TORQUE
The feeling of Heeley sleeping in my arms is something I can quickly become accustomed to. Her head is pressed between the crook of my neck and my chest, her hair fanned out on my arm, and I swear I wouldn’t want to be anywhere other than right here, right now, with her soft breathing bordering on snoring as she does. It only makes me smile as my fingers gently run up and down her naked back.
I have no idea what the time is, but I know it’s morning as the sun is shining behind her curtains. I should be getting back to the clubhouse as we have a shipment today. Even though there’s drama with the Andrettis, we still have our regular business to uphold, and our links to the Chinese Triads in Chinatown are holding strong. We don’t want to tarnish that relationship and have them flip over to Andretti territory. So, I need to be there for the shipment to go through to maintain our good relationship.
The thing is, I don’t want to fucking move from this spot. Being with Heeley last night wasn’t just about fucking. I’ve done that for the last six years. Sure, the sex was crazy fucking good, but it actually meant something. It wasn’t just a means to an end. I feel something for Heeley. A connection.
Fuck! I’ve never slept in a bed with a woman I’ve fucked other than Zoey, so that says something.
Every club girl I’ve bedded has been sure to know the drill.
We fuck.
They leave.
No emotion.
No connection.
No worries.
But with Heeley, something’s shifting inside of me. I’m feeling things I haven’t felt for such a long time, and it both terrifies and electrifies me. The thought of bringing Heeley into the fold. Fuck! She’d fit in just like fucking Old Lady material should.
My eyes open wide.
Shit! Am I really thinking this already?
That she could be an Old Lady?
I haven’t even told her about Zoey and my son.
I should do that, but I don’t know how she’ll take it. I think I’ll save it until we’ve at least established where this, whatever this is, is headed.
She stirs, her breathing catching in her throat makes me grin as I glance down and lean in pressing a kiss to her forehead. She mumbles something incoherently as her arm stretches out across my chest. “Urgh… I hate mornings…” Her voice is raspy, kind of sexy, and it’s making my cock twitch. Her leg throws out wrapping over mine instinctively, and I smile as she envelops herself around me without hesitation. “It’s Saturday. Can we sleep for the entire day? Someone wore me out last night.”
My hand slides up her arm on my chest, and I hold her to me in an embrace. “That sounds fuckin’ amazing, and while at any other time I’d gladly take you up on that, unfortunately, I have some club business I have to get to today.”
Her head bobs up, and her bottom lip juts out in a pout. I smile leaning down and taking her lip in by my teeth, biting it hard enough to make her whimper in delight. Then I kiss her softly, albeit briefly.
“Fine, I’ll just study like always. Urgh… my life’s so boring,” she complains, and I chuckle.
“Boring is good. Boring is safe.” I lean in kissing her forehead again, and she lets out a small laugh.
“True. I have to admit I think I might like to see you getting your real biker face on. It might do strange things to my lady bits.”
A throaty laugh echoes from my stomach, and I shake my head. “Fuck! Always surprising me. But I like you the way you are right now. One day I’ll show you more. Tell you more. But for now, I want to keep you thinking I’m one of the good guys.”
She rolls onto her stomach, her arm lying across my chest as she props herself up to look down at me as she furrows her brows. “Rylan, you are a good guy. Sure, I don’t know about the… ahhh… not-so-legal things you deal in. And sure, that could possibly be a problem for me, but…” she lets out a heavy breath, “… I like you. I want to get to know you. The real you. We obviously have a connection here, one I’m willing to work at if you are, too. I want to see where this could lead… if I’m not being too forward. But I also don’t want to be dragged into any of your illegal stuff either.”
Nodding, I weakly smile at her. “I get it. The women of our club, the old ladies, they have one of two choices they can make when they agree to be with one of us.”
She raises her brow and listens intently.
“First choice… you know everything. What we do. What’s happening? Everyone’s business. You know every single thing we do, which, also makes you liable in the eyes of the law.”
Her eyes open wide as she swallows hard. I bring my hand up to her face and caress her cheek. Her face instinctively molds into my hand as I touch her.
“Or, option two… you know nothing. You don’t know where we go. Who we see. What we’re doing. Anyone’s business. You’re a part of the club, but you know nothing about it. Plausible deniability. If anything happens with the cops, you won’t go down if we do. Thing about option two, though, I won’t budge. You wanna know where I’ve been, I won’t tell you under any circumstances if it’s club business.”
She nods her head, and her jaw wracks from side to side like she’s mulling that thought over. “And they’re the only two options?”
Nodding, I caress her cheek a little harder. “There’s no in between, foxy.”
She sighs scrunching up her face as she breaks free from my grip and moves to get out of the bed. I wince at the lack of contact as she shifts away to put some clothes on. The silence in the room is deafening, and I’m not sure if I should say something or let her mull this over in her mind. It’s a lot to take onboard.
