by Annie Buff
“Yeah it does. She likes it. Tara does, so I guess I’ll be getting used to it. Funny how something I hated is okay now because of her.” They both laughed, understanding that it was their women that changed them.
It was after one a.m. when Smoke kicked him out, stating it was time to go be with his woman. Ajax agreed, he was in dire need of Tara’s touch. Ajax desperately wanted to hold her in his arms. He knew she was more than likely sound asleep but that didn’t matter. Laying with her and feeling her silken skin on his, that mattered.
Ajax quietly turned on the shower, knowing he had to smell like booze, pot and campfire. His Beauty didn’t need to have him stink when he climbed in next to her. He wasn’t under the spray more than a minute when he felt her presence behind him. All it took was one touch from her to have his cock hard and throbbing. He let her run her hands down his back and over his ass. Tara’s fingers were electric, causing all his body hair to stand on end. Ajax closed his eyes and let the pleasure run wild.
When she reached around and grabbed on to his cock he hissed. Ajax moaned quietly as Tara stroked him. It was a slow, gentle slide. One not meant to bring him to orgasm, no this was one meant to rev his engine and she was doing just that. His knees were trembling and he was struggling to get enough air. His Tara knew just how to bring the big man down, as her free hand trailed up to his nipple and the hoop she loved so much. While one hand was slowly pumping on his cock, the other was pinching and pulling on his piercing. There was only so much teasing a man could take and Ajax hit his limit, turning himself and pinning Tara to the shower tile, her hands over her head.
“Woman,” he softly growled as his mouth took hers. His kiss was rough and demanding; just like the man. Ajax returned the favor by doing to Tara what she had done to him except it was his teeth on her nipple, nipping just so there was a slight sting. The other hand went between her legs, teasing her clit with light flicks. That brought out the whimpers. He had other ideas though, something Bones had mentioned and just how sensual it was.
Ajax was on his knees in front of Tara, soaping her up and reaching for the razor. He dipped one finger inside her and he let the first swipe glide over her. With each pump of his finger the razor made a gentle swipe and before he let her go over the edge he had shaved her smooth, leaving her a small strip of hair. Ajax let his mouth take over and it only took two long licks of his tongue to have her shouting his name and shaking.
He picked her up, pinning her once more to the tile and pushing his hard cock inside her. Even being as slick as she was he went slow. Ajax knew how big he was and he would do everything he could not to hurt her, especially now knowing his child was inside her.
Tara gasped at the pleasurable invasion of Ajax. It happened every time they made love. The way he stretched her was as erotic as it could be, and the way he whispered in her ear made it that much hotter.
“Fuck Beauty, you’re so fuckin tight. God damn you feel so good.” Ajax murmured against her neck as he drove himself in and out of her. Tara’s head had fallen back against the shower wall, taking every sensation that was her man. The way it felt to be loved by him was only something she had read about. Tara’s arms were tight around him as she lowly moaned and the rhythm he set had her right on the edge of ecstasy.
Ajax felt her body tremoring with every driving thrust, he was right there with her. Biting the inside of his mouth to keep from losing it before she did. He wasn’t sure if it was blood dripping down his back from her nails or the water from the shower, but he didn’t care. The feeling of her digging into his skin had him so close, too close. He needed her to start because he was about to come.
“Beauty let go. Come for me baby.” Those were the magic words, Tara did let go and as she went over, so did Ajax. She shouted his name as his body went rigid and he grunted out loud, shaking in her arms. He felt himself pulsing inside her, leaving her full and loving the feeling of his forever love in his arms.
OH BABY, BABY
The sun had come up and Ajax wandered out to see where the Brothers were. Seemed that the night before had taken a toll, because nobody was up and moving yet. There were lights on in the clubhouse, but he just assumed they hadn’t been shut off from the previous night’s fun. He wandered to the main house for coffee.
Ajax expected to see the Queen in the kitchen but the house was quiet. He thought maybe baby Brolin had kept them up so he silently made a cup of instant coffee and went back to sit at the picnic tables. He had left Tara to sleep so he just sat thinking. Renegade was supposed to go scouting this morning so he assumed he’d see him any time now.
