Dinner done and dishes in the washer, Tina sat in one of Jack’s two easy chairs. She hadn’t asked any questions, but she had wondered all through the meal what Jack wanted to talk to her about. He joined her, handing her another glass of wine as he sat in the other chair.
“What do you think the Sons do?” he asked, coming right to the point.
“I don’t know. You said you sold cars. Seth and Marshall work at the Harley Davidson dealership. Nic said she worked at the DMV, and Michelle … err … I forget what she said she did.”
“She works at Walmart as a store manager,” Jack reminded her. “But there is also Rog, Roger, who drives a truck, and Greg and Karen and Steve, and all the others.” He took a deep breath, summoning his courage. “But there is another thing we all have in common, besides being members of the Desert Sons.”
“What’s that?” she asked when he didn’t continue.
“I’m going to tell you something, and if you repeat it I will deny to my last breath that I ever said it, and I will ruin you. Do you understand what I’m saying? This is just between us.”
She nodded and wondered what she had become involved in as a cold chill passed through her.
“We’re also thieves. Just as you are. We steal cars. Well, I steal them. The others, they help move them.”
“You steal cars?” Tina repeated, her disbelief clear in her voice.
“That’s right. The BMW and Jag out there? Those are waiting for customer pickup. We steal them, change the VIN numbers, get the paperwork legal, and sell them on.”
She stared at him a moment. “Bullshit. What game are you playing?”
Jack smiled. “No game.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Want to see?”
“Yeah.”
“I tell you what. I bet I can open any one of those cars faster than you can.”
“Oh? What’s the stakes?”
“If I win, you have to spend the night with me tonight.”
Tina grinned. She might let him win for that. “And if I win?”
“What do you want? How about I buy you a bus ticket tomorrow to wherever you want to go and you walk away free and clear,” Jack offered.
“I want something else.”
“What?”
“If I win, you have to spend the night with me, and you have to fix me breakfast in bed tomorrow.”
“Pretty high stakes,” he teased.
“What are ya? Chicken?” she teased in return.
“You’re on.”
“You have tools?”
“I do,” he confirmed.
“You’ll let me use your tools, right?”
“Fairs fair.”
“Push the green button to start the clock, the red to stop it,” Jack said, handing Tina his cell. “Don’t you sandbag me,” he warned.
She grinned. “I won’t need to.”
Tina had looked over his toolkit and agreed that his tools would work for her. The bag was unzipped but sitting on the floor. “Go!” Tina barked, starting the clock. Twenty-eight seconds later, the BMW was unlocked. She turned the phone around so he could see.
“Not bad,” he said, satisfied with his time.
“Pfft. I can half that.”
“This ain’t a Honda, kid,” Jack said with a smile as he slammed the door and locked it. “And don’t forget, if you scratch it, it’s a fifteen-second penalty.”
“We didn’t agree to that!” she protested.
“Yeah, well, I just made it up. I didn’t scratch it, so I can do that.”
“You cheatin’ asshole!” She grinned. “Okay, fine. I’ll still whip your ass.”
“In your own time.”
“Go!” she called again, a fraction of a second after she started bending down to pull the shim out of the bag. “What’s my time?” she called the moment the locks clicked.
“Let’s see if you scratched it, first,” he said holding the cell so she couldn’t see the time. “Is that a scratch?” he asked, minutely examining the area where the shim had slid between the door frame and the car roof.
“What?” she squawked as she looked for herself. “There’s no scratch! I beat you, didn’t I?” She grinned. The BMW was harder to open than a typical Honda, but she was still pretty quick.
“I don’t know. That looks like a scratch to me.”
“What’s my time?” she asked, trying to turn the cell so she could see.
He held the cell above his head where she had no hope of reaching it. “I really think that is a scratch.”
“There’s no fucking scratch! What was my time?” she exclaimed as she tried to jump up and get the phone.
He grinned and turned the phone toward her so she could see. Thirty-two seconds.
“Huh-uh! You cheated me!”
“Nope. That’s the time.”
“Well… shit!”
“Actually, that’s pretty fast. European cars are tough.”
“Yeah, but I was looking forward to you spending the night with me. And breakfast in bed.”
“How about you spend the night with me and we talk about what to do in the morning.”
Tina grinned. “Okay. I guess that works for me.” But then she sobered. She had gotten carried away in the excitement of the competition. “Why are you telling me this, Jack?”
“I’m offering you a way out. A new start.”
“How?”
“Do I have your word that what I’m about to tell you goes no farther than this warehouse?”
“Yes, Jack.”
“Have you heard of the Cars as Art exhibit that is coming to town?”
“No. What about it?”
“It is a traveling show of about thirty classic cars. It is on tour around the country.”
“Okay … so?”
“There are six cars in the show, six classic Ferraris. We’re going to steal them.”
Tina was shocked into silence. “How?”
“We’re just going to push them out, put them in some trailers, and haul them away. The cars are already sold. Twenty-two million for the set. As soon as we get them, they will wire the money. We then send them to LA, they get put on a ship, and we all retire.”
