by Nicole Fox
Of course, that might be true. But not to care about the future at all? Something just didn't seem right.
The cool sheets were a godsend, and they soothed me as I tried to close my eyes for just a moment. Maybe the darkness behind my eyelids would somehow wipe clear my mind of all those rival bikers glaring me down.
Jace crawled into bed a few minutes later, slid her long arms over my broad chest and curled up into me. I sighed at her touch, realizing just how much I'd come to crave it after such a short time. I wrapped my arm around her tiny waist and pulled her closer against my side. I needed the feel of her skin on mine.
“What're you thinking about?” she whispered in the dark, her words like a soft breeze.
“Tomorrow. What else is there to think about?”
“Not much, I guess,” she said.
I took a breath. “I don't think you should come tomorrow.”
She didn't respond at first, but I felt her try to pull away, to try and avoid the argument. I kept my arm firm, though, and didn't give an inch. She didn't struggle, though, just settled into it.
“I understand how you feel,” she said, her words carefully measured, “but I need to be there. Benji is with the club and wouldn't be able to help, anyway, and Fed is working with Claire and the others. You told him you'd be bringing someone else, and I'm the only one that works to keep the plan going.”
I knew she was right, but I still couldn't shake that feeling that she was going to try something. She was too invested in this meeting and wouldn't take no for an answer, or accept any other reason. I turned a little on my side. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I could see make out the shadowy silhouette of her body. The rise of her hip beneath the sheets, the way it covered up past her waist and her smallish breasts. I reached up, touched her face, her skin so smooth beneath my hands she could have been fashioned from silk.
“I know you're worried,” she said, “but things will be okay.”
“There's going to be children there, Jace. Families, innocents. Kids not much younger than Tomlin. People could get hurt, babe, if someone does something stupid. And that includes you and me.”
The room was so quiet I could hear her lick her lips as she nodded. “I know. I know it'll be dangerous, no matter how things turn out.”
“I'm just worried about you,” I said, my words trailing off.
“What?” she asked, her words soft and light. “You can tell me.”
I felt like I had to say it. I needed to tell her how I felt. Maybe that would shake her out of any stupid plans she had. She might reconsider if she knew the whole truth, everything that I was holding inside of me.
“I . . . I love you, Jace. And I'll love you till the stars burn out, and the world is nothing but darkness.”
She didn't say anything, but I saw her smile genuinely, her perfect teeth a slash of white in the darkness. She trailed her hand down my chest, and I felt her wrap around my soft cock as she leaned forward to kiss me.
Her lips were like rose petals as they brushed over mine, and I heard myself groan as she began to stroke me.
“This might be our last night together,” she whispered.
“Don't say that,” I said. Despite the yelling Fed had done a week or so earlier, and the changes in the plan, and the increased security, and my concerns about Jace, I was still pretty confident that we'd be able to take down Aleksey. I didn't want to think about not seeing her again after tomorrow, didn't want to think about working towards this future we said we wanted to build together.
“But, still,” she said, kissing me again between words, her hand still soft and sure on my stiffening manhood, “we never know what the future will hold.”
I closed my eyes, my mind focused on her hand and what it was doing beneath the sheets. My hips began to move against my will as her thumb circled the head of my cock, sending tremors through my body.
She bit my lower lip. “Do you love me for what I do?” she asked, her hand moving faster now. “Or who I am?”
“Oh God,” I groaned, my eyes rolling back in my head as she continued to circle the crown, the pleasure seeming to turn my body to Jell-O. “Both,” I said, my breath coming shorter as I leaned into kiss her, as my hands roamed over her body. “And because you belong to me.”
“I'm your woman, Koen Baldwin,” she whispered in a throaty voice as my hands brushed over her nipples, as my lips found her neck. “I belong to you, just like I said I did.”
Despite all my confidence in the plan, the idea that this actually might be our last night together filled my mind. I didn't want it to just be a stroke beneath the covers, then for me to get on top of her and pump till I was done. I needed to have her be my everything, to fill my world so big and bright that her mere presence pushed the darkness of my worries away.
Anything less, and I knew I'd somehow regret it.
I began to slide down her body, my cock coming out of her grasp as my lips trailed down her form. Over her neck, her collar bone, brushing over her sensitive, perfect breasts.
The covers slid off of us both as I moved down, bunching up around my waist. She arched into my mouth, moaning as I passed over her stomach, her groans filling my ears as my hot breath finally found her sex.
This wasn't just love, I realized. I needed her like I needed water or air.
# # #
Jace
Koen's breath felt hot on the inside of my thighs as he pushed them farther apart. A big hand covered my breast, teasing my nipple as he his tongue found the spot just above my clit, just where I liked it, and began to pleasure me.
All the worries I'd had about not being able to tell him I loved him too had been pushed from my mind the moment I'd kissed him. Even though I knew what I had to do tomorrow, I still wanted to be with him. Every fiber of my being knew it, from my body to my soul.
