by Lane Hart
Torin doesn’t think I ever take responsibility for shit. Well, I’m disappointed that my brother, our leader, doesn’t have the balls to man up and take responsibility for whatever he did to start this war.
He can blame me for being a hot-head who escalated things on the highway; but when someone makes threats, I don’t sit around and wait to see if they’ll go through with them or not. That’s a good way to end up dead.
Chapter Sixteen
Sasha
I lie in Chase’s bed, staring at the ceiling and just soaking up all the details from last night. I miss him, but I love how at least the bed still smells like his soap or aftershave mixed with leather. It's masculine and alluring, making me want to drown in the scent.
Just the word drown makes me feel guilty, thinking about Travis, the highway patrolman. I knew something was off with him that night at Darren’s. There was a bad vibe coming off of him. That’s why I told him I didn’t feel well and got up to leave before our meal even arrived. He scared me.
Deep down, despite his badge and clean-cut appearance, I knew he wasn’t a good guy. While I hate what Chase did to him, I know he only did it to protect me. Chase would do anything to keep me safe, which is why he must have felt so awful after the accident. There was nothing Chase could’ve done to avoid the truck crashing into us.
At the time, I kept asking myself what if we had stayed in the tattoo shop’s parking lot for just another few seconds. What if I had kissed Chase one last time or took a minute to tell him how much he meant to me…could we have avoided the accident?
But that’s not how life works. There’s no way for us to predict the future, which is why we were riding through that exact intersection at that exact point in time.
The truck was meant to hit us, just like my path was meant to cross with Chase’s again because of another collision. Despite us going our different ways — me to college and into a career in television and Chase moving up in the MC — fate took us both on a path back to each other. This is where we’re meant to be.
Even though my parents wanted to keep us apart…
After I take a quick shower and dry my hair, I put on one of Chase’s black Savage King’s shirts and then sit down on the bed with my phone, ready to get answers from them.
As soon as I hear my father’s voice, so loving as he greets me like every other time while keeping his lie from me, I ask him, “How could you?”
“What’s that, sweetie?” he replies.
“You know what! You and mom have lied to me for ten years!” I say as my throat begins to burn from trying to hold back the tears and emotion.
“Calm down. What are you yelling about, Sash?” he says.
“Chase,” I tell him.
“Who…are you kidding? Chase Fury? Why are you bringing up that loser –”
“I loved him!” I interrupt when he tries to badmouth him, as he did so often those first few weeks. “I loved him, and you pushed us apart. How could you tell him that I would never forgive him, knowing how much it would hurt him and me both?” I ask. “Now I don’t know how I can forgive you and Mom.”
“We did you a favor, Sasha! He would’ve dragged you down, knocked you up or worse! Without him holding you back, you went to college; you have the career you’ve always wanted…”
“I wanted him more,” I reply before I end the call, too angry to keep speaking to that man right now.
My parents have been there for me through everything. They saw my tears, the sadness that crushed me, the depression of losing so much and not understanding why. I couldn’t believe that Chase would abandon me; that was the hardest part to cope with. And now I know why I questioned that so much, because in my heart I knew that he wouldn’t do that to me.
“Everything okay up there?” a gruff voice asks from downstairs, reminding me that I’m not alone.
“Yeah, sorry,” I call back to him. Tossing the phone on the bed, I swipe my fingers under each of my eyes to wipe away the moisture, and then look for a pair of Chase’s shorts to throw on. “Just a second and I’ll be right down,” I say as I pull the red athletic shorts up my legs and then roll the elastic waistband over a few times to make them stay on.
Finally decent, I jog down the stairs and come face to face with a big guy with black hair and a beard even longer than Chase’s. Wearing the MC’s black leather cut over a black wife beater to reveal the sleeve of dark tattoos covering his right arm, he looks strong enough to tear the head off of a man with his bare hands.
The fact that Chase trusted him to stay here alone with me must mean that he trusts him more than anyone else.
“Hi. I’m Sasha,” I tell him with a smile as I hold out my right hand to him.
“The mysterious Sasha behind his ink,” he says as he shakes my hand in his large, calloused paw. “You know, I made the mistake of asking Chase about that tat the first day we roomed together in prison. I thought it would be an icebreaker, you know, get him talking about his old lady or daughter, someone he cared about to soften him up since he looked like he wanted to punch me. Turned out, that question was the detonator on his hair-trigger. He socked me right in the jaw,” he says with a chuckle as he releases my hand to rub the left side of his face. “We’ve been tight ever since.”
“Wow,” I reply in surprise to all of that information.
“I’m Abe, by the way,” he says.
“So, I’m guessing you guys met about six or seven years ago when he was in for aggravated assault?” I ask.
“That would be it,” Abe agrees. “I was in for grand theft auto. Real life is not like the video game at all. If you try to run over a cop, they put out the spike strip and then drag your ass right to prison.”
“Good to know,” I tell him. “What kind of car was it?” I ask curiously.
Smiling wide, he says, “A black 1957 Jaguar XKSS.”
“Nice,” I reply. “You’ve got great taste. Those are rare and worth a fortune. Only, what, fifteen or sixteen ever made?”
