Taking a Dare

by J. A. Hornbuckle

  "Oh, Brand," she breathed and at her words, her tone he could almost see her in his mind's eye. Clutching the phone with both hands, her eyes half-closed because the way she'd breathed, how when she'd spoken it had been almost a moan. "I've been…"

  "Yes, draga? Tell me," he almost panted back, his heart so caught on her voice, on her, that nothing else mattered.

  "I've been thinking about you too. You know, like in that way," she admitted in a rush.

  They'd been married almost a year and her hesitancy in how they loved still caught him off-guard. There was something about her innocent uncertainty in that arena that heated his blood to boiling.

  Weren't married people supposed to slow down after a time? True, they hadn't had the love between them when they'd given their 'I do's' before the judge. But they damn-well had it now.

  "I need you to ride me, my draga. To give me all the tight wetness you hold inside," he mumbled, keeping his voice soft so no one passing by his office could hear the love-talk he shared with his precious wife.

  "God, Brand," she moaned back, making his name into two-syllables which he'd come to discover was because of her Texan-twang. "Just come home, baby. I wanted you before but now I kinda…I kinda need you."

  Oh fuck. That was all Brand need to begin clearing the crap off the desk from his day. He was leaving, making no bones about cutting out from his job early.

  It wasn't often his woman said she needed him but when she did, he knew to get his ass to her as soon as he possibly could.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  "Where is everyone?" Dare asked, tucking one of the barstools under his ass and looking around the clubhouse. Seemed to be a lot of brothers missing from the scene which was almost unheard of on a Monday. After the day he'd had, he'd been fuckin' looking forward to having a few drinks and laughs with his fellow brothers.

  He glanced at Silo and Bishop then at Jilly who set his tumbler of Tequila in front of him.

  "All the pussy-whipped fuckers went home to their women," Bishop explained, taking a long, slow sip of his drink.

  Silo looked over at Dare with raised eyebrows as if to emphasize the next bit of news. "Brand fuckin' left early to go be with Reese. At home."

  "Ssshhhiiittt," Dare drawled in return before picking up his glass. Maybe it really was a cold day in hell if the hard-working Croatian had left work early.

  "So what was all the doin' going on in your office earlier?" Bishop threw out casually. A little too casually.

  "Trey came in to ask about Jim—" Dare started.

  "That's not the fuckin' shit Bishop's asking about, dickhead," Si interrupted, before taking another long drink of his beer.

  Bishop leaned around his bald brother in order to look Dare square in the face. "I was talking about all the banging and the 'oh god, Dare. Right there!' shit that was being screamed in your fuckin' office, dig?"

  Dare ripped his eyes away and stared at the bottles of booze that lined the back wall. They'd fuckin' heard it? Christ! He knew he and Ryley had been loud for a few seconds but shit! Having his brothers overhear him with a Honey was one thing, but he'd been with Ryley for god's sake. Something that was too private for public consumption even of the brother variety. "Don't fuckin' worry about it," he mumbled and took another sip.

  "Oh, we're not worried about it," Silo pointed out. "But Ryley's dad, Gus, fuckin' is."

  "Seems your girl took off soon afterwards and nobody can fuckin' find her. Escalade is in the lot but she ain't anywhere to be found," Bishop's voice took on a note of caution. "He was in here making a bunch of noise and asking about you, specifically."

  Dare allowed that to sink in. Gus had already made his demands and if he'd heard about what Dare and Ryley had gotten up to earlier, there'd be even more fuckin' hell to pay.

  "What the fuck does he have against you anyway?" Silo asked, finishing off the last of his beer and motioning for Jilly to bring him another. "That mother gets on my last fuckin' nerve with his need for control. He's only a president like Trey but the asshole acts like he rules the fuckin' world."

  "Agreed," Dare couldn't stand the guy either.

  "So why's he looking for you, amigo?" Bishop questioned.

  Dare shrugged in a 'hell if I know' gesture but his mind was whirling. Had Gus heard that Ryley had gone to Dare's place? Or had he in some way found out about their up-against-the-wall doings in his office?

