“Thanks for doing this. Mom was in a jam as usual.”
East doesn’t comment. He never says anything bad about Mom though he is undoubtedly thinking it. He gets onto me anytime I say mean stuff, but he doesn’t have to live with her.
“Have you had dinner?”
I shake my head.
“Want me to run through a drive thru and get you something?
“Tacos?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Cool.”
We hit the drive-thru, and I eat on our way to the store. East always lets me go wild and get a bunch of the junk food that Mom refuses to buy. I try my best not to get any taco meat or sauce on his leather seats but it’s impossible. Cheese keeps dropping into my lap.
“Gonna have to get you a bib.” East chuckles. “You got some sauce on your mouth.” He hands me a napkin.
We get to the store and he waits patiently for me to finish my food. Doesn’t yell at me to hurry like my mom always does. She is always in a rush and running behind for something. She gets in a hurry for the men she sees but when it’s for me she doesn’t mind being late to pick me up from my practices for dance team or missing my performances in favor of going out with her flavor of the month. When she’s single though her depression kicks in. I swear the woman doesn’t know how to be alone. I don’t know how she will survive when I move out and leave for college in a few years.
“Okay, all done.” I wad up my wrapper and stick it down in the bag. I gather up my trash and dust out the seat then throw the brown paper bag in the garbage by the cart return.
“Cart or basket?” East questions once we get inside.
“Cart.”
“All right.” He grabs a cart and we start moving through the store. I grab my favorite cereal for in the morning and some candy. East grabs some chicken, Swiss cheese, mushrooms, and onions. He makes this great chicken for dinner that is to die for. I just ate tacos, but I am already excited to have that chicken tomorrow night.
“Hey, Wylla.” I turn my head and see Darin walking toward me in his basketball shorts and tee with the sleeves cut out. He’s starting to get some definition in his biceps. Last week he got his braces off.
“Hey.”
“Is that your dad?”
“Oh no. That’s East.” I don’t offer any other explanation.
“Cool. You going to the dance next week after the game?”
“I don’t know, are you?”
“Hey, I’ll meet you up front,” East tells me and moves up in the checkout line.
“So…think you’ll save me a dance?” Darin grins at me and his dimples pop out.
“Maybe…I thought you were taking Randa.”
“Nah. She’s not as pretty as you,” he says and my heart leaps in my chest.
“Wylla Mae,” East calls out.
“I gotta go.”
“See ya.”
“Yeah. See ya.” I can’t wipe the smirk off my face as I practically float to the front of the store.
“Who was that boy,” East questions me as we walk to the truck.
“Oh him. That was Darin.”
“Titty twisting pervert?” he growls the words at me. My face goes ten shades of red.
“I can’t believe you remember that.” I laugh.
“I should go back in there and have a talk with him about how to treat a lady.”
“Oh my god. Don’t you dare.” I smack at him and he ruffles my hair with his free hand.
“You like that chump?”
“He’s not a chump. He’s nice.”
“Hmm,” he grumbles under his breath while putting the bags in the extended cab of the truck.
“He asked me to save him a dance.” I beam and East shakes his head.
“And so it begins,” he whispers to himself, but I hear him.
“So what begins?”
“Hormones.”
“Ew no. Don’t talk about that stuff. Mom already had the sex talk with me.”
“Christ. I don’t even want to hear you say that word, Lil’ Lady.”
“I’m not little, East.”
“Don’t be in such a hurry to grow up, okay?”
“I know. Mom gave me this big lecture about how she messed her life up getting pregnant with me. Don’t worry. I’m nothing like her.”
“I know you aren’t, kid.”
“Stop calling me kid.” I punch him as he gets buckled in and starts the truck.
“Your mom having you didn’t mess up her life. It just changed her path. You’re the greatest thing to ever happen to her. Don’t ever tell yourself no different.”
“You say that, but she doesn’t even believe that herself,” I point out. I crank up the radio and lay my head back. I don’t want to talk about my mom or what a burden I am to her. I want to think about the look that will be on Randa’s face when I dance with Darin.
