A LIL' LESS LOST (The Kingsmen Book 2) (9 page)

He squinted at me, trying to catch my angle. Who knows what they told this kid about me? I mean, I didn't exactly look like a crazy lunatic bitch, but they must have fed him some kind of bullshit story about me. The kid was on pins and needles every time he stepped foot in here.

“Chris... they call me Pretty Boy.”

Good name. Sometimes a road name just didn't seem to fit. In this case though, it was spot on. He had short, blackish hair with some kind of gel in it, making the tips spike up a little. Dark brown eyes settled on me, judging me...

“Good to meet you, Chris. You seem too nice to be caught up in this shit.” I didn't have anything to lose here, not like I'm gunning for Miss Congeniality or anything.

He stood tall, I could tell he was getting a little defensive. “Yeah, well... things have been hard around here for a while now. Fallen on tough times you know...”

I nodded. I could tell by the way these guys dressed, their run-down bikes... they didn't exactly have a whole lot of pocket cash.

“Do you know what they did to my friend?” My once friendly tone turned cold. I hadn't seen his face among the few at the warehouse.

He shakes his head. “Yeah... Shade gets a little... unhinged sometimes.”

I bit my lip.
UNHINGED
?! The guy was completely mental! A maniac! He could see the anger swelling in me.

“I'm sorry about your friend...” He looked sincere. “We didn't know he was going to take it this far, you know?”

I turned myself back toward the window, spotting my tree. I exhaled deep. “You should think about getting out now, you know. Before things really start to go to shit.”

There were very few ways out of it for this kid. He'd taken an oath, pledged his loyalty to these men, his brothers. There was a long silence before Chris spoke again.

“I'll check on you in an hour, I guess.”

  And he is gone. The sun is setting behind the trees, a deep purple and orange painted the sky. I close my eyes tight. Soon it will be too dark to see my tree, my swing. There would only be emptiness, a void, and the memories would find their way back in again.

I pray Jay finds me soon.

CHAPTER TEN

The coolness of the night was setting in, forcing me to close the window. With the daylight long gone I had no reason to stare out the window... my tree was hidden. I made my way to the bed and pulled the scrappy blankets off, throwing them into a pile on the floor and sat up against the wall on the thin mattress. With my legs hugged into my chest, I dropped my head down to rest on my knees.

The room was dark, but darkness suited me just fine right now. It would require too much effort on my part to get up and hit the switch. I had never been a fan of the quiet. I was the type of person that always needed the hustle and bustle. Plenty of background noise and lots of distraction suited me just fine.

I could hear faint signs of life coming from the ground floor. I strained to hear them, inviting them to fill my ears and give me something other than my mind-numbing isolation to pass the time. The knock at the door startled me. I didn't answer. Exactly what was the proper etiquette for answering the door to one's captor, anyway?

Chris opened the door carefully stepping into the darkness. My eyes had adjusted pretty well by now and I could see the outline of his hand reaching for the light switch.

“Don't,” I mindlessly called out to him. “I'm fine in the dark... please.”

His shape didn't move right away. I think he was contemplating my request. It must have sounded absurd to him. But, he didn't turn on the light.

He cleared his throat. “I brought you some pizza. I wasn't sure what kind you liked so I just brought you plain.”

I could smell the cheesy slice from across the room.

“Thanks. I'll try to eat some.” I scooted to the edge of the bed, extending my hand toward him. He closed the space between us and placed the edge of the plate into my fingers.

“So, sounds like a good time downstairs...”

I was angry at these assholes for carrying on and having a good time after they had just murdered an innocent young woman. It was as if it had never happened, to them.

“Yeah, well, this shit's almost over. The guys are relieved and kicking back a little. It's been... tense all around, you know?”

Tense. I'll give him fucking
tense.
Let's have him watch as his good friend gets shot in the goddamned head right in front of you simply because they know you, and see if it's
tense
enough for him. I took a bite of the luke-warm pizza and chewed slowly, not tasting the food in my mouth.

“Sure...” I managed in between mouthfuls.

“I really am sorry about your friend. I hope you know that.” This kid didn't quite fit the typical biker mold. I haven't met too many of them that felt remorse. “But Shade worked something out with your club... their gonna make a trade tonight. You'll get to go home.”

I swallowed my food down hard, and grunted. “Do you
really
think he's going to let a murder witness just run along home to his own rivals?”

I seamed to have caught Chris off guard. “We... we took a vote. I promise you that you ARE going home, Lil's.”

