The Neighborhood Series (The Neighborhoood)

by Tarrah Anders

  “Thank you for taking me out tonight,” she says quietly.

  “Thank you for finally giving me a chance,” I reply kissing the top of her head.

  I open the car door for her, and she slips into the passenger seat. Once I’m settled into the driver’s seat, I put both my hands on the wheel and sit there with confusion.

  “What’s the matter?” she asks after I’m sure what felt like an hour of me staring at the dashboard.

  “I’m going to be real here for a minute and man up to a pretty serious confession,” I say.

  “Okay, is everything okay?” she asks with concern.

  “Yeah, everything is fine, I think,” I turn my head and with embarrassment, look at her. “I’ve never driven a car before, I’ve only ever ridden on bikes, and I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I’ve driven something with four wheels.”

  She looks at me with wide eyes and her jaw loose, then slowly, a smile appears on her lips and laughter comes out of her throat.

  With one hand on the dash in front of her and the other on her chest, she leans back and gathers her composure. She unbuckles her seatbelt and then opens the door. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I stay in the driver’s seat.

  She walks over to my side of the car and opens the door for me, bends down and then puts one hand on my knee.

  “So, this is what’s going to happen. You’re going to go back inside and put the keys back on the counter. And then we’re going to get in my car and I’ll drive us to the city. Then tomorrow, I have the day off of work, and we’re going to get you behind the wheel. But not tonight, I’m hungry and it’s a forty-five minute drive to the city. Is that a deal?” she asks.

  I nod my head and get out of the car. I do as she says, then we both get into her car.

  With minutes to spare before our reservation time would have gone to another group, we arrived at the restaurant that Percy suggested. We are greeted by the owner, Richard and he led us to a private table towards the back of the beautiful space.

  “Mi Amigos, please enjoy your food and let me know of anything that your heart’s desire, Percy is a close friend of mine and therefore, his friends are mine. Enjoy your evening,” he bows slightly, then leaves us to the menus.

  Easy conversation, light touches, delicious entrees, and a lot of flirting occurred over the next few hours. After dinner, we walk along the bustling streets of the city. People are out enjoying the evening after perhaps a long week, buskers on the street performing for small change, and people walking pets to and from. Holding hands through it all, Nydia and myself make our way to a small park and sit together on a bench.

  “Tell me more about you?” she asks, turning her body toward mine.

  “Well, what do you want to know? There’s not too much to tell,” I reply with honestly.

  “What did you do in Texas? What brought you here to Mercy?” she asks.

  I weigh my answer and while I want to lie and omit what ultimately happened back home, I don’t want to begin anything with her based on lies. With one arm around her back, I turn my body in towards hers.

  “I left Texas because Eddy, a friend of mine was killed. He was killed because of the bike club that we are a part of, was dealing with some shady shit, that I was unaware of. This guy, he was my best friend. He got caught up in a trade that went south and his death was a deal that the president of the club cut to make things even.”

  “So, you’re a criminal?” she asks slowly.

  “No!” I say quickly. “I had no part in that stuff. I grew up in the club, it was never something that was violent or had anything that I knew about as being shady. But I did notice things started to go downhill once the new prez took over. So, after my friend passed away, I called Micah. He’s been trying to get me to come West for years. And finally, I took him up on his offer.”

  “Are you still in this motorcycle club?” she asks warily.

  “I’m kind of on a hiatus. I can’t outright quit, I’m just away, like a traveling nomad right now. While my home is in Texas with The Rebel Warriors, my mind is elsewhere.”

  “So, this trouble with The Rebel Warriors, it’s not going to come here to Mercy, right?”

  “There’s no reason for it,” I say, hoping that stays true.

  After all, I wasn’t involved in anything that went south. I was on the up and up, despite the several calls that I have received from the prez who thinks otherwise.

  Chapter Eighty-Four

  Nydia and I have begun to spend more and more time together when we’re not working. I make it a point to meet her after her shift to make sure she gets to her car safely and to kiss her good night before she goes home. Even if I’m more tired in the mornings than I was before we started dating.

  Tonight, she’s asked me to come to her place just north of town.

  She lives in a single-story small home on a huge plot of land, I park my bike in front of a garage and make my way to her porch.

  The front door opens, and she comes flying out of the house. She jumps up into my arms, with my hands planted under her ass to hold her up. She leans her head down and with a smile moves in to kiss me in greeting.

  I continue walking and place her on her feet as soon as I feel the porch steps. A scraggly dog that looks like someone left him on the side of the road, comes running out of the house and jumps up so his paws land on my upper thighs.

  I pet the top of the dog’s head and then the dog retreats back into the house.

  “That was Mr. Daniels, he’s my rescue. He just wanted to make sure that you weren’t going to eat his food.”

  “Depends, what do you feed him?” I joke.

  She pulls me by the hand into her home and I’m surprised by the spaciousness of the front rooms.

  “So, I have dinner almost ready. I think I know your type of food enough, but how are you on spices?” she asks as I close the screen door behind me.

