Blackjack

There sure as hell wasn’t any sense in it. Not a damn ounce of sense in me. One moment, I’ve made my resolve to stay the hell away from her before I fucked up anymore of her life than necessary. Now, I’ve sworn myself to be involved in every part of that life until the day I die. Before I knew it, I had my hand around her wrist and we were both walking out of church’s doors as if the devil was chasing us down. When we stopped outside the front doors that went to the clubhouse, I looked around the area trying to remember just where I parked my ride. Despite all the focus I could gather, my attention retraced back to her and the way she was breathing hard with her hands clutching her knees.

“Jesus…” I mutter while my eyes searched the perimeter.

A glint of light winked back at me and sure enough, I found my Harley tucked behind Dixon’s obnoxious red truck.

“You okay?” She manages.

Ashley shouldn’t have asked me that. I didn’t think ahead about this and we didn’t have much time to begin with. The two of us really needed to get a move on.

“I’ll be fine.” I assure her and hook her arm to mine. “We have to go.”

I pulled her down the steps with me quickly before we strode over to my bike.

“Go where?” Her voice drops, demanding to know.

“You heard your father, Ash.” My voice drops with hers, all my humor gone. “If the Bears don’t see a brand on your skin with my name on it, they can just take you. Simple as that.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Blackjack.” She objects and stops in her tracks, sliding her arm out from mine. I stopped with her and exhaled thickly into my hand before dragging my fingers through my hair. There was too much to do and we couldn’t just stop with every bump in the road of understanding.

“I’m not, Ashley. I’m surprised the fuckers didn’t get through the gates by force.”

“Those fuckers can’t pull through a heist with a hostage.” She steps forward, giving my chest a firm poke. “Do you honestly think they’re going to get what they want just because they’re just shy of measuring up to par with my father?”

“I think it’s absolutely reckless if we underestimate them either way.” I give her a hard look.

“Blackjack, this is ridiculous!” She threw her hands up. “Why are we forcing ourselves into this?”

“If you thought it was so ridiculous, why didn’t you stay in church and argue with us about it?” I challenge hotly. Because she didn’t want to. She won’t admit that, but it’s plain as day. Ashley and I have been drawn together since she was a teenager.

“Excuse me?” She narrows her eyes, heat dragging in her voice.

“You heard me. Why didn’t you stay in church?” I ask her once again. “Why come out here with me.”

“I needed to get out.” She replies quickly.

“You could’ve gotten out with anyone else.” I countered, gesturing back to the clubhouse doors. “Why didn’t you?”

“Because I fucking trust you. Okay?”

I opened my mouth to say something, only to close it back down. She took me by surprise and I didn’t know how to respond to that. Any of it.

“But…” She starts muttering lowly. “It doesn’t help that you’ve been so distant with me.”

My eyes picked up to her face and the guilt flushed my entire focus away. Ashley truly looked defeated. Her eyes lost their prisms of blue only to fade away in a tired grey smog. There was less sureness to her and I was to blame for that. It made me clench my fists at the sight of her fading before my eyes.

“After the day at Boots…” I start, scratching the back of my head as I contemplated what to say.

“Yeah?” She lifts her head back up, eyes all weary from drowning in her tears. It hurt me to see her this vulnerable.

“Nothing. Never mind.” I shake my head, turning my back to her to approach the bike.

“God damn it, Rob. Tell me!” She begs with frustration.

“I can’t!” I holler back and climb on the Harley. “Now are you coming with me or not?!”

Ashley looked at me hard from where she stood, and I knew she was restraining every tiny bone in her body from pushing me off the bike. She crosses her arms, shaking her head like she had any choice.

“Damn it, Ashley.” I curse, growing more frustrated with myself. “I swear, if you don’t get on this fucking bike, I’ll chase you through Montana until you sit your ass down.”

“Is that a threat?” She dares, crossing her arms over her chest.

I breathed in slowly.

“You have no idea.”

