by Jessie Cooke
She pulled her head back and looked at his face. “There’s something else now? I see how it is.”
He grinned up at her.
Fuck, he’s hot. How I ever got so lucky I’ll never know. But she savored every second she had with him and whether he stayed on this ranch as president of the club until he was too old to straddle his Harley, or he woke up one day and decided to run away to some beach, somewhere, she was in it for the long haul. The very idea of him touching anyone other than her, or her touching anyone other than him, was inconceivable to her. “A bath.”
She giggled. “You want to take a bath?”
“Nope. I want to give you one.”
“As sexy and exciting as that sounds...I thought you were the one that needed to relax.”
“Believe me, it’ll relax me.”
“Well, okay then, baby. I’d never deny you your relaxation.” Dax nuzzled her neck a little longer and then finally broke away and stood up. He reached down and took her hand and helped her to her feet. He pulled her up into a deep kiss that, even after all this time, still took her breath away. When he let her come up for air he said:
“How about you pour yourself a glass of wine and grab me a beer? I’ll meet you in the master bathroom.”
She smiled. “I can’t wait.” He made a sexy little “mm” noise as she walked away. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of red wine. Then she took out a bottle of beer for him and opened it. She carried them both up the stairs, where she could hear the water running in the tub. She stopped when she got to Susie’s room. Standing in the doorway, she could see the little girl’s sweet, innocent, beautiful face in the glow of the nightlight. She watched the rise and fall of Susie’s chest as she slept, and the flutter of her long lashes as she dreamed. She couldn’t help but wonder how many times Bart Kent had done the same thing when Pam was a little girl. She shuddered at the thought. She couldn’t stand the man as a human being, but she couldn’t even begin to imagine what he was going through as a father. The thought of it brought tears to her eyes and a lump to her throat. It suddenly dawned on her that there was someone running loose on the ranch that could do something that horrible. She put the glass and the bottle down gently on the dresser near the bedroom door and went over to make sure Susie’s window was locked. Once she was sure it was tightly secured, she walked over to the bed, kissed her sweet girl on the forehead, and picked up the drinks on her way out.
When Angel opened the door to the bathroom in the master bedroom, Dax was there, dressed now only in his boxers and surrounded by steam. The lights were off, and he’d lit the candles that she kept on the sides of the deep tub. Besides the sun porch, it was her favorite place in the house. She handed Dax his beer and said, “This is nice.”
He grinned. “It’ll be nicer when you’re wearing less clothes.” Angel took a sip of her wine and then set it down on the granite counter. While Dax’s blue eyes burned into her she began to strip. She removed each piece of clothing slowly and deliberately and she could see that her little striptease had obviously aroused him. Once she was nude, he took her hand and helped her step up into the tub. She’d just immersed her legs in the warm, fragrant water when he let go of her hand and slid his around to cup her breasts. She mewled and leaned back into him as he massaged them, making her nipples as hard as pebbles. He caressed them and rolled them between his fingers until he felt her shiver. Thinking she was cold he whispered, “Sit down in the tub, baby.” She’d shivered from his touch, but she didn’t argue with him. She sat down and sank into the water that he must have poured her fragrant oil into. It was slick and it smelled like jasmine.
Dax got down on his knees on the thick rug next to the tub and began doing what she’d been trying to do for him earlier. He put his big hands on the back of her neck, underneath her hair, and massaged his way across the muscles that she hadn’t even noticed were tense. The combination of his hot hands and the steamy water caused her body to heat up and she knew that if she lay back for just a second, she’d be out like a light. Dax must have realized he was putting her to sleep because after leaning in and kissing her shoulder, he reached over and grabbed the glass of cold wine off the counter and handed it to her. She took a sip, and the cool liquid mingled with the heat inside her body and caused her limbs to tingle.
After she took one more sip, she handed the glass back to Dax. She should have known by his mischievous grin that he was up to something, but she was still surprised when she saw him tip the glass and felt the cold liquid splash against her right nipple. Almost as soon as it hit, his hot mouth covered it and Angel groaned in delight. He licked the wine off, and then some, and then dipped his fingers into the glass before setting it aside. He took the two fingers he’d dipped in the wine and rubbed them around the outside of her left nipple. She whispered his name as she reveled in the sensations. “Mm, Dax...”
He leaned down and sucked on that one and then slid his mouth all the way up to her neck while at the same time letting his hand slide down into the water until it made contact with the top of one of her thighs. He turned his hand over so that the smooth part of his fingernails brushed her skin. Even in the tub she could feel her pussy growing slicker by the second. She sighed with pleasure and sunk down deeper into the tub. Her hands were lying against her belly, and Dax took one of them and moved it down between her legs. Angel gasped as her own fingers touched the sensitive lips of her pussy. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back further as Dax held onto her hand and moved her fingers up and down her slit, grazing her clit every so often and causing her to shudder.
