Edge of Chaos (19 page)

Then as they lay
there basking in the pleasant afterglow…

“I can’t believe
you were going to leave your club for me,” Kayla whispers in his ear.

“I can’t believe
you were never going to ask me too,” Luke whispers back.

And they’re both
wondering what they ever did to deserve the other. Completely satisfied, both
Kayla and Luke drift off to a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

Two weeks
later…

Luke pulls off the
highway and into the scenic viewing area overlooking Black’s Beach, a popular
clothing optional beach along Highway One. He retrieves a picnic basket from
his bike’s saddle bags, shoulders his backpack and leads Kayla to the edge of
the viewing area. He points to a long narrow staircase carved into the side of
the mountain.

“Down there?”
Kayla asks sceptically. “We’re really going down there?”

Kayla is not a big
fan of heights and the prospect of picking her way down a fifty foot cliff does
not appeal to her in the least.

“Isn’t there
another way?” She complains.

“Of course,” Luke
replies. “No…wait, I just realized I’ve forgotten my hang glider. I guess we’re
stuck using our own two feet. But don’t worry I’ll lead the way so if you do
slip I can stop you from falling.”

“I don’t know…”
She is still sceptical.

“Don’t worry babe,
I’ve climbed down here a hundred times and I even did it in the rain at dusk.
It’s a lot scarier when you’re just standing there looking down. Once you get
started you won’t be scared at all.”

“So this is where
you take all the girls, is it?” Kayla teases.

“Usually we go to
the normal beaches but I don’t want to overwhelm you so…”

“Does the non-nude
beach have a five zillion foot cliff you have to descend as well?” Kayla asks.

“It can only be
reached by paragliding.”

“Are you sure I
won’t need a parachute for this?”

“You’ll be fine, I
promise,” Luke replies.

“There’s no law
that requires me to be fully nude here right? It’s clothing optional right?”

“No it’s pretty
much required you at least be topless,” Luke lies. “But don’t worry, nobody
ever goes down to this part of the beach.”

“I can see why,”
Kayla retorts. “Okay… let’s just do it.”

It turns out Luke
is right. Once Kayla is descending she’s too focused on what she’s doing to
really be afraid. The spectacular view worked wonders for her mood as well. For
Kayla it’s indescribably romantic, the two of them picking their way down a
cliff with the ocean as backdrop.  It’s the perfect way to get back on her
feet, so to speak, after her stint as a hostage two weeks ago.

With four more
steps to go Kayla missteps, stumbles, and head butts Luke in the back. Luke
with both hands full takes a header into the rocky path at the base of the
stairs. The picnic basket and the bottle of wine that wouldn’t fit both go
sailing through the air. Luke lets out an oomph as Kayla lands on his back.

“Well,” says Kayla
rolling off Luke. “That could have gone better.”

Luke rolls over.
There’s blood beginning to ooze from his right nostril. “Good of you to wait
till we reached the bottom before your clumsy side took over.”

“So much for your,
I’ll protect you Kayla, I’ll keep you from falling off the three hundred foot
cliff.” Kayla replies laughing. Then she sees his nose. “Oh shit, you’re
bleeding.”

“It’s nothing.”
Luke replies.

“Is it? Oh good. I
really didn’t want to soil my hankie.” She says with a mischievous grin.

“Yeah I’ll just
use this leaf.” Luke bends down, plucks a leaf from a nearby bush.

“Wait that’s
actually…” Kayla begins.

Luke puts the leaf
right up against his nose and upper lip.

“Poison oak,”
Kayla finishes belatedly.

“What?” Luke
throws the leaf away and begins frantically wiping his hands on his shirt and
pants. “You might have told me that before I shoved it up my nose Kayla!”

“But you looked so
darn cute. And besides, it wasn’t poison oak I was just teasing.”

