Penance

by K E Osborn

  Her tongue darts out licking her bottom lip as I step closer, our bodies touching, chest to chest, the tension building as her breaths become short and sharp. My fingers dig into her arms holding her in place. She can’t move from my grip as she’s helpless against me. She looks up at me, and finally I see not the strong woman I’ve become witness to, but a woman desperate for affection, a woman desperate for me.

  My chest heaves as the tension grows, electricity popping, sizzling, scorching the air in an inferno around us. I had no idea that simply staring at someone could create this kind of effect. But as I glare at her, daring her to say something, her lips part, a slow breath escapes her damp, supple, pink lips. I don’t wait for her to say a word before I lunge forward, my fingers gripping firmly on her arms pressing her back into the fence harder, her head moving back against the metal as I force my lips to hers. She doesn’t hesitate, kissing me back strongly. I swear it’s like nothing I’ve ever felt before. It’s like everything’s spinning, and we’re the only stationary objects on the planet. I had no idea kissing someone could ever feel this good.

  Her tongue enters my mouth, and we continue to kiss frantically. It’s not slow, it’s not delicate. It’s fast, it’s rushed, it’s passionate, and fuck if it isn’t everything I imagined it would be with her. She sets fireworks off inside of me. It’s like the fucking Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, and that goes for a whole fucking month. It’s like motherfucking Christmas. Her kiss is like Christmas, it’s that fucking good.

  My hands drop from around her biceps and move straight to her ass. She doesn’t hesitate as I lift her up, her legs wrapping around my body as I slam her against the fence, my hard cock pressing into her pussy as she moans into my mouth.

  Fucking hell, I have no idea how I’m going to cool this down now that we’ve gotten to this point. Her hands run up and into my hair, she tugs on my dreadlocks slightly which causes me to groan as she pushes her pussy against my cock.

  We kiss hard, fast, unrelenting, and then a throat clears behind us.

  “Fuck’s sake, Spanner, get a room,” someone calls out.

  I break the kiss while still holding onto her as we both look back to see a young guy watching as he walks inside the house with a smirk.

  “Shut up, Bowie. Just ‘cause you ain’t getting none…” Ayla calls out.

  He chuckles. “Fuck up! I’m getting more pussy than you’ve ever seen in your life, sister dearest.”

  Opening my eyes wide, I drop her legs slowly to the ground as she chuckles.

  “Did you hear what you just said, dipshit? I don’t see any pussy, I don’t swing that way you damn idiot,” she calls out as he walks inside the house effectively ending their conversation. She turns to me and lets out a heavy breath. “Sorry, that’s my baby brother… he’s a dick.”

  “So, I’ve managed to meet two brothers today?”

  Ayla smiles. “Yeah, you’re like… practically family now.” She steps forward grabbing the edge of my cut and pulls me closer to her, her eyes taking on that heated look again. “So, I knew you’d kiss like a machine. So good…” she shakes her head “… so damn good.”

  Smiling, I wrap my hand around her waist and hold her to me. “I have many talents, Ayla.”

  “I bet you do. Seriously, though… am I going to see you again after you leave here today?”

  Smiling, I bring my hand up caressing the side of her grease-laden cheek. It’s warm and soft and so inviting as she leans into my touch. “Yes…” I don’t say anything further, just leave it open to see what she will say.

  She smiles. And for the first time, it’s not a cocky smile, it’s not arrogant, it’s sweet and almost timid. “Great.”

  Leaning in, I press my lips to hers once more, this time slower and calmer, and she kisses me back while I savor the moment.

  I pull back and look her in the eyes. “Until next time.”

  She grins. “Until next time.”

  Regretfully, I let her go, and the spark retreats leaving me feeling cold as I swivel and walk away from her. She stays where she is as I head back toward the truck without looking back. I don’t want to appear weak, so as much as I want to look back at her, I don’t. I do however see the blond guy, Vince, who interrupted us earlier, heading out of the workshop to look for her. His demeanor makes me wonder what has him so happy.

  I open the truck door and jump up as Vibe looks at me, the biggest of fucking smirks on his face. “That was record quick, brother.”

