by Erin Trejo
“You damn sure are now.” Slamming inside of her, she screams. I lift Aria in my arms, never breaking our connection. I walk us to the couch but our lips never leave each other’s.
She’s taking everything she needs from me. Everything she wants, she pulls out of me. I wouldn’t stop her for anything. I wouldn’t want to. Feeling her nails dig into my back only heightens what I feel. Laying her down on the couch, I pull out of her. Aria looks up at me with such longing in her eyes. I never thought about how all of this was affecting her.
“You know you can talk to me, Aria.” I tell her. I just need her to know that. She looks at me with a smile before she speaks.
“Are we going to talk right now?” Her eyes plead with me. The want that I can see in them hypnotizes me.
“Hell, no.” I grunt. Aria spreads her legs for me. An open invitation that I gladly accept.
Climbing on the couch between her spread thighs, I groan. Sliding back inside of her, I close my eyes.
“You feel too good.” Brushing my lips over Aria’s, she moans softly. I move inside of her, loving how she feels against me. Why can’t we live in a perfect world? Everything is perfect right now. The two of us, together in each other’s arms. I never want to let her go. Feeling her tighten around me, I kiss her neck.
“Cum with me, baby.” Feeling her let go and release, pushes me over the edge. I fill her full of everything I have to give. Everything that I am. I drop my head to her shoulder desperately trying to catch my breath.
“He has a lot of enemies, Roc.” She says softly. Pressing my lips into her neck, I sigh.
“I know. I’m one of them.”
***
Being away from the big city is calming. I got Aria up early, even after our late night.
“Why are we hiking before the sun's out?” She has done nothing but whine the whole time she’s been awake. You would have thought that after I fucked her senseless and fed her, she’d be a little bit happier, but she’s not.
“Because I want to show you somethin’. You really aren’t a mornin’ person, are you?” I say, a little out of breath from walking. Looking over my shoulder at her, she sticks her tongue out at me. Laughter erupts out of me.
“Stop whinin’ or I’ll give you a reason to whine.” I chuckle. Aria’s fingers yank at the back of my jeans. Stumbling backward, I almost fall before catching myself on a tree.
“Oh, you are gonna pay for that.” Aria smiles before running up the hill in front of me. I turn around and chase behind her until we reach the top of the hill. Aria stops, trying to catch her breath when I reach for her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I lift her with ease. I spin her around as she laughs the sweetest laugh I’ve ever heard.
“I warned you.” Tickling her sides, she laughs harder.
God, I love that sound.
I set her back on her feet but I keep her back pressed against my chest. I reach up with one hand, brushing her hair away from her neck.
“What are we doing up here?” She asks softly. I press light kisses to her neck.
“Watch.” Running my lips up and down her neck, alternating between kisses and licks, I wait for the show.
“I don’t know how much more of this I can handle.” The shudders that rip through her body slam into me.
“You can handle it.” My other hand sneaks its way under the hem of her shirt, caressing her soft stomach. Her breathing picks up instantly. I love being able to make her feel like this.
“Here it comes.” I look out at the horizon, watching the sun come up. It’s raw and beautiful.
“It’s perfect, Roc.” Her small gasps pierce my ears. She’s perfect.
“Did you know your mom?” I want to know her. I want to know everything there is to know about her.
“Yeah. She was beautiful. I look a lot like her. She died in a car accident when I was seven. Roc, my dad, he wasn’t always like this. He wasn’t always such a secretive asshole.” Spinning her in my arms, I want her to look at me when we talk like this. I want her to see that I understand.
“What changed?” Brushing her hair over her shoulder once more, I watch her.
“He got into some things when I was seventeen. I remember a lot of business deals that went wrong. Things started to change after that. People came and went. Murders were off the charts, and they were all local. I didn’t want to see if at first.” The look in her eyes, she's hurting. She saw too much. She should have never had to grow up living life like that.
“You’ve seen more than any person should. You were a good girl, he ruined that.”
