by Vivian Gray
“God. Damn. That. Was. Amazing.” I exclaim. “I haven’t come that hard since…” My voice trails off as I turn my head towards her. She’s smiling. All that and she’s actually fucking smiling. Her dewy face impossibly glows against the low lamplight. It’s wicked how damn good she looks after I’ve laid claim on her like that.
Blanche sighs heavily with a devilish grin. “Was that it?”
I plant my head on my hand as I stare down at her in disbelief. “Was that it? You want round two? Did I not fuck you hard enough?”
“Oh, you fucked me hard enough. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to stand for a few hours.”
She motions down to her clit. From what little I can see, it’s as red as her face and as raw as I hoped it would be. I allow myself a moment of congratulations.
“What I meant when I asked if that was it was if that is all you wanted me to do? I get two orgasms, and Tyler gets the cash to pay back his debt.”
Ah yes. The deal. Something in my stomach sinks ever so slightly. “Yeah. That is what I said.”
“And you’re not going to go back on it?”
“No. My word is good. I’ve got a code to upkeep. And I don’t make promises that I can’t keep. The money is his.”
“What money?” This voice isn’t hers. It doesn’t come from the bed at all. I turn over my shoulder to see Tyler standing in the doorway. His beady eyes glare at me and then back at his sister.
“Tyler!” Blanche shrieks as she covers herself up under my sheets. Her hands run through her hair nervously. If she’s trying to get away with something, she sure as hell doesn’t stand a chance. It’s pretty obvious by the state of both of us what we’ve done.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Blanche?”
“I’m here…” Her voice shakes. “I’m here…”
“To what? To pick up where you last left off? Are you so desperate that you give in to someone like him!?”
“I wasn’t giving in! I slept with him because of you!” Blanche cries out with a voice cracking with passion. “Diesel told me why you’re here in this house and that you’re in danger. He told me that the gang or club… whatever…. is going to kill you if you don’t get that money. I want to help you.”
“Help me? Help me! How? By spreading your legs like a fucking whore! How much did he promise you?”
“All of it,” she shouts back. “He promised me all of what you owe. $45k to pay your debts. And I never once asked him for it. He offered it to me willingly.”
Tyler stares at her dumbstruck. I can’t tell if he’s ready to launch himself on her or to hug her – he looks that taken aback by her gesture.
When he does speak, his voice is a low growl. “You are a fucking fool. Mom and Dad should have raised you better when I left. I always thought you were stupid, but now you’ve proven it to me.”
“Stupid? I’m not the idiot who tried to play a motorcycle gang! I’m not the dumbass who got himself arrested! That was you, Tyler!” She pants through her anger. “The only thing I am guilty of is trying to save your damn life!”
“I told you to go! I ordered you out of here! And when I’m gone, you go shack up with him!? Is this who’ve you become – some common slut!?”
“Don’t talk to her like that, man,” I say as I rise to my feet.
I find my jeans and quickly throw them on. The last thing I want is to have this conversation at half-mast. Blanche rushes out of the room behind us. I watch over my shoulder as she grabs her backpack from the hallway and throws on still-soaked clothes from inside.
Meanwhile, Tyler continues to rant: “Don’t tell me what I can’t do. You just fucked my little sister! Do you know how freaking messed up that is? I told you to leave her alone, and you couldn’t help yourself.”
“She was stranded in the rain, buddy. Guys were bothering her. I brought her back here… to safety.”
“You brought her back to fuck her like all the other whores you’ve got on rotation.”
My voice rises. “I told you not to talk about her like that. You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about!”
He paces before me, looking me over and then back at his sister. “I know what I’m talking about. It’s fucking clear what I’m talking about. You nasty piece of—”
He springs himself at me. I’m not prepared for him to jump at me like that, and we both take a hard tumble down onto the floor. The kid’s skinny, but he’s fast. He lands a few punches before I manage to use my legs to throw him back down on the ground.
“You useless piece of shit,” he cries out as I knock a knee into his side while he continues to flail wildly.
Tyler’s not going down unless I make him stay down. I bite down hard on my lip as I wind up and count to three. In a flash, my fist finds his right eye. It moves so fast, I can barely feel the flesh under me. His head turns viciously to the side, and his frame goes limp under my legs. He’s out.
Still, I wait a second before I put my arm down to check that he’s still breathing. He’ll be fine, by the looks of it. He sure as hell won’t be happy with me when he comes to, but he won’t be happy with me either way.
“Stay down,” I whisper to the body as I turn my head towards the hallway. The backpack’s gone. A black sheet lies on the ground beside the bathroom door in its place.
“Blanche?” I call out to the silent apartment. “Where are you?”
Just fifty feet from me, the front door slams, and I watch through the window as her shadow runs.
Chapter Seven
Blanche
I am a freaking idiot – a complete fool! How could I be so dumb as to sleep with that beast and think that it would not come back to haunt me? Of course Tyler shows up exactly as we finish. Of course he isn’t thrilled I slept with Diesel to pay down his debt. Of course Diesel’s got to be such a freaking jerk about it!
