Barber Shop Ink: Always Blue in Memphis

by Penny Blush

  “Well, maybe a little bit,” she conceded, pinching her thumb and pointer finger together.

  She still had not made any move to be put down. Not that I was complaining, I was happy having her exactly where she was, with her ass in my hands.

  “Maybe a lot,” Henry added, chuckling.

  "Honey, even the ladies, know what you're like,” Penny added.

  “Yeah, okay, maybe a lot,” Hedge said, shrugging. “At least I’m an equal opportunity handsy drinker. Am I right, Penny?” She said winking at the little mouse wrapped in Henry’s protective arms.

  "I've told you Cupcake; she's mine."

  Hedge hugged me tightly around the neck again, pushing her amazing breasts into my chest. Sighing, she rested her chin on my shoulder looking at Henry.

  "But Henry, Penny is just so damn cute!" Hedge teased.

  “She’s still mine,” Henry laughed, “and I don’t share.”

  "That's okay; you can keep her," she said, laughing along with Henry.

  “Grubs up!” Bear’s booming voice called, drawing everyone's attention.

  At the mention of food, Hedge and her drunken flirting were forgotten as everyone's focus now on filling their bellies.

  Sighing, Hedge held me tighter, snuggling her cheek against my beard, lightly biting my earlobe and whispered in my ear, "Just so you know, I'm not getting touchy feely with anyone else, only you. You're mine, and I'm keeping you.”

  FUCK ME!

  The possessive tone in her voice as she said: ‘You're mine' went straight to my cock. She had no idea what she was doing to me.

  "Is that, right?" I asked, running my nose along her jaw.

  Hedge returned her hand to my bicep, her fingers tracing up and down, the slight drag of her fingernails on my skin causing gooseflesh.

  "Yes," she sighed.

  Chapter 19 Memphis

  “Are you claiming me, Baby Girl?” I whispered in her ear and felt her shiver.

  I didn’t wait for her reply, with Hedge still in my arms and her legs still wrapped tightly around me I looked around making sure that no one was paying us any attention. With everyone distracted by the food, I started walking towards the shadowed alcove of the apartment deck staircase that would hide us from the view of the party.

  “Say it again,” I demanded once we were covered in shadow, as I pushed her back against the brick wall.

  Hedge ground herself against my abs as she spoke, "You're mine. I'm keeping you, and I'm not letting go."

  “Is that so?” I asked

  I stepped back, pulling her off the wall, Hedge moaning as I lowered her onto my aching cock. I needed to fuck her like I needed my next breath, but I wasn't going to do anything while she was drunk. I wouldn't take advantage of her like that. Why the fuck was she drunk, why the hell did she have to be drunk?!

  “Yes!” She gasped, “I figured that if I claim you,” she pushed herself down harder on my cock, “there was half a chance that I could have you. I want you Memphis.”

  Growling, I pushed her back against the wall, supporting her weight by thrusting my hips up into her. I tipped her chin up so that I was looking into her eyes pushing my cock into her heated core.

  "Baby Girl, you have no idea how much I want you. How badly I want to fuck you." Hedge moaned as I thrust my cock into her again, "I want to fuck you hard; I want to fuck you soft."

  Hedge rested her forehead on mine, fisting my hair at my temples, her eyes boring into mine. “Oh God, yes Memphis, please.”

  "I want to fuck you fast, and I want to fuck you slowly," I added, loving the feeling of her body against mine. I knew I had to have this woman, but then being a stupid responsible adult kicked in. Hating God, the universe and myself for having morals, I opened my stupid mouth, "but I'm not going to."

  "Memphis!" she moaned, and then my words registered in her booze affected brain. "Wait? What? No Memphis Blue, don't you dare walk away from me again," she tugged my hair hard, rotating her hips, further torturing my poor defenceless, consistently hard, underused dick. “You want this as much as I do,” she rotated her hips again. “Why? Why are you stopping this?”

  "I'm so sorry Baby Girl," I murmured running my thumb across her bottom lip, "I want this as much as you do, but I'm a good guy."

  “I know you are Memphis, but what could that possibly have to do with anything?” Her voice laced with frustration.

  "Because I'm a good fucking guy, I'm not going to fuck you while you're drunk," I growled out my frustration.

