Beauty and the Bad Boy

by Scarlett Dupree

  I dropped the washcloth in the water and wrapped my arms around her to lift her up and settle her onto my thighs. Her ass was right on my erection, and she wiggled her hips just enough to make me clench and groan. She put her feet on the floor of the tub, just outside my legs, and lifted up. She reached between her legs to hold me steady, and slid down on me. She made a sexy little moan and rolled her hips as she settled onto my thighs. My toes curled.

  I was fully sheathed in her, and I flexed my hips back and forth to make her gasp. I pulled her back against me; she arched her back. She lifted her arms behind her to loop around my neck. I wrapped an arm around her, settling my hand on her breast. I slid my other hand between her legs and fingered her clit. Her muscles constricted around me so strongly that I had to hold my breath.

  And then she was moving on me, rocking back and forth, using her strong legs for leverage. She caught a rhythm, and all I could do was try to keep up with her. I tried to keep my hands on her and match the tempo of my fingers with the tempo of her body.

  She was moaning, moving faster and faster. Water was sloshing over the sides of the tub. She had her fingers in my hair and was pulling. Her head was on my shoulder; I turned to press my lips to the scar on the side of her head.

  "Fuck, babe, you feel so good." I worked her breast and her clit. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to wait for her. I tried to think about something else, something distracting, but the feel of her wet body moving all over me consumed my every thought.

  And then she was coming, crying out, surging on me. She instantly sat up and leaned forward. My hands fell to her hips and grabbed on. She screamed and bucked on me hard and fast. I came, groaning, pushing and pulling on her hips, finally sitting up to curl over her back. I bit down on her shoulder. Holy shit.

  Spent, I fell back against the tub, bringing her with me. I wrapped my arms around her. We lay there together until the water got cool, then we got out, finished packing, and headed out for our romantic, steamy trip.

  Chapter Twenty

  Dakota

  We spent two glorious days and nights in a cabin at the Tetons, but the real attraction to the trip was the ride itself. We'd taken two days for the ride there and two days back. Sitting a motorcycle for six or eight hours a day has its challenges, but I had loved every second.

  Only when he was actually inside me did I feel closer to Jake than when I rode behind him, my arms wrapped around him, his hips nested with mine, my chest pressed against his back. I loved the feel of his muscles moving as he maneuvered the bike. I loved the sensation of being sheltered by his broad back.

  I spent the whole ride horny as hell. I wasn't the only one. In fact, Jake pulled off in isolated areas twice the first day and again on the second day, and we'd gone at it on the ground, just out of sight of the highway. The trip back was much the same.

  Best.

  Road trip.

  Ever.

  But it had to end. The summer was almost over, and I had a new semester coming up. Jake was starting to stress about being out of touch with the gang. Our life in Shadowbeach was waiting for us. On the ride back, we stopped at a truck stop just west of Reno, talking lightly over lunch about our plans when we returned.

  "How would you feel about having Dixon and Tiffany over tonight or tomorrow to open the presents with us?" he asked before taking a mouthful of his burger.

  "Sounds great. Tomorrow, though. I just want to be quiet at home with you tonight."

  I squeezed his hand. After a few bites of his burger, he said, "I'm going to have to have a talk with Pops soon. He's been by himself too much lately. It's making him weirder than usual."

  "Do you think it's gang stuff?"

  "Yeah, it is. But whatever it is, I'm not in the loop. Which fucking pisses me off." He huffed an irritated laugh. "We must be getting close to home. All this shit is coming back on us."

  I sighed and pulled my phone out of my pocket. "Guess it's time to turn this on, then."

  I had several messages from both Dixon and Tiffany. I put the phone to my ear and listened to the first one. I let Jake replay it, and then he turned his own phone on and checked his messages. By the time we'd heard them all, Jake and I had settled our bill and were rushing to the bike.

  Someone had attacked Tiffany.

  ***

  Tiffany's hand was in a huge cast. It had been badly mangled. She was at the hospital. I took one look and ran to hug my friend. “Oh my god, Tiff.” Dixon pulled Jake out of the room. I sat with Tiffany for over an hour before Dixon came back. He kissed Tiffany on the forehead.

