by Kara Hart
Plus, he was actually nice to me. In this business, that went a long way.
“You work out a lot or something?” I blurted out. I instantly blushed in reaction to my word choice. Really, Hope? He didn't seem to mind, however.
He simply smiled and said, “Why? You like my body?” he smiled, looking as arrogant as can be.
I blushed and looked away. “I don't know. Maybe.” I admitted. I glanced over at Jack and saw him doing a line of nose candy.
“Looks like you're on your own tonight.” he said, still smiling. “Why don't you come by my place later?” he was saying, eyeing me up and down.
“I don't think so…” I said. I barely knew the guy. Just because he was attractive, didn't mean he could just get whatever he wanted.
“Come on…” he whispered. “It's perfect. I'm the hottest guy in the room and you’re the sexiest girl in the room.” the cocky bastard actually said this.
I looked around me and laughed, “I'm the only girl in this room!”
“There're some escorts and strippers too.” he laughed. “Just thought I'd ask, I guess. No pressure. You're just so irresistible. I had to ask.”
I smiled and kept dancing with him. I leaned my head against his chest and smiled, taking in his warmth. It had been such a long time since I felt this. He had an honest desire for me. A woman can tell these kinds of things. And his cocky and arrogant demeanor was honestly a weakness of mine. I couldn't resist.
“Okay. Fine.” I said. “Let's go.”
The next thing I knew, I was on the back of his motorcycle, holding on for dear life as the wind rushed through my hair.
What was I getting myself into?
3
Avery
It didn't take much to get her to come home with me. A few little compliments can work wonders on a woman. She quickly jumped on my motorcycle and I took her back to my place.
“This is it.” I said, opening the door for her like a gentleman. Luckily, I had hired a maid to clean my place.
“Wow, I expected something a little different.” she admitted, wide eyed.
“Like what? Oh, I get it. You thought that because I'm a biker, I would be broke and live in a shack or an apartment, didn't you?” I shook my head. “My, my, my. You're very judgmental, Hope.”
She immediately went on the defensive. “No! Well, I don't know...I guess you're right. I'm really sorry. Never again. I promise.” she put out her hand. I ignored it, waving her along to the living room.
“Come. Let's talk.” I said, smacking her tight butt. By the way she was acting, I could tell she was nervous. After all, here she was at some gear heads house. She knew I was reckless and even though it terrified her, it also was the reason why she came over. As for me, I didn't give a shit about her stupid career in country or pop music, or whatever the hell it was she did. Her music didn't make an impact on me whatsoever. I was here to get the top job. And to do that, I needed a woman by my side.
“So what do you do for a living?” she asked, looking around the place. My house was a two story, complete with three bedrooms. It was a bit much, considering my lifestyle, but I always operated under the phrase, “Live life to the fullest”. In my mind, that meant giving in to a bit of luxury every now and then.
“A little of everything.” I said.
“Sounds … illegal,” she smiled. I could tell she liked this aspect. She was used to living the life of the good girl. I was dangerous. I offered her something different.
“Whoa now, who said anything about illegal? No. I simply handle whatever jobs the boss throws at me. It's like anything else, really.” She creased her eyes as if to say, “I know you're a criminal.”
“Well you seem to be doing well enough. Even if your business dealings are shady.” she said, smiling slightly.
I laughed. “I get by,” I shrugged. “The boss seems to think I need a woman in my life though. He thinks it'll even me out.” I put my hand on her thigh, running it upward ever so slightly. I stared her directly in the eyes and relished in the silent tension that now filled the room.
“Every man needs a woman…” she moaned, gulping slightly. She didn't know what to do, she simply froze up. “Wait. I don't even know you.” She said.
“You think I'm some creep or something? You scared of me?” I said. It wouldn’t be the first time I heard it. Most women were a little scared of a guy like me. And yet, from what I had discovered, I was also a perfect match.
