Release

by Jade Chandler

  “Oh, well I don’t—”

  “Come back with me, he’ll want to see you.” Mark grabbed my hand and dragged me behind him.

  “I can walk on my own.” I gave him a sassy smile.

  He dropped my hand and grinned at me. “Are you sure?”

  I ignored him and the fluttery sensations in my stomach and walked back into the shop. I’d never seen him work, except on me, which had been sexy, no, beyond sexy.

  His head was bent over the shoulder of his client. Intense lines of concentration marked his face. He put the needle from cup to skin with a confidence I loved. Here he was master, and I loved it. Heat built low inside me as I watched him. I wanted to move closer to see exactly what he drew, but I was afraid I’d destroy the moment. I didn’t have many opportunities to observe him without him knowing. He spoke to his client with an easy smile but his attention never wavered from the art he created. My chest stuttered and I think I fell a bit more in love with him.

  He glanced up, spotted me and his face transformed—happiness replaced the concentration. “Almita, come here.” His sexy rumble sent flutters through me.

  “I didn’t want to interrupt.” I moved to him.

  “Chuck, meet my woman, Avery.” Pride reflected in his expression.

  I loved that. He totally was in love with me just like I was in love with him.

  “Hey Chuck, what are you getting?”

  “Rock and I have been working on a cobra for some time, but today finishes it.” He tilted his bicep toward me.

  The snake curled up his arm and the face stared at me from his deltoid. “That’s a serious piece of work. I’m not brave enough to commit to something like that, yet.”

  He grinned. “Yeah, Rock wouldn’t let me compromise on my vision, but we had to do it slow while I earned the green to make it a reality.”

  “And tell me it was the wrong decision?”

  “Nah, man. You were totally on mark. I love this piece. My unit in Afghanistan was the cobras.” He glanced at me.

  “Thank you for your service. You need something fierce to show how you stood up for us.” I respected the men and women with the courage to stand up for our country in the armed forces, especially since I didn’t have that kind of courage.

  He gave me a nod and I saw a dark emotion cross his face.

  “Well stud, I’ve gotta go.” I kissed his cheek. “I’m grabbing lunch, want me to bring you something back?”

  He was already focused on the art. “No thanks, almita. Chuck and I have more than an hour to finish up.” He glanced up. “Thanks for stopping by.”

  I grinned wide as I left the shop. He was the kind of man people not only respected but liked. But one of the things I didn’t give him enough credit for was his artistry. A creative artist—amid all the parts that made him the man I loved, his need to express his art was a part I’d overlooked, but not anymore.

  * * *

  I ended up moving out before Glory by a few days. While I worked on Thursday, Rock had prospects move me into his place. While I loved waking up next to my muscled sex god, I worried how we’d get along. I’d had four roommates so I understood how annoying friends could be to live with, but how would Rock be?

  Before he set the prospects loose in my place, I went in and got the stuff no guy should touch—my plants, bathroom stuff, and undies. Rock laughed at me, but I didn’t care. Some things are just personal.

  When my day was over at work, Rock picked me up on his bike. “I need a ride. You up for that?”

  I’d wanted to go unpack but I supposed that could wait. I never passed up a chance to be on the back of his bike, holding tight to my man. He drove down the backroads surrounding Barden. Roads I’d driven down all my life, but on the back of a bike they changed. I noticed the beauty of the trees, smelled the sunshine on the wind, and counted seven old barns that were all spectacular in their state of rot—one had even started to collapse. In my truck, I focused on the destination, but this ride was about the journey because we had no destination.

  As the sun was low in the sky we rode back to his place—our place. Boxes lined his basement walls, all my stuff packed up and marked. We carried up my clothes and left the rest for later. I walked into his room worried about where I’d put my stuff but a second dresser, identical to his, now stood against one wall.

  “Yours to use. There’s room in the closet too.” He kissed my head. “If I don’t leave, I’m going to want to do more fun stuff than put away clothes.”