  "I don't fuckin' like this," Silo rumbled. "Think we need to get Trey in on it? Have him tell Gus to back his ass off when it comes to the Missoula brothers?"

  Hearing a ruckus at the door the three large men turned on their stools to see what was doing.

  "There you fucking are!" Gus's voice boomed throughout the clubhouse as his thick forefinger pointed in Dare's direction. "Where's my girl, you little shit?"

  Would this fuckin' day ever be over? Dare thought with a sigh as he set his glass down and fully faced the angry man. "Dunno. Saw her earlier but haven't seen her since. What happened, did Ryley's leash break?"

  "Don't get smart with me, dickwad! We all know you've been sniffing around her ever since we fucking blew into town."

  "So? I'm interested. Seems she is too. What fuckin' business is it of yours?" Maybe it was because of the day he was having or that he was just fuckin' fed up with Gus and his demands, but Dare's mouth kicked in. "We're no longer teenagers, you old fuck and no longer have to report in to you."

  "Why you little…" Gus reached for Dare but Silo's big body got in the way. Dare saw his brother use both hands on Gus's shoulders to hold him back. "You either tell me where she is or, swear to god you little piss ant, I'll beat your ass so far down …"

  For the first time that day, Dare gave a sharp bark of genuine though rueful laughter that cut into the older man's speech. "Don't think so, Pops," he finally mumbled around his huge smile and began to turn back to the bar. "You've already threatened to take my cut and gave Trey the option of fuckin' sending me to Sheridan. None of which is gonna fuckin' happen. So now you're thinking to give me a smack-down? Again, don't fuckin' think so, dude."

  "You think I can't take your skinny ass? Why, back in the day I could've done it with one hand behind my back!" Gus was so mad, he was spitting which had poor Si catching the brunt of it. "All mouth and nothing to back it up! Always knew you were a loser, a first class, no-family, illiterate loser who doesn't fucking deserve to be a Hellion."

  That did it! Dare slammed his glass on the bar before spinning back to face the old man. "Outside, motherfucker," he said from between his clenched teeth. "You wanna piece of me? Then let's fuckin' rock!"

  Dare stormed out the door followed by everyone in the clubhouse and picked a spot furthest from where the two lines of bikes were parked in the forecourt as he shrugged out of his cut. Shoving it towards Bishop, he turned back with his fists raised to see Gus's knuckles coming for his face. Ducking to the side, Dare shuffled around looking for an opening to get his own licks in.

  This has been coming for fuckin' years! Dare crowed to himself, feeling the adrenaline sing in his blood. He couldn't wait to take the pig-headed, douche-bag out if for no other reason than the 'illiterate' remark.

  But as he continued to dance and duck the punches thrown by the shorter and much heavier man, Dare couldn't do it. Gus was Ryley's father, for Christ's sake. A man didn't take out his girl's dad no matter how much of an fuckin' asshole and control freak the older guy was.

  As suspected, it didn't take much for Gus to become winded and tired, starting to trip over his feet as he tried to make at least one of his punches count. Even the shouted encouragements of the Spokane brothers were no longer adding any energy. Dare glanced at Bishop and saw his friend make a cutting motion across his throat.

  Yeah. Time to shut this shit down.

  One punch, that was more like a push than a jab, to the oversized belly was all it took to have Gus hitting the pavement on his ass. Dare waited to see if the old man was gonna get up. When he didn't, Dare pointed
his own finger and said, "I'll give you props because she's your daughter. But fuckin' get this: I don't like you, and probably worse, I don't respect you anymore than you do me, dig? And you, you motherfucker, don't get to tell me whether I'm good enough to be a Hellion. I already fuckin' am, man, and I'm staying one. So get the fuck over it!"

  Turning to snatch his cut from Bishop, he heard his name called but ignored it. Dare was feeling bad that he'd even let it get as far as it had. Christ! He should've just blown the old guy off, let ol' Gus call Dare anything he wanted, demand anything and everything. But, no. He'd opened his mouth without thinking and let shit fly. A-fucking-again.

