Bones by the Wood (26 page)

Dizzy carried Josh up the stairs with the boy’s head laid on his shoulder and his skinny arms and legs wrapped around him like a monkey.  There was something in that, something so trusting despite the boy’s age, that it gave Dizzy a cramp in his chest.  It was a feeling that had come and gone more than once during the day.

Thea went ahead and opened the door and prepared his room.  They put him down fully dressed, pausing only to remove his shoes and socks.  There didn’t seem to be much point in disturbing him further, so they covered him with his blankets and left him to sleep.

Out in the kitchen area, Thea pulled a couple of bottles of beer out of the refrigerator.  Dizzy realized she must have bought them for him, because not once in all the week that he’d been coming here had she had alcohol in the house. It didn’t seem to be a thing for her, and she’d said that she didn’t have anything against drinking.  Dizzy guessed she just didn’t like to drink alone, and she’d been working every night this week so far.  He guessed she didn’t get the chance to kick back and relax at home with a beer or a glass of wine much, either.

Dizzy took a swallow of his beer, damn near downed half the bottle, but found he wasn’t thirsty for the rest when he watched Thea’s throat work as she took her own long pull of her drink.  She still had a faint purpling bruise on the side of her neck that was his fault, but then he had a matching one, and since he’d taken some real shit off the guys when they’d seen it, he didn’t feel overly guilty about having marked her like a sappy thirteen-year-old.

Thea put her own bottle down on the countertop and looked at him seriously.  “How were you plannin’ to get back to your place?”

“I’ll walk over.”  It was a ways, but he wouldn’t take the truck.  He didn’t want to make it harder for her to take it back, and she’d need it in the morning to get Josh to school.

“No.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not walkin’.  Don’t go.  Stay.  I’ll drive... we can drive, over in the mornin’ after we’ve taken Josh to school.”

“You sure you’re alright with that?  Are you sure Josh will be?”  The idea of being able to simply sleep with Thea, in a bed, excited Dizzy a lot, but he didn’t want to push her to do something she wasn’t ready for yet.

“To be honest, after today, I think he’d be disappointed if you weren’t here. He likes you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.  He’s a good kid.”

“I don’t want him hurt, Dizz.”  Dizzy thought he caught fear shaded with resignation in her expression.

“I told you, that’s not what I’m tryin’ to do here.  We may be movin’ fast, sweetheart, but I think we’re movin’ in the right direction.”

“Yeah.  I think so, too.”  Thea paused and looked over her shoulder, out of one of the windows, out into the night, before she turned back to him.  “Dizzy, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”  He couldn’t think why she’d feel the need to apologize.

“For bein’ an ungrateful bitch this mornin’.  Thank you for everythin’, the car, the day, Josh, everythin’.”

“My pleasure, sweetheart.  I like to see you both happy.”  Something in his chest expanded at the innocence of her thanks. 

A tear slid out of the corner of one of Thea’s eyes, which scared Dizzy.  He couldn’t figure out why she was crying.  He wrapped her in his arms and brushed it away with the backs of his fingers.  “Sweetheart?”

She leaned into his touch.  “Sorry... I’m just... I’m not used to this.  I’m not used to bein’ looked after.  We’ve been on our own a long while.”

“You’re not on your own anymore, sweetheart.”

He leant down and kissed her, tasting the lingering malt of the beer on her lips and tongue as he tried to show her how much she’d come to mean to him.

Thea looped her arms around his neck and pressed herself along his body, and Jesus, but that felt good, to have her warm and willing in his arms.  He wanted more of that.  He wanted to feel her skin sliding against his.  He wanted to be inside her.

Ordinarily he would have had no qualms about taking her on the rickety table in his urgency, but he didn’t want to risk Josh waking up.  Thea seemed to have the same idea because she broke the kiss and led him to her room.

They helped each other out of a lot of their clothing.  They got distracted a fair bit in the process, but Dizzy was adamant he wanted to feel very inch of Thea naked against him that night.