She watched me from a distance, as if to decide whether it was worth all the trouble to have a big spat over this. Thinking for the best, she finally dragged her feet out of her spot and approached the bike with caution. I twisted the key and revved up for takeoff. Her foot went down the side foot holder behind me and I took her hand when she lifted her leg across the other side. I felt her settle down behind me, her thighs closing on my legs as she slid her arms around my waist, holding her chest close to my back.

I took a deep breath as I felt her shift behind me, every pull of friction against us making me tense up more by the second.  

With a low grunt, I kicked the floor and we were off with the wheels running underneath our feet. As the bike hummed against us, I could feel Ashley’s chin resting down to my back with her arms tightening around me. I felt reluctant to breathe––as if any move I made would trigger her to stop trusting me as she did. As much as I wanted to deny it, her touch made me feel better.

We rode out of the parking lot. It had gotten dark since we’d been in church and the moon stared down at our backs in the lonely skies, like some sort of reassurance that the day was ending. I kept my head low as I could as we ventured into the woods. Even as we were now, I couldn’t be ignorant of the possible dangers lurking in the shadows. It seemed impossible that the Bears would undergo the extent of sneaking into the club but where there’s a will, there’s a way. I still couldn’t believe the prospect didn’t see the man that left the package on our steps. Our security has been sloppy and all it took was one bullet to start a war. It didn’t matter if our side was playing it safe. All I knew was that the Bears would use any means to win. Even if it meant crossing through our gates.

My eyes darted from tree to tree, gripping the bike’s gears tightly into my palm with the sweat threatening to drip from my brow. I could hear the woods shuffle around me, as if there was a creature following us down the path. I knew better however. The woods in this town were always known for their eerie sounds. It was never what you heard that should scare you, but what you saw. “What’s up with you?” Ashley mutters in my ear.

“Hm?”

I turned my head slightly to hear.

“Hm.” She breathes, resting her cheek down to my back. “I thought you were upset with me and, yet I catch you smiling.”

“Tch.” I shake my head, turning my attention back to the road. “I’m not upset with you. Just thinking.”

“About?”

“Nothing. Something silly.”

“Well if it’s nothing, tell me anyway.” She insists. The corners of my lips give into a smirk.

“I was thinking about Mad-Dog.”

Suddenly, her warm cheek leaves my back before blurting out, “Billy Joel?”

“Yeah.” I respond casually.

“What for?” She inquires, arms relaxing a little.

“I’m just thinking about how he’s so easily stressed by these woods. Do you remember when he told us that a wolverine was chasing him in broad daylight but he couldn’t see it?”

She laughs, “He had us worried that he might be on drugs.”

“Yeah, you remember…” I smile, shaking my head at the memory of it all. “Cracker went with some of the men to hunt down this almighty wolverine. Swore he’d hang it on his mantle if he got the bastard.”

Ashley snorts, “What did he end up shooting?”

“Nothing.” I shrug, feeling her come back closer to me. “It was just a family of beavers building a dam upstream. I think he scared them more than they scared him.”

“Poor things.” She exhales a low sigh. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Just wanted to let you know that you shouldn’t give your ex-husband the satisfaction of being scared.”

“I’m not scared.” She says between her teeth.

“Yeah, you are.”

She stayed silent, but I didn’t feel her arms loosen up from me.  “Maybe I am.”

I let out a drag of a breath, “Ashley, there’s no shame in it. You’re smart to be scared. It’s a rationalized fear that you’re still trying to overcome.”

“I don’t want it to hold me back.”

“It won’t.” I snap, watching the trees above us fade away to reveal the sky. “You’re the daughter of Fist Monroe. In high school, the reason why you didn’t get as many dates was because the guys were too damn scared to talk to you.”

“What are you––”

“Jerome Rivers––the captain of the damn football team was too scared to talk to you because he didn’t know who would beat him up first. You or your father.”

I heard her scoff behind me.

“Jerome Rivers wasn’t my type, Blackjack.”

With a smirk, I responded. “I know.” It’s true, I know exactly what Ashley’s type is. It was never Jerome and it sure as fuck wasn’t Harry.