This is what I get for trusting someone I don’t know. This is what I get for sticking my nose in business I certainly don’t belong in.
My clothes are wet and already smelling of mold, and my hair is soaked again and knotted in the back. No wonder the boys in the bar turn to stare at me like I’ve walked out of hell and into their dining area. It’s almost as if the air is sucked out of the room with the slamming of the door behind me.
“You came back for more? Normally girls don’t come back once they’ve been with Diesel.” The bartender sneers, slapping the bar with his rag. “You look like you need a drink. You want something stiff on the house?”
“Yeah – if you don’t mind. Something strong.” Great. Now I’m taking drinks from strangers. I’m really on a roll here. But if I’m going to go back out into the rain to wait for my bus home, I’m going to do it with a little warmth in my stomach. Plus, I could use something to cure my nerves. My hands haven’t stopped shaking since Tyler stormed in on us.
The bartender pours me an ice-filled glass of golden liquid from his bottom shelf. He winks as he hands it to me, clearly an invitation for something more, but I turn myself around on my swiveling barstool, out towards the rest of the room. It dawns on me before long that I’ve been warned about this place. Didn’t Diesel mention that once the other bar is emptied, the boys that were harassing me at the bus stop come here to drink away the rest of the night?
Before I can confirm with my hazy, chaotic memories of the night, a man slides up beside me. He smells just as he looks – filthy, tattered, and drunk out of his mind. His breath almost causes me to hurl as he leans in as close to my face as humanly possible to ask, “Do I know you from somewhere? You look awfully familiar to me, girly.”
I throw his heavy arm off of me. “No. I’m not from here.”
“No! No!” he shouts excitedly. “I know you. I do! You’re that… You’re that girl from the bus stop outside the bar. I knew I recognized you. Gunner, who is me, doesn’t forget a face, especially not one as sexy as yours.” His mouth grazes my ear, and my skin crawls with repulsion.
“Yeah. No. I do
n’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not that person,” I try to protest, but I’ve never been that great of a liar. I’ve always wanted to be an actress, but I couldn’t land a part if I tried. My cheeks that flare up pink whenever I lie give me away whenever I try. Gunner obviously doesn’t believe me either. He beckons over another equally disgusting guy to come study me.
“Yo! Ace! Isn’t this the girl from the bus stop – the one with the short-shorts we were bothering? She says she isn’t her, but she’s got the same lips and legs. And those tits look about the same too.” His arm reaches back over me and grabs my breasts.
Gunner smiles when he realizes I’m not wearing a bra. I’m really not wearing much at all except for the tank top and shorts I dug out of my bag before racing out of Diesel’s apartment. There wasn’t enough time to make sure I was properly dressed.
“Hmm…” He laughs. “Someone’s ready to go, isn’t she? What a nasty little cat you are.” His friend, Ace, joins us. A hand falls on my lap, and I know I’m trapped. Gunner turns towards the bartender and asks, “Where did she come from?”
The bartender motions towards the back door. “An apartment upstairs. Diesel and Tyler’s. Though you didn’t hear it from me – it’s supposed to be a secret that they live there.” Diesel wasn’t joking when he said that the bartender couldn’t keep his damned mouth closed.
“Ahh. That’s right. Diesel stole you away, didn’t he? You looked like you knew each other. You his claim or something? You don’t look like his usual thing.” Gunner’s greasy finger slides through a strand of my hair. But I’m stuck on not being Diesel’s “usual thing”. What the hell does that mean? What type of girl is Diesel bringing home if she doesn’t look like me?
“No,” I answer coldly, “I’m not his claim – whatever that means. I only met him today.”
“Well, well, someone moves quick, doesn’t she? A chick like you probably makes a guy play the game. But then again, most girls spread easily for Diesel.”
“That’s not what I meant,” I defend myself. “I’m not here for Diesel. I only know him through my brother.”
“Your brother?” Ace asks, backing slightly away from me. “Who the hell is your brother? He a Bonebag?”
Before I can stop myself, I answer, “Tyler. Tyler’s my brother. I think he’s part of your club.”
Both men drop the act, looking back and forth at one another with disbelieving eyes. Under his liquor-stained breath, Gunner mutters, “You don’t say. I guess you do look a lot like the kid.” He snaps his fingers towards the other end of the crowded bar and shouts, “Yo! Knux! I think you need to come meet this girl. She knows something about Tyler.”
Red lights flash before me as something feels incredibly wrong. Hundreds of eyes seem to be trained on me as Gunner draws more attention to us. He keeps repeating Tyler’s name over and over again like he’s dug up his own damn goldmine. I try to turn back towards the bar, but Ace keeps me from turning. I grab the drink and slide off the chair. He puts an arm around my back and hoists me back on the seat.