  “What the…?” She stopped moving, looking at me confused.

  "You've been drinking, and Jax said you get handsy when you're drunk and Baby Girl the first time we fuck." I pushed my rock-hard cock into her so that she would know just how much I wanted to fuck her, "it will not be at a BBQ with all our friends and your cousin around. And it definitely won't be when you're drunk."

  Hedge started laying kisses on my forehead, cheeks, and nose as she giggled, the tinkling melodic sound tormenting my poor defenceless dick further. Okay, not the reaction I was expecting.

  “Hedge,” I said sternly, “you’re killing my frustrated cock here. What’s so funny?”

  “Memphis, I’m not drunk,” she laughed, as she ran a hand through my beard.

  “Sure, you’re not,” I said sarcastically. “Hedge, Sweetness, I can smell the rum on your breath.”

  "Memphis, really I'm not!" she laughed. "I've only had two drinks. I know what I am like when I've been drinking, and I very rarely get drunk. I've just been acting it up so that Jax would stay off my case. It was all part of my plan."

  "Your plan hey, and what plan is that?” I asked, pushing my cheek into the palm of her hand as she continued to run her fingers through my beard.

  “My plan was to act it up like I had been drinking so I could touch you, cuddle up to you, and have my hands all over you. That way if anyone questions it, well ‘that crazy Hedge gets handsy when she drinks’,” she said with mischief in her eyes.

  "Hedge please, don’t lie to me and tease me like that. I can’t take it."

  Hedge grabbed my face in her hands to look me dead in the eye "Memphis Blue I am as sober as a judge. I've only had two drinks, and I could pass a sobriety test in a heartbeat.”

  “Is that so?” She nodded her reply. “You’ve only had two drinks?” She nodded again. “You’re not drunk?” She shook her head. “You little sneak!” I laughed, brushing my lips lightly against hers, “Baby Girl, I like your plan.”

  “Memphis.”

  “Yes Hedge.”

  “Shut up and kiss me.”

  “Yes Ma’am.”

  She didn’t have to ask me twice. I ran my tongue along the seam of her lips, and Hedge moaned, opening her mouth to me. I crushed my lips into hers. There was nothing soft and sweet about this kiss. The kiss was a fierce, intense, all-consuming kiss, borne out of weeks of tension, unfulfilled promises and a boat load of sexual frustration.

  Hedge fisted her hand in my hair, changing the angle, taking control, deepening the kiss, her tongue fighting with mine. I growled against her mouth, pushing her against the wall, her deliciously firm ass in my hands. Giving her ass a squeeze, I slid my other hand up her side, cupping her breast, making both of us moan.

  Hedge, gripped my hair, pulling my head back, breaking the kiss. Gazing into my eyes with hot fiery lust Hedge pushed her breast further into my hand, and I could feel her nipple harden against my palm through the thin fabric of her tee and bra. I run my thumb across her hardening peak. Gasping, she crashed back into me. Her kiss was telling me what she wanted, what she needed. I thrust my hard as steel cock into her, making her moan hungrily - my new favourite sound.

  Rocking into each other the kiss becoming fierce, crushing, bruising, it was the most fucking intense kiss of my life. Our hands were roaming, groping, pulling at clothing, her hand gliding across my abs, her fingernails clawing at me as her hand slid down to the top of my jeans. I slid my hand under her tee, up her side until
I had her lace covered, swollen breast in my hand. Moaning, Hedge slid her hand in between us, running her hand down my hard length, making me growl.

  My phone rang, vibrating in my pocket, adding to the sensation of having her hand on me, further torturing me. I pulled down the lacy cup of her bra, pinching and tugging on her nipple. Hedge gripped me tighter, moaning my name.

  My phone kept ringing. There was no fucking way I was going to answer it, whoever it was calling could go straight to hell - that was until the ringtone registered in my lust muddled brain.

  FUCK! Not now! Come on Universe; please give a brother a break.

  AC/DC’s Hells Bells blaring from my phone could only mean one person. Nicolas ‘Nicky’ Vex AKA the Grimm Reaper.

  FUCK! Well, this night has just taken a turn for the worse.

