by Loren, Celia
The last time I saw him was the night the Devil’s Army raided the Sons’ clubhouse. He was running down the upstairs hallway, chasing after Cherish. He attacked her, and I came up behind him and knocked him out. I left him handcuffed to her bed post.
I never asked about his fate, but I had always assumed…I wrack my brain, trying to remember more details about that night. There was so much chaos, and I was in shock, but I remember seeing a couple of the Army members being held in the corner of the lounge. Was Ace one of them? I think they were escorted out at gunpoint by some of the Sons, and it was clear what was going to happen to them.
My attempt to focus on that memory, as traumatic as it was, has calmed me down slightly, enough that my vision has cleared. I step back on the gas and drive home slowly, forcing myself to hum along to the music because it will make me breathe.
When I get home, I pull into the garage and kneel as the dogs surround me in the kitchen. I click my tongue and they follow me into the bedroom, where I fall onto the bed. They jump up with me, and flank me on either side as I bury my head in the pillow and begin to cry. The tension in my body feels like it has peaked and is now pouring out through my tear ducts.
I feel Scout whine and push at my arm worriedly with his cold nose. I wrap my arm around his neck and bury my hand in his thick, white and brown fur. My sobbing begins to quiet, and I turn over onto my back and wipe my eyes. I look around the bedroom, feeling like I’m just coming back to earth. The familiar sights of my life with Drifter calm me down.
Drifter is strong, and I trust him, and together we will figure this Ace situation out. I guess he must have escaped that night, but I know the Sons will want to know that he’s still in town. And Marcus…god, I can’t believe he’s hanging out with people like that.
I’ll have to tell Drifter I was following Marcus. It won’t go over well, but I’ll find a way to tell him so that he’ll listen.
I hear the sound of the front door opening, and the dogs jump off the bed and run into the hall. They’re not barking, so I know it’s Drifter, home from work. Must’ve taken his truck, because I didn’t hear his bike. I hear him go into the kitchen and turn on the water –probably refilling the dogs’ bowls—then his footsteps come down the hall toward the bedroom.
He peers around the doorframe, and I’m so glad to see him I could cry again.
“There you are,” he says. “I wasn’t sure if you were home…” he trails off as he studies my face. “You OK?”
I nod, and open my arms wide. I don’t want to talk right now, all I want is to feel his body on top of mine. He smiles and kicks off his boots, then walks over to the bed, crawling up the foot of it and lying down directly on top of me. I wrap my arms around his neck and hook my feet together over his thighs. His weight and scent squeeze out the last of my anxiety and I nuzzle my nose into his bearded cheek.
He shifts his hips slightly on top of me, and that’s all it takes for my thoughts to shift completely. I run my hand gently across his wide back, his navy t-shirt rippling underneath my fingers. I squeeze my legs a little tighter around him, and he knows exactly what I want.
He nudges my cheek now, pushing my face gently to the left, and softly kisses the right side of my neck. He makes his way up and over my jaw bone and to my mouth. His lips part mine, and he delicately reaches his tongue into my mouth. I press my tongue back against his, and I feel his cock growing hard between my legs.
I hear him breathe deeply and his hands move down and grasp my waist. I realize I’m still wearing my sandals so I kick them off without taking my eyes off his. He pulls his torso up and off me, and tucks his hands under my t-shirt, slowly taking it off over my head. I reciprocate, taking his shirt off, too, and then run my hands over his hard pecs and down to the waistband of his work jeans.
He sinks back down on top of me, my plain cotton bra pressing against his chest. I feel his hand lingering just above my right knee, and then it runs up my thigh, passing tantalizingly close to my crotch, and then smoothly over the side of my stomach. I love the sensation of his rough, calloused hands on my soft skin.
He pitches his body to the side, and rolls off me. He smiles, his white teeth standing out from his tanned skin, and a thrill runs through me. His hand is still on my stomach, and he moves it down, carefully unbuttons my jeans and pulls down the zipper. Then he gets up on his knees and moves a little lower on the bed. He pulls my legs toward him and takes the bottom of my jeans in his hands, pulling them slowly off my body.
