by Brair Lake
This morning I woke to a semi naked Mia. As she stepped from the veranda back into our suite, the cord on her dressing gown had fallen open, baring that delectable body to me, bringing my cock to life. I sip my beer as I recall the morning, and a smile lingers at the corners of my mouth at the memory of the shared shower. Then my smile slips. It’s the first time I’ve shared a shower with another person in a long time. The club whores have their uses, and once used, I would return to my cabin and shower alone. It would have been nice to have woken with Mia next to me. To have reached over, stroked her flesh until she woke and taken her. However, instead, of lying beneath me as I fucked her, she had taken the time to take to a call from another man. My blood ran cold when she informed me Cole was the caller. I clench the beer bottle as I take a large slug of the cool liquid. Knowing Mia is with Cole right now festers in my blood. I take another mouthful of beer as I stare up at the stars. The way they wink at me, mock me. I should have insisted Mia move onto Demon’s Lair today. Then she wouldn’t have been free to go on the date. Shit, I should have persuaded Leon to come on this run as I remained in Noir Valley. I grimace as I take another swig of beer, only to find the bottle empty. Knowing, standing on the edge of the group, is doing me no favors, I return to the campfire, grab a couple of beers from the cooler and sit in front of the fire and watch the flames as they dance and listen to the brothers as they settle down. The noise of the party is turning into a quiet lull. The crunch of pebbles pushed into the ground has me looking up and I find Bastian watching me.
“You’ll take first watch.” He said.
I nod as I frown. Last night Mia wrapped her body around mine, and I had slept. This morning I woke a little later than usually. Sleep is something which has eluded me since Jo-Leigh’s death. The only other time I had slept while dreaming of Jo-Leigh without drinking myself into a stupor was the night I Mia gave me her virginity.
“Wake Tick in a couple of hours, he’ll take over from you.” I nod as I continue to stare into the fire. “Alex.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a hell of a road to travel. But it’s worth it,” Bastian said.
My lips pinch as my past torments my memory. “It’s a road I promised myself I’d never travel again.”
Bastian stares at the flames. “When that madman held a gun to Eve’s head. My heart froze as my head pounded as the blood roared through my body. All I could think about was killing him. To get Eve away from him and put her somewhere safe. I have never felt as hopeless as I did in those moments. But you and the brothers were there.” Bastian stare drills into me, “and Eve lived.”
“Jono won’t hurt his own sister.” But Delaney might. I shake my head and slap Bastian on the shoulder. “Get some kip. We’ve a long ride ahead of us.” I watch Bastian as he settles into his bedroll. Then glance around the camp. Silence has descended. A silence I find oppressive and stand. I am sober. The night air is pressing in, and my mind wanders down the path it normally avoids during the day. A path I travel less when I’m with Mia.
Jo-Leigh was nothing more than a child when they killed her. It wasn’t grief which kept me awake or invaded my dreams. It was the guilt. I loved her, Shit, I was secure in the knowledge I could protect her from everything and everyone. I spent my teenage years living with a motorcycle club that ruled Noir Valley with an iron hand. No one touched the brothers or disrespected them. It was this pride and my over confidence which led to her murder. When the threats started, I dismissed them, and my arrogance killed Jo-Leigh in the end. My love for her has become tangled with my guilt, and for this reason I don’t sleep. When I do, the torment begins. This is why my dreams are riddled with the images of Jo-Leigh lying on the bed. Her life drained from her. Her sunny smile missing from the vacant look as she glares at the ceiling. I take one last swig of the beer and drop the empty bottle into the cooler and reach for the burner. It’s after three, Mia will be home.
Her voice is groggy and wraps around my cock and I smile. “Sorry, did I wake you.”
“Shit, Alex. Do you know what time it is?”
I’ve moved away from camp and as I lean against my bike, I watch the flames in the distance. “Sure do. Did you end it with Cole?”
I sense her scowl. “Is that why you’ve rung at this ungodly hour?”
