OUTLAW KING (9 page)

I was hard within seconds.

No big shock there.

Sabrina rocked her body against the bulge in my jeans. Then she smiled and bit her lip for a second.

“Damn, you’re really big, aren’t you?” she whispered.

“You have no idea,” I said.

Her lips grazed my neck. Then she went to my ear. “My shift ended an hour ago, bad boy. This is all for me. Have what you want. Right now.”

I touched the small of her back, feeling her moving back and forth against me.

Goddamn, it’s been so long since I’ve had a woman like this… outside prison… a free man… no worries…

My grip tightened to her waist. I stopped her from moving. I pulled her as tight as I could. My dick raged, wanting to explore the depths of her pussy.

I put my head back and Sabrina looked down at me. Her blue eyes were full of lust, ready to fuck. She lowered her nose down to mine again. She gently rocked her chest against mine, pressing her tits. They weren’t big but they weren’t small. Nice and firm. They’d look great bouncing as she fucked me.

My hands eased down to her ass and that’s when I stood up. Sabrina locked her legs around me. I grabbed at her though and pulled her off me. I stood her up and walked her to a wall. I thrust my dick at her, holding her against the wall.

“Anything you want and need,” she whispered. “Just have me, bad boy.”

I gritted my teeth. I put my lips within a centimeter of her lips.

Then I turned my head away.

“Fuck,” I said.

“What is it?” Sabrina asked. Her lips were against my ear. “Tell me. Let me take it away. I can do anything to you and for you.”

That’s where Sabrina was wrong.

I slipped away and left the room without a word.

The heavy bass of the music hit me as I made a straight line for Knox.

“What, you done already?” Knox asked.

I put a hand to his chest and drove him against the wall. “Listen to me, brother. I need to talk to you tomorrow. First thing. No fucking around. I didn’t get out of this mess by accident. You enjoy your night tonight, brother, but tomorrow shit gets real.”

“Where are you going?” Knox asked. “We worked this out for you.”

“This isn’t for me, Knox. None of this shit it. I’ve got somewhere else to be.”

“I hope you know what you’re fucking doing,” Knox said.

“You know what? I have no fucking clue what I’m doing. But I don’t care.”

We hugged and I bolted out of the strip club.

Some outlaw, huh?

Running away from a strip club where there were women willing to do anything to me and I was climbing back on my motorcycle to go back to an old flame.

“A ring,” I whispered.

I had fucking got pissed off over a ring? I took off when Linds was showing me her heart because of a ring. A fucking tiny little diamond that meant nothing other than
ooh’s
and
aah’s
of those who saw it.

But we both knew the truth.

We didn’t need a fucking ring.

We were meant to be together.

15

⁽
L
indsey)

*
THEN*

A
UNT
J
ANE CAME WALKING
into the kitchen. She put down a clothing magazine in front of me. “Almost time for school shopping again.”

“I’m too old for that,” I said. “Well, to go with you.”

“So you can take my car and use my money but I can’t go with you?”

“Exactly,” I said with a smile.

“Teenagers,” Aunt Jane said.

“Hey, I’m a legal adult now,” I said.

“But you still have one more year of high school.”

Jim appeared in the kitchen, a buttoned down shirt tucked in, his black hair slicked back like he was about to sell something. He opened the fridge and took out a bottle of water.

“Mail?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Aunt Jane said. She casually slid the clothing magazine to me. “Nothing good though. All junk.”

“Junk is good,” Jim said. “Better than fucking bills.”

“Language,” Aunt Jane said.

“What?” Jim asked. “Lindsey needs to learn about bills anyway. Living free and large in this house won’t cut it for much longer.”

“Stop it,” Aunt Jane said.

I pushed the clothing magazine away. “I can just go to the mall and look at clothes.”

“No,” Aunt Jane said. “Check out this stuff first.”

She eyed me.

Something was up.

I casually looked back and saw the look of confusion on Jim’s face.

If I knew something was up, so did Jim.

I stood at the counter and blocked his view. I opened the cover of the magazine and saw there was a letter from King.

My mouth went bone dry.

That’s why Aunt Jane had shoved the magazine on me. She was helping me. If Jim had gotten the mail and found a letter from King, he would have shredded the letter and then punished me.

I grabbed the magazine off the counter. “I guess I’ll go check out the magazine.”

“Good,” Aunt Jane said. “Spend with your eyes and not my wallet.”

“Your wallet is empty,” Jim said. “I’m the one fronting everyone’s life here.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Jim. You’re the best.”

He curled his lip, always in a nasty mood.

I moved from the kitchen like normal and then took the steps two at a time.

I ran to my room and shut the door. Jim disabled the lock on my door a while back after I locked myself in my room. He was drunk and saying things to me. Aunt Jane was at work. He ended up almost breaking down the door.

Sometimes I hated Aunt Jane for not listening to me about Jim. She had to know he wasn’t a great guy. Yet she stayed with him. I really didn’t care about the house. Sure, it was big and comfy and in a nice neighborhood. But the danger was inside the house when Jim was home.

I grabbed the envelope and slid my finger to open it. I got a small paper cut but didn’t even care about the stinging pain. I just wanted to read the letter. See the words. Shut my eyes and imagine King’s voice.

We were still forbidden from seeing each other and since it was yet another summer, he wrote to me when he could. He was spending time with his brother somewhere upstate. At least that was the last I heard from him.

I opened the letter and read:

H
EY SWEETIE
,

I
’M ALMOST BACK HOME
. What a ride with Tito. He’s crazy, I tell you. I keep trying to tell him about the Reap and get him off the streets. But he won’t. He insists on this bullshit life and it hurts me. Knox covered for me while I went on my trip with Tito. Watching it all happen… I’m thankful for what I have with the Reap. It’s not always perfect. I have a long way to go to get to the table. To be part of chapel. But when I do… oh, sweetie, we’re going to be just fine together.

