She could still smell the varnish as she remembered how she had sat outside in the blazing heat and sanded it all down by hand. The sun had been high in the sky and her mouth was dry as she took hurried sips of water and listened to the sounds of the men working on their bikes. She had enjoyed being there then. It was before things got complicated and she had begun to feel vulnerable in her position. There were days when her and Lev would lounge outside like lizards basking in the desert sun, and they would tan golden brown and hold hands as they looked up at the clouds. Even in his darkest moments, Destiny liked to remember back to that. She had to hold onto something and keep her faith alive.
Since she had reworked the bedroom and filled it with trinkets and a woman’s touch, she had enjoyed calling it her room. It felt familiar even though everything in it was strange and new. She had always known how to make somewhere feel like home.
As she stepped inside she noticed how dark it was in there, even though only an hour before the sun had been shining in brightly through the blinds. She didn’t turn on the light, but instead she walked across to the window and rested her forehead against the cool glass. She looked out across the wild landscape. It was so untamed out there, and the arrival of the storm only made things feel even more unpredictable. The sky was a dark gray and the rain was pouring down in huge, thick drops. Everything felt intensified, and as she watched the storm unfold she felt the hairs on her arm stand on end.
There had never been any flooding out there in the desert before, but she hoped there were no walkers out in the hills… flash floods had been known, she had heard legends of walkers being swept away, or trapped and drowned by a storm that had come out of nowhere. Freak accidents could always happen, but it was unthinkable for something like that to happen so close to Ironhill… she knew the town would suffer.
She wrapped her arms around herself and kept watching. The sky was lit up momentarily by a great flash of lightening and a huge rumble of thunder vibrated through the house. She gripped onto the windowsill and gasped. She had never seen anything like it… it was incredible and awe inspiring. The desert had been dry and drab for weeks, and now it was being showered with rain and being revived. It was as if change was in the air.
“Watching the storm?” Lev’s voice came from the doorway behind her. She hadn’t even heard him climb the stairs, she had been so preoccupied with what she was witnessing outside. Nature was giving her a spectacular show.
“Yes,” she whispered, before she turned back to the window and gave a weak smile. “It’s amazing to see it from up here… a good vantage point.”
He kicked his way into the room and with a giant heave he threw himself down onto the bed. The springs twanged beneath him and he downed the rest of a bottle of beer before he dropped it onto the floor. Destiny didn’t turn to look at him, but she heard it roll underneath the bed.
“I thought you’d have wanted to stay up with the guys a little longer,” she said carefully. “You don’t need to worry about me…”
Lev propped himself up on his elbows and eyeballed her. She turned to face him and their eyes met. He had a look on his face that was blank but purposeful… She knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing at the wrong time. His lip curled up at the left corner and she could see his tongue pushing out his bottom teeth. He really was drunk, his eyes were practically rolling around in his head, but he still kept them fixed firmly on her, determined to rattle her cage.
“All I meant was…” she began, but Lev cut her off.
“What, so now I’m not allowed to come and see my woman?” he spat. “I’m out all night and you don’t even give a shit if you see me?”
“No,” she shook her head with panic, “Lev, that’s not what I meant…”
“No, I know what you meant,” he slurred at her. “You don’t want me here… but guess what… it’s not up to you.”
He was rambling and not making any sense, and he closed his eyes and rubbed them with his fingers. She tried to smile at him and to calm him down by going over to the bed, sitting next to him and rubbing him lightly on the shoulder. She knew the way to placate Lev, even if it meant doing things she didn’t necessarily want to do.
“I didn’t mean that,” she soothed. “I just thought you were having fun with the guys, and I didn’t want to ruin it by you thinking you had to babysit me, that’s all.”
He grunted and rolled onto his back. She looked down at him and waited a moment, hoping that he would just close his eyes and fall asleep. He seemed so peaceful, and when his breathing got a little bit more relaxed she got to her feet and started to creep quietly towards the door. As she reached it and took hold of the doorknob she heard a creak coming from the bed behind her.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he snapped.
She turned and smiled, “I was just going to close the door properly,” she lied sweetly.
But she carried it through, she knew that there was no way she could just walk out of there. It would only make things worse, and as it stood he wasn’t in as bad a mood as she had initially feared. She closed the door up tight and locked it behind her and then she turned to face him.
“Good,” he said quietly as a familiar look of need passed over his eyes. “Now get over here and take off those clothes.”
Destiny didn’t try to resist. She knew she had to do her duty and so she crossed back over to him and as he watched her with stern eyes she peeled away the layers. She pulled off her t-shirt, then her jeans and then she unhooked her bra. Lev moaned as he reached up and took hold of her pert breasts in his big hands and squeezed them gently, and then a bit harder.
“I’m a lucky man,” he said with a grin, as he cupped them together and grunted.
