by Blair Grey
“I don’t think it’s going to matter much as long as you keep on your own side,” Marcus replied. “I don’t want to go into what we’re going to have to do if you stray from that.”
“I’m sure none of us want to talk about that,” my father said with a hearty laugh. The threats were there, but neither of the men was going to say them out loud. I decided to ignore both. We all knew the penalty for trespassing, and I didn’t see any need to go over it again.
“Alright, I think we’re all on the same page,” Marcus said. “Very good meeting, I think we’ve made a lot of progress today.”
“I would agree with that,” my father said. “Thank you for coming, and for being affable. This is going to be good.”
Both men rose and shook hands, though Spencer and Yale ignored each other. I was impressed to know my father clearly didn’t want there to be tension between the two groups, and I stood tall alongside him as we watched the three head out of the business.
“That went well,” my father said. “I’m going to head back home now. Can’t say that I’ve ever really liked this town, I’m not going to miss it.”
“I think I’m going to hit up the clubs,” Spencer said. “It’s Friday, and I don’t have shit to do in the morning.”
“Stay out of trouble,” my father warned. “I didn’t bring you down here to get into shit.”
“Always,” he said. I rolled my eyes. But, I felt the buzz in my pocket and could barely keep myself from checking my phone.
“I’m going to hang out, too,” I said. “I’m not down here often, and I like the clubs here.”
“Keep in mind you both need to stick to our agreement. We aren’t going to break our word the night we put it in place,” my father said with a shake of his head.
I nodded but said nothing, heading for the door. I certainly wasn’t going to hang out with Spencer, and I had a feeling he knew it, too. I left my father and him to finish the beer before my father left, and headed straight for my bike. As soon as I climbed on the back I pulled out my phone, pleased to see Vanessa’s name across the screen.
I’m home alone, naked, and lonely. Think you can lend a hand? I think it would be helpful for us to seal the deal on the new truce.
I grinned as I slipped the phone back in my pocket. She was right. It was practically our duty to our families to do something important to commemorate this event. Even if they didn’t know what we were doing.
We sure as hell did, and I couldn’t wait to be back inside her.
10
Vanessa
I sent the text message and smiled as I set down my phone. I left the door unlocked, though that wasn’t at all like me, and I stripped off my shirt and jeans. I wasn’t entirely naked, no. I was still in my bra and panties, and I felt damn sexy. But, I wanted to make sure I could convince Zach to come, and if he thought I was naked, I knew he’d be right over.
He didn’t answer the text, but I had a feeling he’d arrive at any moment. The way he’d been looking at me all night told me clearly how much he wanted me, and since my apartment was still in the neutral territory, I didn’t have to worry about what I’d do next – or him getting caught.
Well, if he did get caught, at least he wouldn’t be shot on sight.
I grabbed the leather jacket from the back of the kitchen chair and threw it in the closet. I’d take it out again later in case my father were to show up, but for now I didn’t want to rub it in Zach’s face. He knew, and that was bad enough.
He didn’t need to see the emblem sitting proudly on the back of my chair – an emblem I wasn’t even proud of displaying.
I’d barely closed the closet door when I suddenly felt two hands wrapping their way around my waist. Immediately, I recognized the tattoos on his arms. I knew he would be coming so I wasn’t frightened, but I was surprised I didn’t hear him knock.
Then again, he might not have knocked, at all. He knew I wanted him, he knew I was naked and ready to have him, so why delay?
“I want to put my cock so deep inside your pussy,” he breathed into my ear, sending chills down my spine. “I want to push my tongue down your throat and leave you shaking with pleasure. I want to do every dirty thing imaginable to you.”
“Oh, God,” I breathed, shivering with anticipation. I was already wet. As soon as I sent the text message, I had started to be aroused by the thought of what we were going to do as soon as he showed up, and now that he was there, I could hardly contain myself.
“I want you inside me,” I breathed. “Now.”
I took his hand and walked to my bedroom, easing myself on the bed as he pulled off his jacket and shirt, then his jeans and boxers. It wasn’t as dark as it had been the first time he and I had fucked, and I was surprised at the sheer amount of tattoos I now saw all over his body.
I knew about the various markings down both his arms, but I hadn’t noticed all the tats on his chest and stomach. I could only imagine what he must have on his back, but I was too caught up in the moment to think about that right now.
He was so sexy. The sexiest man I’d ever seen in my life – and right now, he wanted me. He crawled onto the bed and eased himself over me, his lips searching for mine as his hands settled on each side of my body. He lowered himself down on top of me, laying on me as we made out.
I loved the way his mouth teased mine. His lips were so soft, he tasted so sweet. I couldn’t get enough of him. The tension was growing in my body as I felt his hard cock already pressing against my pussy, only stopped by my drenched panties.
Zach ran his hand down my torso, my abs, stopping only when he slid his fingers inside my panties and started teasing me. I closed my eyes, moaning as I writhed on the bed under him. He was already taking me to places I’d never been before, and I felt almost drunk with the sensations that were running through me.
