by Kylie Walker
She was looking up at him with those intense green eyes. She didn’t look at all upset that he’d asked her if she loved him. Instead he could almost see a little fire burning behind her eyes as she said, “Not even a little bit. You might think I’m a horrible person, but I’m not sorry he’s dead. He was a son of a bitch and he deserved what he got. I was leaving that day. I had my car all packed and ready to go. If I had left an hour sooner…”
“They would still be looking for you,” Kyle finished for her. “It’s how they operate. No witnesses. It’s their fucking motto. Jesus, Levi. You couldn’t have found a more fucked up bunch of people to get involved with if you had been looking for one.”
She nodded. “I know. Kyle, what are you doing here? I mean…you were in college the last time I saw you, and working.”
He snorted. “I was in community college and working at a fucking coffee shop to pay for the grants I was getting. Fuck that. I love this life.” He wasn’t lying about loving his life, but he wasn’t telling her that in spite of that, he still hadn’t found a way to love himself. He didn’t hate himself as much as he did the day Will died…or the week, month or years that came after. But he hadn’t forgiven himself yet either.
Once again his mind went back to that day…Will was Kyle’s best friend and they spent a lot of time together. Will’s family had accepted him with open arms and given him something he’d never had…a family that cared about him. Thanks to Will, Kyle got to experience a side of life that the boy from the wrong side of the tracks would have never seen. He went on vacation with the family often and that particular day they’d been on their annual summer vacation up to Mt. Charleston. The entrance to the park was only about thirty-five miles from Vegas. Every year they went and stayed in a cabin up there that Mrs. McGarden had inherited from her folks. It was about ten miles up into the woods and Kyle and Will would ride dirt bikes and ATV’s in the desert. They’d climb and they had even begun cliffhanging. Will’s father was the one that taught them and he’d made sure they knew all the rules and were doing it safely before allowing them to go out and do it on their own. That day they’d left the cabin and Will had called out to his mother that they’d be back by supper time. Kyle remembered now that Levi had been sitting on the front porch of the cabin with a book in her hands, sipping iced tea and reading. He was fond of her in a brotherly sort of way but even if there hadn’t been five years between them, she would have been way too smart and studious for Kyle to ever be attracted to her. Even back then he loved the party girls. He liked the big tits and the round asses. The sight of Will’s little sister back then had done nothing for him sexually. He glanced over at her now. Even twisting her hair and looking like she might vomit, laying eyes on her made his dick do somersaults in his jeans.
He shook off that thought and his mind immediately went back to that day. They had parked their ATV’s at the bottom of one of the cliff’s in the beautiful painted desert and they’d climbed up the face about two hundred feet. Kyle was above Will when suddenly he heard his friend scream out his name. He looked down and saw Will trying desperately to secure a mar in the face of the cliff…but he was in a spot where there was no way he could reach a decent spot. Kyle tried talking to him calmly as he climbed down toward him. When he finally reached him he had to hang from the face himself. He can’t remember to this day what was said between them. They both knew that it was going to end badly but they were both pretending that it was going to be okay. At nineteen most men feel immortal. Kyle and Will weren’t any different, right up to the moment when Will’s hands began to slip and one of them moved over and gripped onto Kyle’s arm. There were a few precious moments where Kyle was able to hold onto his friend before Will’s hand slipped and Kyle was forced to watch him plunge to his death. It took him a long time to be able to climb back down to where his ATV was and when he got there he was faced with the gruesome chore of looking at his best friend’s mangled body up close. He spent a long time emptying his stomach of its contents and a lot of bile before he could ride back to the cabin. The whole way he was trying to think of what he would say when he got there and trying not to see Will’s unrecognizable face in his head as he did.
When he walked into the cabin the family had already sat down for dinner. As it turned out he didn’t have to say anything. The tears on his face and the angst in his eyes told the story. Will’s father insisted his mother and Levi stay behind while he went with Kyle. He’ll never forget the hopeful look in Mike McGarden’s eyes. He hoped Kyle was wrong and Will wasn’t really dead. That was the worst part, until he stood next to Will’s dad looking down at the body and heard Will’s mother begin to wail behind them. She and Levi had followed them and the sounds of her grief still haunted him to this day. The family didn’t blame Kyle. As a matter of fact, they still treated him better than his own family ever did…but he blamed himself and there was no way he could stay in a place where he would have to look any of them in the eyes again and he knew it.