“Where do you think you’re going? Our boss over there is going to want to meet Tyler’s sister. I’m sure he’ll be real interested in you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not close with my brother. I didn’t even know where he lived until today. I haven’t seen him in years, and then he told me to go. That’s why I was at the bus stop. I was waiting for my bus home…” My voice rambles, panicky.
Around me, more men have gathered to get a better look. They stare at me with disbelieving faces as if to say, “Tyler’s sister… I can’t believe we found her.”
“What the hell you doing, Ace?” a voice thunders through the room. “You messing with my girl again? I thought I warned you the first time that I was going to cut you from limb to limb if you touched her again.” Diesel appears like a devil in angel’s clothes. He throws himself into the middle of the group, stepping right in front of my chair.
Gunner grins. “I knew she was yours, Diesel, but you sure as shit didn’t tell anyone that she was also Tyler’s sister. I think the club has a right to know that she’s in town. How do we know she’s not helping him escape?”
“Escape? You saw her yourself, Gunner. She was waiting by a fucking bus stop in the pouring rain like a sad fucking puppy. How far do you think a girl like her is going to get?”
She sure as shit got away from you, didn’t she?”
Every vein on Diesel’s body appears to almost pop through the skin. His hands ball up into giant fists at his side. The towering man leans over the other and points a finger at his chest, “It’s none of your goddamned business what she did, Gunner. So I would step the hell back from me right now before I make it your business. I don’t think you know who you’re talking to.”
“Alright, alright,” the older man concedes. “It’s no skin off my teeth. The girl is yours, and whatever’s going on between Tyler and the club ain’t my business at all.”
“But it sure as fuck is mine, Diesel.” Every head turns towards the man with the long, gangly beard and bald head. His short, stout legs take giant steps towards us like an elephant in a stampede. He marches straight up to Diesel and begins shouting. “Who the fuck is this girl, and why the hell is she bothering my crew?”
“She’s no one, Knux. She’s a girl I’ve been fucking. That’s it.”
Knux doesn’t even bother to look my way, but the rest of the group sure does. I could melt in this seat if that were possible.
Ace, still standing beside me, begins to cough.
Knux shouts at him, “What the hell are you on? You got something to say, you say it.”
The younger man pulls at the collar of his white T-shirt before nervously explaining, “She told Gunner and me that she wasn’t Diesel’s girl. She’s Tyler’s sister. That’s why she came down from their apartment.” When he’s finished, he shrivels into the background, disappearing among the men.
“This fucking true, Diesel? You dare lie to me after our conversation today?”
“I didn’t lie to you. The girl and I are fucking. I put a claim on her, but since she’s not one of the regulars, I didn’t think I needed to announce it. It’s not like it’s anyone’s damn business who I screw.”
“It sure as shit is my business when the girl’s Tyler’s sister. You know what this looks like, right? Looks like you’re shagging up with the enemy.”
Diesel growls out back, “When I met her, I didn’t know she was Tyler’s sister. She showed up at my door with his address – didn’t even know he was staying with me. I put my claim on her then. I didn’t find out until later that she was his sister. Again, I figured since she knew nothing and didn’t live anywhere near Tyler that it didn’t matter if I made her my old lady.”
Old lady? Claim? What the hell does that mean? My mind races at the thought that someone could own me just be sleeping with me. That wasn’t part of the deal! I slept with him, he gives Tyler the money, Tyler’s free, and we can go home happily and safely. Now I belong to him like some property? This can’t be right… No… No…
“You! Girl!” Knux barks out at me from around Diesel’s shoulder. “Is this true? He put a claim on you? You Tyler’s sister?”
“Yeah. I’m Tyler’s sister. I didn’t know… I didn’t know what he was—”
“That’s not what I fucking asked you, was it? Answer my goddamn question! Did Diesel put a claim on you or not?”
Diesel looks at me over his shoulder. His eyes smolder under his furrowed brow. “Do this. Tell them,” they say to me.
I take another long drink before turning towards Knux with a tentative nod. My voice barely manages to squeak out my answer, “Yes. I slept with him. He put a claim on me.”
Just like that, Gunner steps down and away. Even Knux seems taken aback by the news. Diesel, on the other hand, steps closer to me, blocking me from the rest of the group. His arms outstretched, he warns everyone, “I put my claim on the girl, and I better see she gets the same damn resp
ect as the rest of your fucking women. She’s not to be touched – not as long as I’ve got her under my protection.”
“That’s fine and well, Diesel. I’ll respect the oath you took and the rules of the club, but don’t think I won’t remember who’s sleeping on the other side of the bed. You’re housing two of that family now, and I’ll be watching.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less, boss.” Diesel turns his head towards me and commands, “Get the fuck back in the apartment.”
“I can’t, Die—”
“I don’t give a fuck what you can or can’t do. Get up there – NOW!”
His snarling voice rockets through me, and I know better than to disobey or attempt to run again. Whether either of us liked it, I was his claim, and there’s no going back from that. And part of being a claim means following his every order.
