by Maxi MacNair
“When the cops get in here, they’re going to shoot you dead. Especially if you’ve hurt her.”
“You can’t have her, asshole.”
“Okay, Okay, just calm down.” Every bone in his body wanted to tear across the room and destroy Ricky. But he’d done hostage negotiation, and knew if he moved, Ricky would start to freak out and Bristol could get hurt.
She didn’t cry, but kept her eyes locked on his.
The sirens got louder. Ricky got more and more flustered as they heard gate open for the police override. Another black drop of blood dropped onto Bristol’s shoulder, right there with Ricky’s tears. Rage bubbled in Lucas, but he kept his cool.
Downstairs, the police banged on the door. Glass tinkled as other officers found out how Lucas got in, and entered the house.
“Put it down, man. You don’t want to be holding a weapon when they get up here.”
As the cops ascended the stairs, Lucas put his hands on his head, and backed away.
When three uniformed officers crashed into the room, Ricky dropped the knife and put his hands up, like Lucas suspected he would. As soon as she was able, Bristol dashed across the room to his side. He held her close.
As the police walked Ricky out the door, he called over his shoulder. “I’m sorry, baby. I just need you to take me back. Forget about this asshole. I’m the one who’s been by your side for ten years.”
“You threw it away, Ricky,” Bristol said.
“Your fame went to your head, bitch!” The guy was clearly on something. Lucas wondered who would bail him out since it didn’t seem likely Bristol would.
The police stayed a while longer, talking to Bristol. Someone got the backup generator working, and the police revealed Ricky had cut the power before he came upstairs.
It seemed to take forever. The police told her to come to the station the next day, to make her statement and to press charges. Then Lucas and Bristol were alone once again.
“I didn’t think you’d come,” she said. “I thought you’d gone.”
He started to tell her it was his job, of course he’d come, but he thought better of it. “I’m sorry,” he said.
She turned away. “Don’t worry about it. I, uh, I don’t think I can work with you anymore. I’ll come out and say it. I’ve kinda fallen for you. And I know you never hinted there’d be anything more than the one fling, but—”
Her words were music to her ears.
He strode across the room to her, and took her into his arms. Her eyes went wide, then she looked so happy…he kissed her smiling lips.
“I’m sorry for everything. I haven’t stopped thinking about you for two months. It’s foolish of me to keep running away.”
Bristol pulled back for a beat. “What are you running away from?”
Lucas looked at the ground. “It’s a long story, but I’m starting to believe it’s not something I can deal with. As long as I have you with me.”
He wrapped his arms around her again, and buried himself in her smell.
* * *
They made their way back upstairs hand in hand. They both knew to avoid the creaky fifth stair. Bristol’s mind buzzed. How could Ricky do that to her, what had he been on? The police agreed he seemed like he was high on something.
But more than that, she thought of Lucas, ready to take a chance on her. He’d certainly seen her at her worst and at her best over the past months they’d worked together.
He brushed the hair out of her face, letting the silky red strands fall through his fingers. She reached for him, felt the hardness of his abs under his t-shirt. She let her fingers sneak under the soft cloth and touch his skin. He moaned, picked her up, and tossed her gently on the bed. He climbed after her, covering her with kisses. All thoughts of Ricky evaporated as she rolled with Lucas on the soft mattress, entangled with him. She pulled off his pants, and could feel his excitement, his need. Lucas pushed her back on the bed, and pulled off her underwear. He pushed her nightgown up over her hips and bent down to pleasure her with his tongue. No embarrassment or anxiety on her part this time, she even let herself moan. Any sound she made only seemed to thrill him, so she didn’t hold back as the pleasure made her cry out. He focused his energy on her love button, fiercely lapping at it while easing a finger inside her. It didn’t take her long to come to a jangling orgasm, which she announced loudly.
Peeking up from between her legs, he looked so pleased. He gave her a moment to recover where he caressed her erect nipples, then he lay on his back and pulled her on top of him. Where she’d felt so shy in bed before, now she was eager to try new things. Lucas could take her anywhere and she would follow him.
