by A. J. Downey
She jerked up her panties and jeans, and swiftly did them up. I blinked and tucked myself back into my pants at a more sedate pace.
“Remember the deal, this never happened,” she said curtly and she marched that shapely ass of hers right out of the barn doors.
“Yeah,” I muttered to myself, “but we both know it did.”
I turned around and leaned against the neatly stacked bales and with my jeans back in place, pressed my hands to my knees and finished catching my breath.
Man, I think I knew how my twin felt now… I was wrecked, and the woman had no idea the kind of affect she had on me. Double damn it, she was just the wrong fuckin’ kind of woman to get addicted to.
“Fuck,” I said to the empty barn then had to repeat it several more times for good measure. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck it!”
Problem was, I just had, royally.
Chapter 6
Bailey
Oh my god, I just totally let him fuck me without protection, what was I thinking? I marched straight into the house and went to the kitchen, pouring a good measure of bourbon into a glass. I took a sip just as the first knock landed at my screen door. I turned around and went slowly back to it, hoping and praying it wasn’t him, but no dice. He was on the other side of the screen, phone pressed to his ear saying “Yes ma’am, here she is. Alright now.”
He handed me my phone and said jovially, “You left this in the barn, ma’am. I figured you’d want to take the call. It’s your mamma. Sorry I answered it for you but I didn’t want it to go to voicemail.”
“Thanks…” I said and took the phone. None of what was coming out of his mouth was matching the grave intensity that was coming from his eyes. He had me pinned in place with that look just as surely as he’d had me pinned beneath those tree trunks he called arms only moments before.
“Hello?” I said into the phone, and silently he plucked my glass from my hand and downed the remainder of the bourbon inside before he handed it back and walked away.
Oh. My. God.
He was an ass, but he made it smokin’ hot.
“Bailey Lynn Berling, are you listening to me!?” my mother snapped in my ear and I jumped.
“Mom, yeah, sorry you were breaking up,” I lied. “Can you repeat what you said?”
“I said I just heard about Renaldo, is he alright?”
“I don’t know, I just finished up with the police. I need to go to the hospital now.”
“Are you alright?”
More than alright. Not okay at all… Jesus what was wrong with me!? Fucking biker boy out there while Renaldo was headed to the hospital? God!
“I’m fine,” I told her, glad she couldn’t see my lying liar face.
“I just knew something like this would happen…” she said and I tuned her out while she went on one of her drama fueled monologues, just fretting away. I was watching him through the screen on my door. He was loading the farm’s truck with mended tack to take it to the stables. His shirt was off, as it’d been in the barn, skin kissed golden by the sun, glistening with sweat, and when he turned around I had to shudder.
Inked into his back, larger than life, was the same patches that rode on the back of his vest. The Sacred Hearts with that damn, vile heart wrapped in barbed wire. Except underneath, where it should have said ‘Kentucky,’ like his vest did now, the lettering read ‘Arizona.’
He turned back around and inked into the front of his body, low on the ribs was a diamond with a 1% inside it. I didn’t know what any of it meant, but I remember Dray telling me once upon a time, when we were still teens, that it all had some sort of meaning to it.
All I could see was the look on the man’s face who’d been about to hit Rush over the back with what looked like an axe handle. His eyes had gone wide and he’d cried out about Rush being one of them, a Sacred Heart, and the rest of the men who weren’t on the ground had run… clearly terrified, not even bothering to try and pick up their friends off the ground that they’d come with. It’d been chilling, making me wonder just what my cousin Dray was into.
“Bailey, are you sure you’re alright?” My mother’s worried voice pierced the veil of my thoughts and I shook myself as if waking from a dream… a bad one.
“Yeah, Mom… I just… I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“Like what?” she asked, and the silence following her words was weighted with a held breath.
“He took a bat to those men, the ones hurting Renaldo. He really hurt some of them, like it was nothing.”
“It’s what they do, my darling girl. It’s what they do,” she said tiredly and I found myself shaking my head, realized she couldn’t see it, and so I sighed.
“I’m going to grab a quick shower and head out to see Renaldo. By the time I get cleaned up and get to the hospital, they might have some answers as to the extent of his injuries. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay, be careful.”
“I promise,” I said and ended the call, shoving my phone back into my back pocket where it should have been to begin with. There was no telling if the hospital would even tell me anything, privacy laws being what they were and me not technically being family, but guilt was swamping me now… that Renaldo has so easily slipped from my mind, however briefly, to complete a hot hookup in my barn. God, you really are turning into the product of your upbringing… I chided myself, and closed my eyes, bowing my head and giving it a little shake to banish the admonishing voice.
When I looked up, he was staring at me, the door to the truck open, one of his large hands on the edge of the truck bed. I had my arms crossed over my chest and was playing with my necklace chain. Something I did when I was uneasy or thinking. I dropped the necklace and tipped my head back, walking away, picking up the empty rocks glass in my hand off the dining room table which was just inside the front door with the way the small, but expensive, house was laid out.
