf
strength. Then, she leaped. She looked down as she jumped, seeing
Giovanni watch her as she flew through the air with incredible speed and
strength. The street below passed under her, and the ledge of the other roof
grew closer by the second.
After several seconds in the air, Mona reached the other side, grabbing onto
the rough concrete of the ledge as she landed. With a grunt, she pulled
herself up and onto the roof. Once settled, she looked over to the other roof,
where Giovanni stood, his chest puffed out, that same expression of anger
on his face that Mona could make out even from across the street.
“Get your fuckin’ ass back here!” Giovanni shouted, his voice carrying
across the street, attracting the attention of the few pedestrians below.
But Mona said nothing, instead turning her back to him and breaking out
into a run. She ran faster than she thought possible, moving from rooftop to
rooftop, nothing but escape from Giovanni on her mind. She left Nolita,
moving deeper into Manhattan, leaping from building to building, drawing
upon a reserve of strength that she never knew she had. But she knew now.
After a time, she stopped and looked behind her for any sign of Giovanni.
But there wasn’t one. She knew that there was no way he could’ve caught
up with how fast she was moving. But now that she was safe, the matter of
where to go, exactly, settled into her mind. But nowhere came to mind. She
had been reliant on her clan for her whole life, and what she had done now
was the first decision she had made without considering the clan as a whole.
As the Alpha, the rest of the pack would be obliged to do whatever he said,
and hiding the sister of the Alpha would be unthinkable.
She was alone. He had no phone, no money, nothing but the clothes on her
back.
The only person she could think to turn to was Boris, the man she had just
met. But she had no other options. The sun was beginning to rise and she
knew that Giovanni would be dispatching members of the pack to find her.
She needed to get hidden, and fast.
Mona knew that the bears lived in the East Village, which wasn’t too far
from where she was- only a couple of neighborhoods over. With no plan in
mind other than to find Boris, she began her trek, continuing over the roofs
of the tightly-packed buildings of Lower Manhattan. After a time, she
reached the East Village, and finding a fire escape that led to the street
level, she climbed down and reached the street, the early morning crowds
making the narrow streets already dense.
She wandered from street to street, not sure how she was planning on
finding Boris. But after a time, a familiar voice called out to her from the
crowd.
“Hey, wolf girl.”
Mona turned, and to her shock, it was Boris. He stood on the sidewalk, his
clothes fresh, his skin clear and clean, as though he had taken a restful
night’s sleep. Without thinking, Mona rushed into his arms, and he
responded by wrapping them around her in a consoling fashion.
“What’s the matter?” he asked in a comforting voice, feeling Mona gently
sob into his shirt.
“It’s Giovanni,” she said.
“Say no more,” said Boris, taking Mona by the hand and leading her
through the tightly packed knots of pedestrians.
They walked quickly for a time, eventually reaching an expensive-looking
townhome.
“Right here,” said Boris.
He opened the door and led her in. She was amazed at the home, which was
tastefully appointed and perfectly clean, both a stark contrast to her own
home which was becoming nothing more like a squalid drug den by the day.
Two men were seated in the living room, both muscular and handsome,
with the same Slavic features as Boris, though not quite as striking as him.
Both men stood up as Boris and Mona entered.
“Ah, this is the wolf girl?” said the first man.
“About as pretty as we were led to believe,” said the other, a playful smirk
on his face.
“Wait a minute,” said Mona, now recognizing the men. “You’re both with
Boris in Blood and Claw, right? We met at the show.”
“That would be us,” said the first man.
“That’s Ivan and that’s Aran,” said Boris, pointing to the long-haired man
and the short-haired one.
“But how to you know about me?”
“I told them about our, ah, date,” said Boris, speaking quickly.
“Only good things,” said Ivan.
“Ah, I hope so.”
But something about their quick responses struck Mona as strange. It was as
though their answers were careful, rehearsed, even.
“You all live here?” asked Mona.
“No, no, girlie,” said Ivan. “Well, we practice here, so in a sense we do.”
“We’re just here to make sure that you get settled in,” said Aran
“But wait,” said Mona, raising a finger. “How did you know that I was
going to be here?”
Mona could’ve sworn that Boris shot Aran a glare, but she couldn’t be sure.
“I, ah, had a fear that your brother might find out about your evening with
me. And I wanted to be prepared in the event that you had nowhere to go.”
“Oh,” said Mona. “Thanks, then. But aren’t you worried about him finding
out that you have me here? That might mean war.”
Boris nodded.
“It’s possible, but war is already more or less a certainty. We are so close to
fighting with the wolves that getting the conflict out in the open almost
seems preferable to the tension that exists now.”
“But what about the tigers?” asked Mona. “Don’t they have any stake in
this?”
“Who the hell knows what they want?” asked Aran. “They’re all the way up
in Harlem. They can afford to avoid anything that happens below Central
Park.”
“That’s what they think,” said Boris. “But if your brother and the wolves
can beat us in open conflict, it’s only a matter of time before they turn their
attention to the rest of the island.”
“Right,” said Ivan. “And all the voodoo charms and potions and whatever
else they have up there won’t save them from a pack of wolves with half the
drug money in the city.”
“Pretty sure they don’t do voodoo in Africa,” said Aran.
“Whatever,” said Ivan. “It’s all the same witchcraft bullshit to me.”
“I’d be careful talking about that witchcraft nonsense,” said Boris. “There’s
a reason why the Senegalese have been able to keep everything north of
Central Park under their thumb for the last century and a half.”
“Maybe,” said Ivan. “Those freaks just creep me out, is all.”
Boris turned his attention back to Mona.
“You’re more than welcome to stay here, of course,” he said. “Until this
whole thing blows over.”
Mona felt relieved, but unsure of what to do. She wanted to stay there, but
she didn’t want to simply be a bystander if the two sides did come to blows.
As she considered this, Boris approached her, placed his hands on her
shoulders, and looked into her eyes.
“Don’t think you need to make any decisions now. You’ve been through a
lot. Go upstairs, get some rest, and we can talk about this later.”
“OK, I will,” said Mona.
She was too tired to continue talking, and happy that Boris sent her off to
sleep. She went upstairs and found an open door that led into a spare
bedroom. Mona walked up to the bed and collapsed instantly, falling into a
deep sleep.

CHAPTER 12
Mona looked out over the span of Manhattan from where she stood at the
top of the World Trade Tower. The view was incredible; the length of the
island was stretched out before her, the grids of the buildings were
seemingly without end. Not a sound could be heard other than the soft
blowing of the wind, cool on her skin. She looked down from the top of the
spire and noted that there wasn’t a single person to be seen on the streets
below- not a car, not a bike, not a plane in the sky. It was as though the city
had been abandoned.
“No one’s there,” said a voice behind her.
She turned, surprised, and saw that it was Boris. He was dressed in casual
clothes: a pair of torn black jeans, a white V-neck shirt that fit tight on his
pecs, and a pair of heavy black boots.
“Where is everyone?” asked Mona, turning back towards the abandoned
city.
Boris walked until he was standing next to her, then shrugged.
“Who can say? They were all here, then they were gone.”
There was a moment of silence, no sound but the low howl of the wind.
“They were waiting for you,” said Boris.
Mona felt shocked, almost offended.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean just that. They were waiting for you, but now they’re gone.”
A strange feeling gripped Mona- it was the feeling that Boris wasn’t letting
on all that he knew.
“Tell me what you know!” said Mona, turning to Boris.
“I’ve told you all I can,” said Boris, a sly smile on his handsome face.
“Well, not quite everything.”
Then his gaze drifted down to Mona’s belly.
Mona reached for him with eager hands, but as soon as her fingers touched
him, he disappeared in a swirling vapor.
“He’s not what you think,” said another voice from behind her. It was
Giovanni.
Mona turned once again, and looked upon her brother who stood on the top
of the tower with her, the glittering, sapphire curves of the Hudson River
behind him.
Mona opened her mouth, but no words came; it was as though she had been
struck mute by the mere presence of her brother.
“You may think you know who he is, but he’ll never be me. He’ll never be
kin.”
Giovanni then opened his arms to Mona and as she began walking towards
him, she was unable to control her body. Closing his eyes, a smile formed
on his lips as Mona walked towards him. And when she stepped close
enough to him to be within arm’s reach, he embraced her, turning her body
towards the city as he did.
“It’s empty because you haven’t told it not to be. We haven’t told it not to
be.”
She felt safe at first in his arms, in the protective embrace of her brother.
But as she stood with her body pressed to his, a sinister feeling began to
overwhelm her. And when she looked up, she saw that the sky above had
turned to deep, boiling red, and her brother’s face was twisted into the
horrible visage of a demon. She wanted to scream, but no sound emerged
from her throat.
When she awoke, she was covered in a cold, startling sweat. A quick
scream escaped her lips before she slapped her hands over her mouth,
muffling her cry. But a pair of footsteps rushing up from the first floor made
it clear to her that she had been heard. The footsteps drew closer to the shut
bedroom door then stopped. Then the door opened, revealing Boris, his
body cast in shadow.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Nothing,” said Mona, not sure how much she should speak of the dream.
“I mean, it’s just…”
Boris walked over to her as her voice trailed off, taking a seat next to her on
the bed.
“Bad dream,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Not surprising- you’re going through a lot.”
“I know. I know that running from Giovanni was the right call, but I can’t
help but feel like I’m abandoning my family.”
“Right,” he said. “And family isn’t exactly easy to come by in our world.”
Mona nodded, thinking back to her own parents and how they were taken
from her at such a young age.
“Do you have any family?” she asked.
“None that I can remember. The pack’s been my family since I was a child.
Our people tend to go so quickly and violently that it’s hard to maintain true
family ties.”
“Yes,” said Mona. “Which makes this situation with Giovanni so much
harder.”
Boris put his arm around Mona and she let herself lean into his strong, solid
body, taking in the scent of his heavy, masculine musk.
“I know you’ll be able to find the right thing to do. And I’ll be here to help
you in any way I can.”
“Thanks,” she said.
They sat together for a time and Mona felt safe and secure in Boris’s arms.
She found it hard to believe that the musician she had met only a short time
ago would be the catalyst for what might cause the growing tensions
between the two clans to explode. She knew that once Giovanni found out
that she was with Boris, he’d attack with everything he had.
But for now, she was safe. And looking up at Boris’s handsome face as he
looked impassively into the middle distance, stoic and calm, she realized
that she was beginning to feel emotions for him that went beyond lust for
his gorgeous face and perfect body. Then, as though compelled, like in the
dream, she reached up, placing her hand on his face, feeling the hard
bristling of stubble against her palm. Slowly, she moved her face towards
his, looking deep into his eyes as her mouth parted slightly. Boris’s eyes
narrowed as he realized what Mona had in mind, and his hand slid slowly
down from her shoulder to her hip, squeezing the softness of her curves.
Then, she pressed her lips to his, as if drinking him in, her hands on his
solid flanks, the muscles firm and taut under his blue V-neck t-shirt. They
kissed each other with the same passionate hunger, their tongues eagerly
searching for one another. Her lips still pressed onto Boris’s, Mona moved
her body until she was sitting on his lap, his hands now moving up and
under her shirt, feeling her breasts beneath it.
Removing her lips from his, Mona sat up straight and pulled her shirt off,
the air of the bedroom cool against her now bare breasts. Boris followed by
pulling his own shirt off, revealing the wide-shouldered, perfect body that
Mona had found herself unable to stop thinking about. Boris scooped
Mona’s breasts into his hands, licking and sucking her nipples, the
stimulation driving Mona wild as she closed her eyes and let the tingling
sensation of his tongue on her body course through her.
After minutes of this, Mona moved backwards and stood in front of Boris.
She watched him look over her body with hungry eyes as he leaned back
and supported his own body with his arms, the muscles flexing and hard.
Mona stepped out of her pants, pulling her panties off with them. Then, she
leaned forward, unfastening Boris’s belt and pulling his pants off, a sly
smile on his face as he watched.
With a deft tug, she pulled off Boris’s jeans, his erection springing free.
Mona looked at his cock with a ravenous gaze, wanting it inside her that
very instant. She stepped towards Boris, her legs moving to the outside of
his, the head of his cock grazing her pussy as she positioned herself to
straddle him. Then, taking his cock into her hand, and slowly lowered
herself onto him, his cock sliding deep, sheathing fully in her.
Mona rocked her hips back and forth slowly at first, enjoying the feeling of
Boris’s cock inside of her. Her back was straight, her breasts sticking out
proudly as she moved her hips. Boris rested his strong hands on her hips,
squeezing her gently as he had done before. Then his hands moved around
her slim hips and grabbed her ass, as though imploring her to ride him
harder.
She complied, increasing the pace of her rocking, her hips now moving in a
steady bounce atop Boris’s cock. A deep welling of orgasm began to form
inside of her, and she began to moan in a sound that was at first soft, but
quickly moved into a heavy pant. Boris grunted as he dug his grip into her
ass, kneading the soft flesh of her rear with his fingers. Mona fucked him
harder, leaning forward as she rode him, her hands on his rock-hard
shoulders for support.
The feeling of pleasure was becoming almost too much, the sensation of his
erect prick in her driving her mad with ecstasy. Then her orgasm broke
loose, as though it were a raging animal thundering through the confines of
its pen. Mona screamed with delight, a wail that sounded almost pained.
Boris grunted hard, his own orgasm erupting as he came deep into her. She
continued to ride him hard through her orgasm, until it finished, her body
ebbing back to normalcy.
Eventually, she stopped, no sound in the air but the steady breathing of the
pair. Mona fell forward, collapsing onto Boris’s sculpted chest, and fell
asleep once again.
CHAPTER 13
The next few weeks passed quickly. Mona stayed with Boris, not leaving
his home for fear of being spotted by Giovanni or one of the other members
of the pack. And during that time, Mona and Boris slipped into a pattern
that she almost considered to be domestic. They slept in the same bed, ate
their meals together, and, of course, slept together with regularity. Ivan,
Aran, and other members of the bear clan stopped by, eager to meet this
member of the wolf elite who now seemed to have come over to their side
as the two clans moved closer and closer to war.
And during these few days, Mona began to feel comfortable among the
bears. She felt a safety and security that she never felt at Giovanni’s, with
the constant drug-dealing and partying. And she never felt as though she
had to watch her step in order to not enrage the master of the house. The
experience made her feel conflicted- though she was a wolf by blood, she
began to feel as though her loyalties were shifting more towards the
Ukrainians.
Boris helped her develop her power. Each night, the rode his motorcycle to
the park where she first shifted in his presence, and he used his skill to
teach her how to control the immense powers that she now realized she
possessed. But he was careful to let her know that her new-found strength
and power were only the tip of the iceberg; with time and training she could
become one of the most powerful shifters that the city had ever seen.
Her dream stayed with her. She couldn’t stop thinking about the gaze of
Boris upon her belly. She wasn’t a dream analyst, but she had a fairly strong
inclination that this might’ve been her body’s way of telling her that a new
life was to come from her relationship with Boris. One night, she left the
house for the first time in nearly a week and purchased a pregnancy test
from the nearest Duane Reade.
One trip to the bathroom later and she realized that the suggestion in her
dream was true: she was pregnant with Boris’s baby.
She didn’t know what to do. She knew that she had to tell him at some
point, but now seemed to be hardly the right time. Mona had heard from
one of the Omega members of the clan that another gamma had been
attacked and killed by wolves. Since then, the clan had been preparing for
war, planning a preemptive strike in order to turn the inevitable conflict to
their favor. With war so close, Mona didn’t think this was the right time to
distract Boris with such news. She didn’t even know if he’d be happy to
hear it.
Mona asked Boris if there was anything she could do but he insisted that
she stay as far from the conflict as possible. So, she waited. But one night,
as she arose from a restless sleep, everything would change.
When Mona awoke, she saw with a quick check of the clock on the bedside
table that it was the middle of the night. Not even bothering to close the
door to her room before she passed out, she could hear the low murmur of
conversation from downstairs. Mona pushed herself off the bed and walked
slowly towards the crack of light that bled into the darkness of her room. As
she drew closer to the hallway, she couldn’t hear exactly what was being
said, but could tell that there were quite a few different voices, more than
just Boris, Ivan, and Aran- it sounded like a meeting of all of the high-ups
of the pack.
She walked even more slowly, not wanting to disturb the conversation. She
approached the corner that turned to the stairs and positioned her body near
the end of the wall, attempting to listen in.
“…confirmed her power,” said a voice, deep and low, a voice that Mona
didn’t recognize.
“Yes, it’s even more than we had thought,” said another voice, which she
recognized as Boris.
“Really? More than you thought? And she’s here now?” said the deep-
voiced man.
“Yes, upstairs,” said a voice that sounded like Aran’s.
Mona’s blood ran cold as she realized they were talking about her. She
wondered how they knew about her and her new powers. She continued to
listen.
“Then bring her down here, I want to see her for myself,” said the low-
voiced man.
“I can’t,” said Boris. “She doesn’t know of our plan. As far as she can tell,
she’s only here because I’m letting her hide out from her brother.”
Mona listened more intently. What was he saying?
“Then you’ve done well,” said the deep-voiced man. “The girl will be
essential in our plan to bring the wolves to their knees. If events proceed as
smoothly as they have been, we’ll have broken the backs of the wolves
within the week, solidified our hold on Lower Manhattan, and finally be
able to begin preparing for our plan to move into Harlem and displace those
damn tigers.”
There a murmuring of approval from the crowd of dozens.
“And you, my dear boy, will finally be able to have your revenge on that
psychotic wolf,” continued the deep-voiced man. “Everything is moving in
a manner that will be mutually equitable.”
“Yes,” said Boris.
“Why so despondent? You’re on the cusp of getting what you’ve wanted for
a year; I would think you’d be in more of a celebratory mood.”
“You are right, Dima. All is going according to plan,” said Boris.
“Very good,” said the low-voiced man. “Now, let us drink to our impending
victory. Nasdrovie!”
The crowd of men and women repeated the toast, a clinking of glasses rang,
and lively conversation broke out.
Mona felt her hands involuntarily clench into fists. She couldn’t believe
what she was hearing, that Boris and the rest of the wolves were merely
using her as a pawn in their game. She thought she had found somewhere
she was safe, but she now realized that she had just gone from one awful
situation to another. She felt angered, betrayed, as though she wanted to
turn into her wolf form and rush down into the living room, killing as many
of the bears as she could before they brought her down.
But instead, she turned back towards the bedroom, looking out at the
window at the city beyond. Placing her hands on the window frame, she
pulled it open, the evening air filling the room. Mona then walked
backwards, taking off her clothes until she stood nude before the window.
Then, she rolled her hips, stretched her legs, and calmed her mind, just as
Boris had taught her.
She shifted, her body changing from her human form to her wolf shape.
Now on all fours, she snorted through her wet nostrils, hot air shooting out
in white jets. With a tensing of her limbs, she leaped through the window,
onto the roof of the building adjacent, and looked out over the nearby
apartments of the East Village. She had no idea where she was going to run,
but she ran regardless, the wind rushing through her fur as she sped,
running faster than she’d ever run in her wolf form, the hot burn of tears
welling in her eyes, only to be immediately blown away by the passing air.

CHAPTER 14

Mona awoke in a strange room. It was a place that she didn’t recognize, a
small, dark room adorned with dangling, exotic trinkets, the air laced with
foreign, pungent scents. She was lying in a bed, her body covered in warm,
earth-toned knit blankets. Her first instinct was to panic, and jumping out of
the small bed, she ran to the door, tried the knob, and found that it was
locked tight.
“Let me out!” she yelled, banging her fists on the thick wood of the door.
“Help!”
She stopped when she heard rapid footsteps through the door.
“Calm down, little one,” said an accented voice that hit Mona’s ears as
strangely familiar.
The footsteps stopped at the door. Mona heard a series of locks open,
followed by the turning of the door knob. When it opened, she was greeted
with the tall, dark figure of a woman.
“You are up, finally,” she said, a wide, white smile was a contrast to her
dark skin.
Mona looked at the woman for a moment before realizing who she was- it
was Sana, the Senegalese woman from Giovanni’s party.
“You’re…”
“Yes, we have met before, though briefly.”
“What am I doing here?”
Sana’s comely, dark face turned serious.
“You remember not a thing”
“No,” said Mona, the warmth exuded by Sana calming her initial distress.
“That is what I was afraid of. Please, sit back down,” Sana said, gesturing
to the bed.
“I’m not sitting anywhere until you tell me what’s going on,” said Mona.
“That is my intention.”
Still hesitant, Mona stepped back near the bed and sat back down upon it.
“You arrived here several days ago in your wolf form,” said Sana, stepping
into the room, her long-fingered hands folded in front of her.
“I…what?” asked Mona.
“What is the last thing you remember?”
Mona tried to think. Everything seemed like a blur. But after a few
moments, the memory of the meeting, then her escape afterwards drifted
back into her thoughts. But everything after that was a blur.
“I remember running in my wolf form, but that’s it.”
Sana nodded, as though what Mona had just said confirmed a suspicion.
“You arrived in Le Petite Senegal, making quite the scene leaping from
rooftop to rooftop. We had never seen a wolf move quite like you before;
there was such power to you, such speed. When we finally approached you,
you shifted back into your human form and we brought you here.”
Sana was interrupted by a man knocking on the open door to the room, a
small, black tray carrying three steaming ceramic cups of tea in his right
hand.
“I am sorry to interrupt, but I figured something to drink was in order,” he
said.
“You’re…” started Mona, recognizing the man as Sana’s companion from
the other night.
“Awa, Sana’s brother,” he said, offering the tea. “Here, this will restore your
vitality.”
Mona took the small, intricately decorated cup and brought the steaming
liquid to her mouth, taking a sip. The tea had a spicy, earthy taste that was
complex and delightful.
“Then what happened?”
“We brought you here before you could draw too much attention to
yourself. And once you were here, you begged for use of our potions to rid
you of the baby that grows inside of you.”
Again, this swirled back into Mona’s mind. She remembered wanting
nothing more than to abort Boris’s baby. She remembered being filled with
disgust at the man who betrayed her, the thought of carrying his child
unbearable.
“And…did you do it?” asked Mona, now less certain of what she wanted.
Awa and Sana looked at one another with the same apprehensive
expression, as though trying to determine exactly how much they should
tell her.
“We…tried,’ said Awa.
“Tried?” asked Mona, her voice demanding. “What do you mean?”
“Aborting a shifter baby is no small task, but we had a potion that purported
to do just that,” said Sana.
“But it had never been used before,” added Awa.
“And once we gave it to you, instead of terminating the child, it unlocked
the power that remained untapped within you,” said Sana. “We were forced
to give you another potion that put you into a brief coma, in order for your
body to acclimate to the new power that courses through it.”
Mona sat back, her hands wrapped around the small tea cup.
“Then I still have the baby?”
“Fortunately, yes. Or unfortunately, depending on your perspective.”
A wave of relief washed over Mona. As much as the thought of carrying
Boris’s child repulsed her, she couldn’t help but feel glad that the potion
didn’t do its work. She didn’t know why, but she felt that there was
something important about this baby.
“So, I’m still pregnant, I have more power than I’ve ever had before, and
I’ve been unconscious for several days. Great. Anything else?”
Awa and Sana exchanged that same look of apprehension.
“Yes,” said Sana, her eyes closed, as if preparing to deliver more bad news.
“The war between the wolves and the bears has finally broken out.”
Nausea rushed through Mona. Everything that she had heard recently led
her to believe that the war was inevitable, but hearing that it was now a
reality was almost too much for her to take in.
“What…what happened?”
“It appears that the wolves, your people, made a preemptive strike upon the
bears. Several were killed on the bear’s home turf in the East Village.”
“Boris?” Mona blurted out.
“We do not know,” said Awa. “It is the way of our people to avoid conflict
with the other clans, and to stay out of their squabbles.”
“But the situation with the Alpha of your clan, your brother…It worries us,”
said Sana.
“When you saw us at your home, we were there by a ruse,” said Awa. “We
told your brother that we were ourselves considering getting into the drug
business. But in reality, we were there to see what kind of man he was.”
“And to see you,” added Sana.
“What?” asked Mona. “Why me?”
“Because, young one, you and your brother are the last in a line of powerful
shifters. You don’t know about your parents, but they were killed soon after
giving birth to you for fear of their power. And the same would’ve
happened to you and him, had he not managed to rise to such a powerful
position through his dalliances in the drug trade.”
“So, Giovanni’s deal-dealing is the only reason that he and I are still alive?”
“Yes,” said Sana. “There are forces that you know nothing about that
meddle in the affairs of our kind. Very powerful forces. But they weren’t
able to reach you and him.”
Mona said nothing, instead taking a slow sip of her tea, her mind on the
fighting that was going on as they spoke.
“And there’s more,” said Awa. “You can’t sit this battle out. There’s a
delicate balance of power in the city, and if your brother manages to beat
the bears, it’s only a matter of time before he takes over the city.”
“Then why aren’t the tigers helping?” asked Mona.
“Because our elders are stubborn. They want isolationism above all,
thinking they can simply ignore the chaos that builds around them,” said
Sana, her words almost spit out in disgust.
“But Giovanni will win this war if you don’t stop him,” said Awa. “Only
your power can bring this fighting to an end. And the longer you wait, the
more bloodshed there will be.”
Mona stood, feeling rejuvenated, and full of purpose.
“Then I can’t waste another second.”

CHAPTER 15
Mona stood with Sana and Awa on the roof of their Harlem townhome,
looking down at the green span of Central Park and the rest of the city
beyond, the inky dark of the starless sky above them an obsidian curtain
over the city.
“You cannot sit out this conflict like we have been commanded, little one,”
said Awa. “Your power could make the difference between an ending to the
fighting and an all-out slaughter.”
“We have done all we can for you, Mona,” said Sana. “Go back to your
home, and put an end to what your brother has begun. The fate of our
people in this city hangs in the balance.”
Mona turned back to the brother and the sister.
“Thank you both for everything you’ve done.”
“It was nothing,” said Sana. “Just know that you have friends in the
Senegalese.”
“And remember what we’ve done for you, should we ever have a favor of
our own to ask,” added Awa. “This is a strange time for our people and we
all need all the allies we can get.”
“Oh, and one last thing,” said Sana. “Consider that all of us are in difficult
situations. We must, as you surely know, act in ways we might not
otherwise when we are commanded as such. Keep this in mind when you
see your friend in the bear clan once again.”
Mona nodded, the thought of Boris still weighing heavily on her heart,
despite his apparent betrayal. Then, she shifted into her wolf form, looked
out onto the city, and exploded into a run at incredible speed.
However more power she was beginning to feel since Boris’s training, it
was nothing compared to what she was feeling now. Her muscles felt like
they were powered by an impossibly strong engine, her breath seemed
bottomless, and her reflexes allowed her to jump from rooftop to rooftop
with perfect precision, not missing a beat. She had no idea what was in the
potion that Sana gave to her nights ago, but whatever it was, it was the final
key needed to unlock the incredible power that she had learned was inside
of her.
Leaping and running, she made her way to the East Village, and finally to
Boris’s townhome. As she looked around the neighborhood from the
vantage point of a particularly tall building, she saw the red and blue
flashing lights of police cars in various places; something told her that this
had to do with the war. Taking care to hide her form, she deftly darted to the
rooftop of Boris’s place, shifting into her human form and sneaking in
through the window of Boris’s bedroom. Once there, she found a pile of her
clothing, put on an outfit, and walked with careful steps through the house.
Nothing on the second floor seemed out of place, but the appearance of
normalcy changed as soon as she approached the downstairs living room,
the place where the conversation that she had heard took place.
The scene in the room was one of a large, violent struggle. Bodies were
strewn here and there, red claw marks on their skin. As she looked closer,
she saw that they had all been killed with a combination of claws and bites,
some from wolves, some from bears. But she didn’t recognize anyone; she
realized they were all foot soldiers, no one higher-up.
“Mona, is that you?” called out a voice, thin and hoarse.
Mona turned around in surprise and saw that it was Aran, his body slashed
and bloody. She rushed over to him, kneeling at his side.
“Aran, what happened?” she asked.
“Surprise attack,” he said. “We tried to hide out here, but they found us.”
“Where are the rest of the bears?” she asked, propping his head up with her
hand.
“I don’t know,” he said, before breaking out into a coughing fit. “The elders
went into hiding as soon as they realized that your brother got the drop on
them.”
“And where’s Boris?”
Another coughing fit, this one producing a sputter of blood.
“They took him, figured they’d use him to draw you out. They’re all
looking for you, Mona.”
She thought about Boris, her feelings toward him still conflicted.
“They’re at the Elizabeth Warehouse in Nolita, they’re waiting for you.”
“Just stay here, Aran. I’ll get help.”
He shook his head and waved his hand as if dismissing her.
“Don’t worry about me. Just some water. I’ll be fine.”
She nodded in understanding and ran into the kitchen, pouring a glass of
water. But when she returned to the living room, she saw that Aran had
died. Mona wondered if he had been saving his last bit of life to warn her
about Giovanni, should she come. Closing his eyes with a sweep of her
palm, Mona returned to the second floor, then onto the roof. She knew of
the warehouse that Aran spoke of: it was a place where Giovanni often
performed drug-related business. It was only a few blocks away and staying
in her human form, she ran across the rooftops once again. After a time, she
was at the warehouse.
She approached the front door hesitantly, still not certain of her plan.
Opening the door, she stepped into the small lobby of the warehouse, a
member of her clan sitting in a chair, his eyes closed. With careful steps,
Mona snuck passed him, now able to walk with the silent steps of a stalking
wolf. But when she reached hallway that led to the main store room, she
encountered a pack of her clan.
“There she is!” shouted one as they group ran towards her.
She considered fleeing, but knew that it was pointless- one way or another,
she would have to confront Giovanni.
“Goddamn traitor!”
“Lying bitch!”
“Bear lover!”
The insults flew at Mona in harsh volley as they grabbed her limbs.
“Your brother’s just been waiting to get his hands on you,” said one of the
men, a man with scraggly blond hair and a scar down his face.
“Figures she’d turn her back on her own kind,” said another, a woman with
stringy brown hair and a wild look on her gaunt face.
Mona let her body go limp as the group brought her to the main store room.
Finally, they reached a set of double doors which one of them kicked open,
revealing a massive, open room, lit with large, hanging lights that cast the
space in a harsh, white light. The room was packed full of male and female
members of the clan who stood guard over dozens of bears that were bound
in chains and forced onto their knees. And at the far end, in a large chair
with a tall back that gave the appearance of an industrial throne, was
Giovanni, seated with Boris bound and chained as his side.
“Sis,” he shouted, rising from his chair. “We were wonderin’ when you’d
finally show up!”

CHAPTER 16
“Gio!” shouted Mona, walking towards her brother with a stride braced
with newfound confidence, a feeling that she’d never before been able to
show in front of him. “What did you do?”
She looked at Boris as she walked closer, who wore an expression of regret
on his face.
“I did exactly what needed to be done,” he said, a swagger to his steps. “I
brought these little bears to heel, and took our rightful place as the rulers of
Lower Manhattan.”
“Wasn’t too hard, either,” he continued. “Once I got the drop on them, they
ran like scared little puppies. The Elders of their tribe and that shithead
Alpha- what’s his name, Dime? Eh, who cares- are holed up in some
Midtown penthouse while the ground troops are all here. Pretty fuckin’ sad,
if you ask me.”
“Mona!” shouted Boris. “Please forgive me, I was only doing what I was
commanded.”
Giovanni silenced Boris with a swift kick to the ribs.
“I thought bears were supposed to be the strong, silent types,” said
Giovanni.
“Don’t you dare hit him again!” shouted Mona.
“Aw, you don’t want me to hurt your little bear boyfriend?”
Giovanni then drove another kick into Boris’s side, sending him onto the
ground in a coughing, gasping mess.
“I’m warning you, Gio!” Mona said, her voice stern and strong.
“Or else what, sis?”
Mona stared into her brother’s face for a hard moment.
“Listen, Mo,” said Giovanni, his tone softening. “I didn’t lure you down
here to fight.”
“Then what?” she demanded.
“I’m glad you’re here, because I want to make peace.”
“You’re kidding me,” Mona said.
“No kiddin’. I know we’ve had our differences, and I know I haven’t been
the best brother. But everything I did was for your own good, and for the
good of our pack.”
“What, like keeping me locked up like a prisoner?”
“Yeah, like that. I couldn’t risk your power falling into the wrong hands.
Shit, I turn my back on you for five minutes and these bears are climbin’
over each other to turn you against me.”
“He’s lying, Mona!” shouted Boris.
“Another fuckin’ word outta you and you’re not gonna like what happens!”
said Giovanni, pointing at Boris with an angry finger.
“And so you think slaughtering the bears and turning us into a pack of drug
dealers is how to keep us safe?”
“I know that. You want to slowly accumulate money like our ancestors
while the other packs get more powerful by the day. War was inevitable. I
just wanted to give us an advantage before it broke out. And it worked! We
brought down the bears within days and the tigers are next.”
Then his voice grew grave.
“Because, sis, there are things outside of this city that you don’t even want
to know about. Things more powerful than you’d believe. And unless we
come out on top and make this city our stronghold, they’ll take advantage
of this fighting and kill us all.”
“What’re you talking about, Gio?” Mona said, confused.
“Nothing you need to know about now. But like I said, I’m here to offer the
olive branch, as it were. Surrender, join me, and we’ll rule this city as a
family, like we were meant to. We can put all of this bullshit behind us.”
“Until the humans come down on us for dealing, that is,” said Mona.
“They won’t; we’ll be too strong. We can rule this city from the inside out.”
Mona looked again at Boris, his face an imploring expression.
“I’ll even look past you running around with this piece of shit,” said
Giovanni, looking at Boris with disgust. “And I’ll only ask one thing of
you: that you kill this fucker.”
Mona was stunned. Her eyes shot to Boris, who wore a stoic expression on
his face. She walked towards her brother, closing the distance between them
to mere feet, the eyes of the dozens and dozens of wolves and their bear
prisoners on the three.
“Mona, I know you have no reason to believe me, but I wanted to get to
Giovanni for getting the woman I loved hooked on that poison he sells. I
used you to do it, but I didn’t anticipate what would happen, that I would
fall in love with you.”
“Your girl, huh? I’ve seen so many junkie floozies that I can’t even keep
track of ‘em all,” said Giovanni, his tone dismissive.
“Both of you, just shut up!” cried Mona, conflicted and unsure of what to
do next.
Boris’s words moved her; she would be lying if she said feelings of her own
hadn’t burrowed into her heart. But his betrayal wounded her. And
Giovanni’s offer was no offer at all, but he was kin- the only kin she had.
She couldn’t ignore the way that he treated her. He claimed it was for her
own good, but she knew that it was simply out of fear of her power. And a
man like him in power would be a reign of terror that the clans had never
before seen.
“Maybe I’ll just have to make the choice easier for you, huh?” said
Giovanni.
Pulling a massive, gleaming buck knife from his hip sheath, he approached
Boris, grabbing his hair in his hand, and holding the knife to his neck.
“He dies either way, Mo.”
A welling of rage boiled in Mona. As Giovanni held the blade to Boris’s
neck, Mona knew that the days of her brother lording over her like a
dictator were over. In a quick instant, Mona shifted into her wolf form and
stared at her brother with murderous eyes, power coursing through her.
“Ah, I get it,” said Giovanni, throwing the knife to the ground with a clatter.
“Kin doesn’t mean a goddamn thing to you. Fine, have it your way, sis.”
He then shifted and the two of them moved around one another, forming a
shifting, menacing circle, both baring their teeth and sounding fierce
growls. Mona knew that while her power was immense, Giovanni was still
her brother, and much of the same power was in him as well.
Giovanni made the first move, leaping towards Mona, a wild growl
sounding as he leaped. But Mona was too quick for him. She jumped out of
his way with reflexes that he couldn’t hope to match. Mona cast a quick
glance around the massive space of the room; the rest of the pack was
watching intently, wondering who would be the Alpha of their pack when
the battle was over. And Boris watched with eager eyes, knowing both his
life and the life of his new love were on the line.
Giovanni snapped his jaw at Mona, which she dodged with just as much
ease, his teeth biting into the air with a wet, angry snarl. He attempted to
swipe at her with his knife-sharp paws, but nothing connected. Mona
realized that Giovanni’s power, immense as it was, was nothing compared
to her reflexes. She realized that the battle was hers to end and she could
sense that Giovanni knew it.
But she couldn’t spare him. It wasn’t the way of their kind.
Mona squared up to her brother, tensed her back legs, and pounced, flying
through the air like a bullet, opening her mouth, and slamming her jaws
shut on Giovanni’s neck, her teeth digging deep into his flesh. A whimper
sounded from Giovanni and Mona felt his body go limp in her jaw. With a
quick shake, she finished him off before letting his body drop from her
mouth and land on the ground with a meaty thud.
Not a sound could be heard. Mona shifted back to her human form, her
nude body defiant and proud as the pack looked on. Then, every wolf
lowered his head in submission and dropped to one knee.
The pack had a new Alpha.

