by Alex Grayson
It was there again.
The excitement.
The readiness for it all.
The desire for adventure.
“You better come back,” Katie said as she sidled up to the bar.
I smiled fondly at her. “You know I’m going to miss you the most, right?”
“You bet your sweet ass you will. But I’ll still be here when you get back.” She turned to Caleb and held out a hand to him. “And you are?”
He took it and gave it a quick shake, his gaze moving over her like every man’s did whenever they looked at her.
“Caleb, ma’am,” he replied politely before turning his attention back to me. My body felt warm when he looked at me, and I cleared my throat nervously. “And that, Arla, sounds like the most amazing trip. I wish I could come with you. I’ve always wanted to see a kangaroo up close. I always swore that one day I was going to visit the Machu Picchu ruins in Peru. Life gets in the way though, I guess.”
I stared at him in wonder. I’d never met anyone who wanted to see anywhere else in the world. All my family had been born, lived, and died in this town, with no desire to reach beyond the borders. Same old, same old, I’d always been told about the world. But I knew that wasn’t true. I knew in my heart there was more out there.
“Sweetie, you should close that mouth before you catch flies,” Katie teased, and headed off to take an order.
I continued to stare at him. “I’ll add that to my list,” I replied softly.
He chuckled and downed the last of his beer. “Another, please?”
I took his glass and refilled it before sliding it back over to him. He tried to hand me some money but I shook my head. “Bobby said your beer was on the house, remember?”
“When I get back,” he replied.
“Then let me get this one,” I said.
Caleb shook his head. “No, let me get this.” He pulled a wad of bills from his pocket and handed them over to me, and I frowned. “Add that to your trip fund,” he said, jerking his head over to the jar at the back of the bar that Bobby had been filling all year for me.
“Won’t you need it for your trip?” I asked.
Caleb’s expression softened and he shook his head, his smile disappearing. “No, I won’t need it. But I tell you what, make sure to buy yourself a wine in Paris, a beer in Australia, and a green fucking tea or some shit in China, and when you do, think of me. Deal?”
I stared at him, my heart thumping heavily against my ribcage, and I nodded.
“You got a pen?” he asked.
I nodded again, not trusting myself to speak right then. I pulled a pen from my apron and handed it to him, and on each twenty-dollar bill he wrote a different country before handing them back to me.
“Now you won’t forget.” He smiled, his dimple popping.
“Thanks,” I replied before taking the money and dropping it in my jar.
Bobby came through from the back, his gaze looking sympathetic. “Why don’t you take a quick break, Arla?” he offered. I nodded okay, even though I didn’t want to.
I turned back to Caleb, seeing his heady gaze on me.
And then I did something that I’ve never done before.
“Do you want to keep me company?” I asked Caleb, not a hundred percent certain what I was actually asking him, but knowing that I wanted to spend more time with him.
His gaze shifted from Bobby to me and he looked uncertain.
“It’s dark out back,” I mumbled. “Pretty sure there are rats, because Bobby is disgusting and doesn’t clean properly.”
“This is their home too,” Bobby barked. “Caleb, you better keep Arla company in case the rats scare her.”
Caleb stood up, his eyes catching mine and stealing my breath again. “I’ll meet you back there,” he said, and headed out the front door.
I was pretty certain that Bobby would have let him come through the back way, and I think Caleb knew that too. My hope was that he needed to catch his breath too.
4
Caleb
The air was humid and heavy. Normally I would have been sweating under the heavy weight of my leather cut. But not tonight. Tonight my jeans hung low on my hips and my cotton T-shirt was loose around me. I wasn’t even wearing my leather boots; instead I had on sneakers. Hadn’t worn sneakers going on ten years.
For the first time in forever I was just a regular guy, wanting to hook up with a regular girl.
No sweetbutts or clubsluts. No old ladies, or hangers on. No club patches, no leather and chains.
I was just Caleb.
And she was just Arla.
I felt lost as I walked round the back of the Laughing Moose, but as I turned the corner and saw Arla sitting on top of a small picnic bench, I felt found.
In another life maybe we would have made a go of something.
From what I’d seen so far, we had a lot in common but enough differences to keep things interesting.
She was pretty and sweet, smart and funny.
I’d never met a woman like her before.
“Hey,” she said, looking up as I came closer.
She was holding a beer in one hand, and it looked like she’d downed half of it in the time it had taken me to walk around the bar. She’d taken her apron off and I could see her curvy figure beneath her clothes now. She wore a little denim skirt and a white lace top. She had a light sprinkling of freckles across her shoulders, and as I drew closer I reached out and slid my hands across them, making her sigh.
“Hey,” I said, staring down at her.
That close, I could smell her shampoo. It was sweet and reminded me of peaches. I threaded my hand through the back of her hair, almost groaning at how soft it felt beneath my fingers. I tipped her head back so she was forced to look up at me, and when she did, the expression on her face truly stole the air from my lungs.
“I don’t normally do this,” she whispered, her voice full of longing and honesty.
