by DD Prince
I laughed and smacked his arm. His lips went to my ear and he sucked on my earlobe, giving me goosebumps.
“Serious, gorgeous. I clocked you that first night and thought you were damn gorgeous. But when you danced? Fuckin’ pulled me in like a tractor beam.”
“Tractor beam?”
“Star Trek?”
“Huh? You’re a Trekkie? Ewwww.”
He shook his head. “Don’t diss Star Trek, Jenna, or we’ll have problems.”
I laughed. “Ella likes that show too. I don’t get it.”
“You’re gonna learn to like it.”
I giggled and then he kissed me breathless.
When he finally let me up for air, I saw Spencer staring at us and I didn’t like the look on his face.
I smiled at him. He seemed to shake himself out of whatever angry thoughts he was having. He smiled back and took a sip of his drink and the ugliness seemed to disappear.
After three songs, the third of which I found myself moving and grooving to from Rider’s lap and getting Rider a little bit hot and bothered (not unintentionally) when Aerosmith got put back on and at the firepot we were at, people started telling more stories about Luke.
There’d been quite a few stories about how he was a practical joker. He sounded like the life of the party. And so did Rider. The stories of antics and practical jokes often included the both of them.
But, Spencer had told a few stories that had some of us grinding our teeth. He was well on his way to pissed drunk and wasn’t hesitating to throw in comments about women who’d been present at certain things. A story was told about a teenaged Lick getting caught with a girl, having sex, by her older brother, who tried to beat Lick up. Rider had been getting lucky with the girl’s friend in a bathroom, and he and Rider had beat the snot out of the older brother.
Rider had glared at Spence.
“I know it wouldn’t’ve been two on one if the guy fought fair. He pulled a knife on Hanson, so Ride had to put his dick away and jump in.”
“Spence,” Rider said, his tone laced with warning.
Spencer chuckled and sipped his beer.
Jojo stayed quiet during that. But, the group felt the tension. Except Spencer. He carried on, drunkenly half-repeating the story, emphasis on the highlights, as if the rest of us hadn’t already heard or as if we’d laugh the second time he told an inappropriate story when no one laughed but him the first time.
Someone changed the subject. Spencer brought it back around to some other story that began at a strip joint and ended with a party at a house rented by four of the strippers that worked there.
And that was when I cut him off and changed topics and asked Brady what tattoo he’d gotten that was brought up that day in the eulogy Rider had delivered.
This story was explained to tell me about the time Brady passed out first at a party and was so drunk, he slept straight through his ass getting tattooed by Lick. Spencer didn’t seem bothered that I’d hijacked his story. He laughed at the Brady story.
Brady refused to tell us what the tat was of.
I got a reprimanding squeeze from Rider when I’d again hollered out “Come on…show us!”
Brady had a seriously fine ass, but I was more curious about what that mystery ass cheek tattoo might be than I was seeing his bare butt.
Finally, Brady glanced at Jojo and said, “Fuck it”, then dropped his drawers on one side and showed us.
And me, Leah, and Jojo laughed our asses off, because bent over, in the firelight of the campfire, we saw a cute little teddy bear that looked like Ted from the Ted movie, with a Viking helmet in black ink and below it, it said “Hlökk Cuddlebear”. And I wanted to kiss Brady for dropping his drawers, because of the beautiful sound of Jojo giggling on such a sad, sad day. I knew that he did that to give her a nanosecond of laughter.
“Cuddlebear!” Leah howled in laughter.
“Warrior cuddlebear. Hlökk,” Brady corrected.
“But Hlökk was a chick warrior,” Spencer said and there was more laughter.
“He cuddles,” Spencer said. “Everyone knows it. You don’t wanna camp in the same tent as this guy.”
Brady got a serious and somber look on his face. “I was always gonna cover it. Some day when I get hitched, figured I’d cover it with somethin’ for my wife. Now, it stays. And I’m gonna have to find a girl who’s got a warrior spirit.”
“Good relationship goals, Brady,” Leah said with a smile.