“Why do you need me?” Tina asked, her heart pounding in her chest. “And how does that help me get a new start?”
“You can take your cut of the take and buy a new identity. I can set that up for you.”
“What would be my cut?”
“Same as everyone else: a million.”
She almost couldn’t breathe. A million dollars was more money than she could ever dream of. “What would I have to do?”
“I need you to use your nimble little fingers and get the keys to the building.”
“That’s it?"
"That's it. Is that worth a million dollars?”
“What if I get caught?”
“You know the code. You don’t talk. But I will help you every way I can. It will only be for pickpocketing, after all. You should make bail, maybe, and if you do, I will set you up and get you out of town.”
“But … but … I have a record. And I probably have an arrest warrant now, as well.”
Jack shrugged. “If you want in, it’s a risk you will have to take. Don’t get caught.”
Tina stared at him for a long time. “I need to think about it.”
"Okay, but don’t think long. The job is Friday.”
“This Friday?” she asked incredulously.
“That’s right.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. You got here just in time.”
“Lucky me,” she muttered.
Later, as they lay in bed snuggling before they got down to the serious business of fucking, Tina turned Jack’s offer over in her mind. A million dollars … It was so much money. She could get away, get a new identity, and start over. Jack had said he would help her.
“Jack?”
“Hmmm?”
“How would I get a new identity?”
“I have my ways.”
“But how?”
He sighed. “The Sons … we have key people in places to help with the sale of the cars. They can also help with new identities. It’s not what we do, but it can be done.”
“Nic! She works at the DMV! She can get a driver’s license!” Tina guessed.
“That’s right. Marshall, he can help with credit. Then there is Greg … He can get an account at a bank opened. Once you have a few of those items, you become a real person with a new name.”
“And all the Sons help with the cars?”
“To one degree or another. Some detail them up so they look like new. One changes the VIN tags. He has some little tool he uses to make a perfect replica. Greg handles the money. Others contact customers. Rog, he drives a truck … the truck we are going to use haul the cars to LA. He can sometimes deliver a car if there is an extra spot on his truck. Then Rachel, she is our forger. She runs up documents for the cars. So we all work together.”
“And you steal them?”
“Yes. We get a call for a certain car in a certain color. If we can find it, I do my thing. We only steal a car when we have an order. Never on speculation.”
“And you’ve never been caught?”
“No. Grand theft auto is pretty safe if you’re smart. Did you ever get caught for stealing cars?”
“No, not for GTA. Not for other than joy riding as a kid, anyway. I got busted for breaking and entering when I tried to steal a car.”
“What? How’d that happen?”
Tina grimaced. “This guy had a cherry ‘62 Corvette. I saw it at a cruise in. I … uh … borrowed his wallet and got the address. Then…”
“Wait. Didn’t he miss his wallet?” Jack interrupted.
“No. Once I had his address, I just pitched it into the seat of his car. Anyway, a few days later I cruised by his house, and sure enough, in the garage was the ‘vette. That night, I broke a window in the garage door and slipped inside.”
“How the hell did you do that?” Jack asked. Garage door windows were tiny for a reason.
“The glass is thin and easy to break. Then I just jumped up and squeezed through. You break one of the center windows so you can use the garage door track to hang on to so you don’t fall on your face while you squeeze through. So I got inside, and as soon as my feet touched the floor, the biggest damn dog I ever saw was standing there, growling at me. Scared the shit out of me. The damn thing looked like a cross between a wolf and a bear.”
“Then what happened?”
“I jumped on the hood of the ‘vette and ran up to the roof, the fucking dog right behind me. I jumped across and landed on the SUV next to it, but the dog fell off when he tried to jump after me. I guess he was too stupid to try again. So I ended up standing on the roof of the SUV while the dog tried to eat the car. Then the owner showed up. He called off the dog, but him having a shotgun didn’t really improve my situation much.”
Jack pulled her more snugly against him, imaging some huge dog tearing the hell out of a car in frustration that its prey was just out of reach. He smiled, his smile growing ever wider as he imagined Tina running up the ‘vette and jumping to another car as the dog snapped at her heels. The more he thought about it, the more comical it became until he began to chuckle.
“It’s not funny, Jack! That damn dog tried to eat me!”
He guffawed, her comment making the story even funnier. As his laughter died, he pushed her on her back and kissed her fully on the lips. “I can’t blame the dog. I’m thinking about eating you myself,” he said as he slid down in the bed, his lips dancing along her smooth, warm skin.
With the bedroom door open, he could see what he was doing, and he took full advantage of the light, burying his face in her vee. He had enjoyed her company immensely today, more so than that of most women who had shared his bed, and he attacked her with gusto. His tongue probed and slashed, his lips pulled and nibbled, and all the while he squirmed his face about, trying to give her as much pleasure as possible. He watched her face as her lips parted slightly, and he smiled as he pleased her, holding her eyes with his own. As he watched, her eyes drifted closed and her hands wrapped tightly in his hair, encouraging him to give her more.