CHAPTER 17

Mona looked up at Boris with seductive, narrowed eyes as he positioned

himself on top of her, her legs spreading open as he moved between them.
She looked down, feeling herself grow wetter at the sight of his thick, hard
cock. It had been months since she took control of the pack and officially
began her relationship with Boris, but she still had yet to tire of the sight of
his magnificent, long prick.
“I love you, baby,” he said, his cock resting on Mona’s pussy.
“I love you, too,” she said, her hand on the back of his head, feeling his
warm skin through his thick head of hair.
Then, with a plunging of his hips, Boris penetrated Mona, filling her
completely. He moved into a steady, slow rhythm, taking pleasure at the
feeling of her wet warmth enveloping him. Mona breathed in steadily,
feeling the pleasure radiate out from where he was inside of her, the soft
exhalations of his warm breath on her face. He propped himself up on his
thick arms, moving his hips gently, his cock sliding in and out of her.
“That feel good, baby?” he asked, his voice weighted with arousal.
“Mmmm, yeah,” she said. “So fucking good.”
Boris increased the pace of his thrusting, entering her at a quicker speed, the
sound of his cock sliding in and out of her audible from under the covers
that were draped over their lower bodies. Mona loved the wet sound of him
fucking her; knowing that his cock was filling her to capacity was enough
to bring her to the brink of orgasm in and of itself. He lowered himself
slightly and brought his lips to her neck, kissing the delicate skin behind her
ear, the sensation sending shivers through her body as he ran his hand
through her red hair, his cock still sliding in and out of her.
“Fuck me harder,” she said, now desperately craving the sensation of him
pounding her.
He lifted up a bit, a smirk on his full, red lips. She could tell that he wanted
it, too. Boris increased the pace of his thrusting. No longer gently moving in
and out of her, he now entered her at a jackhammer speed, the feeling of his
hard cock pulsing in Mona, driving her to the wild brink of abandon with
each thrust. Mona felt her orgasm build and build as Boris’s fevered,
powerful thrusting brought her closer and closer. Looking down, she saw a
thin sheen of glistening sweat form on her quivering breasts, the heat from
Boris’s body radiating sensual warmth.
She let her hands slide along the length of his body, as much to keep herself
steady as it was to feel his muscles. Mona watched Boris’s handsome face
tighten as he pounded her, seeing that he was moving closer and closer to
cumming.
“Cum inside me, baby,” Mona said between breaths, the heat and pleasure
radiating from her sex on the brink of breaking loose.
Mona closed her eyes again, focusing on the feeling of Boris inside of her,
listening to his sharp grunts and the sound of his hips slapping against hers,
that wet flesh-on-flesh that turned her on so much. She took in a deep
breath through her nostrils, the sweaty, musky smell of his body filling her
senses. She focused on the feeling of the sweat of his back under her
fingertips. All of these sensations whirled into a storm of passion that
brought orgasm tantalizingly close.
Then, as she felt her vision blur beneath her eyelids, her orgasm came,
ripping through her body and sending hot waves of pleasure down all of her
limbs, from the fingers that dug into Boris’s back, to the toes under the
sheet which were now tight and curled. She savored the feeling of the
orgasm that her lover brought her, letting the sweet surrender loosen her
body, which began to feel plaint and soft as pudding beneath his furious
pounding.
Boris’s orgasm came as soon as hers did, the sight of her cumming was
always enough to drive Boris wild. With a grunt and a heave, Boris
unloaded himself into her, filling her with his cum, his face clenched in a
tight expression of masculine pleasure. Moan’s orgasm finished along with
his, and holding himself in her for a few moments longer, he took several
deep breaths, regaining his stamina before collapsing to her side, both of
their chests heaving.
“Not a bad way to start the day,” said Mona, after a time, her fingernails
dancing on Boris’s hard, smooth chest.
“Definitely worth skipping breakfast,” said Boris, a roguish smirk on his
lips, his hair tussled and draped over his forehead.
“Hey, we can fuck and have time for breakfast. I’m the Alpha, remember?”
“I suppose you’re right,” he said, the smile still on his face.
In the months since Mona took command of the pack, things changed
drastically. Her first command was to begin the ceasing of the wolf clan’s
involvement in the drug trade. This decision was met with relief among the
pack, who were chafing under Giovanni’s lawlessness. But the decision was
more difficult to put into practice than she thought; Giovanni had made the
pack an integral hub in the Manhattan heroin and cocaine trade, and pulling
them out of it involved a crash course in diplomacy. Many of the dealers
that she met with took the news poorly before figuring a pregnant woman
who had only recently ascended to the position of Alpha would be easy to
strong arm back into dealing, but a quick graze of a claw across the face
was enough to set even the most hardened kingpin straight. Soon, she had
the respect of the underworld and they all understood that she wasn’t one to
be trifled with.
The situation with the bears was less certain. After the attack by Giovanni,
the bear’s ranks were severely depleted. And Dima, the Alpha, and the rest
of the leaders fleeing at the first sign of danger did little to instill faith in the
leadership of the clan. On top of everything, those who did remain had a
hard time trusting the wolves. Though it was understood that the pack was
to follow their Alpha to the bitter end, many bears still didn’t trust the
wolves, despite the truce that had been agreed upon after Giovanni’s death.
Boris explained the situation with Melanie, his former love, to Mona. She
was hurt by his betrayal, thinking that he only was using her for his own
ends, but after Boris explained what Giovanni had done to his ex-girlfriend,
how he had stolen her away from Boris, and set into motion the sequence of
events that would lead to her death, she began to understand. Mona knew
that her brother had hurt many during his time as Alpha of the pack, and
that Boris would seek revenge was something that she could understand.
But his betrayal had cut her deeply, and they swore to each other to never
deceive the other again. And over time, their trust for one another was as
strong as it could hope to be.
The baby that grew inside of Mona was another issue. It was a source of joy
for the couple, certainly, but they found themselves thinking of the future of
the child, and what sort of life it would live as the joining of two species of
shifters.
Giovanni’s warning also hung heavy in their minds. None of the other
members of the wolf pack knew what sort of strange outside power he
spoke about. They said that he had grown paranoid as time went on, fearing
threats that didn’t exist. Mona and Boris wondered if this power was
something they needed to fear, or if it was just another one of Giovanni’s
paranoid delusions.
Either way, though they were happy, the future for them was anything but
certain.
A knock at the door snapped the couple out of their post-coital bliss.
“Were you expecting someone?” asked Mona, jumping out of bed and
throwing on clothes.
“I was about to ask you the same thing,” he replied, now out of bed and
stepping into a pair of jeans.
Their eyes narrowed, the now-dressed pair rushed down the stairs of
Mona’s Nolita home and arrived at the door just as another series of knocks
sounded. Opening the door, they were greeted with the sight of Sana and
Awa, each holding a small, wrapped present in.
“We are sorry to come by unannounced, but we wanted to bring by a couple
of gifts for the parents-to-be,” said Sana, her face warm.
“Of course, come in,” said Boris.
The pair entered, looking around.
“Your home looks much nicer now that it is no longer a, ah, drug den,” said
Awa, noting the clean state of the house.
“Thanks,” said Boris. “Amazing what not having wild drug-dealing parties
will do for a place.”
A moment passed.
“Well, the first gift is a tea set,” said Sana. “Shall we have a round?”
“Yeah, that sounds nice,” said Mona, gesturing to a small table near a large,
sunny window.
The group sat down, aside from Awa, who stepped into the kitchen to
prepare the tea.
“This must be an exciting time for you,” said Sana, her eyes on Mona’s
stomach, now round with pregnancy.
“’Exciting’ could be one way to describe it,” said Boris, sitting back and
crossing his legs.
“Yes, this is a strange time for our people,” said Sana. “As I’m sure you’ve
guessed, the conflict between the wolves and the bears was watched
carefully by the tiger elders. And now that something of a peace has been
achieved, their eyes are now on the woman who made it happen.”
Awa returned, setting the small teacups, which were white and decorated
with vaguely African drawings of tigers, in front of each of the group.
“I figured that something like that was going on,” said Mona, taking the
steaming teacup with the tips of her fingers. “Having this much attention on
me isn’t something I’m used to yet.”
“I am afraid that is your new reality,” said Awa, sitting down. “The Alphas
of our people can’t make a move that is not followed by the eyes of every
ladder-climber among our kind.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” said Boris, as though speaking from experience.
A silence descended on the group. Awa and Sana shared a look, as though
each was preparing to broach a difficult subject.
“Well, ah, as you know, your baby is not just any child,” said Sana, setting
down her teacup.
“No kidding,” said Boris.
“You have guessed as much already,” said Awa. “But your child is the first
cross-clan baby that will have been born since the first arrival of our people
to New York. It was outlawed for a time, but the rules have since gone lax.”
“Illegal? Why?” asked Mona.
“Without getting into the gory details,” said Sana, “it was determined that
mixing the blood of our kind provoked too much in the way of conflict. Too
many babies were born who had no clear loyalty between the clans. A
hybrid of a tiger and a wolf, for example, will never be sure which clan she
belongs to.”
“Yeah,” said Boris. “That’s something we’d thought about. But what
happened to the hybrids before, then?”
“All we know is that they left the city to make their own way,” continued
Sana. “Some think they went off to the old countries, others think they went
to one of the other major cities in this country. But no one knows for sure.”
Sana and Awa finished their tea with a pair of tossed-back swigs.
“We have taken up enough of your day,” said Awa, rising from the table
along with Sana. “We simply wanted to give you our well-wishes for the
future.”
“Thank you,” said Mona, accepting a hug from Sana. “For everything.”
Boris and Mona led the two to the door, the sun setting in the city beyond,
the sky cast in brilliant, swirling oranges and purples.
“There are strange times coming, friends,” said Sana. “Enjoy the peace
while it lasts. And know that you have friends in Harlem.”
More thank-yous were exchanged, and Boris and Mona bid Sana farewell.
“There was something strange about them today,” said Mona.
“Stranger, you mean?”
Mona jabbed Boris playfully.
“You know what I mean.”
“No, you’re right. It seemed like there was something going on that they
weren’t telling us.”
“Exactly.”
A moment passed, and Boris slipped his arm around Mona’s shoulder.
“Are you scared?” she asked.”
“Maybe a little. Who knows what the future will hold,” he said, looking off
into the city sky. “But I do know that whatever comes, we can take it
together.”
Mona said nothing. She knew that as the Alpha, she would have to be
strong beyond what she thought she was capable of. But she knew Boris
was right- together, they could do anything.
THE END
 Special Bonus: Goldie and the Two Bears
Chapter One
“I’m done with men. I just have no luck with them at all,” Goldie Dawson
confided to her friend Greta over drinks at The Pavilion, a local watering
hole that they frequented.
“You’re just a bit jaded for now. You’ll come around,” Greta laughed,
sipping her martini and eyeing a hunky guy at a table across the room. No
matter where they went, Greta was always on the lookout for someone to
fill her bed. She never wanted them to hang around, never seemed to need
them for more than getting laid. It was a trait that Goldie envied in some
ways.
“No. I don’t think so. Maybe I’ll just become a lesbian or perhaps a nun,”
she said dryly.
“First of all, you aren’t into women and secondly, you love sex way too
much to become a nun. Unless you find a wayward priest to fool around
with in the convent, you’d never survive a vow of chastity,” Greta told her,
her attention returning to the table as a woman joined the brief object of her
affection at his table.
“That’s probably true. I’m just so tired of getting screwed over,” she
groaned. “I’m either too big or not big enough. When did everyone
become a size zero or concave, if there is such a thing?”
“Blame fucking Twiggy. She started all this skinny bitch nonsense. It’s
insane for men to expect women to be so thin. I’m a size eight and you’d
think I were a whale according to some folks. Fuck them. I like to eat.”
“Me too. Of course, I’m a bit thicker than you, but still, a size sixteen isn’t
a crime. Wasn’t Marilyn Monroe this size and she fucked a president!”
“You’re beautiful. I don’t know how anyone could look at you and not
think so. You have curves in all the right places. There was a time when
women would kill for your hourglass figure.”
“You’d be surprised. Of course, there are some out there that find it a huge
turn on that I have some curves. I had one guy that wanted to coat me in
butter and lick me from head to toe. They take it too far. It’s more of a
fetish than a preference. Quite disturbing is what it is.”
“You are fucking kidding me?! Butter? Sounds like a real nut-job, if you
ask me. What happened to the Roberts guy, the producer you were seeing?”
“He was a climber. When we met, he seemed to be really into me, but then
I caught him with someone else, someone who could do more for his
career.”
“What? No way? Who?”
“Well, you know he is a producer and script writer, but he hasn’t really had
anything big. Even though I just do costume design for City in Siege, I
know a lot of people. I introduced him to some of them, sort of got him in
the loop and off the ground. He repaid me by hooking up with one of the
producers on my TV series.”
“You’re kidding me! When did that happen?”
“Last weekend. I invited him to a wrap party we were having at the end of
shooting. It’s a pretty popular show, so I knew there would be a lot of
people there who could help him out and sort of get his foot in the door. I
introduced him to Amelda Harmon, one of the primary producers of the
show and they were chatting for a bit. Perhaps I should have seen what was
happening between them but I didn’t. I stepped away to speak to someone
and those two disappeared. I found them in a back room, making out pretty
hot and heavy like two horny teens.”
“Oh, my fucking God! What did you do?”
“I shut the door and left him there with her. I wanted to throw things at him
and call him names, but instead, I just felt horrified and ran.”
“That’s it? You didn’t say anything to him? No confrontation?”
“Nope. Nothing. He hasn’t even bothered to call and I haven’t bothered to
try to contact him. I guess he got what he wanted. She will be able to
introduce him to people I can’t and, at some point, he will probably meet
someone with even more pull in the industry and abandon her for them. All
I know is it isn’t my problem. Whatever he wanted, it wasn’t me, it was
just what I could do to help him.”
“That sucks. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s disappointing, but I wasn’t that hung up on him. I mean, I
thought we had a good thing. He’s gorgeous, hot as fuck in bed, motivated .
. . you know, the total package. Turns out it was all for show though. He
didn’t mean any of it. People like him know how to play the game to get
what they want. I should have known better.”
“Men are pigs.”
“I know, right? I swear there is something wrong with all of them. They
are too pushy or too wimpy. Great to look at, but shit in bed. Gorgeous,
but unemployed or live with their mom. It’s always something. Then, there
is Greg Roberts, who seems to have it all, but is only after what he can get
from you. He’ll do the same to her and then be on to the next one that can
help his career. Fuck him.”
“I’ll toast to that. Fuck him. Fuck them all!” Greta laughed raising her
glass in salute.
“You know, I honestly think that is the answer.”
“What is the answer?” Greta asked, looking both amused and confused.
“To just fuck them all. Do what I want and have fun. If men can run
around and just fuck indiscriminately, why can’t I?”
“Very true. Men do that and they are playboys. We do it and we are sluts.
Here’s another toast to being a common whore!” Greta laughed, raising her
glass once more.
“To whores! Fuck yeah!” Goldie cheered.
The two women giggled playfully and continued their drinking, chatting
until it was closing time and things began to wind down around them.
Catching a cab back to Goldie’s place, they sat in her living room and
talked some more. It was one of those rare nights that they hadn’t had in a
while. Goldie had missed their girl time.
“Maybe you just need a break. Why not get out of LA and take it easy for a
bit while the show is on hiatus for the season? You could go up to Big Bear
Lake. Ian and Randy still have a cabin up there. They have plenty of room
and they love visitors.”
“Hmm. I don’t know. I don’t want to intrude.”
“Oh, please. You know how those two are. They live to entertain. Call
them up and ask them if you can come up for a week or even a couple of
weeks. You deserve a little down time.”
“It’s three a.m.,” Goldie laughed.
“Okay, perhaps wait until tomorrow, but you knew that I didn’t mean right
this second,” she replied, rolling her eyes playfully.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You do that. In the meantime, I’m going to crash in your spare bedroom.
I’m wiped!”
“Make yourself at home. I think I’m going to call it a day, as well.”
The two women hugged one another and headed to bed, where they fell fast
asleep. When Goldie woke up the next morning, Greta was already gone,
having an early call at the magazine where she worked as a photographer.
Sitting at the kitchen table with a bit of a hangover, Goldie waited for her
coffee and aspirin to kick in. An hour later, she found herself feeling more
human, showered and wondering what she should do now that she was free
for at least six weeks. She sighed and picked up the phone. Ian answered
on the first ring with an inviting hello that instantly put her at ease.
Chapter Two
“You have no idea how much I appreciate you letting me stay on such short
notice,” she told Ian and Randy over breakfast the following morning. It
had been a long drive, but after talking to Ian, she had headed out as soon as
she could pack, arriving late in the afternoon. They already had plans and
were heading out upon her arrival, leaving her to her own devices for the
evening.
Deciding to take Greta’s advice, she had taken the rest of the day to make
arrangements for a house sitter and get packed for an extended visit to Big
Bear Lake. The fresh air would hopefully be enough to clear her head and
give her a fresh perspective on things. She had told Ian and Randy all about
Greg Roberts over bacon, eggs, and toast.
“No problem, honey. We’re glad to have you. Now, listen, we’re having a
party later and there will be loads of straight men there for you to meet.
You just shake that piece of shit Greg Roberts off your mind and we’ll find
you someone way better! We are geniuses at matching up like minds!”
“Oh, no, no, no. The last thing I want is a new man. I’m in for some “me”
time. Let’s just let things be, shall we?” she said.
“Fair enough. You’re beautiful. They’ll flock to you anyway. It’s up to
you whether you give them the time of day or send them away.”
Getting dressed for the party later, Goldie considered her options. Why not
play this game the same way men did? Fuck relationships. She could stage
her own sexual revolution. No games, no expectations, no
disappointments. There had already been too many men that she had found
herself settling for. From now on, she’d just do what she wanted and walk
away like so many of them did with her. That was the key to future
happiness, as far as she was concerned. It was time to just have fun and the
rest of it be damned.
“Wow. That dress is stunning,” Ian told her as she stepped out of her room
and into the kitchen where he and Randy were preparing food and drink for
the masses they were expecting.
“You like it?” she asked, doing a mock twirl. The summer dress did suit her
quite nicely. It clung in all the right places and flowed in a way that
flattered the less flattering. A simple pair of wedges and a loose ponytail
that hung in long curls down her back finished off what she felt was a
casual but sexy look.
“Absolutely! And that color brings out the fantastic hazel specks in your
eyes. Perfection!” Randy added.
“What can I help you with?”
“Oh, no, darling. You just go right over there and man the door. Guests
will be arriving in a bit and we’re behind on the party dishes. We know you
are just as charming as you are beautiful, so you just got nominated as the
party greeter.”
“But it isn’t my party,” Goldie laughed.
“It is now. You are our guest, so it is your party too. Welcome to our
world,” Ian joked.
“Help yourself to the wet bar. There is plenty of everything to be had over
there,” Randy told her.
Goldie wandered to the living room and poured herself a glass of Merlot,
flipping through a fashion magazine while she waited. Ian and Randy
chatted brightly in the kitchen, sometimes feeding one another bites of the
food they were making. It must be nice to find such a love, she marveled
with a sigh. Too bad it just wasn’t in the cards for her. A few moments
later, the doorbell rang and she went to answer it. After that, it began to get
really crowded with people from all over the lakefront village where her
friends lived.
Chapter Three
“What do you say we skip out on this party for a while and go down to my
lake house? I’m only a little way down,” an attractive guy named Joshua
asked her as he leaned into her on the sofa.
She had been talking to him earlier and found him quite intriguing. It
seemed the feeling was mutual and she couldn’t be happier about that. He
was certainly the best looking thing at the party.
“Sounds like fun. Let me just let Ian and Randy know I’m going,” she told
him.
“I suppose I should say my goodbyes, as well,” he agreed, standing to help
her up from the sofa.
Ian and Randy gave her a knowing look as she told them she was going to
walk down to Joshua’s place with him. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t broadcast
her naughty behavior, but she couldn’t let her libido get ahead of her good
sense. Joshua was definitely a bad boy, tall and powerful looking with
numerous tattoos. She had noticed the bear paw on the back on one hand
almost instantly and he had told her it was a local brotherhood he belonged
to, but didn’t seem to want to elaborate further.
Since Ian and Randy didn’t caution her in any way about him, she felt
pretty good about going home with him. In fact, she felt even better about
it once he got her alone. Not wasting any time on further formalities, he
pushed her against a wall and began kissing her heatedly. Things quickly
progressed as he peeled away her dress and kissed her breasts. Giving in to
him, she leaned in, moaning against him.
Goldie caught her breath as he bit into her neck, sending shards of
electricity through her veins. There was something about him that clouded
her thoughts, she couldn’t think about anything but what he was doing to
her. She could hear his heartbeat and her own, pounding loudly against one
another as he bit into her flesh, holding her hands up against the wall behind
her. His breath was heavy, sounding almost as if he were panting like some
sort of wild animal. It only turned her on that much more.
“God, that feels good,” she moaned as his fingers dug into her ass cheeks
hard enough to leave bruises behind. She felt her body being lifted, her
back slipping roughly along the wall as he raised her upward, focusing on
her full breasts. She let out a loud cry of ecstasy as his teeth sank into one
nipple, pulling it outward and sucking at it fiercely. He was rough in all the
best ways and she was loving every moment of it.
“You taste delicious. Good enough to eat,” he growled, suddenly wrapping
her legs around his waist and walking with her toward his bedroom as if she
weighed nothing.
Goldie found herself being tossed across the bed as he grabbed her feet and
pulled her toward the edge, spreading her legs wide and kneeling by the
edge of the bed. Shockwaves ran through her as he bit into her left thigh
and then trailed upward toward her pussy. His bites weren’t quite as soft as
nibbles, but not so much that they were unbearable. If anything, they were
only making her want more of the delicious pains he was imparting across
her skin.
“Yum,” he breathed as his lips found her center. His tongue slowly lapped
back and forth across her clit for a moment before sucking it into his mouth,
tugging at it with his teeth until she thought she might scream. Pushing his
mouth further into her, he began sucking and licking at her wet folds as she
moaned incoherently beneath him. She was already on the edge of climax
when he slipped his fingers inside of her, using them to fuck her deeply as
she writhed beneath him.
“Yes, yes, please,” she moaned, reaching downward to tangle her fingers in
his hair and pull him further into her. It was crazy how much she wanted
him, her desire seeming to be in hypermode as he ate her out like no one
ever had. It was if he instinctively knew exactly what to do and how to do
it. Before long, he had her in spasms beneath him, her hips bucking
forward as she sprayed her ecstasy into his hot mouth.
“That a girl. Give me all you’ve got,” he breathed against her soaked cunt.
He paused to breathe and then returned to lapping at her dripping pussy
until she thought she might pass out. His fingers took over again as he
moved downward to once again bite his way up and down her thighs.
Goldie thought she had cum as much as she possibly could and was
surprised to find it was only the tip of the iceberg, her body jerking with the
force of another violent climax that left her feeling light headed.
“Jesus,” was all she managed to say.
“No, just me. I love the way you taste and watching you cum is beautiful,”
he told her, his cum-slicked lips dragging upward through her tender folds
and across her stomach as he moved on top of her.
She groaned loudly as he began biting his way upward, hesitating once
more at her breasts. Pulling each nipple into his mouth one by one, he
sucked at them as if attempting to nurse. To her surprise, she felt a tiny bit
of moisture forming as he forced a tiny bit of fluid to be expelled. Pulling
away, he used his finger to wipe it away from one nipple and rubbed it
across her lips before leaning in to kiss her, the taste of her pussy on his
lips.
“I’m going to fuck you like no one has ever fucked you in your life,” he
told her, looking into her eyes.
Goldie didn’t have a chance to respond, though she had no idea what she
would have said to that anyway. She felt the words more than hearing
them. Though he had more than satisfied any longings with the extended
oral session, she found that she only wanted more. She wanted him inside
her desperately. There was something about him that she couldn’t put her
finger on, but it was if she was drawn to him in some way she couldn’t
resist.
A loud cry escaped her lips as he entered her, his enormous cock filling her,
pushing her already tender pussy outward as he filled her with his
incredible girth. He seemed to be insatiable as he fucked her with deep,
hard strokes, sending her into a fit of involuntarily cries originating from a
mix of pain and pleasure. Each stroke brought her closer to yet another
orgasm that she couldn’t believe she still had in her until she was just a
huge puddle of wetness beneath him.
“You feel fucking fantastic,” he breathed, suddenly pulling free of her long
enough to flip her over and put her on all fours. She tangled her fingers into
the sheets beneath them in an effort to brace herself against his heavy
strokes as he entered her from behind, pounding into her fiercely.
“Yes, fuck me. God. Fuck me harder,” she found herself begging him.
He was only too happy to accommodate her, his body slamming against her
rounded backside, pushing her forward with his powerful thrusts while his
hands grasped her waist to pull her right back onto him again. She wasn’t
sure how much more she could take and yet, didn’t want it to stop. It was
pretty certain to her that she would be content for him to fuck her until she
couldn’t move anymore. No one had ever been so rough with her and she
loved every moment of it.
“You like that?” he breathed against her back, leaning forward as he slowed
his strokes for a moment, pushing deep inside of her until she felt him all
the way into what must certainly be her very center.
“Yes, don’t stop. I love the way you are fucking me,” she panted, no longer
in control of herself.
“I don’t think I’d ever be able to get enough of you,” he groaned. Goldie
could feel his rock hard cock pulsating inside of her, breathing a strange
sort of life into her from the inside. She felt like she had been tenderized
and thus, more sensitive to every stroke as he fucked her with wild
abandon. He seemed to last forever, longer than she could have ever
dreamed of.
Their bodies rocked back and forth as he continued fucking her,
encouraging the way she cried out and begged him for more. Just when it
seemed he might last forever, she felt his body begin to convulse, an odd
sort of growl coming up from his core as he flooded her sore inner walls
with hot, sticky cum. He collapsed against her for a moment before pulling
free and falling over to one side of her.
“I can’t tell you how incredible that felt,” he said as he lay on the pillow
beside her.
“You don’t have to. That was amazing,” she agreed, snuggling into the
pillow beside him.
There was something odd about him. His eyes had looked very blue when
they were at the party, but now, they appeared almost black, very dark and
fierce looking. Thinking perhaps it was just the light, she dismissed it and
settled into her pillow, a content smile on her face.
Moments later, he was asleep, sated and content. Goldie lay in the near
darkness, looking at his outline on the bed beside her. So much for after sex
cuddling or conversation. While the sex had been off the charts, it was
always a letdown when the person you were with just rolled over and went
to sleep. She guessed it had been too much to hope for that he might be the
total package, but she supposed she could forgive him for his post-coital
shortcomings considering how good he was at the act itself.
It took a while for her to come down from the high of such intense sex and
fall asleep. Her mind raced with thoughts about where this might lead and
she cautioned herself not to let it go there. It wasn’t in her nature to have
one night stands, but she had decided that was what was best for her and
she needed to stick with that attitude. Getting too attached to a man she
would be leaving behind in less than a week was a bad idea. Even if he was
interested in something beyond what they had just shared, long-distance
relationships were too hard, especially for someone like her who didn’t
seem to be able to even maintain one in the same town.
Goldie finally fell asleep after chiding herself for trying to make too much
out of this and also for not being more careful. She wasn’t on the pill, as
she hadn’t needed to be with Greg and had been on a streak of abstinence
for a bit before he came along. It had been nice to give her body a break
from the chemicals. Not only was there pregnancy to consider, but also
other things that could be equally as devastating. She definitely needed to
not repeat tonight and get back on birth control before she decided to have
another one-night stand.
“Goodnight,” she said to the sleeping man beside her, knowing that he
couldn’t hear her but somehow feeling like she should say something as she
drifted off into a mostly peaceful sleep. She awoke later in the night,
feeling out of breath, fresh from a dream in which she was running through
the forest, but she hadn’t been human and neither had the others that had
been running with her. There was no fear, just pure exhilaration.
“Bad dream?” Joshua said sleepily from beside her.
“No, just odd. Go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to wake you,” she told him.
“Who can sleep?” he replied, smiling at her as shadows fell across them on
the bed. He reached for her pulling her to him and sinking his teeth into her
neck provocatively. She whimpered as she felt his hard cock pressing into
her and then he was inside of her again, fucking her until she shuddered
with orgasm after orgasm. He pulled her back against him, pushing deeper
inside her as she cried out. Then he came inside of her once again before
kissing her softly on the shoulder and falling back asleep, on his own side
of the bed.
This time, Goldie didn’t over think it all. Instead, she rolled over and fell
back asleep, content and grateful for at least once incredible night with the
fantastic creature that lay beside her. He might not be Mr. Right, but he
certainly was someone she would remember fondly for years to come. A
smile crossed her face as she drifted back off into dreamland for the few
remaining hours until daylight. When she awoke, she got dressed quietly
and made her way back to the lake house, slipping in and climbing into her
bed there for a while longer.
Chapter Four
Still coming down from the incredible night of sex with hunky Joshua,
Goldie reminded herself to keep it casual. He could be her boy toy while
she was here at the lake and then she could put him behind her when she
went home. It was just sex and she refused to even try to make it any more
than that, though he seemed like a nice enough guy.
“So, you had a good night then?” Ian said with a smile as she walked into
the kitchen the following morning.
“I did,” she said, blushing a little.
“Of course we want all the details, but we won’t ask,” Randy added, with a
laugh. “Sit down and have some breakfast with us.”
“No thanks. I didn’t get much sleep. I’m going to go lie back down for a
while I think,” she admitted, her face still flushed.
“I’ll bet,” Ian said as they both laughed and returned to their conversation.
“Listen, we won’t lecture you. You’re a grown woman, after all, but be
careful with Joshua. He belongs to a sort of gang. There are a lot of rumors
about them.”
“What kind of rumors?” she asked.
“Now, Ian. Just let the girl have her fun. You know those are just wild
stories,” Randy said, turning back to Goldie. “Don’t even worry about it.
It’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” she said, not so sure.
“Positive. We have to get going anyway. No time for fairy tales,” Randy
said.
When Goldie awoke several hours later they were gone, leaving her a note
that they were in the village doing a bit of shopping if she wanted to come
in and join them. Goldie grabbed a quick shower and tossed on some jeans
and a t-shirt, slipping into her sandals. Settling for another loose ponytail, a
hint of mascara and lip gloss, she headed out the door and walked toward
the main hub that began at the end of the street leading into the lakeside
cabin area. She met them coming back just as she reached the corner.
“Oh, honey. You should have given us a ring and we’d have waited for
you. Oh, never mind. We’ll just go back with you then for a bit,” Ian told
her.
“No, no. Go on back. You both have your hands full of bags. I can roam
around by myself. It’s not like it’s a very big place.”
“Not at all. It is a rather quaint little area, isn’t it? That’s why we love it so
much!” he replied.
“I’ll check it out a bit and be back a little while later.”
“Sounds good. Don’t be too late. We’re making fajitas and margaritas for
dinner!” Ian told her.
“That does sound delicious!” Goldie replied, realizing that she hadn’t eaten
anything since last night. Perhaps she’d grab a bite to eat at one of the local
places while she was out and about.
Instead, she found herself attracted to a place that advertised itself as a
general store, but it wasn’t like the cheap dollar stores that usually
referenced themselves with that name. This was more like an old style
mercantile you’d find in a small town. Stepping inside was like going back
in time. There was everything from fishing tackle to groceries to be had
here.
“Wow, this is fantastic,” she said aloud, running her hand over a wooden
rocker that sat among a section of furniture on one side of the large barnlike
building.
“Thank you. I made it by hand. Solid oak,” a voice nearby replied,
catching her off guard.
“Impressive,” she replied.
It was as much a statement about the appearance of the rocking chair as it
was about the man claiming to have made it. He was the epitome of tall,
dark and handsome. His rugged good looks were punctuated by a shock of
wavy black hair and neatly trimmed beard. His blue eyes flashed with
mischief as he reached up to lean on a nearby counter. It was then that she
noted the paw tattoo on his hand, the same one that last night’s lover had on
his. Obviously, they were a part of the same group.
“Thank you, um, Miss . . .?”
“Miss Dawson, but you can call me Goldie.”
“Good to meet you, Goldie. I’m John Sebastian. You must be new in
town. I haven’t seen you in before.”
“I’m just visiting friends over on the lake. Ian and Randy Keller,” she
offered.
“Ah, yeah. I live just across the water from them. Good guys.”
“Yes, they’re the best. You weren’t at their party last night though. I
thought the whole neighborhood was invited.”
“Ah, yeah. I was working on a piece and got pretty tied up with it. I can get
into my work at times,” he told her. There was something that said he was
not quite telling the truth, but she hardly knew him so had no reason to
question it.
“Well, the dedication shows.”
“I like to think so.”
“Very much. Anyway, I have to get going. It’s past time to find a bite to
eat somewhere. Any recommendations?”
“Well, I was actually about to go grab something myself. There is a little
café not far from here. They have some amazing shrimp lime and cilantro
tacos. I’ve been craving them all morning.”
“Oh, that does sound delicious. I don’t want to impose though.”
“No imposition at all. Come on and we’ll go. It’s just about three blocks
up by the edge of the water.”
Goldie smiled at him, following him past the front counter, where he told
the clerk there that he was out to lunch for a while. She nodded, barely
even acknowledging him before resuming her texting. Goldie noticed an
odd familiarity about the girl that she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but
John seemed to read her mind as her gaze lingered on the girl.
“Kid sister,” he told her. “We favor quite a bit, huh?”
“Yes, you do,” Goldie laughed.
“Our folks left me this place when they died. It’s been in the family for
generations. She’s a senior over at the local high school and itching to get
as far away from the watchful eye of big brother as soon as possible. Got
herself a scholarship to UCLA so she can be California dreamin’ by fall.”
“This place will be a handful by yourself.”
“Nah. I’ll just have to shell out a little more to hire someone to help and the
guys in my group will help me out, if I need them.”
“Your group?” she asked, though she already had a good idea of who he
was referring to.
“Yeah. We watch each other’s backs,” he said with a slow smile that just
melted her.
“Always good to have people like that in your life,” she replied.
“It is. Here we are,” he told her, waving his hand toward the small grill to
their right, along the edge of the water.
“Great. I’m looking forward to this already,” she said as they stepped
inside.
Though he was handsome and flirtatious, Goldie had already made up her
mind that this couldn’t go past a friendly lunch. She was just up for having
fun, she really didn’t want to sleep with more than one guy at a time. It was
best just to have her fun with Joshua while she was here and let that be the
extent of it. Plus, it was a bad idea to see both of them with their being a
part of the same brotherhood or whatever it was.
“You weren’t kidding! These are delicious!” she told him as they finished
off the last of their shrimp tacos.
“I know. Best in town. Listen I’m going to have to get back to the store,
but I’d really like to see you again if that’s okay.”
“I appreciate it, but I am only here for a short time and think that maybe it
just would be best not to. I hope you understand,” she said.
“Come on. Call it a casual fling,” he said with a sultry smile.
“That sounds a bit forward,” she countered playfully.
“That is because it is a bit forward. I know what I like when I see it. Let
me buy you a drink later.”
“Well, I suppose a drink can’t do any harm.”
“I suppose that is exactly right. I’ll swing by and pick you up around eight,
if that’s good for you.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she told him as he paid their bill and dropped a tip on the
table, walking her out.
Outside, they went their separate ways on the sidewalk. Visiting a few
more shops before returning to Ian and Randy’s place, she found herself a
sensational little skirt and top to wear on her night out with John. She still
considered that it wasn’t really like her to sleep with two men at once and
told herself that she would not cross that line with him, no matter how
attracted to him she might be.
Chapter Five
“Well, now . . . where is our girl headed out to tonight?” Ian asked as she
came out of her room later that night, dressed to go out.
“I got invited out for drinks while I was in town today. I thought I
mentioned it at dinner.”
“You most certainly did not. We would have remembered. Who is the
lucky guy?”
“Someone I met at the general store today. John Sebastian is his name.”
The two men exchanged smiles and looked at her knowingly. She
wondered what secret they were keeping that caused their bemusement and
whether it was good or bad.
“What? Spill it.”
“Nothing honey. Only one of the biggest hunks in town. Half the girls here
would kill to be asked out by him and the other half just can’t hope because
they settled for less,” Randy said.
“Oh, come on. He’s not all that.”
“Please. He’s gorgeous and a business owner. Down to earth, friendly.
He’s the total package.”
“I guess he is kind of hot.”
“Yeah, you guess,” Ian laughed with Randy quickly joining in.
“Just be careful. There’s a full moon out tonight,” Randy joked.
Goldie was happy to be saved by a knock on the door. Randy waved her
toward it as if to say it was for her and she walked over, opening it to the
smiling face of John.
“You look gorgeous. Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“I am,” she told him, turning to say her goodbyes to Ian and Randy.
John stuck his head inside the door and greeted them as well before taking
her arm and walking down the sidewalk toward a bar and grill called
Dockside. It was well lit with strings of lights that hung along the wooden
beams that made up the back patio that jutted slightly out onto the lake.
“Have you been here before?” he asked.
“No. I’ve only been in town for a couple of days now. This is my first trip
up to visit Ian and Randy since they bought the lake house.”
“I see. So, what brought you up here now?”
“Just a vacation. I’m a costume designer and my show is on break until
filming starts again in a few weeks. I thought I’d get out and enjoy a
change of scenery.”
“Wow, a costume designer, huh? That sounds far more interesting than
running a general store. Which show do you work on?”
“Stygian Stories,” she told him.
“Really? I love that show. You design those really creepy costumes they
wear?”
“Not all of them, but quite a few, yes.”
“I’m fascinated,” he told her just as they made their way into the front of
the restaurant.
It was hard to miss how the hostess fretted over him and the waitress wasn’t
much better. Both of them flirted outrageously, despite his being there with
an apparent date. Goldie couldn’t help but note how he was polite to them,
but never took his eyes off of her, sending a clear message. He grabbed a
seat for them outside on the deck where they could enjoy the water and the
stars beginning to form in the darkening sky above them.
“I wish I had gone to college. I wanted to, but after mom and dad died, I
had my sister to take care of and the business to run. Life takes you where
it will, I suppose.”
“That it does, but it’s not too late. You could always go now that your sister
is leaving the nest,” she replied.
“No. The general store does okay, but not well enough to pay two college
tuitions. I do take a class here and there online. I’m almost a sophomore.
Plus, I have obligation here,” he laughed.
“That’s progress. What are you studying?”
“Geology. I’ve always been fascinated with any kind of earth-based
science.”
“Not something I know anything about, I’m afraid.”
Their conversation was briefly interrupted as the waitress brought their
drinks and they sipped at them for a moment, regrouping the conversation.
It wasn’t as if it was hard to talk to him. In fact, he might just be the easiest
person to talk to on the planet. She wondered if he knew Joshua, though
she didn’t dare bring up his name. Though they were a part of the same
club, they seemed so different. Joshua was bold, sexual, but not a brilliant
conversationalist. He did his talking with his body, for the most part.
John was more of the guy next door type. He liked to read and explore the
land when he could. He gave her a warm, fuzzy feeling that didn’t make
her want to ravage him across the table at which they sat, but it did make
her long to go home with him and make love to him for hours on end. That
was not a good thing considering her admonishments to herself to refrain
from just that. As the hours flew by, she found herself only wanting him
more.
“It’s getting pretty crowded here and late. It might be time to head back
toward the house,” he said as the deck around them filled to an
uncomfortable capacity.
“I think you’re right,” she said, disappointed to be ending the evening, but
tipsy and knowing it was most likely for the best.
John paid their tab and they headed back the way they had come. Halfway
around, he pulled her off to one side and in to him, holding her tightly
against his broad chest as he kissed her. Though her brain told her to resist,
her body told it to fuck off, returning his kiss feverishly.
“I don’t suppose you’d consider coming home with me?” he said.
“Wouldn’t that be awkward with your sister there?” she asked.
“She’s sleeping over at a friend’s house tonight,” he said with a smile.
“I could probably come over for a bit,” she said coyly, dismissing all the
promises she had made to herself early this morning.
“Good enough. It’s not far from where you are staying,” he told her.
An awful thought occurred to her that perhaps he lived near, or even with,
Joshua, but it fell away as he stopped at a house they had passed on their
way to the bar. Whereas Joshua lived south of Ian and Randy, it appeared
that John lived north. She breathed a silent sigh of relief and went inside
with him. From there, all cautions fell away as she gave in to her own
urges.
Unlike Joshua, John went for the lips rather than her neck, kissing her
deeply as they lingered just inside the door. It wasn’t a quick kiss and move
on either, he seemed to really enjoy kissing as much as she did, teasing her
tongue with his own as he explored her with his hungry mouth. His hands
roamed down her body, touching her softly, almost delicately with his big,
rough hands. She felt like she might actually be floating slightly above the
floor rather than planted firmly on it.
“You are so beautiful. I was watching you walk through the store long
before you stopped to look at the chair,” he told her, pulling away to look
into her eyes.
“You were not,” she said, flushing.
“I was. The chair only gave me an excuse to talk to you,” he said with a
slow smile that made her feel weaker in the knees than the kiss had already
made her.
“I’m glad I stopped to admire it then,” she told him, reaching up to touch
his handsome face.
“I’m glad you did too,” he replied, pulling her hand from his face and softly
kissing the palm.
Then his lips were on hers again, drinking her in as if they were connected
in much more than just the physical sense. It was amazing how in tune to
him she had felt since meeting him only at lunch today. Once again, she
had to caution herself not to make any more of this than it was. Just fun,
nothing but fun.
His hands found their ways to the buttons on her shirt, slowly opening them
one by one and peeling it away from her shoulders to slip softly down her
body. She stood there in the see-through lace bra and matching boy shorts
she had been wearing beneath her skirt, her three-inch heels pushing her up
almost to his height. She had always been a tall girl and gravitated toward
men that were of above average height. His six-foot-four muscular frame
was perfection.
“You’ve an amazing body, curves in all the perfect places,” he told her,
kissing his way down her neck.
Goldie had always been a bit sensitive about her size, because the men she
had encountered always made such a big deal of it. It was nice to find
someone who seemed to not mind that she was a big taller and thicker, but
didn’t seem to be fetishizing it into some form of freaky obsession. She’d
had more than her fill of those types.
“Thank you. You aren’t so bad yourself,” she replied.
“I’m not very curvy. All hard angles,” he said playfully.
“Sounds just right to me,” she told him.
His lips fell on hers again, kissing her slowly and softly until her head
began to spin. Pulling away, he took her hand and led her to his bedroom.
He sat her on the bed to watch as he undressed. Her eyes widened as she
caught a glimpse of his sizeable cock. What were they feeding the men in
this area? She licked her lips seductively as he stood naked in front of her.
“See something you like then?” he asked.
“I certainly do,” she told him, leaning forward and slipping her tongue
along the bulbous head. It jumped against her tongue as she made contact
and he moaned a little, which she took as an encouragement to proceed.
Goldie took her time, enjoying the way his cock felt against her tongue and
the way he tasted. Wrapping a single hand around his shaft, she began
pumping up and down, meeting her lips as she slowly toured his hardness.
His hands tangled in her hair, watching as the head of his dick disappeared
in and out of her mouth. Moving her hand down toward the base, she began
taking more of him in her mouth until she could feel him hitting the back of
her throat, tickling her tonsils.
“Oh, God, that feels so good. You have an incredible mouth,” he moaned.
Goldie responded by picking up the pace, bobbing up and down the length
of his cock as he whimpered with pleasure above her. She felt hungry for
his cum, wanted to taste it running down the back of her throat, but her
greed was circumvented as he pulled free of her, pushing her back on the
bed and slipping her panties off.
“Mmmm,” she moaned as he softly kissed his way up her legs to her thighs,
pushing them apart to access her already soaked pussy. He lapped gently at
her juices, his large tongue dipping in and out of her folds and tangling
around her clit as he took his time teasing her with his mouth. Her back
arched upwards, pushing against his face, wanting more.
Then he was pulling away, moving upward, his fingers replacing his mouth
as he explored her folds with his long, rough fingers. His mouth covered
one of her nipples, causing her to gasp a little as she realized how sore it
still was from the night before with Joshua. It felt soothing to have him
take such care licking and sucking at it before moving to the other side.
She could feel herself getting wetter, the more he fingered her and caressed
her breasts with his mouth.
“God, you’re incredible,” he told her as he brought her face up to hers,
watching her reactions as he fingerfucked her with longer strokes,
simultaneously rubbing her clit with his thumb. She bit her lip as he smiled
down at her, bringing her to an explosive orgasm with his talented hands
before finally slipping his throbbing cock inside of her.
“Yes. Perfect,” she managed to say between panting and whimpering.
Though he was extremely gentle, he was also massive. She felt like he
might tear her apart slowly from the inside as he pulsated against her inner
walls. Her fingers dug into his back as he drove into her with slow, heavy
strokes, filling her in a way she had never felt before.
“You’re so tight. It feels like you are squeezing my cock. God, it feels
amazing,” he whispered in her ear, taking his time to let her feel every inch
of him as he sank in and out of her.
“Ahhh, I’m cumming,” she almost sighed, her body trembling with the
force of the orgasm that seemed to overtake her entire frame. It was
quickly followed by a series of equally powerful explosions that shook her
to the very core. Feeling weak and shattered beneath him, she could see no
signs of him stopping anytime soon. Instead, he bent forward to kiss her
deeply. She felt overwhelmed with emotion, but refused to give into
anything she might be feeling in a moment of passion.
“Beautiful,” he mumbled against her hair, pulling her legs upward and over
his shoulders as he sank even deeper inside her. She gasped as he seemed
to hit her very womb. It felt incredible to have someone so gentle inside of
her. He felt like someone in love with her, though she knew that wasn’t
true. Still, it made it all feel even more amazing.
To her surprise, something that sounded much like the growl of an animal
seemed to come from him as his passion rose. When she looked up into his
eyes, she could see that same darkness that she had noted in Joshua’s last
night. Was it possible that there was something to the rumors? The thought
fell away as the sounds began to give way to more of a groan.
His hands cupped the cheeks of her ass as he plunged into her very core
until she wasn’t sure how much more she could handle. As if perfectly in
tune with her, his fingers dug into her backside as he erupted into her center,
filling her with a heavy load of cum before pulling free and slipping her
legs away from his shoulders. Rather than dropping onto one side of the
bed and falling asleep, he curled up next to her, wrapping one arm around
her so that she could curl into the crook.
“I’m glad you came home with me. You’re truly amazing,” he told her,
kissing her lightly on the forehead.
“Not nearly as glad as I am,” she told him.
“I hope so. I know you aren’t here for very long, but I really hope we can
spend some more time together, get to know one another more than just
sexually.”
Goldie smiled up at him, her emotions running the gamut. Ordinarily, she
would be elated that someone like him wanted to spend more time with her,
but that was not at all what she had intended when she came here to Bear
Lake. There was no hope for a relationship and so why start something she
couldn’t finish? Still, she couldn’t bring herself to just shoot him down.
“That would be nice,” she told him, knowing she didn’t mean it. She’d love
to mean it if the circumstances were different, but it was what it was and
she wouldn’t be here next week, so why bother?
“I think so,” he told her, kissing her on the cheek.
Goldie thought it might be best to change the subject to something that
didn’t concern what they might or might not be come morning. This might
be the only time in her life that she had ever felt awkward with after sex
cuddling and she suddenly understood why men like Joshua didn’t like it. It
was intimate. By cuddling, you were creating an intimate bond with
someone you didn’t feel emotionally connected to and that was the very
problem.
“So, you grew up here in Bear Lake?” she asked.
“Yes. I was born here, went to high school here. Between growing up here,
school and the store, I know pretty much everyone in town. It’s like your
friends, Ian and Randy, I meet them when they first came to town. Randy
was fussing over everything in the store and Ian was just watching him fret,
smiling and nodding. I could tell they were a couple and knew they were
going to have a hard time fitting in with so many small town, small minded
people.”
“I didn’t realize they ever had a problem with that,” Goldie said, feeling
saddened that someone might take an unfortunate view of them based on
their private preferences when they were such good guys.
“As it turned out, I was completely wrong. They are such great guys that
people seemed to just accept them without issue. Between Ian’s quick wit
and Randy’s sarcastic zingers, they always have people in stitches wherever
they go. Plus, they are the first to jump in to help anyone who seems to be
in need.”
“Yes. They have always been like that. They are one of the nicest couples I
know. I’ve seen people take advantage of that and find it unfortunate, but
they seem to just chalk incidents like that up to poor judgment and move
on.”
“That sounds like them. What about you? Were you always a big city girl
or did you move there later in life?”
“I have always lived in the city. We sometimes went on road trips to see
how other people lived when I was growing up, but the city was home, still
is. I don’t know if I could live in a place like this long term. It’s nice and
quiet when you need that sort of downtime, but I think I would miss the
lights and parties. There is always something to do there.”
“I’m sure there is. I think that would just make me tired after a while. I
love the outdoors and just sitting under the moon and skies. Sometimes, the
urge to just get out and run through the woods strikes me and I can do that
freely here. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t get by with how I live in a big city
anywhere. Too many people, too many questions, too much noise.”
“I suppose we tend to grow into the places where we grow up. We become
as much a part of it as it does us.”
“I can agree with that,” he said.
They talked into the wee hours, until she fell asleep, still in his arms.
Another odd dream came to her. This time she was not running, but lying
by a river in the sun, enjoying the way it felt beaming down on her face.
Once again, she was startled awake, this time because she was dreaming a
storm was afoot. A loud crack of lightening caused her to bolt upright and
John to stir beside her, but he didn’t wake up. Looking out the window, the
night was clear, but morning was breaking.
Chapter Six
Goldie crept into the house and tiptoed to her bedroom early the next
morning. She had slipped out of John’s house with a kiss on the cheek and
an excuse that she had an early day planned. Despite how incredible the
night with him had been, she knew it was best to end it before it got to the
whole “stay for breakfast” and then “let’s spend the day together” bits that
might take it to a level she didn’t want to attempt. Climbing beneath the
covers, she intended to just relax in bed for a while and then maybe get out
and do some hiking.
“Oh, bad girl is up,” Ian said playfully as she stepped into the living room
much later in the morning.
“Yes, she is. What are you doing at home? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“I should be, but I took the day off. I’m about to head up to Walter’s Bluff
to see the doctor.”
“Nothing serious, I hope.”
“No, nothing at all. Just a routine checkup and an opportunity to do some
shopping. You want to come with me and take a browse about town?”
“I appreciate it, but I think I’m going to head out into the woods and roam
around a bit.”
“It’s a lovely place to roam, but I don’t suggest you go too far alone. There
are wild animals out there.”
“I’ll stick to the well-traveled trails.”
“Just be careful. Promise?”
“I do,” she said with a laugh, feeling a bit like she was talking to her father.
“Good enough then. I’m off to my appointment. I think Randy is working
late, so you’ll be on your own for dinner.”
“I can probably manage,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. You don’t seem to have a shortage of pretty men
to take you out for a bite. Perhaps you should call one of them up.”
“I’m pacing myself. I’ll most likely just grab a sandwich or something.”
“Oh, live a little. You’ll be gone at the end of the week. No sense not
taking advantage of something that’s right in front of you.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” she said with a smile. Ian shrugged and
walked out the door.
Goldie changed and threw a few things into her daypack for the impromptu
hike. She was already halfway down the sidewalk when an overwhelming
sense of nausea stopped her in her tracks. The sun suddenly felt unnaturally
hot as it bore down upon her from above. A few more steps and she felt
like she might pass out. Perhaps it was a result of having drank more than
usual last night, but she still hadn’t consumed enough to be hungover,
especially when she wasn’t this way when she had woken up either time
today.
“Fuck this,” she muttered and turned around to return to the house.
Sitting on the sofa, she turned on the television to discover that someone
had been attacked by bears only hours ago. She thought about Randy and
Ian’s comments insinuating there were werewolves out and about at the full
moon and laughed. At least it wasn’t a wolf attack! Then, she felt bad that
she was making light of someone having been mauled, but the news
continued to say that the man who was killed was a known sexual predator.
Perhaps karma did exist, after all. Her body began to feel even worse and
she decided to go lie down.
She spent the rest of the day alternately curled up in bed and in the
bathroom being ill. Obviously, she had picked up a bug somewhere. By
late afternoon, it seemed to have passed and she was starving. A sandwich
wasn’t going to cut it. She got dressed again and walked into town to a
diner she had seen yesterday. It advertised home cooking and that was just
what she needed right now.
“That was delicious,” she told the waitress, having finished off a large plate
of pork roast with potatoes, onions and carrots. It was a heavy meal,
something she didn’t ordinarily allow herself, but even after having eaten
the entire thing, she felt like she could still eat.
“Would you like a slice of pie?” the woman asked and Goldie looked at her
as if she was an angel, a smile spreading across her face.
“Yes! Do you have peach?”
“We certainly do. Ala mode?”
“Absolutely. Thank you.”
Goldie took her time enjoying the warm gooey pie with the large dollop of
vanilla bean ice cream on the side. She was pretty sure that it was the best
thing she had ever tasted. What she wasn’t sure about was why she was so
hungry. Then it occurred to her that she had eaten nothing today. Perhaps
that was the simple explanation for her hunger. Her thoughts were
disrupted as her cell phone rang.
“Did you make it home okay?” Ian asked.
“Oh, yes. Well, I never left really. I felt a little ill and went back to bed for
a while.”
“You aren’t here now.”
“No. I was incredibly hungry when I woke up and decided to come up to
the diner for dinner. I’m sorry. I should have left a note.”
“Oh, please. You don’t have to answer to us. Still, I just wanted to make
sure you weren’t lost in the woods somewhere and unable to get back
before night falls. We will see you when you get back.”
“See you soon,” she said, ending the call.
Goldie paid her bill and walked out. All the shops were beginning to close
up. Bear Lake was one of those small town places that shut down before
dark, for the most part. She ducked into a nearby package store to buy a
couple of bottles of wine to take back with her. Purchase in hand, she
headed back to the lake house.
“Would you like a hand with that?” a voice said from nearby.
“Oh, hello!” she said, spotting Joshua as he walked up to her from the
sidewalk that joined the large porch of the store.
“Hello yourself. I wanted to call you, but you didn’t give me your number
and I didn’t want to be like some stalker by just showing up at your friends’
house.”
“So, you decided to be a stalker here in town instead?” she said playfully.
“Something like that. I was actually on my way home from work and
spotted you coming out,” he told her.
“I guess that is okay then,” she laughed.
“I hope so,” he replied, reaching for her bags even though she hadn’t
answered his question.
They walked back to Ian and Randy’s place and he helped her inside with
the bags. She wasn’t at all surprised to find that they knew him quite well,
chatting him up like old friends. It was a very small community and
everyone seemed to know everyone else. What did surprise her was that he
owned the only bank in town. He hadn’t struck her as the banker type
before, but seeing him today in a double breasted suit, it was easy to see it.
“Well, I guess I best be getting back to the house. Feel free to stop by for a
drink later if you get bored hanging out with these two,” he told Goldie
playfully, kissing her on the cheek as he left.
“Honey, if you aren’t out the door within the hour to go have drinks with
that man, we’re evicting you,” Randy told her.
“Very funny,” she replied.
“I am dead serious,” he told her with a little smile.
“Yes, I can see that you are from the smirk.”
In the end, she decided to throw caution to the wind and wander over to
Joshua’s for a drink. Knocking on the door, it was now she that felt a bit
like a stalker just showing up rather than calling, but she realized that they
still hadn’t exchanged phone numbers.
“Goldie! I’m glad you decided to come by,” he said as he opened the door.
“Well, you know, I didn’t have your number and thought I would stop by
and get it from you,” she told him.
“Oh, of course. Come on in and I’ll write it down for you while I pour you
a drink. I’m multitalented like that,” he said.
Inside, he did exactly that, handing her a scrap of paper with his phone
number and a glass of wine. She took a sip of it, but found that it didn’t set
well with her stomach after her recent illness. He didn’t seem to notice, as
he clearly had other things on his mind. Ordinarily, a man pouncing on her
without so much as a polite conversation would be a turn off, but her train
of thought along those lines had changed since deciding to opt for fun
instead of a relationship.
It was quite the change of pace after her night of slow lovemaking with
John, as she quickly found herself pinned against Joshua’s sofa with his
hand down her pants. His teeth sank into her shoulder as he massaged her
clit, quickly getting her ready for him. Throwing all caution to the wind
despite her lectures to herself, she allowed her body to respond, flooding his
hand with the first of what would be numerous orgasms.
“That a girl,” he said, pulling free of her pants and beginning to get
undressed.
“My God, what happened to your chest?” she exclaimed, noting the long
jagged cut across it as he peeled away his shirt.
“Just a bit of a scrape this morning on my bike. Nothing that won’t heal in
a day or so,” he told her.
“A day or so? That looks very bad. You might even need stitches,” she
told him.
“I promise you, it will be just fine. I’ve had worse. Now let’s get back to
getting you undressed, shall we?” he told her seductively.
She finished peeling off her clothes to stand naked before him. A lurid
smile crossed his face as he whirled her around and pushed her forward
across the back of the sofa, grabbing a handful of hair and pulling her head
back as his other hand slid between her legs again, stroking her clit until she
was moaning loudly. Her knees felt shaky as another orgasm sent streams
of cum flowing across his fingers and down her thighs.
“Fuck me,” she demanded, feeling more assertive than she had ever felt.
“Tell me how,” he said firmly.
“How?” she replied, not following.
“How do you want to be fucked?” he asked.
“Hard, deep. I want you to fuck me so hard that the neighbors hear my
screams,” she told him.
“You can depend on it,” he told her, spreading her legs further apart to enter
her with one forceful stroke. His hands circled either side of her waist as he
began ramming into her, causing her to cry out with each plunge. His hips
rocked back and forth against her ass as he gave her every inch.
“Yes, yes, yes. That’s it. Fuck me harder,” she spurred him on.
One of his hands moved away from her waist and surrounded her neck,
giving her a start, but also a charge of excitement. He squeezed lightly as
he continued to fuck her wildly from behind, seeming to enjoy the way she
cooed and squealed as much as she was enjoying being made to do so.
Letting go of her neck, he grabbed the back of her hair, wrapping it around
his hand and holding onto it as if it were some sort of rein.
“Your pussy is so sweet. I love having my cock buried inside you,” he told
her, still plunging into her.
“Then don’t stop. Keep fucking me,” she demanded, pushing her hips
backward to meet his thrusts.
“I bet you have a sweet little asshole too,” he said.
Goldie hesitated for a moment. She had never done anal, but had always
wanted to try it. As much as men seemed to talk about it, she had never
been with one that actually wanted to do it. She wasn’t sure she would
enjoy it, especially with someone so well endowed, but she felt like some
sort of animal in heat and saw no better time to give it a go.
“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” she breathed, looking back over her
shoulder at him seductively.
“I will,” he said.
Goldie drew in her breath in anticipation as he slid free of her soaked pussy
and slipped the head of his wet cock between her ass cheeks, teasing the rim
of her anus with it. Slowly, he began to push more of the thick head inside
her. It hurt for a moment, but began to ease as she told herself to relax. He
rocked back and forth into her, each time forcing a bit more of his cock into
her tiny orifice until he was finally completely inside her.
“Oh, God. That feels so good,” she groaned, feeling simultaneous pain and
pleasure that only made her want it more.
“The best is yet to come,” he told her, pulling almost fully free of her before
sliding fully back in.
“Umph,” she gasped as she felt the way his thickness filled her small hole.
“God, that’s tight,” he groaned as he pulled back again, this time slipping
back in a bit harder and faster. His rhythm slowly picked back up until he
was fucking her in the ass as enthusiastically as he had been fucking her
pussy moments earlier.
To Goldie’s surprise, it wasn’t one of those things that she would endure
and vow not to do again. Instead, she found herself enjoying it, responding
to it. The more he fucked her, the more she wanted. She found herself
wishing she could have him in both holes at once as her own fingers drifted
between her legs to massage her clit while he continued to fuck her ass
harder.
“I’m going to cum,” she squealed, her body quivering with a massive
explosion that ran down her thighs, almost pushing his cock from her ass
with the force with which it was expelled.
“Don’t stop. Keep it up. Cum some more for me,” he encouraged.
Goldie responded by increasing the friction of her fingers on her own clit
while he bucked against her ass, sending her into a series of orgasms that
caused her to pant and spasm beneath him.
“That’s it. That’s a good girl, Goldie. Keep going. Give me all you’ve
got,” he told her, reaching between her legs to finger fuck her. It quickly
sent her back over the edge as she made inarticulate noises, unable to form
any actual words. She was reduced to a quivering, sticky mess by the time
he finally shoved forward and flooded her asshole with cum.
“That was off the charts,” she panted as he pulled free of her.
Goldie couldn’t help but note that his eyes were dark again. She had known
other men whose eyes got darker when they were turned on, but not like
this. It was if they were a completely different color. Something about it
was a bit unnerving, but also exciting. She couldn’t deny that she was
drawn to him in a way she couldn’t explain. Though she knew it sounded
campy, it was if some sort of primal scent intoxicated her. It was the same
with John.
“Certainly was. How about we grab a shower and then watch a movie or
something?” he said.
“Sounds good to me,” she replied, following him to the shower and waiting
a bit awkwardly as he turned on the water.
He stepped inside and held a hand out to her, guiding her in under the
steamy water. They made quick work of getting cleaned up before stepping
back out to dry off and get dressed. Though it wasn’t quite cuddling, they
settled into the sofa curled against one another and began streaming a
movie. She wasn’t surprised to find that it was an action film rather than
anything warm and fuzzy she would have picked out.
Goldie feigned interest in the movie as her thoughts drifted back to the
events of the last few days. It was so unlike her to be having sex with two
men in the same period of time. She enjoyed both of them immensely, but
it was like they were two halves of a whole. Joshua was so commanding.
It was a huge turn on to just be taken and fucked with wild abandon, but she
knew that she couldn’t spend her life with someone who didn’t have much
to say when he wasn’t inside her.
Then, there was the issue of intimacy. Contrary to what some people
believe, sex is not intimacy. Sex is a physical event and it can be damned
good, like it seemed to be between her and Joshua, but it wasn’t love and it
wasn’t necessarily intimate. She could certainly appreciate the way he
reduced her to her most primal elements and made her want to delve even
further into the dark recesses that made up that part of her needs, but at the
end of the day, she needed to know he thought about more than getting off
with her.
“Are you going to sneak away from me again in the morning before I wake
up?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts and catching her off guard.
She looked at him, a smile crossing her face. Normally, this is where she
would make some excuse for such behavior, but she didn’t really feel it was
necessary with him.
“Most likely,” she replied.
“Okay. I have to be at work early anyway, so I guess that will work,” he
told her with a smirk.
Goldie looked at him with a single eyebrow raised. She wasn’t sure if she
detected a note of hurt or relief in that statement. Perhaps he did feel
offended by her sneaking off while he slept or perhaps he was grateful not
to have to deal with any of the morning after awkward bullshit. She knew
that when men had done that to her, she had been left feeling a bit cheap
and perhaps even dirty in some way. It was a bit rude and selfish if you
really got down to it, but she was beginning to understand the reality of
relationships rather than the fairy tale she had always made them out to be.
“It’s no problem. I understand. We’re fuck buddies, right? I scratch your
itch, you scratch mine?” he added, watching her face for clues it seemed.
“Exactly,” she replied.
Something told Goldie that there was a lot more to that statement than the
words conveyed. Was he trying to figure out what she was thinking,
feeling? Perhaps she was making too much of this. That had always been
her problem, overthinking things. It was weird to be on the other side of the
equation though, not knowing how she should respond.
“That’s cool,” he replied, returning to the movie playing on the screen, but
something on his face said otherwise and it made her very curious to know
what he was thinking. Still, she knew he wouldn’t ask.
Goldie didn’t reply further, letting the conversation lapse. Her mind
continued to swirl with thoughts about what he might be thinking and
whether there was more to him than what she was seeing, but she convinced
herself that it didn’t matter. This was just sex, nothing more and she needed
to stop trying to make it something more, especially when that wasn’t even
something that she wanted from him or anyone at this point.
That is what she kept telling herself. Even as the movie ended and they
climbed into bed together, Joshua stripping her of her clothes and fucking
her once again across the bed before they climbed beneath the covers and
settled in for a few hours sleep before morning. Fortunately, her mind
stopped running around in circles trying to make sense of things and she fell
asleep quickly. No dream came tonight. Instead, she was lost to an endless
sea of darkness where she felt nothing and wondered nothing. It was nice.
At some point, she woke up, hungry for him and rather than turning over to
force herself back to sleep like she would have under normal circumstances,
she found herself boldly peeling back the covers and teasing his cock with
her tongue. He stirred a bit in his sleep, not waking even as his body
reacted to her touch. His dick grew hard and rose, the moonlight shining
upon it from the window as if it was some sort of phallic statue. She
snickered a bit as she raised her body over his and impaled herself upon it.
“Molesting me in my sleep?” he said as he fluttered awake.
“Yes,” she replied.
“You’re a naughty girl,” he told her, pushing her off of him and down onto
the bed. Pulling her ass cheeks apart, he fucked her ass once again. This
time, he wasn’t gentle, letting her cry out in ecstasy as he took her hard and
fast until they both came again and collapsed back into the pillows to sleep.
Chapter Seven
Waking up in the wee hours of the morning, Goldie slipped on her clothes
and out of Joshua’s house, making her way in the darkness back toward Ian
and Randy’s where she climbed into her own bed. She felt oddly content
with the situation. Perhaps men that just played the field were onto
something that women couldn’t quite grasp unless they tried it themselves.
She awoke later in the morning feeling a bit bloated and nauseous.
“Great. Way to preempt my fun, mother nature,” she muttered, thinking her
period had decided to arrive early this month.
Making her way to the bathroom to shower, she was surprised to find that
she was wrong. Perhaps it was just a warning that it was on the way. So
much for sexy flings the rest of this mini vacation. Picking up her phone,
she found that she had a message from Joshua telling her that he was
disappointed to find her gone when he woke up. She smiled a little and
clicked the next message, from John. He wanted to know if she could come
in to town for lunch. She agreed.
“I didn’t even notice this was here,” she told him. “The food is delicious.”
“Yes, they still rent rooms here, though there aren’t many available. Mostly
they provide rooms for functions and special events, plus run this
restaurant,” he told her of the old hotel that sat in the center of town.
“It’s very quaint,” she told him.
“If you like, I can take you to see some more of it when we finish lunch.
The owner is an old school friend.”
“Yes, I’d love that. How old is this place?”
“A bit over two hundred years old. It was in ruins when he bought it and
renovated it, so a lot of the structure is redesigned, but most of the
woodwork is the original carvings from when it was built.”
“I bet the rooms are fantastic,” she said offhandedly.
“Well, let’s give you a peek at them so you can see for yourself.”
After they paid for lunch, he excused himself for a moment and went into
the kitchen, returning with a frail looking older man, introducing him as the
owner. Goldie was momentarily confused. Hadn’t he said the owner was
an old school friend? This man had to be at least in his seventies. Perhaps
he had just meant that he had known the man since his school days rather
than he was a classmate as she had thought.
“Here are the keys to one of the empty rooms. Most of the rooms are set up
just like this one, so it will give you an idea of what they are like. The rest
of the rooms are all openly available for you to look at. John knows the
place pretty well. Make yourselves at home,” he told them.
John thanked him and took her on a tour of the place. It was all quite
stunning with a lot of the original design still intact. Walking into the room
they were given a key for was like walking back in time. The large wrought
iron bed stood against one wall opposite a large bay window that looked out
over the town and the lake beyond. She stood looking out over the
landscape as John walked up behind her and put his arms around her waist,
pulling her to him and kissing her softly on the neck.
“It’s gorgeous, isn’t it?” he asked.
“Very much so. Thank you so much for bringing me here,” she told him.
“My pleasure,” he replied, turning her around to face him.
His lips met hers in a soft, sensual kiss and she found herself instantly
responding to him, despite trying to hold back. What was it about him that
she found so irresistible? Somewhere, in the back of her mind, a voice
whispered back to her. “Everything,” it said, but she pulled away anyway.
“John, we can’t,” she said.
“Yes, we can,” he said.
“It’s not our room. We’re just supposed to be looking at it,” she said.
“Think again. Trust me, he doesn’t care. This room is ours until we give
him the key back,” he breathed against her neck as he began kissing his way
down the length of it.”
Goldie gave in to him, enjoying the way his hot mouth felt on her skin in
the cool room. Under the circumstances, Goldie thought it would be more
of a quickie, lest someone come up to see what was taking so long, but John
seemed to have no intention of rushing things. He sat her up on the heavy
oak table situated on one side of the room and slipped off her pants and
panties, burying his face in her pussy.
“You taste magnificent,” he muttered, the vibrations of his voice causing
her clit to throb with anticipation.
His mouth surrounded her clit, pulling it in and sucking at it eagerly as his
fingers began to explore her rapidly moistening folds. There was no
rushing him as he feasted on her slickness as if he were enjoying fine
cuisine. Her moans filled the room. Tangling her hands in his hair, she
pulled him in to her, enjoying the way he felt with his tongue and fingers
inside of her.
Goldie became aware of the large mirror on the dresser on the opposite side
of the room. The sight of his muscular back as it rippled with his
movements and his head buried between her legs was a huge turn on, as she
watched him eat her out.
“Yes, there,” she moaned as he hit just the right spot with his finger,
rubbing along the inner wall of her wet hole perfectly. Her legs spasmed as
her body gave in to the attention he was lavishing on her dripping pussy and
shattered into what felt like an orgasm that might register on the Richter
scale if there was such a thing for climaxes.
“Delicious,” he mumbled, standing up to face her as he began to get
undressed.
Reaching for her hand, he helped her down from the table and guided her
over to a nearby wooden chair that stood to one side of the bed. Sitting on
it to face her, he pulled her down onto him so that she was facing him with
his cock buried inside of her. At first, he didn’t move. His enormous cock
filled her to the brim as he kissed her passionately, his hands buried in her
hair. Moving downward, he turned his attention to her breasts, licking and
sucking at her nipples softly as his hips began to grind into hers.
Goldie moaned loudly as his hands drifted down to her hips, lifting her up
while still kissing and massaging her breasts with his mouth. He began to
pull her up and down the length of his cock, letting her ride him very
slowly. Wanting him deeper inside of her, Goldie reached out for his
shoulders, pulling herself up and then dropping back down on him with a
grunt as he seemed to hit bottom.
John let go of her, putting his hands down on the sides of the chair to brace
himself as she slipped her body up and down his cock, using his throbbing
member to pleasure herself in the most exquisitely slow fashion. Much to
her surprise, she felt something that didn’t seem quite physical. It was an
ache, a need that came from somewhere much different than her hungry
pussy. She recognized it for exactly what it was, a misplaced feeling that
she had to quickly squash.
“I love how your cock feels inside of me,” she said, attempting to break free
of what she might be feeling and put her feelings back in perspective. This
was sex, just sex. She needed to focus on the physical and forget the ache
that stemmed from a place more north than her clit.
“My cock was made for you,” he told her softly, his eyes never leaving her
own.
Damn him, he wasn’t making it easy to keep her perspective. She firmly
believed that she could spend the rest of her life with his cock inside of her,
but now there was a part of her that wanted more than just affection. While
she adored his way of making love softly and sweetly, there was also a part
of her that appreciated being fucked like Joshua preferred to do. If
somehow she could find a guy that could do both, she might just be in
heaven, but she just didn’t see that ever happening. How long could she
really carry on with two different guys before it became an issue to
someone?
Her thoughts drifted away again as he thrust upward into her deeply,
causing her to cry out. Opening her eyes, she looked down at him and
smiled. His expression softened as he looked back at her, their eyes locked
together as she rode him with increasing enthusiasm. Their bodies were
like one as they glided back and forth in perfect unison until she began to
quake, flooding his cock with her juices.
“You look so beautiful when you cum. I love watching you,” he told her.
“You must, you keep making me do it,” she told him, leaning down to kiss
him.
“Turn around,” he told her.
Goldie stood and faced the other direction. She felt his hands pulling her
back downward on him, letting him ride her reverse cowgirl style as he
ground his cock further and further into her wet recesses. His hands locked
onto her waist as he guided her up and down, his big cock throbbing inside
of her.
“You’re amazing,” she muttered, enjoying their lazy lovemaking. The fact
that they were doing it in a place where there was the potential to be caught
only made it that much more exciting to her.
John responded with a series of grunts as his hands faltered on her waist
and he buried himself inside of her, sitting her firmly down on his lap as he
came inside of her. They sat there like that for a moment, his hands drifting
up to cup her breasts as he kissed her back, his cock still buried inside of
her.
Finally, she pulled free of him, excusing herself to the bathroom to get
cleaned up before departing the room. Goldie tried to pull herself together
as much as possible, giggling a bit as they left the room to visit the rest of
the hotel. When they were done, John returned the key to his friend and
they left, parting ways for the afternoon so that John could get back to the
general store and she could return to the lake house. Plus, she was
beginning to not feel very well again. By the time she made it back, she
had to lie down to keep the room from spinning around her. She felt
exhausted on top of it and was grateful when sleep came so that she could
just close out the discomfort she felt for a while.
Chapter Eight
“You don’t look well,” Ian said to her the following morning. “Do you
want me to see if my doctor can see you?”
“I don’t know. It’s probably just a bug or something,” she replied, now
discounting that it was an early period and figuring it was more of a
stomach flu.
“Okay, if you are sure, but I don’t mind at all. Just give me a ring at the
office if you start feeling worse,” he told her.
“I will. Thanks, Ian.”
She watched as he followed Randy out the door and then sat down on the
sofa. She felt incredibly hungry, but wasn’t sure she could keep it down.
After several hours, it hadn’t subsided at all. Her stomach was puffy and
she felt horrid. Going to a strange doctor was the last thing she wanted to
do, but she grew so weak that she felt she had to. A call to Ian garnered her
a visit to his doctor.
While she waited for time to go to the doctor’s office, she sat down to
watch the news. There had been another bear attack, it seemed. This time
it was a man that was found on a trail not far from the lake. She was
surprised to see that he worked at Joshua’s bank and was recently charged
with embezzlement. A search warrant at his home had turned up a large
collection of photos of women across the country that he was believed to
also be blackmailing.
“Sounds like these bears are purging the area of scum,” she said aloud.
An odd thought suddenly occurred to her and she couldn’t believe she
hadn’t thought about it before now. When she had spent the night with
Joshua last night, he had quite a large wound across his chest. By the time
they had gotten into the shower, it had somehow seemed a bit less
pronounced. Then, this morning, when she had glanced at him as he slept,
the light had shone on his chest to show that the wound hardly appeared
visible at all. How was that possible?
“Don’t be ridiculous, Goldie. Men can’t become wolves or bears,” she said
aloud with a laugh.
Obviously not feeling well was getting to her. Rather than dwelling on it
further, she began to freshen up for her trip to the doctor. It was going to be
a long drive into the next town feeling like this as it was.
Chapter Nine
“You’re pregnant,” the doctor told her as she sat waiting for a diagnosis
after he had run some tests and done a physical exam.
“What?”
“Pregnant. About four weeks, I’d say.”
“No. That’s impossible.”
“Well, the tests do sometimes give a false positive, but my physical exam
matches up with the findings. So, I’m afraid it isn’t impossible.”
“Is it possible that I’m not so far along?”
“Yes, I could be off by a week or so, but no more.”
“No way. I couldn’t possibly be more than a few days,” she said.
“I don’t know what to tell you. Time will tell a more accurate picture, but I
feel pretty confident with my assessment.”
Goldie thanked him and left the office. There was no way she could be four
weeks pregnant. Greg had not been able to have kids due to a childhood
illness that had left him sterile. Admittedly, she had thrown caution to the
wind with her two recent lovers and could have very well have gotten
pregnant. It explained her recent nausea and weakness, but the doctor was
way off with his timetable. It was just as simple as that.
“Fucking great. Pregnant and don’t know who the father is. Good job,
Goldie,” she muttered to herself as she drove back to Randy and Ian’s.
There was no other answer for her but just to end it with both of them.
Though she liked each one for different reasons, she had never intended for
it to be a long-term relationship with either of them and she wasn’t about to
go through holding one of them over the fire with paternity tests and the
like. She would raise this baby by herself and neither would ever need to
know about it.
“What did the doctor say?” Ian asked as he returned from work shortly after
she got back to the lake house.
“Just the stomach flu, after all. I’ll be fine,” she lied, not ready to tell
anyone about her condition until she sorted it all out for herself.
“Well, that sucks, but I suppose it could be worse,” he said.
“Yes, I imagine it could. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go lie down a
while.”
“Sure honey. Get some rest. If you aren’t up for dinner, we’ll bring you
some soup.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that,” she told him, excusing herself to her room.
Closing the door behind her, she lay down on the bed and cried. What did
she know about raising a child? What was she going to tell her parents?
They would be absolutely horrified that she was a single mother. For all
their good points, they were hopeless society types who cared about what
the neighbors thought and who would be whispering about their pregnant
out of wedlock daughter. Even in today’s day and age, they still believed
one should be married before having a child. This was going to be a
nightmare.
“How are you feeling?” Randy asked her later on when he came to bring
her soup, just as promised by Ian.
“Not very well,” she replied. “I hate to be such a downer.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. It happens to the best of us.”
“I’m headed home Friday morning anyway. Hopefully, I will feel better for
the trip.”
“Well, if you don’t, you feel free to extend your stay. If not, maybe you
will feel well enough tomorrow night for us to take you out on your last
night here.”
“That would be nice. I will try to make it.”
“It is what it is. Enjoy your soup and just yell if you need anything else.
I’ll come back and get your dishes in a bit.”
“Thanks, Randy. You’ve both been very good to me.”
“We’ve enjoyed having you. I only wish we hadn’t had to work most of the
time and could have shown you around more.”
“You’ve done more than enough.”
By the following morning, Goldie found that she did feel quite a bit better,
at least physically. Mentally, she felt incredibly out of sorts with the entire
situation. Rather than dwell on it too much right now, she decided to enjoy
her last night at Bear Lake with her friends. She would worry about how
she as going to deal with this when she got back home. They made plans to
go to a local restaurant and have a nice dinner out, along with some other
acquaintances.
“This is the best seafood place in Westfall,” Ian told her of the sprawling
upscale restaurant situated in the next town, just on the outskirts of Bear
Lake.
“It might just be the best seafood anywhere,” Goldie replied enthusiastically
as she took another bite of the fish cakes she had ordered.
“Good point. Certainly among the top ones in the world, I’d guess. A pity
that not more people know about places like this in small towns,” Randy
said.
“No, it’s not. If more people knew, we’d never get a table!” Ian told him.
“Another good point,” Randy laughed.
They finished their meal and were headed toward the door when Goldie
spotted Joshua in a nearby corner talking to a group of guys. She tried to
slip out without him seeing her, but failed.
“Goldie!” he said, crossing the room toward her. “You haven’t returned my
messages. What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. I just have been a bit under the weather is all,” she told him,
it was at least half the truth.
“Are you feeling better now?” he asked, nodding his head toward Ian and
Randy in recognition.
“A bit. The guys were nice enough to take me out for dinner once I made it
past the rough part,” she said, antsy to get out of here. He looked just as
delicious as ever and she didn’t want to end up in his bed again on her last
night here.
“That is nice of them. You should come by the house for a drink later,” he
offered.
“I appreciate it, but I’m still not one hundred percent. I think it best that I
just call it a day.”
“Well, the offer stands if you change your mind. You know the way to my
doorstep,” he said with a wink, excusing himself with a polite goodbye.
Goldie watched him walk away for a moment before turning to head out the
door again.
“Only a foolish woman wouldn’t get in a last night with that man,” Randy
joked as he opened the door to exit the building.
“I agree, but here I am, foolish as can be.”
“Perhaps you will wise up before bedtime!” Ian added as he stepped
outside.
Goldie laughed and followed them out, not really paying attention to her
surroundings as she considered her options and then tried to dismiss them
again. If she had been watching where she was going, she might not have
run into someone without seeing them first. Looking up, she found herself
looking into the eyes of John.
“Fuck!” she thought to herself.
Was there no getting away from them? She blushed and apologized, noting
that he was alone and not with another woman. It seemed that Joshua had
been too, with a group of guys rather than a date. Then it hit her. They
were meeting here, meeting with the group of guys she had seen Joshua
talking to. If there had been any doubt as to whether they knew one
another, it was certainly put to rest now.
“Well, hello there. I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.
Crashing into me isn’t exactly helping you hide from me, you know.”
“I wasn’t hiding from you. I’ve just been under the weather.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. You look well now. Was it a virus?” he asked,
scrutinizing her closely.
“I suppose. Just a stomach bug. It seems to have passed.”
“That is good to hear,” he told her before turning toward Randy and Ian,
who stood talking to one another at the bottom of the steps she had been
headed for when she had run into him. “I’m sorry, guys. I didn’t mean to
be rude. I didn’t even say hello.”
“Hello,” they both said, almost in unison, returning to their own
conversation as another friend came by and joined them.
Goldie marveled at the small town meetings that seemed to take place all
around here. You really couldn’t go anywhere in a place like this and not
run into people you knew. Even knowing the limited number of people she
had met since being here, she thought back on how often she had just run
into them here and there. It was nice, but how long would it take to get
bored in a place like this?
“Well, I guess I best get going,” she told him, trying to avoid making a
situation that felt awkward even more so by lingering long enough for
Joshua to wander out, as well.
“Yeah, people are waiting for me inside. I guess I’ll get to it. I’ll message
you when I get home, perhaps you can drop by.”
“I’ve an early morning tomorrow, so I will probably be in bed fairly early.”
“I see,” he said, his face falling.
Goldie knew that he understood it was just an excuse and felt bad about
that. It was odd having the shoe on the other foot, being the one who was
doing the rejecting and it didn’t really give her a sense of power. It made
her feel terrible. A part of her wondered if the men that had left her felt this
way, even for a moment.
“Have a good night,” she said politely, moving quickly away from him
toward Randy and Ian.
“You too,’ he called after her as she urged Randy and Ian down the
walkway toward the lake house.
“You are a naughty girl!” Randy laughed.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I mean, you giving both of those gorgeous specimen the brush off like you
are the Queen of the Universe.”
“Aren’t I?” she quipped, though she felt nothing at all like that.
The trio laughed as they made their way back home, where Goldie excused
herself to pack for her return home tomorrow. She had thought this little
vacation might help her catch her breath, find her bearings. Instead, she felt
almost panic stricken as she anticipated her return. She would still have a
couple of weeks of down time from work to sort things out, but she knew
that wasn’t a lot of time under the circumstances.
Chapter Ten
“What was that?” Goldie said, wide eyed, as she made her way from her
bedroom to the living room, where Ian and Randy were gathered in front of
the news.
“Storm. I’m afraid you aren’t going anywhere today. None of us are. The
bridges are already washed out from the rain and it’s not going to stop for
quite a while according to the weather report,” Ian told her.
“Will it flood, like into the house?” she asked, fearing the worst.
“No, the house is high enough and the barriers around the lake will push it
toward the overflow on the opposite side where there is no housing.”
“Well, at least there is that,” she said, relieved.
“Agreed. There is coffee and crumb cake in the kitchen if you want. Help
yourself,” Randy told her, tapping away on his computer beside Ian, who
was doing the same.
Goldie guessed that is what people out here did when they were stranded,
work from home. A part of her was envious, as much of her job required
she be present on set. It must be nice to have options like that. She had
considered, at one point during her career, to just consult on design rather
than embrace full creation. It would afford her the same luxury a large part
of the time as consultation via webcam and emails would become the norm.
“Sounds good, but I’m not much up for coffee this morning. Do you have
any green tea?” she asked.
“Green tea?” Ian laughed. “Are you starting a new healthy lifestyle? I’ve
never known you to drink green tea in your life.”
“Just trying to steer clear of the caffeine a bit,” she told him.
The fact was that she knew nothing about being pregnant, but was already
appalled that she had been drinking alcohol before finding out she was
expecting. Surely, caffeine wasn’t good for the baby either. If she was
stuck here today, she was going to have to at least do some research on
what she should be eating and drinking. The doctor had given her some
pamphlets and some instructions, but she had been in such a state of shock,
she had left the papers behind and his words had not even begun to register
at the time.
“Well, there is probably some in there somewhere. Check the cabinet to the
left of the stove. If not, I think there is a jar of instant decaf that my mother
bought last time she visited. It probably takes like pig swill, but you are
more than welcome to try it,” Randy told her.
“Thanks,” she replied, heading to the kitchen to look for it. She was
pleased to find a small box of green peppermint tea that would work just
fine, though she wasn’t sure how it would pair with crumb cake. She opted
for an apple and the tea, sitting down at the table and opening her phone to
see what she could learn about her first trimester. Instead, she found a
message from John that he had sent late last night.
“I’m not sure what I did or said wrong, but I felt really bad that you were in
such a hurry to get away from me tonight. I really enjoyed our time
together and would like to see you again.”
Below that was another, sent this morning, just saying he hoped she wasn’t
out in the storm. Goldie sighed as she considered how much she really did
like him. Then again, she also really liked Joshua. There were far too
many reasons to stay clear of both of them. Choosing between the two of
them was an impossibility. Each of them brought something to the table
that really appealed to her. Both were gorgeous, successful and fantastic in
bed, but Joshua was more serious in nature and primal in his sexual urges.
John was fun, outgoing and more sensual.
Of course, the biggest problem is that she was expecting a child from one of
them and had no idea which one. How do you start any relationship off like
that? It wasn’t as if you could say, “Yes, I’d really like to be with you, but I
also fucked your friend and one of you got me pregnant. I’ve no idea which
one. Oops!”
Her thoughts were interrupted by loud groans from Ian and Randy in the
living room, followed by a string of expletives from the former.
“That’s just fucking great! What the hell do we pay that lazy ass council for
if not to make sure everything is working properly. What a bunch of
fucking twats!”
“What’s going on?” Goldie asked, stepping back into the room and looking
at the two of them.
“The overflow is backed up. Water is going to begin spilling over the lake
barriers and there is a good chance we will flood, after all.”
“You’re kidding me!” she replied.
“Afraid not, dear,” he said.
“What will we do if that happens?” she asked.
“Oh, honey. We aren’t waiting for it to happen. I just booked us two rooms
in the old hotel in town while the getting was still good. It’s out of the
flood zone and we can hole up there until this passes. It’s a good thing you
are already packed. Let us throw a few things in bags and then we will
drive into town while we still can.”
“I thought the bridges were out,” she said.
“Only the ones leaving town. The one between here and there is still fine
according to our neighbor that called to tell us that his place is already
getting a little leakage. He’s on his way over to go into town with us.”
“Okay. I’ll get my things,” she said woefully. What a downturn this
vacation was suddenly taking.
Thirty minutes later, the three of them, along with a neighbor named Hank,
were on their way to the hotel. The roads were incredibly wet and, though
not completely flooded, standing water was already visible in places. She
found herself wondering if Joshua and John were okay where they were and
if they were at home on the lake or had already left for work before it got
too bad. She suspected that John would have the store open to those in
need, but she wasn’t sure about Joshua.
“Get settled in however you like,” Randy told her after they had checked in
and were headed to their rooms. “We are going to do some more work for a
while and then we’ll come gather you back up for a nice lunch in the hotel.
They have some amazing food here.”
“Yes. I ate here with John once. It was quite good.”
“Of course. He eats here quite often since it is close to the store and his
friend owns it.”
“Yeah. I met him. It was odd, because I thought that he said the guy was a
friend from school, so I assumed a classmate, but he seemed quite a bit
older than John,” she replied.
Ian and Randy exchanged an odd look before changing the subject to
announce that they were at her room. Goldie thought it odd, but turned
toward the door Ian was pointing at to let herself in. She laughed a little as
she realized it was the same room she and John had been in while they were
here.
“What’s funny?” Ian asked.
“Nothing. Just a random thought. I’ll see you guys at lunch.”
“Yes, you will. We are just down the hall if you need us in the meantime.”
“Thanks. What a crazy day, huh?”
“Yeah. I’m not looking forward to going back to a house that is flooded.
Let’s hope it stops before it gets to that point.”
“One can only hope.”
Once inside her room, Goldie opened her tablet and began doing some
research on pregnancy, making notes about things she would need to do as
hers progressed. It was her nature to plan everything out, especially with
her career being affected by all this. Hopefully, the birth would fall around
the next wrap of the TV show so that she would have the down time after
the birth without it interfering with work too much. As sad as it was that
she had to put work above the baby, it was a simple fact that she would
have to support herself and the child alone.
For a moment, she considered ending the pregnancy. She had always been
against that sort of thing, but things change a bit when you are the one with
your feet squarely in those shoes. It was something she had to at least
consider, though she was immediately certain she couldn’t go through with
it. This baby might have an ambiguous father, but it was also a part of her
and she was quickly finding herself in love with the tiny creature she
carried.
“Are you moving around?” she asked it, aware of a stirring that seemed to
be taking place inside of her. “Of course not,” she answered herself. “You
aren’t big enough for me to feel you move just yet.”
Time seemed to fly as she jumped from site to site reading tips about
pregnancy and parenting written by everyone from pediatricians to first
time mothers. It seemed that everyone had a different opinion on absolutely
everything and she wondered how women ever even sorted it all out. She
suspected that, in the end, you just did the best you could and hoped you
didn’t fuck your kid up too much.
She jumped at the sound of someone knocking on the door, having been
completely lost in thought. Glancing at her phone, she noted that it was
already lunchtime. No doubt that would be the guys coming to fetch her.
Turning off her tablet, she set it aside and answered the door.
“Ready for a bit of lunch, girlie?” Randy said cheerfully. Ian was all smiles
beside them and it was her guess that they had made better use of their
room than just for work.
“I am,” she told him picking up her purse and key to the room from the
table inside the door and walking down with the two of them.
The hotel restaurant was packed with people. Outside it was positively
dreary, the rain poured down in buckets and the sky was an angry black
streak, spouting lightning bolts and obnoxious claps of thunder. If would
have been a beautiful storm under different circumstances, but it was
getting ugly with the flooding and influx of people trying to escape it. They
had to wait almost forty-five minutes just to be seated. They had barely
finished ordering their lunch when a familiar voice spoke up from behind
her.
“What are the odds that you three would take pity on me and let me sit in
your extra chair rather than waiting an hour to eat?” Joshua asked.
Ian and Randy looked a bit awkwardly at Goldie. She feigned a smile
despite feeling a bit trapped. Perhaps it was just an excuse for him to talk to
her, but then again, there were a lot of people here so he probably did just
need a place to sit. Of course, it could be that both were the case.
“Of course you can sit with us,” she told him, nodding toward the empty
chair on her side of the table.
“Thank you so much! I am starving to death! I drove like a bat out of hell
to try to get back and check on the house from work before it got too bad,
but I was too late. The roads in are already flooded and the hotel is full.
I’ll most likely be begging friends for a dry sofa before the night is out.”
Goldie supposed this would be an opportunity to invite him to stay with her,
but she was really trying to avoid intimacy with anyone else before leaving
this place, especially since she already was feeling like a beached whale.
The way her stomach had already started to protrude was insane. She’d had
to put on a dress that was a bit loose around the waist and toss a tissue thin
jacket over it to hide the bulge. Obviously, she was going to be one of
those that showed quickly, despite her larger size.
“Already? I was hoping it would subside rather than getting worse!” Ian
shrieked. “Our poor house is going to be destroyed. All our houses are
going to be soggy, musty messes!”
Goldie was almost grateful for the outburst, as it salvaged what might have
otherwise been an awkward moment. The three men commiserated about
their homes while the waiter began placing drinks and salads on the table,
noting that someone extra had turned up and taking his order before
leaving.
“Thank God for good insurance is all I can say,” Joshua continued.
“Yes, but insurance isn’t going to replace some of the precious items we’ve
collected over the years. I’ve combed every thrift store and art fair in the
country and some overseas locations for some of the things we have,”
Randy groaned.
“It’ll be okay,” Ian told him, looking at him softly and patting his hand on
the table.
Goldie sometimes envied their relationship. They were so close to one
another, finishing each other’s sentences and always seeming like they were
on the same page with just about everything. She had never seen them have
a truly cross moment with one another in all the years since she’d known
them. In fact, she had already decided that when the time came, they would
be her child’s godparents. It might be unorthodox to have two godfathers
and no godmother, but she doubted much about her being a mother would
be normal.
“You look like you are positively glowing today,” Joshua told her, his eyes
roaming across her face and dwelling for just a moment on her cleavage,
which, like her stomach, was a bit swollen. In fact, she was currently
wishing she had worn a different bra. Her nipples felt like they were on fire
as they rubbed against the material of the one she had on.
“I’m feeling much better after being sick a few days. I was actually headed
home today, but the storm held me up. I guess I am stuck here until things
subside,” she admitted.
“There are worse places to be stuck, aren’t there?” he asked, his smile
melting her like always.
“I suppose there are,” she said, determined not to fall under his spell.
The conversation drifted away as Joshua’s salad arrived and everyone
began to eat, the rest of them having waited until he got his food rather than
being rude and eating in front of him. Though they chatted lightly between
bites, it seemed everyone was quite hungry and more devoted to eating their
meals than being social. Salads were followed by entrees and a nice bottle
of shiraz.
“Let’s order another bottle,” Randy said as they polished the first one off.
“It’s not as if any of us are going to be driving anywhere.’
“How about we migrate to the bar instead?” Ian offered, nodding toward the
line of people still waiting for tables. “It’s a full house and there is no need
to hold a table hostage when we could settle in to a nice booth and drink.”
“Sounds good,” Joshua chimed in and Goldie realized that she might be
stuck with him for a while this afternoon.
The four of them paid for their meals, Joshua insisting on picking up her
bill, despite her protests that she would take care of it. The bus boys were
already cleaning off their table before they walked the few feet to the
entrance to the separate bar that adjoined the restaurant. It was not as
crowded in there this time of day, though it was still pretty busy.
“You aren’t drinking?” Joshua asked as she ordered a glass of sparkling
water for herself, something he hadn’t seemed to notice at the lunch table.
“I just still feel a bit dehydrated from being ill. I’d best stick with water for
now,” she told him in an effort to come up with a plausible explanation for
not drinking.
Though it had initially felt awkward to be here with him, it quickly faded
into a familiar comfort as the four of them laughed and joked. Ian and
Randy told him embarrassing stories about how awkward she was in high
school and she returned the favor.
“So, the teacher, who had a bit of a speech impediment was talking about
genetics and the probability of certain characteristics of fruit flies. Goldie
kept mumbling to me and I would laugh. Finally, the teacher overheard her
and completely stopped the class,” Randy told him.
“What was she saying?” Joshua laughed.
“She kept muttering “magenta” and making a face. He stopped and asked
her if she was kin to Daniel Webster and she said no. He asked if she even
knew who it was and she guessed that he wrote the dictionary,” Randy
continued.
“Not a bad guess, given the name,” Joshua said.
“That’s what he said. He told her that it was close, but that the more
accurate answer was that he was a great orator and expert on
pronunciation. He asked if she was kin to him.”
“Awh, man,” Joshua remarked, smiling over at her.
“Oh, that’s not the end of it. She tells him no and he tells her that she’s
probably not an expert on pronunciation then,” Randy said.
“That’s harsh,” Joshua laughed.
“That’s when it got really funny. Miss Snarky Pants over there looks at him
indignantly and said, ‘Maybe not, but even I know that the word is
“magenta” and not “mangled” like you are saying. Calling them mangled
eye fruit flies is ridiculous!’ The entire class just lost it.”
“Oh My God! She didn’t!” Joshua said, laughing loudly. “What did he say
to that?”
“He sent me to stand in the hallway until his class was over. He said he
didn’t want to look at me anymore that day,” Goldie finished, now laughing
herself at the memory of being put out of class for correcting her biology
teacher.
They all laughed some more, sharing stories about their respective
childhoods and some of the trouble they had gotten into over the years.
Before they knew it, they had been there for hours and it was getting
incredibly dark outside, the weather not letting up in the least. Randy and
Ian excused themselves, leaving her there to try to excise herself from
Joshua’s company. Though she was honestly enjoying it, she still knew she
should remove herself soon. She was guessing he sensed it, as he did her
work for her.
“Well, it’s been great seeing you, but I guess I better get going. I need to
call up some of the guys and find a place to crash tonight. Hopefully, this
will clear up and you can get out of here tomorrow at some point,” he told
her, standing up and tossing some cash on the table with what Ian and
Randy had left to cover their drinks.
Incredulously, Goldie heard a voice that she was quite certain couldn’t
actually be coming from her asking him if he wanted to stay with her. He
paused, narrowing his eyes at her for a moment before answering.
“Are you sure? I’ve gotten the impression lately that you were doing your
best to avoid me,” he said, a note of sadness but no anger in his voice.
“I am just leaving soon and saw no reason to start anything,” she admitted.
It was partially the truth, but what the hell. One more night of passion
before she left couldn’t hurt. After all, he knew the score and was willing,
so why should she turn down hot sex with a man that knew how to make
her beg for more?
“Well, if you are sure, it would be a huge help today. I will even sleep on
the floor or something if you prefer,” he offered.
“Nonsense. We are adults. We can both sleep in the bed . . . or not sleep in
the bed,” she said, feeling a bit brazen,
“I’m guessing that not sleeping is more likely,” he smiled, reaching for her
arm and leading her toward the stairs that led up toward the rooms.
She pointed him down the hallway toward the one she was staying in and
they went inside, already losing their clothes no sooner than the door was
shut behind them.
Chapter Eleven
Lying in the aftermath of a rousing session that left them both heaving for
breath, Goldie and Joshua drifted off to sleep on their respective sides of the
bed. [T2]
His phone, still in the pocket of his pants on the other side of the room,
began to ring and he ignored it. After a moment, it began ringing again.
“Ugh. Who is that?” he muttered, climbing from the bed and crossing over
to retrieve it. It had stopped ringing, but began to ring again in his hand.
He clicked a key and spoke into the mouthpiece. “Hello?”
Goldie listened to his side of the conversation, which was obviously with
someone else who had gotten stranded in the weather. She listened to him
apologizing to them, telling them that he was staying with a friend and
couldn’t really extend an invite. It was obvious that it was a guy from the
way he was addressing him and Goldie felt bad about someone else being
stranded out in this mess, so she interrupted.
“Joshua, if they need a place to go and need to stay here, they certainly can.
It’s a big room and there is a roll away cot in the closet that we can set up
for them.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to turn your room into some sort of refugee
shelter,” he said.
“Of course, I’m sure. It’ll be fine.”
Joshua nodded at her and told the person on the phone to come on up,
giving him the room number. He turned to her once he ended the call and
smiled.
“This is very nice of you. I hate leaving friends out in the cold if I can help
them at all, but I didn’t want to disrupt our evening together.”
“It’s a crisis. I wouldn’t leave a friend of mine out in the mess either,”
“He will be up in a moment. He was actually down in the lobby trying to
get a room and they told him they were all booked up. Seems I wasn’t the
only one who decided their only option was going to be to start calling
people until I found a free sofa.”
“Oh, God. I need to get dressed!” she said, bounding out of bed, grabbing
her clothes and running to the bathroom to make herself a little more
presentable.
“I suppose I should too,” he said as she retreated. Someone knocked on the
door just a moment later and when she came out, he had only managed to
pull on his jeans, standing there shirtless to introduce her to his friend.
Goldie froze in her tracks, her mind racing to consider such ridiculous
things as whether she could hide under the rug by the bed.
“Goldie, this is my friend, John Sebastian. He owns the general store in
town,” Joshua said, seemingly oblivious to the looks on both their faces.
“We’ve met,” John said evenly.
“Oh?” Joshua started to say, then looked back and forth between them, the
situation seeming to register with him suddenly. “Oh, you mean you’ve
met, as in MET.”
“Exactly what I mean,” John said. “I guess now I know why you couldn’t
return my messages. You’ve been busy elsewhere.”
It was too much for Goldie. Though she had never fainted in her life, she
suddenly found herself feeling incredibly dizzy. She reached for the
bedpost to steady herself, but it was too late. Everything went black. When
she came to, she was laying across the bed with both men looking down at
her. She was awake, but she felt incredibly ill. This was definitely a
nightmare.
“I thought we were going to have to try to find a doctor in this mess,” John
said to her, stroking her hair softly.
“What happened?” she said in a raspy voice. Her mouth felt like it was full
of cotton and she was grateful to see Joshua walking toward her with a
glass of water.
“You blacked out or something. I guess it is to be expected considering
your condition,” Joshua told her.
“My condition?”
“Yes, your condition. I’m guessing you realize you are pregnant by now?”
“Yes, but how do you know?”
“I’ve known since I saw you downstairs and you confirmed it by drinking
just water, but I didn’t realize that it might not be mine.”
“What makes you think it is or isn’t yours?” she asked him wearily.
“Well, while we are nursing you back to wakefulness, John and I had a bit
of a discussion and it seems you’ve been with both of us in the past week. I
don’t mean to be indelicate, but are there any others?”
“Joshua, don’t,” John told him, though neither seemed angry about the
situation. In fact, they were oddly calm about it. It was quite odd.
“I think I have to, John. I know you won’t ask, but we do need to know if
there are other possibilities, don’t you think?” he said, giving John a very
stern look. John dropped his head and nodded in agreement.
“Not that it is really any of your business, but it was definitely one of you
two. Don’t worry, I don’t want anything from you. I had every intention of
leaving here and never telling either of you, but the weather stopped me.”
“Yes, this would definitely explain the sudden onset of a flood,” John said.
“What? Now I am the cause of the flood?”
“Something like that,” John said with a little smile.
“Look. I feel better, but this is just awkward. I tell you what. You two can
have this room and I will go sleep in Randy and Ian’s room for the night,”
she said, trying to get up from the bed.
“Oh, no you won’t. We have a lot to discuss,” John told her, putting his
large hand on her arm to stop her from getting out of bed.
“We have nothing to discuss. This is not your problem, either of you. I
have no intention of you being involved in this child’s life. I don’t even
know which of you is the father, for God’s sake!”
“It doesn’t matter. We don’t care,” Joshua told her.
“What? Are the two of you mental or something?”
“Well, you might think that after you hear what we have to tell you, but we
really aren’t,” John laughed.
Goldie pulled herself up in the bed and sat there looking back and forth at
the two of them as they stood on either side of the bed. Joshua nodded his
head toward John and sat down on one side of the bed as John began to
speak. After a moment, he sat down on the other side, holding her hand as
he talked to her.
“First, you need to know what Joshua and I are to one another,” he said.
“Oh, Jesus. If you tell me you are lovers, I may just lose my own mind,”
she told him.
“What? No. Of course not, but we are very close. More like brothers than
friends. We belong to the same club, but it isn’t your ordinary
organization. It’s more of a secret society sort of thing.”
“Like Freemasons?” she smirked.
“Older than that. This is going to sound crazy to you and you aren’t going
to believe it, but we will show you if you need for us to do so. Joshua and I
are bear shifters.”
“Okay. Now you guys are just fucking with me. I guess it’s fair to get in a
laugh at my expense considering everything, but if you think I’m falling for
something as far-fetched as shapeshifting, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“We aren’t joking and we can show you, but only if you tell us you are
ready for us to do so. Given your condition, we won’t risk a shock to your
system.”
“Yeah, right. Okay. Show me.”
“Are you sure?” John asked.
“Positive,” she replied sarcastically.
Joshua stood up and walked to the end of the bed and then took a few steps
away from the bed. Goldie watched as his shape began to shift into
something contorted, his nose pushing forward into a snout and hair
sprouting out everywhere on his body. He dropped down on to his hands as
his body quickly morphed into a four-legged animal. She found herself
looking into the large green eyes of a sandy colored bear. It was much
larger than any normal bear would be and she caught her breath as she
realized that what she was seeing was real.
“Are you okay?” John asked.
She turned toward him, her eyes wide with amazement and nodded quietly.
When she turned back toward the bear, he had begun to shift back into the
man she knew as Joshua, his sandy blonde hair and green eyes shimmering
just as they had in bear form.
“Neat trick, eh? Told you I was an animal,” he joked, causing her to blush
and then feel awkward with John sitting there beside her.
“And you can do that too?” she asked him.
“Yes. My bear form is just better looking and stronger,” he replied, drawing
a groan of disagreement from Joshua.
Goldie tried to wrap her head around what she was being told, but even
having seen it, she was still having trouble believing it. Even worse, it
occurred to her that this baby was going to be some sort of freak. Would it
be a shifter? Was she going to be putting a diaper on a baby or putting
down newspaper for a bear cub? She began to feel a bit sick again.
“I know it is a lot to absorb and we wouldn’t even tell you if we had time to
break it to you gently, but you need to know something about this baby and
it can’t wait.”
“Oh, Jesus. I won’t have like a whole litter of cubs will I?” Goldie gasped,
the realization that it might be a possibility coming over her without
warning.
Joshua laughed and then sat back down on the bed beside her, holding her
other hand. It was unusual for him to come across as thoughtful as so it
caught her off guard for a moment. She found herself wondering how much
more awkward this could get. Two men she had slept with on either side of
her, fawning over her at the same time and telling her fairy tales that it
seemed might just be true was more than a little surreal.
“You won’t have a litter. You will have one child and it will be a boy. He
will be a shifter like us, not human like you. We are more than willing to
accept responsibility for the baby without haggling over which of us
actually fathered him. In fact, Goldie, we don’t want you to run off and be
some sort of single parent. You didn’t get pregnant alone and you shouldn’t
try to raise him alone, especially given his special considerations that will
unfold as he grows.
“I appreciate that, but neither of you know me very well. I came here to get
away for a while and things just happened between us, each of us. I never
intended for it to be permanent and I certainly didn’t intend for either of you
to be chained to me because of an unwanted child.”
“That’s what you don’t understand, Goldie. It’s not unwanted. Neither are
you. Bear shifters are much like normal wolves. We bond quickly and each
of us fell for you immediately.”
“I just really can’t choose. I find you both interesting in different ways,”
she admitted.
“Then don’t choose. We aren’t asking you to choose, at least not between
the two of us. We would like for you to stay here rather than returning to
the city. We will both sell our lake houses and buy something we can all
share as one big family.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t see how that works. We all live together as some
open relationship type situation and sleep in separate bedrooms? That’s
going to really cut into your dating lives I think.”
“No, Goldie. We live together as a monogamous trio. It would be like
having two husbands, both of us completely committed to you.”
“I just don’t really follow how that works. I just roam from one bedroom to
the other depending on who I’m in the mood to be with? Do you realize
how crazy all of this sounds?”
“It’s not crazy at all, Goldie,” Joshua said, finally speaking up though he
had allowed John to do much of the talking so far.
“Then you have an odd sense of normal,” she replied.
“Well, that is true. Both of us do, but we’ve been out of sync with the rest
of the world for a very long time. Our ancestors have always existed in the
shadows, knowing that others wouldn’t accept us if they knew what we
were. It’s important that our son be kept safe from those who might not
understand him. It’s even more important that he not be made to feel like
he is fucked up in any way. Living here with us will expose him to other
children like himself and to two fathers who will make sure he learns to
control how and when he shifts.”
“So, basically, this has nothing to do with me at all. The two of you just
want to raise your baby bear and you’re willing to take me on in order to
make that happen?”
“That isn’t what I said at all. Who did this to you, Goldie? Who made you
feel like you aren’t worthwhile? Give me their names and I’ll go pay them
a visit. It angers me that you are so down on yourself when you are such an
incredible and beautiful woman,” Joshua said, his anger apparent.
Goldie looked at him, surprised. Not only was she caught off guard by his
sentiments, but his anger was reflected in John’s face, as well. While she
deemed herself just having fun with a couple of guys that wanted to get
laid, it would seem she had misjudged their intentions completely. There
seemed to be genuine emotion there, though it was hard to accept as being
true. Rather than respond, tears fell down her face.
“Let it out if you need to, Goldie, but you don’t need to cry. You don’t ever
have to cry again. We promise you that what we feel for you is the real
thing and that it will never change. Not many women can say that she
bonded with a bear shifter and I don’t know of any other that can claim she
bonded with two in the way you have captured the two with you here in this
room tonight,” Joshua finished.
Goldie blinked up at him as he pulled her into her arms and held her tightly
to his chest. She was aware of John moving closer to rest his head against
the back of hers, sandwiching her between the two of them and things
suddenly didn’t seem awkward at all. In fact, they seemed quite perfect.
Though she didn’t have everything quite sorted out in her head, she at least
understood that this might just be exactly what she had needed all along.
Still, something nagged at her. In her experience, threesomes always ended
with someone feeling left out and especially when one of them was the
actual father of the child and the other wasn’t. This seemed doomed to just
be another failed relationship episode in her life. She expressed her
concerns to them, apologizing for her inability to just let things fall as they
may.
“Don’t worry, Goldie. It will be just fine,” John told her in his soft way.
Despite his apparent conviction, she wasn’t sure that she could quite believe
that.
In the end, she decided she had nothing to lose. There was no guarantee
that her next relationship would be any better, especially with a child now
in the mix and what kind of mother would she be if she was subjecting her
child to failed experiences with different men? If she was going to do this
right, then they were perhaps right, this was the path she should take.
She nodded quietly as they kissed her tears away. Soon, she found herself
being undressed by the both of them. Turning toward John, she curled up to
his chest as he kissed her hungrily, drinking her in as if she were the last
woman on earth. Behind her, Joshua reached between her legs, exploring
her swollen pussy lips, already seeming to show signs of pregnancy. She
wanted them, both of them. It had always been somewhat of a fantasy of
hers to be with two men at once, but she had always thought it would be
some sort of one-night stand.
In her wildest dreams, she had never considered that it could be a constant
thing, having two men in her bed every night, taking care of her in very
different ways. John’s lips drifted down to her tits, sucking at her aching
nipples. Thought she was less than a week pregnant, they had already
begun to show signs of swelling and had begun to produce drops of milk.
She wasn’t sure if it was a result of the pregnancy alone or if Joshua had
caused it with his excessive suckling, but as John’s mouth tugged at them,
she could feel milk let down and flow into his mouth.
“Your milk is already coming in. It’s delicious,” he told her, breaking away
from her nipple for a moment to smile up at her.
“I want to taste it,” Joshua said, pulling her toward him so that she now lay
flat between the two of them. She found herself with either man sucking at
a single nipple, drinking in her milk as if they were quenching an incredible
thirst. Much to her surprise, she found that it was a huge turn on.
Having drank his fill, John moved up to her lips, letting her taste her milk
on his lips as he kissed her with more passion than ever. Joshua drifted
downward, pulling her legs apart and lapping at her dripping pussy. His
tongue felt like velvet against her tender folds. A part of her was having
trouble even grasping what was happening, but her body understood it
perfectly and reacted to the attention with much anticipation.
John pulled her back to one side so that she faced him with Joshua moving
in behind her, sandwiching her between the two of them once again. He
continued to kiss her as Joshua spread her ass cheeks and began fingering
her asshole, getting her ready for the swollen cock she could feel pressing
into her backside. She let out her breath sharply as he wet the tip of his
cock with her pussy juices and began slipping it inside her tiny hole.
“Oh yes, that is so tight. I love feeling your asshole close around my hard
cock,” he told her. John moved into position in front of her, slipping his
own hard cock into her pussy. It was pure ecstasy as they filled her from
both sides and began to slowly slip in and out of her in unison.
“Oh, sweet Jesus!” she moaned loudly as they fucked her simultaneously.
John’s motions were slow and deep, matching Joshua’s as she whimpered
between the two of them. John resumed kissing her passionately as
Joshua’s teeth sank into her back, making their way across her shoulders as
he fucked her deeply in the ass. His hand found its way to her throat,
pressing against it lightly as her sore nipples brushed against the chest hair
of John.
Goldie found herself already nearing her first orgasm, her body shaking all
over as she exploded over and over, fueled by the way their hard cocks felt
inside of her. She felt like a rag doll between them as they began see
sawing in and out of both holes, bouncing her up and down like a between
them. It was the most incredible experience of her life and she knew
without a doubt that this was something she could definitely get used to and
spend the rest of her life doing with them.
“Yes, fuck me,” she begged as their passion drove them to fuck her harder,
deeper, faster.
Joshua came first, filling her ass with his heavy load of cum before pulling
free of her and moving to a chair by the bed to watch as John finished her
off. He didn’t seem to mind at all as his friends filled her with yet another
sticky load of come and then lay his head on her chest for a moment to
catch his breath.
Afterwards, Joshua climbed back into the bed, falling asleep on his own
side while she slept curled up in John’s arms. At some point during the
night, he awoke and pulled her on top of him, watching her as she rode him
like she was in heat. Her cries of delight awoke John, who leaned up on
one elbow as he watched her take what she wanted from Joshua and then
shake all over with a series of orgasms. He stroked his cock as he got more
and more turned on and then pulled her downward to come in her mouth
after Joshua was finished with her.
Exhausted, but content, Goldie fell back asleep with her head on John’s
chest. Joshua rested against her back for a while, but eventually crept back
to his pillow to sleep. She knew this was the difference in the two men and
that was fine with her. She definitely had the best of both worlds.
Chapter Twelve
When the morning came, the weather had cleared. The sun was out and the
water had begun to recede. She, John and Joshua made their way
downstairs to the restaurant for breakfast, where they encountered the
curious faces of Ian and Randy.
“Did everyone sleep well?” Randy asked suggestively.
“Best night of sleep we’ve had in a very long time,” John told them with a
wink, causing Goldie to blush a bit, even though she felt happier than she
had in a very long time.
“Well, that’s, um, fantastic,” Randy replied, looking unsure of what to say
next.
“We’re headed to pick up a few things at the store. Is it open today, John?”
Ian asked in an attempt to change the subject.
“Yes. My sister was going to open this morning. It should be up and
running. If not, give me a call so I can coax her out of bed, but she’s
usually pretty responsible.”
“Where did she stay last night?” Goldie asked, suddenly realizing she
hadn’t even thought about where his sister might have been during the
flood.
“She was with friends. She prefers to hang with them rather than be stuck
with her straight-laced old brother,” he laughed.
Goldie laughed too. Randy and Ian said their goodbyes, telling Goldie to
call them when she was heading out and taking their leave to see if they
could get back to their house and assess the damage after their trip to the
store.
Over breakfast, Joshua and John discussed things further with Goldie. Her
eyes grew wide as they informed her of some things she wasn’t aware of.
Things that made a lot of difference in how she handled things with her
pregnancy.
“We will take you to one of our doctors. He understands about the unique
nature of this child,” John told her.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Well, the most important thing you need to know is that bear shifters don’t
develop at the same rate as human babies,” he told her.
“What’s the difference?”
“They have a much faster metabolism,” he said.
“How fast?”
“Well, watch this.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled a small knife from his pocket. Before
she could comprehend what was happening, he reached across the table and
sliced the back of Joshua’s hand.
“What the fuck, man?” Joshua snapped at him. He had been lost in
checking his work email and hadn’t been paying attention until he was cut.
His hand began to bleed on the table. Goldie looked horrified, but John just
laughed and picked up a napkin, dabbing at the blood that flowed. Right
before her eyes, the wound began to seal itself. Within mere seconds, it was
completely healed with no evidence of even a scar.
“Oh, my God,” she muttered.
“You’re a dick,” Joshua told him, returning to his email.
“Now, don’t be upset. We’re going to be co-mates with this beautiful
creature at the table. We will have to love to learn on another too,” John
teased him.
“Fuck you,” Joshua retorted with a laugh.
“Anyway, the baby will grow fast. You aren’t looking at a nine-month
gestation,” John continued.
“How long?” she asked, dreading the answer.
“Four weeks,” he told her.
“Four weeks? No way. I can’t have a baby in four weeks!” she said.
“You can. You will. It’s just the way it is,” he said.
Joshua lay his phone to one side and nodded at her as if to confirm it. He
smiled at her in an almost apologetic fashion as if to say they were sorry
they were completely fucking up her life. Goldie wondered if they truly
were though. In one way, maybe they were, but in another, they were
freeing her. This might just be the best thing that had ever happened to her.
“Okay. We have a lot to sort out in short time,” she said, trying to remain
calm.
“Yes, we do,” Joshua nodded, leaning forward to look at her. His eyes grew
very serious as he looked into hers and asked his next question. “But before
we begin making formal plans, there is one question you need to answer to
yourself, Goldie. Forget what John and I want. Is this what you want?”
Goldie looked at him for a moment before glancing over at John, who was
looking at her with equal intensity, awaiting her answer. She thought back
to last night, how wonderful it had felt to have them both. Her mind
wandered to consider how nice it would be to live with two men who could
provide her with such different emotional and physical experiences. She
couldn’t imagine any single man ever coming along that could make her
feel quite as complete as the two of them combined.
“Yes,” she replied simply.
“Are you sure?” Joshua asked, still studying her face.
“I’m very sure,” she replied, not feeling an ounce of reserve. She really did
believe that this could work and she could be happy.
“Well, then I guess we should make plans to move forward then,” John said.
After a hardy breakfast, the trio convened to the back room of John’s store
to hash out their plans. The hardest decision was for Goldie to quit her job
on the TV series and relocate to Bear Lake, but the upside to that was it
would force her to finally take a chance on becoming more of an
entrepreneur and consulting on costume design in her own capacity. John
and Joshua were perfectly willing to support her until after the baby was
born and she could focus on setting up her own business. In fact, they
weren’t really concerned with whether she worked at all.
A visit to the doctor the following week made things just a bit more
interesting. John and Joshua had told her she would not have a litter, but
they hadn’t counted on what the doctor had to say about her pregnancy.
“Well, Goldie. I’ve completed my exam and gotten the results back from
the tests we did,” he told her on the phone. “Are you sitting down?”
“Yes. Why? What’s wrong?” she asked, feeling an impending sense of
doom.
“It looks like you won’t be having just one baby,” he told her.
“What do you mean?” she replied, envisioning quadruplets or some such
nonsense.
“Twins. You are carrying twins.” he told her.
“Really? Twins?” she repeated.
“Yes. Two boys,” he told her.
“Thank you doctor. I appreciate your calling,” she said, feeling a bit
speechless. Even twins were more than she had banked on.
“No problem. I’ll see you next week for your checkup,” he told her.
Hanging up the phone, Goldie felt like she was in some sort of a daze. She
made her way to the bedroom and lay down on the bed, trying to gather her
thoughts. Before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep and was being
awakened by John as he came in from work. Because Joshua worked
longer hours, she had been staying at his place while they sold their places
and looked for one more suited to their rapidly growing family.
“How do you feel?” he asked, rubbing his large hands across her massively
pregnant belly.
“The doctor says we are having twin boys,” she told him.
“Really? That’s fantastic news!” he replied.
“Is it? Maybe for you. You don’t look like you swallowed a beach ball,”
she replied.
“Don’t be silly. You look beautiful. Joshua and I couldn’t be happier. We
both love you so much,” he told her.
“I love you too, but twins? How are we ever going to manage that?” she
said.
“Just like anyone else that has twins. Plus, you have two fathers to help you
with them,” he reminded her.
“I suppose,” she said.
“Have you told Joshua?” he asked.
“No, not yet. I was going to call both of you, but I feel asleep.”
“You should call him. He’s going to be through the roof excited.”
“Are we talking about the same man? Joshua is the poster child for calm,
cool and collected.”
“Trust me, when you get to know him better, you will see so much more of
him. He might be reserved, but he feels just as deeply as the rest of us.
Joshua was raised in an orphanage. He doesn’t express himself like we do,
but he is full of a passion that is just as breathtaking as yours and mine,”
John told her.
“You know him well,” Goldie replied, wondering how her two loves had
become so close and feeling just a tad envious that, in some ways, they
were closer to one another than they were to her.
“Yes. I do. One day, you will know him just as well. I’ve just had more
time to see behind the walls he puts up. Don’t underestimate him, Goldie,”
John told her, kissing her on the cheek and handing her the cell phone.
“Call him and tell him the exciting news.”
Goldie hit speed dial and waited for Joshua to answer. He sounded a bit
preoccupied with work at first, as if he had picked up his phone without
looking at the caller ID, but then looked at it and realized it was her.
“Well, hello gorgeous. What’s up?” he said after an initial answer that had
consisted simply of “Joshua here.”
“I was calling to tell you that we are having twins,” she told him.
“You’re shitting me!”
“I shit you not,” she replied with a laugh.
“That’s fantastic! I’m even more excited now. I would offer to bring home
some champagne to celebrate the good news, but I know you can’t drink.
I’ll buy a bottle for after the birth instead. Tell John that he and I are having
celebratory beers at least,” he told her.
Two weeks later, Goldie gave birth to twins boys. They were fraternal.
One had a full head of black wavy hair and the other was sandy haired.
Both had the most incredible blue eyes just like their fathers. Goldie
couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible for them to have two different
fathers, but as it turned out, she didn’t have to ask.
“Fascinating,” the doctor said as he tended to their new sons.”
“What is fascinating?” she asked, Joshua and John both completely
involved in fawning over the boys once they had determined that she was
fine.
“It would seem that multiple births born to humans are just the same as
those born to bears out in the wild, but I’d need to run tests to be certain,”
he told her.
“I don’t understand,” she told him.
“Bears mate with different suitors when they are in heat. As a result, it is
not unusual for them to bear cubs that are the offspring of multiple fathers.
While I can’t be certain just from looking at them, their coloring and facial
characteristics reflect that your sons are quite possibly of two different
fathers. In other words, one looks exactly like Joshua and the other looks
exactly like John. Do you care if I do DNA testing to be certain?” he asked
“I appreciate your curiosity, doctor and if you would like to put your theory
to rest, then I will allow the testing, but I ask that you keep the results to
yourself. As far as I am concerned, these children belong to both fathers
and always will. I don’t want to differentiate between them in any way,”
she said.
“That seems fair to me,” he said with a wink, turning to retrieve the babies
from their doting fathers and finish checking up on them before leaving
them to start their lives with their parents.
Joshua and John stood on either side of her bed, beaming down at her with
pride.
“Aren’t they beautiful boys?” she asked.
“Almost as beautiful as their mother,” Joshua replied, a rare sentimentality
from him. She smiled at him and then over at John before closing her eyes
and resting for a while. This was the beginning of what would be a very
long and interesting life with two of the most perfect men she could have
ever hoped to find. Somewhere, her search for what felt good had ended in
something that felt just right.
THE END
 Special Bonus: Biker Romance
Daddy Protector
Chapter 1
“Damn it, Michelle, I told you time and again not to move my things! It’s
hard enough being out on the streets trying to protect the city without
having to come home and deal with this shit!”
“I’m sorry, Alan,” Michelle pleaded, her voice a hoarse whisper. She knew
the look in his eye. He was all out of forgiveness tonight.
“What’s sorry going to do to give me my time back?” Alan shouted, getting
right into Michelle’s face. She could smell him now, the scent of tobacco
and a hint of fast food; she could feel the heat of his breath on her cheek as
he shouted. She would be in real trouble when he began to grit his teeth.
“Just…just tell me what you’re looking for. I can help you find it!”
But it was too late for compromise. It always seemed too late for
compromise.
Michelle cried out in pain as Alan’s fist met her cheek and she felt a sudden
jolt of alarm. One of her back teeth had cracked the last time and now it had
shattered completely. Alan didn’t seem to notice though, nor would he care
if he did. Michelle held her head in her hands as the blows continued, until
he felt satisfied and pulled away.
“I told you this a million times,” he said. “Don’t move my stuff.”
But not moving his stuff meant that they lived in a filthy home, because
God forbid the man ever pick up after himself. She just couldn’t bring
herself to live like a pig anymore. Every time she cleaned, she was punished
for it. But that wasn’t all she was punished for, not by a long shot. Even
things he seemed to exaggerate and imagine got her into hot water. All
because Alan was the chief of police and he felt like he could get away with
murder- even in his own home.
She tried once before to report Alan for domestic abuse. She had the bruises
to prove it and had gone, her hands shaking the whole time, to the police
station, where an incredulous man took her statement. He left for a few
moments before returning with Alan, of all people, and they sat down
together.
“My buddy here says you like to make up stories when you don’t get your
own way,” the man, whose tag read Officer Graham, said.
Alan grinned at her the whole time.
“She’s a compulsive liar, really. Lies about things she doesn’t even need to
lie about. She’s willing to hit herself hard enough to bruise and then try to
make me look bad for it!”
Alan knew just what to say to make her sound insane and it seemed the
harder she fought, the easier it was for him to entrap her. Graham knew the
truth though. She knew he did. He just wasn’t willing to risk his promotion
to help her. Or maybe some archaic part of him felt it was justified to hit a
woman to keep her in line. No matter who she spoke to in the station, Alan
always managed to show up and turn Michelle’s words against her. And that
was that.
“Bring me my fucking bootlaces,” Alan growled down at Michelle, who
was hunched on the floor, trembling as she attempted not to cry. Alan hated
it when she cried. The consequences weren’t worth it.
Michelle listened to his heavy footfalls disappearing into the living room
and waited a few moments before standing up. She walked steadily to the
bathroom and cleaned the blood off her face, purposefully avoiding her
reflection in the mirror. Things just couldn’t get any worse.

***

That weekend, Michelle was tending to her plants, the only hobby she had
that Alan hadn’t tried to destroy, when the phone rang. Something about it
gave her a chill and she frowned, giving one final mist to her peace lily
before heading to the phone. At first, she thought that maybe Alan had been
injured in the line of duty, which upset her regardless of the fact that he was
abusive. Some part of her still cared about the asshole. However, when she
answered, the deep, gravelly voice that inhaled and then said, “Hey kid,”
made the goosebumps stand up on her arm.
“Is that you, Blade?” Michelle whispered. If Blade was calling her, it could
mean nothing good.
“Yep,” he said, trying to be as cheerful as possible. But she could tell he
wasn’t happy. “I have some bad news, Michie. Your dad had a thing with
his heart last night. He didn’t make it.”
“What?!”
Michelle slumped down to the floor and closed her eyes. Of course, she had
known this was a possibility. He had been sick a long time and had lived a
good, long life. But the news still shocked her deeply and a small well of
grief began to pool in her eyes.
“I’m sorry, kid. I didn’t want you to get some bullshit call from the police.
People who didn’t know or really care about him, you know? He was my
best friend. He’d have wanted it this way.”
“Well…what do we do?” Michelle asked, totally distressed. “I’ve never
planned a funeral.”
“Relax and take it easy, all right? The MC is taking care of everything. You
don’t have to lift a finger. We’re going to have the funeral Tuesday. How
does that sound?”
“Tuesday,” Michelle repeated, her tears falling silently down her face as she
listened numbly to Blade’s comforting voice. “I think my husband has a
work thing but I will be there.”
“All right,” Blade said, his deep voice reassuring. “I’ll come pick you up,
all right? It’s kind of a private spot that people on four wheels would
normally have a hard time getting to.”
Michelle smiled despite herself. Of course, it was.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Thanks.”
“Yup. You hang in there, all right? Everything’s going to be fine.”
Michelle hung up, the calm, soothing voice of Blade still echoing in her
mind. Everything was going to be fine. As long as she could manage to get
Alan’s approval to leave for the funeral, then yes, it would. The idea of him
saying no made her breath catch in her throat and Michelle had to close her
eyes to try to ward away the panic. Alan would say yes. He could be terrible
but he was an honor-bound man. Blade was right. Everything would be
fine.
Chapter 2
Blade grinned privately to himself as young blonde mothers with small
blonde children, all dressed in ugly pastel colors and golden jewelry, eyed
him with suspicion. He had loosened the muffler on his bike, a tradition at
his MC that made funerals a festive occasion. It was a little like the way
soldiers got a salute with guns. Warriors of the MC got sent off with the
pure sound of their bikes. It was beautiful, in a way.
But these suburban housewives clearly thought that it was rude for a dirty
biker to be coming out this way and he wound through the obnoxious
streets of the little stuck-up neighborhood, sensing the women’s eyes glued
upon him. They were either waiting to see where he was going so they
could file an official complaint against the neighbor who was bringing in
such a trashy element, or they were drinking him in, their repressed little
housewife hearts atwitter with the freedom a man like Blade represented.
He laughed out loud to himself as he finally found the driveway of Michie’s
house. He dismounted the motorcycle and strutted to the front porch,
scowling at the ugly welcome mat and the golden trim of the doorbell. Who
would have thought the daughter of the most sensible man he’d ever known
would grow up to have such bad taste?
“Blade!”
All of the thoughts were driven out of his head when she opened the door.
He was shocked by the beautiful woman standing before him. He hadn’t
seen Michie since she was a young girl, before she went off to live with her
mother and apparently became brainwashed by this yuppie suburbia. He
had to tear his thoughts away and fight hard against the attraction he felt
when Michelle threw her arms around him and began crying against his
chest.
“Hey, it’s going to be fine, kid,” he said, suddenly remembering what he
was there for. Zeke had died, leaving his daughter practically an orphan. As
far as he’d heard, Bernice had taken off with a man halfway across the
world and never contacted Michie. It was a rough break for the girl. Always
had been.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” Michelle said, pulling away and beaming up
at him. Blade’s heart hammered unwelcomely. She was fucking flawless.
He’d never seen a woman so captivating. Everything about her was perfect,
except…
“What the hell happened to your face?” Blade growled, his eyes homing in
on the deep gash that was healing above her eyebrow.
Michelle suddenly looked ashamed or scared, maybe, and shook her head.
“Nothing,” she laughed. “I’m fine.”
“Like hell! It looks like somebody beat the hell out of you!”
Michelle laughed unconvincingly. “You’ve always been so dramatic.
Really, it’s nothing to be overprotective about.”
“Whatever,” Blade grumbled. It was going to be a long ride. He would have
time to get the truth out of her.
“We should probably get going,” Michelle said, clearly anxious to change
the subject.
If she thought that he was going to give up so easily though, she had
another thing coming. Still, the girl was right. It was time to get out of
there. The last thing he wanted was to be the cause of delay in the
celebration of his best friend’s life.
“Yep,” Blade said, looking around at the over-the-top neighborhood and its
small collection of nosey housewives with a nod. “Let’s get the hell out of
here.”

***

The funeral was just as hard as Blade had expected it would be, but he was
shocked by Michelle’s strength. It wasn’t that she was hiding her emotions;
she cried as much as anybody. But she had proud eyes, and the tears that
fell from them were justified and didn’t change the expression on her
serious, beautiful face.
Still, Blade couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering back to the worrisome
gash over her eyes. Something was going on and he knew already that he
didn’t like what it was. Zeke had told him that the man his daughter married
was a pig and a controlling one at that. Blade knew from experience that
some men wearing the uniform allowed it to corrupt them and from what
he’d heard, Michie’s husband didn’t like her associating with her family. He
called Zeke a delinquent and swore that if he found out Michelle had been
associating with them, he would want nothing to do with her.
At the reception, Blade decided it was time to confront Michelle about her
injury again. She was laughing with the president of the MC about some of
her father’s crazy antics, when Blade butted into the conversation.
“You see Michie’s shiner, there, Snake?” he asked, pointing at the gash on
Michelle’s head. Since Blade had pointed it out, she had done her best to
cover it up with makeup. Now Blade wondered what else she could
possibly be hiding. Bruises? Come to think of it her cheek was a little
swollen...or had she just been crying a lot?
“Shit, kid! What happened to you?!” Snake exclaimed.
“It’s a mystery, boss,” Blade said, staring at Michelle, who quickly clamped
her mouth shut and looked away from the two older men staring her down.
Snake was about 60 but just as rough as ever. He caught Blade’s eye and
Blade felt better immediately. He knew that Snake was going to help him
get the truth out of her, no matter what it took.
“It’s really nothing. I’m just such a klutz.”
Nothing out of her mouth sounded true. In fact, Blade had seen Michelle as
a child. She was one of the most graceful and athletic kids he’d ever met.
“Bullshit, Michie. Come on. Tell us what really happened. We’re here for
you!”
Suddenly, the composure that Michelle seemed to have been holding for the
funeral cracked and she dropped her head into her hands, her delicate
shoulders quaking.
“Ah, hell,” Blade grumbled, grabbing Michelle into a warm bear hug. “Just
let it all out, kid. I’ve got you.”
Snake shifted uncomfortably – it was rare that the MC was faced with the
tears of a young damsel, after all – while Blade caressed her hair and looked
at Snake over Michelle’s head. Whatever was going on was bad. He knew it
in the pit of his stomach. And as Zeke’s best friend and successor as VP of
the club, it was his job to prevent her from being hurt. By anyone.
Finally, Michelle took a deep, shuddering breath and pulled away from
Blade’s arms, wiping her face with a handkerchief. Her tears helped to
smudge away some of the makeup and Blade cringed.
“Shit!” Snake exclaimed. Her face was black and blue. Michelle sighed
deeply.
“All right,” she said quietly. “I’ll talk. But not here.”
Blade nodded. As long as Michelle was going to tell him what was really
going on, he’d have gone to the moon. He waited impatiently for the
reception to finish. Whatever was happening with her, he was going to fix
it. For Zeke.
Chapter 3
Michelle dreaded the end of the reception. It not only meant that she was
going to be confronted by Blade, once again, about what had happened to
her face, but she was also going to be doomed to go back home to Alan,
who hadn’t agreed at all to let her attend her father’s funeral. He thought her
father had been a good for nothing creep, a criminal with a cold heart, but
she knew the truth. Her father was a better man than Alan would ever be.
“All right kid,” Blade said, standing beside Snake as they ushered the last of
the guests outside of the reception hall. “Let’s hear it.”
Michelle sighed and gazed at the broad wooden building where the
reception had been held. It was actually more like a huge cabin in the
woods, beside a vast lake where she had spent her childhood daydreaming
about the day she would finally have a life of her own. Michelle could
remember going there as a child and enjoying every second of it. But that
was before her father had been deemed an unfit parent (by her mother and
eventually by the courts because of his involvement in the MC) and she had
been forced into the city to live with a mother who was hardly there.
“Snake! We need you at the MC. Something’s going down with the
Gremlins,” said one of the club members rushing back toward the hall.
“Those annoying little bastards,” Snake grumbled, pursing his lips
apologetically at Michelle. “They sure chose the right name.”
“Thank you for everything,” Michelle said, hugging Snake tightly.
“Your father was a great man,” Snake said with a respectful nod. “He
deserves the best.”
Suddenly it was just Michelle and Blade standing outside the cabin as
twilight began to fall over the quiet forest. The loud rumble of motorcycle
engines dispersed into the distance and Michelle took a wavering breath.
“What is it?” Blade asked, his handsome, weathered face concerned.
“Can we maybe go for a ride or something? I don’t feel comfortable talking
here.”
“Sure,” Blade said, walking to his bike. Michelle watched him, her eyes
taking in Blade’s broad, muscular body, and his long salt-and-pepper hair,
tied behind his head. He had dressed up in his best leather for the event, a
jacket she had seen only one other time in her life, when attending Snake’s
daughter’s wedding.
Blade turned, his blue eyes piercing through her. This wasn’t the kind of
person who liked playing games or beating around the bush. He was a man
through and through, and the thought sent a forbidden thrill coursing
through Michelle’s body. He was strong, protective, loyal, and of course,
stupidly handsome. What would Blade do if he found out the truth about
Alan? She didn’t want Blade to get in trouble with the police. Not for her
sake.
“Let’s go, kid.”
“I’m not a kid anymore,” Michelle said with a laugh, trying to push the
thoughts away. Yes, Blade was handsome. But he was also 45 years old. A
20-year age gap was just creepy. What was she thinking?
“Whatever,” Blade said, laughing softly and mounting his bike. “Where are
we off to?”
“The docks,” Michelle decided. “I want to see the world the way I used to
before I’m forced to go back.”
“Hm…”
Blade considered this for a moment and waited for Michelle to mount the
motorcycle. The feeling of his warm, strong body pressed so closely against
hers sent a thrill coursing all throughout her, to the point where she dropped
her hand from his shoulders in an effort to make it stop. Blade caught her
eye from the rearview mirror and all she saw in his rugged reflection was
concern. She would have to tell him the truth. He would demand nothing
less, no matter what the cost to her, or to Alan, might be.
“Here we are, Michie,” Blade said, false cheerfulness in his tone. He was
trying to lighten the mood, to treat her like a happy, oblivious little kid. As
if her home life wasn’t in shambles and her father hadn’t just died. It was
insulting in a way. But at the same time, she was grateful. He was trying to
act like everything was normal- as if things really were going to be all right.
But she saw no way that could possibly be the case.
“Thanks,” Michelle said, avoiding Blade’s eyes as he helped her off the
bike. His strong hand engulfed her own entirely and she had to fight another
forbidden sensation of longing away. It was absurd. She had never felt this
strongly toward anybody before. Not even her own husband. It was
probably just the grief getting to her. She shouldn’t pay those feelings any
mind.
They walked silently to the docks, where the sun was just beginning to set
off in the horizon. It was absolutely beautiful and both were lost in their
own thoughts for a few moments as they watched the sky begin to change
colors, from light blue to vibrant pinks and oranges. It would be like this for
about another half an hour, and then they would be left in the dark.
“Want to sit down?” Blade asked, leading Michelle to a makeshift bench at
the end of the dock. It was all so familiar. She remembered when the wood
had been new. Now it was aged and had suffered the elements. It looked all
the more charming for it, really.
“Thank you,” Michelle said, sitting down quietly. It was nice to have a few
moments of peace, without the hum of conversation in the air, or the
prospect of Alan coming home angry hovering over her shoulders. Sure, he
would be angry when she went back that night. There was no avoiding it.
He hadn’t wanted her to pay her respects to her father. Michelle had been
wrong about him. The other half of her tooth had been knocked out of place
when she had insisted she go and she was afraid of what might happen
when she finally returned to a husband who had been defied.
“So are you going to tell me what happened to that pretty face of yours or
are you going to make me guess?” Blade finally asked, sitting down on the
bench beside her.
Michelle closed her eyes, trying to ignore the hot tears that were welling up
inside of them once again. It was odd; it was her father’s funeral, but she
felt like she was crying just as much about the idea of going back home to
her husband after having one more intoxicating taste of the life she used to
have.
“It’s just hard to talk about,” Michelle said, her voice hushed. In truth, she
had never spoken of Alan’s abuse in depth. Not once in their six years of
marriage, especially after the way the people at the police station had
received her.
“My husband,” Michelle finally whispered. “He hurts me.”
It had started out innocently enough, with apologies and vows to be a better
man, but as time wore on, he forgot that he was the one doing wrong and
blamed every little problem in his life on Michelle. She wasn’t sure where
she could turn.
“That son of a bitch!” Blade growled, getting to his feet immediately. “I’ll
tear his dick off!”
“Please,” Michelle said, reaching out to touch Blade’s arm. Every muscle in
it was flexed as if he were ready to go in for the kill. It was touching in a
way. And sexy. “That’s not helping.”
“Not yet,” Blade growled. But he sat back down beside Michelle and grew
quiet, allowing her to speak once again.
“It’s happened for a long time,” Michelle said. “I tried to file a report about
it but the police just think I’m Alan’s crazy wife. They either don’t believe a
word out of my mouth or they just don’t care. They look out for themselves
and each other. Like it’s some kind of club, and not a group of men trusted
to protect and serve those who are wronged.”
“Sick little fucks,” Blade grumbled, shaking his head in disgust. “They
don’t know what real power is, so they make it up for themselves. Haven’t
you tried to leave? The guy just isn’t worth it!”
“I tried to run away once,“ Michelle admitted. “But Alan found me right
away. He’s everywhere. He probably knows exactly what I’m doing right
now. I don’t know what all he’s got bugged. The only reason he’s not here
right now is because he knows the MC is dangerous. He needs to make sure
he’s safe and protected, you know?”
Blade scoffed, but nodded. “I get you, kid. So you’re stuck.”
“I’m very stuck,” Michelle said, taking in another wavering breath. She had
thought it would be torturous to speak about Alan’s abuse. It had been
nearly impossible with the men at the police station, but sitting on the dock
in the peaceful twilight with Blade, it actually felt good to get it off her
chest. Comforting.
“Why did you ever marry a prick like that in the first place?” Blade asked,
chuckling humorlessly. “Did he put on a good show?”
“Yeah,” Michelle said, a little smile on her lips. Alan had been so charming
at first. He appeared to be everything she had ever wanted in a partner. He
was driven and dedicated and generous…but it had all been an act to lure
her in.
“Well you’ve got to be careful with guys, Michie. Go for the ones who
don’t beat around the bush. Who refuse to bullshit. To an honorable man,
that’s a fuckin’ philosophy! They’d rather die than lie to a woman, let alone
put hands on her! Leave that piece of shit and find someone who always
tells the truth.”
“Like you?” Michelle asked, half-teasing. “I know it takes a huge python
tattoo like yours down the arm to inform me that I’ve picked a winner.”
The tattoo was actually pretty sexy though and she wished she hadn’t
brought attention to it. Blade’s sparkling blue eyes caught hers and he
grinned, but said nothing.
“I wish I’d never married him,” Michelle admitted suddenly. “I’m afraid to
go home.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Blade said decidedly,
standing up and offering Michelle his hand.
“What do you mean?” Michelle asked, furrowing her eyebrows in
confusion and taking Blade’s hand.
“Like hell I’m going to take you home after everything you told me!”
“Well where are we going then?” Michelle asked, her heart filling with fear.
If she didn’t return back to Alan, she would be in serious trouble.
“You’re coming with me. Back to the MC. It was your home once and it
will be your home again.”
Michelle’s eyes widened. The MC! Alan would never step foot there. They
were the only men strong enough, with a tense enough history with the
police department that Michelle would be safe with. Why hadn’t she
thought of that before?
“Unless…you have a problem with that?” Blade said, his face sparkling.
She knew that even if she did have a problem with that, Blade would get his
way sooner or later. It would save them both some time to just submit now.
“No,” Michelle said, relief flooding her breast for the first time in years.
“It’s no problem at all.”
Chapter 4
When Blade burst through the doorway of the MC, all chatter died down
and all eyes turned to Michelle, who walked meekly in behind him.
“Everybody, Michelle’s had a hard break and she’s going to be staying with
us for a while. No fuckin’ funny stuff with her, I swear to God or you’ll
pay! This is Zeke’s little girl, you got it?!”
The room was suddenly alive with activity as the bikers lounging about the
bar raised their glasses and cheered, shouting welcomes to Michelle, who
acknowledged them wearily.
“Come on, kid. I’ll show you to your room.”
Michelle seemed relieved to hear this and followed Blade up a long,
winding staircase that Michelle remembered fondly and down a long
hallway to the door in the back.
“Snake and his old lady moved out of here ages ago, so we have a room
vacant. The rest of the guys have their own places. It was just your dad and
me who lived up here at the end. I’m going to miss him.”
Blade cleared his throat. It was hard to be emotional about a thing like this,
but he and Zeke had known each other since they were shithead teenagers,
causing trouble down in town. It had been awe-inspiring for them to meet
Snake, 15 years older than them and goal-oriented. The man was downright
organized and it took no time at all for the three of them to get the most
well-respected MC in the area started: The Pythons.
“I’m going to miss him, too.”
“You know, he talked about you all the time. You were his pride and joy,”
Blade said, remembering his conversations with Zeke fondly. It made him
feel a little bit misty-eyed though and he cleared his throat quickly. “When
you’re ready, I’ll have you go through his things. His room is the same one
it’s always been. Everything in Snake’s old room should be fresh and clean
but I’ll bring in new sheets just in case. You never know with these fuckin’
animals.”
Michelle blushed and looked down at the ground and Blade cringed. He
always managed to say too much. But to his surprise, Michelle laughed.
“I appreciate it,” she said, finally looking back up at him. Blade was caught
in her eyes, she looked neither like her father nor her mother. She was
completely unique. Her eyes were a dazzling emerald, with flecks of gold
that seemed to dance when she smiled, and her auburn hair cascaded in
waves down her back as if she were some kind of supermodel or something.
It was ridiculous.
“Well, whatever we can do for you, we’re going to do it. Not just for you,
but for Zeke. It’s what he would have wanted.”
Michelle looked down at the ground again. This time Blade knew he’d
struck a nerve. Maybe he should just let the poor girl get settled in before
trying to run his damn mouth at her.
“Blade?”
Blade paused as he turned away from her and looked over his shoulder just
in time to catch her eye.
“Yeah, kid?”
“Thank you,” she said, her beautiful gaze boring into his and making him
feel frozen in place, right there in the fuckin’ hallway. “I really appreciate
everything you’re doing.”
“Don’t mention it,” he managed to say and walked briskly down the hall.
***

