by Jessie Cooke
“Oh, no way,” she said. “I didn’t say I minded that you were killing me. It would be the best way to go that I could think of. Wolf had to suck in a sharp breath and put a hand out to press into the wall behind them as she stroked harder. He was already so close, just from touching her and listening to her as she came. He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else, just to slow himself down. But Blair wasn’t slowing down, and it wasn’t working, so instead he moved her hand and lifted her up slightly to sit on the cement shelf that was built into the corner of the shower. Her bottom barely fit along the edge of it, so he had to hold her there with one hand while pressing his other into the tile wall next to her and trying to thrust himself up inside of her.
Blair reached down and took hold of him again. She squeezed him gently as she guided him to her pussy and as soon as he felt the tip of his cock against her flesh, he rocked his hips forward and sweet Jesus, he was inside of her. Even though it had been less than eight hours since the last time he was there...it felt new and exciting all over again. He put both of his hands on her waist, lifted her up so that she could wrap her legs around him, and then he turned her back to the wall and pushed her up against it as he began fucking her.
Their bodies throbbed and thrust against each other in a steady rhythm that took on a life of its own. Wolf felt more alive when he was inside of her than he had felt in a very long time; and as much as he’d love to stay there all day, it was too good, and the orgasm that had already been threatening took over his whole body. He felt himself begin to shake and a growl rose up from deep in his chest like an animal about to howl at the moon. He had her pressed so tightly against the tile that she’d never be able to move if he didn’t move with her, and for just one second he held her there, and held himself inside of her without moving, allowing himself to feel her completely before he gave it one more thrust and exploded.
They both had to quickly shower again...but it would have been worth a hundred showers. Wolf’s body, mind, and even his soul, hadn’t been this happy in so long that he wasn’t sure if it had ever been. He was still smiling as they both dressed to go over to the clubhouse and get some breakfast...and his smile held, just up until they were walking over hand in hand and she said:
“God, I hope Meeks can talk the DA into that deal.”
Wolf stopped walking and looked down at her. They were just at the back door of the clubhouse and could hear the steady hum of voices and low music inside. “What’s that again?”
“Oh! I’m sorry. Things were so crazy yesterday that I forgot I hadn’t told you. I met with Meeks yesterday. I just went to ask him to please try to do something to help you. But while we were talking, I started thinking about him being in charge of the gang task force and how it seemed like there had to be some way he could use that to help you.” Wolf wasn’t sure how he felt about her talking to Meeks about him. He liked the detective, and he was sorry he’d been taken off his case...but they were not friends and he wasn’t sure if she understood that. They had a mutual respect, and a bond because of what they had done for each other years earlier...but he still thought of Meeks as an adversary and he knew that if the time ever came when Meeks could sweep the club and take them down, he would.
“What did he say?”
“Well, at first he kept saying since he wasn’t on the case any longer, he couldn’t help. But...well, I kind of guilted him, by bringing up his grandfather...”
“Wait, how did you know about his grandfather?”
She suddenly looked a little nervous. “Uh...I talked to Bruf the day before.”
“What exactly did Bruf tell you?”
“He told me the whole story. But it’s okay,” she said when the look on his face had to tell her that he was getting pissed. “He knew I just wanted to help, and he did too. We all felt so helpless with you just sitting there in jail...”
Wolf was growing impatient as he finally stopped her and said, “Tell me what you said to Meeks.”
“I just told him that he couldn’t let you rot in prison if there was anything he could do, after what you did for him. And somewhere during the conversation it dawned on me that back then you’d helped each other, and you could do that again. I suggested he ask the DA if she would offer you a deal in exchange for information about the White Owls...” Wolf could still hear her talking, but the blood that was rushing out of his head caused a background sound like that of the ocean and for just a fraction of a second, he wanted to scream.
21
Blair didn’t understand why Wolf looked so pissed, but the more pissed he looked, the more nervous she got. She was rambling toward the end about how they had to do something because if it went to trial Wolf would probably lose, and she couldn’t stand the thought of him being in prison. It was about that time that he grabbed her arm and dragged her in through the back door of the clubhouse. She was shocked. He wasn’t hurting her, but he was propelling her forward and he was so strong and there was so much momentum that she couldn’t stop it. The eyes of the people who were inside the clubhouse were on them and they all fell completely silent. She was in too much shock to even be embarrassed, though, and when she saw Bruf look at his boss and heard Wolf growl at him, “In the office, now,” she knew that she’d crossed one of the club’s imaginary lines...already.
Wolf practically kicked open the door of the office and dropped Blair into a chair. Bruf was in the doorway when she finally found her voice and said, “What the fuck was that? How dare you manhandle me like that? If you wanted to talk in private, all you had to do was...”
“Quiet!”
“Excuse me?”