“I’ll be outside,” he said to Levi suddenly. She looked up at him but he turned his back quickly and headed out the door. As soon as he was outside he took out his phone and called Rodney.
“Find someone else. I can’t fucking do this,” he barked into the phone.
Chapter 5
Levi sat there on the bed staring at the door. It wasn’t like she never thought about her brother. She thought about him almost every day. But the sight of Kyle made her think about that day…the day that they lost him forever. She hated thinking about that day. She couldn’t think about it without imagining what must have been going through Will’s mind as he plunged to his death. She spent hours at a time after he died imagining the horror of knowing you’re going to die…a painful, horrible death. After the coroner came and took the body away and while the police were still interviewing Kyle, Levi’s dad had come to her and wrapped her up in a hug. While she cried into her father’s chest he petted her hair and told her over and over that the coroner said he’d died instantly. He wouldn’t have felt any pain. But who knew if that was really true. Will was the only one who would really know that and he wasn’t ever going to be able to tell them.
A few times afterwards she turned her thoughts to Kyle. She’d always had a crush on him but she didn’t think he knew it. She was fourteen years old and he was a grown man so she knew he was off limits. But he was hot…Jesus, even as upset as she was at the sight of him walking in the motel room door she couldn’t help but notice that now he was even hotter. She shook off that thought and her mind again returned to the way she used to wonder about him. She knew that he cared a lot about her brother. They were best friends, inseparable and they shared everything. She got the feeling from the look of sheer terror on his face that day that they’d even shared the pain Will felt as he realized he was going to die. Kyle must have realized it too and as horrible as it was that Will died, Levi wondered somehow if it had been even more horrible to be the one that had to witness it. When she thought about that, she actually wasn’t too surprised at where he’d ended up.
He interrupted her thoughts as he came back in the door. “I need a drink. Put on a jacket and let’s go.”
She pulled her brows together in the middle. She didn’t care who he was or how panty-melting hot he was, she didn’t like being ordered around. “Where are we going?”
“To the club. Come on.”
“I don’t get a say?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously. You’re here to watch me, not give me orders.”
“Fuck. Okay Princess how about this, will you please join me for a drink at Poison? We’ll act like it’s a fucking date. Better?”
She stood up so she didn’t have to tip her body back to look up at him. She still had to put her head back pretty far. “What is your problem?”
“My problem? Let’s see…I’m thirty years old. I’ve been part of this club for over ten years and I’ve worked my way up to Sergeant at Arms. It�
��s a respectable position and I like being respected. What I don’t like is being a glorified fucking babysitter.” Levi had heard some of his phone conversation through the thin door and wall. Rodney Boone must have refused to take him off of babysitting detail and it had pissed him off. Levi wasn’t in the mood however to let him take that out on her.
“I didn’t ask for a fucking babysitter so don’t put that on me. I came here to ask Rodney for help. He’s the one that decided someone needed to be with me 24/7. So if you have a problem with your job, talk to your fucking boss. As for going to the club, I’m not in the mood…”
“Too fucking bad. If I’m babysitting we’re going to do things my way.”
“And what way is that?”
“You’re just another old lady to me, somebody else’s old lady. Without your man around you take orders from the rest of the club. I’m giving you a fucking order and you’ll damned well follow it…”
She snorted out an incredulous laugh. “Or what?”
Kyle stepped up close to her. She had to make herself not focus on his lips. Even when she was just a teenager those lips drove her crazy. The bottom one was so full that she wanted to chew on it. She stifled a shudder and forced herself to maintain eye contact with him. Her breathing had sped up and her heart was pounding in her chest. She hoped he didn’t notice any of that. In a low tone of voice that was almost a whisper he said, “Or I’ll put you over my shoulder and carry you out to the bike and tie you down.” Levi couldn’t control the shudder then. It pissed her off that Kyle had a smug look on his face when she looked at him.