That night, Blade laid awake, anger burning in his chest. What kind of good
for nothing so-called man laid his hands on a woman? Let alone a beautiful,
delicate little rose like Michie? He had half a mind to leave right then and
there to take care of the piece of shit once and for all.
But he wasn’t safe outside of MC turf. The relationship that the bikers had
with the local police department was a rocky one and if either was caught
outside of their turf, everybody knew what would happen. The pigs would
get slaughtered, and the bikers would get tazed, cuffed, and thrown in the
slammer without any real charges to file against them. Needless to say,
there was a lot of tension between the two organizations.
The MC did its best to operate outside the law but that could only happen if
both groups respected the line in the sand. Speeding into suburbia to
pummel a rogue, woman-beating cop would definitely get him into some
hot water. He was going to have to play it smart, especially if he wanted to
stick around long enough to make sure that Michelle got back on her feet.
He owed it to her, for her father’s sake.
When Blade finally managed to fall asleep that night, his dreams were
haunted by images of Zeke, telling him to keep his daughter safe. Those
dreams ended eventually and paved the way for dreams that he would rather
die than to let into his mind. Dreams of Michelle lying beside him in his
own bed, half naked and grinning at him; her perfect body just barely
revealed to him beneath the satiny sheets.
Blade woke up in a cold sweat, furious at himself.
“Get a fuckin’ life, you pervert!” he hissed to himself in the mirror when he
got up to relieve himself. The past few days had been unbelievable. He was
probably just coping with his grief in a shitty way.
“Blade, what are you doing up?” Jackal asked, drying one of the big beer
glasses from behind the bar. Many of the men in the MC had left and gone
home for the night, leaving only a few stragglers too drunk to make the trip
back home.
“Couldn’t sleep,” Blade grunted, sitting heavily at one of the bar stools.
“Give me the hardest thing we’ve got.”
“Of course,” Jackal said, sliding Blade a shot.
Blade took it quickly and felt the warmth of the liquor work its way inside
of him. He couldn’t let himself get carried away. Michelle was vulnerable.
She’d just lost her father. Having dirty old man thoughts right now was the
last thing he should be doing. She was in trouble. She needed their help-
Blade’s protection. How would he be able to perform properly if all he
could think about was how sexy she was? Besides that, she was practically
just a kid. It was wrong, pure and simple.
“I couldn’t sleep either,” Michelle said softly from behind him. Blade
nearly jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice, soft and almost
sensual near his ear.
He turned to Michelle and raised an eyebrow. She had changed clothes, he
noticed, and was wearing a black t-shirt with the Python’s logo on it. It was
way too big on her and the way it dwarfed her body, falling lightly over her
perfect breasts was maddening.
“Where’d you get the shirt?” Blade asked, tearing his eyes away and
demanding another drink from Jackal.
“I found it in the room. It’s clean. I’m tired of wearing that dress.”
Blade nodded. He had never understood women’s fashion. What was the
point in being uncomfortable all day just to look good? Still, he had never
complained about seeing a good-looking woman flaunting her body.
“Don’t blame you for that,” Blade said, avoiding her eyes to take another
shot. “Dresses never fit me right.”
Michelle was quiet for a moment before bursting out in a beautiful pale of
laughter and Blade grinned at her. It was nice to see her smile. Really nice,
actually. Her entire beautiful face was lit up brightly like fireworks on the
Fourth of July.
“I’m sure you’d look better in a dress than I ever could,” Michelle said as
her laughter died down. “I swear…”
“I doubt it,” Blade said darkly, uncomfortable about the way he was once
again forced to remember the girl’s body. Was it really possible Michelle
had no idea how attractive she was? It seemed like a sin.
“Listen,” Michelle said, sitting up in the bar stool beside Blade and sighing
deeply.
“Uh oh,” Blade mumbled. “That’s a lecture breath.”
Michelle laughed again and slapped his shoulder playfully. “Stop it! I’m
trying to be serious.”
Blade raised his eyebrow and gestured for her to continue, and Michelle
rolled her eyes at him. Why was it so much fun speaking to this girl?
Shouldn’t they both be in their own rooms right now, stuck in an endless
cycle of grief? It would almost make him feel better to be crying over Zeke
right now as opposed to practically flirting with his best friend’s child. It
was wrong.
“I just kept listening for you to get up and, I don’t know, go teach Alan a
lesson or something,” Michelle finally said miserably. She had washed all
her makeup off sometime during the night, so her face, no matter how
radiant, still looked battered. Just hearing Alan’s name made him furious all
over again.
“What’s wrong with teaching that piece of shit a lesson?” Blake growled.
“I just don’t think I could live with myself if anything happened to you…on
my account,” Michelle said quietly. “It was keeping me up all night,
worrying that you were going to do something rash that might ruin your life
or affect the MC.”
“Trust me, sweetheart, I wouldn’t do anything to negatively impact the MC.
Not even on your account.”
Michelle seemed both relieved and maybe a little offended, and sighed.
“Good. I don’t want you to confront Alan about this. He’s the chief of
police, you know? It could go down badly for you if you tried to say or do
anything.”
“That stupid bastard is the chief?” Blade exclaimed. “What the hell?”
Michelle laughed again and shook her head. “I know. It’s fucked up.”
“It’s a little more than fucked up, kid. The more you tell me the harder it is
for me to stay put!”
When Blade saw Michelle’s face fall, he sighed heavily. “But don’t worry.
I’m not going to do anything rash. I’m not as stupid as I look.”
“You don’t look stupid,” Michelle said, her intoxicating eyes serious upon
him.
“That’s beside the point,” Blade laughed, trying to shake off the intensity of
his attraction toward her. She was a young woman. Married to the chief of
the pigs, no less. And his best friend’s daughter. How much more trouble
could he ask for? He couldn’t find more if he was looking for it!
“I’m serious though,” Michelle said. “I’m worried about you. I don’t think I
could handle it if I lost another person in my life…except maybe Alan.”
“Don’t worry about a thing, sweetheart. You just stay put here and nobody
would dare touch you. Even if Alan knew right where you were, you know
those chicken shit police aren’t going to do anything about it. They mind
their own affairs and we keep to ourselves. It’s the way it is.”
“I don’t know,” Michelle sighed. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”
Blade put his hand over Michelle’s and smiled as soothingly as he could
muster.
“Nothing is going to happen to you, Michie. Not while I’m around.”
Michelle searched his eyes and he grinned again. It would be easier to make
her laugh than it would to acknowledge that she cared for him, even if it
was just leftover care from childhood. In fact, that kind of made it worse. It
reminded him that he could just as easily be her dad. This feeling he had
was sick, really. He would have to be careful with it.
Michelle shook her head and smiled.
“All right,” she finally said. “I trust you.”
Blade smiled painfully at her, secretly watching her as she got up from the
stool and headed back upstairs to sleep. She trusted him. That meant that no
matter what, he wouldn’t take advantage of that trust. He would treat her
with nothing but the utmost respect and that would be the end of it.
Chapter 5
“Breakfast!”
Michelle sat up groggily, her heart lurching. Had she overslept? Alan liked
to have his breakfast at 5am sharp, before he left for work.
But when she opened her eyes, the unfamiliar interior of what used to be
Snake’s room jogged her memory. She hadn’t slept at home with Alan that
night. She had stayed overnight at the MC, too terrified to go back home
and face what would ultimately be the beating of her life.
“Come on, Sleeping Beauty!”
“I’m up,” Michelle called weakly. She was tired and a little bit embarrassed
about facing the next day. Her father had been laid to rest and now, here she
was, lingering in a club full of rowdy men and women. She wasn’t up for
seeing too many people. But the MC had a shared kitchen and living space
upstairs, and most of the usual patrons knew better than to disturb the VP in
his quarters. It would probably be fine.
Michelle showered quickly and pulled on another fresh, white shirt pulled
from the drawers at the MC. Snake had apparently left a lot of clothes
behind when he’d moved, luckily for her. The idea of wearing the same
dress every day was daunting. It was tied to the memories of her father’s
funeral and to Alan. She’d just as soon burn it than wear it again.
“About time, kid,” Blade mumbled when Michelle walked into the kitchen,
where the smell of pancakes and eggs wafted tantalizingly in the air. She’d
forgotten what it was like to have someone cook for her. It was nice. Really
nice.
“Come on then, don’t just stand there. Sit down and eat.”
Blade stood and pulled a chair out for her and Michelle sat down, looking
down at the table in awe. It was the same hand-crafted wooden table that
she remembered watching her father and Blade build together when she was
just a little girl. The seats were the same orange chairs that looked like they
belonged in a different time, though now they were worn with age. Still,
they’d been treated well, and as she sat down in the seat, she closed her
eyes at the familiar feeling of the soft cushion. She was home.
“So I thought today maybe we could go and get you some clothes, you
know?” Blade said, striding to the refrigerator and bringing back a pitcher
of orange juice. “That way you don’t have to keep wearing Snake’s old cast
offs.”
“I don’t mind the cast offs,” Michelle said with a small laugh.
“Still, it would be better for you to have a few changes of clothes, you
know?”
“Yeah,” Michelle said, watching Blade’s strong hands as he poured her a
glass of orange juice. She felt warm inside suddenly and all of the anxiety
she’d been feeling the night before, and the worry about disappointing Alan
when she woke up, had melted away. She was where she belonged and she
felt fucking good there. How could she have stayed away for so long?
“How did you sleep?” Blade asked, sitting down at the table across from
her and digging into the food on his plate.
“I don’t know,” Michelle admitted. “It was really strange to wake up here. I
thought…”
Blade stopped chewing for a moment and studied her closely. It made her
feel nervous.
“It’s not important,” Michelle said with a small laugh. “It’s just strange.”
Blade nodded and resumed his meal. “It’s a big adjustment for sure,” he
said. “It’s going to take some time for everybody. But I swear to god, the
first guy who gets wise with you, you remember what your dad and I used
to say.”
Michelle laughed.
“You told me to kick him in the dick and run,” she said. “But that never did
me much good.”
“Right, because you forgot the last part. We told you to kick him in the dick
and run upstairs so your dad or I could take care of the rest. You left home
and got with a shitty guy, too far away from us to protect you. It’s not your
fault that this bad shit happened to you but from now on you’re going to
have to shape up and start making smart choices about the way you spend
your time.”
Michelle looked sulkily down at her plate. It didn’t feel great to be lectured
but she knew that Blade was right. She had to be better about looking out
for herself from now on. It was important for everybody involved. If she
didn’t and the MC had to risk its neck to protect her, then it could be
seriously dangerous.
“Anyway, I have a bunch of business to tend to up here today, so I thought
maybe you and Snake’s old lady could go to town together. She’s a tough
broad, man. Keeps a switchblade up her sleeve. Don’t want to tick her off.”
Blade chuckled and shook his head and Michelle felt a twinge of
nervousness.
“I thought you were going to come with me,” she said, her heart tremoring.
Blade had promised to protect her. But how was he going to do that sitting
all the way back at the MC while he had her run to town?
“You can’t live with this kind of fear in your life, kid,” Blade said, shaking
his head. “Besides, shopping is girl stuff. I’m not going to know what to do
with myself in there! Spare me.”
Michelle sighed nervously and Blade pursed his lips.
“Look, if it makes you feel any better, Snake’s old lady doesn’t go
anywhere Snake ain’t there to protect her, you know what I mean? We take
care of our women here. He’ll probably be out in the truck smokin’ a
cigarette the whole time. Can’t get much safer than an escort by the
president of the MC, you know what I’m saying?”
“Fine,” Michelle mumbled. Still, she was disappointed somehow. The idea
of shopping with Blade had somehow gotten her hopes up. Spending the
day with him, doing something as innocent as clothes shopping…it was
adorably domestic in a way.
“Look, it’s going to be fine,” Blade assured her, smiling in that charming
way he had that made her want to forget her troubles and laugh despite
herself. “Jo is really good with that knife. And I think the two of you will
get along pretty nicely.”
“All right,” Michelle sighed. She was done being irritated about it. “But I
don’t have any money.”
Blade laughed heartily at the declaration and Michelle frowned.
“What?” she asked. “What’s so funny?”
“The thing about being a Python is you don’t need much money,” Blade
said, stressing the sentence meaningfully. “The club’s got you. Jo will tell
them how it is.”
“You mean we’re stealing?” Michelle asked, a little nauseated by the
thought.
“Fuck no we’re not stealing,” Blade exclaimed, looking at her as if she were
stupid. “It’s an exchange, princess. We take care of the riffraff coming
through here that the cops ignore. You know, the real sleazebags. Organized
crime lords trying to get all the little rebellious babies hooked on hard
drugs. We get rid of them and the people in town take care of us. It’s an
arrangement.”
Michelle considered this briefly. It was true. She had heard Alan speaking
to his friends on several occasions about the money they received from the
crime lords to overlook their shady activities in the area. He spoke in front
of her about all kinds of horrible things, knowing that even if she tried to
report him, he would be able to discredit her with a single word. It was
infuriating. If the police couldn’t be counted on to protect the vulnerable
people in the community, then the MC could. It gave her a sudden surge of
pride and she smiled at Blade.
“When are we leaving?” she asked.
“As soon as you’re done with your damn breakfast,” Blade said. “Jo and
Snake are waiting outside.”
Chapter 6
Blade watched Michelle leave and sighed heavily. It had been hard to see
her so disappointed, but the last thing he wanted to do was go shopping for
clothes when he had so much work to do. The dues were being collected
that day and it was his job to make sure that every member of the MC paid
and contributed their paperwork. It was just easier that way.
The work was tedious but it gave his mind a good escape from the haunting
thoughts of Zeke and the frustrating attraction he felt toward his best
friend’s daughter. It was probably just his grief creeping up on him. It was
probably some sick game his mind was playing. He missed his buddy, and
was trying to get close to him in any way he could. It would make sense
why he would have such agonizing dreams about the girl. It didn’t have to
mean anything.
Blade shook his head and sighed. He wasn’t going to let it get to him. There
were more important things to worry about. He submerged himself in his
work until Jackal poked his head into Blade’s office, gritting his teeth
apologetically.
“Blade man, there’s someone on the phone. Says he’s looking for Michelle.
I thought I’d ask you what the fuck to do about that.”
Blade groaned. “Send the call to me. I’ll take care of it.”
“Right,” Jackal said with a nod. When the office phone rang, Blade picked
it up.
“Is this Alan?” he asked tersely.
“Yes, actually, it is Alan Waters, chief of the Glendale police department.
To whom am I speaking, please?”
Blade grinned. “That doesn’t matter too much, little buddy.”
Alan laughed, an unpleasant, on-the-brink-of-insanity kind of sound, and
Blade raised his eyebrow. He was dealing with a nutter.
“This is concerning my wife, so I think I have the right to know who I’m
speaking to!”
“Actually, no woman, whether your wife or not, belongs to you. Your rights
in this case are pretty limited, I would say.”
“If you don’t want to deal with the legal repercussions of withholding
information from a police officer, by god, I’ll- “
“You’re not going to do anything, slick. You and your little sideshow aren’t
going to step foot on Python turf, and you and I both know it.”
“Where the hell is Michelle?!” Alan demanded. “I have a right to know
where my wife is at all times! She’s -”
“Listen boy,” Blade said. He’d had just about enough of listening to the
piece of shit speaking. “All you need to know is that Michelle is safe and
sound right where she belongs. Much safer than she would ever be with
someone like you. They ought to lock you up and throw away the key.”
“If you don’t tell me where she is, you piece of shit, I’m coming over there
myself!” Alan cried, his voice on the verge of hysteria.
“Whoo, I’d like to see you try. You’d be doing me a favor. See, I promised
the little lady I’d go easy on you. Maybe delay justice a little bit longer and
hope that karma does its job with you since she’d feel too upset if I did
anything to get myself in harm’s way. But damn, you just solved both of our
problems! When can I expect you?”
“Grah!” Alan growled. The phone slammed down and Blade chuckled.
Some men just didn’t have it in them to fight and that was the sad truth.
Those were the kinds of men who took their power in other ways. Like
hitting innocent women and acting like the world wasn’t fair simply
because they weren’t able to suck on their mama’s tit anymore.
Real men didn’t need coddling, and if Alan was telling the truth and he was
going to try to come up to the MC to claim what he thought was his, then he
was going to have another thing coming. And Blade would have the time of
his life giving it to him.
***

“Blade!”
Michelle’s voice tore Blade out of the drab accounting booklets on his desk
and he raised an eyebrow at her.
“What do you think?” Jo asked, following in the office behind Michelle. Jo
held her arms out like a girl from a gameshow and presented Michelle in
one of her new outfits. Michelle twirled and laughed, the most care-free he
had seen her act since she’d arrived. He’d known sending her out with Jo
would be a good idea. The old girl may have been about Blade’s age, but
she knew how to have fun.
“It looks nice,” Blade said, smiling at Michelle. He looked back down at his
papers quickly, practically able to feel the disappointment rolling from
Michelle’s direction. He was nothing but a big let-down that day. But if he
stared too long at her, then everybody in the room would know exactly what
he was thinking. Michelle looked fucking incredible. The shirt she’d chosen
was clinging to the lean muscles of her young body, awakening desires in
him he’d thought had been long gone, dead and buried in fact. So why were
they coming back now, of all times?
“Did you have fun?” Blade asked, before either of the women had a chance
to confront him about his opinion.
Michelle’s face brightened again.
“Yeah, it was great! I haven’t had a day like that in a long time. No men, no
rules…it was really amazing. Thank you, Jo!”
Michelle turned to Jo, who beamed and embraced her tightly.
“It’s no problem at all, honey. Any time you want to hang out with me, you
just give me a call. It was great to finally meet you. Zeke talked about you
like you were heaven on Earth.”
Michelle smiled sadly and left the room, carrying two huge shopping bags
of clothes to put away.
“What the hell was that about?” Jo demanded.
Blade sighed.
“Here we go,” he mumbled.
“Damn right, here we go! That girl looked incredible! And here you are, all
fatherly and polite, like, ‘that looks nice.’ The hell has gotten into you?”
Blade glared at Jo and her face suddenly broke out into a big smile.
“I get it!” She exclaimed. “I see what’s going on here! God, it’s so
obvious!”
“Jo,” Blade warned. But the woman was already on the scent and he knew
there was no way he would be able to get her off it again.
“You like her,” she said in a hushed whisper. Blade cringed and shook his
head emphatically.
“She’s my best friend’s kid! That’s wicked wrong!” he growled.
“Blade, it’s perfectly normal! Nothing to be ashamed of. Human nature,
after all. Your protective instincts kicking in, a sexy young woman all up in
your business. Don’t be embarrassed!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Blade snapped. He was
holding onto his temper by a thread. The only reason he didn’t tear her a
new one was because if he did, there was a chance Michelle might overhear.
“Whatever you say, man,” Jo said, chuckling to herself. “I’ll keep your
secret. For now. But you mark my words, there will come a time for you to
be honest with yourself. And when that day comes, you should know now
that you have my blessing. She’s a sweet girl.”
Blade’s hands trembled with rage. He could have strangled Jo, speaking of
things that weren’t her business to speak of.
“I don’t need your blessing!” Blade spat. “If I needed anybody’s blessing, it
would be Zeke’s. I’m not going to be some creepy old man running after a
younger woman like that! She’s my best friend’s daughter, Jo. Don’t be
gross.”
“Right,” Jo said, backing out of the room. “Well you’re 45, not an old man.
Don’t be too hard on yourself.”
“Get out of here! Can’t you see I’m busy?”
Jo grinned and closed the door, leaving Blade feeling more riled than he had
been since the phone call with Alan earlier that day. Why wouldn’t anybody
let him have some peace?!
He got back to work, muttering under his breath about how nosy Jo was.
But in a way, it did make him feel a little bit better. She had said that his
feelings were natural. He didn’t know how other people might feel about
the situation but it was nice to have an opinion on the table besides his own.
Maybe it wasn’t the end of the world if he was attracted to Michelle. The
worst thing in the world, he decided, would be to act on it.
Chapter 7
Michelle woke up early the next day, feeling more refreshed and optimistic
than she had since she was a child. It had done her wonders to be away
from Alan, even just for a few hours, among people who treated her like a
person, not like an indentured servant. She had almost forgotten that other
people could be kind and caring. She’d come to expect everybody to treat
her as poorly as Alan had.
Again, she heard a soft knock on the bedroom door and Blade’s deep,
soothing voice summoning her to breakfast.
“Coming,” she said. She hopped in the shower, re-playing the events of the
day before. Jo had been thrilled to take her out for an afternoon on the town,
lavishing her with a delicious meal in the diner that Michelle’s father used
to frequent, and joyously offering her opinion on clothing and everything
else under the sun.
Jo was a kind, free-spirited woman with a foul mouth and a golden heart. A
rare breed, especially in a place like the suburban neighborhood that Alan
had insisted they move to. Michelle had had enough of fake people in her
life. It was refreshing to be around these honest, outspoken people again.
They felt like family.
When she emerged, Blade was already sitting in the kitchen and he smiled
quickly at her.
“Thought maybe sausage and biscuits would suit the day more,” he said,
taking a sip of his coffee.
“It looks incredible,” Michelle said, taking her seat. He didn’t stand up to
greet her today, or to pull the chair out for her. Although she didn’t expect
that kind of treatment, it seemed odd, somehow. As if he were forcing
himself not to be overly polite.
“It’s my grandmother’s recipe. Don’t tell me if you don’t like it or she’ll
probably roll around in her grave.”
Blade was going to laugh, but then a serious, pained look creased his
chiseled features.
“Death is hard,” Michelle said, reaching across the table and gripping his
hand. They sat like that for a moment before Blade cleared his throat and
pulled his hand away quickly.
“We get used to doing hard things,” Blade said, shoveling a big forkful of
biscuit into his mouth. “It’s what makes humans such amazing creatures. At
least, the ones who are willing to own up to their own bullshit.”
Michelle nodded. She couldn’t see Alan ever getting used to doing
something he didn’t want to do. In fact, he was a spoiled brat, and would
rather destroy something than fail at it. Like that time with the puzzle she
had gotten him for Christmas…that had been a disaster.
They ate the rest of their meal in silence and were just about to get ready to
clean up when a commotion downstairs brought Blade to his feet.
“I demand to see her!” Alan was shouting. “I need to see my wife!”
Michelle grew faint at the sound of his voice and Blade scowled.
“You stay up here, kid,” he said darkly. “I’ll handle this.”
Michelle trembled and put her head in her hands. She had been stupid
enough to think that she would be safe from Alan here at the MC. But, of
course, he would get the entire police station to raid the place. That was the
kind of asshole he was. She shouldn’t have let herself get comfortable here.
She was going to pay dearly for the two days of freedom she had indulged
in. Michelle swallowed hard, her hands shaking fiercely with terror. Why
had she agreed to go to her father’s funeral?
“What do you think you’re doing, little man?” Blade shouted. “If you know
what’s good for you, you’re going to get the hell out of here!”
Michelle cringed, but she knew she couldn’t let Blade fight her battles. She
would just go home with Alan and pretend the whole thing had never
happened.
“I just…I need to know that she’s all right!” Alan said desperately. “I want
to see her.”
“You’re not going to see anything ever again, where you’re going,” Blade
threatened.
“Stop!” Michelle cried.
“Aw hell, Michie! I told you to stay upstairs!”
Michelle descended the staircase quickly and looked Alan squarely in the
eyes.
“Alan, you need to leave. These men are going to hurt you if you don’t.”
She backed away from Alan and raised her voice so that everybody in the
MC could hear her.
“I don’t want any of you laying a hand on my husband. Do you understand
me?!”
“Michie!”
She glared sternly at Blade, who clamped his mouth shut unhappily. She
was doing it to protect them. If any of them laid a hand on the chief of
police, it would be the end of the line for them all.
“Leave, Alan,” Michelle warned.
“Come with me!” Alan exclaimed. “You belong with me! Not in this bar
full of pathetic thugs!”
“Listen to what I’m saying to you,” Michelle said, her voice quavering. “I
am going to file for divorce. I’m not your wife, Alan. I’m nothing to you.
And I’m not coming home. Now you can be a man about this and respect
my wishes, or you can be a coward. But I have to tell you, the men in here
don’t think too highly of cowards. It would take a lot more than my pretty
words to hold them off if they set their mind to something.”
Alan glowered, looking helplessly around the room for some way he might
gain the upper hand. Even if he had every squad car in the city outside the
MC, he had no grounds to take her away and he knew it. He had come here
as a spoiled brat wanting to take back what he thought was his, but now that
she had challenged him, he would feel that his manhood was on the line.
Was he going to act like a spoiled little bitch in front of an entire gang of
bikers? Even Alan wasn’t that stupid.
“You’re all going to pay for this,” Alan said, his voice quavering. He didn’t
look at any of the bikers. He was talking only to Michelle. She was going to
be the one he punished. He probably didn’t give a damn about the MC, as
long as he was able to put his wife in his place.
Alan turned away from her and stomped out the door and Michelle sank
back against the wall, sighing heavily. He had been ballsy to come in there
and try to order these men around like that, but that only served to show
what a fucking lunatic he was.
“Are you all right, Michie?”
Blade’s strong, comforting voice suddenly enveloped her and she felt her
body become weightless as Blade’s well-muscled arms scooped her up
against his broad chest. She was carried up the stairs and laid down gently
in the nearest bed, in Blade’s bed, and a cool cloth was applied to her
forehead.
“It’s going to be fine,” Blade whispered, his voice deep and soothing in the
cool, darkness of the bedroom. It smelled like him, and Michelle suddenly
had the urge to hold him close, or be held by him, and never let go again.

***

Michelle woke up with a start. She hadn’t realized that she’d fallen asleep
and panic welled inside of her. She had been dreaming that she was falling
down a long, spiraling hole, with no end in sight. It was exactly the way she
had always felt with Alan.
“That little slime ball really did a number on you, didn’t he?”
She was surprised by the deep rumble of Blade’s voice in the darkness.
“Could I have some water, please?” she asked. She didn’t want to answer
the question, to acknowledge all of the ways that Alan had harmed her over
the years. Some things he’d done might never stop hurting her, really. It
would be impossible for her to feel like she once was.
“Of course,” Blade said, moving quietly through the room. A few moments
later he returned to her side with a glass of cool water and she sipped it
gratefully.
“What happened?” Michelle asked. She had fainted a few times before but
usually only after a beating. This time had been different. Unnerving.
“I reckon you weren’t quite ready to see that ugly mug of his again,” Blade
said with a wry chuckle. “Decided to go and pass out on us so you wouldn’t
have to look at it anymore.”
Michelle laughed weakly.
“That’s a very scientific theory,” she said.
“Hey, they call me Blade, not Beaker,” he said, laughing quietly.
They were quiet for a moment and Michelle took the opportunity to study
Blade’s form in the darkness. He was so well put together. Everything in the
room was neat and organized. Even his beard was trimmed meticulously.
The man knew how to take care of himself. And, apparently, he knew how
to take care of her, too.
“Do you think he’ll come back?” Michelle asked. She couldn’t bear the
thought of leaving the MC again. Especially not now that she had just
started feeling comfortable here. The idea of going back with Alan made
her feel nearly mad with apprehension.
“Nah,” Blade chuckled. “Not if he values his life. Did you see his face?!”
Michelle laughed despite herself. Alan had always been quite the coward.
He liked to pretend he was a big bad alpha male, but when it came down to
it, he was just an insecure little boy. At first it had been a quality that had
endeared Alan to her, ironically enough. Now though, it had nearly been her
end.
“I’m serious though. I don’t want any of you taking needless risks. You stay
on your turf and he should stay on his. If anything happened to Alan
because of me, they would crack down so hard on this place it would make
your heads spin.”
Blade shrugged.
“We’ll see about that,” he said. “But it isn’t happening now, so don’t worry
so much about it, got me? Just try to work on feeling better.”
He bent down and kissed her on the forehead, as if it were the most natural
thing in the world. The soft warmth of his lips and the scraping of Blade’s
mustache against her skin instantly set Michelle ablaze. The man was just
trying to be fatherly, but somehow, the innocent little gesture had reminded
her of just how much she had wanted Blade. From the moment she’d seen
him standing on her porch to the moment he had stepped up for her against
her husband, all she’d wanted to do was to feel more of the forbidden
desires his body might have to offer.
“I should really get back to my own room,” she said quickly, locking eyes
with Blade. His eyes were dark, almost tortured. Or maybe she was
imagining it.
“Right,” he said, moving out of the way so that she could stand up from his
bed.
She didn’t want to leave. The masculine smell of the room, the smell of
Blade himself, was tantalizingly comforting. It was like being in front of a
campfire on a warm summer day. But she couldn’t be trusted with her
feelings. If she allowed herself to be drawn in, they would both regret it.
Not only was she married, but it was a horrific thought to be so drawn to
her father’s best friend. The man was far, far older than she was. It just
wasn’t right. In fact, her father would probably be furious at the both of
them for it.
Besides, there was no way that Blade was interested in her. He had known
her since she was a child. All she would ever be was a kid to him. How
would he ever see her as a grown woman? It wouldn’t work. It was all just
too creepy to even consider.
“Do you want me to walk you to your room?” Blade asked, his voice tight
with concern. “I could bring you some dinner, if you want.”
“No, it’s all right,” Michelle said quietly. “I’m feeling much better. Thank
you though.”
She swallowed hard. She would just have to work harder to fight her
feelings for Blade, that was all. She couldn’t let the grief win out. There
was no way that she would ever be able to have a healthy relationship with
Blade, was there? They were from two different worlds, and he would
probably always see her as a child. It was time to accept it and put her crush
behind her, once and for all.

Chapter 8
“Blade, you might want to come out here…”
Blade sighed and pushed his chair away from his desk.
“The hell are you interrupting me for? I’m almost done. Do you have any
idea how goddamn drab doing this paperwork can be?”
Jackal shrugged and Blade continued grumbling as Jackal led him to the
windows.
“Look outside,” Jackal said.
“Aw Christ!” Blade growled. “What the fuck!?”
Three police cars were parked outside the MC, each of them with their
lights flashing red and blue. A small collection of bikers was gathered out
front, smoking cigarettes and watching the cars suspiciously, but nobody
seemed to dare to move, whether biker or cop.
“Should we go out there and see what they want?”
“Nah, ignore them. The stupid fuck trying to control Michie probably sent
them here to try and psych us out. Don’t tell her about this.”
“Too late,” Jackal said, nodding out the window. Blade looked again and
cursed loudly.
“That woman is going to be the fuckin death of me!”
Before Jackal could respond, Blade was tearing down the staircase after
Michelle, who was strutting confidently through the group of bikers and
heading toward the police cruisers.
“And just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Blade growled,
gripping Michelle’s arm in his hand and pulling her back.
“I’m going to tell them to get the hell out of here and mind their own
business!” Michelle exclaimed. “They’re really pushing it!”
“If you step foot near any of those fuckin’ cars, I swear to god…”
“Let go of me!” Michelle exclaimed, pulling her arm away from Blade. He
suddenly felt foolish. What was he trying to do by manhandling her like
that? It was a good way to get her riled up after the trauma she’d
experienced with her loser husband.
“Look, I’m sorry. But if you go near them, those assholes are probably
going to apprehend you or some shit.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Michelle insisted. “They can’t take me
for anything.”
Blade raised an eyebrow at her and Michelle’s fire wavered.
“You know as well as I do how crooked these shitheads can be. Why don’t
we just go back inside and pretend that they’re not even here. What we’re
doing right now isn’t going to help anything. It’s just giving them a shit
show to laugh about. It would be far crueler to bore them to death, don’t
you think?”
Michelle’s chin jutted defiantly toward the cruisers and Blade sighed. He
wasn’t getting through to her. The woman was livid and she had every right
to be.
“You know that Alan jerk is probably just sending a few of his friends to
keep tabs on you and look out for anything they can try to use against us in
court. They’re sneaky bastards. They know that if they stepped foot outside
of their little cars, they’d be torn apart for daring to show their faces here.
Otherwise they would have come out and grabbed you by now, brought you
back to your husband kicking and screaming. They don’t care about you!”
Michelle’s shoulders grew heavy and she turned to face Blade, her features
deflated and sad.
“I know they don’t care about me. Do you know how many times I’ve tried
to report Alan to the guy in the middle car? He just takes my statement and
then brings Alan in so they can make fun of how hysterical and insane I
am.”
“They’re all going to pay for this, kid, but we have to give it some time.
We’re working out a way to extract you from that guy’s grip completely.
Trust me. The MC is powerful. We know a suit or two. But it’s going to be
a process, all right?”
Michelle furrowed her brow but nodded, scowling at the ground.
“Let’s get the hell inside so they get their filthy eyes off you. They don’t
know how lucky they are I don’t give them what they have coming right
now.”
Michelle sighed and leaned against Blade’s shoulder as he led her inside. It
felt like the most natural thing in the world for them to do and Blade
swallowed hard. Why was it so damn easy for him to feel this way? This
was a young girl, half his age. His friend’s child! He was practically like an
uncle, right?
No, Blade realized. Actually, he had only seen Michelle a handful of times
when she was young. Mostly he had been busy trying to find his feet,
traveling the countryside on his bike and seeing all there was to see. He
heard bits and pieces about her, enough to know a few little things, and had
been there on some special occasions, like birthdays.
Yes, he had seen the girl a few times when she was a child, but mostly he’d
heard about her. He wasn’t an uncle so much as an impartial observer in her
life. Truth was, he was uncomfortable around children and preferred adult
conversation.
The thought made him feel a little bit better as he led Michelle up the stairs,
unable to tear his eyes away from the form-fitting skirt and blouse Jo had
picked out for her. The woman may well be a goddess for all Blade was
concerned, and when you messed with a goddess, the universe had a way of
putting you in your place.
“All right then,” Blade said once they reached the common room upstairs.
He led Michelle to the couch and they sat down together. “Let’s talk some
sense. I know you’re worried, but I’ve got a plan here that will make sure
that you’re safe. All right? You listening?”
Michelle nodded glumly and Blade cleared his throat.
“I didn’t want to tell you because I thought it would get your hopes up and
we’re not sure whether it’s a sure thing or not, but I have a friend who’s a
lawyer. He lives in California, we met when I was traveling the countryside
in my 20s.”
“It’s hard to imagine you in your 20s,” Michelle said with a quiet laugh.
Blade pursed his lips at her. “Watch it, kid.”
Michelle’s eyes danced and once again he was trapped within them, a slave
to his agonizing desires, but he was able to fight through it and get his mind
back on track.
“What kind of lawyer is your friend?” Michelle asked.
“He’s mostly into business law, but he knows quite a few people who could
help out in a situation like this. Get the divorce papers arranged and
notarized quickly. And, probably, get you the majority of this piece of shit’s
money.”
Michelle exhaled in disbelief. “That sounds impossible.”
“It’s not,” Blade said, looking seriously into her eyes. “You’re just too used
to bad things happening. But you’re with me now. Try to have some faith in
the MC. We’re here for you.”
Michelle shook her head and fell back against the couch, looking up at the
ceiling with tears in her beautiful eyes.
“I can’t believe any of this is actually happening,” she whispered. “It’s all
felt like such a nightmare. This is the first time I’ve felt safe since I was a
kid.”
“Bikers tend to have that effect on people,” Blade teased. “At least, the
people that they like.”
Michelle laughed and sat up, peering into Blade’s eyes. She put her soft,
gentle hand over his and squeezed it.
“Thank you for everything,” she said, her face radiant with gratitude. “I
think you might very well be saving my life.”
Blade swallowed hard and shook his head. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration,
I think. But you can always count on the MC. I know Alan probably had his
own idea about things, but he’s about to find out just how wrong he’s been.”
The two studied each other and the air between them seemed to crackle
with life. Blade had waited all his life to meet a woman who could put him
under her spell, but nowhere, in all of the country, did he find a person like
that. Not until he saw Michelle. It was wrong. He knew it was wrong. She
probably didn’t even feel the same way about him.
But the energy between them was impossible to deny. The thought that
maybe, just maybe, she might reciprocate these intense feelings, was
enough to inspire the man in him to act. He shoved away all thoughts of
right and wrong, and surrendered to the moment. And the moment was
fucking sweet.
Michelle gasped in surprise and pleasure as Blade’s mouth suddenly
pressed against hers, and he felt her body surrendering beneath his touch.
He gripped her close to him, the feeling of her breasts pressed firmly
against his torso sending a wave of fire to his loins. She moaned when she
felt the hard mound of his cock against her, and they broke away from the
kiss, both of them breathing heavily.
“Fuck,” Blade said, cringing. Zeke was probably rolling over in his grave
right about now. “I’m sorry.”
He stood up quickly from the couch and retreated from the room, leaving
Michelle, gasping and hot, behind him.
Chapter 9
Michelle’s entire body was trembling after the brief rapture of the kiss, and
she felt like if she stood up now, she would just end up falling over.
She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes, replaying the
overpowering ecstasy of Blade’s lips – his entire body – again and again.
But when she opened her eyes again, tempted to follow him into his
bedroom, she felt suddenly sick inside. Wasn’t it wrong of her to be feeling
like this? The man was twice her age. Her father’s friend.
And even if those things weren’t important factors, wouldn’t it be
impossible to overlook the fact that she was getting a divorce? What if she
was just feeling vulnerable and using Blade as a rebound? And who was to
say he was going to take Michelle seriously anyway? Wasn’t her father
always saying how Blade wasn’t the type to settle down? He was a man
who was always looking for his roots, her father had said. And that was
why he was gone most of the time she was growing up.
Finally, Michelle steadied her breathing enough to walk shakily back to her
own bedroom. She sat down on the bed, unsure of whether to smile or cry.
This whole thing was a complete disaster. The police were sitting outside,
just waiting for her, or anybody at the MC, to fuck up, and she was just
making matters worse. She was giving in to the forbidden feelings she had
been feeling toward Blade ever since he had shown up on her doorstep.
There were so many reasons why this was wrong. She couldn’t just
succumb to something that would ultimately turn out to be another horrible
mistake. The last thing Michelle could live with was another life like the
one she’d had with Alan. Enough was enough.
Michelle sighed and opened the drawer in her end table, taking out the
small slip of paper that Jo had scribbled her phone number onto. She
swallowed nervously, then used the big rotary phone down the hall to dial.
Jo picked up on the first ring.
“Yes?” she asked tersely. “You’re interrupting my shows.”
“Sorry,” Michelle said. She was about to hang up, when Jo’s voice
lightened up.
“Oh, it’s you! How are you, honey?” Jo didn’t wait for a reply before she
continued speaking. “You would love this – there’s a woman who can’t
decide between her ex and her sister’s husband. It’s drama central!”
“That sounds interesting,” Michelle said, chuckling despite herself. She
probably would never choose to watch a show like that on her own, but she
was sure that watching it with Jo would make it even more entertaining.
“You should come over!” Jo exclaimed. “Jackal called over here a while
ago talking about the damn cop cars outside the MC. It’s quiet here. Snake
and I could pick you up out back if you’d like a break.”
“Actually, that sounds amazing,” Michelle said, grateful beyond words for
the option to leave. If she had to face Blade again, she didn’t know what she
would do. It was better to be safe.
“Great! Snake will be there in about 10 minutes. I think I’ll stay here so I
can catch you up on what’s going on.”
Michelle laughed. “That sounds perfect.”
Michelle hung up, debating whether or not she should risk going to tell
Blade that she was leaving. He would definitely freak out if she just
disappeared, especially with the cops waiting outside the MC, but she just
couldn’t bring herself to face him again.
She grabbed her jacket and packed a bag with a change of clothes in it, just
in case Jo decided it would be fun for her to stay the night, and then headed
downstairs to the bar area.
“Jackal!” she hissed.
He frowned before he realized who was calling him and then sat down the
glass he was drying and came over to her.
“What’s up, kiddo?”
“Could you let Blade know that Snake is picking me up? Jo wanted to hang
out and I don’t really feel comfortable here with…you know.”
Jackal’s face lit up with understanding and he nodded.
“Sure thing! Do you want me to walk you out?”
“If you would,” Michelle said gratefully. Who knew what might be lurking
behind the MC.
Jackal abandoned his post at the bar and headed to the back door, his hand
hovering over the handle of a knife in the back of his belt as he pushed it
open. He hesitated, searching the area with his eyes before relaxing his
shoulders.
“Should be fine,” he said, leading Michelle outside. “But I’ll wait here with
you just in case. As far as I know, this is like our secret getaway area, the
pigs don’t know it’s here.”
Michelle laughed quietly. Why would they know it? It looked like a pile of
old motorcycle parts and garbage. Who would want to be back there on
purpose? But Michelle soon saw the genius of it. The door was concealed
by a small collection of tires mounted to the door, that made it look like it
was just another part of the dumping grounds. And when Snake
approached, only then did she see the thin pathway leading out.
“This shit’s ridiculous,” Snake grumbled, stopping in front of Jackal to
speak with him. “You make sure nobody does anything more than act like
angels, you get me?”
Jackal nodded. “No problem, boss.”
“Ready then, young’un?” Snake asked, turning to Michelle. She nodded,
and he turned away, back down the path from which he’d come.
They emerged out on a dark dirt road, hidden by thick forest. Snake had
brought the truck again, probably hoping not to call too much attention to
himself with the police staking out the MC. Michelle climbed in, grateful
that she wouldn’t have to hang around the MC any longer. Who knew
whether or not Alan would show up? She hadn’t taken it too well the last
time he had.
If she saw him today, it would be even worse. Michelle was almost afraid
that he would be able to smell Blade’s scent upon her, as if he were nothing
more than a wild, possessive dog trying to drag his mate back to the den. It
was scary, really, how off-balance Alan managed to make her feel. She
thought all kinds of irrational things when he was there. Blamed herself for
things that never were and never would be her fault.
“You all right?” Snake asked, glancing over at Michelle.
Snake was a tall, quiet, dignified man. He was surprisingly skinny to be the
president of an MC, and seemed to be the type of leader who demanded
respect despite maybe not being quite as physically intimidating as the rest
of the men. He had been lean and strong when Michelle was a child, and
although age had worn away his muscles, it had done nothing to touch his
fierce attitude.
“I’m fine,” Michelle sighed. “Just thinking about Alan.”
Snake scoffed. “That ain’t his name anymore. Around me you’re to refer to
him as ‘pigmeat.’”
Michelle laughed. “Why not bacon?”
Snake looked at her as if she were crazy. “I like bacon!”
She grinned and they finished the stretch of road out in silence, until they
came upon a small wooden house with two pristine motorcycles parked in
front of it.
“Home sweet home,” Snake mumbled, turning off the engine and walking
to the door.
Michelle followed uncertainly. It was strange to be so far away from the
MC after everything that had happened. In a way, she wished she had never
left. The thought that she wouldn’t be able to turn to Blade should she need
anything made her uncomfortable. He was the one who seemed most eager
to protect her, to solve her problems. He was the one she wanted most of
all…
But no. Both of them knew that it couldn’t possibly be. It was wrong.
“Michelle!” Jo exclaimed, suddenly pushing the thoughts of Blade out of
her mind.
“Hi!” Michelle said as she was whisked into an enthusiastic hug.
“I’ve been takin’ notes on this show here for you,” Jo said, tugging her
hand and leading her into the small, cozy living room area. “Let’s get you
caught up.”

***

Snake had gone to bed, leaving Jo and Michelle up late in the living room.
Just as Michelle had suspected, Jo had a way of making even the most
mundane and unbelievable of shows convincing and entertaining, and she
had been enjoying herself thoroughly.
“Something’s on your mind,” Jo said suddenly, looking pensively at
Michelle.
“What?” Michelle asked, smiling innocently. The truth was that she had
been thinking about Blade again. The softness of his lips, the contrast of his
scratchy beard against her skin… but she was also thinking about how it
just wasn’t meant to be.
“Don’t play me for a fool girl,” Jo said with a chuckle. “I know things.
Good at reading people. Me and Snake are alike that way.”
Michelle sighed and leaned back against the couch. “I don’t know what’s
wrong with me. Have you ever done something you know you shouldn’t?”
Jo cackled. “Look at me!”
Michelle grinned and nodded. “I just don’t want to do something for the
wrong reasons, you know? And there’s so much going on…”
“Listen,” Jo said calmly. “There are times in life when you have to make a
decision. Do you want to live according to everybody else’s rules or do you
want to live by the rules that make you happy?”
Michelle sighed. “But it’s complicated. I don’t want to hurt anyone…or be
hurt…”
Jo chuckled. “Living in fear ain’t the way to do things. The people in the
MC know that to live life freely, you have to take what you want and don’t
make any compromises. Not for anyone. And especially not for those
people out there who think they know how you should be living your life.
Chances are, most of the time, people like that are only out to control other
people into becoming more like them.”
“What about breaking your own rules?” Michelle sighed. “There are just
some things that are better left alone, right?”
“Well, that ain’t for me to say,” Jo said with a shrug. “You have to decide
which rules to follow and which rules to break. Just don’t go being a
jackass about it, thinking because society has a special way of doing things
that you have to do things that way too, you know? Some things just don’t
matter so much. It’s all on the surface. If a surface issue is causing you to
turn away from a great thing that’s right in front of your face, then there
isn’t any help for ya.”
Michelle was quiet as she considered this. Was age really just a surface
thing? And was it possible that what she was feeling toward Blade was
more than just a fleeing fancy? There was a certain wisdom in the idea of
only living for yourself and taking what you wanted, but what she wanted
seemed so…dangerous.
“What if what you want will hurt you in the end?” Michelle asked finally.
Jo smiled wistfully.
“Some of the most beautiful things in life come with a little bit of risk. You
know, me and Snake met when I was about your age. We’ve been together
ever since. It was scary at first, wondering if being with an older man was
really a good idea. But we’ve been going strong ever since. He’s over 60
now! And I like to think I help keep him young.”
Michelle studied Jo as if seeing her for the first time. Sure, she had known
that Jo and Snake had an age difference, but seeing them together had never
felt odd or wrong. They were natural together. And it was true. Jo’s lively
spirit seemed to make Snake’s life all the better, even if she was in her 40s
and he in his 60s. Suddenly, Michelle felt a lot better about the situation
with Blade. Not completely absolved, but better.
“Thanks, Jo,” Michelle said, smiling warmly at her new friend. It was
almost as if Jo knew exactly what was going on and had been burning all
night with the perfect advice to give her. But Jo was wise enough not to pry
into detail.
They spent the rest of the night chatting and laughing together until they
couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer, and finally went to sleep.
Chapter 10
Blade woke up the next morning and peered through the blinds. The pigs
had switched shifts sometime during the night. Now, two new cop cars were
parked outside the MC, just waiting for their chance to bust someone.
Jackal had come in the night before to inform him that Snake had taken
Michelle away and he had been flooded with relief. Having that woman so
damn close to him was making him nearly lose his mind. There was nothing
honorable about wanting to fuck his best friend’s daughter. He just couldn’t
bring himself to accept it, and having her dangling in front of his face,
clearly wanting it just as badly as he did, could have made that night into
something he would regret for the rest of his life.
“Hey.”
The blood rushed to his thighs at the sound of Michelle’s voice coming
unexpectedly from behind him, and Blade whipped around, unable to fight
the fire that consumed him in her presence.
“Hey,” he said, as casually as he could muster. But that didn’t take away the
fact that he had spent the rest of the night in agony over his longing for her
body. It had been so close…right within his reach. And doing the right thing
had been one of the hardest things he had ever done in his life. But he
would do it for Zeke. He had to. Besides, she was just a kid.
“The police are still outside?” Michelle asked, coming up close beside him
to peer out the window. She sighed when she saw the new cars. “I wonder
how long they’re going to do this.”
“Probably until things are settled between you and the pigfucker,” Blade
said, turning away from the window and taking a few healthy steps away
from Michelle. The smell of her was starting to drive him up the wall.
Maybe it would be better if she had stayed at Snake’s house a little longer.
She was like a drug that hadn’t completely worked itself out of his system
yet.
“I don’t know if that will ever happen,” Michelle sighed. “He thinks he
owns me or something. He’s got all of them convinced I’m some kind of
lunatic and he’s the only person who is willing to take care of me.”
“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Blade scoffed. “Any man
would be insane not to want to take care of you. And the real fuckin’ crazy
one is him. Any of those pigs out there had any common sense in their
skulls, they would know it, too!”
Michelle looked down at her hands, a smile playing on her lips.
“You always know what to say to make me feel better,” she said quietly.
Blade shifted uncomfortably. He should probably leave the room now. It
was too damn painful to be so close to her with all of these idiotic thoughts
flying around in his head like this.
“Actually, I don’t know shit,” Blade said, suddenly irritated. He didn’t want
to be around her. Didn’t she get that? He was trying so hard to keep his shit
under control. The idea of her just willingly seeking him out was
infuriating.
“What do you mean?” Michelle asked, her eyes turning to him. He was
caught once again in her gaze, feeling like a deer in headlights. Could she
see through him, or was he just imagining it? Either way, it was time to take
control of the situation again. He had let things go too far.
“I mean I don’t think we should be doing this right now!” Blade growled.
“Do you have any idea…”
He trailed off. He wasn’t going to look weak in front of her. Tell her how
goddamn hard he had to work to keep his hands to himself and not give in
to his impulses every time she looked at him. That would just give her more
power over the situation than he would know how to deal with. He owed it
to his friend to be the mature one in the situation. To act like a fuckin’ adult
and know what was right.
“We’re not doing anything,” Michelle said, glowering and walking slowly
toward him. She stopped close to his body and whispered into his ear. “And
I think maybe that’s the problem.”
Blade growled, his body engulfed in fire as the tickle of her breath brushed
against his earlobes. His cock was instantly hard and he glared down at
Michelle, who was eyeing him curiously.
“We’re adults,” she said. “I’ve been thinking. Maybe if we just get it out of
the way, then it won’t bother us like this anymore. You can go back to
living your life and I can go back to living mine, you know?”
No, Blade didn’t know. Because it wasn’t just her body he wanted. It was
the way being with her made him feel. Like he was worthy again.
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea,” Blade said, fighting against his every
impulse.
“It’s not,” Michelle agreed, pulling away from him. “I’m sorry. Just ignore
what I said.”
Ignore what she said? As she headed out of the room, Blade’s body filled
with a combination of fury and longing. How the hell could he just ignore
what she said?
Before he could stop himself, he was gripping Michelle by the arms,
whipping her around to face him. Her eyes widened, whether in fear or
surprise he couldn’t tell, and suddenly he was dipping in to the forbidden
fruit, tasting the sweetness of her lips. He closed his eyes, letting his body
and his hands take the reins as he surrendered to the forbidden passions
inside of him.
Michelle gasped softly, her body trembling beneath his touch, and he knew
that there would be no going back this time. He was on his way to hell.
He lifted Michelle in the air, pressing her middle firmly against his groin so
that her weight would rest on his aching member, and she moaned quietly
as she felt the physical testament to his longing against her. Everything
happened in a blur as his lips devoured every inch of the flesh exposed by
Michelle’s blouse and he continued to taste her as he carried her carefully
from the common room and into his bedroom.
Blade dropped her onto the bed, his loins alive with longing. Michelle’s
eyes caught his in the dim light of the bedroom, and Blade growled, tearing
her blouse open and letting his hands fall down the milky slopes of her
breasts. She closed her eyes, her chest rising and falling rapidly as Blade
dropped his lips down over her perky pink nipple and gave it a tug.
This seemed to awaken a beast inside of her and Michelle bucked her hips
against him, opening her eyes and fumbling with the belt of his jeans. When
she managed to finally tug them open, Blade’s cock was released from its
prison and Michelle pursed her lips.
Pleasure electrified him as she ran her long, delicate fingers along his shaft,
sending him into action. He stripped off the rest of their clothes, dropping
fervent kisses along the perfection of her smooth body. Michelle responded
to each and he plunged himself suddenly inside of her.
The cry of ecstasy that escaped her lips made his cock swell inside the
silken walls of her sex, and she gripped his shoulders tightly as he began to
unleash the power that had been pent up inside of him for so long. It was
probably wrong. He knew it. But it felt too right.
He studied Michelle’s beautiful face as he released his repressed rage inside
her body. She was absolutely perfect in his eyes, and another torrent of
fierce longing electrified him. He thrust powerfully inside of her, gritting
his teeth as he tried desperately to rid himself of the feeling that what he
was doing was wrong. He had waited so long to feel her beneath him. And
now that she was there, he dreaded for the feeling to end. Because he knew
that when it was over, he would probably never be able to see himself, or
Michelle for that matter, the same way again.
Chapter 11
Michelle gasped in pleasure as Blade halted his hips and gazed down at her.
The stillness of his cock inside of her sent unexpected thrills throughout her
body as the muscles inside of her contracted around him, and she writhed
on the bed, anxious to feel him moving again.
But when she looked up at him, the look on his face was haunted.
“What is it?” she whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek. Blade flinched
away from her touch and he refused to look her in the eyes.
“It’s not right,” he grumbled. “I’m taking advantage.”
A bubble of laughter burst from Michelle, surprising them both.
“Only we can decide what’s right for us,” Michelle said, trying her hand at
Jo’s philosophy. “It’s going to be all right. Unless you leave me hanging
like this. Then you’re going to regret it.”
Blade grinned down at her, his face glowing. Was that adoration she caught
in his eyes? But he had averted them far too quickly for her to tell, and
suddenly his soft lips were hot against her flesh once again, and her breath
was caught in her throat as he slowly, almost lovingly, moved his lips along
her skin. They left fire in their wake, and she closed her eyes tightly,
overwhelmed by the sudden explosion that erupted deep inside her loins.
No man had ever made her feel this way before, and suddenly, his cock
seemed to know exactly where to go.
The inferno inside of her was stoked by the friction of Blade’s member, and
Michelle breathed heavily as, again and again, he brought more fuel to the
fire. Soon, every nerve in her body was bursting with the explosive rapture
of Blade’s body, and she threw her head back, a deep groan resonating from
her throat.
She could almost feel Blade grinning down at her as he moved his body on
top of her, the warm comfort of his broad muscles enveloping her as he
moved his body expertly until she couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Fuck,” Michelle breathed as Blade quickened the pace of his hips, letting
out a little growl as he felt her body tense up beneath him. She was on the
edge of the most powerful feeling she’d ever had, and she was almost too
scared to give in to it.
But running away wasn’t an option and Blade buried his lips in the nape of
her neck, the contrasting feeling of his soft lips and the stubble of his beard
sending her over the edge, into an earth-shattering climax. She shuddered
beneath him as he moaned appreciatively, speeding up the rocking of his
hips until there wasn’t a thought in her head anymore – just the pure
sensation of her climax.
The power was intensified when a sudden explosion of heat erupted inside
of her and Blade groaned deeply in her ear, his cock fierce as he emptied
every last drop of his own orgasm into her body. He emptied himself
completely inside of her, prolonging her orgasm until they were both
completely spent.
Blade slowly pulled out of her body and rolled onto his back beside her,
staring at the ceiling, his broad chest heaving powerfully as he seemed to
consider what they had just done together.
Without a word, he rose from the bed and disappeared into the small
bathroom connected to the room. Michelle took the sound of the shower
running as her cue to go, and left to her own room without another word.
***

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Michelle asked Jo as they spread a red
and white checkered tablecloth over a picnic table in front of the MC.
“I think it’s a great idea!” Jo exclaimed. “What’s more all-American than a
barbeque for the Fourth of July?”
“But the cops are still out there,” Michelle said under her breath, nodding
toward the single police car posted outside of the MC.
“All the more reason to show them that we have just as much of a right to
freedom as they do, don’t you think?”
Michelle smiled and nodded. “I guess so.”
The grill was smoking heavily, with Jackal manning the hotdogs and
hamburgers, and the yard was a bustle of activity as burly bikers came and
went, some with beers in their hands, others with bags of potato chips or
bottles of ketchup. It was kind of cute, in a way. It was probably the most
normal thing that had happened since she’d arrived at the MC.
Michelle’s heart lurched suddenly when she spied Blade in the doorway,
overlooking the scene with an unidentifiable look in his eye. He took a swig
of the glass beer bottle sweating in his hands and then disappeared back
inside the MC.
“Everything all right there, Michelle?” Jo asked, an annoyingly knowing lilt
in her voice.
“Perfect,” Michelle said brightly. Jo laughed to herself and Michelle’s
insides seemed to shrivel.
In truth, it had been nearly two weeks since her tryst with Blade, and he
hadn’t looked at or spoken to her since then, except maybe to be polite or
grumble for her to pass the salt. He was still making breakfast for them
both, but he ate his in the common room and left hers on the table. There
were no more good morning knocks on her bedroom door, and she had
never felt more miserably lonely in all of her life.
“Who’s got the plates?” Jackal shouted.
A few men mumbled and supplied Jackal with the necessary tools to serve
the first round of burgers and hot dogs, and soon the picnic tables were full
of burly Pythons and the women who loved them as they ate their meals,
enjoying themselves pointedly in front of the pathetic asshole in the cop car
who was stationed to keep an eye on them.
“Michelle, come on and get something to eat, girl!” Jackal called. “Let’s
show these pigs you’re not here against your will.”
Michelle smiled and walked over to the grill. She was feeling really hungry,
especially after working all morning with Jo on the preparations for the
barbeque. Jackal gave her a plate with both a hamburger and a hotdog on it,
and she filled her plate before sitting back down with Jo.
“So how are things going out here, anyway?” Jo asked as they started
eating. “I know things are probably stressful with these clowns watching
over your every move.”
“It’s not that bad,” Michelle said dismissively. “I’ve started being able to
ignore them. Now instead of thinking of Alan – “
Jo raised a stern eyebrow at her and Michelle laughed.
“I mean pigmeat,” she corrected herself. “I just think about how pathetic he
is to feel like he has to keep tabs on me like this and pick a fight with a
powerful as hell MC.”
“That’s the truth!” Jo exclaimed, holding her beer up for a cheers. Michelle
smiled and reciprocated it, grateful that even without Blade being on
speaking terms with her, she was still able to find a friend among the MC.
“I don’t know what I would do without you guys,” Michelle said, biting
into her hot dog. “It’s been so hard…”
A sudden wave of nausea overwhelmed Michelle, and she frowned and
stood up with her hand over her mouth.
“Are you all right?” Jo asked, rushing to Michelle’s side.
Michelle nodded, but retched again, and ran from the yard and locked
herself in the upstairs bathroom, where she proceeded to get very sick.
She finished and washed her face, looking at herself in the mirror. What
was that all about? She must have eaten something strange. But she ate the
same thing everybody else at the MC ate. Maybe just a bug.
“Are you all right?”
A confusing mixture of feelings overwhelmed her when she stepped out of
the bathroom and nearly bumped into Blade’s broad body. He was standing
just outside the door, concern etched all over his face.
“I’ll be fine,” Michelle said, shooting a faltering smile at him. “It’s probably
just a stomach bug.”
“Hm…” he said. The way he was looking at her made her uncomfortable.
Not just because it brought back the memory of his lips all over her body,
but because it seemed that he didn’t quite believe her.
“Michelle!”
Jo’s voice echoed up the staircase and Blade’s face took on the quality of
someone who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He quickly
retreated back into the common room, just as Jo rounded the top of the
staircase like a bat out of hell.
“I’m fine!” Michelle insisted as Jo forced a glass of cool water into her
hands and placed a damp towel over her forehead. Her concern was truly
touching, but the truth was, she felt completely fine now. As if whatever the
bug had been had been expelled from her body immediately.
“Well we’re not going to be taking any chances with you, ya hear me? What
would Zeke say?”
Michelle smiled sadly at the ground. She had been close to her father,
calling him in secret every chance she got, but she had never gathered up
the courage to go back to the MC to visit. They were so controversial, and
Alan, being the chief of police, had a lot to say about Michelle’s family. It
had just been easier not to go out to see him.
Zeke had risked his freedom to come and see her, though, and every month
he would go downtown and meet her for lunch on the days that Alan
thought she was grocery shopping while he was at work. It always had to be
a very secretive affair, but it was one she now treasured. She just couldn’t
believe she had let such a horrible man rob her of time with her family.
“I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, Jo,” Michelle said, allowing
Jo to lead her to her bedroom and lay her down. “It’s been difficult for me.”
“Well there’s no need to worry about that, M. You’re with us now.”
Michelle smiled. She wished she had really earned her place in the MC.
Sure, her father had been a Python, and it was so comforting to be there
under the biker’s protection, but was she a Python? Or just a burden?
At first, she had felt like the MC was her home again, especially when
things with Blade had been going well. But now that they could barely
stand in the same room with each other for longer than three minutes
without it getting awkward, the MC just felt empty and lonely.
“All right,” Jo said with a kind smile. “You drink that right up and get some
rest. Come down if you’re feeling better. We’re doing some fireworks
tonight. I’ll come check on you to see how you feel.”
“That sounds great,” Michelle said quietly.
Jo winked at her and left the room, leaving Michelle in bed feeling more
alone than ever.
Chapter 12
Blade woke up early. There would be a lot of cleaning up to do after the
celebration the night before. He had been worried sick about Michelle, but
when she’d finally emerged from her bedroom, she looked as healthy as
ever.
They had stood beside each other under the dark night sky, gazing up at the
fireworks in silence. The presence of her body so close to his made him
want to run away, but he was too worried to leave her side. He would be
there if anything happened to her.
Fortunately, nothing did, and just as the fireworks were coming to a close,
Michelle gripped his hand tightly in hers.
“I don’t want things to be so strange between us,” she whispered. “It’s
tearing me apart.”
Blade had grimaced and pulled his hand away, but she was only speaking
the same thing he had been feeling. It felt awful for them to be on such
distant terms. Even if Zeke hadn’t wanted them to get together, he would
have liked this less. He was such a family-oriented man. The last thing he’d
want was an estrangement.
And so, Blade had decided that he would clean up the place and then make
breakfast for Michelle, and actually eat it with her, just like old times.
Maybe from there they would be able to figure out just what in the hell they
were doing.
Blade crossed the hallway, heading to the kitchen, but a strange rustling
sound halted him in his footsteps. The sound was coming from Zeke’s
room. Nobody had been in there since his friend had passed away and
Blade had been designated to find the perfect suit in Zeke’s closet for his
burial.
The hackles on the back of his neck stood up as he thought about the police
cars that had begun setting up shop outside of the MC. If they thought they
were going to pull a fast one over on him, then they had another thing
coming.
Blade crept forward silently, relying on the stealth training he’d received
early on in his life from his own father who had been in the army and had
wanted to make sure his boy could survive in any situation. If the damn pigs
were looking for some incriminating information, they sure as hell weren’t
going to find it in a dead man’s room.
He reached into his back pocket, his hands tensed over his knife, and burst
through Zeke’s door.
“What the hell?!”
Blade jumped back in surprise at the sound of Michelle’s voice and she
stood up glaring at him as if he were the most barbaric human being on the
face of the Earth. And he might very well have been, for all he knew,
because Michelle’s face was stained with tears. She had been looking
through her father’s belongings, probably all night long from the looks of it.
“I’m sorry,” Blade mumbled, pocketing his knife and leaning against the
door with a heavy sigh. “I thought you were the cops or something. You
know the MC has a lot of enemies. You can’t be too careful. Especially with
a lady like yourself sleeping just a door away.”
Michelle pursed her lips at him. “It’s all right,” she said. “I don’t think I
want to be alone right now anyway.”
“Well better my company than the pigs,” Blade said, false cheerfulness
slipping into his voice. The truth was, he was uncomfortable as hell. Death
and feelings just weren’t really his thing. And he knew that death would be
the biggest thing on Michelle’s mind. What if he said the wrong thing? The
last thing he wanted to do was make matters worse with her.
“Did you know my dad listened to bluegrass?” Michelle said, changing the
subject with a little smile. “I had no idea. I thought it was just a guilty
pleasure for me. I guess I got it from him.”
“I’m sure the two of you are more alike than you know. I always got the
impression that he thought you two would be the best of friends under the
right circumstances. Family stuff is tough though.”
Michelle nodded. “I chose the wrong family.”
Blade grimaced. It was clear she was blaming herself for not spending
enough time with her father before the end came, but from what he’d seen,
it was better she hide in a hole than risk being touched by that cowardly son
of a bitch she’d married.
“I don’t think you had much of a choice in the matter. People like the
pigfucker are sneaky bastards, you know? They win you over with all this
charm and pomp, make you feel better than you ever have before. Until
they twist it all around on you. It’s not your fault. It’s his. And your dad
understood you had to live your life. He was proud of you, in fact, for doing
what needed to be done to keep your head above water.”
“I don’t feel like it was enough,” Michelle sighed. “I wish I could have seen
him just one last time.”
“Wishing doesn’t help anything,” Blade said dismissively. “I have a
thousand wishes, but you know what I get when I waste time on whining
about them? A fuckin’ headache.”
Michelle scoffed. “You don’t wish you could talk to him one last time?”
Blade raised an eyebrow. “Your dad and I were best friends because both of
us live in the now, Michie. We don’t waste our time on propriety and
custom and all the other bullshit that makes hoity-toity people feel like
they’ve got some semblance of control over their lives. He and I both knew
that we were free, and the only thing that had any power over us was when
our time came. And his did. He’s at peace with that and I think we should
be too.”
Michelle considered this for a moment, before looking up at Blade with
tears shimmering in her eyes.
“Do you think he would be mad at us? For what we’ve done?”
Blade sighed deeply. This feeling thing was just getting worse and worse.
Maybe this was why he had never settled down before now.
“I’m not sure. Not mad at you, exactly. Me, probably,” Blade said, laughing
softly. Michelle laughed, too, and Blade felt his whole body relax a little bit.
Everything was all right in the world if Michelle was smiling.
“Maybe we can just start over,” Michelle said finally, standing up
resolutely. “We can be friends and just friends. I think he’d like that.”
“Oh yeah?” Blade said, studying Michelle closely. God, she was beautiful.
He’d never met a woman anything like her. it seemed like it was impossible
to bring her down. Even after surviving being married to the biggest douche
bag on the planet and going through her dead dad’s things, she managed to
find the courage to smile. He was in awe, really.
“Yes. What do you think?” Michelle asked.
Blade grinned, relief flooding through him. It was exactly what he had been
hoping for. It would give him a chance to redeem himself and prove to the
both of them that he wasn’t just a piece of shit who was taking advantage of
a vulnerable young woman. He was an honorable man. That’s what he
would want Zeke to remember. And if his buddy was looking down on
them at any point, he’d want him to be proud, not horrified or ashamed.
“All right,” he said, taking her hand in his and giving it a decisive pump.
“Friends.”
***

“Listen up everybody!”
The MC suddenly grew quiet as Jo burst through the doors, a smile
stretched across her face from ear to ear.
“I want you to say hello to my cousin Brett. He’s from out of town and will
be visiting for a few weeks. I want you all to treat him like one of the
family, you got it?”
A slender young man walked into the bar, smiling timidly. He didn’t look
quite like he belonged there, but he wasn’t exactly out of place, either. He
had defined muscle, that was true, and his clothes were casual, but neat.
There was something about him that Blade didn’t like very much, though
what it was difficult to place. Maybe he would figure it out once he got to
know him more.
“Hi, everybody,” Brett said, his smile going from timid to charming in
about half a second flat.
Blade watched, his heart surging with fury, as Brett and Michelle caught
eyes. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t liked the guy. He was around Michie’s
age. And that meant the possibility of competition.
Blade shook his head. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking of Michelle like
that anymore. She wasn’t some woman he could just up and claim like that.
She had her own life to live, and it had to be one that she would be able to
live with, just like Blade. And that meant not getting involved with an older
biker man, and maybe, just maybe, following up on the strange sparks that
seemed to be flying as Brett and Michelle fell into an easy conversation.
Blade growled inwardly and left the room, heading upstairs as quickly as he
could so that he wouldn’t have to see any more of the MC’s newest playboy
in action. Little piece of shit, walking in like he owned the place.
But he was Jo’s family, which meant that, in a way, he was Blade’s family,
too. That was just great. He had enough issues with the family he already
had.
Blade sighed. It really wasn’t any of his business. He had made a promise to
himself, and a deal with Michelle, not to get invested in her any longer.
That meant not giving a shit whether or not the pretty boy in the crisp
civvies was trying to get into Michelle’s pants or not. What man that age
with a single cell in his brain wouldn’t?
It really wasn’t his place to care anymore though. Michelle was an adult and
she was going to just have to learn to take care of herself. Even if that
meant learning the hard way not to engage in conversation with ill-
intentioned pretty boys.
Chapter 13
“Jo has told me a lot about you already,” Brett said, shooting Michelle an
apologetic smile. “So please forgive me if I seem presumptuous.”
“What exactly has Jo told you?” Michelle said with a strained laugh. She
didn’t want to sound as uncomfortable as the idea made her feel, for Jo’s
sake more than for Brett’s, but she couldn’t help it. She really wasn’t ready
to date again, and if this was Jo’s attempt at match-making, she was pretty
far off.
It wasn’t that Brett was unattractive. On the contrary, he was handsome,
charming, and very well-groomed. But those were all qualities that had
initially attracted her to Alan, and if she was going to date anybody again in
her life, she would know better than to be lured in by those physical things
too soon.
“Well, that really might be best discussed another time,” Brett said, smiling
sympathetically. Suddenly, Michelle felt foolish. Jo had been blabbing her
entire life’s story to this guy. It was painfully obvious.
“So she is trying to set me up,” Michelle said, more to herself than to Brett.
“What?” Brett asked with a delighted chuckle. “No, actually that wouldn’t
work.”
“What do you mean?” Michelle asked, suddenly very confused. If it wasn’t
a set up, then why had Brett taken such a keen interest in her?
“Actually, I’m already taken,” Brett said. “And my boyfriend wouldn’t like
it very much if I decided to follow Jo up on the offer to meet the potential
‘woman of my dreams.’”
“What?!” Michelle exclaimed. “What are you doing here then? These big
goons would eat you alive if they knew!”
Brett smiled thinly. “I rather hope they wouldn’t. And if you could just keep
this our little secret, then I would surely owe you one.”
“Of course,” Michelle said with a sigh. “So why did Jo want us to talk then?
Doesn’t she know you’re gay?”
Brett laughed. “She knew before my parents did. The girl of my dreams
thing was just a joke. Actually, there is something rather unfortunate that
we have in common. But it might not be appropriate to discuss it in such
a…busy…area. Would you like to join me for a walk?”
Blade suddenly appeared on the stairs, giving Brett a death look. Michelle
frowned in confusion, and then realized with a sudden jolt of clarity, that
Blade was jealous. But it wasn’t a good idea for them to be feeling this way,
and if he was still jealous, that meant that he might still have feelings for
her. Feelings Michelle just couldn’t deal with right now.
“I would love to go on a walk with you,” Michelle said. It was her least
confusing option right now. if she didn’t go, she would have to go back
upstairs with Blade again and risk having feelings, or maybe even a
conversation that she just shouldn’t be having right now.
“Great!”
Michelle felt a twinge of guilt as Brett laced his arm in hers and the death
look from Blade seemed to burn straight through their backs as they headed
out the door. Blade would have no idea that she and Brett were never going
to end up together, but if he was already going back on his deal with her,
then maybe he deserved to feel a little bit uncomfortable. Right?
“I just love the smell of the fresh air,” Brett said with a grin, taking a glance
at the side of the MC. There were two police cars parked there that day, and
he looked away quickly. “I haven’t been out to the country in ages.”
“Yeah, it can be a nice little getaway sometimes,” Michelle agreed.
“It feels like just yesterday I was a kid, running up and down mountains like
this without having a care in the world. I’d give anything to have that time
back again.”
“You make it sound like you’re a hundred years old!” Michelle said,
laughing.
Brett grinned at her. “I’m really not, but I do feel a lot older than I am, for a
lot of reasons.”
“Like what?” Michelle asked, suddenly intrigued.
“Well, although some of them are personal, I assume that is why Jo wanted
us to meet,” Brett said, dancing around the subject.
They rounded the bend and came upon a comfortable hiking trail.
“Would you like to?” Brett asked, offering his hand out.
“Of course,” Michelle said. She had hiked the trail once with Jo before. It
was a beautiful, serene little place. It would do her some good to spend
some time somewhere peaceful.
“I’m afraid I have been in your position,” Brett said abruptly, once they
were a safe distance away from the road.
“What do you mean?” Michelle asked. ”What position?”
“When I first started dating, I guess I didn’t have very good taste in men.
The one I did find was very, very cruel. I ended up a victim of domestic
abuse for a little over four years.”
“Oh my god,” Michelle gasped. It was almost worse to hear about someone
else going through it than it had been to deal with it herself. “Are you all
right?”
“I’m fine, now,” Brett said. “But it took some time. I think Jo just wanted to
introduce us because she thought it would be good for the two of us to have
someone to talk to. Of course, it’s a very difficult thing to talk about, so feel
free to keep your silence as well. I don’t want you to feel pressured or
anything.”
Michelle sighed. It was a heavy subject, that was for sure.
“I’m not even sure it’s really over,” Michelle admitted. “I keep expecting
him to find some other way around the law. Instead of just convincing all of
his buddies that I’m a basket case and that he’s the only one who can keep
me in line, maybe he would actually manage to get one of them into the
MC, or come himself and steal me back to that house…”
Michelle’s voice broke and Brett put his arm around her quickly.
“It doesn’t feel like it’s over yet because in a way it’s not. He’s still trying to
torture you the only way he knows how. And he will until somebody puts
him in his place.”
“Well nobody here can do that,” Michelle said miserably. “You don’t just
beat the shit out of the chief of police without going to jail. Or worse. The
police are trying to dig up all the dirt they possibly can so that they could all
be convicted, just for helping me get away from that asshole!”
Brett pursed his lips, sighing deeply. “It’s a tricky situation. Jo has filled me
in, some. But I promise you, it does get better. And she told me that the vice
president of the MC has been in touch with a really good lawyer to fight on
your defense. That’s worth something. It really is.”
Michelle nodded. “I just wish it was over already,” she sighed. “It has been
dragging on for so long now.”
Brett nodded. “It’s going to be all right.”
A sudden pang of nausea welled up inside of Michelle and she halted
abruptly on the trail.
“What is it?” Brett asked. “Are you all right?”
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Michelle said miserably, running a little bit
off the trail and bending over into the bushes to vomit.
It was just like what had happened during the picnic for the Fourth of July.
Except that this time, she had a witness. When Michelle was finished, she
rinsed her mouth out with the bottle of water she had been holding when
she left the bar and headed back to find Brett.
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled when she finally managed her way back onto
the trail. “I don’t know what’s gotten into me lately.”
“Maybe you’re pregnant,” Brett joked.
Michelle froze and the smile faded from Brett’s face.
“…which is totally fine if you are! There are a lot of options for you to
consider. You can raise the baby, or not, without your husband’s help!”
Michelle shook her head, silencing Brett, who was now terribly flustered.
“Can I tell you a secret? And you have to promise not to tell anybody else.
Especially Jo!”
“Of course,” Brett said, frowning seriously.
Michelle studied him, using an old trick that her father had taught her to
determine whether or not she would be able to trust him. When she felt
comfortable that he was telling the truth, she sighed.
“If I’m pregnant, the baby wouldn’t belong to my husband,” Michelle
whispered. “It would belong to Blade.”
***
Michelle spent the rest of the night locked in her bedroom. Brett had
promised to take a trip to the pharmacy in town to buy Michelle a
pregnancy test, but he wouldn’t be able to bring it until the next day.
She agonized over whether or not she should tell Blade exactly what was
going on, but what would it mean to him? If she was just a problem that he
was trying to get rid of, then he might not even claim the child as his own.
He might think that she was pregnant with Alan’s child or demand a
paternity test.
Michelle knew for a fact, though, that she had refused to sleep with Alan
for the past six months. He didn’t seem to care all that much and bragged
every once in a while about the new forensics officer who had picked him
up on his offer of steamy office sex, in the hopes of making her jealous. It
was just another way to pick a fight with her, really, but she had learned
better by then than to question anything that Alan did.
This time, there was nobody to turn to. Brett was doing what he could for
her, but she still didn’t feel quite comfortable telling him everything that
was on her mind about it. He was kind, and very helpful, sure, but Michelle
liked to deal with her problems on her own. Asking anybody for help had
always been a mistake, and her father had raised her to be independent. No,
she would have to deal with this situation with Blade by herself. Whether
she liked it or not.
Michelle stood up from her bed and walked cautiously out of the room, her
hands trembling as she made the trek toward Blade’s door. The truth had a
way of coming out and she would just have to try and trust that he would be
a man about it.
But when she knocked, there was no answer. She rattled the doorknob, but
it was locked, and she leaned against the heavy oak door and sighed. Either
he was sleeping or he had left the MC. She would have to talk to him about
it later.
There was no chance in hell of catching any sleep any time soon, so
Michelle headed to the common room to watch some television. If nothing
else, it would distract her from the terrifying events of the night.
She sat down heavily on the couch and suddenly started to cry. It was the
first time she had really cried in years. Not since the third or fourth time
that Alan had beaten her had she allowed herself to really tap into the pain
of the emotions she was dealing with. Now though, it didn’t seem like there
would be an end to the tears.
“Shhh.”
Suddenly she was being swept up into the strong arms of a familiar body,
and she was overwhelmed by the rugged scent of Blade’s t-shirt against her
face.
“It’s going to be all right, beauty. Everything is going to be fine. No matter
what’s going on with you, it’s going to be fine.”
But he didn’t know that she was pregnant. He didn’t know that he was
going to be a father to a child he probably wouldn’t even want. He probably
wouldn’t even think it was his.
The tears continued to spill as Blade shushed her gently, kissing her
forehead tenderly until her sobs turned to hiccups and she grew still in his
arms.
“There you go,” he said, sitting her up and standing to retrieve some tissues
from the bookshelf across the room. He sat down heavily, his muscular
body sinking the couch around him so that she fell near him again. Blade
caught her easily and smiled down at her. “I was wondering when you’d
cry.”
Michelle was offended at first, as if he were somehow implying that she
was weak, but quickly realized that there was nothing but concern in
Blade’s deep blue eyes. She hid her face, both ashamed of herself for
thinking so little of him and for wanting so badly for the comfort he was
giving her to last throughout the rest of their lives. It wasn’t the way it was
supposed to be though, so why was she trying to force it?
“Thanks for the tissue,” Michelle said dumbly. But what was she supposed
to say? Hey Blade, I’m pregnant with your child! Now what?
That would go over well.
“You shouldn’t thank people for stupid little things. Thank them when it
matters,” Blade said, nudging her chin with his fist. “Don’t want anyone
thinking you’re soft, do you?”
Michelle shook her head but she was cringing inwardly. She was soft. Too
soft to tell him the truth.
But she felt a surge of relief when she realized, she might not actually be
pregnant. She hadn’t taken the test yet. This agony of truth-telling could
actually wait another day.
Michelle stood from the couch, smiling wearily at Blade.
“I’m sorry if I woke you,” she said. “I appreciate you coming out here like
that. You didn’t have to.”
“It’s nothing,” Blade said, looking quickly away from her. They shouldn’t
be doing this. Michelle knew they shouldn’t. And the longer she stood there
with him, the harder it would be not to. For the both of them. Not only that,
but the harder it would be to keep her mouth shut. It would be better for
them both if she knew for sure whether or not her worst fears were going to
be realized. She didn’t even know if Blade liked kids or not!
“Good night,” Michelle said, tearing herself away from his comforting
presence and heading to the bedroom.
“Night kid,” Blade said distractedly.
Michelle hurried into the room and locked the door behind her. There were
already enough issues in her life. She didn’t have to make another one by
telling Blade she might be pregnant. She would just wait until she knew for
sure and then deal with whatever happened however she could. No matter
what, she knew, life goes on, and whether Blade was there or not, or she
had a baby or not, she would survive. She had to.
***
“How the hell did you manage to get Blade out of the house?” Michelle
exclaimed. Brett laughed.
“I pulled in a favor from Snake. But of course, I did it very sneakily. You
know. Besides, it’s the truth. I’ve heard Blade can really work an engine
and mine has been faulty lately.”
“I can’t believe it,” Michelle said, laughing quietly. “Come in and sit down.
This might take a while.”
Brett walked into the room and made himself comfortable in one of the
leather armchairs in the corner. He handed her a small brown paper bag and
raised his eyebrow expectantly. “I already read everything about this test
available online. Two blue stripes mean yes.”
Michelle laughed. “Thanks.”
She disappeared into the bathroom and re-emerged a few minutes later.
“We have to wait 15 minutes,” she said sulkily. “What are we supposed to
do in the meantime?”
“Have sex?” Brett joked. “Everybody already thinks that’s what we’re
doing.”
Michelle laughed despite her trepidation. “I’m sure your boyfriend would
just love that.”
Brett smiled.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “I brought a deck of cards.”
“Thank god,” Michelle said, sitting down across from Brett. They decided
on poker, and Brett dealt.
“So what are you going to do if the results are positive? Do you think
you’re going to need some other place to stay?” Brett asked, studying his
hand closely.
“I haven’t really thought that far ahead,” Michelle admitted. “I’m still kind
of stuck at the stage of whether or not I tell Blade. Or more like how, I
guess.”
Brett smiled reassuringly at her. “It’s probably not going to be as bad as you
think. He’s not like your husband. And you’re sure the baby would be his?”
“It’s definitely Blade’s,” Michelle sighed. “I know my body and lately he’s
the only one who’s been near it.”
“What do you think he’s going to say if you’re pregnant?” Brett asked.
“Call.”
“Full house,” Michelle said, revealing her hand. “I have no idea. He’s
probably going to freak.
“Maybe,” Brett said with a nod. “Or maybe everything will be fine. And
even if he freaks, so what? Your life is affected more than his. It’s the law
of breeding. Oh, and I had a pair of queens. Lucky you!”
Michelle glanced up at the clock. Another seven minutes until they would
know the results of her pregnancy test.
“We’ll see about that,” she sighed. “Hopefully this luck won’t run out.”
Chapter 14
Blade stormed into the MC, his blood boiling. For some reason, Jo had
apparently volunteered him to help out her stupid cousin by working on the
motor of his bike. It was less than impressive, if he was going to be honest,
and probably the most insulting part about it was that there wasn’t anything
wrong with it to speak of.
Still, Snake had stayed outside on the porch of his house, offering
completely useless suggestions for Blade to try. He had heeded a few of
them just out of politeness to his boss but there was a point when a man had
to put his foot down. He’d ended up snapping at Snake and nearly snapping
Brett’s stupid bike in half. That would show him to waste his time.
Blade’s foul mood got even fouler when Jackal nodded for him to join him
in private behind the MC. He passed Blade a cigarette and lit one himself
before finally cutting to the chase.
“You know Jo’s cousin? The scrawny kid?”
“Brett. What about him?” Blade asked, trying his best to stay neutral.
Nobody had to know he had beef with the kid. If it got back to Jo, it would
break her heart.
“He came in here about an hour ago with a little brown paper bag in his
hand. Went straight upstairs like he lives here or something and hasn’t been
back down since.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Blade growled, his fingers itching for his knife.
It had been a while since he’d drawn blood, but Brett’s flesh seemed to be
begging for it.
“Reckon he had condoms or something in there,” Jackal snorted. “He’s
probably giving Zeke’s girl the old what for, you know what I mean?”
Blade roared in anger and threw the cigarette on the ground. He pushed past
Jackal and stormed up the stairs, tearing through the hallways until he got to
Michelle’s doorway. He listened at the door for anything incriminating, and
suddenly heard Michelle sob.
Blade’s heart hammered in his chest and a black cloud of rage settled over
him. He had to go in there to make sure that everything was all right. He
didn’t even bother knock. Instead, he kicked the door down.
When he entered the room, Blade’s eyes locked on Brett, who was sitting in
the armchair to his left like the cat who ate the canary and suddenly his
hands were around the boy’s throat and he was slamming him into the wall.
“Blade, stop it! What the hell are you doing?!” Michelle shouted.
“You’re going to let this slippery son of a bitch touch you?” Blade shouted,
rage billowing off his body. “You don’t have better sense than that?”
“Touch me?” Michelle exclaimed. “He brought me a pregnancy test, Blade!
And he wouldn’t touch me if I wanted him to! He’s gay!”
Blade froze and looked down at Brett, who had his eyes squeezed closed as
if he were about to breathe his last breath. And if Michelle hadn’t stopped
him, maybe that would have been true.
“A pregnancy test?” Blade demanded, relaxing his grip a little on Brett’s
neck. “Show me!”
Michelle glared at him and stomped to the bathroom, then returned holding
a little white stick.
“Blue lines, asshole. It means I’m pregnant. Now get the hell out of here
before you do any more damage!”
“Pregnant…” Blade mumbled, finally letting Brett slip out of his hands and
back into the armchair. “Are you serious?”
“Out!” Michelle shouted.
Blade grimaced. He’d really stepped in it this time. He gaped at Michelle a
moment longer before he turned around and left the room without another
word.
***

Blade sank down heavily on his bed as Michelle’s words echoed again and
again in his head. She was pregnant. But if she was pregnant, did that mean
that he was going to be the father? Or was it possible that the child
belonged to the pigfucker?
Either way, he was worried. If Alan found out that Michelle was having a
child, it would keep him in her life a hell of a lot longer than he should be.
And there was the possibility of sharing custody and all the baggage that
could come along with that. Not to mention the possibility of a guy like
Alan unleashing his temper on the poor kid.
If the child belonged to Blade though, a whole other slew of complications
would arise from that. Everybody at the MC would find out that he’d
fucked his best friend’s daughter, barely before the poor guy was cold in the
ground. What kind of example would that set to his men? He would
probably have to step down as the vice president of the MC. Maybe Jackal
would end up filling the role.
At least, that was if he and Michelle didn’t end up raising the child together,
which was an entirely different matter. The possibility of that happening
was probably zilch. She had seen the kind of man he was- a man who took
advantage of a young, grieving girl and enjoyed his own sinful desires with
her, with no regard to her own purity.
What kind of woman in her right mind would want to raise her child with a
guy like Blade? He’d never managed to settle down a day in his life before
he turned 40, and then, it was only because Zeke was sick and he wanted to
be there to help shoulder the burden of the Python’s duties. Who knew he’d
be so damn good at it that he’d want to stick around?
But even sticking around for the Pythons was a far cry from settling down
the way a man was meant to settle down when he had children. Kids needed
stability. A good home, caring parents, a provider to put food on the table
and be there for the big moments…would he even be cut out for the job?
The truth was, the idea of being a parent was far scarier than getting into a
knife fight with five other guys. Being a parent meant you had to be
present, do the feeling thing. Not just with the kid, but with the mother. His
own father had done his best, but he was still absent most of the time. What
if Blade was the same way?
Maybe he should run. Get the hell out of there before he was saddled with
the responsibility of raising a child that he would ultimately fail in the end,
and disappointing the only woman he’d ever started to give two shits about
in his life. She was going to be disappointed one way or the other, if he was
going to be honest with himself. He couldn’t imagine himself being a good
husband or father. Maybe he would be doing them both a favor if he just
moved on.
Blade sighed heavily. Whether he was going to be a parent or not, one
thing was for sure. He needed a drink. And a goddamn stiff one.
Blade headed downstairs, doing everything humanely possible to avoid
looking down the hallway to where the door of Michelle’s room happened
to be. He slumped down on one of the bar stools. The crowd was beginning
to thin, most of the guys were heading out to check out the car show the
town over, but Blade had no interest- especially now.
To his surprise, a few stools over, Brett was sitting by himself, nursing a
bourbon and cola, a faraway look in his eye. Blade felt a sudden
overwhelming pang of guilt. He’d nearly killed the poor kid because he was
worried that he might be sleeping with Michelle. He was definitely not
father material.
“What can I get you, Blade?”
At the sound of Blade’s name, Brett looked up, a mixture of fear and
resolve on his face.
Blade tried to ignore him. “The usual, man. The hardest you’ve got.”
“On it,” Jackal said dutifully.
A few moments later, he had a cool glass in his hands and was standing up
from the bar to move to one of the booths farthest away. He couldn’t stand
being so near Brett right now. He had a lot on his mind. And although he
had told Michelle not to apologize for stupid shit, for some reason he was
tempted to break his rule. But it would take a bit of liquid courage to get on
with it.
“Blade?”
Blade tensed up at the sound of Brett’s voice.
“What’s up, kid?” he mumbled, taking a long drink.
“Is it all right if I sit here?” Brett asked.
Blade sighed and nodded, though it felt like his head was stuck in tar. All he
wanted was to be alone and to finish his goddamn drink. Was that really so
much to ask?
“Thanks,” Brett said, making himself comfortable across from Blade. He’d
gotten a refill on his drink and Blade sighed, unable to meet him in the eyes.
He’d nearly choked the life out of a gay man for being there for Michelle
when she needed a friend. What kind of stupid asshole was he?
“Listen,” Blade mumbled, completely unprepared for the apology but
knowing there was nothing else for him to say. “I shouldn’t have choked
you like that. I didn’t know…”
Brett interrupted. “You don’t know a lot of things,” he said. “Like how my
ex used to do the same thing, only he wouldn’t let go. You could have killed
me in there and if you’re that prone to fits of violence, then I should really
tell you that this little thing you’ve got going with Michelle? That isn’t
going to be healthy for her. She just barely got away from one control freak
and she doesn’t need another one in her life.”
“You think I would ever lay a hand on a woman?” Blade asked, his temper
prickling again. Maybe he should have finished the job when he’d had the
chance.
“I can’t pretend to know you or anything about you. I’m just giving you a
fair warning. She deserves better than someone who is going to treat her
how you treated me, without even knowing anything about what was going
on. It was uncalled for!”
Brett huffed and then guzzled down a good portion of his drink.
“You’ve got some guts talking to me like that boy,” Blade said. “I can
respect that. And I appreciate you looking out for Michie. Only one she has
to talk to around here is Jo, but I’d wager she’s scared to death to tell Jo
about the two of us.”
“Well I’m not looking for your approval, Blade. I’ve stopped caring what
people think of me a long time ago. It’s better that way.”
“Cheers to that, little man,” Blade said, raising his glass. Brett looked
surprised and raised his glass. “I am sorry about what happened in there,
you know. It was impulsive and bull-headed. Which usually keeps me out
of trouble, believe it or not. I was just trying to…”
“What? Protect Michelle?” Brett asked with small smile. “She doesn’t need
that kind of protection. She’s got a good head on her shoulders. Granted, it
will take her some time to get over what’s happened with her husband, but
still…”
“I just can’t believe she’s pregnant,” Blade said, his voice hushed. “I swear
to god, if it belongs to that good for nothing husband of hers…”
Brett leaned back and studied Blade. “You really care about her, don’t
you?” he asked. “I half expected you to say you were afraid it would be
yours. But you’re more worried that she’ll stay tied to her husband.”
“You’re damn right I’m worried!” Blade said. “And I’m worried if it’s mine
too, you know? I don’t think I’m father material. Would you want me to
raise your kids?”
Brett laughed and raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t rule it out, but I’m pretty
sure my fiancé would have choice words to say about it.”
Blade froze. He’d always thought being flirted with by a man would make
him want to tear the guy’s balls off, but Brett was just teasing him. It gave
him a new perspective on things that he hadn’t expected.
“Well anyway, if it’s mine, I’ll find some way to mess up,” Blade said,
changing the subject.
“You can’t know that,” Brett said. “You might end up surprising everybody.
Especially yourself.”
“I’ve never been around kids, though!” Blade exclaimed. “I wouldn’t know
the first thing.”
“That’s the kind of thing you can learn,” Brett reassured him. “There are all
kinds of resources out there for you if you just choose to step up and take
responsibility.”
“Yeah, well we’ll see what Michelle has to say about that,” Blade mumbled.
Brett smiled. “That’s where I can’t help you. She’s a strong woman, that
one. Had a few hard knocks but she bounces back strong from what I can
tell so far. Seems like the two of you would be a good match. I don’t see
what you’re being so secretive about anyway.”
“It’s complicated,” Blade mumbled dismissively.
But was it really? What if Brett was right and they had been making a huge
deal out of nothing? In fact, it felt so much like a truth he wanted to wrap
his head around. He wanted badly to be wrong about being with Michelle.
“Love is always complicated,” Brett said, sipping his drink and eyeing
Blade knowingly.
Blade balked at the L word. He hadn’t even thought of applying it here. Not
with the way everything had been going. He had been so preoccupied with
trying to keep himself from falling for Michelle that he had been
completely oblivious to the fact that he was completely head over heels in
love with her. What the hell was wrong with him?
“Right,” was all he said, taking a deep drink from his glass. Love. Weird.
That was a first.
“Look, I hope you don’t mind, but I’d rather you not tell Jo about what
happened between us tonight. It would really upset her and I don’t want her
to go thinking that just because I’m gay I can’t take care of myself,” Brett
said. “If it’s not too much trouble, could we just keep this between us?”
Blade laughed. “Sure, little dude. She’d kill me if she knew anyway.”
Brett’s eyes twinkled. “I know.”
Blade chuckled and shook his head. “So what’s your deal, anyway? You
just go around making it your business to get in the middle of things?”
“Nah,” Brett said, a distant look in his eye. “I just like helping people.”
“Well you’re helping me loads by not telling Jo I nearly strangled you to
death,” Blade said. “So here’s to you.”
He raised his glass and Brett met it with a solid clink.
“It’s been a pleasure,” Brett said after downing the rest of his drink and
standing from the booth.
“Yeah right,” Blade said with a grin. “But it was cool talking to you. Feel
free to come around again if you feel like it.”
“Oh, I’ll be around,” Brett said.
There was something in the tone of his voice that made Blade prickle. Some
kind of hidden meaning to Brett’s words. But what the hell could this small
guy be hiding? If there was one thing Blade didn’t tolerate, it was secrets in
his MC. He would get the truth out of the kid one way or another.
But not tonight.
Tonight, he was just going to watch the boy leave and then finish his
fuckin’ drink. Now though, instead of feeling like a sorry sack of shit, he
was actually wondering if maybe being a dad would be something he could
manage. If the squirt thought he could pull it off, maybe he could.
Blade shook his head and slammed his empty glass on the table. Whether
he could pull it off or not, he would have to find a way to win Michelle
back. Even if the baby wasn’t his, he would be there for the woman he
loved. Because apparently that’s what love meant. Sticking around.
Chapter 15
Michelle woke up the next morning feeling sick to her stomach, but she
wasn’t sure whether it was because she was nervous about what the doctor
was going to say or if it was morning sickness. Once she threw up though,
she had a pretty clear idea.
Brett was waiting outside, his bright red car parked beside a row of
motorcycles. He was staring at his watch and tapping his foot impatiently.
“We’re going to be late if we don’t hurry!” he exclaimed, opening the door
for her and then climbing into the driver’s seat.
“Relax, Brett,” Michelle laughed. “It only takes us like 12 minutes to get to
town from here.”
Still, Brett’s anxiety didn’t diminish until the second they crossed the
threshold into the waiting room. Michelle explained about her appointment
and then she was left in the waiting room with Brett, who had visibly
relaxed since his white-knuckled drive to the doctor’s office.
“Do you think getting tested for a baby will hurt?” Michelle asked. The
truth was that she had never considered any of what having a child might
entail. Sure, she had daydreamed about one day having the perfect little
family- one where Alan was the kind and doting breadwinner and she was
able to stay at home with the little ones and see to it that they had a great
upbringing. But needless to say, all of those dreams had gone out the
window and they would never come back again.
“I’m sure it won’t hurt,” Brett said quickly. “They’ll probably just have you
pee in a cup.”
Michelle sighed and nodded and waited until it was her turn.
“Michelle Warren?”
Michelle’s heart thudded hard in her chest.
Whatever the doctor had to say to her about this would determine the rest of
her life. If the pregnancy test was right and she was expecting a child, she
would probably have to leave the MC. She wouldn’t force Blade into taking
care of a baby that he didn’t want. It was time for her to start thinking about
her best plan of action.
Brett had promised to help her go over her options when they found out for
sure whether or not she was pregnant, and she suddenly found herself
wishing she had had that conversation with him before the appointment.
Now, she felt like she was grasping at air with nothing beneath her to catch
her in case she fell.
“Yes, that’s me,” Michelle said, standing up awkwardly. Her legs were like
jelly, and she stepped forward toward the kind-looking nurse, her heart
constricted tightly in her chest.
She would be fine. Even if it meant that she had to find somewhere to live
outside of the MC’s protection, she would find a place where Alan couldn’t
get to her. Right?
But the uncertainty of the situation made her want to cry and the nurse
looked at her with an understanding smile and touched her shoulder kindly.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Michelle nodded and glanced back at Brett as one last tendril of panic
fought its way through her.
“Good luck!” he said in a stage whisper. “I’ll be here when you get back.”
Michelle nodded. She would just have to brave this part out by herself. Who
knew? Maybe from then on, she would have a baby to take along for the
ride.
***

“Michie, are you all right?”

