by Jolie Day
...A customer at the bar, Charlie Turner, compared being part of a gang to being part of a family and that’s what it felt like to step into Mickey’s. Everyone knew everyone, but even newcomers were welcome. Mickey himself was a warm and pleasant man with some incredible stories to tell about his years on the road. If you’re looking for a fresh vibe in Darton, then Mickey’s Den is it. No frills, no airs and graces; just down-to-earth people ready to have a chat.
With a little trepidation, Georgie clicked send and sent the email attachment to Lucy. Sure enough, about thirty minutes later, the editor came striding up to her desk in a temper and threw the article down on her desk.
“This isn’t hostile, Georgina. This is a great big bloody welcome wagon.”
“I just wrote what I saw, Lucy.”
“I do not want this paper affiliated with those types of people. I want a new article tonight. Go back if you must and get some quotes that’ll show them up. Seriously, Georgina. You’re not showing me at all that you want to progress here. The right to write about what you want is something you earn. It’s not just given. Show me that you can be part of a team and then maybe I’ll think about letting you strike out on your own.”
“Fine. I’m sorry, Lucy.”
“Tomorrow.”
Georgie felt both frustrated and delighted at Lucy’s tantrum. She was frustrated that an honest article was being trashed just because it didn’t reflect Lucy’s archaic worldviews, but she was delighted that she had an excuse to return to the bar. She could only hope that she’d find Charlie there again and this time she wouldn’t be so prudish. This time she’d throw caution to the wind and indulge in a fantasy, rather than waiting to reach a point in her life where she felt it wasn’t a defeat to settle for someone nice.
That night, she got dressed up again, this time in a pair of skinny jeans, a slinky black chiffon shirt and a pair of high heels. As soon as she walked through the door she was greeted by a wave from Mickey who recognized her from the night before as well as a few nods and waves from other punters whom she’d spoken with, but her eyes were peeled for one man alone and soon she spotted him sitting alone at the same table as the night before. When he spotted her a grin spread over his face once more and he pointedly took his helmet from the chair next to him and placed it on the floor as an invitation for her to come and sit with him, which she did.
“And here I was thinking you were just here for a story,” Charlie teased with a suggestive grin. Georgie grinned back and flipped her loose hair over her shoulder playfully.
“Turns out I didn’t get everything I needed last time.”
Charlie raised his eyebrows and chuckled. “No. I don’t think you did. Can I buy you a drink?”
Georgie had already made up her mind to be no shrinking violet tonight and so she nodded with an alluring smile and watched him go. Her heart was beating so fast in her chest from her attraction to the man, but at the same time she was feeling a niggling guilt at the core of her, knowing that she was meant to trash this place in her article. She pushed that knowledge to the back of her mind and focused instead on Charlie.
He was such a handsome man. His features were sculpted and chiseled and his body athletic and lean, but there was still a certain roughness about him that came from his long journeys on his bike. His hands still had a little grease from his machine on them and his skin was tanned from weeks on the road. He didn’t have a beard, but he wasn’t smooth shaven either. He looked effortlessly delicious. On his right forearm was a little black tattoo in the shape of a club from a deck of hearts. Charlie reached over her as he put a drink down before her and lingered for a moment longer than necessary over her shoulder in the gesture. He smelled of woody aftershave and leather. There was something incredibly erotic about that scent and Georgie found her breaths catching in her throat.
“So, what was missing from this article?”
“A spin.”
“Uh-huh. What kind of spin?”
“I haven’t decided yet.”
“I’ve got an idea. Let me introduce you to some of the guys. Show you who we are.”
“Alright.”
Charlie led her over to a group of men around the snooker table and introduced them to her in turn. There were five in total and Charlie explained that they rode together in the summer and that in the winter they tended to find odd jobs wherever they found themselves.
