by Liz K. Lorde
Luke bucked harder now, with the wildness of a wolf behind him. “You gonna come for me, my little whore?”
Dark waves of pleasure crashed against her and a strangled noise left her throat; when he spoke to her like that, it was just all too easy to give in. She could feel the walls of her pussy contracting, tightening around the thickness of his cock – the soles of her feet dancing with electricity, “Yes!” She yelped, begging to be given permission to climax. When Luke spoke the words, her whole body let loose and all she could do was focus on the sound of his balls slapping against her – his every inch ravaging her sensitive slit as she came hard against his cock.
Unsheathing himself from her, Luke turned Jasmine around – her body almost limp – and pushed her to her knees, grabbing a fistful of Jasmine’s hair and cupping the side of her face. In half a heartbeat, he pushed his swollen cock inside of her mouth.
With greedy, accepting lips, Jasmine took her lover to his hilt – throating him long and deep and moaning against him as she bobbed up and down, making certain to keep her eyes locked on his, giving her most sultry look. She could feel her knees wobbling beneath her, the whole of her person still tingling with the pleasant afterglow of her orgasm. Come for me, she thought, I need to taste you inside of me.
Luke grunted, thrusting into Jasmine’s warm and wet mouth in tandem with her own motions, “Fuck,” he husked, “I can’t hold back any longer.”
Jasmine attacked with a renewed vigor at hearing those words, bobbing up and down faster and faster still, her moans against his thickness intensifying – she could feel her aching clit begging for more attention, the folds of her pussy excited and needing to be filled again; her very bones demanded that she have him again, that she be filled completely – she’d never had a man make her body so weak before. She felt his cock twitch wildly in her mouth, a couple beads of his warm seed spilling from the tip – and then in a glorious instant he pushed Jasmine all the way down and kept her there; his cock spurting out powerful, thin ropes of cum inside of her mouth. Her eyes widened and she whined for air before swallowing down every last drop of her man’s juices.
Throwing his head back, Luke let out a low rumble deep from within his chest – his body shivering for just a wink of time. If there were ever an award for sexy growls, Jasmine was certain Luke would be getting thunderous applause at the Olympics.
What a weird, interesting reality that would be.
“God that was amazing,” he let out in a breath, “you’re amazing,” he affirmed, looking down at Jasmine. “I want to wake up to you doing that every morning,” he half joked, a smile walking across his face.
Jasmine wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and got up to her feet, a smirk gracing her, “Well, maybe one day, cowboy.”
“Yeah,” he said, his eyes searching her own, “one day. Let’s get you cleaned up, and we’ll hit the pier.”
***
The sound of waves lightly crashing gave the night a peaceful feel, and it reminded Jasmine of when her father used to take her fishing in his old little rowing boat; the stink of dead shrimp and sweat beneath the sweltering sun. It was hard now, being without him – and being estranged from Mom – what a treat it would have been, if she could have met this wonderful man. Still, old grudges died hard – and some memories always found a way to stay buried.
It’s better off that way, Jasmine scolded. No sense in picking at these old wounds.
Luke flicked his lighter to life, making the end of his cigarette as red as cherries. He took a long drag and exhaled slowly lines of smoke, watching them drift in the wind.
Jasmine’s mind wandered to Alejandra, and how she had not heard from her in some time – the last two times she had tried to visit; the girl had been suspiciously absent. Jasmine padded over to Luke’s side, slinking an arm around his waist and cuddling up against him. She loved how complete it made her feel, to be so close to him – to feel his hard muscles and tones, every inch of his body was her canvas to learn, to memorize and immortalize. “Thanks for tonight,” she whispered in his ear.
“My pleasure sweetheart,” he replied, blowing out another line of smoke and turning his head to plant a long, full kiss on Jasmine’s luscious lips. As the two embraced, there was a vibration in Luke’s pocket.
“Ignore it,” Jasmine breathed, placing a hand on the man’s chest and rubbing up and down, “tonight’s about us, not the club.”