Chapter 21
Our talk didn’t go as planned. Aria broke down in tears again. I hate that she has to feel this way. I hate it more, that he put her through this. The fire in the fire pit burns bright. The smell of the burning wood always set's me at ease. It reminds me of home, of the guys.
“Is now a good time to talk?” Shifting in my chair, I turn to look at her.
“Of course. Come here.” Jerking my head, she walks over and sits next to me.
“What do you want to talk about?”
“You.” Here we go. It’s not like there was a way around it. I knew she was going to have questions for me. It’s only fair that she knows me like I want to know her.
“Ask.” Bringing the bottle to my lips, I take a long pull of my beer.
“There’s so much I want to ask you. I don’t know where to start,” She says. The lingering question is there. It’s like a huge boulder between the two of us.
“He saw me one night. I had just robbed a store. Ghost found me outside with the money. He went back, shot the clerk. That was the first time I saw someone get killed. Ghost confronted some guys in the alley across the street. He told me to kill one of them when he went after the other.” Aria shakes her head not understanding where this is going. I swallow hard before I continue. “I did it. It was either kill him, or he would kill me. I did it, I pulled the fuckin’ trigger. I didn’t know that anyone saw me. He did, though. Your dad, he saw me. He came out of the Goddamn buildin’ behind me. Pulled me inside and made me a deal. He saw the cut that Ghost wore, he knew who he was.” Her mouth falls open.
“How old were you?” She asks.
Taking another deep breath, I say, “Sixteen. He’s had me by my fuckin’ balls for the last ten years. I haven’t been able to do anything without him knowin’. He calls; I handle what he needs done. I don’t ask questions.” Aria leans back in the chair, her eyes wide with shock.
“He used you. He fucking blackmailed you, Roc!” I laugh a little at the way she says it. It’s as though she’s completely pissed.
“You’re cute when you’re mad.” Grabbing her hand in mine, she smiles the fakest smile I’ve ever seen.
“It isn’t funny, Roc. He has blackmailed you for years. How did I never know about you?” She’s blaming herself. How Aria like, is that?
“What would you have done?” She shrugs her shoulders before I yank her out of her chair.
Aria sits in my lap as the fire crackles in front of us. The silence is welcome. Our talk sort of ended with her dad. I know Aria feels a sense of responsibility for it also.
“You said you found a note, with the letter C,” She says. Running my fingers through her hair, I grunt my response. “There isn’t anyone that I know with the letter C. There is a corporation that I heard him talk about briefly. Cambridge, I think or maybe it was a person, I really don’t know,” She says. My heart picks up its pace. She didn’t just say that. There is no fucking way she said what I think she did.
“Say that again.” I need to know that I heard her right.
“I think it was Cambridge. That’s the only C that I ever remember him talking about.” Swallowing hard, I didn’t want to hear that name. I didn’t want her to say that. My fingers tighten involuntarily on her shoulders. Aria tries to turn to look at me but I hold her in place.
“That name isn’t one I wanted to hear. Do you have any idea how he’s involve
d with them?” Aria stays silent for a few minutes. It feels like the longest few minutes of my life.
“He had some kind of business with them. I only overheard a few things about Flame’s or something.” My eyes clench shut. The world spins around, making me dizzy. Everything tilts and I feel like I’m sliding off the face of this earth.
“Roc, you’re hurting me.” Her voice snaps me back to reality. My grip on her shoulders could have snapped her in half. I let her go just before she turns to face me.
“What is it? What do you know?” I run my hand over my face. She has to know, no more secrets.
“The guy that attacked you up north, he was a member of Flame Throwers MC. Your dad had pictures of the guys from that same event.” I tell her reluctantly. Aria leaps off my lap, pacing around, shaking her head.
“He was going to kill me. That, guy. You saved me from that guy. I didn’t realize who they were. How could I be so stupid?” Jumping out of my chair, I grab her shoulders, spinning her to face me.
“This wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known.” Her laughter unsettles me. She doesn’t believe that.