  "Dare!" The voice was closer and he finally glanced over his shoulder to see Leif striding towards him with a scowl on his face. Not that he had any beef with Ryley's brother, but if the boy wanted to fuckin' throw down, Dare could be talked into it since he still needed to work off his fucked up day.

  He stopped and waited.

  "We need to talk, bro'," Leif announced with a clenched jaw and narrowed eyes.

  "About?"

  "My sister," was all the bearded man said. He turned and looked back at his old man who was being helped up by March before twisting back to Dare.

  "I'm listening."

  "That last time…" Leif started then stopped. He rubbed a hand over his face and glanced at Dare before continuing. "After that time you guys spent together when we were all kids, Ryley didn't do very well. When we got home…it was like something in her fucking died. Folks finally ended up getting her a shrink."

  Dare didn't know what to say or even to feel. "They ever figure out what was wrong?"

  Leif looked away again. "You. She lost you is what the counselor told my dad. That she was grieving." Dare saw a muscle jumping in the other man's cheek as he looked back again where his father was being assisted into the clubhouse. "Only fifteen years old and was cut up over a boy she'd only known a fuckin' week, man. It was too much for my dad and since then, he's kind of been her guard dog. Not to mention, put your name on his permanent shit-list."

  What. The. Fuck?

  "How long?" Dare asked, barely able to choke the words out from around the lump in his throat. He was mentally counting off the length of time it had taken him to get back into real life after watching her ride away from his seventeen year old self.

  "What?"

  "How fuckin' long until she snapped out of it?" Dare's voice was a low, dark growl.

  Frowning, Leif shrugged his wide shoulders before replying. "About a year, I guess."

  Fuck! His own hell had lasted ten months which was close to the amount of time she'd suffered with the same shit. The same fuckin' shit!

  "Thought you deserved an explanation for the old man's…shit hemorrhage. On why he's got it in for you. It's not about you so much as he doesn't want her to…"

  Dare lifted a hand to stop Leif from saying anymore words because the ones he'd already used were about to bring Dare to his motherfuckin' knees. "I get it."

  "And just wanted to say thanks, too. For, you know, not takin' Pops out." Dare glanced at Leif to check for sincerity and found it underneath the man's scowl.

  "It's all good," Dare mumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets again not knowing how to end an uncomfortable conversation. "I…ah…I appreciate the info about Ryley."

  "Just stay away from her, brother. That'd be the best thing for everyone all the way around. Stay away from Ryley," and at that, Leif turned towards the clubhouse.

  Dare watched the other man move away and felt a hand grip his shoulder from behind. He hadn't even realized Bish and big Si had stayed with him and had, more than likely, overheard what Leif had said.

  "So what cha gonna do with this new info, bro'?" Bish asked after a time.

  Dare shrugged in answer.

  "Maybe it's time you fuckin' shit or get off the pot, dig?" Dare couldn't disagree with Bishop's advice.

  "Fuck! All this drama over pussy," Silo rumbled, shaking his head.

  And at the bald man's words, Dare had his second honest laugh of the day.

  *.*.*.*.*

  At first, all I could do was stare around me at the pink (pink!) appliances and at the fuzzy purple couch that was visible from the other room. 'Who the fuck decorated like this?', my brain wondered. But as I disengaged the system, entering the code that would stop its infernal bleeps, I realized Lulu's place was just like her. Weird, strange but on the cutting edge of cool.

  She'd been right about the fridge and before getting comfy, I made a run to the grocery store. After eating and sucking back a much needed beer, I made my way to the bathroom intent on a shower. But, the plethora of bath salts, bubble bath and feminine additives convinced me to pour a glass of wine from the bottle I'd picked up, light a couple of candles and just do the girlie-chillaxed thing.

  But as I laid back on the blow up pillow Lulu had suction-cupped to the back rim and placed the washcloth over my eyes, the memories came flooding back.

  Lock had given me a note, pressed into my palm, after dinner whispering, "it's from Dare." It had asked me to meet him behind the equipment building at 7.00 p.m.

  When I'd gotten there, he'd pulled me around the back, giving me some lame excuse on whatever it was that had happened that day before asking for a hug. So I'd complied, very conscious of how he was an orphan and probably didn't get much in the way of things that other families took for granted.