I’d never slept with anyone who had such confidence – anyone who could carry me to such places with just the touch of his hand. His mouth continued to kiss me, my lips, my neck, the tops of my breasts. He took his free hand and reached behind me, freeing both my tits from the confines of my bra.
“I need you inside me,” I breathed. “Please!”
With a smile, Zach kissed his way all the way down my body, following the same trail he had with his hand just moments before. He pulled his fingers out of me and used his teeth to pull my panties down, his hot breath sweeping over my pussy and sending chills through the core of my being.
With another smile, he started licking and sucking my clit, causing me to moan and writhe even more. I grabbed my pillow and held it over my face; I had to do something before I burst from the electricity that was running through the core of my being.
I didn’t know for sure how long Zach pleasured me with his tongue, but he soon started kissing his way back up to my neck, taking his rock hard cock in his hand before pressing the head of it to the lips of my tight slit. He only teased me for a moment before pushing himself inside, needing to be in me as much as I needed him to be.
He thrust into me before drawing back out again, going in as far as he could before nearly pulling all the way out. Again and again he filled me, pushing long and hard. He was going faster and harder than the first time we’d had sex, sending me to the brink of orgasm within moments of entering me. I dragged my hands down his back, pressing as hard as I dared with my nails. I arched my back to take him further inside me – I had to have him deeper, further, harder.
He continued to thrust into me, causing my moans to grow until I was nearly crying out with pleasure. I was so close to cumming, I felt like I would explode from the tension that was inside me. Zach took my hands, pinning them to the bed above my head as he looked into my eyes.
He smiled as my breathing grew shallow and fast. He knew just what he was doing as he pounded me harder. I spread my legs as far apart as I could, crying out as loudly as I dared as I let the orgasm wash through me. I knew I was hot, but seeing me cum was more than Zach could handle himself.
He thrust into me twice more, then I felt his cock empty inside me.
Zach moaned, letting himself drop onto me as his own orgasm washed over him. We were both out of breath, and I still felt shaky and almost weak. There was something about the way Zach took me that left me begging him for more. Even now, satisfied and finally released from the orgasm I’d been desperate to have, I couldn’t get close enough to him.
He rolled off me and lay on the bed, allowing me to crawl up and lay my head on his chest. I liked having a few minutes just to spend with him. To talk, or to just be. I desperately wanted to know what was going on in that beautiful head of his, but for now, I just traced some of the tattoos he had on his chest.
There were so many. I had thought about asking about them the first time we’d fucked, but he’d left so quickly, I didn’t have the chance. Now, I wanted to know. I could figure out the tat of the folded flag on his bicep, but the others were confusing.
“What does this mean?” I asked, tracing a flower over the top of his shoulder.
“It’s for my mom. She died when I was really young, and I wanted to get something to honor her,” he said.
“What about this one?” I asked, pointing to an American flag. It was different from the flag that was on his bicep. I felt it was safe to bring it up without the conversation turning to the MC.
“It’s for my fallen brothers. The ones who never got to come home. A lot of my tattoos have to do with the military in some way, whether for my brothers who died in the field, my brothers who weren’t lucky enough to come home with all their limbs, or just in honor of the Navy.
“And the dog tags?” I asked. I hadn’t noticed them before, but they were on the center of his chest with a tattooed chain reaching up toward his neck. The tattoo stopped before it reached the neckline of any of the shirts he wore, so it would vanish entirely when he was clothed.
But now, I was curious about them. The tags were very well done, almost convincing enough to be real tags just resting on the center of his chest.
“I figured I may as well have those, just in case. I mean, there are times when your real tags were ripped off you in the field, and with the life that I live here, I’m sure if something were to happen someone would want to be able to identify me,” Zach said with a shrug.
“That’s smart,” I said quietly. I didn’t like the idea of someone having to identify his body based on the tattoo on his chest, but he did have a point. We didn’t exactly live the kinds of lives that promoted longevity.
“What about this one?” I asked. It was a red rose, different from the flower he had for his mother, and it was positioned right over his heart.
“Don’t worry about that one,” he said bluntly.
“Come on, I want to know!” I replied playfully.
“Leave it,” he replied, this time his tone sharp. The smile faded from my face and I laid my head back down on his chest. I let my hand rest on his other pec, and though I wasn’t sure if he felt bad for snapping at me, he put his arm around my shoulders and massaged my hand with his own. But, he didn’t say anything else about the tattoo.
I was curious. I really wanted to know what it was there for. But, the dark look that had come into his eyes when he told me he didn’t want to talk about it startled me. I’d never seen such a fierce look on his face before, and I didn’t want to press the matter.
He had secrets, that was for damn sure, and he didn’t have to share them with me.
But I knew that tattoo would continue to haunt me until I knew its secret.
11
Zach
“You hit like a girl,” Nathan said with a laugh. “Come on, letting a one-armed guy beat you is humiliating, don’t you think?”
“You ever think I let you win because I want you to feel better about yourself?” I shot back. Nathan gave me a look, but clearly tried to brush off my jab with a laugh.