**
I wake in the middle of the night skin flushed with sweat. The smell of smoke wraps around me as a hand caresses my face. “East?” I whisper confused. It’s late. That much I know.
“Shh,” an unfamiliar voice whispers in my ear. Fury lips brush along my jaw and I scream.
“Wylla Mae?” I hear East shouting as I sit up in bed and look around my room at his cabin.
No one is in my room. It was just a nightmare. I feel stupid but can’t shake the terrified warning sensation coursing up and down my spine. It felt like someone was here with me. I rub my jaw and a shiver passes through me. My bedroom door flings open. East is in his flannel pajama bottoms holding a gun. He flips on the light.
“Christ, are you okay?”
“I think so.” I shouldn’t have been watching a scary movie so late. So stupid. They always give me nightmares. I wipe at my eyes and East is looking at me funny. “What?”
“You um…” his face goes red. I’ve never seen him look embarrassed before but then I glance down, following where he’s gazing at me at. The white sheet is red, stained with my blood. I’ve started my freaking period. I flop back on the bed covering my eyes. I don’t know why I have the urge to cry. It’s stupid.
“Do you um…need anything?”
“I want my mom.”
“You know if I could get her here I would but she’s not even in the same state. What would your mom get you if she were here? I can call Pam or one of the girls at the clubhouse if you’d be more comfortable.”
“I don’t know.” I am so mortified. I want to die.
“I’ll call one of the Old Ladies. Why don’t you take a bath or something I’ll…I’ll just go call Pam.” He runs out of my room like it’s on fire.
I go to the bathroom, my belly cramping something terrible. I take a shower and by the time I’m out I can hear Pam and East talking. He sounds pissed off.
“How could you even think some sick shit like that? She’s a kid. I treat her like she were my own. She got her goddamned period. I didn’t touch her. Why would I call you if that was what was happening here? You know what, Pam, you can take your sick accusations and shove them up your whore ass. You think everyone doesn’t know all about you fucking around on Link with his best friend? Yeah, sweetheart, I know all about that shit. So fuck you.”
“I’m sorry, East. I just. I saw the blood, and I didn’t know what to think.”
“I told you on the fucking phone she needed some pads or tampons. Why would she need that shit if I fucking raped her?”
I gasp as their words sink in. I hurry and get dressed and fly out of the bathroom.
“Pam… East didn’t. He wouldn’t.” I start crying.
“Great, Pam. Thanks a fucking lot. Now I gotta tell Alexa about this shit. You think she’d leave her kid with me if she thought I was some sort of sick pervert? Goddamn.” He goes to the fridge and grabs a bottle of beer. “She wanted her mom, but she’s out of town, so I called you because she knows you. But fuck I won’t ever make that mistake again.”
Pam looks at me and drops her head. “I’m sorr
y. I don’t know what to say. I brought you some pads the bag is on your dresser.”
“Thanks,” I mumble. I stomp back to my room and grab the bag off the dresser and stomp even louder to the bathroom and slam the door shut while they talk. Stupid Pam.
Chapter 7
Wylla Mae
Sixteen
I’m back at East’s house for the weekend. Mom had this thing for her new job, and she was afraid that Darin would be at the house all weekend if she left me there on my own because last time that’s exactly what happened. East caught us when Mom randomly had him stop by to check in on me. Now I’m not allowed to stay home alone overnight. Mom is terrified that I’ll be like her I guess and end up pregnant and alone. I have no intentions of becoming a teen mom. Sure, Darin and I have fooled around but nothing outside of kissing and some touching. All over the clothes type stuff. Even when he stayed the weekend with me, we slept with all our clothes on.
I doubt he will ever touch me now, not after East put the fear of God and the Devil in him. He threatened to cut his thing off and feed it to him if he did so much as breathe funny. It was so embarrassing. I thought Darin was going to break up with me then and there, but he didn’t.
East called Mom and told on me. I was so mad at him. I don’t think I’d ever been truly mad at him until that moment. He’s always had my back and been on my side, but that day he was the enemy.