Georgie had been a little reluctant to relinquish her time alone with Charlie to spend it with a group of older men and their women, but, to her surprise, they were a down-to-earth and friendly crew with some incredible stories to tell about all the places they’d been and all the things they’d seen. It was so refreshing to hear stories about open roads and glorious sunsets and mountaintops, rather than the usual humdrum stories about prize chickens and baking competitions.
She drank, she laughed and she flirted outrageously. She usually saved her coy glances and subtle suggestive movements for men she wanted to tie down, but with Charlie she found that all those little gestures were simply drawn from her almost without her consent and flirting with him was like breathing. It just happened.
Georgie and Charlie found themselves at one point by the jukebox and Georgie took in a short, sharp breath of surprise when she felt his strong arm weave its way around her waist as she stood selecting a song. His other arm leaned on the glass of the jukebox above her head so that he was leaning over her. She could feel the warmth of his breaths on her neck and his body was pressed very close to hers. The feeling of him so close to her knocked much of that newfound confidence from her and Georgie felt herself begin to tremble with desire. She turned her face over her shoulder and was surprised when Charlie took the opportunity to catch her lips with a deep, hungry kiss that came from nowhere.
He took her by the shoulders and spun her towards him and continued to press his lips down hard over hers. At first Georgie was too shocked to react, but then she began to respond with equal passion. All of the other voices and sounds of the bar began to fade into obscurity and all that mattered was his kiss. The sensation of his warm, rough lips parting hers made everything else fade away and Georgie felt herself becoming weak at the knees as Charlie’s fingers sunk into her hair and he pulled her lips more deeply into his kiss.
“I…I live just around the corner...” she managed to stammer breathlessly. Charlie’s face morphed into a knowing grin and he gave her a nod.
“What are we waiting for?”
Georgie felt like she was living in a dream as she walked up the road with Charlie’s arm around her and knew what was coming next. It was unlike her to take strangers home, but Charlie was so different from every other guy she knew around here that she just didn’t want to miss her chance to know what it felt like to indulge in a fantasy. She opened the front door to her little ground floor apartment and headed to the kitchen to open the fridge door and wonder if she even had anything to offer him to drink.
“Is a beer OK?”
“Perfect.”
She handed him a bottle and then blushed when she realized she hadn’t opened it. She handed him the bottle opener and watched him flick off the lid and begin to drink. Then his eyes began to wander around her apartment, taking in the framed broadsheet newspapers on the wall and the pile of books and magazines on the coffee table.
“You’re really into this writing, huh?”
“Ever since I was a little girl. Do you want to sit down?”
Georgie led him over to her little squishy beige sofa with the patterned throw and she didn’t object when he confidently sat as close as possible to her and threw his arm around her shoulders, making himself right at home. She tried to make small talk with him, but Charlie cut her off.
“Did you really invite me back here to find out where I went to school?” he chuckled knowingly. “I’ve been desperate to get my hands on you ever since I saw you in those sexy little pants last night. You’ve already made me wait, you little tease.”
A
lright. The moment had come and although Georgie’s stomach was filled with butterflies and a sudden doubt that maybe this was too crazy even for her, she pushed those thoughts aside and gave a firm tug on either side of Charlie’s leather jacket to pull it from his shoulders. That made his grin grow even wider and he shrugged it off. Now the strong, firm muscles of his arms were exposed. His biceps were straining against the thin material of his grey t-shirt and Georgie could see that beneath the fabric was a perfect six-pack stomach. Charlie watched her longing gaze climbing over him and he raised his eyebrows teasingly and pulled off her own leather jacket.
It was taking so long! Georgie wanted to rip his clothes off and let her body be close to his, but Charlie was in control here. He slowly pulled her black blouse over her head and then his smile widened in approval when he saw the ample rise and fall of her large breasts in her lacy black bra and how plentiful the flesh was around her middle. He ran a hand down her waist and the brush of his roughened fingertips against her skin made Georgie begin to breath faster.
