by Jessie Cooke
He brought his other hand up and slapped her left cheek. She cried out, and he did it again, and again, leaving light pink hand prints like tracks to show that he was there. Slap! Slap! The sound of it was rhythmic and the combination of the sight of her sexy naked body, the sound of her wet pussy, the sound of their flesh slapping into each other and the soft moans and grunts coming from both of them…was almost more erotic than anything they had done thus far. Wolf wondered if Trisha ever thought of a career doing one of those telephone sex lines, or maybe doing a voiceover on one of their porn videos. Her voice was so sexy and the sounds that came out of her mouth while he fucked her were unlike any others he had heard before.
He could feel the orgasm racing through his body, looking for its escape. He leaned forward and took a piece of her neck in between his lips and he began to suck on it. He was still fucking her hard, like a sex-starved lunatic…and then finally, he erupted…hard. He felt that orgasm to his toes and he also felt the stress leave his body with it. He knew that it would return, the second he laid eyes on his father…but at least he had a little respite. He rolled over so that he was facing Trisha and he smiled at her.
“Thank you. I did need that, badly.”
She smiled back. “I know. No matter where you go, or who you end up with, Wolf Xavier Lee, I will always be only a phone call away…don’t forget it.” He kissed her face again and said:
“Never.”
28
It was just after lunchtime when Coyote got back to the clubhouse, and his son was waiting for him. Coyote didn’t speak to anyone. He went straight through the great room, which was still filled with the flowers they had brought home from Colleen’s funeral, and into his office. Wolf followed him, closing the door hard behind him. Coyote finally looked at his son and said:
“Say whatever you need to say, and then I need to get to work.”
“You’re an asshole.” When Wolf didn’t go on, Coyote said:
“I won’t dispute that. You got more?”
“Dax Marshall and eight of his guys showed up here for Mom’s funeral. You barely acknowledged them.”
“I did acknowledge them. I thanked Dax for coming. What should I have done? Kissed his ass, maybe?”
“Why are you being such a dick? What did Dax Marshall ever do to you?”
“Nothing. Dax never did anything to me. You know what this split is about and if you think him showing up for Colleen’s funeral is going to change my mind about that…”
“I just think you should have shown him some respect.”
Something that Coyote had been holding inside for decades suddenly snapped. He grabbed his son by the front of his shirt and pushed him into the wall behind him. “I should have shown him respect? Do you know that I was there when that kid was born? When he was sucking on his mama’s tit I was out here, fucking alone, starting this club. His father sent me here to fail and when I didn’t, they suddenly wanted a piece of it. This club was never theirs. This club always has been and always will be mine until the day I fucking die. You want to kiss Dax Marshall’s ass when I’m dead and gone, you go right ahead and do that. But until then, I’m fucking in charge and I spent way too many years kissing the asses of spoiled little boys. I’m done.” Coyote let go of Wolf. His son’s brown eyes were wide, not with fear, but surprise. Coyote never put his hands on Wolf. He could kill a man with his hands, easily, and he was never going to risk that with Wolf. But it was about time that his son and everybody else around the fucking club knew who was in charge and who they should be giving their respect to. Wolf straightened out his shirt and said:
“Sometimes I wish…” He stopped there and started for the door. Coyote opened the drawer of his desk and pulled out a bottle. As he was unscrewing the cap he said:
“You wish what, son? You wish it was me that had died?” Wolf reached for the doorknob and Coyote continued to goad him. He didn’t know why, but he needed to hear his own son say he wished that he was dead. “Come on, boy. You can’t find the balls to finish that sentence? Just say it. You’ll feel better. Tell me how you wish I was the one in the ground.”
Wolf spun around then and glared at his father. Coyote took a drink of the whiskey and finally Wolf said, “I was going to say that I wished I had just grown up the son of the sergeant of arms in Boston, rather than the son of the president in California. Maybe you would have been a different person if you hadn’t had all of this to worry about. Maybe I would have liked that guy.” He left the room then and Coyote stood there looking after him and wondering if Wolf was right. Would he have been a better man if he didn’t always feel like the weight of dozens of lives were on his shoulders? He took another drink of the whiskey. It didn’t really matter. Could have, would have, should have…he was who he was no matter how he got there and there was no going back.
It was Friday night, a week and a half after his mother passed away, a week since they buried her, and Wolf was getting ready to go spend the night in Sacramento and meet with a dealer in the morning. He often wondered if his mother knew what the club was into in the years leading up to her death. He struggled with it sometimes. He had grown up proud of Coyote for resisting the “easy” money that other clubs were drawn to. Of course, back then he had no idea that Doc, and then Dax, was giving them money every month, or financing land for them. He missed those days, the days when he looked up to his dad with unconditional loyalty and respect. He knew that what they were into now had come about in part because Coyote had to find a way to take care of the club and take care of Colleen’s medical bills. He respected that…but he also wondered if Coyote would have had to take the club in this direction if he hadn’t broken ties with the Southies. Wolf supposed he would never know, and he didn’t really have any other choice but to suck it up and do what he was told. Coyote had made that clear the night he had shoved his son into the wall and told him how he really felt about Dax Marshall.
