by Nina Levine
“Doc?” I ask, stunned that she follows AFL, and she knew of my senior teammate.
“Yeah.” She gives me a sexy grin. “I have a thing for ruckmen.”
I sit on the bed and let that sink in.
“You were around my age, and I watched you improve every year. Now you’re a hero.”
“A hero? Is that how you saw me the other night?” I reach out for her arm and bring her to me, so she’s standing between my thighs.
She lays a soft palm on my cheek. “I saw a troubled man.”
A fair call.
“What do you see now?”
Star stares at me like she really cares and then straddles me, hoisting her skirt up a little, and damn if my cock doesn’t react. She places her hands on my shoulders. “A man filled with torment. Some of it from his past, and some because there’s a woman straddling his lap, and he wants to fuck her. Only he’s not sure about this woman, so he’s holding back.”
“You think you’re a fucking psychic?”
“You tell me?” She runs her fingers across my forehead and moves strands of hair away from my eyes.
My hand goes straight to between her legs. I slide the thin material aside and choke out a cough at how ready she is for me. “You know what I want and already imagined how good I would feel inside you. That doesn’t mean you can read my mind.”
She shrugs. “I wasn’t the one who got high last night. I remember every sensation.”
I bite her neck, kiss and lick her skin. “Tonight will be different.” I pull her top over her head and yank her skirt up to bunch around her hips. I’m not wasting time in case Brax asks her to leave, or her being here attracts other unwanted company. Star makes light work of my shorts and when she pushes the band down, my dick springs free. I’m ready because damn, I want her as bad as she wants me. Our lips join. The kiss is desperate and noisy. She eases her hips up and slides down onto my cock.
She gasps and stills. “Give me a moment.”
I bunch her thick dark hair in a pony and tug lightly, so her neck tilts for me. My kiss is rough. My other hand is squeezing her tit in a desperate need of not getting enough of Star. I bite her neck again and shudder to hold back the urge to plunge deeper inside her.
“Careful marking me, soldier. You might make someone a little crazy.”
Brax had already warned me. Yet that information spurs me on to claim Star. I suck and nip my way to her breast while she eases herself slowly up and down the length of my dick. I’m leaving little marks on her, and I don’t give a fuck who sees them.
She came to my bedroom for a reason.
Star wants me.
The notion driving me wild.
In seconds, she’s on her back, and I’m claiming her, driving into her until she calls my name. Jesus, even Mia would have heard the extent of her orgasm. This girl knows how to make me smile.
When I catch my breath, I slide off Star and lay beside her on my back.
She’s quiet.
“Everything okay?” I ask and roll onto my side. Star is staring at the ceiling with a blank gaze. “Did I hurt you,” I ask with concern.
She shakes her head. It’s subtle but not at all reassuring.
“Then what?”
“Every guy I’ve been with fucks me.”
I’m not sure I am following.
She meets my gaze and says nothing, so I ask again, “Are you sure I didn’t hurt you?”
“No,” she whispers. “I like it rough. Except you’re different to the other guys. And… I wonder if sex will ever be any different to this?”
“You want me to be gentle?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never had intimate sex.” She shakes her head. “Forget I said that. I’ve no clue why those crazy fucking thoughts came into my head.” Star springs up. “Anyway, I came to give you back your money. I didn’t want to give it back earlier with any evidence of powder on it.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.” With little else to say, I point to my ensuite. “There’s a bathroom if you want to clean yourself.”
“As for your coffee rewards card.” She grins at me. “I’m keeping it.” I watch her round arse as she walks into the bathroom and emerges with her clothes on, then she leans over and kisses me on the lips. “I’d like to do this again.”
“You can’t stay longer?”
She shakes her head. “I’ll be back.”
“Tomorrow night?” I ask because I could get used to this every night. It might make the move to Brisbane more enjoyable.
“Give me your phone.”
I do so, and I watch her add her details. Yet, she doesn’t call her own phone.
“You have my number,” she says as though the next step is entirely up to me.
The following night after training, Brax asks if I want to head out for noodles with him and the lads. In the back of my mind, I still hope for Star to turn up.
“I’m not in the mood. I’ll go home and fix myself something healthy,” I tell him.
“We can bring you a dish?” Brax suggests. I assume he believes I’m having another bad day.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll whip up a dish of pasta.”
“Okay, mate. Catch you later.”
I’m not relying on hope for a chance that Star will come. I need her, so as soon as they leave, I pull up her phone number and send her a text.
Me: Are we still on for tonight?
I receive a reply before I get a pot of water on to boil for the fettuccine.
Star: Be there in 10.
Scrap the pasta. I quickly heat leftovers from yesterday, so I’m organised when she arrives. There’s no way I’m wasting time in the kitchen. She arrives with her beautiful smile, and I lead her straight to my room. I close the door and pull off my shirt before stepping to her and unzipping her dress. When I do, she loops her arms around my neck and kisses me with the same neediness and longing.