  I scoff and roll my eyes. “I didn’t fuck her, you asshole. We simply… talked.” I bend the truth a little. There’s no need to kiss and tell.

  “Uh-huh, sure, sure. Just a little blow, blow, then?” he asks while starting up the truck and reversing out of the garage.

  SENSEI

  Strolling into the clubhouse, I feel strange. It’s been eons since a woman has taken a place in my mind. But Ayla has definitely found a little nook to hide out in the recesses of my brain. Especially, after that kiss. I had no intention of kissing her when I arrived at the garage, but with the way she was talking, and the looks she was throwing at me, I couldn’t handle it nor stop myself. She’s got me all kinds of twisted up, and fuck, I don’t need this kind of complexity in my life right now. With the Ishikawa shit on my doorstep, I must concentrate solely on the issue at hand because keeping my family safe is my main priority. However, Ayla seems to be at the forefront of my mind right now and that could be an issue. It could cause mistakes and miscalculations if my mind isn’t focused on what needs to be done in the present.

  As I walk in, Scratch cocks his head in a greeting. “So, got my money?” he asks blasé.

  I snort out a sort of huff—it’s half-annoyed half-curious at his attitude. “Ayla’s going to look over your bike and call me with an offer. When I know, you will be the first man I come to, Scratch… of that you can be sure.”

  He groans and rolls his shoulders. “Ahhh, fine… I’ve got a new ride coming in the morning. She’s a damn beauty, too, Sensei. Fuck! This might actually be a blessing, brother. Might have to buy Vibe a beer.”

  I raise a brow. “So you’re not going to beat his ass now?”

  He shrugs. “Might hold off… or not, one can never tell.”

  “Good to know.”

  He slaps my shoulder and spins. “Later, bro,” he calls as he walks away.

  I make my way over to Torque, who’s sitting at the table looking over Ace’s tablet. I slide in next to Torque, he glances up and gives me a chin up in a greeting.

  “Pres, any news on how we can get a message to Ishikawa?” I ask.

  “Ace?” he simply answers and lets out a long breath.

  Ace slides his tablet over. “I found something I think links to them… but I can’t be sure, they’re nigh untraceable. It’s fucking pissing me off. I’ve sent a message to what I think might get a reaction, so now we wait and see if we get a response.”

  “And if we do?” I ask.

  Torque cracks his knuckles. “And, if we do, we take our offer to them. See how we can swing it.”

  Tension rolls through me. We want to test the waters. See what their attitude is like. If they’re fair players, or if they’re going to take over and run us out completely. We need to know what we’re dealing with. So far, all we know is they want to buy up everything, including our businesses.

  That act would run Defiance out of town.

  That’s not going to happen.

  Even if it means we need to side with Enzo Andretti, which it seems is working for the most part right now. Who would have fucking thought!

  Just as I’m looking over Ace’s notes on the Ishikawa, a ping alerts on his iPad. Ace grabs it from my hand and goes about touching various items on the screen, and then he smiles wide. “We got a ping, Torque,” Ace murmurs, and we both raise our brows.

  “English, nerd,” Torque scoffs.

  Ace chuckles turning the device, so we can see it’s a message with a simple time and place.


  It’s the Yakuza.

  It’s Ishikawa.

  Torque sits up taller as a cold draught flitters down my spine. He looks at me, clear caution in his eyes. “Are you gonna be okay to do this, brother?”

  “If I don’t go, it’ll raise suspicion. He knows I’m a member of this club. I don’t want to do anything to draw attention. And we don’t yet know his reasoning for being in Chicago. If we can find out more information… I believe this will be beneficial not only to my family but also the club.”

  Torque nods. “Agreed. We need to find out as much as we can. Without giving anything away.”

  “The time suggests we meet them in thirty minutes. What’s the plan?” I ask.

  “The meeting place isn’t far away, maybe ten minutes, so we have time to discuss strategy with Surge. We could either all go in…. safety in numbers… but that could also be taken as a threat, and we could end up in a fuckin’ shootout. Or we ride in a smaller group with a backup positioned for reinforcement if we need them. After all, we’re gonna simply fuckin’ talk to them.”

