by Naomi West
“Today. Right now, even,” Micah said, clapping his buddy on the shoulder. “Should be able to make it there and back before any of the guys notice you're gone.”
“Got it,” he said, then turned and left without even a second thought. One thing about Gov I liked is that he always seemed to do what he said was going to do. And he did it when he said it, too.
I knew it was going to hurt Micah to have to leave Gov behind. I understood, because it was going to hurt just as much to abandon Sydney this way, and to cut off what little life I'd already built up here. But, it was what I had to do. This meeting with the Bear was my last chance.
“Micah, babe,” I said to get his attention after Gov left the room and shut the door carefully behind him.
“Yeah? What's up?” he asked as he turned to me.
“I want to be in that room with you. When you meet with Efraim.”
Micah eyed me carefully, measuring whether I was trying to pull a fast one on him. “Why?”
“You need me there,” I said, licking my lips and thinking through my words carefully, “to make sure you don't go and get all cocky with the plan.”
“What makes you think I'd do that?”
I laughed, maybe a little bit too dismissively. “I saw the way you looked when Agent Brumfield gave you that folder. It looked like you'd just seen dollar signs, a new opportunity.”
It was a shot in the dark I was taking, but I had a feeling I was right.
He leaned back a little, his brow furrowed in consternation. He went to say something, but I interjected before the words could leave his mouth.
“'Sides,” I continued, pressing my point, “you're an ornery biker. You need a smooth-talking pro, like me, there. I'll be a good distraction, keep him on his toes. And we need him on his toes. This guy's like a fucking Bond villain or some shit, babe. Besides, who do you want watching your back with the Feebs? Me, some streetwalker? Or an ex-agent?”
He sighed and drummed his fingers on the meeting table, his eyes turned away from me, but unfocused as he looked off into space. He was thinking my idea over, which meant I had him hooked.
I hated having to manipulate him like this, and I felt as gutted as catfish that took its last bait. But, I needed to be in that room. And, honestly, I think I needed him to hate me a little bit at the end of this. If he really cared for me when it was all said and done, the pain he'd feel would be a thousand times worse.
“Okay,” he slowly said after a moment, dragging it out into almost two words, “but you gotta promise me something.”
“Anything,” I said, smiling that he'd let me convince him. “Just name it.”
“Give me your word me you won't do something stupid, like try to kill Efraim while we're on tape.”
I nodded quickly, maybe a little too quickly, and held up right hand with its three fingers extended. “Girl scout's honor,” I said.
He nodded as he glanced at my fingers, a little smile turning up just the corners of his mouth. “Good. We'll see what Efraim has to say, but you can come with me.”
I smiled a little, happy that he was bringing me along. Inside, though, I was reeling from the choice I'd made. This was my chance to finally get the Bear for Romeo's death. But, if I was going to take it, I was going to have to throw away the best thing that had ever happened to me.
Because, unfortunately, the joke was on Micah.
I was never a girl scout.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Micah
We stuck around for a few more hours at Club Hades, finalizing a few mundane details on the upcoming rally, and my signing off on a few perfectly legal items. When Kaci looked bored enough that she was about to cry, I grabbed her by the waist and led her out back to my bike. We hopped on and headed home.
The whole ride home, though, worry gnawed at my insides.
Efraim Petrov wasn't the kind of man you robbed, or the kind of man you gladly wore a wire to meet with. Just walking into the Bear's den, even at a place of my choosing, was like playing with matches while you were drowning in a pool full of gas. It was stupid, and liable to get you killed painfully in more ways than just one.
Pile on top of that Kaci's fixation on vengeance, and you had the makings of a danger gumbo. True, I was pretty sure she'd dropped the whole murder angle, especially now that we had a viable way of putting him in prison and tearing apart his empire, but that still didn't eliminate the possibility that something else could go wrong.
After all, we weren't exactly batting .1000 here on schemes, not lately.
But, it was her choice, I supposed. And she'd lived a dangerous enough life before I'd come on the scene. Besides, she'd given me her word that she wouldn't try anything.
Still, though, as I pulled the spare bike into my garage, I was secretly terrified for Kaci's safety.
And, that was when it really hit me. I was falling for her. Hard. Like out of a plane, no parachute, terminal velocity, here comes the earth and my impending doom, hard. I didn't know what I'd do if lost her, especially not to a man like the Bear.
I'd agreed to her idea, though. And, no matter what I might have been, I was above all a man of my word. And that meant she was coming along with me, whether I liked it or not.
All this worry had had one other side effect, too. My back was a minefield of knots and cricks, reaching up into my neck and shoulders.
I stretched my neck, twisting it from side to side as I dropped my vest in the living room.
