by Franca Storm
I start in surprise as I feel a hand on my shoulder.
With all his talking, I didn’t even hear somebody walking up to me. He were distracting me.
I spin ‘round, ready to put him down if I gotta, so he stays back.
But it ain’t him.
It’s Sarah.
She gasps as she sees my fists raised.
Fuck.
I drop ‘em quickly.
And then she does something I weren’t prepared for.
She starts climbing onto the railing.
“What the fuck you doing?” I yell, reaching for her.
She bats me away and tells me, “You do this, then I do this.”
What? “Are you fucking crazy?”
She shrugs. “Maybe.”
“No, you ain’t. You’re just tryin’ to mess with me.”
“No!” she yells. “I’m showing you how it feels to watch the person you love do something like this.” She lifts her leg up, climbing up more. Another move and she could fall right over the edge.
“Get down! Now! Get down! Right fucking now! I mean it! Sarah!”
She eyes me intensely. “How does it feel, Zeb? Tell me.”
“Get down and I’ll tell you.”
“No! Tell me now.”
“I…it feels…it feels like you’re ripping my heart outta my chest. Okay?”
“Does it hurt?”
“Yes! Fuck! Okay? I can’t breathe. Now get the hell down.”
She holds out her hand to me.
In the next second, I’m yanking her towards me and pulling her down. She pushes back from me and glares hard at me. “You see now?”
Fuck!
I bring my hands to my face, cuz tears are springing to my eyes now. I can’t push it down.
It hurts. So much. Too much. Jesus Christ.
I collapse to my knees and snap, losing my shit.
“Fuck. Fucking hell,” I choke through the emotion taking me over.
I feel arms ‘round me.
Hers and Ax’s.
“We got you,” he tells me.
“I love you, Zeb,” she whispers in my ear.
“I love you,” I croak out. “I’m…sorry.”
“It’s okay. No one’s giving up on you. Ever. Okay, baby?”
“Yeah,” I choke, reaching out and squeezing her hand tightly.
Chapter 27
~Sarah~
“We’re okay. I promise,” I tell Ax as he hesitates by Zeb’s front door.
“Baby, Sarah’s got this,” Rox tells him, rubbing his arm as she stands beside him with baby Ava in her arms.
“We got all the booze and anything that’s even got a drop of alcohol in it. Cough syrup and all that. Ain’t nothing here for him to take. Took all his smokes, too. Just for now.”
When we brought Zeb back here, Ax called Rox to come down. She had a history of alcohol addiction several years ago and we wanted someone around who had some experience with certain hiding places. We wanted to be completely certain that there wasn’t anything left in Zeb’s apartment that he could take. It turned out that there were a couple of weird places he’d stored some bottles that neither me, nor Ax, had even thought of.
Ax explained to me that Zeb will want to use alcohol to take the edge off for a while. But it’ll be worse for him, because of the downer it’ll give him.
We couldn’t bring him back to the clubhouse, because hiding the alcohol there would be next to impossible. They have a fully-functional bar there for goodness sake.
I nod. “Complete detox.”
“Yeah.” He shifts his weight and then says, “Listen, you did real good with him tonight. You meant it, yeah? What you said to him?”
“Neil,” Rox growls at him.
“Just checking, babe. He can’t take no more pain right now.”
I understand what he’s doing. He has to be the one to ask the difficult questions; the questions that nobody else would dare to ask out of politeness, or something. And with something like this…Zeb actually being low enough to attempt suicide tonight…he’s not willing to take any chances. He loves him too much to risk anything like that. He wants to make sure all bases are covered.
“I meant every word,” I tell him.
He smiles. “Good.” He looks between me and Rox and the baby. “Maybe I should stay, just to be safe.”
“I’ve got this, Ax.”
Rox nods, believing me. She tells him, “Baby, you have four guys watching the place, too. And you made Sarah add your number into her speed dial, remember?”
“Yeah, but—”
She wraps her free arm around him. “All bases are covered.”
