by A. J. Downey
I panted and he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, coming up to lay next to me, propping his head on his hand with a smug look of satisfaction. His other hand he placed on my pussy, stroking me gently, plunging a finger through my slick, wet folds and teasing my opening, slipping it inside of me, pressing the heel of his hand against my clit.
I panted, gasping for breath as he smiled serenely, an almost shit-eating grin, and with some force behind the massage, shook his hand, pressing, these little shock waves rippling through me.
“Shhhh…” My hands flew from where I’d wrapped them around his wrist and went back to my mouth, clapping over it to muffle my cries. I didn’t think Marc could hear me from upstairs, but I didn’t want to take that chance. He was a teenager, yes, but as far as I knew, he wasn’t sexually active yet, and he really didn’t need to hear his mom!
Jared chuckled, made me come again, but this time eased off when I grew overwhelmed.
Thank God…
“Mmm, mm-hm…” he hummed in satisfied appreciation, leaning way over to kiss me lightly. I tried to deepen the kiss and he pulled back and asked, “You sure? I just went down on you.”
“Shut up and fucking kiss me,” I breathed, and he laughed, but obliged me.
A moment later, I was vaguely aware of the oven timer going off.
I’d completely lost all sense of time.
Christ, he was intense!
18
Glass Jaw…
The following weekend after leaving Cadence’s was rough. We had a border run to make, and I was on deck. We headed up to the old bootlegger’s inn we used, and shit wasn’t good, man.
There was some heat over the border, and we only got half our usual supply. I was on the phone with Mav, trying to figure out logistics because there were people who needed these drugs. Who were counting on us, but fuck, they knew the risks and shit like this sometimes happened. Sometimes, there just wasn’t any avoiding it.
“Right, so half the usual stock of insulin and maybe a third of what we usually get for the blood pressure meds,” I said as Deacon handed me a scrap of paper with the figures. “Looks like we’re also off on the numbers for the seizure medicine.”
“Sad to fuckin’ say that last one isn’t too bad now that one kid didn’t make it,” Mav said. “So we’re alright on what we do have in that regard.
“Which kid?” I asked.
“That eighteen-year-old. It wasn’t his epilepsy that took him out, suicide, I guess. Just couldn’t handle the bullshit his classmates were giving him.”
“Fuck, that’s rough,” I said.
“Tell me about it. He was a good kid.”
“We got any overstock hidden to make up for the shortages?” I asked.
“Yeah, some, not enough to fully make up for it but it’ll hurt less. I don’t know what we’re gonna do if it’s like this next month,” he said.
I nodded. “So how does this play?” I asked him.
“Make your usual drop, then get your ass to the stash house and pull the rest of what’s needed and head south to the Oregon boys. I’ll have some of them meet you in Washougal.”
And that’s what fucked me up. The additional miles on the prescription train screwed me right out of seeing Cadence for dinner tonight. Fuck me.
“Got it,” I told him. “Just gotta disappoint my lady, first.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, your lady now, is it?” he asked laughing, and I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up.”
I hung up on his laughing ass.
I sighed and the guys were looking at me expectantly.
“Gimme a second,” I said and pulled out my regular phone.
I thought about it and shook my head.
“We ride for the drop, but I gotta stop at the rest area and make a call, so let’s mount up and get the fuck out of here,” I said to a round of nodding heads.
We did just that, the ride a hard one. We had to stagger our departure times, trying not to tip off the cops we were up to anything nefarious, which we weren’t – not when you considered the fact that the American healthcare system was a million times more nefarious in its dealings than we could ever fucking hope to be.
Yeah. I said it. What of it? It’s the truth, isn’t it?
I knew plenty of guys, that if it weren’t for the fact that we had our own doctor inside the club by way of Eulogy, they would have just gone untreated and would have died. Same with a lot of the fuckin’ people we brought these drugs to. Were we making a profit off of them? Yeah, a handsome one, but we were also taking all the risk to get them where they needed to be, and these folks were getting them dirt-fucking cheap by comparison. Hell, some of them even by virtue of having insurance couldn’t afford the sky-high drug costs and eat.
Lifesaving shit. Not just the insulin they needed, but epi pens, seizure medication, some psych meds and most of all, heart meds, not just cholesterol-lowering drugs, but blood pressure medications and yeah, even some pain meds. Low-grade stuff like Tylenol 3 – the shit with codeine which none of us could figure out why that shit was outlawed down here except to pave the way to push the harder shit.
We were even delivering much needed cancer-fighting drugs to some patients that couldn’t otherwise afford ‘em.
It was fucked up. A cryin’ shame. Yet the fuckin’ bureaucrats just kept on letting it happen.
It wasn’t profitable enough to have a healthy populace, I guess.
When we stopped at the rest area along the highway, I powered up my main phone and called down to Cadence.
“Hey, you,” she answered me warmly. “How’s the job going?”
“Like absolute fuckin’ garbage,” I growled.
“Oh, no!”
“Yeah, I’m really sorry, baby, but I don’t think I can make dinner tonight.”