I’m in white panties that match my bra, and Drifter pauses, looking me over. He places a hand on my ankle and runs it up my leg. I still under his gaze, marveling at the fact that this man is admiring my body. Me.
Now he unbuttons his own jeans and slips them off, sitting up on the bed to pull them away and toss them onto the floor. He leaves on his dark green boxers, though I can see the tip of his cock pressing against the waistband. I squirm slightly, in anticipation of what’s to come.
He lies back down on his side next to me and leans forward to kiss me again. I open my mouth wider now, and he probes me deeply with his tongue. My hips rise off the bed involuntarily, and I wrap my hand around the back of his thick neck. I feel his hand on my hipbone, pressing it down into the bed. I moan as he lets his fingers trail along the top of my panties, just above my mound.
His hand slips under the cotton momentarily, and then withdraws. He reaches his other hand under my back and slips the clasp of my bra open, then takes a strap in each hand and pulls it off my arms and tosses it to the floor. He bends his head down and circles my areola with his tongue, the circles getting tighter and tighter until he takes my nipple in his mouth and sucks, hard. Sensation shoots from my crotch to my breast and I gasp.
He moves his head to my other breast, kissing across my sternum, and I trail my fingers across his chest and down his hard abs, feeling each muscle stand out against my fingertips. I reach inside the opening of his boxers and free his huge member. He moans against my breast as I grasp the base of his cock in my hand and move up to the tip, letting it rest in my palm before moving back down again.
He quickly moves down my stomach and his dick drops from my hand, out of reach as he licks my skin just above my panties. He moves down over the cotton and breathes hot air against my clit. I moan, and he buries his face in me, pressing his tongue against my panties. I gasp, longing to feel him touch me directly.
He reads my mind, and a second later I feel his fingers curl under the edges of my underwear and pull them down over my legs. I point my toes as he whisks them off, and feel him kiss the tender skin of my inner thigh. He pulls my knees apart and bends his head down. I close my eyes as he presses his warm tongue against my clit. Pleasure shoots through me and I cry out as he flicks his tongue back and forth against me.
I bunch the duvet cover in my fists and arch my hips upward as an orgasm quickly builds inside me. As always, I’m shocked by how quickly his touch gets me going. His tongue darts mercilessly back and forth across my clit, and then I feel two of his fingers inside me, stretching me apart, pressing against my g-spot.
“Oh…ohhh,” I cry, as he takes me to the edge. He begins to thrust his fingers up and down and I fall apart around his hand, my hips bucking off the bed as I explode into an orgasm.
I feel him kissing me just above my mound and he slowly removes his fingers from inside me. I slowly open my eyes just in time to watch him lick my pleasure from his hand. I smile at him and he pushes himself up on his elbows, army-crawling his way back up my body. I see that he has taken off his boxers somewhere along the way and as he reaches my chest, I put my hands on either side of his chest and push him up, so that he’s forced onto his knees on either side of my torso.
I slide my hands between his legs and over his ass and pull him up even further so that his knees are on either side of my shoulders. Now my head is resting on a pillow directly in front of his erect cock, and I’m staring up at him. I sit up a little on my elbows and lick h
im from base to tip. I look up at him and he’s starting down at me, his mouth slightly open, watching me work his dick.
I take him in my mouth, wrapping my lips around his tip and pressing down until his cock hits the back of my mouth. I swirl my tongue around him as I pull him back out, then work my way back down again. Now I pick up the pace, pressing my lips firmly around him as I take him in and out of my mouth. I hear him moan, and look up to see him tilt his head back, his jaw muscles tense.
“Oh, fuck, Violet…” he murmurs, and pulls his hips back, taking his dick out of my mouth. He looks back down at me and bends to support himself on his arms as he lies back down on top of me. I feel his throbbing dick press against my mound and my breasts flatten under his weight as he kisses me. Our tongues taste of each other’s pleasure and our mouths are open as wide as possible, desperate to connect.