“No…” she whispered, “I just … I'm just always in the spotlight, you know? It's not smart for me to engage in every little desire I have.”
I rubbed my heavy palm against her thigh and leaned over her. “So. You desire me?” I kissed her cheek and she turned away slightly. I could tell she wanted me, she just wanted me to charm her some more.
“Don't put words in my mouth,” she mumbled, looking from my lips, down to the center of my jeans.
“I won't.” I said, my hand moving up and up, toward her core. She was breathing heavily, sighing deeply near my face. “What would you like me to put in it instead?” I asked her, smiling
That did the trick. She opened herself up to me like a flower does for the morning sun. Our lips met and I soon felt her heartbeat quicken against my chest.
“This doesn't leave the room.” She said to me.
4
Hope
Last night was a total blur. I woke up with the sun shining on my face, and I rolled over to cover the blinds. I strained my eyes to see, yawning and checking the time. “Morning sweetie-pie.” A voice said behind me. I felt a strong pair of hands grab my shoulders and start massaging. That's when it all came rushing back to me.
The party, the midnight bike ride around the neighborhood, the sound of Avery’s voice, the feel of his touch… Who was this man anyway?
“Good morning.” I said, pushing him off me. “What time is it? Ugh, Jack’s gonna kill me.” He seemed nice enough, nicer than most guys at least. Plus, he was different. I liked different.
“You'll be fine.” he said. “Come on, I'll make you pancakes.” He got out of bed, his naked body practically glistening against the sunlight. He slid on a pair of jeans over his perfect butt and turned his head to smile. “I see you looking at me.” He said slyly.
I dragged my body out of his bed and made my way to the kitchen. “Last night. Did that really happen?” I asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.
“You're joking right?” He cracked two eggs into a bowl and began beating them to a pulp. “You don't remember?” he asked me.
Oh I remembered. I remembered every bit of what happened.
His heavy breathing and eager fingers twisting at the top button of my pants. He was breathing heavily, hungry for me. He jumped below me and ripped my pants clean off. Not wasting a second, he put his warm mouth around the center of my panties, feeling how soaking wet I already was for him. He pushed them off to the side and ran his tongue in large circles around my lips and clit.
He fed my lips in and slowly pulled back with his mouth. “God, you taste good.” he moaned, devouring my soft and dripping mound. I grabbed his head and forced it forward, as his tongue slid in deeper and deeper. He inserted two fingers inside of me, arching them upward against my g-spot. I pushed up my back, feeling his tongue slid up and down against my clit.
I couldn't believe I was spending my night with someone like Avery. He was the opposite of a normal partner. And yet, feeling him, letting him inside me--this felt so right.
“You sure you don’t want to be with a guy like me?” He whispered. I was stunned. He was making me feel so good. He wrapped his mouth around me and moaned, “I want to make you shiver…”
This, of course, made me completely soaking wet. I couldn’t help but ask for more. “Keep…eating…me,” I managed to say, between each breath. He pushed his fingers in deeper, moving faster and more deliberate.
“Come for me, Hope…” he moaned. “Then I want you to take my throbbing
cock and glide it between your legs.”
“And then what?” I moaned. I wanted to hear more. I needed him so badly.
“You’re going to press against my lap, while I hold you in place. I’m going to give you everything I have. I’m going to hold that ass up, pin you against my wall, and fuck your brains out. I’m not holding back.”
“Yes!” I moaned, grabbing onto his handsome head of hair. I was losing myself to an incredible, life-shattering orgasm. No man had ever eaten me to completion. Avery was more than willing.
The tingling sensation between my legs grew to a state of urgency. I let go of his hair and arched my back, tilting my head backward. “Come for me…” he repeated. I let go of all inhibitions. My orgasm pushed through my body, shaking my very core of being. My stomach, pelvis, and pussy quivered and contracted over his fingers, as his tongue circled around my clit.