She lowered herself onto his thick manhood, letting it sink into her. He’d prepared her well for it, and her body took him in easily. Starting easily, she rocked herself back and forth on him, watching him close his eyes below her and groan with pleasure. The pleasure from this new position was too intense, though, and she picked up speed. She changed her position, lying on top of him, and now he could reach her nipples with his tongue, and the stimulation only made her pump her hips faster. Lucas held her hips and ground them together, bodies pressed close. They kissed, hard, hot, frantic. Bristol felt a glow of pride when she brought herself to climax, shivering and collapsing on top of him.
He hadn’t finished yet, though, and wasn’t done with her. He mounted her, fiercely thrusting into her with quick, shallow strokes. Each nerve already blazing, she wailed and writhed below him, digging into his back with her fingernails. He came hard and the sensation brought Bristol over the limit with him one more time.
They lay in bed together after, sweaty and exhausted and so satisfied. This time he wouldn’t go. There would be no awkward discussions, they’d just lie here and love each other.
He ran a hand across her stomach. “I can’t wait,” he said.
“I love you,” she told him. It didn’t feel too soon after all they’d been through.
“I love you too.”
She fell asleep in his arms, like she would this night and every night after. The beginning of her family.
The End
Taken by the Clan Alphas
“Hey baby, wanna go for a ride?”
Ruby Reynolds glanced across her Uncle Dave’s auto parts store, where she worked. Sure enough, Dave was still out back calling in the week’s parts order. When she started here, approximately three weeks ago, the first thing he told her was not to go racing with any of the local boys, but how can she resist. It’s been three weeks now in this dusty small town in the middle of no-where Montana and she was so bored. This was the first offer she had been given so far that actually sounded like a little fun. Who cares if she had been pre-warned about guys like this, Ruby Reynolds was no stranger to being a bit of trouble herself now and then. It was actually kind of nice being the one who was warned to stay away instead of the other way around like it was most of the time at home.
Her uncle indisposed, she turned her attention back to Mac Crow. “I’d love to.” She leaned in on the counter, well aware this provided Mac an enhanced view of her cleavage. It wasn’t Ruby’s fault the uniform shirt couldn’t quite keep the girls contained. She wasn’t sure if it was an oversight on her uncle’s part, or a strategic business decision. She tucked a strand of jet-black hair behind her ear and gave Mac a lipstick smile.
He was good looking, for sure. Almost a little too muscular for her taste: here was a guy who spent a lot of time at the gym cultivating his physique. Light brown eyes she would almost call amber. Gorgeous coppery skin. She could see bear paw prints tattooed in black creeping up his right arm and disappearing under the sleeve of his black t-shirt. She knew he bore a full color image of a grizzly bear across his back. She had seen it before, the bear on the rocks, fishing for salmon. She also knew he had a tattoo of his car, an inky Nissan GT-R, tattooed on his right side next to his rock hard abs. He wore his long black hair pulled back in a ponytail usually.
“I ge
t out at nine. Is that too late?”
“I’ll be just getting started. Pick you up here?”
She glanced again at Dave. Still out back. “No, I’ll meet you. The 7-11?”
Mac let his gaze roam around Ruby’s ample form. “See you then.”
Dave came out of the back as Mac was leaving, and glared at his receding form. “No good,” he said to Ruby. “Was he bothering you?”
“No sir, he was sweet as punch.”
“It’s all an act. Kid’s no good. Gonna wreck that fancy car of his, break his momma’s heart. Gonna end up killing someone around here if he doesn’t check himself soon.”
Ruby pretended like she was heeding his advice like she had a few hundred times already before she spoke. “I thought I might go out with Sandy after work tonight.”
“I’ll leave the light on for you. I’m glad you’re making friends.”
“Thanks, Uncle Dave.”
It was seriously that easy.
