Jasper

After my encounter with Marin in my office, I couldn’t stop thinking about her all day. What had happened to my cold turkey idea? Just seeing her standing in my office, jeans slung low across her hips, blonde hair pulled into a messy ponytail, I’d wanted her. Badly. Every ounce of sense and self-restraint had left me.

And now we were going out for the second night in a row. That didn’t happen. Even with women I’d actually dated in the past, we never saw each other more than a few nights a week.

“Where are we going?” she asked from the passenger seat.

Instead of sending her another dress, I’d told her to wear something of her own. Something formal. And she had delivered. The dress was a scarlet red, slit deeply in the front, exposing a good deal of cleavage. When she’d opened her front door, I had just barely resisted the urge to reach out and brush my fingers across her smooth ivory skin. Her hair was curled and pinned up on one side, emphasizing the cut of her cheekbone. Looking at her, I couldn’t remember why I’d thought I’d ever seen a woman more beautiful.

I cast another look at her, the long curl of her lashes, the soft point of her small nose. “A friend of mine has a restaurant downtown, and tonight is the grand opening.”

“A friend of yours?”

I could tell what she was thinking: A biker friend of yours?

“His name is Jeremy Bryant. We went to college together,” I clarified. “He was my roommate my freshman year.”

She nodded, clearly relieved, and turned to look out the window.

“There will be a lot of press there tonight, so we might be photographed together again.”

She nodded again, and I couldn’t tell if she was really listening to me.

“There will also be some members of the Jackals there, so we could be caught in the middle of a biker brawl,” I lied.

This time Marin didn’t even nod. She sat as still as stone in the passenger seat. We hadn’t expressly mentioned that she had to talk to me in private – only pretend to date me in public – but that didn’t matter. I needed her to acknowledge me.

“Afterward we’ll go back to my place, and fuck again.” I felt myself harden beneath the material of my suit pants and hated that she had that kind of effect on me.

Marin sighed. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to say please?”

I couldn’t help it; I smiled. “That wasn’t a refusal. Does that mean you agree?”

She looked at me, her face illuminated by the yellow street lights. “We’ll see how dinner goes.”

“I guess we will,” I said, silently accepting her challenge.

***

The restaurant was at maximum capacity, every table and booth filled, a constant din of noise drowning out the conversation of the tables only a few feet away. Marin and I had to lean across the table to hear one another, but I didn’t mind. A lot of women were like mediocre artwork –fine from far away, but a total mess once you got close. Marin, however, was an underappreciated masterpiece.

It wasn’t until we were less than a foot apart, the soft lighting giving her skin a golden hue, that I noticed the light smattering of freckles across her cheeks and the specks of green in her irises. The closer I got, the more beautiful she became.

“There are a lot of people here,” she said. “Do you think we’ll even be noticed?”

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking away from her only long enough to swirl some seafood pasta around my fork.

When I looked back up, her brows were pulled together. “Will we even be noticed by the press? If not, then the whole evening will be kind of a waste.”

Right. We weren’t on a date. I had my reputation and business to worry about, and Marin was only here to satisfy her end of the deal.

“Maybe not,” I said, my words clipped. “There are a lot of important people here.”

“Yeah,” Marin said, looking around the room, a little star struck. “Is your life always this glamorous?”

Glamorous? No one who knew me ever would have described my life as glamorous. Though, Marin had only seen the businessman side of Jasper Black. Just as I didn’t know her, she didn’t really know me at all. Suddenly, I wanted to leave. I pushed my chair out and extended my hand to her.

“Where are we going?” she asked, looking around. We’d only made it halfway through our entrees.

“You’re right, this is a waste if the press won’t see. Let’s leave.”

“But, we just...” She didn’t seem to know what to say, and I hadn’t budged, so she finally grasped my hand and let me lead her out.

***

Motorcycles were lined up outside the long, one-story building, and I could see flashing lights shining out around the edges of the blackout curtains.

Marin hadn’t said anything on the drive, but suddenly she was sitting up, head swiveling to take in our surroundings. “Where are we?”

