by Jayne Blue
“That’s how this town works, you know? But that night was the end of the worst of it. He leaves me alone most of the time. But every few months I’ll get an unsigned card in the mail. Or hangups on my land line. The other day, there was a white rose under my windshield wiper at school. That’s what he used to bring me when we first started dating. It’s never enough to rise to the level of a violation of the restraining order. I’m on my own with it. It’s been Roy’s way of making sure I know I’m never going to really be rid of him.”
“Son of a bitch,” Colt muttered. He’s the only person who didn’t bother to ask if I’d called the cops about the recent stuff. He knew Roy. He knew this town. That too was a blessing. He turned to me. “You’re not on your own anymore. Do you hear me? You’re not. Not ever again. I’m not going to let that motherfucker touch you.”
I smiled. A strange calm settled over me. When I reached for him, Colt took my hand and turned it, bringing my palm to his lips. It sent a shiver down my spine when he kissed me there. Like that single point where his lips met my flesh connected to every other part of my body.
And then I didn’t want to say another word. I just wanted to feel. For tonight, I wanted to believe that Colt’s touch could wipe away the memory of what happened with Roy forever. When he promised to end it with Roy once and for all, I wanted to believe that he could.
But we both knew it could never work that way. This was Lincolnshire, after all. This was Roy’s town. He’d kill us both if he knew what we were about to do.
Chapter Fifteen
Colt
On some level, I think I knew I was lost to this woman the second I laid eyes on her. But that night, as she poured out her soul and her story to me, I knew. If she’d have me, she’d be mine from now on. Whatever it took. If I had to lay down my life for hers, I would do it. Catman was never going to touch her again.
Amy was finished talking. She’d been so brave through all of it. Catman had tried to break her, but he’d found her true strength. She may have bent, but she wasn’t weak. She looked at me with those haunted eyes, and I would have done anything to take away the horror she’d had to face alone. But she wasn’t alone now. If I had my way, she’d never be alone again.
“I need you,” she whispered. She stood slowly and held her hand out to me. I took it and rose to my feet. She was tiny. She was fierce. I meant to make her mine, and I’d be hers.
She led me down the short hallway to her bedroom and shut the door. Amy turned and lifted her tank top and cast it aside. Her full breasts sprang free. I went to her. I pulled off my shirt and kicked off my boots. Amy put her hands up; her fingers hovered for a moment as she saw my wolf tattoo again.
“We’re not the same,” I whispered. “Not everyone who wears this ink is the same.”
She smiled. “Nobody knows that more than me. I’m Duke’s daughter.”
Then she rose on her tiptoes and kissed me. I wanted to be gentle, take my time with her. Again, Amy reminded me how strong she was. She wasn’t some fragile flower that needed a tender touch. She had fire in her eyes as she looked at me. I slid out of my jeans. My cock sprang free, and she closed her hand around the base, getting a moan out of me. I put my hands on her shoulders and tried to guide her to the bed. I wanted to taste her, bring her pleasure like I did the other night.
Amy had another plan.
“Let me, this time,” she said. Her eyes flashed in the dim light, and a slow, sultry smile spread across her face.
I kicked away my jeans and sat on the edge of the bed. Amy bent over and dragged her pants down. She wore nothing underneath. I reached out, wanting to slide my hands over her sweet, round ass and pull her close but she stepped just out of my reach. She put up a warning finger.
“Be still,” she whispered. Then she went down to her hands and knees and crawled forward until her lips hovered an inch from my bobbing erection.
Fuck. Holy fuck. I gripped the bedsheets to try and steady myself. This view was going to be the death of me. Amy knew what she was doing. She smiled again then opened her mouth and slid me inside. God. Her mouth was hot, wet, and fit me like a glove. She ran her tongue around the base of my cock then drew her lips up to the tip with a delicious smacking sound.
Then she proceeded to deliver the best fucking blowjob I’d ever had in my life. She swirled her tongue around the base, catching my balls as she went. Then she drew her mouth up the length of me, sliding the tip of her tongue across the head. She went back down and did the same thing again and again. Amy stayed on her hands and knees the entire time, letting her mouth and tongue do all the work.
My knees started to shake when she picked up the pace. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I reached out and cupped the back of her head. She gave a little moan and a nod to let me know it’s just what she wanted. Then I let go. I thrust in and out of her sweet mouth as she kept pace with me, drawing me out even more.
She sucked and swirled, and I felt the rising pressure. Amy felt it too. She gasped and went up on her knees, finally closing her fingers around my shaft to hold steady while I started to come. And when I did, I swear to God it felt like stars shooting straight out of me and into her. My whole body quaked as Amy kept her mouth fastened around me. She took it all, every last drop. She kept gentle fingers on my balls, coaxing everything out of me. Only when I couldn’t take it anymore did she finally let go.
By that time, I had no strength left. I collapsed on my back, a big grin on my face. Amy rose up and straddled me. She was smiling too. She spread her legs and poised herself over me, sliding down slowly, impaling herself on me until she had me balls deep. She was slick and wet; she coated me with her sweet honey.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “I don’t think I can move.”
