by Brook Wilder
The only person who had given me that and more was Alisha. And Now she was the one person I couldn’t be with.
***
Alisha rolled on top of me, her naked body visible in the pre-dawn light. “Someone is definitely awake this morning.”
I gripped her hips with my hands as I lowered her onto my cock, allowing her to adjust to my hardness. “Babe, with you, I’m always awake.”
Her generous smile sucker punched me in the gut. “Well, then I am a lucky woman.”
I pulled her down and kissed her hard, groaning when she deepened the kiss. That was one thing I loved about Alisha: she knew what she wanted in the bedroom. I slid a hand between us and cupped one of her breasts, a perfect globe in my palm. She tore her mouth from mine and rose over me, her eyes dark with heated intensity.
I watched her move, feeling my groin tighten in response. She was gorgeous, her body swaying to her own beat as she slowly rode me. Her eyes were closed, her head thrown back, and she was making these throaty sounds that had me gripping her breasts tighter.
She was fucking gorgeous.
I lifted my hips and brought her to her first orgasm, gritting in my teeth when her body squeezed my cock. Damn I wasn’t going to last long like this.
Gripping her hips, I flipped us over, putting her against the mattress.
“You couldn’t take it, could you?” she asked softly, her hands sliding over my shoulders.
I nipped at the sensitive skin on the underside of her jaw. “You’re fucking killing me.”
She laughed and I grinned as I rose over her now, driving into her. This was how sex should be between two people, a little heat and a lot of fun. Her hands gripped my arms as I lazily slid in and out of her wetness, feeling my own pressure building.
I could stay like this forever, inside Alisha. This was home, this was where I always wanted to be.
“Don’t leave me yet,” she whispered, arching her back. “Fuck me harder, Seth.”
I gritted my teeth as I picked up the pace, our bodies slapping together in rhythm as I took her to another orgasm. “I love you.”
She opened her eyes and I was struck down by the emotion in her depths, the sheen of tears that had yet to be released. “I love you too, so much, Seth, it hurts.”
I bent down, keeping my rhythm and captured her lips with mine. “I’ll never leave you. You know that, right?”
“I know,” she whispered, closing her eyes. “Make me feel good, Seth.”
I groaned and closed my own eyes, the pressure mounting.
***
I woke up with a gasp, my eyes blinking rapidly when I realized I was in my own bedroom, alone. My body felt like it had just run a marathon and I threw back the covers, then let out a groan. I had fucking cum all over myself, the cold air hitting the large wet spot on my boxers.
Well hell. The dream had seemed real enough. It was the closest I’d get to being with Alisha again.
Swinging my legs over, I sat up on the side of the bed and rubbed out my eyes with the palms of my hands. I hadn’t had a wet dream since I was a teenager but seeing Alisha last night had reminded me of what we had together.
And what we lost.
Maybe I should have been more serious with the other relationships in the last ten years. Had I been intimately involved with someone when she had arrived back in Castillo, this all would be a hell of a lot easier on both of us.
But I wasn’t, and from what I could tell, neither was she. Hell, if she wasn’t ATF and I wasn’t a Jester, this shit would work.
Time hadn’t been good to either of us in that regard.
Standing, I stripped off my boxers in the dark and chucked them into the corner of my bedroom, along with all the other clothing I needed to wash. It had been some time since I relieved myself with a woman, too fucking busy with the war to even think about sex. There were nights we hadn’t even slept, afraid the Aztecas or the cartel would catch us off guard.
Now that the end was near, I knew everyone would be going back to their normal lives, whatever normal was. It would only be a matter of time before kids came into the picture for the two newlywed couples and then the club would really change.
Scrubbing a hand over my face, I headed toward the bathroom. Might as well get that shower I didn’t get earlier. My mind was too scrambled to sleep anyway.
Chapter 5
Alisha
“I’m splitting you up, effective immediately.”
I nearly dropped my coffee cup onto the concrete floor at Garrett’s declaration, my mouth rounded in surprise. It was ten in the morning, but already the humidity had made its way into the building, the air conditioning struggling to keep the air circulating.
My head hurt this morning; the upcoming assignment coupled with being at my parent’s house clearly caused lack of sleep on my part. I had forced myself to get into my car this morning, not really wanting to face the daylight or any part of this assignment.
All I could think about was Seth and our run-in last night.
“That’s bullshit,” Jon was saying, his expression thunderous. “We came as a team, we work as a team. No exceptions.”
I winced when Garrett’s eyes widened, willing my partner to hold his tongue before he got himself thrown off the assignment altogether. Garrett ranked higher than both of us combined, and if he wanted us to split up, we really didn’t have much of a choice.
