Minus

by Jack Davenport

  “Then why didn’t you call, contact me, anything?”

  “I had to put my feelings for you aside and do what I was told.”

  “No, Jase you chose to put your club before me.”

  Her words cut into the last good remaining part of my soul.

  “You’re right,” I replied, taking her hand. This time she allowed me, and I forced eye contact with her. “I did everything you said. I was a coward and I regret that. Cricket, I’m so sorry. Please know that I never meant to hurt you and that I had no idea what you were going through. I was so wrapped up in my own heartbreak and anger, that I figured you’d just moved on when I left.”

  “Well, I didn’t,” she said.

  “I don’t understand how that’s possible. You’re the most amazing woman in the world. There had to be a line of guys around the block waiting to date you. I figured by now, some normal, stable, responsible type would have swept you off your feet. Or, did your brother chase all the other guys away, too?”

  “I’m not ready to fill you in on all of that right now,” she said, and I instantly knew it had to be bad. “We’ll just leave it at, you left a mark.”

  I grimaced.

  Cricket looked at me puzzled. “You keep saying my brother had a big hand in your exile. I’m not sure you’re right about that. The Dogs of Fire and The Burning Saints have nothing to do with one another.”

  “That’s not exactly true. The clubs aren’t exactly friendly, but given their shared roots, they’ve always respectfully steered clear of one another. According to Hatch, me dating you was a sign of our club drifting into their lane.”

  “I’m going to kill my brother,” she said.

  Although, I was happy her anger was no longer focused on me (at least for the moment), I couldn’t believe it, but suddenly I found myself defending Hatch. “Don’t be mad at your brother. He didn’t want you dating a criminal and I can understand that. He was just trying to protect you.”

  “I’m so sick of everyone always saying that! I don’t need protection. I’m not a child and I’m not a helpless weakling.”

  “I never said you were weak or thought you were helpless. You’re one of the strongest women I know. Hell, I’ve got a permanent scar here under my eye to prove it.”

  Cricket cringed and looked away in embarrassment.

  “Don’t you dare,” I said. “Take a good look at your handiwork, Cricket. It means you don’t take shit from people, no matter who they are, and I’m glad you stuck up for yourself. I’m also glad you hit me, because this scar will remind me never to treat you that way again.”

  “I highly doubt we’ll see each other after tonight, so it doesn’t really matter much does it?”

  I straightened my posture. “Well, besides the apology, that’s the other thing I wanted to discuss tonight.”

  “Jase,” she said in a low tone.

  “Please call me Minus. You have no idea what it does to me when I hear you say my name.”

  “Don’t you dare. You promised no dirty talk,” she warned.

  “I’m not talking dirty, Cricket. I’m being honest. The part of me that’s still Jase has deep feelings for you, but I have to be Minus right now.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You heard Cutter the other night. He wants me to be club president when he retires.”

  “You’re not seriously thinking about doing that, are you?”

  I shrugged, but said nothing.

  “Wait a minute,” she said with a gasp, her eyes widening. “You’re not here to try and convince me to join you and your little band of miscreants, are you?”

  I studied her, but still said nothing.

  “Oh, my god, you are!” Cricket slid out of the booth, and stood. “I’m not hungry anymore. Thank you for a lovely evening and for your apology. I’ll call myself a car.”

  With that, she headed straight for the exit. I stood to stop her, just as our server returned.

  “Is everything alright, sir? Do you need some more time with the menus?”

  “No, thank you, my date isn’t feeling well, so we’re going to call it a night. Sorry for any trouble, everything was great. Please, bill the drinks to my room and give yourself a ridiculously high tip.”

  I ran outside and found Cricket standing on the curb, in the pouring rain, violently stabbing at her phone. “Stay away from me, Jase, I mean it.”

  “That’s all you gotta say to me?” I challenged.

  “Yes.”

  I crossed my arms. “This isn’t like you, Cricket. I was expecting more of a fight. At least a hundred words formed into several sentences that told me what an asshole I am.”