“Keep telling yourself that, tough guy. I think you’re getting worse with time, not better, and I’m not going to take it easy on you just because you can’t hit straight,” he said.
I shook my head as I lined up another ball on the tee and took a swing. I hit it dead center, sending it out into the woods with some real force. We both heard it hit a tree, and Nathan laughed.
“That’s a little better, but I think you’re just trying to prove a point now, and it’s not working,” he smirked.
“Keep telling yourself that,” I said again.
He took a swig of his beer. I didn’t judge. It might only be ten am on a Sunday morning, but he was an adult, and if he wanted to drink a beer for breakfast, that was up to him. I was pretty sure there was something going on with him that he wasn’t telling me, but it wasn’t my job to be his therapist.
If he wanted to talk about something, he knew he could come to me at any time. I wasn’t going to hound him about it. I hated it when people did that to me. Hell, I figured going over to hit some golf balls with him on a Sunday morning might well be all the therapy the kid needed.
It was rare for him to ask me to hang out, but there were times when going over to his mom’s house to hit a few balls out into the woods was damn good therapy for both of us. I knew it helped me with the aggression I felt toward life. I could swing the club awfully hard and nail that ball, sending it out into the woods and feel better about what I had to deal with in life.
Sure, it wasn’t quite the same situation for him. He was dealing with one arm, after all. It might be his right arm that he still had, but it was hard hitting a golf ball with just a single arm. I was surprised how well he could manage the feat himself, but I was always careful about giving him compliments on it.
Nathan took those to be nothing more than comments of pity in disguise. He would rather I tease him about not being able to hit straight than hear me tell him how good he was doing. And, I was happy to do it. I hoped he was getting through his therapy alright, but I didn’t feel comfortable giving him those kinds of compliments.
We were ex-SEALS, after all. We had been taught to be tough as nails and not show anything that could be interpreted as anything but strength. I knew Nathan understood me, and I understood him. I tried to, anyway.
“So I hear we’ve changed up our turf,” Nathan commented. “Something about that meeting you had with Marcus?”
“Yeah, Dad pulled back the line, gave The Enemies a section of the town, and made the rest neutral,” I said with a shrug. “Not sure why he went that route, but I guess if that’s what he wanted to do.”
“Are you going to do anything about it when you take over?” Nathan asked.
“Hopefully, that’s not going to happen, and if it does, hopefully it’s not something I’m going to have to worry about,” I said dryly. I was open with those that I trusted about my feelings on becoming the next leader of the MC. I didn’t want to do it.
There were so many things I’d want to change about the club, I didn’t think it would go over well if I were to take over. Then again, it might be just what the club needed. Either way, I didn’t want to think about it. It was one of those things I’d deal with when the time came.
If the time came.
I was tempted at times to ask him his advice on my situation with Vanessa. Though I was doing my best to focus on the golf and just getting the aggression out of my system, my mind kept drifting back to her. I’d stayed with her most of the night, leaving before it was light out to head back home.
I slept in most of Saturday, and she and I had only texted a short while in the afternoon. I couldn’t deny that she had shut down after asking about the tattoo, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the fact I snapped at her or because I wouldn’t tell her what that tattoo meant.
But, I had to do what was right for me, and I wasn’t ready to tell her about Fatima and Yara.
I’d already told her more than I’d told anyone else in my life, including my therapist. There were some things I didn’t tell anyone, and the story of what had happened with those two was on
e of them. Even now, it was much too raw for me to even hope to get into the details, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to talk about it.
Not even Nathan was aware of them. He didn’t ever ask me about my extensive tattoos, but even if he did, I wouldn’t tell him about them any more than I’d tell Vanessa. It was something she’d have to learn to deal with, to respect.
“And that’s the end of that,” Nathan said as he kicked over the bucket we’d been fishing balls out of. We both knew we’d have to head out into the woods and retrieve the ones we hit eventually. It was the one rule his mother had for us hitting them randomly out there.
But for now, neither of us really wanted to deal with it. The sun was getting high in the sky, and it was getting warmer. That would be the sort of thing we could do when it cooled down again later in the afternoon.
“Need a beer?” Nathan asked. He grabbed the bucket and headed for the porch, his club slung over his back. I followed and grabbed a beer out of the cooler he kept by the door. Hell, if he was having a beer this early, I may as well join. There wasn’t any sense to pretending to be a saint when we both knew I was happy to take it.
I cracked it open and sat on the porch, ready to just shoot the shit with him. I had to admit, it was nice just to sit down and chill out for a few hours. I didn’t have to do anything with the diner until morning, and without any other obligations hanging over my head, I could just spend the afternoon on the porch with him and not worry about the time.
“My mom said there are burgers in the fridge if we get hungry. I guess she had a barbecue with her boyfriend the other day and they didn’t use all the patties,” Nathan said.
“Does she want to join us?” I didn’t mind his mom, but she was always so elusive when I was around. Nathan didn’t live with her, but he did spend a lot of time there since his dad passed. His mother didn’t stay in any relationship very long, and Nathan often felt it was his job to make sure things around the house were taken care of.