by Ryan Michele
We each tore at the others pants, unbuttoning and pulling them down. We did this all without breaking the kiss. I then gripped her around the waist, lifting her with ease, and her legs wrapped around my hips. My dick knew exactly where it wanted to be and slid home in one hard, angry thrust. I knew I hadn’t put a condom on, and I didn’t give a shit.
Using the door as leverage, I gave her no mercy. Her body was mine. Her lips were mine. Her pussy was mine. I took, and she gave.
“Stiff!” she cried out, the sound music to my fucking ears.
“My name on those lips,” I ground out, moving my hands to her ass then lifting and using gravity to slam her back down on me hard.
Each time she cried out, her nails made indentations in my skin.
“Fuckin’ hot for me. Always fuckin’ hot for me.” The tingle hit my spine, but I wasn’t ready to let it go yet. “Fire, come for me.”
She screamed, her pussy clamping down on my cock so hard I could barely move, but I did, pushing far into her body before I released.
Sweat coated both our bodies as I panted with my face in her neck, inhaling her scent. Thank Christ for the door to keep us steady.
I’d fucked a lot in my day, but this angry fucking … I made a note to make sure we did this often.
I lifted my head and pressed my lips to hers. Not like before, though. No anger, only her and me. Nothing else in the world mattered.
She kissed back, bringing one of her hands to the top of my head.
I pushed away from the door and took her to the bed. I laid her on her side before lying next to her, still kissing the hell out of her. Who knew how long we lay there, simply kissing. No matter how long it was, it didn’t get better than that.
I BRUSHED CHELSEA’S hair away from her face. Her eyes were closed and her breathing even, adorable and relaxed. She’d fallen asleep on me, and all I could do was lie here and watch her.
Her face was so angelic, and I fucking loved the freckles that went over her nose. I thought back to the times I’d seen her working so damn hard with a smile on her face. But those smiles weren’t the ones I received from her now, making most of those at the diner fake. She showed me the real ones after I made her come, when she talked to her sister, even the smirks she gave me in the clubhouse. All of those were real, the ones I wanted on her face, not the made up bullshit hiding the woman underneath.
Lying next to her, I’d seen her relaxed for the first time, and I had to wonder if it was the first time she’d been able to do it in all her years. I wanted her like this—the pressure off her and getting to live her life.
Inside, I felt good. Lying here, holding her in my arms felt right. For the first time in a long ass time, I felt a calm within myself. Chelsea had given that to me. Now I needed to make sure she saw it and felt it, too.
The feeling was strange, though, because I’d never experienced it before. I’d had some form of it for my brother, but this was different, deeper, more real.
Chelsea stirred then opened her beautiful blue eyes, looking up at me. “Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey,” I responded, my hand on her cheek, our bodies facing each other.
“Did we make up?” she asked with a genuine grin.
“Yeah, babe. But straight out, this is somethin’, and I’m not fuckin’ anyone but you. I’m too old for games, so I’m tellin’ ya flat out. This feelin’ I have inside me when you’re around, I’m not lettin’ it go, which means I’m not lettin’ you go.”
Her eyes glistened. “I still don’t know what that means. You wanna be my boyfriend?”
I chuckled at that. Damn, she was funny.
“I don’t do that shit. I’m your man. You’re my woman. End of story.”
“You’ve known me for years, came into the diner; why now?”
I stared into her eyes, feeling a pang in my chest. “I saw you.” I soothed my hand down her cheek. “I don’t have an answer. Maybe my brain finally caught up with my eyes.”
I’d just claimed her as mine, and I wasn’t sure if she fully got the extent of it yet. Hell, I wasn’t sure I got the full extent yet, either, but it was done.
She grinned then bit her bottom lip.
“We’ve gotta talk about somethin’. I came in you without a condom. You on the pill?”
When she shook her head, confliction hit me. I didn’t know if I was happy about that or not.
“But I’ve been told by doctors that I won’t be able to have kids,” she uttered so softly her fear came out with every word.
“Why?” My gut tightened. It sounded like something she would want.
“I have something called endometriosis. It causes infertility, and I’m high on the spectrum scale, so the doctor told me that my chances of conceiving are very slim unless I have surgery.”
I rubbed my thumb against her jaw. “How’d you find this out?”
“I thought I was pregnant.”
My thumb stilled. “What?”
The thought of another man fucking my woman, let alone planting their child inside of her, flipped something inside of me, and pissed off didn’t seem like the right word for it.
“A couple of years ago, there was a guy I saw sometimes. Anyway, the condom broke, and I was late, so I went to the doctor. Even though the test came back negative for both pregnancy and STDs, he found the endometriosis.”
“Do you want kids?”
Her eyes welled up. “I’d thought about having them one day, but …”
Wanting her to finish, I prompted, “But, what?”
She looked into my eyes, and whatever she saw, she must have liked, because she continued.
“Kids have never been in my plan. A man has never been in my plan.”
This shocked me, but with her independence, I could see it. Too bad her plans had just changed.
“What’s your plan?” I moved my hand down her face to rest in front of us.
She swallowed. “Grams always said we needed to have goals, something to strive for. My goal is simple: save money for a down payment and get a loan to buy my own house.”
