by Jayne Blue
My heart hammered in my chest. Langley sounded legitimately scared. If he was scared, how much danger was I really in? I tried to think, but my brain felt jumbled. I took a slow, steeling breath to collect myself. Panic wouldn’t help me. My constant need to please wouldn’t help me. This wasn’t about Langley or Junior or even Cory. It was about me. I had to do what was best for me.
“Tomorrow,” I said. “That’s the best you’re going to get from me. There’s a diner off 37 just outside of Port Az. Best waffles I’ve ever eaten. I’ll meet you at eleven.”
I heard Langley take a breath, about to say something else. But I clicked the end button. My knees shook as I gripped the railing for support. Just then, the ground beneath my feet vibrated. My heart raced as I looked up and Axle rode up Gran’s winding dirt driveway, sun gleaming off his aviator glasses.
I couldn’t move. I could barely breathe. I wanted to run to him, but I needed to get a grip first. Langley’s words and warnings clanged around in my brain. It would be easy to pretend he hadn’t meant them or that he was just trying to scare me to serve his own agenda. But I’d been in that alley the night Cory died. I’d seen the cold look in Junior DiSalvo’s eyes.
Axle spotted me. Gran had finished with Emily and gave him a wave as she went up the porch steps and into the house. Axle gathered his hair into his hands and tied it back as he walked toward me. I kept my place, gripping the fence. Axle stood on the other side, his expression hard. With the sun at his back, shadows danced across his face.
We stood like that for a moment, him staring into my eyes as if he could see straight into my soul. It stirred me. God, I realized it had been like that since the moment I first saw him. This man had a way of laying me bare with just a glance. I blinked hard as tears threatened to spill. It would be so easy to just steal away into the barn, climb up to the hayloft like we had the other day, and lose myself in the feel of him deep inside me.
“Maya, what happened?” he asked, his voice deep and rough.
I wiped my palm across my face and looked away. If he hadn’t ridden up at that moment, I might have had a chance to process what Detective Langley said and kept it out of my eyes. There was no chance of that now. I pushed back from the fence and headed toward the shade of the barn. I heard the gate creak behind me as Axle followed.
I stood below the rafters; the temptation to climb up into that hayloft and push the world away burned strong within me. But Axle’s hard gaze wouldn’t allow it. The reality of my situation bubbled up inside of me like molten lava. I couldn’t keep it in a second longer. So, I did the first thing Detective Langley warned me against.
“I’m in trouble, I think,” I said.
Axle came to me. He put one hand on my shoulder and crooked a finger beneath my chin with the other. “Maya.”
“Let me get this out,” I said. “Just ... listen.”
“I am.”
I stepped away from him. I went to the ladder and sat on one of the rungs. “I didn’t get fired from Cups. Actually, I didn’t really quit either. Not officially. Something happened. With Junior.”
“Maya, don’t …”
I put a hand up. “I think he might have had something to do with what happened to Cory Kline. You asked me about it once and I put you off. I saw something. That night, I was in the alley. They didn’t know I was there, at least I don’t think. Junior beat the shit out of Cory. Axle, I mean he really wailed on him. They were arguing about something then, I don’t know ... Junior just went somewhere in his head. Then the next day ... Cory ... he turned up dead. On the beach. Axle, I don’t know if it was Junior. I don’t know if Cory was dead when I left that alley. I didn’t think he was. God. If I thought he was, I would have called for help. If I’d called for help, maybe he’d be alive. Do you think he might be? Did I do this? Did I do the right thing?”
I realized I was starting to get a little hysterical. My words tumbled out of me in a stream of disjointed consciousness. Axle finally came to me. He pulled me against his chest and rubbed my hair.
“Stop,” he said.
“I can’t.” I looked up at him. “I told the police everything I knew as soon as I heard about Cory being dead. And now ... oh, Axle, it’s a mess.”
Axle sucked in air hard, flaring his nostrils.
“I was on the phone just before you got here. There’s a detective I’m working with. He thinks Junior might have figured out I went to the cops. He thinks Junior might try to do ... something.”