  I laughed. “Get then, and thank you.” I gave him a quick kiss and shooed him away.

  He always thought things through, but arranging this in less than twenty-four hours impressed me, even if he had people to do stuff.

  In less than an hour I had my clothes sorted and put away, making the move feel real. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t spent lots of nights together, but now we were one. I’d never lived with a guy, and this should be monumental, but it was ordinary.

  My phone pinged, confirming my appointment with Marr for Monday. Fear crawled up my spine, but I’d do it, even if she said it was a four-hour session. Rock’s one-hour session had almost done me in with the intensity. Should I ask Rock what he wanted, if he wanted me to do this for him? Nope, I answered my own question. It’d just add to his burdens because he still had issues with his pain, despite our conversation earlier.

  So I decided to risk his anger and surprise him, hoping it wasn’t one of those “oh hell” kind of surprises. I padded down the beige hallway to his beige living room—the man needed color in his house, and I planned to add it, just not right away. I didn’t want to overtake his house all at once, I’d be more circumspect.

  Rock lay stretched out on the brown leather couch watching some show. I had him sit up a minute so he could lay on my lap.

  “Thank you. Again, I’ve never had someone think of everything, do everything—it’s usually my job.”

  “Get used to it.”

  An explosion of butterflies took flight inside me, I was a lucky girl. “I love you.”

  His eyes softened and he cupped my check. “I love you too, almita.”

  He leaned up to kiss me which led to more kissing and soon we were naked on his couch where I showed him my appreciation.

  * * *

  Today we were sending Glory off in style with dinner and shopping in Oklahoma City. She moved to Vegas in three days. Lila had gotten her in touch with Bear who’d helped her land a job as a dancer. One last girl’s day before my oldest friend would be fifteen hours away.

  Rock was spending the day at the club doing secret shit I couldn’t be told about. But I missed him, already, and he’d only left an hour ago. All my life, people told me what to do, how to dress, how to act, and when I eventually failed, and I did, then they were disappointed. He was the guy who let me dance in the rain when we’d gone mudding. He’d even gotten all muddy with me. His acceptance gave me a new kind of freedom, one that made me stronger, braver, and better.

  I sat on my old couch with a goofy smile on my lips. I closed my eyes and savored the feeling, love and acceptance. I’ve had one but never both together.

  “Hey, we doing this.” Glory had hands on her hips and was drop dead gorgeous.

  “As soon as my tootsies dry.” I screwed on the lid to my black nail polish. “Thirty minutes.”

  My phone buzzed and Lila’s face popped up. “Hey girlfriend, why aren’t you slaving over men?”

  “Done with that shit, ordered pizzas and I’m gone.” She hesitated. “I’m ready to shop till we drop. I’ll be at your place in less than an hour, that work?”

  “Absolutely.” We said goodbye.

  Glory flopped on the couch. “So, you and Rock are having fun?”

  “Like we’re made for each other.” That was the honest truth. I ha
d purposely avoided discussing Rock with her. Glory wasn’t like Frankie but she wouldn’t approve of my happily ever after fantasies. She hadn’t been excited when we’d moved in together.

  I touched my toenail and declared it dry enough for the sandals I planned to wear to Oklahoma City for our marathon shopping trip.

  The knock on the front door meant it was time to go. I grabbed my purse and made sure Glory had her stuff, following her out to lock up.

  She and Lila hugged on the front porch. “I’m going to miss you to hell and back.”

  Glory pulled back. “I’ll miss the people, but this town can go fuck itself, I’m so ready to be gone from here,” she said. “Tell me you love to shop. Avery runs down long before me. Hopefully with two of you, I won’t end up shopping alone.”

  I kissed Lila’s cheek. “That’s true, I’m not good after six hours.”

  “Six hours?” Lila stuttered. “What have I signed up for?”

  We climbed in Glory’s car and drove out for the city. She wanted Vegas clothes, whatever that was, and I wanted to scope out the competition, but I had no idea what Lila wanted.