Everyone at the firepot we were at went quiet for a moment and there was just the flickering flames and crackling sounds of the campfires, with the music and distant hum of people talking at the other fire pots.
“To Lick,” Brady raised his beer to the sky with a sober look on his face.
Everyone else raised their bottles or red Solo cups. Including Jojo, whose eyes were bright, whose chin was trembling.
I glanced at Rider and he was staring into the flames with a faraway look. I knew he wasn’t mentally here. He was in his mind, with Lick, somewhere in one of their many adventures together.
I put my hand on his thigh. He looked at me and his eyes went sparkly and he put his hand on mine.
“You. Hitched? Like that’s ever gonna happen,” Spencer snickered, ending a nice moment by making a wisecrack.
Brady looked at him with seriousness. “Why you say that?”
Spencer threw a hand up in the air animatedly, as if it was self-explanatory.
“Spencer?” Brady folded his arms across his chest and waited, his face like stone.
“Man, I see you with two, three women at a time after every party. Being married typically means committing to one woman. One.”
“Maybe she’ll be into threesomes,” Leah offered. “Our foursomes.”
I smiled, hoping the tone would lighten, but yikes. Maybe Leah didn’t know about the video. And the look on Brady’s face was scary. He was looking at Spencer like he wanted to wipe the floor with him.
Spencer looked at him with a cocky smirk. “Maybe you need to move to polygamy land and get hitched three or four times. Do we need a rural Utah chapter?”
“Spence,” Rider clipped with a warning look.
Brady’s nostrils were kind of flaring.
“Bray…” Deacon mumbled, and Brady’s eyes cut to Deacon. Deacon gave a shake of his head.
“What?” Spencer asked. “Am I lyin’?”
“When I’m ready, I’ll be ready,” Brady informed him.
“All right, man.” Spencer raised his hands defensively. “Clearly, we’re slowly droppin’ like flies. Getting addicted to one pussy. I’m lookin’ for my one. Didn’t know you were, too.”
“Didn’t say I was lookin’ for her. But, when I meet her, I’ll know. Right Ax, Ride, Deacon?” Brady asked.
“Absolutely,” Deacon said, sipping his beer.
“Oh yeah,” Axel kissed Leah’s neck and she beamed with joy. “Sometimes it sneaks up on ya. And you just know.”
Rider gave a non-committal smile that didn’t touch his eyes. And I was uncomfortable.
I pulled my hand away from him.
“Until she stops puttin’ out, then it’s game on with club whores, right?” Spencer said, with a sneer.
My eyes moved to Jojo, staring into the flames with more tears in her eyes and my heart sank.
She sucked in her lips. “I’m goin’ to bed.” She got up and Rider’s eyes were now on her and they were hard. So were Deacon’s. I could see Deacon’s jaw clenching.
I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She squeezed it back, but didn’t make eye contact, and then she left our group, getting stopped by Deke, who was at the next firepot. He kissed her temple and I saw him say something to her. She waved nonchalantly and then faked a yawn. She went inside.
Rider abruptly lifted me off his lap by my hips, setting me on my feet. He got up and stood in front of me.
“Why do you gotta be such a fuckin’ shithead?” Rider hissed this at Spencer and then whipped his beer bottle an
d it smashed on the concrete several feet away. I startled.
“What?” Spencer asked. “What I say?”
“You need it spelled out?” Rider lunged for Spencer. “I’ll fuckin’ spell it.”
I looked to Deacon, thinking he’d intervene. But, he didn’t. Instead, he used his foot to shove his chair back, out of the way, and watched, as Rider’s fist collided with Spencer’s mouth.
Spencer toppled over in his lawn chair and then both men were on their feet.
“Fuck you, Ride. What’s your fucking problem?”
I was in shock. I went to move forward out of reflex, but Brady side-stepped and got in front of me.
“Stay back,” Brady warned.
“Stop them,” I breathed and looked pleadingly at Deacon, from around Brady’s back.
There were still sixty to eighty people, minimum, here. And they all watched as Rider and Spencer had a fist fight near three lit fire pots.
It just didn’t seem smart.
“Do something!” I pleaded at Deacon.