  "Where's Jake?" I asked Dixon.

  Dixon looked serious and very angry. "He left to do something. I'm gonna have to go too, babe." Tiffany nodded. It was odd that Jake hadn't told me himself, and Dixon was definitely hiding something very important. But my focus was on Tiffany, and it didn't really occur to me to worry that anything more might be wrong.

  But something more was definitely wrong. A day later, Tiffany announced Dixon and her were leaving the Fire Birds. They were leaving Shadowbeach, and Jake was angry and desperately hurt. Over the next couple of days, he kept me at a distance. He mainly stayed away from home. I went to bed alone for two nights. He came home late and came to bed the first night, but he didn't touch me. He was out early the next morning. He didn't come home the second night.

  I tried to get him to talk about it that first night, but he rebuffed me, and I didn't push. I felt like I should push, but I remembered San Diego and did not. I told myself he'd talk when he was ready. Then I told myself he'd come home to me when he was ready.

  When Tiffany was cleared to go home from the hospital, I left a message for Jake that I was going to help Tiffany. I hadn't actually seen him in more than a day. I knew he was okay, because I saw Dixon at the hospital, and he'd seen Jake.

  When the afternoon of Tiffany's discharge day was stretching towards evening and she still hadn't been signed out, I went to track down someone with paperwork. When I came back, Weston was leaving Tiffany's room. He nodded curtly at me and walked past. His face was badly scratched and bruised. I stood in the hallway and watched him go. What the hell had been going on while we were away?

  Tiffany was tense and really upset. She was crying and shaking, trying to pack her stuff with one hand. I helped her. "Is everything okay, Tiff?"

  "No! Of course it’s fucking not.” She looked at me and instantly I could see she regretted her outburst. “I’m sorry, D… I… I’m getting the fuck out of this town…"

  I put my hand on Tiffany's good arm. "Can you tell me what's going on?"

  Tiffany shook her head. “I–” Dixon came in just then and kissed Tiffany on the cheek. He gave me a hug.

  "Hey, Dakota."

  "Hey. Is Jake with you?"

  "He still hasn't called you? Damn. Sorry, Dakota… He went up to the cabin to check on Pops. Are you okay?"

  "Yeah. Rough week."

  "No shit… Dakota, let me take you home. Just wait at yours for Jake to come home to you. Let him tell you what’s going on. Okay?”

  “Okay,” I sighed. I knew neither Dixon nor Tiffany could let me in on what was going on. I was Jake’s Birdy. It had to be Jake. That was the Fire Bird way, and I had to respect that principle. After all, I was one of them now.

  ***

  I nearly went crazy at home waiting for Jake. I had no idea what was going on. It was now nearing midnight and I didn't know what Jake was doing. I couldn't reach him.

  I wanted to go to Pops’s cabin. It was the last place I knew he had been. But I was afraid to leave; I wanted to be sure to be home for him.

  As I paced through the house, I kept passing the big stack of wrapped gifts. The Birdy ceremony seemed like an eternity ago. Eventually, sleep overcame me as I lay on the couch, but I was woken up by a phone call.

  It was Weston.

  He wanted me to come to Pops’s cabin. He had said it was about Jake and that it was urgent. God, why hadn’t Jake rung me? Was he hurt
? I couldn’t lose him. He was my life. He made me whole, again.

  I took Indie and made my way up to the cabin as fast as I could. The drive up had been complete mind torture of all the possible bad shit that could have happened to Jake.

  Once I arrived, I parked up outside the cabin and stepped out before taking in the surroundings. It was too dark to see much but I could see a light coming from in the cabin. I could vaguely make the outlines and shapes of Jake and Weston’s bike parked outside. Jake...

  My heart was racing and it wouldn’t stop until I saw Jake alive and well. I had no idea what Weston was doing here, or why he needed me here. He had been vague on the phone, hanging up immediately before I had a chance to ask for more information on Jake’s state of being.