  “So tell me about Rock?” Lila turned sideways in front, giving me a cheeky grin.

  “He’s this tall biker guy who runs Marked Man, oh wait, you know him, right.” I let the sarcasm drip off my words.

  “But I don’t know him.” She laughed.

  “And I’m not sharing.” Either him or describing that part of our relationship. “Let’s say he’s talented, and leave it at that.”

  “You two heading somewhere?” Glory chimed in.

  “That what I want to know,” Lila piped up.

  Shit. Double-teamed, no way to get out of this one.

  “Yeah, he’s special, and we’re living together, so we’re going somewhere. I just don’t know where exactly. He calls me his girl.”

  “Wow.” Lila giggled. “You’re on your way to biker babe.”

  Happiness swirled in me because I liked being his girl. Really liked it, and being his old lady would be even better, but I’d never say that aloud.

  About five hours into the Glory shopping marathon, I remembered why I didn’t shop with her. This was normally a Frankie and Glory thing. She’d bought armloads of stuff and I’d bought a pair of sexy fuck-me heels. I’d snapped like fifty pics of pieces I wanted in my shop. Lila split the difference. She spent time hanging with me on the bench and then would get energized and rush off with Glory. But honestly, I hadn’t had this much fun in a long time.

  “Come on.” Glory and Lila cornered me with devious looks on their perfect faces.

  My phone pinged. I swiped it to find a message from Rock. Miss you.

  “Wait.” I held up my finger. “Selfie emergency.”

  I snapped a selfie in front of the Victoria’s Secret. I added it to the text screen and typed. Shopping marathon with Lila and Glory. Send the national guard if I’m not home by morning.

  My phone pinged seconds later. Buy something sexy for me.

  He’d read my mind.

  “We found your people.” Glory grabbed one hand and Lila the other one.

  We moved down the side hall and I figured out where we were going. I tried to stop our forward momentum. “No.”

  “Yes.” They kept pulling me.

  I hated this store. No that was a lie, I loved this store with an unnatural passion. Park It was a geek, goth, punk mecca with all the important fandoms plus the best band T-shirt collection anywhere. I already spent too much of my monthly budget in online splurges, the store itself was death to my credit card.

  “You guys don’t do this store, let’s go get food instead,” I hedged.

  “Uh-hunh.” Lila pushed me toward the door, and I was down—the tractor beam pulled me in. I walked through the black light entrance. Glory and Lila stayed with me, the bitches, pointing out sassy PJs and new MCR T-shirts. The band might’ve broken up and broke my heart, but their merch would never end.

  I left with serious damage to my credit card, but with seven new tees and three new PJs. While their jeans were cute, my shop had better stock. This shop had inspired me to open Black Label. At first, I’d wanted to open a shop just like this, but it took less than a day to realize that would mean failure—not enough customers in the surrounding five counties to keep that kind of shop going. But it got me thinking, and those thoughts led to my baby.

  We closed the mall then had a late supper at a bar and grill. After we ordered, I leaned back tired but happy.

  “Do you feel better now that we’re all in debt?” I eyed the two troublemakers.

  “Totally.” Lila grinned.

  Lila patted Glory’s hand. “Why are you so set on leaving?”

  Glory sipped her beer and eyed Lila. “I tell people it’s because I love the idea of being a Vegas show girl, like my cousin.” Her gaze settled on me. “Barden holds nothing for me, and I can’t find a job here I like, one that pays good, and I don’t know.” She tapped her fingers. “I feel like I’ve outgrown Barden. Avi has her shop but I’ve got no ties. I mean my mama will come see me and I can visit, but it’s just time to move on.”

  “Is it Mark?” Lila just asked the question I hadn’t been brave enough to ask.

  Her eyes narrowed. I saw her rile, ready for one of her famous cuts, but then she deflated. “Maybe, I mean we’re too much the same to get on for long, but he made his choice, and now I’m odd one out.” She sighed. “I don’t know how you keep doing it.”