And when he let me go, I breathed erratically, trying to make sense of everything. I fell into a trance-like state of arousal. All from his mouth and fingers. My God…
* * *
Avery flipped the pancake from the pan onto the plate. “Breakfast is served.” he said, handing me an orange juice with whisky. I looked at him quizzically. “What?” he asked.
“Whisky for breakfast?” Was he for real?
“You really haven’t lived, have you?” He held up his glass. “Welcome to the club.” he said with pride.
“The club?” I took a small sip of the concoction, feeling the slight woody burn flow into my stomach.
“Courage Crew. Our motorcycle club. Today, you’re a member. Tomorrow you can go back to your normal, boring life, or whatever it is you do in your spare time.”
“I resent that!” I laughed. “But okay. Proud to be accepted into your little club.” He shook his head. If I only knew what joining that ‘little’ club meant, I would have packed up and left right then and there.
In that moment, I felt my pocket vibrate. I grabbed my phone and saw the name: ‘JACK’ flash across the screen. “Shit, it’s Jack.” I said, getting up from the table. “I have to take this.” Avery simply sat eating his pancakes.
“Jack? What is it? This isn’t a good time…” I said, eyeing Avery.
“Hope, I’ve called you over five times! Where have you been? I called your house phone, but you weren’t there.”
“I…” I stuttered, trying to figure out the best lie to tell him. “I’m with a friend. What’s up?”
“Oh, Hope. You didn’t…?” The sudden realization hit Jack right in the face. “You know what? I don’t even want to know.”
“Jack, what’s going on? What is so important that you couldn’t wait to tell me tonight?” I was starting to get worried. Jack never called me this early in the day.
“Are you sitting down? If not, grab a chair, sweetie. This isn’t good news.” I sat down, shaking the phone against my ear. Bad news? What could he possibly have for me as far as bad news goes?
I breathed in deeply, centering myself. I knew this couldn’t be good. “Alright, I’m sitting down…” I said.
“Look, the label CEO retired.” I could hear his reluctance to tell the rest of the news to me. I waited for his explanation as he breathed into the receiver. “The new guy…well, he’s a lot older and set in his ways,” he began.
“Just spill it, Jack!” I screamed. Whenever there was something terrible to tell me, it always took him ages. I really needed to find a better manager.
“Alright, alright. Hope, they’ve decided to part ways with your third album.” He sighed again. “I had absolutely no idea they were going through with this decision, so don’t get angry with me. The songs you sent them aren’t what they’re looking for, Hope. I’m sorry. They simply want to go with someone else.” I dropped the phone onto the floor, shattering the screen. “…Hope? You there? Hope?”
Avery picked up the pieces and pressed end on the call. “What happened?” he simply asked. “Need me to fight someone for you?”
“It’s my label.” I said. “They’re buying me out.” I pressed my hands against my forehead and tried to remain calm. But it was difficult. This was my career we were talking about, not just some small time job. This was everything to me. All of the dance competitions as a little girl, all of the expensive voice lessons…they would all go to waste.
“That’s a good thing, right?” he asked me, taking another bite of syrupy goodness.
“No, Avery. It’s not. Don’t you get it? I’m fired. Done. Career over. Look, I should really get going…” I ran into his room to grab the rest of my things.
“Aw, come on. We’ll figure it out. I know some people in the industry.” he said, trying to console me. He placed his hand on my back. Ugh, that warm and comforting hand. It still sent a pleasant chill down my spine.
“I have to go, Avery.” I turned around and extended out my arms for a hug. “It was nice meeting you, Avery.” Instead of hugging me, he picked me up and placed me gently against the wall, balancing me with his strong thighs He leaned forward and placed his hands around my waist, wrapping his warm lips around mine. I nearly fainted with ecstasy.
I regained my balance as he set me back down and moved the hair out of my eyes. “So I’ll be seeing you again, right?” He asked.
“We’ll see about that.” I said, walking out the door. I grabbed my phone and called a cab.
“I’ll never get used to this view!” he shouted, staring at my ass.
