Starla (The Ladies of Karnage Novella Series)

by Culbreth, Jennifer

  I floated around the party, sticking as close to Jameson as much as I could. We talked as we mingled, and I learned that he was a few years older than me, a member of the King’s Cork chapter, and that his real name was James and had gotten his nickname from his love of the Irish whiskey. We were sitting on a picnic table as Jameson puffed on a cigarette and Johanna explained to me how she’d come to live at the MC clubhouse, when I heard a raucous from across the yard.

  I looked up and saw two large men in each other’s faces next to one of the fires. The one on the left was shorter than the other and had kinky curly black hair, the one on the right was taller and much bulkier. His long sandy blonde hair was pulled up into a bun on the top of his head as he pushed the other man a few feet back, snatching his shirt off and encouraging shorty to come at him.

  “That’s Knox and Rage,” Johanna explained as I stared over at the two men, both circling each other waiting for the other one to swing. “They do this all the time. Nothing to worry about.”

  I watched as the shorter one, Rage, took the first swing, his hand breezing past the taller one, Knox, as he leaned back and then threw a mean right hook and connected with Rage’s jaw. It was fist and elbows after that as the fight took off, members surrounding them shouting and placing bets as Knox’s fist connected with Rage and then Rage’s with Knox. The winning punch was thrown by Knox, connecting with Rage’s kidney and sending him slumping to the ground. Knox took a few steps away from him, took a deep breath, and then walked back to help Rage up off the ground. As Rage took his hand and stood up, he pulled Knox into a hug and patted him on the back before limping off toward the upstairs apartment door to get cleaned up.

  “Why the fuck you gotta embarrass him like that?” Jameson asked Knox as he came over to where we sat, pulling his shirt back on.

  I looked up at him, taking in his busted lip. “He needs to check that shit. Tired of him thinking he can make calls without talking to me first,” Knox said to Jameson before looking down at me, “Who’s this?”

  “Starla this is Knox, our Prez. Knox this is Starla,” Jameson introduced us.

  “Nice to meet you, Knox,” I said to him.

  “You too,” he said back, “You from the States?”

  “Yeah, my friend Joni,” I said, pointing across the lot to where she was standing next to Butcher and McGee, “And I came over to do some sightseeing. So far we’ve only seen Dublin and the surrounding area. We did make it down to the shoreline once, but we still have a few more weeks left before we head back.”

  “We’ll have to see what we can do to get you a tour around Ireland,” Jameson said with a smile, taking a pull from his cigarette.

  “Yeah, we’ll be here in Dublin for a while. Maybe we can show you all the hidden treasures Ireland has to offer,” Knox said, looking up to where Rage had limped off to, “Guess I better go check on my VP, make sure I didn’t hurt him too bad.” Jameson let out a laugh as Knox took off toward the upstairs apartment.

  We sat on the picnic table for what felt like hours, laughing at each other’s stories, staring at each other until the other one noticed, and then turning in embarrassment. Something about Jameson’s quiet demeanor intrigued me. His eyes told a story much deeper than the one on the surface. I hung onto each word he spoke as the life of the party grew around us, but as the volume around us became louder the small bubble we were enclosed in grew smaller. I could feel a pull, something inside of me drawing me closer to him.

  If you would have asked me then, I’d given you some kind of excuse about indigestion, too much beer, hell gas even. But looking back now, I know it was love. It was, as Ani now says, the tethering of our souls into one. People laugh about love at first sight, but I don’t, it’s out there it’s real. A mother falls in love with their child from the moment they lay eyes on them, why couldn’t your heart open up to another person like that? I didn’t know it then, but that night in Ireland, sitting on that picnic table and staring into the eyes of Jameson, was the start of the next chapter of my life.

  Chapter Five

  Two days after the party, Jameson, Butcher, and Knox came to the hotel and picked up Joni and me. We set out into Ireland, flying down the roads as we took in the sights and smells. Even though we’d seen most of the places they’d taken us, it felt like I was looking at it through a whole new set of eyes. For the first time in my life, everything around me seemed clear; and out of it all, the clearest thing in front of me was a beautiful Irish man in holey jeans and a motorcycle cut.

