by Jade Kuzma
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him,” I said. “It was the biggest mistake of my life. I regret everything.”
“That wasn’t your fault, Mercer. You know that.”
I polished off my whiskey then dropped the empty glass on the counter.
“Tell that to him.”
Hunter stared at me. There was no smug grin on his face. There was no confidence in his eyes. He just looked at me like he already understood what I was thinking without saying a word. He knew there was nothing he could say. Everything had already been said.
The front entrance to Hades suddenly boomed open. We both jerked our heads and saw the last motherfuckers we wanted to see.
“Shit…” I grumbled.
“It’s cool,” Hunter said. “Spades won’t start shit. Not in our clubhouse.”
I got up from my seat and Hunter stood with me. Everybody in the bar started to quiet when they realized the Spades had arrived. As the silence grew, Sebastian and Roman stepped out from the back of the club like they knew something was going on.
“Well, well, well,” Hawk said as he looked around, his palm stroking his beard. “Looks like we found the Devils’ playground.”
Sebastian moved right in front of Hawk. He didn’t care that the Spades had us outnumbered two to one. Sebastian had his head up like he was daring Hawk to do something.
“Welcome to Hades,” Sebastian said.
“So inviting,” Hawk replied. “Thanks for your generous hospitality—”
“Now get the fuck out of here.”
Hawk was still smiling despite everybody in the clubhouse glaring at him. He looked over at me.
“How you doin’, Mercer? Ready for the fight? It’s just a few days away.”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Sebastian said.
“We were just in the area. We figured we’d stop by and say hello. All we wanted was a few beers and we’ll be on our way.”
Hawk’s yellow-toothed grin grew. Shit was obvious that he was up to something.
I moved forward and stood right next to Sebastian.
“You heard what he said,” I told Hawk. “Leave.”
“Or else what?”
“Or else I’ll make you leave.”
I balled my fist so tight that my knuckles cracked. I was ready to slug Hawk right then and there. I gritted my teeth and locked my stare on him. The tension in the bar was thick. It wasn’t up to me though. It was up to Hawk to decide whether or not he was stupid enough to try anything.
“All right,” Hawk said as he took a step back. “We know where we’re not wanted. I’ll say good luck to you, Mercer, and be on my way. The next time I see you, it’ll be during the fight when everything is on the line.”
He backed away along with the rest of his gang. They were moving so slow, still facing us the entire time. But he stopped in his tracks suddenly and moved closer to me.
“There’s just one more thing, Mercer,” he said. “Something I have to tell you.”
“You don’t have to tell me shit.”
“No, this is important. I promise. Come here.”
He motioned for me to move closer to him.
“Spit it out,” I said.
“Fine,” he sighed.
Without warning, he threw a punch right at me. I was already ready. I moved out of the way and countered with a punch of my own, clocking him right across the top of his head.
And that’s when it happened.
Screaming. Shouting. Yelling. All Hell broke loose in Hades as the rest of the Spades rushed forward.
Roman, Hunter and Sebastian all joined in. Some of the other patrons were friends of the club, so they joined in, too.
I focused on trying to get to Hawk but there were too many Spades focused on me. Before I could deck him with another punch, two pairs of hands restrained me. I struggled to push them off of me but not before a couple of them caught me right on my eye. Another couple of punches against my ribs made me grimace in pain.
Shit… Come on!
I gritted my teeth and used everything I could to break free. I cracked one Spade in the skull then returned the favor to the one who’d hit me in the stomach. A punch on the back of my head made me stumble to the ground.
I pushed myself up to my knees in a daze. I scrambled, fumbling to get my bearings. There was chaos all around me. I didn’t know who was who or what they were doing.
This is nothing… Get up!
My legs were suddenly weak. A hard kick across my stomach made the pain from the previous punch surge through the rest of me.
Fuck…
The amount of pain in my gut was something I hadn’t felt in years. I used whatever strength I had left to get up and slug one of the Spades right in front of me. The skinhead fell back to the ground, his nose dripping with blood. I moved forward to do something more but he was helped up by his brethren.
“Let’s go!”
Hawk shouted to his gang and they gathered one another. They scrambled out of Hades and hopped onto their rides as quickly as they could. We all followed them out.
“Come on!” Roman shouted. “We gotta get ‘em!”
Roman was about to get on his bike but Sebastian grabbed him by the arm.
“Not tonight,” Sebastian said.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Roman replied. “We gotta make those motherfuckers pay.”
“We do that and we’ll be doing exactly what they want. They came here for a reason.”
Sebastian looked right at me.
“They know they can’t be Mercer in a fair fight,” he explained. “And from the looks of things, they just leveled the playing field.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I said.
He looked at me then shifted his eyes toward my stomach. I looked down and saw something. I peeled my vest back and saw the blood stain on my shirt. The sharp pain I felt wasn’t going away.
I sighed and shook my head.
They’d gotten to me.
“Great,” Hunter sighed. “Now what the fuck are we gonna do?”
