by Deep Pink
Blackjack rolled onto the ground and grabbed the dog in an embrace and the two rolled around on the grass as the dog licked furiously at Blackjacks face. He started to laugh as the dog licked his ear and enthusiastically rolled around with him. Hearing him laugh sounded good to Linda, the joyful guffaws buoyed her spirits. For a moment she forgot about the horrors of the day and just watched Blackjack playfully wrestle with the large Alsatian. The despair and darkness of the day pulled at this moment of joy like an unraveling sweater. Linda could feel a massive weight pressing down on her shoulders as exhaustion took a draining hold of her.
A thick metal door swung open as Blackjack ushered her inside the safe house. The windows all had thick iron bars on them and the door swung behind her with a reassuring clunk. Immediately Linda felt better and realized she had felt exposed in the garden even with the monster of a dog ready to protect her. She had felt that the limping man could pop out in any second with a ghoulish grin and his thin reedy voice declaring “You really think I would have let you go that easily?” She shuddered thinking about him and when Blackjack saw her visibly shaking he approached her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close against him. The steely tightness of his muscles pressing into her felt good, she felt safe and already she could feel something more spread through her limbs. At first it was nothing more than a tiny glowing match illuminating the walls of a dark cave. The longer their bodies stayed pressed together the brighter the flame grew. Her skin prickled under his touch as if an unseen force was coursing through both their bodies. They were twin lightning rods beginning to crack and fizzle from the intensity of each other’s touch. Linda pulled away breaking the embrace. She feared how strongly she had felt while enveloped in his strong arms. “I am here to do a job,” she thought to herself sternly. It didn’t seem to matter as the rational side of her brain screamed to stay in control, to focus on the task at hand. The flood of emotions running through her body at that time was drowning this call to arms out. She couldn’t deny that she was beginning to have feeling for Blackjack, she was scared to pull back the covers and see how deep these blossoming emotions went.
Blackjack looked at her concerned. “Are you ok?” he said switching on the lights in the small living room area.
“I need to clean up, its been a long day,” she said feeling the last of her resolve drain away. If Blackjack swept her up in his arms right this second she would have been powerless to resist, she knew that this time it wouldn’t be the same as the mechanical sex that she had performed earlier. This time it would be full blooded and passionate and Linda sensed the danger in letting herself get pulled into the tidal force of his charms. She could feel the walls pressing in on her and her whole body tingled in anticipation, she needed to get away from him as quickly as possible or she wouldn’t be able to control herself anymore.
“The bathrooms back there,” Blackjack pointed as he sat heavily onto a mottled grey couch, “clean towels are in the room next to it.”
Blackjack was already sleeping lightly when Linda returned to ask him a question. She stood on the other side of the room looking at his chest rise and fall as he slept. Her hands balled into tight fists as she stood there feeling confused and rung out like a dirty bar rag. She had known that this job was going to be dangerous when her chief first talked about infiltrating the gang. What she didn’t know was how quickly she would start to have these strong feeling for Blackjack. It felt like a dream and she couldn’t yet trust the intensity of her emotions. Linda dragged her stare away from Blackjack hoping that a cold shower would take her mind off him. She yearned for him and knew if she acted on it that she was walking a dangerous line.
The shock of cold water on her skin refreshed and awakened her but did nothing to clear her head. The cold water felt like penance for a sin she was about to commit. Linda felt like she was floating above her body as it went through the motions of cleaning her sore and achy limbs. Tales about undercover cops falling for their prey were a dime a dozen around the battered and leaky coffee machine at the back of her office. She had heard every variation of it over the few years of working for the special crimes division. These stories were always told in a tone of voice that denigrated and mocked the cop who had let his heart lead him astray. Some of her fellow cops liked to think they were above that kind of emotionality but the truth was in these high risk situations sometimes love blossomed. Linda refused to use the warm water on her goose prickled skin in a vain attempt to tamp down her feelings. She dried off and slipped into a pair of loose fitting jogging pants cinched tight at the waist and an old t-shirt of Blackjacks.
