Gearhead

by Evelyn Glass

  When I woke up, it was dark, and Marin’s mouth was wrapped around me, sucking me awake. I pulled her up next to me, both of us lying on our sides, and entered her gently, pressing into her until we orgasmed at the same time.

  Kayla knocked on the door before leaving for work and told Marin she had to leave the room and eat something so the baby wouldn’t starve, so Marin grabbed a granola bar from the kitchen and ate it on her hands and knees while I entered her from behind. We alternated napping and having sex until we both collapsed with exhaustion.

  I woke up again much later, with the sun, and stared at Marin’s light features. Her blonde hair was tangled and wild from my hands running through it, and her lips were still swollen from our kisses. She looked completely at peace, and I knew she trusted me. I’d let her see my affection for her, and I could only hope it wouldn’t backfire on me.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Marin

  Jasper woke me with kisses the next morning. I kept my eyes closed long after I’d woken up, feeling his lips flutter against my eyelids, my lips, my cheeks, and the tip of my nose.

  “I have to go,” he whispered against my neck.

  God, even his morning breath smelled good. How? I lifted a leg and hooked it behind one of his knees, holding him to the bed.

  “We can’t stay in bed forever.”

  “Want to bet?” I said, still not opening my eyes.

  “I need to take care of a few things, and you need to pack.”

  Pack? Oh yeah, I was moving in with him. Moving in with Jasper Black. If someone had told me a few weeks earlier that I’d be lying next to Jasper Black after a night of extraordinary sex, talking about moving in with him, I would have told them they were insane. But, there I was.

  “I’ll just buy new stuff,” I said, dismissing his concern with a wave of my hand and folding my naked body into his thick chest. He was warm, and despite his insistence that he needed to leave, I felt him growing hard against my back. “You sure you want to leave?” I teased.

  “I’m capable of rising above my baser instincts,” he said, untangling himself from me and standing up.

  He was solid through and through. The muscles in his back rippled as he tugged on his jeans and searched the floor for his shirt and jacket. I almost couldn’t believe how natural it felt. We were a real couple. We hadn’t formally discussed it yet, but the endless string of steamy sexual encounters had sort of spoken for themselves, right? Because if that was how Jasper made love to someone he didn’t care about, God help the woman he did care about. She would probably melt down to a pile of bones with little more than a kiss.

  Plus, he had sworn to take care of the baby and me. Even in my wildest dreams, Jasper felt duty-bound and promised to be involved in the baby’s life, but I never imagined he would be excited about the situation. But he’d immediately offered to let me live with him. Underneath it all, he was a good man – another thing I never imagined possible – and I wanted to be the person to bring that side of him to the forefront.

  An article naming Jasper the most eligible bad boy bachelor in the city had circulated around the Internet a few months before, and I wanted to be the woman to change that perception of him. I wanted people to see who Jasper truly was.

  I threw the covers on the floor and lounged in bed entirely naked, resting on my elbow, in an attempt to lure Jasper back to bed, and it nearly worked. He ran his eyes over my body hungrily, biting his lower lip and groaning, but managed to leave the room. However, a few minutes later he came back in, already tugging his shirt over his head.

  “Bear will be here in fifteen minutes to watch the apartment while you pack,” he said, spreading my legs and unzipping his jeans. “So, we have some time.”

  I was still laying on my side when Jasper lifted my top leg and pushed himself inside of me. He trailed kisses down my calf and rubbed at my sensitive nub while he slid in and out of me. The position allowed me to lay down and close my eyes, giving my entire body over to the sensation of him inside of me. We came at the same time, my fists digging into the sheet hard enough that it tore.

  “Lucky for you, I already have sheets at my house,” he said, kissing me on the cheek just as a knock sounded on the front door. “That will be Bear. Pack up, and I’ll be back for you in a few hours.”

  The idea of packing felt impossible – my body was spent and lazy – but I nodded and watched him slip through my bedroom door. I heard him talking to Bear just before the front door shut, and he locked it behind him with the key I’d given him.

  I showered, running my hands over my body in the same way Jasper had the night before. Remembering his touch was enough to make me wet, and I couldn’t wait to spend another night with him. Then, I remembered we would be spending every night together, and a grin I couldn’t hide pulled on my lips. It was still plastered on my face as I packed up the last box and looked around my empty room.

  The space looked larger with everything gone, and I realized how little I would miss it. While I’d enjoyed living with Kayla, I was ready for the next step in my life. And with or without Jasper, I would have had to get a larger place when the baby arrived anyway. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t have any doubts about my decision. It was going to be great.

  Jasper told me he’d be back in a few hours, but I was ready to leave. When he wasn’t riding his motorcycle, Bear drove a large truck, and I could see it parked out front of the apartment. The bed was definitely big enough for my few boxes, and it would be nice to surprise Jasper when he got home by already being there.