I feel his big hands under my ass, pulling my butt cheeks apart and toward him as his legs spread mine wider. I moan as I feel his dick at my slit and cry out as he enters me.
I spread my hands across his back as a feeling of almost impossible fullness takes over between my legs. Even after all this time, I’m still shocked by how big he feels every time he enters me. He moves slowly as he presses his hips toward mine. Finally, he’s all the way in, and he circles his hips. I feel his tip deep inside me, pressing against my g-spot, and arch my back against him.
He moves his head toward my ear, and I feel him biting my earlobe as he pulls back out to his tip and then thrusts in slowly again. His hands massage my ass as he slips his tongue into my ear. I moan, another orgasm already building inside me.
He begins to move a little faster now, and he picks his stomach up a little so that he can move one hand under his own body and onto my clit. He flicks his thumb back and forth across me and I bite my lip, trying not to come, wanting this feeling to go on forever. I bury my face in his shoulder and feel him move his hands to my arms and place them around his neck, and then he moves one hand under my back and the other behind my head.
“Look at me,” he orders, and I obey, pulling my head back and into his palm. As I make eye contact with him, he pulls his hips back and thrusts his cock into me hard. I cry out in surprise and pleasure, transfixed by the intense passion in his light eyes.
He thrusts in and out of me quickly now, our eyes still locked on each other. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve just had an orgasm, or my emotional experience earlier, or the sustained eye contact, but the pleasure is so intense that tears start leaking out of the sides of my eyes and falling into my hair. His eyes widen but he keeps going, knowing that whatever I’m feeling, it certainly isn’t pain.
Beads of sweat break out on his brow as he thrusts into me again and again. Our lips part at the same time and gasps of pleasure fill the air between us as we both build to an orgasm. Just when I think I can’t take it any longer, I lose control. My eyes roll back in my head and my body feels like it’s lifting off the bed completely. Pleasure overwhelms all my senses and it feels as though it’s bursting out of every pore of my skin.
I don’t know how much time passes, but eventually I’m aware of Drifter’s body still on top of mine, draped over me, completely spent. His head is tucked on the pillow next to mine, and he feels me stir underneath him. He looks at me with a dazed smile on his face.
He’s just opening his mouth to say something when we hear the front door open and the dogs barking. He glances toward the still-open bedroom door and hurriedly jumps off me to close it. I feel suddenly exposed, and pull the edge of the duvet cover over my naked body.
“Scott?” we hear Marcus call from the hallway, and we look at each other with guilty smiles.
“I better go out there,” Drifter says resignedly. I nod, still recovering, and watch him pull a fresh pair of jeans and a Henley from the bureau. He dresses and moves out into the hallway, throwing a quick wink over his shoulder as he closes the door behind him.
As he leaves, a worried frown crosses my face. Shit. I got so caught up in, well, Drifter, that I didn’t tell him about what I saw earlier today. I sigh, and push the bedspread off me as I stand up. I pull on a fresh set of underwear and a sundress from the closet. I run a comb through my mussed hair in the bathroom mirror before opening the bedroom door and joining the brothers in the living room.
“Would pizza be OK with you guys for dinner?” I ask as I walk in. I really don’t feel like putting together anything else after the day I’ve had.
“Sure, sounds good,” Drifter replies from the couch. Marcus is sitting in the armchair with a beer in his hand. “Oh, I saw this new place down by the gym and I grabbed a menu. Hang on, I think I put it in a drawer somewhere…”
He jumps up and heads to the kitchen, where he begins opening up the drawers under the counter.
“Got it!” he calls out, and heads back into the living room to sit down. I plop onto the couch next to him as he begins studying the menu.
“You have a good day at work?” Marcus asks me from the chair as he takes a sip of his beer.
“Yeah, it was fine,” I reply, a little surprised by his question.
“Must be tough to work in a hospital. You ever feel like you need to unwind after?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, frowning. Is he just being funny, knowing that Drifter and I were just “unwinding” in the bedroom? Drifter looks up from the menu, too, raising his eyebrows at his brother.
