Viper's Kiss (8 page)

Blaine tugged at Jessa again and
they started to walk back to the bar.

“
Hey,
”
Jace said. He pointed to the
money.
“
You keep that. You
’
ll need it for antibiotics if
you spend the night with Blaine.
”

They all laughed again.

“
Fuck
you all,
”
Blaine said.
“
I
’
m
going to bang all your mothers and sisters at the same time.
”

“
My
mother is dead,
”
Jace said.

“
Like
he would care,
”
Nate said.

Jessa then grabbed the money and
stuck it in her back pocket and walked to the bar.

Blaine approached and sighed.

Their food was at least ready,
along with fresh beer.

“
What
the fuck are you trying to prove?
”
Blaine growled.
“
Those guys
…”

“
Shut
up, Blaine. I don
’
t want to
talk to you for the rest of the night. I
’
m
going to find a hotel and stay there.
”

“
No
you
’
re not.
”

“
Oh,
I
’
m not?
”

Blaine looked at Jessa.
“
I just saved your ass. And you
have my sixty dollars. I expect both in return. Tonight.
”

“
Please,
”
Jessa said.
“
I
’
m
keeping both to myself.
”

Blaine felt a roar in his throat.
This woman was driving him insane. All he needed to do was put her in his room
for the night. Then he could come back out and find a couple
relievers
to help him out and then sleep on a goddam pool table. It was better than
dealing with Jessa and her temptation.

As Blaine thought about his plan,
he saw Jessa look at her food as she ate. She ate it slow, her hands shaking.
He saw her blinking fast, too.

She was really terrified.

She wiped the corner of her eye,
trying to hide it.

Blaine had plenty of weaknesses in
the world
…
beer, pussy,
fighting, tits,
all the normal stuff. But there was one other thing that
cut through him.

A pretty woman crying.

Blaine put a hand to Jessa
’
s wrist.
“
Come on, sweetheart, let
’
s get out of here.
”

eight.

Jessa couldn
’
t believe what she was doing.

On the back of a motorcycle. Her
hands gripped tight to Blaine
’
s
leather cut. Her body shivering with fear because she had never been on a
motorcycle before.

Well, okay, she had been on a
motorcycle once before. And that too was with Blaine. He had been working a
case and picked up a stolen motorcycle. He kept it for a couple days to play
with. He had been giving Meghan and Janey rides. Meghan flipped when he took
Janey for a ride. But Janey looked so cute putting a helmet on, sitting on the
back of a motorcycle, holding onto Blaine. Something about the image just stuck
with Jessa. No matter how cold and callus he seemed to be, he really cared
about Janey.

Then he asked Jessa to go for a
ride. They had that moment again
…
looking at each other, sly side smiles. Silent flirting. Such stupid stuff
considering Jessa
’
s best
friend had been standing right next to them. Jessa couldn
’
t resist Blaine
’
s offer then. So she got on the
back of the motorcycle. He hit the throttle and they took off down the road.
Jessa remembered her hands sliding around his body, hugging tighter as they
went faster. She hated the feeling. She hated that being that close to Blaine
was turning her on. Because of Meghan.

When they stopped at a stop sign,
Jessa demanded to be taken back. She got so pissed at Blaine, accusing him of
going too fast and purposely trying to scare her. She remembered wanting to go
home. Meghan yelled at Blaine, calling him an irresponsible asshole. They got
into a huge fight because of it. Megahn threatened Blaine, saying that if he
ever killed
her
daughter, she
’
d
never forgive him.

That was the worst to see. When
Meghan would casually remind Blaine that Janey wasn
’
t his. Janey
’
s
father was truly unknown. And Blaine had stepped into that role with love. And
it always got thrown in his face.

Jessa caught herself squeezing even
tighter at Blaine right then as they rode through town. She wore his bucket
helmet and he didn
’
t wear a
helmet at all. She thought about how much he had to drink
…
two beers
. So he wasn
’
t drunk or anything. The two
beers she drank, however, had more of an effect on her. She was buzzed. Her
mind spinning, stuck between all that had happened.

