Tina woke before Jack the next morning. She snuggled in a little tighter and smiled as Jack adjusted his embrace and wiggled in tighter as well. But then she remembered what she had done the previous night and her smile disappeared.
She lay still, not moving as she played last night’s events over and over in her mind. There was no positive way to spin it. Yes, she had panicked, but that didn’t excuse her actions. She had attempted to steal from him—something she had promised she would never do again—and the only reason she hadn’t done so was he had overpowered her until she came to her senses. She burned with shame and tears began to fall.
A noise dragged Jack up from sleep and he smiled as he felt her back tucked in comfortably against his chest as they spooned. Then he heard her gasp softly. It took a moment before he realized she was crying.
“Tina? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she replied shakilyas she tried to stop her tears.
He was quiet and still for a moment. “It doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“It’s okay, Jack,” she said, then sniffed and wiped her eyes.
“Are you still worried about last night?” he asked, even though he already knew the answer.
She didn’t respond for a moment. “I’m so sorry, Jack. I promised you that you could trust me. But once a thief, always a thief, I guess.” She whimpered quietly once before she could continue. “Will you make love to me one more time before I go?”
“Go? Go where?”
“Away. I can’t be trusted and I… I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Tina… I don’t want you to go away. I told you that last night. I want you to stay with me.”
“But you can’t trust me, Jack! I can’t be trusted!”
“Tina! You were just scared last night. I understand that. People make mistakes when they are scared. I still trust you. And where would you go?”
“I don’t know. I can hitchhike to somewhere.”
Jack didn’t know what to say. She was beating herself up for no reason. When the cops had shown up last night he had panicked at first too, so he could understand her actions. The only difference was he had recovered his wits more quickly.
“Tina…” he began, then floundered, unsure of how to continue. “Just wait a minute, okay? Let me get the Knucklehead fixed then we can try to work something out, okay? We’ll talk about it and get a plan together.”
“You don’t need a plan, Jack. You need someone you can trust.”
“I do trust you, Tina!”
“You shouldn’t.”
“Stop it!” he snapped. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You made a mistake last night. You were scared and you made a bad decision. Well, welcome to the human population!”
She started to get up from the bed, hurt and angry that he was mocking her, but rather than turn her loose he pulled her over onto her back and stared intently into her eyes before he kissed her. His kiss started out gentle but it rapidly grew more passionate as he forced his tongue into her mouth, and her desire for him soared.
He kissed her with everything he had as he tried to break through the wall she was putting up, tried to say through touch all the things he couldn’t put into words. She was stiff and uninvolved at first but she began to thaw as he refused to back off from the kiss. He was laying lightly on her and he moved to cover her with his body. She opened her legs and wrapped them around him and pulled him hard into her. He wasn’t fully erect, but he was hard enough as he sought, then found, her opening.
She cried out in passion and in pain. She wasn’t wet enough to receive him yet, but she didn’t care. She needed to feel him inside of her, needed to feel his touch and renew that bond that last night was threatening to tear apart. He ground hard into her as her wetness came. It flooded around him as he pulled back and rammed himself home again. She cried out again, not in pain this time, but in need and pleasure.
“I’m sorry, Jack! I’m so sorry,” she said as he began to thrust into her savagely hard, a brutality she welcomed as she cried out in pleasure yet again.
“You can’t leave! You have to stay,” he snarled quietly, lost in the passion of the moment as he drove himself into her furiously.
“I want to! I want to stay!” she cried before she pulled him to her for a brutally hard kiss. She welcomed the violence and the pain as Jack leaned into the kiss and began to fuck her harder still. And she wanted it… the hard fucking seemed to cauterize the pain and close the wound.
Tina’s kiss was painfully hard as she sucked Jack’s lips into her mouth and he accepted it as he met her head on, sensing that she needed the roughness to atone for her imagined transgression.
“Then fucking stay!” he bellowed as he pounded into her with as much force as he could.
Before she could answer her back arched as her orgasm formed almost instantly and surged down upon her, battering her like a leaf in a storm. Eyes closed, she wailed out her climax, unable to withhold her cry of pleasure. She first slapped at him as he continued to pound into her, then gripped his arms and held tight as her orgasm shredded her.