“God, you’re beautiful...” Charlie said in a low, hungry growl. He reached around behind her and unstrapped her bra, letting her breasts fall free. He reached out to grab them and began to gently lick a nipple in slow, teasing strokes. There were no airs and graces with this man or polite to and fro-ing. He knew what he wanted and just how to take it.
Charlie threw his arm behind his back and pulled his shirt off over his head in one quick motion. His physique was everything that Georgie had imagined it would be and more. On his lower left hip was another tattoo of a spade from a suit of hearts. Georgie couldn’t help but reach out and brush a thumb over the mark. Charlie grabbed her wrist and lowered her hand to his member, which Georgie could feel was hard beneath the leather. His bold presumption made Georgie feel even more overwhelmed and her head began to spin with the heady feeling of lust that was consuming her. Beneath her fingers, she could feel how much he wanted her and she raised her hand to unzip his trousers.
“That’s it...” Charlie coaxed. “You’ve got it now.”
Georgie slipped her hand into his waistband and took hold of him. He was hard and throbbing in her hand and she felt her whole body begin to tingle at the feel of him against her palm. Charlie shifted his position and powerfully threw Georgie down onto her back on the sofa.
“Let’s get these off...”
He undid the button on her skinny jeans and peeled them from her legs. His eyes grew wider and hungrier with each layer that was removed and his hand explored the supple flesh of her thigh, his fingertips brushing against the edges of her panties. The proximity of his hand to her there made Georgie bite down on her lip and let out a little moan. She wanted to be touched by him so badly.
Charlie responded to her impatient moan by pressing his thumb hard against her clit and beginning to massage it in powerful, teasing motions that drew gasps from her slightly open mouth. She responded by running her hand up and down his shaft, but she was distracted by the pleasure he was creating between her legs and she began to squirm from how good it felt.
“Let’s...take...it...to…the...bedroom...” she gasped.
She led him into her bedroom where the red bed sheets were beckoning and Charlie kicked off his pants and underwear before lying down expectantly on the bed. His eyes caught hers and a cheeky grin took over his expression.
“I’m waiting for you, Georgie.”
Georgie let her panties fall to the ground and then climbed on top of him. From this position he could see every part of her and she could tell that he loved it. Charlie’s hands explored every part of her and his touches became more urgent and hungry when he entered her and she began to grind against him in slow, deep motions that made him moan a deep, guttural moan. He rested his hands on the padding of her hips and pressed down on them to make her move faster and he thrust into her more deeply as they moved with each other closer and closer to that perfect conclusion.
Georgie’s body was on fire. Every part of her was singing as Charlie made sure to please. After a few minutes, he pushed her down and moved over her, entering her again in such a deep, powerful thrust that it made Georgie cry out loudly, but the sound was pure pleasure. Every one of Charlie’s thrusts seemed to fill her more than the last, until Georgie grew weak from how her body was trembling all over and then she finally felt that sweet wave of an orgasm crash over her and make every part of her tingle from head to toe. Charlie grinned again, feeling her tensing around him in the throes of her pleasure and pushed into her two, three more times, before letting out one final moan and then hovering above her with that devilish grin on his face.
*****
Georgina woke up and stretched out lazily, hazy memories of the night before filtering through her mind and making a satisfied smile creep onto her face. She turned to her left and saw that Charlie was still there, his body turned slightly away from her and one arm thrown out. She crept out of bed, pulling on her robe and heading into the kitchen to make some coffee. She tried to stifle a giggle as she went about setting up the coffee machine, thinking about how wild the night before had been and wondering how strange it would be to speak with him again that morning.
She didn’t have to wait long to find out. Charlie appeared at the bedroom doorway, still fully in the nude and he leaned up against the doorframe with that big grin still lingering on his face and as he lifted his arms in a morning stretch over his head, Georgie marveled again at how perfect a body he had.
“Good morning,” she giggled shyly. “Coffee?”
