by Quinn Ryder
Me: On it.
I hung up the phone and immediately started panicking. If Diego’s club had a hit out on Faith, it was only a matter of time before one of their members went after her. At the club she was under Diego’s protection, if she was at the bar the Armada could protect her, but out here she was vulnerable—too vulnerable.
I was about to leave when something at Diego’s club caught my attention. A familiar bike and rider drove around to the back side of the building. From my vantage point I had a clear view of the front and a partial view of the back of the club. The bike parked, the rider took off his helmet, and sat on the back of his bike like he was waiting for someone or something. After a few seconds of watching him, I quickly realized who the man was. Guerrilla, the man who left me for dead.
What the fuck was he doing here?
A few minutes later a tall Mexican, sporting a blue bandana and a Saints cut, walked out and greeted Guerrilla. They shook hands before the Saints’ member walked him over to a large moving truck. The building slightly blocked my view, so I couldn’t get a good look at what was inside. When Guerrilla and the other man returned to his bike, I watched Guerrilla look around nervously and then stuff two large white cubes into his saddle bag.
Cocaine.
Fuck, what the hell was Guerrilla doing? Why was he getting drugs from the Saints? Did Scythe even know about this? I’d have to ask him about this later. Calling him on the phone or texting him about cocaine didn’t seem like the best idea, even if it was on a burner phone.
Damn, the club really had gone to shit since I left.
I watched Guerrilla and the Saints member shake hands one last time before Guerrilla started his bike and drove off. A few minutes later, right before I was about to leave, Faith walked around the corner in a short as fuck skirt and a low-cut leather crop top and settled in front of the bouncer.
I wasn’t close enough to hear anything she was saying, but by the body language I could tell it wasn’t good. As Faith stomped off, she threw up her middle finger and marched away. The second she turned around the corner, I was on my bike ready to follow her—especially when I saw three Saints members walk out of the building and head in the direction Faith was going.
Fuck.
I definitely wasn’t ready to take on three Saints members by myself, but I would if they did anything to Faith. Thankfully, when I got to where I could see her again, Faith was in her car and driving off before the Saints members had a chance to grab her.
That was too close.
I expected Faith to drive back to the compound or to the bar, but she didn’t. Instead, she jumped on the highway and headed north. I didn’t need a map to know where she was going, because I’d been there a million times before. Faith was going to Hidden Lake—our lake.
I cut the engine of my bike and parked it where it would be out of the way and hidden. The lake wasn’t too far up the road, and I knew if I got any closer, she’d be able to hear my bike as I pulled up. I didn’t want to take any chances or spook her, so it was just easier to hike the rest of the way and keep my distance.
When I finally got to the lake, I was out of breath and tired. I kept to the shadows, making sure I blended in with the dancing shadows of the swaying pine trees that lined the old dirt road. There was nothing more peaceful than the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves and branches of majestic oak trees, and the rustling of needles clamoring on the branches of fresh pine, but the sight before me left me breathless.
There was a serene calmness about this hidden lake—something magical, too. In the daytime it was filled with birds and bright vibrant pine trees, but nighttime was when the lake really came alive.
The moon was half full. Its reflection bounced in the currents of the rippling water, bending and shifting against the glittering surface, creating a beautiful mosaic tile affect that broke up the darkness of the lake. If you did a 360 circle, you would see nothing but mountain all around you, as if the lake was being cradled by the rocky arms of the veiled woman rumored to be etched into its solid surface. My favorite part of the lake was the wild fireflies that sometimes migrated here. Tonight, the lake was empty, but sometimes you could see a few stray lightening bugs blinking and hovering over the water’s surface as they bumbled on their way.
I found Faith sitting underneath the apple tree where I had carved our initials. I joked with her and said that Johnny Appleseed must’ve stopped here on his way to plant his apple trees, because there was only one fruit tree on this mountain, and it happened to be right near the water’s edge. It was so out of place.
I moved closer to her. She was talking, but I wasn’t close enough to hear anything she was saying. So, I moved even closer—dangerously close. Any closer and I would be out in the open where she could see me.
I picked up bits and pieces of the long conversation she was having with the stars. Her head was leaned upward, eyes gazing at the stars twinkling in the sky overhead. Her back was nestled against the tree and she had one hand on the sand of the beach, picking up the fine granules and letting them run through her fingers like a broken hourglass.
“. . . I feel like he’s good, and good is something I’ve been missing in my life since you died. Why did you have to die, JD? Why?”
Oh shit, this whole time she was talking to me. Well, the dead me. Damn.
I listened to her wailing cry, it echoed all around me, breaking my heart into tiny fractured pieces. I wanted to rush out there and grab her, bringing her close to my body and soak every one of those tears up with my embrace. I wanted to fix everything that was broken inside of her and repair what I damaged when I left. But I couldn’t. Telling her who I was now would ruin everything, it might even break her apart more.
I took a step forward and a large branch snapped underneath my foot. Faith’s head turned in my direction, but I was tucked away in the shadows and she couldn’t see me.
“. . . I need a sign; I need to know you’re okay with all of this.” She stood up and placed her hand on the tree, fingers tracing the heart I chiseled out for her.