“I didn’t think that,” I replied just as honestly, my fingertips tracing along her collarbone. “I wanna kiss you,” I confided, though I was certain she already knew that.
She smiled, her soft skin trembling beneath my touch. “So kiss me,” she said, her words a plead.
I leaned down and placed my lips on hers without another thought, and my tongue moved to part her lips and allow me access to her sweet mouth. I kissed her like I was a drowning man saying goodbye—with force and emotion—and the world turned silent around us.
Arla parted her legs and I pressed my body between her thighs, filling up the small gap until we were practically one body. Her breasts pressed against my chest and her hands reached up behind me, her fingers digging into my skin urgently.
We kissed until my lips were sore and my dick was hard enough to cut rock. I ground against her, loving it when she whimpered against my mouth. I swallowed up each sweet sound she gave, savoring every pant from her swollen lips. I reached between us, finding the hard nub of her nipple, and I groaned as I rolled it between my fingers, the thin cotton bra she wore giving no restriction against my touch. And thank the Lord for that.
I peppered kisses down her chin and throat, moving them along her collarbone, loving the way she flung her head back, giving me access to all of her. Sliding my hands down her arms, I dropped them to her waist, pushing up her lace top so I could smooth my hands across her firm stomach.
I was dreading tomorrow.
Dreading being away from everything and everyone I knew.
Dreading leaving behind everything that I loved.
And for what?
For something I hadn’t done.
For a club that I loved.
I was dreading tomorrow, so I pushed it away and enjoyed tonight. Wishing that tonight, with Arla, could last forever.
I came up panting and pressed another kiss on her mouth.
“Are you sure?” I said, my voice thick and gravelly.
She nodded, her eyes wide and hungry. She reached between
us, placing a hand against the front of my jeans before rubbing my hardness over and over. I hissed through my teeth, loving her touch.
I dragged my wallet from my back pocket and pulled out a condom, tearing it open while she continued rubbing my balls, pleasure thrumming through me. She watched me with those wide eyes again as I unzipped my jeans and freed my heavy dick. I palmed it, rubbing up and down the thick shaft before holding the condom at the tip and sliding it down myself.
Reaching under her skirt, I dragged her soaked panties down her legs and pocketed them before situating myself between her silken thighs. I threaded my hands through the back of her hair again and tipped her face up to me as my dick flexed against her entrance.
“I’m leaving tomorrow, so…” she whispered, and I nodded in understanding. She wanted me to know that this wouldn’t change a thing. That this was our only chance.
She didn’t realize how true that statement was.
I dropped my mouth to hers and she opened to me immediately. My tongue moved over hers, and then I pulled back and nipped at her bottom lip.
“Let’s make it a night to remember then, right?” I said, holding her gaze.
Her mouth quirked, her cheeks heating as she reached up to cup my cheek in her hand. “I can’t imagine I’d ever forget you.”
This girl!
This fucking girl!
She was too much. Too damn good for me, that was for damn sure. I took her mouth again as I tipped my hips up before sliding myself inside her, savoring the way she gasped against my mouth as I stretched her wide. I rocked back and forth, gently, relishing the way her body clung to me as I filled her, her body gripping me in its warm embrace as she whimpered with every plunge of my hardness.
Arla threaded her hands beneath my T-shirt, her nails digging into my skin as I picked up the pace. Every thrust was a branding of myself upon her body. Every claw down my back was a promise to take me with her to every country she visited. I gripped her waist and tilted her body up to meet each of my thrusts, hitting a spot inside of her that caught her by surprise. She released my mouth and flung her head back, gasping into the air as I circled my hips and then thrust hard.
Her body tightened, gripping me as she exploded around me, and I clamped a hand over her mouth to stop her from crying out too loudly. Her hips met mine as I moved faster, taking all of me as I slammed myself into her over and over until I bottomed out and was coming hard enough to see stars.
“That was…” she panted.
I placed a kiss against her lips and nodded. “Yeah,” I agreed.
“I mean…”
I kissed her again. “Yeah,” I agreed again.
She was breathless, and my heart was slamming against my chest as I came back down. Her arms and legs were still wrapped around me, but we slowly untangled ourselves. I pulled off the condom and tied it before pulling my jeans up and throwing the condom in a pile of Bobby’s trash.
Arla and I stared at each other, grins on our faces like we were stupid fucking high school kids with no cares in the world. She pushed her hair back from her face and I was so close that I got a hint of her shampoo scent again. My dick twitched.
The sound of a motorcycle engine cut through the silence and my smile fell.
It was time.
“Meet you back in there?” I said to her, stepping away, and she nodded, her gaze shifting to her feet. I watched her pick her beer back up and head inside, and I felt like a monster for making that smile disappear. I knew what she was thinking. I knew she thought that that didn’t mean anything to me. But I couldn’t tell her that it actually meant everything.
I headed back around the side of the building, seeing Hardy and Gauge stepping off their bikes. They both looked surprised when they saw me.
“New look?” Gauge asked, and I nodded. He cleared his throat. “Suits you.”
“Don’t match the name,” Hardy grumbled, his expression hard as usual.