And that was what mattered right now. The intention.
Pleasure continued to flood my body as I writhed on the sheets beneath his touch. I reached down, grabbed the back of his head, grasped him tightly and urged him deeper and faster. My hips ground themselves into that perfect tongue and mouth of his, one leg coming up and draping itself over his shoulder so I could pull him close like I'd never let him go.
I was already so close. Maybe it was how desperate this all felt, like we'd never see each other again. Whatever it was, I was already wordlessly moaning out to Koen, goading him on as I already started to approach my first orgasm.
He locked his lips around my clit and gently sucked as he slid two fingers inside me, found my special spot. My eyes flew wide and my hips bucked as I felt a supernova pleasure shred my body, my body trembling and shaking as I rose up off the bed, nearly screaming. I gripped him more tightly, my whole body shuddering as he continued working on me, continued sending me into the stratosphere.
“Oh baby, oh fuck,” I groaned, one hand flying over the back of his head, the other gripping at the sheets desperately.
I glanced down, still in the throes of pleasure, and I could see that wicked gleam in his eyes. He knew exactly what he was doing when it came to pleasuring me, and he loved to do it, loved to break down my defenses and make me melt into a puddle.
“Oh, shit,” I groaned again, another orgasm ripping through me like a bullet, “oh fuck, Koen. P-please stop, I can't handle any more.”
He pulled his lips back from my pussy, giving me one last lick right across my clit before he did.
It felt like a jolt of electricity shot through my body, and I bucked my hips one more time as he got up from between my thighs. I reached out for him, to pull him up to me.
He brushed my hands aside and grabbed me by the hips. “I want you from behind,” he growled. “Now.”
I nodded. “Yes, sir,” I said quickly, that submissive part of me that seemed to exist only for him kicking in. I let him flip me over, then I climbed to my knees.
He got up behind me, his hands tight on my hips.
I felt his cock at my
slick entrance, tracing up and down my begging lips. I reached under me and back between my legs. I slid my hand over my smooth sex, felt his hard and ready cock. God, I wanted him so badly, and I was wet enough to more than prove it. I parted my lips with two fingers, inviting him in.
Koen gripped my hips tightly and slid his cock into me from behind.
I moaned low as his tool began to fill me. The pleasure I felt was unreal, like his cock had become the center of my world, and nothing could ever possibly measure up to it again. I pushed back slowly, meeting him, enveloping him with my lips, sliding him into my warmth.
He groaned loudly as his fingertips pressed deeper into my flesh, hard enough that I'd be feeling the bruises tomorrow.
Tonight, though, I didn't give a damn about any bruises, or any tomorrows. I just wanted him to fuck me ‘til we were both exhausted, fuck me like he really owned me.
He began to slide in and out of me faster, his heavy balls coming up and rubbing my clit with each thrust.
I pushed back into him as I dropped lower on my hands, putting my ass further in the air. Every stroke of his cock passed over my clit, and I screamed out in what must have sounded like the wails of the dying.
He really started to really go at it, then. With one hand, he pulled me back harder onto his cock, going deeper than any man ever had. With the other, he slapped my behind, just like that first time in his office.
Pain flashed through my backside, but it was beautiful, wonderful pain that just seemed to punctuate the pleasure throughout the rest of my body. I thrust myself back harder into him, his cock rubbing my g-spot with each stroke in and out. I even bit down on a knuckle to try and stop the keening wail coming from my throat.
It didn't work. I just screamed out around the knuckle-sandwich, my eyes squeezed tight, tears nearly streaming down my face as my whole body disappeared in a river of mind-erasing pleasure.
Still, he drove into me, pushing my senses to their limits.
My arms wobbled and I collapsed to my elbows, my mind screaming for me to stop, that this was just too much to handle at one time. The rest of the body, though, answered with a resounding, “No!” I pushed back harder into him, another cry splitting my throat and filling the room.
He began to slow after a while, and I gasped in both relief and disappointment. “What?” I asked, confused as to what was happening. I hadn't felt him cum yet.
“I need to look into your eyes,” he said, his voice tight and gravelly, as he pulled out of me and flipped me over on my back.
I didn't even have time to respond properly before he had me on my back, with my knees up against my chest. His cock was already back inside me, testing my limits again, his thickness rubbing along my g-spot with each movement, the base of his cock teasing my clit, as we gazed into each other eyes.
We couldn't gaze for long, though. Soon, my eyes were tightly shut, tears nearly streaming down from them, as he began to fuck me again. Feeling tiny in his big hands, and with his cock buried deep inside me, I cried out as he pressed his lips to mine, covering my mouth.
He groaned low and sped up his pace. He was close, and when Koen was close, he gave it his all.
