I swallow the golf ball lodged in my throat and take a moment to think about what it is that I am feeling. “I’ve seen hell and all the bad in the world. I lived with my father and I lived through the Cartel. What I have never experienced is whatever this is,” I wave my hand to the world in front of me.
“Freedom,” Tank rasps in understanding.
“Yes. Freedom,” my lower lip quivers. “I have never in my life been free.”
He lets go of a long exhale. “It is going to be a new start, a second chance at life. You’ll see sunny days, and you’ll see the hard ones, too. I’ll protect you from the really bad ones. They are all waiting for you, Kat. There are no more games and no more fighting. You’re free, baby.”
A faint smile creeps up as I look into the face of my future. The eyes of the man who set me free and gave me the world. My hand covers his. “I don’t ever want to be free from you. I want us forever.”
“Baby, I will fight for you forever. You were meant to be free.” This sweet man leans in to give me a soft reassuring, under the stars, that we were always meant to be, long kiss.
“Fly away with me, K-Love?” Tank gently tugs me over to his bike and I get on behind him. I hold onto him with everything that is me. As we cruise the road, every memory from the last few years surfaces. Flashbacks come, threatening to take me away, but Tank’s hold on me is stronger.
I remember every hurt and pain and set them all free. The wind takes them away to be discarded. With every mile we ride, I get lighter and lighter. And the man driving this bike makes so much more sense to me now. The road is his healer and he needed me with him as much as I needed it.
Something spiritual happened to us along the way on our journey, that I don’t know if I will ever fully understand. Maybe because we were stripped down to our bare souls that we found each other on the open road, and they fused together completely.
I do know this, though, our paths were always meant to be. We were made to travel them together. Tank will be my Road Captain for life. What will be, will be. I give him all of me, all of my submission. Most of all, I want to give him the world by doing just that.
Tank
Kat will always put on a brave face for those she loves. But I see the hurt hiding behind those eyes. It’s been a hell of a ride these past few years. With a lot of pain and bullshit. I wanted her to feel the forgiveness of the road.
We needed to find some peace with our choices. A little distance in any blurry situation gives you some perspective. I called Harley before I came home and asked if she could watch Eli for us so we could ride together.
As soon as Kat walked back out from the bedroom, she looked lost in a world she used to dominate. It will take some time before she figures out who she is without the influences of other people forcing decisions from her. I can’t wait to see her grow into her new role as a full-time mother.
The speed of the bike rips off the weights and chains of the world that have dragged us down. I know she feels it because, during our ride, her touch gets lighter with every mile. Kat is practically flying with me down the open road.
I think about Pawn, Solo and everyone who we lost along the way. The wind howls in my face. My heart bleeds out the regret of what could have been and what could possibly be. I picture letting go of it all, like it is a real thing, and let my mind roam free. Instead of the hurt, I start thinking of the possibilities. What can I do for my family?
This is why you only put your woman on the back of your bike. Stryker and Mad Max taught us this as young men. The road is our place of reckoning, our time for penitence. You don’t share that with just anyone. The woman you want to share your journey with, only she rides with you.
My hand lets go of the handlebar and wraps around her calf. Kat feels me and her hand slides up my arm to hold onto my bicep. Connected as one on this newfound freedom and world, together, fighting for forever.
A few hours pass before the bad is purged and the time feels right. I turn the bike around and head over to the tattoo shop where I park out front. Kat gets off before me and sets her helmet on her seat.
She glances around the empty lot and follows me inside after I unlock the front door and flip on the lights. The front counter and furniture have a light coating of dust since we had to close up while we dealt with club business. Taking her hand, I lead her over to my workstation.
Opening a drawer, I pull out the drawing of a wolf and hand it to her. “I knew the first moment I saw you in Vegas that I wanted you. I looked for you for a whole year after that and kept on going back to that bar where we met. Even paid that bartender to call me if you ever returned there.”