Having Tina cry out her release as he pounded the shit out of her brought his orgasm to him from seemingly nowhere. He didn’t even have time to push back against it before he blew right past the point of no return and grunted as he spilled his essence into her.
She opened her eyes to see Jack’s grim visage staring back at her as he panted from his efforts and passion. She could feel her face soften as she realized what he meant to her. Every time she fucked up he was there to put her back on her feet and kiss away her hurt. And… she loved him for it. She had never been in love before, and she didn’t know how she was supposed to feel, but she had never felt closer to anyone than she did to Jack at this very moment.
“I’m sorry, Jack. I’m sorry for disappointing you. I’m sorry I…” Jack kissed her instantly, silencing her litany of imagined sins as they kissed gently but deeply.
“Am I going to have to fuck you again before we get past this?” he asked quietly with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. “I hope not… because after last night and this morning, I’m spent.”
She smiled softly back at him. “I don’t know why you put up with me.”
“Because you’re worth it.”
Never have four little words meant so much to her and she could feel her eyes overflow with tears. She fought them off, then pulled him to her and held him tightly for many long moments.
***
“This is Tom Harris,” Jack said into his phone as they waited on their breakfast order. “I’m checking to see if my parts for the ‘39 arrived.”
“Not yet Mr. Harris,” the voice on the phone said. “How are the parts being delivered?”
“UPS.”
“UPS normally delivers about ten o’clock. I’ll call you after they deliver and let you know if your parts were included in the delivery.”
“You can reach me at this number.”
“Yes sir, Mr. Harris. I will call as soon as UPS arrives.”
“Thank you,” Jack said before he thumbed his phone off. “We have at least another hour to kill.”
“Sound like a leisurely breakfast then. Maybe they will call and I can just drop you at the dealership?”
“That would make it simple.”
Tina was, mostly, past her feelings of guilt about the previous night. After their hard and fast love making that morning, they had talked over her actions. It was hard for her to conceive that Jack wouldn’t be, at the very least, disappointed in her. But his gentle and steadfast understanding finally convinced her. As she showered she resolved to never make that mistake again and to become the woman Jack seemed to think she was.
They were walking out of the Cowboy Cafe when Jack’s phone trilled out its happy ringtone.
“Jack— Tom Harris,” he said as he corrected his mistake and grinned at Tina while she snickered.
“Mr. Harris? This is Alex at Champion Motorsports. I am calling to let you know your parts arrived about ten minutes ago. We just checked them in and Brad already has them.”
“Excellent news. I’ll be by in a few minutes in case he needs some help.”
“I will let him know.”
“We’re on!” he said rubbing his hands together excitedly. “If they got the seals pulled yesterday we should have this thing back together in just a few hours.”
“Let’s hope,” she said as she climbed on the bike behind him.
***
While Jack was at the dealership working on his hog, Tina sat in the room. Without his reassuring presence doubts begin to creep in. Not so much that she might get caught, but doubts about herself and Jack.
He has been so good to me… but why? she mused as she watched some woman on a cooking show prep chicken for a meal. Though the television was on, she saw only her own thoughts.
He may be better off without me, she continued to fret. I just cause problems. It’s costing him to feed me, and to buy gas for two bikes instead of one. And even though I promised not to make the same mistake again, I made that promise once before, then broke it.
She hopped off the bed and paced around the room. On impulse she started shoving her clothes into bags. I should leave them, since he paid for them… but what would he do with them? she asked herself before she decided to take them. As she went to get her toothbrush, she paused, then returned to the bed and dumped her clothes out.
She flopped on the bed and tried to watch television, but after a time rose again and headed for the door to make a clean break and leave everything that he bought her behind. As she reached the door she paused and considered the idea. Walking in the desert was never a good idea. Though it was fall, it was still damn hot. She circled in the small space between the bed and the door before she sat in a chair.
The routine continued for the next five hours. She at first decided it would be best for Jack if she were to leave. He might be disappointed to find her gone when he returned, but he would soon forget about her in the arms of another—what was her name—Ms. Jeep. At least if she were gone, she couldn’t break her word about not stealing from him again.
