Rough Rider

by Harley Fox

  I clench my fingers again the painted brick wall as pleasure overwhelms me. I feel myself tighten around him and ecstasy spikes up out of my pussy and all throughout my body. Jake moves fast, hammering into me. He holds me tight as his grunts and heavy breaths only succeed in turning me on more.

  The hand on my side snakes up and over my stomach, bunching my blouse up, twisting it. He moves up further and grabs one of my breasts. I suck in my breath and clench tighter over him. He counters by slamming his hips up into my ass and dirty shock waves of pleasure reverberate in my loins.

  Jake doesn’t stop as I feel my body rising up. He drives harder into me and suddenly I can’t breathe. Just outside the door are people’s voices as they pass by, so close, completely oblivious to what’s going on. Thick pleasure washes over me and I clench my fingers into fists. Now my pussy can’t stop tightening around his big, thick cock.

  And he drops his hand from my breast to between my legs and onto my clit and suddenly it’s all over.

  My entire body seizes and shakes as I scream out loudly against his hand. My orgasm comes on so sudden and so strong that it feels like I’m going to force Jake out of my pussy. But he keeps himself there, fucking me harder still, until his own growl escapes out of his throat and he shudders, releasing himself inside of me.

  I flood with his warmth — not just in my pussy but all over. Jake keeps pounding into me, his jism shooting up so hard I can actually feel it hitting inside of me. The hand on my mouth tightens and our bodies tense one last time, until finally I’m finished and we’re both finished and we slow down and stop.

  Merryn

  I breathe deeply, pulling in long, heavy breaths. Jake, still throbbing inside of me, holds me a moment longer, his hand wrapped around my middle, his stomach pushing into me as his pulse moves throughout my body.

  And then he lets go and I feel him slide out, and a shiver of disappointment trembles through me. I hear the sound of his belt and zipper as I slowly push myself back from the wall. Shaking, my hands reach down to pull up my panties, straighten out my skirt. I turn around on wobbly legs and look at Jake.

  He’s breathing deep through his nose and is watching me. His expression … it’s unreadable. His blue eyes seem to penetrate mine and I feel caught. I want to say something, ask him what he’s thinking or feeling, or else tell him what I’m going through, if I could put it in words at all.

  But then he takes in a breath and says, “Let’s go,” before turning and walking back out through the Employees Only door.

  I watch his retreating back disappear behind the slowly closing door before following, stepping back out into the large open space of the plaza. Jake is already several steps ahead of me and I have to hurry to catch up to him. I see some of the people turn their heads and look at us, and I feel like they know what we just did. But for some reason, instead of making me feel shy or ashamed, it gives me a sense of strength. Like I had the guts to do something they’ll never do. I reach Jake’s side and keep pace beside him.

  The trip to the grocery store ends up being strange simply for how un-strange it is. Jake hardly talks to me, the only words out of his mouth being when he asks me if I have any allergies. We pick up some vegetables and tomato sauce, along with some ground beef. At the checkout line, standing next to one another, I feel strangely domestic — as though Jake and I are a couple picking up food for dinner, instead of a woman and her captor having just fucked after stealing a gang member’s gun.

  Jake pays for the groceries and we leave the plaza and walk back to his apartment. He unlocks the door and we go in and walk upstairs, and Emily comes out to meet us with her camera hanging around her neck.

  “You two took a while,” she points out, and I turn my head as my cheeks burn.

  “The store was busy,” Jake responds as he goes into the kitchen. I hear the rustle of the plastic bags and my stomach rumbles. I realize I never had any lunch. Plus, good sex means a good appetite.

  Emily walks over to the dining table and pulls out a chair, sitting down.

  “Merryn, you said you’re staying here for a day, right?”

  “Um, yeah, I think so,” I tell her. I walk over and perch myself on the back of the couch, dropping my purse onto the cushions. “Actually, I think I’m going to be here for a couple of days.”

  To my surprise, Emily nods as she takes the camera from around her neck.

  “What did your job say when you told them about it?” she asks, pointing the camera around the living room and looking through the viewfinder.