He gave a shake of his head and rose and came over to me.
Spencer swung for Rider and Rider dodged it and punched Spencer in the throat.
Spencer choked and doubled over. Rider straightened and bounced on his feet a little, like he knew Spencer would recover and come at him. And it was a good call, because Spencer did, with a surprising spinning kick and the toe of his boot grazed Rider’s left eye. It could’ve been much worse if Rider hadn’t bent back.
“Oh shit!” I shouted and tried to go to Rider, but Deacon’s arm clotheslined me, blocking me from moving forward. Rider stumbled and then he was on Spence again, punching him in the face.
“He needs this,” Deacon gestured, steadying me and keeping me back, and I didn’t know if he meant that Rider needed to beat up Spencer or that Spencer needed a beating.
Spence punched him back. Right in the mouth.
Even Deke, their father, was just standing there watching. Rudy, too, the president of the mother chapter of the MC. Standing there, avidly watching.
“Is someone gonna sell popcorn? Fucking stop them!” I hollered.
I was ignored.
And Rider and Spencer seemed evenly matched with their height and size, Spence might’ve been an inch taller, a teensy bit broader, but I think Rider was angrier, and that might’ve meant he had the advantage.
“It’s all right,” Leah was beside me suddenly, hand on my arm. “They just need to blow off steam. Funerals always end in at least one brawl in this clan.”
“Brawls and orgies,” Brady muttered, and I startled at that comment.
“Yep, life affirmations,” Axel agreed.
I shivered, hoping this was the end of it, as they were both backing away from one another. And I was caged in, which I guessed was intentional. I had Brady in front on the left, Deacon in front on the right, and Axel standing behind me.
“You shoot your fuckin’ mouth off with no thought for what’s simmerin’ underneath, you fuckin’ fuckhead,” Rider ground out. They were both catching their breath. Spence’s nose and lip were bleeding.
“Sayin’ shit to Jenna. Shooting your mouth off around Ella. What the fuck do you think you just made Joelle feel?” Rider spat on the ground and there was blood. His lip was bleeding.
Spencer looked at Rider like he was speaking Greek.
“Stop your fuckin’ shit, Spence. You’re killin’ your liver and burnin’ a fuckin’ hole in your brain,” Rider lunged and stabbed his index finger against Spencer’s temple, “with that shit you’re puttin’ up your nose. And every fuckin’ one of us is sick and tired of it.”
Spencer looked at him like he was out of his mind. “Fuck you.”
But, Rider was still in his face and Spencer didn’t swing for him.
“Ding ding. That’s it. To your corners, boys,” Deke finally spoke up.
Finally, I felt my lungs deflate.
Rider looked around. “The fuck is Jenna?” he snapped.
Brady and Deacon stepped aside from being the wall in front of me. I’d been peeking between their elbows.
Rider’s eyes were on me. “Now.”
I followed him, assuming ‘now’ meant come with me, feeling all eyes on us, seeing Spencer’s eyes on Rider with venom shooting out of his eyes. My eyes met his and his eyes were filled with the kind of venom that was reminiscent of Shelly Valentine, watching us at the funeral earlier that day.
“Good luck with that one, Blue Eyes,” Spencer called out to me. “You don’t even need to thank me for wakin’ his shit up. I told him how good you felt on top of me and how if he didn’t nail you down, I would. Next thing, he’s cuffin’ you to a bed. You get tired a that... feel free to come jump my bones again.”
Rider turned around and advanced on Spencer and clocked him in the face so hard that Spencer went down like a felled tree. T.K.O.
And then Rider grabbed my hand and I had to jog to keep up with him, which wasn’t easy in squishy flip flops.
We were walking too fast, down the endless hallway maze, when I saw a biker and a woman having sex against the wall. I was sort of mortified, but they paid us no notice at all as we went by and Rider didn’t even seem like he’d noticed them.
They had to be in their 40s, minimum, and they both had it goin’ on. Her skirt was hiked. His hands held her up against that wall, by her butt, and her legs were wrapped around his lower back.