While that was a great goal, I thought for sure her goal would be something else.
“Not the beach?”
She chuckled. “You’d think that’d be top on my list, but it’s not. One day, I’d like to go, but I’ve worked too hard in my life, and I want something to show for it. A home.”
I smiled at her. “I think that’s a great goal, Fire. How close are you to gettin’ it?”
“Pretty close. In another couple of months, I should have enough of a down payment for the bank to take a chance on me.”
I knew better than anyone that having a home meant security, safety. I had never felt that until I’d moved here to the compound.
“That’s good, babe.”
“Speaking of that, I really need to get back to work. I know my sister still needs help, so I’m thinking—”
I pressed my fingers to her lips, not wanting any talk of her leaving, knowing that was where she was going with this. “Give it a couple more days.”
Surprisingly, she nodded, shocking the shit right out of me.
“A couple, but I have to get back. I have bills to pay.”
“I get you. Let me work some things out first. Need to make sure the diner is covered, that you’re covered.”
“Thank you.” She leaned over and brushed her lips against mine. I fucking loved that shit.
“Stiff?” she questioned.
“Yeah?”
“Are you clean?”
“I always glove up, but I’ll get checked to make sure.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. After a few beats, she found her voice again. “You really wanna give this a go?”
I smiled. “Yeah, Fire, I do.”
She smiled, and damn, it was beautiful.
“YOU’RE SHITTIN’ ME,” Stiff growled with a menace that would make the Devil quiver.
“Wish I were. Didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to come
here,” Boner answered, lighting a smoke and inhaling as he stood at the door of Stiff’s home.
“Fuck. Me, neither.” Stiff rubbed his bald head as Xander came up to the door, anger etched in the lines of his face.
I didn’t know who “she” was, but I had a feeling I would find out really soon, and I knew I wasn’t going to like it.
I rose from the couch and moved toward the door, my hand instinctively going to Stiff’s back. He jolted like my touch shocked him then settled, some of the starch going out of his spine. That small moment was a beautiful thing, but I had to quickly store it and focus back on the task at hand.
“Why the fuck is she so stupid?” Xander grumbled, his eyes flashing to me then back to his brother. “Can’t believe this shit.”
“Where is she?” Stiff asked.
“Hooch has her in the courtyard. Didn’t want her inside, because fuck knows what this is,” Xander answered.
Stiff turned to me. “Got shit to deal with. I’ll be back.” He brushed his lips over mine, stepped away, and moved out the door.
I stood there, watching as Boner and Xander followed suit. I then watched as Stiff moved to a set of picnic tables far enough for me to only see a figure of a woman, but there was no way I would be able to hear what was said.
My curiosity got the best of me, and I ran quickly to check on my sister, who smiled at me as she watched some show on television. I loved that she was feeling better. She still ached and had a hard time moving, but it would come in time.
“I’ll be right back,” I told her.
“Okay,” she replied.
I slipped my feet into my tennis shoes sans socks and pushed the laces into the top of the shoe. Then I opened the door, the bright sun feeling really good on my skin.
Yelling could be heard, and I saw Stiff’s arms were motioning in the air, pointing somewhere, but I had no clue where, because it looked like a wall. Maybe he was trying to convey outside the wall. I didn’t know.
I walked closer, and Spook’s eyes then Boner’s came to mine.
“Stiff,” Boner called out as he lifted his chin to indicate behind him.
He turned, his eyes flaring. “Chels, go back in the house.”
My feet stopped moving, and I was angered and hurt by his dismissal. How dare he order me to go somewhere, and how dare my feet listen! This wasn’t the Stone Age. Him telling me to do things in the bedroom was different. I didn’t like being shut out of things. I needed to be in the know for self-preservation.
“Who’s this?” the woman asked.
I leaned over, looking around Stiff, and my breath stilled.
Sores. All over her face were red sores; some looked new, and some must have been there for years. She looked about sixty-five with her sunken in face, bones standing out prominently. Her lips were chapped and cracked, and the corner of her mouth tipped up in what looked like a disgusted look, and my first reaction was to ask, What the fuck are you looking at? but I refrained.
As the woman stepped out from behind Stiff’s large body, it took every bit of self-control I had not to gasp. Her body was frail, all bones and loose skin, no fat anywhere on her. Her hands shook, and her body twitched at different intervals.
Stiff caught my attention as he made his way toward me, but something about the woman made me unable to take my eyes off her. She gave off an untrustworthy vibe, and that thought felt like spiders against my skin, setting me on edge.
“Chels.” As Stiff grabbed my arms, my attention went to him and his beautiful eyes. “Babe, need you to go back into the house while I deal with this.”
“Oh, come on, Wes. Introduce me.” The woman’s voice came out deep and throaty, like she’d smoked cigarettes every moment of every day since she was twelve.
What shocked me, though, was her use of his real name. I hadn’t heard anyone call him that since high school.
“Shut it.” This came from Xander, who Stiff was blocking my view from.
“Who is that?” I whispered to Stiff.
The woman had all the signs of a meth head, and my gut clenched. I thought I knew who she was, but I didn’t want to be right.
