by Sarah Bale
“Bash, where are we going?” she calls out over the wind.
She stumbles, tripping over her heels, so I pick her up, carrying her. The cabin comes into sight. I hope like hell the spare key is in the same place. I climb the wooden steps two at a time and put Liv on her feet.
She shivers, rubbing her arms. “What is this?”
“It used to be a camp for misled youth. They went out of business a few years ago and I bought it. Haven’t done much with it since then.”
Reaching above the doorframe, I feel around until I find the key. I unlock the door and go in first.
“Stay right there until I get this fire going.”
Thank god the matches are still next to the fireplace. The wood is old, but I get a fire going within minutes. She comes in, looking around.
“Wow. This place has so much potential.”
“I thought so, too. Plus, the twenty acres and lake access aren’t bad, either.”
“I can’t wait to see it when it’s light.” She moves toward me. “Now. Where were we?”
“You’re amazing, you know it?”
A shadow of doubt flickers across her face.
I tip her chin. “You are, Liv.”
“You don’t know me. Not really.”
“I know enough. And I’m going to tell you how amazing you are until you believe me.”
Her lips crash against mine, and she kisses me until I’m fucking lightheaded. The storm rages on around us, but I all I see is her. She looks up at me, heat in her eyes, and I know I’m a goner.
“Think that couch is safe?”
There’s no mistaking what she means.
“I’ve got one better.”
Scooping her into my arms, I carry her upstairs, to the loft. The other rooms are still being remodeled, but there’s one spot that’s ready. She lets out a little gasp as she sees the large bed facing the window that overlooks the lake. Even through the storm, the water from the lake can be seen.
“Bash, this is beautiful.”
I put her gently on the bed, kissing her again.
“You’re beautiful.”
“Bash, get over here.”
She pulls off her shorts and top, leaving nothing on but her heels. I undress, too, and move over her. She shivers when we touch and I kiss her.
“We don’t have to do this now. We can wait,” I say.
I don’t want her to have regrets. We’re both caught up in the moment, but I can wait. Because she’s worth waiting for.
“Bash, I want to. Do you have a condom?”
I reach for my pants, grabbing the one I keep in my wallet and snort.
“What?”
I hold it up. “I’m not like other guys, especially at the club. This is the first time I’ve had to use my emergency condom.”
She grins up at me. “I’m honored to be the first.”
And the last, I hope. I don’t say this because I don’t want to scare her, but she’s a forever kind of girl, even if she can’t see it herself.
Reaching out, she takes the condom from my hand, tearing the foil. She strokes my dick until I’m hard and rolls on the rubber.
“Your dick is amazing,” she says. “Truly a work of art.”
I grin and move over her. “Keep saying things like that and I won’t last very long.”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “Then we’ll have to think of other naughty things to do.”
I move over her, kissing her. Her hands roam up and down my chest, as if she’s memorizing my body. I do the same, cupping her breasts and then moving lower. When I reach between her legs, she spreads them wide, allowing me better access.
“I’ve thought about this a lot since that night in your dorm,” I admit as I run a finger through her slick folds.
She’s so fucking wet. I lick my drenched digit and she moans.
“I’ve thought about it, too.”
We kiss until I can’t take it anymore. With one hand, I guide myself to her opening. She lets out a throaty moan as I slide into her. When we’re connected, I look down, loving how well we fit together. Slowly, I make love to Liv, whispering sweet nothings into her ear. Her hands scrape down my back until we both need more.
When my pace increases, she becomes wild beneath me. Together, we seek our pleasure in each other.
“Bash,” she breathes out. “I’m close.”
“Then come for me, Liv.”
Her body tenses and orgasms so hard that I come, too. We ride wave after wave of bliss until we’re both spent.
I fall next to her on the bed, putting my hand on my chest. “I knew you were worth the wait.”
I mean it with all of my heart, too.
Olivia
I snuggle closer to Bash. We’ve just had sex again and I feel… safe. Maybe even loved. It’s the way he looks at me while we’re having sex – like I’m the most important thing in the world to him. He moves and I look out the window. The rain has stopped for now and I know we need to head back to the club, but I don’t want to leave.
“What’s that sigh for?”
“I’m scared,” I admit. “Bash, I was serious when I said that I ruin everything good in my life. I don’t want to hurt you. Or Razor.”
“Do you have feelings for him?”
It’s hard to hide my true feelings, when we’re both lying here together, naked. Maybe that’s part of my problem. Maybe I should be honest. I mean, what’s the worst thing that can happen?
“I do, which is why I probably overreacted earlier today with him. He’s moving too fast for me and I got scared.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Not really.”
He rubs my arms. “Liv, I want you to be happy. If that means you date both of us, then so be it.”
I snort. “He said the same thing.”
“Did he? Fuck. He must really like you.”
I think he does, which is crazy, since we barely know each other. But, I can’t deny the pull I feel toward him and Bash.