I know this is all crazy to you now, huh? Not many people understand what this life is about. What it means to ride free. I’ve been doing this for a long time now, whether anyone believes it or not. Right now the only thing missing is you, Linds. I need my girl with me. I don’t even know what I can and can’t write to you anymore. I don’t know who is going to read it. I don’t know if you’re even reading these words.

But I’ll keep writing.

I’m sitting on the ground, leaning against my motorcycle. I just finished a smoke and now I’m watching the last few flickers of daylight as they’re eaten up by the horizon. Tito is over there on his cell, yelling about something. Probably some deal he’s supposed to make. I worry about him. He took care of me for so long, I want to take care of him.

The road we’re on is empty and quiet. It’s really nice. A good spot to think. Yet all I can think about is you. My love for you, Linds. From the first second I saw you. Our first kiss. The first time we took that walk through the park and I bought you ice cream. You got chocolate on your nose and I kissed it off. You said I was gross and I said I loved you. Shit, we were too young for all of that? Probably. But look what we were thrown with. Your parents gone. Your crazy aunt trying to do the best she can. My fucking family always a mess.

That’s how it goes, right? Two broken people finding each other. Making the pieces come together and finally be whole. I don’t need to be a certain age to discover that shit. Or go through anything in life to experience it. I know it. I feel it in my heart already.

Damn, I miss you so much. I don’t know what’s going to happen this year. You have one year left and I’m already out and living life. I’ll do everything to see you. And you do the same. Nothing can keep us apart. I’ve spent a long time respecting the wishes of a man that isn’t even your father. A man who has hurt you. A man that I’m afraid will keep hurting you. It has to stop, sweetie. I want to take care of you. I can take care of you. I will take care of you.

I hate when people promise each other the word forever, but with you, it’s easy to do.

So here I sit against my two wheel steel piece of freedom and yet I feel like my heart is trapped. By you. I have to see you soon. No matter what it costs me. That’s my promise to you. I’ll never stop fighting. For you. For us.

I
LOVE YOU
, sweetie

• King
  

I
PUT
the letter down and could barely find my breath. I stood off the bed and waved my hands, trying to process everything he’d written.

My bedroom door opened a little and Aunt Jane poked her head in. “Lindsey?”

“I’m fine,” I said. “It’s a good thing.”

She came into the room. “What’s wrong?”

“The letter. How could nobody else get it but me and him?”

I saw the look on Aunt Jane’s face. “Maybe I do get it, Lindsey. Maybe I’m scared for you.”

“Let me be scared for me. Jim can’t control me. It’s not right and fair. I refuse it. You shouldn’t either. I can’t stand this place!”

Aunt Jane hurried to me and grabbed my arms. “Stop right now. Do not bring attention to yourself.”

“What?”

“Shit. I didn’t want to tell you like this…”

“Like what?” I asked.

“You need to just stay with this,” Aunt Jane said. “I’m going to leave Jim. Soon. Things aren’t good in this house. I know that. But I can’t just bolt right now. I have to consider everything around me.”

My jaw dropped. “I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?”

“He’s your husband. That can’t be easy.”

“That’s for me to worry about. Not you. Just please stay with me on all of this.”

“So when you leave… we leave… me and King…”

My heart started to race.

Aunt Jane smirked. “I can’t stop you from what you want. From what you love.”

I threw my arms around Aunt Jane.

I was happy. I felt bad for her.

We stood there and cried as we hugged.

Things were finally going to change.

Things were going to be good.

Or so I thought.

16

⁽
K
ing)

*
NOW*

I
MADE
a fist and pounded it against the door. I couldn’t stop thinking about the ring. I couldn't stop thinking about what I’d do if that asshole answered the door. I didn’t believe for a second that Linds would be that kind of woman to go back to a guy like that, but sometimes people were scared and didn’t know what to do.

Shit, it wasn’t her goddamn fault.

“Who is it?” Linds’s voice asked through the door.

“King,” I said. “I need to talk to you, sweetie.”

The door opened. I knew it would. She could never resist me. And fuck me for thinking that. Fuck me for taking advantage of her desire for me.

“What, King?”

“I didn’t mean to take off like that, okay? I just didn’t know what to do when I saw the ring. Christ, sweetie, I haven’t seen you in how long? And the first time I see you some asshole is throwing a backhand across your face. Then I see you’re engaged? That’s hard to swallow. I was supposed to be…” I shook my head. “Fuck it. It doesn’t matter. I’m sorry I left.”

“Your face is glittering,” she said. “Where did you go?”

“A strip club,” I said without hesitation.

Linds shut the door.

I grabbed the knob and turned it. “Sweetie, I didn’t do anything. Trust me, I had the chance. There’s nobody I want but you. I’ve been inside all that time thinking about what I’d do to you if I got out. I’m standing right here.”

Linds opened the door again. She was wearing a white t-shirt that stopped just above her knee.

“I’m not engaged,” she said. “I never was. He gave me a ring as a promise. I was drunk and took it from him, like an idiot. All I’ve ever known is what my aunt has done in life. So I tried to find comfort when you weren’t around.”

“I’m here right now,” I said.

“For how long?”

“Does that fucking matter?”

Linds swallowed. “No.”

I stepped into the apartment. I shut the door behind me. I locked both locks, making it very clear that I wasn’t going anywhere for the rest of the night.

I had one clear goal in mind -
to wake up tomorrow with my girl in my arms.