“I should have known! I should have connected the dots, Roc. My dad set up that vacation!”
Fuck! And bad–just got worse.
Chapter 22
I called the guys and filled them in for the most part. I didn’t want to go into too much detail on the phone. Aria finally calmed down and took a shower. It took her more than two hours to finally fall asleep. I run my hand up and down her back absentmindedly. I like having her this close to me. I like knowing that she’s safe and secure in my arms. But is she safe? Security I can give her but safety is an illusion. It’s all it has ever been in this lifestyle. We’re never really safe. We do criminal things every day that puts that illusion into focus. If I can’t get everything on Tomlin, I could lose it all. I could lose my freedom–my Club–Aria.
“You’re doing it again.” Aria’s groggy voice snaps my brain back into focus. My fingers give a little from digging into her back.
“Sorry, just a lot on my mind.” Aria tips her head, resting her chin on my chest, her eyes peering up at me.
“Can’t you stop for one night? We have to go home tomorrow.” I don’t miss the little whine in her voice. It’s sweet.
“You like this? Just bein’ out here, me and you?” I ask her as a smile pulls across her gorgeous face.
“It’s nice, you know. Nothing to worry about and no one around.” She smiles. I have to agree; this break has been a much needed one.
“We can come back.” Pressing a kiss to her forehead, she snuggles back into me.
***
I drop onto the couch in the lobby while Aria takes the bags to my room. I’m happy as hell to be home, but there is still that dread in the back of my mind. If Tomlin knew my every move, does he know where the clubhouse is? That’s been a constant worry for me. There hasn’t been anything pointing to him knowing, so I try to let that play out the best way I can. Devil drops onto the couch next to me.
“Glad you’re back. Find out anything new?” He says, passing me a beer. I gladly take it.
“Nope. Just tryin’ to figure out how the hell Cambridge is playin’ into all this.” Devil nods before shifting in his seat.
“They could be workin’ with Throwers. Who the hell knows, maybe that’s where the war is comin’ from.” Shrugging his shoulders, I think he might be right.
“I agree. Throwers were the ones that were after Aria that night up north. Makes sense that Cambridge would have been around, takin’ the pictures.” Devil leans back, toying with the ring in his lip.
I can’t stop the chuckle that escapes me.
“What the hell you laughin’ at?” Devil grunts as he looks at me.
“Somethin’ comes out of your mouth every time you touch that shit in your lip.” Flipping me off, he goes back to messing with it. His fingers stop moving when Aria walks back into the room. Their eyes find each other instantly. It’s a strange connection you feel between the two of them.
“Glad you’re home.” Devil says, smiling up at her. She drops onto the couch in between the two of us.
“Me, too. I missed your hateful ass.” Devil laughs as I look at the two of them.
“Inside joke, brother,” Devil says, but I narrow my eyes at the two of them. Aria throws her arms around my neck.
“So, when do we get to work?” She asks me with a smile. I look down at her a little confused.
“Don’t we need to find out more about my dad?” Shaking my head, I lean my forehead against hers.
“We, as in the club, not you.” I can see the anger in her. She thinks I would let her get into this any deeper than she already is? That’s cute.
“I’m not a baby.” Devil chuckles before Aria kicks him.
“I can clearly see that,” I say as I look down at her ass. Aria slaps me in the chest.
“You two are vile.” Aria scrunches up her nose.
“You didn’t say that at all this weekend.” Her face blushes the prettiest pink I’ve ever seen.
“Got you a present,” Dragon hollers, making us all turn to see what the hell he’s talking about.
“Dana?” Aria leaps off the couch running straight to her friend. They grab each other hugging, but Dana is crying. Devil and I share a glance at each other before looking back at Dragon. He makes his way toward us with a sick look on his face.
“That girl is a handful,” Dragon says, wiping the sweat away from his forehead. We wait for an explanation as to why she’s even here.
“Seems that little Miss Crystal, is a fuckin’ snitch. Dana overheard her talkin’ on the phone.” Dragon tells us. I’m sure my eyebrows shot up into my hairline. I didn’t see that shit coming!