When she returned to the room Blackjack was sitting wide awake and looking a little refreshed even though he had only slept for a handful of minutes. Linda stood in the doorway intensely aware of her rapidly beating heart and skin that prickled under his gaze. She could feel the tension between them soak into every fixture in the room and inanely blurted out the first thing to come to mind, anything to break up the silence. “The showers all yours.” Blackjack got up and a few seconds later the shower started up. Linda let out a sigh and sunk into the soft couch. She ran through over all the information she had gathered about the gang so far, mentally building connections, crimes, gang structure and property locations. Anything to take her mind off Blackjack, how he looked, how he smelled and they way she had felt when they kissed after their frenzied escape from the pair of murderess psychos. “Stop it,” she said out loud to the room. She could feel her focus slip and shatter on the floor at the sound of her voice. She couldn’t get him out of her mind. All chances of pushing him to a dark corner of her brain evaporated when she heard a noise behind her. She turned and looked. Blackjack was standing there with a towel around his waist. His body was bruised in several spots and his torso glistened in the dim light cast from the bathroom. She could feel her nipples stiffen beneath her t-shirt and a warm sweet heat pulsed between her legs. Linda felt herself rise and walk towards him as if in slow motion. She could make out every muscle in his taut body. His eyes twinkled devilishly as they drew closer. All thoughts of being professional and not getting attached dissolved under the heat of his gaze. Linda felt powerless and deep inside she knew that this was dangerous game she was playing. In this moment she had no way to fight against it. They both stood before each other bearing the scars meted out to them by the horrors of the last few days. Both needing to draw comfort from one another, a need to scream into the void that they had not been bested and they would continue to fight the good fight. Most of all and at its most simplest they wanted each other. The rawness and power of the feeling tore through Linda’s body as Blackjack wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her close.
When their lips touched it was like a super nova being born amidst them. The warm intense pressure of his lips against hers obliterated all fears and doubt. Her lips barely registered any pain from their earlier injuries and his tenderness while he kissed her only increased his magnetism. They hungrily kissed as the electric prickle of his touch sparked across her skin. She could feel him stiffen against her, an incessant steely throb against her body. His hands moved across her exploring the ample curves of her breasts, his rough palms brushing across the peaked hardness of her nipples. Her knees nearly buckling when he began to kiss the delicate skin at the nape of her neck. She ran her fingers through his hair as he kissed her neck and shoulders and with one smooth movement pulled her t-shirt off. Any self consciousness she had was banished as soon as his warm lips engulfed her hard nipple and his tongue flicked across the sensitive surface. Blackjack hooked an arm under her and in a flurry of kissing and caressing he carried her into the bedroom and they fell into a tangled heap onto the bed.
She was on top of him and could feel his stiff cock pulsing against her. She shed the rest of her clothes and sat astride him looking down at him, their gaze unwavering as all the horrors of the day burned away like paper in a fire. He ran his fingers gently across the patch of abrasion along her side. “Does it hurt?”
he said, eyes glistening in the light cast from another room.
“Only when I breath,” she said laughing. The sound of her laughter expanded in the room and at that moment it was what they both needed. All tension broke and Blackjack joined her wincing as his body shook from the force of his laughter. He pulled her in close as the laughing slowly subsided and she felt reinvigorated by his touch. They had been through so much together and she felt a connection that she had never felt with anyone before. The intensity of feeling and emotions coursing through her pushed all other concerns away. They were two glorious pinpricks of light seeking solace in each other and Linda gave in to it completely.
Linda’s back arched as he easily slipped into her. Fireworks exploded in her skull at the initial sensation of his length becoming enveloped in her silken folds. She matched his smooth thrusts with a downward stroke of her hips, each movement sending flutters of pleasure throughout her body. His hand felt powerful as they gripped the soft curves of her ass, adjusting her speed to a slow rhythmic gyration.
