Play Dirty: Devil's Mustangs MC (21 page)

CAL

“Cal!” Jager is whispering loudly at me from his spot at the bushes trying desperately to usher me back in. But I can’t leave Ace out there alone. And that scream – I know that scream. It’s Maddie’s and I am not about to stop until I know she is safe and sound. I take a few more low steps when I hear Jager tell himself, “That asshole is going to get me killed. Damnit!”

There’s a rustling of bushes and Jager runs by my side. We make our way to where Ace is laying flat on his stomach. Wherever that sound came from wasn’t a gun after all despite the three of us both reacting like we were under attack. Ace gives us the thumbs up sign as we get down low next to him.

“Something’s going on with that window.” Ace points out towards the glass block window we identified earlier. “From here, it looks like it is caving in or something. Maybe the girls are trying to escape.”

I reply back quickly, in an anxious panic, “Or maybe they’re getting killed? Did you hear that scream? That was Maddie’s. She wouldn’t scream like that unless something bad was going down.”

Jager looks back out towards the window and then again to us, “Whatever the fuck is going on, I don’t want to be lying here in a field doing nothing when they spot us. Ace, I want you to sneak around towards the front. Cal and I’ve got that window. We meet in the middle inside when it’s all over with. Got it?”

Ace and I reply a solid yes and Ace begins to slowly kneel, his eyes focused like lasers on the burnt out remains of the repair shop. The unknown is sometimes worse than the known, and all we’ve got here is the knowledge that Maddie is inside, screaming her heart out. Even Ace looks shaky about this deal.

Once Ace is out of our sight and securely around the side of the building, Jager takes the lead by crawling with his gun in his hand towards the building. We’re not even ten feet from our spot when we hear another crash and the clear blocks of the glass window fall in a small topple. I hold my breath as I wait. Second pass, then minutes. We are unable to move, unable to speak.

Then I see it. There’s an arm, a head of messy curls, and the frightened eyes of my girl. My daughter. She gets out of the window and looks back momentarily before running off towards where we stand. Her head darts behind her shoulders as she waits for someone to notice her. But instead of running towards the bad guys, I’m there waiting for her, my arms outstretched.

She shoots past me, totally focused on getting out of whatever hell she was in, until I whisper her name. The small girl stops dead in her tracks before turning once more. When she sees me, her body begins to shake and she falls to her bare knees. Every part of her collapses in exhaustion as I hear her cry out the one word I’ve been longing to hear since I found out she was taken: “Daddy.” She mutters it over again until I scoop her up in my arms, nesting her head against my shoulder.

When she has settled down, I ask her, “Maddie, where is Michelle? Was she with you? Were you alone down there?”

Maddie pulls away and points back at the window. Jager and I both watch as we see a figure, limp and unmoving being thrust up towards the ground. I place Maddie down and begin to run towards the window. My heart drops into my stomach as I think of Michelle lying like that, completely lifeless and alone outside of a burnt down repair shop.

But before I can get anywhere near her, Jager is yelling at me, telling me to stop. Ace comes running from the inside of the garage, waving his arms towards us. “It’s clear! It’s clear! There’s no one inside.” He whispers loudly as he waits for us to follow.

I, again, run towards the body on the ground, uncaring about what else is going around me. But I’m stopped by the sound of gunfire. One round. Two rounds. I see a pair of hands roll out as I back up away from the shop’s wall. A woman, her long hair caked in blood and dust emerges and rolls out of the way over the body of her friend. She backs up straight into my legs as I spy Addison inside, firing directly at her.

Jager is by my side almost immediately, his gun pointed straight at Addison’s head. We begin to scream our commands as I try not to focus on Michelle panting and clenching to the leg of my pants. Even I can’t catch my breath. Because in this moment I realize that it’s done. My girls were safe and with me.

Jager takes over guarding Addison while Maddie goes off with Ace and Michelle’s roommate to wait for the doc to arrive with the cars. But I stay with Michelle, holding onto her as tightly as I can, not wanting to let go until it’s absolutely necessary. She keeps her eyes on me, not even daring to look away. To her, I’m a dream, a savior, a wish come true. To me, she’s hope that tomorrow will be better.

When the doc arrives, I place her in their car, her calling out my name and reaching for me. I run back towards her as she lies flat in the back of the van and kiss her palm. She feels the curve of my jaw as I speak softly, “I’ll be back. I’m not letting you go anywhere without me, you hear?”

While the doc looks at her, I head off towards Maddie. She’s busy chatting with Ace about Michelle managing to rescue them and how she picked locks just like the boys taught her when she was in preschool. When she sees me, she runs back into my arms, holding on me so tightly I feel as though I am about to burst.

“Dad, when can we go home?” She looks up at me, hopeful but hesitant. She knows the answer before I can even say it.

“You can’t go back Maddie. Not after today. The Coyotes may want to retaliate and Jager is going to hold Addison in the basement while they figure out what to do with him for all this mess.” She looks down at the ground, a few tears filling the corner of her eyes. I kneel down next to her as I explain, “I’m going to call Grandma and have her take you for a little bit, until everything settles down. And as soon as it is clear to go, I’ll bring you back to Michelle’s place.”

“But I want to be with you…and Michelle. Can’t we be together? Won’t you protect me there, too?”

My heart is breaking for this girl who has experienced so much loss and grief in her lifetime. How do you explain to a child that her fairytale life can’t come true – at least not yet.

She interrupts my thoughts, “Dad, I know you and Michelle like each other. I can totally tell. If you really like her, just tell her. I know she likes you, too.”