“For the last time, Blade, go away. I don’t want to see you right now.”
“But…”
“I said no!”
“I made you something to eat. You can’t just keep on going without food.
Especially not with a baby in you. You’re eating for two now.”
Michelle opened the door and glared Blade in the eye.
“That’s none of your business,” she growled. “After the way you treated the
only man who’s been here for me through this, do you think I’d eat
anything you made me? I don’t even want to talk to you!”
Blade glared at her.
“Look, me and the little dude are square about that now. You’re the only
one here holding a grudge!”
“Yeah! And I’m also the only one carrying a baby,” Michelle retorted.
“Christ! You’re acting like I did something to hurt you. All I’ve ever done is
to try to be there for you and you’re treating me like I’m nothing but some
common criminal!” Blade exclaimed, his eyes furiously blue as he stared
down at her.
“You kind of are, Blade! The MC is under surveillance for a reason!”
Blade scoffed. “Yeah! Because of you. Don’t act like I wasn’t willing to
step up for you and the baby, Michelle. You didn’t even tell me about it!
You told Brett before I even had any idea! I thought we were closer than
that!”
Blade stormed off, letting the door close in Michelle’s face. She stared at
his back and felt another surge of anger course through her. Not only was he
acting as if he hadn’t been on the same page as she was about being just
friends, but now he was practically blaming her for not knowing how to
break the news to him. Was it such a crime to want to be sure about
something before you turned someone else’s life upside down? Apparently
to Blade it was. He was the most stubborn, selfish man she had ever met.
Well, technically that title went to Alan, but still. Blade was a close second.
And for the past month, he had thought that making her food she didn’t
want to touch and asking how she was would make up for the fact that he
had assaulted one of the gentlest people she’d ever met. She just couldn’t let
it go. Not when it meant that she would be agreeing to let him into her life
with a baby involved. It was just too risky. She couldn’t let herself be with
another man like Alan. To be honest, seeing his temper like that, right there
in front of her, had been a terrifying reminder of all the horrible things she
had gone through with her soon-to-be ex-husband.
But she couldn’t find a way to tell that to Blade. No matter how hard he
tried to make things up to her and take care of Michelle and the baby, there
was just nothing he could do to erase that memory of his temper from her
mind. She was afraid of him. Plain and simple. But the one thing she had
learned from being with Alan was that if a man scared you that way, you
would be much, much better off if he didn’t know it.
Michelle sighed. Being cooped up in the MC all the time was starting to
drive her crazy. She listened at the door for a few moments to make sure
that Blade was nowhere in sight before sneaking downstairs. She took the
secret path in the back of the club to escape onto the road, where she was
finally able to have a breath by herself.
Well, she wasn’t technically alone. Somewhere in her womb was the
beginning of a child, who may look like her, or who could possibly favor
Blade. It seemed impossible that Blade would have a child who looked
anything less than identical to him. Everything about him was strong and
fierce. His genetic code was probably just as headstrong.
Michelle strolled along absently, letting all of her anxieties and worries melt
away. It was nice having some time to clear her head. She certainly wasn’t
getting any with Blade and she hadn’t been able to call Jo for an escape to
her house. If she did, she knew that she would let the pregnancy slip and
more importantly, who the father was.
And not only that, but she knew Jo well enough by then to know that there
would be a big hullaballoo about how great it was that Blade was a father.
Jo would push him to step up and Michelle would feel obligated in a way to
accept him. She just wasn’t ready for that level of attention yet. Especially
when she was still so angry and afraid of him.
“Well look who I have here,” a familiar, chilling voice said suddenly.
“No,” Michelle whispered, whipping around.
Michelle’s blood turned to ice as she came face to face with her worst
nightmare. Alan grinned, looking her up and down with an evil smirk on his
face. She should have stayed in the MC. What the hell had she been
thinking?
“You look different,” Alan said, peering at her closely. “Did you gain
weight or something? I don’t think I like it.”
She wanted to defy him, to take some of the attitude of the bikers she had
grown to love and, and tell Alan to go fuck himself. But the words wouldn’t
come. When she was alone with him, she was frozen. He had done a
number on her, physically and mentally. She wasn’t prepared to face him.
Not now. Not alone.
“Well, I’m sure you’ll get back to your old self in no time,” Alan said. “Put
you back in one of those pretty little dresses we bought you. Like the ones
for the dinners at the department. You always did look sexy in those.”
“What do you want, Alan?” Michelle asked, finally finding her voice.
“I want my wife to come home, where she belongs,” Alan said, his eyes
beady and cold.
The idea of going back with Alan terrified her. Michelle looked frantically
for an escape route – anything she could do to try to outsmart him and run
like hell – but they were on an open dirt road, with a field on one side and
forest on the other. Unfortunately, Alan was standing between Michelle and
the cover of the trees, so her position wasn’t ideal, to say the least.
Again, she tried to find her voice, but there was nothing she could say to
take the sadistic smile off his face, and it would be foolish to even try.
“Please,” she whispered.
“I don’t owe you anything,” Alan said. “You ran away from me like I was
some sort of a monster! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?”
“Alan…”
But there was nothing she could say to reason with him. She already knew
that.
“Who’s that biker guy everyone keeps seeing you around with?” Alan
asked, his voice suddenly dark.
“I don’t know who you…”
“Don’t play dumb with me!” Alan shouted, stepping toward Michelle and
grabbing her arm. “I’ve seen pictures of the two of you! You think the
officers on duty here just twiddle their thumbs here?”
“No,” Michelle growled. “They answer to you, don’t they? And the only
reason they’re here is because for the first time in my life, I’ve had the
courage to do what was best for me!”
“What is best for you is to go home!” Alan roared, shaking Michelle’s arm
hard. She grimaced in pain, though she knew that it was only going to get
worse.
“What makes you think you know what’s best for everyone?”
Michelle and Alan both froze at the sound of a deep voice to their left and
Michelle’s heart soared. Blade was standing there, with an entourage of
bikers standing behind him, each of them reaching into their back pockets
to pull out their weapons of choice.
“You stay out of this! I know what you’ve been doing with my wife!” Alan
screamed, tightening his grip on Michelle’s wrist.
“Oh, so you know she’s pregnant with my kid, then,” Blade said, smiling
smugly. This was as much a shock to the other bikers as it was to Alan, and
everybody murmured to themselves as Alan’s face went from flesh-toned to
deep red.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” Alan exclaimed, raising his
hand to strike Michelle. “You whore!”
Before Alan had a chance to make contact with Michelle, Blade was in
between them, his huge, muscular body creating a barrier between Michelle
and Alan. Michelle scrambled to join the protective group of bikers, but
before she could, Alan used one of his police moves to roll out of Blade’s
way and jump to his feet again. He tore at Michelle with everything he had.
Blade whipped around just in time to see Michelle fall to the ground hard.
Pain engulfed her every nerve ending and she writhed on the ground.
“Somebody help her up!” Blade demanded, taking a swing at Alan that
missed. “You should not have done that, pigfucker.”
Alan’s eyes narrowed and Michelle suddenly felt her body become
weightless as two of the bikers carried her to the side of the road and sat her
down gently.
“Are you all right, Michie?” Blade shouted over the sounds of Alan’s
growling. Michelle gazed at Blade beating the holy hell out of Alan, her
mind in a fog. She nodded dumbly, not sure what else to do.
“I’m going to kill you!” Alan shrieked again, lunging at Blade and growling
furiously. Everybody groaned as a sickening thud filled the air and suddenly
Alan was lying on the ground, unconscious.
“You stupid shit!” Blade shouted down to him. “You’re lucky I don’t
fuckin’ kill you right now!”
But Alan couldn’t hear him and Michelle suddenly felt a shooting pain up
her abdomen. She bent over, moaning out loudly.
“Michie!”
She lost consciousness just in time to feel Blade’s strong hands around her
shoulders as she slumped lifelessly against his broad chest.
Something was wrong with the baby.
Chapter 16
“I understand how you feel, sir, but we’re only allowed to disclose
information to…”
“Is she all right or not?!” Blade’s voice boomed through the waiting room
cluttered with bikers.
“Sir, if you don’t lower your voice, I’m going to have to…”
“Just answer the question!” Blade exclaimed. “What’s so hard about that?!”
“Sir, it is in the patient’s best interest that we only disclose information to
her family. I know you’re friends, but…”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Blade said, holding his hand up.
He was one more excuse away from beating the shit out of the little man
he’d seen wheeling Michelle away on the gurney. Blade knew that guy
knew what was going on with her. He just refused to tell him.
“Sir. Like I said. Family only.”
“We are her family! Her husband? The one you have written down on all
those official looking forms of yours? That’s the piece of shit who did this
to her. We’re more of a family to her than that piece of shit will ever be and
if you don’t let us in to see her right now, you’re going to see what the
power of family can do!”
The rest of the bikers present, sensing a threat, stood up and put on their
most intimidating faces. The doctor shifted nervously and was quiet for a
moment before letting out a defeated little sigh.
“She’s in room 321. But for crying out loud, one at a time, please. She can
tell you herself how she’s doing.”
Blade’s entire body felt as if a boulder was lifted off it and he took off down
the hall toward room 321. Truth be told, he had never been more scared in
all his life than when Michelle had passed out on the side of the road. He
had been too scared to even step on the pigfucker’s throat for doing it to her
in the first place. They had just left him passed out on county road, with the
very real possibility of a coyote coming upon his body and finishing him
off. It would serve the asshole right.
“Blade,” Michelle said tiredly when he burst through the door. She laughed
a little. “You look wild.”
Blade stood rigid and took the chance to stare at Michelle. She looked
incredible, even in a hospital gown. The color was back in her cheeks,
thank Christ, and she was sitting up weakly in the bed to greet him.
“No, don’t get up. You need your rest right now,” Blade said, walking
closer to the bed. How did she manage to be so completely stunning even
when she looked like death warmed over?
“It’s nothing really. It was just too much stress. The baby couldn’t handle
it…”
“Is it all right?” Blade asked, a new sense of fear overwhelming him. How
was it possible that he was just as scared for an unborn child as he was for a
woman he had grown to know and love over the past few months? It
seemed incredible.
“Yes,” Michelle said. “They even told me that if I want to come back in
about three weeks, I could get an ultrasound done. See if Blade Jr. is a boy
or a girl.”
“Blade Jr.,” he chuckled. “That’s a hell of a name.”
“Tell me about it,” Michelle said, raising an eyebrow.
They fell silent for a moment, each of them ruminating over what had
happened between them over the past few weeks. None of it felt good. He
would give anything to make sure that she was all right, but she was tired
and didn’t need his shit in her life. He couldn’t blame her.
“Look,” Blade said, shifting uncomfortably. “I’m really glad the two of you
are all right. And I know we’re kind of not doing this whole…I don’t
know…friendship thing right now, but you had me fuckin’ worried out
there. But now that I know everything’s fine, I think I’ll just let you get
your rest.”
“Wait,” Michelle said quietly as Blade turned to leave. He paused, hoping
against hope that what she had to say wasn’t just another “fuck off,” or just
a “thanks for getting me medical attention when I needed it so I didn’t die
by the roadside.”
“Blade, I’ve been struggling with something for a long time now, ever since
what happened between you and Brett.”
“Oh yeah?”
Blade had been dreading hearing more about what had happened with Brett.
He was not only ashamed of himself for it, but it was a painful reminder of
just how badly he managed to fuck up a delicate situation with Michelle.
Ever since then, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head for longer
than six seconds.
“There’s something about what happened then that just really changed the
way I felt around you, you know?”
“No, not really. Only kind of. You’d better make it clear for me. I have a
thick skull,” Blade said, knocking on his temple. This brought the hint of a
smile to Michelle’s lips. It was progress.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, when you burst into my bedroom like
that, a space where I’m supposed to feel safe, it really scared me. And then,
when you got violent with sweet little Brett…”
Blade looked down at the ground sheepishly.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “That wasn’t cool.”
“It really wasn’t. And Brett’s really a big man for being able to let that go,
you know.”
Blade shrugged. It wasn’t up to him whether the people who Blade roughed
up were able to get over it or not. Still, he did kind of feel bad about the
guy. He was just trying to help.
“Anyway,” Michelle said with a sigh. “Seeing Alan again made me realize
that you’re not the man I was afraid you were. You were just trying to
protect me and all this time I’ve just been too afraid of you to face you
again. Does that make sense? I get now that you were just trying to protect
me from Brett, too. You heard me crying and knew he was up there.”
“Yeah,” Blade said, shocked at the revelation. He knew he was an
intimidating guy, but he had never thought about how that might come
across to Michelle. Especially so soon after being with her abusive husband.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Michelle said. “You were just looking out for me. Nobody
has ever done that before. At least not since I left the MC. And I doubt
anybody ever will again if I leave.”
“That’s not true,” Blade said, quick to defend Michelle from herself. “If you
wanted to leave, anybody you ran into would be lucky as hell. And if they
didn’t know it, then they’re a bunch of fuckin’ idiots.”
Michelle grinned and shook her head. “Thanks.”
Blade nodded and they fell into a loaded silence. Suddenly, Michelle spoke
again.
“Do you want to come and see the ultrasound with me?” she asked shyly. “I
mean, it’s your kid, too.”
Blade was shocked.
“You mean like, see the little bean in your belly on like an x-ray screen?”
Michelle smiled. “Something like that.”
“I’d be honored,” Blade said, moving quickly to her side and kissing her
hand. “I’ll do anything you want me to do during this thing. This is my
baby, too. And if you want me to be there, I will be. If you don’t, I can split.
That’s all right too. I can pay you and make sure the kid has good clothes
and a nice school, but if you think I can’t be a dad or I’d be a bad influence,
then…”
“What?” Michelle said, furrowing her brow at him as if he were the biggest
idiot in the world. “Of course, you’ll be involved. If you want to be. And if
you want to be a good dad, you will be. I know you have it in you.”
Blade’s heart warmed at the words. He had been terrified about this for so
long that now that it was happening, her encouragement meant everything
to him.
“I’m glad you feel that way. But really, however you want to do this baby
thing is fine.”
“I know. And thank you for making that clear.”
Blade nodded and then sighed deeply. “I should probably get out of here.”
“Already?”
“Well…we kinda threatened the guy to let us in here,” Blade said, grinning.
“So technically I’m not even supposed to be here. But the guys and I were
worried about you.”
Michelle laughed and slapped his arm. “What the hell? Poor Dr. Dorian.
He’s going to love it when we come back in for the ultrasound.”
Blade snorted. “He’ll probably remember us and give us a picture of an
alien baby or something.”
Michelle burst out laughing and smiled fondly at Blade. “You’re pretty hard
to forget…I really missed you. When I get home, we should have a talk.”
“Sure,” Blade said, the heavy weight on his chest that had been there since
their fallout finally lifting. “I’d love to.”
Michelle smiled at him and Blade nodded formally. Maybe things weren’t
going to be so bad after all.
Chapter 17
“I’m fine!” Michelle exclaimed, slapping Blade’s hands away from her as
she slowly climbed the stairs up to her room.
“But the doctor said no stress,” Blade informed her.
It was almost cute how literal he was being with the doctor’s instructions
but Michelle wasn’t sure she was enjoying being treated like porcelain. It
wasn’t fun being robbed of her independence.
“I know what the doctor said, Blade, because he said it to me!”
Blade was silent and continued holding Michelle’s arm stubbornly until she
reached the top of the stairs. He was sweet, underneath all that muscle and
attitude. She had to give him that.
“All right,” Blade said gently, opening the doorway and ushering into the
bedroom like she was about to break. “In you go.”
He helped her down into the bed and turned to leave.
“Blade, wait. I don’t feel like being alone right now. Would you mind
keeping me company?”
Blade looked surprised at first, then pleased. “Of course.”
He sat down beside Michelle on the bed and the tension between their
bodies was immediate. If it didn’t feel so good to have him so close to her,
she would have regretted inviting him to stay.
When Blade looked at her again, the longing in his eyes was undeniable.
She had to admit, she’d been thinking of him more and more since his visit
at the hospital. She’d come clean to him about how she felt and he’d been
respectful of it. It was a complete change from what would have happened
with Alan.
“What’s the matter?” Blade asked, perceptive to every subtle change in her
face. He was looking for signs she was suffering, being hypervigilant about
her health after her fainting spell.
“Just thought of the pigfucker,” she said, smiling quickly.
“Ah, you’re finally getting his name right,” Blade said with a sagely nod.
“Very good.”
“Shut up,” Michelle said with a laugh, pushing his broad shoulder. Again,
the tension between them became so thick she could almost smell it, and
she looked down, her cheeks flushed. “Are you sure you can handle this?
With me and the baby and everything?”
“What do you mean?” Blade asked. He didn’t want to make presumptions.
“I mean…I want us to try again,” Michelle whispered, looking down at her
hands. “It doesn’t feel right to be so distant with you.”
She expected Blade to speak again, but instead, he answered with his body.
Michelle’s breath was swept away by the fervent tugging of his soft lips,
and she was immediately electrified. Blade kissed her slowly and languidly,
letting his hand roll down the nearly imperceptible baby mount in her
abdomen.
His broad fingers left fire in their wake and she closed her eyes and
shuddered beneath him. It had been too long. She’d wanted him more than
she would ever be able to admit.
He reciprocated the feeling and Michelle gasped as she felt the sudden, hard
mound of Blade’s cock between her legs. He was climbing over her,
dominating, moving his hips against her and letting his lips fall all over her
as he gently stripped her clothes away.
Michelle gasped as Blade’s lips found the firm mound of her nipples and he
licked them languidly, sending another burst of fire to her loins. He
reciprocated it happily with a gentle thrust of the hips that sent him partly
inside of her.
Even just the small taste of it nearly brought Michelle to orgasm, but Blade
was far from finished. He kissed the nape of her neck, when suddenly she
pushed him away.
“Is this safe for the baby?” she asked.
Blade smiled. “Yep. Just have to take it easy is all. No harm done. I cleared
that with the doctor too.”
“You dog!” Michelle exclaimed.
Blade laughed heartily and thrust himself back inside of her, fully this time.
Michelle’s entire body suddenly exploded with pleasure as Blade unleashed
his power upon her, more gently this time than the last, showering kisses all
over her body. She closed her eyes and realized that, for the first time in her
life, she was making love.
When she opened her eyes again, Blade was gazing at her in concern.
Michelle smiled and touched his stubbled cheek.
“I love you,” she whispered. “And no, it’s not just the hormones saying that.
I want us to work at this.”
“I love you, too,” Blade said. “More than I even know what to do with.”
As if to give her the evidence of his words, Blade sped up his thrusting,
until Michelle was gasping for breath beneath him. Every touch from his
body sent spirals of ecstasy throughout her body, and suddenly she began to
quake. Michelle could feel herself contracting around Blade’s member as it
massaged her inside.
He seemed to sense her orgasm, because he quickened his pace, and soon
they were hissing together as Blade’s cock exploded with activity as it
began to unleash a torrent of his hot climax deep inside of her. Michelle
gripped Blade to brace herself as she came harder than she ever had in her
life and Blade prolonged it by thrusting slowly inside of her until every last
drop had been spilled.
“You’re my family now,” Michelle said, kissing Blade gently as he pulled
her into a warm embrace.
“Yep,” he said. “Do you think the baby would like living in Zeke’s old
room?”
Michelle’s heart melted and they both reached down to touch her abdomen.
“I think that would be perfect,” she said.
***

“Come on, Blade, we’re going to be late!”

Somehow, Michelle had turned into Brett, standing outside the car, looking
impatiently at her watch. The truth was that she was excited about the
ultrasound. More than she had been about just about anything.
“You’re not going anywhere.”
Michelle froze in fear at the sound of Alan’s voice and she whipped around
to face him. He looked beaten up, even several weeks after the incident with
Blade. Disfigured might have been the word for it.
“You’re coming with me,” Alan said. Five police cars pulled up behind him
and an officer from each got out. “I reported the assault and that little boy
toy of yours is going to prison.”
Michelle’s heart lurched as people began to file out of the MC, wondering
what the hell was going on.
“What are you doing here?” Blade’s voice boomed over their heads. “You
have no right!”
“I have every right!” Alan exclaimed.
Brett suddenly stepped forward in the crowd.
“Actually, you don’t,” he said, squaring his shoulders firmly and standing in
front of Alan.
“What are you doing, kid? Get out of here before someone swats you,”
Alan mumbled. “I’m here to talk to the real men.”
“You wouldn’t know anything about real men,” Brett said, pulling his
wallet from his pocket and flipping it open. “My name is Brett Andrews.
FBI. You’re under arrest.”
“On what grounds?!” Alan exclaimed.
“I saw the way you treated your ex. That’s assault, buddy. Among other
things. You’re going to be put away for a long time.”
“You’re kidding me!” Alan shouted, his body quaking with fury.
“I’m afraid not,” Brett said, dexterously curling Alan’s hands behind his
back and handcuffing him. “I’ve seen this whole little shitshow play out and
I’ve got to say, nobody is very happy about it. You’ve been wasting the
bureau’s money and spending time and resources when real crime is going
on in your jurisdiction. Every officer here is being put on probation.”
Michelle watched in disbelief as Alan was led away to Brett’s little red car.
He turned to the police officers standing outside and glared at them. “Get
those vehicles back to the department and clock out. Now.”
The bikers cheered and jeered as the cop cars were escorted shamefully out
of MC territory and Blade lifted Michelle up over his head so she could
watch them as they left for good. It made her heart soar when Brett waved
to her and gave her a wink as he drove Alan away, where he would stay in
prison for a long time.
“I can’t believe it,” Blade said when everybody had finally cleared out. “I
knew there was something up with that guy. There was a reason I didn’t like
him besides thinking you two were fucking.”
Michelle raised her eyebrow at him warningly and he grinned. “And what
reason is that?” she asked.
“He’s a cop!”
The bikers all had a good laugh at that, just as Michelle suddenly realized
that they were really going to be late for the appointment this time.
“Blade! We seriously have to go!”
“But our ride just left,” Blade pointed out.
“No worries! Auntie Jo will drive you!”
Snake nodded his approval and Michelle hugged her. “Thank you.”
“Of course, of course. I want to be there every step of the way.”
“Well then,” Michelle said, grinning up at Blade. “Are you ready for this
ultrasound, daddy?”
“Daddy? Oh, I like that.”
Michelle shot him a death look and he grinned sheepishly.
“Yes, love. I’m ready.”
They all piled into Jo’s truck together, Blade and Michelle holding hands.
She felt suddenly free, as if for the first time since marrying Alan,
everything was going to be all right. With Blade at her side and the child in
her belly, she would never be lonely again.

ACE
Ace eyed the street carefully. Red Hook was not out of the territory he rode,
no part of Brooklyn was, but it wasn’t his usual hangout either. The street
was barely populated. Very few cars rode its length, and the industrial
buildings looked grimy and half-dead under the blazing August sun. The
stink of trash on the curb caught his nose, as the wind kicked up a little
breeze that did nothing to beat back the temperature.
The crowded industrial apartments drew his eye. He got off the bike and
headed into the door. The elevator sat dead ahead but he ignored it.
Elevators were a damn good place to get jammed up, and shot up too. They
were death coffins and he was not about to get caught in one if he could
help it.
His long legs ate the distance as he raced up the stairs to the fifth floor. The
apartment that he was looking for was on his right. Ace’s hand went to his
waist. The reassuring shape of the gun met his fingers. His knuckles of the
other hand rapped at the door and it opened to reveal a sallow character
with yellowing teeth and shifty eyes.
Ace spoke. “Pick up time Corey.”
Corey’s neck, thin as an arm, wobbled back and forth. His protruding Adam
apple bobbed up and down. His eyes swept the hallway past Ace and every
single one of Ace’s muscles tightened.
Corey said, “Come in. They got cameras out there now.”
Goddammit. That was the last thing he wanted to do. He stepped inside
anyway, his eyes scanning every piece of furniture that might hide a person
waiting to take him down and out.
Corey wiped his sweating forehead. Ace felt suspicion climb higher. Corey
wasn’t the best guy to trust under any circumstances. He was geeked up on
crank, and he came off those crank binges with heaping handfuls of oxy.
Corey said, in a high and trembling voice. “I didn’t ask to get stuck
babysitting your crew’s cash you know.”
Ace eyed him carefully. Corey wanted something. Might as well find out
what it was. “Where’s the cash? Don’t tell me it’s light either. Then tell me
what you want. If you tell me you used some of our cash to get your geek
on I’m killing you here and now.”
Corey yanked at the cabinet that held the Murphy bed. It came down with a
bang, and he grabbed the bags. His head moved from side to side. “Nah, it
ain’t right. I don’t wanna die or nothing.”
No? Ace quickly counted cash, his fingers way faster than normal. He said,
“So you want a cut?’
Corey swallowed hard. His horsey teeth showed again. “Is that so bad?”
“No.”
Corey’s arms crossed over his chest. He did a little speed freak shuffle.
“You holding?”
“You know I’m not.” Ace didn’t mess with drugs. Not him. He reached into
a pocket, peeled off a couple of Benjamins. He threw them down on a table
littered with trash. “That’s for your twenty-four hours of trouble.’
Corey snatched the money up. A thick film of greasy sweat covered his
face. The airless room, filled with the stench of burned meth, drew in
tighter around Ace.
Corey said, “Thanks man. I’m down for your crew. You know that.”
“Yeah sure.”
Ace left, closing the door firmly. His legs took him back down the stairs.
His eyes scanned the street. No way did he trust Corey not to tell a bunch of
his equally tweaked friends that he was holding lots of cash. Corey might
be afraid to cross the Brooklyn Son’s, but if someone else did, well how did
that impact Corey?
Ace slung a leg over his bike. The leather seat burned under his denim clad
ass.
The heavy leather jacket he wore, emblazoned with the Brooklyn’s Sons
patch, was a particular misery, but one he wore with pride. Not everyone
could get into the MC, and most prospects failed. He’d done it though, and
then he had climbed the ranks until he was the second-in command. Six
months ago, their crew leader got caught on the bad end of a slippery road
and went down, breaking his neck in the process. Now Ace was the crew
leader of the most badass club in the Northeast, and if the jacket was too hot
on a day like that, so what? He’d suffered a lot to have it.
He pulled onto the street. Taxis weren’t plentiful on that side of Brooklyn
and neither were buses, both things he truly hated being stuck behind. He
headed toward Greenpoint, riding along slow and easy.
There was a large amount of money in his saddlebag, and he had to drop it
off at a high stakes card game. A card game that he and his crew took a cut
of every week just like they took a cut of the cash that flowed in and out of
the borough in the form of other illicit activities.
Some of the others in the crew handled the drug money. Ace wouldn’t go
near dope, and it irritated him that Corey had asked him if he were holding.
Not that Corey could have known why Ace didn’t mess with that shit.
His hand tightened on the throttle, sending the bike forward at a higher rate
of speed. He didn’t want to think about Margo. He really didn’t.
He did anyway.
It was hard not to.
She was his cousin, and they had grown up together. They’d been tight,
facing down everything from their sorry mothers leaving them home alone
and hungry at night so they could go out and party. When Margo had been
fourteen Ace had hit her then-stepfather with a baseball bat, repeatedly, for
laying a hand on Margo in a way he should have reserved for his wife.
Margo had returned the favor by stepping in when thirteen-year-old Ace
had been outnumbered and facing down a whole lot of pissed off gang
members whose streets he’d gone down by accident.
Margo had run right into the middle of that mess, grabbed him by the arm,
and hauled him out before anyone could even get close.
They were more like brother and sister than cousins, and her death had hit
Ace so hard he had thought he might not recover. He had, but it had been
hard to do. His grief had lessened, but not his rage.
And that rage was directed right at Walker, the leader of the Queen’s Men,
an MC from Queens.
The bike purred along toward Williamsburg. His pleasant ride was
interrupted when he spotted a young woman walking along in front of a row
of trendy shops and boutiques. His booted heel hit the asphalt as he stopped
for a light. He recognized her of course. She was Julia, Walker’s youngest
sister.
Ace’s eyes crawled over her. Julia was gorgeous, all long legs and
shimmering brown hair framing a pale, oval face with wide blue eyes set
below dark brows. She had a long thin straight nose, wide Julia Robert’s
style-lips, and her tall and thin body had elegant curves of breast and hips.
The outfit she wore, a summery little dress that swirled around her tanned
and slender legs, was perfect. She could have been a model. Was a model in
fact, though not a famous one? Ace knew she did mostly print ads and the
like, earning money to put herself through design school. Ace made it his
business to know everything about Walker, and what he knew right then
was that Walker’s baby sister was in his territory, and she was alone.
Interesting.
The light changed. His foot came up, but then he wavered. His eyes
watched her enter the store and then he was moving on, past it. He groaned
and turned around.
Julia had always fascinated him. The fact that she was Walker’s sister made
her off limits.
Or did it.
A diabolical plan formed in his mind. A wicked grin crossed his well-made
mouth. He took the bike to the curb. He got off, and strolled to the
windows, peeking in. Julia was inside, not shopping but standing behind a
counter.
She worked there then?
His eyes went to the awning. It was a trendy little boutique and the
garments in the windows, arranged artfully so that he could see past them to
the store’s interior, were obviously expensive.
He made a mental note of the store and then went back to his bike and
headed toward Greenpoint.
Chapter 2
Walker stood at the top of the stairs that Julia was trying to go down,
blocking the way. His eyes ran along her body in a very unbrotherly way.
He said, “Where are you going?”
Goddammit. Not this and not now. Julia managed a tight smile. “Work. I
told you I got a new job.”
Walker’s eyebrows lifted. “You get back here right after. Pete wants to take
you to dinner.”
Her skin crawled. No way did she want to go anywhere with Pete. That
horny bastard was just as likely to bum rush into the trunk of a car and off
to a hotel where he could force her into sex without worry than he was to
foot the bill for a meal and she knew it. “I don’t know how late I have to
stay.”
Walker’s hand lashed out, meeting her cheek. Julia had enough experience
with Walker’s brutality to get back from that hand when it came up, but
even a glancing blow from Walker was enough to cause pain to explode in
her face. Tears welled up but she blinked them back.
Walker’s belligerence came out in full force. “I said get back here soon.”
Walker stepped back, apparently satisfied. “You should be happy Pete wants
to take you off my hands. I mean, what good are you anyway? You’re not
getting many modeling jobs lately and you’re wasting time at that damn
school you spend all your money going to. If you were really smart you’d
be a lawyer, and stop mooning over making clothes for those rich fuckers
that already have people to buy shit from. We could use a lawyer in the
family.”
Julia knew better than to speak just then. How could she say anything? Any
answer would be met with an escalating degree of violence.
Walker was her half-brother but she feared him far more than anyone else in
his crew and with good reason.
She nodded dumbly. Her mouth formed a yes but her heart screamed no. No
to Pete. No to leaving the design school she had clawed her way into. No to
him, no to living the hellish life she’d been thrust into when her mother
died.
Walker stepped back. “I’m expecting you to have your ass here by seven
and no later. If you got something else planned you cancel it. Don’t make
me come looking for you.”
Julia swallowed back the salty lump in her throat. “Seven. I’ll be here.”
She fled, running out of the house and toward the bus that would deposit
her at her new job while thoughts flew around her head.
She had to do something about Walker and fast. To start with she needed to
get the hell out of Queens and out of his grasp. It was too expensive in
Williamsburg, especially on a student’s budget. The jobs she worked barely
touched the very large amount of debt hanging over her.
Walker wanted her to quit school and he wanted her to get with one of his
boys. Pete was someone that Walker needed to take on the larger dealers in
Manhattan, and to ride over the crews out in the outer boroughs, but he was
the last thing she needed. Pete had a habit of hitting his girlfriends and
hitting the bag too, not the punching bag—the bags the dope came in.
Walker was pissed at Julia and she knew it. He had no issue with trying to
bring his MC into a higher status by using his sister’s bodies. He’d forced
Naomi into becoming his first in command’s old lady, a term that meant
that guy never had to wed Naomi and never had to do more than claim her
and the kids they had together. Walker said it was loyalty, that Naomi was
loyal and so was her husband, Charlie. So, apparently was their other sister
Carla, who was a brassy haired mess and strung out on the same dope she
handed off to her ‘girls’, the hookers she ran for the MC. Carla and Naomi
were loyal, but if loyalty meant having to live under Walker’s brutal thumb,
then Julia was happy not being loyal.
The problem was if she didn’t get out of Queens soon, and very soon, and
as far from Walker as she could get, she was going to get in that mess he
called a family whether she wanted to be or not.
She, Walker, Naomi, and Carla had different mothers, which explained the
nearly decade long gap between Julia and Carla, the youngest of that
woman’s children. Julia knew her mother had regretted dating Walker’s
father, and hard, and had not wanted her daughter anywhere around that
crew but when she had died from cancer when Julia was just fourteen that
was just where Julia had ended up.
Now she was nineteen, and she wanted out. The only problem was Walker,
who was forty and the undisputed leader of the crew now that his father was
dead, had no intention of letting her go. He did not give a damn about her
desires. What he cared about was what her youth and beauty could buy him,
and what it would buy was Pete and his connections.
The store finally came into view and she left the bus she had boarded and
hurried inside. Corinne, one of the other salesgirls, eyed her warily. “What
happened to you?”
“There’s some crazy guy near my place. He clocked me good.”
Corinne’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God. I hope you called the cops!”
“Of course, I did but I had to leave to get to work. I hope they still do
something about him.”
She hung her coat on a hook inside a small cupboard and asked, “How’s it
going today?”
Corrine grimaced, “We’ve had a few customers. Lots of the hipsters
stopped in earlier but there’s been some real shoppers.”
Julia managed to laugh. “Oh, you mean the hipsters that come in to
ironically try on our clothes so they can make fun of the fashion and the
cost later over their expensive craft drinks and appetizers?
Corinne grinned back. “Yeah. Well, I’m out. Have fun.”
Corinne grabbed her stuff and left, leaving Julia alone in the store.
Julia blew out an agitated breath as she looked around the empty store. The
shop paid on a commission basis, and she needed cash fast. She had been
short on modeling work lately, and she knew that was her own fault. She
didn’t have the time to run down gigs now that she was in college full time,
and the constant commute between Manhattan for school and her home in
Queens took hours out of her days.
The door opened again and she looked up with a smile that died
immediately as she saw Ace strutting through the door.
Her shoulders went rigid with tension. Working in Brooklyn meant
chancing running into him or one of his crew, but so did working anywhere
in the sprawling NYC area. Crews were everywhere, and in Manhattan she
had to face down the Knights, the Wicked ran the Bronx, and Staten Island
had the Furies. None of them would have been able to guess who she was at
first glance since she looked nothing like Walker and because she had
always managed to put distance between herself and the club in some way
or another. He knew what she looked like though because Ace’s cousin
Margo had been a regular around the neighborhood and the club after Ace
had demanded everyone on his crew cut her off.
One night, back when Julia had first been packed up by the social worker
and dropped into Walker’s lap, Margo had been overdosed on some pure
heroin someone had tossed her. They were not being generous. They had
given it to her to find out just how much it needed to be cut. The joke was
that if it could kill Margo it needed a boot heel in it.
It had been Julia who had found Ace’s number in Margo’s jeans, and called
him after she had found the comatose woman in the middle of the floor of
the otherwise empty multi-family house the crew used for their drug
running and to which Julia had been sent to retrieve a package for Walker.
She had not known, at the time, that Ace was in a different crew or that
Margo’s near-death would ignite an already inflammatory situation.
Then when Margo had died later that day he had come alone, riding hard, in
the middle of the night, determined to blow the whole goddamn borough up
around their ears. He would have, if one of his crew hadn’t shown up and
dragged him off before any real damage could be done.
He had not burned them down that night, and he had never told Walker how
he had found his cousin that night either. Julia had never forgotten his face
staring at her as he sat on his bike, the unconscious Margo dangling limply
in front of him.
He’d said, “You never saw me kid.”
She had shaken her head, suddenly understanding just what she had done.
Ace had given her a hard smile. “Who are you anyway?”
“I’m Julia.”
“I mean to Walker. You’re too young to be his old lady. Last I heard he
wasn’t running kids. If I find out he is I will torch the joint too. There’s a
line nobody gets to cross.’
She had not even known what that meant and it must have shown on her
face because he kicked the bike to life. She blurted out, “Walker’s my half-
brother. I don’t know him well. My mom just died and I had to come live
with him.”
“Tough luck, kid,” Ace had said and then driven off into the night. She had
not seen him since and the truth was she had hoped she never would either.
He eyed her carefully. Her face heated. Did he recognize her? It would be
hard not to recognize him. His face was all lean angles and blazing blue
eyes, tanned skin, cruel lips and stubborn chin. He was trim and toned and
very muscular. The jeans he wore fit him like a glove. He moved like a man
in his twenties, which he damn sure wasn’t. He was closer to Walker’s age,
nearly forty, but there was not a trace of silver or gray anywhere in his black
hair. He had taken his jacket off, which was odd. Unless he didn’t want to
be recognized.
She asked, “are you looking for something in particular sir?’
She moved toward him, her heart hammering in her chest as she walked
across the narrow confines of the shop’s floor.
Ace’s eyes slid over her face, probing at hers. She didn’t drop her eyes and
she fixed a wide and pleasant smile on her face. He lifted a brow, quirking
it upward just a bit. One corner of his mouth came up but he didn’t look any
less hardened and dangerous even with that tiny half smile on his lips.
“I might be.”
He didn’t recognize her! Relived at that Julia took a few more steps toward
him. “Oh? We have an excellent men’s section. Are you looking for a suit
perhaps? Or a shirt?”
“I don’t know.” His smile got wider and she paused. Her heart kicked into a
higher gear, the palms of her hands breaking out into a little sweat. A flutter
began in her belly. There was something very powerful and magnetic about
him, and the tug she felt in her center told her she should back away and
none too slowly. She was in the wrong borough to be checking him out,
even if those jeans did sculpt his body perfectly. Looking up was no help at
all. All she could see was his wide and deep chest and broad shoulders, the
way his shirt lay flat at his taut midriff.
He said, “So, what do you recommend?”
“Um, maybe a royal blue shirt and a silk tie.”
The words made her want to laugh. No way did he belong in a dress shirt
and tie. Leather yes, a suit? Never.
Ace nodded. “Yeah, no. Not today, anyway. Maybe another day. See you
later.”
She gazed after him, her eyes clinging to the high and firm slopes of his ass.
Danger was everywhere. She could not afford to have him recognize her,
and yet she wanted to call after him, give him her name and see if he
remembered it. How could he have, really? She had been a skinny awkward
kid with frizzy hair and eyes hidden behind thick glassed at fourteen.
She had gotten her first print ad because an agent saw her and decided she
would be perfect to portray the nerdy gamer girls that the product he was
scouting out models for was hoping to target. It hadn’t taken her long to
understand that she had something she could use, something that might give
her a way out. Clothes were there and she had not been above taking some
for herself at a shoot and she knew she could have been fired for that from
any number of jobs but Walker could have cared less what she wore, or if
she wore anything at all.
Julia had had to grow up fast in that house. She had learned how to defend
herself against drunk guys who forgot whose sister she was, and to fend for
herself with money too. She got a job at sixteen and eked out a minor
amount of money working as a model, and a little more working at pizza
joints and coffee shops. The modeling opened her eyes to what she really
wanted to do. She not only wanted to wear beautiful clothes, she wanted to
create them.
She would never do anything if she didn’t get away from Walker. She had
to do it before he forced her into Pete’s bed.
Chapter 3
Ace was amused by the encounter. He doubted Julia knew who he was. He
had kept a close eye on her over the years though. A very close eye. He
owed her for calling him that night back when she had just been a kid and
he never forgot when he owed someone something.
He owed Walker a lot of pain, and he was damn sure not forgetting that.
He had watched Julia occasionally over the years. She was an anomaly. She
had class, plenty of it, and she was so much younger than her half siblings.
It had been obvious that first night that he had met her that she had zero
street smarts, and even less of an idea of just what she was doing by calling
him.
He had made sure nobody had ever found out that it had been her who had
called him to come get Margo, because he had never told anyone. As far as
anyone knew Margo had somehow stumbled back to Brooklyn before
calling him and he wanted it to stay that way.
Julia had been the only person to see him after Margo died too. The
clubhouse had been empty, save for her, the rest of the crew gone down to
Florida for a big run. He would have recalled that if he had not been in so
much pain. The only reason he hadn’t torched the place was because he had
seen her standing at a window, looking down at the street and him with an
expression of sheer and total terror on her face.
She’d been all elbows and knees back then, a frizzy headed kid with thick
glasses and a wilted demeanor. Now she was a gorgeous creature, and a
full-grown woman. A woman he not only intended to seduce but one he
wanted to seduce.
He had heard that Walker was pushing her to get with that low life scum
dog Pete, the slimy asshole who had a massive connection that Walker
needed to get his dope business out of the boroughs and way beyond.
Ace was no fool. He knew how much that connection was worth and it was
somewhere around the tens of millions of dollars as long as the cops held
off and the dope held out. Walker had a few cops in his pocket, enough to
keep the ones in his borough off his case, but with the kind of money that
connection could bring in he could buy as many dirty cops as he wanted.
There was the other issue in a nutshell too. With that kind of money behind
him, and with cartel influence that ran all along the upper reaches of
Manhattan behind him, Walker could and would declare outright war on the
other crews in the NYC area. He would try to run them all to ground and
then ride right over them.
Ace, if he had been so inclined and didn’t despise the drug trade so much,
would have done the very same thing. Riding his own territory was not
always enough, even for him. His crew was content where they were and
they always fought off any rivals that tried to horn in on their turf. The last
time a crew had tried there’d been mayhem for weeks. That crew, a shady
bunch of dudes from right near the border between Brooklyn and Queens,
had been doomed to failure from the outset. They were too close to
Walker’s territory and too close to Ace’s not to piss them off. Ace had
known arrests would follow if things got too dirty so he had called a
meeting and they had come up with a plan that had involved pushing that
crew further into Queens, just over the clearly drawn lines. Walker’s
prospects had gone too far one night and some of that crew had wound up
dead. The prospects that Walker had ordered to deal with the dudes had
gone to jail, and more than one of them had sung their hearts out to the
cops. The good cops had gone after Walker, but the dirty ones had
minimized the damage as they always did. In the end Walker lost two dudes
that had been riding with him for years because those guys took the fall for
Walker. Of course, they had, he always took care of his own and right now
those dudes’ families were enjoying a nice hunk of money every month and
their very nice and mortgage free apartments to boot.
Fucking with Julia would mean open warfare. No doubt about it. Walker
was touting that virginity of hers as a reward to Pete. Pete wanted the girl
badly and he was holding out on the connection’s name and so forth.
Walker might have tried to press, but he would not have gotten far. Pete was
not a crew guy. He was a mercenary predator who liked to ride but didn’t tie
his loyalty anywhere unless there was something in it for him.
Walker couldn’t just kill Pete after he found out who the connection was
and how to get to him either. Pete had some serious blood ties to the
connection, and that made Pete untouchable and gave him a bargaining chip
the size of a delivery truck.
Ace paused in that thought. His high forehead wrinkled in thought. Was it a
good idea to mess with Julia?
Hell no.
That was risky beyond risky.
But he was going to do it anyway because one she was the hottest thing he
had ever seen and he wanted her, badly. Two, he owed Walker a major loss
and he had been waiting for years to deliver it.
Now he had the perfect way to do it, and there was no way that he was
backing down from that plan that had formed in his mind. No way in hell.
Once he made up his mind about something he did it, no matter the
consequences.
He pulled into the garage that was attached to the multi- family home he
lived in. A garage was incredible, and the towering five story house, a
former townhouse for very wealthy people who had died a hundred years or
more before, was just one more sign of his success. Like Walker’s outfit
most of the crew lived there, in one of the seven apartments that had been
carved into the house. That his crew could afford a building, a whole
building, spoke volumes about how well they did business.
The building had been in the club’s possession for many years so Ace could
not lay claim to that success but the sparkling fresh limestone façade, the
new heating and air conditioning units on the roof, and the purchase of that
attached garage had all been his doing. Deep down Ace was an accountant,
albeit a dangerous one. He had been able to take a mess of unorganized
books and carelessly used cash and turn it into clean money by setting up
legit businesses, something he had been doing during the time he had been
in the crew. That had been what had helped him to climb the ranks so fast
and now, under his guidance, the crew had several very legit and profitable
businesses in the borough and they used those businesses to wash the dirty
money clean before putting it into fund accounts and the like.
That he was good with money was only one of his talents. He was equally
good with a gun—or the business end of a baseball bat. His enemies were
wary of him for those things and he knew it, and he also knew they had
good reason to be.
Jack, his second in command, a grizzled dude with a shock of red hair and
pale green eyes, met him at the door. “We got a little trouble brewing with
Walker.”
Ace’s teeth flashed in between his thin lips. “When don’t we have trouble
brewing with Walker?”
Jack said, “Fair enough. He hit one of our stands last night.”
Ace’s blood boiled. “Oh yeah?”
The stands were little pop up places around the borough. The Chinese set
up their bootlegged bags and wallets and clothes and he and his crew
provided protection from rival sellers of the same goods and kept the cops
off their backs. In return they got a hefty cut of the profits and the sellers
also stored a lot of other illegal goods in their little hidey holes around the
borough for the crew. “Which one?”
Jack winced. “The one down on Ninth. They were on foot but the seller said
he recognized one of them.”
Ace nodded. “You make good on their loss?’
Jack nodded. “Of course.”
Of course he had. If their protection failed they paid what was lost. It was
how they kept goodwill. Ace asked, “The seller happy with that?”
Jack stroked his fiery beard with two fingers. “I added an extra fifteen
percent to the costs and didn’t take our cut so yeah.”
Perfect. It was a hefty shot in their wallets but they needed the street sellers
as much as the street sellers needed them. Ace nodded, “Good deal then.
Tell the seller to lie low for a week. Keep things quiet while we work it
out.”
“Already on it boss.”
Ace chuckled. “Of course you are.”
Of course Jack was. Jack was good at what he did but what made him
invaluable was that he didn’t have an Alpha bone in his entire large body.
Jack was happy to be second and the idea of leading the crew was not one
he was fond of. In fact, he had demurred when the choice came down to
him and Ace and Ace knew that when it came to loyalty Jack was the one
who would ride or die all the way to the end of the road with him.
Ace leaned against a door frame. “We got to do something with Walker and
fast.”
Jack nodded, “A few of the guys are calling for blood here Ace, just
thought you would want to know.”
Ace nodded. “Sure, can you blame them? We need a lesson for that asshole.
I have a plan to keep him in check but the boys need to let off some steam
now and we need to do something to let our sellers now we won’t take this
shit. Get me the guys, now.”
Jack nodded and headed off toward the stairs. Ace closed the front door and
stood in the foyer. There were two apartments downstairs, and most of the
single guys in the crew drifted between them. On the higher floors were
larger apartments and there were a few families up there as well as his own
apartment, a large two-bedroom thing with massive windows that looked
over the streets and that had a private entrance to the rooftop, where he
often spent many hours.
He started up the stairs and to his place. The sound of footsteps on the stairs
came to his ears as he unlocked the door and stepped into his living room.
He had never done anything with the place after he had inherited it. It was
the apartment the crew leader had always had and it was filled with the
flotsam and jetsam of lives lived before he had moved in. The furniture was
old and sagging and the floors needed a good refinishing. It was tidy
though. Jack’s old lady kept it pin neat for Ace.
He steppe din, leaving that door opened and stood waiting as the guys filed
in.
There were over three dozen in his crew, all handpicked hard cases with a
real love for riding and for doing what they did. Callahan was the one who
handled the drug side of the crew’s business and he kept it as far from Ace
as possible, even as he let Ace in on his every move.
It was Bert that ran the street sellers and the guns. There were others and
they all had jobs. The crew had their fingers in everything from developer
bribes to protection and gambling rackets.
Not all of them lived there in the sprawling clubhouse. Some preferred to
keep their wives and kids as far away from their crew as possible so it was a
mere dozen guys that gathered there just then.
Ace surveyed them all then said, “Bert, talk to me.”
Bert shifted lightly on his feet. He was a former Golden Gloves champ and
it showed. His eyes met Ace’s squarely. “They came on foot and basically
tossed the stands. They took cash and goods, but we all know what they
were really doing was trying to throw a scare into our sellers. And they
were looking for info on the caches too.”
Ace nodded. “I bet. Anyone talk?”
Bert snorted. “They all swear they didn’t.’
That meant they hadn’t, or at least they said that they had not but scared
people were liable to talk. Ace asked, “You get everything moved?
Bert nodded, “As soon as we got the call last night we were on the move.
Everything’s been taken over to the house in Ditmas Park. We found one
guy, walking through Prospect Park. We worked him over pretty good but
he’s not a crew guy, just a brand-new prospect who didn’t count on getting
his head busted.”
Ace’s eyes narrowed. “Where is he?”
“In the hospital.” Bert grinned. “He’ll live but I hear he’s also running right
back home to Nyack when he gets out.”
“Good deal.”
Ace knew the guy was not just going to run home, he was likely never to
return. They got a lot of Upstaters in, guys who wanted to get in on the
action in the city and as soon as they got a taste of it they were out. Since
most of them knew that there was no safe place for them to go after they got
out, not in the city anyway, they generally did vanish back to whatever burg
they had come from originally.
Callahan spoke. “I got my ears to the ground and things don’t sound so
good boss. Walker’s putting out word that he’s doing a takeover. It seems
old Pete may actually be coming off that connection.”
Ace’s jaw clenched. “Uh huh. Says who?”
Callahan sighed. “Pete’s connection is family, that’s why Walker can’t just
kick the info out of him. If he touches a strand of Pete’s greasy ass hair the
connection will hit back and the bad news is, a connection with that kind of
cash and dope, well they have the firepower to hit back hard enough to slap
the crew to earth, if you catch my drift.”
Ace already knew all of that. “I do but what’s with this shit Walker is
spreading?”
Callahan sighed. “That sister of his? That’s Pete’s price.’
“I’m going to make sure he doesn’t get paid.”
The words dropped into the room. Callahan blinked. “What are we talking
here Ace?’
Ace gave him a wicked grin. “Kidnapping.’
Bert whistled. “You’re going to bring Walker right down on our heads and
possibly Pete’s connection too.”
Ace said, “I don’t think Pete’s connection gives a shit about whether or not
Pete gets that girl. What I do think is they won’t like Pete being promised
something and then Walker not making good on the deal.’
Bert asked, “How you going to…”
Ace cut in. “If Walker doesn’t know where she is, and Pete has no idea
we’re the ones who took her who’s to say that Walker didn’t get the
connection and double cross Pete?”
Bert frowned. “That would be out of character for Walker he gives zero
shits about any of his sisters, and especially that one.”
Ace said, “I know that and you know that too. You know who doesn’t know
that? Pete’s connection. Besides I’m betting that Pete loses his mind after
the girl gets ghost on him and runs to his connection to holler about Walker
not giving him what he was supposed to hand over.”
“Cut his legs off from the jump,” Jack said, “That makes sense.”
“Even if they know it is us it won’t matter,” Ace added, “Think about it.
She’s Walker’s bargaining chip. If we can get her and hide her for enough
time to set Pete against Walker we might be able to reel Pete in ourselves.”
Jack chortled. “You’re saying we take her and use her as a chip?” Offer her
if he gives us the connection?”
Ace nodded. “That is exactly what I am saying. I don’t care about the dope
side of this. You know how I feel about that. What I do care about is
making sure that Walker does not get a connection that will give him the
funds that could see us all having to pull stakes just to survive his having
that cash and power.”
The guys all nodded. This was their borough and no way were they fleeing
it and o way would they let Walker rip the ground out from under their
wheels.
Jack said, “We’ll back you.”
“Ride or die,” Bert added.
“All in,” Callahan said.
The others all added their agreements. Then Jack asked, “the question is,
ow do we get her?’
“Leave that to me. I already have a plan.” Ace chuckled. “And the best part
is, I am going to kidnap her without actually kidnapping her. She’s going to
be happy to climb aboard my bike.”
Chapter 4
Julia didn’t go home. She was nervous and scared. The sight of Ace
walking through the doors of the store had made her feel even more anxious
than usual. Not only that she knew that Pete was there and she also knew
that his demands for her to be his old lady were ongoing, and that Walker
would give her to him any minute now.
The only reason Walker had not yet just picked her up and hurled her into a
room she could not get out of and a room that was not only a cell but that
contained Pete as well was because he knew she had some friends in some
high places. Or thought she did. That modeling work of hers had put her in
touch with some very rich people and so she had used that to build a shield
around herself that kept Walker from knowing, for sure, whether she would
be able to get him and Pete locked up for what would amount to rape, pure
and simple.
Her modeling career was fading though and she was scared. Terrified in
fact. Walker was getting more antsy buy the day. Pete was willing to wait
but for how long was Walker willing to wait for her to decide to bend to his
order to be Pete’s old lady? Given what was at stake she was betting it
would not be much longer.
Taking the job in Brooklyn had been anxiety inducing in the first place. She
knew that if Walker found out she was over there he would beat her. It
would not have been the first time though he was always careful not leave
marks. He would accuse her of being a traitor and tell her that she thought
she was too good for Queens.
It was not that. She loved Queens. It was him that she was too good for, him
and that terrible life that held promise of nothing but jail and death and the
slow and horrible leaching away of all her dreams and plans and the life she
could see in the distance waiting for her.
Fashion design. That was what she wanted.
She took the train to Manhattan instead of going to Queens She had exactly
sixty-one dollars and nowhere to go. The hostels would not let her stay
since she had a NY ID and she knew that all the hotels were out of her
reach but she went anyway because she had no idea of what else to do.
The train was crowded and slow. The L was always that way though so she
stood pressed among the throngs of humanity, trying to think of a plan. She
had to get out of there and fast but the depressing truth was that without
some form of protection she was stuck always worrying that at any minute
Walker would drag her back, screaming and kicking if necessary. The cops
either could not or would not help her. There were too many of them that
were in Walker’s pockets and the ones who were in Pete’s connections
pockets were just as useless to her.
So what could she do to stay out of Pete’s bed and to get away from
Walker?
The train lurched to a halt. She got off and started walking. The avenues
were packed and crowded with people. The crowds made her feel slightly
safer. No way would Walker just snatch her off the street in full view of
everyone but even that was not a given. There were too many alleys and the
crew in Manhattan had their own grudge against Walker. So far she had
managed to avoid them, and to get back and forth to school and her
occasional modeling gig without getting harmed but how long could she
keep that up?
She needed to get out of NYC period. Transfer to a different school. Maybe
in LA or somewhere that Walker could not touch her.
She stopped walking, her eyes going wide.
She muttered, “Holy shit. It would work but…but it might get me killed.”
No, there was no might to it. It would get someone killed.
But if she could manage it then she would be safe.
Pete wanted her because she was fresh, a virgin and untouched by drugs.
Because she was famous enough that he could brag about having bagged
her. She could not change that last part and no way was she about to start
doing drugs. But she could have her virginity taken and when she did that
would lessen her value.
So why not just do it?
Well, there was the fact that Walker would absolutely kill her if he found
out and he would have to find out if she was going to use that to keep him
from trading her off to Pete for his connection. If Pete found out he had
been swindled he might go after Walker but he would beat her first and
maybe even kill her. If he didn’t kill her he would go to his connection and
declare it all a bad bargain and cut Walker off from that connection. Then
Walker would kill her. Or maybe he and Pete would take turns beating her
until she was dead.’ She had witnessed firsthand the brutal beatings that
Walker dished out to the prostitutes that he ran. He had not yet killed one as
far as she knew but Julia also had no idea how any of those women
managed to survive such brutality and come out whole on the other side.
They did survive and went right back onto the streets to sell themselves for
Walker. That alone terrified Julia. She knew Carla was not above trick
turning and frequently did just that and Walker had been known to whip her
ass for coming up short, and in front of her girls too. Walker would blame
Carla if her girls did not meet the quota for daily money he set and that was
why Carla often took to the streets herself, to make sure she didn’t catch a
beating from her brother.
Walker should die.
That thought nagged at Julia. If only she had the guts to kill him! But even
if she did what good would that do? There were plenty other equally violent
men in that crew who would be willing to take over and would if something
happened to Walker. That would leave her without even the very thin
protection that being his sister offered.
She muttered, “I need someone who is tough enough to protect me from
Walker but who the hell is that tough?”
She froze again, her feet parking her in front of an elegant townhouse. Her
eyes focused on her cute little shoes. A thought formed but it was so
outrageous and crazy she shoved it aside.
Ace?
Was she really considering trying to get with Ace?
“I really am losing my mind,” she muttered and started walking again.
She left the quiet side street she had fetched up on and stepped out onto
Seventh Avenue. Pedestrians floated like shoals of exotic fish. The traffic
snarled and horns blared. The street vendors served up their wares and she
stopped to look at a few displays of jewelry and then stopped again to buy a
small paper bag of roasted walnuts crusted with sea salt and rock sugar.
Munching on her treat she let her feet take her past the now quiet stores of
the Village. One in particular caught her eye. The windows held a sharp and
elegant display of clothing, and the artfully posed mannequins drew her
closer yet.
The clothes were industrial inspired, all sumptuous fabrics cut in hones
angles and layers. Her heart lightened as it always did when she found an
item of clothing that gave her fresh inspiration. She wanted her own shop, a
cute little boutique that sold upscale clothes and a nice little apartment all
her own just upstairs.
She stared at her reflection on the windows. Her eyes held anxiety and her
mouth turned down like a cup rim.
“Ace,” she whispered. “That’s my only hope. I know it is. How in the world
do I get him to want me and to want to protect me? I could stay with him
just long enough to get out of here?’
Did she want out? NYC was home and had always been her home. It was
the center of everything fashion. There were terrific design schools out in
LA but the idea of being in a city where she would need a car which she
had no idea of how to handle, and that she would be away from all that she
knew, was a terrifying one. But she would have to do just that. Get safe
long enough to get up the money and to get a transfer out west.
There was so little time. Pete and Walker were pressuring her more every
day. Walker had some heavy debts to repay and he needed that connection
to take his crew to the next level and deal with those debts. Walker knew
how to make money but he had zero idea of how to keep it once he got it.
He and the crew were always buying flashy shit and spending like there was
no tomorrow.
Her forehead wrinkled. There was another way out if she was brave enough
to take it. There was a whole lot of money floating around. She could try to
snatch some and run. But that was also something that Walker would kill
her for and not just him but the rest of the crew too. And whoever that
money was supposed to go too would be happy to put a price on her head.
So that was out.
It was back to Ace.
The empty bag crumpled between her fingers. She was tired and the train
was still running but it was not running again for at least an hour. She could
not go back this late at night and not expect to find herself in the middle of
a serious party. The guys were celebrating taking down some of Ace’s street
sellers and she knew that Walker was about to begin harassing the dope
boys running along the avenues of Williamsburg, selling heroin and coke to
the hipsters and artists and junkies.
Her teeth clenched. Her feet took her back toward the train station. What
would Ace do to get the information she held? Would he agree to protect
her for that or would she have to offer up her body too?
If she had to, she would. She definitely would. She would be his old lady if
she had to. His taking her virginity would guarantee that Pete did not want
her. No way would he want Ace’s sloppy seconds.
It was her only option.
And as much as she hated to admit it, Ace had made her feel a leap of
desire like none she had ever known in her life. Six had always seemed a
little obscene and revolting to her, and she knew that was mostly due to the
way she had been educate din it. She lived in a place where people fucked
for no reason at all and where hookers would blow anyone for a dime bag
of dope.
She had always wanted her first encounter with sex to be good and gentle
and intimate and for love.
But that was a dream she could no longer afford to hold onto.
Chapter 5
Ace was in a small restaurant he favored that sat very near the train station.
He was parked right at the windows and enjoying a late dinner but his
senses were, as always, on full alert. He was forever aware of his
surroundings and the people near him. He was always scanning faces and
looking at everyone with real suspicion. That was what life had taught him
and that was the one habit that served him the most.
So when he spotted Julia coming out of the mouth of the train station his
body went rigid. He frowned and tilted his head as she walked slowly
across the street and stood near the windows of the diner.
She had obviously just come from Manhattan and he wondered if she had
had an evening class or something.
Didn’t matter. He had meant to go back to the store the next day, and get a
bead drawn on her. To charm her and then to talk her into coming to dinner
with him. He stood, tossing bills onto the table and signaling the waitress
before striding out of the place and onto the street.
“We meet again,” he said in a low voice.
Julia jerked and turned to face him. Her lovely face paled. The lights of the
diner picked up the small smattering of freckles across the bridge of her
nose, fr4eckles he had barely noticed before. He stared at them suddenly
filled with the desire to drop a kiss onto them.
She spoke in a rushed tone. “Oh, yeas. Hello. Did you decide on a shirt?”
He studied her face. Color swept into her cheeks. Her tongue, a small pink
triangle, came out from between her kips and swiped nervously across
them. Her eyes shifted away from his and then back again and he read fear
there.
He dropped all pretenses. “You know who I am, don’t you?”
Her eyes we3nt to the custom bike heeled over at the curb. Her dark head
nodded up and down. “Yeah.’
“Uh huh. You know this isn’t your crew’s turf too then.”
Her arms came up and crossed over her firm and small breasts. “I do but…
they are not my crew. I can’t help it that Walker is my brother. I am not part
of them though. I never have been.”
He knew that for a fact. If anything she was a prisoner over there. Walker
gave her a very short leash and tended to yank her back when she strained
against it from all accounts. He said, “I don’t that will matter much to some
of my guys.”
She swallowed hard. Her fingers yanked at the dangling sleeves of the silk
blouse she wore. “I have to have a job.”
“There aren’t any in Queens?”
Her eyes met his. Anger simmered in hers. “Over there everyone knows me.
You think anyone decent is going to give me a job? Especially in a place
like the one I work in? You think anyone’s going to trust me with their
upscale things knowing who my family is? They all just think I am trying to
get the number to the safe or the time the trucks are coming in so they ca
rob them. There’s a big market for stolen designer clothes you know”
The bitterness on her voice rattled him slightly. He surveyed her face again.
She was definitely pissed off. Definitely but he was not sure if she was mad
at him or her circumstances. That she was mad at Walker was clear and that
made him smile inside. That was good, very good. If she hated Walker and
had no loyalty to him she would be easier to manipulate.
He spoke softly, gently, like she was child. “I see your point. Look, I’m not
pissed. I don’t care. If that’s what you want I’ll let my guys know you’re
cool and I know you are here and that it’s fine.”
She dragged air into her mouth. He caught a glimpse of very white teeth.
Her eyes shifted from him to the street. “Thanks.”
He slid a little closer close enough that he could smell her perfume and see
the pulse ticking rapidly at the base of her long and creamy throat. Desire
rose again, making the front of his jeans tighten. He shifted to hide that
growing erection and said, “Sure. Anyone hassles you, come see me. I don’t
take lightly to anyone going against my orders.”
Her arms dropped. Her nipples jutted up against the fabric of her blouse,
hard little pints that drew his gaze and made his dick stiffen and lengthen
yet again. She asked, “Why would you do that?”
He tore his eyes away from those nipples but the very vivid image of him
taking those taut peaks into his mouth, sucking and nibbling them, stayed
burned into his brain. He said, “I owe you something.”
She looked bewildered. “What do you mean?”
“Margo,” he answered. “You risked a lot to call me.”
Her arms came up again, concealing those nipples. “I didn’t know anything
about any of this back then. I wish I still didn’t.”
His eye3s rested on her face. He had the uncanny ability to know when
people were lying to him and she wasn’t. She meant every word. He said, “I
bet.’
“Yeah well,” she swallowed hard and shot a look around them. People
passed by along the sidewalk. They stood under the diner’s awning and she
shied nervously away as the door opened to let a few customers out into the
warm summer air. “I, uh, look, I need help.”
Shit. Had he just heard her right? ‘Come again?”
“I’m willing to bargain with you. Trade what I know for protection.”
Her words were a breathy squeak. The pulse in her neck began to beat even
faster and more visibly. Her face paled and then color slammed into her
face, heightening her beauty. She took two long fiery breaths. “I don’t want
to be Pete’s old lady. I guess you might have an idea of why Walker’s trying
to get me to be, and how far he will go to make sure I cave to that.”
No use in beating around the bush. Especially since she was laying it all out
there for him. The whole meeting was crazy and it felt somehow fated. Ace
said, “Yeah I know. What’s that got to do with me?’
She studied her nails for a second. When she looked up there was a terrified
expression pasted onto her visage. “They’re hitting your street guys tonight.
Around midnight. Right out here. They won’t be on bikes. They’ll be in
cars. They’re coming in like narcs, but they’re not. They didn’t call in their
dirty cops for this. They’re going to pile your guys into cars, rip off their
dope, and beat them down. They know you just offer protection from busts
and rivals, and that those guys are the street dealers not your personal
dealers. They’re betting they will turn on you, and fast.”
His ire rose but he kept his voice low and calm. “You know this how?”
She gave him a glare. “How do you think?’
“And you’re telling me why?”
She swallowed hard and took a step toward him. That luscious perfume of
hers came back to his nose, heightening the desire already coiling all
through his body. “I told you. I need protection and I need it now. Right
now. I am willing to bargain for it and to buy it with whatever I have.
Whatever you want.”
Her chest rose and fell in a lust inducing way. His dick stiffened again. Ace
smothered a grin. Unbelievably enough she was offering to rat on her
brother, and to bed him all in the same sentence. She must either really hate
Walker or really not want to be with Pete or a combination of both. He
figured it to be the latter.
He said, “You know they’re going to kill you if they find out you let me in
on this?”
“They’re going to kill me eventually anyway.” The weariness in her voice
smote at him. “I…I won’t be with Pete. I won’t be a bargaining chip for
Walker to get what he wants. I won’t…I won’t give up everything I want
just so he can have what he wants. I won’t. I won’t sacrifice my life for
his….he’s evil. Pure evil. You have to know that. I can’t do it. So they will
kill me anyway.’
Damn, she had a point. He said, “You planning on going back?”
Her head shook from side to side. Tears welled up in her eyes. “No. Yes. I
can’t but I don’t have anywhere else to go.’
Goddammit. He couldn’t take her to his place, not now. Not if there was
some real dirty work to do tonight and what was more the whole thing now
felt way too pat. He didn’t trust her. He said, “I tell you what. Go catch the
train. Go to Ditmas. Here’s the address, memorize it.” He rattled it off and
she repeated it. He nodded. “It’s a small place, in the back of a big house.
There’s nothing there but furniture and a TV. It’s a rental for tourists. The
key code is four, six, eleven. Got it?”
“Four, six, eleven,” she parroted and nodded.
He made a mental note to change the code as soon as she got in. She would
be able to open the door from the inside of course but he had not been
kidding, the place was just a furnished rental, one piece of their legit
businesses. She would be out of the way there and under the watchful eyes
of a man and woman he trusted with his life. If a single soul that was not
supposed to be on that dead end and very dead quiet street showed up they
would not ask questions, they would just get to work making sure the issue
was resolved.
She took a long breath. “I don’t know how to get there.”
He said, “Get on my bike. I’ll take you.”
She looked at the bike on the curb. Her fingers twisted together. She
whispered, “You know I just made it impossible to go back there, ever?”
“You asking for my protection?”
Her head bobbed up and down on her neck. He said, “I said I would give it
but I swear to God if I smell anything wrong, if I get even a hint that this is
some kind of set up you won’t have to worry about Walker killing you. I
will kill you myself.”
She said, “I know.’
He walked toward his bike. She hesitated for a second then followed him.
He said, “Get on.”
There was a larger fear in her eyes now. “I have never ridden before.’
She had to be kidding His eyes took in the frightened expression and her
uncertainty and he deduced she was being truthful. He asked, “Why not?”
“My mom met Walker’s dad and he took her for a ride.” Tears trembled on
the edges of her eyelashes. “She fell in love with him without ever knowing
him, all she knew was how much she loved or ride on his bike. She got
pregnant with me and he beat the hell out o her. She ran all the way to
Hudson heights to get away but he always kept tabs on us. He didn’t care
about us, you see, he just knew she knew things he didn’t want to get out.
Like murder. Like …other things. She always said that she wished she had
never gotten on that bike that day. I never wanted to get on one.’
The bare admission made things come a lot more into focus. He knew she
had been older, a teen when she had been placed with Walker and his ragtag
family. She didn’t want to be there then, and he had seen it then. She did not
want to be there now either.
She let him help her onto the bike. Her body shook as he cranked it up and
slowly left the curb and merged with traffic.
As they rode Ace was aware of the fact that was a woman on his bike, and
aware of it in a way that he never had been before. Most of the women who
planed themselves behind them were deliberately sexy in the way they rode,
bare thighs hugging the sides of his waist, their hands locking around his
belly, their bodies sliding against his and their tits moving across the leather
of his jacket in a way guaranteed to turn both him and their selves on.
Not Julia. She was stiff and shaking. Her hands gripped at the loops that his
belt ran through. It was like she was doing everything in her power not to
touch him in any way that could be construed as intimate or sexy. She was
too sacred to relax and let the ride happen. He had to be careful going
around curves because she didn’t lean and her rigidity threatened to send
the bike to the asphalt. Ordinarily that would have irritated him, and made
him pull over and boot off whatever woman was back there because she
was a danger to him.
His patience level stayed high as he drove slowly, keeping a good pace but
not going fast enough to unseat her if something happened. Her legs jerked
a few times when cars got a little too close. That distracted him on more
than one level. Her body heat and the smell of her hair as it whipped over
his shoulder, the small distressed sounds she made every now and then, they
all caught his attention and he had to force himself to focus on the road
ahead of him.
Ditmas was a high income neighborhood filled with stately Victorian
mansions and single family house but not much else. Ace pulled up in front
of one house whose driveway curved around the back. Lights came on. A
door opened. He waved a hand and the door shut again.
Julia looked around at the small yard and the tiny converted garage with a
wary expression. He said, “It’s safe and you will be fine.”
He led her through the yard and to the door. He tapped in the code and the
door swung open. They entered and she took a look around as he found the
light switch and flicked it on to reveal a small space dominated by one long
room that served as both living and bedroom. A tiny kitchen area was in
one corner and a door to the bathroom took up space on the opposite wall.
Julia shot look at the bed, which sat behind a small partial screen. She
asked, “does anyone live here right now?’
Ace said, “No. It’s been empty for about a week. It’s clean and there are
drinks in the fridge. If you get hungry there are some snack things in the
cabinet. We use it as an AirBnB mostly and we…”
He stopped when she burst into laughter. The sound, light and tinkling,
made his heart leap. How long had it been since he had heard real and
unashamed laughter? Her eyes crinkled a little at the corners and her
youthful laughter slowly stopped. She said, “Sorry. I just never thought I
would hear someone like you say AirBnB.”
He grinned. “I bet. I have to go.”
She gulped. Her eyes went around the space. It seemed to hit her then, what
she had done and the enormity of it. She gasped out, “What do I do?”
“You stay here until I can figure something out.”
“I have classes day after tomorrow.” Her fingers plucked at the long coils of
her hair. Her eyes went round the room, a slight frown puckering her
smooth forehead. “I…I have to work.”
Ace sighed inwardly. His sigh got longer as she suddenly burst into harsh
sobs and sat down abruptly on the side of the bed, her face burying itself in
her slender hands. Her shoulders shook. Tears coursed down her face. “Oh
my God. I really didn’t think this through. I’m just so scared and…and I
hate him so much! I hate him!”
Walker, he realized. She hated Walker. He told himself to go but his feet
took him to the bed and he sat down on it beside her, one arm going around
her shaking shoulders. “We have that in common then.”
Her head lifted. Tears streamed down her face. She spoke forcefully. “I do
hate him. I hate him for all the things he does and wants to do. I hate all the
things he uses against me and against anyone who gets in his way but
mostly I hate him because when my mom died all he did was laugh and say
there was one bitch they never had to worry about ever again. I know, deep
down I do know, that the only reason he insisted on me going to him and his
family was because they didn’t know for sure whether or not my mother
had told me what it was she knew about him and his family and he wanted
to make damn sure I couldn’t talk.”
His arm tightened around her shoulders. Her body, slight but so richly
curved that it sent passion crashing into his flesh, leaned into his. Her hair,
silken and sweet smelling, spread over his shoulders. Her sobs grew louder.
“The first night I was there, before that happened to your cousin and before
they all took off to Florida? He beat the living crap out of me and told me
that from then on out all I was, was property. That I belonged to them and
nobody else, not even myself. Then they all left and left me there with that
crazy bitch Carla, and your cousin, who was dying. You have no idea what
that was like. None. Nobody does and I have had to fight for some kind of
normalcy my whole damn life since my mom died. I hate him for that, hate
him. Before I was there I had a good life and I want that back. I want that
back so badly!”
She was not going to get that yet, and maybe never. There was a good
chance that she would not live past the week, not if Walker found her and
found out what she had done.
Ace felt a surge of protectiveness that he had felt in so many years. It was
the same kind of protectiveness eh had felt for Margo but it was vastly
different too. Margo had been family. This woman was not and along with
that need to protect her came a rush of wanting of her so strong that it
toppled his defenses.
He had meant to seduce her, of that he was sure. He had meant to and he
still wanted to but all of his reasons for doing it changed the moment her
head lifted and his lips found her soft and trembling mouth.
Chapter 6
The kiss stole away Julia’s senses. Everything she had ever felt before when
being kissed vanished beneath the kiss that Ace gave her. Her body shook
and her breasts flattened against his chest, that strong chest of his. Her
hands came up and clutched at his shoulders. She felt the strength and flex
of those shoulders as her fingers sank into the muscles.
His flat belly and lean hips met hers. Her gasp as his tongue slid into her
mouth, bringing the flavor of his mouth and even more sensation to her,
sent her into a tailspin of desire that she could not deny, and did not want to
deny. Her legs trembled and hot and sticky fluids dripped from her core,
spilled onto the thin fabric of her panties. Her nipples went thick and stiff,
poking against his chest while his fingers fisted her hair and yanked her
head back so that he could ravage her neck with fiery kisses and nips that
sent his teeth into her flesh in a way that bordered but never became
actually painful.
She knew she should stop tis now. He had not asked for this, he had not
demanded it as part of the bargain. There were so many reasons not to do
this. She didn’t know him well. She had dreamed of a man who loved her
and wanted her more than anything and anyone else in the world taking her
virginity. He was so much older than she had no idea of how to react to him,
but her body seemed to have a mind of its own on that one.
Her legs shook yet again as his fingers traveled down her back, his
fingertips pressing into the raised knobs of her spine and then going lower
until he was clutching the perky halves of her ass cheeks.
She wanted him His age didn’t matter. The fact that he was an enemy of her
family didn’t matter. All that mattered was the way his mouth made little
fiery trails run along her flesh and the way that his body melded into hers,
made her want to rip her clothes off and show him every inch of her flesh.
His mouth came back to hers. His teeth caught her bottom lip and she cried
out as he tugged gently at her lip with his teeth while his very masculine
hardness prodded against her lower belly, sending more fluids into her
panties, which were now soaked and laden with her oils.
He stripped her bare, exposing her flesh to his hands and mouth. He found
her nipples and suckled them. She stared, rapt, at the sight of his head
lowered to the creamy flesh of her breast. It was so erotic, so fantastic, and
then he bit down gently and raised the sensation level until she could barely
breathe. Her fingers tangled into his coarse hair as he laid her across the
bed.
His tongue moved lower and her body jerked upward as his mouth found
her wet center. His fingers plunged into her tight sheath, stroking and
teasing until she cried out, her ass lifting higher with each stroke of his
tongue across the skin of her clit. His tongue ran in slow circles than lashed
back and forth across that flesh, creating a friction like she had never
known. Her eyes closed and her hands tugged at his hair again.
She had never felt anything like what she felt right then. She was desperate
and begging and she was slightly ashamed of that but so excited she could
not stop. She wanted this and she wanted it so much that all she could do
was hang on tight as he lifted himself and then moved along the length of
her shivering body. His hand guided his dick to her slippery opening and
then with one quick thrust of his hips he entered her. A sharp pain struck.
Her eyes widened and she screamed, a sharp burst of sound. His face went
pale. He looked at her, his mouth, wet with her juices, working. “Holy shit,”
he breathed. “I’m sorry. I …”
“I’m okay,” she panted out even though she was not at all sure if she was
okay. His organ was large and heavy and she felt filled up, filled in a way
that made her body have to stretch to accommodate him. Her legs spread
wider in an effort to contain all of his flesh and he slid backward, his ass
working. His eyes stayed pinned to hers and then he thrust forward again,
his fingers digging into her shoulders as he thrust hard and fast and went so
deep that she gasped and rocked below him. His hands went under her ass,
lifting her hips. He released her hips and she moved with him, catching the
rhythm as he worked her clit again, that time with his fingers.
The friction and heat combined until her eyes rolled back in her head and
her mouth hung open. He kissed her again and she whimpered and moaned
into his mouth, kissing him back furiously.
The orgasm took her over the edge. She writhed against him, and against
the mattress. Her cries grew longer and lustier with every squeezing pulse
that left her inner walls soaked and his cock dripping with her fluids. He
came too, sending splatters of hot and thick seed into her body.
He collapsed on top of her, his arm bracing him up so that all of his weight
was not down on top of her. The tang of sweat and sex hung all over the
two fo them as they rode out the aftershocks and the pleasant afterglow.
Eventually he moved. He rolled off the bed and looked down at her. His
face held something but she had no idea of what it was. He smiled at her. “I
have to go. You will be okay here. I promise nothing bad will happen to
you.”
She believed him. She did. She had no reason to but she did. She
whispered, “Thank you.’
He dressed quickly. She hated to see his body vanishing below those
clothes. She took a deep and long breath then asked, “Would you…will you
come back?”
“Yes. Get some sleep.”
She hoped he would kiss her but he didn’t. Instead he walked out and
closed the door tightly behind himself.
Julia cuddled down into the tossed bedsheets and covers. Her body was sore
but not in a pleasant way and she was exhausted in ways she had never
known before. Her eyes closed and she started to drift off to sleep but she
jerked back awake again quickly.
For the last five years her life had been a series of broken sleep and extreme
stress. The first beating she had taken at Walker’s hands had shown her just
how much she had to fear and she had never forgotten that. Most nights the
house was filled with the sounds of partying or arguments. Because the rest
of the crew lived in the adjacent houses and any neighbor dumb enough to
file a noise complaint faced being shut up by the crew nobody ever did
anything to keep it quiet in there. She often had to sleep with her fingers
pressed against her head and then she would wake a dozen times because
she was afraid that she was about to be attacked.
She rolled over in the bed, staring at the wall. She knew she should have
done something way sooner than she had but what could she have done?
She had been a minor until recently and after she had turned eighteen she
had been so scared of Walker and he had been so adamant that she stay that
she had been trapped by her own helplessness. Her only hope had been
running away and even that had been a slim hope because Walker took
every single dime she had ever earned.
Julia lay still for a few moments, listening hard. There was only silence and
eventually her body relaxed into the soft mattress and her eyes closed again.
Now that she was safe deep and dreamless sleep came in, taking her down
into its warm embrace.
**
Ace was not sleeping. He and his bike prowled restlessly along the streets
of Williamsburg. He knew he should call Jack or Bert and tell them what
Julia had told him. They needed to be informed of the vile plot that Walker
had concocted.
His thoughts should have been focused solely on his crew instead they were
focused on the incredible woman lying in the bed that he had just left. That
he had been loath to leave her gave him pause. Even more troubling was the
fact that not only had he not wanted to leave her, his sudden surge of
protectiveness toward her could be used against him. It would be used
against him, and he knew it. The question was who would use it against him
first? Julia or Walker?
He truly wanted to believe everything that Julia had said about Walker. He
wanted to believe that she hated her brother and wanted nothing more than
to be as far away from Walker as she could get. Only Ace had been raised
not to trust anyone with anything and if he bet on Julia he would be betting
not only his own life but the lives of the men in his crew. Many of those
men had families too, and if Julia turned out to be just a very good liar and
prove to be actually working with Walker then all of them were in danger
now.
Those thoughts haunted Ace as he rode into Williamsburg. He found a curb
on a quiet side street and parked the bike there before taking out his phone.
His fingers found the screen and opened it. He lifted the phone to his ear
and listened to it buzz on the other side. After several rings Bert picked up.
Ace wasted no time. He said, “we have trouble coming our way. Get the
guys on the street on foot and do it now. Walker’s prospects are posing as
narcs. There gonna be shaking down our street crew and trying to pin it on
us.”
Bert’s voice hissed across the line. “Man, you have to be kidding me. What
do I tell the guys out there hustling?”
Ace said, “Tell them to fight back, to do whatever it takes, and not to
believe that they’re cops. Let them know it’s Walker’s prospects posing as
narcs.”
Bert said, “Man, that’s risky as hell.”
Ace started walking, his boots making quick time along the sidewalk. “I
know it is. We don’t have any choice. If we don’t tell them that it’s Walker’s
prospects they will think we are weak. The only way we keep them in line
is by making them feel protected. If they feel like we can’t do anything for
them they have no reason to pay us or run our shit.”
Bert asked, “Do you think that’s Walker’s end game? I mean, do you think
his whole goal is to make our crew look weak and unable to handle our
borough?”
Ace walked faster. “I think that’s exactly what he is trying to do. I think he’s
trying to prove to not only our borough but to Pete’s connection that we can
handle our own. He’s trying to make us look like clowns over here. I think
he believes that once he gets Pete’s connection and has the money and the
dope he can go to the dealers here on the street, our dealers, and get them to
take a slice of his pie.”
Bert said, “If he manages to pull this stunt tonight it would give them every
reason to think we can’t protect them.”
Walker’s jaw went tight. A small muscle jerked up high in his cheek. “Even
more reason to make sure this does not go down the way Walker plans,
don’t you think?”
Bert chuckled. “I’ll grab my brass knuckles dude. I think we should leave
the guns at home, there’s going to be a whole lot of people out on the streets
since its warm and the weekend.”
Ace said, “you are absolutely right. We can’t afford to have some
neighborhood millionaire or a tourist from some small town in the middle
of the Midwest get shot. Not even the cops on our payroll would be able to
keep that from coming back to bite us in the ass.”
Bert hung up. Ace stuck the phone in his pocket and went around the
corner. He spotted a guy named Carlos, a streetwise hustler with a penchant
for expensive shoes and even more expensive cigars. Carlos’s favorite spot
to deal from was a club about a block and a half down. The club drew a lot
of trust fund babies and Wall Street types who came over to Brooklyn on
the weekend to do a little slumming with the locals and to keep from being
seen buying coke and meth.
Ace said, “Hey man, need to holler at you.”
Carlos slowed and said, “About what? I got no bill due.”
Ace gave him a grim smile. “This is not about a bill. I’m going to owe you
a little extra in fact.”
Carlos lifted an eyebrow toward his hairline. “Now you have me intrigued.
What’s up?”
Ace quickly outlined the situation. Carlos listened until Ace finished what
he had to say. Carlos scratched a finger along the side of his nose and said,
“man, how sure are you of this? Maybe your source is really working with
the cops. You thought about that?”
He hadn’t. Ace felt a quiver of misgiving. It all did seem far too
coincidental. He had been considering seducing Julia in order to get her to
turn against Walker and so that he could thwart Walker’s plans to give Julia
to Pete exchange for an intro to his connection. But before he could
implement his plan she had struck a bargain with him.
Another thought occurred to Ace just then. Could somebody in his own
crew be working with Walker? Could whoever that was have told Walker
what his plan was for Julia? Could Walker have sent Julia to him for the
sole purpose of having her tell him about the supposed fake sting tonight?
No. She had been coming back from Manhattan, and if she had been
looking for him to trap him into this situation she would’ve gone straight
from her job very Williamsburg to his clubhouse.
He said, “I tell you what. If those dirtbags don’t show up then I was wrong.
If the ones who do show up are narcs and anyone gets extra charges because
they fought against going down then I will personally pay their bail and a
lawyer fee.”
Carlos said, “That’s cool. I will let all of the guys I know in on it.”
Carlos headed up the street in one direction while Ace went in the other. As
Ace walked the thoughts that Carlos had just put into his head followed
him. How did he know he could trust Julia?
He didn’t. There was no way he could know if he could trust her unless he
did trust her.
Chapter 7
Julia slept soundly and woke up the next morning with a slight headache
from the unaccustomed rest and with the soreness between her legs even
more pronounced. She lay there stretching and taking stock of her body.
She knew it was silly, she was nineteen after all. Most of her friends, what
few friends she had had in school, had lost their virginity somewhere
around the 10th grade. None of them ever seem to feel differently about
themselves afterward but she felt very different.
Her body somehow seemed more womanly. There seemed to be more living
packed into it now. She sat up slowly and that’s when she spotted the slight
bruising around her wrists. She stared at her wrists, remembering how Ace
had held her arms high up over her head while he had made love to her.
A slow shudder rolled through her body, but it was a shudder of sheer
pleasure as she remembered each and every incredible, mind blowing
moment of the sex that they had shared. A thin trickle of wetness slid from
between her lower lips and smeared along her inner thighs. Her nipples
became erect and stiff. Butterflies filled her stomach and the urgent need to
press her fingers to the taut little bud of flesh at the top most section of her
sex hit her hard. Julia had always known what her clit was for but she had
never quite dared to learn how to pleasure herself by stroking it.
She lowered herself back into the bed, spreading her legs widely. Her
fingers caressed her own flesh, sliding along the pert slopes of her breasts to
her nipples. She tweaked her nipples gently, causing them to stiffen yet
again. The pebble – hard peaks stuck up, pointing toward the ceiling, as her
fingers moved lower still. Her fingernails raked across her belly, ever so
lightly, but causing intense waves of pleasure to ripple through her.
Her breathing became fast and shallow. Her eyes closed. Ace’s face swam
up in her mind’s eye. She could picture his virile and masculine body
moving toward her and her need increased a thousandfold.
Just as she was about to delve her hand between her own thighs she heard
the unmistakable sound of the door opening. Julia’s eyes flew open. Ace
appeared, and his gaze flicked across her nude body sprawled across the
bed.
There was a slight bit of amusement in his voice. “Are you keeping it warm
for me?”
Julia knew she should feel shame for having been caught but all she felt
was a wild, keening desire. Her eyes darkened by that lust, she spread her
legs even further, revealing her innermost flesh to him.
She spoke in a thick, desperate voice. “Yes and I thought you would never
get here.”
Ace walked across the floor his eyes lit with intention. His fingers found the
hem of his T-shirt and lifted it over his head to reveal his magnificent broad
shoulders, flat belly, and wide chest. His fingers found the buttons on his
jeans and he gave them a careless tug that opened the jeans. His thick and
heavy staff sprang out of the parted denim.
Julia’s eyes fastened to his blood – engorged flesh. She was fascinated by
the sight of the heavy veins wrapping the shaft of his rod. She was equally
mesmerized by the dusky purple head of his organ. The jeans were kicked
off along with his boots and then the mattress sagged beneath his weight as
he climbed into the bed with her.
His mouth found hers. Her lips parted for his and his tongue slid into her
mouth. Her breath rushed out of her lungs and her body arched towards his.
His hands roved across her smooth skin, making sensation slide through her
body in a far more intense way than her own hands had been able to do.
Her heartbeat increased as his tongue continued to caress her tongue while
his hands leisurely explored every inch of her body, making her shiver and
whimper as the kiss grew far more passionate with each passing second.
Julia squirmed as his mouth left hers and traveled down the side of her
neck. His teeth grazed her flesh and her nipples stiffened yet again, the rosy
peaks becoming more roughly textured as his fingers found the fleshy globe
surrounding them and squeezed that flesh.
The weight of his body on hers made her feel sexy and abandoned in a way
she had never felt before. His mouth continued to move downward while
his fingers kneaded the skin of her breasts. His lips closed around her
nipples, sucking and tugging at them. The scrape of his teeth against that
tender flesh sent shock waves of pleasure through her system and her ass
lifted higher as she ground against his hardened organ.
He continued to torment and tease her breasts, sucking and licking and
lightly biting at them. Unable to bear that sweet torture Julia writhed against
the mattress, tangling the sheets and covers into her fingers as she clutched
at them.
His head moved lower, his teeth found the flesh just below her navel and
his hands ran along the span of her ribs. He tugged at that flesh there, his
teeth nipping at the delicate skin of her belly. Intense sensation ran through
her, sending a flush of heat along her upper thighs. Her core clenched and
her inner thighs began to spasm.
His hand delved between her thighs. His fingers found the wet flesh there
and stroked it. Julia moaned loudly, her fingers leaving the sheets to tangle
into his hair as she attempted to tug him lower to the pulsing bud of her
clitoris.
Ace did move lower, his tongue leaving burning trails along her skin. His
breath stirred the wet curls covering her parted lower lips. His fingers
moved inside her, making her gasp and cry out. Her ass moved higher yet
again as she sought to give him a better angle of penetration. His tongue
found her aching bud and then pressed against it before describing slow and
gentle circles around it.
Julia’s teeth clenched and her fingers move deeper into his hair, her nails
scratching at his scalp. Her body trembled all over, a fine long quivering
that sent her flesh to jiggling, as his tongue pressed harder against the
delicate and sensitive flesh that he was working on so well.
Julia was sure that she would go mad from desire and need long before he
allowed her to find release from the incredible friction and sensation
spiraling through her entire body. More heat spread through her and her
heels dug into the mattress as she lifted her body higher, her legs spreading
wider, her breath growing shorter, and her eyes fluttering open and close as
he kept up the steady pressure on her clit while his fingers thrust in and out
of her in a hard and fast rhythm that took her breath completely away.
Julia wanted to please him as well. She wanted him to feel as good as he
was making her feel. She just did not have enough experience to know what
to do. His tongue and fingers continued to work on her body, driving her
nearly insane with the need for climax.
Her nipples stuck up in high peaks that she could not resist touching. Her
fingers stroked those crests without shame and her legs spread even wider.
She needed that orgasm, needed it so badly that her mouth opened and she
screamed his name in a plea for relief.
Hot liquid spurted from her core, splashing over his face and running down
the crack of her ass to wet the sheets below her body. Julia’s body went first
rigid and tense and then limp as the pink folds of her inner walls opened
and closed around his fingers.
Her ass cheeks went tight and her heels drummed out a fast tattoo of sound
against the soft mattress. Her cries were guttural and made up of words that
would not quite form. Julia’s body bucked up and down and her hands
gripped his head tightly as he lapped at her heated oils and overheated body.
He came up slowly, his face glistening with her juices. He kissed her, and
she kissed him back tasting herself on his tongue and lips. Her inner walls
continued to flutter and she wanted more than anything to feel him inside of
her body. She craved the hard and erect length and girth of his member
inside those swollen, dripping walls. She craved it so much that when he
slid between her legs her hands moved between them gripping his organ
eagerly.
She paused, the need to feel him overshadowed by her need to pleasure
him. She swung her leg over his waist and rolled sideways until she was on
top of him. His stiff rod poked against her entry and the temptation to
simply glide her hips down, and to take him inside of her was almost more
than she could bear.
She managed to get down the length of his body without giving into that
temptation. She found herself face-to-face with his dick. Julia had never
seen one that up close and she gazed at it in sheer wonder. She raised a
reverent hand and stroked it along the satiny skin covering the heavy and
unyielding muscle below. His veins stood up in relief against that skin, they
wrapped his shaft with their pulsing blue tracery, providing her a roadmap
to his desire. Julia put her face closer to his prick. A rich masculine smell
arose from his body and that smell, tantalizing and intriguing, moved up
higher into her nose as she bent her head and took a tentative lick along the
head of his cock.
Ace had an immediate reaction to the feel of her tongue on his organ. His
fingers fisted her hair and his hips bucked upward, bringing that thick and
wide flesh closer to her mouth. Julia, turned on and now even more eager to
please him, gave the head of his prick yet another lick. That time instead of
just giving it a simple swipe she used her tongue to run around the entire
head. Her fingers fisted his shaft lightly and she pumped her hand up and
down experimentally as she continued to twirl her tongue in a circular
pattern along the head of his cock.
Ace grunted out, “Suck it Julia.”
She looked up at him, “I don’t know how.”
Ace looked down at her and his hands guided her mouth back to his organ.
He said, “Open your mouth and take it down your throat.”
She did as he had told her. His enormous penis filled her mouth and throat
with heat and a slightly salty and bitter taste that was not at all unpleasant.
Julia, remembering the way he had sucked on her nipples, tightened her lips
around his shaft and began to bop her head up and down. To her enormous
satisfaction Ace let out a hiss of breath. His hips lifted and lowered and his
hands guided her head.
Julia, feeling emboldened by the obvious pleasure he was experiencing,
decided to try twirling her tongue around the head of his dick while it was
deep inside her mouth. The result was a low moan breaking from his throat
and his hands going so deep into her hair that his fingernails left tingling
little cuts along her scalp.
The taste of his body was incredible. It was so delicious and the fact that
she was pleasuring him was so satisfying that Julia barely noticed the
discomfort that she felt as his rod scraped along the sides of her throat and
tongue. Her lips and jaws ached slightly but the sounds that he was making
kept her going.
The more excited that Ace became the more lust grew inside Julia. That she
still wanted him after he had made her have such a huge and powerful
orgasm frightened her slightly. How could he have so much control over her
body?
She had control over his at the moment however. She realized that as his ass
jerked and his cock pulsed as it pounded in and out of her mouth. Julia,
caught up in that moment and in the intense sensations that knowing that
she was pleasuring him was giving to her, worked harder. Her fingers found
the heavy sac of his balls and he grunted out a pleased sound that caused
her to cup those balls gently and then run her fingers across them as she
continued to suck his rod down her throat.
She was so excited that her stiff nipples scraped along the sheets, sending
pleasure squirming deep into her core. She needed to feel him inside her,
needed it so badly but she was not sure if that was what he wanted to do or
if he wanted her to continue with sucking his prick.
Julia’s lack of experience with sex kept her sucking even though she wanted
a different type of pleasure. She had no idea how close to a climax Ace was
at that moment. His fingers yanked her head back and away from his
member. He came out of her mouth with a wet pop and she stared at him,
confused.
“Did I do something wrong?” Julia looked down at his prick, wondering
what it was that she had done wrong.
Ace chuckled, “No. You are doing everything absolutely right.”
Julia, bewildered, asked, “Then why did you make me stop?”
Ace said, “Because I want to fuck you and if you make me come it will be a
while before I am able to get it back up again.”
Julia blinked at him, still a little confused. “Um… Okay.”
Ace said, “Ride my cock.”
Julia had no idea what he meant by that. She gaped at him. “I don’t know
what you mean.”
Ace’s hands guided her upward until she was perched right above his
quivering staff. He helped her straddle his body and then his hands found
her hips and guided them down. The wet head of his rod pressed against the
soft, slippery outer lips of her tunnel. Then he was inside her, moving
upward at a sharp angle.
Julia slid all the way down, taking in every heated, powerful inch of his
prick. Her inner walls clutched and clenched at his flesh, milking him as she
lifted her body up yet again and then lowered herself back onto that steel –
hard member of his. Aces fingers curled around her hips and guided her
first up and then down. His hips and hands worked along with her body, and
the feel of him inside her, screwing her from that angle, was even better
than the first time.
Julia’s breasts bounced up and down and her ass cheeks jiggled as she
began moving faster and faster, trying to get closer to that feeling of friction
and heat combining to form an intense and fiery pleasure deep within her
aching core.
His fingers found her clit and manipulated it, tweaking and rubbing and
lightly pinching as she bounced up and down, her hands now pressed flat
into his wide chest. Sweat flicked both their bodies, dripped along the sides
of her face and across his shoulders.
The scent of that sex, slightly musky and tangy, rode the air, making her
even more excited. Her inner walls opened and closed as more juices
gathered and began to flow. His dick thrust upward, opening her even
further and she felt it begin to twitch slightly within her walls.
Julia lost her breath, all she could do was continue to ride him, her eyes
rolling back in her head and all of her inhibitions falling to the wayside in
the face of the tremendous pleasure and sexual power that she had found
herself in possession of.
Ace grabbed her, curling her close to his chest and then he rolled them over
again so that she was on her back. His hands went to her thighs he pushed
her legs far back and then hook them over his shoulders. He pumped his
hips, moving much faster now.
He grunted out, “Touch your pussy. You know where it feels the best.”
Julia, overcome by sheer lust had no shame. Her fingers went to the spot
where it did indeed feel the best. She began to rub it, moving her fingers
from side to side and pressing down in an effort to relieve her powerful
need to come all over his pounding and turgid prick.
Ace said, “You were about to do that to yourself weren’t you? If I hadn’t
come in when I did you would’ve played with your sweet little pussy all by
yourself.”
Julia knew she should feel embarrassed at having been caught but she felt
nothing but the first fluttering of her inner walls and her need to come.
“Yes,” she panted. “I was doing just that. I can’t help it. I’ve never felt like
that before.”
She came then and as she did she felt his flash give off several hard throbs
with in her walls. She felt his sticky thick seeds splatter into her body. He
collapsed on top of her, groaning.
Chapter 8
Ace managed to finally get his breath back. He pulled Julia into his side and
cuddled her close to his side. She fit into the hollow spaces of his body like
she had been carved to fit.
He smoothed her long and tangled hair back from her face, marveling at its
silky, useful luster. He gave her a rueful smile. “I think I may just be a little
too old to be having that kind of sex.”
Julia giggled. “I was just wondering how I’m going to keep up with
someone of your experience. Not to mention your stamina.”
He grinned at her, “Oh, you think I have stamina now? You should have
seen me twenty years ago.”
Julia said innocently, “How could I have seen you twenty years ago? I
wasn’t even alive then.”
The age difference between them was not something he had considered, at
least not to any real degree. Her words however brought home to him just
how much difference there was in their ages and more misgivings set in.
How was he supposed to keep up with this hot, young woman who a
previously untapped well of deep and vital passion within her?
“I just might have created a monster,” He thought to himself.
Julia snuggled in deeper, breaking off his thoughts with the feel of her body
next to his. She asked, “Are you okay?”
How the hell could he be okay? She had just brought home to him how
stupid this whole thing really was. That not only could he not trust her
because she was Walker’s sister, he couldn’t trust her because she was a
woman. A very young woman, and one who might prove to be incredibly
fickle as most young women were. He opened his mouth to answer her but
found he had nothing to say.
Julia said, “The whole thing last night, you know with the fake cops?
Nobody got hurt did they? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”
No he hadn’t gotten hurt. He said, “The guys who were posing as narcs
screwed up long before they ever hit the street. It didn’t hurt that we were
already warned about it happening and had a chance to warn all of the
people they were going after either. Thank you for that.”
Julia’s fingers rested against his hip, sending little flares of heat into his
skin. “Oh, don’t worry about it. We made a bargain right?”
Ace gave her a long and speculative look. Was that why she was in bed with
him right then? Did she view her virginity as nothing more than a
bargaining chip? She had to have known that Pete found it valuable. Then
again, he was a psychopath with some real issues with women. Ace had no
idea what kind of mindset a psychopath like Pete would get himself into
once he knew the woman that he wanted the most was no longer the virgin
that Pete had set so much store in. What Ace did know was that her losing
her virginity to anyone would’ve put that deal between Pete and Walker into
jeopardy. Julia losing her virginity to him meant that Pete would never
touch her.
All of that aside, he didn’t want this to just be a bargain between them. Ace
wanted to protect Julia for reasons that had nothing to do with that bargain.
That bothered him, and he knew he needed to put some space between the
two of them as fast as possible.
He stood and began gathering his clothes. Julia sat up, the sheets tangling
around her lean body. She made a lovely picture but he deliberately looked
away from her.
Julia asked, “do you have to leave?”
Ace said, “Yes, I do. I have a lot to do. I have an entire crew to run. I can’t
stay here with you all day.”
He knew his terse answers felt cruel. He wanted to reassure her that he was
not being unkind but given that he could not trust her and he certainly
couldn’t seem to trust himself with her, he stayed silent and finished
dressing.
As he made his way to the door he added, “The man who lives in the big
house up front is delivering you groceries. He should be here with them at
any minute in fact. Stay inside and stay out of sight. I don’t think I need to
tell you that Walker knows by now that someone ratted out his plan. You
did not go home so he would have to be a complete idiot not to know was
you.”
Julia’s already pale skin turned an even whiter shade. She said, “But I don’t
even have anything to wear. The clothes that I wore yesterday are dirty.”
Ace paused on his way out of the door. “I will make sure you get some
clothes today.”
Julia asked, “When are you coming back?”
Ace couldn’t look at her. He knew that if he did he’d be right back in that
bed with her, making love to her and forgetting about everything and
everyone else. He said, “I’m not sure because I have a lot to take care of
right now. I will be back. You will be safe. I know you’re frightened, and
I’m sorry that I can’t stay. But I can’t.”
He went out the door and closed it behind himself. As he began to back his
bike out of the driveway the door that sat on the side of the house opened
and the same large man that had looked out the night before came outside,
holding up a hand.
Ace paused. “How are you Randy?”
Randy’s eyes narrowed a little bit as he looked back at the guesthouse.
“Good. I sent Jenny to the store for some groceries. She will be back any
second. Anything else you need for her?”
Ace slung a leg over the bike. “Yeah have Jenny pick her up some clothes
would you? And keep a good eye on her, as much as I want to trust her I
really don’t.”
Randy asked, “How could you possibly trust her given who she is?”
Ace said, “Get out of my head man. I was just asking myself that very same
question.”
Randy shrugged. “I will call Jenny right now and tell her to pick up some
clothes. She looked to be about Jenny’s size, at least from the glimpse I got
of her when you rolled past last night.”
Ace said, “No, I think she’s a little bit thinner and a few inches taller than
Jenny.”
Randy said, “Well, Jenny can figure that out.”
Ace nodded. His eyes went back to the guesthouse. The blinds were still
tightly drawn but he had a feeling that Julia was inside watching him. He
cranked up the bike and rode off, heading back toward Greenpoint and the
business that he had to attend to that day.
Chapter 9
Julia had indeed been looking out at Ace. She was anxious and now that the
sex was over she was also slightly bored. She knew she should not feel that
way, especially considering the circumstances but she did.
Ever since she had turned sixteen and had been able to get regular jobs as
well as modeling jobs her days had been packed full. Between work and
school she had never had very much time on her hands to just do nothing.
She knew that Ace was right. She had not gone home the night before and
Walker had to know that someone had let Ace and his crew and on Walker’s
plan. Walker was not stupid, and a new set of worries came to her as she
made her way into the bathroom and took a fast shower.
When she emerged, clean and wrapped in a towel, it was to see a woman
standing in the kitchen. A short, sharp scream burst from her mouth before
Julia could stop it. The woman turned around and gave her a wide, sunny
smile.
The woman said, “I’m so sorry. My name’s Jenny. I live in the house in
front of this one. Ace had me pick you up some clothes. I had to just guess
at the sizes, sorry. I think they will fit though.”
Julia clutched the towel tightly around herself. Gratitude filled her. Ace had
had someone to get her clothes? That was very kind of him and she was
happy to hear that she no longer had to wear the same clothes that she had
worn the day before. “Oh I’m sure they’ll be great, thank you so much for
doing that for me.”
“Oh, no worries.” Jenny went back to lifting things out of the grocery bags
on the counter. “I didn’t know what you liked so I tried to buy things that
were sort of everyday items.”
Julia spotted a shopping bag from a discount retailer on the sofa. She went
to it and began to lift the clothes out. She found three T-shirts in various
colors, several pairs of jeans, underwear, a bra that looked to be a
reasonable fit, and some comfortable looking sneakers. Nothing that she
would’ve chosen for herself, of course. That she would not have chosen
them for herself did not lessen her gratitude.
She hastily took out an outfit for the day and dashed back into the bathroom
to dress. When she emerged that time it was to find Jenny making coffee
and munching on a delicious looking Danish.
Jenny waved a hand at the counter. “I got several of these. You’re going to
have to forgive me for taking one, my husband isn’t allowed to have sugar
anymore so I have to eat it when he’s not around.”
Julia went to the box and helped herself to a large and dense pastry filled
with a decadent amount of creamy cheesy filling. “Take as many as you
want, you bought them.”
The two women poured coffee and took seats on the sofa. Jenny finished
her pastry without another word. After the last bite was gone she took a
large sip of coffee, Acecleared her throat, and said, “So, you’re our new
guest.”
Julia gave her a questioning look. Was it common for Ace to bring women
there and to ask Jenny and her husband to take care of them? That was
probably not the question she should ask and she knew it, if that was the
case she didn’t want to know.
Instead Julia said, “Have you lived here long?”
The other woman nodded. “Yes, about six years now.”
Julia realized she had nothing else to say and she sat there feeling slightly
uncomfortable she had the uneasy feeling that Jenny was checking her out,
trying to find something out about her without coming right out and asking
questions. The silence spun out. Julia had a terrible urge to simply speak, to
say something just to break that silence but she remained quiet because she
had long since learned not to speak.
Walker often put her in a literal corner, crossed his arms, and said nothing.
When she had been much younger Julia had broken under that treatment.
She would babble out all sorts of things just to fill the silence. It took her
years to understand that that was his intention the entire time. And
everything that she said was just one more thing that he could use against
her.
Jenny finally stood. She said, “I should get back to the house. It’s nice to
meet you. I brought along a lot of fresh produce from the little stand down
the street. If there’s anything I didn’t get that you would like to just let me
know.”
Julia stood as well. She wrapped her arms around her body, feeling like she
had just missed the opportunity to make a friend. Inwardly she was cursing
herself for that. A sense of defeat filled her. Walker’s cruelty to her over the
years had left her unable to trust anyone. The few friends that she had when
she first moved in with Walker had been lost to her. She had been so
ashamed of her new circumstances and so afraid that someone would see
how he treated her that she had stopped trying to make friends.
All of the people that she met after moving in with Walker and the rest of
her family seem to fall into two categories; those who were terrified of the
crew and wanted nothing to do with them, and those people who only
wanted to be her friend because her brother was Walker.
Julia said, “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do just sit here and… Well, it’s
just that I’m sort of out of everything that I know and I’m a little bit
confused today.”
Jenny gave her a sunny smile. “Oh I’m sure. It’s okay, I was just happy to
be able to sit here and munch out on my Danish. I’ll come holler at you
later if you like.”
Relief filled Jenny. “I’d like that, thank you very much.”
Jenny departed. Julia went back into the kitchen to see what all Jenny had
brought. There was indeed plenty of fresh produce for salads or even just
for steaming. There were ripe bananas, beautiful apples, and some plump
grapes. There were also various boxes on the shelves and a rotisserie
chicken as well as a very nice cut of steak in the refrigerator.
Julia helped herself to an apple and another cup of coffee, thanking the
heavens that Jenny had bought both regular milk and cream. Now that
Jenny was gone she found herself at even more of a loss. What was she
supposed to do all day? She really had no idea at all.
Julia went to her purse and fished out her phone. She didn’t have classes
that day but she needed something to do so she tapped the screen, meaning
to open a page that would let her read up on one of the current topics she
was studying. Her fingers paused and her mouth dropped open as she saw
that she had dozens of unread text messages as well as a dozen missed calls.
Oh my God! I turned the ringer and sound off yesterday while I was in the
store and forgot to turn it back on! Her heart sank all the way to her
stomach as she realized that all of the messages were from Walker. Her
hands shook so violently that she could barely get the text messages up. She
staggered backward and the back of her knees hit the sofa and she sat down
heavily.
Julia’s eyes went down the column of texts while her heart hammered so
hard in her chest that she was afraid, truly afraid, that she would have a
massive heart attack at any given moment.
The text messages were vile. Walker was clearly pissed off.
Where the fuck are you? You better be dead. You were supposed to be here
two hours ago. If I find out that you are out screwing around I will kill you.
You know who you belong to.
The messages just got worse from there. Tears dripped off Julia’s face as
she read them. She had known something was wrong when she left
yesterday, there was just something about the way that Pete had leered at
her as she had gone out the door. Looking at the text messages it became
very clear to her that Walker and Pete had finally come to some kind of
agreement, and that her agreement had been deemed unnecessary.
The text messages from that morning were worse. Walker was furious that
his little plan to intimidate the street leveled drug dealers in Ace’s territory
had not gone well. Ace had been right, Walker knew damn well that
somebody had betrayed him. None of the text messages from Walker came
right out and said that Walker thought she had done it. Walker didn’t have
to come right out and say he thought she had done it for her to know that
she was in a whole lot of danger and trouble.
Those thoughts had barely crossed her mind when she heard some odd flat
reports coming from outside. A frown wrinkled her forehead as she turned
toward the window that looked up through the driveway toward the house
in front. Those dull cracking sounds came again. Julia’s stomach dropped as
she realized exactly what those sounds were.
Gunshots.
Terrified and scrambling she grabbed her purse and headed for the small
bathroom. There was a window there, a very small one that led into the
alley behind the house. It was her only chance and Julia knew it.
The door rattled and shook. She could hear voices now, and they were
voices that she recognized. Her blood raced through her veins as she ran for
the bathroom door then closed it tightly behind her as quietly as possible.
How had they found her? She managed to pry the window open and then
start to crawl out of it. She got all the way outside before she heard a shout.
She turned her head to the right to see Pete racing toward her with a drawn
gun in one fist.
Too afraid to scream Julia hurled herself over the short fence. She ran up
the alley, suddenly grateful for the plain and unadorned shoes that Jenny
had bought her. Jenny! Had she been killed? Julia was terribly afraid that
she had been.
She ran on, her purse banging into her hip and her phone in her hand. She
could hear the sound of bikes cranking up and a car whizzed past her,
sliding up along the curb and onto the sidewalk that she was now racing
down. Two guys from her brother’s crew jumped out and raced towards her,
clearly meaning to intercept and capture her.
Julia threw the phone at one of them as hard as she could.
The phone spun through the air and she felt a wild satisfaction as it
connected solidly with her pursuer’s face. The edge of the phone hit him
squarely between his eyes right at the bridge of his nose. He let out a long
howl of misery and she managed to grab a large and very full trashcan and
tip it over into the path of the second man, slowing him down somewhat.
Julia ran onward. She could hear Walker and Pete shouting as she jumped
fences and crossed streets, her eyes scanning everything in an attempt to
find a safe space. She saw nowhere that she could hide and terror kept her
running despite the burning stitch that had flared into life on the right side
of her body.
There was nowhere to go and she knew it. Walker would find her and as
soon as he did he was going to kill her. That thought just made her run
faster. Everything that Walker had ever done to her, surged up in her mind.
All of his cruelties, both large and small, came floating back up into her
memories.
With those memories came hatred. That hatred was so huge, so dark and
vicious that it blotted out the fear that threatened to freeze her into place.
That hatred gave her the will to keep going even though her body screamed
at her brain that it was done, that she had nothing left in the tank.
Her breath hissed in and out of her burning throat. Her eyes stung and
watered as sweat poured down her face. The intense heat and humidity
baking down from the sky and up from the sidewalks threatened to send her
toppling, and even though Julia knew deep in her soul that there was no
way that she could out run Walker and his crew, that he would catch her,
that the heat and her own body would eventually betray her and send her
crashing to the ground, she refused to give up. She would run until there
was not a single breath left in her.
The sound of a motorcycle, a loud angry throb that beat the air, filled her
ears with its sound and her heart with utter despair. The bike came hurtling
toward her and one look at the rider on the back of that raging chrome beast
sent long shudders through her entire body.
Ace rode right up beside her but did not slow down. He held one hand out
and Julia grabbed for it. Ace’s skill was so great that he managed to swing
her off the ground and onto the bike behind him with one hand and in one
long smooth motion.
Julia’s right leg kicked up high as her legs and feet left the ground. That leg
went over the bike and she settled in behind him, her face going into his
jacket and her arms going around his waist.
She had been terrified of riding on the back of a motorcycle just the night
before. She had been stiff and unresponsive as he had taken them to the
little house she had just fled from. She was no longer afraid of the bike or of
the man riding it. He and his bike were the only things standing between her
and certain death.
Julia took her cues from Ace’s body. When he leaned she leaned with him.
When he moved forward she moved forward. It came to her as he rode hell-
bent for leather that riding that bike with him was a whole lot like making
love with him. Even the vibrations coming up from below her, those
vibrations that stroked her most sensitive areas and made her highly aware
of them despite everything that was happening at that moment, were highly
sexually charged.
She looked back, her eyes widening as she saw Walker and Pete and the
other guys from the crew following behind them in the car. Horrified and
sick from her long run through the heat and the fear that had propelled her
all Julia could do was shout, “They are right behind us!”
Ace jumped the curb, hit the gas and roared into a small business section
that featured block after block of restaurants, schools, and stores. He
zoomed down an alley and came out on the other side then passed a blot of
traffic. Julia looked back again. The car was still coming though not as
close as it had been before.
Ace went down another road and Julia hung on, clinging to him for dear
life. Ace stopped the bike. He pointed to a doorway, “Go through there. Go
all the way to the fourth floor and up onto the rooftop.”
She stared at him. “What?”
Ace goosed the bike forward. “I said go God dammit!”
Julia went. She ran through the door to find herself faced with a tall
staircase. There were doors on all sides and she passed them as she raced up
the stairs. The stitch in her side grew with every step and by the time she
reached the third floor her energy was completely gone. She staggered and
fell, rolling several feet down before crashing onto a hard landing that
would have sent her body tumbling down the next flight if she had not
managed to catch on to one of the posts of the staircase.
She made it to her feet and started upward again. Her breath sobbed in and
out of her mouth. She could barely walk, and bruises were forming all over
her skin. Pain lacerated through her side and her left foot. She kept going,
not just because she was afraid but because Ace had told her to. She had to
trust that he had a plan.
On the fourth floor she found exactly two doors. One was locked and had a
number written on it. The other was unlocked but when she opened it all
she found was a large but empty apartment.
Sobbing and desperate Julia went back out into the hallway, turning from
one direction to the other until she finally spotted a very narrow and
practically invisible doorway set into a series of panels along the wall. She
opened the door to find a steep spiral stairway.
She climbed that staircase slowly barely able to drag herself upward.
Sunlight hit her face and she stumbled along the rooftop, crying and trying
to tamp down her fear and her pain long enough to think.
She huddled in a small patch of shade, dragging long heated gulps of air
into her lungs. She got her bearings finally and as she sat there with her legs
spread in front of her she began to hear the sounds coming from below.
When she tried to stand her foot gave way and she tumbled back to the
rooftop.
Her foot was broken, there was no other way around it. Julia did not know
if she had broken it during her run or during the fall. What she did know
was that the adrenaline had finally worn off and now she was feeling every
inch of agony shooting through that foot.
She hopped to the tall wall that ran around the perimeter of the roof and
gazed downward. What she saw made her hands fly to her mouth to keep a
scream back.
The crew that Ace ran, Brooklyn’s Sons, were down there dragging Walker,
Pete, and the other two from the car. Julia felt a wild thrill shoot down her
spine. She hoped, with everything in her being she hoped, that they would
kill Walker.
Then the innocence that she had never lost, the sweetness that Walker had
never been able to beat out of her, surfaced. She was not a killer and she
didn’t want anyone to die, not even Walker.
They were all fighting down there, it was a full blown street brawl.
Horrified and yet unable to do anything because of her injury, Julia stood
there watching it go down.
Chapter 10
Ace had been waiting years for this opportunity. He wanted nothing more
than to beat Walker into a bloody mess. Walker had just come into his
territory, and he had just fired shots at Randy and Jenny.
Randy was a former Navy SEAL. Taking him down was not something
Walker was capable of. Randy had pushed Jenny into a room and
exchanged gunfire with the other men. He had hoped to lay down enough
cover fire to get to Julia but that hadn’t happened. He had managed to slow
them down so that she got a good running head start. He also managed to
call Ace, who had been less than half a mile away.
Now that Ace knew that Julia was safe, well out of reach on the rooftop of
the clubhouse, he was no longer worried. Now he was just pissed off.
Walker stalked closer. Pete and his other men were already engaged with
Aces crew. It was just Ace and Walker facing each other now.
Walker sneered, “You think I don’t know that you’ve already turned her
into a little whore?”
Ace gave him a nasty smile. “Don’t talk about her like that.”
Walker got a little closer, but not close enough. Ace was biding his time,
knowing that Walker had more strength but a lot less speed and stamina.
Ace also knew that it took more energy to throw a punch that missed then it
took to throw a punch that landed. He intended for all of his punches to
land, and write in Walker’s face and gut.
Walker asked, “What do you think you’re going to do with her now that you
have her? Huh? Do you think she has a single loyal bone in her entire body?
Her mother was a traitor. She’s a traitor. How long do you think it will be
before she betrays you?”
Ace knew exactly what Walker was doing. Everything Walker was saying
was true. Julia’s mother had run out on the man she had sworn to ride or die
for. Julia had turned her back on blood. Walker was hoping to use those
truths to plant doubt in Ace’s mind and heart.
The truth was Ace had no idea at all if he could trust Julia. What he did
know was that if Walker had not treated her the way that he had she would
not have turned her back on him. He did not know what had happened
between Julia’s mother in Walker’s father but considering that Walker’s
father was far more violent than his son he could guess.
Ace said, “That’s where you’re getting this all wrong. This is not about her.
This is about a debt you owe my family. This is about you coming into my
territory, riding into my borough, and firing at somebody in my family.”
Walker put his hands up. All around him men were fighting. Pete was using
his gun, which must have been empty of bullets by then, as a weapon but it
wasn’t doing him much good. There were too many of Ace’s crew to face
down.
Walker said, “Well you just bring it on then.”
Ace said, “Thought you’d never ask.”
He charged in, fists flying. All the hatred and rage he had ever felt for
Walker came spilling over. Ace let his fist connect with Walker’s jaw while
he hoisted one foot upward into Walker’s crotch.
Walker was used to street fighting. He didn’t even go down. Instead he
began hitting back. Ace ducked the blows easily enough. The impact of his
knuckles on Walker’s flesh sent waves of pain spiraling down his arm but
he just kept hitting.
Blood flowed. Both men had a score to settle. For Ace it was about Margo
and the death she had not been able to escape thanks to Walker first getting
her hooked on heroin and then using her as a guinea pig for a batch that he
had not been sure of in the first place.
Walker had his own score to settle. Ace had just cost him a connection that
could have made him the king of the entire city. He would have had the
kind of money that could have squashed the cruise in every other borough.
Ace had taken away all of Walker’s leverage.
Asphalt met Ace’s hands and knees. His palms stung and his jeans shredded
away from his kneecap. Walker’s foot connected solidly with his ribs,
threatening to break them. Ace reached out one hand and grabbed the blade
that he saw glittering from that boot.
Walker realized his mistake too late to stop it. Ace drove the blade deep into
Walker’s calf. Walker let out a high-pitched scream and staggered
backwards, the blade still buried in his flesh.
Ace made it back to his feet. Someone tossed him a very long and heavy
piece of steel and he advanced on Walker with it in one hand. Before he
could crush Walker’s skull with the steel Pete and the other two men, all
bloodied and pulped, grabbed Walker and rushed back to the car.
Ace held up one hand as his crew tried to rush the car. It would’ve been
way too easy to kill them but the truth was the fight had already drawn
more attention than they could afford. His eyes scanned the neighboring
buildings. Blinds that had been opened moments before were closed. Stoops
that had held people were now deserted. There were no sirens to be heard
but that did not mean much. It was the digital age, and people tended to take
a video and put it on the web rather than call the cops when it came to street
brawls. Ace would much rather they just called the cops. Lying to a cop was
easy. Lying to a judge when there was video that had gone viral was a
whole other thing.
They staggered into the clubhouse. Ace, battered and weary, climbed the
stairs slowly. He made it up onto the roof to find Julia standing near the
wall with both hands pressed against her mouth and her face soaked with
tears.
She hobbled toward him and that slow and uneven gate of hers told him that
she’d been harmed. He caught her in his arms and asked, “Are you okay?”
She sobbed out, “No! No I am not okay. I did this! I brought this to you!
This is my fault!”
Ace shook his head. His hands rested on her shoulders. Blood streamed
down his face from a small wound on his scalp. He wiped it away with his
shoulder. He said, “No, it isn’t. This has been coming for years.”
She gave him a long, intense look. “For you, this is over Margo isn’t it?”
Ace said, “What else would this be over?”
The expression on her face almost imploded his heart. She wiped her eyes
and nodded. “What else?”
Ace knew then that he had to let her go. He didn’t want to. He wanted to
keep her forever. He wanted her to be in his life and to be his old lady. He
wanted her to ride on the back of his bike and be in his bed every single day
and night for the rest of his entire life. There was just something about
Julia, a sweet and un-ending innocence that made him want to build a wall
around her around himself to keep the rest of the world out forever.
And that was why he had to send her away. If he didn’t that innocence of
hers would die a terrible and unfair death.
That was not the only reason either. There were so many reasons why he
needed to send her away. He couldn’t trust her. He couldn’t trust himself
with her. He didn’t have anything to give her but more of the same life that
she was running away from. He was over twenty years older than her. It
would never work out.
She deserved better, far better, than him.
Chapter 11
Julia refused to look back. The taxi had picked her up at the front entrance
of the hospital and had driven her all the way to LaGuardia Airport. There
was a mobile boarding pass on the cell phone that Ace had procured for her.
There was twenty thousand dollars hidden in various pieces of the cheap
luggage that Randy had picked up on the way to the hospital.
She had clothes and money and a destination. What she didn’t have, was
Ace. He had walked away from her on that rooftop, calling for a woman
who was married to one of his higher ranking crewmembers.
That woman had helped Julia down off the roof and into the car that Randy
had shown up in. Jack had told her that she would be leaving the city
immediately. Julia knew that as soon as she got to her destination she would
have to attempt to find a way to get herself back into design school.
Nobody, except Randy, knew where she would be going. Walker’s crew
could not get to Randy because he and Jenny were also leaving the city.
They were heading in the opposite direction. And the flight that Julia was
on would only lead her to a connection. She was flying into Atlanta what
she did after that was up to her.
Julia was not just out of sorts and upset due to the pain from her broken foot
she was out of sorts and upset due to the pain of her broken heart. Her heart
was literally broken. She knew it shouldn’t be. She barely knew Ace. All
she really knew of him was that he was her brother’s enemy and that he had
taken her virginity and protected her and made her feel safe and sheltered
and cherished just to drop her like a lead balloon.
She still hated Walker. She always would. But now she had a new hate in
her heart. Now she hated Ace too.
LaGuardia was packed. An attendant got her wheelchair and helped her get
through security then to her gate. As Julia sat at the gate she made herself
one solemn vow. Nobody would ever own her heart ever again and she
would never ever trust a man on a bike as long as she lived.
Chapter 12
Jack leaned against one wall, watching as Ace bandaged his bloody
knuckles. Ace looked over at Jack’s swollen and battered face.
Ace asked, “how you doing?”
Jack laughed. “I have had better days.”
Ace looked in the mirror. “Yeah, me too.”
Jack said, “If you think sending that girl away is going to keep Walker off
our shit you’re dead wrong.”
Ace watched blood swirled down the drain, crimson against the white
porcelain. “I don’t think that at all.”
Jack asked, “Then why send her away?”
Ace said, “She’s no good to us anymore. Everything I needed from her, I
already have. Pete’s not giving up his connection to Walker without her and
without her virginity she’s useless to Pete.”
Jack whistled. “That’s cold man, even for you.”
Ace said, “Yeah. That’s me, cold as ice.”
Jack said, “I’m not so sure that girl didn’t get to you.”
Ace gave him a hard and baleful glare. “What the hell does that mean?”
Jack said, “Just what I said. You could have sent her home, let her deal with
the fallout herself. You don’t usually cotton to traitors.”
Ace turned the taps off and looked down at his bandaged hands. His heart
ached, as much as he would have liked to say it didn’t. He said, “I couldn’t
let her get killed. I owed her. That night, the night Margo died, she called
me. She was just a kid and she had no idea what she had just stepped into,
all she knew was that there was a woman on the floor and she couldn’t call
the cops. She found my number in Margo’s pocket and called me, asked me
to come get her and get her some help. That took guts, and a lot of them.”
Jack’s eyes went wide. “I always wondered how she could have gotten back
here in the shape she was in.”
Ace braced his hands on the sink. He couldn’t look at his own reflection.
His shoulders slumped. “I kept my eye on her over the years,” he admitted.
“I owed her and now we’re even. So that’s why I sent her off the way I
did.”
It was a lie. He had sent her away because he was not good enough for her,
and he knew it. Julia deserved so much better than a dirt bag biker who
would likely end up in prison for the rest of his life, or dead on a street
somewhere. Ride or die was exactly what they did, and when it came down
to it, most of them died.
Julia was so young, and so innocent and so beautiful. She should be with
someone who could promise her forever. Someone her own age. Someone
who wouldn’t end with a bullet in their heart or wiped out along a street.
For the first time in his life Ace found himself thinking of all the things he
had done with some real shame. He was a badass, and he had grown up
hard and fast. The things he had done to get to where he was had seemed
like just things he had to do, and he had never felt guilt or shame before but
he did just then. That pissed him off. This was his life. He had chosen it
because he wanted it. This was what he had always wanted, to be at the
head of a crew and to be respected, to have money in his pockets and his
pick of women.
But there was only one woman that he wanted right then.
He wanted Julia, and she was out of his league all the way around.
Bert appeared, his face creased with concern. “Ace, we got trouble.”
That was starting to be a sentence that Ace truly hated hearing. “Oh yeah?”
“They’re riding right for us. They’re threatening to burn the entire borough
to the ground if we don’t give the girl back.”
Ace snorted. “She’s long gone. They could burn the city and it wouldn’t get
her back.”
Bert frowned. “We know that but they don’t. It’s war Ace.”
Ace looked into the mirror. His lips thinned. He said, “It’s been coming for
a long time. You know it has been. Walker’s never been content to keep his
territory and let us keep ours. If it wasn’t this it would be something else.
Get the hood ready. You know it is about to get ugly and we can’t afford to
have the neighbors killed in our dispute.”
Bert nodded. He turned to leave and then turned back. “Uh, Ace?”
“Yeah?”
Bert fiddled with the butt of the gun sticking up from his hip pocket.
“You’re wrong.”
Ace’s brows drew together. “The hell I am. This war was started the minute
Walker climbed on that bike and took the lead spot in his crew.”
Bert grinned. “No, not about that. We all know that. I mean about that girl
being long gone. She’s not gone. She’s right downstairs and she says she
ain’t leaving. She’s got some sand, I’ll give her that.”
Ace’s mouth dropped open. “Come again?”
Bert chuckled and walked out. Jack lifted his eyebrows and said, “Looks
like you might have to try sending her away again then, huh?”
Ace sent a glower his way. He pushed his way out fo the bathroom and
headed down the stairs. The foyer was empty but he could hear guys
moving around in the apartments. The air was charged with an electric
tension and he felt his heart tick up a few extra beats as he paused on the
second floor landing to look down at Julia.
She stood there, balanced on the crutches. Her suitcase was beside her. Her
eyes lifted to his and his first instinct was to smile and then to run right
down those stairs and grab her and hold on tight.
Instead he took the steps slowly. He asked, “What are you doing?”
She lifted her head. “I’m standing here.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“You’re right. I keep wanting to put weight on this foot and I’m not
supposed to.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Her eyes were steady. “I know what you meant.”
He shook his head. “Goddammit Julia, there’s an out and out war about to
kick off here. You could get killed.”
She shifted a little but her eyes didn’t drop away from his. “So could you.”
His jaw clenched. “I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Ditto.”
Goddamn her! The girl was infuriating and impossible and he wanted to
turn her right over his knee and spank her lush and ripe bottom until she
learned to do as she was told. He descended the stairs again, his dick
stiffening at that thought of her across his knees and his hope and fear
growing with each step.
“Julia,” he began but she cut him off. “Ace, listen. I don’t know what’s
happening between us, I don’t. I just know I want to see where it goes. I am
not leaving you, not even if it means I have to be in the midst of a war with
my brother. Half-brother. I don’t…I know my walking away from their and
giving you information makes me a traitor. Not just to him. I know that
makes people wonder if they can trust me. I get it. I do. But I walked on
him because he is a terrible person and just because he kept me prisoner
does not mean I owe him my loyalty. If anything his holding me prisoner
like that stripped away whatever need for loyalty to him I might have had. I
won’t betray you. Ever. Let me stay. Well, I am staying so really what I am
saying here is go ahead and try to make me leave.”
He shot a look around the foyer. He spoke in a low voice. “I am way too old
for you.”
“I’ll get older.’
“This isn’t the life for you.”
“I never said it was, but then again why can’t I have a life too? I mean,
there are plenty of guys in the crews who have a family and a wife who
does other stuff besides be someone’s old lady.”
God that was so true. He shook his head. “I can’t let you get hurt. I can’t let
him hurt you.”
“He spent five years hurting me. You see? He already has hurt me, so
there’s no way you can stop that.”
Frsutration set in. Every single reason he had to send her away was being
shot down right out from under his feet. He studied her face for a minute.
“You could change your mind.’
Her face didn’t change out of its obstinate expression. “So could you, but I
am willing to take that chance and hope you never do.’
He wanted to hold her, to pull her in and keep her close. He wanted to love
her and give her everything in the world.
He said, “We barely know each other.”
“Well then, we should probably spend as much time together as we can so
we can get to know each other then, shouldn’t we?”
“You are the most stubborn…” He moved closer. Julia’s lips called to him.
He intended to claim that mouth, to kiss her until he either lost his mind or
she regained hers but before he could the glass in the front door shattered.
Chapter 13
Julia heard the breaking glass and ducked. Ace grabbed her and they went
down on the floor together, rolling. His body covered hers as a hail of
bullets poured in through those broken doors. The door beside them popped
open. Screams echoed throughout the building and Ace stayed over her,
telling her to go, pushing her and using his body as a shield as they
scrambled into the apartment.
A tall man shouted something. More bullets hit, shattering the windows at
the front of the apartment. They retreated. Ace hauled her along, one hand
solidly on her shoulder. He grabbed a door, a thick and heavy thing. It
opened with a heavy creak of hinges and the smell of a dank basement
wafted up.
There were shouts and screams. Footsteps pounded down the stairs. The
front door flew open and more gunfire echoed as did more screams. The
sound of bikes roaring and clashing their gears out on the street rose higher,
adding to the din.
Women appeared. Ace shouted at two of them to help Julia and then he was
gone. One woman grabbed kids and herded them down the stairs. More
women appeared and several of them carried guns and wore grim
expressions.
The woman who had grabbed Julia shouted, “Get down the stairs!”
“I can’t leave Ace!” Julia’s scream held desperation.
The woman gave her a hard stare. “You can’t help him with a bad leg.
You’ll just get in the way.”
Julian went down the stairs, leaning heavly on the other woman and
praying. Terror and exhaustion nagged at her.
The door swung shut and the woman who had herded the kids down the
stairs shot a bolt home. They raced into a small room with an outer door.
The woman said, “We may have to go out. If we do, shoot anyone who isn’t
one of us.”
She shoved a gun at Julia. Julia stared at the hunk of metal in her hands,
recoiling from the thing. The other women gathered the kids close and held
them tightly. Julia clutched the gun and stared wildly around herself.
One of the woman looked at Julia, “You’re his sister, ain’t you?”
“Not by choice.”
The words held all the bitterness in her heart. “I’m sorry about all of this.”
The woman snorted. The kids huddled on a low sofa, not crying or
speaking. The sound of gunfire had ceased but the sound of bikes roaring
away was loud even where they were. The woman said, “This war’s been
on the brink for years. Walker’s been after the borough for …shit. Forever.
He wants the whole city and he doesn’t know how to stop.”
No, he didn’t. Julia licked her lips. “Why don’t the other crews in the other
boroughs stand against him?”
The woman gave her a grim look. “Because so far he’s just attacking us. As
long as he kept off their turf it wasn’t their prob;em.”
Julia looked down. “Why? I mean why has this been so close to happening
for so long?”
The woman stared at her. “You really don’t know, do you?”
Julia shook her head. “Oh, wait. Margo, right?”
The woman snorted. “Margo hell. She’s just one more reason for Ace to
hate Walker. This started long before that. Your mama, she was one of us.
She was born and raised right here. Her dad was a Brooklyn Son. He was
the leader of the crew, all up until he died and Ace took over."
All the air left Julia’s body. Little spots danced before her eyes. The world
spun on its axis. “No.”
“Oh yeah. She got scooped by Walker’s dad, your gramps. He got her
hooked on him and dope and then treated her like shit for years. She ran and
he tried to get her back, he tried to burn us down then too but your gramps
stepped in and made sure she and you were safe. When she died Walker
took you, and there was nothing your gramps could do about it because he
wasn’t listed as your mom’s dad on her birth certificate so the courts didn’t
want to hear it. Walker only wanted you to get even with your gramps for
killing his dad.”
Oh God. The world went gray. Julia’s body sagged and she took a seat on
the sofa, tears streaming down her face. “Nobody ever told me that.”
“Of course they didn’t.” The woman stuck out a hand. “I’m Megan.’
“Julia.” Julia took her hand. She swallowed hard. “Did you know my
mom?”
“We all did. She saved Ace’s life once, did you know that?”
Julia shook her head from side to side. “No.”
Megan nodded. “She did. She found him back when he was a snotty ass
teenager trying to face down a street dealing pimp who had decided that his
cousin was just what he needed in his stable. She hit that dude in the head
with a bat and brought Ace and Margo here.”
Julia bent double. Sorrow filled her. Her mother had never told her that.
Walker had never told her and Ace had never told her that either.
She wiped her eyes. A little hiccup of laughter came from her mouth. She
said, “I guess that explains why I feel more at home here than I ever did at
Walker’s.”
Megan smiled at her. “Girl if we don’t all die over this shit, I think you’ll do
just fine.”
The other woman looked up. She said, “And there’s the cops. You all stay
here. I got this.”
She went up the stairs and shut the door behind her. Julia looked at Megan,
“Do you think they will be all right?”
Megan sighed. “You know what? I don’t know. Someone’s going to go to
jail for this one. Walker really lost his mind this time. I can’t even believe
that he did this. I mean shooting up a house in broad daylight? That’s bold
as hell but more than that, it’s crazy. The cops are going to have to come
down on them and us for this one. So I don’t know. I really don’t.”
The cops were the least of Julia’s worry. She was more afraid that Ace
would die without her ever being able to tell him that she loved him. That
she loved him with all her heart.
Come back to me, she prayed silently. Just come back to me please.
Chapter 14
The bikes raced through traffic. Sirens started. Cars tried to get out of the
way but failed and the bikes went past them, the men on their backs as
angry and determined as any of them could be.
Ace spotted Walker riding just ahead. He bent lower over the bike, relaxing
his body and hitting the gas as they spun around a long series of curves. The
world flashed past. His eyes spotted obstacles a few feet before he reached
them and he rode hard, his body slicked with sweat and his shirt flapping in
the wind.
The gun resting on his hip warmed under the sun and next to his body. His
entire being was focused on catching Walker and ending this once and for
all.
Walker took a sharp curve. The bike came dangerously close to eating the
pavement but Walker got it under control just in time. Ace had to admire
Walker’s skill even as he hoped the bastard would eat it, just ride himself
right into Hell.
The other bikes had fallen away as his crew caught up to the men in
Walker’s crew. They were in a long and mostly deserted stretch of industrial
buildings whose businesses had closed years ago and nothing had ever
come back in. Ace was no fool. He knew Walker had come that way for a
reason. He had drawn him away from the residential and busier streets to a
spot where there would be no witnesses.
Ace didn’t care. Live or die, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that if he
was going to die that he took Walker with him. Walker’s need for
vengeance would die with him. Ace thought as the bikes kept moving,
dipping over a hill and then bouncing along a rutted two lane that led into a
mass of buildings now haunted by burned out squatters and mental cases.
Walker spun his bike in a circle, kicking up dust and gravel. He kicked the
stand below the bike and came off of it, his gun already drawn.
Ace came off his too. His gun was in his hand and he faced Walker, both of
them breathing hard. The sun beat down, baking along Ace’s head and
shoulders.
Walker grinned at him. “You topok my sister.”
“You took my cousin.”
“Yeah but you know what? That bitch was useless. All she was, was a
skanky whore. You were the only one who didn’t see that. You were the
only one who didn’t know just what a whore she was.’
The words would have hurt, if they ha dbene true. Ace didn’t drop the gun a
single inch. His smile didn’t falter. “Yeah, I did. But you see, I know what
made her into what she was and I didn’t blame her for being what she was.
No matter what, she was the only family I ever had, the only person who
ever knew what loyalty looked like until I got into the crew.”
Walker sneered. “Yeah the crew you never would have gotten into if it
hadn’t been for that bitch Melinda. My sister’s sorry ass mother. You know
what? I told my dad to let her be, to leave her alone and stop trying to mess
with her. He wouldn’t hear it. Not him. He had to have her, had to. I don’t
know what it was about her that made him so crazy for her. Hell I don’t
know what it was about that bitch sister of mine that made Pete so crazy
about her. What I do know is that she was the key to everything and you
fucked her and you fucked me right out of what is rightfully mine in the
process.’
“Rightfully yours?” The hammer on the gun went back. His thumb was
steady as was his eye. “She’s a person, not a bag of dope or money. You
don’t get to trade her off because it suits you.”
“The hell I don’t! She’s property, just like every single other person who
ever comes to my crew. I own her and I own them and I will do whatever
the fuck I want with them!”
“How’s that working for you?”
Walker twitched. Ace understood something then. Walker was beyond
violent, he was completely fucking off his rocker. He was insane and the
mental illness that was driving him would never let him stop until one of
them was stone cold dead. That was fine by Ace, really it was, but he knew
that if he was the one that died there Julia would never be safe.
Walker didn’t just want Julia as a form of revenge against the former leader
of the Son’s. He didn’t just want her to trade off for his schemes. He wanted
her because as far as he was concerned Julia was just a possession, one that
he wanted and he was not going to let go of, no matter what.
Walker smiled. His finger twitched. The gun went off.
**
Julia stood in the middle of the room. The cops were gone. The kids had
been hustled out the back and taken somewhere else. She was alone now,
waiting for someone to come and tell her what was happening. She was
more frightened than she had ever been in her entire life too. The woman
who had taken the kids after talking to the cops had not told her what to do.
Megan had vanished with her. What should she do?
Unable to stand it anymore Julia managed to crawl up the stairs, taking her
vcructhes with her. The broken glass was everywhere. She eyed it and then
went back into the apartment that held the door to the basement. She found
a broom and dustpan and began to clean up the glass. She cleaned the foyer
and the broken glass in the apartment. She hobbled outside to see more
glass on the sidewalk and she cleaned that up too. Neighbors stared at her
and she lowered her head, shame eating into her.
This had nothing to do with those people and it was not fair, that they had to
handle it. Had anyone who was not in the club hurt? She managed to get the
full dustpan to a set of trash cans and dump it then she swept more glass off
the sidewalk, tears threatening. She knew it was probably stupid, being
outside like that, but she was at a total loss as to what else she could do just
then.
A cop car pulled to the curb and she stared it, wordless as two uniformed
men got out and headed toward her.
**
Ace went sideways, dropping to the gorund and rolling. The bulet whined
over his head and he shot from where he lay, aiming low. Walker went
down. His hand opened and the gun hit the dirt. Ace got to his feet and
kicked it further from Walker’s reach. Walker, bleeding from the upper part
of one thigh, grinned ta him. “You missed.”
“No I didn’t.”
Ace was no killer. He was a lot of things but amurderer was not one of
them. He had to take Walker down, no doubt about it and for a moment
there he had really thought that he could kill him. But if he killed Walker he
was heading off to prison for a very long time and what would happen to
Julia then? He had to be there for her, to protect her and be with her.
He loved her.
He didn’t want to but he did.
Walker made it to his fee3t. His grin held madness. “What now Ace?”
Good question. Ace leveled the gun at Walker. “Now you’re done. I don’t
care how this goes down but you’re done.”
Bikes slewed into the lot. Jack sat astride one and Bert on the other. Both
were bloodied and Jack was obviously seriously injured but they were
there.
Ace lifted the gun and brought it down hard on Walker’s head. Walker’s
eyes rolled back in his heads and he staggered to the left. He went down on
his knees in the dirt. Ace kicked him, righgt in the ribs. Walker let out a low
gasp. He shouted, “You can’t do this to me!”
Ace looked at Jack. Jack nodded wearily and took out a phone. Bert got off
his bike and strolled closer, carrying a gun in his left hand.
Walker said, through teeth that dripped blood. “What are you doing? What
are you doing Ace? Go on, kill me.”
“I think there’s only one thing worse than death,” Ace said softly.
Walker’s face showed terror. “No way man. Don’t do that to me. Do it. Kill
me. Kill me goddammit! Don’t you dare do that to me! That’s worse than
death!”
Ace smiled at him and it was not a nice smile. “I know, and you will have
plenty of time to think about all the things you did to the people who would
have followed you if you had just let them love you, you sick twisted
sonofabitch.” Then he raised the gun again and brought it down on Walker’s
temple.
Walker toppled to the dirt. He lay there, not moving. Jack rested a finger
against Walker’s neck, looked at Ace, and nodded. “He’ll live. Man, you
sure about this? I mean putting him in the pen, that’s harsh. That’s a death
sentence all its own and he won’t go alone. Half his crew will go, and some
of ours too.”
“I will go.” Ace’s heart ached. “I’ll take the whole fall but you have to
promise me to look after Julia. You have to swear it on your colors. Swear
nothing will happen to her while I’m inside.”
Jack looked him in the eyes. “She’ll be cared for. We won’t let anyone or
anything take her down. That’s a swear on my colors.” He took his jacket
off and lifted a knife from his pocket. He sliced a small nick into his wrist
and poured his blood over the patch on his jacket then handed the blade to
first Ace and then Bert. Their blood joined jack’s on the patch.
Ace managed to breathe. He’d be away from her for a little while. He didn’t
want to be but if he was going to be able to be with her he had to do it.
Walker would do hard time, and a lot of it. The rest of his crew would face
various charges. There was nobody there who was high enough up or who
would have enough connections to keep the crew going. It would crumble
and fall.
There’d be another crew that took Queens eventually. That was just the way
of it. Ace hoped his crew could find a way to call a truce between
themselves and the next Queens crew. The Son’s were nobody to fuck with,
and any crew that came in while he was in prison would have that
understanding long before they rolled their bikes into Queens and took it
over
“Good.” Ace took his gun to a burned out building and quickly stripped it
down, scattering the pieces all around and covering tem with dirt. Jack
handed Bert his gun and Bert headed off in the opposite direction.
The cop cars came as Walker began to stir. The back door of one opened
and Julia got out. She moved toward him, her crutches unsteady on the
ground. Ace ran to her and held her, his arms holding her up. She looked up
at him, tears falling from her eyes.
“You’re okay,” she whispered. “You’re okay.”
The cps were putting Walker into the car. He screamed, “You got nothing
on me!”
More cruisers screamed into the lot. One, an unmarked car, held two men in
street clothes. They got out and came to where Julia and Ace stood.
One of them said, “Ace, you know you gotta go in.”
Ace nodded. Julia clutched at him. She asked, “Why? He didn’t do anything
wrong!”
One of the detectives said, “Bad news, you don’t get to have a shootout on
the street and not go to jail.”
Julia clung to him. “No, he didn’t have a shootout on the street, Walker and
his guys shot up the house!”
The detective looked at Ace. “Tell her to back off or I’ll lock her up too.”
“Wait!” Julia’s voice shook. “What about a trade?”
The detective frowned. Ace’s brow wrinkled too as he looked at her. Ace
asked, “What are you talking about?”
Julia licked her lips. Her eyes went from the detectives to Walker to Ace.
“He’s going to get at least ten years right? The crew won’t take care of him
because a lot of them are going down too and when you go to their place
you’re going to find stuff that will keep them in jail a little longer but…”
She drew a long breath. “But I know who killed that cop last year. I know
where the gun is. I know who killed the shopkeeper over in Sunnyside too
and I can give you all the stuff you need to know about those things. I will.
But you have to let Ace and the others on the crew, his crew, go, if you want
it. That’s my offer. If you don’t take it I won’t talk at all.’
Ace’s mouth fell open. What she could give the cops would wreck Walker’s
crew forever and keepWalker in prison for life. He would never get out and
many of his crew would be facing life sentences too. Ace was smart enough
to know that as soon as the detectives went to the house and started
gathering evidence a lot fo the prospects and even some of the crew would
roll over and start telling their own tales. But did they know what Julia
knew? Could they possibly?
The detective pursed his lips. “You know that for sure? How?”
Julia gave him a long and level look. “He’s my brother,” she said softly.
“That’s how.”
Chapter 15
Three weeks had passed since the shootout. Julia stood in the bathroom of
Ace’s apartment, staring at the stick she held. The test was positive. She
was pregnant!
Her eyes widened and she stared at her reflection in the mirror. She didn’t
know how she felt. Part of her was ecstatic but the other part was very
scared. Ace had always been careful not to have kids. He had told her, not
so long ago, that he had never wanted them because his own childhood had
been a mess.
His father had bene in prison for most of Ace’s life, and still was. His
mother had not wanted to care for her kids and her sister had been equally
careless with margo. Ace had said he was afraid he would mess a kid up,
and now they were going to have one.
Julia left the bathroom and headed through the apartment. The house was
quiet. Now that Walker was in jail waiting for trial and with all the
complaints the Son’s had toned down their business a lot. They had had to.
The cops that were on their payroll were scant protection right now. They’d
managed to withdraw from the dope trade for the moment, which suited
Ace to a T. They still had a whle lot fo other things going on and the legit
businesses were doing well, well enough that money was nto an issue.
Julia had told the cops where to find the guns and a few more things,
trading secrets for the lives of Ace and his crew. She did nto have to testify
and other than a few people nobody knew just how deep her betrayal of
Walker went. She knew and there were times when that weighed heavily on
her. Blood was supposed ot be blood but the only blood she felt tied to was
the blood that bound her to the Son’s, and the love that kept her tied to Ace.
She stepped into the living room. Ace sat at a small desk, a computer
program was up and running on the desk top in front of him. He looked up
at her as she entered and stood there.
He said, “I meant to ask you how class went today.”
“Great. I learned a few things.” Her hands twisted together and she bit her
lips. “I need to talk to you.”
“Shoot.”
She gnawed at her lips. “You remember that first night we were together?
And the next day?”
“Yeah why?”
“I wasn’t on birth control. I’m still not and when you found that out you
started using condos”
He frowned. “So?”
“So we didn’t use condoms that first night or that next day either.”
Ace’s eyed held a puzzled expression. Then that expression cleared and
shock took its place. Julia’s heart sank. He asked, “Are you saying…are you
saying that you are pregnant?”
Tears stung her eyes. Her teeth chewed at her lip. “Yes.” She held her
breath, hoping he would say something but silence spun out between them.
Her legs squeezed together and her heart beat sped up, moving faster and
making her slightly dizzy.
Ace stood up. His chair banaged a little as it settled. He walked to the
windows and stared out, not speaking. Julia felt wetness roll down her
cheeks. He was angry then. This was not what he wanted and she had
known it would not be. He had been clear that being a father was not for
him that he would screw it up and that the last thing he wanted to do was
ruin some poor kid’s life by being a bad father.
She could not think of a single thing to say to him just then. She wanted to
reassure him that he was a good man and that he was be a good father but
she was afraid to speak.
Finally he did. He said, in a heavy voice. “I’m in my forties Julia.”
“I know that.” She swallowed hard. “I’m not even twenty and yet we have
made that work. I mean I know it’s not easy…I…” She fell silent.
Ace’s shoulders went tight with tension. “My dad never did a goddamn
thing for me. I never had a father. I don’t even know how to be a father. I
mean, what do you to be a dad? I don’t know.”
“I don’t really know what to say.” It was true. She didn’t. he didn’t want
this child growing inside her. She could feel that and it hurt. She did. She
wanted that baby. She had never considered being a mother but now that
she knew that she was going to be, she wanted it. There was a lot to think
about. She had to figure out how to stay in her classes and make her dreams
of being a clothing designer come true. She had to figure out how to be a
mother and to not let the bad things in their lives touch her child. She had to
figure out a way to make Ace accept that having a baby was not such a
horrible thing and it was the last part that had her the most stumped.
Ace turned to face her. His face was pale. He said, “What if I fuck this kid
up?”
“You won’t.” It was all she had to offer.
Ave looked away form her face then back. One hand ran through his thick
hair. He said, “I’ll be sixty when it gets out fo high school. Oh my God,
what if it is a girl! I don’t know anything about girls!”
“I don’t know anything about boys.” Relief had begun to trickle through
her. She was scared and so was he but he was nto saying she had to get an
abortion or arguing that maybe the baby was not his, all the things men
sometimes did when the subject came up.
Ace let out a shaky laugh. “I guess…I guess we will have to figure out how
to get a crib up those damn stairs, huh?”
She blinked. Had he just said what she thought he had? She whispered,
“Are you sure?”
He asked, “Are you?”
She took a long and steadying breath. “I am. I’m scared as hell too though. I
mean, I’m so young and…and I don’t know much about raising a child with
its father. All I ever really remember was being the daughter of a single
mom. So I don’t know what to do wither. I don’t know…like what happens
when I get fat? Will you still want to be with me?’
He blinked. Then he burst into laughter. “Did you ask me if I would still
want you if you get fat?”
“Yeah,” her arms crossed over her chest in a defensive gesture. “I mean
women gain weight when they get pregnant you know.”
Ace kept right on laughing. Julia dropped her arms and stared at him.
“What’s so funny?”
“That you would think that I would nto want you. I have news for you, I
want you all the time. I wouldn’t care how you looked either. In fact, I want
you right now.”
She went into his arms. His hands led her to the bedroom and she went
gladly, her body already fired up with lust and joy.
Ace’s hands went to her clothes. He stripped her neatly, leaving her
shivering with every garment that dropped away. Her nipples pressed
upward, the taut peaks so stiff that they almost stung.
His tongue found them, his mouth surrounded them and the pressure
combined with his clever tongue stroking across those pink points made her
squirm with pleasure. He didn’t stop there. His tongue moved lower and she
went down on the bed, the backs of her knees hitting the edge before she
managed to get onto the narrow length of it.
His mouth found her labia and then his tongue was moving inside of her,
parting her soaked lips to find her clitoris. His tongue circled it while his
fingers moved inside of her, adding friction to the sensations already
coursing through her.
Julia surrendered to the moment. His hands and mouth continued to move
against her flesh, eliciting little gasps from her as he massaged the
throbbing bud harder and faster while his fingers thrust deeper within her
coral hued inner walls.
Her legs spread wider, her breath came faster, and she could smell the raw
and powerful aroma of her body, the rich scent of arousal coming from the
fluids leaking down the cleft between her buttocks.
His hair was under her fingers. She stroked it and let her fingers wander
lower so that she could feel the muscles in his jaws working as he took her
to an even greater height. Her heels dug into the thin mattress, her body
arching as she neared a climax.
“I love you,” the words spilled from her lips. “No matter what Ace, I will
always love you.”
The words surprised her but they also made a coil of emotion she had never
known loosen in her belly, adding even more sweetness to the moment. His
breath blew against her wet flesh, warm and exciting. He said, “I will love
you way beyond this life Julia,” and then his mouth went back to her vulva.
Julia’s eyes closed as she strained to reach that height. Her limbs went rigid
and her mouth hung open. She sucked in breath as his added a third finger
to the two already inside of her filling her completely and taking her
pleasure to an even greater level.
Heat and liquid filled her center, and her hips raised and lowered. His
tongue went back to her clit and circled it then rubbed across it. Julia’s teeth
clenched together to keep a moan from bursting forth but little whimpers
escaped her anyway.
Ace moved up so that his body was between her spread legs. He balanced
himself on his strong forearms while his mouth came down on hers, sealing
in the little cry she had been uttering.
The weight of his body on hers felt so good that she wrapped her arms and
legs around him, wanting to hold him forever.
His member found the slippery entrance between her thighs and he slid into
her in one long smooth movement. Her body opened further to ease his
passage into her depths. He filled her, hot and strong, and she buried her
face in his shoulder, smelling the slight tang of sweat there.
They moved together, the shadows shifting and cloaking their gleaming
bodies. Her hands pressed into his shoulders. She allowed her mouth to
touch his satiny neck, to linger at his ears, and then they were kissing again,
furiously, as their bodies moved together faster.
The climax came, sweeping them both under its powerful waves. Julia’s
body hung suspended between his and the mattress below her back. Her
inner walls pulsed and sent more fluids across his beating flesh. The
aftershocks came, and went and still they did not disentangle themselves.
Ace put a hand on her belly and rested his fingers there. He looked down at
the flat and taut skin of her stomach and said, “It is hard to imagine that
there is a baby in there.”
She caught his hand. “I know. It sort of freaks me out just thinking about it.
I mean, that is a whole human being and we are going to be responsible for
it and our parents all made so many mistakes and kept so many secrets from
us.”
Ace’s fingers paused on her belly. “I have to tell you something.”
She swallowed hard. “What is it?”
“My dad.” He looked away. “You see he was in the same pen, on the same
block that they put Walker ion.”
Julia didn’t understand what he was getting at. “So?”
Ace sighed again. “I guess my father, who is doing four life sentences
anyway, decied to make sure that Walker didn’t get out.”
Her heart plummeted into her chest. “What do you mean?”
“I mean he killed Walker.”
The words hit hard. Julia had not considered how she would feel if Walker
died and now that she knew he was dead she wanted to mourn him but she
didn’t know how.
She said, “Oh. Are you okay with that?”
Ace shrugged. “I don’t know yet. I mean I keep telling myself that of all the
bad shit I ever did at least I can say I am not killer. I chose to put Walker in
prison instead of killing him because, well because I just don’t want that
kind of blood on my hands. I never wanted that.”
“His blood is not on your hands. It is on your father’s hands and there is
nothing you could have done to change what happened. Walker had to go
down. He had to. Not just for my sake either. He brought nothing but
destruction and crime to his hood. He destroyed his own family to get what
he wanted. You know the crew you run, you guys do a lot of good things for
the hood too. You make sure the homeless shelter has what it needs. You
take care of the animal shelter. You do that toy drive. You do give back, and
yes you take a lot too. But that’s balance, right? Walker was only about
what he wanted in his life, not about anyone else.”
Ace sighed. “You’re right. I know you are.”
She snuggled down into his embrace. She was right. Walker had destroyed
two of his sisters and he had tried to destroy her too. He had believed that
the people around him existed for no other reason than to serve his needs
and wants and he had demanded loyalty and respect while giving none of
those things to anyone else. That was unsustainable and it was no shock that
most of his crew had rolled on him, or that Ace’s father had killed Walker
either.
Prison was a hard place and Walker would have undoubtedly tried to run
that block just like he had run the blocks of his borough. Only he had
walked into a territory where he had no friends and no allies and he had
suffered the consequences for his power mad arrogance
That brought her to another consideration. At some point the child she
carried would want to know about its absent grandparents and why it had no
uncles or aunts. She felt a squeeze of grief at that thought. Naomi was in
prison and Carla, who had cut a deal, was sitting in a filthy drug hole
shooting her life away in the form of heroin laden needles.. Walker was
dead. Her and Ace’s parents were dead or nobody worth talking about.
She had no idea what she would say when that happened but she knew
eventually that they would have to say something.
She relaxed into his arms and he held her tightly. His eyes met hers and he
gave her a smile. “This is going to be our brand new start.”
She smiled back, her heart lightening yet again. “I like the sound of that.”
“Me too.” Ace bent his head to hers and kissed her deeply and she kissed
him back. This was where she belonged and she knew it. This was where
she should have been all along and against all odds she had found her way
home and into the arms of the strong man that she would love for the rest of
their lives.

