TARA

The sky is still tinged a soft purple as we exit the car at Crystal's, a few tiny stars shimmering here and there.

"What? You wanna watch the sky some more?" Tommy asks gruffly, but I know he's just joking.

"Nope," I say and smile at him coyly, loving the tense energy borne of anticipation coiling between us.

He grabs my hand and practically drags me to the back door.

Before I know it, I'm pinned against the door of his apartment, the loud music from the bar thumping through my body, accentuating the volleys of desire racking through me from his kisses, his touches, caresses and squeezes. We're breathless and naked before long, skin to skin, our tongues entwined, battling a friendly battle, but fierce nonetheless.

He's all passion right now, kissing me, touching me as though it's the only thing he wants to be doing, the only thing he ever wanted to do and ever will. And it's contagious, makes me yearn the be swallowed by all that passion, taken under, consumed. My whole body's awash with desire, yet it's still mounting, reaching peaks, traversing them, climbing new ones, higher ones. I can’t even spot the darkness from up here.

His lips leave mine, and he grabs my arm, pulls me to the bed and tosses me down onto it, my giggles quickly stifled by his urgent kiss, and the weight of his strong body pushing me down into the mattress. My hands are tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, because I don't want any space between us, not even a breath's worth, none at all.

He shifts his weight partly off me, and I'm about to protest, pull him back. But then his fingers find my pussy, and I forget all else. He kisses me deeper, as he plays with my clit, pinching it, stroking it, leaving me yearning to be filled. His tongue invades my mouth as he pushes two fingers into my pussy, making me shudder, moan and gasp for air.

He pays no heed, hooks his fingers inside my pussy, starts pumping them in and out fast, then faster, hitting some until now unknown pleasure spot inside me. I'm shrieking, moaning, screaming, twisting my nails as I grab the sheets, my body taut and tense, and still my orgasm just lasts and lasts, doesn't abate, until all I am is one giant ball of nerve endings stimulated at once, the pleasure he's giving me so intense it burns through me like electric shocks, the pain and pleasure unbearable yet all I ever want to feel. He's no longer kissing me, just watching my face as I come, harder and harder, until my voice is coarse, and I nearly forget to breathe.

He finally gives me a moment of respite, kissing my neck, my heaving chest, as I struggle to regain control of my breathing. He's still stroking my clit, but the pleasure is soft now, pervasive yet mellow, easy.

I gasp as his cock starts entering me, sliding in slowly, deliberately, meeting no resistance, and opening me up so completely, I'm afraid I'll just break open. No, not afraid, I'm not afraid.

"You OK?" he asks, and I nod, biting down on my lip to keep from coming again.

I want to savor this moment for as long as I can, be present. But it's no use, not once he starts thrusting into me, the entire length of his cock sliding in and out of my pussy. I feel every bump, every vein, see stars, constellations, comets whizzing by. The sound of his jagged breaths and groans, the feel of his hips pumping his cock into me, his hands gripping my wrists, pushing them into the mattress are the only things keeping me grounded, keeping me from just floating away into the stars.

There's no fighting this orgasm, so I stop trying to, just let it consume me. It explodes with such power, I burst into a million specks of brilliant light, become one with the shimmering stars. But it will all come together again, better than before, forming a new Tara.

I'm lying in his arms later, nestled so close I'm not even sure where I end and he begins. He's kissing me softly, playing with my hair, stroking my back, and I'm trying not to doze off, because I don't want this day to ever end.

His hand comes to rest on my butt, squeezing slightly.

"You know how that first night you said I could do anything with you," he asks. "Did you mean that?"

I was a completely different person then, can't even fully remember the way I thought. But I do know my offer wasn't sincere, and that shames me now.

"What would you like to do?"

"I don't know, anal?" he asks, chuckling.

I glide my hand across his stomach, making his breath hitch.

"You don't ask for much, do you?" I ask, trying to sound terse, but I feel so soft, so light that I'm not succeeding at all.

He chuckles again, kissing the top of my head. "I just thought I'd put that out there. You know, something for you to think about."

"Alright, I'll think about it," I whisper.

I don't think I can ever refuse him anything, and it's as scary as it is freeing. Because I know he would never ask me for anything I can't give.

* * *

TOMMY

I dream of someone drilling through the walls of my apartment, before I finally wake up enough to realize it's my phone vibrating. It's still completely dark outside.

Tara is sleeping on my left arm, which has no feeling in it as a result, and I have to use my right one to pull it from under her. But damn, I'd even let that happen all over again, that's how much I love her. The feeling just came out of nowhere, but now it's all I know, and all I ever want to feel from now until forever.