“We’re not gonna do anything,” I said. “Sebastian’s right. Let ‘em go. Hawk and his boys will get what’s coming to them.”
“And what the fuck are you gonna do about that?”
Hunter pointed right at the blood stain on my shirt. I looked at Sebastian and Roman to see if they had any answers. Not that I expected them to. This was my problem and I was gonna handle it. Hawk might’ve gotten to me tonight but I was gonna finish it.
This wasn’t over.
Chapter 19
DANICA
The streets of Old Town were always empty, giving me the freedom to speed through them without worrying about running into anybody else.
My hands were so tight around the steering wheel that my palms were sweating. I was so tense that I could feel it all the way down to my bones. I was practically bouncing in my seat when I got to a red light. I couldn’t wait another second, slamming on the gas and running through it.
I couldn’t get there fast enough.
When I arrived, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Bikes and cars were parked outside with a few patrons standing near the entrance. I got inside as quickly as I could and searched for anybody I recognized. One of the men I’d seen before. He was with Aden when he confronted the Spades back at Finn’s.
“You,” I said as I rushed up to him. “Where’s Aden?”
The dark-haired man looked at me, his eyebrows raised in confusion. He had a smirk on his lips.
“Who are you?” he said.
“You’re a Devil, right?”
I looked at the patch on his chest.
“Joker… Where is Aden?”
“Who are you?” he repeated.
I sighed in frustration and shook my head.
“I’m Danica, okay? I’m a friend of Aden’s.”
“A friend, huh?”
That grin he had grew even wider a
s he looked me up and down.
“Look,” I said. “I don’t have time for this.”
I walked forward but he grabbed me by the arm.
“Hold on a second,” he said. “You can’t just walk around here like you own the place.”
“I just want to see Aden.”
“How do I know that Hawk didn’t send you?”
I blinked my eyes in confusion.
“I was at Finn’s the other night, you idiot,” I said. “I’m on your side.”
I tugged my arm free from his. The man kept eyeballing me until a voice boomed from the back.
“Hunter!”
Aden stood there, slightly hunched over as he looked at the man.
“It’s cool,” Aden said. “She’s with me.”
Hunter gave me a shrug and bowed his head.
“Just looking out for my boy,” he said.
I gave him a nod then rushed over to Aden. The closer I got to him, the more I noticed something was wrong. His face was bleeding slightly and there was some bruising around his eye.
I tried to hug him but he put his hand up and pushed me away.
“What the hell happened to you?” I said.
“Not out here,” he replied.
I followed him through the back of the club and into one of the backrooms. It was a small room with just a single light bulb above us. There was a small table and a few chairs scattered around.
There was another man standing there. A man with the same patch on his leather vest as the one out front. Blue jeans. Riding boots. Ink all over his body.
He gave me a skeptical look.
“Who’s this?” he said.
“Danica,” Aden said. “Don’t worry. She’s all right, Sebastian.”
“I’m all right,” I said. “You’re not. What’s going on?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Aden said to me.
“I was at work. Word was going around that there was some brawl at Hades. People mentioned the Spades. I knew something was up.”
“Word already got to Finn’s that fast?”
“Ivory is a small town,” Sebastian said. “All it takes is one person for news to spread like wildfire.”
“You didn’t answer my texts,” I said. “You didn’t answer my phone calls.”
“There’s nothing for you to worry about,” Aden said. “I’m fine—”
“You could’ve messaged me if that’s the case. And from the looks of things, you don’t look fine.”
“I’m fine.”
“Why the hell is there blood on your shirt then?”
The stain around his stomach was clear. I crossed my arms and waited for an answer but he didn’t give it to me. I looked at Sebastian but he was quiet just the same.
I let out an exasperated sigh and shook my head. My eyes closed, I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingers to try and relieve the bit of stress I’d suddenly felt.
“It’s all right,” Aden said to Sebastian. “I can handle this.”
“She your old lady?” he replied.
Aden didn’t respond. Sebastian shrugged his shoulders and left me alone in the room with Aden. The door clicked closed and silence filled the room again.
I tapped my foot on the ground, my arms still crossed as I waited for a response.
“Well?” I said.
“I don’t have to tell you what happened.”
“I don’t know how you can be so selfish—”
“Selfish? Danica, I’m trying to protect you. If you were here when it happened, who knows what Hawk would’ve done to you.”
I’d already had an incident with Hawk, so I knew what he was capable of, even if it didn’t compare to whatever the hell just happened with Aden.
“I don’t like being left in the dark,” I said. “I’m not leaving until I get an answer. Don’t do this to me, Aden…”
His face was always so calm and emotionless. He stared at me for a moment before the hardened stare he gave me started to soften.
“Hawk and his boys decided to pay us a visit,” he said. “We got into it.”
“It sounds like you’re putting it lightly.”
“I’m not. They weren’t out for blood. They could’ve done worse if they wanted to, a bunch of psychos like them. It was just like Sebastian said to me earlier. They were looking for a chance to get an advantage. They know none of their boys can beat me one on one.”
