by Jade Kuzma
“I’m here in Ivory for one thing,” he said.
He slowly raised his hand up and pointed his finger at Michelle.
“Her.”
I looked at Michelle. The concern hadn’t left her face. Even though I felt like laughing, I knew something was up.
The entire clubhouse was silent as Cross started pacing back and forth.
“It’s been a long time,” he said. “More than a decade. I’ve searched everywhere. Of course, what you’re looking for is always in the last place you think of looking. Some small town in the middle of nowhere.”
Cross eyeballed Michelle. She was glaring back at him.
“It would’ve been easier if she just told me where she was from,” he said. “But she had to play her little games with me. Nobody can escape a vulture though. We just keep circling and circling and circling… We always get what we want.”
“Let me get this straight,” I said. “You’re here for Michelle.”
“That’s right.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“I heard that Michelle was taken. Married to some club president. She always had a type.”
He raised his eyebrows at Michelle, biting his bottom lip with that obnoxious grin.
“That’s cute,” I said. “But it’s not gonna happen.”
“I know what you’re thinking when you look at me. You think I’m some hoodlum who doesn’t have any respect for the law. I ride myself. I don’t deal with cops, same as you. I’m a man. And I’m here to discuss business. A negotiation, if you will.”
“There’s nothing to negotiate.”
“But there is… I want Michelle. That ring on her finger indicates it’d be a pretty heavy price for her. But I’m willing to pay it.”
“Keep whatever you’ve got and save your breath. She’s not going anywhere.”
Cross stopped pacing and nodded to me.
“No price,” he said with a frown. “I respect a man not willing to sell his own wife to another man. How about just one night?”
“All the money in the world won’t get you a single second.”
“I figured as much. This is where the negotiation comes into play.”
Cross put his hands behind his back and stood up straight.
“Spending time with Michelle was the most fun I ever had,” Cross said. “Even after all these years, I still remember it like I was yesterday.”
Spending time with Michelle…
I tried not to let that shit distract me and kept listening to the motherfucker ramble.
“I have a proposal for you, Mr. Garnet. A race.”
“A race?”
“You’re a rider. You should know your bike inside and out.”
“My panhead’s my fucking heart. Don’t ever question that.”
“Then you should be confident that you can beat me in a race. Half-a-mile. Straight road. I beat you and I get a night with the lovely Miss Michelle.”
I didn’t stop myself from laughing. I scoffed at the idea that some motherfucker could issue some challenge to me like that. But he was just staring at me, waiting for a response. So I figured I would humor him.
“And what do I get when I beat you?” I said.
“Peace of mind,” he said. “I’ll leave Ivory.”
“I see…”
I took a step closer to him.
“…I’ve got a counteroffer.”
“Oh, do you?”
“Leave. Leave now and nothing will happen to you or your club.”
I looked him right in the eye. The motherfucker was blind in one of ‘em but I knew he could see the point I was trying to make. I stood my ground, my jaw clenched. He stared back at me and breathed hard through his nose.
“I decline your offer,” he said.
I could feel the tension in the room rising. The only reason I didn’t knock his head off right then and there was because I knew there was more to this. Michelle wouldn’t be so worried if that wasn’t the case.
Before I had to get someone to hold me back, I saw the grin form back on his face. Cross took a step back and put his hands in the air.
“I’ll give you some time to think about my offer,” he said. “You’re not gonna get a better one. Though, I should warn you. It’s just like I said. Vultures can just keep circling and circling and circling and circling… They can wait as long as they need to…”
He stuck his tongue out at Michelle.
“I’ll see you soon, sweetie.”
He cackled in the air and turned around. I watched him leave with the rest of the club.
“Who the fuck was that guy?” Needle said.
“You want me to take care of him?” Brawn said.
The club was surrounding me but my eyes were locked on Michelle.
“Hey, pres—”
“I don’t need anything,” I said. “Go back to your card game.”
The boys left for the backroom. The tension in the bar had left. But Michelle was still staring at me like something was wrong. I wanted to do everything I could to make it go away.
“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me everything—”
“It’s a long story.”
“…I’ve got all day.”
Reaper: Chapter 8
MICHELLE
“I was young. I was barely an adult. High school was over and I just wanted to go out there on my own. I’d lived in Ivory my entire life. It’s such a small town and I’d seen all of it when I was a teenager. What girl wouldn’t want to see what was out there?”
Declan leaned against the wall. His arms crossed, he stared at me not blinking as I told him my story.
“I went across the country. Just exploring new places. I didn’t have a goal in mind. Everything was on the table. My friend and I got fake IDs and managed to sneak into a bar.”
“And that’s where you met him.”
The look in his eyes told me that Declan already knew what I was gonna say.
“I guess he was right,” I scoffed. “I do have a type. When I first saw him, there was something about him. He stood out from everybody else.”
“The scar on his face and being blind in one eye helps.”
