Beast: Learning to Breathe Devil’s Blaze Duet

by Jordan Marie

  “What happened?”

  “After the accident, I began to see less and less of her, but then…I wasn’t exactly trying to see anyone. My brothers, they all tried to convince me I needed to quit hiding. That nothing had really changed. They were wrong, but I desperately wanted to feel normal again, inside. To be what I once was. So, I tried. I even started seeking the girl out,” he tells the story, all without taking his eyes off the sky. He doesn’t look at me, and I stay quiet, because I don’t want him to stop. I want to hear the story, even as I hate hearing that there’s another girl out there he likes. “There was a family picnic one day, and I overheard her and her friends discussing me.”

  “What did they say?” I ask, unable to stop myself and knowing that it couldn’t have been good.

  “She called me repulsive. A woman would have to be drunk to want me between her legs. That’s when I decided to live up to the animal I had become,” he says with a shrug, like what he told me didn’t rip my heart to shreds. I wish I had this unknown woman in my reach right now. Pregnant or not, I’d wipe the floor with her. Of all the stupid, fucking bullshit she could utter…

  “She’s a cow.”

  “Hayden—”

  “A freaking cow who doesn’t have a brain in her freaking head. I can’t believe that bullshit. If I’m with you and she’s ever around Michael, you have to tell me. You have to tell me so I can throat-punch her. You are not repulsive. Jesus, sometimes when I look at you, I get so hot, I feel like I could spontaneously combust. I mean, I thought I’d never want another man for the rest of my life. I was content with that, but I don’t know a woman alive who would not jump at the thought of having you in her bed. She’s a blue-twat-waffle! And besides…” I stop when Michael’s laugher rings out.

  “A blue-twat-waffle?” he jokes, as his laughter subsides, but the smile remains.

  “Well…yeah,” I shrug.

  “Besides, what?” he asks and I look at him confused. “What else were you going to say?” he prompts again, and it feels like his eyes are boring into me.

  “I mean, your scars, they’re bad, I get that. But, I’ve seen worse and you aren’t your scars. You were in the military; I know because I’ve seen the dog-tags you still wear. I had a friend whose boyfriend came back from Afghanistan and he lost his arm and his scars…those were horrific.”

  “Hayden—”

  “But he was still the same man under them. My friend still loved him. They have struggles now they never planned on, but…none of those struggles are over the way he looks, or his body. Those things aren’t who makes the person, Michael,” I tell him, and he’s silent for a bit. I can’t tell what he’s thinking.

  “Then why are you worried, Beauty?”

  “Michael—”

  “You’re not fat, Hayden. You’re pregnant and you’re fucking gorgeous. I think you know what you do to me, that shit just doesn’t happen.”

  “Men get hard easily, Michael. You guys see a pair of boobs jiggling under a t-shirt and the jack-in-the-box pops out.”

  “Jack-in-the-box?”

  “Those toys that you wind up and then this freaky clown jumps out at you. I used to have nightmares about those things. Who in the world thought that was a good idea is beyond me,” I tell him, rattling like a fool. Our conversation has gone places I wasn’t expecting and it has left me…nervous.

  “Are you saying my dick reminds you a clown head waiting to scare you?” he asks, interrupting me.

  “Not yours. I like yours. Your dick can pop out at me anytime,” I explain, trying to smile.

  “Good to know. Now strip.”

  “Michael—”

  “Do it.”

  “You’re very bossy.” I reach behind my neck to let the strings loose and the top part of my bathing suit drops down. I catch it to stop from revealing my breasts.

  Michael lets out a grunt, which quickly broadcasts the fact he is unhappy. I frown at him, and he frowns back. He does it better. I let it drop down. The warm sun hits my breasts, and the breeze in the air causes my nipples to contract. I bite my lip at the sensation. The further I get in my pregnancy, the more tender they become.

  “More,” he urges, his voice almost a groan.

