THARNISHED HEARTS

by Allen, J. C

  “Sorry, I don’t negotiate with the enemy.”

  “That’s cute. Where did you learn that line? 24? CSI?”

  I sighed loudly, making my point to Falcon clear—but that probably only fed into his anger even more.

  “In any case, I would like to make a deal with you. I will make it straightforward. Give us the girl, and we will be forever out of your hair. We will move to a new city, and you will have this place all to yourself. The Black Falcons will be nothing more than a page in the history books. Think about it, Derek. Will you make one small sacrif—”

  “You can kiss my ass if you ever think I’m agreeing to any deal with you, Falcon,” I growled. I had lost my self-control and was now speaking as loud and as fast as I could. “You should know that you will die. If you wanted peace, you should have thought of that before you killed my family, you fucker. See you in hell.”

  I heard him speak to me as I dropped the phone, but I hung up on him before he could say another word to me that I would pay attention to.

  “Let’s get back to the shop,” I said. “Falcon knows where we are. Better for us to go someplace fortified.”

  The men moved without hesitation, having heard their bit from the phone call. Where was Falcon? How had he known I put him on speaker? How did he know that Bones had nodded to me?

  I found it highly unlikely he was watching us from a nearby building or something to that effect. Instead, I thought that he might have been watching us through a nearby camera. If he’d done that, then it would have made sense.

  Regardless of whether anything made sense, however, it was deeply unsettling to know that Falcon was able to watch me and the rest of the Saviors with such ease that he was able to call out my actions as they occurred. I wondered if he might be planning that attack on the shop sooner rather than later, but that was something we’d be prepared for on the spot.

  We hurried off on our bikes back home, my eyes constantly taking in everything. I had never, ever felt such focus on my bike before. Every car that we passed could have been a Falcons car; every motorcycle that drove by on the other side of the highway could have pulled out a gun at any second. I could not be too cautious, and I could not be too safe in a situation like this.

  And then we got back to the shop, and things got worse.

  Three men stood at the entrance, arms crossed, stern looks on their faces.

  What was going on?

  Were they here to… attack us?

  On the one hand, this would seem in keeping with what Falcon was doing—mental games as much as physical ones designed to confuse us and distract us from his main target. But… these men were unarmed. They raised their hands up in surrender when they saw us. And even if they hadn’t, even if they had whipped out some pistols, they had to know they were outnumbered significantly.

  If Blood Raven’s suicide had proved anything, it was that the Falcons were not a group especially tied to loyalty to the Falcon. No one—or very few people, rather—were likely to go all kamikaze in the name of Frank “Falcon” Young.

  “Can I help you?” I said, staying on my bike, one hand near my gun if necessary.

  “We came from the… well, let me rephrase that. We were former members of the Black Falcons. We’re… we’re looking to join you guys.”

  That seemed…

  It wasn’t an impossible idea; if Tyler had left us, it would have made sense that some of their guys could have come to us.

  But after Falcon’s phone call, I was on high alert for any type of activity. I had to suspect everything from suicide bomb to surprise shooting to men pretending to come to try and grasp some intel.

  “Get down on the ground and spread your legs and hands,” I said, not wanting any particular surprises on this night.

  The three of them did so as commanded, quickly dropping to their knees and then falling forward. The three Marines, Roost, and I all moved forward, quickly patting them down and feeling for anything out of the ordinary.

  “Unarmed,” AK said.

  “He’s good,” Roost said.

  “Good,” Bones said.

  I breathed a sigh of relief but knew the danger was far from over. Deaths often came not from who had more ammo but who had more information, and if we just let these guys willy nilly into the club, we’d be doing ourselves a grave disservice.

  “Alright, take them into the tank,” I said, referring to our interrogation room with a one-way mirror, much like they had in police headquarters. “We’ll talk to them in a moment.”

  Roost and the Marines did so, disappearing into the shop. I dismissed the other men—except for Eve, who came up to me with a smile.

