by Xyla Turner
“Me either,” Goldie muttered.
“I can help too,” Trina called back and began to make her way towards Alaric.
A ping of awareness crossed my chest, causing me to use my long stride and move my ass.
Fuck. Why was I even bothered?
Trina still made it to him before I did, but when he turned around, he nodded at her with a polite smile.
“Name’s Alaric, and you?” He greeted her and extended his hand.
“Yes, I know who you are, Alaric Hunt. You’re the City’s District Attorney.” Trina was all smiles, and I swear there might have been a star or two in those big brown eyes.
My eyes might have rolled at Alaric, when the future politician of America, gave her his million-dollar smile and shook her hand.
“Hey baby,” I heard him say, causing me to bring my eyes back to the scene in front of me.
“Alaric,” I called back.
He was moving towards me with a slow stride and smirk on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
He had on a pair of worn jeans, fairly new sneakers, and an old, faded t-shirt that must have had his college alma Mata on it at some point. It was had grease stains and a hole or two but looked sexy as fuck. The closer he moved towards me, the stronger his aroma of fresh ocean breeze grew.
“What?” I asked.
Once he made it to me, he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled me in and pecked me on the corner of my mouth.
“Hey, sweetheart,” he whispered. “I’m really like you Lady Guardians. Y’all are the real deal.”
His greeting, plus the pride I felt in his words about my club must have brought the smile to my face.
“Why are you kissing me in public, like we’re something,” I asked him point blank, but low enough, so Trina didn’t hear us.
“The same reason you hauled ass over here when she started moving.” He shrugged. “I like claiming what’s mine, so nobody else gets any ideas. Schools are notorious for gossip.”
Then the bastard kissed my lips again and said, “Let’s go paint.”
Fuck me.
He turned around, pulled a case of bottled water out, t-shirts and paint supplies, and gave Trina and me the bags. Alaric walked up to the rest of the crew, handed out some items, greeted everyone and got to work.
Cut sidled up to me and asked in a low voice, “You’re fucking the DA on the side, huh?”
“You want to get cut, Cut?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Fuck, Pres. What’s the big deal? He’s hot as shit and at least he ain’t a pig. Know what I mean.” She was laughing. “I can look him up if you want.”
Cut was talking about using her computer skills to go to the dark web and find out what nobody wanted to even know about another person. I didn’t answer her, which meant that I did, in fact, want her to look.
“Gotcha.”
She nodded and proceeded to paint the lockers, while I focused on the classroom doors.
Goldie made her way to me, closer to lunchtime, and whispered, “White meat, huh?”
Oh, for heaven’s sake.
“Goldie,” I exclaimed.
“What?” she sang with her hands up in the air. “Girl put a hurting on his ass. He’s an arrogant one, but I know you can handle him.”
She knowingly nodded her head and sashayed her ass down the hall. I shook my head because as long as I’ve known that woman, she sashayed every damn where. She was six whole feet and well-endowed. Goldie owned that shit too, and men fell all over her, especially the short ones. When they tried to pick her up, she’ always say, “I’d chew you up and spit you out. Literally.”
That just made them more interested.
It was almost lunchtime and I was seconds away from finishing the door when I heard voices. A lot more than normal.
One voice was louder than the others as if he were projecting it.
Alaric.
When I turned to see what was going on, I saw him talking to a group of people with a microphone in front of his face and several cameras with red-beeping lights aimed in his direction.
His ass was probably running for mayor. I should have known there was an alternative reason for him being here. There hadn’t even been an invite and he drove up here, making a fucking scene and now was in front of the goddamn cameras acting like this was all on him, and he was the damn good Samaritan.
Fuck him.
I turned to continue painting my door because Silva’s brother’s crew had already put the blue tape everywhere. I was no artist, but I wanted to make sure it was done right. Plus, I was mad as hell and needed to stew alone.
“Now, the woman of the hour.” Alaric’s voice grew louder. “This is Justice, the President of the Lady Guardians Motorcycle Club. They’re affiliated with the famous Legion of Guardians, and these are the very individuals that take care of the community when we fail to do our jobs. Principal Trina Clive contacted Eva, here, and set up this community initiative because we haven’t voted in the right way. Painting the middle school should be something the city council ensures that is done on a yearly basis, but instead, citizens and other organizations have to step up to the plate.”
Alaric continued to talk and thank God, I was standing at that point, because he wrapped his hand around my waist, yet again, leaned in and whispered, “Say hello.”
Oh, fuck me.
Before I could get a word in edge-wise, the reporters started firing questions my way. I blinked a few times, then the lawyer side in me kicked in.
“One question at a time,” I elevated my voice. “You go ahead.”
They asked me question after question about why I started this, what was my angle, what the Lady Guardians stood for if we were an outlaw gang, etc. I corrected them and cleared up the fact that we were a club, not a gang, we had no angle, a community school in our area needed help, and that’s what Guardians do. One reporter noticed Alaric’s intimate hold on me and asked him, “What’s the nature of your relationship with Eva, here? You’ve never been reported as dating anyone.”
Holy shit.