I decide to sit up and move to get dressed too. I need to go anyway. Though leaving on this note, I’m not sure it’s the best idea, but I’m not sure I have much of a choice right now. I stand up from the bed and grab my clothes from the floor and start getting dressed.
She turns to face me, and I stop doing up my jeans as she pulls her shirt on and sighs. “I’m sorry for going quiet. I just… it’s a lot to take in.”
I walk around the bed wearing just my jeans, my bare chest on display and step up to her taking her hands in mine. “Hey… I know. I know this life isn’t like a normal mundane relationship. This life is not for everyone. The biker lifestyle’s hard, it’s full of action and drama, and fuckin’ bad guys at our tails. But, it’s also full of a brotherhood, a family who has your back, no matter fuckin’ what. A lifestyle that has the freedom for you to be anyone, to do anything you wanna do. We can travel if you want. Defiance has clubs all over the country. Hell, all over the world. And if you wanna see it, the clubs ride all the time. The comradery, the kinship, the family love of a club, Heeley, you won’t find it in civilian life. I’m not promising I’ll be perfect, either. I’ll fuck up, you’ll make mistakes, but biker life means you work hard at it. Together.”
She smiles and leans in wrapping her arms around my waist, her cheek rests against my chest as she cuddles into me, and I hold her tightly. “Who knew you could talk like a romantic.”
I snort. “That was romantic?”
She nods against my chest, her blonde hair tickling my skin. “Yeah, in your own biker way. It was.” She looks up at me and smiles. “Kiss me.”
Without hesitation, I lean down and press my lips to hers. My cock pulses as it always does when I feel that fucking spark between us. Her mouth opens, and my tongue wastes no time moving in and colliding with hers while I kiss her for all she’s worth.
Our conversation hasn’t been light this morning. It’s been heavy as hell, and after an amazing night, I guess a talk like this was inevitable—one about where our future together is headed.
All I need to know now is what direction she’s going to take.
Is she going to ride with me? Or ride off into the sunset alone?
Pulling back from our heated kiss, I look into her eyes, they’re glistening with an intensity I haven’t quite seen from her before. It’s a look of indecision. And I fucking hate it.
She sniffs, swallowing hard, and I pull back a little more. “I think you going to the club today is a good thing.” Her voice is a breathy whisper.
I step back putting a gap between us. “Why?”
She looks at the floor hesitantly. “I just… I need to think. This is a lot, Torque. And as much as I like you—”
“Okay,” I interrupt not wanting her to finish that sentence. I spin, making my way back to grab my shirt, my stomach churning at the thought she’s going to turn me down. I’ve put myself out there after all this time and now, I sigh and grit my teeth. “I get it.”
“Torque, please don’t be mad.”
Softening my stance, I look back at her. “I’m not mad. I understand. I’ll wait to hear from you.”
My gorgeous girl’s eyes well with tears, and that makes me think she might have already made up her mind. My muscles clench, and my stomach twists as I pull my shirt over my head. I turn not wanting to see her looking so upset, and I pull my boots on as I try not to let myself get too worked up.
I’m fucked off.
I let myself feel things for her.
I opened myself up.
And now it looks like she’s going to let me down.
I turn back in time to see her wiping a stray tear away, and I wince as I let out a heavy sigh. “Don’t be sad, foxy. Remember last night. That should put a smile on your face.”
Her face instantly lights up, and I grin as I turn and head for her living room. I grab my keys, my helmet, and my cell and make my way to her front door.
She rushes behind me and grabs my elbow to stop me. I turn, and she leans in and kisses me hard. I lean into the kiss just as she pulls back and sighs. “I’ll talk to you soon,” she relays.
I smile and turn, opening the door and walking out. She closes it behind me, and my stomach sinks with the muted hum of the door jam.
Fuck!
Walking through the door of the clubhouse, my shoulders are tense. Walking away from Heeley and not knowing if I’ll ever see her again nearly fucking killed me. Especially after the night we shared. But I had to give her a choice. This life isn’t for everyone, and while I think she’ll be suited to it perfectly, she’s the only one who can decide if she will fit in here. So maybe this is for the best. If she’s scared off by just the thought of what happens, then maybe she actually won’t be able to handle it like I thought she could.
I don’t fucking know.
What I do know is I need to get my head straight and into the game. I have a gun shipment to run, and I need to know it’s all going smoothly.
Ace walks up to me and juts his chin up in a greeting. “Pres, the container has left the yard, and is on its way to Linn’s men.”
Nodding, we continue to walk as we head for the armory. “Good. Did you do what I asked?”
He clicks on his cell and shows me a map with a moving red flashing light. I grin and round the corner into the armory to see everyone already here.
“Good work, Ace. Right, everyone… this is a typical drop run. The delivery should arrive after us. Vibe’s driving the load and should be at the warehouse in approximately twenty minutes. That gives us fifteen… to meet Linn, in the designated spot. Let’s grab what we need and ride out. Disperse.”
Everyone picks up their weapon of choice, and we all head out of the armory down the hall to the clubrooms.
