Cold Burn

by Olivia Rigal

  His admission puzzles me since he seems like the type of guy who has always had everything under control. Maybe not. Could he have done some crazy shit in his days, too? I try to visualize him in a hippy commune, smoking grass or dropping acid, but my imagination's not powerful enough to conjure such images.

  "Mike did suggest to a young recruit that there was a way to stop and search people without serious probable cause, because if you waited long enough, you could get them for jaywalking," Williams adds.

  "But there's no jaywalking laws in Florida," Everest interjects.

  "Almost none," I say. "The law does prohibit pedestrians from crossing between adjacent intersections where traffic control signals are in operation. So you see, if there are two traffic signals—which is the case when you're in Point Lookout or most other cities—you can actually stop someone for a traffic stop violation if they step out of line."

  Captain Williams looks at me as if I’ve grown a second head. "That's precisely what Mike told the recruit."

  "We were taught that at the police academy by one very conservative criminal law teacher who thought civil rights were nothing more than encumbrances thrown in our way by 'bleeding heart softies judges,' who, according to him, should have been sentenced to walk some wild beat for a week to live with their decisions."

  Williams laughs. "I know precisely who you're talking about. He's lost his teaching position this year. He was doing too much damage."

  "So where's David?" I ask.

  "I don't know. This is information given on a need-to-know basis, and I don’t need to know. But you should see him soon enough," Captain Williams says. "We're doing a three-state coordinated action on Monday morning under the supervision of the Feds." He pronounces supervision as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth. "After that, he should be free to come home."

  "And you're gonna be in so much trouble, man. I really feel for you!"

  Looking genuinely surprised, Captain Williams looks at me while a big grin spreads across Everest's face. Everest gets it. Captain Williams will have to tell his wife that he's slept by her side for almost a year without telling her that the son she was mourning wasn’t really dead.

  "You're gonna have to tell Betty," I tell him.

  He cringes. "Right." He huffs and throws his hands up in the air. "I know. I figure I'll wait ’til the last minute, take the most sheepish look I can muster, and then pray she'll be so happy to see him that she'll forget about being mad at me." He levels a look at me. "And what about you? Are you looking forward to telling Lisa?"

  "You're leaving it up to me? That's fine. No sweat. Hey, I just found out today. It's not as if I had been hiding it from her for a year! Furthermore, I'm on her shit-list right now, and I think that may earn me some points to get back in her good graces."

  "You mean in her pants," Everest says with a wink.

  "That, too," I admit.

  "I guess that will make us family then," Captain Williams says. "You should start calling me Steven."

  "Fine. I will, but tell me something, Steven. Do you have any idea how they found out about Lisa having the jacket and being in New York?"

  "Lisa in New York—that's easy. Betty is so proud of her daughter going to the big city to study law that she has chewed more ears about it than I care to count. So the question would really be who has managed not to hear about Lisa being in New York. But the jacket… I don't know."

  "Talk of the devil," Everest says. "Here they come."

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  I brace myself for impact as Betty and Lisa walk into the room. Betty takes in the three of us sitting at her dining room table and shrugs, staring at her husband.

  Lisa asks, to no one in particular, "What are those two doing here?"

  Betty puts a calming hand on her daughter’s shoulder and tells her husband, "Steve, next time you want us out because you need privacy, just tell me. That way, I know not to come back home too early." She sighs. "But since we're here, I think Lisa has a valid question. Boys, what are you doing here?"

  I stand up and take a step in the direction of the two women while I hear the sound of Everest fighting with the pages of Whiz’s chart, trying to fold them up without tearing them apart.

  Lisa stands in front of Betty as if to protect her from me.

  "Hello, Aunt Betty," I say, ignoring Lisa's angry glare. "It's good to see you again."

  "Hello, Brian," she says, her voice choked with emotion. Pushing her daughter aside, she takes a few steps in my direction then stands on her tiptoes and takes my face in her hands. Tears shine in her eyes as she tells me, "I've missed you so much. As if it wasn't bad enough to lose David, you had to go and break my heart, too, by staying away." I lift her in my arms and hug her.

  "I'm sorry," I say. "I shouldn't have let my dispute with Tony get in the way. I should have been here for you."

  Feeling her tears against my shirt as she holds on to me, I turn toward Steve and silently ask him for permission to tell her now.

  He looks torn. He obviously would love to put an end to her misery, but he's sworn to secrecy, and he won't break down.

  "Oh, enough with all that drama," Everest says. "Steven, for God's sake, you trusted her enough to marry her."

  "What are hiding from us?" Lisa asks.

  "If you come with me, I'll show you," I say, letting Betty go as her husband reaches out for her.

  Lisa looks at Everest and Steven. Both nod to her then her mother.

  "Go clear the air with him,” Betty says. “I never believed the rumor that his club had anything to do with David's death."

  "Thank you," I say. "It's nice to know I had your trust."

  As I start toward the door, I realize Lisa's not moving. I take a few steps back and catch her hand. "Come on, sweet butt. It's time for a ride."

  From the corner of my eye, I see Steven grinning and Everest rolling his eyes at me as if to tell me that I should know better. I do, but I so love teasing her, I can't help myself.