After they had lay down on the bed, Thea tried to pull him over her, but he had other ideas.  He slid down her body until he was lying between her thighs.  Dizzy wrapped his hands around them to keep her still and laved his tongue along the full length of her sweet pussy.  He tightened his grip when she nearly came off the bed, and she flailed as he licked and suckled until she suddenly went very still.  When he looked up her body, she’d wrapped her arms over her head around a pillow.  She was watching him, but her teeth were set in her lip, which was turning white under the pressure as she fought not to cry out.  Dizzy grinned. He wanted to see if he could make her scream.  Stupid it may be, and it defeated the object of trying to be quiet at all, but he took it as a personal challenge.

With that in mind, he set back in, drinking her down as her juices flooded his mouth.  He didn’t do this often, didn’t do it at all with the club girls, so it’d been a while, but from the breathless moans that Thea was making, Dizzy guessed he wasn’t too rusty.  He was caught up, enjoying the taste of her, the smell.  He was lost in her body, but he felt it when the muscles in her thighs went taught.  He glanced up.  She had the pillow over her face now, so he backed off.  She dropped the pillow and looked at him with furious disbelief, which only made him laugh all the harder.  He saw her jerk and released one thigh in time to bat away the pillow as she threw it at his head. 

“That’s better, sweetheart.  Keep watchin’.”

He returned to his duties and was merciless in his attentions.  He crossed one forearm over her hips to hold her down, and as he set back in with his mouth, he slipped two fingers into her hot sheath, mimicking the action he intended to make with his cock later.

“Dizz.   Dizzy, please... Dizzy... Please....”

She was breathy and growing louder, but he didn’t care.  The sound of her begging, pleading lit a fire in his cock.  He sucked firmly at her clit, rolling his tongue over the sensitized nub over and over, really having to work to hold her still as he fucked her with his fingers.

As her body tightened under his hands and mouth, and started to throb as her orgasm rolled over her, Thea let out one startled cry, which she managed to bite back not quite in time.  He stayed on her, continuing to drink her, play with her, as that sweet slick flesh pulsed under his tongue and around his hand.  Only when she pushed at his head did he let up.

He crawled up and over her, ready to sink into her.  His balls felt about set to burst.

“You bastard.  We could’ve woken...”

He cut her off by driving his cock into her, right to the hilt.  She was tight and dripping wet and so hot that his eyes rolled back in his head.  He pulled out swiftly and completely.

“Jesus.  You take a risk.”  Her voice was hoarse and it made his cock pulse and his chest swell to hear it.

Thea reached over to the nightstand.  She’d started keeping a box of condoms there, which was good, because she made him crazy foolish and if he’d had to find his jeans and dig through the pockets he might have taken the chance rather than be parted from her for a minute.

She dressed him, which was sweet torture in itself, feeling those slim fingers roll the cold latex over his solid cock.  It jerked in her hands, as impatient as he was.  And then he was sliding into her.  Every effect was blunted by the rubber, but that was no bad thing because he’d like as not have come in three thrusts otherwise

Normally, he liked to hold himself over her.  He enjoyed holding himself up, away from her so that he could see the flush rising over her skin as she came, so that he could see her eyes, the way her face changed when she got close.  But not tonight. Tonight he wanted to be close, to be a part of her.

Their bodies slid over, around each other as they moved together.  He caught her eyes, and she seemed to sense the connection he wanted because she didn’t look away.  Over and over he pushed into her, staring into her eyes all the time. His world narrowed down into that abyss of perfect blue and he began to feel that he might be drowning, but he didn’t want to come up for air.  He was content to sink down, down into her eyes as he sank over and over into her body.  She had her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms wrapped around his back, her nails digging into his shoulders, and all of it was part of the undertow that had caught him.

When he felt her begin to tighten again around him, he let loose the leash on his own need, his own pleasure, but he wouldn’t look away, wouldn’t let her look away, as they rode the crest of the powerful orgasm together.