“Aw, that’s okay,” she said, although I could hear the disappointment in her voice.
“No, it’s not. I’d much rather be spending my evening with you.”
“Ah, a raincheck,” she said. She was being so fucking nice about it. I knew in the back of my mind, she had to be wondering and I knew with the front of my head that it wasn’t my issue, and I didn’t have to worry about it or sweat it, but fuck, I did.
I’d told a little white lie and had said I was up near the Canadian border, pulling volunteer work for today. The big lie was that it was on a Habitat for Humanity project. She’d believed me, and I had some pictures of some volunteer work I had done with some of the club brothers the summer before that would fly if she asked me, but I didn’t want to go there if I could help it.
I just wanted to keep her clean and sin free, even if what we were doing was technically on the side of the angels.
“I promise,” I said. “I’ll see you around.”
“Okay, be safe and have fun,” she replied, and I chuckled.
“Will do.”
We ended the call and after Tic got back from taking a piss, we rode on. It was gonna be a long fuckin’ day into the evening, and I wasn’t looking forward to any of it.
We swung down to the Steven’s Pass drop point, made the exchange of what we had and then made south for the Renton stash house. We picked up more supply there and hit 405 to the I-5 interchange, heading south.
The whole way down past Cadence’s exit, my heart hammered in my chest that I was going to get caught. That for whatever reason, she and Marc would be on the freeway and the jig, as they say, would be up.
I lucked out. My phone remained still in my pocket, my earbuds silent, no notifications, no calls from her specific ringtones and notification sounds. I’d set hers special so I wouldn’t miss a thing.
We pulled in at River’s place as the sun began to set. Yeah, he was a brother that lived in Western Washington, but geographically speaking, he was way closer to the Western Oregon chapter, and thus one of theirs. He was also their VP, so that said something about the dude and his commitment to the club.
He came out front to meet us, h
is dog Champ, a neurotic border collie, leaning against his legs and whining like a son of a bitch with excitement over the people in his yard.
“Hey, Riv, how’s it going?” I asked.
“Good, good. Eulogy’s on his way here with a couple of others. Should be here any minute. Got the grill fired up out back and some cold ones on standby around the firepit. You fellas go ahead.”
Tic and Deac nodded and went down the path along the side of the house.
“What’s up?” I asked cautiously.
“Word on the street is we’re all under watch.”
“Oh yeah?” I asked.
“It’s the big time, now.”
“Fibbies?” I asked. Our term for the FBI.
“And the DEA.”
“Motherfucker.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’m thinkin’ one of the disgraced boys in Eastern Washington maybe has a loose pair of lips.”
“I’ll get it to Mav,” I said. “Anybody else hold the theory?”
“Only the whole damn Western Oregon chapter, maybe some of the boys in Eastern Oregon.”
I threw back my head and said, “Fuuuuuck me!”
“Not my type,” River said dryly, his blue eyes sparkling as he laughed behind his dark, van dyke beard.
I rolled my eyes.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I said. “We were wondering why the supply was running a little low.”
“That might be why. We need to watch our fuckin’ asses. This international shit’s gonna get us on the radar with the Department of Homeland Security. Might be time to change some shit up.”
I nodded. “Might be.”
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s get you a beer and something to eat.
“What’s on the menu?” I asked.
“Meat,” he said with a shrug. “What else?”
“You sarcastic motherfucker,” I said laughing and followed the vice president for the Western Oregon chapter into his backyard, his black-and-white dog trotting by his master’s side.
“I hear you got a lady friend,” he said, pulling out a grapefruit Hefeweizen from the cooler and handing it over. I popped the top with the bottle opener on my keys.
“That’s putting it mildly,” I said, looking out over the pink sky, deepening to shades of purple over the hills that stretched forever. We were so close to the Washington/Oregon border that the majority of those hills weren’t even in this state. They were Oregon side, across the Columbia River basin.
River’s place was a whole lot of meadow sloping down into deep woods. He used to raise goats down here, like Fenris, only on a much smaller scale, but he’d given that up. He still kept up a pretty healthy vegetable garden, but that was about it now. The pastures he’d used for his goats weren’t going fallow. He was working on some crops. Had his grower’s permit and was getting into the legal marijuana trade as a supplier of some quality green.
It was just one more medicinal product we traded in. Big pharma didn’t corner that market… yet.
“What’s her name?” he asked.
“Cadence,” I answered.
“Nice name. What’s her story. How’d you guys meet?”
“Man, what’s with the third degree?” I asked laughing.
He shrugged and said, “Never figured you for the type to settle down but the word’s going around you’re serious about this one.”
“I am,” I said, nodding. “But it’s also really new, bro.”
“How new?”
“Like just a few weeks, new.”
“Yeah, the way it’s getting talked about and making the rounds, I thought it’s been going on for months or something.”
“Jesus fuck, for a bunch of fuckin’ bikers, these sons of a bitches sure do like to gossip like a bunch a little old ladies at the fuckin’ hair salon.”
