CHAPTER FOUR
Dixie Rose
I eat my steak thoughtfully. The steak house is little more than a hole in the wall with a bar. But the service is good, the food is tasty, and the music good. They played a mix of classic rock, pop, and some light R&B. It was the perfect wrap to the day. I have to admit, this is the most fun I’ve had in forever. I’d all but given up on dating. The men never had what I was looking for. I study the large man sitting across from me. Maybe this is why. My face heats as I think about the things we did before we came here. Nobody has ever given oral like Echo. The man loves to eat pussy. Most men shy away from it, give it obligatory licks. He worships. I wiggle in my seat trying to ease the need building back up.
We’re still explosive in the bed, but what about everything else? His words echo in my head. “I can protect you now.” He’s offering me what I’ve always wanted, a way to fully belong in Kings of Chaos. Old ladies are sacred, you don’t dick with them. The petty potshots will stop, or he’ll make them stop. I have no doubts about that. How can I turn that down? I like my life in Santa Monica. My job is fulfilling, my friends are nice, but it’s not so great I couldn’t walk away.
“You’re a million miles away,” Echo says.
“Not quite that far, just thinking about Santa Monica.”
“You happy there?” he asks.
“Yeah. I love my job. The kids I work with have been great. My friends are nice.” I shrug.
“Got a man?” His voice is husky.
By his tone, I can tell he’s on edge. “No, Echo. I wouldn’t be here with you like this if I did. You know me better than that.”
He grunts. “All I’m hearing is nice. You deserve more than mediocre.”
“You know what I deserve?”
“Everything you ever wanted. Kids, the club, fucking joy. You’re not the girl who left. I know I played a huge part in that. Let me make it right.”
“I’m not a project,” I snap.
“Never said you were.”
I want to hate him because I know he’s right. I’m most alive when I’m with him. My life in Santa Monica is okay, but that’s not what I want to look back at when I’m older. I’d be dissatisfied and disappointed. I want to be closer to Pops, and back with my girl Blue. I want to give this thing between us a try. I want the real deal with this man. It’s harder to admit out loud than I thought it would be. There’s too much history to feel okay with putting my heart back in his hands. But I can still do it. I go back to cutting my steak. “If we do this, what are you expecting from me?”
“The usual, home-cooked meals, clean clothes, and loyalty. I have no problem pitching in, you know me, I’m all for equal sharing of responsibilities. But I need you to hold shit down when I’m away and take care of what I can’t. You know what it’s like to be an old lady.”
“Yeah, I do,” I agree. “Where will I live?”
“With me. Non-negotiable. You can pick a place you like and I’ll pay the rent, but I’m not doing this part time shit. When I get to be home, I want it to be with my woman at my side.”
The words my woman makes my heart speed. I like the thought of being his…more than I should. Doing anything other than trying to make this work, is letting Mouth win. I can’t do that. Standing up for myself means facing the shit that scares me. This man has been my Lucifer for as long as I can remember. It’s time to kill his ass with kindness, love, and light. No more hiding or making decisions based on him. “And if we’re together, what are the rules?” I ask.
“What rules do you think there needs to be?” he asks, arching an eyebrow.
“What happens on the road, stays on the road is bullshit. You stick your dick anywhere that’s not in one of my orifices, and we’ll have a fucking problem.”
“Fuck, girl. I wouldn’t do that shit to you.”
“You were single and fully immersed in this culture for a long time. I want to think I still know you, but the truth is we have a hell of a lot of relearning to do, and it’s not going to be easy. This life never is.”
“Is this you agreeing to try?” he asks.
“Yeah, I think it is.”
“Think or know?”
“Know.”
He smiles. “Good.”
“You been tested?”
“Jesus,” he huffs.
“I forgot myself earlier. I can’t do that anymore. We’re not kids.”
“Last week. I’m clean, and I always wrap it regardless,” he states flatly.
I believe him. Some of these bitches will do anything to tie themselves to a man in a patch. Wrapping it up is standard procedure.