  Circling my hand around his dick again, it jerks in my hand, and one long stream of pre-cum slides down his shaft, over my fingers. I feel my own wetness gathering in response between my thighs. My clit literally pulsates. God what this man does to me. I shift on my knees and that’s when I’m reminded of my original plan. It was a joke before, but now it feels like a good plan. I need to lighten Michael’s mood, before he realizes how much I think that I might…love him.

  “In a minute. I need to prove something first,” I whisper, unable to stop myself from bending down, flattening my tongue against the head of his cock and licking some of the sweet liquid that has escaped. Then, I only suck the tip of his cock into my mouth, moaning as his pre-cum hits my tongue.

  “Hayden, stop teasing me,” he growls, when despite his urgings and reaction I don’t suck him further in my mouth.

  Instead, I pull away and reaching under my knee and grab the rolled up yellow material I’ve been hiding. A quick glance in Michael’s direction reveals his eyes are closed. I unravel the measuring tape with a grin. I found it in a tackle box in the boat. It still had plastic over it and the numbers seemed to call at me. I’ve always been a curious kind of girl.

  “Oh my,” I gasp, as I pull the tape along the hard shaft.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Michael asks, but it isn’t anger I hear. I look up and see shock written all over his face.

  “I was trying to see if I really did catch the biggest fish?” I giggle.

  “I…the biggest…” Michael’s words are disconnected and his face is still incredulous. His mouth even hangs open for a second. Then he does something I didn’t expect. He all but pounces on me, taking care to hold my back and head so I fall into his solid hold and he lays me gently on the wooden deck. He grabs each side of my bathing suit and pulls it from my body, so quickly it robs me of the breath I was taking.

  “I wasn’t finished. You should always double check your measurements,” I whisper at the same exact time his fingers push inside of me. I should be embarrassed because of how wet I am. I’m soaked and you can actually hear the way his fingers thrust through my wetness.

  “Fuck,” Michael groans. “Always so wet for me,” he adds.

  I whimper as his fingers leave me, though he does skate them across my clit, causing my body to thrust towards him. Then he lowers himself over my frame and braces his weight on one arm. I stretch my legs out so I can cradle his body with my own.

  “Hurry, Michael,” I urge him, wanting nothing more than his cock inside of me.

  “What happened to the shy, scared woman I first met, Hayden?” he asks, as the head of his dick slides against my clit.

  I slowly open my eyes to see his head bent down. I look between our bodies to watch the firm hold he has on his dick and the way he’s guiding it against my pussy, not entering it. Instead, he’s choosing to tease me with his broad head, making me hunger for more. My hand moves down to encircle his, so we hold his shaft together. His eyes find mine, and together we guide him inside me.

  “She finally started feeling safe,” I tell him, and I know tears are in my eyes. I want to tell him I love him. I don’t. Instead, I try to show him with my body.

  “You are,” he vows, and he proceeds to make love to me. Giving me his body slow and easy. He sinks into me, inch by delicious inch, his eyes never leaving mine. “I promise, you’re safe, I’ll give everything I can to keep you that way, Hayden.”

  “I just want you. Give me you, Michael,” I tell him, honestly.

  “I will. I’m going to give it all to you,” he says, and I know realistically we’re probably not talking about the same thing. I want more than just his body. But if his body is all I can have, I’ll take it. He pulls his dick almost all the way out of me. My fin
gers bite into his ass, and I demand he comes back. True to his word, he gives it all to me.

  All eleven, thick, beautiful inches.

  99

  Beast

  “You sure you’re feeling okay? We didn’t overdo it, did we?” I ask Hayden, again.

  She’s been quiet the whole ride home. Things were a little intense on the dock. I lost myself in her body. Fuck, I always lose myself in her, but something shifted through our talk. Hayden revealed part of her soul to me. She’s as beautiful inside as she is out, and even if I don’t deserve her, I want her. I need her. Still, I’m always mindful of holding back with her, and I didn’t this time. At one point, I could feel my cock pushing against her cervix. I know it had to hurt her. Christ, what was I thinking?

  “Michael,” Hayden whispers, putting her hand on mine.

  I chance a look at her, before returning my eyes back to the road. I feel her fingers thread through mine, giving me that calm that always happens when we hold hands.