  She glanced up from her phone briefly. “Well, you don’t know me anymore. Obviously.”

  “Please come back inside, it’s pouring out here.”

  “Gee, thanks for mansplaining the weather to me, I hadn’t noticed.”

  “C’mon, Cricket, please, just let me talk to you. I know this is all crazy, but will you at least hear me out? Just give me a little more of your time.”

  “More of my time?” she cried out, and began pounding wildly on my chest. “How much more of my time do you want, Minus? You’ve already held me hostage for six years and now you want more? I won’t give it to you. You can’t have any more of my time, or my heart, or me.”

  I pulled her close and covered her mouth with mine. Goddamn, she felt right, she felt like home. She fell into me and moaned softly. Her hands came up to my face, as she returned the kiss hungrily. She tasted even sweeter than I’d remembered, and I held her tightly as we kissed again and again.

  “What are we doing?” she asked, finally breaking away.

  “What we’ve both wanted to do for the past six years.” I stroked her face, soaked from the rain. “Come with me. We’ll talk in my room.”

  She bit her lip, but gave me a quick nod.

  Cricket

  Jase guided me into his hotel room, pushing me against the wall and kissing me as he kicked the door shut. He tugged my skirt up over my hips, and his hand slid under the waistband of my panties and between my legs. “Goddammit, Cricket. You’re soaked.”

  “That’s not just from the rain. It’s been a while,” I rasped.

  “I’m gonna make up for lost time.”

  Before I could respond, he tore my underwear from my body and shoved the shredded lace into his jeans pocket.

  “What are you doing?” I demanded.

  He grinned. “Gettin’ ready to fuck you.”

  “No... with my panties, Jase,” I clarified.

  “I’m keeping those,” he said and turned me, so I was facing the wall. He kicked my legs apart, and slid his hand up my right thigh, and hovered it over my pussy. “Hands on the wall, above your head, Cricket.”

  I flattened my palms to the wallpaper, my breath coming in pants as I anticipated his next move. His thumb slid inside me, while a finger went to my clit and I whimpered with need.

  “You still like it dirty?” he whispered, his breath tickling the back of my neck.

  “Ohmigod,” I groaned out. “Yes.”

  He removed his hand and slapped it against my soaked folds. “Spread.”

  I spread. It wasn’t easy in heels, but I made it work, knowing that whatever he planned to do to my body would be worth any discomfort I might endure.

  Unzipping my skirt, he tugged my wet blouse from the waistband and slid his hand up my back to unhook my bra.

  “Take these off, Cricket, or I’m gonna rip them off. Leave the skirt.”

  With shaky hands, I unbuttoned my blouse and let it and my bra fall to the floor.

  He pushed me back against the wall, the roughness of the wallpaper stroking my nipples into tight pebbles. His chest settled against my back and I bit my lip... hard. He’d removed his shirt and the feeling of his muscular, smooth skin pressed against me almost made me come.

  His hand went back between my legs, slapping me once, then twice, and I whimpered
out, “Jase.”

  “You like this?”

  I hummed in acquiescence and was rewarded with another slap. “Don’t come,” he ordered, sliding three fingers inside of me and stroking me deep enough to hit my G-spot.

  “Oh, God.”

  “Not God.” His fingers twisted, and my body shuddered. I didn’t know how much more I could take. “Me.”

  He pulled out again and a finger went to my clit, then he slapped me, and I cried out as an orgasm washed over me.

  “I told you not to come,” he said, as he turned me to face him again.

  I watched him through hooded eyes as he licked his fingers clean, then ran his thumb over my bottom lip. “Take your skirt off. Leave the shoes.”

  I bit my lip and shimmied out of my skirt. He took my hand and held me steady as I stepped out of the fabric. I took in his body... what I could see of it, anyway. His chest was wider, much more muscular than when we’d first been intimate, and I ached to run my tongue over every ridge. He was also much tanner than he had been back then. Gone was the paleness of the Pacific Northwest, replaced with a golden brown that made him more beautiful.