“A Hellions party,” I said as I drove into the overgrown parking lot and parked in the back corner.

I’d bought the building as a potential Jasper’s Grill location, but then it hadn’t really panned out, and Bear and Tats had turned it into a party spot. Luckily, it sat far enough outside the city in an industrial district that no one paid it any attention.

She shook her head and lowered down in the seat. “I’m not going in there.”

“Feel free to stay out here if you’d like, but the club operates under the principal of finder’s keeper’s, and I won’t be able to claim you if you’re out here.”

This wasn’t exactly true, but Marin didn’t need to know that.

Her face was the picture of indecision, and then she looked down at her clothes. “I’m not dressed for this.”

She was right. In a room of leather and denim and ripped stockings, her gown would stick out like a sore thumb. I bit my lower lip, assessing her. Then, I reached across the console and ripped her gold necklace off.

“Hey,” she said, clutching at her now bare neck.

“Relax, it isn’t even real gold,” I said, pointing out a place where the gold paint had chipped away.

“It was still pretty,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.

I ignored her and reached for the clip holding her hair back.

She stopped my hand in mid-air. “I’ll do it; otherwise, you’ll probably rip my hair out.” She opened the clip and gingerly slid her curls out.

“That’s a little better,” I said, but it was clear she still looked much too polished. I reached out and tousled her curls, giving her messy waves. Then, I reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a napkin. “Wipe your lipstick off.”

She rolled her eyes but did as I asked. When she finished, her lips were swollen and pink, much as they had been after she’d sucked me off the night before.

I felt myself growing excited at the memory, so I quickly pushed it aside. “You’re ready.”

She nodded, but I noticed the tremble in her hand as she reached for the door handle. Marin was about to see exactly how glamorous my life was.

A wall of smoke greeted us at the door, and Marin repressed a cough. I was used to it. I’d smoked for ten years, starting at fifteen, but I’d given it up a few years before. Still, I liked the smell of it, and I inhaled deeply.

“Jasper!” Voices all around the room shouted out to me.

I wasn’t a usual visitor to the parties – only because they happened so frequently that I couldn’t possibly make it to all of them. Though the restaurants started out as a way to make money so I could blow it on booze and drugs and bikes, they had taken off over the last few years. I found myself wanting them to do well and expand, and that took a great deal of time.

I waved to everyone and grabbed Marin’s hand, pulling her along behind me as we moved through the building. The inside had been gutted before I’d bought it, and I hadn’t done anything since then. Heavy curtains hung along some of the unfinished walls, blocking off private rooms along the back wall, but otherwise, it was a large open space with concrete floors.

Marin stuck close to me, and I felt the heat rolling off of her. I tried to see the party through her eyes. The men in their kuttes, covered in tattoos that wrapped around their necks and stretched down their arms. The women were rail thin and constantly windblown, wearing only enough to cover their most private areas.

Some of the club girls didn’t even have on that much, opting to remain topless – since they’d end up that way anyway. Music blasted from speakers in the front corner of the room, and couples in various stages of undress pressed their bodies together in ways that loosely resembled dancing.

“Do you want a drink?” I asked, gesturing to the keg in the center of the room.

Marin shook her head and wrapped her hand around my forearm. I did my best to ignore the warmth that spread down my arm.

Just then, someone shoved me from behind. I lurched forward, taking Marin with me. I caught myself with my hands, but Marin’s knee cracked against the concrete floor, and she yelped.

“What the—” I started, righting myself and turning around just in time to take a blow to the cheek. My head whipped to the side, and I felt a pinch in one of the muscles in my neck.

In a flash, a few of the Hellions had the man by his arms. It was obvious he was drunk. He staggered even while being held up. Honestly, it was a wonder he’d managed to land such a solid punch to my face. I studied his kutte and saw the Jagged Jackals emblem.

“You killed Lonny, you son of a bitch!” he spat. His cheeks were red from the alcohol and his rage.

“I didn’t kill anybody,” I said, turning away from him to help Marin off the floor. She rubbed her knee, and I saw the beginnings of a bruise already. “But you did hurt my girlfriend.”