  She sits on my bike while I go into her open garage to grab a helmet for her. After she puts it on, she sits up straight with both hands on the back rest. We played this game before—last year, when we were leaving the spring rock festival, where I found her with Everest and his pals while the Friendly Persuasion team was working security.

  I start the bike and purposely hit every pothole in the street until she relents and puts her arms around my waist. I rest one hand on hers, but it's not enough for her to relax this time.

  I take her past the clubhouse, to my piece of land. I park the bike at the entrance of the clearing and pull my backpack out of my saddlebag. Taking her hand, I make her walk to the center of the small hill where I want our house to be built. I unfold the blanket from my bag and motion for her to sit facing the water.

  The shining moon reflects in the small pond on the other side of the clearing. I couldn't have ordered a more perfect setting.

  "Why did you bring me here, Brian?" she asks with both hands fisted on her hips. She puts up a brave front, but I know that when I tell her about her brother, all that sharp polish is going to crack.

  "Because this will be your home soon," I say. "I purchased the land for us a while back, and I've been waiting for you to come back to begin construction. You need to pick the layout and shit…" Nothing came out the way I wanted.

  "You're out of your mind," she hisses through her teeth. "Whatever made you think that I'm going to move here, in the middle of nowhere, and furthermore, with you?"

  I put one hand on the small of her back and another on her neck. "The way you shudder every single time I touch you. The way you look at me. The fact that when you stop trying to convince yourself that you hate me, you know that you're in love with me."

  She looks away from me and searches for something to say deep inside the pond. Before she finds inspiration, I add, "Also, I have two things to tell you that are going to make you a bit crazy, and if you're going to scream, right here seems like the idea
l place to do it."

  She looks back at me. Her head is titled, and lips, parted. It's an invitation I can't resist. I take her mouth, and her hands leave her hips. She grabs a fistful of my shirt and tangles her other hand in my hair. I apply a little pressure to her back, and she molds into me. When she does that, I have no doubt that she's my other half. She's the one I need to be complete.

  I let go of her mouth to nibble on her neck and lose myself in the nest of her breasts. Then I realize I have all but forgotten what I was about to tell her. I pull away for a few seconds, long enough to bring her down to the ground with me.

  "Brian," she whispers as I gently trail my mouth along her collarbone. "Is that how you plan to make me scream?"

  "Yes and no. There's something I need to tell you, but I'm not sure I should tell you now or after I make love to you here.”

  "Will it make me happy or sad?" she asks.

  "Happy. Definitely happy." I suspect my smile is so large that I'm wearing an ear-to-ear grin.

  "Love me first," she says. "I've missed you so much."

  "You're not mad at me anymore?" I whisper into her neck. I can never get enough of that soft spot right at the beginning of her shoulder.

  "No," she answers with a breathy voice. "I realized I was being unfair to you when I saw the disk on the table. You're really trying to find who killed David."

  I can't delay telling her anymore. If I do, she'll be mad at me all over again, and no matter how much I like make-up sex, I hate drama. So I tell her, "The thing is, baby, he's not dead."

  "What!" That comes out just as loud as I’d expected it would, and I'm glad we're in the middle of nowhere.

  "His death was all staged by Internal Affairs," I explain.

  "When did you find out?" she asks.

  "Today." I’m telling the truth, but I see no use in volunteering that I've suspected for a while. Otherwise, she would tear me apart for not telling her sooner.

  "And what about Captain Fantastic?" she asks. "Has he known all along?"

  There's never enough male solidarity when it comes to fighting women's wrath, so I just say, "I'm not sure when he found out."

  "My mother's going to kill him," Lisa says with a strange voice. I pull away to look at her face and realize she's laughing and crying at the same time. I wipe away her tears with my thumbs, just as she did with mine ages ago, when I thought her brother had died.

  "Steven or David?" I ask.

  "Both, I think."

  "I'll help her with David. The bastard waited way too long to let me know he was alive. But enough talking about those guys. I want you to concentrate on me and only me now." I unbutton her jeans and slide a hand under her shirt.

  "Make me," she says.

  "Oh, baby girl, you're going to have to learn not to provoke me like that or be ready to deal with the consequences." I pull down her pants and settle myself between her legs.

  "Somehow, I think I'm going to love your retaliation." I can hear the smile in her voice, and I know she trusts me entirely.

  "Will you play games with me?" I ask, trailing kisses and bites along the inside of her thighs.

  "What kind of games?" Her voice is a murmur.

  "Naughty games, of course." I stop talking because I'm making a feast out of her. I love everything about her. Her smell, her taste, and the way she arches under my caresses. I love the way she pants and moans and the way she says my name when I make love to her. I love the way she pulls my hair to try to get me to stop, saying it's too much while her hips tilt to increase the pressure of my mouth on her.

  Only when I feel her shatter under my caress do I climb up along her body. "Can I come in with no protection?" I ask, looking at her lovely face in the moonlight.

