Chapter 22
Get in my belly.
-Fat Bastard, Austin Powers
James
“Ready?” Max asked.
I smiled wide at him, showing him my teeth. Then made the ‘come on’ motion with my taped fist. Max took a step forward, and then I stopped him with a raised hand.
“Please, just for the love of God, don’t hit my face. I have something with Shiloh later. Don’t slip like last time, either.” I instructed him.
Elliott laughed from his perch on the weight bench across the room, but shortly went back to his bench pressing, shutting us out for the next ten reps. Jack didn’t bother trying to hide that he was watching the matchup. Neither did Gabe, who was coming into the room with a bottle of beer, sliding down the wall next to Jack until his feet were straight out in front of him.
“Are you drinking my beer?” I asked.
“Was it in our fridge?” He asked.
“Max’s beer was in there too.” I pointed out.
He sneered at me. “Max’s beer is for people with pussies.”
I laughed. Couldn’t help it. Max’s beer was for pussies.
“I saw you drinking my beer just the other day.” Max said indignantly.
“Ember brought it to me. It was for pussy, so kind of the same thing.” Gabe jeered.
I rolled my eyes. When Max started to take a step in Gabe’s direction, I shoved him. He took that as my signal that I was now ready, and the match began. My first punch landed in his stomach, bowing him over. His leg retaliated by snapping out, kicking me in the ribs.
“You’re dropping your right arm.” Max panted.
I corrected the mistake, blocking a blow to my face. “I said not my face, douche bag!”
“What, have you got a beauty pageant afterwards?” Elliott hooted from the bench press.
“No, I’m stripping for your women later. I just want to look good for it.” I taunted.
They didn’t have to know what I was really doing....right?
Forty minutes later, I was a sweating, bleeding mess, and my fucking nose was broken. I took satisfaction to see that Max wasn’t any better either. His eye had a cut that would probably require stitches, and ankle looked twice his normal size. Which was why we’d stopped in the first place.
“Quit bitching. I think you broke my nose.” I whined nasally.
“At least you can just knock it back into place. I think my ankle’s sprained. I have to run 10K in the morning.” He groaned.
I rolled my eyes. We’d done much worse. About five times that on a good day when we were enlisted. “Don’t be a pussy.”
The door slammed open and Ember came stomping in on a warpath. Her strides were more of a stomp then a step, and her face looked like she’d swallowed something sour. Her mascara was running down nearly to her t-shirt, and her hands were fisted into tight balls.
Gabe was laying on the floor now, eyes closed. He couldn’t see the tornado that was barreling towards him at Mach 5 speed. Fuck, but this was going to be good.
Walking in the direction of the fridge, I grabbed two beers, both man beers, and walked back towards Max. Handing him his beer, I slid down the opposite wall as Gabe, and settled in to watch the show.
“What do you think he did?” Max said gleefully, twisting the top off his beer and taking a swig.
He grimaced at the taste of the man beer, but didn’t comment on me actually getting him a dark brew instead of that watered down bullshit he always drank. “I think she’s pregnant again.”
“No, I bet she backed into something in his truck. Twenty.” Max bet.
We shook on it and waited.
When Ember finally reached Gabe, who now was blinking at Ember standing over him, I saw her pull something out of her hoodie pocket. A bag.
She then turned it upside down, and let no less than thirty sticks fell out, hitting Gabe in the chest with each of them. He watched as one by one, they hit him, and finally lifted his lip in a snarl.
“You pissed on these didn’t you?” Gabe said, flicking them off his chest with the tip of his finger.
“Yeah, but I warned you not to knock me up, and look what you went and did. Knocked me up. A-fucking-gain. Do you realize that this last week was the first time since Luca was born that I’ve had a full nights rest?” She yelled.
Not waiting for an answer, she stomped towards the door again, but stopped before she reached it. “Oh, and I backed your truck in to the light pole at Skinners.”
Max and I whooped. Gabe glared. Elliott laughed.
“Alright, I gotta get to the strip club. I’ll see you guys later.” I called as I headed into the bathroom.
They waved me off, dismissing my comment, and I went to the locker room to slip into my SWAT clothes. The more clothing I got to wear, the better. I just hoped no one recognized me.