  So, I bounded out of my room to ask Bear to drive me to Jasper’s. Except, when I got to the front door, where he was meant to be posted, no one was there. I’d heard Jasper instruct him not to leave the apartment for even a minute without informing me first, so I was debating whether or not I should tell Jasper about Bear’s absence when I turned around and noticed the blood on the carpet.

  My eyes followed the bloody path from the front of the door all the way through the apartment and around the corner. My heart was hammering, and my brain was screaming at me to run, but my body refused to listen. I followed the blood trail to the kitchen, where a scream died in my throat.

  Bear’s body had been flayed open, though it seemed as if that had been done purely for dramatic effect because a single bullet hole scarred the center of his forehead. I stared at his body for a few seconds in utter shock and horror before I realized what that meant. Someone had killed Bear and dragged him through my house, and they were probably still inside.

  Just as I moved to grab a steak knife from the block on the counter, a large hand clamped over my mouth. An arm wrapped around me, and I recognized the Jagged Jackals emblem tattooed on the man’s forearm.

  “Angel spoke so highly of your robe after his last visit,” an unfamiliar voice growled out in my ear. “He’ll be glad to see you wearing it again.”

  I kicked back at the man, but he was too strong. He led me to the door where another Jagged Jackals member – this one sporting a bald head and a missing front tooth – helped lead me to a waiting car in the alley behind the apartment building. They threw me in the back seat, and I lunged for the other door, but the handle was useless, and the door stayed closed.

  The two men climbed in after me and sat on either side of me, squishing me between their massive shoulders.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” I begged, tears rolling down my cheeks. “I’m pregnant.”

  The bald man raised an eyebrow at the other man – a young guy, no older than twenty-five, with a thick crop of blond hair – and I suspected I should have kept the baby a secret.

  Oh well, it was too late now. I’d likely be dead within the hour.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jasper

  I hadn’t heard a peep from Angel since he’d left the dead animal and the note to call him on my front porch, so when his name appeared on my cell phone, I was more than a little surprised. Angel was known for being all bark, no bite.
He would talk a big game, make threats, and then quietly fade into the background and avoid any sort of actual confrontation.

  I considered ignoring the call – Marin was expecting me over at her place any minute, and I still had some things left to do at the restaurant – but I decided to take it and finally put the situation with Angel to bed.

  It took me a second to realize it was a video chat. Angel’s face filled the screen.

  “Listen,” I said, deciding to lead the conversation, “your guy was stealing from me, and we dealt with it. You would have done the same thing.”

  Angel nodded. “You’re right. I would have. In fact, I did.’

  I hesitated. What did that mean? I didn’t want to ask and look weak, so I said nothing.

  Angel smiled devilishly and pointed his camera towards the corner of a dark room. Just visible in the dim light was a woman, gagged and bound, her breasts exposed and heaving as she sobbed. I stared at the vile image for a few seconds before I realized I was looking at Marin. I felt like I would be sick. Not only had Angel retaliated, but he’d retaliated in a serious way. No matter how this ended, it would mean war.

  “You were wise to place a guard at her apartment,” Angel said from behind the camera, walking over to Marin, his shoes slapping on the concrete floor. “Unfortunately, he was easy to surprise and overpower.”

  “What did you do to him?” I asked, my voice even, though my heart was thundering in my chest.

  “Killed him the way he killed my man.”

  I closed my eyes for a second. Bear may not have been the brightest of the Hellions, but he was a good man, and I would miss him.

  Angel had reached Marin, and up close, I saw tear tracks running down her face. Her eyes were wide and pleading. Her mouth had been stuffed with a knotted towel. Angel’s hand came into view, and he stroked one of her breasts. She flinched and squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Don’t touch her,” I growled out.

  “You should feel lucky this is the worst I’ve done to her… so far.” Angel laughed and flicked her nipple. “You have an hour to turn over everything in your bank account, or your girl will be passed around like the dirtiest club girl and then disposed of like the trash she is.”

  Angel pointed the camera at the floor, and then seemed to think better of it. His face came back into view, filling up the screen. “Oh, and I know all about the baby. If you think that will stop me from killing her, you’re sadly mistaken. You have fifty-nine minutes.”

  I practically flew to the Hellion headquarters, my tires screeching with every turn. I parked my bike outside the abandoned building and ran inside. I’d send out a mass text before leaving Jasper’s Grill, and it seemed as if most everyone had arrived.

  “The Jagged Jackals struck back in a serious way,” I said, my voice pulling everyone from the edges of the room to the center. “We have to storm their headquarters and kill anyone we find.”

  The MC had been waiting for an excuse to fight the Jackals, but I’d been holding them back, trying to avoid an all-out war. But now, there was no reason not to attack them with everything we had. Angel had crossed a line, and I was going to kill him.