Charlie threw a glance to the clock at the wall and nodded. “Sure.”
The biker disappeared into the bedroom for a while and came back in his t-shirt and leather pants once more. Georgie thought he was perhaps the only man she’d ever met who was just as sexy fully dressed as naked. Somehow, the way the material of his clothes stretched across his muscles only emphasized how perfect his muscles were and Georgie would have been ready for round two right then and there if she hadn’t had to get to work. She gave Charlie his coffee and then opened up her laptop to begin tapping away. Charlie mooched around her apartment with lazy curiosity before finally coming to settle at her side on the sofa and look over her shoulder at what she was writing.
“Mickey’s Den: A Welcome Addition,” Charlie read out loud. “That’s about us, huh?”
Georgie let out a long sigh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at him from the corner of her eye and shaking her head slightly in despair.
“My boss is from the dark ages,” she confessed. “She wanted me to write a bad review, but I just can’t do it. She already turned down the first one I submitted, but I’m not going to trash Mickey’s just because she’s uncomfortable. It’s not fair.”
“She doesn’t like bikers?”
“Or hippies, or smokers, or young people or people who talk on their cell phones too much. She uses that paper as an excuse just to sound off about everything she doesn’t like. My job can be fun, but I hate being the mouthpiece for that tired old hag. This time she’ll just have to lump it or write the damn thing herself.”
“I hope you’re not taking a stand just because I made such an impression last night,” Charlie teased. “You know that I’ll be moving on soon. You won’t be offending me, whatever you write.”
“That’s not the point, Charlie. The point is that she’s going to single-handedly blacklist his bar just because she can and everyone in this little town will buy it and stay away and I think Mickey deserves better than that. He seems like a good guy.”
“Oh, he is,” Charlie agreed. “One of the best, in fact. I mean, he can have a hell of a temper if you get on the wrong side of him, but he’d do anything for anyone. He took to the road after his wife died. They’d always used to ride together and he always said that being on the road was the only thing to make him feel close to her again. Over time, he began to start riding with others and that’s when we started to ride as a ‘gang’, or whatever you call
it. Anyone looking to find themselves had a place with Mickey.”
“Is that why you started to ride? You were looking for yourself?”
“I was looking for something,” Charlie shrugged. “Adventure, maybe. A good woman.” He gave her a cheeky wink and then lay back against her sofa with a more contemplative look in his eye. “My parents were the very conservative, strict type, but Mickey was something else. He taught me to live for today, because before you know it, life can turn everything on its head and you don’t know where you are.”
“That philosophy lends itself well to one night stands, I guess,” Georgie teased. Charlie noticed the slightly judgmental and wistful tone in her voice and he leaned forward to wrap his arm tightly around her waist and plant a warm kiss behind her ear.
“One night? I’m here until the end of the week.”
*****
Lucy was fuming, but so was Georgie. The ancient old editor just wanted a hate piece to drive away people she’d never met, but Georgie wasn’t willing to put anything hateful into print against Mickey’s Den and all the friendly and charming people she’d met there. She stood her ground with her hands on her own hips to match Lucy’s striking pose as the two battled it out in the office that day.
“You don’t call the shots around here, Georgina!” Lucy fumed. “This is a small, family community and we represent traditional, family values. Do you think the locals here would take kindly to our paper promoting that kind of behavior?”
“What kind of behavior, Lucy? What are these people meant to have done? I went down there and they were nothing but nice men having a quiet drink.”
“Wendy said she could hear their rock ‘n’ roll going on until the early hours! It’s outrageous!”
“It’s a bar, Lucy. Of course they’ll be playing music late. They’re out in the town. Not in some quiet residential street. It’s their right to play music.”
“I really expected more from you, Georgina. You know what? Forget the article. I’ll make Jack write the piece. You can do the crossword puzzles. There’s no need to put a spin on a crossword puzzle now is there? Nothing for you to complain about.”