“When’s the last time you were tested?” he asks.
“A few years ago. I…uh, it’s been a dry spell for me.”
He growls. The heat in his eyes is inescapable.
Moisture floods my panties.
“You on birth control?”
“Yeah, I have an IUD, why?”
“Because I can’t wait to fill you up with my come.”
I swallow hard. “Echo,” I whisper.
“What? No one’s here, and if they were, let them listen to what I’m going to do to you. I don’t give a fuck.”
I lick my lips and swallow. This is what I missed. A man solely focused on me and removes me from the pc climate of the world. “We’re really doing this?”
“You bet your ass we are. We got a lot of lost time to make up for, girl, you ready for that?” His voice is gravelly, and his eyes promise an unadulterated pleasure.
I want everything from him. I’m willing to take the risk.
“You about done?”
“Mmm-hmm.” I finish my drink. “Let’s go.”
He stands, tosses a twenty on the table, and pulls me to his side.
His warmth floods me, and I soak up the possession. After a life full of feeling displacement, belonging is a gift I can’t place a value on. Right now is our time. There’s no club looking on, waiting for the explosion, or woman pushing up to test out how true he’s going to be to his old lady. This is our time to reconnect and brush away the grime that’s gathered over the love we once held.
There’s nothing quite like flying down the road with a bike vibrating beneath you, your man in front of you, and nothing but sex on your mind. I feel bold and frisky. I run my hands down his chest, and grip the bulge in his jeans, knowing there’s nothing he can do. His cock grows, and I smirk. Earlier, he had all the power. Tonight, I’ll be taking some of that back. The last time we were together, I was young, inexperienced, and looking to him for all the answers. I know what I like and what I don’t now… I’ve picked up a few things. I press my breasts into his back and nip at his neck.
He speeds up.
I throw my head back and laugh, drunk on my newly found freedom.
We can hardly contain ourselves when we reach the B&B. I roam my hands over his body, and he pulls me toward our room. His throaty growls and grunts intoxicate me further. He opens the door, and we walk inside. The minute he closes it behind him, I press my body against his, grip his long locks, and pull him in for a kiss. I plunge my tongue into his mouth, tasting the whiskey he drank at dinner. His muscles quiver under my touch as I scrape my nails down his flat stomach. I possess him, returning the favor from earlier. He’s not the only one who wants to leave his mark. I bite down on his lip hard and he rocks into me. His dick is pressed into my belly. I’m wet, and horny. I want to lay my body out before him like a buffet, but I resist. I want to prove a point.
This ownership goes both ways. I work the button of his jeans free and wiggle my hand into his boxers, cupping his cock. He’s thick and long, about eight inches. I didn’t realize how well-endowed that was until I stepped back into the world of dating and found a steady beau. The tip of his cock is wet with pre-come and my mouth salivates. I fall to my knees, unzip his fly, then yank his pants and boxers down in one go.
“Jesus,” he rasps.
“No, Dixie Rose.” I wink. “If my pussy is yours,” I squeeze, “this is mine.”
“Shit yes, it is,” he agrees.
I circle his mushroom-shaped head with the tip of my tongue, pausing to swirl inside his seeping slit. He’s salty and addictive. I take him deep, keeping our gazes locked. The look of reverence on his face chases away the lingering doubts. This is my man. It’s time I claim him. I hollow my cheeks, taking him deep and keeping the rhythm slow. His hips rock in time. He fists my hair, but allows me to keep the control. I feel him harden and twitch in my mouth.
He’s panting, and his eyes are glazing over. “Shit, yeah, right there, babe. Damn.”
I know he’s close to coming. I release him with a loud pop, continuing to stroke him. “The only place I want you to come is inside of me.”
“Oh, fuck.”
I stand, and we rip our clothes off, tumbling onto the bed, a tangle of limbs. We roll over in the bed, and I clamber up his body, straddling his hips. I grind my pussy onto his cock, gliding over his quivering length.
