by Marla Monroe
“Look, she’s innocent in all this. My name is really Jack, and I was really a part of Reaper’s gang until about three years ago. I got out and started over. Only with The Devils, you’re never really out. You know that.”
“Yeah, I do. So how do you know the question?” he asked suspiciously.
“Long story, but as you know, they took Nina to make me come back. She really is just a woman I was dating for two freaking weeks, no less. I contacted the powers that be and struck a deal with them. I’d help you get the goods on Reaper and they would guarantee we’d have safe passage.”
“You do realize they will lie to you to get what they want?”
“Yeah, but I figure I know enough shit to wrap up the entire gang and then some. They’ll want everything I have, and I got it put in writing before I showed up. It’s in a safe-deposit box with a copy at my lawyer’s office.”
“Good move, Jack. So, how are we playing it?”
“Just like we have before now. No different. Only thing is we talk when we’re alone. I’ll feed you what I know. That way if one of us doesn’t get out, the other has the information.” Jack swallowed then continued.
“If I don’t make it, promise me you will take care of Nina. No fucking Freak on her. You’ll take care of her and get her out.”
“Absolutely. Most of what they say about me is all hearsay anyway,” he said with a smile. “So you’re not going to tell Nina?”
“No, she might not act right around you, and she needs to still be afraid of you or they will get suspicious.”
“True. You know she’s not so averse to my watching you two. She never stopped what she was doing when she saw me,” Freak told him.
“Yeah, I know. I think she likes it. She’s just not sure it’s okay to like it.”
“I’m going to have to bring her in on how I’m going to get those guns to New Mexico ’cause she’s going to be a part of it.” Jack ran a hand over his head.
“I’ll tell you both tomorrow morning when I have all the details worked out in my head. I’m still ironing them out,” Jack told him.
“Good enough. Any idea when they are going to take the operation down?”
“The next run. You have a contact of some sort, right?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, I can get a message to them.”
“When we go to make a deal with the next group, they need to follow and take us all down then. They will round up the rest of the gang at the hotel wherever we are staying at the time. I don’t know where the next meet-up will be. He used to tell me these things, but he’s playing it close to the chest right now. All I can do is try to find out from him.” Jack looked toward the bathroom where the shower shut off.
“Okay, she’s going to be out in a minute. No more talk,” he said.
“You going to keep letting me watch?” Freak asked with an odd smile.
“As long as she doesn’t mind,” Jack said.
“Cool.”
The door opened, and Nina stepped out of the shower with wet hair and jeans and a T-shirt on. She didn’t have on socks or boots yet. Jack could see her barefoot and pregnant in his kitchen. The vision changed to how she’d look after a few years in the gang, and he frowned at her.
“What?” She turned around and then looked at him again. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, baby, just thinking.”
“Don’t think like that anymore. You scared me.”
“Sorry,” he said and pulled her in for a hug. “I’ve got to go take my shower now.”
“You should have joined me. I used all the hot water,” she said with a smile and pulled out of his arms to go back and dry her hair.
“That wasn’t very nice of you.”
“It wasn’t very nice of you to lie to me either.”
He stilled. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“You said you would join me in the shower, and you didn’t,” she said.
“Sorry, baby. I was talking to Freak, and time got away from me.”
“When are we going to get out of here, Jack?” she suddenly asked.
“Soon, Nina. I promise. As soon as I can manage it.” He brushed a strand of hair from her eyes with his thumb.
She continued with the blow dryer, brushing her hair as she did. He left the bathroom door open so she wouldn’t have all the steam to fog up the mirror. It wasn’t long, though, before he realized she hadn’t been lying. She had used all the hot water up. His cock had been hard only a few minutes before, and now it was cooling off. He guessed it was for the best. They would be leaving in less than an hour to eat then to the bar. He wondered if Nina would try and get drunk again. He hoped not. He wanted to know if she enjoyed being watched like Freak said she did.
* * * *
Nina finished drying her hair then put on her socks and boots. She pulled her hair back with a clippie until they got ready to leave and she had to put on the helmet. It was heavy on her back in the heat. She would carry the clippie with her and pull it back as soon as they pulled off the helmets, she decided.
She walked over to the love seat and sat down to wait on Jack. Freak walked into the room with his shaggy brown hair damp from his shower. He’d changed T-shirts as well. She really hadn’t expected for the man to care much about being clean. Most of the others didn’t seem to even take showers most of the time.
“Enjoy your shower?” he asked.
She swallowed and nodded but didn’t say anything. She figured she was better off keeping her mouth shut. He smiled at her and leaned against the wall across from her. He didn’t say anything, just stared at her. It made her very uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to tell him to stop it. She wasn’t sure how he would react to that.
Jack walked out of the bathroom nude and drying off. He looked from Freak to Nina and lifted an eyebrow. Nina waited for him to say something, but he didn’t. Instead, he began to dress. As soon as he was dressed, he ushered her outside to mount up.
“We leaving without the others?” she asked.
“Yeah, same diner so we will get there early and get ours first,” he told her.
“Can’t we just keep on riding and not look back?”
