by Vivian Gray
He caught her hand and drew her in softly for a kiss.
“I’m sorry about the house thing. I should have talked to you about it. Can you tell me what you think about it now?”
Her head was reeling from all the changes in the past few hours. “I’m... Give me a minute?”
He nodded, and she picked up her burger again, taking a few bites and letting her brain go over the memories. She’d been in such a daze as they walked through the townhouse. There had been so many things that felt wrong in those moments that it was hard to know which buttons had been pushed.
“I think…” She let herself have space to talk, to think, to figure out what was going on. “I think that it reminded me of everything I didn’t have when I was a kid. It was a really nice place, it would be a gorgeous place to raise a kid, and it would be amazing to just be there. But I started getting worried, you know? Would you be happy there? Would it really be okay to go from running this—” She gestured wide enough to take in the entire club, the entire concept of bootlegging and money laundering and dancing with the gray side of the law. “—into that?” Her hands came together small, showing how compressed their life could be in that house. “With just me and a baby. I’m not trying to be rude, Jet, but what would you even do in that life? While I’m an accountant and a mom, what would you do?”
She saw him sit back and think. “It’s been a while since I got elbows deep into an engine,” he said, slowly. “I have a couple of friends who run racing cars. The Choppers played with that for a while, a few years back, but there wasn’t money in it for us, so it phased out. I could work on that sort of thing, getting cars souped-up for the track. And if that didn’t pan out – hell, maybe I’d go back to school.”
“Do you want to leave the Choppers?”
He was quiet long enough that she believed he was really thinking. “Have nothing to do with them ever again? No, Bree. Absolutely not. They’ve been my family for a long time. I want to make you and that baby part of my family, but I won’t ever forget who the War Choppers have been to me. But step down as president, maybe let Brass take over? Yeah, I’m ready for that. I’ve had a good run, but it’s time for a fresh view. And Brass has real good ideas.”
“And that’s okay with you?”
“Do you think I’m going to regret it?”
That was the root of all of this, wasn’t it? They were both terrified that the other was going to change their mind and stop appreciating what was happening, be filled with resentment and hate what was happening. Jet had never talked about his childhood, but Bree suddenly wondered how much it had been like her own. “Not think it so much as I’m terrified of it. Of what could happen if you did.”
“Do you trust me?”
That one was easier. “Yeah. I really do.”
He nodded. “Then let’s agree to this. If we aren’t happy, we talk. With less yelling than before. We talk early, and we figure out what to do. Together. Because we’re in this together. If you want to be.”
“I want to be,” she said, with no hesitation.
He leaned in to kiss her again and winced hard at his ribs.
“Dammit,” Bree said. “Do you think they’re broken?”
“No,” Jet replied. “I’ve had broken ribs before. Thought I was going to die every time I took a breath. He just bruised me, that’s all. It’ll be better once I’ve slept. And once the ibuprofen kicks in.” He took a healthy pull of his beer. Just to help it along, she supposed. Makes plenty of sense. He reached over with his good hand and stroked her hair. “What can I do for you tonight? You had a seriously shitty day.”
“I really did.” She spent a minute considering, and couldn’t quite come up with an answer. Well, that wasn’t true. She wanted the kind of sex that would wipe away everything that happened and reassure her body that she belonged right here. But when he could barely move his arm without hurting himself, there was no way that was going to happen. Besides, what kind of woman wanted to be touched after what Kane had done to her?
He must have read her mood in her expression. “Do you want me to touch you, Bree? I will, but I need you to ask for it.”
She sighed. He wouldn’t ask if he was horrified by her, not with that warmth in his voice. “I really do. Is that weird?”
“Nope. It’s just where you are. And that’s okay. It’s okay to be where you are.” He grinned, just a little. “I think I’d kill myself if I tried to fuck you like you deserve right now. But I have another idea?”
The hormones had been making her absolutely desperate for weeks, and just the look in his eyes as he took her in was enough to make her want to beg all over again. “Please.”
“Strip for me, beautiful.”
She did, standing up to make it easier, and then watching him. Her belly was covered in stretch marks already, but he seemed to love every single one.
“Now come down here.”
She did that too, following his lead until her legs were across his lap, her thighs spread, resting on the back of the couch. She was wet already, but when he parted her lips and traced a finger through her slick folds, she arched up into his touch.
“My hungry girl,” he murmured as his fingers slipped into her cunt.
She made a low sound and shifted more, driving his fingers into her. He met her easily, his thumb stroking her clit, his fingers curled inside of her to caress the sweet spots deep inside. There was no rush to his motions this time, just slow, steady stroking, pressing her up into pleasure in luxurious waves. She moved with him, made of soft sighs and liquid heat until she couldn’t stand it anymore. She spread her thighs wider.