“It did. But there was more to it than that. When I saw Tony, it was like… It was like I saw what I was looking for. I saw the wild adventure I wanted. I saw an escape from this town.”
Declan signed a deep breath. His stare was just as intense as it had been this entire time. I knew I couldn’t keep anything else from him, so I just kept going.
“We had some fun. He would take me out. He was so reckless but I didn’t care. It was exactly what I needed.”
“Then what happened?”
“It… It started getting old. Going out drinking with him. Watching him get into fights.”
“That’s not much different from how we started.”
“That was only just the beginning though. Tony was violent. He was a bully. He’d look for any excuse just to get into it with someone. He killed people.”
“You know he’s not the only man with blood on his hands.”
“You don’t enjoy it though. You do what have to do. That’s just business. To him, violence is as pleasurable as anything else. He…”
“…He what?”
I hesitated for a second. Declan raised his eyebrows in curiosity. I stared back at him. I had to do everything I could to make him understand how serious this was.
“He’ll do anything, okay?” I said. “He’ll do anything to get what he wants. He’s not above killing an old lady if all he gets out of it is a good laugh.”
Declan sighed and moved away from the wall. He slowly walked toward me. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.
“If this guy is as dangerous as you say he is, what happened? Why would he just let you walk away and after all these years, suddenly show up?”
“It was just a fling. A summer of me being stupid. It only lasted a few weeks. Something I just needed to get out of my system. I realized I could
never keep up with him, so I came back home. I figure I’d gotten away and he’d forgotten about me. Find some new girl to replace me. I hadn’t even thought about him since I left.”
“When was this exactly?”
“It was a few months before we met.”
Declan moved over to the bed and took a seat next to me.
“I can take care of him—”
“No,” I said. “I don’t want you to have any more blood on your hands.”
“If Cross is as dangerous as you say he is, something has to be done.”
“That’s not what I want. I know the feds are in town. I know the cops are watching you, too.”
“Then what do you want me to do?” Declan asked.
I looked into his eyes. Those deep brown eyes of his were like looking at a reflection of my own soul. I could feel him in my blood, in my stomach, in my bones, just from the way he stared at me. It was like being underwater and on fire all at the same time.
He was everything to me and now I was asking him to do so much more.
“You have to take his offer,” I said.
“You really mean it?”
“If I’m the reason Tony is in town, I just wanna get rid of him as quickly as possible.”
It was hard to look at Declan, knowing what I was asking him to do.
But the man I loved so much didn’t seem to care one way or another about that.
He put a hand on my chin and forced me to look back at him. I looked into his eyes and my stomach started turning over again.
“If this is the best way to deal with him—”
“It is.”
“Then I’ll do it. This guy… He’s bad news. I’ll deal with him. You know you don’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll never let anybody near you.”
I couldn’t help myself.
I leaned forward and kissed him. I wanted to forget about everything that just happened. The familiar taste of Declan’s lips never failed to clear my mind. It was like all of the weight was gone and I was floating up into the sky.
“I was young,” I whispered into his mouth. “I was stupid. I don’t want to remember a mistake I made so many years ago.”
“Don’t think about it. Think about me. I’m here for you. I’m here to serve you—”
“No.”
I pulled away from him. I pressed a hand on his hard chest and looked into his eyes.
“You’re my man,” I said. “You’re the only man I’ve ever cared about. You’re the only man who’ll ever matter to me.”
I gripped the zipper of his kutte and slowly peeled it down. The anticipation growing in my stomach was impossible to deny. There was no point in waiting any longer.
I tugged his vest off of him and our lips came back together. Sloppy kisses were interrupted for only just a second to peel his shirt off. Hard muscles covered in ink… Declan was the picture of everything I’d ever wanted.
I didn’t stop there though. I frantically started unbuckling his belt. I zipped his jeans down. He raised his ass up just enough for me to lower his underwear and pants down to his knees. His cock popped up, hard and erect just for me.
I gripped his shaft and lowered my mouth down on him. I worked my neck up and down, trying to get him even harder. His cock was a perfect fit between my lips. I lowered my jaw just enough to go down even more on him.
“Fuck…”
Declan grunted in ecstasy. I slurped on his cock. Sloppy gags and chokes echoed off the walls of our bedroom. The sounds of our sex cleared my thoughts even more.
He reached down and tangled his hand in my hair. Declan had so much experience fucking my mouth, so he knew how to work me. He didn’t pull my hair so that it hurt. But he didn’t grab my head and force me down on him. No, he grabbed just the right amount of my hair so he could guide his cock right down my throat.
“Mmm…”
Fuck.
My mouth was full of him. The only thing I could do was think of how good it was to have his cock throbbing between my lips. His entire length pulsed with life. It made my mouth vibrate with pleasure.
I kept sucking him. I wet his entire shaft to make it easier for him to slide inside of me. I licked the sides of his cock and tongued as much of him as I could.