“Have you been thinking about us getting it on all day?” I ask her between breaths.
She takes my hand and places it between her thighs. “You be the judge.”
Instinct takes over.
“Lay on your stomach,” I demand and point to the bed. “Spread your legs.”
We fuck on repeat for the next two weeks.
Star comes to my room.
I give the commands…
On your back.
On all fours.
On your knees.
With every day, she becomes more submissive to my demands, and the only thing to come from her smart mouth are the kisses she saves for me.
Monday morning after our training session, I’m thinking about her. We barely left my room all weekend.
“Catch you at home,” Brax calls out as I walk to my new black BMW SUV.
I pull out my phone and call Star.
“Hey. Are you busy?”
“No, why? Do you need me to come to yours?”
“Nope.” Although the idea of being between her legs is something I’ll never object to. “Can I swing by and pick you up? I need to go shopping and would love some female advice.”
The phone is silent.
I check the screen to make sure we’re still connected.
“Star?”
“Sure,” she rasps. “Can you give me ten?”
“I can. And I’ll need your address.” I haven’t been back to the house in the valley since that first night. Guilt fills me she has always come to mine, yet assumed it a no-brainer in keeping us low-key.
“I’ll text it to you.”
“I’ll wait out front.”
“No. Wait a few houses down the road,” she adds quickly and ends the call.
I toss my training bag in the trunk and before I start the car, my phone vibrates with an incoming call. It’s an unknown number, and I hesitate before answering it.
“Dustin, it’s Jason from Riverside Real Estate.”
“Right.” I rub the side of my neck. It could have been someone less friendly.
“I did, but if I find the right house, then I’m prepared to buy.”
“That’s what I thought. Do you want to meet me after lunch, say around one?”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll email the address.”
I check the text message for Star’s address and set it in Maps in my car. While driving over the Story Bridge, my hands sweat on the steering wheel, and it’s not from the humidity, especially with the specialised air conditioning in the new car. When I arrive, I drive slowly past her house, peering at the entrance before parking a few houses down the road.
What the fuck was I thinking on the night I came here? There’s a high steel fence and thick overgrowth to conceal most of the building. I’d lost any instinct about keeping me safe that night. Yet I don’t regret it as I met Star, and she is more my type than any chick I know.
I send off a text and wait for her to come to the car.
Not long later, she knocks on the window and then opens the door. I grin at the skimpy olive-green dress she’s wearing barely covering her rear.
“You have the best legs I’ve ever seen on a chick.” I reach out and give her shapely thigh a pat. “If we weren’t shopping, then I’d suggest you christen this car and sit on my lap.”
As she pushes long dark strands of hair away from her eyes, Star giggles. “It won’t be comfortable since you barely have legroom now.”
“Forget about me. I like nothing more than to watch your beautiful face as I pleasure you. I want you to touch everything I own.”
She rubs a hand over the material covering my cock. “For the record, in your bedroom, we’ve ticked off the entire list.”
A chuckle lightly. “The car it is. It’s my goal before the end of the day.”
“So where are we going?” she asks as I veer out onto the street.
“The city mall. I have to buy Christmas presents for my family.” I turn momentarily to gauge her reaction.
Her pale gold eyes round. “You want my opinion?”
“You probably know me better than anyone else here, and I’m not asking Braxton.” I glance at her again and love that she has a smile on her pretty face. “My sister-in-law is around your size, although she’s trying to get pregnant. I have no clue what to get her.”
“I got you covered,” she says and grabs my phone to switch up my Spotify playlist. I want to groan when her choice of acoustic songs plays—soft instrumental tunes and beautiful voices. I didn’t take this to be her style, only she keeps on surprising me.
We stop at the traffic lights, and I watch her adjust the temperature on the cooling, and then up the volume to a song she likes. I don’t allow chicks to get cosy and treat my stuff as theirs, but there’s something about Star that intrigues me. Maybe it’s the risk factor of us being together is living dangerously. Yet watching her feel at home when she’s in my room, and in my car, feels somehow right.
The problem is both of us accept it’s fun while it lasts.
We are not serious.
We will not be a thing because I don’t do relationships.
6
“I’m glad I’ll have a place after Christmas,” I say when Star orgasms with the enthusiasm I love about her. “You’re probably scaring the young lads.”
She smiles with her eyes closed, and I assume too out of breath to respond. When her breathing slows, she pushes up onto her elbow and turns on her side. “Are you going to buy that house?”
I roll, so I’m facing her. “Yeah, I am. I like New Farm, it has a good vibe. Have you thought about buying your own place?”
She runs a finger in a line from my neck to my navel. “We have money, only it’s tied up. Viper controls everything.”
“The president?”
She nods. “He provides the house we live in, and we get basically everything we want.”
“Yet you don’t wear jewellery or have any expensive shit.”
Her eyes meet mine in a way that I’ve missed something. “No. I don’t want what they give. I had a diamond ring and gave it back. Taking stuff is…” she flops onto her back, “… being bought. I don’t want to owe them anything.”