She pulled him in tight as his tongue and lips caused her internal fire to roar. He had taken the edge off her need last night, then again this morning, but goddamn she wanted him! His kindness today as he allowed her to ride his hog, his patient and gentle tutelage as he taught her to shoot, buying her clothes … had all conspired to make her want him like few men she had ever had. As he pleased her, asking nothing from her, she could feel her orgasm bearing down on her.
Tina jerked with a soft, growling grunt as he slid a finger into her wetness and tickled her sweet spot while still teasing her with his tongue and lips. Knowing she had just had an orgasm as she fell back to the bed from her slightly curled position made his blood run hot. He continued to stroke with his finger, causing her to move and writhe gently. He pulled his face back from her wetness and moved his lips to hers. He kissed her softly before he hammered his finger into her furiously and wondered how much she could take.
As the orgasm flowed out of her, leaving her feeling warm and relaxed, Jack’s lips touched hers, offering a kiss she accepted eagerly. As she luxuriated in the kiss, he began to finger-fuck her with sweet savagery. The rapid pistoning of his finger against her sweet spot made her gasp in a long, drawn out moan, the sensations like nothing she had ever felt before.
The breathy sound that escaped her, part moan, part gasp, but all sex, caused his smile to broaden as he took her lips with passion. She kissed him, pulling him fiercely to her before she shoved him violently away. She grabbed his wrist as she gasped and jerked in spasms, then twisted violently to her stomach.
Every muscle in her body screamed in protest as they strained against each other and twisted her onto her stomach. Her body was no longer hers to control as her legs spasmed and slowly pumped as she moaned low and deep. She shivered as if cold as she slowly crawled to the head of the bed. Her body crackled with sexual energy, unaware of what she was doing and unable to stop it. Suddenly, her climax washed out of her and she collapsed in a heap, piled against the pillows, devastated by the hardest orgasm of her life.
Jack had seen women quiver through an orgasm before, but never had he seen one whose entire body seemed to be trying to tear itself apart, every muscle visible as they twisted and writhed under her skin. He lay beside her and pulled her into his embrace, holding her tight until she began to stir.
“Fuck…” she whispered.
“You okay?” he asked with a chuckle.
“My God, I have never come like that before. Fuck…” she murmured as she tried to gather herself. She was wiped out, and poor Jack … he was left hanging. “I need a moment.”
“It’s okay,” Jack said. He was a little disappointed that they were done so soon, but he was thrilled that he had been able to give her an orgasm of such power.
She sighed as she relaxed into his embrace. She would like nothing better than to go to sleep, but she couldn’t leave him hanging. That would be cruel and unfair, and she wouldn’t do that to him. She turned in his arms and kissed him gently on the lips.
“Take me,” she whispered.
As he entered her, as good as it felt, she knew she was done for the night. That last orgasm had wrung her dry of need.
Jack could tell Tina was finished, so he focused on his own need. He pumped into her gently at first, enjoying the feel of her around him as he looked into her eyes—her beautiful eyes—and gently kissed her lips lips. As they moved, two becoming one, he could feel his own orgasm approach, and he increased the power of this thrusts, driving into her with intent as he opened himself to the approaching storm of pleasure.
She could feel him begin to tighten up as his orgasm approached. He lowered himself more fully onto her, his weight comforting her, making her feel safe and protected as he nuzzled at her neck. She pulled her legs up and felt him go deeper into her depths as she squeezed him between her legs and pulled him tight with her arms. She wasn’t going to come again this evening, but she reveled in his touch.
As she clamped down on him, holding him tight, Jack’s orgasm leapt close. He didn’t try to push it away or slow its approach, and he suddenly began to thrust hard and fast until his orgasm washed over him in a cleansing wave. With a soft gasp into the side of her neck, he felt his essence flow from him while he held himself hard into her.
She relaxed as he did, loosening her grip slightly, but not allowing him to pull away. Jack wasn’t the first guy to fuck her, but he might be her first lover. With other men, she would snuggle after sex because she usually had nowhere else to go and it was expected. But with Jack, it was different. She wanted to feel his touch, she wanted to have him hold her in his embrace, she wanted to wake up next to him so he was the first thing she saw … and she smiled.
He twice tried to rise out of her arms so she could move, only to have her tighten her embrace. She seemed to crave the closeness, so he relaxed and held her while his lips softly roamed her face, neck, and shoulders as they sought new places to give her pleasure. Finally, her embrace relaxed, and he slowly moved from her. As he settled on the bed, he tugged at her gently, inviting her to snuggle into his side.
At his gentle tug, she moved in close and propped herself on him, laying her head on his shoulder. She could feel sleep trying to pull its dark blanket over her, and she smiled again. She didn’t love Jack, but she certainly liked him. She liked him a lot. He had been so kind to her as he fed her, clothed her, and took her in. He had given her a second chance, something no one else had ever done. And now he offered her a way out, a way to turn her life around and make good. She just had to trust him … and she realized that she did trust him. More than anyone in a long time.
“Jack?” she asked as her eyes became too heavy to keep open any longer.
“What?”
“I’m in.”
“You’re sure that is what you want?”
“Yes. I’m sure,” she murmured, her voice slurred with impending sleep.
Jack smiled and tightened his embrace.