Luke laughs and
wipes his nose on his sleeve this time until Kayla finally produces a hankie.
As they gather up their things they both separately come to the same
realization; they have never laughed like this with anyone ever before. All of
Luke’s relationships have been dark and disturbing with very little room for
humour and it’s been pretty much the same thing with Kayla. There definitely
was no laughing going on when she was with Dillon; that man was a psycho.

Ten minutes later
they arrive at Luke’s chosen spot. It’s perfect. No one is in sight even though
it’s the weekend and perfect beach weather. Luke figured he’d be sharing his
spot with a few other couples but it’s definitely not the case today. They
spread out their things on the blanket and Luke cracks the bottle of wine.
Everything is perfect for Kayla. Who would have thought an outlaw biker would
know the difference between cooking wine and wine you drink with the food you
just cooked in wine. Not only does he seem to know the difference, but he
actually picked a nice wine that goes with their black forest ham sandwiches.
As they lay back watching the ocean and eating crackers and cheese with their
wine Kayla’s motor begins to purr. Everything is perfect for a mid- afternoon
hook-up. He belly is full, but not too full, and her head is buzzing along
pleasantly. When Luke rolls over and places his hand on her bare midriff it
send chills up her spine. She responds with a passionate kiss and rolls over to
face him. Her left hand slips under his tee shirt and slides up his muscular
back.

“Let’s find a
place a little more private,” Kayla coos in his ear.

“Relax, this is
fine. We’ve been her two hours and not a soul has come by.”

“You sir, are
obviously thinking with the little head, and I like where you’re going with
it,” she says as she begins to work his belt buckle.

Luke shifts his
weight to allow her to work his jeans down over his hips. As she begins to work
them towards his knees he stops her.

“Let’s keep a
little on… you know, just in case.”

She pulls them
back up to just below his fantastic butt cheeks, then works on his briefs. As
she slips her hand beneath the elastic band her fingers rub up against him. He
is hot, engorged, and throbbing. Just her touch makes him jump. She starts
squirming until Luke takes his weight off her and she rolls over onto her
belly.

Luke grabs her
dress and lifts it unceremoniously up over her hips exposing her fine ass only
barely covered by lacy white panties. He starts to pull them down but her hand
stops him.

“Just pull them
aside, I can’t wait.”

Luke does as
commanded. He grabs the elastic material and gives them a yank. She cries out
as his weight falls on her crushing her to the blanket.

“I always thought
you had to face each other.”

Both Kayla and
Luke freeze in place.

“What the fuck?”
Kayla gasps as she struggles to look back over her shoulder.

Standing a dozen
paces away is a boy and his dog. He’s got a Popsicle in one hand and the leash
in the other. Kayla figures he must be about 9 or 10 years old.

“You can actually
do it this wa—" Luke stops when Kayla elbows him hard in the ribs.

“He should not be
doing anything,” Kayla finishes for Luke. “And he definitely should not be
standing here watching us… watching us exercise.”

“Is that what you
guys call it?” The boy asks, still standing in the same place. “My mom calls it
paying the gardener.” Then after a pause. “I wonder what my dad calls it. Do
you think he calls it the same th—"

“No I’m sure he
does not!” Luke chimes in.

“And you shouldn’t
ask him either.” Says Kayla.

“Why not?” The boy
asks, clearly confused.

“Because moms are
in charge of paying the gardener. You wouldn’t want him to get paid twice…”
Kayla finishes lamely.

“That’s right,”
says Luke. “Dad’s shouldn’t pay the gardener… unless he’s gay—"

“He just
shouldn’t!” Kayla barks over Luke’s voice. “Just your mom kid, not your dad.”

“You guys are
really uptight. My mom’s always in a great mood after she pays the gardener.”

“I’ll bet he is,”
says Luke.

“Hey, maybe you
guys should get a gardener!” The boy concludes.

“And maybe you
should let us finish our exercises in peace,” shouts Kayla.

“Alright…alright,”
says the boy as he starts to move. Then a minute later. “They’re exercising.”
He says again.