“I want to talk to Rodney.”
“Good, you can talk to him while I’m having a drink at the club. And by the way, you’re my old lady and don’t give anyone your real name.”
“What name should I use?”
“I don’t give a fuck.”
“You sure did turn into a dickhead.” Levi hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but it was true. She didn’t understand why he was treating her so badly.
He brushed a lock of blonde hair off his forehead and said, “I don’t care what you think of me. This is a job, nothing more.”
In a huff, Levi went over to her backpack and pulled out a black leather jacket. She slipped it on and then put on her boots. She could feel Kyle watching her as she did and as much as she wanted to deny it because he was such a dick, there was a definite sexual tension in the air. At least people might believe the ‘old lady’ story because of it. “Cami,” she said, just before they walked out the door.
“What?”
“I gave that name to one of the guys earlier, so call me that. Cami Lannister.” He used his hand on the small of her back to steer her out of the motel room. She could feel the heat of it through her t-shirt and against her better judgment she imagined it on her warm flesh. Taking a quick step forward she moved out of his touch while he locked and closed the hotel room door. He passed her on the way to the bike and she followed. Once he was on he handed her his helmet. “We’ll get you your own tomorrow.” Levi rolled her eyes. She didn’t want a helmet. She didn’t want to be anyone’s old lady. That was the life she was running away from. “Get on,” Kyle said forcefully. Levi slipped on the helmet and climbed on the back of the bike. Kyle started it and she slid her hands around his waist. She didn’t like how good he felt…or smelled. Damn he smells good!
Levi was surprised at how much she actually enjoyed the ride to Poison. She fit perfectly on the back of Kyle’s bike and his hard abs felt great underneath her hands. The ride wasn’t long and when Kyle parked the bike and Levi slid off he said, “You know the rules?”
“Which rules are those?” she asked, shaking out her hair.
“The club rules.” He stood up off the bike. She hadn’t realized before how long his legs were. They were almost as long as her body.
“You mean like how there might be oral and hand jobs happening right out in the open; old ladies stick next to their men or wear their patches any other women are either club sluts or groupies and up for grabs by whoever wants them…oh, and ‘Fuck’ is the word of the hour?” His lips twitched and she said, “Yeah, trust me, I got this.”
She left him standing next to the bike and began strutting up to the door. She felt him following her and as he reached past her and pushed the door open he wrapped the other arm around her waist. She gave him a look and he whispered, “You’re my old lady. You’re not wearing my patch so I gotta make sure everyone knows you’re mine or they’ll be on you like flies on shit.”
“Such a sweet way to put it,” she said.
“I’m a sweet guy.” She wasn’t sure but she thought she felt something hard as he rubbed up against her. It was going to be a long, ass night.
The bar was a lot more crowded than it had been when she was there earlier. Scantily clad women were everywhere, and just like the clubhouse she was used to in Whites Bridge, hand jobs and oral sex were happening right out in the open. Smoke floated just above their heads and the place smelled like ripe skunk which meant the weed was good and plentiful. Kyle dropped his hand from her waist and grabbed her hand. He led her up to the bar. “Hey Strike, this is Cami.” The prospect from earlier looked at her and then curiously at Kyle.
“We met earlier,” he said.
“Oh yeah, you came in to ask Rodney where I was earlier, didn’t you babe?”
Levi forced a sugary sweet smile and said, “I haven’t seen you since our weekend in Vegas baby. I couldn’t go another minute.” Kyle ran his tongue along his bottom lip. She wondered if he even knew he did that every so often. It was hot and it made her want to do the same…only with her tongue and his lip. Levi hadn’t even realized that Strike was still looking at her until Kyle said, “Hey prospect, you wanna stop eye fuckin’ my girl?” Strike suddenly looked like he’d bitten into something hot. He turned away quickly just as Kyle said, “A shot and a beer for each one of us.” When Strike turned back around with the drinks he kept his eyes on Kyle. Levi saw where Kyle had gotten used to giving his orders. “Did Asa ride out already?”