“Did you take a vote on killing Emily? That was her name you know. She had a name and now she's dead. Your club killed her. I hope you all can live with that vote.”

Chris hung his head and slowly turned back toward the door. “That was never voted on, Lil's, I swear on it. After all this is over my club will deal with that, you can count on it.”

I sighed slowly. I believed him. I know he didn't vote on it, make the call, or pull the trigger.

“I'm sorry about Emily.”

He closed the door behind him, leaving me in the dark to finish my dinner. I wasn't a huge fan of pizza. But, it was nutrition and at this point I needed to make sure I was eating. I hadn't had a fruit or vegetable since I had been taken (and, my prenatal vitamins were right where I left them, in the bathroom at Jay's house.) I would need to make up for this past couple of days when I get home. We would need to make some healthy changes.
WE
. Jay and I together. God, I needed him right now. This should be the happiest time of our lives and we should be spending it together. The few days leading up to when I took the test I had run over all scenarios in my head. I had planned out so many little ways that I would break the news to Jay if the test was positive. I knew he'd be happy... he had always made it pretty clear that he wanted kids. He had been an only child and was always envious of those who had siblings. He had Tiny, of course. But it wasn't exactly the same. I never got to tell Jay about the baby, share that moment with him. It was one more thing that Shade took from me.  

******

THEN

“Lil's and Jay, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

I ran around the couch trying to catch on to the four-year-old scurrying away from me.

“AVA!” I called, nearly out of breath. This little girl was
quick!
She had managed to sneak out of her room and downstairs to the den where she walked in on Jay and me making out. Thank God for small miracles and she hadn't come down any later, or she would have seen a hell of a lot more than just kissing.  

Jay was laughing his ass off watching me try to track Ava down. She had disappeared somewhere through the kitchen. All that was left of her was her singing voice echoing through the house. She was repeating the verse over and over again. I turned to Jay with a scowl on my lipstick-smudged face.

“A little help here might be nice! I mean, this is
your
fault, you know.” I scolded him. Ava was tucked away in bed when Jay had stopped by. If she hadn't heard the noises we were making she would never have come down here. Hell, she'd probably be asleep by now.

I was babysitting for Trojan and Sarah tonight. They had some anniversary party to go to for her sister. Ava was usually a pretty easy assignment. But, I had been stupid enough to leave her unattended for like, two seconds, and she managed to get into Sarah's hidden candy stash. The pre-schooler was riding one hell of a sugar high tonight and was in rare form.

“First comes love, then comes marriage...” The tiny voice was now becoming louder. She was close. My eyebrows shot up and I snapped my fingers at Jay, pointing over to the side door near the pantry. We could double team her and cut her off before she could make it back to the kitchen. Jay quickly caught on to my plan and headed toward the singing nursery rhyme.

“Then comes the baby in the baby carriage! Ahh! Uncle JAAAY!” Jay made it to her and scooped her up just as I made my way around the corner. He playfully threw her over his shoulder and began tickling her.

Her laughter was contagious and I found myself joining in. Jay was beaming up at the little girl in his arms. “You see what happens to sneaky little girls that climb out of bed? The tickle monster comes after them!”

“Ahhhh! No... no uncle JAAAAY!” Her squeals were pitchy and full of giddy hysterics. “Not the tickle monster!”

I followed Jay as he carried Ava upstairs, and back toward her fairy princess themed bedroom. Her laughter had settled slightly as he walked over to her canopy bed and set her down. I stood in the doorway and watched as my big badass biker melted into putty for this little girl. He pulled the blanket back up over her and tucked the sides in tight.

“Snug as a bug in a rug.” She laughed as he recited the bedtime rhyme while smoothing the blanket around her. “Auntie Lil's must not have tucked you in tight enough before,” he looked over his shoulder to me and winked.

I squinted my eyes in mock anger at him. He knew damn well I would have gotten her to sleep perfectly fine without his interruption.

“Now, Ava...” the little girl hung on every word Jay spoke, “if you stay in bed and go to sleep, I know for a fact that Auntie Lil's will give you twenty dollars.” The little girl's eyes widened. She looked over at me to confirm the deal.

I nodded. “Sure thing sweetie. Twenty dollars all for you. You can buy a whole lot of stickers with that money, baby girl...” I thought I needed to sweeten the pot. The kid LOOOVED stickers. We nearly laughed out asses off when Trojan came riding into the garage with his bike covered in rainbow and sparkly stickers. Ava had wanted to make it pretty for her daddy. It cost Trojan, or 'T' as we called him, a new paint job. The boys played around with the idea of changing T's road name to Sparkles. They quickly changed their minds when he punched the first guy who tried it out cold. Since then, stickers have been pretty rare around this house.