  And I was petrified. I was more petrified than when I had bullets flying towards me. I didn’t know why, but I sensed real danger inside.

  The door was slightly ajar, creaking in the passing wind. I placed my hand on the wood and pushed slowly.

  I could see Jake. He was alive. Thank God! But… Jake wasn’t moving. He was fixed on something ahead of him.

  The firelight from the fireplace highlighted Jake’s portrait. His face was raging with more anger, more fury than I had ever seen in him–in anyone. Instantly, I barged inside. I wasn’t thinking at this point. I ignored that woman’s intuition, which told me to be alert. The moment I saw Jake’s affliction, I wanted to hold him in my arms. I felt safe in his arms.

  “Jake! Are you–” And then I understood Jake’s distress and why he was seething with wrath.

  A shotgun pointed to the head can do that to a man.

  “Be a good little Birdy and keep calm. Nobody else has to get hurt.”

  “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I vociferated.

  It was Weston. The way he delivered his words made me feel instantly nauseous. Nobody else? I couldn’t understand what was happening and why the hell Weston was pointing a gun at Jake’s head.

  “You son of a bitch!” Jake screamed.

  “Jakey boy, you don’t want this fine ass to have her brains blown out, as well,do you?”

  “For fuck’s sakes, Weston. What the fuck is wrong with you?” I asked. Wait, what do you mean ‘As well’? Fuck… No… God no! In the far corner, I caught sight of a limp body.

  It was Pops. He was lying in a pool of blood. His head had been shot. I instantly felt frozen, overwhelmed by deep sadness. But that only lasted a second. I had loved Pops like a father. To see him lying there, drowning in his own blood made my blood boil.

  I turned to Weston. “What do you want from me?” I asked through gritted teeth. I’d lost and seen too many of my loved ones dead that I found myself able to catch myself onto a sliver of calm. I knew amongst all the chaos, only order would save Jake and I.

  “Your money, sweetheart. Tiffany let me into a secret. Your filthy rich dead husband and father left you a fuck load of dough. And, I want it.”

  Tiffany… She would never… Not if… “You? It was you who hurt Tiffany…” Now things were becoming clear. It explained the cuts and scratches on his face. It explained a little of why Tiffany and Dixon were leaving town and the gang, and why Weston had questioned me at my Birdy ceremony. But why the fuck was Weston turning on his own people?

  “The bastard sold us out to the Drago Cartel,” Jake shouted, seeing the confusion in my eyes. Weston laughed. His cackle chilled me to my bones. “He’s been planning for the gang to join the fucking Drago Cartel. Can you believe that? That’s why the fucking Locos and the bastard Heros Clan have been attacking us. To stop us joining their fucking enemy. He’s the reason you were nearly beaten to death!”

  “Oh Jake, so dramatic. If it weren’t for me, we'd would be fuckin' pussies on the ground by now. We'd be a laughing joke to every gang in California. Pops was fuckin' old, he didn’t get that times are a changing. No more small shit deals. No more shacking up in some shit clubhouse. I'm bringing the gang into the new world. With the shit load of money this rich bitch has, Drago Cartel will let me in into their circle. And we–you–owe your life to them.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?” Jake asked.

  “Who do you fuckin' think handled the Locos when we were in lockdown?” Jake furrowed his eyebrows further, his eyes darted to the floor before they quickly returned to Weston. He was breathing more heavily now. “You think any of our fuckin' allies could have dealt with that so quickly? Being part of the Drago Cartel is gonna make the gang feared and respected.”

  “No! You couldn’t give a fuck about the gang. Joining the Drago Cartel means we’ll be screwing over all our friends who’ve been like brothers to our family. Fuck... You’re just a greedy son of a bitch!” Jake screamed. “You want money and power. You don’t give a fuck about us or brotherhood. We’re just a meal ticket. Collateral. Fuck. I should have listened to Pops.”

  Jake turned to face me. His eyes morphed from anger to complete sadness the second they fell on me. “Dakota, baby, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry I dragged you to hell, baby. I love you. Always remember that.” He turned back to Weston. Jake’s eyes now raging with hell-fire. “Don’t you darefucking hurt her. Take me. Take the money. But. Let. Her. Go.”