“And he’s certainly not as crazy as my ex-husband.”

“Dually noted.”

“I just…” She breathes, trying to relax as finally exited the woods into the neighborhood. “I don’t want to see him again. Ever.”

I swallowed that thought. “You won’t have to. Ever.”

When we closed on a red light in our path, I slowed the bike down to a stop before putting my feet to the ground. Flexing my foot, I felt my tendons start to cramp up from all the running around I’ve been doing all day. Even waiting at the green light felt like a chore at this point. However, I didn’t have to wait too long before it switched back to translucent mint-green. With a turn of my wrist, I lift off the brakes and accelerate down the curve with the Harley leaving a screech behind us.

Ashley let out a little yelp as she clung for dear life. We were only a couple blocks away from my second house as it was. I had one built at the club and I had another just outside of town. A lot of the guys gave me hell for having two houses, but each were needed. I wanted Dex to grow up with that normal life, or as normal as I could make it for him. But there were times when I was needed in the club, and this meant Dex was with me. There was no way in hell my son would be sleeping in a clubhouse, or at least, not until he was seventeen.

The wind rustled through our hair as we let the road spin us down as if our lives were on the line. I drew the gas forward and we were practically blazing past the house lights in lightyears. We were literally running down the line of my adrenaline like there was no stopping. Had I the option, we wouldn’t stop. Not until we were far away as possible from this damn place. The Reapers, the Bears… everyone was just a foundation of stress and I didn’t want anything to do with it.

When I thought about it, I couldn’t have Ashley without all of this.

Which was worse?

Lying to myself for another four years about wanting this woman so fucking bad and giving up, or making a stand and fighting for her? It was lying to myself. I wouldn’t do it ever again. Ashley’s arms tightened across my waist as she pulled herself closer ‘til her lips met my shoulder. In this moment, she was scared.

I knew her pulse was running just as fast as my adrenaline and that down the line, we were running in the same direction: away from everyone. If that didn’t scare me, I didn’t know what did. We were both searching for a means of fixing this but exactly what drew us this close in the first place?

“Blackjack––slow down.” She squeezes my shoulder. We were almost there, just a couple of minutes now.

“Please, slow down!” Her voice calls.

“STOP IT, ROB.”

Something in my chest automatically clutches into itself just as my hand squeezes the brake by its trigger. The Harley rips into the gravel of the streets like a singing banshee, waking up every bastard in their own beds. I had both feet forcing themselves into the foot-peg even though I knew it wouldn’t do me any good.

The exhaust was sputtering behind us and we were on our seats trying to grip ourselves from launching off. I released the brake and slowly began tightening my hold back. Without a second delay, I felt the Harley lowly hum down. The tires were wearing down their rubber and I could only listen as they slowly started to stabilize again.

We were rolling down the hill down to my place, our nerves starting to calm down with the bike.

The thoughts that were ravaging my head were finally put to a still halt as we rolled into the driveway together, heads hanging low.

“Blackjack…” Ashley whispers.

There was a part of me that didn’t want to talk. Not now.

I took a deep breath.

“Come on.”

She started off the bike, holding herself up long enough to curve her leg on the other side until she was able to jump off. I leveraged the Harley with my weight and kicked the stand out so that it could balance itself on the plateau of the driveway. With the bike still humming, I finally twisted the key and put her soul to rest for the rest of the night. The ignition was lost and finally, Ashley and I were left to dwell in the silence.

As I dismounted the bike, I could feel her eyes staring up at me. Just like the moon, she was watching every move I made. I put those thoughts aside and walked past her with the keys in my hand. Her footsteps followed me off the driveway and up the patio steps where we finally reached the door.

At first, my hand came up to the doorbell to ring for Dex––only for me to remember that he was staying over at his friend’s. I’d texted him after the showdown with the Bears to avoid coming back to the house we had at the club and to come here. Dex being as smart as he is asked all the questions – that I didn’t want to answer. He asked if he could stay over at Wades and I didn’t disagree. Damn, it was just like me to forget. I shook my head, digging my hand into my pocket for the keys.