***
Shiloh
“What is with that evil looking smile on your face?” Cheyenne asked me as we took our seats at the front of the stage.
I pasted on my best innocent look and batted my eyes at her. “What look?”
“That look,” she said pointedly.
“I just want to warn you ahead of time that you probably aren’t going to like this. Like, I really feel that maybe you should go outside and wait until one of us comes and gets you.” I tried again.
I’d told her not to come, yet she’d insisted. She just didn’t know how traumatized she was about to be.
“I’m staying.” She said firmly.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I said slowly, and then watched the crowd.
It was supposed to be gay night. I’d specifically chosen this night out, of all the nights, because I didn’t want any of the women ogling what was mine. What I’d miscalculated was that gay men had friends that were women, and it was inevitable for them to want to come. Just as mine had done.
“What’s going on anyway? I’m not sure gay night was the night to come.” Payton supplied just before she took a healthy sip of her Texas sized margarita.
It really was Texas-sized, too. It was in a fucking bucket for Christ’s sake. Not that she let the size stop her. She held it in her lap and had an extra-long straw (well, three normal sized straws taped together with medical tape) she was sucking with. The girl was adaptable if nothing else.
“If I tell you, it’ll ruin the surprise. Let’s just say, we had a bet.” I replied cryptically.
The alcohol was well and truly flowing by the time the first dancer made it to the stage.
“This’s nothing like Magic Mike,” Ember said in awe.
Her complexion was a tad pale, but she looked excited to be there, so I didn’t question her. She’d waved off the offer of a margarita, claiming her stomach was bothering her, which would certainly explain her complexion. I had a feeling it was her husband not wanting her to come, nor wanting her to get drunk. She’d compromised by coming, but not drinking. At least, that’s what I would’ve done.
The man that was on the stage was jacked. There were no other words for it. He was just absolutely massive. Conferring with my pamphlet they’d handed us at the door of the night’s events, I saw that the first dancer’s name was Ronin. He was six feet six inches, and currently in school for biomechanics. In his spare time, he liked to do yoga and teach spin class.
“We should try spin class.” I said absently as I scanned down the rest of the pamphlet, not finding the name I was looking for until the very bottom of the page.
At the very bottom, I found what I was looking for. In italic letters it read: Special guest-Scope. Interests are- working on motorcycles. Shooting firearms. Spending time with his significant other. Shiloh June- will you marry me?
I started hyperventilating.
The crowd around me roared when Ronin ripped his pants off, exposing his grenade filled banana hammock. However, I was too busy trying to get my breathing under control to truly appreciate the aesthetically pleasing sight that was being presented before me.
“Shiloh? Are you alright?” Blaine asked from across the table.
“Uhh,” I answered intelligently.
Holy shit.
“Maybe you should slow down on the drinks.” She supplied helpfully.
“Maybe so.” I confirmed with a nod of my head, and then looked down at my own empty bucket that used to hold my margarita.
“Ladies and gentleman! We have a special treat for your eyes tonight! With a one-hit wonder type of performance, we present you with, SCOPE!” The DJ yelled over the roaring of the crowd.
My eyes flew to the stage, and what little breath I was able to catch was gone in an audible whoosh. Tainted Love started thumping through the strip club’s sound system, and I finally took a breath.
The object of every single one of my fantasies made his way onstage. He looked freaking amazing. Well, what I could see of him anyway. He was wearing his KPD SWAT get-up. Black cargo pants tucked into black boots that went up to the bottom of his calf. The trademark black SWAT shirt and black Kevlar vest. The only thing different was his the helmet that covered his face from the crowd.
I didn’t know if that was cheating on our bargain or not, but I decided I’d rather him remain anonymous if possible. I didn’t want all these ladies (and men) knowing where to find him, because damn if the man wasn’t sexy as sin.
A wolf whistle sounded from beside me, making me break my eye contact with the beautiful specimen of a man in front of me. My eyes moved to the next chair over and I saw Winter on her stool singing along with the song with two fingers in her mouth. As I watched, she took a deep breath, and let out another whistle.
A smile broke out on my face as I returned my attention to the stage, and the show started. Scope exited the doorway and stomped down to the front of the stage, and I do mean stomped. If I was a betting woman, I would bet that he was pissed he had to do this. Sadly, his pride wouldn’t let him back out of our bet, he was an honest man, and a bet was a bet.