  The Grimm Reaper is a ridiculous name for the asshole loan shark. It was supposed to instil fear into the people who took out loans, ‘pay your debts and don’t be late or The Grimm Reaper will be after you.’ What a fucking joke.

  There are only two names that you are permitted to call him Nicky or The Grimm Reaper; so naturally, I call him Vex, just to piss him off.

  Vex was an assholes asshole and the least intimidating person I knew. The five-foot-four douche bag liked to think he was a real gangster, with his greasy black hair, a porn-mo, super shiny shoes and black suit. What he looked like was a kid playing dress-up in his dad's clothes, and he wasn't so tough without the goon squad around.

  I ignored the call, I mean come on, I have her ass and boob in my hands; her tongue down my throat, and her hand on my cock. I knew I would have to answer sooner rather than later because if I didn't, Vex, would just keep calling and then he would send his goons to ‘pay me a visit'.

  My phone, begin vibrating again, the opening riff of Hells Bells started to play. I was going to have to take this fucking call, which meant I would have to stop kissing Hedge. I did not want to stop kissing Hedge. I didn't care if I never stopped kissing Hedge, sure it would make family get togethers awkward, but I could deal. I wanted to smash my phone and the irritating ringtone against the brick wall as badly as I wanted to break Vex in half.

  Grrrrrrr!

  It still shits me to tears that Pops hadn't come to my brothers or me for help. Pops had gotten himself into mountains of debt, and the bank had been threatening to take the shop away, not just the shop but the whole building. Pops had bought the building that the barber shop was in not long after he and Grammes got married. The five-shop building has been his retirement fund.

  Pops had always been a ‘Battlers’ best friend, helping where ever he could.

  "If your great-grandfather hadn't taken a chance on me and helped me out when I was down on my luck, I wouldn't have learnt how to be a barber, gotten a trade and being able to make money of my own. Which means I wouldn't have met your Grammes; which means you wouldn’t be around, boy-o." He would tell me, an unlit cigarette dangling from his bottom lip, ready for when he could step outside. "That's what wrong with society these days; no bastard is willing to help out his neighbours. I'm able to help out, so I do."

  The other shop owners would pay their rent to Pops in cash, but never on the same day or at the same time. The money would trickle in whenever they had it, and if they didn't, they would come to Pops, hat in hand, to beg for an extension.

  I cannot tell you how much debt Pops forgave over the years. When there was a fire at the bakery, and the owners found out that their insurance had lapsed, Pops put his hand in his own pocket giving them money to rebuild, telling them to pay it back when they got back on their feet.

  Pops and his big foolish heart got him into trouble. The store owners didn't repay their loans in cash; they paid in trade, bread from the bakery, meat from the butcher, fruit and vegetables from the grosser which was good for his pantry but all it did was drain Pops dry, and his personal debts kept racking up.

  When the bank refused a further extension on his loan, Pops did the only thing he could. When he had reached his absolute rock bottom last resort, he swallowed his pride and contacted his old army buddy, who was connected to the Marino Family, begging for help.

  Heavy Pete Morton had offered to help Pops out personally, but he refused, saying that he didn’t want to be indebted to his friend. Heavy Pete had warned Pops not to get involved with Nicky Vex, the head loan shark for the Marino Family; that he was a shifty prick, but Pops thought he had no other options and took out a loan through Vex.

  With the bank paid and off his case, Pop's thought that things would be okay. He'd make his payments to Vex and things would be good, and they were for the first year until Vex started making ‘Loan Adjustments'. That fucking bastard raised the rate the first-time Pops was late with a payment and then just kept increasing it. The extra charges were insane and for the most stupid reasons; additional charges for collecting in the rain, for having to cross the bridge, because he didn't like the colour of Pops shirt. That fucking piece of shit just kept squeezing until Pops literally dropped dead trying to pay off his debts.

  I knew nothing about the deal Pops made or his debts or Vex or any of that shit, until after he was dead and buried.

  It was about eight months after Pops had died, I had the shop up and running for six months, I was having a quiet beer out the back of the shop, lost in thought looking out over the river when his voice broke me out of my reflections.

  “Carrying on the old man’s legacy, hey kid?”

  The way his greasy voice slid across my skin, raising the hairs on the back of my neck, put me immediately on edge.