“Lock yourself out?” She crosses her arms over her chest.

“Not exactly.” I manage to respond before pulling the keys out.

Once I unlocked the door, I let her inside first while I took off my shoes outside. She stepped in for a moment and turned around to spot my shoes on the floor.

“Should I take mine off?”

“Not really.” I say, pulling the door to close behind us.

Ashley gave me a look before looking down to her feet to shuffle out of her own shoes. I shook my head but disregarded it as I walked into the space of my living room, heading down the hallway. Behind me, I heard Ashley’s footsteps trail next to the couch but as I turned around to watch her, I noticed she was looking at the photographs on the wall. I turned away and continued to headed to the back of the hallway where an open door lead to my bedroom.

The familiar scent of teakwood filled my nose as I stepped in to take a seat at my bed, taking my head into my hand. I took in a deep breath as I drew out my phone from my pockets, getting ready to text the number of our certified tattoo artist––Dean. He’d be a reliable source to lay down a full tat’ with a discount included if I was lucky enough.

“Rob.” Ashley’s voice called from the door.

I looked up from the phone to see her leaning into the door frame, blonde hair strewn across her shoulder. There was a reckless way she carried her glances at me and up till now, I didn’t realize how dangerous it felt to be in a room alone with her.

“Why?” She asks finally. “Why did you offer yourself like that?”

My head sent its gaze back to the floor with a low sigh escaping me.

“I promised to protect you, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, but that’s not enough. There’s more to it.” She insisted, stepping off from the door to come closer.

I gave her a weary glance, unsure of what to say. “I don’t go back on my word, Ash. Simple as that.”

A scoff escaped her. “I’m not your obligation, Blackjack. You don’t have to do this. Any of it.”

“And what part of this is your responsibility?” I furrowed my brows.

“This is all my fault. If I hadn’t––”

“If you hadn’t what? Ran away? Realized that your ex was a pile of shit that took out his miserable shit on you? What would you have done if you hadn’t quit it with his shit?”

“I…” She whispers, “I would’ve figured it out.”

“Stop.”

Without a second thought, I stood up to my feet and took her hand in mine. At the very touch, she flinched, and I could feel her practically shaking before me. My eyes burned down at her, drawing her face into the back of my head in this very moment because God help me… she could destroy me with that look in her eyes.

“Ash… I’m sorry.”

“What?” She blinks up at me.

“I’m sorry for all of this. You don’t get it girl, this is all my fault. If I hadn’t of ran like a scared boy those years ago you would’ve never ended up with that shit of a husband, Harry. I couldn’t control myself around you Ashley. Don’t you remember? God, I could never control myself around you.” She watches my face intently as I speak, “You were all I ever wanted. Is it not obvious? I’ve been in love with you since you were sixteen, Monroe”

I took her face in my hands before she could utter out another word from that mouth. The last thing I saw before I closed the distance between us was her brilliant blue eyes and they drowned my soul until I could finally kiss her. The very breath in her lungs hitches at the back of her throat and I could feel her body heat just wash across my chest. Her hands took my arms and I tensed at the touch.

She stills into the kiss for a moment before drawing her face closer to deepen it. I pull my fingers into her hair, running my hand down along the blonde strands before my hands close on it so desperately. Something in that made her moan against my mouth and the vibrations between us made me tilt her head to the side, the tip of my tongue flicking at the crease of her lips.

To my surprise, she opened her mouth––inviting me in. I didn’t hold back from pulling both my hands up to the back of her head as I backed her up to the wall behind her, pressing her body up against mine. Ashley arches her back and I could feel her chest roll up to mine, licking her lips for more. Just as I felt her tongue slip away, I pulled it back into a deeper kiss before catching her bottom lip between my teeth, giving it a little tug. Her voice glossed over my ears in a soft purr, hips rocking up to meet mine.