Abe arches one of his black eyebrows in surprise and says, “No wonder Chase laid claim to you on his skin. Beautiful woman who know cars. Well, that’s a hard combo to find.”
“Why, thank you,” I reply. “And I'm pretty sure Chase loved my car before he loved me – a cherry red 1967 Mustang convertible.”
“No shit,” Abe says.
“My dad and I rebuilt it together,” I say, hating that all of my good memories of my parents are now tainted with their lies. “It took us two years to put it back together. And then a few weeks before my eighteenth birthday, my dad gave me the keys and told me it had always been mine.”
“Nice,” Abe says. “You still have it?”
“I do,” I reply. Narrowing my eyes, I point my finger at him and tell him, “Don’t even think about trying to steal it.”
He holds up his palms with a deep chuckle. “My grand theft days are over, doll.”
“That’s probably for the best,” I tell him. “Prison doesn’t seem like much fun.”
“It’s not,” he agrees. “But I’m glad I met Chase. He talked me and my younger brother Gabe into prospecting with the club when I was released a month after him. Best decision I ever made.”
“It’s nice when something good comes from something shitty,” I tell him.
“Speaking of good things, you got any cute friends, preferably redheads that you could hook me up with?”
“Hmm, maybe” I look him over slowly from head to toe. My roommate from college is a natural redhead, and I think she should be back in the Carolinas soon after a year hiatus. “But I don’t think I know you well enough to date my friend just yet. I’ll have to keep an eye on you and see if you can earn it.”
Grinning, Abe gives me a nod. “Fair enough.”
“So, tell me about Chase the last few years,” I say as I lead the way into the living room to take a seat on the old sofa.
“He’s been a hotheaded, grumpy, overall pain in the fucking ass, pretty much,” A
be informs me as he sits in one of the armchairs across from me.
“So, not much has changed, huh?” I ask.
“Guess not,” Abe agrees with a chuckle.
Chapter Seventeen
Chase
If Torin knew that I was on my way to his house, he would kick my ass.
But I need to find out more about how deep he is with Hector, and Kennedy may be able to help with that.
I would never throw my brother under the bus with her. I just need to ask a few questions.
Before I change my mind, I walk up the steps to the side door of their enormous beach house and ring the doorbell. Kennedy answers right away.
“Chase,” she says, her warm, brown eyes widening in surprise. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, of course,” I tell her. I should’ve realized that showing up without calling would worry her. Actually, I don’t think Torin has invited me over since I helped them move in right after their wedding. “Have you got a second?” I ask.
“Sure, come in,” she says, opening the door wider. “I was just putting away some of the baby’s clothes.”
“How’s the little man doin’?” I ask as I follow her into the living room where there’s a bucket of laundry.
“He’s raising hell in here,” she replies with a grin as she sits down and then pulls out a tiny blue outfit to fold it. “I think he’s ready to bust out too.”
“Looks like he’s getting big,” I say, and Kennedy shoots me a glare. “Not you. I didn’t say you’re getting big. I said he was. You know, your belly.”
“Uh-huh,” she replies with a good-natured roll of her eyes before she goes back to folding. “So what’s up? You must be here to talk to me since you know Torin’s always at the clubhouse.”
“Right,” I agree. Reaching up to smooth out my beard to figure how to approach the subject, I decide to start with, “Do you think Torin’s been acting a little…off?”
“Off?” Kennedy repeats. Tilting her head to the side to consider it, she says, “I dunno. I mean, he’s been pretty freaked out ever since I told him I was pregnant. I know he’s happy; it was all just unexpected. I figured he was worried about being a father…”
“How about more recently?” I ask.
“Hmm,” she says. “I mean, he’s a little stressed out about the MC expansion.”
“The expansion?” I repeat in confusion.
“Yeah, you know, for the new bar or whatever.”
“Sure,” I reply, even though I know for a fact there isn’t any talk about expanding for a bar or anything else. I may screw off most of the time, but I’m at the table for every damn meeting.
“Has Torin used any of you guys' money for it?” I ask.
“Well, yeah,” she answers as if that’s obvious.
“How much?”
“I think it was about six hundred thousand recently, more a few months ago. Torin pretty much cleared out our savings, but there’s enough coming in from the other investments that it’s not a big deal,” she says. “Besides, he said that the MC would pay him back.”
“Yeah,” I agree rather than call my brother out on yet another lie. I get that he doesn’t want Kennedy to know about the blackmail, but that’s a fuck-ton of money going to some asshole for a tape that Torin doesn’t want anyone to see.
“Is everything okay, Chase? All these questions…you’re starting to worry me,” Kennedy says with her hands resting on her bump.
“No, it’s fine, sweetheart,” I tell her, so she will hopefully let it go. “I just wanted to check in with you about Torin to make sure he’s okay. He doesn’t talk to me much lately, and he’d be pissed if he knew I came by bothering you.”
“You’re not bothering me,” she says with a broad smile. “It’s good having you stop by. How’s everything been going?”
“Great,” I reply honestly. “Sasha and I are back together, or at least getting there.”
