by T. L Smith
She shrugs. “It’s okay. Oh, can I ask you something…” She bites her lip.
I nod, walking to my side of the car.
“Are you and Reap a thing?”
Reap? That’s right, Marcus.
I look past her to Blaze, who’s watching us from the door.
“No, we’re nothing.”
Then I get in and drive the fuck out of there and take Tanika back to mine.
Tanika doesn’t talk until I help her out of the car and into my house. She falls onto the sofa and curls herself into a ball and starts crying.
“Tanika, what is going on?”
She won’t answer me. Just keeps crying. I grab a throw and place it over her and manage to get myself on the sofa as well, hugging Tanika from behind. It takes a while, but she finally stops crying, and when she does, I hear her soft breathing.
A knock on the door makes me move, and I’m careful not to wake Tanika when I get up to open it.
Damn, I wish I looked first.
“Marcus.” He looks past me and then steps back for me to step out of the house, which I do, shutting the door behind me. “If you ask me for sex, I may just junk punch you right here and now.” I push my red hair behind my ear as I look up at him while he watches the movement, then his eyes flick back to me.
“She was on trips all night. She will be coming down hard,” he tells me.
Fuck! Really? I look back at her and see her sleeping.
“You would know, right?”
Marcus’ eyes pin me. “I don’t touch the fucking shit. You forget what I do for a living, pretty girl? Drugs are high on the death list around here. Especially in a small town with nothing to do.”
“So they say. Yet, here I am not having touched it.”
“Yes, here you are, pretty girl.” Marcus eyes me up and down, making me feel dirty. Dirty as in I want him to touch me even while my friend is on the couch coming down from God knows what. How fucked-up is that?
“Is that all you need?” The words barely form as they fall from my lips in a whisper.
Marcus steps closer to me. “No. I’ve come to invite you to my home tomorrow night. Shall I pick you up at seven?” His hands are in his pockets as he watches and waits for me to answer.
“I have to work the next day.”
“Bring your clothes, I don’t expect to let you go.” His words send shivers all over my body.
“I’ll have to let you know. It depends…” I look back to Tanika, who still hasn’t moved.
Marcus reaches forward and slides his hand into my top. I go to tell him off and swipe his hand away, until he reveals my phone, pulling it out. He calls himself then slides it back into my bra.
“I’ll call.” Marcus turns and walks out to his truck.
Something comes over me, I don’t know what it is. Could have been my talk with my sister, but I think I want to go, dive headfirst and see if I can swim.
I really hope I can fucking swim and don’t drown in him.
My feet hit the pavement and I reach for him, turning him around so our lips smash against each other. I kiss him and then pull away, both of us breathless. Looking up into his hazel eyes, I smile.
Then I walk back to my house, and when I get to the door, I turn to see him smiling at me, one hand on his truck and the other in his pocket.
I’m unsure if I will survive Marcus.
His specialty is death.
My chances of survival are slim.
“You’re awake,” I say to Tanika as she sits up. She’s been asleep all day. I’ve waited for her, not wanting to leave her.
She rubs her eyes and pulls her legs up, tucking them under her ass as she pulls the blanket up, covering herself.
“Tanika, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. Everything is fine.”
I cringe at her lie. How didn’t I see it before? I move to sit next to her, placing my hand on her thigh. “You’re lying. What’s wrong?”
Tanika wipes at her nose and shakes her head. “Nothing,” she lies again.
“I didn’t think you’d ever lie to me, not like this. Not straight to my face.”
Her eyes go wide, they’re bloodshot and look so sore. “You don’t…” she stops, shaking her head. “You don’t understand.”
“Help me understand. I want to understand,” I say, turning to face her fully.
“I can’t, it hurts too much.” Tanika reaches for her chest and holds it, clings to it tightly, like it might break right in front of me.
“Then tell me why you’re hanging out with those bikers. Tell me, Tan?”
Her eyes look up to me. “They help me escape, and they don’t judge me.”
“I wouldn’t judge you if you just told me.”
She shakes her head again. “You don’t understand,” she repeats.
I pull my hand back from her and stand from the couch. I start pacing in front of her, but she doesn’t even move.
“Do you owe them something?” I ask, trying to guess at what, I don’t even know.
“No.”
“Okay, does your family?”
“No,” she answers, then stops breathing, holding her breath, then she pushes one out.
“I was assaulted, Rochelle, and they help me forget.”
I pause.
Look to her and see her gripping at her wrists.
“What?” I ask, confused, and sit back down next to her. Pulling her to me, I hug her hard while she cries into my hair.
I hold her. I hold her for as long as she needs to be held until she realizes she’s safe and she can let go.
When she does, she looks up at me.
“You don’t have to tell me everything if it hurts you too much to say the words.”
“I was out… it was the night after I met Blaze. I like him. If you got to know him, you would see he’s good, despite his gruff exterior,” she says, offering me a shy smile.
“I’m sure he is.”
Tanika laughs. “He doesn’t like you. He thinks you aren’t a good friend.”