Luke looks back
and standing there with the boy is a girl about the same age. “Are you kidding
me?” He exclaims.

“They’re not
exercising!” The girl tells the boy. “They’re making babies.”

“What do they want
a baby for?” He asks her.

“Beats me,” she
says, and they shuffle off.

Kayla struggles
beneath Luke. “We better—"

“Yeah, this place
is way too crowded today.”

At Luke’s
School of Hard Knocks…

“Don’t go down!
Whatever the fuck you do Kayla, don’t fucking go down!” Luke shouts from the
edge of the boxing ring.

Kayla stumbles
backwards and into the ropes, the only thing at this point that’s keeping her
on her feet. Gasping for air she just manages to jerk her head to the side as a
gloved fist flies by. She strikes out blindly with her own fist but finds
nothing but air. Suddenly a freight train of a punch connects with the side of
her head and for a moment the edges of her vision goes black and narrows
dangerously. One more hit like that and it’s all over.

She strikes again,
this time with a front snap kick aimed at her assailant’s groin. She connects,
but a fist slamming into the other side of her head finishes it for her. She
collapses in a heap on the mat gasping for air and fighting to stay conscious.
She gasps in pain as a foot slams into her kidney, followed by one to the back
of her head. Kayla screams as the attacker in front of her connects to her chin
with his foot. It’s all over!

When Kayla wakes
up to find she is one giant painful nerve ending. It seems there’s not a place
on her body that doesn’t hurt. Luke comes over as she struggles to sit up with
the help of the ropes on the edge of the ring.

“What the hell was
that?” She screams at him. “I was down and you just let them kick the shit out
of me!” She’s nearly in tears from pain as well as humiliation from getting her
ass kicked unmercifully.

“Out on the street
your attacker isn’t gonna step back and wait for you to get up. This isn’t a
movie Kayla. You go down and those guys are just gonna try even harder to kick
the shit out of you. No matter what you don’t go down, and if you do you don’t
stop fighting; you got that Kayla?”

She nods
miserably.

“You can back out
any time you like, but if you’re gonna stay, you’re gonna have to do what I say
and learn what I teach you or it’s witness protection for you and you can kiss
your friends and family goodbye forever.”

Kayla knows this.
She knows she probably could have gotten in the program but she’d have had to
say goodbye to everyone she ever knew and her career as well. Working somewhere
else as a Physician’s Assistant would eventually lead to her being found and
she was not willing to work as a cashier at Home Depot for the rest of her
life. By refusing to go into Witness Protection she agreed to being trained by
Luke and his other military buddies and it is hell.

Slowly she gets to
her feet and the fight begins to creep back. “What’s next boss?” She asks,
walking away from the ropes.

“Firearms.” Luke
replies.

“What? How am I
supposed to hold the gun steady? Look how bad my hands are shaking?” She
protests.

“That’s exactly
why we’re doing that now. You get into a situation where someone is shooting at
you and your adrenaline is gonna make your hands shake. You have to learn to
get control of your physical body and the only way to do that is to learn how
to use your brain to have mastery over the rest of your body. Now follow me.”

They’re about two
several east of Oakland and in a secluded part of the edge of John Muir Woods.
One of Luke’s Army buddies owns a cabin out there and it has a large outdoor
pistol and rifle range. Luke has been coming out here to practice for fifteen
years and it’s his favourite place to hang out with his brothers from both the
military and his club. Next to Carter, Seth is Luke’s closest friend and
confidant.

He presses a
loaded pistol in her hands. She slips it in the holster tucked into her
waistband at the small of her back. Twenty yards in front of her are several
metal bells on stands. The idea is to hit the bells with a ‘double tap’. If you
hit a bell with a single bullet it won’t quite knock it over. You have to chase
the first bullet with a second one to completely knock over the bell. It
teaches you the discipline of double tapping when firing. You learn to fire
accurate controlled bursts instead of just firing wildly and emptying your gun.
She waits for the signal to fire. Then on command she draws her Glock 19 and
slips her index finger into the trigger housing as she presents the weapon.