When Blaine stopped his motorcycle,
they were outside a small  ranch style house. There was a driveway with a one
car garage. It looked like a normal house in a normal neighborhood. Definitely
not Blaine
’
s style. The
same could be said from the moment Jessa stepped into the house. It was a fully
furnished normal looking house. She expected whatever place Blaine called home
to be littered with beer bottles, pizza boxes, and naked women.

“
You
live here?
”
she asked.

“
No,
”
Blaine said.
“
The people that live here are on
vacation. So I
’
m squatting
while they
’
re gone.
”

Jessa gasped.
“
What?
”

“
I
’
m joking. Yes, this is my house.
I really don
’
t have much
use for it though. But I figure it
’
s
better than the clubhouse. Plus, we need to talk. Serious talk.
”

Blaine pointed to the kitchen
table. Jessa took a seat. He walked to the cabinet and  opened it, taking out a
bottle of liquor.

“
What
are you doing?
”
Jessa
asked.

Blaine twisted off the cap of the
whiskey and gave Jessa the bottle.
“
Building
your confidence.
”

Jessa touched the bottle.
“
I
…”

“
Look,
you
’
re terrified right now.
That entire thing at the clubhouse? You were just trying to be strong. I saw
you wipe a tear from your eye, sweetheart. You need to talk. We have to figure
this out. I don
’
t want this
to end up on the table of my club.
”

“
The
table?
”

“
Where
we meet, Jessa. There
’
s
certain guys that are patched in that get to vote at the table. It
’
s how the MC works. Miller is
the President. Gaige is VP. I
’
m
number three.
”

“
What
does that mean?
”

“
That
means I get a lot of shit thrown at me.
”

“
Like
you killing someone?
”

“
Jesus
Christ,
”
Blaine said.
“
Let that go. Because if you can
’
t handle it, you
’
re dealing with the wrong
person. I have to find Vin and I have to kill him.
”

Jessa felt her heart jump. Those
kind of phrases were usually idle threats, right?
I
’
m so mad, I could kill
him.
But looking at Blaine, she saw it in his eyes. He was a killer. Maybe
he was always a killer, but before he had a badge that maybe justified it. Now
he was an outlaw. He did whatever he wanted based around
…
the table
…

Jessa grabbed the bottle and took a
drink.

“
Good
girl,
”
Blaine whispered and
he sat down. He took the bottle and drank.
“
Now,
can we have a conversation without gambling, darts, you hitting me?
”

“
What
about the naked women?
”

“
What
about?
”

“
Do
you have any hidden here?
”

“
Only
one woman in this house right now, sweetheart. No pressure.
”

“
Trust
me,
”
Jessa said.
“
There
’
s none.
”

She went for the bottle again and
Blaine tugged it back.
“
Wait.
”

“
What?
”

“
I
’
m sorry for what they said to
you back there. They
’
re
drunk assholes.
”

“
Like
you usually are?
”

“
Yeah.
”

“
You
think it bothers me?
”
Jessa
asked.

“
I
don
’
t know. Does it?
”

“
No.
I have small tits. I
’
ve
known that since high school.
”

“
Ah,
shit, sweetheart. Don
’
t say
that. They
’
re not
…”
Blaine groaned and opened his
hand, letting Jessa take the bottle.

She drank, feeling heat rush to her
cheeks.

“
I
’
ll take that as a compliment,
”
she said.

“
You
do that,
”
Blaine said.
“
Now talk to me about Vin. Where
was he? What did he do?
”

Jessa relived the night he showed
up. What he said, what he did to the cat. The fact that the security footage
went missing. The fact that he had broken into the vet
’
s office and taken a cat to destroy like he did.

“
Shit,
”
Blaine said.