In May, Ruby finished up her junior year at the University of Montana in Missoula. Her parents were in the middle of a nasty divorce, so they arranged for her to come up here, to Pinewood Junction, to spend the summer with Uncle Dave and make some extra money working at his auto parts store. Ruby hadn't heard from either of them since she got there. They were probably too wrapped up in fighting each other to really care what she was up to anyway. Nothing new there, that was for sure.
For the past three weeks, Ruby hadn’t done much. She met Sandy, hung out with her and some friends a few times, but she’d been watching Mac and Travis, two local gearheads who roared around town in their fast cars. They were certainly the most interesting things Ruby had found in that town. Sandy told her the two were rivals at just about everything.
Time crawled until eight. Ruby switched the sign on the door from open to closed. She counted down the registers, tidied the aisles, swept and mopped. She finished up a little before nine, and wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself to kill the time. She went into the bathroom and pulled off the uniform shirt. Underneath she wore a tank top. Her pants were a tight pair of jeans which flattered her generous ass. She was no size zero, but she knew she was good looking. She wished she had opted for her push up bra today. If she’d known she was going to get asked out, she totally would have. She adjusted things with the bra she had on under the tank top to reveal as much cleavage as possible.
Walking slowly, she switched off all the lights and locked the store door behind her. Her uncle would open, she would close. That was their schedule for the summer. She didn’t mind. It made it so she could sleep in until ten at least. She walked the few blocks to the 7-11, past a few of the town’s bars. One more year before she was old enough to drink. Back in Missoula she had a fake ID, but her mother found it and cut it up in front of her right before she left. Ruby knew she should have just moved out of there a long time ago. She was through being in the middle of her parents war with each other. Tired of getting the brunt of the anger they couldn’t dish out to each other. With what she saved this summer she should have a pretty good head start with being able to pay rent on a place of her own for next semester. After that, who knows. Ruby knew she was young enough to try and fail at more than a few things still in her life. She knew that if only her parents were okay just accepting a failed marriage a long time ago things would be so much easier for everyone. Ruby knew she wouldn’t let herself get like that ever.
One of the bars, the Grizzly Den, was an old garage and on warm nights like this one they rolled up the big bay doors. The raucous sounds of the night life filtered out to her, and she decided what the heck, she didn’t see a bouncer, she would try and get a drink. She still had twenty minutes before she was supposed to meet Mac.
She walked in like she owned the place, and could feel every eye on her. She put a little extra waggle in her walk, and went up to the bar. She ordered a Miller Lite, like it was something she did every day.
Travis Johnson appeared at her elbow. To the bartender he said, “I’ve got this one.”
Ruby blushed. “Oh you don’t have to do that.”
“It’s my pleasure.” She felt his gaze on the tops of her breasts and made a point to stick her chest out.
The bartender brought the beer, and Travis walked her over to a table by the open garage door.
“What brings you here tonight?”
Ruby’s mama always taught her to be honest, and she had no idea why she needed to keep a secret from Travis. Her Uncle never really talked to him. For sure he was in the shop at least a few times a week, but her Uncle usually seemed to keep his head down when he interacted with him. “I’m meeting Mac at nine, I had some time to kill.”
“Meeting Mac.” Travis looked amused. “And what are you and Mac going to do?”
“He’s going to take me for a drive in his nice car.”
“That Japanese piece of crap? You want to ride in a car, I’ll take you for a ride.” Travis drove a 1972 Chevelle painted a pearlescent white. Having an old car like that was one of the reasons why he was in the parts store so often. But it sure sounded powerful, and it glittered and shone in the sunlight.
“Oh yeah?” Ruby pulled out her phone and looked at the time. She downed the second half of her beer in one big gulp. “Sorry handsome, too late this time, I’ve gotta run.”
“Hey sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. But really, just don’t go see him. He’s…dangerous.”
“Dangerous?” This gave her pause. What did Travis mean?
“You don’t want a guy like him.”