She finds her target,
but her arms are still weak and shake causing her to lose her line of site.
Swearing under her breath she forces her muscles to respond and renews her
grip. With her right arm she pushes with all her strength while pulling with her
left arm. It’s this push pull action that steadies the weapon and enables her
to lock onto her target. This time her arms stop shaking and she fires off
eight shots, two at a time, but on the ninth shot nothing happens. The hammer
falls but no bullet comes out. She has just encountered a class one jam. Kayla
relaxes and brings the gun back to her chest so she can see what is wrong then
immediately kicks herself.

“Stop!” Luke
yells. “Stop, put the gun down, it’s over.”

Kayla flicks on
the thumb safety and sets the Glock down on the table in front of her. She
knows exactly what she should have done, but she keeps her mouth shut as Luke
rams home his point one more time.

“Kayla…what the
fuck was that? Never bring your gun back to your chest. First you attempt to
clear the jam while still focusing on your target. What should you have done?”

“Um…I should have
ejected the magazine and tucked it under my little finger, racked the slide
back two times to clear the chamber, then…then just seated the mag again and continued
firing without ever taking my eyes off my target.”

“Very good Kayla,
now why the hell didn’t you do that?”

“I’m tired…I’m
trying to keep my arms from shaking so badly and I just didn’t think. I mean I
did, but by the time I realized what I did wrong I had already brought the gun
back in.”

“That is exactly
how you’re going to feel when someone is trying to shoot you.” Luke replies.
“You have to master your mind and your body or you’ll end up dead. Kayla, the
guys who are coming after you have already had some of this training thanks to
me so you’re going to have to train longer and harder than them if you want to
survive. Believe me they won’t attack when we’re around. They’ll wait till your
guard is down and you’re alone.”

“Can I do it
again?”

“Of course. That
jam by the way…I just stuck in a dummy round when I loaded your magazine. In
training don’t ever assume you have good bullets in your magazine; got that?”

Their training
continues long into the night, finishing with some shooting exercises in the
dark using spotter flashlights. When Luke finally called it quits it was
nearing midnight. Luke sent the guys home and curls up with Kayla in front of
the fireplace and a roaring fire. It was times like this that Kayla loved. Luke
was totally in his element when he was shooting and training her. And she
wasn’t the only one working out here either. Luke did plenty of his own
shooting as well as going rounds in the ring with his buddies. He put his money
where his mouth is and led her by example. He’d get into the ring with four
other guys and they would gang up on him. He didn’t always get the best of them
but he never went down and he dished out what was given him. He is a warrior,
no doubt about that!

“You know Luke,
this has been great and all, hanging out here and training, but tomorrow I have
to return to the real world and that means work. I still have a mortgage to pay
and I love my job so…”

“Say no more…say
no more.”

He rolls over so
they are facing one another on a huge bear skin rug. There are no lights on in
the place and the only illumination is the fire. Luke looks at Kayla’s bare
shoulders. There something about the way the fire light dances across her skin
that is just irresistible. He reaches out and slips the blanket down off her
shoulders and onto the curve of her hips. To his eyes, she looks more beautiful
than ever. He sees the scars and the faint bruising from her three days at the
hands of his father and he has to swallow to keep back the anger. He doesn’t
want anything to spoil this perfect moment. He looks down at her full breasts
and her flat tummy. How can he have been so blessed to have a woman such as
her? He certainly hasn’t done anything to deserve her. It’s as if he won the
best woman in the world lottery or something.  Now if he can just figure out a
way to keep her alive…

Kayla watches Luke
out of the corner of her eyes as he stares at her bare breasts. In the past she
would have been uncomfortable with this kind of scrutiny of her naked body but
for some reason he makes her feel totally natural. She couldn’t have been any
more comfortable even with clothes on. As his eyes pass over her body her skin
tingles just as if his fingers were touching her. And just like that her skin
is on fire. The rest of the world just melts away. All her worries about her
training, her fear of survival, all her aches and pains from two weeks of solid
training just disappears into the night and is replaced by what she can only
guess is love.