Their gaze was locked onto each other, pupils dilating as each sweet thrust brought them ever closer to the peak. When the explosive tendrils of the blue hued orgasm hit Linda her nails dug into the flesh of his shoulder. Her body clamped down on him hard as he was also blasted by the exquisite pleasure of his orgasm. Their limbs entwined and held each other close working as one and feeding off each other’s pleasure until slowly the explosion receded to be left behind by the warm afterglow of physical connection.
Linda lay down beside him and he held her with her head on his chest so she could hear his heart beating. Strong and unwavering it thumped under her touch, the regularity of its beats bringing sleep on quickly. As the grey folds of slumber pulled her down her last thought was, “I’m in trouble. I’m falling for him hard.”
The pungent smell of coffee filled Linda’s dreams as she slowly began to rouse. She spread out in the bed feeling the warm patch left behind from Blackjack and her stomach took a queasy tumble as the night before flashed behind her closed eyelids like a garish neon sign. For a split second she had hoped that last night would have felt like nothing more than a purely physical act on her behalf. No such luck. She had smiled and her skin tingled when she touched the warm patch in the bed beside her. She felt an immediate longing for Blackjack only slightly tinged by fear for how dangerous this could get for her. This is what scared her the most, the fact that she could be falling in… she couldn’t even bring herself to think the word as if doing so would make it all the more real. She told herself only half believing it that she was a professional and she could break through any emotions using brute force methods. That idea quickly died when he walked into the room with two steaming cups of coffee. Immediately on seeing his smiling face Linda couldn’t help but smile back. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest that it hurt. She was sure that he must have been able to hear it thudding away at rabbit like speeds. Her body had betrayed her almost instantly on sight and she knew she was fooling herself. Like a woman who has just got their first foot stuck in quicksand Linda was not aware of how much danger she was really in.
“Feeling any better?” he asked handing her cup of steaming coffee. She drew the covers up around her naked body and breathed in the rich aroma from the mug.
“I’m still a little rough around the edges,” she said reaching out and taking his hand. It was instinctual and primal, she needed to feel his touch. It all happened before reason could enter the room and tell her to be careful. Their fingers knotted together as she stroked the back of his hand. If it was possible to freeze that simple act of connection, the feel of his rough skin against hers, Linda would have tried. It felt like all his layers were visible to her as he held her hand. He was a strong forceful presence who exuded the authority of a true alpha male, it wasn’t some kind of macho posturing or empty swagger that he possessed. He had an old school charm and like a rough hewn diamond contained sharp edges. Linda felt sexy and beautiful under his gaze, her skin tingled as images from the night before flitted through her mind. She could feel herself begun to blush.
“I have to return to the ranch. Some serious shit has gone down in my absence. I’m going to be gone for a couple of days. I’ve left you some money and a phone. You can stay holed up here and relax and take a well earned rest,” he paused for a second and went on, “you can come and go as you please. If I were you I’d keep a low profile in case the cops are after you. Will you be here when I get back?”
Linda didn’t hesitate for a second, “Yes I will.”
Blackjack got up to go and said, “I can’t hang about. I’ll be gone seven days tops. I left everything for you in the kitchen.” He stood up and looked like he was going to say something more but changed his mind at the last second. He kissed her tenderly on the nape of her neck and was then gone.
Linda lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She immediately felt a tug in her heart at his absence. The void that was left behind by him was almost tangible. Everything felt desaturated and muted as if a giant straw had sucked the colors out of her world. She had felt alive and charged when she was beside him and now that he was gone she felt deflated. The weight of his absence and the growing realization that she was out of the loop for now, pressed down on her. Fuck. She now had a week to kill in this place with no way of finding out what was going on with the gang. There was nothing much she could do. She got up and got ready to head out into the world. This week of freedom would give her the chance to call her Chief and give him a progress report. Sometimes undercover cops could go months without getting a chance to make contact with the mothership so she would use her free time to her advantage. Once this week was over it could be a long time before she got this kind of opportunity again as she got pulled in deeper to the murky world of the gang.
