by A. J. Wynter
By this time the third boy was cowering behind the car, with his hands up. Blaine walked over to their pile of clothes, picked them up and delivered them to Olivia at the end of the dock.
“What did you say to them?” Olivia asked, taking her clothes and stepping into her shorts.
“I asked them to leave, politely. They declined.” He pulled his t-shirt over his head. “Come with me sweetheart.” he grabbed her hand.
Olivia was looking straight ahead when they passed the boys, so she didn’t hear which one whispered ‘nice tits’. She felt Blaine’s body tighten and he gripped her hand a little tighter.
“Get in.” Blaine opened the passenger door for Olivia. She climbed in and clicked on her seat belt.
Blaine reached under the driver’s seat and pulled out a handgun. Olivia gulped in an attempt to rid her throat of the huge lump that had just formed. She had never seen a gun, let alone been in a car with one. All of a sudden, she felt afraid for the boys, uncertain of what Blaine intended to do. At that moment, she realized that this wasn’t a pretend bad boy, Blaine was the real deal.
As he approached the boys with the gun by his side, they scrambled around to the far side of the car. They looked terrified and huddled together. Blaine raised his hand and fired a shot into the rear tire of their car. He shoved the gun into the back of his jeans and walked back to the van. When he got in, he didn’t say a word. For the first time, Olivia felt afraid of Blaine, but not for herself; she was afraid for what he was capable of doing to other people.
They rode in silence and Olivia stared out the window. When they pulled up in front of Olivia’s house, Blaine turned to face her.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said.
“About what?”
“Overreacting back there. When that kid commented on your, um, chest, it just filled me with rage. You may think that I’m a barbarian, but the urge to protect you consumed me.”
“Why did you have to get out a gun?” she asked quietly.
“I just wanted to scare them. Clearly a beating wasn’t enough to teach them a lesson.”
“It scared me.”
“And I’m sorry for that. That’s the last thing that I would ever want to do.” Blaine rubbed his hands back and forth on his thighs. “Look, Olivia. We haven’t spent much time together, but there’s something about you that brings out the protector in me. I want to hold you tight and make sure you’re safe.” He leaned over and took her face in his hands. He drew her in and kissed her lips gently. “I’ll understand if you never want to see me again though.”
Olivia looked into Blaine’s eyes. “That was such an amazing day, it just ended on such a bad note.”
“It doesn’t have to end right now,” Blaine said, smiling.
Olivia took a deep breath. She knew that she had to tell him. She had seen a side of him today that she had never seen before, making her realize the complexity of humans, like layers of an onion. If she was going to enjoy all the good things about him, she was going to have to accept the bad as well. She wasn’t sure that she was ready to be with a gun wielding rock of a man with an anger problem. And maybe he didn’t want to be with a virgin.
“Blaine. When you went down on me today, I didn’t want you to stop.”
Blaine looked at her quizzically. “Well then why did you stop me? I can finish that up right now.”
“No, Blaine. I’m, I’m…” Olivia stammered.
“What is it?”
“I’m a virgin,” Olivia blurted out.
Blaine pulled his hand back from her as if she had burned him.
“I see.” Blaine seemed lost for words.
The awkward silence was too much for Olivia. She tried to hold her hands still, but they were too jittery. She felt the walls closing in on her and needed to get out of the van right away.
“I’ve gotta go.” She frantically reached for the door handle.
“Don’t go,” Blaine said.
Olivia’s mind was made up. He could’ve said so many reassuring things during that awkward silence, but he didn’t. She thought that letting the secret out would make her feel lighter, but the weight of her virginal status weighed on her heavier than ever.
She jumped out and ran into her house. She was able to keep her tears contained until she closed the front door behind her, then the floodgates opened and the tears streamed down her face.
CHAPTER TWENTY – BLAINE
Blaine sat in the van and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. Fuck. A virgin? Now she was definitely too naïve and innocent to be with a man like him. He could’ve beaten the shit out of all three of those college boys, but had held back on her behalf. The gun was overkill, but turning to a pistol was second nature to him. It was his experience that what can take an hour of discussion and negotiations, can be expedited ten-fold with the presence of a loaded firearm.
He opened the van door to chase Olivia into her house, but as he was about to step out, he changed his mind. He slammed the door, put the van in gear and headed back to the clubhouse. Crater, and Freddie were inside the dark living room, slumped into the worn couch and smoking a joint.
“How was your afternoon buddy?” Freddie smirked.
“Fine,” Blaine said bluntly. “Where’s Zeb?”
“I think he’s back in his office getting his dick sucked again.”
“I wonder if he ever gets tired of it?” Crater mused.
“Tired of it? Dude, the wrong girls have been sucking your dick,” Freddie said as he inhaled a toke from his pipe.
“Fuck. Shut up you guys.” The last thing Blaine needed was to be a part of this particular conversation.
“Who pissed in your cornflakes?” Crater asked.
“I guess his little guitar girl didn’t put out,” Freddie drawled and smirked.