But it’s more than
just a feeling between her ears. Her body is in love. Starting with her less
than perfect skin and down to a cellular level it all just fits with Luke’s
body like…like a glove but even that sounds so trite.  It’s more than she has a
hole that only Luke can fill. It’s much more complicated and much more
fulfilling than that. It’s like she’s this incredibly sophisticated jigsaw
puzzle and she is only half the pieces. Of all the people in this world though,
only Luke has the right complexity of character and the right intricately
designed pieces that mesh perfectly with hers on every level. She is reminded
of that movie where the woman says to the man, “you complete me.” That is so
corny and so cringe- worthy but at the same time it’s true. Luke completes her.

Kayla sighs as she
feels him pressing, prodding, and thrusting against her thighs. She opens her
legs, resting one over his hips and a soft cry of intense decadence escapes her
lips as he enters her again filling and fulfilling her like she has never
experienced before. Just when she thought they had perhaps reached the pinnacle
of the sexual experience she finds there more to be revealed. Like so many
times their lovemaking begins slow and tender, but before long the feeling just
overtakes them and they’re off like a couple of tigers mauling each other to
their ecstatic extinction; and then they gradually return to human form once
again.

Kayla is filled
with a surge of energy and she just runs with it. She grabs Luke’s hair and
just yanks his head unceremoniously to the side and down forcing him to roll
with it or get one hell of a strained neck. He yelps in pain as a hot bolt
shoots through his neck. He rolls to the side gritting his teeth and thrusting
even harder. By Kayla’s way of thinking, if anybody ever tells you they don’t
like a little pain with their pleasure they’re either lying or they just
haven’t tried it yet.

Kayla sits up,
arches her back and begins rocking her hips like an amazon. Luke responds in
kind and bucks enthusiastically and before long he’s shooting off like that
Yellowstone geyser, Old Faithful. Kayla rolls off and lays spread eagle on the
bare wood floor luxuriating in the cool smooth wood. She wills herself to relax
and catch her breath. The whole room smells like sex. They’ll never get that
out of the curtains she thinks; or that poor bearskin rug.

The following
afternoon they descend from their little mountain oasis on the back of Luke’s
Harley. They are headed straight for Oakland’s Highland hospital. She doesn’t
have to work until seven but they decide it’s best to be unpredictable and show
up early rather than on a schedule that anyone could find out about and ambush
them before they get there. Neither of them is concerned about her safety once
she gets there. The hospital volunteered to add in an extra armed guard
whenever Kayla is on shift. Luke would also have his guys ride by as
inconspicuously as possible. If anyone is watching her work they’ll see that
she is well guarded and looked out for. Luke will spend as much time as he can
looking out for her as well, but his time isn’t always his own. They inherited
a large portion of the Kings gun running business and setting up the schedules
and the runs can be a logistical nightmare.

For the trip back
to Oakland they decide to try and fly under the radar and go it alone without
escort. After disappearing for weeks there is no way his father can have
figured out when they would show up in Oakland again. No one knows Kayla’s
schedule today except him and Seth. After she gets to work he’ll call a brother
and arrange for guys to keep watch on her.  They’re about an hour into the trip
when Luke blows by two bikers parked off the side of the highway. They were off
their bikes and tinkering with them. He was going too fast to be able to tell
if they were friendlies or not and is not about to circle back to check. Luke
has his sawed off Mossberg and his trusty H&K 9mm. For the trip Kayla is
carrying for the first time. In a holster underneath her leather jacket is her
favourite weapon a Glock 19. It’s a smaller version of the Glock 17 and more
manageable for her small hands. She is locked and loaded. In other words,
there’s a round in the chamber and she has two spare magazines in her coat
pocket. They both doubt they’ll run into anything they cannot handle together.