“You know, like go to a bar or something. You come straight home after work?” he asks, his tone a little more pointed.
I feel a sinking sensation in my stomach. Shit.
“No, actually,” I reply. Drifter looks back and forth between us. This isn’t how I wanted this conversation to happen. I wanted to tell Drifter myself.
“Violet, if you didn’t trust me, I wish you had just come out and said it,” Marcus says, keeping his voice even, though I can hear anger behind his words.
“What’s going on?” Drifter asks.
“I…” I struggle to think of a way to phrase what happened. Marcus just got the jump on me, and now I feel completely off balance.
“Violet followed me around today, unless it was just complete coincidence that I saw her at the same bar as me,” Marcus says, turning to Drifter.
“You followed him?” Drifter says, turning to me with a frown.
“I just…when I came home, I saw him leaving, so I drove after him. I was curious about where he was getting all this money, and the hospital said he never dropped off his application.” God, I sound like a child ratting someone out. I rush ahead. “So I followed him to this bar, I don’t know what it’s called, Double Eights or something, and saw him playing cards.”
I see a small smile cross Marcus’s face as Drifter stares at me, incredulous.
“Violet, why would you do that?”
“I, I was worried…”
“I just like to play cards there sometimes. It’s just for fun,” Marcus adds earnestly. I almost believe him.
“See? God, I can’t believe you tailed my brother, Violet! Fuck!” he swears, and stands up. “I asked you to trust me, and this is what you do?” he continues, turning to glare at me.
I shrink against the couch pillows. I’m not used to Drifter speaking to me this way, especially not in front of someone else.
“That’s not…”
“That’s not what?!” he says angrily.
“That’s not the part I…there was something else.” I take a deep breath as he looks at me expectantly. “I saw Ace.”
“Ace,” Drifter repeats flatly.
“Yes, I saw him in the back room, with the card players,” I confirm, trying to put some conviction behind my voice.
Drifter runs his hands through his hair in frustration.
“Violet, Ace is dead. You know that.”
“No! I saw him!” my voice breaks with emotion. “He looked different, I mean, he’s a skinhead now, his head is shaved…”
“He’s a skinhead?” D
rifter asks, looking confused, but also exhausted. Exhausted of me, I realize.
“Yes! It was a skinhead bar!” my voice rises in frustration.
“Violet, do you realize…I mean, you have to know how you sound right now,” Drifter says gently, which only pisses me off more.
“Don’t talk to me like I’m some kind of crazy person!” I spit out. “I know what I saw!”
“I’m talking to you like that because that’s how you’re acting!” Drifter spits out, trying to contain his anger. “I know you’ve had issues ever since…Rooster, and everything that happened, but trying to come between me and Marcus is just fucked up!”
“That’s not what I’m trying…you needed to know about Ace, the Sons…” I stammer, stung by his accusation.
“Don’t try to make this about the Sons! What you did was fucking ridiculous, so don’t try to justify it!”
“But he…”
“I will hear nothing else said against Marcus, you got it? Nothing. We’re done here.”
“You’re being unfair!” I counter, my voice rising in frustration.
“I said that we’re done talking, so that means that we’re done fucking talking!” he yells back and storms off toward the front door. I bite my lip, trying not to cry. “Marcus, let’s go to the clubhouse,” he calls back.
“Yep,” Marcus replies. I glance at him, and see a glint of triumph in his eyes that is quickly replaced with a frown at me as he stands and follows Drifter out the door.
As the door slams behind them, I release a low cry. I hear the dogs whine, and look into the dining room to see them hiding underneath the table. I sink down onto the couch and clasp my knees to my chest.
It’s amazing, how quickly everything can fall apart.
Chapter Nine
Drifter
15 years ago
I don’t run into Derek for a couple more days, but then he walks into shop class and beelines for a seat across from me. The rest of the guys file in and sit down, but Derek just stares at me. I try to concentrate on the demonstration that Mr. Laurits is beginning on the power sander. I can see his beady little eyes boring into me out of the corner of my vision, but will myself to ignore him.