  The week before we were supposed to fly back home, Jameson surprised me with a weekend getaway. I tried as hard as I could to focus on the time we had to together and not focus on the impending doom of my upcoming departure. I wrapped my arms tight around his waist as we left out of the Dublin city limits and into the country side. We passed through rolling green hills, some covered with sheep or other livestock, and just as my ass was beginning to go numb we turned onto a gravel road. Nothing in sight but beautiful green country side until we came over a hilltop and in front of us was a simple little stone cabin. We pulled up out front and got off the bike, looking between him and the cabin, I could feel the flood of excitement washing over me.

  He took my hand and led me into the house, dropping my small bag of clothes next to the door and closing it behind us. This was the first time we had really been able to be together alone. I wasn’t a virgin, lost that shit a long time ago, but a weekend alone to do whatever we wanted, wherever we wanted, was much better than a quickie in the bathroom. Once I’d gotten my hands on Jameson, I made up my mind that I would do whatever it took to keep him in my grasp.

  “Was my mum and dad’s, bought it from them a few years ago,” he said from behind me as I made my way around the small front rooms.

  I ran my hand down the wooden counter top in the kitchen, feeling the dips and imperfections of the handcrafting. Bright yellow curtains hung on all of the walls and across most of the floor was a beautiful hand woven rug. I took the hand towel that sat next to the kitchen sink and gently traced the hand embroidered birds on the front. “I love it,” I said, turning back to him and smiling. He was leaning against the door, arms crossed in front of his chest, and his eyes were dark with hunger.

  I made my way to him, taking one hand at a time and uncrossing his arms and pulling him toward me. I looked up at him, taking in his beautiful eyes, and sighed as he wrapped his arms around my waist. For the first time since we’d been together, I took my time feeling and exploring his body. Our lips melted together as my hands slid up his shirt, running over the dips of his stomach. I slowly peeled off his cut, laying it across the back of the couch as he pulled off my jacket and tossed it to the floor. I could feel him backing me toward the back of the house as he gently peeled my shirt off. As we made it to the short hallway his hands snaked around to my ass and lifted me up, letting me wrap my legs around him as he carried me into the room.

  I giggled as he kicked the door closed behind us and dropped me onto the bed. “Gonna take my time, baby,” his words were deep and lustful between his kisses. “Want to see every inch of you.”

  “I want you, Jameson.” I could feel the hunger growing inside of me as the warmth spread out through my body. His touch was a slow agonizing torture, a sweet and delicious mixture that I could never get enough of no matter how hard I tried.

  He stood at the edge of the bed, watching intently as I unbuttoned my pants and pulled them down. His hands started at my knees and ran up the length of my thighs, his fingers hooked into the sides of my panties and he pulled them off. I reached back and unhooked my bra and threw it to the floor. His lips were on the inside of my thigh, making their way up. I lifted myself up onto my elbows and lifted my feet onto the edge of the bed. His eyes never left mine as he lowered my knees down, spreading my legs completely open. I could feel the moisture building at my entrance as his lips came down onto my clit. I let out a gasp as I fell back onto the bed, panting with every stroke of his tongue
. He pulled me toward him, snatching me until my ass was at the very edge of the bed and my legs now wrapped around his head. His tongue ran along the folds of skin until he found my entrance and it ran circles.

  I could feel him let out a groan as his fingers made their way inside of me and started moving. I bit my lip in an effort to quell the electricity that was now flowing out from my core, but I failed. As the edge of my orgasm came down upon me I felt my body buck up, shaking as I moaned out loudly. With each tremor Jameson pulled me closer to him, licking and sucking as his fingers continued their assault. My body bowed off the bed as the climax tore through me, leaving my breathless and wanting more. Before I could open my eyes I felt a sudden fullness, stretching and filling me as Jameson planted himself fully inside of me. His body was on top of me and he was pulling me back toward the middle of the bed.