It sounds like she has a problem with the club. It surprises me because I assumed she was happy. She acts carefree, and yet in one sentence, I sense the torment in her words. “Do you want to live somewhere else?”
She shrugs. “I have freedom but… I don’t want to sound ungrateful. They are my family. My mum,” she swallows hard then sighs. “I never told you she died of an overdose when I was a child, and the guys rallied around to give me everything I needed. As you can imagine, if you incur a debt, then you’re indebted for life. I try not to think about it.” Star looks at me, and it’s one where she wants to open up. I keep my mouth shut and give her a nod. “One of them hit me.”
My fists clench. There’s no way in hell I’d allow another man to treat her badly.
“My father and some of the other men kicked his arse in a way he’ll remember. In punishment, Viper sent him to Sydney. I’m okay as long as he doesn’t come back here.”
“Would he dare?” I growl it because I want to slam the arsehole myself.
She nods, and in the moment, there’s fear in her eyes. “One day because he’s only doing time.”
I take a moment to let that sink in.
Connect the dots.
“And this guy that hit you… was it your ex?” Her eyes widen. “It’s okay. Don’t say anything.” Her face told me everything I needed to know. “I’m curious. If you weren’t part of the club, and you had a choice in your career, what would you do?”
She covers her eyes with her forearm and lets out a sigh. “I studied for a year when I first left school. I attended Queensland University and took a course in Interior Design. I liked it, then Viper started talking about it being a way to assess a client’s wealth, and whether they had anything of value to the club. I refuse to be a pawn, especially if I could be the one who ends up in jail, so I quit and told them I wasn’t enjoying it.”
The fuckers.
“So now I’m curious about what you do with your day?”
Why haven’t I asked her this before?
She shrugs. “I work in the bar at the club, and since I did a crash accounting course, I maintain their books. It’s only part-time, so most days I’m free.”
Free. She’s not free in the sense most people understand.
“Where’s the club?” I figure this is something I should know.
“It’s about an hour’s drive north of Brisbane.” She sits up and smiles. “I’m working tomorrow, so why don’t you swing by and pick me up?”
“Is it safe for me to visit?”
She giggles. “It’s not that bad. You’re not the enemy.” She wraps a hand around my neck and pulls my lips to hers, and in a few seconds, she helps me to forget what we were talking about.
The following afternoon, I finish training and drive the hour to the Silver Hell MC clubhouse. About a half-hour into the journey, I question if this is one of the dumbest decisions I’ve ever made. I haven’t told Braxton where I’m going. Instead, I only revealed that I’m having dinner with Star and won’t be home until later. In hindsight, I should have told Brax on the off-chance I’m unwelcome and shit goes down. Only tonight I didn’t want a bloody lecture.
I make a left turn and the road narrows as though it’s a dead end. It remains like this for a further five minutes with only bushland and pine trees to my left and right.
In the distance, I make out a wall and slow the speed as I get closer. A guy steps onto the road, and I hit the brake. Where the fuck did he come from? Before I look into the rows of pine trees for a hidden car or building, he walks to my side and taps on the window. I lower it, and I’m fascinated by the tattoos on his cheeks and neck. Even his l
ips have lines of ink.
“I’m here to pick up Star,” I say before he opens his mouth. “She asked me for a ride.”
“She has a ride,” he replies and turns his head to spit on the ground.
“Can you call her before I leave because I don’t want her to be angry with me?”
That gives him a reason to grin, and yet I can’t even imagine Star losing her temper. Frustrated, yes, and arguing a point, but not angry.
“You call her,” he growls as though it’s a test.
I bring up her contact on my phone and don’t look at the fucker while I’m waiting for her to answer.
“Hey,” she says. “Are you here?”
“Depends. I’m with the gatekeeper, and I can see a vast structure of fence, so you tell me.”
“Put me on speaker.”
I press the speaker button.
“Hey, Evan, Dustin is here to pick me up. Can you be a darling and open the gates for him?”
“Sure, kiddo. Doing it now.”
What the actual fuck? He sounded like a pussycat.
“Thanks, Evan,” I say.
“I’m Black Dog to you, dickhead,” he snarls and walks to the side of the road. He pulls out a remote control from his pocket, and the double gates of the enormous entrance open.
I drive off slowly, past the gates. There are lawns and garden on one side, then dirt and an L-shaped building on the other. A female walks through the doors of the building. I glance up and notice a structure on the roof, and sure enough, there’s a guy manning the property.
Star strides toward me, and I’m surprised by her white knee-length dress giving her an angelic appearance. “Hey.” She hops in the car and leans in to kiss me. “Do you want a tour?”
“I’d rather not risk it.” I put my foot on the accelerator and want to drive out of here as fast as this car is designed for. I leave a cloud of dirt in my wake and decide it’s a place I don’t want to frequent again. Coming here was a risk, especially to my football career. These people are not my friends.
Star and I are just fucking. Nothing more. I don’t want to owe anyone anything.