So, when his father told him that he had a brick of cocaine worth about twenty-five thousand dollars that he needed delivered to Sacramento, Wolf hadn’t said a word other than “okay.” He took the number Coyote gave him and he set up a meeting with the guy who was buying it. The man was a rice farmer and Wolf had no idea what he planned on doing with the cocaine. He assumed the guy was going to sell it, but that question wasn’t his to ask. He was supposed to meet the farmer out at one of his rice fields at six in the morning and exchange the brick for the twenty-five thousand, and that was it. Since the meeting was so early, Wolf was going to drive up and spend the night in a motel so he wouldn’t risk being late for the meeting. Once Coyote got the brick out of the safe and gave it to him, Wolf slid the plastic bag into an insulated bag and stowed it in his saddlebag next to his gun holster. The other bag had his clothes and toiletries and by eight p.m., he was saddled up and ready to go.
He had just turned the key to start his Harley when he felt his phone vibrate in his vest pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was Tricia. His body responded just at the sight of her name on the caller ID. He was horny and had already planned on calling her as soon as he got back the next day.
“Hey,” he said, pressing the phone to his ear.
“Hey. I was wondering if you’re busy tonight?”
“Well, I was actually just taking off for Sacramento. I was thinking maybe I could see you tomorrow night when I get back.”
“Oh, okay.” She sounded disappointed. “I have my sister’s apartment for the night. I was just kind of hoping that we could spend some real time together. It always seems like we’re rushed. I wanted to make dinner and I thought we could watch a movie…”
He knew he really should get on the road, but his cock was already responding to the sound of her voice, and being with her would be so much easier than picking up some chick in a bar. “You know what? I don’t have to actually meet this guy until morning. I was going to spend the night in Sacramento…but I could spend it with you instead and just leave early.”
“R
eally?” She sounded excited, but then she said, “I don’t want to get you into any trouble with Coyote.”
“He won’t even know. As long as I make it to Sacramento by six in the morning, it’s all good.”
“Oh wow! You will have to leave by 3 a.m.?”
“Would you rather I didn’t come?”
“Oh hell no. I want to see you. I’ll start cooking now. We can eat early and skip the movie and that way you can get some rest.”
“After I get some you, right?”
She giggled. “For sure.” Wolf ended the call with a smile on his face, restarted his engine, and headed out. He waved at Hotwire, who was working the gate, when he left and pointed the bike toward Clovis where Trisha’s sister’s apartment was. Wolf had picked Trisha up and dropped her off there a few times, but he’d never been inside. Trisha’s sister didn’t approve of Trisha’s lifestyle and although they still maintained a relationship, she had very strict rules about people from the club not being in her home. Wolf wondered if the sister had changed her mind about that, or if Trisha just didn’t care. By the time he got there, he didn’t care either. He was just happy to see her and much happier to be staying there with her than alone in a motel room.
He parked on the street, close to the apartment gates. Trisha was waiting for him in the doorway when he got up to it. She kissed him softly and then stepped back to let him inside. As soon as Wolf was standing in the foyer of the apartment, he could see why Trisha’s sister was worried about people from his world being in her home. Her furniture was all oak, the carpet plush and beige, and the art on the walls looked expensive. There was an island with a granite countertop and the kitchen was visible from there. All the appliances in the kitchen looked brand new and were stainless steel. The table was a high-top oak square with a bench on one side and bar stools on the other. Wolf wondered what the sister did for a living. Almost as if reading his mind, or his face, Trisha said, “My sister works for an attorney. She’s worked there for over ten years.”
“Nice,” Wolf said. He hated attorneys, but it looked like the job paid well. He pulled off his vest and sat the insulated bag he had brought inside with him, on top of it on one of the end tables. He sniffed the air, filling his nostrils with something warm and delicious. “It smells great in here. What did you make for dinner?”
Trisha headed toward the open kitchen and he followed her. “I have roast and red potatoes and asparagus.”
“Mm, sounds good. I’m hungry.”
Trisha opened the oven and poked something with a fork. She closed it then and said, “I’m sorry. It’ll probably be another half hour or so. You want an appetizer while you wait and something to drink?”
Wolf grinned and ran his eyes over her. She was wearing a white crop top and he could already see her hard nipples pressing through her bra and the shirt. With it, she had on a pair of jeans that fitted her curves like a glove. He could hardly wait to get them off her. “I see what I want.”
She smiled. “I was going to offer this to you for dessert.”
“I’ll still have room for dessert,” he said, taking a step toward her. Trisha moved into his arms and they kissed. When Wolf broke the kiss he looked at her face and said:
“You ever done it on granite?”
Trisha laughed. “I can’t say as I have.”
“Let’s give it a shot.”
“Okay, but it sounds cold.” Wolf looked around the kitchen and smiled. He went over and lifted up the centerpiece on the table and pulled off the satin tablecloth. He draped that over the granite island and said:
“Just hard now.”
Trisha smiled wickedly and said, “I like it hard.” Wolf grabbed her then and roughly kissed her before sitting her up on the island. She squealed and laughed while he tore at her clothes. “Somebody is a little horny tonight.”