“Shh. You don’t have to.” Then she started to grind up and down, finding the rhythm and the friction she needed to reach her own climax. God. She was wet. Dripping. I felt her hot juices run down and coat the both of us. I brought my hands up and gripped her hips to steady her. She bobbed up and down. Her breasts jiggled, and I just had to taste. I craned my neck up and caught one of her pink nipples with my tongue. She stilled just long enough to let me suck it. She groaned as her nipple rose to a hard peak against my tongue. Then I switched and gave the same treatment to the other.
Amy’s movements got wild as she started to come. I reached up and caught her hands. She bounced up and down, and I felt her sweet pussy quiver and clench around me; she got wetter still.
Finally, she crested; throwing her head back she screamed my name. She might have pitched backward if I hadn’t been holding on to her. God, it was the sexiest sight I’d ever seen. Amy with her back arched, her tits flushed with nipples raised to points.
“Don’t stop,” she cried, and I was a little shocked she could still form words.
“Never,” I said as I slid my hands around her waist and helped her down. She was panting, eyes closed as I folded her against me. Slowly she opened her eyes and focused them on me. I knew the next words she spoke weren’t said in the flush of the moment.
“Stay,” she whispered.
I smoothed away strands of hair that had pasted to her forehead from sweat. “I’m not going anywhere,” I answered. “Not for as long as you’ll have me.”
I wanted to say something else but was afraid to startle her. It was soon. Maybe way too soon. And after what Catman had put her through, she didn’t need to worry about what it meant. But as she looked up at me with those gorgeous pale blue eyes I knew something that night. I loved her. I was in love with her. As long as she’d have me, I’d never let her go.
Chapter Sixteen
Amy
Before we fell asleep, we moved Colt’s bike into my garage. I was kicking myself that I hadn’t thought to do it before. If Roy had eyes on my place, they’d know he was here.
“Don’t worry,” Colt said as he deftly flipped a pancake over the skillet on my stove. “We’re gonna work our way through this.”
I liked it when Colt laughed. I liked it even more when I did. It was easy with him. Natural. When I was with him, I could almost believe that everything could go back to normal.
But we both knew what we were facing. If Roy found out, there’s no telling what he might do. To me or Colt. He was risking his life being with me and no amount of flapjack wizardry could cover that up. For now, though, I found myself giddy as I watched him work. He was beautiful, built like a marble statue with rippled muscles across his back, a perfectly shaped round ass that I loved running my hands across. And though we’d only been together twice, he seemed to know exactly how to make my body respond to his.
He turned and saw me blush. He shot me a wink that sent shivers through my core. With just that look, I was wet again and craved his touch.
“Get some plates, woman!” he barked. I padded over to him. I wore an oversized t-shirt and nothing underneath. I squealed as Colt reached a hand under my hem and slid it over my ass. He could feel how aroused I was and that only made it worse.
“Breakfast first,” he said, wagging a dark brow at me. I swatted him on the ass and grabbed plates from the cupboard.
Somehow, we managed to make it to the kitchen table without me jumping him again. He already knew my body so well, and it seemed he knew my stomach now too. The pancakes were heaven. Light and fluffy with a dusting of cinnamon. We ate in companionable silence. When we finished, I started to clear the table but Colt pulled me to him, resting his head between my breasts.
“I really, really don’t want to leave,” he said. I sighed and put the plates back on the table. He drew me to him, and I perched on his lap. He ran a hand up my thigh but stopped there.
“I know,” I said. Reality came crashing down with just that one sentence. We’d backed ourselves into an impossible corner. He was with the M.C. Roy was Roy. Things couldn’t be more complicated.
“I want to show you something,” he said. “Go grab the laptop I saw in your bedroom.”
I gave him side eye, but he swatted me on the ass gently to punctuate his point. Then he stood. Curious, I went and got my computer and met him out in the living room. I handed it to him when he reached for it. He patted the space next to him, and I sat down; drawing my knees up I rested my hands and chin on his shoulder to see what he typed.
He brought up the website for the Great Wolves Gym then handed me my laptop. I was amazed at what I saw. A state-of-the-art gym facility in Green Bluff, California. It was odd to see that familiar Great Wolves howling wolf logo on a building like that. I was used to seeing it carved in ink on my father and Roy’s backs. Colt’s chest. And scrawled in paint on the wall of the dingy clubhouse. I clicked on the website links detailing how the gym employed hundreds. There was a video link showing a preview of upcoming title bouts for sponsored fighters from the facility. There was even a program for at-risk youths and other community outreach.
My heart lurched when I clicked on a video interview of a young teen who credited the gym with giving him a life. I didn’t know the boy, but I knew his story. It was the same one I heard over and over with my students. He was a social outcast. Unable to read or write like the other kids in his class. Severely dyslexic with sensory processing disorder. But those are labels and the other kids called him stupid. Then he found wrestling, then mixed martial arts, and now he was thriving. He was about to compete in the Junior Olympics.
“I want to bring this here,” Colt said. “To Lincolnshire. It’s why I came back.”