When him and Mom were dating, he tore out a closet and added a bedroom on for me. So I wouldn’t have to sleep on the pullout bed in the living room anymore. He let me choose any color I wanted so I chose a pale creamy yellow. He painted sunflowers on the wall for me. Him and my mom. Said he wanted me to feel at home here, and the sad part is I’ve always felt more at home here with East. Like nothing bad will ever touch me again.
Mom had a boyfriend when I was five who was pure evil. I think Johnny Ray Lycons was the Devil reincarnated. He was nasty and downright mean. Didn’t like Mom having to ignore him to take care of me. He hated me and I hated him.
One night good ol’ Johnny had been drinking or doing some drugs. Possibly both. I had a nightmare and wet my bed. I stumbled into Mom’s room in the middle of the night. He was holding her down on the bed and touching her. He looked up and saw me in the doorway. His thin lips puckered into a snarl and I could see the fires of hell blazing in his eyes.
“That brat is always in my goddamned way,” he roared. His fist came back and connected with her face. Mom cried out and I screamed. My dog started barking from downstairs. I don’t know what I was thinking but I ran straight at Jonny Ray like I could somehow pull him off my mom and protect her. It was the wrong thing to do. I should have run. Should have gone across the street to the Baker’s and got help but I was a kid. A stupid in the way kid. He caught me by the hair and shook me. His hand went around my throat and he squeezed so hard that some nights I wake up and think I can still feel his large hand wrapped around me. I wake up unable to breathe, but when I’m staying here at East’s house the nightmares don’t come. I forget all about Johnny Ray. I forget that Murder showed up and beat him to a pulp for what he did, for touching me, smacking Mom around, and killing my dog. I was scared for years that Johnny was gonna come back and want revenge on me.
He’s on my mind tonight though because my stupid-self decided I wanted to watch a scary movie. I’ve been in my room hiding from East because I’m still mad at him. I could be on a date with Darin tonight, but he said no. Said the roads were too bad, that he didn’t trust Darin’s driving. I called it a lame excuse but here I am in bed watching this movie scaring the shit out of myself because now Darin is mad at me and not answering my text messages.
It’s this movie where this teenage girl is on a getaway with her parents and she goes into town to meet up with her friend. They meet this cute boy, but it turns out his family is wanted for murder. It’s called Last House On The Left and it has scared the crap out of me. Now I’m terrified to go to sleep. I know East is still up. I heard him coming in from a smoke. He does his best not to smoke around me because I start gagging at the smell. It makes me think of stupid Jonny Ray and I wish he’d quit.
I shut the Tv off and lay in my bed tossing and turning trying to think happy thoughts. Trying to be excited that tomorrow I have dance practice because I know Darin won’t be able to stay away. He always shows up to drive me home after practice. I toss and turn more, trying to count sheep. Nothing is working. I go into the kitchen for a bottled water and all the lights are off, except for the glare from the Tv upstairs in the loft where East has his bedroom and a small sitting area. I creep up the stairs in case he’s a sleep. I don’t want to wake him.
East is kicked back on the couch. He’s shirtless and drinking a beer watching some movie. I can see all his tattoos on display. He’s an attractive man. I’d have to be blind not to notice his muscles and that sexy ink. I glance at his tattoos, cataloging them to memory. The skull and roses on his neck. The swirly pattern on his bicep. I memorize every visible inch. I glance at the screen. A woman is on her knees and I can’t look away. I know I shouldn’t watch. I know exactly what kind of movie this is. Last time I spent the night at Andi’s her brother was in trouble because their parents caught him watching dirty porno films on his iPad. The man pushes his erection into her mouth, and I swallow hard, looking to East. He hasn’t noticed me perched at the top of the stairs spying on him. I know this is so wrong, but I’m glued to the spot.