  “What we did was perfect. I’m fine,” she assures me. She brings our joined hands to her stomach, relaxing her hold on my fingers. “Maggie is fine,” she adds. As if to prove it, I feel Maggie shift under our hands and a foot or hand shoves out against us. Hayden laughs. “See? More than fine.”

  “She’s getting strong.”

  “She is. She’s good. You need to stop worrying.”

  “You’re quiet, Beauty.”

  “I didn’t want to leave. I like the world better when it’s just you, me, and Maggie,” she confesses, and my heart trips in my chest, mostly because I completely agree with her.

  “We can go back,” I assure her, wishing now I had insisted we stay longer.

  “No. There’s a lot to do, and I really am looking forward to running the diner. I want to make Charlie proud.”

  “You will not work yourself to death, Hayden. I forbid it. You delegate that shit out, and you keep your feet up.”

  “My feet up?”

  “Pregnant women’s feet swell. It’s a medical fact.”

  “You have to watch the road and can’t see me, but just to let you know, I am totally giving you the ‘you’re crazy’ look right now.”

  “Whatever,” I laugh, turning into our drive. I’ve done a lot of work on Hayden’s home, but there’s something we need to talk about. “Hayden, I’ve been thinking. I know you want a good place for Maggie, and I could fix your place up…but…”

  “You think we should move into Charlie’s?” she asks, her eyes looking out over the place she’s called home.

  “I do. It’s a nice home. It’s big with plenty of room for Maggie to grow. There’s a nice yard and it’s still private. I think it’s what Charlie would have wanted.”

  “You’re right. I’ve been thinking about it too. Plus, it’s not tainted by my brother. It’d be like a fresh start.”

  “Exactly,” I agree, squeezing her hand. I get out of the truck and walk around to let Hayden out. She’s finally learned that I like to be the one to unbuckle her seatbelt and let her down, so she waits for me now. I like taking care of her, looking after her, and this is one more thing that helps with that.

  “You’d go with me?” she asks, as I unbuckle her seatbelt. My head jerks up at her question. “I mean, I know you have the barn, and I know you just moved in the house while all the stuff with the Dwellers was going on. Plus, I mean Blade is still out there, but even if he wasn’t, we haven’t discussed things. It’s just…I think it would be nice…Okay not nice, but—”

  I kiss her quickly on the lips to keep her from talking until we’re both old and gray. I think she could manage it when she gets nervous.

  “Do you want me to live with you?”

  “Well…yeah,” she says, her eyes round and a touch of panic or fear in them.

  “Just until Blade is caught?”

  “No…I don’t care about that. I mean, I want him caught, but...I just really like you, Michael. A lot.”

  “I like you too,” I tell her, my chest growing tight at the admission. Fuck. I more than like her. I crave her. Until Hayden, I had forgotten how to breathe, and with her it feels like I’m learning to breathe all over again. Fresh, clean air, untainted by the darkness inside of me.

  “So, will you live with me?” she asks shyly, her face blushing so bright it wouldn’t surprise me if she glowed in the dark.

  “Thought you’d never ask,” I tell her, cupping her face in my hand. Our lips touch, and I catch the bottom one between my teeth, pulling on it teasingly and then sucking it back in my mouth before our tongues dance gently with one another. When we break apart her eyes open and her lips spread into a full smile. Her gray-silver eyes sparkle, maybe even brighter than the sun.

  We walk hand in hand to the house. Once I have her settled, I go back outside and collect our suitcases. I’m walking back to the kitchen door when my phone vibrates. I ignore it until I’m inside.

  “What would you like for dinner, Michael? If you feel like firing up the grill we could barbeque. I have some chicken breasts in the freezer,” Hayden asks, glancing at me over her shoulder.

  “Doesn’t matter,” I answer with a shrug, putting the suitcases down on the floor. My phone vibrates again, and I frown, pulling it out of my pocket. I look down at the screen to see I have a text message from Skull.

