CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
-:- DALLAS -:-
Arriving home after my shift, I don’t make it through the door to the apartment. It bursts open as I approach it, where I’m swept off my feet, carried to the bedroom and thrown on the bed. Thirty minutes later, gasping and sweaty, I get to say hello to my man.
“Sorry about that, I missed you.” Cork is still above me and resting on his elbows.
“I like that you missed me, but can I at least get through the door in the future?” Pushing him onto his side, I roll over, throw a leg over his stomach and notice he is still hard. “That can wait until later. I need a shower and some food before I tackle that again.”
“That’s fine, I need to go to the clubhouse so we can eat there. How was your day?” Cork asks as he smells my hair.
Slipping from the bed before he gets any more aroused than he already is, I run for the shower.
“Boring, Pryce is still an ass, but I think that’s because I’ve been away from his sense of humor for so long.
Come and tell me about your day while I shower.
” As soon as the words are out, I regret them, as he dashes into the bathroom, I hold the shower door closed.
“No! You can watch but can’t touch. Now, how was your day? ”
He tells me all about the changes to the shop, plans for the window dressing, Ava getting a promotion and then, as an afterthought, he tells me the Angelo story.
“In future, maybe you could lead with the good stuff?” I ask him as I get dried off. Watching him watching me, I get a tingly feeling building up, but force myself to hold out for later. Sometimes denying yourself can be as big a thrill as just giving in.
While Cork gets his shower, I make phone calls to Raven and Cora to see if they are up for a bit of training as I’m being dragged to the clubhouse anyway.
They are both up for it, and I swear them to secrecy so we don’t get mobbed by the other women.
I need to get some serious hand-to-hand training and when all the women get together, except for Sunday training, everything goes to hell in a handbasket.
Once at the clubhouse, I abandon Cork to whatever it is that he has to do here, and I join up with Raven and Cora.
After a few warm-up exercises with the lasso, I go over everything they’ve done so far.
They are on a par with each other when it comes to the lasso, and they can throw the loop over their targets most times.
I’m not surprised when Star appears, and in her cowgirl outfit, too.
We spend an enjoyable thirty minutes and then I get them to help me with my hand-to-hand combat training.
If I feel more confident in my abilities, maybe that will chase away the dreams I’m having.
I don’t see how that ranch mission should have affected me so much.
I didn’t go on it. I wasn’t involved in the planning, or anything to do with it.
Raven takes on the role of trainer, and Cora is my opponent, and boy, does she take it seriously.
She throws me, punches me, and elbows me.
If she can hit me with any part of her body, she does!
I think I’ve managed to get her in a hold around her neck when I suddenly squeal and let go of her.
“You bit me! Holy cow, that hurt!” I have the imprint of a perfect set of teeth in the flesh of my arm, and I know that’s going to bruise.
“Of course I bit you. Why do you think I let you get your arm around my neck? If you’d been a real attacker, I’d have taken a chunk out of you.
” Cora looks at me like I’m a child, and to be honest, as much as I like to think I’m tough, it’s becoming apparent that I have a long way to go to be able to say that.
“You know what to do now then, Dallas. Bite the bitch back!” Star shouts from the bench where she sat after lasso training finished.
I’ve managed to win fights in the ring with my boxing, and that’s taught me a lot, but in the real world there are no Queensberry rules. Like with those thugs, it is kill or be killed. There’s no ref, no 3-minute rounds, no one-minute rest, the gloves are off and to suffer a knockout is death.
Raven calls a halt to the session, and we all drink one of the bottles of water she brought with her.
Something I hadn’t thought to pick up. When we start again, Raven slows things down, and between her coaching and Cora’s guidance, I start to make progress.
They call a halt to the day's proceedings when I’m so tired that I can barely throw a punch.
Sitting together talking, I tell them of my bad dreams and the reason I want to be better at my self-defense, and to be confident if I need to attack someone. Star gives me a look and then surprises me with her next statement.
“You should work out with my man. He’s over at the cabin training your man, so it would make sense to do it together.
You’re at different skill levels, but Meat could easily teach you what you need to know.
