by A. J. Downey
“Maybe it would help if I explained from the beginning…” I said.
“It’s really none of my business,” Mali said. “Especially after the crack I just made, but yeah, if you want to talk, I’d listen. I at least owe you that.”
I sighed and leaned my butt against the stairs leading up to the boxing ring in the center of the gym.
“I was just a dumb-ass runaway when I met Lia. We worked the concessions stand together at the rodeo and she was just so much more down-to-earth than me, you know? She really took me under her wing and kept me out of trouble. She was taking pole dancing classes and got the idea to strip from another girl, one of the other cowboy’s girlfriends who was bringing in over two grand a week. When she heard the money was that good stripping it was too much to pass up for a girl who had been as broke as her all of her life. We both had grown up poor, and I have to tell you, money may not buy happiness but it definitely does buy security. It’s really nice not having to worry about where you’re going to sleep every night or where your next meal is going to come from. She was all for stripping, had always been a wild child that way and the bolder of the two of us, but back then she was waiting to turn eighteen so she actually could, you know?”
I sighed, “She was my only friend before and after Silas… I stayed working the concession stands and then eventually didn’t even do that because he didn’t want me to, but Lia stuck to her plan. She blazed her own trail and ended up at Sugars. She and I never lost touch, even though I kept traveling with Silas and the rodeo. We, I mean Silas and me, happened to be in town with it on Delia’s birthday weekend. He didn’t want me to go out, but Lia talked me into it, and I wanted to spend my best friend’s birthday with her, you know? Then this happened,” I drew a finger along the curve of my cheek and sighed again, sniffing as tears threatened to spill over. I always got emotional talking about how Lia saved my ass.
“Delia stuck by me, let me stay with her at her place, rent free, I might add. She was at the hospital every day, went to every court date with me, and kept me from letting the depression swallow me whole. She got me into pole dancing with her as a means to stay fit and really just as a way to get me out of the apartment at first, but then she was the one who came up with the whole ‘Francesca’ persona and the mask idea. She’s the one that got me into this life, sure, but more importantly, she’s the one who got me out of my old one and kept me from giving up on life altogether. At the time, she gave me a life back when I thought it was over. I can never repay her for all that she’s done for me. Never in a million years.”
Silence fell over the four of us and Mali finally let out a gusty sigh of her own, “Well, shit,” she said on the tail end of it. “Now I really feel like an asshole. Me and my fucking mouth.”
“Pretty sure we keep warning you about that, just sayin’,” Reaver sort of sang out and she scowled at him.
“Shut the fuck up,” she snapped.
“Case in point,” he said and hung his head.
“Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don’t know.”
“Well –“
She cut him off with, “That was rhetorical, Jackass!”
He laughed and I did too, jumping slightly when Nik pressed himself to my back, hands on my hips.
“I get that you’re worried, but you said yourself this isn’t out of the ordinary, eh?”
“I did say that, and it’s not… I just can’t shake the feeling something bad has happened.”
Reaver shrugged and said, “You got a lot going on with your douchebag-ex getting out of the slammer. You sure it’s not just that.”
I shook my head, “That’s just it. I can’t be sure that it’s not just that. Still, I feel better for having said something and I’ll keep trying tonight.”
“That’s all you can do,” Mali said, and she and Reaver exchanged a significant look.
“You have her actual address?” he asked, scrolling through his phone and I swear my insides went liquid with relief – but I didn’t want to get my hopes up just yet.
“Yes,” I said.
“What is it?” he asked and I told him, holding my breath, waiting for him to confirm what I pretty much already knew he was committing to.
“It’s on my way home; I’ll swing by and check things out and call Zeb with what I find out. You guys will be hanging together after this for a while, right?” he asked, an innocent look that wasn’t fooling anyone plastered to his face. He didn’t lie exceptionally well. Either that, or he didn’t care about keeping up appearances, at least not about Nik and I spending time together beyond the scope of him having my back and looking out for Silas.
“Yes,” I said but it was hesitant; suspicious as to why he would even be fishing. I mean, were Nik and I the subject of gossip? Was Nik getting a hard time about me? I mean, going by Mali’s judgment call about me and Lia, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to think that he was. I felt bad about that. I felt bad about so many things and was seriously beginning to wonder if there was anything left to feel good about myself for…
“Excellent,” Reaver said and sighed. “I think we’ve done enough for today. Next week?” he asked Nik.
“Same time, same place, thanks, Bro.”
“No problem, keep working on your form and your speed, you need to be faster. You don’t have the size advantage, but no one should be able to top you for speed. Especially judging by the pictures of this asshole.”
“Pictures?” I echoed, surprised.
“Yep.” Mali popped the ‘p’ a little and winked at me. “It’s what my man does best. Digs up all the dirt. If there’s records or pictures, he’ll find them. Speaking of which, if there was any record of you or your current whereabouts on the net? He wiped it before your ex even got out of prison. If he’s looking, he’s hitting nothing but big roadblocks full of a whole lot of nothing on you.”
“Really?” I asked. “How did I not know about this?”
“Ah, I guess I forgot to mention it,” Nik said.