My head started to shake, but I was too late. Alaric pulled me tighter and said, “Well, report it now. Let’s get a tour of the school. Trina…”
He patted my hip, looked at the door, and said, “Nice job, sweetheart.”
Yup.
Yes, he did.
Said that loud enough so the microphones and cameras could hear. Bless his fucking heart.
I was going to kill him. Literally, I was going to wring his goddamn neck.
By the time lunch came around, the reporters had joined us and ate, asked more questions to other participants and then filed out. Around three o’clock, we finished painting each classroom, the halls, doors, and lockers. It looked like a new school. Silva’s brother’s company was going to come tomorrow to do the finishing touches and removed the tape. We took pictures, posted it on all of our social media sites, and of course, Alaric had us in a few of his that I’m sure he posted somewhere to promote his goddamn career.
“We need to talk,” I growled and moved the last of everything that I had to my car.
His footsteps followed me, which I wasn’t sure what to expect. He was an alpha, I was semi-alpha, and his coming in and taking over was moving beyond what I was comfortable with handling.
Once I placed everything in its place, I turned to see Alaric standing with his arms crossed over his chest and that knowing smirk on his face. Everybody had left for the most part, or their cars were some distance from mine. Therefore, I started in on his ass.
“First of all,” I said through gritted teeth. “You do not address me as babe, sweetheart, doll or any other term of endearment. We are not together, I haven’t consented to it, and it’s just not fucking okay. Second, do not hug, kiss, peck, push up on me or any of that shit, like we are an item. I’m left having to explain shit that’s not true, and I’m not a part of your agenda. Do not make me a part of it. You want to run for politica
l office. Fine, do that shit on your own merit, not my back and damn sure not my clubs. Third, stop with this shit. Seriously, it’s fucking pissing me off. You come, with your presumptuous ass, make a scene, and this does not paint me in a good light. Now all of fucking Reading will think we’re together. I don’t want to be on anyone’s camera and I damn sure don’t want anyone thinking that I’ve moved ahead in my career because I’m fucking the new consultant who is placing all of this money in our firm to do pro-bono shit.”
I exhaled and jerked my hand, palm up, towards him.
“You are making me look bad, Alaric and I don’t know why, but I’m pissed. I want nothing to do with you. I have made that crystal fucking clear.” My voice was raised because the more I thought about it, the more pissed I grew. “Stay away from me.”
I went to turn around and get in my truck, but the door wouldn’t budge. I turned my head to see Alaric holding it close.
“Not so fucking fast,” he gritted out, voice seething with tightly coiled anger. “You think I’m using you?”
I whipped around and stared at him square in the eye.
“I know, you’re using my fucking club and me” I hissed.
“Fuck!” Alaric snapped. “How the fuck would I use you? I can pick any goddamn school on this block and call the media. I don’t need you or your club to cause a spectacle. Shit, I was looking for you, saw what you guys were doing on your website, that you keep updated and came out here to help. I came out here, brought the media, so they could fucking view a biker club, and an all-female one at that, in a different light. So, you wouldn’t have ignorant as Reading folk, thinking you were all drunk degenerates and like to make noise and get into automobile accidents. That’s what I was trying to do. I’m an attorney, and so are you. I thought you would appreciate someone backing up the pro-bono work since that is what we’re invested in. Not Justice or Eva Wyatt. The state put its money in a company that has the best lawyers and need to do more. Fuck, it’s a tax write off for you and the woman that I wanted to get to know works there and lives for this shit. That would be my chance to get to know her. But for what? She thinks I’m an opportunistic bastard that would use her and her organization to build my career. I built my shit on my own, with my own. Nobody helped me. It damn sure wasn’t on a fucking woman’s back. Believe that shit.”
It felt like Alaric had physically slapped the shit out of me. Since, verbally, he did and stormed off. One hop and he was in his convertible and sped off. Not one look back towards me or even a pause to see if traffic was coming.
Shit.
Now, he was pissed, and for some damn reason, I felt bad. I had hit a nerve with him.
I took a long breath and drove to the club. A drink was what I needed because damn, I just fucked that all the way up.
Going through my emails, I saw an email from Stella Trent, President of the Lady Guardians Arlington Chapter. Apparently, they had some issues with a one-percenters biker gang, The Hellhounds and the President from the Dogs was out of prison.
Fuck, I had to let the board know, shit was probably about to go down.
I called it quits, went home and took a long bath with winter fresh Epson salt. My mind went back to the dinner conversation with Alaric, and I began to rub my clit. There was no real point because I was one of those women who couldn’t come. I had tried, and many men had attempted to get me there but not to completion. I had ordered so many sex toys and magic wands, that if someone ever saw my stash, they’d think I ran a madam club and not a motorcycle one. None of them worked. The one thing that I realized during my sexual exploration was that I had sensitive nipples. I got those puppies pierced, and if a man or I played with them, then that was a sure-fire way to get me nice and wet.