The little girl nodded first at me and then to Jay. “You promise, Ava? You'll go to sleep? Otherwise... no twenty bucks. No stickers.” He was setting the terms for his little negotiation.

As if on cue, the little girl yawned, and nodded. “I promise uncle Jaaay.” He bent down and kissed her forehead, before walking toward me and the door.

“Night night, baby girl” I called to her while flipping the light switch and closing the door quietly. I paused at the seam of the door, listening for any tell-tale signs of movement inside. Nothing. I turned quickly and planted a pretty hard playful punch into Jay's bicep. It probably hurt me more than it did him, considering how hard his muscle was, but he pretended to be mortally wounded. I rolled my eyes.

“Asshole,” I whispered.

“Oh yeah? Is that what I am?” He pinned me up against the opposite wall, breathing in my ear. “I seem to recall you calling me something else downstairs...” He was toying with me. “What was it again...” His palm smoothed up under my dress and over my skin, all the way up my body leaving gooseflesh in its wake.    “Oh yeah... I think it was... 'God'...”

His hand found my bra and pushed it aside aiming for my nipple, fiddling with it between his rough fingertips. I moaned, pushing myself hard against the wall. My hands reached around his waist and held him to me. He lowered his mouth onto my ear and twirled his overly warm tongue around the lobe, pulsing quickly began to migrate down my spine. He knew every button to push, every weak spot to take advantage of, in the most wickedly wonderful way possible.

A sudden noise jolted us both to turn our heads and stare at Ava's door. We waited... waited... nothing. We exhaled together as if on cue. I wasn't aware that I was holding my breath, but I really wasn't in the mood for an encore of chasing Little Miss Ava around the house. We stared at each other, the unsatisfied heat stiffening between us. Things were getting pretty hot and heavy downstairs before we were interrupted.

Jay grabbed my hand quickly and tugged, pulling me behind as he led us into the master bedroom. T and Sarah weren't due home for another couple of hours or so, but I felt kind of funny being in their bedroom. Jay pounced on me the second the door was closed behind us. His eager kisses were deep, intoxicating. His need was practically spilling out like a geyser, as his cock throbbed between us. I could actually feel the twitching through the denim.

I had pretty much just left him hanging downstairs. It was a wonder he hadn't popped a vein by now. I worked quickly, undoing his pants and dropping them in record time. I bit his bottom lip playfully and swirled the tip of my tongue over it, enticing it. When he reached to grab hold again, I used all of the restraint I could fathom and pulled back shaking my head. “Uh uh uh...”

I dropped to my knees in front of him and took him into my mouth in one long stroke. I could hear his sounds as he struggled with himself. It had been a long time since I had teased him and made him wait. He had little recourse back then but to scurry off and take care of himself. That was before I gave myself fully to him. Now, he had no barriers, limits, no restraints, to control himself within. I was his. He was mine. If he had a need, I was here to satisfy it.

Jay was very well endowed and loved to fit every inch of himself within me. It had taken a long time to get used to it, but it was now like second nature to me. I took everyone of those inches in deep and used my hands to add icing to the cake. He was ravenous, hungrier than he had been in a while. It had been days since I had seen him. He had been busy with the books over at the club, straightening some nonsense out with the accountants, and I was in the middle of my first-semester finals. We had never gone this long between doing it.

Jay grabbed my hair and held tight, keeping my head immobile as his hips slowly started to buck. He was pumping himself in and out of me, fucking himself with my willing mouth. The small gurgling and gasping sounds I was making seemed to egg him on, adding fuel to his fire and his thrusting sped up. I moaned my own need aloud, all hot and bothered by the control he was exerting over me. It turned me on something fierce when he took charge like this. He was the expert, I was the novice absorbing everything he had to share.

“Baby...” he whimpered. The funny thing about control is that even when he has it, wills it over me, I still can manage to bring him to his knees without even intending to. “Baby, it's been too long, I need to fuck you...”

I swallowed hard as his tip tickled the back of my throat. Jay was a gentleman, treating me like a lady in every way that mattered. He was old fashioned and controlling in just the right dose when dealing with my innate feminist streak. But when he talked to me like this, it just threw me over the edge every time. It was his need talking, his need for me. And it always made me feel damn sexy, willing to serve him in any way possible.