by Nikki Wild
Dante
As the steaks sizzled in the pan, I tried to convince myself I wasn’t attracted to her. Hell, I hadn’t felt these sensations in a while, and I could just as easily chalk them up to too much whiskey or some newly developing health problem, but I’d only be lying to myself.
I wanted her. I wanted her bad.
I’d gone into Otto’s just to test the waters and instead I’d plunged into waters that were a little deeper than I expected. Now, it was up to me to swim or pull myself back to shore. But damn, if these waters weren’t fuckin’ warm and tempting.
The fire, the whiskey, the quiet silence of the night…not to mention the smokin’ hot black-haired beauty that was waiting for me on the couch…all of it had me thinking about what it might be like to plunge back into the dating scene…or at least the one-night stand scene.
I almost felt like a virgin. Which sounds totally fuckin’ stupid to say, I know. I’m Italian, after all. But Maggie’s death hit me like a freight train and even though it’d been five long years, I still hadn’t so much as kissed another woman since then. I’d gotten a lot of shit about it from the guys, that was for sure. But once we’d gotten back to the States, I’d just had no interest in starting anything up with anyone else. It just never seemed right. I felt like I’d be betraying Maggie’s memory or something.
“Fugettaboutit,” I’d reply to their occasional ribbing. “When I’m ready, you’ll know it.”
“Yeah, we’ll know it because it’ll be like Mt. Everest erupting in your fuckin’ pants!” Romeo said. Romeo Romano is the ladies man of our club. He probably hadn’t spent one fucking night alone since we returned from overseas. I was surprised his dick hadn’t fallen off yet.
“Shut the fuck up, Romeo. Not everyone lets their dick rule their life,” I replied, doing my best to defend myself at the time.
That had been two years ago, and I had been nowhere near ready.
But now? Tonight? Was I ready? Maybe now I was.
Or, maybe I wasn’t.
But there was only one way to find out. I hadn’t meant for this to all go down this way, but now that Gabby was here, squirming on the couch like she was just as torn as I was - why pass up an opportunity to jump start things?
I mean, fuck, what else were we going to do all night anyway? Talk to each other?
“So, why is your gang called the Deadly Sinners?” Gabby asked, in between bites of steak. She was eating like she was starved and I watched with satisfied amusement.
“We’re not a gang, we’re a club. There’s seven of us, and at one time in our lives, we committed a lot of sins together. It’s just something we came up with when we were kids on the street and it stuck.”
“So you’ve all known each other a long time?”
“Yeah, since we were kids,” I replied. “We grew up in the Bronx on Author Avenue. You know the neighborhood?”
“Yeah, a little,” she said, her eyes darting away. I couldn’t stop looking at her across the table and every time she tore those green eyes from mine, I wanted to reach over and pull her gaze back.
“Where are you from?” I asked.
“Howard Beach,” she murmured, dismissively. “So, tell me more about your club.”
“The club? Right. Well, like I said, we grew up together. We were just little kids, you know? Riding bikes around the neighborhood. When I was sixteen, I saved up and got my own motorcycle. Of course, then the other guys had to get one too. I had all the parents so pissed at me after that. Hell, Italo and Alonzo’s Ma still hasn’t forgiven me.”
“Italo and Alonzo?”
“Yeah, they’re twins. They had an asshole dad, like most of us kids in the Bronx did, so they were raised by their Ma. She still refuses to let me in her house. Once, when we were about eighteen, before we all went into the Army, Alonzo laid down his bike. It was his fault. Stupid ass took the curve too fast and the bike slid out from under him. His Ma came over to my house, hitting me with her purse and yelling some kind of Catholic curse at me for almost killing her son.”
Gabby’s laughter echoed in the small kitchen and I couldn’t help but smile.
“You were in the Army?” she asked.