Destiny smiled back. Even if she did hate him most of the time, his touch was one she still often craved. And so she let him pull her onto the bed so she was lying on top of him, and she opened her legs and pressed her sex onto the zip of his jeans. She rubbed herself up and down on him, whilst beneath the denim she could feel him getting hard and she knew what a beautiful cock he was hiding in there… it was so big, just thinking about it brought a wry smile to her lips.
“I’ve missed you baby,” he whispered as he wrapped his hands up in her hair and pulled her forward so their faces were millimeters apart. His breath was hot and sticky against her skin and when he kissed her she let herself be carried along with the moment. She had to give herself to him and make him happy. She had to survive, but she also had to let him relieve her. The tension that had been building inside of her was coming to a head and she could barely take it anymore. She had felt so anxious and what she wanted more than anything was to feel love.
When he flipped her over and reached down to her panties she opened her legs and let his fingertips trace a drunken dance across her pussy. With each stroke he ignited something in her and she found herself bucking her hips up to meet his touch. She was wet and hungry for him, even with all of the rage she felt towards him and often the disgust, she still had to have him.
She watched as he pulled his t-shirt off over his head and exposed his huge, hulking muscles, and the tattoos that made the majority of his body a big, black swirl. When he unzipped his fly and his thick, heavy dick sprang out to meet her she opened her legs wider and held her breath as he slowly, but powerfully, pushed himself inside her.
Destiny gripped onto his wide shoulders and wrapped herself around him. She clung to him and moaned as he fucked her hard and slow.
For all she hated Lev… he was an incredible lover. He had always known just the right ways to touch her and to take her to places that no other man ever had. His cock was as strong as he was and with each thrust he made her knees tremble and her lips quiver.
He came quickly and buried his head into the side of her neck as she unraveled beneath him. She looked up at the man who was both her savior and her tormenter, and in that moment she had so many mixed emotions, she didn’t know what to think or feel.
&n
bsp; He rolled off her and pulled her into the crook of his arm. Destiny closed her eyes and listened to the rumble of thunder still working its way over the desert outside. It was dark and the rain pitter pattered against the windowpane.
They dozed in each other’s arms until midday, and even though letting Lev make love to her had relaxed her for the first time in weeks, she still couldn’t shake the feeling of dread.
Something bad was going to happen… She could feel it in her bones.
4.
He fell asleep not long after, but he kept his huge arms wrapped around her and held her tight. Destiny watched the rain smattering against the window for around an hour and then, when she was sure that Lev was definitely out and in a deep sleep, she lifted his arms away from her and slipped silently out of the bed.
She tip toed across to the adjoining bathroom and closed the door. Apart from her hair being a little mussed up, she didn’t look like she had just been ravaged like she had. She smirked at herself in the mirror and dabbed away a small streak of eye-liner that had worked its way down her face, and then she dipped back out into the bedroom and scooped up her clothes.
Lev was lying on his back with his mouth hanging open and the room reeked of booze. She could almost see it oozing out of his pours and she scrunched up her nose. It had been a long time since Destiny had had a drink, and seeing him like that only made her more determined to never have one again. She hated the feeling of being out of control, and she hated the hangovers the next day. When she had been younger she had gotten drunk with her friends from school and she had spent days recovering. As she had gotten older she had realized that her body just couldn’t handle it. She wasn’t a drinker, she wasn’t built for it and she didn’t need it to have a good time. So it was such a stark contrast for her to be with a man like Levitt, and to surround herself with people who made it their daily routine, and also how a lot of their business was conducted. Drinking was just a part of their life, and although she didn’t take part, she couldn’t ignore it.
The rain had stopped and she could see the clouds breaking when she looked out of the window.
“Thank God for that,” she whispered to herself as she reached for the sheet and pulled it up over Lev’s great hulking frame.
She tiptoed out of the room and closed the door silently behind her. The house was quiet for the first time in days, and she knew that the majority of the men must have gone the same way… all of them would have crashed out after their almost two full days on the booze. She felt free and somewhat liberated. For the next couple of hours, she could do anything she wanted.
She made her way down to the kitchen and waded her way through the sea of empty and leaking bottles, over to the counter where she pulled out a pen and a notepad. She wrote the note quickly in case anyone came down and tried to stop her from going, or rubbish the idea she had in mind… She wrote…
Hey Guys, just heading into town for a few things to make for dinner tonight. Should only be an hour or so, Destiny x
She smiled as she walked over to the table in the center of the room and placed it proudly in the middle. Whoever was up first would find it and no doubt relay the information to Lev if he woke up before she was home, but that wasn’t going to be likely. She imagined that the majority of the house would be asleep all day.