Kat’s eyes round in surprise and I continue my confession. “I could never let you go either. Ever. Right before I saw you again, I swore it felt that I was going to find you. Then, when I did, at the motel, I knew you would never leave me again. We’ve waited, Kat, until our timing was right. I think that is today. Will you wear my brand?”
Her eyes sparkle from unshed tears. “I would love to.” She uses one hand to wipe at her eyes and the other holds onto the wolf face drawn on the paper. Battle Born arches over the top and a simple Tank is stamped at the bottom. She goes to hand me the drawing back after carefully inspecting it.
I drop to one knee and pull out a diamond ring, sliding it onto her finger. “Ms. Emily Scott, will you marry me?”
Kat coughs and laughs, “You had to say that didn’t you?”
“Well, that is the woman I am marrying,” I smart back.
“Yes, Road Dog, I will marry you.”
I kiss her hand and stand, pulling her into my body. “I can’t wait to get this on you. Turn around and sit down in the chair. Take off your jacket and shirt.”
Kat raises an eyebrow and does as I ask with her back to me. I clean and prep her neck before placing the stencil on her skin. The drawing covers the middle of her shoulder blades, peeking up her neck, and it looks perfect. Everyone will know she’s my life.
I start the outline first and I don’t get very far before she murmurs, “I love you.”
Chapter 29
Tank
“Mmmm,” I moan, pulling my stiff cock from her pussy after a few more pumps. I grit out, “Roll over onto your back, K-Love.”
Finally, I got my woman right where I wanted her, naked and in our bedroom. Kat turns over and her tits bounce from her tossing herself back on the bed. She spreads her legs wide.
Pulling out a chain with nipple clamps on each end, I lay it across her ribs and bend forward, taking her nipples deep into my mouth. My teeth graze across her sensitive tips, and she gasps on each scrape over them. I twist one nipple with my fingers, getting the little fucker real perky before I place one clamp to it. She moans in pleasure because my girl loves this shit. I do the same to the other one and Kat wiggles her ass underneath me, searching for me, wanting me to give her a release of pure passion.
“Fuck my pussy hard, Tank,” she gasps, begging for more dick.
I give the chain a light tug and her hands come up, cupping her breasts. On my way down her stomach, I trail kisses down to her pussy. My tongue snakes out to drive her clit wild with long strokes before giving her hard and fast ones and bringing her to the brink of ecstasy.
Her hands fall to the sides when I pull away right before she comes undone. She growls in frustration and I tug the chain a few more times. “You’ll come when I want you to. Be a good girl and pull your knees up to your chest.”
She takes her knees up and holds them tight to her. I slap her pussy lightly and she shivers from the lighter touch. I try it again but this time a little harder than the last. She squirms again and her chest heaves with desire.
“You looking for my cock to fill this pussy?” I taunt her and tug on the chain before I slap her wet cunt.
Her head falls to the side when I lean forward and lick her hard-pebbled nipples. I slip a small vibrator onto my thumb before pushing my cock back into her wet and silky heat. “Fu
ck, woman, I love this pussy.”
I pull up onto my knees and turn the little vibrator on. “Come on my dick, baby, I want to feel you.”
It takes all I have in me not to hammer into her silky tight cunt and blow my load. I hold back because watching her and feeling her is next level. Occasionally, I tug the chain and her breathing goes labored with every effort. My girl looks like a sexy goddess from heaven.
She holds onto her knees like I asked, and her body starts contracting around my dick.
“That’s it, Kat, be my dirty girl, baby. Come on this cock, soak me.”
She lets go, her orgasm squeezing the shit out of my cock, and I have to shut my eyes and breathe through it before I allow myself to let my own orgasm rip out of me. As soon as she comes down and relaxes a bit, I am ready to pound another one out of her.