I didn’t bother with pouring myself any more. Instead, I went straight for the shower off my bedroom and got myself cleaned up. I needed to get an STD test and even though I was already on birth control, I needed a Plan B pill. I still couldn’t believe I’d done that. I still didn’t know what made me do it…
That’s a lie, Bailey. You wanted another one of the amazing orgasms only he’s ever been able to give you. You know, just like the one you haven’t been able to forget. You wanted him to touch you because watching him beat the shit out of those guys was hot.
I sighed. I couldn’t argue with my inner me’s logic on that one, as distasteful and selfish as it was. What is wrong with me! I screamed silently at myself.
When I went back out with the keys to my truck in hand, he was gone. I bowed my head and shook it, and jogged down the rest of the steps, taking the path that would lead to the low set of garages to the right and back of the house.
“Going to see Renaldo?”
I jerked my head up. He was standing by his motorcycle, tying a bandana around his head. Thankfully, he had a shirt back on, even if it was one of the white tees that hugged every muscle, his leather vest with the patches on over it.
Admit it, you’re jealous you aren’t one of those tee shirts.
Shut up, me.
No, you can’t make me either…
Fuck.
He raised an eyebrow and I realized I’d cursed out loud.
“You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Ha, ha, very funny; you’re one to talk.”
He quirked a one-sided smile and said, “Come on, I’ll give you a ride.”
I rolled my eyes, “My mother would kill me.”
“What are you twelve?” he demanded. “Jesus Christ, maybe I was wrong about you.”
I jerked back my head and gave him a dirty look, “Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said swinging a leg over the seat and dropping onto it. “Maybe you are some kind of damsel in distress, rich bitch spoiled princess.”
I scoffed, “What does that make you? A dirty
beast of an asshole biker?”
“You judged first, baby; don’t you forget that.” He crossed his arms and leaned forward against the glossy black tank of his Harley, the paint job shot through with crackling electricity.
“What happens if I get on the back of your bike?” I asked, remembering what Draven had told me. That everything was steeped in some deep, esoteric, alternate meaning for these guys.
He grinned and said, “I take you for a different kind of ride of your life.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
I shoved my keys into my pocket and came forward. He held out a hand to help me up.
“Ever been on one of these things?” he asked.
“Really, does it look like I’ve ever been on one?”
“Alright, alright… I just hate repeating information somebody might not already know. First thing, hold onto me.” He put my hands around his waist and I swallowed nervously. “I mean it, hold onto me, don’t be shy, I just fucked you over a bale of straw in the damn barn, now get closer.” I froze.
“I thought we agreed that never happened,” I said softly, and I couldn’t see his face but he bowed his head letting it bounce a couple times on his neck.
“Right. Forgive me if I have a hard time immediately erasing something that hot and that satisfying out of my memory banks.”
“Right, what else?” I asked in an attempt to change the subject, but the damn seed was planted and growing. He’d enjoyed it too… couldn’t forget just like you can’t.
“Lean with the bike, not against it, when I take turns and try not to shift around too much, okay?”
“Okay.”
He handed his helmet over his shoulder and said, “Here put this on.” I did and once my arms were back around his waist, he fired up the machine. I jumped at how loud it was and pulled on my big girl panties. Taking a deep breath, I pulled myself tight against his back and did as I was told, leaning with him and the bike as he turned out onto the gravel, following the curve out onto the long drive past the south stables and to the road.
“Think you got a feel for it?” he called over the chug of the motor.
“Yeah!”
“Good, training wheels are off, hang on!”
He punched it, turning out onto the highway and I held myself tight to his body, sheltering from the wind momentarily until I could grow used to it and the feeling. Oh my god, it was like how I felt on horseback during jumping competitions. When the horse was moving, muscles coiling and bunching beneath me and taking the jump. It was like that moment where we were both suspended in time, gravity taking over and making the knot of adrenaline in the pit of my stomach rise to the center of my chest. God, it was exactly like that precise moment only a constant feeling.
I suddenly understood the appeal that this held for my aunt and my cousin. I could never understand it before, but now… It was a dangerous drug. One I didn’t know if I would be able to immediately put it down. Damn if this guy wasn’t a tricky bastard.
We pulled into the lot at Mercy General and he found a space for the motorcycle, tapping me twice on my knee in a dismissive gesture that clearly meant get off. I did and he backed the bike carefully into the space. He shut off the engine and I handed him his helmet.
“What’d you think?”
I gave a noncommittal shrug and he chuckled, “It’s okay, your highness. Your secret is safe with me.”
I frowned at him and he laughed as I walked away and toward the entrance to the hospital. I hit my first roadblock in admitting. “I’m sorry, I can’t give out any patient information.”
“I know he’s here, I would like to know how he’s doing.”
“All I can confirm is that Mr. Salvador is a patient but he hasn’t been assigned a room number yet, you’ll just have to come back later.”
“Well, I know he’s in the emergency room, can I go back there and see him?”
“Are you family?”
“I already told you, I’m his employer. He was hurt at work. Are you serious?”
“Bailey, come here.”
His hand closed around my elbow and he drew me away from the unhelpful woman at the reception desk.
