Chapter 8
Zoe
Flame and Vikki took excellent care of me once Doc had proclaimed me to be on the way to recovery with no lasting effects from the head wound or the strangulation.
They were kind and attentive, but it was Prime I wanted by my side.
I only felt safe with him, although safety was a relative term when it came to his masculinity.
When he was near I wanted to touch him, be in his arms and never let go, a more subtle danger than being attacked.
I told myself I needed him because he was my rescuer.
He had come to me when I required help and given me the freedom to fall apart without judging me for my tears.
But my body argued with that reasoning. I longed to curl up next to him in the darkness, feel his contoured chest and abs beneath my hands and know that the heat emanating from his loins was for me.
I lusted for him as I had never done for any other man, especially not the Armani suited old men who wore diamonds on every fat finger and ordered deaths with no more than a nod of the head.
They aroused no desire in me. It seemed I only reacted to leather clad, tattooed rebels on motorcycles.
And despite the knowledge that Prime had killed and would do so again in the future it did not make me sick as my father’s proclivity for murder did.
Prime did not take pleasure in killing. He only did what was required when all else failed.
“If you intend to remain with us and be as invisible as possible you can’t wear your own clothes,” Flame declared, breaking into my thoughts as she tossed me a bundle of clothing.
I glanced down at my artfully faded jeans and the simple blue blouse I wore and argued, “But these are just faded jeans and a regular blouse. I do not see the problem.”
A smirk passed between Flame and Vikki. It angered me to imagine they were making fun of my supposed naivety. My body stiffened in defiance.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Flame immediately ordered. She had obviously read my body language correctly and was choosing to soothe my ruffled feathers. Her red tips fluttered as she shook her head from side to side in disgust over my attitude.
“Look, I know you see your jeans and shirt as no different from what we wear, but I swear to you everyone else will notice. Those jeans have a designer logo all over them, even the seams are artfully marked, the stitching announcing the brand. And the shirt is silk,” Vikki added.
I shrugged, still not understanding why it mattered. If the people who hung around the club did not live as I did then how would they know the blouse was silk or the fading not done due to wear and tear.
“Don’t be so estupida! You seem to think that just because we are bikers we are also ignorant. You are just as prejuicio as your father! Why the hell am I bothering with you, puta?” Flame shouted.
Her sudden anger after she’d taken such good care of me, giving me a room, showing me to the shower and offering to loan me clothes, hurt me. I was struck silent.
“Flame, stop ranting. She actually thinks you hate her now. She doesn’t know you just like to bitch when things don’t go your way.
Zoe, don’t worry about Flame. She hates explaining things, not you.
You have to trust us when we say you won’t fit in wearing those clothes.
The clientele who come into the bar lust after the rich life.
They read about it and are envious. They know designer duds when they see them no matter how casual the outfit is,” Vikki explained.
Without another word I picked up the clothes from the bed and started switching them with my own. I somehow knew that hiding in the bathroom to change would cause laughter and raised eyebrows for my prudishness.
Not that it would have mattered. Most of me was prominently displayed in the clothing anyway, almost more so than when I stood in just a pair of panties.
The tight jeans rode low on my hips, several inches below my navel.
The leather vest came just a couple of inches under my breasts where the soft leather was stretched to its limits and held together with one crisscrossed leather tie.
My ample breasts were pushed up so that I was bulging and about to pop out of the barely there covering.
Makeup came next. It was done with a heavy hand. My eyes became sultry, begging for sex, and my mouth plump with red lipstick. I almost did not recognize myself.
“You’ll do,” Flame pronounced as she covered the bruises on my neck with a wide leather band that had spikes all over it. “If your father’s men come in they won’t look at you twice, unless they want to screw you.”
It took all my courage to step out of the room dressed so scantily. I was more afraid than if I had a gun held to my head. Guns were something I was used to. Flaunting myself in front of a crowd of drunk men was not.
Of course, with my luck the first person I ran into was Prime.
He stopped walking the minute he saw me.
His jaw moved, yet no sound came out. He appeared to be struck dumb.
I liked the idea and decided to push my luck.
Maybe I could get him to reveal whether or not he was as attracted to me as I was to him.
I looked up at him through my eyelashes and gave him a flirty smile. “Do I pass inspection, boss? Will I gather as many admirers as Flame and Vikki?”
“You’ll earn your keep,” he gruffly answered. “But I don’t think you left room in that outfit to put tips.”
“They can stick them here,” I purred, indicating the cleavage between my breasts by swiping a finger down it. I watched as his eyes followed that finger and felt a thrill of victory when they darkened with desire.
“Didn’t Flame explain the rules? The men can look all they want, but touching the merchandise is forbidden. Any deal you want to make must be done outside the bar,” he insultingly noted though his jaw was clenched and twitching.
Anger and self-doubt swamped me. I’d taken a hard hit to my pride, and it hurt. I shouted back, “My virginity is worth more than any of your patrons earned in a decade. There is no deal to be made unless you are offering for me.”
“I wouldn’t dare deflower Petrov’s prize possession. It’s a death sentence and I’d prefer to live a long life if possible. Besides, I probably don’t make enough money to suit you either,” he stated.