  I blink. I’d never thought of that. I’m not going back to work today, or probably tomorrow.

  “Um, I haven’t told them,” I tell her, and Emily lowers the camera, raising her eyebrows at me. “But I probably should.”

  She gives me a smile and a shrug and then goes back to her camera. I reach back behind me and grab my cell phone out of my purse. Dropping it back down I look around for a private place to make the call, but there really isn’t one.

  “Um,” I say to Emily and she looks up again. “Do you mind if I use your room to call my work?”

  “Sure,” she says, going back to her camera.

  “Thanks.”

  I get up and walk down the hall into Emily’s room. Closing the door almost all the way shut, I sit down on the edge of her bed and scroll through the contacts list on my phone. Who do I call? I ask myself. I don’t want to bother Will, and HR would just ask me weird questions. I bite my lip. I guess I should call Craig.

  So, my gut clenching already, I scroll to Craig’s number and dial it, then hold the phone up to my ear. The line picks up after a few seconds.

  “Merryn,” comes Craig’s voice.

  “Craig, hi,” I say into the phone. “Um—”

  But he cuts me off. “You’d better have a good reason to be gone this long,” he says. I close my eyes and breathe.

  “Something came up,” I tell him. “I’m not going to be able to come back to work today.”

  “What?” he says, furious already. “What the fuck did you do this time?”

  “I didn’t do anything,” I say. “It was … these guys. They came to the shop with guns. And then Jake, the guy you told me to come see, said I needed to get the car repainted so I could leave safely.”

  “Wait, wait,” Craig says. “What? What happened? Did you say they had guns?”

  “Yes,” I tell him. “These guys came by with guns. They were part of a gang.”

  Craig’s silent for a moment.

  “A gang?”

  “Yeah, Jake called them the Slingers,” I say. “Craig, I don’t know why you sent me here on my own. This is a really bad neighborhood.”

  “Were … was there another gang there too?”

  “No, just them,” I say. “But they were mad because Jake’s a member of another gang.”

  “Which other gang?” Craig asks, and I furrow my brow.

  “The Chains,” I tell him. “But Craig, this has nothing to do with me not being able to come back in to work. I told you, I’m stuck here for, like, two days.” There’s silence on Craig’s end. “Craig? Are you there?”

  “Yeah. I’m still here,” he says.

  “Okay. So … anyway, I’m stuck here. Jake’s getting someone to repaint the car but until that’s done …”

  “That’s fine,” he says, and his voice sounds kind of distant. “Just … take your time and come into work when you can.”

  Now my brow really furrows. This doesn’t sound like the Craig I know. Maybe he can tell this is a serious situation?

  “Okay,” I say again. “And the car—”

  “The car is fine,” he tells me. “Just come back when you can. Thanks for calling.”

  And then the line clicks in my ear and when I look at my phone I see the call’s been ended. Craig hung up on me.

  That was weird, I think, and I glance at the door. The sound of things cooking floats in from the kitchen. I should let Lindsay know what’s going on too, I
think. So I open up my text messages and find her name. Pulling up the on-screen keyboard I begin typing:

  -Hey Lindsay, don’t freak out but I’m not coming back to work for a couple of days.

  Her response comes half a minute later:

  -What? What are you talking about?

  I take a breath and type:

  -Okay, I’ve got some news. Prepare yourself.

  I begin to tell her everything over a series of texts, starting with how my mystery man last night turned out to be the guy I came here to see and ending with the extremely unexpected sex we just had in the plaza. When I’m done she writes:

  -Oh. My. God!!!! Merryn that’s crazy!

  I reply:

  -I know. I’m still kind of convinced this is some strange dream.

  She writes:

  -Well thanks for letting me know hon. And keep me updated okay! I want to know everything!

  I smile.

  -I’ll try my best.

  Delicious smells begin to reach my nostrils and my stomach growls.

  -Okay I gotta go. Jake’s cooking lunch and it smells ready.

  She replies:

  -He’s cooking you lunch?!? OMG swoon! LOL Okay bye hon!!!