When Axle stepped away from me, he staggered to the side as if he’d taken a gut punch. As scared as I was for what might be coming for me, I wanted to take the pain I saw in Axle’s eyes away. God, my need to fix other people still flared even now.
Axle turned. His face turned red and a tremor ran through his jaw. Veins jumped in his forearm as he curled both fists.
“Axle?”
He shot me a single look filled with fire and fury. Then he took two strides toward the back of the barn and punched a hole through the wall. Wood splintered. Blood poured from his knuckles as I jumped off the ladder and went to him.
“Axle!”
He shook, every corded muscle twitched. I put a hand on his back and grabbed him by the wrist, trying to pull him away from the wall. His eyes were bloodshot and barely focused as I succeeded in drawing him away. I made him sit on the ladder and grabbed a towel from the bench and wrapped his bloody hand with it.
“Tell me what to do,” I whispered.
Axle squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
“Goddammit, Maya.”
I reared back. “Are you mad at me?”
His eyes snapped open and he ran his good hand through my hair. “No! Fuck. No. I’m not mad at you.”
“Then what? Is Langley right? Do you really think Junior DiSalvo is capable of trying to hurt me?”
Something passed through Axle’s face. He went red again and for a moment, I thought he was about to take it out on the side of the barn again.
“I think he is,” I answered for him. “God. Axle. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I saw him that night. I should have known. Cory just stood there. He stood there and took what Junior did to him. He could have stopped it. He didn’t though. Axle, he took punch after punch and he never lifted a hand to defend himself. I didn’t understand it. But now, after what Langley had to say, I think I do. Cory was afraid of Junior. Of what he might do if he crossed him. He was willing to take a beatdown rather than risk making him more angry.”
“Langley.” Axle’s voice cracked. He pulled his wounded hand away from me and pounded it with his other fist. It had to have hurt, but none of that showed on Axle’s face. He pushed off the ladder and walked away from me. He covered the floor of the barn, pacing with long strides as he tore his hand through his hair.
“You’re scaring me,” I said. “Tell me what to do.”
He froze, turning to me. His eyes were wild. His lips parted as if he meant to say something. Hell, he looked ready to shout it, but he didn’t. Instead, he pressed his thumb to the corner of his eye and let out a hard, labored breath.
“Junior’s dangerous,” he said.
“I know that now. And I know you tried to warn me about him the very first day I met you. But he warned me too. I never told you that. But after you left that night and that thing with his Uncle Frank, he called me into his office and told me he didn’t want any of his girls messing with you or your club.”
Axle’s lips curled into a snarl and he smashed his towel-wrapped hand against the workbench. If it caused him any pain, his face didn’t show that either. “That little fuck. What else did he tell you?”
“That was it. I didn’t know what to think. Obviously, I didn’t think much because after that ... you and I ... I don’t know. I didn’t believe him. When I spent time with you ... Axle, I know you. I know your heart. At least, I’d like to think I’m starting to. Junior’s crazy. I get that now. I just wish I’d seen what he was sooner.”
&n
bsp; Axle searched my face. He came to me; sliding his hand through my hair he held it at the back of my neck. “You don’t know anything, baby.” It could have been an insult, but Axle’s voice broke when he said it.
I put my hand up, encircling his wrist where he held me. “Tell me what to do, Axle. Langley wants me to come in tomorrow. I said I’d meet him at the diner where you took me the other day. I mean, I didn’t tell him you took me there. But it seemed like a good, quiet, very public place. He wants a more detailed statement. I just want to get this over with. Put it behind me. Maybe I shouldn’t have gotten involved, but I am now. The only way I’m going to be safe from Junior is if I can help put him away.”
Axle’s eyes glistened. He gave just a slight shake of his head, then let out a sigh, dropping his hand from the back of my neck.
“Don’t do it,” he said.
“What, meet Langley?”
“Any of it,” he said. “Call him back. Tell Langley you want to retract whatever you told him before. Tell him it was too dark. Fuck, tell him you were just trying to get back at Junior because you were jealous he was paying attention to one of the other girls.”
I took a step back. “Axle, I can’t. It’s a lie.”