Luke’s eyes locked with Jasmine’s and a gust of wind kicked up their hair, the phone buzzing again; there was hesitation written on the lines of his face – an internal struggle just beneath his surface. “It won’t take long,” he promised, “I’ll just see what it is, and tell ‘em to fuck off if it’s not important.”
Sucking in a breath, she knew there was really only a 50/50 chance of things going down that way, as it’s happened before. “Okay,” she conceded, nodding her head.
Returning the gesture, Luke reached into his pocket and produced his phone.
A dark, sickly wave crept through Jasmine’s stomach and a tightness cloaked her – something was terribly, terribly wrong, she could see it in his expression.
His voice was cold as arctic night, “We have to go. Now.”
Chapter Three
Luke
Please let him be okay, I can’t lose another brother – I’ll kill them all for this, I swear. Motherfuckers. The Last Hope Hospital had listed Luke as Gabriel’s emergency contact, and even though it was mentioned that his brother-in-arms had been shot, and slipped into a coma, seeing it with his own two eyes? That was going to be a nightmare in and of itself.
When the nurse led Jasmine and Luke to the ICU, she mentioned that the hospital had regulations in place for only one person to be allowed in at a time.
Luke shot a hard glare at the woman, “Fuck the protocol,” he lashed out, taking an uncertain Jasmine by her hand and pulled her closer to him.
The nurse reluctantly stepped forward and led the two inside, closing the door behind them. Jasmine whispered something in Luke’s ear, but it failed to register – his heart plummeted down into his stomach and everything felt heavier in that moment.
All that he could see was a mess of tubes and gauze, the sound of a machine beeping steadily, monitoring his vitals. Anger commanded Luke’s body like a violent hand conducting an orchestra of madness – the heat soaked deep into his bones and a familiar stinging swelled just behind his eyes.
He stepped closer, Jasmine following gracefully at his side.
What did they do to you? Luke studied Gabriel’s lifeless face. Jasmine produced her phone, Luke could only stare in disbelief, disbelief at what those bastards had done to his boy. He had his theories, on just who might have done it – for the scum and lowlife that plagued Sequim was never in short supply.
Jasmine nudged Luke’s shoulder, “Look,” she said, bringing the screen to his face. Masked assailants light up corner coffee shop; four men reported as seen, wearing red and white bandanas – armed with mac 10’s in an unmarked 93 Chevrolet truck, black.
“Earl,” he said beneath clenched teeth, he hadn’t even noticed until now how hard he was balling his hand into a fist. “It’s blowback from before,” he added.
“What do you mean?”
It was always a struggle, should I tell her? Should I keep her in the dark? Luke knew the smarter of the two choices; but wasn’t honesty in a relationship important? Dishonesty, among a dozen other things, was what killed the love he had felt for that psycho he once knew as Kayla Rochester. “I can’t tell you,” he confessed bitterly.
“Yes you can,” she replied, “you just don’t want to – is it because you don’t want me involved?”
“It’s just…safer. Club dealings are for the inner circle, I know that I can trust you – but just because I do, doesn’t mean the others will – if they hear me giving away too much, to someone they know next to nothing about? Things’ll go south real quick.”
“I didn’t know that
they were so clueless about me and you,” she admitted, batting her lovely little lashes. God her eyes were something divine, they always took me away to these higher places – emeralds as green as the sea.
“Yeah well, again, after Kayla coming after you like she did – it’s safer to keep you in the dark,” Luke glanced over at Gabriel. Then again, even those who know more about what’s going on in the underbelly of the city still end up like Gabe, he mused. The life I lead just isn’t safe, but I have to keep them all protected – I won’t lose another life because I was too blind to see what’s right in front of me.
“I don’t want to be in the dark, Luke,” Jasmine grabbed Luke’s hand in her own, the warmth of it blooming against his own. “I want to be in the light, with you, always. I can keep my mouth shut, I’ll spin lies if I need to – I don’t want to have to stumble around alone. And I sure as hell don’t want to ever see her again.”