She murmurs something, but then just rolls over and goes on sleeping. Whoever's calling right now is gonna get a talking to. Though it couldn't be that many people. It's probably Shade, and that's the only reason I'm even getting up to answer it.

The phone has stopped vibrating, and it was Shade, I realize as I pull it from my jeans' pocket. He's called twenty-four times already.

I don't bother getting dressed as I slip out into the hall, closing the door behind me slowly, so I don't wake Tara.

"Finally," Shade snaps as he picks up. "Didn't we have the talk about you answering my phone calls promptly?"

"We did talk about that, and we decided I get to do what I want." I should be more apologetic, but he just makes it so fucking hard.

"Speaking of decisions…come to the Nest, I got one for you to make."

His cold, weird tone is finally starting to fully register. He didn't call twenty-four times in the middle of the night because he needs me for a job, or to have a brotherly chat. It's something else.

"Why are you calling?" I ask.

"You'll see," he says. "But I think you better hurry."

I hear a dull noise in the background that sounds a lot like he's kicked something.

"What's going on, Shade?"

"Less questions, more coming over here, Tommy," he snaps and hangs up.

I dress quickly, only stopping long enough to check that Tara is still asleep and grab my keys.

I won't worry about this until there's something to worry about. But I have this nagging feeling that something's so wrong it might never get fixed again.

The parking lot in front of the Nest is dark, the newly planted trees swaying in the powerful gusts of wind. Only Shade's bike and a couple of the club trucks are parked outside, so he must be in there alone.

I find him opening a new bottle of Jack behind the bar as I enter, his face in shadow, since he's illuminated from behind by the bright light in the hallway that leads to the back rooms.

"Finally," he says, grabbing the bottle and retreating down the hall that leads to his office. "Follow me."

I smell blood, but that could just be my overactive imagination. Because right now I'm only seeing all the ways this visit could go wrong.

"You know Simone, right?" he asks just as I reach the door into the conference room, and it takes every ounce of self-control I ever had not to recoil and back out of the room.

Simone is lying in a puddle of her own blood, her dress ripped and pulled up high over her hips. Her face is a mass of blood and bruises. But she's still alive, I can tell by the tiny bubbles forming over what used to be her nose.

"What the fuck did you do?" The rage starting to boil inside me is making my voice cold and cutting. I could always control my voice, but never my fists. And right now, I want to beat up Shade as badly as he beat up Simone, or worse. I have no doubt he was the one that did it. The knuckles on his right hand are bruised black and blue, caked over with blood.

"I knew you wouldn't approve," he says, pouring himself a glass of Jack as though a woman isn't dying on the floor at his feet. "But she came here with some tall tales about how you're betraying me behind my back for that new piece of ass working at Crystal's. I couldn't have her spreading that shit about you, but I need the truth from you now. Are you looking for some whore of mine with the intent of stealing her from me?"

"What you need is to call an ambulance," I bark, glaring at him, so I don't have to look at Simone.

"You always were too soft with women. I blame Dad for that, he let you spend too much time with that whore of your mother." I'm barely able to keep it together, one more word and I'll fucking strangle him. "He should've gotten rid of her sooner."

"You're even sicker than he was," I spit. "I'm taking Simone to the hospital. You wanna stop me, now's your chance. See how well you do against a man, not some 100 pound woman in heels."

He's glaring, but he's not really considering taking me up on my offer. I'm younger than him, taller than him and a lot more vicious. He knows all that.

"Didn't think so," I say, bending over to pick up Simone. She used to be so light in my arms, once upon a time, but she's as heavy as a log right now. And I don't even know if she's still breathing. But I need to get her away from Shade, need to get myself away from him too. And Tara, and Crystal and all her girls. And all the girls he's got locked up God knows where.

I'm half-expecting him to shoot me in the back as I walk down the hall, but he doesn't even try to stop me. Nor does he follow me outside. I knew he wouldn't do any of those things, he's too much of a coward, prefers to get others to do his dirty work.

I take one of the trucks, drive like a maniac to the hospital, calling Crystal on the way, telling her to meet me there.

But she's not there yet when I reach the ER, and even though nothing good will come from me carrying Simone inside, I don't even think twice about it. I just carry her right in through the front door, her blood soaking into the patches on my cut.