  She tilts her head and says, "No birth control." There's a little edge in her voice as she says it, as if she's leaving it up to me. She has no idea what this much trust does to me. I bury myself in her, thinking it would just be perfect if we got a family started on the very site we're going to build our home.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  The grounds around the clubhouse are full. The air smells like beer, barbecue, and cotton candy. It smells like Independence Day. It smells like happiness.

  I’ve always had a fondness for that day, because whether I spent it with my mother or here at the clubhouse with my father, I was allowed to run wild and free for an entire day while the adults were too busy partying to offer any real supervision.

  Today is even more special because, for the first time, I won’t have to pick between two families. Today, I’m celebrating with Everest and Juliya as well as Lisa. Everest and Lisa even talked Betty and Steven into coming around for a drink. Getting a police captain to attend an MC’s annual bash will no doubt be interesting. Lisa’s also been pleading my case with Tony. She thinks I don’t know, but I’ve noticed the conspiratorial looks she’s been exchanging with my mother.

  The fact that David’s not dead has somehow mellowed Tony, and I’m hoping he’ll come around and become civilized with me again. But his coming to an MC bash—that would really surprise me. Still, what better way to find out for himself what this whole community is all about?

  Lisa is with Juliya, tossing the salads next to the main table.

  I have this stupid grin on my face because she’s wearing the cut I gave her. The patch on the back proclaims that she’s my property. She’s given me the whole lecture about slavery being abolished and said that there’s no way in hell she will ever consider herself my property. Still, she took it, and she’s wearing it proudly.

  “Today, the cut, tomorrow the ring… who’s gonna wear the collar?” Sledge asks.

  He’s the main dungeon master at The Styx, and he pretends not to understand that some of us like an equal partnership with our lovers outside the bedroom. I punch him playfully, and he laughs.

  “You’re so pussy whipped,” he says. “Just as bad as Earplug.”

  I look in the direction he’s pointing, and I see Daniel - now officially Earplug -walking around, two steps behind Patricia looking at her adoringly.

  Sledge sights and adds, “Soon, she’ll prevent you from going to work and doing your job. You need to take her there and show her who’s the boss.”

  “Not going to happen,” I say. “You can tease all you want. I’m not bringing her there or sharing her with anybody.”

  “The guys are right—you’ve got it bad. Does she even know why you’re called Ice?” he asks.

  “No I don’t,” Lisa says, coming up behind Sledge. “Every time I asks, he distracts me, and I forget.”

  I wrap a protective arm around Lisa because Sledge is a lady-killer. On a Greek god’s body, he wears an angelic smile, but he’s the devil. I can’t have my woman flying too close to him.

  “It’s not something he can tell,” Sledge explains. “It’s something that he has to demonstrate. It’s all about the cold burn. That’s his specialty, and it’s highly addictive.”

  Lisa looks at me then turns to look back at Sledge, who has vanished.

  “So now that your friend has teased me, I have to ask again. Why Ice?”

  “But he just told you, sweetheart. It’s because of the cold burn.” I know very well that I’m doing nothing more than piquing her curiosity.

  “What’s the ‘cold burn’?”

  “We could sneak away to my room, and I could demonstrate right away, or you could wait until after dinner. It all depends on how much anticipation you like.”

  I can see she’s intrigued, but before she has the time to decide, Everest joins us.

  “Hey, bro, you’ll never believe who just arrived,” he says.

  We turn around to find Steven and Betty, followed by Tony and my mother. Tony looks about as comfortable as a nun in a sex club, and Betty is wearing her deer-in-the-headlight look.

  “Don’t worry. It’s going to be fine,” I tell Lisa. “Today is a family-type party. Nothing wild will happen before the kids have been sent home. By then, ou
r parents should all be gone.”

  We hug, and I introduce Everest and Juliya to Tony. Cracker walks by, and there’s a very awkward moment when he hugs my mother.

  “Still looking good, Cupcake,” he tells her, using the nickname she had when she was living with the club more than thirty years ago. His long-term memory is still intact.

  He turns to Tony and extends his hand. I’m flabbergasted when Tony takes it. Force of habit will make people do strange things. Tony’s not a man to insult another by refusing a good shake.

  “Thank you for raising my boy,” Cracker says. “You did a damn good job of it.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Tony says.

  They’re both acting so civilized, it’s getting way too mushy for me. Tony, I get. My mother and Lisa read him the riot act, but Cracker… the disease must really be eating away Cracker’s brain cells. But then I notice the smile on Juliya’s face. If anybody could talk Cracker into being so polite, it has to be her. Too bad her mother refused to attend the party because I’m sure Juliya would have made her proud.

  Cracker takes my kid sister by the arm and leads her away to the barbecue, and the rest of my weird family follows.

  “So about this cold burn,” Lisa says with a naughty smile I love.

  “Anything for the satisfaction of my lady,” I tell her.

  We discreetly leave the group to enter the clubhouse and climb up to my room. I close the hurricane shutters and dim the lights. We both remove our clothes, and just looking at her, I know she’s anxious and excited at the same time.

  “This is about the games I like to play.” I tell her.

  An enthusiastic glimmer flashes in her eyes.

  “You need to trust me.”

  “You know I do.” She looks at me with so much love in her eyes that I almost forget to breathe.