The man wasn’t the type of person to ever make himself so vulnerable, and it made my heart melt to know he was doing it just for me.
Each thump-thump of the music’s base had my heart jumping in my chest as Scope’s torso thrust forward. Each of my nerve endings started to fire, making me flush with excitement.
“Holy shit!” Ember cried as the Kevlar vest was removed and dropped down to the stage.
Although I knew it would hit with a loud thump, nothing could be heard over the screaming women and roaring men. The man’s body was delicious. He reminded me of a panther. His movements were all deliberate, but supremely graceful. My mouth watered as his hands went to the neck of his t-shirt, and ripped the fucking thing down the middle.
My jaw dropped open, and I gasped. My gasp was echoed by every single person in the room. Cheyenne’s peal of laughter had me laughing when she realized it was her brother up there, and then she covered her eyes, still laughing, but refusing to watch anymore. Although the helmet was still firmly in place, you could easily make out the tattoos that had given him away.
When I glanced over at the rest of my group, all eyes were glued to the stage, and I had to wonder if their men would be upset about this. A couple months ago, I’d have been jealous about letting them see my man like this, but now we were so secure in our relationship that I had no doubt whose bed he would end up in at the end of the night.
Scope’s body undulated with the music, and I tried to keep my lustful thoughts from breaking through, but in the end, all I could think about was how it would feel if he was doing all those bump and grinds up against me.
I swear the man was a damn mind reader, because the next thing I knew, he was jumping off the stage and in my face the next. His perfect abs were in direct line of my mouth, and I was never one to resist temptation. Leaning forward, I licked from his navel down to where his pants rode low on his hips.
My hands settled on his gyrating hips, and I thought maybe I’d died and gone to heaven. The man was fucking hot. He’d rubbed some sort of baby oil on his chest or something, because it was slick and shiny. His dog tags dropped into my line of vision, and I gasped at the massive rock that hung directly beside one of his tags.
Snatching the chain and yanking him down towards me, I pulled the chain over his head and practically broke it in my quest to get the ring off. He laughed at my enthusiasm, and yanked the tags and ring away from me before I could extract the ring.
Yet, in the next moment, he slid the cool hard band with the oval cut diamond on my ring finger, replaced the tags on his neck, and turned around.
That made me gasp again when I saw the newest tattoo that was on his back. The only one in color, it drew the eye like a moth to a flame. Taking up his upper right shoulder was a beautiful mermaid. Bold colors and strong lines, and underneath the tattoo itself said Always.
I hadn’t realized I was crying until the song ended and I was enfolded into strong arms, and James rough voice spoke softly to me.
“I take these as good tears?” He rasped close to my ear.
“The best kind of tears. I love you,” I whispered into his chest.
His body locked at the sound of my words, and he hugged me tighter. “I love you, too.”
“Couldn’t y’all have found a better place to express your dirty love for each other, other than a strip club?” Cheyenne groaned, still covering her eyes.
“I’m not naked, Cheyenne.” James laughed.
Cheyenne peaked between two fingers, and then covered them back again. “Underwear is naked, James.”
I pulled myself away from him and looked down. Sure enough, he was in his underwear. How had I missed that? Did those say... “Does your underwear say ‘It won’t suck itself’?” I asked with a small laugh.
He grinned and winked.
“Put your pants on, stripper boy.” Cheyenne said as she tossed a piece of ice at him, and then turned her back to him.
He smiled, and then started looking around for the pants that he’d kicked off stage during his performance. He found them in the clutches of a drunk woman who was wearing ‘bride’ across a sash that bisected her chest.
Seeing his reluctance to go over there, I went for him, smiling at the young woman that looked like she should’ve stopped on the Texas Margaritas about two buckets ago. “Hi, congratulations on the pending marriage. Can I have my fiancé’s pants?”
I had to chuckle at myself with that one.
“No, he warned she was have two.” She slurred.
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? I mean I was a tad on the blitzed side myself, but I still formed coherent sentences. Her friends sitting next to her started cackling, and I immediately pictured a group of hyenas laughing. The sound grated on my ears, but I stayed calm.
