by A. J. Downey
He took his hand from between mine and smoothed it over my hair. I closed my eyes and relished the touch. Being touched in this way was so different from what I’d been living with for the last three years. It was taking some getting used to, but for the most part I was starved for it. So thirsty…
I looked up, “What are we going to do, Thirteen? After all of this?” I asked.
“I don’t know, Rocket, but we got time, lots of time to figure it out,” he sighed, his green-blue eyes searching mine, and he struggled to sit up.
“Help me up,” he said.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Coming with you. Come on, help me up,” he reached and I stood up.
“You were just shot last night!” I cried. He laid back down and tried to catch his breath.
“I know Babe, but you’ve been tested past your limits. I’m not letting you go by yourself.” I dropped on to the edge of the bed and gathered his hand between mine into my lap.
“We don’t have to go anywhere right now. They said they wanted to wait for someone named Rev to get back.”
He nodded, “Not a bad idea, he can handle himself and some heavy lifting. I’m still coming with you, though.” I pursed my lips and sighed. I figured it was best to say nothing and to maybe let the doctor or his other brothers argue with him. Instead I toed out of my Converse and came around the bed, getting in with him.
“Please don’t hurt yourself for me,” I whispered, he smiled and let me cuddle into his side.
“Can’t think of anything I would rather hurt myself for. We’ll talk about it later when Rev and whoever he went off with gets back. Deal?”
“Deal,” I murmured.
We lay close in his bed and talked softly until he fell asleep. I lay beside him, listening to his even breathing, and wondered how this would all come together in the end. Would the Suicide Kings let me go? Would they have a choice? Their numbers were greatly diminished compared to the Sacred Hearts, so it would seem. I mean, they thought Thirteen was dead, and they thought the demon… no, Reaver, I reminded myself, was dead. I wondered if the Old Lady had really died or if they were hiding her somewhere, too.
I know that Archer, Nox, and Rush’s brother had died. Their rage was too pure, too raw for it to be otherwise. A soft tap came at the door and the doctor poked his head in.
“He sleepin’?” he asked. I nodded. “Good, I need to check his shoulder.” He came in and set his bag on the floor next to the bed. He snapped on a pair of white latex gloves.
“How you holdin’ up?” he asked me quietly as he laid out what he would need on the bedside table.
“Okay,” I said quietly.
He sighed, “You look like you got a lot you’re thinking about,” his comment an invitation for me to speak.
“I was thinking about how this would all play out. I mean, the Kings think that Thirteen is dead, and Reaver, too…” I swallowed hard. The doctor paused and closed his eyes, a pained look flickering across his face.
“They got Grinder and they got my woman, Chandra, when they broke in here.” I blinked back tears in the face of his pain. His woman, I looked up at him. His woman had been killed and yet when Thirteen had called, he’d come. He’d come and healed me, when I was technically one of their women.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and he gave me a crooked but sad smile.
“Not yer fault. Wasn’t like you was in their cheer squad or anything,” he looked me up and down.
I shook my head, “I hope you kill them all,” I said truthfully.
“Ain’t a single damned one of ‘em you would spare?” he asked.
I thought about it, I mean really thought about it. The only name to really come to mind was Skid’s… I chewed my bottom lip. Skid had, on one or two occasions, stood up for me. But there were a lot more of them where he’d stood by and let Pig…
“Maybe Skid. He stopped Pig from branding me, and would sneak me pain medicine from time to time, but he’s just as guilty as the rest of them in his own way,” I murmured.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. A man by the name of Edmund Burke said that. Sound about right?” I looked at him and nodded finally.
“I think that would fit Skid, but he isn’t exactly a good man anymore. I think he used to be once and that it’s down in there somewhere, but it got scoured away somehow,” I scraped my bottom lip between my teeth.
“That was us once, The Sacred Hearts,” he sniffed and shook Thirteen gently by his good shoulder. He jolted.
“What? What’re we talking about?” Thirteen muttered sleepily. I smiled and laughed a bit.