“Blaze knows what happened?” I ask, not even answering that friend part. I know I haven’t been a great friend over the last month. I’ve been shit, actually. But she still could have come to me. Regardless, I would have been there for her. If I’d have known.
“He didn’t. Well, not until after that day in the lake.” Tanika shrugs. “He suspected, but I never confirmed it. I guess I did that night.”
“Are you comfortable to tell me what happened?”
“I was out. You were…” she pauses, “… well, you were grieving, and I went out with some new friends. I ended up leaving them early.” She hiccups, wiping the snot from her face with the back of her hand. “I don’t remember it all. He came up from behind, pushed me to the ground and started tearing at my clothes. He got my pants down and I could feel him…” she visibly shudders. “I could feel him… down there. And, somehow, I managed to push away, and when I did, I just ran. I ran so hard and fast that I went straight home. When I got there, my feet were bleeding and I had no clothes on down below.” Tanika’s visibly shaking now, tears streaming down her face, probably matching mine.
I reach for her and she comes over, lays her head on me and cries. She cries for what happened to her, and cries for a loss I didn’t even know she had lost. I hold her. I hold her all day and night, and we don’t talk again until the next day.
“You need to go to the police,” I tell her.
“I did,” she says, reaching for the water I put in front of her. Tanika takes a sip and looks up at me. “They told me they would ‘look into it.’”
“We can go back.”
She visibly flinches at my words. “No, Blaze said he would handle it.”
“You don’t want to be involved with how they… a biker gang… will handle it,” I say, thinking of all the things I’ve read about them.
“You don’t know them. I was hoping you would see the good in them, but you don’t do you?” she asks, p
ushing up from the seat.
“You’ve been doing drugs with them, Tanika.” My hands go up in the air, incredulous. Anger radiates from me. How can she not see that they’re not good for her?
Walking over to the sink, she places her drink in it. “It’s my escape, okay? I need to escape. You don’t understand.”
I stand and walk to her, stopping her from going anywhere. “No, I don’t understand, having never been through this. But I will be here for you. Drugs are never a good escape. Tell me you get that, Tanika. Tell me you understand,” I say, on the verge of shaking her, but also with a tear falling down my cheek at the anguish and pain I am feeling for her.
She pushes past me, not caring, and reaches for her shoes that are on the floor. When she speaks, she doesn’t look back at me, “I can’t. I can’t deal with this right now. I’ll call you,” she says, heading outside. I hear a motorcycle, and when I look out to where she’s gone, Tanika’s placing on a helmet.
The rev of the motorcycle is so loud and deafening I wonder if she will be all right ever again.
Chapter Twelve
Rochelle
I try to call her all day the following day, but not once does she answer. I completely forget about Marcus coming to get me until I pull up in my driveway and he’s there, standing out the front, dressed in all black. Straight away my tummy starts to flutter at the sight of him.
Why is he so beautiful?
So fucking beautiful.
Dropping my head to the steering wheel, I take a deep breath. And before I can even sit back up, my door is flung open, and a hand is on me. I jump and scream. And a small smile tugs at his lips.
“You have everything?” Marcus asks as he looks around in the back of my car, then back to me. He keeps a hold on my arm as I get out.
“No, I have nothing. Because quite simply… I forgot,” I say, pulling my arm back from his grasp and tucking my hair behind my ear.
Marcus steps up, so my back hits the car and his front is pressed into me. My red hair falls back into my face, and this time, he reaches up to replace it with a brief touch of his fingers as he looks at me.
“I’ll make you forget your own name by the end of the night, and the only thing you will be calling me is God.”
I want to chuckle at his words. How idiotic they sound, but, somehow, I don’t think he’s lying.
“I need to get my things.”
“You really don’t need anything. I plan to keep you naked.”
“I have work tomorrow,” I say, as his body doesn’t leave mine.
“But do you?” he asks, as his hand runs over my lips and down my neck.
Marcus’ touch makes me breathless, and I almost give myself to him right now.
I need strong willpower around him.
“Tanika spoke to me yesterday, told me everything,” I say, and his hand drops away. His lips thin out. “And your brother told me to stay away.”
“Tanika needs more help than you can offer. My brother is an over-protective asshole.”
“I thought you were the older one.”
“I am. Can we go? My night isn’t planned to go this way. I don’t want to talk about my brother when I plan to fuck you.”
“I need to get my things.” Marcus steps away, and he waves his hand at my house as if for me to hurry up. Passing him, he doesn’t touch me again. Quickly, I move to my room and grab everything I think I’ll need, including toiletries. I stop one step from my front door and see him waiting out there for me.
What the fuck am I doing?
Sex. It’s simple. I want this man.
There’s no denying that. Even with his questionable morals and what he does for work. For some strange reason I still want him.
Stepping out, he looks up, and all my worries that I had disappear as he stares at me.
Marcus wants me. That in itself is a power trip.
He holds the truck door open and I look back at my own car.
“Will you bring me back for it?”
“In the morning.”
I nod and step to him. He takes my bag and waits for me to slide into his truck. I pause, second-guessing as my thoughts run rampant.
I should turn around and go back inside.