Mali rolled her eyes and lifted her jacket off the corner of the ring. “Way to go, Romeo. Probably could have saved her a little anxiety, don’t ‘cha think?”
Nik colored and I blinked. It took a lot for a man with his dusky skin tone, not unlike Mali’s, to visibly blush even though he wasn’t especially dark.
“I’ll call you,” Reaver said, buried in his phone and heading for the door.
“Thanks, Bro!” Nik called after him.
“Later, you two,” Mali said walking backward at first, before turning and following Reaver out.
I turned to Nik and felt my shoulders drop. He pulled me into his arms and wrapped them around me, holding me tight, chin on one of my shoulders before pressing his lips to the top of it.
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“For what?”
“Getting me wiped off the internet, I guess? She’s right. That takes a load off.”
“Ah, yeah, I can’t take credit for that. That’s all Data, and, I’m betting, Dragon.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “I don’t know if I should feel guilty, I mean, I haven’t exactly thanked him lately.”
“Haven’t seen him, have you?”
“No. No, he hasn’t been into the club,” I said, meaning Sugars. “Not since I went to see him, but that isn’t exactly unusual.”
“You could text him, eh.”
I shook my head. “Never did get his number. Our, ah, arrangement, wasn’t like that. That’s why I went to the motorcycle club in person in the first place. I didn’t know how else to get a hold of him without waiting for him to come into Sugars.” Which could have been any time, and at the time, I didn’t think it could wait… I still didn’t. I couldn’t tell Nik or Reaver, or any of the MC just how grateful I was for their help and if Delia was okay, it was seriously worth any price they wanted me to pay down the line.
“Talk to me,” he said softly, and I sighed and held him tighter.
“A lot of judging going o
n,” I said.
“Eh, yeah, Mali was out of line. I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be, and I didn’t just mean Mali just now. Delia has had some pretty harsh judgments about you all. Honestly, I was afraid if any of you knew, none of you would be as willing to help me or her.”
He leaned back and cocked his head and said, “What she thinks doesn’t have a lot to do with you. What you think is what’s important, isn’t it?”
“True, and what I think is that you all are far kinder than anyone gives you credit for and at this point, I will gladly pay any price for the kindness you all have shown me.”
He smiled a little and shook his head, “If it comes at a price, it isn’t kindness, now is it?”
“No, I suppose not,” I murmured.
“Is that what she thinks? That you’re going to somehow owe us for what we’re doing?”
I nodded and sighed, “I know, it sounds awful –“
“It does,” he said, cutting me off.
“But?”
“But I’m not surprised. Citizens oftentimes think the worst of us and typically we wear it like the badge of honor that it is.” He sighed and went on, saying, “We came by our reputation honestly; we aren’t nice men, once someone gives us a reason not to be. That’s just it, though. You have to give us a reason not to be.”
“Like what?”
He smiled and said, “Not even worth talking about, Girl. You’re not the kind of person that would ever give us that kind of a reason.”
“I hope not,” I said softly and he bowed his head, pressing his lips to mine. I kissed him back, a little thrill of fear trickling down my spine. The cold calculation in his eyes during the short conversation told me that I really never wanted to give any of these guys a reason to be upset with me, but that was a scary prospect when you didn’t know what it would take to upset them.
“Come on, a hot bath awaits,” he whispered and I nodded carefully.
“That sounds good.”
“Good, after that, I’ll cook.”
I had to smile then. “That sounds even better.”
He laughed and we gathered our things so that he could lock up and we could go upstairs.
20
Zeb…
Tiffany was in my bathroom, soaking in the tub when Reaver rang me up. I was glad my phone’s ringer was off and it was buzzing across my kitchen bench when I grabbed it. I wanted her to relax some.
“Yeah, Bro. What’s good?” I asked in greeting.
“Nothing here,” he said and I frowned.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means she ain’t home. Her car is in the lot. I asked Data to look up her info. Nothing is out of place, but that makes it out of place, you know what I mean?”
“Ah, yeah. Are you in her apartment then?”
“Yup. Picked the lock. It was a little too easy. Everything looks normal, I guess. I mean shit ain’t knocked over or anything. No signs of a struggle. She’s kind of a messy person, though. Bras and panties everywhere. She even has a set hanging off a lamp.”
I laughed a bit and nodded, “Definitely fits what my Tiff has said about her.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
I shrugged even though he couldn’t see it and said, “That they couldn’t be more different. Opposites attract and all of that. My Tiff is a neat person, likes to keep things clean. Stands to reason her opposite friend would be a bit messy.”
“Yeah, more than a bit. I’m gonna bounce before I accidentally touch something and bring it home to Hayden.”
“Hey, now!” I said and he laughed.
“I didn’t mean it that way; I just mean I have no way of telling what’s growing in here in the dark.”
“Heh, I’m not there, so I can’t declare if that’s fair or not.”
“Wow, rhyme a little more there, buddy.”
“Fuck you.”
“That’s not a haiku.”
I laughed, “They don’t rhyme.”
“Meh, I’m a basic guy. Gimme a limerick over that fancy Japanese shit any day… wait, haikus are Japanese, right?”
