9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
Sweet
I clenched my teeth while Doc poured alcohol over my forearm to wash away the blood and grime on the open wound. That shit burned like a bitch!
I should have been used to it by now. I had scars all over my body to prove I’d been through this before.
“Bandages and glue won’t hold this cut closed,” Doc announced. “You’re going to need stitches, boy. About a dozen or so. I can’t believe you let that junky catch you off guard like that. I thought you were better at fighting these days.”
“Ha-ha, very funny, Doc. You’re attempts at pissing me off so I don’t feel the pain don’t work anymore. I’m already mad at myself anyway. The little prick pulled that sticker right out of his buddy’s back pocket while I was busy breaking his jaw. He got in this slice, but that was his last act against us. I took it off him and slipped it into his lying, thieving heart. His buddy lived but won’t be walking anytime soon. The fucker will spread the message that you don’t take what belongs to the Sinners and get away with it. I hate punk-assed fools.”
“How did you find out they’d taken the stash?” Doc questioned while he stitched me up.
I sucked in a deep breath as the needle punctured my skin for the eighth time and told myself I could deal with the next four without giving into the pain.
“Flame heard the assholes bragging about stealing from us. They were too high to remember where the fuck they were. We’d have discovered the mess anyway, since the fools left a trail a four-year old could have followed. I wouldn’t have gone in for the kill if he hadn’t cut me. I don’t take that kind of challenge lightly. If he’d dare to cut me then he’d do almost anything for dope, and that’s something I can’t allow. Innocents could get hurt,” I told Doc.
“Prime looked him up. He’s been in prison for child abuse. You got rid of the filth and probably saved some kids, so don’t let it weigh you down,” Doc replied.
“I won’t. I can’t, or I’ll never be able to continue my job.”
It was Jemma that concerned me, and Jackson too. What would they think if they knew I’d killed again today?
“How’s it going?” Prime interrupted us as Doc bandaged my arm.
“He’ll live,” Doc declared.
“He always does,” Prime retorted. “The cleaners took care of things, and the little shit in the hospital won’t say anything. He’s been warned, and shit his pants while Ditch told him what would happen if he ratted. Since the pair of you missed our latest meeting. I came to fill you in.”
“What’s up, boss?” I asked, knowing he wasn’t here to gossip about the junkies.
“We got a warning from the cartel. Aguilar has made it clear that he’s not Perez and won’t be acknowledging any deals or alliances his predecessor made. There are already rumblings that he’s effectively wiped out anyone in his organization that held loyalty toward the deals Perez made. He’s also had his soldiers sniffing around our territory looking for vulnerable spots. Your junkies may have been paid to test our weak spots. Needless to say, I’m closing up any holes in our security. The guard who let those idiots past him got his ass kicked and won’t be guarding anything more important than toilets until he’s gone through a retraining. I doubt the cartel will allow the prick in the hospital to stay alive. They can’t afford tattletales, though I didn’t have Ditch bother to question him about the cartel. There was no use in wasting time asking questions that I figured we already had the answers to.”
“Do you want me at the club this afternoon? I can change my plans,” I asked. “I can go wherever you need me, boss. We can’t let this asshole take what’s ours. I’m more than ready to show his soldiers whose territory this is. I can cut a few bodies out of his ranks fast enough if you order it.”
“Not yet, Sweet. I prefer that they make the first big strike. This small shit is better ignored. I’d rather Aguilar believe I don’t see him as a threat while I build ranks and make plans to take him down,” Prime explained. “Go ahead with your plans but watch for trouble. I’ll call you in if the necessity arises.”
I nodded. “Okay, Prime. I’ve got to go teach a woman how to protect herself, so I’ll head out.”
“Don’t open up that wound, Sweet. I’ll make sure it hurts more if you make me have to stitch it up again,” Doc said.
I shot up my middle finger as I walked out. I could hear both men laughing before the door closed.
***
There wasn’t any way to hide the bandage from Jemma, so I didn’t even try. She knew what my life was all about. If she was going to protest it, this was a good time to get it done.
I was beginning to have feelings for her, and I hoped she was feeling something as well, so if this wasn’t going to work out it was better to know now rather than later.
She was already at the gym when I arrived. My eyes roamed over her curves encased in the spandex she had started wearing to practice. I saw several men’s eyes tracking her movements and wanted to gouge them right out of their heads.
Nobody touched those curves but me. I was getting hard just thinking about my hands positioning her shapely hips into the perfect fighting stance.
“She’s building some muscle,” Colt commented as I passed him.
I practically growled when I answered, “Keep your damn eyes off her body.”
“That’s not likely, bro. She’s one hot woman, and fair game as far as I know.”
This time I definitely growled. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”
“So, it’s like that,” Colt replied.
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
I let it go at that and continued to Jemma’s side.
“You’re early,” I stated when I saw she was already sweaty.
“Colt let me warm up with the punching bag. I hope that’s okay. I know we’re supposed to practice me flipping you today, but I really like relieving my stress with the bag,” she answered.
“If it makes you happy, then I’m fine with it. Do you need some water or something before we move on?” I asked since her body was shining with sweat.