“I wish we could, baby, but they will hunt us down and take it out on you. I’m not going to let them hurt you, even if it means sticking with them a little while longer. I promise. We’re not going to be here for very much longer.”
Nina sighed over the mike and held on to Jack as they maneuvered around cars until he pulled up outside the diner. There were already a couple of other bikers there, so they weren’t the first. Freak pulled up next to them.
Jack followed her inside with Freak at her back. She wasn’t comfortable with the big man at her back. Of course, she wasn’t comfortable with him anywhere near her.
They commandeered the same booth as before and ordered the same thing. Nina did better eating than she had earlier. She wasn’t feeling queasy. In fact, she was a little hungry. She would need the food to absorb some of the alcohol she would drink later on tonight. Though she liked a beer with certain foods and on the weekends, she’d never been one to get drunk. The night before had been the first time she’d deliberately gotten that tight. She didn’t plan on doing it again.
“You about finished, baby?” Jack asked.
“Yeah.” She pushed her plate out of the way.
“Freak?”
“Just about.” He reached over and took the leftover piece of toast Nina hadn’t eaten.
It was gone in three bites.
“Now I’m ready.” He winked at Nina.
She shivered and pushed closer to Jack.
“Let’s go outside where it’s not so stuffy. This place is like an oven with so many people stuffed in here,” Jack said.
They made their way out of the diner. Jack sat Nina on the back of his bike and wrapped his arm around her. She burrowed into him despite the heat of the summer evening. She felt cold inside. So much was wrong. She didn’t know if it would ever be right
again.
“Do we have to go to the bar tonight?” Nina asked suddenly, getting the feeling something was wrong.
“Yeah, baby. Reaper expects us all there. We’ll leave as early as we can. I promise,” Jack said.
“Yeah, I know how good your promises are,” she groused.
He spanked her thigh with one hand.
She yelped. “Stop that.”
“Don’t smart-mouth me then.”
Jack looked serious. She wasn’t expecting that. She didn’t say another word the entire time they waited for the others to finish up. As soon as they piled out, Jack picked her up and sat her back on the ground, handing her the helmet. She waited for him to get on then swung up behind him. They rode in circles until Reaper joined them. Then they all followed him to the bar.
Tanner’s place looked busier than the night before. Of course it would, Nina thought. It was Saturday night. She’d almost lost track of time. It was easy to do that traveling with the biker gang. She didn’t want to forget. She missed work, and she missed Charlotte.
Jack kept one hand at her waist as they walked in then took her hand as they made their way to the bar. He ordered them two beers and pulled her along to the back wall where they could lean until a table came open. Freak walked up to a table of guys and leaned down. A few seconds later, the four men cleared out. He looked up and nodded at the table. Jack shook his head laughing and pulled Nina along toward the table. He seated her then straddled a chair backward.
“Neat trick, Freak.”
“I have my uses.”
Nina took a sip of the beer. She planned to nurse it as long as she could. Two would be her limit if she could manage it. Three wouldn’t be too bad.
“Let’s dance, baby.” Jack stood up and pulled her out of her chair. “I’ve never danced with you before.”
“I’ll save your seats,” Freak said.
“I’m not worried. You sitting there will keep anyone from walking within ten feet of the table,” Jack said.
“He makes me nervous. Why does he have to go everywhere we go?” Nina asked.
“He’s my partner in this area,” Jack told her.
“He watches us, you know.” She looked over Jack’s shoulder at the big man. He hadn’t taken his eyes off them.
“What do you mean, baby?”
“When we have sex. He watches.”
“I know.” Jack seemed to hold his breath.
“You like it when he watches, don’t you?” Nina pulled back to look at his face.
“Yeah, I like it. Like I told you before, if you don’t, I don’t have to have it. I’ll tell him to stop.”
“And you think he’ll stop because you told him to?” Nina asked.
“I’d probably have to fight him, but he’d stop,” Jack promised.
“I don’t want you fighting him, Jack,” she said.
“So it’s okay if he watches?”
She was silent for a long while, thinking. Was it okay? Yeah, she liked it, too. Did that make her a pervert? Was Jack a pervert?
“Yeah. It’s okay.”
They finished the dance in silence then Jack took her back to the table. Nina sipped on her beer, looking everywhere but at Freak. After they had been there about an hour, Slick walked up and leaned on the table toward Jack.
“Reaper wants to talk to you,” he said.
“Now?”
“Hell yeah, now,” Slick said.
“Nina, stay at the table. I’ll be right back.” Jack stood up and disappeared into the crowd.
Nina leaned into the table and hugged her beer. She didn’t like being left alone with Freak and the crowd. The majority of them were bikers and not all from their gang. She stopped. She’d said “their gang” like she was a part of it. God, she needed to get out of there. She wasn’t cut out to be a biker chick. Jack might do just fine in the gang, but she wasn’t going to make it.
“Hey, how ’bout a dance?” The voice startled her. She looked around and found a six-foot-five-inch tall man staring down at her.
“Sorry, I’m taken,” she said.
She looked across at Freak, but he wasn’t there. She hastily searched the room and found him getting another beer at the bar. His head stuck out above most of the others. She didn’t know what to do.