  When he’d met me at the curb, I’d lost my ability to think for a moment. He’d been dressed in a black suit that appeared to be made for him, a dark grey shirt and silver tie. He was beautiful, but the first thing I thought of was how much I wanted that tie binding me to the bed.

  He led me to the desk against the wall, and gently pushed me back until my bottom grazed the edge. “Brace, baby.”

  I nodded and gripped the edge.

  “Spread.”

  I spread, and he slapped my pussy a few times, sliding his finger through my wet folds to my clit. “Wider.”

  I spread wider, and he knelt in front of me, running his tongue over my clit, then blowing gently against it. The burst of cold air gave me delicious goosebumps that raised the level of my anticipation.

  His mouth pressed against my pussy, then he sucked my clit as he slid two fingers inside of me. I almost came apart right then, but Jase still knew me and my body, and backed off just enough to irritate me. “Jase,” I hissed.

  Keeping his hand between my legs, he rose to his feet and leaned over to kiss me. He continued to work my pussy with an expertise that always amazed me, and as my climax hit, his mouth covered mine again and he kissed me as I whimpered.

  “Better?” he asked.

  I nodded and ran my hand over his rock-hard cock. “Let me return the favor.”

  “No.”

  “What?” Jase Vincent never turned down a blow job. Ever.

  “I’m not done with you yet.”

  I watched without breath as he removed the rest of his clothes and he stood before me with a dick that I was dying to taste.

  “Love those shoes, Cricket,” Jase said, sliding his hand to my neck. “But I think now would be a good time to take them off.”

  I held his arms and slipped them off my feet.

  He lifted me, so I could wrap my legs around him, then carried me to the bed and lowered me to the mattress. Pulling my ass to the edge, he rolled on a condom and slid into me, pushing my knees back for deeper access and burying himself deeper. I took some of my power back and raised my legs, settling them against his chest. He grasped my thighs, anchoring me to his body as he moved, thrusting deeper and deeper with each pass.

  I called out his name as I came, and he pushed me back down and slammed into me, over and over, until he let out a satisfied groan, whispered, “God damn, I missed you,” and rolled us gently onto our sides in spoon fashion.

  As he held me tight, all the emotions of his abandonment hit me, and I burst into tears.

  “Fuck!” he snapped.

  Pushing off the bed, I made a run for the bathroom, but Jase caught me before I could escape. “Nope,” he said. “Not happenin’.”

  “Let me go,” I demanded, trying to pull away.

  “No. You’re gonna talk to me, Cricket.”

  * * *

  Minus

  “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come up here with you, please let go of me,” Cricket protested as she wriggled.

  It took every ounce of strength I had to let her out of my arms, but the last thing I wanted was for her to feel unsafe in them. I grabbed a blanket off the floor, wrapped her up, and sat down with her on the edge of the mattress.

  “I can’t believe I let myself do this,” Cricket said. “I’m so stupid.”

  “What exactly was so bad about what we were just doing, baby? Personally, I was having a great time, and from where I was, you seemed to be enjoying yourself just fine.”

  “That!” she snapped. “All that baby, baby, baby crap, and romantic... shitty... shit talk.”

  “Shitty shit talk?” I laughed.

  “I’m serious Jase,” she protested. “Stop joking about this.”

  “I’m sorry, Cricket, but you’re fuckin adorable when you get all worked up like this. I can’t help it if your pouting turns me on.”

  “Pouting?” Her tone sharpened.

  “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry, it was a poor choice of words, but you’ll have to forgive me for being a little confused here. Just a second ago we were having a great time, and now you’re pissed off at me for being sweet.”

  “I didn’t want you to be sweet, I wanted you to fuck me,” she snapped.

  “Perhaps I’m a bit rusty, but I thought that’s exactly what we were doing.”