“Yeah. I get blamed for that, too. But whatever. I was the oldest of all of us guys, and no matter what I did, they followed. I tried to tell them all not to join, but they didn’t listen. Sure as shit, one by one, they each signed up. We all ended up in the 101st Airborne Division together.”
“Why did you sign up yourself?”
“I didn’t have a lot of options as a poor kid in the Bronx. You know what it’s like. If you’re lucky, your family has some kind of business you can join. But if not, like me, you don’t have anything like that to fall back on. It was either that or get tangled up with the mafia and I figured my chances of staying alive were a lot better if I stayed out of that scene.”
“Right,” she replied, slowly taking a drink of her beer. “So what did you do in the Army?”
“Jumped out of planes. Lived through a few battles, thankfully. Did a tour in Afghanistan. Did another one in Iraq.” Dammit. There it was. That steeliness that returned to my voice, the ropy muscles in my neck tensing painfully - it always happened when I talked about the service.
“That must’ve been hard,” she said, her green eyes filling with concern.
“It sucked,” I nodded. “It fuckin’ sucked big time.” The last thing I wanted to think about was my time overseas. None of it was good.
“Enough about me,” I said, shaking away the haunting memories of screams that I never wanted to hear again. “Let’s talk about you, Gabby. Tell me something interesting about your life.”
“Oh, my life isn’t as interesting as yours,” she replied, smiling back at me, her long lashes fluttering as she blinked. “Tell me more about the guys.”
My eyes landed on her bottom lip, the urge to kiss her overwhelming me. I wanted to forget everything she was asking me about, in fact I was done talking altogether… But I knew if I went too fast, it would scare her away.
“Well,” I began, calling on all my reserves of patience. “I told you about Italo and Alonzo, the twins. There’s Giovanni - we call him Gio. He’s a cool guy. You’d like him. He’s half black and half Italian. His Ma died when he was born, so he was raised by his father’s Italian family. He makes these meatballs that I swear are better than my Grandma’s. Unfortunately, his dad got mixed up with the mob and was killed when Gio was eighteen.”
“That’s awful,” she said, a look of horror crossing her face.
“Yeah, it’s another reason I went a different direction after high school. It kind of turned us all around, seeing Gio go through that shit.”
“I see,” she said quietly.
“I told you about Romeo,” I continued. “And then there’s Angry Bobby and Bats. Angry Bobby is the sweetest guy you’ll ever meet.”
“Why do you call him Angry Bobby then?” Her eyes flashed with amusement, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her beauty. She was breathtaking. Her long black hair framed her gorgeous face, her high cheekbones made me want to reach out and trace them with my finger. I studied her like a painting, committing every line and curve to memory.
“Yeah, that’s the thing,” I answered. “Once, when we were in Afghanistan, one of the other guys in our squad said something nasty about one of the local women, and Bobby went off on him. He was totally out of control, off the chain pissed off. Thought he was gonna knock the other guy’s head off. We’d never seen him like that before and the nickname stuck.”
She nodded, her eyes watching me intently. I hadn’t had such a rapt audience in quite a while and it made me feel good. I wanted to make her smile again, to make that light shine in her eyes all night long so I could keep watching.
“And Bats? What’s his story?” she asked, taking a drink of her beer. She was loosening up now, and she hadn’t looked at the front door in five minutes at least.
“Bat’s story is p
retty fuckin’ sad. Bats was the star pitcher on our high school baseball team. He was one of the greatest. He was recruited by all the best schools, and offered a full-ride at Princeton. But instead of going off to college, he chose to follow us all into the Army. Some really violent shit went down,” I said, my voice lowering as I remembered it all. All the fuckin’ blood. The blood-curdling screams. The look on his face when he realized what had happened. The memories would haunt me forever. “He lost his arm in a roadside bomb. I feel completely responsible.”