“Faster. Please.”
He made a low rumbled of a sound. His two fingers spread her open just enough to take a third, pressing hard into her. She whimpered and shifted again, giving him deeper access to her. He moved faster, shifting his hand so that his thumb was pressed into her clit, and she cried out. Her hands gripped the back of the couch to keep from grabbing onto him.
“More. Please, more, I’m so close.”
“I’ll give you more,” he said, his voice harsh and dark. “But you hold out as long as you can, hear me? You take everything I have to give, and you take it all. Say yes.”
“Yes,” Bree said, her voice tight and hard. “Yes.”
He sped up more, his thumb destroying her concentration as his fingers stroked all the places inside her cunt that shivered with hunger. She felt the crest of her pleasure so close, and to force it away, to hold out and keep herself from letting the waves break over her, was shockingly hard.
She forced herself to keep her breathing low and steady, not letting the tightening of her body push her closer. She made desperate little whimpers to let out whatever energy she could. But every stroke from his fingers was rougher, more demanding, taking more of her, and riding that pleasure was incredible and so painfully hard she couldn’t believe it.
If he’d slow down. If he’d slow down just a little, she’d hold out as long as he wanted, but this was unbearable. She was fighting back screams with every slam of his fingers, and she wanted to come more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life.
She felt the oncoming wave and knew that this one couldn’t be stopped. “I can’t – I need to—” She couldn’t get all the words out and hold off any longer. She bit her lip hard, her last resort against the orgasm that was going to shatter her into bits.
“Then come for me,” he said, and she did, breaking open and screaming, her body arching up and fucking his fingers as hard as she could.
She felt herself clench down on him, squeezing him tight, and even then Jet didn’t stop the slow, steady motion of his fingers. His thumb pressed into her until the rapid shift from aftershock to oversensitive, and then he pressed his hand against her more firmly. Helping her ease down from the tension as she went utterly boneless in his lap. Keeping her close and safe as she wound down and, eventually, let the day of hell pour out of her.
“How are you do
ing, beautiful?” Bree heard him ask, and she realized she had a huge grin on her face.
“Mmm, good.” She couldn’t find any other words. Wait, there was an important question. “You?”
He laughed, just a little. “I’m good. I like seeing you come, and I really like feeling you come on my fingers like that. Feeling you squeeze my cock is pretty damn good, but being able to just enjoy how you look? Yeah. I like that.”
“Do you need—”
“No, babe. I mean, I’m hard as hell, but I’d just hurt if I tried to do anything about it. Let’s call it a night, if that’s okay with you? I’ll tape up my ribs, we’ll get into bed, and I’ll feel better in the morning.”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
All in all, it sounded like a pretty damn good deal.
Chapter Fifteen
When she woke up, it took a long, weird moment for Bree to figure out what was happening. There was a sound, a harsh and ugly sound, and it was coming from somewhere right next to her ear. Her phone. It was her phone, ringing, and it was an ugly, discordant song that Cat had loved. Cat had programmed it as her personal ringtone, and Bree hadn’t ever bothered to change it.
Cat was calling her. Why the fuck was Cat calling her?
Part – a really big part – of Bree wanted to silence the phone and roll over to go back to sleep. It wasn’t going to be as simple as that, however. For years, she’d been the one who met Cat when Cat was out and too drunk to get home on her own. When Cat had fucked some rando and needed a quick exit. When Cat had needed someone to act as her emotional tampons. She could ignore the call, but she’d spend the rest of the night trying to guess what was happening and figure out what to do about it.
The right thing to do was to ignore the call, and also that was impossible.
Bree picked up the phone as she slipped out of Jet’s arms. She tapped the button to accept the call, but she didn’t say anything until she was out in the living room.
She couldn’t manage a polite greeting. “What?”
She’d expected a lot, but what she didn’t expect was Cat sobbing. Not the delicate little tears that had always gotten her what she wanted, but the kind of thick, heavy sobs that were full of snot and misery. She tried to stay firm, but her voice softened without asking her permission.
“Cat? Are you there? What’s going on?”
“I made a mistake,” Cat said, her voice broken up by the tears. “Bree? I made a really big mistake. Can you help me? I need help.”
This was the wrong thing to do. “Of course, Cat. Of course. Where are you?”
“I – Bree, I don’t know. I was with Kane. You know him.”
Yeah, Bree knew him. Just hearing his name again made her stomach twist like she was going to throw up.
“I shouldn’t have been here, Bree. I’m sorry. I was so jealous, but I shouldn’t have done this. I shouldn’t have come here. I thought he’d take care of me like Jet and – Bree, he won’t let me go. Can you come get me? Can you help?”