OUTLAW HERO
“Come on, come on, pick up,” Melanie Carr said under her breath,
surprised that the payphone actually worked. She couldn’t remember the
last time she had found a payphone, let alone one that still functioned.
Stevie, her two-year-old son, was asleep in the carseat at her feet. She had
driven all night from Dublin, Ohio to arrive in Washington DC the
following morning. Melanie normally planned things better, but this time
she had to act fast.
Finally, there came the sound of someone answering her call for help.
“Hello?” the muffled voice of her former best friend Casey asked.
“Casey?” Melanie replied. “This is Melanie Carr from Ohio State, your
sophomore roommate. We talked on Facebook recently about me visiting?”
There was a slight sigh on the other end that Melanie suspected she was not
intended to hear. “It got that bad?”
She clutched the hard, metal, barely bendable phone cord and a sob came
out as she spoke. “Yes,” she said. “It got that bad. I’m at a gas station
outside 270. What’s your address again?”
After packing her kid back into the car, she made her way to Casey’s house
in the DC suburbs, somehow finding it through her tears and the fog of the
early morning. She was relieved to see that she would not have to go
through the awkward business of ringing the doorbell once there; Casey
was already standing on the front porch, waiting for her.
Melanie put the car into park and got out, keeping the back door of her
small, white SUV open so she could retrieve her son and her luggage once
the reintroductions were over. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her
green rain jacket and walked up to greet her waiting friend. “I never
intended to spring this up on you, but…”
Casey looked at her college friend. Melanie looked remarkably the same
even though they were now eight years older. She was still slender with
long, curly golden brown hair, blue-green eyes and a cute dusting of
freckles across her nose. But the purple bruise around her left eye… That
was new.
“Hush,” Casey said as soon as she noticed that. She opened her arms for
Melanie, who gladly fell into them. Casey was several inches shorter than
her friend, with short blonde hair and glasses, and she had always been the
more nurturing of the two. Even now, even though Melanie had a toddler,
Casey was more mothering. Melanie needed a friend like Casey back in her
life.
They unpacked the car together and took little sleepy Stevie up to one of the
bedrooms so he could continue to sleep, oblivious to his mother’s problems.
“Thank you,” Melanie said, pulling her long hair into a ponytail. She looked
exhausted. “Jake hit me for the last time. He went to bed and I hit the road.
I promise, it will only be for a few days. Once I can get a job, we’ll be out
of your hair.”
Casey waved that off, smiling at her friend. “You can stay as long as you
need. I’ve got this house all to myself, and it’s so good to see you again.”
She gently rubbed Melanie on her upper arm. “Get some sleep and you can
start thinking about jobs and stuff later. You’ve got my number, right?”
Melanie smiled back, appreciative. “I do. Thank you so much.”
She went up to her bedroom that she would be sharing with Stevie for the
time being. He was still fast asleep, wrapped up in the blankets. She did her
best to get in beside him without waking him, and was soon asleep, too.

When Melanie woke up, it was well into the middle of the afternoon. Stevie
was playing quietly with some of his toys in the corner, but he was relieved
when he saw that she was awake. “Mommy, where are we?”
She rushed to his side as he sat on the floor. She had been unable to pack all
of his toys up so quickly in their spontaneous move, but she managed to
bring his favorites along with them. “We’re at my nice friend Casey’s
house,” she told him. “We’re going to be living here for a while until we get
a new house.”
“Where are we?” he asked again, not understanding that they were far away
from what they called home. “Where’s Daddy?”
Melanie bit her lip. “We’ve moved away from Daddy,” she told him, trying
to give him the news as gently as possible. “We are going to live in
Washington DC now. You will love it here. This is where all of the
presidents live!” She widened her eyes and her mouth as she told him that,
so he would feel excited rather than concerned about his no-good father.
Stevie gasped a little bit. “Even Taft??” The little boy had a strange
fascination with President William Howard Taft ever since Melanie had
shown him a picture of America’s heftiest president. Stevie liked him
because ‘he looks like a walrus.’
“Even Taft,” Melanie said, nodding wisely. “If you are very good, I will
take you to visit him at some point. Would you like that?”
Gasping even more, Stevie grinned. “Yes! I am very good!”
She laughed. “You have to prove it to me, though.” She looked at her
watch. It was nearing five p.m. and Casey would be home from work soon.
Casey worked for a TV news station in DC, and that had allowed her to be
able to afford her nice house in the suburbs. Melanie was hoping that she
might have the same luck if she got out there and applied herself. “My nice
friend is almost home from work and Mommy needs you to stay with her
for a while, okay?”
“Promise you won’t go see Taft without me?”
Melanie smiled at her son. “I promise.”
She kissed his head and unzipped one of her bags, pulling out her black
laptop. Before she ventured forth to see what jobs she could go apply for,
she needed to do some research.
When Casey came home, Melanie felt as ready as she would ever be. “Do
you mind watching Stevie while I go apply for a few of these things?” she
asked her friend. It was getting into the evening now, so many of the jobs
that she found would have to be applied for online, but she had found some
restaurants and retail positions that she could still go check out in person.
“Sure,” Casey said, smiling. “Here, you can borrow my Metro card.”
Melanie took the offered card and carefully placed it into her purse. “He’s
really into grilled cheese and chicken nuggets right now,” she told her. “His
bedtime is nine o’clock. I’ll hopefully be back by then.”
With that, she drove to the nearest Metro station and parked in the lot. She
added money to the card and headed into DC. She’d visited the city once,
on an elementary school field trip, but that had been when she was about
eight, so she didn’t remember that much of it. It looked pretty as the
evening slowly descended on it, however. She appreciated a city that was
pretty at night. Growing up in Ohio, she was mostly used to seeing corn and
farmland. She was ready for something different.
It turned out that the places she had written down as potential new jobs
were all either not looking for someone new or not looking for someone
like her. She ended up being told by one of them to try applying on their
website, but that was the best news she received.
Feeling disappointed with herself, she decided to pop into one of the bars
she saw and see if maybe they needed any help. The place was lively even
though it was a weeknight. Melanie admired the space and the people who
were hanging out there. Most of the people seemed to be partying with their
friends after work. They appeared to be around her age, which gave her
hope. Maybe this would be a good place to network…
She sat down at the bar, not intending to drink but hoping to get someone’s
attention. She had her son to get home to, after all, so she wasn’t planning
to be there too long. The bartender came over to her. “What’ll you have?”
he asked her.
Looking up at him, Melanie’s jaw nearly fell to the floor. He was tall and
the perfect amount of muscular, with short, jet black hair and piercing green
eyes. He also had several tattoos on his arms and chest, including a large
one of a tiger on his upper bicep. Melanie smirked a little to herself. She
hadn’t ever been interested in men with tattoos, but this one intrigued her
for some reason. He was wearing a white tank top and slightly holey jeans.
He also wore dog tags, which dangled from his neck as he looked down at
her.
She suddenly realized that a long time had passed and she’d merely stared
at him rather than answering his question. “Uh… Diet Coke, please?” she
asked, instantly feeling lame. This bartender looked like the sort of person
who expected everyone to drink hard liquor. And she could not blame him.
Bartenders made their money from people buying the heavy stuff, not
fountain drinks.
Instead of snarling at her like the villain in a Popeye cartoon, he smiled.
“Sure thing,” he said. Skillfully grabbing a glass from the counter and
flipping it in his hand so the right end was up, he poured ice and soda into it
and handed it over.
“Thank you,” Melanie said politely. She had not expected him to have such
a cute smile. He even had a big dimple in his left cheek.
“No problem,” he replied. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
It was her turn to smile. “How could you tell? Do I look that lost?”
He leaned against the bar, chuckling. “I didn’t say that. I just noticed your
accent, and noticed that you were looking around like you’d never been
here before. This isn’t exactly a tourist spot.”
Melanie blushed. She didn’t realize that she had a noticeable accent. Maybe
she was just used to it. Casey had one, too, though it was somewhat fainter
since she had lived in the DC area for several years now. “I just moved here
from Ohio,” she explained. “I was hoping to find a job, but so far… Well,
I’m here.” She held up her Diet Coke as if she was making a toast and then
took a long sip.
The man’s eyes lit up when she mentioned needing a job. “I don’t know
what’s cuter, your accent or how you blush when your accent is pointed
out.”
Her blush intensified and she rolled her eyes a little bit, smiling shyly. This
guy was charming. With his tattoos and the faint scars on his forehead that
she just now noticed, he resembled the stereotype of an ex-con, but he was
charming. She was enjoying this conversation instead of wanting to head
for the hills. After everything that had happened with her husband – her ex-
husband now, she supposed – it surprised Melanie that she wanted to chat
with this handsome stranger.
“My name is Doug Albright. I may have some connections in town that
could help you find a job.” He grabbed her glass and refilled it without her
even needing to ask. She felt like she was suddenly the only other person in
the bar.
Feeling like being playful, she raised an eyebrow and smirked at Doug.
“What kind of connections?” she asked. “Like Mafia connections?”
He threw his head back and laughed. He came around the bar and sat beside
her on a stool, holding a glass of something that looked like water but
definitely did not smell like it. “Ohio, you are fun. I’m not in the Mafia. I’m
the vice president of a motorcycle club called Stars and Stripes. And it just
so happens that some of the other guys work in places around here. If you
think you have what it takes, I’ll pass along the word that you’re looking to
be hired.”
Now that he was closer, she could see that the tiger on his arm was
pouncing out of an American flag. Stars and Stripes. Clever. But did she
really want to get mixed up with a biker guy? Were they really just a club,
or were they more like a gang?
“What’s your name?” he asked her.
She took another sip of her soda. What the hell. “Melanie Carr.”
Doug grinned at her. “You’re about to be a Carr riding a bike.”
CHAPTER TWO
Stars and Stripes
Melanie shifted a bit uneasily on her stool. This Doug guy was cute and
charming, but he was also a stranger and she didn’t feel right just riding off
with him on a motorcycle. She had little Stevie to think about. She had
divorce papers to file before she even wanted to consider dating anyone
else. She hoped that he would understand.
“It’s getting late,” she said, sounding somewhat deflated. “I should probably
head back.”
Doug frowned slightly. “Yeah, okay,” he said. “Hey, if you want I could
give you a lift.”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I took the Metro and my car is at the
station.”
He slowly smiled at her, showing off that adorable dimple of his again.
How was it that a guy with such a baby face was the leader of a motorcycle
gang? “I could give you a ride to the station,” he pointed out.
That she couldn’t argue with. The Metro would be a long ride back and she
wondered how late it even ran. She looked at her watch. Crap. Is it already
eight? Finally, feeling more resigned than excited, Melanie looked back up
and straight into the eyes of Doug, who was awaiting her answer.
“Do you have an extra helmet?”
He grinned at her. “We can borrow one.”
Going back around the counter, he called to his coworkers. “I’m going on
break, cover me! Hey, Lars, can I borrow your helmet?”
“Why? You got a hot—” The man who must have been Lars poked his head
out of the back room. “—date?” He whistled when he saw Melanie, which
made her blush and laugh. Meanwhile, Doug shushed him.
“Helmet?” he asked.
Lars tossed him a bright yellow helmet.
“Gracias.” Doug carried the helmet over and set it down on the bar in front
of Melanie. He threw a black leather jacket on and let the way out back to
where his waiting Harley motorcycle stood.
It was a black behemoth, with orange tiger stripes painted onto the hood of
its front wheel. She could tell one thing for sure: he liked tigers.
“Where do you live?” he asked, putting on his shiny black helmet and
watching as Melanie put hers on. He helped her onto the bike, allowing her
to get on it herself for the most part, but there to lend his hand so she didn’t
topple off or hurt herself in another way. She clearly had never been on a
motorcycle before. She wondered if that would be a turn off for him, but
when she saw his face, he was smiling and seemed completely enamored of
her.
“Maryland,” she answered, “so I hope this bike has a lot of juice in it.” She
smirked at him and he smirked right back at her. She had heard something
like that in a movie once. She gave him the address of Casey’s house and
Doug hopped onboard his motorcycle.
When it started up, her heart leapt a little. It felt so strange and not a small
amount of intimidating, but she was also… thrilled?
“I know we just met,” he yelled over the engine. “But you’re gonna want to
hold onto me. It’s dangerous to ride without anything holding you on.”
Melanie gulped but it was drowned out by the revving motor, which she
was glad of. She knew that he could tell she was scared, but she didn’t want
him to know that she was actually really, really scared. It was too late to
turn back now!
She wrapped her arms around Doug’s middle and held on tight as he kicked
off and they rode the Harley away from the bar.
“If you’re nervous, sometimes it helps to yell,” he told her, yelling just so
she could hear him.
“What??” she yelled back.
He repeated himself, louder this time. She felt embarrassed for her first yell
on a motorcycle being ‘what’ like some inattentive idiot.
“WEEEEEEOOOOO!!” he suddenly shouted. He looked back at her,
grinning, and she couldn’t help but smile back.
“WooooooAHH!” she yelled, laughing at her attempt.
Doug rode through the streets of DC as though this was what he did every
night. Knowing what he did in his free time, he probably did do this every
night. Melanie was grappling with whether she found that sexy or not.
When they finally stopped at the Metro station, behind her car, he helped
her off of the bike and she looked up at him. She took off her helmet and
shook out her hair.
“So, what do you think?” he asked. She couldn’t recall what he looked like
when he wasn’t smiling. It did something to his appearance and made her
almost forget about his tattoos and his scars… She suddenly worried about
those scars.
“I’m glad you wear a helmet,” she said.
He laughed. “I meant about the bike. Did you have fun?”
Melanie smiled. “Oh,” she replied. “Yeah, it was okay.”
That made him laugh even more. He obviously got a kick out of her, and
she was intrigued by him… But she couldn’t honestly say for sure if she
saw anything coming from this. It had been nice of him to offer to help her
find a job, but he clearly wasn’t just out to help her as a friend. Not the way
he looked at her.
“Can I ask you something?” he asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders a little. “It’s a free country.”
“Where’d you get the shiner?”
Her eyes widened. Reaching up, she gingerly touched the bruise under her
left eye. It still hurt. She had forgotten about it, till he mentioned it. It was
like a bubble had burst inside her or something. She didn’t feel comfortable
being around him anymore.
“Well, thanks for the lift,” she said, breaking the awkward silence that had
formed. She handed the borrowed helmet back to him and moved to get into
her SUV.
“Wait,” he said. He reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a piece of
receipt paper. “Do you have a pen? I want to give you my phone number, in
case I can help you again sometime.”
She laughed softly. No one needed to write phone numbers down anymore,
unless they were Melanie’s mother’s age. “I can just put it directly into my
phone.” She brought her phone out of her purse. “What is it?”
“555-860-SSMC.”
Melanie put it into her phone and then looked up at him, narrowing her
eyes. “This is your motorcycle club’s number, isn’t it?”
Doug let out another laugh. “I’m not the VP for no reason, Ohio.”
She pressed a button. “I sent you a text so you’ll have my number.” She got
into her car but kept the door open for a second. “Be careful out there,
okay?” Closing the door, she started her car and drove away.
It was nice of him to drive her all the way from DC to Maryland on his
Harley. She hoped that he would make it back okay. She also hoped that he
would not put too much stock in seeing her again. She had a two-year-old
and a friend that she was eventually going to need to pay back. Melanie
would not be able to live with herself if she let another man interfere with
her life.

When she arrived back at Casey’s house, most of the lights were off.
Melanie went inside and her friend looked up from a book, looking
surprised. “There you are,” Casey said. She didn’t say it with any
annoyance or exasperation, just as if she had been wondering where
Melanie had gone for such a long time. “Did you have any success?”
Melanie chuckled, mostly to herself, and hung up her purse in the hall
closet. She brought out her cell phone and was glad to see that there weren’t
any texts from Doug. Most importantly because she didn’t want him texting
and riding his bike at the same time. That was the mother in her. She also
didn’t want to be bombarded with texts from him. Her head was still
spinning, trying to figure things out.
“I had some slight success,” she answered. “I met a guy.”
Casey closed her book and opened her mouth wide. “You did? What
happened?” She patted the couch next to her.
Melanie looked around. “Where’s Stevie?”
“I put him to bed right at nine, like you told me. He is such a good kid. We
played board games all evening.” Casey smiled, proud of herself for being a
capable babysitter and also proud of Melanie for having such a sweet, smart
little boy.
Collapsing on the couch beside her friend, Melanie let out a pleased sigh.
“Oh, thank god. I was trying to get back here quicker, but…”
Casey shook her head. “It’s okay. I didn’t mind. You needed a break
anyway. Now tell me more about this mystery man you met.”
Melanie blushed. “It wasn’t really a big deal. I went to a bar after being
turned away by everyone in town, and the bartender turned out to be
friendly. He was covered in tattoos, as you can probably imagine, and he’s
apparently a leader of this motorcycle gang.”
Casey’s eyes widened a little. “But he was nice?”
Melanie nodded. “Yeah. We chatted for a while, and then he gave me a ride
on his motorcycle. He took me all the way back to the station where I’d left
my car.”
“Wow,” Casey said, impressed. “He doesn’t sound so bad for a gang
member.”
Melanie snorted. “I may be exaggerating a touch. He’s the vice president of
a motorcycle club. It’s got a name with tigers in it or something. Anyway.
He is very cute, very handsome, and I had a good time but I don’t think
anything is going to come of it. I mean, after all, I just got here. I need a
job. I need to find a good daycare for Stevie. I need to find structure for my
life again, you know? And this guy… He’s not the sort of guy who can
provide structure for us.”
Casey got up and poured them each a mimosa. She sat back down and
handed Melanie a glass, clinking glasses with her. “What makes you think
that he’s not someone who can help you? He obviously helped you tonight,
even if it was just a little gesture versus something you needed.”
“It’s embarrassing to admit but... You should see his tattoos, Case. And his
scars. He’s got scars on his forehead that make me wonder what sort of
fights he’s been into. He has the look of an ex-criminal, even if he is
reformed or whatever.”
“Maybe they’re just scars from falling off his motorcycle,” Casey
suggested. “You should ask him about it instead of assuming.”
Melanie bit her lip. “You’re right. I just don’t know if I’m ready to have
someone else in my life. Especially not someone who could end up being
just as violent as Jake.”
Casey looked down, empathizing with her friend. She’d only ever had bad
luck with dating and was so heartbroken when Melanie confessed to her
that Jake hit her on a frequent basis, depending on how much he drank.
“I should go to bed,” Melanie said, setting her empty glass on the table.
“Thanks for the mimosa and the chat. I promise to be more upbeat
tomorrow.”
“I’m not expecting you to be upbeat, Mel,” Casey said. “I’m here for you
always.”
CHAPTER THREE
All American Tiger
First things first, Melanie decided the next morning, she would take Stevie
to one of the nearest daycare centers to see if it was a good fit for him. It
was equipped with playhouses and all sorts of fun toys and things to climb
on, so Melanie was satisfied. He looked around in awe at everything. “He’s
very smart for his age,” she told the admissions assistant at the center. “He’s
already starting to read simple picture books and he loves history.”
The lady beamed at him. She was most likely paid to praise each child, but
Melanie couldn’t help feeling as though she really did have a special one
that was worth describing so highly.
“I think he will do very well here,” she said.
Melanie wondered how often this woman said that in a day. She wondered
if she could work in a daycare center. One kid was probably enough for her.
“Great. Well, is it okay if he stays here for a few hours today?” Melanie
asked. “It could be a sort of trial run and, if it goes well, he’ll start coming
here every weekday?”
She was relieved when the lady smiled and agreed to it. This would help her
go apply for some of the other places that she couldn’t apply for in the
evening. She didn’t want to always depend on Casey to babysit Stevie while
she job hunted.
“Be a good boy,” she told her son, giving his head a kiss. She mussed up his
hair a little and he ran off to go play in one of the play forts.
As she walked back out to her car, she checked her phone to see the time
and noticed that she had a text notification from Doug.
Speaking of being a good boy…
She pressed the icon and read over his text.
“Doing anything fun today? Can I be a part of that?”
A blush crept over her cheeks. What was it about the guy that made her feel
like this? He was not her type, except that he was cute and funny and kind.
He was not good for her, except that he was thoughtful and supportive. He
was a waste of her time, except the best time she’d had so far in this time
had been with him…
She opened up the text’s response screen and started at the flashing cursor
while she tried to think of a good excuse for not hanging out with the vice
president of Stars and Stripes MC. “I have a lot of job markets to explore
today,” she told him.
That hadn’t been a yes or a no, which left the door open for him without
hurting his feelings by saying she couldn’t do anything fun with him.
It didn’t take him long to text her back. She was sitting in her car, putting
her seatbelt on, when she her phone sounded from within her purse. She
pulled it out.
“I could help with that. Want me to drive you around to places on my
bike?”
Melanie sighed and called him. “I’m outside of Little Sprites Daycare. I
don’t really want to leave my car here while I go around DC.”
“Okay,” he said brightly. “How about you drive back home and drop off
your car and I meet you there?”
She wasn’t sure how comfortable she felt with Doug coming to Casey’s
house to meet her. It wasn’t like it was really her house. “How about you
meet me at the closest Starbucks?” she asked him, trying to keep her voice
pleasant. “The one on Chestnut?”
“Sure thing,” Doug replied. If he was disappointed that he couldn’t go meet
her at the house, he didn’t let it show in his voice. “I’ll see you in about
thirty minutes?”
“Sounds good.”
Putting her phone away, Melanie drove to Casey’s house and parked her
SUV in the driveway. She went inside and, not really having anything to do
in this sudden break of alone time, she made herself some coconut-flavored
coffee and brought it out to sit on the front porch and enjoy the nice spring
weather.
When it was time for her to go meet Doug at the coffee shop, she brought
the mug back inside and put it into the dishwasher, then put on her jacket
and strolled down the street to Starbucks.
It wasn’t hard to find him when she got there. He was sitting at a table near
the front door, drinking something that was dark and probably tasted like
lighter fluid. Melanie made a face. “How can you drink black coffee?”
Doug stood up, grinning at her. “It’s not black coffee. It’s got a little bit of
hazelnut flavoring in it.”
She raised her eyebrows at him. “You’re crazy.”
“Would you like something?” he asked, laughing.
Melanie didn’t want to be lingering at a coffee place. She wanted to be
responsible and find a new job. It irked her that he was trying to make her
while the day away. “No thanks,” she said. “We should probably get going
if I am going to have any hope of finding any leads. Are you completely off
today?”
He shrugged a little and put his helmet on, sipping his bizarre coffee
through its straw. “I took the day off,” he said as he led her out to his bike.
“I thought that helping my new friend Ohio was more important than
selling alcohol to drunks.”
Something about that last word made her flinch beneath her skin, but she
didn’t say anything about it.
“Your shiner is fading,” he said, tossing his drained cup into the trash. “Do
you want to tell me how it happened yet?”
“Not really,” she said.
Doug unclipped a shiny red helmet from his motorcycle’s handlebars. “I
bought you a helmet so now you won’t have to worry about not having
one.” He watched as she put it on. “I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said
softly, coming close and looking into her eyes. “You tell me if something
makes you feel threatened, okay?”
Melanie wasn’t sure where this was coming from. She knew that he was
concerned because she had shown up with a black eye, in a new place, but it
wasn’t like he knew her. “Okay,” she said awkwardly. “Thanks…”
He picked her up in his strong arms and gently set her down on the
motorcycle’s seat. Then he got on in front of her. “Hang on,” he warned
before starting up the growling engine.
She wrapped her arms around his stomach and they took off. Melanie
hadn’t grown used to the bike yet, but she didn’t feel as scared as she had
when she first rode it.
Swerving and coasting through all of the streets on the way to DC, she
looked at the road ahead and thought about what she wanted out of life now
that she was free from her husband’s gruff clutches. She wanted a safe
home for Stevie and herself. She wanted to be able to afford her own things
without needing anyone else’s monetary contributions. She wanted
something new and exciting. It surprised her when she thought that.
Doug stopped his bike outside of a burger restaurant in Chinatown called
Lou’s. Melanie looked up at the sign, confused. “What are we doing here?
You know, I’ve got a whole list of places.”
“I know the manager,” he told her. “He’s looking for a waitress. Do you
have any waitressing experience?”
She nodded hesitantly. “A few years,” she said. “But I can find my own
job.”
“Fourteen dollars an hour plus tips,” he said.
That was competitive. She thought it over. “Fine, fine.”
She got off the bike and took of her helmet while he did the same. They
went into the restaurant together, holding their respective helmets under
their arms and looking around. Melanie liked the place’s atmosphere. It was
full of old movie posters and dolls. It was the kind of weird that made her
smile.
“Angelo!” Doug called over the 1950s music that was playing.
A burly, middle-aged man with graying red hair and a stomach paunch
came over. He was also wearing a tiger tattoo. Of course.
“Melanie Carr, this is Angelo Schwartz,” Doug introduced. “Angelo, this is
the girl I was telling you about.”
The man known as Angelo smiled. “Ohio, huh?”