  I smile again.

  -Bye.

  Then I get up from the bed and leave the room to join the others.

  When I pass by the kitchen it’s empty, so I keep going to see Jake at the dining table serving out plates of pasta with sauce. He looks up as I appear.

  “There you are,” he says without smiling.

  “I just had to call work,” I say, holding up my phone. I walk over to the couch and slip it back in my purse, then sit down in front of my plate of delicious-looking food. Emily’s already begun and my stomach growls as Jake sits down too.

  “This looks amazing,” I tell him with a smile. “Thank you.”

  He looks at me and our eyes meet, and once again his expression is unreadable. But for a fleeting second I feel like I see a smile, or at least the ghost of a smile, just at the corners of his lips.

  “It was nothing,” he says, dropping his eyes again. “Just pasta and sauce.”

  “Still,” I tell him. “I really appreciate it.”

  He doesn’t say anything and the only sound is of Emily slurping up her noodles. So I pick up my fork and twirl up a tangle of spaghetti.

  There’s no conversation between us as we eat, but even if there was I don’t know if I’d participate. At my first mouthful I find myself so ravenous I can’t stop eating. The meal tastes amazing, and when the plate’s empty I feel so much better than I did before.

  “Want any more?” Emily asks me, her plate still half-full, but I shake my head.

  “No, that was great. Thanks.”

  She nods and keeps eating, Jake doing the same. Soon enough they both finish and Emily and Jake both stand up, Emily grabbing her crutches from the wall. Jake takes my plate and stacks it on top of his. I feel compelled to stand as well.

  “Your turn to do the dishes, kiddo,” Jake says to Emily, and she nods.

  “Can I help?” I ask, and Emily shrugs and nods.

  “Sure,” she says, walking into the kitchen. Jake and I follow.

  Jake drops the plates off on the counter and then leaves without a word. I was hoping he was going to help as well, watching him go. Emily seems to read my mind as she rolls up her sleeves.

  “Jake’s kind of quiet most of the time,” she tells me. I nod and Emily turns on the tap, plugging the sink up and squirting in some soap.

  I go to find some Tupperware to put the rest of the spaghetti in as Emily begins cleaning up the dishes. As she stands at the counter I surreptitiously watch her from behind. I see how she keeps her arms in the crutch bands to stay balanced. Her legs bend out at strange angles and keep her upright, the way a child’s drawing of a tower would keep itself from falling down.

  Pain and sympathy fill my heart for the girl. I still can’t believe PharmaChem would have done something like this — to a baby, no less! With the leftovers put away I grab a dish towel and take a place beside Emily. She smiles at me as I start drying the dishes.

  “So you’re in summer vacation right now, is that right?” I ask her.

  She shakes her head.

  “No, I actually graduated this year,” she says. I raise my eyebrows.

  “Wow, congratulations! What school did you go to?”

  “I didn’t go to a school. I did the last two years online.”

  “Oh,” I say, nodding. “Wow, I … didn’t know you could do that.”

  Emily nods. “Yeah, you can do anything online. I’m actually thinking of enrolling in an online college for this September. Maybe for photography.”

  “You wouldn’t want to go to a real college?” I ask, but she looks at me sideways before dropping her gaze back to the dishes.

  “No …” she says. “No, I think it would be better if I did it online.”

  I hear a knock at the front door, followed by Jake’s footsteps going to answer it.

  “Why?” I ask. “Is it because you’re on crutches?”

  Emily’s cheeks color a bit and she shrugs.

  “I don’t know,” she says. “I just think it would be easier to do it online.”

  She keeps washing the dishes as I look at her. I lean over and say in a soft voice, “You know, Emily … sometimes the easiest choice isn’t the best one to make. Wouldn’t you rather be around classmates, people your own age, learning with them instead of doing everything behind a computer screen?”

  Emily is silent for a moment. Her hands sit in the soapy water, not moving. And then she looks at me and I swear she looks scared.

  “What if they hate me?” she asks, her voice sounding choked. “What if they hate me because of how I look?”