  “I can manage them, I’m not saying that I’m a wuss or anything, but just let’s not overdo it to be on the safe side, yeah?” I reply.

  “Don’t be a wuss,” she playfully says calling me out.

  “I’m not, just saying, better safe than sorry.” I shrug.

  “So, Mr. Daniels, what’s the deal with his name?” I ask her as she stirs something in the pot on the stove.

  “Well, you know, if I need to introduce him to anyone, it’s just a fun way of doing so. ‘Hey, meet Mr. Daniels,’ it’s kind of funny,” she shrugs and looks up at me through her eyelashes with a smug smile.

  “That’s funny,” I say leaning my elbows on the counter toward her.

  “I try,” she flips her hair off her shoulder. “Would you mind clearing that table over there and setting it for dinner? We should be rearing to eat in about five minutes,” she asks.

  I walk around the counter and into the kitchen space. “Should I just start opening cupboards to find things?”

  “Why not? It’s the best way of getting to know someone, right?”

  “Right,” I nod and begin to do just that. I immediately locate what I’m needing to set the table and by the time I’ve washed my hands, Nydia is placing dinner on the table.

  A salad, some garlic bread, and pasta with pink sauce sits on the oak table. She places a bottle of beer in front of me and a glass of wine in front of her.

  “Please, don’t be courteous, dive in, show me your animal side,” she encourages.

  After eating dinner, which was not even close to being spicy, I forced her to sit at the table and keep me company while I clean up. Even though she tried to help several times, I ended up spraying her to keep her back when I was at the sink, and she gives up going sit at the table and observe my movements.

  “Tell me, if you weren’t here in Mercy, what would you be doing right now?” Nydia asks with her chin in her hand.

  I think for a moment before answering her as there’s not much to tell.

  “I think overall my nights were quiet. I would hang out a
t the club with some of the guys shooting pool, or just lounging around. My life is not as exciting as one would think it would be,” I shrug shutting off the faucet and reaching for the hand towel.

  “So what you’re saying is that what they showed on those MC shows are totally false?” she asks.

  “Well, there are some clubs that are like that,” I say.

  “So, what about yours? What was your message?” she asks.

  “When the club first started, it was only open to those with a military background, then with new leadership and new blood that began with my father’s core group, the club began buying businesses and we became a corporation type club. Today, the club is still active in providing charity to veterans, but it’s in the name of the main business over The Rebel Warriors. So, I guess there’s still a bit of the military flavor. But it’s a small portion.”

  “I want to get to know you a little better,” she says quietly.

  “Ask me anything,” I stand up and move to the chair beside her.

  “What were you like when you were younger?”

  “Well, I was the complete opposite from my brother. I was very obviously my father’s son, and Micah was clearly the mama’s boy. He was clean cut and always looking orderly, got good grades in school, went away to college and stayed out of the club life. Then there was me, and I’m the exact opposite.”

  “The bad boy,” she states with a nod.

  “Not exactly, I’ve never been arrested, I don’t go around purposely starting fights and I pay my taxes. I just went a different route than my brother.”

  “Purposely starting fights?” she questions.

  “I’ve been in my fair share. But I didn’t go in search of them.”

  “But you’ve never been arrested?”

  “Not once. I have been questioned by the cops though, but that was mores questioning about the specifics of the death of my buddy.”

  “Can I tell you that I’m glad that you have a clean past,” she says quietly.

  “But if I didn’t?” I poke.

  “Well, I would have to rethink what we’re doing. As you know, this is a small town and I have a little sister who looks up to me. I want to be a good role model to her and it would suck to have you be a bad boy.”

  “A little sister?”

  “Yeah, I spend most Sundays with her after church.”

  “Are you a church goer?” I ask.

  “No, not anymore. Once I turned eighteen, I was allowed to make my own mind up about religion and I chose to just let my church days be special holidays and weddings. But my sister, she’s only six. So, my mom will drop her off to me after church and we get to spend the day together.”

  “That’s why I’ve never seen you on Sundays at the diner,” I say as if I just figured out a riddle.

  “Unless I need to come in, but whenever that happens, she’ll come in with me and I’ll hang out with her if it’s slow,” she nods.

  “That’s a good influence, showing her the work ethic and all.”

  “If you say so, I don’t want her to get stuck in this town and work at the diner,” she shakes her head.

  “Is that how you feel? Stuck here?” I ask her.

  “Yes and no.”

  “I’m not following,” I shake my head.

  “Mercy is my home, I don’t want to live anywhere else, besides, I love it here. But I know that some others are meant for more,” she says sadly.

  Chapter Eighty-Five

  I stand up, offer her my hand, lead her to the front door and out of the house. She’s one step behind me and I hear her protests until I come to a stop at the base of her porch.

  “Do you have a blanket anywhere?” I turn and ask her.

  With a confused look, she closes her mouth, then pulls her hand from mine and gives me a questioning look.

  “Not until you tell me what you are doing,” she says defiantly.

  “Can’t a guy surprise his girl?” I lean down and kiss the tip of her nose.

  “Your girl?” she questions.