  Everyone cheered, but then one man stepped forward. “Angel isn’t at the Jagged Jackals headquarters.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked, the room quieting.

  “You asked me to keep an eye on the activity at their headquarters a few months ago,” he said. Now that he said it, I remembered assigning someone the task, though I hadn’t thought it important until this moment. “And I haven’t seen any activity there all day,” he finished. “I know Marin isn’t there.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit. My mind was spinning, trying to think of where Marin could be. I glanced at my watch. Forty-five minutes.

  I pointed to the man who had just spoken and a few others next to him. “All of you go to the Jackals’ headquarters and confirm. Everyone else, send out feelers and see if we can find out where they are.”

  Forty-four minutes.

  I shoved my hand into my pocket and tried to stop watching the seconds tick away. Marin was in danger, and I had no idea where she was. The issue wasn’t the money; I would have gladly turned over every dime to ensure Marin was safe. The problem was that I didn’t believe for even a second that any amount of money would save Marin.

  Angel would take the money and run, leaving me to deal with the aftermath of Marin’s body. I paced around the room, calling every other MC leader I could, trying to find out if anyone knew where Marin was, but with no luck. I glanced at my watch again. Thirty-nine minutes. Time was running out.

  As the minutes ticked away, I grew desperate. The men I’d sent to the Jackals’ headquarters had confirmed Marin and Angel weren’t there, and none of my usual leads had turned up any new information. While I was pacing the room, and trying to think of anyone who might know anything, my phone vibrated.

  I opened it as fast as possible, thinking it could be a message from Angel. It wasn’t. Just an alert that another article had been posted about me online. I had set up a system so I would be notified anytime my name was mentioned online. It was a good way to keep on top of public opinion and help me work on my reputation.

  I swiped the notification off my screen, annoyed at the few seconds it had cost me and went back to pacing. But then, an idea struck.

  I opened the message and clicked through to the gossip website that had mentioned me. It was an article about my relationship with Marin. The journalist’s name was at the bottom of the page, her email written beneath it. I drafted a hasty email to her and sent it, hoping she would respond quickly, or at all, and sat down to wait.

  Within two minutes, another notification popped up on my screen:

  UPDATE: Jasper Black Searching for Marin Wagner – See Photo and Respond with Information

  The woman had simply copied and pasted my email above her own article. It asked for any leads as to the location of Marin or her kidnapper. The only photo I had of Marin in my phone was posted prominently in the right-hand margin. I refreshed the page, and the woman had found several more from other articles that had been written about us in the past weeks and attached those, as well.

  My phone went off again, this time it was a message from Angel. I opened it, both anxious and afraid of what I would find there. It was a photo of a box of pills, the prescription name written prominently on the front of the box. I didn’t recognize the name, but even as I searched it online, I knew it wouldn’t be good.

  When “abortion pills” popped up on my screen, I nearly collapsed. What kind of monster was Angel? For years, I’d viewed him as little more than a pest, but now I was seeing the truth. The man was psychotic. Sure, I’d killed a man, but he had been a cheat and a liar and a thief. Marin had done nothing wrong. The only mistake she had made was getting involved with me, and I’d forced her into that. How could Angel live with himself?

  Even I was having second thoughts about the drug dealer I’d ordered to be killed. For a long time, I’d viewed right and wrong as too simplistic. No one was entirely good or bad; therefore, their actions could not be entirely good or bad. Everything was a shade of gray. But then Marin happened. She was entirely good, through and through, and she made me realize that I wanted to try and be good, too. Of course, that would have to wait until after I’d killed Angel. One more bad thing, and then a lifetime of good.

  Tips started pouring in via email and text, and as comments posted underneath the article. Many of them were Internet trolls who cared nothing about Marin.

  Girl has a nice body. I’d kidnap her too.

  She is not pretty enough to be with him. Jasper, if you’re reading this, call me.

  She is probably dead by now – move on.

  I saw her… IN MY BED LAST NIGHT.

  It was amazing how many people were willing to spend their time sending incredibly unhelpful messages when a woman was in immediate danger, but I did my best to ignore them. Responding to the trolls would not help find
Marin, and another chunk of the comments were people doing that for me – telling the mean commenters to get a life.

  I waded through the sludge, scrolling until I thought my finger would fall off, before finally seeing something useful:

  I was picking my kid up from daycare on the east side of town, and I saw a black SUV, being followed by a line of motorcycles, pull into an old mattress shop just off the interstate. It might have been nothing, but you never know.

  Angel had always been a bit too conspicuous for his own good. He was afraid of being caught alone – as he should have been – so he had a protective detail of MC members following him at all times. It had to be him. And for Marin’s sake, I hoped it was. It would take just about thirty minutes to get there, so if we were wrong, it would be too late.