“Yep. He took off about an hour ago.”
“Who went with him?”
“Jared and Drill.”
Levi saw a brief flash of something like anger or jealousy in Kyle’s eyes. Judging by his tirade earlier about ‘babysitting,’ she’d guess that he’d much rather be out on the ride with whoever Asa is than here with her. She felt a little bad, but she wasn’t going to make it her problem. She picked up her shot and said, “How about a toast baby?”
He clicked his glass into hers and they both downed their shot. A wave of heat rushed through her body. She hadn’t drunk any alcohol for a couple of weeks. She reminded herself to take it easy or she’d be drunker than shit in under an hour. She shrugged out of her leather jacket and Kyle took it out of her hands and passed it over the bar to Strike. Strike simply took it and went to hang it up in the back. Kyle swung his legs over the bar stool and used his beefy arm to pull Levi up on the stool next to him. He let his hand slide down until it was resting against the top of her ass. She was torn between wanting to slap his hand away and wishing he’d slide it even lower. They sat there while they sipped their beer and Kyle talked shop with the guy sitting next to him. When he finished his beer he tapped on the bar and said, “Strike, gimme a bottle.” Strike sat a bottle of Jack Daniels on the counter. Kyle picked it up with one hand, stood up and pulled Levi to her feet. He steered her over to the back of the room where two plush couches were set up. They sat down on one, facing the other where there was a big guy with tattoos up both sides of his neck and underneath his hairline. His hair was cut short and so light blonde that the tattoos were visible. He was holding a girl on his lap. She was wearing a leather vest cut almost down to her naval and huge tits that swelled up over the top of it. One of her arms was covered with tattoos of lotus flowers and colorful designs and she had on a short jean skirt.
The guy held her hand, his mouth on her neck and
one of his hands was up underneath her skirt. Judging from the way she had her head thrown back, her eyes closed and her lips slightly open, Levi would say that she was right on the verge of one hell of an orgasm. Levi averted her eyes and they landed on the guy sitting on the couch next to them. He had about ten piercings in his face. She always wondered how badly that hurt…and why anyone would find it attractive. The funniest thing about him though was that he wasn’t even looking at what was happening next to him out of the corner of his eye. Even after all of this time it still surprised her how casual they all were about sex. As she had that thought Kyle wrapped his arm around her and pulled her up onto his lap. He opened his hard thighs and dropped her down in between them. She could definitely feel something hard against the small of her back now. Levi’s mouth was as dry as the Sahara Desert at that point. All of the fluid in her body was seeping through to her panties and threatening to cause a wet spot in the crotch of her tight jeans. She was taking a swig out of the bottle Kyle handed to her just as a couple came up to them. The guy was a little bigger than Kyle and almost as hot, but not quite. The woman was tall and pretty. She had long red hair and a friendly smile. Her smile actually put Levi at ease.
“Hi there, where’d you come from?” The woman sat down next to them. She was addressing Levi.
Levi smiled and held out her hand. “Hi. I’m Cami. I came from Las Vegas.”
“Well welcome to Death Falls Cami. I’m Lucy and this big lug here is Black Bart. He’s my old man,” she said with a wink. He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her.
“She meant to say she’s my old lady.”
“Potato, Po-ta-to,” she said with a grin. Levi nodded at him and he gave her a wink. Looking at Kyle he said, “You been hiding this one?”
“Why the fuck would I want to hide all this,” Kyle said as he ran the back of his hand down Levi’s arm, giving her chills. “She had to finish up some things in Vegas and now she’s here.” That was when he rocked her world…tipped it on its axis, actually. He used one hand to cup her chin and turned her face toward him and then he lowered his mouth down to hers. Levi realized as their lips touched that she’d wanted to kiss him from the first second she saw him. Explosions happened in her head and the aftershocks rolled wildly through her body. She wished that she was drunk so that she could blame it on the alcohol…but the truth was that she was still sober and she’d fuck him right then and there if he offered.