“Then fucking lie, Maya. I don’t trust Langley. I sure as fuck don’t trust Junior. These people. Baby. You have no idea what they are capable of. You cannot go up against that asshole. Not yet. Not now.”
“It’s too late,” I said. “Langley isn’t going to let this go. He knows I was there. He says Junior knows I was there. Well, he implied that anyway. Axle, he said Junior might try to hurt me to keep me from testifying against him. Fine. I don’t know these people. This isn’t my world. So, I’m asking you. I’m begging you. Tell me the truth. Do you really think Junior DiSalvo is capable of something like that? What happened with Cory, it was awful. But I don’t know. I don’t think he planned it. This ... coming after me …”
Axle came to me again. He stopped so he could stare at me at eye level. “Yes. Dammit. Yes. Junior DiSalvo is capable of finding a way to hurt you. You shouldn’t ... you can’t trust anybody. Not Junior. Not anyone from Cups. Not the cops. Not even …”
I placed my hands flat on his chest. Axle’s heartbeat hammered beneath my fingertips. “You,” I said. “Baby, I trust you. So, will you help me? Will you help me find a way to put Junior away and keep my ass from getting in deeper trouble than I already am?”
I smiled, going up on my tiptoes. I kissed Axle. Even in my distress, his body heat seared through me. His lips ignited that now familiar, overwhelming desire. He stayed still as stone at first, then Axle seemed to melt beneath my touch. His arms came around me, lifting me off my feet. My head swam as he took a few steps forward, pressing my back against the wall of the barn.
Almost on instinct, I lifted my legs and wrapped them around his waist. God, I needed him. The desire to have him inside me burned through me so intensely I could barely breathe. He felt it too. Axle’s breath came in quick pants. He pressed his good hand against the wall and held me up with his other arm.
I did all the work; tearing at his belt buckle, I freed him from his jeans. His cock was huge and hard, throbbing for me. I was on fire. Moisture pooled between my legs. Axle shifted his posture just enough so I could drop my legs for a moment and pull my shorts down.
Then he was in me. Grunting, he thrust inside of me quick and deep. I came almost at once, my heart pounding in time to the rhythm he set. He fucked me so hard, the barn wall shook.
“Fuck,” Axle whispered against my temple. He came just as quick. It was raw and dirty and something we both needed. Everything else felt so out of control. But this ... us ... it was mine and I could take it. We both could.
As soon as Axle spent himself he let go of me. His eyes were hooded, half-crazed with the lust he felt. He pressed his forehead against mine as he refastened his jeans.
“I swear to God,” he whispered, breathless. “No matter what it costs me, I’ll keep you safe.”
Then a single tear fell down his cheek.
Chapter 17
Axle
We were well and truly fucked. I’d sworn a blood vow to my club ten years ago, the day I earned my patch. Today, I swore a different vow to Maya, sealed with sex and my heart. Both places felt like home. The club was my family. A part of me could step back, look at the risk we faced. If it were anyone else, it’s not something I would have questioned. Junior DiSalvo could bring the whole operation down. He knew enough about our businesses to connect the dots for the Feds. The gun running, the protection along the docks. We’d done enough of his family’s dirty work over the years to make shit even more complicated.
But now, Maya felt like home too. I could lose myself in her. Hell, I had lost myself in her. She gave me back a little piece of my soul that I thought I’d never get back. I’d never known I wanted it back or how good it could feel. She gave me something to look forward to. I’d never done that before. I’d never looked beyond the day because I never assumed I’d get a tomorrow. Sometimes that’s the price you pay for running like I did.
Two days ago, I’d lied to the club for Maya. Yesterday, I’d lied to her for the club. I just prayed I could find a way to save them both without losing either one.
“You gonna tell me what’s going on?” Gran took me off guard by asking. She had Maya busy in the garden now. It was just the two of us in the kitchen.
I put an arm around Gran and kissed her forehead. “Ain’t nothing going on, Gran.”
“Bullshit. I know you. You’ve been hiding out here. Or more to the point, you’ve got that girl hiding out here. She doesn’t even know it, does she?”