I blinked away tears as I looked at him. His dark eyes glinted. His words were solemn and earnest. Lincolnshire was his town as much as it was mine. He wanted it back.
“How?” I finally managed to choke out. “You know Roy will never go for this. He likes how things are. He likes ruling the town with fear. He lines his pockets with it. The rest of the club’s too. You know my father never wanted him to be president. God, Colt. My dad would have loved this. The gym.”
He nodded. “I don’t know how yet,” he said. “But I’m going to find a way. It matters too much.”
Tears streamed down my face. “Do you know how many kids I work with that would get so much out of something like this? We have funding for nothing. The tax base in this city is wiped out. Every year they cut more and more.”
Colt reached over and wiped away my tears with his thumbs. “Can you trust me?”
I nodded. “I already do.”
“I said I don’t want to leave, and I don’t. But I can’t pretend my being here won’t cause some short-term problems. I hate to say it, but I think we’re going to have to lay low. At least for a few days until I can pull some things together.”
I hated to hear it but knew he was right. We had to be more careful than this. No one knew better than I did how dangerous Roy could be.
“What are you going to do?” The minute I asked the question, I wanted to take the words back. Once again, I was Duke Wyler’s daughter. It was better not to know.
Colt tightened his lips into a grim line. “I’m going to do what I have to. Until last night, I thought Catman and Tommy and some of the others would come around eventually. Now I know that’s never going to happen.”
Fear turned my blood to ice. I didn’t like the cold look that settled on Colt’s face. As he stood in front of me, he made a decision. As much as I knew the rules, God help me I was going to break them again.
“Colt, what are you going to do?”
He stared at a point over my head for a moment then finally met my eyes. His eyes were filled with dark menace and steely purpose. “I’m going to find a way to get rid of him.”
Chapter Seventeen
Colt
Leaving Amy that morning was one of the hardest things I’d ever had to do. The only thing that allowed me to do it was the knowledge that I’d now chosen the path that would get me back to her for good. I would end her nightmares once and for all. I would end Lincolnshire’s nightmares too.
It was time for Catman to go.
I met Kellan later that day for rounds. Bile rose higher in my throat with each stop we made. The blood seemed to drain from me when we stopped at The Shires and Rick Malloy came out. He sported a black eye and his left arm was in a sling.
Rick looked broken and scared when he came to the back door of the bar with a fat wad of cash. Kellan was solemn when he took it from him. I sat on my bike, not even wanting to look Rick in the eye but I’m not chicken shit. The club did that to him. My club. Tommy and Sully had been to see him late last week when his envelope came up light for the second week in a row. His eye was nearly swollen shut from the penalty he had to pay.
That was our last stop of the day. I hadn’t said more than a few words to Kellan. He knew something was up but didn’t ask this time. I weighed telling him what I knew about Catman and Amy. With everything she’d told me, I couldn’t be sure he’d believe me. As much as I loved my club brothers, protecting Amy was my main priority right now.
When we finished for the day, I didn’t have the stomach to go with him into the clubhouse.
“You take care of this one today,” I said. “Catman should be happy. Nobody was light.”
Kellan nodded, but his eyes filled with concern. “You sure you’re okay, man? You’ve barely said two words all day.”
I nodded. “I’m good. I just need to go for a ride.”
Of all the things I could say, Kellan seemed to understand that the most. He struggled with his reservations too. I was banking on the fact that’s what would eventually get him to help me when the war I planned to bring started. For now, though, I needed counsel from someone I knew I could trust above all else.
I rode back out to the old Victory plant and parked my bike against the railing. I pulled out my phone and dialed Sly’s number. It was time to bring him into how bad things were here. It was five o’clock California time so I knew he’d probably be in th
e Wolf Den office getting ready for the nightly crowd. He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, brother,” he answered.
Damn. It was good to hear Sly’s voice. We hadn’t parted on the easiest of terms. He blamed me for making some decisions that impacted the club without clearing it with him first. I knew I’d take heat for it but I believed I was doing the right thing, and I still did. But the tone of Sly’s voice was upbeat now. He sounded genuinely glad to hear from me, and I hadn’t realized until just now how much that mattered.
“Hey, man,” I said. “Good to hear your voice. Green Bluff burn down without me yet?”
Sly laughed. “I was just about to ask you the same thing about Lincolnshire. Everything good? I was starting to get worried.”
I took a breath and turned; leaning my back against the railing I looked up at the abandoned plant. In my mind’s eye, I could see it with the giant Great Wolf logo rising above tall in the skyline.
“Things aren’t great out here, Sly,” I said. There was no point easing him into what I had to say.
“Hang on,” Sly said. “I’m gonna get you on speaker. You okay with that? Dex is right here, and I want him in on this.”
“Yeah.” Dex was Sly’s V.P., and I was damn glad to have another friendly voice on the other end of the phone.
“Hey, Colt,” Dex said, his voice deep and gruff. “What’s going on out there?”
I told them everything I knew about the way Catman was running the club. The shakedowns. The ghost town this place had become under his watch. Dex and Sly listened until I was finished. They peppered my story with a few “motherfuckers” and God it was good to hear them say it.