“Can I ask why?” I asked quickly, hoping to draw some of the attention off my partner.
Garrett shot Jon a look before turning toward me. “Because. We have limited resources at this field office and if we are going to take on this huge assignment, I don’t need two agents working the same angle. I want you to sniff out any leads locally, and your partner here to look into the Aztecas. There’s got to be something that will turn up, something we can wrap our hands around.”
“So, call in some backup,” Jon said, throwing his cup into the trash. “We can’t go out there on our own. It’s not safe.”
“This entire fucking job isn’t safe,” Garrett shot back, grabbing up his clipboard. “I’m finished discussing this. It’s done. You will find your new assignments on your desk.”
Jon stood, glaring at the ATF commander. “If something happens to her, you will have to answer for it.”
Okay, this was so going the wrong way. I stood as well, placing a hand on Jon’s arm. “I will be fine.”
Jon shook off my touch, his face still mottled with anger. I had seen him pissed before, but this took it to a whole new level. “You better be. I’m going to get some air.”
I started after him, but Garret put a hand on my shoulder. “Can I talk to you a second?”
I turned, clearing my throat. “Sure. What do you need?”
The commander sighed heavily. “Listen. I read your file. I know about your past with the Rough Jesters and I think you can get some good information for us. That is why I split you and Branch up. Use your resources, Poole. This assignment has promotion written all over it if you can pull it off.”
A promotion. Those words hadn’t crossed my lips often and I was starting to think I was going to be a field agent for the rest of my career. “What do you need me to do?”
“Think about it,” Garrett said, stepping back. “Branch is doing nothing but holding you back on this. Take some risks. I’ll back you up.”
“Thanks,” I replied, my mind running with possibilities now. Garrett was right. This was my territory and I was the only one who knew it like the back of my hand. If anyone was going to have a successful run for the ATF here, it would be me. “I’ll take it into consideration.”
“Whatever you need,” he said before walking off, the clipboard in his hand.
I blew out a breath before walking outside, the brilliant sunshine and heat taking my breath away. Jon leaned against the building, a cigarette in his hand as he stared out over the parking lot. I approached him cautiously, my speech rolling around in my brain. He had made a compelling argument in the
office on my behalf and while I appreciated him trying to look out for me, I could handle myself.
Especially in Castillo. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said blowing out a ring of smoke. “Did he change his mind?”
I joined him against the building. “You know this is the right thing to do. We can cover so much more ground by splitting up.”
He ground out the cigarette on his boot before turning toward me. “Do you even know why I said what I said?”
I bit the inside of my lip. I could probably guess why. “No, why?”
“Because you are from this area, Alisha,” he started out. “You know these people and once they find out you are a federal agent, there’s going to be a knife in your back. Everyone will be gunning for you.”
I doubted that. Sure, the Jesters hadn’t seen me in ten years, and with the new blood coming in all the time, I was pretty sure there wouldn’t be many of us left from ten years ago anyway. “I appreciate your concern, Jon, I really do, but I will be okay.”
He took a step forward, reaching out to tuck a stray hair behind my ear. The single movement was meant to drive some sort of emotion from me, but I just stood there, not sure what I should be doing. If Jon expected me to fall in his arms and let him take over, he was an idiot.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt,” he finally said, dropping his hand.
“Why? Because you would have to get a new partner?” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.
He let out a breath. “Yeah. That’s it. Don’t feel like starting over with another partner.”
I didn’t know how to take his snarky attitude, so I just left it alone. “So, I guess we will debrief in the evenings then?”
“Yeah sure, whatever.”
I chose that moment to walk away, knowing Jon was pissed at the assignment change. Personally, I was excited about it, glad I would have some breathing room from my partner.
Once I was back in the office cubicle, I grabbed my file and moved to a free cubicle, pulling out my cell phone. I had to find some leads. And some of my contacts in this phone could help me out.
One in particular stood out.
Flipping through my contacts, I came across Seth’s name, wondering if he had changed his cell phone number over the last ten years. Why I had kept it in my phone was beyond me, but right now, I was glad I had.
Should I call him?
I straightened my shoulders and pressed the talk button before I could change my mind. I needed to talk to Seth about this assignment, act like we could still be civil to each other even given our past.
That was what adults did.
“Hello?”
I cleared my throat. “Um hey, Seth, it’s Alisha.”
“I was wondering who was calling me from Virginia. Hey.”
“Hey,” I repeated, not sure what to say to him. “I was wondering if we could get together somewhere. There’s something I want to ask you.”