After showering and dressing she felt a little bit more alive. Her body ached and was tender all over but thankfully the swelling had started to subside on her bruised face. As promised Blackjack had left her some money. On the kitchen counter he had left an old and battered metal box of the kind used in bank vaults. Linda flipped the lid open and inside was a fat stack of hundred dollar bills, a piece of paper with the code for the gate, a burner phone and a snub nosed revolver. Linda slipped the revolver into her belt buckle, the cold deadly steel against her skin making her feel slightly better. She pocketed a bunch of bills and headed out to find a pay phone.
CHAPTER EIGHT
End Times
The underground car park was accessed at street level through a padlocked door between a bakery and an electronics store. Once inside the first door a short corridor lead to a heavy steel door that was locked. Blackjack unlocked it from a key topped with a black plastic strip. The bunch of keys he held were all color coded, three black keys, three red and three orange. The door swung soundlessly behind him on a pneumatic piston. The air cooled noticeably as the corridor sloped into an open room. Blackjack flicked on the light as he entered illuminating the large space. The car park extended under three of the stores above and had been a completely off the books purchase many years ago. No one in the gang knew he had it. This place was his insurance for that moment when things collapsed around him. He hoped that moment would never come.
In the far corner of the stark concrete room three motorbikes lay covered with a heavy tarpaulin. A thick layer of dust had settled over the tarp. Blackjack walked around the tarp looking for any signs of disturbance since the last time he was here several months ago. Finally happy that nothing was amiss he pulled the cloth back on the first bike. The bike was a classic of seventies American design and built for speed. He ran his hand delicately over the curving metal of the gas tank, the cold chrome reassuring and calming him. He felt like he could actually stop and breath for a moment the tight band of tension on his chest loosened for a brief second and the acrid loop of revenge fantasy stopped playing in his head.
He felt shame at how easily he had been taken down. Taken down by a mere
cripple, a broken and weak man. Everything that he had built over the years felt like it was being ripped to shreds before him. The threads of his way of life, unraveling and unspooling at his feet. For the first time he could remember he felt powerless and it was not something he liked to experience. Amidst the dual attacks on the gang and himself there was one beacon that shone brightly and offered him some hope. Linda Lake. Even at this moment of self doubt he couldn’t get her out of his head, he could smell her on his skin and feel her hands on his body. She was beautiful and strong and fierce and unlike any woman he had meet before. Like him she had been born in the crucible of fire, a person hurt by someone they thought they loved, and like him she was a better person for destroying her tormentor.
When he had left the safe house he had wanted to return immediately to Linda and sweep her up in his arms. His cock throbbed painfully in his tight trousers and his mind was filled with images of her dark limbs wrapped around his shoulders as they made love. He somehow felt lesser when not in her presence like a badly sketched drawing in pencil his edges felt ill defined and fuzzy. When he was around her everything snapped into sharp focus and nothing else mattered to him. Every time she looked at him his heart beat fiercely and thunderously in his chest. It had been so long since he felt anything but lust around a woman. He had closed himself off so as to never feel any real connection with someone, because of this the rush of feelings he was experiencing now was like a bucket of ice water thrown over him, shocking and bracing all at once. For years he had slept with a succession of women that were nothing more than tokens by his side, never anything more than a warm body to screw at the end of the day. He never treated those women badly and most of the time they got more out of the arrangement then him. A lot of them got to live out some sort of fantasy by being by his side. If he was honest with himself they both used each other, no harm no foul. Linda was different, he felt immensely attracted to her and at the same time he could see that she was a force to reckon with. Whatever hell she had gone through with her abusive husband it had somehow not broken her. She had come out the other side hardened and ready to fight for whatever she wanted. He could see that and appreciate it. He had also been forged through pain and hardship and degradation. Blackjack shuddered, he always did when he thought about HIM and his past. It was like black oil seeping into his thoughts and if he allowed memories of the past to seep into his bones and skin coating him in a thick oily residue he felt like he might go a little mad. He pushed it deep down into a dark recess afraid to let any of the oily residue of his past bubble up from below.