  Nodding in agreement, I exhale. “Consult with Surge, but I believe option two to be the best solution. If I understand the Yakuza like I think I do… they’ll appreciate a smaller group. It’ll make us appear like we trust them, which at this point… is what we’re after.”

  Ace tilts his head gaining our attention. “You want me to send anything back?”

  Torque nods. “Yeah, tell them we’ll be there. Keep it short… simple.”

  Ace nods and starts typing as Torque stands up. “Right, where the fuck’s Surge?”

  I smirk. “I believe wherever your mother will be, that’s exactly where Surge will also be.”

  Torque groans. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Let’s go find the fucker and get ourselves organized.”

  As we ride to the meeting point, Chains rides first, followed by Torque, then myself, Ace, and Lift. It’s just the five of us heading in for the meet, but the rest of the club, excluding Surge, who’s still recovering, they’re sitting back a block with an open line connected to Ace so they can hear everything that’s happening. If we need them, Trax is in charge of the crew to come to our aid. He wasn’t overly happy on sitting out the main meeting, but when Torque and I met with Surge, we all agreed that for the prosperity of the meeting, Trax is better out of it. His lack for the need of peace has been noted, his thirst for war is evident, and at the moment, we need to play this as it comes, and not go in making the situation worse than it already is.

  Torque has a plan, we need to stick to it, not throw a collective wrench in the works with Trax’s behavior or even worse temper. Torque was right making him sit this one out. But putting him in charge of the recovery if we need it—that was clever. At least it made him feel like he was in charge of something, something important. If we need him, he will come in guns-a-blazing. Hell hath no fury like a biker scorned.

  The telltale two Yakuza Lamborghini sports cars are parked on opposing angles inside the warehouse as we enter and pull up in front of them. Their guards stand at the front of their cars, and as we grind to a halt, kicking out our stands and sliding off our rides, that typhoon swirls inside of me. I have no idea if Aiko Ishikawa will be here, or if he will send his underlings to do his work. All I know is I’m not easily shaken, but right now, I am restless.

  Pulling off my helmet, I stand tall and proud, not letting anyone see my inner turmoil as the door of one of the Lamborghinis is opened and Aiko steps out, his suit tailored to perfection. His hands jut out to expose a crisp white shirt under his fitted shiny black, almost the darkest of blues, custom-made suit. He adjusts his gold cufflinks as he steps up to us with a man flanking either side of him.

  Torque cracks his neck to the side as I flank his left, and Chains is on his right. “Ishikawa, you’re a hard man to track down.”

  Aiko smiles and nods. “Yes. That is for a reason, Torque. I am actually quite surprised that Ace managed to find a loophole. You would be a great asset to our team, Ace.” He grins, and we all tense.

  Ace shakes his head slightly.

  “Not gonna happen,” Torque grunts back.

  He narrows his eyes at Torque, an evil grin adorning his face. “Time will tell. We already have an irrefutably brilliant technical team. Anonymity is requisite, but if Ace managed to break through our technology and firewalls, then we want him on our side. Just leaving that out in the open for you to deal with however you wish.”

  Ace snorts. “I don’t work for assholes,” he murmurs.

  Torque glares at him in warning.

  Ishikawa’s lips turn up into a smirk while looking Torque up and down obviously assessing him. “Hmm… debatable, Ace… debatable. But I’ve digressed, this is not why you are here. Discussing Torque’s ability to be an asshole is not on the agenda for today. So, my advice… get to the point.”

  His eyes leisurely drift over to glance at me. My muscles tighten as he looks me over. I try not to tense up, but my muscles go taut as I stare at his eyes. They look exactly like the ones I see looking back at me in the mirror every single damn day. A deep intense brown showing a heavy burden mixed with flecks of gold. My stomach twists, but I hold it together. This is what I was taught, this is my way of dealing with stress. My father, the man who gave me life, is standing before me, and I can’t do a damn thing about it—the man who beat my mother, the man who raped her, the man who forced her to flee her country—that’s the asshole standing right in front of me now, and it’s taking every ounce of my training to keep my feet planted firmly in place. My lip turns up infinitesimally as I stare at him, and his brow raises as he watches me evaluating him. His demeanor changes, and he turns toward me a little more.