“Yeah,” Luke replied, “I’ve had a couple prospects keep tabs on her – she’s been locked away in her place; nothing unusual – but if they see anything out of the ordinary, we’ll know.” It still made him furious, how Kayla had tried to assault, no, tried to kill Jasmine. In that moment he had never wanted to hurt someone so badly before.
Aside from Able’s killer, of course. The fact that someone who orchestrated it was still out there wasn’t lost on him.
“I know he means a great deal to you,” Jasmine whispered, “tell me who you think did this?”
He knew that it was dangerous to let her in, especially before letting Allen or the rest of the inner circle know about her. But he wouldn’t be a Steel Knight forever. “It’s fallout from before,” he susurrated, looking over his shoulder, “guy named Earl? Me and Robert were dealing with him, but at the last second Robert decided to try and take authority that he didn’t have – that was the night I tried to call it quits between us.”
Jasmine listened in rapt attention.
“Of course, we know how that turned out,” Luke smirked, “anyway, words were exchanged, guns were exchanged, and lives were taken. It’s payback, he wants to watch us bleed – and my brother’s dying over there because our shit for brains VP had to try and have the biggest cock in the room.”
“I’m sorry,” she offered, wrapping herself around Luke’s person. She was warm and delightful and calming as a night’s breeze; if heaven were real, Luke thought, they’d all be waiting with bated breath for this angel. “He’ll pull through, I know he will.”
Luke could only pull the lithe woman into him. He swallowed.
If he wants a war – he’s fucking got it.
Chapter Four
Luke
The roar of Luke’s FX-50 motorcycle came to a quiet as he rolled up to the Knights base of operations, which was sequestered away deep within the woods. He killed the lights and slipped off of the bike, storming up to the front door in a barely contained rage – the two prospects that were outside on the porch smoking mota shot Luke concerned looks. He pushed them aside in a quick motion, “Outta my way.”
Kick drums and snares and the crash of cymbals could all be made out from the jukebox as Luke entered. If there was one thing that he was going to miss, it was going to be this place – his home away from… his only home that he ever really had. For one brief moment he was back in those days where he was just a kid, running around with Able and Robert and Kayla; finding all the best places to hide in the club, pissing off their elders and playing tag in the dead of the night. I had so many firsts here, he lamented.
Deep down he knew it was time for a new beginning. Snapping back, his eyes glossed over the room, spotting the president of the Steel Knights, Allen Knight, and the vice president, Robert Knight. They were sitting on the couch sipping whiskey and smoking left handed cigarettes. The hair on Luke’s neck stiffly bristled, he wanted to beat Robert all over again – it was almost impossible to hold any love for the man; no matter how close they were once. Taking several long, powerful strides, Luke walked over to the two.
Allen raised his head and looked up at Luke. He had a mess of blonde, tousled hair that was beginning to recede; the lines of his face were prominent and gave him a constant ‘hard’ look. The President’s most defining feature however, was his toothy smile. Allen took a drag of his blunt, blowing out lines of smoke, “What do you want, Luke. You got that look in your eye,” he coughed, huffing out what remained of the weed, shaking his head, “fuckin’ hate that look.”
He had to take a deep breath just to keep himself grounded. “I just got back from the hospital,” he looked over to Robert, who had a dumb look on his face, “Gabriel’s been shot.”
Allen immediately perked up, his eyes widened just a bit, “What?” He boomed, “what happened? Did you catch who did it?”
Luke shook his head, “I wasn’t there,” he could feel the blood pounding in his head, “I was his emergency contact; looked up what happened on the Internet. Apparently some yuppies in a truck made swiss fucking cheese of a coffee shop with 10’s.” He looked over to Robert again.
Robert, who had spiked up blonde hair, narrowed his eyes at Luke, “There a reason you keep giving me the evil eye?”
“Yeah, actually,” Luke’s jaw clenched, “it sounds, and fits, like this was Earl – and whose fuckin’ fault was that mess?”
