by Deja Voss
I’m craving every inch of her.
“I don’t know how to thank you, Lean. I don’t think you know how much this means to me,” She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, fidgeting her knee up and down. “All of this.”
“I’d do anything for you,” I say, sitting down on the bed next to her. “I knew from the second I saw you, you were meant to be with me. I never wanted anything in my life so much.”
“Did you feel that way about Destiny?” she asks.
I place my hand on her trembling thigh. “You really wanna let all the skeletons out, babe? I’ll tell you everything, but you’re not gonna like it. You wanna judge me on who I was or who I am?”
“Not judging,” she says. “I just don’t like surprises, and everywhere I look right now, it seems like I’m getting surprised. I know you’re a good man, Lean. I know I can trust you. I just… I guess I just don’t know you.”
I pull her onto my lap facing me, cupping the back of her head so she has to look me in the eyes. Having her this close to me, in the palm of my hand, makes me feel like a God. I know she can’t stare me in the eye and say that she doesn’t know me.
“My real name is David. David DeCico,” I say. “My dad is the president of this club, his dad was the president before him, and my mom ran off with my uncle when I was too young to remember.”
“Dave,” she says, like it tickles the tip of her tongue. “I can see that.”
“I run six strip clubs. We’re pretty much the only game in the city. It’s all business. I don’t fuck around with my employees. I make sure they’re safe when they’re at work and they got enough money to take care of their families, but nothing beyond that. I’ll tell you straight up I see more tits on an average day than most men see in their whole lives, but it doesn’t do anything for me.”
I run my hands up the front of her stomach, resting them on her perfect breasts. “Now these? These do something for me.”
She shifts on my lap and I can feel my erection growing in my jeans as she moans.
“I used to do a lot of drugs. You name it. I sniffed it, I swallowed it, I shot it up, I even went to jail for a nice little five year stretch as a result. I tell people it was because I was young and dumb, but really, I was just trying to get away from myself. Never really had a purpose in my life like my dad who cared so much about the club, or like somebody that really wanted to be something when they grew up. I just kinda drifted around. The drugs kept me grounded.”
She puts her hands on my face and kisses me on the forehead, and somehow I feel forgiven. Like I atoned for my sins. I feel like I could tell her anything and that one soft kiss could somehow make it better.
“Why did you strangle her?” she asks. She doesn’t have fear in her eyes, but she looks like she’s trying to wrap her brain around something that’ll never make sense.
“I had to scare her, love. It don’t matter if it was a he or a she or a goddamn penguin. If somebody tries to hurt my family, they pay.”
“I wish… I wish I had that kind of confidence. I wish I had that kind of power. Stefano and Catarina, they need to pay for what they did to us. They need to pay for what they did to Bags.”
“They’re going to pay, Mani. I swear on my life.”
She looks down with a sigh, and as much as I want to peel her clothes off right now and take her, I know she needs a little foreplay.
“You wanna feel that power? You wanna feel that confidence?” I ask. “I’ll show you.” I push her up off my lap and go to my closet, grabbing my leather jacket. “Put this on.”
She looks at me quizzically but slips it on, and damn it looks sexy on her.
“Come on,” I say, grabbing her hand and guiding her to my bedroom door. We walk down the hallway, and I knock on Rowdy’s door. He pops his head out, and smiles when he sees Mani in my jacket.
I hand him my cellphone. “If Ella calls, go check on her,” I say.
“Dude, lockdown,” he says, shaking his head. “You better be fucking careful.”
“It has to be done.” I know sneaking out when we’re all supposed to be here is a dick move, but I need Mani to see it. I need her to feel it. I press my fingers to her lips, and grab her hand as we run down the hallway out the back door.
I grab a helmet off the shelf in the garage and hand it to her. “You ever rode a bike before?” I ask.
“No,” she whispers.
I tighten the strap on her helmet and straddle my Indian, revving the motor, and she leaps across the garage in the opposite direction.