“It’s been a week.”
“Really?” Trisha suddenly stopped moving and looked at his face. “You haven’t been with anyone else?”
“Not lately.” He went back to what he was doing, trying to get her blouse off. She stopped him by taking his hands in hers and asking:
“Why?”
He looked up at her face. “Why? Are you upset that I haven’t been with anyone else?”
“No…not upset, just surprised. When was the last time you were with anyone other than me?”
“Trisha,” Wolf groaned. His hard-on was deflating almost as quickly as it had hardened. Why did women always want to talk about everything?
“Humor me, please.”
He shook his head. “I really don’t know…maybe two, three months. Can I get back to what I was doing now?”
“I have one more question.”
He sighed. “Okay?”
“If you’re only going to have sex with me and no one else, then why don’t you want to really be with me? Are you ashamed of me, because I’m older?”
“Oh, Trisha, baby…do we have to do this now?”
“If not now, then when?”
He let go of her and took a step back. One of the reasons he loved being with her was that she never demanded anything from him, and he never worried that she would turn up pregnant and try to trap him. She had confided in him a while back that she had to have a hysterectomy in her early twenties because of a medical problem, so she couldn’t get pregnant. He almost felt bad about how relieved that made him. A few of his friends from high school were raising two or three kids already at twenty-five years old. “Of course I’m not ashamed of you. Look at you. You’re hotter than me at any age. But I thought we both agreed from the start that this thing between us would just be about fun.”
“We did,” she said, “but that was seven years ago. You were eighteen and I was twenty-seven. Your mother wouldn’t have ever approved. It just didn’t seem to make sense then. But you haven’t had a steady girlfriend in all that time, and you keep coming back to me…I guess I’m confused. Wolf, what’s wrong with me?”
“There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re my best friend, Trisha, do you not know that?” She had tears in her eyes and he wasn’t sure what he’d said wrong, but he saw the evening going sideways, quickly. “Trish, don’t cry, please. I’m sorry. I don’t know what you want me to say.” He wasn’t in love with her…if he told her he was, he’d be lying. He didn’t want to lie to her. He just didn’t understand why she was bringing this all up now.
She wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to say anything, Wolf. Believe it or not, I’m glad you’re honest with me. I shouldn’t have brought it up. I guess I’m just still emotional over losing your mom, and turning thirty-four today just made it worse…”
“Today? Today is your birthday?” He groaned.
She smiled and tears filled her eyes again. He could kick himself. “It’s okay, I didn’t expect you to know that.”
That only made it worse. After seven years, why didn’t he know when her birthday was? She hadn’t let a year go by without remembering his. “Jesus,” he said, “I give the old man such a hard time about being a selfish dick and look at me. Seven years we’ve been…friends, and I don’t know when your birthday is. Fuck. I’m sorry, Trisha.”
“Don’t be sorry. That wasn’t my point. I wasn’t trying to make you feel bad about not knowing it’s my birthday. But Wolf…I’m thirty-four years old, and I don’t want to still be alone at forty-four and fifty-four…If there is absolutely no hope for us…ever…I guess I need to hear you say that, so I can move on once and for all.”
“Trisha, I didn’t know you even thought about me like that. I thought this was just…”
“Sex, I know,” she said, sliding down off the counter and straightening her shirt.
“Baby, you know how much I care about you.”
“No, Wolf, please. Don’t do that. Don’t say what you think I want to hear. You’ve always been honest with me and that’s all I want from you right now.”
“But you’re saying my honesty gets me what? We can’
t be together anymore? I guess I just assumed we would see each other until one of us…met someone. I’m not lying, though, when I say I care about you. You have to know that much at least.”
He watched her bottom lip quiver, and a tear rolled down her cheek. He hated seeing her like this. “I know you care about me, but I guess that’s just not enough anymore. I keep imagining the day that you don’t knock on my door anymore and I have to hear around the club that you have a girlfriend, or an old lady.”
Trying to lighten her mood, but failing miserably, he said, “Maybe I’ll be the one to hear it about you first.”
She wiped a tear off her face and said, “I’m not sure you understand. I don’t just happen to be there when you knock on my door. I’m there, because I’m waiting for you.”
“I’ve never asked you to do that.”
She laughed, but not happily and said, “I know, and that’s the problem. I sit there night after night like an idiot, just in case…Wolf, I’m in love with you and this whole time, as long as I thought there was even a shred of hope that one day you would love me back, I couldn’t bring myself to not be there. I always had this fear that the moment I decided to start seeing someone else would be the moment you decided that you loved me too. But that’s not ever going to happen, is it?”
He felt like he’d been kicked in the gut. “Trisha…I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Then say it. Tell me that there’s no hope at all that we will ever be anything more than what we are. I need to hear the words, I guess.”
“I’m sorry,” Fuck, he hated this. She wasn’t just a booty call, but he wasn’t in love with her. When he looked into his future, he didn’t see himself with Trisha. She was still staring at his face, waiting for him to say it. “I don’t see a future happening for us,” he said, at last. He watched as she squared her shoulders and forced a smile and said: