In Bed With The Outlaw (7 page)

Then there was Roxy, the spunky jewel of Ramos’s eye. I expected there to be more.

“Aren’t there more of you?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t have to already bite my tongue.

“Yeah, plenty more,” Joy said. “We don’t go to this dump too much.”

“It’s not a dump,” Ema said.

Joy disagreed. “It is.”

“It’s not.”

“We don’t come here very often,” Joy finished. “A lot of the old ladies don’t like to associate with the hanger-ons. Things can get a little wild here. We like to have
our
wild times at other places, don’t we, girls?”

“That’s right,” Ema said.

One of the random girls brought my drink over to me. It was something pink in a fishbowl with a sugary watermelon slice on the top. Sugary sweetness with a kick of alcohol helped me relax.

“There’s bonuses of having them around, though,” Emma said, pointing to the waitress as she left.

“Yes, there is,” I said, taking another sip and groaning. It seemed like I was fitting in already, which was a strange thing, since I didn’t really get along with a lot of girls. I didn’t have many girl friends. I tended to stick to myself.

“What brings you here? Not to scare you with questions, but you seem like a sweet girl.” Joy took a sip from her equally sized fish bowl of liquor.

If they only knew. I didn’t know how to answer the question, but I tried my best.

“I suppose we all just sort of...fall into this sort of thing, huh? We see some guy who interests us, looks exciting, they hook us in, and we’ve got to see for ourselves.”

“Now you see,” Ema said in her sultry, rough voice that made her seem like the alpha female in any group. I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side. She could knock me out with those huge, mature breasts, never mind those huge fists of hers. Ema nodded to the girls in the corner rubbing up with one another, making a show for attention.

“You’re not like one of those girls, so what’s Red’s plan for you? He doesn’t bring your type around a lot.”

The other girls shot Ema a glare. Joy especially.

“Does he bring a lot of girls around?” I asked.

Of course I cared. I kissed him, almost let him deeper, had fantasies about this man, of him taking me, claiming me, using me like I’d never allowed another before. I needed to know how many girls he had lined up. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, a part of me wanted him. A part of me that was already taken.

The other girls couldn’t keep their drinks down when I asked.

Joy landed a hand on mine. The wise sage looked into my eyes and told me, “You’re fine. He likes you. Don’t you see that? Don’t be confused about what’s going on around you. Red’s always been a stand-up guy. I’ve been waiting for him to bring along someone like you.”

They knew nothing about me. Not really.

“All we really know about her is that she wears pants and t-shirt,” Roxy astutely added.

“That’s good enough here,” Ema replied, throwing her head back at the crowd behind her.

I laughed and took another long sip. The fruit masked the alcohol well. I could feel the lift, the alcohol coursing through me. I leaned back and scanned the room. This wasn’t that bad. At least I had these old ladies to comfort me. Red abandoned me, but these girls were more than accommodating.

“I don’t see how you girls can put up with all this. If my man was around this all day, I’d be pissed,” I said.

Roxy turned away and drank her beer. Even Joy, who seemed understanding, scowled at the implication.

“They don’t get involved with these girls. Our men know we’d have their balls hanging from the rafters if they actually did anything. We’d take that little bike down and string up their balls.”

“We’d do it with pleasure,” Roxy said, kicking her feet out and looking up at the ceiling, like she wanted to pull the bike down now. I imagined one night she might try.

“You become an old lady, you get certain privileges, certain rights over your man, whether they like to admit it or not. They’ll fight you tooth and nail and try to deny it, but it’s the truth. You’ve got power as an old lady.”

“Oh, stop grooming the girl,” Ema said. “She’ll be fine. Let’s just show her a good time right now.”

I wondered...how much power did they really have compared to how much power they thought they had? I wasn’t sure. I’m not sure if they understood completely themselves, but I could’ve been wrong.

After our round table chat, we went to the bar and did shots. In my slightly buzzed state, I gave Maxine the evil eye, but I don’t think she even gave me the time of day. Roxy kept screaming for pickle shots.

“Keep that for the bedroom, Roxy. Pickle shot, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Ema grunted.

We took a sweet shot instead, something with pineapple. It mixed well with the alcohol, burning and leaving me buzzed. I was officially drunk. They were right.  It was like I was already part of the crew.

Another group of Bastards walked into the bar as we settled from the shots. Joy looked at her phone and said, “It’s getting late.”

“Yeah, how long are we staying here, Joy?”

Roxy bobbed and drank to the music. For being short and tiny, she could hold her alcohol. It was always a beer. Or a shot. Nothing sweet.

“Until they’re done with their big boy meeting.”

“Oh God,” Ema groaned. “That could take forever. Let’s not wait for that. I don’t want to stay here with all this. They’re starting to get me nervous.”

Freshman members of The Bastards lined up for shots. Once they were done, they headed into what Ema called the “sea of sluts.” They were having a good time, and if they weren’t flirting with Red, I was fine with whatever happened.

One young guy with spiky, gelled hair lifted the shirt of a girl grinding against him. His hands massaged her breasts, her bare back snaking its way over his chest. At this rate, they would be fucking on the dance floor in no time.

As Ema and Joy got more disgusted, I got more nervous. If they left, I would be alone. I wasn’t sure where I was sleeping. I couldn’t run away. I was under Red’s rules, but he was nowhere to be found.

Ema took a step toward Roxy. “Hey, Roxy, you staying here for a while?”

“Hmm?” She wasn’t paying attention, lost in her own world of dancing in place.

“You’ve got to wait for Ram, right?”

“Yeah, gotta wait,” she said, hardly paying attention. There were beats to groove to.

“Mind if you take care of the newbie for the rest of the night? Make sure she has somewhere to stay and she’s comfortable, because who knows how long those guys are going to be at it.”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Roxy said. Not a care in the world.

“All right, let’s get the hell out of here,” Ema said.

“Calm down, Em, it’s not like it’s the first time you saw some dancing,” Joy said, then she got close to me in a motherly sort of way and told me that I’d be fine, that Roxy would take care of everything.

“No problem,” I said. Once again, I had no choice. The others left me with Roxy. Sensing my unease, she stopped bobbing in place.

“Sorry they asked you so many questions,” she said. “They were interested in you. I know Red and his brother Jackal, and they don’t seem like the type to be into, no offense, a girl like you.”

“People keep saying that. I’m not sure what that means.”

“You seem...stable. Anyway, my point was I felt like they were prying too much, and I don’t want to do that. So let’s just chill, yeah? Want a beer or something?”

“I’m good. I’m pretty tipsy from that fishbowl and the shot.”

“What do you do? You know, for fun, for a job, for a hobby, that type of crap?”

“Waitress at the diner.”

“Ahh, The Long Road?”

“Yeah.”

“That explains where you met.”

“What about you?” After I asked it, I thought it was a stupid question. What did any of these women do? Old ladies were there to be used. They were also there to do all the fun things like cooking and cleaning as well.

“I run my own craft business,” Roxy said in a completely serious tone.

She shoved her empty beer onto the bar. Her expression didn’t change.

“Have my card,” she said. She slid me a business card with cute pink cupcakes holding hands. She was on Etsy?

“Your own Etsy shop. That’s cool.”

“Yeah, I do a lot of sewing, crafting, that kind of thing. I mostly sell off Etsy now, though.”

“It’s my turn then to make assumptions. I wouldn’t peg you for someone into the craft business.”

“You’d be surprised,” she said. “Just stay here, I swear, we’re all fucking nuts in our own way. You’ll see.”

I was beginning to understand. As we continued talking, I lost track of time. Whatever they were talking about back there must’ve been important to leave me alone in a strange place for so long. Why did I expect Red to be accommodating? He brought me against my wishes. I shouldn’t have expected so much from him.

Roxy blocked my view of something in the corner.  I heard shouts and screams that sounded like MTV spring break. Like one those party shows, there was a girl with her shirt up, showing her tits. Hooting and hollering, three Bastards surrounded her.

“Jesus,” Roxy said with a sigh.

Roxy pointed to the back room where Red disappeared earlier.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs. You play pool?”

“I know how to play. I’m not very good.” I didn’t wait very long to add, “But let’s go.”