“Please?” I smiled sweetly.
“Nuh uh.” The bride said as she hugged them to her chest, knocking over her half-full margarita in the process.
“Look what you do!” She shrieked, staunching the flow with James pants.
Mother. Fucker.
“Give me the goddamn pants before I shove that pail up your ass!” I yelled, reaching forward to grab the pants before they soaked up anymore of her margarita.
She struggled for all of five seconds before letting go. I gave a triumphant grin, and turned to head back to James when a sailing dick nailed me. The two foot dildo was made of rubber, and looked like a real, honest to God, penis. It had veins, and was the color of flesh.
Staring at it, and then at the guffawing bridesmaids, I decided to be the bigger person and walk away. I did make sure to pick up the big dick off the floor, though. Those bitches weren’t getting that back. It was a war prize.
James watched me approach him with a large smile on his face, shaking his head when his eyes found the huge dick in my hand. The circumference of it was massive, at least a foot around. I could only get my hand around a third of it.
Once I reached him, I handed him his soaked pants. “Sorry, they’re a little wet. Not the good kind of wet, either.”
He laughed. “It’s alright. I can handle a margarita. Just glad it’s not something worse.”
“Alright everyone, hold hands so we don’t lose anyone.” Ember instructed as if we were all children.
“You aren’t drunks enough, Embers. Why’s is that?” Blaine slurred slightly, holding onto a tipsy Cheyenne for support.
“Someone had to drive you drunkards home, didn’t they?” She answered quickly.
Too quickly in my opinion. She had a secret. Looking over at James smiling face, and the sweet way he looked at Ember, I had my suspicion confirmed.
“You’re pregnant, aren’t you? You weren’t drinking when we were decorating the Christmas tree either.” I shouted before my brain could stop me.
“They were virgins. You weren’t supposed to notice.” She mock scowled at me.
Choruses of congratulations were hurled at her, and she was enfolded into James’ arms, hugging her tight against his chest before releasing her.
We made it to the parking lot, making sure a drunk Payton, and sloshed Blaine got into Gabe’s truck okay before walking to our own vehicle.
It happened before I could even comprehend what happened. One second we were on our way to James’ truck, and the next, I was down on the ground with a man on top of me. Not the right man, either. This man was one I remembered well, but not in a good way.
“Hello there, sweetie pie.” Zander’s hot breath said into my neck.
His body pressed mine against the concrete with excessive force. I could hear flesh hitting flesh, and grunts of exertion, and groans of pain coming from my side, but Zander’s hands held my face steady so I couldn’t look away.
I knew I should fight, but with his body pinning mine down, there wasn’t much place for me to go. He’d left my hands free, though. And around the time I noticed that, he lifted up from me, grinning that sick smile at me that told me he was about to say something mean.
When he was about a foot away from my face, I thrust the dick in the air like a goddamn sword, and brought it down across his face, smacking him so hard in the face that he literally fell backwards, back hitting the ground like a ton of bricks.
I didn’t waste time in staring at him though. I wielded my two-foot dick like The Rock in Walking Tall, and started beating the absolute shit out of him. I stayed with his face until I was sure he passed out, and then started on the rest of him. The sound of the dick hitting his flesh sounded about like one would think. Skin hitting skin.
Each thwack of the dildo striking his body sent a surge of exhilaration through me. A sense of justice. “Take that, mother fucker. Remember all those times you did the same thing to me? Yeah, well payback’s a bitch!”
James amused voice flowed over me like a caress in the night. “You can stop now, June. The man’s down. And his pride will forever be broken.”
“Oh, yeah it will. I got that shit on video. We’re going to send this to YouTube.” Ember drawled.
I looked up to find Gabe’s lifted Chevy angled sideways through the parking spots, half her body hanging out the window as she wielded her iPhone in her hand, no doubt recording it just as she’d said she’d been doing.
My mouth twisted into a smile.
“That’s Zander. My ex.” I said, pointing with the dick to the dick laying on the ground.
“We figured that when you started saying that you were going to show him what a thorough fucking felt like. You’d make it last more than thirty seconds though.” James drawled.
