Nicole watched as the bartender took Cole's folded note and set two longnecks down in front of them. She reached for hers right away. Her nerves were shot, she was confused, and very scared. Just a while ago, Cole killed Antonio and Davis! Right in front of her! They were dead! "What makes your president's mind so muddy on this?"

 

Cole took a drink from his bottle while shaking his head slightly. Setting the bottle back down, he told her, "Not muddy. He's not a confusing man. Not at all. Generally, you can bet your paychecks on which way he's going to look at things, but I can't call this one right now."

 

"Why not?"

 

"Big Jim is, beyond a doubt, fully committed to the club, to its safety and its profits. You might believe that every president should be, but in the real world, this isn't the case at all. But for Jim, it is. All of his decisions, plans, and decrees are directly related to one or all of those areas. So, it is not Jim that is confusing; it’s the situation." Cole turned to her, "If it was just me and, for some reason, Gabriel was after me like this, sending men to kidnap me into indentured servitude, Big Jim would kill him. Literally. I'm a member of the club. A rider. A patch-holder. That kind of shit is not tolerated at all."

 

"But it isn't just you and I'm not a member," she put it together.

 

"Exactly, and you used to work for him, and he may not simply trust on face value that you left with your hands clean. Walking in, not knowing you, he has to consider the possibility that Gabriel has a valid reason to be after you like this. I have to admit, I didn't think Gabriel’s men would get this aggressive with you. I really didn't. But maybe when you called them and let them know where you were, it was too tempting of an idea."

 

"I never said where I was!" she protested.

 

"I believe you, but you forgot about Caller ID. He got my home number when you called from my home phone. It was just a matter of researching the number after that to bring them to my doorstep and to you.”

 

She looked blankly and then her eyes widened, "Oh, shit. What a fucking idiot I am," she groaned. "I'm so sorry, Cole! Fuck, I didn't think about that at all."

 

"Why would you? You haven't been on the run from people with serious resources looking for you before, but it tells me we need to spend some time discussing survival basics and teaching you some tricks to avoid this in the future." Then he lifted an eyebrow, "Why did you use my phone instead of your cellphone?"

 

"The cellphone was in the bedroom and I wanted to make the call before I lost my nerve, and I felt the long walk back there would give me enough time to do that."

 

"What did you tell him?"

 

"That I was never coming back and, even if he did find me, if he was looking for me, I wouldn't do the show again, not willingly. I said it was over and to leave me alone."

 

Both of Cole's eyebrows lifted this time and he nodded his head thoughtfully, "What did Gabriel say to that?"

 

She picked up her bottle again and motioned to the bartender for another, "I don't know. I lost my nerve and hung up on him after that."

 

He put his hand on her thigh and rubbed it with deep and soothing care, "Not to worry. In the future, it might be wise to refrain from calling him at all. Honestly, that's just going to make things worse at this point. Like I told you at the house, I know what to do. I'm good at situations like this and if you can trust me, we'll be fine."

 

She nodded and then finished her beer, "I trust you. I really do."

 

He studied her face, "I truly believe that you care about me and that you want to me with me, and there was no way you could fake the orgasms that you have, but it is all right if you don't fully trust me yet. Trust takes time and it is generally stronger the longer you wait to buy in."

 

She met his gaze with understanding, but a smile of humor, "Are you forgetting that we share each other's memories? Our thoughts and even our feelings? My empathy level with you is… well…it's shocking; that's what it is. I can feel the level of arousal you are at when we are having sex. Hell, I can feel you are uncomfortable in that area right now. I really wish you would at least let me suck you off. Seriously. I want to. I love sucking your cock, which brings up another reason I can trust you," she added, nodding her head with certainty. "You have a beautiful cock. Any man with a cock like yours has to be trustworthy. It would simply be unfair if you were an asshole with a cock like that. Talk about mixed signals from the universe. Shit."

 

"Glad you like it," Cole told her. "I've been working on it all my life."

 

"Well, stop and let me take care of it. Seriously," she told him as she slid gracefully off her stool. "I'll whisper in the bartender's ear that we'll be in there and slip him a hundred, asking him to knock on the door if Big Jim summons us. And I'll use every trick I know to get you off fast. Come on," she said, pulling at his arm. He looked bewildered and she told him, "Cole, I don't like performing sexual acts all that much, but I love doing them for you. I really do and you have been without for what? Five days now? Six?"