“It’s all good, Mani. I swear. After awhile it’s white noise, babe. You don’t even hear it. You just feel it.”
She approaches apprehensively.
“Come on. Just a quick whip around the block. I swear, it’ll do you good.”
She gracefully whips her leg over the side and I grab her arms and wrap them around my waist. “Hang on tight, babe. I’ll take it easy on you.” She squeals right in my ear when I take off, then gasps as we pick up speed down the straight away. I don’t know if it’s physically possible for her to grip me any tighter, and then all at once, it happens. Her grip loosens. I catch a smile in my mirror. She’s in on it with me now.
We hit the top of Mount Washington, the night view of the city sprawled out beneath us.
Being up here makes me feel so powerful. Being on my bike makes me feel invincible. Having her here with me makes me feel like a God. I can tell she gets it, too.
I whip through the city like I own the damn thing, my exhaust rattling off the sides of the bridges, roaring through the tunnels. I know we’re supposed to be keeping things low key right now, but I wasn’t lying when I said it all turns into white noise. You get to a point where the only thing you feel is freedom. I could ride all night like this. Ride til the clubhouse was so far behind and all the shit that comes with it was dust. I got everything I need right here.
This is my replacement drug. Having Mani along for the ride is like stacking ecstasy on top of oxy only better. I might not ever have to come down.
Chapter Twenty
Mani:
I press my face into his back and close my eyes, enjoying the drifting sensation. Riding through the city is a trip down memory lane, but everything about riding with him is new. I don’t need to see the road ahead. I already know it’s going to be better than anything I possibly imagined before.
It’s like he put me on the fast track to trusting him, the fast track to understanding him, the fast track to undoing years and years of bullshit I’ve told myself about who I am and what I’m supposed to be. Trust in him is liberation. He hasn’t lead me wrong yet.
Everything slows down as he turns onto a little side street. Even though the summer air is warm, my teeth are chattering in my helmet. I hug him tighter, trying to suck up as much heat as I possibly can from his body. He drives down a little path that turns into the woods until we reach a pavilion. A stray light flickers from the rafters, and as he shuts down the motor, the only thing you can hear is the chirping of the crickets and the hiss of the cicadas in the night.
There’s this overwhelming need inside me. I know exactly why he brought me here, and I don’t hate it at all. Between the hourlong vibration between my thighs and the hungry look in his eyes, I don’t think I’ve ever been this turned on before in my life.
He gently slaps his hand off my pussy, and I feel like I’m going to cum right there in the gravel. My knees buckle and he runs his finger through my hair, pulling my head back as he plants a passionate kiss on my lips. I love the way he’s so gentle and respectful with me, but I don’t want gentle tonight.
I want it all. I want Lean in all his glory. Lean inside me.
He grabs me around my waist and carries me to a picnic table, his lips locked to mine the entire time. No matter how hard he kisses me, I hunger for more. He slides my leggings down around my ankles, his lips trailing down my neck, the unzipping of his jeans like music to my ears.
“You’re so wet
for me,” he growls, his fingers exploring the outside of my pussy, spreading my lips, every stroke bringing me closer and closer to the edge. “I can tell by the way you’re dripping you want this dick, don’t you?”
“Fuck me,” I plead into the night, eager to feel him for the first time. Between the bike and the night and the man, my brain is floating on a different level than I’ve ever felt before. My inability to talk isn’t coming from a place of fear anymore, but a place of need.
I watch in awe as he takes his dick in his hand, pumping it up and down. It’s angry and veiny and thick as my wrist. I lick my lips and clench my thighs together in anticipation. He lines up the head with my eager pussy, slowly pushing in just the tip as his big hands spread my thighs wider and wider.
I yelp at the sensation, and he groans, inching his way in just a little further. “I’m gonna make this pussy mine,” he whispers in my ear. “I’m gonna fill every inch of your cunt with me. I’m gonna keep you well fucked for the rest of your life, babe. You’re gonna be walking crooked with a smile on your face.”