The immediate urge to say yes, of course, was tempered by having absolutely no idea how to do that. Bree had relied on Cat or public transportation to get around for years now. It was – she glanced at her phone – three in the morning. There was no chance of catching a bus, and frankly, Cat could get an Uber just as easily as Bree could. Unless… “Do you need money? I can call an Uber for you?”
“I don’t think he’s going to let me go, Bree. I’m scared.”
She really did sound afraid, but when had Cat not been afraid after she got herself into some stupid, dangerous situation? “I don’t have a way to get there, Cat.” Breen glanced back at the bedroom. “I could wake up Jet, I guess…”
“No!” Cat’s voice was desperate in a way that Bree hadn’t expected. “No, don’t do that. He won’t – Bree, he’ll never help. God, he ordered Kane killed tonight. He’ll never help me. He’ll think it’s a trick.”
How did Cat know about that? Kane must have made it back to – where? The Runners’ clubhouse? Maybe that. But Jet had seemed quite sure that the whole thing was going to be done, and soon. What could have happened?
“Cat, I’m hugely pregnant. That guy is a monster. I will get you any help I can, but I can’t go running in to rescue you. Not anymore.” It felt incredibly good to say. To set that boundary.
“Okay,” Cat said, and her voice sounded painfully tired. “I get it. Just… Bree, he’s never going to let me go. He’s going to leave town to get away from Jet. But I think – I think if I talk to him, that he’ll bring me somewhere I can say goodbye to you. He knows how much you mean to me. He knows how much it’s going to kill me to leave you behind. To never get to hold your baby.”
A huge, huge part of Bree just wanted to roll her eyes. This kind of drama was just ridiculous, even from Cat. But she couldn’t let go of the simple idea: What if it’s true? What if there was something she could do, and she wasn’t doing it?
Bree scrubbed the heel of her hand over her eyes. She was painfully tired, and she didn’t want to do anything other than going back to bed and wake up in the morning and believe that every second of this was just a bad dream.
“Cat. Look. I can – I can be outside the club in half an hour, okay? But this is... This isn’t a big deal to me, Cat, and I need you to know that. You tried to hurt me, to ruin school for me and hang me out to dry. I’m not going to forget that, okay? I’m going to see you, and then it’s goodbye.”
There was a sudden coldness in Cat’s voice, a level that Bree had not anticipated. Part of her had intended to piss her former friend off, hoping that this stupid conversation would end and she wouldn’t have to go outside to meet Cat in the middle of the damn night. But no such luck, apparently.
“I understand, Bree,” Cat said, icicles practically dripping off her words. “The one chance to say goodbye, and then we’re done. I get it.” A long pause. “I’ll be there.”
It was only after the call ended that Bree’s sleep-fuzzed brain seemed to catch up with the rest of the conversation. What had just happened? Why was Cat so desperate to meet her? She’d gone from afraid to willing to meet at the club? It was all weird.
But Bree dismissed the worries as quickly as she could. Cat had been weird, especially when it came to emotional stuff, as long as Bree had known her. She had probably started with the “I’m afraid stuff”, thinking that would manipulate Bree into doing what she wanted more easily. And, to be entirely honest with herself, if Bree had an easy way to get there, she would have gone in a heartbeat.
Whatever. Kane was leaving town, with or without Cat, and that was good. In a weird way, this would provide some kind of closure, and Bree could stop obsessing about what her former friend had or had not done. Whether or not Cat had ever actually been a friend at all. It would be good to leave that in the past – if she could do it. Start clean. Refocus her life on Jet and their baby and just... being herself. Finding out who that was so she could be that person with all of her attention.
If all it took was one, hopefully short, meeting with someone she had once considered her best friend, then fine. She’d do it, and she’d move on, and it would all be in the past.
She’d gone to bed in shorts and a tank top. She went back into the bedroom quietly and retrieved a pair of yoga pants and a sweater. The night wasn’t cold, but it wasn’t the heat of the day either. This would be enough, especially if she were just out there for a little while.
***
It was more than half an hour before a car drove up and Cat got out of the passenger’s seat. Bree had just about decided to call it quits and head back inside. She had been playing a game on her phone to pass the time; when the car drove up, she dropped it in her sweater pocket and waited. Her feet were aching, and she was bone-weary; she hoped Cat would make whatever this was quick.
Cat walked up to her, and as she stepped into the security lights outside the building, for the first time, Bree wondered if she’d made an incredible mist
ake. Cat was clinging to herself, her arms wrapped tight around her stomach. There was a bruise on the left side of her face, and her eyes were sunken. She looked skinnier than before and strung out. She didn’t say a word.
Bree stood up, looking around. She heard other car doors slam, but she couldn’t see where anyone was.
“Cat,” she said, but the other girl didn’t move. “Cat, what is this?”