Ava starts crying then and Ax’s eyes dart to her.
“Go home. Take care of your family. I’ve got him,” I tell him.
“You can’t leave him alone, even for a second. Not even to take a shower and stuff,” he warns me.
“Why would I let him take a shower alone?” I ask, with a sly wink. Wow. I can’t believe I just said that. I really have changed. A little while ago, I would never have even been able to think something like that around someone, let alone actually say it.
He grins then. “Got it. Well…good. He’s probably gonna be needing a lot of that, seeing as though he’s banned from everything else. Some relief, yeah?”
Rox grimaces. “Does Runner even know how to be gentle? If he doesn’t, that’s a lot to take and—”
I cut her off quickly, because now it’s getting too graphic. “He does.”
Her and Ax exchange a look of disbelief.
“Jesus. You bring something out in him then, Sarah,” Ax says.
“Aww. It’s because he loves you. Really loves you.”
Ax chuckles at Rox’s words. He takes Ava from her. “All right. Sarah’s got this. Let’s get going.”
Rox steps into me and gives me a quick hug. “Don’t let him wear you out,” she whispers in my ear.
As she pulls back and winks at me, I roll my eyes at her.
The three of them leave then and I lock up after them.
I make my way to the other side of the apartment and quietly open the door and walk into Zeb’s room. As I’m tiptoeing towards the bed, I hear it creak. Oh crap. Did I wake him up?
“Sarah?” he calls through the dark.
“Yes, baby? Why aren’t you asleep?”
“I can’t. My mind…it won’t stop. I need you.”
“I know.”
I quickly shed my jeans, tank top and hoodie.
And then I climb onto the bed. I pull the duvet off him.
He grunts as I straddle him without any warning.
“What you—?”
“I’m gonna quiet your mind,” I tell him, as I reach for the waistband of his boxers and start pulling them down.
As his dick springs free, I slide down lower and run my hands up his thighs.
I dip my head and close my lips over the head, sucking at his piercings.
“Fuck,” he exclaims, clearly not expecting me to do that.
I lift my head and he grasps my chin gently. I can just about make out his expression in the dark.
Worry. He’s worried? Why?
“Zeb? What’s wrong?”
“You don’t gotta do this, Sarah. Know you don’t like it.”
I pull my face out of his grip and then I lower my head back to his dick. Even though he’s giving me an out here, I know how badly he wants this. He’s rock hard already.
I take him in my hand and pump my fist up and down the length of him. “I want to.”
Before he can argue with me again, I open my mouth and guide him inside slowly. He’s big—long and thick—and I gag almost instantly.
I feel him rub my shoulder and he tells me, “You gotta relax. Loosen your throat. When it gets too much, swallow. But, darlin’, you don’t gotta take it all the way. Use your hand.”
But I don’t want to use my hand. I want to do it right. I want to make him as crazy with pleasu
re as he makes me when he eats me out.
So, even though I’m really tense and nervous doing this after my brutal experiences with my ex, I force myself to relax enough, to put everything in my head to bed, and to just focus on what I’m doing. Focus on giving him pleasure.
I drag my tongue up his shaft. When I reach the head, I swirl it around and then suck gently at his piercings.
He groans loudly.
It gives me a boost of confidence and I experiment, delivering rapid-fire licks to the underside of his shaft.
“Fuck!” he cries out, bucking beneath me. “Yes, darlin’!”
I take him in my mouth again and drive him as deep as I can before I feel myself about to gag. I find my rhythm quickly, up and down. Up and down. The grunts and moans he makes are turning me on so badly, knowing that I’m the one drawing them from him.
I jerk in surprise as I suddenly feel his fingers sliding across my pussy.
“Mmm…you like my cock in your mouth, don’t you? So fucking wet for it, Sarah.”
I gasp as he fists his hand in my hair. It has me tensing up right away.
But he doesn’t push my head down. Not at all. He just strokes my hair.
My mouth clamps down tighter around his dick and he moans out loudly as I also pick up the pace.
