by Lake, Rae B.
A knock on the door startles us from our kiss. I feel his grip on me tighten, and a gruff sound leaves his mouth.
“Mack? Siren?” Maven opens the door slowly and steps inside.
“Oh my god, you’re beautiful!” My eyes open wide as I take in Maven. The same woman who spent most of her time in strip clubs or with a knife at someone’s throat is now standing in front of me in a floor-length black gown and her duo-toned black and red hair up in an elegant twist. The dress she has on is modest as it is long-sleeved and has a high neck, but in true Maven fashion, it has a badass flair to it. The back is cut very low, showing off her gorgeous tattoos and metal studs line the wrist and neckline.
“Huh, that’s the first thing you’ve ever said to me. I guess I’m glad I didn’t cut you in your sleep then.” She winks at me and with a playful smile on her face.
“And I guess I’m glad I didn’t shove your sternum through your chest cavity. All good times.”
She laughs loudly, “Ouch! Can you do that?” She comes closer to me with not one ounce of fear on her face. She’s a strange one.
I nod my head and look away. Killing is never really something I’ve been proud of. Sure, I’m a master at it, but I don’t need to brag.
Maven’s eyebrows furrow for a second, then she looks at Mack and then back to me. “When the fuck did this become a thing?” She points between the two of us. I just realize that Mack and I haven’t moved apart. His arms are still draped around my waist, and I’m still holding onto his arms. It’s a very intimate position. I try to pull away, but Mack just holds me tighter.
“None of your buttons.”
“Guess it would make sense, brother, you picking the baddest bitch there is as the one you want.” Maven shakes her head and then focuses on me, “Well, did he tell you about the event? What do you say? You want to go?”
I smile. It looks like she’s going to a ball. I’ve never gone to a big party or any party really where I would need to wear a dress like that. It seems almost like a fairytale. Then I realize I’m the Cinderella in this fairy tale. I don’t have anything remotely close to appropriate to wear to this party.
“Actually, maybe I shouldn’t.”
“What? Why not?” Maven puts her hands on her hips, her little pregnancy belly sticking out only slightly.
“I could never look like you.” I point to her dress and then subconsciously rub my hands down my jeans. They are the best jeans I’ve ever owned, but surely I can’t wear the same thing to the charity event they’re having.
“Oh, please, is that the problem? We have that all taken care of.” Maven turns around and walks to the door. “Come on, girl. Let’s get this shit on the road.”
I take a step forward before I look at Mack one final time. He laughs before he shoos me on, and my stomach flips at the sound. The man is so fucking sexy.
* * *
Apparently, buying gowns is something that Keeley and Mikki do regularly. Keeley has a gorgeous navy blue gown made for my skin. I was pale, but instead of washing me out, it made it seem like I glowed. It was tight at the top before it fanned out into a light, flowy skirt. Cherry took one pass of the flat iron to my hair, but they left it straight. Maven did my makeup and loaned me a few pieces of jewelry, and within twenty minutes, I went from plain Jane to looking like a damn Hollywood starlet.
When I was done, we came out of the room to a small audience. The men were at the bar waiting for us.
“Well, fuck.” Mack said loud and clear. He was in the middle of what looked like a conversation with Clean, but the minute he saw me, he starts walking toward me. I look quickly at the other people in the room. So far, no one knew Mack is more than my babysitter, and I thought that’s how he wanted it to stay. When he pushes his hand into my hair and aggressively slams his mouth down on mine, it’s safe to say the secret is out.
“What in the hell? When did that shit happen? You’re not scared she going to kill you in your sleep?” Clean asks a million questions behind us, but Mack doesn’t stop.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Keeley pulls Mack off of me. “If we have to go back in there and do this all over again, we are going to be late.
I bite my lip to keep from laughing, but I can feel my cheeks heating up with embarrassment.
Wire comes up to his woman and lovingly smooths down her hair. He kisses her and then leans in to whisper something in her ear I can’t hear, but I can see her body completely relax into his after a second.