But then she changed her mind. She didn’t want to leave… and Jack said he wanted her to stay. And that was the part that bothered her. She still couldn’t get her mind around why he wanted her to stay. He said he loved her—sort of—but why? It made no sense!
She ran furiously in place for a moment, her feet a blur of motion as she snarled in frustration and pulled at her hair. Life was so much simpler when she didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything!
She was still panting from her frustrated tantrum when she heard a Harley rumble out outside their door and shut off. She stood on tip-toes and peeked through the door peephole. It was Jack! She flung the door open and leapt into his arms and held him tight.
He had just sat the helmet on the seat when a whirlwind of motion bounded out of their room and into his arms. He didn’t fall, but he took two stumbling steps backwards before he regained his balance.
“Tina! What’s wrong?”
“Nothing! I’m just glad you’re here.”
He grimaced as he held her, her embrace around his neck uncomfortably tight, but she soon released him and he placed her on the ground. “Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Yes. I… just missed you.”
“You weren’t afraid I was going to leave you, were you?” he teased.
She would die before she admitted the thought had crossed her mind. “No,” she said simply.
“Good,” he said as he pulled off his gloves and picked up his helmet. “We need to talk.”
She got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she followed him back into the room. He’s realized that he’s better off without me! she thought as she shut the door. No matter what, she promised herself she wouldn’t cry. She hoped she could at least keep this promise.
“What’s up?” she asked, and she was proud her voice sounded normal.
“We have a problem. The repair of the bike has taken a big bite out of our finances. Over two grand. Couple in our living expenses and money is going to get real tight real fast.”
Tina’s heart sank. “I understand,” she said quietly.
“What?” he asked.
“I understand that money is tight.”
“Oh, okay. So, what are we going to do? I have an idea, but I want to hear what you think first.”
“We?” she asked in surprise.
“Yes, we. What did you think… I was going to throw you out?”
Tina flushed in embarrassment. That’s exactly what she thought he was going to do. “No… I just figured you already have a plan. You always seem to.”
“I’ve been thinking. But I want to see what ideas you may have. We’re in this together, after all.”
Tina scratched her head. “I still have a little money. And I could lift a few wallets.”
“Yeah. And we might do that, in the short term. But that means we have to stick to a target-rich environment.”
“We could steal a car.”
Jack just looked at her.
“You don’t like that idea?”
“What would we do with it after we stole it? You know any place we could dump it is likely to be watched, right?”
“I could break into—”
“Absolutely not! Too much risk,” he cut her off.
“What’s your plan, then?”
“Return to Albuquerque.”
She looked at him in disbelief as she struggled not to shout. “What? Why would you do that?”
“I’m going to steal those fucking cars again.”
“What?!” This time she did shout.
“That’s right. I’m going to take them right from the police.”
“You’re crazier than a shit-house rat!”
Jack smiled. That was just about the reaction he expected, which is why this would work. “They certainly won’t expect it.”
“No shit!”
***
By the time they turned in for the night, Tina still wasn’t convinced and they had tabled the discussion until the next morning. She had tried logic, and begging, and even offered herself up to him if he would just change his mind. But his mind was made up. The only way out of this mess was to disappear. To do that took money, and lots of it.
After he and Tina had dropped the conversation, he had called Marshall and told him they were coming in tomorrow. As it would be a Friday, both he and Nic would be at work, but Marshall told Jack where they would hide a key so he and Tina could get inside.
Jack sighed as he slid beneath the covers with Tina. He was tuckered out. Standing on the concrete in the service area as they put his bike back together was no picnic. They cuddled and touched, but both knew they wouldn’t be making love that evening. The stressed-induced fucking of the previous night and the following morning had temporarily dampened their fire.
She lay in his arms, more comfortable and content than she had been in her life. She should let him go back to Albuquerque alone. It is suicide to go back there—triple so if he tried to carry out his harebrained scheme. He had explained it all to her and it sounded good… but walking into the police impound? She wasn’t sure she was up for that.
But as Jack’s breathing slowed and became deeper, she realized that she couldn’t leave him. Not now. He was becoming her world, as necessary to her life as food, water, and air.
“I love you, Jack,” she whispered, then smiled at giving voice to her feelings. He smiled as well, but gave no other indication he had heard.