“I thought we could watch the sun rise together.”
I listen to the mattress creak as Mia groans and rolls over in her bed. “The sun’s not due up for a couple of hours.”
“Set your alarm and watch it with me.”
“When you’re back in Noir Valley. We can watch it then.”
“It’s a date.”
Mia giggles and it roosts in my stomach, soothing the night nerves. “Can I go back to sleep now?”
“Soon.” I turn my gaze to a patch of trees. We are hidden from the highway and I watch the taillights of a car at it passes, through the copse until they disappear. “Let me listen to your voice as I’m denied the pleasure of looking at your body.”
“Don’t make me fall in love, Alex.”
The vice around my heart tightens as I wince. Love isn’t for me. “How about lust?”
“I can cope with lust.”
There’s no easing of the tension surrounding my heart. “Lust suits me.”
“This is a crazy time to call.”
I glance at the stars. Their blinking no longer mocks me. “It’s the only time I was free.”
“Everyone else sleeping” she asked
“For a few hours.”
“I’ll have to ask them what it’s like.”
I glance over at the sleeping bodies. One or two of them snore or mutter in their sleep. A couple shuffle under their bedrolls while others lie perfectly still. “It’s dull. Mia. Nothing happens. Now if you were lying next to me. It would be a different story.” Mia’s husky chuckle flickers across my heart and I remind myself we’ve agreed to fall in lust.
“But I still wouldn’t be sleeping,” she said.
“No, you wouldn’t. You would be too busy and frustrated to sleep.”
“Is that why you called. Because you’re frustrated.”
I growl down the phone. “I might have just wanted to hear your voice.”
“I’ll give you a recording to keep. Then you can listen to it whenever the urge takes you.”
“Only if a video of you doing naughty things is tagged with it.”
“I haven’t been a naughty girl for a long time, Alex.”
I close my eyes as the heat in my blood sweeps through my veins and my cock twitches as I pull up an image of Mia from last night. Of her stretched out on the bed. Her flesh naked and warm as the sweat glistened on her skin. She had laid there as I played with her tits. Trailing my finger from one peak to the other. Tiny shivers caused her stomach to quiver as her musky aroma teased me. “You were naughty last night. Mia,” I close my eyes. There are times I am my worse tormenter. “Let’s play a game.”
Mia’s breath trickles over the air into my ear and I smile. “What kind of game.”
“Dare. You like to play dare, Don’t you, Mia.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I dare you to wear dresses with no panties until I return to Noir Valley.”
“Alex.”
“You can always pay the forfeit.”
“And what’s that?”
“You clean the cabin with a toothbrush.”
Mia’s laughter taunts me for the rest of the night and although I’m on watch, I step behind a tree and find temporary release from my frustrations.
***
I pull the bike into Demon’s Lair compound and park beside Bastian. It’s three days since we left Noir Valley. Three long days and the nights were just as long. The calls to Mia too brief. The one time I tried to tempt her into phone sex, she refused. The girl needs loosening up and I intend to be the guy to do it. As I remove my helmet, I take a swift glance of the parking lot and smile when I spot the red Corolla tucked away in a far corner.
I turn to Bastian and flip him the finger. “Won’t you be saying hi to Eve.”
Bastian slaps me on my back as he shakes his head. “It pays to be sweet to Firebird. That’s why I’m not working tonight.”
Shit. I begged Firebird to give me the night off, wanting to spend time with Mia on her first night on Demon’s Lairs. “Sweet my ass. That’s how Leon got to remain behind on this run.”
“That had nothing to do with me.” Bastian’s chuckle trails behind him as I follow him up the gangplank.
“Make it an hour.” I yell to his retreating back.
Bastian shakes his head as he turns to the saloon. “I’ve a lady waiting for me. The sooner church is over. The sooner I’ll have Eve’s warm body against mine.”
“Not if I tell her, this is how you’re talking about her.”
“Church.” The warm glow in Bastion’s dark eyes belie the somberness in his voice.