Clean lifts Maven off the ground, just enough to bring her lips to his. He places her back down and bends to kiss her stomach. Alex is there for Mikki, and by the way he’s pawing at her; if we don’t leave soon, we may never leave.
“Oh hell, what the fuck?” Maven wiggles out of Clean’s hold. “Where the fuck is Cherry?”
I look around, and sure enough, Cherry and Ryder are missing.
Keeley throws her hands up, “For fucks sake, all of you horny bastards.” She storms off to look for her.
I put my hand over my mouth and laugh. How normal is this shit?
* * *
The Wings of Diablo has rented a small yacht to hold the charity event. I felt completely out of place, but Keeley and the other ol’ ladies made sure someone is with me at all times to talk to me and keep me company. They truly want to take care of me, and it’s a novel feeling.
I dance with them and talk with them, finally feeling like I’m completely coming out of my shell.
On the way back to the port, the blow horn sounds, and the yacht goes dead in the water. Fear springs to the small of my back as the vessel shudders with the sudden stop of power.
“Don’t worry. Captain probably has to wait until someone clears the port. That just means more time to party.” Cherry squeezes my hand and pulls me over to where Keeley and Mikki are. They’re having a pretty heated debate with one of the town hall members about revitalizing the storefronts in midtown. Keeley thinks it should be given to the unemployed, while the town hall member thinks it should be left up to the store owners. It’s impressive how hard this woman fights for other people. I know why everyone loves her so much. I’ve only been around her for a short time, and I’m in awe of her.
“Ladies and gentleman! I’m sorry to disturb you!” A loud booming voice yells over the crowd.
That twinge of fear intensifies. Something is wrong; something is very fucking wrong. I grab hold of Keeley and pull her toward me. Cherry as well.
A large man, one I haven’t seen before, is standing at the bow of the boat, and behind him, a few other men line up on either side. They aren’t dressed for a party. No, these men are dressed for combat.
“I know all of you fine people are here to have a good time, but unfortunately, I’m going to have cut this party a little short.” The man in charge declares.
When he raises his hand and shows a gun, the chaos begins.
“Oh, fuck!” Cherry exclaims, and she starts to move away. There’s too much movement right now, and the last thing we need is to get separated. Plus, we’re on a yacht in the middle of the water. There’s nowhere to go. I hold her tight and keep her with me. Keeley and Mikki stay close to me as well, but Maven left to use the bathroom.
A spray of gunshots echoes through the air, and everyone screams.
“Now we can do this the hard way or the easy way. The easy way is you all just do what the fuck I tell you, and I won’t have to put a fucking bullet in your head. Now get down on the fucking deck, and on your damn knees!” The man yells, and the men he came with fan out into the crowd and begin shoving people down to the deck.
“Wren, I think this is one of them too.” The man in charge looks in the voice's direction. Another guard has a grip on Maven’s arms and is tugging her.
“You stupid fuck! I will cut your fucking heart out.” Maven kicks her feet up in the air, trying to get out of the man’s grip. I look at her and want to tell her to calm down. She’s in no condition to be fighting these men right now.
&
nbsp; “Maybe they just want to rob the ship?” Cherry whispers next to me. I want to believe that’s true. I want to think that, but deep inside of me, I know this isn’t the case. They are here for a specific reason.
“Wren?” The man carrying Maven calls out to him and shows her to him.
“Yeah, that’s one of them. Put her over there with the rest of them.”
The big brutish man walks Maven over to where the rest of us are standing. It isn’t a robbery. They were looking specifically for us.
Keeley stands up straighter and holds onto Mikki’s hand. They are all scared, but none of them cry. Being the wives of bikers tends to harden you right up.
Once Wren has everyone where he wants them, he orders his men to round up the remaining people and take them to the back. There are only about thirty people besides us here, and they would all fit in the main dining area of the small yacht easily.