“What if I ask for something other than money?” I was angry enough to rub my almost nude body against his in a suggestive manner. The gesture backfired. I tingled from head to toe and my core became wet instantly.
“I doubt that I have anything you’d want in return that I haven’t already given.
We’ve run drugs for your father. I’ve killed at his command.
I’ve rescued you and given you asylum. My men have been injured, almost dying because of the mess your father is in.
What else is there to give? Only my life and I think I’ll keep it rather than trade it for your virginity. ”
His words hit home. I jumped back and snarled at him before I turned around to march down the hallway. The loud gasp I heard from him made me pause, but his exclamation stopped me in my tracks.
“When did you get that?” he all but shouted.
I spun on the spot. My hand went to cover my lower back which I had not realized was showing above the low-cut jeans.
Until that moment no one except me had ever seen the tattoo.
If Flame or Vikki had noticed it they had not said anything.
Then again, to them it would be a common thing.
Most of the Sinners and the women who bedded them had tattoos.
Prime stalked toward me. His gaze was a mix of lust, anger and confusion.
He grabbed my arm and yanked it away from by back, spinning me around in the process.
Warm, calloused fingers traced the snake head whose tongue protruded from his mouth and whose bright green eyes blazed with hatred of the world.
His fingers shook violently and then became a caress against my bare skin. “When did you get this?” he asked again, though softer this time.
Puzzled and turned on since his palm remained splayed over the tattoo and my sensitive skin I responded, “When I was sixteen. I was angrier than usual with the restrictions Father placed on me, one of which was never to mar my skin. No piercings, no tattoos. I snuck out and used fake ID to get it just to defy him. However, I was never brave enough to allow him to see it. No one has until now. I imagine he would have peeled the skin away himself if he had seen it.”
I twisted back to look at his face. I was not able to read his thoughts.
His eyes were blank, but I soon felt him tremble.
He had made a decision and did not like it.
Prime released his grip on me and slowly raised his shirt to reveal a tattoo on his side, just below his rib cage.
It was the same tattoo as the one on my back.
“Are you lying? Did you see this before marking yourself? Is this some game to cause me trouble with your father?” he growled.
“No! I would never do that! I got it long before I met you. It was a lark, a defiant measure by a childish teenager. I do not know why I chose the snake, but I do not remember even considering something different,” I confessed.
He mumbled something that might have been “premonition”, but I was not certain.
It fled my mind anyway when he suddenly jerked me near, and his lips claimed mine in a rather violent kiss that scrambled my brain into mush.
His mouth was hot, wet and insistent. My body burned with need.
Heat gathered between my legs, and I could not keep them still.
I was ready to climb him right then and there regardless of who might see us.
My hands clung to his shirt, fisting the fabric into a wad.
Prime’s tongue probed my lips until I opened them for him.
Our tongues played a game that was more erotic than I had ever thought possible, twisting and plundering.
It was the most intimate kiss I had experienced in my sheltered life.
Yes, I had given blow jobs to my father’s men in exchange for loyalty and freedom.
I had allowed myself to be touched until I exploded by those I desired, yet I was innocent to such intimacy.
None had really kissed me. I was sort of a virgin in that as well as the more normal way.
My heart pounded so loudly I was certain Prime could hear it. I broke out in a sweat. It trickled down my spine and puddled over the tattoo that had started all this. I truly believed I was about to orgasm from just a kiss when we were rudely interrupted.
Rod called out for Prime, and I was unceremoniously shoved away. I stood there numbed and gasping for breath while he stepped in front of me to block Rod’s line of sight. He was protecting me again, though I doubted he even realized he was doing so.
“We’ve got a problem, boss. The damn truck’s not responding to my touch anymore. It’s going to need a new engine. It might be cheaper to find another used truck than to fix the fucker,” Rod announced.
“I figured we’d get to that point. It’s older than dirt.
The fucker has lasted longer than I expected thanks to you.
I’ve been looking into the cost of an engine versus another truck.
Give me an hour to make some calls about it and I’ll get back to you with what’s available,” Prime answered without a hint of the emotion that was filling me.
How was he able to forget what we had just experienced so quickly?
“I wouldn’t mind hanging out in the bar for an hour. I can do some flirting with Flame. I’m determined to get that woman in my bed soon. I’m tired of her playing hard to get,” Rod replied. “She makes a man crazy just by walking across the damn room with those hips swaying.”
“The two of you are driving the rest of us nuts. Screw each other blind and get it over with. We’re all sick of watching you tease each other. It’s obvious you’re both in heat,” Prime laughed.
He swung an arm over Rod’s shoulders and walked away without even glancing back at me.
I slid down the wall and sat on the floor.
Was that what Prime would have done if we had not been stopped by Rod?
Would he have screwed me to get me out of his system?
Would I have allowed it? I was very much afraid I would have.
I did not know what I expected or wanted from Prime, but the kiss had started me thinking about how good it would feel to lose my virginity to him, to finally rid myself of the one thing that made me valuable to the mafia.
Suddenly, I wanted much more than to have him hold me.
I wanted him inside me. With one deep stroke of his manhood, I would be free from Father and given the joy I lusted after.
Somehow, I knew how he would fill me and take me to a place I had never been before.
For the first time I wanted to be fucked blind, but only by him.