I nod as I turn to the lower deck. When I reach my cabin, I take a deep breath to steady the wild beating of my heart. I don’t have time to bed Mia before the meeting, but if Day hurries church, I’ll have time for a quick one before returning to the casino to do my shift. I open the cabin door and come to an abrupt halt as I step over the threshold. I have never seen inside Mia’s bedroom and if the sight greeting me now is anything to go by. I don’t think I want to. The cabin’s not large. Shit, the room wasn’t designed to be lived in permanently. When I returned to Noir Valley, I never had a need for a big place. Apart from a small apartment I never use, the only thing I own is the Harley and a handful of clothes.
I glance around the cabin as I close the door; Mia must own half of the stock from Noir Valley’s only dress shop and its contents are spread over the bed. The bedside cabinet is cluttered with more of Mia’s junk. I need a piss and step into the small bathroom and come to a halt once more. The toilet seat is down and on top of it lies Mia’s toiletry bag. I turn to the small bathroom cabinet and open the door. My hand sweeps out to stop the small make-up bag as it takes a tumble and I push it back into the cabinet and close the door. I glance at my watch. I’ve wasted five minutes and haven’t seen Mia. Leaving the cabin, I head for the club private room, where I spot her talking to one of the club whores, and I hold back my groan when it dawns on me, it’s Teach. A quick sweep of the room confirms church hasn’t started yet and I head over to Mia, taking a swift detour of the bar, collecting a couple of beers on my way. As I cross the room, Mia’s gaze clashes with mine. Her smile wraps around my cock and I curse Day for calling church and Firebird for making me work tonight. It’ll be ninety-six plus hours before I sink my cock into Mia’s sweet pussy. That’ll be ninety-six hours plus since I have had sex. When we stopped over at Sinbad’s, I refused his hospitality of using any of the women. I had my own woman waiting for me at Demon’s Lair. This thought jolts through me. Jo-Leigh was never part of The River Demons. She was never waiting for me when I returned from a run. As I reach Mia, I slip my hand onto her waist and pull her in close to my body. Her scent teases me and I take her lips in a long, hard kiss. She tastes of barley hops and sultry evenings, and my cock twitches as I stroke the curve of her ass covered by her short skirt. Her punishment for refusing my dare to have phone sex was to meet me with no underwear on and my fingers slip under the hem of the short dress. I groan into her mouth when I encounter smooth flesh and nothing else. With another frustrated groan, I break the kiss to look at her. “You refuse to have telephone sex with me, but are happy to be in a room full of hot-blood infused testosterone men without any underwear on.”
“These men aren’t interested in me,” Mia said.
My eyebrow rises, “you think not.”
Mia’s smile is the devil’s and my fingers itch to spank her ass. “I know not.”
“Then you know very little about men.”
Mia shakes her head. Her hazel eyes sparkle with mischief. “You weren’t here last night when Day warned everyone off. It was embarrassing.”
When it comes to women Day is a bastard. Yet he is one overprotective bastard when it comes to his men and their women and I thank him silently. “It just saves me from doing it.”
Mia frees herself of my embrace and accepts the beer I offer her. Her smile slips. The gleam in her hazel eyes dim. If it wasn’t for the hard-protruding nubs of her tits through the soft cloth of her light tee-shirt, you would be unaware she is as hungry for me as I am for her. That the kiss we shared had sent the blood directly to my cock. “Hank called round to the house before I left.”
Shit. They were treating Mia like a vestral virgin. My smile is bland as I study her. “What did he want?”
“To warn me.” She frowns as she swallows a mouthful of beer, turning from me as she searches for a seat. When she finds one and goes to sit on it, I pull her into my arms and settle her on my lap. “Shit, Alex. I haven’t told him or the folks I was moving on to Demon’s Lair. How the fuck did he find out.”
I shrug as I sip my beer. Before going on the run, I had informed Day and Leon about Mia moving onto the riverboat. They must be the ones to set the rumors going. It’ll not be long before Jono makes his move.