I toss the vibrator to the side and grip her waist, then rear back and in again. I’m losing control with each thrust, fucking her as hard as she can take, which is all of me. So fucking close, but I need her with me. With every thrust, I pull on the chain. Her panting picks back up and I’m four thrusts from blowing my load. One more hard pull and then I rip the chain away from her nipples.
Kat’s entire body shakes underneath me, and her pussy convulses, squeezing the hell out of my dick. Her mouth opens to scream out her pleasure, and I fall forward, covering it with my hand while Kat mumbles, “Oh. My. God.”
I’m coming and laughing at the same time, “Babe, you can’t wake the kid.” A few more satisfying thrusts later and I pull out, then lie down next to her unmoving, sated body.
“That was— I just don’t have the words,” her head shakes from side to side. “I’ve never understood seeing stars, but, no shit, I am seeing those stars now.”
“I would offer you a smoke,” I pat my bare chest, “But I don’t have any on me.” I look around like they could pop out of nowhere.
Kat chuckles, and her hand stops me and my theatrics, “Fucking grade A, baby. Grade fucking A.” She snuggles into me and I kiss her forehead.
“I have to go to work,” I regretfully inform her. “I’ll be back later tonight.” I give her a light squeeze, wishing I didn’t have to leave and that I could fall asleep with her right now. Rolling out of the bed my feet hit the cool floor and I head toward the bathroom to shower before I have to head out.
Kat is dressing and I don’t think much of it as I’m drying off, until I see that she’s putting her jeans on. “Ah, Kit Kat, where are you going?”
“I’ll go with you to the bar and wait until you’re done,” she absently says while pulling her socks on.
“You’re forgetting something—”
“Tank, don’t ruin this night, please?” Kat cuts me off, “I just want to ride with you. I promise I won’t even carry my gun, okay?”
Chuckling at her, I manage to get out, “No, babe, you could come with me, but you can’t. There’s a two-year-old boy we live with named Eli who is currently sleeping in the room next door,” I point at the wall. “You can’t take our baby on a ride along,” I laugh at her and my chest shakes.
Kat falls back onto the bed and deflates, “I can’t do shit anymore, can I? So, this is what it’s going to be like from now on, isn’t it?”
“Afraid so, you got what you asked for.”
She shakes her head back and forth again, and I inform her while stuffing my keys, wallet and phone into my jeans, “Just wait until you have another baby.” I start running out the door, yelling behind me, “Are you even on birth control?” and slam the bedroom door behind me. There is a loud thud that sounds behind it and my money is on that her boot hit it.
Life is just where I want it. If Kat isn’t on birth control, I would love to see her pregnant with my baby. If she is, we’ll have to fight over when she’s getting off it. I’m ready for another baby and the thought of watching her grow with it makes me very possessive and happy. It’s gonna happen, and soon.
Sitting at the bar at The Black Rose, I wait for the guard from the prison to show up after his shift. I snicker while taking a drink and thinking about the fit that Kat had before I left.
“What’s so funny?” Spider slides into the stool next to me on my right.
“Earlier, before I left, Kat was pissed because she had to stay home.”
Spider gives me a “what the hell” face and reaches over the bar to grab a beer from a tub of ice, then sits back onto his stool and pops the cap off himself, tossing a five on the bar top.
“She has to stay home with Eli now. I can’t tell you how funny it was when she remembered that she was about to leave him home alone, and how mad she is that I get to go out without her and shake up the world now. Epic, bro. She is trapped in her own web and can’t do shit about it.”
Spider snickers while sipping his beer and looks around the bar full of people. He seems impassive before finally commenting, “I’m happy, Tank, that you two have everything worked out.” He holds up his beer to me and then takes another long drink before setting it down.
Fuck, not now, Satan. I need another problem like I need a bullet in the head. “What is it, bro? Jazz still blowing you off? You need some help, or what is going on?”
“Nothing can be done. I fucked up and she isn’t handing out second chances.” I’m about to call bullshit but the door swings open and in walks our Blackbird. He spots Spider and I, takes the empty seat to my left and orders a beer, then gets straight to business without waiting on us to ask.