A single tear dripped down my face.
I’m okay with you moving on, but only if it’s with me.
A light flickered to my left and danced in my peripheral vision. I turned and watched in wonder as a swarm of fireflies bumbled past me, floating toward the lake’s surface.
Faith must’ve seen them, too, because she turned away from the tree and suddenly dropped to her knees, staring out at the water where thousands of fireflies now danced in the sky.
I couldn’t take it anymore; I left my spot in the trees and walked cautiously toward her. Her head jerked up, and she stood up quickly, hugging herself.
“Identify yourself!” She screamed.
“It’s me,” I announced, my voice slightly hushed. I didn’t want to sound scary. I stepped closer so the moon’s light illuminated my face.
“Holden?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“You scared the shit out of me. What the fuck are you doing here? How do you know about this place? Did you fucking follow me?”
“Yes. Your brother asked me to.”
“You need to leave.” She was yelling and I didn’t know why.
“Why?”
“Because you have to.”
I took another step toward her, but this time her body language was inviting me in.
“Take one more step, and I won’t be able to stop what happens next.”
She sounded crazy, but I craved her crazy like my body did breath.
“Go away,” she screamed.
“I can’t,” I whispered. “I won’t leave you like this.”
“I wouldn’t be like this if it wasn’t for you. I was fine until you came along, turning me on with that sexy beard and all those muscles. Don’t get me started on how I want to lick every inch of that sexy as fuck inked skin you’re displaying. I’m a fucking mess, and this is all your fault.”
“You sound crazy, Faith.”
“I
am crazy. Didn’t my brother tell you that? I’m fucking crazy as hell. I’m broken, too. There’s no fixing this,” she said, motioning to her body. “I’m that jigsaw puzzle you can’t finish because it’s missing pieces.”
Her analogy made me step even closer. “What are you missing?”
“Everything important,” she cried. In the moonlight I could see the tears streaming down her face. Her emotions were all over the place, and I felt like I was in the middle of a ping pong match watching the ball fly back and forth over the table. I had no idea where to look or what to feel.
“Come one step closer and you’ll regret it.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m horny and emotional. That’s a deadly combination. I don’t like to feel anything, and I’ll make you fuck this emotion right out of me. I’ll use you like I use everyone else. Feelings makes me weak, and the only way I can release my emotions is by fucking it out. I refuse to be weak. I spent two years of my life being an emotional wreck and it almost destroyed me. I tried to kill myself multiple times just so I could be with the man who was taken away from me. I failed, just like I failed at saving him. But I won’t fail this time. I’ll avenge Midas’ death, and then when all is said and done, I’ll give in to all this emotion trying to choke me out and succeed where I failed before—joining Midas in the afterlife once and for all.”
I had to do something.
Faith’s suicidal thoughts were dangerous and if I didn’t step in, it would be too late.
I grabbed her shoulders and brought her in, crashing my lips down on hers. She moaned against my mouth, fingers clawing into my hair and raking through every strand.
Her tongue slid into my mouth and roved around inside, licking and tasting whatever it could in desperation. It was as if her body needed my kiss to survive and I was ready to be the fire to keep her going. I met her desperate kiss with anguished need of my own. Seven years I’ve waited to have Faith in my arms again, and now here I held her, her body shaking with broken tears, as an animalistic passion consumed every cell in our bodies.
She sobbed against my mouth. Breaking apart in my arms.
“I need this,” she cried. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I whispered into her lips. “Use me. Use me for whatever you need.”
She grabbed the bottom of my shirt and tore it away from my body, her hands moving over my bare chest, fingers digging into my flesh, as she scratched her way down my body.
My cock was fucking rock hard, and I knew this whole situation was fucked up, but I couldn’t help myself.
Faith was breaking apart, and I had the only thing that could put her back together.
“Fuck me, Specter. Fuck away all these emotions inside of me.”
My hands wrapped around her body until they were clutching her ass. I lifted her off her feet and carried her over to her car, throwing her down on the hood so I had a better position.
I looked down at her brown eyes, tears covering them in an emotional veil of uncertainty. She looked conflicted, but too desperate to turn down.
When I pulled away slightly, her fingers dug into my arms and her bottom lip quivered. “Please,” she begged. “I need this.”
Chapter Nineteen
Faith
Every thought in my head was mixed together, like a deadly drink where the alcohol is tasteless, and you don’t feel the buzz until it’s too late.
Having Specter appear out of nowhere, right in the middle of my weakest moment, seemed like it was something out of a movie. I was too fucked up to deny my attraction any longer. He wasn’t leaving this lake until I felt his cock inside of me.
“Please, I need this.”
Every muscle in Specter’s body went from rigid and reluctant, to relaxed and ready. His massive hands spread apart my legs, before his calloused fingers slowly moved down my thigh and over the thin fabric of my thong. His thumb pressed against my clit, and I moaned out of instinct. Fingers digging into the flesh of his forearms.
“Yes,” I breathed. “More.”
He moved back, taking my thong down my freshly shaved legs, before stuffing it into his back pocket. “Mine,” he growled. “You’re not getting it back.”