Ajax had gone through his coffee, made a second cup and returned to his spot at the table. His face itched from the newly grown hair and so did his head, which also had the same stubble his face had. Having hair was a new sensation for him. Twenty years of being clean shaven was going to be a hard habit to break. Drugs were easier to give up. Ajax had shaved almost daily for all those years, he was fighting the urge to go find a razor. That lead his mind to the night before, Bones was dead on when he said that shaving your woman was the most sensual thing you could do. From all the sounds she made he knew Tara liked it too. That would become habit. If he didn’t shave himself, at least he could shave her. It would suffice the urge.
By mid-morning the other men were emerging from their beds, but still no Renegade. Maybe he left on foot or maybe he took one of the vehicles. It was driving him nuts not knowing what the fuck was going on. When he finally saw Smoke, Ajax almost sprinted over to him.
“What’s going on man? I thought Ren was going out this morning.” He was supposed to go but things had changed about three that morning.
“Krispy went, Ren got busy.” Smoke told him.
Ajax looked at Smoke, shaking his head. What could be more important than finding where that bastard Aries was hiding. “Busy? What could be so important he didn’t go looking?”
Smoke just grinned. He had been in Renegade’s place twice and did much better the second time around. “Reagan went into labor; their baby is coming.”
“Holy fuckin shit! Man I am so sorry for what I said. Reagan having a baby is way more important right here and now.” And it was, another member of the family would make its debut at any time. Peyton was MIA because she had been helping Bones. He should have known that’s exactly where the Queen would be.
Five hours later the cry was heard all the way outside. A new Devil had taken its first breath. Smoke and the rest of the brothers waited patiently for any word on Mother and infant. It came from Renegade, as he emerged with a bundle in his arms and tears streaming down his cheeks.
“I got a boy. Me and Reagan made a Son.” You could see the joy and pride he had, evident by the smile on his face. “Reagan says everyone can come in soon. We just gotta clean her up and dress her. Queen is handling a nightgown or something.” He said as he disappeared back into the Clubhouse with his Son.
Seeing how Renegade looked holding the baby made Ajax antsy in anticipation for his own child. He hadn’t been there when his Daughter was born and really didn’t spend much time with her. It was his way of distancing himself but as time always tells, it hadn’t worked. Now all he could do was make it up to Isadora and learn from his mistakes. Ajax didn’t care whether they had a boy or a girl, he just wanted the chance to be a good Father; the way he should have been before.
Instead of everyone going inside, Reagan gingerly walked out wearing pajamas and a robe; her son in her arms. The smile she wore screamed pride. “Hey guys, guess I threw I wrench into the plans for today huh?” She said to the group but the smile never faded as she looked down at her newborn son.
Even over the soft cries of the little boy, Renegade’s voice was heard loud and clear. “With all the kids being born, we kept the fact he was a boy a secret. Had to come up with a good name for the little man. Now my choice was Ass Kicker, but his Momma said no way on that so we compromised. We chose one I think is a good, strong name. Weston Wyatt Jam
es.” Renegade picked well Ajax thought. Weston was a damn fine name.
After the newborn had been hugged and kissed by the entire clan he was given back to his Mother. Who disappeared back into the clubhouse to nurse him. Ren went to Smoke for a word.
“Gimme a few hours’ nap and I’m all over hunting. Reagan already said okay, she knows I gotta do it. She wants him gone as much as we do. I got a Son now and Aries gotta die. Snowman too if I can find his ugly ass.” Smoke gave the nod, signaling Ren it was a go.
Ajax sat with Tara, who had emerged not long before baby Weston was born. He explained how Ren was going before sundown to see what he could see. And that Ajax had every intention of going with him. He needed to know if that rat bastard was there. Once that was established they could figure out how to proceed. In the meantime, he wanted to just spend it with her.
Their date night was going to be interrupted but he would make it up to her. He had the perfect idea on how to do so. He just needed his Daughter again. Ajax sent Izzy a text with exactly what he needed, knowing how well she knew Tara. He asked that she take her shopping for clothes. The next text went to the Queen. He would need her too. The last one went to Books, the attorney that Bones knew well. Ajax would need him too.