“I don’t see anyone around to claim you. You don’t even have a tat saying you belong to any of the gangs. You’re anyone’s piece of ass,” he said and pulled on her arm.
She tried to pull against him, but he jerked her by the hair with his other hand and hauled her to her feet. Nina screamed as loud as she could, but the noise level in the bar far outdid her scream. She searched for Jack as the man pulled her toward the dance floor. She would take Freak if he would help. He was probably standing back watching. The bastard.
Nina figured it was going to be up to her. She tried stomping on his instep, but his boots were tough. He laughed at her. When he pulled her into his arms, he held hers down by her side so she couldn’t go for his eyes. She tried kneeing him, but that didn’t work.
“Settle down, bitch, or I’m going to make you,” he said.
Nina had one more possible weapon, her teeth. She honed in on his belly and took a bite. He yelped then cursed a blue streak as he tried yanking her off by the hair. She finally let go, and he raised his hand to hit her. No one seemed the least bit interested. She braced for the blow, but it never came.
“That’s my partner’s bitch. You don’t mess with Jack the Ripper’s bitch.” Freak towered over the man even at his extreme height. He was holding his hand firmly in his.
“Well, if it ain’t the Freak. You telling me you actually have a partner who’ll put up with your shit?”
“I’m telling you that she’s taken. You don’t want to mess with both of us, Dog.”
The man sneered and looked down at her.
“That right, bitch? You belong to Jack and his partner, Freaky boy over here?”
She looked up at Freak and saw him nod his head ever so slightly. She nodded her head.
“I want to hear you say it, bitch.”
“Yes, I belong to them.”
“Let’s see you take care of him then,” the other man said.
He released her, and she quickly got behind Freak.
“Come on, baby. Let’s get back to the table before Jack finds you gone.” Freak put his arm around her and started to walk off.
“No you don’t, I want to see her suck you off, or me and the boys are going to figure she’s a free agent.”
“She’s not doing it just to please you, asshole. Don’t piss me off, man.”
Several other men stepped forward forming a loose circle around them. Hands reached out and plucked at her, trying to move her from behind Freak. She wrapped her arms around him and held on.
“Don’t make me do it, Freak. Please don’t make me do that here.” She cried.
She didn’t have to fake the tears. She was scared to death.
Freak pulled her around in front of him and held her close to his body.
“You have to come through me to get to her,” Freak said.
“You’d fight us over a piece of ass?” the other man asked, looking amazed.
“It’s the principle of the thing, bitch. She belongs to us. I don’t want to share. I don’t have to share. Especially with you, Dog,” Freak said with a sneer.
They converged on them but soon were being thrown to the side. Nina saw Jack and several of The Devils fighting Dog and his bunch. When Jack got to them, he pulled Nina out of Freak’s arms and hugged her. He held her away from him and looked at her. She was hurting all over from the misplaced hits at Freak and the pinches from the men surrounding them.
“Fuck, baby. You’re a mess. Let’s get the hell out of here. Fuck Reaper.”
Freak paved the way for them to make it outside to their bikes. Once they were back at the hotel, Jack carried her inside and turned on the shower before stripping her down. He washed her from head to toe, ca
reful of the red patches where she’d been punched or pinched. Then he hauled her out of the shower and patted her dry with the towel. He carried her nude to the bed where he pulled the covers up to her neck. He dried off and dressed in a pair of jeans.
“You okay now, baby? Can I get you something?”
“I’m okay. I was so scared, Jack.”
“I know. I know. What in the hell happened?” he asked.
“It was my fault. I went to the bar to get us two more beers. Dog grabbed her and dragged her off to the dance floor. She fought like a true bitch then finally bit him in his yellow belly. Totally my fault, man. I’m sorry.” Freak was leaning against the TV stand.
“How did you get her away to begin with?” Jack asked.
“I told them I belonged to both of you. He wasn’t worried about just you,” Nina said.
She couldn’t look Jack in the eye. She had hugged all over Freak like a coward, as if he were a port in a storm. She was totally ashamed of herself.
“You did good, baby. Freak will always take care of you for me. Just don’t do anything to piss Reaper off, and we’re fine,” Jack told her.
“I won’t hurt you, Nina. You’re the only woman who’s ever chosen me over anyone else. I’ll never hurt you,” Freak said and walked back into the other room and shut the connecting door.
“You sure you’re okay?” Jack asked.
“Hold me, Jack,” she whispered.
Jack pulled off his jeans and climbed in the bed with her. He pulled her into his arms and rocked her. After a little while, she began to rub herself on his cock. She was horny and couldn’t help it. She’d narrowly escaped a fate worse than death as far as she was concerned. If Dog, as they’d called him, had wanted her, he would have taken her, and probably a few of his friends would’ve as well. She needed Jack to take her, make her his.
“Nina, are you sure you want to do this?” he asked as she sucked on his earlobe.
“Fuck me, Jack. Fuck me, and let Freak watch.”
He searched her eyes as if making sure she was sure. Then he got up and walked over to the connecting door and knocked on it.
“Freak?”
He opened the door. “Yeah, man.”