“You alright?” Kaci asked as she flopped onto the couch, coiling herself up in such a way that was still sexy as Hell, even though I knew damned well that she wasn't trying.
“Neck's killing me,” I told her. “Stress and shit, that's all.”
“Go take a hot shower, then,” she suggested. “Call it an early night. We've got a crazy couple days ahead of us, anyways. Probably could use the rest while you can get it.”
“Yeah,” I agreed, nodding as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Probably right.”
I headed upstairs and into the master bedroom. I stripped out of my clothes and, naked, headed into the bathroom to start the shower. I cranked up the hot water as far as I could stand and, as the room filled with steam heat, I slipped beneath the water.
The surging droplets massaged my tired muscles as I hung my head beneath the stream of water. The rhythmic pulse didn't do much to wash away my concerns and misgivings, but it at least helped my back release its tension. I tried to focus on the good things that would come out of this, of how I'd be free of the criminal life, how Kaci and I would be off on our own together. The MC would be free of any charges, and everyone would have a clean slate.
It even worked, briefly. My mind began to quiet, and I started to see only the good things that could come out of this. I lathered up my soap and cleaned myself from head to toe, washing away as much of my inner turmoil as I could.
Soon, my second-guessings threatened to crowd my thoughts again, and I turned off the water and hopped out to dry myself off. Maybe sleep would be a better hiding place than the shower, I decided.
I killed the water and hopped out of the shower stall, grabbed a towel and began to dry myself. I tossed the towel on the rack to dry and, naked, headed back into my bedroom.
Kaci was already tucked in beneath the covers of my bed, her face turned away from the light of the bathroom. I flicked off the light and slipped into bed behind her, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her naked body close. She felt warm and small in my embrace.
As tired as I was, the feel of her skin on mine began to have its easily predicted effect. I felt my cock growing, rising to the occasion between us.
“Hi, you,” Kaci nearly purred as she felt my cock slip up between her thighs. I felt her move beneath the covers, readjusting, and her hand was soon wrapped around me, stroking me. “Grin to see me, even after all the stress today?”
God, her hands. I'd never felt anything so soft, but so sure of themselves. She stroked me up and down, sendin
g waves of sensations through my whole body.
I could feel it even in my scalp, and tingles shot up and down my spine as she worked her magic on me. I leaned forward, inhaled her smell, kissed her neck. My hand came up, cupped a naked breast, teased her nipple.
She pushed back into me a little, rubbed her cheeks over my hard and ready cock as she turned her head, moaning. Our lips found each other in the dark, and we kissed like long time lovers, like we knew every move the other was about to make.
She took her hand from my manhood and rolled over to face me, our bodies still beneath the covers. Her breathing was heavy, almost panting, and she bit her lip in the dim light.
“Micah,” she whispered as her hand found my cock again and my hands returned to her body, “I care about you.”
I didn't say anything at first. I just let her words, words I hadn't realized I'd been waiting to hear, soak into my psyche. “I care about you, too,” I said finally.
“Good,” she said, simply. Then, she was taking my hand and guiding it down her body and between her legs.
I slid my fingers over her wetness, rubbed up and down her mound. This close, I could see her eyes go wide at first as I touched her clit, then close in satisfaction as she bit her lip harder.
“Oh, Micah,” she groaned again as I slipped a finger inside of her and she continued to work her witch's spells on my cock. “Please, I want you inside me,” she whispered, groaning out the last word.
I moved myself slightly, hooking an arm below her leg. We kissed again, our tongues like flames lashing at one another, as I guided myself between her lips and entered her.
It was like sliding myself into the personification of sex, all heat and passion.
She groaned into my mouth as I slowly filled her. She sighed when I couldn't go any deeper.
“Please,” she whispered again as our lips parted. “Make love to me.”
I began to slowly stroke in and out of her as her long nails etched their lines up and down my back. As much as we writhed together under the covers, as much as we entangled ourselves in the sheets, this wasn't fucking like before. This was tender in its own way, two bodies moving together in the night.
“God, you feel amazing,” she moaned, her voice raspy and low.
“You're perfect,” I moaned back. “Every inch of you.”
We kissed again, and I felt her shudder, and clamp down on my length. I could feel her muscles contract and tighten around me, massaging my prick as she came on me. That was all I needed, the moment my body wanted.
I stiffened and groaned for a moment, my whole body rigid as I just stayed inside her. Then, the pleasure flooded through me as I began to cum, too, along with her. I began pumping into her again, marking her as mine. I felt myself explode into her, like every ounce of what was left of my soul was emptying from my body and entering hers.
“Oh, babe,” she groaned, her arms tightening around me in a close embrace that wasn't just nail raking, “I can feel you cumming inside me. Please, fill me up.”