Crossing one foot against the other, I leaned against the kitchen counter. She knew better than to ask me these kind of questions. I had to assume her growing fondness for Maya was the root of it. For that, I couldn’t fault her.
“There’s some heat back home. Yes. But I’m going to take care of it and that’s all you need to know.”
Gran wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and flung it over her shoulder. “You sure about that?”
“Yeah. I’m sure. How many times I gotta tell you, the day comes it’s hotter than I can handle, you’ve got your bug-out bag packed.”
“Well, shit, Axle. I wasn’t worried until just now. You’re a terrible liar when it comes to me. You always have been. She’s scared of something but I get the distinct feeling it’s the wrong thing.”
Dammit, she was good. I never could put anything over on Gran. It was one of the reasons I didn’t come around as much as I used to. The less exposure she had to the shit clinging to me on a weekly basis, the better.
“She doesn’t need to be scared of anything. Neither do you.”
Gran set her jaw to the side and rolled her eyes. No way she was satisfied with that answer, but she didn’t press. Shaking her head, she stepped around me and went to the sink. She had a colander full of strawberries she’d rinsed. She set about slicing them, keeping her back to me.
I kissed her again and she swatted at my head. Laughing, I left her to her slicing and headed out to the garden. That was one tough conversation. Now it was time to have another.
Maya squatted in the garden. She wore a faded yellow t-shirt that was a little bit too big on her. It had a deep vee at the neck and I could see the swell of her tits. They were tanned from our time at the beach the other day. My dick tightened again thinking about her sweet, cherry-colored nipples. She wore faded, cut-off jean shorts and tennis shoes with no socks. Her hair was piled high on her head; a few loose strands framed her face making her look like she had a halo. My angel. Only my darkness had touched her once and might threaten to touch her again.
Maya wiped her forehead; her work glove left a streak of dirt across her nose. She shielded her face from the sun as I approached.
“Everything looks good out here,” I said. Gran wanted her to prune the tomato plants and check for worms. Maya had finished that and set about p
lanting some marigolds for her in the spare patch of earth on the other side of the fence.
“Thanks. Who knew I had a green thumb? Back home I can barely keep a cactus alive in a pot.”
I squatted next to her and picked up a trowel. While Maya worked a plant out of the flat Gran brought home, I dug a hole for it.
“I think you belong out here,” I said. “You’ve taken to it.”
Maya looked pensive. She stared out at the expanse of wheat growing on the south side of the barn. A shadow came into her eyes and I’d been around her enough to know that happened when she thought about home. She should go back there. I knew it in my heart. Maybe she never should have left. Telling her she belonged here with me in Port Azrael or even in Perfect on my grandmother’s farm wasn’t fair to her. God, everything about this wasn’t fair to her. Only I wasn’t strong enough to tell her the truth. Not yet. Not until I could figure out a path around it.
“It got bad,” she said. “When I left.”
I stabbed the trowel into the dirt. She hadn’t told me very much about her life back home. Just that her father made a hobby out of thumping her mother now and again. She’d sworn he’d never laid a hand on her personally. Even thinking he or anyone else might have made the blood roar in my ears. I would kill him. I knew that with absolute certainty. If any man ever tried to lay a hand on this woman, I would kill and die to protect her. I blinked hard, not quite able to finish the thought about what that might ultimately mean.
She must have seen something pass through my face because she leaned forward and put a gentle hand on my knee. “Not me,” she said. “I told you that before. My father never hit me. It’s just the two of them. My whole childhood was a war zone with them. It was like they always found the path of most resistance, whatever the conflict was.”
“You said he hit her.”
She nodded. “Yes. And my two oldest brothers. He stopped when they got old enough to hit back. It was better for a while. Then it wasn’t. He hasn’t been physically abusive with her for years. But they find other ways to torture each other. It’s when I told her I was thinking about going away to school she turned on me. She said I didn’t love her enough and that I’d always favored my father. I don’t even remember what I said back. I don’t think it was anything bad. I’ve replayed that in my head a thousand times. I don’t think I said anything bad. I just didn’t change my mind.”