“Asking your woman who she would spare out of the Suicide Cunts if she had her way,” the doctor said. I choked on his name for the Kings and smiled broadly. I liked it. “I’ve gotta change that shoulder, you ready?” he asked.
Thirteen struggled into a sitting position and nodded. The doctor carefully peeled the square of bandage off of Thirteen’s shoulder and Thirteen hissed.
“Pussy,” Doc chuckled and looked through his half-moon spectacles at the carefully stitched wound.
“It’s awfully red,” I murmured. It was, around the edges, the black stitching neat and spiky. It was slightly swollen but not too badly. The doctor took his time cleaning it off with some more gauze.
“Eh, it looks pretty normal actually. Still gonna get a shot in the ass there, got some antibiotics and a tetanus booster.” He said and slathered more antibiotic ointment over the wound.
“Tetanus? What the fuck I need that for?”
“Dunno the last time you had one and the last time I checked, the slug I dug outta there was made out of metal. You’re a lucky son of a bitch. The Kevlar mostly stopped it. You had a grade less ballistics plate over your heart you wouldn’t be here. I’m still not sure how that blow didn’t stop your fucking heart. Chalk it up to you being one tough son of a bitch.” The doctor spoke low and intense as he redressed the injury.
Thirteen locked eyes with me and, dead serious, he said, “Naw, she was there and had my heart in her hands, it was safe enough.”
I nodded and laid my head on his good shoulder, the doctor’s words haunting me. So close, I had been so close to losing the only person who had ever stepped up and looked out for me before I could fully explore what we had developing between us.
“It’s okay, Rocket,” he murmured into my hair, “It didn’t happen and I’m here and we’ll figure all this out one day at a time.” He kissed the top of my hair and I nodded. I liked the sound of that. I really did.
Eventually, Thirteen had a visitor of a different kind. Two brothers I hadn’t seen yet came to the door and knocked at its edge as Thirteen and I played a game I’d never heard of called ‘never have I ever’, which was supposed to be some kind of drinking game but we were playing with M&M candies instead.
“Hey Rev, Data.” Thirteen smiled.
“Hey, Man. Heard you got into a hell of a scrape,” ‘Rev’, a stocky man I could swear was some kind of familiar, said.
“Oh! The fighter!” I said, when where I’d seen him before clicked into place. He smiled.
“Saw me whoop your boy’s ass, did you?” he asked, and his grin was one that was open and carefree and that, were I an ordinary girl, would have made me instantly smile back. But I knew how deceptive some smiles could be.
“Not mine,” I said and dropped my eyes to Thirteen’s lap.
“Sorry, Darlin’. Didn’t mean it that way, just heard where Thirteen found you,” he said.
“Yeah? They telling stories out there?” Thirteen asked sharply. I glanced at his face and caught motion out of the corner of my eye as Rev put his hands up. Data leaned against the door. A lanky fellow with greasy brown hair and a goatee, he had his arms crossed, and coolly appraised what was going on inside the room; his warm brown eyes skating over me where I knelt on the bed beside Thirteen. Assessing, making no judgments, not yet. I instantly liked him for
that.
“Not listening to any of the bullshit gossip out there until I hear it from the horse’s mouth,” Rev said and dropped to the carpet, sitting Indian-style. He wore shorts, which I found strange, given how cold the weather had been and still was. We were into spring but the polar vortex wasn’t keen on letting up and was holding on by its fingertips. It was unseasonably cool outside.
He gripped the toes of his red Converse high-tops and leaned all the way forward, stretching his back. He leaned back up and caught my eyes with his warm brown-gold ones.
“So what’s your story?” he asked me directly. It was so forthright and honest, so open and so… just refreshingly nonthreatening or menacing in any way thus far, that I had to smile.
“I’m Dani, Dani Broussard,” I said.
“Revelator,” he nodded in the direction of the man at the door, “That’s Data.” Data tried a smile on me and inclined his head. I shifted and made to settle in, leaning back against the simple flat headboard and shoving pillows behind my back. Thirteen shifted and used me as his cushion. I smiled down at him and held him lightly to me, mindful of his shoulder.
“I’m not sure where to start,” I murmured.