I screamed out again, another orgasm just on the horizon like a train speeding towards me. “Fuck me, Koen. Fuck me like this is the last time,” I yelled, that train still bearing down on me. I knew I'd be caught in its path as it raced towards me, but I didn't care. I pushed back against him, groaning and screaming into his mouth, my nails raking up and down his back.
His whole body went rigid and I swear he grew in size. His lips left mine as I felt him explode inside me, filling me to the brim.
I cried out, my whole body seizing and shaking as I clamped down around his cock. We came together like that, our limbs entangled, my mind empty except for the pleasure filling my body. I'd never had such an intense moment as this, where I'd felt so connected to another human being.
And, as I scratched my nails down his bare back one last time before Koen withdrew from me, I knew I might never again.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Jace
I wasn't sure what was more uncomfortable: the wire beneath my top, the gun tucked into my boot, or having to watch the birthday party right next door to us as we met with Aleksey in the park. The three of us stood out like sore thumbs, but not quite as badly as the half-dozen Thunder Riders who weren't more than twenty paces away.
Aleksey wasn't what I'd expected. He was tall and slim, and seemed to keep himself in good shape. His face was hard, though, with the no nonsense look of a Cossack. Cold, uncaring, cruel when he needed to prove a point. But, unlike Sven, he had impeccable taste. His suit was well tailored, his clothes perfectly cut. No Russian mobster cliché, there.
The Wolf's gray eyes peered out at Koen from beneath a heavy brow, taking his measure with each word that left my partner-in-crime's mouth. Every so often he would flick his eyes towards me, but quickly would divert his attention back to Koen.
“So, now that you've broken from your little gang, you want to join mine?” the Wolf asked Koen before glancing my direction, maybe to see my reaction.
“Look,” Koen said, “I've been on the wrong side of things for years. I can help you on your little security situation.”
Aleksey chuckled, his eyes darting between the two of us. “Security situation? Tell me of this security situation you've heard about.”
Koen leaned forward. “Know you're having problems with people knocking over trucks. I can help you stop it, and even bring something else to the table.” He slid the manila folder containing the sealed bidding contracts for the state police and the Louisiana National Guard.
I glanced around as Aleksey opened the folder with terse movements and began to pore over it. I realized as I sat the park picnic table, with all those children playing around us, eating hot dogs and burgers and chips, that I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it.
The death of my brother was awful, one of the worst things I'd ever experienced in my shitty life. I'd gladly have shot Aleksey to balance the scales. I'd have tortured him to death if I had to, burned him alive, electrocuted him. You name it.
But, at what point did my revenge become so much that it tipped the scales back the other way? At what point did I create more harm than good by my less-than-moral actions?
Sven had deserved, and so did Aleksey. But, if I injured a child while I tried to level justice on the Wolf’s head, I'd never forgive myself. This was where I had to draw the line. I'd keep my gun in my boot. That was the only way to go.
Like it, or not, I wasn't going to be killing Aleksey today. And, if things went right with the sting operation, I never would. Instead, he'd be locked up between foot-thick walls, and out of my reach.
The pit of my stomach ached. But, then, as I looked at Koen, I realized what I would have missed out on anyways if I'd gone through with the plan: the chance at actual happiness. Vengeance can't provide that for you, can't help you live a real life, and it certainly can't hold you close and keep you warm at night.
# # #
Koen
I wasn't sure if Aleksey Volkov was biting, or not. He seemed twice as cagey as I'd imagined. And, Hell, he didn't even know about the disguised van full of federal agents just around the corner.
Beside me, Jace sighed, and Aleksey and I both glanced over at her. She just gave us a “what?” look and shrugged her shoulders.
“Where did you get this?” Aleksey asked. “And why do you think I would care for it?”
“I think . . .” I said, searching for just the right words. “I think, every businessman alive needs an edge. That's why I want to work with you, Mr. Volkov. You have that edge, even if you're taking hits on trucks. Everybody out there whispers about you, about what you can really do.”
Aleksey laughed, his eyes switching back to linger on Jace for a bit longer this time. He seemed awfully focused on her, which I guess was a good thing. He smiled a little, his eyes tracing over her fa
ce and form before he turned back to me. “So, what is it that these people say about me, then?”
“They say,” I replied as I leaned in closer to him, “that you're running some serious firepower. And I want in on any organization that can pull that off.” As I spoke to him, though, his eyes drifted from my face and back to Jace's. He was distracted by her, that much was certain.
Aleksey laughed again, sitting back from me. “People say all sorts of things,” he said, making a dismissive gesture with his hand. “Want me tell you what I hear about you?”
Of course he'd heard about me, and definitely done some digging when Fed approached him. A man like Aleksey Volkov didn't get far in this world if he didn't do his research. But, still, it was disconcerting to know that a man like The Wolf was checking into your background. “Sure,” I said. “Shoot.”