  I didn’t like the pity she tried to hide. “What the fuck, Glory?”

  “Shit, don’t go all mental on me. It’s true, our friends, hell even me, we always waited until you just outgrew you—the music, the hair—you never walked to our beat.”

  “Thanks for pointing it out.” Her words hurt and I swallowed tears.

  “No, no, no, I was...we were wrong to expect that. But until recently, I just didn’t see it, feel it. You’re always so damn happy, like you don’t give two goddamns what anyone thinks, so I just never thought about it—until I experienced it.”

  “Well I don’t, and honestly, you do, that’s the difference.” I crossed my arms.

  “Yeah, I get that.” Glory’s words were quiet. “I’m just scared, and you never are, I wanted you there to make things less scary.”

  Shit. How can I stay mad now?

  I scooted around the booth and hugged her. I guess we both had lots confronting us.

  “You’re both kick-ass bitches, you’ll rock your choices.” Lila steadied us. “Once you figure what you want, just grab hold and don’t let go, no matter what stands in your way.”

  Glory snorted. “You’ve changed so much, and I love it, now if I could only be you.”

  “I grabbed hold.” She tossed her red hair back. “Got bucked off a time or two, but I ain’t ever letting go.”

  I held up my pop. “Here’s to never letting go.” All three glasses clinked together.

  “Now the ladies’ room calls.” Glory stood up, a bit wobbly, and walked to the back.

  “You’re going to the lake, right?” Lila watched Glory walk away.

  “Yeah, I can’t wait, a week with Rock.”

  She gave me a searching look. “The lake is wild—as in naked games and people screwing right next to you wild.”

  “Um, naked games?” I squeaked.

  “Yeah, I danced naked on a boat to some damn song, and Rock sometimes plays the biker babe stack up. The guys try and see who can hold four naked women the longest. The naked women are stacked like planks atop each other.”

  I closed my eyes. “Okay. Do I have to play?”

  She shook her head. “No, you and Rock should talk about how he feels about it, but you should be warned. I wished someone had warned me. Most of the time is just hanging ou
t, boating and playing cards, but the big party, that’s crazy.”

  I thought about Rock and naked women and my stomach churned.

  “Should I go?” I could barely get the words past the catch in my throat.

  “Hell yeah!” She snorted. “I just wanted you to know.”

  “I’m thinking about doing something risky.”

  “That sounds fun.” She scooped up a bite of her cheesecake.

  “Yeah. So Rock has a thing for pain.”

  Lila stared at me.

  “You knew?”

  “Everyone knows. Bikers are nosy and gossip worse than anyone.”

  “That’s weird thinking of these strong, silent types up in everyone’s business. Anyway, Marr, you know who she is?”

  “The female Domme at Bound.”

  “Okay, she offered to teach me to use some of the tools she uses with Rock, if I want to learn.”

  Lila’s eyes widened and her spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. “Are you going to?”

  “I think yeah, but to do it, I have to experience the tool, and you know I hate pain.”

  “Shit.” She frowned at me. “Don’t do it, if it’s not your thing.”

  “It could be, maybe, so I’m going tomorrow for a—Four. Hour. Session.”

  “Look who’s turning into a kinky girl.”

  I shook my head. “We’re a pair, you’re wild and I’m kinky.”

  “What else do you expect? We’re badass biker babes.”

  “I hope I can do it.” I sighed.

  * * *

  Walking in the front door of Bound for the first time excited me for two whole seconds, then I looked around. It wasn’t what I expected with mostly black interior that looked more like a night club than a kink club. Disappointed, I found the stairs down to the dungeon level.

  Marr grinned at me when I walked into her boudoir. “Honey, I can’t believe you’re doing this.”

  “Less talking, more doing.” The nervous energy was barely contained inside me now. Talking about what I was doing would send me to the panic stage.

  “Three things—consent is always verbal, the scene creates as much satisfaction as the act, and never guess—know or don’t do it.”