“My mother,” he answered.
I closed my eyes, letting the bomb hit me.
“You don’t need to see this.”
I opened my eyes and asked, “Is she okay?” already knowing the answer yet hoping I was wrong.
“No, Fire. She’s not. Hopped up on ice, and I need to find out why the fuck she’s here.”
I lifted my palm to his chest, placing it there, feeling the need for that connection with him. He placed his hand over mine, and I felt a warmth I never wanted to let go of.
“Sorry,” I whispered.
Stiff bent down and brushed his lips over mine. “Been that way for as long as I can remember.”
My heart broke for him. My father did drugs, but he split before I’d seen too much of it. It made me wonder if he looked the same way as Stiff’s mother now.
“Oh, how cute,” she taunted. “Wes got himself a whore.”
Stiff’s eyes changed in a flash. One moment, they were soft and warm, and the next, ice formed over them in a way I didn’t like. He kept ahold of my hand but turned around to face the woman.
She stood with her arms crossed, oblivious to the number of big men around her and either not caring her son was pissed or too high to notice.
He released my hand and stalked toward the woman in the long strides of a panther. “What did you say?” he snapped. “You have the nerve to call my woman a whore when all you’ve ever done was whore yourself off to any man you could? You wanna see a whore? Look in the fuckin’ mirror.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, lifting one hand to my mouth to bite on my nail. There were so many things wrong in this situation, but the only thing that stuck out in that moment were the words “my woman.” Those two words came with so many questions, though.
Hope fluttered, which was totally stupid, but I didn’t stop it. I was too invested in the scene.
“I kept a roof over your head,” she snapped back, and Xander laughed. Yes, full-out laughed.
“You did shit, woman. Stiff took care of everything. You were just too fuckin’ high or had some dick inside of you to notice or care. He’s right, though. Don’t call Chelsea a whore,” Xander threw out.
So much information was coming at once, and I needed to process it all.
“I can’t believe the disrespect!” the woman yelled dramatically.
Bosco rolled his eyes; Boner ripped his stocking cap off and ran his fingers through his hair; and Spook stood there, unmoving and unflinching.
When that didn’t work in getting attention, she turned to Xander.
“Xander, baby, you know I did the best I could.”
I watched Xander’s disgusted reaction and realized quickly there was no love lost there. I felt bad for them—Stiff and Xander—even if they’d turned out to be decent men.
“That stopped working on me when I was twelve, Mom,” Xander told her.
“I can’t believe this.” She turned to Stiff, anger flaring in her eyes, the erratic behavior turning up about a hundred notches. “I came here because you told Gonzo I didn’t have your protection.” She waved her arm out to the boys. “None of your protection, and now he’s after me! Stiff, you know what he’ll do to me if he catches me. I need you to protect me!”
There was downright fear in her eyes, and I couldn’t blame her after seeing what my sister had endured. Then the cards fell in place for why Stiff and Vipers Creed had been so keen on helping me. They’d already had a serious interest in it due to Stiff’s mom. This whole scenario hadn’t really been about saving me or my sister, rather to kill two birds with one stone.
As much as my heart desired to be more than another skirt, I was a right place, right time thing for Stiff; nothing special. And he’d never told me anything.
Emotions welled up inside of me. Doubts about anything ever being real filled me. I had to f
ight back all the feelings of worthlessness and remind myself not to get attached. This was supposed to be my chance to let loose, not my forever.
“You did this to yourself,” Stiff argued, his shoulder brushing mine, and the woman’s fierce eyes turned on me.
She pointed her finger at me. “I know you. You’re that waitress at the diner.”
Would it be rude to say duh? Yeah, it probably would be.
“You mean to tell me you’re shackin’ up with her instead of keepin’ your own mother safe!”
Stiff’s arm came around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. “You don’t take her shit on. This is why I wanted you away from this,” he said to me.
Did he really want me away from this? I knew my place. I was nothing more than a hard working woman trying to make my way in the world. The school of hard knocks gave me lessons at every turn. When this—whatever it was—came crashing down, I would still be the waitress at the diner. And she would always be his mom.
The thought hit me harder than I wanted it to.
I swallowed hard, whispering, “Are you gonna let someone hurt her?” Stiff had been so protective of me and Jenn—hell, even Mom and Grams.
“I can’t help her, Chels. We’ll talk about this in a bit. I need to get her the fuck outta here before it gets worse.”
“How much worse could it get?” I asked.
“You have no idea, Fire. I need you to go back to the house. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded, not wanting to be a part of this pony show anymore. I wanted my sister and to be away from Stiff’s mom.
I turned and began to walk away when I heard, “Such an obedient little dog.”
I whirled. “Did you just call me a dog?”
She laughed. “Nice puppy,” she replied.
I went to retort, but before I could, Bosco came up behind the woman and smacked her on the back of the head. She fell to the ground in a heap, and I gasped, jumping back.
Bosco’s eyes came to mine, and something glimmered in them that I didn’t recognize.
“I just knocked her out. She needed to shut the fuck up.”
I was relieved for the small miracle but couldn’t help feeling strange.