“Pawn isn’t telling me much in there. He has eyes on him. A lot of the men in lock-up owed the Prez of the MC before you guys came in and took over. It’s going to be a rough stent for him. He’s not in a good spot with more of them in there.”
“What other MC’s or gangs inside can we hook him up with? I need some names to call favors in, now,” I demand.
The guard nods and takes a chug, “I’ll pull some of their enemies and call you with a list.” He gets up from the chair and leaves the bar without another word or glance.
Running my hands through my hair, I notice Spider looking off into the distance before he turns to me. “Blade is waiting for us in the tattoo shop, with Axl.”
I would say this isn’t good because the four of us meeting under the radar is never a good thing. I nod in acknowledgment, and we both stand up and walk over. Once we are inside the shop and the door closes behind us, Blade hands me a folder. “Blackbird have any information for you?”
I hold the folder and tell him the status on where we are at, and he seems satisfied. He scratches his chin, a nervous habit he has, not often, but definitely his tell.
“Tank,” he huffs and rests his hands on his sides, “We have some intel in that folder that we have to show you. I asked Spider to look up the information on who was handling the Cartel money in the States. It took him a few weeks to trace it back, but his findings are inside.”
“Are you talking about the money we stole from the Cartel? You tracked down the guy before he tracked us down?”
“Yes, you know what happens next.”
“A bullet to the head, no loose ends,” I agree.
“Open it up, brother,” Axl grimaces and I open the folder to find pictures of my father, on the street in downtown L.A., with a cell phone to his ear.
“What the fuck are you guys saying?” I can’t stop myself from looking through the pictures of my dad meeting with marked men in the business.
“Are you kidding me right now? This makes no sense!” I drop my hands and look up at Blade, Axl and Spider, waiting for one of them to help me understand this better.
Spider steps forward. “Your father used the winery that he had bought as a front for his actual business. These big Bosses would bank their money with him, in his business, as investors, and he would clean up their accounts. We essentially stole money right out from under your father’s nose.”
Blade lights a smoke and inhales. “Stryker already ordered it to be done. He is the closest to Fuego, but w
anted us to give you a heads up, and, possibly, dibs?” he asks, then releases the smoke.
Can I kill my own father?
Chapter 30
Kat
“What is the matter with the Road Dog?”
Tank’s body is slumped over his coffee mug as he stirs the steaming liquid around in an endless circle, deeply lost into his thoughts.
He glances up at me from his task on the other side of the kitchen counter. When I set my mug down, he startles, coming out of the dark place he was in. “You are the perfect person to talk to about this.” He turns in his chair to face me better from his spot next to Eli at the breakfast bar. “We need some family team building right now.”
“Oh yeah? How am I the most perfect person to talk to, other than the obvious?”
Eli eats the last of his Cheerios and slams his hand down on the highchair table, demanding more food. Tank hands him a small handful from the box and I settle into the counter behind me, leaning back against it, waiting for him to continue.
“My dad was the one who was laundering money for the Cartel up here. He was the one paying off Johnny, the dirty MC members, the now dead casino guy, all of them. The money we took to frame that one guy, you know, your dead ex, was from the offshore accounts that he set up.”
“Hmm, I guess I would be an expert on this one,” I lightly laugh and take a sip from my coffee mug. “Now they want your father dead to clear up any possible leaks. Makes sense. What do you think about that?”
“It bothers me, K-Love, he is my dad. I thought that he left me because of the MC. But why, when he was a crooked mother— jerk himself?” Tank’s almost mess up is damn cute.
“I would guess that he didn’t want the MC to ultimately know his business and wanted you to help him in the long run. These men don’t always play nice together. I bet he knew that the man that shall never be mentioned—”
“Thank you, babe.”
Fighting for Forever: Tank & Kat's story, Part 2 (Battle Born MC Book 6) Page 14