“Got all night, Dani, why don’t you start from the beginning?” Data suggested, and slid down the wall to sit down.
I looked at Thirteen and he gripped my wrist lightly, planting a kiss in the palm of one hand.
“Just talk, Babe. You’re here, the guys want to know about you… just stick to what you’re comfortable sharing.” I nodded and realized that was why Rev’s approach was working for me. He wasn’t demanding, he wasn’t asking about anything specific, he just was…
“Okay…” and so I started over, from the beginning for their benefit. It was so strange. I wasn’t used to being able to speak my heart and mind truthfully. Not without some kind of physical pain resulting. I was finding it to my liking, though.
As we talked, Rev would make us laugh with sarcastic comments and some of the funniest facial expressions. Some of the other club members filtered past the door, stopping and listening for a time before moving on, a couple even coming inside and joining the conversation.
“So I hear you want to get some of your stuff out of your place. Don’t blame you. You wanna do it now or is tomorrow morning good?” Rev asked.
I thought about it for a heartbeat or two and decided that the morning would be best. That’s when Rev got up and stretched.
“Okay, good deal. I’m gonna go rack out then, it’s been nice talking to you, Dani. See you in the morning.” I smiled and looked down at Thirteen who was dozing lightly where he lay against me.
“Night, Rev. Night, Data.” I smiled at Blue, who pushed off the door frame. He gave a short little inclination of his head and wandered off with the rest of them. I sighed and Thirteen chuckled a bit.
“Do me a favor?” he asked and I smiled. He hadn’t been dozing at all… just relaxing.
“Anything,” I said, suddenly very attentive.
“Get ready for bed, shut that door, and get in here,” I smiled and nodded, and he carefully moved off of me so I could get up.
His cool green gaze followed me as it usually did, only this time his expression wasn’t unreadable. His lips curved in a smile of pleasure as he watched me move around his room. I took the time to go brush my teeth and comb my hair in the bathroom before returning and shutting the door.
“If you’re comfortable with it…” he said and I turned cocking my head to the side indicating that I was listening.
“Skip the tee shirt,” he said softly, and there was a longing and a subtle heat to his gaze. I slipped out of my clothes, a little self-conscious about my body. I mean, I know he’d seen it all before and I wanted to be with him, but that didn’t stop my heart and my head from being screwed up from everything that came before.
“Hey,” his voice was velvet and slightly chiding. I looked over.
“Put on a tee if it makes you feel secure, I want you to feel safe with me? You don’t gotta do anything I ask.” His green-blue gaze was completely sincere. He meant every word. I turned out the overhead light and came to bed, the cotton sheets cool against my skin where I slid between them, Thirteen’s body warm and inviting, still strong despite his wounded status.
“My brave girl,” he kissed me, a soft thing, almost reverent, definitely full of respect. I kissed him back and his hands smoothed gently over my skin beneath the covers. He shifted to hold me closer and grunted with pain, freezing in place. He broke the kiss we shared and cursed Gordy six ways to Sunday.
“I want to love you, to make you feel good,” he admitted, green gaze sparking with something undefinable, “Will you let me touch you?” he asked. I swallowed and nodded carefully. I wanted him to touch me, even with how hurt he was, with how crazy everything had been… “Lay back,” he whispered and I did what he told me.
Chapter 17
Red-XIII…
The fact she trusted me so implicitly was such an amazing turn on. I was hurt, and if there were an Olympics for bad ideas, this would probably take the silver. If I actually tried to love her properly, now that would take the gold. But I just wanted to touch her, make her feel good, use my hands to make her come undone and have her forget for a minute everything that was crazy. She needed to relax and I know I felt relaxed as hell after an orgasm. The way Dani was wound up, she’d probably need forty. But I was pretty sure I had at least one or two in me for now.
It wasn’t perfect, that was for sure. I lay on my good side and found that if I moved slow and careful, my bad shoulder was going to permit me the position that would put my hand between her thighs. I didn’t go there right off the bat. I had more class than that. I leaned over carefully and caressed her cheek, kissing her softly to start.