She opened the front door and stepped out into the dusty afternoon. The ground was still wet but it was drying with each passing second and the sun was breaking through the clouds which had thinned out overhead. The mountains looked crisp and the air felt totally weightless and refreshing. The world almost felt like it was alive again. Destiny smiled and reached into her back pocket for the keys to Lev’s truck.
She hopped inside and started the engine. The radio blared to life with some heavy rock music and she winced as she turned it down and then slapped it off altogether.
“Not today,” she said.
She needed peace and quiet. She needed this day to just be for her. It had been such a long time since she had just gone out by herself into town and spent a couple of hours how she wanted to. If Lev had been awake, he would have kept her shut away in the bedroom, or he would have insisted he came with her. There was no way she would have been able to just slope out and leave a note. She almost felt like a rebellious child for doing so.
She pulled out of the parking area at the club house and started out on the desert road. They weren’t far out of Ironhill and in a few moments she could already see the start of the small industrial town.
Ironhill was different to anywhere else she had ever lived. It had a small town vibe, but at times you could have looked outside and almost thought you were in the middle of a city. The streets were dark and dingy and most of the buildings were tall and dark. There were sprawling warehouses and factories, and a lot of coming and going. Big juggernauts flew through town every few hours and things were always being shipped out from the cavernous buildings to elsewhere in the country. Destiny had no idea what was happening around her, but she didn’t feel the need to question it. There were a lot of wealthy people in Ironhill. Families who had lived there for generations and had nothing to do with the Iron Riders, but they kept the town ticking over and jobs open for all of the residents. In that way, it wasn’t such a bad place to live, but it didn’t have a very friendly atmosphere. No one really seemed very happy, and no one ever seemed to stop for a chat on a street corner like she had seen in Slate Springs.
She pulled into an almost full parking lot opposite the grocery store and turned off the engine. She sat for a moment and just breathed. It felt so good to be out on her own and she wanted to savor every moment. She reached for her purse and opened the truck door. As she stepped out onto the hot tarmac she felt a streak of cool air hit her from a juggernaut as it flew past.
“There they go…” she said to herself as she slammed the truck door and locked it with the key.
As she walked through town she kept her head low. Even though no one tended to bother her there, she still didn’t like the idea of getting dragged into a conversation with some of the town’s folk. The Iron Riders didn’t have such a good reputation with the people of Ironhill, and being out there on her own made her feel slightly vulnerable. She crossed the street and stopped outside one of the gift stores. Through the window she could see that it was practically empty in there and she would love to go in and have a look around, but her anxiety started to creep up on her and she shook her head and moved on.
Destiny couldn’t remember the last time she had gone shopping freely and bought herself something she really wanted. Whilst she had been undercover in Slate Springs working at Red X she had enjoyed her time speaking to the girls and looking at all of the jewelry and make-up that they came in wearing, it was almost as if she could live through them and experience things she was being denied back home with Lev. That was one of the reasons she felt so guilty. She felt as if she had made real friends there, and as if she had started to live a real life. Even though she didn’t like the strip club environment, she had made a good friend in Candy, one of the other girls, and she dreaded to think what she would think of her now…
Destiny felt guilt start to twist at her insides and she stopped and turned back to go to the grocery store. It didn’t matter how liberating it felt to be out and away from the club house, she still couldn’t relax. She was always beating herself up for what had happened in her past and what she could never take back.
She walked through the automatic doors and picked up a basket. The air conditioning was especially cold and she shivered as she made her way to the refrigerators.
She walked up and down the aisles slowly, not even really sure what she was looking for, and she found herself sloping off into a daze. The lights were bright and her mind was wandering, she was stopping and picking up items and placing them in the basket without even really looking at what they were. She stopped and looked down, without even realizing it she’d put in bread and milk, and now she was looking at ch
eese. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head, trying to wake herself up. Lev had taken it out of her and she felt suddenly as if she needed to rest. She carried on and was about to turn around the corner and step into another aisle when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. She looked up quickly at the man who had been walking behind her, his eyes were fixed on her, but as soon as she turned to him he looked quickly away.
He was wearing a trucker’s cap and it was pulled down over his eyes, obscuring her view of him… but there was something about him that wasn’t just a bit shifty, he was also strangely familiar.
Destiny waited a moment to see if he would look back up to her, but he had turned to the side and all she could really see was the back of his head. He reached down and picked up some eggs before he placed them in his own basket and then he turned even further away and reached for something on the other side of the aisle.
She was being paranoid. She shook her head and carried on around the corner. She was so used to being on high alert and expecting something bad to happen, that it was consuming her every moment. She had to snap out of it, she had to get her life back on track.
She continued around the rest of the store and she picked up two whole chickens that she could roast later that day for the men at the house. She’d baste them and cook them with veg and potatoes and hope that they would appreciate it for once rather than complaining that it wouldn’t have been what they would choose.
[Runes of Argyl 01.0] The Runes of Argyl Trilogy Page 114