The man scoffed, “Shit happens, at least I’ve got the balls to make a play.”
Waves of anger crashed against Luke’s core, “And it got Gabriel fucking shot, thank Christ you don’t run this shit show—“
Allen butted in, “Christ you two are a bunch of bleeding gashes,” he got up from the couch and physically put distance between Luke and Robert, getting dangerously close to Luke’s face, “if you say it was Earl, I believe you – but we don’t go on a whim. You know that. We’ll talk to the people that were there, and if it was him – we’ll wipe him and his crew off the face of the god damned earth.”
This wasn’t right, Luke’s body wanted to shake in anger – he knew it was Earl, and every second that he and his men went unpunished was just a sign of weakness. “No,” he said, “no that’s not good enough.”
“Boy, don’t start on me now – you know what happened the last time you went with your gut,” the President’s cold blue eyes narrowed, “or are you just asking for a second mark? You lookin’ for death? You know that Martine’s sitting on us, even as we speak?”
“I’m looking for justice,” Luke susurrated, “ fuck the police, we can throw them off. If you won’t back my gavel, I’ll find someone that will.”
“You do that, without my word, I’ll be the first to cast a vote against you; I’m warning you, son.”
Luke pushed out his chest and the corner of his mouth upturned into a sly grin, “I don’t need your warnings, and I sure as hell don’t need you anymore.”
Robert chimed in, “What’re you gettin’ at.”
Allen gave his customary, toothy grin, “Yeah what the hell does that mean?”
Luke backed away, shaking his head and raising his brows, “Nothin’. I’ve said what I needed to say; this is his fault,” he pointed at Robert, “if Gabe dies because of you… it’s on you.”
Chapter Five
Luke
It was proving impossible to sleep, not that it was much different from any other night – save for those lucky days when he would get to spend his time of rest with the woman that stole his heart. Light of my life, grant me just an ounce of rest, Luke wished. He couldn’t stop thinking about what they did to Gabriel.
Luke tossed and turned, he knew that he would have to recruit a couple of guys for the job – probably Sexton and Benny. If they agree, I’ll take it they trust me enough to break away from the Knights.
When sleep finally did take him, he dreamt of nightmarish things. A face split in two, being pulled apart by two hands = one a man’s, the other a woman’s. There was a bed of blood, and the sound of dying breaths – Luke felt as cold as the grave in that moment, he knew who it
was. Somewhere out there, Able’s real killer was getting away with murder, the one that pulled the strings.
Luke Reynolds shot up from his bed, gasping for a deep breath – his bare chest laced with sweat and his jet hair clung to his skin. He swept a hand through his damp hair and took in long breaths of air. He thought of Jasmine and her deep green eyes, trying to calm himself – but there was only a thorn of anger in his chest, and a hollow gnawing feeling that he wasn’t doing enough, that he had to do something now. Rationally, he knew better than to do so, but one thought kept ringing out in his head time and time again.
I’m going to bring them all down.
Chapter Six
The Heavy Heart
The cherry ember of her cigarette was the only source of light, save for the blue luminescence of her phone, in the seedy hotel room. The walls themselves, though bathed in blackness, were a simple beige – with the paper of them being scratched off by miscreants and junkies looking for where their fix might have went. Carpet, or precisely what carpet should not have been – was stained with the seed of cheating men and the piss of squatters that had happened to go unwashed.
The woman sucked deep her ash stick, her hand trembling as she held her phone.
She had waited so long, and tried so hard – but the thought of going through with it was too much to bear. It had taken considerable time and effort to move across the country, and further still, discerning where precisely to look. All those waste years, and all those long days of looking, all to make up for a singular mistake. Mistakes seemed to make us, but what of our actions?
Tapping the cigarette over the ash tray, which was lazily placed upon the pillow beside her, she gently put the stick down and sank further into the musty bed. Her toes were cold, and every now and again her legs would jolt – she would mutter something, a few words of stray thought spoken aloud; she did not wish to say them, nor want for them to come out in the way that they did.