Now that Doug had helped to get Melanie hired, she couldn’t complain
about him distracting her. She wondered if this had been all part of his plan,
but she was too happy and excited to care. The restaurant was cool and the
people there were nice, and it was going to pay her better than she could
have hoped for.
She was going to start work, pending a background check, in two days. She
could finally relax.
“Now,” Doug said, snapping his helmet back on. “Ohio, will you please go
out with me?”
Melanie blushed. He pointed and grinned at her.
“That’s a yes!” he shouted, victorious. “You can’t deny that’s a yes.”
She laughed. “Yes. But only as payback for the job.”
He shrugged that away. “A yes is still a yes. Where do you wanna go and
what do you wanna do?” he asked her excitedly, hopping back onto the
motorcycle with her.
Thinking about it, she wasn’t sure. There were the stereotypical, tourist
things that she hadn’t done since she was little. There was probably a
vibrant, raucous nightlife that Doug knew all about… “We should probably
take it slow,” she told him, smiling. “After all, I am from farm country.”
That made him laugh uproariously. “I think I have a pretty good idea. The
first thing we need to do is get some grub. Do you like Korean barbeque?”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had Korean barbeque,” she answered.
“Well, that settles that!”
She held on as he sped off in the direction of something that yet again only
he knew about. She was finding that it was easier to trust him, and it
alarmed her more than a little because Doug was still largely a mystery to
her. She supposed that the time for asking him about himself was coming,
since they were on a date. The nagging, more fearful part of herself couldn’t
believe that she had agreed to this, while the part of her that was still
curious and excited by new things couldn’t wait to see what Doug had up
his leather sleeves.
They stopped in a park, which Melanie hadn’t expected. Nearby, there was
a statue of a civil war soldier on a horse. That wasn’t so odd, considering
their location, but she hadn’t been anticipating a lunch in this park would be
Doug’s idea of a good date place.
“This place has the best Korean barbeque I’ve ever had,” he told her,
getting off the motorcycle and removing his helmet, attaching it to his
handlebars. He helped Melanie down and she attached her helmet near his.
“Which place?” she asked him, confused.
He led her over to a bright yellow food truck. “This place!” There was a
line the stretched down the street. Apparently other people liked this place’s
food, too. “I have hopped on my Harley and searched the city for this truck
before. They’re the best.”
Melanie looked at him, disbelieving. When they finally made it to the head
of the line, she looked at the menu on the truck’s door. They made steak and
cheese egg rolls. “Those sound amazing,” she said, pointing them out for
Doug. “One order of steak and cheese rolls, please,” she told the nice
Korean girl.
Doug ordered something that looked like fancily-fried pork. Once they both
had their Styrofoam containers of food, they carried them over to the grass
and sat down, cross-legged, while the long-dead soldier from the south eyed
them from above.
“Oh, this is really good!” she exclaimed as she dug into her egg rolls. “You
weren’t kidding.”
“Of course not,” he said, looking proud. “I’m not known for having bad
taste.”
That made her blush a little in spite of herself. “I ask one personal question,
you ask one personal question?” she offered as they continued to eat side by
side.
Doug nodded. “Sounds fun.”
She looked up at him, into his green eyes. “How did you get those scars on
your forehead?”
His eyes widened a little, then went back to normal. He looked down at his
food, picking out the biggest piece of pork and popping it into his mouth.
“Iraq,” he said, swallowing. “I was in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in
Operation All American Tiger… Got banged up pretty badly when a mine
exploded and was sent home with these scars, a purple heart and a new
passion project inspired by my friends who didn’t make it back.”
Melanie stared at him, incredulous. His scars weren’t related to criminal
activity or anything like that! Doug Albright was a veteran! “Oh my gosh,
I’m so sorry.”
He smiled at her then, appreciative. She nearly melted when she saw his
dimple now. “Don’t be,” he said. “I was happy to do my part and I’m proud
of my service. That’s why I ride in the Stars and Stripes. We’re all vets from
the 3rd, all the ones who did make it back in one or two pieces.” He
chuckled a little, and there was a note of sadness in it.
She didn’t want to pry further, but she felt so bad for assuming… “I thought
you were an ex-con when I met you,” she said quietly.
Doug chuckled at her, seeming a tad shy all of a sudden. “I know,” he said,
smiling his cute, baby-faced smile as he looked down at his container of
Korean pork. “If it makes you feel better, I was once held overnight for
decking a guy in a bar. But he was making fun of my wounded friend, so
please don’t be too mad.”
Melanie let out a little cry of protest, shaking her head. She placed her hand
on his hand that was holding his fork. “Now it’s your turn to ask me a
question.”
“A personal question?” he asked her.
She nodded, biting her lip. She knew what he was going to ask, but she
wanted to go ahead and let him ask anyway. If he had assumed something
asinine about it like she had about him, he had done a very good job of
hiding it.
“Who gave you that black eye?” he asked her.
She took a deep breath, but he went on.
“Do you want me to find him and kick his ass?”
Melanie chuckled softly, feeling a surprising calm about the entire situation
now. Doug, Jake, where she now was, all of it. “That was too questions.”
Doug looked her in the eye. “Ohio…”
“It was my ex-husband. Well, my soon-to-be ex-husband… Jake. He used
to get drunk sometimes. He had problems with depression. That’s no
excuse. I used to feel bad for him, until one day I stopped because feeling
bad for him was not helping him and it certainly wasn’t making him stop
hitting me. I didn’t want him to go after our son.”
With a surprised look on his face, Doug asked, “Son?” under his breath.
She nodded. “His name is Stevie. He’s two. He’s so smart…” She looked
Doug in the eyes again after momentarily looking away in embarrassment
and shame.
Slowly, he reached a hand up and gently cupped her cheek, letting his
fingertips softly pet and massage her jawline. He rested his forehead against
hers. “Oh, Melanie,” he said softly, an earnestness coating his voice as his
green eyes gazed into her blue ones. “I really like you.”
He hadn’t used her real name in a while. It kind of shocked her. Blushing,
she smiled at him. “I like you too,” she replied. She felt a nervous energy
fill her up, making her head spin in a not unpleasant way.
Suddenly, his lips were on hers, kissing her deeper than she expected. She
kissed him back, feeling as though little firecrackers were going off inside
of her. This was something she had anticipated, somehow. This was
something she knew was coming, if she kept hanging out with Doug. But,
at the same time, she felt like rejoicing. He was kissing her!
He gently let his tongue slip into her mouth, tasting her momentarily
without going overboard. When he finally pulled back to look at her, he was
smiling cutely again. Melanie definitely wanted more kissing with him. She
wanted more of him in general.
How could she have been so stupid as to assume this sweet guy was a
violent felon?
“Now what?” she asked, biting her lip and hoping that he would say ‘more
making out.’
But he didn’t. He chuckled. “Climb back on board and I’ll show you
something.”
He drove her on his motorcycle through all of the monuments along the
Tidal Basin that he was allowed to enter on a bike. They rode past the
Jefferson Memorial, Martin Luther King, and Lincoln, and waved at FDR
from the street.
Melanie held onto him, smiling and cuddling against Doug’s strong back.
His tiger tattoo made sense to her now. It felt as though everything made
sense to her now.
He soon hit the highway again but he was not on it as long as he should’ve
been if he was going to drop her off at Casey’s house. He stopped his bike
in front of an apartment building just outside of DC.
She was going into the tiger’s den.

CHAPTER FOUR
The Heart of Purple
Getting off the bike, Doug removed his helmet and set it on the handlebars
so he could help Melanie off. She took off her helmet and followed him,
looking at him as he carried his helmet under his arm to the front door of
the building. “This is my place,” he said. “You don’t have to stay over, but
you’re welcome to.”
She appreciated that he was upfront about it. No pretense of coffee was
involved. “Could I just call my friend first to make sure she picks up my
son from daycare?” Tomorrow was Saturday, so Casey would hopefully be
able to watch Stevie for a few hours in case… Melanie couldn’t believe it,
but in case she slept at Doug’s apartment.
“No problem,” he said, taking her helmet so her hands were free to make
the call. He led her into the building’s elevator. “There’s no reception in
here, so you might want to wait till we’re in my humble abode before you
try calling out.” He smiled at her.
He pressed the button for the fourth floor.
“So,” she said, trying to start a conversation. If there was anything more
awkward than a silent elevator ride, she didn’t know what it was. “What
sort of work do you guys do in Stars and Stripes?” Now that she knew it
was a group of veterans who rode their bikes around, she figured that it was
some sort of philanthropic project, not just guys who liked speeding down
highways and getting into fights. She had clearly watched too many movies.
“We raise awareness for those injured in combat, and we accept donations
when we go to events,” Doug answered.
She smiled at him. “I feel like such a goober for thinking you were
dangerous.”
“I’m only dangerous if you’re threatening my loved ones.” He winked at
her and she blushed. Now that he knew she had moved to DC to escape
domestic violence, he was most likely going to try and be her body guard or
something. She liked the idea, but she didn’t want her asshole ex to hurt
him.
The elevator stopped once they’d reached their floor and Doug brought her
to his front door. He unlocked it and held it open for Melanie to walk
through. His apartment was pretty small, with olive green walls and cream-
colored carpeting. He had a bed in his living room, behind his couch so that
he could vault from one to the other if he wanted to. She would not be
surprised if he did things like that.
“Welcome to my abode,” he said, closing the door behind himself and
locking it. “This neighborhood’s known for being safe, but I like to be extra
careful. Can you get you anything? A Diet Coke?” He grinned at her.
He remembered her less-than-flashy drink request. “Yes, please,” she said.
“Thank you.”
“No sweat,” he said. “Make yourself at home.” He went into the
apartment’s small kitchenette to pour her a glass of Diet Coke with some
ice.
Melanie sat on his tan, leather couch and was amazed how much it sagged
when she sat. It must have been fairly old to do that, but something about it
was cozy so she wasn’t going to complain. She pulled her cell phone from
her purse and pressed Casey’s name on her list of contacts.
“Hi, Casey,” she said. “What’s up? Listen, I’m out on a date with Doug
Albright, the motorcycle club vice president that I mentioned to you the
other day…” She paused and Doug smirked at her from his place in the
kitchen. He was keeping his distance from her while she talked to her
friend, out of politeness. “Yeah, the guy with a tiger tattoo.” Doug let out a
laugh at that, and she blushed, smiling at him. He was getting a kick out of
this. “Anyway, would it be possible for you to go to Little Sprite’s Daycare
and pick up Stevie for me? I’m not entirely sure if I’ll be back tonight or
tomorrow morning…” She chuckled. “I know. Thank you so much! I’ll
make it up to you soon. No, shh, I owe you. Bye.”
She ended the call and put her phone back into her purse, setting her purse
down on the coffee table that was actually a big, brown chest that a pirate
might use to store his treasure. Doug brought out her glass of soda and set it
on the chest as well, sitting beside her but keeping his distance. He
definitely gave her space and let her do things in her own time. That was
something she really admired about him. Maybe the army had trained him
in the ways of being a gentleman, too.
Reaching out, she picked up the glass of Diet Coke and took a long sip. The
wind in her face from the motorcycle ride, as well as nervousness, made her
thirsty. She set the glass back down and looked at him, smiling and feeling
a bit awkward because she didn’t know what to say next. She was rusty
when it came to dating, if that’s what this was now, and she wasn’t really
prepared to make the first moves.
All of a sudden, Doug moved closer to her and put his arm around her.
“You’re not afraid to sit close to me, are you?”
Melanie shook her head. “I wondered why you were so far.”
He kissed her deeply and she slid back against the leather couch, ending up
underneath him and not minding that one bit. They made out for several
wonderful moments, and then he broke his mouth away from hers and
looked into her eyes, green into blue.
“Do you want to move to the bed?” he asked her, his voice coming out in a
breathy whisper which she found exhilarating.
She nodded and he kissed her again before taking her hands and gently
pulling her up to her feet. He led her around the couch to the bed. Melanie
started to take off her shoes, because for some reason her brain told her that
was the most important thing to remove.
“I’ll be right back,” he suddenly said, rushing off down the hall hear the
front door. To the bathroom, she assumed.
Melanie removed her blouse next, and her slightly sparkly black pants. She
carefully placed her clothes on the back of the couch in a neatly folded pile.
She sincerely hoped that Doug wouldn’t mind dating a mom, but she
guessed that they were already past the point of worrying about that. He
clearly liked her!
When he came back out of the hallway, he was wearing only his t-shirt and
a pair of dark blue boxers. He was also carrying something small in a shiny,
gold wrapper. A condom.
She was so grateful that he thought about that. The last thing Melanie
wanted was to be pregnant again, at least not for a long time.
Sitting beside her on the bed, he gently removed her bra, cupping her right
breast in his hand and kissing it. He slowly slid her black panties down and
took them off, tossing them onto the couch and knocking her pile of clothes
down onto it with her panties.
He carefully removed his boxers and put the condom on his lengthy, thick
cock. She lay back on the bed, resting her head on one of the pillows and
looked at him. Her heart was pounding in her chest. The last time she’d had
sex, it had not ended well for her. Jake would always violently convince her
to have sex with him somehow, usually so he would stop slapping her
around, and she often spent the week afterward with some sort of bruise or
limp from his abuse.
She didn’t expect that from Doug, though she was still haunted by those
memories.
“Hey,” he said soothingly, positioning himself between her legs but not
moving past that. He still had his shirt on. “Do you really want this?” he
asked, looking deeply into her eyes. “We can stop if you’re—”
“Yes,” she replied, reaching over and stroking the side of his hard cock. “I
want this.”
Smiling a dimpled smile at her, Doug got on top of her, kissing her lips and
her cheeks. “I’ll go slow, okay? I promise.” He could tell that she was
nervous and a little scared, so he was doing her best to make everything
comfortable for her.
He pressed himself into her, caressing her cheeks as he slowly thrust.
Melanie reached up to his face and ran her fingertips over his dimple. She
leaned towards him and snatched his mouth to her own, kissing him and
grinding her hips a bit so she could move herself against him.
When she pulled her mouth from his, she batted her lashes at him. “You can
go faster, if you want,” she said seductively. Suddenly, she did not feel
afraid. Lust for Doug had melted the fear away. All she wanted now was for
him to be inside of her, filling her up and driving memories of the bad guys
away.
Smirking a little, he held onto her and sped up his thrusting. He licked his
fingertips and gently rubbed them against her clit.
“Ooohh,” she moaned. “Oh, Doug!”
“Yeah,” he murmured back, “You like it like this, Ohio?”
Suddenly, something came over her and she pushed him off of her,
slamming him down onto the bed and straddling him instead. She bounced
against his cock, grinding against him and moving him around. He tightly
grabbed hold of her butt and lolled his head from side to side, enjoying
what she was doing to him.
Melanie placed her hands on his chest, running her fingers through his chest
hair and digging her nails into his skin, careful not to puncture too far in.
She leaned over him, feeling the pleasure mounting inside her. All at once,
it felt as though her brain itself was screaming.
Doug took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked. She closed her
eyes tightly as she came. “Aaahhhh, yes! Oh, Doug! Doug!
DOOUUUGGGG!”
His neighbors were all probably well aware that Doug was getting laid this
evening. He smirked up at her and, once she had calmed down, resumed his
position on top of her. He quickened his pace as she wrapped her legs
around his waist. She watched his dog tags as they jangled back and forth,
hitting against his chest as he thrusted. She arched her back a little and
swiveled around beneath him, sensing that he was about to cum. He closed
his eyes tightly. “Aww, yesss!” he hissed as he came. “H’aaahh…”
He pulled out of her and took the full condom off, tossing it into the trash
can nearby. Melanie watched him, missing the closeness they’d just shared
already. Happily, as soon as he was done cleaning himself up, he came back
to cuddle her.
“Where have you been all of my life?” she asked him. “Oh, Iraq, that’s
right.” She giggled a little, feeling like it was time to be silly after what
she’d just felt. Her head felt light and dizzy in a good way.
Doug laughed. “I wasn’t in Iraq for twenty-four years!”
She smiled and kissed him.
He kept his face close to hers when the kiss was over, their noses brushing
ever so slightly against each other. “I think I’ve fallen for you,” he
whispered. “And I don’t just fall and get back up, Melanie…”
Gazing into his eyes, she blushed. “I think I’ve fallen for you, too.”
They lay beside each other one the bed, naked, looking into each other’s
eyes for a pleasant, long time. They hardly said a word, but when they did,
it was to compliment each other.
“Being away from you is going to be hard,” she told him.
He cuddled her close to him. “I’m just a Harley ride away. You can see me
whenever you want.”
The trouble was that, for now at least, she wanted to see him all the time.
She wanted to make up for lost time when she had thought he was no more
than a thug.
CHAPTER FIVE
A Hero’s Welcome
As they rode down the street towards Casey’s house the next morning, they
slowed their speed and Melanie felt as though something wasn’t right. Sure
enough, when they got into the driveway, she recognized Jake’s car parked
there behind hers. As she and Doug stopped near it, the front door opened
and the man Melanie was hoping she would never see again emerged.
He was wearing dark blue jeans and a black button up shirt. She had a
momentary lapse in judgment, thinking that he looked sexy like that, but
then she gave her brain a mental slap and leapt off the bike with Doug.
They both quickly removed their helmets and set them aside.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped at the man she used to love.
“I came here looking for my wife,” Jake said. “I thought you’d be hiding
out with one of your old friends. And here you are. Who the hell is that?”
He gestured to Doug who was standing behind Melanie, slowly cracking his
knuckles as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
From the front window of Casey’s house, Melanie could see her friend was
watching. She didn’t see Stevie. Casey had most likely ushered him into his
bedroom at the sound of the yelling outside. Thank goodness, Melanie
thought.
“If I wanted to be your wife anymore, I wouldn’t be hiding out with one of
my friends,” she pointed out to Jake. “Anyway, I’m not hiding out. I’m
living my life and taking care of my son. It’s over, Jake. So why don’t you
just get in your car and go back to Ohio?”
“It’s not over!” Jake yelled. “I’m sorry about the other night, okay? But you
have really got to learn to stop talking back to me.”
“The only person who has anything to learn around here is you,” Doug said.
“She said she doesn’t want to be with you anymore. Leave her alone.”
Jake pointed a finger at Doug. “You stay out of this, pal.”
Looking him over, Jake appeared to be taken aback by the fact that Melanie
was now spending her time with a biker guy. “You leave home and end up
gallivanting around with this freak!” He tried to approach Melanie, but
Doug pushed him back when he came close. “Melanie, what are you doing
hanging around this- this jailbird?”
“He’s not a jailbird,” she replied. “He’s an American hero.”
Jake scoffed. “Oh, please.” He tried to push forward again, but Doug
pushed him back even further.
“I said leave her alone!” Doug bellowed. Suddenly, he punched Jake
squarely in the face, sending him reeling backwards. He was all set to hit
him again, but it turned out that the one punch had been enough to get Jake
good and dizzy. “How surprising, the big man who hits his wife can’t
handle one measly punch.”
Clutching his cheek, Jake shook his head as blood came from his nose.
“You’re both bullshit,” he spat. “I’m not wasting my time with either of
you.” He got into his car without another word and drove away. Melanie
didn’t think that he would be back again. She was with the man she needed
now.
“Are you okay?” she asked Doug, giving him a gentle hug. “He didn’t hurt
you, did he?”
He shook his head. “My hand hurts a little, which is strange because I only
punched a numbskull.”
“Aww, let me kiss it and make it better.” She kissed the knuckles on his
right hand.
Just then, the front door opened and Casey came outside. “Is he gone now?”
she asked, frightened. “I heard him in the driveway and I didn’t know what
to do. I made sure to keep Stevie in his room. I’m so glad you two were
here to get rid of him!”
When she got a look at the handsome – if unique-looking – Doug Albright,
she smiled at him and Melanie. “Please come inside.”
They went inside Casey’s house and sat down in the kitchen.
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” she told Doug as she poured three cups of
coffee. “Melanie has told me about you, but not enough!”
Melanie blushed. “I didn’t want to divulge every detail.”
He thankfully took a mug of coffee and took a long sip. “Mmm,” he said,
“Thank you.”
Smiling, Melanie got out of her chair and went to the bedroom to get
Stevie. She brought him out by the hand. “This is someone I want you to
meet, Stevie.” The little boy looked up at the tattooed veteran. “This is
Doug Albright,” she told her son. “He was a soldier and now he rides a
motorcycle so he can help other soldiers.”
Stevie appeared to be deeply impressed.
“Hello, Stevie,” Doug said to him, smiling.
Looking at him, Stevie pointed. “You have a tiger on your arm.”
Doug chuckled. “That I do… What’s your favorite animal?”
Stevie thought about it. “I like tigers,” he said. “Did you know that tigers
are the largest member of the cat family? I used to think it was lions, but
no.”
Melanie grinned proudly and pet Stevie’s hair. She loved that her son was
smart and had gotten away from her horrible ex-husband unscathed.
“Hey, Stevie, have you ever been on a motorcycle?” Doug waggled his
eyebrows.
“No, of course not,” Melanie said. “He’s only two!”
“Only two?!” Doug asked, pretending to be shocked. “I thought you were a
graduate student!”
They went outside to show Stevie the Harley and Melanie agreed to let
Doug put him onto the bike – just to sit! – for a picture. “He’s a cool kid,”
he said once Casey had taken Stevie back inside for his dinner. “I like him.”
Melanie smiled up at him. “Well, I’m glad you approve.”
They kissed and Doug soon rode off on his bike. He had a Stars and Stripes
meeting to attend and she was not about to make him late. After all, his
motorcycle club was made up of heroes.
THE END
OUTLAW BIKER
Angelina stood looking at the beat up old Ford her father had owned since
the mid-seventies. He had brought it new in 1974 and babied it for over
forty years now. Well, he had until recently. Stepping out the front door of
his house, the same one she had grown up in, she walked toward it and
sighed heavily as the door creaked open. It had been years since she had
driven his old truck. It had been years since she had driven anything,
actually. Living in New York, having a car was more of a nuisance than a
convenience.
It seemed a bit surreal to even be back here. Angelina had left the small
town in which she was born when she was eighteen and never looked back.
She had attended college in New York and settled there. Being back here
seemed about as foreign to her as the city once had when she first arrived
there.
The truck hadn’t barely been driven in a year, so she was surprised when it
cranked right up. Her cousin had told her he stopped by every week to start
it up and running it around the driveway to keep it from rotting, but it was
still very old and sitting too long had a way of speeding the deterioration
process.
It was already nearly eight at night, so she got going. Around here, they
began rolling up the streets after dark. All of the shops would close soon
and that included the grocery store that she needed to get to. Her father’s
farm was at least ten miles out from the little Save a Penny that sufficed for
food purchases. Angelina was nearly halfway there when the truck
suddenly began hitching and sputtering.
“No! You piece of crap! I don’t have time for this!”
Pulling the truck over to the side of the road, she looked over the warning
gauges. Nothing was blinking red. She heard a loud pop and the truck
shuttered to a complete shutdown. Cursing under her breath, she got out
and looked around. Frustrated, she reached in her purse for her phone,
growing more exasperated as she realized she had left it on her father’s
kitchen table back at his house.
It was unlikely that she was going to find anyone passing by at this hour
way out here, so she grabbed her purse and the keys, heading closer into
town. It was equal distance back to her Dad’s as it was there, but if
memory served her correctly, there was a farm a couple of miles further
down that belonged to the Andersons, old family friends. It would be
quicker to get help from them than to go all the way back to her Dad’s place
on foot.
She was surprised when she the lights from an old restaurant called the
Roadside Diner still on. They used to close at eight. Either they had
extended their hours or maybe they were just still there cleaning up and
hadn’t turned the lights off yet. Either way, she could get help there. She
sped up her pace, hoping they didn’t shut down and leave before she made
it that far.
As the restaurant came closer into view, she realized it had been renamed
“The Pit Stop” and the parking lot was chock full of motorcycles. She
wasn’t thrilled about the hometown diner being turned into some sort of
biker hangout or the fact that she was so desperate for assistance that she
was going to have to go in there. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the
parking lot and opened the door leading inside.
Looking around, she saw nothing but bikers. It was definitely not her kind
of place at all. She headed toward the bar, where she could see at least one
woman working. There was something familiar about her that Angelina
couldn’t quite place, but the woman seemed to know exactly who she was,
smiling at her fondly.
“Hey. Do you have a payphone?”
“Payphone? Do those still even exist, Angelina?”
“I guess not. Listen, my Dad’s truck broke down and my cell phone is at
his house. I need to call a tow truck and someone to pick me up.”
“You ain’t gonna get no tow until morning, hon. You can use the bar phone
to call for a pick up though.”
“Tow trucks don’t come out at night at all?”
“Well, they do when they are able to, but if you look right over yonder in
the corner, you’ll see that Bubba Henry is as drunk as a skunk. Since he
owns the only towing place in town, I’d not recommend him not towing
anything tonight.”
“Good call . . . and crap, I don’t know anyone’s number. It’s all in my
phone.”
“Listen, I get off in about an hour. You know I just live down the road from
your Dad’s. I can get you home and you can get the truck home in the
morning.”
“Look, I’m sorry. I haven’t been home in a long time and you look really
familiar, but I can’t think to say your name.”
“Why, it’s Holly Robinson, honey. We lived over by the bridge down from
your house. You probably don’t remember me because I’m several years
younger, but you probably remember my brother, Tommy.”
“Oh, of course. Yes. Tommy was in my class. I’m sorry, Holly.”
“Don’t worry about it. Just grab you a stool or a table, if you can find one,
and I’ll get you a drink. What would you like?”
“Might as well. Tonight’s a bust and the sitter is still with Dad until
morning. Jack and Coke will do.”
“Coming right up. Sorry about your Dad, by the way, Mom told me he is
really struggling with the Old Timer’s disease.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Sure thing, honey.”
Holly brought her a drink and then returned to the other end of the bar
where a guy was calling for her to get him and his buddies some more
beers. Looking around a bit anxiously, Angelina sipped her drink. A
woman alone in a bar was always a target and it was only a matter of
seconds before every loser in this one was offering her drinks and making
suggestions that were best left unrepeated. One particularly loathsome
creep put his hand on her knee and smiled at her with yellowed, crooked
teeth.
“How about you hop on the back of my bike and take a ride with me down
to Shadow Lake. We can do the nasty under the stars.”
“I have a better idea. How about you take your filthy hand off my knee and
get out of my face.”
“Now, is that any way for a broad to talk to a man that’s trying to get to
know her better?”
“Yes. Get lost!”
Angelina flung his hand off her leg and turned around to face the bar. She
wasn’t sure what happened next, but she heard a yelp behind her, followed
by a deep voice telling him that he’d do well not to touch the lady or bother
her again. She turned to find herself looking at a rather rugged, muscular
guy wearing a leather biker’s vest. The emblem on it displayed what
appeared to be the grim reaper, except the head was that of a coyote peering
out from the dark hooded cloak around the otherwise human looking form.
Beneath that it said, “President.”
He looked back at her with piercing dark brown eyes, his hand still twisting
the creep’s arm behind him. Pushing him away, he continued to look at her
wordlessly with eyes so dark they were almost black. His dark brown hair
was shaggy, sticking out at odd angles in a haphazard style that was nothing
less than dead sexy. Both arms were covered in tattoos. It didn’t take more
than just a passing glance to know that he was trouble or that it excited her
just a bit.
“Don’t worry about him. He won’t bother you again.”
“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that. I could have handled him.”
“It wasn’t a problem. Name is Anson Hawthorne. I lead the Coyotes
Motor Club.”
“Angelina Thompson. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Do you mind if I sit with you?”
Angelina wasn’t too sure that she wanted to be associated with the leader of
a biker gang, but it might keep creeps like the one before away if they saw
her with him.
“Sure. Have a seat.”
He smiled at her, flashing the most perfect white teeth she had ever seen.
She noted a bit of a large tattoo peeking up from his shirt collar as he leaned
forward before sitting back on his stool.
“Pardon me for saying it, but you don’t seem like the sort to be hanging out
in a biker bar, Angelina.”
“I’m not. My father’s truck broke down about a mile or so down the road
and I walked up here to get it towed.”
Anson laughed. “Old Bubba won’t be towing nothing but the line when his
old lady gets hold of him for drinking all night.”
“Yeah, Holly told me I was out of luck. She’s going to take me back out to
my father’s when she gets off work.””
“Visiting then?”
“For a while. He isn’t well, so I came home for a bit to take care of him.”
“Sorry to hear that. What kind of truck does he have?”
“1977 Ford F150.”
“An oldie but a goodie.”
“Not so good today.”
“I tell you what. When old Bubba sobers up in the morning, I’ll get him to
tow it to the shop and I’ll take a look at it for you.”
“Oh, I appreciate it, but I can take care of it.”
“How? Taking it over to Bubba’s rip off cousin? He’ll only overcharge
you and leave behind more issues than before he worked on it.”
“How do I know you won’t do the same?”
“You don’t, but I doubt I’ll get you to go out for dinner with me if I don’t
treat you and your Dad’s truck right.”
“That was pretty smooth.”
“Wasn’t it? Is that a yes?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Not smooth enough I guess.”
“Take care of Dad’s truck and I will think about it.”
“A woman who knows how to barter, I like that.”
He turned toward Holly and signaled for her to bring them another round of
drinks. She smiled broadly at Angelina as she did so. There was no doubt
that Anson was probably quite the catch in this little Podunk town where he
was the most exciting man around, but he was hardly her type. Still, she
couldn’t deny that she found him attractive. She’d do well to watch herself
with him.
“I did learn a few things growing up here.”
“Ah, so you aren’t just visiting. You are a native.”
“Something like that. I’ve been gone for about seven years. I moved to
New York right after high school.”
“The big apple. I’ve been there a few times. I moved here from Detroit
myself. Got a bit too rough up there for my taste.”
“Detroit huh? Can’t really say I’ve ever been there.”
“Trust me. You didn’t miss much, at least not in the hood I grew up in.”
“Based on what I see on the news about Detroit here lately, I think I’ll pass
on visiting.”
“Good call.”
They were interrupted by Holly, who was getting ready to go. She looked
from one of them to the other with a raised eyebrow.
“You still need a ride home?”
“Yes, please. I appreciate it so much.”
“Okay, I’ll be ready in about five minutes. Just let me cash out.”
“Okay. I’ll be right here.”
Angelina turned back toward Anson and sighed heavily. It had already
been such a long day with the flight in, dealing with things at her Dad’s
house and the truck breaking down. She couldn’t wait to get back to a
warm bed and get some sleep.
“Well, Anson. I guess I’m getting out of here.”
“Looks that way. I could take you home if you’d like to stay longer.”
“Thanks, but I’m pretty exhausted. I best be getting back.”
“Good enough. If you want to just give me the truck key and your number,
I will call you after I’ve gotten it towed in and have some news for you.”
“Sounds good. I appreciate it.”
She fished around in her purse for a pen and wrote her number on a dry
drink coaster that sat nearby, handing it to him along with the truck keys.
“I’ll call you tomorrow then.”
“Talk to you then. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Angelina.”
She noted how he said her name and the way he locked eyes with her as he
did. There was no doubt that she needed to get far away from him and stay
that way. He was exactly what she did not need in her life.
“Ready to go?’ Holly asked as she rounded the end of the bar.
“Yes ma’am.”
Though Holly pressed her for details about her conversation with Anson,
she blew it off as nothing, not wanting to start town gossip already. There
was nothing to tell anyway. He was just helping her with her Dad’s truck.
She was grateful when Holly dropped her off at her father’s so she had no
more questions to answer.
“Where have you been? I was beginning to get worried!”
Angelina jumped, startled by Stephanie, her father’s caretaker’s voice in the
darkness of the living room. She had not expected her to still be up with it
being so late.
“Dad’s truck broke down and I had to wait at some biker dive for a girl that
lives nearby to bring me back. I never even made it to the store and
couldn’t call anyone. All my numbers were in my phone, which I left
here.”
“Yes, I know. I tried to call you when you didn’t come back after a while
and heard it ringing in the dining room.”
“Is Dad okay?”
Stephanie walked to the dining room as she spoke and retrieved her phone.
There were no missed calls other than Stephanie’s. At least there was no
bad news coming from anywhere else. That was always good.
“Yes, he’s fine. He went to bed hours ago.”
“Good. I really hate that you are leaving, Stephanie. Are you sure you
don’t want to stay on?”
“Yes, I’m sure. It’s been nice enough here taking care of your father, but I
really want to get back to the city. This place is just a bit too remote for
me. It was a nice break from the busy streets, but now I miss being able to
just duck out and do what I want to at any hour.”
“I know what you mean. It’s going to be quite an adjustment for me, as
well.”
“I’d imagine so. Do you need help with your father’s truck tomorrow? Did
you have it towed somewhere?”
“It is getting towed in the morning. I met a guy at the bar named Anson
Hawthorne and he is going to look at it at his garage for me.”
“Anson Hawthorne? As in the leader of the local MC? You best watch
yourself with him, Angelina. He is bad news. He’s got a long list of
felonies under his belt.”
“Felonies? Like what?”
“From what I hear, everything from gun dealing to grand theft auto. That’s
why he came here from wherever it was he left. He couldn’t make a move
without being watched by the authorities. Claims he came here to get
himself right and run a legit business, but I seriously doubt he’s cleaned up
his act at all. If you ask me, he moved to the perfect place to carry on as
usual. No one out here watching him except old Pete down at station and
you know how useless he is.”
“Pete is still here? My God, he must be ninety by now!”
“Gotta be. Still the only cop in town.”
“Wow. Well, thanks for the heads up. I’m going to head to bed now and
I’ll see you in the morning before you leave.”
“I think I’ll turn in too. I just wanted to make sure you were okay before I
did.”
“Thank you, Stephanie. Goodnight.”
Stephanie said goodnight and made her way upstairs to the guest room
across the hall from where Angelina’s father slept. He had moved up there
after her mother died, into Angelina’s old room. He said it was less painful
to sleep there than the bedroom he had shared with her mother for forty
years. Angelina had moved into the master bedroom on her visits, finding a
strange comfort that her father could not in being surrounded by her
mother’s old things.
The following morning, she climbed out of bed and showered before
making her way to the kitchen to start breakfast. There wasn’t a lot to make
it with. Groceries were very low. Hopefully, the truck wouldn’t be out of
commission very long or she would have to get one of her cousins to take
her into the nearest town to rent a car to get around in. It was tempting to
do so anyway, but much more of an expense than she could afford with
having given up her job to come take care of her father. His Alzheimer’s
had gotten consistently worse and she felt it was time to be with him rather
than leaving him to the care of strangers.
She put on a fresh pot of coffee prior to scrambling the last of the eggs and
country ham in the refrigerator. Popping some bread in to toast, she heard
the sound so footsteps on the stairs and turned to see her father standing
there in his pajamas still.
“Rose! You look beautiful!”
“No, Dad. It’s me, Stephanie.”
“Stephanie? No, Stephanie left. She’s not here.”
“Yes, Dad. Look at me. I’m Stephanie.”
Her Dad puzzled at her face for a bit, shaking his head. There was no sign
of recognition in his eyes as he looked at her solemnly before speaking
again.
“Stephanie left us. She didn’t like it here.”
“Dad, that’s not true . . .,” she began to say, but he interrupted her with a
wave of his hand.
“Now, Rose. Don’t get upset. It happens with these kids. You know?
They get sassy and think they need to get out and see someplace bigger,
better. She’ll come home when she gets tired of the big city. Don’t you
worry.”
Angelina sighed and pulled the toast up, replacing it with two more pieces
while she prepared him a plate and poured him some coffee. Sitting it in
front of the chair he had always sat in, she watched as he quietly sat down
to eat without another word. He looked so much older and more frail than
the man he had once been. It was heartbreaking to see him like this and she
had to hold back tears as she turned to fix a plate for Stephanie, who was
coming down the stairs.
“Oh, thank you. I’m sorry there aren’t more groceries in the house. I didn’t
have a chance to go myself before you came. Do you want me to take you
to get some things before I go since you didn’t make it last night?”
“No. I’ll be fine. My Aunt Kay is coming later this morning to visit and
said she would pick up some things for me and take me back into town if I
needed more.”
“Okay then.”
Stephanie sat down at the table to eat and Angelina joined her once the last
pieces of toast popped up. By the time they were finished, it was time for
Stephanie to go. They said their goodbyes and Angelina watched her go,
her father standing beside her as the woman pulled away from the driveway.
“I’m going to miss her.”
“Yeah? You liked Stephanie?”
“Who? I’m talking about my daughter, Angelina. She’s leaving for New
York to go to school.”
“I see. I’m sure she will do well.”
“Yes. She is quite a girl.”
Angelina smiled at him softly and began clearing away the dishes into the
dishwasher. The sound of her phone ringing stopped her.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Angelina? This is Anson Hawthorne.”
“Hey, there. Did you get the truck towed?”
“Yes. Already had it up on the rack and looked it over. You’ll be happy
enough to know it was nothing major. Looks like there was some trash in
the tank that got gummed up in the carburetor. I got it all cleaned up and
it’s back to purring like a kitten. Truck has been well maintained other than
that.”
“That is good news. When can I pick it up?”
“It’s ready now.”
“Already? That was fast. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing if you are still signed on for that dinner date.”
“I’m afraid I can’t. My Aunt will be here in an hour to stay with Dad for a
while so that I can try making it to the grocery store again, but I won’t have
anyone to stay with him later.”
“I tell you what. I’ll come pick you up on my bike and take you to lunch
instead of dinner. You can pick up the truck afterward and stop by the
grocery store before you go back.”
“I don’t know about being on the back of a bike.”
“Come on. Where is your sense of adventure? Besides, I’m an excellent
driver . . . excellent driver.”
“I hope your driving is better than your Rain Man impression.”
“I thought my impression was pretty good.”
“Keep your day job.”
“Fair enough. So, pick you up in about an hour then?”
“Sure. I appreciate your help.”
“No problem at all.”
Hanging up the phone, Angelina found that she felt more excited about the
prospect of his picking her up for lunch than she should. The idea of being
wrapped around him on the back of a bike seemed pretty enticing. She
knew she should heed the warnings about him, but her mind just kept
drifting into thoughts about what it might be like to kiss him. Shaking it
off, she finished up the dishes and got ready for her lunch date. By the time
she was done, someone was knocking on the front door.
“I’ll get it, Rose.”
Angelina watched as her father rose, still in his pajamas and head toward
the front door. She addressed him as her mother would have.
“Carl, you are still in your pajamas. You can’t answer the door like that.
Go get changed and I’ll get it.”
He stopped and looked at her, then down at himself. He laughed a little and
Angelina felt a smile spread across her face as the sound. She hadn’t heard
her father’s laugh for quite a while.
“So, I am. Okay, Rose.”
He headed to the master bedroom to change. Angelina had noted that while
he would not sleep in there, he had left his clothes in the closet. Walking to
the door, she opened it to find her Aunt Kay standing outside.
“Angelina! It’s so good to see you!”
“Good to see you too, Aunt Kay.”
“How is my big brother doing today?”
“You know. He is about the same. He thinks I am Mom and that Stephanie
was me leaving for New York when she departed this morning.”
“Bless his heart.”
Pulling Angelina into a hug, she held onto her as if it might be their last.
After a moment, she let go, addressing Carl as he reappeared from the
bedroom. He was dressed in his best suit. It was only Tuesday. Obviously,
he thought it was time for church.
“Well, don’t you look dapper today, Carl.”
“Of course I do. I’m a very handsome man, Kay.”
Angelina looked at him strangely. He recognized his sister. She wondered
if it was just a fluke or a moment of clarity. Taking a chance, she spoke to
him.
“The suit is very nice, but wouldn’t you be more comfortable in your
jeans?”
“Jeans? I can’t wear jeans to church, Rose!”
Angelina sighed. She had hoped his recognition of Kay meant he might
recognize her too, but that obviously wasn’t the case.
“For heaven’s sake, Carl. It’s only Tuesday. You’ve gotten your days
mixed up.”
“Tuesday? Really? But Angelina left this morning and I had thought she
told me she was leaving Sunday morning.”
“A misunderstanding, perhaps. Now, why don’t you go change again?”
“I guess I will. Seem to be losing track of my days. How odd.”
The two women watched him solemnly as he made his way back to the
bedroom to change. It was a dreadful disease to have, but just as awful for
those who lost their loved one to the void that seemed to suck them in and
hold them hostage. They were still watching him when there was another
knock at the door.
“Oh, Aunt Kay. Dad’s truck broke down on the way to the grocery store
right now and the guy that fixed it is going to give me a lift into town to
pick it up, so I won’t need your car. I’ll just get it and then get my shopping
done. Do you mind if I stop for lunch while I’m out?”
“No, not at all, hon. I’m in no hurry. Besides, it’s a beautiful day and your
father seems to know who I am today. Since I will have the car, I may get
him out for a breath of fresh air.”
“Are you sure? You know how he gets in unfamiliar surroundings
sometimes.”
“Absolutely. I’ll stop by and pick up your cousin Reggie on the way in case
there are any problems. Don’t you fret about it. Just take your time and do
what you need to do.”
There was another knock at the door and Angelina realized that she had
completely forgotten it. Walking over, she pulled it open to find Anson
standing there in a pair of jeans that fit in all the right places and a t-shirt
covered with the same leather MC vest as last night. He looked even more
gorgeous in the daylight.
“Well, hello there. I thought you were going to leave me standing out on
the porch.”
“Sorry about that. My aunt just got there too and was trying to explain to
her what I need to do.”
“Ah, got it. You ready to go?”
“Yes. Let me grab my jacket. I’m not as used to the wind blowing on me
as you are, I’m sure.”
“Probably a good idea then. It can sting a bit at times.”
She followed him to the bike and climbed on the back behind him once he
was situated. She put her hands on her legs, not really knowing what to do
with them. He reached behind him and pulled them around his waist
instead.
“Hold on tight. I can’t have you falling off the back.”
Seconds later, they were roaring down the highway toward town. It was
both frightening and exhilarating. Angelina felt a surge of electricity at
how tightly her body was pressed to his. The last thing she needed was to
get involved with someone like him. Not only was he not her type at all,
but he was a criminal to boot! Why did he have to be so damned attractive
though?
The bike roared to a stop outside a garage that was nowhere near town as
she had expected. It was a large metal outbuilding next to what looked like
an old hunting lodge. She had a vague recollection of it having been just
that years ago. It seemed like her father used to come out here with his
buddies during hunting season.
“Is this the old hunting lodge?”
“Yeah, I bought it from the old guy that ran it when I came here and built
the garage to work on bikes and sometimes, cars and trucks.”
“But the lodge is huge. You live in it alone?”
“I live in a portion of it alone. There are additional rooms that some of the
guys in the MC stay in, but they are separated from the main quarters where
I live. It’s like my half of the lodge, a large common area where we have
club gatherings and then rooms on the other end. Some of the guys live
here and some just stay from time to time, usually if they are too drunk to
make it home. Hell, come on and I’ll show you.”
“That’s okay. I don’t want to take up too much of your time.”
“Maybe I want you to take up my time. I did ask you to have lunch with
me. I tell you what. Since we are here to get the truck anyway, I’ll just
make you some lunch. I’m a pretty mean cook.”
“I don’t know . . ..”
“Come on, Angelina. I don’t bite. Well, not unless invited.”
“You aren’t making a strong case for me to stay here for lunch with
comments like that.”
“I promise that I will be a perfect gentleman. Come on. Let me make you
some lunch.”
“Okay. Why not?”
“That’s better! Let’s go inside. I’ll show you around the place first.”
Angelina followed him to the lodge. She felt incredibly nervous about
being alone with him, but she had come this far, so she might as well. To
her surprise, he walked right in the front door without a key.
“You don’t lock your door?”
“No. The rooms lock individually if someone chooses to, but people come
and go here constantly. No point in locking the door. It’s always occupied
by enough people that most intruders wouldn’t want to tangle with.”
“I see.”
Angelina looked around the massive center room of the lodge. A lot of the
original décor from when it was a hunting lodge was present. The huge
fireplace and chimney in the center of the room were quiet in the warm
months, but she was sure that it got well used in the cold ones. She was
relieved when he led her to the large industrial kitchen previously run by
the lodge’s small bar and grill rather than his private quarters.
“Okay, let me fire up things in here and I’ll show you the rest of the place.
It takes a bit for the grill to fire up.”
He flipped a few switches and lights came on everywhere. After starting up
the grill, he motioned for her to follow him. They made their way toward a
back entrance to the kitchen and passed through a hallway to a room at the
end. She noted that this time, he did use a key to gain entry. Walking
inside, she found herself in a cozy living room with its own fireplace. It
was decorated in much what you would expect from a bachelor, but still
pretty decently.
“There isn’t much to it really. This was where the previous owner lived.
It’s just this room, a bedroom and a bath. There isn’t even a kitchen. I have
to use the big one, which is somewhat of a pain when I’m just cooking for
myself.”
She followed as he walked toward the bedroom and flipped on the light. It
was decorated much like the living room, in dark, earthy colors you would
expect from a guy. She noted that the bed was a king size and found herself
wondering how comfortable it might be to spend a night in. He walked
inside and opened the bathroom door, revealing a large Jacuzzi style tub
that also grabbed her attention.
“It only had a shower when I came here. I replaced it with this Jacuzzi
combo. Much better.”
“I am sure it is.”
Angelina smiled a bit awkwardly and stepped away from the door, not
waiting for him as she returned to the living room. He followed behind her,
leading her back out and into the kitchen.
“The other end of the lodge is just set up like motel rooms really. There are
a dozen single rooms and one large dorm style room down there, but we
pulled out all the beds and turned it into a meeting room for the club.”
Angelina watched as he pulled ingredients from a large stainless steel fridge
and put them over on a work table nearby. He threw some slices of bacon
on the grill and pulled thick pieces of bread from a bag nearby.
“Turkey club okay?”
“Sure, sounds good.”
“Great. There are some chips over in the pantry if you want to grab us a
bag. I pretty much like anything, so whatever you want is fine. It’s right
over there by the walk in freezer.”
“You actually keep enough food in here that you still use the walk in
freezer?”
“No, we use it for bodies.”
Angelina stopped and looked at him, wide eyed. She knew he couldn’t be
seriously telling her that, but she wasn’t quite sure it was entirely a joke
either.
“That’s not funny.”
“The look on your face says it was.”
He laughed and flipped the bacon. Angelina shook her head and went to
the pantry to find some chips. She stood marveling at the selection. Most
grocery stores didn’t have this many choices and it didn’t stop with just the
chips. He had all sorts of dry goods and snacks in there in bulk.
“That is a lot of food!”
“Oh, yeah. On weekends, we open up the bar and grill to the club and any
guests, so we buy a lot of stuff in bulk with the MC account.”
“Ah, that makes sense.”
Angelina brought the bag of chips in her hands over to where he was
putting the bread on the grill to toast it while the bacon finished. He looked
at the bag and smiled.
“You’re a woman after my own heart. Those are my favorite.”
“Mine too.”
“Alright. Let me put these together and we’ll go back to my place and eat.
Otherwise, the guys are going to start waking up soon and overrun us.
Bring the chips and grab what you want to drink out of the fridge over
there. I’ve got some drinks at my place, but there is more to choose from in
here.”
Angela grabbed a bottle of ginger ale and the bag of chips while he scooped
up the sandwiches and put them on a plate, killing the grill and motioning
for her to follow him. Sitting the sandwiches on the small counter that held
a sink situated to one side of the living room, he retrieved two tray tables
and set them in front of the sofa.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have a table in here. We could go out in the lobby if you
prefer, but will be overrun with bikers very soon.”
“This is fine. It’s cozy.”
“Good. It will give us a chance to talk without interruption for a bit.”
“Don’t you have a garage to run?”
“Nah. It’s not open to the public. We mostly use it to fix our bikes and
personal vehicles.”
“So, your garage is not open to the public and you don’t rent out the lodge.
You must be independently wealthy.”
“Something like that. Let’s just say I have wise investments.”
Angelina took a bite of her sandwich and looked at him. No doubt that his
investments were anything but legal and her mind was running amuck with
the possibilities of what they might entail. Obviously nothing that she
needed or wanted to know about.
“This sandwich is great.”
“Nothing fancy, but decent when you don’t have a lot of time to cook. I’d
really like for you to come back sometimes when I can make you a real
meal.”
“That would be nice.”
They chatted lightly about where they were from, the differences in Detroit,
New York and here as they finished their lunch. Angelina was quickly
realizing that while Anson might be a biker thug of some sort, he didn’t
come across that way at all. He was very well spoken and intelligent. He
admitted what he had done wrong on numerous occasions and said he came
here to start over, to get a fresh start.
“Some things just tend to haunt you, you know?”
“I suppose that is true.”
“Like you. You’ve haunted me from the moment I first laid eyes on you.
You’re beautiful and nothing like most of the women in this town.”
“I got out of this town as soon as I could. Many of them let it define them.”
His eyes were locked on hers and before she realized what was happening,
he leaned in and kissed her. His hand tangled in her hair as he pulled her
closer and drank her in, searching her mouth deeply with his own. She felt
it all the way to her very core. Her mind told her to resist, but her body
simply refused to cooperate.
It was like a train leaving the station, speed picking up until there was no
stopping it as it steamed toward its intended destination. She gave in to him
completely without so much as a fight. His body leaned over hers as he
began unbuttoning her blouse, never losing eye contact with her. His rough
hands pushed the tank top she wore beneath her skirt upward, exposing her
breasts to his hot mouth. Moaning as he covered a single nipple and sucked
at it, she felt impatient. She couldn’t remember wanting someone so much.
Her hands found their way between them, pulling at his belt, wanting to feel
the hardness that pushed against her hip in her hands. Instead, he pulled
away from her, grabbing her by the hand and leading her to the bedroom,
disheveled and wet with want. Inside, he pushed her down on the bed,
slipping off her jeans and panties as she finished removing her shirt and
tank. She lay naked on the bed as he stood by it, stripping off his own
clothes.
The remainder of the large tattoo on his chest was now fully visible, a
coyote with red eyes and a skull in one paw. There were many more down
his arms, but only the singular one on his chest. His body was in perfect
condition, his muscles stretching provocatively as he pulled off the last of
his clothes and slid onto the bed with her, resuming the feverish kiss that
had begun on the sofa. His hand drifted lightly down her soft skin, the
roughness creating chills down her spine and exciting her in a way that
she’d not felt for a while.
“You’re so beautiful. I’ve wanted you since the moment I laid eyes on
you.”
“I’ve wanted you too,” she admitted. It felt good just to let go and give
herself to him without reservation.
His hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her again, his lips moving away
to trail down her skin in a fiery path toward her thighs. She arched her back
toward him as he bit into one of her thighs and then the other, letting out a
cry of passion as he settled into her center, lapping at her clit and already
soaked folds.
“You taste incredible. I could stay here all day.”
Angelina grabbed his hair and pushed him further into her, enjoying the
way he gnawed and tugged at her clit between driving his tongue further
into her to taste her juices.
“God, you’re driving me insane,” she moaned.
His response was only to tease her more with his tongue and teeth, pulling
at her clit and sucking harder on it as he did. She could feel the pressure
building inside, her body begging for release from the way he was
tormenting her with his mouth. She gasped as he suddenly pushed her legs
apart and slid his calloused fingers inside of her, rubbing them against her
inner walls until she knew there was no holding back. Her body shook
violently as she came and then came again, each wave followed by another
as he continued to play her like a finely tuned instrument.
“Beautiful,” he moaned, lapping up her cum as he continued finger fucking
her until she had nothing left to give. Her body shuddered to a stop as he
pulled free of her, positioning himself above her and stroking his cock just
above her dripping wet pussy. Her body seemed to automatically arch
upward, inviting him in as he entered her with a single hard thrust, causing
her to gasp audibly.
Her nails dug into his back as he began fucking her hard and deep. There
was nothing soft or sentimental about their coupling, it was raw,
passionate. Angelina felt like she was being torn apart with his girth as he
pounded into her furiously as she screamed out with pleasure.
“God, yes. Fuck me harder.”
Their bodies were a whirlwind of motion as he drove into her again and
again, seeming to enjoy the way she cried out and begged for more. It was
the most animalistic and earth shattering sex she could ever recall having in
her life. He wasn’t gentle nor violent, he was just rough enough to make
her realize what she had been missing from anyone she’d ever been with.
All she wanted was more.
“Harder, Anson. Yes, yes, please . . . “
Her words became less and less articulate as her passion reached a
crescendo. She could feel the vibrations in her body begin again as she
came violently, her body shattering into a million pieces it seemed as she
exploded against his cock. Her nails dug into his back as the orgasm
rippled through her.
“That’s a good girl. I love the way your whole body quakes when you
come. I could stay inside you all day just to see that.”
Pulling her legs upward, he draped them over his muscular shoulders,
driving even further into her and rocking his hips forward so that it felt like
he was touching bottom each time he thrust forward. She moaned and cried
out loudly, enjoying the way it felt both pleasurable and a bit painful at the
same time. Then he was pulling free of her, turning her around so that she
was on all fours and driving into her from behind. Her body rocked back
and forth with the force of his strokes as he fucked her hard and fast from
behind, her cries mixing in with his loud grunts and groans in a carnal
symphony.
“God, I’m coming. You’re so fucking tight. It feels like you are milking
my cock.”
“Yes, yes. Come inside me, Anson.”
She felt the warmth as he filled her with the fruits of their lust, sending his
juices flowing through her system, mingling with her own before pulling
free of her and falling to her side on the bed. She moved over and rested
her head on his chest, more content than she could remember being for
quite some time. Before she knew it, she dozed off into a peaceful slumber.
“Oh, God. It’s almost four p.m.!”
Angelina had awakened with a start. It took a moment for her to register
where she was and what she was doing here. Then she had glanced at her
watch and noted the time. Her Aunt Kay was going to kill her! She jumped
up and began dressing hurriedly as Anson sat up in bed, his beautiful naked
body sprawled out atop the covers. She could see him getting hard again
looking at her, but there was no time for another round, as much as she
would like to stay and just fuck him the rest of the day and night.
“I guess we dozed off, huh? I’ll get your truck keys for you.”
Angelina couldn’t help but note the dismissiveness of this tone. She wasn’t
sure what she had expected. It was just sex, right? They barely even knew
one another and he was a criminal. Sure, it had been the most intense sex
she thought she had ever had, but it was still just what it was and nothing
more. Be a big girl, Angelina, she coaxed herself. By the time she was
dressed, he was too and holding her keys in his hand.
“Come on and I’ll walk you over to the garage.”
Angelina nodded as she followed him out the door and through the lobby of
the lodge. She nodded the looks from several bikers who were hanging out
in the area now and how they grinned to themselves. She was careful not to
meet any of their gazes as she did her walk of shame over to the garage.
Anson handed her the keys to the truck and looked at her, pinning her
against the truck and kissing her. She felt it all the way down to her toes.
“I had a great time. We should get together again soon.”
“Sure,” Angelina replied, turning to get in the truck. She started it up as he
stood holding onto the door. When it roared to life, he nodded
appreciatively and patted the cab of the truck, shutting the door so that she
could leave. She felt like a hooker, trading sex for free mechanical work.
How could something have felt so incredible when it was happening and
now feel so bad?
Retrieving her phone from her purse, she called her Aunt to apologize for
her extended absence, telling her she got hung up at the garage for longer
than expected. It was mostly the truth.
“Oh, honey. Don’t worry. We have had a great day. I took your father for a
drive down to the lake where he used to fish and he loved it.”
“Did he remember it?”
“No, I don’t think so. It was if he was discovering it again for the first time,
honey. The look of joy on his face was priceless though.”
“Does he always recognize you?”
“Yes. I don’t know why. It’s as if I am the only one he can remember
consistently. Perhaps because we are twins. I can’t say, but he always
seems to know me, though he sometimes forgets my name.”
“I wish he couldn’t remember me. It hurts to see him like this.”
“I know it does, honey. Just take your time getting home. We are just
getting in and I bought a few things to make dinner in a bit. We’ll be eating
in a couple of hours if you want to get home in time for that. Feel free to
bring your friend.”
“Okay, Aunt Kay. Thank you. I think I will make a couple of stops on the
way in then.”
Angelina ended the call and thought about “her friend.” She needed to be a
big girl if she was going to play grown up games. It was casual sex and he
owed her nothing beyond it. He had fixed the truck for free, after all. She
supposed that was enough.
Making her way to the grocery store, she picked up the things she had
intended to get before the truck had broken down. An hour had passed, so
she still had a little time before dinner. After a bit of debate, she decided
she had nothing to lose. Picking up her phone, she called Anson.
“My Aunt is making dinner. I thought since you made lunch, you might
want to come out for it. She’s a pretty good cook.”
“Asking me to meet the family already? You don’t waste any time do you.”
“What? I, uh, no, I . . . .”
“Relax. I’m just yanking your chain a bit. I’d love to come to dinner.
What time?”
“Should be ready in about forty-five minutes.”
“Short notice.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to if you don’t want. It won’t hurt my
feelings.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
Angelina felt a knot in the pit of her stomach. Why had she called him?
She was trying to turn a casual encounter into something it wasn’t meant to
be. Why hadn’t she just left it alone?
“I’d love to come to dinner, Angelina. I was missing you already.”
“Really?”
Every tense muscle in her body relaxed. She was so relieved that she
wasn’t making an ass of herself by seeming too needy already.
“Yes, really. See you in a while. Should I bring anything?”
“No. I picked up some wine at the store and I’m sure my Aunt has made a
table full of food. She always does.”
“Great. I’m looking forward to it.”
Angelina realized that she felt nervous as she pulled the truck into the
driveway at her father’s house twenty minutes later. Making her way inside
with the groceries, she began putting them away while her Aunt chattered
about her day out with Carl.
“Did he go to bed early again?”
“No. He is watching television in the living room.”
“I’m going to go in and see him for a moment and then I need to freshen
up. I invited my friend Anson over for dinner. I hope you don’t mind. He
was nice enough to fix the truck for me at no charge. It’s the least I could
do.”
“Oh, sure, honey. No problem at all, but this Anson, would that be Anson
Hawthorne?”
“Yes. That would be the one.”
“I would never tell you what to do, but you know about his troubles with
the law, right?”
“Yes. I know. He told me all about it himself.”
“Just don’t get involved in something that could drag you down with the
wrong sorts, honey.”
“I think you’ll be surprised, Aunt Kay. He may have been that person
before, but he came here to start over. He’s not as bad as you think he is,
not at all.”
“I hope you are right, honey. Everyone deserves a second chance. Perhaps
he will make the most of his.”
Angelina smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek before heading to the
master bedroom to get freshened up and changed. She could still smell his
scent on her and had to wonder if her Aunt Kay could, as well. She felt a
flush remembering the afternoon events.
“Angelina, I think your friend is here.”
“Okay, Aunt Kay. I’ll get it.”
Angelina hurried out to the door just as Anson knocked, pausing for a
moment to collect herself so she didn’t seem like an over eager teenager.
She pulled open the door looking much more at ease than she felt. It
immediately dissolved as she saw Anson standing there, looking positively
delicious.
“Going to invite me in or just stand there and stare at me like I’m your
favorite dessert?”
Angelina flushed red again, realizing that she had been doing exactly that.
How transparent she must be to him. She was sure he had this effect on all
the women he bedded and she felt a streak of jealousy. Reminding herself
that she might not be as special as she hoped, she dialed it back a notch.
“Funny. Come on in, Anson.”
“Thank you. I know you said not to bring anything, but I brought some
wine anyway. It’s my favorite. Nothing fancy, just a chillable red. I
thought maybe we could put it in the fridge and have it after all the grown-
ups go to bed.”
“Sounds good.”
“You sure? You don’t seem very thrilled with that idea.”
“No. No. It’s fine.”
He gave her a puzzled look and she realized she was being a bit of a flake,
hot and cold, all that. She wanted to devour him, but she was afraid that if
she showed too much interest, he would bolt. That was the last thing that
she wanted from him, though she wasn’t sure any other offerings were on
the table.
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m just not sure how to behave after today. I don’t
usually just do things like that with someone I hardly know.”
“I know you don’t. I’m glad you did. I like that you couldn’t resist me.”
He smiled at her with a crooked grin that only melted her further. She
smiled back, a flush creeping up her face once more and he laughed.
“And I love that you have that shy streak that leaves you all flustered like
that.”
They were disrupted by her Aunt calling them to the table. Anson followed
her in to the dining room where her Aunt and Father were already sitting at
the table. Anson looked at her father for a moment and smiled, reaching for
his hand to shake it.
“Mr. Thompson! I didn’t realize you were Angelina’s father. It’s great to
see you again.”
“Anson Hawthorne? I haven’t seen you since you rolled into town and
dropped a wad of cash on the counter for that old hunting lodge. You had
that heap plowed under yet?”
“No, no. Just the opposite. I’ve done quite a bit of repair work to it and
live there. You should have Angelina bring you out sometimes to see it.”
“Ah, I wish I could. Angelina’s been in New York for quite some time
now. I’d love to see her, but she just doesn’t seem to get home like she used
to. I miss her so much.”
The sadness in her father’s face was only matched by the confusion on
Anson’s. He looked up at Angelina as if to ask a question and then realized
the answer on his own. He mouthed the words to her and she nodded. He
looked down for a moment and then took a seat near Mr. Thompson.
“I hear you went to the lake today? Were the fish biting?”
“We didn’t fish. My sister just wanted to get out and enjoy some fresh air.
I’ll have to remember to take my pole next time she wants to do that. It
looked like a good place to catch a fish or two.”
“I’ve heard it’s a great fishing hole.”
Angelina had a feeling that he had heard that from her father, though she
wasn’t sure how they had crossed paths or why her father remembered him
when he couldn’t remember her. She had to fight back the tears that
threatened to surface at any moment. Anson looked over at her and put his
hand on her knee, squeezing it knowingly. She smiled through her sadness
at him as they began eating their dinner.
“Rose, I’m tired. I’m going to go on up to be, love.”
“Okay, Carl. Sleep well. I’ll help your sister clear away the dishes.”
The words felt tasteless in her mouth. It was so hurtful to have to talk to
him as if she was her mother and for him to think she wasn’t coming to visit
him, but what could she do about it? Would he have remembered her too if
she hadn’t left? He remembered her mother, though he thought she was
her. He remembered his sister. He even remembered Anson, who he had
probably only met once. Why did he not remember her?
“Aunt Kay, I’ll clear the dishes. You’ve been here long enough. Why don’t
you head on home?”
“Are you sure, hon? I don’t mind.”
“You’ve done plenty already. Dinner was delicious. Reminded me of
Mom’s cooking, always does.”
“Thank you hon. I’ll head to the house and let you kids talk.”
Anson and Angelina both said their goodnights and walked to the door with
her. Anson stood watching until she was safely in her car, though she was
probably in the least dangerous place in the country.
“Let me get these dishes up and we’ll relax in the living room.”
“Here I’ll help you. How about I pour us some wine while we work?”
“Sounds good. So, how do you know my father?”
“I met him when I was buying the lodge. He was there visiting the owner
and encouraged him to sell it to me while it was still standing.”
“Sounds about right.”
“He invited me to go fishing with him. Said I reminded him of himself
when he was younger.”
“Really? That’s surprising.”
“Why? That your father may have once been a rebel of some sort?”
“I guess. I always just see him as my father, calm and peaceful. Never one
to cause a stir.”
“It hurts you that he can’t remember you. I could see it in your face when
he recognized me and spoke to your Aunt. I could see how it pained you
for him to think you are someone else. Rose was your mother, I take it?”
“Yes. I look a good bit like her and he thinks I am her.”
“My grandfather had Alzheimer’s disease. He couldn’t remember anyone
after a while. It is a sad ailment for everyone involved. I’m sorry,
Angelina.”
“Thanks.”
Anson poured them each a glass of wine and they sipped at it while doing
the dishes together. Angelina’s stomach had butterflies each time Anson
leaned in toward her and placed soft kisses on her neck or shoulders. They
finished the dishes and adjourned to the sofa with the remainder of the
wine.
“So, what did you do in New York, Angelina?”
“I’m an accountant.”
“And what about now that you are out here?”
“I don’t know yet. I have some savings that will hold me for a while.
Maybe just get a part time job somewhere. I won’t need much.”
“Would you consider working for the club?”
“What?”
“I could use a good bookkeeper.”
“You don’t have any books!”
“I have books. Trust me.”
“I don’t know if I should.”
“You can. I promise.”
Anson pulled her into his arms and kissed her again. It wasn’t the heated
kiss as earlier, but a lazy, soft kiss that spoke volumes more about what he
felt toward her. It wasn’t lust, it was an affection that had developed
immediately between them. Perhaps there was such a thing as love at first
sight, but what was she getting herself into?
“I’ll consider it.”
“What if I give you some incentive?”
“Like what?”
His kiss intensified, as he pushed her back on the sofa, tangling his fingers
in his hair. She felt a tingling sensation all over as she pulled away and
looked at her.
“Like that.”
“I’m still not sure. How about we go discuss it in my bedroom?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”
Their second time was nothing like the first. It was soft, sweet, like two old
lovers who knew each other’s bodies instinctively. Angelina found herself
shattering over and over as he made love to her so slowly and beautifully
that she wanted to cry, falling asleep in each other’s arms once again. She
awakened in the night to find him reaching for her, taking her again just as
passionately and exquisitely as before. What she felt was so much more
than lust, but it was too soon and she knew so little about who he really
was.
Waking in the morning, she rolled over to find him propped up on one
elbow, looking at her.
“What are you doing?”
“Just watching you sleep. I love how peaceful you seem when you are
asleep. I don’t know that I’ve ever felt quite as peaceful as you look.”
“Never?”
“No. Maybe the closest I’ve ever come was last night, lying beside you.”
“You’re such a charmer.”
“I’m just honest. I could fall in love with you.”
“I don’t think I would mind that at all.”
They were startled by a sound in the living room and Angelina shot up out
of the bed, getting dressed. She laughed as she realized she was acting like
a teenager that was about to get caught making out by her parent, as she
was sure it was just her father up and about. Then, she realized it was
worse than that. If he thought she was Rose, it could be worse.
Making her way out quickly to the kitchen, she began making breakfast. A
few moments later, she heard Anson in the living room talking to him. It
was obvious that her father still recognized him and she found that it made
her sad once again to think that he didn’t know her. Putting the food on the
table, she called them into breakfast.
“Her Rose, look who stopped by again this morning,” her father was saying
as he walked into the room and turned to see her. His expression changed
immediately, a broad smile sweeping over his face. “Angelina! You’ve
come home!”
Her eyes widened and she almost ran to him, giving him a hug so tight that
she thought she might break his fragile frame. She didn’t know how long it
would last, but he knew her. He finally knew her! Tears filled her eyes as
she pulled away and looked into his pale blue eyes.
“Dad. I’m sorry I’ve been away so long. I’ve missed you! I love you so
much!”
“I know kid. I know. I have missed you too. You’re my best girl! Hey,
come here, I want you to meet Anson. I think you’ll like him. He’s about
your age.”
Her father nudged her in the ribs a bit like he used to when he was trying to
fix her up with boys he liked and laughed. Angelina smiled at him,
brushing away her tears. It was all the endorsement of Anson she would
ever need.
THE END
Date with the Devil
CHAPTER 1
There was nothing pleasant and enjoyable about being on the other side of a
bar serving drinks to what seemed like the worst of the pack. But it was
paying the bills, and if she was lucky, the tips would add up. At the
moment, Trisha’s eyes kept watching the clock, counting down the hours
until her shift ended. But as with every other night, the time dragged on,
and she labored over her task of satisfying ungrateful and rowdy men one
drink at a time.
“What will it be?” she asked the large heavyset man as he crashed his
weight onto the stool opposite her. She was often glad of the safety that was
afforded her behind the mahogany partition.
“Other than you?” he asked and grinned. She would have probably taken
that as a compliment and smiled, if it wasn’t for the fact that he was a
member of the Devil’s Disciples Motorcycle Club. They frequented the bar
she worked, and this one never failed to make his affections known.
“Does your order come in a bottle?” she asked as she sighed and reached
for the gin he would eventually take.
“What is it about you girls that make you think you’re so special?” he
asked. He sounded as if he was already drunk, and about to make trouble.
The worst combination she could think of at the moment; and she was not
in the mood for it. She turned the bottle over and filled up the shot glass
before sliding it over to him. He slapped it away, spilling some onto the
counter and drawing the attention of some of the other patrons at the bar. “I
asked you a question,” he told her and glared at her.
“I wasn’t aware that I needed to provide a response,” she told him. “It
sounded like rhetoric to me.”
“What did you just call me?” he asked, further displaying his ignorance.
“I’ve been asking you out for the longest while, and I’ve seen the way you
look at the other clowns in here. You don’t look at me like that. Do you
think they’re better than me?” Suddenly he leaned over and slammed his
hand down on hers. She jumped, frightened about what he was thinking to
do next.
“Hey, what’s going on?” some other guy further down the line leaned over
and asked. “Johnny, leave the girl alone!”
“Mind your fuckin’ business,” he spat.
Trisha tried to ease her hand away while the man was distracted, but she
was too slow. He folded her small hands in his and held onto her tighter.
The fear she felt was now visible on her face, and she looked around wildly
for someone to rescue her.
“Johnny!” A voice came over the din. The man tensed, and ever so slightly
his grip on the girl loosened. He turned around to face Calvin Walker,
leader of the Motorcycle Club. Trisha pulled her hand back sharply and
quickly went to tend to her other customers.
She wasn’t that far off that she couldn’t overhear the conversation. “What
the fuck is going on?” Calvin asked Johnny.
“Nothing,” he said and attempted to get up, but the man blocked his path.
Johnny was bigger in mass than Calvin, but the power he wielded
commanded greater respect, and the man shrank before him like a midget.
“I was just having some fun.”
“Is that what you call it?” he asked. “Get your shit together man!” he told
him.
Johnny wasn’t too pleased about being reprimanded in public and he
shoved past the audience he had created and disappeared, obviously
embarrassed. Calvin remained and took the seat Johnny had occupied
earlier. He rapped his knuckles on the counter to grab her attention, and
slowly she returned to take his order.
She wasn’t a fan of the motorcycle men, and she avoided them as much as
possible. For obvious reasons. “What can I get you?” she asked him.
“White Russian,” he told her-a combination of Kahlua, cream and vodka.
She went about preparing his order, and he sat there, alarmingly quiet. She
was not accustomed to a biker who was not rowdy, and she snuck peaks at
him as she went about his order. “Here you go,” she said and placed the
glass on a napkin. She was about to move off when he started speaking.
“Sorry about that mess earlier; my boys can be…unruly at times,” he said
as if choosing his words carefully.
“No sweat,” she said and attempted to move again. She got the rag from
under the counter and began to wipe water marks from the wooden surface.
“I can’t help but notice that you seem different from other bartenders I’ve
seen before. What’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?” He put the
glass to his lips and sipped, leaving a white moustache in its wake which he
quickly swept aside with the back of his hand.
“Nothing wrong with the place; just the people who come here,” she replied
cheekily.
He smiled at her response and drank some more. “You just seem too good
for it,” he told her.
“The tips are good,” she added. She really wasn’t in the mood for a
conversation, especially with him, and she was grateful when someone else
called for her. She quickly walked away and left him to his drink.
By the time she got back to where he was, he had already gone. But he had
left her a twenty dollars’ tip. She smiled as she slid the bill into the pocket
of the tight jeans she wore. At least he had some class.
She didn’t see him again that night. Nor did she see Johnny again. But a bar
was a bar, and when it wasn’t one thing, or person, it was another. By the
time the night came to a close, she was weary. She called a cab and slumped
into the seat of the yellow and black vehicle that would take her to peace.
“Rough night?” the driver asked as he moved off.
“You have no idea,” she replied as she rested her head against the seat and
closed her eyes.
But then again, neither did she.
CHAPTER 2
It was some minutes past one when Trisha pushed the door to her apartment
open. It was a small place she shared with her mother-now too old to work.
But it turned out to be more of a convenience for her since she wound up
with live in help for her two-year-old son. She was surprised to hear his
voice when she stepped into the dimly lit room, and even more so when she
heard the pitter patter of his tiny feet as he ran to her.
“Hey,” she said as she scooped him up into her arms. “What are you doing
up? Hey ma,” she said and threw her bag onto the chair.
“Here mama,” he said and handed her a piece of paper he had in his hand.
He gave her a smile and she hugged the toddler to her. That in itself
constituted the best part of her day.
“Thanks sweetheart,” she said and pulled him around to her hip as she went
into the kitchenette.
“I hate to see you coming home this late,” Martha said to her daughter and
pulled her robe tighter around her.
“We’ve had this discussion ma,” she said, sounding exasperated as she did.
“It’s not like there is anything I can get at the moment.”
“That’s not the place for a good woman,” she told her, echoing what Calvin
had said to her only a few hours before. “I can talk to Brother Cedric down
at the church. He has some connections he can use to get you out of that
place.” She disliked that her daughter was working in a place she
considered the devil’s play pen, and she made her opinions heard as often as
she could.
But it didn’t make things any easier for Trisha. “I have tried to get a job
before, and Brother Cedric already gave me all the leads he could find; they
were no good, remember? I have to work, to pay these bills and keep things
on the up for Aiden and for you.” She shifted the infant to her other hip and
poured some milk onto the raisin bran cereal she was about to eat. She took
up the bowl and went to sit around the small table in the corner of the room.
Her mother was quiet for a while, and Trisha sighed as she spooned cereal
into her mouth and rocked her child. She gazed on him, and saw how
content he was just to be there with her, and in that moment, as with so
many before, she envied his innocence and his simplicity. And at present
his lack of understanding of her current situation. She had gone to a decent
school, and she was primed to be more. Until she found out she was
pregnant. Aiden’s father was non-existent after that, and she was left with a
baby to raise on her own, and an elderly mother. Work had been hard to
come by, and she had been grateful when her uncle had offered her work in
his bar. It was not the ideal job, but it would pay the bills, and as much as
she hated it, she had had no other alternative.
“Would you like me to hold him?” she eventually asked.
“No, that’s alright,” she replied and smoothed his hair back. He soothed her
in an odd way, and gave her something nothing else did. Peace.
“Okay, then its best I get to sleep then. I tried before but he would not sleep
without you tonight.” She rocked herself to a standing position, and using
the chair as support, was able to walk off, looking more like her old self.
“Is that true Aiden?” Trisha asked as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. She
quickly pushed it back and blinked rapidly to prevent the copycats from
doing the same. She smiled and squeezed him into her, and when he leaned
back and stared her in the eyes, his black eyes penetrating her brown ones,
she couldn’t help but think she had failed him somehow. Before the thought
could take root, she kissed his cheeks and quickly replaced it with
memories of better days.
“Bed,” he told her and pointed to the room they shared.
“That’s right sweetie,” she said and chuckled. “Mama’s tired too.”
She placed the empty bowl into the sink and left it there. She would get it
tomorrow. She placed him in his crib and stood over him, watching his eyes
flutter as sleep took hold of them. She brushed his cheek as he fell into
peaceful slumber, and then went to the bathroom to wash what remained of
work from her spent frame. Her legs ached, and before she slipped from her
jeans, she spooned the wad of tips from her pockets. She had made eighty-
nine dollars tonight. Not bad, she thought. She emptied it into a jar she kept
under the sink, and closed the door again.
Soon, she would be able to afford the life she wanted. Soon, she would not
need to go to that God forsaken place every night. But for now, she would
need to rest to do it all again tomorrow. The thought brought Johnny’s face
to memory, and she shuddered at the thought. He might be there the
following day. And if it wasn’t one Johnny, it would be another.
But something better had registered in her mind, and it was Calvin. He had
come to her rescue after all, but maybe he was playing his hand better than
the rest, and all he wanted was a quick roll in the hay. No one was nice in
that bar without ulterior motive.
“Just my luck,” she whispered to herself as she turned on the pipe and the
warm water spilled out and onto her body.
CHAPTER 3
Every time the door opened Trisha jumped. She was on edge from the
moment she walked into the bar; half expecting to see Calvin and fully
expecting another encounter with either Johnny or another of the Devils.
But things were quiet. Much quieter than she had remembered it ever being,
and just as she was settling into it, she saw him at the end of the bar.
Her eyes scanned the room for any sign of the rest of this cronies, but he
seemed to be alone. He signaled her, and despite what she thought or felt, it
was her job to attend to him.
“You drinking alone tonight?” she asked Calvin when she got to him.
He chortled and looked around. “You noticed, huh?”
“Kinda hard to miss,” she replied. He didn’t seem like trouble, and she
relaxed in the knowledge he provided her.
“Yeah, after last night, I told them to take a night off; go burn some steam
riding or shooting pool or something,” he told her. “Anyway, it’s just us
tonight,” he said and grinned.
She gave him a half smile and leaned on the counter. “So, will it be white
Russian again?”
“No, not tonight. I think I need something a bit stronger, so…serve me up
some Jack Daniels.”
She was used to the gruff voices and stone faces, but he seemed different.
She couldn’t get a read on him, not a full one anyway, but there was
something unique about him. “So,” she said when she returned, “the head of
the Devils, are you? And here you are judging my job.”
He smiled and placed the glass to his head. He gritted his teeth as the liquor
coursed down his throat, and gripped the glass tightly. “I guess we are both
victims of our circumstances,” he said.
“Hey, you gonna fuck him too, or you gonna give us some beer,” an angry
customer shouted at her.
Trisha rolled her eyes and moved away. Once again, she could not
comprehend her present circumstances. What the fuck was she doing
working in a bar? Her face grew blank as she went through the motions of
attending to the waiting men.
“So, you wanna…”
She moved off before she heard what the idiot who had shouted to her
earlier was about to say. He did not deserve her attention.
“Fuckin’ bitch,” she heard him say when her back was turned. But she was
used to it, and she simply could not be like Melissa who flirted with the lot.
Melissa was the other bartender who worked on weekends and on her days
off. She had seen her in action before, and how the men were all over her.
She dressed provocatively too, which made Trisha feel like a Hamish
woman. She looked down now at her clothing, which constituted skin
hugging jeans and a loose sweater top that fell just below her waist. The
shoulders were loose, which showed more skin than she would have
preferred.
“How are things going?”
She looked up and saw her Uncle Ron standing there. He was unlocking the
swing door to come around.
“Hey Ron,” she replied as a genuine smile lit up her features. “I’m hanging
in there.”
He came over and scanned her outfit. “I swear you are going to make me
lose my customers,” he said and kissed her on the cheek.
“What? What’s wrong with my clothes?” she asked and looked down.
“Nothing. It’s just…blah,” he replied.
“Would you prefer to see your niece dancing topless on the bar?” she asked
cheekily.
Ron laughed and ruffled her hair. “Not at all,” he said. “But add some flair
to it will you?”
“Whatever. I don’t hear anyone complaining,” she replied.
“I complain,” one of the patrons offered. “I would love to see what’s hidden
under all of that. Where’d you get this bore Ron? Now Michelle…”
“Okay Dan, that’s enough,” Ron interjected. “Hey, I’ll be here for a while,
so just go on ahead and deal with those customers,” he said, pointing in the
direction of Calvin. “I got these.”
Trisha walked back to where the man was sitting, and apparently waiting
for her to return. “Another drink?” she asked him.
“Why not?” he asked and smiled. He had grey eyes, and black hair that had
silver highlights that made him appear stately. He was wearing a leather
jacket as usual, and a single item of jewelry-a gold watch. She could not
make out any tattoos, but she was sure they were there somewhere.
“Give me a beer,” the guy next to him said.
“Sure,” she said and moved off. When she returned she handed the men
their orders.
“If it’s any consolation, I like your clothes just fine,” he said in reference to
her earlier discussion with her uncle.
“Thanks,” she told him.
“So, would you allow me to take you out?” he asked.
She thought about that for about five seconds before replying. “I don’t think
so,” she said. She had to move, but when she glanced back, he was gone,
and in his wake, a twenty dollars’ tip again.
Somewhere inside she felt disappointed that he hadn’t persisted. But she
would not be disappointed. And she was surprised that she had to will
herself not to be. For the remainder of the week Calvin appeared every
night, ordering the same drinks, and asking her the same question.
On one such night, she stood there and looked him straight in the eyes.
“How old are you?”
“Would that make a difference?” he asked.
“It might,” she said and rocked back on her heels.
“Okay,” he replied. “I am forty-four years old.”
“That’s a clear…eighteen years older than I am.”
“What, afraid you can’t handle it?” he joked.
Trisha found his comment amusing and laughed. “It definitely isn’t that.”
“Then, how about it then? Why won’t you go out with me?” he asked and
locked his fingers on the counter. He was staring at her and demanding a
yes from her.
“You should,” Ron walked by and whispered.
Calvin chuckled. “You should listen to him.”
“Okay, fine,” Trisha answered. “But I want to go to an actual restaurant.”
“What are you suggesting?” he asked and relaxed onto his stool again.
“Nothing,” she said and wrote her number on a napkin. She slid it over to
him and he glanced at it and stashed it away inside his jacket pocket.
“Man, get the fuck outta here!” a voice shouted from the back. Closer
inspection showed that once again, one of the members of his club was
involved in an altercation.
“That’s my cue,” Calvin said and got up. He smiled at her and turned
around. Trisha stood there and watched as he grabbed his man by the neck
and flung him into the wall. “I am fuckin’ sick of your shit Danny,” he
shouted. “No more breaks!” He yanked him from the table he was
crouching over and pushed him to the door. The rest of the men followed.
“What the hell have I gotten myself into?” Trisha asked, and then went
about her duties like a school girl. She hoped she would find an appropriate
exit from Calvin’s world. Very soon.
CHAPTER 4
Trisha was in for a major surprise the following Saturday when she was due
for her date with Calvin.
“Are you sure this looks fine?” she asked her mother. She was pacing the
floor nervously. She had not been on a date in a long time and she was not
even sure what she was in for.
“I think so,” her mother replied. “In my time it was a shame for a woman to
go out with so much skin showing.”
By so much skin she meant Trisha’s bare arms that came from the
sleeveless black dress she wore; it had a low cut that showed her chest, but
was not cut so low that her cleavage showed; she was still self-conscious
about her date being Calvin.
“Ma, this is fine, and these aren’t your days. Things have changed a lot
since then,” she replied as she fluffed her shoulder length hair in the mirror.
She was smoothing her dress and turning about to view her shape when her
cell phone rang. “Yes?” she answered quickly.
“I’m in the entrance hall,” he told her.
“Oh. I’m coming down. Give me a second.” She hung up, exhaled sharply
and kissed her mother before hurrying out.
She was expecting to see Calvin waiting for her, leaning against his
motorcycle and wearing his usual leather jacket. What she didn’t expect
was to see him wearing a white button down shirt with black pants. No
jacket. No motorcycle. He looked nothing like a biker and she was pleased
at the change in him.
“I did not see this coming,” she told him as he opened the door to his Honda
sedan.
“I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve,” he told her.
He was not kidding. He took her to an elegant little restaurant that had a
garden setting. They were sheltered by a thatched umbrella nestled on a
grassy lawn, and surrounded by a wooden bench. It wasn’t what she had
expected, especially since her top half was largely bare, but it was a nice
setting.
“I recommend the barbecued ribs,” he said and smiled.
Trisha laughed. “Why am I not surprised? Barbecue ribs does go well with
a leather jacket.”
Calvin laughed. “Just try and see how well it goes with a slinky black dress
too. You look nice by the way. Not very often I get to see this side of you.”
“Thanks, but I try to keep it under wraps,” she said and blushed. “You don’t
look so bad either.”
“Can’t say the same about the feel. I feel like a shark on land,” he said and
shifted as if trying to get comfortable in his clothes.
Trisha couldn’t help sputtering over the water she had just sipped. “Oh
stop,” she laughed. “You look just fine.” And she meant it. He looked very
debonair, and she didn’t feel a hint of regret at allowing him to take her to
dinner. She did take his advice and ordered the barbecued ribs, and she
could not contain her surprise over the palatability of it. It came with baked
potatoes and steamed vegetables, and she savored every bite.
“So, what do you think?” he asked her as he cleaned his bone.
“I concede; this is good,” she said and wiped her mouth. “I must come back
here.”
“That can be arranged,” he said and smiled.
The rest of the evening found them laughing and talking about odd things
and events. She found she liked his company more than she had anticipated
she would, and when the left, he stopped by the park so they could take a
stroll.
“I don’t get it,” she said as she walked next to him. He had his hand shoved
into his pockets and was all but whistling as he walked.
“Get what?” he asked.
“You don’t seem at all like the man I see coming into my bar at nights.”
“Not any more than you look like the bartender I am accustomed to,” he
shot back.
“True, but something you had said makes me wonder still. You said we are
victims of our circumstances. How is it you ended up as leader of the
Devils?”
“Inheritance,” he told her. “It was something my brother did, and my father
before him. It just kind of fell into my lap when my brother ‘retired’,” he
replied. “I was accustomed to the life, so the shoes fit. But sometimes I’m
not so sure I want to be there, you know.”
“I think I know what you mean,” she told him. They walked together in
silence around the lake, before she hinted at the time. “I think I need to get
back now and relieve my mother. Aiden can be a handful sometimes.”
“That’s your son?” he asked her.
“My entire world,” she replied and smiled.
“Let’s go then,” he told her. “Wouldn’t want to shift your atmosphere.”
When they got to her building, he reached across the armrest and touched
her hand. She looked down at it, and then brought her eyes to meet his. “I
really enjoyed your company tonight,” he said.
“Me too,” she smiled. “You really surprised me.”
“So, can we do this again sometime?” he asked hopefully.
Trisha thought about that for a moment and then smiled. “I’d like that.”
And without another word, he leaned in, and ever so softly placed a kiss on
her lips. It caught her by surprise, and she was paralyzed for a few seconds.
But the kiss wasn’t a bad one, and she found herself responding before she
had a chance to fully think it through. She could feel the heat rising within
her at the same time her heart began to flutter. His lips glided across hers, so
sweet and soft she didn’t dare open her eyes and end the moment. She was
almost sorry when she felt him pull away. But then, she couldn’t hide her
embarrassment at the fact that he was now aware of her vulnerability.
“I’ll see you,” he told her.
“Yeah,” she said and exited the vehicle. He waited at the curb until she was
safely inside, and from the rectangular pane in the door, she waved and
smiled as he drove off. The smile she had felt creeping inside her now filled
her face, and she blushed as she went to her apartment.
She slept peacefully that night, and where she had dreaded going to the bar
before, she was now anxious for it.
CHAPTER 5
Trisha woke up the following morning humming a tune. This did not
escape her mother.
“It went well I suppose,” she said as she folded some laundry.
Aiden ran up to her and she lowered herself to scoop him up. “It did,” she
blushed and tickled the playful infant. He giggled and she tossed him in the
air a few times before twirling with him. “How’s my pumpkin?” she asked.
“Mama,” he giggled and the proceeded to tell her something about the
kitchen. He was pointing, but she wasn’t able to make out anything he was
saying.
“I think he wants his cereal,” her mother said.
“Oh. Is that what you were saying?” she asked him and buried her head
between his head and his shoulder. He squealed and grabbed a handful of
her hair. “Ok, you win,” she told him and tried to untangle her hair from his
grasp. “Let’s get that cereal.”
Trisha spent most of the Sunday with her son, which ended at the park two
blocks from her apartment. Still, all the while she could not get her mind off
of Calvin. She caught herself smiling several times, and by the time
Monday night rolled around she was besides herself with anxiety.
Her eyes kept roaming the bar, but she saw no sign of him or his men. Her
already sour temperament grew to enormous proportions, and by the end of
the night she was livid with anger. She yanked the shirt from her body when
she got home and slammed it into the laundry basket. Then she stared at
herself in the mirror.
“It’s okay Trisha,” she told herself. “It was just one date. Nothing to be so
sore about. He will turn up eventually.”
But telling that to herself and believing was another story. Calvin was
missing for the other three days, and by the time Friday rolled around she
had all but given hope that he would return. Until she saw him walking
towards her. She froze in her task of wiping the glasses, and then turned
away.
“Double shot of whisky,” he ordered. She didn’t respond, but instead moved
to produce his order. He held onto her hand when she placed the glass
before him. “Can I talk to you?”
“Oh, so now you want to talk?” she spat. “You wasted the last few days you
should have spent doing that.”
She walked away, and half expected that after an hour he would be gone,
and she would see the twenty-dollars’ tip he was accustomed to leaving.
But instead he remained, and even when the rest of his men left he stayed.
Even when everyone else was gone.
“I think now would be a good time to go too,” she said as she closed the
cash register and locked up. “I need to get home.”
“Not yet,” he said and pulled her to him. He crushed her in his arms and
replaced the words she was about to spill with sweet nothings, and a rabid
need for her. “I’ve missed you,” he said between kisses, and though Trisha
wanted to resist, she found herself clinging to him instead. The bar was
empty, except for them, and Calvin lifted her and brought her to the booth
in the back. He had an ache for her he could not deny, and when he looked
at her head held back, and saw the vein in her neck pulsating, he registered
her base desire for him.
He gripped her soft, warm body and laid her on the leather seating. When
his breath touched her skin she shivered, and he breathed her in deeply. His
lips found hers again, and she clung to his hair for support, already
forgetting the week he had been gone and she had been pining for him. In
that moment, she wanted him, and she was not about to deny herself his
passion.
And Calvin was not in the mood for flurry and distractions. His hands
surfed her body, ending on her firm ass. He gripped her there, and she
tensed in anticipation of where they would move to next. She didn’t need to
guess for long; he reached up and cupped her breast, and in one deft motion
he had her shirt pulled up, revealing her smooth skin. He kissed her to her
nipples, and then covered each with the warmth of his mouth.
Trisha was writhing by this, trying to shift in a more comfortable position.
He noticed, and in that moment he slid her jeans down, revealing the
blackness of her underwear in stark contrast to her skin. He lowered his
head and smelled her, closing his eyes as her essence filled him. Then like a
mad man, he stood and unbuckled his belt and let his manhood fly free. She
rested on her elbows, gawking at its splendor before he pulled her to him.
He let her sit on the edge of the table, and with her legs spread wide, he got
easy access to her treasure. He slid inside, and she moaned as he filled her,
and in the silence of the bar, they ravaged each other. The only other sound
that could be heard was the scraping of the table against the floor, and their
pants and moans. Calvin buried himself in her repeatedly, and she dug her
nails in him as clapping sounds now filled the vacant room.
He pressed deeper into her, gripping her hips as her legs wrapped around
him. Then he slowed, brought her face to his, and kissed her passionately
and intensely. Trisha was barely able to control her breathing as the
emotions swept through her. She could feel the ecstasy rising, and as she
melted over him, he shuddered, muttered some inaudible words, and tensed
as he climaxed in response to hers. He stood there, her legs still surrounding
him and held her tightly to him.
Trisha was lost in the moment, and she rested her head against his chest as
she felt him grow limp inside her.
CHAPTER 6
“So, what was that all about?” she asked as she got into his car.
“What, that?” he asked and used his thumb to point back at the bar.
She laughed, suddenly feeling lighter and freer once more. “No, not that,”
she said. “I mean, we go out, and then you disappear, and then this?”
He wiped his hand down his face and then turned the key in the ignition. “It
had nothing to do with you,” he said and pulled off the curb. “I had some
complications with some of the members of the club.”
“So, should I expect this every time there is an issue with some of ‘your
boys’?” she asked and quoted the words in the air.
“No, nothing like that,” he said and turned to look at her then. “I do find
you attractive Trisha, and you seem like just the kind of woman I want in
my life. There is a certain feeling of calm about you.”
“I can see why that would be appealing,” she smiled.
“So, can I take you out again?” he asked.
She looked over at him, but this time there was some level of doubt
concerning the man he was and what he was capable of. Immediately, her
mind wandered to the intimacy they had just shared, and she began to feel
some guilt about it. She had been careless, and she had allowed her need to
cloud her logic. She had slept with a man she barely knew, and she wasn’t
sure she should continue, or that he would.
“Are you sure?” she asked. “I mean, back there was great, but, can there
really be something between us? We come from such different
backgrounds.”
“Yet, we are the same,” he replied. “Don’t think too hard about it. Just say
yes,” he told her.
She gazed out the window at the city lights rolling by, and she closed her
eyes as the warm air caressed her cheeks. She had gone this far; she really
had nothing to lose. “Okay,” she said quietly.
But her doubts found no fertile ground, for Calvin showed up every day
since then. They went to a club he visited on occasion; one where the
Devils were sure not to be. He was surprised at how easily she let loose, and
pleased that she was everything he had hoped she would be. He took her to
dinner some nights, and on others, they just sat on the hood of his car and
admired the stars and the city buzz.
“So, what will it be tonight?” he asked her as he sat on the stool in the bar.
“I was just thinking of staying in,” she told him. “I’ve had a little too much
excitement of late.”
“Come on,” he pleaded.
“Cal!” someone shouted from behind.
Calvin turned, annoyance creeping into his face. “What?!” he snarled.
“It’s Johnny,” one of his men said. He had a scar running from just below
his left ear to his mouth. “He is fuckin’ around with that bitch from the
Hornets again.”
“Where is that piece of shit?” a voice sounded in the bar.
“Hey, whatever this is, take it outside,” Trish shouted. She had seen what
these brawls could do and she was not about to subject the establishment to
another reminder.
“Now, hold on a minute Sax,” Calvin said and stepped before the man.
“There is no reason to…”
“The hell there isn’t. Where is he?” he barked.
“If you was fucking her the way you were supposed to, then she wouldn’t
be running to me,” Johnny said as he pushed his chair back and got up.
“Johnny, shut the fuck up!” Calvin said. But the man had already charged,
and before he could say another word, the two were tangled. Calvin rushed
over and grabbed the man by the collar, yanking him off of Johnny. He
placed himself strategically between them, and just as the man was about to
charge again, he grabbed his fist, intended for his face, in midair. The act
caused the man to stumble, and when he veered sideways, Johnny lunged at
him.
“Get out of this Calvin,” Sax warned. “Johnny had this coming.”
Calvin straightened himself and wiped the corners of his mouth with his
thumb and index finger. “Let me handle it,” he told the man and pressed his
hand into his chest to stay him. The man was snorting fire by then, but he
eventually shrugged off Calvin and stepped back.
“This ain’t over,” he told Johnny and walked off.
After he did, Calvin turned to Johnny, and before he knew what was
coming, he landed him a punch square on the jaw. Trisha jumped when she
witnessed the act, and in the middle of serving a customer she froze. She
watched as he collared the man, and pierced him with his eyes.
“This is your last fuckin’ warning Johnny. Get out!” he barked. The man,
who had been like an oak tree in the face of Sax, shrank down to the size of
a twig. With his tail between his legs, he limped away, his pride, and
possibly his jaw, ruined. Calvin stood there for a while longer, seemingly
calming down, before he came back to the bar. He barely looked her in the
eye just then, but she couldn’t deny she admired his prowess and how in
control he was. There was a dark allure to him that intrigued her, and she
wore a smile when she went back over to offer him a drink.
CHAPTER 7
“I thought you didn’t like my guys,” Calvin said to her as he played with
her hair. They had just spent the evening relaxing at his studio apartment.
She had been pleasantly surprised at how neatly he kept his place, and she
had felt right at home as she curled up on the sofa with the throw covering
her bare feet.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she told him. “I despise what you do, but I can’t say
I don’t admire how you do it. I don’t even know how you keep those men in
line. I mean, what if someone comes after you?”
He sighed and stroked her face. “I am sorry you had to see that the other
night with Johnny and Sax, but no one is coming after me.”
“How do you know that? Any day someone could get angry enough to want
to retaliate and then what would happen? I mean, I know you are tough
enough to handle your own but…what?” she asked when she saw that he
was laughing now.
“It’s just amusing watching how worked up you’re getting,” he told her.
“It’s kind of cute.”
“It won’t be when they smash your face in,” she said, and she was
developing a pout as she spoke.
Calvin was laughing harder by this, and before she could continue, he
pulled her to him. “I’ll be fine,” he told her and kissed her.
She hesitated at first, but like all the other times before in the past month,
she either could not refuse him, or she was that attracted to him she didn’t
desire to. She opened her mouth and received him in the same moment that
his hand found her breast. He squeezed gently at first, and then lowered his
head to nip her on the peak. She felt the goose pimples stand at attention as
he did, and she trembled when he slid his hand up her skirt to feel her
throbbing invite. He sucked in a deep breath, and moved to push her skirt to
her waist. He bit his lips and moved his hand up between her skin and the
cotton underwear she wore. Then, he deftly pulled back and the thin fabric
followed him down her thigh. He did the same with the other side, and
when she lay exposed, he buried his face where she desired him the most at
the moment.
She quivered as she felt his tongue traverse her slow erection, and she
sensed the tenderness when it grew ripe and ready for him. He shifted her
legs and pulled the underwear to her ankles, and when she lifted her leg out,
he kissed her calf, her inner thigh, and then the soft moist spot that had
grown red hot and burning with need. He inserted his two prominent
fingers, curling them inside to meet her g-spot, and as she shook, he
covered her clit with his mouth.
Trisha grew wild, and her heart pounded inside her chest. She dug her hand
into his thick mane of hair. Something about the way the stubble on his face
scratched her skin made her hornier, and she pressed him further onto her.
By this Calvin had grown ripe with need, and he dipped his hand inside the
waist of his sweat pants and pulled out his aching member. He turned her
onto her side, and with his hand gripping her ass he forced his way into her.
She dug into the fabric of the sofa as he moved about inside. She felt the
sensations overwhelm her, and she began to grow dizzy. Calvin gripped her
breast as he dug into her, and she moaned loudly as he pulled back and
filled her again. And again. And again. Their breathing grew wild in the
otherwise quiet space, and Calvin somehow managed to slip under her so
that she was now on top of him, and her back towards him. He gripped the
outline of her ass as she covered him, and as she rode, he moved her hips in
a circular motion. He could feel himself growing larger and larger inside
her, and before he did the unthinkable, he felt her flood him with her cum.
He gritted his teeth.
“Oh, baby, now I am going to fuck you hard.”
He flipped her over on her knees, squeezing her swollen breast from
behind. He plunged deep inside of her, and fucked her with wild abandon.
As he felt his force rush from him, he pulled her hips toward his penis, and
let her have it all.
Her body still heaved after they were through, and then she moved. She
turned to face him, a smile spreading over her entire face, and he brought
her back to relax on top of him. She curled up there, without saying a word,
and it was then that she acknowledged how much he had grown to mean to
her. And how much she never wanted to let him go, despite the number of
years between them.
“I should have been with an older man all along,” she chuckled.
“Well, your only mine now.”
CHAPTER 8
Trisha stood looking at the device in her hand, her mouth agape and the
color all but gone from her features. She knew what the double lines meant,
but she hoped something was wrong with it. As if in answer to her internal
questions and doubts, she felt the gastric acid rising inside her gullet, and
she barely made it to the toilet bowl before the fluid came pouring out. She
heaved as she felt like she would spill her organs. After a few bouts she
only gagged and yakked, bringing nothing out but air and fright.
When she was feeling slightly normal again, she slid to the ground and
rested against the bowl as the tears trickled down her face. Her mind
immediately went on Aiden, and then her mother, and how she was already
struggling. How would she cope with a baby on the way? What was even
worse was that she had no idea how he would take the news. What would a
biker, the leader of a gang, be doing with a baby?
“Are you okay?” she heard her mother call from outside the bathroom.
She quickly wiped the tears away and stood up. “Yeah ma. I’ll be right out.”
She leaned against the sink and stared into eyes she did not recognize and
then her eyes traveled to her stomach. Involuntarily her hand went there,
and she felt the spot where her new baby had already begun to grow.
She trudged through the rest of the day after that, and by the time rolled
around for her to get to work, her energy level had hit rock bottom. Calvin
came in, like he always did, but she wasn’t sure how to look at him.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” he asked her.
“Nothing,” she told him and went about her regular duties. He kept his eyes
on her the entire time, and he noticed how frequently she disappeared into
the back room. Something was going on with her, and he needed to know
what.
“What’s got you more sour than usual?” a customer asked as he downed his
shot glass of whiskey.
She was so close to him the breath he exhaled formed an invisible smog
over her face, and almost immediately she felt like retching. She rushed to
the back and into the bathroom for what felt like the millionth time that
night. Upon her return Trisha saw Calvin looking oddly at her, just before
he left the bar. She was relieved she wouldn’t have to face him at the end of
the night, but her mood wasn’t lightened in the slightest bit.
The was looking at her strangely when she returned. “If I didn’t know any
better I’d say…”
“No one asked you anything,” she snapped and cut him off. She spotted
Ron coming in then, and she moved towards him. “Hey, I’m not feeling so
good tonight,” she told him. She kept her eyes averted so he couldn’t read
what was on her mind. “Would you mind if I left early? It’s only about
three hours for my shift to end.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he said. “I got this.”
“Thanks Ron,” she said and hurried to grab her things. The cool night air on
her face relieved her somewhat of the nausea. She had just started walking
to the corner when she saw him standing across the street. When he saw she
had seen him, he skipped across the street and came right before her.
“Are you pregnant?” he asked her.
Trisha’s eyes peeled at the suddenness of his question. And more
importantly its accuracy. “Wh-what?” she stuttered.
“I know the marks of it,” he replied. He stood there waiting for her to reply,
and she shifted around on her feet and then stared at the pavement. “Did
you plan to tell me? How long have you known?”
“I only found out this morning,” she replied. “I mean, I’ve been seeing
some signs but I didn’t want to believe it.”
“Wow,” he said and raked his hair with his hands. “Wow.”
“Yeah, wow,” she echoed. She looked up at him then, and she was surprised
at what she saw. He didn’t seem at all perturbed by the news. As a matter of
fact, he was smiling. “You like this news?”
“Why the hell wouldn’t I?” he asked. “I am just…I didn’t once think it
would happen again.”
“Again? You have been trying?!” she asked almost angrily. She didn’t want
to think that he had been deliberately trying to impregnate her.
“No, not you,” he told her. She sighed with relief when he answered, but his
intentions were not in question now; she was pregnant nonetheless. “So,
how do you feel? How far along are you? Should you be around all that
alcohol still?” The words flowed from him like water from a tap, but she
just stood there looking at him.
“Are you even listening to yourself?” she asked him. “Calvin, I am already
struggling to maintain my son and mother, and now there is another baby on
the way,” she said as the tears began running down her face again. “I don’t
know what I should do, or what I am going to do.”
“Hey,” he said and came over to hug her. She stepped back and held her
hands out. “What…what…?” he wasn’t sure what to ask, or what to do as
he found himself in extremely unfamiliar territory. “Look, it is a bit chilly
out here. Let me take you home.”
She wiped her eyes and looked around. “That’s fine. I think I’ll take cab,”
she said and backed away. When she was a few feet off she turned, and
Calvin was left standing on the pavement wondering what he had missed.
The elation he had felt earlier was suddenly replaced by concern and
confusion as he watched her back disappear around the bend. Then he
turned and went back into the bar; he needed something strong to drink.
CHAPTER 9
“Hey, you ridin’ today?” Crusher asked Calvin. The man was sitting on his
motorcycle with a rag in his hand. He had been adjusting the brakes, and
was now rubbing off the grease that had blackened his hands.
“Nah,” he replied and paid undue focus to the simple task of cleaning his
hand.
“You sure?” Crusher asked. “Hornets were spotted fishing in our territory.
Johnny…”
“If I hear that mother fucker’s name one more time…where the hell is he by
the way?” Calvin spat. Ever since he had taken over the club Johnny had
been nothing but a thorn in his side. It seemed he was in a permanent state
of rebellion since he had wanted to take over ruler ship of the club; a
position Calvin would have given to him if he had shown himself capable.
The only reason he had assumed leadership was because his brother had
made it out to be an inheritance; something he had to do. But he had grown
accustomed to the life, having lived it for several years, and being at the top
for a few months. Now, the things he would normally be engaging in were
slowly becoming shadows behind Trisha’s news of the baby. Johnny was
the last thing he needed to deal with now.
“He’s around back with the guys,” Crusher answered.
“Let him stay there. You and the others can ride; that’s not for me today,” he
said and tossed the rag onto the seat.
Crusher stood looking at him for a few seconds before walking off. The
man had a distant look in his eyes, one he had never seen before, and he
could tell company would not be the thing he needed. “Alright,” he said.
When he turned the corner Calvin heard him whistle, then a few murmurs,
and later, the sound of thunder as all the engines came to life at once. Calvin
watched the cloud of dust that followed them out of the yard, and then took
out his phone absently.
Trisha hadn’t spoken to him in days; ever since he had discovered her
pregnancy. He slid his hand across the phone to unlock the screen, and dial
her number-one he knew by heart. But as usual, it rang and went straight to
voicemail. He was not content with waiting on her to show up, and with his
heart in his hand, he got on his motorcycle and sped to her home.
The woman who answered the door looked him up and down before
responding to him. He surmised she must be her mother, since he had not
met her before. “May I help you?” she asked.
“I’m here to…” the words fell short when he saw her approaching.
“Mama, it’s okay,” she said as she hurried down the hallway. “What are you
doing here?” she asked him. She stood uncomfortably with the grocery bag
across her midsection.
“Do you mind?” he asked as he held his hand out so he could to assist her.
She shifted on her legs and then nodded. He took the bag and followed her
inside. Her mother was still sneaking looks at him, but she never
volunteered an introduction. It took him by surprise when she ambled over
to him.
“Are you the man who got my Trisha pregnant?” she asked directly. She
stood there looking at him as she waited for the answer.
“Ma!” Trisha replied as she tried to shut her up.
“I want to know, because you already have a child without a father, so I
want to know if this one will do better,” she said, as she folded her arms
across her chest.
Calvin stood there, looking from one to the other and not knowing exactly
how to respond. “I..” was all that came from him, so stricken was he with
embarrassment.
“Well?” the woman asked as she looked him over. “You seem like a capable
man, despite those ugly marks on your skin. Do you have any more
children?” She was referring to the one tattoo on his forearm that was
visible now that he wasn’t wearing a jacket.
Calvin had never undergone an inquisition but he suspected now what one
must feel like. “No, ma’am,” he replied, as if choosing his words. “I had
one.”
Trisha’s eyes went to him then, as he spilled information she had no
knowledge of before. “Ma, just leave him alone,” she defended again. The
woman made one last sweep before walking off, just as Aiden came
running in. Calvin watched her leave with the toddler, and then he returned
his attention to Trisha.
“I didn’t know you had a child,” she told him, as she turned her back to
unpack the small parcel of groceries.
“There are many things you don’t know about me,” he replied and made his
way over to her. “And even more you didn’t even bother to ask,” he said as
he insinuated their unborn child.
“There is nothing to talk about,” she said.
“I think there is,” he said and forced her to face him. “Do you think you
have to do this alone?”
“I think I might,” she told him, her voice suddenly getting shaky. “Look at
you, and the life you live. It was a mistake to get so caught up, and now we
have involved a baby into things and I…” She sighed, as the words died in
the air. “I just don’t want to do this.”
“Are you hinting at something?” he asked accusatorily. He could tell in her
voice she had been contemplating an abor…he couldn’t even bring himself
to think the ugly word.
“I just think it would be better if…”
“Don’t even think about it Trisha,” he almost shouted. “This is my child
too! My child! You have no right to do anything without talking with me.
You don’t have to want him, but I do.” He was getting more emotional than
he had ever known himself to be, and he could feel the fire growing to
enormous proportions within him.
“So, what do I do?” she asked, tears coming to her eyes.
“Nothing,” he replied. “Just let me handle this.” He walked off then and she
followed him to the door.
“What does that mean? Handle what?” she asked.
He stopped when he was in the hallway. Then he turned and looked at her,
and she could see the hurt in his eyes. “Just don’t do anything without me.”
And then he turned and walked away.
She stood there watching him as he opened the door to the stairwell and
disappeared inside. She felt her mother come up behind her, which meant
she had been listening all along too.
“How old is he by the way?” she asked.
“Ma,” Trisha replied in an irritated voice. “Just leave it alone.”
She followed her daughter back inside, and closed the door behind them. “I
hope he was wrong,” she said.
Trisha pretended not to hear her, but she was already feeling ashamed of
even having thought about it.
CHAPTER 10
The following days she was plagued with a sense of guilt and increasing
anxiety. Her nausea had abated, if even for the moment, and she appreciated
it. She was half expecting Calvin to show up later that night. But he didn’t.
Her heart skipped a beat when she saw Johnny enter, and then some of the
other men. But no Calvin. Immediately she thought that he must be angrier
with her than she had assumed. She held her head down and was overly
attentive to the glass she was wiping.
“Hey!” she heard someone shout. “Refill?” The man was banging his glass
on the counter and seemed to have been trying to get her attention for some
time.
“Sorry Reg,” she said and moved to the man.
“What’s got you so out of it?” he asked when she got to him.
“Just family issues,” she replied. She poured the drink without another word
and he didn’t ask. She kept watching the door, but her hopes were
constantly dashed when each time the door opened it admitted another
person she was paid to serve.
What she couldn’t ignore was the weird looks she kept getting from his
men. They didn’t say much, but they were less rowdy than usual. And that
didn’t change for the following three days. On the third night since he had
visited her home, she had all but given up hope of seeing him. It didn’t
make any sense to her why he would have gotten so passionate before, only
to disappear after. She didn’t need another day to make up her mind about
what she needed to do, and come the following day she had a necessary trip
to make.
Her feet dragged behind her as she crossed the busy intersection. Her mind
was swirling when she got to the door to the doctor’s office. She stood
there, rooted to the spot as her heart thumped in her chest.
“Are you coming in?” the security guard asked as he held the door back.
She looked at him blankly, almost as if she was looking right through him.
Then she stepped back, and started sobbing as she hurried back to the
corner. Her eyes were so wet with tears, and the sound growing louder in
her head the longer she stood there, that she was blinded to everything else
around her. She wheeled madly around when she felt someone touch her,
and she blinked rapidly to clear the mist.
“Trisha,” he whispered when he saw her.
“Just go Calvin,” she told him. “As if I wasn’t confused enough, you have
made things even worse for me.”
“Oh, but you have been mistaken,” he told her as he gripped her by the
shoulders and turned her around to face him.
“You said you wanted this child, and then you don’t turn up. Is that what
I’m to expect? Your mind swaying back and forth indefinitely?”
“Trisha, it wasn’t deliberate,” he defended. He let go of her and wiped his
hand down his face. “I…this wasn’t an easy decision for me.”
“It still isn’t for me,” she replied flatly. “How are you going to be a father
when you are running around with a gang? I should have known better,” she
said and began to walk off.
He grabbed her by the arm and stopped her. “I gave it up,” he said.
She froze after he spoke, and then turned around. “Excuse me?” Her eyes
were hopeful, but still reluctant to believe what she thought he was saying.
“That’s what I was doing these last few days,” he replied. “After I found
out, I knew I couldn’t risk losing another child, and I knew you wouldn’t
want me if I was still riding with the gang. So, I gave it up.”
Fresh tears stared springing into her eyes, and she quickly brushed them
away. “Are you saying what I think you are saying?”
He smiled and took her face in his hand. “I want this,” he told her. “You,
our baby, and everything in between.” She felt paralyzed, and then her
knees started to buckle. He caught her when he saw her swoon, and pulled
her to him. “I got you,” he told her.
They stood there on the pavement, at the corner of the street, and as the
world went about its business, and the people passed them by, they
remained fixed in the universe they had created. Calvin looked into her
eyes, smoothed her check with the back of his index finger, and then his lips
found hers. Trisha was never one to display emotions outwardly, or
encourage public shows of affection. At the moment, she didn’t seem to
mind doing either. She held onto Calvin, and received his kiss gladly. He
crushed her to him, and transformed her earlier pain and anxiety to euphoric
bliss.
When he let go the tears were still coming. He chuckled and wiped them
away with his thumb. “You have a lot of those,” he joked.
She sniffled and leaned back. “I guess so,” she said.
He put his arms around her shoulder and led her away. “Come on, let’s get
you home.”
The two walked off home, an unlikely duo, attracting the attention of a few
passersby. But they were incognizant of it as they basked in their newfound
happiness.
************
“What are the odds?” she asked Calvin as the two sat together on the park
bench. Aiden was busy chasing the neighbor’s dog and rolling around as he
lost the battle continuously.
“What?” he asked, a contented sound pervading his mood.
“That you and I would be sitting here, doing this,” she said and leaned so
she could rest her head on his shoulder.
He lowered his head and kissed her forehead, and his hand moved over her
stomach that was now six months old. She no longer held the job at the bar,
for obvious reasons. Calvin had sold his apartment for a bigger one, and the
two were to move in together the following week.
“Neither did I,” he replied eventually. “I mean, I knew I didn’t want to be
the head of the Devils for too long, but I didn’t see this coming.”
Trisha sighed contentedly, and smiled as she watched her older child. Life
would not be perfect, and she didn’t wish for it. But they had each other,
and at the moment, she needed nothing else.
THE END
Outlaw’s Baby
Changing lanes turned out to be harder than she thought as Joy signaled to
the sleepy, oblivious drivers surrounding her that her exit was coming up.
She found herself suppressing a short burst of anger toward them, until
finally someone waved her in front of them. She smiled appreciatively,
startled to discover that it was a friend of hers from high school, Mary Anne
Jenkins. They didn't have time to acknowledge their bond as Joy pulled in
front of her, onto the exit that would lead her to her rural hometown.
She hadn't been back home in over ten years. She'd been desperate to get
out of the small town where it seemed like nobody could possibly
understand her. They were all so close minded and simple, and there was a
whole world out there that they couldn't possibly imagine. She felt an ache
in her chest as she drove, passing by familiar landmarks as if they were
images from an ancient dream. She hadn't known how much she would
miss it, spending all her time in the city, meeting one wrong man after
another. It had been exciting in its way, the adventure and danger of being
with somebody so unpredictable and passionate, but all of them turned out
to be far too self-absorbed, and wound up hurting her.
When she phoned her sister and told her about where she was at—broke
and stranded after a man had taken her for all she had and moved on to
somebody else, her sister had been concerned.
“You've been away from home for far too long,” Kayla said. “You forget
what you deserve if you're not around the people who treat you right. Why
don't you come and stay with me for a while?”
The offer had made Joy cry, and the next day Kayla had wired her some
money so that she could afford the trip back home. The asshole had robbed
her blind. She'd thought he was different from the others, but he had been
the worst one yet. His name was Gordon, and although he'd been sweet to
her at first —they all were—it wasn't long before the viper in him came out.
He was awful to her and had scarred her in more ways than one, especially
the night he decided to take off with all of her things. She'd tried to defend
herself but it hadn't gone well, and his looks had clearly told her that if she
called the cops on him, they would find her and she wouldn't get away with
it.