  “Open your eyes, baby,” he requested, leaning down and kissing me.

  I opened my eyes and the world stopped. He was looking down at me and he slowed, his hips rocking back and forth as the head of his cock hit every delicate nerve inside of my pussy. I could see myself in his eyes, I could see my future in his eyes. I knew in that moment that I would give up everything to spend the rest of my life with this man. We made love, slow and sweet, our bodies shaking as we came in unison. Each time we would finish we would lay tangled in each other’s arms, listening to each other’s heartbeat.

  “I think you’re gonna kill me, woman,” Jameson said, rolling onto his side and brushing the hair back from my face. I looked up at him, my body too sore to consider moving. “You hungry, love?”

  “No, I think I’m fine. Not really hungry for food,” I said with a smile, trying to ignore the empty feeling in my stomach, but the growl of hunger gave me away.

  “I think your stomach says otherwise,” he laughed, “You want me to run you a bath while I put on some food?”

  “Dinner? It’s not that late is it?” I sat up, moving the curtains and seeing the black on the other side of the window.

  “Yeah. It’s pretty late,” he said, leaning up and kissing me softly before he got up and pulled on his jeans, leaving them unbuttoned to frame the dips that lead down to his glorious length. I watched as he took off into the next room and saw a dim light illuminate the hallway. The soft sound of running water floated into my ear and then he reappeared back in the room, making his way over to me and lifting me from the bed and carrying me into the bathroom. I giggled as he rubbed the whiskers of his beard against my face and then gently set me into the large ceramic bathtub. “I’m gonna go fix some food.”

  He knelt next to the tub and took my face in his hands, bringing me toward him and his lips were on mine once more. This time it wasn’t quick and needy, but slow and sensual, as if he was taking his time to enjoy every moment, instead of work his way to the next time our tongues would be entangled with the other. As he pulled away and stood up I settled down into the tub, watching him lustfully as he left out of the room. The bathroom was small, with a wooden stand next to the tub that was filled with different bath soaps and salts. I grabbed a lavender and vanilla scented soap and poured some into the running water, letting the bubbles encompass me. I pulled my hair up into a bun on the top of my head and secured it with a pin.

  I let my legs fall open as I slid down into the mountain of bubbles that was growing around me, wincing as my sore muscles rang out through my body. I let the tub fill until the water was to my neck and then turned the handle to off with my foot. As the water stopped running I could hear the low sounds of music from the kitchen and the clanking of pans. I smirked, wondering what a rough and tough biker looked like cooking dinner. I let all of the cares and worries filter out of my head. I’d already made my mind up on what I was going to do, I could only hope that the rest would fall into place.

  After the water in the tub began to cool, and the cursing from the kitchen began to grow louder, I made way out of the bath and wrapped up into a fluffy blue towel, heading toward the smell of food. I made my way into the kitchen as Jameson finished making our plates and I leaned against the wall, “Is cussing mandatory when cooking in Ireland?”

  “Only when the food doesn’t behave,” he smiled, taking our plates to the small wooden table and then disappearing toward the back. I made my way to my bag and rummaged for a shirt when he reemerged from the hallway, “Here, wear this.” I took the clothes from him and unfolded a pair of boxers and a shirt. I thanked him and then pulled them on, taking my seat across from him at the table.

  “So do you stay up here often?” I asked, taking a bite of the mashed potatoes he’d made.

  “When I need to get away from the shite at the club I do. I like the quiet, not really one for parties. Those fuckers get to drinking and starting actin’ the maggot, clubhouse is full of slags they found out of some pub. Not really my scene.” He took a bite of his food and I tried to keep from laughing at the way he talked, the accent was the sexiest thing I’d ever heard, but I didn’t know half of the phrases that he used. “What’re you smilin’ about?”

  “Just wondering if I’ll ever fully understand what you’re saying.”