Blaine froze. His pent up sexual energy combined with the disrespect from Freddie made him explode. He grabbed Freddie by the neck and pulled him off of the couch.
Freddie raised his hands, “Blaine, buddy. I was just kidding.” He managed to croak out through Blaine’s grip.
Blaine stood, breathing heavily, clenching the boy’s neck tightly. Freddie flailed and clawed at Blaine’s hands.
“Blaine. Let him go. He was just joking around.”
But Blaine kept his grip tight. The prospect’s face turned blue as his feet kicked the air.
“BLAINE,” Zeb’s voice boomed across the room. His mentor’s voice shook him out of his fugue state and he dropped Freddie to the floor. Freddie grabbed at his neck and gasped for air.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Crater asked.
“Blaine. Get in here,” Zeb yelled.
Blaine strode wordlessly past the group of men and into Zeb’s office.
“You want to tell me what that was all about?”
“Nothing.”
“Look. The prospects expect to be roughed up, but make sure you’ve got a good reason.”
“They were disrespectful,” Blaine said, and dropped heavily on to one of the rickety office chairs.
“Fine,” Zeb said. He leaned back and cradled his head with his huge rough hands.
Zeb was a handsome man for his age. His face was leathery and worn from years of riding, but the wrinkles worked for him. In his youth, he could’ve been a model, with his wide shoulders and natural washboard abs, and he had grown into his fifties with grace. Blaine saw how women were vulnerable to his looks, and had watched in amusement as the eyes of socialites and rich women, followed Zeb as he walked by. His presence commanded attention throughout any room.
“What’s up Zebbie?” Blaine asked and pulled out his phone to see if Olivia had messaged him. Nothing.
“Do you want to fucking pay attention?” Zeb asked calmly.
Blaine clicked off the screen and placed his phone face down on the desk. “I’m all yours, Boss.”
“While you’ve been out playing farmer and frolicking with school girls, I figured out who is v
ying for our territory.
Blaine leaned forward, suddenly very interested, placing his elbows on his knees.
“The buyers fucked us over, didn’t they?”
“You got it. They were in bed with the Scorpions. One of my sources down at the station pulled in one of the buyers, and guess whose gun was in his glovebox?
“You’re shitting me,” Blaine said.
Zeb pulled open the bottom drawer of his desk and pulled out Blaine’s prized gun. Blaine took his gun in his hand and caressed the shiny gold handle. He teared up. He had missed this gun more than he missed some of the old dead and gone club members.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Zeb said. “You haven’t been yourself these days.”
Blaine wiped away the tears that threatened to spill out on to his cheeks.
“It’s a woman, isn’t it?”
Blaine nodded.
“Wow, I’ve never seen you get this way about anyone before. Be careful buddy. Don’t let this woman cloud your judgment. I’m going to need you fully present for battle.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We are going to fight back. There’s no way those fuckers are moving in on my turf.”
“Tell me when and where. We can pull all of our ammunition out and go in there, guns blazing. Or, take a page out of their book and just blow up their clubhouse.”
“We can keep beating the body, but we need to cut off the head.”
Blaine nodded. “Those guys are harder to find than a virgin in a whorehouse.”
Zeb pulled out a worn police file folder. “My sources tell me that the cops have a source deep inside who has risen up the ranks.”
“Jesus, how much are you paying this source to give up that kind of info?”
“As much as it takes,” Zeb said, with a glint in his eye. “The powers that be are meeting later this week at the barn where you were ambushed. Do you have a good feel for the lay of the land there?”
“I mean, yes. But it was hard to take in minute details with gun barrels in my face.”
“Get a small team of the best shooters together. I want you to get out there tonight and scope it out. We are going to ambush them at their meetup, just like they did to us. Don’t take your bikes. Hide the van. You know the drill.”
“Are we scaring them, or getting rid of them?”
“Take them all out.”
“Got it boss.” Blaine stood up and felt the adrenaline start to pump through his body. It had been years since he had been sent out on a mission like this one. The future of the club was in his hands. If they fucked up it would be bad. First of all, they would all be dead, secondly, it would lead the club into an all-out turf war.
“I’ve got Skinny working on a real firework show for the clubhouse that will go down at the same time. That should put a big enough dent into their membership to prevent an uprising.”
“Alright.” Blaine tucked his gun into the waistline of his pants. It felt so good to feel the metal next to his lower back; like the hand of a woman, protective and loving.
“Oh, Blaine. One more thing. There’s going to be a woman there. Do your best to keep her out of the line of fire.”
“Jesus Christ. That could be impossible.” Blaine shook his head, surprised. Then it dawned on him, the woman was the source. He wondered how Zeb had gotten control of her, but he had his suspicions. “That could change our whole battle plan. Less spraying, more technical shots.”
“Do what you gotta do,” Zeb said. He strode around the huge desk and grabbed Blaine into a rough embrace. It was rare for Zeb to show emotion and it instilled in Blaine just how dangerous and important the mission was.
He stood back and slapped Zeb on his big arm - “I’ll report back tomorrow afternoon and we can get started with the battle plan.”