 

He slowly allowed her to pull him from the stool and stood up to his full height, "That's not exactly a long time," he pointed out.

 

"Not when sex isn't on your mind and you have other entertainments to work on, sure. But my money is on your last few days being filled with strong desires and loneliness just like mine were, and you should take advantage of this moment of downtime we have since, with the variables, you don't have a clue what we are doing next."

 

"We might just be going across the street," he offered.

 

"Which would be fine with me and if you knew that for a fact, I would agree that this could wait. But you don't. We may be riding south, Cole, all the way to Florida or heading north to some place Jim wants us to hide while he gets this worked out. Or another attack could happen, or…"

 

Cole lifted both hands up with his palms facing her, "All right, cease fire. I'll go. Willingly even."

 

She smiled broadly a sense of glee pouring out of her, "That's the first time in my life that I've had a boyfriend/girlfriend argument and won. We should have champagne or something with dinner to celebrate."

 

"If we aren't hiding in a boxcar waiting for the train to take us to New Orleans, I agree," he said and reached down to take her ass in his hand, "You aren't exactly a fair fighter, by the way."

 

"I'll go whisper in his ear.  I’ll be right back," she laughed and then hurried over to the man behind the bar.

 

The bartender, whose name she discovered was Hank, didn't even flinch when she explained the instructions and where they would be, which from experience, didn't surprise her at all. Bartenders tended to be well experienced in the actions of humanity and this one worked at a club owned by an outlaw biker group.

 

As she walked back to Cole, she looked around. There was still only a smattering of people in the bar; most of the group remained outside, talking while their eyes remained on alert. Was there really something they could be worried about at this point?

 

She didn't know, but she wanted to know. After she took care of Cole, she would ask him about it. After. She also noticed that she was the only woman in the place, which was a good thing, until her logical mind gave her a reason for this. "They were sent home. The men are still on alert and so the women remain safe in their homes," she murmured. "There is something to worry about," she decided.

 

"Hank will let us know if Jim calls for you while we are in there, so come on, don't waste time," she informed Cole when she was in discrete talking distance while taking his hand and pulling to get him started.

 

She was amazed that he felt so shy about doing this. The men she was used to, the ones who taught her this little trick, often asked her to arrange someplace out of the way for a quickie.

 

Well, not all of them had this urge. Max didn't, but most of her regulars did.

 

She thought Cole would get off on it, but maybe it was embarrassing for him to share private space in a public area. Once she got him inside with the door closed, she pushed him up until his back was against the wall. Then leaned into him, pressing herself into the top of his abs.

 

"Thanks," she told him as she found his buckle and began the manual actions needed to get his cock out.

 

This was another skill she practiced and perfected -- buying a mannequin and practicing with her eyes closed as she listened to the evening stock exchange commentary on the radio. It was a good skill to have in intimate moments, so she didn’t risk breaking the mood by fumbling around, especially with all the effort she put into creating those “moments.”

 

"For what?" he said, very amused. "I'm the one getting the blowjob. Do you expect me to do you after or something?"

 

She grinned. She couldn't remember the last time someone did that for her. It was long ago; that was for sure. Clients didn't do that, at least hers didn't, and she never had a lover who did. Jorge, her last long term boyfriend, thought it was a disgusting thought, but then Jorge found most of the world disgusting or insulting.

 

"Like I said, Cole, I really enjoy doing this for you," she told him, still watching his eyes as she unclasped his pants and searched for the zipper hook.

 

"Do you?" he asked, "Did you … before?"

 

She shrugged and looked down, found the zipper hook, and released the zipper. "No, not really. I didn't really enjoy any of it. It was a job and I like doing things right, or at least, not wrong. The job was sometimes interesting, sometimes humorous, and often a challenge. But, no, Cole, it was never enjoyable to me. If you want to know about that part of my life, then we'll talk, all right? But, after," she told him.

 

"You don't have--"

 

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I should talk about it with you. A huge part of what I am was forged during those years. Not saying I'm proud of what I did, but I am proud of who I am, and I don't want to have huge parts of me hidden from you. I want to be with you. You. Not just your body, or the bedroom." She shrugged, "Besides, you'll get deja vus about that time of my life sooner or later, and we'll have to discuss it then."

 

Nicole lifted up on her toes, and gave him a sensuous kiss on his lips, "Now, nothing else until after," she sighed.