  “Ehh, takes time. You’ll get used to it eventually.” I could see his eyes falter as he said the words, realizing that I really didn’t have that much more time left in Ireland. “Guess you won’t have to worry about it for too much longer, aye?”

  “Who knows? Maybe I’ll stay,” I said, trying to make it sound nonchalant as I looked down and poked at the piece of meat on my plate. After all, I didn’t know if he’d even want me to; hell, we’d just met a few weeks ago. I didn’t want to be the girl who fell in love and then decided to ruin her entire life following after some mysterious man. But when I looked up from my plate I almost lost my breath. Jameson was staring at me, his eyes wild with a mixture of hope and longing.

  “You just muckin’ about? Or you bein’ serious?” he asked cautiously, his voice so low it was almost a whisper.

  “I don’t know. Do you want me to stay?” My heart was beating in my throat now as I sat my fork down next to my plate, my appetite no longer on food.

  “Didn’t want to say anything ‘cause I didn’t want you to be throwin’ your life away for some wasted biker.” He put his napkin down next to his plate and pushed his chair back, staring at me over the table as he placed his arms on the table and let out a deep breath. “Starla, ain’t never met a woman like you before. Didn’t judge any of us, just accepted us as we were and then out of everyone, you chose me. Didn’t know what you wanted, baby. Didn’t know if you wanted to just come and have fun, or if you were feelin’ it too.”

  I could feel my heart tightening as he spoke and it solidified any question or doubt that might be left in the back of my mind. “Jameson, I feel it too.” I stood from my chair and made my way around the table as his hands made it to my waist and his thumb gently stroked the skin under the baggy shirt I had on. I straddled him and sat with my back to the table, running my hands up both of his arms. “Do you think this could be something? I mean, it seems crazy because we just met, but something about being with you just seems right.”

  “Nothin’ crazy about it, baby. This world has a funny way of bringin’ people together, but when it feels this good you shouldn’t question it.” His hands were moving down to the boxers that I wore. “Want you on the back of my bike, baby. Want you in my bed at night.” I let out a moan as his finger made its way to my entrance and fingered at the moisture that was now dripping from my pussy. “Can’t give you much.” His other hand grabbed the hair at the nape of my neck and gently pulled my head back as he thrust his finger inside of me, his thumb rubbing circles around my clit. “But I can promise you that I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.” I melted around him as he spoke, panting and moaning out with each stroke of his finger.

  “Fuck me, Jameson,” I moaned out, I wanted him, in every way possible. “Fuck me hard.”

  He released my hair and my head rolled forward, l
eaning against his as I felt him fumbling with his pants. His fingers withdrew from my entrance and he lifted me up, knocking our plates to the side and sat me down onto the thick wooden table. He pulled the boxers off of me and thrust his cock inside of me. I grabbed at his arms as the pain of our earlier session sang out through my body. He slowed, letting our bodies become acquainted with each other once more and looked down at me, “I have forever to fuck you, baby. Gonna make love to you.”

  And he did, on the table in his small kitchen, Jameson made love to me. He was slow and gentle as his hips dipped in and out, thrusting into me until I was screaming his name. I found my release and straddled him as he sat back down in the chair, and then I made love to him. The next week no longer mattered, neither did my upcoming semester of college, the future was no longer decided, but something inside me said that everything would be alright because I would always have Jameson by my side.

  Chapter Six

  A few weeks later I found myself seeing Joni off at the airport. The conversation we’d had when I returned from my getaway with Jameson, aside from the one I had to have with my parents, was the hardest one I’d ever had in my life. Joni was the kind of girl who partied with her head, not her heart. She didn’t get caught up in the illusion of love, she just wanted to have a good time. She begged me to come back home, but my mind was already made.

  “Please, Starla. You don’t have a clue what you’re throwing away by staying here. Besides, you barely know the guy,” Joni spouted from the bed across from mine. Her eyes cut across the room to me, unapprovingly, as she pleaded with me to change my mind. “You have college in a month; you just gonna drop out?”