Wolf leaned down close to her face and said, “Stop talking.” Blair was appalled. She’d been talking about helping him, and suddenly she was being treated like some kind of enemy or prisoner. She was glaring at Wolf when she felt Bruf at her back and heard the office door close. The room was small, but with these two big men in it, it felt like a closet. “Thank you,” Wolf said after she hadn’t said a word for thirty seconds. She started to open her mouth again, but when he raised his palm, she closed it. She wasn’t afraid of him, but she was pissed. She decided she might as well let him explain himself and then she was going to leave. Fuck him if he didn’t want her help. His intense gaze finally left her face and moved over to where Bruf was standing. “You told her about Meeks and me?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Have you lost your fucking mind?”
“Why is it a secret?” Blair said. “I mean I know why...Meeks would never want anyone to know about the drugs...”
“Blair!” Wolf growled. “Shut up!”
She gasped. He’d just told her to shut up...suddenly she remembered where she was, who he was, but not what the hell she was doing there. “I’m sorry, Boss,” Bruf said, sounding genuinely remorseful. “She thought maybe your relationship with Meeks would be something we could use to help you. I was hoping she was right. I shouldn’t have ever told her your private business, though. I know better—I was just...nope, sorry, no excuses. I know better.”
Wolf turned his glare back on Blair. “What made you think that this club knows anything about the White Owls, number one...and number two...what made you think I’d be okay with being a snitch if it did?”
Her face was so hot she felt like it was on fire. She shot up out of the chair, and getting right up in Wolf’s face she said, “I’m an idiot, I guess. I somehow let myself forget about all the fucking stupid ‘codes’ that gangs”—she spat out the word “gang”—“live by. Me, of all people, who has heard some of the most terrible things they’ve done to keep from snitching on their friends. I should have known better. I let my feelings cloud my good judgment. But no worries, Mr. President, it won’t ever happen again. Good luck, and I guess I’ll see you in court when they call me to testify.” She turned toward the door, half surprised when he didn’t grab her again. She was so angry she was shaking. When she reached for the knob she heard him say:
“You just don’t understand how things work.” His voice was softer, but it was still tense.
Without turning back around she said, “Yes, I do...unfortunately. I was just stupid enough to think that somehow your freedom...and whatever this is between us...might be worth making an exception.” She pulled open the door then and walked out. She kept her head up as she walked past the yet again silent group of people in the front room. They had to have heard him yelling at her. Her adrenaline was beginning to recede by the time she got out in front of the clubhouse and she was beginning to feel sick to her stomach. She tried sucking in a breath of air but that only made it worse, and a wave of nausea hit her so hard that she had to double over and fight through it to keep from puking right there on their doorstep.
When it passed, that was when she remembered that she’d ridden there on the back of his bike. Another surge of anger washed over her as she took out her phone and called for an Uber. She completely ignored the kid at the gate when she walked through, and she walked another two blocks before she met the car. She couldn’t believe that she had actually let herself believe, even for a second, that she could have any kind of relationship with a man like Wolf. She’d let herself get lulled into a false sense of security with him—when in fact if she wanted to really know who he was, all she had to do was close her eyes and call up the memory of the man that put that gun to Mouse’s head and pulled the trigger.
“Can I get you some coffee?” Susie had been hovering all day. The only time she left Blair alone was when there was a client in her office, and Blair got the feeling the woman was outside the door with her ear pressed to it even then.
“No, I think I’ve had enough coffee, Susie, thanks. I’m just going to look over this next client’s file...”
“Blair, do you think you’re ready to be back here?” Susie had probably been trying to ask her that all day. It was Blair’s first day back to work. It had been three weeks since Mouse took her and almost a week since she’d seen or heard from Wolf. Susie didn’t know about that, of course. Blair imagined she wouldn’t approve. As a matter of fact, the only person that Blair had talked to about Wolf had been Lana. Her friend had been sympathetic, but in the end had told her what she already figured out on her own:
“Sometimes people’s backgrounds and lifestyles are just too different to make it work.”
“I’m fine, Susie, really.” The office had been recarpeted and the broken table replaced. There was no sign of the crime scene left behind at all. If someone didn’t know what happened, they would never guess by looking at the place. Blair had been stoic and professional all morning, listening to the problems and complaints of men like Wolf...men that walked that tightrope between the right and wrong side of the road. She’d tried not to think about him while her clients were talking. After all, it wasn’t fair to them. She wasn’t angry any longer, but she was still hurting, and she knew it wasn’t right to project any of that on the men she was supposed to be helping. It was so fucking hard, though, to not think about him. As much as her head knew she couldn’t have him, her heart refused to let go.
“Okay, but please don’t rush things, or overdo it. I can reschedule some of your appointments so that you don’t have to see so many in one day.”
She forced a smile at her assistant. She was annoying, but Blair knew her heart was in the right place. “I won’t, Susie, and I promise to let you know if I need you to reschedule anything, okay?”
“Okay.” She finally left the office and closed the door, and for a few minutes Blair was blanketed in blissful silence. She just sat there for a while, staring at a spot on the wall. It was a tiny spot, almost microscopic. It was dark brown and suddenly she got it into her head that it was blood...her blood. She picked up the bottle of hand sanitizer off her desk and grabbed a handful of Kleenex before going over to it and spending the next ten minutes trying to scrub it off. When she couldn’t get it, she slid down to the floor, covered her face with her hands, and after nearly three weeks, she finally cried. Susie found her there like that maybe half an hour later. Blair had to give her assistant credit for efficiency. She sent the client that was waiting away with a new appointment, called and canceled the rest of her appointments for the day, and then sat down next to Blair on the carpet and hugged her while she cried. Blair was completely drained when she finally stopped the waterworks. She looked at Susie and said:
“Maybe it was a little soon.”