  “Chicken it is then. Let me go in the pantry and get the charcoal for you,” Hayden says in the background, but my eyes are glued on the screen of my phone.

  I know yesterday was hard for you, brother. Just remember we’re here if you need us.

  Skull.

  His message confuses the fuck out of me. Yesterday was one of the best days I’ve had in my life. He’s lost it. Beth has finally drove him mad. I start to shut my phone off when I notice it. The date. The motherfucking date.

  I was sticking my dick in Hayden on my daughter’s birthday. I was laughing and happy. I was feeling another child move and making plans. On Annabelle’s birthday. I scream, clasping my hand so tight I can feel my phone give way. I throw it across the room, watching as it crashes against the window. I can see a crack form in the glass pane, as the phone falls to the floor in two pieces.

  “Michael? Oh my God, Michael, are you okay?” Hayden comes running back in, her eyes wide with fright.

  I look at her and she disgusts me. This is her fault. She made me want to…Fuck! Who am I trying to kid? This is me. This is all my fault. Hayden’s only another mistake in a long line of mistakes. I spin around, stomping outside without a word. I hear Hayden follow me. “Michael!” she cries.

  I ignore her, jumping in my truck, and back out of the driveway, all without looking back. I need a damn drink.

  100

  Blade

  I watch as Beast leaves the bar. It’d be so easy to end him right now. There’s no one here watching his back. So easy. Even now, I have him in my gunsights, and his guard is down enough, he has no idea. He’s not drunk yet, but if the bottles he’s carrying are any indication, he will be soon enough. It’d be so easy…too easy.

  He needs to suffer for getting into my business. He needs to suffer and bleed. He has a weak spot for Hayden. Somehow, he’s even managed to get that fucking Torasani to work with him. They have her place surrounded tonight. I thought I was home free when I saw Beast take off and leave Hayden alone. Then I saw one of the Torasani henchmen, walking the perimeter of her house. I did some digging and there are four men around her house. Four. Fucking cunt must have developed some new tricks in bed to get Beast to guard her that well. Shit. Maybe she’s spread her legs for old Victor himself. That’d make more sense. I always thought Hayden was as stupid as her brother, but maybe the bitch has more brains than I gave her credit for.

  It doesn’t matter—none of it. They’ll slip up soon and that’s when I’ll have my opening. At first, it was only to teach Hayden a lesson. She’s made a fool of me all these years. Bitch hid the fact she was knocked up and then used my enemies to try and stay out of my
reach. The bullshit I got from that, even from my own men. Now, however, it’s something bigger.

  I have revenge to dish out. I’ve lost my family. I’ve lost my club. It’s all Hayden’s fault. I’ll make her wish for death. I’ll make her beg for it, before I give it. I might keep Beast alive to witness it. His death can hurt Hayden more if she watches. I bet the little cunt will beg for his life. I wonder how Beast will like watching Hayden suck my cock in exchange for letting him breathe? The thought makes my dick hard. I unzip my pants and take my shaft in my hand and stroke myself, watching Beast jump in his truck.

  Yeah. I need to take my time and make my revenge perfect…and enjoy every fucking second of it.

  101

  Hayden

  Michael never showed back up. I waited and waited, but there’s been no sign of him. I finally gave up, and went to bed. I tossed and turned, but I must have eventually passed out, because now the bedside clock reads three in the morning. I lay here listening, stupidly getting depressed when I hear nothing. Michael’s not here. I had hoped…

  It’s all so frustrating, and I have no idea what happened. I thought everything was good and then…it just wasn’t. For a minute—right before he left, it looked like he hated me. I’ve gone over everything, and I have no idea what’s going on. It’s driving me crazy. I was worried it was me, and my first instinct was to cry. Then, I got worried something else was going on and my nerves were set on end, as panic filled me. Finally, I settled into anger again. He could have at least told me what was going on. Anger is the emotion that I’m keeping with me now. I don’t know where he is, I don’t know if he’s okay and most of all…I don’t know if he’ll be back. It’s not like my track record is great with men, but I thought this time Michael was one of the good guys. Maybe those men don’t exist.