“That’s horrible!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” I said, filling the glass with whiskey and taking a huge gulp, the harshness of the sweet poison ripping my throat apart like a razor blade. “It’s been over five years, but he’s adapted better than you’d expect. Maybe that’s because he can still ride, which is one of his favorite things in the world. The technology is amazing these days. He has a special modification on the grip of his bike so he can still hang with us as if he still had both arms. His attitude is amazing, he’s really an amazing dude. They all are. They’re my family.”
“I can see why,” she replied. “Family is important. They sound great.”
“Yeah, it is. Maybe you’ll get to meet them sometime. You’re close to your family, it sounds like?”
“I guess so,” her voice lowered to a whisper. “We all have our problems.”
“Shit, yeah we do. Fuck this,” I said, standing up and putting out a hand for her. “Let’s stop talking about all this sad shit and take a walk.”
“A walk? It’s so dark out,” she said.
“Are you afraid of the dark?” I asked, staring down at her. She smiled slowly, and shook her head.
“No, I guess not,” she said, taking my hand and letting me lead her outside. Bear stood up slowly as soon as we opened the door and followed us out.
A blood red moon hung high in the black sky, dimly lighting our path as we began strolling down the long road that led away from the clubhouse.
Gabby
The thick forest surrounding the clubhouse provided total and complete seclusion from the rest of the world. It would have been great if seclusion had been something I was seeking. But while I’d gone to Otto’s seeking a little carnal biker knowledge, I’d never expected it would come with a side of violence and end up with me hidden away like a bad secret in some strange biker’s bizarre private world in the middle of Jersey, of all places.
I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t nice though. So far, so good. Dante wasn’t bad company at all, and although a tiny little voice kept telling me that he was basically keeping me prisoner, I kept pushing it away and reminding myself that he had been a complete gentleman so far.
I shuddered to think of what would have happened if he hadn’t been standing next to me at Otto’s when everything went down.
But he was right there. Just as he was now, walking beside me, steady and strong and sexy as could be.
Maybe the night wouldn’t be a total loss. Maybe just one night alone with this man was exactly what I needed, after all. One night and then tomorrow - after all my curiosities had been satisfied - I’d be on my way home and back to my normal, boring, protected life as the daughter of a mafia boss.
After everything he’d told me about over dinner, I planned on keeping that little bit of information to myself. Dante didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of the mafia, so as far as I was concerned he didn’t need to know just how close I was to that life.
Besides, what were a few secrets between lovers? Even if we were just lovers for one night?
“How long have you had Bear?” I whispered, reaching down and petting him as he walked beside us. I stood back up, staring up at Dante beside me, his towering frame not much more than a silhouette in the darkness.
“Five years,” he replied, his voice thick with emotion.
“Did you get him when he was a puppy?” I asked, trying to make small talk. The silence of the forest made me a little uncomfortable and I wanted to learn more about him, to draw him out a little. He’d told me a little about himself, but I sensed there was so much more to him.
“I guess you could say I inherited him,” he said.
“From who?”
He let out such a huge sigh, I instantly regretted asking.
“Maggie.”
“Maggie? Who is she?”
“She was my fiancé,” his replied, his voice tight and tense.
“Oh. I see,” I replied, not sure if I should push the issue. “She didn’t want Bear when you broke up?”
“We didn’t actually break up,” he replied.
“Oh!” Of course not. Just because she wasn’t there, didn’t mean there wasn’t a woman in the picture. A man like him? Single? That just didn’t happen. “So you’re still together, then? I didn’t realize…”
“No, wait, that’s not what I meant. Maggie died, Gabby. That’s what I’m trying to say.”
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Dante!” I blurted out, stopping in my tracks and grabbing his hand. I looked deep into his black eyes, the pain so evident now. “That must have been so hard for you.”
“It is. It was,” he replied, pulling his hand out of mine and turning away. “It’s been about five years now. I’m okay, though,” he muttered through the darkness.
“How did she die?” I asked, hoping I wasn’t digging a little too deep, but unable to stop myself.