  Only my hug with Dare was different from any other cuddle I'd ever received before. It wasn't just a quick grab, pat and release but a slow sliding of bodies and arms. It was having my face in his neck and his in mine as we both pressed against one another and just…breathed. A clench and press of our young flesh as our arms had simply held one another.

  I even remembered what he'd whispered, his breath hot against the skin of my neck. "You feel so good, Ryley and smell so fucking amazing." He'd always called me by my full name when everyone else shortened it to a simple, 'Rye'.

  I don't remember if I answered but I do know I was shaking like a damn leaf and could feel my heart booming inside my chest when he'd pulled away. All from just a hug. A grownup hug that my fifteen year old self had found very exciting.

  And which probably showed on my face if the way my dad kept me close to him for the rest of that evening meant anything when I'd rejoined the group.

  The next night almost all the under twenties in the club actually went inside the equipment building, setting up a sound system after snagging a couple of bottles of the cheap booze the clubhouse had on hand though we knew we weren't supposed to be stealing from the club. It didn't take but a couple of drinks and almost all of us were dancing in one of the aisles in the middle with only the lights along the perimeters off the shed illuminating the edges.

  Just enough dark to do things but enough light to keep the adults off our butts.

  Dare had snagged me by the loops of my low-riding jeans at the opening bars of Nickelback's 'How You Remind Me' and didn't let me go for the following four songs.

  I'd been ecstatic!

  While he wasn't fancy on his feet, a fact I'd been grateful for at the time, the guy definitely had rhythm and knew, geez more than knew, how to use his hips. He'd step towards me shifting his shoulders in a counter-rhythm and just as our bodies would touch, he'd step away, keeping hold of my belt loops. God. Even remembering how he'd looked back then as he'd danced with a small, sexy grin that I knew had been just for me, caused a deep throb inside.

  He'd led me to one of the darker corners and wrapped his arms around me before he leaned down and provided me with my first kiss, which was a precursor to the french one he initiated a few moments later. But our make-out session abruptly ended when Leif came looking for me. Dare's face had shown the same yearning and disappointment I'd felt inside when we were interrupted.

  It was about an hour before we left the next day, when everyone was still hanging out by the picnic tables and the club bar-b-que was winding down that Lock pulled me a
side. "Here's another note from Dare. Says I'm supposed to walk with you so your dad don't find out."

  Since I'd already covered her ass a couple of times so her brother, Pagan, didn't catch on to her slipping away with Blaze, I wasn't surprised by her offer. "What did he say?" I shot back quickly on still lips, keeping both my brother, my mom and my dad in view. Dare had been avoiding me all day though I could sometimes feel his eyes on me. But every single time I looked his way, he was talking with somebody else as if they were the most interesting person in the world.

  She just laughed and bumped my shoulder as we meandered through the dwindling crowd of bikers, Honeys and kids. "Nothing more than I told you, silly. But you'll probably want to re-gloss before we get there."

  And it was behind the equipment shed where Lock had walked clear to the other side of the building and around the corner, that I got my first 'I love you'. Offered by the only other person I'd ever given it to. Taking me in his arms as if I was made of the thinnest glass in the world, Dare had whispered how much he loved me and how I was the only girl he wanted or would ever want.

  Everything a fifteen year old girl wants to hear from her first love.

  And then he'd kissed me again. Kissed me with such sweetness and torturous hunger that I never wanted to let our tongues untangle or lips part. No one could've pried my arms from around his broad but thin shoulders.

  It was the kind of kiss every girl should get in her lifetime.

  And one that became the benchmark of every kiss I'd received since.

  That there had been only two that had even come close to hitting Dare's high standard spoke volumes about the tie we'd built in those few days.

  There was no denying things were happening between us again and even though I was trying to keep a distance, not become too emotionally invested in him, I couldn't help myself.

  And I knew that path was dangerous for me.

  Unsafe.

  Perilous, even.

  So bad, it had caused problems with my family when I'd more than lost it after leaving Dare so long ago. My acting out, my constant crying and then eventual silence had my poor parents shuffling me from doctor to doctor.