I didn’t care if he kept my thong or not, all I cared about was getting off. Desperate for even more, I unbuckled his belt, and quickly unzipped and unbuttoned his fly, watching his pants drop to his knees. He was wearing navy briefs, and the massive erection he had was tenting the fabric to the point he had to be uncomfortable.
I licked my lips, “Looks like you need some help with that.”
I hopped off the car and dropped to my knees. I didn’t care that dirt and rocks were digging into my kneecaps, all I cared about was unmasking my prize and tasting my meal once and for all.
The head of his cock was glistening with pre-cum and I licked it away, leaving nothing behind. The second my tongue touched his tip he moaned, fisting my hair as he took control of my movements. I parted my lips and sucked him in, taking him all the way to the back of my throat. His girth was exactly what I liked. Not big enough to where I felt like he was going to tear me apart, but not small enough to where I couldn’t feel him at all.
Specter had the golden dick, the kind of dick I had been missing for the last seven years, and now that I had it in my mouth, I was craving him even more.
Make me think you’re Midas.
The thought hit my brain like a freight train. It wasn’t fair to Specter to think of Midas at this time, but he was the closest thing I had to having the real thing in my arms.
I moved my mouth across his length, sucking and stroking him with both my lips and hand. He groaned and moved my head faster. I could feel his cock getting harder and I knew he was seconds away from finishing.
“Don’t bust that load just yet, Specter. I want to feel this cock in my pussy and for you to fill me with your seed.”
He bit his lip and moaned. “Fucking stand up,” he ordered.
I immediately stood up. He grabbed my hips and lifted me off my feet, my ass hit the hood of my car, before he gripped my ankles and forcefully pulled me down until my pussy met his dick.
“Condom?” I asked.
He bent down and reached into his wallet, pulling out a condom. He ripped the package open with his teeth and then rolled it across his length.
He leaned over me and whispered into my ear, “If I had my way, I’d be fucking that pussy skin to skin. One of these days I’m going to empty myself inside of you, Faith, and when that happens, you’ll be begging me to fill you every night until this pussy bears my children. It’s going to happen, just you wait and see.”
Damn.
He spread my legs as wide as they would go, and I felt the tip of his dick hit my entrance. He slammed into me, filling me completely. Perfection. Everything about him was so perfect.
“Yeeeeesss,” I hissed.
He started slow, penetrating me deep and hard, with powerful thrusts that slid my body across the hood of the car. His hand came down on my breasts, pulling down my shirt so he could capture my nipple in his mouth. His beard brushed against the sensitive skin just below my chest, and I suppressed the urge to giggle.
For the first time in years, I felt a connection, almost as if the man I buried had risen from the dead and his corpse was claiming me as his bride. Everything felt so real and familiar, his movements, the way he touched my skin like it was fragile and would shatter if he used too much force. The way his kisses seemed to possess my soul and how safe I felt in his arms. Fucking Specter was like fucking Midas. It was as if Midas had possessed Specter’s body and was fucking me for the first time all over again.
Everything felt so magical, but then I felt the wetness of a tear shimmy its way down my cheek, and suddenly things didn’t feel as good anymore. I quickly wiped it away, thinking it was a fluke, but another followed and another. Until I couldn’t stop the water from leaking out my eyes. Specter looked up at me and stilled.
“What�
��s wrong?” he questioned. His possessive thrusts stopped, his fingers moving off my body as he studied my emotional face.
“I don’t know,” I cried. “You feel so real. Like my Midas. Like he’s here with me now. I wanted to not feel anything and instead I feel everything.”
His eyes painfully closed. He pushed off me, his cock abandoning its home inside of me. Instantly, I regretted saying anything. I wanted him back inside me. I needed to feel Midas again.
“Don’t stop, please.”
Specter reached down and pulled up his pants, quickly fixing everything I had undone.
“You’re not ready,” he stated, moving away from me.
“I’m ready!” I screamed. “Please! I need to feel this. I need to feel you.”
Specter’s eyes narrowed. “You mean you need to feel him.”
“Yes. No. God, I don’t know, all I know is that I don’t want you to stop.”
“I’m sorry, Faith, I won’t be any man’s fill in, not even a ghost.”
He started to walk away, and my emptiness was replaced with rage.
“Fuck you, asshole. I give myself to you willingly and this is how you repay me? Go back to fucking Down for the D Desi, maybe she’ll put up with your mixed messages, but I’m fed up with them.”
He stopped mid walk, flipped around, and marched straight toward me.
“Let’s get one thing straight, Faith. I don’t give a shit about other women. There’s only one woman in this world that matters to me and when I’m ready, I’m going to show back up in her life and claim her as my wife, but until then, I’m just going to keep doing me. If that leads to Desi ending up in my bed, so be it. At least she’d be picturing me above her and not some dead man that died seven years ago. He’s gone, Faith, get the fuck over it. Midas is dead and he won’t ever be coming back.”
I slapped him fucking hard. My slap interrupted the silence of the peaceful lake, disturbing the once calm and serene landscape with anger and hostility.
How dare he say Midas’ name like he knew him. Nobody knew Midas like I did, and nobody ever will.