  “Then you show them that you’re more than just your body,” I tell her. “You show them you’re smart and wonderful, and that you have so much more than what’s on the outside.”

  Jake appears in the doorway and clears his throat, and Emily and I turn to look at him. His eyes flicker over both of us for a second before resting on me.

  “We have to go,” he says in a flat voice. I blink at him.

  “What?”

  “Chains meeting. Let’s go.”

  “But Jake, I’m not—”

  “This concerns you,” he says. “Now come on. They’re all waiting.”

  He leaves and I’m left staring at the doorway. I look at Emily and she shrugs.

  “You’d better go,” she says. “I can finish up here.”

  “Okay,” I say, and I put down the dish towel. I start to leave the kitchen but Emily’s voice makes me stop.

  “Merryn?” she says, and I turn around to see her looking at me. “Thanks,” she says with a smile, and I swear it’s one of the most beautiful smiles I’ve ever seen. I give her one in return.

  “I’ll see you later,” I tell her, and I turn to leave the kitchen.

  Jake is standing by the top of the stairs, wearing the same leather jacket as when I first saw him. My heart skips in my chest and it’s an effort not to stare.

  “Let’s go,” he says.

  “Let me just get my purse,” I tell him, veering toward the couch. I pick it up and sling it over my chest, then I follow him down the stairs to the front door. Outside there’s another guy in a similar leather jacket standing by his motorcycle, waiting for us. We stop in front of him and the guy looks me up and down.

  “This her?” he asks, and Jake nods.

  “Sal say what the meeting is about?”

  “No. Just that it involves her.”

  Jake nods again and then both men turn away, heading toward their respective bikes. I don’t move.

  “Wait a minute,” I say, making them turn back around. “What involves me?”

  “We don’t know,” the guy tells me. “That’s why we’re going to the meeting.”

  “Well … what if I don’t want to go?” I ask.

  �
�That’s not really up to you,” he says. I look over at Jake but Jake just stares at me, his expression once again unreadable. I turn back to the guy.

  “No, then,” I say. “I’m not going. You can’t make me do anything I don’t want to.”

  “Look, lady,” the guy says, stepping forward, but Jake puts a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He shakes his head at the guy and he shrugs and turns away, back to his bike. Jake looks at me.

  “Merryn. Don’t go making any trouble. You’re going to be safe. I’ll make sure of that.”

  “I don’t want to go if I don’t know why I’m going,” I tell him. He stares back at me, his eyes boring into mine. Then he gives a sigh.

  “Please,” he says in a low voice — so low that only I can hear it. The other guy has straddled his bike and is watching us.

  I glare at Jake a moment longer and then say, “Fine.” Jake looks somewhat relieved and he turns back to his friend.

  “Let’s go,” he says, and Jake and I walk over to his bike. I feel the other guy watching me as we climb on, Jake in the front.

  “Hold onto me,” is all he says before he kicks the engine to life, the roar of it filling my ears. I immediately wrap my hands around Jake’s hard stomach and can only just lace my fingers together before we start forward, riding with the other guy down the alley toward the street.

  I have to grip hard with my thighs in order not to slip off the seat. We turn out onto the road and begin to go faster, dodging in and out of traffic, zooming ahead of the cars beside us. The ride is scary, and I’m certain we’re going to crash at any moment the way Jake is riding. But part of me feels exhilarated too. I tighten my hold on Jake’s stomach.

  Finally we reach a run-down looking bar called The Chain Gang and pull up out front. When the engine of the motorcycle dies I feel my entire body buzzing. I let go of Jake and climb off, trying not to shake, determined not to show any weakness.

  The two men go through the front door of the bar and I follow them inside. Immediately I feel out of place. Everybody is wearing the same leather jacket as Jake, and they all look like they just stepped out of a James Dean movie. There are women there in leather jackets too, which surprises me, but watching them I see they look as tough as the men. Jake brings me through the crowd where people turn to look at me and up to the bar. Heads turn to watch us, making me feel like I’m on display.