I brush a bit of hair from her eyes as I correct her, “It doesn’t work like that, Maddie.”

“Yeah it does. She likes you. You like her. And you make it work. Please, Dad, just try.”

I sigh and kiss her forehead and cheeks. My little girl has always been wiser for her age and smarter than most of the people I know. How can she understand matters of the heart when even I can’t work it out? I take her hand and lead her back to Ace. She gets inside of the car and the two drive off towards the highway.

I feel a tap as a soft, tired voice asks, “Where is she going? Is she going to be okay?”

Michelle is standing behind me, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and waist. She’s bandaged up and the doctor has removed most of her clothing. Even tattered and torn, she is more beautiful than ever.

I pull her into me as I reassure her, “She’s going to be fine. They’re going to a safe house outside of town with her grandmother. I’ll check on her later tonight, but I think she’s going to be okay. But what about you?” I stand back a few feet, looking her square in the eye. There is so much hurt washing over those pale eyes that I find myself lost in them again.

“I’m – I’m... “ She gives up, her strength fading with each word. “I don’t know what I am. I just want to get home. Can I do that? Can you bring me home?” She adds gingerly, “I don’t want to be alone tonight.”

When the next car arrives we take it, heading out towards Michelle’s bungalow in the suburbs. As we round past the perfectly trimmed shrubbery and landscaped yards, I watch as Michelle leans back and closes her eyes. The setting sun illuminates her pale skin as she takes in the safety and comfort of her surroundings. This is her space, her home. She is out of motorcycle world.

Her hands shake as she unlocks the door to her house, and I reach over her to steady her hands. I whisper into her ear as I guide the key towards the side, “It’s okay. There’s nothing behind the door.”

“I’m not afraid of what is behind the door.” Michelle replies shakily. She takes a step inside and spins towards me before I can enter. “I don’t know about this.”

“About what?” I ask as I reach my hand around her head, guiding her body to rest against mine.

I feel her exhale deeply as her whole body softens. I lean down and press my lips to hers, my whole body sparking. She reaches around my neck and pulls herself up to her tippy toes causing both of us to fall backwards towards the alcove wall.

Her kisses speed up frantically as I struggle to keep up with her. Her hands sink lower and press into my chest, eventually finding my collar. She pulls me in even closer as she begins to pull up the hem of my t-shirt. I fling it up and over my head as she looks up at me with eyes that are deep and dark with want.

She drops the blanket, revealing her bare skin, cut up, bruised, and held together by white gauze. I can see small red marks where the blood has managed to push through. I get to my knees and look up at her. With a sigh I begin to kiss each of her bruises and marks along her torso, my hands tracing over the forming scars of her thin, curved body. I move towards her arms where most of the damage is, and she grimaces as I sink small kisses at her wrist and going up.

When I make it back up to her shoulders, I feel her shudder against me. Without a word, I scoop her up from under her knees. Her arms fly to my neck as she holds onto me. With her resting safely in my arms, I find her stairs and head upstairs. She points to her bedroom, and I place her down gently on her cedar-colored bedspread.

I lean my body over her slightly, trying not to press all my weight down on top of her. She coos as I touch my lips to her collarbones while my hands wrap around her pants. In one yank, they are down, and her legs curl up on the bed under me. She moves herself up, lounging back on the pillows as I lay at the foot of the bed.

My hands take her left foot and begin to massage softly into the red pads of her heel. She moans in gratitude and ecstasy. I then trace my knuckle into the arch, slowly moving up towards the toes, giving each one attention. I move to her ankles, softly pressing into the thin line where her bones are. I knead her calf muscles, careful to avoid the sensitive parts, and, then, slowly, methodically inch up towards her thighs. Her legs spread slightly apart, giving my hands just enough area to move in between the downy skin. 

I lay my head between them, kissing at the cold inner parts of her legs. Her back arches up as she moves her hips closer to my face, expectantly. I move higher up her thigh towards her hip, kissing the indent of her where her panty line is. My lips make a V shape as it dips towards her naked sex.

As I taste just a hint of her skin, the small scent of her sweat. Every bit of me is desperate to devour her pussy, to lick and suck with reckless abandon. But I, instead, move back up the length of her body where I find her soft breasts and erect nipples. My hands cover them, warming them up under my palms. Her arms move towards her head as she gives in to me. I have total control over her as she closes her eyes and feels the tip of my tongue linger over her skin and circling over the very tip of her pink little nub. I suck gently on it, using my teeth very, very gently to add a bit of pressure. My fingers work on the other one, twisting it slightly to mimic the sensation the first is enjoying.

Michelle’s mouth opens wide, an almost silent cry finding its way out. I stop in my place and take her mouth to mine. She hums as our lips wrestle one another, again fighting to gain control. She pushes me up slightly and then rolls on top of me, taking over where I left off. Her own mouth travels down the length of my neck, my collarbone, and towards my chest where she laps at my nipples.

Her other hand pulls at my pants, unzipping it carefully as I wrangle them off of my hips and towards the floor. My briefs go down into the pile with them as she reaches behind herself and grabs hold of my already rock-hard cock. Her fingers dance along the sensitive skin, tracing the vein along the bottom side and sending chills down my body and spine. I reach down and move her hand to my shaft, directing her on how to move up and down without turning herself around.

I watch as her eyes light up and a small smile forms on her face as she tightens her grip. Slowly, she begins the journey from the base to the tip. She picks up speed as she goes, gliding it more gracefully and adding more pressure to the motion. I am lost in it, her hands bringing me to new places, the way her face is lit up by the purple and orange sky outside the window of her bedroom, the look in her eyes as she sees me melt into the bed.