They take her from me, rush her somewhere. No one stops me as I walk out. And I do want to stay, find out if she'll make it, but there's no time. Shade will have had time to think now and plan his next move. He might have already sent some of his guys to grab Tara from the club, though I’m counting on him not wanting to start an open war with me in that way. No, he’ll go after me first.

Crystal is running towards the hospital entrance just as I exit.

"What happened, Tommy?" she asks, her hand flying to her mouth as she sees the blood.

"Simone told Shade about Tara looking for her sister, and me helping her. The worst fucking mistake she ever made," I say. "I should've stopped her."

"She said something about that to me too, but she never mentioned going to Shade," Crystal says, shaking now. "Is she alright?"

"No she's not fucking alright. She has no face left," I bark, but reconsider my tone when I see the stark pain covering Crystal's face, or what's left of it. "Go in now and see if she's alright. Take care of her, I'll pay for it."

She grabs my arm as I pass her to leave, gripping tight. "Shade runs a high-end escort service out of Vegas. Maybe Tara's sister is there."

Her good eye is very wide as she tells me, probably expecting me to yell at her for knowing this secret and for speaking out of line. But I really just want to hug her. So that’s what I do, because I love her and there's no reason to try and hide that anymore. After my mom died, and with the way she died, for the reasons she did, I was afraid to get too close to any woman, even Crystal, who practically raised me after it happened. Not only so I wouldn't get hurt, but so no one would hurt them because of me.

The guilt I felt over my mom’s death was too much to bear, I couldn’t handle it, so I put it all squarely on my father’s shoulders, where most of it belonged anyway. But I remember it now. And I am guilty if I just stand by and do nothing as Shade treats all these poor women worse than my father did. It took Simone getting almost beaten to death to make me see that, but I see it now. And I need to get Tara away from here before all my worst fears come true all over again. Then I’ll deal with Shade. And I need to make sure Crystal leaves too.

"Once you take care of Simone, get out of town. Take the others with you too," I say. "Make them, if they won't go willingly."

I don't know what I'm gonna do to fix all this, but it might get worse before it gets better.

"I'm staying, Tommy," she says, giving me a firm squeeze and then releasing me.

I shake my head. "No, Crystal. You have to leave. Shade is too dangerous, and we're not the best of friends right now. He might come after you because he thinks I betrayed him.”

She taps my cheek. "Don't worry about that. I have Bear. Shade wouldn't dare go against him, or me and my club. The other members won't let him, and they certainly won't help him do it."

"I hope you're right, “I mutter. And she could be, Bear did ride with my grandfather, the Viper. But Shade is insane and bloodthirsty as hell, and he has a whole section of the MC that's loyal only to him.

"I am right, Tommy."

I try to warn her again, tell her to be careful at least, but she gives me no chance to, as she rushes through the sliding doors into the ER.

* * *

Tara's still sleeping peacefully when I return, the club completely quiet and dark. But it's getting light out, and Shade won't wait much longer before he comes here looking for us.

I change quickly, stuff my bloody clothes and my ruined cut into a garbage bag and toss it into the back of my closet. I hope Shade finds it, knows that I'll never fucking follow his psycho leadership after tonight. I'll tell him all that in person eventually, but right now I need to get Tara out of his reach.

"Come on, wake up," I whisper, shaking Tara awake gently. There's no trace of tears on her cheeks, and I hope that's how it stays forever from now on.

She finally opens her eyes and blinks at me. "What is it?"

"I thought we could go to Vegas," I say, plastering the widest smile on my face.

"What? Where?" she asks, sitting up and rubbing her eyes before looking out the window. "It's barely light out."

"Yeah, I know," I say, kissing her pouty lips because I can't help myself. Even the horror of what just happened is fading fast now that she's awake. "But this way we'll get there nice and early, maybe have time to go swimming in the pool before hitting the casinos. Come on, it'll be fun."

She smiles at me, her eyes sparkling, the sun rising fast and bright in them. "OK, yeah. It might be fun."

She gets out of bed. "I'll go pack."

"Don't take too much," I say, grinning at her.

My plans for what I’ll do next are very vague. But they might involve getting her drunk enough to marry me tonight. Then she'll be mine for real. There's such a small chance of ever finding her sister in Vegas that I won't even mention she might be there to her, not yet. Not until I decide on a plan.

There's other ways of finding her sister and making sure she's returned home safely. Ways that sour my stomach just thinking about. But if Tara's my wife, I can take her anywhere with me. And that's the most important thing, all else are just empty words, promises I would never have made if given a choice. The only promises that matter to me are the ones I made to Tara.