“I don’t give a damn about your whore,” he shouted. “Angel will kill you both.”

Without hesitating, I wound back and punched him square in the nose. Immediately, a burning sensation started in my thumb and shot up my arm. I shook it out while the man cursed. Blood was pouring from his nose and running down his lips.

Bear broke through the growing crowd and assessed the situation. He moved behind the Jackal and wrapped his thick arm around his neck, pinning the man to his chest.

“How did he even get in here?” I asked, the question directed to no one in particular. Then, I nodded at Bear. “Get rid of him.”

Marin’s face had gone white, and it was even more pronounced against the deep color of her dress.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

“Is he going to kill that guy?” Her eyes were wide, following Bear as he hauled the man towards the exit.

“Are you seriously worried about that creep?”

She nodded. “He was drunk. He probably didn’t mean it.”

I shook my head in disbelief and bit down a smile. “Bear is just going to toss him out. We don’t make a habit of killing every drunk nobody who throws a punch at a party.”

She took a deep breath, her shoulders relaxing. Then, she glanced up at me from under her long lashes. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I said, though I felt a headache blossoming at the base of my neck.

Marin reached up and brushed a finger across the tender spot on my cheek. “You have a bruise.”

“So do you,” I said, pointing at her knee and fighting the urge to grab her hand, keep it pressed against my face.

Word of the altercation was spreading, and people were starting to gather in the center of the room. The appearance of a Jackal had everyone’s haunches raised, and they were ready for a fight.

“I saw their bikes outside Sparrow’s Bar on my way here,” Tats said, his voice rising over the din of the crowd.

He was answered with a roar from the crowd. They were a mob, ready to destroy anything in their path. If they went to Sparrow’s someone would end up dead, and for what?

“Hey.” I didn’t raise my voice any more than normal, but the room silenced within a few seconds, all eyes – including Marin’s – were on me. “We aren’t fighting tonight. No one is going to go to jail or worse because of a drunk Jackal. Understand?”

The energy in the room was palpable, an electric current running under everything, but slowly heads began to nod.

“Who turned off the music?” I asked, spinning towards the speakers. “This is a party, right?”

The crowd cheered, and just as quickly as they’d been whipped into the idea of a fight, everyone was back to drinking and dancing. Some of the men, however, lingered nearby, eyeing Marin. I saw them sizing her up, running their eyes over her hungrily. She definitely stood out from the crowd, and she didn’t look anything like the club girls.

I cast a glare at a few men, effectively sending them scattering, and grabbed Marin’s hand. “Come on.” The curtains along the back wall released a cloud of dust as I swept them aside. “After you,” I added, holding it open for Marin to step through.

She looked slightly leery but moved into the makeshift room. The curtains blocked the few lights that had been set up near the speakers, so we were standing in a gray darkness.

“These parties aren’t usually so exciting,” I said, rubbing my sore cheekbone.

“I don’t believe you.” Marin turned away from me and explored the small room. A card table had been set up in the corner, littered with drug paraphernalia, and a stained mattress laid expectantly in the center of the room. It was clear what this room was supposed to be used for.

“Not exactly glamorous, is it?” I asked, wondering what Marin thought of my life now.

“I guess I don’t know you very well, either.” She chuckled.

“What’s funny?”

“Kayla thinks I’m on some swanky date right now, and all the girls at the restaurant are dying of jealousy.” She turned to me, her eyes shining even in the darkness. “I was just thinking how different things would be if they knew the truth.”

“Is it hard working at the restaurant while you’re dating the boss?” I took a step closer to her, my desire drawing me nearer.

She shrugged, and her hair fell over one of her eyes. “It would be easier if I were actually dating the boss, instead of pretending to date the boss. Then I wouldn’t be lying to everyone.”

I reached out and swept the loose hair behind her ear. “You don’t have to work at the restaurant anymore.”

“I need the money. I can’t afford to quit. And before you even suggest it, I won’t accept anything from you.”

“Anything?” I asked, taking another step closer and wrapping a hand around her small waist.