“Let’s get a beer,” I said.
Arla was back serving as we walked inside. She smiled when she saw me, her eyes lighting up in a way that made her look fucking beautiful. I slid back onto my stool and slid some money over.
“Three more beers, please.”
She glanced to either side of me as Gauge and Hardy sat down before nodding and looking away.
“She’s hot,” Gauge said, his gaze on her ass. He pulled out his cigars, tapping one against the box. He still hadn’t looked away from her and I realized that I was clenching my teeth together. I’d never wanted to hit one of my brothers like that.
“Can we focus on tomorrow?” I said, my teeth still gritted.
Hardy and Gauge began speaking in low voices, warning me about how everything was going to go down. No longer than eighteen months—that was what I’d been promised from the lawyer. It was a small price to pay for my club. I knew that, yet staring at Arla, ready to go on the trip of a lifetime, I couldn’t help but worry that I was giving up so much more than just eighteen months of my life.
The next day I was heading to County, covering up a crime that Hardy had committed. But better me than him. He was the president of the Devil’s Highwaymen—my club, my family, my life. They needed him. And I’d be back soon enough.
“Come on, brother, time to get you home,” Gauge said as we headed outside. He patted me on the back. “Sure you won’t stay at the club tonight? Got a couple of sweetbutts who could keep you company.”
I shook my head, my gaze on the door as Arla came out, her goddamned jar filled with cash under her arm. She headed over to her car and threw her things inside it.
“Come with me,” I suddenly blurted out.
“What?” Hardy grumbled as I stalked over to her.
Her eyes widened as I drew close. “Caleb? Everything okay?”
“Gauge, Hardy, you look after my girl while I’m gone, you hear me?” I said, my chin high. Her eyes widened as she looked between me and my brothers.
“Woah there, I’m not your girl.”
“Done,” Hardy drolled.
“Caleb, I’m not your girl.” She gave a nervous laugh. “I’m leaving tomorrow, remember?”
“Make sure she has everything she needs,” I said to Hardy, ignoring her refutes.
“Done,” he agreed again.
I stepped into Arla’s space, closing the distance between us as I threaded my hands through her hair one last time. I tipped her face up to mine one last time and took her mouth with my own, one last time. I kissed her, giving her all of me with every stroke of my tongue, wishing we had more time but knowing our time had already run out. At least for now. I finally released her and stepped back, loving how swollen and full her mouth was.
“I’m going on a trip too,” I said. “It ain’t nowhere near as fun as yours is gonna be though.” I laughed darkly. “But we’ll have a drink together everywhere you go, okay?” I nodded toward the jar of cash in her car. “Every country. Every bar. Every part of your adventure…take me with you.”
She nodded, her eyes watching every word spill from my mouth.
“And if you’re here when I get back, maybe we can plan a trip of our own.”
“And if I’m not?” she asked, her eyes glistening with worry and uncertainty.
I smiled sadly and she nodded, knowing I didn’t have a reply for that. Sometimes life led us toward our future. Other times it led us toward a moment. I wasn’t sure whether Arla was my future or a moment yet, but I’d find out in eighteen months.
“These are your brothers?” she asked, her gaze going to the patches on their cuts. “You’re a biker?”
I chewed the inside of my cheek, worrying for the first time in my life what someone would think of me. The Highwaymen weren’t the good guys. They were the villains of the story.
“Yeah,” I finally said.
She looked thoughtful, her gaze moving warily between me and my brothers. I knew our reputation. We all did. It was what kept us on top. “I need to get going,” she said. “I have
an early flight, and you have…your trip too.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“How long was it again?”
“Eighteen months,” I said, hating those two words more than I hated anything else in the world.
“Then I’ll see you in eighteen months,” she said with certainty. She smiled sadly and climbed into her car.
I leaned over and placed both hands on the roof of her car, looking in at her. “Stay safe, Arla.”
I turned away to face my brothers, not bearing to watch as she drove away from me. It felt like there was a huge weight pressing down on my chest that just would not let go.
Gauge patted me on the shoulder, almost sympathetically. “She’s fine pussy, brother. Think she’ll wait for you?”
I shrugged. Eighteen months wasn’t that long when you thought of how long life was. It was merely a blip in one man’s existence.
“No idea, but I hope so.”
Hardy threw his cigar on the ground and stubbed it out under his heavy boot. “Women like that,” he said, his voice gravelly, “they’re loyal to a fault. She’ll be waiting for you if she says she will.”
Gauge smiled. “Got a reason to stay alive in there now, brother.”
Prison didn’t worry me. It didn’t worry any of us. We all knew the risks of this life. We had enemies on the inside: other bikers, prison guards that hated us, men looking to prove they could take down a Highwayman. I’d seen men go inside for what should have been six months and never make it out alive.
But I didn’t worry about whether I’d make it out alive.
I knew I would.
Because only the Devil himself would be able to keep me away now that I knew Arla would be waiting for me when I got out.
About Claire
Claire C. Riley is a USA Today and International bestselling author.