“Fuck! Stop! I’m gonna come!”
I don’t, because I want him to.
But he clearly has other ideas, because he’s suddenly sitting up and pressing his hand to my chest, easing me back. It forces his dick out of my mouth.
His hands are on my shoulders in the next second and he’s grinning at me.
“What?”
“So fucking hot. You were so into it, big time. Didn’t wanna stop.”
“I wanted to make you come.”
“I know, darlin’. But I wanna take your pussy first.”
“Oh.”
He lunges at me and pulls me onto his lap. I slide down onto his dick and we both moan out at the sensation. I place my hands on his shoulders and start riding him.
He buries his face in my boobs and holds me tightly to him as he thrusts up slow and easy in time with me.
We both get lost in it, in our own haze of pleasure.
“Thank you, Sarah,” he breathes into my chest.
“For what?” I ask, stroking his hair.
He looks up at me. “Mind’s good now. All I can think ‘bout is the feel of the sweetest pussy I’ve ever known driving my cock crazy.”
I giggle. The things he says sometimes. Always so blunt.
“I’m glad, baby.”
He nuzzles my neck and whispers, “I love you.”
The way he says the words is so intense. So emotional. So intimate. It has tears springing to my eyes and I choke out, “I love you, too.” I kiss his lips, his stubbly chin, his neck, getting lost in the two of us. All I can feel is him. Nothing else matters. No tomorrow. No yesterday. No earlier. Just now. Just the two of us caught up in this intense moment. “Don’t leave me. Please, Zeb. Don’t even think it again.”
“Promise, darlin’. Promise,” he says, his voice cracking as he utters the words.
I don’t get the chance to see the emotion I can hear in his voice, on his face, because he buries it in my chest again.
He tightens his grip on my hips and picks up the pace, driving me down harder and faster on his dick. I’m already so worked up, that the second his fingers brush my pussy, my orgasm rips through me.
He growls into my chest as I convulse wildly in his arms.
“So…tight…fuck,” he grits out.
A second later, he grunts and his dick jerks inside me as he hurtles over the edge with me.
I move to lift myself off him, but he holds me tightly to him. “No.”
Before I can respond, he pulls me down onto him and wraps his arms around me. “Sleep now,” he murmurs into my hair.
“Like this?”
“Just like this.”
I chuckle. “Okay.”
“You’re so perfect,” he says.
He closes his eyes.
A few moments later, his grip around me loosens and I know he’s fallen asleep.
Good. That’s exactly what he needs right now. Rest.
Some peace, if only for a few hours.
Chapter 28
~Sarah~
As I skip towards the entrance to the club’s bike shop, I see one of Zeb’s co-workers talking to a customer and gesturing to a shiny blue sports bike. He looks my way and smiles. I smile back politely and continue on, clutching the two paper bags containing mine and Zeb’s lunch.
“Hey!”
I turn around to see he’s finished up with his customer and he’s making his way over to me. Shit. I can’t remember his name. I met him once, I think, when I was staying at the clubhouse. He’s a prospect.
Now that Jase is no longer a threat, on account of him being dead, I don’t have to stay there under lockdown anymore. Even though Eddie is still out there, he’s not seen as a big threat, like Jase was. The club members don’t believe he’ll have the balls to come here and do anything now that he doesn’t have Jase to back him up. While I really appreciate Black Thorns taking me in and protecting me under their clubhouse roof, it’s great to be free again to come and go as I please. It’s a huge relief.
I can get back to my life. Well, first, I need to focus on helping Zeb get back to his. It’s been a little over two weeks since he tried to…end things. And he’s been doing really well. I’ve worked hard to keep him distracted and now that the lockdown is lifted, he’s back at his bike shop in the town of Reirdon Falls, working there and using that as a distraction as well. Something to put his focus into.