“Car accident. It was quick,” he said, his voice clipped. “Bear was in the car with her, he was just a puppy then. He survived, but she didn’t. It happened two weeks before I was due to be discharged. He’s all I have left of her.”
“Dante, that’s so fuckin’ sad,” I exclaimed.
“I know, I know,” he said, turning back to me and grabbing my hand. I let him have it, intertwining his fingers in mine, as we started walking again. “I’m okay now, though, really,” he nodded vigorously. I wondered briefly who he was trying to convince.
“Okay,” I whispered, his confession leaving me speechless, my head spinning. Five years was a long time, but not for losing someone you loved. He probably felt like it had happened yesterday. “If you say so…”
We walked silently for another half hour, the quiet of the night surrounding us peacefully, my hand clasped tightly in his the whole time. The night was clear, the stars sparkling brightly above us.
Finally, he stopped and turned to me, his warm eyes looking down at me questioningly. His hand reached out, brushing a lock of hair from my face as I smiled up at him.
“You’re beautiful, Gabby,” he whispered.
“Thank you,” I replied, as butterflies rippled through my gut. He fell silent again, staring at me, his eyes full of unspoken words. I knew what he was asking, without a word passing between us. I smiled at him, looking down at his full lips and back into his eyes - a silent answer.
Slowly, his head lowered until his warm lips pressed against mine gently. I kissed him back, a slow, pulsing electricity flowing between us, a small spark of lust igniting inside of me as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in close.
The searing warmth of his lips against mine fanned the flame of desire that rushed through my body and I pressed into him, feeling his hardness against me. I moaned as his lips parted mine, his tongue darting in, searching, exploring, as waves of passion flowed between us. His strong arms lifted me from the ground, his kiss turning hungry, urgent, hard.
Breathless, I kissed him back, moaning into him as he gently placed my feet back on the ground and pulled his lips from mine. I looked up at him, his lips wet and swollen, his dark eyes raw with lust, and my breath caught in my throat.
There was no fighting it.
Tonight, I was his.
Luckily, fighting it was the last thing I wanted to do.
Dante
Talking about Maggie was the last thing I had intended to do, but I found myself explaining everything before I could stop myself.
After that, I was
thrown off my game. Hell, it had been so long since I’d had any game in the first place and I felt completely lost.
I had every intention of convincing Gabby to get into my bed before the night was over, but after I’d explained everything about Maggie, it took a good half hour before I could even clear my head enough to kiss her.
But then, once I did - it was all over. Once my lips touched hers, the flames were ignited and there was no turning back. I was on fire with desire for her. My cock sprang to attention, and suddenly I missed the touch of a woman more than I’d ever missed anything in my life. I was hungry, starving for it.
I needed her, her body, her touch. And I needed her now.
“Let’s go,” I said, tearing my lips from hers and grabbing her hand again before practically dragging her back to the cabin. She didn’t resist, thankfully, because I don’t know what I would have done if she had. I was ready to explode into a million pieces right there on the road and by the time we made it back to the cabin, I was cursing my ridiculous idea to take a walk in the first place.
Bear lagged behind, but I knew he’d catch up. He was more loyal and devoted than most soldiers I’d come across in the Army, even if he was a little slow.
Once we were inside, I pushed Gabby up against the wall and kissed her again. Hard. She whimpered in surprise, but it only served to make me harder. I liked surprising her.
My cock was throbbing painfully, making me aware of exactly how long it’d been since I’d made love to anyone. I tore my lips from hers, burying my face in the softness of her hair, inhaling the sweet floral scent of her skin. My lips brushed against her neck, and she gasped, arching her back, the curve of her breasts pushing against my chest.
“Shit!” I exclaimed, and she jumped. “Sorry,” I replied, kissing her lips again quickly. “I forgot something. Stay here! Don’t go anywhere!”
She looked at me like I was a lunatic, but she nodded and stayed exactly where she was standing, her wet lips plump and ready and waiting for me to kiss them again.