“I came prepared,” she replied, showing me a large container of Gatorade.
“You’re learning.”
“I’ve got an excellent coach,” she said.
“Then let’s get to it,” I announced, gesturing to the thick mat on the floor.
I heard her gasp of shock and realized she’d taken note of the bandage on my arm. I tried to ignore her reaction and ordered, “Turn your back to me so I can wrap my arm around your neck. You’re going to show me what you’ve learned so far about getting out of that situation, then we’ll go on to flipping me.”
She shook her head and answered, “No way. I don’t know what’s under that bandage, but I’m not going to fight you with you hurt.”
“Do you really think you’re strong enough to hurt me? Don’t count on it. Besides, this is barely a scratch. I’ve fought with worse against men who were out to kill me. You’re no challenge.”
Anger over the insult flared in her eyes. Good. It would make her forget my injury long enough to learn a few moves, which was what I’d intended. She swung out a leg to hit the back of my knees, and I allowed it.
I fell onto the mat, and she took the opportunity to straddle my chest and shove her hand upwards in a way that would have sent my nose toward my brains if she’d followed through with the movement.
“Small but mighty,” she declared with a sneer.
“Feisty is the word I’d use,” I shot back. “Get up, so we can get the lesson going.”
For the next two hours she tried to flip me over her shoulder. I didn’t give in easily despite my reluctance to let her get bruised. I was well aware of our size difference, but there was no way to know what size any attacker would be.
Large or small, I needed her to be able to get away.
Finally, she did the job. I laid flat on my back, no air in my lungs, and stunned that she’d succeeded. She stood over me with a smirk. “The bigger they are the harder they fall,” she said.
“And I fell like a damn tree. We’re done for now. Go shower,” I ordered.
I needed her to get out of my sight before I tackled her and screwed her right there on the mat that was slick with our sweat. Her wet spandex clung to her breasts, showing off nipples that I longed to suck, and her bottoms were stuck to the apex of her thighs, clearly showing my cock where it wanted to be. I rolled to my side to rise and hide the hard-on I was sporting.
“But it’s early,” she argued. “I don’t need to pick up Jackson for over an hour.”
“We’ll go for a walk and to get an ice cream as a reward for kicking my ass. Will that satisfy you?” I asked, my groin throbbing with need.
She tilted her head and replied, “A double scoop, and I won’t say you’re a wuss.”
“Whatever you want, mujer. I’m going to wash up. See you in ten.”
Strolling beside her as she licked her double scoop was a lesson in pain and control. Every time her tongue flicked out to slide over her ice cream I felt the motion over my swollen shaft. I tried to cover my groans with a cough until she asked if I was getting sick.
“I’m not sick, at least not in the way you’re imagining. I’m a sick fuck in that I want that tongue of yours on my shaft. I’m sure that admission isn’t something you care to hear, and it probably adds to your fear of me. I’m sorry. It’s just that you look so hot lapping up that cream,” I confessed.
Her face was bright red, yet her voice was calm when she replied, “There’s nothing sick about attraction. I’m not exactly immune to you, either. However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to indulge myself in foolishness that can’t go anywhere. So, don’t get your hopes up.”
“You’re killing me, Jemma.”
“I think you’ll survive. I’m just a mild distraction for you. I’m sure you have more than enough women of your type who hang around your MC that you can ease your pain with. I’m a novelty. The attraction will pass,” she stated. “Now, take a seat on that bench and let me look at your arm. Blood is leaking from the bandage.”
“Forget the fucking arm! I’m not letting you get away with that statement. You may be a novelty in my world, but my attraction to you is the real deal. Damn you for thinking otherwise.”
Anger and lust got the best of me, and I proved myself for a moment to be just the kind of guy I was promising her that I wasn’t.
I yanked her body against mine and tossed her ice cream to the ground. My lips met hers in wild, delighted passion that she couldn’t fail to understand. My tongue pushed its way into her mouth, then gentled once it got a taste of her.
Jemma didn’t fight me. She kind of snuggled up to me the best she could considering where we were. It eased my anger and added to my desire. My cock pulsated against her belly, making her quiver.
I was only somewhat aware of those around us, watching. An older man walking by with his dog coughed. I knew I had t end this, but I was finally making my point. My lips pulled away, leaving her to moan and whimper at their absence from hers.
I knew it!
I smiled as I released her.
“What do you have to say about that?” I asked. “Do you think that’ll go away?”
“You’re a lot to handle,” she admitted. “You’ve given me some ideas that shake me up. I need time to process them, but for now, why don’t you come with me to get Jackson.”
“I’ll settle for the compromise and acknowledge your need to think about things. Just know that I’m not going to give up. I want you.”
Jackson’s face showed surprise and delight when we both turned up to get him. He looked back and forth between us and seemed to come to some kind of understanding of the situation. His grin said he was fine with whatever was happening.
All he said was, “Where’s my ice cream, Mom? Yours is all over your shirt, so don’t tell me you didn’t have one.”
The cold shower settled my cock down once I made it home, but only temporarily. The sight of Jemma in leggings and a soft, clinging sweater undid what the icy blast had done as it popped back into my brain. Fuck, I wanted Jemma so bad.