He held himself still, not wanting to break the connection they’d forged, until another single tear rolled out of the corner of her eye.  Twice he’d made her tearful this night, but he thought he understood, he was feeling pretty affected himself.  He brushed the tear away as he had the other and that small touch broke the spell, or at least changed it, so that they could move.

He didn’t want to, but necessity being the master, made him pull out of her.  Losing that heat was like a blow, and he heard Thea feel that, too. He dealt with the condom in the small wastebasket she kept in the corner of the room.  By the time he came back to the bed she’d wriggled under the covers and she held them up in invitation for him to join her.  He slid into the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders so that he could pull her head down onto his chest.  She came willingly, docilely, and let him pet her hair until they both fell asleep.

Her birthday gift had at least solved the conundrum of how she and Josh were going to get to Louisiana.  Thea had to admit it was a good feeling, driving a vehicle that didn’t seem to have a personal vendetta against her.  Her old car would probably have broken down before they got to the state border, hell, before they’d even gotten out of Ravensbridge, just to spite her.  This new truck was a sweet drive.  Dizzy had said it wasn’t a Bugatti, but it might as well have been, in Thea’s view.

Dizzy and every other member of the club, including Nut, were astride their bikes.  Most of the I-10 was two lanes.  Thea didn’t know if they cared about the rest of the scarce traffic on the road, but they had arranged themselves in formation in front of the truck, leaving the other lane free.  Dizzy stayed at the front of the pack.  The others seemed to have a fairly fluid arrangement behind him, except for Nut, who was very definitely staying at the back.  There was plenty of room, but it still made Thea nervous.  She really didn’t want to hit any of them.  It would be embarrassing at the very least if she wiped out an outlaw MC charter, having pressed the wrong pedal or some other dumb shit like that.  And it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility, because this was the furthest from home she’d driven in years.

Josh was beside her in the passenger seat.  He was alternately buzzing with excitement at the opportunity to spend so much time with the men he now called friends, and subdued with nervousness about being in a strange place with what would most likely be a lot of strange people.  Dizzy’s Stetson was in the middle of the back seat.  Thea felt a little insane for even thinking it, but having his hat there made it feel like he was riding with them.

Thea stifled a yawn and reached to the cup-holder under the dash for the most recently opened can of liquid sugar and caffeine that she’d been mainlining all morning.  She was running on less than three hours sleep and energy drinks at the moment, in order for them to be able to arrive in time for the early afternoon ceremony.  She couldn’t even complain, because Dizzy would only remind her that they’d had the option to travel down the night before.

But Thea had been adamant about not missing more shifts than absolutely necessary, and she hadn’t considered a leisurely drive during normal waking hours absolutely necessary.  Right away, Dizzy had virtually interrogated her about what was going on at work.  She should have known that he’d have latched on to her reticence and evasiveness and that he’d figure out something was wrong. 

She’d downplayed Dwight’s threats as much as she felt she could.  It wasn’t a misguided sense of loyalty that drove her.  It was a real fear that if Dizzy got involved she would somehow end up losing her job anyway, and then she’d be stuck, and she had this horrifying vision of Dizzy offering to pay her bills or some shit, and she didn’t want to deal with that, so she kept her mouth shut as much as he’d let her.  Eventually he’d reluctantly given in to her demand, and she’d arranged her shifts accordingly.  Dwight couldn’t really argue, but he was giving her some sideways looks that did nothing to soothe Thea’s misgivings.  She was pushing herself too hard, and if she wasn’t careful, she really would end up ill.  She could use a week, or two, to recover from the past few weeks, but that wasn’t ever going to happen.

They arrived at the Louisiana clubhouse with some time to spare.  Thea was struck by the huge, unapologetic mural on the side of the building.  Even with the line of bikes outside, and the garage on the side, the Texas clubhouse looked like any other building.  The massive artwork ensured that no one would mistake this building for anything other than the base of an MC.

