Chapter Thirteen
The officers decided to let Meghan and Chloe ride their own bikes since they each had one. Kayla rode on the back of Mastema’s, and Rai rode on Tannin’s. The first lot was near the motel, so after they checked into their rooms, they rode out to see it.
“Lots of brush to clear,” said Phenex, moving a tangle of branches out of the way so Meghan could follow him.
“Not anymore than the one we’re on had at first,” said Mastema. “Remember it like that, Gorgon?”
“Yeah. Christ, we were so young when they first cleared it. How old were we? Five? Six?”
“Something like that.”
“How many acres is this one?” asked Tannin.
“Just under two hundred,” said Phenex. “It’s the smallest one of the four.”
“We don’t need as much land as we have now,” said Tannin. “Two hundred is still enough for the building and trails.”
“Let me see the plat map again,” said Gorgon, addressing Phenex. “What’s it back up to?”
“Interstate 71 on the east, but there’s a full tree line plus a ravine to cross before you get to the sound barrier. We could still fence it in on that side if we want.” Phenex pointed to the map. “On the west, it’s accessible from this road, which has other commercial and some residential properties on it.”
Gorgon grunted. “Makes it accessible to the public, and the sign would be easily spotted from the road. Those are positives.”
“But that makes security more difficult, too,” said Tannin.
“Any place we go,” said Mastema, “we’re gonna have to weigh security needs against visibility for the strip club.”
The men all agreed. That wasn’t anything they hadn’t already discussed. And the question on all their minds, though Phenex didn’t voice it because he didn’t have to, was whether this was far enough away? Whether staying in Ohio was far enough away? Whether any place in the entire country was?
“Let’s finish walking it,” said Gorgon, “then get something to eat. We can look at the second one before the sun goes down, and see the other two tomorrow.”
Later that evening, the group gathered in the room Gorgon and Chloe shared to talk about the day. All of them agreed that while both properties they viewed would be adequate in terms of space to rebuild the current strip club and home in which they lived, and to make new riding trails like their current land had, they would also be situated closer to centers of towns than they now were.
“That’s not a bad thing,” said Rai. “Neither town has a club like Scotty’s Place.”
“I agree we’d have plenty of business,” said Tannin. “What I’m more concerned about is security.”
“We’re basically talking about rebuilding a fortress,” said Phenex. “And in the end, we have no fucking clue whether it will matter. Whether we’ve moved far enough away that di Stefano will leave us alone.”
“So what do we do?” asked Mastema. “Leave Ohio? Take the club and the business across the country? How far away is far enough?”
The others nodded and murmured their agreement. Each of them had been thinking the same thing.
“We don’t have to make a final decision from this trip,” said Gorgon. “Let’s at least look at the other two, and then talk it over with Vassago and Rahab.”
After everyone went back to their rooms, Meghan snuggled against Phenex’s warm, naked body. “This is really scary for everyone, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but don’t ask them to admit it.”
She propped herself up on one elbow and looked down into his face. All that red hair he loved so much tickled his cheek. “Are you afraid?”
“Yeah. I am. Aren’t you?”
“Fucking terrified.” He pulled her close, and she lay back down to snuggle against him once more. “Thank you for admitting it to me, Phenex.”
“You can call me Rick if you want when we’re alone.”
He didn’t need to see her smile. He felt the shift in the air. “Yeah? That would be kind of weird, though. I don’t think of you as your real name. In my mind, you’ve always been Phenex.”
“Then call me Phenex. Just don’t call me late for dinner.”
It was a lame joke, but she laughed anyway, and that was exactly why he loved her so much. A sudden urge to tell this woman everything bubbled up, and the words spilled out before he barely knew he was about to say them. “I want to visit my father.”
She sat up. “What will you say to him?”
“I have no idea.”
“What’s the one thing you wish you knew about that night?”
He snorted. “That’s easy. Why the fuck did he just leave like that? I mean for Christ’s sake. I was only seven.”
“Then tell him that.”
“What would you do in my place? Would you visit one of your parents in jail if they murdered the other one and you’d been there to watch?” His heart raced as he stared into her beautiful face.
“I honestly don’t know. I have no frame of reference. My family barely speaks to me. Partly because I hooked up with Kevin and they all warned me he was bad news. But mostly because they’re just cold, heartless assholes. If one of them disappeared, I don’t know that I’d go looking for them.”
She brushed a hand along his hair, and the gesture sent shivers down his spine. “But that’s not even close to what you went through. I still have both parents, even if they’re barely around. I don’t know that I’d want to talk to my father if I’d watched him kill my mother, especially when I was so young. If I did have a chance to talk to him after something like that, I’d probably kill him in return, and then end up spending my life in prison for it.”
“Don’t think those exact thoughts haven’t crossed my mind.”
“I’d be worried about you if they hadn’t. Do the other officers know the entire story about your mother?”
“Yes. And so do all the patched members.”
“I’m surprised none of them ever encouraged you to go and see him.”
Phenex pulled her close again. “They have.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
“No. I think this is something I need to do alone. Does that upset you?”
“Heck no. But if you change your mind, I’ll go with you.” Meghan kissed his chest, trailing her tongue across his nipple. His cock jumped to attention as she grew bolder with that mouth he loved so much, licking lower and lower until she swirled her tongue around the tip of his dick.
He groaned loudly when she took the length of his shaft into her mouth. She was just so damn good at this, and he had no willpower to stop her or slow her down. Within minutes, he exploded into her mouth.
“Fuck, Meghan. You could do that every fucking day and I would never grow tired of it.”
“I hope not.” She sat up and straddled him, pushing her tits together and rubbing her thumbs across her nipples. He reached for her, taking over that task for her, and groaned again when she moved her hand between her legs and rubbed her clit.
“Baby … I want to make you come.”
“You are making me come. Touching me and looking into my eyes is as sexy as what you do with your mouth, your fingers, and your dick.”
“I love you, Meghan.”
“I love you, too.” She gave him the tenderest look he’d ever seen on any person’s face, right before she leaned down and kissed him.
He grasped her hair and tugged it, pulling her closer. He would never get enough of this woman. Never! She was everything he’d ever fantasized about, back when he dared to dream dreams, and imagine himself happy one day. She fulfilled all his desires, and if they had to move the club, he sure as hell wasn’t going anywhere without her.
The more she kissed him, the harder his cock grew until he was ramrod straight again. When she lowered her wet pussy over his dick, Phenex kissed her harder, devouring her mouth while she moved up and down.
He released the kiss so he could grasp her hips and fuck her deeper. “Yes … this feels so fucking good!”
She cried out loudly as her climax let loose, milking his dick with contractions that forced his own orgasm closer. He held on as long as he could, but his Meghan, with her head tilted back and that fucking look of bliss on her face as she came, was too much for any sane man to resist.
Once he finished, he placed his hand over her clit and massaged it, to be sure she was completely done with her climax before he gently pulled out. She lay on top of him, breathing heavily, their bodies soaked with sweat. Phenex stroked her hair and back.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I really needed that.”
“I always need that.” And I will always need you.
Once Meghan shifted her body off him and curled up next to him again, he allowed his mind to let go and drift off to sleep. Two more properties to see tomorrow, and then they’d go back home. Maybe Donny would work a miracle and they wouldn’t have to make a decision at all? A guy could hope, after all.