Declan got more worked up. His hips started moving up and down. He bounced on the mattress to the point that he couldn’t keep up with his own desires.
He stood up straight and gripped the sides of my head with both hands. I leaned over the mattress and sat on the edge of the bed as he proceeded to fuck my mouth.
His grunts grew louder. His breath shortened. Declan was getting closer to the edge the both of us were desperate for.
I reached out and gripped his muscled ass as he rocked it back and forth. Deep strokes down my throat made it harder for me to breathe.
“Oh… Fuck…”
He shoved himself into me before suddenly seizing up. His cock throbbed and a thick pulse of cum fired onto my tongue. I sealed my lips around his shaft and swallowed it down. Another splash of him and I gulped it. He throbbed between my teeth, spilling every drop he could.
He poured everything down my throat before finally reaching his end. His hands loosened on my head. His cock softened in my mouth. His breaths grew quieter.
When his cock flopped out of me, I gasped a deep breath. My vision was blurry but was starting to return to me. My lungs burned but the sensation went away.
Eyes watering. Cum dripping down my lips. I looked up at the satisfied man standing in front of me.
Muscles hard and sweating. Ink glistening underneath the moonlight. And that stare of his. A stare that told me he was capable of anything.
“I’ll deal with Cross,” he said. “You won’t have to worry after I’m through with him.”
I knew better than anybody how dangerous Tony was. But nothing made me more confident than the way Declan spoke to me now.
Reaper: Chapter 9
MICHELLE
I held Declan tight as we rode through the outskirts of town.
The rumble of the engine underneath me. The wind blowing through my hair. The smell of his leather kutte filling my nostrils. Pressed up against him with my arms tight around his stomach. There was no better feeling than hitting the pavement.
The rest of the Reapers rode with us. That was the kind of security that every woman wanted. Even with a man like Tony on the horizon, I didn’t feel the need to worry about anything.
It was a warm day with the sun shining high in the sky. The weather was perfect for a race.
Ivory was a small town but as soon as we left it, we saw just how deserted the surrounding areas were. We kept riding until we could finally see Tony and the other Vultures standing in the distance.
Declan rode right up next to them and screeched to a halt. Tony had the same sadistic look on his face he always did.
“You made it,” he said with a smile. “It was a good decision for you to accept my offer.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Declan said. “Let’s just get this shit over with.”
“Hold on now. There’s no need to be in such a hurry. I kinda like hanging around this town.”
Declan stayed on his ride and glared at Tony. Tony smirked back at him. He eyeballed me for a second before turning back to my man.
“I just wanna make sure we have everything straight,” he said. “I win, I get Michelle for the night.”
“You lose, you leave,” Declan said. “Don’t ever come back.”
“Yes, yes. That’s not gonna happen though. I know my shit better than anybody. You boys ain’t never seen a ride like this.”
Tony burst into laughter, sticking his tongue out at me. I looked away from him. The rest of the Reapers were all staring at the Vultures. They were ready to do something if the out-of-towners tried anything.
“I’ll meet you at the starting line,” Tony said.
He rode up the road along with the rest of his boys.
I turned to Declan
and saw him addressing the rest of the Reapers.
“When’s the last time you actually raced someone?” Blake said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Declan replied. “I can beat him.”
“I worked on his ride myself,” Jon added. “Unless the motherfucker has rockets built into his shit, he’s got no chance.”
Declan looked at me and smiled.
“I’ve been riding for a long time. I’ve got oil pumping in my veins. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
Hearing his voice was enough to reassure me. His confidence was just another thing I craved about him. It was easy to see why I fell for him in the first place.
“You go on up ahead,” Declan said to the others. “Make sure they don’t try anything.”
The Reapers rode up to the starting line. Some of them moved farther down the road toward the finish line.
I walked up to Declan and put my forehead to his. He kissed me then looked me right in the eye.
“I beat this guy and we go back home,” he said. “Maybe we’ll celebrate a little.”
“Yeah, that’d be nice… I still don’t think I’m…”
“I got a lot of bullets left in the chamber.”
He smirked at me and gave me another kiss.
He hopped on his bike and rode up to the starting line. Then Declan and Tony lined their bikes up.
“Half a mile,” Tony said as he pointed down the road. “Don’t worry. My boys will call it straight if it’s close.”
“It won’t be,” Declan responded.
My husband turned his attention down the road. I stared at him then suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Come on,” Jon said to me. “Let’s wait for him at the finish line.”
I gave him a nod then got on his bike. Jon took me to the end where everybody else was waiting.
Half a mile on a bike wasn’t much. There were times when I got on Declan’s ride and he burned all the rubber in his tires. I knew how fast he could move.
They were both lined up in the distance. Their engines rumbled. Their bodies shook with anticipation. Even though they were so far away, the focus in their eyes was unmistakable.
One of Tony’s men pulled a gun from his waistband and held it up into the air. He pulled the trigger.