Mom and Neala are waiting and watching as we go to leave, and I nod to Tremor who’s staying behind to watch them. He’s doing better, and he’ll be able to guard them along with the older brothers who are sitting this one out too. We don’t need everyone to go, just the main crew are handling it. Me, Trax, Chains, Sensei, Lift, Scratch, Surge, Ace, and Vibe will be driving the shipment.
Normally, we’d have a couple of prospects backing us up, but Tremor’s watching Mom and Neala, and Zane is still on Heeley. Even though she probably wants some space, the threat on her hasn’t eased, so I’m not letting her guard ease up either.
As much as we all want to take our larger rifles, we opt for smaller Glocks and place them down our jeans as we hop on our rides. We’re riding the streets, so it makes it a little more difficult to carry larger firearms. And the fact we’re dealing with Henry Linn, himself, makes us comfortable to ease up on the weaponry.
Linn is our ally.
So we don’t expect to have any kind of resistance or trouble.
This should be a simple trade.
Guns for money.
Plain and simple.
Working with Linn has always been effortless. We’ve never had any problems. We don’t expect any now. But nevertheless, we don’t show up unarmed. They might be our allies, but they’re still the Triad, and, just like us, they’re a lethal bunch of thugs, thieves, and murderers. We’re just better at it than them. We’re a classier bunch of criminals.
Starting up my ride along with everyone else, the roar of the Harley engines sing through the compound. The sound igniting my adrenaline. The noise sending a shiver of contentment through me as I smile and signal to Scratch to lead front door as always. My Road Captain taking the front of the group ride in his stride. The vibration of my engine between my legs makes me smile as I suddenly think of Heeley and how I would fucking love to have her on the back of my bike, gripping around my waist, holding on tight again. Her pussy pressing into my ass as we pound the asphalt. But I can’t think of that now. I need my mind on the task at hand, and I hammer down and take off after Chains, my Sergeant at Arms, who follows Scratch. Trax follows me, and my brothers pull out in a steady line with Surge at the back door. Being the most experienced rider, he always goes last.
It’s tradition.
The air blows past me, and a sense of ease washes over me as I ride toward the warehouse. Trading with the Triad always runs smoothly, and this will be easy. Meeting with Linn can almost be fun, his banter is witty, and for the mastermind of an elite Chinese dynasty, he’s actually pretty chill.
I like the dude.
The ride to the warehouse lets my mind wander. Heeley is at the forefront of my mind, and I hate the way we left things. But the ball is in her court, and I have to give her the space to make up her own mind.
I can’t make it for her.
Either she is in, or she is out.
I’m hoping she chooses option one.
Chains pulls to the right and into the giant parking lot of the warehouse. I follow. Water erupts in a small fountain of spray as my tires glide through puddles on the ground while I ride inside the open bay door of the warehouse to see Henry Linn and his Triad members already here. Their Nissan Skylines on show with their glowing neon lights underneath like something from the fucking Fast and the Furious.
I chuckle beneath my helmet as I pull up to the scene, and Linn opens his arms wide with a giant smile on his face. He reminds me of that fucking Asian guy from The Hangover, whatever the fuck his name is. He doesn’t look like him, but his actions are so similar. It’s uncanny.
I let my bike tip to the side as I kick out the stand, turning off the engine. Throwing my leg over, I yank off my helmet as the other bikes all pull to a stop. I head off straight toward Linn.
“Ohhh… hello, fuckers! It so good to see you again,” Linn calls out rushing up to me, grabs me in a tight man hug, his Asian accent thick as ever.
“Linn, good to see you, too.” I slap his back as he sways me from side to side, and I screw up my face at his little-too-affectionate hug. With a small push, I move him back gently from the hug, and he chuckles waving his hand at me.
“Oh, Torque, you so worry about your man part. You live free, boy. Embrace hugging. You feel much happier.” He walks back to his men standing by their neon-glowing fucking cars, and I shake my head as my guys all flank my side.
“Yeah, I’m not one for male bonding, but you go right ahead, Linn. I know it’s your style.”
He lets out a loud laugh, gripping onto the goon next to him as he bends over in hysterics. This guy is so fucking weird, but he’s all right by me. “Oh fucker, you have no idea. But anyway, we get down to business. Where the gun? It coming. Yes?”
I nod and smile. “Yeah, they’re on their way. You know we wouldn’t disappoint you, Linn. You’re our best customer.”
He smiles wide. “Ohhh, you guy, you so nice to me. I think you looove me.” He tilts his head with a smirk as I roll my eyes.
The truck pulls into the warehouse, but something’s off. Vibe’s driving erratically as he swerves and continues at a weird pace.
“Oh, here my gun now. Yippee.” Linn jumps on the spot, clapping his hands in the air as I turn to face the truck that’s driving right at us. My muscles tense as the tires screech just in time for the truck to stop. But it doesn’t stop in time before it takes out Scratch’s bike. The front of the truck slamming into the Harley side on before it comes to a complete stop.