“Fuck, try to call the boys. Something is up!” Keeley instructs Jazmine, who was hidden behind her and already digging for her phone.
“Shit.” She exclaimed. “There’s no service out here.”
“What can we do. Can we jump?”
“No, we’re too far. We would never make it before they caught up to us.” Keeley replies, looking over the side of the yacht to make sure she’s right.
“I wouldn’t if I were you. You’ll just piss him off more. Wren isn’t the type of guy you want to make upset.” One of the guards warns as he walks closer to us.
“Fuck him.” Cherry snarls but then squeals when a quick flash of light goes off in the back room. There’s a thump and then screaming. More flashes of light and more thumps.
“No!” Keeley screams and tries to run to where the guests were taken. I grab on to her and stop her. If they were shooting everyone else on the boat, then I’m sure they’d have no trouble shooting her. I’ve learned sometimes you just have to pick your battles, and this isn’t a battle we can win.
After a few seconds, the screaming stops, and so do the lights. It’s just them and us now. I’ve killed more than my share of big guys, but they’re more than I can handle alone.
“I’m not a man with a lot of patience, and I don’t like to be double-crossed. I believe disloyal bastards should have fucking circle of hell all their own. The questions I have were meant for your men. I assumed they would be here, playing nice with the town people, letting them see how much of a good group they are. It’s a shame we only found you. Fuck it. I guess you will have to do.”
“Let us go, and we can get them to come to you. Then you can tell them whatever you want to.”
“Oh, we let you go, and they will come to us? I do not doubt that.”
“What the hell do you want from us then?” Maven speaks up.
“I want you to tell your little club that if they don’t start supplying my men with the shit they need again, things will get much worse than what will happen here.”
The tall man walks up to us, and though the words coming out of his mouth tell me he intends to harm us, he carries himself like a perfect gentleman. His suit is perfectly tailored to fit his large frame, and his hair is very curly but cut before it’s too unruly. Even his dark brown eyes seem inviting. His dark skin is smooth, and besides the gang tattoos on his hands and neck, I don’t think I see one visible mark on him.
“What are they supplying you with? We’re just their women. We don’t know anything about what they’re supplying you with.” Keeley speaks again.
“That’s too bad. Crystal Meth, Coke, and Blue Bunny to start. That’s what they’re supplying us with.”
Maven shakes her head, clearly confused. “That’s not us. You’re talking about the Spawns. They’re the ones who have dealings in that shit. Not us.”
Wren crosses his thick arms over his chest and tsks, “Now, I don’t like liars. I’ve personally seen your crew delivering and picking up when it’s time to re-up. Our point person for all the Blue Bunny is Clean, at least that’s what he said his name is.”
Maven’s eyes got huge, and her mouth drops open.
“Now your crew decides they’re no longer going to provide what they agreed to. That won’t do. I have a business to run. You understand, don’t you? This is all business.” He raises a hand and goes to touch Maven, and she snaps her teeth at him.
He laughs heartily before he takes a step back, “Yeah, I heard about you. All of you a bunch of hardasses. I’m sure you’ll all survive this and come out for the better. I have no worries.” He takes a step back.
“You tell Wire and the rest of his boys that he’s got two weeks to re-up all my guys, or what happens today will be nothing in comparison to what I’ll plan for him. Right now, I did promise my boys they could have something as payment for all the grief the Wings of Diablo have caused them in the past few weeks. ”
“You dumb shit! It’s not them. They have nothing to do with that. It’s Rooster and his boys that you need to be messing with.” Cherry screams.
“That’s funny. If Rooster is the one we should be talking to, I wonder who gave us all your information? Sounds like you’ve all been fucking played. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but none of that’s my problem. When you lay with sinners, eventually, you’ll have to deal with the devil.” He looks at his watch and then to the shore. “It’s time for me to get on home. The missus will wonder where I’ve gone off to.” He turns his glare to his men. According to my calculations, there are ten of them and only six of us. Even if I manage to take them down quickly, they are all armed, and they’d take at least one of us out first.