“Really! Oh, wow, that’s great, Chase,” Kennedy says excitedly. “I’m so happy for you even though I don’t really know what happened to you guys. She must have been important to you since you have the ink.”
“She was. She is,” I correct. Standing up, I say, “And I should get back to her.”
“Well, yeah,” she agrees. It takes Kennedy a moment to push herself off the sofa; but when she does, she comes over and hugs me. “I want to meet her,” she says when she pulls away.
“Okay, sure,” I tell her, thinking that’s a great idea. “I may bring her to the clubhouse soon and would love it if you were there too. She probably won’t like the other women.”
“Oh, you mean the clubs sluts you’ve slept with?” Kennedy teases.
“Yeah, those women,” I agree. “They’re gonna be jealous, but I think Sasha can handle herself. She didn’t have a problem with them before when we were together.”
“She’ll step up and put those girls in their place if she intends to stick around,” Kennedy replies. “That’s what I had to do to make sure they got the message that Torin was taken and not to go near him or I’d claw their eyeballs out.”
Chuckling, I tell her, “Yeah, Sasha’s probably gonna need some pointers from you.”
“Anytime,” she agrees. “Bye, Chase.”
“Bye, Kennedy,” I say.
On the way out, I can’t help but think that Torin is a lucky son of a bitch to have someone like his old lady. I just hope he doesn’t fuck it up by keeping whatever the hell he’s done a secret.
Chapter Eighteen
Sasha
As soon as I hear the gravel crunching under the weight of tires, I jump up from the sofa and rush over to look out the window.
“Calm your tits, girly. Let me see who it is first,” Abe says, making me laugh when he jumps in front of me, blocking my view. “Okay. It’s just Chase.”
“I knew that,” I tell him with a smile.
Unable to wait another second to see him, I rush out the front door and down the porch steps barefooted. I meet Chase in front of his truck as he comes around it, jumping into his arms, wrapping my arms around his neck and legs around his waist to kiss him.
I realize Chase is holding a plastic grocery bag in one of his hands when they both come around on my ass to hold me up while his tongue invades my mouth, making my lower body ignite with need.
“I missed you too,” he says against my lips as he carries me into the house. Chuckling, he adds, “And I probably just broke all the eggs I was gonna make you for breakfast.”
“You can buy more later,” I tell him with a nip to his bottom lip. “All I want right now is you naked and inside of me.”
“Your pussy’s not too sore from last night?” he asks.
“A little, but I can think of a few other places on my body for you to put your cock,” I tell him.
“Fuck, yes,” he agrees before he attacks my mouth again.
“And I’ll take that as my cue to take off,” Abe says as he passes by us on the porch steps.
Neither Chase nor I even pause a second in our kiss to tell him goodbye, not until his bike revs up. Glancing over, I watch him kick up dust and a few rocks as he drives off.
“Where’s your bike?” I ask Chase when he carries me the rest of the way inside the house.
“At the clubhouse,” he answers.
“I want you to take me for a ride,” I tell him.
“You can go for a ride on this cock,” he replies as he squeezes my ass to grind me down over the bulge behind his zipper.
“I wanna ride both,” I tell him as I kiss my way up his neck and we go to the kitchen. “Maybe at the same time again.” Whispering in his ear, I ask, “Do you remember how good it was that night we fucked on your bike?”
“God, yes,” he groans. “How could I forget? It was the last time I was inside of you before last night. I came so hard…”
He tosses his grocery bag on the counter and then starts to set me down on the kitchen table.
“Put me on my knees
,” I tell him.
“No,” he says, drawing me up short. Before I can ask why not, he reaches for the sides of his shirt that I’m wearing and pulls it over my head. “First, I’m gonna eat your pussy.”
“Why can’t we do both?” I ask as I unzip his jeans. Chase still doesn’t wear underwear, so once the denim falls to his knees, his long, hard dick bobs free.
Shoving the shorts I’m wearing down my legs, I scoot back just a little on the table and turn around to hang my head off the edge. I fist Chase’s length to bring the blunt tip to my mouth.
“God, I’ve missed your lips stretched around my cock,” he says, letting me suck him a few times before he leans over and spreads my raised knees apart to lean over and bury his head between them. His beard tickles my stomach and his tongue circling my clit feels so damn good that it takes me a minute to recover before I can take him deep into my throat again.
As soon as Chase adds a finger inside of me, I start coming. But I no longer have to worry about sucking him because his hips pump in and out of my mouth the way he needs. It’s a little rough, and I almost gag a few times, but I still love it, making him lose control. I hate knowing that other women have been taking care of his needs because I wasn’t there to do it. I want to show him that I can make him feel even better than they can.
“God, that’s good, sweetheart. I’m so…fucking…close,” he tells me through panting breaths before he thrusts deep one last time and fills my mouth with his hot release. “Fuck, I can’t stand up,” he grumbles as he drops to his knees on the kitchen floor.
I start to roll over and get up when Chase jerks on my hair to pull my mouth down so he can cover it with an upside-down kiss. When he pulls away, he says, “I’m a fucking asshole.”