  "I'm sorry, what's that?" I asked, turning to face him.

  The man himself was not very impressive, but there was a certain air about him and something in his voice that had my Spidey-senses tingling.

  "I said, you’re carrying on your old man's legacy," he pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the back of the shop. "Barber shop's still in business I see, although altered a bit."

  The slimy smirk on his face made me want to knock him on his ass, but I decided that first-things-first was to find out who this fucker was.

  “Can I help you?”

  Dude, get to the fucking point already.

  “I can see that you’re a busy man …” Vex said sarcastically, as he looked around the empty back yard. “We’re both businessmen, so let me get right to the point,” shoving his hands into his pockets going for a ‘Mr. Nice Guy who was just doing his job' attitude, "son, your old man owes the Marino Family a lot of money."

  “My Pops is dead,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, widening my stance, bracing myself for anything. “You can’t get money out of a dead man.”

  “That may be true, but I can get money out of you.” He pointed a stubby finger at me, all niceties dropped, his eyes darkening.

  "I'd like to see you try."

  Did he honestly think that he was threatening?

  "Your old man had conditions on his loan, and his debts need to be paid in full," Vex said, slowly as if talking to a moron.

  “Again, my Pops is dead. You can’t get money from a dead man. Now I’m going to ask you to get off my property,” I said, pointing back to the side gate.

  "You're a man that can't be intimidated I see," Vex said making no effort to leave. "Here's the thing. Your old man owes the Marino Family just shy of ninety-five thousand dollars. Your Pops used the shop as collateral, and as you have inherited the shop, therefore you have also inherited his debt."

  "Not fucking likely."

  “I can assure you, my friend, it is highly fucking likely," Vex replied raising his voice slightly.

  Movement caught my eye as two brutish looking guys came through the back gate, Mafia heavies’ standard issue. The two were your typical meat-head looking, cheap suit wearing, knuckle cracking Hollywood Mafia types. They couldn’t have been more cliché if they tried. The thing that stopped me from laughing them off my property was the, none too subtle bulge under their jackets that we
re doing nothing to hide the guns tucked into their shoulder holsters.

  "What the hell are you talking about? And are you planning on making a point anytime soon?”

  "My point," he said spitting out the T. "You have two choices. You can either be reasonable, and we discuss this like men and work out a payment plan," he stepped closer to me his eye's darkening with evil intent, "or I take your piss-ant little fucking shop away from you and burn it to the fucking ground!"

  “You motherfucker…” I started but was cut off by Vex’ viper tongue.

  "You will do as you are told you little shit! Or I'll take that little pink haired slut you have working for you as payment. I'm sure we could make a lot of money out of her before she's all used up."

  “Don’t you fucking touch her!” I roared, my advance on Vex stopped by a gut punch by one of his goons knocking the wind out of my lungs. I dropped to my knees, gasping for breath.

  Vex grabbed a fist full of my hair, wrenching my head back. "Oh, I will touch her, you, stupid fuck!" I could feel his hot, rancid breath on my cheek as he spat out his words, spittle hitting my face. "I will touch her, fuck her, use and ruin her and when I've had my fill, she'll be given to Mouse and Tiny here to have their go." Trying to catch my breath my eyes watering as I glared at the Motherfucker with all the murderous rage I felt so that he would know that if he touched Cassidy, the fucker would die. "And when my boys get finished with her, then I'll put her to work. I’ll have her spreading her legs, opening her mouth taking a dick in every hole till she has paid back everything that YOU owe. Capiche!”

  Vex kicked me square in the chest, sending me back onto the ground. I curled into a tight ball on my side, trying to protect myself while Tiny and Mouse were taking it in turns kicking me in the guts, ribs, and back.

  "You have one week to get your shit together before I come back to take payment," he sneered, looking down at me as I coughed and struggled for breath on the ground. Vex nudged me onto my back with his foot so that I was looking up at him. "Whether the payment is cash, the building or the slut, it is up to you. You have one week to get me five grand and not a cent less. Don't even think of going to the cops, you know how this works, and you won't like the consequences." Vex walked off, heading towards the gate, calling out over his shoulder, "Don't make me wait, you won't like what happens if you do."