“See you tomorrow,” Zeb said.
Blaine turned and left, his mind formulating his army and his plan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE – OLIVIA
Olivia sat in her room, cello between her legs, and bow in her hand, but she couldn’t bring herself to play. Holding the instrument was a comfort to her, but she just couldn’t break through her sorrow to play. Playing always brought her joy and it scared her to know that music wasn’t able to bring her out of her slump.
It had been two days since the day at Fern Falls with Blaine. She was torn. The feelings that had been simmering inside her had exploded. And he rejected her. She wanted him so badly. She needed to feel his rough hands explore her back and her thighs, she needed to feel his warm breath on her neck.
She sighed and set the bow down on her bed. She felt the tenderness in him and it excited her, but she had also seen the anger in him, and it scared her. They were from two very different worlds, and the rational side of her knew that it was for the best that she hadn’t heard from him. She was mad at her rational side though, it didn’t understand the sorrow she felt in her heart. If she were to get involved with him, could she ignore the fact that he was a biker? Would she have to accept all that came with it?
“It doesn’t fucking matter.” She muttered to herself, her rational side taking over. Why was she analyzing whether or not she could accept the fact that he was a high-ranking Brass Bonds member, when she would likely never hear from him again.
“Livvy!” Maddie’s sing song voice rang out from the hallway, “Are you using the car today?”
Maddie strode into Olivia’s room wearing teeny tiny floral shorts and a crocheted tank over her bikini top. She had on a huge floppy sun hat, clearly channeling her inner bohemian.
“Oh, Liv. What’s wrong?” Maddie sat down on Olivia’s grey comforter.
“It’s nothing.” Olivia stared out the window.
“Uh huh. Nothing? Right.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. You can take the car. I’m not going anywhere today.”
“What are you planning on doing? Staring out the window all day like you’re in a music video? It’s not raining, it won’t work,” Maddie said, trying to be funny.
Olivia sighed and slumped back in her chair. She gave her sister a weak smile, and hoped that it would be enough to get her off her back.
“Come to the beach with me and Jasmine.” Maddie grabbed for Olivia’s hand.
Surprising not only Maddie, but herself, Olivia let herself be pulled out of her chair and heard herself agreeing to go to the beach.
“Really?” Maddie said. “Sweet!”
Thirty minutes later Maddie and Olivia were on the way to the beach to meet Jasmine. Maddie had insisted that Olivia wear one of her crocheted beach coverups, and Olivia was too tired to protest. Before they left she had caught her reflection in the mirror, and aside from her puffy eyes, she didn’t recognize herself. The next to nothing coverup allowed for her black bikini to peek through and any beachgoer would be able to see her lean physique and her toned abs.
“I work out five times a week and my abs don’t look as good as yours,” Maddie complained as she weaved in and out of traffic.
“You look great and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments,” Olivia said snarkily.
“Hey, I was just trying to give you one. I wish that you could see how hot you are.”
“Thanks,” Olivia said. She had never felt ‘hot’ before, but when she was with Blaine, her insecurities had dissolved. She didn’t cover up, or feel weird when he had traced her stomach and hips with his tongue. She looked in the visor mirror and saw herself from his point of view. Dark hair, pretty green eyes, freckles.
“Your eyes light up when you smile, and you smile the most when you play. Men are going to fall all over themselves when they see you onstage with the orchestra,” Maddie said, turning the Honda into the beach parking lot.
“Thanks Maddie. I just hope that the audition goes well, if I even get a spot.”
“Of course, you’re going to get a spot. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Olivia knew that she was technically the best cellist in the state, but
her fate was in the hands of Mr. Tunbridge.
“Do you want to talk about what’s going on with you?”
Olivia waited for a moment, her initial reaction was to brush off the conversation, but she continued, “Do you remember that biker, Blaine?”
“Hot biker with the long hair covered in tatts? The one that you kissed in the barn? That one?”
Olivia smiled, “That one.”
“Of course, I remember him.”
“Well, he’s been working out at Steve’s farm and we started spending some time together.”
“Holy shit. I knew it! I knew that he was into you.”
“The other day we went to Fern Falls together and went skinny dipping.”
“You? Wait, in the daytime?!”
Olivia smiled, “Yes, the daytime. But I kept my underwear on and so did he.”
“That’s technically not skinny dipping, kiddo.” Maddie laughed.
“Fuck you.” Olivia turned to look out the window and tried to ignore her sister, mad that she wasn’t taking the conversation seriously enough.
“Who are you right now?” Maddie joked. “How’s his body under all that leather?”
“It’s amazing,” Olivia said dreamily, momentarily taken back to the water dripping down Blaine’s tatted pecs and washboard abs.
“Anything happen?”
“Kind of,” Olivia said.
“Don’t play coy with me. Details Liv, details.”
“We made out in the water, and on the dock. It was amazing. We kissed for hours.”
“And…” Maddie prodded.
“He went down on me and I kinda freaked out and made him stop.”
“Right there on the dock?”