He grips my hips.
I circle his wrists. “My turn to be in control.”
He lets his hands drop to his side and watches me with those alluring crystal blue eyes that hooked me from the start.
“Guide yourself home,” I say, raising off him.
Emotions darken his eyes. He grips his base, and I slowly lower myself onto him, one inch at a time. He’s stretching me past my comfort point and reforming my center to fit him as it once did. I pause once he’s fully seated, admiring the intense fullness I’ve missed. I tilt my head back and begin to ride him, focusing on the way we move together and flexing my muscles. If I look at him, I’ll go over, and I want to stretch things out.
“Damn, babe.”
I reach back and grab my ankles, taking him deeper.
“Shit…just like that.”
“You like that?” I whisper.
“Fuck yes.”
The pressure is building. I’m shaking with the effort to hold back.
“Let go for me, baby. I want to feel you come all over my cock.”
His words do me in. I’m thrust over the edge. He groans loudly, and I know he’s flying with me. Hot spurts fill my pussy, and I can’t help but feel complete. I collapse onto his chest, and he wraps an arm around me, holding me close. My heart is pounding, my body is sore, but my mind and spirit are calm. I know this is exactly where I’m supposed to be in this moment.
“Love you, girl. Never stopped.”
I look up, floored by his admission.
“This ain’t about some mark or tradition. This is about me telling you I’m never letting you go again.”
I open my mouth to protest.
“No, you don’t have to say shit back. We’ve got a lot to work through, I get that, but I’m tired of having to hide how I feel about you.”
The man is handing me his heart on a platter. His words humble me and strip away the protective layer I’m desperately trying to keep my soul wrapped in. I open my mouth, but my vocal chords refuse to work.
“Don’t say it until you mean it, D’Rose. At least give me that. I can wait. ’Cause when it’s worth it, shit’s always hard. At least for us in this life it is. All I need to know is that you’re in this with me.”
“I am in this, Joel,” I whisper.
He cups my face, and we seal the agreement. He rolls us over, and I feel him thickening against my thigh. “You didn’t think we were finished yet, did you?”
Oh shit. He captures my mouth, and I know there will be very little sleeping tonight.
***
Echo
Church has never gone by so slow. I sit back in my chair listening to the updates. There’s nothing big cooking, but Stone seems to want to rehash our year so far. Fucking figures. I do my best not to fidget and try to look attentive. He’s the type to call you out if he thinks you’re daydreaming. It’s a Friday night, which means a big party after this lets out. So, I’m not the only one chomping at the bit.
“All right, any new orders of business?” Stone asks.
I stand, and all eyes fall on me. “I got an announcement.”
“Go ahead and speak your mind, brother,” Stone says, eyeing me expectedly. His lips quirk up.
Now, I know Hoss must’ve told him. If it kept the old man from slitting my throat, I couldn’t care less who he spilled the beans to. No brother likes to see his little girl grow up and get a man of her own. That makes them number two in her life and brings on a whole new potential set of problems. We love hard, and there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for our family. It makes shit like this a delicate thing. “I took on an old lady,” I say.
“No, shit? Who?” Stone says.
“Dixie Rose Dunn,” I reply, proudly puffing out my chest.
A chair slams to the floor. My father glares at me, hands balling into fists at his side. “What did you just say?” he asks.
“You heard me. I want all of you motherfuckers here to hear me. She’s taken. I’ve marked her and this bullshit against her ends now. If I see any of you so much as look at her funny, that’s your ass.” All the years I spent growing my power, making contacts and waiting for my father’s people to fall out, or ease up on his cause…it all culminates into this second. I see the rage burning in his eyes. I smile. There’s not a damn thing he can do about it.
Stone looks from him to me. “Take this shit into the ring, and leave it there,” he says.
“Gladly,” Mouth snarls.
My pop might be pushing sixty, but he’s fit. I’ll go easy on him. This is how we do shit around here when we don’t see eye to eye. Especially my father. The man has always had a taste for blood and violence.