He grabs my ass and squeezes it, pulling me onto him, impaling me with his thickness as my walls grip around him, stretching with every thrust. He is not gentle. He is not slow. The way his hip bones smash off me as he slaps in and out of my pussy, gyrating against my clit makes my toes curl.
I buck my hips to meet his rhythm. He digs his fingers into my ass so hard, I know I’ll be bruised for a week. I don’t care. I want him to mark me. I want to give my body to him. He already has my heart, he already has my trust, and as he bites down on my shoulder, I explode into orgasm, my walls twitching and squeezing him, milking him, begging him for everything he has to offer.
“Cum all over that dick, babe,” he groans. “I wanna feel your juices all over me.” The way the stubble of his beard grazes my neck, his breath in my ear, my entire body feels like it’s on fire. “Give me everything you got. You’re mine now, and I want it all.”
He slides his dick out of me, coated in my juices and I kneel before him, my bare knees on the gravel, taking him in my mouth, tasting him, tasting me, relishing the sensation of his fingers in my hair as he fills my throat with his warm load.
“You’re so fucking sexy. Take it all,” he growls. “Suck that dick, babe. Lick it clean.”
I smile up at him, his dick in my mouth, looking for approval on his face. What I get it something better. His smile is so wide, his eyes squinting, lost in complete bliss. He looks so gentle, so unassuming, so happy.
So free.
For the first time in my life I feel like everything is going to be okay. Like it’s alright to just want to be happy. Like the meaning of life is nothing more than finding somebody who makes you feel good and making them feel happy. I know if I can make a man like him soften into a joyful carefree guy, I must be good for something.
I must be good for him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lean:
Waking up next to Mani is the best thing a man could ever ask for. I don’t care that her internal temperature runs at about a thousand degrees, or she knows exactly how to wrap herself around me so I can’t so much move without her finding a way to wrap herself around myself even tighter than before. I don’t even mind the drool or the soft snoring.
I kiss her forehead and the startled look in her eyes is something I’m gonna have to get used to, but as soon as she settles into that pretty little grin, I know everything is going to be alright.
Today’s a big day for us. The club, too. Today’s the day we put the wheels in motion to take down the Gallo’s once and for all. Normally when the club is going to war, I wake up with this overwhelming sense of dread, knowing if shit goes sideways, all I have to show for it is a bunch of dead brothers. I don’t feel that way today. I catch myself whistling as I rinse myself off in the shower, smiling at the hickey my sweet angel left on the side of my neck, laughing at the marks where her fingernails dug into my chest.
By the time I get out and wrap myself in a towel, I hear her and Ella chattering in the bedroom. I poke my head out from behind the door, and Ella slaps her hands over her mouth and giggles.
“Need some clothes, babe,” I say.
“What’ll it be?” Mani asks, flipping through my closet. “Do you want the black t-shirt or the other black t-shirt? Or one of these eight million Steeler’s jerseys?”
“Black t-shirt is fine, babe. I don’t bust out the jerseys for a few more weeks.” She could wear them anytime she wanted, though. She’d probably look sexy as fuck walking around in nothing but a black and yellow jersey. I shelve that thought for another time, and she hands me a pair of jeans and t-shirt through the door.
“What’s on the agenda for today?” she asks, planting a kiss on my lips and pouring me a cup of coffee. Ella’s smearing butter and peanut butter on a piece of toast. She offers it to me and I wrinkle up my nose.
“Butter and peanut butter?”
“Doctor said she needs to eat. Who am I to judge?”
“It’s delicious,” Ella says, shoving the whole piece in her mouth.
“I’ll take your word for it.” I chug down my cup of coffee, just kinda standing on the sidelines observing this whole situation. Sure, I’ve always had some sort of semblance of a family. There’s not a doubt in my mind I love my brothers. I love my old man, too, but Mani brings this whole new vibe to the clubhouse. It’s tenderness maybe? Optimism? It’s mushy shit, shit I don’t feel like I was ever entitled to. It’s kind of overwhelming, knowing somehow I brought this here and somehow it’s a part of me now.