Her mouth moved against mine, tentative and careful, as if she were afraid her kiss would hurt me further. She slid closer to me until we were pressed lightly against one another, her body’s heat soaking into mine. She was just so warm, and so soft. I closed my eyes and lost myself in the feel of her for a second, trailing fingertips in a ghostly touch across her skin, down the side of her throat, over her throbbing pulse point, along her collarbone, between her breasts, diverting and following one’s curve. I circled her tit in a light spiral pattern of touch leading inward to her nipple, before grasping and rolling it between forefinger and thumb, palming the rest of her breast. God, she was a nice handful. Not too small, just barely overflowing my grasp.
“You have gorgeous breasts, you know that?” I whispered against her mouth, “So perfect.” She was getting into it now, relaxing, her beautiful blue eyes closed, and she savored my words. I was pretty sure that Dani wasn’t used to getting compliments, and I endeavored to shower her with them more often.
I spent some time teasing her, caressing her body, playing with her, exploring every inch of her supple curves and taut planes with light little touches, ghostly caresses that raised her skin in a sweep of goose flesh. I carefully hooked one of my legs over one of hers and swept it in tight between mine, opening her up so my hand could roam lower.
My patience in this endeavor had paid off. When I’d captured her leg, she cried out into my mouth and arched a little off the bed, but the sound I swallowed from her didn’t taste the slightest bit fearful. Oh no, it was absolutely laced with desire, fraught with trust and with need. I drank her desire like one of Mandy’s fine chocolate drinks, rich and decadent sweet, and I dipped a finger into her folds, teasing her outer pussy lips with a light caress.
Dani moaned and writhed, grinding her hips into my hand, demanding a deeper, more concentrated touch. I obliged her, she was so wet and ready, and so I slid my middle finger into her sleek heat and stroked as deep in her as I could. She broke her mouth from mine and gave this half gasp, half moan that lit me on fire from the inside. I was painfully hard where I was pressed against her thigh and hip but I probably wouldn’t be getting any relief of my own tonight. There would be p
lenty of time for that later, when I was healed up and she was more settled into the new and beautiful life I had every intention of giving her.
“That good?” I murmured, and it took a little adjusting, but I managed to massage her clit with the heel of my hand. It was a trick and a half, being gentle while still staying up inside her, but I had this. She arched and I felt her spasm around my finger, which made my dick twitch in an answering spasm of its own. God, I wanted inside her so bad, I wanted to love her right, but I couldn’t, so for now this was the next best thing.
“Oh God, Thirteen!” she gasped, voice deep and breathy with passion. I smiled, and since her little pants spoke of a need for more oxygen, I skipped depriving her of any by kissing her and put my mouth to good use elsewhere. I took the nipple closest to me into my mouth and rolled it with lips and tongue, giving it a good hard suck. She cried out, an inarticulate sound that was still music to my ears, and I decided it was time to really bring her.
I added my index finger to my middle and Dani rocked her hips into my hand. God, she was so perfectly tight! Her silken body wrapped around my fingers, her walls pressing in so damned hot and perfect. I let her swollen nipple go from between my lips and just looked at her, head thrown back, raven hair a silken wash across the stark white pillowcase, long dark lashes fanning perfect against her smooth and creamy skin. She was just so damned beautiful, it was almost painful to look at.
“God, Dani, you kill me,” I growled. Her eyes opened, and the piercing blue met my gaze though her eyes remained hooded, leaden with love and lust in equal measures. Shit, that look alone had me almost coming, myself. Her fingers wrapped around my shaft up near the head and she slid her hand up and down firmly, but gently, running the head against her palm. It felt good, it felt real damned good and it took every bit of my self-control not to thrust. I held very still, which was its own kind of painful when I wanted to move so badly, but I didn’t dare.
I groaned and closed my eyes, my hand faltering in my attentions to my girl’s body for just a second while I let her have her way. It felt good but at the same time, oh God she was short circuiting my brain. I bowed my head and though I kept still, concentrating very hard on keeping my breathing shallow and even, on wrestling control back from Dani; I changed the angle of my hand, going deeper with my fingers, grinding more insistently against her clit.