The lot outside the clubhouse was full of bikes and cars, substantially more bikes than cars.  Cars and trucks were parked all along the tree-lined avenue that led from the road to the building.  With a few exceptions, the space that the avenue opened up into had been dedicated almost entirely to bikes.  Dizzy was in the process of swapping his helmet for his Stetson.  They’d had to pull over at the state line for the men to don their helmets, since they were a legal requirement in Louisiana, but not in Texas.  The men had grumbled, a lot.  Dizzy motioned Thea over to a space that was the ideal size for her ride.  She wondered what these people knew about her and Dizzy that had warranted the consideration of a space being reserved, not too far from the door.

Having seen all the vehicles, Josh was on a subdued downswing of his emotional cycle as they left the truck.  Thea made a concerted effort to hide her own nerves.  She and Josh automatically hung back a little as their raucous group walked into the building.  The men were on a high from the journey, laughing and joking and downright giddy.  She didn’t feel that there was a right place for her and Josh in front of any of the patches.  But as soon as they were all through the door, Dizzy doubled back and put his arm around Thea’s waist and dropped his hand on Josh’s shoulder.

Not for her own sake, Thea was glad for the gesture.  The whole space inside was packed with people.  Josh was comfortable around the Texas clubhouse now, and he had his friends here with him, but he was still a small kid in a room full of adults, most of whom were twice his height.  Seeing kuttes bearing patches that were different from the Priests made Thea nervy.

The interior of the Louisiana clubhouse was a lot like the interior of the Texas clubhouse.  They both pretty much looked like every redneck bar Thea had ever seen, although the Texas one showed the Spanish influence of being near the border, and the Louisiana one looked a lot more lived in.  Even with the miasma of all the bodies, aftershaves and perfumes, cigarettes and foods, or maybe because of that, it smelled like it had seen a lot more lockdowns.

Thea took a good look around, but she didn’t see all that many women.  It was easy to pick out which girls were the sweetbutts.  Their brazen flirting, as well as their apparent need to adhere to stereotypical stripper chic lit a neon sign over their heads.

Seeing all those dresses that had one thing in common, not one of them seemed to be longer than crotch length, made Thea glad she had chosen the outfit she was wearing, or more accurately, that Annelle had made her wear.

If she had thought that she would need to spend any time in the open air, in the cooler November temperatures, she probably would have argued more, but Annelle had made the point that she’d either be in the truck or in a room packed full of bodies, so she’d be on the warm side.  Dizzy hadn’t been a whole lot of help; she hadn’t expected a man who lived in jeans and his kutte with an assortment of shirts that only needed to keep his torso covered to be a knowledgeable guide on matters sartorial.  The extent of his input had been to confirm that it wouldn’t be a fancy do and that everything would be happening in the clubhouse.

Although Dizzy had said it wouldn’t be formal, Annelle had virtually had a seizure when Thea, only half-joking, had mentioned wearing her jeans.  So that was why she was wearing her only summer dress.  It was deep red jersey cotton, long, floor length, and strapless with some sort of fancy elastic work that gathered it at the top so that it held tight, at least until she forgot she was wearing a dress and stepped on the hem.  She was going to have to make sure that didn’t happen in this room.  She didn’t have an obscenely large bust, but she was little too large to wear this dress without some due care and attention. 

So far, Dizzy seemed quite taken with it.  Since he’d first seen her in it he’d had trouble keeping his hands to himself.  She tried to hide the shiver, more of a tremble really, as he dropped his head to press a kiss to her shoulder.  He lingered a little and Thea felt the first tingling stirrings of warmth begin to build between her thighs.  If he was going to keep doing things like that, then it was going to be a long and frustrating day, and she wasn’t sure yet if she’d have the opportunity to exact revenge.

Dizzy lifted his head up to scan the room. “Let me introduce you around so you know who’s who.”

“I remember who Samuel is, and I think I remember the others.  There’s no way I’m goin’ to remember the name of every person in this room.”  Thea glanced wildly around the room at all the people she hadn’t seen before.