“Oh, and I want a guy like you?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I’m dangerous too, but not like Mac. I mean it. Seriously, stay away from Mac. He’s bad news.”
Ruby thought of Mac’s sexy ponytail, his muscles. Travis had similar, but also slightly bigger build. His muscles came from hard work at his father’s junk yard. She heard he could pull a motor out of a car himself, though she didn’t see how that could be possible. He didn’t have any tattoos (that she knew of) and most of the time he kept his short, black hair covered by a baseball cap. He was very similar to Mac, but also completely different. For one, he definitely spent more time fixing his car that parading it around like Mac did his. He was definitely quieter than Mac, which was cute Ruby had to admit, but the early bird always gets the worm in Ruby’s mind. If he really wanted her to go out with him instead of Mac he should have taken his head out of the hood of his car and come over to ask her, but she wanted to know what kind of reason he would give for why she shouldn’t go out with Mac.
“Tell me what you mean? What does he do that’s so dangerous?”
Travis looked flustered. “Hey, I’m just trying to help you out. Just watch yourself with him.”
He won’t be doing anything to me that I don’t want him to do, Ruby thought. She looked forward to being alone with Mac even more now. There was nothing that made her want to do something more than when people told her she shouldn’t.
“Thanks for the advice and the beer.”
“I mean it. Be careful.”
“I will be, dad.” Ruby headed out into the balmy night, a little bit buzzed. Travis was jealous, she was sure of it. She shook her head. Boys will be boys, even when they say they’re men. He probably saw me talking to Mac earlier. Probably wouldn’t have even said hello if he didn’t know I might be doing something with Mac.
She was a few minutes late getting to the 7-11 and the GT-R sat rumbling outside. It had neon green LEDs inside, and for a split second Mac looked demonic. She came up to his window.
“Damn, girl, but you look fine.”
“Where are we going?”
Dangerous? Maybe if he broke her heart, but Ruby didn’t think this was going to turn into that serious of a relationship.
“Get in and I’ll show you.”
She got in the passenger’s side and buckled her seatbelt. Mac drove fast, but he drove well, the performance car hugging the winding back road
s. He took sharp corners without slowing down and blasted through stop signs. Ruby trusted him. He was one of the two best drivers in town Sandy told her, and just like everything else, Travis was the other really good driver. Even her uncle said so, and he didn’t like either Mac or Travis.
He parked the car at the top of a hill. Above them, millions of stars glittered in the sky like chips of diamond. Below them the lights of the town glowed, most of the houses already dark. People here went to bed damn early. Ruby could still see the lights of the bar where she and Travis shared a drink. She wondered if he was still there. Wondered what he was up to tonight.
She pulled her attention back to Mac.
They sat on the warm hood of the car, and in spite of herself, Ruby was cold and started to shiver.
“I’ll warm you up.” Mac leaned in to kiss her. It was passionate. Forceful. He pushed his tongue into her mouth. She kissed him back just as hard, pushing back against him. Ruby knew what he had in mind for this little date of theirs. She couldn’t say she minded or wasn’t planning it herself. Mac sure didn’t waste his time though. He wrapped strong arms around her and pulled her close, running his strong hands across her back. She reciprocated.
The kissing was hot and sloppy, driving Ruby wild. She could feel herself getting wet, wanting him. He picked her up and pulled her on top of him, straddling him. Usually she was self-conscious in a position like this, but not this time. Mac was big and powerful enough. She could feel hardness in his jeans, and it only made her want him more. She ground against him, showing him her arousal. He pulled her tank top off, revealing a red lace bra, size DD. He groaned with pleasure as he freed her breasts, and buried his face in them, sucking, lapping and teasing her nipples. She threw her head back and moaned.
“I need you. Have to have you.”
She nodded. “Yes.” She had to have him, too. The microscopic back seat in the GT-R was out of the question, it had buckets like the front, separated by arm rests and speakers. It left the hood of the car. Ruby was fine with that. She wasn’t some delicate flower.