I kept pumping into her, groaning. Finally, I could feel myself begin to soften. But, still, I kept going, wanting to enjoy every second I might have left with her. We kissed again, this time more softly, as my softening tool began to slip from her.
She made a sound, almost like a growl, deep in her throat. “God, Micah, where have you been all my life?”
“Right here, Kaci,” I whispered before kissing her again. “Right here, babe.”
I rolled off of her, spent, and flopped onto my back beneath the covers. Even during our previous escapades, I hadn't cum like that, to the point where I felt so drained. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was a succubus, or some other supernatural creature. But, she was just as much flesh and blood as I was.
She rolled onto her side, draped an arm over me, and snuggled up against me.
Together, we lay there, our arms entwined, our breathing heavy and full.
“That was amazing,” Kaci whispered as she snuggled her face into my shoulder and kissed my chest and collar bone.
“Yeah,” I agreed, kissing the top of her head and taking another deep breath of her addictive smell. “Yeah, it was.”
It had never been like this before. Not with any other woman.
And I was about walk into the Bear's lair with her by my side. What was I thinking?
# # #
Kaci
Micah drifted off to sleep soon after we'd finished making love.
That's what it had been, too. I could feel it in the way he held me so tenderly, in the way I kissed him. Whores didn't kiss men like that no matter how much we got paid. We weren't good enough actresses.
Call it a woman's intuition, but I knew, too, from the way he'd held me, from the way his hands had been so tender on my body, that he was concerned about me. That I would be in danger if I went with him, or that I'd do something stupid.
He was right to be worried, of course. I was going to do something stupid.
Not for the first time, though, I wondered if that was the right choice. I could have a good life with Micah, a great one, even. What girl wouldn't want a smart, tough, sexy man by her side? I could even see myself having children with him. Maybe not a white picket fence, or anything, but maybe something kinda like it.
Silently, I lay there berating myself, even as I debated myself.
I only wanted two things in life, now. To be with Micah. And to see Efraim Petrov dead.
However, those two things were completely mutually exclusive in each and every way you could conceive of them. One ended up with me happily ever after, maybe. The other with my ass rotting in a federal penitentiary somewhere with a first degree murder rap. That, right there, was a life sentence.
The strangest thing about all this, though, was that out of all the things Micah and I shared, the biggest and most important thing was our sense of allegiance to our families. His was to Quentin, and to the God’s Hellfire MC. They were his life.
Mine was to Romeo, and to his memory. And my baby brother deserved to have that memory avenged. I couldn't go off and have babies with Micah, couldn't go ride off into the sunset on the back of Micah's bike, so we could live happy ever after, forever and ever amen.
Not if Romeo couldn't, too. Where would be the justice in that?
Every time that I picked up my child and saw Romeo's eyes peering back at me, or the faintest similarity in the silhouette of their nose, I'd be reminded about how I did nothing. Because not only had Efraim's man Abram killed Romeo, he'd also killed all the nieces and nephews I'd never have, all the cousins my children would never have.
What was the point, then, of trying to live a life of regret and guilt with Micah?
Better to just enjoy the good times as they came, and love him while I could.
My mind settled, I let myself drift off to sleep, Micah's smell and the feel of his skin on mine filling my nose and distracting me from the future. It wasn't ‘til I was just about dozed off, though, that I realized what conclusion I'd come to.
Shit. I loved him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kaci
The next afternoon, we rolled into Club Hades. Despite my realization the night before, my mind was still set. Efraim Petrov needed to pay in blood for what his business had done to my family.
Gov was there waiting for us when we arrived, and we slipped into the meeting room to maintain secrecy. I'm sure everyone in the MC knew something was brewing, but Micah and I hoped that this would all roll into the event we had planned for the biker rally.
“He'll meet,” Gov said, his movements a little twitchier than normal, like he'd just come back from dealing with Sauron or Smaug, “but he won't do it at the hotel. Public place only, so he can be sure there won't be any surveillance or bugs.”
Micah nodded. “Fine,” he said. “Probably thinks the authorities will be less like to bust us up in a park, too. Too many bystanders.”
I clenched my teeth and almost spat a few choice words at
this chance of plans. The hotel would've been so much simpler. No civilians or innocents around, no one else to accidentally get caught up in this fucking mess. Now I was going to be out in a place with kids. Great! Even if I didn't accidentally hit one of them in the crossfire, I'd end up scarring them for the rest of their poor lives.
“We got the time and place,” Gov said. “Should be easy for us to prepare.”
Micah looked at Gov, his face blank. “Yeah,” Micah said. “About that . . .”
Gov looked from him to me, then back again. “What?”
“Change of plans,” Micah said, his eyes glancing to me just barely.