She shuddered as she pulled into Kayla's driveway, his face in her thoughts
until the screen door opened, and a tiny child hurtled toward her car. This
must be her niece, Penny, a three year old bundle of energy. Kayla was
bounding out shortly after, swiping the toddler up swiftly and carrying her
over her shoulder as she approached Joy's beat up old car. Joy couldn't
believe the old sucker had managed to make it through the long journey.
“Joy!” Kayla exclaimed, pulling her sister into a bear hug. Penny squirmed
and twisted so that she could hold tightly onto Joy's head. Joy normally
didn't like children much, but the chubby little arms around her head melted
her heart.
“Hi sweetheart,” she said to Penny, planting a small kiss on top of her head.
The little girl smiled shyly and buried her head into her mother's shoulder.
“How was your trip?” Kayla asked as they carried Joy's few belongings into
the house.
“It was long. I didn't expect what they did to that park. It's kind of sad,” Joy
said.
“Yeah, they did that a while ago. I felt sad when I saw it the first time too.
But you know, times change. They needed to do some maintenance and
make sure none of the kids got hurt.”
“We never got hurt!” Joy exclaimed.
“Well, you know hover moms,” Kayla said with a wink, setting Penny
down. Penny, a bundle of pure energy, was moving immediately, running
into her little bedroom.
“Thank God you're not like that,” Joy said, sighing.
“She deserves to learn as much about the world as she can,” Kayla said with
a shrug. “If you don't let them explore, it hurts them. Simple as that.”
“Yeah...”
Their conversation lulled as Joy looked around the living room. There was a
picture of Kayla with her ex-husband Daniel holding a baby Penny between
them. Kayla saw her looking and smiled sadly.
“It's not fair for Penny if I don't keep that up. She still loves us both.”
Kayla nodded as if she understood, but she couldn't imagine how hard that
must have been for Kayla.
“I would never be able to keep a picture of an ex up on my wall,” Joy said,
shaking her head.
“It's for the baby,” Kayla said with a shrug. “Besides, I like remembering
that she came from a time of love, not the part that came afterwards.
Anyway speaking of exes, did you hear about Zak?”
Zak. Joy pulled to mind the image of scrawny Zak from high school, the
only boy who had ever understood her rebellious spirit. He wasn't the most
popular, being the class clown and always jumping in the middle of fights
caused by bigger and stronger boys. He was always sporting a black eye
from this or that, hoping to protect the kids who didn't deserve to be bullied.
Unfortunately that got him bullied too. He had been cute, though. And
clever. He was her first crush.
“No, what about him?” she asked, worried that something bad may have
happened to him. She could tell by the glimmer in her sister's eye that it was
probably unlikely, but she couldn't help but worry.
“Well, he's changed,” Kayla said mysteriously.
“How has he changed?” Joy asked.
“He's an outlaw,” Kayla said.
“An outlaw?! How did that happen?”
“You'd probably never recognize him on the streets if you passed him. He's
bulked up a lot, put some meat on those bones. If you hadn't left right after
high school, you would have been shocked. Anyway, I guess he fell into the
wrong crowd, and now they kind of hole up at the edge of town, acting like
they own the place. I don't know what kinds of things he does, but the cops
pretend he's not there. Probably paid them off or something.”
“Wow, I never would have guessed that. He had such a gentle way about
him,” Joy said, her curiosity burning. She would have to avoid him, though.
If the past ten years in the city had taught her anything, it was that bad boys
were not for her.
“I know, it surprised us all. But you can see him riding around here on his
motorcycle, scaring people into doing what he wants. I don't know how that
happened, he used to be so reasonable.”
“Things definitely do change,” Joy said thoughtfully, gazing into the
distance.
“Here!” Penny shouted. She had suddenly appeared from her bedroom,
carrying an armful of her favorite toys. She dumped them into Joy's lap, her
blue eyes shining.
“Thank you,” Joy said with a laugh. That had been unexpected
“She likes to share with people,” Kayla said apologetically, after Penny had
disappeared again to rummage through her closet in case she forgot
anything. “Especially people with good hearts.”
“How would she know that?” Joy asked.
“Kids just know,” Kayla said. They sat in silence and Joy sighed, reflecting
on this and wondering if it was true.
Chapter 2
Staying with her sister brought back all kinds of old memories, and Joy
found herself feeling more like herself than she had in the past ten years.
They would stay up late gossiping and watching movies, taking turns
playing with Penny and taking care of her. It was nice for Kayla to have a
hand with baby responsibilities, and it was refreshing for Joy to be around
people who didn't expect anything from her. She had been feeling depleted
around others, but with these two, she could feel herself slowly starting to
heal.
Penny adored her, which was strange. She had always assumed kids
wouldn't like her, but maybe that was because she had never been around
many of them. She found herself warming up to the idea of motherhood the
more she stayed with Kayla and Penny. They would always have each
other, a friend who loved them through thick and thin. There was nothing
more beautiful than that, she decided, and then laughed off the thought. It's
not like she would have a chance to be a parent any time soon. She was
going to take a long break from men, because with the way things were
going lately, they would be nothing but bad news.
“Joy, Penny and I are having dinner with Daniel tonight,” Kayla said,
walking into the room as she put in an earring. “We do that sometimes. It's
better to keep things civil, kind of stay in each other's lives. It helps Penny
to see us getting along, and we can talk about how to take care of her the
best, you know.”
“Oh wow, that's pretty mature of you,” Joy said with a laugh. “Will Rebecca
be there?”
Kayla made a face and Joy laughed. Rebecca was Daniel's new girlfriend.
“No, we decided it would be best if Penny didn't meet her unless they got
serious. It would just confuse her.”
“Smart move,” Joy said with a nod, and Kayla smiled at her.
“Anyway, as always feel free to help yourself to whatever's in the fridge. Or
you could go out, the old diner is still open. We'll be back kind of late so
don't worry about that. We're going to the movies afterward.”
“Okay, no problem,” Joy said.
When Kayla and Penny were gone, the house seemed too quiet. Ever since
she had arrived, she had been constantly surrounded by them. If Kayla was
at work, she was home with Penny. If there were errands to run, they went
together. It was like old times, fun and exciting. It was nice to have a sister
again.
But without Penny or Kayla, the house was too quiet and Joy began to feel
like an outsider. She worried about how long she would be able to stay there
without becoming a burden. She didn't have an income yet, though Kayla
had gotten her a bunch of applications from shops around town. Joy had
dutifully filled them out, and was waiting for Kayla's next day off, when
they would go out on the town, return the applications, and treat Penny to
ice cream.
The more she thought about the old diner, the more curious she got. Once
her stomach began to grumble and she felt hungry she picked up her brown
leather jacket and tossed it on, hopping into her old car and heading toward
the diner. She knew the way by heart, even though she had never been to
Kayla's house before. The small town was surrounded by countryside, and
only a couple of streets boasted shops. There was the main street, where
most things were, and the diner was a bit further off, near the turnpike so
that it could attract out of towners on the road and looking for some lunch.
Chapter 3
Joy hummed as she drove, her mind turning back to how strange it was that
she was in her hometown again. Everything had seemed frozen in time in
her mind, and when she noticed that something had changed, anything, she
felt a protective surge. How dare they change her town? Although she had
been desperate to disown it and get as far away as possible, it was still
where her roots were, and she wanted it to stay the same way that it had
been imprinted into her mind.
Her favorite song on the radio began to play and she turned up the volume,
singing along, feeling great as she soared down the country roads. She
loved doing this as a teenager, there seemed to be no laws out on the open
road, and she enjoyed feeling like she was completely alone, free to do as
she pleased. The cops were rarely patrolling the country roads on the town’s
outer limits, so she felt a rebellious old urge, familiar from her past, to
speed her car up. She put pressure on the gas pedal and allowed herself to
zoom down the road, singing her song loudly. She paused at a stop sign and
glanced both ways before accelerating again.
Unfortunately, her car stalled. She cursed and tried to turn the engine over,
but it didn't work. She was stranded.
“At least it's not too cold,” she told herself with a sigh, unbuckling her
seatbelt to climb out of the car and lift up the hood of her car so she could
take a look at her engine. Unfortunately she didn't have a clue what she was
looking for, or even what she was looking at. She didn't have a cell phone,
Gordon had stolen that from her too, and so she couldn't call out for help.
All she could do was sit there, hoping somebody might notice her there. Or
she could walk, but it would be a long walk, and if anybody stole her car,
the last of her worldly possessions, she was sure to have a breakdown.
She decided to stick with her clunky old car, and climbed back into the
driver's seat. She put the four way lights on dutifully, hoping that somebody
would pass soon to help her. The idea seemed impossible though –
especially after living in the city for so long where nobody trusted anybody
else, and for good reason. She decided to give it an hour of waiting before
heading out to get some help.
She tried to keep her mood light, knowing it wouldn't help anything if she
got upset. Unfortunately as the hour ticked by, she ran out of ways to amuse
herself and sighed. She locked her car doors and began walking. It seemed a
little dangerous, but she had a can of pepper spray tucked into her coat
pocket and had taken self-defense classes after one of her terrible
boyfriends had decided to sucker punch her one day for not doing what he
said. After years of dating good for nothing men, she felt like she could take
care of herself.
As she walked, the temperature grew cooler and she shivered even though it
was summer. She tried to distract herself by staring up at the moon. She
hadn't seen the sky so clearly in years and years, and the bright glistening
stars above her were enchanting. She paused, stopping suddenly to watch a
shooting star fall through the sky. It was mesmerizing, and she found
herself wishing subconsciously for somebody to help her.
A rumble of an engine met her ears and she turned around, squinting into
the headlights of a motorcycle. It slowed to a stop, pulling over to the side
of the road. The dark silhouette of a mammoth man stepped off the bike and
walked toward her, his bootfalls heavy and clinking. He must have been
wearing chains.
“That your car back there?” he called out, squinting at her. When he was
close enough to make her out he stopped moving, his breath caught in his
throat.
“Joy?” he asked incredulously.
She would have known that voice anywhere.
“Zak...”
The two of them stood staring at each other in the motorcycle's headlights.
Finally, he shook his head with a laugh.
“When did you get here?” he asked, his voice rolling with pleasure and
suppressed laughter. It was a sound she knew well – he was sincerely
pleased to see her.
“About a week ago,” she said, walking forward. “I heard you're an outlaw
now.”
Now he let his laughter escape from his lips, strong and rumbling, piercing
her. She was finally close enough to see him and eyed him up and down.
Kayla hadn't exaggerated – Zak had definitely put on some muscle. His
arms were hard and his face had grown chiseled and lean. Whatever baby
fat he'd had the last time she'd seen him had melted into a firm, handsome
face and grown and expanded into rippling muscle. She couldn't take her
eyes off of him. He'd grown a short beard, groomed tightly to his face, his
dark hair grazing his shoulders.
She noticed a tattoo of a snake around his huge bicep and she looked into
his brown eyes, still gentle but with a hint of steeliness that hadn't been
there before. It gave her the same feeling as seeing the old park being
renovated had given her – a tightening of the chest, but this time, there was
more. She was intrigued, wildly attracted to him. She suddenly found
herself wanting to know everything – how he had become the way he was.
What had happened to him while she was gone?
“Yeah, in a manner of speaking. I prefer to see it as I don't take shit
anymore.”
His deep voice found her in the dark, and she moved a bit closer to him. His
eyes were dancing in the moonlight.
“So is that your car or what?”
“Yeah,” Joy said. “That's my piece of junk.”
Zak hopped on his motorcycle and she felt a pang of panic. Was he going to
abandon her here, the same way she had abandoned him so long ago for a
life in the city? But he just grinned at her.
“Hop on. Let me give you a lift.”
Would it be safe for her to get on the bike with him now that he was an
outlaw? An outlaw who might feel like she had double crossed him? He had
seemed to understand when she broke up with him, and gave her that same
adventurous smile he had on now.
“Conquer the world, babe,” he'd said to her then. And she felt that he'd
meant it. If he knew what she had really done – been used and abused by
every man she'd been with since him – he would be sorely disappointed in
her.
“Thanks,” she said, getting reluctantly on the bike. This was going to be
interesting.
Chapter 4
“You ever been on one of these before?” he asked her.

“No,” she said, sitting close against him. Gordon had a motorcycle but he
had never let her near it. She shook the memory of him away, suddenly very
aware of the raw masculine power exuding from Zak. His spicy scent
surrounded her, and she found herself fighting the urge to kiss him behind
the ear like she would have done ten years ago.
“Right. Well just hold on tight, I won't let you go flying off anywhere. If
you get scared just say so. You might have to shout. Keep your feet up.”
He reached behind himself and gripped her hands in his, pulling them
around his thick, muscled torso and not releasing them until she was
gripping him tightly. The nearness of his body was surprisingly intimate,
and she was glad that it was dark and she was behind him, or he would have
seen the deep blush crossing her cheeks. That was something private,
something that she was not ready to share with this man, who she thought
she had known so well. Now it turns out they were perfect strangers.
The whirring of the motorcycle engine filled the air, they attempted to have
a conversation as they drove. She would yell close to his ear, and his deep
voice would be carried by the wind to her.
“So where were you heading tonight?" he shouted.
“I want to go to the old diner for dinner, I hadn't been there in so long and
Joey's fries sounded perfect. That's out of the question now, they're
probably closed or something. Everything around here seems to have
changed.”
“Not necessarily," he said.

To her surprise, he speed up the motorcycle and before she knew they were
parking in the parking lot of the old diner. She didn't know how she felt
about having dinner with outlaw, but there was so much that she wanted to
ask him about his new life, and it had been so surprisingly intimate to be
with him on the motorcycle. She was reluctant to part his company, and
found herself grateful for the excuse to spend more time with him and have
a conversation where she wouldn't have to shout for him to hear her.
“Joy!” Joey exclaimed. “I haven't seen you in years. Come now, order
anything you'd like on the house.”
Joey simply nodded at Zak, and returned to waiting on a couple who were
at the counter.
Zak and Joy sat down comfortably at a booth, the same one they used to use
in high school.
“This brings back memories," Joy said with a smile.
“Yeah,” Zak said. “Hey, isn't this where you dumped me?"
She looked up at him, her face falling in surprise and shame, but he was
grinning and his tone was playful.
“Anyway, that was a long time ago. That doesn't matter. I'm really proud
that you were able to go out and live your life. It's not something that most
people from this stupid town are able to do.”
“Honestly sometimes I wish I would have just stayed put. You know they
say curiosity killed the cat?”
He nodded.
“You've had a rough go at it, huh?” he asked her, his eyes suddenly gentle
and serious.

“That's one way to put it,” she said.

“Well for now try to forget about that stuff. I want to hear about the good
stuff. There must have been something you loved about your freedom right?
Otherwise you wouldn't have stayed out there so long.”
Zak was right about that. She looked at him, searching her mind for the
things she thought he might want to hear about.
“I loved that nobody knew who I was, or had any expectations of how I
should act because of it. I was never confined by anybody else's rules.
Except maybe the cops," she said with a laugh. His voice rumbled with
deep laughter, and she realized how much she had missed him. “Tell me
about you. Rumor has it you’re a no good outlaw. But what does that mean
exactly? Am I going to get in trouble just for sitting here talking to you? Is
a cop going to show up and arrest you?”
His eyes sparkled and his lips pursed into a small mischievous smile. She
recognized the look from when he was about to beat her at a hand of cards,
and he was happy but felt guilty about it because he wanted her to win too.
“I'm not sure you could handle all that over one little dinner," he said with a
wink. “Besides, it's bad dining etiquette to talk about your felonies over the
table.”
“I see. The strong silent type. How mysterious," she said wryly.
“Well, you don't really have to worry about me getting arrested. Me and the
cops have kind of an understanding. I can help them do their job a little bit
better than they can, and nobody around here causes trouble because we
take care of things. We want to keep this town clean, so that's what we do,
no questions asked. I do have a warrant out in a few other counties though,
so I've got to keep my head down. Otherwise, I'm free as a bird."

“That sounds interesting. Thank you,” she said as Joey brought her huge
plate of fries. Her stomach rumbled loudly and the three of them laughed as
she dug into it immediately. It seemed that he remembered her favorite
order and swiftly followed by bringing out her favorite cheeseburger and
beer for Zak.
They quietly studied each other as she ate. He was thicker, but not fat. He
had developed some strong, lean muscles and a chiseled face. His blonde
hair looked really good grown out to his shoulders like that, and she found
herself fighting the urge to touch it and tuck it behind his ears. He was
wearing a cut off leather vest and a tight white V-neck T-shirt that showed
off his strong pecks. His green eyes followed her wherever she went, the
same way he would study her while they were dating in high school.
“So what is it like being back?” He finally asked her once she had cleared
most of her plate.
“I've been staying with my sister and my niece,” she replied.
“Oh, I see them around sometimes. Your sister has a really cute baby.”
“Thank you, I think so too.”
Joy remembered fondly that Zak had a very soft spot for children. It seemed
so strange that he would be a criminal now. She wondered what kinds of
crimes he was involved in, but she was glad to know that he was keeping
the town clean. His brother had overdosed and died when they were kids, so
she could understand why he would take it upon himself to keep drugs out
of their town. She just couldn’t fathom how he might do something like
that, not the sweet kid that she had known so long ago.
She couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she had his full attention. The
way he looked at her made her feel exposed, naked and vulnerable. It was
nothing like the way they had looked at each other as kids. Both of them
were more experienced now, with everything, and had become the people
they always dreamed of being. She had taken a lot of effort to change as
much about herself as she could, and she could tell that he had done exactly
the same thing. He had seen himself as vulnerable and weak, and he had
done whatever he could to change that.
Now he was feared and respected all over town, when most people had not
even known his name. It was quite a difference, and for some reason, she
had never been more attracted to anybody in her life. She wondered if it
was just because of their history together, but she couldn't get enough of
him. The way he looked at her and laughed. His strong, capable hands
taking hers and squeezing them as if he could read her thoughts. His deep,
soothing voice and the gentleness of his green eyes, the ferocity of his body
and the way those eyes could harden in a heartbeat. She never wanted her
meal to end.
He seemed to feel the same way. After they left the diner, they lingered
under the moonlit sky in front of his motorcycle, quietly contemplating the
strangeness of being so near to each other once again.
“Where should I drop you off?” Zak asked finally, after riding around in
silence for a couple of blocks. They were both enjoying the peaceful night
air and he hadn't wanted to ruin that. “I don't really know where your sister
lives these days. I don't make it my business to stalk people the way some
small towners seem to do.”

“Well, you could take me to the mechanic's, I can pay for them to tow the
car and then call my sister to pick me up.”
“All right,” he said with a smile. They lingered for another couple of
seconds, neither of them wanting to ruin the still perfection of the space
between them.
Finally, he mounted the bike, waiting patiently for her to sit behind him.
She did, wrapping her arms intimately around his waist. She felt him tense
up at her touch and then relax into it, sighing softly before he started his
bike and took off down the road.
As he drove, the air felt cool and soothing on her hot skin. She laid her head
heavily on his back, imagining how different her life might have been if she
had just stayed put in her rural hometown and allowed him to marry her and
make her the happiest housewife on the block. It just wasn't a fate she could
envision for herself. Although it seemed to work well for her sister, she just
didn't think that it was what she wanted. It seemed that she was missing
something; the urge to settle down with a man and live a normal life that the
other girls seemed to share was something that she never had.
But having him right there, holding him tightly, feeling his familiar body so
close to hers again made her close her eyes and breathe him in as she
thought of how different her life might be. Would they have had their own
house? A white picket fence? Dogs and children? The idea seemed absurd,
but strangely enough, not unpleasant. But look at him now – there was no
way he could balance any kind of home life with the lawless lifestyle he
was living. There was no way it was feasible. She would have to get rid of
those fanciful thoughts and just focus on the present.
The crisp night air rushed over her body, making the warmth of Zak's even
more desirable. She held onto him, squeezing him as if making sure he
wasn't a dream and he wouldn't disappear. He held one large hand over hers
for one delicious moment before they pulled into the body shop. Zak
dismounted, and she couldn't help but notice Zak's jeans, tight against his
ass; how they curved into the forbidden V of his crotch. She forced herself
to look away, hopping off the bike herself and standing on unsteady legs.
The ride had left her feeling a little dizzy.
“Hugo!” Zak called.
A small, balding man that Joy recognized from high school popped out
from nowhere.
“Hey Zak,” he said, a little too cheerfully. He must have been afraid, he was
eyeing Joy and the motorcycle nervously.
“Listen, this pretty lady's car broke down out on N, do you think you could
do a tow?”
“Oh sure Zak, no problem. Anything for an old friend.”
Hugo disappeared into the body shop and Zak turned to Joy.
“What he really means is, I owe you and I know it but let's not talk about it
in front of the women folk. It's degrading.”
“Why does he owe you?” Joy asked, suddenly intrigued.
“Let's just say he was messing around with the wrong people and we helped
him out. But only because he asked. Wrong place, right time I guess.”
“You mean that little pipsqueak tried brawling?” she asked with a bright,
surprised laugh. It brought a grin to Zak's handsome face and she quickly
quieted down before Hugo had a chance to come back and wonder what
they were talking about.
“Something like that. He was flirting with the wife of one bad fucker.”
“That's pretty bold for someone so...”
“Mouse-ish?”
“Exactly.”
They'd been together a little over two hours and they were already finishing
each other's sentences. She sighed up to the moonlight as Hugo returned,
carrying a large ring full of keys. They clattered loudly as Joy and Zak
exchanged meaningful looks, both of them quietly amused.
“You're going to give it a good look, yeah?” Zak said, squinting at Hugo
menacingly.
“Of course, buddy, no problem.”
The too-cheerful smile on Hugo's face made them both flinch, and Joy had
to hide behind Zak to keep from revealing the laughter trying to burst onto
her face. When they were finally ready to leave, Zak revved the engine and
sped off, and she finally crumpled into his back and cracked up. Zak
couldn't help but join her, and they drove together, laughing like lunatics
under the full moon.
Chapter 6
“Oh wow, the old lookout point,” Joy said breathlessly. She'd never been
there on a motorcycle before, and they stared out over the scenery. It looked
more beautiful than ever, the tiny town beneath them and the moon bringing
an icy glow to the trees and the wildflowers as they perfumed the air with
their intoxicating countryside scent. He'd taken a spontaneous turn toward
their old favorite destination, now made a hundred times more captivating
without the roof of a car to confine them.

“I thought it might be a good night to see the sights,” he said with a wink,
hopping off the bike and offering his hand to help her do the same. He
suddenly gestured to the sky and she looked up just as a shooting star
flashed out of their sights. “Make a wish.”
Joy closed her eyes, thinking hard about what it was that she really wanted.
All she knew was that she didn't want this night to end, not the perfection of
the sky, the warmth of Zak's body as she embraced it. She couldn't think of
a more perfect way to have spent the evening, even though it had started out
feeling pretty bad. She wished that the feeling she had then would be able to
last forever – or at least visit frequently. It was a peace she had been
missing for ten years.
Suddenly, Zak's strong arms were enveloping her from behind, his warm
lips sending shivers down her neck as he kissed her gently, savoring every
bit of her as if he was afraid she might just disappear from him again. She
moaned despite herself as his strong, experienced hands gently rounded the
perfect curves of her body, not holding back or apologizing about their
desire; just feeling the push and pull of her as she swayed against him in
pure bliss. She suddenly felt the pressing of his longing against her backside
and inhaled sharply as an overpowering desire to have all of him, right that
moment, engulfed her.
She whipped around, and they stared into each other's eyes. His were
gentle, but there was something different about them. He was no longer the
guy who would take crap from other people, not even her. If she wanted
him she'd better tell him. Otherwise he would hit the road. He might even
just leave her there, stranded, to teach her a lesson. He was a bad boy now,
maybe he would think that it served her right.
But her lips were on his, hot and panting as his tongue slipped inside her
mouth, taking control of whatever was left of her self-restraint. He fingered
her pleated skirt, a sassy number Kayla had picked out for her the week
before, slipping his hands under; cupping her thighs in his big warm hand,
expertly pressing all of her buttons until his fingers were damp and he
couldn't hold himself back anymore.
With a small growl he unbuttoned her blouse, burying his mouth between
her breasts, nibbling and sucking her nipples, holding her steady by the
small of her back. Finally he lifted her, carrying her to his bike with one
hand as he unbuttoned his jeans with the other. Joy gripped Zak's well-
muscled biceps to steady herself as he pulled the panties and skirt down,
dropping them onto the ground and plunging inside of her with one swift
motion. She cried out with a gasp of shocking pleasure.
His handsome face grinned devilishly at her, sending another jolt of longing
through her body as he gripped her ass, laying her over the seat of his bike,
totally naked in the cool night air, tracing the curves of her breasts, from the
warm area over her heart to her hard, erect nipples, with his fingertips. The
gentleness of his touch contrasted with the power of his thrusting, and she
closed her eyes, gasping as the pleasure overtook her.
“I love you,” she whispered, without meaning to. It was something she
hadn't said to any man in the past ten years, and she surprised both of them
by saying it. He paused for a moment, a look she couldn't pinpoint
scurrying across his face. Then his lips were on hers and they were
passionately entangled as he moved inside of her like an expert on her
pleasure. Finally, she shuddered hard beneath him, an explosion of immense
bliss flooding her body, and she cried out with a long moan. She could feel
herself contracting against him as he continued to thrust, until her orgasm
inspired his climax.

A sudden eruption, a feeling she'd never had before – she'd always been
responsible and used a condom – the hot flooding of her insides with the
sweet nectar of Zak's passion; the sensual contact of his body, flesh against
flesh on hers, now slipping out, leaving her empty, dripping with hot seed.
This was the way sex was supposed to feel, she decided, and allowed
herself a moment to relish it before she sat up and looked Zak in the eye as
he tucked himself back into his tight jeans and stared intently at her.
She was worried for a brief moment that she had been stupid and reckless,
setting herself up to be used and abused. Her eyebrows furrowed and he
seemed to understand exactly what she was thinking, because he smiled at
her then, reassuringly.
“I love you too,” he said. And in every fiber of her being, she knew it was
true.
Chapter 7
The next morning, Joy felt guilty sitting across the table from her innocent
young niece and her sister. It was like being a teenager – told time and time
again that giving into those temptations was wrong, there would be hellfire
and brimstone to answer for if you did – and then finally having the night of
your life and having to look into the eyes of the people who, although well-
meaning, would have crucified you where you stood if they knew the truth.
Only it was a little bit more shameful because the man she had been out
with had been an outlaw, and she'd hidden the truth from her sister.
Zak had managed to drop her off just before Kayla and Penny arrived home.
She found herself wondering if she owed the truth to her sister because they
were sharing a roof, but at the same time she couldn't fathom talking about
the experience she had just had, especially not in front of Penny. Or even
with Penny in the house. It made her feel guilty.

And so she managed to avoid the topic until her second egg.
“Where's your car?” Kayla asked. She was doing dishes and had noticed it
was missing as she gazed out the window.
“It broke down on county road N,” Joy replied.
“Oh really? Why didn't you tell me?” Kayla sounded worried.
“It's all right, I took care of it. I didn't want to worry you, and it seemed
trivial. Besides, I was tired last night.”
The last part was very true. Her intense night of passion had left her
winded. She wished she could fall asleep in Zak's arms like she had in old
times, but it didn't seem like it was in the cards for her to do so any time
soon.
“How did you make it back home without your car?” Kayla asked. It was
the question Joy had been dreading.
“I got a ride,” she said vaguely.
“From who?” Kayla asked, suddenly a hundred times more curious. She
could tell by Joy's evasiveness that it had the scent of forbidden fruit all
over it.
“Zak found me,” she answered casually.
“Of course he did,” Kayla said wryly. Joy gave her a grin.
“Shush. Anyway we caught up at the diner and he took me to the body shop
then brought me home. It was really nice of him.”
“Well you should probably be careful, he might think you owe him for it.
He's not exactly the same nice guy you remember him being.”
Joy shrugged.
“It's not like we're eloping. If he wants me to pay him or something, I will.
It's no big deal.”
“All right,” Kayla said, not entirely convinced. She glanced at Penny
meaningfully before speaking again. “Hopefully he knows this isn't the kind
of place he belongs.”
Joy was suddenly angered by the implication that Zak might hurt Penny, or
be unwelcome by her family.
“He just gave me a ride home,” she said coldly. And that was the end of
that.
After breakfast Joy headed up to the guest bedroom and flopped onto her
bed. Penny came in after her and hopped up with her. Joy smiled despite
herself; the child was adorable.
“Were you and mommy fighting?” she asked, her worried blue eyes boring
into Joy's.
“No, honey. We were just talking about something serious, that's all.
Grown-ups change their voices when things are serious, but it doesn't mean
that we're fighting.”
“Zak is the mean motorcycle man!” Penny said, seemingly proud that she
had pieced this together downstairs. Joy heaved a heavy sigh, feeling
guiltier than ever about her tryst the night before.
“People make bad choices sometimes,” she said. “Even if they are really
nice people.”
“Do you think he's nice?” Penny asked, her eyes wide. Any answer she
gave Penny might completely change her view of life as a whole, so Joy
would have to tread carefully.
“Zak is nice to the people he likes,” she said finally. This seemed to satisfy
Penny.

“Is he mean to the people he doesn't like?”

“Yes,” Joy said truthfully. “But don't worry. I don't think he'd ever be mean
to you.”
“Why not?”
“Because he likes me. So I think he would like you too.”
This cheered the toddler.
“Okay! I'm going to go play dragons now.”
“Okay.”
And like that she was off, leaving Joy behind with Zak's soft heart on her
mind.
Chapter 8
Over the next two weeks, Joy and Zak began meeting at the diner on the
weekends when Kayla met with Penny's dad. He picked her up until her car
was fixed, and then they would drive themselves. He seemed to know that
Kayla no longer trusted him, and tried to avoid her as much as possible.
Who could blame her after the things he had done? Kayla had filled Joy in
on some of them – gruesome and unbelievable tales though they were, but
they must be true because Kayla wasn't prone to exaggeration or rumors.
Some things she had even seen herself, like when he beat a man to a bloody
pulp at a gas station for disrespecting an elderly woman and nearly
knocking her over with his car.
“Yeah but can you blame him? If we had the power we'd do the same
thing!”
“I know. A lot of things he has good reason for. He just goes too far.”
Joy couldn't let the stories deter her though, and had him on her mind
constantly. She was drunk on him. It was like they were dating again,
though they made no official declarations and hadn't said they loved each
other again since the first time they'd met in ten years. That could have
meant anything, right? It's not like they were exclusive, and she wasn't
looking for another bad relationship. She had had enough of those. She
even managed to tell Zak about Gordon, who surprisingly enough, Zak had
already heard of. His face had hardened and he muttered something under
his breath that she thought might have been something along the lines of,
“I'll take care of it.”
Zak was always pleased to see her, his handsome face lighting up, his smile
wide and welcoming; intoxicating. They would speak for hours, but they
hadn't had sex again. He would be a gentleman, sometimes kissing her, but
he seemed to be testing the waters, figuring out how far they should go and
never totally wrapped up in the moment the way they had been when they
first reunited.
Then something strange happened. Joy missed her period.
At first she hadn't noticed, but by the next week she was in a full panic. She
drove herself to the doctor's clinic right away, following the routine until
they told her for sure that it was as she had feared the most – she was
pregnant. Suddenly, the most pleasurable moment in her life to date turned
treacherous. They should have used a condom – they shouldn't have acted
so rashly. Fortunately she was still free of any venereal diseases, unless you
counted a tiny embryo growing inside of your uterus a disease; which she
didn't.
She drove morosely home, sitting heavily on the couch until Kayla returned
from a playdate with a neighbor and noticed Joy's pale face.
“What's wrong?” Kayla asked, her face concerned.
“I'm pregnant,” Joy said, and she immediately started to cry. Kayla held her
tightly. It had been a relief to finally say it out loud for the first time but it
also made it real. And this was not a situation she wanted to be real. She
was pregnant with an outlaw's child.
“Look. You don't have to keep it. You don't even have to tell him. It's your
body, he doesn't have to know anything about it.”
This was the exact opposite of what Joy wanted to hear right now. She had
expected her sister to be more supportive, although she was being
supportive how she had expected Joy wanted her to be supportive. She'd
always sworn she didn't want children, that her life would be over if she had
kids, how she didn't want tied down to any man or child. She had worried
that Kayla quietly judged her, but in reality, Kayla was just afraid that it was
Joy who was judging the way she lived her life. Maybe she had invited her
sister to live with them so that she could see what it was to really have a
family, how it wasn't an obligation so much as it was a joy and a comfort.
“I'm not going to lie to him!”
“He's a criminal,” Kayla said patiently, as if she were talking to Penny.
“He's a good man,” Joy said firmly.
And with that she stood and the conversation was over. She was going to
find Zak and tell him the news. She should have done that in the first place.
She glared at Kayla as she left, speeding away toward the motorcycle club
where Zak hung out; the one place she had never been and never had any
intention of going. Until now.
Chapter 9
The motorcycle club was located on the outskirts of town, a couple miles
east of the diner. She drove there quickly, parking next to a line of bikes in a
dirt and gravel paved makeshift parking lot. There were more than she'd
expected – there had to be at least twenty of them there. One in particular
caught her eye, something was familiar about the red leather seat but she
couldn't quite place it.
The building was an old bar named O'Riley's, and she sat in her car for a
few minutes, breathing heavily. Was she really going to do this? It seemed
so reckless. Dangerous. Everything Kayla said was true. But it was Zak.
Zak who loved her. With his sensual eyes and carefree smile, the spirit that
would defend an old woman he didn't know to the death.
She sighed and got out of the car, clicking the door closed quietly behind
her. She knew her car would be conspicuous. They might have seen her
coming from a mile away. Maybe she should have parked further down the
road so she would blend in better.
When she walked into the bar, it took her eyes a few seconds to adjust. It
was dim, no, dark. And loud. People were shouting, glass was breaking, and
suddenly, shots were being fired. She ducked behind the bar, her eyes wide,
though finally able to see. She squinted into the darkness and saw Gordon
bound and gagged on the floor with a few of his buddies. They'd ridden
over, she realized. That's why there were so many bikes. And the one that
she recognized with the red seat had been his. The one he refused to let her
anywhere near unless he told her to pose half naked in front of it for his
camera. She'd only done it once, when she thought he was harmless.
Suddenly, Zak was there. His gorgeous, rugged body was crouched over
Gordon, whose muffled screams were held back by the gag in his mouth.
His eyes were wide and Joy couldn't help but think he looked ugly when he
was pleading. No wonder the villains hated whiners so much. Suddenly, a
huge buck knife was in Zak's hand and he was gripping Gordon by the hair,
pulling his chin off the floor. He sliced a long red line in Gordon's neck and
the man's strangled screams began to gurgle until finally he was dead on the
floor.
The men in the motorcycle club hollered and whooped victoriously, high
fiving each other and slapping Zak on the back. Zak didn't look very
celebratory however, he just stared down at the corpse on the floor,
contemplating it and frowning deeply. And then suddenly, he saw her, the
fear on her face, and the confusion in her eyes. And she was running and
crying, somehow by her car, now being enfolded in Zak's arms, shushed
and rocked, cradled and kissed all over. She wanted to let her feel the
comfort he offered, but he had been the one who had done it, he had killed a
man right in front of her.
“I'm pregnant,” she finally said between gulping sobs. “But I can't let our
child be part of something like that.”
Zak looked at her, his eyes wide with shock. He opened and closed his
mouth.
“You're sure?”
“I went to the doctor's, they confirmed everything. But Zak, this can't be our
life. She can't see you if this is your life.”
She was already sure she would have a daughter. Somehow it just slipped
out and felt right.
She pulled herself out of Zak's embrace and got into the car, gripping the
steering wheel with her hands shaking.
“You shouldn't drive like that, it's not safe,” he said, his voice faraway
through the window glass. “Let me take you.”

Like hell. She tore out of the parking lot and headed home, as far away
from him as she could possibly get.
Chapter 10
The next few months were hell. Kayla and Penny did the best they could to
help her feel better. Kayla had assumed the baby was Gordon's, which was
why she had reacted the way she did. Joy wasn't sure she wanted to tell the
truth, but ultimately did anyway. Kayla was quiet for a moment, and then
exhaled softly. She had nothing to say about it though, which Joy was
grateful for.
She wished for nothing more than to share the experience of her pregnancy
with the man she loved, but she couldn't get the images of him killing
Gordon out of her head. That was something she hadn't told anybody about,
especially not Kayla. But one night they were watching a mobster movie
and Joy started crying uncontrollably, begging her to turn it off. She
couldn't stop thinking about how Zak was a cold-blooded killer. It was too
much to bear. And now he would be a father. What kind of world was it?
Finally she spilled the whole story to Kayla after making sure she swore not
to tell. After she told her, she got an unexpected reaction. Kayla smiled,
shaking her head. “That little bastard,” was all she said.
When Joy pushed her to elaborate, Kayla sighed, the smile still on her lips.
“It's just that...if I could have gotten away with it, I would have liked to do
it myself.”

“What, kill Gordon?”

“Call it the Mama Bear in me. I protect me and mine. I guess Zak's the
same way. But more macho. Because men are just like that.”
Joy stared at her sister, feeling as if something inside of her had started to
thaw out and melt. She began to cry again, but for a totally different reason.
Kayla smiled and stroked her gently, muttering something about how bad
pregnancy hormones could be, and then sent her off to bed with a glass of
tea.
She laid in bed, touching the bump where her child was growing. She loved
it more than she had ever loved anything, even though they hadn't officially
met yet. She sighed, crying softly as she thought about just how much she
missed Zak. She had always missed him, right from the moment she left.
But he couldn't come with her. He had to take care of his grandmother. He'd
had it rough, it was no wonder he'd turned out to be such a hardass. But he
acted from a place of care and love, and although he was rough, he had a
good reason for everything he did. She couldn't think of anyone more
suitable to look after her child as fiercely as she intended to. With a dad like
Zak around, no harm would come to that baby.
The next morning when she woke up, she knew what she would have to do.
She showered and dressed, then hopped into her car. She didn't even stop to
have breakfast with Kayla and Penny. All that was on her mind was Zak.
Chapter 11
She drove quickly, parking her car in the same spot. The bikes that Gordon's
gang members had were still there, at least parts of them. They'd smashed
up some and salvaged the pieces. She was sure she'd find plenty at the body
shop. She ducked into the motorcycle club, waiting a moment for her eyes
to adjust. All activity in the room paused, and finally she could see several
figures around her, each of them eyeing her curiously.
None of them seemed to recognize her, but they knew her car, and they
knew that Zak told them not to mess with her if she came in again. They
were supposed to get him immediately. It took about five minutes before
Zak was standing in front of her. He led her past the bar, fumes of alcohol
and cigarettes lingering in the air, and led her up to the apartment above the
bar, where he lived.
It had the husky scent of a male bachelor, spicy and intoxicating, and
surprisingly clean. If he smoked he smoked downstairs, and kept the
apartment immaculate. Still, there were signs of his deviance all over the
place. A pin up girl calendar on the wall, bike parts scattered here and there,
weapons of several types placed proudly on the wall. She looked away from
them and into his eyes.
“Are you okay? I'm glad you're here. How is the baby?”
“I'm fine,” she said, although in truth she felt like throwing up. It was a
feeling she had gotten used to though, and swallowed it with finesse. “The
baby is fine too. She's growing strong.”
“She,” he said, and his face glowed. She suddenly felt very ashamed of
herself for keeping him out of the loop for so long. She had been afraid,
yes, but having him there with her along the way would have been so much
better.
“I haven't named her yet,” she said carefully. “I thought we could do that
together.”
He stared at her, the meaning of the words hitting him hard. For the first
time in ten years, she saw Zak weep. The first time was when she had left
him in that town all alone, with nobody left to love him. Her heart went out
to him now, and she touched his leathery cheek, wiping tears away and
allowing him to embrace her. She almost groaned out loud, the feeling of
him so near to her was powerful and perfect – everything she had been
needing was right there all along.
“I couldn't fucking handle it if you left again,” he said softly. “You're all I
had for so long. And then you were just gone. I think something in me
snapped then. I figure if there's no love left for me, I've got no love left for
anything else.”
“I know,” Joy whispered.
“But I love you,” he was saying, lifting her up gently, kissing her from the
forehead to the baby bump, holding and caressing it as if it were the most
sacred object on the earth. “And I love her. More than I've loved anything.”
“Me too,” she said. “And I love you. I never should have left. You're the
only man I ever loved.”
And then they were kissing.
She let her hands slide up and down his body, dipping her fingers into the
power over him that she knew her body had. He writhed pleasantly under
her touch, grabbing her hands to kiss the fingertips and her palms, sending
shivers as his soft kisses penetrated the thin, sensitive skin on her wrists.
She tugged them away from him, her heart racing, and held him tightly, her
palms roaming his thighs, resting over the rock-hard bulge between them,
slipping in to hold it, bring it to her lips, and taste him.
And then he was on top of her, and they made love, not like the teenagers
they were when they parted, but like the adults that had been through
everything possible and not been broken. Their hearts were merged and
their bodies knew it, elevating every sensation until they closed their eyes
and came together, falling into bed and clinging tightly to the other's body,
making damn sure that they would never be so far apart again.
Epilogue
“Mommy! Ella's walking!”
Penny summoned Kayla quickly, who ran into the living room. Zak and Joy
were kneeling on the floor, Ella in between them. She was taking her first
tentative steps toward Zak. As soon as she lost her balance, he was there,
cushioning the space between Ella and the ground. He lifted her in the air,
tossing her gently.
“Good job baby!” he exclaimed, kissing her on the nose. The baby laughed
and clapped, and Joy grinned from ear to ear. Life had its ups and downs,
but the one thing she knew for sure was that without her family, she would
have nothing. But with them, she had everything.
She gazed lovingly at her sister, who had allowed herself to warm up to Zak
once again and opened her home up to her sister and her family. Penny
adored her Uncle Zak, and loved Ella even more. And although life was
chaotic and crazy at the MC, there was nowhere to go but up. They would
do what it took to protect Ella and keep the town a safe place for her to
grow. That's all there was to it.
THE END
MC ROMANCE: Valentine Biker
“That’s right,” Summer Jones intoned as she watched him leave. “Go
crawling back to your high school- aged skank. See if something lasting
comes out of that.” She slammed the door, not bothering to look as her now
ex-husband Tom drove away from her in his red pick-up truck. She swiftly
removed her wedding ring and her engagement ring from her finger, and
slammed them down on the table before crumpling up into one of the
chairs.
She finally allowed herself to cry. Her husband of five years had left her.
She’d suspected that he’d been cheating on her, and he informed her that he
had. “She’s twenty-five, and she can provide something for me that you
can’t,” he’d told Summer shortly before ditching her and the life they’d
made together.
This was an insult to Summer for a number of reasons. She was twenty-
nine; she wasn’t exactly old yet by any stretch of the word. The ‘something’
he’d mentioned was children. Summer had been told by at least three
separate doctors that she was not going to be able to conceive. Her body
just did not release enough eggs. Some crap like that. She had gotten past it
somehow, but apparently Tom had not.
Sobbing in her kitchen, Summer didn’t know what to do. At last, she called
up her best friend Rose. She cried into the phone and could barely get any
words out, but finally she was able to say, “He left me.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” her friend said. “Did he say why?”
Thinking about his reasoning didn’t exactly help. “He said he wanted to be
with someone who could have his kids. As if anyone would want to have
kids with him!”
The truth was that she had wanted that.
She could hear Rose sigh. “Do you want to do something tonight? I’ll buy
you a milkshake at the Shake Shack…”
Summer shook her head even though Rose couldn’t see that through the
phone. “No, thanks, though. I’ve got work.”
“Work?” Rose asked, surprised. “No, no no. You cannot go to work. It’s
Valentine’s Day and your husband is an asshole. You should not make your
day worse by serving customers. No.”
Despite how much pain she was in, Summer laughed a little at that. “I have
to go to work,” she said. “I’m not going to be able to pay for myself if I
don’t keep working for myself.”
She told herself that Valentine’s Day didn’t mean anything to her. It was just
some dumb holiday invented by both the greeting card and the candy
companies. It didn’t hold any significance at all for her. Nope.

When she arrived at her place of work – a restaurant that also served as a
small music-slash-poetry venue, and also housed a bookstore – Summer
groaned when she saw the decorations that had been strung up, laid out and
stuck to nearly every surface in the place that wasn’t going to be used for
cooking. Pink, red and white were everywhere. She had never noticed
before how evil the concept of Cupid was.
“Happy Valentine’s Day!” her manager Megan greeted her, giving her an
uncharacteristic big hug. She was tall with wavy brown hair and blond
highlights. She was about forty years old, and that was part of why Summer
was both confused and chagrined at her boss’s enthusiasm for the holiday.
“I didn’t know you were so into Valentine’s Day,” Summer said, shrugging
away from the hug as soon as possible. Maybe Rose had been right.
Megan let out a laugh. “I didn’t used to be, but now I’m engaged!” she
practically shouted. She showed off the large, diamond ring on her finger,
grinning from ear to ear.
Okay, now it seemed as though the world was playing a cruel trick on
Summer. “Yay,” she said softly.
“Yay,” Megan agreed. “Okay, so, there are appropriate shirts for the evening
for you to pick out and put on in the back. There’s a Valentine’s Day
concert scheduled for seven-thirty. I’m going to have you start in the
bookstore and then move on to being a waitress during the show. Does that
sound good?”
None of it sounded particularly good to Summer, but she didn’t want to be
alone on Valentine’s Day, thinking about the husband she had lost and
feeling sorry for herself. The past five years hadn’t all been wonderful,
especially not the last year of it, when Tom had been cheating on her and
not even trying so hard to hide it.
With a slight nod, she went to the back and chose a red shirt. Red could be
taken for something other than romantic. Red was the color of blood, of
fire, of anger. Only when she put it on did she realize that it had a pink heart
on it, right over where her body’s actual heart belonged.
She could deal with it, though. At least it didn’t have any words on it. As
she looked at her reflection, she marveled at the fact that, aside from
looking a little tired, it was hard to tell that her heart was actually broken.
Her short, reddish-brown hair still curled up on one side and curled under
on the other side, making her look lopsided in a way that she liked. She still
had a solar system of freckles on her face and neck. She seemed no worse
for wear. She was still Summer Jones, and she could pretend to be
completely unscathed. Her blue eyes with flecks of gold looked sad, but
their sadness could easily be mistaken for fatigue.
“The bookstore won’t be so bad,” she told herself under her breath. “It’s not
like everyone is going to buy books about romance today. We have a lot of
different kinds of books…”
After telling herself that, Summer gave her reflection a nod and went out to
the sales floor again, ready to go ahead and stand at the check-out podium,
pretending to be enthusiastic about the selection at Cabbages and Kings. It
was a tourist sort of place, but it paid the bills and it kept her out of
Mopeville.
The Philadelphia tourist trap was not exactly popping at five in the
afternoon, however. So far, she and her coworkers, and the crew that set up
the stage for concerts and poetry readings, were the only people in the
place.
Suddenly, Summer heard the sound of a motorcycle outside. It wasn’t that
rare to see and hear them in the city, but it wasn’t often that someone who
rode a motorcycle decided to come into Cabbages and Kings. People who
rode motorcycles were stereotypically ‘cool’ and ‘fearless.’ The people who
went to Summer’s place of work were decidedly not those things. It was a
restaurant devoted to nerds.
The front door opened and she peeked around the wall as it jutted out and
obscured a large portion of the bookstore from the rest of the venue’s view.
She could hear as the rider’s leather boots stomped towards her, however.
The rider came into the bookstore before even asking about a table, which
she did not understand.
He was dressed in a typical biker outfit. Besides the black leather boots, he
wore blue jeans and a black leather jacket with more than a few chains
jutting out of it. He carried a black helmet under his arm, but so far all she’d
been able to make out of his face was that he had sandy, slightly curly hair.
“Please let me know if I can help you,” Summer said to him, keeping her
voice bright even though she was curious and surprised by this customer.
Scanning the shelves, he appeared to be jumpy and in a hurry, and she
thought that he would just ignore her like nearly all of the other customers
she greeted. He kept his back to her and she gave up any hopes of having a
brief conversation with him. Her mind drifted back to her husband – ex-
husband – and what he was most likely doing for his Valentine’s Day…
Two police cars drove past the building, sirens blaring and lights flashing.
As soon as they were gone, the biker guy turned towards her. He gave her a
look of relief. His eyes were as brown as Valentine’s chocolates. She hated
herself for making that connection. He was younger than she had expected.
Most of the bikers she saw around town were middle-aged.
“I am looking for a present for someone really picky,” he said. His voice
was much gentler than Summer had anticipated, too.
She smiled at him. “You’ve come to the right person, then,” she said. “I’m
probably the pickiest person here. What sort of things are you thinking?”
He pulled a book by Neil Gaiman off the shelf. “She loves Douglas
Adams,” he explained. “I’ve heard good things about this author. Would
you say they’re similar?”
Summer smiled and put her hands behind her back so this handsome biker
wouldn’t see that she was fidgeting with her fingers a little bit. She picked
at her nails when she was nervous. Right now, she was nervously excited.
She loved to discuss books with people, which was why she had chosen this
geeky job in the first place.
“That depends,” she said. “That’s a little bit more macabre than
Hitchhiker’s… I would go for this one.” She snatched up a different book,
one that was co-written by Terry Pratchett. “This book is golden. It’s funny;
it’s metaphysical but not really in such a sinister way. Though it is about
Armageddon.” Summer smirked at him. “But if she likes Douglas Adams,
she probably likes books about that.”
This attractive biker was frantically shopping for a female on Valentine’s
Day. Summer couldn’t help but feel somewhat disappointed. She couldn’t
even flirt with a stranger today! The oxymoronic mixture of his biker attire
and cherubic face intrigued her.
“Hey, thanks,” the guy said. He put back the book he’d been holding, and
took the one she offered. He was taking her suggestion. At least Summer
could count that as a small victory.
Once she’d led him over to her podium and he’d paid for the book with
cash, he looked at her as if for the first time. “Are you doing anything
tonight?”
Oh no, she thought. The last thing she needed was yet another cheater in her
life. “But you just bought a present for…”
“For my little sister,” he finished for her. He flashed a grin and Summer
held onto the podium, doing her best to make it seem like a normal thing to
do and not something that was necessary in order to keep her legs from
giving out.
Whoa, but he had a gorgeous smile!
“Oh,” she said. “Well, I’m here the rest of the night.”
He leaned in a little so that only she could hear him. “Can you not be?”
Summer looked around, blushing. No one else was even near them or
paying attention. Some people had started to come in and be seated in the
restaurant, so the staff would be busier over there. She knew that she had a
waitress shift later during the concert. She also knew that Megan was so
very into the emotions of the day this year, so there happened to be a chance
that she could leave, if she gave the appropriate excuse…
“Tell me your name first,” she said, watching him as he tucked the brown-
bagged book into his back pocket and put his helmet back on his head. “I
don’t want to spend Valentine’s Day with a guy if I don’t even know his
name.”
There was that smile again. He looked her straight in the eye. “Eric,” he
said, keeping his already velvety voice soft and secretive as though his
name was something that mere mortals weren’t supposed to know.
She kept her eyes on his and swallowed nervous-excitedly. “Summer,” she
said. “Like the season.”
CHAPTER TWO
Heroes Just For One Day
As expected, Megan squealed when Summer asked to have the night off for
an impromptu date. She called in someone else to cover for her, but it
turned out that there were more than enough people working there as it was
and they would be able to handle the crowd that Megan had imagined
would come for the show. Summer wasn’t really worried about that; she
just hoped losing out on a night of tips for this Eric guy was going to be
worth it.
“Have you ever been on a motorcycle before?” he asked her as he tossed
the bagged Gaiman book into his motorcycle’s storage space under the seat.
He pulled out a spare helmet and closed the seat back down so it was
secure.
Summer thought about it. She could lie and say that she had, of course she
had, but she did not want to start their… whatever this was on a foundation
of a lie. She didn’t want to lie just to seem cool; that was the sort of thing
she had sworn off ever since it had gotten her into trouble once in high
school.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I’d never actually even thought about it
befo—ahh!” She let out a screechy yelp as Eric lifted her up and placed her,
gently, onto the back of the seat.
He laughed at her reaction, looking around to make sure no one had
overheard and thought something bad was going on. “Calm down,” he said.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
She blushed a little but smiled at him. He climbed onto the seat in front of
her and made sure that both of their helmets were securely clipped on
before kicking off.
“Can I see your license first?” she asked him.
“What are you, an undercover cop?” Eric asked with another laugh. He
pulled out his wallet and handed over his card. It wasn’t his actual license,
though. It was like a business card.
Summer read over it, smirking and narrowing her eyes at him. “Eric
Daniels, The Celestial Sentinels, VP.” She handed it back to him. “What the
hell does that mean?”
He grinned, placing the card back into his wallet and his wallet back into
his jeans. “It’s a motorcycle club,” he said. “And I’m its vice president.”
With that, he started the engine and took off down the street. Letting out
another squawk, Summer grabbed on tightly to his middle. It felt weird to
her to be clutching this stranger, but she did not exactly have another
choice.
“Where are we going?” she yelled over the sound of the bike’s growling
motor. She realized that she had assumed it was a date, he hadn’t exactly
said it was. Now she berated herself for not asking these important
questions before hopping on his motorcycle and riding off into the night.
Suppose he was planning to kill her?
Then she remembered his kind face. No, he couldn’t be like that. He was
surprisingly sweet for a guy who rode this fast, loud deathtrap.
“It’s supposed to be a surprise,” he yelled back. “I hope you like beer.”
She smiled. “That didn’t really answer the question, but okay.” She rested
her cheek against his back as Eric skillfully drove her around, through all of
the looping streets of the city. He took her away from the city center and
she was starting to wonder if his plan was just to take her back to his place,
but then he stopped the bike outside of a small dive bar.
“Sunny’s,” she read on the glowing sign.
Eric helped her down off the motorcycle and stored the helmets away under
the seat. “It’s not the most romantic place, I admit, but I had a feeling that
you’d gotten enough of Valentine’s Day from the way your store was
decorated.”
Summer grimaced. “Yeah… Today’s not exactly my favorite holiday.”
Especially not anymore.
He opened the door for her and she went inside. As she had anticipated, it
was a small, dark place, more like a cellar that the bars she usually went to.
It was made primarily of bricks and it smelled of cigarettes and booze and
fish. Eric led her to a booth near the bar and they sat down, her across from
him. She wished that it was a little lighter in there so she could see his face
better.
“Why is today not your favorite holiday?” he asked her, looking over the
menu and stealing more than a few glances up at her. “Did your job wear it
out?”
She shook her head. She didn’t really want to go into what had happened
with Tom. It was still so fresh, and she had a feeling that this handsome
biker guy did not want to know that, until very recently, she had been
married.
“I’ve just never had a lot of good luck on this day,” she explained. “It might
not even have anything to do with the holiday. Maybe February 14th is just
a cursed date for me.”
Eric raised his eyebrows a little at her. “Aww, well, I hope this won’t be
considered a cursed date.”
So it was a date!
A waitress came over before Summer could comment on that. Eric ordered
himself a beer and looked to her to see what she wanted. “I’ll have a
Stella,” she said. Belgian ales were the only kind of beer that Summer could
really stomach.
Once the waitress was gone, Eric leaned forward towards Summer. “Do you
want to split a spinach and artichoke dip or something?” he asked. “I don’t
know how hungry you are, but I’m starved.”
She smiled and quickly read through the bar’s offered appetizers. Her
stomach growled a little. Normally, she would have taken a break at
Cabbages and Kings and had her dinner there. “That sounds good. I might
get a sandwich or something, too, if that’s okay.”
Eric smirked an attractive, sideways smirk at her. “Of course that’s okay. I
brought you here for dinner.”
“I know, but… Why?” She blushed a little, grabbing at a packet of Sweet n’
Low just to have something to fiddle with while they waited for their
drinks.
“I thought you were cute,” he said. “And I figured that a cute girl like you
shouldn’t be spending her Valentine’s Day alone in a small bookstore.”
The waitress came back to deliver their bottles of beer and ask about what
they wanted to eat. Eric ordered the spinach and artichoke dip. Summer
ordered some hummus.
He seemed amused by that. “It’s practically the only way I’ll eat fresh
veggies,” she explained, sticking her tongue out at him. “It’s funny to me
that you think I’m cute. I could say the same thing about you. When you
came into the shop, I thought you looked way too innocent and sweet to be
riding a motorcycle.”
“Oh, looks can be deceiving,” he countered. He took a long sip of his beer.
Summer nodded. “So, who came up with the name ‘The Celestial
Sentinels’? It’s not the toughest sounding name. No offense.”
He gave her a confused look. “Who says all guys who ride motorcycles
have to be tough? Anyway, it’s pretty heroic to be a guard…”
She supposed that was true. “What do you do when you’re not guarding?”
He chuckled darkly. “Drink your beer.”
Summer took a sip, smiling at the taste. She didn’t drink very often, but boy
did she feel like she had a pretty good reason to tonight. “My husband left
me today,” she said softly, frowning at her bottle. When she looked back up,
she noticed that Eric was giving her a sympathetic look.
“Why the fuck would anybody do that?” he asked, surprised and disgusted
but keeping his voice low like she had because it was not the kind of
conversation that everyone in the bar needed to overhear.
She shrugged sadly. “He wanted someone younger, I guess.”
“Younger?” he asked. “How old are you? …Er, if that’s not impolite. You
don’t have to answer.”
“I’m twenty-nine,” she answered.
“Pfft,” Eric said. “That is definitely not old. I’m thirty.”
Summer smiled ever so slightly. “That’s ancient.”
Their appetizers came and distracted them for a few moments. She dipped a
piece of celery into the hummus and ate it with a satisfying crunch. They
shared the two dips and the assortment of things with which to eat them,
reaching across the table when necessary.
“I’m a security guard,” he said. “Well, I was… I was fired. Let go, they
called it. So I am currently looking for a new job.”
She cringed a little. That was slightly off-putting. She wasn’t sure she
wanted to be dating a guy who was currently unemployed, but maybe she
could help him with that. It wasn’t as though unemployment was so rare
these days. “What are you doing for money for the time being?”
Eric bit his lip and slowly shook his head. At first, she thought that meant
that he had no idea, but then he answered. “I have some saved up,” he said.
“It’s not ideal, though. But I’ll be all right. Enough about me. What do you
like to do when you’re not selling books?”
Summer let out a little laugh. She and Tom used to do a lot of things, like
going on long walks and seeing movies. Lately, she hadn’t done much of
either thing. She’d become a bit of a homebody. She sometimes wondered
if it was depression over what she considered to be a defect. She could not
have children, and that made her feel like a failure for some reason. She
knew she wasn’t. She told herself she wasn’t. But she didn’t fully believe it.
“I used to hike a lot,” she said, keeping her feelings to herself. “I wasn’t
hardcore or anything, but I’d go out for long walks and explore forests and
stuff.”
He smiled. “You eat hummus and you love nature,” he said. “I’m dating a
hippy. This is becoming a set up for a joke,” he teased. “A biker and a hippy
walk into a bar…”
She finished her bottle of beer and, stopping the waitress, asked for another.
She also ordered the avocado sandwich she had been eyeing. “What’s the
punchline of the joke?” she asked.
Leaning across the table, Eric kissed Summer on the lips. She kissed him
back, feeling as though the beer and something else were now going to her
head.
They kept on drinking their beer. When her sandwich arrived, she
ravenously ate it, hoping that she didn’t seem like a drunken pig or
anything. She was hungry and she didn’t often have an excuse to go out and
enjoy something she hadn’t made herself.
Eric watched her eat the sandwich, smiling at her and helping himself to the
remnants of dip that remained on the plates before him.
“Do you mind if I say something?” he asked suddenly. He seemed pretty
tipsy by now, but he was still forming sentences okay, which relieved
Summer because she did not want a ride home with an inebriated
motorcyclist, even if he was the vice president of a club.
She shrugged, swallowing a piece of sandwich before responding. “Go
ahead.”
“I think your husband must be out of his mind insane to leave you,” Eric
said. “Especially on Valentine’s Day. I mean, who does that?”
Summer looked down at her plate. “I don’t think he cared what day it was,
really. I think it had been a long time coming.”
Eric shook his head, irritated with her ex and he had never even met the
jerk. “Well, I guess it’s probably bad to say, but I’m glad that he walked out
on you today… Because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to take you
out.”
She blushed, smiling a little. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
CHAPTER THREE
Making Love With His Ego
As soon as they were done with their food – and definitely done drinking
their beers – Eric led Summer out of the restaurant and back to his
motorcycle. He got their helmets out of the storage space. They put them
on. Summer felt very giggly all of a sudden. “What’s the plan now?” she
asked him. “What else is on your Valentine’s Day date agenda?”
He smirked and helped her onto the bike. “Wait and see,” he said, getting
on in front of her.
Wrapping her arms around his waist was much less awkward when she was
tipsy. She was much less concerned about who he was or what was going to
happen when she had some booze in her.
They rode off down more sloping streets. At one point, she let out an
excited, “Wheeee!” that made him laugh. Their motorcycle finally stopped
back outside of Cabbages and Kings. She took one look at the place and
made a face. “I don’t want to go back to work now,” she complained.
Eric shook his head, smiling at her. “This is where we met. I don’t know
where you live.”
She grinned at him, blushing faintly. “You want to see where I live?” she
asked.
He nodded and she rattled off her address. He put it into his phone’s GPS
and turned up the volume. He wouldn’t be able to look at it, but he’d be
able to hear the directions. At least, he hoped so.
As the bike took off once more, Summer hugged him around the waist and
rested her cheek against his back, smiling. She didn’t care that he was
unemployed anymore. He had saved the day for her and made her feel
better. She felt determined to help her Celestial Sentinel find a new job.
Once they reached her house, Eric parked his bike in her driveway. He
helped her off the bike and she excitedly took his hand. Last time she had
been in her house, she’d been miserable. She wanted Eric to fix that now,
too.
“Wow, this place is big,” he said, looking around. It was a house with two
bedrooms and a master bedroom. It was clearly more space than one girl
could possibly need.
“It was bought with a family in mind,” she told him, closing and locking the
door behind them. She tossed her keys onto the nearby kitchen counter and
shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.
Glancing at the pink outline of a heart on her chest, Eric came closer. He
brought his face to hers and kept his mouth teasingly close to touching her
mouth. “Do you still have a family in mind?” he asked her in a whisper.
She shook her head slightly. “I should warn you right now that I’m
damaged goods,” she whispered back. “I can’t have kids.”
He lunged at her within that small space and suddenly his lips were on hers.
He kissed her hotly and deeply, letting his tongue gently dance against hers.
“You’re not damaged goods,” he said after he’d broken away, resting his
forehead against hers. “You’re exactly what I’m looking for.”
With that, he lifted her up into his arms and carried her through the house,
finding the master bedroom without much difficulty since it was the only
room with a bed in it. He placed her gently down onto the bed and lay down
so that he was practically on top of her, kissing her and running his hands
all over her stomach and breasts and waist.
She pulled off his leather jacket and tossed it to the floor before reaching
down and undoing his fly. Bringing out his penis, she took it into her mouth
and licked and sucked at it, making Eric moan as he got even harder.
After a few minutes of a blissful blowjob, he moved away a little and pulled
off her jeans and panties. Then he ducked down between her legs and
returned the favor, running his tongue all over her clit and lower lips.
“Ohhh,” she moaned. “Oh god!” Tom had never done this for her. He’d
never been too concerned with giving her orgasms and making her want sex
with him. Which was weird, considering that he’d wanted to get her
pregnant.
Tom was a dick.
Eric successfully got Summer nice and wet. Then he sat back up, fingering
her a little as he smirked sweetly. “Are you ready?” he asked. “Do you want
this?”
Summer nodded eagerly. It felt so good to be asked. She hadn’t expected
biker boy to be so polite to her. She wasn’t sure what his deal was, but she
liked it. “Yes,” she said. “I definitely do.”
With her permission, he slowly pressed himself inside her. She let out a
gasp and lifted her legs, wrapping them around his middle. “You’re tight,”
he said with a slight groan. “It has been a while, hasn’t it?”
She smiled up at him. “I was waiting for you to come along and stretch
me.”
“Stretch you with my big cock?” he asked playfully.
“Mmhmm, with your big cock.” She writhed a little against him, her head
spinning from the alcohol and the pleasure.
Eric licked his finger tips and brought them down to her clit, fingering her
as he thrust inside her. Summer closed her eyes tightly as she suddenly
came. “Oh, Eriiicc!” she bellowed. She felt as though fireworks were going
off in her brain but it was dizzying and wonderful.
He clung to her as she came, then pulled her t-shirt off of her and sucked at
her right breast, speeding up his movements. She felt a rush of something as
he came inside her. Summer smiled at Eric, feeling a bit delirious, and he
kissed her.
“There’s nothing damaged about you,” he whispered, carefully pulling out
of her. “You’re perfect.”
She watched, breathless, as he got out of the bed and went to the bathroom
to clean himself up.
When he came back, Eric got into bed again and cuddled with her. She was
used to being alone after sex, listening as the silence became filled with
snores. She didn’t expect to be cuddled afterwards. It felt nice, though she
didn’t quite know what to do now.
“Is your Valentine’s Day going better for you now?” he asked her, kissing
her cheek and the side of her neck as he held her close.
“I think my year is going better for me now,” she answered, smiling at him
and taking his mouth onto hers. After a wonderful make-out session,
Summer shivered. “It’s not fair that you get to keep your shirt,” she said,
only pretending to complain.
He sat up and removed his black t-shirt, handing it over to her. She took it,
grinning an impressed grin, and put it on. It was small and tight on him,
which helped to show off his muscled body. On her, it was long and loose
enough to cover her private bits. It fit like a nightgown, and it was made
even better by the fact that it smelled like him.
“Do you want some tea or something?” she asked him, standing up and
rubbing her face in an effort to get her mind working again and stop
thinking about sex.
That was hard to do when he stood beside her, naked.
She looked down at his sizable cock and blushed, smiling. “Here.” She
picked up her red shirt with the pink heart on it and handed it to him. “You
shouldn’t have to be cold either.”
Eric put her shirt on and she laughed. It didn’t exactly cover him up, but it
sure was funny and cute. “I’m going to stretch it,” he said, sounding almost
embarrassed.
That just made her giggle more. “I don’t care. Do you think I want to wear
that shirt to work again?”
Summer went into the kitchen to make some tea and he followed her. He sat
down on one of the bar stools that she kept by her little breakfast bar. He
hissed somewhat at the feel of the cold surface on his bare butt.
“So, I’m curious,” he said as he watched her put the kettle on the stove and
select two tea flavors from her pantry. “What do you work in that restaurant
if you hate it so much?”
She thought about it. “I don’t really hate it. ‘Hate’ is too strong of a word. I
actually really like working in the bookstore part. I’m glad I met you there.
I just… Well, who likes working in a place where the clientele is so largely
tourists?”
Eric shrugged. “But bands play there.”
“Mostly crappy bands,” she argued. “And most of the time, we just have
open mic nights. I’m starting to think that I should just work in an actual
bookstore.”
She realized that she was complaining about her job to somebody who
didn’t have a job and immediately felt regret. “I’m sorry. A job is a job, I
suppose… What sort of thing would you like to do, now that you’re an
unemployed guard and not a full-time guard?”
He smiled a little at that. “Well, I probably shouldn’t guard anymore.”
They both laughed softly. She poured the hot water over their peppermint
tea and brought a mug over for him, sitting beside him at the bar with her
own mug of cinnamon apple tea. The smells of both flavors mingled in the
air and were invigorating. “There could be a career in your motorcycle
interest,” she suggested. “A lot of places could use delivery people. Does
that sound horrible to you?”
“Nah, it doesn’t sound horrible,” Eric replied. “That’s a good idea. I was
also thinking that I could be a roadie or something, since we were talking
about the bands that play at your place. I guess I’d have to get a car for that,
though.”
Summer sipped her tea, thinking. “You could always join the staff in my
place, who handle the sound and set up for shows.”
Eric snapped, smiling at her. “Now that’s a great idea.” He took a sip of his
tea and moaned softly. “And this is great tea. You are really good at stuff.
I’ve clearly picked out the right girl.”
She blushed, pleased and flattered.
“I don’t know where your ex-husband gets off letting you think that having
kids is the most important part of being in a relationship,” Eric said. “And
what’s even more incorrect is that he made you think there was something
wrong with you for not being able to have kids. He’s an asshole. I’m sorry.”
It comforted her just to know that Eric didn’t feel the same negative way
about her predicament as she did. She needed to stop thinking of it as a
predicament anyway. It was just life. Someday, if she wanted, she could
adopt some kids. She wasn’t so old yet that she even felt the major call to
be a mother.
“No, you don’t have to apologize. He is a colossal asshole. And I’ve found
someone better.” She kissed Eric and gently stroked his hand with her
fingertips.
After they finished their tea, they went back to the bedroom and went to
sleep, nestled warmly in each other’s arms. It felt amazing to be in
someone’s arms again, and no matter how much she told herself she
deserved it, she couldn’t help feeling like she was also completely blessed.
She couldn’t wait to tell Rose and see what her friend would have to say.
Rose would probably say something about karma and signs. She loved that
this time Rose had been right about her relationship and it hadn’t actually
come back to hurt her much. She was going to be okay.
Her Valentine’s Day had been the best one she’d experienced so far. And
the evidence of it would come in the morning, when she rode to her work
on the back of Eric’s motorcycle to retrieve her car.
CHAPTER FOUR
Don’t Fake It, Baby
For a time, it seemed like everything was finally working out for Summer.
She had a sexy, new boyfriend who cared about her. Work was going okay
and had stopped annoying her so much now that Eric was in the running for
a job there. She’d signed her divorce papers and sent them off to be signed
by Tom and processed by their lawyers. She had nothing to worry about
anymore.
She came home from work one evening to find Eric sitting on the couch.
This in itself wasn’t so odd. They basically lived together now. But, instead
of watching TV or looking for jobs or something like usual, he was just
sitting there, watching her.
As soon as she was fully in the house, he rose up from the couch. “We need
to talk,” he said.
Oh no. Those were never good words. “Okay,” she said hesitantly though
trying to keep her voice bright. She set her purse on the kitchen counter and
went over to him. She gave him a hug like she always did when seeing him
after work or after a few days of time apart.
He gestured for her to sit on the couch and she did so. He sat beside her and
took her hand. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said. “Something I
haven’t been forthcoming about, but there’s a good reason why…” He
sighed.
Summer was concerned. She didn’t want their happy little bubble to burst,
but something was up and she knew that it was upsetting Eric. Was he
secretly married? Her mind was racing, trying to figure out what it was.
“Well, if there’s a good reason, then I’m sure it can’t be that bad.”
“Before I met you, almost right before I met you, I robbed a convenience
store.”
Well, shit. It was that bad.
Her eyes widened at him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I lost my job and I didn’t know what to do. I was running out of money…”
She moved away from him, staring at him incredulously. “And then you
thought it would be a good idea to buy a book from me?”
Eric looked down. “Originally, I was planning to rob your store, too… I
made up an excuse to get you to open the register. But then I met you and I
just couldn’t go through with it.”
Summer stood up and pointed to the door. “You need to leave,” she said.
“I haven’t stolen anything since.”
“Get out!”
Without another word, he got up and went to the door. He grabbed his
helmet from where it hung on the coat stand. He put it on with a decisive
snap and was gone.
She put her head in her hands and sank back onto the couch, crying. Why
couldn’t she ever have something nice? Why couldn’t she ever get a good
guy, instead of a bad guy in disguise?
At first, she wanted to call Rose but she didn’t want to go crying to her
friend again. She felt like the only times she ever called Rose up was when
she needed to complain about some injustice that had been done to her.
The phone rang and, for a moment, Summer thought that maybe Rose had
sensed a disturbance in the Force and was calling to check on her, but it was
Megan instead.
“Hi, is Eric around?” His name felt like nails on a chalkboard to Summer.
“No, he doesn’t live here anymore.”
Megan let out a sigh. “That’s a shame… Do you have a number where I can
reach him?”
Summer remembered numbly that he had applied to work at her place of
work, and she suddenly was overcome with the desire to not let that happen.
“I don’t, actually, sorry. If this is about the job, he changed his mind.”
She hung up, crying again. She knew that she was going to have to answer
for that down the road, but she didn’t want to think about it right now.
Everything just hurt.