“Yeah man, they’re Japanese.”
“Good, I got that right. Okay, then.”
“I’ll talk to her when she’s out of her bath.”
“Dude! Why aren’t you in there with her?”
“Nah, that’s her time for her – she doesn’t get a lot of it.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’m just blessed with my Doll who doesn’t want a lot of it. Time for just her. She just about always wants me there.”
“She thought you were dead for almost a year, Bro.”
“Yeah, that probably has something to do with it,” and he didn’t sound too happy about the reminder.
“Go home, make it up to her some more.”
“There are some things in life you can never make up for, man. That would definitely top the list.”
“Just because you can’t make up for it don’t mean you ever stop trying.”
“Now, that, I am on board with. You’re absolutely right. I’m going home and fucking my wife, now.”
“You do that.”
“Just you try and stop me,” he said, and his voice was as cold as the winter pressing against the dark window glass up here.
“Nah, wouldn’t dream of it,” I said and hung up.
I set the phone down and heard Tiff call out, “Hey, Nik?”
“Yeah?” I called back.
“Was that Reaver?” she called and I smiled a little to myself, a smile that held a bitter edge at the strain of worry in her voice. I loved that she worried so much about her friend but at the same time, I hated that she had cause to worry at all.
I went around from the kitchen to the bathroom door and pushed in. She lay back in the tub, scented milky water steaming, covering all the important bits except the perfect peaks of her breasts. I went over and sat on the edge of the tub, trailing fingertips beneath the warm, almost-too-hot water, from her ankle, up her shin, to her knee, and back.
“Yeah, that was Reaver. He said her car is in the lot, but she’s not home.”
“Damn it, Delia!” she swore under her breath. She closed her eyes and banged her head lightly on the tile wall behind her head, sighing. Her hands raising from the water so she could press fingertips to her eyes and cover her face.
She took several deep breaths and shuddered and I slid my hand up higher, just holding the inside of her thigh.
“Goddammit, Lia!” she cried and let out a harsh breath. She didn’t cry but it was a near thing and my heart went out to her.
“I don’t know what to say or do to fix it,” I confessed and she shook her head.
“Nothing, there’s nothing you can say or do to fix it. At best, you can just distract me and you are so very good and such a pleasant distraction,” she said and I smiled.
I slid my hand higher and she parted her knees so my fingertips could graze her silky sex beneath the water.
“I aim to please,” I said with a chuckle and she sucked in a sharp breath when I slid a finger inside her.
I held her, cupped in my hand, my middle finger deep inside her, my thumb pressed against her clit and my eyes glued to her perfect, beautiful face. I swear to you, on the souls of my ancestors, I didn’t even see the scar when I looked at her anymore. She was just beautiful, just perfect, from the way she came to me the day I met her all the way up until now. Actually, that was sort of a lie. I didn’t think such a thing was possible, but I believe she grew more beautiful to me every day.
She sucked in a breath and gripped the edge of the tub with a white-knuckled grip, her other hand gripping the top of her thigh over by the wall. She gasped and her hips gave a little jerk, the lavender-colored water swirling with flashes of silver glitter in it in little eddies around her body.
I bit my bottom lip and concentrated on giving her the distraction she’d asked for, playing my thumb in little circles over her clit, working m
y finger in a come-hither motion over the roof of her pussy, teasing reactions from her.
Her eyes closed, she bit her bottom lip and turned her head to the side, so into what I was doing, she didn’t even realize she turned the unmarked side away from me, putting her warrior’s mark on full display. I rewarded that bit of trust by teasing at her clit a little more, her pussy clenching tight, her mouth falling open and a little breathy moan falling from her sweet lips even as she fought not to ride my hand, her hips lifting and falling rhythmically just below the water’s surface, the sparkles suspended in it dancing and swirling, accentuating her curves, and making me wish more than just my hand was between her thighs.
I tried to tell myself to be patient and that I’d be there soon enough. We had all the rest of tonight and into part of the day tomorrow if we wanted before either of us had to go to work.
“Nik!” she gasped and her voice was like angel song to my ears.
She closed her eyes and shuddered in her warm bath as I made her come and it was beautiful. Like she shattered into many points of sparkling light and dissolved into the glitter in the tub before rising back up whole and new. She practically leaped up, her warm, wet hands grabbing my face to either side as she crushed her mouth to mine. Off-balance, I practically fell on her, half into the water. She exclaimed, a surprised, light sound, into my mouth and laughed against it, even as the warm bathwater soaked into my clothes.
“Guess these are going to have to come off, eh.”
“I guess so,” she murmured demurely.
I peeled back the flannel I was wearing as she helped pull the black thermal undershirt from the waistband of my jeans. We made some quick work of undressing and discovered with some maneuvering, that it was a tight fit but that we both fit and we learned a bit of a science lesson on displacement while we were at it.
“I love this,” she murmured and pulled my arms around her where she rested back against my chest.
“I do, too,” I confessed and we silently enjoyed the warmth and closeness until the bathwater grew too tepid to stay.
“You think everything is okay?” she asked as I dried her through a towel and she sounded both fragile and hopeful.