We headed into the back room. There was much more to the building than what I expected, a kitchen and a meeting room. There was a long hallway stretching back into multiple corridors along with a stairwell. Once we got upstairs, it looked like a hotel room, branching off into different hallways with bedrooms. I didn’t want to think about what went on in those rooms.

“It’s just up here,” she said, leading the way confidently.

After turning the first corner in the hallway, we came into a foyer, the center hub used as a lounge. We should’ve heard the moaning, but the screaming and bass from downstairs could be heard through the floorboards, and it must’ve masked the sound.

A group already used the table, but they weren’t playing pool. A brunette, placed on the edge of the pool table, was completely naked, her legs spread, a Bastard thrusting between them. Her breasts jogged as another Bastard plugged her screams. She stopped sucking, but the cock pushed deep in her throat. The men weren’t going to stop even if they saw us.

She leaned back, her neck rolling as the pleasure overwhelmed her. Her thighs trembled and spread wider. My eyes were stuck on that Bastard’s ass flexing and thrusting, punishing her soft, curvy form.

“Looks like it’s taken,” Roxy muttered. She pulled me away.

Dazed, walking crooked, I didn’t resist. This was a strange, unbelievable day...and now this? Witnessing my first gangbang.

“Let’s go outside.” Roxy unclasped my wrist. I followed her lead.

“We need to stop that,” I said.

Roxy sprung around and shoved me to the wall. It was fast enough to shake me, but not forceful enough to hurt.

“We’re going to go outside and chill, okay? That’s what we’re going to do.”

“I can’t let a girl be raped.”

Roxy tilted her head like a cat, then she burst out laughing.

“That girl wanted it. It was probably her idea.”

“How can we be sure?”

I remembered the horror stories. I was warned by my boss Wyatt what might happen. If it came down to it, my orders were to fight for my life and escape.

“Did she say help or anything? No? Then I wouldn’t worry about it. These guys might be animals, but they’re not rapists. Anyone getting fucked on the property is getting fucked because they want to be, otherwise there’s a problem.”

“I see,” I said, shrugging. I shook my head, allowing a relieved smile to break over my worried expression. “Sorry, I jumped to conclusions. I never saw anything like that.”

“Let’s go outside,” she repeated.

Prospects smiled and greeted us, but didn’t try to talk to us. We were left alone. I was thankful for that. The biting chill of the night woke me out of my stupor as we leaned against the front, careful to stay clear of the bikes.

“Not a bad first day,” Roxy said, giving me a playful punch on the shoulder.

That’s when I broke.

It all came rushing to a head. It was bound to happen. I had tried to be strong for too long. Red had prolonged the inevitable, bringing me out to that peaceful view, when he left, and after time had passed, the memory of the violent day came barging in and I broke.

I dropped to the pavement. Hot tears ran free as I shuddered into my arms. No one should see me so weak.

“She all right?” I heard one of the pledges ask.

“She’s fine,” Roxy said as she dropped to a knee before me.

She placed a comforting hand on my trembling shoulders. “I’ll take care of it. Come on, Ash, come with me.”

When Roxy helped me up, I wiped the tears away, taking a walk of shame around the corner. I leaned against it again, the last shudders of sobs rocking my chest while staring at the perimeter enclosing us like a prison.

I turned to Roxy. She gave me a wry smirk, hoping that it would help. I laughed a little at the absurdity, wiped my nose, then looked out over the compound walls at the glowing moon.

Roxy wasn’t my friend. I was there to bust her. In the end, Roxy would end up hating me, hating this moment where she tried to make a sad stranger feel better.

“It’s all right. I cried a few times when I first got here. Big tears too. It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. When she stared at me, staring blankly ahead, she flipped her fingers through her curls.

“I’m probably not the best person to help, but I’m all you got right now. Sorry.”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “No, honestly, you’ve helped me a lot. You’re doing fine.”

“If I’m the one being reassured, I don’t think I’m doing a good job.”

I grinned and took a deep breath. I could smell the wings cooking from the kitchen, could smell some lingering smoke, and some perfume from Roxy. It was a tantalizing combination. I could hang out there all night and get the down winds. Time to move my pathetic ass. No more crying for me tonight.