She glanced around the room. “Here?”

I nodded and leaned down to bite her earlobe. I felt her give way under my touch.

“That mattress is disgusting.”

“We won’t use the mattress.” I pushed her until her back hit the only solid wall in the room.

“There are people just outside,” she said, protesting, though she had lifted her leg and wrapped it around me, pulling me into her.

I wondered when she’d become so comfortable with me. I ran my hand over the growing bruise on her knee, then up her leg towards her hip, savoring the feeling of her smooth skin. Then, with a hand wrapped around her waist, I spun her around, so she faced the wall.

She let out a yelp, but I ignored her and grabbed the bottom of her dress, lifting it over her hips. Marin turned around to look at me, but I pushed her head away and bent her forward. I pushed her white thong down her legs, and she moved as if to step out of it, but there wasn’t time for that.

I needed her.

When I unzipped my pants, I practically burst out of them, and I wasted no time finding her opening. Marin arched her back as I ran myself along her slit, toying with her. She leaned further forward, pushing herself against me, and I gave her what she asked for. With one thrust, I pushed myself all the way inside of her.

Marin groaned, stifling the noise against her arm, but she didn’t flinch or pull away like I’d expected. She pushed herself harder against me, moving her hips from side to side. I felt her clenching and unclenching around me, and the sensation was enough that I could have released right there. But it wasn’t time for that yet.

I wrapped my hands around her hips, and slid her off of me slowly, inch by inch. Then, I slammed into her, our skin making a loud slapping noise.

“Oh, God,” she whimpered.

I did it again. Pulling out nearly all the way, and then slamming back into her as hard as I could. I repeated this over and over, speeding up as she more easily accepted my size. Marin reached behind her and placed her hands on each of my thighs.

I slid my hand from her hip down to her center. She moaned as my finger circled her in time to my thrusts. It only took a few seconds, and I felt her legs shaking against mine. Then, she was clenching and unclenching around me, unrestrained moans escaping her.

That was all it took for me to release. I quivered inside of her and made shallow thrusts with each spasm. By the end, we were both shaking, collapsing into the wall, our breathing ragged.

I dropped her off at home, watching from the car as she walked gingerly up the sidewalk to her apartment and shut the door behind her. I liked knowing I’d been the one to make her walk funny, that she would be sore in the morning because of me.

We’d had sex less than a half hour earlier, yet I was already aching for her again. What was happening to me? A woman had never had this kind of hold over me. I’d shown her the Hellions party expecting her to be disgusted, or, at the very least, frightened. But Marin was tougher than I gave her credit for. Even knowing my secrets and my past, she never failed to speak her mind.

She wasn’t like the club girls who told me whatever I wanted to hear or the women who threw themselves at me because of my money and success. Marin didn’t want anything from me, and she had so much more to offer than her body.

As I pulled into the driveway, the motion sensor light on the front porch kicked on, and I saw a piece of paper stuck to the door, which was odd. The gates at the end of the driveway had been closed when I’d pulled in, and my security system alerted me whenever they were opened.

Before getting out of the car, I checked my surroundings for anything obviously out of the ordinary. And then, just to be safe, I grabbed my gun from the glove compartment and stashed it in my suit jacket. I hadn’t shot anyone in a long time, but I wouldn’t hesitate if someone came at me.

However, I made it to the door without incident and ripped the note down. The paper had been torn from a spiral notebook, and it had two words written on it in black sharpie:

Call me

Below that was a hastily drawn Jackals emblem.

Angel.

An arrow had been painting on the door in some kind of sticky brown paint. I followed it to the side of the porch where a crudely wrapped box sat beneath a bush. Carefully, I peeled back the flaps to reveal a mound of fur. For a moment, I wondered whether Jasper had delivered a mink scarf to my door, but then the smell hit me.

Death.

I didn’t need to look any further to know the animal was dead. I scooped up the box, holding it as far away from my body as possible, and walked it to the dumpster next to the garage. Clearly, I was going to need to deal with Angel sooner rather than later, and when I did, I’d kill him.