River threw back his head and laughed, and I mean laughed and laughed, clapping me on the back of the shoulder. I hadn’t thought it was that funny, but fuck if I knew.
“So, you bringing her?” he asked.
“Bringing her where?” I asked.
“Long Beach ride!” he cried. “Next week.”
Oh, shit… was it?
“Fuck, I don’t know, man. I have to ask her and her kid.”
“Whoa, kid? How old?”
“Seventeen, so old enough,” I said laughing.
“Shit, okay. Give me a fuckin’ heart attack. If you said like eight, nine, or ten, I was gonna be like, ‘who are you and what have you done with Glass?’ because that shit just wouldn’t be right.”
We wandered over to the firepit and I shook my head.
“Man, why you gotta make me out to be some kind of pedo?” I demanded.
River roared with laughter again and we heard a call from up by the house. Two more of the Western Oregon chapter was headed down. Eulogy and it looked like R.B. which was short for Rat Bastard.
“Hey!” I called out.
“Sup?” R.B. called back. He was a fuckin’ brute. A real rat bastard in the ring, which is how he got his name.
“Nada, just grilling Glass Jaw over his new lady,” River said with a wicked grin.
“What’s that now?” R.B. asked, putting a hand behind his ear like he needed it fuckin’ repeated.
“You heard me! Seems like Glass is finally starting to settle down.”
“I wouldn’t count on that!” Tic called from behind us at the fire as Eulogy and R.B. helped themselves to a beer each.
We all wandered en masse toward the fire.
“Why you say that?” Eulogy asked.
“He ain’t even brought her around the clubhouse.” Tic snorted.
“You know, you’re right,” Deacon said and looked me up and down. “Although, I think you got it twisted, brother. The fact he hasn’t brought her around tells me just how serious things are.”
“Ha, ha,” I said dryly.
“I’m being serious!” Deac said with a grin.
I knew he was, and he was right. I just wanted to keep her to myself just a little bit longer before these jackals ran her off.
“Maybe I’m just biding my time,” I said, taking a pull off of my beer.
“Dude, you really are serious about this one. What’s the deal?” R.B. asked.
“Leave him alone,” Eulogy said and gave me a nod, the look he gave me placid and understanding.
“Yeah,” I said. “Fuck off, and I mean all the way off.”
I was sick of talking about it, especially because it meant I couldn’t stop thinking about her and I wanted to be there instead of here.
“Drink more, talk less. Let me throw some meat on the grill and then you can be too busy to talk because my meats in your mouth.”
We all laughed at that one and River got to grilling. Thankfully, the subject changed and went back to the problem at hand – getting these drugs into the hands of the people that needed them.
19
Cadence…
“Come with me,” he said, hands on my hips. “Marc, too.”
“Me, at a biker rally?” I asked, skeptically.
“You, me, and Marc, at the beach, which also happens to be hosting a biker rally, yeah.”
“I don’t know,” I said laughing. “I can’t picture it.”
“Aspen’s driving Marisol’s little brother and can drive you and Marc. Or just Marc, and you can ride with me for at least part of the way.”
“Wait, there are other kids?” I asked. I hadn’t expected that.
“With us? Just Marisol’s little brother. He just turned eleven, but there are other teens whose parents belong to the other chapters.”
“Just how many are at this thing?” I asked, starting to do some of the math in my head. I mean, it would really be nice to get out of the house for a weekend and do something as a family.
“Mom, I totally want to go.” I jumped slightly, and Jared laughed.
“Jesus, Marc! How long have you been standing there?” I asked, hand pressed to my chest. “You
nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “And long enough to hear beach, biker rally, and other kids my age which is enough for me. I really want to go.”
I chewed my bottom lip and nodded.
“Okay,” I said, nodding and caving in to Jared’s charismatic smile.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Okay,” I affirmed, and he smacked the biggest kiss on my lips. I sucked in a breath at the unexpectedness of it and he pulled back.
“Will you ride with me for part of the way?” he asked.
I nodded. “If it’s okay with Marc.”
“Are you kidding me, Mom?” he asked grinning. “Who’s the adult and who’s the child right now?” he asked.
I looked at him and didn’t know how to say in front of Jared that I knew I was the only parent he had left, and I wanted to take his feelings into account.
“Give us a minute?” I asked Jared gently.
“Yeah.” He nodded. I glimpsed the knowledge in his hazel eyes. He knew what I was thinking. Then again, we’d talked about it before. “I’ll be out on the front porch. Gonna make a call.”
“Okay, thanks,” I said.
When the door shut, Marc looked uncertain.
“Am I in trouble?” he asked. “Did I say something wrong?”
I smiled and shook my head and held out my arms.
“What?” he asked and drifted over and hugged his mama like I wanted.
“I know it’s not likely something you actively think about,” I said. “But I am keenly aware that I am the only parent that you have left.” I pulled back and looked at him, giving his shoulders a squeeze. “Riding motorcycles can be dangerous.”
“Oh,” he said and, to his credit, looked like he was really thinking this one through.