I sigh again. “Bash, I’m worried there’s something wrong with me. How can I have feelings for you and Razor at the same time?”
And King. And Saint. Ugh.
“Have you talked to King very much?”
My cheeks feel warm. “King? No. Why?”
“His mom used to be one of the club whores.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“She never wanted to settle down, and I asked her about it once. She said she wasn’t meant to love just one person. I believe her, too. She was with King’s dad, another club member, and his wife until King’s dad died. Now, she’s with the club member and his wife. It seems to work for them. They all seem happy and equally in love with each other.”
I think about it and ask, “But how do you feel about it?”
“Honestly?” He looks into my eyes. “I want you to be happy. That doesn’t mean I’m going to jump into bed with you and Razor, but I think we can make it work.”
I moisten my lips. “What if there are more?”
“Saint?”
I nod once.
“Like I said, as long as you’re happy.”
“It sounds good in theory, but I just don’t know.”
“What’s the point of worrying about the what ifs? Are you happy right now, in this moment?”
“Yes.”
“Then that’s all that matters. We can deal with everything else when we get there.”
I kiss his chest. “You make it sound so simple.”
“It is simple. I like you. I want to be with you. The end.”
That makes me grin. “I like you, too. I want to be with you, too. And, I’ll try to communicate better instead of just freaking out.”
“If you mean that, then we should go back to the club and talk to Razor.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
I’m tired of being the girl who fucks up everything. It’s time to give this love thing a real go.
Razor’s waiting when we get back to the club. He puts
down the bottle in his hand and stands.
“I saw the two of you take off right before the storm hit. Wanted to make sure you made it back.”
I glance at Bash and take a step forward. “Can we talk? The three of us?”
Razor searches my face before nodding. “Sure. Let’s go to my room.”
He leads the way, holding the door open for me. I go to the bed and sit. He stands and Bash sits in a chair.
“First, I want to apologize. I got scared earlier today and I reacted badly.”
He shakes his head. “Olivia, I’m the one who should apologize. Hell, if a chick told me a week into fucking that she didn’t want to use protection, I’d flip my shit, too.”
Bash makes a sound. “That’s what he said that freaked you out? Holy shit, Razor.”
Razor flips him off and says to me. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“Part of what scared me is that I actually considered it for a second.” I shake my head. “I’m saying this to both of you – I’ve been in one serious relationship, and I was sixteen, so I don’t think it counts. You’re both going to have to be patient with me.”
“Wait. Both?”
I nod. “I like you, Razor. I have fun with you and you make me laugh. But, I like Bash, too. If you’re still willing, I’d like to date both of you and see how things go.”
“Bash, you on board with this?”
“I am, brother. Are you?”
Razor looks at me before nodding. “Hell yeah I am.”
And just like that, the shittiest day of my life has turned around.
Saint
The club is quiet when I roll in around four in the morning. My back aches from being on edge, which isn’t surprising since no one knew what I was up to. King’s going to shit a brick when he finds out, but it was worth it.
Entering through a side door, I go right to my office. King’s at my desk, playing a game on the computer.
“Where have you been?”
He doesn’t show any signs of moving from my seat, so I sit across from my desk.
“Took a meeting tonight.”
This gets his attention.
“With who?”
“The Inferno Bastards.”
“Jesus fucking Christ. Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
He lets out another string of curses. “And you didn’t think it necessary to let your fucking club officers know where you were going?”
“It was risky, I’ll admit it. But Crow wanted to meet alone. I had to show that I trusted him, so he’d be able to trust me.”
“What in the fuck would you have done if it had been a trap?”
I sigh. “Stop acting like my father.”
“Then stop acting like a fucking child.”
I point to my computer. “For your information, I sent an email to you, with all the information in it. It’s set to send in an hour. If it had been a trap, then you would have found out and saved my ass.”
“And if they shot you on sight?”
“We all die, King.”
He’s always been weird about death. Now is no exception.
“Fucking stop with the dying talk. You’re not dying. Neither am I.”
“Glad to hear it.”
He leans back in my chair. “So, what did you find out at this super-secret meeting?”
“Crow has no idea who the mole is in his club. The guy we caught was a transfer member. He’s going to look into it. See how the guy ended up here.”
“What about the other men we saw wearing their cuts?”
“He had an answer for that, too. They’re in the process of getting new cuts, with their new logo. All the old ones are in a locked room of their clubhouse, waiting to be burned.”
“Sounds like their Sergeant-at-Arms needs an ass whooping.”
“The interesting thing is, Crow says his guy got a message saying someone else was going to take care of it.”
King sits up at this. “Fuck.”
We both know there’s only two people who could send an order like that.
“Crow is going to see where Maniac was that night.”
“This is fucking unreal. Do you think it’s because we sent Psycho away?”
“I think that’s exactly what this is. Psy knew when the runs were. It makes sense.”