“You obviously listened to him.”
Mia takes a long drink of her beer and as I watched the muscles on her throat as the liquid slides down it, my cock twitches in its need to replace the bottle and have her lips locked around my hard flesh as she sucks and licks me. “I love him, Alex. But there are some things a brother just can’t do for you.” Her smile has me glancing at my watch, wishing we had the time to slip away for a quick one. To do things which will satisfy me that a brother is unable to do.
“Well if there’s anything you need doing. Let me know and I’ll see what I can do.”
Mia’s hand slips to my zipper and her fingers play with the small tab. “I have this burn in my pussy which needs attention.”
I shake my head as I grip her wrist. “I’ve church, then work. I’ll soothe your burn when I’m finish.
“I don’t think I can wait that long.” Mia pouts. Her full red lips teasing my blood.
Shit, Day’s meeting may just have to wait and with a groan, I frown down at the blond, “Mia.”
“It’s okay. I’ve brought my friend. We can play.”
The buzz in my head grows and the blood flowing through me turns cold. “What friend,” I ask, scanning the room for Cole.
“Humphrey Hummingway.”
“Who.”
Mia leans forward. Her mouth brushing against my ear. “My portable little friend.”
“Shit, Mia. You keep away from Humphrey Hummingway until I join you.” The throb in my pants matches the throb in my head and I rub my forehead. How the fuck will I be able to concentrate with images of Mia self-pleasuring herself while I was at church. “Have you and Humphrey been friendly while I was on the road?”
Mia leans back. Her smile lopsided. The gleam in her eyes has me releasing a groan. “It was either Hump or Cole.”
“There’s no more Cole now. If and when you get an itch. You come looking for me.”
Mia raises an eyebrow, “I have and you’re making me wait.”
Over Mia’s shoulder, I watch Day stand and signal the room. “I have to wait, Mia. Just think how intense it’s going to be when we finally hit the sack.” I stand, pulling her to her feet and slap her ass as I turn to leave. “Now go and tidy the cabin. It looks as though there’s been an implosion of material in there.”
Chapter 18
Mia – Noir Valley’s Diner, Noir Valley
I pull into the parking lot of the local diner, and instead of going inside, I scan the street and wave at Hank as he leaves the sheriff’s office. He hesitates at the bottom step, then walks towards me. His lips set straight, and his gaze hidden behind his aviator glasses.
“Mia. I didn’t think I’d bump into you so soon.”
I shrug. I moved onto Demon’s Lair last night and spent a total of ten minutes in
Alex’s company before he abandoned me for a meeting then work. In my excitement in the move and being with Alex, I hadn’t thought about the boredom I would find on the riverboat. Alex and I may have hooked up and I might be friends with Firebird and Eve, but I am still an outsider. Someone not to be trusted, it would seem.
“What did you think? That Alex was going to turn me into his sex-slave. And never leave Demon’s Lair again until my body came floating down the Mississippi.” Hell, after Alex disappeared to his meeting, instead of clearing my clothes away, which are still scattered about the room, I had grabbed my laptop and arranged to meet Cole for a coffee.
Hank scratches his forehead, rocking his hat as he chuckles. “Not quite. But I hear Alex only just got back. Hence my surprised at seeing you in town.” As a bike pulls into the parking lot, Hank’s gaze flickers over my shoulder and I turn and watch Cole park his bike next to the Corolla, then Hank is looking at me again. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Mia?”
“So do I. Alex is your friend, Hank. Give us a chance.”
“I guess I’d best stock up on ice-cream.”
“A couple of bottles of Tennessee’s best will go down a treat.”
“You’ve a date. And the way Cole is watching us, I guess he’s waiting on you.”
I watch Hank swagger over to the sheriff’s car. He’s a man in demand with the ladies of Noir Valley, and I smile at him as he drives past, then turn to Cole to find him waiting at the door to the diner. When we enter, he finds a table at the rear of the diner and orders two coffees.