My fingers tugged on the barbells between my hardened nipples as I played with my clit and imagined what Alaric would do to make my toes curl. His mouth, his fingers, his dick. How would it feel, moving inside of me? Causing me to scream out as he took me like a man unhinged? Would he lose control, spank my ass or be a gentle lover? I liked it rough, and he looked as if he did too, but who knew. So many men had the exterior down pat, but behind closed doors, they acted like pussies. My members had more balls than some guys. Even one of Razor’s guys said so. I think his name was Bear. We were paying retribution to a rogue club that had violated one of my members. Cut took the guy down like a silent ninja. Every man there stopped and looked on in awe. I shook my head as we continued to hold our own because that’s how we rolled. Every member of the Lady Guardians was trained in hand-to-hand combat, and we practiced that shit monthly, if not more. One could never be too careful, especially in our division. Some folks took their colors to another level, which was fine, but rogue clubs with members that followed no code. This was frowned upon, as a unit, but in some cases, it was every man or woman for their own or every club. Therefore, when that shit went down, we just happened to be affiliated with a club that had beef with that same club.
Fuck.
It was no point to try and cause anything to happen. My mind was wandering, and my chest was not at ease after the day.
There was little sleep, but I did have clarity on what I had to do.
I was woman enough to do it.
6
Alaric
Mad as shit.
Disappointed.
Fuck, even discouraged.
Eva was the woman that ran through my mind every goddamn day. Even when I wanted to dismiss her, she would pop up. It didn’t help that I had basically forced the hand of the State’s Attorney to make sure a pro-bono unit was placed in Reid, Wilson, and Ebon.
Yup.
Now, there was no way I could pull out. Her words hurt me, but I had failed to see her point of view. I was a man and with it, came privileges. She would be second-guessed. I would not. She would always be questioned because she was a woman and she was a woman of color. I’d taken a few courses on race relations and even women studies. I figured knowing more about the people I would represent would be helpful. Also, the class was a great way to pick up women. They were uber independent and a little too self-righteous for me, but I learned a fucking lot. Useful shit that would always work in my favor as a lawyer. It is what helped me as a District Attorney. The angles for the cases that I won was due to my diverse outlook, research, and skills at arguing on other’s behalf. It was strategic, but it didn’t narrow my outlook on the world like I was used to.
My father was the owner of a corner store, where everybody went. My mother owned the town’s laundry mat, where she spent all of her time there. I, well, went with Senora Lugo. She was my neighbor and looked after me when my parents were so busy making ends meet that I was left to my own devices. Senora Lugo didn’t let me do half the shit her other son did, because she said I was a curious soul. I needed to focus and use it for good. She always told me that. Use my talents and skills for good. That was a recurring theme, which is why Eva hit a nerve because that is what I was doing and she was accusing me like my dad always did of having the wrong intentions. That was a constant mantra in my house. I made the honor roll for the first time in the tenth grade, and they had a banquet for us. My teachers begged my mom and dad to come, so they shut down the stores and came, reluctantly. Once the ceremony was over, my dad bent down and said, “Hope you’re happy now. We’re here and out of money for the rest of the week. Let’s go.”
I was fifteen years old and all of the joy and elation that was in my heart for all the entire hour it took for the ceremony to last, drifted away in the blink of a teary eye. I don’t even know what I did with that award, but I never made the honor roll again. I stayed out of trouble, kept my head low, and when it was time for me to go to college, I worked closely with the counselor, kept my mom and dad out of the loop, and went to Washington, D.C. They weren’t really bothered by this transition, as long as they didn’t have to take off and I never asked them too.
Undergraduate turned into a graduate school, which remained away from home
and then an internship. Once I landed a good job, moved back to Pennsylvania, I paid off their homes, with the thought of maybe they wouldn’t work so hard, but nothing. They kept working like they were slaves to the work and wouldn’t even reap the benefits of their hard work. I vowed not to do that. I would work hard, but I’d take time to play. I wanted something to show for my hard work. That was one reason I admired Eva. She worked hard, but she had a whole life outside of her work. A whole club of women who were about the advancement of others. They played too, and that was commendable. I liked that, but I did not like her accusation. It ticked me off, actually. Opened up a whole wound that I thought no longer existed. Some things never change.
Monday morning came and went, with clients coming in and out all day. This must have been the dedicated day to, come talk to your lawyer Mondays, since the office was bustling with everyone meeting, wheeling, and dealing. Around one o’clock, Tammy came through the door and said, “You’ve got a visitor Rick.”
“Send ‘em in,” I sighed.
Yup, it was, see your lawyer Monday.
“Sure,” Tammy smiled wide and I stood up to greet my next client.
Instead, walked through a grey suit wearing curvy woman with a red belt, shoes and matching lipstick in a confidant stride.
“Alaric,” she greeted me with a nod.
“Eva,” I managed to say. “What are you doing here?”
She looked around, closed the door and then turned to face me again. Her face was blank, which made my internal alarm bells go off. I know she made me mad yesterday, but that went out of the window as soon as she walked through that door.
What the hell was wrong?
“So, you’re called Rick?” She nodded her head in acknowledgment, right before she sighed. “Look, I just wanted to come and apologize for the other day. Assuming what your intentions were and spewing that all on you. It was not fair, and I am woman enough to come and fix my wrongs.”