  “Rusty? Yeah, right.” Cricket rolled her eyes.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “Oh Cricket, how I’ve missed you so,” she mocked.

  “What the fuck are you getting at here?” I asked.

  “Do you really expect me to believe that you’ve been pining for me for all these years? That you’ve been living like a monk in Savannah?”

  “I never said that,” I replied.

  “It was implied,” she said.

  “Was it, now?” I challenged. “I think it should be stated that I don’t imply things. If I have something to say, I say it.”

  “Is that so?” she hissed.

  “Yes, it very well fucking is. I said I missed you because that’s the truth. I missed you so bad sometimes I wanted to fucking die.”

  Cricket turned her head away, but I gently grabbed her chin, and guided her back to me.

  “Of course, I’ve been with other women since I left Portland. But I’ve never been in love, and the relationships have never lasted long. I’ve never felt about anyone the way I felt about you.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

  “It’s not supposed to make you feel any particular way. It’s simply the truth, and I felt like I owed that to you.”

  “You owe me a hell of a lot more than that,” Cricket said.

  “Like what?”

  “Like a full explanation of why we’re here tonight. You say you want to be honest with me, but I can’t help but feel like bringing me up to your room was some sort of stall tactic or diversion. Or worse, some way to try and soften me up.”

  “Not at all. I couldn’t be away from you for one second more. That’s the truth, Cricket. I think it’s safe to say that neither of us planned on this happening, but I don’t regret it, and I hope it’s not the last time.”

  “I wouldn’t bet on it. In fact, how much longer I remain in this room depends entirely on your honesty,” she said, her tone growing colder.

  “I won’t ever lie to you and I promise to never keep anything from you, including my feelings.”

  “You’re going to have to forgive me if I have a hard time believing you. The Jase I knew was more of the ‘diffuse with humor and bury his feelings deep inside until they turned into a ball of rage’ kind of guy.”

  “That’s one of the reasons that it bothers me when you call me that,” I said.

  “What? You’re telling me that criminal biker ‘Minus’ isn’t even harder?”

  “It’s difficult to exp
lain. I think you’d have to come to Savannah to really see who I am; or at least who I’m trying to become.”

  “I’ll have to take your word for it, because that’s never gonna happen,” she grumbled, picking at an invisible piece of lint on the blanket. “What’s the other reason?”

  “Because you’re the only one who’s called me Jase in six years, and it hurts to hear it. It reminds me of who I was when I was here, and the things that I’ve done that I’d rather forget about. It reminds me of leaving you, and the things about myself and my club that I hate.”

  “If you hate your club so much, then why are you here to convince me to work for them?”

  “Cutter doesn’t just want you to work for the club, he wants you to help change it from within.”

  “Why me?”

  “For lots of reasons, and honestly, they’re not all that crazy if you’d hear me out. At first, I thought Cutter was crazy just like you, but after sitting down and talking with him, his plan makes a lot of sense.”

  “Of course, you would like it. For you there’s a brand-new Harley, the President’s patch, and a roll in the hay with your ex-girlfriend. What the hell is in it for me?”

  “For starters, how does a million dollars in cash sound?”

  Cricket

  I sat on the edge of the bed, wearing only a hotel blanket and what had to be the dumbest expression ever. I glanced at my reflection in the dressing table mirror. I was a tangle of post-fuck blonde hair, and yep, I had the dumbest look I’d ever had on my face. I squared my shoulders and tried to bolster my nerve.

  “I’m sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?” I asked, petrified to learn (and possibly incriminate myself) more.

  “Three million, actually,” he said casually.

  “What?” I exclaimed, not at all believing what I was hearing. Jase continued casually, as if this were a shareholder meeting for a shoe company.

  “One million of that is for you personally, another portion will be your budget to rebrand the club, and the remainder is for me to use as needed during the transitional period.”

  “Oh, only a million for me? Is that all?” I mocked. “And what exactly is a ‘transitional period’?”