  “Can you answer my question first, then we can discuss the other questions and any others that you have running through your mind?” I tease her.

  “Inside, there’s a hall closet, on the top shelf should be a blanket or two.”

  “Thank you. Be right back.”

  A moment later, I’ve grabbed her hand again and we’re walking around her home and into what looks like a grassy un-fenced yard that leads into a forest of trees with a fleece blanket under my arm.

  “Are you taking me out back to murder me?” she asks playfully.

  “You watch too many horror stories,” I reply looking back while she’s trailing behind.

  “I was always warned about boys like you when I was little, you seem kinda mischievous.”

  “My thoughts about you are mischievous, but trust me, it has nothing to do with wanting to take you out back to kill ya, I’m not that kind of guy.”

  “Isn’t that what all serial killers say?”

  “Do you know a lot of serial killers, Nydia?”

  “Only the one who are made famous by their crimes,” she quips.

  I stop at a flat spot that is surrounded by tall grass, about a hundred feet away from the back of her house and still several yards away from the forest behind. I lay the blanket down and motion for her to sit on the blanket. I take a seat beside her, lay on my back and place one of my arms behind my head. Nydia lays back, turns toward me, and places her head on my chest.

  I smile, looking up to the stars. The air out here is so clean that you can see millions of stars so perfectly. You can see galaxies and planets with your naked eye and constellations that are only seen in books. Living in the city, with the pollution, seeing the night sky is rare – that I feel like I’m seeing all of this for the first time.

  “Do you know the constellations?” I ask her.

  She rolls onto her back and looks up. After a few moments of silence, she points. “You see that one there? That’s Orion. I can always find that one first because of his belt.”

  I look to where she’s pointing, but don’t see it. “Where?”

  “Look for three stars in a line, kinda at an angle,” she instructs.

  I see it and smile as the rest of the constellation comes into view. I point over to the Big Dipper then point to the Little Dipper. We lie there, pointing at constellations for a while before she moves and changes her position. She’s laying on her stomach, leaning on her elbows and looking down at me.

  “You surprise me,” she says.

  “I do? How?”

  “You look like this big bad guy, riding a motorcycle and kinda like you have a chip on your shoulder, but here you are laying in the middle of my backyard, looking at the stars with me.”

  “I look like I have a chip on my shoulder?” I ask.

  “When you think no one is paying attention to you, you look deep in thought and you just look like you’re pissed off,” she explains.

  “Interesting. I’ll have to work on that.”

  “Why? It gives you an edge,” she smirks.

  “But you don’t like bad boys,” I point out from our earlier conversation.

  “I don’t want you to be a bad boy, but if you look like one, then that’s okay,” she smiles, leans down and brushes her lips slowly against mine.

  I reach up and cradle her jaw as I sweep my tongue against her lips as she opens her mouth. I hear her intake of breath and then she presses herself against my body as I pull her closer to me. She quietly moans into my mouth as I deepen the kiss and pull her to lay atop of me. With a hand on either side of my face, we kiss for what feels like hours.

  Nydia moves to a sitting position and pulls me up with her. My arms wrap around her back while she sits on my lap still and we continue kissing.

  “I want you,” she mumbles against my lips.

  “You’ve got me, I’m not going nowhere,” I return.

  “Oh yeah?” she tilts her head and smiles.


  “Yeah,” I say while leaning in and fusing our mouths together again.

  At that moment, I feel something change between us. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s almost like Nydia let’s down her walls and lets me in. My hands run the length of her back under her shirt and I press her body against my chest while our mouths are fused together, with our tongues brushing and my heart beating rapidly.

  Nydia pulls back and quickly takes her shirt off, tosses it blindly behind her then unlatches the hook in front of her bra, bearing her ample dew drop breasts. I gaze at her in awe as her soft skin glows underneath the light of the moon. I see her chest moving up and down in quickened breaths before I lean in while cupping a breast and lash my tongue against her hardened nipple.

  Nydia gasps as I pull her breast into my mouth with my teeth and then her hips begin moving on my lap and grinding against my cock.

  I place my hands underneath her ass and change our positions, so I have her on her back and I’m hovering over her.

  “Tell me what you want?” I whisper to her.

  “I want you,” she replies instantly.

  “How do you want me?” I ask.

  “Naked and inside me.”

  She doesn’t have to say another word.

  Chapter Eighty-Six

  I lean up onto my knees and remove my shirt, tossing it in the general direction that her bra and shirt went moments ago. I stand and take off my shoes and then my pants, leaving my boxers on for the time being.

  I move back to Nydia, who is eyeing my chest while licking her lips. I reach over to her hips and tug down on her shorts, bringing her panties down at the same time. She’s bared to me, and when I push open her legs, I can see her wetness glistening, making my mouth water.

  I lay on my stomach and place my body between her legs, kiss the inside of her right thigh and move to the other to repeat the action. I turn my attention to her center and lick up her seam slowly. I spread her pussy lips and flick my tongue against her center and then slowly insert my index finger inside the warmth. I fuse my tongue to her pussy and lick her like I’m starving.