  Ishikawa’s about to say something but Torque quickly intervenes. “We’re here for a reason. We want a trade.” Ishikawa hesitates, he glares at me, but then quickly turns his attention to Torque.

  I covertly let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.

  “A trade? What could I possibly offer you?” he asks with hint of humor as he looks back to his goons who are smiling.

  Torque stiffens, his body preparing to do a deal with the devil. “Compensation for the guns you took from us and the injuries at the initial shootout, we want you to call off the attempted acquisitions of our gyms, the Andretti gyms, and… the Fox Froyo Bar.”

  Ishikawa raises his brow with a sly smile and shakes his head. “Now, why on earth would I do that?”

  Torque takes a step forward, Ishikawa’s men tense up, but he waves them back, and they back down as Torque’s now face to face with my father. “You’d call yourself an honorable man, wouldn’t you, Ishikawa?”

  He raises his brow and tilts his head. “I try to be.”

  “You buy businesses… legitimately. You do things by the book. You are, by all accounts… a good man.”

  Ishikawa nods. “Yes, I am.”

  My nostrils flare knowing everything Aiko Ishikawa says is only a small version of the truth.

  He calls himself a good man, but every villain is a hero in their own eyes.

  “Then do the right thing… a trade. One thing for another. Wouldn’t you rather give and take, than take without merit?”

  He lets out a small chuckle. “You say take without merit. Like the guns didn’t already belong to me. But, Torque, everything in Chicago belongs to me. Your guns, your gyms, your club… you just don’t understand how it works yet.” Ishikawa glances to me again, his eyes assessing me in a worrisome way as he looks me up and down. “Even your brothers will belong to me, Torque… Ace, Sensei… all of them.” His deep tone filters through the air making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “But… for now, I can honor our deal. I will give you some time to adjust to… the new way of life. I will give you some time to come to terms with this… arrangement. Your gyms are yours for the moment, Fox Froyo is no longer on my list of acquisitions, and I keep the guns. This is a show of good faith that we can work together,
Torque. That you will come to understand how I work. How this town will come to worship me and the Ishikawa Yakuza. We could be great if we work together… think about it.”

  Flaring my nostrils, I glance at Torque who seems about as happy as I am. “The Andretti gyms?” Torque asks through gritted teeth.

  Ishikawa groans and rolls his head in frustration. “Fine! Those, too. But the minute we want more guns, Torque, you will answer.”

  Torque’s face screws up as he glances to me.

  I want to tell him, screw it, tell Ishikawa to fuck off, but I know right now he holds all the cards in this town. So we’re best to let him think we’re playing along while we attempt to come up with ways to fuck him over from below the surface. I subtly nod, and Torque turns back to Ishikawa and dips his head. “Agreed. But don’t come anywhere near the Andretti and my businesses, you hear me?”

  Ishikawa lets out a small chuckle. “You’re so demanding for someone who holds no cards. I hear you, Torque, as long as you… hear me?”

  Torque nods his head once curtly, then spins signaling for us to leave. Ishikawa continues to chuckle while turning to his car, but not before taking another look at me. I hate how he’s constantly studying me. I have no idea if it’s for intimidation purposes, or if it’s because he sees familiarity in me, or if he simply knows and isn’t letting on.

  I have no fucking clue.

  What I do know is I don’t want to wait around to find out. I break his gaze and head toward my ride without a beat, my chest feeling heavy like the weight of the world is coming down on me. But I don’t show it on the outside. I’m stern-faced as I slide my helmet over my head and jump on my bike.

  Torque starts his engine signaling for us to start ours too, and I rev mine a couple more times than necessary as the vibration of the engine moves through me bringing with it a sense of calm. The energy from my ride always brings forth a sense of Zen, and I love how a simple thing like riding on the open road can calm even the most chaotic of minds.