“Where are we going?” I demanded.
“The cafeteria. I’m hungry, and you are too. Now shut it.”
I felt my jaw fall open. I don’t think anyone other than my brother had ever spoken to me in such a way and I wasn’t particularly fond of Philip right now, or ever, to be honest. Still, Rush’s admonishment to keep quiet held a different flavor than any of Philip’s. He had something going on. Philip usually just told me to shut up for the sake of shutting me up. This guy, Rush, however, was leading me towards something.
When we stopped at a table in the cafeteria where a doctor sat with a cup of coffee, a newspaper open in front of his face. I realized that this must be Doc Sim.
“Is this the doctor you told the ambulance crew to take Renaldo to?” I asked.
“That’d be me,” the older man said. He sighed and set down his paper looking up at me over half-moon spectacles. I sank into the seat beside him and asked, “Is he okay?”
“Afraid not, honey. I had to put him in a coma. He’s got swelling on his brain. Too early to tell.”
I took in a deep, deep breath in through my nose and let it out through my mouth. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to look weak, so I did what Rush had suggested. I sucked it up, biting my lips together and staring at the table top until I was sure my voice wouldn’t shake.
“I see,” I said and Dr. Sim looked at me sympathetically.
“I wish I had better news, but we’re working on freeing up a bed for him now, in the ICU.”
“No,” I said leaning back. “Thank you for telling me. I was going a little crazy worrying about him.”
He nodded, “You got somebody that can stay with you tonight?” he asked and I shook my head.
“I’ll lock the doors; keep the phone nearby. I’ll be fine.” The doctor looked up over my head and I frowned craning my neck back so I could see Rush. He was just getting through with giving the doctor a nod.
I raised my eyebrows, a silent way of saying, Oh the hell you will, buddy. All he did was stare me down until I looked away first, uncomfortably.
“Thanks, Doc,” Rush said.
“You betcha,” the doctor said and shook out his paper, “now piss off back to where you come from and let an old man read his paper in peace. First break I’ve had all day with the mess you sent in here.”
“Oh, yeah?” Rush sounded amused.
“Busted that asshole’s knee but real good. What’d you do, hit him with a bat?”
“Louisville slugger,” I affirmed.
“He the one that did your friend?”
“One of ‘em.”
“Good job.”
“Thanks.”
For the second time since I’d entered this hospital, my jaw fell open.
“Aren’t you under some kind of Hippocratic oath?” I demanded disbelieving that I was possibly hearing what I was hearing right now.
“Yep, and I didn’t do any harm here, sweetheart. I patched ‘em both up to the best of my ability. That’s what I do. That other fella’s jaw ought to be wired shut for a good couple of months or more. No saving the teeth.”
“Bet he’ll think twice before callin’ a lady a bitch.”
It was completely mind blowing, the both of them laughing over what had been done like it was nothing. Like it hadn’t been something that’d shaken me to my core. Of course, I could play along to a certain extent but this? This was almost too much. I shook my head and uttered an incredulous “Wow.”
“Don’t waste any of yer feelings on those thugs, sweetheart. You just keep worrying about yer friend and his family. He’s got a long way to go.”
“Yeah,” I said faintly. I was worried about Renaldo. My heart broke for him and his family and it broke even more that my brother might be behind a thing like this.
<
br /> “Go on now, before someone sees me talkin’ to you that shouldn’t.”
“Thanks again, Doc.”
I walked in silence side by side with Rush all the way back outside to his motorcycle. He looked me over once we got to the bike and asked me, “You just want to go for a ride? Take the long, scenic route home?”
I smoothed my lips together and nodded finally and he didn’t press, just said, “Okay, get on.”
I, surprisingly, just did what I was told and let the wind move me as the road below us blurred and rushed past as we went over it. He was as good as he promised, taking the long way, winding through foothills and through idyllic tree-lined country roads.
When he pulled down the long drive of Blue Hill’s farm, it was nearly dusk, the sun dropping low on the horizon. I got off and thanked him, which I don’t think he heard above the bike. I handed him back his helmet and he cocked his head to the side, shutting the machine off.
I’m going to wait here for one of my other club brothers to come and take night watch. You want I should run back to the club and come back? Crash on your couch?”
I shook my head, “It’s okay; no one needs to stay here over night.”
“Bullshit. You ain’t quittin’ and pretty soon they’re going to run out of people to target.”
“I just wish…”
“What?”
I shook my head again, “Nothing.”
What I’d really meant to say was, I wish I hadn’t been such an argumentative bitch. If I hadn’t been trying so hard to screw with you maybe one or the both of us would have heard the fight outside sooner. Maybe Renaldo wouldn’t be in the hospital like he is…
“It’s not your fault, Bailey,” he said after a minute of silence.
I stood up a little straighter and said, “Yeah, yeah it is my fault… What’s worse? I can’t be sorry about it. This place is my everything and I can’t give it up.”
“You shouldn’t have to.”
I nodded and turned, mounting the steps and going in the front door of my house. Rush was suddenly there, behind me.