My face blushed, and I suppressed a manic giggle that threatened to spill from my mouth. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright, sweet cheeks. Let’s get these boys loaded into Gabe’s truck, we’ll take them to the shop and see what they have to say.” James instructed as he walked towards the truck.
It was then that I saw the three other men, besides Zander, knocked out on the ground, looking in much worse shape than Zander was. I’d seen quite a few broken bones in my day, mostly on myself, but these men had visibly broken bones. Which made me cringe.
“Hand me the duct tape, my lady.” James teased, as he walked to Ember’s window with an extended hand.
She handed over a brand new roll, and James went back to each man, effortlessly wrapping it around each man’s legs, arms, and mouth with quick expert movements. Then he tossed them like a sack of potatoes into the back of the truck, stacking them like wood, two wide.
“Alright, let me get my bike, and I’ll follow directly behind you to Free.” He said.
After a quick phone call to tell Sam what had happened, we pulled into Free a few minutes later to find Gabe, Max, Sam, Sebastian, my father, Elliott, and Jack waiting with their arms across their chests in front of the garage, bay doors open. When Ember pulled up, she yelled out the open window.
“Want me to back it in?” She yelled over the rumble of the motor.
“No!” Was chorused by not only everyone in front of her, but everyone in the truck with her.
That gave a sort of relief of the tension that was slowly amounting, and we all exited the trucks. Gabe backed his truck into the garage, and Sam closed the doors behind him.
The sound of the doors closing were like the sound of a closing a casket. Final.
***
Later that night
“Shiloh, do you want to try to have a baby?” James voice came to me in the dark.
He’d come into our room a few minutes ago, and promptly headed to the bathroom to shower the ingrained smell of margarita off his skin. I’d listened, half asleep, as he stripped. Clothes hitting the floor. Boots. Gun being placed on the counter. Extra magazines being placed directly next to the gun. Keys, loose change, and his phone in a bowl next to the sink.
He had a system when he dressed and undressed, and did exactly the same thing every time.
He took a shower in the dark, knowing his way around without needing the light to guide his way. I’d assumed he thought I was sleeping when he came in, that was why he didn’t invite me to join him, nor turn on the lights.
Now, though, he was asking me this question knowing I was awake to hear it. Which meant that I didn’t mishear him. He was honestly asking me if I wanted a baby.
“Uhhh,” I answered intelligently.
“I want another baby. I didn’t think I did, but I do. Not right now, but eventually.” He hastily explained.
Something panged in my heart. Sadness filled me when I thought about my ability to have children. I wasn’t sure if I could, and if this was something James truly wanted, he wouldn’t be able to get it from me.
“James,” I whispered. “I would love to have a baby with you, but you have to know that the chances of having them with me are slim. Not to mention nearly impossible with you having a vasectomy and me having issues.”
His weight hit the bed, and I felt the covers shift as he maneuvered the comforter over his body, staying on his side of the bed. Which was normal. He wasn’t much of a cuddler. I wasn’t either so it worked out well. I wanted my own blanket. I didn’t want to fight over covers half the night. Which was why we also slept with two different blankets.
Although probably weird, it worked for us. Every once in a while, I’d sneak my toes over to his side of the bed and bury them under his thigh or back, but most of the time I stayed on my side.
“I’d get it reversed. But we’d probably need to both go see a doctor afterwards to make sure it was feasible to even contemplate. Would you do that?” He asked into the darkness.
“I’d do anything for you. Anything.” I answered vehemently.
He didn’t respond. We stayed silent for some time. Almost so long that I thought he’d fallen asleep. His breathing was steady, as if his body was in a deep sleep. I stayed on my side of the bed, watching the numbers on the clock change from eleven thirty, to twelve.
“I want to get married. This weekend.” James suddenly said.
“We can’t. You’re screwed. I want a big, beautiful wedding. I want a winter one. So you’re going to have to wait till next year, because big weddings like that take time to plan. I want to wear a big dress that has a train that flows ten feet behind me. I want my dad to walk me down the aisle. I want tons and tons of flowers. I want it all.” I described my dream wedding.
“Do I have to wear a tux?” He asked, sounding pained.
“Yes, because that would just look absolutely silly if you didn’t.” I told him.
“Fuck me,” he growled.
I smiled, and felt myself slip into sleep.