“Have you-”
“I reached out to the Mississippi club. They’re going to hold him until we have answers.”
And if it’s him, he’s dead.
“He knew what game he was playing, if he’s behind this.”
I rub my beard. “I still can’t shake the feeling that we’re missing something. The Feds have been hot on our trail for months. What if it’s them?”
They haven’t exactly made their presence a secret, either.
“Time will tell on that. Just make sure the retainer fee is paid on the lawyer.”
I snort at that. “I’ll make sure to look into that tomorrow.”
He turns back to his game.
“Did I miss anything around here?”
“You sure you want to know?”
He hasn’t looked up from the computer, so it’s hard to read him.
“Yes.”
“While you were gone, Razor and Olivia split up.”
I feel like a weight’s been lifted from my shoulder. And then he has to ruin it by going on.
“Bash and Olivia went off during the storm. When they came back, they were together. As in just had sex and couldn’t keep their hands off each other.”
Fuck.
He looks at me. “And now Bash and Razor are both seeing Olivia.”
“Good for them.” I stand. “I’ll be in my room.”
He snorts, muttering something under his breath as I leave. I go to my room and look around. I can’t be here tonight so close to Olivia, so I’m going somewhere I haven’t been in years. I’m going home.
18
Olivia
Agent Hill keeps blowing up my phone. Even on silent, my phone still buzzes as text after text comes through. Razor rolls over, muttering in his sleep. Slipping from the bed, I go to the bathroom.
Douchebag: We need to meet. Be at this address by ten.
I groan when I look at the clock. Again, he’s leaving me just enough time to get there, without enough time to shower. I throw on some clean clothes and quietly leave. Razor never stirs, which I’m thankful for. Bash, however, is in the main room, at the bar.
“You’re up early.”
I kiss his cheek. “Morning. I have to run by the campus.”
“Need a ride?”
As much as I want to say yes, I can’t.
“I’m going to Uber there. My roommate wants to get coffee and catch up.”
It’s only a small lie. Lucy did say she wanted to meet up Just not today.
I give him a playful poke in the side. “I’ve been a bad friend because you and Razor have been keeping me so busy.”
“Can’t say that I’m sorry.”
The truth is, neither am I. The past few weeks have been wonderful. The amazing thing is, I haven’t felt the need to self-sabotage by having sex with strangers. My therapist would say I’ve made a breakthrough, but I’m trying not to look too much into it. For now, I’m content with being happy.
I kiss Bash again and say, “I better go.”
When I get outside, my car is waiting. I send a text to Agent Hill, letting him know I’m on my way. The car drops me off at a little Italian restaurant, which is ironically mafia themed. Agent Hill is at a table near the back. I sit across from him.
“Agent Hill.”
“Anything to report?”
“No. It’s been quiet.”
“And why do you think that is?”
I sigh. “I’m sure you’re about to tell me.”
“It’s quiet because they’re planning a run in six days.”
This is news to me.
“If you know this, then why are you asking me?”
> “Because we need to be sure before we act. Last time, we were made to look like fools when we found a warehouse full of-” He clears his throat. “Just do your job and get information for us. It’s not really that hard to do.”
“Apparently it is if your other source can’t give you specifics.”
“They don’t have the same clearance as you.” He eyes me. “You’re involved with two of the club officers, are you not?”
My face feels warm and I feel a surge of protectiveness. “What does that matter?”
“My source says your room is in the same area as the club president.”
I can see where he’s going.
“Agent Hill, they’re smarter than that. There are cameras everywhere.”
“Oh yes, I’m aware. For the sake of arguing, let’s say that the cameras will be off tonight, at midnight. Could you get into the president’s room?”
I feel all sorts of emotions, but the one that stands out the most is guilt.
“I-”
“Midnight, Ms. Mayhem. And, I’ll expect information tomorrow. Understand?” He stands and tosses down some bills for his meal.
When he’s gone, I pull out my phone and open the app. I haven’t had to use it in the past few weeks, but I feel the urge to use it now. Bash and Razor’s faces cross my mind. Fuck. For the first time I can’t do it. It’s one thing to be dating both of them. It’s another to do this. I log out and toss my phone on the table. What in the fuck am I going to do?
I leave the restaurant and wander around aimlessly. I have two choices, really. One, I tell Bash and Razor everything. I’m sure they’ll want me to tell Saint, too, but I want them to hear it from me. They deserve that much. And then I’ll face the consequences.
Two, I do what Agent Hill is suggesting and sneak into Saint’s room. No one is ever in that part of the club at that time of the night, so I should be safe. Plus, Saint’s been avoiding me, which hurts. If I do this and find something worth telling Agent Hill, then maybe I’ll finally be finished with him and I can forget all about lying to the guys.
The thought sours my stomach. Of course, not telling them is still lying, but this is the tip of the iceberg of things I haven’t told them. Things I’d rather die over than to say out loud.