Holy hell. I should turn around right now or at least close my eyes, but I can’t. His hand slips into his pants. He’s touching his thing. Oh. My. God. East’s head goes back on the couch, eyes closed, lips parted. He shoves his pants down exposing it all, spreading his thick thighs that are dusted with dark hair. Fist wrapped around his thick cock he pumps. My heart beats fast in my ears. Emotions I’ve never felt before shoot through me. Sensations I don’t exactly understand, but I want him to notice me. I want him to know I’m watching. There’s something wrong with me. This is bad. I need to get far away from these stairs. My nipples harden, belly tightening. Warmth pools between my thighs.
My fingers move to my chest as the movie continues to play. I touch myself. Body tingling, I wish East were touching me.
“Take me all the way,” the man grunts and she suctions her lips tighter around him. Fingers gripping her head he starts thrusting, sliding in and out of her mouth.
East strokes himself faster. His thickness bobbing between his fingers.
I let out a shaky breath. Gaze focused on what East is doing my hand moves lower.
“You love my big cock,” the man on the screen continues.
The woman starring in the porno flick starts to moan, and I find myself being drawn closer to both the movie and to East.
East moves his hand faster and faster until he erupts on his stomach. Creamy liquid coats his hand.
I move closer, tongue darting out to wet my lips.
His eyes pop open when my shadow crosses the Tv.
“Fuck,” he growls. The deep sound of his voice washes over my skin and jolts through my every nerve. I part my lips and the two of us just stare at each other for an intense minute or maybe its mere seconds, but the spell breaks and he pulls his pants up and shuts the Tv off. Now we’re in the dark. I move toward him as he leans forward and rests his head in his hands elbows on his knees. “Just go to bed, Wylla Mae.”
“I don’t…I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t mean to.”
“Fucking hell, just go to your room and let’s pretend this didn’t happen, okay? Can you make that happen for me, Lil’ Lady?”
I nod but my words don’t match. “Nobody’d have to know, East.” I go to him and drop to my knees having no clue what I’m doing, but I want to do to him what that woman was doing in the movie. I want to taste him. To lick him clean and for him to put his hands on me.
His dark eyes meet mine. “The fuck did you just say?” His beer stained breath fans over my lips.
“I said no one would have t
o know.” I lick my lips and put my hand on his knee. He jerks away from my touch as though I’ve burned him.
“Wylla Mae, only gonna say this once. You’re a kid. I’d go to jail. Now do us both a favor and march your ass down those stairs and we never speak of this again.”
Tears burn in my eyes, but I softly say, “Okay.” I sniffle and move to stand. “I’m sorry, East.”
“Me too,” he croaks, and I leave him there alone in the dark in a bad place sensing so much distance between us all I want is to cry. I’m so confused. He’s East. My Easton. Maybe my hormones are making me crazy because Darin and I haven’t…but I don’t get those same emotions I experience for East when I look at Darin. Those all consuming thoughts.
Desire.
A craving to be his.
I want to belong to Easton Reed.
Back in my room I lay there tossing and turning. I can’t sleep. I keep picturing East touching himself. His fist wrapped around his erection. Shame washes over me, but I can’t stop picturing what could have happened between us if he hadn’t pushed me away.
I hear the front door open and East talking to a woman. Jealousy grips me and I want to scream. Lynn’s here. I thought they had broken up. She’s the woman East has been seeing off and on again. I guess they are still on. I’m a fool. So stupid. Why did I think he’d want me?
Her laughter echoes through the house.
Once I hear them go upstairs my tears fall harder. My tears soak through my pillowcase. I can hear him through the vent in my ceiling. Touching her. Doing all the things I wish he’d do to me.
“You like that? Like when I give you my big cock.”
“Harder. Go faster. Like that. Oh, yes. Fuck me, East.”
All the things that I will never experience outside of my wildest fantasies plays out above my room. I know it’s wrong to want him. To crave him so deeply that he is all I can think about day in and day out. Easton Reed was never meant to be mine, but I claimed him when I was just a girl and he was already a man. He has always been home to me. My safe space. Where I could run to when life got too tough. Too hard and dark. He was my protector. He was and is my everything, but to him I’m a silly girl. Except I’m no little girl. I’m all grown up now. Ready and willing to do whatever it takes to be his Lady.
Lady & The Biker (Royal Bastards MC) Page 5