Dax let go of her hand and she continued to move it around until suddenly she felt him lift her up from her hips and the top half of her body was nearly completely submerged in the water. She felt his hot breath before she opened her eyes and saw him smile at her from between her legs. She breathed out his name again, and his lips and tongue suddenly took the place where her fingers were moments ago. He used his tongue to spread open her lips and his strong arms to hold her securely to the side of the tub while rubbing the stubble on his gorgeous face against her most sensitive parts. After a few minutes he worked his tongue up inside of her and then moved it in and out seductively as water splashed over the side of the tub and soaked the floor. He licked, sucked, and tantalized until everything inside of her turned to hot, molten lava and she overflowed with an orgasm that rocked her to her hot core. Angel held his head in place for a few seconds afterwards, feeling the need to come down from her high before she let him go. When she did, he gently lowered her back down into the tub and leaned in and kissed her lips softly.
“Wow.”
“Like that, baby?”
“Hell, yeah. You’re amazing.”
“I know.” She laughed and slapped him softly on the shoulder. Her man was definitely confident. She teased him about being vain constantly, but the truth was she loved that he knew how hot he was...and he still saved it all only for her. She reached for his shorts but he pulled back and stood up. “Stand up, baby.” She smiled and stood up. His blue eyes watched with lust as the water ran off her body. He slid off his shorts and climbed into the tub behind her. She leaned back into him and closed her eyes again, enjoying the feel of his hands as they slid up and down her wet body.
Eventually he took her hands and moved them forward, pressing them into the tile. When she was bent over he took his throbbing cock in his hand and ran it up and down against her swollen pussy lips, teasing her and driving her crazy. She kept pushing back against him, trying to catch it, but he was delighting in teasing her. She knew he was waiting for her to settle down. Her man also liked to be in control. She willed herself to wait for it, knowing it would be worth any amount of time she had to suffer...and then just like that, he grabbed her hips and filled her up with almost more pleasure than she could stand.
He wasn’t playing around any longer. With each stroke he landed deep inside of her, slapping his hips against her butt, and in just
a few thrusts she felt like she was ready to explode again. She could hear his breaths growing ragged and low moans rumbling up from his chest, and the sounds of his pleasure only intensified hers. One of his hands reached up to cup a breast and the other one slid down around to her belly and down to the top of her pussy to softly rub against her clit while he pounded her furiously from behind. She was pushed over the edge before she even realized it, and Dax came tumbling right after. For a few minutes he stayed inside of her, holding her tightly up against him. When she felt him slide out of her he whispered, “Strength renewed. Bring it on, Mr. DA.”
Angel laughed, but her stomach tensed slightly. It seemed like each time Dax fought a war and won, another was waiting for him around the corner. Sometimes she couldn’t help but wonder how long he...and the rest of them...would be able to keep up the pace before everything they were juggling came crashing down in a fiery heap.
8
Wheelie sat in the diner where he had arranged to meet with Sabrina and waited nervously. He didn’t tell Dax he’d agreed to work with her and he knew that if he found out...well, he didn’t know exactly what Dax would do, but he knew he’d be pissed. Something about her heartbreak, and his responsibility for it, was calling though. That, and the fact that he couldn’t wait to find that son of a bitch Buzz himself and ask him to his face what the fuck was going on. He’d gone to the ranch the day before like Angel told him to. Dax had let him sit in while they reviewed the security tapes. One of them showed Buzz coming back that night, maybe an hour after Wheelie and Pamela got there...but there was no footage of Buzz leaving. Wheelie’s head throbbed all night as he tried to figure out what that meant. Of course, the guys had all speculated about it. Everything from Buzz being the killer and taking off on foot the back way where there were no monitors, to Buzz chasing the killer and ending up dead in a ditch somewhere. But there was one other question to add to so many as well...where was Buzz’s bike? He’d ridden it through the gates, but it hadn’t been found anywhere on the ranch either.
This whole thing made Wheelie sick. He wished that he had it in him to run away too, and forget that any of it ever happened. But each time he closed his eyes he saw Pam’s face...and then he saw her dead...and sometimes he heard her scream. The screams were always the most real and terrifying part. He would jerk awake as quickly as he drifted off, in a panic, and race through the apartment looking for her before convincing himself it was all in his head.
“You want more coffee, hon?” Wheelie looked up at the waitress. He didn’t know what expression was on his face, but for a second, she looked taken aback. He forced a smile and said:
“I’m good for now, thanks.” She smiled back, nervously, and started to turn away when Sabrina suddenly appeared.
“I’ll take some coffee, please.”
“Sure, hon.” The waitress turned over Sabrina’s cup and filled it up. While she did that, Wheelie studied Bri’s face. She looked like she’d slept about as much as he had the night before, if that. Her eyes were red and the lids swollen and her pretty, porcelain skin had a gray, sallow tint to it. Once the waitress was gone she said:
“I was afraid you’d change your mind overnight.”
“I thought about it.”
“So what made you decide to help me?”
“Well, for starters, this isn’t just for you. When I find Buzz, the first call I’m making is going to be to Dax.”
“Okay. The first one I make after I beat the truth out of him with a tire iron will be to my dad, so I guess we’re even.”