Susie smiled softly at her and wrapped her in another hug, and for a little while Blair zoned out and allowed herself to just not think...about anything, or anyone at all.
22
“All she wants is names, Wolf. Man, are you willing to spend twenty years or more behind bars to keep from giving her a list of names of people who are nothing but bottom-feeders anyways?” Meeks ran a hand through his hair. He was obviously frustrated, and Wolf didn’t blame him. This was their third meeting this week, and each time Meeks thought he had the perfect offer for him, Wolf refused. He was a lot of things, but he was no snitch. If someone on the street needed a lesson, and it had anything to do with them or their community, then Wolf and the rest of the Skulls would become the teachers. But Meeks knew as well as Wolf did that there was a code out there, albeit an unwritten one, and Wolf had been living by it his entire life.
“Yes,” he said. “I’m not a snitch.”
Exasperated, Meeks let out a heavy breath and sat down behind his desk. “I can’t help you then. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get her to drop this. You had to go and get yourself arrested during an election year. She has something to prove...and she’d be just fine proving it with the White Owls instead of you, but only if you talk to her.”
“Not gonna happen. First off, I don’t even fucking know anything and no offense, if I did, you and that pretty little district attorney you used to fuck would be the last two people on earth I’d tell it to.”
Meeks rolled his eyes and said, “What makes you think I used to fuck her?”
“Oh, please, everyone knows.”
Meeks chuckled, but he still looked like he wanted to choke the shit out of Wolf. “Everyone knows, huh?”
“Yeah, just like if I were to open my mouth about the White Owls, everyone would know that too. I’d either be making my club targets for revenge, or stripping them of the respect that they’ve earned out there on the streets, and I’m not willing to do either one.”
“Not even for your girlfriend?” Just the mention of Blair...the hint of her...made his chest hurt. He’d been so angry with her and Bruf that day, but once he calmed down, he realized that she was just trying to help the only way she knew how. It was himself he became angry with then. He should have known better than to get involved with someone that didn’t understand his life. Relationships were hard enough for a man in his position without having one with a woman with a moral compass. At least he never had to worry about that with Amara...although a sliver of morals wouldn’t have hurt her. He hadn’t seen Blair in almost two weeks, and it was killing him. But he hoped that the longer he stayed away from her, the easier it would get. He knew he’d have to see her when she testified in court, but that was months away. By then he’d be over her. He would have forgotten how sweet she tasted and how good she felt and most of all, how good she had made him feel. Time was all he needed. He hoped.
“She’s not my girlfriend and no, Meeks, not even for her. Blair doesn’t understand this either, but if I agreed to do what the two of you want me to do, I’d be putting her in danger too. I’m not doing it, so either tell me something new, or I’ll see you when I see you.” Wolf stood up and started for the door. Meeks stopped him cold when he said:
“What about Bruf?”
Wolf narrowed his eyes at his friend/adversary and said, “What about him?”
“General Ediger is his brother, is he not?”
“How the fuck did you know that?”
“I’ve known for a long time, Wolf. It’s my job to know.
” It was Wolf’s job to know that shit too, and it was another reason he was still pissed at Bruf. He couldn’t believe that he’d never told him. The men had different last names, and Ediger was at least a decade older. Wolf had never met him, but anyone that had said he was a mean, cold, calculating son of a bitch, and the cobra he had tattooed on his chest was a sign for people to not get too close. Bruf was tough and hard as nails...but he had a soul, which from what Wolf had heard, Ediger was lacking.
“Okay, so you know. As far as Bruf goes, you’re welcome to ask him.” Wolf knew Bruf would say no. He had no doubts that his SA was not a snitch either. Bruf had never even told him about his brother—he sure as shit wasn’t going to talk about him to a cop and a district attorney. Wolf left Meeks’ office and headed out toward the parking lot. He was almost there when he came face to face with Detective Garner. Each time Wolf saw him, the man had this smug, self-satisfied look on his face that Wolf wanted to wipe the floor with. He knew the asshole was just doing his job, and Wolf might respect that, if he wasn’t so fucking unlikable as he did it.
“Mr. Lee, what a surprise to see you in police headquarters.”
“Garner.” Wolf tried to keep walking.
“Were you here to visit your friend, Detective Meeks?” Wolf didn’t stop. “Maybe trying to hash out a deal with him even though he’s not on this case?” Wolf was almost to the end of the hall, almost to the door. “Hoping to strike up another mutual arrangement like the night you saved his grandfather and he saved you from drug trafficking charges when you were still wet behind the ears?” Wolf stopped...froze...no one knew about that except Bruf, and now of course Blair. He was sure Meeks hadn’t told anyone, so how did this son of a bitch know? He turned around to face the detective, and willing himself to stay calm, he strolled up to him.