Before she even had a chance to tease me with that trick of hers, I had already pulled my leg back up between her legs to pin her good. She breathed hard when I released her lips to chase patterns down the hollow of her throat. I was so caught up in nibbling her soft skin away that I didn’t recognize her nails sinking into my shoulders. When the pain was evident, I growled in her ear and pulled her off of the wall and served her down to my bed.

She lands down on the soft mattress, disturbing the sheets with the way her body pulled itself up to her knees. I watched her as she leaned forward, reaching a hand out to me as I walked up to the edge of the bed. Her hand catches the collar of my shirt and she pulls me back in for a kiss, hungry for more. I sank into those eyes, closing my own as my hands lifted themselves up to take her hips as she dragged her hands down my shirt. When I felt her take the shirt’s hem and roll it up my chest, I pulled away from the kiss to help her throw the thing off completely.

I caught the tip of her little tongue running along her bottom lip before disappearing into the corner of her mouth. When her eyes traveled all the way down to my trousers, I nearly took her right there. That look of hers… the way she waited for me to join her on that fucking bed like some goddess. How could I fucking resist?

My hands went down to my belt, but she stopped me right there.

“Let me do it.” She mutters lowly, drawing her little fingers across the line of my wrist.

I released the buckle and waited for her hand to replace mine. She had her eyes trained on me while she did it. I could just feel the small brushes of her fingers purposely run up against the bulge developing in my pants. Ashley took her time though with that little smirk running along her expression. When she was finally done, I leaned in and pulled her down into the bed until her back hit the mattress.

Her lashes fluttered as I hovered over her with my arms keeping me up. I was just a breath away from kissing her until I felt her hands trace down abdomen, running their way all the way down till she was past my trousers with her palm on my cock.

“Mmm...” She rolls her voice off her tongue like honey.

“Fuck…you don’t know how long I’ve waited for this, Monroe.” I curse, my voice sounding hard as the appendage on her hand.

“Oh, I think I do.” It didn’t stop her from stroking me with the little space she could afford. I pulled my hips down into her hand, burying my own face into her shoulder as she took her time teasing. When she tightened her palm along the length and began to stroke faster, I bit her shoulder to stop before she sent me out of control.

“Ahh...” She moans into my ear.

I slid my hand underneath her head, her hair combed through my fingers before I pulled her head back and trailed my lips across her throat. When I felt her shirt come in the way, I automatically reared myself back to roll it up over her head before tossing it to the floor. With my opposite hand, I took the hand she had buried down my pants and pulled it up over her head, drawing myself further down till my face was buried into her lush chest.

“Blackjack” Ashley inhaled sharply at the touch, arching her back when she felt my nose drag up and down across the valley of her breasts.

“Hmm.” I take in a deep breath, her aroma pulling me in to kiss the top of her breasts as she kept squirming.

My spare hand roamed down, traveling to every angle and curve of her body. She was so fucking warm. So soft under my fingers. Never in my life had I imagined her to be this perfect. The way she reacted to the way my thumb circled into the inside of her hipbone. Feeling her buck her hips up against my hand made me press my hard cock against her, roughly grinding her down into the mattress. She let out a little noise between a moan and a purr, tilting her hips up with need as she felt my desire to push inside her. I’d dreamed about having her like this for years, the thoughts I knew were wrong at the time. But how could this have ever been wrong? Fuck.

Enough was enough. I hooked my thumbs inside of her jeans and dragged those bad boys down her thighs. She wriggled the rest of them down to her ankles just as my hand dragged up and down those gorgeous legs. The second I ran my fingers along the inside of her thigh, she let out a little gasp.

“Look at you, Monroe…” I mutter to her, watching her body writhe below me. “God, you’re just so fucking beautiful.”

Before she could even respond, my mouth was back on her and I tasted her desire as I slipped my fingers down her little pink panties. Her hips drew into the mattress before rolling up to my hand. I drew my fingers across the softness of her inner lips, groaning into her mouth when I could feel how wet she was at the core. With slow circles, I could feel her practically pooling between my fingers while I played my way up to her clit. She responded to the small teases with a moan to which I slipped my tongue past her wet lips.