Wheelie smiled and sipped his coffee. Something about her told him she wasn’t kidding. “So, did you talk to Diane again? Has she heard from him?”
“No. At least she claims not to have. I’m trying to get my hands on her phone records, but that’s easier said than done.”
“Must be nice, to have all those connections,” he said.
“You’re pretty connected yourself...just on the opposite end of the spectrum.”
“I guess. But if anyone from my club finds out that I’m running around working with a probation officer, those connections might become tenuous.”
“Then don’t tell them. Look.” She pulled a paper out of her purse and set it down in front of him. It was a list of addresses and phone numbers.
“What is this?”
“Anyone and everyone that I could find who knew Buzz and aren’t connected to your club.” Wes wondered if he should tell her about the tape. He wondered how much she’d share with her father, and decided not to. The problem was, he felt like they would be wasting their time running all over Boston and Dorchester and the Back Bay. Buzz never left the ranch, at least not on two wheels.
“Okay, we’ll check them out,” he told her. “But there’s somewhere I want to look first.”
“Where’s that?”
“The ranch borders some mountains on one side. There’s no road or anything and it’s mostly impassable unless you’re on foot and one hell of a hiker. But I want to check there anyways.”
“Why? I thought you said Buzz never went back to the ranch that night.”
“As far as I know, he didn’t,” Wheelie lied. “But it doesn’t make sense that he just decided to disappear for no reason. It makes more sense that he went missing because he did know something...anyways, I’d be willing to bet Dax already has that same list you just showed me and there are guys knocking on doors as we speak. It won’t be productive to just retrace their steps.”
“Okay...the police are looking for him too. He’s the only one they haven’t been able to make contact with that was at the party.”
“Then let’s start with the perimeter of the ranch and go from there.”
“Can I ask why Dax Marshall hasn’t already had someone search that area?”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
They parked her car, which she insisted on taking, in a thicket of trees just off the county road. She still wasn’t completely sure that she could trust Wheelie, but she knew she needed him. First, she would have never known about this place, and second, Buzz was a hell of a lot bigger than her. If he was the killer, she wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d go with her willingly. She had her gun, but she was willing to bet he had his as well. She’d never liked him, and she had been confused about what her friend Diane saw in him. He was nice-looking, but not panty-melting.
She glanced over at Wheelie, thankful he couldn’t read her thoughts. That was the first thought she’d had about him, that her panties were going to melt right off. She’d been furious when she found him with her sister, although she hadn’t had a right to be. That was the biggest reason she’d turned her anger onto Pamela...to deflect. That, and she and Pamela had a history of going after the same man. History that gave her chills when she thought about it even three years later. History that she’d promised would never repeat itself...and now this. It had taken Pam a lot longer to recover from the trauma of what had happened three years earlier than it had Bri, and it was one of the main reasons the family was so protective of her. Now Bri had to live with the fact that she’d yelled at her and said mean things, right before she died. Her words had been designed to wound and from the look in Pamela’s green eyes that night, they had hit their mark.
But Buzz...he was just average. Where Wheelie had long, thick hair that she wanted to run her fingers through, Buzz’s hair was short, almost military short. His was blond and Wheelie’s was dark. Sabrina had always been attracted to men with dark hair. Wheelie’s skin was kissed by the sun from riding his bike, and a light tan color. Buzz had skin so white that where the sun touched it, streaks of red and patches of irritation were left. Buzz had light-colored eyes. They were blue, but so light they were almost colorless. Diane told her that she found that sexy. Bri didn’t care for it. She liked dark eyes, and Wheelie had big, dark ones with long, dark lashes that should have been illegal for a man to possess. He was taller and slimmer than Buzz too and even though they both looked like t
hey were in good shape, Wheelie’s muscles were leaner, and he was built like a runner or climber.
As they approached the dense forest, she realized that although he might be, she was not. She hoped that she didn’t make an absolute fool of herself trying to maneuver what looked like a path made for a small animal rather than a human being. She definitely saw what he meant when she asked him why Dax hadn’t searched there and she wondered what made him think of it. She got the feeling that there was something he knew that he wasn’t telling her, but at the same time she was almost convinced that he was telling the truth about Pamela. She believed he didn’t kill her sister and she almost believed that he had no ideas who did. She had no idea either. The only person on this earth that would have ever even imagined doing something that horrible to Pamela was dead...thank goodness.
Sabrina shook off the chills that simple thought gave her, and moved on. She was twenty-six years old and she’d been a probation officer for two years, and was a corrections officer in the jail for two years before that. She studied gang culture so that she could better serve her juvenile parolees, their families, and the community, and what she knew about them for sure was that they always stuck together, no matter what. If Wheelie did know who killed Pamela, she wasn’t sure he’d tell anyone outside of the club.
“You could always wait here,” Wheelie told her as he saw the way she was looking into the thick, dark canopy of trees in front of them. Her eyes flickered over the trunks and she had to tip her head back to see all the way to the top of most of them, where they reached out with interlocking branches in a futile attempt to touch the sky. The path and the trees and the darkness were foreboding, but Bri wasn’t about to back down.