Megan was understanding when Summer finally went back into work and
explained the situation – omitting the part about robbery. She was mad at
Eric for deceiving her, but she did not want to get him in trouble. “That was
something that was a bit worrisome,” Megan admitted. “Coworkers who are
also dating can be a bit messy.”
Summer looked down at the floor, not wanting to talk about it anymore.
Megan patted her back gently, understanding that as well.
At least Valentine’s Day was over. The storestaurant was decorated for
Easter now.
For two weeks, Summer went through life feeling like a zombie. She’d go
to work, she’d come home, eat dinner and go to sleep. On the rare occasions
that she just worked an afternoon shift, she’d go to work, come home, stare
at the internet for hours before it was acceptable to eat dinner, and go to
sleep.
Rose knew that something bad had happened, but she didn’t pry. “You can
tell me anything,” she said. “The good, the bad and the ugly.”
“The world hates me,” Summer told her sadly over the phone.
“Aww, no it doesn’t,” Rose said. “It’s just giving you a lot of speed bumps
right now. But you’re getting past them.”
“My period’s late,” Summer intoned.
Rose struggled to come up with an answer for that. “It’s probably just
stress. Your period skips months sometimes.”
That was something that Summer was well aware of. She was in a rut and
she didn’t know how to get out of it. She didn’t feel like doing anything
anymore. She didn’t feel. This house that her parents had willed to her was
starting to feel as empty as her schedule.
“Maybe I should get an apartment,” she told herself one morning.
As soon as she got out of bed, she felt sick to her stomach. She rushed into
the bathroom and threw up into the toilet, making it just in time. Her head
was throbbing and now she was sick to her stomach over nothing.
Suddenly, she wondered something.
She called in sick to work and went to a convenience store to buy a
pregnancy test. As she waited in line, she briefly thought about Eric and
wondered if this was the store he’d robbed. It didn’t seem like a guy could
make a whole lot of money working there, let alone breaking into its
register.
Once she was home, she peed on the stick and left it on the sink’s edge. She
didn’t wait around to see what it said but instead went back out into the
living room to see what was on TV. She didn’t want to think about the
implications of what the stick might tell her.
Summer couldn’t be pregnant. She had a condition. Several doctors at
several different clinics had told her that her chances of conceiving were
very low. It was why her asshole of an ex-husband had cheated on her and
left her. She couldn’t be pregnant. No.
But the stick on the sink said otherwise.
Stunned and in a flurry of rushing excitement, she called Rose.
“Yeeello,” her friend said, friendly as ever.
“RoseI’mpregnant.”
“Summer? What?”
She took a deep breath. “Rose. I’m pregnant.”
There was a long pause.
“Are you sure?”
“I just took a test! It says I’m pregnant!”
Rose let out a little, excited shriek. “Um, do me a favor. I’m in the car right
now on my way home from work. Get another test and take it, and wait for
me before you see the results. I’ll be over soon!”
Summer did as she was told. She went into the convenience store, shaking
this time instead of feeling so grumpy and upset. She felt more scared and
confused than anything else at the moment. She bought a different brand of
pregnancy test.
As soon as she was home, she peed on it and left it on the coffee table, not
looking at it. She read articles on her phone about pregnancy, false positives
and polycystic ovary syndrome. This was not supposed to have happened.
She was supposed to need hormone therapy and stuff!
There was a knock at the door and she ran over to answer it, feeling too
jittery to sit still. She wanted to have a baby, but she’d spent so long telling
herself that there was no way… Now that she had apparently proven herself
wrong, she wanted to laugh and cry and celebrate.
Rose, her tall friend who looked like Barbie would if Barbie was a hippy,
stood there and grinned at her on the threshold. Summer gave her friend a
hug and welcomed her inside. “Did you do a test?” Rose asked.
Summer nodded and gestured to the little plastic stick that was waiting for
them on the coffee table. It had been long enough to confirm or deny things.
“Ugh, I don’t want to look.”
Rose took her hand as they walked over to the living room and sat down on
the couch. “There are false positives sometimes,” she said, trying to prepare
Summer for bad news, just in case. “Would you like me to look?”
Summer nodded, feeling tears well up in her eyes. She didn’t want to let
herself get too excited. As it was, she was still going to be in a pretty awful
situation. No one knew why she’d broken up with Eric, but he was a thief.
An outlaw! She couldn’t actually be with him, even if…
“It’s a plus,” Rose said with a grin in Summer’s direction. “Girl, you’re
going to have a baby.”
Holding each other’s hands, they screamed happily together and hugged.
“Oh my god, this is so WEIRD!” Summer said, laughing and crying at the
same time.
“Congratulations,” Rose said, laughing and clearly so happy for her best
friend. “You should schedule an appointment at your gynecologist pronto.
In the meantime…” She suddenly looked at Summer with a more serious
expression. “You need to tell Eric. It doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to know
that it’s Eric’s baby.”
Summer sighed and nodded a little. “I know. The problem is I don’t know
where he is. It’s been nearly three weeks since I last saw him. Nearly a
month. Who knows what he’s up to now or if he’d even have any interest in
me or our baby.”
Rose looked like she wanted to say something but was holding back.
“What?” Summer asked her, prodding her a little with her shoulder. She had
a feeling that she knew what her friend was going to say. Or, rather, ask.
“If it’s okay for me to ask now, why did you two break up?” Rose asked,
predictably. “You seemed so happy together. You were always telling me
about how sweet he was. What happened?”
Summer felt so conflicted about him now, about everything. She had kicked
him out of the house without really listening to him. She had flown off the
handle. True, he had stolen. He had committed a crime. He was probably a
wanted, at large person. And that was troubling, to say the least. But he
promised that he’d never do it again, and she’d sent him away.
What if he’d fallen into a life of crime because she had kicked him out and
broken things off with him?
“He… stole some things,” she said hesitantly. “Not from me. It was in the
past. But something boiled up inside of me when he confessed that. I didn’t
want to be dating a criminal. I’ve had enough of assholes.”
Rose’s eyebrows went up. “Well… Did he kill anyone?”
Summer chuckled bitterly. “Not that I know of.”
“I think if he confessed, there’s nothing for you to worry about,” Rose said.
“As long as it wasn’t his job or main hobby or anything.”
“Oh no, he seemed pretty remorseful. And that’s kind of how I’m feeling
now,” Summer said sadly. “He told me that he was planning to rob
Cabbages and Kings, until he met me there and I changed his mind.”
Rose nodded decisively. “You need to call him.”
Summer sighed again and gingerly touched her tummy, wondering what her
tiny, unexpected baby looked like at that moment. “I would if I could, but
he doesn’t have a cell phone.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I’m Happy, Hope You’re Happy Too
Not wanting to take another day off from work so soon, Summer went to
visit her gynecologist after work the following day. “What seems to be the
trouble?” Dr. Paulsen asked pleasantly.
“I realized I was late, so I took two pregnancy tests,” Summer explained.
“And they both came out positive… I was under the impression that I
couldn’t conceive and have a child of my own.”
The doctor smiled at her. “Oh, that’s great news! There’s really never a
never when it comes to pregnancy, unless you’ve had your uterus or ovaries
removed. Polycystic lowers your chances by a lot, but it doesn’t make it
completely impossible. Let’s see.” She took out a cup and a pregnancy test.
“Please take this into the bathroom and fill up to this line. Then bring it
back.”
Summer took the cup into the bathroom. The problem was she didn’t have
to pee. She had a hard time making herself pee on command in these
situations. Images of Niagara Falls came to mind, but she struggled to get
anything to happen. Closing her eyes and through sheer force of will, she
managed to get just enough urine out of her and into the cup, just reaching
the line of red marker.
She carried the cup back to the doctor, feeling proud of herself and silly
because of the reason. Dr. Paulsen took the cup from her, carefully, and
placed it on the moveable table that contained an array of medical
instruments that Summer hoped the doctor wouldn’t be using on her.
Ripping open the pregnancy test package as if it was nothing, Dr. Paulsen
plopped it into the cup.
“How many partners have you been with?” she asked as Summer lay down
on the uncomfortable table with stirrups. “Any risks of STDs?”
Summer thought it over carefully. She hadn’t used a condom with Eric.
That had been the only time… “I’ve been with four partners in my life. I’ve
only been without a condom once. And… Tada.” She laughed a little. “I’ve
been tested before and everything was fine.”
“Do you want me to test you again?”
She shook her head. “I’ll talk to my… I’ll talk to my most recent partner
about it. I am going to have a lot to say to him.”
The doctor smiled and wrote something down. Then she lifted up the
pregnancy test to look at the results. “You definitely need to tell him that
he’s going to be a father.”
How does one find someone when one doesn’t have their phone number,
email address, or anything? Summer suddenly realized that she barely knew
the young man that she had fallen for. They’d had a great night, a hot night
of passion, and had started to form a sweet life together and she never asked
him for a way to contact him. It had satisfied her to know that he’d be
waiting for her at home and, if he did leave for a while, he’d come back like
a loyal pet, ready to be fed and sheltered again.
God, I’m so stupid.
Then, suddenly, she remembered one piece of info that she did have. His
motorcycle club. “What was it called again?” she asked aloud, with no one
around to answer her or even offer up a suggestion.
It was something about stars. The Celestial something… The Celestial
Sentinels!
A quick Google search led her to their website. She chuckled. It was wild to
her that a group of guys with motorcycles had a website. They took
donations and had membership fees and everything. “Wow,” she said under
her breath, shaking her head.
She spotted Eric in one of the group shots. He was smiling at the camera,
his cherubic face so familiar and handsome. He was a great deal younger
than several of the others, but that just made him stand out more. Vice
President Eric Daniels.
The only phone number listed on the page was for the club as a whole. It
looked to be a membership information number. Summer plugged it into
her cell phone and pressed ‘call.’
After fifteen minutes of listening to a garbled Eagles song that served as
hold music, someone finally came on the line. “Celestial Sentinels,” a gruff,
older male voice said.
“Hi,” Summer said, suddenly feeling nervous and doubting that this would
even work. “I was wondering if you’d be able to help me. I know a member
of your motorcycle club and I need to get into contact with him. Do you
know how I could reach Eric Daniels?”
The man suddenly became more friendly-sounding. “Oh, Eric? He’s just
started in some new band, last I heard. The Pink Hearts.” He rattled off an
email address and Summer quickly wrote it down.
She wrote an email, hoping that this would be the right course of action.

To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Hello, this is strange but I’m hoping you can help me out. I’m trying to get
in touch with Eric Daniels. I was told he’s in your band. This is Summer.
She couldn’t believe she had let him get away. Especially now that she was
pregnant. And now it might be too late to get him back.
There was no response to her email.
The next day, she went to work. It was another concert night. It was also the
last time she’d have to see the Easter decorations that she’d slowly but
surely gotten sick of. A music venue slash bookstore was no place for the
cheesy decorations that looked more like something a person would see in
Hallmark.
This time, she had to start out as a waitress, working the floor as the open
mic night bands set up. Joy. She was just giving a table their welcome and
specials spiel when she looked up and saw the name on the drum kit.
The Pink Hearts.
Her jaw dropped nearly to the floor. A shiver went through her.
“Miss?” one of her diners asked, looking at her like she’d perhaps gone
psycho.
She shook her head, trying her best to remain calm. “And, finally, my
favorite, the lamb burger. I’ll give you guys a few moments to look over
your menus. Can I start you off with any drinks?”
When she brought her table back their drinks, she took her time, hoping that
by lingering she’d be able to see this open mic band take the stage. How
long had Eric been in a band? Had he quickly cobbled it together in the
weeks that followed their breakup?
Suddenly, the name made sense. The red shirt she had worn, with the small,
pink heart on the chest.
Summer brought a hand up to her chest, over her heart. Her cold and jaded
feelings about the restaurant, Valentine’s Day and everything melted away
from her. She could forgive him for his law-breaking. She had forgiven
him.
He came onto the stage, carrying a sparkly red guitar. He messed with the
mic and Summer caught his eye. The left corner of his mouth rose up a little
and he smirked at her. “Hey,” he said into the microphone. His voice
reverberated through the mostly empty restaurant.
Not caring anymore about her table or appearances, Summer carefully
climbed up onto the front of the stage and stood in front of him for a
moment. They looked at each other. His sandy hair had grown shaggier, but
otherwise he appeared pretty much the same. She didn’t imagine that she
struck him as looking different either. She brought a hand to her lower belly
for a moment, then leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him in a
hug.
Eric readily hugged her back. A whiff of pine-like cologne filled her
nostrils. He felt strong and sturdy against her, as he had all the times she’d
ridden his bike and clung to him for safety. Even now, she was clinging to
him for safety. But there was something else, too.
“I’m sorry,” she said into his neck. “I’m so sorry. I’m so stupid. You… I’ve
missed you.”
He pulled away enough to look into her eyes. He was still smiling.
Getting up onto her tiptoes, she kissed away his smile.
“I’m pregnant,” she whispered into his ear.
His big, brown eyes got even bigger. “But I thought you couldn’t…”
Summer shrugged, smiling at him. “Apparently, there is no never.”
Grinning a large grin that matched his large eyes, he hugged her gently.
“That’s incredible,” he said. “You’re incredible. Baby…” He suddenly
looked over and noticed that the crowd down below was still waiting. “I’ve
got to sing now, baby, but stay right here. The first one’s for you.”
Leaning forward towards the microphone, Eric spoke in a sexy growl she
instantly wanted to hear more of. “It’s a privilege to sing for you here
tonight on this stage. This is the place where I met Summer. And this is a
song that I learned and wanted to play for Summer. And now… Here she is
and here it is.”
She walked away so she was still on stage, but more to the side so she could
watch him play and be near him. She was mystified. He’d mentioned
wanting to be a roadie and now, here he was, a fledgling rock star before
her eyes.
Love is the opening door
Love is what we came here for
No-one can offer you more
You know what I mean
Have your eyes really seen?
He played a four-song set, joined on the stage for his last song by two other
guys: a bassist and a drummer. They were close to his age and Summer
wondered if he had met them in his club. The small band played sweet
covers of classic rock love songs.
When their set was done, he came off stage to meet her again and greeted
her with a kiss.
“Do you live in New York now?” she asked him, her voice thick with
emotion. She had a feeling that if she didn’t speak up now, she might lose
him forever and never get another chance. New York City was not so far
away from Philly, but she didn’t want him to be far away at all. It had been
confusing and messy for her at first, but she knew now that she and Eric
belonged with each other. There had been way too many signs along the
way for her to be wrong in that.
“I don’t really live anywhere,” Eric replied, giving her a sweet and sexy
smile. “I live in a van mostly.”
“You live with me,” she said. “Please come home, Eric. I don’t care if you
rob the national treasury.”
He laughed. “I don’t rob places anymore. I gave that up after that one time.
Now I mostly just rob people by making them pay to hear my bad playing.”
She leaned in and pressed her forehead against his. “Come home and be
with me… and our baby, eventually,” she pleaded. “I overreacted because I
was scared.”
Eric shook his head slightly. “You overreacted because you didn’t want to
be hurt again,” he said. “I don’t blame you for that. I don’t want to hurt
you…”
“You won’t,” she said, kissing him and keeping her face close to his. “You
won’t if you stay,” she whispered.
He gazed into her eyes. He clearly worried about her feelings. “You want
me to stay with you again?”
Summer nodded. “It’s where you belong.”
He kissed her lips, gently gliding his tongue along hers. Unless she was
mistaken, she felt a rush in her tummy as though their miracle baby was
responding to the kiss, too.
“Come on then,” he whispered. Taking her hand, and with his guitar slung
over his back, Eric led Summer outside to his waiting motorcycle.
After he got the helmets out, she surprised him by climbing onto the large
bike all by herself. She looked at him, biting her lip expectantly, and patted
the seat in front of her.
“Let’s go home.”
THE END
Rebound with the Biker
“We need to talk,” Zach told Allie over their dinner.
Uh oh. That particular phrase usually did not begin a good conversation.
Allie Reynolds and Zach had been dating for two years. They were out to
celebrate their anniversary. After barely surviving her teen years, Allie felt
as though she’d finally found the one. But now, she guessed, he disagreed.
“This past year has been great,” he went on.
If it was so great, why are you dumping me?!
“But honestly, my heart’s just not in it anymore. I can’t be your knight in
shining armor. I can’t go on feeling as though, if I should do anything
wrong in any way, you might relapse.”
Allie shook her head quickly. “Oh, no. Zach, it’s not like that. I don’t need
saving. I didn’t even know you felt like I did.”
He frowned a little at her. “Allie, when we met, you were a mess. If you
weren’t high, you were drunk. If you weren’t drunk, you seemed pretty
depressed… I know, underneath all of that, you were just scared. But I can’t
be your rock for you any longer. You rely on me too much and it’s…
stifling.”
Slowly moving her eyes down to focus on the checkered table top, she
could feel the tears rushing in.
“Do you understand?” he asked her. His voice was so gentle and caring. She
couldn’t believe he was doing this to her, on their anniversary of all days!
“I don’t,” she replied.
Zach patted her hand. “Well, you will,” he said. He stood up from the table,
abandoning his plate full of the remnants of burger and fries. Abandoning
her. “In time, you will. Let me go pay the check. I’ll see you around, Allie.”
That statement was such a lie. “No you won’t,” she said under her breath.
He was going out of her life. He was leaving her. After she had come so far
and they’d been so happy, he was leaving her.
Allie pushed her plate of food away from herself and left the diner. She
hadn’t cleaned her plate as well as he had, but it didn’t matter. Like hell was
she going to just sit there alone, with all of those judging eyes of the other
diners now on her. She threw her coat over her shoulders and went out into
the chilly late February air.
Underneath her long but slightly thin coat, she was wearing a little black
dress, her short brown hair in a bob with bangs swept across her brow in a
slanting style. In her blue eyes, she wore contacts and they were now
stinging as they mingled with her tears.
They had arrived by Zach’s car. Now, without him, she would have to walk
home.
What an asshole.
Thankfully, the restaurant was not too far from her Portland apartment. It
was not exactly a city meant for walking, but there were crosswalks and
walk signs. She’d be all right walking home, provided the drivers were
paying attention and there were no scary homeless guys to jump out of the
shadows at her.
When she was a user, she’d spent a lot of time out and about. It was how
she found dealers and how she made friends, strolling the streets and
chatting with fellow patrons of nightclubs and bars. Now that she was out
of that realm, Allie wanted to stay out. In fact, she was starting to think that
a change of scenery wouldn’t be so bad.
When she finally trudged through the doorway into her apartment, she
collapsed onto her black couch-bed, letting her heavy metal front door slam
shut on its own. Now that she was alone, safe at home, she sobbed into her
pillow. “That asshole!” she yelled, punching at the back cushion of her
couch. She’d left the bed unfurled. The last time she’d been on it, that
morning, she and Zach had made love. She was so fucking happy.
Now she wanted to burn the couch-bed and anything else he’d touched in
the place. They hadn’t lived together. She was glad of that now, because
there wasn’t going to be any kerfuffle with the landlord. But everything just
hurt now. He may not have lived there with her, but he had been there so
often that he may as well have.
She even missed the random piles of clothes that he would leave
everywhere.
Allie didn’t want to let herself be sad and mopey about Zach. She didn’t
want to give him the honor of making her feel like shit. She decided she
was going to take action and move on right then and there.
It had been many years since she’d last done it, but she got out her phone
and logged onto a dating app. She was going to find someone to hook up
with. A rebound would be good for her. She could take her mind off of
things. She could be with someone again, someone who made her feel good
and someone who wouldn’t expect her to be there afterwards. Sex without
the commitment of years.
After flicking her finger through several guys who seemed too sincere or
too nice for what she wanted, Allie’s eyes fell on the profile of one Lance
Chase. She arched an eyebrow, smirking at his pictures. He had dark hair
and brown eyes. There was a sort of James Dean look to him. He wore
leather jackets and rode a motorcycle. When she read his bio, she laughed
to herself. He was the VP of a motorcycle club: The Tomahawks.
“I highly doubt that your real name is Lance Chase,” she said out loud, as
though he could somehow hear.
She swiped right on his profile, deciding that he was the one she needed
right now. He was sexy, casual and nearby.
She hoped she’d read it right and that he was in Vancouver, Washington.
Allie was not driving all the way to Canada.

Lance was a tall man with a lean, muscular body. He had several tattoos
including a tomahawk on his upper left bicep, a roaring panther on his right
pec and a large, colorful Joker card on his right calf. Not all of his tats had a
real inspiration behind them; some of them he’d just picked out because he
thought they looked cool. But those three mattered to him for different
reasons.
He had coffee-colored skin, brown eyes and dark, almost black hair. He
looked very much like a Native American, and that was because he was the
grandson of one. His grandfather was a member of the Nez Perce tribe in
Washington. Lance did not know much about it, beyond the fact that it was
cool to get to say he was an Indian and have it be true. He wasn’t one of
those “2% Cherokee on my mother’s side” posers.
The Tomahawks were his motorcycle club. They were more like his band of
brothers. Everyone in his club had some sort of problem with substance
abuse. Maybe someone’s parent was a user and treated them like shit
because of it. Maybe someone was a former user who had sobered up.
Maybe someone was still a user and was trying to be better by allying
himself with people who would understand and be able to offer them
guidance and comradery.
For Lance’s part, he had been free of drugs for three years. He still drank
and smoked on occasion, but he no longer touched cocaine and heroin. That
was a good thing, because the drugs nearly killed him.
He and his motorcycle club rode their bikes to raise money and awareness
about substance abuse and its victims. Lance was pretty damn proud of
what he did. It wasn’t his job or anything but he sure wished it was. His day
job was working as a pizza chef in this place called The Blind Onion. It
wasn’t much, but it paid the bills and he got free pizza out of the deal.
What he still wanted out of life was a girlfriend. Sure, Lance had been in
many short-lived relationships over the years, but he was hoping for
something lasting. He wanted to sweep a girl off her feet, take her for a ride
on his motorbike and feel real love. That was why he signed up for the
ridiculous dating app. That was why, during downtime at meetups with his
club, he could be found head down and eyes focused on his phone’s screen,
browsing potential dates and hoping that at least some of them would be
interested in him.
Once such potential date was this girl named Allie Reynolds. She looked
cute in her pictures. She had short, brown hair that curled slightly outwards
and bangs that sloped across her face, nearly covering her left eye. Her eyes
were big and blue. She seemed to be a fun-loving person. She was smiling
in nearly every picture. Lance liked that. He didn’t want to be with another
depressing person. He’d spent too long in the game, trying to find someone
who would make him happy. He wanted to be with someone like Allie… If
she would have him.
He swiped right on her profile and then received a message from the app.
She had apparently swiped right on him, too! That meant that they could
message each other now. The only problem was that he didn’t know what to
say.

Allie was gleeful when her phone alerted her to the fact that the biker dude
had liked her back. He had been quick about it, even. She could send him a
message, so she thought it out carefully. She didn’t want to come across as
desperate or slutty… But she didn’t want to just say ‘Hi’ either. That was
not a good conversation jumping-off point.
Suddenly, she smirked a little. Why not go ahead and say it?
“Is Lance Chase really your name?”
She hit send before she could talk herself out of it. Now, she just had to wait
for him to respond. He was local, so at least they were in the same time
zone.
He sent back a message almost instantly.
“Lance Chase DuBois, but don’t spread that around too much. I’ve got a
reputation.”
Allie laughed. “What kind of reputation is that?” she asked in her next
message. She could tell that a guy who rode motorcycles probably had a
bad boy image. That was the sort of thing she was looking for at the
moment. Someone who wouldn’t be looking for anything other than one fun
night.
“You probably don’t want to know,” he replied.
Grinning, she messaged him back without hesitation. “Let’s see about that.
Meet you in Vancouver for drinks? You name the time and place.”
It took a little longer for a response to come that time. Allie decided to use
the pause to go into her closet and pick out something attractive to wear.
She did not want to meet him in her little, black dress. She took that off and
threw it into her hamper, still thinking that anything to do with Zach needed
to be cleaned and burned.
She was standing there, naked and going through her wardrobe when her
phone’s notification sound went off again.
When she picked her phone back up and read over Lance’s message, she
got excited. They would be meeting at a pizza place the following evening,
and from there it was “TBD”…
Allie sank back down onto her couch-bed, cradling the phone in the palm of
her hand as though it was now some fancy, important piece of her new man
friend. The following evening was a Saturday. That made things infinitely
easier.
“As long as TBD doesn’t stand for ‘To Be Dead’, I’m in,” she joked back.
Zach had royally screwed her over, but she was going to have good, excited
dreams tonight.
CHAPTER TWO
The Blind Leading The Blind

Allie drove for about an hour to arrive at the place Lance Chase DuBois had
specified, some place called The Blind Onion. It was apparently a pizza
place, and she was always willing to eat pizza. She parked her car in the lot
nearby and strolled inside. There weren’t many diners in the place. In fact,
aside from her, there appeared to only be one other person in the place.
Oh, please don’t be Lance, she thought as she eyed the guy subtly and sat as
far away from him as possible. He was older, at least fifty, wearing a trucker
hat and a wife-beater. Allie preferred to sit by the window and the front
door in case she would need to quickly make an escape.
Thankfully, Lance had messaged his number to her so she could call or text
him as soon as she’d arrived. She pulled her phone from her purse and
chose to text him so this strange man wouldn’t hear her and get any ideas.
She didn’t know why she’d become so paranoid. She supposed it had
something to do with being in a different place. Even though that was what
she’d wanted out of this. A new place and a new person…
Just then, she heard the sound of a door opening up in the back. She
swiveled around in her chair and craned her neck to see the tall, dark and
handsome man ambling towards her. He had shaggy, black hair and brown
eyes. Allie hadn’t fully realized how exotic-looking he was until this
moment.
This is more like it.
Lance smirked at her. “Allie R?” he asked, even though he had a smug sort
of look on his face. He knew it was her.
Allie nodded anyway. She wanted to give him the pleasure of knowing he
was correct. She wanted to give him all kinds of pleasure… “Lance
Chase?” she asked, grinning a dimpled grin back at him.
“Yep,” he said. He took a chair at her table, turned it around and sat in it
backwards. Then he offered a hand to her and she shook it. “Thank you for
driving up here. How was your ride?”
“Ah, it was no problem,” she replied, waving that away as though forty-five
minutes and a tank of gas were nothing. “It’s nice to finally be out of
Portland. Do you work here?” She noticed that he came from the back,
where the people making the pizza worked, so she assumed.
Lance laughed and nodded. “Very perceptive. Yes. My shift just ended. Do
you wanna go somewhere else? This place is good, but I wouldn’t mind
getting away now.”
“I can’t blame you for that,” Allie said. “I’m easy. What did you have in
mind?”
Thinking it over, he suddenly snapped his fingers. “There’s this great bar up
the street from here called The Corner Pub. It sounds all Irish and shit, but
it’s not. It’s more like a sports bar. They’ve got live music sometimes, and
pool tables. Does that sound fun?”
Allie certainly appreciated that he wanted to do what she thought sounded
fun, instead of just dragging her along with him to places. She needed to
prove that she could be adaptable, too. “Sure,” she answered. “Sounds fun. I
parked my car out front.”
“Ah,” he replied. “Do you want to go for a ride on my bike?”
Sometimes, Allie’s mind could be quite innocent. She imagined him riding
a bicycle for a moment before realizing that he meant his motorcycle. Of
course. That was what vice presidents of motorcycle clubs rode…
“Sure,” she said, a little bit more hesitantly that time. “I’ve never been on a
motorcycle before.”
“It’s like riding a bicycle,” Lance said dismissively, smiling.
Ha ha.
He assured her that her car would be safe in the parking lot and led her out
back to where he’d parked his bike, in the employee lot. His motorcycle
was a black Harley Davidson. She didn’t know what kind. She didn’t care
what kind.
“I only have one helmet,” he told her, “but you can wear it since you’re
new.”
That was both gallant and crazy of him. He handed the helmet to her and
she readily put it on even though she wasn’t even on the bike yet. Lance
chuckled as he looked her over. “How old are you, if I can ask that?”
Allie eyed him. “Twenty-five.”
He suddenly sighed, relieved. “I was starting to worry if you were in high
school. I’m thirty.”
“It says our ages on the app,” she pointed out.
That just made him chuckle again. “Like anyone pays attention to that.”
Without really giving her any warning, he lifted her up and placed her on
the motorcycle. So far, so good. It didn’t fall over and crush her or burst
into flames or anything. At least not yet. Calm down, she mentally
admonished herself. Remember, you’re going to fuck this bad boy later. He
won’t want to bang if you keep acting so jumpy.
Lance mounted the bike in front of her and took her hands, placing them
around his midsection. “You’re going to want to hold on tightly to me now,”
he said. “And then, after several drinks, you’ll want to hold on even
tighter.”
She was pretty sure she knew what that was supposed to mean.

They arrived a few minutes later at The Corner Pub. The ride had been
extremely fast and loud, and she was pretty sure her heart was going to be
hammering in her chest for hours, but she thought it was exhilarating. After
he carefully lifted her up and off of the motorcycle, he took the helmet back
and placed it into the storage space under the bike’s seat.
“After you,” Lance said, holding the door open for Allie.
This man was confusing. He mixed bad boy with gentleman so effortlessly.
It was sort of jarring.
Allie went into the noisy bar. There were about a billion TV screens around,
showing football and hockey at the same time. People were gathered around
each of the screens, cheering for the various teams. Lance took her by the
hand, not even trying to talk to her over the loudness, and led her over to a
place at the bar.
She sat on a stool and he sat next to her, leaning close so he could hear her
and she could hear him.
“What do you want to drink?” he asked her loudly.
Looking up at the menu on the wall, she thought it over. “A strawberry
daiquiri,” she yelled back.
Lance smirked at her and ordered the drink Allie requested as well as a beer
for himself. They drank together for a while, watching the games on TV as
well as the people who actually cared about the games. It was a little
awkward to be in a raucous sports bar like this with someone she didn’t
know, but there was something thrilling about it, too. She’d wanted a
stranger, after all.
“Do you mind if I smoke?” he asked her.
Allie shrugged. “Not really. Everyone else around me is doing it.” She stuck
her tongue out at him.
Grinning, Lance pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his back pocket and took
one out, placing it between his lips. He put the pack back before retrieving a
lighter from one of his front pockets. He lit his cigarette and Allie watched
as it briefly illuminated his face. There was a slight, green ring around his
pupils. His eyes technically weren’t brown at all. They were hazel.
After several drinks and several cigarettes, Lance turned to her. His breath
smelled like Marlboros and Budweiser – a smoky, reedy smell.
“Do you want to play pool?” he asked her.
“What?” she asked back.
“Do you want to play pool?!” he asked, louder and with more urgency.
She licked her strawberry lips. “Sure!” she yelled back.
Carrying their half-full glasses of alcohol, they wove in and out of the
people and tables until they found the segment of the bar that was devoted
predominately to billiards. Allie wasn’t very good at pool, but neither was
Lance, she soon found out, so it was okay. They were both so drunk and
silly-feeling that it didn’t much matter whose ball was whose or what the
rules were.
After about an hour of pool, he turned to her. “Do you want to go back to
my place?” he asked her.
“What?” she asked back, downing the last of her daiquiri.
Lance drained his beer glass and set it on the pool table as though it was
just a coffee table or something. “Do you want to go back to my place?” he
repeated, louder.
“Oh,” she said back, louder as well. “Sure!”
Allie felt as though her head was filled with air and her neck was a string. A
balloon. She felt like a balloon. She kept forgetting what was going on, and
then remembering, and then forgetting again as Lance took her outside and
somehow managed to get her situated on his motorcycle.
Everything started off surprisingly okay, she thought. Lance revved up the
engine and they took off down the street. They passed The Blind Onion.
They passed a lot of buildings. They were going very fast. She didn’t know
where she was going because she was drunk and not from there, but it all
must have been okay because Lance was a motorcycle rider in a motorcycle
club. He had to know what he was doing.
About three streets away from The Blind Onion, Lance drove his
motorcycle into a telephone pole.
That wasn’t how this was supposed to work, Allie thought as she fell off the
motorcycle and landed on the cold, hard concrete.
The good thing was that she was wearing his helmet. The bad thing was that
that meant he wasn’t wearing his helmet. But Lance was soon standing and
rushing to her, so that was a good sign that he was okay.
She was lying in the deserted street in her little pink skirt. Her black tights
had a hole in them now. Her knee was skinned and bleeding. But she was
okay.
“Oh my god, Allie, I’m so sorry!” Lance kept saying. He was clearly
panicking.
Allie slowly got back to her feet. Bloody knee aside, she felt fine. Dizzy
and shocked back into sobriety, but otherwise fine.
“What the fuck, Lance?!” she said in lieu of letting him know she was fine.
He continued to look her over, fretting over whether or not she was hurt.
She finally had to laugh a little. “I’m okay, Lance. Just… What happened?
How did that happen?”
Lance appeared defeated. He looked down at the concrete, embarrassed. “I
got distracted by something for a second, I guess… The next thing I knew,
we were on the ground. I’m so glad you’re okay. I promise you, Allie, this
never happens.”
She smiled at him and put her hand on his shoulder. “Well, you can’t say
that anymore, because it clearly does happen… Is your bike okay enough to
get us home?”
He nodded and helped her back onto it. The motorcycle was hefty and made
of sturdy metal. If it had any damage to it, she couldn’t see it right now,
though it was dark outside.
As he drove her along the rest of the way to his apartment, she wondered if
what Lance had said about her car being safe was true, or if that was
something she should be dubious about as well…
“Here we are,” he said, parking his motorcycle at the end of a long
driveway. He lived in a fairly squat apartment building. Allie couldn’t help
wondering how much the apartments cost, considering there were only five
in each building that made up the complex.
She took a deep breath. Stop judging your one-night-stand, she told herself.
After tonight, none of this is going to matter.
CHAPTER THREE
Your Psycho, Vertigo Shtick
Lance held the door open for Allie and she went inside, telling herself to be
cautious but not too cautious. After all, she had wanted this. She had asked
for a night like this, so why was she feeling so nervous now?
“So how did you get into the whole motorcycle club business?” she asked
him as he led her into the kitchen and sat her down at his table.
He opened the freezer and got out the ice tray. Wrapping three cubes into a
paper towel, he placed it onto Allie’s knee. He did so without even asking if
she needed it.
She hissed a little, but it felt good to have the pain numbed off of her. Her
hands still shook a bit from the adrenaline rush and the shock from the fall.
“Thanks,” she said.”
“It’s not exactly a business,” he said with a smirk. “But I joined because my
friends were there. I guess it was a bizarre kind of peer pressure.”
“Mm,” she said. “But do you regret it?”
“Not at all.”
Once her hand was holding the ice pack, he let go and moved to sit beside
her. However, it wasn’t long before he was leaning back towards her. Their
lips met and he slipped his tongue into her mouth, gliding it around and
finding hers.
She hadn’t been anticipating a kiss like this, but now that they were here
she was not complaining either. Allie kissed Lance back and brought the
hand that wasn’t holding onto the ice up to his cheek, stroking his face with
gentle fingertips.
Before long, the makeshift ice pack was forgotten. He lifted her up into his
arms and carried her over to his couch. As soon as he’d laid her down, she
shimmied out of her skirt and tights. He removed his pants and shirt and
leaned over her, continuing to kiss her deeply and sensuously.
Gripping the bottom of her t-shirt, he lifted it up over her head and sent it
floating to the floor. Her bra soon followed, and then he latched his mouth
onto her right breast, sucking and biting.
Allie let out a little hiss. She grabbed the top of his boxers and yanked them
down. After a dizzying few moments, they were there, naked. Two
strangers, making out on a couch.
She did her best not to think of it that way. He was sexy and hot as hell, and
she didn’t have anything to lose with him. She wouldn’t be losing money or
her heart, and certainly not her virginity… So she gave in to the kisses and
sucked in a breath as he spread her legs apart and went between them,
thrusting his big, thick, exotic cock into her.
“Ohh,” she moaned into his ear. The couch was small enough that they
really had to cuddle up in order to stay on it. And what better way to cuddle
than while fucking?
Lance lifted one of her legs up to his shoulder and held it there, pinning her
other leg down beside him. He started thrusting quickly, somehow getting
his full length inside of her little, tight pussy.
Her cheeks went hot as she felt his cock against her g-spot. Allie bit her lip
and erupted into shouts as she came. “Lance!” she bellowed. “Yeah! Yes!”
Smirking at her, he pulled out and lightly smacked the side of her ass. “Turn
around,” he said.
Allie was a bit confused, but curiosity won out and she did as she was told,
turning over and standing on her knees and arms as Lance plowed into her
from behind. He reached out and grabbed her boobs, squeezing and rubbing
at her nipples. “Oh, yeah, do you like that?” he asked her.
She did. She hadn’t had sex ‘doggie style’ in quite a while. Her good boy
ex-boyfriend never did things like that unless she begged him too.
“Mmhmm, yeah,” she moaned back at Lance. “Faster!”
He thrust himself inside her and she gyrated backwards into him, swiveling
her hips in time with him. Before too long, he was frantic in his movements.
He pulled out of her again and, grabbing her, flipped her over again and
resumed fucking her from on top.
Howling, Allie lifted her legs and he bit her left calf. If her knee still hurt,
she wasn’t feeling it at all. Her back bucked away from the couch cushion
as she came again. Lance threw his head back and yelled. “Yeah, come for
me, Allie!! Yeah! YEAHHH!”
She felt him come inside her, his cock throbbing against her pulsating walls.
He lay there on top of her for a few moments, waiting for their hearts to
stop beating so quickly. Then, he pulled out of her and stood up on the
floor.
Eye-to-eye with the one eye of his penis, Allie gave it a kiss. She didn’t
know why, it just felt like it needed to be done. She smirked up at him.
“That was wild,” she said. “You’re forgiven for the concrete tattoo on my
knee.”
He laughed. “Do you need more ice?”
She shook her head. “I need a shower… Can I use your bathroom? Does it
have a shower?”
Nodding, Lance gestured down a hallway off the kitchenette and living
room. “It’s not much, but it has hot water, so whatever.” He shrugged.
Allie got up and went to the bathroom, doing her best to walk in an alluring
fashion so he’d keep thinking about her body. He smiled at her and went
into the kitchen to get himself a glass of vodka and lime.
Now that they were here, Allie didn’t know what to do next. Did she leave
by climbing down the fire escape? Did she leave while he was sleeping?
She’d never done this sort of thing before, but she was pretty sure that ‘one
night stand’ meant that she needed to be gone by morning.
Being a bad girl had been so much easier when she had cocaine to satiate
her nerves and allow her to be more loose and crazy. Now she felt the
neurotic kind of crazy.

When Allie came out of the shower, wrapped in one of Lance’s fluffy, black
towels, she found him sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee, waiting for
her. The coffee smelled like bananas. He smiled when he saw her. “Hello
again. How was your shower?”
Even though he had seen her naked only a few minutes ago, she felt shy
about him seeing her in this state of undress. “It was nice…” She felt like
planning her escape wasn’t going to work if he was still awake and looking
at her like a friendly host. Perhaps she should have vocalized that she’d
wanted a hook-up and nothing else. But, then again, he did buy her drinks
and food at the bar. She didn’t want to be a bitch about it.
“Your coffee smells like bananas,” she added awkwardly.
Grinning proudly, Lance held out his cup towards her. “Would you like
some?”
She came over and took the mug from him. She sniffed it. It smelled like
bananas and chocolate.
“Taste it and see. If you want some, I’ll pour you a whole cup.”
Allie took a sip of the great-but-unusual-smelling coffee. “Wow,” she said.
“Okay, yes please.”
If they drank coffee, there was a high probability that they would stay
awake even longer, thus moving her quick escape to later tomorrow
morning. Allie sighed. As long as she didn’t have to see him again, she
supposed that she didn’t mind his attention. This Lance guy had turned out
to be sweeter than expected.
Smirking, he lit a cigarette and went over to his coffee maker to pour her a
cup. “So, what’s your story?” he asked her, carrying over the filled cup and
exchanging it with the half-drunk one in her hand. “Are you from
Portland?”
Allie nodded, taking a good long sip of her coffee. She was going to have to
look this flavor up when she got home. “Born and raised. I’m even a
frequent shopper at Powell’s Books.”
Lance laughed. “Wow. I have no idea what that is.”
“What about you?” she asked him, sinking into a chair at the kitchen table
again even though she was still just in a towel. Her wet hair was dripping
onto her, into the mug and onto the tabletop. She needed to dry before
clothes were necessary again.
He didn’t seem to mind.
“I’m from here,” he said. “I’ve spent most of my life explaining, ‘No, not
the Canadian one’ to people. It used to be frustrating, but now it’s mostly
funny.”
He coughed suddenly and spat into the sink.
“You know, you should probably stop smoking,” Allie said. “Speaking of
things you hear all the time.”
Lance ran his fingers through his hair, his cigarette now at odds with his
coffee cup. “I know,” he said, taking the cigarette out of his mouth with one
hand and sipping more coffee with the other. Once that action was
successfully executed, he placed the death stick back between his lips and
puffed a big cloud of smoke.
“I started smoking later in life, if you can believe that,” he said. “I went
from being addicted to heroin and cocaine to being addicted to nicotine.
Fffftt. But I guess we’re all addicted to something.”
Allie understood that. Oh boy, did she understand that. And she did not
need an addict in her post-addiction life.
She finished her coffee much faster than she really wanted to and set the
mug down on the table. “Yeah,” she said. “…I should probably get going.”
The clock on the wall told her that it was three in the morning. She
wondered if that was correct or if he hadn’t changed the batteries.
Lance shook his head. “No, don’t leave so late. It’s dangerous. Here, why
don’t you sleep on my couch bed and I’ll make do in a chair?”
Sighing, she looked at the clock again. He did have a point. It was only
going to get later… And she had an hour’s drive she’d need to take in order
to get home. She supposed the original, unconscious plan she’d had was to
stay the night with him. But that was before she’d discovered the past drug
addictions.
At least it was in the past.
“Okay,” she said with a little nod, resigned to this new plan. She got out of
her chair and went back over to the couch bed, to gather up her clothing and
sit somewhat away from him under the guise of doing that.
As she slowly put her clothes back on, Lance watched her. She was a pretty
little thing.
This time, she neglected the tights. After all, they had a galaxy of small
holes all over one of the legs. She hadn’t landed as softly as she thought at
the time, probably because she was so in shock. And so drunk.
Even though she drank a mug of coffee, the alcohol and the stress from the
evening were still making her sleepy. She realized that it was a good idea to
stay and not go out driving when she felt this way. Lance was so sweet that
she could forgo the walk of shame and just simply walk back to her car
tomorrow.
Then she realized she would probably be riding on his bike again tomorrow,
to get back to her car… She hoped that the ride wouldn’t be quite so bumpy
in the morning.
She went into the bathroom again once she was dressed, and hung up his
towel. She’d been clever enough to pack a toothbrush in her purse, but
she’d left her contacts case and solution back at her place.
Removing the thin plastic from her irritated eyes, she just threw the contacts
into his trashcan. They were a nuisance anyway.
CHAPTER FOUR
Suckered In Too Far
Allie’s alarm went off on her cell phone at seven a.m. She awoke, groggy
and disoriented before remembering where she was and whose couch bed
she was on. Shutting off her alarm, she looked around and found Lance
asleep in one of the nearby chairs in his living room. It was one of those
wooden, straight-backed chairs, so it didn’t look too comfortable but he had
found some way to manage it.
As quietly as possible, she got out of the bed and put her shoes on. Her face
was a mess and so was her hair, but she didn’t want to stay longer than
necessary. She’d slept in her clothes and needed to get home to tidy herself
up before work the following day. Data entry, secretarial stuff didn’t exactly
require looking fancy, but Allie was professional! And she looked anything
but at the moment.
Cautiously and quietly, she crept to Lance’s front door and walked outside.
She didn’t want to wait around for him to wake up, and she wasn’t exactly
keen on getting back on his bike right now, so she decided to just take a cab
to The Blind Onion. Besides, she wanted to feel like a responsible, rational
adult after last night’s craziness.
Gosh, her head hurt.
When she found her car and got in, she remembered that she needed to wear
her glasses because her contacts were gone. Luckily, she had packed her
glasses into her purse along with her toothbrush. She had used some
forethought at least. She wished she’d used more forethought about the
exact type of bad boy she was hooking up with but ahh well. Live and learn.
It was too late to change that now.
She drove home, glasses on and pedal to the metal. That coffee he’d shared
with her was good. She would need to invest in some of that, she thought as
she yawned. Flavored coffee made her like coffee way more than she ever
did when it was plain.
She was quite relieved to be on the road again, and she was determined to
not give any more thought to Mr. Lance Chase DuBois.

Unfortunately for her, Mr. DuBois wasn’t ready to be an afterthought. He

apparently hadn’t gotten the memo that one night stands involved one night
with the person, not multiple nights. Not dates.
“Can I see you again?” he texted her a day after her ‘drive of shame’ home.
Allie thought that the app she’d used was meant for hook-ups and nothing
serious. She supposed that she could have been wrong. In any case, she
should have talked to Lance about what she wanted. She realized that now.
And now she definitely felt like a bitch, because he wanted to pursue
whatever they might have…
“I can’t,” she replied, deciding that honesty was the best policy, even if it
hurt. She had to remove the Band-Aid at some point, right? She didn’t want
to hurt his feelings, but she couldn’t let him hurt her. She didn’t have a lot
of faith in them working out as more than just a one-time thing.
“Why not?” he asked.
She was very glad that they were texting. Actually talking over the phone
would be more personal, and there’d be more likelihood of her chickening
out and saying yes to something she really should say no to.
“Because I don’t want a bad influence in my life. I used to be addicted to
drugs, too. I’ve been doing so well lately. I can’t go back to that. I’m sorry.”
A bad boy looked appealing on paper, but allowing him to take over her life
would be too much. He was sexy and kind, but he was also a hot mess. She
didn’t want someone who smoked to avoid shooting up, and she didn’t want
someone who was in a motorcycle club that did god knew what.
Oh god, she was starting to wonder if she had made a terrible mistake in
spending an evening with him!
About a month later, her heard hurt again; like the hangover headache, but
worse. Allie was pretty sure that hangovers didn’t work like that. She was
about a week late on her period too, so she decided that a quick trip to the
pharmacy was in order.
Great, she thought. Getting pregnant from a one night stand is just what I
need.
She got the stick and followed the instructions. Sure enough, she was
knocked up. By a stranger she had met on the internet. A motorcycle-riding,
tattooed, ex-druggie, no less. As much as she didn’t want to, she knew that
she needed to go see him again and let him know about their baby.
It felt so weird to even think about it as theirs.
“Hey Lance,” she texted to him instead of just showing up, unexpectedly.
“We need to talk.”
She was already getting into her car as she told him this, so it wasn’t as
though she would back out if he didn’t answer or said no.
Allie was grateful when he did respond, however.
“Yo, okay. Your place or mine? ;)”
He was joking with her now. That was possibly a good thing. It meant that,
a month later, he still cared enough about her that seeing her wouldn’t be an
annoyance or anything.
“I’m driving to see you,” she replied. Then she slipped her phone into a
pocket of her purse and started her car. The long drive wouldn’t feel so
long. The fact that she was dreading their conversation would make time go
by so, so fast.
She told herself that there was a chance things would work out well. After
all, Lance was a recovering addict, not an addict-addict… right? If they
were both getting over the same sort of thing, wouldn’t they be able to help
themselves? This could actually be good. The problems had arisen between
her and Zach because she was a former user and he wasn’t. He got tired of
helping her get over things. But Lance wouldn’t get tired of her… He’d
understand.
At least, she hoped he would.
When she arrived at his place, after carefully checking her GPS at every
stoplight, it seemed, she realized that he wasn’t home. His bike wasn’t in
the driveway. Before blaming him for being gone, she reminded herself that
she hadn’t told him when she’d be there and she couldn’t therefore assume
that he’d be at home all day.
“I’m here!” she texted him. “Where are you?”
“The boys and I are having a club meeting at the onion,” he replied.
“There’s a key under my doormat.”
Allie took that as a sign that she shouldn’t go to The Blind Onion and
confront him at the moment. She found the key and was about to just let
herself inside his apartment, but she wasn’t planning to stay over. She didn’t
want to be a booty call, if that’s what he was thinking.
Plopping the spare key into her purse in case she would still need it, she got
back into her car and drove to The Blind Onion anyway. She wasn’t afraid
of a bunch of biker guys. This was important!
However, when she stepped into the pizza place, shit was going down.
There was what appeared to be the endings of a fight happening. Guns and
knives were drawn. The air in the room was intense, and smelled more like
beer and perspiration than pepperoni.
“Oops, sorry,” she said when all eyes were suddenly on her. The jingling
bell on the front door hadn’t worked in her favor. “I guess you’re closed.”
The guy in the dead center of the room pointed his gun at her and scowled.
Allie wasn’t going to be able to just back out of this one.
“Any of you punks know this chick?” he asked the group of other men who
were gathered around, standing with their fists clenches and their various
forms of weaponry out.
At last, she spotted Lance. He was standing near the front door and he
backed towards her a little bit, shielding her from the gun. “She’s with me,”
he said. “She doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
“Now I’m only going to say this one more time,” the big guy with a gun
growled, rounding on the rest of the group and brandishing his gun in all of
their faces. “Vinnie here owes me three thousand dollars… I score for
Vinnie, he pays me. That’s how it’s supposed to work.”
Allie assumed that the guilty-looking, rat-faced guy was Vinnie.
Lance had told her that the motorcycle club was made up of his friends.
Some friends…
While the scary guy with a gun was distracted by this Vinnie person, Allie
crept back out of the restaurant. She took off running as soon as the door
jingled again behind her. She didn’t bother with her car, but ran as far up the
street as possible in order to get away, knowing that the guy wasn’t going to
chase her down while he had a whole bike club to antagonize.
Once she was far enough away, she stopped and pulled out her cell phone.
She called the police and reported a man with a gun in The Blind Onion.
Lance hadn’t had a gun. She didn’t see him holding any weapons, actually.
Was he insane? Or was he just smarter than the rest of them?
She texted him that she’d alerted the cops and to meet her back at his house.
She needed to talk to him and then she would be out of his hair for good.
The cops showed up and arrested several of the people at The Blind Onion,
most importantly of all the drug dealer who’d been threatening all of them.
The officers questioned Lance, but did not take him in because he was
unarmed and was working in the establishment.
Two hours later, he was able to lock up and head home. He didn’t know
what Allie needed to speak to him about, but he had a feeling that she
wasn’t planning to be his girlfriend now; not after what she’d just
witnessed.
Lance arrived at his building and managed to nap a parking spot directly
next to hers. Cutting off his motorcycle’s engine, he dismounted and stored
his helmet inside the seat. He trudged up the stairs of his building, not sure
what to expect and not looking forward to whatever it was.
It had been a pretty shitty day.
“Hey, Allie,” he said, giving her a sweet smile as he came inside and shut
the door behind him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
She’d been sitting on the couch bed, but she quickly stood up when he came
through the door. She was not smiling. “What the fuck was that all about?”
she asked, her voice a shouted whisper. “You told me you had kicked your
drug habits!”
He put his hands up defensively. “I have,” he replied. “But some of the
members of our club ain’t so lucky, okay?”
Her face suddenly softened from a frown to a pout. “I was really scared.”
“I know,” he said. Lance came to her and wrapped his arms around her in a
hug.
She rested her head against his chest. It felt good to be held like that, even
though she was going to be losing it in just a few more moments.
“I came here to tell you two things,” Allie said, looking up into his brown
eyes. “First of all, and brace yourself… I’m pregnant.”
His arms loosened and he gaped at her.
Well, this was not a severance from him. It was quite the opposite, in fact!
“And secondly,” she said with a sigh. “I don’t think I should see you
anymore. You’re too dangerous.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Coffee And Cigarettes
A long period of silence followed as Lance looked at Allie in disbelief. At
first, he thought that he had misunderstood what she was saying, but there
was no mistaking the fact that she’d said she didn’t want to be with him
because he was dangerous. After working so hard to make his life better
and more suitable for a girlfriend like her, the last thing he wanted to hear
was that word. He had changed a lot since he was a user. And he was
willing to change even more if it would make her happy. His mouth went
from shocked and open to an agitated frown, but then he smiled and
laughed a little. It was a hostile sort of laugh. A ‘you’ve-got-to-be-kidding-
me’ kind of laugh.
“You know I’m right,” Allie said. “Unless your brain temporarily shut off
back there, you know what your life is like. It’s no place for a child. I’ve
been trying so hard to change my life around. This is the reasoning I’ve
needed.”
Lance continued to smile at her. She couldn’t tell if it was menacing or
goofy. It was right on the line between those two types of smile.
“Right after the police came and questioned me, and took a bunch of my
friends away… I quit the club.” He looked her in the eyes. “You’re right.
It’s not a good place to be in, surrounded by former addicts who are still
struggling. I can’t stay clean if I’m around them… I want to clean up my
act. Not just for you, but partially for you.”
Allie didn’t know what to say. “You like me a lot, huh?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Is that bad?”
She looked down, blushing. Before the baby, she might have said yes. After
all, she was trying to just have some fun and didn’t want to be in a
relationship. But now… Well, fate hadn’t really given her a choice.
“No, it’s not bad,” she said. “I suppose we do have more in common than I
expected.”
He went to her and gave her a hug. “It’s all going to be okay,” he said. “I
promise. We’ll work together to make the best little happy existence we
can, okay?”
She looked into his eyes, sizing him up a little. He was so handsome and
kind. She didn’t want to blame him for shit he couldn’t help. The dealer had
been there to threaten one of Lance’s biker club friends, not Lance. And
Lance hadn’t been packing heat or anything quite so ludicrous.
“What are you going to do now that you’re out of your club?” she asked
him. She did not want him to give up riding his motorcycle or being in a
club with his friends, she just would prefer it if he be more selective with
who he spent his time with. There had to be motorcycle clubs around there
that weren’t so destructive. Maybe he could join a pizza-lovers motorcycle
club?
He shrugged. “Start a new club, I guess. Fly solo for a while til I figure
things out.”
Allie smiled at him. “Well, you don’t have to fly solo. You can fly duo.
With me.” She smirked slightly. “That sounded better in my head.”
Lance laughed. “Aw, that’s cute. I thought for sure that you were never
going to want to be on my bike again.”
Shaking her head, Allie released herself from his hold and went out to the
kitchen to make herself some of that heavenly banana-flavored coffee. “As
long as you promise me that you’re not going to drive it drunk ever again,
I’ll ride with you.”
The coffee maker only made about two cups at a time. As she stood in the
kitchen to guard the coffee as it was made, she gazed over the kitchenette
and the living room that she could see from her vantage point. They both
lived in small, cramped, studio apartments… That was going to need to
change. A lot of things were going to be changing.
“Can we take it one day at a time?” she asked him.
Lance smiled and let out a soft chuckle. “That’s the only way to live.”

Since Allie had a better job and Lance’s experience as a pizza chef was
more flexible in cities, they decided to search for a two bed-room apartment
in Portland instead of staying in Vancouver. They both dealt with the wraths
of their separate landlords and were eventually able to move in together in
an apartment building that was a short walk away from Powell’s Books and
Voo Doo Donut, in the heart of Portland.
He hung out on the couch, applying for jobs while she went to work. It
wasn’t a solution, but it was a start.
One evening, Allie sat on the floor with a package she’d received in the
mail from IKEA, trying to make sense of the instructions. “This is supposed
to be a crib,” she told Lance.
Looking over the laptop at her, he grimaced. “It looks like a pile of sanded
wood to me,” he joked.
“It would look better if you’d come down here and help me,” Allie retorted.
Lance closed the laptop and set it aside, sinking down to his knees from the
couch and crawling over towards her. He kissed her neck and cheek, still
not exactly helping.
She let a soft giggle escape her. “Lance, this crib isn’t going to build itself.”
“Mm,” he replied through a kiss. “But I have some good news and I want to
celebrate with you.”
Allie pulled away from him to look him in the eyes. “Good news?” she
asked. “Normally you tell people what the news is before you try and
celebrate.”
“Sorry. I’m not used to having good news to share.”
She picked up one of the wooden slats that were meant to form the crib’s
sides and hit him with it, with a light thwack.
He chuckled. “A baby of mine is going to be able to eat through that.”
“TELL me the news!” Allie shouted, but she was laughing. It felt good to
live with someone again. They were taking things slowly, but she could not
deny her continued attraction to him. Crib-building aside, he was showing
her that he could be just as dependable as her goody-goody ex.
Lance cleared his throat and started helping her assemble the ridiculous,
Swedish-crafted cradle. “I got a job,” he said. “And the mythical Powell’s
Books.”
Allie’s eyes widened. “Whaaat!? But have you even been there?”
He laughed. “No, I got the job purely based on my ability to imagine the
place.” He pretended to tap her head with another of the wooden slats. “I
went there for an interview while you were at work. I just didn’t say
anything about it because I didn’t want to get our hopes up for nothing.”
Her jaw dropped. That was so impressive. “I have to admit, I’m jealous. I
love that place. Oh, my god, Lance! Congratulations!”
Beaming proudly, he nodded a little. “Now can we celebrate?”
“How do you want to celebrate?”
He answered by dropping the wood he was holding and making out with
her on top of it. The pile of wood was not much of a pillow, but there was
something kinky about making out on top of their baby’s future bed.
After several minutes of that, Lance finally – and a bit awkwardly – got
back up onto his feet and then lifted Allie up into his arms. He carried her to
the empty bedroom that was going to be their baby’s nursery. But for the
colorful animal wallpaper, there was no evidence of the room’s intention
yet. That was for the best, considering Lance’s intention.
Placing Allie gently down on the blue-carpeted floor, he threw off his shirt
and unfastened his pants. As he got on top of her to continue making out
with her, Allie pulled his pants off of him and he grabbed at all of her
clothing. They kissed amidst a frenzy of flying fabric but, before long, they
were naked together.
Lance pressed himself inside of her and thrust his cock against her walls,
but he was slower this time. They were sober this time, which was a nice
change.
She looked up at him as he took his time with her, exploring around and not
being so rough. Gasping, she smiled at him. “It’s nice to not have an exit
strategy this time,” she murmured into his ear.
“You don’t need an exit strategy,” he whispered back, shaking his head and
placing a finger into her mouth. “Just like I’m never going to exit you, if I
can help it.”
Allie laughed softly, licking his finger and sucking at it.
They fucked each other nice and slowly for a few moments before he pulled
out and lifted her up, bringing her over to the back wall of the nursery
room. She put her hands up against the wall and moaned loudly as he
inserted his throbbing penis into her from behind.
Lance had an insatiable desire for making love to her from behind. She felt
like she could get used to it… particularly when he licked his fingers and
brought them to her clitoris. He stroked and flicked at it until she was barely
able to keep standing.
She came and held onto the wall to keep from falling. His hand was now
surely covered with her female juices. “Aaaahhhh!” she shouted. Their
shouts and moans echoed throughout the empty room and the still-spacious
apartment. All of a sudden, he spun her around and held her up against him,
putting his cock back inside her and holding her as he stood, ramming into
her and watching as her face contorted in indescribable pleasure.
He tightened his grip on her hips, practically drawing blood with his
fingernails as he held on and came inside her.
“Ahh, shit!” he yelled, closing his eyes. “Whooo.”
Slowly and carefully, he lowered Allie back down to the floor and pulled
out of her. He squeezed her boobs for a moment, gently getting her nipples
good and hard before he walked out of the nursery and back to the pile of
abandoned wood.
Allie gathered up her clothes and carried them back out to their living room.
She got dressed while Lance worked to put their crib together.
Once the crib was built and didn’t fall apart at the slightest touch, they
beamed at each other and carried it into the nursery.
“One item down,” Allie said. “And so, so many more to go.”
Lance smiled and put his arm around her. “Well, at least he or she won’t
have to sleep in a drawer.”

When Monday came around again, Allie was pleased to be joined by Lance
in the kitchen at seven a.m. She poured a bowl of cereal for them to share
and they sat together, eating chocolatey cereal and drinking the chocolate
and banana infused coffee. She had become addicted to the stuff, but it
wasn’t the bad, dangerous sort of addiction.
He could have his cigarettes if she could have her coffee.
Once their breakfast was over, they went downstairs to the parking lot and
got onto his bike. She hadn’t been on it since their accident, but as she
hugged him and they took off down the road, she realized that she trusted
him.
Lance drove the motorcycle responsibly and got her to her office building in
no time. “My shift doesn’t start for, like, three more hours,” he confessed
then, smiling a sideways smirk at her. “I just wanted to be with you.”
Allie smiled and blushed. “Careful, Lance Chase. Don’t forget your bad ass
reputation.”
He chuckled. “It’s Lance Chase DuBois,” he said. “And I’m making a new
reputation.”
“Oh really?”
“Yup,” he said. “I think I’m going to start a motorcycle club for Portland
dads. That’s how bad it is.”
Allie laughed, but she knew he was serious. And she loved him for it. THE
END
 Preview of Bear Mountain Bride
Chapter 1
Tessa Henderson never grew tired of the way the morning sunlight streamed
in through the windows of her cabin on Bear Mountain. Even after a year,
when she and her husband Lucas decided to finally leave the city behind
and spend the rest of their lives in peaceful seclusion, she still loved waking
up to the gentle dappling of sunlight at the end of her and Lucas’s bed. First,
it would play through the leaves of the trees that shaded their cozy cabin,
the light shifting as the wind poured over the branches. As the morning
went on and the sun rose above the tree line, the sun would flood in on
brilliant golden beams.
Tossing the earth-toned blanket from her body, Tessa rose from the bed to
open a window and let the pleasant, warm air fill the room. The subtle scent
of lavender mixed with the clean, fresh morning breeze. This was her
favorite time of year, when the last frost of winter became a distant memory
and the sunlight grew warmer by the day, the plants and trees coming out of
their long hibernation- spring was almost here. She pulled at the hem of a
thin, white t-shirt that showed off her full breasts and barely covered her
pair of black lace panties. This was her favorite outfit to sleep in.
Tessa looked at the bed with longing, wishing that Lucas was still in it.
Something about these warm, sunny mornings made her want to waste the
hours away in bed with her husband, but he rose even earlier than she did.
More and more, Tessa found herself waking up alone in bed, her arm
moving longingly over the sheets where Lucas would lay.
A thud sounded through the cabin, snapping Tessa out of her morning
daydream and alerting her that Lucas was home. Checking her phone on the
nightstand, she saw that it wasn’t even eight yet.
“Baby, is that you?” asked Tessa, calling through the open bedroom door.
“Yeah, it’s me,” Lucas said, his gruff, manly voice carrying through the
home.
Tessa smiled, happy that he was back. She moved with slinky steps towards
the living room, her long chocolate-colored hair mussed from sleep.
Entering the kitchen, she saw Lucas, his large, muscular body bare from the
waist up, and his tanned, sculpted torso glistening with sweat from his
morning’s work. His sandy blond hair hit his strong, defined jaw and his
light blue jeans hung from his hips, showing off the full span of his strong,
tight abs.
Upon seeing Tessa, his green eyes widened slightly and Tessa watched as
his gaze tracked along the curves of her body.
“Where were you?” Tessa asked, crossing one slim ankle over the other as
she leaned against the door frame.
“Nowhere,” he said, as he poured himself a tall glass of water at the sink,
his tone suggesting that he didn’t want to discuss the matter.
But Tessa did. She knew that Lucas had always been an early riser, but
throughout their marriage, there was a reason. He used to rise early to work
on one of his wrought-iron sculptures. But since they moved, he was
becoming more and more cagey about where he had been and what he had
been doing[T3].
“Nowhere?”
“Just into town to get some supplies- nothing you need to worry about.”
He took a long draw from the glass of water, the soft-pointed triangle of his
Adam’s apple bobbing up and down with each swallow.
“I just don’t know why you need to go so early.”
“To get it done, that’s why.”
Lucas set the glass in the basin of the stainless-steel sink.
“What difference does it even make?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” said Tessa, winding a delicate finger through her hair and
coiling it, a playful smile spreading across her face. “I thought we could
spend the morning together.”
Lucas leaned against the counter, taking another look at Tessa.
“Oh yeah?” he asked, getting the hint. “What’d you have in mind?”
“I think you know.”
With that, Tessa turned around and slinked back into the bedroom, pulling
her shirt off and tossing it out into the living room, her nipples hard and
taut. As she sat down on the bed, she heard Lucas’s heavy footfalls follow
her into the bedroom, and within seconds, his tall, broad-shouldered frame
was darkening the doorway.
Even after a decade-and-a-half of marriage, Tessa still found Lucas to be
the most handsome man she had ever laid eyes on. His sandy hair was wild
and unruly, his green eyes were brilliant and always seemed to be narrowed
in mischief, his nose was strong and slim, and his jaw was wide and square,
set just below a set of sensual, full lips. A passionate, talented artist, he
always had his pick of bohemian girls who invariably fell under his spell,
and Tessa still couldn’t believe that she was the one he actually chose to
wed.
She looked at him with ravenous eyes as he stepped out of his heavy, brown
boots.
“Come here,” said Tessa, curling a finger towards him, her face half-
obscured by a thick tress of hair.
Lucas stepped towards her, nothing on his body but his jeans. When he
closed the distance, Tessa placed her hands on his tight skin smooth and taut
over his muscles. She began kissing his stomach, taking sweet pleasure in
the feeling of his abs against her soft lips. Moving down, she paid special
attention to his hip bones; she’d always loved the way they jutted out. Tessa
inhaled while kissing him, taking in his rich, manly musk. As she
continued, she moved her hands down and around, slipping her fingers
underneath the waistband of his jeans and dragging the backs of her nails
against his skin. She looked up at him with smiling eyes, building the
anticipation for what was to come next.
He moved one hand to the back of her head, running his fingers through her
hair, the backs of his nails dragging against her skin, sending shivers along
the length of her back. Tessa worked open the brushed gold button of his
jeans, unfastening it and exposing the skin just above Lucas’s cock. She
moved her lips down, kissing this newly visible skin as she pulled his jeans
by the waist, moving her head back and away from his cock as it sprang
free.
Tessa couldn’t help but smile every time she saw Lucas’s cock. It was long
and thick, smooth and delicious. She found herself often thinking of the
first time they fucked that night long ago in the back of his car, a black
Porsche Roadster that he inherited from an uncle and still drove to this day.
She still remembered the feeling of him sliding into her after what seemed
like hours of foreplay, the length of his cock entering her fully, forcing a
long sigh from her lungs. And what she remembers most was thinking how
perfectly he fit into her, as though his cock was made just for her.
She never grew bored of it and now was no exception.
Taking a long, hungry look at Lucas’s prick, Tessa began by stroking him
along the base of his shaft with her fingertips. She wanted to take all of him
into her mouth right then, to let his length slide down her tongue and into
her throat, but Tessa had long ago learned the value of making a man wait.
Wrapping her fingers around his shaft, she tightened her grip, gently
squeezing his balls as she stared up at him. Watching his face tighten, Tessa
knew that he was ready for her to begin. And as she felt her mouth water as
she looked down the length of his organ, she knew that she was ready, too.
She began by kissing the head of his prick with gentle presses, her lips
glossy and wet. Tessa focused on just his head at first, kissing along the
ridge of his prick, paying special attention to his most sensitive areas as she
continued to squeeze his balls. A quick grunt emerged from Lucas’s throat,
and Tessa took this as a sign that she was on the right track. After years of
learning just how to make this particular cock cum, she knew that she’d
better be.
Tessa kissed him along his substantial length, now moving her hand up to
the head of his organ, caressing him as she kissed the taut skin of his
erection, stopping only at his balls to suck and lick them before moving
back up. After repeating this a few times, she knew that she was ready to
taste him- to really taste him.
Moving her lips back up to the tip, she opened wide, the corners of her lips
pulled upwards in a smile of anticipation, and took him into her warm, wet
mouth.
Lucas groaned with pleasure as his cock slid into her, Tessa flicking his
length with her tongue as she took him deeper and deeper into her mouth.
She stopped before she took his length fully down her throat, wrapping her
lips into a tight seal around his shaft. Then, she began sliding her lips along
his cock, gently lashing him with her tongue as she sucked, flashing her big,
blue eyes up at him with a sensual gaze as she worked.
Gradually, her pace quickened, the soft sounds of her sucking and licking
mingling with the birdsong that floated in through the open window. Tessa
made sure to lick his head hard when she was about to slide her mouth
along his length, pressing her soft, wet tongue against the head of his cock
and the skin just below. Moving one hand along his side, she could feel his
body shudder with pleasure and as she sucked, his breath quickened.
Then, she relaxed her throat, allowing his entire length to slide into her. She
moved slowly, savoring every inch of his perfect cock, her lips creeping
down him, stretched over his girth. When Tessa reached the base of his
cock she let it simply rest in her throat and brought her gaze up to his eyes
once again, letting him look down with his narrowed, green eyes at the sight
of his woman taking him as deeply as she could. Then, his hands still kitted
into her hair, he gently moved her head back; she could tell that he was on
the verge of cumming. His cock dropped out of her mouth as he moved her
back, bouncing slightly as the massive, thick member dipped down from
gravity. She knew now that it was time to fuck him.
Lucas stepped out of his jeans, and Tessa moved onto the bed, pulling her
panties down to her ankles and kicking them off. Now, other than a small
strip of trimmed black her above her sex, she was completely bare. Lucas
then moved over her, propping himself up with his thick, ropy arms. The
span of his broad, strong shoulders casted a shadow over Tessa as she
crossed her legs coquettishly, eagerly anticipating him to spread them and
enter her.
He held himself above her for a moment and as he did, Tessa felt something
off, something different. She watched Lucas move his hands along her
body, over the flat, creamy skin of her stomach and down between her legs,
slipping his fingers between her thighs and gently spreading her legs apart.
And again, as he did, Tessa sensed something strange. She looked up at
Lucas and saw that he was looking at the wall above their bed, rather than
down at her.
Lucas had always been a stoic sort, his calm and strong masculinity was a
trait of his that Tessa was both attracted to and frustrated by, so tender
kisses and outpourings of emotion during sex were never something that
she expected from him. But at this moment he seemed different, as though
his mind were someplace else, and he was preparing himself to simply go
through the motions of making love. But she couldn’t say for sure what was
going through his mind.
Before she had a chance to consider it further, Lucas slid his cock into her
and Tessa’s mind was instantly flooded with the blissful oblivion of pure
pleasure, her limbs becoming warm and goosebumps breaking out across
her skin. Lucas moved slowly, moving his prick into her, first just with his
head, then sheathing himself halfway down his shaft before finally sinking
himself deeply and fully into her, enveloping the entire length of his cock
with deep, full plunges.
Tessa sighed as he fucked her, dragging her nails along his back, spreading
her legs open as fully as she could in order to accommodate his large, burly
body. But as soon as the initial wave of pleasure rolled through her body,
she couldn’t help but notice once again the way Lucas seemed distant. He
appeared to be enjoying himself, she could see that clearly, but it was as
though his mind were someplace else. She found her own thoughts drifting
back to her concern for where he had been this morning, and why he was
out so late. And not simply out late the previous night, but so many other
nights.
Pushing these thoughts out of her head, she shifted her focus to Lucas as he
moved on top of her, his face in a tight expression of manly pleasure. She
spotted the first trickles of perspiration on his brow, and as she looked down
at the curves of her own body, she saw that her own skin was beginning to
glisten with sweat from the heat of their lovemaking. He lowered his body
down until his skin was pressed against hers; Tessa responded by wrapping
her arms around his back, feeling his muscles flex against her touch as he
thrust into her over and over. She began to feel the orgasm well inside of
her, though she still couldn’t shake the idea that there was something simply
off about Lucas.
But before she could consider the question further, Lucas lifted himself off
her, and grabbing the soft flesh of her hips with his rough, strong hands, he
flipped her over, and with a pull on her thighs, moved Tessa into the doggy
position. Placing one hand on her shoulder, he slid himself into her once
more and began pounding her with powerful thrusts of his hips.
The force of his cock moving in and out of her brought Tessa’s orgasm
closer- tantalizingly close. She loved the feel of his hands on her body and
savored how rough he could be with her.
And as if he could sense her thoughts, Lucas brought his hand against
Tessa’s ass, slapping his open palm against the ample flesh of her ass and
producing a loud, cracking impact that sounded through the room, cutting
through the couple’s low moans. The sweet mixture of pain and pleasure
rushed through Tessa, pushing her even closer to orgasm.
But again, the invading thoughts returned and she found herself wondering
if Lucas was fucking her in this position so that he didn’t have to look at her
face, so that he could pretend that she was someone else. Right in the
middle of their lovemaking she found these anxious thoughts racing
through her, taking her out of the passion she so desperately wanted to
enjoy. She cursed herself for her paranoia, but as much as she wanted to
simply focus on the feeling of her husband inside of her, she found it harder
and harder.
“Slap my ass again, baby,” she said, needing to feel the throb of pain,
needing to have these thoughts blotted out.
She was beyond thankful when Lucas’s hand cracked against her ass again.
Not only did it fill her with a feeling of sensual delight, it served to jostle
the invasive thoughts out of her mind, the physical pain bringing her back
to the moment. He continued to fuck her, his cock sliding in and out of her,
each thrust and slap of his hand upon her ass bringing her closer and closer
to the orgasm that she craved.
Then, finally, it came. Pleasure ripped through her body, her limbs going
soft as the overwhelmingly intense feeling of the sort of ecstasy that only
her lover could bring forth cascaded through her. The orgasm was so strong
that she felt as though her body was almost going to come apart at the
joints. Lucas, now in a steady pace of deep, full thrusts, came hard,
shooting his cum deep inside of her. His pace slowed and as Tessa’s orgasm
faded, her face now pressed into the soft pillow in front of her, her moans
muffled as she felt her own hot breath against her face.
After a time, Lucas finished, and so did she. Tessa allowed her body to
collapse onto the bed, her limbs hot and weak from orgasm. Lucas slid out
of her and she took sweet pleasure at the feeling of his hot cum inside of
her. They both stayed in these positions for a moment, Tessa flat against the
bed, Lucas on his knees, leaning against the wall next to the bed, both of
them regaining their breath.
Then Tessa rolled over, her eyes on the magnificent body of her husband,
his burly torso slick with sweat, his skin darkened slightly from the rush of
blood through his body. A sly smile crept across her face, and at that
moment, she wanted nothing more than for him to collapse beside her and
to wrap her arms around his body.
But instead, he stepped off of the bed, and without saying a word, left the
room, snatching his pants from the floor with a quick swipe as he departed.
Not knowing what to do, or to say, Tessa curled up onto the bed, pulling a
pillow close to her body, the glimmer of her wedding ring on the nightstand
as it caught the morning sunlight visible in the corner of her eye……
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 Preview of Bear Mountain Baby
Olivia Willet ran through the woods, her breath ragged, her bare
feet hitting the dirt with soft thuds punctuated by the occasional
snapping branch. The night was dark, the only light the silver of
the moon above. Its glow illuminated Olivia’s way as she ran,
its curved form peeking out through the branches that
crisscrossed above her, as though a silent witness to her escape.
Her pace was uneven, her arms held tight against the baby bump
on her stomach, as though she might drop it and leave it behind
if she didn’t keep it close.
“I hear you out there!” called Brody, the almost-husband that
she’d left yesterday, the day of their wedding.
A wedding that, if she had her say, wouldn’t ever happen. Not in
a million years.
Frustrated tears formed in Olivia’s eyes as she ran. She was mad
at her slowness, her body sluggish and clumsy with pregnancy.
Pressing against a nearby tree and regaining her breath in slow,
labored draws, she wondered what her next step would be.
She thought she’d gotten away. Taking the car and what few
belongings she had, Olivia had escaped in the middle of the
night and drove for hours, the fear of Brody’s anger offset by
the wild thrill of the escape and the happiness that she felt from
getting out from under the thumb of the man she once loved. As
she caught her breath, the moonlight above sliced through the
canopy of leaves, the glow landing on her arm, right on the
finger-shaped bruises that Brody had left on her skin. As silly as
she felt thinking it, it was almost as if nature was reminding her
of what she needed to do, of what was at stake for her and her
child if she didn’t succeed in her escape.
“There’s three of us and one of you!” called Brody, his booming
voice edged with a rage that she knew all too well. “You think
you can outrun us, you got another goddamn thing coming!”
The words cut like knife edges into her heart, deflating her
spirit. She knew he was right—there was simply no way a nine-
months-pregnant woman could outrun three fit men, no matter
how desperately she needed to escape.
Her breath restored, Olivia launched into another run, her arms
once again wrapped around her belly.
How did he know? she thought, her mind going back to the
moment only a few hours ago when she returned to the upstate
New York motel where she’d been hiding out. How did he know
that I’d be there?
She knew driving her car away from the city that she needed to
put as much distance between her and him as possible. Brody
wasn’t the type to take an insult like his fiancée leaving him two
days before his wedding lying down. And Olivia knew that he’d
be hot on her tail as soon as he realized she was gone. He was
out late for his bachelor party; she figured that he’d pass out
drunk like he always did, wake up around noon hungover and
groggy. She assumed that she’d have at least a half a day to get
as far away as possible.
But she didn’t count on her pregnant body rebelling against her
as she drove, filling her with a fatigue that was overwhelming.
She knew she shouldn’t have stopped, that she needed to drive
or die trying, but the need to sleep was just too much. Nor did
she count on seeing Brody’s car, that menacing, black
Mercedes, parked outside of the motel lobby. She didn’t know
what to do. She panicked, grabbed her things, and drove off, the
peeling of her tires out of the motel parking lot the final proof
that Brody needed to know that his prey was here.
She couldn’t outdrive him. Her economy car was no match for
his Mercedes. So she’d pulled off onto some forgotten road near
Bear Mountain, one of the many lonely peaks that rose into the
night sky. She drove as far into the woods as she could, only
stopping when the thick trunks of the woods made it impossible
to pass in any way but on foot.
And then she ran.
Olivia kept on, not knowing where she was going, chiding
herself for forgetting her shoes with every step of her bare feet
on the cold, muddy earth.
“You better stop now!” yelled Brody. “Think about what
happens if you fall right on your face! Think about that baby in
your belly!”
Again, he was right. But before his words cut into her too
deeply, she remembered why she was running, what this man
was capable of. The thought of her child living under the same
roof as this man who’d caused her so much pain was enough to
make her feel sick to her stomach.
But the muscles in her legs screamed out; her pregnant body
needed rest and calm, not what she was putting it through. Part
of her wanted to stop, to give in, to accept the punishment that
would surely come.
Propping her hand against another tree, she attempted to catch
her breath once more. And as she stood, a strange sight caught
her eye. It was lights. Lights that looked like a city’s.
That’s impossible, she thought. The nearest city’s miles from
here.
Whatever the source of the lights was, Olivia knew it was her
only hope. Rejuvenated, she took off once again towards the
lights. She ran, praying for a ranger station, or better yet, a
logging camp. The lights grew larger and larger in the distance,
and after several minutes of pained running, she grew close
enough to see just what it was.
It was a compound; that was the only way she could describe it.
A series of large buildings, square-shaped and ringed with
floodlights that looked out into the woods and overpowered the
moonlight above. A tall, black fence encircled the property,
which Olivia guessed was several acres. On the other side of the
property, away from the compound, was a dozen or so small
cabins. It was like a small town, one that she couldn’t explain.
“I see those lights! I know that’s where you’re going!”
Olivia scanned the property, looking for any sign of life. Her
eyes locked onto a small road that led to the gate of the fence, a
freestanding speaker box to the side of it. She ran over to the
speaker, looking desperately for some sort of call button.
Pressing what looked to be it, she spoke into the box.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
No response.
“Please, if anyone’s there, I need help. Please.”
Still, no response. Tears began to well in her eyes once again as
every muscle in her body screamed for rest.
“I don’t know if you’re listening, but if you are, my name is
Olivia Willet. I’m pregnant, and I’m scared. I think my life’s in
danger.”
“There you are!”
Olivia looked over in the direction of the voice, and saw the
silhouettes of Brody and the two men he was with, their figures
black amidst the bright of the flood lights. The three were only a
few minutes off, and began walking towards her at a slow,
menacing pace.
“About damn time!” called Brody.
“Please, he’s here. Please.”
Unable to bear the sight of Brody coming close, Olivia closed
her eyes.
“Please,” she said, her finger shaking as she pressed it against
the call button.
Then, just as any last trace of hope left her body, the metallic
thunk of the gate lock unfastening cut through the still of the
night.
“Come in now,” said a man’s voice from the speaker box. “And
shut the gate behind you.”
Olivia nodded, despite no one being there to see her do it, and
ran towards the now-unlocked gate. She pushed it open, slid
through, and shut the massive entrance behind her.
“What the hell?” called Brody.
Olivia ran towards the compound, up to the sturdy double-
doors, and wrapped her fingers against them. Once the knock
sounded, her body gave up. She collapsed in an exhausted heap,
her body slumped against the cold steel of the doors.
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 Preview of Bear Mountain Daddy
The night wind howled low over Bear Mountain. A thin fog shrouded the
tree line as Adeline Parker stalked through the tall grass leading to the
thickets of trees that began the slope. The moon was full and high in the
sky, thin wisps of clouds curling in front of its round, silver form. Stepping
slowly on the grass, she walked with careful paws towards the trees.
Her body was strange to her; she hadn't yet grown accustomed to the low,
small shape of her fox form, nor the way it felt for the wind to blow softly
through her fur. Her senses were strange, too - some, like her vision, were
less useful than they were when she was in her human form. Others, like
her sense of smell, and an occasional, animal awareness of lurking danger,
were keen. Lifting her head into the still air, she sniffed with her small wet
nose, hoping for the scent.
There was nothing in the air other than the fresh, wet smell of a recent
forest rain. The air was clean, with faint, gamey scents of prey animals
detectable. She considered abandoning her quest for a moment, perhaps to
find a bush full of ripe, delicious berries, or to sniff around until she came
across a particularly tasty-looking rabbit in its warren - a sleeping, easy
conquest.
A trace of the scent she sought, however, brought her mind back into sharp
focus. She lifted her nose into the air once to confirm the presence of the
smell. Sure enough, it was there- that rich, earthy musk that had called her
from Philadelphia to Bear Mountain. The scent wasn't simply pleasant on
the nose. No, it was more than that. It was a scent that beckoned her. That
seemed to call to mind a man's voice as she smelled it and it was only in
this form, this strange, fox shape, that she could track it down.
She couldn't say for certain what the scent was. As strange as it sounded, it
was almost like the familiar scent of a lover, though she knew that was
impossible. There was no one who she knew in this part of the country.
Here, she was as alone as she'd ever been.
Aiming her nose towards the scent on the air, she took off with light, silent
steps, her black paws deft upon the grass. Soon, she was over the clearing
and among the trees, the moonlight dappling upon the ground through the
canopy of branches above.
The forest was still, silent.
Her nose in the air once more, the scent detected yet again, she took off at
full speed, darting her body around the thick tree trunks. The scent picked
up ever so slightly with each passing second. The air had a slight chill to it
as she ran, but her thick, full coat of sable hair braced her against it. She
noted that it was unseasonably cool, the winter creeping into what should've
been the last reaches of fall.
As the scent grew stronger, it broke her thoughts away from those of the
weather and focused her on the hunt. It grew richer by the moment, and the
closer she drew, the more she could identify it as the intoxicating scent of a
man, the smell of a lover whose body was sheened and slick with post-
coital sweat. But that wasn't all. There was something more to it,
something more feral.
She had to know. She had to learn the source of the scent. She had to learn
the secret of this fox form that she could now, for the first time in her
twenty-two years, adapt at will, the sleek body feeling as familiar as one
she'd grown up in.
Adeline ran, faster and faster, knowing the direction she needed to travel
but not knowing how she knew. Though her focus was on the scent that
grew stronger and stronger by the moment, she couldn't help but notice the
absence of other animals around her. Not a beast was among the grass, not a
bird was in the trees. She was alone. Somehow, here in the woods, she was
alone.
And though the scent grew and grew, the feral part of her mind slowly
taking hold more and more as she drew nearer, another feeling began to
creep into her thoughts... It was one of fearful dread. It was as though the
closer she came to the source of the scent, the closer she came to a source of
danger that the instinctual, animal part of her implored her to avoid.
Turn back, it seemed to say. Turn back before it's too late.
Adeline knew that turning back wasn't an option. Putting the nagging,
insistent voice out of her mind as best she could, she went on, running
faster and faster, the trim muscles of her thin legs straining, carrying her
light body as quickly as they were able. After a time, she could spot another
clearing up ahead. She knew that was her destination.
Though the clearing was empty of trees, it wasn't completely void. Standing
like a silent monument was a massive compound, the property ringed by a
tall, black fence. Adeline looked up at the complex, the building bigger than
the largest mansion she'd ever seen. There were no signs of life here.
However, the windows were dark; the air was silent, and the grass of the
property was overgrown.
She crept closer, approaching the black fence and sneaking through a small
hole near the bottom. Soon, she was on the property, the scent stronger in
her nose than it had ever been. Darting her gaze here and there, she looked
around for any sign of life - anyone, human or animal. None was to be
found. She made her way to the left of the building, the compounding
looming to her right. To her left was a collection of small cabins, maybe
over a dozen, all abandoned.
Then, as she stalked through the ruins of this strange place in the middle of
the woods, the sense of dread that she'd been ignoring returned. This time,
however, it wasn't simply a gentle nagging that she could ignore. This time,
it was a screaming, desperate voice inside of her, one that demanded she
leave, that she turn and run as far away from this place as possible. It
overwhelmed the scent that she had followed, it overwhelmed every human
thought she had. Adrenaline began to rush through her body, giving her
exhausted, weary legs a burst of energy to flee the danger that her instincts
were certain was near.
A low growl sounded behind her. Turning, she saw, with horror, the reason
for her fear.
Among the overgrown grass of the property was a pack of wolves, all
growling, teeth bared, eyes glowing red in the dark, stepping towards her
with stalking steps, their bodies preparing to pounce. One emerged from the
pack, a wolf with black fur, a curved scar running from his eye to his jaw.
He sized Adeline up with hungry eyes as he approached. She didn't have
even a moment to react as he pounced.
Continue Reading Bear Mountain Daddy on Amazon
 Preview of NYC Vamps Box Set
Chapter 1
“Going once? Going twice? Sold, to the gentleman in the double-
breasted suit!”
The auctioneer gestured to the winner with the silver body of the
mallet before slamming it against the gray stone of the podium.
“A fine choice, sir; I’m sure you’ll be more than pleased with this,
ah, lovely specimen.”
The “specimen” he was referring to was the slim-bodied blonde in
red silk bra and panties, and black manacles standing in the middle
of the stage. She’s certainly a cute one. Kieran looked at her bare,
slender legs, which she crossed as she stood in an attempt at
modesty. She was a slip of a girl, her straw-colored hair tied back
in a thick French braid and her arms crossed over her small, pert
breasts.
But, just like all the others, not my type.
With a slow, sweeping gesture of his arm, the auctioneer beckoned
the girl to leave the stage. She nodded. Her face was tight with
fear; her blue eyes were wide and shimmering, which Kieran
could see from his seat dozens of feet back from the stage.
Docile, timid, and willowy. He traced the circular rim of his drink
with a long, graceful finger. I’ll leave those girls for the
Ukrainians.
And, as though on cue, the buyer, a stocky man wearing a pin-
striped double-breasted suit and with oil-black hair slicked into a
tight sheen stood from a seat closer to the front.
I should’ve known when he said “double-breasted;” only the
Ukrainians would be tacky enough to go for a look like that.
The Ukrainian walked toward the stage and extended his hand
toward the woman he had just purchased. By polite instinct, the
girl, who couldn’t have been far out of her teens, extended her
own, but was abruptly stopped by the lack of length in her chains.
A murmur of laughter swelled from the crowd.
“No matter,” said the Ukrainian in a thick accent, his low, bass
voice tinged with a rich, Slavic accent echoing through the hall,
“there will be plenty of time for formalities later.”
He then gestured toward one of the guards in slim-cut, tailored
suits who stood on either end of the stage. They dashed over and
undid the chains; the manacles fell to the stage with a heavy
thunk. The girl stretched her now-free arms and legs.
“Come, child,” said the Ukrainian, pointing to the empty chair at
his table.
She nodded with apprehension before stepping off the stage with
the timid, shy steps of a baby deer and taking her seat next to her
new owner, who put his heavy, burly arm around her and pulled
her close.
Leave it to the Ukrainians to be unable to wait even a minute
before getting their hands all over the fresh meat. Kieran shook
his head and took a slow draw of his drink.
“And for our next item, please welcome this lovely young lady,
new to our fair city by way of Des Moines,” said the auctioneer in
his clear, buttery voice.
The next girl was brought onto stage by one of the suited guards.
Where the previous girl was slim and fair, this girl was shapely,
with a rich, olive-colored complexion. Her coal-black hair fell
around her face in straight, symmetrical tresses, and her lips were
full and painted with a shiny lacquer of dark red lipstick. And
unlike the last girl, who seemed fragile and frightened on stage,
this one seemed to enjoy the attention; she put her hands on her
hips and shifted her weight from one foot to the other while
winking and blowing kisses to the audience, the thick metal of her
chains clanging together.
Does this girl not understand the nature of the predicament she’s
in? She must think we’re some collection of rich dilettantes
bidding on a companion for the weekend. She’ll learn.
Kieran then cast his gaze toward the Italians, who chatted in quiet
but lively tones among each other, probably deciding who had
bidding rights on the young Mediterranean beauty on stage.
Bored, Kieran threw back the last dregs of his drink, letting the
bitter tang of blood mixed with rich, caramel-toned whiskey loll
over his palate. As he scanned the room, he caught the gaze of
Drugi, one of the vampires from the Polish society, and one of
Kieran’s only friends outside of his own society of Irish. Drugi
raised a slim, small glass of vodka; a crimson streak of blood
looked like a small vein in the otherwise clear liquid. Kieran
raised his own empty glass, which Drugi noted with a wry grin.
Drugi tossed back his shot, and then gestured with sharp points to
one of the serving staff, then to Kieran. Within seconds, another
drink was in front of him.
Kieran gave a nod of thanks to Drugi, and took a sip. The time
seemed to drag; none of these women appealed to him. They were
the same collection of dull-eyed Midwestern cast-offs and prissy
rich girls living on their father’s American Express cards as every
other year.
“Eh? You gonna pick one or not?” Ian slapped Kieran on the side
of his thigh with the back of his hand.
Ian was Kieran’s closest friend in the Irish society. They were
turned at around the same time, and having someone just as new
to the world of the undead as you could be all it took to create a
bond like this.
“When I see one I want, I’ll bid,” said Kieran, his voice laced with
traces of an Irish brogue.
“Yeah, the same thing you say every year, then you go home with
nothing. Such a picky one, you are.” Ian waved his hand in a
dismissive gesture.
The previous girl had been won and led off the stage; the nods and
shoulder-slapping in the Italian group indicated that one of them
was her new owner.
“Our next girl, well, she’s really something special.”
Kieran suppressed a yawn and checked his watch, not even
bothering to register the time.
“Bring her out!”
The glass of whiskey was in front of Kieran’s face, blocking his
vision, when the girl came on stage. When he lowered it, he was
struck in his seat. His honey-colored eyes narrowed, and his slim,
but full, lips curled up in one corner.
Something special, indeed. Kieran reached for the polished ivory
handle of his bidding sign. There’s a first time for everything…
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 About The Author
Sky Winters is drawn to writing paranormal fairy tales with bad-
ass shapeshifters. She likes her heroes and heroines to be the
unexpected ones, and their passion to be steamy! She writes these
sizzl'n and surreal tales for you, late at night, when the wolves are
howling from her Northwestern home.

If surreal romance with shapeshifters is your thing, you best sign

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2-ent

[LR1]I am guessing this is YOU and not HIM.

[T2]This has already been said a few times
[T3]Did he quit making sculptures when they moved?