  Weston just snickered at Jake, and looked at me. “If you give me your money, darlin’, I’ll let you both go,” Weston smirked. “I promise. If you don’t, I won’t just kill him. I’ll torture him. And you can watch.”

  The look of horror in Jake’s eyes told me immediately what I had to do. Jake’s fear wasn’t for himself. It was for me. Weston would get me to wire my money to his account and then he would shoot both Jake and me. He had to. He had no choice. Weston couldn’t let the other Fire Birds find out he had killed Pops. They would kill him. To kill one of your own would bring your end. Jake had told me this Fire Birds edict long ago.

  I closed my eyes for a second, drawing out a long and controlled breath. Time stopped for me in that moment. And, in that time, I embraced the beautiful calm before the chaos.

  I had walked the world alone, with life ignoring my existence for as long as I could remember since Joshua was taken from me. The only thought going through my head seemed to be how angry I was at my own beating heart. Guilt for: It should have been me.

  I could feel my feet sink into the ground beneath me, pulling me in like quick sand. With no ability to move, I could soon feel myself overwhelmed by a crushing force. Then everything went blank. Nothing but darkness. I could just make out a figure. My eyes focused as the walls around me crumbled.

  It was Jake.

  It’s instinct that saves us in the end... I had read this long ago, but I only now understood what it really meant.

  Jake had saved me.

  I could see that now in the face of death. I had lost everything before he came into my life. I loved Jake more than myself, but I would never love someone as much as I had loved my son.

  There is no torture on Earth that could ever come close to the pain a woman suffers when losing a child. I’d died that day. The day Joshua had gone from my world.

  But Jake had given me a new lease of life. It was like I was buried in my own living coffin filled with nothing but darkness and dirt. Jake had unearthed me, allowing the light of day to shine on me again. He was exciting and dangerous at first and that was what I needed to wake up from my waking-death, to give me a reason to stand up and climb out from my self-made coffin.

  He was just meant to be a one-night fling to fulfil my fantasy of a bad boy. But the unexpected happen.

  He surprised me with his gentle heart, and his gentle soul. And I fell hard and fast for him.

  I had seen Jake’s guilt throughout our relationship. The guilt for dragging me into the shit that came with his biker gang life. But he hadn’t realised that he was worth it. He hadn’t realised that he was the best thing to come into my life for a long time.

  Now, it was my turn to save him.

  I had to do it. There were no other choices
for me. This, to me, was instinct. I looked to Jake and whispered,“I love you. Always remember that.”

  Then I stepped in front of the gun.

  “Nooooo!” Jake screamed.

  The sound of grappling scraped the air before the shotgun fired. A body collapsed, and the floor shook underneath before a pool of blood poured slowly out and stained the old wood with fresh blood.

  “Dakota…”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jake

  It was daylight when I woke in the garage. I was curled on my side, clutching Dakota’s cardigan–the pink one she first wore when she entered my forsaken life. I was stiff from sleeping on the floor, but the real pain was in my heart.

  It had taken a second or two, but then reality had descended on me with speed and weight, and I'd sat there, stunned. I couldn’t believe what had happened.

  It had been a day since the bloodshed in the cabin. My whole life seemed ready to spin off into thousands of jagged pieces. Dakota had been the only thing keeping me together.

  Pops was dead.

  And, Dakota was… gone.

  Beauty was gone from my life.

  Everything happened so quickly, it had taken me a while to realise what Dakota had done. What she had done for me.

  She had chosen her life over mine. But I didn’t deserve it. It was my fault. Dakota had been a beautiful flower, and I had plucked her out from the ground, without a single thought for her, simply throwing her into the fire. God, what have I done?

  I stood up, getting my bearings, making sure my legs would hold me. I tried to focus on recent events. I needed my head, my body to stop shaking. I needed to remember. I needed to remember how I lost her. My memory was shaky, and a lot of it was vague, as if I were remembering someone else's time.