This isn’t a smart idea.
He’s not your forever.
He will only ever be a plaything.
Just as I take a deep breath and think about telling him to give me my bag back, he kisses me. It’s quick, efficient, and shuts my thoughts down fast. I lean into it, and I know right now, in this moment, that I will go anywhere he asks as long as he does that.
And thinking he has that power frightens me. It scares me so much.
“I can see your thoughts churning in that cute head of yours. Get in the truck, pretty girl.”
“I am,” I say, stepping up. He shuts the door behind me, gets in himself, and starts to drive. He’s not giving me another chance to escape.
“Where do you live?” I ask, realizing I should have asked that to begin with. Marcus keeps on driving through town and out onto the highway.
“Alone,” is all he replies.
Giving me nothing, he takes a turn along a gravel driveway while neither of us speaks.
I don’t see anything.
No houses.
Just bush.
I cringe thinking about the spiders and snakes that could be out here. I stay in the city because the likelihood of me seeing a snake is slim, unless I go to a museum. Spiders are multiplied in numbers further out. That’s Australia for you, I guess.
The lights from his truck shine on something and I see a house. It’s hidden all the way off the road, down the back of the property. Green grass surrounds it, and there’s a large pool as well. Finally, he comes to a stop and climbs out. I do the same. Marcus already has my backpack in his hands as he opens the large wooden French doors to his house and all the lights flick on automatically.
“This is your house?” I ask, surprised. It’s very large, and nice. Oh, and I should mention very pricey. I could never afford a house like this. This place is for the rich, and he’s obviously got loads of money to afford this rich person’s home. The large wooden door looks like it should be on a castle, and there are glass windows so large it gives it an almost whimsical look. I come from a humbler background. You know, not rich but comfortable.
“Yes.”
My hands run along the white walls as my heels, which I haven’t removed, click on the wooden timber floors. It’s bare, but beautiful. Only the essentials seem to be placed in various locations. The kitchen area has a massive glass door, which pulls back and leads out to an infinity pool that looks out over the bushland. I can only see a coffee machine on the countertop, other than that it’s bare. The kitchen is all stainless steel and white.
The living room has plush gray couches stacked with white fluffy cushions. There are a few pieces of art on the walls, and at a quick glance, I think they are originals. A massive television screen is on one of the other walls, and under it is a large fireplace.
Everything almost feels clinical, impersonal, sterile like a hospital. It’s so clean and untouched.
“This is stunning.” I hear something fall and turn around quickly to see it’s my bag he’s dropped to the floor. “You live here all by yourself?”
He nods. Stalking toward me now, his hand clasps his black shirt, and in one swift move, it’s off over his head.
Angry red scars appear on his chest, like small cuts that have risen and healed.
Before giving me the opportunity to inspect his gorgeous body too much, his hand goes to his pants and he pulls the belt free as he reaches for me, dropping it to the floor.
“I’ll give you the first option… kitchen or floor.”
I’m confused and can’t stop staring at his body. It’s painfully beautiful. My mind can’t seem to make my mouth move.
He clicks his tongue impatiently. “Your choice, pretty girl. Quick. Decide now.”
“F
loor,” I say, letting the word drop from my mouth.
Marcus smirks and steps forward, his hand goes to the back of my neck, cupping it. Sliding his hand through my hair, he pulls so our mouths collide. He kisses me longer than usual, and soon I’m pushing myself up against him so I can feel him. Marcus groans into my mouth and reaches for my dress, which is the only thing separating us, so he can peel it from my body. He makes quick work of removing it, and then his hands touch me again, pulling me to him.
“Marcus,” I say, in between his lips kissing mine.
He pulls his mouth back, but doesn’t stop his hands from roaming all over my body. “What,” he practically growls.
“This is just sex, isn’t it?” I ask, my eyes falling into the back of my head at his simple touch.
Marcus’ hand slides straight into my panties. “Yes,” he replies impatiently, and pulls my panties down so I’m bare.
I make quick work of dropping my bra and wrap my hands around his neck. He kisses me again, this time lowering me to the floor with him. Marcus cradles my head and I swoon, just a little. Then his knee is between my legs, pushing them apart, separating them as he disappears. Kisses trail my body with a hot tongue following before he reaches the top of my pussy. Hot breaths tickle me and I arch up with anticipation.
A finger slides between my lips and pushes in, then is gone just as quickly as it was there, sliding to my clit and circling it. There’s nothing to grab hold of as I lay on the cold wooden floor. I’m about to pull him up to me, but before I do, his tongue touches me, right there, right where I need it to be. Instead, my hands lay on the floor, my nails scraping as he shows me exactly what he can do.
One lick to the clit, a circle, then back down to where his fingers are penetrating me. His tongue is at the top of my entrance before he goes back up circling my clit again, and again. The teasing is building up until I can no longer take it anymore. I feel myself tightening around his fingers, and as that beautiful fucking wave of ecstasy hits me, he doesn’t stop. He doesn’t even stop when I come down from it. His tongue keeps assaulting my pussy until I reach for his hair, pulling him up to me.