I’ve been staying with him in his apartment, not wanting to leave him alone, even though he says he’s getting better. He swore to me that he’s past those suicidal thoughts. And I know he is. I can see it in him. He’s returning to the man I first fell in love with. But I don’t want to risk leaving him too soon. Although, I do need to make a trip to Brockford soon to check in on my diner. Even though I know it’s in good hands with my staff running it and the club also helping out as well, I need to be there myself. I really miss it. I love what I do. I love owning that little diner.
The prospect steps into my path. He doesn’t look much older than twenty, if that. He dresses like a rockstar. Ripped jeans, a studded leather jacket and long black hair all the way down his back. He has more jewelry on him than I’ve ever seen on anyone before. Rings on every finger, three gold chains, earrings and bracelets.
“Runner’s girl.”
“It’s Sarah.”
“Right,” he says, folding his arms across his chest and getting comfortable.
What’s happening here? It looks like he’s settling in for a long conversation. I don’t have time for that.
“Uh…I need to go. Zeb’s waiting for me inside.”
“You know, sweet thing,” he says, completely ignoring me. “I didn’t believe it when I first heard. He don’t keep women ‘round after he’s had ‘em. Uses ‘em once, then tosses ‘em. But you…you must be something special, yeah?”
Who is this guy? Why is he asking such an invasive question? “Who…who are you?”
“Shy, ain’t ya? I get it. He’s mixing it up. Going the virgin route for a bit.” His eyes dart to my boobs. “Can see why. Hot damn, you’re a sweet piece of ass. Sexy fucking curves you got going on.”
I look down at myself. I’m not dressed in my normal way. I’m not as covered up as I usually am. I don’t feel so self-conscious anymore. I know it’s largely due to Zeb’s incessant compliments about my body. I finally feel sexy and more confident. Sure, there’s still a long way to go, but it’s a good amount of progress. The fight training I’ve been doing with Ax has also been working its magic on me. It’s really helped to boost my self-esteem, knowing I can take care of myself.
And that’s why, as I look down, I can actually see a little bit of my cleavage on display in
my soft-pink, strappy tank top. It has a sheer shirt over it with flared sleeves. I’m still not comfortable showing my legs yet, because the bullet scar there is so prominent. So, I’m wearing jeans. Nice ones that cling to my butt that Zeb tells me drive him crazy. I’m also wearing shoes with a bit of a heel. Who knew that heels could make you feel so sexy? Now I understand why other women wear them.
When my gaze snaps back to his, I see he’s still staring at my boobs. Argh. What a pervert. And he’s so obvious about it, which just makes it incredibly rude as well.
“You’re a prospect, right?”
“Right. Name’s Ben. Me and your boyfriend had been hitting up bitches together for the last year. Had some good times and some real sweet pussy.”
I get it now. I can see why he’s being so hostile. The idiot is upset that he’s lost his wingman. Urgh.
“Step aside,” I tell him, my voice harsh and surprising even me. I guess after everything that’s happened lately, I’m done with people trying to bully me. I won’t stomach it anymore.
He doesn’t step aside, though. Instead, he grabs my hand and says, “He’ll be done with you soon. Guys like him don’t settle down, sweet thing. Don’t be kidding yourself. You’re just a different type for him. Something new.”
“You don’t know a thing about us,” I bite back at him.
“I know him. And this ain’t what he’s about. Being the good little boy, sleeping with meek little virgin-type bitches. Settling down.”
Oh my God. How dare he say these things to me?
I yank my hand free. Shock plays on his face at my sudden rough move. He clearly wasn’t expecting a virgin-type bitch to do something like that.
“You’re wrong. About all of it,” I tell him fiercely.
I brush past him quickly, before he can try to stop me again.
“You’ll see!” he calls after me.
His threat sends a shiver down my spine. I hate even thinking about losing Zeb. He means everything to me. I don’t want my life to be without him.
He’s wrong. What he said isn’t about me and Zeb. It’s about him and his jealously and insecurities over losing his partying partner in crime. Besides, I didn’t push Zeb into settling down, or anything. In fact, I gave him many options to walk away. But he didn’t. He wanted me. He wants me.