“I think that’s church, unless someone else has a bomb they’d like to detonate,” Stone says sarcastically.
Silence answers him, the doors open and we all flood out.
Dixie Rose stands the minute I leave the doors. Her eyes are full of worry and she’s biting her lip.
I walk over and kiss her. “It’s done.”
“Then why does it feel so ramped up?”
“Me and the old man are going to squash our shit in the ring.”
“You can’t do that. You’ll hurt him,” she says.
“I won’t, but I will show him I’m done being under his thumb. This has needed to happen for a long time, D’Rose.” I give her a look that says we’re done talking about it.
Like a good old lady should, she nods her head and holds her hands out for my cut.
“Don’t go far, it won’t take long, I promise.” I shrug out of my cut, take off my shirt, and climb into the ring. I expected this. It’s why I’m dressed in a pair of casual sweats. I do a lap around the ring, keeping my muscles loose as I warm up. My father taught me well.
He does the same. The disgust in his eyes and the ugly sneer curling his lips have me about to see red.
“Just couldn’t leave that shit alone, could you?” he asks.
“Not your call to make…old man.”
“I raised you better,” he hisses.
I ignore his words. It’s going to take a lot to keep from hurting him. Years of anger and resentment are lodged inside me. I roll my neck.
The bell rings.
Mouth comes out swinging.
I use my speed to my advantage and avoid his right left combo, but he catches me with the third strike right on the chin. Pain explodes in my face. I shake it off and answer with a few blows to the body.
He maneuvers away, and we circle once again.
He throws a left hook that snaps my jaw back and from there, it’s an all-out fist fight. I return his left with a right as we face one another in the center of the ring, neither of us trying to attempt a real fight. Blood flies, my eyes swell, and his grunts and groans are music to my ears. My knuckles ache, but I can barely feel it. I’m fucking giddy. Finally, he’s no longer untouchable.
“That’s enough! You trying to kill each other?” Stone’s voice rings out. “That shit between you stays in the ring. You beat each other to a bloody pulp, now go get cleaned up and do something else to help you blow off steam.”
The Pres’ word is law, so we have to back down.
I spit blood out in the ring. “I’m done being controlled by you.” I walk away before he can reply. Nothing he has to say matters anymore. I’m not stupid, I know this isn’t the end of it, but it is for now, which is all that matters. I live my life from one moment to the next with tentative plans for the future, because isn’t that all we ever have? I climb out of the ring, feeling the bruises forming on my body.
Dixie Rose walks toward me with a huge grin on her face.
Suddenly, I’m twenty feet tall. This was for her, too.
She rises on her tiptoes and kisses me softly. “How about you let your old lady clean you up?”
“If you’re up to it. I don’t think it’s safe for me to shower alone. Have to be careful of concussions, you know?” I say.
“Guess I’ll have to get wet then.”
Her double entendre makes my dick twitch. I follow her down the hall to my room like she’s the pied piper. This is the start of us again, and nothing could dampen my happiness.
When we slip inside my door, she gazes up at me and smiles. “Were you defending my honor out there, Joel?”
“The way I should have a long ass time ago,” I answer, dropping my gaze to the floor.
“Hey.” She gently cups my face and forces me to look at her. “You don’t feel bad for the shit he did. You kept me safe. I hated your guts, and you never said a word against me or explained until you knew I wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. You’re my fucking hero.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“Fuck yes.” She takes a deep breath. “I love you, Joel. I always have and I always will.”
Her words are the best numbing agent to the pain I’m feeling. I wrap my arms around her and pull her close, inhaling her sweet scent and enjoying her soft curves.
This life is a hard one, but with an old lady like her at my side and my brothers behind me, I can swing it without the support of my blood born family. Family doesn’t stop with blood and soon enough, I’ll be creating my own. The thought makes me smile.
“Love you, too, girl.” I kiss her forehead and take a moment to enjoy it before it’s gone, and a new crisis rolls in.