Yowza. I guess the rowdiness had started. A brawl and now it was time for all the orgies. I was glad we were heading back to our room.
When we were back in our room, as I shut the door, he let go of my hand and kept going until he slammed the bathroom door behind himself.
I stood there, staring at the closed door for a minute, unsure of what to do with myself. The doorknob had been fixed, at least.
I heard the water turn on, so I sat down on the bed and was still sitting there, pinching my lower lip between my thumb and forefinger, when he came back out, in a towel only, his hair wet, his eyes immediately on me.
He had a bit of a shiner, by the looks of things, and it’d probably be angrier by the morning. He also had a slightly puffy upper lip. He still had scratches and bruises from the fall after the fire. He looked rough. And he still looked fiery mad. And yet beautiful.
“You pissed at me?” he demanded.
My eyes bulged, and I shook my head. I could let the alpha-hole behavior slide today, I figured.
“No?” he asked, his voice and body language like he didn’t believe me.
I shook my head again and swallowed.
“Why’re you acting scared?”
My mouth dropped open and nothing, no sound, would come out.
“Get over here,” he ordered.
I got up and moved toward him.
He pulled me against him and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry,” he said into my hair.
I put my arms around him, too, feeling relief that he wasn’t as mad as he’d looked a second ago. “Why are you sorry?”
“Sorry Spence is an asshole. Sorry you had to hear some of that shit tonight. Sorry we’re starting over on a day when emotions’re runnin’ high and shit is so fuckin’ amped. But, baby, it helps having you. It fuckin’ does for some reason.”
“What would you rather?” I asked, looking up at him.
He let out a long breath and then his expression softened. “To go back to the cabin. Be alone with you. Shut everything else out.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah. Take you for long rides. So many places I wanna show you. Fuckin’ need to ride when I’m dealing with shit and today, havin’ it while also having you wrapped around my back? Just what I needed.”
I put my head against his chest.
I heard his heart beating strong and sure. I lifted my head away, looked up at him, and asked, “You wanna listen to my heart?”
He smiled a gorgeous smile at me and it was a lot like the carefree smiles I’d gotten in the very b
eginning. I smiled back.
His mouth came down softly on mine and he was kissing me slow, sweet, but thoroughly. And then his hands were in my hair and he was moaning into my mouth, walking me backwards to the bed. I fell, him falling on top of me.
“I’ll give it a listen when I’m ready to sleep. Not ready to sleep.”
“No?” I asked, giving him a flirty expression.
“Need something,” he said.
“Hm?” I looked up at him, thinking life affirmations.
He kissed the tip of my nose. “I wanna fuck you while you’re wearin’ that hoodie.”
I giggled.
“You still wearin’ those pink panties?” he reached for my button and undid it and then pulled my zipper down.
“Nope,” I told him.
He shimmied Jojo’s jeggings off me. I had the same style of panties as yesterday, cheeky panties with the word ‘PINK’ on the back, but these ones were turquoise and not glittery. Earlier, when we’d had sex, he hadn’t even looked down. I’d been wearing black underwear. He hadn’t taken his eyes off my face the whole time.
This time, he was looking down.
I rolled over to show him the back of them and his finger traced the letters.
And then he leaned over and bit into my butt cheek and I squealed and laughed.
How could things be this lighthearted after that scene out there?
I didn’t wanna spoil the moment by asking. And I liked that we could be this for one another. A place to laugh. Good-time Jenna and Good-time Rider.
I could see all sorts of emotions swirling in his eyes and I just wanted to take care of him. So, I decided that’s what I’d do.
I opened up the towel he had on and rubbed his cock. He flopped onto the pillows and watched.
“Do you own any underwear?” I asked. I’d never seen him wear them.
“Don’t like bein’ confined. And easy access is way better.”
“Hm. That’s a thought,” I said, stroking him.
“Don’t you get any ideas. I fuckin’ like seein’ them on you. It’s like unwrapping a present covered with pretty paper.”
I smiled and started to kiss his throat, kiss his chest.
“Put it on,” he said.
“Hm?” I asked.
“The hoodie.”