No offense, Raven and Cora, but he’s a hard taskmaster, and Dallas would learn more and faster.
” Star shrugs as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
“I didn’t know Cork was coming to train with Meat.
He never said anything. I know he’s been battling some inner demons, but he hasn’t wanted to talk about it.
I think I’ll push him when we get home and see what’s going on.
We’re eating here, so that will give us time to ourselves once we’re home.
” I rub my hands down my face when I speak.
Star jumps up saying, “Oh, my man’s here. Gotta go ladies.”
Looking around I don’t see anyone, but Star rushes into the kitchen. Cora and Raven grin and shake their heads.
“I’ll never understand how those two always know when the other is close by. It’s like they have internal trackers or something. It’s uncanny that they do it all the time, and they’re never wrong.” Raven shakes her head. “I wouldn’t know if Grease walked into a room I was already in!”
“You can all shut the heck up. I haven’t got a man, but I always know where my toy is when I need it!” Cora sticks her tongue out at us, and we all laugh as we head into the kitchen and see what delights Meat has for us tonight.
The meal was fantastic. There was a selection of meats and fish that Meat had smoked.
I made a pig of myself, but I think I ate only a quarter of what most of the men ate.
Unsurprisingly, the fish dishes were the last to go, but go they did.
They cleared everything with gusto, and all cheered Meat for his culinary magnificence with cheers and boot stomping.
I’m shocked any of them could move after eating that feast.
We made the drive home in quiet contentment.
Now that Cork is fully recovered I’m itching to get on that hog of his.
I just know I’m going to love being his ‘biker bitch’.
I’ll have to have a chat with Raven and Cora for some fashion advice for riding on the hog.
I don’t want to look as hot as all hell and then freeze my butt off!
Sitting snuggled up on the couch with our now customary Irish coffee, I wonder how to broach the subject of what’s bothering him.
“Dallas,” he says, and that’s it.
“Cork,” I answer after what is commonly known as a pregnant pause, wondering what’s going on. Also thinking that I might not have to broach the subject after all.
“Dallas. What’s your favorite color?”
“What?” I almost spill what’s left of my coffee as I sit up quickly.
“Your favorite color. I don’t know what it is.” He looks at me with such innocent eyes that I could kill him where he sits.
“I thought you were going to tell me something important! Where the heck did ‘my favorite color’ come from?” I’m stunned into silence as I wait for his reply.
“Important like what?” Frowning at me fuels my temper.
“Like what’s been bothering you since you came back from that ranch fiasco. You have had something bothering you, and I’ve had to sit back and watch you gnawing at it like a dog with a bone.” I’m so frustrated that my voice is rising, and this is the first time he has seen me like this.
“It’s fine. I talked that over with Meat, and he put my mind at ease. I’m all good now. I’m fine.”
“Oh, well, that’s okay then, isn’t it! Everything is just fine and dandy in your little garden.
I can stop worrying now that you and Meat have put whatever has been keeping you awake at night to bed.
I’ve been at my wit's end worrying that you had some sort of guilt trip going on because you killed someone, and now it’s fine.
” I’m sure that if there’s a window open at the clubhouse, they can hear me from across town.
“I’ve been worried about you, too. You’re not sleeping well, and I think you’re having nightmares.” At least he remains calm and doesn’t shout back at me.
“Well, why didn’t you ask me about it or say something?” I can’t help shouting back at him.
“Why didn’t you ask me?”
“Oh, my God. You are so frustrating!” I have my mug in my hand, and I want to hit him with it.
“But I haven’t done anything. I’m fine now.
Why are you so frustrated?” Taking the mug from my hand, he places it on the side table by the couch.
Reaching out again, he pulls me to him. Holding me against his chest with one arm, tightly I might add, he strokes my hair with his other hand.
“I think we need to work on our communication skills, my love. Hmm?”
“If I could get out from under this arm, I’d kill you dead right now. You know that don’t you?” I say through gritted teeth.
“I know, my love. Death by choking on Irish coffee, or beaten to death with a mug. What a thing to have on your death certificate,” he chuckles.
“That’s nothing to what I’d put on your headstone! There’d just be two words. I’m Fine!”