He chuckled into the phone. “You know there are gonna be things I leave out, Alisha. Surely you can understand that.”
Oh, I understood, but it didn’t mean I couldn’t wear him down to get the information from him. “Of course. I just want to talk to you, one on one. I will even let you pick the place.”
“When can you meet?”
“Anytime.”
“Meet me at Market park then, in an hour.”
Market park? That was where families went to have picnics and let their kids run wild. “You afraid I might arrest you again?”
“I got my reasons. Can you meet me there or not?”
“Sure,” I said. “See you in an hour.”
He clicked off and I threw the phone onto the desk, my curiosity getting the better of me. Maybe Seth just wanted a public place so the Aztecas wouldn’t attack.
Or maybe he wanted a place where he knew he wouldn’t run into another Jester. After all, his reputation would be crap if they caught him talking to a federal agent.
Either way, I would be meeting Seth in an hour. I needed his help to jump start this investigation and as much as I thought I could do it by myself, there was nothing wrong with phoning a friend when it benefitted me in the long run.
I just had to remember this friend was the same man who had warmed my bed for almost two years. This was the same man I had thought might be the one. He was the same man who had stolen my heart, provided for me when others wouldn’t.
Damn, why did life have to suck so much?
Chapter 6
Seth
“Can we go on the slide today? Please? We will be extra careful.”
I looked down at the two angelic faces before me, one with dirt on his nose and the other with her front two teeth missing. “Okay, but if I find you pushing each other off the slide again, you both will be washing my bike for a year.”
“Thanks Seth!” the littlest of the two, Mary, said before racing out after her brother. I straightened and found a bench to sit on, placing the bookbag next to me. Since I was one of the only Jester who didn’t have a job during the day, Opal, otherwise known as Mama Bear, had asked if I could pick her two rugrats up from school and take them somewhere to burn off some energy until she could come and get them. Since it was only two days a week, I had readily agreed, and the two tykes had already put their grubby hands on my soul.
I had to give it to Mama Bear. She was a single parent trying to make her way in an all-women’s bike club and keep her family together. We’d had a scare a few months back, where Kris had risked her life trying to save those kids, and ever since I’d pressured Mama Bear to get some sort of security for her kids until this shit blew over.
She refused, as I knew she would, but you couldn’t blame a guy for trying at least.
It had also given me insight into what it was like to be a parent. Forget the fact that she was a biker parent, but just a parent in general. It was hard work and I only had them a few hours, two days a week. I learned which one was sneaky (Luke), which one liked to pick fights (Mary), and the one who somehow always got ice cream out of me (okay, that was Luke and Mary). To tell the truth, I enjoyed it. It gave me something to look forward to outside of the club activities, a glimpse into what a normal life would look like if I had my own kids.
Alisha’s face popped into my mind and I sighed. Sure, there had been a moment in life, probably more than one, that I had thought she and I would have kids together. Hell, I had already been thinking about rings and shit when her sister was kidnapped and everything had gone to shit.
“Seth.”
Alisha’s voice drew my attention. She stood beside the bench, the light glinting off her badge.
“Alisha.”
She motioned to the bench. “Can I sit?”
I nodded, deciding that offering my lap probably wasn’t an appropriate response given the circumstances. “It’s a free bench.”
She smirked and sat down; her long legs crossed. Even in her standard uniform, she looked damn good, though I didn’t care for the bun that kept her curls pulled back so tightly.
There were shadows under her eyes, too.
“You been sleeping okay?”
Alisha looked surprised by my question. “Well, it’s not easy to sleep in your parents’ home. I’ll get used to it though.”
“How long you planning to be here?”
“As long as it takes,” she answered slowly, a hint of a grin on her lips. “You trying to pull the secrets out of me, Owens?”
I chuckled. “If that is what it takes, Poole.”
She grinned then, and for a moment, we weren’t enemies. I was transported back to the early days between us, when we knew each other inside and out. I had known everything about Alisha, but this woman before me was like a complete stranger.
“Is there a reason you called me, Alisha?”
Her grin faded and she looked away. “Yeah there is. I need your help.”
“The great ATF agent Alisha Poole needs my help,” I said, still smirking. “I need to wri
te this one down. I don’t think anyone in your division has asked a Jester for help before.”
Alisha’s eyes met mine. “Don’t be annoying, Seth. This is serious.”
“I’m being serious,” I replied, my curiosity peaking. “Unless you called me just to see my hot body. Then I might understand.”
Alisha rolled her eyes. “God, you are the same as you were back then, aren’t you? I’m surprised your helmet still fits your big inflated ego.”
“What helmet?”