“
He
did it because of what he said to me. He called me kitty. The last time I saw
him. He said he would come for me.
”

“
That
’
s not going to happen. I
’
ll call in some favors and I
’
ll take care of it.
”

“
Blaine,
I don
’
t want trouble with
your club. I shouldn
’
t have
even come here.
”
The three
drinks of whiskey were starting to open the gates in Jessa
’
s mind and heart.
“
I
’
m
sorry I did. You shouldn
’
t
be dragged into anything. I should have called the police right away. He could
have been taken away.
”

“
No,
”
Blaine said.
“
You know it doesn
’
t work that way. He
’
s got guys on the take probably.
They
’
d come after you. You
did the right thing by leaving. This won
’
t
be easy, but we
’
ll make it
work. We
’
ll find a way out
of this. Together.
”

Blaine touched Jessa
’
s hand. She quickly pulled away.
“
I don
’
t know how to deal with all of
this.
”

“
I
know.
”

“
No.
You don
’
t know. You
’
re some biker guy now. You fuck
women all the time. You drink. You fight. You
’
re
nothing that you once represented.
”

“
Seeing
your fiancée and stepdaughter murdered will do that to you,
”
Blaine said through gritted
teeth.

“
Jesus,
Blaine.
”

“
What?
That
’
s what this entire thing
is all about, right? I got Meghan and Janey murdered. There. I fucking said it.
”

Jessa leaned back. She shook her
head.
“
Don
’
t say that.
”

“
I
’
ll say it again. I was the
reason. I pushed hard at shit I shouldn
’
t
have, trying to make a name for myself. I couldn
’
t
rely on Petey anymore. Remember him? My partner? The guy who was buying for the
department to build a case but also keeping for himself. He was asleep in a
pile of cocaine the night they were murdered. I called him and got nothing. I
tried to get to Vin but couldn
’
t
find him. He was supposed to be in contact with Petey that night too. But
something went wrong and Vin lost his edge. I panicked and called you. You were
supposed to go there and get them the fuck out.
”

Jessa drank from the bottle some
more. Way too much at once. She felt like she downed half the bottle, and maybe
she did. She didn
’
t check
because she slowly stood and held the bottle by its skinny neck.

“
You
called me,
”
Jessa
whispered.
“
I was doing my
own thing that night.
”

“
Yeah?
What
’
s that? Figuring out
how to loosen up your tight ass?
”

“
You
prick.
”

“
That
’
s right.
”

“
I
never asked to get involved with your job and life. You were always crooked,
Blaine. I saw you making deals all the time. I worried about them, too. If it
would ever fall back on them. And you and Meghan fighting all the time
…”

“
That
’
s none of your business,
”
Blaine yelled.
“
That was my relationship.
”

“
That
you didn
’
t want. Right? It
was all because of Janey.
”

“
Watch
your mouth. Or I
’
ll stuff
something in it.
”

Jessa couldn
’
t remember a time she was so angry. And yet she had
no clue why, really. Was it all the years of pent up thoughts about Blaine? The
guilt? The regret? Or maybe the fact that she watched Blaine and Meghan fight
so much yet she stood there as the best friend with thoughts about Blaine that
weren
’
t right?

“
You
think you
’
re so tough and
big?
”
Jessa asked.
“
I bet it
’
s fucking tiny. That
’
s
why you have the biggest motorcycle, right? That
’
s
why you need your women drunk.
”

Blaine laughed.
“
That
’
s right, attack me. Because you
’
re guilty. For what you did.
”

“
What
I did? I fucking saw them! You set me up to walk in
…
to
…”

“
Maybe
if you drove a little faster and weren
’
t
so afraid of breaking the law
…”

Jessa saw red. Next thing she knew
the whiskey was flying through the air. Blaine got out of the way and the
bottle smashed against the fridge, shattering. She then grabbed the chair and
threw it like it weighed nothing. The tears then instantly came. They streamed
down her cheek as the chair crashed into Blaine. Of course, it did nothing to
him. He was too big, too strong. Jessa needed something better
…
like a car or a bullet to hurt
him.