  “It was pretty damn sexy watching you work out there.”

  “Is that so?” she said.

  Finally alone, she planted a big, wet, sloppy kiss all over my face. The tigress in her was awakened, and I fucking loved it. If not for the men I needed to interrogate…

  “Slow it down, girl,” I said with a laugh. “I’ve got one more thing to do, and then I’ll take you home.”

  “Take the time you need,” she said, “But you better hurry the hell up. I can’t keep waiting or I’m gonna use my hand!”

  “OK, OK!” I said, laughing, giving her one more kiss before running back into the shop.

  I went to the opposite side of the tank, where I could see the men and the men could see me.

  “Who we got?” I asked Roost as he stood, arms crossed, staring into the room.

  “Two former Saviors, believe it o’ not,” he said smugly, as if he knew that they’d be back eventually. “And then one young gun who thought it’d be smart to join ‘em in the Falcons, only to realize how bad they were.”

  “Interesting,” I said. “Have we confirmed them?”

  “The two former ones, yep. We got Skull and Crusher before ya.”

  Skull and Crusher. They were, I remembered, one of the first to leave when I took over as president. At the time, I had taken it as a grave offense, one that greatly upset me but one that also shook my confidence. It only perpetuated the downward spiral I was feeling with the loss of my brother and father, and it likely led to more members leaving.

  How the tables have turned and how times have changed, I thought with a smug smile.

  “Have they talked?”

  “Believe it or not, quite a bit,” Roost said. “They ain’t shuttin’ their yappers half the time. I just took a break when I heard ya comin’.”

  “Nice,” I said. “Well, let’s keep it coming. I think these three can prove invaluable, but I think it goes without saying that for right now, let’s keep them out of battle operations. Let’s give them meager jobs, make them prove their worth. If they’re able to be good then, we can let them in. They need to earn our trust back.”

  What I didn’t say was that even if they earned our trust back, I didn’t ever want someone who had defected from two clubs to be in a position of power. I could forgive the young one, given that he probably was attracted to the allure of the Falcons before realizing their problems, but Skull and Crusher could never have real jobs with me.

  The risk was just too high and too great.

  “Agreed,” Roost said. “Alright, ya can head home then. I’ll take care of ‘em from here.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Go treat yer girl well,” Roost said with a laugh. “She’s got yer ass beat right now in kills.”

  That… she does.

  Damn.

  That she does.

  8

  Eve

  All things considered, I had not expected to feel the emotion that I did standing inside the office of the Saviors, reading through different memos and printed papers.

  Disappointment.

  Not so much in Derek; not at all, in fact.

  But strange as it may have sounded, for as hyped as I had gotten, it was weird to feel disappointment that there hadn’t been more action when we got to the third location.

  I knew intellec
tually that I had no reason to be disappointed. In fact, if anything, I should have been grateful that there were only two living Falcons on scene, neither of which did any damage. And I did get a kill in, saving the Marines from an ambush.

  But…

  The dark side of me craved more. It was a side that I hadn’t realized I’d had until recently, but now that I knew I had it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I thought about what I could do in battle. I thought about the men I killed.

  I thought about the man I wanted to kill in Falcon.

  Oh, what I would do to him for the hell that he had put me through. Without his organization, Chuck and I would just be feuding siblings who grew apart with age. Without his organization, I wouldn’t have been raped, abused, and forced to have sex with gross, ugly, and out of shape men as often as I had. Without his organization, I wouldn’t have nearly died as many times as I almost had.

  I didn’t just think about killing him.

  I fantasized about it.

  It was so weird, too. I hated myself for having these thoughts. When I wasn’t having them, I felt profoundly disturbed that I was capable. But boy, when it was on my mind…

  It’s just the high of coming out of battle. You just killed a man, of course you’re going to dwell on the darkness within you a bit. Who wouldn’t?