“Not everyone, sweetheart, just the important people.”  He started to walk them across the room.  She could tell he’d spotted who he was looking for.  “And by that I mean Samuel’s old lady.”

Dizzy guided them over to a statuesque redhead.  The woman wasn’t dressed any more formally than Thea, really, but just looking at her made Thea feel dowdy.  It might have been the heels, because Thea had worn flat shoes to drive in and this woman was wearing sky high black pumps with a wickedly pointed toe.  Her black dress was elegant in its simplicity, with a wide neckline that showed plenty of an impressively pert cleavage, was saved from being trashy by long sleeves and a knee-length hemline.  The whole dress was fitted without being tight.

Thea took a deep breath and prepared to be on her best behavior.  How she was received would reflect on Dizzy; she needed to make a good impression.

“Moira.”

At the sound of what must have been her name, the redhead turned form the blonde sweetbutt she’d been listing instructions to.  Thea prepared for the worst at her stern expression, but when the woman recognized Dizzy, and caught sight of her, she broke into a warm, welcoming smile. 

“This is Thea.”  Dizzy gave her waist a little squeeze.  “And this young man is Josh, her son.”

Thea caught the subtext that this woman didn’t need to be told that she was with Dizzy, which meant that she knew something about them already.  That could be good, or not so good.  She’d find out soon enough.  Thea was impressed, though, at the way Dizzy had introduced Josh.  He seemed to know instinctively how to tread that line between remembering that Josh was still pretty young, but while managing to make him feel a little bit grown up.  Thea was envious; that shit came hard for her.

Moira held out her hand.  “So pleased to meet you, cher.”  Her accent was as rolling and lyrical as Samuel’s was.  None of the others from Louisiana sounded quite so mired in the bayou.  “The boys came back a few weeks ago tellin’ tales that someone had finally caught our Dizzy’s eye, and I’m not ashamed to admit I’ve been itchin’ to meet you since I heard that.”

Dizzy gave her waist an almost imperceptible squeeze again.  He got that she was nervous, although she’d deliberately not voiced that she felt that way.  She wanted to be brave about this.  But when it came down to it, she just didn’t get out and meet new people all that often.

“And you’re Josh?”  Moira dropped into a crouch so she would be more or less on eye level with Josh.  “The boys came tellin’ me tales about you, too.  Crash said you’re one of the best young gamers he’s ever seen.”

Thea looked on as Josh beamed under the compliment. 

“It’s nice to meet you, to Mrs....”  Josh stumbled.

“Oh, you can just call me Moira, cher.”

Josh tilted his head to one side.  “Why’d you call everyone ‘share’?”

Moira laughed gleefully.  “Cher, it’s a French word. Kinda means my dear.  It’s just a little somethin’ a lot of people in these parts say.”

“Oh.  Okay.”

Moira straightened, with a little grimace that Thea knew well came from her stiffened knee joints.  Crouching down to Josh’s level wasn’t a position you could hold for long.

“My girl Ashleigh’s almost done gettin’ ready, then we’ll be underway.  I need to go check on her.  My friend Dolly’s around here somewhere.  She’s got a little girl, just a bit younger than you, Josh.  Her name’s...”

“Jenny!”

Moira never got to finish her sentence, because Josh was suddenly off and running across the room, scrambling between sets of legs.  Thea looked on dumbstruck.  She knew the kid that Josh was barreling towards; she was Jenny Cross.  But what the holy fuck was Jenny Cross doing in Louisiana?  What the holy fuck was she doing in the clubhouse of this MC?  Jenny Cross’s daddy had been a member of the Rabid Dogs.  Thea never had found an answer for what had happened to the girl when her daddy had disappeared along with Elvis and every other member of the club.

“Josh!”  The girlish scream rang out as her son collided with the owner of the voice.

There was only one thought in Thea’s head.  How the fuck had that little girl come to be here?

Moira’s face was creased with confusion, as was Dizzy’s, but it was Moira that spoke, seemingly without thinking.  “How does your boy know Dolly’s little girl?”

“Dolly’s girl?”