“What’s going on with that?”
I pointed a finger at his stomach. Aden hesitated for a second before lifting his shirt up. I locked my eyes on him. His hard body always made me stare. Tight skin stretched over hard muscles without an inch of fat on him. But now it was mostly covered with a bandage that wrapped all around his waist.
“They hit me pretty hard,” he said.
“How hard?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s broken.”
“B-broken?”
I blinked my eyes like I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.
“They broke your ribs,” I said.
“There were too many of them. They jumped me all at once. I could’ve fought them off if I was ready. I should’ve—”
“Dammit, Aden! I don’t care if you could’ve fought them off. You think I care about some macho bullshit like that?”
I moved closer to him and put a hand on his cheek. I caressed him softly, looking into his eyes and desperately trying to get through to him.
“I care about you,” I said. “I care about you.”
A sudden burst of emotions made it hard for me to speak suddenly. I closed my eyes and swallowed to gather myself.
“I can beat him,” he said. “I can beat whoever they put in front of me.”
“I know you can. But they broke your ribs. You can barely stand-up straight. Aden… Hawk is capable of anything. He won’t let you walk out of that fight alive if that’s what it takes.”
“I can beat him,” he repeated.
“Aden—”
“I can beat him!”
He shouted it loud enough that it echoed around the room. He stared at me so hard that my heart stopped inside of my chest. It was completely silent except for the two of us breathing hard.
Without warning, he suddenly rushed his face up to mine. He kissed me deeply, shoving his tongue into my mouth.
“Aden… Aden, you’re injured…”
I kissed him and pleaded with him to stop. I didn’t want him to push himself. Not in the state he was in. But my own selfish desires were taking control of me just the same. The fire I always had for him burned hot enough that nothing could put it out.
“I’m not injured,” he said. “I’m just fine.”
He grabbed my arms and forcefully turned me around. I gasped as he bent me over the table. I grabbed the edges of the table and let him undo my jeans. He tugged them down to my knees and gripped my panties so hard that he tore them off of my body completely. I spread my legs slightly and a drop of wetness dripped out of me. The eager anticipation for him replaced any concern I might’ve had for his safety.
I pressed my head against the table and listened to the sound of him unbuckling his belt. The metal teeth of his zipper was a wonderful prelude of what was about to come. The few seconds it took him felt like an eternity.
He grabbed my waist with one hand and pulled me closer toward him. His cock pressed against my wet entrance. My jaw dropped and a sigh escaped me a second later.
“Aden… You don’t have to…”
“I’m fine… I’m fine…”
He plunged his cock into me with a hard, deep thrust. His dick split my insides, rubbing against my walls and emptying any rational thoughts from my head.
Aden tightened his grip on my waist and started pounding into me. He thumped his cock inside my wetness. My ass slapped against his hilt, growing louder with every thrust.
My mouth hung open. Moan after moan poured out of me like a waterfall. I whimpered helplessly from how good he was giving it to me. Over
and over, every stroke made me even more desperate for him.
Aden fucked me so hard that the table felt like it was going to break underneath me. I gripped the edges of the table, knuckles white and palms sweaty like I was holding on for dear life.
There I was. Bent over a table in Hades while Aden gave it to me. Panties torn. Jeans around my knees. Wetness dripping out of me. Aden took me with a fervor greater than any I’d experienced from him before.
He grunted harder with every thrust. It was as if his dick was getting even thicker inside of me. My slick walls stretched out completely to try and accommodate his swollen shaft.
“A-Aden…”
I wanted to tell him how much I loved it. I wanted to tell him how good he made me feel. I wanted to tell him how satisfying his cock was inside of me. But he was pushing my body to the limit and all I was doing was laying bent over for him.
Sweat dripped from my brow. My throat grew hoarse. My muscles were sore and my entire body was on the verge of exploding.
Aden kept thumping his cock into me. His grip on my waist tightened up. He slammed his hilt against my ass so hard and fast. His grunts grew louder until he suddenly shouted.
“Fuck!”
His body seized up behind me. He held me so tight in his grip that I thought he would squeeze the life out of me. Listening to him grunting from how hard he was coming was wonderful. He wet my insides with his cum. I tightened myself around him and milked him for all I could.
Teeth gritted. Eyes shut tight. Muscles tensed. Heart racing. I braced myself as much as I could until I found my own end.
“Ahh…”
I moaned softly as my orgasm shattered my body. The pleasure spread through the rest of me, setting my insides on fire and making my skin tingle. My knees buckled. I dug my feet into the ground, planting myself firmly so I could enjoy my climax while I remained bent over for Aden.
He filled me up with every last drop before collapsing on top of me. His chest pressed against my back, Aden breathed hard just like I did. We were both trying to recover. Muscles sore. Bodies sweating. Aden had made a mess of both of us.
He kissed me on the cheek. The warmth of his breath against my skin sent another tingle through my spine. He whispered into my ear to remind me that he was the man I desperately wanted to be with.