  Just focus on what you can control, Eve. You can’t control your dark side’s thoughts, but you can control your actions. Don’t harm unless absolutely necessary. Don’t do anything like that.

  Just… let it do its thing. And then you do your thing.

  The invigoration, though, was real.

  I began to think about how I’d help on the fourth mission, the one at the church. This one, I knew, by it being the last one, was going to be the most dangerous yet. Even if Falcon wasn’t there, there were likely to be dozens of Black Falcons around, and I couldn’t rely on the luck of having someone turn their back to me for a kill. I’d have to have actual strategy and an actual plan for getting out alive.

  But already, that need for a plan was generating some ideas and some ways that I could help.

  For one, I had realized on our crazy mission with Tara that the Black Falcons wanted me in their clutches desperately—whether for hostage purposes or just because I’d been a giant pain in their ass, who knew, but it didn’t much matter. What did matter was it was easy for me to envision being a sort of decoy, a person who could run circles around then to distract them, only for Derek and the Marines to pop up and kill them—just like the Falcons had fooled us earlier.

  But even if Derek wouldn’t let me, I had faith in myself for two other reasons. I was a quick learner, and the thrill of battle elevated me to a new plane.

  I’d never had proper training before Matty, and yet I was already one of the best shots. I was already observing how the Marines moved and had picked up on a few of their techniques. I knew I’d continue to learn more as I watched them operate.

  In short, I was going to kick some fucking Black Falcon ass.

  But first, I needed to take out my charged energy in a different way.

  Derek came into the office a short while later, and for the briefest of moments, I thought about riding with him back to the apartment. But then my libido spiked, and any notion that this could wait went straight out the window. I had to have him, and I had to have him now.

  “Hey, baby,” Derek said.

  “Shut up and fuck me,” I said, coming up to him and pushing him against the door, a temporary way to ensure no one walked in—not that I really gave a shit at that particular moment.

  “Woah, damn!” Derek said, although he didn’t mind one bit.

  When I went to kiss him, I didn’t kiss him so much as I bit him. My claws dug into his back, his shirt, and his head as I tore the clothes off of him, even ripping his shirt. He yelled out, to which I just said, “Guess we owe each other, huh?”

  He got a look of memory on his eyes, but I didn’t give him time to relish it as I moved down, grabbing his belt. I yanked it off, pulled on it in front of his face, and laughed as he flinched at the snapping sound.

  “You like this, Derek?” I growled. “You’ve awoken the dark side of me. And now you’re going to pay for it.”

  “Oh, shit,” Derek said, sounding like a nervous teenager.

  Good. This was my time to show him what I wanted, and right then, I needed him naked.

  I unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them down with force. He kicked off his shoes and socks as I struggled to get them off of his body completely. When I finished, I was in a squat position, looking up at his throbbing cock as he leaned against the door of his office.

  “I don’t suppose I’m leaving here until we finish, huh?”

  “Don’t even think about it,” I said as I tore my own clothes off. “You got me too aroused for me not to do something. And now, you’re going to pay the price.”

  Derek opened his mouth to do something but thought better of it. If he wasn’t going to be careful, I was going to get myself off and not worry about him.

  I stared at his cock for a few seconds, admiring its enormity and beauty. I couldn’t wait to have it inside of me. But first…

  I grabbed it, put it in my mouth, and went as deep as I could. I heard Derek groaning above me and looked at him with heated, intense eyes. Then, once I’d deepthroated him to the balls, I pulled back and worked vigorously on him, unable to slow myself down. This was not the time for making love—this was the time for fucking.

  I gasped for air a few times as I stroked, sucked, and licked his shaft and his tip with a relentless pursuit that made him ask me to stop a couple of times. I did—but only because I wanted a piece of him. I couldn’t have him coming so quickly.

  I fondled his balls, scratched his legs, and squeezed his ass cheeks as I went to work. Around, I could hear Matty and a couple others in the hallways, but there wasn’t going to be anyone coming in here. And if they did, I wasn’t going to stop.

  Realizing Derek might soon blow his load anyways, I stood up, my hand still on his cock, and leaned in close to him.

  “Fuck me against the door, Derek,” I growled, breathing into his ear, my hand still pumping him. “Fuck me and make me scream your name.”

  “Fuck yes,” he growled back.

  Now we’re talking.

  He grabbed me, spun me, and pushed me against the wall. I stared into his eyes with the ferocity of a cat in heat—if he didn’t get inside me now, I’d grab him and shove him inside of me, damnit! I grabbed his cock anyways, too impatient, and guided him in.

  “Ohhhh, fuck, fuck, fuck!” I shouted, completely losing myself in the moment and forgetting that Roost and others might be around. “Fuck! Derek!”

  “Yes, baby, yes,” he purred into my ear again.

  We had a nice contrast—he sounded like the hungry panther who had his prey cornered, eager and growling to eat. I, on the other hand, was the wild lioness, roaring to the heavens of my conquests and victory.

  Together, we formed less of a symphony of sex and more of a rock band as he thudded into me so hard I had to move my head forward, the better to avoid banging my head against the door. My ass and back, though, repeatedly pounded into the wall, and I couldn’t wait to see the bruises on it in the morning.

  He went like this until his face was red and sweat poured down his forehead. His legs shook, surely as he fought to avoid coming, and my own face turned red with pleasure.

  Then, when I was maybe halfway there, Derek spun me around, grabbed my breasts, and went at me from behind while standing. I continued to moan loudly, this time turning my head to face him. I probably looked like a hot mess, but I was a horny hot mess, damnit.

  Then he pushed his fingers down onto my clit, and the combination of his rubbing and this thrusting had me accelerating like a sports car to climax.

  I could barely anticipate it coming when it released into me, drawing a loud, pleasurable cry as my entire body flooded with pleasure. I screamed so
loudly that now I was sure people in the apartments near us would hear us. Good. I wanted them to know how fucking good Derek Knight was.

  My wetness pulsated onto Derek, forcing him to slow down as he relished the feeling around him. I let out a loud groan, like I’d just finished a fight, and pulled him out of me.

  “My God,” I gasped, putting his hands around his neck.

  I then reached up to kiss him, and our kiss was as erotic as anything we’d ever experienced. I again slid my hand onto his dick and went up and down his shaft, as if it was my mission to get him off.

  But he wouldn’t let me. Instead, he lifted me off the ground, placed me on the desk, and inserted himself once more.

  I don’t know why we had never done anything like this, but holy fuck did it do the trick! With my legs pressed against his standing body and my back against the office, I could only grab onto whatever my hands felt for dear life. Derek began grunting and mumbling something about “so close, so close,” and my own body rushed to meet him.

  “Oh God, oh God, oh, oh, oh!”

  “Fucking come for me, Derek!” I shrieked.

  “Ohhh, fuuuuuck!”

  “Ahhh!”

  We climaxed together, both of our orgasms working in conjunction to heighten the other’s. I shivered out of control, my body now in the hands of itself and away from my mind. Derek’s body trembled into mine as I felt him finishing, placing his load inside of me.

  Finally, when it was all done, Derek slowly pulled out, wobbled a bit, and sat in the nearest chair. I let my legs fall to the ground, catching my breath, as my breasts heaved with my chest.

  “Jesus… Jesus Christ,” I gasped. “Is post-combat sex always like that?”

  Derek would have laughed if he had the energy. Instead, he just let out a short groan.

  “Oh, man,” he said. “Oh, man. Oh. Man. Yeah. A little.”

  I wiped my brow as I refused to move, just enjoying the pleasure coursing through my body. I was in no rush to alter my state, and even if Tara or Matty had walked in on our naked bodies, I couldn’t have cared less. I felt so good, no amount of embarrassment could correct it.