“Mitch, go run the perimeter.” I tell the prospect. He gives me a nod before heading out the front doors. Dragon and I sit in complete confusion. Aria stands there holding Dana in her arms.
“What the hell did she hear?” I ask Dragon but he just shrugs.
“Couldn’t say. That little shit has fought my ass all the way back here.” Holding his arm up, I can see all the scratches. I can’t help but laugh.
“She whooped your ass, Prez.” I laugh. Ghost walks in taking in the scene in front of him before letting out a slow whistle.
“Now we got a party.” Ghost lets out another whistle. Dragon cuts his eyes at him.
“That girl is not down for any party,” Dragon grunts. I can’t hold in the laughter. I can just picture that little girl giving Dragon hell.
“What do we do now?” I ask as I lay back against the couch. Dragon snaps his head around to look at me.
“We kill that motherfucker. He’s usin’ whoever he can against each other. That snitch Crystal, she was feedin’ him shit on your woman!” Scrubbing my hand over my face, I sigh.
“Up north? Shit, they didn’t know she was with me.” Dragon nods, but there is still something bothering him, I can see it.
“What is it?” I ask. Resting his elbows on his knees, he drops his head.
“He’s been fuckin’ that girl. Crystal was in on this shit, Roc.” Fire blazes through my body. My hands clench in my lap.
“Roc, can she come to our room?” Aria stops in front of me. Without thinking, I nod to her. I watch her walk away with her friend latched onto her.
“Our room? You got a roommate?” Ghost laughs. I flip him off before looking back at Dragon.
“What do we do with her?” Nodding toward the hallway, he shrugs.
“Fuck if I know. What the hell do we do with Crystal?” Shit, this whole thing has turned into a world of hell. I shove off the couch and head down the hallway when Angel cuts me off.
“Hey, Roc. I just wanted to say sorry.” Her eyes flicker to something behind me before coming back to rest on mine.
“It’s fine.” Glancing over my shoulder, I see Devil with his arms crossed over his chest at the end of the hallway. His eyes are burning holes into t
hat girl.
“Well, I just wanted to say that.” Leaning down, I kiss her cheek.
“No worries.” She smiles before walking down the hallway. I turn to catch the look in Devil’s eyes as she walks past. Pushing my door open, I mumble to myself.
“Crazy fuckers.”
Chapter 23
I watch the girls as they hold onto each other. I’m sure all of this is scaring the shit out of Dana. Aria is surprisingly calm about it all. At least I thought she was, until I hear Dana.
“How do you sit there and act so calm when all he wants, is you dead?” Dana’s squeals pierce the silence in the room. My head shoots up immediately. They aren’t looking in my direction but I listen anyway.
“He’s never wanted me, Dana. You know that. When I found out, it didn’t surprise me much.” A smile creeps across my face. That’s my girl.
“What do we do now? I can’t go home.” Dana says softly.
“You aren’t goin’ home until this shit’s over.” They both turn to look at me. Aria raises her eyebrow. Yeah, I was listening in.
“Where am I going?” Her voice shakes slightly. I roll my eyes. What is it with these girls thinking we are all a bunch of killers? It isn’t as though we walk around looking for innocent girls to kill for fun.
“You’re stayin’ here, where you’re safe.” Dana wipes her eyes quickly as she takes me in.
“Safe, here? How am I safe here? You were supposed to kill her.” Dana says pointing at Aria. I grin.
“But is she dead?” I ask in a mocking tone. Aria laughs throwing a pillow at me. I love seeing her like this. So, free and open.
“How do I know you aren’t going to wait until we’re asleep and shoot us in the head?” Oh, this girl is good.
“Do you realize just how many times I’ve fucked that girl?” Pointing at Aria, she blushes.
“If I wanted to shoot her in the head, I would have done it.” Dana looks to Aria for support.
“Devil’s another story.” I mumble under my breath. Aria throws another pillow as I chuckle.