Kickstands went up right before sundown. Renegade and Ajax went down the road towards the old Steele farmhouse. It wasn’t quite ten miles away if they stayed on the highway, but Ren had other ideas. They turned off an old access road for the fire department and stopped in the brush.
“We can hide the bikes here and hike in. It’s just over the ridge and we got loud pipes.” Renegade explained. “Better off to walk it, or he’ll hear us if he’s there. Much rather be a surprise.”
Ajax wholeheartedly agreed with Renegade. Ren had the right idea on so many things. He had even bought the same Kukri knife Ren carried. Sooner or later that ten-inch blade was going to be very useful.
As the two crested the ridge they both smelled the faint scent of smoke. Someone had definitely been there recently but without getting close they could only speculate on who. “C’mon, we gotta get closer. Keep your eyes peeled and watch for anything that says who’s squatin’ here.” Ren whispered in case anyone was close enough to hear normal voices.
As they neared the barn, both men heard arguing. Two men were having a serious disagreement on something, so they stopped to listen.
“You’re fucking sick and I’m done. That shit in the barn, that ain’t normal and I can’t. You want Ajax, go get him. But you’re on your own. You got some fuckin problems Aries and I ain’t gonna be a part of it anymore.”
As the man emerged from the house they could plainly see it was Snowman. He mounted his bike and spit rocks as he raced away from the farm. Ajax hoped he was really leaving, that Snowman would go and fade away. It meant one down and one to go but now he wondered what was in the barn that made the Snowman so upset.
Opening it would make too much noise, so Ren found a place where there was a missing board. What he saw sickened him, Ajax looked and turned to vomit. It wasn’t what he saw that made him sick, just the idea of why. The two had found much more than they bargained for. Snowman was right, Aries had some serious problems.
WHAT’S EATING YOU
By the time the two made it back to their bikes it was dark. They still had enough light by the full moon to see their way. Neither one said a word as they rode away, really what could they say. After seeing the contents of the barn, both men knew Aries had gone off the deep end. Even more than they first thought. Smoke and Red were going to freak out once the Brothers revealed what they saw. It wouldn’t just be Ajax going after Aries, he would need all the help he could get.
It seemed the rest of the Bastards had abandoned their leader, or maybe he abandoned them. It was hard to tell. The last comrade he had let ride away. At least there was that bit of good news. From the looks of things, Snowman had been the only help Aries had left.
Smoke and Red were waiting for the riders by the fire. As they dismounted, neither one knew where to start this conversation. Ajax figured Ren needed to go be with his woman so he would be the one doing the talking.
“Kid was right, he’s there. Snowman was too but he took off.” Ajax watched the two Presidents look at each other, nodding. “Snowman is gone. Pretty Boy don’t need to worry about him, he ain’t coming back. Hell, after what we saw I’d run too. I knew Aries was fucked up but that… “
“What was it? What did you see?” Old Red was more than concerned. He should be because Ajax never in his life expected to ever encounter that.
“In the barn,” Ajax tried to tell, “we found a missing slat and looked in. They were just hanging there… and the table with the saws all bloody. I puked.”
Red was about to come unglued. Smoke too by the look on his face. “What was it! Who was hanging there?” Smoke was almost yelling and Ajax could understand. He didn’t mean to be so vague, he was just still in shock.
“Parts… human parts.” Ajax finally got to it. “Man, I think he’s eating people. From the sounds of things when we snuck in, so did Snowman.” Holy Hell! If he was in fact resorting to cannibalism that was a huge game changer.
“Jesus fuckin Christ Baldy! You sure? I mean maybe he was just disposing of his kills.” Red was trying to rationalize what he’d just heard.
Ajax shook his head. Disposal meant you didn’t keep parts around hanging on hooks. You cut up and got rid of the bodies as fast as possible. This was most definitely not anything even close to disposal.
“The fuckin barn looked like a meat locker Old Man. He ain’t disposing of anything. Aries went bat shit crazy, even more than he used to be. We gotta do this and like now. Before sun up we need to hit that farm. I’m telling you both he’s a God damned cannibal.”