Some types of men never changed…
5
Avery
“Him? He's a complete liability, Bruce. What makes you think he's more fit for the job than me or Adam?” Luke said to Bruce. I kept quiet, trying not reveal just how much I wanted to punch him square in the nose. “Take the drug deal that sent me to prison, for example. That would have never happened if Avery had my back. I’ll tell ya, Bruce. If he gets the job, I’ll have to rethink some things.”
“Settle down, Luke. It's not his fault you got picked up that day. Let me ask you a question. Are you the boss of this crew? Did you start Courage from the ground up?” Luke stayed silent. “That’s what I fucking thought. Shit man, if you weren't such a god damn hot head, maybe I would have considered you for the title a long time ago,” Bruce muttered. He sighed and put his hands flat on the table. “Look, fellas. This is all speculative. I ain't dying any time soon, so get that through your thick skulls. You got plenty of time to impress me and the rest of the guys.” He sat back in his chair and lit a cigarette.
“Thank God for cigarettes. So, Avery. What do you have to say about all this?” The boss was looking right at me. Time to spill my guts: I ain’t paying Luke and I could run this damn crew better than all of our men combined… I didn’t say that of course. But I damn well should have.
He eyed me cautiously. I wasn't about to give in to his tricks. I knew how he operated. “Just glad to be a part of the team.” I said.
Bruce ashed his cigarette and slammed his fists down hard onto the table. “You see?! That's the spirit! That's what this crew is all about. It ain't about no job titles or leadership positions. It's about being a part of the mother fuckin’ team.” Luke frowned and ran his hands through his hair. He glanced at me angrily.
One of the other officers in the room spoke up, changing the subject. “Hey boss, what were you talking about the other day, when you said bad stuff was sure to follow? You got anything to tell us?”
Bruce leaned forward and stroked his beard. He was contemplating whether or not it was a good idea to tell us what he knew. After some time, he decided it had to be done. “Keep this in here, boys. I got word of some shit a couple of days ago. I’ve been ponderin’, trying to figure out what to do. Get this, Bobby Farole is out of prison.”
“What the fuck? You serious, Bruce?” I couldn't believe my ears. “How? He had at least another 20 years left in the can.” I shook my head in disbelief.
Bobby was notorious for his temper. I'm talkin’ worse than Luke. Worse than any ma
n I've ever come across. Pretty much everyone in this ‘business’ were criminals. Everyone knew and accepted that. But Bobby was down right evil. He once scalped a guy for cracking a joke about his weight. That was Bobby. And he never liked our crew all that much.
“Yeah, I’m serious. This probably concerns you the most Avery. He always saw you as a little bit of a go-getter.” He took another drag, enjoying the burn in his throat. “Bobby hates success if it ain’t his.”
“Yeah, I know that. So what’s the plan? We take him out? A set up? We gotta come up with something, Bruce.” I looked around the room as the men nodded their heads. They all looked worried, including Luke.
Angelo, one of the leaders, stood up and started pacing around the room. “We need Adam.” he said. “We need all the muscle we can get.”
Bruce shook his head. “No. We need patience and understanding.” He said.
“Fuck that!” Luke screamed. “He’s a threat to our own security. All our lives are at stake. So what do you all do? You sit around, hope, and pray that we’ll be alright? You all know he’s been planning his revenge since day one in that cell, right?” Silence. “Fuck this.” He pushed the door open and walked out. Angelo stood as if to stop him, but Bruce motioned for him to sit back down.
“Sit down, Angelo. It’s alright. His anger problems…you know how he is. Anyway, my son seems to think he can do whatever he wants. God bless him, he's an entrepreneur. That boy is my kin – no one touches him, here me?” The boys all nodded. Some even lifted their glasses in the air as a salute. No one was going to hurt Adam. The crew all loved him. Not to mention, he always brought bonuses in for his friends. “In fact, let’s just not mention this to him right now, okay?”