I gotta do whatever I can to protect it at all cost. These two have already been robbed of basically everything, and me and my brothers are going to make damn sure it doesn’t happen again. I don’t ever want either one of them to feel hurt again in their lives.
“Got business today,” I say, trying to be as vague as possible.
“Well so do we,” Mani says, raising her eyebrows and smiling. “Brass got in touch with the school, and Ella is going to take some online tests today and do an evaluation so we can see what grade we’re going to put her in in the fall.”
“No shit?” I slap my hand over my mouth, then realize by the time I was thirteen I had the vocabulary of a full blown sailor. “Our Brass? Like the guy with the tattoo on his eyeball?”
“Is that what that is?” she asks.
The eyeball tattoo isn’t even the most painful one I know of. Dude’s got a serious addiction to jamming needles in places I don’t even want to think about. He’s also got a serious addiction to breaking necks and obscure medieval weapons. Apparently, he’s also a fan of the education system and sick children. Guess it pays to have a multifaceted enforcer.
“We’re still on lockdown,” I remind her. “You guys don’t wander, and you make sure if you see anything weird you tell somebody.”
“Well, now that you mention it, Margaret did take out her eyeballs this morning.”
“Of course she did,” I say, bending down to kiss her forehead. “I’m sure you’ll cherish that memory for life.”
“Be careful.” She takes my hand and squeezes it, and I can tell by the sadness in her eyes, she knows today isn’t exactly going to be sunshine and rainbows. The way she holds her shit together for her sister makes me want to be a better man. Everything she does makes me realize how made for each other we truly are. “I want you back here in one piece tonight.”
“Speaking of pieces,” I say, “Gin’s gonna take you out back today and show you how to use that pistol in my nightstand.”
“I don’t like the sound of that.”
“I don’t like the sound of you not knowing how to defend yourself. Best case scenario you’ll never have to use it other than for target practice.”
“Fine,” she says begrudgingly, “but I’m not going to enjoy it.”
“I find that very doubtful,” I say, pressing my lips to hers. “I saw how riled up you got yesterday when you were on the bike. Trust me,
gun goes boom is just as exciting.”
She rolls her eyes and gives me a gentle shove.
“You better save it for me, though,” I flick my tongue at her and wink.
“Well there goes my appetite,” Ella says. “Can I shoot guns too?”
“Never,” Mani says. “At least not until you’re old enough to be on your own. Then you can shoot whatever the hell you want.”
“I really like it here. I think maybe this will be my permanent residence.”
“Well there goes the neighborhood,” I say. I tousle her hair, and Mani gives me that ‘please don’t leave’ look. After today, I hopefully won’t have to leave her ever again. I know I’m walking into a death trap, but something about having this to come home to makes me feel that much more confident.
It’s going to be a good day.
I blow her a kiss, grab my cut, and shut the door behind me on the way out.
Chapter Twenty-Two
We got twelve envelopes filled to the brim with blackmail. Twelve unlucky fuckers who just so happened to not cover their tracks when they decided to do business with the Gallo Family. Twelve jagoffs are going down today at the hands of my crew.
Today we plant the seeds. We want Stefano and Catarina out, gone, shut down, no matter what it takes. A simple hit isn’t enough to completely irradiate their operation. We need full compliance.
We’re making twelve house calls today.
No corrupt politician, no crooked cop, no loud mouth radio host, no team owner, no restauranteur is safe. Nobody who aided and abetted in the trafficking of women, the abuse of Mani, and the negligence of Ella is getting a free pass. They’re gonna do what we say, or we’re going to blast their dirty secrets so far and so wide, they won’t last a day in prison alive.
The parking lot roars with the sounds of our motors, gravel and dust flying everywhere. I know I sure as fuck wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of what’s about to go down. We pull out onto the long stretch of road, and Rowdy hangs tight behind me as we all go our separate ways.