This is why I never get close to people. I couldn’t do anything that would allow them to get hurt. Never.
“Make sure you leave them alive, boys. They need to be able to deliver the message.” With that, Wren makes his way off the boat, and his boys converge on us.
“I’ve never had biker bitch before. I can’t wait.”
“No!” Mikki screams and tries to pull away.
I fight, but it only takes a few seconds before distraction and worry about the other ladies take over. The gun against my head causes me to fall into my numb state. I’ve been here before.
At the whim of madmen. Just another hole for them to fill. It’s the others I fear for. They bind our arms before they start anything else.
“Hmm, this one. I can tell this one is a pro.” One of the men hits Cherry hard in the face, and she falls to the deck hard. With her hands behind her back, she can’t brace herself. He is already on top of her by the time she can turn over and blink. He rips at her dress, and in her stunned state, all Cherry can do is whimper. Lucky her. Mikki and the other girls aren’t that lucky.
Keeley kicks out and screams. “Get off me! I swear to god if you don’t get off of me!” She threatens but tears flow out of her eyes, and her breath hiccups raggedly. Part of me is afraid she will stop breathing. “No!’ She screams once, and her eyes wince shut before she starts sobbing, and I can see the man above her pumping away.
“You fucking parasite. Don’t you fucking touch me. I’ll kill you!” Maven is still kicking away and snarling at anyone who comes near her.
“Oh shit, do you hear the mouth on this one.” The guard who chose to take on Maven asks as he backs up, so he’s out of reach, and she can’t kick him. “I got something to fill it up with.” Another one says behind them.
“Ugh, this one is a dead stick. She doesn’t even cry. What fucking fun is that?” I look up as the man who chose me gets off me and stands over me. I didn’t even feel him enter me. There’s a slight pressure and then a feeling of something moving on top of me, but it’s like my insides don’t even register there’s someone inside of me. Men abusing my body has become almost second nature to me.
“You think you’re tough, don’t you bitch?” He taunts, standing over me.
I don’t respond. It’s usually over faster if you don’t react to them. Most of the time, they get off on watching you beg and cry. They’d get none of that from me.
“Open that dirty mouth, slut!” They yank her head back, and even from where I’m laying, I could tell what she was going to do. I don’t recommend it not when she’s so completely outnumbered, but you can’t take the fight out of some folks.
She opens her mouth, and the one in front shoved his little dick into her mouth. She doesn’t move; she barely breathes, but the second his head lolls back, and he seems into it, I hear Maven growl, and then with a snap of her jaw, she bites down hard on his dick. He squeals in shock before he starts screaming. Blood began pouring out of her mouth as she holds on tight. He whips his hips back and forth. I smile. Maybe he’ll rip his dick off himself. It was evident she wasn’t going to let go.
“Get her off! Get her the fuck off me!” He screeches and whimpers. The rest of the men near them begin to beat on Maven, and before long, she’s being stomped on by at least four grown men, and her hands are tied behind her back. She can’t protect her stomach.
“Stop! Please, she’s pregnant. Please stop!” Mikki cries.
“Pregnancy? We’re not trying to do any of that.” The man flips Mikki over, and I cringe at the blood-curdling scream leaving her mouth. The man chose to sodomize her. Her eyes roll up into her head, and she vomits. When she doesn’t move away and is lying there in her sick, I know she’s in a really bad way.
“Move her face. Please move her face.” Keeley begs weakly. Even being torn to shreds, she’s worried about the rest of us.
“Mikayla!” Jazmine turns from under her attacker and tries to crawl to Mikki.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going. Do you think I’m done with you bitch?” The man roars from behind her, and I try to raise myself at the sight of the large knife in his hand. I can’t get to her in time. The man drives the knife into Jazmine’s back, and it pins her down to the deck. A trembling scream leaves her mouth as she is rendered motionless.