The two leaders needed the third, Smoke wanted Magic involved in this. He needed to be made aware of just how far off the deep end the Bastard had gone.
Smoke made the call while Ajax took two very long pulls from the bottle of bourbon Smoke always had handy. His stomach was in knots but he needed something to numb himself after what he saw. Being a Cleaner, he’d had big messes like that to handle, but this was different. The thought that they were being consumed gave him the creeps, and Ajax had seen more than his share of gore over the years. Nothing had ever gotten to him like this aside from the last job he did for the Brazen Bastards. That got him thinking. The scene looked eerily similar to what he saw in the barn.
“Fuck!” he said rather loudly. This wasn’t new for Aries, he had been doing this for years. Now things started to make sense. Consuming human flesh had some major side effects when done over a long period of time. It could be similar to what happens to the brain from Syphilis. It made you crazy, and from what he saw and remembered this was pushing twenty years. Aries really was a lost cause, and severely dangerous.
After Smoke finished his call he pulled Red away from the fire pit for a discussion. Ajax couldn’t hear them and figured that was the idea. When Red walked back he had something in his hand. Ajax wondered what they had said to one another.
“Here Ajax, you earned this and we ain’t got time to run the gauntlet with everything going on.” It was his patch, he took it and just stared. He was expecting Red and Smoke both to give him a beat down, but that never came. Just the patch and two handshakes.
“Once this business is done I’ll ask sweetness to throw a party. She’s good at parties.” Smoke told him.
Yes she was, Ajax saw the last one she did. It was the fake baptism for baby Noelle and it was a roaring success. That too gave Ajax an idea, he needed to ask Peyton how fast she could put something special together.
“Now Magic wants to back us up but he wants Mambo there to cast some kind of voodoo magic.” Red gave the deal. “So, we gotta make sure one of us can help him do whatever it is he does. I don’t believe in that mumbo jumbo shit but he does so we help him. Okay?”
It really wasn’t but it would have to be. Ajax
just wanted to go kill Aries and burn that place to the ground. The horrors done there needed to be extinguished. Nobody should die like he knew those people had, and he knew they’d had to be terrified. The barn had to burn, simple as that.
Smoke sat working out the how’s and when’s. Ajax knew now wasn’t going to happen, no matter how bad he wanted to tear Aries apart. The leaders knew what they were doing, that’s why they were the Presidents. Ajax wasn’t diplomatic, and at times was a hot head. That didn’t make a good leader. That made dead bodies and he had seen enough of his brethren die over the years.
Tara wanted to know what they found but how could he tell her what he saw. That was one horror she didn’t need in her head, she’d had enough. The rape was more than enough for anyone to handle. There was no way Tara needed to know just what Aries was doing. But Ajax knew somehow he would wind up telling her. Just like Peyton, Tara had a way of making him talk without doing anything. It was just the comfort he felt with her.
“Noah, what happened at that farm? Renegade won’t talk to Reagan about it so it has to be bad. Isn’t it? Please Noah, talk to me.” He had no intention at this point and time, but sooner or later he would spill all the gory details.
“Why don’t we go take a walk. Just hold my hand Beauty, I need it right now.” Tara did what he asked, walking with him along the trail that lead to the canyon and the stream below. She knew whatever he saw it had to be bad. Bad enough even the Cleaner was freaked out.
They found a rock big enough for two to sit on. Ajax stayed mute and just held his woman’s hand. He couldn’t get the image of the hanging rib cage out of his head. He’d seen some grizzly things doing the job he did, but that one took the cake. He pulled out the pack of cigarettes he pocketed from Red, lighting one and taking a long drag. The feel of the cigarette and the taste of the tobacco seemed to relax him enough to want to talk some.
“He’s eating people Beauty. Aries is eating human flesh, I saw parts hanging in that barn and now I’m wondering if that’s why Lisa was sent back like she was. Did he eat part of her too?” He choked the words out. The tears had started once again and Ajax was thankful she couldn’t see just how messed up this made him. He knew she could hear the tremors in his voice, but at least she would never see him cry. Above all else his woman never needed to see him that weak.