Ashley tilted her hips, left and right, rocking her hips up to every stroke I gave her heat. When it was clear she was more than ready, I slowly started to slip off her panties with a glide of my palm down her thigh. Her legs automatically closed against my hips and I released her mouth to look into her eyes.

“Please...” She begged, her dewy eyes searching up to find me.

The corners of my lips ripped into a smirk as I watched her struggle to keep herself tame. She was so close to spilling that I couldn’t just tear myself away from looking at her. Instead, I kissed her neck and pulled her closer to me while I slipped my pants off to the side, stroking my cock up against her hip.

“Breathe for me, baby.” I mutter lowly.

She closes her eyes, biting her bottom lip at the way I pressed the tip at her. Just feeling her sweet gloss against my tip made me want to shove it all inside in one go. But I didn’t. Instead, I took my fingers and trailed them back down to her heat, slowly drawing my index inside as she trembled. I stroked her insides good and watched her squirm even more, her blonde hair appearing more and more like a blonde halo strewn across my pillow.

“Mmm…” She sounds at the tip of her tongue.

I continue stroking her up to the second finger, training her walls to adjust to the width of both fingers. My fingers stretched her out slowly until she was ready with ease. I withdrew my fingers from her and she let out a whine of protest. It was then that I poised my cock up to her inner lips and pushed past, sinking myself in.

Just at the first couple of inches, I could feel her body arch up against mine as she felt body tighten around me. I pushed myself further inside her, feeling her walls squeeze down on my hard cock. A groan left my lips as I felt her body rock itself up to meet my hips, to which I pushed my pelvis back down. Ashley drew a sharp breath as I finally closed down inside her, the tip of my cock practically licking up at the barrier of her womb. The more I watched her, the more my body wanted to fuck her senseless, savagely, like an uncaged animal. That part of me died down when I grit my teeth together as I pulled my hips back, feeling her insides stroke my length.

The rhythm between us started out steady. I pulled my weight back down and ground my hips down to meet hers. She tilted her head back, letting out soft pants as my thrusts started to draw her closer and closer to her soft spot. With every thrust I sent inside her, I felt her chest rising and falling with her breaths. Her body kept arching up against me, driving me down into her hilt with no restraint. I pulled myself up to watch her looking up at me, her glossy lips parted open with one name on the tip of her tongue: mine.

My hands drew up to her thighs, closing on her hips and I brought my cock half-way back before slamming it back down inside her, feeling her entire body break down in a shudder.

“Mmm, Blackjack!”

The thrusts kept coming in fast as I kept building her up. I drew back and she pulled forward, rolling her body up to ever thrust I delivered. My hands tightened across her hips as I tilted her fully, delivering that same jolt back inside her as she strained to finish. Her thighs closed down on my hips but I kept at it, dragging my length inside her walls as they were finally adjusted. I was so fucking hard inside her that it triggered me to speed up the pace, our skin slapping together every time I came back down to her. She dragged her fingers across the sheets, clutching them as I went faster with every breath that left my chest.

Ashley’s eyes closed in that moment and I knew with the way she bit her lip that she was coming close to finishing. She rolled her hips back to me, meeting me at every hit I gave her. My cock was immersed inside her, threatening to come the second she would. I pulled my body down to her, taking her breast in a hungry bite.

Ashley let out a hard moan, pushing her hips up until I ground mine back into hers and felt her walls tighten down along my member. She pulls all of me down to her chest as she threw her head back, crying out in pleasure. My mouth released a thick groan against her soft flesh. I felt my entire body scream as my cock filled her insides to the brink with a final thrust. It spread across every fabric of thought, completely immersing me in nothing but her.

The feeling left me breathless as I could feel myself finish inside her, warm and so fucking tight…

The two of us were left panting, breathless of all our energy. One more look at her and I finally withdrew, falling back down to my side. I closed my eyes and felt her move beside me, turning on her side. With our silence exchanged between us, I didn’t waste time in pulling her close to my chest where we both knew, after all this time, she always belonged.